Big God or Big Government?

You're in for a treat today, folks! Since Z's been home with a hurt back, he offered to guest post for me. I've been crazy busy at work (training the new lady is nothing short of a headache.. but more on that later), so it actually works out well. One of the things I love most about my husband is his passion. He's just honest, raw, and sincere, and I wouldn't have him any other way. What he's going to share with you is something he's been learning lately, and has become quite passionate about. Enjoy! :)

My wife C has been asking me to do a guest post on her blog for some time now, and I have finally come up with what I want to write about. It’s something that’s been on my mind for quite some time now. I’ve been doing some reading and studying and now understand how we need to think about our government.

I believe in inalienable rights which are our rights given to us by our Creator. These rights don’t stop at life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence. In Judges 8 vs ²² The Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian." ²³ But Gideon told them, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you." Here Gideon Respected their God given right to be ruled by God rather than men.

Again in 1^st Samuel 8 it says, ⁶"But when they said, 'Give us a king to lead us,' this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. ⁷ And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king." Here we see proof of our God given right to be ruled by our God rather than men, and when we give that right away by electing a ruler, we reject God as our ruler.

I think our founding fathers knew this and that’s why they instituted a federal government that was very limited in power- just basic enough to do for the people what they could not necessarily do for themselves. It was also set up to be ruled by a body of people, not a sovereign king or czar. They understood that when we give power to our government it is a rejection of our LORD ruling us and shows our distrust in Him. This is why I believe in small government- that we keep the right for God to rule over us.

Every step we take in the direction of bigger government (who use their police force to take from those who have to give to those in need), we lose our trust in God to supply what we need. History has proven that when people have the power to take and give to whomever they please, corruption will gradually creep in. This corruption will ultimately destroy the nation from the top down. Because of this, the only One we can trust to give to those in need is our perfect Father in Heaven. We know that He loves us and has promised to supply our needs. Since He is perfect in every way and cannot be corrupted, He is the only one we should trust to rule over us.

I believe this truth is one of the most important factors to think about when trying to get a bill passed in congress, or even in daily decisions. We do the same thing when it comes to our employers. We not only rely on them for a paycheck, but for health insurance, retirement, and a number of other things. We should not so eagerly welcome these things into our lives without considering that we might be rejecting God like the Israelites did when they requested an earthly king. So, next time you're thinking about giving someone else more power over your life, stop and ask yourself of who's really in control. It's your choice. Me? I'd rather trust God.

-Z

About the Party Last Night...

.. the tea party, that is.

Now, I know some of you may not support this cause, and that's totally up to you- I try to keep politics to a bare minimum on my blog, but I feel that this is an event worth talking about. I figure, if the media doesn't give it the fair and balanced coverage it deserves, at least my blog can. If you'd rather skip this post, that's fine- this is not a political blog, and so I'll return to normal posts tomorrow. Please don't run away because we don't see eye to eye on politics! :)

I never much cared for politics. They stressed me out and I got easily annoyed with politicians or know-it-all activists. Still do. In fact, I hate conflict. So, why did I attend my local tea party yesterday?

Because I'm sick of getting over taxed on basically everything.

Because I hate that not only will my generation have to deal with the massive debt our country is incurring, but it will continue to burden future generations.

Because I do NOT like the idea of a part of my paycheck (and a percentage of most things I buy) supporting people who are too lazy to work themselves.

Because I believe that "Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have ... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases" -Thomas Jefferson
Just for the record, it was a very organized, civilized event. It started with the pledge of allegiance, the national anthem, and a prayer. In any large gathering, you're going to have a couple of people take it a bit far, but that's normal. As I looked around at the people gathered there, I felt so proud to be surrounded by working Americans, productive Americans, business owners, God-fearing people. I heard on the radio the organizers estimated 8,000 people were there.I'm proud to have taken a stand.

Still don't consider myself a protester, but definitely someone who isn't afraid to say when something's just plain wrong.

Besides, people who sit around and do nothing never make history. They never change it. They mostly just complain and criticize those who do. And if our country turns into a socialist nation, I sure as heck am not going to be the person who just let it happen!

Anyway, I won't carry on and pretend to be an expert on all things political. I'll just leave you with this:The sign reads: "When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty".

Carrying on to the normally scheduled program.. :)

A Perfect Illustration

Is it just me or was this professor extremely wise in doing this?

Note: I don't know who to credit this story to, as I received it in an email. But just so you know- I didn't write it. :)

An economics professor at Texas Tech said he had never failed a single student before but had, once, failed an entire class.

That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said okay, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism.

All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. But, as the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too; so they studied little..

The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame, name calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great; but when government takes all the reward away; no one will try or want to succeed.

Taking a Moment to be Political

So.. Z is pretty smart when it comes to politics and really, they've always just annoyed us. I keep reading all these blogs with some really great points, and I have to agree with some things, and I have to point out some things that.. well, drive me nuts. So, not to be offensive or stir up more drama, but just to put my 2 cents in & practice my right to free speech while it's still existent.. :)

• I agree- American has come a long way in the area of equality. I'm glad that we are no longer blinded by racism towards blacks. I fully support a BIRACIAL president (just pointing out that he's not 100% black like some have made him). However, I was listening to the radio yesterday when a listener called in and admitted that he voted for Obama for the sole reason that he was black and so was Obama and now was actually taking the time to look at his policies, and didn't like them much. So, blogland, I ask you, is this racism? If I as a white female were to vote for a certain political figure based solely on our common skin color, would I not be considered racist by the black community? I'm afraid I would. I am VERY GLAD blacks are past the oppression of slavery, but.. has it gone to far? Has racial pride turned into a new form of racism? I'll let you decide..
• I will respect the leadership position of president, and believe the entire country should- for presidents past, current, and future. I am not an Obama supporter, however I wish him luck in his attempt at running this country- God knows it's not an easy job. I only ask the same respect from those who are not Bush supporters. He wasn't my favorite guy either, but really, must we stoop to this????

America, this is your new chief of staff. I do believe he needed to listen to the part of Obama's speech where he said "The time has come to set aside childish things". Reports say that this face was directed at our former president.
Oh, by the way, terrible american who did this, the George Bush that you painted on hasn't been president for quite some time now. If you're going to do something stupid, you could at least paint on the right guy. Genious.

And, last but not least: To the Americans who sang "Nah nah nah nah, Nah nah nah nah, Hey hey hey, Goodbye..." yesterday.. get a grip, and some respect.



*takes a deep breath* Ahhh.. okay done with the rant. Some things just get me fired up. Tune in later for the regularly scheduled program. :)