Life as viewed from the eagle’s nest
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. Isaiah 1:18 (NKJV)
Have you ever had a mess in your life that reminds you of the current BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico? You know…1. It blew up when you didn’t expect it.2. When it blew up, it really hurt and made a mess.3. The mess didn’t stop when it blew up. The mess kept coming.4. The thing that was causing the mess was deep. Too deep.5. There was a tremendous amount of pressure dealing with it.6. You had no idea how to fix it.7. Everyone was giving you advice about what you should do.8. You tried some of the advice and the mess still kept coming.9. You really hurt some people with your mess.10. It wasn’t the people’s fault whom you hurt. It was yours.11. You tried to blame it on someone or something else.12. It will take years to fix things.13. Boy, do you wish you could do it over.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (NKJV)
Here are 5 fascinating facts about our grand old flag.
Did you know?
General George Washington’s first battle flag carried the British Union Jack in its upper left corner. American Revolutionaries combined the Union Jack with 13 red and white stripes to demonstrate that while loyal to England, they were also committed to justice for the 13 colonies.
“Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men; and so it must be daily earned and refreshed — else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.” (Dwight D. Eisenhower)
Betsy who? Betsy Ross : Designer of Our Flag
Most historians now discredit the legend that Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross produced the first American flag in 1776. It is a fact that the pre-Union Pennsylvania government asked Betsy to sew flags for its navy—but others whose names are now forgotten were also asked to do so.
“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” (Mark Twain)
Grand Old Birthday
On June 14, 1777, the new Continental Congress resolved “that the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”
The American Revolution : Campaign 1776
“America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination, and unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.” (Harry S. Truman)
Indivisible
During the Civil War, Lincoln‘s advisers, reflecting the view of many Northerners, wanted him to order the removal of the 11 stars representing the rebellious states. Lincoln replied that his mission as President was to preserve the Union at all costs. How could he allow the stars of the Confederate states to be stricken from the flag when so much blood was being spilled to keep them?
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
The Civil War – A Film by Ken Burns
“The real democratic idea is not that every man shall be on a level with every other, but that every one shall have liberty, without hindrance, to be what God made him.” (Henry Ward Beecher)
For All
The Pledge of Allegiance was first published in The Youth’s Companion children’s magazine in 1892 as part of a national public school celebration. Written by Francis Bellamy, it has gone through several revisions over the years, including the addition of the phrase “one nation under God,” which President Eisenhower signed into law on Flag Day 1954. http://www.guideposts.com/print/13425
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Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor.
Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”
A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org
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Prov 1:20-33 (AMP) Wisdom cries aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the markets; She cries at the head of the noisy intersections [in the chief gathering places]; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: How long, O simple ones [open to evil], will you love being simple? And the scoffers delight in scoffing and [self-confident] fools hate knowledge? If you will turn (repent) and give heed to my reproof, behold, I [ Wisdom] will pour out my spirit upon you, I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you have refused [to answer], have stretched out my hand and no man has heeded it, And you treated as nothing all my counsel and would accept none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when the thing comes that shall cause you terror and panic— When your panic comes as a storm and desolation and your calamity comes on as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then will they call upon me [Wisdom] but I will not answer; they will seek me early and diligently but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord, Would accept none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof, Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices. For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, and the careless ease of [self-confident] fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkens to me [Wisdom] shall dwell securely and in confident trust and shall be quiet, without fear or dread of evil.
The evidence is everywhere. Truth is blaring from the loud speakers all around the world. Countries are failing, here at home states are finding it harder and harder to meet federal mandates and public sector pension obligations. On capital street one company take over after another and yet nothing changes. The national debt will exceed 13 trillion dollars this year and only the sky is the limit into the future. Medicare and Medicaid along with Social Security are all in the red, let’s face it folks America’s entitlement programs are bankrupt and yet many refuse to change course or even acknowledge the direction America is heading is wrong.
Add to the mix Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are still running deficits as far as the eye can see. Nothing is working on capital hill. And to be honest not much is working in the private sector either. The unemployment rate seems to be the only thing going up in an otherwise downward spiral.
Many have seen their personal nest eggs reduced or depleted with the recession of the stock market. Tax revenue is falling off rapidly because more and more people are not working. And yet many think all is well and the captain of the ship of state bellows full speed ahead on one socialist agenda item after another. Waiting in the wings are tax hikes along with the huge budget busting Obamacare plan still to be enacted.
Yes my friends the truth is out there, but can you handle the truth? Can you open your eyes and ears to listen to the sound of wisdom shouting aloud in the streets, and the marketplace? What must we do to stop this insane rebellion against the truth and sound fiscal policy? Our country is out of control. Fools are running the ship of state straight into an iceberg of ruin.
Ezek 12:2 (GW) “Son of man, you are living among rebellious people. They have eyes, but they can’t see. They have ears, but they can’t hear because they are rebellious people.
The irony is that America is now adapting the European model just as the evidence of its failure is becoming clear even to the New York Times. As Charles Murray wrote in “The Happiness of The People”-“If we want to know where America is headed—its destination—we should look to Europe.” The Times has now given us a harrowing picture of that destination. For the left leaning New York Times to see the handwriting on the wall it must be blatantly obvious. The truth is screaming from everywhere, the question is are we willing to heed wisdom’s warning or destined to suffer the fate of fools?
But whoso hearkens to me [Wisdom] shall dwell securely and in confident trust and shall be quiet, without fear or dread of evil.
But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)
Along for the journey
A recent AP headline read: “Israel Remains defiant, seizes Gaza-bound aid ship” and the opening paragraph reads:
A defiant Israel enforced its 3-year-old blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza on Saturday, with naval commandos swiftly commandeering a Gaza-bound aid vessel carrying an Irish Nobel laureate and other activists and forcing it to head to an Israeli port instead.
Defiant Israel? Why is defiant used instead of determined, or perhaps steadfast, or maybe even reticent? They are not the ones defying the rule of law, but the boats attempting to crash the legal blockade established by a sovereign nation to protect it’s ports are engaging in defiant behavior.
The organizers of Saturday’s sail said they planned to dispatch as many as three more ships in coming months and that four captains already have volunteered for the missions.
Now that sounds more like DEFIANCE to me. Organizers of those who want to crash through the legal blockade are the ones being defiant. Let’s get some definitions of terms here shall we?
Okay who again is being defiant? The one setting the rules or the one challenging the rules? Is the one enforcing the rule the one who is defiant or the one who is contemptuous of the rule? It would seem to me those that are supporting the flotillas challenging the Egyptian and Israeli blockade are the ones being defiant. The way this article reads they have everything exactly backwards. They make it sound like the Palestinians are the recognized soveign state and Israel is the one acting unlawfully. What other country would stand by and allow anyone to enter their ports without a regard for safety. especially if cargo carrying ships have brought weapons into the region. AP wants Israel to give up their land to militant invaders and leave their own country. That is totally out of whack and if no one else is going to say so I shall.
“What Israel needs to understand is that nothing is accomplished with
force,” said Greta Berlin of the Cyprus-based Free Gaza group, which
sent the latest aid vessel, the Rachel Corrie.
AP wants Israel to understand that nothing is accomplished with force and yet they turn a blind eye to the forcible attempts by the flotilla to break through a legal blockade. Israel has a security concern which is why they set up the blockade to begin with. Egypt apparently agrees that there is a possible threat for they too are participating in the blockade.
Israel said it would block any attempt to reach Gaza by sea, in order to
prevent weapons from reaching the Iranian-backed Islamic militant
group. “Israel … will not allow the establishment of an Iranian port
in Gaza,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Israel and Egypt closed Gaza’s borders after Hamas seized the territory
three years ago from Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The disengenious tenure of this article is appalling. It is written to make it sound like Israel is forbidding humanitary aide from reaching the residents of Gaza which is totally not true. All Israel is forbidding is an Iranian[ backed militant group from establishing a port in Gaza. Israel is more than willing to off load the cargo at another secure port and transport true aid into the Gaza region. Because of the constant missle strikes from Gaza over the years Israel decided to stop the flow of weapons into the region.
Hamas and other groups have fired thousands of rockets and mortars on
Israeli border towns in recent years. The U.S. and Europe, like Israel,
have branded Hamas a terrorist group.
Israeli officials said the cargo was to be unloaded in Ashdod, and items
permitted under blockade rules would be taken to Gaza by land.
The Free Gaza group, which organized Saturday’s sail and other attempts
to break the Gaza embargo, said Saturday it was closing its Cyprus
headquarters and relocating, but won’t stop sending ships to challenge
the blockade.
Doesn’t that sound like defiance to anyone else besides me? In another article we read an entirely different perspective on the Flotilla incident.
One participant told Al Jazeera, “Either the Israelis let us reach Gaza,
or they can stop us . . . . We can also die as martyrs and never
return, which is okay with us.” read the full story here
Again this sounds like a defiant attitude to me does it you?
This same report goes on to say this:
Despite all the misreporting, Gaza is not starving as Israel allows tons
of food, drugs and humanitarian aid to reach Gaza every day. The
entirely legal naval blockade is designed to prevent arms, primarily
from Iran, from reaching the terrorists in Gaza, from which Israel
withdrew in 2005. The flotilla’s aim was not to feed ordinary
Palestinians, but to help Hamas break the embargo so that it can bring
in weapons.
The last sentence sums up the entire intent of the flotilla ships’ defiance of the Egyptian Israeli blockade, they wish to get the international community to force Israel to open the ports in Gaza so that they can ship in weapons along with their so-called humanitarian aide.
Like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this past week Israel is guilty until proven guilty by the UN no matter what they do. There remains a group of people who desire Israel’s total annihilation and will not stop until that happens. Israel is constantly being bombarded with the idea of making peace with Hamas and the Palestinians and yet the Palestinians reciprocate with escalated violence every time Israel relinquishes land. Some people are never satisfied no matter what you give them. The only way to have peace in Israel is if the Palestinian authority is defeated and the people agree to live peaceably with Israel not continue with their desire to take over Israel and capture Jerusalem for their own capital. Now that is what I would call defiance not protecting your country. Resolute, determined, steeled, principled, would be a better description of Israel’s attempts at national security and if I was an Israeli I would not want it any other way.
The Free Gaza group are the ones participating in defiant behavior and yet AP did not mention this fact once in their article. Apparently only Israel can engage in bad behavior everyone else gets a pass.
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