right and wrong

saturday, the governor of the state texas attended a prayer gathering that he had suggested to a religious organization a year ago. now, our governor is known for keeping taxes low, being a business friendly state, and a huge "cutter." what i mean by cutter is he will cut programs before he raises taxes on the state citizens. of course this has inspired a great deal of debate in our state, because he just cut a ton from our education. sometimes the right choice is going to be the hardest choice to make.

the question of church and state became an issue with whether, or not he was blurring that line. first of all he is a man first, a christian and then the governor. some christians would say he's not, my question is to you then; are you sinless? his first responsibility is to GOD, second his wife, then his family, and then his country. we are responsible as christians to the governing authorities, and they are responsible to GOD. at one time, or another our congress and leaders prayed to HIM for discernment and wisdom on the congressional floor. now it is seen as offensive to the public if they do that.

one of the speakers said something that stood out in my mind. "the pulpit has the responsibility to it's congregation to teach the laws of GOD to become more CHRISTLIKE." when the speaker said this i immediately thought of our president, and how he was influenced from the pulpit. his pastor of over 20 years taught hate of america, and hate of the white man. he was taught too hate, and not the redeeming love and grace of CHRIST. how could our president not be influenced by this?

sometimes the choices we make as an individual are going to be hard for another to understand, but you have to discern why that decision is being made. tough choices aren't always going to be the best for everybody. when i was diagnosed, and had just gotten married i was working at a small firm in houston. my responsibility was to balance their budget and incomes, so they could do their job. at this time revenues weren't coming in as much as what we were paying out. i was going to have to suggest to the owners what we would have to cut so we could pay the overhead of the business, and pay the employees.

well at the start of the company some guidelines should have been put in place by the owners that weren't done. one of the things that should have been done was an employer/employee handbook; a set of rules. we no longer live in a society that a man is as good as word, and conduct business on a handshake. people aren't honest, or moral enough to do that any longer. the story of the vineyard owner is a prime example of business. if the employer agrees to pay a wage to the employee they are responsible for that.

one of the owners suggested taking wages from individuals that had taken off work months before. one problem with that was there wasn't a handbook that had given guidelines about vacation and sick days. the second problem was the owners had approved those days off via email, or verbally. we argued about this for over a month. i had the numbers ready to go, and i was responsible in telling the employees that this was going to happen. i knew that it was wrong. our last argument over this i quit my job. i gave my wages up and my insurance without a thought to what that was going to do to me financially, or physically for that matter.

the scary part about those two things is my husband had been laid off, and i had ms. i needed my income and my insurance big time. i wasn't willing though to do something that was wrong. i wasn't willing to give up my principles for greed and desperation. it is ironic because i didn't believe in GOD at that time.

three things that pop to my mind is social security, medicare/medicaid benefits, and our defense. when our president made the case that we had to raise the debt ceiling and tax the rich because we couldn't pay those three things my blood boiled. the reason that is, is because those three are not his to bargain with. they have been stealing from those things for so long that they have become desperate, and greedy about their about own causes.

our paychecks reflect what we pay in social security and medicare; we have paid for that. we can argue defense cuts, and realize that we are in wars but shouldn't we bring the troops home before we cut their pay and benefits? we just cut 2 of those in this budget deal; medicare and defense.

all the other stuff that the government pays for we really need to question. i agree with unemployment, but for only 6 months. i agree with welfare, but only for 6 months. i agree with food stamps and other assistance, but only for 6 months. however i would much rather see the churches and shelters take care of this. i don't believe in bail-outs for any company, and that includes mortgage companies. i think we should get rid of the departments of transportation, epa and homeland security just to name a few. i agree with tax reform before raising taxes on people.

there are so many cuts that we could as a nation benefit from financially in the long run if our politicians had the courage to do what was right. this is just a thought; if you are paying state taxes and federal taxes don't you find it odd that they still have to cut it? we also pay sales tax; what about that? ask them where in the hell the money is going? if we are paying for people that can't do their jobs then they should be fired; plain and simple. our president should be impeached and congress needs to be fired - all of them.

the reason why i brought up the above story is because i knew how hard the employees worked. they worked so much they actually deserved more in wages, and they had made up that time off a million times over. i knew what we could cut without hurting the employees. i bring up our governor, because he knows that government is not a religious house, it is a business. i think that he understands scripture that says we pay what is owed and we are to be good stewards of our money; that is his job. we have to do that in our households and so should they. the running of the finances in your home is a business.

the government is a business. it is not a church. we would like too hope and believe that our government does believe in GOD. if you don't scripture i am just going to say that their actions are going against alot of what GOD has told them. that is why the first amendment is so important, and why the founding the fathers created the amendment. it wasn't that they left their belief in GOD at the door, or his laws. they understood that the government had no right to interefere with religion. they prayed for wisdom and discernment so that it could be equal for everyone; that a man could be free to choose which course to take.

two stories that we should learn from about government is the roman empire and germany during world war ii. also, the book jeremiah is an incredible story about babylon and their rule over judah. whether you believe in GOD, or not we are paying the price of ignoring HIM. we are paying the price of choosing to ignore our leaders. we obeyed our governing authorities, but we we also failed to stand for what was right because it was too hard. GOD purchased you with a price; HIS SONS BLOOD. we are HIS slaves. he owns us, and what are to do what he says.

i pray that people return to HIM. i pray that they seek HIM. i pray for this, because i know the freedom of what it is to worship HIM. HE is love, grace, forgivness, beauty - all of those things that we cherish in life. HE gave us HIS words and laws so we could be free. HE gave us HIS SON so we could be free from anger, bitterness, rage, resentment, jealousy, greed, envy etc, so we wouldn't become slaves to it in this world. we are in the world not of this world. we have stop cutting and pasting the bible. we can't choose what we like to follow and not follow. that's how it works; that is why HE wants us to show humility, take accountability, and seek forgiveness from HIM and others.

the below link is a great tool for those of us looking for specific verses about society and what we should do about that. also, it may not be exactly like your bible, but wording is different sometimes in all the versions of the bible. god bless each one of you!

http://www.openbible.info/


"The concept of separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state. The term is an offshoot of the phrase, "wall of separation between church and state," as written in Thomas Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists Association in 1802. The original text reads: "...I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State." Jefferson reflected his frequent speaking theme that the government is not to interfere with religion.[1] The phrase was quoted by the United States Supreme Court first in 1878, and then in a series of cases starting in 1947. The phrase "separation of church and state" itself does not appear in the United States Constitution. The First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Prior to 1947, however separation of church and state was not considered part of the constitution; indeed in 1870s and 1890s unsuccessful attempts were made to amend the constitution to guarantee separation of church and state, a task to be accomplished not by constitutional amendment but by judicial fiat in 1947."