What does the Bible say about soldiers? An old blog entry for Memorial Day Week-end

I came across an item about soldiers and wars in my blog entry of June 1, 2008.  I didn't follow through on my question about how have soldiers influenced the spread of the Gospel.  But it's still worth looking at.

"This week our congregation has been reading the book of Acts, and I noticed a number of references to soldiers and centurions. I'm not much of a Bible scholar, but I did wonder about what studies have been done on their influence in spreading the Gospel during the first century of the church. Then yesterday, while looking for a different book (and knocking some items on the floor because I sometimes stack books behind books if they don't have attractive covers), I found an International Sunday School Lesson book from 1944 which I think I bought at a yard sale for a quarter about 10 years ago. If you can find them, these books are packed with study outlines, bibliographies, lesson plans, illustrations and color maps. No wimp-out, touchy-feely, "let's get acquainted" questions in this book!

In the introduction the editor writes:"Inasmuch as we are in the midst of the world's most gigantic military conflict, and the minds of people are so much upon war, some of our readers might be interested in taking up a series of studies in young people's meetings, or in prayer meetings, or in private classes in homes, apart from the International Sunday School Lessons, in Biblical themes that have more or less relation to the subject of war. We here suggest two such series, one a study of the centurions and soldiers of the New Testament [the other was OT battles]. They will be found in eighteen different groups, nine in the Gospels, and nine in the Book of Acts. A fascinating book could be written just about the soldiers of the New Testament.

1. The centurion whose servant Jesus healed of the palsy (Matt. 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10)
2. The soldiers of the governor who mocked and smote Jesus--between his trial and crucifixion (Mat. 27:27-32; Mark 15:16-23; John 19:2)
3. The soldiers who mocked Jesus at the cross (Luke 23:36,37)
4. The soldiers who parted Christ's raiment at the foot of the cross (John 19:23,24)
5. The soldiers who broke the legs of the 2 criminals crucified on either side of Christ (John 19:32)
6. The soldier who thrust a spear into the side of Christ (John 19:34)
7. The centurion at the cross who confessed that Jesus was the Son of God (Matt.27:54; Mark 15:39; Luke 23:47)
8. The centurion who reported to Pilate that Jesus was dead (Mark 15:44,45)
9. The soldiers who were set to guard the tomb wherein the body of Jesus lay (Matt. 27:65, 66; 28:11-15)
10. Cornelius, centurion of the Italian band, to whom Peter preached (Acts 10)
11. The "devout soldier" who was sent by Cornelius to bring Peter (Acts 10:7,8)
12. The 4 quarternions of soldiers to whom Peter was delivered for safekeeping, and between two of whom Peter was sleeping (Acts 12:4-18)
13. The soldiers and centurions whom the chief captain used to deliver Paul from the mob in Jerusalem (Acts 21:32-35)
14. The centurion to whom Paul declared he was a Roman citizen (Acts 22:25,26)
15. The centurion to whom Paul asked permission to see his sister's son (Acts 23:17)
16. The soldiers who accompanied Paul to Caesarea (Acts 23:23-35)
17. Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band, to whom Paul was committed when he was sent to Rome (Acts 27:1,6,11,31,43; 28:16)
18. The soldiers who were on the ship on which Paul was carried to Rome (Acts 27:31, 32, 42)"

Only the introduction of the 1944 book mentions the war that was on everyone's mind, an introduction which included five annotated bibliographies containing about 80 titles, many multi-volume, for the teacher to consult! Many people never read an introduction, preface or footnote (librarians love the secondary and tertiary stuff), so I suspect this was a concession to some heated arguments in the back room when deciding what was to go into this book.

The editors appeared to have no doubts about who would be the victor, although I don't think my mother, aunts and grandmothers, with ear to the radio and eye on the headlines, waiting for the mailman (my own father plus numerous uncles and cousins were in the service) were quite so confident.

They wrote:  "When the war is over, evangelical Christianity will enter upon the greatest struggle it has known since the days of Constantine in the defense of its great cardinal truths. All of this great and important and sober work will not be done by ministers or theological professors, but much of it by the thousands and thousands of faithful Sunday school teachers throughout our land. Let us prayerfully, carefully, with all the mind and heart we have, prepare ourselves now for this great struggle in the expectation of glorious victory in the ultimate triumph of the truth of God."

Certainly a word for the 21st century. And even they couldn't have imagined it would be our home-grown, gold plated idols (celebrities), our wealth (mind numbing consumerism), our gendered temples (desecration of God's plan for man and woman), our university faculties and our own elected leaders we'd need to fear. Or did they?" (End of June 1, 2008 blog entry.)

Joe is not a moderate

Joe Biden stopped being a moderate years ago. He's so in debt to the left wing of his party. The man (and his vice president) who couldn't even make it through the early primaries in years past (I think he got 1% in 2008 and she got about the same in 2020) is now president because they dragged him over the finish line with the blessing of the black left. Not that Bernie would have been better; he's just more honest about who he is. I think Democrats dumped him in the past because of his lies about his education and plagiarism and she blamed Democrats for being racist for not choosing her. What a team!

As LifeNews.com reported, "Biden promises a return to international abortion funding, Title X dollars, taxpayer-funded abortion on demand, legalized infanticide, pro-abortion Supreme Court justices, and Obama-era strong-arm tactics against faith-based groups who object to abortion coverage in health care." Planned no-Parenthood contributed $45 million to the 2020 campaign, 3x what it gave Hillary Clinton, yet PP uses half a billion of our tax money to move their money around on the ledger so it can kill more babies legally and donate to a candidate who will do its bidding.

Infanticide and harassing Christians--yet the media want us to compare character qualities between him and a real patriot.

Income Mobility in the U.S. from 1996 to 2005, updated in 2014

The degree of mobility in the overall population and movement out of the bottom quintile in this study are similar to the findings of prior research on income mobility.

• There was considerable income mobility of individuals in the U.S. economy during the 1996 through 2005 period as over half of taxpayers moved to a different income quintile over this period.
• Roughly half of taxpayers who began in the bottom income quintile in 1996 moved
• Among those with the very highest incomes in 1996 – the top 1/100 of 1 percent
• only 25 percent remained in this group in 2005. Moreover, the median real income of these taxpayers declined over this period. </
• The degree of mobility among income groups is unchanged from the prior decade (1987 through 1996).
• Economic growth resulted in rising incomes for most taxpayers over the period from 1996 to 2005. Median incomes of all taxpayers increased by 24 percent after adjusting for inflation. The real incomes of two-thirds of all taxpayers increased over this period. In addition, the median incomes of those initially in the lower income groups increased more than the median incomes of those initially in the higher income groups.

Previous research on income mobility over the past several decades has generally found that about half of those in the bottom quintile move to a higher quintile and also that more than half of households move to a different income quintile within about 10 years.

Report of the Department of Treasury, updated 2008 

 http://reason.com/archives/2014/06/04/income-mobility-myths

Our most anti-Catholic president

Bill Donohue is President and CEO of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, the nation's largest Catholic civil rights organization. He lists the reasons he sees Obama as anti-Catholic. The Roman Catholic Church has a big umbrella, and many Catholics pick and choose what they will accept in their church's teaching. Many support abortion and embryonic stem cell research and because Catholics have traditionally been Democrats, they also support the party rather than the church on many issues. Donohue has listed what the church says is necessary to be a member in good standing.

--In 2003, when Obama was an Illinois state senator, he led the fight to oppose a bill that would have mandated health care for a baby who survived an abortion, and he did so even after the bill explicitly said it would not imperil Roe v. Wade. The Catholic Church does not support infanticide.

--Before he was elected in 2008, he said he would sign a bill, the Freedom of Choice Act, that would have forced Catholic hospitals to perform abortions.

--One of the first executive orders Obama signed after being sworn in on January 20, 2009 was to overturn the Mexico City Policy that denied federal funding of private organizations that perform and promote abortions abroad.

--On January 29, 2009, Obama said he looked forward to restoring U.S. aid to the U.N. Population Fund that pays for abortion.

--Obama supports partial-birth abortion, the procedure where a baby who is 80 percent born has his head pierced with a scissors.

--In 2008, Obama said the biggest mistake he ever made was to side with the parents of Terry Schiavo: they petitioned a federal court to allow their daughter food and medicine needed to live. Obama reversed himself, thus siding with those who said, just "let her die."

--Obama sent his two daughters to private schools but opposed every school choice initiative that would allow poor parents to escape the public schools by enrolling in a private or parochial school.

--Obama opposed the Defense of Marriage Act signed by President Bill Clinton that allowed the states to determine what defines marriage, thus undercutting the traditional definition.

--Obama supports same-sex marriage.

--Obama opposes a display of the Ten Commandments on public property.

--Obama supports the intentional killing of embryos.

--Obama sought to appoint Dawn Johnsen to head the Office of Legal Counsel. She cut her teeth as a lawyer working with the ACLU in the late 1980s trying to take away the tax exempt status of the Catholic Church.

--Obama appointed Harry Knox to his Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnership program. He has a record of hate speech against the pope.

--Obama was the first president to welcome atheist leaders to the White House, some of whom are Catholic bashers.

--When Obama spoke at Georgetown University in April 2009, his staff insisted that all religious symbols in the room where he was to speak had to be covered with a drape.

--Obama's Heath and Human Services mandate, still pushed by the administration, says that Catholic institutions that hire and serve non-Catholics are no longer Catholic, and are therefore subject to government oversight. This includes the Little Sisters of the Poor.

--Obama fought U.S. bishops for years—and is doing so now—trying to force Catholic non-profits to pay for abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization in their healthcare plans.

--Obama made sure that no grants went to Catholic programs that provide relief to the victims of human trafficking—even though the grant proposals received high scores from independent reviewers—simply because the Church's opposes abortion.

Obama's speech to Illinois General Assembly

Obama returned to Springfield, Illinois--a Democrat controlled state with a Republican governor in deep budget doo-doo--to give a delusional speech about how great he is. He takes credit for what President Bush did in 2008 to save the country financially and end the war, he won't accept the blame for the partisanship and meaness in politics when the media have been carrying his water for 7 years and he's refused to work with Republicans, he didn't mention the mess with ISIS and Syria and didn't even give the Republican governors credit for their states' recovery which is where the jobs are coming from. Our fuel prices have gone down not from alternatives like sun and wind, but from fracking, which he strongly opposed.   He visits all the celebrities and unions with his hand out, but scolds Americans for the money in politics. Sigh.

 http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-85860201/

 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/11/us/politics/obama-revisits-springfield-and-his-vow-to-bridge-a-partisan-divide.html?_r=0

 http://www.scribd.com/doc/163852744/Observations-on-the-Financial-Crisis-by-Keith-Hennessey-and-Edward-P-Lazear

One year anniversary since Lehman and Ike

Yes, Hurricane Ike also hit Ohio with $553 million in losses, the second most expensive storm to ever hit. But unless you live here, you probably don't remember. The Lehman crisis you may recall--lots of news stories about it yesterday. WSJ (9-15) our nation's most liberal newspaper (can't find a thing to report about ACORN) had several related comments, op-eds and observations:

Speeches were made which the authors (By John Cochrane and Luigi Zingales) paraphrase tongue in cheek: "The financial system is about to collapse. We can't tell you why. We need $700 billion. We can't tell you what we're going to do with it." from "Lehman and the financial crisis" "One year, 2 CEO's and $82 billion since the government rescue of AIG, monsters are still rattling in the closet." Dennis K. Berman, "The Game." "At the height of the [housing] boom, just 20% of Universal Lending [Denver] mortgages were backed by FHA, which guarantees loans to borrowers who can't afford big down payments. Today FHA accounts for more than 80% of his business," more government, more paper work, but more sales. It's no longer free enterprise for Peter Lansing. "Today I think of my self as a government contractor. . . Plan B is to sell pencils on the corner." John Helsinrath, "No easy exit." Gee, I hope all those doctors who think a public option is OK for health insurance are paying attention to Mr. Lansing's business.

Keep in mind FHA always had a higher rate of foreclosure, so don't expect that to change, except to climb higher, like your taxes. Also notice that the same non-profits that funnelled people (for a handsome fee skimmed from the government, the agent, the buyer and the lender) into homes they couldn't afford, are now (for a handsome fee) offering foreclosure workshops and tax advice. Meanwhile, yesterday we were treated to the most tepid good economic news by Gregory Zuckman (for rich people who gamble) I think I've ever seen in the Wall Street.

1. Stocks are up nearly 50% since early March. 2. Housing markets are stabilizing. 3. So are auto markets. (Sorry Chrysler dealers and pension plans) 4. Consumer confidence was higher in mid-September than was originally forecast. 5. Labor markets, although grim, are stabilizing. 6. Global trade is rebounding. 7. Durable goods orders are climbing. 8. Core inflation rates are trending lower in many countries. 9. Inflation seems to be under control. 10.Risky bonds are climbing.

Wow. I'm underwhelmed.

If you didn't notice what happened in the first 4 weeks, Pt. 1

So everyone everywhere on the globe is unhappy with their economy, and no matter who or what party is in charge, they get blamed. There are strikes in Greece and mutinies in Bangladesh, and Cincinnati, Ohio is planning an old fashioned tea party to revolt against the stimulus plan--because where‘s the representation if no one read the bill?

The Socialist, Marxist and Capitalist economies are all in trouble. Why blame Obama, president for four weeks, instead Bush president for 8 years? Well, Bush was a Republican, but not a Conservative. Obama is a Democrat, but not a liberal. At least not as we've come to think of them. He's a socialist/marxist, and all you need to do is read what he has said in the past, what he has written, and look who his friends are and who financed the campaign. Or listen to his vague statements last Tuesday night. The program he proposed and got passed--the $780+ billion-- will amount to over $3 trillion by the time the debt is paid, and no president has matched that, not in 8 years, and certainly not 4 weeks, and he has promised more to come.

You may have your money in cash or CDs right now, but unless it's in the cookie jar, I doubt that yours is any safer than being in stocks, bonds or real estate market. And yes, the banks have been nationalized--that's what the "bailout" is. "We the people" now own the big banks--and not as stockholders. That's why they are being forced into foolish business decisions by Obama to rewrite all those bad mortgages--60% of which will fail within 6 months (Oh! those nasty predatory lenders--with gun to the head they loaned money to bad risks). That's why they have to cap salaries--and maybe yours or your industry will be next. And yes, the auto industry is nationalized too--that's why they are going to produce more "green" cars which don't make a profit. Now the government can also tell you to stop driving your “pre-green” car, even if you can’t afford a $35,000 hybrid. That way “we the people” can sell more new cars. See how nicely it works together when “we workers” own the means of production? And yes, when "children" are covered through age 28 in families earning $80,000 year, that is nationalized health care, and it doesn't touch the poor, because those new "children" were already eligible through parents' employers, and the poor were eligible under Medicaid. It's just one more way to put private insurers and private doctors out of business. The government simply needs to redefine “children” and “poverty.”

It's better to compare Bush with Clinton--and Bush was actually a bigger spender on Human Resources (welfare state, education, entitlements, etc.) than Clinton about a 2.75% annual growth during his years compared to 1.41% for Clinton. Bush lost the support of both the RINOs who always voted with the Democrats (in power since 2006). And he lost the support of the libertarians and conservatives, unhappy with the course of the war (people like Barr and Pat Buchanan).

A year ago, unemployment was 4.5% and the Dow at 14,000. Housing had been in trouble since August 2007, but mainly only that sector supported by government loans--maybe 2% of all mortgages, and that got worse. What happened Sept. 15, 2008 we may never know--I've read some "conspiracy theories" like 550 billion taken out of the economy in a few hours, and the government acted to stop it. Some say it was George Soros, some say it was the Chinese who own our debt. That totally changed the election campaign. From the beginning of Oct. 2008, Obama was the Man, and the markets, who don't vote for either party but hate instability, began to plunge and haven't stopped.

If you didn't notice what happened in the first 4 weeks,Pt. 2

Nobody wants to invest in our economy while Obama continues to threaten to raise taxes on the most productive segment that already pays 95% of the taxes, the so-called rich--those two income families that shelled out $100,000 to buy an education or business or law practice or medical clinic and are expecting to be paid for their efforts. Those "rich" families like mine who invested in businesses with our 403b and 401k giving up other things when younger.

I think the federal government--whether Bush with the Democratic Congress or Obama with the Democratic congress--needed to back off in 2008 and 2009 and let those companies in debt, banks and insurance companies included, struggle and die or merge and be bought out. President Bush failed his party and became President Hoover overnight--but he really stopped governing in October and turned everything over to Treasury and the incoming Obama administration. Hoover had 3 years of throwing money at the problem 1929-1932, Bush didn't. Then FDR continued socializing industries and the courts for another 12 years, until WWII pulled us out of it. Hoover is blamed and Roosevelt acclaimed. Baffles me. Allowing the economy to come back on its own is what happened in 1999-2000 during the last bear market. Jump starting it with tax cuts for tax payers, not tax takers, is what got it going again after 9/11.

Now, Bush did his share of "nationalizing"--like the drug benefit plan, developed with Ted Kennedy, certainly took us further down that road, and the NCLB which exerted even more federal control over local schools (also with Ted Kennedy) is another example. Both these money burners lost him tremendous support among conservative Republicans. The drug plan has just made us more dependent on less safe drugs made in India and China, and has resulted in huge profits for the drug companies. Again, these companies don't care which party is in office--they can succeed with either because the regulations and laws always work in their favor (they help create them with their lobbyists) because they kill the smaller businesses and competition. In fact, they love the Democrats because they are more likely to impose regulations whether it's on mythical global warming or the broadcasting industry or lead in toys.

No president ever spent more money on education than Bush, and although I think he was right to care about the " child left behind" all he did was make the unions and academics mad--leaving kids behind had always been their field of expertise--raising another generation of victims. Some studies show that NCLB made progress, but I suspect it's more "wealth transfer" only it's with grades and achievement at the expense of the better students, and eventually our country.

It may take years to show up, but I don't think Bush did churches any favors with the "faith based initiatives," because it has made churches more dependent on government grants, and Obama plans to tighten the screws on any mention or appearance of religion in those grants (a campaign promise he'll probably keep). Some of that had already happened under Bush and Clinton--I know 30 years ago we used to put religious literature in every bag of groceries at the food pantry. That doesn't happen today, but the food pantry is about 90% government funded--local, state and federal--10% by the churches.

American businessmen aren't stupid; they know how to make money. There are no business men in this administration and it shows. There would never be a Google or Microsoft or a Dodge Caravan if the Barney Franks and Nancy Pelosis of Congress had been in charge of the business plans. But they're more than happy to take over once someone else has figured out how to make money, and then Amtrak it. You can do that when the government is in charge.

Italy, Tuesday, Day 7

Because today is July 4, I'll just skip ahead on our trip a bit to Day 7, when we boarded the bus in Sorrento to travel to Orvieto. It was terribly hot--our guide, Mick, said he thought it was near 100. From the comfort of our air conditioned bus we viewed neat farms and vineyards and ancient towns tucked and carved into the mountains for protection from predators long forgotten, or absorbed.

We stopped around noon at a country estate that had a winery that I believe went back to the middle ages, and the farm house and vineyards had pretty much been destroyed during WWII. It was in the Anzio area where there is a huge American cemetery (Sicily Rome American Cemetery), supposedly, somewhere in the hazy distance (it was terribly hot), our hostess pointed. The brother-in-law of a h.s. classmate of mine was killed there at age 18, Henry (Junior) Wilburn. It was a beautiful, peaceful site--you'd never know the grief, pain and horror of Spring 1944 that was all around. So in the wine tasting under the cool trees overlooking the vineyards, we toasted Junior and all his fallen Allied comrades, and even his enemies, also young boys--most under 20--of many countries and regions and nationalities (Poles particularly revisit this area as they lost many here). This is July 4 and it's important to remember freedom isn't free, it's very costly. The generations that remember this war are passing away, and today's young people can't imagine such a world event. So to all the Juniors of that war and all wars, thank you.

We stopped for a delicious lunch that included tender white beans in a tomato sauce.



The restored farmhouse where the owners greeted us and served champagne

Overlooking the glorious countryside, now peaceful

Home from Haiti

My husband has returned from a mission trip to Haiti. He loves the people, even though it is a bit of a culture shock going in and coming home. This year he was more prepared, mentally and physically. He worked on some construction projects building covers for medical equipment for the clinic and taught a class in architectural drawing to 12th graders. They loved it, and so did he. These kids are so bright and motivated, he says it is a real pleasure to work with them.

This is a photo of the Ouanaminthe Airport, and he did NOT fly in here (thank goodness!) The team flew into the Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, and were picked up by our pastor, Dave Mann, in a school bus for a 4.5 ride to the border city of Dajabon. Because the border is closed by the time they get there, they spend the night in a hotel, and continue on in the morning, but it's only about 10 more minutes. They get there in time for church. You can fly from the capital, Port-au-Prince, to the Ouanaminthe airport in about 30 minutes, but it would be about 11 hours (bad roads) by bus, so that's why they fly into Santo Domingo. Both countries are on the same island. The standard of living, the infrastructure, the industry, and the greenery of the countryside are night and day, and they are divided by a river named Massacre.