Another School Shooting.

There's been another tragic school shooting. This time a short distance from my home in the small town of Santa Fe, Texas.The shooter, a kid himself, a student from the same school of the students he murdered. It is so very difficult to understand how this could happen. What causes someone to murder without empathy for those they kill? ….. There have been more mass shootings since I started this post, almost a common occurrence. Will we ever see a time of peace?

As I was thinking about these shootings, I've seen some similarities between them. The shooters are pretty much loners and have a hard time fitting in and are drawn into groups which are not the right groups for them to be in. These groups are residual groups from the Hitler and Nazis era.

These groups are centered around Nazism, Fascism, Supremacism. I read that Fascism was first used during WW1 in Italy. Hitler and the Nazis successfully used it to gain control of Germany. It is a type of propaganda that manipulates the mind. I don't know if these groups are really aware of the hate they breed, or is it their goal and what they believe in? They usually pick out groups of people to blame for the problems we face. Even the problems themselves get over exaggerated. They also stir up hate towards anyone who goes against them. The more they blame and the more that people listen then things happen, like they did when Hitler was in control of Germany; millions of people are murdered. People get pulled into believing something and when evil things happen, it becomes like a run away train; it is almost impossible to stop.

Let me give you some fuel for thought. I am a Vietnam vet. When I got out of the service, there were no welcome home ceremonies. I wanted friends but it was like I had a curse on me and people didn't want to associate with me, at least that was my impression then. I found a few friends, just not the right ones. One was a gay male. I didn't really know he was gay until he invited me out to go to a bar one evening. I expected we were just going out for some drinks. When we went inside, I could see this was not the typical bar like I had frequented before. Men were with men and girls with girls, for the most part, a gay bar. It took me by surprise. I didn't know there was such a thing as gay bars. I could have left the bar when I understood but I didn't. I had some drinks and at some point passed out. When I came too, my gay friend was carrying me into my apartment. He had his way with me, I let him, he left to go back to his apartment, and I cried. I talked with God and cried. I remembered asking Christ into my life as a teenager and asked God how did my life get to be the way it was at that point. I thought maybe I messed up somehow the first time I asked Jesus into my life and that is how I got to this low point in my life. So, I asked Jesus back into my life, I started to attend a non-denominational church that my brother was going to and my life changed for the better. I met good friends there and felt welcomed into the young singles group. It was here I met my wonderful wife. We have been married now 44 years this coming August. We have two wonderful girls. I feel so blessed to have such beautiful children. One is married and has a very good relationship with her husband. They have four marvelous children who we adore. Our other daughter is nothing like her sister. I think one might say that she is a free spirit. She is not married so does the things she wants to do. She has and is still traveling the world and has seen beautiful amazing places. We love to see the pictures she's taken.

Let me go back to the time I met this gay man. What happened with him is really what changed my life so in a way, I consider that to be a blessing. I think he must have had misgivings about me and I of him. I feel no animosity towards him. He is gay, I am not. I can't say I really understand homo sexuality but I believe it is real and something that can't be changed for those who really believe they were born into the wrong body. How does one explain people who are born with both sex organs? It happens, it's real. I leave the things I don't understand to God Who knows everything about everyone.

God has said that we are all sinners. We have all disobeyed His teachings, His laws. We don't seek after God or want to get to know Him. After all, we can't see Him. But, Jesus being in the image of God the Father came into this world to tell and to show those who were with Him what God is really like. He fervently cared for people. He healed them, fed them, made the blind to see, made the dead to come back to life, and He taught them all about God and told us how we should live. He gave us two commandments which sums up all of God's commandments; love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength, and to love thy neighbor as thy self (These are all peoples, even our enemies.) What is so amazing is that while we were all doing our thing, sinning against God, He (Jesus) died for us, in our place. All our transgressions were laid upon Him. He loved us so much that He did that for us all! This doesn't mean that we are free to go on sinning. After knowing this and accepting His gift, if we go on sinning, it is like putting Him to death all over again. We all need help not to sin. Inviting Jesus into our lives is how we get help. The Holy Spirit is our helper and Jesus our teacher.

Let me just close with this that has to do with those who may become future mass murders. If we as individuals could see others who have a hard time fitting in and could just love them the way they are. Bring them into good groups who will welcome them in as they are and not try to shove religion down their throats. They first have to be able to see something different in this group as appose to what they know. Let me just say this too. People can sense when others are not genuine, that they are just doing it out of a sense of obligation, it's not from the heart.

This about the heart brings to memory of another post I wrote about the heart, "The Heart - It's Not Just A Pump". You might find this interesting.

Is There A Cancer Growing?

From Homework Help website
"The quote “"Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it”" is attributed to the American philosopher George Santayana and it can be accurately quoted as "“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”" as stated in his work, The Life of Reason: Reason in Common Sense."

Why did I bring up this quote you ask? It is because I believe that we have forgotten the horrors that happened in World War II and how that cancer grew. Are we repeating history? I believe we are. The cancer is hiding and growing.

Our American forefathers came from countries that at some period of time had tyrants in control of their countries. When they came to this new land, they wanted to protect future generations from tyranny so they formulated our constitution. We were to have three branches of government; Legislative (Congress), Executive (President), and Judicial (Federal court system). These three branches were to stay separated to provide us with some checks and balances. If one of them strayed, hopefully the others would bring it back into compliance.

You can find out more about it at the following link:
America's Founding Documents

Let's go back to the 1930s as Hitler and the Nazis gained power of Germany. We need to understand how they did it so that we can identify similar things that are happening today and expose it, bring it out for all to see. Genocide happens because people become complacent and don't speak out about what they see. 

Here is one article I found in my research:
Hitler at home: how the Nazi PR machine remade the Führer’s domestic image and duped the world

I have seriously thought about what is going on in America right now with Donald Trump as president and I am deeply concerned. I have watch some interviews with James Comey and he is saying the same things about President Trump that I feel and see about him and am concerned about. Trump's thoughts are turned inward on self and not on the interests of Americans and defending our Constitution. America has been evolving into something better with the melding of all kinds of people. Trump is wanting to take us back into the past. I personally do not want to go there. There are things about our past that we should all be ashamed about. All you have to do is look. As Santayana said it best, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.

I don't think Trump understands what he has gotten himself into if indeed he is in bed with Putin. It would be better for him, his family, and for all of us Americans for the truth to come out if there really is something going on between him and Putin.

In closing, I would like to tell you about what is going on with me. My PSA numbers are going up which means I might have prostrate cancer; one of the leading causes of death among men. The only way to tell if I have cancer or not is to do a biopsy of my prostate. I could just forget about it and let things happen as they will or I can go ahead and get the biopsy test done (what I have decided to do.). If it turns out that I do have cancer, it may be early enough to do something about it before it goes beyond the point that nothing can be done.

It's the same thing with the Russian investigation. Until Mueller completes his investigation and is able to present us with what he found out, we don't know.

Our United States Constitution

Recently I've been thinking about our United States Constitution. Back in grade school we were required to memorize the Preamble to the Constitution and be able to recite it. This morning I tried to recite it to myself and was not able to remember the whole thing. It has been way too long that I have even thought about it.

Preamble to the United States Constitution

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence,^{[note 1]} promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

I wonder how many of our elected officials who swear to defend the United States Constitution can recite the Preamble or much more, to know the soul of our Constitution? I think it wise for all of us Americans to go back from time to time and review it so that we don't forget.

United States Constitution

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States.^[1] The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government. Its first three articles entrench the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress; the executive, consisting of the President; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. Articles Four, Five and Six entrench concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments and of the states in relationship to the federal government. Article Seven establishes the procedure subsequently used by the thirteen States to ratify it. It is regarded as the oldest written and codified constitution in force of the world.^[2]

Since the Constitution came into force in 1789, it has been amended 27 times^[3] to meet the changing needs of a nation now profoundly different from the eighteenth-century world in which its creators lived.^[4] In general, the first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, offer specific protections of individual liberty and justice and place restrictions on the powers of government.^[5][6] The majority of the seventeen later amendments expand individual civil rights protections. Others address issues related to federal authority or modify government processes and procedures. Amendments to the United States Constitution, unlike ones made to many constitutions worldwide, are appended to the document. All four pages^[7] of the original U.S. Constitution are written on parchment.^[8]

According to the United States Senate: "The Constitution's first three words—We the People—affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens. For over two centuries the Constitution has remained in force because its framers wisely separated and balanced governmental powers to safeguard the interests of majority rule and minority rights, of liberty and equality, and of the federal and state governments."^{[4] "}

Money -> The Great Prostitute

Revelation 17:1-6 Lexham English Bible (LEB)

The Judgment of the Great Prostitute Babylon

17 And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, ² with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who live on the earth became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.” ³ And he carried me away into the wilderness in the Spirit,^[a] and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ And the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand full of detestable things and the unclean things of her sexual immorality. ⁵ And on her forehead a name was written, a mystery: “Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.” ⁶ And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.

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Lately, I've thought a lot about how money changes people for the worst. Just look around and think about this for a moment. Think about yourself. Has money changed you? Isn't money like a prostitute?

Think about some of our world leaders like Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump. Money seems to be on their mind almost all the time. They think that the more money they can get, the more power they will have. I single out these two only because what they do affects the whole world.

The temptation to sin that money brings is rampant, even in our Christian leaders. Money brings us into bondage, makes us slaves but through the power of Jesus Christ, we can be delivered out of that bondage.

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I've been thinking about and studying in Revelation chapters 17 and 18. These chapters talk about Babylon and a powerful harlot / prostitute. I found out a few things in my studies.

In the Bible Encyclopedia, I found out that Babylon in Semitic means "the gate of god (little g)". The Hebrew name is 'Babhel' and comes from the root word 'balal' which means "to confound". 

I believe that Babylon here in Revelation is a symbol of Satan and his kingdom, and the harlot is a symbol for money that Satan uses to entice us with.

Are Christians being deceived?

I have heard from a number of Christians that god chose Trump. They support and defend Trump no mater what his character proves to be because "god chose him." I've wondered a lot about this. How do they know God, the creator of all things, the God of gods, the God of love, chose him? Did maybe the god of this world ( Satan) choose him instead?

Have Christians forgotten their first love? Jesus said that if you love Him then obey His commandments, love God (the One True God who exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, not the god of this world) and love your neighbor; do to him what you wished he would do to you.

Joel 2:13 Lexham English Bible (LEB)

¹³     Rend your hearts^[a] and not your garments,
and return to Yahweh your God,
    because he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger^[b] and great in loyal love,
    and relenting from harm.

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When you look at others, do you see people of color? I always remember a woman in our Sunday School class who told us a story about her granddaughter. Her granddaughter who is white has a best friend who is black. They are together all the time and have just the best time. I don't remember exactly how this grandmother came to this conclusion but she said that those two little girls don't see color. This conclusion was quite evident to her because of a conversation she had with her granddaughter.

I am 70 years old now and I still remember blacks having to ride at the back of the buss, they couldn't drink from public fountains where whites drank from, and they couldn't use public restrooms. I remember that seeing this bothered me but I accepted it because I was very young then. I am NOT saying that because whites treated blacks so badly that now it is time for blacks to do the same to whites. What I am saying is that these times should be remembered so that we do not repeat them. America is better than that.

I am sad to say this but my parents used the "N" word whenever they got mad at a black person. I don't remember them saying it directly to their face but still it was wrong. I never understood it but there seemed like there was something in their DNA that made them feel the way they felt towards blacks. It didn't matter how much my brother, my sister, and I would talk to them about this. They just could not see the wrong. What I am saying here not only pertains to blacks and whites. It has to do with how we treat any person who is not like us.

I can't say that I don't see color on first appearance. I think I still judge people by their looks when I first see them. I try not to. If I can find a way to converse with them then my judgement of them quickly changes and then I no longer see color so to speak. Wouldn't it be great if we all could be like those two little girls where we no longer see color?

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Trump certainly does not exude a Christ like character. Trump from time to time slips up to show his hatred of the blacks. You can tell he does not like Obama and has tried to dismantle, kill everything with Obama's name associated with it no matter if it's bad or good. In an immigration meeting, Trump referred to predominantly black countries, Africa and Haiti, as "shithole" countries. Since becoming president, many Nazis like white supremacy groups have come out of the woodwork and Trump says nothing about them to put them down.

Hitler was very successful in swaying the Germans to trust him and the Nazis by using propaganda and we know what happened when they came to power (upwards of 20 million people were killed without trial by a jury of their peers, just gathered up and killed by guns, gas, starvation, whatever method, NO TRIAL). He wrote a book called "Mein Kampf" that tells how to do it, use propaganda. The following is from Wikipedia's Propaganda in Nazis Germany.

"Mein Kampf contains the blueprint of later Nazi propaganda efforts. Assessing his audience, Hitler writes in chapter VI:

"Propaganda must always address itself to the broad masses of the people. (...) All propaganda must be presented in a popular form and must fix its intellectual level so as not to be above the heads of the least intellectual of those to whom it is directed. (...) The art of propaganda consists precisely in being able to awaken the imagination of the public through an appeal to their feelings, in finding the appropriate psychological form that will arrest the attention and appeal to the hearts of the national masses. The broad masses of the people are not made up of diplomats or professors of public jurisprudence nor simply of persons who are able to form reasoned judgment in given cases, but a vacillating crowd of human children who are constantly wavering between one idea and another. (...) The great majority of a nation is so feminine in its character and outlook that its thought and conduct are ruled by sentiment rather than by sober reasoning. This sentiment, however, is not complex, but simple and consistent. It is not highly differentiated, but has only the negative and positive notions of love and hatred, right and wrong, truth and falsehood."^[5]

As to the methods to be employed, he explains:

"Propaganda must not investigate the truth objectively and, in so far as it is favourable to the other side, present it according to the theoretical rules of justice; yet it must present only that aspect of the truth which is favourable to its own side. (...) The receptive powers of the masses are very restricted, and their understanding is feeble. On the other hand, they quickly forget. Such being the case, all effective propaganda must be confined to a few bare essentials and those must be expressed as far as possible in stereotyped formulas. These slogans should be persistently repeated until the very last individual has come to grasp the idea that has been put forward. (...) Every change that is made in the subject of a propagandist message must always emphasize the same conclusion. The leading slogan must of course be illustrated in many ways and from several angles, but in the end one must always return to the assertion of the same formula."

President Trump's slogan "Make America Great Again." has no single meaning. They are just words that have different meanings to different people. I've wondered about this statement. I ask, "When in the past was America great and what did that look like? If he wants to make America great AGAIN, then that is saying that some time in the past it was great. If I had to guess, what Trump means is "Make America White Again."

Troubled

I am troubled by many things that are happening here in the United States. Mostly because of the Russian meddling in our elections and in our very lives. We call it RUSSIAN but it stems back to Putin and Russian oligarchs. It is ongoing, believed that they will also work to affect our 2018 congressional elections. They are not only working to affect our elections but the elections' in many other countries of the world. I have to ask," What are they trying to do?" If I had to guess, it is to dominate the world.

Many of us believe that the meddling was for the purpose to get Trump elected. Trump has been asked if he has ever communicated with Putin before the elections and he repeatedly says he has not. I came across various interviews with Trump in 2013, the year he had the Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow Russia and he said then that he had talked with Putin both "directly and indirectly" in the interviews. Trump has at least twice met up with and talked with Putin since becoming president. It seems to me that these meetings happen when it's starting to look bad for him.

Trump is a pathological liar. I do not trust anything he says. Before he was elected, he said he would release his tax records once the audit was finished. As president, he says he will not release his tax records. He said that Mexico would pay for the wall. Now, we the tax payers are going to have to pay for it. Walls are not only for keeping people out but they also keep people in.

There are many ties between the Trump organization and Russia that I believe Robert Mueller is finding out but I am wondering if he will ever get a chance to present the evidence. Trump fired James Comey, the first FBI investigator, and information just surfaced that he wanted Mueller fired too. Now there is a push to discredit Mueller, his investigating team, and the whole FBI.

In WW2 when Hitler and the Nazis were in power, there were an estimated 15 to 20 million people killed because of Nazis policies. We really don't know the exact number. It wasn't just the Jews in the holocaust, but many other undesirables and unwanted. Here is a link to a website with information about the holocaust: Holocaust Encyclopedia

Could a Nazis like regime happen again? Yes it can. A regime with enough powerful people can follow how Hitler and the Nazis came to power using pervasive propaganda.
Propaganda in Nazi Germany

Testing my faith

I have said that I've learned to trust the Lord in all things. In my post "Salvation" I talked about how the Lord has saved me from great harm from a number of things throughout my life. That building of trust in the Lord has come from looking back at the many things that happened in my past. God had to have had a hand in them. Well, lately I have had thoughts of questioning the very existence of God. Maybe I've just talked myself into believing. (Satan working again)

Why am I starting to question things you might ask. Back in August of 2015 I posted "Funny Dream". In this dream, it was like God saying to me that the problems with my back will not be as bad as I envision, and we shook hands on it. I was telling God at the time that I will trust Him in whatever happens, but I said it in such a way as to try and build up my trust; "I WILL TRUST YOU LORD."

There was no time frame when or how much better my back would get. At that time, I was envisioning me becoming an invalid, not being able to do anything.  I still have back pain and sciatica. It is better some days and worse other days and even though this has put limits on things I can do, it has not shut me down completely. I now have some stenosis in my upper spine, shoulder and neck areas, and I am starting to have prostate problems, my PSA number is going up. I long for a body like I used to have were pain was from over working or exercising.

I know that our timing is not God's timing. I believe that the bodies we will have in the next life will be amazingly so much better than these we have in this life so maybe I will just have to wait until then. I think about the many stories in the Bible where the imposable became possible. Maybe there is still something in store for me in this life. I will just have to wait and see.