DaveB said:
Amen. The American way of life that so many want to rip apart. EVEN CHRISTIANS! 
I don’t see it that way. What about a woman with 6 or more illegitimate children? How much money are you willing to put up to support her - and then add a little more when she has another? Is that really helping her? Where is the thinking that maybe, just maybe, an ounce of self-control, a simple ‘no’ would save a whole peck o’ troubles?
There are 46 million people on food stamps. There are more people on welfare than there are people working.
Fact: if it is true that we have aborted over 59 million babies since 1973, that is 59 million less taxpayers. Somebody has to pick up for all that lost revenue (putting aside the horror of the deeds).
WE have to take care of the truly needy, but we cannot become enablers; ‘enablers’ do much more harm than good.
qaz said:
Some times in this life the’ you made your bed’ idea is the very thing that can and will change people’s lives. 
peace 
The problem you seem to have is in your ability to discern the needy from the un needy. I have compassion for all people , as we all should. From a governmental standpoint, we need to discern who can be productive in society and choose for what ever reason to not be, and those who truly need help. Mother Theresa did not make such discriminations. she loved all the same and thus gave to all the same. But as a republic, our government, IE us, need to be responsible for our collective good. If I decide I will (like Mother Theresa) give my all to the needy, than so be it. But when we start to legislate who will or will not receive the so said re distribution of wealth, we do more damage than good. 
I know people personally that have given up their lives and livelihood enabling their children - everything is a ‘mistake’, no personal responsibility, mooch off the old folks.
There are MILLIONS of moochers in the country - the refugees will add substantially to that numbere - they are not making mistakes, they are riding the system as far as they can. We all know people like that. Our economy is in shambles in large part because of the welfare society that robs the working class to pay for those who gladly take it. And act as if it is their due.
No, I believe that helping people UP is the way to go - earn it, don’t demand it, the world does not owe anyone a living.
Ahhhh… but we do have a dog if we’re Canadian. If the U.S. falls, we fall. I remember about 55 years ago, Canadians debated as to whether we should become part of United States.
If you do a google search on “Canada join U.S.A.” you’ll see a lot of articles on the subject of a possible union.
Neither do I. I’m just saying we need wisdom. Compassion is a given for those that are trying to follow Christ - it’s not up for debate. But we live in society - godless, greedy - so we should practice PRUDENCE.
That’s all I’m saying.
I would not suggest that Canada ever join the U.S.A. I think the U.S.A. is a sinking ship and that it will cease to exist by 2050. I suspect that what happened to the Soviet Union in 1991 will happen to the U.S.A.: the central government will collapse with sudden and shocking swiftness. Nobody will predict it. One week the U.S. federal government will exist, and the next…gone. I see the federal government as a mostly-hollow, old and dead tree trunk. It looks big and strong from the outside, but inside it steadily rots away. One day a relatively moderate gust of wind will blow it over. The precipitating event will probably be trivial in and of itself, but it will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Future historians will look back and wonder that it didn’t happen sooner.
Once it happens, each of the fifty states will become its own country. Perhaps some of them will form confederacies, and perhaps not.
Paidion, why would you think Canada would fall if the U.S. falls? It seems to me that Canada would be fine if instead of bordering on one country it bordered on thirteen countries: Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.
Moochers? Safety nets? Taxes?
**1) **First and foremost, let me promote here something termed “The Divine Exchange.”
Isaiah 53 indicates that Messiah would TAKE our sin and suffering, and GIVE us his righteousness and shalom (shalom being variously translated as “health,” “prosperity,” “safety,” “contentment,” “friendship,” and “peace”). He has done that.
The heavenly resources available to us are UNLIMITED. The laws of the “greater reality” of the Kingdom of Heaven transcend the laws of the “lesser reality” of this Creation, as demonstrated by Jesus, the disciples, and the apostles. (So, as Christians, let’s “go and do likewise,” and not fixate on the Laws of Medicine, the Laws of Physics, the Laws of Economics, et cetera.)
I remind you of the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15, with this interpretation of the players:
The Father: God
The Older Son: The Jews
The Prodigal Son: The Gentiles
Recall that when the older brother heard the celebration the Father was giving for the Prodigal, “he became angry, and refused to go in.” But his Father came out to reason with him, and clarified to him:
“ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.’ ” Luke 15:31.
“Everything” means everything, and “is yours” is present tense, meaning now. We are talking about free, unlimited resources we Christians can, by faith, supernaturally receive and share.
Jesus said, “It is finished.” What can we add, except our obedience to “freely receive and freely give”?
2) DaveB said,
[Loud buzzer sound goes here]
To the contrary:
A. From The ugly history of Democratic suppression of blacks by Bill Federer
B. From Republicans and Women’s Rights: A Brief Reality Check by David Catron
3) maintenanceman said,
Au contraire, mon frère. We returned here in 2008. Mexico allows dual citizenship. We have already (held our noses and) voted in the US election by overseas ballot. As to how we voted, our focus was on the question of abortion. (Economics, national security, et al, are important, but subordinate, issues for us.)
By the way, regarding constructing a genuine wall between the US and Mexico, Judicial Watch (yes, the same conservative legal group now leading major investigations and lawsuits about Benghazi and Hillary Clinton emails, among others) is reporting ISIS terrorist cells already here in Mexico.
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. Psalm 31:24.
Blessings.
Hermano - thanks for the comments.
However, the quote I…quoted…was talking the ‘good old liberals’, not the Democratic Party as such.
Here in the US much is going on and we will all have to do our part and then see what happens. 
Well, Jason, somewhere we have a thread on Gnosticism. And I said I would continue, when the Cubs won the World’s Series. 
And to everyone else. This is a good omen, for what’s up and coming - in the elections. After all. **The billy goat curse is broken ** 
First a prayer article, to start the day:
What Prayer Can Do: Joy in the Journey
Let’s dedicate a song to this victory:
or
I will tend to disagree with you. yes there are some problems But the sleeping giant has not fully realized what is going on… and once it does, I think these great people may just turn it around. Don’t count us out. 
HOW WE GRIEVED THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THIS ELECTION
by J. LEE GRADY, former editor of CHARISMA magazine, an ordained Pentecostal Holiness minister.
We have just endured the most bitter and divisive presidential contest in my lifetime. The whole nation is shell-shocked. Our ears are ringing and our heads are pounding.
Imagine if an alien spaceship tried to decipher the jumbled message that has been transmitted from the US for the past 19 months. “Trump is a racist! Hillary is a nasty woman! Trump gropes women! Send Hillary to prison! The election is rigged! Remember Benghazi! Trump hates Megyn Kelly! Megyn Kelly hates Newt Gingrich! Blah blah blah blah blah!”
I have loathed every minute of it. I’m looking for a T-shirt that says: “Thank God it’s over.”
My struggle wasn’t caused by the bickering about Obamacare, Hillary’s email server, Trump’s insults or Bernie Sander’s liberal lectures. I don’t mind the arguments and put-downs in the news, because I can turn off the television when I want to. I believe there is a place for legitimate political debate. When grieved me most was seeing the hatefulness Christians threw at each other during this election cycle.
I’ve heard Christians swear at each other, verbally assault each other, and dissect each other in self-righteous Facebook posts. I’ve watched one Christian demonize another Christian simply because they have different views on a public policy issue. And I’ve seen how the racial divisions in the church grew deeper when a pastor decided to politicize a sermon or tell people they had to vote a certain way to please God.
About half of our population will be celebrating the winner of this election next Tuesday, while the other half will be licking their wounds. I don’t believe the Holy Spirit will be taking sides. I believe He is grieved by the way the church behaved.
The apostle Paul explains how to avoid grieving the Spirit. He writes, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one each other, just as God in Christ has forgiven you.” (Eph. 4:31-32)
The point here is that the Holy Spirit is quenched when we mistreat each other. Our relationship with God is not just about how we act individually. Christianity is not a Lone Ranger religion. If we don’t treat each other with love and respect, the Spirit is not happy. He withdraws His blessing and waits for us to repent. He calls us to community.
It’s interesting that one of the behaviors mentioned in this verse is “clamor”. This is the Greek word krauge, which means “to shout or cry loud or insistently”. It refers to the volume level of an argument. Yes, you can grieve the Holy Spirit with your tone of voice.
There is nothing wrong with disagreeing. But when our disagreements become shouting matches, and our tone becomes harsh or vindictive, the Holy Spirit tunes out. He does not like it when we shout, scream, rant and spew venom at each other.
Yet many Christians today defend this behavior. We have been trained well by the sharp-witted commentators on Fox News and CNN. We have the idea that standing for truth requires us to blast our opponents out of the water. We wield our verbal swords and skewer our enemies like Roman gladiators in the coliseum. And the crowds cheer when we slay our political opponents with snappy one-liners. Touche!
God, forgive us. We have called what is evil good. We thought we were exhibiting moral courage when we brashly attacked a brother who had a different opinion about immigrants or health care policy. We thought God was pleased when we shouted down the woman who disagreed with us about transgender bathrooms. We thought God was on our side when we angrily quoted the Bible and waved our fists in the air.
We didn’t have a clue that the Holy Spirit had withdrawn from us. He was grieved. We didn’t realize that just because a person is right about something doesn’t mean they have God’s blessing. Moses was a great man of God, but when he struck the rock in anger he forfeited his chance to enter the Promised Land.
If you have allowed anger to take control of your life during this crazy political season, pull away from the ruckus and let the Holy Spirit adjust your attitude. Go on a fast from ranting and raving. Stop being outraged and encourage somebody. Forgive those who disagree with you. Love those who voted differently from you. SET POLITICS ASIDE AND ACT LIKE A CHRISTIAN.
That’s some good advice. Thanks.
And some wise advice on voting, from renown marketer Seth Godin at How they talk you out of voting.
And for the technical folks out there. I use the Owly instead of the Google URL shortener - for Seth Godin. It’s because I shared him on Twitter and already shortened the URL. No sense in duplicating work.
I saw the Dr. Strange movie yesterday. It was excellent. And very well rated on IMDB. And check out the new season of AMC’s Walking Dead. It’s fairly close, to the comic book series. But only after starting today, with health and prosperity TV evangelist - Joel Osteen
**[size=150]“The blue pill, or the red pill?” [/size]
The phrase was popularized by the 1999 film, The Matrix. In the movie, the main character, Neo, is offered the choice between a blue pill and a red pill, by Morpheus. The blue pill would allow him to remain in the fabricated reality of the Matrix, while the red pill would lead to his escape from the Matrix into the real world:
or
youtube.com/watch?v=RhlXqYiTz2Q
The metaphor has been used for the “born again” experience. (…Perhaps it could stretch to this blue/red election as well? 
)
Blessings.**
Here’s how to solve the election problem, where everyone is happy. Just take some of Granny’s spring tonic. And add whatever they sell, at the Colorado, recreational pot shops. 
or
Not to be a party pooper, “Uncle Jed,” but as I remind readers in Christians And Alcohol:
“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18.
And as to drowning our sorrows over the election results tomorrow night, Daniel says,