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.

 

 

Man and Wife

The Holy Spirit inspired Moses to write:

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven. Now no shrub of the field was yet on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living person. The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God caused every tree to grow that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there as well. The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and tend it. The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” And out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. And the LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

"At last this is bone of my bones,

And flesh of my flesh;

She shall be called ‘woman,’

Because she was taken out of man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:4-24 NASB) *

May the Lord bless the reading and the hearing of His Word.

 * https://biblehub.com/nasb_/genesis/2.htm

So Wrong

It is wrong to create a debt unless you have a reasonable and viable plan to repay it. Wouldn’t you agree?

It is difficult to discuss the US national debt in set terms because it is growing so rapidly. Internet sources put it at about $28 trillion, and the US Treasury Department says the debt was about $28.5 trillion as of June 2021.[1] In an article dated 3 May 2021, Forbes Senior Investment Contributor Mike Patton referred to an estimate by US DebtClock.org that the national debt may be as much as $89 trillion by 2029.[2] Deficit spending by the federal government for 2021 alone is projected to be around $3 trillion.[3] These figures do not include public debt held by state and local governments.

According to the “short scale” used in the United States, a trillion equals one million million. Stated differently, a trillion is one thousand billion.

Mathematics is not my strongest skill, especially when dealing with numbers this big. Does it not mean, however, that if the federal government made the necessary adjustments to achieve a three-billion-dollar budget surplus every year, it would take 1,000 years to pay off (only the principal on) the federal deficit spending for 2021 alone?

People have said that the only way the United States can pay off its national debt is to “grow our way out of it.” That is, increased revenue from economic growth is the only way we can successfully reduce or eliminate the national debt. Sorry, but I just cannot imagine how the US economy can grow enough generate the kind of revenue needed to satisfy a $28 trillion dollar debt in a reasonable amount of time.

In my opinion, if the debt continues to grow, eventually deficit spending will be necessary just to pay the interest. Does that mean that the debt will become impossible to pay off?

As if the current debt was not bad enough, the Democrats in Congress and the White House are fighting for legislation commonly referred to as the Infrastructure and Reconciliation Bills. If approved, the result could be as much as $4.5 trillion in additional deficit spending. The Republican minority seems to be unable to stop it.

The Democrats say that increasing the taxes paid by the “rich” (including business and industry) will fund the new spending they are proposing. Their opponents say that if the rich were taxed at 95 percent of their income, it still would not be enough to pay for the new spending the Democrats are asking for, let alone reduce the national debt.

What kind of people have we elected? What kind of people would saddle future generations with this kind of debt?* It is absolutely monstrous.

Further, the US dollar is the currency on which the value of the world’s other currencies are based. What happens if the value of the dollar plummets or is “revalued?” What happens if the American government defaults on the public debt? Could these precipitate a world-wide economic crisis? As Sarah Palin would say, “You betcha!”

Over the last 40 years, both political parties have engaged in policies that have created public debt. Both parties are responsible for the current national debt. Therefore, We the People must insist that the federal government use any and all legal means available to right this terrible wrong.

 

* Note: For all who have been the recipient of a free, compulsory American public education, future generations means our children, their children, and so on for the predictable future.

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[1] https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/2021/opds062021.prn

[2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikepatton/2021/05/03/us-national-debt-expected-to-approach-89-trillion-by-2029/?sh=7f66129a5f13

[3] https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57339

What's for Dinner?

Be advised younger readers, when you get to be a senior citizen all the bad things that you put in your body along the way start to catch up with you, and what doesn’t get you will get your spouse.  All the bacon cheeseburgers, chili dogs, French fries, potato chips, ice cream, beer, cigarettes, and pizza you ingested with such gusto will start showing up on the labs and ‘echowhateverograms’ the doctor orders during your annual “wellness visit.”  Or - you may end up in the emergency room with some misery or another.

Then, the diet restrictions start.  No salt, no sugar, no alcohol, no fat, no carbohydrates, no spicy, and no fun.  In short, what you are left with to eat are skinned chicken breast, fish, and vegetables.  All the stuff you like will be off the table … for good.  So, then you ask yourself, “Why did I take care of my teeth, since I’m not allowed to use them?”

When you are seventy-something, if you want to live a while longer, you will pay attention.  If you don’t listen-up … you will pay for it.  A few days in the hospital with something like acute pancreatitis will get you back on the wagon.

Now, I am doing my best to eat healthy, and I don’t want to lead anyone astray by sharing this bit of doggerel.  However, as a ‘last, great act of defiance’ I am posting the following for your enjoyment:

Methuselah

(Anonymous)

Methuselah ate what he found on his plate,
And never as people do now,
Did he note the amount of the calorie count:
He ate it because it was chow.
He wasn’t disturbed as at dinner he sat,
Devouring a roast or a pie,
To think it was lacking in granular fat
Or a couple of vitamins shy.
He cheerfully chewed on each species of food,
Unmindful of troubles or fears
Lest his health might be hurt
By some fancy dessert;
And he lived over nine hundred years.[1]


[1] Richard Charlton MacKenzie, editor. The New Home Book of Best Loved Poems. Garden City Books, 1949.

 

Who is Truly Free?

“None are so hopelessly enslaved, as those who falsely believe they are free. The truth has been kept from the depth of their minds by masters who rule them with lies. They feed them on falsehoods till wrong looks like right in their eyes.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

https://quotefancy.com/quote/839867/Johann-Wolfgang-von-Goethe-None-are-so-hopelessly-enslaved-as-those-who-falsely-believe

Can we ever know freedom and justice in this world?  How often have we seen the blood of heroes, shed in the cause of freedom, trampled under foot by lesser men? 

True freedom is found only in Jesus Christ.  The Word of God says:

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”

Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.  And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.  Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:31-36 NKJV)

The Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write:

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.

Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. (Romans 8:1-17 NLT)

 https://biblehub.com/

Be free from the power of sin and death.  Repent, let go of your sins, believe in Jesus and give yourself to Him.  Read the Bible every day and pray that the Holy Spirit will instruct you.  Find a Bible believing church.  Set your sinful human nature aside, and take up your cross and follow Him.  When you are a servant of Christ, you will be free.

 

 

 

Independence Day 2021

Please enjoy the barbeque and fireworks.  Then, take some time to read and enjoy a few excerpts from our Declaration of Independence.  The entire document deserves a careful reading, but you will be edified if you study even these few selections.

Note how many times The Deity is mentioned.  It is only recently that the mention of God has become politically incorrect.  In a day when the Democrats are contemplating confiscating “underutilized” private property for conversion into low-income housing, and also constructing low-income housing units in suburban neighborhoods, it may be useful to note that, to the founders, the pursuit of Happiness meant the pursuit of property (individual property rights).  It is clearly stated that our rights are bestowed on us by the “Creator,” and that the role of government is to protect those rights … not to infringe on them or take them away.  To that end, the people are the authority from which the government gets its just powers.

Those who signed the Declaration were truly doing so at risk of their lives and their fortunes.  It is important that we take notice that they were relying on God to protect them in doing so.

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation …

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, …

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; … 

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. [1]

 

 

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[1] https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript