Letting reason, not politics or culture be your guide

When my sons were growing up we went for 8 years without a TV. They were the top readers in their classes, both graduated from college on the dean's list. My eldest son accomplished this despite his struggle with Asperger's Syndrome. Both are exemplary musicians. Both are respected and well liked socially. Keeping them from the trash in TV doesn't appear to have had anything but positive repercussions for them.

Now, when we did go to a movie, or watch a video, or read a book together, we discussed its value, lessons, etc. I taught them how to reason, make right choices, to think through things, to make decisions based on reason and moral consequences.

If given a choice as to whether or not to allow my kids to listen to the president, I would most certainly want them to listen to him. But, we would sit down and discuss what he had to say afterward. The smart thing to do would be to just let the president speak without making all this fuss. Then, we would have get the real Obama, not the politically correct Obama.

This is an exciting, albeit, troublesome time in history. As Americans we are being taught some serious lessons about the freedom we have taken for granted. We're learning that it does indeed matter who we elect. We're learning that we need to be engaged in the political process. We're learning that we can't vote based on party affiliation or race, but instead, according to who has the best, workable ideas to solve the problems we have as a society. Admittedly, those ideas are rather remiss from conservative and liberal politicians alike.

The problem we have today in politics is that we have trusted the representative part of our constitution more than we have involved ourselves with the democratic process, and those representatives have grown corrupt on both sides of the political isle. They have tried incessantly to solve societal problems that only we the people can solve for ourselves. They can't create stimulus packages for a people who have grown selfish, greedy, addicted to credit and obsessed with materialism. They can't solve environmental issues for a people who live in excess and who are hell bent on consuming all the energy they think need to make them happy. They can't come up with a health care system that is going to work for a generation of people who think 3 squares is equivalent to breakfast at McDonald's, lunch at Wendy's and dinner at Burger King, and who use up all available medical resources for things like a cold or a bruised knee, and in later years treating self-inflicted diabetes, heart disease and a myriad of other maladies born out of our excesses.

What we need is leadership who can be honest enough to point to ourselves as being the root of our problems, rather than leadership who appeases all of our irresponsibility and lack of self discipline. Obama has the charismatic gifts to do this, but instead, believes in a failed political ideology that is proven to stifle the very productivity that is necessary in order for a society to survive. I pray every day that he opens his eyes to this folly and turns it all around so that he can accomplish great good. But, as it stands, he's leading us off a very slippery slope into totalitarianism.

The problem is that people with Alinsky-type revolutionary Marxist ideologies is that they don't look at what's wrong with the system or what needs to be done to fix it. They focus all their attention to instituting a whole new system. They don't listen to the people, because they think they are smarter than we are. Then they begin implementing oppressive measures that force us into submission to their ways. What I see in this administration is an arrogant disregard for any of our concerns and questions. They really don't care what we think. They're just going to do what they are hell bent on doing, and they will use lies, deception and force, if necessary, to implement their Marxist policies.

Therefore, we have every good reason to be concerned with what President Obama has to say to our youth. He has flagrantly violated our trust time and again. We have no reason left to trust him even if what he has to say is perfectly acceptable. But, we still need to let our kids hear him out, and we need to responsibly sit down and discuss it with them. Who knows, perhaps even then president himself can discover that it is time for 'change' in his own agendas. Like Mr. Obama says, "It's a teachable moment.

Faith is the Substance

Recently I had a profoundly powerful time of prayer. Using the terminology of the late 19th century revivalist Charles Finney, I prevailed in prayer. It was that sense that I broke through the darkness the devil had cast on my circumstances. As I rounded a turn in the highway immediately at the end of my prayer, I came upon a huge yellow billboard containing a quote from Hebrews 11: Faith is the substance of things hoped for. I had never before equated faith as being the substance of anything. Yet it was immediately clear to me that the very physical essence of that which I hoped for was made from faith alone. As hopeless as things seemed to me as I began to pray that morning, I now knew that the fruition of my dream and my vision would only be realized if I was determined to walk by faith. No doubt, no extenuating circumstances, and certainly no devil would defeat honest faith. As I contemplated this revelation, the following came to me:

Faith happens when we walk right through the fire. Satan is always casting fear and doubt upon us, making us want to crawl up in a spiritual fetal position and give up--right before we are about to prevail! But faith happens when we ignore his attacks and press onward despite all outward indicators. The devil only possesses the power to make us believe a lie. His power is diminished when the lie is exposed. We can have faith yet still miss God's favor because we fear the devil more than we trust God. This is the very thing that causes dead institutionalism. We begin to rationalize defeat rather than believing God. We settle for something far less than God desired for us, and we buy into worldly means to achieve our dismal mediocrity. The end result is either religion or apostasy. But faith can be found in neither, nor can the Holy Spirit.

Therein lies the significant difference between faith and religion. It is why Ichabod was written on the door posts of the temple, because the glory of God, the presence of the Holy Spirit, had departed. For him who has ears to hear...

We Need your Support

Gifts For the World

Please take a minute and go to this site and sign the petition for our new reality TV show and become part of a radical new missional concept that could transform societies.

We're looking for a few good musicians

We are currently doing screenings as we prepare for auditions for what will be a nationally and internationally touring rock and roll Christmas concert series and reality TV show.

These will be full-time positions. Band members will participate in the creative process, and will be part of a weekly reality TV program. We will be working with homeless street kids and orphans in the countries of Ukraine and Moldova at first, and possibly elsewhere as well. We will be taking on the challenge of transforming impoverished villages into solvent, productive and growing communities. It is a huge task, and sometimes a potentially dangerous one, and therefore, an ability to work with children, and a compelling desire to help the poor, oppressed and marginalized of society is an absolute prerequisite.

Base salaries will initially come from grant money and other investment sources, but a very substantial profit-sharing system will make this a very lucrative offer once the project is in full swing. Also, standard song royalties will be paid to those who contribute musically.

This is not for everyone. We need world-class musicians and singers, as well as songwriters and qualified tech personnel, but a commitment to the vision beyond the studio and concert stage is essential.

Please submit a brief bio, demo and/ or website links to me at webbkline@comcast.net. We are getting a huge response to this so far, but we will respond to all who are interested and who submit their materials.