Taking Back America - Very Doubtful Indeed --

Organizations have been formed, "conservative" politics has been gaining momentum in anticipation of the November 2010 elections, books by the dozens have been written, and talk show hosts with a "conservative" reputation have been having a field day!

"Taking Back America!" has been a rallying cry for quite some time. The tea party gatherings were not the fly-by-night phenomenon that mainstream media people wanted us to believe. So then came the "labeling" of those involved in the movement to "take back America."

If you in any way disagree with or, horrors upon horrors, you dare to oppose the agenda being advanced by Obama & Co. then you are a bigoted racist filled with venom and undiluted hatred!

As of this date (Aug. 28, 2010) on which these comments have been written, Glenn Beck is at the center of a rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. Preparation and accompanying publicity for this have been going on for months. Beck's TV program on August 27 featured some members of the clergy. Expressed in the course of their discussion was the opinion that another "great awakening" is now taking place. Some details were revealed in an effort to support the suggestion that this is truly happening around the nation.

Is it happening for real? Will America actually be "taken back" as many attempt to spell it out in light of the chaos that now rules in government, business, industry, education, and even too many church groups?

There will be some stirrings here and there perhaps and emotions will run very high, but for the healing and restoration of the republic as God defines a culture that is in right relationship to Him, the "taking back America" thing is very doubtful to say the least!

The reason is rather simple. In the midst of the activity and rhetoric spewed forth, including Beck announcing that we "need God," there is no serious consideration of the need to repent of all sin! This is an absolute must on both the personal and individual level as well as the collective level in all facets of our society.

There is no remorse and regret that we have brutally mutilated and murdered at least 52 million unborn children since January of 1973, or engaged in widespread idolatry with our version of homemade "deities," or engaging persistently in sexual immorality of pandemic proportions, or massively profaning what is supposed to be a day of worship and rest, or teaching millions of our young that we have evolved from lower life forms which existed millions and millions of years ago! But worst of all is the fact that Jesus Christ is ignored as the exclusive remedy and answer to one's personal salvation from sin and admission into the eternal Kingdom of God!

Until there is brutal honesty starting with leadership in our churches and in our government at various levels in admitting the aforementioned sins and abominations and the fact that such offenses have to cease immediately, then all the talk (and debate) about "taking back America" is in vain.

Perhaps the time has now come that the person who chooses to face reality in this republic needs to think and anticipate judgment at the hands of a God Who is holy and Who will not endlessly tolerate rebellion -- especially on the part of a nation which claims to be "one nation, under God...!"

I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, 'I will not hear.' This has been your manner from your youth, that you did not obey My voice. The wind shall eat up all your rulers, and your lovers shall go into captivity; surely then you will be ashamed and humiliated for all your wickedness. --- Jeremiah 22:21, 22

Hypocrisy Rears Its Ugly Head in the Muslim World!

Sanam Gul, a 47-year-old widow, was executed on Saturday, August 7, 2010, as a result of alleged charges involving adultery which resulted in her becoming pregnant. --- from various news sources on the internet

The Taliban waved the flag of hypocrisy very high in a recent episode and demonstrated that Muslims can be anything but consistent in their professed "faith!" On August 7 Sanam Gul was executed after a 200 lash whipping. Mohammad Yousuf, a Taliban commander, shot her 3 times in the head after the whipping.

Sanam was a 47-year-old widow who had been accused of adultery which resulted in her becoming pregnant. So the "righteous" authorities with intense indignation determined that she should be put to death for this crime.

Now correct me if I am wrong -- or possibly things have so changed that I haven't been properly informed -- but my understanding is that adultery requires the participation of two persons -- a male and a female, at least one of which is married to someone else! In Sanam's case, she was a widow - her husband was dead -- so that means the male with whom she became intimate is married. Strange, is it not, that no mention is made of the man in this matter, much less bring charges against him, find him guilty of fathering a child to another female other than his wife, and then execute him for this offense?

Ah, I forgot - in the world of Islam, females have about as much status as a guy's bicycle -- or maybe less, so that the bicycle has more respect than the female does!

It is interesting that Jesus ran into this glaring type of inconsistency when He was here on earth. A bunch of indignant self-righteous individuals (all males) brought a woman before Him and accused her of adultery, having been caught in the very act. That means that there were two people there at the moment - the woman and the man who was intimately involved with her.

After the accusation and the reminder that the woman should be stoned according to the Law of Moses, Jesus was asked what He thought about the situation. He made no reply immediately but was writing something on the ground with the tip of His finger. The accusers were becoming impatient -- they wanted an answer right now from this One Whom they were beginning to hate with a bitter passion. Finally He made His response --"He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." Oooops! They were totally unprepared for that -- suddenly something began to happen within the heart and soul of each of the accusers -- a very disturbing feeling of guilt began to settle in -- quickly, they made their exit -- somehow they had to distance themselves from the woman they wanted so badly to stone to death. But even more so, from that One Who had made the suggestion as to the individual who should begin the execution procedure and throw the first rock!

Muslims, Christians, or whatever religious stripe with which one may identify -- the day is coming when each one of us will appear before Jesus Christ to be judged by Him -- He is the One Who will determine what our eternal destiny will be and the environment in which eternity will be experienced. Yes, even Mohammad Yousuf, executioner of adultresses, will make his appearance before Jesus -- minus pistol of course and the guy who did the whipping of Sanam Gul -- without his whip!

One of two possibilities exist when Jesus utters the final word in judgment - it will be either the incomprehensible bliss of a trouble-free Heaven or the indescribable agony in a place known as Hell! The determining factor as to which it will be is the choice one has made in this earthly life to repent of all sin and receive Jesus as Savior and Lord into one's life, or do as the vast majority of the world's population and its leaders are doing -- that is to defiantly reject Him and His sacrifice for the sins of the entire human race! What has your choice been regarding the most critical decision you will ever make in a lifetime?

By the way, here is an interesting little exercise on that confrontation with Jesus and the controversy that swirled around a certain female caught in the act of adultery -- what do you suppose He was writing in the sand with the tip of His finger? Could it have been a simple question -- "Where is the man?"

Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?" This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. --- John 8:3-6

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"--- Matthew 7:21-23

"His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' --- Matthew 25:23

I Have Seen Over 7 Decades of Change -- A Lot of It Very Bad!

Clayton D. Harriger was born to Russell and Helen (Sedgwick) Harriger in a farmhouse in Monroe Township, Clarion County, Pennsylvania, USA on August 5, 1933

My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! --- Psalm 139:15-17

I celebrated my birthday on August 5 and was blessed with a great outpouring of well wishes on Facebook as well as receiving phone calls and greeting cards.

I was a Depression-era baby -- that is, I was born during the time the Great Depression had a tight grip on the United States. My parents were living on a rented farm. Life was a constant struggle for them. Eventually they were able to buy the farm at the end of WW II.

My early education took place in a one room country school in which one teacher took care of grades 1 through 8. After completing 8th grade we were bused to Clarion Jr and Senior High Schools in Clarion PA.

In school during those years we started our day with reading from the Scriptures, praying the Lord's Prayer, and pledging allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. In the one room school we sang the first stanza of "America the Beautiful" before eating lunch each day.

The big social occasion of the week was Saturday night in Clarion. Families not only went to do some shopping -- they also went to visit with one another. Getting a parking spot on Main Street was a top priority. You ate fresh roasted peanuts from Maul's Dairy Store and sat in your car, observing the traffic as well as visiting with people who passed by.

Sunday was a quiet day with most families in the area going to church in the morning. After the noon meal there may be a trip to visit a neighbor or relative in the afternoon. Businesses in Clarion were completely shut down. The town was very, very quiet on Sunday afternoon in sharp contrast as to how it was the night before!

As I got older changes began to take place. Pressure mounted to permit Clarion's two movie theaters to show movies on Sunday and so in time it was done. Then came the pressure to allow retail businesses to be open on Sundays and so in time it happened. So at this point in time Sunday is no different than any other day of the week with focus being mainly on the expectation of fair weather so we can party and have lots of fun throughout the country!

Then came earth-shaking court decisions that made an impact on our republic that no person is capable of comprehending -- that is, the full consequences of such decisions have yet to be realized. The U. S. Supreme Court saw fit to rule that it is unlawful to have Bible reading and prayer in the public schools. This was considered a good thing and the country would be a much better nation because of it in years to come. "Religion" is a private matter, you know! And so, the question can be raised - is the nation healthier now ethically and morally, than it was at the time the practice of reading Bible and praying the Lord's prayer was in place?

And there was one of the most diabolical decisions ever made by a court anywhere in the history of the human race when certain black robed individuals got their pointy little heads together and decided that it is a "constitutional right" for a female to have her unborn child mutilated, murdered, and removed from her body! As I have stated in commentary on this elsewhere, we have yet to witness God's full response to this massive destruction of 52 million innocent victims since January of 1973!

Entertainment industries moved from what were considered G-rated programming for the entire family to increased display of vulgarity, violence, and immorality in very graphic fashion! And there is the very awkward question as to why our young often act very selfishly, immorally, violently and speak gutter language constantly. Monkey see, monkey do, you know!

Churches increasingly began to compromise the Biblical standards of ethics and morality, due in part by adopting positions that the Bible does not really mean what it says and that it is simply a human produced volume of material filled with contradictions and errors!

Government began to grow at the rate of a malignant tumor out of control. But not only was there unhealthy growth in government, but all the while it was growing it was also becoming more corrupt as time passed! At present time scandals involving government officials are common place and no longer are we shocked -- it is now the "norm" and we tend to accept such things as being normal!

These are but some of the changes I have witnessed in my lifetime. By God's grace in 1957 I received Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. A few months later He placed me in the ministry which began in June of 1959. Perhaps because of that I have been extremely sensitive to the changes that have been taking place over the last few decades -- changes that guarantee the nation in which I hold my citizenship is headed for disaster and cannot expect anything in the future but the outpouring of the wrath of a holy God in judgment!

But I look beyond that horrible prospect of devastation to the promised return of my personal Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, the living Son of God. He is going to return to this sin drenched world and set it right side up, ruling it with true justice. That is why from time to time I say to people that there is good news for the future -- part of it consists of the fact that all government leaders and their associates will be thrown out of office because the King of kings and Lord of lords is now in charge. It will be a great day -- make sure you don't miss out on it!

And there will be changes taking place when Jesus takes control that we cannot begin to even imagine. One of the greatest will be no more conflicts of any kind with the implements of war being destroyed and material being used in the making of implements of peaceful activity. Even animals will no longer be in conflict, but will live in peace -- e.g. the lion will eat straw like the ox!

So there is a bright future to anticipate, if you look far enough ahead!

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" --- Revelation 11:15