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Praise God for Troubles  April 23, 2020

Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Politics, Religion, Uncategorized.
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Here we are in uncharted territory, locked up, locked down, and locked out.  Who could’ve guessed just two months ago as we struggled to hang on to a runaway economy that within a few short weeks we’d face the prospect of the new and improved Greater Great Depression?  A self-inflicted act of economic euthanasia.  Shuttered in our homes we peer through the TV and wonder, “Will my family make it through this?  Will I make it through?  Will this last so long the economy is gone?  And if it does what then?”

Some say there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.  Some say this is a train roaring down the tracks to obliteration station.  I’m here to tell you today of another light.  The light who is the Light of the world.

Just as the Bible tells us, “Do not worry,” it also tells those who believe in Jesus, “Let not your heart be troubled.”

How do we go through what we’re going through and not worry?  How do we watch the daily briefings, the climbing death toll, adjust to house arrest, looming food shortages, and the possible collapse of the American economic miracle and not have a troubled heart?

Good questions deserve a good answer, and luckily God does not leave us alone.  His Word provides all the faith, hope, and love we need to not only make it through but to help others not only survive but thrive.

From the day man rebelled and cut us off from God there’s been a plan in motion to re-unite us with Him.  By confessing with our lips Jesus is Lord and believing in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead we enter this plan.  We welcome God into our life just as He welcomes us into His.  And where do we find ourselves?  Right where we always hoped we’d be, in the beauty of His glory and grace.  The only fitting reaction to all this is to praise Him, to shout it from the roof tops.

And that’s not just in the rush of deliverance it carries over into our everyday walking around life.  So now that we’re His we should act like it.  We realize that we’re His children, in the world but not of the world.  And because of this we praise Him even when we’re surrounded by troubles.  Why should we sing praises when we are troubled?

Because we know that as long as we keep our hand in the hand of the man who stilled the sea these troubles will not crush us they will make us stronger.  Because, troubles build patience, patience builds virtue, and virtue keeps us wide-eyed and expectant waiting on God.  And as we wait, we should never feel abandoned or forgotten instead we should hold tight to the promise of the blessings He has instore for us, the blessings He pours into our spirit day after day.

Knowing from experience Christ is an on-time God.  He didn’t wait for us to be good enough.  He came and gave Himself as a sacrifice while we were in rebellion seeking to find our own way.  This makes no sense to the natural mind. We can see how a good person might give themselves selflessly for someone worthy and even inspire others to do the same.  However, God showed His true colors by offering up His Son to pay the price of our sin while we were still in rebellion and not good for anything.

Now as we walk in the light of our reunion with God through Christ there shouldn’t be any doubt that we’re His children and reconciled with Him perfectly.  Think about it, when we were at our worst, rebels and completely estranged from Him, we were forgiven and set right through the sacrificial death of his Son. Now that His resurrection has defeated sin, death, and the devil and we’ve been re-born into God’s kingdom just try to imagine all that He has in store for us.

So after the troubles have birthed patience, patience has brought forth virtue, virtue has developed a character of steadfast faith, and this faith has brought forth hope we can depend on God that this hope will not disappoint.  Because this faith is founded on the love of God which is poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit He’s given us.

Yes, the world around us is in turmoil.  Yes, this pandemic is testing us as we’ve never been tested.  We see our nation, our families, and ourselves hemmed in by problems we never saw coming.  But I’m here today to tell you hold on to the hope we have in Christ Jesus.  Nothing can snatch us out of His hand.  And I’m convinced that neither death or life, angels, principalities, powers, not things present or things to come, not height or depth, or pandemics can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, Global Studies, and Religion.  He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com  © 2020 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com   Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens or visit Dr. Owens Amazon Page / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens

 

 

 

 

 

Fear is the Opposite of Faith  March 26, 2020

Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Politics, Politiocal Philosophy, Religion, Uncategorized.
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As we wander through the wilderness of the coronavirus pandemic it’s a perfect opportunity to realize God is in control.  We may think we’re the masters of the universe but in fact we aren’t.  God is.

Humanity has built a planet wide civilization.  Our machines transform deserts, harness the wind, and connect everyone in an ever-growing web of communication and information.  Our planes fill the skies.  Our ships fill the seas.  We’ve walked on the moon, sent robot ships to Mars and the other planets, flung satellites out of the solar system, touched the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and built permanent habitations in Antarctica.  Humanity stands proudly at the apex of life on earth as we cower before an unseen enemy and wage a war against a virus.  Our leaders tell us we’ll win this war while in the back of everyone’s mind dwells the thought, “Someday we may face another virus or germ that will wipe us out.”

We live on a rock hurtling through space.  Even a brief study of geology, paleontology, and astronomy makes it abundantly clear we live in a cosmic pinball machine.  Over and over large asteroids have smashed into the earth often bringing an end to most life and signaling the beginning of a new epoch in the planets 4.5-billion-year history.  It isn’t a question of if.  It is a question of when.

And if species eliminating pandemics and globe shattering collisions aren’t enough, there are super volcanoes lurking around the planet waiting like alarm clocks to explode and wake us from our blissful dream of ruling creation.

When we ponder our current situation, it might not be too far off to say, “This may not be the end of the world, but you can see it from here.”

With that thought in mind we might want to meditate on The Living Bible’s rendition of Proverbs 19:1, “Man proposes, But God disposes.”

The coronavirus pandemic rages all around us.  The government has us isolated, locked down, watching infection charts and mortality rates wondering what happens next.  As we fixate on survival, wishing we’d been crazy enough to be a prepper before being a prepper was cool, off in the distance our mind’s eye tries to envision the New Normal the media echo-chamber tells us is on the other side.

The easiest thing to do is to allow fear a toehold in our lives.  Fear of catching the virus.  Fear of our loved ones catching the virus.  Fear of losing our jobs.  Fear of watching our carefully constructed lives wither on the vine.  Fear of not having enough money, food, hand sanitizer, or toilet paper to make it through the blast.  Fear, fear, fear seems to be all the “If it bleeds it leads” news media offer wall-to-wall 24/7.

A wise woman told me that Fear is the captain of legions of other foul spirits such as greed and selfishness.  Look at how many have responded to this crisis and you see those in bondage to Fear and its minions cleaning off shelves, ignoring shelter-in-place orders, and partying like there’s no tomorrow.

Let me show you a better way.  Fear is the opposite of faith.  Choose faith and live.

We know that most of the things we worry about never happen.  Why waste our time worrying when we can instead walk in faith and have peace?  God tells us not to worry more times than He tells us not to steal and we all know what stealing is.  There’s a formula for peace.  It’s like a recipe.  We can follow it and bake it into our lives.  “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

I’m a Christian.  I believe Jesus is the divine incarnation who came to pay the penalty for sin.  He lived a perfect life, died a substitutionary death, rose from the dead conquering sin and death for all humanity.  I believe He ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of our Father the Creator, and that He’s coming again to judge the living and the dead.  I believe all that as strongly as I believe I’m typing these words right now.  This is the foundation of my reality.  This is my faith.  Faith banishes fear.

If you’re tired of living your life in fear join me in a walk of faith.  To begin a new life in Christ is easy, because the sacrifice of Christ has paid the price of admission.  All you need to do is confess Jesus as the leader of your life and believe in your heart the God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved.  That’s it.  That’s all there is to it.

I’m not saying once we confess and believe we’ll skip down the primrose path with never a problem, a challenge, or a defeat until we dance our way through the Pearly Gates.  What I’m saying is once we confess and believe we can rest assured no matter what happens we’re in God’s hand and no one and no thing can ever snatch us out.  The viruses, asteroids, and volcanoes might come but our future is secure in the everlasting promises of God.

After we confess and believe we’re still facing all the same challenges we faced before, but now we have faith instead of fear.  Now we know that when we pray God hears our prayers.  In the natural we look to the government to save us.  But the government is of the world and the world is passing away.  All things will pass. Only those things in Christ will last.  Reject the transitory dying things of the world and embrace the life that’s in the Spirit of Christ.

Embrace the faith.  Defeat the fear.  And remember the recipe, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

It may feel like prayer is all we have.  Luckily prayer is all we need.  Faith is the answer.  Prayer is the key.  Why worry when you can pray?

Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, Global Studies, and Religion.  He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com  © 2020 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com   Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens or visit Dr. Owens Amazon Page / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens

 

 

Democrats Prescribe Cure Worse Than the Disease  March 24, 2020

Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Politics, Politiocal Philosophy, Uncategorized.
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Our president has taken bold and dramatic action to fight the war against the invisible enemy.  He was the first to step forward taking action to ban flights from China, the source of the problem.   The Democrats who identify as journalists and ones who infest our Congress called him a racist for that.  They were so busy trying to impeach him for seeking to  investigate Swampy Joe’s Ukrainian Quid pro quo blackmail stunt they didn’t have time to notice the emerging threat to life as we know it.

Now after the best economy America’s ever seen has stalled out because of the pandemic Nancy, Chuck, and their minions are attempting to implement Rahm Emmanuel’s cynical advice to Obama during the 2008-9 meltdown, “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”

President Trump works day and night to marshal every resource at America’s disposal while working within our federalist system in the fight against the global Coronavirus pandemic.  He’s repeatedly expressed his gratitude to our nation’s local leaders, doctors, nurses, law enforcement, and first responders who are waging this battle on the ground.  He knows they need all the help they can get.  He also knows American workers, businesses, and American families deserve immediate relief and certainty as they face this unprecedented and difficult situation.

President Trump has told Congress repeatedly to send him a bill that will protect our economy, our jobs, and our family’s futures from this global pandemic.  Senate Republicans have stood up and said they’re ready to send a relief bill to the President’s desk.  The Democrats have now voted it down twice in what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell denounced as “absolutely mindless obstruction.”

Instead of passing a clean bill which addresses the needs of the nation Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer takes advantage of Senate rules to block passage of the relief bill.  Over in the House Speaker Pelosi unveils a monstrosity of a Christmas Tree pork laden substitute that goes on for 1,119 pages.  Here is a partial list of what the Kleptocrats want to shove down our throat:

  1. $300 million in funding for public broadcasting.
  1. Expansive new tax credits for solar and wind energy.
  1. New emissions standards for airlines and a requirement for full carbon offset by 2025.
  1. Required same-day voter registration and early voting.
  1. Bailouts for the U.S. Postal Service, the union pension fund and student loans.
  1. Retirement plans for community newspaper employees.
  1. Publication of corporate pay statistics by race, and race statistics for all corporate boards.
  1. A $1 billion “Cash for Clunkers”-style program where the government buys planes from airlines.
  1. $1.5 million to study climate change mitigation efforts in civil aviation and aerospace industries.

10.New and burdensome OSHA requirements on hospitals.

  1. $1 billion to build on a program expanded by President Barack Obama that provides discounted phone service for low-income consumers.
  2. Publication of corporate pay statistics by race and race statistics for all corporate boards
  3. Provisions on official time for union collective bargaining
  4. Publication and reporting of greenhouse gas statistics for individual flights
  5. Retirement plans for community newspaper employees
  6. Federal $15 minimum wage
  7. Permanent paid leave
  8. Study on climate change mitigation efforts

What does any of that have to do with helping secure America during this fight for our survival?

This power play makes it abundantly clear the Democrats in Congress aren’t interested in rescuing our country. They don’t care about rescuing our economy.  The only thing they want to rescue is their hyper- partisan agenda.  And these advocates of social engineering and personal power are willing to hold America hostage to do it.  As House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) reportedly told Democrats on a conference call last week we should exploit the coronavirus stimulus saying, “This is a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.”

Now is not time for partisan politics.  It’s not the time to play politics as usual.  And it’s certainly not the time to exploit a crisis for political gain.  Now is the time for the political class to pull their heads out of the swamp, listen to the President, and finish good-faith negotiations to deliver economic and healthcare support to working Americans.

President Trump has asked every American to do their part to help slow the spread of Coronavirus.  He’s asked everyone not involved in the critical infrastructure to stay home and to practice social distancing.  Most of us have answered the call.  Now it’s time for the career politicians to do the same thing.  No more excuses.  No more delays.  Quit playing politics with the life and health of Americans and America.  Do your job.

I urge everyone who has a Democrat for their Representative or Senator to contact them and tell them you want a clean relief package without all the giveaways to special interests passed and sent to President Trump now, today, and without delay.  If they won’t listen now remember November is coming.  Maybe they’ll hear us then?

Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, Global Studies, and Religion.  He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com  © 2020 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com   Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens or visit Dr. Owens Amazon Page / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens

 

 

 

 

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