The Heart of a Home

On the Piano Man album, Billy Joel, sings "You're My Home", with the lyrics:
"...Home could be the Pennsylvania turnpike
Indiana's early morning dew
high up in the hills of California
home is just another word for you".
It was a fancy way of saying, "home is where the heart is". A person tends to think about these things when they are away from home for a while. When we say "home is where the heart is, aren't we saying that, "a house with love is a home"? What makes a house a home?
Before I begin to relate my observation, I will state that this is decidedly a man's perspective. Much of the same principals make a house a home for a woman, but there are differences. A woman might include safety and protection on her list, and although a good man will seek to provide that for her, it is not high on his list of needs. There are several blogs written by women that I regularly read to get an honest view into the soul of a Christian woman. I will leave it to one of them to pour out their side of the equation.

There are four greek words for "love" in the New Testament.
Eros: "is passionate love, with sensual desire and longing".
Philia: "...means friendship, a dispassionate virtuous love".
Agapē: "...self-sacrificing, giving love to all... divine love or the love of God
Storge: "...natural affection, like that felt by parents for offspring".
.http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_four_greek_words_for_love_and_their_meanings Most Christians have heard these preached on many times from the pulpit. I want you to consider that as a "homemaker" a woman, plants, promotes, and nurtures, these four "loves" in her house. It is these that turn a house into a warm and fuzzy nest called "home".
In his lectures at Georgia Tech, Ravi Zacharias uses a story by the philosopher Camus. In the story, a simple married country woman, gets an opportunity to fulfill a youthful sensual fantasy, during a visit, with her husband, to a city. After an emotional mental struggle she gives in, leaves him sleeping in bed, goes out into the night and indulges in the passion. She then comes home and cannot sleep but sits up in bed weeping. He awakes and asks, "what's the matter". She replies, "nothing, nothing"!
Ravi's take on the story is that, just when you think life has delivered the ultimate in fulfillment you find it leaves you empty chasing after the next excitement. He adds a few more examples to the point that God is needed to fill our emptiness and that secularization of society will result in hedonism and a loss of shame. Later during the question and answer session a student had the presence of mind to ask that, "since we all struggle with the desire for the sensual, had the professor found any means of fulfillment in this area". Ravi related the "four loves" and that only within the framework of marriage do they all come together, in an uncorrupted fulfillment".
We don't usually think of it in such terms, but imagine the heart of a man when he understands the way in which a good wife has made his home. Behind the scenes she has been creating fulfillment without his even knowing it. She has allowed/promoted herself to be the object of his lust and then risen to indulge his passion. She has not only been his best friend, but also allowed/promoted good friendships with others. She has encouraged his relationship with God, prayed for him, and prayed and worshipped with him. She has provided him with family both close and extended. How much more will that man look on love at his wife and praise God for her?! How much greater will the bonds of marital union be when he sees this with "the eyes of his heart"?!
There is a flip side to all of this. Woe to the woman who has selfishly withheld these loves, so that she can have him completely for herself. If love is the perfect expression of the Holy Spirit, in and through a woman, a perfect gift, then the withholding of it is the perfect cruelty! The purpose of cruelty is enslavement. Enslavement is the perfect result of selfishness and there is no love in it! No MAN will remain a slave if there is any way out.
It doesn't take much time to come up with living examples of people we know, both men and women, who withhold, deny, and fight, to keep their significant other from one or more of these loves. Think about them momentarily and you'll notice a few similarities. They are very unhappy, hurt and hopeless. They chase fulfillment in other ways/things, and are never satisfied. They are probably on your prayer list!

Point of Focus

If the photographer focused on the dark background the flower would have become blurred.

This is going to be a different kind of post for me. This is not coming from out of some cerebral cleverness, but from a long worked out churning in my spirit. I cannot attest to the fact that it is finished, but some important points have finally come into focus. I want to get them down so as to have a solid foundation to build on.

It is so easy to FOCUS on light. Even while still in my mother's womb, I could see no light, but I could feel the darkness in my soul. We are so sensitive to light and drawn by it, because it overpowers our senses and obliterates the darkness. This is the reason why the prophecy of Christ's birth stands out from all of the others prophetic scriptures.
ISA 9:2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.

ISA 9:3 You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as men rejoice
when dividing the plunder.

ISA 9:4 For as in the day of Midian's defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.

This is the reason (Luke 1:41) When Elizabeth [the mother of John the Baptist] heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. John knew immediately the presence of that great light. Later, as a man, surrounded by the darkness of prision, John lost FOCUS and fell into of doubt. MT 11:2 When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"

MT 11:4 Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."
Jesus set is FOCUS back on the light!

I have been in a small bit of a darkness for a couple of years now. I knew it was true but could not put my finger on it. It is actually possible for the Christian to be depressed, although difficult. I made this statement to my Pastor recently and his take was that it is a "conflict of interest" for the Christian. It is so because in Christ there is hope, and all things are new. His mercies are new every morning, and in his presence there is joy. All of these things are true and it is often sung, "turn your eyes upon Jesus and the things of the world will go strangely dim". We however walk in the spirit through a dark and dying world, and live in a body. I could stop here and say "consider the lillys...", "think ye on these things, whatsoever is lovely...", and be done with it: lesson learned. The depth of the truth would be lost and forgotten as soon you click the little red "close" box in the upper right corner. The impersonal shallowness would insulate me, but be of no service to the reader.
First I want to say, I think depression is mourning the loss of life. In this case it is one's own life. I'm thinking it would be the result of bad decisions or situations that have reduced the hoped for fullness and richness of life. The song "wasted years" comes to mind here. In such as state one is putting themselves in a coffin. A difficult condition to maintain when you have the uplifting life giving resurrection power of the Holy Spirit living in you! Never the less there is a time for mourning. Mourning is needed to put a loss behind you so as to move on.
My coffin is different though. It is a coffin with both ends knocked out, also called a rut! This rut seems to be dug in a circle. There are actually several of these, in which, I'm walking at the same time.
You've heard that definition of insanity, where insanity is: "doing the same thing you always did, in the same way you always did it, and expecting a different result". What could be more insane than spending your life going around and around a circular rut.
Does anyone remember that movie where an American got caught trying to smuggle hashish out of Turkey. He ends up in a prison walking round-n-round a circle, and told the broken machines must stay on the path. They attempt to institutionalise him. A visit from his love helps him reFOCUS reality and he breaks in the other direction. He plans an escape, from the prison, and announces "he's going, to go, to the place, where they fix the broken machines". Lets go there.
I have two jobs both pretty much full time, low level, menial task. Of course the Bible says, "MT 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other....". Those words come from Jesus. You just know they've got to be truth! They are truth! I love on of these jobs and hate the other. I will use my enjoyment and lack thereof to illustrate how FOCUS can influence joy and depression.
Job #1 I've done for 18 years. I stock shelves third shift in a grocery store. I have taken on the responsibility of being the overnight boss, but the mundane menial repetition is maddening. Round and round in a circle we go. Bring in the load, put it on the floor, put it on the shelf: repeat! The only thing that ever changes are the supporting cast of people I work with. If I do my job of training them properly, they become clones of each and every co-worker previous. The problems I encounter and solve on this job are trivial, unnoticed, and forgotten. Notoriety is almost always a bad thing, insignificance is a virtue, but an almost unbearable humility. The darkness I go into each night is a weight. If we have done our job properly the bosses of the daylight never have to bear us in mind.
Job #2 I have done construction and remodeling since, I put nails into siding, on a barbershop, at age 5. I have done similar Job #2 only 5 months. It would be too easy to think that I haven't yet had time to observe the rut. While, it is possible there may be a rut yet to develope, it will be a straight line rut, not a circle. On job #2 I maintain 27 "timeshare" condominiums. They have aged and need some reconstruction and much repair. Each task is different however, and although it is sometimes performed 27 time over, at the end, it will not have to be done again in my career. There is a sense of progress and accomplishment. AS time goes by, and tasks are completed, the property looks increasing better. Variety yields excitement and accomplishment stokes pride. Compared to the suppression of the night job, the day job is a lightness of being!
O.K. I laid it on pretty thick, but the result put you into my shoes and mood in each case. Why bother you with all of this because all of the institutions of life are the same way. And our enjoyment of them is a matter of FOCUS.
Didn't your thoughts shout at the screen, "why not quit Job#1, and just do Job #2, if its that bad"? Well, I thought the same thing. I discovered, that in answering that question, my displeasure was a matter of FOCUS. The grocery job has twice the pay, all of the extra-benefits, job security, and prospect for advancement. It enables me to enjoy the day job without all of the other pressures. That is not to say that the maintenance job could not be built into one with greater pay, security, and advancement potential. Breaking out of a rut takes some work and planning though. The American in the Turkish prison movie did not just decide on a whim to make a break for it. He saved, planned, had help from the outside and bought help on the inside. (I don't remember it in the movie, but you better believe that a person in his situation prayed to God for aid as well!)He waited until all of the pieces came together at the right moment, then he made a break.
I mentioned that I'm walking several institutional ruts simultaneously, some hand in hand with others. Grieving be done. It is time to focus on the lillys. Focus on looking into God's eyes. FOCUS on the good aspects of the current institutions, and make an exit strategy. Work a plan, assemble the pieces, pray, and go for the breaks, as each one comes.

"An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered." G.K.Chesterton

Quote of note from May 2009

" If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear"
George Orwell

The Knowledge of Good and Evil : Knowledge of God

How many people have said to you, "How can you believe in an all knowing, all powerful, all loving God, when there is so much evil in the world"?
In seeing all of the evil they fail to see the good around them. The typical apologetic answer for such a person is to point their eyes to the good saying, "how do you know there is "evil" except that there is "good" by which to draw a contrast? How do you know that there is "good" except that there is a "moral law" by which to differentiate between "good" and "evil"? How can there be a "moral law" except that there be a "moral Law" giver, which is God? No God - no moral law, no moral law - no good, no good - no evil! If you believe in evil you must believe in God!

It is interesting that in the Garden of Eden, when there was no "evil", and there was full knowledge of God, there was also implanted, in the very first act of evil, the seed for the acknowledgement of God. The very act of rebellion, that was the first sin, included the sequence for not being able to deny that God existed!

GE 2:9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil... GE 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."...
GE 3:4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Knowing good and evil makes it impossible to deny the existence of God, the giver of the laws of morality.

When Adam and Eve did sin they instantly know the difference between right and wrong.
GE:9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" 10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." 11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

When God said, "who told you that you were naked", it was like saying how did you know that it was wrong/evil be naked?
Then God went on to prove that he was all loving. Speaking to Satan in the serpent he said."GE 3:15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel."
This was the first promise of Christ the Redeemer of mankind from the bondage of Satan and sin.

"Plainly speaking, there are only four possible worlds. The first is that there be no creation at all. Would it not have been better for God to have not created a world than to have created ours—where good and evil are both possibilities? The second is a world where only good is permitted, a kind of robotically beneficent universe. The third option is a world where there is no such thing as good or evil, an amoral world. There, right and wrong would not even be legitimate categories for consideration. The fourth is the world that we live in, where good and evil exist with the possibility of choosing either.In the final analysis, our world is the only one where love is genuinely possible because freedom is a precondition for authentic love. We intuitively recognize that love is the supreme ethic and where love is possible, freedom is necessary. Where freedom is real, so is the possibility of suffering.{Four Possible Worlds, Ravi Zacharias}

So why would God create such a world? He would create such a world because he was all knowing, all powerful, and all loving! What other kind of world could he have created where real love between creation and Creator could freely exist, but this one completed through the suffering on the Cross of Calvary.

"Your Old Men Shall Dream Dreams"

O.K. So you KNOW you're old when God thinks your old! Yeah, that's what happened to me last week. I had a God given dream, not a vision. If it was a vision I could still claim to be young.
JOEL 2:28 ...I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.

I work two jobs 1st and 3rd shift. I sleep from 5pm-10pm everyday. I'm usually pretty tired and go right into deep sleep. I wake up with the alarm clock. There is no in between stage where most people have REM and remember their dreams. On my night off I sleep longer, maybe as late as 3am. That was the case Tue a week ago when I had this dream.

The Dream
I was driving north on the country road that I grew up on. Behind me to the left (drivers side) I saw a black line in the sky. Then I realized it was a swarm or flock. Suddenly it dove straight down to the ground. The car and landscape around was immediately filled with locusts and I realized that I was wearing a mask. The mask was like the medical masks that everyone is wearing for SARS and swine flu. On the side of the mask there were numbers, part of an automatic counting system, that numbered the number of times one had been bitten, stung, and swallowed bugs. Now the reason that I was in the car was to go pick up someone at school. When I got to the school it was more like a dormitory. My passenger turned out to be a Hispanic teenager. The school suddenly hit by the locust swarm was in panic. As the boy and I headed to the car people began dying. He got in the back seat and we left. Before we got out of the parking lot he died. I picked up a teenage girl who was going to her grandmothers house. The grandmother lived in a small old Cape style house all grown up with flowers and roses, like something out of a Thomas Kinkade painting. She met the girl at the door went inside and died. Then the girl died. A large fluffy cat came out of the house, now orphaned. I picked up the cat, put it into the backseat of the car, and headed home. The cat died. I woke up!
The dream troubled me for several days. I told two people that I work with about it. By Friday the troublesomeness of the dream had let me go. Then came Sunday.
Sunday I went to Church. The pastor was finishing up a series about our churches 100 year anniversary (history, people, efforts, and going forward). He is moving into a series on showing Jesus to the lost by becoming like Jesus, you know, the 5th Gospel. (“There are five Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Christian, and some people will never read the first four.”
Irish Evangelist Gypsy Smith).
Well Pastor has been meeting with a group of pastors from the area for prayer every week. There is a general feeling among the group that God is about to do something big! He used this to segway from one series to the next and brought in the often quoted 2CH 7:14 which says,
"14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there."
The idea was that our 100 year old church had been consecrated to him so that God's name, eyes, and heart would always be there. And that some great revival and growth was about to take place. He didn't stop there though. He called special attention to verse 13. This verse often gets left off when people quote this passage of scripture. It says,
"When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, v 14..."
I sat there just stunned. So that is what the troubling dream was about! The locusts my not be actual bugs, but could be any manner of judgement; economy, terrorist action, natural disaster with national consequences, crop failure, and drought. The plague may be something as simple as a growth in swine flu. ( I think it must include animals though, because of the cat, in the dream) God is about to move! His people called by his name are about to get humble, really humble and pray, really pray, "then will he hear from heaven..."
It is about to happen. The Cloud/Pillar of Fire is lifting and is about to move. Get ready we're going to the mountain by way of the valley.


2CH 7:13 "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there

So I guess I'm A Terrorist: Not

On April 4th 2009 Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano issued a report to all law enforcement agency's in the country. The report was warning them to be on the lookout for individuals or groups which might become domestic terrorists.
What is shocking about this report is that at the beginning of each section it starts out taking about extremist groups, recruiting and potential anti-government actions they might take, but then suggests that "Joe Christian" and "Joe Republican" might join them. It does this by attaching the issues we believe into the issues of domestic extremists Groups. The whole purpose of the report is to stigmatize the moral "political right" and Christians as extremist anti-government terrorist hate groups.
If, you believe; in the Second amendment right to bear arms as a personal right, if you are anti-abortion, if you disagree with a completely open border immigration policy, if you believe that the Bible teaches there will soon be a "One World Government" ruled by the AntiChrist, if you believe in marriage as "one man and one woman"; if you are a returning Iraqi War Vet., then The Department of Homeland Security believes you will be among those involved in the next big bombing of a government building.
How fitting that the Party opposed to the establishment of the DHS, because they saw potential for abuse against Americans, is the party that so eagerly embraced abusing its power. There is nothing in the report about American (domestic) Islamic groups, or the recruiting of American boys for transport to foreign Islamic schools.
Some parts of the report seem to telegraph what the Administration is planning to do, and they are preparing for resistance to it. The report also shows who will be scrutinized if something bad does happen in response to administration actions.
This is nothing new in the history of the World. It has happened to God's people throughout history.

Haman and Xerxes
Ester 3:5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. 6 Yet having learned who Mordecai's people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai's people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes...
EST 3:8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, "There is a certain people dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose customs are different from those of all other people and who do not obey the king's laws; it is not in the king's best interest to tolerate them. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them...
EST 3:12 Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language of each people all Haman's orders to the king's satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring. 13 Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews--young and old, women and little children--on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. 14 A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so they would be ready for that day.

Daniel
Daniel 6:3 Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. 4 At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. 5 Finally these men said, "We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God."

DA 6:6 So the administrators and the satraps went as a group to the king and said: "O King Darius, live forever! 7 The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions' den. 8 Now, O king, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered--in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed." 9 So King Darius put the decree in writing.

Jewish Leaders and to Pilate
Luke 22:70 They all asked, "Are you then the Son of God?"
He replied, "You are right in saying I am."
LK 22:71 Then they said, "Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips."
LK 23:1 Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king."
LK 23:3 So Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.
LK 23:4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this man."
LK 23:5 But they insisted, "He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here."

Hitler
Hitler did not just come to power and start killing Jews. He first had to turn the national anger against them. He blamed them for the Economic Depression that Germany and the World was in. He started this by saying that the Jews owned and controlled the banks and would not lend out the money. Does this sound familiar? He used their blessing prosperity and tightness of community against them. That was just the beginning they were labeled as anti-Germany and anti-Government. Sound familiar?
Remember that the Nazi's got their name from The Nationalist Socialist Party. They were Socialist's, not right wing, but left wing! They were labeled "Right Wing" by the Stalin government who was angry that Hitler and Germany would not come under the authority of socialist mother Russia.

Below I have compiled parts of the report for you to read. It should be noted that the report has not been recalled. It doesn't matter, the damage has been done and her position has been exposed. I'm sure the pressure put on her job for issuing the report will only strengthen her resolve.
Issued on April 7th, the DHS warning is entitled: “Right wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.”


“Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.”
Paralleling the current national climate, rightwing extremists during the
1990s exploited a variety of social issues and political themes to increase group visibility
and recruit new members. Prominent among these themes were the militia movement’s
opposition to gun control efforts, criticism of free trade agreements (particularly those
with Mexico), and highlighting perceived government infringement on civil liberties as
well as white supremacists’ longstanding exploitation of social issues such as abortion,
inter-racial crimes, and same-sex marriage. During the 1990s, these issues contributed to
the growth in the number of domestic rightwing terrorist and extremist groups and an
increase in violent acts targeting government facilities, law enforcement officers, banks,
and infrastructure sectors.Historically, domestic rightwing extremists have feared, predicted, and
anticipated a cataclysmic economic collapse in the United States. Prominent
antigovernment conspiracy theorists have incorporated aspects of an impending
economic collapse to intensify fear and paranoia among like-minded individuals and to
attract recruits during times of economic uncertainty. Conspiracy theories involving
declarations of martial law, impending civil strife or racial conflict, suspension of the
U.S. Constitution, and the creation of citizen detention camps often incorporate aspects of
a failed economy. Antigovernment conspiracy theories and “end times” prophecies could
motivate extremist individuals and groups to stockpile food, ammunition, and weapons.
These teachings also have been linked with the radicalization of domestic extremist
individuals and groups in the past, such as violent Christian Identity organizations and
extremist members of the militia movement.Rightwing extremists were concerned during the 1990s with the perception
that illegal immigrants were taking away American jobs through their willingness to
work at significantly lower wages. They also opposed free trade agreements, arguing that
these arrangements resulted in Americans losing jobs to countries such as Mexico.Many rightwing extremist groups perceive recent gun control legislation as a
threat to their right to bear arms and in response have increased weapons and ammunition
stockpiling, as well as renewed participation in paramilitary training exercises. Such
activity, combined with a heightened level of extremist paranoia, has the potential to
facilitate criminal activity and violence.On the current front, legislation has been proposed this year
requiring mandatory registration of all firearms in the United States. Similar
legislation was introduced in 2008 in several states proposing mandatory tagging
and registration of ammunition. It is unclear if either bill will be passed into law;
nonetheless, a correlation may exist between the potential passage of gun control
legislation and increased hoarding of ammunition, weapons stockpiling, and
paramilitary training activities among rightwing extremists.(U//FOUO) Rightwing extremist paranoia of foreign regimes could escalate or be
magnified in the event of an economic crisis or military confrontation, harkening back to
the “New World Order” conspiracy theories of the 1990s. The dissolution of Communist
countries in Eastern Europe and the end of the Soviet Union in the 1990s led some
rightwing extremists to believe that a “New World Order” would bring about a world
government that would usurp the sovereignty of the United States and its Constitution,
thus infringing upon their liberty. The dynamics in 2009 are somewhat similar, as other
countries, including China, India, and Russia, as well as some smaller, oil-producing
states, are experiencing a rise in economic power and influence.
— (U//FOUO) Fear of Communist regimes and related conspiracy theories
characterizing the U.S. Government’s role as either complicit in a foreign
invasion or acquiescing as part of a “One World Government” plan inspired
extremist members of the militia movement to target government and military
facilities in past years.(U//FOUO) DHS/I&A assesses that rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and
radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from
military training and combat. These skills and knowledge have the potential to boost the
capabilities of extremists—including lone wolves or small terrorist cells—to carry out
violence. The willingness of a small percentage of military personnel to join extremist
groups during the 1990s because they were disgruntled, disillusioned, or suffering from
the psychological effects of war is being replicated today.Outlook
(U//FOUO) DHS/I&A assesses that the combination of environmental factors that echo
the 1990s, including heightened interest in legislation for tighter firearms restrictions and
returning military veterans, as well as several new trends, including an uncertain
economy and a perceived rising influence of other countries, may be invigorating
rightwing extremist activity, specifically the white supremacist and militia movements.
To the extent that these factors persist, rightwing extremism is likely to grow in strength.
(U//FOUO) Unlike the earlier period, the advent of the Internet and other informationage
technologies since the 1990s has given domestic extremists greater access to
information related to bomb-making, weapons training, and tactics, as well as targeting of
individuals, organizations, and facilities, potentially making extremist individuals and
groups more dangerous and the consequences of their violence more severe. New
technologies also permit domestic extremists to send and receive encrypted
communications and to network with other extremists throughout the country and abroad,
making it much more difficult for law enforcement to deter, prevent, or preempt a violent
extremist attack.
(U//FOUO) A number of law enforcement actions and external factors were effective in
limiting the militia movement during the 1990s and could be utilized in today’s climate.
— (U//FOUO) Following the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal
building in Oklahoma City, the militia movement declined in total membership
and in the number of organized groups because many members distanced
themselves from the movement as a result of the intense scrutiny militias received

Quote from March/April

Crucifixion was humiliating. It was so humiliating that the Romans who specialized in the art of torture assured their own citizenry that a Roman could never be crucified. But not only was it humiliating, it was excruciating. In fact, the very word “excruciating” comes from two Latin words: ex cruciatus, or “out of the cross.” Crucifixion was the defining word for pain. Does that not give us pause in this season before us? Think of it: humiliation and agony. This was the path Jesus chose with which to reach out for you and me.

Ravi Zacharias