It's More Blessed to be Poor in God's Sight Than It Is To Be Rich

Those Who Are Living Paycheck to Paycheck

Are More Blessed Than They Realize

by Pastor Paul J. Bern

To view this on my website, click here :-)

I don't have to explain what's been happening to the US Middle Class over the last 35 years or so. Many people who used to be Middle Class in America are now poor. I should know, since I used to make a whole lot more money than I do now. But that was before the bottom fell out of everything. I've been there, done that and bought the T-shirt. Everyone is lamenting because they're living paycheck to paycheck and they don't know what to do about it. Going to the ballot box, so far, has produced an exacerbation of America's political problems – exactly the opposite of what is intended. Now we have people talking about civil war, and America's citizens are emigrating at record levels. The ones who are staying are buying guns and ammo at record levels. No wonder everyone is so tense and on edge!

That's why the purpose of this week's message is to console those who are angry and hurt, to counsel those who have been pushed aside or shown the door without just cause, and to reassure the frightened and confused. It's not hard to get pretty befuddled about current events. We live in a world of mass shootings in schools, work places, grocery stores and even churches – or synagogues, as was the case recently. Things have gotten so bad that we can't even attend church or go out for a movie without having to be alert for anyone carrying a weapon. There is a good side to being poor, and a positive thing about being oppressed, according to the Word of God (or the Bible, if you prefer). Allow me to cite a few examples from Scripture.

My first example is that of the apostle James, who was a very astute individual, and so his writings are something to take very seriously regardless of one's religious beliefs – or even a lack thereof. These words can still be beneficial regardless of faith. “5) Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6) But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7) Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of Him to whom you belong? 8) If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing right.” (James 2, verses 5-8)

Take heart if you are poor or otherwise financially hard pressed! Contrary to what many think and say, there is no shame in being poor. I was pretty well off at one time myself, mainly back in the 1990's through most of that decade, wrapping around to the early 2000's. I know what it's like to earn a six figure income, and to have to meet a payroll every week. But those days are gone for good, and there's little I can do about it except to keep on writing. I live on my small pension check, plus a little extra each month when I sell a book or two, and I've come to terms with that. But, what James wrote is even more true today than back then: “Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?” The student loan crisis is one modern example of this, foreclosures are another, and the so-called Drug War is yet another. Over half the people in state and federal prison are there for nonviolent drug offenses. America spends entirely too much money locking up all the wrong people.

“Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?” If you're poor, mentally depressed and running low on hope, then heed these words of the apostle James, the half-brother of Christ. To say this another way, it's better to be rich in faith than rich with worldly goods, and it's better to be poor in worldly goods than it is to be poor in faith. “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.” The much-beloved phrase, “Love your neighbor as yourself” is found first in Leviticus 19: 18, and it was an admonishment from the Lord Almighty to us all, that there be no hate among us – none at all! Judging by the racial tensions that simmer all across America, I'd say we have our work cut out for us as far as loving our neighbors – regardless of color.

Jesus himself was more blunt and direct than James in Luke's gospel when he said: “20) Looking at his disciples, he said: 'Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21) Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22) Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 23) Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets. 24) But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. 25) Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 26) Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.'” (Luke 6, verses 20-26)

The world's poor, sick and disabled, Jesus was saying, will be the first through the gates of heaven. If you hunger, you will be filled by Christ, not by McDonald's – Jesus guarantees it. Weep all you want for now, Jesus was saying, because in the end He will give us life and laughter everlasting. The more people hate you because of me, Jesus was teaching them, the greater your reward will be. So, let others hate you just because you will not hesitate to make a stand for Christ. Never mind Republican or Democrat, conservative, liberal or progressive – they all pale in comparison to the Spirit of our Lord and Savior. But in verses 24 and 25, Jesus taught that anyone who enriches themselves in this life does so at the expense of another, and those wealthy individuals risk paying an eternal price for being selfish beyond reason while others went hungry. Verses 24 through 26 could also be interpreted as a prophecy against America, but that would be another message for another time.

So, I want everyone reading this who is going through a hard time financially – and that would be the majority of you – to take heart in their situation. Granted, you are suffering and miserable, I know how you feel. But take it from a guy who's been there, you can and will survive the ordeal you are currently undergoing. If you can't raise your income, then find ways to cut your expenses. The main thing is knowing that Jesus is walking beside you in every conceivable way, every step of the way.

The Preservation of Peace in Syria is Not An Option

The Disastrous Consequences of

a U.S. Military Attack on Syria

by Pastor Paul J. Bern

For a website view, click here :-)

Lately I have been seeing or hearing the Trump administration telling the world that the use of chemical weapons in Syria by the Assad government must be answered by other worse weapons, even though the results of satellite surveillance has not proven this allegation – just as the Bush administration refused to wait for the 2013 UN report by the inspectors who had been looking for WMD in Iraq. Secretary of State John Kerry claimed back in 2013 that the UN inspectors “can’t tell us anything that we don’t already know.” President Trump has said that any U.S. attack on the Assad government will be as punishment, not regime change. The strike will be “limited” — but tell that to the civilians who will inevitably die when military attacks take place. President Bush and his advisers either didn’t know or didn’t care about the probable consequences of their decision to invade and occupy Iraq in March of 2003:

• Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and over 4,000 Americans dead;
• Millions of Iraqis and Americans wounded physically and psychologically;
• Legions of young men of the region now experienced in warfare and for hire moving from Iraq to Libya to Syria;
• And, the Iraqi “democratic” government unable to control the whirlwind of sectarian violence that now is killing hundreds each week.
• Although the U.S. invaded and occupied Afghanistan under a different rationale, I also want to acknowledge and empathize with the Afghan citizens who have been killed or wounded in the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

President Trump has not spelled out the possible consequences of a military attack on Syria, but U.S. military leaders are warning about the risks. In a letter to the Senate Armed Services committee, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey wrote last month said, “As we weigh our options, we should be able to conclude with some confidence that use of force will move us toward the intended outcome. Once we take action, we should be prepared for what comes next. Deeper involvement is hard to avoid.”

General James Mattis, who is the retired head of the U.S. Central Command and Trump's Secretary of State, said last month at a security conference that the United States has “no moral obligation to do the impossible” in Syria. “If Americans take ownership of this, this is going to be a full-throated, very, very serious war.” As U.S. warships gather off the shores of Lebanon to launch Tomahawk Cruise missiles at targets in Syria, we can make some educated guesses of what the “unintended consequences” could be:

• Syrian anti-aircraft batteries will fire their rockets at incoming U.S. missiles.
• Many Syrians on the ground will die and both the U.S. and Syrian governments will say the deaths are the fault of the other.
• The U.S. Embassy in Damascus will be attacked and burned, as may other U.S. Embassies and businesses in the Middle East.
• Syria might also launch rockets toward the U.S. ally in the region —Israel.
• Israel would launch bombing missions on Syria as it has three times in the past two years and perhaps take the opportunity to launch an attack on Syria’s strongest ally in the region, Iran.
• Iran, a country with a population of 80 million, has the largest military in the region untouched by war in the past 25 years. Iran might retaliate with missiles aimed toward Israel and toward nearby U.S. military bases in Afghanistan, Turkey, Bahrain and Qatar.
• Iran could block the Straits of Hormuz and impede the transport of oil out of the Persian Gulf.
• At this time of crisis, it is worth remembering another time, 35 years ago in October, 1983 when U.S. warships bombarded Lebanon, the country located next to Syria. Within weeks, the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by a massive truck bomb that killed 241 American servicemen: 220 Marines, 18 sailors and three soldiers. The truck driver- suicide bomber was an Iranian national named Ismail Ascari, whose truck contained explosives that were the equivalent of 21,000 pounds of TNT. Two minutes later a second suicide bomber drove a truck filled with explosives into the French military compound in Beirut killing 58 French paratroopers.

The U.S. and French military were in Lebanon as a part of a Multi-National force after the PLO left Lebanon following the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, ostensibly to create a 40 km buffer zone between the PLO and Syrian forces in Lebanon and Israel. The Israeli invasion was tacitly approved by the U.S., and the U.S. provided overt military support to Israel in the form of arms and material.

Colonel Timothy J. Geraghty, the commander of the U.S. 24th Marine Amphibious Unit (MAU) deployed as peacekeepers in Beirut, said that the American and the French headquarters were targeted primarily because of "who we were and what we represented…” American support removed any lingering doubts of our neutrality, and I stated to my staff at the time that we were going to pay in blood for this decision.”

Some of the circumstances around the incidents in Lebanon in 1983 and now 35 years later in Syria are familiar. U.S. intelligence agencies were aware of potential trouble but did not report the problems in sufficient time for actions to be taken. Former President Obama said at the time that the U.S. had intercepted signals indicating the Syrian government was moving equipment into place for an attack, but the U.S. did not warn the Syrian government that the U.S. knew what was happening and did not bother warning civilians that a chemical attack was imminent.

On August 31, 2013, 13 former officials of the U.S. government, including Pentagon Papers whistle-blower Dan Ellsberg, retired CIA analyst Ray McGovern, retired US Army Colonel Larry Wilkerson and former Chief of Staff for Secretary of State Colin Powell, wrote an open letter to General Martin Dempsey, then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, asking him to resign rather than follow an illegal order to attack Syria. “We refer to your acknowledgment.... that a decision to use force is not one that any of us takes lightly. It is no less than an act of war.... It appears that the President may order such an act of war without proper Congressional authorization. Seasoned veteran intelligence and military professionals solemnly sworn to support and defend the Constitution of the United States have long been aware that it is one’s duty to never obey an illegal order. If such were given, the honorable thing would be to resign, rather than be complicit.”

Those words were written five years ago, and the situation in Syria continues to escalate. As I write this, the Syrian government under Bashar Al-Assad has largely prevailed against the various parties of militants, some of whom are backed by the US. and still others by Iran. Syria and Iran are allied with Russia, with the ever-present potential for a clash between Russian and American military forces. A disquieting thought, to say the least. But it was Jesus himself who said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the 'sons of God'.” The flip side of that coin is that those who wage war are cursed. Meaning, if America doesn't cease and desist from her warlike ways, a military disaster will surely befall her. America's violence, killing and destruction overseas will come home to roost. Just let that sink in for a minute, and I'll see you all next week.

Freedom, Control, The Lights Are On, The Darkness Will End - Episode 1602b

Who, then, do you say that you are?

Some Very Hard Questions for 'Christian America'

By pastor Paul J. Bern

To view this in any browser, click here :-)

The United States has always had a time-honored tradition of being a Christian nation founded by Christians for Christians. This tradition was only recently brought into question by none other than former president Obama, who said back in 2010 that “America is no longer a Christian nation”. Contrary to what our President thought, our great country was in actuality founded on religious freedom by the early Pilgrims, who were Protestants escaping religious persecution by the church of England, not to mention the Vatican. Ever since then, the tradition of Christianity (regardless of whether you belong to a church denomination or not) has been passed down through the generations until modern times. Within the last generation or so, particularly within the last 10 or 20 years, there has been a noticeable drop in church attendance throughout North America and much of Europe. People have been turning away from their faith in droves. Protestant churches are losing members at about the same rate in which they are gaining new ones, the Catholic church is doing even worse, with the end result being what amounts to a revolving door of membership and participation. I have been aware of this for some time and, speaking as a minister, this has really been bothering me lately. So, I have been contemplating the reasons for this diminishing of faith and commitment, within the church and without, in order to try to change them.

A journalist once asked Mahatma Gandhi what he thought of Western civilization and Christianity. He answered: "It's a good idea. They ought to try it". Similarly, we might urge followers of world religions: "Those are some nice moral principles. You ought to live by them." Reliable polls tell us that America is the most religious nation in the industrialized world. More that 90 percent of our population say they believe in God, and that they pray regularly. In his New Testament Epistle, James expressed the Christian view that "faith without works is dead." Similarly, Judaism calls for "mitzvah's" -- good deeds. And Islam also requires acts of charity. How do these sentiments translate into action? Let's look at our national religious behavior report card for a reality check.

• America is the world's richest nation. Yet the U.S. Census Bureau reports that 54 million Americans live in poverty. That includes one in four children. If another country was doing this to ourselves and our children, we'd be at war. Why aren't we doing more to help out the weak, the vulnerable, the disenfranchised, and the weary? Why do so many prosperous people keep it all to themselves?
• We are a religious nation, and yet: The U.S. poverty rate is the absolute worst among developed nations according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Demographers say that the poverty rate will rise this year from 21 percent to 27 percent, which will be the highest percentage since the government began calculating poverty figures in 1959. Fifty four million Americans are on food stamps (the highest ever) and the number is expected to rise above fifty six million by the end of 2019.
• We are a religious nation, and yet: According to the Census Bureau, 19 million people lived in working-poor families in 2008. The 2010 census showed a much higher figure approaching 24%. As of 2016, the last year demographics are available, that number is approaching one third. Things are close to becoming exponentially worse! The Feeding America Network reports that only 36 percent of their client households have one or more adults working. These are people who want to work but can't find jobs, or who can't feed their kids or themselves because they only make minimum wage. For this to happen in the richest country in the world is inexcusable!!
• We are a religious nation, and yet: The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty estimates that 700,000 to 2 million people are homeless on any given night in America. Here in Atlanta where I reside, estimates of the homeless population on any given night range from 3,000-10,000 people. Also, a new class has emerged in America: the working homeless. The current minimum wage of $7.25 hourly here in Georgia and elsewhere (primarily “right to work” states like Georgia) is pitifully insufficient income for a single person to rent an apartment, let alone a family.
• We are a religious nation, and yet: The elderly, the poor and others on fixed incomes are often forced to choose between food and medicine. Speaking as a retired technology professional and an Internet pastor who worked for 35 years in the professional world, this is a social outrage and an economic injustice that I have personally experienced. Speak up for the less fortunate, because you have a better than even chance you may wind up that way yourself some day!
• We are a religious nation, and yet: 56 million Americans, including 26 million children, experienced hunger or the risk of hunger in 2016. That's more than a fourth of all households. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, hunger in American households has nearly doubled in the last five years. As I write this in early 2018, this number has swelled to at least 54 million, and the number of underfed American kids is approaching 28%. In the richest country in the world, this is simply inexcusable! We have to do something, and by writing this I'm trying to help accomplish exactly that.
• We are a religious nation, and yet: American restaurants throw away more than 6,000 tons of food every day and grocery stores discard an estimated thirty million pounds of food daily. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Loss Project estimates that Americans throw out 25.9 million tons of food each year. More disturbing: a University of Arizona study reports that 40 to 50 percent of all food ready for harvest never gets eaten. America's wastefulness is downright sinful in the sight of the Lord; there is no better way to describe it.
• We are a religious nation, and yet: The United States is the only industrialized nation that doesn't provide very low cost health care for all its citizens. So-called “Obamacare” promised to correct much of that, but it is nowhere near enough. All the president and Congress had to do was to put the whole country on Medicare. Doing so would eliminate the need for Medicaid, saving over half a billion dollars annually, and if Obamacare were to be merged together with Medicare, the extra expenditures for Obamacare would be eliminated as well. And, we would have one health care system for the entire country.
• We are a religious nation, and yet: We have the best medical technology and treatment capability in the world. Yet the United States ranks 37th for health care system performance by the World Health Organization. Why is this so?
• We are a religious nation, and yet: The latest report on life expectancy shows a slight drop in the United States that will place us even lower than the current ranking of 49th among nations of the world – a lower life expectancy than many less developed countries. A Columbia University study attributes our decline from 11th place in 1950 to the much lower present ranking to our inadequate profit-driven health care system.
• We are a religious nation, and yet: The current US minimum wage of $7.25 hourly for roughly two thirds of the country, which was raised from $5.15 four years prior to that, still keeps families stuck at or below the poverty line. France, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, England, the Isle of Man, and many other nations – particularly Australia – have a much higher minimum wage than we do.
• We are a religious nation, and yet: The latest census figures show the gap between rich and poor widening to the largest margin ever. The top 20 percent of workers earning more than $100,000 a year received 49.4.percent of all income compared with the 3.4 percent earned by the bottom 20 percent. The richest 1 percent pockets more than 30 percent of total income which is greater than the total amount earned by the bottom 50 percent combined. Economic inequality – not just in the US but globally – is a ticking time bomb waiting to go off, and when it does, the greed-based capitalist economic system we are currently stuck with will have to submit to a complete make-over or face extinction.
• We are a religious nation, and yet: The wealthiest segment of the population is fighting tooth and nail for lower tax rates and other tax breaks while joblessness, poverty, crime, homelessness and hunger are rampant in America.
• We are a religious nation, and yet: In 1994 a million innocents were slaughtered in Rwanda. We watched and did nothing. Similarly, we did little to stop the genocide in Darfur. Further slaughter is now ongoing in Syria, Somalia, Iraq and Yemen while the world watches and does nothing. Will U.S. “leadership” intervene on humanitarian grounds? History does not suggest a positive answer. Nor do the Scriptures, where regarding such people it is written, “Let the blood of our sins be on ourselves and our children!” (Matthew 27: 25) And so it is, unless God starts seeing some major changes of heart among us all.
• We are a religious nation, and yet: There are at least 59 Holocaust museums in the United States dedicated to raising awareness of the Nazi genocide and to help prevent similar horrors from ever happening again. Add to that the numerous holocaust museums and memorials around the world. Yet genocides, mass murders, school shootings and other atrocities such as child sex slave trafficking persist. Who are the customers for these pimps? Who is supplying the weapons to these mass shooters?Who is taking decisive action, who is pretending, and who is doing nothing except complaining? Some of us need to put our Christian money where our mouths are.
• We are a religious nation, and yet: Americans make up 5 percent of the world's population, and yet our country produces 25 percent of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions, which are raising the earth's temperature ("greenhouse effect") to dangerous levels. How is it that we are trashing the planet God created for each of us, while continuing to profess our love for its Maker?
• We are a religious nation, and yet: Fossil fuel consumption is destroying the planet, but we refuse to develop a "Manhattan Project" for alternative energy, nor do we have one for battery technology so we can park the majority of our gas and diesel burning cars and trucks, something that is sorely needed.
• We are a religious nation, and yet: Scientists warn that the environmental doomsday clock is ticking. The icebergs are breaking away and melting before our eyes, revealing islands we never saw before. We watch and debate but do too little to preserve the environment for ourselves and future generations. In our hubris we forget that we are guests on a tiny rock floating – in an infinite universe of rocks – that uniquely supports life in a delicate balance of natural and mysterious forces.
• We are a religious nation, and yet: Smoking continues to compromise the health of more than 20 percent of our population. The Surgeon General tells us that cigarette, pipe and cigar smoking, in addition to contributing to a number of cancers, increases the risk of almost every known disease. The American Lung Association reports that each day nearly 6,000 teens under 18 years of age start smoking. But we refuse to put an end to tobacco use. At the same time, medical and recreational marijuana is still illegal at the federal level while having been proved to be not only harmless, but with significant medical uses and benefits. In so doing, we have criminalized a creation of Almighty God's (see Genesis 1: 11) that does no harm, while allowing the use of one that does!
• We are a religious nation, and yet: Leaders of some of our biggest corporations and privately held firms, as well as prominent investment advisers (men and women of "faith"), have cheated, deceived and destroyed their companies and clients, ruining the lives and futures of untold numbers of individuals and families for their own profit.
• We are a religious nation, and yet: We have the largest prison population in the world. Currently more than 3 million people are incarcerated, 1 in every 18 adults is in prison, on parole or probation adding up to a total of over 10 million. One out of every eight Americans you see on the street or in traffic has a criminal conviction in their background. The U.S has a greater prison population (in percentage of population) than many countries that we consider to be in violation of human rights.
• We are a religious nation, and yet: According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, world military spending for 2012 reached $1.531 trillion, a six percent increase over 2008 and a forty-nine percent increase over the year 2000. The United States accounted for forty-six percent of the total world military expenditure ($661 billion). China was a distant second accounting for 6.6. percent followed by France's 4.2 percent, the UK's 3.8 percent and Russia's 3.5 percent. The proposed U.S. military budget for 2018 is $886 billion. Nice job, Washington!

What is religion? Organized religion is a multi-billion-dollar business disguised as a honeycomb of non-profits (actually, more like a hornet's nest). On the other hand, followers of Jesus – who Himself was crucified mainly because he preached against organized government and organized religion – exercise the very essence of true Spirituality by showing love, caring, serving, giving, sharing, oneness, brotherhood and sisterhood, compassion, empathy and selflessness. Summed up: "Love thy neighbor as thyself." I'm so glad that we are a religious nation. If only we were all Christian too....

Is World War 3 On Our Horizon? Better Hope Not.

Some Foretelling of Our Future, but Not From Me

by Web pastor Paul J. Bern

To view this on my website, click here :-)

This week as I continue to warn people about certain cataclysmic events that will happen in the fairly near future, I'm going to change the focus from one centered on the United States to that of a global focus. We seem to be headed for a combination of events in human history of great importance. Much of these traumatic events will be economic in nature. As you know, the US dollar is on the ropes, being in the process of being replaced by the Chinese Yuan as the World Reserve Currency. A major devaluation of the dollar is sure to follow, likely by 50% or more, and Wall Street will be just another financial center like the FTSE in London and so on. Never mind what the main stream media tells you, they lost all their credibility after the 2016 elections and have yet to regain it.

The Bible also prophesies about natural disasters of all kinds as the End Times come upon us, just as they currently are. For example, in Revelation chapter 8, where the apostle John wrote about the 2^nd Trumpet, verses 8-9 read, “The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.” Further down in 'the 7 Trumpets' by just a few verses, John elaborates on a gigantic earthquake of unprecedented proportions, and Jesus corroborated this in Mathew 24 and Luke 21. But for today I'm going to go to a new place in the Bible where we haven't been before, the Book of Joel towards the back of the Old Testament, right between Hosea and Amos. There is a lot of prophetic stuff in this short little book that bears our attention, but for the sake of brevity I'm going to be sticking to the main points. For starters, let's go to Joel chapter 2, verses 1-2, and I quote:

“Blow the trumpet in Zion, sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand – a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come.”

In the above verses, “Zion” is the hill just outside Jerusalem that is sometimes called “Mount Zion”. This is the small mountain – just 2,510 feet at its summit – from which Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, and to which he will return someday soon, just as we studied 3 weeks ago in part 3 of Luke chapter 24. “Blow the trumpet in Zion, sound the alarm on my holy hill.” On the surface this would appear to be a prophecy directed at the nation of Israel, and in fact that would be correct (see Deuteronomy 6: 4; Isaiah 27: 6; Mark 12: 29; Romans 9: 6; and Ephesians 3: 6). However, in order for this to be occurring the United States, Israel's greatest ally by far, would have to be either taken out of the way or would turn against Israel somehow. But I have searched the Scriptures and can find no such instance of that occurring. There are only three ways the United States could be neutralized or otherwise removed from its position as a global superpower – by military defeat, by a natural disaster or an economic collapse of some kind.

“Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand – a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness.” As I wrote just above, this seems to describe a huge calamity of some kind. “.... darkness and gloom” and “clouds and blackness” could be the aftermath of the mountain-sized boulder striking the ocean as described in Revelation chapter 8, or what's left of the planet after a nuclear war. “Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be.....” Currently the largest and most potent military by far is that of the USA. So this is either a reference to American military power in the Last Days, or to a military alliance greater than that of the United States. Well, you probably know that Russia and China signed a sweeping treaty agreement a couple of years ago. This agreement pledged cooperation between the two giant nations both militarily and economically. Only time will tell whose military this is referring to in Joel's prophecy, but a Russia-China alliance is a distinct possibility.

In the closing verses of the Book of Joel he wrote: “Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, 'I am strong!' Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there. Bring down your warriors, O Lord.....The sun and the moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine. The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.” (Joel 3, verses 9-11, 15-16)

As you can clearly see, there in nothing ambiguous at all about this passage of Scripture. This is about as blunt and direct as you can get. Notice, too, all the armies of the world are gathering around the nation of Israel. As I wrote earlier, the only way this could occur would be for Israel's main ally, the USA, to be taken out of the picture completely. This doesn't necessarily mean the US will cease to exist, but it will be unable to respond to Israel's cries for help. This is ominous for America, to say the least. This also means Israel will be effectively isolated strategically, militarily and economically. “Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.” Israel is strategically situated at the junction between the Middle East, Africa and Europe, facing the Mediterranean sea. Moreover, one of the world's largest deposits of oil and natural gas were found a few miles off Israel's coast back in 2015, making Israel energy independent just like most of the other Arab countries with large oil and gas deposits.

“Let the weakling say, 'I am strong!'” Everybody wants to get in on this future war, even some of the smaller countries (like Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, maybe?). Why? Because there is no one to oppose them, since Israel's primary ally, the United States, is evidently no longer in the picture. “Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there. Bring down your warriors, O Lord...” Hurry up, there's no time to waste! All you various armies, take your positions and prepare for the order to attack! Strike now while the iron's still red hot! But what does the next sentence say? “Bring down your warriors, O Lord.” You want to fight with God, do you? OK, bring on your soldiers and God will bring forth his. That is precisely what the prophet Joel was saying here. This battle between the forces of good and evil, of God and Satan, is likely a reference to the Battle of Armageddon that is prophesied in Daniel chapter 12, Revelation chapter 19 (not Rev. 18, that's another battle), and other places.

“The sun and the moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine. The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people....” What would cause that to occur, not being able to see the sun, moon and stars? What would blot out the sky both day and night? More smoke and soot than any of us could imagine, most likely. I can only think of 3 things that could produce that much smoke and soot to the point of nearly blotting out the sun and moon, while rendering the stars invisible at night. Every night, in such an event, would be like a new moon. Either a massive volcanic eruption, or the earth being struck by a comet or meteor, or the fires of World War Three – those are the three main things I can think of that would cause such a calamity as that. Any of the three possibilities based on today's scripture I have just named would be catastrophic. For any of us to fail to heed these warnings that are in Bible prophecy – and Bible prophecy is right 100% of the time – would be equally catastrophic. Remember, this isn't just my opinion, I'm taking this message right straight from the Bible. Be sure and receive this message the same way. Shalom....

The MLK Holiday and the State of America: What Would Jesus Say?

The Hijacking of a Dream:

Reclaiming Rev. Dr. King’s Legacy

by pastor and published author Paul J. Bern

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As we celebrate another Martin Luther King holiday, America needs to perform a re-assessment of what this memorial holiday truly means to all of us. On August 28, 2011, the dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial took place on the National Mall in Washington DC. Having the dedication of this memorial on the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington, was clearly a symbolic gesture — paying homage to one of the many defining moments in the great civil rights leader’s life. However, the corporate contributors of this event, along with many of the politicians that were in attendance, were and are symbolic themselves. They are symbols of everything Dr. King was, and would be, opposed to if he were alive today. These charlatans and hucksters know very well of this fact, which is exactly why they, together with the mainstream media and an ever-shrinking segment of prejudiced Americans of all colors and races, continue to desperately try to reshape the image of Dr. King. If these people have their way, Dr. King and his legacy will stand for nothing more than a superficial image. They fervently wish to recreate him into someone they can feel more comfortable with. This is why most children can only recite one quote in relationship to Dr. King —“I have a dream.” Our kids and many of their parents don't even know the whole message.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood for much more than what mainstream America has methodically reduced him to. In fact, if he were alive today, many of the corporate war mongering politicians, including President Trump, would be vilifying Dr. King as if he were some crazed angry black man. This is why we will never hear the likes of Barack Obama quote Dr. King when he referred to the US government as “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today”. Dr. King said those powerful and honest words on April 4, 1967 at Riverside Church in New York City, exactly a year before he was assassinated. Nearly five decades later, the US government is still the greatest purveyor of violence on earth. You can bet that the following quote will not be read at all in King's memory:

“As I have walked among the desperate, rejected, and angry young men, I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. But they ask — and rightly so — what about Vietnam? They ask if our own nation wasn’t using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.”

After reading Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam — A Time to Break Silence” speech, anyone still thinking that he would be in approval of what this current administration is doing in places like Pakistan, Egypt, Syria, Libya and Afghanistan, need to rethink their conclusions. Dr. King was much more than simply a man who was anti-war; he was a man who stood for peace and social justice. He was truly a man of principles and convictions, which is why he was unafraid of speaking truth to so-called power. Remaining silent, as so many gutless politicians and celebrities do today, was not an option within Dr. King’s conscience. And because of this, he was routinely targeted by the US government, by way of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and devils minions such as FBI founder J. Edgar Hoover.

The American empire’s military-industrial complex is a vastly profitable behemoth that must be fed a steady diet of wars in order to maintain its existence. Those who threaten the existence of this killing machine become expendable. Dr. King’s outspokenness against not only the Vietnam War, but also the military industrial complex, secured his status as a target. Dr. King’s “crime” was that he dared to challenge the conscience of a nation entangled within the web of an imperialist war throughout Southeast Asia. Among other things he said, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” Which one of the political frauds, or entertainers, in attendance at the dedication to Dr. King’s memorial took such a courageous stance in solidarity with Martin Luther King, Jr.? None, that's how many. Zero.

Over a trillion dollars have been expended on these foreign wars since 2001 —- while people in the US are all losing their homes to foreclosures, school systems are being de-funded, and 40,000 Americans die each year due to a lack health insurance. That's more people than all who died in auto accidents last year. If Dr. King’s statement is true then America’s spirit must be on life support — needing an end to its profligate defense spending as part of a multi-tiered remedy for rehabilitation. Dr. King knew very well about the US government’s record of going into countries, whose governments refused to be obsequious to their addiction to other nation’s resources, and then destabilizing them by waging war, by assassination of leaders, or both. These are, in fact, the kind of immoral acts of war that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would be completely opposed to, along with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq before that. His life should give us ample reason to come to this conclusion, and only this conclusion. However, how many children in America know this? Dr. King’s image has been reshaped by some amoral adults as well as by other adults who have been purposely mis-educated.

In regards to people of color, especially poor people, Dr. King had a knack for placing their living conditions within the context of institutional racism and its impact on their communities. In 1968, not long before his assassination, Dr. King said, “It is incontestable and deplorable that Negroes have committed crimes; but they are derivative crimes. They are born of the greater crimes of the white society.” The great civil rights leader said those words within a speech he gave to his staff at a SCLC meeting in Frogmore, South Carolina as he was preparing them for the Poor People’s Campaign. His commitment to black people – and poor people in general – was the polar opposite of the last several presidents, who seemed at times to excel at marginalizing those demographics while catering to their corporate and military bosses.

In the same “Beyond Vietnam” speech, Dr. King gave a prescient warning when he said, “When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.” Today in 2018 much of the world is suffering from the impact of America’s insatiable hunger for global domination. The USA’s runaway military industrial complex continues to take lives away from innocent civilians in places like Venezuela, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Libya, to name just a few. The American military industrial complex creates carnage abroad while preventing Americans from having things like a world-class single-payer health care system. In 2018 institutional racism remains a disease that destroys the lives of people of color in America by way of ruthless police brutality, enforced economic inequality and intentionally unequal school systems — to name a few. Also in 2018, runaway capitalism is imposing economic terrorism on countless people and their rapidly disintegrating communities. Dr. King’s words are surely more relevant now than ever before.

The dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial was assured to be a most superficial event replete with superficial politicians and luminaries when it was held back in 2013. The organizers of this event and their corporate cronies were promoting and selling everything from expensive hotel rooms, sponsorship opportunities, to high priced exhibitor space. In essence, they were “honoring” Dr. King by not embracing his legacy of social justice, but by financially capitalizing on his name. There were no speeches of ending America’s imperialist wars, like Dr. King did. Anyone with such a message trying to get on that stage would have been swiftly removed by security. There were no speeches about destroying institutional racism in America. Instead, the lie of America being a post racist country was and still is bandied all around. Don’t expect any talk about waging a war on poverty — after all, some of the sponsors of this event are in fact large multinational corporations (such as Wal-Mart, Monsanto and numerous others) that benefit from destroying local businesses while dissuading their workers from unionizing.

Dr. King once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” He also famously said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Ending institutional racism in America, eradicating poverty and homelessness, tearing down the US prison-industrial complex by ending the drug wars, and stopping the US military’s destructive and endless wars – these are the things that really matter. They matter so much that life and death hinge upon each injustice. It is obvious that we cannot expect Democrats or Republicans to vociferously break their collective silence about the cauldron of social injustices that have been brewing in America for quite some time — that job must be ours, starting with the clergy like myself, since Congress and the President refuse to do any such thing. We must raise our collective voices and speak out against them and stand up for justice. As the 2018 King Holiday comes and goes, this is the greatest way we can honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.!

Some additional warnings regarding the future of America and the world

Warnings About America's Future: a

Supplemental to Last Week's Message

by Web pastor Paul J. Bern

To view this on my website, click here :-)

I have decided to write this week's commentary as a kind of addendum to my message from last week after getting an even stronger than usual response from my readers, and I humbly thank you all for that. For anyone who missed the posting, you can see it on Wordpress.com here or Google Blogger here. Hundreds of views, not counting hits of course, plus dozens of comments have compelled me to do a follow-up piece for this week in that same vein. One of the comments came from an acquaintance of mine who is also a Web pastor and street preacher. This gentleman referred me to a certain book in the Old Testament, but when I read it a while ago and contemplated it as I prayed about its suitability for God's purposes, I found myself turning just two pages further to the quote I'm going to use this week to give ample warning that the USA is in far more serious trouble than it collectively realizes, regardless of who is currently president.

There is one other thing that bears mentioning here before I get into the meat and potatoes of this week's commentary. Although the reaction to last week's post was positive by far, the negative responses fell into two categories – religious and patriotic. Some “Christian” responses were deeply critical of my alleged quoting of the Book of Revelation, calling it “out of context”, among other things. It never ceases to amaze me how well-meaning yet misguided religious people can be. Unfortunately, many of them are also mean and ill-tempered, which makes me wonder why they bother going to church to begin with. They sure as hell don't practice what they preach! A few other responses accused me of being unpatriotic at best and treasonous at worst, along with other things I can't print here. If you don't love America with no questions asked like they do, then they maintain there is something morally lacking about that individual. I, on the other hand, maintain it's the other way around.

So for this week, having put on my Armor of God (see Ephesians 6, verses 10-18) to shield me from the flaming arrows and words of those who are hostile to the authentic cause of Christ, allow me to present a few verses from the prophet Zephaniah. In Zephaniah 1:1, the author introduces himself as “Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah.” Among the prophets, this is a unique introduction with its long list of fathers back to Zephaniah’s great-great grandfather, Hezekiah. So why stop with Hezekiah? Most likely, the prophet wanted to highlight his royal lineage as a descendant of one of Judah’s good kings. We can begin to pinpoint exactly when Zephaniah prophesied by accounting for a few details in the text. First, in 2:13 the prophet predicted the fall of Nineveh, an event which occurred in 612 BC. Further, Zephaniah made frequent quotations from the Law (for example, compare 1:13 to Deuteronomy 28:30, 39), a document that remained lost in Judah for much of Josiah’s reign. Therefore, Zephaniah more than likely prophesied in the latter part of Josiah’s rule, after the king discovered the scrolls of the Law in 622 BC (2 Chronicles 34:3–7). The first part of chapter 1 deals with the apostasy of and impending destruction of Judah, which is part of the nation of Israel today. But the following section of this small Old Testament book – it's just 3 chapters, about a 5 or 6 minute read – is the one that prophesy's about what it calls, “The Great Day of the Lord”. We can take this to mean something far off into the distant future, which would be our modern times since this prophecy has yet to be fulfilled.

The text I'm going to use for this week's commentary begins in chapter 1 and verse 14, and I quote: “The great day of the Lord is near – near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the day of the Lord will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior there. That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers. I will bring distress on the people and they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like filth. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord's wrath. In the fire of his jealousy the whole world will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live on the earth. Gather together, gather together, oh shameful nation, before the appointed time arrives and that day sweeps on like chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord comes upon you, before the day of our Lord's wrath comes upon you. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord's anger.” (Zephaniah 1, verses 14-18; chapter 2, verses 1-3)

The first thing that needs to be pointed out here is that this passage is not directed only at individuals. God is not up in anybody's face accusing them because that's not how God works, although there are multitudes of 'religious' people who would love to have an opportunity to sway your opinions about that. One of the names that Satan goes by in the Bible is “the accuser of the brethren”, so it is for that reason that I do not believe this is directed at individual people, nor necessarily at groups of people. This is not directed at nationalities or ethnic groups either. This is directed at countries, or more accurately one particular country, the United States. Why do I think this? Hey, there are clues all over the place as to why this is so, so let me address these one at a time. But first comes a dire warning starting in verse 14. “The great day of the Lord is near – near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the day of the Lord will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior there.” 'The shouting of the warrior' tells us that this “Great Day of the Lord” in the above passage has to do with a great military conquest, causing a bitter cry to come up out of the land that is conquered. This also tells us that only a portion of the populace will be wiped out by this calamity to make sure there are enough people for that bitter cry that is prophesied in this passage.

Then the prophecy gets very specific about what will happen on this 'day of the Lord': “That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers.” It is conceivable that this could be a prophecy for some type of terrorist activity, but from the wording of Zephaniah's narrative the 'day of the Lord' appears to be a widespread event. Although the prophecy doesn't specify anything, it is evident when we read in between the words. A 'day of wrath' would be a day when Mother Nature, and God by extension, goes completely haywire. A mega-storm or typhoon, an exceptional tornado outbreak, an enormous earthquake or some other kind of natural disaster all come to mind. A killer impact from a comet or asteroid is another distinct possibility, and such things are predicted to occur in the second and fifth Trumpets in Revelation chapter 8. Moving along in Zephaniah verse 16, the “battle cry against the fortified cities” signifies an attack on a major military power. Since this prediction occurs in our time frame (I will finish proving this as I go along, so please stay with me), the “corner towers”, which once signified the outer fortifications of a city, could be roughly translated as 'tall towers', or today's skyscrapers.

“Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like filth. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord's wrath.” Blood turning into dust is a reference to the book of Genesis. To find out more about the mention of human blood being “poured out like dust” please click here. For now, let's move on to the next phrase, “entrails...poured out like filth”. On the surface, this seems to be a metaphor for people being turned inside out, but it could also mean people being cooked from the inside out. In that event, their insides would be liquefied; not a pleasant thought, to say the least. There are only two things in existence that will do such a horrible thing – a thermonuclear explosion or microwave weapons. Nothing else I'm aware of would fill the bill, not in this case. The silver and gold hoarded by all these people will be worthless, since it will be melted in the nuclear blast or microwave attack along with everything and everybody else. So you can all forget about investing in gold or silver, and don't believe the sales pitches of the ubiquitous precious metals dealers either! They're all trying to milk you for a fast buck, which in itself is shortsighted since the US dollar is going to be devalued soon as well!

“In the fire of his jealousy the whole world will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live on the earth.” The “fire of his jealousy” will consume the whole world! The “fire of his jealousy” will make manifest a “sudden end of all who live on the earth.” One of the names the Bible has for God is “a consuming fire”, something that dates back to the Book of Exodus, when the Israelite's followed a pillar of fire out of Egypt. But we're not wandering in the desert anymore, nor are we on our way out of Egypt. Moreover, of all the descendants of those ancient Israelis, over half of them live in the United States. So, although the “fire of His jealousy” will consume Israel, it will consume America as well since Israel's #1 ally is the USA. “....gather together, oh shameful nation, before the appointed time arrives and that day sweeps on like chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord comes upon you....” “Shameful nation” is another major clue, since it alludes to a world power or super-power that wages war continuously and oppresses its people. Any American who does not think Americans are not oppressed by their government – constant surveillance, systemic corruption, economic inequality, abuse of authority at all levels, the abuse of our own children by brainwashing them with materialism – where have you all been? Wake up! Is it any wonder that God has such “fierce anger”?

“Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord's anger.” Seek the Lord, and him personally! This means we are charged with the responsibility of forming and maintaining a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We can't have a personal relationship with God, I don't think, but we can approach him through his Son. Do what Jesus commands; seek righteousness and humility. Wear them on your shirt sleeves right next to your heart. If we do all these things, loving the Lord our God “with all our mind and all our heart and all our strength” and “loving our neighbors as ourselves”, we just might stand a decent chance to escape the calamity to come. Will this calamity be a series of natural disasters and devastating wars? Yes, it will be both. Do I know when these things will occur? Absolutely not! But I'm certain that it will, and that's why I'm getting ready. Are you?

A Progressive Christian Perspective on Veterans Day

Veterans Day: Honoring Our Veterans and

Their Families While Despising

the Government They Serve

by pastor Paul J. Bern

To view this on my website, click here :-)

The United States of America, particularly its leadership (such as it is), hasn't been winning very many popularity contests as of late – either overseas or at home. The last two presidents have stepped up military drone strikes against Islamic extremists globally, but mostly those countries that have numerous oil fields. Countries such as Russia, Iran, Somalia, Libya, Egypt, Pakistan and Nigeria are currently in negotiations to collaborate using an alternative currency to the US dollar, such as the Euro, the Chinese Yuan or possibly the Russian ruble, but these oil-producing countries are also using gold as a form of currency. Resorting to such tactics by any of the above countries would be a direct threat to US interests both foreign and domestic, and it would provoke a strong US military response.

Here on the home front, our cities are deteriorating due to a glut of boarded up houses, long-dormant industrial sites and abandoned shopping centers. Much the same has happened to many small rural towns for mostly the same reasons. The least common denominator to why this is occurring is the lack of jobs, or jobs that pay a fair minimum wage of, say, $12-$15.00 an hour. And then there's our police forces, who are supposed to be protecting and serving the public. Instead, they have mutated into a militarized law enforcement apparatus equipped with military-grade weapons, and many if not most of them are more trigger-happy than they would care to admit. As of this writing, the FBI, BATFE, NSA, DEA and the DHS have ordered a total of over 3.5 billion rounds of hollow-point ammunition! That's enough to kill everyone in America 10 times over!

So why did law enforcement purchase such an enormous amount of ammunition knowing that it was more than they would ever use? If it was to prevent mass shootings, I would say they have failed miserably! It was, in large part, for the purpose of denying American gun owners access to ammunition by buying up the supply of ammo that would otherwise go to gun dealers and on to the retail and consumer markets. This enormous amount of ammunition has been purchased for the same reason the police departments are acquiring military grade assault weapons and armored vehicles. They are preparing for mass protests and possible rioting over food and fuel shortages that could even mushroom (no pun intended) into a civil war in a worst-case scenario. Although it is also intended to cut off the supply lines of weapons and ammo to criminals and the mentally ill, cutting off the entire ammo supply to every man, woman and child all across the country is a poor choice. It is also arguably unconstitutional as it likely violates the 2^nd Amendment right to “keep and bear arms”, which by extension includes the ammunition required.

But, it has been my observation that there are far more clandestine reasons that are carefully hidden underneath the surface for this to be occurring. The forces and enforcers of the status quo are the same individuals who stand to lose everything when the US dollar loses up to 79% of its value and the capitalist debt-based economic bubble finally bursts for good, as it eventually will. (And maybe sooner than expected. Jesus said. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where it will rust or be eaten by moths, or that thieves break in and steal. But instead, store up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where moths don't eat up your clothes, where nothing ever rusts, and where thievery is nonexistent.” (Matt. 6: 19-21)) When that collapse finally does occur, it will bring the American, Canadian, European, Japanese, Chinese and Russian economies down along with it. Even here in the USA, there are presently numerous individuals, and even whole families, who are engaged in activities known as “prepping”. I have begun to do this very thing myself, mainly by storing nonperishable food and gallon jugs of water. What does this say about our country? It looks to me like there are many saying, 'We've had enough of all this crap. The entire American political and economic landscape is a disaster area, and the government is also broken beyond repair. So it's up to us to fix it ourselves.' It looks like the American people, urged on by Progressive writers like myself, have begun to undertake this very thing.

All I am saying for this week is that my country seems to be slowly dying, and that gives me great concern for my future as well as that of everyone else. One thing is certain; America is a hollowed out shell of what it used to be. The job market is absolutely decimated – never mind all of the propaganda that comes from the mainstream media about gaining 240,000 new jobs last month. They are almost entirely minimum wage jobs everywhere I look. It makes me glad I am retired from the work force and grateful for my small disability check. At first when I became disabled I complained about how small my monthly check was. But, having the time to sit back and watch the implosion of the American job market from 2011 up until now, I stopped complaining a long time ago. In fact, it was sinful of me to have done that, and so I confessed that sin to the Lord and begged His forgiveness and he fully restored me (hallelujah!). He wants to restore us all, so confess your sins and Jesus will forgive you too. It doesn't matter how bad you have been, or what you did and when, or what your past has been like. The blood of Jesus washes it all away.

So for the last few years my faith in the Lord has greatly multiplied while my faith in my country has suffered because of the atrocities I have seen when I view the news on the Internet (I don't watch TV). Since the Vietnam war there have been about 2,000,000 civilian casualties globally during all the wars America has fought, allegedly for the cause of “freedom”. In the latest US disaster Syria has descended into a 6-year civil war that is just now winding down. So I am seeing all these things going on over in the Middle East and I find that I'm not really very proud of my country any more, if I ever really was at all. Because these wars weren't for “freedom”. They were fought for the top 1% of the world's wealthiest families, the Four Horsemen “Big Oil” conglomerates, the multinational bankers and the US military-industrial-incarceration complex – all of whom are hiding behind the facade of “freedom and democracy”. That's why I honor our nation's veterans, who went and put themselves in harm's way on their country's behalf (nothing wrong with that at all!), while having contempt for their paymasters in Washington and on Wall Street.

Recently there came across the news wires here in Atlanta a short piece about a certain local state university, Kennesaw State (KSU). It seems a group of 5 cheerleaders for the football team “took a knee” during the national anthem as part of the ongoing protests at public events against excessive force being wielded by law enforcement, sometimes with deadly consequences. As could be expected, these Colin Kaepernick-inspired protests have generated feelings ranging from confusion to outright hatred. It also caused widespread concern and confusion among the college’s students, professors, alumni, supporters and, yes, donors - many of whom felt like playing the anthem compromised Christian values. Was this just another example of our traditional values being trampled by the unrelenting march of political correctness? All of this is a prelude to a time in the not too distant future when there will be persecution of Christians right here in the USA. Laugh at me if you want, but it's most definitely going to happen, and those who refuse to believe will have a rude awakening at some point in the fairly near future.

Being an authentic follower of Jesus Christ in the 21^st century means having a living faith in Jesus while faithfully living the way of Jesus. Jesus called his disciples to love their enemies and he loved his enemies all the way to the cross and beyond. He never went to war one single time. Following Jesus and the martyrs before us, we testify with our lives that freedom is not a right that is granted or defended with rockets’ red glare and bombs bursting in air. True freedom is given by God, and it is indeed not free. It comes with a cost, and that cost looks just like a cross. How do we plug ourselves into the unlimited power of the cross of Calvary? First, it is imperative that we all believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. As such, he supersedes all authority here on earth.

Next, we must all repent of our sins and bad behavior, for the world cannot know of its brokenness and hopelessness without a Savior to show them a superlative way of life. There needs to be more people practicing the ways of peace while putting away their childish arguments. Nobody gets everything their way all the time. Life simply doesn't work that way. The world cannot know that there is an alternative to violence and war without a people of peace living peacefully. The world cannot know that the weak and the vulnerable are cared for by God without a people practicing an economy centered on sharing and mutual aid. Let us ask ourselves this basic question – if I die in my sleep tonight, what kind of legacy will I leave? However you ask yourself this question, let's all make sure the answer will be that which motivates us all to the propagation and proliferation of peace, which is only achieved by worshiping the Prince of Peace.

The world cannot know the immeasurable worth of human life without a people who consistently work to protect it – in the unborn, in the convict, in the immigrant, in the homeless, in the soldier, in the retirement homes, in the mental hospitals, and in the enemy. These convictions do not reflect ingratitude or hatred for our country. Rather, they reflect a deep love for Christ and a passionate desire for the people to be the Church and visa versa. In order for any people to be qualified as a nation in the sight of the Father, it is paramount that they first make themselves servants of Christ. After all, it is written: “Whoever wants to be called the greatest among you must first become the greatest servant”. I love my country and I do honor our veterans, but I sing my loyalty and pledge my allegiance to Jesus Christ alone. This is because, in the end, our souls and our Savior are all that's going to be left after everything else crumbles.