Obama Campaign Goes Racist, Anti-Semitic

Mitt Romney‘s selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate has utterly unhinged the Obama campaign. Last week they were happily jabbering about Romney’s record at Bain Capital, implying that he had killed a man’s wife, stating that he was a tax cheat and blaming him for outsourcing jobs. This week they’re stuck defending Barack Obama’s $700 billion cuts to Medicare and spending addiction.

That leaves the Democrats with one solution: get ugly.

Joe Biden led off the festivities in Virginia this week, where he informed the population of 49-percent-black Danville that “he said in the first 100 days, he’s going to let the big banks once again write their own rules — unchain Wall Street. They gonna put y’all back in chains.” That last line is a direct transcription — Biden lapsed into a heavy southern accent, clearly making a slavery reference. According to the Obama campaign, then, Romney’s Wall Street plans are the same as placing Americans in chains. If that isn’t insulting to black Americans, nothing will be.

But the Obama campaign wasn’t done. The same day Biden unleashed his inner race-baiter, the Obama campaign’s Julianna Smoot send out a mass email accusing Ryan of “making a pilgrimage” to Las Vegas to “kiss the ring” of Jewish mega donor Sheldon Adelson. This was an obvious attempt to drive a wedge between Ryan and blue-collar Catholics by invoking anti-Semitic imagery; the implication is that Ryan, instead of making a pilgrimage to Rome to kiss the ring of the Pope, was heading to Vegas to kiss the ring of a wealthy Jew. Ryan, the email implied, was a Judas willing to sacrifice religion for money in the Sodom and Gomorrah of Vegas.

This isn’t just nasty campaigning. It’s vile campaigning.

It wasn’t surprising, of course — not after the Obama campaign seemingly worked hand-in-glove with a super PAC to release an ad accusing Romney of murdering Joe Soptic’s wife of cancer after Bain Capital fired Soptic and Soptic lost his health insurance. It wasn’t surprising after the vulgarities that seem to spout daily from the Obama headquarters; their emails suggest that they must win the “damn” election and their staffers call Obamacare opponents “mother—ers.” No hope and change to be found here — just vulgarity and racism.

Just because the Obama campaign is running a disgusting campaign doesn’t mean it will hurt them. Negative campaigns remain extraordinarily effective. But it won’t work against the revitalized Romney-Ryan ticket. Ryan is simply too likeable — 50 percent of Americans like him, as opposed to 32 percent who don’t — and he is highly intelligent and scrupulously honest. That means he’ll be tough to categorize with the left’s three favorite anti-conservative insults: stupid (Palin), corrupt (Nixon) and mean (Bush). Ryan isn’t extreme; he’s praised by people like … Barack Obama and Erskine Bowles.

The question that remains for the American public is whether they can be polarized by the divide-and-conquer rhetoric of the Obama campaign. If Obama can’t convince Americans that Romney-Ryan will destroy America, he’ll have to destroy America himself to ensure re-election by separating Americans by race, sexuality and religion. That’s precisely what he’s doing.

Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro is a regular guest on dozens of radio shows around the United States and Canada and author of Project President: Bad Hair and Botox on the Road to the White House.

http://townhall.com/columnists/benshapiro/2012/08/15/ben_shapiro/page/full/

There Ought Not to Be a Law

I’m a libertarian in part because I see a false choice offered by the political left and right: government control of the economy — or government control of our personal lives.

People on both sides think of themselves as freedom lovers. The left thinks government can lessen income inequality. The right thinks government can make Americans more virtuous. I say we’re best off if neither side attempts to advance its agenda via government.

Let both argue about things like drug use and poverty, but let no one be coerced by government unless he steals or attacks someone. Beyond the small amount needed to fund a highly limited government, let no one forcibly take other people’s money. When in doubt, leave it out — or rather, leave it to the market and other voluntary institutions.

But this is not how most people think. Most people see a world full of problems that can be solved by laws. They assume it’s just the laziness, stupidity or indifference of politicians that keeps them from solving our problems. But government is force — and inefficient.

That’s why I argue in “No, They Can’t: Why Government Fails — but Individuals Succeed” that it’s better if government didn’t try to address most of life’s problems.

People tend to believe that “government can!” When problems arise, they say, “There ought to be a law!”

Even the collapse of the Soviet Union, caused by the appalling results of central planning, didn’t shock the world into abandoning big government. Europe began talking about some sort of “market socialism.” Politicians in the United States dreamt of a “third way” between capitalism and socialism, and of “managed capitalism” — where politicians often replace the invisible hand.

George W. Bush ran for president promising a “lean” government, but he decided to create a $50 billion per year prescription drug entitlement and build a new bureaucracy called No Child Left Behind. Under Bush, Republicans doubled discretionary spending (the greatest increase since LBJ), expanded the drug war and hired 90,000 new regulators.

Bush’s increases in regulation didn’t mollify the media’s demand for still more.

Then came Barack Obama and spending big enough to bankrupt all our children. That fueled the tea party and the 2010 elections.

The tea party gave me hope, but I was fooled again. Within months, the new “fiscally conservative” Republicans voted to preserve farm subsidies, vowed to “protect” Medicare and cringed when Romney’s future veep choice, Rep. Paul Ryan, proposed his mild deficit plan.

It is unfortunate that the United States, founded partly on libertarian principles, cannot admit that government has gotten too big. East Asian countries embraced markets and flourished. Sweden and Germany liberalized their labor markets and saw their economies improve.

But we keep passing new rules.

The enemy here is human intuition. Amid the dazzling bounty of the marketplace, it’s easy to take the benefits of markets for granted. I can go to a foreign country and stick a piece of plastic in the wall, and cash will come out. I can give that same piece of plastic to a stranger who doesn’t even speak my language — and he’ll rent me a car for a week. When I get home, Visa or MasterCard will send me the accounting — correct to the penny. We take such things for granted.

Government, by contrast, can’t even count votes accurately.

Yet whenever there are problems, people turn to government. Despite the central planners’ long record of failure, few of us like to think that the government which sits atop us, taking credit for everything, could really be all that rotten.

The great 20th-century libertarian H.L. Mencken lamented, “A government at bottom is nothing more than a group of men, and as a practical matter most of them are inferior men. … Yet these nonentities, by the intellectual laziness of men in general … are generally obeyed as a matter of duty (and) assumed to have a kind of wisdom that is superior to ordinary wisdom.”

There is nothing government can do that we cannot do better as free individuals — and as groups of individuals working freely together.

Without big government, our possibilities are limitless.

John Stossel

John Stossel is host of “Stossel” on the Fox Business Network. He’s the author of “Give Me a Break” and of “Myth, Lies, and Downright Stupidity.” To find out more about John Stossel, visit his site at johnstossel.com.

http://townhall.com/columnists/johnstossel/2012/08/15/there_ought_not_to_be_a_law/page/full/

Always Praying

Always Praying.

A New Friend

I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. —John 15:15

While flying from Europe back to the US, I found myself sitting next to a little girl who never stopped talking from the moment she sat down. She told me the history of her family and all about her puppy, who was in the hold of the plane. She pointed excitedly to everything around us, “Look at this! Look at that!” I couldn’t help but think that 8 hours of this could make for a very long flight!

We chatted for a while until she suddenly got quiet. She pulled her blanket up around her, so I thought maybe she was going to doze off. I quickly took advantage of the break and reached for the nearest magazine. But before I could open it, I felt a little elbow in my side. I looked down at her, and she threw out her little hand and said, “Hey, Joe, wanna be friends?”

My heart melted. “Sure,” I said, “let’s be friends.”

In the midst of the turmoil of life, when we think all we want is to be left alone, Jesus extends His nail-scarred hand and invites us to be His friends. He says, “I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). We have a choice: to keep to ourselves, or to open our heart to a friendship of unlimited love and guidance.

What a Friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer. —Scriven

Jesus longs to be your Friend.

http://getmorestrength.org/daily/a-new-friend/

The Evidence of the New Birth

You must be born again —John 3:7

The answer to Nicodemus’ question, “How can a man be born when he is old?” is: Only when he is willing to die to everything in his life, including his rights, his virtues, and his religion, and becomes willing to receive into himself a new life that he has never before experienced (John 3:4). This new life exhibits itself in our conscious repentance and through our unconscious holiness.

“But as many as received Him. . .” (John 1:12). Is my knowledge of Jesus the result of my own internal spiritual perception, or is it only what I have learned through listening to others? Is there something in my life that unites me with the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior? My spiritual history must have as its underlying foundation a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. To be born again means that I see Jesus.

“. . . unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God ” (John 3:3). Am I seeking only for the evidence of God’s kingdom, or am I actually recognizing His absolute sovereign control? The new birth gives me a new power of vision by which I begin to discern God’s control. His sovereignty was there all the time, but with God being true to His nature, I could not see it until I received His very nature myself.

“Whoever has been born of God does not sin. . .” (1 John 3:9). Am I seeking to stop sinning or have I actually stopped? To be born of God means that I have His supernatural power to stop sinning. The Bible never asks, “Should a Christian sin?” The Bible emphatically states that a Christian must not sin. The work of the new birth is being effective in us when we do not commit sin. It is not merely that we have the power not to sin, but that we have actually stopped sinning. Yet 1 John 3:9 does not mean that we cannot sin— it simply means that if we will obey the life of God in us, that we do not have to sin.

http://utmost.org/the-evidence-of-the-new-birth/

Seeking God

“This is what the Lord says to Israel: ‘Seek me and live’.” — Amos 5:4

At the end of a graveside service I once attended, I looked around at the various headstones of some of the people who were buried in that particular cemetery. There was one headstone that caught my attention. While many of them were filled with flowery language and all kinds of accomplishments of the deceased, this one simply said, “A Seeker of God.”

        “Seek me and live,” says the prophet Amos. The idea expressed by Amos is simply put, but not a simple idea. Amos defines for us what it means to truly live. Living is much more than just staying alive; true living means to spend your days seeking God. Very careful with his words, Amos does not say that one must find God, rather one must seek God. It is in the process of constantly searching and looking for God that we are truly finding Him.

To find God means that He is totally knowable, which of course He isn’t. To find God means that one has arrived at a complete understanding of how God runs the world, which of course is impossible. For me, seeking God means that I am trying my best and I am constantly growing in my relationship with God. I am looking for more. I am not satisfied with where I am today. Seeking is never arriving; it is the daily search for God in every aspect of our lives.

Practically speaking, what does it mean to seek and search for God? If we think about the way that people pursue material things such as money, physical pleasure, comfort and the like, we can get a glimpse into the idea of seeking God. We need to seek God with at least an equal amount of enthusiasm with which we pursue material things.

Just as we regularly spend time earning money, we must regularly spend time studying the word of God. Just as we invest our money in things that make our lives better, we must invest money in things that make us better. We are always learning more about how technology works. How about contemplating how God works? When man seeks pleasure, he is always asking himself how he can raise his standard of living. But when he seeks God, he constantly asks himself how he can elevate his soul.

We don’t seek God because He is lost. We look for God because we are lost. It is in the seeking that we find ourselves.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/seeking-god

Our remedy is not found in inclusivity

By Bill Johnson

My best friend in college died of AIDS in 2001.  Though it was not discussed or acknowledged at the time, he was a homosexual.

This was in 1969 – way before the media pressure that was to come to legitimize homosexuality.

I wasn’t a Christian in my college years.  I became a Christian shortly after graduating.  I married; he remained single.  Glen went his way and I went mine.

We lost track of one another.   Several times over the years I tried to search for him. Then Facebook came along.    I knew where his hometown was and that he had brothers.  I searched and tried to make contact.

Finally, I did.  His brother and I began to communicate on Facebook that led eventually to a lengthy phone conversation.  The family fears came to fruition regarding Glen.  He suffered long and died of HIV.

Glen was one of the most brilliant, astute, kind individuals I have ever known in my life.  We spent hours discussing politics, the Vietnam War, the Nixon administration, etc., and many other things in the several years of close friendship.  He often came to my hometown and spent time with me and my family.  He was a great guy and loved by all of my family.

He wasn’t a Christian, nor was I.  We both prided ourselves on being agnostics.

Many years have since passed.  The controversies of the late 60s and early 70s were significant.   But so are today’s.

Glen was a compassionate liberal.  We agreed on many things back then.  Today we wouldn’t so much I’m quite sure.  I knew his politics because he had influenced me back in our days at Michigan State University.

I was walking in darkness during those years.  I began to go to church with a gal that I met in my early years of teaching.  The Truth of the Bible penetrated my heart, soul and mind.  Though a liberal, though agnostic, my veil of darkness was removed and I had eyes and a mind that could see in a way that I never had before.   As the song goes “Once I was blind, but now I can see.  The light of the world is Jesus!”

Indeed, it is true.

A critic wrote today:  Again, you base your views on a totally fictitious book. Your Bible is not a credible source. There is no independent corroboration of any of its stories. Many of those stories are obviously false, or at best, not so good metaphors.  Yet you would condemn thousands of people based on it. America is not chosen by your imaginary God, nor can this non-entity destroy it.

Why can’t you do as Paul suggests and cast off your childish ways and become thinking, rational adults.

 

What this person cannot accept through his refusal to open his heart, mind and soul to Jesus Christ, is that he will remain blind to God’s Truth made very plain in the Bible he ridicules.

The following verses get to the essence of this reality:

I Corinthians 1:18.  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

I Corinthians 1:25.  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

I Corinthians 2:12.  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

One thing that I lament regarding my friend Glen is this.  I lost track of him and didn’t continue in close friendship with him.  I was Glen’s best friend.  He was my best friend.  If there was anyone he may have opened up to – to hear words like those written above  it would have been me.

There are those reading this that are – perhaps –  at a similar place that Glen was.  Yet, you refuse to trust in Christ as Lord and Savior.

Christians are not haters.  However, Christians should not be compromisers.  As Christians compromise God’s holy standard, they misrepresent God’s standard.   That brings confusion to those around us.  That is shameful.  It ought not to be!   Yet, humans are so often timid and afraid to speak truth.

Adultery is not of God – it degrades His Name and people are damaged, hurt and destroyed.  Homosexuality is also not God’s will.  It degrades God’s Name and people are damaged, hurt, and destroyed.

Christians are to be standard bearers and to point people to Christ and the cross – to salvation.   Some detest this.   “Faithful Christians are routinely mocked and called narrow-minded and bigoted for believing that Jesus is the only way to the Father.  Unfortunately, many professing Christians buckle under this intense cultural pressure and say either that there are many ways to God or that people who have not heard the gospel may somehow be saved by Christ.

Those who truly believe in the Word of God, however, cannot waver on the exclusivity of Christ (John 14:6).  In fact, we must be clear that the Lord is furious at sinners who do not repent of their sin and run to Jesus for salvation.   …” [Taken from Tabletalk, Ligonier Ministries, August 14, 2012]

Each of us are far from perfect.  We are sinners in need of a Savior.  It’s not politically correct to talk like that, but it is the truth.

Our remedy is not found in inclusivity or pedophilia, homosexuality, adultery or pornography.  These all lead to destruction.  Our remedy has always been and will always be found in Christ and Christ alone!

Not because I say it but because God says it.  Will you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord?

http://www.americandecency.org/archives/our-remedy-is-not-found-in-inclusivity/#more-6944

Philip And The Ethiopian

When Stephen was stoned to death a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Those who were scattered went in different directions telling the good news about Jesus.

Philip went down to the city of Samaria, where he told the people about Jesus, the Christ. And the crowds, when they saw the miracles he performed, paid attention to what he said. Many who could not walk or were lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city. Both the men and women who believed Philip, as he told the good news about the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus, were baptized.

When the apostles at Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had believed God’s message, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they came, prayed that the Samaritans might receive the Holy Spirit, for it had not yet come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

When the apostles had told the people about Jesus and preached the word of the Lord, they went back to Jerusalem; and as they went, they told the good news in many villages of the Samaritans. But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise, and go south along the desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza.” As he went on his way he met an Ethiopian who had charge of the treasures of Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship and was on his way home. As the Ethiopian sat in his chariot reading from the prophet Isaiah, the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and speak to the man in the chariot.” As Philip ran up and heard him reading from the prophet Isaiah, he asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” “How can I,” said the Ethiopian, “unless there is some one to tell me what it means?” So he begged Philip to come up and sit beside him.

Now the passage of scripture that he was reading was this:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,

And as a lamb is dumb before the shearer,

So he opened not his mouth.”

The Ethiopian said to Philip, “I beg of you, tell me of whom is the prophet speaking? Of himself or of some one else?” Then Philip, taking this verse as his text, told him the good news about Jesus. As they went along, they came to some water, and the Ethiopian said, “Here is water. What prevents my being baptized?” So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both went down into the water, and Philip baptized the man. After they had come up from the water, the Spirit of the Lord sent Philip on his way, and the Ethiopian did not see him again, but went away happy. But Philip told the good news in every town until he reached Cesarea.

http://kids.ochristian.com/Childrens-Bible/Philip-And-The-Ethiopian.shtml

 

“O that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.” Job 23:3, 4

Was not job in the same spot where we often are? If this aged patriarch had not known what it was to be shut up in his mind, harassed and distressed, and well-nigh overwhelmed with the attacks of the wicked one, he would not have said, “O that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.” Has that ever been, is it now, the genuine feeling, the real experience of your soul? Do look into your heart, you that fear God. Do look for a moment, if you have never looked before, at the work of grace (and where are you, if you have never looked at it?) and consider if you know any of these matters. Did you ever, in a feeling of darkness, gloom, bondage, and distress of soul, cry (I do not say the words, it is the feelings we want, let the words go), “‘O that I knew where I might find him!’ Lord, I do want to find thee; my soul longs after thee; I want a taste of thy blessed presence; I want to embrace thee in the arms of my faith; I want the sweet testimonies of thy gracious lips; ‘O that I knew where I might find thee!’ I would not care what I went through.” If so, then these very things shew that you have the fear of God in your souls, and the teaching of the Spirit in your hearts. You are where Job was, and if you know something of what Job speaks here, “O that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!”–if that is the desire of your soul, you have Job’s religion, you have job’s experience, you have Job’s affliction in this matter, and you will have Job’s deliverance, Job’s joy, Job’s peace, and Job’s salvation. Job’s God is your God, and you will be where Job now is, bathing your ransomed soul in all the glory of the Lamb.

http://devotionals.ochristian.com/j-c-philpot-daily-portions.shtml

 

God’s Mercy on Our Past

God’s Mercy on Our Past.