Tag Archives: The ten Commandments

Oct 31 2023

Halloween Spending 2023


Armstrong Economics Blog/USA Current Events Re-Posted Oct 31, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The final quarter is the biggest season for retail. The National Retail Federation believes Americans will continue spending this holiday season despite inflation. Halloween alone is expected to reel in $12.2 billion, with the average participant spending $108.24. This marks a $2 billion jump compared to last October 31.

These figures are based on the National Retail Federation’s annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. Around 73% of Americans plan to celebrate the holiday in one form or another. Those cheaply made expensive costumes rake in the most money each Halloween season, and 69% of Americans plan to dress up. Americans are expected to spend $4.1 billion on costumes alone. Pet costumes have become a recent trend that retailers are capitalizing on. Pet owners are expected to spend $700 million on dressing up their pets.

Of the 73% participating, 77% plan to decorate for the occasion, and spending is expected to reach $3.9 billion. About 68% plan to hand out candy to the tune of $3.6 billion. An additional $500 million will be spent on holiday cards.

There are countries with lower GDPs than $12.2 billion. This is a good precursor to overall spending for the holiday season as retailers rely on Q4 to meet their quotas. “More Americans than ever will be reaching into their wallets and spending a record amount of money to celebrate Halloween this year,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Consumers will be shopping early for festive décor and other related items and retailers are prepared with the inventory to help customers and their families take part in this popular and fun tradition.”

Oct 30 2023

Noah’s Arch Found?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Ancient History Re-Posted Oct 29, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Some claim that the stories from the Bible are just stories. Academics have been famous for saying the same thing about Historia Augusta even attributing the fraud to a monk hundreds of years before since it contained names of Roman Emperors they claim never existed. Then, two gold coins were discovered in a hoard in Egypt with the name Saturninus, proving the academic who always seem to put down history but never go out of their offices to verify their claims.

They did the same thing to Henrich Schliemann, even accusing him of fraud, claiming to have discovered the ancient city of Troy. The photo he took of his wife wearing the jewels of Helen of Troy they claimed was costume jewelry.

In the past century, dozens of individuals claimed to have located the ark, but no scientific evidence has been found. The academics have, for the most part, rejected that story as well as being just a story for children, as they said about Homer.

The problem is that the story has also been recorded in that region of Turkey on ancient Roman Coins. This has long raised independent evidence for the “story” of Noah external from the Bible, which the academics seem to go out of their way to discredit as history. The depiction of Noah on Roman coins is struck in Phrygia, which was located in modern-day Turkey. So, the coins come from the very area where Noah’s Ark was supposed to have rested. This demonstrates that this story comes from the very place where Noah’s Ark came to rest.

The Babylonia Epic of Gilgamesh has been of interest to Christians since its discovery in the mid-nineteenth century in the ruins of the great library at Nineveh, with its account of a universal flood with significant parallels to the Flood of Noah’s day. Keep in mind that Abraham also came from this region. Thus, the Biblical account may have been influenced by this story from this region originally.

A team has been excavating a geological formation in Turkey, the place in the Book of Genesis where the mountains of Ararat were. Eastern Turkey is the region in which Noah’s Ark comes to rest after the Great Flood. They have tested the rock and soil and concluded that the site matches the same time frame that the Bible places the Great Flood 5,000 years ago.

These stories also go back to the Sumerian civilization which is one of the oldest civilizations known to mankind, and it is the most developed and advanced civilization, coexisting with a variety of sciences, music, and art. They even had the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, but it was more than just Adam and Eve.

Oct 9 2023

An Examination of Conscience


Posted originally on the CTH on October 8, 2023 | Menagerie 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=2CkQEw5zboY%3Ffeature%3Doembed


This is not a political post. You may vigorously state and defend your opinions. Do it in a civil and respectful way, or do not comment here. If you cannot abide by this one very clear request, I’ll put you on the blacklist. I have the very strong opinion that people who cannot express themselves with respect do not need to be babysat in moderation. Keep to the topic.

Once upon a time, in the Treehouse long, long ago, this was a well practiced custom. The discourse and exchange of ideas was the better for it. Those of you who cannot give and take in this manner take something away from this fine site, and from each other.

You are not out there fighting the good fight. You are just standing on the sidelines, stomping your feet. And before getting your back up, please go back and re-read my second sentence.

If you aren’t clear on what that means, then I suggest you not only studiously read Sundance’s comments, but also our admin Stella’s. Go look for some of her posts and comments here, or go over to her blog, Stella’s Place. She is a master at clearly presenting logic and defending her position without logical fallacies or disrespect. It’s kind of like a classroom for discourse, in my opinion.

I have been intending to do a venting post. Kind of a rant, if you will, for all of us. No great ideas, or study, or thorough examination of a subject. Just a brief few sentences on things I think are wrong. But now isn’t the right time for that, if it ever is the right time.

Yesterday I did a post requesting prayer for Israel. Apparently, a lot of people had a problem with that. A lot of others made a complete mockery of the idea by praying or wishing awful things for the terrorists.

Terrorists whose actions, whose nature, whose belief system and morals are the most awful example of what a human can be. They do not deserve sympathy. We can’t  even put ourselves in their shoes, and try to see their side. They don’t have a side. Hate and evil are not a legitimate platform to examine for worth or understanding. Full on rejection of all they entail is the only logical and moral response, not only for Christians and Jews, but for anyone with a functional brain.

Some of the things I wanted to rant about have a little relevance here. They aren’t unique to me, or original in any way.

I am particularly tired of people who won’t work, who have never worked, and never intend to. Yet each year their lot gets better and mine gets worse.

I am tired of knowing that if I so much as don’t pay a parking ticket, I’ll suffer a trip to court and an expensive fine, while there are murders set free.

I am tired of paying more for goods because a whole group of people believe they are entitled to steal from everyone and suffer no consequences at all. And they don’t suffer any consequences. At all.

And, may I boldly emphasize that the topic and point of this post, and comments, is not about ranting. Maybe another day.

As I said, these few examples, and the others I’d intended to list, have nothing directly to do with my topic. Ah, but indirectly, there’s the point.

I have become so absorbed in my interior rants that I have crossed a line. I’m no longer in a place of righteous anger and seeking justice, justice grounded in God’s law and truth. I am no longer listening as I ought at all times to Christ’s voice inside me. I am no longer looking to him who taught us the both/and way of walking out our lives of faith. The Master who both turned over the moneychanger’s tables and wreaked havoc at the Temple, and rebuked the Sons of Thunder for their thirst for vengeance.

Yesterday was a stark wake up call for me. My own house in not in order. My will is not submitted to Christ. My words do not reflect his teachings. My heart has been given to passions other than that which should at all times be central in my life.

I have failed to carry my cross. I have scorned my cross. I have failed to offer my sufferings to Jesus. I have, through my fault, my most grievous fault, sinned greatly in my anger and pride.

The Confiteor

I confess to almighty God
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done,
and in what I have failed to do;
through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.

Aug 14 2023

I Am Grateful


Posted originally on the CTH on August 13, 2023 | Menagerie 

I am grateful that God in his infinite goodness chose me, formed me, loved me, and never gives up on me. I can’t appreciate completely who and what I am, and should be, but I can trust that God made me with wonderful and loving intent.

I am grateful for family, and friends, especially since they’ve played such a generous part in my care and healing these last three years.

I am grateful for my home, not only a haven and refuge for our extended family, but a little place on the edge of the city where I get to watch for meteors, deer in the field, and ducks, geese, cranes, beavers, and muskrats on the little pond next to the house.

I am grateful that I’ve received life changing medical care.

I am grateful for the little church in the country where we worship, the priest who serves there to bring us the Bread of Life, the Word, and the people there who join in fellowship. I am grateful for the patrimony and gift of my faith, handed down and sacrificed for through these many centuries.

I am grateful for my grandchildren, and the opportunity to see the world through their eyes.

Gratitude can change the world, because it will change your life. May we all remember our blessings every day.

This is just a start.

Jul 20 2023

7.19.23: OLD Guard is being DESTROYED! Envelopes, Indictments, Hollywood, Hannity! PRAY!


By And We Know posted originally on Rumble on: Jul 19, 3:47 pm EDT

Jul 20 2023

LIVE WITH JULIE: REMEMBER WHO IS STANDING BETWEEN THEM AND YOU


JULIE GREEN MINISTRIES Posted originally on Rumble on: Jul 19, 7:30 am EDT

Jun 3 2023

Sound of Freedom – “God’s Children Are No Longer for Sale”


Posted originally on the CTH on June 2, 2023 | Sundance 

There is a new Jim Caviezel movie coming out on July 4th that deserves some attention.  Sound of Freedom is a new Angel Original production, based on the incredible true story of a former government agent turned freedom fighter who embarks on a dangerous mission to rescue dozens of children from modern-day slavery.

Long-term Treepers will remember the deep diving research we did into the issues of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC’s) during the first term of the Obama era.  You cannot go into that world without finding the issue of trafficked children; it is a dark and horrific issue that few can truly fathom.  CTH had to back out of the research because without professional support it has negative psychological impacts. The depravity is pure evil.

That said, Jim Caviezel is a big-time hero, genuinely surrounded by a manifestation of God’s armor, as he pushes through the horrors and brings sunlight onto the issue.  There are approximately 2 million children trafficked every year, and the outcome of what happens to them is beyond disturbing. TRAILER WATCH:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=hyyyKcfJRGQ%3Ffeature%3Doembed

“The movie stars Jim Caviezel (The Count of Monte Cristo, The Passion of the Christ) as Tim Ballard, a man who spent over a decade working as a special agent at the Department of Homeland Security. Sound of Freedom highlights one of his first missions to free dozens of children from sex trafficking and exploitation. It is a story of the fight for freedom and hope, even in the darkest of places.” ~ Visit WEBSITE HERE

The mission of the Sound of Freedom movie is to spark a global conversation about the realities of child trafficking and empower viewers to take unprecedented action to help put an end to this modern-day slavery.

CTH has glimpsed the dark underbelly of the world being described and portrayed in this movie. My hope and prayer are that Jim Caviezel and the entire team responsible for the production of this movie are able to awaken a larger audience to the horrors they outline.  Pray for them.

When you truly understand the nature of this issue, you realize the value in very hard men with Viking level fortitude and intensity that will confront and destroy this level of evil.  Pray for them also.

Lastly, there is only one force in this universe able to destroy this level of evil manifest, that force is the power of God.  Pray for it most!

May 28 2023

Pentecost, The Birth of the Church


Posted originally on the CTH on May 28, 2023 | Menagerie | 10 Comments


Reading I

Acts 2:1-11

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
And suddenly there came from the sky
a noise like a strong driving wind,
and it filled the entire house in which they were.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem.
At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd,
but they were confused
because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
They were astounded, and in amazement they asked,
“Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans?
Then how does each of us hear them in his native language?
We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites,
inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene,
as well as travelers from Rome,
both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs,
yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues
of the mighty acts of God.”

Gospel

Jn 20:19-23

On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gave the Apostles all the gifts they needed to go out and preach the Gospel to the world. Ultimately, all of them except John would die as martyrs.

Pentecost occurs 50 days after Easter Sunday, ten days after the Ascension. Mary and the Apostles prayed together continuously after the Ascension, and this is where we Catholics get our tradition of the novena, nine days of dedicated prayer.

Once, when I was struggling with an especially difficult spiritual battle, a wise priest reminded  me to call upon the Spirit when I prayed, to guide me and help me, but also to deliver my prayers perfected to God. Those words helped me to see the might, power, love, and completeness of the Advocate, and truly brought home to me all the gifts God makes available to us.

Too often we forget to use them. Those words of wisdom from my priest first brought me through a spiritual roadblock I was stumbling around. Since then, they have enriched everything from my understanding of Bible verses and  sermons to my prayer life. Not to mention temptations and struggles in everyday living.

And still, too often I forget to give to the Spirit my internal, inexpressible groanings.

May 18 2023

The Ascension of the Lord


May 18, 2023 | Menagerie 


Gospel

Mt 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

May 1 2023

If God Told You a Secret Today….


Posted originally on the CTH on April 30, 2023 | Sundance

As I am sometimes able to do, today I printed the prayer thread and took it with me.  I light what grandma always called ‘my Jesus candle‘, sit still, then walk quietly through each prayer and request with pause and deliberation.

As I generally do, I also add my own prayers targeting a turmoil that is less specific.  There is bludgeoning in the world; there is also manipulation, deception and ultimately evil. I do not like it; I am repulsed by it; and like you I choose to oppose it in every way I am able.  This is our ultimate zero-sum battle.

The task completed, I also pondered the changes of the past seven months that surround me. The physical landscape where my youth unfolded, forever changed – much of it erased completely.  Then suddenly, for some unknown reason, a thought occurred:

If God told me a secret today that I was not permitted to share; a secret that today was my last day and yet I could not reveal that knowledge, what would I do?

There is a particular clarity of life, a clarity to purpose, that seemingly happens when we put a clock on our endeavors.

Generally, we ignore the clock, abiding to life is much easier that way, and, truthfully, I do not believe there is value focusing on something we do not control.  However, while we do not control the countdown – we do control every choice we make within it.  Thus, the question holds merit, ‘What would I do?‘

If we accept that we can create something, perhaps make it just a little bit better by making a choice, then we have accomplished something; perhaps much bigger than we imagine.  It is a fundamental truth in life that if we change the way we look at something, then what we look at changes.

We always have choices.

I have long felt that life is like a series of links in a chain. You might be driving down the road and you hear a song on the radio, or see a picture, and you feel a memory….

Something triggers within you that reminds of a different time and place than where you are right now.

You reflect.

The memories you consider remind you of a totally different time in your life.

Perhaps you lived in a different place.  Perhaps you were surrounded by different people. Perhaps a different job or completely different friends. You recognize those memories were constructed like frozen moments in time.  They became individual links in the chain in your life.

We never actually realize, in the immediate moment, when one link closes and another link begins. But when we look back, we can clearly see distinct points where things changed, the link closed, and a new link began.

You see, the links are only visible in reflection.

As we reflect, we find parts of the chain in our life where each link closes and connects with the other. A beginning, and an end. At the point where the links are joined, we carry parts of the previous link forward to the next.

For many people those connections are bonded by family, or very strong lifelong relationships. Connections which continue beyond our geographic moments, jobs or temporary acquaintances.

But for everyone, the primary bonding agent brought forward from one link to the next is us, our center, our values and core principles. Our beliefs.

The strength of the steel which comprises the links of our life is forged in the fire of adversity, weakness, challenge, pain, loss, and painful growth. The steel is then cooled with the tears of triumph, hurdles overcome and resolve.

The forging makes the steel stronger and able to withstand the pressures that accompany the additional length. Slowly the chain becomes wiser as it lengthens. Able to reach further, form more significant benefits and become more useful.

Hope replaces fear. Love replaces loneliness. Success replaces adversity. These are successful links began and finished while contributing to the whole.

At times we may manipulate the links with avoidance. We hide from -or choose to avoid- an issue in our effort to begin a new link before the old one was naturally, and spiritually, prepared to be closed.

Eventually, as life continues and the chain lengthens, the weak link can fracture, and we are forced to revisit/repair what we originally chose to avoid.

You see, in life we cannot control the universal laws that guide us. So, if we manipulate circumstances to avoid confronting our own weakness, we cannot fully strengthen our life of links. Eventually, the weakness of our past will impact our future.

So, what principles do we carry from link to link? What core values and beliefs stay with us throughout the journey of our lives? The answers to these questions are what makes us human spiritual beings.

We possess freewill able to make choices about what we do, and how we define our individual humanity; but can we then define ’right’ and ‘wrong’ according to our individual principles? Or are there principles that exceed our influence and definition?

Are there natural laws of right and wrong, good and bad, that cannot be subjected to the determination of man?

These are the bigger questions, perhaps the more important questions; and yet, perhaps the ones we reflect upon the least.

Consider the example of the ‘Law of the farm’ vs. the ‘Law of the School’. Natural principles vs. those made by man.

A student can skip class, take few notes, pay only half attention, then stay up all night cramming for a test and manage a decent grade. It depends on the student’s goal: grades or learning.

The student can choose to manipulate the education, by avoiding the learning and capturing the grade. This is possible in the ‘Law of the School’.

However, a farmer cannot take short cuts. A farmer cannot avoid tending to the soil, preparing the seed, fertilizing and nurturing the crop, and still gain the benefit of an abundant harvest.

The farmer must necessarily do all of the appropriate work in order to benefit from it. Such is the ‘Law of the Farm’, the natural law.

When one considers the weakness remaining within a poorly constructed and manipulated link, perhaps established by selfish choices and driven by avoidance and fear, one can be faithfully assured those who have dealt dishonestly with us will have to visit the issues of their association again.

Conversely, no amount of manipulation or avoidance on our own behalf is going to improve the frailty of any link without first resolving the lack of character which created the weakness.

So, we have choices in our lives. Decisions we each make regarding how we interact and participate in the lives and links of others, as well as how we choose to construct the links that comprise our own lives.

Do we base our sense of purpose around natural principles? Principles based on natural laws of right and wrong, good and bad, truth and lies.  Do we forge strong links by following our heart, our values?

If we can interact with others absent of a prideful self-driven agenda, or manipulative intent, we can then apply such principles and strength to our endeavors.

If we protect the integrity of the soil upon which we build the foundation of our lives, we can live without regret.

If we fertilize and cherish our crop, and the crop of our neighbor, with honesty and sincere appreciation for the souls we meet along our chosen path, we will live a life of abundance.

If we tend carefully to the consideration of everyone, yet holding true to our values and principles, we can strengthen ourselves amid the face of adversity and disenchantment.

If we do not hide from, nor ignore our individual and collective faults, we can build the chain of our life with strength, humility, and purpose.

This context returns me to my original thought:

…If God told me a secret today that I was not permitted to share; a secret that today was my last day and yet I could not reveal that knowledge, what would I do?

I realized I would want to SHOUT a message.

I would want each of you to know how much I cherish and appreciate you.

I would want you, the specific and unique person reading this message, to know that you matter in this grand experience of life.

I would want you to know at the essential core and fiber of your being, that you are of great value to those around you; that you have given more than you have taken; that you have deposited far more than you could ever withdraw.

I would want every intersection of my life to know that I am thankful, blessed and overwhelmed with gratitude.

If today was my last day, I would want to send this message with great deliberateness, urgency and love…. And so I have!

Today is not our last day, but I thank our God for this reminder.  Act like it might be!

Abiding love to all.

Steadfast,

~ Sundance

.

…”Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference”.

~ Robert Frost