Man's Inhumanity To Man

Open my eyes, that I may see
Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free.

- Hymn, Open My Eyes, That I May See

Saudi Arabia Remains on U.N. Human Rights Council despite 19 Beheadings, including One for “Sorcery”

Ask any human rights organization where they stand on chopping off people’s heads and they’ll probably say such actions constitute a violation of human rights.

And yet, one nation that does a lot of beheadings is on the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Lately, in fact, Saudi Arabia can’t seem to get enough beheadings. Its government has executed at least 19 people using this method since August 4, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Of the 19, eight were found guilty of non-violent offenses; seven for drug smuggling and one for committing sorcery.

“Any execution is appalling, but executions for crimes such as drug smuggling or sorcery that result in no loss of life are particularly egregious,” Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW’s executive director of Middle East and North Africa division, told the International Business Times. “There is simply no excuse for Saudi Arabia’s continued use of the death penalty, especially for these types of crimes.”

The Saudi government executed more than 2,000 people between 1985 and 2013, about half of them foreign nationals. By comparison, the state of Texas executed 504 prisoners, none via beheading, over the same period.

Amnesty International reports that many people are executed after “confessing” to crimes during interrogations involving torture and no legal representation. “That people are tortured into confessing to crimes, convicted in shameful trials without adequate legal support and then executed is a sickening indictment of the Kingdom’s state-sanctioned brutality,” said Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Program.

The Saudi government is scheduled to keep a spot on the Human Rights Council for two more years.

Addition Dr. Morris: 

This world traveler, having traveled through most of the 42 Muslim nations of the world has witnessed firsthand the horrors of a false religion... women draped in black from head to foot, peeping through the veil over their face, men whose arms had been severed at the elbow, children running and screaming as any unknown person approaches. In Afghanistan, near the Khyber pass, the so called no mans land, where the famous Khyber rifles are built, I could not understand the obvious hatred in the eyes of the men that worked there. They did not know me, had no reason to hate me. This is satanic captivation at its worst. BUT, I ask you, will God forgive a nation as blessed as America for its obvious unconcern for the sanctity of human life. Just think, since 1973 and the infamous supreme court decision, 53 million American babies have been aborted-murdered... the most innocent of human life. Around the world, over one billion babies aborted. Babies are not aborted in Muslim countries. When I was first in Communist China (I have traveled to Communist China three times since it reopened), I was told the creeks were full of babies, mostly female babies. Since the Chinese government allows one baby per family, each family seems to prefer a boy. My Chinese guide told me that her sisters husband had strangled five of their own children at birth because they were girls.

There is so much hypocrisy in the world, political, financial, spiritual, that one could write books about it, perhaps the most radical political philosophy that the government leaders of America still has a smooching relationship with Saudi Arabia. Just think of these hypocrites-in-chief, so called Republicans, Bush #41 and Bush #43, and their coziness with the Saudi Arabian princes. Those five thousand princes of Saudi royalty who rule everything and live in a disgusting "Aurora of Riches". The lowly non-royal people of the country are not allowed to even look straight at a prince, women cannot drive a car... go out in public unless accompanied by a male. Stupid American government sends its citizens over to work and they must live in a special area fenced off from contact with the people.

Liberal Americans want to be so tolerant, "just bring on your mosque, your Sharia laws" and of course hypocrisy is not confined to Western Civilizations. Mohammed permits lying, cheating, stealing, if it promotes the Muslim religion. Just think of this, have you ever wondered why so many Muslim boys are named Mohammed. This name assures any male of heaven. We have a president who is a Muslim, or at the very least a Muslim sympathizer. Just think, in my lifetime, Russian President Mr. Putin wears a christian cross, Mr. Obama, when not on the golf course, gives his attention to the inhuman Muslim faith.

Most advanced civilizations consider schizophrenia a mental disorder. Facets of the Muslim religion are a mental disorder. I appreciate the fact that Muslims do not drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, use illegal-addictive social drugs. But, the fact that Muslims will load up their own children with explosives that will kill large groups of people, chop off limbs, behead their enemies, drags them kicking and screaming from the world of civilized people.

I remember, as if yesterday, a building in Tunis, Tunisia, a gold market. A Muslim woman, covered head to foot, I could tell under her veil that she was wearing glasses, so remarkably inquisitive, asked me about my eyesight... something a Muslim woman is not permitted to do, speak to any strange male. Remember, Jesus died for these people too.

Forest and Trees

“In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.” 

― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning: Gift Edition

For this writer's entire life, in thinking of excellence, I have heard the expression, "You cannot see the trees for the forest..." other times, "You cannot see the forest for the trees." For the sightless person, you cannot see the forest or the trees, but, the sounds and smells tells you the woodlands are there.

I still remember the day my father's oldest, I was a teenager, when he took me through hundreds of acres of woodlands to show me the boundary lines. I'm sure his father had done the same for him. This was before the time of spray paint, often it was just a large post driven into the ground. In fact, reading the descriptions on land deeds, the surveyor would refer to posts-rocks-certain trees etc... as boundary lines or corners. Landowners were very careful about their own land, he did not want an adjacent landowner coming across the line and selling some of his fine trees. Much of my father's woodlands had come down through many generations and much of it was virgin timber. He knew the value of certain wood, certain trees, oak, poplar, pine etc. Woodlands were sold and appraised by the value of individual trees. I can still see, from my childhood, oxen pulling the logs from the forest.

Warning flares always indicate danger. Albert Einstein, perhaps the world's greatest mind, said, "Only two things are infinite, the Universe and man's ability to be stupid." The twentieth century saw mankind put his trust in men rather than God. We just refused to believe that there are exceptional people... that some trees stand out even in a forest. It sometimes takes a while to recognize these people. Of the eighty greatest personalities in the bible, most discussed, just a few were religious leaders. Such men as Abraham, Joseph, most of the disciples, like Luke the physician, would not be considered religious leaders. Moses, perhaps the educated man of his time, "And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds."- Act 7:22 (Herded dumb sheep for 40 years before God saw fit to use him.) But God knew where he was the entire time. God knew where this child of Amram and Jochebad was, even when he was in a small basket in the Nile as his sister Miriam watched from a distance. At Myraba, Moses knew what it was like to deal with the three million "stiffnecked" former slaves whom he had led out of Egypt, led through the Red Sea, water piled up on two sides. Really, not one of them deserved to drink of the water. Salvation that neither he nor the children of Israel had done one thing about. For the entire history of the Jewish people, it was always God. When anyone tells you to prove the bible, just say there is a three letter word to prove the bible, J-e-w.

We live in a time of stupid voters, genuflecting before politicians who ride around on private jets... eat from gold plates and laugh at you. Most of today's opinion molders-power brokers, no longer look for the exceptional mind, the exceptional morality, the exceptional integrity, rather, the lowest denominator of man who will bow to any decadent incredulity. They just want a "yes man". That "blah" individual that will never stand out in a crowd, those who would put forth the effort and faith to achieve. 90% of the christian faith is just raw courage. It takes courage to stand out, to be the exceptional person, to always present the best version of yourself whether in the classroom, on the sports field, their place of worship, in your chosen vocation.

I live in the town in which Michael Jordan, one of the world's greatest basketball players, was raised. He had a passion for sports. In high school, college, even during his NBA career, he continued to practice every day. He paid the price for excellence.

This writer knows discouragement, to never have been encouraged about anything, anytime. Many years ago, at a small baptist college, now a university, I established financial awards for excellence... two senior excellence awards of $3000 each, each year, faculty and staff financial awards for excellence of $4000 each, other financial awards for outstanding students. I feel that money is something which proves ones worth. My giving was continued for many years until liberal administrators did not want awards of excellence... let everyone "get a trophy just for playing." Likewise, and this is not to impress anyone, God knows my heart, I gave financial awards for outstanding pastors, Sunday School personnel, superintendents and teachers. I have letters from sunday school personnel that tell me they taught for thirty years and never received any recognition. If it is nothing but a gold star beside a child's name in a public school or sunday school, any child appreciates recognition... standing out from the crowd. With most personal fortunes, everything is gained with a wink or something diabolical. Former president L. B. Johnson, never made much money in his lifetime but retired as president with a $53 Million fortune. Other presidents, and you know who they are, compromising-conniving, have retired with great fortunes... so have the goldbrickers of industry-education-political intrigue. Many did not gain wealth or notoriety because of their ability but because of their notoriety. Never confuse accomplishment with celebrity. Remember Helen Keller and Madonna. 

"There are no such things as divine, immutable or inalienable rights. Rights are things we get when we are strong enough to make good our claim to them." -Helen Keller

My friend, Dr. John East, ECU professor, U.S. Senator, spent most of his life in a wheelchair. He said to me one time, "The disabled life is hardly worth living." He later killed himself. You are not stuck where you start, or stuck in any suffering that befalls you. Give the best version of yourself and recognize the exceptionalism of others.

Guard Your Mouth

1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

http://www.naturalnews.com/042950_beaver_butt_natural_flavoring_castoreum.html

Beaver Butt Natural Flavoring

(NaturalNews) Yes, it's true.

Millions of people across the globe are eating "beaver butt" and don't even know that they're consuming such a substance.

It's called "castoreum," and it's emitted from the castor sacs within the animal's anus. For a beaver, this slimy brown substance is used to mark its territory, but for us humans, it's used as an additive that is often labeled as "natural flavoring" in the foods we eat - vanilla, strawberry and raspberry probably being the most common.

Why is castoreum used? The most notable characteristic (after being processed) has to be the smell of castoreum. Instead of smelling horrible, like most people would expect from an anally produced secretion, it has a pleasant scent, which supposedly makes it a perfect candidate for food flavoring and other products.

The question that many people put forth would have to be "who in their right mind actually made this odd discovery?"

Another industry that utilizes castoreum is the fragrance world. For decades, perfume manufactures have been using it to make various types of fragrances. These anal secretions are said to contain around 24 different molecules, many of which act as natural pheromones. From perfumes to air fresheners, castor sacs are quite versatile within the fragrance industry.

Is it natural?

Sure it's natural, but does "being natural" make it right to use or consume?

Many disgusting substances are considered "natural," yet eating them may not be the best idea.

The act of labeling something so vulgar and disgusting as "natural flavoring," should be illegal in many people's eyes, but the FDA views it all in a different light.

Having the anal secretions from a beaver take the place of a strawberry in something like strawberry ice cream hardly seems like an efficient process. Why go through the process of harvesting "anal secretions" when a strawberry is much easier to pick?

It hardly seems like a better option...

The food industry is a tricky business to figure out, and it will continue to boggle the minds of many on issues exactly like this. Much like with other additives that have raised concern over the years (aspartame, high fructose corn syrup and food colorings), castoreum is proving to be just as questionable.

It's the deceptive labeling that seems to be the root of the problem. Instead of stating what castoreum truly is, the FDA has allowed it to be labeled as something that sounds pleasant and healthy.

As with many questionable additives in today's food market, the power lies within the people. Read your labels thoroughly if you wish to subtract these types of ingredients from your diet.

In all honesty, castoreum is probably safe to consume, being that is derived from an animal, but who really wants to eat a beaver's anus?

For further information on castoreum, be sure to check out the sources section below.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

http://beauty.about.com

http://www.encyclopedia.com

About the author:
Joey Cardillo has been heavily involved in the online health community for over three years. When his company Versatile Health LLC (www.versatilehealth.com) was launched in 2010, he began his journey into the online world of health blogging. Since then, he has published #1 best selling books on Amazon, and has been able to help people from all over the world gain better health with simple lifestyle reformations. Joey studied journalism in college and received his BA in Mass Communications in 2010. A year later in 2011, he decided to become a certified FDN (Functional Diagnostic Nutritionist). His FDN training allows him to correct common ailments with his clients by utilizing natural protocols. 

Follow Joey on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/versatilehealth25

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/042950_beaver_butt_natural_flavoring_castoreum.html#ixzz3Bc4G6P54

Addition- Dr. Morris: 

In this doctors many years as a health practitioner, and as patient, even though food, nutrition, is the very essence of health, I have never known those involved in western medicine to even ask the question about my food intake. I would talk to my patients about what they ate and they were surprised.

I am convinced, as I am in breathing, that all fast foods are addictive. The addictive additives to food are as addictive to the human body as cocaine. America spends more money than ever on healthcare and more people are sick.

Do you not notice the obesity of people, even children? Their parents do not understand that big pharma, big medicine, big food producers do not care if they are addictive or not. When I was in school, diabetes and cancer were rare diseases, now, it is almost as if these diseases are an epidemic. Who cares, a terrible disease such as ebola gets started in Africa and little is done to prevent its spread around the world, a disease with no known cause or cure.

Several years ago, this scientist dropped his membership in A.A.A.S. (American Association for the Advancement of Science). Those who should be concerned with the present-day plight of patients fighting disease... physicians, medical and ancillary schools, medical foundations, taxing government agencies, just going through the motions giving more regard for their bottom line than for cures. Today, everything is treatable, few diseases cured. Today, life from the cradle to the grave punctuated by "visits to the doctor" AND, most pathetic even people on medicare can afford to pay for what they want, not what they need, prefer to go to a clinic which flatters them, a place with all the bells and whistles, technology. Oh for the day the nurse or doctor paid attention to your body, actually touched it. Applied their decade of medical school for a change. Today's doctor diagnoses-treats from the lab results and his fingers on the computer. Already, in nations where healthcare has become a national responsibility (Obamacare), such as England and her national health service, robots are giving the care. For the Christian, my greatest comfort to you, the great physician is near, still in the healing business. Be assured that if you are not healed on this side, you will be on the other. "Jesus paid it all."

Careful of What You Think and Drink

My feeble hand lies in His; His omnipotent hand is clasped round mine!

All is well, because I "know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose!" Romans 8:28

http://www.rodalenews.com/soda-infographic

How Soda Destroys Your Body (INFOGRAPHIC)

It seems like not a month goes by without a new study condemning sugary, bubbly sodas, but seeing all the data in one place does not paint a pretty picture. Check out how soda wreaks havoc all over your body:

Addition Dr. Morris: There are two things the Atheist cannot challenge, firstly, God's grand and glorious universe with all of its stars, its space. Secondly, God having endowed human neurology, the mind, with a sense of right and wrong.

How many times in my lifetime, professionally and socially, have I warned people about the dangers of soft drinks? Especially diet colas. Of course they think I'm an old fuddy-duddy who does not know anything. God's greatest creation is the human body, made and created in His image, given the blessing of free will, able to make decisions. Why should any thinking human being, with an IQ above room temperature, take anything, food or drink, into the body that would destroy it? Some years ago, in the city where I live, there was a "great fuss" about soft drink sales in the public schools. The owners of the drink machines were giving some of their profits to the school and the school board thought this "generosity" justified the sale of poison to the students who they are supposed to protect. To this day, the school board-teachers-administration despise me because I spoke out against the sale of soft drinks in the school house. Like so many politicians, plutocrats and even pastors, always, without fail, just follow the money. They talk a good game but walk themselves and you straight to hell... if you allow it, and even vote for it. There are more people on welfare in America than the entire population of Russia... 35.4% of Americans on welfare. The tragedy, most of those depending on government largess, in their eating-drinking as well as their lifestyle, just don't care.

Most of our fellow citizens actually believe that truth and justice are just for comic books. The poet Wordsworth said, "There is little we see in nature that it ours." God put everything on this Earth that we need for good health. These artificial contaminants, like other counterfeits, pay off with death.

Poison in the Well

“It is life, I think, to watch the water. A man can learn so many things.” 
― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

Source: http://fluoridealert.org/news/israel-outlaws-water-fluoridation/

The Jerusalem Post has reported [1] that Israel’s Minister of Health has not only ended mandatory fluoridation (as reported earlier) but has ended the practice altogether. Regulations allowing fluoridation in Israel were introduced in 1974, and made mandatory in 1998. New regulations, beginning August 26, will end fluoridation in Israel for 5.3 million residents, says Fluoride Action Network.

This decision will give a huge boost to the growing movement to end fluoridation worldwide. The newly formed Worldwide Alliance to End Fluoridation [2] with over 100 groups and a new campaign Parents Against Fluoridation [3] has attracted 2,000 new members. Over 150 communities have rejected the controversial practice since 2010 [4].

According to media reports [5] Health Minister German declared that scientific evidence showed that fluoride can damage health, is not effective, is a waste of money, and violates an individual’s freedom to regulate the amount of fluoride their children ingest.

When Minister German’s decision to end fluoridation was first announced it triggered a hostile personal campaign from proponents of fluoridation [6-8]. This in turn triggered worldwide support for the Minister’s position. On June 25, over 100 professionals signed an Open Letter supporting the Minister and challenged promoters to defend their position in open public debate [9]. No one in Israel accepted this challenge.

On August 15, Dr. Hardy Limeback, PhD, DDS, Professor emeritus of preventive dentistry (University of Toronto), sent a letter to Minister German. He wrote,

“I have looked at this from all angles and I have to conclude that fluoridated cities would save money on fluoridation costs, parents would save on costly dental bills treating dental fluorosis, dental decay rates would remain unchanged or even continue to decline (as has been demonstrated in many modern fluoridation cessation studies) and the health of city residents would improve when industrial waste products are no longer added to the drinking water (I find it absurd that the fluoride used to fluoridate drinking water is derived from industrial waste without purification, increasing carcinogenic heavy metal levels, such as arsenic and radionuclides, in the drinking water).”[10]

The Director of the Fluoride Action Network, Paul Connett, PhD added, “We congratulate Yael German for resisting the bullying tactics of fluoridation proponents. We would dearly like to see the same integrity from health officials in countries that continue this outdated, unethical and reckless practice.”

References:

1. Siegel-Itzkovich J. 2014. Health Minister German outlaws fluoridation of all tap water. The Jerusalem Post, August 17.

2. Worldwide Alliance to End Fluoridation

3. Parents Against Fluoridation

4. Fluoride Action Network. 2014. Communities that have rejected fluoridation since 2010.

5. Press report in Hebrew. 2013. April 30. http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4374000,00.html Translation of what the Health Minister said about her decision:

“My decision to stop fluoridation was because Israel fluoridated all the water for residential use. In fact, less than 2% of the water is used for drinking. Fluoridating the washing-machine water, dish-washer water, baths, toilets and gardening are actions without logic. Physicians told me that fluoridation can harm pregnant women, people who suffer from thyroid problems and the elderly. I was exposed to studies from the world that raise the suspicion that too much fluoride can harm teeth and bones. In the current state we receive fluoride from several sources: drinking water, toothpaste, cooking water, vegetables, and it is impossible to know what’s the dose we absorb. The WHO published a study, which shows that there is no difference between cavity levels in countries that fluoridate and do not fluoridate. Because of this, with all considerations and interests combined, I think that continuing massive fluoridation of 100% of the water was not right and many also think that it harms the basic rights and the freedom of choice.”

6. Siegel-Itzkovich J. 2014.Fluoridation to remain a local option. The Jerusalem Post, June 25.

7. Siegel-Itzkovich J. 2014. Backlash against Health Minister Yael German for her decision to stop fluoridation. The Jerusalem Post, June 23.

8. Tulchinsky T, Mann J, Sgan-Cohen H. 2013. Health Minister attacks dental health protection. The Jerusalem Post, May 19.

9. Fluoride Action Network. 2014. Open letter to Honorable Yael German, Minister of Health. June 25.

10. Limeback H. 2014. Letter to Yael German, Health Minister, Israel. August 15.

Addition Dr. Morris: 

One of this writers critics, in this small town, where I often speak on the radio, "I appreciate the opinions of Dr. Morris, but I don't agree with his attitude towards fluoride in the city water system." 

When I lectured to Army troops about caring for themselves, I often said, more important than your weapon or your food, your canteen. You can live quite a while without food but only a short time without water. Around 1945, because of the haranguing of the dental profession... supposedly trying to prevent tooth decay, many cities started putting fluoride in the municipal water systems. It has proved to be an insane, futile activity. Recently, some scientists have advocated putting statin drugs into the water systems. I still remember my old friend, Dr. Henry Stenhouse, retired Navy medical officer, who lived to be 100, declaring that putting poisons in anything did not improve one's health... think of old people-babies using water treated with fluoride. There is no proof that it helps anything. Fluoride is only beneficial, if it all, when used externally, not internally. Many citizens have awakened to the insane action of do-gooders. How could anyone in the health care professions, scientific community, even the public health S.S. troops, to say nothing of concerned parents, go along with this activity.

Now I'm not talking about the fact that I.Q.s have dropped 10% since the 1800's. I'm not talking about the often related history of the nazi's using fluoride to pacify people in the WWII concentration camps (this may be true or not true, the Jew's have never claimed it's truth). It is common sense, if nothing else, that the body needs pure unadulterated water. I know of nothing any worse for the human body than aspartame, normally found in diet drinks. Why compound-confuse your need for good health by ingesting poison?

This writer was raised in the country, on a dirt road, no power, phone or waterlines. When my relatives, aunts, uncles, cousins returned to the home place for a visit, THE FIRST PLACE they went was to the well because they so remembered the taste-wholesomeness of the water they drank as children.

When I was a boy, throughout the countryside were Sherman's monuments... brick chimneys still standing from which houses had been torched. The most wicked-evil thing Yankees afflicted on southerners, the pollution of their wells. My grandmother told me of how they camouflaged the wells because those "damn yankees" would throw a dog or a hog into the well so no one could use the well water.

On and Off Ramp, Narrow Way (Matthew 7:14)

13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Sermon on the Mount

In the Lewis Carroll classic, Alice in Wonderland, "It makes no difference what road you take, if you do not know where you are going."

This convicted-convinced Christian writer discovered long ago that more people are kept from the Kingdom by hypocrites-pretenders (those we find in air conditioned church pews which should be fox holes, places for doing battle for our Lord) than are led to the saving grace of Jesus through example and testimony. Christian faith is a verb, action based on belief, sustained by confidence. The saints described in Hebrews 10* were the pacemakers. For God to be God, he does not need anything, but before the foundation of the world he chose many of us to need him. AND, in a time of leisure-technology why does the church member find discipleship so difficult?

Again, this writer, born on a dirt road without power, phone, waterlines, knew from an ancestry seeped in a faith of dependence on God (dry years and wet years), that our Christian faith went unchallenged by education. We knew the wisdom of God was all sufficient. I still have, here in my house, the cast iron chimney-fireplace, cooking pot, brought over from England by my ancestors. Imagine, landing on shore in 1677 without anything. The first thing was to build a fireplace for warmth and cooking with shelter around it. They had a faith not only to die with, but live for. Their hands and feet were on this earth with all its problems but their hearts were in heaven. They relied on the promises of God, their citizenship was in heaven, they were just passing through (Philippians 3:20). I was raised with the values of God, family, country, graduating from a small country school, thirteen in my graduating class. God blessed me through eight years of University education which I paid for through my own hard work. God sent me to a war and I came back totally blind, but he wanted me to sense the world... it's sounds and smells (Dr. Morris is a totally blind, medical officer veteran of the Korean War era, has made eight around the world trips, passport stamped in 157 countries). I attended services in a brush-arbor under a church where the roof was being replaced, Africa, a catholic shelter on Easter Island, christian services in a cave in India. I knew the thrill of southern baptists' services at First Baptist Chapel Hill, Bellevue Baptist Memphis. God was, then and now, in all places, all times, my constant companion. I have known for a very long time that there is much wrong in a world of religiosity-false religions-lukewarm belief systems, for one who has seen the pornography of Hindu temples, the religiosity of European cathedrals, I just want the old hymns, the old messages of sins ruin and Christ's redemption. I just want God's message of redemption preached to the world, the only hope of the world.

For many years, I lived at my beach house (Wrightsville Beach, NC, five miles from Wilmington, NC) attending a church pastored by Ben Lacey Rose. Then I started living in my townhouse. First Baptist, Wilmington, was close enough for me to walk (five blocks). I will not go into details, but it was so obvious that this was a modernist Baptist charade. I was a member there for 25 years, never knew the Baptistry to be used once. One morning, God said to me as plain as anything, "Why do you keep going there?" I never went back into the building, not even for the funeral of a friend. The pastor I had known there for so long, had left town with a girl about the age of his daughter.

Recently, my only child, my son, a Ph. D seminary professor, his family former SBC missionaries, sent me a write up from the present day pastor (the article titled, "Real or imagined, persecution appears to part of Christian DNA" can be found on my facebook page). I do not know Dr. Cook, the current pastor, personally (there are twenty ministerial and support staff members at FBC-Wilmington according to their web page). Dr. Cook, VP of CBF, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, closed the article with the following statements: 

"Cook, currently moderator-elect of the CBF, said he can identify with that after growing up amid the denominational battles that led to the migration of liberals and moderates from the SBC. He watched his father, then an official with the Baptist Sunday School Board (now LifeWay Christian Resources), go through the roller coaster of job insecurity for years. This along with political upheaval at seminaries predisposed him toward a conflict-driven spirituality. “I would say I spent the better part of my last years in college and first years in seminary looking for that controversy — going and looking for that fight — because I wanted to be in it,” Cook said. But seeing how toxic that was for him, spiritually, led him to turn away from those battles. As he moved into a calmer faith, Cook said he saw how damaging his prior persecution complex had been to his relationship with God. One result was to notice the genuine suffering of others, he said. “Finally, I got to see how foolish it was to see myself as persecuted compared to other Christians globally,” Cook said.

I hope church members at FBC-Wilmington have learned the necessity of keeping as many people out of hell as possible. The futility of pretending, the false thrill of the counterfeit.

Only those who have never known warfare enjoy fireworks. Only those who have never known real taste appreciate the fakery of flavorings. Only those who have never known the despair-discouragement of sin can know the joy of redemption... salvation by faith through grace, the free gift of God. 

Hebrews 11:25

25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

Nothing makes Satan happier than to sabotage real Christianity, to sell make-believe, to turn reality into perception. It is not the denomination, the building, any of the things that Madison Avenue has convinced the world is important. Christianity is not complicated, just tough.

Please Help The Blind To See

The Cookie Thief by Valerie Cox

 A woman was waiting at an airport one night

With several long hours before her flight

She hunted for a book in the airport shop

Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop

She was engrossed in her book but happened to see

That the man beside her as bold as could be

Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between

Which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene

She munched cookies and watched the clock

As this gutsy cookie thief diminished her stock

She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by

Thinking "If I wasn't so nice I'd blacken his eye"

With each cookie she took he took one too

And when only one was left she wondered what he'd do

With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh

He took the last cookie and broke it in half

He offered her half as he ate the other

She snatched it from him and thought "Oh brother

This guy has some nerve and he's also rude

Why he didn't even show any gratitude"

She had never known when she had been so galled

And sighed with relief when her flight was called

She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate

Refusing to look back at the thieving ingrate

She boarded the plane and sank in her seat

Then sought her book which was almost complete

As she reached in her baggage she gasped with surprise

There was her bag of cookies in front of her eyes

"If mine are here" she moaned with despair

"Then the others were his and he tried to share"

"Too late to apologize she realized with grief"

That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief.   

The closest the farmer is to his bush or vine, is when he prunes and cuts away and makes room for new growth. The closest our blessed Lord to us, when he prunes. As with the Cookie Thief, the hardest lesson in life, learning to trust. Walt Whitman, in his famous book, Leaves of Grass, "Every inch of life's experience is a miracle."

Age brings on its own luster, its own stars and scars. This writer asks everyday, "why can not people of normal intelligence see what is going on? Why are they so blinded to the realities of their lives?" The God who gave us life, gave us liberty. Truth is truth whether anyone believes it or not. John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

This writer came from poverty, has never been comfortable at a country club. This writer is totally blind, has never known the intrigue or the excitement of the golf course. BUT, we are not stuck where we start, AND, God has given to each of us who he chose for physical life an eternal life with him. With nominal intelligence, hard work with responsible living the opportunity to accomplish anything that any other person can accomplish. God's greatest gift to man is free will. We are not automatons, robots. We have his divine nature to think. We often forget that we are made in his image. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, chose the spirit of death instead of the spirit of life. God put on his own son, a tent of human flesh and we have the ability to gain the righteousness of Jesus Christ through the simple gift of believing in him. Rebirth by his righteousness we claim his holiness and his healing.

Why are Christians so blind to the healing power of Jesus. The prophet Isaiah, the old Testament, looking ahead, proclaimed, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5). The disciple Peter, New Testament, looking back, said "Who his own self bare out sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." With the problems of sickness in America (in my lifetime, one who has studied healthcare, more schools, more medical scientists, more drugs-therapy, more money spent on sick care than the entire world combined, still more sick people) we must learn to care for ourselves. Western medicine no longer talks of cures, only treatments. The great physician has the ability to cure, ANYTHING. We face diseases, such as Ebola, no cause no cure. Can we even imagine what can happen in this world IF such microbiology escapes? We know that our enemies are creating, arming, viruses. Check out those who treat you. Is your doctor a dunce or a dynamo? Does his treatment just consist of making big pharma and himself richer? Does your doctor talk to you about your diet, rest and exercise? It has been a long time since my doctor has asked me about my food intake.You must detoxify or die. Americans are the most toxic people in history. Our ancestors worked and sweated, they knew the importance of eating correctly, getting rid of the toxins.

This writer, health scientist, world traveler, one who is totally committed to the cause of Christ, finds great fault with evangelical denominations. We have too many young people blind to their faith... they do not know what they believe... cannot defend their beliefs. Evangelicals such as Baptists, need to teach a catechism in their churches (a catechism, is a summary or exposition of doctrine and served as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult converts.) Are pastors, church members, so blind that they cannot understand that young people leave the church because they are not convinced or committed. I understand that each year, thousands of evangelical churches just close down.

I have made my living for many years, (I am blind I can no longer practice) buying and selling... real estate, stocks. My daily activities are caught up buying and selling items online (eBay, Amazon, antiques, books, records, etc.). The most genuinely nice people I have ever met in my life, I meet at the marketplace (yard sales, auctions, stock and realty brokers). Much to my sorrow, and I'm sorry to report this to you, most do not attend any church. I have also found, much to my sorrow, that sellers have little regard for ancestry, they do not hesitate one minute to sell personal items owned by family members. They do not treasure old photographs, old keepsakes. I have photographs of ancestors receiving military decorations such as the silver star. Their ancestors mean nothing to them. No more than great grandmothers china, silverware, jewelry. HAVE WE REACHED THAT PLACE IN OUR MARVELOUS HERITAGE OF CHRISTIAN REDEMPTION, THE FAMILY CHURCH-GRAVEYARD-HOME PLACE, HAVE WE BECOME BLIND TO EVERYTHING THAT SHOULD BE IMPORTANT IN LIFE. The 126,000 of my fellow veterans who are buried on foreign soil, the 225,000 fellow veterans buried in Arlington Cemetery, our ancestors who worked, sweated, endured every burden living has to offer, to give us this final product, deserve better.

Idles, Idols, and Minds

1	Take my life, and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee; Take my moments and my days, Let them flow in ceaseless praise, Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
2	Take my hands, and let them move At the impulse of Thy love; Take my feet and let them be Swift and beautiful for Thee, Swift and beautiful for Thee.
3	Take my voice, and let me sing Always, only, for my King; Take my lips, and let them be Filled with messages from Thee, Filled with messages from Thee.
4	Take my silver and my gold; Not a mite would I withhold; Take my intellect, and use Every power as Thou shalt choose, Every power as Thou shalt choose.

Beware of the person who walks without a limp, God keep me from those who have never had a problem, never had temptation. True nobility is not being better than others but being better than I was at one time in my life.

A slogan we have all heard on the radio, product of the United Negro College Fund, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."

The field of psychology was discovered in my lifetime, studying the mind. The crowning glory of genus Homo, the human being, his nervous system, his mind, his ability to think. Other animals are far superior in other ways, the cat has a far superior muscular system, the dog a much superior olfactory system (smell), the equine-bovine a much superior digestive system, birds have far superior eyes. Man is the only animal who can blush-laugh, and knows that he is going to die. In fact, in the butchering of animals such as cows and hogs, they pay little attention to one of their fellow members being killed, laying on the ground, just keep eating. No psychiatrist-psychologist has ever been able to define-determine-describe how it is that the same episode of cruelty or happiness can so differently affect different minds.

This world traveler aghast-amused-astonished at the actions in many areas of the world by my fellow man, and yet, I knew that their minds were not idle, that they were filled with something. I still cannot understand how a mind constrained and controlled with empathy towards others such as in a nursery, such as in a hospital room, such as in a facility for learning, could and can change to facilitate horrors such as we find in warfare. I still cannot understand how a mind that can create and appreciate the marvelous brushstrokes of the artist-hands of the musician can drift into the incomprehensible ugliness of pornography. Only when you read an author who has the ability to assimilate words do you understand that one who can create words of beauty can likewise create words of ugliness.

This writer has never been bored one minute in his entire life. I could always spend my time thinking about something, if nothing else, daydreaming. The Christian spends time in his mind praying, repeating scriptures he has memorized. One of the blessings of the worship service, learning the old hymns. They will come back into your mind many times, when you need them most. 

One of the greatest wastes in the human mind is the time we spend in our "idol" worship. I have known men who talk about nothing but sports... knew little of anything else of importance, but could give you the batting averages of certain baseball stars-knew all the rosters of certain football teams. I have known young boys who could identify and talk about any automobile, others race car drivers and vehicles. Some girls place all their attention on screen-television idols. And, as important as it is to make money and have some degree of financial success, some men must learn that there are things in this world more important other than "shares" and the constant barrage of all commercial activity, profit making. The farmer just wants to harvest another good crop, the industrialist, another good sales season. We live in a world of counting numbers, instead of making numbers count.

In a world of political correctness, when the line has been so smudged between right and wrong, do we actually believe that God will help us overcome our debauchery? For one thousand years, the Roman Empire was seething in evil, evil of every type. This writer, standing in the great Pantheon, almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome, large opening at the top for smoke from the sacrifices of animals to escape, visiting the areas where Christians were put to death, I realized just how far mankind can sink into the blackness of evil. But, Constantine became emperor. Crosses were placed on the shields of Roman soldiers, Rome became Christian. When you visit Vatican City, St. Peters with all its warts, you know the fact, not feeling, of Christianity. 

Those who have made inquiry, perhaps even many of us, determine that there are five main regrets of the dying. Firstly, I wish I had the courage to have lived the life I knew I should have lived, leaving off all those sins which I thought were so wonderful at the time, but which now mean nothing. Secondly, I wish I had not worked so hard, put work before my family, friends, even my relationship with Christ. Thirdly, I wish I had often expressed my real feelings instead of being tolerant, expedient, protective. It is hard to realize many I knew, and many I did not know, family-friends-acquaintances went to hell because I was afraid or reluctant to talk with them about their soul and most of all to live my faith in all its holiness. Fourthly, I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. Even Mark Twain said, "Friendships must be kept in repair." I was so close to so many at one time in my life and then lost contact. Realizing this, I placed a call to my best friend at the University, one of the worlds best known medical scientists. His assistant told me that he was busy and did not have time to talk to me. I realized that he did not remember who I was... through my own neglect of him. Fifth, I wish I had allowed myself to be happier, less hard on myself. I wish I had eaten more of the food I liked that I had considered too expensive, worn more comfortable-expensive shoes. I wish I had given littler care or consideration to "what people think," I wish I had been more careful in not caring what people think of me but more care in what God knows about me.

The Glue That Binds

Proverbs 3:5-6King James Version (KJV)

5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

We have reached the place in this country where you cannot trust anything at any time. If you are going to survive, you must learn to get along on your own. There are government agencies, under the guise of climate change, that are attempting to eliminate all energy sources. When all grids and energy sources are eliminated people will starve. Anyone with an IQ above room temperature should be able to ascertain what is going on... bringing more and more people into urban areas living in government controlled or subsidized housing; frustrating people who live in rural areas with every type of regulation-license-permit one can imagine.

We are living in a world of us and them. There was a time when law enforcement and government supported the citizens. Indolent-indifferent bureaucrats and politicians who support and control all government have effectively made themselves enemies of citizens. Citizens pay the taxes to support the indifference. Have you noticed that when you go to a government agency of any type you are considered an outsider-pest-peon? Have you noticed the bullying attitude of law enforcement? If a totally blind 100% disabled service connected medical officer veteran has such a low attitude of law enforcement-bureaucrats-politicians what can you expect from our youth, who are in the travail of dependence of the world, attempting to get started in life, having to depend on the "help and guidance" of government.

The reality of what I have just described was stamped on me with indelible ink just a few years ago. One morning, my driver, Joe Rush, who still drives for me had come to my house to take me to the grocery store. My car stays parked just a few feet from my backdoor in a handicapped parking space. I leave the backdoor, walk down a cement walk to the car. For many years, because of my blind-cancer condition, I seldom leave the house. That day, on returning to the house, I found that my backdoor had been opened by someone. I have made it a practice over many years to be the last one to leave the house, regardless of who it is, employees or friends. I know it is easy to break into a house but I always lock things.

It scared me to death but I was almost knocked down by two police officers ready to exit my backdoor, a male and female. I said, "What are you doing in my house?" Joe Rush, behind me, carrying bags of groceries said, "This man is a blind veteran." One officer said, "We know he is a veteran, he has a uniform hanging in his closet with insignias and decorations." (I had kept one uniform in which to be buried. Since that time, I have decided I want no burial at all... just cremation. I do not want a government that thinks so little of me that its law enforcement officers will break in my house, to spend one dime on my death.) The only excuse the police could give for the invasion of my home was, "We were here to check on you." Strange that they had never checked on me before or since. I am convinced that they had invaded my house looking around trying to find something with which to embarrass me since I have been such an outspoken antagonist of government on local radio. It was an insult to this veteran-citizen and should be an embarrassment to everyone reading this that no one notified about this intrusion was concerned... police chief, mayor, state senator etc. They were all notified. One would think that some of my friends would have complained. In a land of entitlements, where everyone is afraid to jeopardize their benefits (50% of population receives government benefits of some type) no one wants to get involved because it is not politically correct to challenge any aspect of government, "You can not fight city hall."

There was a time you could write your congressman or local legislative representatives about anything and expect some type of response. Now, like big industry, you rarely get a response to anything because once they respond it means they got your letter-email-telephone call and THEY become involved-responsible. When you write a letter about defective merchandise, insolent employees, there is no response. I have advised many young couples to escape the city (in my youth nearly 50% of the population lived on farms, now it is 1%) and move to the countryside where your children can play outside in fresh air (not the polluted air of the city with its smog, exhaust fumes.) Move to the country where you can have well water (not water contaminated with poisons, chloride-fluoride, the poisons the Nazis used to control-inhibit Germans during World War II.) Move to the country where you can grow some fresh vegetables, perhaps have some chickens. 95% of all children are nutritionally deficient because of processed foods such as that found in fast food places (I do not fuss too much about fast food, because this is about the only type of restaurants most people can afford to eat.) Move to the country where you are no besieged by the world of plastics. Leeching plastics covering every food in a grocery store. We know that the chemicals leeched from plastics are cancerous yet at the grocery store your meats and everything else are covered with plastic. Think about this when you want to drink water from a plastic bottle. When you want to give your baby milk from a plastic bottle. When you drink hot drinks from a plastic cup.

I am old enough to remember the first plastic. You see we knew real paper cups-paper plates, then came plastics, first just covering for dry cleaning now, your entire world is polluted by plastic... car seats, furniture, clothing, storage. Is it so hard to store your food in a refrigerator in a glass container?

This old blind man remembers well the time that human beings were bound with the glue of concern. Concern at the church house (souls and characters of people), concerns at the school house (learning and development of children), concerns at the court house (equal justice). American people were bound with the glue of integrity, absolutes of right and wrong, and also of freedoms... freedom of speech, worship and freedom from want and fear. Character determines destination. Do we, as a nation, have the character of determination?