Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (NIV)
The image below is iconic. It’s a satellite image of North Korea and South Korea at night. (You’ve seen it before, unless you’ve been hiding under a rock or lying in a puddle.)
Here’s another iconic image. (See my previous post.) This time it’s a satellite image of Haiti and the Dominican Republic during the day.
The Dominican Republic on the right is green, verdant, forested. The Dominican Republic uses fossil fuels. Haiti on the left is brown, desolate, deforested. Haiti uses renewable “green” energy.
Are the Greens communists? Yes or no, Green energy policies lead to the same outcomes as communist ideologies, viz., misery, poverty and death.
That’s Leo Tolstoy, the father of Christian Anarchism, in case you didn’t already know. 🙂
Can the most simple subjects be explained to the most slow-witted man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of a doubt, what is laid before him? Matt Ridley gives it a go. This is a MUST WATCH for greenies!
I’m waiting in my cold cell when the bell begins to chime
Reflecting on my past life and it doesn’t have much time
‘Cause at 5’o’clock they take me to the Gallows Pole
The sands of time for me are running low
When the priest comes to read me the last rites
I take a look through the bars at the last sights
Of a world that has gone very wrong for me
Can it be that there’s some sort of error?
Hard to stop the surmounting terror
Is it really the end, not some crazy dream?
Somebody please tell me that I’m dreaming
It’s not easy to stop from screaming
But words escape me when I try to speak
Tears fall but why am I crying?
After all I’m not afraid of dying
Don’t I believe that there never is an end?
As the guards march me out to the courtyard
Somebody cries from a cell “God be with you”
If there’s a God then why has he let me go?
As I walk all my life drifts before me
And though the end is near I’m not sorry
Catch my soul ’cause it’s willing to fly away
Mark my words please believe my soul lives on
Please don’t worry now that I have gone
I’ve gone beyond to see the truth
When you know that your time is close at hand
Maybe then you’ll begin to understand
Life down here is just a strange illusion
Yeah, yeah, yeah … Hallowed be Thy name
Yeah, yeah, yeah … Hallowed be Thy name
^^^That’s quite sad. That’s writing off 9/14ths of your year/life! People need to value their jobs more…even if they think their jobs are menial, because living by the sweat of your own brow is virtuous.
It means you live by your own self reliant effort… not off the sweat/slavery of others. And that is morally right. Plus when you choose to buy a new record, or a beer, or go on holiday you have every right because you earned your money and it is not for other people to say how you spend it. It is a fact that Socialism does not teach children or workers the virtue of work. They preach it as a form of slavery. they promote envy, jealousy and hatred of the wealthy. They would have you believe that a life of ease/ sloth/ non-production/ consumption is something we ought to desire, when in reality that is a very shallow and empty, and ‘cheap’ notion of life… not Manly at all!
For the Christian The virtue of work is a God- ordained reality. It is a mistake to think that the Bible says that work is a form of punishment for sin…. man having been kicked out of the Garden of Eden… no more to ‘Freely Eat’ of The Fruit therein.
The truth is that when God made man and put him in the Garden, his ‘job’ was to tend it! (Gen1-Gen 3)
And 4000 years later St Paul tells Christians…
“For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.”
And in the Future dispensation when Christ returns and establishes his Kingdom on Earth contrary to what many Christians have been taught…. Christ’s Kingdom will not be a Communist Utopia!
The Bible says that during the Kingdom reign that…
“They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.”
Isaiah 65:22
^^^Yes Work actually is one way we emulate our creator… it is one of our attributes which shows we are created in his Image.
When we work, we exercise God-like creative powers. Mind over Matter.
Thus the Bible does not support socialism at all!
Thus we can see why Socialist atheists Blaspheme the Bible as being “a tool to enslave the worker to the Capitalist Greed”….etc.
They say this because The Bible gives a positive value to independent self reliance, self responsibility.
It condemns the unearned redistribution of wealth, and says work is dignified and not slavery at all!
Tim Wikiriwhi
Christian Libertarian.
Read more about CHristian Libertarian Work ethic and work culture Here:
Going down a dirty inner city side road
I plotted
Madness passed me by, she smiled hi
I nodded
Looked up as the sky began to cry
She shot it
Met a girl from Dearborn, early six o’clock this morn
A cold fact
Asked about her bag, suburbia’s such a drag
Won’t go back
‘Cos Papa don’t allow no new ideas here
And now he sees the news, but the picture’s not too clear
Mama, Papa, stop
Treasure what you got
Soon you may be caught
Without it
The curfew’s set for eight
Will it ever all be straight
I doubt it
Seven jealous fools playing by her rules
Can’t believe her
He feels so in between, can’t break the scene
It would grieve her
And that’s the reason why he must cry
He’ll never leave her
Crooked children, yellow chalk
writing on the concrete walk
Their King died
Drinking from a Judas cup
looking down but seeing up
Sweet red wine
‘Cos Papa don’t allow no new ideas here
And now you hear the music
but the words don’t sound too clear
Mama, Papa, stop
Treasure what you got
Soon you may be caught
Without it
The curfew’s set for eight
Will it ever all be straight
I doubt it
Going down a dusty, Georgian side road
I wonder
The wind splashed in my face
can smell a trace
Of thunder
THIS IS NOT A SONG IT’S AN OUTBURST: OR THE ESTABLISHMENT BLUES
The mayor hides the crime rate
council woman hesitates
Public gets irate but forget the vote date
Weatherman complaining, predicted sun, it’s raining
Everyone’s protesting, boyfriend keeps suggesting
you’re not like all of the rest
Garbage ain’t collected, women ain’t protected
Politicians using, people they’re abusing
The mafia’s getting bigger, like pollution in the river
And you tell me that this is where it’s at
Woke up this morning with an ache in my head
I splashed on my clothes as I spilled out of bed
I opened the window to listen to the news
But all I heard was the Establishment’s Blues.
Gun sales are soaring, housewives find life boring
Divorce the only answer smoking causes cancer
This system’s gonna fall soon, to an angry young tune
And that’s a concrete cold fact
The pope digs population, freedom from taxation
Teeny Bops are uptight, drinking at a stoplight
Miniskirt is flirting I can’t stop so I’m hurting
Spinster sells her hopeless chest
Adultery plays the kitchen, bigot cops non-fiction
The little man gets shafted, sons and monies drafted
Living by a time piece, new war in the Far East
Can you pass the Rorschach test?
It’s a hassle it’s an educated guess.
Well, frankly I couldn’t care less.
At the NORML New Zealand conference at Tokaanu last Saturday, Chris Fowlie was elected unopposed to the position of President. As it is written
And then shall they see the Son of Mr. and Mrs. Fowlie coming in a cloud of smoke with power and great glory. (RSG)
That’s Chris third from the right (at the back) standing behind me on the far right (LOL!) and Phil Saxby second from the right. From NORML’s post-conference press release
New Zealand should regulate cannabis like alcohol and save at least $300 million per year, says the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, New Zealand Inc (NORML).
At its weekend conference at Tokaanu, delegates elected Chris Fowlie of Auckland as President, and Phil Saxby of Wellington as Secretary.
Chris Fowlie was previously President of NORML from 1997-2008 during which time NZ came tantalisingly close to cannabis law reform, has owned and managed The Hempstore for 16 years, and regularly appears in court as an independent cannabis expert witness.
NORML is optimistic New Zealand is entering a period where cannabis law reform will finally happen here, and so am I, particularly now that we have competent, committed, convivial people with proven track records of activism such as Chris (and Phil, Billy, Gary, Dakta, …) running the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. It really is high time.
Proverbs 3:30-32
Do not contend with a man without cause,
If he has done you no harm.
Do not envy a man of violence
And do not choose any of his ways.
For the devious are an abomination to the LORD;
But He is intimate with the upright.
I took a dispute to the Disputes Tribunal which was heard yesterday. I found the experience extremely disappointing.
The Tribunal has a policy of encouraging people to settle their disputes by negotiation rather than making rulings – this policy favours men of violence, bullies and disadvantages the weak and vulnerable. This policy also says to me that the Tribunal is not confident in its own ability to make just rulings.
My opponent was articulate and he did not share my impediment of having to tell the truth (note to self: don’t envy the man of violence). At my hearing the Judge made it obvious that he was favouring my opponent and he encouraged me to settle by crushing any hope I had that the evidence (not that my opponent presented any evidence other than his “professional” opinion which the Judge seemed to be lapping up) and arguments would be examined methodically and carefully enough to expose the truth and the Judge also crushed any faith I had in the Tribunal system.
My opponent caused me to lose a few thousand dollars but the loss I suffered from the Tribunal was greater. I lost confidence that the Court will be there to reliably enforce any contract that I make.
Veteran cannabis law reform campaigner Dakta Green’s Armistice Tour culminated in a hikoi on Parliament on Armistice Day, 11 November 2010.
Mr Green said it was called the Armistice Tour because he wanted to stop fighting with the Government over cannabis legislation.
“When two warring parties choose to stop fighting without either side conceeding defeat that’s what an armistice is,” he said.
“We are waving a white flag … we want peace.”
The white flag is the “flag of temporary truce in order to parley.” Inspired by the Armistice Tour, the Wellington branch of NORML started a tradition of White Flag meetings on the first Tuesday of the month when Parliament sits. We convene at the Cenotaph at 12:45 pm, then at 1:00 pm fly the white flag of negotiation to the Richard Sedden statue outside Parliament Buildings. Once there, we pause for a One Minute Silence for the victims of the global War on Drugs. Following that, a few words spoken regarding our actions, and our intentions for these meetings, with a reading of a letter to an MP, and then a photo or two …
At the first white flag meeting on Armistice Day 2010, many of those protesting the War on Drugs™ also celebrated New Zealand’s cannabis culture by smoking cannabis on Parliament grounds. Cannabis campaigners light up at Parliament, reported TV3. But no one was arrested.
Protesters marched to Parliament to demand a law change decriminalising cannabis; it’s a law they have no respect for and one they were quick to break, and all under the watchful eye of police.
“Our role is to make sure this protest is peaceful and everyone gets away on time and in good humour,” said senior sergeant Scott Miller.
Bucket bongs, joints and a pipe lit with a magnifying glass were used to smoke up; there was even a hash cake although the decorator may have eaten some first.
But no matter how much was puffed there was still no movement from police – does this signal a change in stance by police?
“Well that’s not a comment I can make in relation to an overall stance by the police,” Mr Miller said.
Police say it was the Speaker Lockwood Smith’s office who issued the directive to only arrest protesters if they climbed over the barrier or became violent. Those two problems never threatened to fire up.
At today’s White Flag meeting, cannabis campaigners again lit up at Parliament. And no one was arrested. Presumably, the Speaker’s directive is still in force. Anyway, that’s the premise behind regular 4:20 meetings at 4:20 pm every Friday on Parliament lawns. See you there. 🙂
