Wings of the Wind

I am happy to report that every personal acquaintance that has had anything posted here is speaking out to make a difference.  This emailer is no exception.   Thanks to Gerald Wheeler for passing this along. – CR

Folks, we need to RE-TAKE AMERICA & CANADA

Research shows that Paul Harvey, Andy Rooney, and someone named Paul Thompson had a hand in this effort over the years. Snopes says most of the work is that of Nick Gholson, a sports writer for the Times Record News in Wichita Falls, Texas (printed back in 1999?).  It has obviously long since been modified (by many) to now read as follows:

I don’t believe in Santa Claus, but I’m not going to sue somebody for singing a  Ho-Ho-Ho song in December.  I don’t agree with Darwin,  but I didn’t go out and hire a lawyer when my high school  teacher taught his Theory of Evolution.

Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game. So what’s the big deal?  It’s not like somebody is up there reading the entire Book of Acts.  They’re just talking to a God they believe in and asking him to grant safety to the players on  the field and the fans going home from the game.

But, it’s a Christian prayer some will argue.

Yes, and this is the United States of America and Canada, countries founded on Christian principles.  According to our very own phone book, Christian churches outnumber all others better than 200-to-1.  So what would you expect – somebody chanting Hare Krishna?

If I went to a football game in Jerusalem, I  would expect to hear a Jewish prayer.

If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad, I would expect to hear a Muslim prayer.

If I went to a ping pong  match in China,  I would expect to hear someone pray to Buddha.

And I wouldn’t be offended.   It wouldn’t bother me one bit.

When in Rome …..

But, “what about the atheists?” is another argument.

What about them? Nobody is asking them to be baptized.  We’re not going to pass  the collection plate. Just humor us for 30 seconds.   If that’s asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of ear plugs.  Go to the bathroom.  Visit the concession stand.

Call your lawyer?

Unfortunately, one or two will make that call.  One or two will tell thousands what they can and cannot do. I don’t think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake the world’s foundations.

Christians are tired of watching our courts strip us of  our rights.  Our parents and grandparents taught us to pray before eating, to pray before we go to  sleep. Our Bible tells us to pray without ceasing.

Now a handful of people and their lawyers are telling us to cease praying.

God, help us.  And if that last sentence offends you, well, too bad.

The silent majority has been silent too long.  It’s time we tell that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard that the vast majority doesn’t care what they want.  It is time that the majority rules!   It’s time we tell them, “You don’t have to pray; you don’t have to say the Pledge of Allegiance; you don’t have to  believe in God or attend services that honor Him.  That is your right, and we will honor your right; but by golly, you are no longer going to take our rights away.  We are fighting back, and we WILL WIN!”

God bless us one and all…Especially those who denounce Him, God bless America and Canada, despite all of our faults. We are still the greatest nations of all. God bless our servicemen who are fighting to protect our right to pray and worship God.

Let’s make 2010 the year the silent majority is heard and we put God back as the foundation of our families and institutions. Let’s pray that our military forces may come home from war.

Keep looking up.

Posted by Tina

By Post Scripts on July 25, 2010

E Pluribus Unum was the original motto for the United States of America. Thirty-six years after the founding it was changed to “In God We Trust”. The motto is stamped on buildings and documents and on the money we carry in our pockets or purse but how often do we stop to think of how it came to be the national motto?

“E Pluribus Unum” – The original motto of the United States was secular. “E Pluribus Unum” is Latin for “One from many” or “One from many parts.” It refers to the welding of a single federal state from a group of individual political units — originally colonies and now states. ** On 1776-JUL-4, Congress appointed John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson to prepare a design for the Great Seal of the United States. The first design, submitted to Congress on 1776-AUG-10 used the motto “E Pluribus Unum.” It was rejected. Five other designs also failed to meet with Congress’ approval during the next five years. In 1782, Congress asked Mr. Thomson, Secretary of Congress, to complete the project. Thomson, along with a friend named Barton, produced a design that was accepted by Congress on 1782-JUN-10. It included an eagle with a heart-shaped shield, holding arrows and an olive branch in its claws. The motto “E Pluribus Unum” appeared on a scroll held in its beak. The seal was first used on 1782-SEP-16. It was first used on some federal coins in 1795.

“In God We Trust:” – The war of 1812 was an unusual conflict. Both sides claimed victory. The winner depends upon which history books or which country’s schools you attended. Also, the war lasted well beyond 1812. ** During 1814, Francis Scott Key (a.k.a. Frank) had an eventful September. “Traveling under a white flag, Key met with both an enemy general and admiral, recovered a war prisoner, became a war prisoner, watched a historical bombardment, lost a night’s sleep, and wrote” what eventually became the American national anthem: The Star Spangled Banner. 1 ** The final stanza reads: “And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’ * And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave * O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” ** In 1864, the words were shortened to “In God We Trust” and applied to a newly designed two-cent coin.

Follow the link if you wish to also follow the controversy regarding the “God” motto…my purpose here is to offer food for thought that I believe is inclusive of religious and secular views. Consider, instead of a King, potentate, prime minister, dictator, judge, or even president, America’s founders recognized only God as the authority for our basic human rights:

“Progressives and the Declaration of Independence,” by Jack Curtis, The American Thinker

A free, independent people can adopt a constitution for themselves. But the Americans (colonists) were subjects of George III, neither free nor independent. They were legally bound by English law. They changed that with the Declaration of Independence… ** The Declaration was necessary to separate the Continental Congress and the United States from King George. Without it, they were only rebellious subjects. That is why it was done in God’s name; His Authority was required to overrule the King’s. The Declaration is the clear statement by the Founders of the principles they built upon.

Today (and yesterday) many of us will attend religious services or spend quiet time in worship and prayer, others of us will not, but none of us can be denied our basic human rights by any other human being or spokesperson for the UN, Sharia, or other entity. We as a nation recognize, as our Declaration of Independence states, that God is the guarantor of our basic rights.

Like I said…food for thought on a Sunday afternoon.

Human institutions have their limitations.  New ones are created and others fold every day.  The U.S. Constitution is a document that has helped an institution through many tests.  It has withstood those examinations because of the vigor of the people it guarded.

My friend, Bob, sent this idea to me.  It is a good one.

Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution:

“Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no  law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States.”

This plan enacted would make our leaders more like us.  This has always been the goal of our Republic.

Because our leaders have become less like us, many new institutions are being formed.  They are fashioned with good intentions.

One “institution” has been fitted with the name “TEA Party.”  It is a group not unlike its predecessor.

Here is a quote from a recent rendering:

“The silence is by design, activists with the loosely affiliated movement said, because it is held together by an exclusive focus on fiscal matters and its avoidance of divisive social issues such as abortion and gay marriage.”

The article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/13/AR2010071301436.html?wprss=rss_nation

Like its precursor, the TEA Party efforts are on one front.  At the time of the original tea party, there was one, major front.  It was the crown.  Volumes can be written on speculation about the crown’s fiscal and social reach.  The subject would make a good thesis paper.

Any side one comes down on, the TEA Party is a human institution with weaknesses.

Until the root is dealt with, we will not be changed.

Let me be critical of the man-made institution that needs the most.  It is called the “church” by many.  I challenge the terminology.  A meeting place with a name doesn’t define those who frequent it. Many religious places are silent on high issues.  When so, they become the worst of institutions.

Because of the silence, freedoms once enjoyed by many may soon be gone.

¹⁸“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”

The real church is a group of people.  It exists worldwide.  It is unchanged no matter what occurs in worldly institutions.  Jesus called it His bride.  It is not able to keep silent.  It has yet to reach perfection, but it serves a fearless Leader.

Anyone who questions its Leader’s strength need only read the final six chapters of Matthew.

The true hope for America is in a restoration.  It is the thing that has helped correct society in the past.

There are words of hope.

They come from the verse most used by Christian leaders in America.

It begins with “If MY people.”

The promise does not begin with, “If the government” or “If the TEA Party.”

“If” is the stipulation.

Waiting any longer will remove the opportunity, if it is not already gone.

We will be humbled either way.

Chris Reimers

¹²“Yet even now,” declares the LORD,

“Return to Me with all your heart,

And with fasting, weeping and mourning;

¹³And rend your heart and not your garments ”

Now return to the LORD your God,

For He is gracious and compassionate,

Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness

And relenting of evil.

¹⁴Who knows whether He will not turn and relent

And leave a blessing behind Him…

(Joel 2)

Information about an upcoming prayer event in Garland County:

http://2010garlandcountyprayersummit.wordpress.com

All 230 churches in the county have been invited.

I am chewing on the following article.  I find it interesting.  Please let me know what you think. – CR

Treason in the Church: Trading Truth for a “Social Gospel”

http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/006/conspiracy2.htm

I hope you didn’t enjoy the “kick ‘em while your down” mentality displayed by the mainstream media during the semi-recent coverage of Tiger Woods’ travails.  Honestly, I couldn’t watch or listen to any of it.  When the name of the golfer was heard in any media, I was repulsed and the noise was shut off.

It is bothersome to see people used no matter the status level.  They are built up so that others may pad their portfolios.  When they fall, their shortcomings are used for the same purpose.

In the article posted here, Dr. Rossiter makes the following statement:

The cynics may be right, but I doubt it. I think Woods’ apology and stated intentions are genuine. Surely most of us hope he will do whatever it takes “to start living a life of integrity,” as he put it, if only for his own sake and that of his family.

It is an excellent article that I hope you take the time to read.  It’s longer than most in today’s bite sized blogosphere but well worth the extra effort. The article is not really about Tiger.  It’s about our culture.  It’s about how an unknown can become the president of our nation.

The good doctor writes:

The average American citizen is immersed in the myriad obligations of everyday life. As traditionally trusting souls, we tend to take most of what we see and hear at face value – that’s true about most things, not just what the politicians tell us. But that kind of trust doesn’t work anymore, and the American public’s recently plummeting approval ratings for government officials and their policies reflect this reality.

Dr. Rossiter writes of repentance.  It is a word seldom seen or heard in modern culture.  The good doctor doesn’t go to the next step and define the only One who can give that repentance.  This is the only, though colossal, disappointment.

The doctor writes:

Woods could fuse his Buddhist spirituality with the timeless lessons of Judeo-Christian morality on which all decent human conduct must be based, whether in marriage, business, government or social life.

This is a confusing statement.  The doctor seems to say that two different systems can be fused and then goes on to say that decent conduct is based on one.

The single statement and the disappointment, however, don’t negate the usage of the word so seldom seen or heard.  The article is also filled with great links.

I will “finish” the article for the doctor of 45 years in a way that adds the all-important cherry:

…Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God,

¹⁵and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

(Mark 1:14b-15)

It is a good article, but I am now completely content.

Chris Reimers

Dr. Rositer’s article:

Tiger Woods, Obama and the redemption of America

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=176909