Similarities Between CPUSA & Democrats

This is taken from the DNC Platform 2008 and compared against the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA).

CPUSA: Immediate Relief. A moratorium on foreclosures and evictions. Reset mortgages so payments are affordable.
Democrats: We will ensure that the foreclosure prevention program enacted by Congress is implemented quickly and effectively so that at-risk homeowners can get help and hopefully stay in their homes. We will work to reform bankruptcy laws to restore balance between lender and homeowner

CPUSA: Assist deficit-ridden state and local governments so they can preserve services and jobs.
Democrats: This will include assistance to states and localities to prevent them from having to cut their vital services like education, health care, and infrastructure.

CPUSA: Fund “ready-to-go” infrastructure projects.
Democrats: We will start a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank that can leverage private investment in infrastructure improvements, and create nearly two million new good jobs.

CPUSA: Enact the Employee Free Choice Act to enable workers to form unions without intimidation and win higher wages and benefits, dignity and respect.
Democrats: We will strengthen the ability of workers to organize unions and fight to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

CPUSA: Enact HR 676 the US National Health Insurance Act to provide universal health insurance with singlepayer financing.
Democrats: Health care should be a shared responsibility between employers, workers, insurers, providers and government. All Americans should have coverage …

CPUSA: Fully fund public education from pre-school through higher education and technical training.
Democrats: We will provide all our children a world-class education, from early childhood through college. We will develop innovative transitional job programs that place unemployed people into temporary jobs and train them for permanent ones.

CPUSA: No privatization of Social Security or Medicare. Expand and improve benefits.
Democrats: We will fulfill our obligation to strengthen Social Security and to make sure that it provides guaranteed benefits Americans can count on, now and in future generations. We will not privatize it.

CPUSA: Restore Civil Rights Act enforcement, affirmative action in employment, education, and housing.
Democrats: We will restore professionalism over partisanship at the Department of Justice, and staff the civil rights division with civil rights lawyers, not ideologues. We will restore vigorous federal enforcement of civil rights laws in order to provide every American an equal chance at employment, housing, health, contracts, and pay.

CPUSA: Preserve Roe v. Wade.
Democrats: The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right

CPUSA: Expand voting rights. Enact publicly financed elections, same day registration, voting rights for ex-felons, verifiable voting equipment, and instant runoff voting.
Democrats: We oppose laws that require identification in order to vote or register to vote, which create discriminatory barriers to the right to vote and disenfranchise many eligible voters; and we oppose tactics which purge eligible voters from voter rolls. We are committed to passing the Count Every Vote Act.

CPUSA: Restore Fairness Doctrine in media.
Democrats: We will encourage diversity in the ownership of broadcast media, promote the development of new media outlets for expression of diverse viewpoints, and clarify the public interest obligations of broadcasters who occupy the nation’s spectrum.

CPUSA: Ratify Kyoto Treaty and other climate change agreements.
Democrats: We need a global response to climate change that includes binding and enforceable commitments to reducing emissions, especially for those that pollute the most: the United States, China, India, the European Union, and Russia.

CPUSA: Enforce nuclear non-proliferation, work to abolish nuclear weapons.
Democrats: America will be safer in a world that is reducing reliance on nuclear weapons and ultimately eliminates all of them. We will make the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons worldwide a central element of U.S. nuclear weapons policy.

A Small Federal Government and Human Depravity

"In questions of power then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution," - Thomas Jefferson

It's evident that Jefferson had been reading his Apostle Paul, for Paul said by inspiration of the Holy Spirit that he put no confidence in the flesh.

We had wise leaders in the infancy of our nation. They recognized the depravity of man.

If only more of our leaders and citizens today would open God's book and apply it to their lives. When I hear politicians talking about the "enduring flame of the human spirit" and other such garbage, it makes me think they've been reading Marx instead of Mark, Darwin instead of Daniel. Goodness comes from God, not man. Man is a sinner by nature and by practice, and he needs to be restrained by law.

Our federal government is supposed to be kept as small as possible. Our founders knew that too much power at the top in a centralized fashion would result in that power growing uncontrollably until it could not be contained.

It's time our leaders and citizens return to these truths.

"If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him." - I John 2:29

"Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God." - III John 1:11

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." - James 1:17

"For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh" - Philippians 3:3

"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" - Romans 5:12

"What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" - Romans 3:9-23

The Answer

"Life'll make sure that you've got your trouble
Life'll make sure that you work too hard
Ain't nobody that don't get tired of watchin' troubles pile up big in their own back yard"

The answer to life's problems doesn't lie in your job. The fulfillment it brings will wane.

The answer doesn't lie with beer, though that may taste good.

It doesn't lie in a vacation. Life's problems will be waiting when your vacation is over.

The answer doesn't even lie in your loved ones, for life is fragile and they could be gone in an instant.

The answer, dear ones, is with the One who holds the seven seas in the palm of his hand. The One who has been given a name that is above every name. He is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thankfulness

"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations." - Psalm 100:4-5

My thoughts have been on thanksgiving lately. I have not been thankful enough. And even when I've felt thankful, I've only recently come to see that there is a whole level to thankfulness that I've been missing. Let's look at some lessons from God's holy word.

In Numbers 11, the children of Israel had been led out of Egyptian captivity by the mighty hand of God, and he was sustaining them and providing them with manna to eat. Yet rather than being thankful, they began to want more. Numbers 11:4 says they "fell a lusting". In verses 5-6, they said, "We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick; But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes."

Brothers and sisters, sometimes there are things in this life that appear to be better for us than what we currently have. Yet what we think is best for us isn't always what is truly best for us. God knows us better than we know ourselves.

We must also remember an important truth that is contrary to our selfish nature: Our life on this earth should not be centered around concerning ourselves with what's better for us. We do not find such a concept in the scriptures. What we do find is that our lives are supposed to be about bringing glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And if the path on which he has directed us brings more glory to him as a result of our enduring hardships, how dare we complain!

"...but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps," - I Peter 2:20-21

The Apostle Peter tells us here that it is acceptable with God if we suffer for doing well, for we were called to do that, because we are following in Christ's steps. If we do good yet experience suffering as we live on this earth we are in good company, because Jesus did no wrong yet he was crucified.

Peter goes on to tell us in Verse 14 of Chapter 3, that "if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye". In other words, we should be thankful even if we encounter hardships when we do what is right. How contrary such concepts are to the philosophies we hear in our world today! But Christianity has always been in opposition to this world's philosophies. In Acts 17, the disciples were said to "have turned the world upside down". The truth be told, this world has been upside down since the fall in the garden of Eden. The preaching of the gospel by the disciples in Acts 17 was turning some of the world right side up, but the gospel has always appeared upside down to those "which believed not" (Acts 17:5).

As we continue to look at the concept of thankfulness by reading in Numbers 11, Verse 10 tells us that "the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses was also displeased." In Verse 20, God tells them, "ye have despised the LORD which is among you..." Together with the scriptures referenced earlier from Numbers 11, these words bring to light a sobering truth: To be ungrateful to God for his blessings or to question him because we don't have what we desire in our hearts is to despise him. I remember a dear brother preaching on God's sovereignty once, and he uttered the statement, "The audacity of a man to question God!" Amen!

The Apostle Paul told Timothy in I Timothy 6:8, "And having food and raiment let us be therewith content." A preacher said once, "That means 'bread and britches'." But how many of us are satisfied, as we ought to be, with simply having food and clothing? Brothers and sisters, to be otherwise is to despise God.

Most of us have dreams...goals...ambitions. There is nothing wrong with doing so. In Titus 3:12, we read where Paul made plans for the winter: "When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter." Yet while we make plans and set goals, we should not let our happiness hinge on the outcome of such plans. Proverbs 27:1 tells us, "Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." Though he was given divine revelation, Paul didn't always know what a day would bring forth. We read where he experienced shipwreck during some of his travels, yet he is the same man who wrote in Philippians 4:11, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."

Are we content with food and clothing? Are we thankful for the smallest things in life, even the suffering we sometimes endure for righteousness' sake? I fail daily at having this attitude as I ought. But as we reflect on thankfulness, how appropriate to also remember that we can be thankful we serve a merciful, longsuffering Heavenly Father who loves us even when we fail! But let us seek to please him by conforming our attitudes more to what is taught to us in his holy word.

All praise be "to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb," - Revelation 7:10. God bless you all!

Driving Life, Part Two: Spiritual Wrecks

Driving is a serious matter with potentially dangerous consequences, and our life in this world is no different. When driving a vehicle, the failure to constantly make those little necessary corrections might result in you drifting into the wrong lane of traffic. And you may get away with driving into the other lane for a while, but eventually it'll catch up with you and you'll have a wreck. This will not only impact you; it will also impact someone else's life. If you're driving and you have a wreck with another vehicle, it may be more than yourself that is affected. You may severely injure or kill someone else. You could also hurt someone close to you (for example, if a family member or a friend is in the car with you).

By comparison, our "spiritual wrecks" in this life can severely impact our life, the lives of our loved ones, and the lives of strangers. Though our sins are forgiven eternally, often there are consequences to sin that we have to live with here in time—consequences that we may never be able to change. Just as a wreck while driving may result in a fatality or serious injury, our spiritual wrecks may impact our life and the lives of others for years or even decades.

Sometimes mistakes happen and traffic accidents are not our fault; but often they can be avoided by drivers taking heed to themselves and practicing defensive driving. We are constantly warned about how texting, talking on the phone, or playing with our iPod while driving will distract us and cause an accident. And how many spiritual wrecks in this life could be avoided if God's children were taking heed to themselves, putting on the whole armor of God, and practicing "defensive living" by not setting their affection on things on this earth?

Some scriptures for consideration:

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour..." - I Peter 5:8

"Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober." - I Thessalonians 5:5-6

Your spiritual problems can affect others in ways you may not imagine. You may sometimes feel that no one cares or you may feel that you are "less than the least of all saints", but all the while there is someone looking up to you. Mr. Gene Currie, an influential teacher in my life, taught me this important lesson when I was a freshman in high school. Follow me as I share this brief story.

Mr. Currie reminded us that the year before (8th grade), we were the "big kids on campus" at the junior high school. We perhaps felt important at that time. Mr. Currie basically said, "But just think, even though you felt important in junior high, you were looking up to the high school kids" (even the freshman). And Mr. Currie was right. When we were in junior high, we looked up to the high school kids and emulated their behavior. Mr. Currie pointed out to us that because we were now in high school, the junior high kids were looking up to us even though we felt like we were on the bottom rung in the ladder of life. Lesson: there is always somebody looking up to you even when you're feeling low.

The lesson that someone is always looking up to us should make us feel a sense of responsibility, just as we have a great responsibility when driving. And sometimes we don't want this responsibility. You may be thinking, "But I have so many problems in my life to deal with. I can't be constantly worried about what other people think of me!" Well, I agree. First thing's first. Deal with the major problems in life as your first priority. There's the old saying, "Rome wasn't built in a day." It may take baby steps. But to completely dismiss the idea that we shouldn't be concerned with what other people think of us is to be irresponsible and go against scripture. There are multitudes of scriptures which teach us that we have a responsibility in how we conduct ourselves before our brethren and sisters. Some examples:

"Abstain from all appearance of evil." - I Thessalonians 5:22

"A GOOD name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold." - Proverbs 22:1

We have a responsibility to be shining lights in this dark world. The Lord Jesus Christ told us, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." - Matthew 5:16

The Apostle Paul taught us a great lesson when he said, "Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend." - I Corinthians 8:13. The entire chapter of I Corinthians 8 is fascinating. But the primary lesson I draw from it is that we are to prefer others before ourself, even if it means we have to give up something we love.

When we prefer others before ourself, we help them along the roadway of life. The holy scriptures tell us, "Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it;" - Proverbs 3:27. When you see a person having car trouble on the side of the road, you stop and help them. And sometimes your car is broken down and you need someone to stop and help you.

My brothers and sisters, many spiritual wrecks in this world can be avoided by taking heed, being sober, and watching closely. But when those problems in life do occur, let us be there to provide "first aid" to our brothers and sisters in need. We may need them to be there for us someday. Let us be like the good Samaritan who had compassion, for without God's grace we would all be in an unthinkably worse condition.

Praise be to Him in all things!

Driving Life, Part One: Lanes

Tom Cochrane had a hit song "Life Is a Highway" back in the 1990s. My thoughts lately have been on how different aspects of our life—especially in a spiritual sense—can be compared to highways and driving.

On most roads where I grew up, there were two lanes of traffic with one lane going each way. If you want to get to your destination using such a road, you get in the lane going that direction and stay there. The other lane, although it looks very similar to your lane, will take you in the opposite direction from where you want to be going.

God says in His word that you cannot be a friend of the world and friend of His. In James 4:4, we are told, "...know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." If you're a friend of the world you're an enemy of God. Pick one direction and go with it. If you're not going God's direction, then you're either going the enemy's direction or you're standing still and will eventually get run over. (Just like you'll get run over if you try to stand in the middle of a highway.)

As I said before, both lanes of traffic can look very similar. To know which direction you need to go, you need to look at the map (read the Bible), ask for directions (listen to gospel preaching), or have an excellent sense of direction (guidance of the Holy Spirit). My contention is that God would have us to use all three of these methods for finding our way as we go about this life.

When driving, you have to constantly be turning the steering wheel to keep the vehicle aimed in the correct direction. Did you ever watch children when they pretend to drive? Even they know this! You'll see them using both hands to turn the wheel from side to side a lot. Of course, it's humorous to watch them because they do it in such an exaggerated fashion. But we can learn a great truth from such an observation: We have to take heed and constantly be on guard in our lives, and we need to be constantly making little adjustments here and there. There are many distractions and false teachings along life's highway. These distractions or false teachings can cause us to go too far to one side or too far to the other side; and either way, we end up in a ditch. I've found that the answer usually lies somewhere in the middle—"just to the right of center," so to speak.

Successful driving—and a successful spiritual walk in this world—requires paying close attention. The Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 4:14 that we should "henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive..." Such a verse puts me in mind of the tumbleweeds we see blowing across the road here in West Texas; they are carried about by the wind with no control over where they're going next. Brothers and sisters, the optimal spot for us on life's highway is directly in the center of our lane and headed in the proper direction, constantly taking heed.

Puzzles

I've spent a lot of time working jigsaw puzzles. My granddad enjoyed putting them together, and most of the puzzle time I've invested was at my grandparents' house.

I was thinking how puzzles relate very well to different aspects of our lives.

Some single men or women may have a list of qualifications they're looking for in their eventual spouse. But in the end, the person they end up with may be completely different from what they imagined—perhaps even better than they imagined. God knows what is best for us even when we don't. I've heard many stories, some first hand, of people who thought they knew what they wanted when all along God knew better than they did. God can make the right man and right woman fit together just like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

And two jigsaw pieces can sometimes be nothing alike, yet they fit together. Many times I've been putting together a puzzle, and I'll be looking for the matching piece to a piece I have in my hand. When I eventually found the matching piece, it wasn't what I had pictured it to be.

When you're working a puzzle, sometimes you find two pieces right away that fit together. And how often is this true of men and women? I've known of multiple cases where a couple found each other when they were very young, and they ended up having a happy marriage.

Other times when working a puzzle you may spend thirty minutes, an hour, or even days trying to find the right fit for one particular puzzle piece. By comparison, some men or women may wait or search for years or decades before the right person comes along.

The Lord's church and her gifts can also be compared to a jigsaw puzzle. God has given different gifts "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ," (Ephesians 4:12). And we should be thankful that we're not all alike. The different gifts fit together beautifully just like the beautiful picture of a finished puzzle.

We all have our strengths, and we all have our weaknesses. Some of God's people are so focused on adhering to the doctrine taught in the Bible and contending "for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3) that they fail to show forth love as they ought. They don't show forth charity as the Apostle Paul taught in I Corinthians 13.

But some of God's children go too far the other way and are so concerned with loving everybody and keeping the peace that they aren't paying attention to the other important work of maintaining discipline and seeing that all things are "done decently and in order," (I Corinthians 14:40).

You need those hard, straight lines sometimes—they're the edge pieces that make sure we stay within a particular border. But we need those others, too. That's where the beauty of the jigsaw puzzle normally lies: in the middle where the pieces have rounded edges. It's a beautiful thing to see brothers and sisters in Christ showing forth love and showing their softer sides.

We all have our gift. We all have our place to fill. Are you filling your place? Or are you that piece that fell underneath the table and is keeping the puzzle from being as beautiful as it could be? Maybe you're a missing edge piece. Maybe you're one of those hard, straight lines that the church needs to make sure we adhere to the doctrine taught in God's book. Maybe you're one of the pieces with rounded edges that could be following Paul's exhortation to "comfort the feebleminded" (I Thessalonians 5:14) and "edify one another" (I Thessalonians 5:11).

Did you ever work a puzzle with sky, or clouds, or grass? There are sometimes a lot of pieces that look alike. Take the sky, for instance. Had they feelings, those blue pieces may feel as if they have no special gift. Yet each one of them is unique, and each one has its proper place. And the puzzle just isn't the same without each one of them in their proper place, doing what they were called to do.