"It is Finished!"

A few months ago we celebrated the Christmas Holiday. Christmas is a joyous time of the year as we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus, the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Messiah.

Most of us gathered in our families’ homes and shared a big feast, told stories of past Christmases, opened presents and enjoyed Christmas programs and movies on television. Some of us went to a Christmas service at our churches, where we listened to a sermon about the birth of the Christ Child in the little town of Bethlehem.

The malls and shops across America made quite a bit of money promoting the “gift giving season” as each of us looked for the perfect present for Mom, Dad, Uncle Bob and Aunt Sally.

People who don’t ever darken the doorway of a church spend time celebrating a holiday they know very little about, and really don’t care about, other than the fact it is an excuse to have a party. Everybody likes parties, and Christmas is as good an excuse as any to PARTY!!!!!

Today is a day Christians call “Good Friday”, commemorating the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary. There won’t be any presents exchanged on this day, nor will there be any “funny stories” told about past “Good Fridays”. People outside the Christian faith will let this day pass with little notice or regard; it will just be another Friday and nothing more.

What happened on that Friday so many years ago? A man who was regarded as nothing more than a small problem by the Roman government was put to death because some other people wanted to rid themselves of His “interference” in their control of the Hebrew people. It meant little to those people that this man was the Son of God, sent to cleanse the world of sin by offering Himself as a perfect sacrifice.

Most people don’t like the story of the Cross, it isn’t pleasant, it isn’t fun to listen to and it is gruesome in its description. The Son of God is beaten to a bloody mass, He is scourged with a metal braided whip, He has his beard ripped out in clumps and He is marched up to the hill of Calvary and crucified with nails through His hands and feet. A huge crowd stood by as the innocent Savior bled and gasped without complaint until a Roman soldier pierced his side to prove His death. This doesn’t sound like much reason to have a party, does it?

The party actually starts on the following Sunday, Easter Sunday, or as we Christians like to say “ Resurrection Sunday”; the day Jesus rose from the dead and conquered sin, Hell and the grave!!! Now that is a reason to PARTY!

There were no bunnies, eggs, marshmallow peeps, chocolate candy or any parades; as a matter of fact, those people who wanted Him dead did their best to keep the whole thing a secret from the general public. The whole event was dealt with by lies and bribery by those in power.

It appears this son of a carpenter from Nazareth was much more than that; He was the Messiah, sent to us to redeem us from sin, death and the grave. He gave Himself as a perfect sacrifice for all of our sins, if we only accept Him as Lord and Savior. This is what “Good Friday” sets the stage for in God’s plan for our salvation, or as the Bible says in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, That whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Enjoy Easter and remember the price paid on “Good Friday”.

"A Petulant Child!"

Did you ever play sandlot football or baseball? Growing up, I spent much of my youth at the local school grounds playing in pick-up games with my friends. We never had enough guys to field complete teams, but we always managed to come to some mutually agreed upon solution so we could play. Usually only one of us had their own baseball or football, and he dictated the length of our games, because without a ball, there is no game.

We never had a referee or an umpire, and our rules were flexible to accommodate the lack of complete teams. There were plenty of disagreements on the field, but the game usually continued despite the lack of officials to control the actions of the play.

Every once in a while the guy who owned the ball got a call he didn’t agree with and he would resort to the statement that “It’s my ball and I’m going home!” At times, he would relent and we would resume play; other times the game was over. When the guy who owned the ball pouted, he wanted to punish the whole team because things didn’t go his way, this was the action of a spoiled child.

Several weeks ago, we went into enforced budget cuts under the “sequester rule” which had been agreed upon by Congress at the insistence of President Barack Hussien Obama.

The Republican House of Representatives made several attempts to offer alternatives to the sequester budget reductions, but no compromise could be reached from the Democrat Senate or the Obama White House; they were completely “stonewalled”!

The sequester rule would make an automatic reduction of 2% of the years’ budget, about two pennies out of every dollar in our BLOATED BUDGET. Obama puts the entire blame on the Republicans, as usual, as Mr. Obama never takes responsibility for anything that is negative in his administration (even though it was his idea).

How has our President handled these cuts? Barack Obama has decided to punish the American people with punitive cuts. He wants to cancel tours of the White House to “save money”; I guess they cost nearly $9,000 per week to the taxpayers. By the way, does anyone know how much it costs for Obama’s golf games or his excessive vacations to Hawaii or Martha’s Vineyard? What is the cost of the constant travels across America to make speeches when he has access to all of our homes via television from the White House? These are costs that run into the millions of dollars of taxpayer’s money. He would rather shut down National Parks and cut back on border security than trim the fat out of foreign aid to nations that support the overthrow of Israel.

Like a petulant child, Obama wants to hurt everyone else when things don’t go his way, and he looks for the most hurtful method to inject his venomous punishment on those least able to defend themselves.

This is the man who will be in our White House for the next four years; a petulant, punitive child!!

Due to personal commitment, there will be no posting this week.  See you next week.  Thank you!

T.P.

"U.S.A., Inc."

Most of you who are reading this have been either employees or employers. We have either worked for someone or had others work for us. Each of these groups, employees and employers, has specific dictates that go into what is expected of them to successfully execute their duties.

A good employee must be diligent in his assigned duties and perform them to his employer’s specifications. Good attendance is always required to assure that his work is completed in a timely manner. Good character is desired from all workers as it will directly impact the quality of an employee’s work ethic. Honesty and integrity are qualities that all employers look for when hiring a prospective candidate for any position.

A good employer must be a good judge of character and be fair-minded in all his decisions when he considers hiring a new employee. A good employer must be fair to his employees without being a “soft touch”. A good employer is responsible and ethical in all his practices with his customers and his employees. A good employer is honest and truthful in all of his dealings to insure the success of his business.

Every two years we have elections in the United States; every four years we have a Presidential Election. In a sense, we are the employers of our government’s leaders, and we give them a “performance review” every two years, and every two years our Senators and Representatives try to show us what kind of a job they are doing.

If we lived in the “United States of America Inc.” what type of performance review should we be giving to our executive and legislative employees this year? What kind of a job have they been doing lately to advance the causes of “U.S.A., Inc”?

Let’s start with the “bottom line”; America is running in the RED worse now than it has ever been in its history. Our credit rating has been lowered for the first time ever in its history, not too good so far. We hold a 17 trillion dollar debt that is continuing to grow without restraint. The incomes of American households have gotten smaller and our unemployment is at a dismal point of around 8%. Our Gross Domestic Product is about .1%; a failure by any standard; and government spending is at an all time high, as the “monster” continues to feed itself.

Are our employees doing anything to remedy our current fiscal woes? Our President does more speech making than any actual Presidential work; the Oval Office rarely sees our Chief Executive, as he is constantly travelling across the country touting his agenda rather than conversing with members of Congress to find cooperative solutions to our fiscal dilemma . Our Senate has yet to pass a budget in the last six years and has only rejected every proposed budget from the House of Representatives.

As an employer of “U.S.A., Inc”, I am quite unhappy with the performance of our current staff. I have seen a total lack of integrity and commitment from our current employees. I have seen absolutely no effort to find viable alternatives from our Chief Executive or his staff, and I see nothing other than “blame shifting” to explain our lack of a solution to our problems, both foreign and domestic.

As an employer of “U.S.A., Inc.”, I must recommend the dismissal of all of our current staff members due to a total lack of ability in their current positions.

In the “Real World” those who do shoddy work don’t get to keep their jobs; only in government do we continue to retain the inept and irresponsible. It’s too bad we don’t really live in “U.S.A., Inc”!!!

"Freedom Fighters???"

America is supposed to be the freest nation in the world, and the defender of freedom for all of those who seek freedom. Where do these roots of freedom come from? What heritage do we have in seeking freedom? Has America ever sent out our troops to gain territory to annex to our nation?

How many of you remember the Stamp Act? This act was passed by the English Parliament on March 22^nd of 1765 and it was a tax on pamphlets, newspapers, almanacs and legal and insurance documents; none of the American colonists wanted this imposed tax. On August 14, 1765, some men from Boston rioted against this illegal tax; they were known as “the Sons of Liberty”, they were freedom fighters. John Adams and Paul Revere were members of this group dedicated to freedom; they were also freedom fighters.

In Texas, from February 23, 1836 until March 6, 1836 a battle took place that spawned a phrase that every Texan knows by heart, “Remember the Alamo!” During that battle a small band of Texans fought against an overwhelming hoard of Mexican troops led by President General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana. This small band of freedom fighters held off over 1500 of Mexico’s finest troops, killing over 500 before falling to the aggressors; approximately 200 Texas freedom fighters died protecting their country.

We hear the words “freedom fighters” thrown around in a pretty casual way today. How can we define what a “freedom fighter” is supposed to be? During WWI, American and Allied troops were freedom fighters because they deposed aggressors who had invaded lands and taken nations by force from their citizens. Americans did the same thing during WWII; once again they were freedom fighters who only looked to liberate oppressed people.

This week in Texas, the home of the Alamo, at Lumberton High School, a geography class was being taught about Muslims and the Islamic culture. Some students in this class were given the opportunity to wear Muslim garb as the teacher brought burqas for the girls to try on. I don’t have a problem with studying other cultures, but I do have a problem with calling terrorists “freedom fighters”. This was an instruction from the teacher of this class!

On 9/11, it wasn’t freedom fighters who murdered 3,000 innocent Americans; it was TERRORISTS!!! If we begin to soften what these people are doing, we open a door that we won’t be able to close, and the enemy will suddenly become palatable to the American people.

We have reached the ultimate in “Political Correctness” when we are afraid to insult the feelings of those who wish to destroy our society. These people are seeking to take our freedoms away by force and impose their fanatical religious beliefs on us. Does this goal qualify someone to be a FREEDOM FIGHTER? Were NAZIS freedom fighters, or Mussolini’s fascists freedom fighters?

If I was a resident of Texas, I would be pretty unhappy about my state’s education standards, I’ll bet Sam Houston, Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett would be a little upset too!!!