Looking for TRUTH

My name is Barry Dean Murrell. I was born and raised in Texas, but have spent the last 40+ years living and working as a missionary and businessman in the Philipines.

It’s fristrating…

After you’ve been around to see the start of a couple of generations and you see a consistent degradation of the country you grew up in, it does something to you. Like me, you may have been raised with the ideal that every person has the right to do or be anything or anyone they desire as long as they do it within the privacy of their own home. Like me, you might have been raised to respect others’ opinions and support their right to express them in public without fear of assault or repercussion, and if you believed they were wrong, the way to fight back was to step forward and make a better argument. Like me, you may have been raised to have respect for the law and law enforcement and to remember that as a member of a free society everyone must help their fellow citizens whenever the opportunity presents itself. Like me, you may have been educated to understand that God created men and women to pair off as “one flesh” married couples and carry forward the human race into the future. Like me, you may have been raised to know that children cannot raise themselves, but that they need role models of honesty and integrity, and that the God-given role of parents in the lives of their children is to train them to grow up understanding who HE is, to know the difference between right and wrong, and to understand the relationship between bad choices and accountability by applying discipline in love. Like me, you may have grown up in a community where all adults cared for their collective children, they all watched out for the wellbeing of all the kids of the community, they also policed all the kids, because there was a real and abiding sense of COMMUNITY.

I remember how neighbors dropped by and visited for hours, how people used court houses, post offices, grocery stores, and restaurants as community centers where people interacted and shared news and ideas. I remember my father, who was a Korea-war veteran and a school teacher in our community, addressing our local law enforcement—even the ones younger than him—as “Sir” and “Ma’am” because of his respect for the country and the office they represented. As a teacher, he saw himself as a team member, working with parents to HELP THEM understand the needs of their kids, prevent kids from developing “Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde” personality to help ensure the kids developed a propped respect for authority, and to learn things that might help them make something of themselves in the future.

I remember summers visiting my grandparents and playing dominoes for hours while my grandmother shared stories of the history of our family and how important God was in that journey. She also shared the basic truths of Christianity, which I saw living daily in her life and the way she and my grandfather lived.

This is who I am.

Why am I here joining this forum?

I am joining the fray because I am afraid that memories of my formative years are no longer the norm for kids growing up anywhere. The idea of family has become fragmented and the responsibilities given by God are being ignored. Too many women do not see the need for a loving husband, but rather see a system they can work that will give them monthly government funds for each child they register in the program. Marriage is now whatever one wants it to be. Men can marry men, women can marry women, and a person can even marry their cat! Not only that, but the original God-given genders of “male and female” are no longer the norm. Now a person can be whatever “gender” they want… at this moment, and that might change tomorrow, or today, or 2 minutes from now. Polity is no longer concerned with establishing a standard of right and wrong, but about accommodating the feelings of each individual. Kids are growing up without fathers, kids are growing up without community guidance, and most concerning, kids are growing up with social media and peers as their main source of social training. Popularity is more important than working hard to become something. Kids do not learn to receive criticism and melt down at the slightest insult because kids seem to think it is a right to go through life without adversity. As a result of this, kids—even young ones—are questioning their existence and are being told that they can have a better life if they will just do what makes them feel right. As a former child, a father, and grandfather of 13, I can testify that childhood is an exercise in learning to cope with who you are, and adversity—and learning to benefit from lessons learned—and how to flourish by coming to the understanding that God created you, watches over you, and promises never to allow you to experience adversity that you cannot endure is the key to success in navigating the world HE created. I will share a lot of my experiences and research on this topic in my posts here.

I am also joining the fray because of what happened during COVID. As a businessman, I was severely affected by the shutdown. My language school business was booming pre-pandemic. We had a 5-year annual growth rate above 15% and were expanding our facility preparing for the next level when—BAM!—we crashed into a brick wall. What we were assured was “2 weeks to flatten the curve” stretched out to over 2 and a half years and even when we had permission to reopen our business, the airports remained closed and we could not receive students. The shutdown lasted so long that all of our marketers in our target countries had to quit and find other work to support their families. By God’s grace, our business survived but we are basically starting over again. When the shutdown extended, I began researching everything COVID. If I was going to be asked to sacrifice my business I wanted to know for why and why. I also wanted to know the dangers facing my employees and their families, and especially my wife, my kids, and my grandkids. So, I studied and learned, and the more I learned the angrier I became. I will share a lot of my experiences and research on this topic in my posts here.

I am joining the fray because politics has become so polarized, and I firmly believe that one side in particular has become so seemingly bent on bringing down the country of my birth, that I can no longer remain neutral and idle. As a missionary, I have always remained politically neutral because “our citizenship is not of this world” and I felt it necessary for someone to be able to stand in the middle of Christians warring over politics and remind all parties of this fact. Historically, the political parties had different platforms but they always had as the foundation the continuation of America as a leading example of freedom and values. This is no longer the case. I have never seen such wonton recklessness and irrationality in an administration and the party behind it. Living on the other side of the planet, I see the situation from a unique perspective. I will share things that have caused my change of attitude in my posts here.

Ultimately, I am joining the fray because what is happening is nuts and “I am mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore!” I am a husband of one (wonderful, beautiful, and extremely patient) wife, a father of 4, and grandfather of 13 (so far)! It is like being the patriarch of a village. I do not claim to be an expert and I caution everyone not to take anything I say at face value. I do not expect anyone to agree with me. If you think I am wrong, make an argument. I will provide statements, insights, and opinions and will support all of my writings with data. You can count on this and I invite you to scrutinize what I say and please let me know if you think I am misrepresenting the data. I will be happy to consider any data you might provide to the contrary.

I am in a battle for survival. My business is struggling and my wife and I are using our life savings to keep it afloat. Recovery essential because everything we have ever saved is in the business. We were doing so well and everything was going great until COVID. Recovery is much more difficult that we thought, and is turning out to be much harder than it was the first go around because the world has change BECAUSE OF COVID! Students do not have as much money as they did because the world’s economies were decimated. People do not feel as safe as before. We used to offer group classes and shared housing, but everyone now wants man-to-man classes and private rooms, which is very difficult for us with our small faculty and limited facilities.

The world continues to evolve into a more dangerous place, with conflict and misery abounding. In some ways, it is as if we are all living in a “James Bond” movie and “Specter” is trying to take over the world!

We all need to stand and speak out if we want to save the world for our grandkids!

What to expect…

I plan to write and never charge for subscriptions. (I will make it possible for donations, but will never ask for them.)  If what I have written touches something in you, please consider subscribing. Thank you!