Oldtimer

Yes, Kitagrl for some I see it is a trial in itself.

Call me a barbarian if you like I wear trousers (present day vernacular) and I will prefer my wife wear shoes. My wife also wears women's slacks.

It seems to me some folks urgent matters are too trivial for me to take seriously. I must be cold and callous.

Joshua, this post will not contain any links.

As to the "junk" and "filth", in my posts, are you aware that the first link is to Vacation Bible School material that will be shown to countless children this summer while they are at churches? Did you follow the second link to a news article about the upcoming trend of comic book producers? In my humble opinion, all adults should keep abreast of what's happening in an industry who's target audience is primarily young children.

Please forgive me for not realizing that you are planning to produce the "art form" being discussed. My choice of words and links may have been a little more diplomatic and probably would have addressed the issue in a different manner.

That said, we, as Christians, need more producers of QUALITY materials for children. As I mentioned in my first post, take a look at what's available today in Christian book stores. Using Noah, as an example, the ark is usually represented to be about the size of a small tug boat with cartoon Africian animals sticking their heads out the top. How many realistic renderings of the ark are found in anything produced for mass market appeal? And that includes the Christian market.

Being an oldtimer, I remember when quality children's books were the norm. I'm not an expert by any means, but it seems the trends for children's literature has fallen in line with the world's emphasis on Squarepants Bob, and the Simpsons. I used to read the comics page in the newspaper. Most if not all of the good/decent ones either disappeared or changed content. It's been a long time since I stopped reading them, so I don't have a good handle on what's being printed today as "comics". But, I can't imagine the trend has done a 180.

Again, one of the tag lines for this thread is "superheroes". The term brings up thoughts of Spiderman, Batman, and all the other caped crusaders. Modern day versions of Greek and Roman gods with powers beyond mere mortal man. Heros are ordinary people doing ordinary and extra ordinary things without mystic supernatural powers or golden lassos and invisible planes. A hero is the man who recently drowned after saving two other people. Not a man with x-ray vision or whatever the current super ability is being displayed by "superheroes".

You sound like a talented man with strong convictions. Is there any way you can achieve your goal of bringing quality Christian materials to children without those carrying a "comic, comic book, superheroes" connotation? Comics, comedy, caricatures, etc. are forms of entertainment with a lot of negative baggage associated with them. IMHO, there is a difference between a magazine with good stories and beautifully drawn illustrations and publications labeled "comic books".

The pro-homosexual agenda will soon be hitting children, and others, from every aspect and from early on. Comics, TV programs, movies, magazines, books, all will be promoting homosexuality as normal, wonderful and something to try at least once for yourself!

Already the pro-homosexual agenda is taught in public schools and colleges. Even many who attend church once a week are so indoctrinated by all the pro-homosexual stuff in the schools their more often following what they learn from the schools rather than what they hear in church, if they even hear the biblical truth in church.

Once homosexuality becomes a theme in one comic book it will soon be showing up in others. Good Christian parents find it a challenge to protect their children from rampant wickedness, for most parents, they don't even try so their children are exposed to filth and wicked teachings as they read Harry Potter, watch TV with homosexuals shown as wonderful and anyone who disagrees with them as evil, and lessons in school which tell them homosexuality is natural, they should all experiment with it and how to "be safe" while doing so.

Scripture tells us that "my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge". Today true knowledge is rejected and hidden in favor of wicked agendas being taught and promoted.

Quote: The state takes half of Hatchett's paycheck to divide among the mothers of his children, but now Hatchett has petitioned the state to help him meet his obligations. Read more: http://www.foxnews.c...s#ixzz1vP8kvOEF

Wish I knew how much taxpayers are already paying to help support those children.

In exchange for more taxpayer assistance, the state should give him a job that leaves him so tired the only thing he can do is work, eat and sleep.

I think you're defining at least the first issue correctly, Oldtimer. As a Christian--as someone who recognizes that God created (and is therefore the only one who can define the parameters of) the institution of marriage/family--I should be doing my best to help others toward being blessed by falling in line with that reality. Reality--the "way things really are"--transcends politics, society's opinions, etc. So, if I'm an estate planner, there's no way I'm going to encourage a "lifelong commitment" between sexual perverts, or encourage the adoption of children by said perverts. (IMO, a "lifelong commitment" is worse than an uncommitted homosexual relationship, because it shows that the participants are dead set on continuing in their perverted way of life, with little hope of repentance.)
As far as the second issue goes, I think society (unanchored upon truth as it is) is going to do whatever it wants, no matter what Christians say. Homosexual marriage and adoption are going to be commonplace by the time my grandkids are adults. My point is that my job as a Christian--as salt and light--is not to capitulate to the anti-biblical way of thinking and accept the radical redefinitions of marriage/family of a godless society.

I'm a conservative and I agree with Jerry. We're dealing with a lot of smoke and mirrors where the media is concerned.

First, the middle class is disappearing as people are being shifed into two classes - the haves and the have nots. Already about half the population of the US is on some type of government program. Many of them are already firmly entrenched in their side of the class war being waged. What remains of the middle class is gradually being pushed down with the media hype against the "rich". Many of the "rich" are the people in the upper quadrant of the middle class.

What many people don't realize is there's a "class" of super rich, power hungry, people who are pulling the strings. Their goal is to be kings of the land and the ordinary, average, middleclass, Joe will be their serf, just as it was in the past, so many times. About half of this country are already in serfdom with their reliance on the government to put food on their tables.

The war the media is waging isn't against the "super rich". It's against the upper middle class and the lower upper class income folks. (The media is a the weapon being used in this war.) They are portraying that these groups of people are evil and are harming all those below them in economic status. The super rich already have their monies in safe harbors and are thus insulated when the cries for "tax the rich" are heard.

Those in control want me to be mad because we can't drive around on Sunday afternoons the way we used to do. Those in control want me to be mad everytime I go to the grocery store. They want me to be mad everytime my IRA takes a hit. They want me to be mad when WalMart jeans cost more than department store jeans did a few years ago. I'm supposed to be mad when my neighbor can afford to buy a new car and I can't.

The powers to be want me to be in debt up to my eyeballs. They want me to envy my neighbor, regardless of how hard my neighbor worked and saved to take a vacation I can't afford to take. The more angry I become at my neighbor, the more likely I am to support laws that punish his success. To bring my neighbor down to my level, even if I'm where I am is because I sat in the shade of my front porch and watched my neighbor sweat for what he has acquired.

My recommendation to the OP is to stay out of debt for as long as you can. Since you are in the military (I think), save your money. To the extent you can, make house payments to yourself, each month. I don't have a crystal ball to see the future. But, what I suspect is that the "signs of a recovery" are just that to lull people into thinking the worst is over. That is until the elections in November. Gas prices going down in summer? Why? It's not the norm. Major points of ObamaCare don't kick in until after the 2012 elections. Why? That's just 2 points of many that could be mentioned.

Stay out of debt for the time being, to see how the chips fall in 2013. Will the props, holding up our economy, either fail or be removed, post November 2012? How much longer can the EU hold things together, over there? How much longer can the major financial institutions continue to hold their toxic assets? Another one just released their bad news, as they couldn't prop up their problems any longer.

Stay out of debt. Get out of debt, as much as possible. I'd rather sleep on a rented bed with a sock stashed under the mattress than to have someone take my bed, mattress, and the house where it resides. While leaving me standing on the sidewalk with empty pockets.

Like most politicians, especially the more liberal ones, they believe the people are uneducated and incapable of making right decisions. They think it's their job to force liberal-socialism upon the masses "for their own good".

It also grows tiring hearing the great State of Mississippi attacked and denigrated time and again.

Thank God for the parsonage!

Our pastor has been living in the parsonage for 30 years. The only reason our associate pastor has a house is because someone broadsided him and his soon-to-be wife not long before they moved here. They got money from the insurance company, a house unexpectedly came open and "for some reason" the one selling the house called our associate pastor and asked if he was interested. God is good!

It isn't so much that she didn't "stay in her place" as it was that she chose to be receptive of all that satan offered her.

The following is excerpted from an interview with Dr. Raymond Damadian that was conducted in January 2012 by Shem Dharampaul of Alberta, Canada. Dr. Dharampaul is a Fellow of the College of Physicians in Canada and is trained in nuclear medicine.

Dr. Damadian, biophysicist, is the recipient of the Lemelson-MIT Achievement Award as “the man who invented the MRI scanner.” In 1988 he was awarded the National Medal of Technology, America’s highest award for applied science, and a year later, he was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame, an honor he shares with Thomas Edison, Samuel Morse, and the Wright Brothers. The first MRI scanner that Dr. Damadian and his colleagues built in 1977, “The Indomitable,” resides at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

QUESTION: Why do you believe that the Bible is true?

DAMADIAN: If you take the trouble to examine the evidence supporting the Bible and contradicting alternative theories, from my perception, the evidence is overwhelmingly in support of the biblical record and vacates alternative thoughts such as evolution. The evidence for evolution is non-existent. In my opinion, evolution is science fiction.

QUESTION: Does the Bible’s account of creation contradict any known facts of science?

DAMADIAN: No. Absolutely not. In my opinion evolution contradicts them.

QUESTION: What things would you think that evolution contradicts in terms of known facts of science?

DAMADIAN: Just as an example, it contracts the first law of thermodynamics. It contradicts the second law of thermodynamics. And it contradicts a major, fundamental law of physics, which is the law of cause and effect. The effect can never be greater than the cause, but evolution has to start with slime mold and end up with a human being. So that is an outright contradiction of the law of cause and effect. The second law of thermodynamics says that everything is running downhill. All of the processes of nature are degenerating to the point where the ultimate outcome is going to be equilibrium where no actions of any kind occur because you have a universal equilibrium. Evolution says the opposite. Evolution says that by the sheer process of chance things are not running downhill, they are getting progressively more perfected. That is an outright contradiction of the second law of thermodynamics. Evolution ducks the question of where does matter come from. The only way you can start is that you have to make something out of nothing. You have to start with nothing and end up with matter. When you go from nothing to something you are violating every one of the laws of physics that we know about. The first law of thermodynamics, the second law of thermodynamics, and the law of cause and effect.



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I know that's true because most often if I hear one of those non-readers mention they have actually read a book, and it's so rare for them they make a big noise about it, I find they have read some watered down or error filled work by one of those modernist, popular "Christian" authors.

One problem I've found with many Christians who have "tried" to read the Bible but stopped because it was too dry or too confusing, is they tried to read the Bible like an ordinary book from beginning to end. There is nothing wrong with reading the Bible from beginning to end, I do it each year, but for those unfamiliar with the Bible I've found it much better to start them in the book of John and tell them to read from there to the end. They are much less likely to get bogged down this way and what they read is directly applicable to them as Christians. Once they get a foundation of biblical understanding they are better prepared for what they will encounter in the Old Testament.

Sad to say though, many folks won't even read from John to Revelation without giving up.

We've probably all heard many professing Christians say they would like to read their Bible but they just don't have the time. They have the time to watch their favorite TV programs, to follow their favorite sports teams, to eat their meals, brush their teeth and sleep but they claim to be unable to find even 10 minutes to read some Scripture.

Just as one makes the effort to watch their favorite TV program or sports team, so one has to make the effort to read the Bible if they really want to. Many years ago I finally made that determination. I began getting up a little earlier and reading my Bible before breakfast. That has worked well for me. Our pastor reads his Bible every day after he eats breakfast and showers.

It's a matter of priority and committment. Are we going to set a priority to read the Word and commit to it or not?

No doubt, the liberal Baptist Book store will put the conservative Baptist Book store out of business, I saw that take place too.

Oldtimer, I don't understand, those we've mentioned, that will hold some TV in such high esteem, actually knowing little about him, never seeing what kind of life he lives before men, who will not visit them when they're sick, who probably would not even say hello to them if they met them on the street, never visit them when a loved is sick or has died.

The man of TV begs for their money, they send it in & when its sent in it goes strait to his very own coffers, so they can live the high life, with a very low percentage of it going to support true biblical mission works.

What money I can support God with I've always given it to my local church, for I know exactly where the money goes, & the majority of it supports true Bible mission works, with the rest paying our pastor & meeting the expenses & upkeep of our church building.

I'm not going to risk supporting a charlatan with the money God has trusted me with.

Your people have to deal with the harsh reality of this wicked world every day. The world "coddles" none of us; It hates us. You say you are a shepherd. I raise sheep myself. Sometimes I have to catch my sheep, hold them down and give them medicine or trim their feet. It scares them because they don't understand. But I don't hurt them. They all still follow me when I bring out the feed bucket and one follows me without any feed at all. When I got her she had been mistreated, chased and hounded with herd dogs. She was nervous and terrified of people. But after treating her kindly, she came to TRUST me. If I chased my sheep or treated them harshly, I promise you they would not follow me, they would scatter and run away. There is a time for rebuke, but there is a time for gentleness too. If we treat people with gentleness instead of being sarcastic, and mocking those who "coddle" and are gentle, just like my sheep. more people might be compelled to follow our "ensample to the flock". None of us like rebuke, not even you. Alot of the time, it's how we handle the situtation. I even found that my kids' behaviour improved as they responded to chastisement FAR better when i did it in love, instead of harshly and angrily..

First, and foremost, I believe that people can come to Christ without reading a word from any Bible.

Romans 10:17 KJB
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

The concept of everyone knowing how to read is a fairly new one within the history of mankind, if I understand correctly. And, even today, there are many who can't read the Bible -- any version -- in their native language.

Next, I'm just a layman, fairly recently returning to fellowship with the body of Christ. Upon returning, I discovered the King James ONLY controversy. As a result for the last 18 months or so, I've spent a considerable amount of time in study of this subject. Far ranging topics from origins of written languages to copyright/financial reasons for revising revisions of previous versions. All of this with a continual prayer for guidance from the Holy Spirit.

I also beleive God directed (inspired) the original recorders of His word, regardless of writing method, whether chisel and hammer or a stylus in soft clay or a reed quill on animal skin. I also believe He kept His promise to preserve His word for all generations.

Moving on, I am NOT a King James ONLY as it's often defined today. There are too many extreme positions on this that push people away from God rather than bringing them closer to Him. Satan is, in my humble opinion, using this to try drive a stake into the body of Christ. If you and I, as born again true beleivers that Jesus died on the cross for us, spend hours of endless heated arguement about "the Greek says", "oldest manuscript is best", etc. & etc., what does that "tell" those watching us about our faith?

No, a born again person will not go to hell for studying an NIV. Yes, a person can be saved, when they accept Christ while reading any document God uses to touch their hearts. Including those, again in my humble opinion, are modern day per-versions of His word. Document examples: Billboards, Christmas cards, gospel music, newspaper article in the "religion" section, and so much more.

All that said, whew..... I also believe that when a person comes to Christ, the best resource to use to:

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Tim 2:15

is the King James Bible using a 1700's edition of the 1611 first publication.

Put the KJB first and foremost.

Why?

Hours and hours have been spent over the last 18 months reading about "outdated language", "errors in the KJB", "original manuscripts", Hort and Westcott, King James and alleged lifestyle, Darwin & evolution, and....

comparing translators & methods for the KJB vs modern day editors, translators, manuscripts, publishing houses.

With help from the Holy Spirit, and committment to learn the truth, it becomes easier and easier to *see* the flaws in the "logic" of those attacking the KJB. I'm not saying I'm an expert or everything I say is without error. Please don't misunderstand, as I'll never learn enough in my remaining lifetime to come anywhere close to that. It's only with the Lord's blessing, that I've come far enough to voice somewhat of a position statement. One that's continually being refined as clay on His potter's wheel.

* So far, every statement that the KJB is in error has a valid rebuttal. From scriptures taken out of context to outright lying by those who know better. And all the shades of grey that lie between by those who know how to

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Gen 3:1

* Much of the "originals" and "oldest manuscripts" fall into this catagory, too. Manipulation, to serve various agenda, comes to light, when study pulls back the curtain on how those terms are being tossed about as truth.

There's so much more to write, the words want to rush out. But, it's time for me go get off my soapbox. So, in closing, back to the OP and the question that follows. Yes, I'd like to learn more about Christ's actual birth date. That's from a historical standpoint. From a faith standpoint, it doesn't matter, since I know He gave His life, on the cross, for me. And, that one glorious day He'll teach me everything I'm now yearning (Proverbs 2:3-6) to learn, as I sit as His feet.

---------------
Proverbs 2:3-6 KJB
3Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
6For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

You are correct...I used the word exalted. I was paraphrasing a verse not directly in front of me while trying to get my thoughts down in short order. I was not trying to make God's word "more living and real in my understanding" as that is not really possible or necessary in my mind. I do not know Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic and do not purport to be any type of translator. I have also never opened the ESV to my recollection. To pass my paraphase off as in keeping with the honest work the translators of the KJV is like comparing apples to a side of beef.

In my humble opinion, if God promises to keep and preserve His word from generation to generation (and He does):

Ps 12:7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

I have to believe it would be kept and preserved available for our use, else why else bother. If a god only kept and preserved his word "in the originals" then I would have to say that god is not a god capable of much, because we do not even have any of the originals kept or preserved. If it is only kept with God, then it really does not do us much good because we do not have access to it. All this does not seem likely from a God that gives so much power and emphasis to His word.

I believe that God has kept His inspired word pure and completely intact in the KJV. I believe He is capable of keeping His word, in every sense. I have done some study on the translation of the KJV and the men behind it and believe it was a well designed process done by men far above their peers then and now. I also believe that God was behind the whole translation.

I also believe the "per"versions that have come out of Alexandria and via anything that has Westcott and Hort in its lineage are exactly that...perversions. Having said that, I have more respect for a person that holds firm to the NIV as the authoritative word of God than for someone that hopscotches from version to version to find that one translation of a verse that suits his/her purpose best.

I have heard and read all the arguments before of those that believe we don't have the originals and copies "even 'honest' ones" have introduced errors so that there really is no truly correct Bible out there. What I end up discovering is that these claims are initially made by people who are not comfortable with what God said and/or did, and desire to put their own spin on it. For instance, Origen did not believe in the deity of Christ, which is clear in his pervesion of the scriptures. This is then perpetuated by those that desire to follow them down that path of pervesion. I have asked naysayers to pinpoint specific verses that are in error and explain how they know, but they can't. Why? Because they don't have the 'originals' either and so it is all subjective.

I believe the KJV is God's inspired word...period.

Yesterday as I was praying I was overwhelmed with just how awesome our God is and how good He is to us. That led to much time spent in praise and thanksgiving. What a blessed time and how close to the Lord I felt throughout.

I ran across this on Washington's Blog this morning and thought it worth posting.

God bless,
Larry


H.L. MENCKEN WAS RIGHT
Posted on April 26, 2012 by JimQ
“I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant.” - H.L. Mencken

H.L. Mencken was a renowned newspaper columnist for the Baltimore Sun from 1906 until 1948. His biting sarcasm seems to fit perfectly in today’s world. His acerbic satirical writings on government, democracy, politicians and the ignorant masses are as true today as they were then. I believe the reason his words hit home is because he was writing during the last Unraveling and Crisis periods in America. The similarities cannot be denied. There are no journalists of his stature working in the mainstream media today. His acerbic wit is nowhere to be found among the lightweight shills that parrot their corporate masters’ propaganda on a daily basis and unquestioningly report the fabrications spewed by our government. Mencken’s skepticism of all institutions is an unknown quality in the vapid world of present day journalism.
The Roaring Twenties of decadence, financial crisis caused by loose Fed monetary policies, stock market crash, Depression, colossal government redistribution of wealth, and ultimately a World War, all occurred during his prime writing years. I know people want to believe that the world only progresses, but they are wrong. The cycles of history reveal that people do not change, just the circumstances change. How Americans react to the undulations of history depends upon their age and generational position. We are currently in a Crisis period when practical, truth telling realists like Mencken are most useful and necessary.
Mencken captured the essence of American politics and a disconnected populace 80 years ago. Even though many people today feel the average American is less intelligent, more materialistic, and less informed than ever before, it was just as true in 1930 based on Mencken’s assessment:
“The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
You can make your own judgment on the accuracy of his statement considering the last two gentlemen to occupy the White House. His appraisal of U.S. Senators and citizens in our so-called Democracy captures the spirit of the travesty that passes for leadership and civic responsibility in this country today.
“Democracy gives the beatification of mediocrity a certain appearance of objective and demonstrable truth. The mob man, functioning as citizen, gets a feeling that he is really important to the world—that he is genuinely running things. Out of his maudlin herding after rogues and mountebacks there comes to him a sense of vast and mysterious power—which is what makes archbishops, police sergeants, the grand goblins of the Ku Klux and other such magnificoes happy. And out of it there comes, too, a conviction that he is somehow wise, that his views are taken seriously by his betters — which is what makes United States Senators, fortune tellers and Young Intellectuals happy. Finally, there comes out of it a glowing consciousness of a high duty triumphantly done which is what makes hangmen and husbands happy.”
People still read newspapers in the 1930s to acquire credible information about the economy, politics and economy. Today’s corporate owned rags aren’t fit to line a bird cage. The mainstream media is a platform for the lies of their corporate sponsors. Each TV network or newspaper spouts propaganda that supports the financial interests and ideology they are beholden to. Does anyone think they are obtaining the truth from Paul Krugman, Chris Matthews, Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh? Evidently the answer is yes. The upcoming presidential campaign will be a nightmare of endless negative advertisements created by Madison Avenue maggots and paid for by rich powerful men attempting to herd the mindless sheeple towards their ultimate slaughter. Whichever corporate controlled party can more successfully scare the masses into pulling their lever in the voting booth on November 6th will get the opportunity push the country closer to its ultimate collapse. This collapse was destined from the time of Mencken when the Federal Reserve was created by a small group of powerful bankers and their cronies in Congress. Fear has worked for 100 years in controlling the masses, as Mencken noted during his time:
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”
In the 1930s you needed to count on newspapers for the truth. The purpose of those who wield power is to keep the masses dumbed down and paranoid regarding terrorist threats and artificial enemies. By convincing the dense public that acquiring material goods on credit was a smart thing to do, they have trapped them in a web of debt. By making life an inexhaustible bureaucratic nightmare or rules, regulations, forms, ID cards, registrations, and red tape, those in power maintain control and accumulate power. H.L. Mencken would be proud:
“Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
Let’s See How Far We’ve Come
“The worst government is often the most moral. One composed of cynics is often very tolerant and humane. But when fanatics are on top there is no limit to oppression.” – H.L. Mencken

The corporate / government / banking oligarchy started the fire. The world is burning to the ground and politicians have thrown gasoline onto the fire with passage of debt financed stimulus programs, Obamacare, bank bailouts, the Patriot Act, NDAA, and a myriad of other government “solutions”. To anyone willing to think for just a few minutes, the picture is unambiguous. This requires the ability to think critically – a missing gene among the majority of Americans.
Critical thinking is the careful, deliberate determination of whether one should accept, reject, or suspend judgment about a claim and the degree of confidence with which one accepts or rejects it. Critical thinking employs not only logic but broad intellectual criteria such as clarity, credibility, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, significance and fairness. Critical thinking requires extensive experience in identifying the extent of one’s own ignorance in a wide variety of subjects (“I thought I knew, but I merely believed.”)
One becomes less biased and more broad-minded when one becomes more intellectually empathetic and intellectually humble. I have observed little or no critical thinking skills in the pompous asses that write daily columns in today’s newspapers and zero critical thinking skills among the vacuous pundits and big breasted brainless fashion models that yap all day long on CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, Fox and the Big 3 dying networks.
Any thinking would be a shocking change of pace from the corrupt corporate owned politicians in Washington DC. Other than Ron Paul and a few other truth tellers, critical thinking from a politician or a government bureaucrat is about as likely as Obama not using a teleprompter. Everything being spewed at the public from the MSM, Wall Street, and Washington DC is intellectually dishonest, manipulated and packaged by pollsters and PR firms. I’ve come to the conclusion that those in power desire that public school systems of the United States churn out ignorant, non-questioning morons. A populace that is incapable or uninterested in critically thinking about the important issues of the day is a politician’s best friend. Half the population doesn’t vote and the other half unquestioningly obeys what they are told by their parties.
Ignorance is the state of being uninformed about issues and unaware about the implications of those issues. It is not about intelligence. A huge swath of America is ignorant due to lack of education and a low class upbringing. But, I know many college educated people who haven’t read a book in 20 years or could care less about economic issues. They made a choice to be ignorant. They prefer being distracted by their latest technological toy to dealing with reality.
Most Americans are incapable of looking beyond a 2 to 3 year time horizon. That is why the median 401k balance in the US is $13,000. That is why the average credit card debt per household is $16,000. That is why 25% of all homeowners are underwater on their mortgage. Politicians, banks, and marketers take advantage of this witlessness to enslave the average American. We’ve come to love our slavery. Appearing successful because you drive the right car, wear the right clothes or live in the right house is more important than actually doing the hard work to actually become successful, like spending less than you make and saving the difference.
An informed, interested, questioning public would be a danger to the government as described by H.L. Mencken:
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out … without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.”
There were already two fiscal hurricanes of unfunded liabilities and current deficits churning towards our shores before Obama and his non-critical thinking Democratic minions launched a third storm called Obamacare. No matter how many intellectually deceitful mouthpieces like Paul Krugman and Rush Limbaugh misrepresent the facts, the fiscal foundation of the country is crumbling under the weight of unfunded entitlement promises, out of control government spending and far flung military misadventures. Only someone who is intellectually bankrupt, like Krugman, would declare the National Debt at $8 trillion as a looming disaster when George Bush was President, but declare that a $15.6 trillion National Debt headed towards $20 trillion by 2015 isn’t a danger now that Barack Obama is President. The intellectual and moral credentials required to write for a major newspaper have fallen markedly since the days of Mencken.
The combination of educationally uninformed, ignorant by choice, and intellectually dishonest will be fatal for the country. Total US credit market debt as a percentage of GDP is just below an all-time high, exceeding 350% of GDP. It is 25% higher than it was at the depths of the Great Depression. Consumer debt fell in 2010 – 2011 because banks wrote off about a trillion dollars of bad debt, while government debt has skyrocketed to unprecedented levels. Now consumers are back racking up more debt, with government encouragement and subsidies responsible for the surge in student loan and auto debt. With GDP stalling out, government debt accumulating at $1.4 trillion per year and consumers back to their delusional selves again, this ratio will pass 400% by 2014.
The financial crisis was caused by excessive utilization of debt. In order to correct these imbalances, the country needed to undergo a deleveraging and reversion back to a country of savers. Savings equals investment. Instead, our “leaders” have reduced interest rates to 0% and have gone on an unprecedented government borrowing and spending spree. Savers and senior citizens are punished, while gamblers and speculators are rewarded. Anyone who thinks about this strategy for a few minutes will realize it is asinine and hopeless. It enriches the few and impoverishes the many.

Based upon a realistic assessment of our current spending trajectory, The National Debt of the U.S. will exceed $25 trillion by 2019. That is more than double the figure when Bush left office. George Bush almost doubled the National Debt from $5.6 trillion to $11 trillion during his reign of error. It seems one thing Republicans and Democrats can agree on is that spending money they don’t have will have no negative consequences (“deficits don’t matter” – Cheney). When you have a Federal Reserve willing to print to infinity there is no limit to how much you can spend. Only a fool would believe there won’t be consequences. That fool writes an opinion column for the NYT and has a Nobel Prize on his bookshelf.

We add $3.8 billion of debt to this figure each and every day. We add $158 million to this figure each and every hour. The interest on the National Debt reached an all-time high of $454 billion in 2011 with an effective interest rate of about 3%. Much of this interest is paid to foreign governments like China, Japan and OPEC nations. This is $1.2 billion per day of interest paid mostly to foreigners. With just the slightest bit of critical thinking one could easily perceive that with a National Debt of $25 trillion and a likely increase in interest rates to at least 6%, our annual interest costs would increase to $1.5 trillion per year. The United States needed to implement a long-term plan ten years ago to address the impossible to fulfill promises made by its corrupt, mentally bankrupt politicians. Americans’ inability to deal with reality and fondness for not thinking beyond tomorrow has shown them to be an inferior species, as Mencken noted:
“The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear – fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety.”
The entire revenue of the US government totaled $2.3 trillion in 2011, with $800 billion of those funds earmarked for Social Security outlays in the future. Does this appear sustainable? President Obama submits budgets of never ending trillion dollar deficits and then gives stump speeches declaring that we must get our deficits under control. He appears on the MSM declaring his dedication to fiscal responsibility and what passes for a journalist these days nods their head like a lapdog and lobs the next softball to the President. You have to be delusional to believe this claptrap. Luckily for the politicians, most Americans are delusional and apathetic. They just got another text message from their BFF. They are consumed by who will get booted this week from American Idol or Dancing With the Stars. The NFL draft is tonight and did your hear that Kim Kardashian is doing Kanye West?
H.L. Mencken understood the false promises of democracy 80 years ago:
“Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses. It is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”
We deserve to get it good and hard, and we will.

That's right Jerry and there are many like that today. They take the position that if some pastor or church they like is at least doing something right then no one should mention or point out where they may be in serious error.

Scripture tells us we are not to stop at baby milk when it comes to partaking of the Word and growing in the Lord. We are to continually be walking down the path of righteousness (not standing still someone along the path), pursuing holiness, becoming ever more rooted and grounded in the Word, submitting to Christ in all things, obeying the Lord in all things.

The idea that if some preacher proclaims the Gospel, has helped win some to Christ or calls on other to do so that it doesn't matter how far off they are in other areas they should be put upon a pedestal and no one should dare to obey and use the Word as exhorted in 2 Timothy 3:16. That is totally unbiblical!

If Christians were to really follow the above idea then the Apostle Paul would have been terribly wrong to have confronted the Apostle Peter regarding his error.

If the one biblically confronted with error is truly seeking to follow Christ he will, as did Peter, accept the biblical correction and grow in the Lord from it. Sad to say, most today take allow their pride to rise up and become defensive, often to find themselves fighting against the clear Word of God.

This man seems only to want the salvation message proclaimed. He doesn't seem want no one reproved, corrected, nor instructed in righteousness. And he knows not the difference in correction, reproof, & instructed in righteousness & bashing someone.

We are slowly, but surely, moving towards one world government. Just as we are towards one world religion, with all the efforts to get all "faiths" to work together for the good of mankind.

The United Nations is suceeding where the League of Nations initially failed. But the seed was planted.

Quote: President Woodrow Wilson had been a driving force behind the League's formation and strongly influenced the form it took, but the US Senate voted not to join on 19 November 1919.

Quote: The structure of the US federal government may also have made its membership problematic, as its representatives at the League could not have made decisions on behalf of the United States executive branch without having prior approval of the legislative branch.

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

Sadly, there are many "worldly christians" out there and many who believe if they believe there is a God, or if they "pray" sometimes, or even some who think saying "Jesus" makes them a good Christian.

Those worldly christian artists can be especially dangerous because they have such a larger statge to spread this idea.

How sad to think of the millions who will be cast into hell after going through this life thinking they had "done enough" so were okay with God, only to hear Christ inform them He never knew them.

Take a look here at the number of forums and topics that are setup for consideration. From cults to Bible versions to events in the news, each is for the purpose of evaluation and education.

One of the reasons I'm here is because it is a place to examine and compare to the Word of God, all those things around us. A place where I can examine myself and grow in my faith.

It's also a place where people who profess to be shepards of Christ's flock should be examined. No, not to judge their salvation, but to examine the fruit they bear. If Eve had examined the "fruit" of the serpent, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Since I've returned to active fellowship with His church I have a set of "life" verses that work hand in hand. Along with the Holy Spirit, these are bringing the rest of the scriptures to life, in ways I've never known them before.

Proverbs 2:3-6 (KJV)

3Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
6For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)

15Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Sometimes, as I apply other verses to my life, with new awareness, the thought crosses my mind to change "life verses", But, I keep coming right back to this set. So, it isn't likely, at least for now in my walk of faith, that I'll change them.

Yes, turning them away from my home is the right approach, as noted in the scriptures posted.

Attempt to witness to them, yes.

From experience (they are active in our area and come by our house every few months) most are well trained to counter anything that is contrary to their beliefs. Ready to argue with scripture and are happy to flout (for lack of a better word) their understanding with someone who can't counter verse by verse.

Argue with them, no. Debate the scriptures, no. While the words will vary, I tell them simply that I'm saved through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Usually, at that point, they want to tell me where and how I'm wrong in my belief. That's the point, I politely ask them to leave and no I don't want their literature.

I had the same reaction to the name of this cult when I learned about them and Watchtower. Have been turning them away from our door for years, but hadn't really looked into what they represent, until maybe a year ago. Read a post in another forum where a woman said she couldn't go to heaven because the 144,000 had already been allocated. Both sadness for her and anger at Watchtower grew, as I took some time to study their beliefs. This woman had been well trained to counter any opposition, using scripture, to what she was attempting to teach in that forum through her "witness".

Here's a good link that I discovered during my study, others may find to be useful.
HOW TO DISCUSS THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST WITH JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES
http://4witness.org/jehovahs_witness/jw_discuss_jesus_god.php