The Leaven of Herod

We went over Mark 8 today where Jesus says in verse 15:

“Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

I just wrote about the leaven of of the Pharisees here but wanted to talk about the other part of that warning. While the Pharisees were the religious leaders in Jesus’ days, Herod was the political leader. Jesus was telling to beware of the unbelief and false teachings of Pharisees as well as Herod. The Jews were looking for a Messiah in there day, a leader that would help them escape Roman oppression and I am sure many thought Herod could help them do this. They didn’t realize their Messiah was right there with them but he did not fit their expectations. Jesus was not handsome, He was not rich, He was not from a great family, He hung out with interesting people. They were looking for a bring strong handsome King, one who would take on the Romans and free them but that was not the Messiah’s goal. Jesus had a much loftier agenda. He was not concerned with saving them from the Romans but with saving them from eternal damnation in Hell. He was there to free their souls, not their bodies.

In America today we are in a similar situation. We face a global radical Islamic threat. We are on the verge of economic disaster. People are losing their jobs, their homes, all they have and it very well could get worse. Business are corrupt. We hear new stories every day about politicians who are less than honest yet want our trust to get us out of our current mess, though many of these same people are responsible for getting us in it.

America was founded on Godly principles. We were build on hard work, desire, and sacrifice but most importantly, on a belief that God was in control and that He alone gave us our liberty and security. We relied on His protection and strength to get us through very dark times but God has been replaced. Jesus, at least the real Jesus of the Bible, is now an offensive figure. We can not talk about Him. We cannot pray to Him. We are no longer a nation that views Him as our “King”.

So many American have put their hope and trust in a man that nobody really knows anything about. Whether you trust Barack Obama or not, whether you think he is good, evil, or somewhere in between, whether you think he is honest or corrupt, he is not our savior. He will not make the ocean waters stop rising. He will not make you rich, start paying your mortgage, or fill your gas tank up. He is a single man, a sinner just like everyone else who is in need of a Savior just like everyone else. Barack Obama is not our hope and should not be the one we have been waiting for. He will not bring peace to the world because the Bible declares there will be no peace until the Lord comes back to reign as our rightful King.

There is only one who will bring peace, hope, and real change and He was already here. We don’t need to wait for Him. He is not a politician. The Founding Fathers of this country realized the inherent badness in Government which is why they tried their best to limit it. Government exists to take away the God given rights our Founders expressed in the Declaration of Independence. Jesus is the only one who can bring change because he can change our hearts. We are where we are as American because we have heart problems. Our hearts have turned away from the Lord and we see the fruits that have been produced because of that. Change will only occur when you allow the Lord to soften your heart and return its desires back to Him. It is not money, government programs, tax cuts, jobs, cheap gas or anything government can provide that will make our lives better and give us hope.

1 Timothy 1:1 says:

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,

I am greatly concerned that so many people have thrown themselves at the feet of our new President on the idea that he will somehow make their lives instantly better. We need to pray for our nation and its leaders that they will turn their hearts back to the Lord and seek His wisdom and counsel. It is only then that our nation can turn around and truly be great once again. If we continue to stray further away from the Lord, we will follow every other powerful nation that has been and no longer is.

Child Abuse

Al Gore is completely out of control. I am listening to a replay of the the Glenn Beck Show and he is playing audio from a lecture by Gore that a dad’s 12 year old daughter recorded. In this lecture he explained how his parents couldn’t provide reasons for segregation in the 60’s. They didn’t say it was wrong or right, they just didn’t say anything.

He used this example to tell the 12 year old kids that the same thing is happening today and the kids know more than their parents. Their parents are stupid and they, along with Uncle Al, can change today’s social injustices. I would assume that he goes on to talk about homosexual marriage, global warming, poverty, reproductive rights, and so on.

Al Gore and those on the Left are indoctininating our kids to reject the authority of their parents. They are trying to destroy the foundational family in this country and they are doing a darn good job.

Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals

If you haven’t seen any of these, they need to be read to understand why things are the way they are in America.  There is a real and deliberate attempt to radically change America and many Americans don’t even see whats happening right before their eyes.  I am not sure if this is a complete list but I found several sources that had the same rules listed.

Keep in mind, Alinsky dedicated his book to Lucifer, the first “radical”.

Rules 9 and 12 are of particular significance right now with the attack on Conservatives like Rush Limbaugh and the “disaster” we face if we don’t pass the stimulus package as soon as possible.  Please read and pass them along.  As Dennis Kucinich said during the Democratic Convention, “WAKE UP AMERICA!”

RULE 1: “Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” Power is derived from 2 main sources – money and people. “Have-Nots” must build power from flesh and blood. (These are two things of which there is a plentiful supply. Government and corporations always have a difficult time appealing to people, and usually do so almost exclusively with economic arguments.)

RULE 2: “Never go outside the expertise of your people.” It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone. (Organizations under attack wonder why radicals don’t address the “real” issues. This is why. They avoid things with which they have no knowledge.)

RULE 3: “Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.” Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty. (This happens all the time. Watch how many organizations under attack are blind-sided by seemingly irrelevant arguments that they are then forced to address.)

RULE 4: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules. (This is a serious rule. The besieged entity’s very credibility and reputation is at stake, because if activists catch it lying or not living up to its commitments, they can continue to chip away at the damage.)

RULE 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions. (Pretty crude, rude and mean, huh? They want to create anger and fear.)

RULE 6: “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.” They’ll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. They’re doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones. (Radical activists, in this sense, are no different that any other human being. We all avoid “un-fun” activities, and but we revel at and enjoy the ones that work and bring results.)

RULE 7: “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.” Don’t become old news. (Even radical activists get bored. So to keep them excited and involved, organizers are constantly coming up with new tactics.)

RULE 8: “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new. (Attack, attack, attack from all sides, never giving the reeling organization a chance to rest, regroup, recover and re-strategize.)

RULE 9: “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.” Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist. (Perception is reality. Large organizations always prepare a worst-case scenario, something that may be furthest from the activists’ minds. The upshot is that the organization will expend enormous time and energy, creating in its own collective mind the direst of conclusions. The possibilities can easily poison the mind and result in demoralization.)

RULE 10: “If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.” Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog. (Unions used this tactic. Peaceful [albeit loud] demonstrations during the heyday of unions in the early to mid-20th Century incurred management’s wrath, often in the form of violence that eventually brought public sympathy to their side.)

RULE 11: “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.” Never let the enemy score points because you’re caught without a solution to the problem. (Old saw: If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Activist organizations have an agenda, and their strategy is to hold a place at the table, to be given a forum to wield their power. So, they have to have a compromise solution.)

RULE 12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. (This is cruel, but very effective. Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.)

Defending the Defender

I will kick off my new blog by defending Rush Limbaugh’s right to “hope he fails” when talking about our new President.

Rush Limbaugh is probably the most mischaracterized and misunderstood person in America. In an attempt to minimize his influence, he is often labeled as merely an entertainer.  Rush is entertaining but he is no entertainer.  If you listen to his convictions on the defense and defining of Conservatism and conservative values, Rush is a very deep thinker.  He is inarguably one of the best communicators in American history regardless of whether you agree with his views on America or not.  He is the epitome of the American dream.  He did not go to an Ivy League school, did not come from money, and did not use others to reach the top.  He lived out the Founders statement that all people have the God given right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

If you listen to Rush, it does not take long to figure out that he actually believes the things he says which is the single reason those on the hard Left are terrified of him.  He believes in everything they fight to change and take control of.  He believes in limited government, individual liberty, self reliance, hard work, the importance of failure, and so on.  He does not believe it is the Governments role to provide health insurance to all Americans, to bail out failing businesses and corporations, to pay for children to eat breakfast and lunch at school, to provide preschool and daycare services, to pay welfare, to overrule the will of the people on the institution of marriage, and the list goes on.

Limbaugh likely disagrees with President Obama on 100% of the issues and believes that Barack Obama will radically change America in a way that will make it impossible to return to its original ideas of a free society with a severely limited government.  Because of this, Rush said, “I hope he fails” after providing this very explanation.  Rush Limbaugh loves America and has a clear vision on how he believes it should be.  He is guaranteed the right to speak out against the Government and the President by the 1st Amendment.

For eight years under President Bush, hard Left Liberals and Democrats expressed daily their desire for George Bush to fail.  They went further and many hoped he would die or be tried and executed for his crimes against humanity.  They hated this man yet Rush, who simply expressed that he hopes the new President fails in his attempt to radically change America, is now being demonized as a hate monger.  We are in a very dangerous point in  America’s existence when a private citizen and member of the media is attacked for adhering to the Constitution in an attempt to silence his voice and marginalize his beliefs.  What makes it even more frightening is the fact that this attack is coming from our elected officials who swore on the Bible to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution, including our President.

Time will tell who is on the right side of history but looking back at history gives us a good idea on which ideology is successful.  I am just concerned that we now live in an era where so many people believe that the end of partisanship has come with the election of Barack Obama simply because Barack Obama declared the end of partisanship has come.  Blind loyalty and stifled dissent do not end well for nations and that is where we are heading.  You may not like Rush, you may hate Rush, you may hope Rush burns in Hell for eternity but Rush is an American and last I checked, the right to criticize and disagree with your Government is still protected by the Constitution.