Dear Senator Specter, 2.28.09
I deeply appreciate your letter explaining your position regarding economic stimulus and ,from it, can clearly understand your position.
I had asked that you not vote $1.00 for economic stimulus and this would be the reasoning behind that request:
1. The Bible says to owe no man anything. I believe that the God of the Bible is our creator and ,as such, knows how we best function.
2. My understanding of the financial crisis is that it was brought on by character defects one of which was greed, the desire for more. God tells us to be content with food and covering (clothing and shelter). Everything we do that is contrary to His command has a consequent correction, sometimes immediate and sometimes distant. One of God's correctives for disobedience is suffering. Corrective suffering serves the purpose of bringing us back to a place of obedience. God, though correcting, is merciful to us when we disobey. If He directs that mercy come by human agency it is to come at the hands of other individuals only. Neither the Bible nor the Constitution make provision for mercy to come at the hands of government
3. It is my understanding that the government encouraged the effort to provide housing for people who, considering the normal principles that guide whether or not to loan money, did not qualify as being able to pay back the loan. In so doing the government was going beyond it's God-given function. In so doing it was also, contrary to Scripture, becoming surety - becoming a promisary for the payment of another. The Bible says, 'A man lacking sense shakes hands and becomes guarantor in the presence of his neighbor'. (Proverbs 17:18)
4. It is reported that much of the money is for 'pork". You state that you are only for income tax reductions and business tax breaks, which one could argue might stimulate the economy, but that you had to compromise or there would be inaction. Had you refused to compromise this would hav been principled, responsible, representative action. I believe that inaction is better than wrong action and am disappointed.
5. According to the Constitution the government has not been given a right by the people whom they represent to become involved in the private affairs of men so long as those affairs do not involve injustice. In passing the economic stimulus bill it seems that the government has not corrected those who have done wrong (greed) but, rather, have joined with them in wrongdoing and then have sought to be themselves the corrective agent for the wrong done.
6. What has been done by the economic stimulus bill appears to be the 'legalized', forcible taking of property from those who are not responsible for the crisis and using this to 'help' those who are responsible.
7. This appears to be taxation without representation breaking the commandment of God, 'Thou shalt not steal' as well as a disregard for constitutional restraints against such.
8. I believe that in passing this bill you have broken your oath to uphold the constitution.
I believe that you are well-meaning in your intention to help out in a very difficult situation, but that you are tragically mistaken for the reasons listed above in so doing. Beyond your role of punishing evildoers and making sure that they are corrected, beyond you and i and every person seeking to help, as individuals, the current resultant need that comes from that evil, my belief is that all we can do is pray for God to have mercy on us and look to Him for help in our need as a nation at this time.
Had you acted accordingly i would been most grateful. Honestly, in light of what has been, and continues to be, done I believe the only honorable thing for you and President Obama, who signed this into law, is to undo what has been done or quit your offices as having failed your Biblical and Constitutional mandates.
I am anxious to hear your thoughts in response. God bless you for all the good you do in representing us.
Sincerely, Stephen Paine
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
2.27.09 SENATOR SPECTER ON ECONOMIC STIMULUS BILL
Dear Mr. Paine:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R.1, P.L. 111-5). This legislation passed the Senate 60-38 and was signed into law by the President on February 17, 2009. I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with me.
I supported the economic stimulus package for one simple reason: The country could not afford not to take action. The unemployment figures, the latest earnings reports and the continuing crisis in banking made it clear that failure to act would have left the United States facing a far deeper crisis in the future. I carefully weighed the vote on the stimulus package because of the large deficit and the large national debt faced by future generations.
The economy is in a desperate situation. Just in the month of January, 2009 we lost 600,000 jobs, added to the loss of 2.8 million in 2008. There are millions of people who are having their homes foreclosed. The economists tell us that if we do not act that the current severe recession could well develop into a full-fledged depression like 1929. The agreement we reached was the best one we could under the circumstances. We were able to cut out $100 billion from the package. My preference would have been Senator John McCain's proposal, a $421 billion alternative focused largely on income tax reductions and business tax breaks. Unfortunately, this amendment failed 40-57. I voted for the Reagan tax cuts back in 1981 and that would be the best course, but in a legislative body it is important to be able to compromise and pass legislation, as opposed to inaction.
I was impressed with the position of the United States Chamber of Commerce which was for the bill very solidly. The Chamber is for the bill because it supports pro-growth tax initiatives. The Chamber is for the bill because it applauds the inclusion of tax relief. The Chamber is for the bill because many of the spending-side provisions in the legislation will also provide stimulus to get Americans back to work, focusing on infrastructure spending for roads, rails, public transportation, aviation, inland waterways and ports.
Many provisions of the bill affecting small businesses were based on legislation I have introduced in the 111th Congress. The Act delays the 3% withholding tax on payments to businesses that sell goods or services to governments. My bill, S.292, would repeal this withholding tax. For small businesses, the Act extends the Net Operating Loss (NOL) carryback period to five years for 2008. My bill, S.293, which I originally introduced in the 110th Congress, would extend the NOL to five years for 2008 and 2009. The Act also extends two provisions that were enacted as part of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, and mirror my bill, S. 294. The 50 percent bonus depreciation and the increased $250,000 limit for the Small Business Expensing Allowance are extended for an additional year.
Thank you for taking the time to bring your views on this important matter to my attention. As a United States Senator, it is essential that I be kept fully informed on the issues of concern to my constituents. Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact my office or visit my website at http://specter.senate.gov/.
Sincerely,
Arlen Specter
Thank you for contacting me regarding the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R.1, P.L. 111-5). This legislation passed the Senate 60-38 and was signed into law by the President on February 17, 2009. I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with me.
I supported the economic stimulus package for one simple reason: The country could not afford not to take action. The unemployment figures, the latest earnings reports and the continuing crisis in banking made it clear that failure to act would have left the United States facing a far deeper crisis in the future. I carefully weighed the vote on the stimulus package because of the large deficit and the large national debt faced by future generations.
The economy is in a desperate situation. Just in the month of January, 2009 we lost 600,000 jobs, added to the loss of 2.8 million in 2008. There are millions of people who are having their homes foreclosed. The economists tell us that if we do not act that the current severe recession could well develop into a full-fledged depression like 1929. The agreement we reached was the best one we could under the circumstances. We were able to cut out $100 billion from the package. My preference would have been Senator John McCain's proposal, a $421 billion alternative focused largely on income tax reductions and business tax breaks. Unfortunately, this amendment failed 40-57. I voted for the Reagan tax cuts back in 1981 and that would be the best course, but in a legislative body it is important to be able to compromise and pass legislation, as opposed to inaction.
I was impressed with the position of the United States Chamber of Commerce which was for the bill very solidly. The Chamber is for the bill because it supports pro-growth tax initiatives. The Chamber is for the bill because it applauds the inclusion of tax relief. The Chamber is for the bill because many of the spending-side provisions in the legislation will also provide stimulus to get Americans back to work, focusing on infrastructure spending for roads, rails, public transportation, aviation, inland waterways and ports.
Many provisions of the bill affecting small businesses were based on legislation I have introduced in the 111th Congress. The Act delays the 3% withholding tax on payments to businesses that sell goods or services to governments. My bill, S.292, would repeal this withholding tax. For small businesses, the Act extends the Net Operating Loss (NOL) carryback period to five years for 2008. My bill, S.293, which I originally introduced in the 110th Congress, would extend the NOL to five years for 2008 and 2009. The Act also extends two provisions that were enacted as part of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, and mirror my bill, S. 294. The 50 percent bonus depreciation and the increased $250,000 limit for the Small Business Expensing Allowance are extended for an additional year.
Thank you for taking the time to bring your views on this important matter to my attention. As a United States Senator, it is essential that I be kept fully informed on the issues of concern to my constituents. Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact my office or visit my website at http://specter.senate.gov/.
Sincerely,
Arlen Specter
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
2.25.09 SENATOR CASEY ON ECONOMIC STIMULUS
Dear Mr. Paine:
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on the economic recovery plan. I appreciate hearing from you.
The end of the year brought sobering news about the state of our economy. So many working families have suffered under the weight of this recession. In 2008, 3.6 million Americans lost their jobs and unemployment soared to 7.2 percent. In Pennsylvania, 54,300 jobs were lost in a single month between November and December, bringing the state's unemployment rate from 6.2 percent to 6.7 percent. Compounding the bleak employment data is the state's own financial picture. These shortfalls present a danger to communities across Pennsylvania as state and local officials may be required to raise tax rates to meet the looming deficits unless action is taken.
As you are aware, Congress has been working with the Obama Administration over the past several weeks to come up with a recovery plan to begin to reverse the economic downturn. The bill, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, includes many components designed to accomplish this goal. For instance, the plan will give tax cuts to 95 percent of American workers, putting money in their pockets as they struggle to make ends meet. It will provide an infusion of capital into projects across Pennsylvania that will put people to work modernizing the Commonwealth's roads, bridges and water systems, creating or saving an estimated 3.5 million jobs nationwide and as many as 143,000 here in Pennsylvania. It provides direct aid to the state to help fill the budget gap, stave off cuts to crucial services and provide additional unemployment insurance for workers who have lost their jobs. For greater detail on the funding specific to Pennsylvania, please visit my website at http://casey.senate.gov.
Although I recognize that this recovery bill is not perfect, I voted for it to help President Obama get our economy moving again, to create jobs and to aid those hardest hit by the economy. As you probably know, President Obama recently signed this bill into law.
This bill will not only create and save jobs immediately, but it help us rebuild America for the future, making us more globally competitive and energy independent. The investments it will make in roads, bridges, mass transit, energy efficient building, flood control and clean water projects will have a lasting effect on our economy. The bill's investments in science and innovation will be used to spur new American-made technology, prevent and treat disease, and tackle urgent national challenges like climate change and dependence on foreign oil.
As the Obama Administration moves forward with this plan, I will work with other senators to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent in an effective and efficient manner. The new law contains unprecedented transparency and oversight provisions that will allow taxpayers to see how their government spends their money. I encourage you to visit a new website, www.recovery.gov, that has been established so that you can track the implementation of this recovery plan.
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or any other matter of importance to you.
Sincerely,
Bob Casey
United States Senator
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on the economic recovery plan. I appreciate hearing from you.
The end of the year brought sobering news about the state of our economy. So many working families have suffered under the weight of this recession. In 2008, 3.6 million Americans lost their jobs and unemployment soared to 7.2 percent. In Pennsylvania, 54,300 jobs were lost in a single month between November and December, bringing the state's unemployment rate from 6.2 percent to 6.7 percent. Compounding the bleak employment data is the state's own financial picture. These shortfalls present a danger to communities across Pennsylvania as state and local officials may be required to raise tax rates to meet the looming deficits unless action is taken.
As you are aware, Congress has been working with the Obama Administration over the past several weeks to come up with a recovery plan to begin to reverse the economic downturn. The bill, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, includes many components designed to accomplish this goal. For instance, the plan will give tax cuts to 95 percent of American workers, putting money in their pockets as they struggle to make ends meet. It will provide an infusion of capital into projects across Pennsylvania that will put people to work modernizing the Commonwealth's roads, bridges and water systems, creating or saving an estimated 3.5 million jobs nationwide and as many as 143,000 here in Pennsylvania. It provides direct aid to the state to help fill the budget gap, stave off cuts to crucial services and provide additional unemployment insurance for workers who have lost their jobs. For greater detail on the funding specific to Pennsylvania, please visit my website at http://casey.senate.gov.
Although I recognize that this recovery bill is not perfect, I voted for it to help President Obama get our economy moving again, to create jobs and to aid those hardest hit by the economy. As you probably know, President Obama recently signed this bill into law.
This bill will not only create and save jobs immediately, but it help us rebuild America for the future, making us more globally competitive and energy independent. The investments it will make in roads, bridges, mass transit, energy efficient building, flood control and clean water projects will have a lasting effect on our economy. The bill's investments in science and innovation will be used to spur new American-made technology, prevent and treat disease, and tackle urgent national challenges like climate change and dependence on foreign oil.
As the Obama Administration moves forward with this plan, I will work with other senators to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent in an effective and efficient manner. The new law contains unprecedented transparency and oversight provisions that will allow taxpayers to see how their government spends their money. I encourage you to visit a new website, www.recovery.gov, that has been established so that you can track the implementation of this recovery plan.
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or any other matter of importance to you.
Sincerely,
Bob Casey
United States Senator
Sunday, February 22, 2009
2.22.09 MAY YOU LIVE FOREVER!
i'm on a mission...it feels like something that is more God-done than me-done. i feel like a fully unfurled sail before a mighty wind. there's many aspects to this, more than could be shared but the part i'm thinking about right now is the mission to do what i ought rather than what i want. this i saw mom live day in and day out. it was kind of like observing a creature from a different world...a world vaguely comprehensible mentally but experientially non-existent. my whole life has been following the muse, butterflying to the next scent, following fully the moment...all that flowery language for doing, as much as possible, what i want! well, God may have other plans. He seems to have me following strange, very strange paths, in an alien world...the world of personal responsibility. lately i am urged strongly to constantly do things i don't want to do. all the old siren songs waft in vain, all the strong passions...are they TOTALLY CASTRATED! i'm not sure. given my track record, next week could find me neck in neck with the next guy following the 'eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow i die' dictum...we'll see.
was praying about going to a 'wild at heart' 3 day conference in the poconos with jim yothers down the block in april. sensed i should be going primarily to have an opportunity to minister in jim's life (i don't know if that is really why God wants me there, maybe there's something else..too). no $..what to do..wouldn't you know it..within several days i had not one but two jobs when i had one bathroom in the last two months...well, in this topsy turvey world in which i now live i have 1 minute and 2 seconds left on the computer...who knows how long it will be till i can talk with you age.....hey, unexpectedly i'm back in touch within 5 minutes! the library was crawling with people so i was 'giving it up' but looked over in an less noticed spot and what should i see...so now i'm happy as a clam to have 56 more minutes to communicate all this stuff you really are dying to find out...i am such a selfish person, this is all for me!....(by the way when you see anywhere from.. to................................................................................ that means either the brain is wandering or i'm thinking about what to say next, or i'm just a little spacey at that point) anyway so i'm going to a place where at last i'll feel truly at home...a gathering of cave men. we men are the warriors of the world..on the inside much weaker than the weakest woman, much more a crybaby...but outside ready for bloody WAR! so should be good...maybe they teach jujitsu moves during the break sessions.
censorship, it seems, may have come to suburban philadelphia. the souderton independent, actually montgomery newspapers, limited me to one 300 word letter per month and then the first one i gave them, on abortion, they have refused to print. have been too busy to call and inquire as to why not. it's sad. freedom of speech was a cool concept while it lasted in the USA (union of socialist associations)...oh hadn't you heard! yea they changed that some time back. this last week they had this tiny piece on global warming from a person in flourtown, 15 miles south. sigh..
on the bright side, God has given me back my mother. she is pani (sp?) anna, a tiny, babushka- wearing little russian mother of iryna one of our missionaries to the ukraine. the Lord put it on my heart to ask her if she would be willing to darn the hole in my warm, wool sweater and the big hole that the washing machine 'ate' in the last mitten that my mom gave me (i didn't know you couldn't put a mitten in a washing machine). she not only did an awesome job darning the both but gave me a two pairs of wool socks and a pair of wool mittens to boot!!! my feet are no longer like two chunks of ice and i can endure the icy, late evening runs quite nicely. actually last night, frigid as usual, my hands SWEAT and i had to hand her mittens up to dry...she is my mother in that she has the same, sweat, tearful affection that i have not seen since my mom was still in her right mind...WOW... i've got to introduce them when we all get there. GOD IS GOOD! He so tenderly and without fanfare meets my needs and overflows beyond when all i deserve is hell. oh jehovah-tzidkenu (the Lord my righteousness) how i praise You.
i may be crazy, but i just bought about 20 different heirloom organic seeds from a place in missouri called heirloom seed acres or something like that. also dropped $70 on a drip irrigation system..had been thinking of this for a while and then saw it..and prayed..and took the plunge. and bought a little book about how to start seeds inside...all this expense at a time when, to my professed thought, the only place for any self-respecting person is prison..sigh..i am just a bundle of contradictions, a work (of God) in process. i may never get to sow them but then again maybe i will.
got 26 minutes to share my am devotional focus from today. was thinking about alot i can't share, pouring out my heart to the Lord to show me if i am blind, to keep the focus on all my sins and crying for wisdom about what to do in a certain thing and i'll share a bit of what came out on paper: oh Lord MAKE ME AN ANSWER (in some small way) TO THIS PRAYER/VISION of Your church-give Your church
a SHEPHERD-WATCHMAN-BARKING DOG-EQUIPPER-DISCIPLER of males
one who follows jethro's advice and not a one man show
fill us with ACCEPTANCE of each other and every person in the world, caring, loving, drawing each OTHER to our heart
help us all be interrelated members of one BODY, don't let no one usurp Your headship!
make us learners of You so we are constantly DISCIPLING others
make us FATHERS trainers of our children
MOTHERS managing their homes to be a godly, outreaching economy
CHILDREN honoring, obeying, serving their parents
a BODY where body life occurs with all sharing spiritual struggles, victories, defeats with one another
all EVANGELISTS preaching the good news of the Gospel to all we touch!
TRUTH-SPEAKERS, loving one another and the world enough to challenge sin and warn..
PROPHETS all overflowing with God's word wherever we are rather than a single talking head with all other mouths silenced
SALT AND LIGHT out of the inward-looking 'church program' which ghettoizes and keeps us sealed off from the world so desperately in need of God's love
WIDOWS functioning as described in the pastoral epistle
OLDER people teaching YOUNGER people
hilarious, profuse GIVING of self, time, resources rather than caught in the greed of the TAKERS
GOD OVER GOVERNMENT in everything..non-acceptance of ANYTHING from government
a PRAYING, CROSS-BEARING, HOLY, LOVING, TRUTH-SPEAKING, GRATEFUL, EVANGELIZING, DISCIPLING, GIVING, TRUSTING-IN -CHRIST'S-RIGHTEOUSNESS- ALONE, VICTORIOUS CHURCH!
love, dad
was praying about going to a 'wild at heart' 3 day conference in the poconos with jim yothers down the block in april. sensed i should be going primarily to have an opportunity to minister in jim's life (i don't know if that is really why God wants me there, maybe there's something else..too). no $..what to do..wouldn't you know it..within several days i had not one but two jobs when i had one bathroom in the last two months...well, in this topsy turvey world in which i now live i have 1 minute and 2 seconds left on the computer...who knows how long it will be till i can talk with you age.....hey, unexpectedly i'm back in touch within 5 minutes! the library was crawling with people so i was 'giving it up' but looked over in an less noticed spot and what should i see...so now i'm happy as a clam to have 56 more minutes to communicate all this stuff you really are dying to find out...i am such a selfish person, this is all for me!....(by the way when you see anywhere from.. to................................................................................ that means either the brain is wandering or i'm thinking about what to say next, or i'm just a little spacey at that point) anyway so i'm going to a place where at last i'll feel truly at home...a gathering of cave men. we men are the warriors of the world..on the inside much weaker than the weakest woman, much more a crybaby...but outside ready for bloody WAR! so should be good...maybe they teach jujitsu moves during the break sessions.
censorship, it seems, may have come to suburban philadelphia. the souderton independent, actually montgomery newspapers, limited me to one 300 word letter per month and then the first one i gave them, on abortion, they have refused to print. have been too busy to call and inquire as to why not. it's sad. freedom of speech was a cool concept while it lasted in the USA (union of socialist associations)...oh hadn't you heard! yea they changed that some time back. this last week they had this tiny piece on global warming from a person in flourtown, 15 miles south. sigh..
on the bright side, God has given me back my mother. she is pani (sp?) anna, a tiny, babushka- wearing little russian mother of iryna one of our missionaries to the ukraine. the Lord put it on my heart to ask her if she would be willing to darn the hole in my warm, wool sweater and the big hole that the washing machine 'ate' in the last mitten that my mom gave me (i didn't know you couldn't put a mitten in a washing machine). she not only did an awesome job darning the both but gave me a two pairs of wool socks and a pair of wool mittens to boot!!! my feet are no longer like two chunks of ice and i can endure the icy, late evening runs quite nicely. actually last night, frigid as usual, my hands SWEAT and i had to hand her mittens up to dry...she is my mother in that she has the same, sweat, tearful affection that i have not seen since my mom was still in her right mind...WOW... i've got to introduce them when we all get there. GOD IS GOOD! He so tenderly and without fanfare meets my needs and overflows beyond when all i deserve is hell. oh jehovah-tzidkenu (the Lord my righteousness) how i praise You.
i may be crazy, but i just bought about 20 different heirloom organic seeds from a place in missouri called heirloom seed acres or something like that. also dropped $70 on a drip irrigation system..had been thinking of this for a while and then saw it..and prayed..and took the plunge. and bought a little book about how to start seeds inside...all this expense at a time when, to my professed thought, the only place for any self-respecting person is prison..sigh..i am just a bundle of contradictions, a work (of God) in process. i may never get to sow them but then again maybe i will.
got 26 minutes to share my am devotional focus from today. was thinking about alot i can't share, pouring out my heart to the Lord to show me if i am blind, to keep the focus on all my sins and crying for wisdom about what to do in a certain thing and i'll share a bit of what came out on paper: oh Lord MAKE ME AN ANSWER (in some small way) TO THIS PRAYER/VISION of Your church-give Your church
a SHEPHERD-WATCHMAN-BARKING DOG-EQUIPPER-DISCIPLER of males
one who follows jethro's advice and not a one man show
fill us with ACCEPTANCE of each other and every person in the world, caring, loving, drawing each OTHER to our heart
help us all be interrelated members of one BODY, don't let no one usurp Your headship!
make us learners of You so we are constantly DISCIPLING others
make us FATHERS trainers of our children
MOTHERS managing their homes to be a godly, outreaching economy
CHILDREN honoring, obeying, serving their parents
a BODY where body life occurs with all sharing spiritual struggles, victories, defeats with one another
all EVANGELISTS preaching the good news of the Gospel to all we touch!
TRUTH-SPEAKERS, loving one another and the world enough to challenge sin and warn..
PROPHETS all overflowing with God's word wherever we are rather than a single talking head with all other mouths silenced
SALT AND LIGHT out of the inward-looking 'church program' which ghettoizes and keeps us sealed off from the world so desperately in need of God's love
WIDOWS functioning as described in the pastoral epistle
OLDER people teaching YOUNGER people
hilarious, profuse GIVING of self, time, resources rather than caught in the greed of the TAKERS
GOD OVER GOVERNMENT in everything..non-acceptance of ANYTHING from government
a PRAYING, CROSS-BEARING, HOLY, LOVING, TRUTH-SPEAKING, GRATEFUL, EVANGELIZING, DISCIPLING, GIVING, TRUSTING-IN -CHRIST'S-RIGHTEOUSNESS- ALONE, VICTORIOUS CHURCH!
love, dad
Sunday, February 15, 2009
2.15.09 MAY YOU LIVE FOREVER!
the last two days i have almost completed reading a biography of gandhi. i'm reading slowly and thinking alot. he appears in this book very different than he appeared through his own writing. here one sees him waiting. his goal of bringing independence to the people of india had several major roadblocks in his mind, the least of which was the english presence. far more thorny were the problems of different people groups and the universal acceptance of caste. he worked tirelessly to befriend the muslims who were as oil to the water of hinduism. he had untouchable people live in his ashram and at times lived among them when he was traveling. i saw him as much more intense before. he was fighting for people who were already alive to be able to have more freedom, to live a better life...on the bottom end of indian society this meant to not starve to death, suffer the miseries of poverty, suffer oppression or rejection at the hands of others. to attempt to achieve these goals he practiced and promoted various types of non-violent non-cooperation. sometimes he alone did this, sometimes those specifically chosen by him, sometimes, particularly right before indian independence, the whole indian people (those who were of a mind to). he was pursuing a goal which was basically agreed with by 320 million people as against how many english? i don't know but the former had a preponderance. it was a stupendous experiment never before in history atempted, a notable achievement. it brought a new way of relating to government that now can be copied by those who come after.
but when one thinks about it, it occurs that the civil rights movement, though having a degree of white support, might have been a greater achievement. i don't know...there is the unseen factor that someone had done it before, which gandhi did not have. but maybe it was harder. then you think about the 15 people who are in prison for forceful prolife action, the 0 in prison for non-violent, non-cooperation with abortion...where does that come on the scale. gandhi had many who
but when one thinks about it, it occurs that the civil rights movement, though having a degree of white support, might have been a greater achievement. i don't know...there is the unseen factor that someone had done it before, which gandhi did not have. but maybe it was harder. then you think about the 15 people who are in prison for forceful prolife action, the 0 in prison for non-violent, non-cooperation with abortion...where does that come on the scale. gandhi had many who
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
2.11.09 I DID NOT FIND GOD,HE FOUND ME!
sometime during 2008 it occurred to me that there has been something different about me spiritually for the past six years. i have experienced a type of relationship with God unlike any other time in my life. people used to talk about having a relationship with God and i would have agreed that the same was true for me...but now i'm not sure. maybe its more ongoing, more continual, more intense. or maybe i just thought i had a relationship before when i didn't. one thing is sure. i used to look at others like the pharisee in the temple thanking God he was not like other men and reciting his good works as evidence. now i'm much more like the despised tax-collector who sat beside him praying for God's mercy. i used to think that once one was saved he was supercharged in such a way that he, on a practical level, did not need God. now i experience a deep need of Him most every moment. whereas Jesus used to be a distant savior who had forgiven me and given me eternal life and left me on my own, now He is a precious, constant companion as well.
when i was a child i prayed that Jesus-would-come-into-my-heart-and-be-my-savior. i'm not sure. did it ever 'take'? i finally came to see myself as a sinner and become concerned about this when i was 20. there was a crisis of some sort and for the first time the Bible became understandable and, more than that, it seemed as though God was speaking directly to me through it. i always dated my 'salvation' from this time and maybe that's when it happened...but now this tremendous difference from any period before has come. for the first time He is real!
my spiritual roots being in the wesleyan methodist denomination for a long time i believed i could lose my salvation. then one time, during what i will call my pharisee period, i read a two volume biography of George Whitefield, the english evangelist influencial during the great awakening in the 18th century. he believed that man did not choose God but God man. when i closed the second volume i did also. to see a man who believed this and yet had such an undying passion for the souls of men was amazing to behold. i had struggled with romans 9..' it does not depend on the man who wills but on God who has mercy... He has mercy on whom He desires and He hardens who He desires..what if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? He did so in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy which He prepared beforehand for glory...(9.16,18,22-3), no more did i doubt or argue. He evidently changed me imperceptibly as i read. i no longer sit in judgment on Him...why don't You and why do You, etc...i'm amazed that He would forgive and bless eternally anyone and so grateful that He has me.
this past year i have been meditatively reading through 'the spiritual man' by watchman nee and believe God has changed me a bit by this book. there also was a little pamphlet written by j.i. packer, an introduction to 'the death of death in the death of Christ' written by john owen (1684). they both speak deeply to me concerning what i have and continue to experience in Christ. i share them as two, among a multitude of, great blessings God has given in 08.
'God wishes no one to "perish but that all should reach repentance" because He 'desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth' II pet. 3.9; I tim. 2.4 no problem arises concerning whom God wants to save or whom He will let perish. the problem before us is, rather, what is the sinner's attitude towards God's will? if he decides to be a christian because he is naturally inclined towards 'religion', naturally contemptuous of the world or naturally influenced by his heredity, environment or family, he is as far from God and His life as are other sinners. if (he) chooses to be a christian at the moment of excitement or enthusiasm, he may not fare better than the rest. it all reduces itself to this: what is his attitude towards God's will? God loves him, but will he accept this love? Christ calls him, but will he come? the Holy Spirit wants to give him life, but is he willing to be born? his will is useful only in choosing God's will...if man himself commences the search for salvation, he is yet perishing..but if man, upon hearing the gospel, is willing to accept what God offers to him, he shall be saved. in the one case, man originates; in the other he receives. the one does the willing himself while the other accepts God's will.
now j.i. packer..."to the question: what must i do to be saved? the old gospel replies: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
to the further question: what does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? its reply is: it means knowing oneself to be a sinner, and Christ to have died for sinners; abandoning all self-righteousness and self-confidence, and casting oneself wholly upon Him for pardon and peace; and exchanging one's natural enmity and rebellion against God for a spirit of grateful submission to the will of Christ through the renewing of one's heart by the Holy Ghost.
and to the further question still: how am i to go about believing on Christ and repenting, if i have no natural ability to do these things? it answers: look to Christ, speak to Christ, cry to Christ, just as you are; confess your sin, your impenitence, your unbelief, and cast yourself on His mercy; ask Him to give you a new heart, working in you true repentance and firm faith; ask Him to take away your evil heart of unbelief and to write His law within you, that you may never henceforth stray from Him. turn to Him and trust Him as best you can, and pray for grace to turn and trust more thoroughly; use the means of grace expectantly, looking to Christ to draw near to you as you seek to draw near to Him; watch, pray, read and hear God's Word, worship and commune with God's people, and so continue till you know in yourself beyond doubt that you are indeed a changed being, a penitent believer, and the new heart which you desired has been put within you."
i pinch myself. i can't believe the great God of the Bible has forgiven all my innumerable sins. i can't wait to be with Him forever. i'm so greatful He doesn't cast such a one away. what about you? has He saved you or are you heading unknowingly for hell? i don't care how 'good' or 'bad' you think you are. remember, He will only be Lord of all or not at all. He wants to save you but His will must be yours. it's your call. if you will give Him complete control of your life, call. He promises, whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
if you don't know how, pray this old hymn. ' open my eyes that i may see, glimpses of truth Thou hast for me, place in my hand the wonderful key, that shall unclasp and set me free.. open my ears and let me hear, voices of truth Thou sendest clear, and while the wave-notes fall on my ear, everything false will disappear.. silently now i wait for Thee, ready my God, Thy will to see, open my (ears, eyes, heart), illumine me, Spirit divine!
when i was a child i prayed that Jesus-would-come-into-my-heart-and-be-my-savior. i'm not sure. did it ever 'take'? i finally came to see myself as a sinner and become concerned about this when i was 20. there was a crisis of some sort and for the first time the Bible became understandable and, more than that, it seemed as though God was speaking directly to me through it. i always dated my 'salvation' from this time and maybe that's when it happened...but now this tremendous difference from any period before has come. for the first time He is real!
my spiritual roots being in the wesleyan methodist denomination for a long time i believed i could lose my salvation. then one time, during what i will call my pharisee period, i read a two volume biography of George Whitefield, the english evangelist influencial during the great awakening in the 18th century. he believed that man did not choose God but God man. when i closed the second volume i did also. to see a man who believed this and yet had such an undying passion for the souls of men was amazing to behold. i had struggled with romans 9..' it does not depend on the man who wills but on God who has mercy... He has mercy on whom He desires and He hardens who He desires..what if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? He did so in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy which He prepared beforehand for glory...(9.16,18,22-3), no more did i doubt or argue. He evidently changed me imperceptibly as i read. i no longer sit in judgment on Him...why don't You and why do You, etc...i'm amazed that He would forgive and bless eternally anyone and so grateful that He has me.
this past year i have been meditatively reading through 'the spiritual man' by watchman nee and believe God has changed me a bit by this book. there also was a little pamphlet written by j.i. packer, an introduction to 'the death of death in the death of Christ' written by john owen (1684). they both speak deeply to me concerning what i have and continue to experience in Christ. i share them as two, among a multitude of, great blessings God has given in 08.
'God wishes no one to "perish but that all should reach repentance" because He 'desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth' II pet. 3.9; I tim. 2.4 no problem arises concerning whom God wants to save or whom He will let perish. the problem before us is, rather, what is the sinner's attitude towards God's will? if he decides to be a christian because he is naturally inclined towards 'religion', naturally contemptuous of the world or naturally influenced by his heredity, environment or family, he is as far from God and His life as are other sinners. if (he) chooses to be a christian at the moment of excitement or enthusiasm, he may not fare better than the rest. it all reduces itself to this: what is his attitude towards God's will? God loves him, but will he accept this love? Christ calls him, but will he come? the Holy Spirit wants to give him life, but is he willing to be born? his will is useful only in choosing God's will...if man himself commences the search for salvation, he is yet perishing..but if man, upon hearing the gospel, is willing to accept what God offers to him, he shall be saved. in the one case, man originates; in the other he receives. the one does the willing himself while the other accepts God's will.
now j.i. packer..."to the question: what must i do to be saved? the old gospel replies: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
to the further question: what does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? its reply is: it means knowing oneself to be a sinner, and Christ to have died for sinners; abandoning all self-righteousness and self-confidence, and casting oneself wholly upon Him for pardon and peace; and exchanging one's natural enmity and rebellion against God for a spirit of grateful submission to the will of Christ through the renewing of one's heart by the Holy Ghost.
and to the further question still: how am i to go about believing on Christ and repenting, if i have no natural ability to do these things? it answers: look to Christ, speak to Christ, cry to Christ, just as you are; confess your sin, your impenitence, your unbelief, and cast yourself on His mercy; ask Him to give you a new heart, working in you true repentance and firm faith; ask Him to take away your evil heart of unbelief and to write His law within you, that you may never henceforth stray from Him. turn to Him and trust Him as best you can, and pray for grace to turn and trust more thoroughly; use the means of grace expectantly, looking to Christ to draw near to you as you seek to draw near to Him; watch, pray, read and hear God's Word, worship and commune with God's people, and so continue till you know in yourself beyond doubt that you are indeed a changed being, a penitent believer, and the new heart which you desired has been put within you."
i pinch myself. i can't believe the great God of the Bible has forgiven all my innumerable sins. i can't wait to be with Him forever. i'm so greatful He doesn't cast such a one away. what about you? has He saved you or are you heading unknowingly for hell? i don't care how 'good' or 'bad' you think you are. remember, He will only be Lord of all or not at all. He wants to save you but His will must be yours. it's your call. if you will give Him complete control of your life, call. He promises, whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
if you don't know how, pray this old hymn. ' open my eyes that i may see, glimpses of truth Thou hast for me, place in my hand the wonderful key, that shall unclasp and set me free.. open my ears and let me hear, voices of truth Thou sendest clear, and while the wave-notes fall on my ear, everything false will disappear.. silently now i wait for Thee, ready my God, Thy will to see, open my (ears, eyes, heart), illumine me, Spirit divine!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
2.10.09 THE REPORTER'S EDIT OF MY 2.5.09 LETTER
nona,
thanks again for taking time over the phone to explain things atthe reporter in regard to the sharing of opinion. thank you also forprinting my open letter to senators casey and specter as well asrepresentative dent. when i saw the letter i realized that i had notshared with you that this was an open letter from myself to my threecentral government reps. i'll try to remember to let you know that ifit occurs again. i think an open letter is much more powerful in manyways, not the least of which is that it has greater ability, i opine,to stir others to do the same. i feel akin to a little boy at the edgeof a blazing forest fire threatening my town with immanentdestruction...with a water pistol. i believe this is a WATERSHED and if passed will usher us away from personal responsibility and freedominto the chains and untold miseries of national slavery.
as you may be aware, we now, with our emphasis on rule by man and not by theunchanging law of the God of the Bible stand in the governmentalspectrum right next to anarchy-totalitarianism. a people reach anarchy(lit. everyone does what is right in their own sight without anyconstraint of law) by progressively turning their back on submissionto law based in the character and commands of the GOD of the Bible anddoing what THEY want. in so doing they rush down the slope ofself-created difficulties and into the arms of a perceivedsavior...alas,just another self-seeking fallible person. when thedifficulties become or are perceived to become too great, this saviormust save the people from themselves and one another by taking awayliberties that have roundly been abused.
this leads to my next thought.i was disappointed that you deleted the part that touched on what president obama is doing by exercisingpersonal oversight of the bailout (including his setting limits onfinancial executives). you see, in so doing, he is acting the part ofa dictator. granted, when a people lose the ability to governthemselves so as not to hurt one another, a dictator is necessary. butnecessary is not, in this case, right. right is to not giving theleading financial houses $25 billion of our money last year only tohave them pay out $26 billion in bonuses to their top men for failure.(the bulletin, 2.6.09) the cure (dictatorial oversight) is much worsethan the disease. we need to be made aware of what is being done andabsolutely deny $1 to bailout anyone and let the market do its ownwork. the market left untinkered with always rewards those who bless others and curses those who curse others...
so i was sorely disappointed that my questioning of president obama's choices in this area did not see print. they need to be scrutinized and continually checked and denied. sigh. however it is possible that we are already so decieved and enslaved as a people that we have not the ability to see or to shake off the chains that currently being forged to bind us fast. God bless you, nona. sincerely, stephen paine
thanks again for taking time over the phone to explain things atthe reporter in regard to the sharing of opinion. thank you also forprinting my open letter to senators casey and specter as well asrepresentative dent. when i saw the letter i realized that i had notshared with you that this was an open letter from myself to my threecentral government reps. i'll try to remember to let you know that ifit occurs again. i think an open letter is much more powerful in manyways, not the least of which is that it has greater ability, i opine,to stir others to do the same. i feel akin to a little boy at the edgeof a blazing forest fire threatening my town with immanentdestruction...with a water pistol. i believe this is a WATERSHED and if passed will usher us away from personal responsibility and freedominto the chains and untold miseries of national slavery.
as you may be aware, we now, with our emphasis on rule by man and not by theunchanging law of the God of the Bible stand in the governmentalspectrum right next to anarchy-totalitarianism. a people reach anarchy(lit. everyone does what is right in their own sight without anyconstraint of law) by progressively turning their back on submissionto law based in the character and commands of the GOD of the Bible anddoing what THEY want. in so doing they rush down the slope ofself-created difficulties and into the arms of a perceivedsavior...alas,just another self-seeking fallible person. when thedifficulties become or are perceived to become too great, this saviormust save the people from themselves and one another by taking awayliberties that have roundly been abused.
this leads to my next thought.i was disappointed that you deleted the part that touched on what president obama is doing by exercisingpersonal oversight of the bailout (including his setting limits onfinancial executives). you see, in so doing, he is acting the part ofa dictator. granted, when a people lose the ability to governthemselves so as not to hurt one another, a dictator is necessary. butnecessary is not, in this case, right. right is to not giving theleading financial houses $25 billion of our money last year only tohave them pay out $26 billion in bonuses to their top men for failure.(the bulletin, 2.6.09) the cure (dictatorial oversight) is much worsethan the disease. we need to be made aware of what is being done andabsolutely deny $1 to bailout anyone and let the market do its ownwork. the market left untinkered with always rewards those who bless others and curses those who curse others...
so i was sorely disappointed that my questioning of president obama's choices in this area did not see print. they need to be scrutinized and continually checked and denied. sigh. however it is possible that we are already so decieved and enslaved as a people that we have not the ability to see or to shake off the chains that currently being forged to bind us fast. God bless you, nona. sincerely, stephen paine
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