Soul for Sale

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Matthew 16:26

Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

1 Corinthians 1:20

Real slavery is attempting to live your life from the approval of others.

"But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;"

-Hebrews 10:32

Too many of us including this writer, has tried to live life dancing to the music that Satan and other unbelievers played. We did not have the confidence to trust God and instead, tried to "live by sight instead of faith;" 2 Corinthians 5:7. It was after this writer became a blind man, that he had the confidence to walk by faith, depending on the creator of the universe.

What do you do when God's promises fail? We live in a world of "quick fixes." We live in a world of fast food, fast prescription pill for any sickness. Nationwide, the average time in your doctors office is 7 minutes. Your oncologist considers you cured of cancer if you have survived cancer for five years. God does not wear a watch, he takes his own good time in resolving our problems, keeping his promises. We must have the confidence to trust him, all he requires is trust. 

Faith is a verb, action, based on belief, sustained by confidence. We must have the confidence to believe him. It was after I became blind, sightless, that I could trust, that I had the confidence to wait for answered prayer. 

I can well understand why the new Christian loses confidence so quickly when his prayers are not answered. Financially, the past year was one of the worst years of my life. I had more empty rental property, less sales in my business, than ever before. I have always had trouble in business with dishonest employees... people who work for me. I sometimes believe that more of my things have walked out of my business than what I have sold in my business. Yet, everyday without fail, I tell God that I am depending on him to help me with my life. He knows how hard it is for me to do anything. He knows how hard it is for me to depend on people I pay to work for me, even associates, long time friends, even family members. Most people simply do not care. Most of the professionals, businesses, certainly the government, with whom you come in contact with do not care. This is a world of me-ism. Everyone simply going through the motions. I can certainly understand why the new Christian and even seasoned Christians have trouble understanding why God is always late on the scene. After many years, we always find through stress and tears that he is standing at the crossroads of our lives before we get there. Don't throw away your confidence because of the failures of other Christians, don't throw away your confidence because of disappointment, despair.

This writer was born and raised on a dirt road, no power, phone or water lines. Nothing but hard work and hard times. To this day, I cannot understand how my parents, grandparents and the many other people surviving in the poverty of eastern North Carolina had the confidence to keep going. But they did. My heart is still filled with hatred, so much resentment when I consider how my parents were treated in town by people of wealth. I still remember the junk that was sold to them, they wanted us to have a typewriter and a supposedly responsible man, sold them a  piece of junk. But, they had the money to go to town and buy things, they could use the restrooms in the stores - think of our black neighbors, hard working-god fearing-tax paying citizens who were never able to buy store bought things (clothing, food, furniture) simply because their skin was black. Yet, these black citizens too, had the confidence to keep living, trusting, believing in a better place.

I did not realize the "soullessness" of people; both students and professors until I entered the University. Graduating from a poor, small country school (thirteen in my graduating class), I was not prepared to enter any college. In addition to lack of preparation, it was necessary for me to work my way through. At the same time, competing with the elitist sons of wealth and power that had been prepared for university education at preparatory schools. The sons of legislators, judges, wealthy alumni, were treated well. I will never forget the day I came in to full conflict with my creator. It was sitting on a stone fence at the rear of Wilson Library. I quoted a scripture to my Lord, from the book of Jobs; "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him..." Jobs 13:15.

After eight years of frugal living, hard work, jumping through every hoop educators and governments demanded, I had letters before and after my name. Then, as during the Korean War when all doctors must serve, I became an army medical officer. All this has been written about previously, now, totally blind, 100% disabled, service connected 85 year old Veteran. 

Perhaps, next to the stress and unfairness of education was my military service. Right away, still in medical officer training internship at Brook Army Medical Center, a much better looking, more articulate officer (one who to this day I believe was gay) put a move on someone, and got my orders replaced by his. His orders sent him to New York City, mine to wherever.

Incomprehensible, one Army Hospital where I was on staff, the hospital nearest Huntsville, Alabama where Redstone Arsenal was located, and Hitlers boys were perfecting the missiles, the hospital was staffed by German Nazi Doctors brought over after WWII. From the hospital commander Colonel Marx on down, doctors and nurses... all former Nazi troops. I will never forget the day I arrived there, the doctor I was replacing said to me, "I don't know what goes on in this place,  but it is straight from Hell and I am glad to escape." Of course, with me as with anyone else seeking military advancement, you have that constant rivalry between the forces of Satan and those of God... A matter of warfare in the soul. 

In my lifetime, what has happened to my country? There was a time when inquiring, investigating, reporters would have taken apart the decadents of this nation. I can well imagine my friend Walter Spearman, school of Journalism UNCCH, saying to students "Stay honest, report the truth." The American people will swallow anything, hook, line and sinker. Seeing the sight of the plane explosion in Switzerland, would anyone believe that it was anything other than an explosion? Studying what happened on 9-11 in Manhattan, would anyone swallow the Government's explanation? Only 1% of the American population still does. In my world travels, I've spoken with men in such communist cesspools such as Yugoslavia, Burma, China and Russia. They all said the same thing: "We learned the truth when it was too late." Perhaps an EMP attack, throwing America back to the stone age will tell us that we should have been more alert to the degradation and broken culture of our society.

In my long life, I have never known a man in politics who did not give up his soul. The soullessness of Government is beyond compare. When I was a child in democrat controlled North Carolina (my family on both sides Republican), you could not get a job at any state agency (highways, hospitals, even teaching school) unless you were a proven and approved democrat. Confidence in our nation, its schools,  its churches, must be restored if America is to survive. 

#1720

No Pain, No Gain

Much younger, much more energetic, much more ambitious, working out in the gym, one had to experience the strain and pain of opposing forces to build up body musculature. Only through discipline of exercise and limiting what goes in the mouth will you or anyone else ever get your weight, your general health, your appearance under control. It is as simple as that. These diets, regardless of their advertisements only help one person, the person who promotes them.

Dr. Atkins at the height of his diet in 1998 had 87 employees, treated over 50,000 patients and made $100 million dollars in one year. Dr. Atkins died of a head injury following a fall, but previously he had suffered a heart attack. THE MORTALITY RATE IS STILL 100%. Many of these diet promoters (South Beach, Jenny Craig, etc.) who have gotten wealthy by seeing people take off weight and then put it right back on, losing it and then finding it, will face the judgment of God for their deception. It may surprise both believers and non-believers that all will be judged (John 5:28) even those who have been dead for thousands of years. I ride by one church, mid-city, where, in it's early days on dirt streets, a cemetery was in the rear. I think of how long these people have been dead but, they too will be judged.

It was just announced that China had an increase of over 10% in their national economy last year...at a time when most of the world was in recession. Also, just announced, the only country in the European Union to have an increase in national economy last year was Poland. Poland's economy grew 1.7%. Why does Poland grow and the other European countries do not grow? Because Poland has known the totalitarian control and authoritarianism of Communism. The Pols are just happy for government to get out of the way, to let them have responsibility for their own lives.

Why does Communist China have a 10% increase? The first thing a company in the United States cuts is employees and employee benefits. I have been to China three times, I know, I have seen slave labor. You cannot beat slave labor production and sales by a slave-labor company cutting prices on all competition. Try getting into a Wal-Mart parking lot; Wal-Mart has put more small businesses out of business than famine or disease...all to the benefit of Communist China.

Last week, in a speech given in West Palm Beach, Attorney General Holder announced 5,000 pending indictments by the Department of Justice of individuals linked to financial institution fraud as part of an overall targeting of market manipulators and cheaters across the board. He said that he had devoted many years of his life investigating the sedition of brokers and other financial people in the cheating of the American public. It is about time. I have written SCC, North Carolina's Secretary of State, FTC, and everyone else who can read, about the cheating of the investing public. Many of these brokerage houses, much like a salesman in a shoe store, will just employ anyone who can breathe, the salesman in a shoe store-a shoe horn, the investment broker-a computer, and the public is at their mercy. My last broker, representing a large trust company had only two items in his resume which he always announced. He had been in the securities business for 28 years and his father was a Baptist preacher. On this, I trusted his integrity...much to my sorrow. If I had the money lost by investment brokers, taking advantage of a blind man, I would be a wealthy man. The Mayor of New York City is worth $17 billion, he paid $108 million to purchase his last term in office but, he can see.

I wonder how many times I have written Mr. Holder's Department Of Justice and his Department of Americans With Disabilities only to get the usual government generic reply, when it is obvious they did not even read your information or study the proof sent, “get yourself a lawyer”. Mr. Holder wants to pass out indictments to 5,000 thieves like Jesus passed out a small boy's lunch to 5,000 hungry men plus women and children. Christ was successful, all were filled, 12 baskets of leftovers collected. Mr. Holder, like the rest of the Obama Nation talk of “hope” and “change” but their words are empty. Like the woman running for US Senate in Massachusetts, they may be able to “ride out” their ambition, but the American people are getting less stupid. We know that the thieves who created the problems are the same thieves being asked to solve them.

Every other advertisement on television or radio entices one to buy gold. Not since F.D.R. dried up the gold market in 1933 or Nixon latched the gold door in 1971, has gold been so promising ($1,200 an ounce). You can be sure that the criminals are always a few steps ahead of you. God alone knows how much of the largess given by concerned citizens in the Haiti earthquake will wind up in the pockets of the greedy, not the needy. Tungsten has the same weight as gold...already, counterfeit gold bars are in play both here and abroad. Russia, China and India are the big buyers of Gold. China and India just bought 108 billion in gold bars from the International Monetary Fund.

China has learned that a well-financed criminal operation has put in its store house 60 metric tonnes of fake gold bars. We have heard of fake gold coins. Many of us in the antique markets have been fooled by fools gold. Like carefully-copied artwork, which often fools the art appraiser, fortunes and even hard-earned savings will be lost not just in fiat paper, but fake gold bars. Please tell Mr. Holder to double the guards at Fort Knox. More importantly, lock up Henry Paulson of Goldman Sachs, profiting $12.9 billion from the bailout of AIG...and even representative Charles Rangel, US House Ways and Means Committee Chairman, who did not know he is supposed to pay tax on his $75,000 in rental income...next to the prison cell of Bernard Madoff, who stole $85 billion from his investors and which is now in a Tel Aviv Israel bank...Tim Geithner, Treasury Secretary, who did not pay $34,000 in self-employment taxes, but is after you for your taxes, having just employed additional IRS collectors...making Arkansas congressman (Wilbur Mills) in a Potomac Basin with Fannie Flagg seem almost innocent though at the time this wet congressman and wet stripper eclipsed all news.

Don't mix reality with politics. Morality has ceased to have a part in Washington life. I knew the family of Lexington, NC native Judge Hubert Olive, judge at the Nuremberg trials. The Nazi criminals said they had not broken German laws...it was simply a matter of morality. Like abortion, prayer in schools, Nixon selling American real gold for $42 an ounce, it is not a matter of law, but a matter of morality.

When will Americans demand morals from their leaders? Under the Geneva convention, a warrior is held to a very high standard. Those who survive come home to a very low standard, a low standard of care in a VA hospital, a low standard of burial at death ($300 if not service-connected), a low standard of conduct from elected politicians. Those who have suffered the most pain, for little gain (IOUs at the Social Security Office) are the fathers and mothers who have reared the children who now work and pay the taxes for the bailouts, the sell outs, and the warriors who are willing to protect this less than honorable country.