In this tumultuous, sloshing, spewing sea of uncertainty that we find ourselves in, how are you doing?
I have been keeping myself afloat with a few strategies.
I have grabbed the biggest, most unpleasant jobs to I could find to tackle and tackled them with a vengeance. And then found more.
I found the biggest board in the barn and slathered some Red-Paint-Truth to plunk in the field. (It made me feel better almost immediately.)
AND
I have decided to focus on the things that I know for sure and for certain.
What could possibly be CERTAIN right now, you ask?
This:
~ The media does not "call" elections. It does not say in the Constitution of the United States that when the major news outlets say an election is over, it is over. a-hem. Not quite. Joe Biden is NOT the President-elect and no one should be calling him such. Not until the proper legal processes are over will we know who the President-elect is. Electors vote on Dec. 14th. Inauguration is Jan. 20th. Nothing is over, no matter what the media wants you to believe. We all must accept the outcome of this election- when it actually comes. We need to be informed. We need to be intelligent.
~ It is messed up that the media is pretending to have this authority because in doing so, they are fanning the flames of discord. No matter which way this election goes, it is not going to be pretty. And they made things much, much worse. On purpose. We should be looking elsewhere for REAL NEWS sources.
~ Voter Fraud is dangerous to ALL Americans, Republicans, Democrats and everything in between... both sides should be calling for investigations to be sure everything is legit- for the integrity of elections. Because if we are content with fakery in our elections, the American PEOPLE lose. This is not simply an argument for Trump versus Biden, but Lies versus Truth, Cheating versus Integrity, American voices versus Puppeteers, Democratic process versus Tyranny. We should be unified in this.
~ We as a country and as a church have turned away from God. We deserve much worse than what we have already been given and what we may be given in the future. We need to repent.
~ There are hard blessings and pleasant blessings.
Romans 8:28 says: And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Doug Wilson wrote once (at a time when the stakes were high and his son had just been diagnosed with a large brain tumor)..."because of the truth of Romans 8:28 God’s elect can only experience two kinds of events—pleasant blessings and hard ones. The pleasant ones, like a bowl of hand-cranked ice cream, have a certain sweet immediacy about them, but the hard blessings are far more durable. More can be done with them, and much more can be done from them. We are instructed to thank the Lord always and for everything, and that includes this kind of test, this kind of hard blessing (Eph. 5:20). We are not just to be thankful in the trial, but also thankful for it. And so we thank the Lord, giver of all good things." I have carried that truth with me ever since. It is really quite profound. We need to accept these blessings from God, even if they are hard blessings.
~ Jesus REIGNS. HE is the One in charge. (No matter the president of the USA) As we will be reminded often as Christmas approaches... "the government will be upon His shoulders." All of this isn't just happening to us... Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And He shall reign forever and ever and ever.
We need to not just SAY it, or sing it, but BELIEVE it.
25 comments:
AMEN!
Amen!
Well said, AMEN!
Totally agree!!
I totally agree with you!
The media CAN call elections, and have done so, in EVERY SINGLE PAST ELECTION, because they are basing their call on the data they have received. They called it in 2016 for Trump and noone complained then, did they?
What is so ridiculous is that Trump hasn't conceded allowing for a smooth transition of leadership at the highest level. Instead, he is "burrowing" Republicans in positions of power before he is ousted to make things even more difficult for president-elect Biden (https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/10/politics/trump-officials-ousted-burrowing/index.html).
I could list link after link here of online articles that are saying what a dangerous position Trump is putting us in by behaving the way he is. Why can't we have a president who acts like an adult and concedes the election instead of one that acts like a petulant child throwing a tantrum because someone took his favorite toy away?
Recounts are futile when Biden is up almost 5,000,000 votes (that's a lot of zeroes!)! I cannot wait for this all to be over. Biden is going to be our next president, thank God, because I'm tired of being embarrassed to be American. Trump doesn't respect ANYONE who isn't male, white and straight. His intolerance of those who are female, people of color, LGBTQ, etc. has made our country so divisive. Our country, and our world, will never be united until ALL people accept ALL people for who they are inside.
Kris- an election cannot be called by the media because, in America, the president is not elected by popular vote. Presidents are elected by the electoral college and the electors will not vote until December 14th. Therefore, this election is by no means 'called'. The media simply anticipates what will happen or 'projects' their guess. For more on the electoral college vs popular vote, you can check out this short PragerU video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXnjGD7j2B0
Incidentally, this also addresses your last point about popular votes being up for Biden.
But even then you raise a good point. That IS a lot of zeros- much more zeros than ever voted for Hillary or Obama. For sleepy, sniffy hide-in-the-basement-instead-of-campaigning Joe. Does that raise any red flags to you? It does me- especially the hundreds of thousands of votes that all came in at 2am and 100% of them were for Biden with not-a-one being for Trump. That is one example of many that raise lots and lots of questions... I hope you are asking them too.
I am not sure how requiring our voting system to be lawful and constitutional- allowing American voices to be heard rather than votes to be manipulated is a petulant, childish tantrum. Were democrats having petulant tantrums for four years when they suspected (without evidence) that Trump had manipulated the polls? Again, it is in everyones' best interest. In this election and for all future elections.
Finally, I would encourage you to check out the Blexit movement. Candance Owens began that movement and she is an extraordinary person. She also happens to be both female AND black. You would be surprised by how many black, female and even gay people support Trump.
https://blexitfoundation.org/
You might just be listening to those media companies I was talking about!
Thanks for commenting and letting me share a different perspective.
Love that sign and its truth.
God rules the heart of the king. Take heart!
Interessant und anschulich beschrieben finde ich.Vielen Dank für die super Schilderung.Wie war es denn dann letztendlich noch im Wellnesshotel Kaltern bei euch ?Grüße Christine
Well said! Thank you for being unafraid to speak the truth, and for explaining our election system so well. Too many people don't understand it. We will all be fine, but that is not to say we may not have to go through some hardships. Keeping God in the forefront is the key. He is our strength and shield.
I agree with Kris. In addition to the points she made, i would like to add that I find your description of President-elect Biden (in your response to Kris) to be unnecessary and unkind. I often disagree with President Trump, but would not stoop to describing him in insulting terms. This is beneath Christian behavior and does nothing to promote the unity that I believe God wants for all of his children all over the world.
This is your platform, of course, but your point might be better heard from those of us on the other side if we didn’t have to read insulting words about the candidate that we believe in. We must be able to disagree without being petty. God Bless you and God Bless America.
Rebecca - I honestly cannot believe how gullible some people are when it comes to following Trump and how blind they can be regarding who he is as a person. It just boggles my mind.
That being said, I have a transgender son and there is no way I could vote for someone who led a government that went above and beyond to reverse the rights that my child is entitled to, many rights which were given to him during Obama's administration.
https://transequality.org/the-discrimination-administration
My son fears for his life on a regular basis because he has no idea how a person would react if they found out he is trans. He doesn't feel welcome in his own country because of all that has happened over the last four years. Would you want one of your children feeling like a stranger in their own country and fearing being "found out?"
It's obvious that we are on two totally different sides. I have followed your blog for soooo long and I'm really, REALLY disappointed that you support a man who doesn't have any of the character, morals and ethics that I have seen you display and teach to your children for so many years.
I also don't know how, as a woman, you can support him. Are you going to tell your children that Trump once said (about women), "Grab them by the *****!" How can you support a man who thinks that way about you & your daughters and has spent almost 30 years insulting women (https://apps.voxmedia.com/graphics/vox-trump-misogny-timeline/), assaulting them (https://www.businessinsider.com/women-accused-trump-sexual-misconduct-list-2017-12) and not giving a care about it all?
I hope that the next time you vote for ANYONE, you will consider more than party politics & beliefs and look at that person's character and how they treat other people. Trump lost my respect before he even become president when he called Hillary Clinton a "nasty woman." Our country is so much better off without him.
By the way, your comment about Biden receiving "hundreds of thousands of votes ..." has been proven false. It was a typo, nothing else.
https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/04/michigan-election-ballots-mail-absentee-hour-count-update/6161367002/
Also, I do understand how the Electoral College works. You are mincing words. Once the Electoral votes equal or pass 270, then the winner can be called. It is not projecting a guess because the votes are in and the data can then be interepreted.
ALSO, this just in:
Top U.S. government officials declared the election to be "the most secure" in history, saying there was no sign any voting system was compromised.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/12/us/joe-biden-trump?campaign_id=60&emc=edit_na_20201112&instance_id=0&nl=breaking-news&ref=headline®i_id=117816179&segment_id=44382&user_id=33384bf817d99db16cb339719726f0e9#cybersecurity-officials-say-the-election-was-the-most-secure-in-american-history
What you blogged was lovely and true.
I think some other people are sadly lost and confused. May God have mercy on their souls.
Jo
Totally agree with your election recap! Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Blessings, Shirley
I'm finding this post really interesting as a reader who is not American.
Good to understand more of how your democratic system works.
I am amazed at how so many Christian people are such big supporters of Trump - I understand that from a pro-life point of view, but for the life of me can not understand how you can marry up his awful history of treating women so poorly his petulant behaviour and mistruths. It just doesn't make sense to me at all and certainly isn't behaviour most Christians would accept as appropriate.
Is it normal for a President to elevate relatives up to very high positions in their administration???
And the "hide in the basement Joe" comment- seems intelligent to me in the middle of a pandemic.
Interesting times - hopefully the US can accept whatever the result is and move forward with wisdom and grace.
Wilma in NZ
Mary Anne- and I didn't even say 'bumbling' or 'incompetent'! :-) I can describe Joe in this way for the same reason that I can describe Trump as garish, immature, egotistical and often obnoxious. PC police don't bother me when I am using adjectives accurately and without bias.
The point of that remark, which I think was lost in translation, was that Joe is a candidate that no one really loves, who is not without his own creepy idiosyncrasies and who was NON-EXISTENT in campaigning this election. With Hillary, there was a HUGE impetus to get the first woman president. With Barack, there was a HUGE impetus to get the first black president. Hoards of people stood behind those candidates in order to usher in a new era of equality. This raises the question of how was Joe Biden able to top THEM doing what he did and being who he is? Maybe He did...but with as much evidence of fraud that is swirling around- it is a question that bears ASKING at least. Reason and logic are our friends here.
Kris and Wilma-
Pertaining to how I can support Trump- if you read the previous comment I made to Mary Anne, you will see that I am critical of Trump myself. I do not condone his repugnant behavior. But remember- Joe Biden has his own repugnant behavior. (Look to Hunter Biden's laptop for more information- and just one example- there.)
I do not vote on personality, I vote on POLICY.
Winston Churchill was kicked out of office twice, slept until noon, used opium in college and drank a quart of whiskey every evening.
Adolf Hitler was a decorated war hero. He was a vegetarian, didn't smoke, drank only an occasional beer and never cheated on his wife.
Personality doesn't cut it.
I support Trump because he supports LIFE. Joe supports abortion up until the moment of delivery and possibly after. (This one right here is enough for me. If we do not have the Right to Life, we have NO RIGHTS AT ALL.)
I support Trump because he supports law enforcement. Joe was supporting the 'mostly-peaceful protests' that BURNED CITIES to the ground up until his advisors said polling was down and to back off on that rhetoric.
Because he elected conservatives with integrity to the Supreme Court.
Because he doesn't want America to turn into socialist Venezuela.
Because he surrounds himself with people like Ben Carson and Mike Pence.
Because he ushered in the lowest black unemployment rate ever.
Because he has the grit to show how corrupt our government and media is.
I support Trump because he has proven himself to act CONSTITUTIONALLY and on behalf of the American people.
And to you, specifically, Kris:
Ultimately, I don't care WHO gets in office if the process was legitimate. I don't like Biden, that's no secret, but far more important to me is the fact that He became president LAWFULLY. I am not looking for votes to be manipulated to make Trump president. I don't think anyone wants that. I am looking for votes NOT TO BE MANIPULATED. Period. That's it.
I can give you as many links about how what you have linked is untrue but I have more to do than host a link war. Suffice it to say... I look forward to seeing how this all plays out. Because if these investigations prove systemic voting fraud, not only will the Democratic party be exposed as cheats, but we will see that the media and big tech has been complicit as well.
Kris, I have enjoyed your visits here and your comments over the years. We come from very different worldview perspectives so I will leave it at this: I appreciate the dialogue we have been able to have- I never, ever, ever mind discussing differing views. I enjoy it actually. So thank you for that. And I do feel bad for the struggles that your family faces- I will be praying for you.
I appreciate your response, but you mistook my discussion about character/morals/ethics,etc with your idea of PERSONALITY. The "personalities" you mentioned for Churchill and Hitler have NOTHING to do with their character, their personal belief system and how they treated other people. SO you are comparing apples and oranges here.
That said, we'll just have to agree to disagree. I just hope that everyone will give Biden a chance to unite Americans again. Our country needs it now more than ever.
Biden and Trump are both awful and the bigger (and to my mind) most salient point is that our Democracy has been under attack by capitalism and big business for half a century or more. It's NOT Christians vs. Liberals, it's Elites vs Non-Elites, Racists vs People of Color.
We live in a country that is attempting to be a police state and has largely succeeded until the peaceful resistance and rebellion of this year. Protesters who got setup by police so they could justify their force, but even that backfired thanks to the amount of recording devices and decent humans who spoke up and recorded the truth.
Young men of color are being lynched as a direct result of Trumps support of white supremacists. Biden can't change this in 4 years but he will at least not continue to inflame. We, as citizens, have to continue to fight and protest. I wouldn't infringe on another woman's right to abortion because even though I wouldn't choose it for myself I cannot legislate someone else's rights. HOWEVER- we need to instate reasonable laws. I feel sick at the thought of a baby past 20 weeks being murdered. (I am aware that not everyone uses the term murder or baby but I do when it concerns pregnancy and abortion.) We cannot force each other to live by our own tenants but we can and should enact laws that are humane as well as accommodating. I don't believe anyone should be allowed to circumcise their baby boy or pierce their child's ears. I think it is a violation of that little human's rights.
I don't know that any of you will read all this but I say this with all the love in my heart- we are smarter than this. Life is not lived in extremes of belief but in balance. We absolutely can have a better living condition than what exists in this country right now. But we have to stop falling for the propaganda. Find the balance. Accept that others have the right to choices you wouldn't choose.
Best wishes to all of you and as we head into this holiday season I hope you can find joy in your families and traditions.
Angela- abortion IS murder. I'm glad you said it. The confounding thing to me is hearing that said in the same paragraph and "I support a person's right to choose" as well as "I don't believe people should pierce childrens' ears or circumcise their boys."
You do know that the murder that takes place in the womb literally rips children apart or burns them or injects their little hearts with poison to stop beating?
Because I support people's rights to govern their own bodies. The science is clear, having access to family planning including safe legal abortion LOWERS the overall number of abortions performed. If you want less of them then you have to face facts. Not everyone believes they are murder, ergo I support their beliefs and their rights. It is not my place to play momma and tell them how to live. Additionally, abortions are medically necessary. It sucks, it's terrible, like losing a limb to cancer you just don't get a say in it sometimes. And the danger in radical belief systems of "all this and none of that" is that they are divisive and often don't leave room for common sense. If I could say one thing to my fellow suburban white women who voted for Trump in embarrassing numbers it would be this, stop being outraged, it makes you easy to manipulate. Reach for logic. And reject the false ideology you are being fed. I spent 20 years of my life unsure how I really felt about abortion other than the knee jerk reaction of NO! It's awful! But I intentionally read articles, listened to podcasts, read stories of women who regretted their choice and women who didn't regret a thing. I rejected my own confirmation bias to search for understanding. And I found it. I encourage everyone to really dig into opposing viewpoints, you will learn so much about yourself.
I find myself frankly devastated that a Christian woman whom I have admired for so long (from afar!) could possibly defend the support of Donald Trump. Your value of human life doesn't extend to the children who have been ripped from their parents arms and lives at the direct order of this man? Or the complete disregard he has for women? His ability to mock the disabled and think it is funny? Personality and character are two very different things. The fact that so many evangelical Christians support this man who is unabashedly cruel, ignorant, and a liar makes our witness a joke. We are told to love our enemies and exhibit the fruits of the Spirit, yet Christian have elected Donald Trump to hate and be cruel on our behalf. The world sees this hypocrisy.
I am no fan of Joe Biden but the support of Christians for Donald Trump is heartbreaking and embarrassing to me as a Christian. The world sees this man and knows that Christians have placed him in power. Please know that those in power in his party are using your (righteous) hatred of abortion to own you and your vote. This has been their plan for decades. It is evident that you value truth and transparency therefore I respectfully recommend you look further into the sources from which you find your information.
Angela- I believe people have the right to govern their own bodies too. A person has a right to decide to cut off a finger (though I would be worried about that persons' mental state). Unfortunately, a woman is not governing her OWN body when she is having an abortion or HER limbs would be ripped off or HER heart injected with poison. Obviously, an abortion affects ANOTHER persons' body because THAT body gets tossed in the trash afterwards, and the womans' goes home.
I AM using logic here. If a person has a right to govern their own bodies- where are the rights of the person in the womb? IF abortion is murder at 20 weeks...why is it okay earlier than that? I am afraid logic is not on your side.
My question to you is this: BY WHAT STANDARD? You are making YOURSELF to be the standard by creating arbitrary lines of morality. i.e. It is moral to kill a baby in the womb IF the woman wants to. It is NOT moral to pierce a childs' ears if they are too young to express that desire themselves. We don't look to our OWN standards of morality. Without objective standards to morality, the child predator can decide that he can molest children IF they appear to like it (by his standard) and as long as he doesn't hurt them too much (by his standard). That is logic, followed to its' conclusion.
Because someone believes something to be true, that doesn't make it true.
The only differences between a person inside the womb and a person outside the womb are these:
Size (are we allowed to murder midgets?)
Level of Development (Moses is less developed than Judah who is less developed than Andrew who is less developed than Matt who is less developed than his father. Can I murder them if I believe it would make my life easier?)
Environment (Should I be allowed to murder people in nursing homes or in shelters or in third world countries?)
Degree of Dependence (Can I murder the one month old who can't provide for his own needs or adults on life-support or the people in wheelchairs?)
By no means. That wouldn't be MORAL. So logically, a human life cannot MORALLY be snuffed out for any of those reasons- including a human life that happens to be very small, in a womb, dependent upon its' mother and developing more and more every day.
In regard to your other points:
Do Democratic policies lower abortion rates?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqePNYyI9tw
If abortions are medically necessary- then why do they take several days to perform? Answer: cuz they are not. The very miniscule percentage of cases where it is medically necessary to deliver a baby to save the life of the mother, the baby is delivered (and fast!) in a hospital with doctors and nurses rushing about. If the baby is too small to be viable, that baby sadly dies. The intent is always to try and save both mother AND child. But to hear this from many more and much smarter people:
https://www.nrlc.org/archive/abortion/pba/HowOftenAbortionNecessarySaveMother.pdf
I get a lot of perspectives as I research information...I read and listen to many voices, including opposing ones. I enjoy it and wish more people did that. It expands a person and sharpens a person and can either conform a persons' positions or help a person to defend their own. So don't worry about other perspectives being represented, it's just that I disagree with them. :-)
Shazanne
Unfortunately, I cannot wait for a president to fully and accurately represent ME (and all Christians) because that will never happen. We live in a fallen and sinful world. I have to choose wisely from the individuals that are placed in front of me.
As I said in my response to Kris and Wilma several comments ago... I support Trump's policies not his personality AND character. I also stated several policies that are important to me and ought to be important for all Americans. You can check there if you missed it.
I get the vibe from your comment, and many never-Trumpers, that Joe Biden is somehow a 'nicer' person, a more 'righteous' person, a more 'palatable' person. Let's address this, shall we?
Joe Biden is a racist who says that only Indians work at 7-11s, "poor kids are just as talented as white kids", "you ain't BLACK unless you vote democrat" and of Obama: “I mean, you got the first African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man,”. He has called children 'cockroaches' and implied of a black man asking him a question about mental evaluations that he was a ‘junkie’.
He has acted inappropriately to women (and little girls!) too- making them uncomfortable with his unwelcome and creepy caresses and sniffing.
He has mocked reporters, yelled and been derogatory to anauto worker, calling him "full of sh**!", he called a man ‘fat’ and challenged him to a fight, he degraded an older man because of his age, saying that he was too old to vote for him.
He is corrupt and has had dealings in Russia and China that are despicable, with hard evidence of such dealings coming out just a month ago on a laptop from his son, Hunter Biden.
He had lied so much it’s almost as if he has forgotten we have VIDEO RECORDINGS.
And those "cages" you were referring to were actually put up during the Obama/Biden administration.
Speaking of the cages...did you know that 1/3 of all the children taken from their 'parents' were NOT BIOLOGICALLY RELATED to the adults they were with? This is very problematic since we are in the midst of a human trafficking crisis. Trump is working to stop human trafficking by making sure he gives children back to their PARENTS, not pimps or coyotes. That seems very humane to me.
Shanzanne, we are all just making the wisest decisions based upon the information that we have available to us- and with the flawed candidates who are presented to us.
Those candidates are going to be sinful and flawed because we live in a fallen world. We are going to have to make concessions. We aren’t looking for a savior- we already have one of those- JESUS!- we are looking for a leader.
The character I look for in a leader is whether or not he does what he says he will do. And does what he says he will do align with the American Constitution and Bill of Rights? Particularly the FIRST amendment because without IT, there are no others.
Trump has done that. Biden has not and has openly said he will not.
If I am devastated about anything, I am devastated that Christians can be content to allow and justify the murdering of image bearers of God.
THAT is something to be devastated about.
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