Another day...

 

When we think the world can't go on without our help, we have to remember how little we really matter in the long story of creation and eternity.

Where do they go?

 

I heard on the news tonight that the Governor of California has ordered all the homeless people living in tents in public spaces to be "cleaned up."  Where will they go?

I know how hard it is to start with nothing.  All those tents are not what public officials want to see, especially when their tourist income is suffering.  Homeless people are a problem, but destroying their very hard efforts to survive on the streets isn't going to help the problems.  The homeless need a safe place to start rebuilding their lives.  Street sweeps, which just put all their belongings into the trash, means they have to start all over... which means they find a new place for their tents.

What do you expect them to do???  Human beings have to sleep, have to eat, have to have a place to use a restroom, and then they need a place to shower so they can be clean, a place to do laundry so they can wear clean clothes, and everything else any human being needs to live from one day to the next.  

I don't know the property options in every city fighting the open issues with the homeless, but there has to be a place they can stay.  Starting over doesn't help anyone.  It makes the problem last longer.

I hear news reports all the time about the costs of dealing with homelessness.  Maybe we need a new way of handling the problems.

I remember seeing historic photos of the Great Depression.  They may have been of New York City, but I don't remember that detail.  What I remember was cardboard or some kind of material like cardboard being used by entire families who were forced out of housing onto the street.  They built whatever they could along the streets of a large urban space and that was their home.

I remember, when I grew up in Los Angeles, seeing news stories about Tijuana (a "city" along the border of Mexico).  It was a huge space where Mexican families lived the best they could, with "homes" made of whatever materials they could find... like plywood, cardboard, metal sheets, etc.

If you watch Gone with the Wind you will see the shanty towns that existed in that time of history.

Today, in other parts of the world, there are people struggling to survive in housing that is not the best, but it is all they can afford.

My point is that poverty is not ever going to be "solved."  There will always be poor people, homeless people, struggling people.  Even the Bible tells us this is the reality of living.  But I always hear political messages about solving the problems associated with poverty.  In my own thinking about these issues, I believe it is because there will always be a next generation of people with their own groups of poverty families.

It is a better idea, in my mind, to create permanent options to meet the needs of poor people.

We have housing, but being government run has its problems.

We have food options, both with government and charity sources, but they also have problems in the delivery.

I have always talked about the need for stability in the paths we create.  Housing is the primary form of stability for homeless and poor individuals and families.  Government programs work on the basis of obedience to the "rules" or you are gone.  That is not stability.  It takes years to overcome the problems of poverty and homelessness.  Each person's path needs to be stable for years.  When they are ready, they will move on.

Today, I was riding on the public transit in my city.  I saw the tents of people trying to survive here.  This city is also on the verge of cleaning the streets of homeless people.  Where will they go?  They will end up going through the same cycle of loss, wandering around while the government does what it does, and look for a new place to sleep, eat, spend their days, try to settle again in a new space.  The problem is not solved, it is "kicked down the road" again.

I have tried to suggest alternative strategies for many years.  

I have prayed for the funds to create these options as demonstration projects, to figure out the details, but GOD has not provided for my efforts.  Working Together is all about finding solutions for all these problems, but for Christians.  It is why I look for possible solutions.  And what my life experience has been about.

I hate to think of all the pain that is going to happen because of the government's view of these issues, and what they see as the solutions for their cities.  It's really a complicated issue, especially with media coverage pushing the problems to a different space.  What is being done is not solving the larger problem.

What are your solutions for the individual people who are the homeless?  Who are poor?  Who are not able to become self-sufficient tax-paying citizens in a day?  Who have handicaps, disabilities, substance abuse issues, other abuse issues, no money, no skills, prison records, can't get a job, are too old to work, have children with them, and more.

They need stability.  Will street sweeps help them?

What can we change about how we see this problem?

Maybe this is an example of that saying about insanity... something about doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result.

A lot seems to happen in a short amount of time these days

I spent a long time today going through my ETSY listings.  (https://etsy.com/shop/work2gather)  I have been trying to decide the direction I want to go, changing my content, thinking about a better future.  

I deactivated all my listings except for four of them.  Then I updated each of them.  Then I explored some of the suggestions ETSY has for its sellers.  I will have to return to my shop and look at my keywords again.  

I can see how I need to review my listings, not just put them up and leave them.  How often to do that is the question.  

I am seeking GOD for money to change all the things in my life that need to be changed.  I have been praying for the way to do that.  My part: to do what I can.  GOD's part: to bless my efforts.  (I hope.  After all these years of trying, it is hard to have a strong faith that GOD will provide what I think He should.)  

I have been listening to Joel Osteen sermons.

I have been listening to old books about faith issues.

I have been thinking about what I should do to change the way things are.

I have been seeking GOD for direction. 

This is another starting point for my efforts to make things better. 

We will have to see what the rest of this month brings.

I watched some of the news programs for today after working on my ETSY plans.

Kamala Harris is now officially going after the Democratic bid for President.  It is the expected path, but I am not sure what it means.  I don't follow all these politicians that closely.  I think about our nation, about the battles between the main political parties, about the needs of the poor more than other income groups.

I suppose we will all find out where our nation is heading now.

What the news showed us tonight was an ordinary woman calling the police for help and ending up dead because of the policeman that answered the call.  Video in our lives is filled with real pain in the lives of others now.  Her life is over.  She has no option to recover from what a policeman has done.  She was murdered, he was not protecting himself from a dangerous person.  

When you watch the video, you can sense his need to kill someone, anyone.  I don't know what they call that, but it happens all the time.  I think it could have been a Black issue or a GOD issue.  He got mad when she called on GOD to help her.  The policeman was agitated, she sensed the need for protection.  He is charged with murder.  He should be. 

It's a very sad situation.  We see what happens in the video, but we have no idea what made these people the way they were at this moment in time. We don't suddenly become a killer.  Our lives change us into good or bad people.  Every day, every month, every year.  We slowly become different people.

What keeps us good people?

What makes us turn into people who do things that hurt us and others?

In my life, it was my faith in GOD, my salvation, my hope for the future that kept me from becoming a person that would hurt others.  I looked toward GOD in my hard times, in my pain, in my struggles to become better. 

The death of this innocent woman made me think about my own death.  We never know what a day will hold.  GOD warns us that the only time we have is right now.  

I hope for much, but I don't know what GOD is going to provide.  GOD provides for His Will, His Plan for us and for the world.  GOD lifts one up and lets another fall.  Everything is heading toward the fulfillment of prophecy in small and large steps. 

This is a very important election year.  It will decide the direction of our nation.  The goals of the Republican and Democratic Parties are very different.  This election is now, what happens after the election may change everything again.  

I can't support the Democratic agenda, but I don't agree with everything the Republicans stand for either.  Mostly, I hope America survives.  Mostly, I hope I survive. 

The Republican Convention is over. My thoughts.

 

I thought I would share this graphic today because the topic of taxes is a repeating issue.  This is really a very important video to see.  I never realized that the amendment passed was not limited.  It's a scary thought, but we know someone will try it one day.  Maybe the Antichrist.

The Republican Convention just finished.  I was waiting to post until it was done.  I tried to make some notes about things to write, but I would be here for hours if I went into detail.

Politics is like an old vinyl record that is scratched and plays the same part over and over and over again, until you fix the problem.  Every year the same issues are cited.  

The Republicans are big on oil, coal, and fracking/gas.  The Democrats are big on green energy, like solar and wind, like electric vehicles.  We really need both.  With the threat of global crises, increasing wars, terrorism, natural disasters, and more, we have to find a way to make sure we have what we need on our own soil.  I see a different world if we get low on fuel for the military and police.  Ordinary people won't have access to fuel for their cars if there is (when there is) a real crisis.  That could be grid failure or some other disaster we don't know is coming.  If terrorist hit, you know they are going to hit our supplies, our weak points.  It takes a lot of fuel to fly planes, military or commercial.  Commuters have to get to work.  Emergency vehicles need fuel.  Our commercial trucks bring us all the food and supplies we need to keep going.  How much fuel does our nation need just to survive?  I have no idea.  Do we have enough?

Immigration is a big issue for both political parties, for our nation, for our safety.  In making their points, the Republicans cite every terrible event, all the crimes, all the pain caused by any immigrant that exists.  It is repeated so often that we think every single illegal immigrant is a threat, a terrible person, an evil force trying to hurt us.  The Democrats act like there is no problem, everyone should be able to come here, no one is a threat or a criminal.  What is the truth?  Many of the people seeking a new life in America are trying to get away from the poverty and violence in their home country.  They think we are still the country that will solve their problems, help them to provide for their families and find the dreams they have in their heart.  All the hate created toward illegal immigrants makes them targets, even when they are good people.

This is the same battle waged against the poor.  Everyone attached to any government program is seen as killing the nation.

Taxes are another battleground.  My view is in the graphic I made.  This was before I even realized there was an amendment about taxes, the one in the video above.  I am not a political fanatic, I am a concerned citizen.

The two main political parties that rule our government also have different views on what taxes are for.  The Republicans want less taxes... which is realistic in my view.  The Democrats are working for a future that has the government controlling everything, like socialism.  I see that as the government controling all the resources and deciding how much every citizen gets for their needs. 

What is a fair tax the government should receive to pay for the services it provides?  That is the main issue.  

The Democrats keep creating more mandates.  It's like we are slowly losing our freedoms and becoming acclimated to having our lives ordered by the government.  It's a way of seeing our lives.  We cease to make our own decisions and accept the "right" of the government to decide for us.

Trump is finding solutions from the life he has lived, what he knows about.  Everyone around him is part of the process of finding solutions within the government process.  I don't know if they are good or bad, but they seem to work.  That's what I hear from all the speeches, all the faith in his way of doing things, the results of his actions.

We don't know what the future will hold for us, as people or as a nation.  We are going to have to live through it.

One thing I know is how close we came to chaos.  I keep thinking about what might have happened if Trump had died.  It would have devastated our country, maybe the world.  Trump is a strong man, and he uses the power he has to "win" the battles he faces.

It has a lot to do with wealth.  People who are rich are different than regular people.  They can solve a lot of problems with money.  They aren't afraid of problems.  I say this because I know how it feels not to have money... the problems it causes.

I hope GOD will protect him for as long as it takes to help our nation recover from the problems we must overcome to survive, and then help us to build a better future.

The DEBT is our primary crisis because it affects every other thing we face.  Maybe a man like Trump will find the answers we need.

Republican Convention on Day One. Who will save America?

Been listening to the Republican Convention on YouTube today.  I missed the first part.  I don't set alarms for these things, so I started late.  I hope to view some of what I missed through other videos.

It is quite a speaking event.  I haven't seen others, except (maybe) some other years when Trump was in it.  Maybe the first time.  This time I listened mostly, while playing a word game.  Am I a multi-tasker or just waiting to hear something important to me?  :-)  

I am wondering what they do at a political convention.

I am at CSPAN's YouTube channel.

I think the VP choice looks good.  He might be a good president in the future.  We have seen that Trump is danger.  We need to think about those possibilities.  

I don't think I want to see a Harris presidency.  I hope Trump wins this election.  He's our best bet.  It seems like a very long election cycle this year.

We are facing decisions where we need to pick the least harmful option.  I keep wondering if this is what the Bible means when we become a world that is evil.  Day by day, election by election, law by law, global vs national vs state vs county.  It is hard to see this all happening.

I keep listening to two older videos about politics.  You may know what they are because I have shared them before.  The main one I love is the Ripple speech by Bobby Kennedy.  The other one is a Reagan speech for Goldwater's campaign for President.

The Kennedy speech is about ideals.

The Reagan speech is about finances.

Both issues are important to our nation.

We don't hear speeches like these anymore.  And I wonder why.

https://youtu.be/BeqY2oMiwx8?si=ifFco489FR36R-0D   Kennedy's Ripple of Hope speech

https://youtu.be/qXBswFfh6AY?si=a71MWTpBUlqdSHjW   Reagan's Time for Choosing speech

They talk about character.  And more.  I wasn't political at all back then.  I wonder if I ever saw anything like these speeches on the news.  I doubt it.  I don't remember anything about them.  It is amazing what the brain recalls and what it doesn't.

The view of poverty programs from people who never needed or survived by them is always something to think about.  In my years of Welfare and other poverty issues, there were many efforts by people to get more money to live on, even moving state to state because they didn't understand that the costs to live were higher also.  There are movies about what it was like to live on Welfare in the early years, before my experience started.  I couldn't believe people went through what they did, just to get help from the government.  

The Reagan video mentions another example.  It was about getting more money if you were divorced rather than staying married.  I vaguely recall this issue, but I have always been single on government benefits so I wouldn't know about it.

When you listen to the Reagan video the amounts are amazing.  I think this is what inflation is all about, and the national debt is the link to inflation.

One part of the Kennedy video that hits me every time I hear it is the list of problems all over the world.  And the connection to humanity.  The problems we face, everywhere, all the time, are often from people without a moral base.  I would say they aren't Christian or biblical, but these countries have some kind of faith base and still have serious problems.  

There are some amazing statements in the Kennedy speech.  I think that is why I listen to it over and over again.

What will happen to America?  This is a more important election than the last one.  Our problems have gotten worse.

There is no guarantee any political party can save us from the economic threats we face.  I hope, again, that Trump will be able to guide us through to a better place because of his experience in business and his past term as President.  He could be in office for two terms, I think.  It's going to take a huge effort to save us.

Let's hope GOD is really trying to help us survive what history has created.

I hope we survive.

 

Finding GOD's Truth in the Bible

I am always thinking about how GOD works out His Plans.

I guess I am just trying to figure out what He is doing in the world, in my world, in the lives of others.

We all have interpretations about what the Bible says.  That is why we have so many denominations, why we are divided, why we think our ideas are the right ones.

I guess I do the same thing.

When I was searching for my answers about GOD, I made my own decisions about what GOD was trying to show us.  Nothing big, just the conflicts we seem to have.  I needed to decide which view I thought was the right one.

I listen to a video sermon from Adrian Rogers called the Final Judgment.  There are points he makes about the two places called HELL and DEATH, the GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT, and the LAKE OF FIRE.  I understand the concept of Death and Hell being temporary spaces we go to when we die to wait for the big Judgment, the Great White Throne Judgment.  Death is for the saved, Hell is for the unsaved.  The Lake of Fire is the final place for those who are not saved, not in the Book of Life.  

And then there are all the Martyrs -- the souls who wait under the Throne for the Day of Judgment - to be avenged.  They seem to be a separate group.

In the sermon about the Final Judgment, Adrian Rogers makes one statement about the White Throne Judgment that I don't understand.  He says that anyone who is saved will not have to stand before that final White Throne Judgment.  I am not sure that is the right way to see our future.

I say this because of the martyrs.  They are the only ones I have found who will never face the second death at the Great White Throne Judgment.  

I think we will still face the White Throne.  My view of our sins is that when we confess and repent of our sins, accepting Christ's substitutionary offering for them, they are removed from our "book" in judgment.  Christ's sacrifice covers them.  They are no longer part of our judgment process because we have confessed and repented and accepted Christ's death as our atonement for them.  

This is how I understand the process of forgiveness. 

Consequences of our sins never go away.  Forgiveness is a different thing.

This is what I decided when I studied the Bible to find answers.

Every denomination has their own definitions of what the Bible says.  I think we have to search for our own understanding.  We are all just humans.  Only GOD really knows what He means.  Some parts of what He says are hard to know.  It takes many years to go through all the different passages about any topic, and there are things I will never know about history that is related to some of the Bible's stories.  BUT -- I am still responsible for seeking out these answers myself.  

We have to find a way to become One Body.  Talking through all these differences is the only way I see this happening.  

I hope we can create a global effort, one the world will be able to access and be a part of.  It may be the only good thing the internet can accomplish, for all of us.

I hope GOD allows us to do that.

Where is America going?

 

There are fireworks going outside.  The neighbors do their own.  I haven't done anything with fireworks since my kids grew up.  

The 4th of July is now about America to me.  Our nation.  What is happening to it.  How it has changed over my lifetime.

I used to think everyone wanted to be an American.  Then I realized that everyone loves their country, they just don't like their government.  I think that is happening to America now.    

I suppose this is part of getting old... or seeing prophecy become reality.  I'm not sure what happened.  I know that our government has changed.  It is becoming more about mandates and control.  Of course, I didn't really pay attention to everything the government was doing.  Now that I have discovered some serious topics and the part the government played in those topics, my respect for our national leaders has become jaded (I think that is the right word.) - less trusting.

I learned a lot about government through my years of poverty and Welfare.  

Other issues happened after I was alone, no longer a mother, and had more time to even think about things.

I have been watching more YouTube videos about poverty, housing, and economic issues.  My feed seems to bring up a lot of videos from Australia, some from the UK, and others from all over the US.  It lets me see that these problems exist all over the world.  

When you are the one that is suffering, it seems like the place where you are is the only place in the world something exists.  People in the UK feel the pains of struggling to survive as much as the people in Australia.  We haven't had the ability to know about each other's lives before.  The internet is changing this.  YouTube is changing this.  

I really don't know where America is heading.  I hope it will survive, but there are no guarantees.  The world government we are heading into has the entire North American continent as one region.  I am wondering if our Constitution will matter when that time comes.  All these issues that reach the Supreme Court may not even exist in a world government.  We will all be ruled by the global format.

Immigration will not be an issue if we are all one region.  No borders.  One economic ruling force.  Will we need a wall then?  It is a strange thought.  What will a one-world government look like?

Everything America has stood for, in its best sense, is very great.  I hate to think of it going away.  I am glad I was born an American.  I love my country's historical meaning.  Freedom is a wonderful thing to have.  Morality is why America became so great.  Biblical morality.  And GOD's protection for our faith in Him.

We don't have that protection anymore.  Maybe that is why we are facing so many difficult problems now.  I have often thought about that question of GOD's protection.  We expect Him to keep us from harm, but there is a two-way relationship with that promise.  We haven't done our part.  

People in the church want us to have a revival.  It would help, but it won't solve all our problems.  

Atheists want GOD to be dropped from all things, eliminated.  I don't think they have considered what the world will be like without godly people.

Most people don't want to give up their sin.

I don't think we will be able to solve this part of our problems.

Let's pray hard to try to change GOD's mind.

In Christ,

Deborah Martin

https://work2gather.us  

America and those who cannot protect themselves

 

I was busy watching videos about retirement issues and economic issues, housing problems and opportunities that are new, and thinking about watching a movie before it got so late.  

I sent an email to the Mayor's office in New York City today.  I watched a video about NYC by Cash Jordan and the immigration issues they are struggling with.  I decided to share a memory from my life with the Mayor because that was the only contact point I could find that was related to the issue.  I don't know if I will get a reply that is worth anything, but I felt it was important enough to share.

When I was younger, I can't remember when it was, there was a movement in the US to sponsor Vietnamese people in our churches and other groups across the nation.  I imagine it was somewhere around the time of the Vietnam war, but I can't be sure.  It may have been another people group.  It's been so long ago.  But I vaguely remember it being about Vietnamese people, maybe Vietnamese families.

What I wanted to share with the Mayor is the sponsorship program.  Churches committed to caring for these immigrants.  They helped with housing, jobs, getting settled into American culture, and language issues.  I imagine there are groups in NYC that can do the same thing, especially with the language barriers.  I think families are the most critical need for housing and jobs and building a better future, but I also know singles and couples will be in need.

In Oregon, there are new laws being implemented about homelessness and camping in public spaces.  One interview on the news was a couple with a dog.  The news person asked if they would follow the mandate.  No one talked about the restrictions in shelters against couples and dogs.  I wondered what the government expected them to do, and how to handle the dog issue.  Dogs are a safety issue for homeless people.  Being a couple is a safety issue as well as a human need.  These things don't go away just because you are homeless.  It's been a problem for as long as I can remember.

I think it is foolish of the government to expect people to leave all the things they have struggled to create so they can build a better future just to spend a night in a shelter.  What are they supposed to do with all their belongings, and their dog?  What is needed is a safe space to "live" in their tents as they keep building a better future.

I hate to see this happen.

When I was homeless, I didn't have all the extras.  It was just me.  Just a backpack of some kind.  No pets.  No tents.  No man.  Sometimes a vehicle, sometimes not.  Sometimes kids, sometimes not.  And I tried to find Christian shelters if I could, because I am a Christian.  Things are different in non-Christian shelters and services.  The unsaved don't like the differences in Christian shelters.  This spiritual battle exists in many parts of our lives/world, including within social services.

The Mayor here talked about shelter being a "carrot" to offer the homeless... about offering it over and over again.  Then he said the law has to become a stick (fines and jailtime) to make the homeless change.  This is where the couple with the dog don't fit.  They aren't trying to be difficult, they just want to be together, protect each other, protect their dog, protect their small amount of belongings, protect their lives, and find a better future.  What good will government "interventions" do for their lives? 

So, I will continue looking for better options as I wait for GOD to provide for me and Working Together.  It's all I can do right now.

In Christ,  Deborah Martin  -  https://work2gather.us 

Happy 4th of July to America

We are seeing our freedoms become mandates.  I'm not sure what America will look like in the near future.  I am trying to keep my eyes on GOD and my faith in His ability to accomplish His Will in our time.