What happened to me during my involuntary vacation

This week on the 99% Blog with Author & Web Minister Paul J. Bern: The reasons for my recent absence, and what I've learned along the way. It's nice having Jesus for a tutor -- https://zurl.co/xlij #perseverance #trustingGod #fortitude

My Reasons for My Absence

I wish to extend my humble apology to all my readers for the lack of postings as of late. My notebook PC has died of old age, but I have a desktop PC on the way. Postings will resume by next Sunday at the very latest, and hopefully sooner. https://zurl.co/SeGM #I'llbeback

The Reasons Why I Blog

This week on the 99% Blog with Author Rev. Paul J. Bern; the reasons why I write are not the same as some other writers -- https://medium.com/@greatestservant62/why-my-motivations-for-writing-go-beyond-merely-earning-a-living-f26be73af4aa #keepitreal #greatergood #Jesus

 

Just when you think you're poor, you meet someone even more destitute

Commentary this week on the Progressive Christian Blog with Author & Web Minister Paul J. Bern; Living out the commands of Christ by helping the poor whenever we can -- https://www.pcmatl.org/weekly-commentary #compassion #empathy #realChristianity

 

 

Governor Cuomo, the Abortion Debate, and the Part Everyone's Missing

What Does The Bible Tell Us About Abortion?

by Minister Paul J. Bern

For a website view, click here :-)

Without a doubt, this week's commentary is inspired by what transpired this past week in the state of New York, where the abortion law has been amended to legalize abortion right up until the point of birth. The law expands the state’s already liberal abortion laws to allow late-term abortions when “the patient is within 24 weeks from the commencement of pregnancy, or there is an absence of fetal viability, or the abortion is necessary to protect the patient’s life or health.” I offer this quote from the Philadelphia Inquirer as further explanation: “The law passed this week makes it impossible for the government to prevent a woman from choosing an abortion during the first six months. The state cannot step in to stop her. This could be catastrophic. Imagine if women in America could wait up to six months to choose to abort their babies for issues.... less devastating than Down syndrome. What if a woman chose to abort because she wanted a boy instead of a girl? That’s feasible under Cuomo’s law.”

The article continues: “The law also legalizes abortion up to the moment of birth if the mother’s life is in danger. In short: The law values the life of the mother more than the life of the child.” As this was being signed into law by governor Andrew Cuomo, the governor stated he “was opposed to abortion personally, but would not deprive others of that 'right.'” By the way, Andrew Cuomo is a Catholic. The Catholic church is by and large opposed to abortion, but usually for the wrong reasons. A prevented abortion becomes a new Catholic convert. That means more members, more robust Sunday collections during mass, and more priests and nuns for the Vatican to recruit.

Many people presume that a human being is created at the time of conception, but this belief is not supported medically or by the Bible. The fact that a living sperm penetrates a living ovum resulting in the formation of a living fetus does not mean that the fetus is a living human being, or at least not immediately. According to the Bible, a fetus is not a living person with a soul until after drawing its first breath. Allow me to explain the results of my research on this very touchy subject as delicately as possible.

First of all, God formed man according to Genesis 2:7, which says, “... the Lord formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being”. Although the man was fully formed by God in all respects, he was not a living being until after God put breath into him. In Job 33:4, it states: “The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” We were all formed prior to our birth, but we weren't living beings until God breathed life unto us. Again, to quote Ezekiel 37 verses 5 and 6, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: 'I will make breath to enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you, and make flesh to come upon you and cover you with skin; and put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord'.”

The Bible also spells out the appropriate level of punishment for those who would dare to hurt the unborn. In Exodus 21:22 it is written: “If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise”. It should be quite clear from this that the aborted fetus is not considered a living human being since the resulting punishment for the abortion is nothing more than a fine; it is not classified by the Bible as a capital offense under these circumstances unless the baby, its mother, or both are intentionally harmed or killed.

It is further stated in 1^st Corinthians chapter 3 verse 16, “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and God's Spirit lives in you?” We are only alive in Christ when we die to ourselves. An unborn fetus lives within the womb, but is not yet a human being until it draws its first breath. Can God live within the unborn baby? Well, the Bible does say, “All things are possible with God”, that is true and I believe it wholeheartedly. But as I have already pointed out, the Bible is absolutely clear that a baby is not a human being until it draws its first breath, so that question is actually besides the point. The physical body of the unborn fetus is surely there, but as before, that body isn't breathing yet.

Destroying a living fetus does not equate to killing a grown, living human being even though the fetus definitely has the potential of becoming a human being. One can not kill something that has not been born or taken a breath. This means that a stillborn would not be considered a human being either. Of course, every living sperm has the potential of becoming a human being although not even one in a million will make it; the rest are aborted. It would appear that God does not have any more regard for the loss of a sperm than he does for the loss of a placenta, or of a foreskin during circumcision, despite the fact that these were living tissue as the result of conception.

Now let's take this to the next level, which has to do with being born again in the Spirit. When Jesus taught Nicodemus about being born again he said, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of the water and of the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, and spirit gives birth to Spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'you must be born again'. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John chapter 3, verses 5-8)

Flesh gives birth to flesh, and spirit to Spirit. Being born of the water is a reference to childbirth first and to water baptism secondly. Being born of the Spirit of Christ refers to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Plus, when we read our Bible, it says quite clearly in Galatians chapter two and verse 20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me”. If the apostle Paul has been crucified with Jesus and died with him, then we are charged with the duty of being followers of Jesus right up to the very end as well. This is what being born again actually means.

In a number of versions of the Bible, one of the commandments in Exodus 20 that was spoken by God to Moses states: “You shall not kill”. According to the Mosaic text, this should read “You must not murder”, since the Bible has commandments stating that people shall be put to death for a number of different offenses. Exodus 21:17 states: “Whoever curses his father or mother shall be put to death.” There are also other capital offenses listed in Exodus 21. The popular ten commandments (in the original text there are over 600 of them) that are enumerated in Exodus 20 were given by God to Moses on tablets of stone. Verse 13 simply says, “You shall not murder”. That sums it up very nicely, I think. There is nothing in the Bible to indicate that a fetus is considered to be anything other than living tissue and, according to Scripture, it does not become a living being until after it has taken its first breath. Meaning, abortion is not necessarily murder.

Those who say, "If you're a Christian, you have to be against abortion, support our troops no matter what their mission, and therefore you must also vote conservative Republican," are simply reciting talking points from false teachers. There are a disturbing number of these people who have infiltrated the Church who are doing this very thing. Many cite the scripture found in Jeremiah 1:5, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." God is omnipotent. He has known all of us since before creation. In Numbers 5 describes "the Lord" ordering an abortion. It's clearly stated in verse 22, "May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries." Many argue that this is a misinterpretation, but I'm not so sure about that. It is better to err on the side of caution with regard to the Lord than not. Before false teachers turned the issue of reproductive choice into a political football, views on this matter were far less extreme.

Does this mean I am pro-life or pro-choice? Sorry, but I will not allow anyone to label and compartmentalize me like that. In many cases, I think that if the mother does not want the baby then she should put the child up for adoption. On that topic, why do women get pregnant in the first place? Often it's due to lack of access to birth control. The cure is national health insurance, such as Medicare for all which would include access to prescription drugs at minimal cost. You know, like birth control pills or other contraceptives?

In cases where abortion is necessary, such as when the baby is already dead before birth, in cases of rape or incest, or when the mother's life is in jeopardy, in those events an abortion should be performed by qualified medical personnel or under a doctor's direct supervision. But those are the only exceptions. In the end, if abortion was such a grievous sin Jesus would have mentioned it. He never did. While I am personally against abortion, I do not presume to tell women what they can or cannot do to or with their bodies. Enough said!

The Solution to the Shutdown Was There All Along. Trump and Congress Both Ignored It.

Our Civics Lesson for This Week, or, Why Adults

Having Temper Tantrums Should Check Themselves

by Minister Paul J. Bern

To view this on my website, click here :-)

The first thing I'd like to say this week is 'thank God the shut-down is over', or at least for the next three weeks. As I wrote a month ago, holding hostage the paychecks of some 1.2 million people is no way to run a country. Although I admire the way president Trump has refused to go along with the status quo inside the Beltway, especially his opposition to the Deep State, this time around Trump made a serious miscalculation by shutting down the government. Keeping it shut down for five weeks and traumatizing hundreds of thousands of federal workers and their families has compounded his miscalculation. Like the Rolling Stones used to sing, “You can't always get what you want”.

The Bible has some very relevant teachings regarding this very topic. For one thing, angry or selfish people are troublemakers by nature, as it is written: “Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.” (Proverbs 29: 11) As you can see from these words of King Solomon, people who get angry when they don't get what they want are unwise at best, and toxic people at worst. Hear that, all you politicians, especially those inside the Beltway? By pitching a fit, throwing a temper tantrum or collectively holding their breath until they die (Go ahead! Be my guest!), or at least for as long as they could, our nation's leaders have proven themselves unworthy of the offices to which they have been elected. With the 2020 elections looming, every one of them, from Donald Trump on down across both sides of the aisle, has just under a year to get their acts together and learn to work with each other. Otherwise the American electorate will not put up with it.

What else does the Bible have to say about people who let their anger get the best of them? “An angry person stirs up conflict, and a hot-tempered person commits many sins.” (Proverbs 29: 22) Have you ever noticed how uncompromising people operate? 'It's my way or the highway', they will quickly tell anyone within earshot. Have you also noticed they are the ones who seem to get the least done? They are so busy trying to coerce others into doing their bidding that they wind up spinning their own wheels. In the case of the US government shutdown, president Trump ended up spinning his wheels too. Had president Trump tried a more conciliatory approach to get his border wall, he could have achieved different results, as it is written: “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15: 1) If Donald Trump had not taken his usual 'my way or the highway' approach, like he is evidently prone to do when running his real estate empire, the government shutdown may have not ever occurred.

There seems to be quite a bit of this sort of problem throughout America's government. I have observed too much tit-for-tat politics, too much infighting and squabbling, and a heck of a lot of lying, for me to take the federal government seriously anymore. It's also been my observation that an ever-increasing number of Americans feel the same way. What America, and particularly her lawmakers, need to do is call a cease fire long enough to read the following portion of 1^st Corinthians: “4) Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5) It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6) Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7) It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1^st Cor. 13, verses 4-7)

Love, love in Washington? Yeah, because there's a complete absence of it as I write this. While the fight between all the 'my way or the highway' Democrats and Republicans raged on, 1.2 million federal workers came within days of eviction or the commencement of foreclosure proceedings. Seriously, all these people were on their way to being homeless, many with families to look after, and all the combined 462 members of Congress, together with the President, could do was invent more ways to disagree. Even now, the reopening lasts for only three weeks. These people had better get their acts together, or there will be pandemonium in the streets of America. But to get back to the above Scriptural quotation, Washington has far too little patience and far too little kindness, while having an excess of corruption, arrogance, boastfulness and pride.

Washington has dishonored those they are elected to serve with their childish behavior, unlike verse 5 above. Instead of looking out for the interests of the people, Washington is and has been self-seeking. Verse 5 also says that true Christian love should not be easily angered. Yet by shutting down part of the government so he could get his way, president Trump has violated this very Scriptural premise. “Love keeps no record of wrongs.” Hear that one, Congress? You people need to stop sparring with each other, grow up, and take care of America's business. Otherwise the whole country will wither away while our 'representatives' and the president are busy bickering like children. “Love....rejoices with the truth.”

You know, a heavy dose of some truth is what the American people would really like to hear right about now. We want to know the truth about the triple assassinations of the Kennedy brothers and Rev. Dr. King, about the Gulf of Ton-kin incident, about 9/11, and about the start of the 2003 Gulf War. We want the truth about the true extent of the US military-industrial complex, about whether UFO's are actually a secret technology developed by the military or if they are truly alien, and about Antarctica. We want the truth about the currently-mandatory vaccines, the level of corruption in law enforcement and the courts, and the dangers of the pesticides that are being sprayed on all our crops. The American people are collectively so fed up with all the BS in Washington, and throughout the country including our most respected institutions, that there is open talk of civil war all over social media.

“Love always protects.” The whole country was left unprotected during the shutdown, so Trump and Co. missed the mark on that one. “Love always trusts”, yet Congress and the President mistrust each other to this day while the rest of the country goes to pot. “Love always hopes, always perseveres.” For about 35 days, up until this past Friday, there was a complete absence of both of these in Washington. Congress and the President are equally to blame for the shut-down as far as I'm concerned. Their combined lack of good character, patience, perseverance and even-temperament is the reason this shut-down occurred.

Congress and the President have been unkind, untruthful and arrogant, they have gone to great lengths to keep score against one another, and in so doing they have made themselves unworthy of their elected office. It's too early to tell whether this recently-ended shut-down will affect the 2020 elections. But if a second shut-down occurs 3 weeks from now, it could have repercussions that last well beyond 2020. In that event, the likelihood of a third-party candidate emerging to win the presidential election in November 2020 will increase by a factor of two or more. Stay tuned, people, this may get really interesting. Unless Trump furloughs the same 1.2 million people as before in 3 weeks time, and tries to compel a portion to return to their duties unpaid, in which case all hell could break loose.

Merry Christmas -- to all the orphans

Happy Holidays to All the Orphans

by Pastor Paul J. Bern

For a website view, click here :-)

First of all, merry Christmas and happy new year to all the orphans, wherever you may be. You see, I'm an orphan myself, and I'm in my 60's. There are a lot of us out there. We're called “elder orphans” – people who have outlived most if not all of their relatives, who are estranged from their families, or who aged out of the foster care system like I did as a teenager. According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, there are 22.6 million people in the USA alone who currently have this dubious distinction. Twenty two and a half million folks who ain't got nobody, and there is nothing any of us can do about it. It's a harsh reality, but sometimes life can be very harsh indeed. You either learn to roll with the punches, ducking and dodging as best as you can, or you get the living daylights beat out of you. It's all up to you. I know that's not a particularly nice thing to say, but that's the truth. And I love truth.

I am one of those who aged out of the foster care system as a teenager. I started out in life as an orphan, only to wind up in foster care. I was told as a child I was adopted, only to find out decades later that it was a lie. I was told I had been taken away from my birth mother as an infant because I was born “in jail”, to quote the woman who raised me, who I knew as 'mom'. But there came a time when I was in my twenties when I needed a copy of my birth certificate, and when it arrived in the mail I was in for a big surprise. According to my birth certificate, I had been born in a private home and then transported to a hospital. When I confronted my “mom” about this and demanded to know the identity of my birth mother, she refused, saying she and her late husband (my foster-dad died just after my 12^th birthday) had 'spent their hard-earned money on me', and that it was “none of your business” who my real mom was. And you think you've got family problems??

So the woman who raised me and myself are permanently, and understandably, estranged. How do I cope with all this? How could anybody cope with even one out of all the things I just mentioned? I tried to find my original identity, but none of the people who lived in the house I was evidently born in were still alive by the time I checked, and the doctor who had attended me at the hospital was also deceased. I registered with a government database in Ohio, the state where I was born, just in case I had any siblings trying to find me, but I never heard back from anybody. So I have drifted through life all alone. I have tried marriage twice, but I was still alone and adrift despite being a head-of-household. My two marriages combined lasted a little over three years. My ultimate solution has been my faith. In fact, my faith is the only thing that has consistently worked for me over the years. That, and I published a book about my experiences in the form of a memoir back in 2014. It's called, “Sole Survivor”, it's still in print, digital or audio format from this link. Writing and publishing that book was very therapeutic for me. It helped me get rid of a lot of old baggage.

So I wrote this piece this week to see how many others I could reach out and help this holiday season. But I'm not going to limit this to just the orphans and those who aged out of the foster care system. If you know your parents and are on good terms with them, you are already ahead of a lot of people in terms of having family. If you have ever received an inheritance from a relative, you're doing better than many. In that case, I would advise that individual or family to use that inheritance to start a small business. In an economic climate where meaningful jobs are so hard to come by, it makes so much more sense to simply hire yourself.

But there are also a surprising number of advantages to being an 'elder orphan'. First of all, I have almost nobody to buy Christmas gifts for, excluding a few friends from the church where I play keyboards every Sunday. That's a major money and time saver for me and others like me. There is no one to cook for me, but I know exactly what I want something to taste like before I ever start cooking it, so everything I make on the stove or in the oven turns out perfect every time. There is no one's birthdays to remember, and there's no 'moochy' relative sleeping on my couch and eating my food. I get up when I want, usually around 8 or 9AM, and I go to sleep when I want, usually by 11PM or so. I know that's over 9 hours sleep per night, but since I survived a stroke I had back in 2006, my body seems to need 9 hours of sleep. I sometimes get up to an early alarm, but I can no longer do that on a daily basis. When I do get up to an early alarm, it's usually because I have a medical appointment or because it's a church or grocery day.

Another big advantage to being a 'senior orphan' is the independence. When you go through life without any family as I have, you wind up being a fiercely independent person somewhat like, or very similar to, myself. No one is nagging me about anything. Nobody bosses me around, and I don't take any crap from anyone, either. I've always functioned much better and was much happier when I was self-employed. Trying to work for somebody else always was a chore, and I never seemed to fit into the office work environment no matter how hard I tried. Orphans are like that, you know. A lot of business owners are orphans. Unfortunately, so are a lot of homeless people, and so are may of those who commit suicide. They have no one to help them through the pain of what they are experiencing, no one to ease their anguish. Without a Higher Power to turn to, they simply give up. This can happen in any number of ways. For example, here in Atlanta where I live, there are car wrecks involving wrong-way drivers on the interstate highways every so often. According to the CDC, at least one third of these head-on crashes turn out to be suicides.

I would urge anyone who is experiencing suicidal thoughts to call the national suicide hot-line at 1-800-273-8255. Seriously, do it right now if this is you. You can read the rest of this later. But for everyone I wish to say it's not so bad to be stuck being alone. Being alone and independent means you are free from many of the encumbrances of everyday life, especially family issues. It means you have no kids to raise. It costs $250,000.00 to raise a child from their birth until they finish the first 12 grades of school. Think about how much money you're saving. Another advantage to being an 'elder orphan' is not having a dangerous ex-spouse to obtain restraining orders against to protect yourself and your kids. That's all I'm going to say about that.

Survivors of foster-care and/or spousal or parental abuse do not get to skate away from such circumstances without a hefty toll being taken by life and that of living it. It is common for survivors to suffer from PTSD as I do. Trauma, especially during childhood, can be a trigger for mental illness, and I am a survivor of a diagnosis of bipolar disorder myself. But mental illness is something that can be managed with certain medications, and I am happy to report that I'm in my 12^th year of recovery, and I never so much as looked back once. Nor do I regret being an 'elder orphan'. I relish my independence, go at my own pace, and I live the simple life. It's far from being a really prosperous one, but I've made a lot of money before, and riches tend to be a trap and a headache. But at the end of the day, for those of us who are the survivor of survivors like myself, the term 'orphaned elder' has a nice ring to it. To me at least, the word 'orphan' is the sound of freedom.

I wonder what Jesus would say about all those refugees at Tijuana?

America's Christian Hypocrisy Regarding

the Asylum Seekers at Her Southern Border

by Pastor Paul J. Bern

For a website view, click here :-)

The headline in this past Friday's Huffington post said it all: “Chris Cuomo Shreds Hypocrite Christians Who Celebrate Christmas But Reject Migrants”. In a timely article posted by David Barden on November 29, this journalist quotes the CNN host when he said earlier that same day that it is a, “....moral imperative for America to assist members of the migrant caravan”. With growing numbers of asylum seekers gathering just a stone’s throw away at the U.S.-Mexico border, the CNN host said that, “It’s not enough to say that we bear no responsibility because we didn’t create the problem. Our responsibility comes from the absolute fact that we have the power to provide a solution here,” he said. “There’s a moral imperative here, America does what she can.” With the holiday season in full swing, Cuomo then pointed out the hypocrisy of American Christians who celebrate Christmas yet shun migrants. 'No small irony that Christians are getting ready to celebrate the story of Christmas, which is the exact story that we are trying to block out here,' he said. 'The poor and unwanted who wound up bringing the Savior into this world in a stable, rejected. Just as we’re doing now. This is who we are now and it must be exposed.'”

Thank you for the suggestion, Mr. Cuomo, and allow me to help expose this very thing about my country this holiday season. The truth of the matter is that Chris Cuomo was spot-on with that statement regarding the current state of the USA. For a man like myself born in the 1950's, the USA of the early 21^st century is unrecognizable compared to the country where I grew up. We weren't nearly as spoiled as we are now, and yet we were happier for the most part. I grew up in a time when air conditioning was considered a luxury, and where women didn't work unless they wanted to. People made a lot less money than today, but the daily cost of living was far less than today, so that didn't make any difference. The first Ford Mustangs in 1965 had a base price of $1,995.00, ditto for the Volkswagen Beetles of that time period. The world used to run on commerce, but today it runs on debt. Commerce symbolized free enterprise back then, but today's debt is really just the new slavery. America actually never really ended slavery after the US civil war, she simply out-sourced it.

If we go back to the Book of Exodus in the Bible to the time when the ancient Israelite's were wandering in the desert – after leaving 400 years of slavery behind in Egypt – we find that God warned them about mistreating foreigners among them. “Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt” (Exodus 22: 21). Foreigners being in the land in which we live goes back at least 3,400 years or more. All our ancestors were foreigners at one time or another in their lives, dating all the way to humankind's hunter-gatherer years. Taking that into consideration, that makes the rest of us either foreigners or the descendants thereof. Now you know why I have such a problem with those who stand against the asylum seekers, and particularly those haters who profess to be Christian by faith. Jesus taught us to “....love our neighbor as we love ourselves”, meaning (in this case) those who rail against immigrants and asylum seekers ultimately rail against their own fathers and grandfathers.

Yesterday's posting about this matter in Buzzfeed.com had this to say:

One Reason The US And Mexico Can’t Agree On Having Asylum-Seekers Wait In Mexico: The Trump Administration Itself Is Divided

The Justice Department wants asylum applicants turned away without any vetting of their claims. Homeland Security wants them screened for fears of staying in Mexico.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hamedaleaziz/trump-asylum-mexico-waiting-disagree

WASHINGTON — “Homeland Security and Justice Department officials are feuding over a controversial plan that would force asylum-seekers at the southwestern border to remain in Mexico until their cases are decided, according to sources close the administration. Department of Justice officials have been pushing for asylum-seekers at the border to be immediately returned to Mexico as they arrive at the border, instead of first undergoing screening for fear of persecution or torture if they are not allowed in. Department of Homeland Security officials want asylum-seekers screened for persecution, torture, and fear before being immediately returned to Mexico, to ensure that there are no serious concerns for their safety in Mexico. The dispute highlights the fact that key details regarding the plan are still up in the air.....”

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, right before your eyes. The reason for the infighting among members of the Trump administration, in one word, is fear. They're all afraid of a bunch of migrant workers who simply want to restart their lives, and who want to escape the rampant violence of the drug gangs in central and south America. They pose a minimal threat to ourselves, and those who do will be weeded out, one way or another. Few, if any, of these people will escape president Trump's dragnet, you can all be sure about that. Rather than be caught up in an irrational fear of one other, we're charged by God with the sacred duty to love one another. The apostle John wrote of this when he said, “This is the message you have heard from the beginning: that we should love one another.” (1^st John 3: 11) As things stand in 21^st century America right now, there are too many Americans who have forgotten or cast aside this essential teaching of our Lord and Savior.

And so as America sings, “Peace on Earth and Goodwill to Men”, along with the rest of the Christmas carols this year, I wish a lot of people would do what used to be done up until about the 1970's or so. People used to go Christmas caroling door-to-door, mainly focusing on the elderly and disabled, and oftentimes the lonely and forgotten. It was a tradition that dated back centuries, and it needs to be brought back. Moreover, it needs to be brought to the border at Tijuana, Mexico where the asylum seekers are being held. If I somehow had the means, I would charter a plane to San Diego, California full of people. We would transfer to buses for the remainder of the journey to the border fence, get out and walk right up to it. Then, once we were all in place, we would start with ,”Oh Come, All Ye Faithful” and sing a medley of Christmas carols to all the refugees until we are all hoarse.

We could do an hour-long set of Christmas carols, like a song medley, to warm the hearts of all the refugees, and to let them know that there are Americans on the other side of that fence who view them as brothers and sisters in Christ. Never mind nationality and race, just forget about all that stuff. There needs to be a lot more “Peace on Earth and Goodwill to Men”, and a lot less rhetoric, bigotry and vitriol by certain Americans whose chief stock in trade is contempt for those who are different from themselves. This is particularly applicable to the wealthy. We have a “moral imperative” to replace contempt with compassion, to replace bigotry with understanding, and to substitute love for hate. Perfect love, the apostle James wrote, drives out fear. OK, since we know that hatred is based on fear, it is our moral responsibility as Americans – Christian or otherwise – to understand the origins of our own fears. Until then, we will be powerless to change ourselves. But if we consciously engage in love for one another, we can suffocate the fear right out of ourselves and kill it. So do that first, and you take the first step down the road to a happier and more fulfilled life.

Stopping Gun Violence in America Will Involve Changing More Minds, Not Passing More Laws

To Stop Gun Violence in America,

We Must Acquire “the Mind of Christ”

by Pastor Paul J. Bern

To view this on my website, click here :-)

I could start by writing at length how sick and tired people have become of America's gun violence problem. I'm skipping all that. The news media is already filled with the opinions of those who, in the long run, matter little if at all. I'm skipping the psychoanalysis too. Don't hand me all the utterances of the do-nothings who spend their days pointing out problems without making any effort at coming up with any solutions. You all know the ones I'm talking about, and I don't mean everyone reading this, either – not by a long shot. I'm talking about all the TV and radio pundits who make their living by agitating and provoking people. I know the gunman in the Thousand Oaks, California mass shooting had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I suffer from PTSD myself, but the source of my disorder is from growing up in an abusive foster-care situation rather than from the battlefield. There are a lot of people who have PTSD, but none of the rest of us has arbitrarily decided to go out and mow down a dozen or more people. I can't imagine doing such a thing myself. I find the very thought revolting.

They can call whatever they do whatever they want. I call it 'violently anti-social behavior'. And yet the majority of these agitators on radio and TV are church goers. That's the part that drives me nuts – from the vantage point of the pulpit, that's what I'm seeing – that people today would rather fight each other than help each other. Soon after, the acquisition of such argumentative mindsets devolves into violence because intolerance devalues others to the point that simply killing a few is somehow OK. Taking a life – any life – just because one has deemed it to be necessary, is never OK. We have lost sight of the fact that life is sacred because it comes from sacred origins, whose name is the Almighty God.

The Bible does have some things to say about this. The apostle Paul wrote about this in his letters to the Corinthian churches, and I quote: “6) We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7) No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8) None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9) However, as it is written: 'What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived — the things God has prepared for those who love him' — 10) these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.” (1^st Corinthians 2: 6-10)

The first thing we can derive from verse 6 is that we should not wait on the government to fix our problems because the government lacks the wisdom to fix anything as it currently stands. There it is, right there in the Bible. God holds the solutions we seek, not government. As for the rest of us, it's not so much that we lack the wisdom, it's that we can't seem to agree on how to go about ending gun violence in America. We cannot reach a consensus because many of us refuse to acknowledge the existence of a Higher Power. Never mind the Christian concepts of a risen Christ and an Almighty God for just a minute – and all my Christian brethren please bear with me for a moment, because I'm seriously going somewhere with this today. It is an indisputable fact that there are sources of Higher Power in the universe. A refusal to acknowledge or remain in touch with this Higher Power – the forces of Light that we call “God” – leaves a vacuum in the human heart that causes the forces of darkness to take its place. You are either from the Light, as I am, or from the Darkness, which is all that is negative. It is evil, which is the power of Darkness that never penetrates the Light unless it is allowed to, that is the motivator for America's gun violence problem.

But the evil I'm writing about isn't psychological, it's not mental illness, nor is it pathological at all. The source of this evil is spiritual. People who give in to evil and so carry out horrible evil such as this epidemic of mass shootings do so because they have made a conscious effort to put their Higher Power – just in case they profess disbelief in the existence of God – out of their lives. When you put the Light out of your life, the Darkness inevitably takes its place. Those who do not believe in Spiritual forces make themselves all the more vulnerable to it. “9) However, as it is written: 'What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived — the things God has prepared for those who love him' — 10) these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.” The apostle Paul was quoting Isaiah 64: 4 as if to say, if only you will stick with God, his reward for you will be greater than anyone can imagine. Never give up on God, and He'll never give up on you. And even if you do give up, God sticks with us anyway because that's how much he loves each of us. Even if we're in sin, God will still stick with us – but only for so long, if you get my drift.

Paul clarified this still further further down in this same passage when he wrote: “13) This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14) The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15) The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16) for, 'Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ.” (1^st Corinthians 2: 13-16) Now I ask you, how can we continue to have the “mind of Christ” when we have our minds focused on who we can take vengeance upon and kill? Never mind whether we think they “deserve it” or not. I am simply trying to emulate Paul by “explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.”

America's mass shooting epidemic is a symptom of a country that is turning to the forces of Darkness. If America was still attuned to the forces of the Light like she used to be, there would have been no more than a handful of these mass shootings before they would have been brought to an abrupt halt. Granted, when it comes to all these shootings, America's gun laws clearly need to be strengthened, that is true. But the ultimate responsibility lies with the individual, as Paul wrote, “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments....” OK, so if any given person systematically rejects the things of God, or of their Higher Power, and/or refuses to recognize the authority thereof, then is it any wonder that such people wind up doing such ungodly things as mass murder? It should come as no surprise at all.

All right, so we can safely conclude that those who act out on violent impulses, or who cannot or will not keep their angry feelings in check, to the point where they cannot help but hurt or even kill others – long term incarceration is the only thing that will stop such people. And that's assuming they survive being arrested, and many choose not to. Let's not forget there are some who, as the novelist John Milton put it, “....would rather rule in hell than serve in heaven.” Actually for me, it's the other way around. Keeping in mind that I would rather serve forever in heaven than roast forever in hell is what keeps the forces of Darkness out of my heart, mind and soul. In effect, I and others like me “have the mind of Christ”. Not the person, you understand, but the mindset of the man, the Savior and Redeemer. Only Christ gave his life for you and for me – Jesus Christ the Son of God and no one else. Only the forces of the demonic take lives, they never give anything.

And so in closing, it is vitally important that we all take on “the mind of Christ”. No one can be just like our Lord and Savior because only Jesus lived a sinless life – none of us even comes close to that. But we can overcome our bad natures – especially the propensity to kill – by keeping the “mind of Christ” tucked inside our brains as we go about our daily routines, and as we meet and work with all kinds of people. Some of them are good, some are evil, and still more simply don't care. As long as they're getting their usual, that's all they worry about. They couldn't care less about anyone else but themselves. Although the killers are awful enough, and dangerous enough, it's the ones who don't care who do the most damage of all. That's because the only way evil can flourish is for cold and uncaring men and women to look the other way.

A Study of the Counterintuitive: It's an Honor to be Poor

Those Who Are Living Paycheck to Paycheck

Are More Blessed Than They Realize

by Pastor Paul J. Bern

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I don't have to explain what's been happening to the US Middle Class over the last 35 years or so. Many people who used to be Middle Class in America are now poor. I should know, since I used to make a whole lot more money than I do now. But that was before the bottom fell out of everything. I've been there, done that and bought the T-shirt. Everyone is lamenting because they're living paycheck to paycheck and they don't know what to do about it. Going to the ballot box, so far, has produced an exacerbation of America's political problems – exactly the opposite of what is intended. Now we have people talking about civil war, and America's citizens are emigrating at record levels. The ones who are staying are buying guns and ammo at record levels. No wonder everyone is so tense and on edge!

That's why the purpose of this week's message is to console those who are angry and hurt, to counsel those who have been pushed aside or shown the door without just cause, and to reassure the frightened and confused. It's not hard to get pretty befuddled about current events. We live in a world of mass shootings in schools, work places, grocery stores and even churches – or synagogues, as was the case recently. Things have gotten so bad that we can't even attend church or go out for a movie without having to be alert for anyone carrying a weapon. There is a good side to being poor, and a positive thing about being oppressed, according to the Word of God (or the Bible, if you prefer). Allow me to cite a few examples from Scripture.

My first example is that of the apostle James, who was a very astute individual, and so his writings are something to take very seriously regardless of one's religious beliefs – or even a lack thereof. These words can still be beneficial regardless of faith. “5) Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6) But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7) Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of Him to whom you belong? 8) If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing right.” (James 2, verses 5-8)

Take heart if you are poor or otherwise financially hard pressed! Contrary to what many think and say, there is no shame in being poor. I was pretty well off at one time myself, mainly back in the 1990's through most of that decade, wrapping around to the early 2000's. I know what it's like to earn a six figure income, and to have to meet a payroll every week. But those days are gone for good, and there's little I can do about it except to keep on writing. I live on my small pension check, plus a little extra each month when I sell a book or two, and I've come to terms with that. But, what James wrote is even more true today than back then: “Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?” The student loan crisis is one modern example of this, foreclosures are another, and the so-called Drug War is yet another. Over half the people in state and federal prison are there for nonviolent drug offenses. America spends entirely too much money locking up all the wrong people.

“Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?” If you're poor, mentally depressed and running low on hope, then heed these words of the apostle James, the half-brother of Christ. To say this another way, it's better to be rich in faith than rich with worldly goods, and it's better to be poor in worldly goods than it is to be poor in faith. “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.” The much-beloved phrase, “Love your neighbor as yourself” is found first in Leviticus 19: 18, and it was an admonishment from the Lord Almighty to us all, that there be no hate among us – none at all! Judging by the racial tensions that simmer all across America, I'd say we have our work cut out for us as far as loving our neighbors – regardless of color.

Jesus himself was more blunt and direct than James in Luke's gospel when he said: “20) Looking at his disciples, he said: 'Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21) Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22) Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 23) Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets. 24) But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. 25) Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 26) Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.'” (Luke 6, verses 20-26)

The world's poor, sick and disabled, Jesus was saying, will be the first through the gates of heaven. If you hunger, you will be filled by Christ, not by McDonald's – Jesus guarantees it. Weep all you want for now, Jesus was saying, because in the end He will give us life and laughter everlasting. The more people hate you because of me, Jesus was teaching them, the greater your reward will be. So, let others hate you just because you will not hesitate to make a stand for Christ. Never mind Republican or Democrat, conservative, liberal or progressive – they all pale in comparison to the Spirit of our Lord and Savior. But in verses 24 and 25, Jesus taught that anyone who enriches themselves in this life does so at the expense of another, and those wealthy individuals risk paying an eternal price for being selfish beyond reason while others went hungry. Verses 24 through 26 could also be interpreted as a prophecy against America, but that would be another message for another time.

So, I want everyone reading this who is going through a hard time financially – and that would be the majority of you – to take heart in their situation. Granted, you are suffering and miserable, I know how you feel. But take it from a guy who's been there, you can and will survive the ordeal you are currently undergoing. If you can't raise your income, then find ways to cut your expenses. The main thing is knowing that Jesus is walking beside you in every conceivable way, every step of the way.

America's epidemic of sexual misconduct and assault

The Epidemic of Sexual Immorality and Assault:

the Symptoms of a Sick Society

by Pastor Paul J. Bern

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This past week I have found myself being bombarded by the media with stories of women being sexually assaulted by men, and many of these men have been prominent individuals. The hearings in Washington, DC for judge Brent Kavenaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court is only the tip of this sordid and distasteful iceberg. Whether you believe the lady professor making the charges or not, there are plenty of other allegations against a lot of other people that have already been made. It's looking to me like women everywhere have gotten to the point where they are simply done and over with being victimized by men again and again. Moreover, let's be honest and truthful about sexual assault – this is nothing new or recent at all. Men forcing themselves on women (and visa versa), or intimidating them into compliance to their demands for sex, has been going on for as far back as we can remember, and likely further back than that.

What does the Bible have to say about sexually immoral people? Not only does the Bible have much to say about this topic, I will also give some modern-day examples to tie all this together. The first quote that seems most relevant to me comes from 1^st Corinthians chapter 6, verse 18: “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.” Not to mention that it can also get you into legal trouble, and legal problems have this annoying habit of being very, very expensive. Just ask Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstien, or former New York congressman Anthony Wiener, to name just three out of many more.

Further along in that same book of the Bible, it says in chapter 10 verse 8, “We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did — and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.” This is a reference to a time when a portion of the recently-freed Israelite's, who had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years, were slain for having a grossly immoral pagan sexual ritual festival while still wandering in the desert. In one day God struck down 23,000 of them in a single day (see Exodus chapter 32 for the full context of that story). Now you know how strongly God feels about sexual sin. Hopefully it will make you think twice before doing that again. But hold that thought, because I'll have still more reasons that I will reveal after I give you all another Bible quote or two.

The apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the 1^st century Ephesian church, “3) But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4) Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5) For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person — such a person is an idolater — has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6) Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7) Therefore do not be partners with them.” (Ephesians 5, verses 3-7) Based on these words, I would say the majority of men and women who are currently elected to office, as well as those who are appointed such as judges and cabinet members, would have to resign, up to and including President Trump.

The thing is, it doesn't stop with President Trump, either. To me at least, judge Cavenaugh is not the problem, but he is a glaring symptom of a much wider problem. For example, according to an older survey done around the early 2,000's or so by Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family, 45% of Christian men and about 30% of Christian women were addicted to pornography. Here in 2018, over 60% of men and 50% of Christian women are addicted to porn. So what is the percentage of non-Christian, atheist or agnostic men and women who are addicted to porn? Surprisingly – at least to me – it's very much the same, with almost no difference at all in the percentage rate between the two groups. Based on this information, I would say Christianity as a whole has some serious soul-searching to do, and that's actually an understatement of the problem.

But now, allow me to present some more recent statistics, this time from none other than the Centers for Disease Control, which is only 10 miles or so from where I live. When it comes to the personal ads and online dating sites that are pervasive on the Web and in social media, 4 out of every 10 people with personal ads on dating sites or social media has a sexually transmittable disease. That's frighteningly close to half, which is why I stay off the dating sites! I'm in my 60's and single myself, having tried marriage twice before with awful results that I do not care to repeat. But here's where these stats get a bit crazy. Out of the group of 40% on the dating sites and hook-up apps who have STD's, fully 80% – eight out of ten – don't bother to tell their new partners. To make matters worse, they are having unprotected sex, like playing Russian roulette with your body! If this looks to you like some evil people are willfully spreading STD's, you are absolutely right. So, sexual promiscuity and bad behavior are not limited to those at the pinnacles of power and influence. In short, everybody's doing it. Moreover, anyone who thinks that sexual assaults don't take place on dating apps is either astonishingly naive or incredibly stupid.

The United States of America is infested with rampant sexual immorality! Make no mistake about it, God is not impressed in the slightest by America's wild behavior. It's up to us to turn this big problem around, and to deal with it appropriately with even-handed justice to those who have committed acts subject to criminal prosecution. The harshest prosecution should be reserved for those who kill or do bodily harm, who engage in forcible sex, and for those who engage in sex with underage girls and boys. After all, if God can kill 23,000 Israelite's all in one day, or if he can destroy Sodom and Gomorrah in a matter of minutes together with all their inhabitants for their rampant immorality, how much more quickly can God destroy an individual who sins continuously today? He can do it at the speed of a bolt of lightening, and Jesus said as much himself during his ministry here on Earth. Protect yourselves from a lot of anguish and aggravation. Stay single until you're ready to marry. Why worry about whether you'll be lonesome or not when you have Jesus already there with you? When Jesus is all you have, he's all you will ever need.

Ever put a nail through your hand? I've had one, but Jesus got triple that amount.

Some Reflections On Nail Scarred Hands

by Pastor Paul J. Bern

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I spent an unplanned 27- hour visit to the emergency room this past week after slipping on a tarp that was laying across the ground and landing on my shoulder blades just before the rest of me came crashing down with it. I don't own a car right now, so I use public transit and the occasional “Lyft” ride to get around. But, I was on my way to rent a car that morning when all this occurred. After I got off the morning train and discovering that my bus wasn't at the station yet (when it should have been), I found myself suddenly needing to take a quick personal break. It's a side effect of some of the medicine I take for my medical issues. So, I ducked behind a large electrical transformer and finished my little 'break', and I'm about to cross the bus lane to go back into the station. I'm walking across an old tarp that covered the ground near where I had been when, without warning, it suddenly gave way, partially rolling up while my feet went up in the air, and I landed on my shoulder blades before the rest of me caught up them. I hit my head hard enough to get a mild concussion. If mine was mild, I sure would hate to ever get a really bad one!

But that wasn't the part that really hurt. When I rolled over on my stomach to pick myself up, I put my left hand part-way through a rusty nail that was embedded in the tarp. I never even saw the darn thing, but I sure did feel it! Even though my entire left arm recoiled from the sharp pain sensation, that nail still went about halfway through my left hand. Now here's where things get a little dicey. I'm a stroke survivor, by the grace and mercy of Almighty God. I have a history of embolisms, or blood clots, in my legs, one lung, and once in my head which caused my stroke to occur back in 2006. As before, I thank God wholeheartedly for allowing me to survive all these things. To counteract this tendency, I take a blood thinner call Coumadin. So the puncture wound in my left hand was bleeding like crazy from the effects of this drug. Fortunately, I carry a washcloth in my pocket to wipe the sweat off my brow during the hot summer months here in Atlanta. So I used it to apply pressure to the wound, but it still bled for a very long time.

Just before getting back on the train, I called the gentleman who I was going to rent the car from, explained everything including my being headed to the hospital, and canceled the rental before boarding. I vividly recall the throbbing pain in my hand as I rode the public transit train back towards midtown Atlanta where my doctors are located. There was a dull kind of pain in my head that was half there and half not, an sensation that turned out to be the concussion I mentioned above. Since I was already in that particular hospital's computer system, it made no sense to go anywhere else since I knew in advance that my insurance would be accepted. So I spent roughly 27 hours in Emory Hospital's midtown Atlanta location, and emerged none the worse for the experience. Many thanks and blessings to all the doctors and nurses who took care of me, you are all appreciated so much!

While in the hospital, I found myself unable to grasp things or pick them up with my left hand. Although I'm normally ambidextrous, having spent 2 decades as a computer and Windows network service tech, I have had to temporarily go back to being strictly right-handed like I was as a much younger man. But none of this has given me pause as has this one thing – knowing first hand what it's like to have a nail pierce the palm of your hand like it did mine. You know, just like what Jesus Christ experienced when those Roman soldiers were nailing him to that rugged old cross. For just a split second of excruciating pain, I was privileged enough to experience what Jesus must have felt as he was hanging on that cross for three agonizing hours of searing pain throughout his entire body, since his feet were nailed too. In a very small way, I know what it's like to have a nail-scarred hand, and I just like to say I am humbled by this experience.

Having the privilege to experience the same kind of pain Christ did, even if only for a brief moment, it's now been 3 days since I experienced this. My hand is slowly healing, but it has caused me to reflect on this occurrence in my life a great deal. We never know when things will go wrong in our lives, but the way it knocks us down doesn't count for much. It's how we pick ourselves up afterward – that is, I believe, the true measure of every man and woman. Our ability to bounce back from adversity says a lot more about us than how or where we fell. Our ability to extract the lessons learned from those kinds of experiences, while leaving the negative results behind us as we move forward – it is precisely this that is closest to how God sees us. Above all, never forget that Jesus died for you by allowing himself to be nailed to a rough old wooden cross, and that he offered no resistance. In the same way, let's all not resist when God is trying to teach us something, but let's all let in sink in – literally!