Prosperity of Soul...Thinking Right

Greetings,

            Here’s a quick lesson I wrote while on a recent trip. I have actually broken it up into two parts, the second of which we will post in a couple of weeks. At first I was going to keep it all as one, but I believe that the things I address are really worth thinking about slowly. Don’t be in a hurry. Take the time, as I know you do anyhow, to really meditate on these things.

            In the first part, I talk about walking in the blessings of God by exercising our talents that God gave us. In the second, I deal with ‘poverty’ mindsets and what to do with them. Do not confuse ‘blessing’ and ‘poverty’ to be terms only used concerning money. ‘Poverty of mind’ is any area we do not think like God thinks in any specific area. I like what I was able to address and the principles I discuss. If you will put them into practice, they will bring great blessing to you…

Prosperity of Soul: Part One

            …Well, I’m out on another trip for one of our long standing clients with Harvest Aviation. The flight was great, no issues, and we had really good winds. We were able to get here, Tortola, in about 3 hours and twenty minutes. There are times it has taken over four hours. Winds and temperatures mean a lot to jet performance. Standard temperature at forty one thousand feet should be about -57 degrees C. Even two to three degrees difference can really affect aircraft performance. It was nice to make good time. Four hours in a Learjet can be rough on your back and butt…I think it’s time for a bigger jet.

I had the chance yesterday to see our clients’ two yachts…yes, two. I have already been impressed with him, his businesses, and how he carries himself with the people around him. I knew he was doing well, but after seeing these boats, I kind of was taken a back at just how well. I had already met one of his boat captains, but today I was able to meet all of the crews working for him as well. Great, friendly people, who have great respect not just for our client, but also for the job they knew they were privileged to do. We were a group of men loving the trade we were in, and the person who hired us to serve him.

For these next couple of moments I want to talk about some observations I have made concerning some of our attitudes not simply about wealth, but our perspectives as representatives of God’s kingdom. I want to challenge maybe some of our present beliefs on a couple things, and then challenge us again to take on new perspective.

Walking in your Gifts Brings Prosperity

“A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.” Prov. 18:16

“…for the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light…” Luke 16:8

As I was visiting with our client and his crew, I was really impressed at how he could own such amazing things and be so open with them. I actually told him that I was impressed by how he shares his things even with the people who work for him. Now, I don’t mean I can call him up and say “Hey, can I have the keys to your yacht and take it for a spin…be back Monday. Oh, I’ll make sure the kids clean up the dog mess too…”

What I mean is that he understood he was doing well, but he enjoyed having people with him to enjoy it too. It seems to me that he was enjoying life and the things that his talent has brought him to help him enjoy it more.

Where I believe so many Christians miss out on the goodness of God, is that, well, they don’t believe in the goodness of God. And if one starts to experience the blessings of a great God who loves us, that person is many times judged as selfish, a lover of money, and unspiritual. One of the most ridiculous things I was ever told one time was that I was ‘…bowing my knee at the feet of this millionaire…” This person simply could not understand that Proverbs 18:6 is a reality. All that was happening is only a fulfillment of a promise of God. When I started saying years ago that “…there are a lot of people that need to meet me…” based on understanding these verses, I wasn’t kidding.

I’ll ask a quick question, using myself and the talents God has asked me to steward over as an example.

“He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.”Prov. 13:20

As I have preached many times, I learned that talents are not hobbies…they are endowments from God that are to be multiplied as much as possible until their limit is reached. God basically is looking at a return on investment. He invests talents into us, and we give Him a return. I have learned that the growth of a talent places a demand so to speak on creation that will bring whatever opportunity is available to grow that talent to its potential.  It really does make room for itself however it has to, that it may grow.

To be frank, I’m wondering where we are going to find a Christian millionaire having enough wealth and resources that have a jet that allows me to grow in my talents in aviation. How about having the wisdom and accessibility to be there for me to question them so that I may understand principles to make me a better steward of the resources God has placed me over. Flying and aviation are talents endowed to me, not hobbies I go out and play with. Having fun does not make it play time. I have fun preaching too, but it’s not something I am playing at. As an added benefit, the pay I receive from aviation benefits both the church and my family. (There were times where just my personal and business giving was a third of the entire church!)

Just as my bicep muscle can be used to either lift a barbell, or lift a fork, though the application changes, the same muscle is being used. This also works with church and business. The principles I grow in while learning from these businessmen through aviation are the same principles that will give me the understanding to steward an international ministry. Whether jets, cars, or pulpits, though the applications are different, the ‘muscle’ so to speak, which is the wisdom of stewardship, is the same.

Poverty minded Christians forget that Abraham, who was looking for a city whose builder and maker is God (Heb 11:10), who is called the father of our faith, yes faith, was one of the wealthiest men alive at the time.

Some Christians will use the principle that ‘we are not of this earth, and love not the things of this world,’ to believe you aren’t supposed to have anything nice and are to suffer through life. Or they may cap it and say…“Well I think $100,000 is good money and I am happy with a nice car.  I’m paying the student loans on the kid’s school, though I really am cutting back to do it…boy am I blessed.” This mentality may allow them to put a couple extra bucks in the offering and maybe take the kids to MacDonald’s once in a while. Then back they go into their little comfort zone in which their minds have set up to let others worry about the souls that are perishing around them.

We need to understand that a man’s trade and the market he is in will limit to a degree what he can cap out as far revenue. For example someone who just loves to sell lemonade on the street is certainly not in a market to make what say a guy selling high rises in Manhattan will be. Yet these principles of growing stewardship work whether you make ten thousand or ten million.

I know that Paul said he had learned to be content in all things, and he had learned to be wealthy and poor. From not understanding what he was saying though, we have adopted a philosophy that is almost a fatalistic; “God will do what He wants”, and then we figure we will just let life push us around.

Let’s see what the Apostle Paul’s attitude was.

“…in labors more abundant…besides the other things, what comes upon me daily, my      deep concern for all the churches…” II Cor. 11:23, 28

“Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on, that I may lay    hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me…” Phil. 3:12

Does this sound like contentment means that we get rid of all drive to see the absolute best that God can do? Contentment has nothing to do with allowing life to push you around leaving you to be an autumn leaf blown in the wind. Contentment is a fruit of faith that knows at any given time, the strivings for a better life and world and walk with God are producing what He said they would and that rest comes from knowing God is working it out; not rest from a lack of labor or care that things are done right.

If a man of this earth who works his rear end off can have such materials in this life, like jets and yachts and lands, how about the child of God seeking after His kingdom and all that comes with it?

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul        prospers. III John 2

Think of this.

“Wealth is not an evidence of spirituality, but it certainly can be a result of spirituality.”

God is not rich because of what He has, but who He is. Realize that there really is no such thing as ‘wealth’ if He doesn’t create what we consider valuable. Our Father loves us and favors us. How much more devastating (I use the word in a positive sense) should the children of God be in influencing and driving the atmosphere of their family, community, region, etc. because they have learned to walk in prosperity of mind, spirit, and body granted to them freely by the Creator.

Whether any of my clients meet the Lord, that’s not my responsibility. It’s between them and God. But I am responsible to be a representative of the greatest government, social system, and might called the ‘kingdom of God’. When people see me, they are supposed to see an ambassador from another world that is greater than the world they have known. The people on the earth in this age are looking at any given time upon the representatives of one of two kings…Satan, or Jesus.

Jesus, Our Example

If we look at Jesus’ ministry, all the provision He needed was there at any given time. I may sometime figure out in today’s currency what it would cost to feed five to ten thousand people in one sitting, and still have plenty left over. There’s a catch. Let’s not forget that He started with only a couple pieces of fish and some bread. That bill would be astronomical.  Let’s not stop there. How much would it cost to develop a machine and technology that could actually influence the weather to where even thunderstorms stop when you tell it? Jesus calmed many storms. Where is the technology that can do that or how much would it cost to develop it?

“…and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities-Mary called       Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza,       Herod’s steward, and Suzanna, and many others who provided for Him and from their             substance.” Luke 8:3

Jesus knew that at any given time God’s prosperity was there to pay and supply for what it was that He was commanded to accomplish. He worked relentlessly for the sake of teaching, healing and delivering the masses. And He used not just His own resources, but those of others as well.

Think of how ridiculous it is to say that Jesus doesn’t believe in prosperity for His people when He had to walk in it Himself using His own and others’ resources!

Jesus didn’t condemn wealth, or what an honest person did with what he earned, He just expected it to be available if the Lord should call on it. Can God call on me today to have enough wealth to pay for a new church in its entirety? Not yet but I’m working on it…Can He use me to pay for the crusade in Africa that will reach a million people in one week?  Not yet but I’m working on it.

Has Ken bought me that new jet we will need one day? Not yet, but ask him and he will tell you “I’m working on it.”

God’s Kingdom…Prove It

The proper use of wealth is a tremendous weapon in the hands of God’s children to demonstrate the reality of God’s kingdom. I don’t believe God’s children are to be intimidated by the power that is in wealth, but to understand it and use it for the kingdom.

“And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom,     but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom            of men, but the power of God.” I Cor. 2:4-5

Our faith that we live by was never designed to be based on philosophy or intellect. Faith in God is faith in provable, demonstrated power. Not theory or hypotheses.

Neither Jesus nor Satan has ever thought their kingdoms would be represented only in words. Both kingdoms will demonstrate themselves in their own capacity. Both kingdoms depend on action and demonstration to expand their influence. Both historical and personal experience though has shown me every time there is a direct clash between the two, Jesus’ kingdom and resources defeats Satan’s, every time.

The enemy has tricked many Christians to have a “hide out in your cave” mentality and wait for the rapture. In other words, stay in church, the world’s ‘…going to hell in a hand basket…’ we know it’s going to get worse, so buy your time till it’s over…

Do we really understand that the world that is ‘…going to hell in a hand basket…’ is not about sand, gravel, fish, and the materiality the earth is made of… it’s about people. It’s people…souls…creations in the image of God that will suffer under that final judgment.

I wonder then how we can believe God is pleased with a “…let’s just hang till it’s over…” mentality and wait it all out.

Money can be used to demonstrate God’s power as surely as healing the blind and the cripple. A person’s need places a demand in the spirit for God to provide. How can we fast and pray to believe for power to raise the dead and heal blind eyes but not have the power to pay the rent for a widow woman or buy a car for someone who just got laid off and the transmission blew?

I am on this earth to see the fullness of God’s kingdom and power in all areas, not let my limited view passed on by tradition and ignorance limit what God will do.

Our Lord brought to earth a kingdom that will invade by demonstration every area that involves the life of man and his purposes here on the earth. We are all guilty in some ways of limiting our perspective of what God wants to do in ourselves individually or corporately.

We Really Are Co-Laborers      

Here is an example of what has happened in this ministry and the profound lesson I learned from it.

In a time long ago, in a land far, far away…just kidding. Sometimes I just can’t help myself…

We had grown from a single engine airplane to a multi-engine or twin engine airplane. The church plant in Montpelier was well and we had started another church in Laconia. The bigger airplane allowed us to take more teams to these cities. God was also using it to continue my training in advanced aircraft.

Aviation is not cheap. We determined a long time ago that this was not something you could be involved in and try to skimp. If airplanes break, they don’t just get pulled over to the side of the road. You want things working and if you’re not willing to believe for whatever price to do it right, get out and find something else.

Tough times had fallen on the ministry and there were internal and external pressures to sell the airplane. Everything in the ‘natural’ gave evidence that we should sell the plane. I can read an Excel spreadsheet as well as anyone and it wasn’t good. There were many accusations at that time that I was being childish and only in it for myself…that I was wasting God’s resources. Then people started to withhold their giving…as if God gives us that right. No matter what though, I could not get rid of the sense in my spirit of how wrong it would be to sell. So I went on a time of fasting and prayer to find out why I could not get any peace…

After a couple days the Lord spoke to my heart so profoundly that what He said effects every area of my life and faith today.

He told me that I could get rid of it (airplane) if I wanted to but that…” He would have to go find someone else that would have the faith not to quit.” Then He said something I can never forget…

”If you (Joe Johnsick) don’t have it, then I (Christ) don’t have it!!!!”

The Bible says that you and I are co laborers with Christ. He lives through us and we work as a team. Man is God’s representative on the earth and the materials of the earth are at God’s disposal as He grants it to be stewarded by His people.

I then understood that…

… Wealth is nothing to God unless it is used by His people to be a blessing on the earth.

He needed me to resist the devil from stealing the resource, in this case an airplane, through pressure and intimidation and potential unbelief. God needed me to ‘walk on water’ so to speak and hold on to this asset that God had greater plans for than I could have imagined.

Well, not only did we not sell, God came through within a couple months and all bills were caught up.

When in God’s time we sold, we were able to take the profit and put it toward our land purchase for our new church building. And the person who bought it was another pastor who used it for his own training and church planting in Maine and Canada. The time I continued to fly it gave me the needed experience so that when the jet opportunity came, I was able to do that as well.

Remember, “…an opportunity is not an opportunity if you can’t take advantage of it.”

If I would have sold prematurely, a large chunk of money for the land would not have been there. Also, I would have hindered a work that God was doing in another ministry. That pastor and I have become very good friends and labor together here in the northeast and Canada to see Gods will be done. If I would have given in to the pressures, even from God’s people, the kingdom would have been negatively affected in ways I could not see at the time. I would not have been able to advance to the degree I have now in jets and the corporate environment. Don’t read on any more until this concept sinks deep into your spirit…

If we don’t have it, He doesn’t have it.

I am so grateful that Gerry and Dick had enough trust in me, and the Spirit of God to trust the Lord in this. It was another example to us of how God has His hands on this ministry.

So don’t even begin to try and tell me God doesn’t want His people to steward over wealth and material things. Natural evidences mean very little to me anymore as I have learned many times negative circumstances are only the devil trying to pressure unbelief so that we will let go of the very tools God needs to use us powerfully.

Get a hold of the great privilege and responsibility you and I have in this life to take great care of the powers of the age to come and the wealth it will bring…we’ve got a lot to do and He will give us abundantly what we need because…if we have it, He has it.

I’ll post the second part of this in a couple weeks.

See ya,

PJ

An Example of Marriage

Hello All,

I just had the opportunity to meet some interesting people and I thought I would tell you about it. I was out at the beach doing some praying and fasting…

…yea, right... 

Actually, I was lying in the sun after spending the morning writing and praying in the Holy Ghost (that’s true).

As I was walking back from the beach, I passed two elderly people, each in a wheelchair looking out over the ocean. They both were in their chairs, both wearing some cute bright yellow golf hat, with some initials of something. They weren’t saying much. It just seemed they were enjoying their moment with each other. Maybe it was so beautiful here, and it is, that there was just nothing to say.

I walked passed them and just couldn’t stop thinking what it would be like to pass into eternity without knowing Christ. Looking at their ages, that day is probably coming soon for them. So I felt impressed to go over and visit with them. I simply asked them if I could pray and they responded that they could always use prayer. Trying to stop making a short story long, I found out they already knew the Lord and were enjoying a vacation with their son. He owned a number of companies and liked to travel the world. He also acted for a while and said we could see him in Home Alone 2, and other small parts in movies and soap operas. So he brought his parents on this trip with him to enjoy another part of the world.

We did pray together for them and family members to come and know the Lord. This is all cool and stuff, but what really struck me, and why I am writing this lesson, was finding out how long they had been married…

Sixty seven years!

Think of it…getting close to ¾ a century being married to the same person.

If there is anything I have learned, if you find someone who is really successful at something, pick their brain and find out how they did it. What could these two possibly know or believe that would cause them to stay together for so long? How is it that they can be in such love with each other? Of course the guy, we will call him Bill, was pretty quiet. He was comfortable letting his wife do all the talking. We’ll call her Gladys. Yet you could see when they looked at each other, their care for each other was genuine and true.

So I asked, “If there was one thing you would say was the secret to making it…” Their answer was simple and to the point.

“Communicate…and tell the truth.”

From there we talked about how they learned to work that out between them. I shared a number of instances that I have experienced in my own marriage. And after being in the ministry almost twenty years as of this writing, some things I’ve noticed and learned myself.

They talked about meeting each other in high school and growing up through the end of the depression together. We talked about how they knew there was no other way to make it if you didn’t work together.

Survival did not allow you the luxury of selfishness.

I talked about how I’ve seen that when trials hit, how easy it is for married couples to turn on the very one who is sent to work with the other to be better. The spouses complete one another to be stronger together than apart. If we do not understand that, adversity will turn us against each other, and somehow the real enemy, whether it be finances, health, economy…gets hidden and we go after the very one that is there to make us strong.

I think that a marriage is just like all the other living creations he makes. He starts with a seed. But there is no way you can possibly see what is in the seed with all its glory unless you give it not just water, earth, and all the other stuff you think it needs. There is one commodity we don’t consider much but there really is one thing that can bring that seed to its greatest beauty and all that it was designed to be…even with all the other ingredients in perfect measure…

Time.

The ground and the rain and the sun can be in perfect measure, but without time, you will get nothing from the seed. And if you make judgment too early in time, you will abort before the real treasure is revealed.

We live in a culture of rush, rush, rush. We want results now and we think we are advanced for it. Bill, Gladys, and I talked about how the younger generation is trying to have everything their parents had years sooner without paying the same price and going through what it takes to have maturity and wisdom. We have microwave food that cooks a meal in a minute that took an hour just a few years ago. We don’t need to wash dishes anymore since these foods come in containers we just toss out when we are through.

And we have taken the same mentality into the one thing that I believe God has given us to demonstrate the foundation of His entire kingdom…unconditional love and commitment to the end through marriage.

 

I asked the Lord about this one time. Think of it. Some men that the bible esteems very highly had more than one wife. Yes that means they were having sex with lots of different women and having lots of kids while they were at it. I mean…what does it really harm to have sex with all those people anyway. It’s just a physical act, and we’re only human anyway, and if it feels good…

I believe that what He shared in my heart is that when He established the concept of marriage, He was giving us a living demonstration of heaven and how the principle of commitment to the end governs His kingdom. Even when Adam and Eve sinned, at the very moment of confrontation with them and the serpent, He promised a deliverer. He was the immediate answer to an eternal problem. The very creation that was a mirror of His own image had just annihilated His plan for mankind to rule the earth…and yet He immediately committed Himself to providing a redeemer. A promise that He would stay with them till the end; and literally give His life to fulfill.

Marriage is supposed to be a demonstration to ourselves and the world that another human being, no matter what the price, is worth sticking with in all the seasons. And to those who are able to do this through the lengths of that thing we talked about earlier…time….they will taste and experience a part of heaven that is reserved only for those who allow the seed of marriage and commitment to grow to its fruition.

What will you be thinking about with your spouse of 50, 60, 70 plus years? How about all that you conquered together, and lost together. Will you be considering what you will leave on the earth or more importantly, what you will take to heaven? Gold, riches, souls…

…or the one sitting next to you in the wheelchair looking out over the waves rolling in and out, knowing you did it together. And now you get to face the last hurdle together confident it will be fine because it’s always ended fine through the years…going home together to be with the Lord.

Something to think about...

PJ

PS: I just passed this woman on the way from breakfast (this is the next day) as she was getting ready to head to the airport. I told her that I used here and her husband as a teaching example in our newsletter. Her eyes lit up and she said she would pray that someone gets blessed from her story. 

This is what it is all about

A Preacher Speaks Out…

"Seed" and Government

A discussion of seed development of political ideals and how they have ingrained themselves positively and negatively in our society.

I have been thinking of the principle of 'seed' again. It is a regular thing with me as I have found both principles of 'seed' and 'seasons', guide much of our lives. What I have learned is that we can develop a basic strategy for our lives that can adapt with whatever season we happen to be in, based on the seeds we have planted.

I'm considering the 'seed' concept when I consider certain directions our country is being taken. This post is to share in some detail my opinions of certain events and the philosophies behind them that are directing our nation. I am greatly concerned about the thought processes and corresponding actions that are radically affecting our everyday lives.

Some of this material is from a blog post I wrote a while back. I have greatly added to it through this latest offering as I seem to be proven right in my previous conclusions. I love my nation greatly and believe wholeheartedly that I am well within my moral responsibility to make observation and present things that I think we are responsible to do.

The Earth Will be Fine…Until it Isn't

"…and put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him where there is neither Greek, nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and in all." Col. 3:10-11

"Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…" Rev. 21:1

Before I start, I want to be clear. The first and foremost message for the world is salvation through Jesus Christ. God is going to create a new heaven and earth and the reality we see today will one day be changed forever. There is no nationality in the spirit world. American, Canadian, French…has been replaced in God's eyes by simply 'spiritually alive' or 'spiritually dead'. Color of skin or nationality, according to the word of God, means nothing when we stand before the Lord God Jesus on that final day.

Understanding that 'eternity' is our biblical mandate as far as perspective, our strengths should be in developing and then protecting any legitimate avenue of ministering the gospel of Jesus Christ. At the end of the day, it is the eternal habitation of souls that is job one for the ambassador for Christ.

Having said that, it must be acknowledged that we are not in that next age referred to in Revelation chapter twenty one. It's not here. That means we still have things called nations, borders, and people groups. And as long as these things still exist, then there are laws and principles that will govern them and they must be understood and protected.

In this age of eternity, I am a Christian…a child of God…and I am an American.

I wave the American flag, not that of Hungary and Germany, of which I am a descendant. I am not a citizen of the world…the earth is not my mother. I have a Father…God in heaven…Who created this 'ball in the sky called earth' for a specific period of time to accomplish His eternal purpose. God Himself will destroy it at the right time…not CO2 or rain forest trees being cut down. If the Creator was wise enough to build safety systems in our bodies to fight off germs and disease, He would have placed 'safety nets' to keep the planet working as long as it needs to.

Cows farting in the fields are not going to hurt a thing except for the fool who thinks they should be taxed because of the carbon emissions leaving an animals rear end.

I have these last few months had a reawakened desire to study history and its effect on present day which has led me to post this writing. Much was review as I had taught philosophy and world view courses at a Christian high school for two years. As I have gone back to study the founding of our nation and the purpose it seems both man and Providence had in mind, I see some common threads that could explain much of the 'excitement' going on in the nation today.

As we launch out, let me suggest you look up some of the following subjects yourself. Spend a little time studying Karl Marx, communism and socialism. Find out who Saul Alinsky is, and who followed him and his beliefs concerning community organization and change. As I am going to present, their ideas are 'seeds' that are designed to produce fruit. As much as the Christian is a 'sower' of the word of God, people are 'sowers' of the ideas they have adopted and believe. Sowed seed grows into something…good fruit or bad…based of course on the type of seed.

To look at an undeveloped plant, and then based on the fact that it isn't full grown yet, conclude that nothing bad is happening, is short sided and ignorant. A seed will grow…and we are getting ourselves in a lot of trouble thinking we are safe simply because things aren't full grown. Many are labeled alarmists and fanatical when they are simply declaring what all of nature teaches…seeds grow. We have enough of history providing experience to show us exactly what these things will grow into.

I learned a long time ago, that the best way to communicate is to keep things simple. I have found this to be a general principle which I do my best to follow. Generally speaking, I believe the simpler I can make something, the more that can be an evidence of understanding. It takes tremendous thought and processing to take a subject and make it so that a first grader can understand it. Since Jesus did that, I suppose as one of His followers I should strive to be able to do the same.

So...in trying to keeping it simple...

Seeing Our Country Through the 'Seed Concept'

History acknowledges that our nation was founded by a majority of God fearing people. The chief document for governance, the Constitution, was formed out of the tenets of the Judeo-Christian faith. The desire of the majority was for us to be a nation of freedom whose fundamental strengths would include "a"...all would do their part, based on personal responsibility, and "b"...in doing so would produce great prosperity. This then would be evidence and resource to influence not just ourselves but be a source of light for the world. (It would behoove anyone to do a quick study on "Beacon Hill" in Boston and discover why it was called that.)

Freedom was to be protected that the potential residing in every person could be developed. I believe it is important to understand though that a guaranteed freedom is not the same as guaranteeing the success of the individual. Freedom does not guarantee success; it only removes certain barriers that could be in the way of personal development.

Let me present something I think would prove worthwhile to consider. If these founding principles are contained in the design of the 'seed', then a full grown product resulting from it would only produce a greater display of the design of the root system. I believe it has.

Over two hundred years after the recognized birth of our nation, there has been enough time to evaluate the 'fruit' that this country has produced. A quick glance shows us that…the world is a much better place because of the influence of America and its Judeo Christian heritage…millions upon millions experience freedom as the light of liberty we have been given to hold up by God has shed her light across the globe…our industrial might has financed wonders throughout practically every nation that exists…we have sent out more missionary and humanity effort than any nation known…

I heard a statistic lately that showed the average annual income in China was around ten thousand a year give or take…the US…around forty two thousand! To be a citizen of this land of blessing is and has been the desire of generations from all over the world.

We can see quickly just by a few examples, the power of the 'seed design' of this country and what it can grow and produce. The seed of God's blessing, and His principles have done what they were designed to do.

Philosophy Produces its Own Fruit…Marxism

Based on the following illustration, I want to bring up certain things happening as the war of ideas continues in our nation over direction and purpose…

What do you think would happen if you tried to cut a seed in pieces and shove into it material from other seeds with incompatible design and purpose? Nature itself shows that when you try to mix and match different genetics (a dog cannot lay with a cat and produce a 'dat') mutation and rejection are usually the result. You simply will not see an apple seed and orange seed lie next to each other, give each other a big smooch on the cheek, and genetically unite and produce an 'orapple' tree. It doesn't happen.

How I see this happening in our current political atmosphere...

As I suggested earlier, it would be beneficial for anyone to do just a cursory study on socialistic and communistic philosophy. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the ones that really introduced these things to the world, were an interesting bunch as were the followers of their ideas.

Keeping it simple, Marx believed that material (not God) was the foundation of all things. According to Marx, reality is summed up in material and it is the ebbing and flowing of this that synthesizes and produces our financial and worldly experience. I'm not going any further with this except to inject a quick thought...if we were to try to bring a thought process based on a godless philosophy of materialism (Marxism) and mix it with a seed that contains, chastity, piety, and recognition and personal accountability to a All Knowing, Loving, Creator (Constitution based on biblical principles), you are going to have major issues. Shake oil and water as hard as you wish, they will not mix.

The resulting 'Communist Manifesto' which these people produced, is a document of rebellion, upheaval, and call for revolution. One major flaw in its basic tenants is to suppose the business people, or ruling class, are exploiting the worker and that the workers are to unite and take over (much of today's union language and terminology comes from these perspectives)...conveniently forgetting it was those business minds and entrepreneurs that created the businesses that provided the very jobs they had. They also are willingly forgetting, or simply do not realize, they wouldn't be 'simple' workers if they had the talent, drive, determination, and education, to start a company. They see only from their limited perspective, not considering the ramifications of their desires.

The Detroit auto industry is a perfect example demonstrating the result of people demanding two dollars of benefit for every one dollar produced. The news showed last week that up to forty square miles of that city is being demolished as a result of the breakdown from both the poverty and the fact people just have moved away. (I'm from Michigan and have relatives in the industry. I have been personally involved.)

A quick note…one must accept the 'hand they were dealt'. Life is not fair. God never said it was fair. He did say though to take your hand (talents) and make more…they would not be given to you…you had to add to them yourself. If you were fruitless, you were condemned, not pitied.

This certainly sounds different than what our politicians want you to think, but I'll say this here and later repeat it…politicians have no right to bend and twist the scripture! Most have no idea what the scripture teaches yet try to quote out of it as loosely as they use His name in vain!

OK...now back to the manifesto thing...let's say they do that...they revolutionize and take over because of the so called abuses by 'management'...do they not realize (obviously not), that human nature dictates some will rise to the top and lead it. Then the unregenerate human heart, which can only be changed through the new birth in Christ, takes over and you will eventually have the same exploitation you thought you had dealt with...you still have the same problem you tried to fix...just under different names...a capitalist has a CEO...the proletariat has a union boss...and on and on it will go.

"Because workers of the world unite, it's not just a slogan anymore." Andy Stern

"Workers of the world unite…" is a slogan for Marxist revolutionaries. It is one of the most famous rallying cries from the Communist Manifesto. A variant of this statement is actually engraved on Karl Marx's gravestone.

As of this writing, the current president of the SEIU, Andy Stern, is continually being investigated for his endorsement of ruthless tactics and hidden money and political schemes. I don't know the man personally, but I use this only to illustrate that no matter the name…CEO or Union Boss…people are people and take little time in manipulating their particular system to their own benefit. It's a scam…period. And people are suckers that fall for it over and over.

Note: I do believe there was a time that something needed to be done about wages, work conditions, etc. But come on. Those days are not here anymore. I don't have training wheels on my bike anymore because I don't need them. I grew up. There is so much regulation and oversight now that the abuses businesses got away with one hundred years ago simply wouldn't be tolerated. We have enough lawyers to see to that.

The very people they say they are trying to help are being manipulated by class warfare to respond through anger and bitterness. They are pawns in the hands of people who are exploiting them worse than any CEO ever did.

A goal of ultimate socialism is the abolishment to whatever degree of personal property so that the state may be the one resource pool. There is something we gotta consider. Someone will have to run all that...yet isn't that what they wanted to get away from? I mean, if the big bad business owners/management are so bad, how do they reason the legitimacy of a "Union Boss", or whatever title they give themselves?

The full blown living examples of this political thought have shown clearly what it will produce...Russia had Lenin and Stalin...China had Mao...and we know how fair those guys were to all people sharing the wealth with everyone.

There were tens of millions of deaths at the hands of Stalin alone and his communistic ideals. Individuals sentenced to imprisonment for religious and political views that differ from their own. Both political and human histories give enough evidence to make the following general statement…

The liberty promised to 'workers of the world' is a manipulation to get simple workers to become an ignorant army that puts in place a few who rule with iron hands and no mercy.

Let me be clear on something before going further. I know that tens of millions of people have not died in America because of Barrack Obama or Nancy Pelosi, nor will they in his administration…

…but…if the ideas he espouses take root and grow, nurtured by those that would follow him, they must produce after their own kind and what is not reality today, becomes everyday life tomorrow. Just as an apple tree today looks just like one did a thousand years ago, one only needs to look at what socialism and communism have and do now look like and produce. There is no such thing as 'social experiment' with this. This is no experiment. We have already seen what these philosophies produce.

Looking at Fruit on the 'Barack Hussein Obama Tree'

"It's because you have an obligation to yourself. Because our individual salvation depends on collective salvation." - Barack Obama

I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists and punk-rock performance poets." - Barack Obama (Dreams of My Father)

Our current president and his advisers, including the above mentioned Andy Stern, have more than just simple interest in socialistic philosophy which I have defined before as...believing the government and the state had a responsibility for the lives of the people, not necessarily the people for their own.

"If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, sounds like a duck…it's probably a duck."

The great turmoil we have been witnessing I believe is resulting from trying to genetically join two philosophies of government (socialism with communistic leanings vs. liberty and individual responsibility through capitalism) that are almost complete polar opposites of each other!

The people instinctively know this and are responding!

A point I think is important to remember is that our Constitution protects rights...IT DOESN'T GIVE THEM! It is the protector of our freedoms, not the granter. This means the protector of the Constitution, or government, is to protect us...not govern (rule over) us.

"Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem." Ronald Reagan

Let's remember, the founders of our nation were already free, they just annotated on the document of the Constitution what it takes to protect them.

Currently, this administration will brag that it has created jobs…much of his believing this is based on the growth of government positions. Now think this out. The government produces nothing…no goods…services…that bring a profit to itself. It's only financing comes from taking money from its citizens!

Here's a twofold punch in the gut to the prosperity of our country. When a worker comes out of the private sector to work for the government, private money and prosperity is taken which results in less total revenue for the country! You add to the government payroll while taking away its financing. You have increased government payroll and lessened its income. Logic dictates there are only two ways to fix this. Lessen the government or increase taxes on the few that pay it. That's it. And this is how you punish those you think are the problem and transfer that money to those you think have been mistreated and are less fortunate.

"I do think there is a point where you make too much money…" Barack Obama

Well, if you believe this, and just so happen to be in a position to create ways to take that wealth from who you think makes too much, that nation has a definite mess on their hands.

I believe history (not a theorist in Harvard who never held down a corporate position and generated wealth), has shown when American ingenuity is encouraged and government stays out of the way, we perform at our best. This provides for both a national prosperity and an ability to be a blessing to the world as well. It's private industry that needs to increase to prosper the nation, not government beaurocracy.

Political and Social Evolution…Preposterous

"This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast…" Hebrews 6:19

Another radical, dangerous, and cancerous philosophy…again…my judgment is based on fruit… that is resulting in attacks on our faith deals with the Constitution of the United States. The premise of which is that the Constitution is a 'living document' that evolves and morphs to the seasons of climate in the land.

I'll be plain. This is…Stupid…STUPID…STUPID!!!!

Ask any ship captain if it's good to have an anchor that morphs to the environment it is in. Or try to anchor on a sand bar in windy conditions. Anchors are given to stay fixed that the waves of inconsistency and turmoil can be withstood. To believe our constitution needs to morph to our society is ridiculous.

One example of the extremism resulting from this ideology is the freedom of speech right being given to sexual deviant behavior allowed to parade in the streets of our greatest cities! Artists peeing on the cross or the statue of Mary is called 'free speech' and beautiful. Organizations like NAMBLA, which believe in homosexual relations with children, are given defense by legal organizations like the ACLU.

The ACLU actually defended a case where two men took a child that they had killed by shoving a gasoline drenched rag in his mouth, had sex with the dead body, threw the corpse in a river up in Maine, and was later caught. The ACLU defended NAMBLA, the organization which posts instructions including how to have sex with children and lure them into your car and even what to say to the police when caught!! (See the case of Jeffrey Curly in Cambridge, MA. if you don't believe me.) These killers admit they got their ideas from this organization and yet they have been defended using 'free speech' as their defense.

Can anyone in their right mind defend this? I mean, if you think we are evolving, and our laws of society need to change with it, this is the stuff that happens. We give free speech rights to people that believe homosexual relationships with young boys is ok.

These things result from ignoring the need for a fixed, unshakable standard that keeps us from being tossed and destroyed by dangerous philosophies and actions.

Let's go another step. What if our society decides through our 'evolution' we want to be cannibals? Do we now evolve the constitution to give us the right of free speech on what kind of barbeque sauce to use on your favorite body part? C'mon!!

The Constitution was no more designed to be 'evolutionary' than the Bible was designed to be 'evolutionary'. "Do unto others…." is as universal geographically and generationally as "We are endowed by our Creator…"

This is a major area that the bible and Christians are under attack. If evolution is an accepted philosophy, then it is imposed upon all areas and documents including the bible. The perspective of that individual or people group is placed now on all forms of their society. After this the state believes it has the authority to impose its beliefs upon it.

We see this in the idea of taking all forms of religion out of public service. That's insanely ridiculous. We should actually be revering more the benefits of a godly, moral society…especially as compared with the borderline anarchy of today's culture.

To have politicians and clergy declare that the bible does not condemn homosexuality as abhorrent shows how ingrained this is becoming. When seminaries have become the pulpit of a political party and social thought rather than a place to learn to be an ambassador of Christ, we are a world in hurt indeed.

I would just like to say again…

Hey Mr. Politician…keep your hands off the bible…outside of Christ you have no clue what you are talking about and it is not for you to quote when you feel you can gain political benefit from it!

Don't Confuse Christian Character and Responsibility…

Speak up!

A major frustration I have is that there are Christian leaders that refuse to speak out against certain philosophies of our president. Remember, the seed principle works in people as much as with nature. You can simply look at who a person has considered his/her influences and heroes and they will most likely produce those attributes in their lives.

I have heard some say that Christians are too hard on this man and we are not being 'Christian'. Some say that we are not socialistic or even in danger of becoming so based on their own living experiences in Europe…

I cannot disagree more with this rationale.

The only reason that may partially be true is that the seeds haven't had time to fully grow! I certainly agree that we are not to be compared to a European socialist state…YET! But to deny that seeds grow, creating root systems that entwine themselves with the current soil, I think is naïve at best.

The philosophies of Barak Obama, and those he has endeared himself to through leadership postings or affiliation, are fruits from seeds of thought he has embraced. Nature declares that they must produce after their own kind!

If Marx and Alinsky were Barak Obama's influences, then how can it be so wrong to call out the fruit that his tree is growing? I am no more being accusatory of him in a self exalted, non biblical judgmentalism any more than if I stood back…and based on oranges growing on a tree…label it an orange tree. The fruit speaks for itself.

And as surely as you are not being critical for saying a three inch tall oak tree will one day be sixty feet tall and have bark, and acorns…so it is not wrong to look at these philosophies and those that espouse them and say confidently what it is they are going to produce…history and current events and nations espousing them show us exactly what is in store.

Where were those that called Paul Revere judgmental and critical for sounding the alarm of what was approaching? He sounded the alarm because great harm was on its way.

The bible is full of examples where the man of God proclaimed against the destructive practices and ideas of their particular generation and leadership.

I am choosing to do a few things as I am finding my heart awakened in great concern for this nation we have been given stewardship over.

A simple Google search of 'preachers in American history' shows that even from the beginning, men of God were used to defend truth not just from the pulpit, but also in the front lines. That also is part of the 'seed' of this country. I also have stated before that even the apostle Paul took full advantage of his Roman citizenship, getting him even an audience with the emperor. Paul could not have done that, taking advantage of the system for his own benefit (which Jesus endorsed by a following personal visitation) if he was ignorant of it or believed we just hide our heads because "...ya know...the world's just gonna get worse anyway..."

There is the valid concern that a 'Man of God' could get sidetracked and leave his one main message. That is true and has happened. But if one can maintain his walk with the Spirit, he can be used to keep in the public forum principles to keep the debate balanced. Also, preachers get sidetracked in many areas. To pick the political forum as a place of great danger to losing focus on the gospel is to forget that any arena can do that.

The seed of our nation is under great attack and needs defenders of thought and faith to begin to gain knowledge first, then to get involved as the Lord leads. We must never forget that it is not President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, democrat or republican persons, but the ideology that is the issue. It is ideology and philosophy that are the battle grounds, not a person or party. They may be the defendants of such things and as such must be confronted, but nothing is gained, except on their side, by emotional ranting and personal accusation. I can vigorously argue and contend my position without having a hate for someone.

I have no doubt that most people have a genuine concern for the direction of our nation as evidence by the passion on both sides.

Knowledge is power...great power. Citizens of both heaven and earth have a responsibility to study, contemplate, pray, and based on said conclusions, present their ideas in the public forum. Our nation is really leaning in directions contrary to the seed it was designed as and to stand by and let it just go on in the name of tolerance will only continue to produce more abominations.

Take care.

PJ