WILL YOU HAVE REGRETS WHEN YOU GROW OLD?

 I recently saw an article asking the same question and I immediately said NO.  Of course I am already OLD, but people have ask me would I do anything different if I could go back in time or if I had any regrets about the decisions I made in the past and I always said NO.  I have had a blessed life and although I had many struggles in my life with the help of God I got through them and think the struggles made me a stronger person. 

After reading the article I realized I do have some doubts about some decisions I made, but I do not know if I could really classify them as regrets.  I recently was sent a small quote, “Sometimes you have to be hard.”  I found that difficult to do.  You see no one help me with one penny of my education, no one help me start a business, no one has ever been at my side, except God.  He was my shadow and the only one I could ever turn to.  My dad died when I was a teenager and from that time until I made it on my own it has been a struggle.  We went from the good life to poverty in a matter of months. 

I have always reached out to help others so they would not have to experience the things I went through and have been burned over and over again.  My best friend constantly ask me, “Father, why do you do it?”  I have helped various members of his family and he has always said, “Father, you are making a big mistake.  They will not appreciate the help and they will use you not the opportunity you gave them to get ahead.”  He was right every time.  The more you give the more they want.  You give them opportunities to get out of poverty and they are not willing to do what is necessary to accomplish the task.  They would prefer you just give them money every week.  Now if I have regrets this would be a significant one.  You can lead the horse to water, but you cannot make the horse drink.  I have a hard time putting that into practice.

I also came to realize how much I had worried about the welfare of others.  I felt an obligation to fix everything and try to make life better for others.  I was worrying about someone else problems and that is foolish.  I was trying to fix others life and neglecting my own.  Worry is never a solution to anything.  Most of the things we worry about will never happen in the first place.  Worry is a waste of time and only contributes to your stress.  

I was not one who was afraid to take risk.  Many Senior Citizens in the survey put that as the number two thing they regretted.  I always preferred taking a risk rather than later thinking ‘I should have’.  I have never been afraid to fail because I always knew I could try again.  I have never wondered if I would have done this what would life be like today.  My advice to young people is – TAKE THE CHANCE.  It is foolish to try and talk yourself out of trying new things. I am not speaking of drugs or alcohol or improper sex that can destroy you or others. If you want to go to Europe, do it! If you want to start a business, do it! But, always do your research before you do it.  Getting into your thirties with a long string of regrets will haunt you all your life. 

The survey found that 76% of Senior Citizens regretted not following their dream.  I do not have any ‘should of’ or ‘ought of’ in my past.  I knew I wanted to be a minister and an entrepreneur.  I was told a thousand times you have to choose one or the other.  I did not settle for one or the other - I had both.  God made it all possible.  My first business was presented to me and I saw it as a way of giving employment to unemployed people in my parish.  I took the risk and from that day until the day I retired I always owned a business and used it for the glory of God.   I feel I was all I should have been and have no regrets. 

Many baby boomers regretted they had not travel more when they were young.  They put it off until they were old and found then their health would not allow them to travel.  Young people, if you do not do it now, you will wish you had later.  One day you to will find your traveling days are over and you will regret it.  I have been to Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Laos, Malaysia, Europe, Mexico, all the Virgin Islands and all the USA states.  Some of these places I have made repeat visits.  Traveling is rewarding and if you have the opportunity to do it take it.  To me traveling is more important than a fancy car, branded clothes, remodeling the kitchen, expensive home or jewelry.  I admit I have always had a very nice home with very nice furniture and today I live in a modest townhouse with modest furniture and you know I was not happier in the expensive home with expensive furniture than I am where I live today.  Those expensive things are not really for you to enjoy they are you to show off.

The thing that was high on the list of Senior Citizens was not spending enough  time with loved ones.  Reluctantly I have to say I do have some thoughts about that.  Regrets no, but maybe ‘wish’ I had done better.  I took care of my mother the last 18 years she lived.  I tried to avoid the rest of my family because they only came around to get, not give.  I adopted my nephew and I do wish I would had not worked as many hours and spent more time with him as he was growing up.  I do feel I cheated him.  I was fortunate enough to be with both parents when they died.  The rift with my older sister that left us not speaking to one another for nearly 30 years does hurt.  The only constellation is I did try for about ten years to have a relationship with her.  She is now 90 and I am 80 and both confined to home because of health issues and will never be able to see one another again, thank God we resolved our issues through the mail. I would say to young people do whatever it takes to resolve problems with those you love.

Some Senior Citizens regret the bad habits they formed when they were young and have never been able to break them or broke them too late in life, the damage had already been done. I did not smoke, drink or use drugs because I witness how it destroyed my family members.  I do wish I would have paid more attention to my health when I was young and exercised more.  I ignored a lot of signs because I did not want to admit my heart was not as it should be and that I had been cursed with the family disease.  If you young people are doing drugs, drinking too much, ignoring your health know this you are not only hurting yourself you are hurting those that love you now and may love you in the future. 

Many Senior Citizens regret they did not take education seriously.  If that happens to be you it is never to late to get an education.  You may not be one for college, but there are many good technical fields you can go into if properly trained.  Education is one thing no one can take from you.  I do not recommend going in debt to go to school.  There are plenty of State funded programs you can now take advantage of.  I believe having the name Yale, Harvard or Purdue on your diploma will help very few people.

Thirty-eight percent of Senior Citizens said they regret working at a job all their adult life that they hated.  They were afraid to leave because where they were they were making good money.  It is not worth it.  The real reason they stayed was  they were are afraid to take a risk.  I would rather make less money and be happy than make lots of money and have regrets.  You young people had better stop and figure out how many hours you will spend at a place of employment during your lifetime before you sacrifice happiness for more money. 

The Number 2 thing on the list Senior Citizens regretted was the choice they made with their money.  They ran up debt, lived above their means, did not save enough and spent too much on their adult children trying to make their lives easier.  I started out my adult life thinking about the future.  I read in a church bulletin your money should be set aside each and every payday this way 10% for God, 10% for personal savings and you live on the rest and if anything is left at the end of the money it goes in personal savings.  I have practiced that all my life. The only thing I ever bought on credit was a house.  If I wanted something I figured up the cost and began putting that aside and when I could pay cash I got it.  You really enjoy it much more when you are not worried about how you are going to pay the interest and the principle. I had a friend that used a Sears Revolving Charge Card for yeas.  She never was late on a payment then she got cancer.  Sears eventually came to collect the merchandise.  She thought they were going to take back the last thing she had purchased and not paid off.  Sears took everything she had ever purchased on that card that they could find in her house.  She did not realize the old things were the collateral on the new things she purchased on the card.  I learned a good lesson that day.

Now the number one regret of Senior Citizens was worrying about what people would think.  I AM GUILTY! I did not stop worrying about what people would think  until I was 50 years old.  Today I do not care what other people think about me.  I care what God thinks about me.  I cannot please everyone and I no longer try to.  It is my life!  Young people should go after their own life and their own happiness regardless of what others think.  Be who you are and say what you feel.  Those that are hurt by the truth are not your friends anyway.  White Lies in order to get along with someone never works.  The truth eventually surface and always surfaces at the worse time.  Life is shorter than you think, everyone has flaws, everyone is focused on what is best for them rather than what is best for you.  Embrace uncertainty and do not be afraid to make mistakes.   

I spent my life trying to please everyone in my family and my parish.  I realized too late that it is pointless and impossible.  One Sunday I confronted a problem in my parish from the pulpit.  I announced from that Sunday on I will do what God is leading me to do and if you do not like it leave.  The door in this church works both ways and there are a lot of churches in this town for you to go to and ruin.  No one is going to tell me what to preach or not preach any longer, they are not going to tell what programs I should or should not start and they certainly are not going to tell me who they want or do not want in this church or the kind of people they want in OUR church.  This is not OUR church this is God’s church.  My problems stopped immediately. 

BE WHO GOD CREATED YOU TO BE. BE YOURSELF AND YOU WILL FIND HAPPINESS. BE YOURSELF AND YOU WILL HAVE NO REGRETS WHEN YOU GROW OLD.    

Generational Poverty

There is a cycle of poverty known as “Generational Poverty” and it is nearly impossible to correct.  Generational Poverty is when three or four generations of the same family have grown up in poverty.  They have no memory of anyone in the family not living in poverty. They begin to accept that survival is enough and do not make an attempt to get out of poverty.

 

Many much smarter than me say they begin to accept survival over trying to advance because they lack resources, education and connections. They claim that if they had outside help they could break the cycle of poverty.  Without outside help they are destined to be poor generation after generation.

This is true to a certain extent, but I do not believe it is the only cause of generational poverty.  Generational poverty becomes a mindset and is nearly impossible to break regardless of the outside help they have. I say this because I have tried to help and have first hand experience in the Philippines.  I will explain later. 

I admit poverty can be and generally is the results of low productivity, low salaries, poor governance, ignorance, lack of skills and technology, lack of education, disease, disasters, unemployment, marital status, lack of confidence, victim mentality and mass imprisonment of men.     

A 1960 study said trying to advance the skills of children in poverty has proven difficult and expensive, therefore they suggest supplementing the income of all poor 
families to bring them up to the level of the other students in their schools.  I am sorry this does not make sense to me.  Do they intend for us to supplement the salaries of every generation that follows and there will never be and end to the burden it puts on tax payers and it will never advance an individual who is living in poverty.  There is an old clique give a man a fish and he will eat once, but teach him to fish and he will eat the rest of his life.   

There was a study in France in 2004 that liked the idea that Obama proposed “Income Transfer”, take from the rich and give to the poor.  But, the study did  
 conclude this should only be a quick fix and could not be continued because the real solution is the government must assure a quality education for all. This plan was 
different than the GREAT PRESIDENT OBAMA'S for his plan would have 
continued for ever because it was to be part of the I.R.S.  

Do you remember the other great plan of the Democrats in the 1960's favor minorities in job and entrance to college. They did not apply for jobs and they did not go to college.  When it came time to stop the plan they revolted.  The ones that benefit from the Civil Rights Plan would have probably succeeded without it for they were already achievers.  Contrary to what we are told I believe most rich people do not inherit their wealth they obtain their wealth by working hard.  Most of the rich did not attend private schools they attended public schools.  I think it has more to do 
with  the motivation of the individual to want to do better than handouts.

After my Father died, when I was in my early teens, we became poor very fast.  I was 
determined I did not want to be poor all my life and I worked my way through 
college and graduate school and manage to obtain a lifestyle where I never experienced poverty again.

Since living in the Philippines I have paid all expenses for five students to go to college  and given them a weekly stipends.  One graduated from College.  The others did not have enough desire to advance in life.  One young lady was an honor student, but her parents thought it best she drop out and go to work so she could help support 
the family. She believed she should follow Philippine tradition.  One family was afraid the child would have more of an attachment for me than them and would not 
help them when he finished college. I now pay a family to send their daughter to school who is in the seventh grade and an honor student and pray she continues.  Her 
family seems to understand the importance of an education.

My point is these five students had outside help and only one took advantage of it.  Now I will give you more examples. They concern helping families start a business. 

A young couple in their late twenties, a nice couple, was living in poverty and I was 
the Godfather to their child.  They went back to the city where they came from and I financed a small café for them.  I personally went and purchased all the equipment, had the space remodeled and paid one year utilities and rent in advance.  They opened and did better than I had ever anticipated.  The first warning to me was when the wife said we are the owners and I should not be waiting tables I should be the cashier.  She had her Father build her a nice little cashier booth where she sat on her 
butt all day.  They had to replace her with a paid employee.  The third month they had made enough money to take a vacation in Cebu to show off their new found wealth to his family.  They closed for three weeks.  When they returned they found that the customers they had daily had gone elsewhere and they  could not 
understand why.  To make a long story short they pawned all the equipment, left the 
building empty with about ten months rent and utilities paid.  To top it all they did not even feel and obligation to tell the customer on a sign that they were closed for three weeks and would reopen. They had outside help, but could not or would handle the responsibility.

I help a mother and son open a grocery store.  The mother was disabled and the son was about 23 and a prostitute making money at the mall off of foreign men.  I visited the mother and knew the circumstances and decided to help.  She did have a home on a busy street and a front yard big enough for a small store.  I had it build, equipped and stocked.  Another success story for about six months.  I visited the mother to find 
the store closed and found the boy like being a prostitute better than having to stay in the store more free time he said prostituing  Today he has A.I.D.S. and the mother is deceased.  It was not the lack of outside help it was the lack of desire and being responsible.

I helped a brother and sister open another café and I will not go into to that. I had owned a restaurant in Houston, Texas and try to advise them, but no they would not listen. They preferred to blame lack of business on the lack of traffic and the people in cars drove by to fast and everything else they could imagine.  I told them they should try a buffet style restaurant before they closed – no interest.  I told them they should have a limited menu and an offer a different meal everyday and then simply repeat it for the next week for the workers near by – no interest.  Restaurant closed!

Still being the fool I am I helped a woman open a vendors stall at the Davao Street Market.  She is doing well, but could do much better.  The problem is she does not like change.  Whatever you suggest you can see it in her face she is not listening and is not going to try it. She was told if she would arrange the used clothing in colors and sizes and put them on the rack neatly more people would come into her stall.  I was told Filipino’s do not like that they like digging through stuff piled on a table and finding what they want.  So in other words ALL Filipino people have no desire to 

shop in ease and in a well organized place they are too low class for that.  That what I hear her saying.  There is a saying in retail that women do not like to “Butt Swipe” when shopping which means they like enough space so other are not brushing up against them.  I was told Filipino’s do not care anything about that they live five and six in one room they are use to being crowed.  Last night I advised them no more help and no more money.  I think they will make enough to have a dried fish and rice everyday for breakfast.  Outside help may have failed again.

I was helping an orphanage in a nearby town.  One day I happen upon one of the directors Facebook Page.  All of these pictures of people that were supposedly 
volunteering at the Home were going on all day sightseeing trips on boats, staying the weekend at resorts on Samal Island. But, I was told weekly, “Father, if we do not get money in we will have to close in two weeks.”  Most of the volunteers were friends 
and family. Naturally they get nothing from me any longer.  They got outside help, but did not change anything.  These people were college graduates who  when looking at their material possessions it looks like they have nothing, house not decent, no car, cheap furniture, etc.

Then my Filipino friend told me, “Father, those people are not going to change no matter what you give them.  You give it and they spend it on a party.  They are happy the way they are and do not want more out of life.  You want to give them a chance to live a better life, because you feel sorry for them, but what you do not understand is 
they really do not care about having a better life because that would mean more work, less play and more responsibility.” This friend is the only one I helped that finished College and got a degree in Accounting.

This week I happened upon a You Tube site where a young Filipino man was talking about poverty in the Philippines.  This young man has made it big in the entertainment business in the States.  He said that all his family expect him to support them while they lay around the house in the Philippines.  He claims he did that for several years.  He then realized he was not helping them get out of poverty and now he gives them nothing.  He said of course they think he is terrible and has no heart and tell him that was not the way he was raised.  His reply is it is not the way I was raised and if I followed the culture and traditions of the way I was raised I would be 
poor to. His niece is at the moment hates  him for not sending her to college. He told her no one sent me I worked at a Call Center at night and went to college in the day you can do the same.  What he said may seem cold, but he is right.  He is only contributing to Generational Poverty as long as he keeps supporting them all.  One has to desire to get out of poverty in order to get out of poverty.

I gave the lady in the Davao Street Market 144 Tee Shirts, name brand, overruns.  She immediately replied I cannot sell those things.  They are too expensive and no one would pay what they are worth.  They are too thin, Filipinos like thick cotton shirts.  They are all tagged with prices from stores.  The price on the tags and what I ask her to try and sell them for is ¼.  The largest Department Store in the Philippines sells the same brands and same shirts. She honestly believes Filipinos prefer used clothes because that is what they are used to. Not open to trying and certainly not open to change.  It is festival week in Davao alot of people from out of town.  If they had money to fly here for the festival they may have money to pay a little more for new clothes. 

So I do not buy the idea that all people living in poverty need is OUTSIDE help!  They also need the desire to get out of poverty.

 

Doctor - With a heart for charitable work

Dr. Jeff Ho,

I want to take a moment to let others know how much I appreciate what Dr. Jess Jo is doing for the senior citizens and poverty stricken people of Davao, Philippines and surrounding areas.  I do not doubt  most doctors are concerned with the care they give their patience’s and want to do the best they can to heal them.  Doctor Ho goes far beyond what I have ever seen a doctor do in my nearly eighty years of life.  He puts medical care before a lavish life-style. He truly has a heart of charity and community concern.

I admit and apologize for wanting to leave when I first entered his office.  I was concerned.  It was not what I was used to.  It was very simple and honestly needs repairs.  I thought of leaving and I thank God I did not.  It is not the furnishing or structure that should be of concern when you seek medical care.  The only thing that should matter is the doctors ability and Dr. Ho certainly far exceeds the ability of many doctors.

To be quite honest I have not known Dr. Ho long, but in one week I saw remarkable change in my health issues.  I have heart, lung and kidney failure and Diabetes.  I was on 17 different medications and taking some twice a day.  My medicine bill was running about $1100 USA dollars per month.  I simply could not afford it any longer.  I also felt I was being poison by medicines.  I had discussed with my previous  doctors about my issues with medication to no avail.  It was like they were the doctor and I was the patient and if I knew so much why did I need a doctor.  I felt like it is my body and I should have a voice in my care.  Dr. Ho has listened to me and is trying to address my issues.

I was taking medication for my lung problems as needed and was hesitant to take it unless I was so bad I thought I would pass out.  He said use it morning and night and through out the day.  This has made a remarkable difference.  Others had told me to limit my fluid intake (water and broth from soups) to 1500 ml.  I simply felt this was not sufficient, but did as they said.  I am taking fluid medication to keep fluid expelled from my body.  Dr. Ho has allowed me to increase my water intake and I believe it has made a difference. I no longer feel dehydrated.   I have had a problem with my right lower leg for over two years.  I was told it was from Diabetes.  Dr. Ho advised me I cannot wear socks up over my ankles and prescribed exercises and increased my fluid medication.  I already see results. 

Of course time will tell, but in this short time I am grateful to Dr. Ho.  This may sound silly to some, but I was in such pain and unable to walk. I use a wheelchair. One morning I prayed to God to lead me to another doctor for another opinion.  I am a retired priest from the USA and I came to Davao after I was forced to retire because of health issues.  I did not really know how to find another doctor.  I went to the computer and searched for help.  Dr. Ho’s site came up immediately and I felt I should give him a try.  Thank God I did!

Dr. Ho provides free care for senior citizens and operates a free clinic on Saturdays for the poor.  He will see the poor and senior citizens anytime in case of an emergency.  The charges to regular customer or unbelievably small. Medical care is available to all because of this one giant of a man.  It is a shame that the Philippine Government or some Charitable Organization does not provide him support.  But, of course if they did they would want to take over his clinice and make all the decisions and destroy what the man has accomplished.

Please pray for Dr. Ho I know of no other doctor anywhere in the world and I have lived in many, many places that is as concerned about people as he is.  He truly lives what he professes.  I was floored when I had my caregiver call him about lab results he had requested and was told he and his wife had gone to wash clothes.  I know of no doctor that washes his own clothes.  I pray God blesses him and his family abundantly with joy, peace, love and protection.

Fr. Tom Martin - Retired

Random Thoughts - Generosity, Judging, Guilt

Are we generous people? I am not talking about random acts of giving (Salvation Army Christmas Kettle) or giving when you are motivated by someone or a particular cause. That is okay, but I am talking about having a generous heart.

Truly generous people do not give out of guilt.

If you do not give because you are afraid you will need it later you are not a generous giver.

Generosity is not a natural trait. It has to be learned. Children have to be taught to share.

Giving is a cultural thing in the United States because of Christianity.

Generous people are not emotional givers. They plan ahead how much they can give and who they will give it to.

Generous people do not give based on present cash flow.

Generous giving is not about how much you give. I use to get upset when people would talk about how generous Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey are. She has four or five mansions and he has a trust fund setup for his kid worth millions of dollars. What do you have? You may be more generous than either of them.

Generosity is not how many zeroes are at the end of your check it is about sacrifice and giving from the heart. It is not giving for a tax deduction. It is not giving for publicity.

I will give one example to demonstrate generosity. I once new an elderly lady we called Ms Honey. She gave $20 every week to help with our food ministry. She lived on a fixed government check. That $20 would be more generous than what Bill Gates or Ms Winfrey gives.

Truly happy people are generous givers. It is true more joy comes from giving than receiving. Try it and see.
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Have you ever thought "Thank God I am not like them". If you have (and I have) you are a hypocrite. A "holier than them" attitude is not what Christians are suppose to have.

Judging others pushes people away from Christ not to Christ. As Christians we are called to not be self righteous. We condemn ourselves when we judge others.

We should put away our magnifying glass when looking at others.

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We only feel guilty when we care. If we do not care about others we do not feel guilty.

Remember we are not what we did. We have all done things we regretted. But that does not mean we are a bad person.

If we want to stop feeling guilty we have to own what we did (admit it) and stop making excuses for doing it.

Sometimes to fix our wrong all we need do is say "I am sorry".

Our future is not necessarily limited by our past mistakes.

Sometimes we stay angry far too long because of our pride. We need to humble our self and say these three words "I am sorry" and most of the time the anger will leave.

The ? Commandment - God helps those who help themselves

Ask random people to name one of the Ten Commandments. You will be surprised by how many people will answer by saying, “God helps those who help themselves.” That is not one of the Ten Commandments. A Christian polling firm, found that better than eight in ten Americans think “God helps those who help themselves” is in the Bible. It may sound pious and spiritual, but the Bible absolutely contains no such verse. Even President Obama in 2011 used it in a speech as a Biblical quote.

The statement apparently originated in Greek mythology before Christ. In 1736 Ben Franklin popularized it in Poor Richard’s Almanac, helping to give the statement a permanent place in American thinking.

I would argue that “God helps those who help themselves” is untrue. It sends a message that I think is contrary to the Bible’s message. God does expect us to use the talents He has given us to help or better ourselves. But, if it were true God only helps those who help themselves it would have to also apply to salvation.  

There is no part of salvation that we can initiate or work toward. Salvation comes through ‘grace’ and there is no work we can do to obtain it. If it were true it would mean we have some control over God and we don't? I think it is fair to say that God's help is more likely to be effective if we are earnestly trying to do our part to help ourselves, but my salvation has nothing to do with anything I have done. It has everything to do with what Jesus has done.

I think a lot of those who say it are using it as an excuse to avoid helping those in need. But, the Bible is clear we are to help those in need. Helping others or being charitable is essential to being Christian. Our willingness to help others in need is one of the ways God uses us to accomplish His goals on earth.

God helps those that are in need of help and if we are obeying God and doing what God has called us to do we certainly will be more blessed. I have said repeatedly in my blog God will not do for us what we He has given us the ability to do for ourselves. 

Second Thessalonians 3:10 states the church should not give aid to those who can work, but refuse to. God blesses those who obey.

Jeremiah 17:5 (NIV) - This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on man for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD."

Proverbs 28:26 (NIV) - “He who trusts in himself is a fool...”

God helps those who CANNOT help themselves at least I have found that to be true in my own personal life.

Stop waiting on God!

I am so tired of hearing people say, "Well, I am waiting on God."  Stop waiting on God and take action to solve your own problems. God is not going to do for you what God equipped you to do for yourself. I know a family that is "Waiting on God" to build a room on their small house so their mother will have her own room. Do they really expect God to deliver nails, hammers, saws and timber to their doorstep. They have internet, cable television and a car. They need to decide what is a priority and stop blaming God for their mother not having her on room.

God warned Noah and NOAH build the ark. Noah did not wait on God to build the ark. I do not take that story in the Bible literally, but it sure teaches me a lesson not to wait on God to do all the work.

In most cases if you do not have what you need it is because you have not taken action to solve your own problems. I know there are exceptions. The elderly, physically and mentally ill, children and people with special needs often need a helping hand, but if you are healthy and sitting around on your butt waiting on God remember -  the Bible says those that do not work should not eat.

IF YOU DO NOT BUILD IT GOD CANNOT BLESS IT!

Is celebrity worshipping healthy?

 Being interested in the personal lives of celebrities might seem like harmless fun, but is it?  Celebrities are worshiped worldwide, especially in poor countries. Celebrity worship is not new it can be traced back to ancient Greece and Olympus. Celebrity worship is more prevalent today than in the past because we have more access to celebrity’s personal lives due to modern technology.

There is a thin line between politics and celebrities in the Philippines. As of October 15^th there had been 29 celebrities file for election in 2016. I doubt very seriously if they are depending on their vast knowledge of governance, law, economics, national or world affairs to win them a spot in government.  

One Representative attended the third grade and has gotten a G.E.D. His ambition is to become a Senator and then President of the Philippines. English and Tagalog are the languages most used in the National government and he speaks neither fluently. Celebrity status has it perks outside of sports and entertainment.

I can remember when women started throwing their underwear on stage at Elvis Presley and media acted as if it was a new phenomenon.  Women threw their underwear on stage when composers Frederic Chopin and Franz Liszt performed on stage in the 19th century.

Celebrities tap into the public's fantasies and basic emotions. They allow people to escape their everyday mundane lives and believe anything is possible. The problem with idolizing celebrity’s lives’ is that the lives idolized are usually created by managers and agents and are fantasies. The celebrities we think we know turn out to be nothing more than fictional characters.

I think the dwindling influence of religion contributes to greater celebrity worshipping. The celebrities exploit’s and eccentricities become more than a form of entertainment. They become an escape to fill a painful void in our lives, a void the church and religion once filled.

Just because someone is good at acting or a sport is no reason for us to care about their opinions on domestic/foreign policy, the environment or healthcare, but many people do. When I want a view on the current situation in Iraq or Syria I look for an interview with a diplomat, an academic, someone whose profession is to know foreign affairs.

I may agree with the personal opinion of some actor or athlete, but I am not going to search them out for advice. I will go to an expert in the area that I am interested in. Yet on many topics unrelated to acting or sports, the media is more than happy to offer celebrities a platform to air their views, no matter how shallow they are. I heard Simon Cowell giving his political opinions, the same Simon Cowell who admits to reading nothing and watching only cartoons on television, but he got access to news media because they knew he would attract an audience.

I know some are saying I am being mean spirited celebrities are just getting “the message” out to a public who lack awareness. I sort of get that. I guess what bothers me is if you are listening to celebrities on global affairs are you really asking the hard questions? 

Did you support the crisis in Haiti because of Shean Penn or because there was a legitimate need. The crisis is not over are you still contributing to rebuild the lives of Haitians? Where is Shean Penn today in regards to Hatti? I no longer hear anything about Penn and Hatti. Has he moved on to another celebrity cause? There are exceptions Elizabeth Taylor and A.I.D.S. she remained dedicated to the cause until her death.

Sean Penn denied anything was wrong with Haiti’s government and announced to the world that the small Caribbean nation had finally “turned a corner.”  In a Newsweek magazine article Sean Penn stated, “Haiti’s economy is among the fastest-growing in the Caribbean, as the government continues to make economic development a priority.” He fell to add they were making economic development a priority on the backs of the poor and middle class. Was his statements made out of ignorance of the real problems or out of friendship to the Martelly government.

It is a fact Sean Penn was friendly with the Martelly government therefore it would only be natural he would say good things about them. In fact Penn became Ambassador-at-large for the Martelly government the same government that confiscated and leveled homes in downtown Port au Prince for tourism in order to further enrich their friends.

The World Bank’s website shows that Haiti’s annual GDP growth was actually at 5.6% (following the 2008 hurricane) when Martelly came to power through highly controversial elections in 2011. GDP growth in Haiti dropped to 2.8% in 2012 and was at 3.6% in 2014. In many ways, the hurricane season of 2008 was the cruelest ever experienced in Haiti, 70% of Haiti's crops were lost, the damage was estimated to be $1 billion, up to that time it was the costliest natural disaster in Haitian history, but they recovered quickly.

Granted the earthquake cost far more lives and the damage was estimated at $14 billion. But, the aid Haiti received in 2010 following the earthquake was unprecedented. Within ten months of the earthquake $8.75 billion had been given for reconstruction. The Haitien Martelly government was having so many difficulties managing and disbursing the funds the Red Cross stopped actively soliciting donations. Penn was blaming everyone but himself for all the disasters of good intention, without ever considering he may not have had the qualification to lead a disaster relief program. 

Americans by August 2011 had donated over $12 billion. Where has the $14 billion raised as of 2015 gone? Six years later the rubble is off the streets. Haiti's back more or less to normal. But there have not been the improvements there should have been, given the resources.  

Penn was right Hatti turned the corner it went from having ghetto areas to being a ghetto country. “Millions of Haitians live on less than US$1 per day, and approximately 80% of the ten million live on less than US$2 per day. It is also one of the most unequal when it comes to rich and poor.  Penn never mentioned that Haiti’s national economy remains hostage to the powerful wealthy elite, his friends.

Penn’s claim that Martelly’s election in 2011 represented a peaceful democratic transition is absurd. Once again I ask was his statement made out of ignorance of the facts or friendship. The violence preceding and following the first round of the November 2010 presidential elections in Haiti is well documented. In fact, it is equally documented that most of the violence was perpetrated by the supporters of Michel Martelly.

Penn is just one of many examples why I do not want my news coming from celebrities or celebrities running charitable organizations. I want professionals that have dedicated their lives to those causes doing it. I have no objection to celebrities making public service spots to raise money or raising money from their friends, but I do not want them involved in the day to day operation.  I don’t go to an auto mechanic for medical issues and I am not going to a celebrity for advice on world or national affairs.

Why do we automatically become idolizers of celebrities the moment they make their first million or sign their first autograph? I know I am in the minority, but I cannot tell you the name of the star in any movie I have ever seen, not even the latest Star Trek movie that I saw only a few weeks ago. I am impressed or not impressed by the work they did in the movie I am watching and when it is over they have absolutely no influence on my life.

I was not let down when I discovered Michael Jackson was probably a pedophile; nor when I found out Bill Cosby probably had been drugging and raping women for decades; I did not expect Tiger Woods to be perfect and nothing Justin Bieber does surprises me. They or no other celebrity are my idols. I do not place any human on a pedestal. It does bother me that celebrities seem to get better treatment by the justice system than ordinary citizens.

Children are dying from starvation and lack of medical care and the public is saddened by some celebrity being arrested. They probably were released a few hours later simply because they were celebrities. Is it just me who believes the lives of celebrity are not important enough to be worrying about?

The people who I idolize and think we all should be idolizing are the ones who save lives doctors, police officers, firemen, nurses, medics or the ones giving of their time, energy and money to help the poor or teachers that are preparing our youth to be our future, or military personnel safe guarding our freedom or scientist discovering cures for illnesses. Instead many choose to idolize over paid entertainers who in most cases pretend to be something they are not.

People Magazine has a weekly audience of 4.6 million readers the largest audience of any American magazine. People Magazine attempts to satisfy the public’s obsession with celebrities. That is a lot of people spending their time and money reading about people they don’t know and will never know.

Celebrity worship has become such a problem psychologists have a name for it, Celebrity Worship Syndrome or CWS. It is estimated 36% of the public suffer from it. I came across one story of a woman who cut her own wrists and throat when her favorite celebrity got engaged. John Lennon was killed by a “fan”. While most go nowhere near those extremes, there is still a wide spread fascination with the famous.

Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, J Lo, Halle Berry, Justin Bieber and Madonna all have their own perfume. Do we really want to smell like them? I would buy their product if it met my approval, but I would not buy it because the label has their name on it. We should remember celebrities are just people. People packaged up very nicely, but people all the same. They have the same ups and downs, fears and joys, successes and challenges as the rest of us. We can appreciate them when they entertain us, for that is their job, and then we should get on with our own lives.

Don’t let the fascination with celebrities become a substitution for real life - Your focus should be on your own life. Depression, anxiety, and a decrease in self-esteem are just some of the problems that can result when we take the focus off our own lives and focus all our energy on the life of a celebrity.

In closing parents should be role models and heroes for their children. When parents allow celebrities to be their children's primary role models, the line between fantasy and reality sometimes becomes too blurred for parents to teach them lessons on ethics, character and responsibility.

I must admit The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet at 4p.m. everyday gave me a perspective on family life I did not get at home. It allowed me to consider not all families were like mine, but I always felt somewhat depressed after watching and was left wishing for something that would not be.

Needless to say I was shocked many years back when the Nelson boys confessed they felt the show not only controlled their lives but, in many ways, left them confused about their own reality. They used the camera to communicate things to each other that they could not communicate to each other face to face.

The Nelson family, in real life, were not the Nelsons they portrayed on television. Rick Nelson’s life was shattered by drugs and other demons. The real-life Ozzie was the producer, director and writer of the shows; he worked all night, the show came before the family and he was a dictator that loomed over the family. Ozzie was a hands-on businessman who prevented his sons from attending college and constantly reminded them that they were obliged to work on television. Harriet Nelson began appearing in vaudeville when she was 3 years old and on Broadway as a teen-ager. She hung out at the Cotton Club, began smoking at 13, was briefly married to an abusive comedian and lived a high-flying life until she fell in love with Ozzie and handed over her career to him.

The Nelson family may not have been as dysfunctional as mine, but they certainly were close to it. In real life they dealt with an immense amount of pressure and unreconciled issues.

I am not saying all celebrities have a negative impact on the lives of young fans. There are actors who support charities, athletes who launch after-school programs and comedians who visit hospitals to cheer up patients. These are the "unsung hero" some celebrity personalities are inspirational and worthy of admiration. If your children choose celebrities as their role models, it's important that you discuss with them the specific traits you like, respect and want them to imitate.  Discuss with your children if the traits you like reflect the celebrities true values.

If you vote for a politician based solely on his or her celebrity status then do not complain when nothing improves.  

Mother Teresa - Saint to the poorest of the poor!

Mother Teresa, a tiny framed nun who did great things for the poorest of the poor in the slums of India and beyond, nicknamed the 'Saint of the Gutters’, will be declared a saint next year after Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to her intercession. The canonization in the Vatican will probably take place on September 4, 2016. That will be the nineteenth anniversary of her death.

Pope Francis approved a decree attributing a second miracle to Mother Teresa, clearing the path for the nun to be elevated to sainthood.  The miracle was approved during an audience with the head of the Vatican's department on saints  on Thursday, his 79th birthday. Pope Francis has dedicated his ministry to ministering to the poor just as Mother Teresa did. He admires and respects Mother Teresa. He met her personally in 1994. He knew her to be a strong woman that would not be pushed around by bishops. It is only fitting that Francis be the Pope to canonize Mother Teresa.

The second miracle was the cure of a Brazilian man suffering from a viral brain infection that resulted in multiple abscesses. By Dec. 9, 2008, he was in a coma and dying, suffering from an accumulation of fluid around the brain. Thirty minutes before the man was due to undergo surgery, he sat up, awake and without pain. The surgery did not take place and a day later the man was declared to be symptom-free by medical doctors. We (Catholics) do not believe that Mother Teresa caused the miracle, God caused the miracle and Mother Teresa was the intercessor.

The Vatican attributed the cure to the fervent prayers to Mother Teresa's intercession by the man's wife, who at the time of his scheduled surgery was at her parish church praying alongside her pastor.

The traditional Roman Catholic canonization procedure requires at least two medical miracles. One before a deceased Catholic can be declared “blessed,” and another occurring after that declaration then he or she can be canonized as a saint. The miracles must be confirmed by a medical team of doctors. They must find that there is no scientific reason for the healing.

She was beatified in 2003 after Pope John Paul II recognized her first miracle. He believed the healing of a seriously ill Indian woman of a tumor was the result of Mother Teresa's intervention. Pope John Paul II, one of Mother Teresa's greatest supporters, in 1999 waived the normal five-year waiting period for her beatification process to begin and launched it a year after she died. The process leading up to the sainthood has been the shortest in modern history. Normally it takes 100 years or more to be declared a saint by the Vatican.

Mother Theresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, on Aug. 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, to an Albanian family. Mother Teresa joined the Loreto order of nuns in 1928. In 1946, while traveling by train from Calcutta to Darjeeling, she was inspired to form the Missionaries of Charity order.

The order was established four years later in 1950 and at the time of her death, September 5, 1997, her Missionaries of Charity order had nearly 4,000 nuns and ran roughly 600 orphanages, soup kitchens, homeless shelters and clinics around the world.

Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work with Calcutta's destitute and ill. She described herself as, "By blood, I am Albanian, by citizenship an Indian, by faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus."

Mother Teresa did not always receive praises from the public. She was often criticized for accepting money from people with questionable backgrounds.  She was also criticized for the quality of care in her clinics by an Indian-born physician living in England. She was criticized for her political ties. She was even called a hypocrite.  

She accepted donations from Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier (an ex-priest) in 1981. She flew to Haiti to accept the Legion d'Honneur from the right-wing dictator, who, after his ouster, was found to have stolen millions of dollars from the impoverished country.

She accepted money from the British publisher Robert Maxwell and it was later revealed he embezzled UK£450 million from his employees' pension funds. There is no suggestion that she was aware of any theft before accepting the donation.

She accepted money from American financier Charles Keating who was later charged with fraud following high profile business failures. Keating donated millions of dollars to Mother Teresa and lent her his private jet when she visited the United State.

Detractors also opposed her stand against the use of birth control in Calcutta's slums, which followed the Catholic Church’s teachings.

 After Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's suspension of civil liberties in 1975, Mother Teresa said: "People are happier. There are more jobs. There are no strikes." These comments were seen as a result of her friendship with the Congress Party and she was widely criticized for the remarks.

She was accused of encouraging members of her order to secretly baptize dying patients, without regard to their religion. Susan Shields, a former member of the Missionaries of Charity, wrote that "Sisters were told to ask each person in danger of death if he wanted a 'ticket to heaven'. An affirmative reply was to mean consent to baptism. The sister was then to pretend that she was just cooling the patient’s head with a wet cloth, while in fact, she was baptizing them, saying quietly the necessary words. Secrecy was important so that it would not come to be known that Mother Teresa’s sisters were baptizing Hindus and Muslims.”

She was criticized for spending too much time and money on trying to convert people to the Catholic faith. The Assembly of God Church was supposed to have been doing more charity work in India than Mother Teresa’s organization.  

Mother Teresa died in 1997. Despite her request that all writing and correspondence be destroyed, a collection was posthumously released to the public in book form by a priest. Her writings revealed that she struggled with feelings of disconnectedness that were in contrast to the strong feelings she had experienced as a young novice. In her letters Mother Teresa describes decades of a long sense of feeling disconnected from God and lacking the earlier zeal which had characterized her efforts to start the Missionaries of Charity. As a result of this, she was judged by some to have "ceased to believe" and was posthumously criticized for hypocrisy.

All great people have their distractors. There was a lack of doctors and licensed nurses – funds are always an issue with charities.  I have seen the same situation in hospitals in Third World Countries. As far as whom she accepted funds from few charities refuse donations.  There is no reason to believe that she knew that some of the people she accepted funds from are thieves. The United States government supported Haiti’s dictator. Robert Maxwell was friends with the Royal family. Charles Keating was on the “A” list of New York socialites. Mother Teresa could not have spoken out for artificial birth control even if she had wanted to.  She was obligated to teach Catholic doctrine. Baptizing non-Christians was not right, but really what harm did she do. If you believe in baptism, she did good, if you do not believe in baptism then what difference does it make. They did nothing more than cool someone’s face. She was a ‘Catholic’ missionary her vocation was to try and bring about conversions. How do you determine how much time and money should be spent in that area? How much time and money do Protestants spend in that area?  I would expect the Assembly of God denomination to do more than Mother Teresa in India. They have the backing of ALL Assembly God Churches World Wide. The Catholic Church was not funding Mother Teresa’s ministry. The Catholic Church requires every order to be self-sustaining.

It is not uncommon for devoted Christians in ministerial work to feel at some time in their life that God is not hearing their prayers. I would say most go through a dark period that can last a very long time. I have had those periods in my life and they have lasted for years. Later in life you do not have the energy you had when you first began your ministry as a younger person. You grow tired faster and more often. If you are devoted to your vocation it is a very difficult life. Once you have an organization up and running even in the private world you experience attitude changes.

I do not believe Mother Teresa every stopped believing and she did not say that she did. She said that she could not feel God’s presence in her life for a long time. That does not mean she did not want to feel His presence and it does not mean she did not believe He was present and it certainly does not mean she no longer believed in God.

She was not a hypocrite for not sharing those feelings before she died. She must have feared it would cause distress for a lot of believers, especially her nuns, because they may not have understood, obviously some did not. I certainly did not and would not have shared my black periods with anyone. She wanted that secret carried to her grave, but she was betrayed by a priest, who had pretended for years to be her friend. In the end money from a book deal meant more than friendship. 

Those that have been critical of Mother Teresa have not accomplished near what she did for the poor. They probably do not understand what it is like to see extreme suffering and death day after day and know there is little you can do to alleviate it. There is never enough time or money. You are constantly second guessing yourself – what if I had done this or that.  I would not have turned down tainted money even if I knew it was tainted, she claims she did not know it was tainted. if I could use tainted money to help the poor and suffering I would.  I see it as taking the devil’s evil and turning it to good! 

I have gone to bed many nights not understanding peoples lack of charity and saying, “God, if everyone would only give fifty cents one time a year so much could be accomplished.” I have been where you know you are working as hard as you ever did, you see growth in the organization, you are witnessing more people being help than ever before, you are praying more, but something is missing. You begin to think something is wrong ‘with me’ and you cannot fix it. The test of your faith continues! God does allow the faithful to be tested.

Teachings of Pope Francis - Part V

Our goal is not to proselytize but to listen to needs, desires, disappointments, despair and hope. We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future and spread love. We need to include the excluded and preach peace.

You cannot know Jesus without having problems. We only come to know Jesus on the daily path of life … in order to know Jesus; we need to enter into a dialogue with Him. If you don’t pray, you don’t know Him.

What will my cross be like? We do not know, but there will be a cross and we need to ask for the grace not to flee when it comes.

Faith contains the memory of our encountering God.

A people who do not take care of their elderly and their children have no future. The only commandment which brings with it a blessing is the fourth, the commandment which regards honoring our parents and the elderly.

God is in every person’s life even if the life of a person has been a disaster. You must try to seek God in every human life. There is always a space in which the good seed can grow.

Charity is simple: worshiping God and serving others.

Let us respect creation, let us not be instruments of destruction! Let us respect each human being. May there be an end to armed conflicts. May hatred yield to love, injury to pardon and discord to unity. Let us listen to the cry of all who are suffering and who are dying because of violence.

We can all flee from God. This is a daily temptation: not to listen to God, not to hear His voice, not to hear His promptings His invitation in our hearts.

Are you able to find the Word of God in the history of each day or do your ideas so govern you that you do not allow the Lord to speak to you?

Today let us all ask ourselves do I remain caught up in forms of material security, taking refuge in my own projects and plans. Do I truly let God into my life?

God asks us to be faithful to Him in our everyday life, even if we are sometimes unfaithful to Him, He remains faithful to us. He never tires of stretching out His hand to lift us up, to encourage us to come back and tell Him of our weakness, so that he can grant us His strength.

Saying “thank you” is such an easy thing and yet so hard! How often do we say “thank you” to one another in our families? These are essential words for our life. “Sorry,” “excuse me,” “thank you” - If families can say these three things, they will be fine. How often do we say “thank you” to those who help us. All too often we take everything for granted! This happens with God. It is easy to approach the Lord to ask for something, but do we thank Him.

God invites us to pray. Prayer makes us feel God’s presence. Persevering prayer is the expression of faith in God.

If money and material things become the center of our lives they seize us and make us slaves.

The Kingdom of Heaven is for those who do not place their security in material things, but in love for God.

 

Do Trump's actions say he is a Christian?

There was a time when I thought I could and would support Trump, but those days have come and gone. I resent him trying to use Christians to get votes.

Recently, Donald Trump sat down with Christian Broadcasting Network’s (CBN) David Brody and brought up his religion. Trump talked about his relationship with God, the church, the Bible, his being a Presbyterian, and his commitment to attending church.

Trump said: “I believe in God. I am Christian. I think The Bible is certainly, THE book. It is THE thing. The Bible is my favorite book. I was raised and I gave you a picture of my confirmation just now and perhaps you’ll use that picture (Trump is always looking for additional media coverage) I found it from a long time ago

First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica queens is where I went to church. I’m a protestant, I’m a Presbyterian (in past interviews before running for president he said he belong to the Reform Church of America). And you know I’ve had a good relationship with the church over the years. I think religion is a wonderful thing. I think my religion is a wonderful religion.”

As I watch the interview, it seemed that Trump struggled to talk about his faith and even stumbles to articulate his beliefs. But, just how genuine was this interview?  When you read the above transcript it looks genuine, but his demeanor in the video was strange.

He mentions how he always goes to church on Christmas and Easter… wow, big commitment there: “Well, I go as much as I can, always on Christmas, always on Easter, always when there’s a major occasion (weddings and funerals I guess) and during the Sundays. I’m a Sunday church person. I’ll go when I can” (I noticed he did not say how often he has attended in the last year).

Trump is pandering to the Christian right to solicit support for his run for the presidency. He is testing the waters to see if the religious right responds well to his faith statements. The fact that this interview occurred on CBN tells it all.  Why was it not done on CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX or MSNBC? Trump targeted his interview to conservative Christians, who make up the majority of the CBN audience.

Even CBN’s analysis wanted to connect Evangelicals with Trump: “Brody’s File analysis stated: “Donald Trump has piqued the interest of some Evangelical leaders. His bold talk is something conservative Christians like to hear. Remember, Evangelicals tend to operate in a world of Biblical absolutes. Their world is very black and white. Not many shades of gray. That’s how Trump sees the world too.”

It’s great that Trump is a Christian and makes a point to mention it, but I question his timing. Why didn’t he mention it 5 or10 years ago? Well, for one, he was not thinking about running for president.

I certainly commend and respect Trump for talking about his faith, but I would have preferred he did it when it didn’t profit him personally. I would prefer that we knew Donald was a Christian by his actions and not his words.

Trump says he collects Bibles. He saves them and stores them because he would never do anything negative to a Bible. I would prefer he read ‘one’ Bible than have hundreds in a collection.

Trump said on CNN he's never sought forgiveness for his sins. Please explain how you can be a Christian and not have sought forgiveness for your sins. We all sin and we all need to repent and seek forgiveness.

Trump said, "People are so shocked when they find out I am Protestant. I am Presbyterian. And I go to church and I love God and I love my church.” People would not be shocked if he was actually living his faith. They would have known he was a Christian by his actions.

Trump said, “He thinks the Bible is ‘THE’ book”, yet he says, “He does not think God is all into that asking for forgiveness stuff” – what Bible is he reading? Trump believes he does not need to ask for forgiveness because he takes ‘communion’ – WOW!  The call to confession and the need for forgiveness are central to the entire Christian tradition, and particularly to the Reformed and Presbyterian versions of it. In the Presbyterian (USA) Book of Common Worship there is a prayer for repentance and forgiveness, “A Service for Repentance and Forgiveness”.

Trump said, "When I drink my little wine -- which is about the only wine I drink -- and have my little cracker, I guess that is a form of asking for forgiveness and I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed (again he avoided saying how often), I think in terms of 'let's go on and let's make it right.” Sound to me like he takes partaking communion really seriously. He talks of it with such reverence.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote, forgiveness without repentance, like communion without confession, is not the real thing.

Although the United States Constitution disallows a religious test for holding public office Americans have always been interested in the religious beliefs and practices of their national leaders ever since Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Among announced candidates for the 2016 race, seven are Catholics, while four are Southern Baptist.

Norman Vincent Peale once said he saw in Trump kindness and courtesy and a trait some missed—“a profound streak of honest humility.” Sorry Vincent I missed that to!

It appears that Donald Trump has apparently decided that claiming the Bible is his favorite book isn’t enough to earn him the continued support of the more religious elements of the Republican Party. He has summoned dozens of influential evangelical Christian leaders to a meeting at Trump Tower in New York City for a ‘prayer’ meeting. I wonder how often he has done that in the past.

Trump the thrice-married former reality television star, once a supporter of abortion rights, purveyor of pageants that parade scantily clad teenage girls in front of television cameras, the man whose name is emblazoned on casinos around the world is currently leading the Republican field among the most deeply religious segment of the GOP electorate.

Money has defined Trump during the 30-plus years he has spent in the public eye. He frequently brags of his billions, and even sued a journalist who had the nerve to question whether those 10-figure pronouncements were severely inflated.

What does Trump do with his money?  Internal Revenue Service returns dating back to 1990 reveals that Trump, the Trump Foundation’s president, may be the least charitable billionaire in the United States. From 1990 through 2009, Trump has personally donated a total of just $3.7 million to his foundation, which was incorporated in 1987. In fact, the billionaire is not even the largest contributor to his own charitable organization. During the past two decades, the Trump foundation has made charitable contributions totaling a paltry $6.7 million to help those in need. This is not much for a man that bragged before he started running for President, “I have seven billion f---ing dollars in the bank.” Does a Christian really talk like that - Donald  Trump does?

Trump’s small donations have also been dwarfed by the charitable contributions of Leona Helmsley; she was the hotel owner whom Trump took great pleasure in mercilessly attacking for being cheap. Helmsley, who died in 2007, left billions to her charitable trust, which last month alone made donations totaling $12.93 million or nearly twice what Trump’s foundation has donated in the past 20 years.

In 2006, Trump’s foundation did give $1000 to the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Fund, a controversial Scientology program (co-founded by Tom Cruise) that promoted a “purification rundown” for firemen and others who inhaled toxins while working near the smoldering remains of the World Trade Center.

Donald Trump’s religious pandering should insult the intelligence of Christians. I really don’t like it when candidates mislead people about the sincerity of their religious beliefs. Tell us the truth, either you are dedicated to your faith or you are not. Don’t lie about it in order to win votes.

Now that Trump has shown me his true colors I do not know who I will vote for. In the beginning I was eager to get behind Trump, but no more.

I did not think Megan Kelly of Fox News was fair to Donald Trump during and after the first Fox debate, but she obviously knew more about him than I did at the time. She probably knew he needed to be exposed and that she had a responsibility as a journalist to do so.

All I have stated about Donald Trump is fine and good, but the real question is - DOES OUR ACTIONS SAY WE ARE CHRISTIANS?