Teaching in Church

Sunday School teacher is probably my favorite calling, especially when your class is engaging and talkative.

The best lessons I've ever participated in are those where the conversation flows naturally, instead of being a reading of the assigned chapters and verses, and then a discussion of, "what does that verse/scripture/chapter/etc., mean to you?"

In my lessons I tend to give an interesting, dramatic summary of the story, followed by the principle that was underlying in the story. One class we read two verses and had a great discussion about those two verses for the entire 45 minutes of class.

For example, today the lesson was on Numbers 11-14; 20-24, which discusses the Israelites wandering in the desert, whining and complaining like 4 year olds the entire time. They whined about how much food they were getting, what type of food it was, it's too hot, it's too cold, i want another sucker, טִרדָה is touching me!

In one chapter, Moses sends out 12 spies/scouts, one from each tribe, to spread out amongst the land before them and try to figure out which one was the "promised land" that God told them about. Go, gather intel, see who lives there, if they're a simple village or a military stronghold, and how fertile is the ground?

One group of scouts comes back with big juicy grapes, pomegranites, and figs, says the land is lush and fertile, but there are people living on the land. One man says, "We can take 'em." and the scouts say, "Nuh-uh.. They're giants. They'll kick the crap out of us."

While the story is simple and can be made more entertaining in my retelling of it, it is the least important part of the class.

The important part is, what is the meaning of the promised land? 

...the fruit? 

...the giants? 

How can we compare them to our day?

I ask these questions and let my class think about them. They then come to the conclusions and start raising their hands to answer:

• "The promised land is a goal, or something we want."
• "The fruit is the blessings that come from striving for our goals."
• "The giants are the challenges we face."

Yes. That is the most important part of these stories in the Old Testiment. Not to follow what Moses, or Aaron, or Caleb or whomever else is doing, but how can we apply these things to our day? 

The Israelites did not have faith in the Lord that He would fulfill His promises. They constantly murmured against Him. 

5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 

7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. (Num21:5-9)

The story, although interesting in it's own right, also has symbolism:

What are the fiery serpents sent amongst the people? 

What is the brass serpent placed upon the pole?

What does it mean to look upon it?

• Fiery serpents are afflictions.
• Brass serpent is Christ.
• Looking upon it is looking to the Lord in faith.

It is in this manner of teaching that my class has the most interaction/participation. They seem interested in the stories as how they can apply them, instead of just reading them in class. 

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Corruption in Politics

This started as a response to a post on facebook, but grew too long. I'm moving the post here where it will probably not get read lol.

Some French guy 150 years ago said, "If at 25 you are not a liberal you have no heart, and if at 35 you are not conservative you have no brain."

The issue today is that truth isn't just fact. Leftists (as opposed to normal liberals) that have aggressively taken over the Liberal side of the conversation see "My truth" instead of "the truth", because it is based on emotional reaction instead of facts.

Epstein's death is a clear case of corruption, powerful elites silencing the man who can air their dirty secrets, from Bill Clinton to Prince Andrew, and over 1000 others in his little black book, and Epstein's money and power are a clear case of corruption. The fact that his lolita island and lolita express airplane even exist is a testament to corruption. That powerful leaders in multiple countries have taken regular rides on his plane and to his island is further proof of corruption and the downfall of our society.

Political elites on both sides have lost the country. This is not just a right or left issue. Democrat leaders have spent the last three years trying to undo an elected president because they didn't win. 5 of the last 6 Republican presidents have been under threat of impeachment because of Democrats not liking the results of the election.

This is not to say that Republicans are free from corruption. The same issue that infects Democrats infect Republicans. Power corrupts. When Bill Clinton was under impeachment threat, Republicans said some very hard things as well to justify an impeachment over adultery.

Main conservatives see Liberals as uninformed. Leftists (again, as opposed to Liberals) see the Right as evil, and use authoritarian fascist tactics to beat all who oppose them into submission.

Power corrupts. Right now conservatives are being called out for their hypocrisy as they forego true conservative values and accept progressive policy, foreign influence, and larger government, just as much as Leftists are being called out for embracing socialism, over-taxation, and political violence.

The parties are trying to destroy each other, and those of us in the middle are exactly that, caught in the middle.

Movements like Blexit and Turning Point USA go to colleges and civic centers to speak to centrists and show them the crazy of the left, encouraging them to recognize the truth.

Yet TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk is under attack by America First true conservatives because of his liberal policies regarding immigration and shutting down free speech and debate.

On the left? Antifa, I think? and the Social Justice movement that do their best to infect everything around them and twist it for the sake of "Diversity" which really means no straight white people. They pretend to stand up for the rights of the minorities, but attack minorities who want to be free thinkers instead of joining the herd. Blexit founders Candice Owens and Brandon Tatum are perfect examples. Because they don't want to vote Democrat, they are smeared as white supremacists, and they're black. Youtuber Contrapoints (Natalie something), a conservative voice in the #WalkAway campaign, is also smeared for being homophobic and transphobic, but she's a transwoman. No logic, only "Follow me or be destroyed."

Hillary Clinton said it best: "You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for."

And that is going to be the way of it. Peaceful separation or war.

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Gun Control

It happens every time. Some loser with an agenda and a desire for fame that didn't take his pills in a few days walks into a department store and caps some randos in the name of his terrible ideology, and the left screams for gun control.

Here's the facts:

• The crazies that do this crap that are underage couldn't have purchased a gun legally, and got it from their uncle, or their parents, or a friend's parents. The laws wouldn't have mattered.
• The crazies that do this crap that are legal adults don't have any crime problems because they haven't done anything violently illegal, so they can pass the background check. The laws wouldn't have mattered.
• The crazies that have background issues don't buy their guns legally. The laws wouldn't have mattered.

There you go. Your gun laws don't work. You wouldn't have stopped any of the shooters. Laws don't stop people from doing terrible things, they give a framework to punish them for having already done it.

So the left wants to add stupid unnecessary laws for weapons they don't understand because they don't use them and don't want to learn anything about them, and infringe upon our Constitutional 2nd Amendment right to keep and  bear arms, a right which specifies shall not be infringed:

Amendment II
RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS
Passed by Congress September 25, 1789. Ratified December 15, 1791. The first 10 amendments form the Bill of Rights:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. (emphasis added)

That means every state gun law that restricts a resident of the United States from keeping and bearing firearms is unconstitutional and should be challenged and struck down.

Regardless, let's look at what the 2nd Amendment says: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State.... let's stop there. Why is a well regulated militia necessary to the security of a free State? Because if we don't have weapons, a tyrannical government can walk all over the populace with no fear of any real response. This is China, Venezuela, North Korea, and every other country that holds to tyrannical ideals of power and control at the expense of their people. In a word: Communists.

America fought a war against a foreign power (England) for it's right to sovereignty, and our founders recognized that in order to avoid tyranny, our people must have the ability to fight back, hence our 2nd Amendment.

Ok, keep going... the right of the PEOPLE... stop there. An argument on the left is that we don't have militias, yet the second part of this sentence says the right of the PEOPLE to keep and bear arms... that isn't the right of the militia, that's the right of the people.

Continue... the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

There. There you go. Shall not be infringed. All gun laws are unconstitutional.

I was watching Matt Christiansen this morning discuss the liberal media's claim that there has been more mass shootings this year than there are days, and they fear monger with this crap.

The problem is they skew data to make their point, including defensive shootings in their claim of mass shooting because four people breaking into a man's house, he grabs a gun and shoots them, killing three. That's apparently a mass shooting. 500 of the datapoints since April 23rd have been defensive shootings. Defensive. Protection. Defending ones self and family. Defense.

I live in Idaho. In Idaho you can get a concealed weapon permit, but you don't need it. You can legally conceal your weapon and carry it. Shoulder holster free for all. The limits on guns here are on people who have committed a violent crime, and the standard federal background check. Your automatic and suppressed weapons require special permits because of old democrat laws that frightened their delicate snowflake sensibilities at the time.

We also have one of the lowest gun crime rates in the country.

What cities and states have the most gun crime? Those that have the most strict gun laws.

What does this tell us? Gun laws don't work. They restrict law abiding citizens from being able to protect themselves. When you think the person you're about to rob is packing, you think again and look for an easier mark.

Ok, so we have a problem with not knowing how to deal with mass shooters, and gun laws aren't going to fix it. What should we do?

Fix the actual problem.

In the last 70 years the liberal movement has turned to one of complete degeneracy and is eating away at every fundamental principle this country was founded upon. America was a place where someone with nothing could come here, work hard, and rise above.

Instead, Left America is inviting people to come here for free health care, free college, free welfare, and more.

That isn't working hard. That isn't rising above. That is a slave caste that is tied to the party that gives them free stuff, so they keep voting for them to keep getting free stuff while their cities burn and their neighbors kill each other while they ignore laws. They are taxed like crazy to pay for all that free stuff. Liberal policies do not support the people, they chain them.

In the last 70 years the liberal movement has disrupted the family, including the complete devastation of the families of black communities, with Johnson's housing projects like Pruitt-Igoe, that told women if they want to live in the housing unit their husbands have to leave the state.

(Pruitt-Igoe is a 2 hour documentary about the housing projects. It is totally worth the watch, and completely heartbreaking. This is liberal policy at it's finest)

In the last 70 years the liberal movement has disrupted the religious by attacking Christians, literally becoming the great and spacious building, mocking and trying to lead away with their "freedom" while really leading them with flaxen cords carefully down to hell. Less people go to church. Less people believe in God.

Do you want to stop mass shootings? Marry that girl. Take her and the kids to church. Raise your children to be good citizens that respect others. Teach them how to handle firearms. Teach them the history of our country. Don't live off the government welfare system. Rise above. Lift others up with you. Take responsibility. Don't be a victim. Get off Twitter. Don't vote for liberal policies that destroy the communities they tried to "save". Vote the issues. Do research. Be informed. Don't be a liberal.

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