24. August 2010 by PawBill.

This year the Sprayberry High School class of 1960 will celebrate its fiftieth graduation anniversary.  I have not attend any of the class reunions over the past years, but I always told myself that I would attend the fiftieth reunion.  Now that it is drawing near I am beginning to have second thoughts; its arrival time has hastened as has my remaining time on earth is seemingly passing quickly. Maybe now I will wait and attend the sixtieth reunion.

It is fun to reminisce about the good “old” days.  I remember especially the late forties and fifties: no air conditioning in the car, home or school; no fast food restaurants on every corner; no rest stops on the highways, just your service stations. Do you men remember those service station calendars.  I am sure you remember the 45 and 78-RPM records and the black and white television programs. In the late forties and early fifties before we had a television, I can still remember sitting around the AM radio in the evening and listening to the evening programming. Do you remember, “Only the shadow knows.”

Did you ride the school bus to school? Unless you had a friend or knew someone with a car that would let you ride, your only option was the bus.  There are a lot of good memories to think about.  “How about the good times at the drive in movies?” Did you lose something there? 

You might say most of us grew up poor in terms of possessions but everyone else was pretty much the same so we did not really think of ourselves as being poor. (I am excluding the rich kids in this discussion. Their life was somewhat different, as they seemed to have the latest and biggest of everything.)  We were however, rich in family, church and traditions; perhaps more so than we are today.  Could we live today with Sunday store closings and Wednesday afternoon closings?  

There are some good old times that I wish we would return to, but that is just the old man in me talking.  I miss the old church hymns and gospel singings, fire and brimstone sermons and of course the church revivals.  Were you “saved” during a revival? 

For many, high school provided only good memories: first love, social status, recognition, maturity (so to think at the time), companionship, fun and etc. For others like me, high school provided memories, most neither good nor bad but memories nonetheless.  I have grown beyond the memories of high school and do not have any “it might have or could have” memories to relive.  How about you, do you have memories of the past that still haunt you or that you would like to relive? 

I’ve digressed. Let’s get back to reunions. What is my reluctance to attend the upcoming reunion?  Through my elementary and high school years, I did not make or have many friends.  I don’t recall that I ever participated in any extracurricular activities; dating was never thought to be in the realm of possibility although there were crushes.  It was not that people did not like me; it was that I did not like myself.  In essence I was pretty much a loner, but I got there legitimately.  I let a tragic accident make me that way at an early age. 

But, I have no regrets other than not being a friend to those who might have tried to “befriend me.” There might be some refinements but I cannot think of anything that I would really change.  The whole of life is like high school.  You have your athletes, most attractive, friendliest, most popular, most athletic, most talented, most ladylike, most gentlemanly, your Mr. And Miss., your most likely to succeed, your cheerleaders, your band members and so on.  If there was a most likely to fail, our categorizations would be complete.

People have their groups, and they pretty much remain in their groups; like the caste system of India. I have observed over the years that people do not really care about anyone that is not in their click or social group; they may or may not be polite, but in general outsiders are not welcomed and often are excluded through no fault of their own, other than being different in personality, social status (rich or poor), dress or looks. This is especially true in churches.  Heaven help us!  I personally have no regrets or hard feelings regarding anything that has happened in my life.  In fact, life has been very generous and rewarding and if I had to do it over, I would choose to be the same person.

I do not consider my life a failure. To read the inscriptions written in my annuals would lead you to believe I was the “nicest boy’ you would ever want to meet. It is funny how your perception of yourself and how others see you can be quite different.

I have traveled the world and I have made many friendships.  I have a loving wife, a son and a daughter-in-law, a daughter and a son-in-law and a mother-in-law. Five beautiful grandchildren are the crowns of my life.  I have had it all, and it has all been near perfect.  My greatest love, however, is Jesus Christ. All of this would not have been possible if it were not for Him and His mercy.

What about you? What can be said about your life?  Would you live it over again?  What would you change?  Would you want to be someone else?  Have you been happy? Were your parents mean or cruel? Were you raped, attacked or beaten?  Were you a social outcast? Could you be happy? Would you be willing to tell of your experiences?

There are unending scenarios that could be shared but the bottom line is this: If you are not dead you still have time left to enjoy life.  Think positively and get out and do something. Yes, there are vocations that are no longer in the realm of possibility for the aged or aging, and there are past relationships that cannot always be renewed or mended.  There are, however, many opportunities left for enjoyment.

It is all up to you.  No one else can make you happy. You have to make your own happiness.  I made mine and I will pass from this life into the next with no regrets, no thoughts left unsaid and no fear. 

What about you?  Will you be able to say the same?  I pray that you will.

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24. August 2010 by PawBill.

If you died unrepentantly today, where would you spend eternity? 

Death could come at any time for anyone.  When it comes for you, where will your final resting place be? If you have not thought about it you might want to give it some thought.  There is coming a time of catastrophic events in the not too distant future in the form of earthquakes, financial collapse, food shortages, riots and death.  Prepare yourself, your friends and your family for this time.

I plan on spending eternity with God.  “Who is this God,” you ask? God (my God) is the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God who gave the Ten Commandments and laws of morality and the God who orchestrated the founding of the United States of America.  My God is the God andTrinity of the Bible—God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit. 

Who is your God? Do we worship the same God?  If “YES,” then that is great.  If “NO,” then who is you god? 

If you can be labeled or identified as supporting and practicing a decadent and evil lifestyle, your god is not my God: “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murders, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur [Hell].” These were words Jesus Christ told John to write in Revelation 21:5-8 NIV. 

So, who is your god?  The world claims there are many gods and many paths to heaven.  If so, how many paths to hell are there? I can only tell you about my God because His Spirit lives in me; see 1 John 4:4 KJV,  “… greater is he (God’s Holy Spirit) that is in you then he (Satan) that is in the world.”   Has your god ever spoken to you? Can your god even talk, hear or speak? If not, you may want to consider my God. 

If you tell yourself you do not need God or a god, that’s OK.  The coming Antichrist will spare your head when you voluntarily take his mark and choose to worship him as your god; in reality, you will not have a choice when the time comes for the Antichrist to establish his godhead. If you choose my God your head will be decapitated, but your soul and spirit will be saved. 

Which will it be? There is still time for you to accept the God I worship; however, God’s Spirit may not always be available to you if you continually reject His Spirit’s call.   Will it be my God, your god or neither?  Do not by default choose for yourself the coming Antichrist. Although Satan will incarnate himself into the Antichrist and be permitted to rule the world, it will only be for a short time here on earth. However, it will be for eternity in the lake of fire that has been prepared for him and his followers.  If you do not know the difference, now would be a good time to find out. 

How powerful is your god and what does he or she demand of you? Let me know if you are not ashamed to witness about your god.   

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24. August 2010 by PawBill.

Why does God not reveal himself?  I cannot believe in something or someone I cannot see, hear, smell or touch.  Have I truly been forgiven or is there one more act of repentance that I need to do? If there is a God, why does He permit all the suffering of innocent ones?

The questions asked above are ones that have been asked by man since the beginning of time.  God has revealed to man answers, but God’s answers have never satisfied the ponderings of those who do not know Him or who are unwilling to accept Him. For many of the Christian faith, the answers are taken by faith.  As an example, there are scientific explanations for the marvels of wind, waves, heat, light and sound, but for the vast majority of people the principles behind these forces of nature have to be accepted by faith.

The Bible tells us that God has revealed Himself in nature, but man simply refuses to recognize God in His creation. We find in the book of Romans 1:18-20 NIV, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. “

Some would have you to believe life evolved out of a cesspool of muck over eons. “Life just happened,” they quibble.   There was no divine plan.  Man just evolved; a human life has a beginning in the womb and at death the body is left to rot and decay. I have often pondered to myself, “if there is no life after death, then why prolong your life here on earth if it is not easy and good.”  Why do some suffer through terrible physical hardships if they have no hope for a future life? 

God gave man a spirit.  That spirit can commune with God.   Those who have found God through His Spirit can attest to it.  You too can find God, but you must have faith and a belief that there is a God.   It is not easy to hear the voice of God if your mind is cluttered with worldly desires.  God gave you self-will to live your life as you please.  However, living your life as you please is fraught with dangers that will cloud your mind from finding God. 

Do you still struggle with guilt?  If you accepted Jesus Christ in true repentant faith and accepted His grace and forgiveness, your sin debt was paid by Jesus Christ’s death on the cross.  Do not continued to question your salvation or erect legalistic hurdles that you must jump through.  As Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8-9,  “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”  You were set free from the law; “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2 NIV).

As a “born again believer in Jesus Christ,” do not allow Satan to bind you to works and legalism and cause you to question your salvation. Satan cannot live in your body’s spiritual “compartment” that is reserved solely for the Holy Spirit and it angers him greatly. If you allow Satan to rule your conscience and become dominant he will use your conscience to recall forgiven sins and cause you to question their forgiveness.  The more you trust and exercise the Holy Spirit, the stronger and more dominant it will become in your life and the weaker Satan’s influence will become.

To search and agonize over scripture verses questioning your salvation based upon your interpretation of scripture or the interpretation of scripture by scholars is fruitless and counterproductive to the redemptive works and grace of Jesus Christ. For example, if you committed adultery, divorced or engaged in sexual immorality prior to your salvation, do not seek to do “penitence of works” or continue to perform personal sacrifices to atone for your infidelity—Jesus Christ has already done that for you. Do not keep crucifying Jesus Christ over and over.  Jesus forgave you of your transgressions at your conversion. Accept his forgiveness and move on by serving Him with your talents and gifts and by following the lead of His Holy Spirit. 

God is not sitting in heaven at a control panel following or controlling your ever move.  If God wanted you to do only as He pleased, He could have programmed your body, soul and spirit to do just that.  Instead He gave you a body, soul and spirit that you could control at your will and by your will; however, choices can have positive or negative outcomes and “various shades in-between.” 

Within your body you have the God given pattern for achieving a successful and rewarding life if, and only if, you accept God as your creator, and allow His Spirit to dwell within you and to provide directions that your body, soul and spirit will willingly submit. 

Man’s free will to call his own shots, so to speak, led man to follow other spirits and man’s own humanistic nature to seek the pleasures of life that God told man not to do.   Adam and Eve in the garden chose to eat of the forbidden fruit even thought God commanded them not to eat. 

By doing what God commanded man not to do, man brought disease and mental illness upon themselves.  Many of these diseases and illnesses changed man’s genetic or DNA structure and were passed on to their children. Man’s participation in sexual immorality is a perfect example.  Man was told that this was a sin, a devastating health issue (AIDs is but one example), but man refused to accept and willingly participated to the damanging of his own body and in many cases the damaging of his off springs (future generations).

I do not have a scriptural basis for my view on sexual immorality as written above.  In the Biblical book of Leviticus (chapters 15, 18 and portions of 20) specific warnings and punishments regarding sexual discharges, sexual relations with relatives, animals and the opposite sex were given.  Many offenses were punishable by death.  I personally believe sexual diseases can be spread from one generation to another, and that is why God dealt so harshly (demanded death for certain atrocities) with those who violated His commandments. 

Do I think that God gave man sexual diseases because they did not keep His commandment? No, I believe God knew that sexual diseases would result from man’s unrestrained sexual lust and unclean hygienic practices and gave man the commandments as cautionary warnings.  Man, however, refused to listen and suffered then as he suffers now for his disobedience. 

I cannot answer the question of why God allows bad things to happen to good people.  I do take solace in the words of Isaiah written in Isaiah 57:1-2, “The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.  Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.”  When bad things happen to people you love, look to the cross of Jesus. Can you understand what God allowed Jesus Christ to endure on the cross for you?  A loved one is not your possession; they belongs to God and He loves them.

Life is hard to live without hope.  Do you have hope in a life after death? If not, will you consider Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? 

Bow you head and confess your sins and transgressions to God; ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart and forgive you; accept his Holy Spirit and accept His grace and salvation.  You are now a child of God.  Find a fellowship of believers, find a Bible and read it daily and walk with the Holy Spirit in a new life.  Grow in His Spirit and tell others what Jesus Christ has done for you.

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24. August 2010 by PawBill.

I just don’t get it.  Do the “Obamacrats” not see their leader, President Barrack Hussein Obama, and his leadership team of radicals for what they represent?  History tells us that Socialism, Communism, Progressivism, Fascism, and any other form of government that stifles and enslaves its citizens will not work.  But, neither does Capitalism when greed and government intervention distort the playing field of the free market system and hinders entrepreneurial innovation, incentive and initiative. 

America has become a nation of consumers too lazy to care and too busy to fight for their countries future. “In God We Trust” should be replaced with “In Government We Trust.” The sixties crowd of youthful drug and sexually liberated “know it alls” abdicated their responsibilities, denied the faith, and allowed themselves to be seduced by the force of darkness that masquerades as light and freedom.  Under their watch godlessness was allowed to craw from beneath the darkness of shame into the light of respectability.

Why did so-called “Godly Christians” sit quietly for so long and accept political correctness and atheism as wholesome and enlightened thought. Is society better off now that Americans find the following acceptable:  

• Same sex marriages are honorable and “God” ordained
• Marriage vows are easily forsaken or broken without shame
• Homes and children’s lives are corrupted by false teachings
• Christian churches are casting out their messiah
• Schools are harbingers of unruly students defended by parents too busy to care, teachers too afraid to speak up, and school boards ignorant of curriculum teaching requirements and student learning differences and abilities
• Television programming continually promotes and teaches disrespect for authority, parents, and institutions of morality? 

 Today we find our country and many, if not all, of its political leaders caught up in unending acts of stupidity.  The current debate regarding “Ground Zero” and religious tolerance is enough to drive one batty—maybe we are all already insane and just don’t realize it.  No wonder so many Americans turn to drugs and sexual immorality to temporarily stop the insanity inundating their minds.  The current rhetoric is but just another distracter, which is being deployed by the forces of evil to wear down and divide the citizenry of the United States and to hide the real change being readied for America.  Look at America’s leadership: 

• President Obama is trying to “straddle the middle of the fence,” proclaiming to be Christian while acting Islamic (his early childhood development is ingrained and more and more people say he is a follower of Islam and Allah), and hiding his true identity trying to appease (read as deceive) the gullible. Did President Obama suddenly have an epiphany and realize religion is important and a Constitutional right.

• Nancy Pelosi’s, America’s most favored Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and one of California’s “darlings,” favorite word is the “Word” as she so eloquently explained to the cameras. I will not question her religious beliefs.  She will have to give an accounting to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for her despicable conduct if she truly believes in the Word.  For those with interest please read the book of John found in the Christian Bible. John wrote (John 1: 1-5 NKJV), “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

• And then we have good old Harry Reid, who as the Senate Majority Leader of the United States Senate is orchestrating America’s financial recovery to a comparable level—high unemployment, housing foreclosures and poverty— with that of his home State of Nevada.  Harry is a beacon of hope for Nevadans, who if reelected in November’s election, will give what the people of Nevada apparently want—continued high unemployment, housing foreclosures and poverty.  Even Harry has religion, but not a religion he would willing share less he be identified as a zealot.

 America has now become the laughing stock of the whole world. Where has common sense gone?  Where do you find truth?  Can you name a trusted source of information that does not seek to distort, hype, mislead, all for the sake of entertainment, ratings and political “one up man ship?”

Hope?  What is America’s hope?  Without God, America has no hope; hope is now only a dream of the past that is being flaunted to a godless people.  America is being flushed, to use a “bathroom term,” and as the flush gains in speed around and down “the great white bowl” the rhetoric will only get worse, violence will only increase, and eventually anarchy will usher in the fundamental change promised.  America the Beautiful will soon be flushed down the sewer, as previous civilizations were who refused to say no to immorality, greed and lust and who allowed themselves to become enthralled with their own “humanity,” believe they could become gods and be as an equal with God. 

President Obama and his handlers are deliberately destroying America, and the Democratic and Republican Parties in their ignorance and greed are helping them.  We have become a Nation of liars, whiners, cheats and scoundrels too weak to stand and defend its founder’s principles and religious values.  America’s current leadership can’t and won’t defend it countries’ own borders. Soon most of America’s citizenry will willingly accept a one-world government if promised perpetual care and protection in a utopia of bliss and harmony. But maybe, that is what many in America deserve and what needs to happen. 

An ever-increasing uneducated citizenry of ignorant and lazy proponents of government handouts and bailouts are incapable of voting for the good of their country and fellow man. Citizens and Illegal Aliens who voted for fundamental change deserve what they get, but the young children of America do not. And yet, no one seems to care as long as they do not have to miss their upcoming television sitcom program. 

Mother, is the buttery Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn ready yet? 

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