THE SEEDS YOU SOW

THE SEEDS YOU SOW

 

Black Lives Matter! White Lives Matter! All Lives Matter!  Blah, Blah, Blah…  What matters are the seeds you sow!

Upon release of the news of the death of George Floyd, I was greatly saddened. All the details had not come out, and thus I was absolutely sympathetic to the cause of George Floyd.  Black Lives Matter! I had no problem saying black lives mattered.  More information came out, and we found out George was on drugs.  Okay, black lives still mattered.  More information came out, he was a felon and a drug addict and trying to pass off counterfeit money.  Okay, so, I’m not feeling as bad for him, but, that said, black lives still matter, and his life mattered.

What has changed my mind about saying Black Lives Matter? Lots of information has.  Do Black Lives still matter to me? Yes! Do White Lives Matter? Asian Lives? All Lives? Absolutely, yes!

During my lifetime, I have been called a racist.  I am not a racist, but what I call myself is a peopleist.  I generally don’t like people. I don’t care if you’re white, black or Asian.  I will not hate you for skin color.  I will try to never hate you no matter what.  That said, I do have a strong dislike for people, not for the color of their skin, but for the contents of their hearts. In Matthew we are told that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. And since the death of Mr. Floyd, I have heard the hearts of many speaking loud and clear.

Your words and your actions are seeds, and you are sowing those words and actions from the abundance of your heart.  As you speak and act, your deeds go out as if you were a farmer sowing your field.  As in the parable of the sower from Mark Chapter 4, some of your words will fall on stony ground, some on the shallow ground and some will be devoured by the birds.  But some will land on fertile ground, and they will grow. So, you must ask yourself if what you are planting is what you want to grow.

It’s like this, my ears, and those of many others, are fertile ground.  Not only do we hear your words, but we observe your actions. Now, will it matter that you’re sowing bad seed? To me, it matters, and it hurts my heart. But I will still judge every black person I meet by the contents of their hearts.  Many others, however, will take what you are sowing and hold it against all black people.  These are bad seeds that you are sowing to others. You are sowing weeds of hatred and racism into your own garden. 

When you say Black Lives Matter and burn down the businesses of black people, I don’t believe you.  When you loot the businesses that black people shop at, your words become meaningless.  When you kill another black person, your words become meaningless to me.  If you go to any area of town to burn, loot, kill, or commit violence, you are putting out the message that black lives don’t really matter.

Even though I see you doing this, I still know black lives matter. That said, as I see you doing this, I know you don’t really believe that Black Lives Matter.  To me, you’re proving that you care for no one but yourself. You don’t care about black lives, white lives, or any lives but your own.

You want the freedom to do what you want to do with no consequences. But there are consequences. There are messages you are sending to people whether you plan to or not. Your message from your actions is the exact opposite of the title for your protests, and the consequence will eventually be the opposite of what you say you want.

My heart goes out to George Floyd.  I know it’s too late for him.  But what about all the others out there that are lost like he was?  What are you and I doing to help others of all colors to change and make it in this life? You can volunteer, you can donate, or you can just take time to sit and talk with friends and acquaintances.  Their lives matter.

I want to leave you with one last thought.  What kinds of seeds are you sowing? Are you growing crops that will feed people with love and kindness, or are you feeding them hate, anger and hostility? Black, white, or Asian, we are all sowing our seeds every day, and those seeds affects others.

 

 

 

T Bar V

I just want to share a little something that brings me some good memories. Happy memories for all children who lived in the Greater Louisville area in the 1960's.

Human Rights

A few days ago I was watching a CBN News segment where they were reporting on President Obama’s Healthcare Bill/Law going to the Supreme Court. The news gave the facts about the case and even interviewed protesters on both sides who were outside of the court building. One of the Pro Heath Care protesters said something that hit me kind of funny. She stated that Health care was a “Human Right”.

Before the 20^th Century Humans had two basic rights. The right to be born and the right to die. Pretty much that was all that you were guaranteed. Oh and if you were of a Christian faith you were guaranteed that you would be judged after death.

Now that we have hit the 21^st century we do have more human rights guaranteed by international law. But who is to say that international law is to be followed. Take North Korea for example, the government in that country is going to do what it wants regardless of what the international community says and so far no one has stopped them. So are human rights different for North Koreans?

Basic human rights are defined as the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled such as civil and political rights, the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, equality before the law, social, cultural and economic rights, including the right to participate in culture, the right to food, the right to work, and the right to education.

Nice words but this is not guaranteed, just ask people in North Korea, China, Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, India, Afghanistan, and Mexico. I guarantee you that there are people in these countries that would love to have the right to enough food to keep them from being hungry, to have political freedom to speak their minds without reprisal. Freedom to follow their culture and religion as well as many other rights listed above including health care. I’m not saying that these governments are denying them these rights, but that they generally don’t exist for all peoples in these countries.

So when did the right to government health care become a human right??

A quote that has been attributed to Ronald Reagan and would be good to contemplate is ; “Nobody is entitled to anything they don’t work for or make with their own hands.” Don’t know if he really said it or not but it is definitely food for thought.

You Blame Obama I Blame the 99

Almost every day, you can hear someone blame President Obama for something if they are not blaming Obama; it’s the Democrats, Republicans, Liberals, Wall Street, Greedy Bankers etc.

I have come to the realization they are not to blame. I am! It is me and the 99% that are to blame. We look to government to solve all of our problems, we expect government to help the poor and heal the sick. We expect all the banks, store and other businesses to give us their best for less than they do. We’re looking for that free lunch.

First let us look at what the function of government should be. The most important role of our government should be to provide for the common defense of it’s citizens. This would cover the national defense thru the military and local defense by keeping law and order and of course the courts where we can correct the wrongs that are committed against us. Somehow our Federal government has gone way beyond this and into meddling.

But where does it start. That greedy banker and the crooked politician were once little babies to young and innocent to even think about cheating us out of what should be ours. Where did they go wrong? Who taught them to be the way they are? We did! Not you and I per say, but those just like us, the 99%.

In Matthew 22:37 – 39 it says “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” This scripture says it all. You may have to read deeper into this but it shows where we have failed not the government, not the businessmen but us the everyday person. You! Your Husband/Wife! Your Children! Your Neighbor! Your Preacher! Your Teachers etc., have all failed.

As I was out driving today I saw the first evidence of this problem. I was switching from one freeway to another. While trying to go from the first off-ramp to the next segment of highway I met resistance. I turned on my right turn signal in order that other drives would see my intention to move over one lane so I could get to the next off ramp. I drove approximately 1/2 mile trying to change lanes. No one would let me over. So what is the problem? If they had their turn signal on they would have wanted me to let them over. Being the bad driver I am I finally forced my way over to keep from missing the exit and having to drive another mile just to turn around at the next exit. Other than my ill-advised choice of forcing my way over what was wrong here? Was it that important for those cars to keep me out? Were they afraid that if they let me in losing two or three seconds of time would ruin their whole day. I think not. They have become like the crooked politician and greedy businessman. They had decided that they were more important and it just would not be right to let someone get ahead of them.

This is where I and the 99% fail. (When I say 99%, I do not mean the 99% that are not on Wall Street but the 99% that consciously or unconsciously place themselves first.) When was the last time you purposely let someone over in traffic? The last time you sent money to a charity (other than your church)? Have you ever donated to an Orphanage? A homeless shelter? The Red Cross, donated Blood? Donated your time? Helped your neighbor with a project? Of course these are just an outward sign of the inward condition of our hearts. If you place yourself first you are also placing others second, and worse yet you are teaching your family/children and friends that this is the way we should be. If you placed others first by loving them as yourself it would start the change our world needs.

If we choose to serve others they would get the help they need. And as individuals we would be able to decide who should be helped. The person who is down and out or the person who is just to lazy to work for it. If we don’t entitle the lazy then maybe they will get up and do something about their conditions.

Best of all if we all teach our children the right way to behave then the next generation will have far less crooked politicians and greedy bankers to deal with.

Harry Potter and the Church

Today I was shocked to learn that some friends took their children to a birthday party, with a Harry Potter theme, being held at a Church.

It seems that in Christian circles it is now acceptable to do many things that years ago were considered taboo. My question for you and myself is; Have we strayed from the paths of righteousness or has the Church previously just been too straight laced?

Let us start with Harry Potter. Now Harry is fun to watch in the first couple of movies. There’s a cute story line and we find ourselves endeared to Harry as he tries to do the right things. But what are the right things? Do we consider magic to be right? Do we believe in magic and if we do where does that magic come from? After the first few movies the magic and themes get darker and darker and thus it becomes more evident that this may not be something that we want to be involved in.

I have several arguments against having a Harry Potter birthday party but lets start with the idea of having one in the Church building. Exodus 20:5 states that G-d is a jealous G-d. Now why do we want to bring in to the Church a spirit of something ungodly (Yes, my opinion Magic is ungodly)? When the Israelites were in the desert carrying the tabernacle around, if anyone with sin walked into the holy of holies they would immediately die. If G-d was that strict about sin, why would we want to bring even the appearance of something evil into our Church house? (I Thessalonians 5:22 tells us to abstain from the very appearance of evil) Have we learn to be a stiff neck people and decided to do what we want and not what G-d wants?

Now some of you are saying, it’s just some harmless fun. We don’t believe in magic and we just watch Harry Potter movies for entertainment and have the birthday parties for our kids and they know he is not real. Do they know that? Are we setting our children up with a seed of doubt about G-d and Magic and about what is right or wrong? Should we not steer them away from magic considering that G-d said not to suffer a witch to live (exodus 22:18)?

Let me go just a little to an extreme to explain my feeling on this matter. We are the bride of Christ. Now I personally have taken a bride to myself, a wonderful woman by the name of Crystal. Now Crystal loves me with all her heart. She treats me better than I deserve. She cares for me in so many ways and she desires me for herself and does not want to share me with anyone. Now would it be right for me to say “Well it’s my birthday and I just want to have some entertainment and a little fun, I mean no harm but I and my friends are going to the strip club for my birthday.” I can tell you Crystal is a jealous wife and what would happen after a statement about where I am going for my birthday, it wouldn’t be pretty. Remember you are G-d’s bride and you want to go to the strip club on him? Take your children to that strip club?

Now some of you may think I am going to extremes here and saying maybe it’s wrong, but it’s just a small thing. To those who would say that. My answer is read the recipe below where I just added a small wrong thing and tell me if this would be okay for you to eat after cooking? For your children to eat?

Mix together:

1/2 cup safflower oil, 1 cup white sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/3 cup unsweetened coca powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, 1/4 teaspoon black tar heroin. After mixing place in greased pan and bake at 325 for 20 to 25 minutes, let cool and eat.

Remember “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” 1 Corinthians 5:6.

Wake Up President Bush

President George W. Bush has recently visited Israel and while there lavished praise on Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, the latter broadcast on the TV station which he controls a stinging message: the US is “the greatest Satan in the world.” Now why does President Bush lavish praise on the PA and Abbas? The TV station also recently had a childrens show were one of the characters on the show kills Bush. Are these the kind of people we want to be praising? Why does Bush continually push for Israel to give up more land to these terrorist? Why does he through Rice continue to press for the dismantling of security check points? Why does he want Israel to give free reign to the terrorist on the land of Israel? Can anyone tell me what his true objective is? All I can say is with friends like Bush who needs enemies!!

Civil War in Lebanon

Have you been one who defends Hezbollah and the Terrorist in Gaza/the West Bank? If so look to the Civil War they are now starting in Lebanon! Hezbollah and the Terrorist are not going to be happy with just taking over Israel, they want to spread their violence and religion to the whole world taking our freedoms and instilling their Muslim laws in place of all other laws. Have you hidden your eyes to this? Watch and see if the Lebanese Army is defeated, then how Hezbollah will start persecuting the Christians and Druze people in that area. Note that Israel is one of the few countries in that part of the world that allows religious freedoms.

International Day of Prayer Coincides with International Aliyah Day

Those of you who are participating in the International Day of Prayer on Monday May 5th, may be interested in the above article. (Click on title of post to link to the article.)

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. (Psalm 122:6 KJV)

Blog Intro

Since I'm not a writer, this may be difficult for me. But I needed an outlet for the buzzing in my brain, so stay tuned and soon you will get a look inside the mind of a broken soldier.