Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

The Two Paths That Stood Before Abraham Pt. 1
Oct 11th, 2019
Morning MeditationF. B. Meyer
Categories: Meditation;Inspirational;Book Study

"Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me." -- Genesis 13:9.

Abraham and Lot stood together on the heights of Bethel. The Land of Promise spread out before them as a map. On three sides at least there was not much to attract a shepherd's gaze. The eye wandered over the outlines of the hills which hid from view the fertile valleys nestling within their embrace. There was, however, an exception in this monotony of hill, towards the south-east, where the waters of the Jordan spread out in a broad valley, before they entered the Sea of the Plain.

Even from the distance the two men could discern the rich luxuriance, which may have recalled to them traditions of the garden once planted by the Lord God in Eden, and have reminded them of scenes which they had lately visited together in the valley of the Nile. This specially struck the eye of Lot; eager to do the best for himself, and determined to make the fullest use of the opportunity which the unexpected magnanimity of his uncle had thrown in his way. Did he count his relative a fool for surrendering the right of choice? Did he vow that he must allow no false feelings of delicacy to interfere with his doing what he could for himself? Did he feel strong in the keenness of his sight, and the quickness of his judgment? Perhaps so. For he had little sympathy with the pilgrim spirit.

But the time would come when he would bitterly rue his choice, and owe everything to the man of whom he was now prepared to take advantage.

"Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere... as the garden of the Lord. ... Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan" (13:10-11). He did not ask what God had chosen for him. He did not consider the prejudicial effect which the morals of the place might exert upon his children and himself. His choice was entirely determined by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. For the men of Sodom were "sinners before the Lord exceedingly."

How many have stood upon those Bethel heights, intent on the same errand as took Lot thither! Age after age has poured forth its crowds of young hearts, to stand upon an exceeding high mountain, whilst before them have been spread all the kingdoms of this world, and the glory of them; the tempter whispering, that for one act of obeisance all shall be theirs. In assurance and self-confidence; eager to do the very best for themselves; prepared to consider the moralities only in so far as these did not interfere with what they held to be the main chance of life -- thus have succeeding generations looked towards the plains of Sodom from afar. And, alas! like Lot, they have tried to make stones into bread; they have cast themselves down from the mountain side, for angels to catch; they have knelt before the tempter, to find his promise broken, the vision of power an illusion, and the soul beggared for ever -- whilst the tempter, with hollow laugh, has disappeared, leaving his dupe standing alone in the midst of a desolate wilderness.

Let us not condemn Lot too much because he chose without reference to the moral and religious conditions of the case; lest, in judging him, we pronounce sentence on ourselves. Lot did nothing more than is done by scores of professing Christians every day.

Let the Headlines Speak
Oct 11th, 2019
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines

The Book Is About To Close On The Late, Great United States Of America
Our story could have ended very differently. If America had embraced the truth, that would have put us on a far different road than the one we are on today. Instead, we are steamrolling toward oblivion, and only a small handful of brave watchmen are even warning about the ominous fate that lies directly ahead of us. We live at a time when “evil” is called “good” and “good” is called “evil”, and just about every form of human degradation that you can possibly imagine is absolutely exploding in our society.

Syria: ‘Think Carefully’, Putin Warns Erdogan
Putin on Wednesday urged his Turkish counterpart President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to “think carefully” before any offensive in Syria, the Kremlin said in a statement.

Super Typhoon Hagibis remains a dangerous storm as it targets Japan
Super Typhoon Hagibis continued to maintain news/article/super-typhoon-hagibis-heads-for-japan-lashes-us-territory-of-guam-strongest-storm-its intensity as a monster storm Wednesday, and is expected to largely maintain its strength into Thursday. Predicted to become the strongest storm of the year, its maximum winds remained near 260 km/h on Wednesday, with gusts approaching 315 km/h. The storm, which developed over the weekend, took only 18 hours to reach super typhoon status. Because of the expected trajectory and strength of this storm, Weather Network meteorologists say it may eventually influence the weather in western North America in the long range.

Joe Biden ‘Personally Paid $900,000 By Burisma’ According To Ukrainian MP In Bombshell Admission
Ukrainian MP Andriy Derkach revealed on Wednesday that former Vice President Joe Biden received $900,000 from Burisma Group for lobbying activities, citing materials related to an investigation. Funds in the amount of $900,000 were transferred to the U.S.-based company Rosemont Seneca Partners, which according to open sources, in particular, the New York Times, is affiliated with Biden.

ANALYSIS: Is Israel Preparing for War With Iran?
The Israeli security cabinet met for the first time in two months on Sunday for an emergency meeting on the increasing Iranian threat to the Jewish state. The meeting took place after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a speech for the newly inaugurated Knesset, warned that Israel is facing a “huge security challenge” that is increasing every week. The caretaker PM added that his words should be taken seriously and that he did not just want to scare the public and the media out of political considerations.

Democrats are now a party of total anarchy
Unfortunately, what has befallen my childhood hometown is reflected across the nation, where America’s most beautiful cities from San Francisco to Seattle, all run by uber-progressive Democrats, have become crime-and-rat-infested hellholes. Anyone visiting these and many other cities today experiences total shock at what they encounter. And yet, the scandalous state of America’s top cities is just the tip of the iceberg, a small part of a much larger problem of ever-growing lawlessness being visited on America by the Democratic Party.

Macron vows ‘unrelenting fight’ against Islamists
Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday vowed an “unrelenting fight” against Islamist extremists as he paid tribute to the four Paris police staff stabbed to death last week by a radicalized colleague. “We will wage an unrelenting fight in the face of Islamist terrorism,” Macron told a ceremony at the police headquarters where the attack took place, The killings have raised questions about how he managed to avoid detection by the police, despite having top-level security clearance.

Civilians flee Syrian border towns as Turkey begins offensive
Turkey attacked Kurdish militia positions in northeast Syria on Wednesday, pounding them with air strikes and artillery barrages in a cross-border military operation just days after U.S. troops pulled back from the area.

World reacts to German attack: Like darkest periods of Jewish history
A gunman killed two people outside a synagogue and a nearby kebab restaurant on Yom Kippur in an attack in Halle in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt that he livestreamed on a video-gaming platform. “I think the Holocaust never happened,” he began, before adding “Feminism is the cause of decline in birth rates in the West,” mentioning mass immigration and concluding: “The root of all these problems is the Jew.”

Resolution To Expel Nancy Pelosi from Congress Introduced Pursuant to Article 1, Section 5 of the US Constitution
His resolution consists of one sentence: “Resolved, That pursuant to Article 1, Section 5, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, Representative Nancy Pelosi be, and she hereby is, expelled from the House of Representatives and the Office of the Speaker is declared to be vacant.”

Volcanic fumes increase, Piparo residents frustrated
…se­nior geo­sci­en­tist at Touch­stone Ex­plo­ration Xavier Moo­nan said they were mon­i­tor­ing the vol­cano. He said gas con­tin­ues to rise from the main vent with a con­stant hiss­ing sound. “There are small bub­bling pools on the north­ern and the gas is still es­cap­ing along the frac­tures head­ing west­ward and south­ward. A very small vent has ap­peared ap­prox­i­mate­ly 30ft south of the main vent and bub­bles con­stant­ly. “

Navy pilot claims ‘dark mass’ came up from ocean depths and swallowed a torpedo
Retired U.S. Navy pilot commander David Fravor claimed on Oct. 5 that a mystery “dark mass” emerged from the ocean depths and swallowed a torpedo whole. Fravor, who has publicly stated his account in a UFO sighting, said on Joe Rogan’s popular podcast that a pilot had a similar experience in the late 1990s off the coast of Puerto Rico.

Iran launches Turkey border exercise after Erdogan invades Syria
Iran launched an unannounced large military exercise near the Turkish border on Wednesday, soon after Ankara invaded Syria to confront a mostly Kurdish group, the Islamic Republic’s Tasnim News Agency reported. Turkey started its invasion of a narrow strip of Syria where the Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF] had been protected by the US until Washington announced on Sunday that it was pulling US troops out of Syria.

Turkey Syria offensive: Heavy fighting on second day of assault
Turkish forces are stepping up air strikes and a ground offensive, as their incursion into Kurdish-held areas of northern Syria enters a second day. Turkey’s military said it had seized designated targets. There are reports of heavy fighting in the central area of the border region. Tens of thousands of people are reported to be leaving their homes.

US counter-terrorism analyst arrested for leaking classified reports
A US counter-terrorism analyst has been arrested for allegedly leaking classified information to two journalists over the last two years. US Defense Intelligence Agency analyst Henry Frese is accused of divulging top secret reports, including details about a foreign country’s weapons system. Officials say he was romantically involved with one of the two journalists.

Alaska Supreme Court hears youth climate change lawsuit
An Alaska law promoting fossil fuel development infringes on the constitutional rights of young residents to a healthy environment, a lawyer told Alaska Supreme Court justices on Wednesday. A lawsuit filed by 16 Alaska youths claimed long-term effects of climate change will devastate the country’s northernmost state and interfere with their constitutional rights to life, liberty and public trust resources that sustain them.

Historic ‘all-out blizzard’ to bury huge swath of central US, unleash punishing cold blast
An unusually far-reaching snowstorm for early October will stall, strengthen and evolve into an “all-out blizzard” over the Dakotas and then send a blast of cold air across much of the Plains and Midwest. Heavy snow has already fallen on the northern Rockies and was progressing southeastward along with a charge of cold air.

Last chance Brexit saloon: British and Irish leaders to meet
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet his Irish counterpart on Thursday in a last-ditch attempt to revive a British proposal for a Brexit deal that the European Union said falls far short of what is needed for an orderly divorce. Just three weeks before the United Kingdom is due to leave the world’s biggest trading bloc, it is still unclear on what terms it will leave…

Israel Prize laureates petition Supreme Court against Nation-State Law
A group of 40 of Israel’s most prestigious writers, entertainers, researchers and scientists are planning to petition the Supreme Court against the controversial Nation-State Law, which critics say discriminates against the country’s non-Jewish citizens…The law…defines Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people and strips the Arabic language from its status as an official language alongside Hebrew…

German synagogue attack eyewitnesses: ‘There was a blast, we locked ourselves up’
Eyewitnesses came forward with their stories Wednesday after an anti-Semitic attack on a synagogue in the eastern city of Halle in Germany, which left two people dead and several more injured… Christiane Prinz…said she saw the suspect, dressed in a dark-green military outfit, launch a projectile over the synagogue’s gate into its front yard and cemetery, after which there was a loud bang.

Saudi Arabia rules women can join the army
Saudi Arabia announced on Wednesday it will allow women in the kingdom to serve in the armed forces as it embarks on a broad programme of economic and social reforms. The move is the latest in a series of measures aimed at increasing the rights of women in the kingdom, even as rights groups accuse Riyadh of cracking down on women activists.

BREAKING: DOJ Announces Arrest of Defense Official For Leaking Information to Journalists
The Justice Department on Wednesday announced the arrest of 30-year-old Henry Kyle Frese, a Defense Intelligence Agency employee, for leaking to journalists.

Powerful storm to produce multiple hazards in the West and Plains, heavy snow, record low temperatures and blizzard conditions, USA
A powerful storm system is set to spin up the Northern Rockies and High Plains the following days, possibly bringing record low temperatures across the western U.S. through October 10 and 11, 2019. Heavy snow is expected from the North-Central Rockies into the Northern Plains/Upper Midwest, very cold temperatures across the West, fire weather threats from California into the Great Basin and severe thunderstorms for the south-central Plains.

Hagibis intensifies to Category 5 Super Typhoon in one of the most explosive intensification rates on record, heading toward Tokyo, Japan
Tropical Storm “Hagibis” formed on October 5, 2019, and underwent one of the most explosive intensification rates on record. Hagibis exploded from a tropical storm with winds of 96 km/h (60 mph) to a Category 5 super typhoon with winds of 257 km/h (160 mph) in just 18 hours as its center went close to the Northern Mariana Island of Anatahan, about 322 km (200 miles) northeast of Guam.

NFL Fines Player $7,000 for Wearing ‘Man of God’ Headband
You can kneel for the national anthem but don’t you dare openly express your Christian beliefs. The National Football League recently fined New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis $7,000  for violating the league’s “personal message” rule.

Twitter Says Emails, Phone Numbers Used to Secure Accounts ‘Inadvertently’ Shared for Ads
Social media company Twitter recently revealed that it had “unintentionally” used email addresses and phone numbers provided by users for account security purposes for targeted advertising.

Pro-Abortion Group NARAL Celebrated 50 Years Of Death By Giving Hillary Clinton A Lifetime Achievement Award For Promoting Baby Killing
Imagine a dinner held during WWII in Nazi Germany, where Adolf Hitler gave an award to the officer who had worked the most to promote the gas chambers at Auschwitz, where millions of Jews and Gentiles met their end with a horrifically-horrifying and painful death. Imagine what the world would say about that, about giving an award for the death of others. Now open your eyes, you’re not dreaming, Hillary Clinton just received such an award at a dinner in her honor for promoting the American holocaust of abortion. It would seem that “women’s rights” do not extend to female babies in the womb.

WHO admits polio outbreak in the Philippines caused by polio vaccines… outbreak “caused by vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2”
The polio vaccine has caused an escalating outbreak of polio in the Philippines, according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, which issued a joint statement admitting the vaccine is causing polio.

IT’S WAR: Turkey Launches ‘Operation Peace Spring’ With Blistering Military Offensive Into Northern Syria As Air Strikes Target Civilian Areas
On Monday, President Trump announced the United States would begin withdrawing troops in Syria to allow Turkey to begin attacking the Kurds, our ally in the fight against ISIS. Yesterday, Turkey began bombing the Kurds supply lines.

Former Congressman Trey Gowdy Signs On To Team Trump To Help In Fight Against Impeachment Being Brought By Nancy Pelosi And House Democrats
Democrats know that this impeachment gambit is every bit as legit as the 2.5 year Russian Collusion investigation which is to say, a total farce. But not having an candidate able to beat Trump in a head-to-head election, this is their only hope of stopping him.

Intervarsity & Religious Freedom Prevail: the University of Iowa Learns a Lesson
Oct 11th, 2019
CommentaryJOHN STONESTREET/BREAKPOINT.ORG
Categories: Contemporary Issues

Back in February, federal judge Stephanie M. Rose ruled that the University of Iowa could not strip recognition from Business Leaders in Christ for requiring leaders to follow traditional Christian teaching on sexual morality.

Rose, an appointee of President Obama, didn't find a problem with the university's "Human Rihts Policy," which the university claimed the Christian group violated. But she did think it a problem that the university applied the policy inconsistently, in a way that violated students' free-speech rights.

Did the University of Iowa learn their lesson? Ummm... no. Last week, university officials found themselves back in Rose's courtroom. Despite the very clear ruling from February, university officials de-registered InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in June, for the same reason.

I'm not sure what the university expected, but in the last seven months Judge Rose had not changed her opinion about what the Constitution requires.

In fact, this time she let them have it. Since the February ruling, she wrote in her opinion, university officials "proceeded to broaden enforcement of the Human Rights Policy in the name of uniformity applying extra scrutiny to religious groups in the process -- while at the same time continuing to allow some groups to operate in violation of the policy and formalizing an exemption for fraternities and sororities. The court does not know how a reasonable person could have concluded this was acceptable."

Back in her February ruling, Rose pointed out how "the Chinese Students and Scholars Association limits membership to Chinese students, and the Iowa Hawkapellas, an a capella group, only accepts women." Yet neither of these groups were de-recognized for violating the Human Rights Policy.

Nor were fraternities and sororities or LGBTQ student groups required to open their leadership policies. Just about the only groups the policy applied to, according to university officials, were Christian groups that uphold traditional Christian teaching about sexuality.

Rose made her opinion about that quite clear: "The Constitution does not tolerate the way defendants chose to enforce the human rights policy."  She correctly identified the double standard clearly at work, which can be summed up as "some freedom of speech and association is freer than others."

Frustrated with their stubbornness and determined to not have them re-visit her court for the same reason, Rose decided to hit officials where it really hurts: their wallets.

In her February ruling, Rose said that university officials were not personally liable for any potential damages awarded to the group Business Leaders in Christ. But that will not be true regarding any damages awarded to InterVarsity, since officials ignored her February ruling.

Becket's Daniel Blomberg, who represented InterVarsity, said it was "too bad it took twice for the university to learn its lesson." He added that "University officials nationwide should now take note that religious discrimination will hit them in the pocketbook."

Even if InterVarsity never collects a nickel from these hostile university officials, the ruling is still a big win for religious freedom on college campuses. And it's another chapter in what's becoming quite a long story of why believers ought to actively defend their religious freedom. InterVarsity's win is a win for every campus group in America.

To ensure religious freedom has a future, more will be forced to take action like InterVarsity did. And, we'll all have to learn to make the case for religious freedom and why it matters.

18 Facts About the U.S. National Debt That are Almost Too Hard to Believe
Oct 11th, 2019
CommentaryMITCHELL NEMETH/ACTIVIST POST
Categories: Warning

At around $22.5 trillion, the United States national debt sits at 106 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). There is no disputing that this gigantic debt will someday become due and payable. However, there is hesitation among the political class as to what must be done to pay down and eliminate this debt.

Continual Spending Increases

Progressive lawmakers have largely refrained from discussing this liability, preferring to claim that the United States can continue to fund exorbitant government programs. Conservatives have unsuccessfully, on numerous occasions, attempted to limit federal outlays. 

With each failed attempt, conservatives instead continue to vote for spending increases. At the National Review, Michael Tanner writes,

If "there is no effort to prioritize or make the difficult choices of governing, there is only...more."

Each attempt to cut or reduce the growth of federal spending has been met with resistance and ferocious outrage.

there is any takeaway from these unsuccessful attempts to reduce spending, it is that federal spending has subsidized numerous projects or programs, which have grown dependent on the federal government. 

There may be many good uses of federal funds, but this does not provide lawmakers with a "Get-out-of-jail-free card." For now, lawmakers continue to spend as if they are children in a candy store with no limit on their parents' credit card. At some point, lawmakers must address the underlying problem: federal spending.

Apathy and Unfathomability

Lawmakers are representatives for their constituents. This goes without saying, but lawmakers are unlikely to address the ever-increasing national debt until voters demand action. What remains unfathomable to many voters is how much money $22.5 trillion truly is. 

As Jon Miltimore has written, "the problem is that the human mind has trouble understanding a figure so huge." Below are some facts that help put into perspective just how large is the sum of $22.5 trillion:

1. In order to pay down our national debt you would have to combine the GDP of China, Japan, and India.

2. The United States owes $68,400 per citizen.

3. The United States owes $183,000 per taxpayer.

4. The United States currently has $125 trillion (yes, trillion) in unfunded liabilities.

5. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the US debt held by the public will reach 100 percent of GDP in 2028.

6. In 2008, interest on the federal debt was $253 billion. Interest for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 is roughly 89 percent higher.

7. For FY 2019, interest alone on the federal debt is $479 billion. In 1979, total federal government receipts were $463 billion.

8. In the year 2000, the federal debt was $5.67 trillion. In 2019, federal debt is 297 percent higher.

9. At Forbes, Jim Powell writes that the old New Deal cost about $50 billion from 1933 to 1940, whereas the "future cost of old New Deal programs still in effect is reckoned at more than $50 trillion."

10. A recent analysis by the CBO projected that the federal budget deficit (deficit as in the difference between federal outlays and revenues) will grow to $1 trillion alone in 2020.

11. As of December 2018, only ten countries have worse Debt-to-GDP ratios than the United States.

12. At NPR, Danielle Kurtzleben writes that Senator Bernie Sanders' "taxation-and-spending plans...would together add $18 trillion to the national debt over a decade."

13. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, roughly 24 percent of federal spending goes to Social Security, 26 percent to federal health insurance programs, 9 percent to safety net programs, and only 2 percent on transportation infrastructure.

14. By 2025, the cost of servicing our national debt will exceed the cost of our military spending.

15. The cost of implementing a Universal Basic Income, presidential candidate Andrew Yang's central social program proposal, would cost $3.8 trillion per year or roughly 85 percent of current federal spending.

16. It would take the United States 713,470 years to pay down the national debt if we paid $1 per second of the year.

17. Modern presidents have doubled the national debt every nine years.

18. The Federal Reserve "purchased large amounts of federal debt as part of its quantitative easing program," thus cheapening the cost (decreasing the interest rates) of money.

Lawmakers and political pundits continue to insist that federal revenues are the real issue despite continuous growth in federal revenues. 

Heated rhetoric over federal tax cuts ignores the reality that federal spending increases continue to outpace federal revenue increases.

At some point, purchasers of US treasury securities may request a higher return, materializing in higher interest rates, unless lawmakers address our growing national debt. 

For now, it is up to voters to demand that lawmakers implement responsible policies that protect our nation's financial security.