Work as an economic solution.

God once said that by the sweat of ones brow, one should eat. He also told
us that if a man will not work, he shall not eat. I found it necessary to
dispatch this today. Think it through. Could Christians lead the way?
Could we value work over money? What about volunteerism? Just some
thoughts

Sept 23, 2011

White House Staff
Executive Branch
United States of America

More serious than is generally known

To whom it may concern;

I am a Disabled American Worker who is not altogether uneducated. Having
once been a rather effective member of the workforce, I am familiar with
issues of concern by the wealthy. But having been blind the bulk of my
adult life, I am also familiar with poverty related issues. Over the past
several years I have taken an academic and personal interest in economics
and done considerable study beyond my graduate level education. Please hear
my words. This is serious.

I know the White House staff and the bulk of congress from both parties have
been well briefed by economists from several financing perspectives. The
best synoptic book currently available at the popular level is Endgame: The
end of the debt Supercycle and it's implications by John Mauldin. Simply
put, this is more than a double dip recession we are in, the economy is
deleveraging. The private sector is dumping debt and the public sector is
frantically accumulating debt. Every generation knows good times and hard.
We have just lived through a sixty year party and it is time to pay up.

At this point, political affiliation, economic policy and stimulus programs
will only adjust the rate of the economic decline we face and our level of
preparedness for the end consequences. We simply must face that supply and
demand free market economics are rooted in human nature and are
irresistible. People without an altruistic motive will not work without a
perceived benefit. Take the ability to better one's self out of the
equation and most people do not work. The ability to pay for material goods
on debt, technological innovations in manufacture and the ease of
international commerce have for some time now reduced the work load needed
for wealth acquisition. Debt is no longer a viable option and foreign
standards of living and manufacture are improving. The free market is now
acting in such a manner as to bring some equilibrium to the situation and we
can not stop it.

We are looking at a second great depression and you know it. With the
availability of modern transportation, modern agriculture, modern banking
and market controls, modern medicine and technology, particularly in
communications, modern infrastructure and the fact there is no current
nation wide drought, the suffering will not be quite as bad as the last time
around. But I promise you, in the next two years, only the oldest will
recognize the world we will be living in. It is time for good leadership to
make sound decisions and act on them. For now, here is my recommendation:

1. Educate the public about economic history and in that context explain
what is happening. Have this done by professionals since politicians are
generally not trusted. Repeatedly emphasize the survivability and character
building aspects of our national and global journey along with mentioning
the above assets as a method to avoid widespread homelessness, hunger and
thirst. The electric will still run as will the water and our toys will
still work and perhaps decline in price.

2. Emphasize the need for community cooperation. Multi generation
households and alternate heat sources might become needed. Work on these
together. Teach people to take initiative on themselves. As a blind
person, I can tell you that the larger the institution, the slower the
reaction. Think of the Katrina victims that died while waiting for a
government bus. If the mayor says stay at home, stay at home, If get out,
get out, if check on the elderly and disabled, do so.

3. Work. Run documentaries about frugal living. Repeatedly underscore the
need for work without asking the payroll questions. EVERY CONGRESSMAN and
the PRESIDENT should ask every citizen they meet where they work, what they
do and what aside from the money is admirable about it. WE MUST once again
be a nation of people who are proud of the work they do rather than the
money they earn and what it will buy. I was forced out of the workforce
because of my blindness. I can tell you, a man stands with broader
shoulders after a hard day's work.

4. Tap the unemployed for civil service. Make civil service a prerequisite
for unemployment checks and welfare. Employ these people specifically in
law enforcement, sanitation, fire and emergency services. There will be
some riots when some less educated and lazy people realize the free ride is
over and hardship is coming.

5. Stop bailing out banks with taxpayer money or that of future
generations. The strongest banks will survive in the free market. Accept
property, particularly residential from financial institutions at market
rates in exchange for liquidation of bad debt, then help the housing
situation for the poor by selling the homes for CASH ONLY to individuals and
families only with a limit of one per family unit. Sell the remainder to
local municipalities. Forget about building new houses and infrastructure.
We are already overbuilt, with more bedrooms than we have people. There are
too many vacant houses and too many homeless people.

6. Switch from an environmental to a conservationist policy. Regulate what
may be discharged into the land, air and water rather than specifying the
types of vehicles and homes which may be built. As fuel prices rise, for
example, the market will demand that more fuel efficient cars will be built
in time. Remember, there are doctors out there who are doctors because they
want the private airplane and muscle car. Some will become analysts or
educators when they realize they will never own a sports car. Let the
market handle that. All the citizens want is clean water to swim in, clean
national parks and good air to breathe. Here in Kentucky, we have
accomplished much of this at the local level and through private
initiatives.

High speed rail. This project will come along as soon as the profitability
for the program becomes evident. People tend to want private cars when they
can afford it. As the economy declines, the trains will come back better
than ever. The market will solve the problem.

7. Please consider the Fair tax as a replacement for the national income
tax. It would make this nation a corporate haven with this tax structure
and the availability of our educated, shortly far more hearty work force. A
subsistence check could be issued to the lowest income citizens to offset
the taxes on essentials. Apply the tax at every point of sale. This will
by nature make the haircuts less taxed and the luxury cars more heavily
taxed on a percentage basis. And what the hell, the kid with the lawnmower
and the farmer selling produce off his trailer are not taxed at all until
they buy something.

BUT PAY SPECIAL HEED: Do not let the public come to these realizations in
one big tidal wave. Release it bit by bit along with education targeted at
adjustment and this should avoid mass hysteria. Make it illegal for a
mortgage holder or a landlord to evict someone for their home for only
failure to pay for at least one year after the initial stock and commodity
crash. Make this very, very well known. We will need much more extended
stay ultra low income housing such as residential motels and hostels,
particularly for the elderly and disabled. Make all publicly funded nursing
homes multi generational so all able bodied adults can have the liberty to
work. Multi generation homes require less staff and are clinically more
sound anyway.

Well, this is what I have to say. Foresight and preparation are the
solutions. I have little to lose at this point in life. I am actually
going to enjoy watching a lot of very aarogant people put in their place and
a lot of freeloaders get their just desserts. Warren Buffitt once said that
a bet against the United States economy or otherwise is a very bad bet. A
good point. And it is true. But look at all the railroads he owns and ask
yourself why. Let's work through this together. Don't buy twice as much
diet food at four times the cost, buy half the real food at half the cost.
Show some common sense. And let's make this OUR finest hour. My
Grandparents thought of themselves as the greatest generation. Is that a
challenge?

With respect,
Warren McClendon
Lexington, Kentucky.

Sampsonite corrections

Dear Pastor,

"How do you assess the life and ministry of a man like Samson? I think
Alexander Maclaren says it well: "Instead of trying to make a lofty hero out
of him, it is far better to recognize frankly the limitations of his
character and the imperfections of his religion. . . . If the merely human
passion of vengeance throbbed fiercely in Samson's prayer, he had never
heard 'Love your enemies'; and, for his epoch, the destruction of the
enemies of God and of Israel was duty." His decline began when he disagreed
with his parents about marrying a Philistine girl. Then he disdained his
Nazirite vow and defiled himself. He disregarded the warnings of God,
disobeyed the Word of God, and was defeated by the enemies of God. He
probably thought that he had the privilege of indulging in sin since he wore
the badge of a Nazirite and won so many victories for the Lord, but he was
wrong. "Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down,
without walls" (Prov. 25:28, nkjv). "He who is slow to anger is better than
the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city" (Prov.
16:32, nkjv). I wonder whether Solomon was thinking about Samson when he
wrote those words."

This is absolutely magnificent in every way. When you closed your lesson
this evening, I must admit that a tear found it's way onto my face. En
route to Church this evening, Aaron, Lindsey and I spoke at some length
about the distinctives of the charismatic / effervescent movement in
relationship to more traditional and ancient forms of Christianity. I am
deeply impressed with the Ancient Faith (Orthodox) and even some forms of
Catholicism. The worship is traditional, old as the faith it's self and
even patterned in some cases after the practices of the primordial Church.
But discipleship and personal growth outside tradition has fallen aside.
Would you fall away? I dare say not, you are bound by thousands of years of
tradition, history and a community identity founded on those traditions.

The Charismatic "seeker sensitive" movement features outpouring of emotion
quite worthy of an Almighty God on the surface. The terminology is even
different. But the truth is often preached. fervently. the tradition
consists of less than a hundred years of history. But even those among it's
ranks note the inconsistencies between prayer, preaching and practice. God
most certainly can act without human assent and would not respect speaking
in tongues followed by the use of profanity against a host thirty minuts
later. But still, the concept of outreach is there and they can retain the
truth. Leave? Fall in love with a pretty girl, call it "The calling of
God" and walk away.

But at Anchor and Congregations like it, we have the needed mix. The hymns
and practices would appeal to an Orthodox or Catholic, except that the rich
content and personal impact of Scripture is so very evident. Though not
spoken in Latin, Greek or some other dusty language, The words are largely
the same set to even more powerful melodies. I attended an Orthodox /
Byzantine congrigation in July, the doxology was exactly the same, in
English, but sung as a chant. The scripture lesson is not usually very
deep.

at Anchor Baptist and perhaps a few Churches like it, we get so deeply into
the Word of God..
Pastor Carl was teaching a Sunday School lesson on Sunday morning. This
lesson was also more than worthy of any pulpit. Perhaps like Sampson, I was
playing with the minds of others. I made some sort of bizarre connection
between the Samaritan woman who was at that moment with a sixth man named
Jesus and expecting insight into worship in spirit and truth when I
connected the situation with the iron fist with which I govern my own life
and household.

You see, the prime directive in this home is that "no person who resides in
these walls or calls our people family shall at any time raise their voice
in anger or say a single word with the intention of inflicting harm on
another human being.". All of us were raised in abusive and neglectful
homes and know too deeply the pain an innocent suffers at the hands of an
angry loved one. I asked the parents if they had ever risen their voices in
anger against a child. The ascension I heard did little to assuage my
guilty conscience.

Beyond the superficial, Oh, how like Sampson I have become. Were the
Kingdom a Navy, I would be little more than a super carrier, quite eager to
blast entire regions into submission, terrifying an entire nation, but quite
ineffectual in transporting food to the starving, or rendering aid to the
capsized sailboat. In outrage, perhaps like Sampson, I had risen my
powerful voice against the innocent to protect my own selfish definition of
honor, with no regard to the damage I caused. And as Sampson flirted with
Delighla, as a dog returns to it's vomit, I do not put those destructive
habits behind me. I am all to quick to fight God's battles, but unlikely to
turn the other cheek.

I spoke to the youth regarding forgiveness a few weeks ago. One very bright
student asked if I would "turn the other cheek". In humiliation, I honestly
said "no,.. I would draw my blaster and blast the one that struck me." I
am as forgiving as a hero from a spaghetti western and as compassionate as
Emporer Palpatine.

Your words and those of Carl pierced me through and through. Think of it: I
was lead to Christ thirty years ago just down the street. But sometimes I
fail so badly that I want to place my hands on those pillars and utter
Sampson's last prayer. Pray that the light that flickers grows to a
campfire. I do not want to die with enemies at my throat, I want to pass
away in peace, knowing my job to be well done. And pray that those I love
would never suffer again from my imperfections.

And Pastor, please do not leave me an unfinished work. I spoke with Coach
on the way home the other day. You and Carl are gifted beyond even what you
or even your families might suspect. Be harsh with me, be honest with me,
Exhort me to change. I am blind and growing far older than my demeanor or
chronological age might indicate. I think I might live less than other men.
My life has been filled with heartbreak and until just the last few years
with hardship. But I believe the current serenity I now enjoy is a
precursor to higher service and sacrifice. I will never lead so well as do
the two of you. But please stay the course so long as your bible and worthy
conscience guide your steps. Lead me, lead us, to higher service.

A sampsonite failure

Dear Pastor,

"How do you assess the life and ministry of a man like Samson? I think
Alexander Maclaren says it well: "Instead of trying to make a lofty hero out
of him, it is far better to recognize frankly the limitations of his
character and the imperfections of his religion. . . . If the merely human
passion of vengeance throbbed fiercely in Samson's prayer, he had never
heard 'Love your enemies'; and, for his epoch, the destruction of the
enemies of God and of Israel was duty." His decline began when he disagreed
with his parents about marrying a Philistine girl. Then he disdained his
Nazirite vow and defiled himself. He disregarded the warnings of God,
disobeyed the Word of God, and was defeated by the enemies of God. He
probably thought that he had the privilege of indulging in sin since he wore
the badge of a Nazirite and won so many victories for the Lord, but he was
wrong. "Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down,
without walls" (Prov. 25:28, nkjv). "He who is slow to anger is better than
the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city" (Prov.
16:32, nkjv). I wonder whether Solomon was thinking about Samson when he
wrote those words."

This is absolutely magnificent in every way. When you closed your lesson
this evening, I must admit that a tear found it's way onto my face. En
route to Church this evening, Aaron, Lindsey and I spoke at some length
about the distinctives of the charismatic / effervescent movement in
relationship to more traditional and ancient forms of Christianity. I am
deeply impressed with the Ancient Faith (Orthodox) and even some forms of
Catholicism. The worship is traditional, old as the faith it's self and
even patterned in some cases after the practices of the primordial Church.
But discipleship and personal growth outside tradition has fallen aside.
Would you fall away? I dare say not, you are bound by thousands of years of
tradition, history and a community identity founded on those traditions.

The Charismatic "seeker sensitive" movement features outpouring of emotion
quite worthy of an Almighty God on the surface. The terminology is even
different and the tradition consists of less than a hundred years of
history. But even those among it's ranks note the inconsistencies between
prayer, preaching and practice. God most certainly can act without human
assent and would not respect speaking in tongues followed by the use of
profanity against a host thirty minuts later. But still, the concept of
outreach is there and they can retain the truth. Leave? Fall in love with
a pretty girl, call it "The calling of God" and walk away.

But at Anchor and Congregations like it, we have the needed mix. The hymns
and practices would appeal to an Orthodox or Catholic, except that the rich
content and personal impact of Scripture is so very evident. Though not
spoken in Latin, Greek or some other dusty language, The words are largely
the same set to even more powerful melodies. I attended an Orthodox /
Byzantine congrigation in July, the doxology was exactly the same, in
English, but sung as a chant. The scripture lesson is not usually very
deep.

But at Anchor Baptist and perhaps a few Churches like it, we get so deeply
into the Word of God..
Pastor Carl was teaching a Sunday School lesson on Sunday morning. This
lesson was also more than worthy of any pulpit. Perhaps like Sampson, I was
playing with the minds of others. I made some sort of bizarre connection
between the Samaritan woman who was at that moment with a sixth man named
Jesus and expecting insight into worship in spirit and truth when I
connected the situation with the iron fist with which I govern my own life
and household.

You see, the prime directive in this home is that "no person who resides in
these walls or calls our people family shall at any time raise their voice
in anger or say a single word with the intention of inflicting harm on
another human being." All of us were raised in abusive and neglectful
homes and know to deeply the pain an innocent suffers at the hands of an
angry loved one. I asked the parents if they had ever risen their voices in
anger against a child. The ascension I heard did little to assuage my
guilty conscience.

Beyond the superficial, Oh, how like Sampson I have become. Were the
Kingdom a Navy, I would be little more than a super carrier, quite eager to
blast entire regions into submission, terrifying an entire nation, but quite
ineffectual in transporting food to the starving, or rendering aid to the
capsized sailboat. In outrage, perhaps like Sampson, I had risen my
powerful voice against the innocent to protect my own selfish definition of
honor, with no regard to the damage I caused. And as Sampson flirted with
Delighla, as a dog returns to it's vomit, I do not put those destructive
habits behind me. I am all to quick to fight God's battles, but unlikely to
turn the other cheek.

I spoke to the youth regarding forgiveness a few weeks ago. One very bright
student asked if I would "turn the other cheek". In humiliation, I honestly
said "no,.. I would draw my blaster and blast the one that struck me." I
am as forgiving as a hero from a spaghetti western and as compassionate as
Emporer Palpatine.

Your words and those of Carl pierced me through and through. Think of it: I
was lead to Christ thirty years ago just down the street. But sometimes I
fail so badly that I want to place my hands on those pillars and utter
Sampson's last prayer. Pray that the light that flickers grows to a
campfire. I do not want to die with enemies at my throat, I want to pass
away in peace, knowing my job to be well done. And pray that those I love
would never suffer again from my imperfections.

And Pastor, please do not leave me an unfinished work I spoke with Coach on
the way home the other day. You and Carl are gifted beyond even what you or
even your families might suspect. Be harsh with me, be honest with me,
Exhort me to change. I am blind and growing far older than my demeanor or
chronological age might indicate. I think I might live less than other men.
My life has been filled with heartbreak and until just the last few years
with hardship. But I believe the current serenity I now enjoy is a
precursor to higher service and sacrifice. I will never lead so well as do
the two of you. But please stay the course so long as your bible and worthy
conscience guide your steps. Lead me, lead us, to higher service.

Moving on

Work hard in good times to thrive. Work hard in poor times to survive.

Reformed financial application

Read the Book of Proverbs, chapter 6, then read this along with it's
references and related references. The Reformed Theologeon is to lead by
teaching God's Ordinance of Labor. There is no free ride, Work is the only
legitimate avenue to eat. Each individual is in the end run responsible for
themselves. The debtor is slave to the lender.

I am convinced. This is not the only individual concerned, I have been
persuaded by six months of research and about two years of intuition. I am
aware of the personal ramifications and have done what I can. But again, a
loyal friend warns his friends of impending danger. The unemployment rate
has been over 20% for about two and a half years when those who have given
up are included.

It is incumbent upon us with minds to serve where possible. The rich who
hold the bulk of their assets and asses in paper will be even more screwed
than those of us who are used to empty wallets and beans.

Warren Buffitt has been buying railroads then taking them off the stock
market and Ted turner now owns a land mass about the size of Iowa for a
reason. Land and transportation will shortly be the only truly valuable real
assets. Whisky, coffee, gasoline, wood, dried and canned food will be the
currency and backpacks to hold those currencies will replace wallets. You
are correct, this nation is and always was great. But the great depression
happened and we call it's survivors "the great generation". What will the
future call us?

I listened to the president's denial letter given today. After recovering
my constitutionals over being denied the ability to absorb our beloved chief
executive's mindless pabulum over the air, I went to the link below and
discovered that the bulk of His glory's staff is even more challenged than
he. No one yet comprehends that a 4 Trillion adjustment in the income to
expenditure ratio will make one shovel load of shingles worth of difference.
While both Rush and WLAP were fundamentally as correct in observing that
cutting government size for a short term salve is best as they were
incorrect in letting me listen to the ripping moron himself, nobody even
came close to addressing the problem that our nation has been for about two
and a half years in bankrupsy and the credit line is maxed out.

All his munificence did today was snatch the final nail out of every other
moron's hands and drove it into the economic coffin himself. Several leading
economists including Warren Buffitt predicted that some event would occure
either by action or inaction to trigger the first steps of hyperinflationary
depression this spring and Obama lovingly obliged. Reduce dependency on
offshore oil? The problem will be solved when nobody can afford gasoline,
the supply demand economy will see to that. Government health care? I am
blind and choose to pay cash rather than use Medicare so I can be treated
with dignity at the doctor! Pay for education? I busted my ass and paid for
my own bachelor's and Master's degree? Was I luckier than most? No, I was
not. I am blind and I believe in work. Work, work!

The problem now is that we have gotten so used to deferring responsibility
to government and thereby also transferred up the chain of command our
personal sovereignty, that we can no longer blow our noses without a
prescription, a waiting period and three signatures from a social worker.
What are we going to do when the now exponentially growing hyperinflation
dries into oblivion the purchasing power of the dollar and our government
simply goes poof! The store shelves will empty, the gas pumps will run dry
and the power will fail and stay that way until some hearty individuals
decide hey I had better go to work today even if my pay isn't worth canola
or my family and I am as dead as the morons who died in the food riot last
night.

The point is that personal sovereignty and responsibility are coming back.
People with a voice need to decide whether that happens in good order or
violently. Obaminomics just voted violence. What do we say? It is time to
not just man up, it is time to smarten up. The bottom is, not will be
falling out. where is the Foresight, where is the foresight.

http://www.Whitehouse.gov/live

You are correct in your general perspective. The great
> depression was the
> lowest point for our nation in history. The boom of the
> nineties was a huge
> tidal wave. But remember this, the economy was doing just
> great , better
> than we are right now, less than six month's prior to the great
> depression. The Nazdak crash happened with a two day warning.
> The fundamentals are still there. The interest on the
> national debt will
> exceed the gross domestic product in less than three
> years. When that
> happens, the nation will no longer be able to service the debt
> by borrowing
> more money. with a 100% tax rate and the elimination of
> the entire
> government, we will still be in the hole. Listen to the
> presidents speech
> today. I don't know how honest he will be, but I do know
> that for the past
> year the government has been printing redbacks at full throttle.
>
> Again, this is my attempt to warn those I love of coming peril
> as a
> concerned friend. You are intelligent. Google the
> terms national debt,
> gross domestic product, hyperinflation, depression, and economic
> collapse. Read and learn.

I know this is quite a read. But every forecast
> this man
> > has made has thus
> > far come true right on target. We are now in
> April of
> > 2011. Beef is now
> > three times as expensive as it was a year ago and fuel
> is now
> > three times
> > the cost. The last time was because of bad speculation,
> > which can recover,
> > this time it is because of currency devaluation, which
> can not
> > recover in
> > this decade. I have read over thirty articles on the
> > matter thus far and
> > all put the crosshairs on mid 2011. Between now
> and October.
> >
> > IF WE ARE TRAVELLING: I have little concern for
> my own
> > well being. Let me
> > get stranded. But I will not be separated from
> those I am
> > charged with
> > protecting or fly them to a place where we have no home and
> > thereby strand
> > them.
> >
> > Listen to me and listen well. You have a widely varying
> > opinion of my
> > nature. There are those who simply dismiss me
> because of
> > reasons I will not
> > elaborate on. Since they will not heed my advice,
> I have
> > no responsibility
> > when they crash and burn. But those of you who
> know me
> > well also know that
> > my paths are guided by foresight, planning and hard earned
> > wisdom. those of
> > you who know me very, very well have trusted me with
> major financial
> > decisions, your families and even your very lives and
> you have
> > profited from
> > this. The economy is about to go KABOOM, and I do
> not want
> > the people I
> > love who can understand this to be sitting there like a
> bunch of
> > babbling idiots because I did not warn you.
> >
> > Granted, I have made a few, and a very few major
> mistakes in my
> > life. I
> > plead with God that this is one of them, but for now I am
> > convinced. That
> > being said, the economy will collapse in this sequence:
> >
> > 1. Non essential or luxury service industries.
> > 2. Luxury travel industries.
> > 3. Non Essential or non immediate health care
> > 4. The manufacturing base for durable goods.
> > 5. Service industries for irreplaceable durable goods
> > 6. Essential medical services
> > 7. Essential transportation services, excluding
> bicycles > and feet.
> > 8. Extremely essential services like electric, water,
> > sanitation, clothing
> > and food delivery.
> >
> > Banks and hospitals will randomly fail through the
> > process. The more people
> > depend on you to survive, the better off you are.
> Work and
> > save to survive,
> > spend and borrow to die.
> >
> > If you work for the government and are not a police
> man, fire
> > man, soldier,
> > doctor, utility or sanitation worker, plan on losing
> your job
> > about the time
> > the first essential services fail.
> >
> > Your debts and your paper savings will vanish when the
> bulk of
> > the banks
> > fail or when the government starts issuing red currency.
> > WARNING: The
> > treasury service is believed to have been printing redbacks
> > since last
> > summer. Your home will be paid off, you will owe no
> > rent. but you will
> > have no money. But if you can nail boards
> together, pick
> > tomatoes, treat
> > the flue, fix broken plumbing, wiring or computers, you will
> > have food.
> >
> > Keep your sanity about you and you should
> survive. The
> > infrastructure will
> > rebound quickly, even if it does fail. The
> streets will
> > become safe very
> > quickly because the police forces will grow ten fold staffed
> > mainly by
> > volunteer deputies.
> >
> > Prepare for this much like you would prepare for a natural
> > disaster. Stay
> > where you are, have plenty of non perishable food, a
> good water
> > supply or
> > knowlage of water purification, essential medicine and warm
> > clothing. Get
> > used to not having air conditioning in the summer and
> shutting > off the water
> > over night and when travelling during the winter. Drain
> > the plumbing system
> > when a hard freeze is forecast and you have no power.
> >
> > If work presents itself either in exchange for cash or
> > commodities, take it.
> > I am above no form of work and neither are you. Unless
> > your doctor has told
> > you to "lose weight or die", such as in the case of heart
> > disease, stay fat
> > for a little while longer.
> >
> > And most importantly, remember that the crowds are crowds
> > because they are
> > stupid. Do not join in on food riots or bank rushes.
> > That is a very good
> > way to get shot.
> >
> > Right now, start spending money on things that have
> sustainable > or barter
> > value and have your transportation, home and clothing
> in good
> > supply and
> > good repair. Remember that when the 1929 crash
> happened, > most of the morons
> > died within the first six months. The rest
> toughed it out
> > for a decade and
> > survived. The Church building will be paid off,
> but have
> > no power. Put
> > hinges on the windows. Since Church and shopping
> are all
> > day walking
> > events, plan well and make a whole day of it, just like
> in the
> > Waltons or
> > little house on the prairie.
> >
> > Remember this too. Our communications
> infrastructure is
> > vastly superior to
> > and requires electricity to operate more so than did
> the communication
> > infrastructure of the great depression. It will never
> > entirely fail and
> > will bounce back the minute the power comes back on.
> >
> > I hope every one of you calls me an idiot in about two
> > years. But for now,
> > there it is. Read this article and study
> up. This is
> > Warren McClendon
> > talking. I warned you. I will sleep well tonight
> > having filled my
> > responsibility. I love and respect each of
> you. This
> > is Warren McClendon
> > talking. Ignore the political slant of this author.
> > The bulk of articles I
> > have read and posted have been by obvious fiscal
> > conservatives. But this
> > dude just put it all so very well.
> >
> >
> > Live Long and Prosper,
> >
> > Warren
> >
> > http://pix.cs.olemiss.edu/depress
> >
> >
>

A serious matter

This was sent to my pastor this week:

I sent this letter to my pastors today. I feel like an idiot.

-Warren

Dear Pastor's,

I am most disturbed and challenged by what I have heard this evening and in
Sunday School about the state of our youth. I have many young people in the
grade school through young adult age among my friends because I have spent
the bulk of my adult life in youth work and because my disability has
prevented the upward mobility typical of men my age.

I have conducted a few surveys on my own since last Sunday and found the
condition of the next generation to be far from restricted to our
congrigation. A general alarm to other congregations may be called for.
Having attended Bible College and made most of my Christian friends in
discipleship situations I tended to gravitate toward, I had assumed that
most children from Christian families were as I observed.

I had as I mentioned noticed a troubling tendency of other teachers over the
past twenty five years to use canned fluffy devotional material for Sunday
School lessons. I also noticed some ignorance on their part of Biblical
issues I had always considered a given.

so as I taught, I tended to assume that the kids from that "Christian"
background had the basics of the Christian faith down. I will not rest well
tonight feeling I was gravely mistaken and that I may have betrayed some
people I love very much. No wonder my life is filled with people ranging
from high school age to my age who have simply stopped going to Church. I
am meeting with a young person from a former church I have known since age
13. He reports having stopped attending Church because there is nothing
worth hearing and though a gifted academician, can not defend the Deity of
Jesus Christ. He was never taught. Had I ever been his Sunday School
teacher, I would have assumed he could have at least defended all the points
of the Apostle's Creed. I did lead a couple of young ones to Christ during
that experience because God located me in a situation where my role was
obvious and in His Sovereignty saw to the matter. But it never occurred to
me that the Churched kids needed the same.

HERE IS A FACT for you. When I was a teen, my church singled out two high
school students for discipleship one on one with a youth worker. Both of us
walk with Christ now. I am what I am and Colonel Todd is a chaplain in the
air force. Most of the Bible majors I can think of in my graduating class
at Nyack had similar opportunities. The rest are largely unchurched and a
few are nominal attendance only Christians who do not have devotions at home
any more than they check on their blind friend in illness or poor weather.
How in the world could I have been so blind, no pun intended. God has
trimmed the three churches I attended since 1988 from the tree and I didn't
even notice!

Remember all the postings on my blog about the dangers of the seeker
sensitive movement? Today's kids were raised by parents discipled in seeker
friendly churches. I am such a moron! My generation came of age during the
seeker friendly era with only a few of us holding true to the Bible. The
rest? Gone with the wind.

I wonder if there is a curriculum available from a good source designed to
disciple the new believer beyond answering the question "how does this
passage make you feel?" You know what I said the last time I was asked that
question. Christianity is not based on feeling, but on historical fact.
Our denomination must have something, or do we just jump from "how does this
passage.." to seminary in one jump. The last generation was raised on
catechisms and I thought that was an error because there were a few fruit
cakes on the shelf. The catechism's certainly did not save my parent's or
grandparent's souls. But again, walking away from the Bible was not the
solution. How many people in our congrigation are older than us and how
many are younger? And which age group is proportionally larger in the
population?

I am minded to search high and low for good curriculum and know of several
from my formal education and prior to that date. Failing that, I am minded
to humanize the Heidelberg Catechism and Berkhoff. My Bible degree was
largely taught from lecture notes which were distributed by the professor or
purchased at the seminary book store for a nominal price. I have those
notes, the ability to replicate and adjust them. They have printed waivers
on their front cover. I have the ability to throw together one excellent
curriculum appropriate to the Junior High level and up fairly quickly.
Tailored lessons would take a little more time.

I think discipleship classes should be offered to all ages but produced with
future Church leaders in mind. The fact that these classes are more
advanced in nature should be made plainly evident. Come planning to be
serious. Leaders should be ready to answer hard questions. The books
available from the various publishers are not inexpensive, but they are far
more valuable than new building projects. And since revisionist "theology"
took hold about the time the seeker sensitive movement started, the older
texts are far less expensive and many are available for free under public
domain. Look at what we can simply download.

Though the Church should always have a open door, the Biblical pattern is
for the Church to equip the believer and the believer is to reach the world.
I made four solid attempts at sharing the Gospel last week and I am just a
second hand used Sunday school teacher purchased in the tacky section of the
Good Will store. How many people at our Church or in the Churches of this
town can claim that?

I hope our congrigation might burry me some day. But. I don't want that
Church to consist of fifty people sitting in a building which can seat a
thousand while listening to sermons that make them feel good and thinking
about how pretty daisies are. AGAIN the secret to Church growth,
evangelism, personal growth and the survival of Christendom as a meaningful
movement is not to draw closer to sin, be more sensitive to the differing
beliefs of others and to become more like the world. The secret is to draw
closer and closer to Biblical teaching and send thoroughly equipped
believers out into a lost world. The Church is open to all, but charged
with growing believers who are in turn to reach the world with the Gospel
and minister to the world in the Lordship of Christ. Just a few thoughts.

Don't expect a big crowd when the discipleship class is announced. But my
home is available.. As am I. Let's not conflict with the excellent
programs we do have. Serious discipleship takes more than one or two hours
per week. How many empty class rooms do we have on Friday evenings? Let's
give a try at filling them.

Your brother in Christ,

Warren McClendon