tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-196154572024-03-28T11:32:16.991-05:00Istoria Ministries Article ArchiveWade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.comBlogger124125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-30853455841947059552024-03-08T11:52:00.000-06:002024-03-08T14:53:07.196-06:00Wade Burleson at Istoria Ministries Is Now A Substack Subscription <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSc7inzJk7uEExmIsGLdMMZOFSJsdexIlu4QBkhLckkKB2PpU-jJD1LUh2TRA4fNCm846p0zAJsog7S3ZXcPkIw0x1lXoomR92I7ZvbekFF_o1-KrZEeeb3KO74EZL4N30pgLTLEHzS6qeV35sB4qrO3I5usbo_nQz-FUjIjMxSYSML5VXrw=s1000" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSc7inzJk7uEExmIsGLdMMZOFSJsdexIlu4QBkhLckkKB2PpU-jJD1LUh2TRA4fNCm846p0zAJsog7S3ZXcPkIw0x1lXoomR92I7ZvbekFF_o1-KrZEeeb3KO74EZL4N30pgLTLEHzS6qeV35sB4qrO3I5usbo_nQz-FUjIjMxSYSML5VXrw=s320" width="320" /></a></div><a href="http://wadeburleson.substack.com" target="_blank">Wade Burleson at Istoria Ministries Substack Newsletter</a> is now the place for my writings. <div><br /></div><div>You can find me on Substack at:<div><a href="http://wadeburleson.substack.com">wadeburleson.substack.com</a><br /><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://wadeburleson.substack.com" target="_blank">Substack is a subscription service</a> ($5.00 monthly or $48.00 annually). All proceeds go to <a href="http://istoriaministries.com">Istoria Ministries</a> to help meet our budget. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>There's also a free subscription option. You'll receive a couple of my writings for free every month</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>But you'll need a paid subscription to Istoria Ministries for the archived posts, to read most of the new posts I write weekly, and to listen to the podcasts. </div><div><br /></div><div>Istoria's Board of Directors met at the end of July 2023 and urged me to use this subscription model. </div><div><br /></div><div>The viability of our ministry requires consistent revenue. <a href="https://istoriaministries.com/donate/" target="_blank">Donations to Istoria have been our lifeblood</a>, and we trust the LORD to raise up those who can continue to give<a href="http://istoriaministries.com/donate" target="_blank"> tax-deductible donations to Istoria Ministries</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>We hope the <a href="http://wadeburleson.substack.com" target="_blank">Wade Burleson at Istoria Ministries SubStack subscriptions</a> will help Istoria Ministries continue to expand. </div><div><br /></div><div>For all subscribers, free or paid, the <a href="http://wadeburleson.substack.com" target="_blank">Wade Burleson at Istoria Ministries Substack newsletters</a> will be a way that I communicate via email. </div><div><div><p></p><p><a href="https://istoriaministriesarchive.com/" target="_blank">The 70 various digital teaching sermon series</a> can be heard through a subscription service. They can still be accessed for free at the <a href="https://istoriaministriesarchive.com" target="_blank">Sermon Series Archive</a> on <a href="http://istoriaministries.com" target="_blank">Istoria Ministries Website</a> but in the near future, will require a subscription to substack.com@istoriaministries</p><p>It will take some time for the 2,500 posts from 2005 to 2022 to be placed in the archive of Wade Burleson Istoria Ministries Substack, but we'll get there. </p><p>Thank you for supporting Istoria Ministries, and if you want to contact me personally, feel free to email at <a href="mailto:wade@istoriaministries.com">wade@istoriaministries.com</a>. </p></div></div></div></div>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-3518807988077110062024-03-04T21:18:00.002-06:002024-03-08T13:16:12.540-06:00The Importance of Baptism as Christ's OrdinanceBenji Ramsaur, a blogger friend and frequent commenter, emailed me the other day about the views of the 18th Century Sandy Creek Association of Baptist Churches on baptism. <br /><br /><blockquote> Wade, I don't know if you ever thought about it, but it looks to me that the Sandy Creek Associaiton Confession (1816) is in agreement with you on Baptism and the Lord's Supper being ordinances of Christ. Here is statement #8 from their confession. <br /> <br />8. <strong>That baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordinances of the Lord</strong>, and to be continued by his church until his second coming. (emphasis mine)</blockquote><br />I already knew what Benji pointed out to me. Still, he has done a favor by reminding us all of the doctrinal beliefs of some of our Southern Baptist forefathers regarding the ordinance of baptism. If the Sandy Creek Baptists were correct about this ordinance, and I believe they were, then the believer's baptism identifies him as a follower of Jesus Christ. Let me repeat what I just wrote so it can sink in Baptism identifies a believer with Jesus Christ -- not a local church. <br /><br />The local church's responsibility is to ensure that, as a prerequisite to church membership, the member candidate has identified himself with Christ through baptism by immersion. When I was baptized, I was <em>not</em> baptized 'into membership within a local church,' but I was baptized into Christ.<br /><br />In other words, when Christ died for His people at Calvary, I was included with them and in Him, and my water baptism symbolizes my union and identification with Him in His death (Colossians 2;12). When Christ was wrapped in linen and buried in the tomb for His people, I was included with them and was <em>in Him</em>, and my baptism is a picture of my identification with Him during His burial (Romans 6). When Christ rose from the dead, making complete satifaction and atonment for the sins of His people, I was included with them and was <em>in Him. My</em> water baptism is my outward confession of my eternal possession -- deliverance from the wrath to come through the person and work of Jesus Christ for me. <br /><br /><strong>The Practical Application of Baptism as the Lord's Ordinance</strong><br /><br />If you can locate a copy of Pascal's text on North Carolina Baptist History, you'll find this note (page 109, Vol. 2):<br /> <br /><blockquote>The only meeting house in which the visiting Moravian ministers preached was that on Deep Creek, 30 miles from Salem, finished in 1772. Nearly always Soelle's successors (Soelle was a Moravian missionary who often helped the Baptists) preached in the houses of the friendly families found there by Soelle; uusally they were heard by large and attentive congregations, of whom some were Baptists, including preachers and exhorters. On these visits the Moravian minister often baptized (by immersion) believing children brought by parents to the preacher at the homes where he was entertained.</blockquote> <br />It's worth noting that Moravian theology is derivative of Brethren and Lutheran theology. Their theology needs to be more transparent on the doctrine of eternal security. At best, they are ambiguous. Deep Creek was part of the Sandy Creek Association until 1805. These Baptists at Deep Creek church had absolutely no problem accepting into their fellowship believers who were baptized by a visiting Moravian evangelist because the baptisms performed by the guest Moravian evangelist did not identify the believers baptized by him with the Moravian church, the Moravian doctrine, or the Moravian movement -- it identified those believers with Jesus Christ. <br /><br />What's good enough for the Sandy Creek Baptists in the 18th Century is good enough for my Southern Baptist church in the 21st Century. When someone petitions our church for membership, we examine their faith and baptism. Their faith is to be in Christ alone for salvation, and their baptism is to be by immersion, picturing the believer's identification with Christ. It's the Lord's ordinance, not ours.<br /><br />In His Grace,<br /><br /><br />WadeUnknownnoreply@blogger.com80tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-12146509285740140192023-11-21T07:17:00.000-06:002024-03-08T13:16:13.581-06:00Jimmy Carter: A Genuine Christian Character<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGYt3ivKTaK9GBXtMccIMZ3Qg5G8JS2YOByI-cnf2pi_TXTesnpc_hglBnhaa62Ruh4TSSpxxgrNo95B7bMxSBSsx4deW6uDWwQbyQKFQ1K6JNzm3Tkp61_D5YRj8S_juHorg/s1600-h/Jimmy_Carter_1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368379355610349378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGYt3ivKTaK9GBXtMccIMZ3Qg5G8JS2YOByI-cnf2pi_TXTesnpc_hglBnhaa62Ruh4TSSpxxgrNo95B7bMxSBSsx4deW6uDWwQbyQKFQ1K6JNzm3Tkp61_D5YRj8S_juHorg/s320/Jimmy_Carter_1.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 209px;" /></a> Jimmy Carter is a member, deacon, and Sunday School teacher at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. He is also the 39th President of the United States. I met President Carter <a href="http://kerussocharis.blogspot.com/2007/05/that-which-unites-us-is-gospel-of.html" target="_blank">for the first time two years ago</a> on a visit to the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Since that initial meeting some of my friends have spoken to me about Mr. Carter and have condemned him for what they call his "lack of Christian character"--as if attacking him as a person would cause me to see the true evil nature of the former President.<br /><br />Allow me to set the record straight.<br /><br />I am a Republican. President Carter is a Democrat. We don't see eye to eye politically. I am pastor in a church active with the Southern Baptist Convention. Though President Carter's church still gives 50% of their mission offerings to the Lottie Moon offering, Maranatha is no longer active in the SBC. We don't see eye to eye ecclesiologically. I am calvinistic in my soteriology, partial-preterist in my eschatology, open communion in my ecclesiology, conservative in my theology, inerrantist in my bibliology, and continuationist in my pneumatology. President Carter would probably agree with me in less than half of the foregoing theological positions. We don't see eye to eye theologically.<br /><br />Yet, in my opinion, President Carter is a man of the highest Christian character and integrity. It should be an honor to all of us who name Christ as Lord to call Jimmy Carter a brother in Jesus Christ.<br /><br />(1). He professes privately, publicly and without apology that "Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ."<br /><br />(2). He serves his church as deacon, mowing the church lawn on a set rotation, fulfilling the responsiblity of being a church deacon with humility and grace.<br /><br />(3). On two occasions that I have spoken privately spoken with him, not one time has he spoken a critical word about a fellow Christian in terms of their character, in spite of the fact he has been criticized, condemned and censored by several Christian leaders.<br /><br />(4). He teaches Sunday School every Sunday that he is in town. Last Sunday was his 503 time to teach, and hundreds from all over the world came to hear him in a town with a population of only 600.<br /><br />(5). His mission in life is to make the world a better place to live, striving to eradicate disease, educate children, and initiate peace between countries known for war.<br /><br />(6). The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 to Mr. Carter for "his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democrac and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."<br /><br />(7). Every year the President Carter and Rosalynn volunteer one week to help build homes for the homeless through Habitat for Humanity.<br /><br />For the above seven reasons alone, not to mention what could be said about his marriage, his family, and his tireless support of Baptists worldwide, every follower of Jesus Christ with Baptist convictions should refrain from attacking the character of this man. Disagree with him? Of course. Question his Christianity? Not unless you wish to answer to His heavenly Father for your attacks.<br /><br />There are four areas that Christian leaders seem prone to use as an occasion to incessantly attack Mr. Carter's Christian character. I would like to show how one may disagree with Mr. Carter with civility and respect--while upholding the dignity of his Christian character.<br /><br /><b><u>Israel, Palestine and the Middle East</u></b><br /><br />Many evangelicals are pro-Israel because of a seemingly uniform eschatalogy (pre-tribulational pre-millenialism). As a result, some Christian leaders castigate President Carter's advocacy for a Palestinian state and his defense of the Arab people. I happen to believe the United States should protect Israel, not because of my eschatology, but because I believe Israel stands alone in her democratic principles in a region known for autocratic dictatorships, religious theocracies, and other dysfunctional forms of government. Nevertheless, all of us must deeply appreciate what President Carter has done since the 1970's to bring peace to an area that most simply believed would never experience it. Whether you agree or not with Carter's position on the Palestinian question, no fellow Christian should feel compelled to attack Carter's character as he fulfills his role as statesmen in the Middle East. In fact, that in itself would be un-Christian.<br /><br /><b><u>Women in Ministry</u></b><br /><br /><a href="http://kerussocharis.blogspot.com/2009/08/personal-confession-public-challenge.html" target="_blank">See my previous post</a>. Whether one agrees with his position or not, it would be prudent for all to treat his views with respect and to respond with civility due the dignity of his person. I predict that within a few decades even the Southern Baptist Convention will believe Carter's views on women in minsitry to be orthodox and <em>biblical</em>.<br /><br /><b><u>Universalism</u></b><br /><br />Christian universalism is the belief that all people are redeemed by Christ and will eventually be brought to faith in Christ--either here or in heaven. Mr. Carter has repeatedly stated that the only way to be delivered from God's judgment is "by grace through faith in Jesus Christ." I have asked him why some insist that he is a universalist when he is so clear about how a sinner is delivered from God's judgment. He says he believes people misunderstand his views because he is gracious, respectful and tolerant of those who disagree with him, even those from other religions. Of course, he does not change his own views, but he is uninterested in condemning people who do not agree with him. He simply shares his views and believes God will do the saving.<br /><br /><b><u>Homosexuality</u></b><br /><br />If there is one thing that keeps some evangelicals from seeing the call of God on women, it is the fear that recognizing "women preachers" is the first step down the slippery slope of recognizing "homosexual" preachers.<br /><br />I don't understand that kind of thinking--unless of course, one believes homosexuality is part of one's personhood, rather than one's choice of behavior.<br /><br />Let me illustrate.<br /><br />Our church views homosexuality the same way we do adultery, or sexual activity before marriage, or any other sexual act outside the confines of a husband/wife marriage. We have many people who attend our church that are involved in these particular sins. We love them, we help them, and we encourage them, but we let them know that their lives will never be holy or genuinely happy until Christ enables them overcome their sinful sexual behaviors. We don't single out any one particular "sexual activity" as worse than others. We identify them all as sin before God.<br /><br />There are some Christians who believe that God makes "homosexuals" the way they are and that having sex with a same sex partner is not "sin" if the relationship is monogamous, committed, and loving. We believe that the sacred text in several places, both Old Testament and New Testament, disputes this. The essence of Christianity is repentance of sin--and same sex homosexual <i>behavior</i> is sin. At the same time we love the person whose heart tends toward this sin - we will simply help him or her overcome it by the power of Christ just like we help the adulterer, the pedophile, the sexually immoral, overcome their urges toward sexual sins. We no more believe a homosexual is qualified to be pastor than we do an adulterer, a pedophile, etc . . . because of <em>abnormal and sinful sexual </em> behavior. For those who want others to believe that homosexual or lesbian sexual behavior is normal, just remind them that it's a good thing their <em>parents </em> didn't homosexuality normal sexual behavior. Again, homosexuality is a <em>behavioral</em> choice. <br /><br />But a black man who preaches the gospel can't change the color of his skin. A woman who preaches the gospel can't change the gender of her person. A homosexual who preaches the gospel <em>can change </em>his or her <em>behavior</em>. Homsexuals are not part of a <i>minority</i> group, they are part of a <i>behavioral</i> group.<br /><br />President Carter is not opposed to the government recognizing "homosexual unions." All of us know that the government must designate people in various civil unions for tax purposes, census taking and other government reasons. Carter himself, however, called "homosexuality" a sin at the conference where I heard him speak this past week. What baffles me is why we Christians rail against the United States government recognizing "homosexual" unions while we are often stone quiet when it comes to the practice of our government recognizing civil unions among men and women who live together outside of the covenant of marriage--and this type of civil union has been recognized by our government for decades. Both types of sexual unions (homosexual and heterosexual), outside of the covenant of marriage, are "sin" as defined by the church. Could it be that Christians like Jimmy Carter don't believe governments should be involved in the business of the church and vice-versa? In other words, just because a Christian is not opposed to homosexual civil unions being recognized by the government doesn't mean that Christian doesn't view homosexuality as sin.<br /><br />Whether one agrees or disagrees with Carter's views in the above four areas, my point in this post is to remind those of us who follow Jesus Christ that it is important that we refrain from attacking the character of our fellow Christian brothers and sisters and simply voice our disagreements with the grace of Christian love. Respect, civility and dignity should be the accompanying disciplines of all us who have been saved and are being transformed by our Lord Jesus Christ.<br /><br />And I believe with all my heart that this Christian grace, civility and love should be shown toward Jimmy Carter, a man of genuine Christian character.<br /><br />In His Grace,<br /><br /><br />WadeUnknownnoreply@blogger.com186tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-60330661220487314112023-10-18T06:42:00.006-05:002024-03-08T13:16:18.231-06:00Bill Hicks: When the Laughter Ends, Then What?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXKwAOoGoEobFA36tsAayUDa4RvnzLt8TOfsg-uV0v70kGfhrwPTilfiLSAGdrghM9tvPwfzAJFDyqF2YKjpFUp4seRdfPp29X_Z_SL6b93BJhSSbsagSs9OKNvQrSR0ZEKeXk/s1600-h/Bill+Hicks.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365951879717314562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXKwAOoGoEobFA36tsAayUDa4RvnzLt8TOfsg-uV0v70kGfhrwPTilfiLSAGdrghM9tvPwfzAJFDyqF2YKjpFUp4seRdfPp29X_Z_SL6b93BJhSSbsagSs9OKNvQrSR0ZEKeXk/s320/Bill+Hicks.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 227px;" /></a> On January 30, 2009, David Letterman <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUbB_D-dYp8" target="_blank">apologized to a national television audience</a> for the one and only time he ever censored a guest comedian on <a href="http://lateshow.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/" target="_blank">The Late Show</a>. <div><br /></div><div>Fifteen years earlier, on October 1, 1993, 32-year-old stand-up comedian sensation <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Hicks" target="_blank">Bill Hicks</a> found his routine entirely edited out of that night's<i> Late Show</i> broadcast. </div><div><br /></div><div>The censorship, approved by Letterman himself, rankled Hicks enormously.</div><div><br /></div><div>The show would have been his twelfth and final appearance on Letterman. </div><div><br /></div><div>Hicks died of pancreatic cancer four months later, on February 26, 1994. </div><div><br /></div><div>Letterman's apology this past January, complete with an appearance from Hick's elderly mother, made for fascinating television.<br /><br />Who is Bill Hicks?<br /><br /> While most people have never heard of him, many professional comedians idolize him. </div><div><br /></div><div>In 2005, 12 years after his death, Hicks' act was ranked in the top twenty comedic acts of all time by fellow comedians.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedy_Central" target="_blank">Comedy Central</a> ranked Hicks 19 out of the 100 top comedians <i>in the history of the world</i>. </div><div><br /></div><div>In a poll taken just two years ago, the people of Great Britain ranked Bill Hicks #6 on the list of the top 100 comedians of all time. </div><div><br /></div><div>His act was edgy, vulgar, and "so ahead of his time," <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4wZmWJIcq0" target="_blank">Rodney Dangerfield</a> once quipped, "his parents haven't even met yet." </div><div><br /></div><div>Hicks glorified drug use and incorporated most of his experiences while high on cocaine, heroin, and LSD into his routine. He mocked all things sacred, southern, and sure. </div><div><br /></div><div>One of his favorite acts, introduced in 1984 during his first appearance on <em>The Late Show, </em>revolved around a fictional character named<b> Elmer Dinkley </b>from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enid,_Oklahoma" target="_blank">Enid, Oklahoma</a> - a character Hicks continued to develop until his last public performance.<br /><br />Bill Hicks and I had in common: We both were...<br /><br />(1). Born in December of 1961.<br />(2). Raised Southern Baptist.<br />(3). Given "William" as our first name.<br />(4). Teenagers when we began speaking in churches.<br />(5). Fond of telling others about Enid, Oklahoma.<br />(6). Censored by peers in our respective fields. <br />(7). People who like to make others laugh.<br /><br />But there was one massive difference between Bill and me. Bill enjoyed mocking the sacred. He once placed in his routine this little bit:</div><div><br /><blockquote>My dad would say, "I believe that the Bible is the literal word of God." And I'd say, "No, it's not, Dad. "Well, I believe that it is." And I'd say, "Well, Dad, you know, some people believe they're Napoleon. That's fine. Beliefs are neat. Cherish them, but don't share them like they're the truth."</blockquote><br />As Bill Hicks died of pancreatic cancer, he tried to get his Southern Baptist father to inhale mushrooms.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bill Hicks died pushing artificial highs on his father. Bill's laughter ended on February 26, 1994.</div><div><br /></div><div><br />Today, my father and I laughed together over the phone. We're having fun, sharing joy, and talking about Christ and what He's doing in our lives and in the lives of others. We get excited about showing people the joy of knowing Christ and being enjoyed by Him. </div><div><br /></div><div>I share Christ with others because I know Him to be the way, the truth, and the life. <br /><br />As I reflected on the life and death of Bill Hicks this evening, I couldn't help but ask myself the question:<br /><br /><blockquote> "What makes me different from Bill Hicks, a man with whom I share much in common?"</blockquote><br />There is only one answer. <br /><br />God's grace. <br /><br />Nothing inherent in me makes me different from Bill Hicks - I'm not inherently more intelligent, I'm not inherently better, I'm not inherently more enlightened. </div><div><br /></div><div>I, too, could have found my life wasted in a haze of drug-induced imaginations and razor-sharp confident humor - but God intervened and brought me to faith in Him. <br /><br />Therefore, I can't get angry at people who love a Borat/Bruno/Hangover, an x-rated atmosphere that trivializes sin, excoriates the sacred, and embraces every poor and temporary substitute for lasting happiness that only Christ brings. </div><div><br /></div><div>I would love the same things were it not for God's grace. </div><div><br /></div><div>Christ makes me laugh, but it is the kind of laughter that springs from a heart full of gladness, not the empty laughter of irony, vulgarity, or silliness - what Paul calls "behaving unbecomingly" (I Corinthians 13).<br /><br />I have compassion for the Bill Hicks of this world. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>They cannot stop laughing long enough to ask what happens when the laughter ends.</i><br /><br />Maybe you've read this blog because you are curious about Bill Hicks, so you Googled his name for more information about Bill's life and comedy.</div><div><br /></div><div>If so, my prayer is that by God's grace, you will <em>awaken</em> to your need of God and come to faith in His love for you by sending the Messiah to obtain an authentic life of joy and purpose that lasts forever. </div><div><br /></div><div>The laughter rooted in the profane ends one day. </div><div><br /></div><div>The laughter and joy that comes from God lasts forever. <br /><br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-15606018640263333312021-12-31T12:55:00.000-06:002024-03-08T13:16:13.836-06:00"A Revolution that Began in the Hearts and Minds of the American People" - by President John Adams <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFMG3oFsSyeNnE0qJm0A4am6b4H4w8xlAmLBy1bQba_vW98w9zjaHVGnWolSbsuv-iusyBi0i-RfpvWS3EwjKgrpXeQHESMx9G0kRudWOCP5EZUeKtYh_Gut3a_YuifgL3Pp4LaXgs_54222vYlS5xxok48tsq-IG0XBxtvTqDwS8te5zU0Q=s697" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="497" data-original-width="697" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFMG3oFsSyeNnE0qJm0A4am6b4H4w8xlAmLBy1bQba_vW98w9zjaHVGnWolSbsuv-iusyBi0i-RfpvWS3EwjKgrpXeQHESMx9G0kRudWOCP5EZUeKtYh_Gut3a_YuifgL3Pp4LaXgs_54222vYlS5xxok48tsq-IG0XBxtvTqDwS8te5zU0Q=w297-h211" width="297" /></a></div><div>John Adams, an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father served as the second president of the United States, serving from 1797 to 1801. </div><div>John Adams died on July 4, 1826, the same day his good friend Thomas Jefferson also died. <br /><br />Eight years before his death, John Adams wrote a personal reflection on the American Revolution<br /><br />In his written analysis, Adams made an important observation on how the American Revolution began.<br /><br /><i>“But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American War? The Revolution was effected before the war was commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people, a change in the<b> religious sentiments</b> of their duties and obligations.”</i><br /><br />Read again the last line of the quotation. John Adams states the American Revolution began “in the minds and hearts” of the American people through “a change in their religious sentiments.”<br /><br />According to John Adams, this change began on January 30, 1750.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>The Revolution of Hearts and Minds Begins</u></h3><div><br /></div><div>On that day, Jonathan Mayhew (b. 1720 – d. 1766), the pastor of West Church (Congregational) in Boston, Massachusetts, published a sermon he preached entitled “<a href="https://lc.org/PDFs/A%20Discourse%20Concerning%20Unlimited%20Submission%20and%20Non-Resistance%20to%20the%20Higher%20Powers%20-%20Jonathan%20Mayhew%20-%201750.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse Concerning the Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to Higher Authorities</a>.”<br /><br />John Adams credits this sermon as the spark that lit the Revolutionary flame in the minds and hearts of the colonists. He said that this message was “read by everybody.”<br /><br />There were two major points that Rev. Jonathan Mayhew made in his sermon:<br /><blockquote>1. First, in the introduction, Jonathan Mayhew traces the rise of oppressive and tyrannical governments from the days of Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel (6th century BC) to the English monarchy in the mid-1700s. Mayhew then writes:<br /><br /><i>“There can be nothing great and good where tyranny’s influence reaches. For which reason it becomes every friend to truth and humankind; every lover of God and the Christian religion, to bear a part in opposing this hateful monster.”</i><br /><br />In other words, according to Rev. Mayhew, it was the moral and religious duty for every lover of good and truth to oppose tyranny within one’s government.<div><br />2. Second, in the body of his message, Mayhew argued that mankind is bound to a Higher Law than that of government’s law. The American people, Mayhew said, are required to obey their government’s law only when it is in agreement with Higher Law. Indeed, Rev. Mayhew argued, if the government violates Higher Law, “we are bound to throw off our allegiance” and “to resist.”</div></blockquote><div>But what was this Higher Law to which the American people were bound?<br /><br />Richard Maybury, in the July 1987 edition of The Free Market, published by Ludwig von Misis Institute, summarizes this Higher Law with two principles: <br /><br /><b><span> </span>1. Do all you have agreed to do, and<br /><span> </span>2. Do not encroach on other persons or their property. </b><br /><br /> These are the two common principles on which all major religions and philosophies agree. <br /><br />Thus, this Higher Law is often called “Common Law.” Every political philosophy or religion may express these two principles differently, but they have a common belief in them. <br /><br />Doing what you promise to do (Contractual Law) and not encroaching on other persons or their property (Common Law) is what brings about the Common Good.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>The AIM of All Political Actions Is the Common Good</u></h3><div><br /></div><div>All political action aims at either conservation or change. <br /><br /><i>Conservatives and liberals all desire the common good. </i>The conservative believes it is best to conserve the laws or institutions that are achieving the common good and the liberal believes in abolishing or removing the laws or institutions that are not achieving the common good. <br /><br />That is why conservatism and liberalism are relative terms. <br /><br />The American Revolutionaries were called liberals by the British Parliament. They wished to change the laws for the colonists’ common good. But today, Americans who desire to conserve the principles of our Founding Fathers are called conservatives. <br /><br />One generation’s conservative is another generation’s liberal. <br /><br />No American should fall into “party lines.” We all need a Revolution of the Higher Good in our hearts and minds. <br /><br />Common law was the law to which the American colonists were dedicated, and it was the law that the politicians and bureaucrats were breaking. The government was encroaching, so the colonists overthrew their government. They committed treason.<br /><br />This is what the American Revolution was all about – treason. And this treason was regarded as moral, ethical, and right in every way. <br /><br />The great legal scholar Sir William Blackstone once wrote: <br /><br />“This law of nature, being coeval with mankind and dictated by God himself, is of course superior in obligation to any other…no human laws are of any validity if contrary to this.”<br /><br />The Americans were not fighting the British during the American Revolution. The Americans were British. But the British colonists (the Americans) had an awakening of the heart and mind to Higher Law, the basis of all human rights. <br /><br />The pamphlets the colonists passed out were often subtitled “The Rights of Englishmen!” The colonists were enforcing this Higher Law. No king, no parliament, no governing body, is greater than the individual.<br /><br /><i>“All men are created equal,”</i> wrote Thomas Jefferson.<br /><br />Thus, the eternal and immutable Higher Law states that all governing authority has special rights or privileges and no governing authority may encroach on the property or persons of others.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><u>The Reasons for the American Revolution </u> </h3><div><br /></div><div>In 18th century England, there existed unlimited government control and the taxation of everything and everybody. There were no free markets and no free enterprise. Unless a person had government ties, no person could “get ahead” in life. <br /><br />Richard Maybury gives us the history of the Pine Tree Flag flown by American warships during the Revolution. He asks, “Why would the colonists put a pine tree on their battle flag?” Then he answers: <br /><br />“The (British) government had enacted a regulation saying no colonist could cut down tall, straight trees; these trees were to be reserved for masts on Navy ships. This meant the best, most valuable trees on a person’s land had, in effect, been confiscated by the government.<br /><br />When a government tree inspector would come through the forest to select and mark the best trees, colonists would follow him. These inspectors were highly trained experts, good at identifying the best trees for Navy ships – the Navy ships that were constantly pursuing smuggling ships.<br /><br />When the government’s lumberjacks then came through the forest to collect the marked trees, they would find the trees had already been cut and sold – for use on the smuggling ships.<br /><br />One of these ships was THE LIBERTY, owned by John Hancock. Hancock was a successful wine merchant known throughout the colonies as “The Prince of Smugglers.” His reputation eventually earned him the honor of being the first to sign the Declaration of Independence.<br /><br />Unfortunately, as the story of the Pine Tree illustrates, America did not remain beyond the reach of government. As the colonists’ wealth increased, politicians began making more and more efforts to steal – “tax” – this wealth. More and more bureaucrats and troops were sent to the colonies to enforce laws and shut down down the underground economy.<br /><br />The colonists’ reaction was dramatic. The infamous Stamp Tax, for instance, was greeted by armed rebellion; tax collectors were tarred and feathered, a procedure that usually resulted in death. When John Hancock was arrested, the people rioted and the government’s agents barely escaped with their lives.” (Richard Maybury, The Free Market, July 1987, published by Ludwig von Misis Institute). <br /><br />May God enable a religious reformation in the hearts and minds of the American people. The Higher Good is found in the Common Law, principles coeval with man. It is the duty of all good and religious men and women to resist the laws of government that encroach on persons or their property and give rise to tyranny.<br /><br />Wade Burleson<br /><br />P.S - I continue to work toward the opening of a new website on 02.02.2022. Thank you for your patience. </div></div>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-11177874172905166502021-12-31T10:04:00.000-06:002024-01-23T05:59:17.940-06:00Graced People Reap What They Have Not Sown; Lost People Reap What They Have Sown<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAx7VA1tpsv9PLgl2lYlSKjC7kVdbqnSVmGUwmfUSIdUWgqmebuw5Q4nDKUDmLLbD2nOClAMPyw_PFeEVAgDksPcjDW_D5ju9hvx2VtnG4CJ97nQNyh8nYjHtMpNyMalVpWUA/s1600-h/Reaping.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAx7VA1tpsv9PLgl2lYlSKjC7kVdbqnSVmGUwmfUSIdUWgqmebuw5Q4nDKUDmLLbD2nOClAMPyw_PFeEVAgDksPcjDW_D5ju9hvx2VtnG4CJ97nQNyh8nYjHtMpNyMalVpWUA/s320/Reaping.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437042080265117794" /></a> One of the weapons used by legalists to keep people in line is the threat of standing before "the judgment seat of Christ." It is said by them that God will reveal the hidden agendas of the heart, every secret sin, and each action that transgressed the line of God's eternal law. For this reason, the legalist says, you should keep your walk holy, obey God completely, and ensure all your actions are righteous. <br /><br />The only problem with this premise is that it contradicts the written word of God regarding the judgment of <i>believers</i> in Christ. The legalist is right, however, about the judgment for those apart from Christ. Every sinner apart from God's grace through Jesus Christ will give an account of his deeds and will be rewarded according to God's pure justice. The punishment of God's righteous wrath in hell will not be as severe for some sinners as it is for others (see Jesus' words in Matthew 10:15). The experience of righteous punishment will vary in intensity according to the depth and number of unrighteous actions of those who die without Christ. God will not be mocked. Whatever a sinner sows in life on earth, that will he reap at judgment (Galatians 6:7). In other words, Hitler will experience the wrath of God in a measure greater than a girl who dies in her teens without Christ. The sinner reaps what he sows. The Righteous Judge never errs in the meting out of His sentences for sin. Part of the wiping away of every tear in heaven very well may be the people of God saying, "Yes, Father, you are righteous in your judgments towards those of my family who have rejected Christ." There will be no complaints when all is revealed before the throne of God. For this reason, the person without faith in Christ would do well to live the most moral life possible--for he will one day reap what he has sown. <br /><br />But those of us who have faith in Christ will never appear at this judgment seat. The book of life which contains our names forever decrees the sealing of the books that contains the sins of our lives (Revelation 20:11-13). The Scapegoat has removed our sins into the desert of forgetfulness (Lev. 16:22). We never answer for sin because as the brilliant Baptist theologian John Gill stated, <i>"God sees no sin in His people." </i> That does not mean God is not <i>aware</i> of our sin; it means that God has dealt judicially with our sin at the cross of Christ, and all the righteous wrath due our sins (hell) has been born by Christ. And it is our faith in God's grace in the person and work of Christ that is credited to us for righteousness (Romans 4:24-25).<br /><br />But then the question comes, on what basis are we rewarded in heaven? Answer: <i>We reap what we have not sown!</i><br /><br /><i>Now if we are children, then we are heirs--<b>heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ</b>, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that <b> we may also share in his glory.</b> </i> (Romans 8:17).<br /><br />To be a co-heir with Christ means that we receive from God the inheritance Christ has earned by His obedience during His life, death and resurrection. The perfect righteousness of our Lord and Savior Jeus Christ in the complete and perfect obedience to God's law has obtained for us the unsearchable riches of God's great grace (Ephesians 3:8). Heaven is the eternal unfolding and enjoyment of these riches fpr all the ages to come (Ephesians 2:7). In short: <i>We reap what we have not sown.</i><br /><br />One of the tell-tale signs of the legalist is the inability to totally rest in the knowledge that the riches of God's favor are earned by Christ's obedience, not ours. It is impossible to be a <b>co-heir</b> with Christ if the rewards of God's people are dependent on our performance. We are rewarded for eternity by God's grace through the person and work of Christ. The knowledge of this will keep those of us with faith in Christ always ready to admit our faults, confess our mistakes, and be transparent to people around us. Why? Because our eternal reputations, our eternal rewards, our eternal reign is not dependent on our performance on earth--it is dependent on Christ's vicarious performance on our behalf. <br /><br />But hell is just the opposite of heaven. In hell, you reap what you sow. In heaven, you reap what you have not sown. Why is it that we Christians preach, teach and relate to one another as if we are citizens of hell? Our citizenship is in heaven; and for this reason we ought to be very honest and transparent about our sins here. Our eternal inheritance and reward is dependent on His grace through Christ, not our peformance through works. We live powerful lives, led by the Spirit, when we no longer question His favor on our lives in terms of our merit or works by obedience to any law, but by faith in Christ who brings us a righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees. <br /><br />In His Grace,<br /><br />WadeUnknownnoreply@blogger.com53tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-46766371338117680752021-12-01T09:00:00.030-06:002024-03-08T13:16:16.814-06:00Wade Burleson Is Now at Istoria Ministries<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivy8bK_drhEwVp4m2IDijdfZO7LnRz8TAA3iLPCqerz0CCRDXfGBYjSu8NUpQHuQzj1Wro0yMd8GCzxo9idBEMkL2odxRjqoglICkQgxVJhONpzSaHoumJH64Gfx-Gt_xbrbyF/s1422/Istoria+Building.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="1422" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivy8bK_drhEwVp4m2IDijdfZO7LnRz8TAA3iLPCqerz0CCRDXfGBYjSu8NUpQHuQzj1Wro0yMd8GCzxo9idBEMkL2odxRjqoglICkQgxVJhONpzSaHoumJH64Gfx-Gt_xbrbyF/s320/Istoria+Building.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I have been blessed to serve as the Lead Pastor of <a href="https://www.emmanuelenid.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Emmanuel Enid</a> for the past 30 years. <p></p><p>On February 2, 2022, I will begin working full-time through <a href="https://istoriaministries.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Istoria Ministries</a>, a 501(c)3 non-profit ministry organization that Rachelle and I founded ten years ago. </p><p>Rachelle thought it a good idea to write this post to let everyone know our plans for the last quarter of our ministry.</p><p>Through <a href="https://istoriaministries.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Istoria</a>, I will be writing, speaking, podcasting, leading tours, conducting pastor and marriage retreats, and other special ministries. I hope to inspire people to follow Jesus and be <i>"salt and light" i</i>n our wounded and dark world. My focus during this time will be more prophetic than pastoral. </p><p>Istoria is a Greek word that means <i>"to ask or inquire."</i> We get our English words <i>story </i>and <i>history</i> from its root. <i>The source of all knowledge is asking questions. </i> The moment people are prevented from asking their questions or telling their stories, liberty is lost. </p><p>Istoria's <i>purpose </i>is for people to know the story of Jesus Christ so that His Story becomes central to everyone's story.</p><p>At Istoria's new website beginning on 2.2.22, there will be three essential features: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The archives of my writing ministry (thousands of blog articles on hundreds of subjects). </li><li>The audio archives of my teaching (40 years of sermon series).</li><li> New weekly content, both written blogs, and audible podcasts.</li></ul><div>I already have received several requests to speak at churches across the country, and I anticipate quite a bit travel on weekends. We'll keep you posted about any speaking engagements at churches in your area.</div><div><br /></div><div>A major special project we will be working on during the next five years will be a community center and athletic facility for Pacific Island young people. Working with Yohanes Arwakon and other non-profits in the area, we hope to develop personal skills and create hope in this large ethnic minority group, sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ as we help these young people integrate into American culture while having a Christian worldview.</div><div><br /></div><div>Rachelle will be the Director of Special Projects and help us get new books in the pipeline and coordinate travel and tours. Thanks to Lissa Roberson, Alice Isaac, Mary Burleson, and my wife Rachelle, three new books, Lord willing, will be available from Istoria Ministries in 2022.</div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Love Never Fails </i>(A Study of I Corinthians 13)</li><li><i>The 12 Days of Christmas </i>(An Illustrated Family Coffee Table Book)</li><li><i>The Good News According to Jonah </i>(A Study of the Book of Jonah).</li></ul>This post will be my last until the new Istoria website is launched on February 2, 2022. <p></p><p>With the help of many friends who have volunteered their time, skills, and time, we will be opening Istoria's office building (<b>801 S. Van Buren, Enid, Oklahoma 73703</b>) in January 2022. That will give me 30 days to get the podcast studio and my office ready to go for 2.2.22.</p><p>I have refrained from raising funds for Istoria Ministries while leading Emmanuel Enid. The time has come for me to request your help. Rachelle and I own the building that houses Istoria, but the amount of equipment needed to do an online ministry is incredible (servers, cameras, computers, etc.). Thank you in advance for all your assistance. We plan to upload a Bible study every week, and as always, we will address cultural, social, and moral issues. </p><p>My message of grace through Istoria Ministries is one I desire to be accessible to everyone. To operate Istoria's website, produce a weekly podcast, write my blog regularly, and have a home base from which we can minister, Istoria requires funding. </p><p>A friend of Istoria Ministries has promised to match whatever contributions Istoria Ministries receives in December 2021, dollar for dollar. If you would like to contribute a tax-deductible donation to Istoria Ministries before the end of the year, go to <a href="https://istoriaministries.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.istoriaministries.com </a>and donate either via secure credit card or PayPal. Or, if you desire, you may send a check to:</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Istoria Ministries</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>801 S. Van Buren</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Enid, Oklahoma 73703</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you have a stock gift that you would like to give, Istoria Ministries has a brokerage account to receive your tax-deductible stock gift through <b>Stride Bank</b> or <b>Edward Jones,</b> whichever you'd prefer.<b> </b> Details are located at<a href="https://istoriaministries.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> www.istoriaministries.com</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thank you for being a friend to Rachelle and me. Thank you for considering being a partner with Istoria. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Until 2.2.22, may God's grace and mercy superabound to you and your family.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCXYbRbBr4tH4ban1Z_U8GNKfph1RCoBfHyf3VXocEGI1SYkDFMKyOcYSrN1gSjEDgrljrZO0mauz4h9SbZkjaZ0iQcxiOWyfmcitVyNCwr7vmJmR1z1RWhKzJkE7EwoMsVAh/s1404/Wade+and+Rachelle+Burleson.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1025" data-original-width="1404" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCXYbRbBr4tH4ban1Z_U8GNKfph1RCoBfHyf3VXocEGI1SYkDFMKyOcYSrN1gSjEDgrljrZO0mauz4h9SbZkjaZ0iQcxiOWyfmcitVyNCwr7vmJmR1z1RWhKzJkE7EwoMsVAh/s320/Wade+and+Rachelle+Burleson.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.istoriaministries.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.istoriaministries.com</a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Wade Burleson, President</div><div style="text-align: left;">Rachelle Burleson, Special Projects</div><p></p>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com71tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-20807707150774067162021-11-27T09:49:00.006-06:002024-03-08T13:16:14.257-06:002021 World's Tallest Live Christmas Tree, Enid, OK<p></p><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJw4xZGl1YxurK7aUa_BIqOyM50twN_FBoQlvwHHN7FRoIu5ByI0CIq5eL8S4JnqChyw75NBVo1yAyrgb1zutOYb8058Y9jKxgEr_Tn5BTBMuaL573g_E9p7eWA1z4T61zgq7/w640-h427/The+ONE.jpg" width="640" /></div><br />Between 30,00 and 40,000 people gathered in the downtown square of Enid, Oklahoma, last night, Friday, November 26, for the lighting ceremonies of the world's tallest living Christmas Tree. The CHRIST TREE, as it is called, is 144-feet tall. This year's Rockefeller Center's Tree is 77-feet tall. Come to Enid from now until January 6, 2021, to enjoy the downtown festivities. We'll be hosting four Christmas Eve services at the Christ Tree on Friday, December 24, 2021, at 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, and 8:00 pm. <br /><p><br /></p>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-91736157851899983312021-11-25T09:01:00.008-06:002024-03-08T13:16:22.317-06:00Be My Thou Thanksgiving Vision: A Prayer for All<h2 style="text-align: center;"><b>BE THOU MY THANKSGIVING VISION</b></h2><div style="text-align: center;">The Bible says, “In everything give thanks,”</div><div style="text-align: center;">but this seems difficult if we are frank.</div><div style="text-align: center;">In our lives, there is so much tension,</div><div style="text-align: center;">for it to happen, “Lord, Be Thou My Vision.”</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Luther cried “this world with devils filled,”</div><div style="text-align: center;">a truth that seems to take away our will</div><div style="text-align: center;">of accepting this “giving thanks” mission.</div><div style="text-align: center;">So we ask, “Lord, Be Thou My Vision.”</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">When darkness hides Your smiling face.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Pressing on requires "Amazing Grace."</div><div style="text-align: center;">We cannot see good with any precision,</div><div style="text-align: center;">So we pray, “Lord, Be Thou My Vision.”</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Your power and love to us please show,</div><div style="text-align: center;">and grant that we'll be able to know,</div><div style="text-align: center;">if we make this “giving thanks” decision</div><div style="text-align: center;">we'll experience “Lord, Be Thou My Vision.”</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So we choose to give You thanks today,</div><div style="text-align: center;">and join with family and friends to say,</div><div style="text-align: center;">“We all trust Your grace and provision.</div><div style="text-align: center;">You, O LORD, are our Thanksgiving vision.”</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">- Wade Burleson</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-MFXm4_f8urGNj8wzlwigUezL6WPSKD9bEdMRPbFtBluaL3EUu_ebKfjARxny0RirL3yaA_A0-hXgniZ3mlCDjfnftBaYE2Z6fyoGrwiINfu-c7e2vrHm57E8wTNTt3m065ys/s2048/Thanksgiving+Prayer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-MFXm4_f8urGNj8wzlwigUezL6WPSKD9bEdMRPbFtBluaL3EUu_ebKfjARxny0RirL3yaA_A0-hXgniZ3mlCDjfnftBaYE2Z6fyoGrwiINfu-c7e2vrHm57E8wTNTt3m065ys/w640-h426/Thanksgiving+Prayer.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-49555530109902769272021-11-23T13:01:00.008-06:002023-11-26T13:20:31.951-06:00Chasa Boudin and San Francisco's Crime Wave<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBiKb0ScSdOc4apxLL4cIvFmJirI-RJvqWEtVmIF6TJ6CLJONeHTWTG-3SWHdoHJUAjY7mnXA_g3kE9w0d1Luu6HMuoRCqcpJ0bkqsEJH9TdCRmhjDSYe2k-YfK0Y8yTdQdrYK/s1920/Wild+Smash+and+Grab.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBiKb0ScSdOc4apxLL4cIvFmJirI-RJvqWEtVmIF6TJ6CLJONeHTWTG-3SWHdoHJUAjY7mnXA_g3kE9w0d1Luu6HMuoRCqcpJ0bkqsEJH9TdCRmhjDSYe2k-YfK0Y8yTdQdrYK/s320/Wild+Smash+and+Grab.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>If you haven't seen the brazen crime wave video from November 22, 2021, of the extraordinary "smash and grab" heist at a high-end mall in San Francisco, <a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-francisco/san-francisco-district-attorney-to-announce-charges-in-union-square-retail-thefts/2739504/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">you need to watch</a>. <p></p><p>It's sickening. </p><p>When over 100 people coordinate with one another to rob a mall store in broad daylight, Americans who love their country must ask the question "How?" or "Why?" </p><p>The answer is the same.</p>A Marxist named Chasa Boudin is the Chief Law Enforcement Officer for San Franciso. Wikipedia does a great job cataloging the radicalism of San Francisco's District Attorney Chasa Boudin. <br /><br />Boudin was born in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City">New York City</a> to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews">Jewish</a> parents. His parents, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Boudin">Kathy Boudin</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gilbert_(activist)">David Gilbert</a>, were <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_Underground">Weather Underground</a> members. When Boudin was 14 months old, both were arrested and convicted of murder for their role as getaway car drivers in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brink%27s_robbery_(1981)">Brink's robbery of 1981</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockland_County,_New_York">Rockland County, New York</a>. His mother was sentenced to 20 years to life and his father to 75 years to life for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony_murder_rule">felony murders</a> of two police officers and a security guard.<br /><br />After his parents were incarcerated, Boudin was raised in Chicago by adoptive parents <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Ayers">Bill Ayers</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernardine_Dohrn">Bernardine Dohrn</a>, who, like his parents, had been members of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_Underground">Weather Underground</a>. Boudin reports that he did not learn to read until age 9. Kathy Boudin was released under parole supervision in 2003.<br /><br /><b>Boudin descends from a long <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-wing_politics">left-wing</a> lineage.</b> His great-grand-uncle, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_B._Boudin">Louis B. Boudin</a>, was a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theoretician_(Marxism)">Marxist theoretician</a> and author of a two-volume history of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States">Supreme Court</a>'s influence on American government, and his grandfather <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Boudin">Leonard Boudin</a> was an attorney who represented controversial clients such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro">Fidel Castro</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Robeson">Paul Robeson</a>. His uncle <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Boudin">Michael Boudin</a> is a judge on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_Appeals_for_the_First_Circuit">United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit</a>, and Michael Boudin's uncle <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._F._Stone">Isidor Feinstein Stone</a> was an independent journalist.<br /><br />Boudin entered <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Antony%27s_College,_Oxford">St Antony's College, Oxford</a>, on a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodes_Scholarship">Rhodes Scholarship</a> in 2003. At Oxford, he earned two master's degrees, one in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_displacement">forced migration</a> and the other in public policy in Latin America. He earned his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juris_Doctor">Juris Doctor</a> from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_Law_School">Yale Law School</a> in 2011 and began work for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Public_Defender%27s_Office">San Francisco Public </a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Public_Defender%27s_Office">Defender's Office</a> as a post-doctoral fellow in 2012.<br /><br />Before law school, Boudin traveled to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuela">Venezuela</a> and served as a translator in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miraflores_Palace">Venezuelan Presidential Palace</a> during the administration of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Chavez">Hugo Chavez</a>.<br /><br />After law school, from 2011 to 2012, Boudin served as a law clerk to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Margaret_McKeown">M. Margaret McKeown</a> on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_Appeals_for_the_Ninth_Circuit">United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit</a>. He was a 2012–2013 Liman Fellow at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Public_Defender%27s_Office">San Francisco Public Defender's Office</a>, and in 2013 and 2014, he served as a clerk to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Breyer">Charles Breyer</a> on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_District_Court_for_the_Northern_District_of_California">United States District Court for the Northern District of California</a>. In 2015, Boudin began working full-time at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office as a deputy public defender. While there, he argued on behalf of the office's clients that California's bail system is unconstitutional, leading to the published case <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_re_Kenneth_Humphrey">In re Kenneth Humphrey</a>, in which the state's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Courts_of_Appeal#First_District">First District Court of Appeals</a> held that judges must give consideration to a defendant's ability to pay before setting bail.<br /><br />Boudin also serves on the board of the Civil Rights Corps, a national non-profit organization, and is on the board of Restore Justice, a non-profit based in California.<br /><br />Boudin translated <i>Understanding the Bolivarian Revolution:</i> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Ch%C3%A1vez">Hugo Chávez</a> He works with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marta_Harnecker">Marta Harnecker</a>, translating into English, <i>Letters from Young Activists: Today's Young Rebels Speak Ou</i>t, Boudin co-wrote T<i>he Venezuelan Revolution: 100 Questions – 100 Answers.</i> His latest book, <i>Gringo: A Coming of Age in Latin America</i>, was released in April 2009 by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Scribner%27s_Sons">Charles Scribner's Sons</a>.<div><br /></div><div>The District Attorney in San Francisco is a communist. The American voters put him in office. It is time for Americans to stand up to tyranny, Critical Race Theory, and any political theory contrary to American values.</div><div><br /></div><div>The communists are taking over the United States of America. </div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>It's time real Americans said, "Enough!"</b></div>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-58528900522132123132021-11-22T08:02:00.002-06:002024-03-08T13:16:18.063-06:00Let's Be Thankful that "This Is My Father's World"<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6jDmUkOf0xGJIfZEw7V0JucP4_O3UgVG003bguGokJ95wP27EEsQ_1u8ImczWUqKErjDB4OhJ8hlMY136Hr7KKEbcyt9f38Yu7IFZL8JqGLjtdekp9uyer2Rn4yvNzI4cJQX8/s600/Niagra+Escarpment.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6jDmUkOf0xGJIfZEw7V0JucP4_O3UgVG003bguGokJ95wP27EEsQ_1u8ImczWUqKErjDB4OhJ8hlMY136Hr7KKEbcyt9f38Yu7IFZL8JqGLjtdekp9uyer2Rn4yvNzI4cJQX8/s320/Niagra+Escarpment.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Niagara Escarpment</td></tr></tbody></table>American Presbyterian pastor Maltbie Babcock (1858–1901) loved the outdoors. He had been a champion baseball pitcher and accomplished swimmer at Syracuse University before entering the ministry. Pastoring the Presbyterian Church in Lockport, New York, Maltbie took walks to the top of the Niagara Escarpment almost every morning. The scenic views of Lake Ontario were incredible. Each time he left the house, he would tell his wife “I am going out to see my Father’s world." <br /><br />On one of these walks, Maltbie was moved to write down poetic words about "my Father's world" and what the “rocks and trees, skies and seas" could teach of God's glory.<div><br />But here is the rest of the story...</div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKC5DYnyJQbTDmcHxkrNVWOiUfo4h_Q6Iod_E3IZVvzh5lrxcjeFIftJKjnaNGEf7iWNuFqJo1ju67FEaQPO-0FoadIIn-7FydBnyMbo_Nw27roRvPFR_gq6LBQjU92k_Gc8N4/s1213/Portrait_of_Maltbie_Davenport_Babcock.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1213" data-original-width="1073" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKC5DYnyJQbTDmcHxkrNVWOiUfo4h_Q6Iod_E3IZVvzh5lrxcjeFIftJKjnaNGEf7iWNuFqJo1ju67FEaQPO-0FoadIIn-7FydBnyMbo_Nw27roRvPFR_gq6LBQjU92k_Gc8N4/s320/Portrait_of_Maltbie_Davenport_Babcock.jpg" width="283" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maltbie Babcock </td></tr></tbody></table><br />The poetic lyrics of "This Is My Father's World" are the only published poetry of Maltbie Babcock. He died by suicide at age 41 in Naples, Italy, on a return trip from his visit to the Holy Land. Maltie had come down with Brucellosis, a virulent disease, acquired from infected milk or meat. The disease can cause a person to enter maniacal fever accompanied by extreme depression. It is believed this disease led to Maltbie's suicide.</div><div><br />Babcock’s wife had his poetry published soon after. Then in 1915 a close friend of his, Franklin L. Sheppard, adapted to Babcock’s words a traditional English melody that he remembered from his childhood, and a remarkable hymn was born.</div><div><br />After almost two years of death by disease in America as well as polarizing political debates that sometimes strain familial relationships, let's pause this Thanksgiving 2021 and remember the glorious truth that "This Is My Father's World."</div><div> <br /><div style="text-align: center;">This is my Father's world</div><div style="text-align: center;">And to my listening ears</div><div style="text-align: center;">All nature sings, and round me rings</div><div style="text-align: center;">The music of the spheres.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is my Father's world</div><div style="text-align: center;">The birds their carols raise</div><div style="text-align: center;">The morning light, the lily white</div><div style="text-align: center;">Declare their maker's praise.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is my Father's world</div><div style="text-align: center;">I rest me in the thought</div><div style="text-align: center;">Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas</div><div style="text-align: center;">His hand the wonders wrought.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is my Father's world</div><div style="text-align: center;">Oh, let me never forget</div><div style="text-align: center;">That though the wrong seems oft so strong</div><div style="text-align: center;">God is the ruler yet.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is my Father's world</div><div style="text-align: center;">Why should my heart be sad?</div><div style="text-align: center;">The Lord is King, let the heavens ring</div><div style="text-align: center;">God reigns, let the earth be glad.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">This is my Father's world</div><div style="text-align: center;">He shines in all that's fair</div><div style="text-align: center;">In the rustling grass, I hear Him pass</div><div style="text-align: center;">He speaks to me everywhere.</div></div>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-12771588262227325362021-11-15T07:29:00.005-06:002024-03-08T13:16:13.750-06:00Addictions and the Goal to Control God's Thoughts<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKm3jP88EEQ_XPLU52Gm7yy8RZJkAYy9Q5oNPA71eB6TIjMqazDt4D4ge8a2GB_39dsM7FXgsXsAwxEt9P3VWPhiyQTk314eJaSVNaZ44ech1GHS3uGbh_D7ph29hLdKZB5C13/s1200/Addictive+Behaviors.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKm3jP88EEQ_XPLU52Gm7yy8RZJkAYy9Q5oNPA71eB6TIjMqazDt4D4ge8a2GB_39dsM7FXgsXsAwxEt9P3VWPhiyQTk314eJaSVNaZ44ech1GHS3uGbh_D7ph29hLdKZB5C13/s320/Addictive+Behaviors.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>Relationships can be complicated. We often don't analyze why we do what we do, think what we think, or feel what we feel. </div><div><br /></div><div>We're too focused on controlling what others are thinking or feeling to realize the desire to control <b>what others think or feel </b>masks internal insecurity within us. </div><div><br /></div>For example, when we say, "<i><b>I don't want you to think that (fill in the blank)...</b></i><b>" </b>or <i><b>"I don't want you to feel that (fill in the blank)..." </b></i>then we have a misplaced relational goal.<p></p><p>The goal to control what other people think or feel is a tell-tale sign of an addictive personality. That misplaced goal to control <i><b>is actually driven by our need to feel good </b></i>about what others are thinking or feeling <b style="font-style: italic;">about us. </b>Secure people let people<i> freely </i>think and feel.</p><span>A desire to </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">c</span>ontrol is as addictive as narcotics. The only difference is that a control addict can keep up appearances. But any misplaced relational goal can lead to outward addictive behavior when the goal to control collapses and comes crashing down. When others outright reject you, no matter your efforts to control what they think or feel about you, your goal to control has failed. Masking the feeling of failure is the basis for addictive behaviors. <div><br /></div><div>So, let's talk about our relational goal in terms of the most important Person in our lives. What is your relational goal in terms of God? What is your purpose in terms of God?</div><div><br />Most Christians would respond by saying:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"> "My purpose is to be<i> pleasing</i> to God." (e.g. "I just want Him to feel good about me.")</blockquote>Then, when it comes to "how" one is pleasing to God, the answer is usually: "By doing what He commands." I propose to you that any attempt to please God by your obedience to His standards is<i> a <b>wrong</b> goal that can lead to addictive behaviors. </i>You will fail.<i> </i>To seek to <i>become</i> pleasing to God by your actions is a misplaced purpose or goal. </div><div><div><br /></div><div><b style="font-style: italic;">You already are pleasing to God through the Person and actions of Jesus Christ. </b>Jesus is the end of your goal to be obedient to the Law to obtain God's pleasure, for it is written:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="text-align: center;">"For Christ is <b>the end of the Law for righteousness </b>to everyone who believes" (</span><a href="https://biblehub.com/romans/10-4.htm" style="text-align: center;">Romans 10:4</a><span style="text-align: center;">). </span></blockquote>"But wait," you may say, "I read the Bible for myself and it says that God's acceptance, blessings, and favor are on those who obey His Law!" <br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"<b><i>If you obey the Lord your God</i></b>: Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your livestock, both the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out…. The Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you. The Lord will open for you his rich storehouse, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all your undertakings." (<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/nrsv/Deut.%2028.2-7">Deuteronomy 28:2-7</a>; <a href="https://biblia.com/bible/nrsv/Deut%2028.11%E2%80%9312">11–12</a>)</blockquote>"And listen to these three paragraphs from the Law":<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"<b><i>However, if you do not obey the Lord your God</i></b> and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you: You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. The Lord will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. The Lord will turn the rain of your countryinto dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. Your carcasses will be food for all the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away. The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. At midday you will grope about like a blind person in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you." (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+28%3A15-29&version=NIV">Detueronomy 28:15-29</a>). </blockquote>"Wade Burleson, how can you read those two passages above and ever suggest to anyone that attempting to please God by a goal of obedience to Law is a misplaced goal or a meaningless purpose in life?"<br /><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>Christ Is the End of the Law</b></h4><blockquote class="tr_bq">"For Christ is <b>the end of the Law for righteousness </b>to every<span style="text-align: center;">one who believes" (</span><a href="https://biblehub.com/romans/10-4.htm" style="text-align: center;">Romans 10:4</a><span style="text-align: center;">). </span></blockquote><br />The word translated "end" is the Greek word <b>τέλος </b>which was used by ancient Greek writers to mean goal or purpose. Most of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ante-Nicene_period">anti-Nicene Christian fathers</a> (pre-3rd century AD) translated τέλος as "goal" or "purpose." <div><br /></div><div>What does it mean that <i>"Christ is the goal or purpose of the Law"? </i></div><div><br /></div><div>Simply put:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>"Jesus Christ is God's consummate goal and purpose for which God gave the Law."</b></blockquote></div><div><i>The Law's purpose was not given for you to obey and to become "pleasing to God."</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Nope.<br /><br /> In fact, when God introduced the Law, all that did was make you a worse sinner by revealing even more of your sin.</div><blockquote class="tr_bq">"I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the Law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the Law had not said, 'You shall not covet'" (<a href="https://biblehub.com/romans/7-7.htm">Romans 7:7</a>). </blockquote><div>Any church, religious organization, or lifestyle that emphasizes obedience to Law to be pleasing to God has missed the Gospel. Christ is the purpose of the Law to everyone who believes.</div><blockquote>If you go to a church that measures your love for God, they've missed the mark. Find a church that teaches God's love for you through the Person and work of Christ Jesus. </blockquote><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>The Law is about Jesus the Anointed One.</b></h4><div><br /></div><div>Whether it's <a href="https://www.wadeburleson.org/2013/02/see-jesus-in-feast-of-jews-this-easter.html">His life which is a fulfillment of the Festival Law</a>, or<a href="https://www.wadeburleson.org/2018/02/jesus-or-jezebel-and-just-sentence-of.html"> His death which is the purpose of the sacrificial Law,</a> or <a href="https://www.wadeburleson.org/2019/03/mankinds-manipulation-of-time-and.html">His resurrection which is a fulfillment of the prophetical Law</a>, the entire Law was given to point us to Jesus Christ. </div><blockquote class="tr_bq">"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster <b>to bring us unto Christ</b>, that we might be justified <i>by faith.</i>" (<a href="http://wherefore%20the%20law%20was%20our%20schoolmaster%20to%20bring%20us%20unto%20christ%2C%20that%20we%20might%20be%20justified%20by%20faith./">Galatians 3:24</a>).</blockquote><div>So if you wish to ever be free from addictions in this life, then get an understanding that you are pleasing to God by the performance and Person of Jesus the Anointed One (Messiah) <i>on your behalf. </i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Theologians call this <a href="https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/faith-and-the-imputation-of-righteousness">imputed righteousness</a>.</i><br /><br />I call it living life <i>feeling</i> the pleasure of God independent of my performance.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead." (<a href="http://but%20whatever%20were%20gains%20to%20me%20i%20now%20consider%20loss%20for%20the%20sake%20of%20christ.%208%20what%20is%20more%2C%20i%20consider%20everything%20a%20loss%20because%20of%20the%20surpassing%20worth%20of%20knowing%20christ%20jesus%20my%20lord%2C%20for%20whose%20sake%20i%20have%20lost%20all%20things.%20i%20consider%20them%20garbage%2C%20that%20i%20may%20gain%20christ%209%20and%20be%20found%20in%20him%2C%20not%20having%20a%20righteousness%20of%20my%20own%20that%20comes%20from%20the%20law%2C%20but%20that%20which%20is%20through%20faith%20in[a]%20christ%E2%80%94the%20righteousness%20that%20comes%20from%20god%20on%20the%20basis%20of%20faith.%2010%20i%20want%20to%20know%20christ%E2%80%94yes%2C%20to%20know%20the%20power%20of%20his%20resurrection%20and%20participation%20in%20his%20sufferings%2C%20becoming%20like%20him%20in%20his%20death%2C%2011%20and%20so%2C%20somehow%2C%20attaining%20to%20the%20resurrection%20from%20the%20dead./">Philippians 3:7-11</a>). </blockquote></div></div></div>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-64991151761742911892021-11-11T08:45:00.002-06:002023-11-26T13:20:49.519-06:00The Potential Discovery of Lt. Col. Leon "Bob" Vance's Crashed Army Air Corp Air Ambulance<p><a href="https://homeofheroes.com/heroes-stories/world-war-ii/leon-bob-vance/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4p5S7LuD1ibW_YegmdJoshp74bzRzN8aT9sJl7jjclE3jlJZE5y8KXwDi2hNdkDN3ikuzoyxJT-SPA33FYDiuhjPTRON53wOHnT7jrm8bwfc61Ot60vz3xTxsdVIKyTPyWTQ0/s950/Bob+Vance+Photo+Medal+of+Honor.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4p5S7LuD1ibW_YegmdJoshp74bzRzN8aT9sJl7jjclE3jlJZE5y8KXwDi2hNdkDN3ikuzoyxJT-SPA33FYDiuhjPTRON53wOHnT7jrm8bwfc61Ot60vz3xTxsdVIKyTPyWTQ0/s320/Bob+Vance+Photo+Medal+of+Honor.jpg" width="269" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lt. Col. Bob Vance, Army Air Corp</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>On July 26, 1944, a <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/23/2001330103/-1/-1/0/AFD-100923-014.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">C54 Air Ambulance</a>, tail #107470, disappeared enroute to the United States from England. Twenty-six people on board perished. </p><p>Eighteen of the missing were wounded veterans, flying home on stretchers. They were soldiers who had served the United States in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_theatre_of_World_War_II" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">European War Theater</a>. Flying with these injured veterans were a flight nurse, an Army Medic, and an Army Air Corp flight crew of six.</p><p>Somewhere between Iceland and Greenland, the C54 Air Ambulance crashed. Though search teams sought to recover the plane and bodies, the wreckage was never found, nor were the twenty-six bodies recovered. </p><p>As we celebrate <a href="https://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Veteran's Day, November 11, 2021</a>, I can't think of a better way to honor our veterans than to tell the recent story (2021) of the potential discovery of that C54 Air Ambulance and the remains of its occupants. </p><p>One of the 26 onboard that Air Ambulance was <a href="https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/leon-r-vance-jr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lt. Col. Leon Robert "Bob" Vance</a> from Enid, Oklahoma. <a href="https://www.vance.af.mil/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vance Air Force Base</a> in Enid is named in his honor. The United States government would posthumously award Lt. Col. Vance the <a href="https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/leon-r-vance-jr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Medal of Honor</a> for his heroic actions during the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Normandy-Invasion" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Normandy Invasion</a>, actions that led to the wounds which had placed him on that Air Ambulance to fly home to Enid, Oklahoma, after seven weeks in a veteran's hospital in London. </p><p>The heroic story of how Lt. Col. Bob Vance earned the Medal of Honor is compelling. It is told via a holographic display in the exit lobby of the beautiful <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial</a> in Normandy, France. I have been there many times and will summarize:</p><blockquote><p>"On June 5, 1944, Army Air Corp commander Lt. Col. Vance commanded a bombardment group on a mission from southern England to Normandy, France, to soften the German beach defenses in preparation for the June 6, 1944, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Normandy-Invasion" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Normandy Invasion</a>, codenamed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Overlord" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Operation Overlord.</a> </p></blockquote><blockquote>Lt. Col. Bob Vance flew as co-pilot in the lead bomber, leaving England early on the morning of June 5, 1944, twenty-four hours before the infamous beach invasions of Normandy. Vance's B-24 bomber in which he flew was called the <a href="http://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/18374" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Missouri Sue</i></a>. His mission was dangerous. The Germans expected an imminent invasion of France, but weren't sure where on the coastline, so German anti-flak, machine bunkers, and artillery were placed all along the Normandy coastline. </blockquote><p></p><div><blockquote><div>Reaching his German beach-front target, Lt. Col. Vance ordered the bomb bay doors open and all the <i>Missour Sue's</i> bombs released, a command followed by all bombers following his lead. But the bombs in Vance's plane failed to release on the first run, so Lt. Col. Vance ordered a 360-degree turn for a second pass over the target, a very risky move since German anti-flak was zeroing in on the planes. <blockquote style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-XxFfK8qm8pPTzVKCXlRBcvpaanc2mqM6l7Rt9t6EgdnWyGIVLaUUm9sEWAriueajwSuaNhgXW7I7a3SxuvkyPLWWdKGnkjMxafvWukVTGX9wrdjij1F189aJktoO0MXrcVgF/s348/Bombing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="289" data-original-width="348" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-XxFfK8qm8pPTzVKCXlRBcvpaanc2mqM6l7Rt9t6EgdnWyGIVLaUUm9sEWAriueajwSuaNhgXW7I7a3SxuvkyPLWWdKGnkjMxafvWukVTGX9wrdjij1F189aJktoO0MXrcVgF/s320/Bombing.jpg" width="320" /></a></blockquote></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><blockquote></blockquote></div></div><div>Somewhere in the process of the second bomb run, anti-flak repeatedly hit the <i>Missouri Sue,</i> wounding several members of the crew, and killing the pilot. Lt. Col. Vance was also severely wounded, his right foot nearly severed, and the melted steel pinned what was left below his ankle to the floor. He couldn't move. From a reclining position, Commander Bob Vance took over flying the B-24 bomber back to England. One 500 pound bomb which had not properly release hung precariously in the bomb bay doors as the plane sputtered toward England. </div><div><br /></div><div>As Lt. Col Vance passed over the Dover Cliffs of England, three of the four B-24 bomber's engines shut down. The fourth had to be manually shut down to prevent a stall. The damaged plane had showered gasoline all the way across the channel toward England. <i>Vance, ordered his men to parachute to safety, and then he turned the plane back toward the channel during its forced descent from 10,000 feet, not wanting the plane to crash on the English landscape with a bomb underneath, potentially injuring civilians.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Vance piloted the gliding plane back into the English channel where it crashed into the water. The force of the crash propelled Bob Vance from the plane and knocked him unconscious, his right foot now completely severed. Somehow Lt. Col. Vance managed to float to the surface where he was eventually rescued. The surviving ten men credited the actions of Bob Vance for their safe return to England."</div></blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG9jmt4UF9wlA2c-b-FexdRZM1bNotq3PtrctVhiXVFGaDj8ZS9GzoxVyZx0bPUroc6iMSkn6shmw1xLF28GfFxNJ6kiEB2OFlIEHXa02vlKRLSdOQxfACEKCOjdqNnDnMM_W4/s500/Vance+Air+Force+Base.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="361" data-original-width="500" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG9jmt4UF9wlA2c-b-FexdRZM1bNotq3PtrctVhiXVFGaDj8ZS9GzoxVyZx0bPUroc6iMSkn6shmw1xLF28GfFxNJ6kiEB2OFlIEHXa02vlKRLSdOQxfACEKCOjdqNnDnMM_W4/s320/Vance+Air+Force+Base.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Vance recuperated in London from his injuries for the next seven weeks. Unfortunately, Bob's career as a pilot was over. His right foot was gone. He wrote letters home describing to his wife and family the injuries he sustained, urging them not to worry, and that as soon as he was able, he would be on a medical flight home to Enid. His letters were initially filled with excitement and enthusiasm for Operation Overlord, and he expressed pride for what his bombing crew had done in preparation for the landing. </div><div><p></p><p>His spirits lowered, however, when he left the hospital for the first time, hobbling on his crutches in the streets of London, and was met by a small boy who looked him over, saw his missing foot, and said, <i>"Don't worry Yank, you won't miss it!" </i>The emotional impact of realizing he would never fly again was enormous, and his depression increased when word came that his father, a longtime Enid High School football coach had been killed at the Enid Army Air Corp Traning Base where he served as a flight instructor. He died during a training accident.<br /><br />The only thing that kept Bob Vance going during his recovery in London was the knowledge that he would soon see his wife, Georgette, and their two-year-old child, Sharon. Just before he left England, Vance discovered he'd been nominated for the <a href="https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/leon-r-vance-jr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Medal of Honor</a>.</p><p>On Wednesday, July 26, 1944, Lt. Col. Bob Vance joined seventeen other wounded soldiers and boarded the Army Air Ambulance for their trip home to America. Georgette and Sharon anxiously anticipated their loved one's arrival. Sharon didn't understand much, but she could say, <i>"Daddy's</i><i> coming home!"</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1AUgd6MiXBaB1cjSGYE9L38vlOD8htrRF_f60teFg-88JyGcax3yaXjJi33PIFh4hjHuU7PAxqbeAGFJGmWkqC00gfLUiXpE4LvapfCHuh3SNLC8CZQlxnSO7fSseAdCjmkF/s430/Telegram.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="430" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1AUgd6MiXBaB1cjSGYE9L38vlOD8htrRF_f60teFg-88JyGcax3yaXjJi33PIFh4hjHuU7PAxqbeAGFJGmWkqC00gfLUiXpE4LvapfCHuh3SNLC8CZQlxnSO7fSseAdCjmkF/s320/Telegram.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>On Friday, July 28, 1944, Georgette Vance received a knock on her front door. An Army Air Corp officer and an Army chaplain from the nearby <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vance_Air_Force_Base" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Enid Army Air Corp Training Base</a> stood on her porch holding a telegram. They informed Georgette that her husband Bob was missing in action. Georgette collapsed in grief. Her two-year-old daughter Sharon tugged at her mother's dress, wanting to be held. <p></p><div>Later that fall (1944), the United States government informed Georgette that her husband had been bestowed the <a href="https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/leon-r-vance-jr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Medal of Honor</a>. She requested that the official ceremony be delayed until her daughter, Sharon, was old enough to comprehend what her father had done. Two years later, on October 11, 1946, Sharon Vance, Bob's soon-to-be four-year-old daughter officially received the Medal of Honor on behalf of the Vance family at an official military ceremony in Enid, Oklahoma. </div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>The Discovery</b></h4><div><b><br /></b></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim8BOqOU723ga2EGN4RRLLa4EoaECajSeJ1CR_OG41JSrchOtC5gjnGUQVByt4E2iB32va3-TrcpVzhgMuEnKoDzrULz9BIxAoJDhOFZ65UXqRtVhjxEdS0G6dqk33cR9UbLFT/s1280/Flight+Path+I.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim8BOqOU723ga2EGN4RRLLa4EoaECajSeJ1CR_OG41JSrchOtC5gjnGUQVByt4E2iB32va3-TrcpVzhgMuEnKoDzrULz9BIxAoJDhOFZ65UXqRtVhjxEdS0G6dqk33cR9UbLFT/w640-h360/Flight+Path+I.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The location of the crash site, eastern ravine-filled and snow covered coast of Greenland</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><b>On November 1, 2021, at 10:25 am, </b>I received an email from a man named Alan Hiett.</div><div><blockquote>"Greetings, Wade. I have a ministry finding missing aircraft and bringing closure to families that hurt for years in wanting to know where their loved ones are. I recently found a debris field on the coast of Greenland that has the tail numbers of the missing C-54 that Colonel Leon Robert Vance was on with 25 other souls. I have images and coordinates. They have been presented to the Department of Defense (DPAA) for verification. I would be happy to share them with you and give you an update on the families I have been in contact with. My phone number is (202) ___ ___ . Thanks, Alan Hiatt."</blockquote></div><div>As you might imagine, I was stunned. I immediately called Alan and since then have been in communication via email, text, and additional phone conversations. He has given me permission to post these photos from an isolated, unpopulated, mostly snow and ice-covered ravine-covered coastline of Greenland. He has a Senator from Maine involved with the DOD in an attempt to first verify, and then obtain the wreckage. </div><div><br /></div><div>The following is Alan's story in his own words. Some of the photos he sent me from the debris field on the coast of Greenland will be interspersed throughout his written narrative.</div></div><blockquote><div>"My father was a United States Army Captain stationed in Neu-Ulm Germany. My mother, sister, and I joined him there in 1954. </div><div><br /></div><div>In August of 1956, my mother’s father was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and her family suggested that she should return back to the United States. My mother, sister and I flew from Frankfurt Germany on a DC-4 military charter flight, similar to the military C-54 Air Ambulance that went missing on July 26, 1944. We flew from Frankfurt Germany to Meeks Field, Iceland, where the aircraft was refueled, just like Vance's plane. </div><div><br /></div><div>I remember the refueling stop well. It was approximately one o’clock in the morning and cold as we deplaned and waited for the refueling. After we departed Meeks Field we took off toward New York City. As the sun was coming up, could see land on the starboard side of the aircraft. It was the southern tip of Greenland. We were following the same path that the the C-54 Army Air Ambulance followed a dozen years earlier.</div></blockquote><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRfuVwm-4LwCdQSIhFtRtcmDdoJX8YenGAT94tkF_0Hvr2cjJgjb1Mc7n65rg0JdAB-lW9LlHfTn1W8m_tWJkYmcnOpFLoR-nmy5lBx-l43f7fsZbuuNFe7yW4Jch-AM3A0KYX/s2048/Flight+Path+II.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1487" data-original-width="2048" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRfuVwm-4LwCdQSIhFtRtcmDdoJX8YenGAT94tkF_0Hvr2cjJgjb1Mc7n65rg0JdAB-lW9LlHfTn1W8m_tWJkYmcnOpFLoR-nmy5lBx-l43f7fsZbuuNFe7yW4Jch-AM3A0KYX/w640-h464/Flight+Path+II.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The White Star on the fuselage of #107407</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><blockquote><p>Flash forward to October 2020. I am flying on Google Earth up the southern tip of Greenland and all I saw was white from the snow. Why was I going back up this coastline of Greenland? I was looking for a missing Air Ambulance that disappeared July 26, 1944 with 26 souls on board that never had the chance to return home to their loved ones. They had served their country in the European War Theater and were wounded in the invasion of France. Eighteen stretcher cases. one flight nurse, an Army Medic, and a flight crew of six on their way home when they disappeared without a trace. </p></blockquote><p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKUonxLe8V_ce8uphg6SsNRYD54_MPbH6YSTAO3GwhVMUaA3Q0_d9xQcKNVF9c9Tf3p87mayXGLwmS6qIR3L9TUqio2zw1rDAjIDTlce3onccinqqGdI2itTNqhSKjnkPPrHbL/s1328/Debris+Field.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="1328" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKUonxLe8V_ce8uphg6SsNRYD54_MPbH6YSTAO3GwhVMUaA3Q0_d9xQcKNVF9c9Tf3p87mayXGLwmS6qIR3L9TUqio2zw1rDAjIDTlce3onccinqqGdI2itTNqhSKjnkPPrHbL/w640-h350/Debris+Field.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The debris field of Army Air Corp Air Ambulance #107407</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><blockquote><div>I have a ministry searching for missing aircraft to help families find closure in the loss of their loved ones. I first took this mission up as a hobby because of my joy in flying (my mother was a pilot) and all the war stories I heard from pilots in Japan where we lived when the Korean War broke out. My father was one of the first responders into Korea and was wounded immediately and returned to Japan for treatment of his wounds. </div></blockquote><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8vTsXLyRRynfq0QqDSgjuJaDzl2BN4UXdRTX-JUMBMwW-ACmha8u8O2VoHFHENoLUHjnECQpyE0qxN5MlPZNu-2UPeWH01WYHFpc3lkoUQPF79GWoxF9wdEdu0xvR97YKBEM/s1325/Best+picture+of+Debri+Field.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="883" data-original-width="1325" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8vTsXLyRRynfq0QqDSgjuJaDzl2BN4UXdRTX-JUMBMwW-ACmha8u8O2VoHFHENoLUHjnECQpyE0qxN5MlPZNu-2UPeWH01WYHFpc3lkoUQPF79GWoxF9wdEdu0xvR97YKBEM/w640-h426/Best+picture+of+Debri+Field.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Complete debris field map of Air Ambulance #107407, Greenland eastern coast</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><blockquote><div>While recovering at our home in Osaka, Japan my father would invite other wounded men to our home for R&R with some f them being pilots that flew missions in Korea and fly back to Japan from their missions. I would sit at their feet ( I was six years old) in our living room and hear firsthand about their missions. That is where I found my love for flying and my deep appreciation for our men and women in uniform. Some of the army personnel that came to our home were also nurses. When I first started searching for missing aircraft I called it a hobby but, after speaking with several families about missing aircraft I found very deep grief in their souls for their missing loved ones, not knowing what happened to them or where their bodies were. That is when I change my mission to a ministry helping people find closure in their lives.</div><div><br /></div><div>The way I found the debris field in Greenland was an act of God. Again flying over the coast of Greenland with Google Earth I saw a red spot appear on the screen that got my attention. I focused down to the area and changed the Historical Tool to a non-snow view and started finding the debris of an aircraft. </div></blockquote><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgJaOXwDZMcWiL2hfmn4_twGFCqv1KREoA9qHtVcmXs4cSNVC93w77j1btrew42XkfWQVmT6MdAbPP7AXnrRwPmxodSvjI6jDdmM4lFBtY3cmIVDFuxLjuUjSPcZz43v6qYBKB/s652/Possible+Life+Raft.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="524" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgJaOXwDZMcWiL2hfmn4_twGFCqv1KREoA9qHtVcmXs4cSNVC93w77j1btrew42XkfWQVmT6MdAbPP7AXnrRwPmxodSvjI6jDdmM4lFBtY3cmIVDFuxLjuUjSPcZz43v6qYBKB/w514-h640/Possible+Life+Raft.JPG" width="514" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Possible life raft</td></tr></tbody></table><blockquote><div>The first identifying debris was the 5-point white star, the word ARMY, the numbers 470, the number 70 on a wing section and it went on from there. </div></blockquote><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRBgcxm1ZFAJBMORWTSgcab1nqO6aDI5swRoAd3HEt0mO2oaWZyfYvy7aJSWU1KCuIGimF6Vc4XDxuHlHYzcOy0Az_S12EaRErfE98hLcjKSm9c_OHE5H5O9Lh2seeb6Xjm6dS/s774/Numbers+470.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="774" height="550" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRBgcxm1ZFAJBMORWTSgcab1nqO6aDI5swRoAd3HEt0mO2oaWZyfYvy7aJSWU1KCuIGimF6Vc4XDxuHlHYzcOy0Az_S12EaRErfE98hLcjKSm9c_OHE5H5O9Lh2seeb6Xjm6dS/w640-h550/Numbers+470.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Numbers 470</td></tr></tbody></table><blockquote><p>I have since communicated with several families that had loved ones on the aircraft and I am blessed with knowing them. </p></blockquote><blockquote><div>Now it is up to the powers of our Defense Department to respond to what I see and feel is God’s will to verify and if possible to RETURN AND RESTORE these precious souls to their families."</div></blockquote><div></div><div>I will be in contact with Vance Air Force Base, U.S. Senator James Lankford, and the Department of Defense. I do not know what will be required for a mission to the east coast of Greenland to investigate the wreckage site, The coast is already covered with snow and ice for the winter. The next time it can be investigated is June/July 2022. </div><div><br /></div><div>It would be a dream to recover the wreckage and any remains of the service members by July 26, 2024, the 80th anniversary of the crash. </div><div><br /></div><div>As Alan Hiatt would say, "Lord willing." </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzz9Lj0vupbFMiQueYh7o25qyLQ7EpNCab5pkH_GwXr868l8AmviL_V-_zSu2wSX5Z3_UcwrT1ykuussFCMqjKeyVjTqX2hDDAoFpyTbOq6BTHEaznDAUs8M5XzDjIkD0Unqm7/s1016/AP+Wirefighter.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1016" data-original-width="661" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzz9Lj0vupbFMiQueYh7o25qyLQ7EpNCab5pkH_GwXr868l8AmviL_V-_zSu2wSX5Z3_UcwrT1ykuussFCMqjKeyVjTqX2hDDAoFpyTbOq6BTHEaznDAUs8M5XzDjIkD0Unqm7/w416-h640/AP+Wirefighter.JPG" width="416" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">10.11.1946 - Sharon is pinned with her father's Medal of Honor</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><div></div><div><p><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: #c0a154; color: #333333; font-size: 13.524px;"></span></p></div></div>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-26033226210867496262021-11-08T10:00:00.001-06:002024-03-08T13:16:14.645-06:00Camden Robert's Award-Winning National Essay on "What Is Needed to Fix the Electoral College?"<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYMcRxWiRQ16FEQgHCcmSz9w3r0-kgMmrnHLFmvrM2tNOsQMPPiUaB-jZq9PKUtbYWKpkByOAplwqFo49E2gUgKMo3cvLBFK6HDoGgxHU2WxzzgicMc-bwOhAc8qtesGExY59Y/s1140/Senior+Picture+-+Director+of+Operations+-+Red+River+Institute.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1140" data-original-width="826" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYMcRxWiRQ16FEQgHCcmSz9w3r0-kgMmrnHLFmvrM2tNOsQMPPiUaB-jZq9PKUtbYWKpkByOAplwqFo49E2gUgKMo3cvLBFK6HDoGgxHU2WxzzgicMc-bwOhAc8qtesGExY59Y/s320/Senior+Picture+-+Director+of+Operations+-+Red+River+Institute.png" width="232" /></a></div>Camden Roberts, a young nineteen-year-old scholar, and resident of Enid, Oklahoma, won a scholarship by writing and winning nation-wide essay contest on answering the question, "What Is Needed to Fix the Electoral College." <p></p><p>Camden is a member of <a href="https://www.emmanuelenid.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Emmanuel Enid</a> and currently works for the Red River Insitute of History as their Director of Operations while attending college. Camden first heard about the contest and potential scholarship while a senior in high school. His high school guidance counselor at Chisholm High School told him about it. According to Cambden:</p><p></p><blockquote><i>"This essay contest stood out to me because I saw it in the election season of 2020, where all over the news I was seeing poll numbers and maps showing which candidate was doing better and where. I kept noticing a pattern of how a majority of blue states had a majority of red counties. I didn’t feel like this was right, that a few cities can decide for an entire state where the electoral votes would go, so I mulled over a plan on how I would address this issue while remaining as fair to everyone’s views as possible."</i></blockquote><p></p><p>Cambden will be flown to Washington D.C. to be recognized in Congress for his award-winning essay and then he will spend the week serving as a special intern on Capitol Hill. </p><p>Well done, Camden! We are proud of you!</p><p>Here is his essay:</p><p>______________________________________________________________________________________</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>The Electoral College was established in the U.S. Constitution as the election process for the President and Vice President. Support retaining the Electoral College, or propose and support another system to operate in its place.</b></p><p></p><blockquote><p>The Electoral College is a system of electing a leader that is as unique as America itself. However, this does not mean that it is perfect. It has issues that need tending to. I believe that it, like many other aspects of American government, requires further work to become just and fair to all ideas and people.</p><p>One issue that I find with the electoral college is that it does not equally represent the voters in a given state. I’ll use the 2016 Presidential election as an example. In the state of Oklahoma, a known Republican stronghold, the Democratic candidate still received nearly one-third of the vote. A percentage that great shouldn’t simply be thrown away because it is not larger. Although the state only has seven electoral votes, one-third (rounded) of the electors would be Democratic in that instance. This occurs in many small-numbered electoral states each election, but the same instance happens in bigger states like California. Trump received one-third of the vote there, yet all 55 votes went to Clinton. That automatically silences an entire third of the state and nullifies their vote.</p><p>Another issue with the electoral college is that it tends to favor the popular vote. I do not believe “People vote, not land” for this simple reason; people from the same bit of land majorly vote the same. An agricultural, rural region is projected to vote Republican just as much as an industrialized, densely populated region is projected to vote Democratic. However, when a single Democratic city has the same population as several Republican states, there is not a fair expression of each. Our Founding fathers knew this, and built a government with many checks and balances to prevent it. As quoted by Benjamin Franklin, “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what they are going to have for lunch.” As our population has grown and our nation and politics evolved, the electoral college should not be an exception to change. It is not a popularity contest, and therefore we should not allow it to become such.</p><p>To summarize, the electoral college is unfair for it favors a potentially dangerous popular vote while not potentially not providing a level playing field for opposing political ideologies. I believe a system that takes some power away from the majority while respecting the trends of ideas in different areas is necessary. What I would implement would be an electing process consisting of two main parts. The first would be a standard popular vote, not too different from what is already n place, but the second part is where the change occurs. To keep the popular vote from ruling an entire state, or swaying a nation, the percentages of the popular vote would be averaged out with the percentage of counties in the state that voted for a particular candidate. Then the election process would include the power of the popular vote leveled with the geographical trends of ideas. Then the party elector selected for the electoral college would be chosen based on the averaged percentage of both the popular and geographical votes, not just the majority. To test this new plan, look to New York state in 2016. Clinton ed with nearly 60% of the popular vote, even though she won only 16 of 62 counties. In this new method of electing, a popular margin without a major geographical standing would not alone win an election. It would have flipped the state in 2016, taking away the majority that New York City imposed on most of the state. Then the Republican and Democratic electors, correlating with their average percentage won, would be cast into the electoral college system.</p><p>In conclusion, this new method of electing a President would incorporate more aspects and include more safeguards to ensure a fair process. Everyone gets a voice, but a popular majority will not be able to win as easily. This allows a rural midwestern farming region to rest assured that they will not be overshadowed by a city with millions in the opposing political party. This will provide security to liberty of expression and justice of representation for all while holding true to the philosophies and hopes our Founding Fathers had for this country.</p></blockquote><blockquote><p><br /></p></blockquote>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-45280452426192347922021-11-05T09:50:00.009-05:002023-09-09T08:40:28.567-05:00The Metaverse Is the Next Generation's Opium War<p><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/28/facebook-changes-company-name-to-meta.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivgH6rRrrL-jZ48_dpWpF8Zzo93i8jAACu7ACJ2YtyDEcyCqYbakFUZ-zqrYtZksri_OoKi6ldi4eplmvdo3p8-yZT-tQF0jtAdVfIdsOpN800YMutSJ1DlkumT_Dx7bs9hPH-/s1648/Second+Life+Pic+-+LINDEN+LAB.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="964" data-original-width="1648" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivgH6rRrrL-jZ48_dpWpF8Zzo93i8jAACu7ACJ2YtyDEcyCqYbakFUZ-zqrYtZksri_OoKi6ldi4eplmvdo3p8-yZT-tQF0jtAdVfIdsOpN800YMutSJ1DlkumT_Dx7bs9hPH-/s320/Second+Life+Pic+-+LINDEN+LAB.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Facebook announced a name change for its company this week. <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/28/22745234/facebook-new-name-meta-metaverse-zuckerberg-rebrand" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Meta </a>is its new name. <p></p><p>You probably have little idea of the significance of the name change. I believe Meta has the capability of destroying the discipline, drive, and determination in future generations of Americans. </p><p>Have you heard of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Generation" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Greatest Generation</a>? These were American men and women who sacrificed everything during World War II to protect our land, our liberty, and the American way of life. </p><p>Meta could be the seedbed that destroys what the Greatest Generation obtained. </p><p>Meta is a Greek word that means "higher," or "beyond," or "behind." It is carried over into English to refer to an alternate reality to something concrete. Meta (Facebook) is wanting to help you create an alternate life (e.g. "second life") through virtual reality that takes you "beyond" the real-life that you are living on earth. </p><p>Meta is a drug. It is a form of escape. It is a game. </p><p>But don't tell people involved in Meta that it is a game. It will anger them. Just like when you tell a person hooked on heroin that they're addicted. <i>"What do you know? Nothing that feels this good and is as beautiful as what I have experienced can be bad for me." </i></p><p>Oh, yes it can. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOs2l9FuzC3gdzYJ6tAhpA2rk3SXIlESgGXDmGrbp0gxOcnXw_EPvdasNIOcZ0rKjCfD7gRlBoRlaXgubQ9g43FU66tOrq9UIhCSf7Qd2WXH7mT_-34N9yRV8IFja8Ykx_q339/s1254/Japan.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="1254" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOs2l9FuzC3gdzYJ6tAhpA2rk3SXIlESgGXDmGrbp0gxOcnXw_EPvdasNIOcZ0rKjCfD7gRlBoRlaXgubQ9g43FU66tOrq9UIhCSf7Qd2WXH7mT_-34N9yRV8IFja8Ykx_q339/s320/Japan.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Here's how Meta works. <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/2021/11/05/facebook-opening-retail-stores-for-metaverse/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Meta (Facebook) will soon be opening storefronts</a> around the world to sell you next-generation virtual reality glasses called <a href="https://www.oculus.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Oculus</a>. Slap those glasses on, integrate with the digital world, and soon, you will be living a <i>Second Life, an alternate reality.</i><p></p><p>In this virtual world that exists in your mind, you will interact with other people who enter your Second Life by asking you (audibly through Oculus) if they can join you in your virtual house, your virtual business, your virtual lakefront home, your virtual gym, your virtual vacation, etc. You live the life that you want to live but can't live in the real universe.</p><p>That's right. </p><p>It's the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/god-universe-beats-mark-zuckerberg-metaverse-poverty-conferencing-charity-christianity-11636036806" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">meta</a><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">universe</a>. You are in control of parallel universes that you digitally create to escape the reality of the one real <b>universe </b>in which you live. You become your own god. You ignore the real God. You go <i>beyond</i> the real truth to create your own version of the truth. You go <i>beyond</i> reality to escape the harsh world in which you really live - and which the one true God can help you thrive, not just survive.</p><p>But why bother with the real world?</p><p>In the digital metauniverse of Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, people can hide behind an Avatar (a character) that they create in the metauniverse. The Avatar represents them in their alternate reality. </p><p>Here's how it works.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXt5F-cnSvbgZbmYxYXKaZczUJ6ues50AnIzbifSxdL5b2wkJVDmFUMWGxRaNqtJXLGSWyEm0DkBWw9Tfxnn9PbKvjtZ1T3kJ2PGI70pBxQEQaE6K-4TbeE3xahVv5Bn9wnV0D/s1280/second+Life.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXt5F-cnSvbgZbmYxYXKaZczUJ6ues50AnIzbifSxdL5b2wkJVDmFUMWGxRaNqtJXLGSWyEm0DkBWw9Tfxnn9PbKvjtZ1T3kJ2PGI70pBxQEQaE6K-4TbeE3xahVv5Bn9wnV0D/s320/second+Life.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>You upload an image of your face (or someone else's face) after digitally manipulating it to remove those characteristics you don't like. <p></p><p>In the metaverse, you can create muscles where you have none in the real universe. You can create a house that you "buy" in the metaverse with cryptocurrency (meaning, you own it digitally, and if someone sees it in your alternate digital life and they want it, they can "buy" it from you with cryptocurrency). Your meta house can be much nicer than the one you rent in the real universe. You can buy clothes and wear them in the metaverse, clothes that you "buy" with crypto coins to escape the reality of having to wear the inexpensive clothes that are wearing in the real universe because you can't afford anything nicer.</p><p>I find it interesting that the two biggest cryptocurrencies in the digital metauniverse are <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/business/mana-cryptocurrency-jumped-over-400-after-facebooks-meta-announcement-2598048" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">MANA</a> (a Hebrew word that means <i>"What is it?"</i>) and <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/the-sandbox/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SANDBOX</a> (SAND). A sandbox carries the idea of making any castle you desire, and wiping it clean if it doesn't meet your fancy. </p><p>In your meta life, all that you know about others that you meet in virtual reality is what they <i>appear</i> to be, and all that they know about you is what you <i>portray</i> and <i>appear</i> to be in the metaverse. </p><p>Meta is a drug. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC1kpvnW6FLqzpnTUjyDOpG3OL9FkiSZNwfZN57mezx8KJa0u9prIa1lloq_3BzzqWZjFd8Q7XVMq-7zitcUlWNlVNz961gCgbaN2AuQs9M8rWMpnLFFegrSLvfCaYfWEIipUv/s1126/Mark+Zuckerberg.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="790" data-original-width="1126" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC1kpvnW6FLqzpnTUjyDOpG3OL9FkiSZNwfZN57mezx8KJa0u9prIa1lloq_3BzzqWZjFd8Q7XVMq-7zitcUlWNlVNz961gCgbaN2AuQs9M8rWMpnLFFegrSLvfCaYfWEIipUv/s320/Mark+Zuckerberg.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_transitioning" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Many young people who are transitioning</a> - young people who don't like being a boy in the real universe - create themselves as a girl in the metauniverse. Thus, they find a home for themselves in this second life and live — virtually — as who they really believe themselves to be. <p></p><p>The people who enter the metaverse disconnect from reality. <br /></p><p>Have you ever watched a show like <a href="https://abc.com/shows/american-idol" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">American Idol</a> and listened to singing auditions where the singer thought they were fantastic and on the road to becoming the next American Idol? <i>You knew in reality that the singer was off-key, possessed no musical talent, and was simply delusional. </i>But when people are disconnected from reality and only focused on MetaMe (who I<i> want </i>to be, not who I am), then that disconnect leads to failure in every area of life. It takes self-awareness in the midst of reality for discipline, drive, and determination to kick in to improve one's reality. </p><p>In the metauniverse, the reality is what the player imagines it to be. The alternate, imaginary life becomes an addiction. When addicted, you risk missing the responsibility and real-life rewards from the personal drive, determination, and discipline required to succeed - <i>just like drug addicts</i> - because you have been sucked into your alternate, imaginary reality.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRtoUJ_YoWw0InZoDxqMqyIKSYgWlRmNOZVtw0MbwHX_e4ymQhNYEPsgHpGH7fvhp0X8Upmnnpyz91R8khtNMCRRB_xGd573Ycj3Uiz0mzcIdcoZUtcePuFK-wB_DCwbygdVjh/s760/Facebook.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="760" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRtoUJ_YoWw0InZoDxqMqyIKSYgWlRmNOZVtw0MbwHX_e4ymQhNYEPsgHpGH7fvhp0X8Upmnnpyz91R8khtNMCRRB_xGd573Ycj3Uiz0mzcIdcoZUtcePuFK-wB_DCwbygdVjh/s320/Facebook.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The metaverse is the next generation's Opium War. <p></p><p>During the 1840s, the empire of England sought to trade opium from India with the Chinese people.</p><p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qing_dynasty" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Qing Dynasty of China</a>, the government rulers of China from AD 1644-1912, sought to prevent the Chinese from opium drug addiction. China declared war on England twice to stop the opium trade. These two wars are called the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Opium-Wars" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Opium Wars</a>. </p><p>England won. The profits made from addicting the Chinese people to opium were enormous for England. <i>A nation's character is often crucified on capitalism's cross. </i></p><p>Meta and Mark Zuckerberg wish to make money.</p><p><b>They will addict your children in order to do. </b>The next time you see your child slap on a VR headset, find out if they are entering the metaverse. You have a responsibility as a parent to know. If you are an adult emersed in the metaverse, you are an addict and don't even know it. </p><p>The Chinese Communist Party has banned the metaverse, cryptocurrency, and by law, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-30/china-limits-minors-to-just-three-hours-of-online-gaming-a-week" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">has limited to three hours a week the time that Chinese children</a> can play video games. </p><p>Why are the communists taking such drastic steps to ban Meta? </p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin8JdvzXdoBxnI-uBROzs-W2oSPNO3pxmv0y4-_k4sHJZue3iyVwPbWaAv8Khm10iHEH7L01d6ISayBlIQUiqDt8FMnI3zteiQGEvFuBxAszNDMIRRf9XHa2NuINbhT-woJ7Uf/s2048/China%2527s+elite.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1225" data-original-width="2048" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin8JdvzXdoBxnI-uBROzs-W2oSPNO3pxmv0y4-_k4sHJZue3iyVwPbWaAv8Khm10iHEH7L01d6ISayBlIQUiqDt8FMnI3zteiQGEvFuBxAszNDMIRRf9XHa2NuINbhT-woJ7Uf/s320/China%2527s+elite.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chinese Special Forces</td></tr></tbody></table>Because they know when they invade Taiwan and go to war with the West to rule the world by 2049,<br /> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZskbZKtI9k" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">soldiers from the West made out of Meta will cower on the beaches in the face of disciplined, determined, and driven soldiers from China and Russia</a>. If you dare, watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZskbZKtI9k" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the link comparing the tactics and recruiting videos</a> of the Chinese, Russian, and the United States' governments seeking soldiers for their respective armed forces. I bet you can guess which nation is building its future on Meta.<p></p><p>China and Russia will win the next Opium War unless Americans can restore an understanding of objective truth, live in the only Universe that God created, and break the drug addiction of virtual reality.</p><p>Where's the <b>Greatest Generation</b> when we need them? </p><p>It's up to us to resurrect the principles that drove the Greatest Generation to defend our lives, our liberty, and the American way of life. Buckle up. The next decade's fight to restore Western Civilization's former character is going to be existential for our American way of life. </p>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-41427210418789081142021-11-01T15:04:00.005-05:002024-03-08T13:16:16.647-06:00"Gabriel Is Coming" - Prayer and Satan's Resistance<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpmBe_UVtSKc_4TTdZXOlMEeIbTWZ7cd5RKPry2XX5Rfr8JRnUvATtEZrXoamUrBueOILa-UQTGlSE2jFw0_8o1n-nRJBnsLalPoMNfwlx9W0qeiqaiGI_sNnHGfcff4J2qnZc/s600/Daniel+in+Prayer.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="451" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpmBe_UVtSKc_4TTdZXOlMEeIbTWZ7cd5RKPry2XX5Rfr8JRnUvATtEZrXoamUrBueOILa-UQTGlSE2jFw0_8o1n-nRJBnsLalPoMNfwlx9W0qeiqaiGI_sNnHGfcff4J2qnZc/s320/Daniel+in+Prayer.JPG" width="241" /></a></div>The sovereignty of God is a cardinal doctrine of Scripture. God does, as A.W. Pink once wrote my grandfather, "as He pleases, only as He pleases, and always as He pleases." Nothing happens in this world but that God either promotes it, prohibits it, or permits it. <p></p><p>However...</p><p>One must never let a theological construction override biblical instruction. Systematic theology is never better than biblical theology. Even if you don't understand what the LORD reveals in His word, don't sit around in the dark until you do. </p><p>Flip the switch. </p><p>Believe in the Word of God over the doctrines of men. </p><p>For example, when it comes to prayer, those of us who believe in God's sovereignty have a tendency to trust God and His goodness, and as a result, avoid prayer and any petitions. "God will work it all out for good whether I pray or not," is the <i>common misperception. </i></p><p>The Bible is clear. <b><i>Heaven moves when people pray. </i></b></p><p>For example, Daniel prayed in Daniel 9 for his people (the nation of Israel). He pleaded for the LORD to forgive them for their rebellion. <i>Heaven moved as Daniel prayed.</i> The angel Gabriel came to Daniel and said:</p><b></b><blockquote><b>"At the beginning of your supplications</b> the command was issued, and I have come..." (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+9%3A23&version=NASB" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Daniel 9:23</a>). </blockquote><p>When God's people pray, heaven begins to move. At the <i><b>beginning </b></i>of Daniel's prayer, a command (from heaven) was issued, and Gabriel came to Daniel with a response to his supplications. </p><p>But in the very next chapter (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+10&version=NASB1995" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Daniel 10</a>), there is a different outcome. Daniel begins praying, and he prays for twenty-one straight days. During the time that he prays (and fasts) <i>there is no answer from heaven</i>. Gabriel does not appear on the first day, the second day, the third day, etc... Finally, on the twenty-first day, Gabriel appears to give heaven's response to Daniel's supplication. </p><p>Remember, in the previous chapter, Gabriel is sent and appears "at the beginning of" Daniel's supplications. But here, in Daniel 10, it takes twenty-one days for Gabriel to appear. Why? What Gabriel says about his delay in responding to Daniel's prayers is revealing. </p><blockquote><p>"From the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. <i><b>But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days</b></i>..." (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel%2010%3A12-13&version=NIV" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Daniel 10:12-13</a>)</p></blockquote><p>The <i>"prince of the kingdom of Persia"</i> is not a man. It is a fallen angel - a demonic entity - that sought to hinder heaven from bringing Daniel an answer to his prayers, a refreshment to his soul, and Divine protection for his life. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbncefU8iuzDDcJyN0YjReNKwtylqpZg4MIqL8H8Gjpy2Bxt-41KRcNq923sNU-cnIT71gt-ZivQeALMKRC-sX30DCw2xTrilUhE2BCsihe2_NtM1g4s9nJT6F8X0PwzE24-D/s640/Gabriel+appears+to+Daniel.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="640" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbncefU8iuzDDcJyN0YjReNKwtylqpZg4MIqL8H8Gjpy2Bxt-41KRcNq923sNU-cnIT71gt-ZivQeALMKRC-sX30DCw2xTrilUhE2BCsihe2_NtM1g4s9nJT6F8X0PwzE24-D/s320/Gabriel+appears+to+Daniel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I believe in the sovereignty of God. <br /><p></p><p>But I also know that if I am in the middle of a deep conflict over losing something very precious, the enemy will fight against any comfort from heaven being brought my way. Daniel felt deep agony over the end of God's covenant with Israel, and he cried out in his pain to the LORD, seeking relief. Hell fought the messenger from heaven for twenty-one days. </p><p>Take heart. If you have been placed by God in a position of leadership, and your circumstances are such that you are beginning to feel as if there is no hope for the future, no stability in the present, and no confidence in God's deliverance in your past - <i>and you are praying for mercy </i>- take note of biblical theology. Understand that a delay in heaven's response may not be of God. It may be from your enemy. </p><p>Or, to put it succinctly.</p><p><i>The more Kingdom impact you are having on the earth, the more Satanic assaults you'll be having in your prayer. </i></p><p>Keep on praying. </p><p>Keep on pleading. </p><p>Keep on trusting. </p><p>Gabriel is coming. </p>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-16630350427456297862021-10-24T11:00:00.002-05:002024-03-08T13:16:14.003-06:00Pergamum - Satan's Throne - Government as God<div style="text-align: center;">"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">Mark Twain</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRQnixZyoQpXQnKBZKuzIjyU7qlGoDznvnW46H0czUlHYYcM9Qkky3bjav7xW-DIp5tVAzeHKYhMw6QAmLta8OHqO8N7d5OJLdyffG_KG57urN_5uNlimHxNyLn_V7g2FLlbeq/s1914/Satan%2527s+Throne+with+No+Roman+Religion.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1076" data-original-width="1914" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRQnixZyoQpXQnKBZKuzIjyU7qlGoDznvnW46H0czUlHYYcM9Qkky3bjav7xW-DIp5tVAzeHKYhMw6QAmLta8OHqO8N7d5OJLdyffG_KG57urN_5uNlimHxNyLn_V7g2FLlbeq/w640-h360/Satan%2527s+Throne+with+No+Roman+Religion.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We have a generation of blissful <i>young </i>Americans ignorant of history and theology. This is one of the reasons they wrongly believe that any opposition of older folks' to government mandates and the removal of personal liberties is purely political. </div><div><br />Nothing is further from the truth. My principled opposition to the intrusion of government into individual and personal medical choices <i>is based on my knowledge of ancient history and biblical theology. </i></div><div><br /><b>Pergamum Where Satan Lives</b></div><div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Jesus, a few years after His ascension, sent a message to His followers who lived in Pergamum (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pergamon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pergamon, Turkey</a>), a message recorded in the book of Revelation.</div><blockquote>"I know where you live—<i><b>where Satan has his throne</b></i>. Yet you remain true to my name. <i><b>You did not renounce your faith in Me</b>,</i> not even in the days of <i><b>Antipas, my faithful witness</b></i>, <i>who was put to death in your city</i>—<b><i>where Satan lives</i></b>." (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%202:13&version=NIV" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Revelation 2:13</a>). <br /></blockquote><p>Jesus makes four statements in his message about the city of Pergamum and the Christians who lived there:</p><p></p><blockquote>1. Satan had his throne in Pergamum during the first century A.D.<br />2. The Christians in Pergamum were faithful to Jesus Christ.<br />3. Antipas, a Christian living Pergamum, stayed faithful even when dying a martyr's death.<br />4. Satan <i>lived</i> in Pergamum during these difficult days.</blockquote><p>Jesus' statements are not from a conspiracist; they come from the Creator of the world. The only way you'll understand the impact of Jesus' words is to know the history of Pergamum, and thus, to understand the meaning of Satan's throne, who Antipas was, and why Antipas lost his life as a Christian martyr in Pergamum. </p><p><b>The Throne of Satan</b></p><p>The throne of Satan in Pergamum was a literal throne that figuratively represented the seat of Satan's influence in the ancient world.</p><p>The throne of Satan, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/the-pergamon-altars-long-and-winding-road-to-berlin/g-36335734" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">excavated in Pergamum in 1878 AD</a>, now sits in the <a href="https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/pergamonmuseum/home/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pergamonmuseum</a> in Berlin, Germany. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicBplzEckjpzwMEOxovq_jpP2cVh9rSxmh73wfAwcENJav7oAg_m5ZzSh2ouWkurJTwTTYL6bMjVKTQFkvHDi9qZXG6TFNm_E-qun2OChW5Mk7pEpOCxZSGbE1F8dmPaFXKqzO/s600/Image+of+Pergamon+throne.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicBplzEckjpzwMEOxovq_jpP2cVh9rSxmh73wfAwcENJav7oAg_m5ZzSh2ouWkurJTwTTYL6bMjVKTQFkvHDi9qZXG6TFNm_E-qun2OChW5Mk7pEpOCxZSGbE1F8dmPaFXKqzO/w640-h426/Image+of+Pergamon+throne.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>This throne was the Temple of <b>Zeus Soter </b>(Savior) in Pergamum, and it was the center of Emperor worship during the days of Jesus.</p><p>What is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_cult" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Emperor worship</a>? </p><p><i>It is the belief that the state or the head of state </i>(e.g., Emperor, King, President, Dictator, etc.) <i>should be obeyed, revered, and even worshiped. </i></p><p>At the Temple of Zeus Soter in Pergamum, the people express their allegiance to the Emperor, believing that the state was their source of prosperity, security, and safety. </p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB44OB956OoF-iOGGQfDMebbvEEuPHysMjweA85BcT-q1Ag_LUmEAmhlObJZWMH9w9ucigB6tOBPyBTnzr4wdV72f41LeL-xOR2mmhL5VQfKxKa4K6WZ5LPbVX4qvl-YJxievI/s1536/Altar+in+Foreground.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1536" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB44OB956OoF-iOGGQfDMebbvEEuPHysMjweA85BcT-q1Ag_LUmEAmhlObJZWMH9w9ucigB6tOBPyBTnzr4wdV72f41LeL-xOR2mmhL5VQfKxKa4K6WZ5LPbVX4qvl-YJxievI/s320/Altar+in+Foreground.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ancient Pergamum and the Throne of Satan</td></tr></tbody></table>Near the "throne of Satan" in Pergamum was the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asclepeion" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">asclepeion</a> or <i>"the healing center" </i>for the people. The peoples' <a href="https://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Asklepios.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">worship of Asclepius</a>, the god of medicine, was as crucial as their state worship. Citizens flocked to Pergamum to express their obedience to the state and receive an opportunity to be healed of their diseases at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asclepieion">Asclepieia</a>.<p></p><p>Here's how it worked.</p><p>After the sick and diseased visited the Temple of Zeus Soter and expressed their trust in the Emperor, they moved to the healing center to receive their treatment. </p><p>Ritual purifications would be followed by offerings to Asclepius according to one's income.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbNGuwBD4vZRvWwkMxe3ZH-X3xy2isQWgHs0NFv7-kX9DLXVRw3Yz2uX0kjaBbCw8PogqD_RObwoMhbDzJr4q_FLimHRCPGK11XHoPZgoPHfUuQfIxKmOfzGCtTU7atVdi8LOC/s2048/World+Health+Organization.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1207" data-original-width="2048" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbNGuwBD4vZRvWwkMxe3ZH-X3xy2isQWgHs0NFv7-kX9DLXVRw3Yz2uX0kjaBbCw8PogqD_RObwoMhbDzJr4q_FLimHRCPGK11XHoPZgoPHfUuQfIxKmOfzGCtTU7atVdi8LOC/s320/World+Health+Organization.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The supplicant would then spend the night in the asclepeion. A particular type of non-venomous snake was often used in the Asclepius' healing rituals. These snakes— the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesculapian_Snake">Aesculapian snakes</a> — slithered around freely on the floor in the dormitories while the sick and injured slept. <p></p><p>Today, the Aesculapian snake is often represented in medical logos, including the <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">American Medical Association</a> and the <a href="https://www.who.int/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">World Health Organization</a>. </p><p>The people of Pergamum were not stupid. They had a massive library in the city, second only to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the great library in Alexandria, Egypt.</a> They were wealthy, educated, and at peace. The "throne of Satan" was where the people expressed their belief that their security, prosperity, and safety were due to the Emperor and the state. </p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_UskWeF6d8MnqvDBAI4ISo_WQvea8BPcyRd6d7r_GbfMKHeYPZ5YjKOhlijC35O_JU3R8zgiqKFkxlSsuRqYLds7I_D4mjrImLaa6rmoP207z6BTu76jbVt__6yDt6ryRjm6/s901/Temple+and+Arena+at+Pergamon.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="901" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_UskWeF6d8MnqvDBAI4ISo_WQvea8BPcyRd6d7r_GbfMKHeYPZ5YjKOhlijC35O_JU3R8zgiqKFkxlSsuRqYLds7I_D4mjrImLaa6rmoP207z6BTu76jbVt__6yDt6ryRjm6/s320/Temple+and+Arena+at+Pergamon.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo of Satan's throne before removal to Berlin</td></tr></tbody></table>There was a physician in Pergamum, however, who believed differently. His name was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipas_of_Pergamum" target="_blank">Antipas</a>. He spread his belief that Jesus alone is the Savior of the world and that everyone's trust should be placed in Him for their security, prosperity, and safety. Antipas practiced medicine, but he believed one's trust should be in God, not the state or even the medical treatment at the Aesculapian. <p></p><p>The cult of Aesculapians, <i>who formed the members of the medical establishment, </i>accused Antipas of disloyalty to Caesar. Upon being asked to deny Jesus and express his belief in the state's power to heal and protect the people, Antipas refused. The medical establishment condemned Antipas to death, believing him to be a danger to the state. </p><p>State officials placed Antipas alive inside a hollow brass container shaped in the form of the bull. They filled the brass bull with water and set it over a blazing fire, boiling Antipas to death. </p><p>The beliefs held by the Pergamum people have as much popularity today as they did in Jesus' day. Citizens depend on the state. The state demands obedience from citizens, especially in communist states like China or the Soviet Union. The founders of these collective states, Mao and Lenin respectively, were each elevated to godlike status by citizens, similar to the veneration of ancient emperors by the citizens of the Roman Empire</p><p>More and more Americans are expressing their trust in, and dependence upon, the government. In pseudo-intellectualism, American citizens ridicule the ancients for their belief in the "gods," but these same American citizens adhere to similar beliefs. Acquiescence to forced injections by government mandate is similar to the ancient worship of the Emperor and Asclepius. In our day, anyone who expressed a belief that the state or state health departments do not know best is persecuted. In some cases in the Chinese and Russian collectivist states, dissidents are treated like Antipas in Pergamum. </p><p>In <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U6T0DSO/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Marx and Satan</a>, a short book by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wurmbrand" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Richard Wurmbrand</a>, the author shows how Lenin's Tomb expresses a denial of the existence of God and encourages faith in the state, just like at Pergamum. Wurmbrand writes: </p><blockquote><p>"Architect Stjusev, who built Lenin’s tomb, took the Pergamos altar as the project prototype. This was in 1924. It’s a known fact that Stjusev received all the needed information from Frederic Paulsen – an acknowledged authority in archaeology." (Richard Wurmbrand, <i>Marx and Satan)</i>.</p></blockquote><p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVcH2eAJeHmbVUxDWSyLRLM3UcxFYgQdQTntd95qVvsqGgrjrlL6AdTDlcY_rL9Ruagt5nn8uOIwBH57Z7MeJ84AuD_HfZlk3ZT4fj09qir3L9U2DBRfti-MxABiveka7YGyRi/s784/Lenins-Tomb-Red-Square.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="784" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVcH2eAJeHmbVUxDWSyLRLM3UcxFYgQdQTntd95qVvsqGgrjrlL6AdTDlcY_rL9Ruagt5nn8uOIwBH57Z7MeJ84AuD_HfZlk3ZT4fj09qir3L9U2DBRfti-MxABiveka7YGyRi/w640-h340/Lenins-Tomb-Red-Square.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lenin's Tomb in Red Square, Moscow, an intentional replica of the Throne of Satan, Pergamum. </td></tr></tbody></table><p>Billy Graham once called communism "The religion of the devil."</p>He's correct. The throne of Satan - or the seat of Satan - is figuratively any city, state, or country where citizens believe the government is the source of their security, safety, and prosperity.<br /><br />My principled opposition to forced therapeutic shots for Covid-19 is based on the history of Pergamum, the faithful witness of Antipas, as he sought to remind people that only Jesus Christ is Savior and Protector of this world. <br /><br />I'm not against medicine or vaccines, and any rational person who says I am is lying to advance their agenda. <br /><br />I am against any medication that the government mandates all its citizens to take. I'm against it because I will never let the government become God in my life, and I will warn people of the dangers of allowing the government to believe they are God. <br /></div><br />If you don't think a powerful state will one day put people to death for failure to comply with their mandates, you need to study history. As Benjamin Franklin once said, "<i>Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.</i><br /><br />Do as you please in making personal medical decisions. Take any shot or medicine that you desire for the benefit of yourself and your family. However, trust the faithful Savior and not the totalitarian state. Place your faith in the protection of God and not the provision of the government.<br /><br />Please respect that some of us have a principled opposition to government-mandated forced injections because we know a great deal about Antipas and Pergamum. <br /><br />Jesus has risen from the dead. He is Savior and Lord, the King of kings. <br /><br />Lenin remains in his tomb. Satan's throne loses in the end. Never trust the state. Never give an inch. Do as you please, but respect those who resist the throne of Satan for the good of the world.<br /><br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZHNU9J1mS3L2sTpJHUHS9WXdveh1vWDwX5WtfO2nUYwtf16so0iy1e_CjJFUFaCIdTPk236TMc6UtsZeRDAM3w800pC8F6UKAmDiGWUPNQIfitU52R_4zdoSAOHlROw1pfbsU/w640-h429/Lenin%2527s+Tomb+in+State.JPG" /><br /><br /><br /><br />Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com122tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-68515846171910914142021-10-20T07:59:00.006-05:002024-03-08T13:16:19.895-06:00Work, Government Checks, Socialism, and Idleness"For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “<b>The one who is <i>unwilling to work </i>shall not eat.</b>" We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to <b><i>se</i><i>ttle down and earn the food they eat.</i></b>" (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Thessalonians%203%3A10-12&version=NIV" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">II Thess. 3:10-12</a>)<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_wFazorfzecR0KhB6RKZtLbOMNUKGybJy12p0EFkkAa2a8INnWDY_qFe_RHBTjQ0SM-BjmhBNqjb9aFnxPZmkzYZzEJrA5HKMOx6ZqyD6QWFYkKWOA89Zhv5IwVfs07eZD6W7/s1200/Work.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_wFazorfzecR0KhB6RKZtLbOMNUKGybJy12p0EFkkAa2a8INnWDY_qFe_RHBTjQ0SM-BjmhBNqjb9aFnxPZmkzYZzEJrA5HKMOx6ZqyD6QWFYkKWOA89Zhv5IwVfs07eZD6W7/w640-h360/Work.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><div>The Bible is amazingly practical. Though the apocalyptic prophecies of Daniel in the Old Testament can seem at first obscure and complex, by the time you come to the ageless principles of Paul in the New Testament, the Bible leaps off the page with wisdom for individuals and societies</div><div><br /></div><div>Let's take a look at the concept of<i> work or labor from the Bible's perspective </i>and compare it to what "We the People" have allowed our government to do in violation of biblical principles. </div><div><br /></div><div>Restaurants like this <a href="https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/10/18/coalfire-pizza-in-west-town-closes-temporarily-because-of-staffing-shortages/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">pizzeria in Chicago are closing</a> due to a shortage of help. National supply lines are choked for <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/19/economy/trucking-short-drivers/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">a lack of truck drivers</a> (80,000 are needed). Unemployment is low because people are choosing not to work <i>because they don't have to work. </i>The United States government has created a massive problem by ignoring one of the basic principles in God's Word. </div><div><br /></div><div>If a man will not work, <i>he should not eat.</i> </div><div><br /></div><div>The United States government is giving people money so that they can eat <i>without</i> working. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you feel the government <i>should be giving people monthly income, </i>then maybe your ears have grown as soft to the LORD'S Word as the hands of men have grown soft to laborious work. When a nation removes God from its governance, chaos comes to its culture. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Three examples: </b></div><div><br /></div><div>1. Last week I met with a sweet, Christian grandmother who needed help with the Department of Human Services. She was caring for her grandchildren. "Where are their parents?" I asked. She explained that the mom and dad are living in a tent, smoking dope and meth, drinking alcohol, and playing games on their phones. "What?" I said. "Are they drug dealers?" No, explained the grandmother. They don't need to work because the government gives them "child tax credits every month" as well as "unemployment checks." They spend the money on their addictions. I was stunned. I live in the heart of conservative Oklahoma. If that's happening in our city, I guarantee you it is happening all over the United States. </div><div><br /></div><div>2. The non-profit where I work is looking to hire cooks for our kitchen. We have had over 20 people apply, but nobody hired. I asked our management staff, "Why?" They explained to me that at the end of the interview, the interviewee that they "sign this government form to prove that I came in for this interview." My staff could tell I was puzzled by this explanation, so they continued. "They don't really want a job. They just want to continue receiving unemployment. The government says as long as they go in for an interview and turn in the documentation that proves it, they'll continue to receive unemployment. It doesn't make any difference if they get a job or not, the government keeps paying them because 'They are trying to get a job.'" Unbelievable. </div><div><br /></div><div>3. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnmauldin/2020/09/30/to-50-trillion-debt-and-beyond/?sh=2698051c2553" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Forbes magazine says that the United States</a> is on the fast road to <b>50 TRILLION DOLLARS IN DEBT</b>. That is an incomprehensible number. It is not repayable. The United States is bankrupt and will default on its obligations. It's not a matter of IF, but only WHEN. We are like the family who doesn't care how much they spend, they intend to charge the credit cards to the max and then commit suicide. It's shocking how little "We the People" care about the financial suicide of our country. All because we ignore the biblical principles - "If a man will not work, he will not eat."</div><div><br /></div><div>Don't get me wrong. We should all desire to help the poor. We should work to provide shelter for the needy. We ought to do all we can to make our city a better place. But everyone who benefits from the food and shelter provided should work for it. Pick up trash. Paint a building. Move some dirt. Deliver some supplies. Do something, don't just sit there and smoke weed. </div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe you'll remember the biblical principle "If a man will not work, he should not eat" with a visual of our nation's debt.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2v8ASina4I2pn19m_QJcD_09h8hkazJWnnA4L0PJHX7xdeLQmga0An16_bfB5vxL-eWnzEDb2GEZ4rPoGlU9Lzqseo_kTt8gcqW0SL4qw6CMifXoYQ7nYbAep18w74C3YFu-c/s526/100+dollars.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="215" data-original-width="526" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2v8ASina4I2pn19m_QJcD_09h8hkazJWnnA4L0PJHX7xdeLQmga0An16_bfB5vxL-eWnzEDb2GEZ4rPoGlU9Lzqseo_kTt8gcqW0SL4qw6CMifXoYQ7nYbAep18w74C3YFu-c/w640-h262/100+dollars.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div style="text-align: center;">One hundred dollars</div><br /><br /> </td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtm5peCYQRWU0l0BL_nLI_o0xwmRn6d2djhT6w41olIguDrISJIIZbs6Es85AH4kJ9I3rICRkE6lnht6Q6v-DZTRnI5WT-D4HUWOu7-K4FCA-a6LG9brxy2XQLspBYZZlucPIv/s733/A+Million+Dollars.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtm5peCYQRWU0l0BL_nLI_o0xwmRn6d2djhT6w41olIguDrISJIIZbs6Es85AH4kJ9I3rICRkE6lnht6Q6v-DZTRnI5WT-D4HUWOu7-K4FCA-a6LG9brxy2XQLspBYZZlucPIv/w640-h442/A+Million+Dollars.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One Million dollars</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKcna1IW30FxIkpp_rATShNXrd_xWjNMEY7COY4zcDU-zaE-0YeOdM6hvvwTYMAseYfr77EEDex7mTgJcjT2-csPE9u-H6yU8c_muA5bzNs_RluAJCqSpraraRQxv9ks_wpRrL/s733/One+Billion+Dollars.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="733" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKcna1IW30FxIkpp_rATShNXrd_xWjNMEY7COY4zcDU-zaE-0YeOdM6hvvwTYMAseYfr77EEDex7mTgJcjT2-csPE9u-H6yU8c_muA5bzNs_RluAJCqSpraraRQxv9ks_wpRrL/w640-h496/One+Billion+Dollars.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One Billion dollars</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnCwYVyuXhQpfUyVzShslqK_JfaFeyF5P0egsZGSpPW20fvOe_nHghrnzgit4M2QaRgJ2w4A8Q3Ub_FAFzgEjpqzvS5YUnVUQTn5lBd2hBwpQMVR1jFChO0O2YkJhzVps-W8Eg/s739/One+Trillion+Dollars.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="739" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnCwYVyuXhQpfUyVzShslqK_JfaFeyF5P0egsZGSpPW20fvOe_nHghrnzgit4M2QaRgJ2w4A8Q3Ub_FAFzgEjpqzvS5YUnVUQTn5lBd2hBwpQMVR1jFChO0O2YkJhzVps-W8Eg/w640-h414/One+Trillion+Dollars.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div><div><br /></div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-20012505172512295682021-10-13T13:25:00.025-05:002023-09-14T08:53:12.539-05:00#LastTrainToWuhan and My Resistance to Tyranny<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwSWKDI9IoPN2Mymwp1guSibRSGH8lTDqiExZwlUHZYcqkXR-J9HRyUQQQGf6gBasgrKzx2XyJ9pwTCrGQhj8tHeSwZA-3qUJavH9aqHFuJGpUPGiuE2KfwVxGqIRPnje7scMg/s1369/Last+Train+to+Wuhan+II.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1369" data-original-width="910" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwSWKDI9IoPN2Mymwp1guSibRSGH8lTDqiExZwlUHZYcqkXR-J9HRyUQQQGf6gBasgrKzx2XyJ9pwTCrGQhj8tHeSwZA-3qUJavH9aqHFuJGpUPGiuE2KfwVxGqIRPnje7scMg/s320/Last+Train+to+Wuhan+II.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>Perspective is personal. When someone loses a loved one to the nasty disease called Covid-19, that someone is offended when I speak out against <i>mandatory </i>vaccines. "Why?" they ask. "Why do you show such a lack of compassion for those families who've lost family members? Just take the shot! That's the Christian thing to do."<div><br /></div><div>Perspective. </div><div><br /></div><div>This post is my perspective. It serves as an explanation to my friends, family members, and acquaintances for why I write against <i>forced </i>mandatory vaccinations. </div><div><br /></div><div>Our world is descending into tyranny. Governments, led by China, including Australia, Canada, and the United States, are beginning to oppress their citizens. </div><div><br /></div><div>Tyranny is <i><a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=definition+of+tyranny&oq=definition+of+tyranny&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i512l5j0i22i30l4.2507j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">defined</a></i> as <i>"the cruel or oppressive rule of governments."</i> Tyranny is evil. People of courage and conviction must stand up and speak up. </div><div><br /></div><div>I've acquired immunity against Covid-19 naturally. I was infected with the highly transmissible <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sars Cov-2 virus</a> in 2020. My infection resulted in the illness called Covid-19. I recovered nicely, and my disease recovered immunity is sufficient. Even when American government authorities mandate or coerce, I will not take a therapeutic shot for Covid-19. </div><div><br /></div><div>I object to taking any Covid-19 shot for both scientific and political reasons. </div><div><br /></div>First, I refuse the shot because of a potential dysfunctional response within my now robust immune system. The potential dysfunctional response is called a <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">cytokine storm</a>. The scientific data on<a href="https://www.omicsonline.org/peer-reviewed/cytokine-storm-response-to-covid19-vaccinations-114798.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> how <i>often </i>a cytokine storm </a>is created after receiving a Covid-19 shot is limited, but when the body's immune system enters a <i>cytokine storm state</i> - induced either naturally by contracting Covid-19 or artificially by vaccination - the body is at risk of severe lung inflammation, stroke, heart attack, and blood-brain membrane breaches. The scientific risk/benefit ratio of taking a Covid-19 therapeutic shot for someone who has recovered from Covid-19 is high risk and low benefit. <a href="https://www.omicsonline.org/peer-reviewed/cytokine-storm-response-to-covid19-vaccinations-114798.html" target="_blank">I know of what I speak</a>. <br /><br />Second, I refuse to take the Covid-19 shot to fight against America's descent into tyranny. I refuse for my grandchildren's sake. It is best for future generations of Americans if they receive a country from their forefathers where people are free to make their own informed medical decisions and not a country where the government makes those decisions for its citizens.<br /><br />For those who object and say, "But you're killing Americans!" I respond, "On the contrary, I am saving America."<div><br />Perspective.<br /><div> <br />In Isaiah 54, God's people had spent years of enslavement under the tyrannical and oppressive rule of the Babylonians. This chapter, a poem of hope in the Hebrew language, contains a promise from the LORD regarding the future of His people after He delivers them from their captivity (see <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+54%3A13-15&version=ISV" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Isaiah 54:13-14</a>).<blockquote><div>"Then all your children will be taught by the LORD, and great will be your children’s prosperity. In righteousness you’ll be established; <br /><br /><b>You will be far from tyranny</b>, for you won’t be afraid You will be far from terror, for it won’t come near you.<br /><br />Watch! If anyone does attack you, it will not be from Me; whoever may attack you will fall because of you."<br /></div></blockquote><p>For two generations, America's children have not been taught of the LORD. Our culture celebrates sexual immorality instead of following God's commands of morality. We talk more about those things that entertain us than we do God's Word that should constrain us. As a result, the government has become our God, our comfort has turned from our Savior to our sins, and we take for granted individual liberty and are blind to government tyranny. </p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>What Really Happened in Wuhan</b></h4><p>Australian award-winning investigative journalist Sharri Markson recently published her book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B094GHJK9L/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">What Really Happened in Wuhan</a>. There is no question mark in the title. She proves how Sars-Cov-2 came from a Chinese Communist Party biological warfare laboratory in Wuhan, China, one of only two such laboratories in the People's Republic of China. The United States has one such laboratory at <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/virus-biological-us-army-weapons-fort-detrick-leak-ebola-anthrax-smallpox-ricin-a9042641.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fort Detrick, Maryland</a>. </p><p>Research conducted in the <a href="http://english.whiov.cas.cn/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wuhan Institute of Virology</a> by Chinese scientists - research <i><a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/09/09/covid-origins-gain-of-function-research/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">funded by American government grant dollars</a></i> - sought information about animal coronaviruses and "<i>gain of function."</i> In other words, Chinese scientists sought to turn animal coronaviruses into highly transmissible human coronaviruses. Sars-Cov-2 is evidence that they succeeded. Whether the release of Sars-Cov-2 from Wuhan, China was intentional or accidental <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/opinion/2021/03/22/why-covid-lab-leak-theory-wuhan-shouldnt-dismissed-column/4765985001/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">has yet to be determined</a> by investigators. </p><p>When Covid-19 broke out in China in November of 2019, the Chinese government began covering up the accumulating death toll in Wuhan. The tyrannical and oppressive Communist government of China (CCP) began lying to the world. <i>"This new virus cannot be spread by human contact. We have this under control." </i></p><p>The Chinese Communist government was lying. All the while crying, "Peace, peace!" the CCP sent planes worldwide, full of infected Chinese citizens from Wuhan. Furthermore, the CCP kidnapped and removed from society any Chinese person who dared to stand up and speak out about what was happening in Wuhan. </p><p>Over 1,000 Chinese attorneys, journalists, scientists, and citizens who spoke out against their government's lies and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chairman Xi </a>Jinping's attempt to cover up the biological catastrophe in Wuhan have <i>"disappeared."</i></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>The Last Train to Wuhan</b></h4><p>In Chapter 6, entitled <i>The Last Train to Wuhan</i>, investigative journalist Sharri Markson describes what happened to a young attorney named Chen Quishi. On January 24, 2020, Chen caught the last (empty) train TO Wuhan (not away from Wuhan) in an attempt to reveal to the world what was really happening in that city.</p><p>The 34-year old arrived in Wuhan on the night of January 24, 2020, after the five-hour train ride. He immediately began going to the hospitals and documenting (filming) with his iPhone the Chinese dead and dying in emergency rooms and surrounding streets. At that time, the Chinese government said they had "everything under control," and nobody was dying. In reality, thousands were dying and the hospital system was on the verge of collapse. </p><p>Attorney Chen Quish went back to his hotel to upload the video to YouTube. Over 300,000 people had FLED Wuhan by January 24.2020. Chen Quish, by himself, went INTO Wuhan on January 24, 2020. He stared into the camera as he explained why he was doing what he was doing. </p><p></p><blockquote>"Why do I come here? I took the last high-speed train to Wuhan so that you could know the truth. If, unfortunately, I become infected, I will accept my fate. I'd rather die in the city than flee... it is the cover-up of the truth and<b style="font-style: italic;"> the block of information </b>that leads to outbreaks. We can and should allow the news and information to be spoken out and spread. If we spread the news and information faster than the virus, then we can win this war." </blockquote><p>Chen Quish's original video has been viewed more than 2 million times. </p><p>Chen continued his work in Wuhan, giving as much information to the world as possible. He believed that China's existential quality of life is freedom from government tyrannical attempts to control the narrative. </p><p>Unfortunately, after his first 41-minute video on January 25, 2020, the Chinese police began looking for Chen Quish. </p><p>In his last video, an emotional Chen Quishi sits on a bed in a small hotel room, with ruffled hair and sunlight streaming in. He stares at the camera and says: </p><p></p><blockquote>"I'm scared. I have the virus in front of me. Behind me is China's law enforcement. If I am still alive in this city, I will continue reporting." </blockquote><p></p><p>Fighting back the tears, Quishi clenches his fist and points one finger at the camera. </p><p></p><blockquote>"I'm not scared of death. You think I'm scared of you, Chinese Communist Party?" </blockquote><p>One week later, Quish disappears. For over 600 days, he has been missing. The Chinese government captured him, imprisoned him, and tortured him. In late September 2021, in response to Chapter 6 of <i>What Really Happened in Wuhan, </i>the CCP <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-54277439#:~:text=Chen%20Qiushi%3A%20Chinese%20journalist%20missing%20since%20February%20'under%20state%20supervision',-24%20September%202020&text=A%20Chinese%20citizen%20journalist%20who,found%2C%20a%20friend%20has%20said." rel="nofollow" target="_blank">released a report that Chen Quish was alive</a> - but in government CCP custody. <i> </i>Australia's investigative journalist <i>S</i>hari Markson may have saved Quish's life with her book because it forced the CCP to "<a href="https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/save+face" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">save face.</a>" Other Chinese citizens may not be as fortunate as Chen Quish.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>Chinese Journalist Li Zehua </b></h4><p>A Chinese reporter named Li Zehua watched the YouTube videos of Chen Quish. He traveled to Wuhan, risking his own life, to find Chen Quish. </p><p>In one of the videos that Li Zehua posted on YouTube, he says, <i>"I'm more scared filming in Wuhan than I was reporting from North Korea."</i></p><p>Zuhua sets out with his GoPro and Sony camera, traveling the deserted streets of Wuhan, China, looking for Chen Quish. He goes to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to ask some questions. That trip sealed his fate.</p><p>On February 26, 2020, while filming LIVE on YouTube, he posted an "SOS" video, capturing Chinese police chasing him. He manages to escape and shuts off the LIVE stream, only to begin filming in a dark hotel room. With lights off and cameras rolling, reporter Li Zehua describes the danger from Chinese government forces. </p><p>Suddenly, you can hear the <i>bang </i>of police knocking on the hotel door. Zuhua is silent. The banging continues. Eventually, the police gain entrance to the room. Zuhua is taken. The LIVE stream stops. </p><p>Reporter Li Zehua has been missing for nearly two years. </p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>Chinese Businessman Fang Bin</b></h4><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Like attorney Chen Quishi and reporter Li Zehua, Chinese textile businessman Fang Bin made his way to Wuhan to tell the world what was happening. </div><div><br /></div><div>Wearing just a mask, Fang Bin bravely enters hospitals and overcrowded wards, filming coronavirus victims in January 2020, when the Chinese and American health officials said, "There is nothing to worry about."</div><div><br /></div><div>On February 2, 2020, Chinese police confiscated Bin's laptop and took him in for interrogation. After being released, Mr. Bin records his last LIVE video for YouTube. His video lasts just 12 seconds and it is difficult to watch. </div><div><br /></div><div>Mr. Bin shows a roll of paper with eight Chinese characters that translated into English: </div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>"Let all citizens resist! Power to the people." </blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>Chinese businessman Fang Bin disappeared and has not been heard from since. </div><div><br /></div><div>These are three of over 1,000 stories that could be told of those resisting the tyranny of the Chinese government. <i>Resistance to tyranny </i>comes at a heavy cost, but the collective payment from brave, courageous men and women purchases the priceless product of individual liberty for their children.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>The American Government and Tyranny</b></h4><div><b><br /></b></div><div>I am a follower of Jesus the Anointed One. I belong to the Kingdom that will never end and cannot be shaken (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2012%3A18-29&version=ESV" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hebrews 12:18-29</a>). I am a citizen of the United States of America, but my allegiance is to Christ <i>first.</i> My country comes <i>second</i>, after the LORD. </div><div><br /></div><div>I will resist the incredible overreach of the government of the United States of America with all my power. I will never accept tyranny over liberty. I owe it to Christ who sets people free and to my fellow citizens who must remain free. </div><div><br /></div><div>My resistance to tyranny and my willingness to speak up and speak out is inspired by people like Chen Quish, Li Zehua, and Fang Bin, not to mention the hundreds of others who have "disappeared" for opposing the Chinese Communist Party's official narrative.</div><div><br /></div><div>The United States government is becoming more and more like the CCP. I am neither afraid of death nor the government. </div><div><br /></div><div>You may not understand how I think, but LORD willing, you will one day thank me for writing what I write, doing what I do, and feeling what I feel.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you begin someday to understand, it will mean that tyranny is being defeated. </div><div><br /></div><div>Soli Deo Gloria.</div><p></p><p></p></div></div>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com114tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-31929804572977343662021-10-11T13:01:00.008-05:002024-03-08T13:16:14.981-06:00Your Core Identity Illustrated by a Matryoshka Doll <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGN45IaBAtHealmx9q15QiVv3MH9V9RCz-IkEdS84JgmCiOC9ZWOx8DSbyfO4lxOKLcsGEEuF5behwqp_ib8FfrztFDFRj96OzLZRmaXw9Cxr4fSZQu86EnQI1avStW7Q9BfaJ/s2048/Matryoshka+doll+nesting.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1651" data-original-width="2048" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGN45IaBAtHealmx9q15QiVv3MH9V9RCz-IkEdS84JgmCiOC9ZWOx8DSbyfO4lxOKLcsGEEuF5behwqp_ib8FfrztFDFRj96OzLZRmaXw9Cxr4fSZQu86EnQI1avStW7Q9BfaJ/s320/Matryoshka+doll+nesting.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>My mother has been in a conversation with a friend about <i>"dying to self"</i> and what it practically means in the Christian's life. She sent me an email this morning that sparked some thoughts on this excellent subject. </div><div><br /></div>The concept of <i>dying to self</i> is based on the teachings of Jesus and the early Apostles. Here are three examples of what they said:<blockquote><div>"For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, <i>but whoever loses their life for Me will save it</i>. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?" (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%209%3A24-25&version=NIV">Luke 9:24-25</a>)<br /><br /></div></blockquote><blockquote><div>Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple <i>must deny themselves and take up their cross </i>and follow Me." (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+16%3A24&version=NIV">Matthew 16:24</a>).<br /><br />Paul wrote, "I<i> have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live</i>, but <i>Christ lives in me</i>. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+2%3A20&version=NIV">Galatians 2:20</a>)</div></blockquote><p>In order to understand the very important concept of "dying to self," the definition of <i>"self"</i> is critical. </p><p>Think of yourself and your identity in terms of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matryoshka_doll" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Russian matryoshka doll</a>. This doll is also known as a "nesting doll." It is a set of hand-painted wooden dolls that fit inside one another, each one inside the other until you come to the inner-most <i>matryoshka </i>doll that is <i>completely whole and cannot be broken. </i></p><p>This inner-most doll could be compared to your true personhood. It is "<i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Happiness-Doesnt-Just-Happen-Circumcstances-ebook/dp/B01ES10EXE/ref=sr_1_13?dchild=1&keywords=wade+burleson&qid=1633971229&sr=8-13" target="_blank">who I am by the grace of God</a></i>."</p><p> This is the "<i>you" </i>that is eternal. This is is <i>your identity</i> as God sees you in Christ (<i>accepted</i> by Him, <i>loved</i> by Him, <i>cherished </i>by Him, <i>forgiven</i> by Him, <i>rewarded</i> by Him, etc.). This is your true self. This is who the Father has made you by His work through the birth, life, death, and resurrection of your Savior and Lord, Jesus the Anointed One.</p><p>You don't <i>die</i> to this self. Your goal is to <i>discover</i> this inner-most person. This is your identity through God's grace. To discover this person, you must continually<i> "<b>grow</b> in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ"</i> (<a href="https://biblehub.com/2_peter/3-18.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">II Peter 3:18</a>). </p><p>All of us must die to the outer shells of self for this discovery to occur. The outer <i>matryoshka </i>dolls<i> </i>hide what is whole and complete about us. The outer shells must either be broken, or removed, or separated for us to discover our true identity. We could call those outer <i>matryoshka </i>dolls <i>ego</i> shells. To discover my true self - that is, <i>who I am by the grace of God</i> - these outer "ego shell dolls" must die. For example:</p><p></p><blockquote><p><b>1</b>.<b> My <i>Facebook</i> outer shell of self.</b> <i>This is the person I want to project. </i>This is the part of me that is more concerned with how others perceive me than what God says about me. <i><b>Until I die to controlling what others say about me</b></i>, think about me, or perceive me, I'll never discover my true self that the Father has created for me. In other words, resting in the nesting of the inner-person God has made can't happen if I'm always concerned with the paint of my outer shell.</p></blockquote><p></p><blockquote><b>2. My <i>Friends </i>inner<i> </i>shell of self. </b><i>This is person I want to protect</i>. Friends are those who know you better than acquaintances<i>. </i>These are the ones who get a peek into the struggles of my life, and they remain my friend. Treasured friendships are therefore protected, because in a way, friendships protect me. But in time, <i>I must be willing to die even to my friendships</i> to discover my true identity. For example, Jesus warned us that when He begins to transform us, sometimes even our friends will turn against us. Friends want someone like them, and if our friends aren't in tune with Christ the way that we are becoming, then they won't be in tune with us. One of the most remarkable ways to measure our comprehension of who we are by the grace of God is to see how much our closest friends love, respect, and honor Christ. If they don't, we must set them aside as an impediment to discovering our true self.</blockquote><p></p><blockquote><b>3. My </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">Family</i><b> deeper shell of self. </b><i>This is the person I want to respect</i><b>. </b>We so badly want our family of origin to be whole and complete. All of us want family happiness and wholeness. Our family of origin is important because it gives us our first memories, our first relationships, our first formations of person. Unfortunately, family trust in our families of origin is often broken. The wounds on this shell of self are deep and difficult to repair. When events occur that lead to "family secrets," things that nobody else knows and must never know, we find this shell of ego fragile and broken. But to uncover and discover <i>my true personhood</i> - who I am by the grace of God - I must die to the need for my family of origin to be perfect and whole. God is always teaching His children that personal and eternal identity never is derived from divorce, abuse, addictions, or familial relational failures. That shell is real, but it is temporary. Who I am is deeper. </blockquote><p></p><blockquote><b>4. My <i>Father's</i> handiwork of grace. </b><i>This is the person I must learn to accept. </i>This is my true self. Or as the song says, "This is me." <i>This who I am<b> in Christ</b> by the grace of God</i>. I am forgiven, loved, accepted, guided, protected, blessed, and cherished by HIM who is my very life. This is my true self, my true identity. No matter what others say of me, do to me, or think of me. It is who I am as a person, and it is all the doing of God in His love for me through His Son, my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. </blockquote>Only when the outer dolls are opened, or in a sense, <i>broken</i>, can this inner doll be discovered. In this analogy, until I die to the shells of ego, <i>the person that is whole, perfect, and complete</i> will never be discovered. <b>My true self is not on God’s agenda to be broken, put to death, or extinguished.</b><i> Who I am by God's grace is to be uncovered and revealed</i>.<p></p><p>So next time you find yourself going through a deep and hurtful family problem, or the next time you find yourself losing a friendship, or the next time you discover some pretty bad things that were said about you on Facebook, social media, or through gossip at a church dinner party, remember this:</p><blockquote><p>God is in the business of removing our outer <i>matryoshkas</i> to reveal the inner beauty of who He has made us by His grace, for His glory, and our eternal good. </p></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3w7OieeAq5XAl0UWORpyHtJ-DXYslDRIZv7f6BJi-33vz2m0K6tyA3qRWpSo9yy_o3AlI2Ve4z81S60D3oZFZnJ6sfk3RzpEu5HolLaS6jmoXw4OYKauenjBSlDM_sRP7WZ9v/s600/Matryoshka+doll+nesting+II.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3w7OieeAq5XAl0UWORpyHtJ-DXYslDRIZv7f6BJi-33vz2m0K6tyA3qRWpSo9yy_o3AlI2Ve4z81S60D3oZFZnJ6sfk3RzpEu5HolLaS6jmoXw4OYKauenjBSlDM_sRP7WZ9v/s320/Matryoshka+doll+nesting+II.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p></p><p></p>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-73366284551507347912021-10-06T16:34:00.005-05:002024-03-08T13:16:20.322-06:00Why a Prophet Is Not Welcome in His Home Town <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Dvh4VUtputBrHiiwnDJxd6ayDnpr6dwNeLrk9bsFEfby0B9teqXeo9nuOUsUVt15XHQWVQrQROKXpoQAmRuEivdU2NuX7g6Td7dYniMOkhYylfeQ2Tjbdbn1TpHaQPyxs6a9/s1000/prophet.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="669" data-original-width="1000" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Dvh4VUtputBrHiiwnDJxd6ayDnpr6dwNeLrk9bsFEfby0B9teqXeo9nuOUsUVt15XHQWVQrQROKXpoQAmRuEivdU2NuX7g6Td7dYniMOkhYylfeQ2Tjbdbn1TpHaQPyxs6a9/s320/prophet.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>A prophet is a person who <i>"speaks on behalf of the LORD." </i><p></p><p>The LORD's message throughout time has been simple and clear. He will exalt the humble who depend on Him and strike down the proud who trust in themselves (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%2016%3A18&version=KJV" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Proverbs 16:18</a>). </p><p>God sends prophets to a nation, a civilization, a city, and a family where there are people refusing to depend on Him. However, people resist the prophets, and by their resistance, they exhibit their rebellion toward God (<a href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Jeremiah/25/4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jeremiah 25:4</a>). </p>The Bible tells us the prophets were rejected and ridiculed because <i><b>the people determined the prophets unremarkable and deemed their proclamations uncomfortable. </b></i><div><br /></div><div>If someone is from your hometown, you're familiar with them. That familiarity often brings contempt. When a prophet sent from God is <i>from</i> your hometown, it is difficult to listen to the prophet because you're thinking, "Wait a minute! Isn't this Joseph the carpenter's boy?"</div><div><br /></div><div>God uses the prophets to jolt His people awake.</div><blockquote>I will again jolt this people awake...<br /> And the wisdom of their wise ones will fail,<br /> and <i>the intelligent know-it-alls will have no explanations</i>.<br /><br /><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Isaiah 29:14 - <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">The Passion Translation</a></blockquote><p>God throws a monkey wrench into the plans of men that have no blueprint for trusting in God. But rather than hear the message and repent, people turn on the prophets and persecute them. </p><div>How were the prophets in the Bible persecuted by the people? They were persecuted through ridicule (<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/2%20Kings%202.23">2 Kings 2:23</a>, <a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Luke%2022.64">Luke 22:64</a>, <a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Jer%2020.7">Jer 20:7</a>); by being told to be quiet (<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Amos%202.12">Amos 2:12</a>, <a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Amos%207.13">7:13</a>); by unpleasant looks (<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Jer%201.8">Jer 1:8</a>,<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Jer%201.17">17</a>, <a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Jer%205.3">5:3</a>); through accusations and having their message reported back to the authorities (<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Jer%2018.19">Jer 18:19</a>, <a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Jer%2037.13">37:13</a>, <a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Amos%207.10">Amos 7:10</a>, <a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Jer%2020.10">Jer 20:10</a>); by being debarred from attending God's house (<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Jer%2036.5">Jer 36:5</a>); and by having their prophetic words, both spoken and written, rejected (<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Isa%2030.10">Isa 30:10</a>, <a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Micah%202.6">Micah 2:6</a>, <a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Amos%207.12">Amos 7:12</a>,<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Amos%207.16">16</a>, <a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Jer%2036.23">Jer 36:23</a>).<br /><br />Physical violence to their persons took various forms: they were placed in the stocks (<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Jer%2020.2">Jer 20:2</a>); they were kept in chains (<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Jer%2040.1">Jer 40:1</a>); they were slapped in the face (<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/1%20Kings%2022.24">1 Kings 22:24</a>); they were imprisoned in cells, dungeons, and cisterns (<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Jer%2037.15-16">Jer 37:15-16</a> & <a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Jer%2038.6">38:6</a>) in some cases just on bread and water (<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/1%20Kings%2022.27">1 Kings 22:27</a>); they were threatened with death (<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/1%20Kings%2019.1">1 Kings 19:1</a>) while others were actually put to death (<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/2%20Chron%2024.21">2 Chron 24:21</a>, <a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Jer%2026.20-23">Jer 26:20-23</a>).<br /><br />Others were killed whose names are not recorded. Jesus gives us reason to believe there were many who made the ultimate sacrifice (<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Luke%2011.50-51">Luke 11:50-51</a>).</div><div><br /></div><div>The modern equivalent of prophets is those Christians who speak up and speak out on behalf of God's Word and the veracity of its claims. </div><div><br /></div><div>People may disrespect you, call you names, assign conspiracy theories to you, and do a host of other things that are unhealthy and unprofitable for the Kingdom. </div><div><br /></div><div>Take heart. If the prophets of old were deemed worthy of persecution for their belief in the Word of God, you should deem it no strange thing to be persecuted for believing God's Word in 2021. <br /><br />The crowds greeted Jesus by saying, "A great prophet has appeared among us" (<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Luke%207.16">Luke 7:16</a>). The two disciples walking to Emmaus with Jesus would later say of Him, "He was a prophet powerful in word and deed before God and all the people" (<a href="https://biblia.com/bible/niv/Luke%2024.19">Luke 24:19</a>). </div><div><br /></div><div>Like all the prophets, Jesus was persecuted. He was ridiculed, opposed in his teaching, had his miracles attributed to the devil, was handed over to the authorities, and suffered at the hands of violent men. Finally, he was crucified and demonstrated (as men thought) to be a false messiah.</div><div><br /></div><div>In our day of easy-believism, comfortable Christianity, and theology that turns God into a Divine Santa Clause instead of King of kings, our Boss, and the LORD of our common salvation, we often fall into the temptation of fashioning God into an image of our own making. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's time for prophets to stand and proclaim the truth. The Kingdom of God is upon us, and today is "the acceptable day of deliverance." </div><div><br /></div><div>For those of you with Divine convictions and the boldness necessary to convey those convictions to the world, get busy! You may not be welcome in your hometown, but you'll have hundreds if not thousands that you will welcome into your eternal home. </div>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-46986368641302919762021-09-30T14:59:00.013-05:002024-03-08T13:16:16.898-06:00- Voluntary Consent Is the Transcendent Principle -"My view of government places trust not in one person or one party, <b><i>but in those values that transcend persons and parties</i></b>. The trust is where it belongs — in the people." (Ronald Reagan, in <a href="https://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/speeches/rhetoric/rraccept.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">his acceptance speech for the Republican Presidential Nomination,</a> June 17, 1980)<br /><blockquote>"Certain <b><i>basic principles </i></b>must be observed in order to satisfy moral, ethical, and legal concepts of medicine, including:<br /><br /><b>The <i>voluntary consent of the human subject </i>is absolutely essential.</b><br /><br />This means that the person should have the legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, <i>without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, over-reaching, or other ulterior forms of constraint or coercion</i>; and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved as to enable him to make an understanding and enlightened decision."</blockquote><blockquote><a href="https://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/online-exhibitions/special-focus/doctors-trial/nuremberg-code" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The NUREMBERG CODE</a>: FROM TRIALS OF WAR CRIMINALS BEFORE THE NUREMBERG MILITARY TRIBUNALS UNDER CONTROL COUNCIL LAW NO. 10. NUREMBERG, OCTOBER 1946–APRIL 1949. WASHINGTON, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O, 1949–1953.</blockquote><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJNdJPag_XzJaY5h0lsBgv0V0pSfu_AmR9yyzb_JoLtfX13jg71D2Pff4BrZZ7McOjsmevkV3YfjqqsBKPNwPuJMUIxaisyEYEI0QPT2sjf6P7sTXtv7li2sRihlUG6zM1Ts2O/s1200/The+Nuremburg+Hangings.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJNdJPag_XzJaY5h0lsBgv0V0pSfu_AmR9yyzb_JoLtfX13jg71D2Pff4BrZZ7McOjsmevkV3YfjqqsBKPNwPuJMUIxaisyEYEI0QPT2sjf6P7sTXtv7li2sRihlUG6zM1Ts2O/w640-h480/The+Nuremburg+Hangings.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">German physicians hung for their war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials (June 2, 1948)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>When the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Party" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">National Socialist German Workers' Party</a> (Nazi Party) came to power in the 1930s, Adolph Hitler began shutting down all public dissent over government policies. Before the Nazi takeover, Germany had 4,700 different newspapers, reflecting all shades of political opinion. The Nazi regime quickly eliminated freedom of the press in Germany, shutting down oppositional newspapers and manipulating the press. The Nazi Party's press empire rapidly expanded after 1933, as did the readership of its newspapers. The Nazi press accounted for more than 80% of the newspapers circulated in Germany by mid-1941. <i>Adolf Hitler and the Nazis succeeded in destroying Germany's vibrant and diverse newspaper culture. </i>The newly created<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reich_Ministry_of_Public_Enlightenment_and_Propaganda" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment</a> handed out daily instructions to all German newspapers, Nazi or independent, detailing how the news was reported. Any dissenter to the official narrative became an enemy of the state. (Source; <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/writing-the-news" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Holocaust National Museum</a>)</div><div><br /></div>The German people were kind, trusting, and caring people. They were told by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reich_Ministry_of_Public_Enlightenment_and_Propaganda" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment</a> and German physicians that Jews, Gypsies, and Nazi Party dissenters all carried vermin, parasites, and diseases. <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-racism">Nazi ideology</a> focused on the idea that the "blood of these weak, ignorant peoples" threatened German national prosperity. The German media, controlled by the Nazi government narrative, depicted Jews, political opponents, and other "enemies of the state" as <a href="https://perspectives.ushmm.org/item/propaganda-poster-jews-are-lice-they-cause-typhus" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">parasitic organisms that threatened the overall health</a> of the so-called <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/foundations-of-the-nazi-state">Volksgemeinschaft</a> (the German people). Reflecting common themes in Nazi propaganda, physicians repeatedly pushed the false claim that Jews were primarily responsible for outbreaks of typhus—a deadly contagious disease.<div><br /></div><div>For this reason, non-compliant Germans, ethnic Jews, and zealots like the gypsies and Poles were gathered into "Concentration Camps" so that the <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/foundations-of-the-nazi-state" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Volksgemeinschaft</a> might be protected from these disease carriers. Only the pure had the right to live, travel, and shop freely. The pure were only those who obeyed the government mandates. </div><div><br /></div><div>Who watched over the unclean and made sure they were punished? The German elite like Colonel Karl Kock, superintendent of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchenwald_concentration_camp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Buchenwald Concentration Camp</a>, and his wife, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilse_Koch" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ilse Kock</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYJzHhesspI7_uAxnNbCNJGcTeCRym-M39bqYa4ZTNO6-Bewd1g9qGiT5o5Q2JnO7JLYa7zZtjr1jDwC8-Uzbp5xjbXwsmkCURV1_TlSUBZ-qKIuun50JWW-VIKew7IK1MB_nm/s480/Ilse+Kock.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYJzHhesspI7_uAxnNbCNJGcTeCRym-M39bqYa4ZTNO6-Bewd1g9qGiT5o5Q2JnO7JLYa7zZtjr1jDwC8-Uzbp5xjbXwsmkCURV1_TlSUBZ-qKIuun50JWW-VIKew7IK1MB_nm/s320/Ilse+Kock.png" width="222" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ilse Koch's mug shot</td></tr></tbody></table>Ilse was trained as a librarian. She was a proud German woman. Ilse believed that she and her husband were responsible to German society to protect the Voksgemeinshaft from the diseased people who walked among them. Ilse was a good, moral woman. But Ilse's fear of spreading disease, a fear propagated by the German government and its media propaganda arm, caused this otherwise ordinary woman named Ilse to do things in the early 1940s that few Americans can comprehend in the early 2020s. </div><div><br /></div><div>While her husband Karl supervised Buchenwald, Ilse developed a reputation of her own. She had no formal government authority in the camp, but she was known to beat prisoners with her own hands or her horse's riding-whip. She would walk with her husband's German Shepherd beside her and delighted in ordering the dog to attack pregnant women. Those were her mild-mannered activities. </div><div><br /></div><div>Ilse believed that medical experimentation at Buchenwald would benefit German society as a whole. Due to her academic background, she personally supervised medical research conducted by German physicians, research designed to save "thousands of lives." Men and women in the concentration camps were injected with tetanus, rabies, typhus, syphilis, and other diseases and then used as laboratory rats to experiment with new treatments. In a movie based on Ilse's life, a prisoner asks for anesthesia before being injected with a new strain of typhus. Isle responds,<i> "One does not give caviar to guinea pigs."</i> (Source: Holocaust Pornography: Profaning the Sacred in "Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS" <i>Shofar,</i> Fall 2002, Vol. 22, No. 1. Special Issue: Jewish Film (FALL 2003), pp. 53-79, Purdue University Press). </div><div><br /></div><div>Ilse believed that the pharmaceutical research conducted by German doctors would benefit German society. It mattered not that the patients would not give their consent. Indeed, based on orders and instructions from German pharmaceutical corporations, SS physicians carried out pharmacological experiments in Dachau, Buchenwald, Ravensbruck, Sachsenhausen, Natzeiler, Strutthof, and other concentration camps. Patients were injected with either disease or medicine without their consent. These experiments took place on the initiative of the highest German medical authorities of the Reich and under the watchful eye of Ilse Koch at Buchenwald. The experiments were forced upon the patients by pressure, government strategies, and deception. </div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii5LcFlsW9NqyXz9kMvyFjhdylzZizZx4hdJ-tlIZxjhn5m6nzdnLXb-TMPgv1dLZj4ApnVya6ev_TFfLTc4X-CY496Ru8QccOptkKcUiLttEYeZqEhGX6c9QFHiTlwCGCq1FM/s1036/On+Trial+-+Ilsa+Kock.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="1036" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii5LcFlsW9NqyXz9kMvyFjhdylzZizZx4hdJ-tlIZxjhn5m6nzdnLXb-TMPgv1dLZj4ApnVya6ev_TFfLTc4X-CY496Ru8QccOptkKcUiLttEYeZqEhGX6c9QFHiTlwCGCq1FM/s320/On+Trial+-+Ilsa+Kock.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isle Kock on trial. </td></tr></tbody></table>Ilse believed medical coercion suitable for the <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/foundations-of-the-nazi-state">Volksgemeinschaft</a>. Any resistance by "the diseased" brought more punishment from the elite. The prisoners in Buchenwald had no power. The German Socialist Workers' Party-controlled their bodies. </div><br />In time, Ilse Koch's hard heart led her to do things to prisoners at Buchenwald that gave Ilsa the<br /> nicknames "The Beast of Buchenwald," "Queen of Buchenwald," "Red Witch of Buchenwald," "Butcher Widow," "The Bitch of Buchenwald," and "The Lady of the Lampshade." <div><br /></div><div>Reports at her trial indicated that Ilse treated skins of deceased medical prisoners at Buchenwald and then used their skin as home accessories. She bragged to friends that the skins of gypsies and Russians made the best lampshades because of the "swirls of color" across their chests and backs. Albert Grenowski, a Jew who was forced to work in the pathology laboratory of Buchenwald, told Allied judicial authorities at Ilsa Koch's trial that men with tattoos were Ilsa's favorite:</div><blockquote><div>"After they were examined by her, those who were deemed artistically interesting specimens were killed by lethal injection. It was important that the skin of the victims was not damaged. There was one sure way to find yourself in a coffin and that was to damage the skin that the Hexe (witch) wanted for her lampshades. The bodies were taken to the pathology lab where they were treated with alcohol and the skins were removed with painstaking attention to detail so as not to split them or otherwise mark them. Then they were dried, often oiled afterward, and taken in small packages to Ilsa Kock so they could be made into lampshades or gloves. Once we saw Ilsa walking around the compound wearing a brightly patterned pari of summer gloves and just sexy underwear - you know, like she had forgotten to put a dress on. I particularly paid attention to the gloves. The last time I had seen their decoration was on the back of a gypsy prisoner on my block." (Source: Alan Hall, <i>Murder and Madness</i>, Leicester, UK: Bookmart, Ltc, 1993, p. 51).<br /></div></blockquote><p>Forcing medical treatment on the unwilling is the first step toward the dungeon of believing that people who don't think like you are vermin. </p><p>After World War II, Ilsa Kock and dozens of German physicians were placed on trial by the Allies at Nuremberg. All were convicted for war crimes, and seven were hung. Ilsa Kock was sentenced to prison, and twenty years later, on September 1, 1967, Ilse Koch hanged herself at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aichach">Aichach</a> women's prison at age 60. Ilse experienced delusions and had become convinced that concentration camp survivors would abuse her in her cell.</p><p>Why do I tell you Ilse Kock's story? For five reasons: </p><p></p><blockquote><p>1. <a href="https://media.tghn.org/medialibrary/2011/04/BMJ_No_7070_Volume_313_The_Nuremberg_Code.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Nuremberg Code of 1947 </a>- the official statement issued by the Allies in conjunction with the Nuremberg Trials where German doctors were executed for injecting patients with disease and/or medicine without their consent - categorically states the main transcendent principle of ethical medical treatment is "<i>the voluntary consent of the human subject." </i></p><p>2. I have had Covid-19 twice and nicely recovered both times. I have always taken my personal health seriously, eating healthy, exercising, and taking vitamin supplements (Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc) as needed. I have robust natural immunity to the entire DNA chain of coronarivuses, over 6000 variants. The Oklahoma Blood Institute has scientifically determined that I have natural antibodies to coronaviruses. <i>I will not voluntary consent to an injection of a Covid-19 therapeutic shot nr any other shot for coronavirus varients no matter the pressure, coercion, or government punishments that come my way. </i></p></blockquote><p></p><blockquote><p>3. I am not afraid of shots nor "vaccines." I have received many vaccines throughout my life. This Covid-19 innoculation is not necessary for me. I am not afraid of the Covid-19 shot and would encourage any person with who feels led to take it. Thank you for your concern that I may day unvaccinated against coronaviruses, but I have done my research, and I am neither afraid of dying from Covid-19 nor of the belief that I will die. I have recovered and developed natural immunity. I do not consent to the Covid-19 innoculation because<i> I believe it is in my best health interest as well as society's best interest for me <b>not</b> to consent. </i>Were I to give in to coercion, be it public, private, or governmental, I would enable the Ilse Kock's of this world.</p><p>4. I respect and affirm all my fellow citizens who have by their "free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, over-reaching, or other ulterior forms of constraint or coercion; (having) sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved" made the choice to voluntary receive the Covid-19 therapeutic shot. Good for you. </p></blockquote><p></p><blockquote>5. If you don't understand what I have just written, then I would encourage you to re-read this article. <i>"Those who fail to learn history are condemned to repeat it."</i> (Winston Churchill,<a href="https://www.whiteboardbusiness.com/those-who-fail-to-learn-from-history-are-doomed-to-repeat-it-sir-winston-churchill/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> 1948 Speech to the House of Commons</a>). </blockquote><p></p>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com77tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-16622037229117648912021-09-27T10:01:00.006-05:002024-03-08T13:16:13.921-06:00The Writing on the Wall a Warning for Tall Trees<div class="separator"><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi88Q3F_fFjgH7sr_V-zfYB2THKZCiiqcx2QqArT2ER6E9F6tmhPE4lkt_zdoUsWSjfjH7cW5jL1EwdULvYOuEHGJV-sL0y1iKLKQfV45v4U23s82nRkEUWN5NvWoQDny2eawN7/s320/A78628F1-B755-448C-A9CA-75D31CAACAFE.webp" /></a></div><p></p>We are studying the book of Daniel on Sunday mornings. I can’t think of a better book to encourage those who place their trust in the LORD than Daniel. <br /><br />I received an email from a young man named Camden who is a freshman in college. He spoke of what he learned from Daniel yesterday, as well as something he learned from his study of the fall of Czechoslovakia to communism. <br /><br />It’s emails like the one below that give me encouragement for the future of the United States.<div><br />________________________________________________________________<br /><br /><div>Hi Pastor Wade!<br /><br />I just wanted to share this neat little occurrence that just happened to me. <br /><br />In Bridge this morning, I was captivated by the story of Belshazzar’s fall, and your explanation of the euphemism of seeing the “writing on the wall” as God’s message to the tall trees of this world. I had been thinking of your lesson from earlier today whenever I started to read Rod Dreher’s book “Live Not By Lies.” It starts by giving a story about Father Kolaković, a Slovak Catholic who, while living under Nazi oppression, had been preparing his church community for the possibility of future Soviet oppression (which as you know ended up happening) and how he is attributed to inspiring a generation of Christians who founded underground churches and ultimately challenged communist rule.</div><div><blockquote>*Side note: <i>I was immediately intrigued by this man Father Kolaković, and I believe part of the reason why is because I detect that the goals of his teachings are similar to yours, in the regard of strengthening the church and preparing for possible persecution of our faith and beliefs. If you haven’t already, I think he may be an interesting studying topic for you!*</i></blockquote>Anyway, I continued on in the book. It explained how this line of people who were prepared for difficulties and prepared for persecution, specifically in Czechoslovakia, led to the Velvet Revolution in the late 1980s. Not knowing too much about this topic, I did a quick search and found an article on it from <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">history.com</a>. At the end of this article, my mouth dropped open when I read "the writing was on the wall for one-party rule in Czechoslovakia. The Communist Party’s leadership resigned on November 28 and an anti-communist government was in power by December 10.” Here I had a direct correlation between how Biblical Babylon, as well as the Soviet rule, fell. These people had remained strong and vigilant in their faith for half a century in the face of Soviet persecution, and I can only imagine the relief they must have felt when God fell that tall tree. It came as a relief to me because this specific story with the Velvet Revolution caused the light bulb to go off in my head that He was not finished toppling tall trees just when the Bible was finished, and that if he can do all of that barely a decade before I was born, then what safety do the sinful rulers of this present day have!<br /><br /><br />On a final note, I’ve been really interested in this study of Daniel, and I’ve also been attending Hey Jude, which I’m equally enjoying. I’m not sure why exactly, but I have been soaking up this Biblical wisdom lately more so than I have ever before, while simultaneously thirsting for more Biblical wisdom! With that said, I would like to say keep up the great work, and I’m excited for what is next!<br /><br />Best, <br /><br />Camden</div><div><br />————————————————————————————————————-</div></div>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-69352348387517505492021-09-22T10:20:00.002-05:002024-03-08T13:16:20.063-06:00Shake Off the Dust, ARISE, and Sit Down! - Is. 52:2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQR7xVp7LCwANvPjdQUK4Yvxp5wciSzI4FrADf1iU5RwCU6WKlNFVjtIhtzZeSXxuYOCwZc6VSgoYepNmk2QZAS03G_4UBwxUk5UpQZulYv71MNSY3aS2itAqlV82MSl0IJD0q/s314/Shake+Off.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="308" data-original-width="314" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQR7xVp7LCwANvPjdQUK4Yvxp5wciSzI4FrADf1iU5RwCU6WKlNFVjtIhtzZeSXxuYOCwZc6VSgoYepNmk2QZAS03G_4UBwxUk5UpQZulYv71MNSY3aS2itAqlV82MSl0IJD0q/s0/Shake+Off.JPG" width="314" /></a></div>There are two theological errors in modern Christian evangelicalism that stunt the spiritual maturity of God's people. <div><br /></div><div>The first is from theological Calvinism in neo-reformed evangelical churches. Reformed pastors who focus exclusively on the sovereignty of God in saving sinners are prone to emphasize, re-emphasize, and further emphasize that <i>"you are a sinner"</i> in need of a Savior. In an attempt to exalt God's grace and Christ's cross, reformed pastors unintentionally excuse saints' sins. "<i>We are but sinners..." </i>becomes the excuse for continuing to roll in the dust of one's sins.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the other hand, the "feel-good" me-oriented "self-care" churches with little interest in the Bible only focus on what makes them feel good. From the songs to the small groups, everything is about "finding balance for my life and family." The error of this kind of evangelicalism results in the same error as the first. Rolling in the dust of sin is excused because sin is not thought of in terms of bondage but "self-care."</div><div><br /></div><div>The Old Testament Jews in Babylonian bondage (609 BC to 539 BC) picture God's people in bondage to sin and death. Isaiah 52 is a beautiful chapter of God's redemption of His people Israel, but it is also a beautiful picture of how God redeems spiritual Israel (the church). This chapter precedes the great Messianic chapter of Isaiah 53, the chapter that beautifully describes how the Suffering Servant would die on a cross for the sins of His people. </div><div><br /></div><div>Isaiah 52:2 is a prescription against the error of both neo-reformed evangelicals and "self-care" evangelicals of our day. </div><div><blockquote>"Shake off the dust, ARISE, and sit down!" </blockquote></div><div>What does that mean? </div><div><br /></div><div>Servants are people of the dust. When Ruth and Naomi became slaves in Bethlehem because of their debts, they rolled in the dust to glean from the fields of Boaz. When the Jews were taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, they were "people of dust," in bondage to the wicked Gentiles who mocked the name of their God. Dust is a picture of slavery.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Shake off the dust." When the LORD redeems you by His grace, you are called to "shake off your sins." What you used to serve - that is yourself and your sins - you now "shake off." You die to self, and you die to your sins for the sake of your Redeemer and His Kingdom.</div><div><br /></div><div>"ARISE" - to a new life and a new you. If any person is in Christ, he or she is a NEW person with a NEW life. Arise and live differently than you did in your days of servanthood to your sins. </div><div><br /></div><div>"..and sit down." But what does it mean to "ARISE and sit down"? The Jewish Targum translates this, "ARISE and sit on your throne." You have become a child of the KING, a co-heir with Jesus Christ. Take your place on the throne, and rule this world with the power and grace of your Master. </div><div><br /></div><div>In other words, a BELIEVER REDEEMED is BEHAVIOR REFORMED.</div><div><br /></div><div>Suffering has a way of separating the dross from the pure. Christianity has been too comfortable in America for too long. We are about to find ourselves imprisoned by the Gentiles who mock the name of our God. Redemption, however, has come. </div><div><br /></div><div>"Shake off the dust, ARISE, and sit down!"</div><div><br /></div><div>Separate from your sins, stand up with Christ with your new life and take your seat on the throne of His Kingdom. Man's kingdoms come and go, but you've been given an unshakeable Kingdom so don't settle for something less than the Kingdom that will never end. </div>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com48tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615457.post-34789784210643557192021-09-20T07:54:00.002-05:002024-03-08T13:16:15.619-06:00Teaching Cows to Poop and Pee Defines Liberalism<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix6NtZbwXaPcJPwLEcIgBNkjg1CO_4z8GWO0kqurcO0dxBAloMbeiCdEtOf2xpwPK2eGIHeauLBCpqwgjIAd_X6gWjxRNNInClmwLDu1TtJiwMJ0MrNvc9rWA0agfd1B7hMTvw/s612/Funny+cow.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="612" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix6NtZbwXaPcJPwLEcIgBNkjg1CO_4z8GWO0kqurcO0dxBAloMbeiCdEtOf2xpwPK2eGIHeauLBCpqwgjIAd_X6gWjxRNNInClmwLDu1TtJiwMJ0MrNvc9rWA0agfd1B7hMTvw/s320/Funny+cow.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I have a friend who calls political, academic, environmental, and social liberalism is a mental disorder.<p></p><p>I'm beginning to agree. </p>A new academic study titled <i>“Learned control of urinary reflexes in cattle to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions”</i> has just been published by <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell/home" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cell</a>, an academic journal.<br /><br />According to these liberal Ivory Tower liberal academics who published the report:<div><blockquote>“Young calves can be successfully trained to poop and pee in designated areas. And the researchers think if expanded on a broader scale, this practice could have a big impact on controlling ammonia waste — one of agriculture’s dirtiest greenhouse gas and pollution problems."</blockquote>Sixteen calves were essentially potty trained by animal psychologists at the Germany-based <a href="https://www.fbn-dummerstorf.de/en/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology.</a><br /><blockquote>“Cattle, like many other animals, are quite clever and they can learn a lot. Why shouldn’t they be able to learn how to use a toilet?” the researchers asked.</blockquote>The process, by the way, is called “<a href="https://people.com/pets/scientists-potty-train-cows-to-protect-environment/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">MooLoo Training</a>.”<br /><br />If these liberal academics ever came to Oklahoma and attempted to coerce our dairy farmers and beef ranchers to potty train their cattle, they'd receive a quick lesson in Gun Safety.</div><div><br /></div><div>I posted about liberals attempting to potty train cows on my Facebook page, and guess what? The liberal social media POLICE tagged my post (see below).</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwro-aGDX7kSVxnNq9_Rots7H2lIOAwajekEySuDC5Wasay_yEb_psKJQKKXBrRazj-SU6MI2hne4DVMA6xcwnf9bSfk8is4KkKQQ9kSI420mLvWiT6w1LxFW6jNWCpURbQ0Sp/s1387/COW+STUPIDITY.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1387" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwro-aGDX7kSVxnNq9_Rots7H2lIOAwajekEySuDC5Wasay_yEb_psKJQKKXBrRazj-SU6MI2hne4DVMA6xcwnf9bSfk8is4KkKQQ9kSI420mLvWiT6w1LxFW6jNWCpURbQ0Sp/w296-h640/COW+STUPIDITY.jpg" width="296" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Facebook Police</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>The America of our past is gone. What has taken its place is a milk-toast, weak-kneed, liberalism that will be the death of our great country. Radicals no longer need to march and shout "Death to America," hoping one day to conquer what they call "The Great Satan." </div><div><br /></div><div>Liberalism has conquered us, and the asinine stupidity of those in charge of politics, academics, science, and the media have done a great job in bringing down a once-great country. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's time to take it back. </div>Wade Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01968442835088008681noreply@blogger.com50