Why I Don't Keep Thanksgiving

I no longer keep Thanksgiving.  For nearly six years I have not kept Rome's heathen feasts that the Whore Catholic Church adopted and "Christianized."  That would include January 1st, St. Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Halloween, and Christmas (those were the only ones I ever kept).

It was before the first Thanksgiving came around that I discovered that it too had heathen origins but was not like the others in that it wasn't adopted by the RCC but rather by the U.S. government.  At the time I didn't fully let the Spirit of God alone lead me, and I relied too much on the elder whom baptized me.  I told him what I'd discovered and mentioned a heathen corn/grain god, and since he obviously did not want to stop keeping Thanksgiving, he said something like, "Well, I'm sure the pilgrims did give thanks to God for the corn, and they probably knew the Feast of Tabernacles was to be kept around that time but did not have the means of knowing the dates and so kept that feast."  I was influenced quite a bit at that time by him, and so I kept keeping Thanksgiving for the next few years, but I never completely forgot about it, and it kept coming to mind.  It was only a few months after discussing that with that elder that we dropped contact between each other, because I did do my own research concerning the mark of the beast and being born again, which are two subjects he is teaching wrongly.  I proved those things from the bible myself.

It wasn't until nearly two years ago that I came back to the Thanksgiving topic and seriously considered it again.  My conclusion was that I could no longer keep Thanksgiving, for it truly is an addition (Deut. 12:30-32) to God's commanded feasts (Lev. 23) and is also rooted in heathen traditions.  Ironically enough, two years before I stopped keeping it the Thanksgivings didn't work out the way they normally do.  One year we were in Kansas City when our son Asher was in Children's Mercy Hospital on life support.  The next year Nathan had a job going, and I think I had a ruined tire on my vehicle.  This will be the second year that I voluntarily do not keep the U.S. feast of Thanksgiving.

I did, however, keep God's annual feast of thanksgiving, the Feast of Tabernacles, which is a seven-day-long feast of thanksgiving consisting of a holy sabbath day on the first day.  I LOVE the Feast of Tabernacles and look forward to it each year.  It's such a joy to set aside that time to feast and make merry with friends and family (both spiritual and physical) and to have extra time to study God's word and do His work.  It's nice to have that vacation and to reflect on all the things for which I have to be thankful.  God's harvest festival of thanks is reckoned by His calendar, starting the fifteenth day of the seventh month.  I had an awesome feast this year.

I have not written an article on Thanksgiving origins myself, and few have.  A brother and fellow laborer in God's work, Keith Hunt, has an article posted on his site that is written by a Bradley Richardson that one can read, if YOU want the truth about Thanksgiving Day:  The TRUTH About Thanksgiving Day.

Prove ALL things; hold fast that which is good (I Thessalonians 5:21).

The majority is often wrong, and we shouldn't do something just because the majority does it:
Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil (Exodus 23:2a).

True Christians are part of a "little flock" (Luke 12:32).  They will be continually growing in grace and knowledge (II Peter 3:18) and hungrily seeking out truth in all things.

www.endtimecog.net

In God We Trust?

I get emails and such every once in awhile that make a big deal about the removal of the national motto "In God We Trust" from various public places.  I got such an email today.

Now, it's not that I don't think the removal of "In God We Trust" isn't a big deal; quite the contrary.  But, rather the point I wish to make is that it's quite hypocritical.  After all, seventy-something percent or more of our nation's population claim to be "Christian," and yet if that percentage was truly Christian, we wouldn't even have this issue.

The fact of the matter is that not even close to seventy percent of people in our Israelite nation of the United States of America trust in God.  Whenever my husband or I tell one of our children to do something or not to do something, and he or they choose to disobey, we become upset and ask the child(ren) why he did not trust us.  Why did he disobey our words?  Trust and obedience goes hand in hand.  If a person trusts another, why would the person disobey that person's words, unless the person just flat out delights in following that in which he or she knows is false?  If I tell my son he's in extreme danger of getting hurt if he rides his bike without his hands on the handlebars as he's going across bumpy terrain, why would he, in his right mind, then ride his bike with his hands up in the air while speeding across bumps?  Either he didn't believe--didn't trust--what I told him and rather believed that he was not in danger of getting hurt, or he didn't care whether he got hurt and was willing to take the risk of suffering bad consequences for temporary pleasure of delighting in folly.

Our nation's people, over all, do not trust God.  They may trust certain things He has said, but for the most part they do not trust Him.  They are liars.

This nation's people--stiff-necked Israelites and the strangers that live among us--have rejected God's words as false.  They have rejected His perfect Law, defined by its ten commandments and their statutes.

These people draw close to God with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him; they are hypocrites (Matt. 15:7-9).

This people daily breaks the first commandment by putting other people and things before the Most High God.  They put other gods before the Most High.  It's not wrong to honor others, but God comes first, and when men are wrong, we should rather obey God (Acts 5:29).

The people of this nation breaks the second commandment by making special a likeness of a heathen god with long hair and a beard.  They call the likeness Jesus Christ and feel as if they are honoring him by hanging up pictures of this likeness.  This people erects idolatrous images such as the Statue of Liberty and the phallic Washington Monument obelisk.  They sport obelisks on top of their church buildings.  They erect crosses and Christmas trees, and they even sing praises to the tree:  "O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, I think you are so lovely!"  They then offer gifts (sacrifices--they sacrificed time and money) under the evergreen, just like heathens throughout all time.  A certain percentage of this people bow down to and kiss various images, including the heathen goddess known by various names and the title "Queen of Heaven" and whom they claim is the "Virgin Mary," the mother of our Christ.

This people daily breaks the third commandment by claiming that they follow God and yet break His commandments.  They worship Him in vain.  They commit blasphemy.  They throw around His name and titles carelessly and also throw around blessings and curses by Him carelessly and profanely.

The people of this nation break the fourth commandment by profaning the seventh-day sabbath that was sanctified and made holy from the very beginning--from Genesis 2:2-3--and by instead honoring Rome's substitute Sunday, the first day of the week, and today even most professing Christians don't even rest on Sunday or set aside time to spend with God and fellowship with other Christians and do more bible study.  They call God's true sabbath and other feasts [like Passover and the Feast of Trumpets] that outline the true plan of salvation a burden of all things, but they delight in Rome's feasts that are entrenched with heathenism--the abominable Christmas, Easter, January 1, Halloween, etc.  They reject God's calendar and his new year and his new months (new moons).  They engage in unfair labor practices.  They reject the Creator's land sabbaths, and instead they rape the land year after year and spray toxic pesticides on the land and its crops.  They use toxic synthetic fertilizers to return nutrients to the soil, due to their wicked transgression of the land sabbaths.  More and more of this nation's people, even those who profess to be Christians, believe and teach that we evolved from apes, rejecting the creation account in the scriptures.

The people of the United States break the fifth commandment by dishonoring our Father God by disobeying all His commandments, and they dishonor their mother earth that our Father gave to us for our nourishment and nurturing.  They dishonor their earthly father and mother by disobedience and curses.  The parents dishonor their children with more various abuses and neglectful actions.  They do not teach their children the Law of God each day and how to follow it with their thoughts and actions, "marking them on their hands and foreheads."(Deut. 6:7-8) Instead, parents teach their children lies like the Christmas Santa Claus and that Christ was born on December 25 and the Easter Bunny and egg hunting (rooted in heathen worship of sex and fertility) and that Christ rose on Easter Sunday.  They encourage them to have Rome's mark on their hands and foreheads (Rev. 13:16), to follow the ways of Rome in their thoughts and actions.  The parents sacrifice their children to Molech by aborting them or making daycares and unGodly public [government] schools rear them.

Our stiff-necked people breaks the sixth commandment by murdering a hefty percentage of every child conceived, especially children who would have been destined to be firstborn.  They are sacrificed to the god of this world.  They are sacrificed for convenience, for the pursuit of materialism, for selfishness.  Infants and older children are injected with deadly vaccines.  Babies are fed ill-health-causing formula even when the mothers can breastfeed.  People feed themselves and their children abominable meats like pork, squirrels ("tree rats"),  lobsters ("cockroaches of the sea," as my husband calls them) and would-be healthful meats like beef and chicken, if they weren't factory-farmed.  They delight in gluttony and drunkeness and the abuse and misuse of other drugs--some of which are fine in moderation for recreational, medicinal, and religious use; and some dangerous manufactured ones that should never be used.  They believe and trust the US FDA, rather than believe and trust God's FDA.  Much of the food and drugs that this people consume are absolutely abominable.  There are more and more whacked-out citizens of this nation who go on killing sprees and murderous rampages.  More innocent children are brutally murdered.  Children are even murdering other children.  People are hateful and disrespectful to each other.  Less and less people even smile or wave, anymore.  People delight in fighting sports--both people fighting people and animals fighting animals.  They engage in reckless driving and road rage.  They let their dangerous pets roam loose, without regards to the protection of their neighbors.  Men abuse their wives or their children.  People partially or totally disregard their health, hygiene, and safety or that of others.

The hypocritical people of this nation that claims to be "under God" nearly totally disregards the seventh commandment.  The marriage covenant is not taken seriously.  Divorce is considered almost a certainty in every new marriage, and adultery thrives.  It's actually statistically higher among those who profess to be Christians.  Fornication and pornography runs rampant.  Homosexuals engage in the most abominable acts.  Children are prey for sexual perverts, at risk of pornographic exploitation, molestation, and rape.   Musical lyrics are tainted with immoral sexual references.  Books and movies are awash with cheap immoral sex.  A large percentage of the populous is infected with at least one STD.  People engage in sex during menstruation and delight in doing so.  This hypocritical people lusts after movie "stars."  They wear immodest clothing.  The physical fornication and adultery of this nation reflects their spiritual fornication and adultery, their fornicating with a false christ, all the while claiming to follow the true Christ, who kept His Father's Ten Commandments.

This nation's people delight in breaking the eighth commandment.  They steal from God in denying Him tithes (Mal. 3:8).  They steal time and property from their employers.  They shoplift.  Some commit burglary.  Some commit robbery.  Some commit identify theft and/or credit card fraud.   They violate copyrights, and they plagiarize.  Some are guilty of kidnapping. Some mistreat their hired servants and cheat them of wages.  Bankers and individuals are guilty of excessive usury or usury upon the poor.  The hard-working poor are oppressed, and the lazy poor are rewarded for their laziness.  Vandalism and other property damages are common.  Animals' rights are unheeded.

Our people reject the ninth commandment.  False witnesses are numerous.  We're swamped with bribes.  It's hard to find trustworthy friends and associates.  Vows are broken.  Gossip reigns.

Our people delight in breaking the tenth commandment. Contentedness is nearly non-existent in this nation.  Desiring material things is okay, but not when it leads to idolatry, stealing, etc.  When a person cannot desire something while being content with what he has so that if he does not obtain what he desires,  he's still happy, then he has a problem.  Our people just want and want and want more and more and are simply not content with what they already have.  They are unthankful and materialistic.

So, "In God We Trust" is a blasphemous motto when it is uttered from the mouths of most of our people.  It's a transgression of the third commandment when it comes from most people's mouths.  If our people truly trusted God, they would not hesitate to deeply repent of their sins.  They would stop coveting and fornicating.  They would stop their idolatrous observance of Rome's festivals and would delight in observing God's, including his seventh-day sabbath.  They would start teaching their children the ways of God as a way of life and stop watching the trash on television.  They would break their idolatrous images.  They would throw away their pornography and dust off their bibles.  They would change their food and drug habits and their style of dress.   They would stop their stealing and their fighting and their cold attitudes toward others.

This nation as a whole does NOT trust in God.  They complain about the taking down of the displays of the Ten Commandments and the removing of the motto "In God We Trust," but in their living they reject the Law of God saying that it has been "done away."  If the Law has been "done away," then there is no sin.  Sin is the transgression of God's Law (I John 3:4), and where there is no Law, there is no sin (Rom. 5:13).  If there's no sin, then there's no need of a death sacrifice, and so Christ died in vain.  But, of course there is a Law, and only those who repent of transgressing it receive grace.  The rest must die for their sins, because the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23).  The sacrifice of Christ does not cover the unrepentant.  Many will say to him, "Lord, Lord, were we not good Christians who went to church every Sunday and gave to the poor and prayed to you daily for others?"  And Christ will say to them, "I never knew you.  You transgressed my Father's Law"  (Matt. 7:21-23).

What about YOU?  Do you trust in God?

Psalm 119:142, 163                                                                          

God Doesn't Always Give Us for What We Ask

A few days before we left for the annual Feast of Tabernacles my six year old son Jaden (formerly known by his middle name William) asked God to replace something immediately upon the spot.  It happened to be one of my back windows to my Jeep.  It was busted out by a rock thrown by the lawn mower well over a month ago, and we still haven't replaced it (but will soon).  Jaden told me that what he'd asked. 

I proceeded to tell Jaden not to expect a new glass window to appear before his eyes.  He asked me why not, since God can do anything.  I had to explain to him that God is not a magic genie that grants every wish upon our command.  There are plenty of times where God doesn't even give us what we want, even though He's a loving Father to many.

I said, "Jade, it's much like all the times you ask your Daddy or me for things, and we tell you 'no.'  It's our pleasure to give you thinks for which you ask, but we don't always give you those things, and many times it's not even in your best interest."

I explained that we'd likely have to buy a new window and pay someone to install it.  Even though it was an accident, we still have to put the money and effort into replacing it ourselves.  I told my son that most of the time we had to work for things to get done or to earn things.  We are no different than God in this respect.  My Father doesn't pass out goodies and blessings and easy fixes to me or any of His other children every time we ask.  It simply doesn't work that way.

Jaden was satisfied with my explanation and learned a little more about what God is really like with that lesson.

Family Project Made Private

I'll soon start blogging again on a regular basis. However, I have decided to make the Family Project a private project, at least at this time. If I know and trust you, and if you're interested in the ongoing Family Project, just let me know, and I will decide whether to share with you. Right now, I'm not even working on it. When time permits, and I am into it again, I will continue.

Blindness and Seeing

This morning I got up earlier than usual, because I had been lying in bed awake for probably two hours and simply could not return to sleep. So, when my husband got up, I followed. I'd already been to the bathroom during that time I'd been awake, so I instead gathered some clothes to get dressed. I was having a very difficult time seeing what I was doing, and I suddenly realized that I'd forgotten to put in my contact lenses! No wonder I was having such a hard time seeing (it was early and overcast outside, so the light wasn't bright, either). I laughed and told Nathan what I'd done. I have high-degree myopia (nearsightedness), which means I'm at high risk of things such as retinal tears. My eyes haven't gotten worse in many years, but as a child, they would get worse and worse. Every time I went to get my eyes examined, they would up my prescription. I have the worst eyes in my family. I cannot see well enough to do normal every day activities, like cooking or bathing a child, etc. You sure wouldn't want me to try to drive. I have to be very close to a person to make out their facial features (everyone is just a white blur...or brown blur or whatever one's shade of skin is).

After we finished laughing, I walked over and gazed thoughtfully out of our sliding glass door at the blurry trees, and I said to Nathan, "You know, that was my most-prayed-for request as a child. I prayed every night that I would wake up in the morning and be able to see perfectly. I did that for a LONG time, and I would pray in faith. Even though I woke up every morning and still couldn't see, I would pray the next night and truly believed I would wake up the next day and be able to see."

He replied that I must have been pretty disappointed a lot.

But, in truth, I came out better than having my physical "blindness" healed. I said, "You know, He gave me something better. He gave me spiritual sight. I may be physically blind, but I can spiritually see. Some people don't have to wear any corrective lenses at all, and yet they are very spiritually blind." (Thankfully, I'm not totally blind, though with high degree myopia, there's always that risk.)

And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into the this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind (John 9:39).

I don't mind so much about having to wear corrective lenses now. They now will serve as a reminder to me that I have the greater blessing of spiritual sight.

"I Am Slow of Speech and Slow of Tongue"

I will be continuing with the family project shortly. But, today, I'm doing something differently.

Then Moses said to Jehovah, "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."~Exodus 4:10 (NASB)

I have been thinking back on this record of Moses talking to the Lord a lot lately. It was on my mind quite a bit yesterday and the day before. I was thinking how much I could understand and empathize with Moses. I was kind of feeling bad for him, as I was thinking about it. I also have a speech problem. My brain works slowly to get the words out that I need or want to use. I sometimes have a hard time pronouncing my words well, and I often stop in the middle of sentences, at a loss of words. Most people who have known me for some time and are close to me know that I don't really like my voice and the way I talk. It's frustrating to me.

It's not that Moses wasn't highly educated or didn't know what he was talking about. Acts 7:22 says, And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.

The Greek word for "words" here is logos, meaning "word," but also can mean "doctrine."

A person can be great in achievements, highly educated and intelligent, and still have learning disabilities, speech problems, etc. I am highly educated myself and have excelled in academics throughout my life, but I had to take speech therapy when I was a child, and I still do not speak well. I have other learning disabilities, too.

However, I've also given good speeches to large audiences, but I do not like to do so. I am very self-conscious of my talking disabilities. So, I can totally understand what Moses may have been experiencing.

Well, it never fails. God always has something ready for me whenever I'm meditating about something in great depth.

So, today, what did I come across? I started flipping through some of yesterday's mail this morning, and I opened a Churchlight booklet--a publication of a Church of God group in Colorado--and flipped through it. Page 8 caught my eye, as it had an article called "Moses and the Burning Bush." So, I was skimming through the article, and I recognized that the author (Pieter Barkhuizen) is addressing each of Moses' confessions and excuses that he gave to God during the "burning bush" conversation.

The author stated, "But, Moses had a problem with this tall order, and he began to confess some of his apparent disqualifications for the task ahead. Have you ever felt disqualified for something you knew God wanted you to do? Every made any excuses?"

So, the author discussed first Moses' confession of inability. He then moved on to Moses' excuse of ignorance of who God was. Then the excuse Moses gave of Israel's unbelief, which Pieter said included Moses' unbelief, because God had already told him what He was going to do--lead Israel out of bondage. Then, he got none other than:

"In Exodus 4:10, we discover that Moses had a speech impediment, which created a feeling of inadequacy."

Since the author didn't share the scriptures, I grabbed my bible and read through a few verses. Verses 11 and 12 say, And Jehovah said unto him, "Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I Jehovah? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say."

Okay, so it would have been wise for Moses to just GO then and trust that God would be with him and help him with whatever his speech problems happened to be.

Back to Pieter's article: "So the speech problem was no problem for God. And right here Moses made the blunder of his life! In Exodus 4:13, he asked God to send someone else. Suddenly, God's anger was kindled..."

God then told Moses that Aaron his brother would be helping him, because God knew Aaron could speak well.

Pieter continued, "With all the other excuses, God was very patient, but now His anger was aroused. Why? Because Moses said the one thing that made God angry: 'I'm not available.' And God responded by saying that He would use his brother Aaron. Moses would still have the responsibility--but he would have to share the privilege of being God's sole agent in Israel's salvation history.

Is God calling you for something special today? Are you ready to fire your excuses at God? Please remember that the only requirement God has of you, is availability. 'Are you willing?' is the big question. Feeling inadequate?...Notice what happened to Moses, and how God used an imperfect person to bring honor and glory to His name."

Pieter later said, "Moses was a positive person--sure he had questions, but once his course was set, he couldn't be moved."

That was refreshing for me. It's just what I needed, just when I needed it. Thank you Father.

Pieter is right. The only requirement God has of His servants is availability. Are you willing? I personally AM willing to do what God wants of me, but He doesn't get it without my continuous questioning and asking for help. I can't do it without His help, but I do trust that He can use me.

What about you? Are you available? Are you willing? Are you being called by God now to do something? Are you feeling inadequate? Trust in God, and be willing, and He will help you.

Running Brave

I watched an awesome movie this week, Running Brave. Actually, I watched it twice. A close brother in Christ and co-worker, Keith, gave it to me as a gift and told me to teach my son the lessons I found therein. (Thank you again.) Following is a report on the movie (if you plan to see it, you might not want to read this until afterward, but if not, read on):

Billy Mills won the 10,000 meter Olympic track race in 1964 at Tokyo, taking home the gold medal for the United States, and is the only American who has won a gold medal in that race. But, what is greater than that is that Billy Mills is half Sioux Indian (Native American).

Billy grew up in poverty on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. His mother (white) died when he was nine, and his dad died when Billy was twelve. When he had asked his dad whether he liked to fight (his dad boxed), he responded to Billy, "I like to win," and that a person needs to find something at which they can win, "You have to win at something."

Billy loved to run. He ran all the time and felt as if he was one with everything when he ran. He attended high school in Kansas in the 1950s and broke several track records. The track coach of Kansas University went to see him, but when he found out he was an Indian, he complained to the high school coach and said that Indian boys had a natural talent of running well but that they were quitters and drunks. He'd seen it all before. Billy walked up and defended himself, making it clear that he was no quitter and wanted to run for him at KU.

He ended up getting the scholarship to go to KU. He was only the second one from the reservation to ever get a scholarship to college, but the first guy quit after just three weeks. Billy was scared to go to the university, but at the same time he wanted to "prove I can make it in the white world." When he got to the university the coach emphasized to the guys from the very start that they were to do it his way and his way only. The coach pushed Billy, and Billy started out winning all the races. He also did the right thing by passing up offers of alcohol from his college pals. He probably realized that he had a predisposition to alcoholism, because he was Indian, and he didn't want to become a drunk. He met a girl, too--Pat--and started seeing her.

It wasn't all cherries and honeycomb, though. Billy constantly had people calling him "chief," "that Indian boy," and other racial slurs. He also was not allowed to become a member of a fraternity, because he was Indian. At one point he attacked a fellow teammate after a race, after the guy made a nasty remark. The coach pulled him back and sternly told him to ignore the comments and that he could run all over that guy. Billy would write letters to his sister, and they would start out sounding discouraging, because he everything was such a challenge. He had to study so hard and so late and he was the only Indian on campus, except for one girl, "but she's fat." He'd always say at the end of his letters, though, "Don't worry," because he was going to be okay and make everyone proud of him. He would list the problems, but each time he seemed intent on overcoming them.

During one race, Billy slowed down toward the end, even though he still won the race. There was another Indian on the other team. The coach confronted him later about it and rightly accused him of doing so as not to embarrass the other Indian so badly, who was next behind him. Paraphrasing, "You're never going to get to the Olympics, if you don't quit easing up at the end. Don't feel sorry for the other Indian. Next time, you don't see him as an Indian. You see him as another competitor." [Going to the Olympics was Billy's dream.]

His coach seemed to only want to rack up points, and he gave promises to people that he'd make it to the nationals. Billy had an enormous amount of pressure on him, and he felt as if the coach didn't seem to care about Billy but only about himself and his coaching career. He wrote to his sister that he'd lost his love for running and he felt like just a machine, but he said once again, "Don't worry," because he had support from his girlfriend and he was confident he'd "find that spirit again."

He was placed at number five in the NCAA, and a reporter asked him whether being number five had anything to do with being Indian (the gall). He cleverly answered, "I'm half-white, too. I'm not sure which half loses. Do you?"

His girlfriend Pat's parents were not happy when she told them that she was with Billy, because, as she put it, "Maybe they are a little bit prejudiced." He said, "What the hell do you know about prejudice?" So, she informed him that she (a middle class white girl) was what he wanted, so he had to deal with the problems that came with her, even prejudiced parents. So, he did. He wrote and told his sister that he and Pat were thinking of getting married and expressed disappointment that she was not going to be able to go visit him with his other family and friends, including Frank who'd gone to live with Billy and his dad after Frank's own parents had died, and who finished rearing Billy after his dad died; and Eddie his friend with a bad attitude. Billy was staying at Pat's house while her parents were gone, and when his visitors arrived, they were initially excited to see him, but things quickly turned around. Eddie acted very angry and made rude comments about the nice house and how he just wanted to go have some fun. He and the two women left after ten minutes and talked Frank into leaving, too. Billy tried talking Frank into staying, and he pushed Eddie and told him to leave. Frank stopped them from fighting, and Eddie said, "That's okay. It's not the first time I've been pushed around by a white man." Eddie and the two girls acted as if they didn't want Billy to improve his life, and they said they didn't belong there and left. Frank, too, finally said to Billy that they were probably right, that they didn't belong there. Following THIS is when Billy started messing up. He came in 3rd place in his next race and then went on to lose the following two races. His coach told him after the first race, "You quit." After one or two more, he said, "You're quitting. You already have." He told Pat that during the whole time he'd been at KU, that whenever bad things happened that made him question why he was there, he'd always been lifted up by knowing he was there because he "won races." He said, "But, now I'm not," so he wondered why he was there and started thinking about going back to the reservation. Then the guy with the insurance company that sponsored his scholarship got on to him and said that he'd better win the next race or he'd risk losing his scholarship.

He then asked Pat to run away with him, even if it meant they might live in a trailer park somewhere and scraping to get by. He was sick of being Billy the runner and Billy the Indian. He didn't really know who he was. He was looked down upon among the whites, because he was Indian, and he was rejected by his own family and friends for being like the whites. When Pat shook her head and told him she didn't understand, he drove off, and he ended up going back to the Indian reservation. He told the coach right before a track meet that he was doing what the coach had always said he'd do--quit. Coach Easton told Billy he'd never be a winner, and he knew it. He claimed that's why he always told him to stay running in front (Billy had liked "coming from behind"), because "only winners come from behind."

Back on the reservation some children recognized him as the famous Billy Mills. A little boy had his sports card with his picture. He asked Billy whether he was going to the Olympics and that, "You'd better." His friend Eddie acted glad to see him and welcomed him back home, now that he was away from white land. But, Eddie still had a bad attitude. He wasn't what I'd call the optimal friend. Frank was drunk when Billy saw him. Frank pretty much stayed drunk.

While the two were fishing, Frank told Billy that Frank's dad had always told Frank he'd never go anywhere. Frank had always wanted to go to Paris, because he was a really good artist, but he listened to the, "You'll never go anywhere or be anybody" talk, and he said it now was too late for him. He told Billy that it wasn't too late for him and that he needed to leave. I think being at the reservation again with drunk Frank and bad attitude Eddie got him to having second thoughts about his choice to go back there. Plus, he missed Pat. It did feel good, though, to be "home" and run again. He got his love of running back. His sister had saved back newspaper articles and other mementos in a scrapbook and showed Billy. She asked whether he was going to the Olympics and said that everyone on the reservation had always wanted someone to be something, to make something of him or herself. Following that he got a note and money from Pat telling him to come back. He then found Frank dead from a suicidal gunshot wound to the head, surrounded by demented drawings of a depressed soul on the walls.

So, Billy left the reservation again and went to the Marines. He already had his degree, and the Marines gave him a chance to focus on running so that he could go try out for the Olympics. He married Pat and then qualified in the Olympic trials. He and two other Americans were there to represent the US. He was not considered as a potential winner. One of the other Americans had a hurt foot or leg, and the American coach talked to that guy as if he was their chance to win and just told Billy to "hang in there." The commentators said also that Billy wasn't "seen as a threat" in the event. Ron Clarke from Australia was everyone's favorite. Clarke is noted for setting 17 world records (but never won an Olympic gold medal). He'd set records during the time Billy was in KU, and Coach Easton had posted a newspaper picture of Clarke and told the guys to aspire to Clarke's achievements. During the 10,000 meter race (over six miles), Billy kept near the front, along with Clarke and Mohammad Gammoudi of Tunisia. They all kept switching positions for first place. It was a very exciting race, since everyone was surprised that Billy was among the frontrunners. During the last lap:

"Mills and Clarke were running together with Gammoudi right behind as they entered the final lap. They were lapping other runners and, down the backstretch, Clarke was boxed in. He pushed Mills once, then again. Then Gammoudi pushed them both and surged into the lead as they rounded the final curve. Clarke recovered and began chasing Gammoudi while Mills appeared to be too far back to be in contention. Clarke failed to catch Gammoudi but Mills sprinted past them both. His winning time of 28:24.4 was almost 50 seconds faster than he had ever run before and set a new Olympic record for the event. No American had ever won the 10,000 m before Billy Mills did it (Wikipedia, s.v. "Billy Mills").

Coach Easton had seen the news in the paper that Billy was going to the Olympics that year, and he went to Tokyo to see him. He walked up to Billy after the race to congratulate him, and he said, "That's the greatest race I ever saw a man run. I'm honored to have worked with you."

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Running Brave detailed a fine based-on-a-true-story example of a man who overcame his hardships and poor circumstances and became a winner. It also demonstrated that even after a person is "in the race," heading for his or her goals and doing a fine job of dealing with trials that could knock a person "out of the race," it can take just one event that deals a hard enough blow to cause a person to want to give up. Very often, it involves a person or persons very close to us--family and/or close friends. In Billy's case, he kept overcoming his trials--the racial slurs, the exclusion in clubs, his coach's selfishness--until his family and friends rejected him. Perhaps without realizing it, they were trying to bring him back down to their level.

A Christian Race

God's election race for his called and chosen ones is the same way. We can't let anything stop us. The Apostle Paul said:

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (I Cor. 9:24-27).

Family and Friends

We must overcome whatever trials come our way and overcome the sins that we inherited from our families, tribes, and nations. We must run the race as if there's only one winner. If we fail, we will be a castaway. Some of us will sometimes take a really hard blow that will appear to keep us down for good, but if the goal is really that important to us, we will get back up and get back in the race. That is what Billy did. His family and friends made him feel bad. They were supposed to be those closest to him, and yet they were the ones responsible for discouraging him to the point where he nearly failed. He started to give up. He went back to his old life. BUT, the game wasn't over yet. He decided to get back up again and do what it took for him to reach his goal (going to the Olympics), and he didn't stop there. He won that 10000 meter race and won the Olympic gold medal for the US.

It's too often in the lives of those who "keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Rev. 12:17) that family and friends are their biggest obstacle. It's what holds them back the most.

Jesus said, "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple...whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26, 33).

Billy's coach told him that was the best race he'd ever seen a man run and that he was honored to work with him. How would each of us like to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord (Matt. 25:23)?"

Gentile vs. White

Being a Gentile among Israelites is also an obstacle for many people. Billy Mills was half Gentile living in a "white [Israelite] world." He overcame many of the gentile ways to better himself. We just had a half gentile, half white man elected to be the next president of the US. The majority of blacks and other minority gentile races in our nation do not really want to overcome their gentile ways. They expect to be treated equally without conforming to our ways. God's law records over and over that within an Israelite nation that claims to be under God, that there is ONE LAW for both Israelite and Gentile--the same law applies to both. He also said:

Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to Jehovah, to serve him, and to love the name of Jehovah, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. The Lord Jehovah which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him (Isaiah 56:6-8).

ALL people, whether Israelite or Gentile are offered salvation, and MANY Gentiles have been called in this lifetime to see the truth since Christ's death, whereas before his death few Gentiles took hold upon God's covenant. We live in a time where the Gentile minorities basically think the white people owe them something, all the while they as a whole are still living in their vile ways. It has become so bad that more whites are acting more like gentiles than whites. Our president-elect is another example of a gentile (half) conforming to the white's ways so that he could become something and live decently (howbeit not God's way, but the majority of the white population isn't living that way, either). The small percentage of people in minorities, such as Billy Mills and president-elect Barack Obama have had to fight a tough battle, because they are still looked down upon by whites (shame on those whites who do this), but their own peoples hate them for acting white. There are those who will even KILL a "rebel," because they aspire to live to white standards.

Those like Billy Mills, because what his father taught him, realize WHY the whites are so blessed, and he decided to overcome that. Then there are those like his friend Eddie who want to just talk badly about white people while continuing to make the wrong choices. Likewise, there are blacks (President-elect Obama is half black) who spew hatred toward white middle class America, expecting equality while they deal drugs, don't attempt to talk properly, spew forth profanity, walk like they broke one of their legs, rape women, rap immoral trash, and shoot people. They just don't seem to get it! But, in nearly every family, tribe, and nation, there are the FEW who do recognize the problems in their families, and they strive to overcome. And good for them!

On the other side of the coin, you have some whites who live more like gentiles, and so that's how they act and decide to live. Some people have no drive, no desire to do the best they can in their circumstances. God wants ALL people to be free and equal, but only if they live according to His way. (The Western World's high standard of living, or at least what we did once have--hygiene, generosity, good agriculture, good health, family values, etc.--is based on the laws in the bible, whether anyone realizes it or not. We are failing, though, as this once-Godly nation is falling away and doing away with his laws more and more every day.)

I give a two thumbs up for Billy Mills and also for the makers of Running Brave.

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Billy Mills' given Lakota (Sioux) name is Makata Taka Hela which means "love your country" or more traditionally translated, "respects the earth" (RunningPast.com). I definitely think Billy Mills has lived up to his name. Do you?

Quote from Billy:

"My life is a gift to me from my Creator.
What I do with my life is my gift back to the Creator."

And so it is for all of us.

Billy is now a public speaker, and he also is the spokesman for the nonprofit Running Strong for American Indian Youth. The website is here: http://www.indianyouth.org/