Our Constitution, 223 Years Old (September 17, 2010) and Counting…

On September 17, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the document they had created. Treat yourself by reading and printing copies of the Constitution and other original documents important to the founding of our country. Go to the following site: http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/freedom/

You will find that this Constitution actually specified an oath for the President:
in Article II, Section 1:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Although many today like to question whether or not George Washington added the words “So help me God” to the oath, the senate website “Inaugural History” noted under “Precedents” the following:

“The Constitution only prescribes the oath that a President must take; it does not set forth the style or manner of the Inauguration. The nation's first inauguration established many precedents: Washington added the words, "So help me God," and at the end of his oath; he kissed the Bible; and he delivered an Inaugural address, all of which have been followed by future Presidents.”
See: http://inaugural.senate.gov/history/chronology/gwashington1789.cfm

Although not specified by the Constitution, the congress and vice president have recited the following oath for about 150 years:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”

Also, according to Title 28, Chapter I, Part 453 of the United States Code, each Supreme Court Justice takes this oath:
"I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as [title] under the Constitution and laws of the United States. So help me God." See: http://uspolitics.about.com/od/usgovernment/a/oaths_of_office.htm

The U.S. Constitution is the bedrock of government built upon the rule of law. Unfortunately, many elected and/or appointed officials not only fail to uphold the Constitution but relegate it to a historic but unimportant document. I believe you will agree it is our duty, as citizens, to insist that our elected officials keep their oaths. If they do not hold to their respective oaths, we also have a duty to keep this in mind and act accordingly when we vote on November 2nd.

If you are a citizen of this country and are not registered to vote, see that you quickly do so. Election day is less than seven weeks away. Just do it!

The Bible--Must We Believe It? Why

Many who believe in God (the God of everything that is, was, or will be) seem to have trouble believing that the Holy Scriptures (Hebrew Old Testament and Christian New Testament) are trustworthy. Some who doubt the veracity of parts of these scriptures (mostly when scripture doesn’t agree with their preconceived ideas) have no doubt that He is the Creator God. I, and millions like me, however, believe that the God who created life itself, would have no trouble accurately conveying his message through many inspired human writers over the course of thousands of years and that their words are absolutely TRUE! I will attempt to explain why.

The truth of God’s existence and of the words he provided to confirm this can be seen in the smallest and most basic things. It takes much more faith to believe in evolution or the “big bang” theory than it does to believe in a Creator God. Evolution would be more aptly termed self creation which in itself is laughable. The big bang belies the necessity of the existence of “something” before there could even be a “big bang.” The cell, the smallest unit of living things, is so complex that, according to the words of a physicist (whose name I can’t recall) which were pulled out as an attention getter in the mostly irreligious Chronicle of Higher Education, cries out, “I have been designed!” So why is it so difficult for those who believe in him as creator to also believe that he can keep the approximate 593,493 OT words plus 181,253 NT words for a total of 774,746 words in our typical English translations accurate? (Source: funtrivia.com) GOD DOES NOT LIE! All scripture is God-breathed. In the New Testament (NT), 2 Timothy 3:14-17 (NIV) reads: "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

In the Old Testament (OT) Isaiah 55:8-11 (New English Bible) also tell us: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts and your ways are not my ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts; and as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return until they have watered the earth, making it blossom and bear fruit, so shall the word which comes from my mouth prevail; it shall not return to me fruitless without accomplishing my purpose or succeeding in the task I gave it."

We are reminded in Romans 1:19-21 that all that may be known of God by men lies plain before their eyes; having been visible ever since the world began, to the eye of reason, in the things he has made. Still, we refused to honor him as God or give thanks to him. I believe this verse and many, many others explain why it was necessary for God to give us the written Word.

Both the Old and New Testaments confirm that the Law was given so that we might become aware that all are sinners. Without the Law, we had only our consciences that still contained some essence of the “breath” God breathed into the first man, Adam. The Bible also tells us the sacrifices (the blood of bulls and goats) that Hebrews were commanded to make through their priest could not wipe out their sins. The prophecies which were systematically woven into the Old Testament books also foretold the Messiah’s coming and that he would be the savior of the world.

The New Testament is in fact the fulfillment of those prophecies and puts into place a way of reconciliation for all—both Jew and Gentile. That could only be accomplished by the blood spilled by our Savior on the cross of Calvary and his resurrection. These things: (1) the sacrifice of the son of God whose blood could completely take away the sins of the world and (2) his resurrection which was the victory over death that the sin of Adam and Eve brought into the world, were both necessary to bring about reconciliation. Not only that, he promised that we (Christians) who have believed, repented of our sins, made the “good confession” that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God, are joined in his burial through baptism; receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, and we rise from that burial as new creatures in Christ. We have been assured that when he returns, we will be resurrected to join him with our “new, imperishable bodies.” This will happen when his victory is complete—when every knee shall bow and every voice proclaim that Jesus is Lord. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that!

Both the Old and New Testaments have given example after example of what God would have us be. The Law spells out in detail the many ways we daily sin against God. In the Old Testament book of Micah, God quite simply and elegantly expresses what he desires from us:(Verse 8) “He has told you O man what is good; and what does God require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and walk humbly before your God.”

Of course the New Testament gives us details along with the very words of Jesus of his life while on this earth. We are painted a picture of how we rejected the Son of God despite all the many miracles and fulfillment of prophecies made thousands of years before. These twenty-six books give us all the information, encouragement, and promises that believers need and can rely on. We are encouraged to grow as our spiritual journey unfolds, and are assured that the blood of Jesus will continually cleanse us of sin. We have the very Spirit of God within us—the seal of our salvation. He will help us grow into the person we were destined to become. How can we ignore so Great a Salvation? We know we can rely on God’s promises—He does not lie!

It is a sobering thing to be able to pick up and read the very words of God. And that is just what the Bible is. What a privilege!

A Recovering Economy Requires REAL JOBS

It is time “we the people” realized that this administration has no interest in providing jobs based on production of goods or entrepreneurial effort. They have told us they have no use for capitalism. Marx, Lenin, Mao, Castro, or Chavez couldn’t have made it any clearer through their own actions than Obama and company have. Most who are employed outside the public sector recognize that private employers risk a great deal to succeed in business. And, when they hire workers (whether in management, sales, or production) it is not just to provide a job for someone, but to help them make and/or increase profit. Entrepreneurs also realize that they, in turn, must make that job attractive in order to keep a good employee. This is accomplished through better wages, benefits, and opportunity for advancement. These are the people who bring real and meaningful employment to the millions who want to work.

We are already suffering the consequences of Obama’s massive “stimulus bill” which was rammed through congress with admittedly little or no understanding of its content. We have yet to see any real jobs coming out of it. Mostly, it is giving back to Dem supporters, the green faction, and pie-in-the sky energy experiments that only give jobs to people who already have jobs. (How’s that for a well-deserved oxymoron?) His bailout of GM and Chrysler has been touted as a successful job’s program. The fact that so many of our citizens swallow this without question attests to the failure of our public schools. Obviously, many cannot add, subtract, multiply or divide. Even simple mathematics will tell you that the closure of so many successful dealerships resulted in major job loss. They also sold off many brands which meant plant closures (more job losses). Then came cash for clunkers which resulted in a short-lived upswing of new car purchases while deliberately destroying businesses relying on reselling parts for older models. All the while, Ford (which refused the bailout) continued to prosper. And, can you believe it—Obama now takes credit for Ford’s success! Temporary employment like the required U.S. Census has added somewhat to the numbers of employed but that will soon cease. Now, they have passed still another “jobs bill” which is simply a payback to the teachers’ union and, of course, adds no new jobs. Oh, we mustn’t forget the jobs lost and small businesses ruined by Obama’s mishandling and manipulation of the BP oil disaster.

Unfortunately, “we ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” The subtle taxation hidden in the implementation of all this bureaucracy has already begun. Everything bought or sold will be much more expensive because he has made the cost of doing business so burdensome that it will be passed on to the consumer. Obama continues to usurp the power of the congress by going around them to “legislate.” I shudder to think of what will happen in the lame-duck session of congress after the November elections.

Admittedly, this is all very depressing. I leave you with this suggestion: Pray to Almighty God asking for his forgiveness and undeserved blessing while working hard for the election of those who will support our constitution and who still believe in the legacy of our Founding Fathers.

The White House – A Home to America Haters

While people have accused President Obama of being a Muslim and have questioned whether or not he was born in the United States, these charges have yet to be proved. One thing that remains rather obvious and unchanged is his disdain for the America we know and love. Our president is constantly apologizing for what he perceives as our “offences.” He is in agreement with dictators, terrorists, European socialists, Greenpeace, Hamas, and a whole host of others, assuring them that he will no longer be at odds with their goals. Naturally, they love him for it.

On September 17, 2007 while campaigning in Iowa, ABC news featured a clip of four Democrat candidates as the National Anthem was being played. All but Mr. Obama placed their right hand over their hearts—Mr. Obama’s hands were folded in front of him. He explained that his grandfather told him to only place his hand over his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance. His wife made her stance perfectly clear through a statement in February, 2008 to the effect that for the first time in her adult life, she was proud of this country. When Obama stopped wearing the flag pin, he explained that he would show his patriotism in another way: “Instead, I will tell you what will make this country great.” True to his word, he is constantly “telling us” that we must abandon our freedoms and embrace a life of government dependency. Conversely, our founders envisioned what would become the “land of opportunity.” Obama would take away all incentive to succeed and replace that zeal with a desire to be taken care of. And, with the help of his Democrat colleagues in the congress and his all-powerful appointees, he is well on his way to making it happen.

Many of President Obama’s appointees and cohorts openly admire communists such as Mao, Castro, Marx, and Chavez, to name a few. He is the poster boy for an educational system and a national press rife with these same views. He is more than willing to see gas prices soar to over $5.00 a gallon through excessive taxation and by denying exploration and development of the vast natural gas and oil resources throughout our land. He would replace the use of fossil fuels with unproven methods that aren’t even on the drawing boards. We are promised that such pie-in-the sky methods will bring needed jobs. But how can our economy be fueled or jobs created without reliable and readily available energy sources?

Every crisis becomes an opportunity to take away still more rights of the individual. BP’s Horizon rig explosion was probably welcomed as a means to flex his muscle in an unusual way—by doing NOTHING. Actually this “nothing” has kept Bobby Jindal waiting for federal approval to take the actions necessary to protect his state and willing international vessels with expert crews from helping to clean up the mess. Within two weeks after the disaster, experts from at least 12 countries had offered their help. Our government replied: “…While there is no need right now that the United States cannot meet, the U.S. Coast Guard is assessing these offers of assistance to see if there will be something which we need in the future.” The coast guard and the president are still waiting for some unknown entity to ask that the 1920 Jones Act be suspended. Funny, within two weeks after Katrina, George Bush was able to provide this much needed waiver. Why Obama’s hesitancy? You’d think he would like to get the mess cleaned up and put people back to work in a timely fashion. The only logical explanations for his hesitancy are that (1) he did not want to offend his union backers by allowing outside experts to perform the necessary cleanup and (2) he needed time to stir up sentiment for imposing severe environmental and drilling restrictions. He is perfectly willing to do nothing and let the problems multiply exponentially while playing the blame game. BP is certainly at fault but rather than working with them to solve the problem, he has actually threatened to nationalize BP—a tactic normally used only by communist dictators. Hmm?

He alienates, insults, and snubs our friends (Poland, Honduras, Britain, Israel, and Georgia, to name a few) while catering to the demands of Russia and China. Obama’s sympathies are with Israel’s enemies and cabinet level appointees call Jerusalem “Al Qatar.” Homeland Security and State Department officials refuse to even read the Arizona immigration law while ICE provides illegal aliens with luxury accommodations while they await a short-lived return to Mexico. I admit to being unable to listen to all his rambling lectures. (Where are the press conferences?) But he has not, to my knowledge, been reported as saying anything complimentary about our constitution, our founding fathers, or our history. Instead, he calls us “colonialists.” I rest my case.

GOD BLESS TEXAS—LET THE MAJORITY RULE!

It is difficult to pinpoint the beginning of “minority rule” in America—it has been such an insidious thing. Cloaked in the guise of helping the poor, the downtrodden, the uneducated, or the unfortunate, there has been a powerful movement at work to put an end to majority rule. What better place is there to instill these ideas than within our schools and colleges?

For centuries, God-fearing people have been fighting a battle with those who would create their own utopia where everyone is taken care of by a self-described “courageous elite.” Since the 16th century, the western world has seen the concepts of enlightenment, rationality, modernism, liberalism, post modernism, progressivism, socialism, communism, and fascism take their successive turns at running (and ruining) the lives of many—all with the goal of taking God and personal freedom out of the picture. And, with God out of the equation, the tail does indeed “wag the dog.”

While these ideas were being bandied about all over Europe, the majority of those who settled this great land were busy building a life that allowed them to seek their personal dreams of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They were so sure that our constitutional republic would be continued and respected that little notice was given to the “courageous elite” who were busily undermining it “for our own good.” Over the past 120 years, a vast amount of power has been placed into the hands of unelected officials and, by fiat, a multitude of government agencies.

But back to the Texas School Board decision. The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 opened the door to federal oversight of education. This incursion ran afoul of our Constitution and Bill of Rights which left education in the hands of the states and their people. With the help of left-leaning journalists, the public was convinced that educational content should be under the domain of professional educators. All the while, our rights and even our nation’s history were being compromised and rewritten. More importantly, our children were (are) being brainwashed to believe that America is “the problem;” that we, the majority, are racist, selfish, capitalists. They are routinely taught that the only “right” answer is to abandon our form of government and embrace a one-world, socialistic system whereby the rules of a larger body supersede the provisions of our constitution. So-called reformers of every generation have used education as their weapon of choice, making it the “grand solution” in overturning what they perceive as society’s ills. Their efforts came to fruition in the 2008 elections when younger citizens overwhelmingly voted to “fundamentally change America.” The Texas School Board’s majority decision, however, has put a little balance back into the process of textbook content. They have shown us that we can successfully fight back.

WE MUST NOT DROP THE BALL ON THIS! We should vigorously support the valiant efforts of the residents and officials of Arizona, Texas, and the other states who are fighting to protect our country’s borders as well as our God-given heritage. Majority rights have been trampled by ridiculous lawsuits and threats of reprisal by the Obama administration, states like California and Illinois, the ACLU, and all their cohorts. It’s time to flex our corporate muscle and fight back!

Make 2010 National Day of Prayer a Non-Stop Year of Prayer

Now is the time to heed God’s word to his people:

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

God prefaced this statement by saying that when HE brings about disasters designed to bring us to our knees, he will respond to our genuine desire to repent and turn back to him. Don’t you think we've had enough reminders? How many more Katrinas, droughts, floods, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and plots by haters of this country do we need to wake us from our lethargy? All these things are events that we, as individuals, have no control over. But, as believers, we know that the Creator God does have control.

The recent flooding in and around Nashville has been described as an event that only happens every 500 to 1,000 years—a perfect storm! This happened in a city once described as “The Jerusalem of the South” because of its many churches, religious organizations, and schools. That seems appropriate to the scripture cited because those instructions were given to Solomon after he had finished building the temple in Jerusalem.

Most thinking people who are in any way knowledgeable about the history of the founding of this country would probably agree that we now stand on a precipice. If we march headlong down President Obama’s road away from the principles which established our country and its constitution, we will be like lemmings following their leader over a cliff. The waters we fall into will be those of a Godless, socialist welfare state that will take away our freedom and lead to the fate of all great powers who forgot their beginnings.

But we have hope! It is our God who has the power (and uses it) to establish governments and kings as well as the power to bring them down. We know what we, as his people, need to do. Let’s commit to earnest prayer for our country as we look forward to the November elections. Of course, we can’t stop there—it must be ongoing.

I began with scripture and will close with one that is dear to my heart:

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

UNRESTRAINED EXERCISE OF POWER, An Assault on our Constitution

Every day, in unthinkable ways, our Constitution is being assaulted by the current administration. Whether by the original so-called stimulus bill, the bail outs, or health care, bit by bit our constitution is being voided via intentional add-ons that have nothing to do with the labels those bills wear. By their sheer enormity, and convoluted phrasing, our rights have been taken away. This cannot be attributed to simple political verbosity—no, it was carefully planned to overwhelm, mislead, and turn our country into a welfare state.

We were and are being advised by the president to tighten our belts and cut costs. The state governments are also being forced to assume the enormous costs of administering these massive giveaways. In turn, most states have required the people on their payrolls to take unpaid leave or cuts in pay. But not the federal government! The president has established multitudes of unnecessary and extremely costly departments, programs, and jobs. The federal bureaucracy has raised salaries, increased budgets, and is spending like the proverbial drunken sailor.

In addition, the president and secretary of state are making deals and agreements with governments which have no intention of keeping their word while holding us to ours. Such agreements along with the above described offences remind us that our Declaration of Independence included such phrases as:

“He has erected a multitude of new offices….. (he) has combined with others to subject us to jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws… abolishing our most valuable laws and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments…for transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences.”*

The king of England and its government were called despots for their unrestrained exercise of power. I believe we are now victims of “unrestrained exercise of power.”

On September 17, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the document they had created. This year, the 223rd anniversary of the signing will be celebrated on September 17, 2010. We must make this Constitution Day memorable by beginning right now to reacquaint ourselves with this important document. Reread with reverence the Preamble, the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments) and the President’s Oath of Office. Then decide for yourself if what is happening today will be its undoing. Between now and that date, we need to be as active as possible in the election process so that by September 17, 2010, we can anticipate an election day in November that will honor our Constitution by the election of people who still want to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

We fought a War of Independence to make this country one governed for the people and by the people. If we don’t exercise our rights now, we will find ourselves with no rights at all.

*(See Navy Seals blog.) In a rare ruling in January, a military judge ordered that trials for Huertas and Keefe, of Yorktown, be held in Iraq so that they could face Abed in court. Abed is still being held in Iraq, and the Iraqi government refused to allow him to be taken to the United States to testify. That trial is taking place in Iraq as this is written.