Jason Monastra

My life and thoughts out on the web

Now I sit me down in school

Where praying is against the rule

For this great nation under God

Finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites,

It violates the Bill of Rights.

And anytime my head I bow

Becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,

That’s no offense; it’s a freedom scene.

The law is specific, the law is precise.

Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall

Might offend someone with no faith at all

In silence alone we must meditate,

God’s name is prohibited by the state.

We’re allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,

And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks..

They’ve outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.

To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,

And the ‘unwed daddy,’ our Senior King.

It’s ‘inappropriate’ to teach right from wrong,

We’re taught that such ‘judgments’ do not belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls,

Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.

But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,

No word of God must reach this crowd..

It’s scary here I must confess,

When chaos reigns the school’s a mess.

So, Lord, this silent plea I make:

Should I be shot; My soul please take!

Amen

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”

“It was great, Dad.”

“Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked.

“Oh yeah,” said the son.

“So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.

The son answered:
“I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight..

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”

The boy’s father was speechless.

Then his son added, “Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.”

Isn’t perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don’t have.

Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!

If you have never had the opportunity, take a look at www.bible.com, I read it consistently as a solid devotional and it makes it easy no matter where I am.  Today there was a strong focus on man’s action, his deeds, and how they will tested and tried when the day of judgement comes.  Within that, there is strong discussion on how the actions of man can be judged here on earth.  Pride is a powerful weapon used by satan to bring people down.  The actions brought about by pride can cripple someone from their calling and direction in God’s plan for their life.

One of the way pride sneaks into someone’s life is through the praise that is offered them by other men.  When people receive flattering words, letting them know that other people admire them - unless those are given straight to God and He is given the glory - a person begins to think that they did it themselves, therefore fostering pride in their heart.  Dangerous ground this is.  Pride is an easy sin to fall into, as flattery is something that many people offer in today’s society.  Be careful.

On the subject of flattery, let me close with this.  Discernment is something that needs to be prayed for in all decisions as well.  Discernment will allow us to see what people’s comments are truly intended for.  If they are from the heart, we can take that and bring it to God offering him all the praise and worship.  If the words are ill intended, we must ask God to show us so that we might understand the situation. 

All praise and Glory to God.

With the anticipation subsiding and the polls coming in, the race appears to be shifting strongly in the way of Barack Obama.  With a win projected in Ohio, the reality is that the path to the White House will require a clean sweep to get John McCain in the door.  Most likely not what will happen.  Barack Obama appears at this time, 10:03pm in evening on November 4th 2008 to be the presidential elect for the US.  Surprised - not completely.  Disappointed - very much.  With this election the US as we know it will cease to exist and the movement to a government controlled people is bringing in the new day.

Most people do not realize the impact of such a decision, blaming the GOP for the recent economic climate and of course the financial crisis of these past months.  How quick we forget the benefits of free enterprise and how we arrived here.  When things go bad, we are quick to point a finger -  blaming the process or a person, looking for anything but simply not understanding that things are not perfect.  There are ups/downs, and extremes on both ends.  We will suffer the same under a Democratically controlled government, as there will be little difference when it comes to that.

What will be different is how much less of a voice we have.  The people have voted, and appeared to have voted for a king.  They are looking for more government, less control of their own destinies, and a ruling process that has not worked in other countries for hundreds of years.  US has been the beneficiary of the only free market and non-governmentcontrolled people.  Our expertise and knowledge base has been the backbone of nearly 200 yrs of progression.  But withthe new ideas on acceptance, immigration reform, and welfare - the requirement of people working and the need for standing up on one’s own two feet has been lifted.  No longer must a person work to eat, but simply fill out a form and send it in for the handout each month the government is willing to give you.  That process, and the true keeping down of the poor and disenfranchised has what has brought us to this point - leading us to choose leadership that will take more from us and give little to nothing back.

I am saddened.  No doubt about it…this is a hard day for me and all people, no matter your party, that look at this country as a place where we can set our own dreams and experiences.  We are now bringing in the day where nothing will be our own, and we will be accountable for nothing other than working when we want, giving all our money to a central fund to be redistributed across the people, thus deemphasizing hard work and encouraging laziness.  I go to sleep not knowing what tomorrow brings other than things are changing…..that is what people voted for.  However, they did not know where they wanted to go and where Obama plans on taking us.  It might be sadder that they did not even bother to ask.

I read recently that a fetal test for Down Syndrome has been developed which is non-evasive and offers no risk to the mother or babywhen tested.  This is a substantial increase over the former testing methods which jeopardized in rare cases the baby.  With this, people will be able to see their child and understand if they have the extra chromosome that causes the disease.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, I see this as a double edged sword.  There is no reference in the article to when the test can be administered, and due to the fact that the test is blood driven - reading imprints within the DNA, I imagine it be done early in the pregnancy.  My hope is that people will utilize this test to calm their minds or prepare for the challenges in raising a child with this condition.  The alternative is far more demonic, offering parents a clear view into the child’s genes to determine whether or not to abort the child.  With nearly 50 million babies aborted in this country since the legalization, the last thing we need is an easier check for parents to say “throw my kid away”.

Science is a great thing as it offers great benefits to all of humanity.  I believe that God has given people the ability to figure complex issues out and offer hope to people that were hopeless just a small time ago.  However, with anything that offers positive - the misuse of the technology can be very grave, turning the benefits of the solution into a darker corner where abuse and death occur.  I pray that in this situation that is not the case.

As a born again Christian and Republican, I find myself in one of the hardest political times of my brief life.  Currently, we are in one of the most turbulent economic times since the 1980s, and if you believe the liberal media hype we are on our way to another Depression.  I do not see soup lines and a jobless rate above 25% so someone needs to tell me about the depression.  So where does this leave us since over the last 8 yrs we have been led by a conservative President and a disabled Congress that has been so fervent in their efforts to lead us astray, that they have not only led us the wrong way but alienated us from the entire world at the same time.

I read this past week that the approval rating of our Congress was less than the President.  Is that possible?  I did not think anyone approved of the President, but it appears some people do.  However, there are 18% of the US people that think that the people in DC are doing a good job.  Can anyone that is reading this believe that? 

In any case let us look at the most recent flood of ridiculous behavior by our great elected folks on the hill.  The secretary decides that it is time for us to bail out the financial system, a monumental move and something of a nightmare if you are a member of the capitalist system that we were founded on.  But without that, no matter….let us focus on the debacle.  So the people decide that this is the direction we are going and we cannot get Congress to move on it.  Our good friend Nancy Pelosi gives one of our partisan speeches and turns up the heat so the crowd decided that going cross isle would not be helpful.  Better yet, let us remain paralyzed, do nothing, make the country look even more unprepared and confused to the world, and continue down the path of being ruined.  So we do nothing, only a week later to produce a similar bill with nearly no differences except some pork, and lookie lookie - it gets passed.  Ridiculous.

So where does the good ol President fit into all of this.  You know as much as I do on that.  I have seen little of him lately, as the news is dominated with the current Presidential race and there appears to be no leadership from our current administration.  So with that being the case, can anyone not understand why the approval ratings are so poor?  It appears to not be too difficult for me to see it and I would love to be hooping and hollering over some Republican win…however there is none to be had.  Better yet, it has done such a good job just the appearance of loyalty to the current President has made John McCains race all the more uphill. 

Where does this leave us…who knows?  With leadership a thing of the past, no current administration in place, and a huge lack of future possibilities - it appears that we have little to be hopeful for.  I rest my head on the pillow at night knowing that God is in control, and that no matter the leaders or lack their of, that we continue to pray and He will remain in control offering us the only true hope there is for the future, and that is Jesus Christ.

The first sentence is pretty powerful!!!

God determines who walks into your life….it’s up to you to decide who
you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go. I
need this back. If you’ll do this for me, I’ll do it for you….

Father, God bless all my friends in whatever it is that you know they
May need this day! And may their life be full of your peace,
Prosperity and power as they seek to have a closer relationship with
You.

Amen.

“Though no one can go back and make a new start, anyone can start from now and make a new ending.”  I saw this and it spoke to me about our day, our outlook and how we need to approach the trials of the day and our lives.  With Christ, all things are possible.  Take hold of HIM and this will be true for your lives as well.