Practical

Love!

The title is written like a command, and for good reason!

Matthew 22:36-40: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

God wants us to love, first and foremost.  Before any other subject on which one might debate morality or any other commandment given to us, the most important two are to love God completely and to love each other completely.  Why is it then, that so many (even within the Christian community) lose sight of this and choose instead to squabble about issues a long way down the scale of God’s priorities?  I am not saying that nothing else matters (that would be foolish), but why do we inflate those issues that matter little to God with our own artificial importance and forget the things He emphasised most?  A quick example would be homosexuality; this issue has become a huge sticking point between Christians and non-Christians, and even between and within Christian denominations themselves!  And yet how many times is homosexuality mentioned in the Bible?  Between 5 and 10……perhaps?  And yet after words like “Lord”, “Jesus” and “God”…….”LOVE” is one of the most commonly used words in the New Testament!  I have written before on the importance of leaving “self” behind, and this is what we fail to do when we turn away from God’s most important commandments and the teaching of our Redeemer, Christ.  To inflate an idea or issue with artificial importance is to put “self” above God.  It is to say that we know better, and WE are the arbiters of what is most important.  This is unnecessary.  God has spelled it out for us and made it perfectly clear in no uncertain terms!

When we love God and love all, we are bound by that love.  It is that love by which we are united, as a part of the single whole which is God’s creation.  It is utterly beautiful that I am completely distinct from my dog Bella; I am my own being with my own personality and ideas, she has a personality of her own and things she likes to do.  And yet we are completely unified, as a part of the same creation.  Bound by love, mine expressed through caring for her and petting her, and hers expressed through licking my hand or bringing me her favourite toy when I get home from work.  God has granted us this gift of uniqueness, coupled with oneness.  It is not a gift we deserve, of course, but then that’s the point.  God doesn’t do it because we deserve it, He does it because He loves us and is ALL loving.  And we were made in His image!  What does it tell us about God’s wish for us, if He is all loving and chose to create us in His image?

You see, it is love and ONLY love which binds us.  Not hatred, not jealousy, not agreeing or disagreeing on some particular issue.  It is the unifying reality and truth which underlies everything else, like the canvas beneath a lavish watercolour.  We sin when we turn from this; even if we love God with all our hearts, we sin if we hate our fellow man.  Why?  Because we reject God’s nature when we hate!  We turn away from His creation, we dishonour his image in which not only ourselves but ALL are created.  It is an act which focuses on “self”, whereas love is selfless.  When you love God with all your heart, soul and mind, this is a selfless act as we give all of these things to Him.  When you love your neighbour as yourself, you give of yourself for the benefit of your neighbour without thought to reward or recompense.  This is selflessness.

Love is a more powerful force than hatred, and has the power to overcome and unify in SPITE of hatred.  God himself loves every one of us, in spite of the fact that many humans reject God!  He extends His gracious offer of salvation even to those who reject and mock him.  Again, as beings created in God’s image what does this tell us about His wish for us?  Jesus tells us Himself:

Matthew 5:39: “Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

Once again: selflessness.  Jesus is telling us here that just because somebody else rejects God in action (or word), that does not give us the excuse to do the same!  We are to choose whether to think of ourselves and the unfairness of our treatment, or to think of God and His commandment, as well as the man wronging us and how we could pray for his benefit.  God’s commandment to love is untouched by another’s decision to reject it; indeed, we are to uphold it at ALL times.    

There is a poem by the American Poet Edwin Markham called “Outwitted”:

“He drew a circle that shut me out -
Heretic , rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle and took him in!”

God wants us to love, first and foremost.

I fail you many times on a daily basis Lord, not just in this but in all ways.  You alone are worthy of all praise, exaltation and worship – and I love you Lord with all that I am.  I pray for your guidance and aid in loving everybody I encounter, and indeed all of your glorious creation.   I pray this in the name of your perfect Son who laid down His life for the sins of man, Lord Jesus Christ.

The Basics of Mental Training

There are three important features of our mental faculties: concentration, comprehension, and recollection. Without concentration you cannot have comprehension, and without comprehension you do not have recollection. Each person has these features in varying degrees, but I do no think we have trained ourselves enough to utilize them to their full potential. To the contrary, I think we have decreased our ability for concentration by indulging in a world of distractions or have simply dumbed down our intellectual capacity for substantial thought by dwelling on trivial things or pursuing like an animal whatever desires one has. There is no better place to find this mental deterioration than on Facebook. For all the information that could be acquired through there, it is more often than not utilized for the sake of pointless complaints, conversations, images, etc. It amazes me that in a so-called “information age” we are being constantly fed such useless data. With less substantial data comes a lesser need for concentration and comprehension. That’s not to say that we can never rest our minds, but rest assumes that you are being released from work. A mind that is constantly at rest is just a mind that has been turned off. Which is unfortunately precisely the state of society today; it is constantly bored because the satisfaction of rest as a release from work has been removed. Their mind is constantly wandering aimlessly for something to entertain it because it lacks the substantial thought to completely satisfy it.

I have to admit that this can be a problem even for thinkers themselves, most notably myself, but its often of a different nature. For example, I will pursue intellectual activities but not to do so in such a way that it is focused. This is something that I have discussed in other posts like this one. Other times, it may be difficult for a person to stay concentrated because of their current living conditions. It just depends on the person, really, but I think my biggest problem is with concentration and recollection. I’ll comprehend things perfectly, I just think I need to take my time to sink in philosophical concepts before I can move on. This is why it will literally take me over 6 months to finish one book. I assure you that it is extremely rewarding, however. For example, the only book I have ever read on Thomistic philosophy is a beginner’s guide on “Aquinas” by Edward Feser and I still haven’t finished reading it! But the remarkable thing is, I understand its metaphysical concepts in such a way that its as if I read an intermediate textbook on it. Whenever people think I’m some legit metaphysician, I just feel unworthy because I know that the quantity of books that I read does not align with that impression. It’s almost as if I am masquerading to appear smarter than I really am. There are those who read around 5–10 philosophy books a month who deserve more recognition than me.

Nevertheless, I do have a strong desire to read more but I’m caught in an endless dilemma: How can I read more without sacrificing the quality of my comprehension and recollection? It’s not that I am necessarily a slow reader or slow at comprehending things, I think the problem lies in my desire to recall as much as I can. And if I feel like I cannot do that, then I take more time than I should. Something needs to change, I cannot keep up this tedious and time-consuming practice because I want to read and learn more! This is where mental training comes in. You see, it’s one thing to make use of your muscles by constantly carrying a 100 pound bag for a mile, but if you don’t continue to pick up more pounds for a longer distance, how are your muscles going to grow? The same principle applies here. While my comprehension of things have greatly increased, I am still stuck with the same concentration and recollection levels as before. How can I work on improving those areas specifically? This is what this post is about, and I hope that you’ll benefit from it as well. Let’s look at the five ways we can train our minds:

  1. Memory Techniques
    Train yourself to apply certain techniques like the method of loci. Two of the best books for this are called “Your Memory: How it works & How to Improve it” and “Memorize the Faith! (And Most Anything Else)”. I’d recommend the latter more because it teaches by example, not just by principle. These techniques are not based on repetition, that’s the worst way to memorize. Make sure to apply these methods on a daily basis for maximal effect.
  2. Speed Reading
    I’d strongly suggest doing (1) before this because comprehension and recollection are more important than the speed at which you read. But you’d be dead wrong if you assumed “speed” necessarily implies a loss of comprehension and recollection. If properly applied, you can not only increase the pace at which you read but your ability to recall and comprehend as well. Be warned, however, bad habits die hard and this will not be easy. I recommend reading “Breakthrough Rapid Reading” and “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Speed Reading”.
  3. Higher-Level Reading
    This is fairly straightforward. All this requires is increasingly difficult books to read that have more technical words and concepts. Serious reading also requires you to understand how to make the most out of your reading by doing it properly. I’d recommend purchasing “How To Read A Book” for some good principles on this issue.
  4. Concentration
    You may think you do this well already, but I assure you that this can always be improved. It does take a lot of patience and practice to build your concentration up, but you will be heavily rewarded in the end. The best books that I have found are “Concentration: A Guide to Mental Mastery” and “Find Your Focus Zone”.
  5. Strategic Gameplay
    This is not as important as the others, but believe it or not, strategic games can help prepare your mind for serious thinking and it keeps it in shape when you are too busy with work. For beginners I’d recommend checkers and sudoko but for more advanced thinkers, I’d suggest playing chess, Civilization IV, and other similar games. I’m not much of a gamer, but I know that I have enjoyed these. Feel free to add any others in the comments.

I think all of these are important for cultivating and nurturing your mental faculties. I’m confident that these will indeed work, it just takes time and discipline to do them. If you’re lacking in that area, perhaps you can leave a comment asking for an “accountability partner” and we’ll gladly be there to support you through this. Do note that I am by no means an expert in this issue. As a matter of fact, I am barley going to start apply (1) today! I’ll be reading “Memorize the Faith” and report my progress to all the readers on WC to see how I do. If any of my readers can hold me accountable to follow through with this, I’d really appreciate it! I’m hoping to complete the methods and techniques in that book after 3–4 months. Afterwards, I should be all set to apply the other ways to train my mental faculties. If you have experience in this area, please let us know in the comments! Some of you probably won’t even need some of this as you have naturally good memories, but for those like me, I need to train hard to get the most from my mind. Don’t be discouraged if this seems overwhelming though! Just let us know that you need help through the comments or the ask page and I’ll help you as best as I can. I hope this helps cultivate what Aquinas called the “virtue of prudence” in you.

Liberal Professors Discriminate Against Conservatives

When I read this article, the first thing I said to myself was, “I’m not surprised.” I have to deal with this everyday on campus. I’m fortunate, however, to be in a department where a few of the liberal philosophy professors are kind to me and take my work seriously and do not discriminate against my views even though they think I’m mistaken. But it’s sad that things have to be this way. Here I am. A conservative philosophy undergraduate who has to hide his political views, carefully tread when writing papers, and bow to the knee of liberalism. What happened to the market of ideas? What happened to throwing out all our cards on the table and having a rational dialogue about it? What happened to let the opoosing side have their chance to give their best case? It disgusts me that things have to be this way.

But personally, I’m not going to care. The only way we can win this is to be open. Case in point: I’m working on a research paper where I criticize Obama’s contraception mandate. No, the paper is not about Obama per se, but it’s about his mandate. Given that I’m giving a critique of one of his policies, I really don’t think my paper will have that high of a chance of getting published in a journal. I personally think it’s well written and polished. I’ve been working on this research since around December of last year. I think I’ve laid out a good case and really covered my ground well. I’ve ran it through a few friends of mine (all philosophy majors and brilliant guys) and so far they’ve told me it looks good. But my fear is that it will be pushed aside because it’s a paper that comes from a conservative. It’s a paper that criticizes a liberal policy. But here I am ready to step out and get my paper out there. My good friend Tim has sent some very excellent papers on same-sex marriage to journals. Did he get accepted? No. But here you get some philistine who writes a paper on why infanticide is morally permissible, and he gets in immediately. What’s wrong here? Lots. Sadly, I’m not surprised.

Love the Lord With All Your Heart, Mind, and Strength

Luke 10:27 reads, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to flourish as a human, and, more specifically, as a Christian. I want to divide the areas of the Christian life into three:

  1. Intellectual
  2. Spiritual
  3. Physical

The basic premise I want to begin with is this: everything that we do, do it unto the Lord. From this premise, I want to show how the above three areas follow and how this can relate to a flourishing Christian.

1. Intellectual

As a budding Christian philosopher, I tend to spend more time in this area than the average Christian. But I think this is an area that every Christian is called to maintain, albeit not to the level of a philosopher (I don’t expect the average person in the pew to read through a metaphysics book, but I think it’s important to know some of the issues raised in metaphysics e.g., free will.).

How do Christians go about fulfilling the mandate to love God with all their minds? How do they flourish in the intellectual area of Christian life? Going back to the basic premise of “everything we do, do it unto the Lord,” from there we can apply it to your intellectual interests. But first, the Christian should develop their intellectual interest by being educated. Do you have to attend college to be educated? No, although it can be a good thing. But one of the main ways to get educated is to do what you’re doing right now: reading. Read lots of books, academic journals (if you’d like), and educational material. I think it’s important that every Christian have at least basic training in logic and critical thinking. I love my fellow Christian brethren, but when I sometimes hear them make very fallacious arguments or claims, I sometimes shudder. I think this is an area that’s most neglected in a lot of people’s lives. But who can blame people? People have jobs, maintain a family, and have lots of responsibilities. My advice here for those busy people is to take a book wherever you go. That’s what I do. When I’m waiting with family to be seated at a restaurant, I’m reading my book. When I’m in the parking lot waiting for my girlfriend, I’m reading my book. Before I go to bed, I take some time to read my book. Everywhere I go I try to use whatever useless downtime I have to pick up on some reading.

Once the Christian has begun educating herself and tending a reading habit, the Christian will soon find a subject matter she likes. Be it history, science, philosophy, or politics, apply the basic premise of “everything we do, do it unto the Lord,” here. Study the issue, and use it to glorify God. Educate yourself on the topic, go deeper, and look at its application to the Christian life and worldview. Ask questions like “How does this fit into the Christian worldview?” or “In what ways does this challenge my beliefs?” Seek truth and always do what you do unto the Lord.

Like I said, you don’t have to be a philosopher that reads 24/7 like me, but you can educate yourself with the basic, find the topic you like, and do your best to master the material. Enjoy it and use it to glorify God.

2. Spiritual

Now, this is probably the biggest area, but not to the extent where the other areas should be neglected. Because this area is so crucial, many people tend to over emphasize the spiritual at the cost of leaving the intellectual and physical aside. I want to propose that to flourish as a Christian, all three areas must be maintained. Now the spiritual area of our life will be mostly concerned with spiritual formation. Disciplining ourselves by reading scripture, fasting, praying, and fellowshipping and witnessing to others. Fostering good habits and acting righteous before the Lord and others so as to be a testimony of God’s power in our lives. Fellow blogger and friend Gil Sanders actually wrote an excellent article that touches on the area of spiritual discipline. There are so many books on this topic and I think other more qualified individuals have said what I wanna say better. So, I’ll leave that to them.

So, spiritual formation and spiritual discipline will eventually carry over to the moral realm of our acts of goodness. God imparts into us the theological virtues of hope, love, and faith, and from these we are empowered to nurture the other virtues in our lives. So, it’s through discipline and God’s transforming power that we are made righteous before God and men. God changes us and makes even better. That’s not to say we cannot be good on our own, or atheists cannot be good, or that we’re perfect. Do not misconstrue my point. What I’m saying is that we cannot actualize our full potential on our own, and we need Christ’s power in order to be a full testimony.

Inevitably, the maintenance of the spiritual area will spill over to issues of our relationships, our values, and our well-being (emotions, soul, etc.) Taking care of this area fulfills the mandate of loving God with all our heart and soul.

3. Physical

Now, I want to take this last little area into a totally different spin, and this is as a result of recent changes in my life. But I think it can fit in nicely with everything. Loving God with all our strength can be taken to mean with the entirety of our will or with everything we have. But the direction I want to go in, in addition to the common interpretations of this, is to honor God in keeping our bodies healthy. Yeah, that one was random wasn’t it? I’ll explain why after I give a bit of my personal view on this. Since I’ve started weight training, cardio, and eating healthy (all my vitamins and nutrients, weighed portion sizes, etc.) I’ve been focusing on trying to be healthy so that my body can perform well and so I can lose some extra pounds I’ve gained. I’m not going to lie I also want to feel better about myself and look fit. But being healthy and exercising can have so many spiritual connections (spiritual in the sense that we can view it in light of a Christian view.). Take for instance the following scriptures:

2 Timothy 4:7: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Philippians 3:14: I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

For instance, when I do my cardio right after my 1-1.5 hour workout, I tend to be beat. I’m tired; I’m exhausted. My body begins to ache. There are times where I’m nearing the end of the run and I’m ready to just throw in the towel and go home to my protein shake. But I remind myself of these verses, and they get me through the run. Then afterwards, I reflect on the spiritual ramifications. Our Christian walk is a lot like that cardio after a rough workout. You get beat, you’re exhausted, and there are times you really just want to take a break and stop. But you know that in the end, after all the sweat, and tears, it will be worth it. You know after you get through that run, you feel better. You’re healthier. Likewise, at the end of our race on this earth, it will all be worth it. These may be small points, but they do reflect on profound scriptural truths.

Moreover, eating healthy and exercising takes discipline. Resisting those Oreo’s and chocolates in the cabinet is like resisting sin; it can be difficult (at least for me it is. I have a bit of a sweet tooth. Ok, I have a big sweet tooth). You have to discipline yourself to daily get up and get active. You have to constantly watch your intake and keep yourself in check. So much of the healthy lifestyle can be analogous to the Christian walk, and it can help to keep you reflecting on spiritual things. Now, I haven’t even gotten to the point I want to make about being healthy. So many Christians neglect this part. First, you should exercise and eat right for your health. At least for that sake. The second reason is that a lot of the traits and virtues you nurture in exercising and keeping a healthy lifestyle can be utilized in your spiritual formation. For example you learn patience and you learn how to endure and persevere. These types of virtues are marks that Christians themselves need in their daily walk when battling with trials and/or temptations. With a disciplined mindset and the Holy spirit, a Christian can have success.

Thirdly, the idea of creaturely flourishing and the natural law. When you’re healthy, as opposed to being unhealthy, and obese, you’re not sluggish, you’re mental faculties are spot on, and overall your body is functioning the way it ought to. You’re able to better fulfill the ends of your nature, and hence you’re able to better follow the natural law. All these three points are wedded close together by simply keeping healthy. There are so many pluses to it, and yet, a recent study shows that church people are among the biggest out there.

This is is quite alarming and sad. IF anything, we should be taking care of the bodies God gave us. We belong to God, and we ought to honor our bodies by keeping it in good shape.

Closing Thoughts

As mentioned earlier, I believe that to flourish as a Christian, all three areas must be maintained. But if I had to choose the most important, it would have to be number two. Some may retort, “Well, I guess I don’t need the other two!” This is the kind of attitude that I’m against. Just because number two is the most significant doesn’t mean the other two are not important as well. All three of these issues are connected together, and if each area of life is taken under the headship of Christ (remember that basic premise!), one will be able to flourish as a Christian as one follows the commandment in loving God with all that way have and in all that we do.

The End of America

Introduction

This nation has undoubtably become the land of corruption. Obama is perhaps the worst president in history, as he embodies the epitome of the liberal agenda and its moral depravity. Even worse, it is the people that voted this tool into office in the first place. They have become proud and dependent upon the government to do their bidding and have become nothing but wretched dogs. No street, no city, and no state is left untouched by their dung and their urine. The very scent of their existence brings disgust to me. They have forsaken the truth for lies and emotional drivel in the name of tolerance, equal rights, and freedom without a slight understanding of what such things even are. Freedom has become the excuse for sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, envy, drunkenness, and selfish ambition (Galatians 5:19). Where are those who have understanding? Where are those who live righteously? Even the Christians and their churches have fallen into the corruption and deception of tolerance. The government attempts to restrict their freedom in the name of “sexual freedom” and we sit back like punching bags. We’re wasted with the distractions and entertainment of this world.

Woe to False Profession

Do you really think you can get away with living life as if Christianity was some subjective belief? Don’t fool yourself. Either you live for Christ or you live indistinguishably from the rest of the world. We were blessed with the freedom to practice our religion and yet we turned that into an excuse to be free from practicing what Christ commanded us. The churches have separated themselves from culture or entice non-believers with candy, music, food, etc without enticing them with the truth of the gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit. These gimmicks will do absolutely nothing to save anyone to be the kind of Christian that He commands us to be. The gospel is watered down to the point that God accepts you for who you are and will do nothing to change who you are except love, forgive and bless you. He’s not your personal genie in the sky, I’m sorry. There are Christians who separate themselves so far from sin that they cannot do something as simple as sit with sinners as Christ did. You’re not doing any good for this culture either.

Then there are those who think they can proclaim the gospel by just living like Christ without once mentioning His name. Really? Gee, I wonder why the apostles and early Christians never lived this way? Without the gospel, you’re only telling them how good of a person you are at best. You chickens will deny the name of Christ in the time of persecution and in return, He also will deny you. Go down to your eternal damnation and pay for your double mindedness, for the one who knows more will be judged more but the one who knows less will be judged less. It saddens me that this is the state of the church and the world today but it also infuriates me to see it flaunted so openly. Those who deny the truth and brag about their goodness with selfish ambition and bitter envy are “ earthly, unspiritual, [and] demonic” (James 3:14). You are indeed the begotten sons of Lucifer and will be crushed at the feet of Christ in the day of judgement. Look at what America has become, folks. It’s enemies draw nearer as it turns its back on its allies (e.g, Israel) and it’s corruption is sealed with their political games, lies, and economic attempts at self-gain.

The Judgement of Evil

Obama does not know how to run this country and it will financially and morally collapse on itself. He cannot even pass a budget, let alone reason properly. That goes without saying, however, as the people are the exact same way. Their knowledge of truth is as superficial as a fish’s understanding of water. They live in the blessing of God and yet operate against the very water that continues their existence. Liberals (or sinners), you are disgusting rats that are as painful to listen to as hearing the screeches on a chalkboard. I will watch you burn from this world as the Lord inflicts His righteous judgment upon you. Everything that you ever loved will be taken from you and screams of anguish will come from your choked throats. If only you’d call on the Lord to be saved, your hearts would not be hardened and fattened for the day of slaughter. There may be a day when I will be dragged from the streets and beaten down for my beliefs, but I will gladly suffer for His name just as He suffered for me.

Why do I speak this way? How do I know America will fall? It’s partly a matter of reason, justice, and (un)common sense but it’s also because I came across a prophetic word that made me seriously consider it becoming a reality. Frankly, I don’t care if you’re a skeptic and think prophecies are stupid. For my fellow brethren who do not believe the gifts of prophecy are today, I will not debate that with you here. The point of this post is “sin” – regardless of whether the destruction of America occurs or not. However, I would at least appreciate it if my brothers in Christ would at least consider this, rather than scoff at what is being said because it is not a far-fetched prophecy given what we know about America’s corruption, as well as how the Lord has handled such things in the past in the OT and NT. Note that this prophecy was carefully selected through some fairly respectable sources and examined for its alignment with Scripture, so it’s at least not the words of some random lunatic. Here are some select words from various posts:

The Prophecies

Yes, destruction is coming to America. Destruction must come – I must tear down before I can build up again that which was lost in unrighteousness. We must build again in holiness and what is right in My eyes, not the impurities that now exist. What is coming will be black and deadly and it will show no mercy and yet, unless it comes, I cannot show mercy to those who are left to rebuild for I cannot bless this sinful nation any longer. You are filled with abominations and whoredoms. Unrighteousness fills your homes and runs through the streets of every city in this nation. My people are content with the filth that abounds here and this is an abomination to Me. My gospel is a gospel of righteousness, of holiness, not of tolerance of evil and wickedness. Why do you call evil good, My people? How is it that you do not see it for what it is? If you looked into My word as I have told you time and time again, you would recognize sinfulness when you encounter it but you prefer the lies of this sinful world to the truth found in My holy word.

Destruction is Coming to America

Tell them I love them with a love that won’t die. I am the One who will never leave them, never be untrue. I long to see them living happy, fulfilled lives, not lives filled with empty fleeting pleasures.

I long for them to be found in Me during the coming storm so I can protect them, provide for them and keep them safe from harm, but so many see Me as weak or cruel because they have no understanding.
[…]
They have settled for the wisdom of the world instead of seeking My wisdom. They have built for themselves strong houses of refuge which they think will protect them from disaster but they are mistaken for they know not what disasters I have in store for those who deny Me and their strong houses will not save them

Famine comes soon to the land of America. The land known for plenty shall soon lack the food to feed even her own people for My mighty hand of judgment is on this land. Store up, My people – store up grain to feed your little ones for it shall come upon you quickly and without warning and it is indeed coming soon. Store up My word in your hearts for it shall be a comfort to you in these days of sorrow.

There shall be Weeping and Morning in America

My people, a sad time is approaching for the nation of America for her sins have come up before Me. Long have I pleaded with you to repent, but you would not and now the once great nation of America, founded on My name, must be judged. […] What is coming in the earth is truly too evil for your minds to comprehend, yet many of My people still do not believe My judgments are near and shall be caught unprepared. When I strike America, all the nations of the earth shall be affected. Her misery shall echo around the world.

Sad Time is Approaching

Oh America, America, why do you fight for what is wrong and abandon those who speak what is right? So shall you be left desolate in the day of your judgments.

You claim to know what is right, yet you do what is wrong in the darkness of your chambers. In your heart is only blackness and no mercy shall be shown you in that day.

I shall bring another, great and mighty, to tear you to pieces. It shall crush you under its feet and trample your beauty, and you shall be no more.

You refuse to show mercy and so shall you be refused mercy in your time of destruction.

America, America

America does not understand what it means to be under My mighty hand of judgment. For so long she has basked in her power and in her glory when she was originally created to worship Mine. She has turned from My ways and My words and become the harlot of the world, spreading her wickedness to other nations, partaking of her sins openly and proudly. I will now destroy her pridefulness. I will cast her beauty to the ground and trample it under My feet. She will have no reason for pridefulness then. She has turned her face from My holy city Jerusalem and turned her back on My beloved Israel. I will now turn My back on her. America will pay for her treachery, for her pridefulness, for her wickedness. Her sins have come up before Me and her cup of sin is full. My righteous anger at her sins, her abominations, her harlotry, shall be avenged.

Prepare My people, prepare to see what I will do to this once great country for her time of judgment is nearing with every moment. Prepare to see this great country destroyed for I shall leave no power in her when I am done. She will not hold her head high any longer, nor lord her power over other nations when I am done judging her, but beg for help from them. I will leave her people begging in the streets and their children stricken with disease. She is no longer called by My name.

America Has Become the Harlot of the World

Closing

Be prepared for this folks. We will be hit with nuclear attacks, famine, and disease. Nothing will stop the judgement that is about to come if this indeed a word from God. Maybe you’re still uncertain whether this is true. Fair enough. Wait and see what happens. Even if by some chance this is false, sin always gets severely punished in one way or another, so you better get your act straight now and not later.

Learning to Focus

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying ‘no’ to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying ‘no’ to 1000 things.” – Steve Jobs

I am no stranger to distraction. Every day I have around 10-30 tabs of things I want to read or check out and each of them relate to different topics or projects. For my RSS feeds, they’ll sometimes pile up to 500 unread articles that relate to technology, philosophy, Christianity, and politics. In a way, this is beneficial because I am practically never bored. On the other hand, I jump between tasks way too easily. One day I’ll be reading a book and then I’ll stop halfway and start chatting with people or surf the web. This kind of back and forth activity is not particularly productive, instead it just takes away from the important things that should take priority in our lives. What makes this difficult (at least for me) is how these priorities all have some intrinsic value to them. Philosophy, for example, is beneficial to a proper understanding of reality and how we ought to be in it. Chatting, on the other hand, provides an opportunity to serve others and helps build important friendships. Nevertheless, the problem I have are disordered priorities as the things I ought to do are the things that I do less of and the things I do not need to do are the things I do more of.

It’s always important to make sure that your time and resources are focused toward something worthwhile. If you have trouble determining what should take priority, perhaps you should start with asking yourself whether you’d be doing those things if you found out you only had one month to live. If everyone lived every day as if it was their last, we’d be living to make the most out of everything we had. However, we should be careful not to apply that too literally or else we’d all be buying coffins. In general though, that question does help us realize where our desires are. Once you’ve determined that, it’s time to start focusing on the things that need more time and giving less time to other things. Like Steve Jobs said, we should begin with a “no” to all of the things we could do and carefully choose what you do do. If you’re like me and get distracted easily, there are applications out there that can restrict what you do on the computer to help out. This may be easier said than done but the important thing is that you keep trying. Don’t give up. The more times you say “no”, the easier it is to focus on the things that you need to. Don’t expect a miracle, this takes discipline. Miracles only make you lazier but discipline makes you stronger.

What things do you spend most of your time in?

Scott Klusendorf Quotes

Here is a set of quotes of Scott Klusendorf. Enjoy!

“Religion and politics: Do you mean the federal government should not establish a state church (denomination) or do you mean that believers have no right to bring their values to the public square and argue for them, like everyone else does? If the former, I agree. If the latter, what’s your constitutional support for such a claim?”

“It is no more a religious claim to say an embryo has value than it is to claim a Black Man does. Suppose that instead of killing embryos for research, someone were to suggest killing ethnic minorities for that same purpose. Would anyone dare to suggest that those opposing the ethnic killings were simply forcing their religious views on the rest of us? Truth be told, the “religious” objection is a cop-out, a means of avoiding the question of whether all human beings–regardless of race, gender, level of development, and location–have an equal right to life.”

“What “pro-choice” now means: 1) You do not have the right to choose whether or not to purchase health insurance that provides for abortion, even if doing so deeply violates your conscience. 2) You do not have the right to choose whether or not your 12 year old daughter gets an abortion without your knowledge or consent. 3) If you are a religious organization, you do not have the right to choose to not to provide abortion coverage from your employees. 4) If you are a medical school, you do not have the right to choose whether or not to provide abortion training. In short, you will obey or we will bring the full force of law to bear on you.”

“For Thomson’s argument to work, the relationship between the mother and the intruder must parallel the mother’s relationship to her own child. Right away there are problems. First, there can be no intruder until two parents create him. Second, abortion is much more than withholding support—it’s actively killing another human through dismemberment or poisoning. Indeed, per Thomson, I not only have the right to remove an innocent intruder from my yard; I can cut him up and throw his body parts in the garbage! As abortion-choice advocate and philosopher Mary Anne Warren points out, “mere ownership does not give me the right to kill innocent people whom I find on my property.”

The First Principles of Faith, Family, and Freedom

This is an excerpt from Jay W. Richards and James Robinson’s book Indivisible: Restoring Faith, Family, and Freedom Before It’s Too Late:

  1. Every human being has equal value and dignity.
  2. We are inherently and specifically social.
  3. Marriage and the family are the fundamental social institutions.
  4. We can know God and moral truth.
  5. Judaeo-Christian religious faith guards our freedom.
  6. We’re all sinners.
  7. We need a state strong enough to protect and maintain the rule of law but limited enough not to violate it.
  8. We are meant to be free and responsible.
  9. When we’re free, we can create wealth.
  10. Culture comes before politics

(pg. 310)

This book was excellent. I can’t recommend it enough.

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