Haters of the Truth

Lumberton is a small, once close knit community. With every election, the concerns of the community diminishes while self-serving agendas flourish. Hosea 4:6 says "my people perish for lack of knowledge..." Most people stop there but if you continue reading, the scripture goes on to say "because you rejected knowledge..." And therein lies one of Lumberton's major problems, those elected to represent the citizens of Lumberton are rejecting knowledge every month. At the recent board meeting, Chief Cowart explained, in terms a 5th grader can understand, the problems she's encountering because she does not have access to a full time court clerk. Unfortunately, most of those responsible for processing the information she presented are not smarter than a 5th grader. It was crystal clear that the court clerk was aggressively collecting old fines and payment when she was working 40/week. Since her hours has been slashed to 20/week, she's not able to devote as much time to collections while working current cases and day to day issues that may arise in the police department. After Cowart informed the board of the loss of over $20,000 in collections as well as the benefits of the assessment that remains in the local office, the board refused to return the clerk to her full time position. The board complains about the mounting stack of uncollected debts but they have the means to correct this matter but they refuse to give Chief Cowart or the court clerk the tools needed to chisel away this mountain. But they have no problem throwing money away by training the city clerk and then paying the company that trained her to perform the work they trained her to do. How ridiculous is that?

There's people in Lumberton that don't like the truth. Rather than tell the truth, people will throw their rocks and hide their hands. In some instances, some people will post hurtful, anonymous comments or create fake Facebook pages because they're not strong enough to tell the truth. Oscar Wilde said

"Man is least himself when he talk in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell the truth."

I tell the truth and so many are bothered by that fact; especially those dwelling in a kingdom of lies. One of the main reasons I tell the truth is because I don't want to waste my memory on lies. That's a waste of brain cells. If you lie, you must remember the lie but if you tell the truth you don't need a good memory.

Ever since the first lie was introduced to humanity, lies have competed against the truth. There is an ongoing war between the truth and the lies for humanities affection and loyalty. Every person living will take a side in this conflict. Today we are surrounded by lies and even when the truth is told it is ignored or disbelieved. Poems are written, Songs are sung about the truth. John Lennon singing of politicians and hypocrites sang “All I want is the truth, Just give me some truth. Truth is rare. Lies are commonplace. There is truth found in mathematics, history, relationships and there is the ultimate truth that everyone will have to face- God.

The truth in history has been distorted in all sorts of areas, scientific truth – environmentalism, history is often changed in books. People want the truth told to them. People want the truth in business, relationships and politics. We live in the time of great compromise Jer. 7:28 "So you shall say to them, 'This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the LORD their God nor receive correction. Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.” The truth is there and needs to be rediscovered. The truth is given out of love; it is never divorced from love. When people cannot deal with the truth they turn on the one delivering it, they devour the messenger. This why Jesus said "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. I know the mayor, some board members, the city clerk, the public works director and some citizens want to silence me but in the words of Dr. Maya Angelou,

"I pledge to you I will never cease. I mean to say, I want to see a better [Lumberton]. I mean to say I want to see some peace, [prosperity and unity]. I mean to say I want to see some [integrity], fairplace and honesty."

Sadly, if this board does not get off their high horses and start doing what's best for Lumberton, I doubt there will be much of a city left in the next two years. For some reason, this board continues to reject logic and knowledge. They keep talking about the Army Corp of Engineers grant but they don't have tne $250,000 needed to secure this grant and if they're planning on borrowing this money, they're fiscally handicapping every board that serves after them. Russell Heidelberg offered a solution but it was rejected. Keep in mind it will cost them nothing to try this program but there are some bothered by the wrapping of this present. But they broke laws to get Richard Rose access to our confidential records and until he was exposed, the Winston 3 were ready to dive head first when John Shavers promised tne world built on stacks of lawsuits. This board need to make better decisions or step aside so those that have the wherewithal needed to make the tough decisions. If making the tough decisions are too tough then its time to take your seat at the kiddie table.