I heard something interesting this morning on a christian radio station. I caught the bare end of the conversation, but it was mentioning how churches need to come together in these hard economic times in order to help those in despair and out of work. They mentioned it needed to be a group effort between churches.
It just came upon my heart to write about this. I don't know if I will take any additional steps, but I am going to put my thoughts down now. This makes so much sense that I can't believe we are not doing this already. Why not start a permanent Monday morning church for those out of work. There are so many possibilities that could come out of this idea. In itself, it could become a place of employment for those in need. There can be ongoing prayer sessions followed by brainstorming sessions. There can be business starting workshops and actual funds to invest in the best ideas. When God's people come together to do God's work, amazing things can happen. What better place for the ministers (all christians should be called to minister) of the city to come together than on one day of the week to do God's work for those truly in need and seeking to take care of themselves and their families. I believe this is something that all the churches can come together to do regardless of denomination, race, and interpretations of the Word. So many things could happen on this day to help God's people and those that are in search of God's love. Lets show it to them. I am going to list a couple of ideas and then will sleep:
-Money handling counseling and accountability sessions
-exercise sessions, possibly charging those not in need (bootcamp) and going to those in need (stimulate the mind and bring people out of depression, not to mention improving health and weight)
-Business starting workshop
-Job brainstorming sessions
-Prayer sessions
-Motivational speakers of the Word of God
-temporary work
-church projects
-teaching to live on less (cooking, selling non essentials)
-job training
-reach out to large corporations to become involved
-community meals sold to the community and prepared by those in need. In the process, the profit and left over food will be shared among those in need each day.
-teaching on faith through hard times
-counseling
-childcare (cheaper childcare for those in need, that can bring in money to those out of work)
-voluntary help with transportation
-groups of people to help those in need (roof repair, yard work, home repairs, auto repairs, etc...)
mentorship programs
-online social network started (those that were helped in the past can help others in the future, ideas are shared with everyone on how to improve their situation)
-voluntary medical assistance
-on the job training opportunities (internships)
The possibilities are endless. I don't know if anything comes out of this, but I at least wanted to get these thoughts down. I will take it to God in prayer and dwell on it more. May God's plan be worked out according to His will and may I be obedient to that.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
What our country is searching for
Its not hard to look at our culture these days and see that there are lots of problems, but sometimes I think we spend a lot more time looking at the effects of the problem and not the cause. We wonder why its less safe for kids to go out and play. Why gangs are rampant and drug use continues to flourish. Why are children shooting up their peers at school and television progressively becoming less wholesome each day. Homosexuality is becoming the norm and pornography is hard to avoid. I would venture to say that the most drastic change in our society in this generation versus previous generations is the breakdown of the family. I believe that God created the family unit for a reason. A child needs a father and a mother to truly learn and adapt to this world. When we do not get the love from both sources, then we look for it somewhere else. Divorce is more common than two parents raising their kids until they leave the house. Men are impregnating women and not taking care of their responsibilities (personal responsibility will be discussed later). I am not writing these thoughts to pass blame, but to point out the cause of the degeneration of our culture. I pray that their can be revival in this land and set people on the right track. I pray that I can have revival in my life and start living a life that truly reflects God's glory. The answer to what we are searching for is love. We search for it in many places, but God is the only true place to receive a perfect love. Drugs, pornography, sex, alcohol, cigarettes, food, and work are all things we become addicted and I would venture to say that we do these things to fill a void that comes from a lack of love. Jesus showed us what true love is when He and the Father made the ultimate sacrifice in order to save us. He took our shame away. We may have our addictions, but its God that can truly fill those voids.
God is the answer. I believe as a nation, we need to start focusing not only on God, but on rebuilding the family unit. We need to stop living in the material world and start focusing on leading our youth. We need to set an example so they will know how to live when they grow. Problems are passed down through generations. I believe that we will continue to lose our morality a little more in each generation if we continue down the path we currently are striding down. I don't know the answer to fix the problems, but I would guess that the first step would be to bring it to God in prayer. This is where I want to start concentrating more time in my life. I know I have gone all over the place in a couple of paragraphs, but let me know if I have stimulated any thoughts or you have any ideas on the direction that our communities, cities, churches and country need to take.
God is the answer. I believe as a nation, we need to start focusing not only on God, but on rebuilding the family unit. We need to stop living in the material world and start focusing on leading our youth. We need to set an example so they will know how to live when they grow. Problems are passed down through generations. I believe that we will continue to lose our morality a little more in each generation if we continue down the path we currently are striding down. I don't know the answer to fix the problems, but I would guess that the first step would be to bring it to God in prayer. This is where I want to start concentrating more time in my life. I know I have gone all over the place in a couple of paragraphs, but let me know if I have stimulated any thoughts or you have any ideas on the direction that our communities, cities, churches and country need to take.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Immigration Reform Ideas
The illegal immigration problem has become quite serious and needs to be fixed. Immigration in itself is a great thing and really helps build the diversity that makes this country great, but the costs and potential threats likely outweigh the benefits until the system is corrected. The potential of a WMD (weapon, virus, etc..) crossing our border is quite scary. It only has to happen one time and we have enemies that would lke nothing more than to create destruction and loss of life here. Anyways, here are some ideas that I have to fix the problems and potentially increase the amount of legalized immigration.
1. Guard the borders. Stop people from illegally entering our country by land and sea. Fencing, satellites surveillance and increased military presence along the border should help solve that problem. Invest in new technologies to monitor the sea and borders.
2. Keep track of people with Visas and enforce them. Our law enforcement needs to review expired Visas and find those that are still here in the country. There needs to be a computer system to track all that are here on Visas and an automatic alert put on them if they have not left the country via our border or airports.
3. After we take care of the current problems, we need to deal with the people that are already here illegally. You can't fault them too much for coming here and trying to make a better life for themselves. Also, our government has done nothing but encourage it. Both political parties probably have their reasons for not seriously dealing with the issue. We always hear about the Democrats wanting more votes and the Republicans wanting cheap labor. There might be some truth on both of those, but I would guess that the biggest issue in solving the problem is that the two sides can't agree on the solution.
The current cost of illegal immigration is helping to bankrupt some states (California) not to mention putting a large cost on our healthcare system driving up the costs for everyone. You can look at the public school system alone and think about the cost of how many teachers the taxpayers have to pay for, not to mention free breakfast and lunch.
Currently, most illegal immigrants are not paying income taxes and some do not pay medicare or social security. Some are paid under the table in cash. Some are using fake documents and claim lots of kids to reduce the amount that is taken from their checks. In general, they are using the services provided by the government while not fully contributing. It is true that some do pay their taxes and can obtain a tax id despite being here illegal. Doesn't it seem backwards that our government would provide a tax ID to someone here illegally rather than deporting them.
My solution is not to kick them out like some hardline conservatives and my solution is not to just legalize them like some hardline liberals. I think the easiest and most fair solution would be to make them earn their legalized status. That would come at a cost, but would give them the opportunity to stay and live the American Dream. First, we should assess an approximation on how much back taxes are owed on each individual. I am not sure on the easiest way to do this, but I would be there are some ways to look at how long they have been in the country (car insurance, apartment lease, etc...). On top of the back taxes and penalties, there should also be a heavy fine placed on them that will be paid over the next 5 or 10 years that they are earning their green card status. After they earn that green card status, then they can follow the normal process to earning their citizenship.
4. After you have dealt with the borders, tracking those that are here temporarily, and the illegal immigrants that are here already then you can deal with improving our current system. Currently, it takes way too long and is too costly to bring over family members to this country. If someone is here legally, following the law and paying their taxes, then they should be able to bring their family here. I think there should be some minimal requirements like proving a place to live and enough potential income to support them, but its so sad that there are mothers and fathers separated from their children and there are adults that can't bring their parents over here to finish their lives. We could easily increase the amount of legalized immigration and have better control on who is entering our country if we control the illegal immigration. Immigration is the backbone of our country. Braindrain alone has brought so much talent to us and away from competing countries. The opportunity here brings the brightest of the world to this land, and we need to continue to encourage it.
Immigration is a beautiful thing, so lets improve the system and then encourage growth! Let me know your thoughts.
1. Guard the borders. Stop people from illegally entering our country by land and sea. Fencing, satellites surveillance and increased military presence along the border should help solve that problem. Invest in new technologies to monitor the sea and borders.
2. Keep track of people with Visas and enforce them. Our law enforcement needs to review expired Visas and find those that are still here in the country. There needs to be a computer system to track all that are here on Visas and an automatic alert put on them if they have not left the country via our border or airports.
3. After we take care of the current problems, we need to deal with the people that are already here illegally. You can't fault them too much for coming here and trying to make a better life for themselves. Also, our government has done nothing but encourage it. Both political parties probably have their reasons for not seriously dealing with the issue. We always hear about the Democrats wanting more votes and the Republicans wanting cheap labor. There might be some truth on both of those, but I would guess that the biggest issue in solving the problem is that the two sides can't agree on the solution.
The current cost of illegal immigration is helping to bankrupt some states (California) not to mention putting a large cost on our healthcare system driving up the costs for everyone. You can look at the public school system alone and think about the cost of how many teachers the taxpayers have to pay for, not to mention free breakfast and lunch.
Currently, most illegal immigrants are not paying income taxes and some do not pay medicare or social security. Some are paid under the table in cash. Some are using fake documents and claim lots of kids to reduce the amount that is taken from their checks. In general, they are using the services provided by the government while not fully contributing. It is true that some do pay their taxes and can obtain a tax id despite being here illegal. Doesn't it seem backwards that our government would provide a tax ID to someone here illegally rather than deporting them.
My solution is not to kick them out like some hardline conservatives and my solution is not to just legalize them like some hardline liberals. I think the easiest and most fair solution would be to make them earn their legalized status. That would come at a cost, but would give them the opportunity to stay and live the American Dream. First, we should assess an approximation on how much back taxes are owed on each individual. I am not sure on the easiest way to do this, but I would be there are some ways to look at how long they have been in the country (car insurance, apartment lease, etc...). On top of the back taxes and penalties, there should also be a heavy fine placed on them that will be paid over the next 5 or 10 years that they are earning their green card status. After they earn that green card status, then they can follow the normal process to earning their citizenship.
4. After you have dealt with the borders, tracking those that are here temporarily, and the illegal immigrants that are here already then you can deal with improving our current system. Currently, it takes way too long and is too costly to bring over family members to this country. If someone is here legally, following the law and paying their taxes, then they should be able to bring their family here. I think there should be some minimal requirements like proving a place to live and enough potential income to support them, but its so sad that there are mothers and fathers separated from their children and there are adults that can't bring their parents over here to finish their lives. We could easily increase the amount of legalized immigration and have better control on who is entering our country if we control the illegal immigration. Immigration is the backbone of our country. Braindrain alone has brought so much talent to us and away from competing countries. The opportunity here brings the brightest of the world to this land, and we need to continue to encourage it.
Immigration is a beautiful thing, so lets improve the system and then encourage growth! Let me know your thoughts.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
My First Post
Here are a few things I would like to dive deep into over the next few months:
• Is God disappearing from the USA
• Political Party Ideas problems with the two party system
• Hometown vs. Washington, how do both affect you
• Does the political battle really matter in the Christian battle?
• Immigration ideas
• Tax ideas
• Globalization reality
• The Future of Energy
• Moral Character and the affect on society
• Breakdown of the Family and the affect on society
• What is going right with our country, how to build upon that.
• Redistribution of Wealth, does it work?
• General ideas to improve
• Schooling
• Religion
• Ideas to rebuild the family unit
• The Abortion effect
• Is God disappearing from the USA
• Political Party Ideas problems with the two party system
• Hometown vs. Washington, how do both affect you
• Does the political battle really matter in the Christian battle?
• Immigration ideas
• Tax ideas
• Globalization reality
• The Future of Energy
• Moral Character and the affect on society
• Breakdown of the Family and the affect on society
• What is going right with our country, how to build upon that.
• Redistribution of Wealth, does it work?
• General ideas to improve
• Schooling
• Religion
• Ideas to rebuild the family unit
• The Abortion effect
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