Author Archives: Troy

Worse than the Disease

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The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is clearly one of the many forms of government overreach in the United States. It’s handling of COVID-19 has exposed serious problems. A careful look at this organization’s behavior reveals some very alarming things that every American Christian should know.

Conflicts of Interest

I began seriously questioning the CDC after watching the Plandemic video that featured an interview with Dr. Judy Mikovits. She described her first-hand experience working with Dr, Anthony Fauci, the CDC and even the infamous laboratory in Wuhan China. Mikovits revealed that government organizations like the CDC were given the permission to profit from patents they developed while working with taxpayer money. She claimed that this had become an enormous motivator, one that she believed was often placed above the health of those they were supposed to be protecting.

Mysteriously, the Plandemic video itself was banned on YouTube and barrage of “fact-checking experts” mocked the video, labeling it as “false”. Search engines helped out by bringing slanderous reports to the top of searches. This made it difficult for anyone to question the CDC or disagree with their views. The social media platforms informed us that they were compelled to limit content to what the experts have said, even though these experts were the ones being implicated in a conflict of interest. Through the restrictive behavior of the media, the CDC and other government groups have been able to control the message about COVID-19. The process has also broadcast a subliminal message to all: don’t question the government, just let it protect you.

Ignore your Own Doctor?

The Plandemic video also exposed the shocking rejection of Hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19. Judy Mikovits explained that it was a very inexpensive treatment that worked when applied early. The social media platforms had already excluded these reports, just as they did to the Plandemic video. One of these banned videos was created by 9 doctors who together had over 100 years of experience. The CDC quietly ignored the benefits of Hydroxychloroquine while pharmacies and health board openly banned its use. These actions strongly implied that COVID-19 was so bad that they needed to save us from our own health professionals and their foolishness.

Here’s what one doctor observed:

‘There is no home treatment that is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the American Medical Association (AMA), or your managed care plan.

In their view, “following The Science” means denying treatment. Doctors who defy this diktat may get fired, like Dr. Simone Gold, founder of America’s Frontline Doctors, or face an investigation and possible delicensure by government agencies.’

Jane M. Orient, M.D, (https://www.wnd.com/2020/09/lessons-9-month-covid-emergency/)

Vaccine Money

By ignoring and perhaps even downplaying beneficial treatment for illness, the CDC actions continue to raise questions. Could it be that the CDC intends to make money by pushing their patented vaccinations?

It has become clear that treatments like Hydroxychloroquine aren’t the only things that have been “cleaned up” from our view online. According to the Plandemic videos, those who were critical of vaccinations have also been exposed to social media censorship techniques. It isn’t clear that the CDC is requesting that the information be removed, but they definitely aren’t doing anything to educate the public concerning existing, inexpensive medicine. What their website and social media searching does do is encourage us to believe, is that vaccination is not only safe, but necessary for health. I then learned of an obviously sinful practice that CDC and other federal organizations had shown strong approval for of for years.

The Use of Aborted Baby Parts

According to a detailed report by LifeSite, many vaccines have been developed using aborted fetal tissue. It said that this has been going on for years. In fact, the report indicates that all existing chicken pox vaccines were made using aborted fetal cell lines. These vaccines are recommended by the CDC on their website. Many of the proposed COVID-19 vaccines were using them too. Not only was the CDC involved in a conflict of interest over patents, they are approving and benefiting from those who destroy innocent human life. Statistics are clear that the single biggest killer of Americans in the United States is abortion and the CDC is not only silent, it makes use of the practice.

The CDC Owns the Virus?

Further investigation revealed that the CDC has had an interest in Coronavirus since the early 2000’s. The CDC has a patent on the kind of virus that ended up harming the world. This fact was exposed on the sequel to the Plandemic move: Plandemic Part 2: Indoctornation. The movie explains that it is illegal for nature to be patented. Could it be that human Coronavirus was an intentional invention by the CDC? If not, why do they have a patent relating to it?

What Needs to be Done

The evidence demonstrates that the CDC has done a bad job of controlling the spread of disease, while also being quite good at controlling people. Consider what they have required people to do for COVID-19. They were first required to give up their rights for 15 days to “flatten the curve”. Then they were required to give up their rights for a month to bring the death counts down. Then we were required to give up their rights in order to bring the case counts down. Then they were asked to give up their rights to wait for a vaccine. The CDC and others in government have made themselves slave owners with no end in sight. They wrongfully hold tyrannical power over citizens of the United States.

The Bible is clear that the government’s job is limited. God describes the government as having a judicial and policing role in civil matters only. God is the protector of our health in areas not given to the individual. For this reason, the CDC was never a good idea. It should not surprise us that God has allowed us to suffer for this. We should not have given government power that belonged to God. Now we must do the difficult work required to remove this power from their hands. It is now our duty to retire the CDC and return the authority back to God.

Further Information

Which COVID-19 vaccines will be derived from aborted children’s cell lines?
This is a very detailed report, but it is also very important. There appear to be attempts to hide this kind of information from the public too. Find out more about which vaccines have made use of aborted babies.

Plandemic Video
This is the video with testimony from Dr. Mikovits that was removed from YouTube. You also have testimony from doctors who’s voices were silenced during the COVID-19 Pandemic. It is being supported by donors.

White Coat Summit
Hear the voices of 9 doctors as they speak out against the CDC’s approved message. This has been taken off of YoutTube as well.

CDC Patent: Coronavirus isolated from humans
Here’s one of at least three patents that the CDC holds relating to coronavirus.

Plandemic 2: Indoctornation
This is a much larger, much darker picture of the questions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes the questionable behavior of the CDC both now and in the past.

Exploring the Limits of Civil Government
Here’s a detailed look at the government’s real job from God’s perspective.

Christianity and the Separation of Church and State

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This document addresses a popular but irrational interpretation of “the separation of church and state.” It’s a fairly common belief today that the separation of church means that the government is required to operate in a completely neutral way when it comes to religion. I would like to explain why this view is both irrational and dangerous to liberty. As I’ve said before, philosophical neutrality is fallacious and when an interpretation of the constitution is irrational, it could easily lead to tyranny.

The Founders’ Thoughts

It is possible that some of the founders believed they were neutral to all religions, but it is clear that they didn’t design a system of government that would actually work that way. The constitution merely disallowed the federal government to govern what they considered to be the exercise of religion. It is well known that the founders didn’t want the federal government specifying certain matters for the states or for the individual. The problem is that they also made claims based on the existence of God, that did apply to everyone. Unfortunately for us, the range of practices considered to be personal choices and the ones considered to be moral and virtuous for all, are not really self-evident to everyone today. As Christians, we must realize that no matter what the constitution’s problems are, our God is real, what He demands of government is not optional for anyone.

We do know that many of the founders favored Christian principles and those principles were reflected in the things they said and wrote. Here’s what some of the prominent founders of the United States said:

“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim tribute to patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness — these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. . . . reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles.” – George Washington, First President of the United States, Farewell Address

“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” – John Adams, Second President of the United States

“Providence has given to our people the choice of their ruler, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” – John Jay, First Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, Second Governor of New York

The Absurd Results of Religious Neutrality

No matter what a person believes about it, complete religious neutrality isn’t possible. It isn’t achievable because religions frequently define opposing sets of requirements. At best, a government can only pretend to be religiously neutral. Consider the religious practices of human sacrifice and cannibalism. If the United States government were really neutral, it would be required to allow these things to take place. It’s obvious to most of us that the government should not allow this, but by not allowing it, the government isn’t really being neutral.

This pretended neutrality also makes it easier for a government to destroy itself. We have seen this appear in the United States as some have suggested that the system of government itself is not neutral and must be dismantled. This is a crafty method of revolution because even if the government is torn down, a new non-neutral government will fill the void.

Over 100 years ago, a well respected pastor in England named J. C. Ryle, gave us this warning:

“To tell us that a Government must leave religion alone, because it cannot promote it without favouring one Church more than another, is simply absurd. It is equivalent to saying that, as we cannot do good to everybody, we are to sit still and do no good at all.”

J. C. Ryle (J.C. Ryle on the Government’s Role)

Opening a Door to Tyranny

When a government pretends to be religiously neutral, it damages the rule of law. It enables a tyranny to be empowered by a well known philosophical error. In logic, it’s well established that if you allow a single inconsistency in your worldview, it can be used to prove anything you want it to. This is sometimes called The Principle of Explosion. If a person can convince you to believe in a contradiction, it paves the way for them to manipulate you. If an inconsistency is used as a means of government, it can be used as a manipulation technique to make all of its behavior seem reasonable when it really isn’t.

If a government doesn’t admit its bias, it actually opens the door to tyranny. By choosing when it will pretend to be neutral and when it will not, it can make its subjective philosophy dominant over the objective philosophy of others. Since the founders intended our country to be governed by law not people, the only workable interpretation of the separation of church and state must be one that allows the government to continue to operate by law. The only way for a society to be governed by the rule of law instead of man is for that law to ultimately be in subordination to God’s law. This is a Christian principle and it was a common belief in the west at the time our government was being formed.

What Christians Believe about Government

Christians firmly believe that each person’s decision to become a Christian is personal and autonomous. If a person were to be forced to become a Christian, they would not really be a Christian. Christians also believe that whether or not you choose to be a Christian, all mankind must obey certain civil laws. These civil laws are clear and obvious in the Bible. They include things like fornication, theft, murder and lying in court. The Bible teaches that Christian morality is to be upheld, even among non-Christians. Because Christian principles are based on God’s law in the Bible, no man or government can avoid or change them. This standard exposes human tyranny and promotes liberty because every individual knows that they are free to think and speak as long as they live within the clear and simple civil laws of God provided in the Bible.

Conscience

Some might wonder how Christians would expect non-Christians to abide by their Bible’s civil laws? The answer is that God has placed a conscience into each person, whether they choose to become a Christian or not. For instance, even in places where the Bible isn’t known, people know that murder is wrong. They also know that cheating, theft and taking someone else’s wife is wrong. The problem is that mankind tends to purposefully corrupt his conscience in order do things that give him pleasure. A person’s inner compass can be suppressed. God’s written civil laws go along with a person’s conscience and a good government merely enforces that conscience so that people can live together in freedom and harmony. This may be distasteful to those who are accustomed to living for their own passions in spite of their conscience, but it is the best thing for them and for their community. More importantly, it is what God, or Creator requires.

Further Reading

J.C. Ryle on the Government’s Role
Read more about what a honorable pastor and follower of the Bible said about the the Church and state.

Rebuilding America’s Foundation
This is something I wrote as I lamented the moral deterioration of the United States. It contains some more quotes that you may want to see by American leaders regarding the Christian worldview that forms the foundation of the American republic.

The Fallacy of Neutrality
I develop the Pretended Neutrality Fallacy a little bit more in this article demonstrating that it is immediately self-refuting.

Exploring the Limits of Civil Government
This document does a better job of explaining the true role of government. The reason that there is a separation of church and state is because God is the only one who gives authority to men and He made the distinction between the two. This is an exploration of the doctrine of governmental authority.

The Christian foundations of the rule of law in the West: a legacy of liberty and resistance against tyranny
This is a very detailed document that discusses issues regarding the history and application of the rule of law in western governments.

220 Days in Luke – Day 103: The Separation of Church and State
I also commented on this subject in my devotional commentary in the book of Luke. You can find that here.

Exploring the Limits of Civil Government

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“Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”

Matthew 28:18-20

These are some of the last words Jesus gave to us before he left to Heaven. They are very helpful when we consider the limits of civil government. Notice that Jesus made it clear that He currently holds “all authority… on earth.“

Although the commission was written to Christians, Christians are commanded to delver a message to “all nations.” The people that form the government are included in this. In fact, the Bible records the fact that civil magistrates were converted to Christianity.

It’s important for everyone to understand that neither the government nor the citizens are allowed to do whatever they want. All of us are governed by the commands of Jesus. Even the authority of civil government is limited to Jesus’ commands.

This idea didn’t just start when Jesus gave us the Great Commission. All authority was already God’s before He put it in Jesus’ hands. Jesus brought this up when He talked to Pilate.

‘Pilate therefore said to him, “Aren’t you speaking to me? Don’t you know that I have power to release you and have power to crucify you?”

11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered me to you has greater sin.”’

John 19:10-11

The Default Authority

An important thing that the Great Commission tells us is that all authority not granted by Jesus to the civil government already belongs to Jesus. If “all authority has been given to” Jesus, it doesn’t leave anything laying around for the government to take. When the Bible is silent about who is in charge, it is correct to assume that Jesus is. This limits government’s authority to what God has specifically delegated to them.

An Overview of God’s Commands to Government

In order for us to understand God’s limits on human government, we have to know everything that Jesus has commanded government to do. Thankfully, we have all of that in the Bible. We may not fully comprehend everything God tells the government to do in the Bible yet, but we all know where to look when we have a question about it. There are several places where the government’s authority is mentioned. Here’s one place:

“Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God. 2 Therefore he who resists the authority withstands the ordinance of God; and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the authority, 4 for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil. 5 Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, continually doing this very thing. 7 Therefore give everyone what you owe: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if customs, then customs; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”

Romans 13:1-7

The main focus of this passage is a Christian’s relationship to the government, but it also holds some truth about the role of government. It tells us some important things:

  • The government is to be respected
  • The government is not to be resisted
  • The government is authorized to judge between good and evil
  • The government is authorized to punish evil
  • The government is authorized to issue the death penalty
  • The government is authorized to tax

This overview actually limits government to a very narrow area. They are only authorized to judge and punish evil, and to require taxes for that purpose. It’s pretty simple and strait forward. I think that what has made this issue difficult to discern today, is that the definition of “good and evil” has been corrupted by those who wish to obtain god-like power.

Good and Evil

It’s very important to notice that Romans 13 only gives the government permission to judge between good and evil. It does not give it permission to define what good and evil is. This is a critical thing for Christians to consider. God never gave man the authority to create new commandments. God placed all authority on Jesus, and Jesus told us to make His commands known. The government doesn’t even have the job of making Jesus’ commands known. That’s our job as Christians. The government’s only job is to enforce civil commands. God’s civil commands are more specifically described in the Old Testament and that’s where a government should go in order to know what is good and what is evil. It is wrong for them to simply make it up commands themselves:

“You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you.“

Deuteronomy 4:2

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
    who put darkness for light,
    and light for darkness;
who put bitter for sweet,
    and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
    and prudent in their own sight!”

Isaiah 5:20-21

Civil Sins are the Punishable Ones

If God has given civil government the authority to punish evil but has limited it to the evils found in the Bible, then the only sins that the government is to punish are those that are specified by God as having a punishment attached to them. If a government punishes a sin that God doesn’t have a specified punishment for in the Bible, they are modifying Jesus’ commandments. They are limited to punishing only the evil that the Bible says is to be punished.

This is very important. For example, the Bible doesn’t allow a government to punish “thought crime.” Jesus does hold a man accountable for thought crime, but human government does not have the authority to punish it. In fact, human government doesn’t have the proper tools to assess the thoughts of a man. We are seeing the results of man’s attempts to know the thoughts of people today and it clearly leads to abuse and oppression.

Man’s Justice is Limited

Another very important thing for us to keep in mind, is that only God has the ability to bring perfect justice. One long-awaited promise of the Kingdom of Jesus is that He will bring perfect judgement to man for the first time in history, but this judgment is reserved for Jesus alone.

Man’s justice is always incomplete and temporary. We cannot see or punish many of the sins that God can. God is actually offended if we try to do so. Here’s what God tells us:

‘Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.”’

Romans 12:19

If a man attempts to punish “sins” that only God can see, we put ourselves in God’s place. It is a violation of the third commandment to attempt to vainly act in God’s name. That’s what government officials do when they create punishments for crimes that only God can properly assess.

Which sins are punishable?

To learn which sins are punishable, read God’s law, much of which is found in Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Most of these sins are quite obvious even though the punishments have been diminished in many cultures today. That’s because God has given each one of us a built in legal system called a conscience, but we tend to minimize our failures. The “basic rule” for civil government is found way back in Genesis after Noah got off of the ark:

“I will surely require accounting for your life’s blood. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, I will require the life of man. 6 Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in his own image.”

Genesis 9:5-6

Later in the Leviticus, God gave Moses more detail:

““‘He who strikes any man mortally shall surely be put to death. 18 He who strikes an animal mortally shall make it good, life for life. 19 If anyone injures his neighbor, it shall be done to him as he has done: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. It shall be done to him as he has injured someone. 21 He who kills an animal shall make it good; and he who kills a man shall be put to death. 22 You shall have one kind of law for the foreigner as well as the native-born; for I am Yahweh your God.’”

Leviticus 24:17-21

When a man or an animal kills a man, it is the government’s job to kill that man or animal. Laws that God allows the civil government to punish, are often related to the value of human life or private property in some way or another. This includes death for those adults in rebellion to parents (Deuteronomy 21:18-21) and those in direct rebellion against the Creator of the law (Leviticus 24:16). It also includes those who commit sexual sins of fornication and adultery (Deuteronomy 22:22-30).

The Distribution of Authority

It’s important for us to understand that Jesus didn’t simply pass authority down government officials. Individuals, families and churches have been given authority too. Most of the law is written to us as individuals. The law of God not only tells us our individual responsibility, it also informs us of our liberty (Psalm 119:45). By giving man direct responsibility under God, we are free from the control of man. The Bible teaches that God intends for us to be free (1 Corinthians 7:23, Galatians 5:13).

A good way that we observe God’s distribution of authority is by looking at what the Bible says about obedience and submission. Liberty has been given to each of us because each individual is commanded to control himself. Children are to submit to their parents (Ephesians 6:1-3) and a wife is told to submit to her husband (Ephesians 5:22). Men and women are also told to submit to their bosses (Ephesians 6:5-8).

An important teaching in the New Testament is that the church reports directly to Jesus Himself (Ephesians 5:23-24). This is also reflected in God’s instructions to church members. They were not to not bring lawsuits between themselves to civil courts (1 Corinthians 6:1-11). God also calls on younger people to take the advice of the older ones (1 Peter 5:5).

Government Overreach

Government overreach is a very serious sin. When a government takes authority that it was not given, it must take it from someone else. If God has already given the responsibility to an individual, parents, bosses or the church, the government doesn’t have the right to remove that responsibility. When a government takes authority away by force, it isn’t just taking that authority away from man. It’s taking the authority away from Jesus who distributed it.

God’s design for human government is for it to focus on judgment and the punishment of civil wrong doing. There is no mention of the economy, communications, food distribution, education, welfare, healthcare, resource management, workforce management, etc. The government may find civil disorder in any of these areas when life or property is at stake, but God doesn’t call for governmental management of these areas.

It definitely doesn’t give government the right to manage personal issues like what a person should wear or eat or what medicines a person should be taking. It doesn’t have the right to tell churches what to teach or how to meet together. It doesn’t have the right to tell families how many children to have or to tell individuals what to think.

Dealing with Oppression

Jesus had to deal with the overstep of the “Jewish local government.” They made so many rules that no one could follow them, and they excluded themselves from having to do them.

“All things therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but don’t do their works; for they say, and don’t do. 4 For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them.”

Matthew 23:3-4

Often in this life, we are forced to do things by our governments that God does not require. As a result, we have to obey or suffer. Sometimes, the only alternative is to suffer because to obey would be a sin. It’s important for us to remember that Governments are being watched by Jesus and they will be held accountable for what they have done.

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy, and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you.”

Hebrews 13:17

Further Study

Here are some good places to read more about authority and the government’s limits. These have helped me as I have considered the topic.

God vs. Government
by Dr. Jason Lisle
(https://biblicalscienceinstitute.com/theology/god-vs-government/)
In this document, Jason Lisle focuses on the role of government and its interference with the church. He has an excellent focus on God’s law which he also discusses in other places.

An Examination of Romans 13
by Pastor Matthew Trewhella
(https://defytyrants.com/01/Romans13appendix.pdf)
This document provides three proofs as to why Romans 13 does not teach unlimited obedience to civil government. This is an important thing to understand as many argue that Romans 13 means that God wants us to obey all authority without question.

The Christian foundations of the rule of law in the West: a legacy of liberty and resistance against tyranny
by Augusto Zimmermann
(https://creation.com/the-christian-foundations-of-the-rule-of-law-in-the-west-a-legacy-of-liberty-and-resistance-against-tyranny)
This is an in-depth document that connects Christianity to the rule of law. This concept is an important one and one that I didn’t discuss in my writing here. This document is also very special in that it was formally written by an Australian Christian in a peer-reviewed creationist journal.

Clear Evidence that Universal Masking Isn’t Necessary

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After carefully considering COVID-19 recommendations, I came to a very strong conclusion that mask mandates have nothing to do with the danger of being infected with COVID-19.

The CDC has this recommendation regarding masks:

“CDC recommends that you wear masks in public settings around people who don’t live in your household and when you can’t stay 6 feet away from others. Masks help stop the spread of COVID-19 to others.”

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/about-face-coverings.html

First, it’s important to note that this is a “recommendation.” There are no “mask mandates” on the CDC website to the best of my knowledge. Americans should know that these mandates are both illegal and immoral as I detail in a previous article.

The main reason that I assert that mask mandates are wrong, is that they spread a lie that COVID-19 is a dangerous disease. Evidence recently came into focus that has clearly exposed the inconsistency of the experts regarding when the disease is infectious which calls universal mask wearing into question.

One thing that God teaches us is that we are to judge people by what they do, not by their words alone. What a person does, exposes the truth about what they really believe. Here’s what James said:

“Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. 18 Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

James 2:17-18

God tells us that when a person says he believes something, but does something else, we are not to believe what that person says. What a person does, demonstrates what he really believes. This fact turns out to be very important when it comes to the CDC’s recommendations and the truth about mask wearing.

What exposes the CDC’s deception is their recommendations regarding testing. Here’s what they say about that:

“Considerations for who should get tested : People who have symptoms of COVID-19, People who have had close contact (within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes) with someone with confirmed COVID-19, People who have been asked or referred to get testing by their healthcare provider, local or state ​health department”

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/testing.html

When it comes to actually deciding who has COVID-19, the CDC says that they only want to test those who have symptoms, or those who have spent 15 minutes with another person who was confirmed to have the disease. This exposes who the CDC really believes are dangerous.

The experts apparently don’t believe that people without symptoms are sick enough to even test for the disease. This doesn’t match with what the CDC says in another place:

“COVID-19 may be spread by people who are not showing symptoms.”

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/how-covid-spreads.html

These experts are only testing those who are sick even though they say that it “may be” spread by people without symptoms. They want us to live by what they say while they live by a different rule.

What does this have to do with universal mask mandates? It has to do with what the CDC said in the first quotation in this article. They claim in that quotation that “masks help stop the spread… to others.” What it actually means when you put all of these things together is that masks help stop the spread of the disease from a harmfully infected person to others who are not infected. Since the actions of the experts demonstrate that only people who show symptoms are worthy of testing, it exposes the fact that only those who have symptoms should be wearing a mask.

A person might argue that the only reason that the CDC doesn’t want to test people without symptoms is because they don’t have the resources to test everyone, but that’s not a good argument anymore. A recent article in the New York Times exposed the fact that the tests themselves are measuring people who have the virus but are not sick enough to test positive. The unrevealed fact was that it is possible to have the virus without being contagious enough to be a concern to the experts.

“The standard tests are diagnosing huge numbers of people who may be carrying relatively insignificant amounts of the virus. Most of these people are not likely to be contagious, and identifying them may contribute to bottlenecks that prevent those who are contagious from being found in time.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/health/coronavirus-testing.html

The article goes on to remind people that they should only seek out testing if they are truly sick. If the argument for testing is that people who don’t have symptoms are not even “COVID-19 positive,” why should those who have no symptoms be required to wear masks? What the experts are doing doesn’t match what they are mandating that we do.

This doesn’t change what Christians should do about mask mandates. As I mentioned before, God’s requirement has always been that only those with symptoms of certain diseases should be required to wear masks and be isolated from others. God’s law has no requirement for universal mask wearing. What has been revealed here is merely a confirmation of what we should already know from God’s word. When an individual knows that he has a contagious disease, he should isolate himself and may even need to wear a mask. This allows the rest of us to support the community while those who are sick, get better.

This brings up the question: If experts don’t really think that masks reduce the spread of COVID-19, why do they insist that we wear them? We may never really know the specifics of what they are thinking, but God has made it clear what we should do.

“You were bought with a price. Don’t become bondservants of men.”

1 Corinthians 7:23

For More Information

Worse than the Disease
When we see misleading information like this that comes from a government agency, it should cause us to ask some questions about what we need to change. This article explains what I think we should do.

How Should Christians Respond to Mask Mandates?

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**revised on 10/23/2020 *** This document is intended to provide a specific response to government mask mandates based on God’s written law. It’s intended to answer these questions: Is it wrong for governments to issue mask mandates? If it is, should Christians obey the mandates anyway? If Christians shouldn’t obey, how are we to live?

The biblical role of government is given to us in a combination of Old and New Testament teaching. The laws that God gave to Moses, tell us what God expects of individuals. They tell us when an individual has violated God’s law and what the punishments for disobedience are. The New Testament provides more about what government’s role is today in relation to God’s previously defined laws. God spoke through Paul in Romans 13:1-7 and Peter in 1 Peter 2:11-17 and in these passages we learn that God gives civil government the right to discover which individuals have done wrong and to punish them for crimes with the punishments specified in the laws given to Moses. It’s important to remember that God provides a process to make sure that the crime was actually committed. Wrongfully punishing an innocent person is also treated as a crime. Crimes without a specific punishment are left for God alone to punish. For more on this, listen to Dr. Jason Lisle’s message on The Law of God.

Since God only tasks government with the job of punishing crimes with specified punishments, we are limited to determining if the law of Moses has a mask mandate or something like it, and if so, see if it has a punishment specified for breaking it. Surprisingly, there is a law that specifies a face covering:

““The leper in whom the plague is shall wear torn clothes, and the hair of his head shall hang loose. He shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’  All the days in which the plague is in him he shall be unclean. He is unclean. He shall dwell alone. His dwelling shall be outside of the camp.”

Leviticus 13:45-46 (emphasis mine)

It’s interesting that the face covering requirement here only permits the covering of the mouth and not the nose. Future discussions could clarify the form of covering and the disease specified, but the most important thing to realize here is that that God’s mandate only specifies that a sick person be “masked.” The passage also specifies the process by which certain diseases are detected, none of which are asymptomatic. The process by which a person was determined to be sick was objective. It couldn’t have a “false positive” as many obscure tests have today. Once again, a false positive could end up putting a well person in isolation and that would be a violation of the law in regard to punishing the innocent. Read the first 44 verses of Leviticus 13 to get a more complete picture.

What we learn here is that there is no biblical mask mandate for a person who is not sick. Forcing people who are well to wear a mask is not only not biblical, it is in violation of biblical law. A well person is not to be put in jail for not wearing a mask. Also, there was no further requirements for the sick other than to be in isolation until their symptoms were clearly gone. It is quite clear that it is wrong for a government to mandate that masks be worn by well people based on this passage.

This answers the first question and we can move on to the next. Assuming the mask mandates are illegal, the question now is: Should we offend our leaders by refusing to comply? This is where the law gets more complicated.

Thankfully, it appears that God anticipated that we would encounter problems like these. When Paul was giving instructions to Christian converts, he had to deal with the fact that many of them were slaves. I am told that about 50% of the people living in the Roman empire were under some form of slavery. The Bible teaches us that all slavery is wrong for Christians. Here’s what it says:

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Galatians 3:28

Paul was tasked by God to tell the slaves what to do when they became Christians while under human bondage. Since God didn’t see them as being any less than their masters, should they offend their masters and demand release? Should they run away? What should they do? I bring this to our attention, because the same principle appears to apply to us regarding mask mandates. When our leadership decides to require us to do something God doesn’t, we are being forced into slavery. When we, as Christians, find ourselves enslaved to a government, we are in a similar situation. So let’s look at what Paul told slaves like us to do:

“Let each man stay in that calling in which he was called.  Were you called being a bondservant? Don’t let that bother you, but if you get an opportunity to become free, use it.  For he who was called in the Lord being a bondservant is the Lord’s free man. Likewise he who was called being free is Christ’s bondservant.  You were bought with a price. Don’t become bondservants of men.  Brothers, let each man, in whatever condition he was called, stay in that condition with God.”

1 Corinthians 7:20-24

God tells us that if we find ourselves enslaved to a man as a Christian that we take any opportunity to be free available. If we apply this to mask wearing, it would appear to be saying that if we find ourselves forced by the government to wear a mask, even though they shouldn’t be mandating it, we should go ahead and comply until we can find a way to be free legally. At this point, It may appear that we have answered the second question, but there are more complications to consider.

One of the many amazing things about God’s law is that He applied His laws directly to individuals. It would appear that it is upon this fact that human liberty is founded. The Bible teaches that when a government or a master tells an individual to do something that goes against God’s law, that the individual is to obey God instead of man.

“When they had brought them, they set them before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, “Didn’t we strictly command you not to teach in this name? Behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man’s blood on us.”  But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”

Acts 5:27-29

The Jewish leadership of Peter’s time had requested that they stop spreading the word about Jesus, but God had already told them to do the opposite. Even though they were obligated to follow the Jewish leadership by God’s law, they had to disobey and suffer for it in order to be obedient to the law of God as an individual. This behavior was also clearly demonstrated by the Old Testament prophets.

So the next question we must answer is: “Does God tell us to not wear a mask?”

There isn’t a specific law in the Bible that tells a person that he can’t wear a mask. So, if we base our decision on this, it would appear that we are required to obey our governmental masters and wear masks, but once again, there’s more complication in the law that we must consider.

There is a condition, specified in the New Testament, in which it is wrong to do something that we would otherwise be free to do. It’s a significant doctrine of New Testament Christianity and has to do with meat sacrificed to idols. During the Roman rule, pagans would take their best meat and offer it up to the gods like Zeus and Hermes. The temple workers would then take this meat and sell it in the market as the meat that was sacrificed to the gods. Everyone knew that this was the best of the best. Christians and Jews had qualms with this. This was sacrificed to an idol so some thought that eating this meat was like participating in idol worship. Paul said that it wasn’t wrong, individually, as long the individual had enough knowledge to realize that Zeus wasn’t a real god. Even so, there was a wrong way for this individual to use this freedom. Here’s the problem:

“For though there are things that are called “gods”, whether in the heavens or on earth; as there are many “gods” and many “lords”; yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him. However, that knowledge isn’t in all men. But some, with consciousness of the idol until now, eat as of a thing sacrificed to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.”

1 Corinthians 8:5-7

Paul warns the knowledgeable that they must pay attention to what their actions portray to those around them. I believe that the term used today is: “signaling.” Back then, if you were caught eating at the the temple to Zeus, a “weak” Christian might see you and decide that it’s actually O.K. to worship Jesus and Zeus. The knowledgeable Christian would be signaling the wrong thing to the ignorant person, effectively destroying his weak faith. Even though we are free to eat anywhere, it becomes wrong again when what we are signalling destroys someone else, causing them to sin.

So, before we conclude that it’s O.K. to wear face masks under our current conditions, we must ask ourselves: “Would our mask wearing signal something inappropriate to those around us?”

I believe that this is where we all must make our own personal assessment. If you don’t believe that we are in a public health emergency, and you indicate the opposite to those around you, you are lying and that is a violation of the 9th commandment. In fact, you might be misleading those who have less knowledge than you and causing them to act irrationally. This issue can have very serious consequences in society as a whole. As Churches are being sued and pastors going to jail, it’s pretty obvious that the government can’t be trusted with too much power. Would we, by wearing a mask, make people believe that the government needs to continue to control our lives as they take away more and more liberty?

The Coronavirus is no longer a public health emergency in most places in the United States and it may have never been. Statewide mask mandates may create a false signal that there actually is a public health emergency when there actually isn’t one anymore. I don’t know why our leaders would force us to do this. Perhaps its because they don’t believe in God and His power to help us, but here’s what God’s law says to us:

“You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.”

Exodus 23:1

In my earlier version of this document, I asserted that I thought wearing a mask would almost always be signalling to others that we believe that there is a health emergency. I have since come to believe that most people are aware that we are under a mandate and because of that, we are merely “signalling” to each other that we are obeying the authorities.

That being said, you may be forced to wear a mask in order to buy groceries or to do your job. It doesn’t really matter what you are signalling at that point. Everyone knows that they have been forced to do something against their will by the authorities. That places us back under slavery only this is slavery by forces outside of ourselves. We shouldn’t willingly place ourselves under the mandate, but it has become clear that the mandates have been imposed upon us against our will.

I don’t think it is good for us to just go along with mask mandates, however. One loss of freedom will likely lead to another. Instead, I believe that we should do everything in our power to stop them. On thing we can do is to ask our pastors, police and sheriff to disregard these wrongful mandates. We can call on “lesser magistrates” to help protect us by seeking them out and rallying around them when they take their stand against the illegal laws of the higher authorities.

If you are one of those lesser magistrates, or if you are simply one under authority and want to know more, here’s a link to The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates. A lesser magistrate can be a local sheriff, a city council member, a governor, a district attorney and others. When someone is willing to take a stand, we need to let them know we are right behind them. Amazing freedom has returned to people when lesser magistrates have taken a stand.

Finally, as with any injustice of man, it is our duty as believers to remember who we are fighting. Although it is true that those who oppress us are human, the Bible tells us that the real enemy cannot be seen. Let’s stay focused on what God wants us to focus on.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

Ephesians 6:10-13

Further Study

Questioning Mask Mandates
In this article, I ask important questions that should be answered rationally by governments regarding mask mandates.

The Law of God by Jason Lisle
It is important for us to recognize that the government is responsible to the Law of God just as we are. This message explains the importance of the Law of God to our lives today as Christians.

The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates
Learn how our government officials can help us restore our governments to their proper function.

Why Is Mandatory Vaccination Wrong?

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Mandatory vaccination by the government is wrong because God did not give the government the job of stopping disease. Nowhere in the Bible will you find God declaring or demonstrating that disease control is a governmental responsibility. God does give individuals the responsibility to isolate themselves and gives priests guidance as to how to determine if someone is infected with certain diseases. That’s it. God does have a lot to say about governments that suppress people and take their freedoms away. When a man creates a law that God doesn’t require, it places God’s people under man’s control. Those leaders rebel and usurp His power. As Christians, we have a duty to not allow this to happen. Here’s what the Bible says:

“You were bought with a price. Don’t become bondservants of men.“

1 Corinthians 7:23

Is it wrong for a government to force us to do things for the good of all? Isn’t there a case in which it would be prudent for a government to protect everyone through vaccination? If the only way to protect everyone from a disease was to require everyone to be vaccinated, then it would seem to make sense, but whether we think it makes sense or not, we should trust God’s knowledge more than our own. In this case, God has also provided a clear reason why governments should not force vaccination. Vaccinations can cause injury and even death. Here’s what the CDC says in their crafty disclaimer:

“As with any medicine, there is a very remote chance of a vaccine causing a serious injury or death.”

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/side-effects.htm

The way things are with vaccines today, the government would be choosing to risk the lives of a few for the sake of the rest. To put it simply, they would be demanding that innocent people take the risk dying from their medicine by forcing it upon them. That would only make sense if the government was given domination over the lives of people by God, but it is not. Here’s what God says the government is for:

“Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the authority, for he is a servant of God to you for good.”

Romans 13:3b-4a

The government is supposed to be protecting good people, not managing which of them must die for the rest of us. So, the risk of illness and death as a result of vaccines is a very serious reason for a government not to require them, but there’s another thing we know about this. We also know that it isn’t necessary to vaccinate everyone in order to bring a disease under control.

Consider how diseases are controlled naturally. When there is no vaccine, diseases are passed around until enough people have had it already and the disease has no where to go. The disease may not go away for a long time, it simply becomes very, very rare as fewer and fewer people are susceptible to it. When people willingly choose to be vaccinated, in theory, it lowers the number of people susceptible to the disease, but there are those who catch the disease and survive. These people usually develop an immunity and they are no longer susceptible. Then, there are the very healthy people. These people have a strong natural immune system. When the disease comes knocking on their door, the disease is attacked and killed making them insusceptible as well. When a disease runs out of “susceptibles” the risk of anyone catching or spreading the disease drops very low. Often only a part of a community has to be vaccinated in order for the whole group to become safe. So, It is unnecessary for a government to mandate vaccines anyway because a disease can be controlled without a mandate. We have already experienced this fact with other serious diseases that have run their courses.

So, if there is a way for people to be protected without a mandate, it is actually evil for a government to mandate people risk their lives. I believe that this is a violation of one of the Ten Commandments:

“You shall not murder.”

Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17

At this point, it should be obvious why vaccination mandates are wrong, but there’s still more to consider.

There are certain conditions under which a specific vaccine is immoral. There are some popular vaccines that were created using aborted babies. Even some of the COVID-19 ones are being developed this way. For the record, I know that they don’t all have aborted fetal cells in them but were created using them. God has clearly said throughout the Bible that he hates the shedding of innocent blood. Allowing pharmaceuticals to abuse mankind in order to make money is just another form of slavery and murder. As you can see there’s a consistent theme in the behavior of those who push for mandates.

It’s important that we consider another thing. The Bible does warn individuals about their responsibility to not spread disease. In fact, there’s a lot of information in the Bible that deals with it. The actual mandates from God are given to Jewish individuals and to their priests. You can find some of these rules in Leviticus 13. These rules tell us that the process of disease control is not through vaccination, but through observation and isolation. The first step is for an infected individual to brought to the priest for observation. The Bible teaches these priests what to look for when someone is infected and when to require that they be isolated and for how long. The observation process is objective, which means that they can’t just be making it all up.

So we see that the Bible doesn’t support a government vaccine mandate, but does require visibly infected individuals to be observed to determine if isolation is necessary for the protection of the community. Notice that observation is done by men of God, not the government. Does that mean that we physically go to church for this? I don’t think so. We have doctors and nurses trained in these things and churches already recognize them to be the ones trained for the task, but it’s pretty obvious that we don’t need a government mandate for this either. Also notice that symptomatic people were to be tested not asymptomatic ones. I did a short investigation about asymptomatic diseases in the past and found out that the flu can also be asymptomatic. God knew about the flu when He made these rules. He also knows that men often lust for power over other men and He made sure that His laws stop tyrants. If a disease is asymptomatic, it can’t be observed and since it relies on tests that are not certain, it is an inappropriate way to judge the guiltiness of a person.

What the Bible does tell us is that people who are sick have an individual responsibility to stay away from those who are well. When we are reckless with our health and refuse to confine ourselves when we know that we have a deadly disease, we may cause someone to get sick and die. When we are reckless with another person’s life and they die, we are guilty ones.

The Bible clearly tells us that the government’s job is to punish those who break God’s civil laws. When we are reckless, the government is mandated to stop us but if a government attempts to mandate risky medicines for those who are well, they risk breaking the very laws they are required by God to uphold.

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive… To be “cured” against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.”― C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock: Essays on Theology (Making of Modern Theology)

How to Calculate a TIPS Inflation Adjustment

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Calculator Pen Tablet

Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) have the properties of a bond.  Since bonds are just a kind of loan, we can expect to get our money back when the loan period is over.  What makes TIPS especially attractive, however, is that the principal value is adjusted for inflation over time.  This eliminates a bond’s worst enemy.  This valuable feature does have a drawback, though.  There’s more complexity in determining what the value of a TIPS bond is.  Not only are there two ways to consider the value as I discuss in the article: Two Ways to Look at TIPS, the value of the principal is constantly changing.

If you’re a saver like me, you are probably interested in the current value of the principal of your TIPS.  In order to determine that, we need to adjust the bond’s face value by all of the inflation that has been experienced up to now.

Adjusted Principal

The adjusted principal of a TIPS is the amount of money that you would receive if the bond were due today.  You can’t get that money today, but it is the what it would be worth if it were due.  For those of us with a strategy to hold the bond until maturity, this is a meaningful number.  It gives us a view into how much inflation we have been protected from so far.  It is also the number that indicates how much interest you will get on the next coupon.  If our coupon (interest) rate is 1%, that 1% is not calculated on the face value of the bond, but on the adjusted principal.  That means that your interest is going up with inflation too.

Three Step Overview

It’s actually pretty easy to calculate your TIPS current value.  The basic procedure is this:

  1. Get the CUSIP of your TIPS
  2. Go to TreasuryDirect and look up today’s inflation “index ratio” for your specific TIPS.
  3. Multiply the index ratio by the face value of your TIPS.

That’s really all you have to do.  If you hold several different TIPS with different CUSIP numbers, you will need to repeat this process for all of your CUSIP’s.

TIPS CUSIP’s

Every bond that is tracked by the public market has a special identifier called a CUSIP.   There are thousands and thousands of these but they each identify a single bond issue.  When you purchase a TIPS at your brokerage or online you will see your CUSIP for the bond on you “trade confirmation.”  For this example we are going to use the current 10 year TIPS CUSIP and that is: 9128283R9.  This bond was originally issued on 1/18/2018.

Finding your TIPS Index Ratio
Index Ratio Table at TreasuryDirect

The index ratio for a TIPS is a number that you multiply with the face value of your TIPS in order to determine it’s current real value.  TreasuryDirect keeps track of all of these numbers for every TIPS that is currently available on the market.  Every day there is a new index ratio for every bond.  You can look up the index ratios for your TIPS by going to this page on TreasuryDirect:

TIPS/CPI Data Page

When you open this page, you will see all of the CUSIP’s listed for every TIPS that hasn’t matured yet.  Then, you click on your CUSIP number.  When I click on the number 9128283R9, I get a list dates along with some other numbers in a table.  For the sake of my example, lets say that it is April 28th.  To get the Index Ratio, I would go down the list to 4/28/2018 and then go over to the Index Ratio column and see the number: 1.00897.  You will need to get this number for every TIPS that hold.

Calculating the Adjusted TIPS Value

The last step is easy.  For each one of your TIPS that you now have an Index Ratio for, you just take the total face value and multiply it by the Index Ratio.  That is your adjusted principal value.

For my example, let’s say that I have two TIPS bonds with the CUSIP 9128283R9 with an original face value of $1000.  My total face value for both is $2000.   Then multiply that by the Index Ratio I looked up: $2000 x 1.00897.  The resulting current value is: $2,017.94.  This tells me that my money is currently being protected from $17.94 of inflation.

If I had quite a few different TIPS with many different CUSIP’s, this might take a little while to do.  You can make it go a bit faster by getting my free TIPS Tracker Spreadsheet.   I hope to make this process much faster when the new software is released.

So, that’s how you do it.  It’s pretty neat to see your money go up in value, especially on days when the stock market is down.  I urge you to give it a try and experience it for yourself.