Happy New Year!‏

Hello Friends!

We at Encouraging Concepts speak blessings over you!  We pray you will enjoy a wonderful coming new year that is full of joy and increased revelation of God's perfect love for you!

The LORD bless you and protect you!
The LORD deal kindly and graciously with you!
The LORD bestow His favor upon you and grant you peace!

- Numbers 6:24-26

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!

 

God bless you and yours!

 
If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com  

I love hearing from you.  Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!

Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><

 

Encouraging Concepts

Truth for Today

"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"

Lighthouse Publications <>< 
"Dedicated to the Never Ending Search for the Creator's calling within You" (TM)

Merry Christmas: The Reason for the Season‏

Hello Friends! 

When I meditate on the person and work of Jesus Christ, I have a sense of wonder when I consider the many paradoxes revealed in His Word. As we celebrate the glorious birth of Jesus this Christmas season, let us give thanks with hearts full of praise for all He is and all that He accomplished for us.

The Reason for the Season

Jesus Christ was born without sin so that He could die for sin. He was beaten so that sinners could be healed. He was rejected by men so that sinners could be accepted by God. He used the foolish to confound the wise and the weak to subdue the strong. He makes His enemies His friends, the poor rich and sinners righteous. He exalts the humble and sets captives free. He taught that giving is better than receiving, that believing must precede seeing, that one must lose his life to find it, that one must die to self to live and the last shall be first. He divides earthly families while uniting His heavenly family - the Church.

 The Lord's incarnation began with the miracle of His conception and culminated with the miracle of His resurrection. He held no degree, yet He became the greatest of all teachers. He was not a doctor, yet He healed multitudes of people where ever He went. Only once did He cross a border, yet His presence has been felt in every nation of the world. He never wrote a book yet countless books have been written about Him. He was raised as a carpenter only to be nailed to a cross made of the very wood that He created. Herod could not kill Him, Satan could not defeat Him, death could not destroy Him and the grave could not hold Him. There has been no greater triumph than His resurrection and no greater defeat than His victory over sin, death and Satan. Jesus Christ is the reason for the season. It is His birth that signifies this blessed day - He is the Christ in Christmas! 

One day, whether we like it or not, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. MARANATHA! - Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!

Have a very Merry Christmas!

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him" - Matthew 2:1—2

If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com  

I love hearing from you.  Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!

Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><

 

Encouraging Concepts

Truth for Today

"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"

Lighthouse Publications <>< 
"Dedicated to the Never Ending Search for the Creator's calling within You" (TM)

World Peace?‏

Hello Friends!

World leaders in America, Europe, Russia, and the Middle East are working to bring about a peace in the Middle East even as three peace agreements between Israel and their neighbors are actually unraveling and may not be in effect for very long.  Let’s take a look at these failed attempts to bring “peace to the Middle East” and what the Bible has to say about this subject…

World Peace?

With three different peace agreements between Israel and her neighbors in place the Middle East peace process is in bad shape but it will be rescued according to Bible prophecy.

In 1979, Israel and Egypt signed the Camp David Accords, the first peace treaty that Israel ever signed with an enemy state. However, it is almost a thing of the past with the present situation in Egypt.

In 1993, the Palestinians and the Israelis also came to an agreement on peace with the Oslo Accords. This one has never been normalized and is not a working agreement because the radical Islamists among the Palestinians have no regard for the treaty and in fact are calling for an armed struggle to eliminate the Jewish state.

In October of 1994, the late King Hussein of Jordan and the late Yitzhak Rabin prime minister of Israel both signed a Peace Treaty between the two nations, with most Jordanians today wanting to dissolve that treaty.

Common to all of these peace agreements is that they have never been normalized!

Even with the peace envoy for the Quartet (USA, European Union, United Nations, and Russia); Tony Blair has not been successful in bringing about peace.

A Prophetic Prospective

However, Bible prophecy does call for a world leader (known as the Antichrist) to come on the scene who will be successful in putting a peace treaty in place that he will make work.

Daniel 9:27 says that the Antichrist will confirm a treaty between Israel and her neighbors. It does not state that he will sign a treaty, but rather confirm, strengthen, and “cause” the treaty work. In order for this to happen, there must be a peace treaty (or three peace treaties) on the table that is not working, in which the Antichrist will then confirm.

In closing

Currently, there are three peace treaties on the table not working, waiting for the Antichrist, a world leader, to appear.

 

Keep looking up!  Jesus’ call for His Church (the Rapture) is eminent!  MARANATHA! – Come quickly Lord Jesus!

 
If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com  

I love hearing from you.  Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!

Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><

 

Encouraging Concepts

Truth for Today

"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"

Lighthouse Publications <>< 
"Dedicated to the Never Ending Search for the Creator's calling within You" (TM)

Occupy Wall Street: Truth for Thought

Hello Friends!

Here are some thoughts concerning the mayhem that took place around the world this past summer and the truth behind the driving factors involved...
 

Occupy Wall Street: Truth for Thought

This past summer, thousands of the younger class of the unemployed, joined by an equal number of lawless teenagers, misfits, drug addicts and unhappy foreign immigrants (mostly Muslim), went on a rampage in London - burning, killing, robbing and rapping at will. Untold damage was done before the rioting was brought under control by the army and law enforcement united from several English cities.

As history has proven, countries such as Russia, China, Mongolia and Cuba succumbed to the social unrest of the discontent which has been used in each of these countries to overturn political systems in favor of the murderous communist systems that killed hundreds of millions. The church in each revolution has been practically eliminated.  In the summer of 2011, the demonic spirit of these past tragic movements to overturn God's order of human government appeared in our own nation under the name of "Occupy Wall Street."

Although Wall Street banking establishments may very well be guilty of some general financial manipulations, the root cause of America's present economic disadvantage and unemployment situation is due to Bill Clinton forcing banks to underwrite millions of housing loans for those who didn't have jobs, as well as illegal immigrants. Bush 41 & 43 also performed much of the heavy lifting for the current Administration. One-world proponents in our political system also opened foreign markets and put the American worker in direct competition with three billion foreign workers earning one dollar or less a day.

The actual guilty money takers such as George Soros and socialistic politicians (representing both parties) like our own president, now point to Wall Street banks and say "they did it." So the "community organizers" of our day - Saul Alinsky style - collected enough of the undisciplined, unemployed, thugs and freeloaders of several other segments of the social order to invade lower Manhattan and occupy Wall Street. Now the movement, as controlled and directed, has expanded to "take over Oakland"; "take over Denver"; and if allowed to continue unchecked, "take over America" is quite possible.

A recent list of those who are supporting the "Occupy Wall Street" movement is as follows:

• Communist Party USA
• The American Nazi Party
• Revolutionary Communist Party
• Black Panthers
• Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan
• Iran's Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Khomeini
• Hugo Chavez
• Revolutionary Guards of Iran
• The government of North Korea
• Communist Party of China
• Hezbollah
• CAIR

The main politicians who have applauded the "Occupy Wall Street" movement have been President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. Whether "Occupy Wall Street" will die out of its own repugnant nature or its own inept volition remains to be seen. If allowed to grow, there is a real danger that this "land of the free and home of the brave" may end up like other nations in the past such as Russia or China. This is a serious problem for America.

Another thing that is not good for our nation is the control of the new media by sub-moralists and pro-communists. Any prospective presidential candidate that is suggested to oppose Obama in 2012 is immediately destroyed by the newspaper and TV commentators.  The news media "Baskerville hounds" are determined to give Mr. Obama and his gay agenda four more years to destroy our nation. The tragedy that has recently occurred at Penn State University is another example of what is happening across supposedly God-fearing America.

A Final Danger:
If there is sufficient social unrest in the wake of this sick social insanity, President Obama may declare that a general election in 2012 in such conditions could be impossible, making Martial Law a real possibility for our nation.

Please join me in praying for our nation, our safety and our salvation alone in Jesus Christ - time is short.  EVEN SO, COME LORD JESUS! 

If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com  

I love hearing from you.  Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!

Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><

 

Encouraging Concepts

Truth for Today

"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"

Lighthouse Publications <>< 
"Dedicated to the Never Ending Search for the Creator's calling within You" (TM)

American Manufacturing: Can it Become Competitive Again?‏

Hello Friends!

Here are some thoughts centered around the Biblical principle of proper stewardship and how it contrasts with the sin of greed.

To illustrate these competing ideals, you will find below is a true story that fully demonstrates the power of character and resolve to do the right thing - God's way...
 

Can American Manufacturing Become Competitive Again?

Since the late 1960s, the United States trade balance has been negative. This means that we are importing more goods and services than we are exporting; hence, we are a net consumer funding our buying binge with our savings and debt. We are experiencing the economic version of the second law of thermodynamics. This law states that order is progressively decaying into disorder. The ultimate state of disorder is death. Economically, when one unabatedly buys more goods and services than one produces, this leads to economic death.

An organization, such as a business, cannot operate like this for long. Organizations, even so-called non-profits, must earn a profit or go out of business—so also with individuals, communities, and nations. The people and organizations of the United States cannot continually import more than they export without draining their reserves or going into debt - or both. 

In the United States, one of the manifestations of being a net consumer is the decline in manufacturing. During the past decade, a number of American companies have seen the manufacturing for their industries migrate to foreign countries such as Mexico, India, and China. The reason is simple - the cost of labor. 

Labor costs in many foreign countries, such as the ones noted above, are dramatically lower than in the United States. For manufacturers to compete globally, therefore, they must seek the lowest costs of production. This drives manufacturing operations to move from high cost areas in the United States to low cost areas in the United States, or, in many cases, to move to foreign countries. The shift in manufacturing leaves many U.S. manufacturing workers either unemployed or underemployed. Nevertheless, many of these Americans seek to maintain their lifestyles by depleting their savings and then by using debt. Instead of facing the insanity of this, federal, local, state, and governments tend to support this choice.

Arguably, the reason this is happening is because of sin.

Consider, for example, Boeing’s recent battle with labor. Boeing, seeking to build its new 787 aircraft more efficiently with “just in time” inventory control and lower cost labor, built a plant in South Carolina that employed non-union labor. The machinist union, believing that Boeing was retaliating against the union, filed a lawsuit against the company. I think it is fair to assume that if the non-union workers in South Carolina voted to join the union, then the union lawsuit against Boeing would probably be dropped. So it appears that the one retaliating is the labor union, not Boeing.

Biblically, retaliation is sin (Proverbs 25:21). When union bosses think only of their own interests, they will make self-centered, self-serving decisions. This is sin.

This situation illustrates one of the reasons why United States manufacturing is no longer globally competitive—self-serving, self-centered labor unions fail to think of the good of the whole. Originally, the Labor unions were formed to counter the nefarious actions of self-centered, self-serving business owners—businesspeople and financers who used unscrupulous means, such as abusing labor, to achieve wealth. 

Labor unions originally had a noble purpose - to fight the sin of unprincipled business owners and management. But over time, the labor unions, at least many of them, became corrupt. I personally experienced the greed of this "union mentality" when I was a member of a local union in my home town back in the early 1990's. There was much corruption and deceit, not to mention the threat of labor strikes every time contract negotiations were in process. So that which was intended to fight sin, instead succumbed to sin.

An illustration of the way labor unions can succumb to sin happened in the mid-1950s. Jimmy Hoffa wanted to make Chattanooga a union town. To make his point, he targeted the McKee Bakery. He determined to make them an example of what would happen to any company that hired non-union labor. Hoffa’s motive was control and power.

A devout Christian couple named O. D. and Ruth McKee owned McKee Bakery. O. D. and Ruth believed strongly in Christian education. To help young people attend some of the local Christian colleges, McKee Bakery hired students. None of the students were union members, though most of the full-time company workers were. Hoffa was determined to eliminate all non-union labor, so he ordered a strike and filed a lawsuit against the company.

The union workers who worked for McKee Bakery honored the strike, but the non-union workers continued to work. Soon violence erupted. The McKee family members and non-union workers were threatened and some even beaten. From January to July, the union pickets harassed McKee Bakery. O. D. wanted to give in, but Ruth stood on principle. There was no law against hiring non-union workers. McKee’s union contract did not prohibit hiring non-union workers, but Hoffa was trying to force the McKees to sign a new contract, using the strike and lawsuit as leverage. The union was simply seeking to force its self-centered, self-serving will on the McKees. The union was sinning and Ruth McKee would not capitulate. The courts eventually ruled in favor of McKee Bakery, which ended the union lawsuit and stopped the picketing. All this happened because Ruth stood on principle and believed that God would protect them.

When the motive of either management or labor is control and power, it is sin. Biblically, God is sovereign over His universe. The responsibility of management and labor is always to seek the will of God. To do this, one must think beyond oneself. One must think about the good of the whole and define success in terms of the many, not the one.

Can American manufacturing become competitive again? It can happen only if both labor and management put aside their personal agendas and interests and start thinking about the good of the whole—stop focusing on wages and benefits and start focusing on ways to produce quality products and services competitively in the world market.

This will undoubtedly require sacrifice on the part of many, if not most, of us. We need to align our budgets with sound biblical economic principles. Not only do we need a balanced budget, we need to save and pay off debt. We need to repent of being consumers and start being good stewards. To do this, we must be willing to adjust our standards of living. God speaks through the marketplace and economic conditions. He alone has the prerogative to determine one’s standard of living. To discern this, one must listen to God’s voice through the economic situation.

We also need government at all levels to support biblical economic principles by balancing their budgets and reducing their debt. Additionally, local, state, and federal governments need to enact policies to encourage citizens to live within their means and build assets instead depleting assets and/or incurring debt. In the end, success is not measured in dollars, it is measured in obedience to God and alignment with His will. We must stop working for our own interests and work for the good of the whole, and in particular, the good of future generations. This is the only way that American manufacturing can become competitive again. 

In closing: 

The second law of thermodynamics applied to physical phenomena is irreversible apart from divine intervention. But applied to economic phenomena, this law can be reversed. All that we must do is repent of our financial and economic sin and then align with God’s will for financial stewardship. American manufacturing can be competitive again, but only if Americans choose to obey God. The bottom line is that if we don’t embrace biblical economic principles, we will die economically; but if we embrace biblical principles, we will prosper. May the Lord give us grace to prosper. 

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He will do it.  He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday.  Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him - Psalm 37: 5-7

If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com  

I love hearing from you.  Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!

Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><

 

Encouraging Concepts

Truth for Today

"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"

Lighthouse Publications <>< 
"Dedicated to the Never Ending Search for the Creator's calling within You" (TM)