2016 is about to disappear!

I suppose this seems like an abandoned blog, but it isn't.  I pray for months, sometimes years, about important issues.  Working Together is the biggest issue in my life, so finding GOD's solutions to the goals I have for it makes the answers even more important.

I wish I could share the very great difficulties I have been facing, but I can't.  My view is that GOD is bigger than these issues so whatever is happening has something to do with His plans for the Body of Christ.  I am simply trying to find my way through them.

In the process of finding a way through my difficult challenges, I am working out some priorities, creating plans that I might be able to achieve.

Sadly, it doesn't look like my annual DECEMBER Membership Drive will happen.  You can still purchase the Trial Membership for only $5 a year, but the regular membership options will have to wait until I can reach a better place financially.  A PayPal link is on the main webpage... http://work2gather.us

The Trial Membership is a quarterly newsletter published in the English language and delivered by email in March, June, September, and December.  This newsletter will update recipients on the activities of Working Together (WT) and it's programs from one publication to the next.

It is not a hugely profitable endeavor, but will begin the process of connecting the Body of Christ at a global level.  We are the Body of Christ together.  The main goal of WT is to get us past denominations and into helping each other as ONE Body. 

The Trial Membership is open to anyone.  Other membership choices will be separated into Christian or Public.  It is my belief that the introductory relationship will help you to understand the mission of Working Together and allow you to make a better decision about further involvement. 

I hope you will purchase these inexpensive and introductory memberships for yourself and others.  It does require a PayPal account to order online, but if you want to send your payment (via an internationally accepted money order) along with individual registration details (email address and your contact information) in a letter format, the mailing address for WT is ::

Working Together Inc
PO BOX   8 2 8
Eugene  OR  97440-0828

Your membership would begin in January 2017.

We will all have to see what GOD will do in 2017 for 77 as individuals, as families, as Christians, and as citizens of our countries.

Sincerely, in Christ,
Deborah Martin

Solutions 2016 from Heritage Foundation :: Part 1 :: Overview

This morning I started reading some of the chapters I printed from this 248-page report about GOP/Conservative solutions from Heritage Foundation.  I am new to these kinds of reports, but interested in learning what the "powerhouse" "think tanks" have to say about the issues that matter to me (almost all of them!) -- especially in this election year.

I started with the chapter on Housing, went on to the chapter on Social Security, and ended at the chapter on Welfare.  These are all "entitlement" programs in the eyes of the Heritage Foundation and many of the Conservative (Republican/Christian) leaders that I am aware of.  I don't know where the money trail goes, but I can guess what topics are included by the titles on the main page of the Heritage Foundation.

We are at a very critical time in the history of America and the world.  There is a lot of desperation building in all areas of our existence, including government and business.  The enormous debt we have, which has to be paid using tax dollars, is causing great damage to every other part of our economy.  Everyone is looking for financial relief, but there is no where to go.  I call it "max-ing out the credit cards." 

The statistic I kept reading in these chapters seemed to be contradictory in how much of our debt they are responsible for.  Some things were 60% and others were cited as "more than half" -- something like that.  I read all three chapters so I am not sure right now which ones had these mixed details.  I do remember a lot of money references in the chapter on Social Security because the boomers are expected to create a lot of debt in their final years. 

I also noticed that projections (to get big numbers to report) went ten years to twenty-five years to seventy-five years in some comparisons.  Some things were combined to make the numbers huge... and that makes it hard to figure out where the real problem is.

At one point there was a ten year estimate that ended at 2024, which made me think this was a 2014 report that might have been "updated" for this election cycle.  That makes it hard to know which data is correct and which data is old.

It seems that the "conservative" view is to eliminate these programs they call "entitlements."  I don't think of Social Security as an entitlement program because it has been paid for by the people receiving it.  The "IOU's" that were reported in this chapter, where government has used its funds for other purposes, seems to be a larger issue that the government needs to deal with itself on.  We have no idea whether proper investments of those funds might have created enough money to pay the boomers what they have waited a lifetime to receive.

[I have suggested elsewhere, and will repeat here as an FYI, that Social Security could be changed to include anyone wanting to participate in it, voluntarily, as the government's effort to provide for those who have no paychecks to contribute with, like housewives, people with disabilities, and anyone who cannot hold a regular job, even inmates.  Creating a payment structure based on poverty populations will allow everyone to contribute, and then collect later when they need it.]

If I remember right, this report recommended that income taxes be eliminated.  My feelings exactly... along with every other tax except ONE TAX, a (permanently) limited 10% sales tax that will become the ongoing budget of the government, including international commitments (1%), federal (3%), state (3%), and county (3%). 

Eliminating both income taxes and property taxes takes the government out of those parts of our lives, and creates an enormous reduction in labor and paperwork costs.  People would have their own money to spend... what an amazing concept.  By only having a sales tax, everyone pays the same amount, including the rich and the poor.  Everyone contributes.  And the internet sales issues can be dealt with like vacation spending...where you are, where the computer is, is the place that earns the sales tax.

The government is an endless tax machine if something isn't done to stop it.  It is their fall-back way to solve their financial problems, at every level of government.  Spending money that doesn't exist creates the huge effects of debt America, and the rest of the world, is facing.  It doesn't lead anywhere good, and the "correction" for it will be very painful for everyone.

Old habits are hard to change.  If our government leaders do not make the necessary changes to the way they operate, their status quo, something drastic is going to make them change.  I think we are teetering on the brink of financial chaos, and I am wondering how I will survive without my Social Security (a whole $381) and food stamps (a whole $126) every month.  I can't even afford Medicare Part B, if I even understood it!

The people in charge of our government, and the authors of reports like this, don't understand the situations that exist in poverty.  When they create solutions, they are seeing their own wallets, their own houses, their own jobs, as the norm, as what they should have, as what they deserve.  Poor and dependent people become a burden that is taking away from their comforts.  In some ways I can understand their opposition to "entitlement" problems.  I think they forget that when the crisis comes, they may be in the lines for those entitlements.

Another problem I noticed with this report is its "circular reasoning" - almost all of their citations were to Heritage publications or writers.  I'm not sure that makes it authoritative or valid.  It would take me some time to dig deep enough to find out their source materials.  I don't have that time.

This blog post is just a starting point.  I have decided to write more deeply about each of the topics in the report as a separate post... and place them in the blog most closely associated with that topic.  I'm not sure where all of them will end up, but this will be an overview location.  I will add the links of my other topic blogs below.  Over the next several days and weeks, I hope to look at more of the conversations being presented for the voters.

http://food-to-live.blogspot.com
http://shelter-for-all.blogspot.com
http://making-prisons-better.blogspot.com
http://political-rehabilitation.blogspot.com

This is really the strangest election I have encountered yet...  I am wondering where our country is heading, and trying to figure out how to survive.  Let me know what you think. 

Deborah Martin
http://work2gather.us  --  Join Working Together today!  Only $5 for one year by email.
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Friday, 6 MAY 2016 :: Checking in to catch up and share what is happening

It has been SOOOOO long since I blogged... I have been avoiding it and trying to decide what direction I need to go in, and how much time and energy to devote to different activities, including blogging.  I could go on and on with my own opinions about a variety of topics, but I am trying to decide how much I can do on my own, and how much I need to do as "maintenance" efforts until I can hire help.

Today, I am trying to catch up with as many blogs (check-ins) as I can.

Working Together is coming up on its 29th anniversary... it's been a long and difficult journey, with "naps" for family issues I had to deal with, but the dream goes on.  I continue to study, plan, read, pray, and work out as many possibilities as I can.  If I win the big lottery prize, or find the funding I need through other efforts, Working Together will all go forward at a faster pace, and I will be able to work out the transfer details to the person GOD shows me is going to care for the whole Body of Christ after I am gone.   Hopefully, that is kind of what will happen.  :-)  How do you pass on a company that doesn't even have the founder as an employee?!

I suppose I should be in the Guinness Book of Records for being such a long and slow "start-up" business.  :-)   I wonder if anyone else can top my 29 years of effort, with little to nothing to show for it.  My view is that GOD has been busy all along, I just don't know what He has been up to.

What will happen to the true Body of Christ, to those who love GOD, to those who become the persecuted, as the years unfold.  There aren't any real answers... all we can do is try to prepare in every community, and be ready to save each other from the ravages of loss (jobs, income, lives, church, family, friends, shelter, food, clothes, hope.....) that persecution brings with it. 

The home church will be the first place Christians turn to... what will they find there? 

Urban Missions will be another place Christians turn to... what will they find there? 

The reason I tried to start Working Together so many years ago was because I didn't see any hope for those who will try to keep standing in their faith until their death or Christ's return... whichever comes first. 

Most of the Christians I know of believe the current (popular) view of the "Rapture" and expect to escape suffering and death.  I don't see the Bible guaranteeing that view is correct, and that it has too many "loop holes" to be valid.  This means the lack of a Rapture "saving" the church from the Tribulation may possibly lead to great disenchantment, disbelief, and the "Great Falling Away" that is in prophecy.  If this non-Rapture view proves true, those who continue to believe in what the Bible teaches will search the Scriptures for new answers and die under the reign of the Antichrist. 

It's not a fun thing to think about, and will be a hard time for all Christians alive at the time.  Having suffered greatly in poverty circumstances, I was hoping to create little "Goshen" communities wherever I could.  I wanted to organize the resources of the Christian community so we don't waste or lose what we have... and to connect the various people in many different denominations in one place.  I planned a yearly event called "40 Days in the Wilderness" to bring leaders together to deal with our doctrinal differences... and realized that it could become the moment the whole world hears the gospel.

We can see how rapidly the morals of the world are devolving... and fulfilling what prophecy says they will become.  There have been reports that the Boomers are the last generation with biblical faith.  Freedoms are being lost, laws are being created to attack us without fear of retribution, denominations are falling away, schools are undermining the rights of parents, and jobs are at stake if we stand for the faith we believe in.

We don't know how the changes that are happening now will affect our lives, or the lives of our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  I keep thinking of Noah, who was the ONLY righteous man left on the entire earth in his lifetime... I can't imagine living in a world where no one else is godly.  I don't think I will be alive when the Antichrist arrives on the scene, but I didn't expect to be living through what I have been living through either.

So, what is happening with Working Together?  As much as I can do on my own.  Keep checking back.  I will be posting more regularly as I sort through all these details. 

I am planning to delete any posts that are not currently important.  Make sure you get copies of any posts that are important to you before I get to that.

I am working on finding some permanent locations for offices, food/farming/ranching, products to sell, business plans, newsletter estimates, email contact lists, online sales, marketing, social media, funding options, and more.

Yes, you are welcome to pray for me !!  Maybe things will look better when I reach Anniversary #30 in 2017 !!!   :-)


Friday, 26 FEB 2016 :: Update - What is happening with WT

I am in the midst of blogging duties so I decided I need to add a post here...  time gets away from me, and I am trying to separate my blog topics... I'm not sure what will end up here in the future.

Working Together is struggling the same issues it has always struggled with... money for wages and development.   :-)   I keep hoping that GOD will bless it with enough to get started better, but so far lottery tickets every now and then have not been the source!  :-)  One never knows how GOD will do things, so I just keep waiting and doing what I can.  So far, that has been a combination of personal retirement projects and trying to find a sales income source for WT.

I created the  TRIAL  MEMBERSHIP  button to start the process.  It will work well with my annual membership drive in December to keep the membership year January to December.  For the US$5 fee, Trial Members will receive an  email  newsletter  on a quarterly basis...  beginning with the next issue available after their fee has been processed.  One of the hallmarks of membership in Working Together will be the  Member  Packet.  I have been trying to decide if anything else should be included in the Trial Membership because our income status is so non-existent and its fee barely pays for the costs of delivering the quarterly newsletter, but I am aware that the Member Packet is the best thing we can offer.  It is a sampling of our products for members to try.  I am in the process of deciding its contents now. 

Regular members will have their own list of benefits, including a different Member Packet for new members and renewing members... plus a small discount when Working Together products are purchased.  This will all become an online process, but right now I am the only one doing anything so I have to make it workable for me.

Everything is related ::  income equals growth, employees, programs, resources.  Everything will grow as each year brings profits to work with.  Our purpose is to create jobs and housing and food for our members, tithing to meet the needs of those outside our boundaries, and increasing benefits as years of membership are accrued.  This is the plan... and is meant to continue until we are all gone.

For me, this effort to "Build for the End Times" has caused a lot of problems I didn't expect, including homelessness and having to be "dormant" at times, almost losing our business status so many times, trying to build Working Together in unconventional ways, waiting on GOD's provisions, looking for new options, struggling to reach the people we need to reach, etc.  I am on the verge of homelessness again and have shared my BIG prayer request already, which would provide for me as a retiring person and to continue developing things for WT.  (I think my prayer request is blogged at http://faith-and-prayer.blogspot.com on the 10th or 11th of FEB.)

There are so many things to consider about our future as Christians.  When I see the news, read articles in magazines, online, through social media, etc., it is sometimes terrifying to see how fast things are changing, especially in America.  I wonder if there is time to prepare anything.  My efforts stem from my own experiences and knowing how difficult and desperate our lives become with unexpected tragedy and need.  I hope GOD will allow us to prepare for those children and grandchildren who will come after us, and may not yet have a personal relationship with GOD.

Please JOIN me today... we can build this ministry together.

Friday, 19 FEB 2016 :: Thoughts about our future

I wanted to share a link to my FAITH AND PRAYER post today.

It is about the internet and our future as Christians...

I hope you read it and share your thoughts with me in the comments section.

Thanks.



http://faith-and-prayer.blogspot.com

Wednesday, 17 FEB 2016 :: Just a note

I wanted to stop by and let you know I haven't forgotten about you... I have been busy with other blogs, with my sites, with creating a PayPal button for a TRIAL MEMBERSHIP,  with a lot of different things.

You can find a list of all my blog links at the Working Together page ::  http://work2gather.us

I will return with more details in the next several days.