United States "Budget" and Spending

Iowahawk on SPENDING can be found  HERE. You must see this YouTube Video of Iowahawk's explanation of SPENDING.

Before you look at it, take a quick look at the numbers below.

The following is courtesy of the Air Force Association (AFA):

Snapshot of the U.S. Government financial situation:

* U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000

* Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000

* New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000

* National debt: $14,271,000,000,000

* Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000

Let's now remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:


* Annual family income: $21,700

* Money the family spent: $38,200

* New debt on the credit card: $16,500

* Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710

* Total budget cuts: $385

Pretty basic!!!

The problem is spending.  Spending on what?  Government!  When the government "hires" an employee, they must take money from taxpayers to pay the employee.

Simply put government is OVERHEAD.  It is a force pulling down the economy.  Government should facilitate commerce, not prevent it.  Right now we have too much government.

Think about this, the Federal Government talks about BUDGET CUTS, yet the BUDGET CUTS are SPENDING INCREASES!

Cut spending!  Who cares how much you budget.  CUT SPENDING.

Actually, if we just froze spending in about 10 years we would have a surplus.

At least a drunken sailor quits spending when he runs out of money!  I know, I was one.

Evolis Pebble 3 or Peb3le Card Printer will not print

We have had an Evolis Pebble 3, or Peb3le as they cleverly call it, for six years.  It has printed about 2,000 cards.  While they still market the printer, it must be fairly said that it has been out of warranty for four years.  Still makes the per card cost high!

It has stopped printing.  After the upgrade to OSX 10.7 Lion, it printed 65 cards, then would print no more.  Now, it appears Evolis does not yet support Lion.  They claim they will in the first part of 2012.

Stay tuned!

70 Years Ago - Pearl Harbor

Seventy years ago tonight, as this is written, twenty-nine year old LTjg Jackson D. Arnold, USN, USNA Class of 1934, an Engineering Test Pilot assigned to Ford Island in the middle of Pearl Harbor was at one of the usual Saturday night parties very common at the time.  He and his new girlfriend Muriel McChesney would not get home until early the next morning.  No problems, it was going to be a lazy Sunday.  He could sleep in.  Jack was, in today’s terms, a Party Animal.  He dropped off Muriel at her home a mile or so away near the foot of Diamond Head and went home to what might be generously called sleep.  Things were good, things were stable.  All was well.

Things would change.  Change faster than Jack could imagine.

Just before 0800, Jack awoke to the biggest bang he had heard since he was the Officer in Charge of ARIZONA’s Number Four Turret.  He rolled out of bed, ran out side and looked up.  Divebombers, rolling in on Pearl Harbor, meatballs on their sides.  The bang had been a Jap mistaking his pickle button for a radio key.  A 500 pounder fell a few hundred feet from his front lanai.  He ran back inside, put on his khaki uniform, grabbed his desktop radio and headed towards Pearl, with a quick stop to give Muriel the radio and tell her to keep her wits about her and listen to the radio.

Into his car and towards Pearl.  As he raced along what is now Nimitz Highway, through the cane fields, a military staff car pulled in front of him, shortly thereafter a truck pulled in behind him.  A convoy of three.  Soon a Zero found them, rolling in, he strafed the staff car, which ran off into the cane fields.  The Jap came back around and rolled in on the truck, riddled with bullets, it went off burning into the cane fields.  Jack had had enough of that, he pulled off the road and dove under the car.   After about two minutes, it came to him; there he was under the only potential target.  He decided he would more likely survive if he were a moving target and not hiding under the gas tank.  Back on the road!  In a few minutes he came to the Pearl Boat Facility where he looked for a launch to Ford Island.  No launches!  Then, he looked in the boat shed.  It was full of launches and cowering coxswains. 

Jack jumped into the launch closest to the open boat house door.  A coxswain came out, “You can’t take that, she’s mine.”  Jack said, “Well, she’s going to Ford Island.”  “Not without me driving,” as the coxswain hopped aboard and started her.

Arriving at Ford Island in the middle of the first wave, Jack sprinted across the field, scrambled into the only flyable F-4F Wildat and got her running.  A plane captain clambered up the side of the running aircraft to tell him that not only was the aircraft very low on fuel, but it was totally devoid of ammunition.  So much for his first air to air victory.  With no other flyable aircraft remaining, he looked about for a way to “contribute to the war effort.”

Just before the second wave hit, Jack came across a young Marine who had lost his life in the first wave attack, but kept his BAR from hitting the ground.  Jack, having been on the All Navy Rifle and Pistol Teams and an avid bird hunter felt at home with the Browning.  As he stood there near the base of the new tower, a lone torpedo bomber rolled in to strafe the tower and thus him.  Judging his lead carefully, he emptied two magazines into the Jap, killing the pilot and severing a line or two.  Smoke and flame poured from the plane as it crashed on the field.  The second wave was gone.  Jack went over to the wreck, it was the Torpedo Squadron Commander.  Jack took a bottle of sake from the plane, they would not need it now.  He took a big gulp, passed it to sailors gathering to see what he had found, and ran back to the whaleboat he had taken to Ford Island.

Grabbing the launch, he put out for ARIZONA to pick up survivors.  The first person he pulled from the water exclaimed, “Mr. Arnold! Mr. Arnold! Mr. Arnold!”  Looking at the man, covered head to toe in bunkers, black as a seal, Jack responded, “Sir, you have the advantage of me.  Who the blazes are you?”  The slippery dark form responded, “Sir, it is me, Johnson.”  The Number Four Turret Captain, the Petty Officer with whom Jack had worked on his first assignment out of the Naval Academy. 

Things would change for Jack.  In five weeks, he would marry his new girl friend Muriel, a marriage that would last over 60 years.  In less than a year, he would be a full Commander, form a new Air Group, Air Group Two, be the Torpedo Squadron Commander, with a very short but more successful career than the Jap Commander he shot down.  He would be Air Group Two’s first Commander or CAG for her first War Cruise on HORNET, the second carrier of that name.  Shooting down four more Japs, he would command the most successful Air Group of the war.  After the war, Jack would be Air Officer on BOXER, one of the first jet pilots in the Navy, then go into the Bureau of Naval Materiel.  He would design space suits, pioneer new techniques in aircraft and ship procurement.  Then finally he would be the first Commander of the newly formed Naval Materiel Command, the biggest command in the Navy.  He would retire as a Four Star Admiral.  But, he would always be known as Gentleman Jack whose men would follow him anywhere.

More HERE

Memorial Day Weekend

As you enjoy your leisure on the first three day weekend of the summer or the last one of the spring, depending on your climate location, please remember to whom this weekend is dedicated. Memorial Day, the day set aside to remember before God those who have given their lives that we might live free in this country. Nothing more and nothing less.

Freedom is not free. The cost is high and measured in rich red blood. It exists not because of the politician handing out rights or money, both of which have been confiscated from the citizenry. It exists not because of pundits and critics. It exists not because of political organizations. Freedom exists because when the country called, red blooded Americans answered that call knowing full well they may lose their lives in her defense. This weekend is dedicated to the remembrance of those who have given their lives that we might live in freedom. They gave their future and that of their families’ to the end that we might have a free today.

Charge your glass, raise it high. Drink to them.

United States Military Casualties

Revolutionary War (1775-1783)

Served: No data

Deaths: 4,435

Wounded 6,188

War of 1812 (1812-1815)

Served: 286,730

Battle Deaths: 2,260

Wounded: 4,505

Mexican War (1846-1848)

Served: 78,718

Battle Deaths: 1,733

Other Deaths: 11,550

Wounded: 4,152

Civil War (1861-1865)

Served: 2,213,363

Battle Deaths: 140,414

Other Deaths: 224,097

Wounded: 281,881

Spanish-American War (1895-1902)

Served: 306,760

Battle Deaths: 385

Other Deaths: 2,061

Wounded: 1,662

World War I (1917-1918)

Served: 4,734,991

Battle Deaths: 53,402

Other Deaths: 63,114

Wounded: 204,002

World War II (1941-1946)

Served: 16,112,566

Battle Deaths: 291,557

Other Deaths: 113,842

Wounded: 671,846

Korean War (1950-1953)

Served: 5,720,000

Battle Deaths: 33,651

Other Deaths: 3,262

Wounded: 103,284

Vietnam War (1964-1973)

Served: 8,744,000

Battle Deaths: 47,378

Other Deaths: 10,799

Wounded: 153,303

Gulf War (1991)

Served: 24,100

Deaths: 162

Afghanistan War (2002-present)

Deaths: 2,449 (as of May 20, 2011)

Iraq War (2003-present)

Deaths: 4,771 (as of May 20, 2011)

Wounded in action: 29,978

And the Cold War, which no one remembers, that claimed so many more.

Source: Department of Defense, United States Central Command, and Iraq Coalition Casualty Count

Source: www.va.gov

"THE BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD"

By Theodore O'Hara

The muffled drums sad roll has beat
The soldier's last Tattoo;
No more on life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.
On fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
But glory guards, with solumn round,
The bivouac of the dead.

No rumor of the foe's advance
Now swells upon the wind;
No troubled thought at midnight haunts
Of loved one's left behind;
No vision of tomorrow, s strife
The warrior's dream alarms;
No braying horn nor screaming fife,
At dawn shall call to arms.

Their shivered swords are red with rust,
Their plumed heads are bowed;
Their haughty banner, trailed in dust,
Is now their martial shroud.
And plenteous funeral tears have washed
The red stains from each brow;
And the proud forms, by battle gashed,
Are free from anguish now.

The neighing troop, the flashing blade,
The bugle's stirring blast,
The charge, the dreadful cannonade,
The din and shouts are past;
Nor war's wild note, nor glory's peal,
Shall thrill with fierce delight
Those breasts that never more may feel
The rapture of the fight.

Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead,
Dear as the blood you gave,
No impious footstep here shall tread
The heritage of your grave;
Nor shall your glory be forgot
While fame her record keeps,
Or honor points the hallowed spot
Where valor proudly sleeps.

Yon marble minstrel's voiceless stone
In deathless song shall tell
When many a vanquished age hath flown,
The story how ye fell;
Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter's blight,
Nor time's remorseless doom,
Shall dim one ray of glory's light
That gilds your deathless tomb.

Thanksgiving Message from Bishop Jerry Ogles, Anglican Orthodox Church

November 2010 Anno Domini (THANKSGIVING)

Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. Deut 8:11-14,18

America is a special land, a land that literally flows with milk and honey, and a land blessed beyond all other nations in recorded history. Why do you suppose the invader has never been able to set foot in America’s heartland or drink from the Ohio’s waters? Is it because we are a people superior to all other peoples of the world? Is it because we are more cunning and wise than all civilizations past and present? Is it because our labors and employments merit our abundance in material and resources?

Nothing could be further from the truth. Our land is not blessed by what we do, or the wisdom of our administration of government, or the innate goodness of our citizens as a national people – it is owing to the faith of our Founding Fathers in seeking out that Solid Rock and Foundation for our National Character and Government. Never intending to exclude either God the Father, or God the Son, from being intrinsically woven into the fiber of our National Will and Faith, they drafted founding documents which they hoped would insure the perpetuation of that faith that has propelled us to our state of blessedness and security. They have passed the burning torch of freedom down through generation after generation of heroic and self-sacrificing Americans until, at the present moment, it has fallen upon us to hold aloft and to keep the fires of liberty alight. This is our ensign on the present battlefield. These are the colors around which we must rally or fall.

The storms of doubt and decadence are sweeping the plains and prairies of America fueled by powers and forces that are not representative of the nature of the America our fathers knew. They threaten to extinguish the flame atop our torch of Freedom. How can this be? It can never happen unless we permit it. A freedom-loving people are incapable of defeat so long as they adhere to the faith and principles that made them free in the first instance. That faith is centered on the great liberator of all peoples – the Lord Jesus Christ.

I appeal to each of you, as well as my own household, to petition the Lord God of Heaven to allow His Holy Spirit once again to move upon the face of the darkened waters of America and speak with all the force and majesty as that first utterance at Creation – “Let there be Light!” Let us thank the offended Sovereign of all Nations for the freedom with which He has blessed us, and pray for a renewal and reformation of our souls and hearts to Christ, lest we perish.

In Christ Alone,

JERRY L. OGLES

Presiding Bishop & Metropolitan

Submit or Stay - Show us your …

Where we are now is that you may not have the freedom to travel unless you agree to provide a current photograph of your and your wife nude, you must agree to allow both of you to be molested by "government" agents. Apparently we now have a protected class of sexual criminal who is allowed to grope at will.

Then consider that muslims who will not go through the full frontal (and rear) nudity camera are not to be "enhanced patdown screened", they may only be felt up on their head and neck. Makes sense? NOT

There have been various TSA agents recorded (no possibility of misconstruction) saying in effect, "If you don't go through the full nudity scanner, we will molest you sufficiently that next time you will." Where is the ACLU now?

Clearly this is an absolute abrogation of our rights. Our founding fathers were clear on this, note the various quotes attributed to Franklin:

• They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

• They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

• Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither.

• He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither liberty nor security.

• He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.

• People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both.

• If we restrict liberty to attain security we will lose them both.

• Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.

• He who gives up freedom for safety deserves neither.

• Those who would trade in their freedom for their protection deserve neither.

• Those who give up their liberty for more security neither deserve liberty nor security.

The head of the TSA has said publicly that no amount of pressure from the public (I might add the citizens of the country of whom he is a servant) will cause him to change "MY rules." HIS rules? Who the heck is he that he has his own rules? I thought we had the Rule of Law. Clearly that is in the rearview mirror at this time. Change? Yes, we need change. Let's do a 180 and get out of here.

I've written my congressman and told him that unless he sponsors legislation to eliminate completely this police state system that I will vote for any candidate that will. I fully understand that would mean voting for a third party candidate who "cannot get elected." So be it. I will not vote for someone who backs a police state.

BUDGET CUTS mean Hard Choices

So reads the headline on a MOAA article. MOAA, the Military Officers Association of America, the fraternal organization for officers of all the Armed Services. MOAA was realistically discussing the effects of the massive budget shortfall on its members. With the various armed conflicts in Southwest Asia winding down, the politicians in Washington feel comfortable in reneging on promises made to military members. They feel the country will not notice a promise or two or ten broken to those who put their lives on the line for our country. No problem. The four stars are right in line with them, after all what do you expect from political appointees whose primary qualification for promotion to flag rank is suction. Suction, unctuousness and a handsome appearance, what more could you expect from four stars?

It is true! The budget is in sad shape. Our government has committed trillions of dollars they have no idea where to find to projects they have no idea of for reasons clear only to the other hogs at the trough.

Where to find that money? Simple, start cutting Veterans' Benefits, those old tired war dogs, then cut Active Duty pay and benefits. Let them live like the rest of the country. Why should they get the special privileges they did not earn. After all, they are not important to the country like the exalted congress. The pay for privates can be more effectively used by the Congressman's home and office visiting doctor or his barber or the masseuse in the basement.

Plus, the poor need money. They have lots of kids to feed and things to buy and all that sort of thing. Don't forget the undocumented Democrats, formerly known as ILLEGAL ALIENS. Some of them even have aunts! The AUNT OF THE YEAR How about starting by taking a look at the Constitution and if you cannot find a government program there, quit funding it.

By the way, Dear Leader has a new life long medical care plan for Veterans. Call him when you are SHOVEL READY.

One minor question, if the illegal alien aunt is owed a living by the country, then everyone is, so the question: Who is going to work to pay for all this?

Memorial Day

Almost all of us get the day off tomorrow.  Many will have a BBQ or a picnic or just spend the day relaxing.

But, tomorrow is more than just a Bank Holiday.  Tomorrow is Memorial Day; that day set aside to remember those who have given their lives to gain our freedom and defend it from those who would enslave our country.  To those men and women and the families they left behind we owe an un-payable debt.  It will suffice to remember why we take the day off.

Our country is free because when she called many stepped forward to sign a blank check to pay her freedom debt.  They signed knowing the check could be filled in with any figure, up to and including their lives.  When they signed, they signed not only for their future, but that of their family.  Some of those blank checks were filled in for little.  Some were filled in for the entire amount.  

They put their lives on the line that you might be free.  Some never came home.

Many of us signed one of those blank checks or a family member did.  I think each of us knows how fortunate we were that the check we signed got filled in for just a little.  We all have friends whose check was filled in for the full amount.

Remember them on Memorial Day; remember their families.  Remember the sacrifice every time you vote.  Freedom is not free.  It never was, it never will be.

God -  Honor - Country

The Church of Rome extends an olive branch to Anglicans

The Roman Catholic Church holds itself out as the one true and original church to which one must return if one is to be a “True Christian.” The Eastern Orthodox Church holds the same view about themselves, but that is a subject for a later discussion. So to keep everyone happy and joined as one true church, one would have to join both I suppose.

Let’s look at the Church of Rome, shall we? The one true and original church was established some time after 60AD. The beginning of the Anglican Church came when by Joseph of Ariamethia established the first church at Glastonbury, in Britannia, in 37 AD. So much for the original part.

True?

The Anglican Church motto is Scripture • Reason • Tradition. Article Six of the Articles of Religion states:

VI. Of the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation.

Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.

If you are having trouble deciphering that, what it says is if it not in the Bible you don’t have to believe it.

What is the Church of Rome’s motto? Not being really certain, one can only look at their actions and determine it is Dogma • Dogma • Dogma. The Church of Rome believes its dogma overrides Scripture. It discourages Bible reading because otherwise its adherents might ask why the Church says one thing and the Pope says another.

Examples?

Take the question of celibate priests and bishops. What does the Bible say? Let’s look at First Timothy Chapter Three

THIS is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

A True Church demands allegiance to God first. Where is Rome’s allegiance? To the “Church”, not the body of believers, but the Church of Rome. Example? Take a look at the handling of the various homosexual pedophile priests. When the Church found out, what did it do? Transfer them to another church jurisdiction and put them in charge of children’s programs.

It goes on and on. We returned to the Bible 500 years ago. There is no point in leaving it now.

This Anglican would be happy to have there be one Church of God. The Church of Rome is not the Church of God.

The Pope extends an olive branch to Anglicans, read Episcopalians, who are disturbed by homosexual priest and bishops. He offers to “let” them join a church which disregards the Bible and actively aids and abets homosexual pedophile priests and presumably bishops.

We can unify under our Lord when they return to Him. In the meantime, Hap to Pope, “NO!”

Just in case anyone missed the message, this Anglican is no longer acceptant of “Anglo Catholic” practices. We are a Protestant Catholic faith. We believe in the Bible. We accept the Protestant interpretation of the Book of Common Prayer to be as far towards Rome as we care to go. If you have any questions, ask yourself, “Is this supported by scripture?” Or, is it something invented by some guy with a backward collar to make himself feel more important.

Thoughts on the Roman offer of unity - Reception of Anglican Groups, etc.

It would seem that a united Christian church would be a grand idea and in keeping with the direction given us by our Lord. Yet, under what terms?

Recently Rome has offered up the prospect of receiving Anglicans in particular into their fold, thus increasing “unity.” Is this unity a good unity or a bad unity?

Before one can decide good or bad, one should look at the standard.

Are we to be a biblically based Christian church or not?

The answer for Anglicans is that we reformed our church to comply with biblical standards five hundred or so years ago.

And the Church of Rome? Do they conform to biblical standards?

The answer is clearly a resounding NO!

We wish to be catholic, as in universal, yet we are protestant. Is that a conflict?

Are we catholic? A loud YES! We believe in those things Christians have always believed in as defined in the Nicene Creed.

Are we protestant? Also a loud YES! We protested against the errors of Rome when that church left the Bible far behind. Rome consistently values tradition and self-serving, self-developed dogma over scripture. Their loyalty is to their “church” here on earth rather than to our Lord.

Would it be good to come together? Certainly!

On what terms? Simple, we can unify under our Lord when they return to Him. In the meantime, NO.

Blackberry 9530 Storm does not sync with Mac OSX - With MarkSpace or PocketMac

The Missing Sync for BlackBerry 2.0.2

Known Snow Leopard Compatibility Issues

• USB charging feature does not work for some devices on 64-bit systems.
• All other features, including synchronization, function properly with Snow Leopard.
• Phonebooks are wiped out or addresses are randomly duplicated.
• iCAL entries are randomly wiped out, reassigned or mixed up

This software is absolute rubbish and dangerous rubbish at that. The company apparently does know how to make software, the Windows Mobile software reportedly syncs perfectly. They seem to have abandoned the Blackberry software. Perhaps it is because RIM is coming out with Blackberry Desktop Manager for Mac. No way of telling.

Do not buy this software and if you did - DO NOT USE IT. Save yourself!

Anglican Church in North America

Anglican Church – The name the Church of England goes by around the world. A series of self-contained, self-governing national churches guided by the principles established in England in the mid-1500s when the national church was reformed to correct the errors of the church in Rome and to remove foreign influences.

Since the Revolutionary War ended the Anglican Church in the United States had been known as the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States (PECUSA). It later dropped “Protestant” and has now dropped “of the United States.”

About 135 years ago a group split from the PECUSA over an understanding of baptism and a feeling that the PECUSA was becoming too “Roman” in their understanding of the church. This group became the Reformed Episcopal Church (REC).

In the 1960s radicals began to take over leadership positions in the church, advocating pacifism, abortion, homosexual primacy and other similar positions. For a church which had spawned roughly 40 percent of the country’s presidents and military flag officers, that was unacceptable to many. People dropped out, priests dropped out, no bishops dropped out. The dropouts formed small groups, which coalesced into parishes and dioceses, even into nationwide churches. Often mocked by TEC, they were known as the Continuing Church.

Some of the Continuing Churches of the Anglican denomination in the United States are attempting to coalesce into what would be known as the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). This process is slow and cumbersome, yet on a fast track. It is slow and cumbersome because it is being lead by people without clear vision and good communications skills. Its Arch Bishop selectee, Robert Duncan, was a TEC bishop until about six months ago. He was one of three bishops who finally left TEC, apparently following his flock. With 20/20 hindsight he has managed to style himself as the leader of the Continuum. A leader who lead his flock to follow God after 95 percent of them had gone ahead.

The ACNA has adopted the English 1662 Book of Common Prayer as their standard. Apparently this was done as it is the “Standard” of the Worldwide Anglican Communion. This is flawed reasoning as the Anglican Church is designed to be a national church. The logical book to adopt as standard was the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer. That apparently could not be done as Bob Duncan and the other two leaders had backed the 1979 Book which claimed to be a Book of Common Prayer, but was not. The 1979 Book clearly paved the way for female and homosexual ordinations. They could not admit they were wrong. In addition, they want to be able to leave the 1979 book in place.

In addition, styling the new group as North American rejects the central concept of the national church. Although the Canadian Continuum is small, they deserve their own province.

The Continuum operates on a small budget. For instance, the REC’s Diocese of the West, covering about 40 percent of the country operates on a $30,000.00 per year budget. The ACNA being TEC retreads has full time paid staff and different ideas. They want each of the 700 parishes they expect to gain to give a one time “Thank Offering” of $1,000.00. That will give them a nice $700,000.00 nest egg from which to rule.

Below you will read the missive from the ACNA Chief Operating Officer. Before you read it, read my response. It will make your reading more interesting.

Dear Brad,

What, pray tell, should we be so thankful for that we should send you $1,000.00? Seven hundred parishes at a thousand a pop - $700,000.00. That is money. You tell us that this is a time that should be “marked by both celebration and gratitude.” For what?

The ACNA picked a guy who could not find his way out of the proverbial ecclesiastical wet paper bag. It apparently took him 40 years to recognize the TEC was headed to hell. In the mean time, he mis-led his flock.

We should be grateful the ACNA has decided to adopt the 1662 English Book of Common Prayer? I do not think so. The Anglican church was founded on a national model. We are Americans. Not North Americans, not English. We will use an American Book of Common Prayer. Perhaps you would like me to send you a copy of the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer?

We should be grateful that in the future your organization will live off the fat of our diocese with a tithe? How do you feel about 10 percent of $30,000.00? That is what you will get from our diocese.

I want an Anglican Church of the United States, not North America. I want a leader, not a follower.

Tell Bob and the boys, “No thank you.”

With all due respect,

Hap Arnold

Now, feel free to read the begging letter. Oh, yes – if this appeals to you send money.

-----Original Message----- From: news@theacna.org [mailto:news@theacna.org] Sent: Friday, May 08, 2009 10:50 AM Subject: [SPAM] Special ACNA Thank Offering

Greetings in the name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

I am writing to give you advance notification of a mailing that you should expect to receive early next week. It is a letter to you and your vestry from Archbishop-Designate Robert Duncan of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). Upon receipt I ask that you and your Vestry prayerfully receive this invitation of financial support with a gracious heart, and respond as generosity as you can for the sake of all that God has bestowed upon us and is doing among us.

This special Thank Offering was presented to and strongly endorsed by all of the Lead Bishops and Stewardship Group when our Provincial Council met last month to formally accept the 28 dioceses and dioceses-in-formation from all across North America. The idea is to collect an average of $1,000 from each of our more than 700 congregations. It will allow us to start-up effectively and meet the initial financial needs of the new provincial office. In the years ahead, the operations of our province will be funded by regular tithes from our dioceses, not extraordinary congregational offerings.

Full details of this extremely important offering including a sample bulletin insert, suitable for reproduction, and a return envelope will be enclosed in this forthcoming mailing. This offering can be taken on Pentecost and subsequent Sundays up to June 21st (the Eve of the Inaugural Provincial Assembly). We would also encourage your church to include news of this offering in leaflets and newsletters the next few Sundays.

This is an incredibly exciting time marked by both celebration and gratitude. No one among us doubts what the Lord has undertaken for us. The outcome of this offering will be instrumental to our start-up as we begin to fulfill our mission of "Reaching North America with the Transforming Love of Jesus Christ." Thank you in advance for your support and please do not hesitate to contact me directly should you have any questions.

I remain deeply grateful for the tremendous privilege of serving you and your parish.

Blessings, Brad B. Root

Chief Operating Officer Anglican Church in North America (724) 266-9400 brad.root@theacna.org

Barack Obama – Why do people think he is anti-business?

He is not just anti-business. 0bama is anti-American, anti-capitalism, anti-Christian and anti-freedom.

The now President Obama has never in his entire life had a real private sector job. Never. He has never had to work for a living where his output determined his pay. He was the victim of equal outcome education. This man’s first executive experience is the job of President of the United States.

Surrounded in his early years by homosexuals, socialists and communists, he came out pretty well considering. He looks good in a suit and doesn’t drool when not talking. That pretty much qualified him for Democratic office in Illinois, at least in the big city precincts he was elected from.

After eight years of constant mainstream media and Hollywood assault, the people thought they wanted CHANGE.

Now they have change. Not money, but the change that is left after the bills are paid. Not one heck of a lot of change, either.

Barack Obama ran for office saying he would be the agent of CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN. We suppose that is as opposed to change you cannot believe in.

We have change. The market (and our retirement) is at a bit less than half of what it was under President Bush’s watch. We are incurring a tax burden about double that under President Bush. We are turning over our health care to a CZAR for rationing to balance the budget. After all, old people are going to die anyway. Why waste treatment on them, merely to extend their otherwise miserable lives. It is clear that there is not enough access to infanticide, thus the government is decreeing that all health professionals are required to provide infanticide services. This is regardless of their personal beliefs. The right of those who wish to murder their child supercedes others right to not participate.

We bail out companies too big to fail with money taken at the point of a gun from those too small to resist.

KEEP YOUR CHANGE

Faith, Hope, and Charity

One of the more amazing stories from the Second World War is from the defence of Malta. The situation was desperate. There are plenty of accounts of the heroism of the people, of the sailors who managed to get supplies through to the island, and of the garrison who defended it. Due to the complete incompetence of the civil service and the lack of foresight on the part of the politicians, Malta's air defences were woefully under-strength at the outbreak of the war, and, by the end of 1940, the fighter defences were down to just three Gloster Gladiator fighters.

These three out of date and hopelessly slow fighter planes managed to give a very good account of themselves in battle, being flown by RAF officers whose skill must have been stretched to the limit by the Gladiator's upper high-mounted wing, paltry armament, and slow airspeed when pitched into battle against the faster Aeromacchi and other modern aircraft operated by the Italian Regio Aeronautica.

Note the names these three little outdated aircraft bore as they were thrown into frontline action way beyond their expected capability. They were "Faith", "Hope", and "Charity. Charity survived the longest, holding out until, finally, a squadron of Hurricanes could be flown in to Malta and then enhanced with more, and eventually even Spitfires. As most will recognise, the names come from St Paul's first letter to the Corinthians Chapter 13, which famously begins "Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." Ironic, too, that the word, which has now been debased to mean "free handouts" actually meant, in the days of King James 1, "love". And that in the sense of the Greek word "philos" and not, as the word again seems to have been debased, to mean "eros".

On Death and Dying

When we come in to this world, truly it is on only one condition, that condition is we must leave. All come in. All go out.

Through this world we all pass. Why? This world is a testing ground that each soul must pass through. When all the souls have passed through the earth, it will cease to be. We cannot just go to heaven now, we and all the rest must take the test. God does not test us. He does not put troubles on our back. The troubles we are tested with are the doing of man, random events and the devil. While He does not test us, He does watch how we do. As parents, our most important job is to insure our children get into heaven. Our second most important job is to be there to greet them. A measure of how you have done here is how your children do here. If you do your best and they do their best, all is well. No matter how much or how little you are tested, so long as you do your best (not merely claim to be trying) that is good enough with God’s help.

As imperfect beings with free will, we will never be perfect and will always make bad choices. God has a plan for us – JESUS. Jesus by one single sacrifice one time atoned for all mankind for all time. Recall Jesus’ words in the Gospel according to Saint John, beginning at the First Verse of the Fourteenth Chapter: “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” So, if you accept the saving grace Jesus provides, you are heavenbound. He has a place for each of us.

What about those who are not Christians? In Mere Christianity on page 65, CS Lewis writes, “… the truth is God has not told us what His arrangements about other people are. We do know that no man can be saved except through Christ; we do not know that only those who know Him can be saved through Him. But in the meantime, if you are worried about the people outside, the most unreasonable thing you can do is remain outside yourself."

The real point of this is that we do not know what arrangements, if any, God has made for other people. We know what arrangements He made for us when He sent His Son to give His life that we might live. Why take chances.

What is ahead of us in heaven? That is not so clear. What we know for sure is that it is good. Jesus told us that this world is like heaven “viewed darkly, as through a glass.” CS Lewis refers to this world as The Shadowlands. Life there is like here, except real.

Too many people have been visited by both angels and their family members who have gone before to doubt we will join those who have gone before us in happiness. All things required for our happiness will be there. To questions like, “Will I be able to fly?” One must answer, ‘Either you will be able to fly if that is what you want or you will be so happy with what is there, you won’t remember you wanted to fly.” Not a perfect answer, but an honest one.

When we think of death, it seems so final. No one comes back from death. Not true, Jesus did and both Moses and Elias visited Jesus in the presence of the disciples. On the other hand, for the rest of us, it is a one way trip. Think of death as in years gone past, Australia. When one left England for their new life in Australia, they were never to come back. Because of the time involved in the sailing transit, they were for the most part never heard of again. Did they still live? But, of course. Was their life better than in England? But, of course. At the same time, it was a one way trip. In this sense, we all go to Australia; Christians, at least. Concentrate on reuniting with your family in Australia. Make sure you don’t miss the boat.

Concentrate not on the temporary separation, but rather unity in heaven for eternity.

A French OMLT infantryman describes interaction with the 506th Infantry (Airmobile) in Afghanistan

The US often hears echoes of worldwide hostility against the application of its foreign policy, but seldom are they reached by the voices of those who experience first hand how close we are to the USA. In spite of contextual political differences and conflicting interests that generate friction, we do share the same fundamental values - and when push comes to shove that is what really counts.

Through the eyes of that French OMLT (Operational Mentoring Liaison Teams) infantryman, you can see how strong the bond is on the ground. In contrast with the Americans, the French soldiers don’t seem to write much online - or maybe the proportion is the same but we just have less people deployed. Whatever the reason, this is a rare and moving testimony which is why I decided to translate it into English, so that American people can catch a glimpse of the way European soldiers see them. Not much high philosophy here, just the first-hand impressions of a soldier in contact - but that only makes it more authentic.

Here is a translation of the original article in French:

We have shared our daily life with two US units - the first and fourth companies of the 506th Infantry (Airmobile). To the common man, it is a unit just like any other. But we live with them and got to know them, and we henceforth know that we have the honor to live with one of the most renowned units of the US Army - one that the movies brought to the public as a series showing “ordinary soldiers thrust into extraordinary events”.

Who are they, those soldiers from abroad, how is their daily life, and what support do they bring to the men of our OMLT every day? Few of them belong to the Easy Company, the one the TV series focuses on. This one nowadays is named Echo Company, and it has become the support company.

They have a terribly strong American accent - from our point of view the language they speak is not even English. How many times did I have to write down what I wanted to say rather than waste precious minutes trying various pronunciations of a seemingly common word? Whatever state they are from, no two accents are alike, and they even admit that in some crisis situations they have difficulties understanding each other.

Heavily built, fed at the earliest age with Gatorade, proteins and creatine - they are all heads and shoulders taller than us and their muscles remind us of Rambo. Our frames are amusingly skinny to them - we are wimps, even the strongest of us - and because of that they often mistake us for Afghans.

Here we discover America as it is often depicted: their values are taken to their paroxysm, often amplified by promiscuity, lack of privacy, and the loneliness of this outpost in the middle of that Afghan valley. Honor, motherland - everything here reminds of that: the American flag floating in the wind above the outpost, just like the one on the post parcels. Even if recruits often originate from the hearth of American cities and gang territory, no one here has any goal other than to hold high and proud the star-spangled banner. Each man knows he can count on the support of a whole people who provides them through the mail all that an American could miss in such a remote front-line location: books, chewing gums, razor blades, Gatorade, toothpaste etc. in such way that every man is aware of how much the American people back him in his difficult mission. And that is a first shock to our preconceptions: the American soldier is no individualist. The team, the group, the combat te am are the focus of all his attention.

And they are impressive warriors! We have not come across bad ones, as strange at it may seem to you when you know how critical French people can be. Even if some of them are a bit on the heavy side, all of them provide us everyday with lessons in infantry know-how. Beyond the wearing of a combat kit that never seem to discomfort them (helmet strap, helmet, combat goggles, rifles etc.) the long hours of watch at the outpost never seem to annoy them in the slightest. On the one square meter wooden tower above the perimeter wall they stand the five consecutive hours in full battle rattle and night vision goggles on top, their sight unmoving in the directions of likely danger. No distractions, no pauses, they are like statues nights and days. At night, all movements are performed in the dark - only a handful of subdued red lights indicate the occasional presence of a soldier on the move. Same with the vehicles whose lights are covered - everything happens in pitch dark even fil ling the fuel tanks with the Japy pump.

And combat? If you have seen Rambo you have seen it all - always coming to the rescue when one of our teams gets in trouble, and always in the shortest delay. That is one of their tricks: they switch from T-shirt and sandals to combat ready in three minutes. Arriving in contact with the enemy, the way they fight is simple and disconcerting: they just charge! They disembark and assault in stride, they bomb first and ask questions later - which cuts any pussy-footing short.

We seldom hear any harsh word, and from 5 AM onwards the camp chores are performed in beautiful order and always with excellent spirit. A passing American helicopter stops near a stranded vehicle just to check that everything is all right; an American combat team will rush to support ours before even knowing how dangerous the mission is - from what we have been given to witness, the American soldier is a beautiful and worthy heir to those who liberated France and Europe.

To those who bestow us with the honor of sharing their combat outposts and who everyday give proof of their military excellence, to those who pay the daily tribute of America’s army’s deployment on Afghan soil, to those we owed this article, ourselves hoping that we will always remain worthy of them and to always continue hearing them say that we are all the same band of brothers.

The Beast devouring our Livelihood and Liberty

How the government tells us when they are lying and when they don’t.

The dilemma, the government needs to fund highway maintenance without cutting essential programs such as welfare and bureaucracy.

The Headline: National commission wants to hike fuel taxes, impose driving fees to pay for highways

The Story: The government wants to move to a new system that taxes motorists according to how much they use roads.

The real Problem: A gas tax hike was one of the reasons Democrats lost control of the House and Senate in the 1994 elections.

So, what? They want a mileage-based revenue system. This means equipping every car and truck with a device that uses global positioning satellites and transponders to record how many miles the vehicle has been driven, the type of roads and time of day. Creation and installation of such a system would take about 10 years. This clearly means a system that knows where you are, when you are and all the Orwellian consequence. So, what the government needs to do is assure the sheeple such a system will be designed to prevent vehicles from being "tracked in some big brotherish way."

Analysis – The American Sheeple are so stupid they will wholeheartedly agree. After all, these are the same people who find high school graduate 30 year patrolman police officers making about $100,000,00 a year, retiring at age 55 at $125,000.00 per year, plus medical, to be underpaid.

Christmas 2008

As I sit before the fire this Christmas night, with my family in my line of sight, I reflect on the 30 years and two weeks I spent in the service of our country. For 25 of those years I was home not one Christmas. I don’t think that unusual, I don’t ask for sympathy. I did what I did because my country called. I did it so that my family could rest free. At the same time, the sacrifice was not so much mine as that of my family.

As I look on line at images from around the globe of deployed comrades in arms, I think of the families they have left behind to defend my freedom and that of my family.

Then I reflect on those with whom I flew. Thirty percent are dead, that is less than one a year, but the odds add up. You fly to the edge, you won’t always come back. But, they gave more than their lives, they gave so much of their family.

We live free because of those warriors who defend us.

Charge your glass, raise it high. Drink to them.

USMC Force Recon - Dateline - AFGHANISTAN

..... It's freezing here. I'm sitting on hard, cold dirt between rocks and shrubs at the base of the Hindu Kush mountains along the Dar 'yoi Pomir River watching a hole that leads to a tunnel that leads to a cave. Stake out, my friend, and no pizza delivery for thousands of miles.

I also glance at the area around my ass every ten to fifteen seconds to avoid another scorpion sting. I've actually given up battling the chiggers and sand fleas, but them scorpions give a jolt like a cattle prod. Hurts like a bastard. The antidote tastes like transmission fluid but God bless the Marine Corps for the five vials of it in my pack.

The one truth the Taliban cannot escape is that, believe it or not, they are human beings, which means they have to eat food and drink water. That requires couriers and that's where an old bounty hunter like me comes in handy. I track the couriers, locate the tunnel entrances and storage facilities, type the info into the handheld, shoot the coordinates up to the satellite link that tells the air commanders where to drop the hardware, we bash some heads for a while, then I track and record the new movement. It's all about intelligence. We haven't even brought in the snipers yet.

These scurrying rats have no idea what they're in for. We are but days away from cutting off supply lines and allowing the eradication to begin. I dream of bin Laden waking up to find me standing over him with my boot on his throat as I spit a bloody ear into his face and plunge my nickel plated Bowie knife through his frontal lobe. But you know me. I'm a romantic.

I've said it before and Ill say it again: This country blows, man. It's not even a country. There are no roads, there's no infrastructure, there's no government. This is an inhospitable, rock pit shit hole ruled by eleventh century warring tribes. There are no jobs here like we know jobs. Afghanistan offers two ways for a man to support his family: join the opium trade or join the army. That's it. Those are your options.

Oh, I forgot, you can also live in a refugee camp and eat plum-sweetened, crushed beetle paste and squirt mud like a goose with stomach flu if that's your idea of a party. But the smell alone of those 'tent cities of the walking dead' is enough to hurl you into the poppy fields to cheerfully scrape bulbs for eighteen hours a day.

I've been living with these Tajiks and Uzbeks and Turkmen and even a couple of Pushtins for over a month and a half now and this much I can say for sure: These guys, all of em, are Huns. Actual, living Huns. They LIVE to fight. Its what they do. Its ALL they do. They have no respect for anything, not for their families or for each other or for themselves. They claw at one another as a way of life. They play polo with dead calves and force their five-year-old sons into human cockfights to defend the family honor. Huns, roaming packs of savage, heartless beasts who feed on each others barbarism. Cavemen with AK 47's. Then again, maybe I'm just cranky.

I'm freezing my ass off on this stupid hill because my lap warmer is running out of juice and I can't recharge it until the sun comes up in a few hours.

Oh yeah! You like to write letters, right? Do me a favor. Write a letter to CNN and tell Wolf and Anderson and that awful, sneering, pompous Aaron Brown to stop calling the Taliban 'smart.' They are not smart. I suggest CNN invest in a dictionary because the word they are looking for is 'cunning.' The Taliban are cunning, like jackals and hyenas and wolverines. They are sneaky and ruthless and, when confronted, cowardly. They are hateful, malevolent parasites who create nothing and destroy everything else. Smart. Pfft. Yeah, they're real smart. They've spent their entire lives reading only one book (and not a very good one, as books go) and consider hygiene and indoor plumbing to be products of the devil. They're still figuring out how to work a Bic lighter. Talking to a Taliban warrior about improving his quality of life is like trying to teach an ape how to hold a pen; eventually he just gets frustrated and sticks you in the eye with it.

OK, enough. Snuffle will be up soon so I have to get back to my hole. Covering my tracks in the snow takes a lot of practice but I'm good at it.

Please, I tell you and my fellow Americans to turn off the TV sets and move on with your lives. The story line you are getting from CNN and other news agencies is utter bullshit and designed not to deliver truth, but rather to keep you glued to the screen through the commercials. We've got this one under control.

The worst thing you guys can do right now is sit around analyzing what we're doing over here because you have no idea what we're doing and, really, you don't want to know. We are your military and we are doing what you sent us here to do.

You wanna help? Buy Bonds America.

Saucy Jack

Semper Fidelis

Stir up Sunday Sermon - preached by The Reverend Charles Royden

I was given a copy of the Metro newspaper this week. It had ideas for Christmas presents. One was a T Shirt with a picture of Jesus, very like the Turing Shroud image. Underneath the picture it said, ‘Jesus is coming,’ ‘Look busy. ’

Today is the last Sunday in the church calendar, next week we begin Advent. The special theme for today in the church year is a celebration of Jesus as King. Of course today is also named a special Sunday after the collect which we use. We are on that special Sunday before Christmas which we call stir up Sunday. The collect uses those beautiful words

‘Stir up O Lord the will of thy faithful people. ’

Today is a day when we are meant to encourage each other, when we remind ourselves that Christ is our King. It is a day when we draw close to Advent, that season in which we prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. And as we think of King Jesus coming at Christmas, so we welcome him into our own hearts.

But what does Kingship mean?

This would have been a lot easier to answer once, when kings were great and celebrated figures. They held high honour and were seen as having God’s seal upon them. Kings had a divine Right, they were chosen by God to do be kings and they were accountable to no person except God.

Now we often regard kings with contempt, instead of them demanding taxes of us we demand that they pay taxes. But once kings were figures of power.

No wonder Pilate must have laughed when Jesus was referred to as a king. For Pilate, Jesus could not be a king, because he did not fit the mould of a king. Kings are powerful figures, they demand respect and get it. When Pilate put ‘King of the Jews’ over Jesus, it was not in recognition of the kingship of Jesus, it was rather a mockery, Kings did not belong on crosses.

Do we take the kingship of Jesus seriously?

Do we think of Jesus as our King? Or do we think that his kingship is something for the future and so no of much concern to us now? Today we ask the question of ourselves to whom or what do we give our allegiance? Who holds dominion over us? What are we living for? What energizes and gives meaning to our lives each day?

We pray in the Lord’s Prayer ‘thy kingdom come. ’ This prayer is not supposed to be a prayer asking God to bring the world to an end. Rather it is asking that God’s kingdom would be established in our lives. The kingship of Christ is something which Jesus expects us to be able to share now. This will happen if we let our lives be the place where God’s reign extends. Today, above all days perhaps, is the day when we are encouraged to own Christ in our hearts.

Many people do not think that Jesus should be king. Politicians think that Jesus does not belong in affairs of state and government. Many leading businessmen think that Jesus should not be king in matters of economy and business. Often we do not think that Jesus should be king in a whole range of ways that concern what we do out of church.

Today we stir one another up and we remind ourselves that Jesus should be king of every part of our lives, our manners, our behaviour towards other people, are decisions about important life choices.

The kingship of Jesus is not recognised by many of this world, Jesus is King, yet he is not a king who demands obedience. Jesus is a different kind of king. He is a king who leads by example to show us the way that we should behave. This is a new kind of kingship, and one not of the worlds standards. The kingship of Jesus is a radically different kind of kingship. While human kings gain power in order reign over us, Jesus in his kingship demonstrates his authority by showing his love for his people, so much so that he gave his life for us.

What the Kingship of Jesus means

I was watching a film last week, a good film called ‘We Were Soldiers. ’ The main character was played by Mel Gibson, it was adapted from Harold G. Moore and Joseph Galloway's 1992 book "We Were Soldiers Once... and Young." Moore was the lieutenant colonel who in 1965 led the First Battalion of the Seventh Cavalry (ominously, the same regiment headed by Gen. George Armstrong Custer at Little Big Horn) in the battle of Landing Zone X-Ray in Vietnam's Ia Drang valley.

Moore lost more than 70 men from his regiment alone at Ia Drang, and a total of more than 300 died during the Pleiku campaign of which it was a part.

Mel Gibson plays Moore, a devout Catholic family man with a wife, Julie (Madeleine Stowe), and five children.

One the best scenes involves Moore warning his troops before they go into battle. He uses the following speech.

"We are moving into the Valley of the Shadow of Death where you will watch the back of the man next to you, as he will watch yours, and you won't care what colour he is, or by what name he calls God. We are going into battle against a tough and determined enemy. I can't promise you that I will bring you all home alive. But this I swear... when we go into battle, I will be the first to step on the field and I will be the last to step off. And I will leave no one behind... dead or alive. We will all come home together."

A man of his word, Lt. Col. Moore set foot on the field of battle first only to find himself and approximately 400 of his men surrounded by roughly 2000 North Vietnamese soldiers. The ensuing battle was one of the most savage in U. S. history, and the first major encounter between the soldiers of North Vietnam and America.

The film shows the two scenes where he lands first and leaves last. He was in the words of Revelation this morning the Alpha and the Omega.

Now that is the kind of a leader that a soldier wants, somebody who will not tell them what to do, like an earthly king, but rather who will lead with his own life and if necessary lay his life down first.

That is exactly what Jesus did with his kingship. He warned the disciples that they would face death and horror, but he said that he did not expect them to do anything which he was not prepared to do himself first.

When Revelation was written the Christians faced horrors, the real horror of martyrdom. Contrary to what so many Christians have mistakenly thought, Revelation is not a prediction of some horror some time in the future, for which we are still waiting. Revelation described for the Christians the very real and present danger which they faced in their daily lives. This is significant because throughout history many faithful Christians have considered that their own times were the most dreadful things which had ever happened and that an end to the world must be nigh. This happened to Martin Luther who believed that the Pope was the antichrist and he saw the end time near. .... It has happened with the American revolution and the Crusaders

Many have wrongly interpreted Revelation as a prophecy about the end of the world. Actually it is a type of writing (apocalyptic writing), a genre that used to be around, just like soap operas are a type of writing today. That type of writing does not describe actual future events any more than we are supposed to believe that the actors of Eastenders or Friends are real.

The purpose of the apocalyptic writing of Revelation is to tell us that real evil exists, that it wins battles, but that ultimately good will conquer evil and that whilst that fight is going on we have Christ at our side.

Alpha and Omega, he is the first one over the trenches and he will be the last one to leave. Christ is in this battle with us, we are not alone. When we have Christian work to do Christ will be with us. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, Jesus is the beginning of all that we do and the end of all that we do. Are we the last generation? That question which Kate challenged us with last week. The message this week is that it doesn’t matter because in Christ all shall be made alive!