This is Viewpoints for Monday, Feb. 27, 2017

Don’t confuse others

Dr. Bill Cummings made some good comments in last Sunday’s (Feb. 19) paper. Yet, I think he may have missed some very important insights on some things. You do not have to believe that what the Bible says is true. It’s best that you do, though. You don’t have to believe it word for word, because men wrote the words, but it’s still the word of God.

The beginning of the relationships between the men he called to follow him, I believe was one of the workings of the Holy Spirit. They knew that in their spirits it was the calling of God drawing them to follow Jesus. Just like when we gave our hearts to Jesus. They knew him in the flesh and that made a difference in their fellowships with him.

Cummings made the statements that he didn’t believe Jesus walked on water. Matthew 14:23 tells us that Jesus went and prayed. Nothing much happens until we pray, you know. Verse 25 plainly states that Jesus walked out to them on the troubled water. Verse 29 also states that Peter did the same. Until he took his eyes off Jesus. Then we went down like a rock. Jesus cried because his friend had died and then he raised him from the dead.

I will say that if you choose to believe some parts and not believe others, then you need to have a little talk with Jesus and let him open your eyes to the truth of the word. Please don’t confuse others with your disbelief. My God is real and that’s why I serve him. He picks me up when I fail.

More to it

This is in response to Dave Whitaker. I do not care if some of my tax dollars are used to provide free access to contraceptives. This will reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. Fewer unwanted pregnancies means fewer abortions. I do not care if some of my tax dollars are used to provide sex education to young adults. This will provide information on conception and how to prevent pregnancies. This will reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. Fewer unwanted pregnancies means fewer abortions. If young adults do not have to drop out of school because of a pregnancy, they will be able to obtain an education and get a job. Comprehensive sex education will help stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

There is more to being for the Right To Life than just being anti-abortion. There is more to being Pro-choice than just being pro abortion.

Surprise, surprise

People are finding out that “Obamacare” and the “Affordable Care Act” is the same thing. Surprise, surprise, surprise.

New group in town

Most entertainers, national new media executives, news anchors and writers are ego parasites with an insatiable need to be envied, idolized and relevant.

President Barack Obama invited them to lavish state dinners and White House parties; flew them on Air Force One; solicited their juvenile opinions; massaged their egos with meaningless titles and insignificant jobs in the administration. Obama and the Democratic Party spent eight years molding these people into an indestructible mutual admiration society; or so they thought.

Donald Trump’s election shattered this society’s illusion of indestructibility and relevancy. Now this pathetic group of egos (who feed off the envy of colleagues and groupies) are hell-bent on destroying Trump and his supporters for the revelation.

Good work hampered by thefts

It’s a tremendous blessing: People in our community are accustomed to driving up to a convenient Goodwill donation center and dropping off their gently-used clothing or household items. Those goods are processed and sold at Goodwill retail training stores, with more than 86 cents of every dollar in revenue funding job search and career education services provided by the Job Connection and Helms College.

Fewer people might be aware that Goodwill, a 501c3 non-profit charity, also gratefully accepts donations of vehicles – cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles. These vehicles then are sold at Goodwill’s Eisenhower Parkway location in periodic fundraising auctions, like the sale held Saturday, Feb. 18.

These sales are a significant boost in revenue for those Goodwill serves, but unfortunately they’ve also provided an opportunity for the criminal element. More than half a dozen of the donated cars offered in the recent sale, from a 1994 Mercury Marquis to a 2006 Buick Reatta, were devalued before the sale by thieves who broke out windows to the vehicles to steal stereos and other items.

Those thefts didn’t just reduce the overall value of the vehicles; they also reduced the amount of revenue available to help people in our community. Last year, Goodwill served nearly 21,000 people who sought free job search assistance from a local Goodwill career service center, with Goodwill providing job placement for nearly 7,000 individuals. In an effort to assist even more people, last month, Goodwill invested in opening five of our regional Job Connections on Saturdays. These thefts directly threaten such initiatives, and with it damage career prospects for some of the more vulnerable people in our community.

In cooperating with the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, Goodwill is doing what it can to decrease the likelihood of such damaging thefts in the future. You can help, too, by donating your vehicle to Goodwill. Call 866-LET IT GO, purchasing one at our vehicle sales, or shopping for those other donated items at one of Goodwill’s retail training stores, you can put someone on the road to a new career.

Thanks for helping fuel Goodwill’s mission of building lives, families and communities, one career at a time.

Born leader

As I have said for over a year, get on the Trump Train or get out of the way. President Donald Trump is on a mission. Most legal, educated, taxpaying, honest citizens understand this: He will fix this country. After eight years, he will go down as one of the top 10 presidents. If he ends sanctuary cities, passes term limits, outlaws anchor babies, makes English the official language, builds the wall and stops the majority of drugs from coming in this country, he will go down in the top five. It is simple. Donald Trump is a born leader.

This story was originally published February 26, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Monday, Feb. 27, 2017."