High Cost of Low Living

I was on the island of Samoa in the south pacific, staying at the famous Aggie Grey's hotel. Still alive at the time, she had gone to the shore to welcome the American troops when they landed there during WWII.

On Sunday, at breakfast, I said to her, “Is there a church nearby?” She said, “Yes, right up the street, I will have someone go with you”. A young man accompanied me to the door and insisted on staying until the service was over. I went in to the filled church and sat about half way. A shadow of vision at that time, the natives, barefoot, dressed in white. I could not understand the words but, the music on the piano, they were singing my grandmother's favorite hymn “What a friend we have in Jesus.

A woman missionary, real high voice, came down the isle to welcome the stranger in their midst. She said, “Psalm 84, Blessed is the man whose strength is in the Lord.”

This one morning, this one verse of scripture, changed my life. In a cocoon of blackness, still attempting to travel, live a real life in a valley of despair and despondency. What motivates some people to do the right thing, in spite of the fallout, in spite of doubts and fears? I know now, just as I knew then, as I have known my entire life, that in spite of everything the man is blessed who puts his trust in God. You must learn to love your disability not to be a prisoner of self. Paul, one of the world’s greatest Christians, told us he knew how to both abased and abound and in everything to be contented. (Philippians 4:12)

We do not need new truths, only to emphasize old truths.

God knows your mountains and your valleys better than you. He did not promise an easy road, but promised to help us get down the road, His ways are not our ways, the blessed man understands this.

Natural elements and angelic beings are at God's disposal. There have been 177 natural-climactic events this year... earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanoes, floods, etc. Not one weather forecaster predicted the recent, early northeast blizzard.

God knows how to handle nations as well as people. We do not test His resources until we are out of our own.

In Zimbabwe, Africa, the horror pit of Robert Mugabe. An outstanding young man, who had studied in Europe, told me how Mugabe's henchmen used ferocious dogs to keep people under his control. My plane had stopped in Harare. In the small decimated airport, I was amazed to hear crying and screaming of a group of people, saying goodbye to the young man, on his way to London. Of course, as God would have it, he sat next to me on the plane... telling me that he and his relatives would probably never see one another again. He told me about the ferocious dogs, specially trained by handlers, trained to tear away genitals of human beings. He told me about committing so much scripture to memory, his favorite verse, For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. (Romans 14:8)

Whether in Africa or other places in the world, life has always been controlled by injustice. The greatest injustice in the world is the injustice of the pretenders-profiteers who could do something about it. The scaffold on which Christian faith is built is courage-concern. Don't expect politicians to do much about injustice. If people in power had the backbone to do something about injustice... Kings, Prime Ministers, Presidents, elected representatives, things would have changed long ago. The true patriot will die for what is right. (proven by soldiers, saints, defending God, Family, Country) Be aware that everyone does not have the strength to do the right thing. Essential to remember that God is our sun, giver of life, our shield, protector of life.

In the “rot” of society, whether caused by cancer or termites, we hear the refrain, “trace the money” Past, normal societies, had money that was worth something. Do you trust anyone, any group any more? Corporations bow to the altar of political-correctness and big government from fear of the Justice Department. General Electric's tax return was 57,000 pages, $14 billion in profits and yet, no IRS tax because of the alliance between CEO of GE and CEO USA. Do you trust athletic games or even athletic groups? If Penn State officials are so corrupt regarding children would they not corrupt games?

No election will change a morally bankrupt society. Tax payers support planned parenthood, the murder of babies, with $350 billion per year. Prissy pastors no longer put their trust in God but in the world, things of the world. Whether Bioethics , the holocaust of abortion, destruction of the home through same-sex marriage, pilfering the world's superpower with homosexuality. The greatest expense known to man, the High Cost of Low Living.