BY THEIR FRUITS YOU WILL KNOW THEM

So, we have a decision by the Supreme Court that potentially lifts up folks for equal marriage.  That is WONDERFUL and the battles that will ensue in states will be interesting and hopeful!  For that I am THANKFUL (and surprised).

The Voting Rights Act nonsense will return huge segments of poor, elderly, mostly black and brown folks to the 1950's when it comes to going to exercise their right in a free democracy to vote.  They will be scrutinized as potential criminals while anyone who goes to buy a gun will be lauded as a hero and patriot, regardless of their intentions.  This is being done, clearly, to suppress voters who would likely vote for anyone other than those who represent the far political "right".  These are the folks who have Facebook pages and organizations like TAKE OUR AMERICA BACK and other similar things... now, Congress - bought and paid for - has done all they can to ensure that these folks get and stay in office, so it allows them to also...

not pass the IMMIGRATION BILL before congress.  They can be as hateful as they want, because they are courting LGBT community folks through the courts and figure they will get or retain some votes there, and they are suppressing the votes of black and brown folks who would likely vote for more centrist politicians, so they can go after the "illegal" immigrants and be as nasty as they want to them, those who have worked hard here, paid some taxes here, been exploited here and are now being treated shamefully in a new horror.  We can fill the for-profit prisons with some of them and they can go to working in the fields and factories for $2, the profits going to the prison, of course.  All this being done to them, even as the

FARM BILL is killed, which hurts farmers further and more importantly, TAKES FOOD OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF THE POOR who are on public assistance.  Yes, rather than balance the budget by actually making wealthy and powerful people and corporations (NOT THE SAME THING) pay the taxes they actually owe, we will go after the poor and hungry in our land.  And the farmers will be offered a great deal on prisoner labor, which they cannot refuse.   But it doesn't stop there, because now we are going to

raise STUDENT LOAN rates, even double them, so that those "freeloading" students, whose future jobs we have already eliminated by shipping them overseas so we can exploit other populations for more profit, will have to pay double the rate on student loans to get those almost worthless degrees that will hang on mom and dad's basement wall in their "apartment".  We will go to great lengths to keep the wealthy and powerful from having to pay their fair share as responsible citizens.  It gives the added bonus of paving the way for those who can pay for school outright to excel further as others drop out of school or never go because they cannot afford it.  It will further fill our military with desperate recruits who have nowhere else to go, and FOR PROFIT prisons with those who do desperate things as a last resort.

O beautiful for spacious skies... filled with pollutants from "fracking" ...
for amber waves of grain... saturated in leaked oil from the newest pipeline...
for purple mountains' majesty... with mountain streams later to be polluted (see above)...
above the fruited plains... the fruit picked by prisoners for $2/hour from the local prison
America, America

One HALF step forward and FOUR back...
it's the "PROFIT is GOD tango"... and we are dancing it, being led by the corporations who maneuver our politicians, who in turn dupe us into believing that their purpose is anything other than a quick buck for themselves and those who they truly represent... the rich and powerful...
so, have your hatred for gay folks, black and brown folks, poor folks, immigrant folks, students, union folks, folks who practice "other" faiths, progressive folks and anyone not straight, white, wealthy and/or male... poked, prodded and piqued so that you will continue to blame everyone else except those who pollute, destroy, waste, exploit, kill, deprive, manipulate, and cripple our nation and the world for their own profit... eventually you will see how they are destroying YOU... hope it's not too late...

Pastor Jamie

CAN YOU TELL ME?

Can you tell me WHY...

People who claim to love DEMOCRACY try so hard to keep others from voting in one?

People who claim to be CHRISTIAN ignore the teachings of THE CHRIST in how they live, particularly His CENTRAL COMMAND TO LIVE AGAPE LOVE WITH OTHERS?

People who value laissez faire capitalism, begrudge anyone else getting "hand outs", but are more than happy to receive "entitlements" from the government that they despise... and claim "no regulation", but want to legislate private relationships and persons' bodies?

People who claim to value being "self made", refuse to acknowledge all those, including government infrastructure and practices that got them where they are, and do all they can to hold others down, without any help from the same?

People who claim to value "free trade" do all they can to keep other nations down, economically?

People SCREAM when something is unfair to them, but adopt a "survival of the fittest" attitude when they are intentionally doing what is UNFAIR to others?

People who wear their patriotism on their sleeves, value corporations buying the government they support through "Citizens United" and other "American rights"-centered PACS and organizations?

People whose ancestors were immigrants here, many without invitation or regulation, want to deport others on whose backs our economy has thrived, who have come here for the same reasons?

People who want ALL THINGS for themselves, begrudge anyone else anything else they might get for themselves?

People who sit in the pews and breathe in the Sanctuary air week after week, hearing the Good News of Jesus (if their preachers are preaching it), do all manner of immoral practices the rest of the week around their greed, lust for power and thirst for prestige and position?

People who are pastors, priests, imams and rabbis teach on minute lessons that SEEM TO glorify greed, power and prestige for self, while ignoring the bulk of teaching on love, acceptance, peace, justice and valuing community?

People do not so much value what they DO HAVE, but whine about what they WANT and do not have, also begrudging others who get just a little frivolous stuff - when they have so much more?

People blame the victims of economic injustice who are "below" them in the economic strata, but do not look at those "above" them on it who have created the injustice and exploit them in it?

People believe God wants them just to "get their praise on" and give their tithes, so they ignore the plight of brothers and sisters they are COMMANDED by Jesus to AGAPE LOVE (self-less committed action on behalf of the other), while believing they are "good with God"?

Why?  I really want to know!
Pastor Jamie

FOR PROFIT

For profit...
   Monsanto and other companies can genetically modify our food at will, with no legal ramifications for any consequences to our health...

for profit...
   tort reforms have been enacted that GREATLY LIMIT any financial liabilities in lawsuits, and severely limit the ability of citizens to sue companies, doctors or individuals, many times requiring that a hearing be held with an arbitrator paid by the company being sued

for profit...
   Lumber executives sit on the National Forestry oversight committees and make decisions regarding our national forests...
   Lobbyists influence government officials to legislate exemptions from over-harvesting our trees, the source of our oxygen...

for profit...
   Oil, coal, natural gas executives sit on our Natural resources over sight committees and make decisions regarding the oil, coal and natural gas extraction, cost and usage...
   Lobbyists influence government officials to legislate exemptions from pollution and safety standards
   and for the increased fracking, drilling (on land and off shore), pipelining and unregulated burning of
   these pollutants

for profit...
   we go to war so that military equipment manufacturers can make more, para-military and private security companies can make more, management companies like Halliburton can make more...
   Our government officials know it is good for profit and jobs, so we engage in the business of killing for profit as a nation

for profit...
   companies who claimed to be "job creators" laid off millions of employees so that when times got rough, they would still make gain...
   and their executives got bonuses for doing so, at the expense of those they laid off
   and government cut unemployment help to those who were laid off

for profit...
   corporations are now considered "people" so they can manipulate regulations to suit them
   PAC's can hide where their money comes from and are virtually limitless in how much money
they can pour into false, negative ads to dupe the public into support for their corporately owned
candidates

for profit...
   the companies getting "incentives" and "entitlements" have shipped thousands of jobs overseas, so that they can exploit people there, have even fewer regulations on pollutants, deplete their natural resources and pollute their land, water and air
   and our government officials allow it, even encourage it to happen

for profit...
   government has been busting up the power of organized labor, creating "right to work" states and undermining organized labor in other ways so that employers can exploit them at will

for profit...
   for generations we exploited migrant workers for cheap manual labor, made them live in horrid conditions, and ate the fruits of their labors
   then, when it cost us a little money, in the interest of profit, some of the same folks who hired them in their homes for little pay and great expectations, voted and demanded that we start rounding them up like criminals and deporting them... why?
   so that for profit prisons can make more profit by having their inmates work for low wages during their incarceration, in factories and fields...

for profit...
   neighbors engage in re-gentrification so that their property values will go out, pushing out those on fixed income and of lower income from affordable housing in the process

for profit...
  we refuse to limit assault weapons and large ammunition magazines that belong on fields of battle alone and not on our streets

for profit...
  we ignore the real science of global warming, so that our air, water and ground will not sustain healthy life any longer, but companies reap record gains without regulation

for profit...
  we privatize our schools... mental health facilities, healthcare, prisons, and other institutions so that we can de-regulate them and make more money

for profit...
  we de-regulate banks so they can engage in predatory practices in which thousands lose millions

for profit...
  we create food deserts, and make the cost of groceries, fuel, insurance and other necessities more expensive in poor, urban areas and keep them nice and low in affluent suburban ones

for profit...
  we refuse to make medicines more readily available and we charge more for them

for profit...
  we make the cost of healthcare outrageous, especially for those with no insurance

for profit...
   insurance companies receive premiums for years, and then cancel on people when they have one claim or find a reason not to pay for procedures they need when they need them

for the nation's profit (reduction in the deficit)...
  we balance on the backs of the poor by taking away from them, while refusing to require those
of means (individuals and corporations) to pay even their fair share of taxes toward that end
  because they have government officials in their pockets...

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."  Jesus
"You cannot serve both God and wealth."  Jesus
"By their fruits you will know them."         Jesus
"These conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from?  do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?  You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder.  And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts.  You do not have, because you do not ask.  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your own pleasures.  Adulterers!  Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? ... 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'"  James 4:1-10
"Now the whole company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.  ... There was not a needy one among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold... "  NOT Marx, Lenin... Acts 4:32-37
"For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but lose their life?"  Jesus   Matthew 16:24-26
"Take care!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions..."  Jesus  Luke 12:13-21

We have met the enemy, and they are US!
Any apathy toward the needs of others, complacency about another's plight while I have plenty, any willing or out of chosen ignorance gain at the expense of others - ANY others, is NOT living the Agape Love (selfless, committed action on behalf of the other) Jesus COMMANDED US TO LIVE.
We have all gained affordable goods on the backs of others.  It is time for this to stop.  Jesus demands it.  Stand up.  Speak truth to power.  Demand justice for ALL and not just the wealthy and powerful.
Pastor Jamie

IRS, BENGHAZI, AP "scandals"

Smoke and Mirrors...

To scapegoat this hated President... to come up with a "reason" to hate him and punish him for BEING President... mostly by those among the White, Wealthy Entitled...

Yes, his administration must take responsibility and do ALL they can to eliminate these activities in the future.

But to those on the Political "Right" who keep fueling the flames...

You represent ALL THE PEOPLE, and not just the wealthy and powerful.

ELIMINATE THE SEQUESTER
STOP TRYING TO KILL HEALTHCARE FOR ALL PEOPLE
STOP DOING ALL YOU CAN TO KEEP THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY FROM
    HAPPENING, AND ESPECIALLY JOBS
STOP SUPPORTING THE LOOPHOLES AND "ENTITLEMENTS" THAT KEEP THE
    WEALTHY FROM PAYING THEIR FAIR SHARE OF TAXES
STOP ALLOWING LOBBYISTS AND THEIR CORPORATIONS, INDUSTRIES FROM
    RUNNING ONE FULL BRANCH OF THE GOVERNMENT, OR TWO, DEPENDING
    ON WHO IS IN THE WHITE HOUSE
STOP ELIMINATING OUR HELP TO THE MOST VULNERABLE IN FAVOR OF THOSE
    WITH THE WEALTH AND POWER
STOP SIDING WITH EXTREMISTS WHO KEEP ASSAULT WEAPONS AND LARGE
    CAPACITY MAGAZINES ON THE STREETS
STOP LISTENING TO THOSE WHO WOULD LEGISLATE A WOMAN'S BODY, AND
    START LEGISLATING LIMITS ON PROFIT, AND THAT GUARANTEE A LIVING
    WAGE FOR ALL WORKERS

DO THE RIGHT THING FOR ALL THOSE YOU REPRESENT,  AND NOT THE POLITICALLY EXPEDIENT ONE FOR YOURSELVES!!!!!!!!

Pastor Jamie

Mothers' Day

I lost my mom last August.  I am thankful for her in my life and all that that means to me.  I very much appreciate the other mothers in my life who make a HUGE difference... including my wife and my daughter who is mother of my granddaughter... I love them all very much and honor them, not just today, but all days...

The honoring of Hallmark and FTD today aside, and the benefit that they gain from days like this in our culture... it seems to me that the MOTHERS in our society NEED TO BE HONORED...

Perhaps a way to honor them would be...

For our children to stop killing each other, in recognition that the one you are so angry with also has a
    mother...

For our politicians, who are elected to represent our mothers, to stop playing political games and honor our mothers by:
    taking assault weapons off our streets that kill both mothers and their children
    supporting health insurance initiatives that help working and/or poor mothers and their children
    make sure our mothers get paid a living wage (instead of a minimum one) for their hard work
    make sure our mothers get paid the SAME wage for the same work that our fathers get
    do what we can to clean up our environment so that the air, water, ground, food and all else
         is suitable for our mothers and their children to live with
    stop supporting two justice systems, so that the inequities of imprisonment are eliminated, and
         fewer mothers must visit their sons in prison
    stop trying to HURT the economy and jobs for political reasons, and create jobs so that our
         mothers' children will be able to find sustaining employment
    make education equal among ALL citizens, so that SOME mothers' children are not held down
    make sure affordable housing, utilities and transportation are available to ALL mothers and their
         children
And for us men to INSIST that they do that for our mothers...
   
For our churches and pastors, called to serve God's children and their mothers, honor them by:
    recognizing the mothers who are pastors as equals, and treating them equal to the males
    lifting up women as being equal, valued and honored in the church
    preach and teach on the gender neutral passages regarding God as they are in Hebrew, Greek
       and also, lift up the feminine images of God in scripture
    stop saving Womens' Day and Mothers' Day as the only days women preach in the church,
       or the only day women in the scripture are lifted up as virtuous servants
    and recognize our mothers' rights to do with their bodies as their conscience dictates, and
       make decisions regarding all sexual issues based on the same
And for us men to INSIST that they do that for our mothers...

For our men to be REAL MEN, and recognize their wives as highly valued mothers, equals and
   partners... not "less than" in ANY WAY... and to treat them with the respect, dignity and honor due
   them... and to raise their daughters as self-respecting, strong, dignified mothers to be (or not)... by
   showing them how a woman should be treated by her son, grandson, boyfriend, husband, brother,
   cousin or father...

Rather than the annual church attendance, worship service honors, dinners, flowers, cards and gifts...
   maybe EVERYDAY should be MOTHERS' DAY...

... it could be, if we would truly honor them.

Pastor Jamie
   

Why we cannot serve two masters

Matthew 6:24,25
   With this very short, matter-of-fact statement in the Sermon on the Mount (Luke 16:13), Jesus declared that God and Wealth (identified by Him as the rival master), would compete for our hearts as our God/god.  The nature of Greed was well developed, and devotion to it well established in Jesus' time.  "Mammon" may as well be the name of a god.  It demands deep, unwavering devotion.  It possesses the souls of any who would devote their lives to it.  I dominates our thoughts, feelings and actions.  As people obsess over obtaining it for themselves, they are in fact owned by it, run by it, possessed by it.  Jesus pointed out that we are not meant to have two LORDS in our lives.  We cannot faithfully serve both God and Wealth.  We will hate the one and love the other or be devoted to one and despise the other.  But you see, we have tried to ride the fence, walk some line between and give lip service to God while truly serving Wealth as our god.  We offer God our praise and tithes, as a very religious way of courting Wealth, our real god, in order to obtain its favor.  We praise God with our lips, but our hearts are full of greed for more wealth (Mark 7:6-8).  And we despise Jesus for pointing things like this out to us.  We resent that we cannot get away with it, so we ignore what Jesus taught and exemplified, distort it, twist it or take it out of context to allow us to continue our duplicitous faith lives.
James 4:1-12
   The New Testament prophet, James, points out that our devotion to our god - Mammon, is at the heart of why we engage in war, quarrel among our selves, commit all manner of sins against one another and are never satisfied.  It is not for a lack of prayer that we do not get what we want, but a lack of concern for anyone else's well being.  The nature of our greed means that our prayers are dominated by our being "blessed and highly favored", sometimes to the neglect of others around us in need, and sometimes because of our exploitation of them in order to get more.  We will use our Military, Political Allegiances, our dominance of The World Trade Organization, fear, hatred, conspiracies, false accusations, lies, deception, corrupt power, charm and whatever else we need to use to get more for our selves at the expense of others around the world and within our own nation.  A very few people, driven by their devotion to Mammon, control the soul of our nation for their own gain at the expense of the rest of us and others, and they will do ANYTHING to please their god.
   The Old Testament prophets said it was wrong.
   Jesus said it was wrong.
   The Apostles and New Testament prophet said it was wrong.
   Prophetic voices in our day and time, indeed for the past 32 years especially, have said it is wrong.
But at the promise of getting the benefits of pleasing this god, MANY have bowed down and serve it in their lives.  They think it serves them, but it possesses their soul and ultimately the soul of our nation.  We are arrogant, violent, selfish, defensive, ruthless and mean-spirited, because that is what it takes to offer our devotion to the god of wealth - greed - mammon.   We have wiped out the land's original inhabitants for it, justifying it with a hatred based on a false sense of self-righteousness.  We have enslaved generations for it, rationalizing it with a belief in our superiority.  We have held people down for it, claiming that it was their lack of something and not our ruthlessness and exploitation that made it happen.  We continue to exterminate, exploit and exclude others in our own country and the world because we want it all for our selves, as the true believers in it - all while claiming the name of Jesus with our lips and form of worship, but in function bowing at the feet of Mammon.  Our value for independence of will separates us from the plight of those whom we trample.  Our value for laissez-faire economics allows us to re-define morality in only sexual terms, so that we can ignore the deplorable nature of our actions.  Our cries for limitless freedom and therefore profit in the world allow us to destroy the creation upon which we depend and other human beings with whom we are spiritually connected, all so that we can get MORE, NOW and only for "us".  With all of this, our sense of entitlement has grown, so that we are indignant when anyone who is NOT "us" challenges us, gets some for themselves or claims a different value.  We quite arrogantly claim faithfulness to Jesus, while giving our devotion to Mammon.
   In order to follow Jesus, we must go where Jesus has gone and do what Jesus teaches, directs and commands us to do.  If we were to live the Agape Love (committed action on behalf of the other) that Jesus COMMANDS, we would truly love neighbor as self and love God with all that we have.  That is a threat to Mammon, for it means that our value would not just be for those things that keep our devotion tied to Mammon - the promotion of self above all else.  It means we would value Jesus and His Way over Wealth and its ways, people over profit and the creation over quick personal gains.  We would not believe that "the end justifies the means".  We would not value self-indulgence over a true, loving relationship with God and people.
  You cannot serve both.  People who try to are deceived and deceivers.  To whom will you submit your Will and conform your Way?  Will it be the Way of Jesus - the Way of Agape Love, or will it be the way of Greed - the way of ruthless self pursuits?  You cannot serve both; for you will either hate God for not letting you have whatever and however much you want and love Mammon for promising it to you, or you will be devoted to Mammon in order to whatever you want and despise God for not promising the same things.  Or you will Agape Love God and Neighbor, and give your true devotion, singularly to God, knowing that it is best for you and everyone else.  Make a strong choice and be genuine in living in it.  God is worth it.  Neighbor is worth it.  You are worth it.
Pastor Jamie

God Bless America...

Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright was not wrong in what he preached.  It was twisted around AND taken out of its context for political reasons.  It served as one of my first major disappointments in this President, whom I continue to support with mixed disappointment and appreciation, because he caved in that early to political games, rather than fight them, a pattern I see continuing, unfortunately.  I believe you have to stand up to bullies, state the truth and therefore expose their lies, and not placate them.  That being said, I believe The Rev. Dr. would have been better to say, "God Bless America..."

GOD BLESS AMERICA...
with a CHANGE OF HEART from HUBRIS to HUMILITY, so that we no longer honor and bow to those who are "entitled", hoping someday to join their ranks and gain our "entitlements" on the backs of others, but rather work toward the good of ALL in the community and nation.

GOD BLESS AMERICA...
to go from GREED to GENEROSITY in our hearts, so that the IMMORALITY we fight is no longer narrowly defined only in sexual activities and orientations, but rather in ANY ruthless, selfish, mean-spirited and heartless actions that hurt many for the sake of a few.

GOD BLESS AMERICA...
to move from VIOLENCE in our hearts to PEACE in our hearts, so that we do not meet every challenge defensively and then work to justify our defensive, turned OFFENSIVE actions, but rather start with Peace within and then put it out in the world around us, refusing to give in to a VIOLENT orientation to the world around us, refuse to arm our selves in anticipation of a fight, refuse to look for opportunities to "stand our ground", refuse to have an "us vs. them" mentality, but one of peace.

GOD BLESS AMERICA...
to move from INJUSTICE to EQUITY AND EQUALITY in how we see EVERYONE, not just in our land but across the world, halting the abuses of power that effectively, intentionally, systematically suppress the well-being and growth of many so that a few may have dominance and impunity in wielding their power.

GOD BLESS AMERICA...
to abandon our ARROGANCE for COMPASSION, ending the "might makes right" way that we view those within our nation and abroad, the "if I can, I necessarily should" way of thinking that leads us to "get away with" many atrocities across the nation and the world (and change laws to make it legal), and the "if it's good for me, I do not care how it affects others" mentality that prevails in this land of "individual liberty", for a concern for ALL out of COMPASSION for ALL and not just "self".

GOD BLESS AMERICA...
to a new self image from PREDATOR, exploiting the masses for the sake of a few in our own land and abroad, to ADVOCATE for others, building up ALL and seeing the wisdom and REAL strength in having EVERYONE strong and being well, empowered and valued, therefore at peace within and out in the world around them.

GOD BLESS AMERICA...
to move from its HATREDS that allows us to rationalize, justify and condone the vilification of so many for so many reasons, even to dehumanizing others for our own purposes, to an ACCEPTANCE and CELEBRATION of the other for who they are and what they bring to the diversity and therefore strength of the nation and world community.

In other words,
GOD BLESS AMERICA...
with the AGAPE LOVE that Jesus taught and exemplified - COMMANDED...
... and start with the American Church, those who claim to follow Jesus, please.

Pastor Jamie