During President Richard Nixon’s administration, he coined the phrase “War on Drugs.” In the 1980s and 90s Mexican drug cartels began to rise to power becoming stronger than the Mexican military. Now, the war on drugs has reached new levels. Since 2006, over 10,000 people have been killed and the start of 2009 has shown no decline in deaths along the U.S. and Mexico boarder.
How does this drug war relate to you and me? The Justice Department reports that Mexican drug organizations have a sophisticated network of distribution points throughout the United States. Among those are obvious boarder states like Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California. However, they are moving their centers north to places like Wichita, Kansas; Billings, Montana and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There are 230 cities where the cartels have operations. From urban to rural communities, many are at risk.
What drives the risky business of illegal drugs? The user. What would happen if there were no more users? Like a regular business, if people no longer bought the product, business would shut down. What would have an immediate impact on the drug war? If people no longer used illegal drugs. Sales would stop, street values would plummet, profits would be cut and the lure of making a fortune in drug trafficking would be gone.
What is the leading cause of drug abuse that dealers depend upon? A person’s need for help in coping with physical pain or emotional trauma. All of us experience real and serious challenges every day. For some, their defense or escape mechanism is drugs. However, I believe that most users, when thinking straight, really do want to quit.
If you are hooked, you can be free. A drug dealer is not genuinely concerned about your problems. It is a business and they want their money. However, someone sincerely cares about your welfare – Jesus, God’s Son. He is not primarily interested in your money. He is interested in you, your present and your future. God says, “For I know the plans I have for you . . . plans for wholeness and not for evil to give you a future and a hope” (The Bible, Jeremiah 29:11, ESV). He loves you. He wants to be your Savior and save you from your sin of drug use or even drug dealing. Will you turn from your addiction and find freedom through the complete forgiveness of Jesus? May He be your hope for today.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Who is your HP?
“Tom, do you believe in God?” “Yes and no. I believe there is a God, but I choose to believe in my higher power.” According to different religious surveys, more Americans believe in a higher power then ever before. In 2008, one survey found that 92% of American’s believed in God or a higher power. In another religious survey rolled out last month it found that atheism has doubled in America, and another pollster found that even 21% of atheists are open to belief in a higher power.
Alcoholics Anonymous coined the phrase “higher power” or HP in the 1930s through their 12-step program. The modern consensus of a higher power is something that is greater then yourself, which is some type of god or supernatural force. One website asked people to talk about their higher power. One person said they wanted a higher power that was “on my side and non-judgmental”. Another said, “Mine has a sense of humor and helps me”. One more said, “I sat down and wrote out a list of qualities I wanted in mine.”
Many people find comfort believing in a higher power because it gives them an alternative to how they were raised, brings flexibility to their beliefs and allows them to live how they choose. Yet, their higher power generally does not have a name and there is no reliable source to find a clear description of who their high power is or what it does.
Through my personal experience and study, I believe there is a Being who meets and exceeds what millions are looking for in their higher power. This Being is not just a wandering supernatural force among countless others. He is a person. He has a name. He is above all. And there is a reliable source where people can learn about Him.
This month millions around the world through Easter celebrations are remembering His life. His name is Jesus and you can learn about Him through the Holy Bible. Through reading the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, you will discover Jesus. One writer describes Him as “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (The Bible, Isaiah 9:6, ESV). I believe He is what you and many others are searching for. May Jesus be your hope for today.
Alcoholics Anonymous coined the phrase “higher power” or HP in the 1930s through their 12-step program. The modern consensus of a higher power is something that is greater then yourself, which is some type of god or supernatural force. One website asked people to talk about their higher power. One person said they wanted a higher power that was “on my side and non-judgmental”. Another said, “Mine has a sense of humor and helps me”. One more said, “I sat down and wrote out a list of qualities I wanted in mine.”
Many people find comfort believing in a higher power because it gives them an alternative to how they were raised, brings flexibility to their beliefs and allows them to live how they choose. Yet, their higher power generally does not have a name and there is no reliable source to find a clear description of who their high power is or what it does.
Through my personal experience and study, I believe there is a Being who meets and exceeds what millions are looking for in their higher power. This Being is not just a wandering supernatural force among countless others. He is a person. He has a name. He is above all. And there is a reliable source where people can learn about Him.
This month millions around the world through Easter celebrations are remembering His life. His name is Jesus and you can learn about Him through the Holy Bible. Through reading the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, you will discover Jesus. One writer describes Him as “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (The Bible, Isaiah 9:6, ESV). I believe He is what you and many others are searching for. May Jesus be your hope for today.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
A Lesson from Lincoln
On October 4, 2008, former President Bush signed a $700 billion bailout bill and last month, on February 17, President Obama signed a $787 billion stimulus package. The combined pieces of legislation represent $1.487 trillion, the most expensive government actions in the history of our nation and as one commentator said, “Maybe even the history of the world.”
The two bills were responding to a series of crises – the mortgage crisis, the banking crisis, the market crisis and the unemployment crisis. Depending on what party you are from you may see the solution differently. One party sees the answer in government spending more to simulate the economy, while the other feels it is better to cut taxes and allow the citizens to spend more. In the end, both look to money as the savior of our economy.
Former President Abraham Lincoln has been getting much attention recently. We can learn a lesson through observing how Lincoln and Congress responded to their national crisis. During the civil war, when our nation was literally divided and on the brink of collapse, U.S. Senator James Harlan of Iowa introduced a resolution for a time of national prayer. The resolution stated,
“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!”
President Lincoln and both chambers of Congress agreed with Senator Harlan. The resolution was approved and signed on March 30, 1863, with an urgent call to a national day of prayer scheduled just 30 days later on April 30.
There are many other times in American history when our nation was facing difficult times. Our national leaders and its citizens formally humbled themselves and called upon God for His help – God responded!
May we realize that the future hope of our nation will not come from the wealth of our own wisdom or prosperity. It comes from God. May we not forget Him in this hour of need. In this fragile world, may He be our hope for today.
The two bills were responding to a series of crises – the mortgage crisis, the banking crisis, the market crisis and the unemployment crisis. Depending on what party you are from you may see the solution differently. One party sees the answer in government spending more to simulate the economy, while the other feels it is better to cut taxes and allow the citizens to spend more. In the end, both look to money as the savior of our economy.
Former President Abraham Lincoln has been getting much attention recently. We can learn a lesson through observing how Lincoln and Congress responded to their national crisis. During the civil war, when our nation was literally divided and on the brink of collapse, U.S. Senator James Harlan of Iowa introduced a resolution for a time of national prayer. The resolution stated,
“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!”
President Lincoln and both chambers of Congress agreed with Senator Harlan. The resolution was approved and signed on March 30, 1863, with an urgent call to a national day of prayer scheduled just 30 days later on April 30.
There are many other times in American history when our nation was facing difficult times. Our national leaders and its citizens formally humbled themselves and called upon God for His help – God responded!
May we realize that the future hope of our nation will not come from the wealth of our own wisdom or prosperity. It comes from God. May we not forget Him in this hour of need. In this fragile world, may He be our hope for today.
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