Exile, but there is hope ... Thanks Ramey H.!

ramey hoskins	8:47 PM (31 minutes ago)
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From the Desk of:
Steve Elliott

November 7, 2012

Four more years ... of exile.  But there is hope.  Please read my thoughts on where we go from here.  --Steve

I'm writing to you to explain why, even after a late and discouraging evening that stretched past 1:00 a.m. on the East Coast, I was back at the office before 8:00 a.m. this morning.  And why the sinking feeling I felt last night has already been replaced with a deep determination.

And why I'm going out to buy equipment for our new office this afternoon.

And why we are going to build, build, build -- despite a stunning and, for me, unexpected defeat.
Let's Be Clear:  We Just Got Pummeled.

Before I go on, let's be clear: last night was a defeat, and I didn't see it coming.  I expected a "Tea Party Wave" -- perhaps a 300+ electoral-vote victory for Romney.  All the signs seemed to be there.  The 2010 elections, the failed recall of Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and even the Chick-fil-A Day pointed to a re-shaped political landscape.  The polls and crowds made it clear that there was more enthusiasm with Romney.

But that wave never came.  The people did not rise up and reject Obama's statism.  Quite the opposite -- 15 million fewer people voted, and Romney earned less votes than John McCain did four years ago.
Far Worse Than 2008

Upon reflection, what happened last night was far worse than what happened in 2008.  Our first "dance" with Obama was mostly about smoke and mirrors -- "hope and change" that was never really defined.  For many Americans, Obama 2008 was more an idea, an idealized dream and a collective catharsis from our dark past.

But Obama 2012 was something altogether different because now we know the real Barack Obama.  We watched him advance the most radical leftist agenda since at least FDR.  We saw him rape and pillage the free market and impose a government takeover of industries.  We witnessed him go to foreign nations and apologize for America and then leave our people alone to die in Benghazi.
This time we knew Barack Obama.  Yet a majority of American voters said, "More!"  The opposition to Obama's agenda never really showed up at the polls.

We can try to console ourselves by saying it was a close election ... that the leftist media gave Obama the election ... that we couldn't really expect a Northeastern liberal Republican to be our standard bearer ... that a bizarre hurricane swung the election.

All that may be true.

But it matters little now.  And the less time we spend blaming each other or the trickery of the other guys the better.

So here's why I'm more determined ... why I'm building.
A 2,500-Year-Old Letter Written for Today
I want to share with you a letter that, although 2,500 years old, it could have been written this morning.  For us.  For faithful patriots who feel like they just discovered they will have to live at least the next four years in exile.

This letter was written to Jewish exiles who had been pushed out of Jerusalem and forced to live under a tyrannical ruler named Nebuchadnezzar.

The exiles wanted one thing: they wanted to be re-established back in Israel.  They even had a prophet named Hananiah come to them and tell them that their time of exile would only last two years.

You can read about it in Jeremiah 28.

Hananiah was a false prophet.  He died.

And so Jeremiah wrote a letter to the exiles.  You've probably heard a part of that letter recited many times.  It's one of the most commonly quoted passages in the entire Bible.  Unfortunately, this passage is mostly taken out of its proper context and delivered as a "feel good" word that everything is going to be O.K.

One of my friends was quoting this verse yesterday morning:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Those words sound so good.  The future is bright.  God has a plan for prosperity, for a real hope and a real future.  On the eve of the election, it must have meant a Romney win, the GOP takes the Senate and we start the rollback of the Obama regime, right?

Not exactly.
The Plan Was Exile

Here's the shocking context of Jeremiah 29 (and I offer to you, the context for November 6, 2012): the plan was exile.

That was the "plan" Jeremiah's letter was talking about.  I encourage you to go read all of Jeremiah 29.  Here is the immediate context:

This is what the Lord says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.  For I know the plans I have for you ..."

The plan was 70 years of exile.  Keep that in mind the next time someone quotes Jeremiah 29:11 to encourage you that your time of trouble will soon end.  Not only was the exile going to last 70 years, the exile WAS the plan!

If you don't believe me, go back and read the beginning of the letter, from Jeremiah 29:4.  Here you'll see the Lord (through Jeremiah) giving the Jewish exiles specific instructions on how to conduct themselves in exile:

--Build houses and settle down.

--Plan gardens and eat what they produce.

--Marry and have sons and daughters.

--Marry off your sons and daughters so they can have children.

--Increase in number; do not decrease.

Again, remember the context.  A false prophet had just come and said the time of exile would only last two years.  That prophet died.  The truth is, the people will be in exile for 70 years.  And the directive is to build families, grow businesses, think trans-generationally and increase.
Seek the Welfare of the Land

It gets better.  Because Jeremiah's letter makes it clear that building and marrying is not enough.  People in exile must do something else -- they must be a blessing to the land.

"Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

So let's review.  First, the plan is exile.  Second, build.  Third, bless.  Simple, clear instructions.

But why was this important?  Why a "plan" for exile with specific instructions on how to act in exile?

Historians tell us it was during the Babylonian captivity that the Israelites moved from a Temple/Jerusalem focused society to a synagogue and community focused society.  Simply put ...

It was the lessons learned during their time in exile which enabled the Jews to survive 2,500 years in exile.  But not just survive -- but to thrive and become the most prosperous, most successful and most innovative people group in the history of civilization.

Exile was the plan.

So that's why, today, I'm going to build.  And I'm going to plant.  I'm going to bless.  And I'm going to pray.

For that is the final piece to the puzzle ...

"Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

So let's get building.  Let's get planting.  And let's get praying.  And let's bless this land.  There are lessons to be learned in exile.

Steve Elliott

P.S.  If this message is an encouragement to you, please share it with your friends by using the tools below.  Thanks!

The best argument against a true democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.  ~~~  Winston Churchill

God is still in control ... Thamks Alma Holl!

http://www.omegaletter.com/articles/articles.asp

Hoped things would change ...

I remember as a child that the Ohio State football team came out of the locker room and won a game.  It was a technality, but they did it and that kind of hope remained with me in sports. 

I also remember Harry Weinbrecht's story for me in my "Excellence in Athletics" book.  Harry told me:  "I remember that Pete Cory was behind in a close football game, in which the opposition punted, expecting to contain Cory's team while the remaining two seconds of the game time elapsed.  Coach Cory knew of a special rule then, which permitted the receiving team to 'fair catch' the ball stopping the clock when the ball was touched (caught).  The receiving team could elect a 'free kick', which meant they could kick any way they elected to.  Cory chose to kick off and the kicker got the extra running start and kicked the ball through the uprights to win the game with a three point field goal.   That was clever knowledge  of and use of the rules, not to mention a fine and unimpeded kick."

I have yet to click on the bitter news to me this morning, but it appears that barack obama has been re-elected. 

How sad that is ...  Hitler would have loved the American national media and the campaign crowds that put o in his speaking element.  o performed brilliantly with the crowds buoying his ego by agreeing and egging on his golden tongue with pregnant pauses perfectly done.  Never mind that he spoke many lies and attacked the Republican candidate time after time with the lies, never defending his first four years of failure of the USA.

Soros did the better strategic job with o.  The SP's have kicked our collective Traditionalist whatsits.  Every thinking American should read O'Reilly's "Culture Warriors" 2004 book as I only recently did. The Tea Party couldn't win it silently and the higher-up Republicans pulled the wrong political strings.  Mitt and Paul were excellent; however Mitt let his foot off the gas, when he should have gone after the weak kneed potus, who let the ambassador and three other fine Americans die, while he ran off to Vegas for a fund raiser.  Attacking that very point is what O'Reilly advocated while others cautioned against it.  Christie also gave o the photo-op love that helped put him over the top.

Romney gained speaking strength but not to the level of our Reaganesque speaker, Sarah Palin, who Republicans essentially ignored throughout the campaign.  I credit Ann Romney with the best sentence in the campaign when she said:  "We are trying to save this country in this 2012 election".   The ladies tried, but the o-cult following American voters lost it.  The "winning voters" would take poison for golden tongue, just as Jim Jones' followers once did.  America can possibly die as a result of it.

The game appears to be over and little true hope remains this morning.  More lies and traitorous acts are forthcoming.  Please stay with the Traditionalists and love God anyway!  He is truer and better than anyone remaining on this earth.

Sam Kegley aka SamKat  :(