Wednesday, July 13, 2011

"And I will heal their land"

Now the news is reporting that there is a proposal that will allow the President to raise the debt limit without a vote in Congress. 

If they're going to give the President authority to raise the debt limit on his own, then why do we have elections for the House and Senate? Is the next step an Executive order decreeing that all future matters will not require ratification by elected officials, but will instead be dictated by one person? 

No matter what party you support, something has surely got to 'change' for the better, where elected officials take the bull by the tail and face the situation, instead of wheedling around and offering scapegoat solutions for political expedience. Name calling and cross-accusations get nothing accomplished other than turning fellow citizens against each other in a time when we should be UNITED in our determination to do what is right for citizens of the United States. 

I think it was Abraham Lincoln who echoed Matthew 12:25 when he said:

"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South".

This speech was, of course, about slavery... something that we all agree was, and is, wrong. What some may not realize is that the speech was made long before Lincoln (a Republican) was ever President. It was a speech he made while running against Stephen Douglas (Democrat) for the Illinois Senate. A race he lost... although he defeated Douglas 2 years later in their bid for the Presidency. 

We, all of us, are now fighting another, more insidious form of slavery... ever-increasing, crushing debt that could very well adversly impact the quality of life that we, current and future generations of citizens of the United States, should be able to expect.

We have to get a handle on this debt situation. We can't keep trying to dig ourselves out of a hole, and we can't keep railing against each other, each blaming the other side, in our attempts to find a solution. All of the politicians are trying to paint themselves in the best possible light using their parties stance as benevolent hues and colors. As long as there are talks, ala posturing and manuevering by Democrats and Republicans, instead of meaningful discussions between Americans dedicated to doing what is right for all Americans, we will never find a solution, and, in fact, could very well find ourselves, ultimately, in open and violent conflict once again.

Don't discount that possibility. There are fringe and radical groups on both sides that could, at the very least, precipitate violence that would involve both guilty and innocent in tragic outcomes.

I personally think that it is well beyond mortal man's ability to reconcile all differences between the political parties involved in seeking a resolution to the debt situation and, in fact, ALL decisions that govern the way that we as United States citizens live and exist. Whatever solution that is eventually agreed upon will leave an ill-satisfying feeling with all participants. 

I imagine it's kind of like what some ranchers are doing now to supplement mineral and nutrient levels in the hay they feed their cattle. They mix chicken poop with the hay for the nitrogen levels. I guess it works, but... ewwwwwww! 

Do you honestly believe that with the current widespread decaying principles and morals of our so called leaders, that the United States will ever return to the great nation it once was? Do you think that there is any one man, or party, who can turn the downward spiral of decadence and self-absorbed interest that dictates how those 'leaders' lead, back upward again? Will there ever again be a time where what is right... rules over what is politically expedient?

We need to turn to HIM that can cause a lasting, loving, healing, comprehensive "change" in our beloved country. It will call for a revival and unity of spirit... The Holy Spirit... throughout the land. It is time to return to the principles that are outlined in God's inspired Word. Not all will do this... there will always be those that refuse to believe. But there are those of us that DO believe, and we can take the point. We can cause an upswell amongst all Christians that will lead to millions of people turning their eyes back to God. We can turn the focus of our lives back to where it belongs. We can pray and we can adhere to those principles found in HIS word. HE, who is righteous and faithful, will attend to us as he promised in 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NASB): 

"and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

Man has attempted to rule himself according to his own rules and principles. It has taken a long time to reach the depth at which we currently find ourselves in this country. The focus has turned from biblical principle, to man's ever-grasping self indulgence, at all levels of personal and government life. We've collectively gotten too big for our britches.

It's time to humble ourselves, repent of our selfish ways, seek forgiveness, and turn our lives back over to HIM that has only our best interests at heart. HE is able to heal the decay that has, and will continue like a deadly cancer, to metastasize from one element of our lives to another until we, ultimately, find destruction both as a nation... and personally.

Pray... seek his advice... listen... obey. 

This has always been the best way... it may very well now be the only way that we can survive as a country. 


God bless all... Sam

Thursday, April 28, 2011

All I Needed To Know In Life I Learned Coaching Pee Wee Football..Part 1

By Sam McDonald


Sometimes some parents do what other parents (that don't really have the time, skills, or even desire for) have called 'noble' things... as in the context of one giving up their time, efforts, and knowledge to coach little league baseball, boys and girls club basketball, soccer, etc... trying to teach young folks a sport.

Noble... maybe... but my motivations were almost selfish in the satisfaction that I gained from each experience. I coached because I liked it, and because I thought that somewhere along the way I could make a difference in a young life. The really good coaches, at least the ones that I have been privileged to be associated with, hope that somewhere along the way the kids they coach find out that they can apply a little of what they learn in organized sports - to life.

Sometimes... in retrospect... the teacher (or coach) may find that he or she just might have gotten far more enlightenment from their involvement and observations, than the students did.

I coached Pee Wee football from 1999 through 2001 for the Pottsville Apaches. In other areas of the country it's also known as 'Pop Warner',  'The Youth Football League', 'The Junior Football Conference', and various other names. In and around Pottsville, Arkansas, it's called Pee Wee Football - and we take it serious. Fun... but serious.

At the time that I coached the Apaches we belonged to what we proudly called, "The Big Eight Conference". I don't know who made up the conference name... I do know that my last year we actually had nine different teams; of course one of the teams was newly organized and had not been formally voted into the conference at that time. It may be "The Big Nine" conference now. Whatever it is, or was, we had some good teams, and some good times.

There's something just 'right' about a bunch of kids ages 9 to 13, dressed and padded up like they're in the NFL, running amok on a football field, banging into one another... doing their best to be like their favorite player and at the same time looking up into the bleachers to make sure that Mom and Dad or Grandma or Gramps or any number of kin folk (or girls... though at that age none will admit it) are watching every tackle or block or run. It's a social event - complete with proud folks gathered together to watch their favorite ball playing kid go out and crash into someone else's favorite ball playing kid for four quarters.

It was a great thing to be a part of.

I loved every minute of the experience of coaching some of the best kids in the world, instructing them on how to play a sport that I love. I thought that I was the teacher. It didn't take me long to find out that I was being taught a lot along the way.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Here we go!

By Sam McDonald

I've started a blog... (whodathunkit)... the guy that hated studying the grammatical part of English in High School. I loved the Literature, hated the Grammar. I once even asked one of my teachers (Miss Phillips), "Why do I need to know how to diagram a participle; most of mine dangle anyway?"... hmmmm... one's comments sometime take time to bite, but sooner or later they do... they're like long range space probes; you think you have them launched and safely away; most of the time you forget all about them, and just when one least expects it... they return; and they're always programmed for re-entry during the 'optimum  embarrassment or humiliation' window. I'm convinced that's why hardly anyone (and no-one pregnant) says, "Man... that baby is UGLY"... because they don't want theirs to be at least that ugly, or uglier... and if they say that you can bet your last dollar that the baby will come out looking like a cross between a Shar-pei puppy and The Thing from The Fantastic Four movie.

The Pursuit of Contentment

The pursuit of contentment

by Sam McDonald
Donna and I went to the Delta this past weekend to visit family, and on the way down we got to discussing what success really is. Is true success measured upon the worldly scale, or upon a more spiritual one? Does achieving success, according to the world, disqualify you from success in the eyes of the Christian world? Isn't contentment synonymous with success? Shouldn't it be? 

[We have some interesting discussions on road trips]