The Jungle: GK Chesterton

“THE modern city is ugly not because it is a city but because it is not enough of a city, because it is a jungle, because it is confused and anarchic, and surging with selfish and materialistic energies.” 

~GK Chesterton: 'Lunacy and Letters.'

We live in an age where being busy represents accomplishment.  We fail to even slow down to consider our own destiny.  How easy we fill our minds with vanity, how easy we get distracted from time to time.  I wonder what God will say when we get to Heaven if we act surprised, like I think many will be.  Our lives are all interconnected in one way for eternity.  Make the most of your time and invest in things that matter for not just this world, but the next.  CS Lewis I believe once said it best, that 'those who did the most for this world where precisely those who were most focused on the next.'

Truth: Matthew 10 The Call to Action

This world is a battlefield.  If you're not receiving flak, you're not over the target.  We are reminded in Matthew 10:

   ³⁴ “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to turn

   “‘a man against his father,
   a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
   ³⁶ a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’^[c]

Matthew 10 in context is Jesus' commission to sending out the 12 disciples as sheep among wolves, to preach the gospel to anyone that will receive.  Notice in verse 1 first how Jesus sent them out.

¹ Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

Jesus commissioned the disciples with power to heal disease, not kill people supernaturally.  In context, Jesus is referring the 'two-edged sword' that Hebrew 12 mentions that pierces or divides between soul and spirit, joint and marrow, a discerner of the thought and intentions of the hearts.  The gospel has POWER.  This power, when spoken, will divide.  The Truth will offend many, revealing sin and unearthing evil.

I read a quote from the British philosopher GK Chesterton in Romance of Orthodoxy which ran: "It is as true of democratic fraternity as a divine love; sham love ends in compromise and common philosophy; but real love has always ended in bloodshed." On the same line, action implies in its nature that one thing is preferable to one another.  Truth by definition is exclusive--that is proven, as the moment you challenge that statement, you are saying not what I say is right, but what you say is right.

And that is the ultimate reality of the world.  We far too often sit back in our lazy-boy and imagine that all is ok in the world, and that those around us have our best interests at heart--or so we say in America where modern man has not known tyranny but from a distance.  This call to action, found here in the words of Christ, is what is needed most in America these days.

This call to action cannot be found in eastern way of thought as pantheistic thought implies that one thing is as good as another.  Ethical and social reform cannot happen without action.  The western theology, found in Christianity that says "I am I, and Thou art Thou" is directly the type of belief that has overthrown tyrants and dictators.

"If we, like the eastern saint want to merely contemplate how right things are, of course we shall only say that they must go right.  But if we particularly want to make them go right, we must insist that they may go wrong." GK 

Truth divides.  If your words fail to even move the comatose patient, perhaps you aren't speaking it.

Mosques Double in America; Pastor Grahams Apologizes & our Need for Courage

Read these two articles.  Compare them and then ask:  Would Reverend Graham apologize for saying that Christianity and Islam are different? That all paths do not lead to the same God? That Christianity teaches that those who do not accept Christ's blood as remission for sin are in danger of God's wrath?  

While one religion spurs its believers to multiply, the other can't even question the beliefs of those around them.  There is dedication and strong belief in one of these religions.  Their leaders consistently espouse what they believe and this faith requires continued devotion, devotion to the point of death for many.  


Does that sound like Christianity in America in the 21st century?  


Instead of denouncing the President for forcing Catholic charities and hospitals to offer contraceptives against their religious beliefs and calling out the President's pastor's outrageous statements on orthodox Christianity, he apologizes for even 'calling into question' the belief of another self proclaimed Christian.


Want to see courage?  Perhaps we should learn a less from Sophie Scholl, who fearlessly stood firm in Nazi Germany, and went to her death before compromising her conscience.  





Mosques in America nearly double since 9/11

Mosques in the United States have doubled in number since the September 11 attacks, with urban and suburban centers seeing an uptick in mosque construction over the last decade, according to a new report.

"This is a growing, healthy Muslim community that is well integrated into America," Ihsan Bagby, who headed the research project -- which was sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, among other groups -- told The Washington Post. "Researchers conducting the national count found a total of 2,106 Islamic centers, compared to 1,209 in 2000 and 962 in 1994," The Washington Post reported.

The Washington Post offers the statistic as a sign of the Muslim-American community triumphing over the anti-Muslim "backlash" supposed to be demonstrated by the opposition to the so-called Ground Zero mosque in New York City. But maybe the data vindicates those critics of the mosque who claimed to oppose the Ground Zero mosque construction not out of bigotry, but a very particular sensitivity regarding that mosque's proximity to Ground Zero of the World Trade Center attacks.

"When I look over there and see a mosque, it’s going to hurt," the New York Times quoted C. Lee Hanson, who lost a son in the September 11 attacks, as saying in 2010 about the Ground Zero mosque. "Build it someplace else."

Apparently, Muslim-Americans have been doing just that for the last decade.

Rev. Franklin Graham Apologizes For Refusing to Say Obama Is a Christian

It’s been a week since the Rev. Franklin Graham set off media mayhem over his refusal to admit that President Barack Obama is a Christian. As you may recall, he declined to say that Obama is, in his view, a believer during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

But now, only one week later, the prominent faith leader has issued an apology over the incident saying that he regrets “any comments I have ever made which may have cast any doubt on the personal faith of our president, Mr. Obama.”

Re-writing the Marriage Laws

Maryland become #8 on the list of states to officially recognize same sex marriage couples.  This follows a recent ruling almost one month ago where the the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decided to overturn California's Proposition 8, which had previously been voted in favor of by California voters.

An Interactive map can be found on National Journal:

The battle rages on.   Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) has already been shelved by the Attorney General Eric Holder, as he pledged not to defend it in court.  It's now 8 v. 30.  30 other states have voted to legalize traditional marriage.  Yes, I said that right.  A vote for gay marriage is a vote against traditional marriage. From The Harvard study on marriage comes the following:

Once the judiciary or legislature adopts “the union of any two persons” as the legal definition of civil marriage, that conception becomes the sole definitional basis for the only law-sanctioned marriage that any couple can enter, whether same-sex or man-woman. Therefore, legally sanctioned genderless marriage, rather than peacefully coexisting with the contemporary man-woman marriage institution, actu ally displaces and replaces it.

Why does this matter?  Let gay marriage take place, what's really the ramifications perhaps you ask.  We could ask it the other way, if gay marriage doesn't matter, why don't just let traditional marriage stand? 

Read the underlined paragraph again.  Genderless marriage.  That's what this is all about.  Once gay marriage, when does it end? Man and dog, husband and child?  Without a reference point, you drift into never never land. 

Scripture

In Christian and Islamic traditions, Sodom and Gomorrah have become synonymous with impenitent sin, and their fall with a proverbial manifestation of God's wrath.  The only instance in scripture of God reigning fire down upon society is found in Genesis 19.  God does not take this issue lightly.  It matters A LOT  (no pun intended).


From ProtectMarriage.com:

Traditional marriage is the foundation of society and has served our state well for centuries. California’s constitutional marriage amendment exists to strengthen society, encourage monogamous and loving marriages and to provide the optimal environment to ensure the well being of children. Thirty-one other states, including California have voted on this issue and every single one decided against legalizing same-sex marriage and instead upheld traditional marriage. California has voted on the issue twice and the people’s voice has been resounding: marriage is between one man and one woman.

 From CNN:

(CNN) -- Maryland became the eighth U.S. state to allow same-sex marriage Thursday as Gov. Martin O'Malley signed legislation he said secures the "human dignity" of all residents, including gay and lesbian couples.

A standing-room crowd in the Maryland State House cheered O'Malley as he emerged from his office to sign the legislation, flanked by state Senate President Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael Busch.

"The way forward is always found through greater respect for the equal rights of all," the governor said.

Six states and the District of Columbia already issue same-sex marriage licenses -- Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. Five states -- Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey and Rhode Island -- allow civil unions that provide rights similar to marriage.
The Maryland House of Delegates approved the measure O'Malley signed Thursday less than two weeks after Washington state legislators voted to legalize same-sex marriage. That measure will take effect in the summer if it survives a likely court challenge.

New Jersey lawmakers approved same-sex marriage this month, but Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the legislation. He has said voters should decide the issue in a statewide referendum.

Maryland passes same-sex marriage bill

Voters in Minnesota and North Carolina, meanwhile, will consider proposals in November to ban gay marriage in those states. New Hampshire lawmakers may also consider a repeal of its same-sex marriage law, according to the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex marriage. Lawsuits seeking to expand civil unions or turn back laws banning same-sex marriages are working through the courts in at least 12 states, including Hawaii, Minnesota and California, the organization said.

Same-sex marriage became a national issue in 1993, after the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that a ban on such unions violated the state constitution.

Legislation was introduced recently to allow same-sex marriages in Illinois, and bills from 2011 remain technically active in Hawaii and Minnesota, said Jack Tweedie of the National Council of State Legislatures. It's unclear whether any will see significant action, he said.

An effort is also under way to put a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage on the November ballot in Maine, where voters previously overturned a 2009 state law authorizing it.

In California, meanwhile, a federal appeals court recently ruled against a voter-passed referendum that outlawed same-sex marriage. It said such a ban was unconstitutional and singled out gays and lesbians for discrimination. The case appears to be eventually headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Harry Dent, Robert Prechte, Gerald Celente Warn of Economic Collapse

"BUY a gun and keep your powder dry, Economic 9/11: Economists warn of a coming 9/11."

Prophecy, from the Bible to Nostradamus and the Mayans, has predicted fearful events that would take place before the return of Christ and the end of the world.  Daniel predicted a time of trouble that 'would never been since there was a nation."  Jesus predicted that 'unless the days were shortened, no flesh would be saved."

A time of turmoil is coming.  Wars. Famines. Riots. A time of fear.  

Remember the words of scripture and take heart:

Psalms 46: 1-3

"God is our refuge and strength,  our very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear though the earth be removed and mountains be thrown into the heart of the sea.  Though the waters roar and are troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling."

Business ‘Buy a Gun’ & ‘Keep Your Powder Dry’: Economists Warn of Looming ‘Economic 9/11′Left to Right: Harry Dent, Robert Prechte, & Gerald Celente

Despite recent reports that the U.S. economy is “recovering” and that there are signs of economic growth, some analysts are less than thrilled with what they see in the near future. In fact, they’re downright scared.

Harry Dent, author of “The Great Crash Ahead,” believes that the global debt bubble is going to burst and when it does, there will be a massive market crash. It should be noted that this is a revision of his earlier prediction that a crash would hit in 2012. He says he modified his forecast because the global central banks have been pumping the markets with so much money, stocks have been given a temporary boost. But he warns that as soon as the short-lived boost comes to an end, the crash will be hard.

“This will be a repeat of 2008-09, only bigger, when it finally hits,” Dent told USA Today.
Watch a discussion of this topic from Monday night’s broadcast of “Real News From The Blaze” by clicking here.

Gerald Celente, a market analyst at the Trends Research Institute, believes Americans should brace themselves for what he calls an “economic 9/11.” He blames policymakers for their inability to solve the world’s financial and economic woes, according to the USA Today report.
Once the meltdown hits, he says, it will lead to social upheaval, anti-government sentiment, a devalued U.S. dollar, and skyrocketing unemployment.

“Celente won‘t rule out another financial panic that could spark enough fear to cause a run on the nation’s banks by depositors,” USA Today reports. “That risk could cause the government to invoke ‘economic martial law’ and call a ‘bank holiday’ and close banks as it did during the Great Depression.”

“We see some kind of threat of that magnitude,” Celente said in a recent interview.
Robert Prechter, author of “Conquer the Crash,” is being described as “still bearish.” Because he believes there is a frightening amount of similarities between today’s economy and the one preceding the Great Depression, he warns that America should brace for “1930s-style deflation.”
“Prechter predicts that the major U.S. stock indexes, such as the Dow Jones industrials and Standard & Poor’s 500, will plunge below their bear market lows hit in March 2009 during the last financial crisis,” USA Today reports. “The brief recovery will fail as it did in the 1930s, he says.”

What does this mean? Well, if Prechter is correct, stocks stand to lose more than half of their value.
“The economic recovery has been weak, so the next downturn should generate bad news in a big way,” Prechter said in an e-mail interview. “For the third time in a dozen years, the stock market is in a very bearish position.”

But what about all that “positive” economic news we keep hearing about?
Take, for example, recent reports that the markets are rebounding. Many economists have noted that the markets are finally approaching pre-2008 levels.

“Tech stocks in the Nasdaq composite are trading at levels last seen in 2000. Data on auto sales, manufacturing and consumer confidence have been firming. Job creation is also on the rise. The unemployment rate dipped to 8.3% in January, its lowest level in three years,” USA Today argues.
Furthermore, economists and market analysts are updating their forecasts and predicting a hopeful and bright economic future. Some have even bet that the eurozone will stabilize.
So why are Prechter, Celente, and Dent so worried?

“Dent says the combination of aging Baby Boomers exiting their big spending years and a shift toward debt reduction and austerity around the world will cause the economy to suffer another severe leg down, making it more difficult for the government and Federal Reserve to avert a new meltdown,” USA Today reports.

Celente, on the other hand, who has also been warning of economic disaster for years, believes that the national debt and “income inequality” has put the U.S. in a very dangerous place.

He warns that bank runs, brought about by social unrest, will wreak sever economic havoc. He also warns that the current economic crisis could very easily transform into real violence. He believes the markets will be turned upside down by not only the eurozone crisis but also by an increase in oil prices due to the standoff between Iran and the West.

“2012 is when many of the long-simmering socioeconomic and political trends that we have been forecasting and tracking will climax,” Celente wrote in his “Top 12 Trends 2012” newsletter.
“When money stops flowing to the man on the street, blood starts flowing in the street,” he added in an interview.

So, although some are economists are advising investors to jump back into the markets, these three analysts are warning that a different strategy is needed.
“Get out of the way,” Dent advises.
His solution? Buy short-term U.S. Treasury bills and the U.S. dollar, which will benefit from safe-haven cash flows. Forget stocks; they’ll fall in value.

Celente advises investors to buy gold – it won’t lose its purchasing power when the dollar tanks. Also, he says, buy a gun to protect yourself from marauders in search of food and money. He also advises people to plan a getaway to places with “more stable finances and governments.”
Prechter’s advice? Simple: keep your powder dry and buy when the economy starts to get out of hand.

“When things get really scary, as in early 2009, I get bullish,” he said.

Monumental: Kirk Cameron and America's National Treasure

A new documentary on the state of America as we know is being produced by Kirk Cameron and played live in 450 theaters on March 27th.  "Monumental: In Search of America's National Treasure"

Now, more than ever, this nation needs to come to its senses and acknowledge the Creator that has guided and protected its families, inspired its founding documents, and sustained its resolve through times of turmoil.

Compare America now to America at its founding:

Bankrupt: No money and having to taxes raised over 300% in the years proceeding the revolution, leading to the Boston Tea Party revolt among others.  There was not even enough money to buy boots for the army defending their existence during the winter where the soldiers braved it out at Vally Forge. 

Dis-Unity:  Churches were having interdenominational fights and state governments were fragmented as to whether or not to support the war for independence.

Cultural Rot: Slavery existed, persecution of minorities was much more rampant, the culture was divided. The church has a king who had set himself up as god on earth, society has their 'antichrists' all around them.   

If anyone understood how to make it out of a tough spot it was them, the founders.  They were surrounded by darkness on all sides.  This was a time when you could be beheaded, burned at the stake, drawn and quartered, for simply disagreeing with the Queen

Yet what was their attitude?  It wasn't, put your head down between your knees and get ready for the end of the world.  No, it was, let's go on offense.  They had a 500 year plan in which to change the culture!

They went and built a new nation. 
 



 


Catch the rest at TheBlaze

Monumental is a live event, hosted by Kirk Cameron. On Tuesday, March 27^th 2012, in over 450 theaters nationwide, audiences will come together for this live, one-night event. The two-hour event will begin at 7:30pm ET, 6:30pm CT, 5:30pm MT, and 8:00pm PT (tape delayed), and is suitable for ages 13+.

While making this documentary Kirk Cameron came to many of the same solutions that Glenn has over the past few years. Kirk Cameron, father of six, is more than concerned with the direction our country is headed, and went looking for solutions within the founding of America. Solutions do not start in Washington, D.C. at the White House, they start in each and every one of our homes. Top down solutions will not solve America’s growing problems. First we have to fix our own hearts.

Commands, Calling, Tozer & the Lukewarm Christian

Perhaps your destiny lies in the fog or your future hangs in the balance.  What should you be doing? Should you pray and wait on the Lord?  The answer is really two parts: Both Yes and No

The Calling

The steps of a good man are ordered from the Lord.  And He Delights in his way.  For the Lord upholds him with his hand.

Psalms 37:23

The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

In summary, God has given every one of us passions and desires, God wants to delight in the way we choose.  This makes sense, after all, how is God supposed to use us if we are constantly unhappy, sad, or running the race half speed?  God allows us to choose the path to follow, then God takes us where he wants to use us best.  At the same time, this 'passion' we have in life, I surmise, could be and perhaps always becomes our 'calling.'  Paul discusses this in Ephesians:

"Walk worthy of the vocation in which you are called."

Ephesians 4:1

Our vocation is our calling.  The verse could also be read, "Walk worthy of the calling in which we are called."  We clearly have a calling, some purpose God has for our lives.  Something of a burden that God has put on our lives.  Right, and this is the great mystery, in effect we choose the calling and God gives us the calling at the same time! I think one way to explain this is that there are many potential paths we can pursue to find God's calling for our lives, and eventually, if we follow Christ, these paths will lead us toward God, our passion and purpose in life, and eventually the path eventually becomes so to speak, the 'road of God's calling.' 

God wants to 'give us the desires of our heart'. Remember in context, he is talking to a follower of Christ and what should be our desires after coming to Christ? More money, cars, homes, fame--NO.  Rather more believers, fruits of the spirit, and righteousness.  Our desire should be God's desires.


Our destiny is a unification of these 'desires' and the God ordained 'calling' or 'vocation.'  God then directs our steps to combine these two.  When these combine, we find peace.  Perhaps you might ask, what is the calling in my life? How do I find God's will for my life?  The answer is sometimes the most simple, follow God, follow your heart.


The Command


Why sit we here until we die?  or in American culture: Why sit here until we retire?  Do you really think God intended us to live a comfortable life full of ease and spend our life working for the last 30 years?  Where is that in the Bible? 

Here lies the sticking point, the sharp needle, the cutting edge of Christ's words and the message of the Cross.  If we are truly saved, we will want more than anything to go after Christ, and after him hard.

In Revelation, the Lukewarm church is 'spit' out of Christ's mouth.  Not, comforted and told that we just 'missed the boat' or need to 'try harder next time.'  There is no second chance, none, for person that fails to find their calling.  Once we taste the sweet fruit of Christ's grace and repent, we are required to run after him.  The Greek word faint doesn't just mean to collapse or stop, but to simply stop running.  From Strongs:

Faint is the Greek word eklyō and it means: “to weaken, relax, exhaust; to have one's strength relaxed.

The command of scripture is to get passionate, find our calling, and go hard after Christ.  We fail on any these accounts, we eklyo.  Read these words by Dante:

Dante, on his imaginary journey through hell, came upon a group of lost souls who sighed  and moaned continually as they whirled about aimlessly in the dusky air. Virgil, his guide, explained that these were the "wretched people," the "nearly soulless," who while they lived on earth had not moral energy enough to be either good or evil. They had earned neither praise nor blame. And with them and sharing in their punishment were those angels who would take sides neither with God nor Satan. The doom of all of the weak and irresolute crew was to be suspended forever between a hell that despised them and a heaven that would not receive their defiled presence. Not even their names were to be mentioned again in heaven or earth or hell. "Look," said the guide, "and pass on."

Whatever our calling is, the command to have the moral energy to stand for up for Truth, for God, and Righteousness is apart of that.   Fainting, failing to find our calling, and lack of moral courage and strength  carries with it the most serious of consequences in the life to come.

So, yes pray, seek God and find your passion.  But within that, God has already commanded you to go after him and in the words of the great commission, 'Go, Baptize, Disciple.'

The Challenge

We are given a short time on earth to make a difference for God.  God gives us a calling, a calling that will make us happy.  God gives us time, as much as we need to go after that calling.  God can give you the strength, strength to carry on.  Within that calling, there is a command.  Every second gone is a second lost forever.  Do something for God. 

 From A.W. Tozer and TheScriptureAlone.com

Excerpts from Of God and Men
Chapter 32.

The Report of the Watcher
Were some watcher or holy one from the bright world above to come among us for atime with the power to diagnose the spiritual ills of church people there is one entry which I am quite sure would appear on the vast majority of his reports: Definite evidence of chronic spiritual lassitude; level of moral enthusiasm extremely low.

What makes this condition especially significant is that Americans are not naturally an
unenthusiastic people. Indeed they have a world-wide reputation for being just the opposite.Visitors to our shores from other countries never cease to marvel at the vigor and energy with which we attack our problems. We live at a fever pitch, and whether we are erecting buildings, laying highways, promoting athletic events, celebrating special days or welcoming returning heroes we always do it with an exaggerated flourish. Our building will be taller, our highway broader, our athletic contest more colorful, our celebration more elaborate and more expensive than would be true anywhere else on earth. We walk faster, drive faster, earn more, spend more and run a higher blood pressure than any other people in the world.

In only one field of human interest are we slow and apathetic: that is the field of personal
religion. There for some strange reason our enthusiasm lags. Church people habitually approach the matter of their personal relation to God in a dull, half-hearted way which is altogether out of keeping with their general temperament and wholly inconsistent with the importance of the subject.

It is true that there is a lot of religious activity among us. Interchurch basketball
tournaments, religious splash parties followed by devotions, weekend camping trips with a Bible quiz around the fire, Sunday school picnics, building fund drives and ministerial breakfasts are with us in unbelievable numbers, and they are carried on with typical American gusto. It is when we enter the sacred precincts of the heart's personal religion that we suddenly lose all enthusiasm.

So we find this strange and contradictory situation: a world of noisy, headlong religious
activity carried on without moral energy or spiritual fervor. In a year's travel among the churches one scarcely finds a believer whose blood count is normal and whose temperature is up to standard. The flush and excitement of the soul in love must be sought in the New Testament or in the biographies of the saints; we look for them in vain among the professed followers of Christ in our day.

Now if there is any reality within the whole sphere of human experience that is by its very nature worthy to challenge the mind, charm the heart and bring the total life to a burning focus, it is the reality that revolves around the Person of Christ. If He is who and what the Christian message declares Him to be, then the thought of Him should be the most exciting, the most stimulating, to enter the human mind. It is not hard to understand how Paul could join wine and the Spirit in one verse: "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18). When the Spirit presents Christ to our inner vision it has an exhilarating effect on 78 the soul, much as wine has on the body. The Spirit-filled man may literally dwell in a state of spiritual fervor amounting to a mild and pure inebriation.

God dwells in a state of perpetual enthusiasm. He is delighted with all that is good and
lovingly concerned about all that is wrong. He pursues His labors always in a fullness of holy zeal. No wonder the Spirit came at Pentecost as the sound of a rushing mighty wind and sat in tongues of fire on every forehead. In so doing He was acting as one of the Persons of the blessed Godhead.

Whatever else happened at Pentecost, one thing that cannot be missed by the most casual
observer was the sudden upsurging of moral enthusiasm. Those first disciples burned with a steady, inward fire. They were enthusiastic to the point of complete abandon.

Dante, on his imaginary journey through hell, came upon a group of lost souls who sighed and moaned continually as they whirled about aimlessly in the dusky air. Virgil, his guide, explained that these were the "wretched people," the "nearly soulless," who while they lived on earth had not moral energy enough to be either good or evil. They had earned neither praise nor blame. And with them and sharing in their punishment were those angels who would take sides neither with God nor Satan. The doom of all of the weak and irresolute crew was to be suspended forever between a hell that despised them and a heaven that would not receive their defiled presence. Not even their names were to be mentioned again in heaven or earth or hell. "Look," said the guide, "and pass on."

Was Dante saying in his own way what our Lord had said long before to the church of
Laodicea: "I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth"?

The low level of moral enthusiasm among us may have a significance far deeper than we
are willing to believe.

Family Breakup Statistics

These stats cannot be repeated enough.  They symbolize just how far America has fallen.  Our economic collapse is largely a symptom of this disease that has permeated practically every heart and home across this great nation.  The social and economic toll on society is tremendous.

• The Institute for American Values reports that 40 percent of all American babies are born outside of marriage today, and taxpayers spend at least $112 billion a year for divorce and unwed childbearing. 
• Charles Murray reports that less than 5% of white college-educated women have children outside of marriage, compared with approximately 40% of white women with just a high-school diploma (Yet only 51% of American adults are married).
• The National Center on African American Marriages and Parenting reports that 72 percent of all African-American babies are born outside of marriage. The vast majority of men in prison are from fatherless homes. We can’t build prisons fast enough—prison population has jumped from 300,000 to 2.3 million in 3.5 decades.
 

The family was an institution created by God to protect and provide for both the married couple, but also for the children.  It was an institution along with the church that has stood the test of time and grounded millions in faith, virtue, hard work, personal responsibility, tolerance, and community just to name a few.  Is it any wonder that as the family begins to disappear, so does our notion of personal responsibility and individual responsibility?  

We should be RINGING THE ALARM BELLS.  Our home is on fire and unless we attempt to both put out the fire and restore the home, we may parish.  It is fairly difficult to build a free, prosperous society when the majority of our time is spent in divorce proceedings, jail, and getting out of debt.

 

A new path to upward mobility—get married and stay married

inShare

Marriage, we have just learned, is a major cause of the growing great divide among American upper and lower classes.

Last week, in advance of National Marriage Week USA (Feb. 7-14), I took note of fresh news about marriage that should make every American stand up in alert attention. 

In mid-January, the Pew Research Center told us 72% of all adults ages 18 and older were married in 1960; but today just 51% are—a record low. 

This means fewer folks are getting married, or staying married—not a great sign since research proves children (our future citizens) do best when raised with both parents. It’s also not a great sign, since we need to replenish our younger population in order to maintain fiscal provision for the aging baby boom generation.

Then a new book, “Coming Apart,” by Charles Murray, says that a retreat from marriage among the working class is a key factor in the growing economic divide in America. 

Murray says that marriage is more or less holding its own among the upper middle and upper class, but falling off a cliff among the working class and lower class. Perhaps Occupy Wall Street should take notice.

“Coming Apart” cites statistics from a theoretical upper-middle class town, showing 99% of children lived with both biological parents in 1962 and 84% of children did so in 2004. 

Admittedly that’s a drop, but nothing compared to the theoretical working class town where 96% of children lived with both parents in 1962 yet only 37% did so in 2004.

Research is overwhelming on the fact that this disadvantages children on an enormous scale—think increased teen pregnancies, increased prison populations, and children who grow up with no modeling for how to attain healthy marriage in the next generation.

So what can be done? New York Times columnist David Brooks, who cites “Coming Apart” as probably the most important book of the year, calls for a two-year mandatory national service program to teach responsible behaviors. (Murray cites a loss of the four core American values—marriage, honesty, industrious, and religion—as all contributing to the growing economic woes of the working class.) 

Brad Wilcox, head of the National Marriage Project, calls for creators of film and television to promote the values by which the elite live, but because they are stuck in the grips of nonjudgmentalism, do not promote the values of marriage, hard work, obeying the law, and faith as the path to human flourishing.

In these economically challenging times, we must commit ourselves to lowering the high cost of retreat from marriage. 

The Institute for American Values reports that 40 percent of all American babies are born outside of marriage today, and taxpayers spend at least $112 billion a year for divorce and unwed childbearing. 

Charles Murray reports that less than 5% of white college-educated women have children outside of marriage, compared with approximately 40% of white women with just a high-school diploma. 

The National Center on African American Marriages and Parenting reports that 72 percent of all African-American babies are born outside of marriage. The vast majority of men in prison are from fatherless homes. We can’t build prisons fast enough—prison population has jumped from 300,000 to 2.3 million in 3.5 decades.

Single motherhood most often impoverishes women and children. 

Marriage builds the economic stability of children, supports the raising of a healthy next generation, and is a cornerstone for the economic health of our nation.

So here’s an equally compelling solution. Let’s call for a marriage education movement to sweep across the nation. Leading family therapists estimate that only 3 percent of couples ever seek therapy and usually only when there is a crisis, which can sometimes be too late.

This is why caring leaders are creating a new national observance designed to strengthen and support marriages, called National Marriage Week USA to be observed from February 7 to 14 each year.

If you are fortunate enough to be in a marriage, I encourage you to take care of it. 

Whether you are married or not, Americans should be supportive of promoting marriage prior to childbearing and the strengthening of marriage at all socio-economic levels. 

Nothing short of the future of our country, and our way of life, depends on it.

Sheila Weber is Executive Director, National Marriage Week USA (Feb. 7-14) and the Let’s Strengthen Marriage Campaign.

Margaret Thatcher: The IRON lady

"The Iron Lady" is a surprising and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher, the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. One of the 20th century's most famous and influential women, Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male dominated world.

"All I Wanted Was to Make A Difference"

Far too often, we complain about our leaders almost rhetorically asking the question,"Does anyone have a backbone anymore?  Where is principle?  Why are there so few good men?"  Margaret Thatcher's story beautifully illustrates why so few end up taking the role of leadership.  She earned her role as celebrated savior of Great Britain during the Cold War, but many forget that she was forced to resign and was castigated by her opponents as a failure for standing firm on beliefs such as the fairness of a tax of income the same amount no matter how much or how little one made."  She was often ridiculed, almost died from assassination when the hotel she was living in was bombed, and was constantly defending her decisions.

She was a fighter.  She never gave up.  She never chose political sides, only the side of Truth.

She was often alone.  I was reminded of that, ironically enough, as I sat all alone watching Iron Lady tonight in the movie theater.  Apparently, the movie lacks the Friday night appeal of action, blood, sex, or fantasy that the Millennial generation now seems to require.  Perhaps then, it is fitting that Margaret Thatcher quotes these following famous lines in the movie:

Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.

Your destiny starts now, with that last thought, with each new thought.  If we want leaders to make a stand for the Truth, perhaps we need to look in the mirror.  The 21th century will need another Margaret Thatcher, another Daniel, another William Wilberforce, another Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Evil continues to advance and will unless the righteous stands up and storms the gates of Hell.  She was the daughter of a grocer, not anyone famous.  But she was driven to make a difference and would not settle for a life of mediocrity.  Will we do the same?

An interaction best perhaps sums up the topic of conversation.  Lilla Rose, pro life activist, once recalled the following interchange in an interview with WORLD:

Rose remembers a time when no one showed up for for a meeting. Discouraged, she turned to her mom and asked, "What am I doing wrong? Do they not care?"

"Leadership is lonely," her mother replied. "You have to forge the path, and people will follow."

Preppers Prepare for World Economic Collapse

For those who missed a terrific series on the people 'prepping' for the end of the world here they are.

National Geographic documented a series on three families prepping for the end of the world.  Their stories are quite compelling and give some practical tips on how best to get ready for when disaster may eventually come.  Perilous days are upon us.  The greatest need will be each other should any disaster come upon us.  Leaning upon faith, family, and friends will become essential to survive any disaster such as a power grid failure, terrorist attack, or economic collapse.

Power Grid Failure:   Family #1 lives in Phoenix and is creating their own sustainable greenhouse in their pool preparing for a nuclear meltdown and power grid failure

Nuclear Disaster:  Family #2 lives in Colorado and is has an underground bunker stacked with a years worth of living supplies.

Economic Collapse:  Family #3 lives in South Carolina and makes their own food, fuel, and has a fortified shelter to protect them once the financial system collapses.

My Vote:  Prepper #3.  They even make their own flour with a bike.  Also--drive their car on wood.