The Crisis of the EU: Is America Headed There Too?

We believe that America was founded by the intention of God so that we might have a place to worship Him in spirit and truth, and that we might be a light to the world that freedom is found in the purpose of God.  We are to be a light to the rest of the world as Israel was intended to be when God founded it by promise to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, etc.  Darkness (evil) wants nothing to do with light and will do anything it can to move America away from her intended purpose.  For all her faults and sins, God still wants to bless us.  We must stand up against evil, against all forces which would deter America from being in the center of God's will.  Hillsdale College has taken this stand and Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic warns us concerning the direction we are taking.
      -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Václav Klaus
Larry P. Arnn
President, Hillsdale CollegeVáclav Klaus is the president of the Czech Republic, and has served twice as its prime minister. He was born in Prague in 1941, and holds his doctorate in economics from the University of Economics in Prague, where he still teaches. He also studied in Italy in 1966 and in the United States in 1969.

---

July/August 2011
Václav Klaus
President,
Czech Republic

"In Europe, we have witnessed a gradual shift away from liberalizing and removing barriers and towards a massive introduction of regulation from above, an ever-expanding welfare system, new and more sophisticated forms of protectionism, and continuously growing legal and regulatory burdens on business. All of these weaken and restrain freedom, democracy and democratic accountability, not to mention economic efficiency, entrepreneurship and competitiveness.

"Europeans today prefer leisure to performance, security to risk-taking, paternalism to free markets, collectivism and group entitlements to individualism. They have always been more risk-averse than Americans, but the difference continues to grow. Economic freedom has a very low priority here. It seems that Europeans are not interested in capitalism and free markets and do not understand that their current behavior undermines the very institutions that made their past success possible. They are eager to defend their non-economic freedoms—the easiness, looseness, laxity and permissiveness of modern or post-modern European society—but when it comes to their economic freedoms, they are quite indifferent.

"The critical situation in Europe today is visible to everybody. It is not possible to hide it. I had believed that this spectacle would be a help to the cause of political and economic freedom in Europe, but this is not proving to be the case. Of course, with the way your American government has been going, you might be able to catch up with us—in terms of our problems—very soon. But you are not as far along yet. So maybe seeing Europe’s crisis today will at least help you in America turn back toward freedom."

---

 “Reprinted by permission from Imprimis, a publication of Hillsdale College.” SUBSCRIPTION FREE UPON REQUEST. ISSN 0277-8432. Imprimis trademark registered in U.S. Patent and Trade Office #1563325.

---

For the whole Imprimis article click on the following link:
http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis.asp

Masterpiece in the Making

Most of the time, I don't see myself in a very good light, but there is something about being in a process. We are told that God sees us through the veil of His Son's sacrifice ... He sees us as "glorified!" (Romans 8:30). What does this mean? Let me tell you something about my wife. Paula, as a very accomplished interior designer (she doesn't see herself as that accomplished, by the way), is a visionary. She gets a picture of the end result of her client's home before she has begun and throughout the process she has that picture in her mind until at the end of the project it comes out just as she had seen it...beautiful! 

In much the same way, God is a visionary as well, though in a perfect sense. He sees us for what we will become and considers us beautiful now. Wow! What an overwhelming thought. If we stop looking in the mirror and start looking at ourselves through the eyes of God, it will revolutionize our understanding of self. As Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Its not I but Christ living in me..." (Galatians 2:20). God really does see us this way and we need to accept that He is in us, and has a perfect plan for us.

Gwen Smith writes about this in her "Girlfriends in God" devotional where she says,  "Real beauty isn’t about a finished or flawless product. It can’t be. It’s not possible on this side of eternity to have completed beauty. Our restoration will be complete in the presence of God when we see Him face to face."

http://www.crosswalkmail.com/amkhfh/ViewMessage.do?s=svjsrlbksjsbpkdcfhzwzblpvffpjmbzrrd&r=epybsrhdtptr&a=view&m=qdwpsmnsn

Remaining Polution Free

Dr. David Jeremiah reminds us that in order to keep ourselves free from the polution of this world, we must take some specific steps that will help.
I recall driving through a dirty little town in eastern Colorado several years ago.  This town was covered in dust from the wind blowing across the dry, stripped farmland surrounding it.  I had to roll up my windows, close off the vents of my A/C and turn the fan off.  It helped, somewhat, but there still was a layer of dust on the dash and all inside the car.  It smelled bad and I knew that I had inhaled some of that dust.  The best I could do was to hurry through that town and surrounding area and look forward to home where it was dust free.
Living the Christian life does not keep the dust from flying around us.  However, the steps Dr. Jeremiah writes about are like rolling up the windows, closing the vents, putting a scarf over our noses, and looking forward to getting Home.

_______________________________________________________

Is your life 'Pollution Free'? by David Jeremiah

Keep your "personal space" free from pollutants. Just as America's Environmental Protection Agency is concerned about land, water and air pollution, our spiritual EPA should be concerned about toxins in three areas of life -- people, places and practices.
PEOPLE
It begins with the people we're with. When baseball great Lou Gehrig was starting his career, the Yankees sent him to Hartford to get some practice in the minor leagues. Until then, Lou had lived at home. Now for the first time in his life, he was living with a rough crowd of minor league ballplayers who cursed, drank heavily and spent their time in bars and speakeasies. Gehrig began experimenting with alcohol and consorting with the wilder men on the team. Consequently his game went into a slump.
The manager of the Hartford Senators, a small, wiry man named Paddy O'Connor, took Gehrig under his wing and mentored him like a father. One night, O'Conner invited the player to his home for dinner. "Lou," he said, "you have a great career ahead of you. Nothing can stop you, except Lou Gehrig. That gang you're traveling with is poison...."
O'Conner talked to the young man about choosing friends and working hard, and he ended by saying, "Think it over." Gehrig did think it over. He quit the gang and went on to become one of the greatest figures in the history of baseball.
Perhaps we need to think it over, too. Think of the people you most enjoy seeing. The ones you relax with after work or on weekends. The people you call if you have exciting news or feel depressed. Do they build you up spiritually? Is your walk with the Lord stronger after you've been with them, or weaker? One of the Bible's "EPA" regulations for the soul says, "Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits" (1 Corinthians 15:33).

PLACES
We must avoid toxic places, too. There's always a corner of the magazine shop at the airport that isn't healthy. If you use your Internet, there are thousands of noxious sites to avoid. If you join your friends for a movie, there are some films that can contaminate the milieu of your mind.
The Bible says, "Ponder the path of your feet" (Proverbs 4:26) and "Make straight paths for your feet ..." (Hebrews 12:13). Think of these commands as God's EPA regulations for your life.

PRACTICES
We also need to guard against toxic practices -- habits in our lives that defile us. Too often we allow our culture to infringe upon our lives, creating the opportunity for Satan to influence our choices whether it is in our language, our reading material or the television shows we watch. The radios in our cars, turned to the wrong stations, can pollute the air with profanities and obscenities. Toxicity is everywhere, but we can avoid it.
Wherever we are, it is important to remain committed to pursuing righteousness, since we know that God has called us to "Be holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16). We can remain "uncontaminated" by our environment if we remain diligent and alert.
It's vital to maintain vigilance and discipline to avoid the many temptations and snares that are available in our culture. The pollutant could be anything from pornography to pessimism, but the Christian must work to preserve an environment where our Holy God can dwell. Someone said that first we make our habits, and then our habits make us.
Backsliding begins with small steps, but improving the environmental quality of our lives begins the same way. Let's ask ourselves: What one thing can we do to provide a cleaner, healthier environment for our souls? How can we develop a quality system of living? What little change can yield lifelong results? Perhaps it's as simple as changing what we do on Friday nights, or meeting a Christian friend for coffee and forming a new friendship. Maybe it's installing a filter on the home computer or cancelling some of the cable services.
Keep the landscape of your life, the waters of your mind, and the atmosphere of your home healthy and holy. Give a hoot -- don't pollute.
           ___________________________________________________________

Jeremiah is the founder and host of "Turning Point for God" radio and TV, and senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California. For more information on Turning Point, visit www.DavidJeremiah.org.

The Things We Think On

It is amazing to me how God works; how He uses others to impress upon me what is so important to Himself.  Let me tell you about a short trip and a visit yesterday.Only 90 miles from my home in the south Denver metro area I have a cousin who is a widow, a few years older than myself, and who either has Alzheimer's disease or dementia.  Since finding out about her illness, I have made the trip up the mountain several times to check in on her ... though she has some people from her church who are caregivers, Carolyn lives at home by herself.  She is progressing in the disease to where it may be necessary to have someone there with her daily instead of just someone checking in on her.
Anyhow, just yesterday I drove up and met her and a friend at a restaurant for lunch.  We had a great visit and Carolyn seemed upbeat.  Her friend told me that she had come by to pick up Carolyn for church on Sunday and that Carolyn was very weepy and sad ... it took several hours of talking and care to get her beyond this.  I asked Carolyn what seems to make her sad and as best that she could remember, she tried to tell me about some things that, to me, seemed trivial.  However, they were not trivial to her at the time.
I shared with her how God wants us to think on "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9)
Carolyn smiled and said, "Ok."
Now, realistically, unless God opens her mind to these good things (for which He is more than able to do for her) she likely will fall into the trap of what some have called "stinkin thinkin" again.
Then I began to think about my own mind.  I don't have any excuse for getting depressed; for falling into the trap of "stinkin thinkin."  But, I still do it, more than I would like to admit.  How do I stop this incessant attitude failure?  I mean, my goodness, look at what I have (much more than I need), I have a beautiful and godly wife, a lovely family, and look at where I am bound (heaven).  So, why do I get caught up in the things that bring me down into the pit of dispair.
Like Carolyn, I need to simply say "Ok" and then trust God to take care of what lies ahead, "forgetting what lies behind, and press on toward the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ" as the Apostle Paul tells us.
Carolyn, for most of the time is a sweet and happy person, and I pray that she will live out her days, if nothing else, with joy.  And so must I.
What about you?