Integrity makes decisions based on eternal implications.
Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful. 1 Corinthians 4:2
Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it. Ecclesiastes 7:12
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
Any raise to me, should be given on performance. IMPROVEMENTS! BETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT! B
ack in the day, we called them ‘performance raises’ is that happening?? Taxpayer money is flying out the door in Santa Fe and Albuquerque!!!
I know all about the competitiveness to keep City and State officials, you don’t have to explain that to me. I get very uncomfortable around big money. I never see improvements for the average tax payer in services when this happens. New Mexico Governor Lujan Grisham recently gave her cabinet officials huge raises. Albuquerque Public Schools, even though they have been crying how broke they are, is giving out great raises. What about the Police, Fire and Rescue, Sanitation workers, Street Department staff, office workers, bus drivers and on and on we go? Why all of a sudden all these huge raises in local and state government, in a state ravaged by extreme poverty?
I never hear the word anymore ‘taxpayer’ coming our of the mouth of a politician, its like we do not exist in their minds, we are taken for granted.
I was just thinking that a top priority for the 2020 New Mexico Legislature should be to get a good portion of that huge surplus, that is if the Guv has not spent it all by then, into the hands of the taxpayers through a tax rebate!
I have to mention this: The top priorities for the 2020 NM legislature should be to stop abortions and stop the movement to legalize pot. I had to get that in!
The average taxpayer and business in this state needs tax relief. The ‘big wigs’ are not thinking about the average Joe and Jane. I would pray these folks would think of the taxpayers and especially the elderly and poor. So many cannot even afford their medications, the elderly and poor are being left behind. I just had a lady who we are ministering to, who just recently had to put her hubby in a nursing home, that to her, it seems the world is forgetting about people over 80 years of age. That is not the first time I have heard this as I go about by calls for God. The people’s business is not being done in Santa Fe and in D.C.
You never hear anymore about tax rebates from either party. The gap between those who have and those who have not, is growing.
Read about the big raises handed out at City hall ABQ Journal Report
My post from May 4th, 2019:
What are we doing about this? I say enough, is enough!
I am ashamed of these rankings! I am searching my heart at what more Sharon and I can do for the children of New Mexico.
My favorite verse for children is this….Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14
Do we not fear God?
I am more than frustrated with this report! I have said for years that Satan is ripping apart the American family and having a grand old time doing it, especially here in New Mexico. Through all sorts of nasty stuff, like murder, rape, robbery, drugs, alcohol, gambling, suicides, etc….
What are we going to do CHURCH? Here in New Mexico severe problems persist on how we treat God’s children. God cannot be happy with New Mexico. We abort babies, and we have a great child hunger problem! Severe poverty! So many children do not have a parent or parents to live with, they are being raised by others.
It is time New Mexico gets serious about this problem and seek the face of Jesus and repent of our sins and we must pray and fast.
Every Church should have a food bank.
Just one more point, I just noticed that last May I reported on the fact at that time Albuquerque Public Schools was serving 3,500 homeless students! I wonder if the number has decreased or risen?
From our Dear Brother in Christ Chuck Akeley………
“Legalization” Of Marijuana In New Mexico – Is This Really A Good Idea?
In our country and yes, our state, it has become almost fashionable to support the growth and use of marijuana, whether for medicinal use or recreational use. So much so, that even our state executive and many legislators consider government sanctioned and controlled distribution of marijuana to be a worthy effort as means to acquire tax dollars. Let’s consider some of the well-established issues facing New Mexico. For many years, we’ve been rated at the bottom or almost the bottom for quality of education, children living in poverty, drug use (e.g., opioid use), drug trafficking (I-40, I-10, I-25 and the southern border corridors) and DWI offenders (including the associated deaths). Is there really wisdom in enhancing these issues by creating a culture of “legalized” use of marijuana here in New Mexico?
A wise man once told me that if you have any doubt as to whether to do or say something, then ask yourself, would you look to Jesus and say “Lord, I do this thing as unto You” or “Lord, I give You thanks for this which I am about to do.” If the answer is no, then why are you doing it? Would you ask Jesus to bless your firing up of a joint or bowl or eating of a laced edible so that you would experience a high? The scripture says we should seek His wisdom. According to Proverbs 4:7, “[w]isdom is the principal thing; [t]herefore get wisdom [NKJV].” Ephesians 5:15-21 instructs us to walk in wisdom: “[s]ee then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ [NKJV].” Just because we CAN do something doesn’t necessarily mean we SHOULD do something.
My background includes a few years as a Special Agent with the USAF Office of Special Investigations, during which much of the training involved drug enforcement. I spent the first year after completing the initial academy leading the Travis AFB, CA Joint Drug Enforcement Team and subsequently worked for several years at Holloman AFB, NM participating in drug enforcement operations with the other agents. Once you have strapped on the equipment and executed a few warrants, you tend to develop a very different perspective about “low level drug use,” as the small amounts of drugs came from someone who was probably not your next door neighbor, and that person’s drugs came from a trafficker – a very dangerous person. The perspective that I’m not hurting anyone is a big lie. It is not surprising to me that the military and local or state police have had to lower standards in order to acquire acceptable cadets. Today, our children and youth often do things as a result of cultural or peer influences which can devastate future employment opportunities. How much worse it is when our children’s parents are the ones modeling this behavior? I thank God that our Lord is forgiving and merciful, and am reminded that we are called to forgive others and to help guide our friends, family and others unto salvation and into their God-given destiny!
It’s interesting to hear discussions about “legalizing” recreational use of marijuana at the state level. If a state allows something that is forbidden at the federal level, it is not really legal, but what is happening is that the federal government has elected, as a matter of enforcement discretion, to refrain from seeking prosecution under certain circumstances and the state has elected to ignore existing federal code or statutes. The federal Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”), 21 USC 812, establishes five schedules of controlled substances, identified as Schedules I, II, III, IV and V. Schedule I lists substances that have been determined to have: 1) a high potential for abuse; 2) no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States; and 3) a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or substance under medical supervision. The psychoactive substance in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (“THC”), remains to this day a listed Schedule I substance. Because of this, many states have struggled with the medicinal and recreational use of marijuana and declare legality, when in point of fact, what is occurring is simply enforcement discretion at the federal level and a glaring lack of willingness of the federal government to take a solid position one way or the other.
There is MUCH remaining to be said about this issue, including the increasing levels of THC in modern-grown marijuana plants provided by dispensaries and technologically-advanced illicit grows, the lack of clear means for law enforcement to easily determine the degree of driving impairment compared to determining alcohol impairment, the effect that such has or may have on us developmentally, mentally and physically, the wisdom and procedure for assuring sound regulatory controls at the federal and state level – and assuming this issue isn’t going away quickly, the spiritual implications of encouraging, yet another mind altering substance for use by our residents, demonstrating yet again, the wisdom of man in the face of the wisdom of God.
Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask that You would speak to the hearts of those in a position to encourage, allow, regulate and/or spend tax dollars on marijuana matters in our beautiful State of New Mexico (and across this nation). Give us ears to hear and eyes to see what is the will of God. May wisdom guide our discussions and determinations, with a mighty hedge of protection over all who are doing Your will and serving Your people, in light of this challenge. But regardless, help us to always love. Always. Amen.
Chuck Akeley
Albuquerque, New Mexico
