Category Random Ramblings

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The Sins of The Fathers

Allen Frederick 1 Comment

The Sins of Our Fathers
Having mercy on thousands, overlooking evil and wrongdoing and sin; he will not let wrongdoers go free, but will send punishment on children for the sins of their fathers, and on their children’s children to the third and fourth generation. Exodus 34:7 (BBE)

The actions of our ancestors have left us were we are today. With an ever-increasing burden placed upon future generations, the current generation has a great deal to repent of. It is because of the bad decisions of our ancestors that we find America where it is now. It is not fair to place the burden of our current state of affairs at the feet of our founders because since our founding our country has moved toward a socialist state in direct opposition to the constitution and the founding principles set forth there. Our founders left for us a representative republic if we could keep it. It appears that we have failed to keep our country as founded, but rather we have been led astray toward the pathway of tyrannical rule; against which our founders fought and died.

Robert R. Livingston

Image via Wikipedia

Yes my fellow Americans unless we alter our course radically, and return to the founding father’s vision of a representative republic, we will be visiting upon our children tyranny. The sins of my father and my father’s father have come back to bite us. Our children and our children’s children are going to have to pay the price for our mishandling of the sacred trust handed down to us by the likes of Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, Washington, Adams, Smith et al. These brave men gave up their fortunes and pledged their lives and sacred honor to protect and defend this new nation conceived upon the idea that all men are create equal and equally endowed with unalienable rights, granted to them by God and not legislated by a central government. These great men saw the misfortunes that lie in wait for those who desired a strong central government. They feared an all-powerful government and went to great lengths to attempt to limit it’s power and reach. The desires of our founders was for the government to be by, for and of the people. They set in place a federal government which derived it’s power from the people. The states yielded some of their power to this newly formed central government, but only on a limited basis, and they retained the power to withdraw support at anytime. As a result of the South losing the Civil War succession was eliminated and I fear what has been unleashed is a leviathan that can no longer be restrained.

Unless we chart a new course, or better yet return to the original course, and get back to constitutional government our children and their children will have to bear the weight of our sins. Sins of omission as well as sins of commission. Ignoring a problem will not make it go away it will only postpone the inevitable, and come back home to visit our children. We wrote checks, on overdrawn accounts, and borrowed from our children’s futures to give a bit more comfort for ourselves, knowing that we would not be around when the bill came due. We elected officials who wrote checks on our behalf to give us our wants and desires all at the expense of our children and their children.

Yes folks we have played the dead-beat dad for far too long. It is time now to rise up and be accountable for our actions. It is time we look out for our children and their children and store up for them and not hoard it ourselves. We have stolen their futures and the Lord will hold us accountable. So for the children’s sake let us repent of our greedy ways and make things right. Why should our sins be visited upon our children and their children?

And that is this week’s tail feather. Think about it.

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 40:31Open Link in New Window (BBE)

Along for the journey

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A Time for Peace in the Middle East?

Allen Frederick 1 Comment

Christian wallpaper Matthew 5:9
As long as there are people living in the Middle East and elsewhere who are at war with Israel there can be no peace in the Middle East.

Furthermore, at that time the son who was conceived in a natural way (Ishmael) persecuted the son conceived in a spiritual way (Isaac). That’s exactly what’s happening now (Arab and Jews). But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son (Ishmaelites or Islamists), because the son of the slave woman must never share the inheritance with the son of the free woman (Jews or Israel).” Galatians 4:29-30 (GW)

This war will continue until the end of time when Jesus comes back to fight on behalf of His chosen nation.

Now then there is a religion of peace on Earth and good will toward all men, the religion of Christ, Christianity.

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Decepticons

Allen Frederick 4 Comments

For many deceivers are gone forth into the world, even they that confess not that Jesus Christ cometh in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. 2 John 1:7 (ASV)
Decepticon Logo

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The Decepticons are usually depicted as the antagonists in the fictional universes of the Transformers toy line and related comics and cartoons, and the enemies of the Autobots.[2][3][4] The villains take many forms, and have many different origins and stories across the different Transformers media, but in almost all incarnations, they are led by Megatron. They are typically represented by the purple facial insignia they all wear. Primarily, Decepticons have red eyes, while Autobots have blue eyes. They are usually known for their air power, especially since many of them turn into aircraft. They often turn into military vehicles, construction vehicles and even smaller-than-human-sized objects.

Most Decepticons think very little of humans and consider them no better than pests or “insects”. This is strongly emphasized in the 2007 film Transformers, when Megatron is seen flicking a human like a bug and saying “disgusting”. Another example is when the Decepticon Frenzy complained about how the “stupid insects” tried to shoot him. In the animated series, Starscream works with the human, Doctor Arkeville and comments about how little he cares about destroying the entire planet Earth to meet his goal.

Some deception can be useful as in the case of World War II. Jasper Maskelyne was a British stage magician when World War II erupted in Europe. He joined the Royal Engineers and showed an extreme gift of camouflage and deception.

He convinced skeptical officers by creating the illusion of a German warship on the Thames River by using mirrors and a model.

He was deployed to the African theatre in the Western Desert along with 14 assistants: an architect, art restorer, carpenter, chemist, electrical engineer, electrician, painter, and stage-set builder. The group was nicknamed the Magic Gang.

WW II–Era Scale Infrared Combat Tank Models

Image by Ric e Ette via Flickr

The Magic Gang built a number of illusions. They used painted canvas and plywood to make jeeps look like tanks — with fake tank tracks — and tanks look like trucks. They created illusions of armies that fooled the Germans.

One of Maskelyn’s greatest illusions was making the Suez Canal disappear to German pilots. To mask the Suez Canal he built a revolving cone of mirrors that created a wheel of spinning light nine miles wide. The effect dazzled and disoriented the enemy pilots so they could not see the Suez Canal.

Others deceive only to serve their own purposes. Take as an example Dr. Bob Harris. In 1969, Harris phoned WCBS-TV, introducing himself as a Ph.D. in geophysics from Columbia University. “Nobody ever asked for credentials,” he explained.

For the next decade he did well in is career and was also hired by the New York Times as a consulting meteorologist.

On January 18, 1979 “Dr. Bob” Harris was fired by both the New York Times and WCBS radio as a meteorologist. His crime, he wasn’t a doctor. He wasn’t even a meteorologist. After 10 years of pretending to be a professional weatherman, Harris had been caught in a serious lie.

“I was so ashamed,” said Harris, 39. “I was publicly disgraced. I went from $75,000 a year to zip. I had lost everything.”

However most deceivers have ulterior motives that are destructive and sinister. Just like the Decepticons in the transformers franchise there are Decepticons active in our society today. They take on many forms and disguises but one thing you can be sure of, their main purpose is to deceive as many as possible into believing they are honest and true. These Decepticons want others to believe that what they present is reality and everything else is a lie. These sinister bots would like it if everyone fell for their lies and manipulations of truth.

For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Mark 13:22 (NKJV)

The Magic Gang was able to fool the Germans in World War II and Bob Harris was able to fool the New York Times and WCBS, and I am sure many of these false christs and false prophets will deceive many as well. But thanks be to God that even with all the lying and deceiving going on, those who are chosen by God, who know Him and are called by His name, will be able to expose the lies for what they are and will not be deceived by them. However; one has to wonder if anyone will actually care to hear the truth? Will the earth be overtaken by the Decepticons? Will there be anyone to rescue the earth from the lies of the deceivers?

If magicians were able to fool the Germans, and one man was able to avoid detection for almost a decade, it is reasonable to assume then that many will be taken in by the lies and deceptions of the last days. You have been warned, not all is as it appears. There are Decepticons among us. Lies are being masqueraded about as truth. There is a subtle plan hatched by Satan himself to destroy all human flesh on the earth because he thinks so little of it. To him they are pests, and since he can not get at his true arch nemesis- God, he must be content then to make war on all those who have been created in God’s image, especially those of the house of Israel. There is no reasoning with the ultimate Decepticon. He must be resisted. And ultimately defeated.

Then Jesus said to those who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31-32 (NKJV)

This is the key to avoid being deceived. Abide in God’s word so that you too can know the truth, for it is the truth that will set you free from the Decepticons.

And that is this week’s tail feather. Think about it.

but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 (RSV)

Along for the journey


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Pouring Salt in Our Wounds

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. Matt 5:13 (NKJV)

This past week tragedy struck outside a Safeway grocery store in Tucson Arizona killing 6 and wounding 13. A lone gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, with a long history of disturbing behavior opened fire on a political rally hosted by

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who police said was the gunman’s first target. Much has been written about the motives and causation of this tragic event. Many were quick to cite Sarah Palin and conservative talk-show hosts as the catalyst that ignited Jared’s shooting spree. Although no link could be found to ‘conservative ideology’ that did not stop the commentators from continuing the story line. The media was incessant in their attempts to give Jared an out, a reason for his heinous act. They desperately wanted to find a link between Jared and Sarah Palin, yet none could be found. Could it be that the heart of Jared was simply wicked? Was there anyone to blame other than Jared? Were their cries for help? I believe there were many but our “politically correct” society prevented Jared from getting the help he most desperately needed. A change of heart.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? Jer 17:9 (NKJV)

In an article published at crosswalk.com Kevin DeYoung, Senior Pastor at University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan wrote in his commentary about this incident:

“The human heart is desperately sinful and capable of despicable sins. Of course, no one commends the crime, but few are willing to condemn the criminal either. In such a world we are no longer moral beings with the propensity for great acts of righteousness and great acts of evil. We are instead, at least when we are bad, the mere product of our circumstances, our society, our upbringing, our biochemistry, or our hurts. The triumph of the therapeutic is nearly complete.”

 

In his book The Death of Satan: How Americans Have Lost Their Sense of Evil by Andrew Delbanco. we read

A gulf has opened up in our culture between the visibility of evil and the intellectual resources available for coping with it. Never before have images of horror been so widely disseminated and so appalling-from organized death camps to children starving in famines that might have been averted. Rarely does a week go by without newspaper and television accounts of teenagers performing contract killings for a few dollars, women murdered on the street for their purses or their furs, young men shot in the head for the keys to their jeep-and these are only the domestic bulletins…

The repertoire of evil has never been richer. Yet never have our responses been so weak. We have no language for connecting our inner lives with the horrors that pass before our eyes in the outer world…

In our disenchanted world, one respected historian has recently remarked (and here he is perfectly representative) that mass murderers like Hitler and Stalin require us “judiciously [to] distinguish mental disorders that incapacitate from streaks of disorder that should not diminish responsibility.” This distinction would be meaningless to the scores of millions who died at their hands. What does it mean to say that the inventor of the concentration camps, or of the Gulag, was subject to a “disorder?” What does it mean to call these monsters mentally disordered, and to engage in scholastic debate over whether their brand of madness vitiates their responsibility? Why can we no longer call them evil? (3-4).

Kevin continues his commentary with these words:

“The world, and to a large extent the church, has lost the ability to speak in moral categories. We have preferences instead of character. We have values instead of virtue. We have no God of holiness, and we have no Satan. We have break-downs, crack-ups, psychoses,maladjustments, and inner turmoil. But we do not have repugnant evil as the Bible has it. And this loss makes the world a more dangerous place.”

With all the commentaries written this past week about the Tucsan shooter, the silence from the church was deafening. In one report a Catholic Bishop was quoted as saying:

“I wish I knew the answer. “But as the world continues to seek an answer to that question, we can, each in our own way, strive to respect others, speak with civility, try to understand one another and to find healthy ways to resolve our conflicts.”

Face it my friends, there is evil in the world because there is a real devil. The bible says Satan roams around seeking souls to devour and to spread death and destruction, to the individual as well as society (1 Peter 5:8). God loves; and Satan hates everything God loves.

In our politically correct society sin is no longer permitted to be called sin, evil must be explained away, and the secularist religion requires the removal of all judgments of any kind. The secularist sees the world as evolving and men as gods, while the Christian sees the world as fallen and in desperate need of a savior.

Where has the salt gone? Is there anyone left to stand in the gap? If not us then who is going to speak the truth? Who is left to “pour salt in the wounds” of society?

In our quest to get along we have been silenced by the thought police and our vocabulary has been corrupted by the PC society in which we live. We are no longer acting as the preserving agents. I am afraid we have lost our saltiness and therefore been reduced to worthlessness in a hurting dying world. Pouring salt in wounds stings a bit but it promotes faster healing.

Where does one go to find the saltiness needed to preserve moral order if the church has lost it? What hope does the world have if the preservative loses its power to preserve? Think about it!

eagle_feather_icon.gifAnd that is this week’s tail feather

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 40:31Open Link in New Window (BBE)

Along for the journey

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Peace on Earth and Good Will Toward Men: The Real Meaning of Christmas

Allen Frederick 2 Comments

A Danish Christmas tree illuminated with burni... 

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Recent news stories reported on refugees seeking asylum, whose boat capsized near Christmas Island off the coast of Australia, costing the lives of more than two dozen people. Australia is a destination for people looking for asylum from as far away as Iraq and Afghanistan, and Christmas Island is also such a popular stop that it has its own refugee detention center.

These refugees where looking for a safe place to live.A place were peace could be found. They sought asylum in a place that would acknowledge their personhood and respect their lives and freedoms. Christmas Island has become a safe haven for many of the displaced Iraqi’s and Afghans seeking peace from the constant torment of daily life in their homeland. Christmas Island to these peace seeking refugees is a welcoming respite from years of torment and pain.

What an apt description of Christmas Island. To the war weary and persecuted Christmas Island is a sought after destination and one worth dying to reach. The hope and peace found there was worth the risks of getting there.

Also in the news we constantly read about the “War on Christmas.” Probably the real war on Christmas began at its conception. The Council of Nicaea in 325 CE established that Christmas should be celebrated on December 25. The celebration of “Christ’s Mass” was to counter the Roman pagan festival held that same day in honor of Sol Invictus (“The Invincible God”). As Christians participated in the celebration of the Eucharist, they would abstain from engaging in the pagan rituals associated with the official sun god of the emperor.

According to David French, a columnist for Patheos , a website dedicated to inter-religious dialogue, we are in our tenth consecutive year regarding the “War on Christmas.” We have moved beyond the standard criticism of this holiday season as one of secularization and merchandising, to an ideological battle of reason versus faith and inclusiveness versus a singular religious identity. The conflicting views cannot be shooed away as inconsequential, for it matters immensely if one refers to this season as a “Happy Holiday” or a “Merry Christmas.”

Catholic theologian Tim Muldoon argued in a recent column for the Washington Post that “At their root, religious holidays are both expressions of a group’s identity and an invitation to others to learn about them. In the case of Christmas, believers are expressing what it means to believe that God became a human being when Jesus was born.” Christmas is a testimony of a religious conviction, unadorned with gold and silver tinsel. Its public celebration is not to coerce, but to inform and invite.

Just like Christmas Island, a beacon of hope and peace for a refugee, so too is Christmas a beacon of hope to the world; the promise of peace on Earth and good will to men. To a weary war refugee the sight of Christmas Island brought with it rejoicing. These refugee knew they had found a place of rest. To many, Christmas is a time to escape from the daily routines, the constant battles of life, the hostilities faced, and the sadness and brokenness life often brings, and to embrace the brighter hope of a better tomorrow. The message of Christmas Island was come find peace, and the message of Christmas is Christ has come to bring peace. Not a temporary peace offered by a refugee camp but a permanent peace that only Christ can give.

Can you imagine the hopelessness of war refugees if there was no Christmas Island to escape to? Can you then imagine a world without a Christmas Island refugee camp? Then imagine that same world without the hope of Christmas. No peace on earth, no good will toward man, no hope of escape, no hope of rescue. This is what Christmas Island means to a refugee and this is what Christmas should mean to all.

From an Iraqi war refugee to the hopelessly lost and afraid, the welcome sign of Christmas Island is hope, to those who are weary of life’s pressures and demands, the signs of Merry Christmas are also a sign of hope. Let the lights of Christmas continue to shine so that all may know there is a place of peace on Earth and goodwill to all men.

And that is this week’s tail feather.

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 40:31Open Link in New Window (BBE)

Along for the journey


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