Musing – Why Might the Right Lose this Election to the Left?

     Hebraic Musing – Why Might the Right Lose this Election to the Left?

Without getting into acrimonious discussions about political candidates and parties, for the sake of discussion let’s assume that the right represents the God-fearing people/voters; and the left represents those who discredit or just plain ignore the role of God; simply put, the “ungodly” people/voters. 

The problem.  Our education system, media featuring broken families and sinful human nature etc. has been developing generations with less respect for our Godly National Heritage in America’s Constitution.  This has brought about a loss of respect for the law, commandments and morality prescribed by God in His WORD.

Role of the Normalcy bias.  A few weeks ago we referred to the “Normalcy Bias” which causes people to underestimate the possibility of a disaster and its effects; or why people fail to anticipate and prepare for disasters.  The underlying cause of “normalcy bias” is an assumption that since the disaster never occurred before, so then it never will.  This results in the inability of people to cope with a disaster when it does occur.  Unfortunately people interpret warnings optimistically, seizing on any ambiguities to infer a less serious situation.  Jesus tried to warn us of this.  “For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking…” Matt.24:38 NIV 

Why were Israelites exiled to Babylon?   The captivity in Babylon is presented as a punishment for Israel’s idolatry and disobedience to Yahweh.  The best answer is in Lamentations 1:5 “Her adversaries have become the master, Her enemies prosper; For the LORD has afflicted her Because of the multitude of her transgressions.  Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy.” NKJV   As a result of the “multitude of her transgressions” Jeremiah saw Nebuchadnezzar as the agent of God.  “I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the LORD, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin.  I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, ….” Jeremiah 25:9-10 NIV  Let’s learn from history.  God will not tolerate a “multitude of her transgressions”!

Who were the Pilgrims who founded America?    To really understand them, look beyond the legends; they were English people who sought to escape the religious controversies and economic problems of their time by emigrating to America.  Their view of the opportunity provided by GOD in the new land, America, is evident in their many prayers, songs & hymns with these themes: ♫ My country! ’tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing; Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrim’s pride, From every mountain side, Let freedom ring!  (and an embedded prayer acknowledged God’s providence) Our fathers’ God to thee, Author of liberty, To thee we sing. Long may our land be bright With freedom’s holy light. Protect us by thy might,  Great God, our King! ♫   They shared a fervent, pervasive faith that touched all areas of their lives.

What is happening in America now?  The Liberal Left is leading and promising to implement ungodly laws and suppressing the foundations of our country; in the opinion of Right-wing conservatives.  Considering the “multitude of our transgressions”, what would Almighty God logically allow or cause to happen after Nov. 3?  

If Biden/Harris win the election, I for one will not be happy.  BUT I will still have my JOY IN THE LORD!

Points to ponder

Why would Christians in America be entitled to suffer any less persecution
than our Brothers and Sisters in China, Russia, etc.?

Will the “Allied” forces, the good guys, always win the World Wars?

Is there a difference between being “happy” and having “Joy”?
HAPPY is a feeling of pleasure based on circumstance.  We have JOY knowing we are saved no matter what happens.

Sing the song.   ♫ If you want joy you must sing for it.  If you want joy you must shout for it.
If you want joy you must jump for it.  The joy of the Lord is my strength. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ♫

Have the fields ever been more ripe for harvest?

♫ The joy of the LORD is my strength… He heals the broken-hearted and they cry no more…
            He gives me living water and I thirst no more… He fills my soul with laughter ha, ha (ha ha)…  
            If you want joy you must ask for it… The joy of the LORD is my strength.   ♫

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd             October 27, 2020            

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”   Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

Musing – Stay the Course; Do Not Veer to the Right or the Left.

 

Hebraic Musing – Stay the Course; Do Not Veer to the Right or the Left.

What’s wrong with making our own decisions?  Well, since we started out as babies with need for nurture, growth, education and direction to overcome our sin nature, maybe we need to listen to sound advice.  Do we ever outgrow that need?  And where is the only trustworthy advice to be found?  A – God’s Word, the bible. 

Moses gave the Torah (first 5 books) to the Israelites as he was setting up their society and in Deuteronomy 17 he spelled out resolutions for societal problems and structure.  We should go to Priests and Judges for legal decisions and advice.  “If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults—take them to the place the LORD your God will choose.  Go to the priests, who are Levites, and to the judge who is in office at that time.  Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict. You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the LORD will choose. Be careful to do everything they direct you to do.”  Deut.17:8-10   There was an underlying assumption that Priests and Judges were ordained by Almighty God and received all their guidance from above.  Therefore Moses could command them to “Be careful to do everything they direct you to do.”

And Moses went on to say “Act according to the law they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left.”  Deut. 17:11

The Israelites were commanded to accept the decisions of priests and judges — assuming, of course, they were righteous to begin with — no questions asked.  In fact, even if the decision seemed wrong and unreasonable, it still had to be followed exactly, not even veering slightly “to the right or to the left.” 

I wish we could apply that advice today, but we are faced with all too many pastors (priests), judges and leaders, especially in our government, who are clearly not guided by Almighty God.  Due to ungodly liberal influences from both warped educations and man’s sinful nature, leaders today are not always getting their guidance from above, sad to say!

Some might read this commandment and question whether we have a right to reason and think on our own.  Are we required to blindly follow our leaders?  The Israelite nation in Moses’ day was at least theoretically obedient to God.  (Yes there were notable exceptions even then!) 

In conclusion, we are told to respect our leaders by following them, BUT if we discern that their guidance or laws are not God-ordained, then we do have to find the judgement to follow that does NOT vary to the right or to the left.  Where do we find perfect laws and judgements?  You probably figured it out by now, the BIBLE, God’s infallible WORD.

And when the Apostles faced an order that conflicted with God’s commandment “Peter and the other apostles replied: ‘We must obey God rather than men!’”  Acts 5:29  Are we ready to give that response?

Point(s) to Ponder

And definitely do not look back – “No one who puts his hand to the plow
 and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”  Luke 9:62 NIV

Do you really want to vary from God’s Word, considering the wickedness of our hearts?

How should Moses’ admonition apply to our political positions and leanings since
“A wise man's heart is at his right hand, But a fool's heart at his left.”?  Eccl. 10:2

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
             I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep Your righteous judgments.”  Ps.119:105-106

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                         October 20, 2020

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”     Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

Note - Inspired by and excerpted from “How to not veer to the right or the left” by Rabbi Eckstein, 2015  

Musing – Are College Students Blind to the Prosperity Around Them?

  Hebraic Musing – Are College Students Blind to the Prosperity Around Them?

Be careful!  It is no longer P.C. to brag about the fact that America’s prosperity is derived from Capitalism.  After all, Capitalism has now become a dirty word; even though Prosperity and benefits of Capitalism were built into the foundation of our nation by our founding fathers.  The Bible teaches us to work hard and take personal responsibility for our actions and for our families.  It admonishes us to not be lazy and to enjoy the work of our hands.  Classic well-known quotes::

·      2 Thess. 3:10  “If a man will not work, he shall not eat."  NIV

·      Proverbs 21:25  “The sluggard's craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work.”

·      Proverbs 13:4  “The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.”

The Bible doesn’t teach that wealth is wrong, but that the love of it is. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”  1 Tim 6:10  NIV   The problems associated with so-called capitalist economies are not due to free enterprise but to sinful criminal activity, sinful greed and government interference in free markets.

Here’s an interesting email from an MBA Grad.  Title speaks for itself –
       "College Student: My Generation Is Blind to the Prosperity Around Us.”   

“I’m sitting in a small coffee shop …  I scroll through my newsfeed on my phone looking at the latest headlines of Democratic candidates calling for policies to “fix” the so-called injustices of capitalism.  I put my phone down and look around.  I see people talking freely, working on their MacBook’s, ordering food they get in an instant, seeing cars go by outside, and it dawned on me.  We live in the most privileged time in the most prosperous nation and we’ve become completely blind to it – Vehicles, food, technology, freedom to associate with whom we choose.  These things are so ingrained in our American way of life we don’t give them a second thought.  We are so well off here in the United States that our poverty line begins 31 times above the global average!  Virtually no one in the United States is considered poor by global standards.  Yet, in a time where we can order a product off Amazon with one click and have it at our doorstep the next day, we are unappreciative, unsatisfied, and ungrateful.”

Un-appreciation is evident as the popularity of socialist policies continues to grow, especially among the younger generations.  Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently said to Newsweek talking about the millennial generation, “An entire generation, which is now becoming one of the largest electorates in America, came of age and never saw American prosperity.” (Emphasis added)   Never saw American prosperity!  Let that sink in.  When I first read that statement, I thought to myself that was quite literally the most entitled and factually illiterate thing I’ve ever heard in my 26 years. … Many young people agree with her, which is entirely misguided.  My generation is being indoctrinated by a mainstream narrative to actually believe we have never seen prosperity.

With all of the overwhelming evidence around us, evidence that I can even see sitting at a coffee shop, do we not view this as prosperity?  We have people who are dying to get into our country.  People around the world are destitute and truly impoverished.  Yet, we have a young generation convinced they’ve never seen prosperity, and as a result, elect politicians dead set on taking steps towards abolishing capitalism.  Why?  This generation has only seen prosperity; have seen no contrast; didn’t live in the great depression, or live through two world wars and the Korean & Vietnam Wars or see the rise and fall of socialism and communism.  We don’t know what it’s like to live without the internet, without cars, without smartphones.  We don’t have a lack of prosperity problem.  We have an entitlement problem, an ungratefulness problem, and it’s spreading like a plague."

Point(s) to Ponder

What is the goal of those funding A.O.C.’s campaign?

To understand the benefit of Capitalism, one needs to travel to a third-world country!

“The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.” Pr.13:4 NKJV

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                          October 13, 2020

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”     Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

Source – “This excerpted article is said to be written by an MBA student, Alyssa Ahlgren” on April 27, 2019

Musing – Similarities? WWI, WWII & Radical Islamic Terrorism

 Hebraic Musing – Similarities?  WWI, WWII & Radical Islamic Terrorism

What can we learn from history?  My conscience will not let me hold off releasing this non-amusing musing any longer; it is based on these historical recaps of World Wars, and a little history reminder!

WWI involvement:  The “War to End All Wars” started in 1914, became a global war centered in Europe and grew into a war involving 32 countries. The “Allies” represented about 20 countries; Britain, France, Russia, Italy and the United States being the largest. The “Allies” fought the “Central Powers” – Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. About 20 countries claimed to be neutral, but the ravages of war impacted them also. It was one of the deadliest conflicts in history.  Objective of WWI:  Conflicting ambitions, retribution and recovery of land lost in a previous war.  Tactics & weapons:  It was trench warfare; commonly used weapons were bolt action rifles, grenades, poison gas, machine guns, flame-throwers, tanks and some submarines.   After WWI:  The League of Nations was established at the initiative of the Allies at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 as a part of the Treaty of Versailles. But the war resulted in major political changes and revolutions in many nations.  The losers lost territory, were dismantled or ceased to exist.   

….but only 25 years later….

WWII involvement:   “Axis Powers”, Germany, Italy & Japan co-signed the Tripartite Treaty, joined by Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania & Slovakia. They annexed Austria, Ethiopia and China.  “Allied Powers” were Australia, Brazil, Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand, South Africa, UK & Soviet Union; eventually in Dec. 1941 the United States was forced to engage.  Were we caught in Normalcy Bias?  Are we experiencing “Normalcy Bias” today?  (Defined below) What think you?   Objective of WWII:  The “Axis Powers” wanted to take-over governance of major segments of the world map; a traditional theme of World Wars is creation of a One World Government!  Tactics & weapons:  Air warfare, fighters & bombers, naval ships & rockets overcame the ground warfare stalemate; support from spy & intelligence networks; intro of nuclear bombs.  After WWII:  Countries that were attacked, occupied, or switched sides were countries that had declared their neutrality before being assaulted. Can you be neutral in a world war?  Treaties were signed, but the “Cold War” between Russia and the USA continued on smaller footprints.

Then 9/11/2001 came 55 years later…from another ideological direction….

R-dical Isl-mic T-rrorism (RIT) involvement:   The Islamic nations of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Brunei, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan and Mauritania apply Sharia law.  It is reported that Christians are being persecuted in 50 nations, not to mention the daily reports of persecution growing in major European nations and Canada and the USA!   Objective of RIT:   The goal, as radical followers Islam, is to take over all nations and enforce Islamic rule, including Sharia law using the Koran as the constitution.   Tactics & weapons:    Physical & highly visible weapons of choice are knives, automatic weapons, rockets, bombs and vehicles, readily available items.  Infiltration of the enemy nation’s education, government, military and media systems are “softening the beaches”; while overt tactics range from sophisticated well-planned attacks, to home-grown amateur efforts; all designed to kill, maim & cause disruption & fear.  Kidnappings, mass transit violence, well-publicized beheadings and an ISIS land-grab add emotional fear-mongering. Religious fervor and horrific publicity aids grass-root recruiting resulting in world-wide infiltration.
(If) After RIT completes its mission:  All nations and peoples will convert to Islam and be subject to Sharia law or be put to death.  Here’s a quote from an ISIS fighter in new beheading video “Know also that we will cut off your head in the White House, and transform America into a Muslim Province.”

What lessons have we learned from the first two “World Wars”?  Were we late getting involved?  Would there have been fewer losses if we had responded sooner?  What did Jesus say about wars?   “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.  Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.”  Matt. 24:6 NIV    

Points to ponder

Will the “Allied” forces, good guys, always win World Wars?

 “For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking…” Matt.24:38 NIV 

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd             Published February 3, 2015; Updated  October 6, 2020            

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”   Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

 

Normalcy bias - is a mental state people enter when facing a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster and its possible effects. This may result in situations where people fail to adequately prepare for a disaster, and on a larger scale, the failure of governments to include the populace in its disaster preparations.    The assumption that is made in the case of the normalcy bias is that since a disaster never has occurred then it never will occur. It can result in the inability of people to cope with a disaster once it occurs. People with a normalcy bias have difficulties reacting to something they have not experienced before. People also tend to interpret warnings in the most optimistic way possible, seizing on any ambiguities to infer a less serious situation.[i]

One of the most tragic examples of the normalcy bias is the experience of the Jews in Nazi Germany.[ii]  Barton Biggs, in his book, Wealth, War and Wisdom, gave a very good description of what happened:

    By the end of 1935, 100,000 Jews had left Germany, but 450,000 [remained]. Wealthy Jewish families...kept thinking and hoping that the worst was over.

    Many of the German Jews, brilliant, cultured, and cosmopolitan as they were, were too complacent. They had been in Germany so long and were so well established, they simply couldn't believe there was going to be a crisis that would endanger them. They were too comfortable. They believed the Nazis' anti-Semitism was an episodic event and that Hitler's bark was worse than his bite. [They] reacted sluggishly to the rise of Hitler for completely understandable but tragically erroneous reasons. Events moved much faster than they could imagine.

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[i] Prophezine.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=134:the-normalcy-bias-and-bible-prophecy

[ii] Prophezine.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=134:the-normalcy-bias-and-bible-prophecy