Jesus Can Handle It

When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.  And behold, a violent storm developed on the sea, so that the boat was being covered by the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep.  And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”  He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.  The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”  (Matthew 8:23-27 NASB)*

 Are you beleaguered by the storms of life?  Are you tormented by anxiety, fear, and worry?  Take your cares to the foot of the cross and pray.  God knows your needs before you ask.  He is waiting to hear from you.  Believe in Jesus and be saved.  His Grace will be sufficient to carry you through life’s storms. (2Corinthians 12:9)  Study His Word, and  He will give you peace. (John 14:27)

  

* https://biblehub.com/nasb_/matthew/8.htm

 

 

What are They Thinking?

When he was Vice President, I always thought of Joe Biden as job security for Barack Obama.  I thought the Democratic party picked Mr. Biden because nobody in their right mind would want him for President, thus ensuring that Mr. Obama would remain in office.  I just could not believe that people would want Joe Biden to be President – could they be that stupid?

I was wrong.

Lately, a lot of conservative radio and television commentators are apoplectic about the mess President Biden and the Democrats in Congress are making of all things government, and they are calling for Joe Biden’s removal from office – by impeachment or under the 25^th Amendment.  What are they thinking?

If President Biden resigns or is forced out of office, Kamala Harris takes his place.  Is that what we want?  Heaven forbid! 

If Vice President Harris becomes Acting President or President, the 25^th Amendment provides that the Congress will fill the Vice-Presidential vacancy by appointment, as happened when Gerald Ford replaced Spiro Agnew.  Right now, the Democrats control congress.  Who might they appoint, Representative Angela Ocasio Cortez?  Do not dismiss the possibility.  Eventually, Mr. Ford became President when Richard Nixon resigned.  Who would be next in line if Kamala Harris was impeached?  Do we want to find out?

Some think that President Biden is a figurehead, and that Vice President Harris, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Chuck Schumer, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi are already running things.  If so, what is the harm in putting poor old Joe out to pasture?  Really, ya think!

I do not know who, if anyone, is the power behind Joe Biden’s throne.  It seems to me, however, to be foolish to set a precedent for removing the President of the United States from office under the 25^th Amendment for any reason except a complete incapacity to serve.  Impeaching Biden would make Kamala Harris our President, which is the worst of all possible outcomes.

I agree with the conservative commentators almost all of the time, but not this time.  The Democrats are going to make a hash of things whether Joe Biden stays in the White House, or not.  We need to focus on getting control of both houses of Congress in 2022 and regaining the Presidency in 2024.  If the object is to force the Democrats to spend time and money defending themselves, then let’s do that every time they screw up by pointing out how we can do it better.  The people will respond favorably if we provide positive, reasonable solutions for the nation’s problems.

Come on conservative talkers. You can do better than this.

 

Praise God

The Holy Spirit moved King David of Israel to praise God.  Let us praise God with him. 

I will bless the LORD at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul will make its boast in the LORD;

The humble will hear it and rejoice.

Exalt the LORD with me,

And let’s exalt His name together.  (Psalm 34:1-3 NASB)*

  

* https://biblehub.com/nasb_/psalms/34.htm

 

 

Afghanistan

I think it is a mistake for so many people to comment on America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan while Americans, our Afghan allies, and the citizens of other countries are still in harm’s way. There will be time enough for that when the dust settles, and we all can see more clearly.

Further, it is a mistake to turn on each other right now, blaming, attacking, and otherwise devouring one another.  At a time when the other side is claiming a great victory, our quarreling only enhances their status in the eyes of other potential opponents.  Rather than blaming each other, our leaders ought to be trying to work together to find a way to salvage something from this mess.

Where Do You Fit In?

God knows everything.  He knew His people from eternity before the heavens and Earth were created. He predestined them to become like His Son, Jesus Christ.  He prepares the hearts of people to receive His call to be saved, and He saves them through faith in Jesus.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30 ESV)

https://biblehub.com/esv/romans/8.htm

God gives us salvation freely.  We cannot be good enough on our own to earn it, but when we are saved, He changes us so that we want to think and act in ways that please Him.  The Holy Spirit can give us the skills and abilities we need to fulfill the role that has been prepared for us in the Body of Christ. 

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts. (1Corinthians 12:1-28 ESV)

https://biblehub.com/esv/1_corinthians/12.htm

Would you like to take your place in God’s plan for the ages?  Would you like to see where you fit in?  Do you want the assurance that everything is going to work out for your good in the end?  Would you like to share in God’s glory forever?

Then give yourself to Jesus today.  Become one of His own.  Find out what he has planned for you.  Be part of His Body with your own special function that allows you to live in service to Him and to the other members of His Body.  He loves you, and He is calling you to come home.

 

 

God's Children

See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him.  Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.  And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1John 3:12-3 NASB)

This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commandments remains in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He remains in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. (1John 3:23-24 NASB) *

 * https://biblehub.com/nasb_/1_john/3.htm

 Do you want God to call you His child?  Accept the salvation provided for you by Jesus Christ and follow Him.  The Holy Spirit will live in you, and if you surrender to the Spirit He will give you the ability to follow Jesus.  Jesus made it clear what we are to do:

But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”  (Matthew 22:34-40 NASB) *

 

* https://biblehub.com/nasb_/matthew/22.htm

 

 

 

A Bad Day for the USA

Today, the US Senate approved “The Bipartisan Infrastructure Act,” commonly referred to as the Infrastructure Bill.  Early reporting indicates that it will allow the federal government to spend approximately $1 trillion dollars on “infrastructure” projects provided for in the bill. CNN.com put the figure at $1.2 trillion.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/10/politics/bipartisan-plan-infrastructure-vote-congress/index.html

NPR.org provided a short list of the spending approved in the bill:

Transportation

·         Roads, bridges, major projects: $110 billion

·         Passenger and freight rail: $66 billion

·         Public transit: $39 billion

·         Airports: $25 billion

·         Port infrastructure: $17 billion

·         Transportation safety programs: $11 billion

·         Electric vehicles: $7.5 billion

·         Zero and low-emission buses and ferries: $7.5 billion

·         Revitalization of communities: $1 billion

 

Other infrastructure

·         Broadband: $65 billion

·         Power infrastructure: $73 billion

·         Clean drinking water: $55 billion

·         Resilience and Western water storage: $50 billion

·         Removal of pollution from water and soil: $21 billion

 https://www.npr.org/1009923468

 Please note that the list only accounts for about $548 billion. The npr.org article goes on to inform us of how the Senate thinks the Infrastructure Bill will be paid for:

          How would they pay for it?

The package would be financed through a combination of funds, including repurposing unspent emergency relief funds from the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthening tax enforcement for cryptocurrencies. While negotiators said that the cost of the plan would be offset entirely, the Congressional Budget Office predicted it would add about $256 billion to projected deficits over 10 years.

 The White House gives us a similar picture of how the bill would be funded:

Offsets

In the years ahead, the deal will generate significant economic benefits. It is financed through a combination of redirecting unspent emergency relief funds, targeted corporate user fees, strengthening tax enforcement when it comes to crypto currencies, and other bipartisan measures, in addition to the revenue generated from higher economic growth as a result of the investments.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/07/28/fact-sheet-historic-bipartisan-infrastructure-deal/

The Infrastructure Bill is not law yet. Now, it must go back to the House of Representatives. The more radical Democratic members of the House may oppose it because they think it does not provide for enough spending. Unbelievable!

I respectfully submit that the US Government would need a revenue surplus of $120 billion a year for 10 years to pay off the principal only on the $1.2 trillion in spending provided for in this bill.

Can you remember the last time the US Government had a revenue surplus? Was it applied to the national debt, or was it given back to the taxpayers as a tax refund to buy votes? Look it up.

Can a reasonable person look at the plans provided to pay for the Infrastructure Bill with any degree of certainty that they will work?  Do you think the government will stop spending and garner a revenue surplus? Look at what they are planning next for your answer. They want to spend $3.5 trillion more!  That is the spending they want for the so-called Budget Reconciliation Act.

The Democrats needed 10 Republicans to vote with them on this bill. Sadly, 19 Republicans voted for it.  They are:

Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

Richard Burr, R-N.C.

Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.

Bill Cassidy, R-La.

Susan Collins, R-Maine

Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.

Mike Crapo, R-Idaho

Deb Fischer, R-Neb.

Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa

John Hoeven, R-N.D.

Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska

Rob Portman, R-Ohio

James E. Risch, R-Idaho

Mitt Romney, R-Utah

Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska

Thom Tillis, R-N.C.

Roger F. Wicker, R-Miss.

 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/08/10/infrastructure-bill-vote-count-19-republicans-voted-for-bill/5550287001/

To be fair, these Republicans may have felt that they could limit the spending provided for by “reaching across the aisle.” Perhaps they got greater influence over what the money is to be spent on. Further, I have often asked that our elected officials learn to work together. There may be other reasons for “bipartisanship.”  They are beyond the scope of this post. The point is … spending is not an issue that may be negotiated.

CONCLUSION:

It is our position that the government’s excessive spending poses a threat to the very existence of the United States of America as we know it. Our Senators and Representatives just do not seem to get it. We the People must let our elected representatives, Democrat and Republican, know that we are opposed to deficit spending of any kind, and that we will show our displeasure in the 2022 and 2024 elections.