In this week's ongoing study of the Book of Romans, chapter 11 is the next one in line

The Olive Tree And The Branches

]Romans 11]

In today's chronological study of the Book of Romans, the apostle Paul continues his train of thought regarding the Hebrew people versus the remaining nations of the world. He continues to elaborate about the Jews as being God's chosen people while he explains why that status was going to the Gentile nations instead of Israel. Paul quoted from the prophet Isaiah chapter 65 and verse one, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me”. God's purpose for the Gentile nations (that's us) was to extend the salvation of Christ to all humanity, provoking Israel to jealousy. So let's pick up where we left off last week beginning at chapter 11 and verse one.

“I ask then; did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says about the prophet Elijah – how he appealed to God against Israel: 'Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me'? (I Kings 19, verses 10 and 14) And what was God's answer to him? 'I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed their knee to Baal'. (I Kings 19:18) So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. What, then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, as it is written, 'God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.' (Isaiah 29: 20) And David says, 'May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see and their backs be bent forever'. (Psalm 69: 22-23) Again I ask, did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater will their fullness bring! (Romans 11, verses 1-12, NIV)

God has not rejected the Jewish nation, Paul wrote, and he states unequivocally that he is living proof that this is so. Keep in mind that when Paul wrote these words, the overwhelming majority of Christians in the early church were Jewish converts. It is a documented fact that all of the living apostles (James had already been executed at the time these words were written) were ministering to the Jews of their day. Only Paul, as we learned from last week's study, was ministering to the Gentiles. If I as an Israelite, Paul was saying, can be saved, then so can the rest of us. “So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” As we have learned previously, grace is defined as unmerited favor from God. It is a free gift with no strings attached, provided that we surrender control of our lives to Jesus Christ, making him the Lord over all right down to our daily lives. “What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did.” “The elect” is a reference to all non-Jews who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb of God, none other than Christ himself. “The elect” are all born-again Christians.

“... did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.” Paul is saying here that since so many non-believing Jews had rejected the salvation of Christ, he would cause all the Gentile nations to get their fair share of grace ahead of the Jews, deliberately making them angry. Anyone who rejects Christ will be proven wrong, first for the Jew, and then for the Gentile. Those who are proven wrong but still will not change their ways are in danger of final judgment that leads to eternal death. But those who do believe, whether Jew or Gentile, will be granted eternal life in New Jerusalem, a life without end where time as we know it does not exist. Paul makes his point by comparing new Christians to branches of an olive tree. The olive tree is used throughout the Bible as a symbol for Israel. It goes back to the tradition of Jesus teaching us all that “I am the vine, and you are the branches”. It's in all four gospels if you want to look it up.

“I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I might somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough that is offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole branch is holy; if the root is holy, then so are the branches.” (Romans 11: 13-16 NIV)

In the first verse above, Paul makes reference to himself as a Jewish man when he talks about being an apostle to the Gentiles, or non-Jews. He then states by doing so he hoped to “somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them”. This is a direct reference to a passage in the book of Acts where Paul's arguments for his new-found Christian faith are rejected by his Jewish peers at every turn. “Let your blood be on your own heads”, Paul exclaims to them. “From now on, I will take my message to the Gentiles”. Paul then uses a quote from Christ to make his point when he says,” If the part of the dough that is offered as first-fruits is holy, then the whole branch is holy”. Jesus said during one of his parables, “A small amount of yeast works through the whole batch of dough”. This is what Paul is referring to when he says, “ If the part of the dough that is offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole branch is holy.” “First fruits” refers to the ancient Jewish tradition in the Old Testament of offering up a tenth of their livestock and their crops for sacrifice at the temple at Jerusalem. Unfortunately, this tradition is still being taught in churches as being a requirement today even though Jesus' sacrifice on the cross takes the place of Old Testament teachings. (yes, you should still give to your church and other non-profits, but the 10% requirement was abolished when Christ rose from the dead three days after he was crucified. Any church that teaches tithing 10% of one's income today is bending and twisting the Gospel so as to turn houses of worship into profitable businesses. God will deal with them severely!).

“If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap of the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, 'Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in'. Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you either.” (Romans 11: 17-21 NIV)

In this passage, the branches that have been “broken off” is a metaphor for non-believers. New believers from all backgrounds are what Paul calls “wild olive shoots”. They are grafted into the vine that is Christ (“I am the vine, you are the branches”) by our faith. They become a branch that is part of the olive tree that symbolizes Israel. Since Jesus walked the earth as a Jewish man, all who put their faith in Christ literally become Jewish by adoption. They become a branch of the olive tree that symbolizes Israel. And Christ is the root of that tree, with all believers becoming branches. And Paul then warns us all that if God “did not spare the natural branches (the descendants of the Jewish nation), He will not spare you either”. All who are grafted into the olive tree that is Israel can be cut off and replaced with new believers if they do not bear fruit. This is a warning from God that we are to remain faithful as Christians. Faith is something that is continuous, that is put into successive action. Faith is defined in the Book of Hebrews as being “the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen”. Faith is something that does not occur once, but rather it is something that is ongoing and that must be maintained by the believer if our walk with Christ is to be a fruitful one. Being fruitful is the evidence of our faith in Christ. Everyone we meet will know that we are adopted into the family of God when we do these things. Paul then explains this within the following verses.

“Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God; sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in His kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, now much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!” (Romans 11: 22-24 NIV)

How do we keep from being cut off from the olive tree that is not only Israel, but the entire body of Christ? By continuing in the kindness of God, using His perfect love which is found in Christ. If we fail to do this, Paul warns, then “you also will be cut off”. The evidence of our faith can be found in how we treat other people, exemplifying the unconditional love of God. Our faith, then, depends on our kindness and empathy towards others. After all, if we “do not persist in unbelief”, we will be grafted as a new branch onto the olive tree that comprises the Bride of Christ. And this nation, unlike the Israeli people of today, will be made up of Jew and non-Jew alike, being regarded by God as equals. God sees right past the boundaries of the nations and looks straight into the heart of humankind to discern whether or not we should be a part of the family of God. Our faith in God is something that is written on our minds and our hearts, and it manifests itself by the way in which we live our lives as Christians. And now let's wrap this up for today starting from verse 25.

“I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has received a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved as it is written: 'the deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins'. (Isaiah 59: 20-21) As far as the Gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as you who at one time were disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. Oh, the depth of the riches and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen!” (Romans 11, verses 25-36, NIV)

“Israel has received a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved... ”. What was Paul writing about here? All of the nation of Israel will be saved, but only after all the Gentiles who have surrendered to Christ have been brought into the Church, that is, all of the non-Jews who are born-again believers. So even though the Jewish nation will be saved by God's covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (see Genesis beginning with chapter 15 up to about chapter 32), the non-Jews will enter into God's kingdom first, and the Israelite nation second, due to their unbelief regarding the risen Christ as the Son of God. “As far as the Gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.” Who are God's enemies? It is those who refuse to believe and so be saved. God's call is irrevocable, Paul wrote. I'm sure Paul was paraphrasing the teachings of Christ, who said, “Anyone who comes unto to me for worship and for the forgiveness of sins will in no way be cast out”. However, this does not mean that once we are saved, that we remain in that state by default. If a born-again Christian continues to live in sin, whatever their sins might be, or if they become believers only to turn away for whatever reason, it is the same as walking away from a good job, a marriage, or any other beneficial relationship. Obviously this would not be a good idea at all. But this also disproves what some denominations teach, which is that once we are saved by Christ, we remain saved no matter what our behavior is outside the church. This is a false teaching, and if any of you find yourselves in such a church, I would advise you to consider looking for a better one. “For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.” We are all born sinners. That's why it is imperative that we become reborn by the unconditional salvation and love of Christ.

How about you? Are you living your life as being part of the olive tree that is greater Israel, a branch grafted in by God? It all comes down to how we treat other people. If we treat others the way we would like to be treated ourselves, we can never be cut off as an unfruitful branch of that tree. And if we maintain our faith in God through Jesus Christ our Lord by continuing in His kindness and grace, we become a part of that tree forever. Let's all begin to practice this starting today. We must be willing to show kindness to others whether they deserve it or not, because Jesus died for us even though we didn't deserve it. This is the crux of the entire matter. If we “continue in His kindness” God will continue in His kindness for each of us. There really is no better way to live our lives for Christ.

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There are a lot of idols in the modern world. How do we tell the real ones from the fake?

The Only God That's Real

by Rev. Paul J. Bern

This week's commentary will be taken primarily from the book of Acts in the New Testament, which is right after the gospel of John for all you new believers. Like nearly everyone else, I too am appalled by the fighting in the Middle East and Africa over religion. I am equally put off by the sniping and infighting between religious denominations over man-made dogma and traditions steeped in pomp and circumstance. I will use the Scriptures to prove that the one true God is above and beyond churches and organized religion, in keeping with the theme of this website. The first thing that I want to point out is that there are many false gods in the modern world. The most egregious example that comes to mind is the worship of money and all the evils that come with it. In the apostle Paul's first letter to Timothy, Paul wrote that “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil”. That means money in and of itself is not always evil, but greed and the insatiable lust for money most definitely are. Jesus said in the four Gospels, “No one can serve two masters. He/she will either love one and reject the other, or cling to the latter while despising the former. You cannot serve both God and materialism.” (Luke 16: 13, NIV)

Let's ask ourselves these questions – do we sometimes find ourselves in automotive dealerships every time a new model comes out? Do we shop for new clothes, electronics, mobile or “smart” phones, the latest computers, and new decor for our homes whether we need them or not, just because they're “on sale”? Do we sometimes find ourselves shopping for a new house whether we need one or not? Are any of us in debt up to their eyeballs (not counting student loans) because we owe too much on our credit cards? If anyone answered “yes” to any of these questions, and particularly if you prioritize these things at the expense of your Spiritual lives, you may be worshiping a false god. It is Jesus Christ and he alone that must be at the top of our priorities. Anything else takes a back seat to Jesus in the order of our lives. Most of the things I just mentioned (excluding greed) are not evil in and of themselves. But false and futile worship of anything other than God, while bypassing or not including Jesus Christ as our Savior, amounts to idol worship. A similar line of questioning was presented to the apostle Paul nearly 2,000 years ago, and it is well documented in the book of Acts in the New Testament. I will begin with a quote from chapter 17, beginning at verse 16.

“While Paul was in Athens....... he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. A group of..... philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, 'What is this babbler trying to say?' Others remarked, 'He seems to be advocating foreign Gods'. They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus (which was basically a temple for idol worship and a town meeting place), where they said to him, 'May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean'....... Then Paul stood up at the meeting of the Areopagus and said, 'Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He himself gives life and breath and everything else. From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth....... God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps to reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each of us.... as some of your own poets have said, “we are his offspring”. Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone – an image made by man's design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent....when they heard about [Jesus] resurrection from the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “we want to hear from you again on this subject”...Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the [Jews and Greeks] that Jesus was the [Messiah]. But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, 'Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles'.” (Acts 17, verses 16-32; 18: 5-6; NIV)

This passage is just one of numerous examples of Paul's teaching about the one true God. I especially appreciate that Paul made two distinct points about God. The first is that God is above and beyond all nationalities, races and religions because he preached the same message equally to Jews, Greeks and Gentiles (a group of people that included everybody else). This was considered to be a radical teaching at the time because all these groups believed that their version of God was the correct one to the exclusion of everything and everybody else. This very point continues being emphasized today by certain church denominations who I will decline to name. Nobody has the exclusive path to God. No one has the right to claim that they are any closer to God than anyone else. It's just not true and it never was.

The second point that catches the human eye and captures my imagination is what Paul said about where God lives. “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He himself gives life and breath and everything else.” What an awesome statement! Think about how many religions there are in the world. There are over 400 Protestant denominations alone. All are called churches or houses of worship regardless of which religion they represent. And yet God doesn't live in any of them. Instead, for the true believer God lives in the minds and hearts of all individual believers. Never mind all the spiritual sophistry that's being “taught” in some modern churches, because it's largely based on money. God doesn't care who you are, where you live, what you have done (or not), what country you are from or what church you are connected with (or not). He doesn't care where you have been, and He doesn't care about what is in your past. Unlike many men and women who attend church regularly, God doesn't care what you look like, or how much money you give to your church or to charities, or what your social or economic status is. God couldn't care less what church you go to, or even if you go at all. The one true God doesn't even live in church, although a lot of phony religious leaders and related clergy will no doubt insist that He does. Instead, God wants to live and breathe in our hearts and minds. He wants you to become a church in and of yourself, a church that walks and talks. Not only does God want to live inside you, He wants us all to pay that forward by unconditionally sharing our faith with others. That means that He wants us all to have a sound conscience and to learn how to use it most effectively. Also, to quote the apostle Paul, God wants us to “continue to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord” (Philippians 2: 12, NIV).

In closing, let me add that there is absolutely nothing wrong with going to church no matter what religion you identify with. If you currently attend, I'm certain that God wants you to continue to go so long as you keep hearing messages from the pulpit that are encouraging, uplifting and positive, and most importantly based on Scripture. I don't want this message to be a reason for those who are attending church to stop going. God forbid! On the other hand, please keep in mind that the church is just a building and nothing more. I acknowledge that churches are built as meeting places for like-minded believers and that they should remain so. But now that you have read today's message you know a better way to keep everything in perspective, whether in church or out. You can look at organized religion with skepticism as I do, but do not let that compromise your most deeply held beliefs. The one true God is greater that all the religions in the world combined. He is truly above and beyond it all. 

 

Let me bring up one more thing before I go, and I really wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't point this out. If we are going to have God living inside of each of us then we should be living and acting as if He did. Watch what you say and how you say it. Clean up your life and the language that you use. Be mindful of anything that you are doing to excess because this is the root of all addictive behavior. Live your life as if God is watching what you do and listening to everything you say because He really is. Until next time, then, be a church that walks and talks so you can be a good example for others to follow, especially those who look up to you. And the almost incomprehensible peace that is the very embodiment of Jesus Christ – the Savior of the world – will remain with you all. Amen.

This week in our ongoing study of the Book of Romans, we'll be moving on to chapter ten

Confessing Your Faith

[Romans chapter 10]

This week in the book of Romans we will be moving on to chapter 10. The apostle Paul was a Jewish man just like Christ was, and his zeal for their conversion is well documented. But chapter 10 talks about combining Judaism and Christianity into one faith, and how to live that faith as a lifestyle. Let's get started with Romans 10 beginning at verse 1.

“Brothers, my desire and my prayer to God for the Israelites is that they might be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God, and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Moses described in this way the righteousness that is by the law: 'the man who does these things will live by them' . But the righteousness that is by faith says: 'do not say in your heart, who will ascend into heaven (that is, to bring Christ down) or who will descend into the deep?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? 'The Word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart', that is, the word of faith that we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame'. For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call upon Him, for 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'” (Romans 10: verses 1-13, NIV)

What does this tell us? First and foremost, it was Paul's hearts desire that his own people, the Hebrew nation, should be saved. Paul remarks concerning his own people the Hebrew nation, “Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God, and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” The Hebrew nation asserted that their salvation was derived from the Old Testament, specifically the Law of Moses that encompasses five books of the Bible from Exodus through Deuteronomy. The supreme sacrifice of Jesus Christ has replaced the old law with the new covenant of the shedding of His blood for the forgiveness of sins. “if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame'.”

Even if you don't own a Bible, the Word of God can and should be written on our hearts and in our minds. We can carry Jesus around with us, dwelling within us, as we go about our daily lives. So let's do a little self-examination here and ask a couple of key questions. Do I truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God and Lord over the earth? And, have I made Him Lord over my life? Or to put it another way, is there anything in my life that I put ahead of Jesus? Is my job, my home, my car and even my family something that I place ahead of God and His kingdom? These are not easy questions for some. It's all a matter of having correct priorities in life.

The next most important question we can ask ourselves here is whether or not we truly believe that God raised Jesus from the dead after He was crucified. For many this question is a no-brainer since they were raised as Christians from childhood. Others come to this knowledge and acquire this faith later in life as they search for deeper meaning in their everyday living. But there can be no doubt that God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day after He was crucified. This theme is stated repeatedly throughout the New Testament, and it is prophesied in the Old Testament as well.

“Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame”. If you believe in Jesus, you have a faith that is foolproof and untouchable. Your faith is something that no one can take away from you. It remains with you throughout your life provided that you maintain and practice it every day. Furthermore, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”. Saved from what, you may ask? What is it that we should be so afraid of? The answer can be summed up in two words: eternal death. To believe in Jesus Christ means that those who truly love Him can pass from death to eternal life when our physical lives are over and our bodies wear out. Those persons who do not believe, or who believe in false gods such as money or what they see on TV, die forever when their lives are finished. And there will be a final judgment after this present world comes to an end, which is inevitable and which will happen very soon. So, we can either live once and die twice, or we can live twice and die only once, after which we will pass from death to eternal live in Christ and live with Him in heaven forever without end. The bottom line here is that eternal life in Christ is not something that happens only once and then it's over. Eternal life in Christ by His resurrection from the dead is an ongoing process that is happening continuously within our hearts and minds. St Paul comments on this further down in this passage of Scripture when he says the following:

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news?' ” (Romans 10:14-15 NIV)

As you can see, belief is an ongoing process. It is not something that happens only once and then it's over. You can't call upon the name of Jesus unless you believe in Him. And you can't believe in someone you have never heard of (how silly would that be?). By the same token, how can we hear the good news about Jesus without someone telling us, such as by reading this Bible study as you are doing today? How can this good news be preached and taught if no one is sent? Make no mistake about it, God has empowered me to put up this website for the benefit of new believers who are without a doubt searching for ultimate truth. This is particularly true for the multitudes who are on the Internet, but who wouldn't touch a traditional church with a ten foot pole. He has charged me with this very mission, which I will continue to fulfill to the very best of my ability outside the boundaries of organized religion, or “Church, Inc.”, as I call it. And, how do we as new Christians come to this new set of core beliefs? St. Paul summarizes this very question further down in this same passage of Scripture when he quotes from the Old Testament prophets.

“But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, 'who, Lord, has believed our message'? Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ. But I ask: 'did they not hear'? Of course they did: 'Their voice has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.' Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, 'I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.' And Isaiah boldly says, 'I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me' But concerning Israel he says, 'All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.'” (Romans 10, verses 16-21, NIV)

Paul's very words right here amounts to a summary judgment against his own people. Did Israel not hear the Gospel when Paul and others such as the apostle Peter enunciated it to them? Did they not understand me, he wrote? Back when I first became a Christian in 1992, this was my experience exactly. A Christian business associate had been talking to me about the Lord for months. At first I was very skeptical because I had had a strongly negative experience with the Catholic church when I was growing up. But God pursued me through my friend all during that time. He used my friend as a conduit for His power because He was seeking me, knowing well in advance of myself that He had big plans for me and a solid pathway for my life. The main point here is that God loved me first, rather than the other way around. Now Jesus wants to do the same for everyone whether they are reading this message today or not, whether they believe it or not. He is reaching out to you personally to reveal Himself to you. And He will be found by numerous individuals like myself, whether we were seeking Him or not.

This is the best news of all. God loves us so much that He has sent Jesus to each and every one of us. And Jesus has a plan, initiated by His heavenly father to bring us all under His wing. This includes yourself. So let's rejoice and be happy about finding God whether we were searching for Him or not, because in so doing we will gain a righteousness that is by faith just as Isaiah and Moses did. We can be sure that He has already found us and has loved us first. He has thought about us long before we ever thought about Him. Let's all start today to live our lives to the fullest extent possible just because we know that this is God's plan for our lives. We can maintain a better outlook on life and have a much-improved self-image by loving Jesus because He loved us first. I challenge all my readers to do this. Watch and see how much your outlook on life improves when we reciprocate God's love for us. It's the best thing we can do for ourselves at this moment. By doing so, the peace of Christ that surpasses all human understanding will be with us everywhere we go.

What would Jesus say about illegal immigration? Actually, he already has.

Immigration Issues And The Golden Rule

by Rev. Paul J. Bern

After watching all the haters this week in the mainstream media, I would first like to say that I have had a belly full of those who are ranting and raving about the flood of child immigrants crossing our country's southern border. Those persons whose battle cry is, “not in my back yard” have forgotten – or chose to ignore – that the United States is an entire nation of immigrants. Our country is a melting pot for people of all nations, races, genders, nationalities and faiths. We are not being invaded by an army from the south. What we actually have is a humanitarian crisis of colossal proportions. For example, if a kid you never saw before came to your door asking for food, would you give it to him or her? Let's not forget what it says on the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...“ Let's also not forget three different things taught by Jesus Christ. The first is, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matt 19:14). The next one is, “... Jesus said, I praise you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure” (Matt 11: 25-26). Hidden what, you ask? The entire concept of unconditional love and acceptance while living in peace and harmony escapes those who are hateful, bigoted, prejudiced and intolerant, but the kids understand it completely – just ask one. Better yet, go and ask one of the so-called “illegal” children and teens crossing America's borders. They know exactly what living in peace and harmony means because they have all escaped from the war zones down in Mexico and Central America.

But the most famous and timely quote from Christ regarding this entire issue can be summed up in one short paragraph. “The the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothed you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me'.” (Matt. 25, verses 34-40) The righteous who did all these things during their physical lives will reap an eternal reward, but those who thought only of themselves will receive eternal condemnation.

We all know, or at least have heard of, the story of the Good Samaritan as told to us by Jesus Christ. I won't quote the entire parable verbatim because my posting today is about how it applies to the subject of so-called “illegal immigration”. If I put the story into modern terms I can cite two different examples, one of how this could work out and the other as it actually did. A certain traveler from a foreign country was making their way through the US seeking to find suitable work and re-establish themselves in their newly adopted country. While on their journey, this hapless foreign national gets jacked up, beat up, and left semi-conscious and bleeding on the side of the road. A short while later a religious leader and church pastor who are passing by see the beaten and now-penniless victim, pause for a moment and say a quick prayer, and continue on their way. A few minutes after that, a well-paid IRS agent passes by the man and doesn't even bother to stop and help even though he/she could have easily afforded to do so. An hour or two later, after this crime victim has been lying bleeding, severely injured and baking in the hot sun, a homeless man happens upon this person. This street person from the impoverished inner city (fill in the blank with the city of your choice) cleans up the victim's wounds as best as he can and then dials 911 on his/her prepaid mobile phone, summons medical assistance to that location, and waits for the ambulance to arrive while protecting this luckless individual from further injury and harm. Once the ambulance has picked the injured person up and taken them to the nearest ER, the homeless person who helped the injured traveler goes on their way, enjoying a quiet satisfaction within themselves at the good deed they have done. But they say nothing to anyone about it, not wanting accolades or applause from anyone, but only to do good and to be merciful towards all God's children. “Blessed are the merciful”, Jesus said, “for they will be shown mercy”.

Allow me to now present a somewhat similar story from the Internet, but the outcome is altogether different. A person from Central America gets severely injured in an auto accident through no fault of his own. He spends a lengthy time in the hospital recovering from his injuries and racks up a $1.5 million dollar-plus medical bill. In the end, he is deported to his country of origin because he was here illegally, even though he was still an invalid at the time of his deportation. Basically, the Florida hospital had taken care of an “illegal immigrant” from the country of Guatemala for a period of almost three years at a cost of $1.5 million dollars. The hospital requested and received permission from the court to physically remove the patient from the hospital and send him back to Guatemala. The purpose of the posting was to get people riled up over so-called “illegal immigrants”. It basically states our rising health-care costs are totally due to caring for illegals, which simply isn't true, but that's a subject for another day. When I was reading this blog posting I wondered why this person had been hospitalized for a period of almost three consecutive years, and why the total cost was so relatively low. I've been in the hospital a few times lately and $1,100/day barely gets you a bed, much less sheets and a pillow. At any rate, in the eyes of God there is no such thing as an illegal human being, and I think that those who think otherwise would do well to let go of their “wild west” ways. I say again – there is no such thing as someone who has no right to be here. At any rate, the foreign nationals injuries happened as follows:

On April 5, 2000 a drunken Donald Flewellen, age 52, driving on a revoked license, borrowed a neighbor's vehicle and was involved in a hit-and-run accident in Fort Pierce, Florida. This accident resulted in two deaths and left Luis Jimenez, our Guatemalan illegal, a paraplegic with brain injuries. At the time of the accident, Flewellen had only been out of jail for four months for his previous conviction of two counts of DUI manslaughter. It appears Luis Jimenez was approximately 28-years-old at the time of the accident and in his early 30's when the Florida court approved his return to Guatemala, where he is now residing in a small mountain village in a one-room house with his mother. I'm curious as to how Americans would feel if the situation was reversed. What would happen if one of our youngsters was in a foreign country, legally or illegally, and suffered brain damage, and became a paraplegic at the hands of a foreigner, someone who should have been in prison? What would you feel like if you were a mother and had your son returned to you, in the condition Luis Jimenez is in, and were expected to care for him for the rest of his life without any assistance or funds to provide assistance?

One of my pet peeves is Internet and MSM articles and blog postings that take a stand on a subject without bothering to provide all the facts. The bottom line on this particular subject was – had the family of Luis Jimenez appealed the court decision on this case, Jimenez would still be in this country, and we would be “forced” to provide him with medical care. Decisions regarding the status of illegals are Federal, and State courts simply do not have the authority to remove individuals from this country whether they are here legally or illegally. Over and over again, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that illegal immigrants have the same constitutional rights as U.S. citizens and, until that is changed, federal law prevails.

Aside from the legal aspect is the moral aspect, and morally this country caused the injuries to this young man and it is our obligation to care for his needs. We are, after all, a Christian nation, are we not? Didn't Jesus heal the sick? Then we should be doing likewise, and those who disagree with me on this point have forgotten their Christian heritage, lost touch with their humanity, or both. When I was a kid, I was taught that kindness wasn't a choice, it was a command. It wasn't something you considered doing; it was an automatic reaction that came straight from the heart. We just did it because that's what Jesus would have us do. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.

Let me be absolutely clear about what I regard as a travesty of justice. Immigrants, whether they are here legally or not, are not invaders from another country. They are economic refugees. I will use Mexico as an illustration, although the man in the story is from Guatemala. The average blue-collar worker in Mexico has a take-home pay in Pesos that is equal to about $50.00 a month in US dollars. When any given migrant worker comes to the US and takes a job at minimum wage, that works out to a net pay after taxes of about $740.00 per month for a single person, more than a fifteen-fold increase over what they used to make. Now, let us ask ourselves this basic question: if we were offered a job in our profession in Canada, for example, at fifteen times our current pay rate, any one of us would naturally be eager for the chance, is that not correct? Now you know why so many economic refugees from the third world are coming here, and it's not just from Mexico or Guatemala. They seek economic opportunity just like anyone else would, and it is a level of opportunity available in few places elsewhere.

So why does this issue upset so many people? America is and always has been a nation of immigrants. There has never been a time in American history when this was not so, not even in WWII. Every time we welcome one more immigrant into America, we take on the role of the Good Samaritan all over again. And that is a role we should all continue to emulate everywhere we go.

In today's ongoing study of the Book of Romans, we'll be exploring chapter nine

We Are All Abraham's Children

Romans 9

In today's study we will be tackling Romans chapter nine. This chapter is a little bit more lengthy than some, and so I will break it up into several parts for the sake of practicality and brevity. As we begin today, Paul is still elaborating on what we now know as the end of chapter eight. “We are more than conquerers through Him who loved us”, wrote Paul at the close of last week's study. Today we will continue to examine these Scriptures verse by verse in order to better our understanding (mine included, since I learn something new every time I write another one of these). So let's get started at verse one, shall we?

“I speak the truth in Christ – I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit – I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoptions as sons; theirs is the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the Law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because of his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary: 'it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.' In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. For this was how the promise was stated:'at the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son'. Not only that, but Rebecca's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad – in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls – she was told, 'The older will serve the younger'. Just as it is written: 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated'.” (Romans 9, verses 1-13, NIV)

We've all had those moments when we knew in our heart of hearts – still others have expressed it to me as “a feeling in their guts” – when we knew when something was either right or wrong, on target or a complete miss, or of simply finding oneself in a situation where they felt leery of the circumstances or the people in them for one reason or another. The feeling of something that is too good to be true is one such example. That is exactly what the apostle Paul meant when he wrote, “I speak the truth in Christ – I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit... ”. It is interesting to note here that Paul's conscience had a direct connection to the Holy Spirit. They were interconnected in such a way that the presence of one element depended on the presence of the other. This is a goal that is worthy of attaining for the sake of our relationship with the Lord, that of unity of mind and Spirit. The more interdependent they are within ourselves, the closer our walk with Christ becomes. Paul then goes on to lament his own people, the Hebrews of their day, for what they were missing out on as a result of their continued unbelief that Jesus was the promised Messiah and the Son of God. “For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoptions as sons; theirs is the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the Law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.” Paul was reciting a litany of his own faith as he wrote these words nearly 2,000 years ago. All he has written here is a summary of only a fraction of a part of the Law of Moses as it is documented from the books of Exodus through Deuteronomy in the Old Testament. The Jews of Paul's day had Jesus crucified by the Romans. Instead of greeting him as their Savior and “Rabboni”, they had him executed.

“It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because of his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary:... 'it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.' In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring.” When Paul wrote that “not all who are descended from Israel are Israel”, he was referring to Jacob and Esau, the sons of Isaac. Although they were twin brothers, Jacob became one of the patriarchs of Israel while Esau became the patriarch of the Philistines. (For more details on this topic you may refer to the book of Genesis starting around chapter 25.) Paul then expounds on the fact that it is not those who are Jewish by birth who are God's children, but that it is all people – the entire world or body of believers – who have become Jewish by adoption with Jesus Christ as the head of our households. Only those who worship Jesus in Spirit and in truth will be adopted into the family of God, and all others will be rejected by God because of impure hearts and their clandestine motives. Having said that, let's move on to verse 14.

“What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.' It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharoah: 'I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth'. Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens those whom he wants to harden.' One of you will say to me: 'Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?' But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'why did you make me like this'? Does not the potter have the rights to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, – bore with great patience the objects of his wrath prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory – even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?” (Romans 9 verses 14-24, NIV)

“'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.' (Exodus 33:19) God chooses those that he sets aside for honor and praise, but he also chooses those who stand against God, because to stand against God means to rely on our human pride and only what matters to us and refuse to submit to God's will as the objects of his wrath. “It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but God's mercy.” What doesn't? Our selfish desires, our ulterior motives, and all our little schemes and manipulations. We can obtain neither eternal salvation nor the forgiveness of sins by our works, our words or our deeds, whether they are good or bad. Recognition of God's grace and of the shed blood of Jesus Christ are what saves us. Refusal to believe these established facts are what condemns us. Then why, Paul wrote, does God still blame people when they sin, and why does the guilt remain? And yet who are we to talk back to God, when we want to know why he has made us as he has? People who make this mistake, and it can be a serious one, are forgetting who is God and who isn't. Let's not go there, people. Remember to keep your eyes on the prize! What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known... – even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?” God has shed his grace upon us through Jesus his only Son so that the riches of his glory could be made known. The glory of the Son, in turn, is then made known through us, his adopted children. And now let's conclude this study of Romans chapter nine, starting at verse 25.

“As he says in Hosea, 'I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one', and, 'it will happen in the very place where it was said to them, 'you are not my people', they will be called 'Sons of the Living God'. Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: 'Though the number of the Israelites will be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality'. It is just as Isaiah said previously, 'unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah'. What shall we say, then? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. And why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written: 'See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame'.” (Romans 9, verses 25-33, NIV)

Paul quotes the book of Hosea chapter 2 and verse 23 to finish making his point to the Roman congregation. “'I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one', and, 'it will happen in the very place where it was said to them, 'you are not my people', they will be called 'Sons of the Living God.” What was Paul talking about? He was referring to Israel's status as God's chosen people based on the promise God made to Abraham (see the book of Genesis chapter 15), which was that Abraham would be the “father of many nations” and that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the clear night sky. Paul refers to this in the next sentence when he wrote, “Though the number of the Israelites will be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality.” The unvarnished truth here is that not everyone is going to heaven when they die. In fact, there are many out there today who simply aren't going to make it into New Jerusalem. A disturbing proportion of them will be what the Bible calls “lukewarm Christians” in the book of Revelation. It is there that it is written about the church at Laodicea, “I wish that you were either hot or cold. But since you are neither, I will spew you out of my mouth”. That judgment refers to the end times church, which is the present day since the second coming of our Lord is getting close. And if only a remnant of Israel, who are God's chosen people, will be saved, now many fewer who comprise all the remaining nations excluding Israel will be saved? The answer is, not as many as we have been led to believe by organized religion, who seem to think that only those who belong to their denominations will be saved. It is those people who are going to be in for a really rude awakening.

“... the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. And why not?Because they pursued it not by faith but as it were by works.” Right here is where Paul finishes making his point, which is that Jews and all other nations have now all become one in the eyes of God. The non-Jews have righteousness, which means to be found without fault but in that case according to their faith, while the Jews who do not believe in Jesus (and there is a growing number who do believe) have lost out because they thought they could be made righteous by their works, which was a reference to the Law of Moses in the Old Testament, when in fact that's not how things work in God's kingdom. Nobody, whether Jewish or not, can get to heaven and achieve eternal life based only on their good deeds. That is because no matter how many good deeds any one of us performs, we all still have that sinful nature that dates all the way back to Adam and Eve. There is no way we can shake this off of us on our own. Only by placing our unconditional faith in Jesus Christ can eternal salvation be attained and our sinful natures overcome.

“ They stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written: 'See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame'”. The “stumbling stone” Paul is referring to is none other than Christ Jesus himself. If we trust only in our works or our related sacrifices such as tithing 10% of our income like certain churches teach, that will not get us to heaven in and of itself. But if we humble ourselves before Christ by surrendering control of our lives and placing our complete trust in him, then and only then can we become Jewish adoptees in the family of God. When we trust in God, we can never be put to shame so long as we work diligently at this continuously. So here is something we have found that will improve our relationship with our Savior while bringing us ever closer to him all the while. Let's begin to put this into practice today, and soon you will see just how remarkably effective in your walk with the Lord this is.

My latest report on the continuing demise of America as we have known it

Fall of An Empire: An Inside View

By Rev. Paul J. Bern

Much has been discussed and written about the decline of America over the last several decades, and increasingly so as time marches on. The latest announcements via the main stream media about rumors of wars and the earth's damaged environment – damage that absolutely must be repaired if humankind are going to survive as a species – are becoming ever more frequent. I've been studying these two interrelated phenomena for the last eight years or so, and achieving world peace and environmental cleanup are the twin finish lines in the race for permanent peace and balanced living globally. So, if this is the finish line to this race for “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” as it is described in the Declaration of Independence, then where is the starting point? I had to stop typing and just sit and think for a short while before I wrote down any more of this, but if I had to pick a single starting point, it would be American education.

The average student loan debt upon graduation from college with a 4-year degree was $40,000.00 as of 2011. If you are just graduating or recently graduated from college, you will have to go back to school and earn a new degree, or otherwise change vocations, about once every ten to fifteen years over your lifetime in order to keep up with changes in the job market and new technologies. That is a frightening prospect for anybody. I argue that if we have to go back to school that many times in our lifetimes just to stay gainfully employed, then it is the system that is broken. The graduates are doing their part by their years of diligence in school, but the educational system has stopped putting up their fair share, and the results are an educational, financial and vocational train wreck for every new graduate.

Higher education as it stands right now is only for those who can afford it, or only for those who can “qualify” for predatory student loans that bury new graduates under mountains of debt so large that many can never be fully repaid. Unfortunately for these people, it is now standard operating procedure for prospective employers to check the credit of job applicants, and this is a practice that needs to be outlawed because it too is discriminatory. The end result of this is that the further behind one gets on his or her student loan payments due to unemployment the worse one's credit rating becomes, and so the harder it becomes to find suitable employment, and so on. This is a social injustice that must be vigorously opposed at every turn. It amounts to economic discrimination based on class; in this case employers (those who possess wealth) vs. the unemployed (those who have none), and that is a civil rights issue if ever there was one. And so, to correct this injustice, higher education should be free to everyone who desires it, and it should be available unconditionally. For details on how this can be accomplished simply and without reinventing the wheel, please order my book, “The Middle and Working Class Manifesto”. Thanks so much!

I cannot overemphasize the fact that the loss of housing, jobs, savings, pensions and other investments, plus transportation, access to higher education and the human dignity that goes with them, and the loss of access to health care, are all civil rights issues for the early 21^st century. The fact of the matter is that we all have the right to all of the above as American citizens – the fundamental right to shelter, to a livelihood and a living wage, to preventative health care, to free education for life instead of having to pay for it. But instead I'm sure you all have noticed, as I have, that America's existing constitutional rights are being systematically taken away from us a little bit at a time by the top 1%. The only way to stop this from occurring is to take to the streets in nonviolent protests, to organize and initiate general strikes, to flood the social media in order to better organize, and to keep doing these things until satisfactory changes are made. What will happen if this does not occur? Where will our formerly great country end up if everybody sits idly by and does nothing? Let me paint a portrait for you of what would likely happen in that event, a devastating portrait of a country in ruins. The end, you see, has nearly arrived. In fact, the end of all things as we have known them is a lot closer than you may have previously thought. Allow me to present a few examples.

[1] The number of Americans that have become so discouraged that they have given up searching for work completely now stands at an all-time high.

[2] Half of all American workers now earn $505 or less per week before taxes.

[3] Since 2001, over 42,000 U.S. factories have closed down for good.

[4] In 2012, 1.6 billion cellphones were sold worldwide. So how many of them were manufactured inside the United States? Zero.

[5] According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.

[6] According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008 employment at the foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30 percent to 10.1 million. During that exact same time period, U.S. employment at American multinational corporations declined 8 percent to 21.1 million.

[7] As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.

[8] In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per capita broadband Internet use. Today it ranks 15th.

[9] One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040. At any rate, the Chinese economy will eclipse the US economy by 2016.

[10] The U.S. Census Bureau says that 43.6 million Americans are now living in poverty and according to them that is the highest number of poor Americans in the 51 years that records have been kept.

[11] The true U.S. unemployment rate, if everyone is counted who currently aren't being included in the “official” government numbers, is at least 20%.

[12] According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are currently 6.3 million vacant homes in the United States that are either for sale or for rent.

[13] Since the year 2000, we have lost 10% of our middle class jobs. In the year 2000 there were approximately 72 million middle class jobs in the United States but today there are only about 65 million middle class jobs.

[14] 18 percent of all residential mortgages in the United States were in negative equity as of the end of the third quarter of 2012.

[15] In 2010, 55 percent of Americans between the ages of 60 and 64 were in the labor market. Ten years ago, that number was just 47 percent. More older Americans than ever find that they have to keep working just to survive. Retirement in America has become a lie and a cruel joke.

[16] As 2007 began, there were just over 1 million Americans that had been unemployed for half a year or longer. Today, there are over 6 million Americans that have been unemployed for half a year or longer. If we have all this economic and military might while one third of our children come from households that rely on food stamps to eat, then I would say there is something really wrong with this picture.

• There can be no doubt that the USA has become a second-rate country when half of its working adults can't find meaningful work.
• There can be no doubt that the USA has become a second-rate country when it is the last developed nation in the entire world without national health insurance for its citizens.
• There can be no doubt that the USA has become a second-rate country when all the good jobs get out-sourced overseas for pennies on the dollar while formerly employed Americans and small business owners lose their houses, their cars, their savings and wind up homeless and destitute.
• There can be no doubt that the USA has become a second-rate country when it is the last developed country where there is no family leave for its workers.
• There can be no doubt that the USA has become a second-rate country when our nation has more people in prison than any other country in the world.
• There can be no doubt that the USA has become a second-rate country when our country has accumulated the largest foreign trade deficit and federal budget deficit in the history of the world. Since the government is either unwilling or unable to address these issues in an intelligent manner, it is up to us, “we the people”, to tackle the job from the bottom up since the top-down approach apparently isn't working.

Today, the United States spends roughly 76 cents of every federal tax dollar on just four things: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and interest on the $14 trillion debt. That leaves 24 cents of revenue to pay for everything else the federal government does. Barring serious efforts to curb the growth in the country's debt, by 2020 Washington could be spending 92 cents of every tax dollar on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and interest alone. That would leave just 8 cents to pay for everything else. This is just one reason why the country's fiscal course is often described as "unsustainable." There is one more major thing that makes America as we have known it to be "unsustainable", and that added ingredient is oil.

World civilization is based on oil. The world is running out of oil. The oil companies and governments are not telling the truth about how close we are to the end. Whoever controls the remaining oil determines who lives and who dies. Sixty percent of this oil is under a triangular area of the Middle East the size of Kansas. But instead of an alternative energy plan we got the invasion of Iraq by oilmen wedded to a dying business, willing to kill hundreds of thousands to cling to the last drop. The US is never leaving the region or withdrawing from Iraq. The oil won't last that long... It's not about greed any more. It's about survival. Because the leadership of this country was initially too greedy to switch from oil to solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable alternatives, it may now be too late. Had the hundreds of billions of dollars poured into the invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan (might as well include western Pakistan plus Yemen and Somalia while we're at it) been put into alternative energy the world might have had a fighting chance. As of now that is far from certain.

World oil reserves are far lower than officially reported, the situation far more serious than publicly admitted, and we're already past “peak oil”. That's the word from two anonymous IEA whistle-blowers, The Guardian reports. To add insult to industry, the figures were deliberately massaged, at least in part, to appease the United States: Apparently the IEA was concerned that reporting the true reserve numbers – and keep in mind that determining oil reserves is as much art as science – it would trigger a buying panic. The US enters the picture encouraging the IEA to underplay the rate at which oil fields are being depleted – something which the IEA has admitted in recent months is occurring more quickly than previously acknowledged – while at the same time overplaying the possibility of new large discoveries.

There should be protests and demonstrations in the streets because of big oil's hijacking of the US economy (the Occupy, Anonymous and “99%” Movements were only the start). I must say I'm a bit surprised and disappointed by this fact, but I continue to be hopeful for a resurgence in protests all across America. But what will millions due in a real national emergency? For example, right now gas is about $3.75 a gallon. But America's supply chain for petroleum has a problem. Over 80% of US oil refineries are located in the Gulf Coast area, consisting mainly of southern Louisiana and southeast Texas, right in the middle of hurricane country. All of these refineries are at least 30 years old. All it will take is one category 4 or 5 hurricane to knock these refineries off-line for a few weeks or months and the US will find itself in very serious trouble. Then there is the fact that the US gets 40% of its imported oil from one country, Saudi Arabia, which ironically is the birthplace of Osama Bin Laden. If Saudi Arabia decides to cut off our supply of Middle Eastern oil, the US will also be in very serious trouble. If Iran decides to blockade the strait of Hormuz (Google or Yahoo that), much the same thing will occur. No matter what happens, the price of gas is sure to rise up to between $6.00 and $7.00 per gallon by the end of 2016 or the beginning of World War 3, whichever comes first. What will we do then? At these price levels, working Americans could be paying nearly $200.00 to fill up their cars with gas, even more for full-size trucks and SUV's. What will we do when we can no longer afford to drive to work? I'll bet you won't be sitting at home alone crying in your coffee!

Can you now see that we as a united people must protest all this systemic greed in order to keep these things from happening, or at least to lessen the severity of their impact? As I watch the street battles in Egypt, Syria and Iraq on TV and the Web, all I keep thinking about is how they have mustered the courage to fight their government's tyranny while Americans remain unready to revolt against the peculiar American brand of consumer tyranny. How ironic that in the nation with monumental gun ownership among its citizens there is no hint of people giving up on meaningless elections and taking to the streets in massive numbers to protest their corrupt government. Just this week a new report documented this: Nearly a year and a half into the economic recovery, some 45.6 million Americans continued to rely on food stamps, and that was in November, 2012. That amounted to more than 14 percent of the population relying on food stamps to purchase groceries, just another result of stubborn high unemployment and low incomes among the employed. As of late 2013, that number in now approaching 17%. For this to be happening in the richest country in the world is simply inexcusable.

Anyone with a smidgen of intelligence and critical thinking capability knows that in almost every conceivable way the US is in awful shape for a large proportion of its citizens. The nation needs to shift into revolution mode. Watching the Superbowl, pro wrestling, the World Series, Dancing With The Stars and American Idol will not improve our situation. Neither will playing video games. While we're all preoccupied with the nonsense and insanity of everyday life through all our little electronic diversions of endless variety, America's government, banking and financial sectors are awash with corruption, greed and dishonesty. Our health care system no longer produces healthy citizens compared to many other nations, despite costing much, much more. Our physical infrastructure is a disgrace, crumbling and threatening public health and safety. Upward mobility has largely disappeared and the middle class continues to sink into a lower class. Economic inequality has skyrocketed with the rich becoming richer and everyone else suffering more and more. The large number of homeless, hungry, poor and imprisoned Americans defines a nation that has lost its glory and its luster.

It is the tyranny of silence that prevents so many of us today from rising up to protest the "forever wars" against illegal drugs, and especially for oil, that we cannot hope to win and can no longer afford. It is the same tyranny of silence that prevents us from rising up to protest the government takeover – not by socialists – but by extremists on the right who readily give tax breaks to the ultra rich at the expense of everyone else. This same cadre of the military-industrial complex has also been successful in more or less co-opting an otherwise capable president into believing that cutting spending on everything except war is the only way to solve our debt crisis. And it is this same gang of madmen that characterized the inaction of those of us who have suffered foreclosures of their homes, and those of us who find ourselves without jobs, and those of us who "played by the rules and worked hard" to get through school only to graduate into an America of diminished expectations and heavy debt, as well as all of the rest of us who have seen our salaries cut, our benefits cut, our pensions cut, and who now say to ourselves, "It's okay I guess, because at least I still have a job". Yes, it is all of us, including me and you, who see the protests in Egypt and cheer for democracy but are too afraid to reassert our ownership of the democracy we have at home. We all have been made afraid, having been bullied by the system. We live in a tyranny of silence. The time to break that silence has arrived. And, as Thomas Jefferson so profoundly expressed it: "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."

America 's founding fathers stood up for their freedom, winning it from the British. The Egyptian people have stood up for their freedom, too, winning it from the Mubarak dictatorship, finding their courage even when Mubarak's thugs flew fighter jets low over their heads, beat and murdered protesters, and otherwise threatened violence. But how does America compare with Egypt? The truth is there is a stunning amount of inequality in Egypt. But America is even worse. 

 

* Egypt's Mubarak stole billions from his people, while the American oligarchs have stolen trillions.

* Egypt has been living under a state of emergency for over 30 years, yes. But Americans have been living under a continuous state of emergency for 13 years straight.

*Mubarak was supported by the military. But the military-industrial complex has taken over America as well.

*Mubarak ignored the wishes of his people. But has the American government been listening to its people? Consider the 2010 Rasmussen poll which found that "just 21% of voters nationwide believe that the federal government enjoys the consent of the governed."

A 2010 Gallup poll determined that nearly half of all Americans believe "the Federal government poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens." Poll after poll shows that "both national parties are deeply unpopular with an electorate looking for something new and different." Polls reveal that 82% of all Americans wanted Wall Street to be reined in, in a substantial and meaningful manner, and yet our government has let Wall Street have its way on all the important issues. Polls find that Americans want the big financial players who acted with fraud to be punished, and yet our government has let all of the big fish off the hook.

The heart of the matter here is that what has happened in Egypt, Syria, Libya and Greece desperately needs to happen here in the US. Even if we successfully repair America's broken educational system, that is only the starting point. If we do not then we will have only ourselves to blame, and we will get whatever kind of tyrannical government we deserve. But I do not believe that the American people will continue to put up with this situation any longer. In fact, I am convinced it is a certainty that the American people, if confronted by the continuing class war that I have been writing about, will ultimately rebel, forcing the current government from power and installing a new one in its place by popular vote just like what happened in Tunisia and Egypt in 2011. That rebellion has already started with the Occupy, Anonymous and the 99% Movements, and I have no doubt that these movements will continue to grow as time goes on. I participated in Occupy DC when it started in early October of 2011, and I must tell you that it felt really good to be a part of this historic and significant movement of the people. I would urge everyone who reads this to get involved in some way in this noble undertaking. If you can't physically be at the protest, organize one in your local area instead. Use the social media to promote it. Or to be a donor to existing Occupy Movements near you, simply search for them on the Web.

Besides, the alternative is unthinkable. The alternative would be for the US to turn into a third world country. We are dangerously close to that point already. But we can still stop that from occurring and turn things around in our favor if we unite together for change, and a sea of voices rising up from a multitude of humanity can most certainly change things for the better. The momentum for this movement is already underway, so let's capitalize on that and really get things rolling. Besides, it's a good positive experience to be a part of a new 21^st century civil rights movement such as this. Be sure and get started with this today, and for those who are already participating, keep up the good work!