I'm going to miss you Pastor Baldwin

As some of you may know, my preacher and role model Pastor Chuck Baldwin has retired from pastoring Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.  I just want to offer him my heartfelt thanks for a job well done and prayers for his safety and success in whatever the Lord leads him to do in Montana.  Going with Pastor Baldwin are Allan Baker and his family along with the two best friends a guy can have, Tim and Chris Baldwin.  These men have wonderful families and my own family and I have been enriched beyond measure by having these great people in our lives.  Mrs. Connie Baldwin is the very portrait of grace and I wish she could stay and continue teaching Courtney and later Thomas about Jesus.  I can't stop myself from wishing that the Baldwins would stay.  I understand that I'm being selfish, but  the truth is I can't help it.  You would be lucky to have a true friend and God has given me two of the best friends a guy could ask for and one awesome preacher who isn't afraid of stepping on someones toes.  I couldn't ask for a better teacher, mentor, and yes, friend, than Pastor Baldwin.  Pastor, Tim, Chris...I'm gonna miss y'all.  A lot.  When y'all get to Montana give those New World Order types hell for me.  I named this blog after a regiment of elite Roman soldiers who were tasked with defending the eagle banners in a legion.  They were the best, bravest soldiers in a legion.  They had the honor of being called antesignanus.  That is what the Baldwins are.  They are the tip of a very sharp spear leveled at the heart of those who want to destroy the United States and steal the freedoms God Himself has given us.  I stand in awe of these men and the families they have built.  Allan, take care of them.  Tim, keep Chris out of trouble when you can and Chris give 'em hell when Tim isn't watching.  Keep up the fight fellas.

What does freedom mean to you?

Freedom.  Most people have no idea what that word means.  I am not a lawyer.  I'm not a politician.  I'm not anyone important at all.  All I am is a guy with a family and a computer who is doing his best to make it in an increasingly hostile environment.  The economy is in the toilet and our government seems hellbent on stealing our liberties.  Let me explain what I am talking about.  We have no property rights in the United States.  If you do not believe me I challenge you to stop paying your property taxes.  You had to spend money to buy your property.  If you inherited your house and land then someone else bought it and left it to you, right?  If you buy something it belongs to you, correct?  Wrong.  We have become a nation of helots.  Now I know I have some heads spinning.  What is a helot?  Let me explain it to you.  Helotage was a type of tenant farming practiced in ancient Laconia.  Sparta was the capital of Laconia and every Spartan peer was responsible for a number of helots.  The helots were not slaves; the Spartan master could not sell a helot, however a Spartan could kill a helot who was a trouble maker or got out of line, and the helot was required to give the Spartan a percentage of his or her income in the form of crops.  It was the very first income tax.  And while the helot in theory owned his land if the Spartan peer wasn't paid what he was owed he could take your land.  That is the exact same system we have today.  The government steals via taxation what we produce and takes even more if we own our home, land, or both.  As a result I say there is no private land holdings in this nation.  Again, if you doubt me stop paying your property taxes and see what happens.  Our government is also hostile to gun ownership.  I have the right to own a gun that has been given to me by God, not the government.  If I want to go buy a gun I should be able to do so without being treated like a criminal.  Correct me if I am wrong but aren't we innocent of a crime till proven guilty?  If that is so then explain to me why I must prove I am innocent of a crime before I am allowed to buy a gun?  Listen, I do not want a felon owning a gun or any weapon, period.  But to treat everyone like a felon till they prove they aren't one is simply wrong.  If a felon is caught with a gun then make them go away.  For a long, long time.  For me the freedom is being able to have a pastor being able to slam the government when it is overstepping without said pastor facing harassment from the government.  If I want to buy a gun I go and get the one (or more) that I want and I pay the clerk and they smile and say, "Thanks Mr. West!"  Freedom is keeping the money I earn without the government stealing from me and by God if I want a home it is mine and I shouldn't have to rent it from the government!  I'd love to know what freedom means to you.  Email me at rabuliz@gmail.com and let me know.

A Letter

First let me say I'm sorry for the long delay in posting on this blog.  Life has been very uncooperative as of late but now that things are better I'll resume a regular schedule.
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I'd like to start this article out with a bit about myself.  I was saved as a child through the Lord Jesus Christ.  My granddad lead me to the Lord and I am thankful that one of the jewels he has in his crown in heaven is there due to his leading me to Jesus.  My childhood was chaotic for reasons I will not go into here; suffice it to say the mountains were high and the valleys were very deep.  My teenage years were ones I spent out of fellowship with the Lord.  My heart was hard and cold.  I had a wall of rage that I intentionally fueled.  When you stay angry you don't feel much of anything.  I left high school but thankfully I had brains enough to get a GED and went through two years of vocational school for computer repair.  I continued drifting through life doing my own thing.  I Robby West, the independent man, who needed nobody or no thing....because while I knew there was a hole in my heart I ignored it.  I heard a still small voice calling out to me when I wasn't shouting my rage to the world..  That voice scared me more than anything.  Because it whispered that despite all the things I had done, I was loved.  I, who in my fury told Christ I hated Him, was loved by the One who I was running from.  I believed that I did not deserve love.  I told myself that I would build a better life for myself and that I did not need anyone to help.  I would be strong enough to do it all on my own.  What a fool I was.  It took one mighty event and a few wonderful people to open my eyes and to teach me just how stupid I was and in many ways, still am.  First God worked a miracle and through His grace I was able to forgive my mom and dad for things I went through in my childhood.  The wall of rage started to crumble.  Then, I met a man named Bill who through his life experiences and wisdom was able to guide me through my own life's troubled waters.  I doubt he even knew it at the time, but Bill taught me how to have a friend...and how to be one.  The bricks started to come down-the wall around my heart was breached.  Then I met Kizzy.  I'll never know what it is that she saw or even sees in me, but we fell in love and through her God gave me a family.  My daughter Courtney will be three in November and my son Thomas just turned one.  How the angry son is a father and my own dad is teaching me just how to be a dad, not just a father.  Thank you dad.  I love you.  God also brought a wonderful family into my life.  Through them I have learned to walk with Christ and learned just why He never gave up on me even when I had given up on Him.  Thank you Pastor Baldwin for teaching me God's Word and for helping me become the man I am today.  Thank you Tim and Chris.  Especially Tim and Chris.  A guy can never ask for better friends or spiritual mentors.
You both make this Christian walk look so easy!  And man can y'all sing!  Thanks to these awesome people whom God has used as tools the wall of fury around my heart has been breached finally and Jesus has freed me from my sins and my self imposed torments.  And I have my mom again.  Thank you Jesus.  I love you mom.  I forgive you.  And I forgive myself at long last.  I know this is a rambling letter but this is in my heart and I needed to share it.  If you are running from Christ, take my advice.  Stop.  Face Him.  Allow Him into your heart.  Make him your Savior.  Through Christ our chains are broken and made truly free.