How Would You Describe Yourself?

Hi friends. I have a challenge for you. In a brief statement describe yourself any way you want so long as you do so thoughtfully and respectfully.  Can you do it?

 

As those of you who have known me for a long time know, I love Jesus Christ. He is my Lord and my Savior, and my King, and I don’t make any bones about it, either. 🙂 You should be who you are, and make no apologies for it IMO. I believe you should use your voice, say what you have to say, but do it respectfully and with love as much as you can, but never allow truth to be compromised in your presence. Be proud (but not arrogant) to be a Christian, and live your life with joy, and remember that your walk in Christ on a daily basis says more about you than any words you say. Actions count. If you don’t believe that read the book of James. it’s one of the best books for understanding Christian conduct, I think, though the whole Bible addresses it throughout.

 

I’m a patriot, and I don’t mind saying so, and when Hillary Clinton called me a “Deplorable” I swore to wear it like it’s a badge of honor! I’ve been called every hateful name in the book over the last eight years by people who know nothing about me, and tell me I’m a bigot because I believe in and worship God, freedom, carrying a gun, and in honoring our military, and believing that people, all people, should learn how and why someone should be responsible for themselves.

 

I admit that I have little to no patience with people who like to blame others for everything that goes wrong in their lives; who burn and trample the flag, who have no respect or consideration for the beliefs of others, and who think that they have the right to tell me what to think and how to live when they can’t even manage their own lives in a half-way decent and kind way.

 

I believe in the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and that keeping the Electoral College is crucial to keeping the integrity of our governmental system, and the elections we have. I hate what the liberal, cultural and progressive elites have done to our country and our system of education in which they’ve become propaganda merchants, instead of truth-tellers, and that the media (especially the liberal media) have become lap dogs for every lie, half-truth, and falsehood that’s put in front of them.

 

I’ll tell you that I’m far from perfect, and I’m prone to making mistakes and bad decisions, and I can be so stubborn, prideful, and self-righteous that I’m ashamed to call myself a Christian.  That’s when I’m so glad that I can go before God, confess my sins, and ask forgiveness.  The truth is that without Christ Jesus I’m not much, but with Him I have everything.

 

I don’t hate anyone.  I may not agree with some things people do, or with some things people think, because of my beliefs, but I couldn’t care less about what color skin people have, how they dress, where they come from, or what they practice, so long as they don’t try to push if off on me.  I think people, all people, should be held accountable for what they do, and that anybody that comes here should do so legally.  You want to come to America, then adopt our way of life, and assimilate and become an American.

 

That’s it.  Now how would you describe yourself?

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The First Amendment: Your Right to Burn the Flag

Okay, I have a thought I want to share.  President-elect Trump tweeted about burning the American flag, and those who do it, should be punished by either putting them in jail for a year or have their citizenship taken away.  Talk about setting people’s heads on fire!  LOL!  Yeah, I know some people are annoyed by the President tweeting, but at least it’s his voice, and not someone else’s (far as I know).  He didn’t say he was going to do it.  He was expressing his feeling, and to tell you the truth I feel the same way.  I know the U.S. Constitution guarantees our first amendment rights, and the U.S. Supreme court interpreted that flag burning is a freedom that’s guaranteed by it.  Okay.  I got it, and in truth, much as I hate it, I can accept it.  Doesn’t mean if I see you do it, I might not accidentally throw water on your sorry ungrateful butt (the way I see it), or maybe give you a disgusted look, but I won’t beat you up. 

 

I was watching “The Five” earlier this evening, and Greg Gutfield said something to the effect that being a flag burner was like wearing a tattoo that says, “I’m an ***hole.”  It identifies someone as what they are.  Those aren’t his exact words but it was something like that.  Still the point is a good one as far as I’m concerned.

 

I know that (some) people see flag burning as an expression of freedom, but I’ll tell you the way I see it is this: Just because I enjoy freedom doesn’t mean I have the right to walk around and use the F-word or use the Lord’s name in vain in public just because I can.  I’ve always thought and will always hold to the opinion that with freedom comes responsibility.  It’s a privilege to be free, not a right to abuse those who don’t see or share your view of the world.  We’re free to murder, commit adultery, support abortion, and finance Planned Parenthood.  We’re free to do all of that, and yet I’ll freeze in hell before anyone ever convinces me that it’s right or that you’re being responsible in doing so.

 

Still, I respect a person’s right to disagree with me, and even to express themselves.  I even encourage you to do it.  Use your voice, but as my Grandma said to me, “if you really want me to pay attention to you then use your inside voice. If I yelled, I only got a stern look and a firm, “be quiet or go outside” from her.  You know what I’m saying, and if you don’t then ask someone who’s over the age of 55 with gray or thinning hair, and has enough lines on their face to show that they’ve had plenty to laugh and cry about in their life.

 

Then there are the ones who, like me, see something completely different when they see someone burning the flag.  When I see someone doing this, you know what I see?  I see someone who has absolutely no respect or regard for anyone (not even themselves), and who have no knowledge  or appreciation for what others have done throughout the whole course of our country’s history, and all the men, women, and children, who have served it, and made sacrifices so that husbands, fathers, and sons could do so.

 

What’s worse is that they dishonor all those people who died, who gave up their right to live so that other people, like me, could be free.  When I see that kind of disrespect, when I see that lack of comprehension of duty and sacrifice to an ideal higher than any one person or thing it just makes my blood boil.  If they can’t appreciate someone dying so that they can have their precious right to protest and walk the streets then I’m fairly sure they don’t understand the sacrifice their parents have made on their behalf either, and if any of you have read any of my posts on my blog Wayne Augden, or on here then you know how I feel about people being ungrateful and who have no feeling of thankfulness for all that they have.

 

So though I respect people’s right to disagree with me, and to express their displeasure, don’t expect me to just sit back and take it without expressing to you how I feel about your doing it, and if judging by the American people’s last vote is any indication then there’s a whole lot more people who feel like me than you.  You might give that some thought.

Caught! Are you trapped?

If you’ve ever felt like there’s no escape then you owe it to yourself to read this: http://meetingintheclouds.wordpress.com/2013/01/11/caught-are-you-trapped/

A Thought on Feeling and Knowing

A friend of mine said I should write more of my own material instead of sharing that of others.  That’s not easy for  me to do.  I’m trying though.  Something else that is not easy for me to do is accepting the love of others, and believing that others can love me just for me.  That’s hard to admit too.  I know that I’m not the only one who suffers from low esteem if that’s what you want to call it.  Not feeling good about oneself is a condition that I know many people share with me.  The causes may vary as to what brought our condition on, but the result is the same.  In truth, if I were to live my life based solely on what I feel I would probably not be long for this world.  There are a good many moments in my life when I don’t feel like I’m loved or have much worth.  My worth has always come from what I do, not from who I am.  Doing has always been much easier for me than being.  If you’ve read my about page, or been following me for awhile you know something of my story.  There’s a lot more to tell, but telling isn’t easy, and sometimes I don’t.  The telling of certain things brings back things that are just too painful to bear.  In case you don’t know, I’m one of those who partially subscribe to the theory that it’s better to let sleeping dogs lie.  Ask me how that fits into my being a Christian, and all I can tell you is that I’m working on it, and therein may be a part of the problem.

It’s hard to go from an “earning” mentality to an “allowing” and “receiving”  mentality.  I was blessed as a child in that I had two people who loved me so much I could not have asked for anything more from them.  They loved me unconditionally.  Then I had someone else who could not, would not, and wouldn’t you know that was the one person I wanted more than anything to love me.  It never happened.  It didn’t happen then, and I know now that it will never happen…..  It’s one thing to know something intellectually, to know it’s truth, to be able to see the evidence, to be able to weigh its’ impact on one’s life, but it’s quite another to know something in your heart, to feel it, to be able to grasp it and hold on to it, to be able to count on it, and love it, and know it without having a single thought that it exists.  It’s just there.

I’ve seen that in other people.  I know that people write songs, poems, and books about it.  I’ve seen people act silly over it.  I know that other people feel it.  It!  You know the great “it” that makes the world go round and round and round.  Of course, the “it” I’m referring to is the great thing we call “love.”   In truth,  I’ve always been a little confused when it comes to love being a feeling and love being a decision.  The feeling part of love hasn’t worked out so well for me, but over the last 13 years or so it’s improved.  The decision part has been a lot better, but there have been struggles there, too.

There are times when I (quote) “feel” that I’m damaged beyond repair.  Funny thing for a Christian to say, I know.  You should try thinking it, and dealing with the conflicting thoughts and emotions that come with it.   There have been times when I’ve thought that I’m an emotional cripple, unable to love, or experience love in the traditional sense.  In some ways, I still “feel” that way.

I haven’t gotten over that need to do, to try, to work, to earn everything I have and want.  Try living with that in the midst of your walk with Christ.  Knowing on one hand that I can’t “work” or “earn” my salvation, and yet, on the other, not being able to “feel” that I don’t need to in order to have it.  When it comes right down to it, I struggle mightily in the faith department, having faith that God can even love someone like me, after all the things I’ve done.  And, don’t think for a minute, that I  haven’t done some “awful” and “horrible” things because I have….

This is where “feeling” and “knowing” become very important.  If I had to “feel” like I’m saved in order to be saved, I’d be lost for sure, and there would be no hope.  That’s just the truth.  If I had to depend on what I felt I would not be here.  Thank God, He doesn’t say a single word about “feeling” in relation to salvation.  Unfortunately, that does not let me completely off the hook though in my life’s journey and walk with my Lord and Savior.  I still struggle with believing that God loves me, still struggle in thinking that I’m deserving of His love.  Notice I said deserving of His love, and not deserve His love.  I don’t nor does anyone deserve God’s love, but when we believe and have faith in the fact that Christ died for our sins and took our place on the cross, that, and only that, makes us deserving of God’s love.

Do I believe in God?  Absolutely.  Do I believe His son, Jesus Christ, took my sins upon himself and died on the cross for my sins?  Absolutely.  Do I believe that God loves me?  Yes, I believe that.  Do I feel like God loves me?  Do I feel like Jesus Christ could love me enough to die for me?  Do I feel like the “Holy Spirit” guides my life?  Well…..  Thank God, I don’t have to rely on my feelings.

From “The Word For You Today” by Bruce Christian – How to Defuse Conflict

HOW TO DEFUSE CONFLICT

     Have you heard about the fightin Irishman who landed in America and announced, “If there’s a government here, I’m agin’ it?”  We smile, but “harsh words stir up anger.”  If you want to avoid conflict, don’t create it.  The key to getting along with people who are upset or who don’t share your viewpoint is to relax and try to empathize.  That doesn’t mean acquiescing to their every whim.  But when you are clear about your position, you can let them be who they are.  When you are okay with who you are, you don’t need to make others wrong in order to feel right.  Not only is it naive to expect everybody to see things your way, you must recognize that they have their own thoughts, opinions, and feelings.  Jesus said, “Settle matters quickly with your adversary…while you are with him” (Mt 5:25 NIV).  One family counselor says, “Instead of meeting verbal attack with verbal counterattack, seeing the situation from the other person’s viewpoint is disarming, leaving the attacker with no target.”  Do you have to agree with everybody?  No, but “Do all …you can to live in peace with everyone” (Ro 12:18 NLT).  Are there times when you must defend your position?  Yes, but don’t go around with a chip on your shoulder looking for arguments.  Sometimes Christians are the worst offenders; we think because our cause is just, it doesn’t matter who gets caught in the crossfire.  “Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs” (Pr 19:11 NLT).  Make up your mind to extend to others the same grace God has extended to you.