CONFIRMING THE UNCONFORMABLE

One of the roles of a minister is prophetic. A prophetic ministry has nothing to do with predicting the future as most believe. A prophetic ministry has to do with ethics. The prophetic minister realizes that the world is governed by ethical cause and effect. The future predicted by a prophet is one of God’s impending judgment. A prophet is called to try and get people to amend their ways so that God’s judgement does not fall. A prophet’s ministry is a no win situation. Very few will listen and judgment comes.

The prophet’s vindication is I told you so. It is amazing how people begin to listen when judgment comes, never before. This is because the vast majority of people think only about the short term and never about the future consequences of their actions. It takes a crisis to get these people’s attention. Once the crisis passes, these people return to their former ways. They never learn from their past behavior. They are headed for the next crisis.

Throughout history, the predominate ethical standards have been non existent. Most ethical systems have been anti-ethical. Anti-ethics is enforceable only at the end of a gun. Situation ethics only works when physical force is used. Otherwise, situation ethics will fail because they do not conform to the way that the world works. It is obvious that the vast majority of men do not understand absolutes. If they did, absolutes would predominate, not randomness.

The Senate has confirmed a known tax evader, Timothy Geithner, to be Treasury Secretary. As Treasury Secretary, Geithner will be the head of the Internal Revenue Service. His choice by Obama demonstrates that a person’s ethics are of no consequence. Geithner said that his failure to pay self employment taxes was an oversight. Hardly, it was intentional. I agree with what Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia said in an Associated Press article, "Had he not been nominated for treasury secretary, it’s doubtful that he would have ever paid these taxes."

What Senator Byrd said is true. Geithner only paid these taxes when Obama chose him for Treasury Secretary. There was a realization that these unpaid taxes would become an issue that could prevent his confirmation. These unpaid social security taxes were from 2001 to 2003. Geithner paid these taxes in late 2008. There is a five year gap. It should be obvious that he was not going to pay these taxes, if he could get away with it. He is a tax evader.

Our Treasury Secretary is a tax evader. This demonstrates that Obama has no concern over ethics. Obama is ethically challenged. He has none. His choice for Treasury Secretary demonstrates this fact. If you or I would have tried to evade our taxes, we would be thrown in jail. This is another reason not to trust our government. A tax evaders has been promoted to a Cabinet level position. This is typical with this new administration. In other words, get used to it.

WHITE GUILT DAY

History is being made daily. The question becomes who decides what is historical and what is not. Historical data must be interpreted. The historian’s perspective will color his interpretation of the data. There is no neutrality in interpretation. The historian may try to objective, but the choice of data demonstrates the historian’s subjective bias. It would be refreshing if people would admit that we all are biased.

It is claimed that the Civil War was fought over the issue of slavery. This is incorrect. In my opinion, the Civil War was a power struggle between the Federal and State governments. The war was one of sovereignty. The states of the South wanted to be able to make their own determinations apart from the Federal government. One of those determinations was the owning of slaves.

The Civil War is referred to as the war between the states. This is also a misnomer. It was a war between Federal forces and southern state forces. This war was fought between the years of 1861 and 1865. We are now in the year 2009 of our Lord or 144 years later. There is not one person alive today that lived during that time period. There is no living eyewitness to the events of that war. So, we are dependent upon historians for our information.

January 19, 2009 is Martin Luther King’s Day. It is a Federal holiday. It is for me just another day. It has no significance whatsoever. Not because I am a racist. Martin Luther King’s Day and the civil rights movement promote racism and continue to divide this nation. Civil rights legislation has done nothing to move black people out of slavery. Slavery, while not as overt, still exists among the black population of America.

Affirmative action, quotas, welfare, rent controls, minimum wage laws etc. all take away the initiative of people to better their situation. Instead of earning their way through life, they want entitlements backed by the Federal government’s guns. This keeps the black people in a form of slavery. They are no longer in slavery to Southern plantation owners, but to the Federal government. This is why they almost exclusively vote for Democrats. Democrats want to enslave all men to the power of the civil government.

Why is there a Martin Luther King’s Day when his legacy was the promotion of racism? The answer is white guilt. There are those who believe that white’s should atone for the supposed sins of their forefathers. One of the ways these craven individuals seek to assuage their guilt over slavery of the past is to honor King by making his birthday a national holiday. This makes them feel better about themselves. They will also join in celebrations giving an outward show of unity.

There are those who do not believe in entitlements and refuse to be enslaved by the Federal government. So on this Martin Luther King Day, I am going to do the opposite of taking off this day, I am going to go to work. I know that there are no free lunches and that the Federal government does not owe me a living. Skin color does not matter. Performance is what will get you where you need to go.

WHERE IS THE INCENTIVE?

Once a government agency is created, it will fight to keep receiving budget dollars. As with all government solutions to an issue, more money will be needed to correct the problem that never gets solved. If government really wanted to solve most problems, they would get out of the way. Government many times does not want to solve problems but gain more control over a nation. Unfortunately, there are many who think they are helping. They are helping to perpetuate bureaucratic control.

There are only two ways of viewing any issue. One is based solely on effects or the visible world and the other is to think in terms of cause and effect. The vast majority of people have been trained to think only in terms of effects. For instance, they see a homeless man and think something ought to be done so that this man has a home. They never ask the question of why this man is homeless. In other words, they are not capable of thinking in terms of cause. Thinking about causality is what will solve the issue of homelessness.

The Appalachian Regional Coalition on Homelessness is seeking volunteers to do a HUD mandated count of Northeast Tennessee’s homeless. This mandated count is designed to provide Federal Government grants to end chronic homelessness in the United States. The Johnson City Press provides the following quote from Dreama Shreve, director of ARCH’s Homeless Information System, "What the point-in-time counts means to the local community is money. Every grant awarded to the local service agencies by HUD requires specific data supported by data gathered in the annual surveys. Northeast Tennessee will miss out on the those grants without it."

Well there it is. Shreve’s job depends on counting homeless people. What is well known about government agencies is that the majority money expended goes to administration, not to the intended recipients. The government is a poor employer because they are looking for free labor to conduct this homeless count. Of course, Shreve is going to make sure that this survey is put in the newspaper. She is getting free advertising so that she and this government agency keep their jobs.

The homeless are comprised principally of men. The main reason why they are homeless is because they are lazy. They do not want to work and since they are manipulators, they manipulate the gullible into giving them shelter, clothing, and food. Shelters and soup kitchens enable these men to continue their chosen homeless lifestyle. Biblical charity is personal and short term. Any organization that keeps feeding the same people day in and day out is not doing them any favors. Instead of creating independence, they create a dependence.

This upcoming count will do nothing to prevent or solve chronic homelessness. In fact, what will happen as a result of this count will be that homelessness will increase. This increase in the homeless will result in more money being granted to Northeast Tennessee and so the cycle goes on and on. Who pays for these lazy men? You and I do through our taxes. Isn’t it time to cut off the funds to this government agency and the lazy?

LAWLESS CULTURE

Some cultures never get it no matter where they are. You can take someone and put them in a new environment and their behavior remains the same because environments do not change the hearts of people. When it is proved over a period of time that behavior is consistent, the analysis will be that those traits are a firm part of that particular culture. Most cultures are known for their exhibited traits.

There are only two ways of living life, with absolutes and without them. Someone who lives according to absolutes will realize the necessity of living according to a standard. Others do not believe that there are any established standards and are therefore relegated to living their lives based upon impulse. The one is future oriented and the other is present oriented. Cultures will demonstrate either one of these orientations. We are living in a day and age characterized with being present oriented. This will have adverse consequences.

Someone who is present oriented disregards the future consequences of his behavior. It is obvious that he is oblivious to the negative consequences that await him. If he weighted the costs, he would not do something that is not in his best interest. He is incapable and unwilling to think beyond the immediate moment. He like an animal acts upon impulse. The result is chaos and lawlessness.

A recent study made by Northeastern University says that murders among black youths is on the increase. The study showed that in 2007, 426 black males between ages 14 and 17 were killed by gun crimes. This is a 40% increase from 2000. An estimated 964 of the same age group committed murders in 2007 which is a 38% increase from 2000. What gets the blame for these increases? The Bush Administration does because it cut grants to local police and juvenile crime prevention programs. No blame is given to those who are responsible, the lawless black culture.

This study is designed to increase government intervention and control. One thing that would

help in this situation is to abolish the minimum wage laws. These 14 to 17 year olds are shut out of the job market by the minimum wage laws. Instead of being occupied by working, these young men are employed by gangs. They run drugs for older men. The reason for the increase is the turf wars between competing gangs. Their behavior is negative rather than positive.

What is needed in this situation is not more government regulation, but more opportunities for these young men to work. They must be shown that work is more profitable than being in a gang and dying young. These young men are unemployable because they any lack working skills.

Employers are not going to overpay for unskilled labor. If they were able to get work at the

market price, it would keep them doing something constructive, not destructive. This solution is completely lost on those who conducted the Northeastern study. It never dawned on them because they are unable to think in terms of causes. Rather, they can only go by what they see with their physical eyes. Their solution will not stop this violence. This is another wasteful study.