An interesting article from http://www.ucg.org/ about Ash Wednesday and Lent. This follows this post about the benefits of ending drug usage and other bad habits. This follows this post about Mardi Gras. For a free magazine subscription or to get the book shown for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886- 8632.

What's wrong with Ash Wednesday?

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Ashes, sacrificing for Lent, what could be wrong with that?

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[Darris McNeely] If you happen to see anyone today with an ashen cross on their forehead, don't think that it's just a smudge of dirt. It's Ash Wednesday. And for people who keep this day, that's part of the custom, the ritual of putting a cross on their head in commemoration of Christ, His life, His birth, and the beginning of Lent and the 40 days of fasting.
[Steve Myers] Is that something we need to be a part of? Is that something you should be doing, putting an outward symbol on your forehead? Or for the next 40 days giving up some things like a pack of gum? Or I read on a Catholic website, give up a half an hour of TV because somehow that connects with the sacrifice of Christ? Is that what we should really be doing or is there a whole lot more to it?
[Darris McNeely] These practice that take place during this 40 day period are very interesting. They tend toward a works based approach toward religion, and it's the very opposite of what the Bible says regarding our relationship with God and what we should learn from the very important events of Christ life, and His death, and His resurrection. And it gets down to a more spiritual application than something external and physical.
[Steve Myers] Right. Rather than just being sorry about something or being penitent, you have to repent, you have to change, and that's an inward thing not an outward thing. And there's a connection here in Matthew:6:16Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.. Christ was talking about fasting, but the same applies to putting ashes on your head or giving up a pack of gum for 40 days. Here's what He says, He says, "When you fast, don't make it obvious." That's the New Living translation. He says, "As the hypocrites do for they try to look miserable or disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting." That's not the approach. Christ points to the inside. He says, "When you fast, comb your hair, wash your face, then no one will notice what you're doing," what you're fasting about. He says, "Except your Father who knows what you do in private, and your Father who sees everything will reward you" (Matthew:6:16-18 [16] Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
[17] But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
[18] That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.). So what's God most concerned about? The inside, what's happening inside. Not some outward show. But He wants a relationship with you.  He wants true repentance, not just something to feel sorry about. So it's more important about what's going on inside.
[Darris McNeely] It's the inward man, that change that takes place that really defines our relationship with God. That's what God is most interested in, not in placing ashes on our forehead in some type of symbol.
[Steve Myers] So let's make it our goal to draw closer to God, not on the outside, but on the inside where it really counts.
[Darris McNeely] That's BT Daily . Join us next time. 

The Tone-Deaf, Insulated, Suicidal D.C. GOP

A timely post about from www.hughhewitt.com about the GOP's unfortunate Tax policy. This follows this post about Ukraine and the Olympics. This follows this post about the Senate race in Texas. In the meantime, you can get more involved if you like here and read an interesting book HERE.


Blogger's Note: You can copy and send this article to the House Ways and Means GOP members by using their office zip code here: http://waysandmeans.house.gov/about/members.htm

The Tone-Deaf, Insulated, Suicidal D.C. GOP

 posted by Hugh Hewitt

Dave Camp is by all accounts a wonderful guy. But he has orchestrated another pratfall for the Beltway GOP, another display of loser-thinking, elite favor-currying, and desperately bad politics eight months before crucial elections.  And he has done so when even party leaders have said his grand plan has zero chance of succeeding.  No one is even sure what is in the proposal because Representative Camp is attempting to bend public opinion by talking about what is in it before we get to see what it is in it, just like Obamacare.
This has become a habit of the D.C. GOP. Again and again some sect of the D.C. GOP develops a sweeping policy proposal –in secret– unveils it to great expectations and the nods of Beltway elites, and then are shocked to find their base voters are adamantly opposed.  Again and again the chief sponsors of legislation refuse to listen to anyone not already inside their circles, and every time big Beltway interests distort the desires of party regulars. Again and again, shocked D.C. elites who were expecting acclaim get hit with a tidal wave of disdain.
Every time the chief sponsors refuse to talk to the base via talk radio, key cable shows, or social media.  Every time they refuse to answer tough questions and engage the base in conversations before they unveil the New Coke.  And every time they pull a dead rabbit out of their hats and are shocked when talk radio and cable news audiences are appalled and angry and erupt on Twitter or other forums.
This session of Congress this sequence has already happened with immigration reform and with the repeal of the COLA for career military.  Now it will happen again with Dave Camp’s “tax reform” proposal, which of course will slash deductions held dear by base GOP voters in “exchange” for cuts in the corporate rate, capital gains and dividends rates.  Such cuts matter to the wealthiest of Americans and to large business interests.  They matter little if at all to homeowners, donors to churches, para-church organizations and schools, residents of high tax states, and the rising upper class –those with large salaries but few assets– get hammered under Camp’s third bracket, which he attempts to deny exists by labeling it a “surcharge” and not a bracket, thus combining deceitful packaging with a new and sure-to-be-abused avenue for future tax-hikers.
And this is an opening bid, one that Democrats will seize on as the place from which negotiations must begin, not end, which is why Harry Reid is disposed to welcome it.  Dave Camp spent years getting a proposal ready only to be surprised to find that his erratic, eccentric negotiating partner, Senator Max Baucus, left for China leaving the termed-out Chair of Ways and Means with nothing to do…except help divide the GOP heading into the fall elections.  Rarely has vanity driven anything as important as  tax reform, but this time it did.  And worse, Camp’s ambition to become a new Jack Kemp held every good idea like the repeal of the medical device tax hostage for two years despite super-majority support in the Senate to repeal it.
Camp never gives interviews to conservatives who might question why he would want to destroy the social capital-builidng deduction for home mortgage interest, or limit the generosity of Americans towards the institutions of the society –churches, school, medical research societies– that cause it to thrive.  He is cloistered, like the sponsors of other crash-and-burn initiatives.  Perhaps there are defenses to those destructive obsessions held close by libertarian purists, but none of them ever campaigned for office in a district where home values will fall at least 15% upon the repeal of the mortgage interest deduction and where churches and schools will close their doors when their biggest donors stop writing checks when the costs of those checks go up because their deductibility goes down.
Camp’s Wall Street Journal op-ed today says he wants to fix “our appalling tax code.”  The first question is who deputized him?  Sure, he is chairman of Ways and Means by virtue of hanging around D.C. for 20 years, and no doubt he is a wonderful guy and much beloved by his Midland, Michigan neighbors.
But he doesn’t represent the country, he doesn’t represent any sizable portion of the GOP, and he has never, ever tried to sell this plan int he give and take of political debate.  Contrast that approach with the approach of Jack Kemp in the ’70s.  ”When other members of Congress spent their time and energy on committee work and constituent services,” the New York Times wrote of Kemp in 1996, “Mr. Kemp concentrated on developing bold and controversial tax legislation, outside the jurisdiction of any committee on which he served. He also implored his Republican colleagues to reach out to blacks and members of other minority groups.”
Jack Kemp didn’t force-feed his sweeping proposal to a reluctant Congress genuflecting to a termed out chairman looking for a little exit music and some applause from Beltway elites.  He sold his proposal, and he didn’t attacks the middle class in the process.
But this is a new GOP.  Does the base want a face on the U.S.-Mexican border?  The be sure to produce a bill that doesn’t build a fence.
Does the base want to take care of active duty military and their families?  Then slam only that very group with the only benefit cut in the budget package.
Does the base want tax reform?  Then develop a bizarre plan in secret that punishes them and especially slams two-income couples who make $450,000 a year and leaves the Facebook billionaire class to fund climate change because, after all, why take care of the voters who send you to D.C.?
It is remarkable what D.C. GOPer talks themselves into by talking only to themselves.  No one –no one– ran in 2012 on eliminating the mortgage interest deduction or the charitable deduction.  No one barnstormed across the state in pursuit of limiting the charitable deduction or the state tax deduction.  It is all hocus-pocus, dreamed up by staff economists and lobbyists looking to advantage this or that special interest, and more power to them.  That is their job.
But it is the job of the D.C. GOP to represent their base, to consult with them, campaign in front of them and answer their questions.  Not lead the party over a cliff.
Most of the D.C. GOP’s many mistakes could be avoided by a refusal to go native and become captive to insular and circular information flows.  But as Dave Camp’s very short star turn shows, they don’t care about getting an audience outside of D.C.  They’ve got their gigs, and they need please only their largest donors, staffs and the friends of their staffs.  This creates huge distortions in what they know about what voters want.  And it shows.  Again, and again, and again.

Live and Let Die: Mark Steyn on Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s Capitulation to the Gaystapo

A timely post about from http://nicholasstixuncensored.blogspot.com about Jan Brewer's veto of Religious Freedom. This follows this post about the myth of "White Privilege." (Warning: if you are using a filtered computer, some links might flag you!) This follows this post about endorsements for TEXAS. This follows this post about Texas legislators who are graded "Worse than Wendy." This are GOP legislators!  In the meantime, you can get more involved if you like here and read an interesting book HERE.


Live and Let Die: Mark Steyn on Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s Capitulation to the Gaystapo

Live and Let Die: Title Sequence

Thanks to juanmurs for the upload.

Re-posted by Nicholas Stix

A tip ‘o the hate to James Fulford.

If I Knew You Were Suing, I'd've Baked a Cake

By Mark Steyn  •  Feb 27, 2014 at 9:35 am
steynonline.com

President Obama does not talk about "religious liberty." He prefers the phrase "freedom to worship" - ie, it's something you do for an hour or two on a Sunday morning, and then put it in the closet for the rest of the week and live a secular life in a secular world. I would imagine that shrunken and attenuated view of religious "liberty" will come to prevail in America in the years ahead - at least until some gay guy sues a Muslim baker for failing to bake his wedding cake, when it will all get more complicated.
Yesterday the Governor of Arizona made her own small contribution to this wholesale transformation. From Powerline's Paul Mirengoff:

Governor Jan Brewer has here and here. Brewer claimed that S.B. 1062 "does not address a specific or present concern related to religious liberty in Arizona" and that it was "broadly worded and could result in unintended and negative consequences."

Paul takes these objections more seriously than Arizona's Governor did or most of the newspapers. Yesterday, I heard Republican state senator Steve Pierce explain why he voted for the bill before he was against it. Like Nancy Pelosi, he passed it in order that he could find out what was in it, and, once he'd found out, he changed his mind and demanded that Jan Brewer veto him before he could legislate again.
Whatever the faults or the virtues of the bill, there is nothing to be said for such a legislative class. What does the jelly-spined Pierce really believe about the law he passed? What does Governor Brewer really feel about it, other than that she's tired of being demonized as "Jan Crow"? Paul Mirengoff distills it:

Her real concern is with avoiding the wrath of businesses that wish to avoid the wrath of gay activists.

Through all the years I have been in America, I have been told, whenever I draw attention to some examples from Canada, that Americans are not wussy pantywaist Canadians, and there's no chance of that happening here. And yet oddly enough it does happen here, in nothing flat. Here's the kind of column I was writing up north a decade ago:

So it's no surprise to find that, even though we've only had legalized "same-sex marriage" for ten minutes, and even though Paul Martin & Co. have given a lot of fine-sounding assurances on how the new arrangements will respect the deeply held beliefs of ancient religions, gays are already in court suing for the right to marry on church property. In 2003, the Knights of Columbus in Port Coquitlam accepted a booking for a wedding reception in their hall behind Our Lady of the Assumption Church. It's a fairly typical Knights of Columbus hall--crucifixes, photographs of the Pope, paintings of the Virgin Mary, et cetera. When the Knights discovered that Deborah Chymyshyn and Tracey Smith were, in fact, a lesbian couple, they cancelled the booking as politely as they could under the circumstances, returning the deposit and, on the advice of the Archdiocese, chipping in a further $600 to cover new wedding invitations and an alternative location...

Take a wild guess at how that worked out for them.

A legal decision here, a legal decision there--a religious institution can't fire a militantly gay employee, a religious school has to allow gay couples to the prom, the sterner admonitions from Leviticus can no longer be quoted in church advertising--and the ratchet effect is well underway.

As my compatriot Kathy Shaidle likes to say (until she's arrested), "More KY for that slippery slope." But don't worry - rock-ribbed Republicans like Pierce and Brewer will ensure there's no danger of any of that coming to America.
In my book Lights Out (now out on Kindle, Kobo and Nook - click above), I write:

In the early days of gay liberation, most of us assumed we were being asked to live and let live. But, throughout the western world, 'tolerance' has become remarkably intolerant, and 'diversity' demands ruthless conformity.

Live and let live? No, live and let die. As Barbara Findlay, the QC who successfully sued the Knights of Columbus, said way back in 1997:

The legal struggle for queer rights will one day be a showdown between freedom of religion versus sexual orientation.

But don't worry, you'll still have the "freedom to worship".~I'll be returning to the Deranged Dominion myself for my appearance at the Manning conference this Saturday. So I won't be able to keep my weekly date with Hugh Hewitt, because I'll be in Ottawa joining Evan Solomon for my biennial appearance on the CBC, live at 6pm Eastern. See you then.

An interesting article from http://www.ucg.org/ about the benefits of ending drug usage and other bad habits. This follows this post about Facebook's expansion of gender choices in order to taunt states such as Arizona, which were using the traditional definition of marriage. This follows this post about Mardi Gras. For a free magazine subscription or to get the book shown for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886- 8632.

Change and Live

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What hinders you from living joyfully? Is a habit or a worry crippling you emotionally? God stands ready to help. Discover how.

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[Darris] I will call him "tattoo guy" because he had tattoos all over his body, down his legs, up both arms and up his neck. He had a couple of studs hung from his mouth, and the image was pretty fearsome.
I would see this gentleman working out most every day that I went to my local gymnasium. This guy was pretty serious about weightlifting. He worked hard. He worked fast and he took very few breaks. He ferociously pumped the iron and he had all the sound effects working.
One day in the locker room I struck up a conversation with him. He told me that the rush that he got from weightlifting was very similar to the rush that he got from doing drugs. I was quite shocked by what he said and so I asked further. He told me that he had done drugs. He had done meth, heroin, cocaine--they were all a part of his habit for years. And he had been in and out of drug programs, rehab and prison. But now he was clean, and he lifted weights to get the same feeling that he used to get from drugs.
I was curious. "What," I asked, "caused you to kick your drug habit?" His answer surprised me, and it may surprise you. It gave me a vital key to understanding change.
Join us on Beyond Today as we look at what can make us "Change and Live."
[Announcer] Join our host, Darris McNeely and his guests, as they help you understand your future on Beyond Today !
[Darris] What if you were diagnosed with a disease that could be reversed by changing your lifestyle? Something like heart disease.
Could you change? You say, yes? Maybe you should think again.
The odds are 9 to1 you wouldn't change.
That's right. In an article called, "Change or Die," Alan Deutschman shares this surprising statistic. 9 to 1 that you would not make a lasting change to reverse the sentence hanging over your head.
Yet, there are many things about our life that every one of us would like to change. But how do we make the changes that are important to us? How can we begin to change habits and attitudes that have been with us for so many years?
When was the last time you actually changed something about your behavior?
Maybe it was to lose weight. Maybe it was to stop smoking. Maybe you really decided you needed to control you anger, or stop whatever other compulsive behavior that you know you have to get under control.
We all know how hard it is. We know we need to make changes and yet, every year millions make what are called "new year" resolutions of all kinds--most are never realized.
We have good intentions. We start off well and most of us truly desire to change habits and behavior that we know is not good and can actually harm our health. And yet, it is extremely difficult.
Let me give you an illustration. Let's look at health care--a big issue in America, and most parts of the world. It consumes a lot of money. And yet a small percentage of the population consumes the majority of what is spent on health care in the United States. Usually for diseases that are by and large behavioral--this is, we cause them by things we do.
And 80 percent of the health care budget, of companies, is consumed by essentially five behaviors: smoking, drinking too much alcohol, overeating, stress, and not enough exercise.
Those five behaviors consume most of the problems that people have to pay for. Let's look at one. Heart surgery takes a lot of time and claims the lives of a lot of people, today. People go through heart-bypass surgeries. They have stents put in because of any number of different reasons.
Studies show that two years later, 90 percent of those who have had that have really not changed their lifestyle. They may start off with good intentions, and change for a while, but time and circumstances cause them to revert.
It's interesting. Knowing there is a disease that can kill and stats show that most people do not change.
So again, I ask, why is it so difficult? And why do we fight change even when we know that it is in our best interest?
I was taught this a number of years ago. I learned it in one of my classes. I didn't believe it. Years and years of experience have taught me just how difficult it is. You study behavioral science and they show you that change most often happens, most by people, when you speak to people's feelings. That's when change that is effective and usually long lasting take place.
When a person's heart is reached at an emotional level, a person is more likely to make a lasting change.
The Bible--God's Word--confirms this fact. God speaks to us through His Word and He speaks to us at a very deep emotional level. And when we react to it, it produces a lasting change.
But as we look at our life and all of these different habits that we have, what can make us change? What really pushes us in those directions?
There is a lot of myths about what may cause change. A crisis can hit and people will change for a period of time. They get a diagnosis and fear sets in. Fear can be a motivating factor--understandably so. Facts sometimes for some people, logical information, causes them to change. Sometimes people will change very gradually. Kicking a smoking habit is often attacked by people by making a gradual change, by cutting back on nicotine, over a period of time. Sometimes it works. I have seen it work with people.
There is another myth and that is, people just can't change. And that is a big myth because we can change!
Now, any one of these, fear or a crisis, can produce change, a measure of change and in some cases, even a lasting change.
I look at my own father who was a two-pack-a-day smoker for all of his adult life. One day my dad woke up with a cough that wouldn't go away. He thought he had cancer, and whatever or whoever he talked to, whatever diagnosis that came his way, he decided one day to stop smoking. And he quit cold turkey. He was fearful of what might have happened, and he did quit, and it was a lasting change.
But you know what? The statistics show nine others don't always do that. And I have known a number of people who because of whatever going on in their life, really didn't do it.
Behaviorists know that effective lasting change is often made by appealing to the emotion and reaching people at a deeper level than just facts, a momentary crisis, or even shock and fear.
I learned this a long time ago in my years in counseling with people in various situations. I would often run across people who were lonely and depressed. And they were in some self-destructive patterns by either additions, their eating habits, stress, or not getting enough exercise, and doing certain things that they could easily change. And, I would encourage them and in some cases, basically tell them what they needed to do in changing their lifestyle, and it wasn't always motivational enough to create a change. And there was frustration, and it created challenges and difficulties.
It took me a long time to learn the lesson that a person who is lonely, a person who is depressed, or some other chronic emotional problem, and that cigarette, that bottle of Jack Daniels, that drug even, is a replacement for what is empty and what is missing inside their life. It is their crutch to get them through a day! And if they quit, and just went cold turkey off of it and it didn't take care of that emotional need inside of them, they were still lonely and depressed, and they said what good is this? And they'd rather live a shorter life, at least happy because of the crutch of the addiction, rather than a longer life and not being able to deal with some of the other emotional problems which were at the real heart of what they were struggling with. It took me a long time to learn that lesson.
At the opening of today's program, I told you a story about a fellow that I called "the tattoo guy." So, what happened to Tattoo Guy? I'm going to come back to that story, in just a moment. There is a very important lesson there for all of us.
This program is designed to help you make changes, to begin a process of changing and living, to help you to a better quality of life. We are offering a free study guide today, Transforming Your Life . This booklet contains a lot of valuable information and it is going to help you find your way to some improved habits that are lasting and effective. It'll take a bit of study. It will take some work with the Bible, but it will help you. And I am going to tell you more about it in just a minute.
You can read this booklet, Transforming Your Life online at BeyondToday.tv . Or, you can request your free copy and it will be sent to your home by calling: 1-888-886-8632. You can call right now if you wish, jot the number down and call at the end of this program.
All right, let's get ourselves back on track to find out what Tattoo Guy taught me.
Here is what behavioral scientists have learned about making changes in people.
That joy is more powerful than fear. Joy is an emotion that runs deep into our reactions. Joy is a quality that is cultivated by deliberate choice. And joy is a quality of life that is spiritual. The Bible reveals that it is also a fruit of God's Holy Spirit .
Joy is a quiet confidence, an unmovable confidence that God's holding your hand and guiding you through life--during the good times as well as the bad times.
Joy is a deep feeling of contentment that flows from a choice that we make to live a better life because of someone or something beyond ourselves.
You see, when a person is convinced that they will feel better or have a better quality of life, they are more likely to change behavior. Let me take you back to the story of Tattoo Guy, the guy that I met in the gym. I told you about his story at the beginning of the program.
Tattoo Guy lifted weights. He would get a rush of adrenaline from lifting weights, pumping that iron most days of the week. And he said that he got the same rush that he would get when he used to do drugs. Now Tattoo Guy was a pretty scary looking guy with his studs in his face and the tattoos all over his body. One day we struck up a conversation and he began to tell me a story.
And as I listened to him, I could tell that there was a softness beyond his rough-looking, fearsome exterior.
Here was a man who had been in and out of drug rehab programs, and in and out of jail for his drug habit. Nothing in those measures--the drug rehab or the jail--caused him and convinced him that he needed to change the destructive habits of drugs. Yet something else did.
I was curious: "What caused you," I asked, "to kick your drug habit?"
Without hesitation, he said, "My daughter. My daughter said she did not want to visit me in jail anymore." He said, "My daughter convinced me I needed to change."
I was stunned. But I was also pleased. And he was too. It was very obvious.
Tattoo Guy cleaned up his life because of the joy he felt being with his daughter, helping her grow up and being a better influence for her.
We all know that drug and alcohol addiction are vicious habits. They destroy countless lives, cost society billions of dollars every single year. We all know that whoever kicks those habits and makes permanent change does so because something happens at their deepest, gut-level of emotion.
Any program, any cure for those addictions to be truly effective must eventually reach an addict at their deepest emotional level.
There's a song I like to listen to. It's called, One Day at a Time . It is written by a recovered addict. There is a stanza from it that sums it all up.

"It was something I was too blind to see, I got help from something greater than me. And I have to learn to live my life one day at a time!"

My friend, Tattoo Guy, was willing to change because of his little girl. To him his daughter was "something greater" than himself. When he saw her and what his behavior was doing to her, he then took the steps to clean up his life.
Let me ask you. Is there a habit that is killing you but you just can't change? What is it that might be crippling you maybe emotionally, or keeping you from living the life that you want to live, and becoming the person that God wants you want to be?
Is it drugs? Is it alcohol? Smoking? Overeating? Or a sexual addiction?
Maybe it is emotional pain? Fear? Anger? Maybe it is an abusive past that affects you so deeply today, you can't shake. You can't move away from it?
What is it that keeps you crippled, challenged and fighting for a sane, balanced and happy, joyful life--right now, today? What is it? What habit is keeping you from changing? What is keeping you from really experiencing life at the highest level? A happy, contented, safe, emotional life?
You see, Tattoo Guy was willing to change for his little girl. And I say, God bless him!
Here is the question: Who is your "little girl"? Who in your life is big enough and important enough to make you change and to help you start living life at a much higher level?
That's who you need to find! Find that person, or find that cause that will make you change and to make you begin to live for something beyond today.
Tattoo Guy was moved to change because of the love that he had for his precious little girl. You might not have a little girl, but you do have a God. Can you be moved to change because of God's love for you?
What God offers to each one of us is not too far. It is not something that is unknowable. It can be known. You see, God has not taken His message, His instructions, His words to us and hidden them off some place in a secret vault way up in heaven or wherever, and only a few people can find it. You can find it! You can access it!
God's message is close to you. It can be on your lips and it can be in your heart. And God's message can change your life for the better. All you have got to do is to choose--today, to begin to make the choice and to make it so. And begin that process that can help you pull yourself out of the rut of life that you are caught and in which you are trapped.
There is a wonderful passage in the book of Deuteronomy 30. It says, from God--it is really a message to all of us:

"Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the LORD, you will live long in the land" (Deuteronomy:30:19-20 [19] I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
[20] That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. NLT).

And so the question comes down to each of us, can we change? Can we change for God? Can you make a life change for the better to become like God in character and thought, and do it today?
This is really the essence of what our life is all about. When it is all summed up from what we read in the Word of God, and what the message of the gospel really is, it is that God is our Father and that He is building a family. That's it! That is the essence of the message of the gospel of the Kingdom of God. It is at the heart of what Christ Himself brought, what He taught.
The Kingdom of God is about a divine, spiritual family that God is building. And He wants you and I to change when offered the opportunity and today to begin to live as a member of His family--now! And develop a relationship with Him today, in this life, to make this life better. There is no need for us to keep continually knocking our head against the wall.
Your life can be better as a result of that choice, to go with God. It's this understanding that can be a catalyst for change and help you live.
I had a chance encounter in conversation with a former drug addict who looked into his daughter's eyes and heard her plea for him to change. And he did. He made a change away from a destructive habit at the physical level. Deep down he saw that he had to do that. There are bigger changes that he will make I am sure at some point in his life when he has a chance to know God and make a change in that way.
For you and I today, can we look into the Word of God, hear His voice and change because He wants us to change and to live?
God holds out to us the hope of a present life that can be full of joy, and meaning and significance in this chaotic world. Today, we can share a taste of a life to come--a life that is good, a life that works to create joy in place of fear. A lot of people live life fearful of many things and as a result, it doesn't work. God wants to give us a life that works; a life that can help us to get out of bed every morning with a desire to make a difference with our life. That type of life is a foretaste of a better world to come when Jesus Christ returns to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. And we can begin to get a foretaste of that life from that world today, right now! We don't have to wait.
So stop condemning yourself to a life of futility and problems. Look at what life has dealt you, and yes, it may have dealt you a bad hand. But also look at what you may have dealt yourself--what you have done to yourself. And realize ultimately, whether life has dealt you a bad hand or you have made some bad choices, right now it is a time to draw a line and to make the choice. Draw a line over the past, make a choice, pull yourself out of that nosedive and start flying a straight and true course. Grab hold of God's offer right there, very close, very near to help you live today!
And Christ is ready to intercede for you and to help you.
In Romans:8:34Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us., one of the most beautiful passages in all of the New Testament, the apostle Paul wrote these words. He said, "Christ Jesus who died - more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." And as a result of that, he asks the question, "Who shall seperate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?" (Romans:8:34-35 [34] Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
[35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? NIV).
And right there at that verse, you can add in your own line or two of your own life of what you have created. Or what has been dealt to you that, in a sense, separates us from the life we truly want. Well Paul goes on in verse 37. He says, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Romans:8:37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. NIV) because He is making intercession for us today.
And you can have access to that power, and to that life, and to God our Father. You are at a turning point. This message that we are giving you on this program today, and all of our programs and all that we offer on Beyond Today , can help you transition to a new mindset and a new lifestyle that can impact your life beyond today. It can impact your life for all eternity. And there lies the answers to help you answer the big issues of life that are in front of you at this time. And the choices you make can make a difference. And it's all worth it!
Before we go to our panel discussion today, let me make you an offer to help your understanding of today's subject.
It's our free study guide of our booklet, Transforming Your Life . This booklet will give you specific and spiritual goals to begin making effective changes in your everyday life.
It's a study aid that will help you change your thought process , and shows how our High Priest--Jesus Christ, could be working in your life today . If you're ready for a change in your life, you should get this booklet, this study aid, now.
You can get it online at BeyondToday.tv. BeyondToday.tv .
And if you would like us to mail you a copy, we are glad to do so. You can request it right now by calling: 1-888-886-8632. 1-888-886-8632. And if you live outside of North America, you can also write us a letter at the address on your screen. Request the booklet. We will be glad to send it to you.
When you order Transforming Your Life , you're also going to receive a copy of our Good News magazine --a bi-monthly publication put out by the United Church of God. You can have a deeper understanding of your Bible when you read The Good News .
The Good News will help you clearly see, with a biblical perspective, where world events are heading right now.
The Good News is paid for by the generous support of our donors, so we can offer it to you completely free of charge.
Call: 1-888-886-8632 or go online at BeyondToday.tv for the Bible study aid Transforming Your Life and our free magazine, The Good News .
We've been talking about making change in your life. And I gave the example of a friend at my health club, I called "tattoo guy" and what made him leave a life of drugs and addiction. Now I'm joined by fellow Beyond Today hosts, Gary Petty and Steve Myers, to continue this discussion.
Gentlemen, what are some examples of people that you have seen make dramatic changes, lasting changes in their life?
[Gary] You know Darris, I can talk a lot about examples from just counseling people but one that comes to mind is from my own family. When I was six years old, my dad was a chain smoker. And my mother actually prayed that God would help him overcome his smoking. And one day he had a headache so bad that he couldn't even think. It was terrible. And he asked God that if God would take the pain away, if this is really because of his smoking, he would never smoke again. And the pain went away. So he never smoked again.
His motivation at the beginning was fear, fear that God would bring the pain back, but over time it changed. He made a permanent change because he had a relationship with God, and that was so important to him, that joy, that it kept him from going back.
[Steve] I met a young man in prison. He had made some terrible choices in his life, was serving out a ten-year sentence. And as we talked, and as he realized he needed to change, he wasn't like that other eight out of nine that didn't change. Especially many of those in prison don't change their lives once they get out.
But he said a couple things that were really interesting to me. He said I don't want to live this way. And he used the freedom that he finally obtained as a motivation. That freedom meant something to him. That he could finally have the freedom to make the right choices and it was something that inspired him in his life, and he learned to draw close to God and count on Him. And it inspired me too, to see that it was possible to change and make big changes in your life.
[Darris] I once had a couple that I was counseling. The husband was running around committing adultery on his wife and she got to the point where she told him that, that's enough. And pack your bags and leave. And he got so distraught that he called me, and wanted to come and talk. And he showed up at my house late one night, and we sat down and talked for a couple of hours. And he was so shocked, again it as crisis. It forced him to make a choice. He changed. He said he wouldn't do it any longer. And you never known in those situations because adultery is a pretty addictive situation that people get into. But, his change stuck because I think he rekindled a joy with a relationship with his wife, and a love developed that then made that change permanent.
I think that people have to come to a point where they make a choice and decide too, that they want, need and must do better. Be better, make a change and that leads then to that deeper emotional level at some point where the change becomes permanent. But, I think there are a lot of good programs, there are a lot of self-help plans that are out there for people making change, and we don't discount any of that.
But lasting, deep change is going to come when you and I are emotionally involved and we feel the joy that that change brings in a relationship with that other person, something beyond ourselves and God Himself.
So please remember the free offers that we made to you today. You're going to want to order a copy of the Bible study aid, Transforming Your Life . It covers in great detail key principles beyond what we have talked about here today to help you improve your life. And, you are going to also receive a free subscription to The Good News magazine. The number is toll free: 1-888-886-8632. You can read both, The Good News and Transforming Your Life online at BeyondToday.tv .
If you like our program, you can also watch Beyond Today and BT Daily anytime on YouTube or on our Roku channel .
Every time I think of Tattoo Guy, I smile and take heart. It reminds me that people can change--no matter how horrible the habit or the lifestyle. My chance encounter with a man who kicked his drug habit is a great lesson for each of us to remember. Tattoo Guy changed and he began to live for the sake of his daughter.
How about you?
Can you change and live because your Heavenly Father wants you to live well today and forever in His family? The choice is yours, and God stands ready to help you when you decide.
Thanks for joining us and don't forget our free offers, and be sure and tell your family and friends about our program. Tune in again next week for another edition of Beyond Today and join us in praying, "Thy Kingdom come." For Beyond Today I'm Darris McNeely. Thanks for watching.
[Announcer] For the free literature offered on today's program, go online to BeyondToday.tv . Please join us again next week on Beyond Today !

White Privilege: The "Unfair" Ad Campaign

A timely post about from http://nicholasstixuncensored.blogspot.com about the myth of "White Privilege." (Warning: if you are using a filtered computer, some links might flag you!) This follows this post about the Federal Budget which rewards illegal aliens and punishes soldiers and marines. This follows this post about endorsements for TEXAS. This follows this post about Texas legislators who are graded "Worse than Wendy." This are GOP legislators!  In the meantime, you can get more involved if you like here and read an interesting book HERE.


White Privilege: The "Unfair" Ad Campaign

Uncorrected galley:

Corrected proof:

The white text on the man's right cheek reads:

"My children are taught that their race never did anything of value ever."


Tips 'o the hate to The Conservative Revolution & Stormfront.

Drought, Population Growth, and Big-Ag: California's Future Looks Bleak

A very interesting post from www.numbersusa.com about reasons for the drought in California. This follows this post about immigration enforcement views among evangelicals. REMEMBER, “Amnesty” means ANY non-enforcement of existing immigration laws! This follows this comment and this post about how to Report Illegal Immigrants! For more about what you can do click here and you can read two very interesting books HERE.

Drought, Population Growth, and Big-Ag: California's Future Looks Bleak

 https://www.numbersusa.com/sendfax

By Melanie Oubre, - posted on NumbersUSA

If you were to do a quick Google news search of “California drought and population growth” you’d be lucky to find more than a few passing statements buried deep within articles that are regurgitating the same information.  All of the news coverage on the devastating drought focuses on short-term problems and shallow solutions.

Most writing about the drought assume that population growth is a factor that won’t help California’s water shortage.  Unfortunately, I have yet to find any news coverage that attempts to come up with real solutions to rapid population growth in the West.  Nor have I read any statements from our elected officials addressing the population subject.  Our “leaders,” however, have been quick to come up with multi-million dollar plans aimed at helping the victims of drought in the short term. No one is tackling the long-term problem of our never-ending population growth.

BACKGROUND:
The drought is in its third year but only recently have conditions gotten so bad that it cannot be ignored.  California Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought state of emergency last month after data came in showing 2013 as the driest year ever recorded for most of the state.  Some records show that this is the worst drought to hit California in the past 500 years.  Experts are saying that this drought could last decades or even centuries.  Yes, you read that right: centuries. These are called “mega-droughts.”   Many communities and water districts which depend on reservoirs could completely run out of water in the next 100 days or sooner and current conditions suggest 2014 will bring no relief.

CONSEQUENCES:
The effects of the drought are far-reaching and not contained to California.  Farmers whose land has gone fallow are laying off their workers.  This is occurring in a state that has a higher unemployment rate than the national average, the highest percentage of its population on welfare, plus the worst state debt in the country.  The California Farm Bureau estimates the overall impact of the idle farmland will be about $5 billion.
…. I wonder who’s going to foot that bill?

If you’re lucky enough to still have water, a piece of news coming from state officials this week has got something for you.  Contaminants in the groundwater are becoming more concentrated with less water to dilute them. The official warning from the State says you need to watch out for: nitrates from over application of nitrogen fertilizer or concentrated animal feeding operations, industrial chemicals, chemicals from oil extraction and natural contaminants with chemicals such as arsenic. Arsenic. Lovely.

On top of all those contaminants to worry about, other health effects are surfacing.  Dry conditions are turning ponds and creeks into stagnant pools where disease-carrying mosquitos are breeding.  People with asthma and lung conditions are also at risk because of dust.

January is usually the slowest season for wildfires in California but this year, firefighters put out 400 blazes in the first three weeks alone. 

Food prices will continue to go up as the drought worsens. The state produces nearly half of US grown fruits, vegetables and nuts.  The California Department of Agriculture projects as much as 500,000 acres of farmland will be fallow by spring.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS:
Governor Brown has urged Californians to conserve but has not enacted statewide water restrictions yet.  He announced $687 million aimed at relief in the short term including food and housing assistance for Californians affected by the drought.  A big chunk of the money would be allocated to local governments for conservation projects.  Keep in mind that this plan needs to be passed by the State Legislature, a body divided on the issue just like the State (some Northern parts of CA are doing just fine).

President Obama visited the drought-stricken state last week to announce his own $200 million aid from the Federal Government including subsidies for farm workers who were laid off, food banks and livestock disaster assistance.  As far as what he plans to do on the federal level to address long-term water shortages: “a commitment from the federal government to reduce water use and focus nation-wide on climate resilience.”

House Republicans have pitted environmentalists against farmers in their proposal that would halt restoration of the San Joaquin River designed to bring back the historic salmon flow because farmers want that water diverted to their crops.

POPULATION GROWTH IN CA:
California’s current population is 38 million, which makes it the most populous of the 50 states.  This past year, the state saw its highest growth rate in 10 years.  The population growth had slowed due to the economy but now seems to be back on the uptick.  Nearly all of this growth is driven by immigration.  (The natural increase measured by births minus deaths has stayed the same.)  The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that if immigration policy is not changed, “California’s population is projected to grow to 60 million by 2050, with roughly half of those in Southern California dependent on the already inadequate waters of the Colorado River.”  Nationwide, 82% of our population growth between 2005 and 2050 will come from immigrants and their descendants according to Pew Research.

BIG-AG:
The agricultural industry isn’t helping to mitigate the consequences of population growth on the state’s water supply.  The industry uses around 80% of the state’s developed water supply and not many from that industry are volunteering to cut back.  The State Water Project, which supplies water to 25 million Californians, dropped their allocations to residents to 0%.  That means 25 million people don’t know if they will have any water this year.  But, when it comes to agriculture, the law only allows The Department of Water Resources to drop allocations to 50%.  The Governor is begging residents to conserve, but placed nothing in his plan aimed at big business including restrictions on water used in fracking and irrigation. 

Keep in mind that the people heading up the big agricultural companies are the exact same people spending millions of dollars lobbying Congress to pass a Senate bill that doubles the flow of legal immigrants and guest workers into the country. If Big-Ag wants to bring in millions of new workers to provide cheap labor on their grounds, they better start sharing the water!

If you are a pro-S744 activist in California and want to bring in more workers- I’m talking to you Mark Zuckerburg, Bill Gates, The US Chamber of Commerce, and The American Farm Bureau- why don’t you turn off those sprinklers watering your perfectly trimmed lawns surrounding your four story mansions?  Or how about you sacrifice your shower to a future immigrant!?  This way you can offset water shortages that will be fueled by the policies you are pushing. If you had it your way, this future immigrant would move to California and work for one. Probably saving you a lot of money because you wouldn't have to hire an American.  So you really do owe it to them.

CONCLUSION:
Big business lobbies and many politicians argue that we need steady population growth (even more than we’re doomed to have with current policies) to ensure our economic wellbeing.  But, how will we be better if California is a desert and the rest of the country is paying for it?

Here's simple solution to solving the Californian’s population growth crisis: start enforcing our current immigration laws and adopt the recommendations of the Barbara Jordan Commission which would reduce legal immigration to a half million people per year.  These policies would allow the country and California to stabilize population growth, taking at least one factor out of the water shortage equation.

Event the EPA admits: "Future water scarcity will be compounded by the region's rapid population growth, which is the highest in the nation. Projected temperature increases, river-flow reductions, dwindling reservoirs, and rapid population growth will increase the competition for water resources across sectors, states, tribes, and even between the United States and Mexico. This could potentially lead to conflicts."
Where then is our self-described populist, progressive President on population growth and water shortage problems?  I’d try the luxurious desert golf courses first.
MELANIE OUBRE is the Local Action Coordinator for NumbersUSA

NumbersUSA's blogs are copyrighted and may be republished or reposted only if they are copied in their entirety, including this paragraph, and provide proper credit to NumbersUSA. NumbersUSA bears no responsibility for where our blogs may be republished or reposted

An interesting article from http://www.ucg.org/ about Facebook's expansion of gender choices in order to taunt states such as Arizona, which are using the traditional definition of marriage. This follows this post about Russia and Germany in their dual in places such as Ukraine. This follows this post about Mardi Gras. For a free magazine subscription or to get the book shown for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886- 8632.

Facebook Expands to 50 Gender Options, Where Will This Lead?

by Larry Walker

Source: Jacob Ammentorp Lund/iStock/Thinkstock

Facebook officials have announced that it is expanding its gender description options to 50 different choices after consulting with a group of leading lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy organizations.
This represents a major new development in the ongoing controversy regarding the cultural ramifications of what in the past was considered deviant sexuality. But it is only a beginnng. It will likely cause a ripple effect into many other areas of life—job applications, loan papers, sports, legislation, court cases to name a few.
Will applications need to replace the simple M/F choice to "see attached schedule?" What about public restrooms? Obviously, it won't be possible to expand to 50 different restrooms. So we are likely to see the traditional male or female restrooms with unisex restrooms, a trend that has already begun and may be legally mandated.
What about dressing rooms at swimming pools, schools and professional sports? How will parents feel about having their daughters in dressing rooms and showers where they know others are present who are sexually attracted to females despite their female anatomy? Or will at some point will the fact that sexuality is being redefined by sexual preference mean that children and adults will share the same dressing room and shower with the anatomy of the opposite sex? Are we really ready for that?
The question of how professional athletes will deal with these dilemmas is already on the radar with the public announcement from draft prospect Michael Sam that he is gay, which has been the main topic of sports talk shows. Everyone is careful to be political correct in their comments lest they be branded as homophobic and lose their job or be suspended from their team. It remains to be seen how this will go when the season begins.
This is only the tip of the iceberg of an ongoing trend that is leading us into uncharted waters. Sexual diversity is nothing new. It has been around for a long time. The "don't ask, don't tell" approach resulted in a "what they don't know won't hurt them" situation regarding the reactions of others with whom transgender individuals came in contact. But the growing trend of such individuals "coming out of the closet" seeking full acceptance and approval has posed a relatively new challenge in our culture.
The Bible clearly reveals that God created humankind male and female (Genesis 1:27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
See All...). Since that time heredity and/or environment has created a virtual "Heinz variety" of sexual identities. Where it will lead, God only knows. Many, especially in older generations are asking, "What is this world coming to?"

Obama's Steep Military Cuts to Pay for New Cars, Stereos for Illegal Aliens‏

A timely post about from https://prayfor.us about the Federal Budget which rewards illegal aliens and punishes soldiers and marines. This follows this post about moderate groups claiming to be conservative in Texas.  This follows this post about endorsements for TEXAS. This follows this post about Texas legislators who are graded "Worse than Wendy." This are GOP legislators!  In the meantime, you can get more involved if you like here and read an interesting book HERE.


Obama's Steep Military Cuts to Pay for New Cars, Stereos for Illegal Aliens


BLOGGER'S NOTE: START CONTACTINGE THE HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE  GOP MEMBERS HERE: http://budget.house.gov/about/budgetcommitteemembers.htm
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The latest attack on our military from Obama and the Democrats is absolutely sickening.

Obama is proposing a 1-percent across-the-board cut for all US military pay. He also wants to slash military benefits for medical care and to increase costs for families through a proposal to raise prices at military commissaries. What is especially monstrous about these cuts is that Obama is increasing benefits for illegal aliens. The ones who are fraudulently collecting Social Security received a 1.5-percent increase in 2014! We need to swamp Congress with FaxGrams immediately and tell them to reject Obama's military cuts!  This outrageous theft from our military has to stop! Charles Benninghoff, Founder

Obama's cuts would also completely eliminate renter's insurance for military families and reduce their housing allowances. To see just how cold-hearted and unthinking Obama and the Democrats are to be proposing military cuts right now, we decided to compare the life of José, an illegal alien drug runner, with the life of John, a decorated combat veteran.  While these two names are fictional, the events recited actually happen, regrettably, day-after-day:

The Life of José Upon successfully navigating our porous southern border with 35 pounds of methamphetamine strapped to his body with duct tape, José makes his way to your city. José is immediately granted a driver's license, even though he flunked the test. This license allows him to sign up for an Individual Taxpayer ID Number (ITIN) and file for tax refunds. José applies for and receives a low-skilled job, for which he is paid cash under-the-table. This deprives one local American of an available job. José will park on this job for years. José applies for and receives housing assistance, energy assistance, food stamps, WIC, Medicare prescription drugs, unemployment and other benefits, because he has a driver's license and no official "job" as far as government agencies are concerned. Even though José is a childless 23-year-old, at the end of the year he applies for Child Tax Credits for his 10 nieces and nephews in Mexico. He receives a $10,000 refund from the federal government. José is eligible for more than $50,000 in benefits from the American taxpayer each year, which allows him to buy a new sports car so he can blast your eardrums out on the street with his favorite mariachi rap music. The Life of John John is a decorated combat vet who served two tours of duty in Iraq and two in Afghanistan with his unit.   He was fired from his job after 15 years of service because he once whispered, in a private conversation, that he believes in traditional marriage between one man and one woman. While trying to adjust to civilian life, John is declared 'mentally incompetent' by one of Obama's VA case workers, which allows the federal government to seize all John's privately-owned firearms. John is unable to find a job in the disastrous Obama economy. Even the low-skilled jobs are taken by the hordes of illegal aliens brought here by Obama's policies (see José). John ends up homeless. His wife of 24 years divorces him and obtains custody over their three children. When a social worker manages to track him down on the park bench where he now sleeps, John is informed that his benefits are being cut even further by Obama and the Democrats. Now homeless, unemployed, living in poverty without family support, not eligible for hospital care since Obamacare has been enacted, John is considering ending it all, ending the tragedy that has become his life. John prays daily for a solution to this mess his life has become.

What you don't hear on the nightly news is the fact that 22 veterans are committing suicide every single day in America -- more than 8,000 per year -- because the government and country that they fought and bled for is abandoning them. Please don't let Obama spit on our military members like this! Click here to send a message to as many Senators and Representatives as you can RIGHT NOW and tell them to reject Obama's outrageous military cuts! Obama is kicking military members and veterans to the curb once again while handing sacks of cash to every illegal alien that steals his or her way into the country. How is it possible that we treat our veterans this way in America?

This is a massive-scale theft from the American taxpayers and a direct violation of hundreds of commands in Scripture to take care of our own poor and needy. Psalm 82:3 for example says, "Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy." Obama is paying off the illegal aliens and doing it by cutting pay and benefits for the military and veterans.  This has to stop! Send your FaxGrams to Congress today and demand that they vote down Obama's military cuts!

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) summed this problem up brilliantly. She pointed out that Congress could balance their checkbook, pay our military and veterans and even extend unemployment benefits, if they would just cut off the spigot of public money that's going to illegal aliens. We have to pound Congress with FaxGrams to get this message across to them! Click here to send your FaxGrams today. And then forward this message to everyone you know, or send them this link: HTTPS://PrayFor.US/Stand-Up-For-The-US-Military/ Another way that you can help is by contacting your Senators and Representative at 202-224-3121. Tell them to reject Obama's military pay cuts!