Why I'll Vote For Mitt Romney

By John Stallings



Boxer Rocky Balboa uttered this choice bit of street wisdom in one of the Rocky movies… “It’s not how hard you can hit, but how hard you can be hit and keep moving forward.”

If ever that bit of wisdom fit, it was in the third Obama/Romney debate. The President landed blow after snarky blow on Romney, but Romney shook them off and moved forward.

I’m still trying to figure out what the look on Obama’s face was all about and it got worse as the evening went on. His cold stare in Romney’s direction wasn’t unlike a “Death Stare.”

Then there was Obama’s occasional smile reminiscent of Joe Biden’s debate with Paul Ryan.

Just about everyone has an “explanation.” for why Mr. Romney took it easy on President Obama in the last debate. Me thinks it was a strategy based on Rocky’s sage advice; “It’s not how hard…well, you know. We’ll soon know if Romney was right to take this advice. In my heart of hearts, I feel he was.

As I watched the three Presidential debates I made a mental note of some of the many things I like about Mitt Romney, that in my view make him very likely to be our next President. Here are a few, not necessarily in order the of their importance…

Romney knows how to dress. I don’t know who gets the credit for this. This I do know; I thought I knew how to dress until I got married. That’s when I was introduced to the term “too busy” a term referring to wrong coupling of plaids and stripes - [I think.] I also learned that people can discern the difference in a black/blue and dark brown sock.

Notice that big, wide smile of Romney’s? One thing our nation's leader needs is a confident smile. A confident smile says, "I know what I'm doing," to the doubters who think Romney would not make a good leader. And his smile also says to the negative world around us, "Let's be peaceful, but don’t be fooled in thinking that niceness is a sign of weakness. Don’t get your name on our list.” I like that in a president.

Mitt Romney is an all-American man. See the American flag in the background? His not being ashamed to pose with our flag is another strong reason that foreign countries would respect him as President of the United States.

Romney looks the part of a president; Smooth, polished, easy to approach from the elite to the lowest. I haven’t yet seen him appear on a public platform with a tacky pair of rumpled britches.  Mitt can “talk the talk, and he can “walk the walk.” I don’t usually compliment men because most of us are rather homely- but I like Mitt’s hairstyle too.

Another thing I like is the timber of his speaking voice. Romney can be serious if need be. Behind that smile, is the face of a serious candidate who wants to rebuild our country.

Romney can also count. His expertise in numbers will go a long way when he’s faced with balancing our budget and other monumental tasks that accompany the Office of The President.

Being good with mathematics is a plus for Mitt. If he knew nothing about numbers, he might embarrass himself in a State of The Union Message. But that is a useless worry. Romney is a numbers man.

Romney has lived a life of faithful commitment to his family and his church. He doesn’t talk about this much, probably because his Mormon faith is unfamiliar to many Americans. Some view it with suspicion. As for me, I’m impressed that Romney lives his faith through service and significant financial contributions, and he apparently demonstrated great caring and compassion as a church leader. As you already know many other great true stories could be told.

Romney will not be moved by the latest polls or the most effective lobbyists. He serves something greater than himself --and it’s important for a President to know that.

Mitt Romney has extensive experience making executive decisions. As governor of Massachusetts and in the private sector, Romney had to make tough choices affecting people’s jobs, lives and futures, preparing him for the world’s highest executive office. Too often Obama has sublet decision- making to Congress/Harry Reid/Nancy Pelosi with the bad results we saw in the trillion-dollar “Porkulus bill,” the massive mess of the ObamaCare law and the dysfunctional Dodd-Frank financial reforms.

Romney specializes in turnarounds — and Washington is in desperate need of a dramatic turnaround. When he arrived at the Salt Lake City Olympics, the organization was in chaos, in debt and tarnished by scandal. He turned it around, unifying those with competing interests and turned the games into a financial and diplomatic success.

Romney did this in the private sector as well, rescuing a number of struggling companies and bringing them back to profitability and growth, creating many new jobs in the process.

Romney knows the No. 1 issue is jobs and the economy — and Romney understands how jobs are created and how government policies affect economic growth. Under Obama, America not only has too-high unemployment and too-low growth, but it also now has the highest corporate tax rate in the world. It also faces the prospect of job-killing record individual tax increases at the end of 2012.

Recently the President was asked if he in any way regretted spending so much time on ObamaCare when jobs seemed to be the predominate issue and his answer was…NO!!!

I  saw a poll which said 69% of likely voters believe the next election will change their lives for the better. That sounds like Romney to me.

Folk who know Romney well say he’s a good listener — another important quality in a president. He needs to be able to consider advice from a wide range of experts on a given subject to make informed decisions.

Though the Democrats have spent tens of millions to seek to establish false ideas about him, Romney’s been steady, well-organized and disciplined throughout the primary process. I’m convinced he’s the leader America needs to restore our confidence, our economy and our leadership in the world.

Maybe I’m a little redundant here but--Mitt Romney can talk with the best orators in the land. Whether it’s on Face The Nation or Meet The Press or on some corner in Chicago, Romney can talk fluently about economic, military, social, and educational facts. This helps.

 And I have noticed that Mitt seldom uses, "uhh," or "now let me see," to stall for time as he thinks up an answer to a question. Being able to talk professionally is a plus for an American president. I give Mitt points for his talking abilities. And Mitt can read too.

Romney has a razor sharp sense of humor. When asked by Newt Gingrich [and I like Newt] about his tax returns, Mitt smiled and said, "I will release them Tuesday," and moved on, stunning Newt with his comedic comeback. Any president of our country needs a good sense of humor, and especially be able to laugh at himself.

Former president, John F. Kennedy scored huge ratings with his comment on the launching of a NASA rocket, "there goes the payroll," when he was to say, "Payload." This fau pax got lots of laughs from the crowd. Mitt will not be a stranger to humor or -good-humor.

Recently Mitt and his team were playing touch football on a Florida beach and before the game started Mitt said, tongue in cheek; “by the way, don’t worry about injuries, just don’t get hurt.” To me that’s funny.

Have you noticed Mitt's big hands? Romney would have made a great quarterback. His big hands are a sign that he is a worker, and can tackle political or social problems in our country. I like that in a president. It’s been said; “never trust a president or any politician who doesn't show his hands in public." But showing hands and talking with hands is a world apart. Mitt doesn't talk with his hands. I like that.

Say what you will, when Mitt Romney is right -he’s right. In several question and answer sessions across our country, some political reporters have asked him some tough questions. To their chagrin, Mitt answered them like a pro, like he was already in the Oval Office. George W. Bush was like that; able to answer the tough questions that are on the minds of Americans. Amazing.

Mitt Romney looks people (and problems) straight in the eye. Never backs down. Notice him next time he is being questioned-- he seldom looks down, or off in the distance, two signals that an individual isn’t sure of himself. Mitt knows the score. He's on top of his game. You can trust a man (or woman) who makes fast eye-contact, talks to you like you are a human and isn’t dismissive.

Mitt Romney is always smiling. Happy. Upbeat. I appreciate that in a president. Don't you? I had much rather have a smiling, laughing, even joking president than a 'doom-and-gloom' leader who seldom smiles or laughs.

Notice other politicians and see how much less they laugh or joke. The Office of President is a serious job, but not all of the time. Much as a Pastor with his congregation I think that the atmosphere in our country is set by whatever attitude our leader shows. If he's happy, then we’ll tend to be happy.

The oldest, most significant question asked voters is; “Is the country on the right or wrong track?” No incumbent should be underwater on this question–including candidates for dog catcher–if he/she expects to be elected. For more than two years, across the board, voter response to this central question has consistently been greater than 2 to one- “America is currently on the wrong track.”

Research says that one of the profound negative metrics or indicators in a presidential campaign is a President who cannot hit 50 percent approval among voters. Obama has consistently failed to reach 50 percent in over two years. Romney has recently reached 50% approval and passed it.

Let’s talk Economy/Jobs. Under Obama, the nation’s performance in this area suffers. People know it. I can’t say Obama can’t get elected with these numbers, but experts tell me nobody ever has.

I’m not a pollster nor the son of one but everything I dig up about this election is based exclusively on polls, which despite enjoying great popularity among the public -aren’t always dependable. There are a few pollsters in America who keep it real.

There is nothing so common and useless in American media/politics than inept polls. Good polls, by good pollsters, are very difficult to produce and very expensive.

Why are many polls inaccurate? Of 100 Americans eligible to vote, only approx. 1/3 of us turn out.  So when you talk to non-voters you get non-results. Sorry to say, bad pollsters don’t care about that minor detail! They want a headline.

Bottom line, the majority of polls we see are leading us wrong. The results of 10 bad polls, yields one bad average.

The Real polling is being done in strictest confidence by top pollsters, at a cost of $1Million-plus Per Month! Others pay about the same as your monthly electric bill.

Think that affects quality of results?

Most polls/pollsters showing Obama ahead are wrong. Demonstrably wrong, intentional Obama propaganda. The media won’t report it, because the media is the culprit. IMO If you want good polls listen to Fox News and check out Doug Schoen, Scott Rasmussen, or Pat Caddell.

Watch for the “Silent Majority.” Many people are intimidated at work, among friends and in public to express a pro-Romney viewpoint – inasmuch as that equals an “anti-Obama” viewpoint. Which of course equals a “racist opinion.”

Ask yourself: how many men and women just clam up at public gatherings rather than be labeled ‘racist?’

I heard Ann Coulter tell the story of a man who brought home a Romney lawn sign, in reaction to which his wife recoiled in horror, saying “You’re not going to put THAT on our lawn! Everyone will think we’re Racists!”

No, we’re against Obama, his programs and socialism, and for Romney. While we may shy away from lawn signs, we do – and will – vote robustly.

Watch the “undecideds." They’re out there and will in my opinion vote for Romney.

As the Vegas odds maker Wayne Allyn Root declares, while I’m sure his mouth isn’t a prayer book, -no person who voted for McCain in 2008 will be voting for Obama. Right there, Romney has, I think –over 40 million votes.

Moreover, a greater percent of Romney supporters are going to turn out than Obama voters. In 2008, there was a gap between Republican and Democrat voter turn out. In a 4 percent race, that made the difference. In 2012, there again will be a big turn out gap. This time, it’s ours.

My feeling is- “Mitt-mentum” will amplify this result. It will parachute in unannounced and subtle as a mule kick –go for Romney.

It looks to me that unless Obama changes the fundamental dynamic of this campaign, he loses this election. Look at the size/enthusiasm of the candidate crowds over the past several days.

Guess what? Though Romney may not have had a dramatic knockout like some of us would have liked to have seen, voters suddenly saw and embraced the real Mitt Romney – the difference between Obama Night and Romney Daylight.

Remember the old Obama pre-election jargon- “under new management”?

This will be true of The United States of America, in roughly two weeks.

May God bless us in the coming election and may God bless our beloved America!!!!

Blessings,

John

P.S—Be sure to vote!

Obama...America's Architect Of Decline!

By John Stallings

The 2012 election will decide far more than simply the name of America's next president. It will decide the fate of the nation.

The voices lamenting that Obama has failed just don’t get it.

Obama’s failure looked at from the perspective of most of us would be a proper reading of the situation. But from Obama's perspective, he’s succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. The President sees his position as “wildly successful” because of the support of his party, the “state-controlled media,” and their determination to hide the truth from the American people.

I believe Obama sees himself as having succeeded because his real aim was and is to diminish the footprint of America, because in Obama’s mind -America is bad for the world.

 In order to achieve his idea of global justice, Obama has appointed himself America’s Architect of Decline.

He has by and large succeeded in concealing his methodical agenda- to nudge America over the cliff.

 In his first term Obama has laid the foundation for his dream. If he’s given another four years, by 2016, America will be just one of the herd.

Film-“2016, OBAMA’S AMERICA”
Because of all the recent word of mouth about the Documentary “2016, Obama’s America” we found out where the movie was playing here in the Orlando area.

I thought maybe we‘d have to fight for a seat, but Juda and I were 2 of only about 16 at a recent 11:30 A.M showing. 

Information and education are high in my book. I want to know about society’s trends, nuances, coming “slippery slopes” and-well- just information/truth!

I’ve been aware of the first attacks against the aforementioned Documentary, and efforts to impugn the motives of the filmmakers, questioning how the project was funded and by whom, all in an attempt to dissuade people from watching it.

I don't remember anyone in the mainstream press questioning Michael Moore in like manner about his movies. As far as I could see no questions were asked about where his funding came from, although this was the media’s mania for Obama’s America-2016.

I’m not one to jump on a bandwagon easily, as I feel it my calling in communicating to verify as far as I’m able to do so the accuracy of the things I communicate to others. Does the information at hand align itself with the correct world view and does it pass the test of credibility and what we already know to be true? This is very important, especially with our children’s future in view.
Again, we were surprised at how the theater we visited was so sparsely filled. Maybe news media companies have banned promotion, I almost expect that anymore. I noticed that our local theater didn’t even have a poster up to announce the film being shown there. 

If we hadn’t had a computer, I doubt we could have ever found where the movie was playing. Moreover, the film didn’t play every day—you had to constantly check when the showings would be. Sometimes it would show on Tuesdays and then skip to Fridays with no prior announcement-that I knew of.

I have “The gift of suspicion” so all this made me a little---well- suspicious.

In the showing we attended most people we saw were older, retired folks. We might have been the youngest ones there. But after all we didn’t go to see “The young guns.”

I enjoyed the film’s writing. The writer showed his view point, and his relation to the information. He was honest and upfront. I liked his supportive data and documentation about what he presented. I haven’t read his book, indeed was unaware that there was a book until I saw the movie. My bad!

In the end the writer didn’t presume to tell you what to think or what to do, he just presented facts to inform you. Those facts were very, very sobering.

When Juda and I left the theater we were silent for a few minutes, but then I said, “You know, that man has done America a great service in making this Documentary.” What he did was what the American media should have done before Obama was ever elected. I also said, right or wrong, “No one who sees this documentary will ever vote for Obama, period.” My bad!!

Before we left the theater we parted for a short time to visit the rest-rooms. An elderly woman who’d just sat through the movie close to us muttered to Juda, “Well a lot of that is just speculation. They could probably do that about Romney too.” There went my prediction. But never fear, Juda stood up for the documentary as she’s want to do.

2016 is one of the few recent examples of true journalism which asks important questions, based on facts about an issue that really matters i.e. -What is the origin of the vision our President has for America and does it reflect that of the average American? The main question the movie seeks to answer is- what will America look like in 2016 if President Obama is re-elected in November. This would give him the opportunity to carry out his real vision for America, without the political implications of running again.

Based on Dinesh D’Souza’s best selling book – “ The Roots of Obama’s rage”, the film examines President Obama’s own words in his book “Dreams From My Father.” This documentary chronicles specific events; the timeline of President Obama’s birth in Hawaii, his years growing up in Indonesia, his college years, (records of which President Obama has gone to great lengths to protect), interviews with people who have direct background knowledge of the President’s past and ideas, people who directly influenced or nurtured the ideology of the President, and his devout fascination and determination to live out the perceived dreams from his father.

This documentary does a thorough analysis of Mr. Obama’s own autobiography that the infatuated media ignored during the glamour of his Presidential run in 2008. A major problem since then has been-- any attempt to ask legitimate questions of Mr. Obama is seen as “Obama bashing.”

The film starts with the emotional visit of Barack to the grave of his father. Based on Mr. Obama’s own words and actions since, it’s only fair to wonder if his motive is to carry out the ideology of his father. If so, that contradicts the virtues which make up the American dream. 

The President’s father, Barack Obama senior harbored the view that rich countries became rich due to the exploiting of poor countries, [Colonialism] and that the conditions of poor countries would improve if the influence of ‘rich’ countries were diminished or their wealth ‘redistributed.’ 

Absent from these views is the knowledge of a key element of the American success story. That is, a country becomes richer due to the free market system and economic freedom, which spurs individual ingenuity and growth. Among the absurd things that were said at the recent DNC, one person was overheard to say. “The free market system is destroying America.” Can we say, “Ignoramus?

The root of the senior Obama’s philosophy stemmed from his anti-colonialist and imperialist view of England of which his native Kenya was a colony for many years. One of the most interesting interviews in the film is with President Obama’s half-brother George Obama which highlights how some of his views differ from that of their father and president Obama.

George Obama who still lives in poor conditions in Kenya, avoided questions about why his brother President Obama has not reached out to help him.

Shortly after the interview, George Obama reached out to D’Souza to ask for money (who in turn gave it to him) because his son was sick in the hospital. He did not reach out to his brother the President of the U.S who so likes the idea of free health care.

George Obama made the observation that Kenya after it won its independence from England was in better economic shape than countries like South Africa, Singapore and others who also were former colonies.
But now those countries have developed faster than Kenya and others who became independent. In short, he believes the current conditions of countries like Kenya cannot be blamed on past colonialism or the present wealth of ‘rich’ countries, but instead on how a country is individually managed.

LET’S FACE IT!

Obama is a proponent of failed economic policies that have left much of the Third World mired in poverty.

Rather than acknowledging that centralized economic planning is a failure, Obama faults America’s industrial might as the cause of economic malaise that has crippled much of Africa. The answer, therefore, is not to abandon the discredited economic policies, but to disable America so as to level the playing field.

Once America is bankrupt, Kenyan economic programs are bound to succeed!

As someone who follows politics and current events closely, I thought that I was well informed about President Obama’s radicalism. Nevertheless, the film exposed me to much more information than I had previously been aware of. Obama is not as bad as I thought. He’s worse, much worse.

If you subscribe to American Exceptionalism or believe in American ideals, as I do, maybe you could see this film with an undecided voter who is persuadable. Other than prayer, and making sure we vote, there’s not much else we can do.

THE RACE QUESTION!

Are we who oppose an Obama presidency/re-election upset because he’s black? I think not.
We’re upset because of what he’s  doing to our country.

Put racism aside when seeking reasons to criticize those who oppose this president. Those of us who support our Constitution and believe in free markets and limited government-oppose this administration.

 Obama promotes redistribution of wealth,

 Government ownership of auto companies,

Banks, Student loans,

And- nationalizing health care.

 He doesn’t attempt to slow down spending and sues a state that’s trying to do what the government refuses to do. He continually makes fun of the Tea Party people all the while stretching the truth regarding jobs, the economy, and misrepresenting what the stimulus has done.

Try counting  “jobs saved” and you’ll realize how this president is misleading the nation.

The Democrats were in charge of the purse strings for the last two years of the Bush administration. They say Bush left us with a $100 billion deficit, but now our deficit is in the trillions. I’m hearing words nowadays I thought I invented as a kid; bazillions, quadrillions and gazillions.

 Since before Obama took office and until the present, the narrative has been and is:-

“ if you oppose anything Obama does, there must be an underlying racist motive to your opposition.

And if there's not underlying racism, as they claim, then you MUST agree with everything he does.”

Those who wave the flag of progress in the face of America-in-decline -- and in defense of this president -- do so behind accusations that sensible, hard working Americans of all colors are displaying their chagrin toward Barack Obama simply because he's black.

NO MATTER how long these accusations go unproven or how many times they are actually disproved, they continue to raise the cry of racism. 

Again, hard working, common people can't possibly identify with the astonishing assessment that we all acted out of our whiteness and turned our wrath of "horrific racial violence" on non-whites.

So far as I can see there's not a thread of truth in this “elitist claim;” -that many Americans don't like Obama simply because of his color.

THE TRUE DIVIDE

There IS a divide in America that's hardly ever mentioned in this debate, but it's not a color divide.

IT’S NOT A SEXIST DEVIDE!

IT’S NOT A RELIGIOUS DEVIDE!

IT’S THE DIVIDE BETWEEN THE  “ELITES” AND EVERYBODY ELSE!

Most American's don't see Barack Obama's color as a problem, but they do recoil from his intellectual elitism! We read more and more about people this president has snubbed because of his arrogance.

During one of President Obama’s vacations at Martha’s Vineyard, he took in a round of golf at the Vineyard Golf Club in Edgartown, playing golf with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Democratic lawyer and business man Vernon Jordan; and White House trip director (and former golf pro) Marvin Nicholson.The pool report at the time said “We are told Bloomberg and Obama talked in the clubhouse for about 15 minutes about the economy. They then went to the driving range.”
Apparently the Obama-Bloomberg conversation could have gone better. In an interview with The Australian Financial Review, conservative media magnate Rupert Murdoch says;

”Bloomberg said it was a pleasant day. In conversation he put a few ideas … He said it was like verbal ping pong.”Bloomberg, according to Murdoch came back and said ‘I never met in my life such an arrogant man.”
We’re witnessing Elitism like we’ve not seen in our lifetime, which includes living through the presidency of Jimmy Carter. Average Americans inherently reject this kind of alleged  intellectual superiority.

But we don't just see Obama's elitism; we see the elitism of politicians from ALL parties and the media elites that support them.

For this White House and this president, there seems to be only one branch of government - the executive branch. And, no doubt, the president will continue to rely on what many have called his executive command authority to push through his agenda.

This is the issue of the 2012 election:

 Do we believe in our capacity for self-government or will we abandon our God-given role in the world as Americans and capitulate to elitists planners who believe they can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.

It's the elitism of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reed who pushed the unpopular ObamaCare through Congress in spite of, and some would say in the face of, the American people who opposed it. It's Eric Holder's fight with Arizona in spite of popular support for the law and for immigration law enforcement by the states. And it's the President himself leading this group of liberal elites with numerous acts of defying the will of the people and congress.

“Intellectual elites” of this type, think those who oppose them are not just ignorant, they’re stupid. And there must be racism at the heart of the opposition because it makes so much sense to them.

Make no mistake; America's response to 9/11, opposition to ObamaCare, resistance to a government increasing in size with out-of-control spending has nothing to do with color and everything to do with common sense patriotism.

Americans see their freedoms eroding under this administration and that's the source of their resistance to this president! 

Hear this. President Obama declaring a change in U.S. immigration law, no Congressional action, no court decision, just another executive decision; this time changing immigration law to permit young people who were brought to this country illegally to stay, rather than face deportation, has become

a tactic and a hallmark of his presidency.

WE SHOULD HAVE SEEN THIS ONE COMING!

The Wall Street Journal points out that President Obama actually revealed his intentions a year ago. "In a speech last year to La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights organization that has criticized the White House for the lack of progress on immigration reform, President Obama mused that he'd like 'to bypass Congress and change the laws on my own.' He added, 'Believe me, the idea of doing things on my own is very tempting. I promise you.'"

Well, the temptation he talked about then proved to be too much for the president. Just recently, he gave in to political temptation relaxing restrictions on illegals.  Another power grab.

So we have President Obama and his imperial presidency, acting alone in deciding which laws to enforce, which to ignore. A constitutional scholar- who isn't following the constitution. A president who doesn't worry about the separation of powers, circumventing the traditional checks and balances of our constitutional system.

It's this kind of arrogance that already has drawn a sharp rebuke from many.

Sen. Lindsey Graham called Obama's action "at best unwise and possibly illegal." Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said he is planning to file suit against the Obama Administration to challenge the president's action.

REMEMBER THESE WORDS?

“…..I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back & tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick & good jobs for the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow & our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war & secured our nation & restored our image at last, best hope on earth.

This was the moment….this was the time…when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves & our highest ideals.”

If Obama is able to slow the rise of the oceans then ending poverty & securing peace should be a cakewalk.

I’m just guessing now but I suppose Obama would only be able to accomplish such feats as long as he’s America’s President.

It’s not about the tint of his skin. It’s not about his race. It’s not about his ethnicity, it’s not about his charisma, gravitas, his personality or whatever you call it. I don’t work that way. It’s about his policies & I disagree with Obama on policy.

Because of the policies I’ve mentioned here, & others of his values that would take too long to enumerate, I oppose Barack Obama as President of the United States.

Respected commentator Charles Krauthammer put it more bluntly: "Beyond the pandering, beyond the politics, beyond the process - is simple constitutional decency. This is out-and-out lawlessness. You had a clip of the president himself say months ago 'I cannot do this on my own because there are laws on the books.' Well, I have news for president - the laws remain on the books. They haven’t changed."

Listen to a quote from David Limbaugh: “If we re-elect him we are committing national suicide, I fully believe that. It might be cliché to say this is the most important election we’ve ever had but I don’t think it’s a cliché, I think most elections have incrementally been more important than previous elections because liberalism has been on a steady incremental march during my entire life. We pushed it back during Reagan and some other areas, but they always seem to move the ball towards statism overall and they are continuing to do it.

 Obama is already acting like a flaming leftist, radical, socialist. Can you imagine what he’ll act like if he is re-elected and perceives himself to have a mandate to take this country completely over the cliff.”

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!

We want God to bless America. But we must confess that America as we know her now has forgotten God and totters on the brink of destruction. Even so, I believe there is a way for America to recover.

I firmly believe this nation with its Christian beginning was a nation God planted. America didn’t come into being by happenstance but by the will and plan of God Himself, who placed the American dream in the hearts of our Founding Fathers.As you and I read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, the spiritual heritage of America runs all the way through them. When the little rag-tag Continental Army was fighting the British at Valley Forge, General George Washington went out to kneel in the snow to pray for his army. When a stranger came to the Continental Congress and wanted to know which man was Washington, a friend said, “When the Congress begins to pray, Washington will be the tall man who will go to his knees.”

Why has America been the richest nation on earth? Because the sun shines more here? More rainfall? Because we’re stronger? No! These are blessings from God. “Blessed is that nation whose God is the Lord.”

Today godless, violent forces come against America — from both outside and within. Corrupt politicians and clueless pundits mock God’s principles and those who honor them.

We must acknowledge our sin, deal with it, and confess it. Psalm 80 shows us how to pray for national revival. This is the prayer God will bless:

14Return, we beseech Thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine; 15And the vineyard which Thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that Thou madest strong for Thyself…. 17Let Thy hand be upon the man of Thy right hand….18So will not we go back from Thee: quicken us, and we will call upon Thy name. 19Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

This is the gracious national deliverance God promised Israel — the deliverance we need and can be ours if we will confess, repent, and call upon His name.

Satan’s strategy is to keep good people silent in evil times. Will you speak up? Do you know what the issues are? For instance, are you letting your voice be heard against pornography, perversion, corruption, and the murder of the innocents?

God is still a God of mercy. What God could do for Israel, He can do for any nation that repents. Today America must look to God. The Pentagon — economists — politicians — educators — cannot save us. Only God can save America.

Without a spiritual revival there is no hope for our nation. We must return to God so God will return to us.

 What time is it in America? It is knee time.

Blessings,

John

"Why You Gotta Be So mean?"

By John Stallings

Once in a while a popular song will get my attention.

Such was recently the case with Taylor Swift’s song, “Why you gotta be so mean?” Here are a few words from the song’s chorus…

 Someday I'll be living in a big ole city

 And all you're ever gonna be is mean

 Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me

 And all you're ever gonna be is mean

 Why you gotta be so mean?

Obviously these were words written by someone being mistreated in a relationship.

 Several meanness stories have led the news lately; the four teenage boys in upstate New York who taunted the 68 year old female teacher to tears on a school bus, and more recently the 24 year old monster in Aurora Colorado who snuffed out the lives of 12 people in a theater and wounded approximately 50 others. We find ourselves pondering the question Swift’s song asks, “Why you gotta be so mean.”

BIBLE CHARACTERS

Each person we meet on the sacred pages of scripture is a complex mix of occasional holy brilliance with liberal doses of frail humanity. Some folk tend to try to soften Biblical character’s personal flaws but in all candidness, everybody's a mixed bag, and only Christ can make us righteous. It’s easy to focus only on the good Bible characters did and neglect to learn from their failures.

Be advised that in the story we’re now considering, the only hero is God. Moreover this is true of every story, even yours and mine.

SARAH AND HAGAR

The story of Sarah and Hagar and their sons, Isaac and Ishmael is an emotionally charged story of human frailty which still speaks to our lives today.

In scripture Sarah is commended for her godliness and trust in the Lord (I Pet.3:5:6; Heb.11:11). Peter tells Christian women to follow her example in being obedient to their own husbands, and in doing good and living a courageous

life. Through such conduct which becomes godly women they can demonstrate that they’re daughters of Sarah in imitating her example of faith in God.

Certainly that’s true, however, we learn in the Old Testament that Sarah made some terrible mistakes which hurt others; mistakes no godly woman should ever imitate.

One might well ask: why does Sarah, the great matriarch of the Bible behave so badly and why does the text make no attempt to cover up or explain her outrageous behavior?

Thank God for the honesty and candidness of the book which truly “keeps it real.”

SARAH WAS WEALTHY AND VERY CLASS CONSCIOUS

When we look at Genesis eighteen, we readily see that Sarah and Abraham knew how to treat some people with kindness when three angels visited their tent.

When Abraham seeks a bride for his son, Isaac must have a bride from far-off Mesopotamia. Abraham doesn’t e-mail Rebecca and tell her to hitchhike to Hebron to rendezvous with his son Isaac. No, Abraham understandably goes all out for this girl. He sends his Cadillac camel caravan up north to escort her back to her bridegroom in style.

Sarah and her husband Abraham were slave owners. So long as Hagar, Sarah’s slave stayed in her place as a useful appliance instead of a real human being with feelings, she did her job fetching water, sewing, washing, grinding grain, possibly even minding little Isaac while Sarah rested her aging body things were O.K.  But once Hagar and her own son showed any human feelings and flaws, - “they cast out the bondwomen and her son! “

 “Cast out” means THROW OUT! Throw ‘em out like rubbish, and if they get waylaid by bandits, bit

by a cobra, or die of thirst, well…tough! Hagar and Ishmael were the Bible’s first throwaway humans, devalued by men but CARED for by God. They got shipped out on a nature hike through the burning desert, probably barefoot since slaves didn’t usually wear shoes.

Happily Genesis chapter 21 indicates that Abraham did feel uneasy about sending his former concubine and firstborn son to die in the desert.

What a convenient way out for Sarah. Sarah didn’t kill Hagar. And if the desert did, she need never know about it and her conscience would be clear. Ignorance is bliss.

Twice Hagar would be driven into the hot desert by Sarah’s cruelty. The first time during her pregnancy, after Sarah had afflicted (probably beaten) her, and the second time when Ishmael was a teenager and Sarah threw the mother and child out of the only home they’d ever known. Abraham and Sarah made Hagar and Ishmael homeless and turned them into vulnerable vagabonds!

As far as we know the only time Sarah regarded Hagar as human was when Sarah needed a surrogate child-bearer, and it would be in her interest to allow Hagar to “sleep” with her own husband. Otherwise, Hagar was viewed strictly as a nonentity, there to serve others, without any right to acknowledge needs of her own.

Once Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, nothing more was needed from her exploited body, there was no incentive to show her the least respect as a fellow human being.

To be frank, Ishmael’s mother was treated little better than livestock. Forcing Hagar to sleep with Abraham was disrespect for her humanity on a very basic level. Love between a man and a woman, like friendship or forgiveness, is a gift of the human soul which can never be forced out of anyone.

 Unless there was genuine love between Abraham and Hagar, it was basically just cold, clinical sex, just like a rancher breeding a heifer.

No wonder no love was lost between Hagar and Sarah. There’s no evidence whatsoever that Sarah ever even once said, “Thank you, Hagar, for all you’ve done for us. Thank you for risking your life to help me provide a son for my lord Abraham. Of course in so doing I’m running ahead of God but why bother with trifles? Things will be just fine.”

Actually not one act of physical violence is ever attributed to Hagar, just verbal sarcasm which most everybody is guilty of at one time or another in their life. A chaotic no-win situation was forced on her which shaped her character development and left her emotions in tatters.

Despite Sarah’s childlessness she had much to be thankful for. Unlike Hagar, Sarah was above and not beneath, the head and not the tail in society (Deut.28:13). In a world of brutal hardship and gross spiritual darkness Sarah enjoyed a privileged position as the wife of a man with whom God communicated personally, as a friend (2 Chron.20:7; James 2:23). Few men in Old Testament history besides Abraham ever attained to that degree of intimacy with God.

 Sarah herself would later be blessed with a miracle unheard of in history, an elderly woman past childbearing years giving birth to a healthy son.

Sarah lost sight of all God had done for her, and saw her cup as partially empty instead of mostly full.

Instead of passing on God’s love and compassion to a lonely Egyptian girl trapped in a foreign culture, Sarah went to Abraham to gripe about how it was his fault

  

 “That slave girl” (Sarah never spoke Hagar’s name) had been disrespectful and forgotten her place. After the way she’d nagged Abraham to “sleep” with Hagar, bewildered Abraham wonders why Sarah is angry now that she’s gotten the desired product: a surrogate son.

ANYTHING SOUNDING FAMILIAR?

It’s very unfair when a slave or work subordinate takes the rap for mistakes their boss made. It seems like the higher up the ladder you are, the less accountable you’re held for your actions.

These days in the news we hear of corporate execs getting multi-million-dollar bonuses while their companies go bankrupt and shareholders get wiped out. Is any of this sounding familiar?

 When things go south, the “little people” who do the actual

work get shackled with pay cuts and “tighten their belts” while their rich bosses go on cruises to the Bahamas. The bigger the failure and the more important you are, the greater your chance of getting off the hook. Big banks get billion-dollar bailouts and endless second chances. But you owe the IRS two cents and the men in black suits turn up at your door.

IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO

 Hagar’s story is intertwined with the story of Abraham. She had been in Abraham’s clan for awhile and remained fairly anonymous, because she was a foreign slave. She worked for Sarah rather than Abraham, so it’s likely that Abraham didn’t know her that well. The problem for Hagar began when Sarah gave her to Abraham as a wife because Sarah was unable to have children. Bad idea!

If Abraham had stayed out of Hagar’s tent, no pregnancy would have happened to make her gloat. To often Abraham is exonerated of any blame in all this, while the lion’s share of blame is hung around Hagar’s neck, as if she held the authority and Abraham wasn’t responsible for ruling over his own house and deciding what went on in his camp. The widget welder on the assembly line always takes the rap for decisions made in the corporate boardroom.

In Sarah’s defense, the Scripture says she submitted to Abraham, and she did, in a very dangerous, scary situation. Abraham asked Sarah to lie to the Egyptian monarch and claim she was his sister instead of his wife, for fear the Egyptians would kill him and then take her into Pharaoh’s harem. Abraham saved his own skin, but Sarah risked being raped by the King of Egypt in order to obey her own husband.

God intervened to supernaturally protect Sarah. This sad incident repeated itself when once again Abraham had Sarah lie to King Abimelech about being Abraham’s sister in order to protect him.

Over and over we see God protecting both Sarah and Hagar while Abraham was taking care of “more important “things. Hagar would have almost certainly been raped or killed during one of her forced trips to the desert if God hadn’t watched out for her.

Abraham knows how to submit. Abraham, lord of all the eye can see relinquishes his authority to a strong-willed woman. Instead of firmly insisting that God must be consulted about how to obtain a baby, he gives his meek, weak consent when Sarah demands that he sleep with Hagar.

Abraham may have been the father of the faithful, but His family life was a shambles! His living arrangements did nothing but cause trouble for him.

Nevertheless, Hagar gave Sarah and Abraham a strapping son. Sarah was jealous of Hagar and her baby; Hagar was jealous of Sarah and her relationship with Abraham; poor Abraham is caught in the middle trying to please two women.

 Things eventually came to a head. There is all out civil war in Abraham’s tent. As a result, Hagar finds herself in a desperate situation. What she can’t know is that she’s getting ready to have a dynamic personal encounter with the living God. Out of Hagar’s pain comes a ray of hope for all those who find themselves in the hard, harsh places of life.

In chapter 16 of Genesis, Hagar is portrayed as a haughty slave woman. But then her fortunes quickly changed due to her ability to bear a child for Abraham. Sadly her birthing this son also caused her behavior to change. She become prideful and mean. She teases Sarah for being barren, which only stirred up trouble for her. Eventually, she’ll be forced to leave the house but will soon return to the tribe.

SARAH BECOMES PREGNANT

One day out of the blue Sarah becomes pregnant with the child God had promised in spite of her advanced age, and now the plot that is almost unbearably thick gets thicker.

Chapter 21 puts another layer on the story depicting Sarah as an unreasonable person. One day as Sarah watches her son playing with Ishmael, her love for Isaac makes her fall prey to shameful emotions. She becomes fearful that Isaac will have to share his inheritance with another woman’s child.

 After all, despite the class differences between them, Ishmael has entitlements as Abraham’s oldest son. So Sarah goes to her husband and asks him to banish Hagar and her son. Abraham gives her to job and she does it with post haste.

As the mother of Abraham’s heir, Hagar is an important character; too important in Sarah’s opinion. So Hagar and Ishmael are banished into the desert.

WE CAN RELATE TO HAGAR

We have all been there at some point in our lives and some of us may well be there now. Many of us can find our own story in Hagar.

She is the faithful worker who is exploited.

She is the under-class abused by the ruling class.

 She is the woman with no rights.

She is the foreigner, the refugee with no legal recourse.

She is the other woman; the expelled husband or wife;

The homeless;

The unmarried mother;

The divorced partner;

The one who has been betrayed;

The one the family has rejected -and the list goes on.

She is you and me when we find ourselves in that place where fear and paranoia overtake us and God seems distant or absent.

 That dry place where we believe we’ve run out of water;

 That wandering place where we believe we’re lost and all we can do is weep from deep down in our souls.

GOD IN THE DESERT

This isn’t merely a tragic story of fearfulness and despair. This, in a very real sense, is a victorious story of hope. For in that dry, dark, inhospitable desert, where water has run out, and all seems lost, Hagar finds God.

Hagar’s heart is broken. She is sure Ishmael is going to die. Can there be a more heartbreaking scene as Hagar watches her son die of dehydration?  She doesn’t want to witness the death of her son, so she leaves him under a bush and goes off to weep. She found herself in a situation she could not fix and from which she could not escape.

The water ran out, the sun beat down and Hagar gave up! But when all seemed lost, she encountered the divine when the angel of God appeared to her. She learns that God has heard her cry and the cry of her son Ishmael.

PRAYER CHANGES THINGS

Hagar prayed: Ishmael certainly did. God heard them and moved to help. Prayer is an ever-present resource for the believer. We can run to God anytime, anywhere, for any purpose and He has promised to hear us and help us! Prayer should be our first priority, not the final straw

 God called to Hagar and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid.”

Imagine the angel of God standing there with arms wide open and a reassuring smile, inviting her to turn to God for help. As she turns her eyes towards God, the angel offers her a seemingly impossible proposition:

The angel tells her to go to Ishmael for this boy is not about to die. God has a plan for him that defies human logic. God has ordained that he will some day be the patriarch of a nation which tradition says is the Arabic people.

Even though Hagar was a foreigner and a slave, the God of Israel nonetheless appeared and offered protection to her. The narrative tells us….

“Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.”

God opened her eyes and showed her what had been right in front of her all along!

We are blinded to His provisions by our problems. God can open our eyes and show us that He has everything we could ever need. He has more and can do more than we can imagine – Eph. 3:20!

To me Hagar’s response is the most remarkable part in this whole episode. We are told that Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her. It’s not that she only called on God’s name. Hagar actually named God. The slave girl names the deity! It almost seems audacious of her! So powerful is her encounter with God who up to this point had been largely if not totally unknown to her that she needs a name for the One she has now met so personally.

In fact this is the only occasion in the Bible where a human being uses the formal naming formula in ascribing a name to God.

Hagar was the only person who actually NAMED God. She not only had the audacity to do something not even Moses, a great Jewish leader was able to do, but she was unharmed. God accepted her name and blessed her offspring. Thus, despite her lowly status and her foreign heritage, Hagar was still given a special position in God’s eyes.

Hagar gave God a name that describes who God is for her at this moment, El-Roi - God who sees or a God of seeing.

Granted, being a man I see things through male lenses but what is striking to me about this story is the way Sarah and Hagar related to each other. This was a bad scene. I also notice that the way many women interact with each other hasn’t changed much even after thousands of years.

In those days there was intense competition between women. Even though their daily interaction was probably minimal, as soon as Hagar was able to give Abraham what Sarah was not able to, intense emotions pitted one woman against the other.

Neither of these women needed to bother the other. They could have peacefully coexisted. They could have even been friends. However, once a man and potential inheritance entered the picture, these women became bitter enemies rather than sisters.

Even in the 21st century, women can’t help comparing themselves to other women, competing against other women, fighting their way up to the top rather than giving each other a helping hand.

Unfortunately there are too many like Sarah, so insecure of their own abilities and position that they must make others feel smaller in order to feel that they’ll be taken care of. There are too many like Hagar, who are so smug that they’ve achieved something that others have not, that they must mock the competition trying to secure their own sense of superiority.

In this case, Sarah was trying to secure a future not only for her son, but for herself as well. It is only if she had an heir that she would have someone to take care of her and provide for her needs if Abraham should die before she did. She wanted to make sure that her son Isaac would be well off and didn’t want to share Abraham’s fortunes with Ishmael. It looks like Sarah felt that she had no other option but to “take her enemy out.”

If we are to be authentic followers of Christ, we must refuse to discard those who are suffering. As Christians, we are called to identify with those who suffer, because Christ not only identified with human suffering, he bore our grief and sorrow on the cross.

As her story unfolded, we see that despite her trials, Hagar was never alone. The fact that God sent an angel to console her demonstrates the openness and greatness of God’s mercy. There are no borders to God’s love. It’s not restricted by location, by ethnicity, or by status. God loves all people and is just to all. God maintains his promises to Abraham and at the same time, takes care of Hagar and Ishmael.

ABRAHAM

Again we stop and ask ourselves, why was Abraham not more of a presence in all of this? Why did he, as the patriarch and head of this family steer clear of the conflict that was brewing? Abraham told Sarah, his wife, to do whatever she saw fit. He didn’t bother to defend Hagar, his child Ishmael, or even try to resolve the conflict. He just chose Sarah over his slave. If he had wanted, he could have set things right, but he chose not to.

There are far too many men like Abraham, who washed his hands of the situation instead of getting involved even though this issue involved his family, because it was easier to give in to his wife than do the right thing

God understands the human condition. That’s why He sent an angel to Hagar in the desert. God knew already that Isaac was going to be the patriarch of the great nation of Israel. This God would not take away from Sarah and Abraham. However, God wanted to make sure that Hagar knew that even though the world is imperfect, He’d be fair to her. She would be granted exactly what God had promised. Her son was Abraham’s descendant, so too will he be the father of a multitude. It would just be a different nation than the child of Sarah.

But Sarah and Hagar didn’t have to be rivals. They could have been working together, supporting each other, comforting each other, and providing friendship to each other. Yet they chose to duke it out, all because they were insecure about their promises.

Women have long been considered to be the peacemakers in the world. Perhaps if these women were not too busy fighting each other and supported each other instead, they could have influenced others to do the same.

As humans, we have an inherent understanding that we are not perfect; that we by ourselves can never be what God wants us to be. This inability stirs up tragic insecurities about our worth. It’s easy to see, then, why Sarah had become so insecure. Bearing a son that could inherit her husband’s wealth was her only guarantee of a comfortable life in old age, so she wanted to be absolutely sure that her son is the one that will get the inheritance.

And Hagar… well, she was a slave. She had no rights. In fact, she was not even technically a person. By having a son, she had found a way to be seen as more than a slave: she was the mother of her master’s heir. Of course this would make her gloat. For a while she had something that Sarah didn’t have. She was a slave no longer. It seems rather silly in retrospect, because our God is a just God. God never forgot about Hagar- nor could He ever even consider such a thing.

Despite their bitter rivalry, each of these sons received the blessing of God. In God, there is no zero sum gain. God doesn’t make empty promises. God’s power is so great, that even when we think something is impossible to accomplish, He’s there to make it happen.

THE FAMILY FIGHT CONTINUES

Even today, the descendants of Hagar and Sarah are fighting each other to gain the Holy Land which ironically has become violent, and cruel. Only God knows how close we are to a nuclear war in that part of the world. Only Christ’s return will change that.

Another question that we ask is: why do men wash their hands of responsibility and act as though the affairs of women don’t matter or affect them? Abraham basically washed his hands of the whole thing, even though both of these women were technically his wives and the mother of his children. Perhaps some of we men are thinking, “These are women’s issues. It has nothing to do with me.” Possibly this is what Abraham thought as well.

 We must remember that simply because God picked up the pieces doesn’t mean that Abraham took the best course of action in all this. The situation would have been better had Abraham tried to create peace in his household.

The reality is that this lesson is for everybody. We all have mothers and grandmothers, possibly sisters, aunts, and cousins, not to mention friends. The wellness of one contributes to the wellness of all, because we belong in and with our families, regardless of what the family may look like.

Once Hagar bore Abraham a son, she became, in essence, his family. Certainly to turn his back on her was not the best he could have done.

 The family structure is the foundational block of our social structure and our lives. It’s given to us solely through God’s grace. To allow it to fall apart because of petty disagreements and envy is shameful.

Moreover, as Christians, we have been accepted into a new family. This is a family that extends beyond blood ties, beyond marriage, and beyond earthly relationships. Christ calls us all into community with each other, as His faithful servants to live together as brothers and sisters and most importantly, to love each other- even our enemies. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught…

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the Sons of God.”

Many times we’re too much like Sarah: greedy, jealous, mean spirited, overly ambitious and unfeeling, and this story serves as a warning for us when we are so.

But there are times also, when we like Hagar are crying in the desert not aware that the angel of the Lord is coming to quench our thirst and relieve our distress.

God, who has redeemed us, loves us more than we can even imagine.

God is always on the way even if our back is turned in hopeless grief.

Blessings,

John