Are You Paying Attention?

Back when the possibility of Barak Obama becoming President was a strong possibility I noticed a change occurring among the friends and people I associate with on a regular basis. There has always been a strong commitment with my friends towards God, family, patriotism, freedom, personal reliance and the belief that our forefathers new what they were doing when they founded the greatest country in the world.

But I found that many were "getting back to their roots". Now, an outsider looking at these families may say they were already checked out of normal society. They would see families of 6, 7, 8 or more kids, they would see parents homeschooling their children, stay at home mom's, a high proportion of business owners, a commitment to their church and a lack of material items. But I sensed something more than that was going on around me. Then Barak Obama became President Obama and he immediately began tearing down fibers that I believe hold this Country together; funding for worldwide abortion, rescinding the ban on stem cell research, government control of banks and financial institutions and the banning of guns just to mention a few.

It just happened that I was invited to several men's functions all in a short period of time, poker evenings, cigar get together and a dad's night out and I discovered these men are all on the move. They were either in the process of planning or some stage of completing things like, growing their own garden, moving their family out to more land or stocking up on guns. These are not a bunch of fanatics, these are smart men with great families. A group of guys I was honored to be associated with, whose opinions I trust and give much thought to and they were voicing concerns about issues happening in this country and how to handle them.

My family is moving forward with many of the suggestions I heard during these get together's and one of them was getting firearms. Something I haven't had around the house since my first child was born but something I felt was needed now more than before. I went to a gun show to get reacquainted with the industry and the products available. The entire time I was there I felt welcomed and among people with similar concerns, ideas and values, these were my people. Just regular dad's, some with their sons and a few with their entire family. I also noticed it was packed, wall to wall people. This wasn't a surprise since I have read how gun permits were up 40%, gun producers are up to 8 months behind on orders and some types of ammunition are jumping off the shelf. So my wife and I decided to buy some guns and start a program to get our whole family to learn to hunt, and protect oneself.

While at a local gun store I ran into the same quality of persons I did at the gun show. One of them who was a retired police officer from the great state of Texas. I began telling him my story of why I am now purchasing a hand gun and the reason why I feel my family needs this protection. He then retold a story of where he was involved in trying to bring order to the Hurricane Katrina area. He reminded me of how easy it was for some people once they became hungry to turn to violence. That if you did not poses a firearm at that time you were at a high risk of a home invasion, being robbed or even raped. He said that even though people knew they were being rescued at some point still resorted to violence. He told me that under duress there will always be some sizable portion of people who would turn to violence for their own survival.

This was my wake up call. Our Country is in economic duress, certainly not by any measure as bad as the great Depression but you wouldn't know it listening to our President. President Obama is and continues to feed the message that we are in for a whole lot more hurting. What if he's right? What if more people start having a harder time feeding their families? What if people who don't have any skills to provide for themselves or moral character decide they will just take it from me? My family isn't going to wait for that time to come before we are prepared and neither should you.

So How Did We Get Here?

How has this great country survived so long from it’s humble beginnings? BY THE GRACE OF GOD HIMSELF!! Yes, I said God. It was the Holy Spirit that inspired our Founding Fathers to write our founding documents. The United States was founded on the cornerstone of our faith in God. It has been up until the very recent times that His guiding hand has led this country to be the shining city on a hill. But as with all good things, evil creeps its way in. It did in the Garden and as great as the USA is, it is not the Garden. Evil, the Devil, Satan, Beezelbub. Whatever the name you call it by, it is the opposite of Good and God.
Well, by and large, we have as a society turned our back on God. As individuals we may be the most pious people, but together we have decided that we can do it without God. Instead of reflecting on what our vocation should be, we decide to go for what will make us the most money. We marry (and divorce) with little regard for the magnitude of what we do. It’s all about the dress and how many bridesmaids we can cram on the altar, right? All for the moment. No deep reflection. No regard for long held moral beliefs. “That’s so old fashioned!”.
Well as stated, there are good, honest and yes, GOD fearing people in this country. We generally don’t speak up because we don’t want to offend others. We usually don’t watch to see what our neighbor is doing, because that would be nosey and gossipy. We don’t push our faith on others because we’ve been told that we shouldn’t be pushy. Well, brothers and sisters, now is the time to pull up the boot straps, tighten the belts, dust off your Bible and take a big bite of courage. The time to sit on the sidelines has passed. You can no longer sit by and hope the world leaves you alone to live your life as you want. Anything worth keeping must be fought for. Whether it is a spouse, a job or your very freedoms to pursue them, YOU MUST be willing to fight for them.
Society has convinced many of the God fearing people that THEY are the ones that are shallow and closed minded. They have convinced many that because they are opposed to gay marriage, sex-ed in grammar school, teenagers being sexually promiscuous, teens (and tweens) having babies (or abortions), abortion and the right to choose (to choose to kill your own child or not to…), greed and government control of our life that they are unsophisticated and simple minded because they are led by their meaningless superstitions. Mother Earth is the new god and Al Gore is the cult leader. Obama is the new messiah.
The Day may be coming; coming very soon. OUR Good Book says no one will know the day and time, not even the Son. It says that before the day comes, believers will face many hardships and they will have to carry their crosses once again. For some of us, particularly those who already greatfully carry our crosses daily, we look forward to the day of Our Savior’s return. Here is some foreshadowing of what is to come. Are you ready? WE WIN!! God said he will return and overcome evil. So ultimately, We Shall Overcome!!
So here is what YOU must do. Wear those knees out by getting down on them and praying to the Almighty for guidance and strength to carry out His guiding words. Pray. Pray for our great country. Pray for all of our political leaders. They need our prayers. Pray for yourself. Pray for forgiveness and ask for him to draw you closer to Him. We have a lot of sins to confess and the confessional is open. Go to church. He is waiting.