Top administration officials said last year threat of pandemic kept them up at night https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/03/politics/kfile-officials-worried-over-pandemic-last-year/index.html
Category Archives: Christian
PROVIDENCE
PROVIDENCE
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We live in a world governed by a system of laws, natural or spiritual. But in the back of all law, natural or spiritual, there is One who upholds and controls them all, and uses them for His glory:
“…who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power,” … Hebrews 1:3 NKJV
With so much going on around the world, especially in the United States of America, it is no wonder anxiety is high. Many people are forced to stay home from work because safe distancing has become the new order of the day. Then there are others who must work to keep the rest of us safe. The first responders, emergency medical technicians, police officers, doctors, nurses; they all stand on the front line to thwart the invisible dangers head on. They too, are beginning to fall victim to this ravaging virus that have broken out among us.
I would like to offer another perspective on what appear to be a hopeless situation. I would like to steer your attention to a book that I hold above every other book on the planet. The Bible. In this book there’s a story titled after a woman named Esther. If you ever want to see and understand the Providence of God, how He work behind the scenes and, bring everything to a good and perfect end, this is the book for you. The intelligence and wisdom of Providence is revealed in this book.
A man once said, “Fate is blind. Providence has eyes. Fatalism says, whatever is, must be. Providence says, whatever God ordains must be.”
What’s really peculiar about this book is that the name of God is not found in it. Yet, His fingerprints are everywhere. From the time Esther’s’ name was placed in contention to replace Queen Vashti in the Persian empire God stood at a distance, not showing Himself openly.
This is the distinctive feature of Providence in a broad sense. Providence is secret, mysterious, and even unintelligible until its ends are revealed.
We can be sure that God is working for our good, even if we can’t see it, or understand it we can rest with confidence that:
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose”. Romans 8:28 NKJV
Nathaniel Stalling Jr
Elder
The Worlds’ Only Superpower
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THE SOLE SUPERPOWER ON EARTH
August 1, 2019
Only a few nations have risen to superpower status over the centuries, but without exception, they have all fallen victim, primarily, to the same enemy. I will talk more about that shortly.
As an American I can tell you with reasonable confidence that a majority of Americans take great pride in being the ‘Sole Superpower’ on the planet. I can only imagine how the people of a previous ‘Superpower’ felt when it was said of them in the 19th century, “The empire on which the sun never sets”. This of course was the British Empire, of which its territory spanned the globe. There was nowhere on the planet where the sun didn’t always shine on ‘some part’ of British ruled territory.
The decline of the British Empire was on public display in 1997 when Prince Charles wrote in his, then private journal, while flying back from attending the handover of the colony of Hong Kong to China, “Such is the end of Empire, I sighed to myself,”
While researching another ‘Superpower’ that enjoyed this status some 2,500 years ago I came upon something exceptionally astonishing and unique to great empires. I happened upon J.R Fears and something he wrote entitled, “REFLECTIONS ON THE RISE AND FALL OF EMPIRES”.
After clicking on the above link and reading the article by J.R Fears I’m sure you came away with the same thing I did. We are living in a perilous time for our country. Everyone of us should be concerned. We are witnessing for the first time in American history ALL the signs that toppled every empire from Darius, the King of the Persians, to the present time.
“The greatest mistake made by those in power, like Darius, was the sin of hybris. That Greek word means “outrageous arrogance.” Hybris (and that is the way it should be transliterated) is the outrageous arrogance that marks the abuse of power. Only those invested with enormous power can commit the sin of hybris. Hybris is the imposition of your will, at all costs. The Greeks believed that hybris was preceded by ate or moral blindness that makes you believe that you can do anything you want to and there will be no consequences from either Gods or men. It was this hybris that led Darius to undertake a preemptive war against Athens. It was his moral blindness that believed he would never know defeat. He ignored all the warnings that the Gods sent him because he felt so secure in his power”.
By: J.R Fears
Does this look and sound like America today? If we fail to learn the lessons of the past, we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes.
Nathaniel Stalling Jr.
nstalling@gmail.com
The Other Side
Walking along on a city street I happened upon a childhood friend, Tom. We grew up next door to each other; attended the same schools, elementary through high school. Our parents went to a lot of social functions together. We even vacationed together. There was little we didn’t know about each other, personal or otherwise
, …… or so we thought.
We were of the same mind that most of the city was. We know that what we accepted and did not accept was the general consensus of most of the city. Our values and moral convictions were written in our Constitution. We learned and understood them from a very early age. With the exception of one: “Do Not Venture Beyond The City Limits”. This one amendment always puzzled me. No one ever talked about it, at least not openly. So I found it very disturbing discussing it even with my most trusted friend. We decided to go somewhere that we could not be overheard. We found ourselves in an empty baseball park. We walked to the middle of the field, looking around to make sure we were alone, we sat and began talking freely. “Have you ever gone past the city limits”? I asked Tom. I could tell he was still very uneasy about this subject. He was looking around nervously. Finally, he spoke, “the law clearly forbids it; but I’ve heard talk of some that have, and never returned”, said Tom. I heard this talk too, but was afraid to ask about it. In fact, my curiosity drove me to the very edge of the city. I was there, I could have crossed over; but I didn’t. Fear of the unknown is very real, and very powerful. I got the impression that my friend had been to the city limit as well. He as much as said so. I felt that this was the perfect time to ask him what was really on my heart. After getting all my courage together I turned and looked at my friend, ” let’s go on the other side”, I said abruptly. He turned away, pretending he didn’t hear me. Going on and on about the consequences of going beyond the city limits, he stopped and turned to me and made a very startling confession; ” I’ve already been beyond the city limits”, said Tom. I couldn’t believe my ears. This was unheard of, no one had ever gone beyond the city limits and come back to talk about it. He saw that I was at a loss for words, so he continued. ” I went over about a year ago. It took me awhile to adjust to the way of living over there, but once I did I liked it. I met a lady named Wisdom. We became friends, and she took me down to the City Building where they keep all the birth records of everyone born there. I found my name, your name and many others “, said Tom. I guess my expression prompted him to pause. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. How could this be? Weren’t we all born here? There must be some mistake. I stood up; looking down at him I said in a very anxious voice, ” take me there, now.” I had to see this for myself. ” I will, but first we have to talk to our parents about this,” said Tom. The thought of telling my parents about this made me tremble. They are set in their ways, and more important than that, they are comfortable. Plus, I’m not convinced myself, yet. As though reading my mind, Tom pulled out a map. Part of the map was sectioned off in blue and another in yellow. “This is where we are”, said Tom, pointing to the blue section. The name was in bold black letters, ‘CHIMERA’. The yellow section was beyond the city limit where Tom had gone, it was called, ‘VERISIMILITUDE’. I had never known the name of the other city, until now. Looking at me rather sedately, Tom asked, ” do you know what these names mean “? I thought for a moment before admitting my ignorance. Looking around again to be sure one last time that we were alone, Tom leaned to my ear and said, ” CHIMERA ” means Illusion or Deception, and “VERISIMILITUDE” means Reality or Credibility”. I couldn’t make the connection, so he helped me understand. ” We weren’t born here. We were brought here at an early age and was indoctrinated into this lifestyle and value system. None of it is real. That’s why they don’t want us to go beyond the city limits, because if we do we’ll know the truth, and no one would want to come back here”, said Tom. This was all an incredible story, but for some reason it rang true in my ears. “Not many people are accepting the truth, because those who came before us bearing this message was not only branded as fanatics, but was persecuted and murdered. Those who oppose it will do anything to stop it”, said Tom.
“I heard of these people, and this message: There was Jesus the Christ, The Apostle Paul, Peter and John, there was Augustine, Spurgeon and, Martin Luther”, I said. Tom nodded approvingly. “Then, these that they call myths are actually real”? I asked. “Yes, they are real”, said Tom. I was stunned and relieved at the same time. Tom was a bearer of the message, and he was asking for my help. “It’s going to be hard, and many times you will feel alone; but there are many lives at stake, and I believe, as I hope you will too, that it’s worth it,” said Tom. We walked to the city limit, looked around, and walked over to ‘The Other Side’ together.
Mobs or Jobs?
The 2018 U.S congressional elections is one for the history books. The campaigning leading up to the November 6 elections has all the markings of a breakout election for being the first in the number of female candidates running for office and, of the number of new people registering to vote. A record number of early votes have already been cast.
The candidates have been jostling for position on hot button issues such as health care, immigration, the economy, etc., but, what make this election cycle different than any in my lifetime is the vitriolic politcal atmosphere. The respect and civility that was once very much a part of our democratic process is all but gone.
The pride of America, our values and moral leadership, was held in high esteem around the world. We were the shining light on a hill, to quote a not too distant republican president. Now that shining light is biginning to dim. We are living in a time in America when the very core of who we are, as Americans, are being challenged; not by foreign adversaries, but by other Americans.
It saddened me recently to learn that someone sent home made bombs by mail to, what could only be surmised as, their political enemies. Let that sink in for a minute. At least a dozen suspicious packages were sent to eight democrats, to CNN, actor Robert De Niro, former CIA Director John Brennan and, billionair financier George Soros. How twisted is that? When you send potential death to those you politically disagree with there is something seriously wrong. Why would someone believe this is ok?
It’s time, and indeed past time, for the President of the United States of America to stand up and address the nation condemning this demented mentality that is festering in this polluted political climate before it is too late.
Mr. President, this is the right time to do the right thing.