This old saying could answer a great deal about the criticisms being leveled at President-elect Trump by his enemies.

Have you noticed, in all of the criticisms leveled because Trump has communicated with the head of one of the world’s more powerful states, that they have completely ignored discussing China?

Yet China has been hacking our governmental and military websites for years, and are considered by many experts to be far more dangerous and aggressive than Russia.

It’s China that has built artificial islands that threaten Japan. It is China that just launched a new super carrier. It is China that crashed financial websites in the United States. It is China that has imperial ambitions in the South China Sea and around the world.

And it is China that holds countless $-billions in U.S. treasury bonds, not to speak of the world’s greatest hoard of gold. And it is China that is trying to replace our currency with theirs as the world’s means of exchange.

China’s, too, is a communist state, and its ambition is to rule the world.

Finally, Russian and China are not chums. And Putin does not intend to become China’s chump.

Perhaps his seeming willingness to cooperate with us (the U.S.) at some level, is a very good thing.

So the next time you hear a member of America’s left-wing press accusing Trump of being close to Putin, keep this in mind: The left has a long history of cooperating with every socialist nation.

Both Clinton and Obama have gone to great lengths to “share” our military technology with China.

Just maybe America’s leaders have been kowtowing to the wrong people. Just maybe President-elect Trump will be able to play these two ambitious giants off against one another.

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend?” Maybe not quite a friend. But definitely better than my enemy.

In summary, a good friend of mine wrote that we may be facing the most exciting and dangerous months of our lives. That may be true, but our hope is not in man, but in the Son of God.

©Frank Becker, 1/14/2017

 

It seems to me that we spend too much time on the unimportant issues in life, such as who should be president or should we go to war, and not on the really big deals, like saying, “Happy Birthday” to our grandchildren.

Happy Birthday Elijah, Eliana, and Samantha!

Grandpa and Mimi love you!

Does the Constitution grant us the right to desecrate the flag of the United States by publicly burning it?

Our forefathers would have dealt harshly with anyone who committed such an act—from pouring hot tar over them, and covering them with feathers—to burning their home or business, and even hanging them.

We, however, are a more merciful people. We are more open minded, and more politically correct, and our Supreme Court has interpreted our Constitution to grant people that “right,” as a matter of free speech.

The flag is a symbol of our nation, our homeland. Those who are privileged to be born here, as well as those immigrants who seek citizenship, should all recognize the fact that they take on certain responsibilities with citizenship.

One of those responsibilities is to support their flag, and the nation it symbolizes.

Of course, the United States is not “perfect.” No nation has ever been perfect—and because all people are imperfect—no nation will ever be perfect.  But as  a nation, the United States of America is far superior to any nation that preceded us, and some continue to pray and labor to improve this land. That’s why we still have the ballot box, and the electoral college (which protects minorities from being overwhelmed as they would be in a conventional, “one person, one vote” democracy).

Here’s what most people fail to understand: Our country, our “home land,” is in many ways like our homes. There are very few homes and families across America that are “perfect.” In fact, the entertainment industry goes to great lengths to legitimize and glorify the dis-functional family and the aberrant home.

The true home is more than a house. The ideal home is a place where family members should feel a sense of comfort, safety, and security that they can never experience outside its doors. Few families achieve that ideal, but it’s worth laboring toward.

And that’s the way our nation should be. Even though it is not perfect, it is still our home, the place in which we should all experience comfort, safety, and security. Or, as our founding fathers wrote, the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” We are not perfect, but men and women of good will are continually working toward that goal.

Your home is akin to our nation, and your house might be said to be akin to the flag that represents our nation. If someone in your family becomes angry at another member of your family—or with some act or practice with which they disagree, whether right or wrong—they do not have the right to burn your house down.

Likewise, if one American is angry at another American, or at a group of Americans, because of what they say or do, they do not have the right to harm that person. That undercuts the other person’s rights, it undercuts the rule of law, and it undercuts our country.

Burning our flag doesn’t focus on the wrongs that might exist. Burning our flag focuses on our nation. It’s like burning the institutions of freedom, it’s like bringing down the entire nation. To put it another way, it’s like burning our own homes. It is an attack on our own country, and an insult to those who suffered and died to bring us this far.

Those who burn our flag may think they are effectively registering a complaint again some repugnant belief or practice. But what they are really doing is symbolically burning the very institution which provides them the platform on which they are privileged to stand in order to complain.

As long as our country survives as a democratic-republic, you will have the freedom to speak out, to change the course we take. But those who burn the flag are doing away with that platform. They are burning their own home land. They are assisting our enemies to destroy America itself.

We, the people have the right to gather peacefully, to demonstrate against things with which we disagree. We have the right to petition, to compete in the political arena, to alter the laws. We still have recourse to some of the media and to the courts.

We should laugh at the criticism of people in nations from which our citizens fled because of their laws, beliefs, and practices. We should not undercut our own strength. We should not welcome people here who wish to make our country become like the countries from which they fled. We must not burn our own house down.

If that is the intention of those who burn our flag, then we need to ask ourselves whether they are destroying the foundations of freedom which we hold dear.

Are they disloyal, and even treasonous? If so, have they have abrogated their rights as citizens of a free and open society? Do they have any part or place in “the land of the free and the home of the brave?

 

Much has been made lately of whether a person should honor the flag of the United States, and thereby honor the country.

I do not understand this. When we sing “Happy Birthday” to someone, we know that they are not perfect, but we still show our respect and good wishes without endorsing their entire lives.

America is not perfect, but it has come a long way in the last 240 years. In fact, it’s changed a great deal in the seventy-six years I have been privileged to live here.

It’s still the greatest nation in the history of the world, but clearly it is  not perfect. One of America’s greatest strengths is that we have enjoyed the freedom to argue over those imperfections. In many countries, we would be put to death for expressing such views, but not here. In fact, we fought a war of independence to secure our freedoms, and by God’s grace we won. Then we fought a Civil War to extend those freedoms to all our people.

Now, however, we appear to be losing the freedoms won at such great price, and maintained down through the years. I have become convinced that—because of the many evil things we have done, and the many awful practices that we permit and even embrace—we are in imminent danger of losing the blessings that got us this far.

But back to this issue of national loyalty. We no longer sing great patriotic songs like, “America the Beautiful. If we did—and we paid attention to the words written so long ago—we would soon discover that our forefathers had no starry-eyed illusions about America’s perfection.

The great patriotic song, “America the Beautiful,” recognized that God had blessed America. It made it clear that our nation was not yet perfect, but that we had come a long way. And it affirmed that we can only continue to approach perfection as we trust and obey God. We must hold tight to “the dream.”

Verse one of “America the Beautiful” recognizes that God has shed his grace on America, and notes that our success, our crowning achievement, will be measured by brotherly love. (We need individuals who work to heal the wounds, not reopen and infect them with the poison of suspicion and hatred!)

The second verse acknowledges that America has flaws, and asks God to give each of us self-control and help us support the rule of law so that we can work things out.

The perfection of a nation is like the perfection of an individual. It is progressive. It takes time. I know that many of us are impatient, but It is necessary that our citizens exercise patience. We must become well-educated and well-informed. Then we must make sure that only godly leaders and judges are elected or appointed so that we can ultimately be crowned with brotherhood. (Today we have many “leaders” who pit our citizens against one another in order to win votes.)

Verse three recognizes that, in this land of opportunity, many people will behave badly as they try to become wealthy. The song asks God to prosper those who behave nobly. (Politicians who get rich while in office belong in a prison house, not in The White House!)

Finally, verse four points out that we must look beyond the years, to the time when our cities are “undimmed by human tears.” We’ve come a long way since Abraham Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation. (It’s interesting to note that the man who freed the slaves, Abraham Lincoln, was a Republican. He was a far cry from most politicians of both parties today who put personal interests ahead of the country. If America is once again to be the land of opportunity, our leaders need to help our citizens learn to help themselves, and not keep them dependent on government handouts in order to get their votes!)

Yes, America is beautiful. And when we each align our values with those of the Lord, she will begin to approach perfection and brotherhood.

Here are the words to America the Beautiful, the 1904 version.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.
America! America!
God mend thine ev’ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for glorious tale
Of liberating strife,
When valiantly for man’s avail
Men lavish precious life.
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev’ry gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

We should all have opinions. It’s not always wise to voice them.

30 Aug 2016

Fifty years ago, this month, I was a candidate for the New York State Senate in what was then the 98th Senatorial District—Dutchess and Ulster Counties.

It was at that time that I was made to realize that our world will never be saved by politicians, or for that matter, those in any other field of endeavor…even preachers.

One command of the Lord stands out in my mind today: “Work while it is yet day, for the night comes when no man (or woman) can work.”

I lost track of that command several times over the past 50 years, and now I am once again led to focus my experiences and understanding on this business of reaching the lost and edifying the found.

I’ve become convinced that—because each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made, and that we are amazingly unique—that our approach to achieving God’s will for our individual lives must also be unique.

That requires more “knee time” than we are generally willing to invest, and a lot of “to thine own self,” oops! “to thine own God, be true.” We each need the Lord to show us the way.

In my case, it requires that I do not compare myself with others, or even consider what the giants of the faith might have accomplished through the ages. God did not call me to be a “giant,” but a “servant,” to simply labor faithfully in my own little corner of the vineyard, and never to compare my methods or to measure my success against those of others.

In all cases, I’m to do the best I can with what I have, wherever I am, trusting the Lord to take me where I ought to go.

Right now, it’s writing these books about CC, with the prayer that somewhere down the line, they might fall into the hands of a few who will read them, and by the grace of God, find “life” in Jesus Christ.

If my readers are helped to appreciate the dangers of this present evil world, and are encouraged to prepare for these dangers, and are also made aware of their individual responsibility to touch the hearts and minds of others with the truths of God, then I can ask no more.

I think that’s all the Lord expects of me…

What about you?

If you have purchased the paperback versions of Book 1 and/or Book 2 in the series, The Chronicles of CC,” and you return them to me at your expense, I will replace them with new, revised and autographed versions at no charge to you.

Yes, you will have to pay for shipping them to me, but I will pay for the new books as well as shipping them back to you.

Please address them to me at Greenbush Press.

Frank Becker, c/o Greenbush Press, 21518 Karpathos Ln, Spring, TX 77388-3262.

Your copy of Book 1 and/or Book 2 must arrive at Greenbush Press by June 15, 2016 to qualify. Please allow at least a month to get the new  autographed books back to you. We want to wait for as many as possible to arrive so that we can handle this in one major effort. I will be out of town much of July, so please make allowances for that as well.

Again, this offer of the revised, autographed copies of “War’s Desolation” and “The Heav’n Rescued Land,” is only for those who have already purchased the original paperback copies.

(If you have anything special that you would like written with the autograph, include it on an enclosed piece of paper. Make sure your return address is included on that sheet of paper, as your outer wrapping may be damaged in transit.)

This offer is unprecedented in the publishing industry, but it’s my way to thank all of you for your wonderful support and encouragement.

Col. 2:5,

Frank Becker

Millions of people in the Houston area had plans for this week. Others would just go through the motions, their activities dictated by their commitments. Some would spend the bulk of their time in school or at work.

Not so! With an average of 7 1/2″ of rain falling over Harris Couny in one night, and prolonged thunderstorms, and even hailstorms and tornadoes striking the area—and it’s not over yet—the area is experiencing unprecedented flooding.

Many of the giant school districts in the area have been struck hard. Joy teaches in the Klein Independent School District — one of thousands of teachers employed there, and the entire system, 50,000 students, is closed for the fourth day.

More violent storms are sweeping in from the northwest this morning, and two reservoirs on the west side of Houston are at record levels, overflowing, the dams in danger of breaking.

Just the hailstorm alone caused over $1-billion in damage. The damage from flooding is widespread and unprecedented.

And now more damage and more lives are in danger.

Perhaps these “acts of God,” as the insurance companies once labeled them, will cause people to awaken spiritually. Perhaps not.

One thing is certain. Across America and around the world, countless numbers have turned away from their Christian beliefs and have become hedonistic, materialistic, and sensual. Others are turning to other religions, or to atheism.

It’s as though we are caught up in a great whirlpool of iLOVE, a tempest of lust, greed, and spiritual death. It’s difficult during such times not to imagine we might be in the last of the last times, where there is a great falling away.

The encouraging thing is that millions around the world, people caught up by terror and persecution, are searching for and finding the love of God in Christ.

Frank/April 21, 2016

Take a big step toward the best year you’ve ever experienced.

The Lord wouldn’t have commanded you to do this one thing if it weren’t possible for you to accomplish it.

If, however, it does sound too tough for you, a similar command would prove much simpler to achieve and still contribute to your best year yet.

But let’s look at the tough command first:

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:44-45)

That’s pretty straight-forward. Problem is, our pride, our self-righteousness, our sense of justice, even our inherent need to play God, makes it difficult to impossible to do. We are angry, and we are not about to forgive, much less pray for our enemy. “Besides,” we reason, “they would never pray for me!”

If you are still in that “eye for an eye” frame of mind, and are not about to “let” the Lord handle matters his way (which is the best and only way), then consider this alternative. Remember the Lord’s words, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.”

He demands that we forgive, so let’s get back to that forgiveness concept.  Consider what Jesus Christ said:

“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions” (Matthew 6:14-15).

How is it that most of us seem to overlook that passage? Is it because we believe we are willing to suffer the consequences? Is it because we think we can pay the price? Or do we blithely accept the doctrinal statements of our denomination’s favored theologians, and somehow find wiggle-room to ignore the plain words of our Lord?

Do we dare? Shouldn’t we strive to be absolutely free of any possible onus? Since the greatest command is “love,” and it’s the essence of Christ’s ministry, dare we ignore it? Do we really want to carry that guilt all the way through life and to the gates of heaven where we will then be judged for them.

“For every idle word that ye shall speak,  “ye shall be held accountable.” Those are not empty words.

Get forgiveness now, or suffer who knows what embarrassment or worse later. Still, I’m not talking about the white throne judgment” or any other fuzzy end-times theological discussion. My warning is more practical.

Jesus said, if you are not forgiving the other guy, I am not forgiving you. So…which of your prayers do you think He is about to answer? Are you trying to enter into some sort of arbitration with the King of Kings? He’s all-wise and all-powerful. Yes, he’s merciful, but he is also righteous and just. “Be ye holy as I am holy,” we are commanded.

When we know that we are failing him, well, “how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” He won’t punish us, but he will discipline us, and often those two experiences appear indistinguishable to us. They hurt! So, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” (Psalm 66:18). This is one of the principle reasons for unanswered prayer. And not forgiving someone is a sin.

Consider this possibility: Many, and perhaps all of the trials you experienced this year may be the result of your failure to forgive others.

Do you remember those words of Paul, “We are more than conquerors through Christ who saved us….” What is being more than a conqueror? The concept is alien to a world which does not know Christ. To be more than conqueror, you don’t kill, enslave, or exploit others. You don’t “get even” with them. You don’t insist they see things your way. You pray for them, you extend Christ’s love to them, and you help them come to know him as their Savior. You promote their best interests. You do exactly what someone else did for you in order to help you find and follow Christ.

The Bible teaches that, “We love him (God) because he first love us.” Ask yourself this. “How are the unsaved, who cannot understand the concept of agape going to love us unless we love them first?”

When those we despise, our “enemies,” are converted and turn into “supernatural” human beings, into believers in Jesus Christ — each filled with his Holy Spirit, obedient to the heavenly vision, and full of good works — they join us in changing the world for the better. They begin to become friends who will stick closer than a brother.

That’s the blessing of forgiving. Your former enemy becomes your friend and ally and, as a side-effect, the Lord does not have to judge you for failing to forgive that person.

( I am not talking about people who would break into our homes to kill, or who would cross our country’s borders to murder our families and fellow citizens. Such enemies do not come to reason with us.)

But you may have experienced a hundred slights, a thousand insults through the years…and you may have been unwilling to set them right. On many occasions, even when I’ve recognized such, I’ve “swept them under the rug and forgotten them. That’s a bad decision!

Have you asked yourself whether you have contributed to the  problem, and may be even more at fault than the person you refuse to forgive?

Do you wonder why your prayers are not answered? If you have not forgiven your neighbor, Jesus stated emphatically that the Father is not now forgiving you! That’s horrific!

In order to live a more fulfilling life, you need to get out from  under that cloud of judgment and sorrow.

Instead of starting the new year by pulling out financial documents to prepare your annual taxes, try this: Pull out a pen and paper and start listing the people you are angry at. Make three columns. Column one, their names. Column two, what you have against them. Column three, what they have against you. Then, take care of business….God’s business!

Are they Christians? If not, why would you think they would try to make things right with you, or pray for you, or forgive you? If so, and you think you are more mature, and that you can judge them and remain unforgiving? Consider the Lord’s words: He who is greatest among you will be my servant. The greatest shall be the least.

“Not that I have attained!” The burden is on every one of us, my friends!

And if you are not a believer, it’s time to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, to clean the slate, to become a new creature in Christ, and to start 2016 off with a new life.

For, “When anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away. All things have become new.”

Find Christ and forgive others. That’s the formula for making this your best year ever.

It’s up to you! The Lord will honor your loving obedience.

Happy New Year!

Frank