Their Mocking Results in Blessings!

“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.” (Matthew 5:11 NLT)

I’ve never really experienced “mocking” the way I am through “digital technology” and perhaps, never will again. There is something about the ability to remain anonymous that really brings out the worst in people; especially those who claim they do not believe in God. Or maybe I’ve just been fortunate enough to live in communities where people were respected for their beliefs whether they agreed or not. At any rate, I’ve come to know more about what this particular passage of scripture means through my voyage in using social media.

The worst offenders through the anonymity of digital technology have been on Huffington Post. Not that long ago, I would find myself responding “to articles” written on the Christian page and then I would be “attacked” on a personal level because of my belief. For a while, it was amusing and I simply stood my ground on my beliefs. When people became too obnoxious, I ignored them. When they became downright hateful with the racial attacks as well as the religious ones, I decided enough was enough and only commented to the articles and never again to those who plagued the Believers. 

What I discovered from those attacks was fuel to use in writing my books and in my blogs. For me–those attacks have resulted in me being blessed with ammunition to keep writing and to keep encouraging other believers to stand on God’s Word, no matter what other people may say.

I am strengthened, daily by Holy Spirit to keep writing and encouraging. I have been blessed by those who “choose” to follow me on a number of social media, and in book sales. I am empowered by the comments being made to keep moving forward, always listening to God and saying what He says–to me in my blogs.

I’m not foolish enough to think that everyone who follows me via “any” of the social media agrees with everything I say, but they are at least respectful enough to either not say anything or to disagree–agreeably. That is a tremendous blessing to me and I would not have known how many people really do love The Lord, if I had not kept writing–in spite of the verbal attacks. Praise God for victory in digital media–even though there are those who yet hide behind anonymity.

What I’ve come to understand from my experience using social media is this–Satan still uses people and tries to hide his hand with the anonymity of “egg photos, cute animals,” or anything they can find other than their face. There are some believers who are hiding as well–perhaps it is because of their experiences with nastiness on social media. I choose to let the world know who I am and that I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I will promote Him, every chance I get, to whoever is willing to read and understand or hear (I’m just as vocal in public)--it is all to His glory!  Hallelujah!

So, go ahead and mock me so I can continue to be blessed by God in all I say that glorifies Him! I am blessed and highly favored and every time someone is nasty to me or has a hateful comment, God counters it with another blessing. Now, this is what the psalmist meant when he said, “He has prepared a table for me in the midst of my enemies” and now my enemies can  watch me devour the fullness of God in my life and be a blessing to others!

 

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Ravaging Politicism

Introduction

When looking at our society today and trying to make sense of the stupidity that reigns one has to wonder—how did we reach this point in life? The answer could be very simply put forth for discussion and analysis, but the problems attached to the answer are too complex to be simple. We are living in an era in which we attempt to hold people to standards when in reality those standards no longer exist and have not for some time.

We expect people in certain positions to uphold a modicum of respect for the office, even if it is obvious the person holding the office, deserves no respect. We attempt to hold people to standards of morals when we have been an amoral society for decades and there does not appear to be any attempt for anyone to change the flavor of our valueless society.

We attempt to hold parents accountable for raising productive children while taking away their rights to do so and then wonder why our children are on the rampage.

We attempt to hold teachers to high academic standards of excellence when in reality—we tie their hands and muzzle over their mouths when the teachers dare to voice their concerns about the conditions under which they are expected for perform. Performance indeed is an accurate portrayal of what teachers are expected to do. They are expected to perform—miracles—with students who either cannot or will not cooperate in the learning process, with reduced budgets and a lack of resources that defies logic, and with micro-managing administrators who do not have a clue as to what should happen in a classroom, and certainly, do not know what is  happening in the classroom.

Then we have the standards of religious posturing that have no real meaning, but are laughable and people have the nerve to wonder why church attendance is down in so many “religious institutions.” When we have demoralized morals—and labelled it political correctness—we open the door to the powers of negativity and ruination and allow them to run rampant—causing confusion and chaos everywhere and then we sit back and wonder—why! Granted, not everyone believes in the God of creation and this is not really about what one believes or does not believe.

This unraveling diatribe is about the reality that has beset us and one in which we are so mired that we cannot see our way back to a rationale in our approach to life that makes it possible for us to regain any civility we have lost. As a result of our current predilection regarding political correctness as a standard, I have endeavored to expound on the results of our foolishness and bring to the forefront the issue of the ravaging politicism that is so pervasive in our society that reason is no longer a sound principle for most of our society.

To make sure that everyone reading maintains a focused view (no straying) to what is being said, the following definitions are used to coin the phrase—“ravaging politicism”—so that all can interpret with accuracy the state of our society.

Politicism—considering the verb—politicize—which means to bring a political flavor into a situation. In this case, it is the political arena, wooing citizens to win their confidence in a time of election.

Changing the verb into a noun by adding the suffix—ism—which means to develop a distinctive doctrine, theory, system or practice—we have—viola—politicism.

Ravaging—to ruin or cause ruinous damage or harm to someone or something. For the purposes of this brief dissertation, it is ruining what was supposed to be the threads of a civilized society in which morals and values are revered.

Referencing statements made in the introduction, let me begin with the damage that has brought us to our knees on an academic un-achievement level. We are ranked average based upon recent findings in the report according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development updated 10/1/2012). When looking at the compilation of scores, average is not an accurate description of what the ranking should be. On a scale up 1000, our reading scores were 500, math scores 487, and science scores 502. Now, I admit I am not a mathematician, but 50% is failing, not average. But then, I did not do the ranking and those who did, probably hoped that anyone reading this report would not see the fallacy that can be concluded from the following excerpt.

The three-yearly OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)             report, which compares the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in 70 countries    around the world, ranked the United States 14th out of 34 OECD countries for   reading skills, 17th for science and a below-average 25th for mathematics.

The response from our “revered leader in education” makes the following statement:

“This is an absolute wake-up call for America,” U.S. Education Secretary Arne             Duncan said in an interview with The Associated Press. “The results are extraordinarily            challenging to us and we have to deal with the brutal truth. We have to get much more       serious about investing in education.”

Now while I realize that not everyone considers Huffington Post a reliable media source, I am fairly confident in using them as a source for my stance. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/07/us-falls-in-world-education-rankings_n_793185.html—retrieved on 1/31/2014]

I have so much more to say–stay tuned for upcoming posts in the next week or so. Please forgive previous post–formatting issues.

Judge The Whole Matter

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiates 12:13).

News media will print anything to get your attention and broadcast things that are not totally true.

Before we judge anything we see or hear, we should investigate the truth for ourselves before we find ourselves being judged in the same manner as what we judged–people forming opinions without the benefit of full disclosure. Remember this–a half-truth is a whole lie! Satan is the father of liars and the master of deception. Don’t be drawn into his folly!

Let us endeavor to please God for we simply cannot please man!