bdamage Loc: My Bunker

"Demise" indeed.

The justice Dems are merely being used as a distraction from everything that's going well right now.

bdamage Loc: My Bunker

Verse of the Day for Saturday, July 20, 2019

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them."—Ecclesiastes 12:1

Thoughts on Today's Verse...
When we are young and have so many things to do, many things can distract us from what is important. We must let the Lord gather our passions under his grace in those early days of excitement and frenetic joy so we can be used for God's greater good. For most of us, age brings a crescendo of limitations of one kind or another. This doesn't mean life has to be bad, just that we had better put our priorities in order. Hopefully we learned the lessons of faith in our youth so that we have the maturity and wisdom to be mentors, examples, and counselors for those who come after us on the path.

My Prayer...
Holy God, I pray for the youth of your Church. Give them passion and joy as they find you and follow Jesus. May their faith be real, vibrant, joyous, and triumphant! Give them a sense of your glory. Sustain them through their later years with a deep assurance of your presence, victory, and grace. In Jesus' name. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

bahmer

Amen and Amen

eagleye13 Loc: Fl

https://static.onepoliticalplaza.com/upload/2019/7/20/t1-301259-fb_img_1563372329015.jpg

The unwitting Committee to Re-elect the President
https://www.ocregister.com/author/joel-kotkin/

Given his consistently poor approval ratings, and growing concern about the polarization that he has exacerbated, Democrats should have little trouble ousting President Trump next year. But instead, with a series of outlandish and often deeply unpopular proposals, they have morphed effectively into the Committee to Re-Elect the President.

Democrats could succeed easily if they focused on basic middle class issues, such as health care and reforming the tax system, where popular opinion, including among working class w****s, is largely on their side. Infrastructure spending, if they can somehow disassociate it from the usual pork-barreling, could also gain support, particularly from construction workers.

Instead many Democratic candidates appear if they are trying to win the campus and media intersectionality challenge, emphasizing cultural “purity” in ways that worry such craftier politicians as Barack Obama. The views now commonly expressed on g****r, race, immigration and the environment may work in the deep blue recesses of our majority cities, but are unlikely to play in Peoria.

Sexual Identity

Democrats have been ahead of public opinion on issues of female empowerment and gay rights, and these issues help them against the misogynistic, alpha-male President. Support for gay marriage has risen dramatically in the past decade, and has become a clear winner for the Democratic Party.

Yet, in a pattern depressingly common, the Democrats seem determined not to acknowledge victory but take on ever more marginal positions. Their often obsessive focus on t*********r issues not only impact a small part of the population, but could allow Republicans to identify them with such things as allowing b********l m**es to use women’s restrooms and encouraging parents to allow their children to be raised without g****r identity, an agenda rejected by two-thirds or more of the population.

Perhaps the most fraught part of the Democrats’ g****r politics revolves around a******n. The country — including millennials — may be divided on the practice overall, but roughly four in five oppose late-term a******ns which to some resemble infanticide. These positions could hurt them in culturally conservative regions of the Midwest and Mid-south and among Latinos as well as.

Race Politics

As in the case of g****r, Democrats can, and should be, proud of their support for minority rights. Relatively few Americans, particularly among the young, now oppose inter-marriage between races and a solid majority support affirmative action. Yet this comity does not extend to such things as r********ns for s***ery — a position rejected by 70 percent of Americans but embraced by candidates like Cory Booker and Kamala Harris.

As in so many cases, the r********ns embrace reflects an ideology, popular on campuses but not among the general public, that sees American history as little more than a litany of oppression. To be sure, our history with racial minorities, and Native Americans, has often been shameful, but much of it is also uplifting, from the work of the antebellum abolitionists, the over 300,000 Union soldiers who died, in part, to free the s***es to the work of the modern Civil Rights movement.

Immigration

Trump’s white identitarian politics, particularly associated with immigration, represents a long-term gift to the Democrats, given that the country that will be as much as half non-white by 2050. Yet some candidates’, including New York’s Kirsten Gillibrand, and other prominent want to “dismantle ICE,” and while others, like Texas’ Beto O’Rourke, want to tear down existing barriers. Such stances are likely to remain not at all popular with the vast majority of Americans.

Both Bernie Sanders and Trump identified the problems faced by working class people by unrestricted immigration, people who share neighborhoods, schools and hospitals with the largely impoverished newcomers and could benefit economically from a more restrictive policy. Of course, this is not much a problem for wealthy people living in the sanctuary cities like New York, San Francisco or L.A.’s Westside for whom mass immigration, including the undocumented, promises an endless supply of nannies, gardeners, dishwashers as well as distinctive restaurants and cultural festivals.

The Green New Deal: The Ultimate Delusion
Nothing threatens a potential Democratic sweep than the so-called “Green New Deal”. Driven by often hysterical media accounts, the proposal from the leader of the Democratic Stalinoids, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, pledges opposition to Democrats who might object to the destruction of whole industries — aerospace, oil and gas, and large-scale agriculture— at the behest of climate hysterics.
Rather than support incremental changes — such as replacing coal with natural gas, reconsidering nuclear power and embracing work at home — the GND would deliver a death blow to our electrical grid, which they want to rely on more, just as we remove the most reliable sources. The devastation of blue collar California and New York, in large part due to high electricity policies and “feel good” regulations likely can’t be easily sold in the politically critical Midwest that relies on cheap power and large scale manufacturing.

Rather than win the battle on fundamental economic issues, the Democrats seem to be working overtime to assure the re-e******n of the erratic and widely disliked Trump. If he wins re-e******n, he can only do it with the connivance of the “resistance.”

Joel Kotkin is the R.C. Hobbs P**********l Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange and executive director of the Houston-based Center for Opportunity Urbanism (www.opportunityurbanism.org).

bdamage Loc: My Bunker

Verse of the Day for Monday, July 22, 2019

Be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."—1 Peter 5:5

Thoughts on Today's Verse...
The word "submissive" is often positive or negative based on its relationship to us personally. It's nice having someone serve us submissively, but serving someone else submissively is hard work. Unfortunately, we are selfish way too much of the time. But God is at work in direct opposition to anyone who is full of p***e and unwilling to serve others, especially if those "others" are older believers! Whether it's easy to wear the clothes our Father demands or not, we are to intentionally clothe ourselves with humility!

My Prayer...
Father, thank you so much for the great heroes of faith listed in Scripture. Thank you for those other heroes of faith who have shared their examples and lives with me. Bless them with strength and health. And Father, please use me to bless and to serve all of your children, especially those who have lived many years in faithful service to you and your Kingdom. Because of the grace of Jesus, and in his name I pray. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

bahmer

Amen and Amen

bdamage Loc: My Bunker

Verse of the Day for Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
—1 Timothy 4:14

Thoughts on Today's Verse...
Life seems so busy, so full of distractions and "to do" lists. Let's not let our "busyness" keep us from our Father's "business." Let's find the ways God has gifted us to serve him and his people; then let's dedicate ourselves to that with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

My Prayer...
Gracious God, you have blessed me in so many different ways. Thank you for all these touches of your grace. But Father, I need your help to more clearly see how you have gifted me to serve you and to more passionately make that service a key priority in my life each day. Thank you for always hearing my prayers. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

bahmer

Amen and Amen

bdamage Loc: My Bunker

Verse of the Day for Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions.—Ecclesiastes 7:10

Thoughts on Today's Verse...
The only thing we get by spending our time looking in the rear view mirror is a big disaster in our front windshield! Our best days as Christians are always ahead. Jesus has promised to return and take us home to God — what better future could there be. So let's not get distracted with nostalgic cynicism. We can thank God for his past blessings, but let's not waste the present with pessimism. Let's make a commitment to redeem our time and trust that the same God who raised Jesus from the dead also holds our future in his hands.

My Prayer...
Holy God, give me a sense of purpose in each day that you give me life and give me an optimistic outlook on the future and on my Lord who will meet me there. Please help me have a sense of genuine joy knowing that no matter where the road leads me today, I will journey with you. In Jesus' name I thank you for being my loving God and eternal Father. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

bahmer

Amen and Amen

eagleye13 Loc: Fl

Amen and Amen

Keep looking forward.
2020 is looking real good for conservatives.

bdamage Loc: My Bunker

bdamage Loc: My Bunker

Verse of the Day for Saturday, July 27, 2019

Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.—Acts 17:4

Thoughts on Today's Verse...
Women have always played an important role in the work of God. This was especially true in Macedonia (Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea) in the first century. In each of these places, many of the leading women of the community were touched by the Gospel. We know they played important roles in supporting the missionary enterprise (Lydia) and sharing the Gospel with those around them (Euodia and Syntyche). Why not take time today to let a godly woman in your congregation know how important she is to the Lord's work and to you.

My Prayer...
Almighty God, thank you for godly women of faith. Bless them and their service and make it powerful and effective to your glory. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

bahmer

Amen and Amen

eagleye13 Loc: Fl

Amen and Amen