You Are What You Read

It is New Year resolution time!  One of my resolutions will be to read much more than I do now.  While thinking about that, I got an e-mail from R.C. Sproul Jr – his Kingdom Notes.  In the e-mail, R.C. shared this thought on the subject of reading:

It is a cliche in our circles. We collect books; we recommend books; we complain about how many books are stacked beside our bed waiting to be read. When we visit new friends we do not dote over the family pictures dotting the refrigerator, but instead peruse the bookshelves to see if the approved authors rest there. We believe, because we are modernists, as we argued in our November Basement Tape, Mostly Modern, that reading this book or that will cure what ails us, which folly may be what ails us most. Books can indeed be potent agents for change in our lives. (Indeed I once wrote, alright, blogged this nugget of wisdom- “Blogs change our moments. Books change our lives.”) Books that sit on our nightstand, however, will not change us. Books that decorate our shelves will not change us. Books, instead, must be entered into. Running your eyes over the pages won’t do the trick. Downloading the information won’t do the trick. Reading the books to impress others won’t do the trick. Instead we must come to the great books looking to be changed. We must learn to read in such a way that not just our minds but our hearts are engaged. And then, before its has really done its work, the book must come out of our fingers.

Transition and Hope

Congressman Ron Paul

As another year draws to a close, there are some important transitions ahead of us.  Not just transitions to a new administration, but also economically, politically and culturally.

Many hoped that the changes would signify overwhelming positive steps for our country, and that we would enter a new era, as promised during the campaign.  I would like for this to be true, but based on the continuity so far, I would not be surprised to see America stay on the same course of failed monetary and economic policies.  The course has been set for several decades, and in reality there is little the new administration could do to fix things without actually making them worse.  But I expect them to try.  The only real solutions involve allowing the market to liquidate the debt and malinvestment.  The political reality is that this is not going to happen.

Through the coming months and years, our nation will find itself at many crossroads, as all manner of socialist, corporatist, protectionist and nationalist initiatives will be thrown at the economy to see if anything will reflate it.  Some of these so-called fixes will be enacted amidst much outcry, as with the $700 billion TARP bailout, which the public was right to oppose.  About half of that money is gone without a trace, with no accountability, and the economy is no better off for it.  Others, such as the proposed new $800 billion plus economic stimulus the new administration is already clamoring for, might have limited public support, as many will find the prospect of receiving a government check a little too tempting to object to.  After all, Wall Street got a bailout.  What about the little guy?  Everything will be attempted by government in the short run to remedy the worsening situation – everything, that is, but freedom.  Therefore everything attempted will fail.  Unfortunately, government will continue to consolidate and abuse power at an accelerated pace.  Government will get bigger, in the short term, and as monetary policy goes from irresponsible to absurd, I have every expectation that we will soon shift from some prices falling to an inflationary nightmare.

But there is hope.  As all these attempts fail, more people will demand freedom, and see that it is the only way.  Government can only get so big before the country goes broke. 

It is regrettable that we keep forgetting what history has shown over and over to be true, because truly, it is a hard and destructive lesson to keep learning.  Perhaps it is just something that every generation has to learn for itself.  The political and cultural changes that come from these economic transitions will be key to the direction and quality of life for future generations.  But I am hopeful because of the strength of the American people and the increased number of voices recognizing that liberty really is the only way to peace and prosperity.

Understanding Our Times – Guest Host Tony Romo

This week’s Guest Host is Pastor Tony Romo – the pastor of the South Pointe Baptist Church in Pelzer, South Carolina, operates the The Patriot Pulpiteer website and is also active in the Constitution Party. Pastor Romo was the very first guest on our program and has also served as guest host once before.

Broadcast – Understanding Our Times

Website - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/understandingourtimes

Time – Saturday, December 27, at 6:00 pm EST/5:00pm CST

Length – 30 Minutes  

You can join us live Saturday evening at 6:00 pm EST, or download the broadcast in mp3 format at a time more convenient for you.

“Understanding Our Times” is an interactive, live Internet talk-radio show that focuses on current events from a distinctly Biblical worldview. Host Kevin Thompson offers listeners timely discussion of meaningful issues with a variety of different guests each week. Callers are encouraged to call (347) 945-7171 to listen or ask questions. The stream and archives are available at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/understandingourtimes. The show is live every Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m. Eastern/ 3:00 p.m. PT. The show is hosted on BlogTalkRadio.

2008 RCCS Christmas Chapel Message

Which Bible Verse Should Obama Pick?

I just finished reading an interesting article concerning the tradition of the President choosing a Scripture reference upon which to place his hand upon while taking his oath of office. 

According to Gleaves Whitney, a presidential historian at Michigan’s Grand Valley State University, II Chronicles 7:14 was used for three swearing-in ceremonies: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

In this season of economic distress, however, the president-elect may prefer to follow the lead of Franklin Roosevelt. When FDR first took the oath of office in 1933, the country was reeling under the crushing weight of the Great Depression.

“Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment,” Roosevelt said in his inaugural address.

If Obama wants to stress that theme again on January 20, he may prefer to follow Bill Clinton’s lead from the 1997 inaugural and open the Bible to Isaiah 58:12: “Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations, and thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach.”

If you have the time, you can read through the article here.

This got me thinking, which verse should Mr. Obama choose?  I think this quotation from the KJV would be appropriate:

My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change: – Proverbs 24:21

Any other ideas for a good verse to use?

Pat Robertson is A Sell-Out

Pat Robertson has jumped on the Obama bandwagon.  According to CNN:

Robertson said Tuesday he was optimistic about the incoming Obama administration. “I am remarkably pleased with Obama,” he told Malveaux. “I had grave misgivings about him. But so help me, he’s come in forcefully, intelligently. He’s picked a middle of the road cabinet. And so far, if he continues down this course, he has the makings of a great president. So, I’m very pleased so far.”

You can read the whole story here.

If you read the entire article, Robertson begins by bashing George Bush on the economy and Iraq.  I agree with him on these points.  Bush will leave us with a deficit approaching $1 Trillion and Iraq is simply a mess.  Bush is not the conservative he campaigned as.  he has beena  great disappointment.

However, to then look at Obama and say you are “very pleased” is absolutely unacceptable.  This man wants to remove any restrictions concerning abortion.  This man even wants to murder children who survive abortions.  The economy is important, but life is of the greatest importance.  There is no way I can look at man who wants to kill children and say I am very pleased with him.

As for a middle-of-the-road cabinet, he has mostly chosen Clinton retreads.  How is this change?  How is this middle-of-the-road?  Come on, Pat.  This is a man starved for attention and simply wants to be noticed.

Pat, if you are going to continue tocall yourself a Christian leader, act like one.

The Birth Of Christ And The Birth Of America Are Linked

Chuck Baldwin
December 23, 2008

As we approach the celebration of Christ’s birth, I am reminded of the words of John Quincy Adams. On July 4, 1837, he spoke these words:

“Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day? … Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth. That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity, and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfillment of the prophecies announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Savior and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets six hundred years before?”

Adams was exactly right: America’s birth is directly linked to the birth of our Savior. In fact, the United States of America is the only nation established by Christian people, upon Biblical principles, and dedicated to the purpose of religious liberty. This truth is easily observed within America’s earliest history.

America’s forebears first established a written covenant with God as early as November 11, 1620, when they penned The Mayflower Compact. It states in part:

“In the name of God, Amen. … Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid; And by Virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the General good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.”

The sentiments and statements of America’s founders make it clear that this nation has enjoyed a love and appreciation for the rights and freedoms recognized in Natural Law that is unique in the annals of human history. No other people have such a heritage.

One thing America’s founders could not envision was–after they had paid so terrible a price to purchase our liberties–that the time would come when their posterity would be denied the basic freedoms to publicly express their reverence for God. Never could they have imagined that the day would come when citizens of the sovereign states (each with a state constitution protecting religious liberty) would be denied their right to pray in school, or place Nativity scenes on public property, or hang copies of the Ten Commandments on courthouse walls.

I am also confident that America’s founders would be completely repulsed by the way the United States has jumped headlong into corporatism, socialism, and globalism. Democrats and Republicans alike have created a central government so large that it would be unrecognizable by any Founding Father. In addition, both Big Business and Big Religion have sold our great country down the proverbial river, as surely as there is a sun in the sky. Truly, our Founding Fathers must be rolling over in their graves.

Therefore, at this Christmas season, let us remember well the founding principles of these United States of America. Furthermore, let us renew with vigor the fight for freedom before our liberties and our heritage are gone altogether.

Merry Christmas!

*If you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by credit card, check, or Money Order. Use this link:

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© Chuck Baldwin

Chuck Baldwin is Founder-Pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. Dr. Baldwin is also the host of a lively, hard-hitting syndicated radio talk show  “Chuck Baldwin Live” and is the Constitution Party nominee for President in 2008. 

To learn more about his radio talk show please visit his web site at: www.chuckbaldwinlive.com. When responding, please include your name, city and state.

Government and Fraud

Congressman Ron Paul

Billions of dollars were recently lost in the collapse of Bernie Madoff’s self-described Ponzi scheme, in which too-good-to-be-true returns on investments were not really returns at all, but the funds of defrauded new investors.  The pyramid scheme collapsed dramatically when too many clients called in their accounts, and not enough new victims could be found to support these withdrawals.  Bernie Madoff was running a blatant fraud operation.  Fraud is already illegal, and he will be facing criminal consequences, which is as it should be, and should act as an appropriate deterrent to potential future criminals.  But it seems every time someone breaks the law, politicians and pundits decide we need more laws, even though lack of laws was not the problem. 

The government itself runs a fraud much bigger than Madoff’s.  Our Social Security system is the very definition of a Ponzi, or pyramid scheme.  If the government truly had an interest in protecting people’s savings, they would allow people to opt out of Social Security altogether.  We would cut wasteful spending, such as our overseas empire, to honor current obligations to seniors, and eventually phase the program out.  Instead, as with Enron and Sarbanes Oxley, I expect new, unrelated legislation to be proposed that further damages freedom in the name of protecting us, amidst loud proclamations that they have made the world safe.

Merely passing a law does not fix any problems, just as throwing paper at a recession does not stop it.  How can a government so complicit in mandatory public fraud effectively pre-empt private fraud?   I see no reason to believe that any new law, or regulatory agency will solve anything.  But I do see liberty slipping away every time Congress decides to “do something”.  We already have an oversight agency, the SEC, which did a poor job overseeing and preventing this, but does a great job hamstringing honest, productive businesses and driving them overseas. 

Total trust in government solutions only creates moral hazard, and amplifies risky behavior.  Trust in government got us here.  We trusted government to eliminate risk, but it just made risk more creative and dangerous.  We trusted the Federal Reserve, a supra-governmental cabal of private banks, to know better than the free market what interest rates should be, and how to stabilize the business cycle, but like a spinning top that loses its balance, it has instead spun the business cycle and the economy wildly out of control. 

No governmental activity can negate market forces or nullify the cardinal rule of caveat emptor.  Government can however, use our fears against us and promise unrealistic outcomes as a means to consolidate power and erode our liberties.  Liberty comes with risk.  This is a fact of life.  But life without liberty is not much of a life at all.

The only way the American people will get through these difficult times is through our own resilience and ingenuity.  At best, the government is irrelevant in finding prosperity again.  At worst, government can present a massive obstacle for the economy to overcome.   If we do not wise up and rein government back in to its Constitutional limitations, bloated government could be a cumbersome unnecessary weight the economy will continually have to support to stay afloat.

Understanding Our Times: The War on Christmas

For most people, when we discuss a “war on Christmas” we are referring to the debate over saying Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. Should we allow Christmas trees and carols in public places? Yet, the war on Christmas is much deeper than these trivial matters. Even Christians fall prey to loosing the true meaning of Christmas. Tune in to hear a special Christmas message preached by our host, Kevin Thompson.

Broadcast – Understanding Our Times

Website - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/understandingourtimes

Time – Saturday, December 20, at 6:00 pm EST/5:00pm CST

Length – 30 Minutes  

You can join us live Saturday evening at 6:00 pm EST, or download the broadcast in mp3 format at a time more convenient for you.

“Understanding Our Times” is an interactive, live Internet talk-radio show that focuses on current events from a distinctly Biblical worldview. Host Kevin Thompson offers listeners timely discussion of meaningful issues with a variety of different guests each week. Callers are encouraged to call (347) 945-7171 to listen or ask questions. The stream and archives are available at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/understandingourtimes. The show is live every Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m. Eastern/ 3:00 p.m. PT. The show is hosted on BlogTalkRadio.

Got Birth Certificate?

Constitution Party Calls For Barack Obama To Prove Eligibility For Office

Lancaster, PA, The country’s fastest-growing third party (Ballot Access News 12/08) challenged Barack Obama to release his birth certificate and dispel the grave concerns that he is ineligible to assume office as president of the United States.

“The Constitution is crystal clear on the issue of citizenship. Article 2, Section 1 states that no one can be sworn into office as President of the United States unless he is a natural born citizen”, said Constitution Party National Committee Chairman Jim Clymer.

Clymer, a Pennsylvania attorney who has litigated cases based on Constitutional law added, “Obama has yet to produce even basic proof that he was born in this country. Average citizens can’t even get a driver’s license without such proof of citizenship and Obama is contending he can assume the highest office in the land without such proof!

If a non-citizen can be given a free pass to the presidency than what’s to say someone with no allegiance and who harbors ill will toward the country won’t someday assume office?”

The Constitution Party ,which holds that the Constitution is the supreme and abiding law by which our country should be governed, contends that no one is above that law. Even Barack Obama.

Obama has refused repeated requests to release his Hawaiian birth certificate, which would include the actual hospital that performed the delivery.

Lawsuits filed in a number of states asking for proof of the basic information have been dismissed.

The Supreme Court met to discuss the issue Friday, December 5,2008.

“What is cause for concern here, in addition to the element of deceit shown by Obama and his handlers, is the apparent total disregard for the Constitution. If this eligibility question can be ignored, what does this say about how this administration will regard other Constitutional mandates?” Clymer asked.

The Constitution Party calls on Barack Obama, the Democratic National Committee, Attorneys General and Secretaries of State of the various states, Congress and the Courts to take their oaths of office and this constitutional question seriously in order to restore faith in our system of free and fair elections.