THE MARK

Revelation 13:16-17

He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on this right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number if his name.

At the risk of being apocalyptic, I can't help but see the potential of Senator Schumer's scheme of using a National ID for immigration reform as being a precursor to "the mark", spoken of in Revelation 13:16-17 quoted above and Revelation 14: 9-10

"If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury..."

In an article linked by instapundit, I read

Lawmakers working to craft a new comprehensive immigration bill have settled on a way to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants: a national biometric identification card all American workers would eventually be required to obtain.

Ever since 9/11, I have sensed this type of thing was on its way. At that time, cows were being branded with microchips. Dogs were getting microchips implanted into them so that their owners could find them. For quite some time much of commerce is transacted with a bar code and scanner.

It takes an emergency to affect massive change. I figured the threat of terrorism would be as good of an excuse as any to give everyone a tamper proof id mechanism to stave off illegal immigration or admittance of a terrorist to an airport etc. Also, with an inflation threat looming, I could see our currency becoming moot and we'd have allowances on our ID mark. Can you imagine? It would be a spread-the-wealth ideologist's dream. Think of it. The government could equally allocate a portion of the nation's (worlds'?) wealth onto each person's ID mark. Every purchase would be a debit on your balance.

Senator's Schumer's suggestion of a national ID card comes closer to the materialization of such of thing as I've yet seen. The tagline from the source I referenced is

Once in place, watch for this national ID to regulate access to financial services, housing, medical care and prescriptions—and, of course, serve as an internal passport.

It may start as a card, but wouldn't it be more practical to just have it be on your person? After all, you don't always have a pocket or a purse available.

A GOOD QUESTION

I challenge you to identify the context for which this statement/question is:

“I suggest that the task force recommend our model to the United Nations rather than us adopting the United Nations model,” he says in a phone interview. “The American model is the best in the world, so our question is: Why seek the lowest common denominator?”

These days the first thing that comes to mind is health care, but there are other fronts, too, in which the Obama Administration seems to advocate and embrace the policies and methods of the United Nations or European models.

The above quote pertains to an article from the Christian Science Monitor on Fishing Rights.

Following is the quote that immediately preceded the above reference one.

Marine spatial planning (MSP), according to the United Nations, is “a public process of analyzing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic, and social objectives that usually have been specified through a political process." That kind of government-speak scares Phil Morlock, director of environmental affairs at the reel-and-rod maker Shimano. Mr. Morlock points to references by the ocean task force to “one global sea” as evidence that what’s really being proposed are broad changes to America's user-funded conservation strategy, potentially affecting even inland waters.

What part of American civilization are they not going to try and control?

On the topic of fish and environmentalists, one issue that troubles me greatly is the policy in California to divert the farm waters, not from pollution or something that would hurt the crops, but rather to a little fish' water supply that is becoming an endangered species. Using the water to nourish the crops in the fertile Central Valley may cause the extinction of a little fish. Their solution? Let the crops die. What a waste. Those crops feed the nation and the world. Not only are the crops destroyed, but the farmers' and their workers' livelihood as well. And, that is not to mention the increased cost of produce across the nation as we have to rely even more on South America and other fertile lands to provide our fruits and vegetables. Have we not learned that relying on other countries for our essential needs makes us vulnerable to those countries' whims. I'm thinking of oil. America is abundantly blessed with natural resources. We should be able to use them. Use them wisely, but use them. God created them for our use. Everything on this earth is made for the sustainment of the whole. The earth evolves as necessary, adapting to the changes in its character, due to disasters, changing climate, and so forth. We don't need to be intentionally intervening in the earth's natural process of adaptation to circumstances. (I think there is an analogy here for our financial crisis, but I digress).

In Genesis 1:28-30,

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all creatures that move on the ground - everything that has life in it - I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

He did not say, "I give the government the job of ruling over the fish of the sea..... everything that has life in it." The world's leaders are taking this view, however. I think that despite any of their best intentions, it's dangerous and destructive to give a piece of humanity this type of control, when God, Himself, gave it to all sons of Adam and daughters of Eve.

The earth and civilization has endured for millennia without our intentional intervention (vs. responsible use) of its natural resources. The natural resources of this earth are a blessing from God. Why is it that as a civilization we find it beneficial to sacrifice human life for the greater good when we will not sacrifice a little fish for the greater good of the millions of people who rely on the crops that come from the blessing of the very fertile land in the Central Valley? Species have come and gone for all of time. If one day, the earth is destroyed, it will be upon God's return. We are promised that it will one day.
Revelation 21:1 says,

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea."

I am NOT advocating poor stewardship and waste of these blessings, but I am advocating the allowance for their free use. Commerce and charity can help to distribute them, but the control is not with "the few."

As I searched the internet for a reference to the California fish protection policy, I found one with the headline, Tiny fish threatens to turn California’s Central Valley into Dust Bowl
To date, the Obama administration has shown little interest in reversing a policy that favors fish over farmers.

AND NOT ONLY THAT

From instapundit.com, I just read:

HAS OBAMA LOST BOB HERBERT? “The Obama administration and Democrats in general are in trouble because they are not urgently and effectively addressing the issue that most Americans want them to: the frightening economic insecurity that has put a chokehold on millions of American families. . . . Instead of focusing with unwavering intensity on this increasingly tragic situation, making it their top domestic priority, President Obama and the Democrats on Capitol Hill have spent astonishing amounts of time and energy, and most of their political capital, on an obsessive quest to pass a health care bill.”

Posted at 2:30 pm by Glenn Reynolds

He already has himself knee deep (neck deep) into the health care debacle, but you'd think that Obama would at least make jobs and the economy his next huge push - at least for show, if nothing else. Certainly, he has said he would, but since when has his words been reliable as representing reality?

But, it is not only health care that is distracting him from focusing on the economy (and I'm talking about things other than raising taxes and spending our money) Alas, today I read this headline: Obama to push climate change in White House meeting

The headline speaks for itself. Maybe he senses that if he waits any longer, the controversies and increased skepticism about the facts surrounding the climate change theories will erase his chance to socialize the entire world with Cap and Trade. Does he not see, however, that the more he rejects the will of the American people, the more he is going to antagonize his fellow democrats (thanks to the town halls!) who are key to his transforming of America (and the world)?

COME TO THINK OF IT

As I contemplated my last post, I considered the possibility that the progressives ultimate goals are not a conspiracy theory, but open and transparent to anyone listening and looking. There are examples and examples of self described progressives who espouse the priorities and heros of their platform.

People with a different world view (Capitalists and lovers of independence) look at it as a "conspiracy" because the goals are so outrageous and seemingly evil. But, if you look closely - and even not so closely - at their words and actions, their intentions are clear. They are not apologetic because their beliefs are like a religion. They don't think of themselves as wrong or evil. They see themselves as superior thinkers and are deceived by their pride. One indication of their superior thinking is that they are shocked when their comments are seeing as somehow not politically correct. Often, when exposed, they find themselves surprised when they realize that their words were not politically correct. They then find themselves having to justify or re-tailor their comments to remain relevant in the conversation.

Later, I will try to find and add some concrete examples of what I'm talking about, in terms of their unashamed self-identification with outrageous and radical views that move us toward a more communistic paradigm.

FED AUDIT

Fed Audit Bitterly Opposed By Treasury

This headline caught my attention. I don't think anyone should be surprised by the fact that the Treasury wouldn't want the Fed to be audited. As I skimmed the article, one line really stuck out to me.

A lack of independence, he said [senior Treasury official] , could lead to inflation and otherwise undermine progressive priorities.

The name of the treasury official couldn't be named specifically because,

Under the briefing's ground rules, the officials could be paraphrased but not quoted, and the paraphrase could not be connected to a specific official.

The words, "AND OTHERWISE UNDERMINE PROGRESSIVE PRIORITIES" are what jumped out. Granted, I watch plenty of Glen Beck to be hyper sensitive to references to people clinging to "progressive priorities", but much of what Glen Beck has put forth have been eerily proved right.

A while back, I watched a video called "The Obama Deception", which was a very conspiratorial look at the progressive movement to create a World Order. The Fed played a big role in the conspiracy. It is captivating but nearly 2 hours long. Here is a 10 minute trailer for it.

Back when I watched it before, it intrigued me, but I tried to not get sucked into the conspiracy theory. But, events unfolding this year make me want to take a second look. The key, however, is that the results of their conspiracy theory are not pre-determined by man. Even if these conspiracy theorists are correct in their assumptions, they probably did not take into account the silent majority , the Tea Party movement, in reigning in the powers that think they have a free ride to their progressive thinking World Order. As their vision of health care reform and Global Warming theories break down due the vigilance and courage of the American people and other courageous whistleblowers, the ambitions of the Progressives may very well be true - in fact, they likely are, given what I've read and seen - but their success is not necessarily the end of the story. Light outshines darkness and the darkness forgets about that.

Update: I just read another link from Instapundit regarding the Fed that just adds a little more spice to the allegations of the power of the Fed to transform the world.

VACANT: “The Federal Reserve has quite a few vacancies – indeed, it appears that Obama will soon be able to name a majority of its seven governors.”

BEAUTIFUL

There is nothing more refreshing and beautiful than a hard heart turned toward God, toward Jesus. Today is Sunday and I just read a very moving article in the Wall Street Journal about Mosab Hassan Yousef, the author of "Son of Hamas".

Here is a man, the son of a leader in Hamas, who was gripped by the powerful redemptive message of the Gospel, who converted to Christianity, despite great cost.

'I absolutely know that in anybody's eyes I was a traitor," says Mosab Hassan Yousef. "To my family, to my nation, to my God. I crossed all the red lines in my society. I didn't leave one that I didn't cross."

It's an inspiring article to read, and I'm tempted to purchase the book. While I'm not going to quote the entire article here, I'll give you a taste.

The book, a Le Carréesque thriller wrapped in a spiritual coming-of-age story...

"Simply my enemies of yesterday became my friends. And the friends of yesterday became really my enemies."...........

During those quiet years he met a British cabbie in Jerusalem who gave him an English-Arabic copy of the New Testament and invited him to attend a bible study session at their hotel. "I found that I was really drawn to the grace, love and humility that Jesus talked about," he says in "Son of Hamas."...........

Many will say that the God of Christianity and the God of Islam are one and the same - both coming from the same Father Abraham. But Mohab understands that the message in Islam is a lie, promoted first by Mohammad, and that it is a lie that imprisons its people.

"The problem is not in Muslims," he continues. "The problem is with their God. They need to be liberated from their God. He is their biggest enemy. It has been 1,400 years they have been lied to.".....

Do you consider your father a fanatic? "He's not a fanatic," says Mr. Yousef. "He's a very moderate, logical person. What matters is not whether my father is a fanatic or not, he's doing the will of a fanatic God. It doesn't matter if he's a terrorist or a traditional Muslim. At the end of the day a traditional Muslim is doing the will of a fanatic, fundamentalist, terrorist God. I know this is harsh to say. Most governments avoid this subject. They don't want to admit this is an ideological war.

One might wonder how he reconciles there being both a God of Islam and a different unique God of Christianity, when a major tenant of both is that there is only one God. For me that reconciliation comes from my belief in the existence of satan - the great deceiver. In essence, one could argue that the God of Islam is actually Satan.

Mohab also understands the power of Jesus in people's lives to change them.

"I converted to Christianity because I was convinced by Jesus Christ as a character, as a personality. I loved him, his wisdom, his love, his unconditional love. I didn't leave [the Islamic] religion to put myself in another box of religion. At the same time it's a beautiful thing to see my God exist in my life and see the change in my life. I see that when he does exist in other Middle Easterners there will be a change.............

The redemptive power of Jesus is beautiful even in the context of one life, but here we see the redemptive power of Jesus in a way that could save not only one's life, but the fate of the entire world.

As the son of a Muslim cleric, he says he had reached the conclusion that terrorism can't be defeated without a new understanding of Islam. Here he echoes other defectors from Islam such as the former Dutch parliamentarian and writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

How refreshing to see someone shine light on the darkness. How sweet are the feet of him who brings good news......

POLITZOID

When things are tough, a good sense of humor never hurts.

I just found a very funny new type of entertainment. It's call POLITZOID. You got to take a look. Here is my favorite one so far.

Tell me what you think.