College Marine

A very dear friend of mine shared the following with me through email.

A United States Marine was attending some college courses between assignments. He had completed missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.



One of the courses had a professor who was an avowed atheist and a member of the ACLU. One day the professor shocked the class when he came in. He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, 'God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you exactly 15 minutes.' The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop.


Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, 'Here I am God. I'm still waiting.' It got down to the last couple of minutes when the Marine got out of his chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him; knocking him off the platform. The professor was out cold.






The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently. The other students were shocked and stunned and sat there looking on in silence.






The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked, 'What the heck is the matter with you? Why did you do that?' The Marine calmly replied, 'God was too busy today protecting America's soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid stuff and act like an idiot. So, He sent me.'

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Nine/Eleven

When we hear the words 9/11 mentioned it brings memories of horror and death. Most of us can remember exactly where we were and what we were doing that frightful morning of 9/11 when those two airplanes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City. Even to this day we remember with saddened hearts those whose lives were lost and the families, friends and co-workers they left behind. What continues the tragedy was verifying what we knew about the motivation behind the attack that rocked the nation: that as a people we are hated by some people groups in the world to such a degree that they want see us suffer and die.

Through the intense hatred and malice toward the people of the United States from some radical groups we must continue to protect ourselves against their wrath. Some people look out across the fields and see nothing but turmoil and bitterness against their fellow human beings. Some are even taught from an early age to hate, and even destroy others who may not believe the same way, or who practice different customs as they do.






While reading through the letter to the Hebrews in the Holy Bible one finds the total antithesis to the motivational hatred that caused 9/11. Hebrews 9:11 states:






“But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things to come. He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation,” (Hebrews 9:11)






Hebrews 9:11 is the beginning of the balm of healing for America’s 9/11. Yes, Christ has come, and when He came He came as the High Priest who would provide blessings upon all those who accept Him for all time to come. He is not part of tents or buildings or structures that are made by architects and builders and did not provide healing through substitute means as others must do. But Hebrews 9:11 intensifies the next part of the sentence at Hebrews 9:12 when it says,










“…and he entered once for all into the most holy place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:12)






Jesus the Christ alone, no other person beyond Him, secured eternal redemption. His accomplishment is all we need to satisfy our thirst for Him. It is only through Him and His accomplishment that we can have any power to conquer the hatred, bitterness, sin and death we face from those seeking death and destruction. When they see that His Grace extends to all who will accept Him as Lord and Savior, even to salvation, then peace will come.










America’s 9/11 was born through hatred and destruction; Hebrews 9:11 was created through love and redemption.

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Bureaucracy alive and well

Stimulus money is awash in our country. Billions of dollars have been legislated by the United States Congress and signed by the President to be released into our economy to “stimulate” economic growth. In the wake of that enormous stimulus bill the debate has increased in volume on both sides either touting the effectiveness of the stimulus money or denouncing it as ineffective for economic growth.

The other day I had a conversation over the Internet with a friend here in my small town. It was about this same subject regarding how government works. We talked about the money swirling around and economic growth, but then brought it home to our own specific situations.






My friend posed the question regarding his property taxes. In our little town we have extremely high property taxes, so he asked since the value of his property had gone down since the recession has hit, why his taxes wouldn’t be reduced accordingly. It seemed like a logical question since I know that mine had not been reduced either. My friend’s assertion was that he was now paying more for less service. Of course he was correct in that we are paying more taxes for less service.






In most cases, however, when a tax is levied it is rare that it is ever eliminated. It usually gets folded into the process and becomes part of the base for the cost of the current services, even if those services had been reduced by layoff as he had mentioned. The process, however, rarely recognizes a return to the former levels. So even though we pay more for less, if we do a call-back to restore those jobs that have been lost to bring the service up to the former level, it will cost much more. It seems to always work that way when government is involved.






Bureaucracy is the process he was looking for in the way of explaining why this type of thing happens.






Case in point: Our local school district has eliminated several positions. Presumably the services will be less because those positions were eliminated; what the people in those positions were doing will no longer be done. By cutting those services does it mean that we have solved the cash short-fall issue? No, in fact the district is considering a referendum in November to increase the tax. If that passes and additional revenue is received with that new tax, will those positions be restored? It is not likely because the cost of doing business will have leveled out with the addition of the new referendum revenue for the same level of service. If history is our teacher, in two years (or less) the district will then advance the idea of yet another referendum to gather more tax revenue that will bring us up to the same level of service we received prior to this current cut.


Our little town has four school districts, and with its four distinct school districts, it serves as an excellent example of bureaucracy and how bureaucracies grow. Remember the goal of the 15 thousand plus population in this small town, and most other towns across America, is to provide a good education for our children. But the method in which we do that is to grow four school districts (plus at least two faith-based organizations) each with its own division of labor, recruitment of a stable, long-term career, each with a leveling system that creates a hierarchy to support the division of labor, and each with a linear growth that focuses on supporting the individual organization. Within each organization comes specialization and with it, requirements for more resources. This process will likely continue to grow even if in the future the enrollment diminishes.






My friend wrote back to me and indicated that I made a strong case for the consolidation of districts to reduce or eliminate all of the administrative and organizational overlap. He said my points sounded very familiar to a book he had just finished reading entitled, "Caught in the Middle" that presented the exact same arguments regarding mid-west counties, states and universities that needlessly compete against each other rather than working together toward shared goals.






My friend continued, “Locally, I've understood the layoffs are due primarily to belated state funding payments. Of course that led me to consider what will happen if and when the state revenues are in fact finally paid. If they never are paid then I can understand the defensive positions the districts have made. But, what will happen when/if the state finally comes through and the money is paid to the districts when budgets and positions have already been cut. Would it be reasonable to assume they would reopen the teaching positions?” He continued his thoughts, “My thought is that down the road there will be positions opening up; maybe not as many as were closed, but a reasonable percentage. On the other hand, urban school populations have been declining for many years and this just might have been the much needed and delayed correction.”






My answer to my friend was I had not read the book he mentioned, but was glad there was support for my argument “out there” somewhere. I went on to explain I do understand a little bit about bureaucracy however, and know that most of our “organizational behavior” is built up around the creation and growth of bureaucracies.






Again, his original comment focused on the “process” used to arrive at the value of property to calculate the person’s share of taxes. I maintain that the foundational process upon which all of those processes rest is the advancement of a bureaucracy, no matter which one it is.


Keep in mind that bureaucracies are like galaxies in the universe: They are relatively independent of each other, yet interrelated; they are fighting for independent survival and constantly growing, but competing for the same space or resources as all the others; and they are in the process of protecting their own, especially those in the hierarchy that are closer to the top or at the center. Once formed the bureaucracy must consume resources just for survival; and the larger it grows the more resources it needs.






Another example from my small town illustrates the point: A few days earlier my friend and I had read the account of the outgoing City Treasurer. In essence, the City Treasurer publicly reported that for the city and county to provide services it needs a certain amount of money. The only place that money can come from is taxing the citizens of the town and the County. Some time before I had researched the population of my town and found that from the year 1900 to 2000, a one-hundred year span, the population in the town did not change significantly. The town’s population has remained steady at around 15,500 for the past one hundred years. However, by examining the difference in the city government over that one hundred year period one will find that the cost of doing government business had increased exponentially. Although the population had remained the same, the local government and cost of maintaining that government had significantly increased. Why do you suppose that is? Some will say more complicated equipment (computer age) for firefighters, policemen, Sheriff deputies; some will say a reassignment of the division of labor. Likely both are right. The most significant reason for the increase, however, was due to the growth of the city’s Departments of services, employees, regulation enforcement, school enhancements and other off-shoots of those entities that decided to create things like recreational services that all should have a part in paying for regardless of the frequency of their personal use of such facilities.






Throughout history governmental bureaucracies have always had more power since they make and control the laws and the enforcement of those laws.


So, bureaucracy will grow simply for the sake of growth. The answer to the question in my friend’s email asked about the taxes on property and why they were not cheaper since the value of the house had decreased during the recession. The answer is not the rise and fall of the value of the house that determines the taxes; it is the requirement of need for resources to maintain the bureaucracy to continue to allow its steady growth rate.






The thing we must remember, however, is the bureaucracy does not produce any product to generate independent resources; it only takes from those who do produce and redistributes those resources to those who have not produced it. So when the government bureaucracy uses money to stimulate economic growth, much of that will be used to maintain or grow the bureaucracy.






It only robs Peter to pay Paul; and Peter will eventually run out of money after having been robbed so many times. Not to mention that Peter will likely lose heart and simply reduce or eliminate his production.

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Post-Modern world

Some time ago I received the following from my cousin as we “reminisced” about the “old” days. I’m not sure who wrote it, it is signed by an unknown author, but I wonder if that person didn’t live during the more “innocent” days of America. As that person wrote, he or she lamented,







“I liked the old paths, when Moms were at home, Dads were at work.






Brothers went into the army. And sisters got married BEFORE having children!






Crime did not pay; hard work did; and people knew the difference.






Moms could cook; Dads would work; Children would behave.






Husbands were loving; Wives were supportive; and children were polite.






Women wore the jewelry; and men wore the pants.






Women looked like ladies; men looked like gentlemen; and children looked decent.






People loved the truth, and hated a lie; they came to church to get IN, Not to get OUT!






Hymns sounded Godly; sermons sounded helpful; rejoicing sounded normal; and crying sounded sincere.






Cursing was wicked; drinking was evil; and divorce was unthinkable.






The flag was honored; America was beautiful; and God was welcome!






We read the Bible in public; prayed in school; and preached from house to house.






To be called an American was worth dying for;


To be called a Christian was worth living for;


To be called a traitor was a shame!


Sex was a personal word;


Gay meant something completely different;


And abortion was an illegal word.






Preachers preached because they had a message and not afraid to preach the truth, even if it got on a person’s toes...and Christians rejoiced because they had the VICTORY!






Preachers preached from the Bible; Singers sang from the heart; and sinners turned to the Lord to be SAVED!






A new birth meant a new life; Salvation meant a changed life;


Following Christ led to eternal life.






Being a preacher meant you proclaimed the word of God; being a deacon meant you would serve the Lord!






Being a Christian meant you would live for Jesus; and being a sinner meant someone was praying for you!






Laws were based on the Bible; homes read the Bible; Churches taught the Bible.






Preachers were more interested in new converts than new clothes and new cars.






God was worshiped; Christ was exalted; and the Holy Spirit was respected.






The Church building was where you found Christians on the Lord's Day, rather than in the garden, on the creek bank, on the golf course, or being entertained somewhere else.






I still like the old paths the best. I believe it still is the only path to heaven.”






Author unknown






    ------------------------------------------------------






When I read what my cousin had sent to me I reflected on what it meant even for our current age sometimes referred to as the “Post Modern” era. I do believe in what the unknown author said...if it was really true. Oh, don't get me wrong; those values mentioned are true enough for that time period in which they were intended. However, I'm not convinced that people even then actually believed all of those things. If they had, when did they stop believing?






Was it when Kinsey, during that time, wrote a "research" report that claimed that most Americans engaged in some sort of aberrant sexual practice? Or was it when Clark Gable, in the blockbuster movie “Gone with the Wind” uttered the famous words, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn," that ushered in a filming and television industry that now practices under a "no holds barred" philosophy? If the values stated by the unknown author above were really the prevailing beliefs, it would be truly sad that evil would have overcome good in such a short time. The truth is, even in those by-gone days of seemingly innocence among the people, the so-called “Post-Modern” era bubbled with sin throughout society for millenniums.






Actually, I believe that it all happened when we read, "She did eat; and Adam ate also." (Genesis 3:6) Disobedience to God entered the creation and the spiraling effect of mankind’s new-found evil was put into motion. From that very beginning the creation began to unwind in a direction that was separated from God. The very nature of man became evil and his heart hardened against the relationship toward God and could never have returned to that place of honor with God again. A gulf was established that banished mankind from paradise and catapulted him into a journey that would eventually bring him to a so-called “Post-Modern world where human life has little value outside of God’s Grace.






Throughout history we have all proven beyond a doubt what we are ultimately capable of perpetrating upon our fellow earthly inhabitants a mayhem that defies description. Even in the scope of the recording of our own time we saw the complete take-over by force of the known world by Alexander the Great; the debauchery of the thunderous Roman army as they placed thousands on as many crosses to use as torches to light the night; the slaughter of thousands more for entertainment in the “games”, and other infamous butchers like Genghis Khan, Crusaders, Hitler, Stalin and the modern-day African war lords and other dictators who implement genocide on entire people groups.






Neither have Americans escaped the evilness of the very nature of fallen mankind: The buying and selling of humans as objects and using them as slaves to perpetrate injustice; even during the period when the cradle of Democracy was being formed. Even after the establishment of the nation, America established policies to systematically drive out the native owners of the land by force, eventually destroying entire societies and cultures.






From the very beginning of creation when mankind accepted the words of evil and rejected the blessings of God, we have all sinned. The Apostle Paul sums it up in his letter to the Romans in chapter 3 and verse 23; “We have all sinned and come short of the Glory of God.”






Thank God that He came to the rescue.






The culmination and defeat of the evil one was pronounced when the Creator said, "It is finished!" On the cross when Jesus looked out over the world He had created, Jesus saw the sin and evil that is continually generated by the “law of sin and death.” On the cross voluntarily, Jesus shed His own Blood and created the bridge that reconnected the way for the repentant person to return to God through Jesus the Christ. Now we can, through personal choice, each one, or none at all, maintain and practice values that align ourselves with the evil one, or submit ourselves completely to the Creator.






Therefore, no matter how we see it, those past values of which the unknown author spoke, and we love so much, or the "pointed tongue of Kiss" and the lifestyle and world view of the “worldly” generation holds, we have the opportunity to see it all through the Blood of the worthy Lamb!






As individuals we make our choice for or against Jesus. As we receive forgiveness, righteousness, and a spirit life in Jesus through His Holy Spirit, by His power we are saved and made new persons. As we live in the life of the Spirit with Christ it will not erase the evilness throughout the world, even in America.






God, through His Spirit works through individuals who yield themselves over to Him completely. The individual “sin nature” that leads to death for that individual is totally replaced by a “spirit nature” in Christ through His Holy Spirit. As we continue to yield daily to His Spirit we live through His power a life in the Spirit and our sin nature is tied down. It is only when we take our eyes off of Jesus and the work He did on the cross that we push out His Holy Spirit, lose the power and begin living again in the sin nature.






Until the day when Jesus returns to put an end to all the evilness in the world order, many will continue living in that sin nature that without Christ goes completely unchecked.






Therefore, going back to the “good old days” will never satisfy one’s soul. No matter what decade in which we grew, we carry the sin nature like a ball and chain to completely drag us down. It is only when we yield ourselves over to the One Who is able to free us from our sins that we are able to be truly free.

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Ship of state

There was once a small cargo ship that sailed across the ocean transporting goods from one country’s market to another’s market. The ship was in good shape since it had been built by a band of citizens who put their heart and soul into the construction. They worked hard and volunteered many hours to make the entire ship by hand. Those who had vision were inspired to design the ship to not only last throughout their own lifetimes, but to live on long after they were gone. The bonds the framers of the ship had with each other and with the markets they visited bringing their goods were strong bonds built on their own character and honor.

When the ship was launched there was much fanfare. In fact, there were those whose intentions were to destroy the ship even before it could be launched. But that small band of citizens who wanted to see the ship succeed worked even harder to make sure the ship was tightly built. In the heart of the ship they placed the very instructions that informed the Captain, officers and crew how to sail the ship on a course that would always be the safest and best for all concerned.


The first Captain, officers and crew were established and began to forge out the routes the ship would take. The Captain was wise with many years of experience and deep moral stability. He followed the ship’s instructions so that all in the ship would benefit from the economic growth the ship brought as it visited the markets of the world. For over two-hundred years the ship sailed the oceans and developed great wealth by servicing the markets it visited.


Then one day during an extremely lean number of years the crew members began to complain because they lost some of their resources during a “great depression” that spread throughout the world. Income became scarce and many of the crew became idle, without a job to complete. Many of the officers lost much of their resources as well. The officers and crew alike began to lose trust with the Captain, blaming him for their troubles.


A new Captain assumed duties and began to change some of the instructions located in the heart of the ship. The new Captain established a policy to collect resources from the officers who were believed to have more than others. From that new-found resource, the Captain began to establish programs to have the crew who were idle complete various jobs on the ship. This enabled them to be paid from a source of money that was controlled by the Captain and a few of his officers.


As time passed the number of crew members who were dependent on the pay from the Captain and a few officers increased. This caused the Captain to extract a greater amount of resources from the array of officers; but he added that policy to include those who were crew members as well. Meantime, the market around the world had grown to such an extent that other ships around the world were competing with the small cargo ship.


The resources of the ship increased and decreased as time passed. For many years, and participation in several wars, the ship found itself in yet another economic lean year. The crew had grown weary of the loss of resources and a new Captain emerged who promised the crew a new “hope and change” that he would initiate if they would follow him as Captain.


The new Captain wasted no time initiating policies that started significant change among the ship’s crew and officers. Many of the officers and crew had managed to store up some personal resources over the years through hard work and passing resources from generation to generation through the years. The new Captain viewed those resources and declared that they were unfairly obtained and offered a new idea that allowed him to confiscate those resources and redistribute them to the crew members whom he declared were the “rightful owners.”


The new Captain looked out among his officers and chose a few who would be loyal to him to be his personal “Czars” to answer to him alone. He took responsibilities from the other officers and matched those responsibilities to his personal Czars and they took control of much of the operation of the small ship. The Captain began to issue policies and “executive orders” from within his own power that resulted in higher and higher tribute being taken for his own use.


The crew had become embroiled in a struggle for existence just to maintain what little they had. The Captain, through his officers and Czars, issued a policy that created great sums of money to “bail out” the crew members who had been hit the hardest. But what resulted instead was a large store of money and resources that became his own resource to use as he took control of many of the production functions of the ship.


When the ship reached different ports around the world that were markets for the ship to carry goods, the Captain entered into agreements with the leaders of those markets to borrow more and more money. Finally, the treasury of the ship became overcome with debt to the other markets of the world. The debt was so great that the crew began to realize that it would take years into the future to even begin to pay off the debt. The crew learned that many future generations of their offspring would actually be born in debt and would likely never pay off the debt in their lifetimes.


When the crew finally saw the futility of the changes that had been promised by the new Captain, they began to organize into protest groups to take their grievances to the Captain. Unfortunately, by the time the crew realized what had happened, the Captain and his Czars, along with some of the more wealthy officers, had destroyed the operating instructions that had been placed in the heart of the ship and replaced them with new executive orders and Captain’s policies.


The crew turned to the officers for help. The officers, however, had become so accustomed to being supported by the Captain and his Czars that they had become dependent for their livelihood and were unable to free themselves from that dependency.


Then one day, many years after becoming Captain, and remaining in that position by edict, the Captain left the ship and moved to a different part of the world. The markers of debt from several ports had been called and the crew had little resource to pay. Because of the years of dependency, debt, loss of freedoms, and the loss of the instructions from the heart of the ship, the crew and the ship were taken by force from the largest port who had loaned the ship’s Captain the most money.


The little ship now is dry-docked just off the South China Sea where the crew and their families have become slaves of the War Lords who have made them totally dependent with only a level of sustenance that barely keeps them living.

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Conservatives and liberals in the middle

Just listening to the public debates in the political world leaves one with a swimming head. Like watching a game of tennis we move from one side to another watching the ball move back and forth. In the political sense the ball is whatever issue currently captures the forefront. We are seeing a movement in today’s political scene that is generating a lot of positive regard for so-called Independents.

Personalities like Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck on the “conservative” side take on the personalities of Barak Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi on the “liberal” or “progressive” side. As “We the People” sit in the stands watching the “issue” being batted back and forth, we wonder about the outcomes of such debates. We are asked to mark our own position regarding the issue and ultimately make a decision about where we stand.






As these “ideologues” present their evidence through a “montage” constructed by bits of evidence from former speeches by their opposition, they weigh in with what they determine as “proof” of their position. We are asked to judge the credibility of the “proof” and then become opposition or proponents, whatever the case may be.






Some of those issues currently being debated include such grandiose things as capitalism versus socialism for our country. Tributaries from those issues include such things as more government control versus less government control; higher taxes vs. lower taxes; universal healthcare vs. some form of status quo; market economy vs. redistribution of wealth; and, illegal immigration issues leading to deportation vs. legalization and amnesty.






The difficulty in arriving at a clear-cut position is not only the many-facetted perceptions of any single issue, but the variance in individual acceptance of the credibility of either side of the argument as most people watch and listen.






I have a Theory: The only thing that will advance the cause of liberalism is conservatism; the only thing that will advance the cause of conservatism is liberalism.






A person whose mind-set or world view is liberalism will not readily compromise with a conservative. Likewise, a person whose mind-set or world view is conservatism will not compromise with a liberal.






Moderation is a word that both conservatives and liberals abhor. It is assumed that a person with moderation lacks the fire or passion to accept the positions on either the right or the left.






Conservatives who are on the right are generally moving in the direction of conservatism; liberals who are on the left are generally moving in the direction of liberalism.






Since they are generally (almost always) moving in the direction of their mindset, they only get more liberal or more conservative respectively as time passes. Each side ultimately reaches a point where ideology on either side reaches a position of radicalism. When radicalism becomes dominant the ideologue being generally fearful of the radicalism begins a retreat that causes a movement of mindset in a different direction. At the point of radicalism for a liberal person, generally, as one conservative idea is accepted as tenable to the liberal mind, others tend to be more plausible as well; likewise, at the point of radicalism for the conservative person, generally, as one liberal idea is accepted as tenable to the conservative mind, others tend to be more plausible as well.






Therefore, it is moderation which is always moving in one direction or the other.






This is the pendulum effect that swings to the right as far as it can, then returns to the left and moves in that direction until it goes as far as it can; it then momentarily stops and begins its journey back to the right.






A moderate then, is either coming from the right, or coming from the left. But during that travel time there is a point, or range, at which each position has some similar values and attitudes in common. Often this can be described as the common ground where the minds meet and compromise occurs.






I believe that is where our so-called “Tea Party” movement is taking form. If one could do a detailed study of each participant in that movement (or a good, reliable representative sample), I believe that the majority of “moderate” positions would be much less inclined to hang on to an arbitrary position at the extreme of either liberal or conservative, and much more willing to compromise to the more common ground.






In our current political situation I believe we are seeing a reaction to the extreme left that offered up our so-called “hope and change” during the last national election. During that election the extreme radicals on both the left and the right delivered the current conditions. I believe that what we will see during the next national election will be great numbers of those who were on the extreme radical side of left and right turn out as moderates (or independents) and reverse their previous decision because each extreme position is on their journey back to the middle.