Since I have only been paying close attention to politics the last few years, I heard some information about Dirty Politics in the past as compared to today that I was hoping some of you could either confirm or deny. One of my favorite local radio personalities, Phil Valentine of 99.7 put forth this ideal which really has me wondering. Please bear with me as I'm doing this by memory and I don't have much of one at that.

A caller had made a comment about the great division in our country ever since President Bush came into office when Phil started explaining how political animosity really wasn't worse than in the past. He said that in the past it was more of them against us. Them in this instance are the politicians of both parties and us was the voting public.

He talked about how everyone, or at least the major media and those on both sides of the political aisle in D.C. knew that Kennedy had his ladies on the side. Yet no one ever talked about it because back then it just wasn't done. He said the the press was so concerned with being invited to all the right parties and getting perks themselves that they would never want to get on the wrong side of those in power.

He then said that back in the day, that when one of the politicians was doing something corrupt or immoral, they would all try and cover it up because they had this mentality of us against the public.

He said that things didn't really start to change for the press until Watergate, where everyone got so excited about possibly being the next Woodward and Bernstein and that things didn't start to change for the politicians until Reagan and the new wave of Conservatism that he brought in.

He was trying to explain that it's a good thing that the media considers themselves watchdogs of those in power because now they are held more accountable than in the past. Mind you, he is well aware of their biases as he talks about it pretty regularly. Yet, he believes like most that they would sell out their grandmother if it would win them a Pulitzer.

His biggest point was that things are not worse in D.C. than in the past because at least now we have more influence on our leaders and are better able to hold them accountable. Plus it's much better them fighting with each other than against us.

What do you think? Do you remember any of this? Did he get it right?

Elusively yours,
ilja

Which do you believe is worse, trusting too much or not trusting at all?

I was thinking of this the other day because I have such a hard time trusting in certain situations. I know that I sometimes hold people responsible for what others have done to me in the past when they had nothing to do with it and that's just not fair. I think it's horrible when someone doesn't trust me when I've never given them a reason not to trust me. It makes me think that they hold a really low opinion of me because I consider that a slam against my character.

Yet I do the same thing sometimes so how can I say anything with a straight face?

I also have a tendency to be quite naive at times with how highly I think of people who I don't really know at all. I often think that if I really like someone that they hold the same views as myself when it comes to honesty, character and integrity. Then I am extremely disappointed when I learn the hard way that they do not.

I'll never forget one time after my divorce when my ex told me that he didn't want anything to do with my son, whom he had adopted because he was mad about paying child support. I had just assumed that he loved him so much and realized how important he was in my son's life as the only father he ever knew that he would never do such a thing. Thankfully, he got over that and changed his mind. Unfortunately it was after he told my son that he was going to do it.

The thing was that I lived with this man for over 11 years and I had no idea that he was made of so little integrity and character. I thought much more highly of him than that. I lost so much respect for him but it did help me to get over him. Though it still broke my son's heart, I'm sure and probably affected him in other ways that he will never tell me about.

But then again, I'm not perfect either. I have done things that I never thought I would and have sometimes disappointed my friends.

It would seem to me that the ideal way to act when it comes to trust is to be moderate. Don't trust foolishly but don't assume guilt from the outset.

Yet how many of us really do that?

What about you? What do you do? Do you ever really trust anyone? Are you sure they can be trusted? Can you?

Elusively yours,
ilja

Have you ever had a dream or a vision from God? Do you believe that people do or do you think anyone who talks of such things is making it up? Or would you think they were simply nuts?

'In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams. Acts 2:17 (NIV)

I do believe it is still possible today for people to have Dreams and Visions from God. Of course I am one of those crazy Bible-believing, Evangelical, born-again, Fundamentalist Christians so I have a lot of controversial beliefs.

If you did have a dream or a vision of God, how would you know if it was from Him or simply the after affects of a late dinner?

I'm about to share something with you that I have shared with very few people. I did tell this once on an internet forum in the middle of a thread but no one ever responded to my post so I don't know if no one saw it or if they thought I was just crazy and they didn't want to touch it with a ten-foot pole.

When I was about 13 or 14 years old, I use to babysit my niece quite a bit who was a toddler at the time of this incident. She was the first grandbaby in the family, cute as a bug's ear and I loved her like mad. She spent the night with me often and I remember that she loved to watch "The High Chaparral" and even had a little crush on Blue Boy. I thought that was cute for a toddler.

She also use to love to sing and dance and her favorite poem which she would recite for anyone who would listen was "there was a little girl, who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, she was very, very good. When she was bad she was horrid." Then she would giggle real cute and eat up any and all attention that she could get.

I was so crazy about her that I had a special song that I would sing just for her that I never sang for anybody before or after her. That song was the Carpenter's "Close to You". The main reason I would sing it to her was for the following lines:

On the day that you were born the angels got together and decided to create a dream come true, so they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold and starlight in your eyes of blue. Doo da doo, doo da doo.

Obviously, I loved that little girl a lot.

Anyway, one night when she was staying over, I woke up in the middle of the night and saw Jesus standing in my doorway. He was reading me the most beautiful poem I've ever heard about loving children. I wish I could remember exactly what he said but I think I forgot it the very next day.

He looked like all of those pictures you see of him with the long brown wavy hair and I knew who He was immediately. He was wearing the most beautiful, flowing, pastel colored robe. It was dark since it was night but there was light emanating from Him as if he was glowing. It was a beautiful site as was He.

Unfortunately, I was scared. Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to see someone standing in your bedroom doorway. I was so afraid that I turned away from Him and started praying to God saying I know I shouldn't be scared but I am. Would you please make Him go away?

I turned back around and He was gone and I was awake.

What about you? Have you ever had a dream or a vision about God? If you have, do you know if it was from God?

Elusively yours,
ilja

I heard an interesting conversation today on the Glenn Beck show regarding a theory that it may well take a Democratic President for us to win the War against Islamic Fascists. Hear me out first before you jump to conclusions and automatically dismiss this ideal.

This suggestion was raised by a caller to Glenn Beck's show and I'm not sure who said what in the conversation but I thought they made some interesting points and I wanted to get your feedback. I will paraphrase what they said.

For those of you who are old enough to remember, do you recall how the media did story after story on homelessness in America while the first President Bush was in office? Then miraculously as soon as President Clinton was sworn into office, homelessness in America was no longer a big problem and that was without a single piece of legislation being passed in regards to homelessness.

As a matter of fact Bernard Goldberg reported in his book "Bias" the number of stories done on this issue prior to Clinton's term in comparison to the number done after he became President and the difference in the number of stories was staggering.

Next consider how one of our main complaints about where President Bush is weak and that we all would love to find in our next Republican Presidential nominee is the ability to speak directly to the people in a way that will motivate the vast majority of Americans into supporting us in our War on Islamic Fascism.

Most of us Conservatives can see very clearly why we need to fight this war and many of us can even see how going into Iraq was an important part of defeating the Terrorists. Unfortunately, not enough Americans are as well-informed as we are and many are mightily influenced by the dinosaur media. Shoot, even many self-called Conservatives are waning in their support of our War against Islamic Fascists. You can't tell me that day after day of nothing but bad news being reported from Iraq is not have an impact on the collective will of the American people to stick it out until victory is obtained.

Take a deep breath here before continuing if you have particular animosity toward Democrats. Breathe . . . breathe.

Now imagine for a moment that a Democrat wins the Presidency in 2008. Do you really believe that a Democrat would call for immediate withdrawal from Iraq if we still need to stay in Iraq to defeat the Terrorists? Remember now, we aren't talking about a Dennis Kucinich here as someone that far left could never win the Presidency.

No matter who wins the Presidency, they are going to find out just how important it is to defeat the Islamic Fascists if they don't already realize that deep down. Surely you don't believe that all of the Democratic angst against the War in Iraq is because they "really" believe it was the wrong thing to do? Most of it in my opinion has much more to do with the party affiliation of the current Commander-in-Chief.

How do you believe the media is going to report the war once there is a Democrat in the White House? Do you think it is more likely that they will continue to report the news as they have been under a Republican administration? Or do you think it will go the way of homelessness in the transition from Bush 41 to Clinton and suddenly things will start to look up?

I personally believe that there would be a major difference in how the news about the war is reported. If there is a major difference and if the media stops undermining our efforts to defeat the Terrorists, do you not think that will strengthen the will of the American people to support the War against Islamic Fascists no matter how hard it gets?

Plus, do you really think that the Republicans in Congress will suddenly become anti-military and not support the mission simply because there is a Democrat as Commander in Chief? Shoot, they don't even have the C. A. Jones to stand up against the media right now with a Republican in the White House.

Mind you, I am not saying that I want a Democrat in the White House. Yet, I did find this theory quite compelling.

What about you? Do you think Glenn and his caller had a point?

Elusively yours,
ilja

Take a look at this video from You Tube if you have the capability before reading the rest. It's not very long at all, less than a minute. I think it's more powerful to watch it in full screen which you can do by clicking on the little gray box at the bottom right-hand corner of the video.

link

So are you ready? Do you know what would happen to you if Jesus were to return today for His people? Are you a child of God, the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Is Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior?

Are you sure? Do you have doubts?

Regardless if you happen to subscribe to the idea of a Rapture or even if it happens in our lifetime, the day is going to come where we are all going to have to be ready. If we aren't raptured, we know that we will die.

What have you done to make sure you are ready? He says in His Word that no one knows the hour or the day, what if it happened tomorrow? What if it happened today? Would you be ready?

What about your loved ones? Are they ready?

Does it scare you to think about it? When I was younger, it use to scare me to death to think about such things. Of course, I've always been a Bible-believer and have always believed that the Great Tribulation is going to happen one day but I have not always believed that I would go to Heaven.

Don't get me wrong. I was saved when I was 16 years old and believed that if you confessed your sins, asked for His forgiveness and ask Him into your heart that you were saved and would go to Heaven. Yet, I had these doubts that I still wasn't quite "good enough" to make it there. Talk about a doubting Thomas, I was most definitely a doubting ilja.

I learned several (and I won't mention how many ) years later that you can be assured that you are indeed saved. I wish I could tell you exactly how I finally came to that point but it didn't happen overnight and there wasn't one thing that brought me there. Well there is but that's Jesus and I already knew that.

The thing was that my doubts were so many and my inability to just trust that what He says in His Word is true even for me that I struggled so much at accepting it at face value. I kept wanting to be perfect and to quit doing the things that He tells us not to do. Shoot, just the 10 Commandments alone were hard enough to keep, much less loving your neighbor as yourself.

The way it happened for me was by continuously striving to "get right with God" by reading His Word, attending Church and learning from others, praying, spending time just talking to Him, worshiping and praising Him in song, and serving Him by serving others. This was over a period of years but one day it was as if I finally got it. I finally realized that I could never be good enough to make it to Heaven, which was precisely the reason He had to die on the cross to take the punishment in my place that I so deserved.

Don't get me wrong. I am still not perfect and still have so much to learn about God. I still struggle daily in my walk with Him and have a horrible time obeying Him. Yet, the old song about "Blessed Assurance" finally means something to me.

How about you? Are you ready? If Jesus were to come back tonight, would He take you with Him? Are you sure?

27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew 24 (KJV)

Do you know where you are going when you die?

Elusively yours,
ilja

While I don't subscribe to either of their religions, it hit me this morning the strong contrast between the Amish who are mourning their children so brutally murdered and the members of the Westboro Church in Kansas.

You know what these people at Westboro do? They do the same thing that Satan did when he was trying to tempt Jesus in the desert. They take a little bit of truth and twist it for their own evil purposes.

God bless Mike Gallagher for stomaching the sickness of their rantings for an hour in order to save this grieving family from having these anything but Christians rub salt in their wounds.

Then again when I think about the little girl that told the killer to shoot me first, her parents probably would have handled the nutcases with such calm and grace that they would have been put in their place by the obvious difference of what it means to show the love of Christ.

There is word the Amish are proposing setting up a fund for the wife and children of the killer.

God's Word tells us how we can know who are his:

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Matthew 7:16-23

Let's look at the fruit of these two groups:

When the girls realized Roberts planned to kill them, Marian said, “Shoot me first,” Rhoads said.

Barbie said, “Shoot me next.”

“They were trying to offer themselves so the younger girls could be saved,” she said.

Their courageous effort failed. "Laid To Rest" LancasterOnline.com

COLMES: How can you possibly say that — how can you possibly say that young girls who have done nothing wrong, who are innocent, who are just a few years old, who have never sinned, who have never done anything, deserve to die? How could you possibly make a statement like that?

PHELPS-ROPER: You told me that you serve the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who says that when Adam sinned all sinned. There are no innocent human beings. And the parents... <snip>

COLMES: Who serves God besides people in your church?

PHELPS-ROPER: Well, you tell me. I don't see anyone on the landscape in America.

COLMES: Nobody except people in your church, which is basically your family. A few hundred members of your family are the only people on earth who serve God, and everybody else deserves to die?

PHELPS-ROPER: You need to get out on these streets and warn your neighbors that your sin is taking him to , fulfilling the royal law to love your neighbor as yourself. "Radical Westboro Baptist Church Claims Amish Community Was Punished by an Angry God" FoxNews.com

Perhaps if this lady and I use that word generously would like to learn what it means to love your neighbor as yourself, she should listen to the words of the Amish grandfather:

A grieving grandfather told young relatives not to hate the gunman who killed five girls in an Amish schoolhouse massacre, a pastor said on Wednesday.

"As we were standing next to the body of this 13-year-old girl, the grandfather was tutoring the young boys, he was making a point, just saying to the family, 'We must not think evil of this man,' " the Rev. Robert Schenck told CNN. "Amish grandfather: 'We must not think evil of this man'" CNN.com

HANNITY: Have you ever sinned, Miss Perfect here?

PHELPS-ROPER: Of course, you know that I have sinned, and that's not the point.

HANNITY: You have. So you're a sinner. When you die, would you deserve to die?

PHELPS-ROPER: Well, of course all of us deserve to die. But I'm not the one who did die and my message is for those living people who brought that pain upon themselves. link

Jack Meyer, a member of the Brethren community living near the Amish in Lancaster County, said local people were trying to follow Jesus' teachings in dealing with the "terrible hurt."

"I don't think there's anybody here that wants to do anything but forgive and not only reach out to those who have suffered a loss in that way but to reach out to the family of the man who committed these acts," he told CNN. link

PHELPS-ROPER: ... those children were killed at the hands of a raging mad God to punish those families, to punish the state of Pennsylvania, because you've got a governor in that state got on FOX News and lambasted us because we serve God. <snip>

HANNITY: Because you — hang on a second. Because you didn't like Ed Rendell and what he said, you're now going to protest at the funerals to bring pains to the families?

PHELPS-ROPER: To connect the dots. To connect the dots from point A, your filthy manner of life and your rebellion against God...

HANNITY: What are your sins, Miss Perfect?

PHELPS-ROPER: ... and conduct against the servants of God, to point B, the dead children. link

Sam Stoltzfus, 63, an Amish woodworker who lives a few miles away from the shooting scene, told The Associated Press that the victims' families will be sustained by their faith.

"We think it was God's plan, and we're going to have to pick up the pieces and keep going," he told AP. "A funeral to us is a much more important thing than the day of birth because we believe in the hereafter. The children are better off than their survivors." link

Like I said, I don't follow the teachings of either of these groups but I sure could learn a lot from the examples set by the Amish. My heart and prayers go out to them.

Elusively yours,
ilja

I realize that the Prodigal Son has probably been run into the ground with how often people talk about it. Shoot, there use to be a time when I felt sorry for the son that had stayed home because I thought it wasn't fair that he didn't get a big party like his wayward brother did. Needless to say, I have since learned that what may look like the "good" kid on the outside is often much worst than any prodigal.

That being said, the reason I am addressing this is because I've been thinking about the Prodigal son's father. Here's the part that I especially love:

And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. Luke 15:20 (KJV)

Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that just a fabulous picture? Imagine after asking your Father to give you your inheritance early, going and blowing it on things you know will not please him, then to finally go crawling home with your tail tucked between your legs only to have him run out to greet you as soon as he sees you are coming home?

We know the son did not deserve to receive such a greeting. And yet when he was still a "great way off", his father not only welcomed him home with open arms, he went out of his way to greet him.

I picture God doing the same thing with us. No matter what we have done to disappoint Him, no matter how undeserving we are of His forgiveness, much less His love, He always welcomes us home. Not only does He welcome us home, if He sees us finally turning back to Him, He doesn't wait for us to get all the way home, nor does He wait until we are half-way home, He will come and get us if we but turn to Him.

I picture finally turning away from my sins, turning away from my rebellion, even if the only reason I do it is because I have hit rock-bottom and my motives aren't exactly pure, He loves me so much that He will still welcome me home and even throw a party for me.

I don't know that I could do the same thing. Well, I like to think that I would with my son, but I would be hard-pressed to throw the party and kill the fatted calf.

Is it any wonder that God IS Love?

Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame. Song of Solomon 8:6 (NIV)

1 If I could speak in any language in heaven or on earth but didn't love others, I would only be making meaningless noise like a loud gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I knew all the mysteries of the future and knew everything about everything, but didn't love others, what good would I be? And if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, without love I would be no good to anybody. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would be of no value whatsoever. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NLT)

The of course there is this:

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end. 1 Corinthians 13:3-7 (The Message)

And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony. Colossians 3:14 (NLT)

God He amazes me.

Elusively yours,
ilja

I was researching today on the Internet when I ran across the following information at Healthbanks.com about the requirements to be eligible for Hospice Benefits.

Eligibility

The Medicare hospice benefit provides coverage for services related to a life-limiting illness. Hospice care is covered under Medicare Part A benefits. You must meet all of the following criteria to be eligible for the Medicare hospice benefit:

• You must be eligible for Medicare Part A benefits.
• Your doctor and hospice medical director must certify you as having a life-limiting illness with a probable life-expectancy (prognosis) of less than 6 months to live.
• You must sign a statement that documents your intent to receive the Medicare hospice benefit. This means that you agree to receive services to maintain your comfort and control the symptoms of your life-limiting illness and are willing to stop treatments designed to prolong your life. However, your regular Medicare benefits will still cover services for any health problem that is not related to your life-limiting illness.
• You must receive care from a hospice approved by Medicare.

The part that jumped out at me was "This means that you . . . are willing to stop treatments designed to prolong your life." Reading that sent chills down my spine. It sounds too much like something that could be used to legally deny for example someone food and water.

There is a statement later on this same page that might give someone an out if they knew or had the capability to ask for it:

If your condition changes so that hospice is no longer appropriate, you can get your previous Medicare benefits reinstated. You can also re-apply for hospice benefits at a later time if necessary.

Yet it is my experience that most people are quite uninformed when it comes to their medical benefits and to be diagnosed with having 6 months or less to live, one is usually not on their game. Plus this would likely mean that their doctor's diagnosis would need to change before they would be eligible for this exception.

So what do you think? Am I overreacting? Am I wearing my tin-foil hat and just not recognizing it?

Elusively yours,
ilja

Would you feel guilty if you won the lottery and spent more money on a table than the cost of your current home? Would you feel guilty if you bought an extravagantly big home with a tub that is so big it takes 2 hours to get it ready to take a bath in and after living in that house for five years, you have yet to use it? Would you feel guilty if you owned one of only 5 statues in the world of a particular type with the only other one in the U.S. being at Disneyland?

I've been watching "Jackpot" a show on TLC about the homes of lottery millionaires and the above are some examples of their purchases.

These same people also have helped those that they notice around them who are in need, so it's not like they are bad people or even selfish. As a matter of fact, some of them have given away quite a bit of money and sound like they have big hearts.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think there is anything wrong with someone spending their money on whatever they want unless it's illegal or in support of our enemies. However after watching this show, it hit me that all of the money that some of these people are spending on extremely overpriced junk that they wouldn't have dreamed of buying prior to their hitting the jackpot could sure be used to do a lot of good.

I am not saying that I would give all of my money away if I were to win the lottery because I'm sure I wouldn't. As a matter of fact, instead of buying super large homes, I would probably prefer to buy a couple of normal size homes in different locations. Plus I would want to take care of my family and give to the Church. Yet after enjoying a few extravagances at first, I hope that I wouldn't do like some of these lottery winners have done when it comes to simply wasting so much money.

Then again I do love to shop, I love to decorate and I love pretty new clothes. I also love giving gifts to those I love. I would love to be able to travel and stay as long as I would like wherever I went. I wonder if I would get so use to the good things in life that I can't really do much of now and become a different person.

I'm sure that most of these lottery winners were just regular people prior to winning. Yet you hear all the time about another former lottery winner ending up being worse off than before.

What about you? Would you feel guilty for spending so much money on yourself when you consider all the good that you could do for those really in need with the money you waste? Would it make a difference if you were helping those in need to spend money on something so extravagant?

Anyone?

Elusively yours,
ilja