Tuesday

 

ONE WEEK INTO A NEW YEAR

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Another milestone achieved: You may have noted that this
issue is indexed as "Vol. 14, No.1" We have arbitrarily set
each Volume as 6 months -- so this issue marks the beginning
of the 7th consecutive year of weekly publication. How long
we can continue is an open question -- we may be forced to
cease publication soon -- but at least this important date has
been reached. Thank you for staying with us, and for urging
your friends and others to subscribe.
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INTRODUCTORY EDITORIAL WORD: We made some
suggestions about the traditional New Year's Resolutions in
last week's issue. But because it is still a timely subject, here
is an interesting comment by writer Jen Hubley: "I've found it:
It's our New Year's Resolution for 2010. The only one, in fact,
that we need. This year, instead of fixating on losing weight,
quitting our bad habits, and paying off our debt, let's just
agree to be nicer to ourselves. If we can do that, the other
stuff will be easy...This is my favorite: Do something for you
everyday." And putting a Christian emphasis on such a down-
to-earth, common sense thought as that, how about resolving
not to turn against God, and put into effect the word of the
Psalmist, in 119:11: "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that
I might not sin against thee." And if you are looking for a
new approach to reading and appropriating God's word, here's
a quick and easy suggestion: read the Psalms and the Proverbs
every day for a month. There are just 150 Psalms -- read 5 a
day, and you complete them in a month. There are just 31
chapters in Proverbs -- read 1 a day and you will complete
them in a month. And why these two books out of the 66 in
the Bible? It has been said that the Psalms will teach you how
to get along with God, and the Proverbs will teach you how
to get along with your fellow-men. Try that schedule for just
a month; it will prove to be the best thing you could do for
yourself in this new year, 2010.

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WE ARE NOW ONE WEEK INTO A NEW YEAR;
SHOULD WE TAKE TIME TO LOOK BACK,
OR LOOK AHEAD SPECULATIVELY?

For a few weeks we will be entertained with lists setting
forth "The Best (or the Worst) of 2009," and just as often
we will be offered predictions for 2010, based heavily on the
writers' political, religious or sociological leanings -- those
predictions can all be summed up in the term "Worldview."

What, exactly, are we talking about? We have touched on
the subject of "Worldview" before -- the American Heritage
Dictionary defines it as: "1. The overall perspective from
which one sees and interprets the world. 2. A collection of
beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or
a group."

Chuck Colson, in announcing the program of the Colson
Center (www.colsoncenter.org), applies the Christian aspect
in these words: "Christianity is an all-encompassing
worldview. It causes us to see the world in a way that shapes
the way we live in the world. It shapes the way we evangelize
and the way we disciple others. And it shapes the way we
fulfill the cultural commission—carrying on the work of God
as we cultivate and employ all the resources God has placed
at our disposal for the sake of His creation."

Looking back at 2009 and the first 10 years of the Twenty-
first Century, Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" comes to mind,
and the familiar line: "It was the best of times, it was the worst
of times..." We experienced terrorist attacks on American soil
. . . we entered into two foreign wars that continue even today
. . . we saw the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, the largest
natural disaster in our nation's history . . . our way of life was
threatened by the worst economic recession in more than 70
years . . . and in the final days of 2009, attacks and attempted
attacks made it clear that President Obama's initial assessment
of our nation's security efforts was right:"totally unacceptable."

From a religious viewpoint we have seen our nation's historic
traditional Christian moral values come under attack from a
national administration which favors homosexual behavior,
encourages the killing of children through abortion, and
threatens the freedom of speech and religion which our
Constitution has always guaranteed. More than once our
president declared that America is no longer a Christian nation.
Former UN Ambassador John Bolton referred to Mr. Obama
as "our first post-American president," and we should pause,
consider the spiraling public debt, unemployment, banking
and industrial chaos, and the apparent failures in national
security, and try to understand how can we be entering a
"post-American decade?" How did it all go so so wrong, so
quickly, in every aspect of American life? Can it be true,
as some have predicted, that "the Jihad Decade cometh.?"

The answer to that question is purely speculative. But this we
know: In the last national election in 2008 the liberal, left-wing
elements of the American public, aided and abetted by the
elite media, and attracting significant numbers of votes from
our nation's religious members -- Evangelical, Catholic and
Jewish -- so that the result was that we elected as president
an icon of just about everything that belies the Jewish-Christian
principles upon which this nation was built and upon which
it has always existed. Political writer Pamela Geller summarized
Mr. Obama's first year in office using these words: " ... with
as much understanding of the American experience as any
foreign national ... His lack of experience in all relevant
areas to the office of the President is breathtaking. And his
bowing to Islam and our enemies worldwide is disastrous.
2009 was a nightmare."


So much for looking back; what about the future? We
have just observed a shocking display of partisan politics at
its worst in the supposedly sacrosanct U.S. Senate, where
members proved willing to sell their vote in support of the
administration's health care reform plan -- despite the fact that
polls show that 58% of the American people oppose the plan,
either version, House or Senate.

And now, even though the health reform proposal is not a
fait accompli, the Obama administration is preparing to push
for a major overhaul of the nation's immigration system. Senior
White House aides privately have assured Latino activists that
the president will back legislation next year to provide a path
to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants
living in the United States. (The old familiar term is "amnesty.")
And this proposal will doubtless face even greater public
opposition than the "Obamacare" health reform plan.

Any speculation about the future has to take into account the
facts disclosed by the several national polls which continue
to report that the opinions of the American people on Mr.
Obama's performance are uniformly on a downward trend.
The over-all favorable job approval score of 62% on Inaugural
day had fallen to 46% by year end. The daily performance
index of +23 on Inaugural day had fallen to -18 at year end.
And as the new year begins, only 29% feel that as a nation
we are headed in the right direction, with 67% reporting that
we are on the wrong track.

Given these overall factors, it is difficult to foresee any kind
of a favorable future for America -- unless some changes are
made. The next presidential election is not scheduled until the
year 2012. However, as we have been pointing out for the past
several weeks, there is a national election in 2010 -- on Nov.2,
to be exact. All members of the House will be up for election,
as will approximately one-third of the members of the Senate.

In last week's issue we pointed out how many "Religious"
voters -- Protestants, Catholics, Evangelicals and Jews -- had
played a part in electing Mr. Obama, and the strong liberal
majorities in both Houses of Congress. In November of this
year we can change the make-up of Congress, and thus affect
the unstoppable power of Mr. Obama and his present ultra
liberal Congress.

There are enough of us Evangelical Christians in this country
to reclaim this nation for God and move it back to what it has
always been: a Christian nation, although that is denied by
President Obama. As of today, there are just 300 days till Nov.
2, 2010. Mark that date on your calendar. It is a "take action
day" for American Christians. Let's not give up on America!

Was there any point in yesterday's security conference?
If so, it isn't immediately apparent. After a lengthy report
session with some 20 members of the president's security
team, Mr. Obama was able to present the results in 5 or 6
minutes, summed up in these words: "We will do better," and
the promise that within a few days he will be receiving more
detailed reports and suggestions as to what should be done to
correct what went wrong on Christmas Day. His choice words
of concern as to our security failures: "unacceptable" and
"systemic failure" and "isolated extremist." As for anyone --
for example, Janet Napolitano -- losing their job, one recalls
President Bush commending the Director of FEMA, Michael
Brown, after the Katrina disaster, "Brownie, you're doing a
heck of a job." Apparently Obama has a similar feeling about
Ms. Napolitano. But this much is apparent: Instead of calling
terrorist Abdulmutallab an enemy combatant and interrogating
him, we have granted him all the protections our justice system
provides any civil defendant, with a paid-for attorney and a trial
in an American court. We can expect this foolish generous act
to be remembered and exploited by the next Abdulmutallab or
whatever the next Jihad-terrorist will be named.

Global Warming and Climate Change are still "hot topics"
for the Algore Theory fans, but in Great Britain the advice is
being circulated to buy a new winter coat. Experts there are
predicting that this will be one of the coldest winters in the
past 100 years. This prediction comes from British scientist,
Mojib Latif who predicted in September that the earth would
be facing a cooling period for the next 20 or 30 years. (And
Britain was the site of the university research study which
messed up the statistical data upon which the Algore people
depended prior to the Copenhagen conference fiasco.) Try
to convince the residents of the upper mid-West and the
North-East of America about how warm it is!

A New Year, and because you enjoy them, we will still
look for and share some choice "One Liners" with you . . .

"Rather than the new era of transparency and bipartisanship
the Obama administration promised, it is now clear that we
are rapidly becoming 'The Divided States of America.'"
(Matthew Staver)

"In the hours that followed the attack, Obama foolishly
called the attempt an 'isolated incident.' That's like Tiger
Woods calling Rachel Uchitel an isolated incident."
(Andrea Tantaros)

(After a sleepless, overnight flight to Oslo, President Barack
Obama made a not altogether surprising admission: he was
tired.) "Jetting off for Broadway dates, undeserved Peace
Prizes, botched Crony-lympics bids, and world apology
tours is hard work, don’t you know?" (Michelle Malkin)

(Concerning the Christmas terrorist attack:) "The longer our
leaders remain delusional, the more likely more of us will
die." (Gary Bauer)

"How has occupying two nations at a cost of 5,000 dead,
35,000 wounded and a trillion dollars made us safer from
an enemy that more resembles the Apache of Geronimo
than the panzers of Rommel?" (Pat Buchanan)

"Rather than respond with vigorous force to protect the
homeland, the liberal response was to 'swaddle terrorists
in the rights of American criminal defendants.'"
(Andrew McCarthy)


And here are a few examples of what "Others are Saying."
These seem to reflect the opinions of the majority of the people
of America concerning current events.

Robert Ringer: "If you start with a false premise, you will
always arrive at a false conclusion. That government has
a right to impose "cap and trade" rules (and taxes) on
individuals or companies is a false premise. That government
has a right to force people to buy health insurance is a false
premise. That government has a right to redistribute wealth is
a false premise."

Newt Gingrich: "Secretary of Homeland Security Janet
Napolitano's claim that the Detroit bomber was allowed to
board a plane with explosives hidden in his underwear
proved the system worked is proof we need a new Homeland
Security Secretary who knows we need a new strategy and a
new focus. We have been warned. Again. Will we now act?"

Thomas Sowell: "The only thing healthy about Congress'
health insurance legislation is the healthy skepticism about
it by most of the public, as revealed by polls. What is most
unhealthy about this legislation is the raw arrogance in the
way it was conceived and passed."

Peter Brown, Quinnipiac University Polling Institute: "The
economy may be growing and the recession may be over,
but on Main Street, people who are unemployed are not
happy and people who are worried about being unemployed
are not happy."

A present day evaluation of our Founding Fathers:

"America's Founding Fathers clearly understood that faith
in the Creator and true Freedom are inseparable. We believe
their worldview was a Christian one based upon the Great
Commission of the Gospel and biblically enlightened self-
government. As inscribed on the Liberty Bell, they would
'Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the
inhabitants thereof.' (Leviticus 25:10) Solomon once said:
'When there is no vision, the people perish.' The true
American Dream is more accurately called the American
Vision. It is the Vision that drove our Founding Fathers to
establish our Constitutional Republic as a nation under God."
-- G. Edward Griffin

And there is this warning word from our 3rd president:
"We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt."
--Thomas Jefferson, in a letter, 1816

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