It doesn't take a genius to see what's going on.

It doesn't take a genius to see what is going on...
    and, no, it is NOT a conspiracy theory thing...
It is CLEAR from words and actions (by their fruits you will know them),
    that there are those who would BUY government because they do not value democracy...
    what they value is HAVING IT ALL... what they are working toward is HAVING IT ALL...
    their only value is that... (where your treasure is, there will your heart be also)...
    having all the wealth (of which the 1% already control 87%)
    having all the power (which they are currently buying - LEGALLY - in government)
    having all the prestige and position (which their propaganda wing is working on)...

It is all toward the establishment of a new GILDED AGE,
    in which, as in the 20's before the crash, the 1% controlled it all...
    worked people to death or near death and fired them at will for unforgivable behavior
         like being sick or needing time off to care for their children...
    worked children in the farms and factories, because they had no future in the schools...
    shamelessly exploited, ignored the needs of and murdered minority citizens...
    used the army to violently quell any expressions of citizen rights...
   
We are heading in that direction again, folks... because we have been duped in believing their
    rhetoric and/or lulled into believing things are not extreme in their minds...

So, we already have RIGHT TO WORK (for nothing states) that also have FIRE AT WILL policies,
   actively killing organized labor that balances the power of owners and corporate management...
      we are moving toward FOR PROFIT SCHOOLS, so those who cannot afford school will
          be left out and available to go into the fields and factories again...
      we already have FOR PROFIT PRISONS that will gladly take in more prisoners who serve
          LONG sentences for small crimes, and who will be shipped out to farms and factories
          for cheap labor - the proceeds to go to the prisons... the new SLAVERY...
      we already have few taxes on the wealthy and the bulk of taxes being paid by everyone else...
      we already have efforts to take away affordable healthcare from those who finally got it...
      we already see efforts to eliminate social security and Medicare/Medicaid from our elderly and
           most vulnerable...
      we already have the new red-lining in the cities, to eliminate poor populations for the
          sake of those who want to take over...
      we already have less affordable, public transportation available...
      we already have food and fuel, insurance prices higher in areas of poverty than in areas of
          affluence...
      we already have public assistance being ripped from those most struggling, while those who are
          rich get tax breaks and incentives - WELFARE
      we already have the new NAFTA (TPP) that will ship more American jobs overseas and
          incentivize corporations once again to move where cheap labor, cheap resources and
          fewer regulations mean more unchecked profit for them at the expense of others..
      we already have our environment being destroyed for the profit of a few...
      we have already seen the CRASH, and have been in recovery, only to hear that some who would
          be elected want to go back to doing what brought the CRASH all over again...

The gerrymandering, voter suppression laws, lack of campaign finance regulations and secretive PAC money collections are all aimed at one thing - a return to the GOOD OLD DAYS for the 1%, which marks the BAD OLD DAYS for everyone else...

You watch the signs of the weather... you have seen this before, too... for some reason, WE THE PEOPLE have stupidly let it go on and on... fighting it at the last second, when it threatens our very existence, and then slumbering while this movement builds again...

It is unconscionable, IMMORAL, reprehensible ... and anti-Christ, whose teachings and commands DEMAND concern and committed action on behalf of the most vulnerable...

It doesn't take a genius to see what is happening, or to act to stop it.  VOTE, speak, write, demonstrate, protest, call an elected official... VOTE as people who follow JESUS - His teachings and commands... looking not only to your own interests, but to the interests of others... VOTE!  While you still can!  Before they take that away from you!  VOTE!

Pastor Jamie
   

New Life

So, I know that Jesus took my sin's death to its death, became sin and took it to its death on the Cross, and gives me HIS resurrection. I know what a gift that is to my soul - what deliverance that means. I know that it is about personal salvation. I also know that dying to sin and rising to new life, DAILY, because I am baptized into His death and resurrection, means that I can and should live differently, as one who has been given new life. I am committed, by Jesus' command to live Agape Love, to see that others have deliverance in THIS PART of God's Kingdom, so that they can live a new life, too. If I am to follow Jesus, then I must follow Jesus' way of not judging, of forgiving, of showing compassion to the most vulnerable and in need, of reaching out to stranger and even enemy in Agape. If I do anything other, I am not following Jesus. I can no more want harm or want come to a neighbor (defined by Jesus as stranger and enemy), than I want that for myself, if I love my neighbor as myself. If I love God, I can no more focus only on my own desires, but also on the needs of others who God loves, and work to make sure they are cared for. I am SAVED from selfish, self-centered, greedy, ruthless, power-hungry, controlling, intolerant, judgmental, unforgiving, bigoted, irrational, unloving, apathetic and complacent living. I am CALLED to a life of self-sacrifice, thankfulness, compassion, love, peace, joy, kindness, acceptance(even celebration), actively committed solidarity with my neighbor (stranger, enemy). I do that because Jesus taught, commanded and modeled that life for me in THIS PART of God's Kingdom. I do it because I am redeemed and saved from sin and its death. I do it as a RESPONSE of gratitude and thankfulness to Jesus. THIS is my prayer, my praise and my offering to God... to LIVE as a living sacrifice for the one who sacrificed for me. So, others may keep any empty worship, praise and tithing that are devoid of active Agape Love. They may keep any focus on personal salvation that comes down only to belief toward pie in the sky when we die. I will LIVE my Faith by Grace in Agape Love here and now. Pastor Jamie