Every American should watch this. Takes 3 minutes ... is it worth it? You Decide!

JP Cormier HOMETOWN BATTLEFIELD Official Video!!

Firefights of the Mind - When the Demons of War Follow You Home

Fr. Kapaun the most decorated Chaplain in US military history. A true and inspiring story.

Police Officer's Final Act of Kindness Caught on Tape Before Dying

Thought for the Day

Proclamation to the World about Family - The Only Thing that can Save Us

To Become Better, Get Rid of Anger

Einstein once said, "Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools". We live in difficult times. Times that can make us very angry. Yet every minute spent in anger is a minute lost. A minute we could have been doing good. Anger distracts us from our mission. Anger blinds us to the possibilities of doing good and stunts our growth as human beings. It diverts our attention from what is important in the long term to what is expedient in the short term.



To be productive human beings we need to be in control of our attitudes, our efforts, our lives. We need to focus on the job at hand and not allow the things around us to distract from what we know we must do. Anger is not your friend, its your enemy. Work to control your thoughts, your responses to the stimulus around you and respond in an effective, not an emotional way.



The one thing that separates man from animal is the power of choice. Choose not to be an angry person, but an effective person. Yours for a better tomorrow ...

The Curse of Idleness

In the New Testament Matthew (20:6) wrote and about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them Why stand ye here all the day idle? Isn’t that a piercing question Christ posed? Later in the New Testament Timothy (1-5:13) writes and withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. Interesting observation.

In America today we have become a nation of idlers, where we were once a nation leading the world in innovation and productivity. Doubt that? Consider in the past five yard we have spent $3.7 trillion on welfare. According to the Senate Budget Committee, the total welfare spending during the Obama years is five times greater than the governments total spending on education, transportation and NASA combined.

Mr. Obama’s proclamation that he would ‘fundamentally transform America’ is well in process. He is transforming it into a welfare state, a socialist state, those who put him in power want. The Congressional Budget Office has projected that with current programs, welfare spending will rise at a rate of 80% over the next ten years. That’s another $11 trillion over that period of time. All this comes at a time when our nation is getting older, with nearly 100 million Americans no longer in the workforce and 50% of Americans pay no income tax at all.

We have sadly become a nation of idlers. As a nation founded on a profound belief in a God in Heaven, our God cannot be happy. When Matthew and Timothy wrote Christ’s words so many years ago, He made his expectations clear … work for your keep. We cannot continue on the path we are headed. The number of Americans receiving some sort of federal aid has increased 61% since the year 2000. I wasn’t a math whiz in school but this math I can do. Crash.

American cannot continue to be a nation of idlers. We cannot continue our slide into socialism. But we are …

Strengthen the Things That Remain by R. Albert Mohler

An important address by the head of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary who is addressing the BYU Forum.

Amazing Grace, David Döring, Panflöte in den Bergen, Panflute

A Great Thought for Today ...

Faith - The Principle that Makes the World Work.

We live in difficult, rapidly changing times where every value anyone has is under attack. The future is more uncertain than it has been in my sixty seven years on earth. People speak of faith and they speak against faith more and more every single day. Yet faith is the principle that makes the world work.



In the Book of Mormon, Ether Chapter 12 verse 6 it reads, and now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith. Moroni was speaking for our day.



Think about faith. Yes, we would hope you have faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ. But from an earthly perspective, living our daily lives - faith makes everything work. When you get in your car and drive to the store, you are exercising faith that other drivers will not harm you intentionally. When you go to work for your employer, you are exercising faith that your employer will in fact pay you as they have agreed to do. When you go to the Doctor you are exercising faith that he is who he says he is. Faith makes our world work.



One of the things that causes such frustration, anxiety and distrust in our current society is that the faith we are exercising is not being rewarded as it once was. Think about that this week and see if you can identify areas where you're faith is being tested. We must exercise faith for society to work and today, we are living in times where society is no longer working like it once did. Ponder that and how you might make  a difference along the way in our new world.



For a better tomorrow ...

Believing

Its been some times since I've written. Been down with a broken back, an interesting experience. Lots of time to reflect. It is plain that Atheism is becoming popular in America and elsewhere these days. As a former Atheist myself I get it to a point. The point being until you look at the world we live in and as the saying goes, 'peace is seeing a sunset and knowing who to thank'.



It took me until around the age of twenty seven to take a look around and see that sunset for the first time. My movement from Atheism to being an Agnostic came in a bunker along the North Vietnamese border in Vietnam. Under heavy shelling from the north during the Tet Offensive, a fellow Atheist with me was screaming obscenities in Gods name towards the third guy in the bunker, a Southern Baptist who was praying for safety. I got unnerved and grabbed my partner and said, "Just in case theres anything to that stuff - shut up!"



I crawled out of the rubble an Agnostic. But I did nothing for years. Blessed to be married to a wonderful girl who just wanted me to go to church, any church, well - I didn't. Our first child was born, I overcame my alcoholism and was unhappy with the man I was. I was still hooked on adrenaline from Nam and was reading an adventure book called Fatu Hiva by Thor Heyerdahl. It was about his and his new wives experience living on the Pacific Island of Fatu Hiva for a year with nothing more than a machete and an iron pot.



Its a great story but I was sitting at lunch reading at Bill's Hilltop Restaurant in Akron, Ohio when it happened. He was talking about his college degree in biology and life on Fatu Hiva. He told about the incredible balance of nature, he went into beautiful detail and it happened, my light bulb came on. He explained that he was raised by one Roman Catholic parent and one Atheist. He said he did not know about organized religion but he knew beyond a shadow of a  doubt - there is a God. And in that instant i did too. It changed my life and sent me on a quest where I found Christ.



I thought of this today when I read the quote, "For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible". Author unknown.



When I didn't 'get it' that quote was true, no proof was possible. Now that I 'get it', no proof is necessary although the proof is everywhere. When you believe, the proof is everywhere. May we turn to God for in Him and His Son Jesus Christ is the only salvation. We can all become better through Him.

God Whispers - Do We Listen

Mormon Tabernacle Choir's concert for a girl with cancer - Become Better

The Core Problem in America

MARRIAGE”—THE WORD by John Evans

IS THE MOON A SUN? I overheard the Moon and the Sun having a rather contentious conversation. The Moon was saying he was as good as the Sun. In fact he was angry with those that kept saying how wonderful the Sun was, how bright, how essential to life. He demanded the same respect. 

The Sun, trying to be diplomatic but still  replied: “No one is saying you aren’t bright and beautiful. You are an impressive satellite circling around the earth. But to be a sun you have to be a shining star.”

The Moon pouted and said, “You’re wrong! I can be a sun too. Just because bigoted people think we’re different, just because they labeled me a ‘moon’ and you a ‘sun’ doesn’t mean I don’t deserve the same respect you get.”

The Sun, somewhat surprised, responded, “But dear Moon, as a sun I create energy, give off light, make life possible. That’s what suns do. You simply can’t do that. You can’t create energy. You can only reflect the light created by a sun. All moonlight is reflected sunlight.”

“That’s just more of your prejudice, Sun. I demand that you call me a ‘Sun’, just like you. I refuse to be a second class heavenly body any longer!”

“Would it be O.K., Moon, if we created some term that would be acceptable other than ‘sun’ because ‘sun’ has an age-old meaning that just doesn’t describe you. There are some pretty fundamental differences.”

Now the Moon got really angry. “You know, Sun, there are laws against hate speech. Your refusing to acknowledge that I am no different than you is just based on your irrational prejudice. I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’ll get the U.N. or some government to pass a law that says ‘All bright heavenly objects are suns,’ and then I’ll be legally recognized as a sun. I can do it, you know. All I have to do is threaten to call them “Intolerant” and they will do anything I ask.”

“Maybe so,” replied the Sun, “but you still can’t produce light.”

MALES AND FEMALES MAKE FAMILIES: A family begins when a male sperm merges with a female egg. There is no other way! When male and female gametes merge a baby can be born. There is no other way! It is true children can be abandoned, shuffled around, adopted, adults can live together in any number of combinations, laws and regulations may expand, contract, redefine. But only a male sperm merging with a female egg can create a human.

FAMILIES ARE NOT CREATED BY GOVERNMENTS: Families existed before governments, before countries, before civilization. They will exist long after all governments that now exist have faded into the forgotten past. One hopes that when a male and female unite to create life that every worthy and noble instinct will come into play to provide for, nurture and protect the children of that union. Human babies must be cared for. That is done far better by a family than by any other institution. No human lived to puberty without at least basic physical care provided by others for many years. Human folly and sometimes unavoidable tragedy—physical or emotional— may require that other than the natural parents step in and provide that essential care. Fortunately, adults other than DNA parents can love and care for children when natural parents are unwilling or unable to fulfill what, to most of us, seems the most basic, normal parental roles. They can, in the best way, provide a family. How fortunate that so many are so caring.

THE WORD: We live at a time when many want to use the words for “marriage” and “family” to describe other relationships. A most extreme example is Mafia murderers describing their criminal combinations as “families.” They hope to impart some acceptability, some legitimacy, to a relationship that, in fact, is destructive of families. Like the Moon’s demands, it is not unusual for those seeking legitimacy to hijack words, words imbued with the greatest respect, and to change their meaning in the hopes that by changing the definition of the word they can change our perception of reality. We cannot expect our legislatures and courts to prevent it.  But redefining a word, whether done by legislatures, courts, voters or tyrants, cannot change the most significant, core, reality of all human existence: every human exists because of the union of a male and female. “Marriage”, at best protected by tradition, law and the finest human instincts, is the most essential of all relationships—the one that produces humans. It deserves, at least, a word of its own.

Changing Our Behavior

There is no other way ...

We Need a New Level of Thinking

As people we tend to just ride the waves of ease, especially in America. We have some significant challenges ahead of us. We will not solve those problems with the same level of thinking that got us here. We need to repent. We need to redirect our thinking and change our lives or the government is going to change them for us.

Independence Day - 6 - Final in Series

We covered all the reasons why our Founding Fathers wanted independent from the Mother  Country, here is the close of our Declaration ...

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

___________

Wow! Check out the stuff I put in bold ...

1. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Now that speaks to our day. Think, then act on that prompting. A Prince who acts like a tyrant.

2. Representatives of the united States of America Remember who is speaking here. The sitting Congress at the time - see what they say next ...

3. Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions our original Congress is appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world; that would be God. Today? Think real hard on this one.

4.  these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States the operative words here are 'United Colonies' meaning they are independent but United; and then they say of 'Right' they ought to be 'Free and Independent' - 'States' ... think, if the Mother Country didn't have the 'right' to interfere before 'God' why does the Federal government today have that 'right'?

5. as Free and Independent States again they reiterate 'free and independent states'.

6.  to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do this is important; the 'independent states' can do 'all other Acts and Things which Independent States my of right do'. Think. They are laying out the foundation of what would become the greatest and most successful nation on earth.

7. for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, who did they reach out to for support of their Declaration? They sought the protection of 'divine Providence'. Why? Because they believed that God had a hand in the creation of the first country on earth to recognize the rights of the individual and not the right of the government. Why did America become the beacon of hope to a darkened world? Think. It has everything to do with the inspired documents of our Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights and the character of the men behind them.

8. we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. What did these men pledge to deliver our Declaration of Independence? "Their lives - their fortunes and what, 'our sacred honor'. What kind of honor? Sacred honor. These were men far superior to anyone in leadership today.

As we close this review of a sacred document, the Declaration of Independence, think about it and what it has meant to the world at large. Our declaration and the Constitution of the United States of America changed the course of the world. It was unquestioned for just over 150 years of world leadership and then the attacks began. And as those attacks have increased in both volume and intensity, we see where we are today. You be the judge.