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

Against Hypocrisy

Against Hypocrisy

"Any time you point your finger at another human being to condemn, any time
you expect another to hold you in high esteem and any time you assert
yourself as the superior of another, that is the Pharisee in you" -A
Methodist

Matthew Chapter 23

13 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut
the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not
enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. 14]
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour
widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Therefore you will be
punished more severely.>}
15 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have
succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
16 "Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple,
it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound
by that oath.' 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple
that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar,
it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by
that oath.' 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that
makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears
by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears
by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And anyone who swears by heaven
swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.
23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the
more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You
should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You
blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
25 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and
self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and
dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the
inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the
same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside
you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30
And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not
have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31 So you
testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who
murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors
started!

The Pharisees- (Latin: pharisæ|us, -i; from Hebrew - ?????? perushim/????
parush, meaning "set apart"[1]) were at various times a political party, a
social movement, and a school of thought among Jews during the Second Temple
period under the Hasmonean dynasty (140–37 BCE) in the wake of the Maccabean
Revolt.
Conflicts between the Pharisees and the Sadducees took place in the context
of much broader and longstanding social and religious conflicts among Jews
dating back to the Babylonian captivity and exacerbated by the Roman
conquest. One conflict was class, between the wealthy and the poor, as the
Sadducees included mainly the priestly and aristocratic families[2][3]
Another conflict was cultural, between those who favored hellenization and
those who resisted it. A third was juridico-religious, between those who
emphasized the importance of the Temple against others who emphasized
Mosaic law and Jewish traditions among other teachings. fourth conflict,
specifically religious, involved different interpretations of the Bible (or
Tanakh), and how to apply the Torah to Jewish life, with the Sadducees
recognizing only the written letter of the Tanakh or Torah and rejecting
life after death, while the Pharisees held to Rabbinic interpretations
additional to the written texts. The contemporary historian Josephus in
"The Jewish struggle" indicates that the Pharisees received the backing and
goodwill of the common people, apparently in contrast to the more elite
Sadducees. Pharisees claimed prophetic or Mosaic authority for their
interpretation[4] of Jewish laws, while the Sadducees represented the
authority of the priestly privileges and prerogatives established since the
days of Solomon.

The problem of hypocrisy is one of those fundamental human traits which has
existed since the dawn of civelization Hypocrisy is the state of pretending
to have beliefs, opinions, virtues, feelings, qualities, standards or
practices that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception
of others and is thus a kind of lie. Though only one of many sins,
hypocrisy is particularly offensive when found in the caricter of spiritual
leaders, parents, and those perceived as being professional because society
tends to hold such individuals to a higher standard.

In His ministry, Jesus Christ returned repeatedly to the woe begotten state
of the hypocrite. The offenses he enumerated in our passage are stated
plainly enough. There were those who portrayed righteousness while
indulging in all varieties of sin. There were those who prescribed work and
failed to live by that standard. There were those who liked to make a show
of themselves at the expense of those less privileged. And thusly, they
asserted spiritual authority they lacked. To be a hypocrite is therefore in
the eyes of Christ and the rest of us to be slightly below a common liar.

But backing up just a little, a minister once observed that hypocrisy is a
sin common to one extent in each and every one of us. Psychologically
speaking, there is the difference between the projected self and the actual
self, which is a generally accepted paradigm. And it can not be said to be
hypocritical to teach against a flaw one has overcome. In one popular
commercial, an individual portraying a father confessed he was a hypocrite.
He said "No, I am not a vegetarian who wears leather shoes". He said he was
in fact a recovered drug addict who was advising his wayward son to avoid
precisely that flaw. He later said that to "help your child with his
problem, you first have to get over yours." One can envision a son
accusing his father of hypocrisy in that situation and effectively shaming
that father in the process. But the father in that situation actually
needed to deal with the fact he was not a hypocrite, but an elder who had
learned wisdom from mistakes of the past.

In the past, I have argued that the "seeker sensitive" movement contemporary
to the Churches of today was proving to have been a mistake. If the Church
can not be distinguished from the rest of the world, why go to Church? And
furthermore, how can a Christian grow if they do not have the opportunity to
receive uniquely Christian teaching while in Church? I have also argued
against political involvement. The Bible teaches that human beings lack the
ability to follow the Law of Grace in Christ without knowing Christ Himself,
so why try to force Christian law on those who lack even the ability to
follow that law?
It would be better to promote the Gospel of Christ and thereby enable the
society to obey the Law of Grace and to stand ground only in those
circumstances which inhibit that Gospel or endanger the innocent, the poor,
the widows and the sick, about whom Christ was quite concerned. But
regardless of the position one takes, one's credibility is thoroughly
neutralized if one is perceived as a hypocrite. And I am afraid that the
tendency of the Church toward that particular sin will eventually be it's
undoing.

The contemporary Christian vocalist called "Carmen" once stated that "The
chief cause of atheism today is Christians, who claim Christ with their
words, but deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world
simply finds unbelievable." I fear that this entertainer and minister was
right on the target. Christians today have fallen so far into this sin that
they have made themselves the laughing stock of not only the world, but
themselves as well.

During my early days as a follower of Christ, an elder of some public
notoriety was delivering a otherwise effectual speech on proper invitations
to Church. He recommended various remedies to the objections the unchurched
tend to raise. A buffet was prescribed for those who would rather eat
breakfast, a excuse from the pastor was given for those who would otherwise
work, a cot was suggested as a sleeping accommodation for those who liked to
sleep in. At that point the congrigation was snickering. But when the idea
of issuing a pen and paper to those who objected to the hypocrisy of the
Church, thusly enabling the guest to "count all the hypocrites", the
congrigation broke into hysterical laughter. The proposed solution to "not
allow the hypocrisy of others to inhibit one's own spirituality" met with
hearty approval. While that might have been a solid piece of advice, The
arrogant disregard for the teaching of the Bible bordered on blasphemy. As
a very young Christian, it took me years to figure out why I was so
scandalized. This man was actually teaching that Christians are hypocrites
and the rest of you need to deal with it.

And nothing, absolutely nothing could be further from the intent of Jesus
Christ. From Matthew 23: 13-29, Christians are taught to avoid the
accusation of hypocrisy by not being hypocritical. And this is not to
suggest that a Christian aught not to sin, though that is also a very good
idea, it is to say that a Christian aught not to assert themselves as
something they are not. The Bible teaches that not even Christians, not one
single human soul on this earth other than Christ Himself has been without
sin. So if we come across as having a "messiahnic" self assessment, a
"holier than thou" attitude, or think of ourselves as spiritual giants, who
in the world do we think we are kidding? Such individuals are failing to
impress the world, if demographics hold true. That attitude certainly does
not impress God, who sees the attitude of the heart. It is frankly hard to
understand how such an attitude could even deceive the perpetrator
themselves.

The solution is also so very simple. All Christians need do is simply be
honest. Let the Christian be the first to confess sin. Christians are no
different than others except in one very special way. A Christian is a
sinner who has been forgiven and has accepted that free gift of forgiveness
and decided they would rather follow Christ than sin. So let us confront
the accusation of hypocrisy as Christ intended, with honesty and repentance.
Do we have a problem with lying? Admit it as a serious failing. Are we
drunken? Seek help from others with meekness and humility. Are we a
preacher who is known for stinginess? Then apologize and start giving a
little. Are we adulterous? Then walk away from it and advise against the
destructive behavior based on experience. And finally, do we wish to be
thought of as spiritual, a leader, a first class Christian? Then humble
ourselves as though we were the lowest of servants, as though we were
helpless children, as though we were not learned, as though we were owed
absolutely nothing and were concerned only for the cause of Christ. And we
aught not to simply appear as humble, we rightly ought to actually be
humble. It is humility and repentance that Christ and the world expect of
the Christian, so give it to them. God is Sovereign and He alone will
reward as reward is due. It is simply time for Christians to start being
honest and looking at themselves with sober judgment (Romans 12:3) while
openly demonstrating that this is their stance. And my friends, THAT kind
of openness and honesty is impressive both to God and man. That kind of
honesty will change our lives. And that kind of honesty will win souls. So
this trait of open honesty is that for which we must strive.

Moral suspension of the ethical

Moral suspension of the ethical
Thoughts on faith in the context of the moral and the ethical

"Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling" -Philippians
2:12
Read: Genesis 22: 1-18

Søren Aabye Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813 - 1855) was a profound
and prolific writer in the Danish "golden age" of intellectual and artistic
activity. His work crosses the boundaries of philosophy, theology,
psychology, literary criticism, devotional literature and fiction.
Kierkegaard brought this potent mixture of discourses to bear as social
critique and for the purpose of renewing Christian faith within Christendom.
At the same time he made many original conceptual contributions to each of
the disciplines he employed. He is known as the "father of existentialism",
but at least as important are his critiques of Hegel and of the German
romantics, his contributions to the development of modernism, his literary
experimentation, his vivid re-presentation of biblical figures to bring out
their modern relevance, his invention of key concepts which have been
explored and redeployed by thinkers ever since, his interventions in
contemporary Danish church politics, and his fervent attempts to analyze and
revitalize Christian faith.

Kierkegaard wanted to understand the anxiety that must have been present in
Abraham when "God tempted [him] and said to him, take Isaac, your only son,
whom you love, and go to the land of Mariah and offer him as a burnt
offering on the mountain that I shall show you." Abraham had a choice to
complete the task or to forget it. He resigned himself to the three and a
half day journey and to the loss of his son. "He said nothing to Sarah,
nothing to Eliezer-who, after all, could understand him, for did not the
nature of temptation extract from him a pledge of silence? He split the
firewood, he bound Isaac, he lit the fire, he drew the knife Because he kept
everything to himself in hiddenness he "isolated himself as higher than the
universal."

Kierkegaard says, "Infinite resignation is the last stage before faith, so
anyone who has not made this movement does not have faith, for only in
infinite resignation does an individual become conscious of their eternal
validity, and only then can by this virtue become a knight of faith. He
spoke about this kind of consciousness in an earlier book. "There comes a
moment in a person's life when immediacy is ripe, so to speak, and when the
spirit requires a higher form, when it wants to lay hold of itself as
spirit. As immediate spirit, a person is bound up with all the earthly life,
and now spirit wants to gather itself together out of this dispersion, so to
speak, and to transfigure itself in itself; the personality wants to become
conscious in its eternal validity. If this does not happen, if the movement
is halted, if it is repressed, then depression sets in.

Hebrews 11: 1,2 Biblical faith -FAITH IS A CERTAIN HOPE OR EXPECTATION THAT
GOD WILL DELIVER WHAT He has promised. "what we hope for" stated in the
Greek word "elpizomenon" refers to a sure hope or expectation
Notice that faith infers a certain hope corroborated by the word "certain"
in the next phrase, in what an individual accepts as true: the promise that
God will deliver one to eternal life or from temporal difficulties as the
context indicates. More precisely, FAITH IS A CERTAIN ACCEPTANCE AS TRUE
THAT GOD WILL DELIVER WHAT HE HAS PROMISED

According to Kierkegaard, Once Abraham became conscious of his eternal
validity he arrived at the door of faith and acted according to his faith.
In this action he became a knight of faith. In other words, one must give
up all his or her earthly possessions in infinite resignation and must also
be willing to give up whatever it is that he or she loves more than God.

Question: Compare Kierkagaard's concept of faith with the Biblical faith
stated here. Is the difference the focus of the person with faith or the
individual in which faith is placed? Could both be valid?

Over the millennia since the dawn of recorded history, human beings by their
very nature have questioned the exact nature of right and wrong. There are
those who hold to situational ethics, believing that the right and wrong are
largely dictated by the present circumstances. There are also those who
hold to a higher morality. The problem with an absolute morality is that
the right and the wrong are defined by a higher authority and given in
documentary form.

In terms of civil law, there is always the tension between the law as
written and the law as intended. Judges spend hours scrutinizing
constitutions and other high laws of the land in an effort to determine the
validity of a newly proposed legislation or regulation. Judges and juries
compare various questions of behavior, contract and intention with the
standards set forth in writing and try to render a fair judgment.

Question: Given the simplicity of situational ethics and the complexity of
moral standards, is it possible that an ethical approach to life is superior
to a moral approach to life? Under what circumstances would either approach
to decision making and social guidance faille and under what circumstances
would such systems tend to serve well?

When the concept of a Divine revelation dictates the right and the wrong,
the stakes of one's judgments as to the nature of those rights and wrongs
become more crucial as they then carry at least the potential of Divine
judgment and reward. In realization of the consequences of the revelation
of a Holy and Just God, The Bible does not teach in any way that individuals
absolutely must pay for the morally wrong, as all would fail the test.
Rather, The Bible simply asks that the individual accept a substitutionary
sacrifice of the Holy in payment for the wrongdoings of the individual,
understanding a simple desire on the part of that individual to follow God
instead of the ways of the world. In other words, have faith in Christ and
repent. Jesus Christ paid the price for sin. By accepting the payment for
sin's penalty and turning one's back on sin in preference to following
Christ, the soul is saved.

Question: In what ways was God's request of Abraham to offer his only son
Isaac as a burnt offering reminiscent of the offering of Christ on the
Cross? In what ways did the two differ? Compare the surrendering of the
self to Christ in faith to the offering of Isaac to God in faith.

Søren Kierkegaard outlined in his signature work "fear and Trembling:
Repetition" his thoughts on the struggles and actions which must have
transpired in the minds of and between Abraham and his beloved son Isaac as
they approached the moment of absolute sacrifice to God. Abraham's faith
faced challenges far more complex than the loss of his only son. The
offering required of him was by The God he had served his entire life and in
whom he had every reason to place faith and trust.

Now this offering tested the love of Abraham's son verses his love for his
god. The faith in that God must have been shaken for multiple reasons.

Question: Throughout Holy writ God stated repeatedly his command that no
person kill another. There are those modern scholars who would point out
that this law does not include killing in defense of the innocent such as in
home defense or military service. But then again, there are those who can
argue quite effectively that the ban on killing is absolute. There are
Christian denominations that adopt pacifism. In fact, killing is so
abhorant, that there are non religious pacifists. Was god within His rights
to require the killing of Isaac?

And then there is the troubling matter of Abraham failing to tell Isaac the
truth about the offering when the question was raised. While the answer
Abraham gave was quite true; God had provided the offering, it is doubtful
Isaac knew that he himself was to be offered. After all, he did ask where
the offering would come from.

Question: Did Abraham sin by failing to tell Isaac the entire truth and
thereby allow him to believe a lie?
Are there circumstances in which a lie is justifiable? Is this true
Biblically?

In the end run, Kierkegaard did in fact conclude that there is a Moral
suspension of the ethical. Where we as human beings might think a specific
action or belief as unethical in our human context, God is the originator of
the moral, being the author of Scripture. So while a human perspective an
action or belief might seem wrong, the fact that the action or belief fits
into a Divine plan justifies it. God told us it is wrong to kill, yet
destroyed Jericho and caused the great flood.

ON a more personal level, common sense tells us that the individual should
bear the responsibility for one's own behavior. But god forwent this human
conception of justice when Jesus Christ was offered as a sacrifice for the
payment of human sin. He states rather plainly through the new and old
testament that this was necessary because God's justice demanded atonement
for sin and yet His love demanded that humans be saved for a relationship
with Him. So everything ties neatly in this concept. By in faith accepting
God's moral suspension of the ethical on the part of the individual, the
individual secures a relationship with God in the person of Jesus Christ.
The individual accepts that God in his moral perrogative suspended his
ethical right to protect His only Son and thereby secured the salvation of
those He loved so dearly.

Questions: Can you think of other examples where people are asked to suffer
injustice for a greater good as Abraham did?

Abraham's faith demanded obedience of him, though he must certainly have
been mystified by what God had demanded of him. If Abraham could make such
a sacrifice and God having thusly been foreshadowed could sacrifice his only
begotten son, Is it reasonable for us to surrender to the lordship of
Christ and accept the offer of salvation despite the consequences that might
occure?

What could be considered contemporarily unethical about following Christ,
and is that suspension of the ethical justified?

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kierkegaarhttp://plato.stanford.edu/entr
ies/kierkegaard/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_Trembling

http://www.amazon.com/Fear-Trembling-Repetition-Kierkegaards-Writings/dp/069
1020264

http://www.biblestudymanuals.net/believe.htm

direct hit

I have scored in my life what I believe to be a direct hit for my future and
the future of others. Since 1990 I have had to just "make do" with my
Church affiliation. At the second and last Church I attended , I was
offering to teach a "conservative corner" Sunday school within one month.
But now I am excited and growing like I was in high school or college again.
For those of you who have prayed, thank you. If anybody wants a place to
belong, please come along as my personal guest.

The youth and children's programs here are absolutely outstanding. The
Church is intentionally focusing it's best resources at that level as an
investment in the future of both the people and the Church as a whole. And
get this, Sunday school is so outstanding that 80% of the morning attendance
also attends Sunday School. The offerings at all points are excellent. The
bulk of lessons are prepared by the teachers at a level I know to be
exhaustive and exhausting. Everything is thoroughly Biblical on a level I
have never encountered. If one is considering seminary or Bible college for
ministry preparation, think again. You might avail yourself and those you
will eventually serve better here. I attend the young adults class, and
have received the warmest welcome. The teaching and preaching have
motivated me to excellence in all areas of my life. And the kind, giving,
non pretentious, understanding and Christ like humility of those I have
encountered have put me to shame.

Given the fact I have an extensive and growing education in the field, I
will offer myself for service the moment membership allows and the staff
deems of good effect. I have worked for some time to get my life in order
to make that possible, as about two years ago, I was starting to think a
fresh Church might need planted. But for the first time since I was in
college, I know I will find myself torn between the opportunity and calling
to teach and the desire to just sit and learn. Again, all who read this are
welcome as my guest. My telephone number is posted on my facebook page.

-Warren

http://www.anchorlexky.org/sermons/

Total Depravity from a Personal Perspective

A personal perspective
On the doctrine of total depravity

"I thank God that He early taught me the gospel, and I have been so
perfectly satisfied with it, that I do not want to know any other.
Why, if I believed what some preach about the temporary, trumpery
salvation which only lasts for a time, I would scarcely be at all grateful
for it; but when I know that those whom God saves He saves with an
everlasting salvation, when I know that He gives to them an everlasting
righteousness, when I know that He settles them on an everlasting foundation
of everlasting love, and that He will bring them to His everlasting kingdom,
oh, then I do wonder, and I am astonished that such a blessing as this
should ever have been given to me!
I suppose there are some persons whose minds naturally incline towards
the doctrine of free-will. I can only say that mine inclines as naturally
towards the doctrines of sovereign grace. Sometimes, when I see some of the
worst characters in the street, I feel as if my heart must burst forth in
tears of gratitude that if God had left me alone and had not touched me by
His grace, what a great sinner I should have been! I should have run to the
utmost lengths of sin, dived into the very depths of evil, nor should I have
stopped at any vice or folly, if God had not restrained me. I feel that I
should have been a very king of sinners, if God had let me alone.
I cannot understand the reason why I am saved, except upon the ground
that God would have it so. I cannot, if I look ever so earnestly, discover
any kind of reason in myself why I should be a partaker of Divine grace. If
I am not at this moment without Christ, it is only because Christ Jesus
would have His will with me, and that will was that I should be with Him
where He is, and should share His glory. I can put the crown nowhere but
upon the head of Him whose mighty grace has saved me from going down into
the pit. It was He who turned my heart, and brought me down on my knees
before Him.
Well can I remember the manner in which I learned the doctrines of grace
in a single instant. Born, as all of us are by nature, an Arminian, I still
believed the old things I had heard continually from the pulpit, and did not
see the grace of God. When I was coming to Christ, I thought I was doing it
all myself, and though I sought the Lord earnestly, I had no idea the Lord
was seeking me. I do not think the young convert is at first aware of this.
I can recall the very day and hour when first I received those truths in my
own soul when they were, as John Bunyan says, burnt into my heart as with a
hot iron, and I can recollect how I felt that I had grown on a sudden from a
babe into a man that had made progress in Scriptural knowledge, through
having found, once for all, the clue to the truth of God." - Charles Haddon
Spurgeon

"The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that
every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was
filled with pain. So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have
created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that
move along the ground, and birds of the air--for I am grieved that I have
made them." Genesis 6: 5 - 7

"Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The
judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed
many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the
one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who
receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness
reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the
result of one trespass was condemnation for
all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification
that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the
one man the many were made
sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made
righteous." -Romans 5: 16 - 19

"For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose,
that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in
all the earth." {[17] Exodus 9:16} Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants
to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden One of you will say
to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" But
who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him
who formed it, `Why did you make me like this?'" {[20] Isaiah 29:16; 45:9}
Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some
pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? What if God, choosing
to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the
objects of his wrath--prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make
the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared
in advance for glory-- even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews
but also from the Gentiles?
" Romans 9: 17 - 24

"For God's gifts and his call are irrevocable." -Romans 11: 29

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your
bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your
spiritual {[1] Or <reasonable>} act of worship. Do not conform any longer
to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and
approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the
grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of
yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober
judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given
ou." -Romans 12: 1 - 3

"Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable
matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man,
whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must
not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything
must not condemn the man who does,
for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To
his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able
to make him stand." -Romans 14: 1-4

Through the years I at least hope some degree of maturity has become part of
my personality. The Bible at least tells me that when one becomes an adult
one puts childish ways behind one's self. Out of my infancy I remember one
of the greatest challenges in life was the necessity of accepting the fact
that there are times when I simply am not going to get what I want.

I rather painfully remember one person from my past raised to believe they
were the center of the universe. This individual was remarkably gifted and
likely to be among the top, if not the valedictorian of the related high
school class. But one day, the person was told "to do something I don't
want to do" at work, stormed out in a tantrum, dropped out of school and
lives in poverty on welfare to this day. And unfortunately, this pattern is
repeated over and over in the upcoming generation. More and more people
these days simply can not accept that they and their desires are not the
center of the universe. And the "Church" is far, far from immune to this
cultural paradigm shift. We have raised a generation having known no work
or hardship, which has as little need for introspection as they have
physical wants.

And having pandered for so very long to the wants and needs of this
generation, the "church" has lost sight of the need for Biblical education
any further than the most basic of devotional material. A generation that
has no physical needs, no reason to question their own supremacy and has
never known even a hard day's work has also had no reason to have striven
mentally or physically. Who in the modern "Church" has found themselves
compromised in safety by necessity to the point they have seriously prayed
"Well, Lord, I have no clue how I am going to get out of this one. It's You
and me." On any but the rarest occasions. Many never face hardship until
near the death bed and some buy their way out of suffering even then.

Introduce then to such people a Bible that teaches that the "self" actually
is not the center of the universe, in favor of an Almighty God. Introduce
then to such people the concept that they are far from the privileged
individuals they suppose. Introduce them to the fact that in death all will
be equalized and the material possessions and ease of life has at best
failed to garner for them the esteem they desire and has at least possibly
sealed their fate. The harder teachings of the Bible are anathema to them.
So then for the sake of the pride of men and the god of mammon, the "Church"
feeds all pabulum. The teaching is perhaps, barely, enough to save without
the harder teachings that might separate the goats from the sheep and
deprive the "Church" of it's own very worldly lusts. And thence, the few in
the "Church" that might mature into something of value are deprived of the
meat of Scripture they need for growth and a few very hardy individuals must
strike out on their own and learn from the teachings of generations far less
privileged than their own and thus from the Bible those generations of
Christians so revered.

It is of course imprudent to assert all congregations and all believers have
fallen into this trap. God does retain his remnant both among His
followers and His Churches. The world is dotted with many such gems. But
all to often the Church is swain by it's culture than the reverse. IN the
Bible we find that the genuine followers of God are a select few. So
tipping one's sou'wester to the Bible, one must recognize that the Church is
no more likely to influence the tide of culture than it is to imbue the
buildings bearing it's name. It is better to be governed by the Bible and
sound exegesis thereof than to attempt to conform to the lost ways of the
world. "Do not be conformed any longer to the ways of the world..". Romans
12:2a. The Church rightly ought to keep it's own house in order. The
disposition of humanity is the perrogative of God, not men. One will plant,
one will water, but God will give the increase. The Church simply must stop
striving for the opiate of numbers in favor of the meat of scripture.
Something is very, very wrong. And solutions start with individuals.

So in an effort to pivot this journal from the melancholy prognostications
of doom for the greater church, personal incumbency demands that out of the
forecast flaming wreckage at least some effort at remedy be prepared. But
this turning to solutions demands a sober assessment of the individual
thusly assigning himself that work. Christ himself exhorted that one remove
the plank from one's eye to aid in the extrication of a splinter from the
eye of a neighbor. Finding one's self with Holy writ alone and fully
sufficient in one's data language, clarification of one's understanding of
one's self is primary to with any authority at all first expound on one's
actual nature. If one's finger is to be pointed at another for correction,
the Bible demands that the bearer of the finger first examine himself. For
failing to show the sober judgment demanded by scripture leaves the
individual prescribing change open to accusations of hypocrisy. And viewing
the intent of this journal, any possibility of that accusation must now be
fully expunged. So please forgive this rather hasty return to a negative
topic. But if any change is forthcoming, the truth regarding the nature of
the one who corrects must now be fully known.

And now begins the application of reformed Theology. Reckless though that
later term sounds, the "study of God" includes all things revealed by Him.
Man in his arrogance, even if born of necessity tends out of his limitations
to understand his surroundings in terms of structure. And one such
structure is reformed Theology. While the structure is of man, the
teachings are those of God. The structure is taken exegetically from the
whole of Scripture to aid in the understanding of points about which finite
man is curious. So when man approaches the Bible with the question "What is
the nature of man?", man receives an answer from multiple locations as the
Biblical narrative unfolds, and a structure is born. The answer is fully
Biblical and given from multiple sources. And thus, it stands the test of
time.

Once upon a time, roughly at the beginning of the fifth century A.D., a
celtic monk named Pelagius fancied himself spiffy and thusly taunted the
Church with a set of spurious teachings that failed to tickle their fancy.
He basically asserted that humans were morally good in nature and that no
intervention from God was necessary for them to produce good works. Being
educated and well spoken, he swayed many but over time his views became
understood as heresy and though properly dethroned, were also unfortunately
expunged from Church records except where argued against by his opponents.
But enough remains on record to reveal that he was a truly brilliant and
introspective man.

That very introspection was Pelagius downfall. By introspection and clever
thought he reached his conclusions using data obtained from the wrong
source, that is the human tendency toward vanity. As for why he did this,
who knows? But the Church has fought the heresies of Palagianism and semi -
Palagianism since that time. Seminary hallways, Church conferences and even
Bible quiz teams roared for centuries with the "I feel" vs. "the Bible says"
arguments in detriment to the Church's mission. So no argument will be made
either for or against this perspective. The intent is to apply the reformed
doctrine of total depravity to humanity only briefly and to one totally
depraved individual with some detail.

As stated in a previous entry, I was sought out by Christ through the
intervention of a school friend and a very Godly elderly woman from a
declining yet still quite effectual evangelical Church in the very beginning
of the 1980's. I was the last believer baptized outside of the current
facility. I had been at one time baptized in a separate denomination at the
age of ten years and very much against my will. It was quite the twist of
irony that those very parents and grandparents that forced that
uncomfortable confrontation upon me later prayed to receive Jesus Christ as
Savior and Lord in my presence two and three decades subsequently.

But from my earliest memories the burden of my own inadequacies, dare we say
sin, laden my conscience and my very soul. Through my childhood and early
teen years God was distant and foreboding in my mind. Judgment by the God
of my elders was very much feared since I knew myself as far less than
perfect. I hoped and even prayed that some day the good might outweigh the
bad in my life and secure my soul. I thought this out of no love for God,
but out of fear of His wrath.

When Salvation came quite irresistibly, I immediately noticed that I no
longer sought after just enough righteousness to placate God out of a
perceived threat of judgment. I no longer wondered how much I might satisfy
my own desires without offending God, but genuinely detested that in myself
that displeased the God I now loved.

I had surrendered to Christ as Savior and as Lord. But my concept of both
terms was immature at best. I still reserved for myself as did Spurgeon the
pride associated with making a good decision. My immature mind was puffed
up with pride as I clung to the semi palagian or Arminian perspective on my
own soul. I believed that though I was indeed laden with sin, god had
granted to me along with all other human beings sufficient general Grace
that the possibility of a free will decision remained. I then patted myself
on the back quaintly for having chosen wisely and thereby esteemed myself
holy. And for a brief time, I engaged in the spiritual one-upmanship so
popular among those who cling to themselves as a spiritual center. It was
neat, tidy and seemed right to a man. It was also dead wrong in light of
Holy Writ. I continued for years to struggle with sin. I sought God well
enough in resistance, but then either condemned myself for failure or
aggrandized myself for success.

But my conversion had changed my soul well enough that I sought out
Scripture and It's proper interpretation. Through the gentle guidance of a
more mature family of believers and eventually under the tutelage of
arguably the best Bible College then available and it's humbly tenured
faculty, I increasingly removed myself from the center, or rather was
dethroned by the proper assessment of myself and the proper Glory of God.
Decades of study later leave me with no other conclusion. I was saved out
of a condition of total depravity. And but for God's Grace alone, I remain
in that state today.

Briefly stated, total depravity is the doctrine that no human being is able
to do a single morally righteous act outside of God's Grace. Or from
another perspective, if there is any good in the world, God placed it there.
The good is not restricted to believers alone. Anyone will feed their child
bread rather than a rock. So even faith and surrender are gifts from god.
And those two traits lead to salvation.

This perspective leaves no room for self aggrandizement. Were it not for
the intervention of God, my soul would certainly be lost. Had I any free
will at all, I would have chosen to reject Christ and all that is involved
in following him. For any human being given a genuine free will choice will
always choose to reject God. That principle is demonstrated time and time
again in the Bible and in every day life.

So then, no Christian EVER has any right to boast in, assert themselves or
hold the self as superior to another believer. In fact, the Christian is in
and of himself no better than the most vial of offenders, for it is God's
Grace alone which saves their soul.

And here is the application. What right does any believer have to teach
another Christian in the ways of Christ since all are fully equal in and of
themselves. No one is better than another, for any individual is as totally
lost as another except in relation to the grace given to them by god?
Teaching is not a right, but a sacred responsibility. Just as the drunkard
might teach against drinking from experience, as the prostitute might
admonish a child not to follow in their footsteps, just as a thief, liar or
adulterer might have learned of the truly destructive nature of their
actions, so might one Christian exhort another to change. This exhortation
is not based on a perceived superiority through the position of teacher, but
as advice from one who with experience can say "sin is wrong."

And in that spirit I plow on. I do not assert myself as superior to any
other human being. Were it not for the grace of God, I would surely be
totally lost. I rest well at night not out of my own accomplishments, but
knowing that God is faithful. My hope, security, future and very life are
dependant on Him alone. And only by His faithfulness do I dare exhort
change. Any advice I or any other follower of Christ gives can and rightly
only be based on the fact that "I once was lost, but now am found. Was
blind, but now I see."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelagius

http://www.leaderu.com/theology/augpelagius.html

http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/my-prediction-the-coming-evangelical-col
lapse-1

http://t4g.org/2010/04/fine-sounding-arguments-how-wrongly-engaging-the-cult
ure-adjusts-the-gospel-session-iv/

http://t4g.org/2010/04/how-does-it-happen-trajectories-toward-an-adjusted-g
ospel-session-iii/