1887- SIKH YE FIRST THE KINGDOM
OF GOD
Let’s talk about the temple
shooting- but first a verse from the prophet.
‘I will gather all nations and
tongues and they shall come and see my glory- I will set a sign among them and
send those that escape to the nations’ Isaiah 66:18-19
Over the next few weeks I will
try and post some of the verses from Isaiah that I have been reading- the ones
I think have special importance.
This one is a familiar one I have
been praying for years- it speaks of the greater purpose of God.
He wants ALL NATIONS and cultures
to come into the kingdom of God.
The purpose of the church is not
to fight and be a stumbling block to the nations- but to be a sign of peace- a
witness to Christ’s kingdom- and those ‘that escape’ those that come ‘out of
Babylon’ and into the new kingdom- they are the ones who will ‘go tell it to
the nations’.
Okay- now the shooting.
As most of you know- the day
before yesterday we had a shooting at a religious temple.
The religion is Sikh [pronounced
Sick- or Seek] they are not Muslim- but they look Muslim- so these past few
years they have been the target of hate.
The guy who shot and killed about
7 or so people was killed by the cops at the scene.
Now- as I watched the media
coverage- they used this type of language.
‘He comes from a White
Supremacist group’
‘They hates Jews and Blacks’
‘Stupid and uneducated’
‘Domestic Terror’
‘He was not nice- he was crazy’
On and on.
Now- once again- I in no way want
to make light of this terrible tragedy.
This type of hate crime- if it
turns out to be one- is obviously terrible.
The point I make is you would
never- ever- hear the media describe a radical Muslim shooting with these
terms.
As a matter of fact- the
president himself refused to describe the Hassan shooting as terror [the
shooting that took place here on the military base in Texas- Hassan was a
radical Muslim- and also a major in the U.S. military]
They made a huge point that if
Hassan acted alone- then it was not terror.
Yet- the president- and the FBI
have been saying this temple shooting is indeed domestic terror.
As far as we know- this shooter
at the temple also acted alone.
Why the distinction?
A few weeks ago Brian Ross from
ABC- along with his ‘partner in crime’ George Stephanopolous were the ones who
jumped the gun and associated the Colorado shooting [the Batman movie] with the
wrong person.
Ross reported- on air- that there
was a Jim Holmes from the same city who had a Tea party web page.
So?
Could it be that maybe another
person with that very strange name- you know- about as strange as John Smith-
might be the web site guy?
Sure enough- they ‘outed’ the
wrong guy.
So- Ross was one of the first to
come out and use this language about the temple shooting.
He couldn’t seem to wait- to say
‘see- I told you these Tea party- I mean right wing groups- are the real
threat’.
Yeah Ross- you tell em!
Now- as someone who holds to the
theological belief that the above verse speaks about- I have made efforts to
have Muslim friends.
I have Jewish friends as well.
I try not to only have
associations with other Christians- because I think we all need to talk to [not
at] each other- and that Gods purpose is for the church to be a blessing to all
nations and cultures.
So- that’s my position.
Also- we need to be honest about
the real threats that face our world today.
As a student of history and
religion I have come across a few recurring things.
One of the themes I see every so
often is ‘look- we all [Jews, Christians- Muslims] have radical terrorists in
our ranks- and we should not condemn the other group’.
Realistically- the very real
threat that exists is within the extreme elements of Islam.
Everyone knows this- it’s no
secret.
Now- do I want to offend my
Muslim friends?
No.
But- the truth is- are there
real- huge scale threats of radical terrorism coming from the Jewish people?
Of course not [they usually point
to a single incident in the history of the Jewish people- during the restoration
of their nation in the 20th century- and this one incident has
become the mantra for those who say ‘see- the Jews have terrorists too!’]
What about the far right wing
hate groups?
A little more of a threat- yes-
but a global threat- one that has the potential to destabilize nations- no.
That’s the whole point.
During the broadcast of the
temple shooting- you also had the other news of the Syrian uprising.
These are the various nations in
the Arab world and North Africa [Tunisia- Egypt- Libya] that have been going
thru the Arab Spring uprisings now for a couple of years.
One of the major players in the
overthrowing of the leaders of these nations is Al Qaeda.
Now- there are also innocent
Arabs/Muslims who are being caught up in the fire fight- but you also have a
very real presence of Al Qaeda in these rebellions.
The leaders themselves- who we
have demonized to no end- have been saying this.
Gadhaffi, Mubarak- Assad- they
have all said that the ones ‘rebelling’ have Al Qaeda in their ranks.
We [the western world] have for
the most part played that down- heaven forbid that we should go against the
‘democratic spring’ that is sweeping the world!
The fact is- during the same news
broadcast that is so quick to associate a single- isolated shooter- as an act
of terror.
The same news media that refuse
to use this type of language when a person [Major Hassan] who did indeed
identify himself with radical Islam- a worldwide movement that is responsible
for many worldwide terror acts- the media refer to his shooting- at an actual
military base here in the U.S. [Fort Hood].
As ‘work place violence’.
The double standard is so big-
you have to be blind to not see it.
Yes- right wing hate groups are
dangerous- but they pose absolutely no threat on a global level.
Do they pose a Tim McVeigh
[Oklahoma city bombing of the fed building] type threat?
Yes.
But not a real global threat- one
that would in fact meet the criterion of being terrorism on a global scale- no.
We need to be honest about these things- the
media have once again dropped the ball by associating what seems to be an
isolated act- with terror.
They showed video of the hard
right rock group that this shooter played in- with no disclaimer that the other
members of the group do not condone the actions of the shooter.
They used quotes from bystanders
who said ‘they are uneducated idiots’- referring to this movement that does
indeed have racist elements in it.
But I have heard the same racist
stuff from Farrakhan- many times.
Yet the media would never- ever
use this language about him.
As a matter of fact- Obama
attended the million man march before he was president [I think he was the
senator from Illinois at the time- the march was held by Farrakhan].
So- if hate speech is wrong- then
it’s wrong all the way around.
If we condemn White hate groups-
which we should- then we need to condemn Black hate groups too.
The New Black Panther party are a
bunch of racists.
The leader of this group was photographed
behind Obama during the 2008 campaign.
He was holding up his hand- in a
Black Power display- and he was walking right behind the president.
They were in Selma at the time.
The media never covered this- or
showed this picture.
That’s what you call a double
standard- that’s what you call ‘media bias’.
See?
NOTE- do you think a Romney type
person- who was running for president- if he attended a David Duke rally- and
had Duke march behind him on the campaign trail- would have escaped Scrutiny?
Not on your life baby.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1886- DIVINE LOGOS
Okay- just read Isaiah 65- one
chapter left.
These past few weeks I have been
going thru the last 15 or so chapters of the book.
There are lots of great themes to
do- maybe I’ll take a pic of the verses I wrote down and hung up here in my
study.
I also wanted to engage in a
conversation on the Divine Logos.
Huh?
Well yeah- maybe a little
scholarly sounding- but my goal has been to ‘upgrade’ our level of teaching.
When I say ‘our’ I’m talking
generally about the present day church in America- and the obsession with ‘the
now’.
That is ‘what do I get out of
this- monetarily?’
Yeah- that’s the rave of the day.
So- every so often I do my best
to walk the other road- to give the other side of the coin.
So- a few weeks ago I was at my
daughter’s house- we usually have the whole family over for the b-days and
stuff.
And my kids like playing those
word games.
So they bought some game- don’t
remember the whole name- but part of the name had LOGOS in it.
I just quipped ‘you do know what
that means’?
Now- I kid around so much-
sometimes they have a hard time believing me- like ‘sure- you’re making it up’.
No- for real!
Logos means WORD.
It’s the Greek language- which
the New Testament was written in- and it simply means WORD.
My 2nd oldest said ‘I
should have known that’.
My oldest daughter- Bethany- just
turned 27- Becky is a couple of years younger.
They both have degrees from
A&M University here in Texas- top notch school for sure.
So that’s why Becky ‘should have
known it’.
Anyway- this word is a favorite
in the writings of the apostle John.
In both the gospel and his 3
little letters [1st, 2nd and 3rd John] he uses
this term to describe Jesus.
‘In the beginning was THE WORD
and the word was with God…’
That’s the Greek word- Logos.
It should be noted that the early
Greek philosophers had a concept much like this.
All the way back to the time of
Plato- Socrates and Aristotle [around 500 years before Christ] the Greeks were
speaking about a universal principle- some type of ‘unifying theory’ that would
be the basis of all knowledge.
They spoke about this principle
as THE LOGOS.
So- some of the critics of
Christianity did use this as a criticism of the church- they say ‘see- the
disciples were just making stuff up- borrowing themes that were already there’.
Do they have a point?
A point- maybe- but that’s all.
In the letters of John we also read
him refuting a cult of the day- called Gnosticism [Gnosis is the Greek word for
knowledge. They believed that they had secret knowledge that the others did not
have. A modern twist on this is
sometimes referred to as Revelation Knowledge- it’s a form of this ‘special
knowledge’ idea that existed in the early days of the church.]
An off shoot of this group were
called the Docetists.
These guys were pseudo
Christians- they held to some form of Christian belief- but denied the true
faith of the church.
They taught that Jesus was ‘a
phantom spirit’ that is- they denied what we refer to as the incarnation.
That God became man in the person
of Christ.
John was one of the youngest
disciples- and he also outlived the others.
His writings are probably the
oldest in the N.T. [Revelation]
So- he was around long enough to
refute the growing philosophical challenges to the church.
So- putting all this together-
when John said Jesus was the Divine Logos- he was not ‘stealing’ that idea from
the earlier Greek philosophers who were indeed looking for a Logos principle.
No- he was saying ‘look- we- the
followers of Christ- have found the thing you were looking for all the time- he
is the Wisdom- the Logos of God’.
See?
Okay- I haven’t read John in a long
time- nor have I ever studied Greek.
But- I do have a Greek lexicon [a
book that gives you the Greek word before it was translated into English].
And back ‘in the day’ when we
were young believers- seeking to learn the faith- these were the basic tools of
the trade.
But today- well- the tools are
motivation- success stuff.
Learning how to invest- make a
buck [or 2] - how to ‘create your world’.
Yeah- we really don’t have time
for all that silly stuff like the Logos.
After all- it’s all Greek to me.
Yeah- I know.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1885 WHO’S THE GREATEST?
Got with the street guys
yesterday- will post a few pics right after this note [p.s. every morning that
I post- I post to the blog and Facebook- these are not ‘generated’ posts- I
write- post- and leave. So- if you’re reading this on the blog- the pics are on
Facebook].
2 guys died this past week.
John- a nice brother- carried a
staff- sort of like a prayer thing.
I didn’t know him well- but just
spoke to him the other day.
The other death was a good
friend- Donald D.
I met Donald 20 years ago- he was
one of the first street guys from the Bluff.
He was a real nice guy- sure-
problems- but nice.
Donald did not hang out at the
mission- so I would maybe see him once every few years- for the past 20.
He always treated me like a
brother- big hug- you know- like when you see a family member.
I was sad to hear that he died.
A few years ago I met his son-
Eddie.
At first I didn’t realize it was
his son.
Eddie told me they were
originally from the Garden state [N.J.].
I was surprised- being I’m from
there as well.
He told me they lived at Lake
Hapactkon [spelling?]
Wow- I went there as a kid with
my dad- a small world.
Okay- let’s finish the week with
something spiritual.
I have had a few things I wanted
to say this last week- but haven’t really had the time to cover them all.
So- let’s pick one.
In the gospels the mother of
James and John [disciples] ask Jesus for a favor ‘can my 2 sons sit at your
right hand and left in your kingdom’?
Jesus tells her that it is not
his place to decide that- but God [the father] will make that decision.
The other disciples hear about
the request- and they get mad.
They begin a debate about who
will be the greatest.
Then Jesus says- in the world you
measure greatness by how far up the ladder you go- how many people are under
you.
But in his kingdom it’s not like
that- but the least will be the greatest- the ones who serve- not the ones
being served- are ‘great’.
This simple example covers a lot
of ground.
I have friends in ministry-
pastors- ministry leaders- etc.
And it’s often difficult to
‘explain’ the ministry to them.
Usually- we see ministry as
setting up 501c3 nonprofit- raising money [usually lots] and then becoming-
well- famous.
Often times what we call
‘pastors’ are really just motivational speakers who speak weekly- or travel to
an event- all well meaning men- but that’s the category many of them fall into.
So- when I’m asked ‘to preach’ or
‘how are you funded’ it comes as a surprise that I never take money- ever.
Some of my pastor friends
actually think that it is wrong to not take the cash.
I remind them that the apostle
Paul left that option open in the N.T.
My purpose is not to debate this
whole subject right now- I’ve taught it in depth many times over the years- but
just to say that we usually judge ministry by criteria that Jesus himself said
was wrong.
It’s not how many people are ‘under
you’ or how much money you bring in- or how famous you are.
It’s a matter or serving others-
laying down your life for others- not always seeking your own welfare- but the
welfare of others.
These principles are the main
principles of leadership- and Christianity in general- but they are often over
looked because we simply have substituted the modern corporation for ‘the local
church’ and we basically run ‘the church’ along the same lines of the corporate
world.
I am not one of those critics who
hates going ‘to church’ [the building].
There are many who don’t go-
because of the things I just shared with you.
I’m not in that camp.
But- the things I did just share-
they are very important to get a grasp on- for those who see themselves in
ministry- or as pastors.
On the blog- if you look to the
left you’ll see a few short books I wrote years ago.
The one called Further talks on
Church and Ministry deals with this subject a little more in depth.
Also- under the Feb. posts of
each year- there’s a category called ‘what in the world is the church’. There
are posts about this there as well.
Okay- the point today is we
[leaders- believers- the whole bunch] are not to measure success in ministry as
attaining some type of material success.
We should not view Christianity
thru the lens of ‘what can I get out of this’.
These are usually the main themes
that you see from the TV preachers of our day- and I know they mean well- but
that’s simply not the heart of Christianity.
The writer to the Hebrews said
‘you took joyfully the spoiling of your goods- knowing that in heaven you have
an enduring substance’.
He was talking about the
persecution they went thru- they were robbed of their stuff.
In today’s world the average
preacher would say ‘get back what the devil stole'.
The writer of Hebrews says
‘praise God- you have a better inheritance in heaven’.
The apostle John wrote ‘if you
have this worlds goods [see- he does not call material stuff ‘true riches’] and
you see your brother in need- and don’t help him- then how does Gods love dwell
in you’.
The apostle Peter says ‘you were
not redeemed by corruptible things- like silver and gold- but with the precious
blood of Christ’.
I could go on- but just want you
to see that we in the modern church really don’t focus on these themes any
more.
Sure- most well meaning preachers
will say ‘yeah- I believe that’.
But we often [if ever?] actually
teach it.
The bible says we should listen
to the WHOLE counsel of God- not just to the ‘bless me’ verses.
Got it?
Okay- that’s it for now- I know
some of this stuff rubs some of you the wrong way- in the past I have had
friends ‘un-friend’ over stuff like this- so whatever will be will be.
If you want more about this
subject- also on the blog- you will see another little book ‘House of Prayer or
Den of Thieves’ I wrote that years ago- at the fire house- but it gives you
some verses that might help.
Okay- have a good weekend- and
don’t worry- I’ll be back to politics soon- I know how much you guys love it!
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1882- IS GAIN GODLY?
As we close the week- lets re-cap
a few things.
As an avid news watcher- once
again the media over covered a very tragic event.
There were numerous days of
nonstop coverage on all the news networks- of the tragic killing of 12 people
in Aurora- Colorado.
While we don’t know all the
motives of the sick person who did this- yet it is possible that one of the
motives is attention.
And if we give a person nonstop
coverage- then in a way we are playing into his distorted mind game.
The next day or 2 after the
shooting [or the same day? I forget] we had 15 people killed right here in
South Texas in a truck crash.
It was another case of a bunch of
illegal aliens in a truck- coming into Texas.
The tire blew out- and 15 died.
Now- we also have had a string of
murders going on in Chicago- it is really strange.
Ever since the former White House
chief of staff- Rahm Emanuel- became mayor of the city- the death rate has sky
rocketed.
I don’t know why this is- but it
is a fact.
So- the real danger in the
country is not the lone psycho who will walk into a theatre and open fire.
But it’s the regular gun violence
taking place in Camden [N.J.] or Chicago- or any other inner city USA.
We have a terrible culture that
exists in the gang lifestyle- and these are the real stories that if not dealt
with will eventually kill tens of thousands more each year.
So- don’t want to lessen the
horrendous act of Holmes- but just want to keep things in perspective.
The other week I caught an
interview with David Brody- a reporter for CBN [Pat Robertson’s ministry].
He put out a book-
Teavangelicals- and was talking about the ‘religious right’ and stuff.
The interviewer brought out some
very good points- he challenged some of the ideas of the so called right.
Brody said many identify their
faith with capitalism- he used a famous verse form the Old Testament ‘a good
man leaves an inheritance to his kids, kids’.
I have heard [and read] this many
times over my life.
So- Brody said that’s why the
religious right identify with ‘right wing’ politics.
The interviewer quipped back
‘yes- but that’s one Old Testament verse- and all thru the New Testament Jesus
railed against riches’.
Wow- I was surprised that the guy
new his stuff.
Was he right?
Actually- yes.
This is what I talk about a lot-
keeping things in context.
Avoiding what we call ‘proof
texting’ which means you pick one verse out of the bible- and then build an
entire belief system from that verse.
Jesus did say stuff like ‘What
does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?’
‘You cannot serve God and money’.
‘It is easier for a camel to go
thru the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven’.
Now- I can go on- and in the past
I have.
But the point I wanted to make
was the news guy was right.
We need to see the Christian life
primarily thru the ‘lens’ of the teachings of Christ- and emphasize the things
he taught the most.
Now- this does not mean we should
ignore a verse like ‘leave an inheritance for your kids’.
But we should absolutely avoid
making stuff like that the main thing- I mean we- in the modern evangelical
church have seemed to have fallen into the whole trap of ‘keeping up with the
Joneses’.
Years ago one of the prosperity
preachers of the day put out a little book- the title was ‘righteousness is
profitable’.
Of course the title told it all.
It was a short- and all consuming
teaching that comes from this camp- and it basically taught that if you are a
child of God- you will make lots of money [profitable].
The problem?
Once again- the verse comes from
the Apostle Paul’s letter to Timothy [1st Timothy chapter 4].
And in context it does not mean
what the author said it meant.
2 chapters later Paul will
actually write ‘the love of money is the root of all evil- some say gain
[profit] is godliness [righteousness] avoid them’.
The point is- the author took
Paul’s words- from the bible- and ‘made’ them say the opposite of what he said.
Then taught ‘see- that’s in the
bible’.
Actually ‘that’ was not in the
bible- at least not the way the author made it sound.
So- at the end of the day- we
need to keep ‘first things first’.
Yes- there are many people who
live day by day- lives without purpose or meaning.
And we- the church- don’t want to
tell them that the purpose is more material stuff.
That’s not the message Jesus
gave.
Sure- we can find a good verse
about leaving money to your kid when you die.
But read the WHOLE bible in
context.
Jesus put much more emphasis on
warning people that if they ‘gain the whole world- and lose their soul- it
profits nothing’.
The Kingdom of God is not about
making a fortune- it’s about living your life for a higher purpose- a more
noble goal- give your life away- that’s what the Master said.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1880- ZIGGY STARDUST
I’ve been catching some of the
classic rock concerts on VHF 1- you know- the stuff I [we] saw back in the day.
I must admit- I have been an
amateur ‘singer’ for many years.
I used to belt them out at the
fire house on a regular basis- you know- sweeping the stalls- or doing a daily
routine thing.
Okay- no lie- I did get some real
compliments over my ‘career’.
One of the Captains asked one
morning ‘were you playing the radio in there’.
I told him no- laughing- he did
not believe I was singing.
My captain [Lopez] said for years
that I should go on the ‘Americas got talent’ type shows.
So- after a while the guys would
give a request or 2- and I tried my best.
I remember Sam- a younger guy-
one day I sang Lola [the Kinks].
Sam knew the song as a remake- I
guess some new group re-did it.
So- I sang the words- which Sam
said he never really knew.
I told Sam ‘you do know who Lola
is’.
He did not.
‘She walks like a woman and talks
like a man’
‘When she squeezed me tight she
nearly broke my spine’
‘I never ever kissed a woman
before’ [nor this night!]
Yeah- you’re talking Penn State
football locker rooms for the years that Sandusky was there.
So- one day I drove the girls to
school- I tell them ‘you guys want breakfast- then you have to bear thru
another one of dads songs- without laughing’.
They were up for it.
So- I picked one from my catalog
[in my head!]
And I was off.
They managed to not laugh- or
smile- that was the deal.
At the end- my daughter- per
instructions of the bet- said ‘wow dad- that was really good’.
Hmm?
Still- no laugh.
I responded- with a dead pan
serious face ‘are you serious.’
She lost the bet right there.
Ziggy Stardust.
So- I caught the re-run of a
David Bowie concert tour.
To be honest- I never really
liked the guy- Changes was an all right song- but not much else.
But the stardust character that
he sang the tour as [he was this androgynous type persona for the tour]
reminded me of the famed Physicist – Neil Tyson.
Tyson heads up the Hayden
planetarium in N.Y.
My dad took me there a bunch of
times as a kid- I loved it.
Tyson has been making the rounds
recently- talking about the Higgs Boson thing.
He is a nice guy- and he is
trying to ‘popularize’ physics for the average guy- a noble cause.
But he- like a long line of
others- stumbles very badly when he wades into the field of Apologetics/Logic.
Recently I saw a clip- he gave a
very enthusiastic account of how the stars ‘made us’.
He said that we now know that the
basic elements of the stars are in us.
And he then reached the unfounded
conclusion that ‘we came from stars’.
Okay- a brief review.
This type of argument- which is
not new- says if you find common elements in 2 different things- then one must
have come from the other.
Why would this be false- at least
in the star debate?
Because you cannot get
intelligence- information- consciousness- from a non living thing.
As wonderful as the study of the
stars can be- yet- to give the stars ‘Ontological status’ [meaning- you give a
non living thing the status that only a living thing has] is wrong.
Tyson gives us no mechanism of
how the stars actually created us.
I mean you can’t even appeal to
biological evolution- because at least it uses living things.
No- the stars have no life.
Then how would you [I] explain
the fact that stars have the same base elements that humans have?
Easy- there was one creator- a
‘first cause’ if you will- and according to the biblical argument- he made man
from the base element- dirt.
So- in the Christian view- you
have both how the same elements are in various things- and you have a
‘mechanism’ that explains how intelligence- consciousness- and life arrived.
They came from an infinite being-
who has life in himself.
In the end- this is really the
only logical explanation for the creation.
Remember- you can’t get
intelligence from non intelligence.
It would be like finding a C.D.
in a field- you popped it into a computer and you found information on it.
Then- you broke down [in a lab]
the basic elements of the makeup of the C.D. - the actual hardware- not the
info on it.
And said ‘aha- I have found the
source of the info on the device’.
And you proceeded to show me the
ingredients that make up the disk itself.
I would respond ‘all you have
done is shown me the common elements that make up the disk- you have in no way
proven that these base elements are responsible for the info on the disk’.
That’s the mistake that Tyson
makes- he assumes that the common elements we find both in the stars and in
humans- is proof that ‘we came from the stars’.
He’s wrong- very wrong.
About as wrong as me thinking I
can make it on America’s got talent.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1879- GOAT MAN [or Fire Walkers]
I have a couple of news articles
I clipped last week.
The first ‘Goat man spotted in
mountains of Utah’.
The first paragraph says the
authorities are worried that a man- dressed like a goat- living with a bunch of
other goats- might be in danger as ‘hunting season approaches’.
I refuse to read the rest of the
article- why ruin the fun?
The second- ‘21 people treated
for burns at fire walk’.
The story is that Tony Robbins
[success guru] did one of his ‘unleash the power within’ seminars- and 21
people received 2nd and 3rd degree burns while trying to
‘unleash the power’.
The other day I was going to
mention the death of Stephen Covey.
I was a fan of Covey’s stuff- I
actually pulled out his book from my shelf the other day- to make sure I
spelled the name right if I did a post.
There was a notable difference
between Covey’s approach and the other so called ‘motivational speakers’ of the
day.
Covey took a more biblically
oriented approach- he said success was not so much a technique thing [Robbins-
he even taught the way you look- if you look in a certain direction while
thinking- or posture yourself a certain way- that this too bread success].
Covey taught 7 basic principles
[when they played the clips of his stuff- I knew it by heart- I listened to his
c.d.’s many times].
They focused you on trying to
work on the most important things- the things that you do have some influence
on.
The things you can’t change-
leave them be.
And ‘begin with the end in mind’.
Basically think ‘legacy’ don’t
live for pure hedonism- but make something of your life that’s worthwhile.
I liked Covey- sad to see him go.
These few stories got me to
thinking about the goal of faith.
I throw the word ‘metaphysical’
around a lot in my posts- usually talking about physics.
But there are what people refer
to as ‘metaphysical cults’.
Huh?
I don’t like the word cult- to be
honest.
I have friends who are in groups
that other Christians call cults.
I prefer to be honest and open
with these friends [Mormon friends and Jehovah Witness friends].
Covey himself was Mormon.
And I have had really good-
nonjudgmental talks with both of these groups many- many times.
When they come over- I talk to
them as friends.
I’m not trying to continually
persuade them to think my way.
I also realize that for someone
that has studied church history- theology- various religious movements.
That it’s not very hard for me to
throw out the standard talking points that most people use when trying to prove
their side is right.
These types of ‘talking point’
debates usually lead nowhere.
So- I see the various guys who
come and knock over the years- as well meaning people who wake up every day-
and with a sincere heart are going out to do what they feel is God’s will.
Upfront with them?
Yes.
At the same time understanding
where they too are coming from.
Got it?
Okay- said all that to say this.
The metaphysical ‘cults’ are
groups that view the ‘real world’ as the non material realm.
‘Geez John- don’t we too walk by
faith’?
Yeah- but walking by faith- and
not by sight- is different from what these groups do.
Many in the Christian world have
embraced lots of these ‘positive confession’ type beliefs- not realizing that
they do fall into this category.
One example.
A few years ago I heard very popular
preacher from this genre talking about an incident where a man ‘froze’ to death
in a freezer.
The preacher said that they later
found out that the freezer was unplugged- yet in his mind- what he thought
‘created’ an environment where he froze to death.
Okay- did this man freeze to
death?
No.
He more than likely died of a
heart attack.
Now- the mind does play a role in
things.
So- I saw the point.
But New Testament Christianity
does not see the key to the Christian life as someone who masters certain
principles like this.
Often times the letter to the
Romans is used.
Paul says ‘we look not at the
things that appear- but that do not appear’.
This is in Hebrews as well.
These examples come from the life
of Abraham- when he walked by faith- not by sight.
Many times he rejected the
evidence that said ‘this will never happen’.
Instead he trusted in God- and
God did what seemed impossible.
Okay- that’s faith.
But Abraham lived quite the life.
He failed many times thru out the
journey [too many to recount now].
He struggled with doubt too.
But in the end- faith was him
believing God’s promise- not mastering some type of technique that denied
physical reality.
So that’s the difference between
biblical faith- and ‘positive confession- motivational’ type faith.
Be careful- if you confuse these
2- you might just get burned in the end.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1877 CHINESE FOOD- RELIGION-
POLITICS [WOW!!]
Let’s try and cover a few things
today.
Yesterday I went down to the
mission to see the guys.
Henry showed up- I was hanging
out with Dirk and Joe for a little while.
Henry heard they were serving
chili – he has stomach problems- so he invited me and Joe to go to the Chinese
buffet about a block away.
Henry has been working regularly
at the boat dock and he had some cash.
We walked down to the Chinese
place and Joe and Henry ate- I never eat lunch [or b-fast].
We had a good time- I actually
took a few pictures and my daughter will try and post them [I’m bad at that].
We talked for a while- actually
the guys brought up politics on their own.
Geez- Chinese buffet- homeless
outreach and politics- I thought for sure the Kingdom had come.
Henry told me ‘John- did you
hear- the cops cuffed me at HEB the other day’.
He told me the story.
Henry is one of the most
upstanding guys you could ever meet.
He is a deacon for church without
walls [a homeless church].
He is practically a scholar when
it comes to the bible- and he does not do drugs or get drunk [he drinks wine.
Not a lot- he thinks it helps with his stomach- that’s actually in the bible.
Paul told Timothy ‘drink a little wine for you ailments’].
So- just to let you know- Henry
is not a trouble maker by any means.
Why did the cops cuff him?
He went to HEB [our local
grocery] and bought lunch.
He ate- then went to catch the
bus.
Someone had called the cops and
said a homeless guy was threatening him if he didn’t give him money.
HEB is right next to the mission
so it’s possible that one of the other guys did do this.
So- when the cops got there they
thought it was Henry and they cuffed him.
Henry does get mad- over the
years they have arrested him- for no reason- they were just doing a sweep of
the area- business people complain about all the ‘bums’- the cops pick a bunch
of them up with no real charge- Henry is not loitering- he’s not drunk- he just
looks bad [check out the picture on Face Book].
So- he has had to sit in jail-
without doing any crime- and of course it would piss you off- it would me.
So anyway he told me the scoop-
they finally uncuffed him- and let him go.
I took a few more pictures of the
guys- now that I started posting pictures of the guys- I’m like the dad that
keeps making his kids pose for pics on vacation [like my dad did a lot].
The guys were like ‘why are you
taking pics’?
I told them I started posting
them to the site.
They said ‘wow- were gonna be
famous’.
One of the guys said ‘you can’t
take my pic- the cops might find me’.
Yeah- figures.
I mentioned that I regret the
fact that some of the guys have died and I never got a picture.
I talked about Bill.
Bill was one of the first guys I
met on the street- he was about 30 years older than me and I have written a few
posts on Bill over the years.
Bill eventually saw me as his
‘best friend’ almost like a son/brother.
I guess I took Bill out to eat
more than any other street guy.
Bill died a few years ago.
So- as I mentioned Bill- Joe told
me that they have a picture of Bill hanging up inside the mission.
I couldn’t believe it- they had
one of Bill- and the camp!
I took a pic- will post it.
Many of the guys live in
makeshift camps- I have visited hundreds of camps over the years.
These are little ‘tent cities’
that pop up in the vacant fields all around the area where I live.
I live on a bluff- a peninsula
type jetty sticking out into the bay- right off the gulf.
So- there are lots of beach
spots- and areas where the homeless can camp out.
My area is nice- it’s been developed
over the years and marketed because of its closeness to Padre Island [right
over the bridge and you’re at the beach- the national sea shore- you could walk
it].
So- after a while the locals
complain about the homeless population- and every so often they do a sweep- and
go thru the camps and cut the tents [cops] and stuff like that.
I have bought tents for the guys
over the years- and I get mad when I hear the cops cut another tent.
I’ll try and get these photos up
loaded soon.
On the way back to the marina
[where Henry works].
We started talking about all the
guys who have died these past few years.
I told Henry that when I do my
early morning prayers- I try to ‘see’ these guys as part of the community- the
little fellowship of friends I have worked with over the years.
I told Henry- that in a strange
way- I still sense Bill- Shelby- etc. - as ‘hanging out’ with us [I just looked
up over my head- I have a ball cap of Bill hanging on my shot gun rack- after
Bill died I found it under my car seat.
He must have left it there one day when going out to eat- I kept it as a
memento].
I mentioned that as Protestants-
we usually neglect the biblical teaching that our Catholic friends emphasize.
The Communion of the Saints.
That even though Protestants
don’t practice prayers to Mary and the saints- yet in a very real way those who
have died in the faith are indeed still part of the community.
I mentioned the book of
Revelation- it speaks about the prayers of the martyrs [dead Christians] going
up to God as incense.
I told Henry- just because our
friends have died- that does not mean they can’t still pray- even for us!
Being Henry knows the bible well-
he was familiar with the passage that I mentioned- he just never saw it like
that [see- there are lots of things like this in the Christian journey- that’s
why we should hold judgment on other Christian denominations as much as
possible- we all ‘see dimly’ at times].
Okay- I guess will end there.
I was gonna do a few news items-
yesterday the ‘rebels’ in Syria bombed a key headquarters of the leader- Assad.
This was a suicide bombing- by
most accounts- Al Qaeda did this.
Yet- the U.S. - and the western
media continue to describe these guys as innocent civilians whom Assad is
killing.
This happened in Libya as well.
I am not defending Assad- but we
in the West need to stop referring to all the rebel groups in the various Arab
spring uprisings as ‘innocent rebels’.
Many are not- many are
terrorists- they practice such things as suicide bombings.
The one yesterday killed some key
Syrian men- one was the brother in-law of Assad.
Things are getting very unstable
over there.
Our recent killing of an Indian
fisherman [we shot the fishing boat off the U.A.E the other day].
And yesterday’s terror attack on
a bunch of Israeli tourists.
These are all signs of major
unrest in that region- It’s possible that this might be the straw that breaks
the camel’s back when it comes to Israel taking out the nuclear facilities of
Iran.
Obama has been trying to get
Israel to hold off on the Iranian attack- you guessed it- till after the
election.
But after yesterdays bus bombing-
they might decide to go.
So all in all- there’s lots of
stuff going on in the world- lets pray for peace- for all people.
PEACE ON EARTH- GOOD WILL TO MEN.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
1875- FELON
I wanted to cover a bunch of
stuff today- but I know I won’t be able to get to it all.
I haven’t commented on the news
in a while- and there are some trending narratives that we probably should do.
This last week the Obama campaign
accused Romney of possibly committing a felony.
Now- most of us know why the
accusation was made- and yeah- we all know politics gets dirty.
What I find ‘funny’ is- out of
all the presidents- and potential presidents of the past few decades- none-
zero- has had the corrupt connections like the present president.
Why?
Look- I’m not an Obama hater- nor
a Romney lover.
But- the reality is- our current
president has all types of current/former political connections that are
presently on the verge of being convicted for committing felonies- or are
serving time for just that.
But- as you listen to the news-
you would never know it.
Right now- as I write- Jesse
Jackson Jr. is in ‘treatment’ for a Mood disorder.
Jackson left his post a couple of
months ago- and his Chicago constituents were asking where he was [he’s a
congressman from Chicago].
The story finally made it into
the national news.
Some thought he was in hiding- or
on the run.
The latest is he is being treated
for the mood disorder.
Why was there speculation that he
was on the run?
Because another associate just
got sent to prison for his involvement in the Chicago political corruption.
The case?
It involves illegal contacts with the Obama
people when he was running for pres- yes- real felonies- not fake ones.
Enter the former governor.
Rod Blagoavich [sp?] also got
sent to the pokey.
Why?
You guessed it- more illegal
contacts with the actual Obama people- caught on actual FBI tapes.
Rahm Emanuel- the president’s former chief of
staff- and current mayor of Chicago- he was on the tapes.
Yeah- real felonies all around.
Tony Rezko.
Who’s he?
Glad you asked.
Once again another close
confidant of Obama sent to prison for corrupt real estate deals- they were
committing crimes by doing illegal deals for their friends.
Obama actually bought real estate
from this man- he actually was involved in one of the deals.
These are all real felonies- real
crimes- that all of the people who were wheeling and dealing with the
president- while he was a senator from Illinois- have gone to prison for.
Yet- the media covered these
stories at a minimal rate.
Some of you never even heard of
them until now.
But- the major media market has
been intensely going thru all the business deals of Romney.
Not one news organization that
has investigated it has said Romney has done anything even being close to illegal-
yet this is the major story of the day.
This is what you call media bias.
You have one person [Obama] who
was surrounded with friends/political partners who were all convicted of
felonies and sent to prison.
One of the players is currently
in treatment for a ‘mood disorder’ yet- the media rarely mentions that the real
problem is they were all involved with illegal deals while in contact with the
Obama people.
This is real- these people were
all sent to prison because of this.
Rezko sits in prison right now-
and he actually sold one of the homes to Obama- no joke.
To even have this ‘side’ make an
accusation of a felony is unbelievable- yet- the media try to make you believe
it.
‘John- how do you know Romney
wasn’t really doing an under the counter deal- maybe he was lying to the govt.
when he said he was still the CEO of Bain’.
This is how- if you are trying to
deceive the people- and your plan is to say- on paper- that you’re the CEO of a
company.
Then- as you are trying your
hardest to stay ‘undetected’ you then proceed to run the U.S. Olympics for 3
years.
I mean who in their right mind
would do something like that- unless the story is true.
The story that Romney says is
true.
He went and took the job at the
Olympics because he thought it was a good thing to do.
He refused to get paid by the
way- just like when he was governor of Mass- he refused to take a check.
There are other things that the
president has done that has turned some heads- even liberal ones.
Obama is the first president in
the history of the nation to have executed an American citizen without a trial.
Huh?
Yes- no lie.
When asked what his justification
was- the ACLU sued to get the administration to release the justice dept.
papers that justified the killing.
The Justice dept refused to
release the memo- and instead made a statement that said ‘Due process does not
mean you get a trial’.
Huh?
Most observers- liberal ones-
said this is outrageous.
The U.S. constitution says U.S.
citizens have the right to due process- which means the courts.
Holder interprets that as saying
the process ‘they do’ at the justice dept will cover it.
Even Colbert mocked it- he said
‘o- they mean it’s a process YOU DO’.
I’ll end with this.
When Obama authorized use of
force in Libya- he did not go to congress to get approval.
The constitution does give the
power to go to war to the congress.
When this happened- some in the
media reported that Bush did it too.
That was wrong- Bush sought
congressional approval twice- and got it.
Obama was the first to go it
alone.
He argued that planes dropping
bombs was not ‘military action’ but ‘kinetic action’.
[it was later reported that we
had men on the ground in the action]
He forever changed the standard
of war.
I could go on- but I think you
get the hint.
So- the next time you see a media
report about Romney being a felon.
Re read this post- it will help
you keep things in context.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1874- THE MONEY PIT
The other day I took a few pics of my homeless
friends.
I thought I better get them while
I can- I have had a few of the guys die on me.
So- I checked my old cell phone
and found a few from some friends who died already [Shelby] - plus a few old
pics from the fire dept.
I’ll try and post them this week.
Okay- the day I took the recent
pics I saw Buck.
I haven’t seen Buck in around 3
years.
[I had heard he died once- then
later saw him.
Henry- who is usually real reliable-
a trusted friend- told me Buck died.
He also told me Roger died in
jail.
And he told me Vern died [all
over a period of 3 years or so].
Then one day while sitting at the
mission- with Henry- Buck showed up.
‘Hey Buck- I heard you died’.
Then Roger showed up.
‘I can’t believe it- you’re alive
too’.
I realized at that point that
Henry was not the most reliable source when it comes to the Obit column.
I will not be surprised if I see
Vernon one day. ]
Bucks a nice guy- but a falling
down drunk- you know- the type that’s so drunk he passes out on the street.
I’ll admit- I have had my
problems with drinking a little more than you should over the years- no
excuses.
But Buck goes real overboard.
The thing that surprised me was
Buck was missing an arm- he lost a ton of weight- and he’s in a wheel chair.
He looked so bad- almost to the
point where you would avoid him.
When the guys went inside the
mission to eat- I sat opposite Buck at the table.
Buck recognized me and asked for
a couple of dollars.
I try not to give drunks money-
but I have given a few guys a few dollars.
I give away money- but I realize
with Buck he will drink.
So- I had a 20 on me- and asked
for change from the workers at the mission.
No one had any- after a little
while I gave Buck the 20.
Was he happy?
Yeah- and no.
Being he’s in a wheel chair- and
one arm- he can’t push the thing [you know- circles].
So he asked if I could push him
to the restroom.
They have a bathroom for the
homeless- and one for the employees.
The homeless one was occupied- so
Buck had me turn him around and he ‘went’ in the workers bathroom.
I had no idea about the rule- but when he
asked me to stop him at the workers bathroom- he stood up and took a leak.
The lady that runs the place screamed
at me [no lie] ‘your gonna clean it up mister’.
I said- fine- if that’s what you
want- no problem.
I did.
Look- I was in the Navy before-
so having ‘latrine duty’ was no biggy.
When I wheeled Buck back to the
table- he bummed a cigarette from Don and asked me to wheel him outside for a
smoke.
I told him I was gonna sit inside
for a little bit- but he would not stop asking.
Buck is a narcissist- he found
someone who was willing to help- and the demands came- one after the other.
I wheeled Buck outside- and had
to walk away- he would not stop seeking
his own welfare- nonstop requests.
So- I sat with Andy and Huey- old
friends.
Huey asked if I had a couple of
dollars- I told him [and Tammy] ‘look- I had a 20- I wanted to get change- and
you guys could have split the money- but Buck has the 20’.
They wanted me to get the 20
back- and they would get change.
I told them ‘I’m finished with
Buck- if you want- you get the change’.
The wheels started rolling [in
their head- not Bucks chair].
So- after a few requests- they
conned Buck out of the 20.
He wanted cigarettes [another
request] and Andy said he’d get the smokes- and then bring a 10 back- and Huey
and Andy and Tammy would split the rest.
So- Andy gets back [he had
someone’s truck] and as he spreads the loot- Huey grabs the 10 and Buck gets
the cigs and 2 dollars.
Bucks pissed- Huey laughed- and I
told them ‘I don’t care who gets what- leave me out’.
Actually- first I said ‘hey- I
just remembered- I have no gas- can somebody lend me 2 Bucks’.
Yeah- a test.
Actually- they all were willing
to give me a couple back.
I know to some folk- this looks
bad.
In a way it is- trust me- I have
lots of friends who never- not one time- ask me for money.
I had some that took me out to
eat- they saved thru out the week so they could buy.
And the whole thing this day-
well- it was kind of funny in a way- I know these guys well- real well.
Huey was asking Andy [his
brother] to go down the block- to the motel- and go to room ?- tell the girl
‘I’m Huey’s brother’ and then get the 2 ‘things’ in the cabinet.
Now- I realize he’s giving him
directions to get some type of drug.
Not sure what type- maybe Meth-
it’s popular in this area [called Ice].
But Andy kept saying ‘look Huey-
if you want me to go- tell me what it is’.
He didn’t want to say it with me
there- I walked around the building for a sec- and came back.
Andy went on the mission.
He came back- the girl was not
there.
When I was going thru my phone
pics- I saw I had one of Andy and John David [all 3 are real brothers- Andy,
John David and Huey].
And I thought I will post that
one for sure- we were at my house and had a fellowship- we did the lords Supper
right in the yard.
John David and Andy are actually
seeking God.
At the time of the picture- John
David was clean from drugs for a couple of months.
He had a great story- wrote about
it at the time- but he really made an effort to seek the Lord.
I guess I’ll re- tell the story-
it’s worth it.
Many years ago when the brothers
lived in Dallas- John David shot- and killed his best friend with a shotgun.
The case gained publicity- and
John’s mom did her best to get her son a good lawyer.
She was told that the best guy
was the guy who actually defended the guy who shot Lee Harvey Oswald.
He told me the name- I forget it
now.
But his mom went to the lawyer’s
office and waited all day- he was trying to avoid her.
Finally- at the end of the day-
he came out of the room and she asked if he could defend her son.
He did the job pro bono.
He got John off.
John told me a year later he went
to his friend’s grave and ‘pissed on it’.
He was in no mood to repent.
The family moved to Corpus after
that [early 70’s].
And John David had a thriving
construction business.
He also hated the homeless
people.
John became a big time addict
[Coke- etc.]
He eventually lost it all and
wound up on the streets- with the people he despised.
Over the years when I met the
different guys on the streets- John kept his distance.
He looked bad- scary looking- like
someone that would indeed shoot you to be honest.
Anyway- I met his brothers- Andy
and Huey- and John kept his distance.
One day at the mission John was
different.
He actually couldn’t wait to tell
me the story.
A few months earlier he was all strung
out down by the bay [I’ll post these pictures too- we live surrounded by
water].
He was doing the usual thing-
getting high.
He was tired- he lost his
business- family [he had a boy get run over- the boy- and the doctor who ran
him over- were both drunk at the time- the boy died].
John sat there and said to God
‘if you’re fucking real- then do something’.
A couple of days later- 2
strangers came up to him and offered to pay 5 thousand to send him to the local
re-hab- called Charlie’s place.
John went- met a bunch of
Christians- and got clean- and dedicated his life to God.
John came over to the house a few
times- we had a few fellowships [I’ll post the pics] and he stayed clean- for a
long time.
That’s been about 5 year’s now-
and the other day I heard one of the guys tell Andy ‘I heard John David was not
doing well’.
I dreaded to ask- but I did ‘what
do you mean- he’s back on drugs’?
The guy- who did not know me from
Adam- said ‘no- actually he’s be clean for years- but he needs heart surgery
and back surgery’.
I was not glad to hear about the
medical problems- but was glad to hear he was still clean.
So- all in all it was a good day.
Yeah- the guys fought over the
20.
I cleaned the bathroom.
But in the end- it was worth it.
Oh yeah- John David got his answer ‘I’M REAL’.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1873- DON’T DO THE CRIME IF YOU
CANT DO THE TIME
Last night I was arrested for
impersonating a cop.
Okay- not really [see last
Facebook post- real time].
No- the title comes from one of
my favorite TV shows as a kid.
Barretta.
How many of you saw the interview
he did last night with Piers Morgan?
I rarely watch this show- but the
night before I saw a quick plug for it- and decided to watch the thing.
It was one of the weirdest
interviews I’ve seen.
Blake [Robert Blake played
Barretta in the cop flick].
He made it into the headlines a
few years back because he was suspected of shooting his wife- Bonnie Lee Blakely.
It became one of those viral type
stories- you know- the whole ‘movie star’ is in trouble thing.
He was eventually acquitted- but
found guilty in civil court.
I was surprised to hear Blake
talk about God- a lot.
He cursed Morgan a few times- rambled
about his past- and it was genuinely a wacky interview.
I started thinking about the old
TV shows when I was a kid.
Okay- what one was your favorite?
[Between 1970-80].
I’ll never forget this one
episode of a show simply titled FAMILY.
It was one of those down to earth
Walton type things.
I used to watch it with my
sister.
This one episode- the star of the
show- I think the actor was Gary Frank [show name- Buddy?]
Anyway- I guess he was the latest
‘cute kid’ that the girls flipped over.
I hated having to compete with
these guys.
You know- how can you impress the
girl in class if she’s thinking of David Cassidy all day?
So- in this episode some ex-con
knocks on the door.
Buddy gets it.
The guy introduces himself and
then the mom comes.
Buddy walks away- and the convict
says ‘That’s one tough looking dude’.
Huh?
Where in the world did the
writers come up with a line like that?
I mean it was so out of the blue.
This convict just spent 10 years
in the hole with murderers and all.
Yet- his first impression of
Buddy was ‘he’s tough lookin’.
So- as we laughed- hard.
I told my sister ‘I know- Frank’s
contract must have been up- and instead of a raise- he wanted this line in the
next show’.
Ahh- vanity of vanities.
Okay- the other day I got with
the homeless guys.
I was surprised- Mike [the
artist] had a gift for me.
As we sat at the mission- outside
on one of the benches.
Mike pulled out a new CD- still
in the wrapper.
Boston.
I told Mike- you wont believe
this- I just asked my girls to get me the Boston CD for father’s day.
They made me about 5 cd’s from
the internet. [I told my future son in
law- after he informed me of where he can burn them- for free. I said ‘I do the
same thing- I just Google ‘burn illegal songs without getting caught’ and a
bunch of real good sites pop up- even from the FBI]
Actually- he did burn me some
good tunes.
But Mike remembered that I said I
liked Boston [the rock group- not the state]
And he picked me up the CD.
I also had another good long talk
with Dirk.
Dirk lives in his van- has been
for the past 25 years- ever since I’ve known him.
Dirk can't stand the homeless
guys- even though he is one.
One good friend Henry [written
about a lot over the years] is also the ‘street Deacon’ for a church that’s
called ‘Church without walls’.
Brother Ray- a street preacher-
runs the ministry.
Dirk often talks bad about Ray-
and the people that go to the free meals he serves [Dirk being one].
So Dirk was once again ranting
about the bums and addicts and all.
He often says ‘the bible says
you’re not supposed to help these people- if they don’t want to work [like
Dirk] then they should not eat’!
He is blind to the fact that he
is actually one of them.
He mentioned the apostle Paul’s
writing to the Corinthian church.
Paul did say ‘don’t eat with the
heathen’.
Dirk said ‘see’.
I spent a little time trying to
put it in context.
Let’s try.
Jesus was accused of being A
FRIEND OF SINNERS.
Notice- it wasn’t just ‘I have a
ministry to homeless folk’.
No- a friend.
That’s what irked the ‘heck’ out
of the Pharisees.
I mean they were willing to
‘minister’ to them [by judging them].
But no- Jesus was their friend.
Actually- there’s a famous song
on this very theme.
Okay- in the city of Corinth-
well- you had a lot of stuff happening.
Corinth was on the way to Athens
[the center of philosophy of the day].
And it would be considered one of
the more ‘liberal’ cities of the day.
It was like the Amsterdam of our
day.
Prostitution was legal and open
on every corner.
Paul told the women in the
Corinthian church to ‘wear head coverings’ when they went to church.
Huh?
Why?
More than likely- a cultural
thing just for the day.
The way the ‘street ladies’ put
on the Red Light was to wear no veil/hat.
So Paul told the women in the
city- wear your hat.
You had a few other things like
this- where the context explains the meaning.
So- another big thing at Corinth
was eating ‘at the table of idols’.
One of the local customs was you
would buy some type of animal- use it as a sacrifice to one of the idols- and
then the meat would be sold ‘at the shambles’.
A sort of market where you bought
the meat at a cheap rate.
This stuff became an issue at
Corinth- and they wondered whether it was okay to eat the meat.
They also had a controversy over
the Lords Supper [Eucharist] and some other stuff.
So- Paul did say ‘don’t eat with
the heathen’.
But- in context- he was telling
them not to be a part of the custom of eating at this idol type buffet thing.
See?
They were having their own meal
[Lords Supper] and they ought not to be worshipping the idols at the other
table.
Okay- that’s context.
That’s why Jesus did eat with the
prostitutes and sinners- and he was not violating the law.
Okay- there are lots of things
like this when you study the bible.
And I do see the point that Dirk
was making.
You do want to encourage people
to not become a permanent member of the welfare state.
You do want to try and help them
get on their feet.
The apostle Paul did say ‘if they
don’t work- they should not eat’.
Talking to the actual church
members- he did not want people ‘coming to Christ’ for the free stuff.
But- we always have people in
need- and we’re commanded to love/help them.
Okay- that’s it for now- maybe I
can catch a re- run of Barretta tonight?
I have not seen it yet on the
guide.
I try to avoid Family- Buddy
scares me.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1871- LIAR
Let’s recap a few recent news
events.
Yesterday Libya held their first
Democratic election.
To my surprise [and glad about
the thing] it seems [so far!] that they might have elected a ‘non Islamic’ guy.
Huh?
Yeah- every so called Arab Spring
state has gone the other way.
Yet- in Libya- maybe- just maybe
they will get a good guy.
‘John- do you mean to say the
Muslim Brotherhood’ are bad’?
In a way- yes.
Why?
What we have done in the Western
world [especially the President] is we have sided with those who have been
‘rebelling’ in these various nations.
You might have a situation like
Egypt- where we were actually good allies of the former leader- Mubarak.
Yet- he- like the other autocrats
in the region- did indeed abuse his power.
His police force were brutal- and
eventually the people rose up and had the historic protests in Tahrir square.
We then began calling for Mubarak
to step down [the infamous words of Robert Gibbs- the former press Secy- ‘he
needs to go- yesterday’]
And he did just that- he stepped
down under pressure.
Now- as ‘righteous’ as the U.S.
looked- we actually conspired secretly with the Egyptian military and used this
inside pressure to get the guy to go.
How come we had that type of
influence?
Because the top military leaders
were all trained at West Point- here in the U.S.
Our generals and military guys
all knew their top guys- and that’s how we did it.
Okay- the rest is history.
The Muslim Brotherhood guy just
won the election in Egypt- and he is calling back the Parliament- the military
dismissed them a few weeks ago- and the new guy is going up against the
military.
The Parliament had a majority of
Muslim Brotherhood in the ranks.
Because the Egyptian law limits
the majority in parliament- one party can only hold so many seats- their high court
ruled it ‘unconstitutional’ and they were ‘let go’.
So- the new Brotherhood guy wants
them back.
All in all- many [most] of these
countries are going the way of Islamic law.
This is not good for the rights
of women- it’s not good if your gay- and it’s bad if you’re a Christian.
Yes- even though they might have
been elected by the people- makes no difference- if you want to rule your
country by religious law- then that’s not good- period.
Okay- then why did we just have a
couple of days of worldwide media coverage about the Taliban killing the woman
‘taken in adultery’.
Look- we- the U.S.- use
propaganda all the time.
We are all affected by it.
The Taliban shot a woman because
she committed adultery with some military guys.
The media have been showing this
‘shocking’ tape.
We have been trying to negotiate
a peace treaty with these guys.
And how have they responded?
They blew up a few buildings and
killed a bunch of guy’s right after one of the recent meetings.
They are saying ‘screw you’.
So- we show how bad they are.
Got it?
‘But John- isn’t it bad’.
Of course.
But they do the same thing in
Saudi Arabia- Bahrain- and a bunch of other places.
And we support these other
leaders- even though they indeed do the same thing- based on Islamic law.
So- when we show the killing by
the Taliban- make no mistake- many of
‘our friends’ do the exact same thing.
I hope Libya turns out well- but
it’s too soon to tell.
Every now and then I’ll see that
they’re playing that Jim Carey flick.
Liar- Liar.
It’s kind of a kid’s type movie-
but when I saw it years ago- it was funny.
Carey is ‘cursed’ by having to
tell the truth for 24 hours.
His kid made a birthday wish and
Carey becomes this saint.
So- he finds himself in these
tough spots- being he is a lawyer.
He tells his secretary about the
curse- but she doesn’t believe him.
He says ‘go ahead- test me- ask
me something that you think I would lie about’.
So she begins questioning him
about the time she asked for a raise and he said that the bosses said they
couldn’t approve it because then all the other secretaries would want one.
She then recounts how he told her
he offered to pay out of his own pocket- but they said no.
As she recounts the tale- Jim
covers his ears and says ‘never mind- don’t ask- don’t ask’.
The next scene- she’s emptying
out her desk.
His son tells him ‘dad- my
teacher said that true beauty is in the heart- it’s not the outward
appearance’.
Carey responds ‘that’s just
something ugly people say’.
He does this all thru out the
movie.
At one point the secretary
answers the phone- it’s one of his regular ‘customers’.
She informs Carey that it’s him-
and he’s asking for advice- he just got busted doing some drug thing- or break
in.
Carey takes the phone to give him
the advice- actually I hesitated on using this- I mean I did drop the F bomb in
the last post- but he takes the phone and says ‘stop f$@# up- A- hole’.
What’s the solution to all these
uprisings?
We are now using the same words
that we used in all the other spots- we are talking the same way about Syria
‘the wrong of history- his time is short’.
I have stood on the side of the
people in all these uprisings- and at first I wanted to see real democracy
spring forth.
Yet- we must realize that many
radicals in these countries are also using the whole ‘wrong side of history’ to
see if we will come in and do the dirty work for them.
One of the militia leaders in
Libya- the side we backed- is actually an Al Qaeda guy who was released from
Gitmo.
Yeah- one of the prisoners we
released- he‘s running a military group right now in Libya.
So- what do we do?
When various groups rise up-
start an armed uprising- then say ‘look- do something- see- we are dying’.
We need to say- we support
democracy- everywhere.
But- if you want our backing-
then you can’t install Islamic rule- as the law of the land.
The U.S. would not permit it- so
we won’t back you if you keep doing it.
Second- if your ‘rebellion’
includes the bombing of civilians- hospitals- and other ‘non military targets’
[like the Syrian rebels] then we won’t back you.
In short- we- the U.S. and the
Western World- we are not responsible for all the world’s problems.
We want to help people- but not
groups who are tied to Al Qaeda.
We want to support democracy- but
not ‘democracies’ that elect leaders who want Islamic law.
Yeah- maybe the advice of Carey
to his client is what we need to tell them- stop- well- you know.
NOTE- Let me give you one more
example of ‘propaganda’.
Last year I watched a story unfold
on MSNBC.
Thru out the week they did their
usual Sarah Palin bashing.
Now- I have said in the past- I
think she was not ready for the job of V.P.
But- that doesn’t mean open
season on her- and her kids.
The story was some book writer
rented the house next door to the Palin’s.
He set up all the stuff to see if
he could catch them doing anything that the world might want to see.
I guess the guy had cameras and
recorders rolling.
So- the response of any normal
person would be to- get mad.
So they put up a bigger fence-
and tried to protect their privacy.
Then- some out of town reporter
showed up- he came to Alaska for the sole purpose of digging up dirt on the
family.
He actually approached the
younger daughter of Palin- I think it was at the school yard.
She was around 13 at the time.
When mom and dad found out- they
were rightfully pissed off- like any normal parent would be.
They informed the guy- from out
of state- to stay away from this minor- I mean who knows- the guy might have
been some sex offender.
So- one day in town- the guy
approached the daughter again.
When Sarah found out- she was
fuming.
So they contacted the
authorities- and they tried to press charges.
How did I find out about the
story?
Well- on MSNBC- Keith Olberman's show- before he
quit.
He covered the story as 'Sarah
Palin and her nut family’.
Yeah- he had the reporter on- and
they made him look like a victim.
‘Who does the daughter think she
is- damn it! I mean- it’s not illegal to walk up to somebody in town!’
Yeah- you tell em Keith.
The story went on and they
depicted Palin- and her minor daughter- as nut cases.
The reporter defended himself by
saying after the school yard incident- he decided to leave the girl alone.
But being he flew to Alaska- he
might as well not waste the ticket.
So- he went ‘sight seeing’.
As he was ‘sight seeing’ in town-
low and behold- the daughter- by chance- spotted him.
He says she approached him.
Then- MSNBC made it look like the
daughter was the nut ‘who does she think she is- she’s the one who was out
looking for you’.
Okay- this guy is in Alaska for
the sole purpose of getting dirt on Palin- yet the daughter sought him out.
It was sad that a so called news
organization would do this [another reporter- Andrew Sullivan- reported a story
that Sarah’s Down Syndrome son Trigg- was really the ‘bastard’child of Bristol-
this story will forever live on the internet- the son- and all the family will
one day read it].
It was even sadder that many
believed it.
I usually have talks with my
liberal friend when stuff like this happens- and they usually have swallowed
the line.
‘Geez John- look how dumb Palin
is- who does her daughter think she is- just because your 13 doesn’t mean adult
men cant approach you’.
Say of the story were turned
around- say if this happened to Sasha or Malia- the presidents girls- would we
be saying the same thing?
See- that’s media bias- that’s
propaganda- that’s what happens to all of us- regardless of what side of the
aisle your on.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1870- THE PRAIRIE PROPHET
This week I read the book of
Amos.
Amos was a prophet to the
northern nation of Israel- 750-790 b.c. [though he had a few prophecies for
Judah- the southern nation].
He was unlike the other Old
Testament prophets- in that he was an ‘uneducated’ shepherd that came from a
little village [Tekoa] about 5 miles south of Bethlehem.
Yet- Amos knew history.
He railed against the political
leadership of the nation- he spoke up for the poor ‘in the gate’ and condemned
the ‘church’ of his day.
He said they were spending all
their time and money on religious celebration- on their own ideas of what they
felt God wanted [Amos says they worshipped the ‘gods that they made’].
And yet justice was falling down
in the street.
Yeah- Amos was a prophet sent
from God- and the people knew it.
I watched [re watched] a
documentary this week on the failed run for the presidency by George McGovern.
Now- as a news buff- I never really
studied McGovern- but have heard so much about the guy [usually negative] that
my view of him was formed by these little clips of his life.
McGovern is famous because his
loss to Nixon in 1972 was one of the biggest landslides in presidential
history.
As I watched the documentary- and
read Amos- I began seeing a type of Amos in McGovern.
McGovern was from South Dakota-
outside of the mainstream ‘machine’ of the Democratic Party.
He was raised in a preacher’s
home- and dabbled at becoming one himself.
He would eventually enter
politics- and also had a background as an historian [Amos].
They called him ‘the prairie
prophet’.
He was not the favored candidate
for his party’s nomination.
At first it looked like Muskie
would be their man.
But old Ed didn’t seem to have
the temperament for the job.
At one campaign stop he was
picketed by some gay rights group.
He said- quote ‘If I have to be
nice to a bunch of Soddomites to get elected- then fuck it’.
Unquote.
McGovern would eventually win his
party’s nomination- and lose in the general election.
As I watched the rise of
McGovern- the animosity- and outright hatred- from his own party.
I also saw that he indeed was a
voice in the wilderness at times.
McGovern is most famous for his
opposition to the Vietnam War.
It was said that just the name of
McGovern being said would send Lyndon Johnson into a rage.
McGovern stood steady in his
opposition- and as an historian he had read that other world watchers had
predicted that there would be an uprising in Indo China and South East Asia.
They said the people groups were
growing tired of colonialism- and they would eventually rebel.
So McGovern did not see the
Vietnamese as a communist threat- that left unchecked would have a domino
effect.
After the assassination of Bobby
Kennedy he was convinced to briefly throw his hat into the ring and run for the
68 nomination.
But the 1972 nomination was his
big achievement.
In the book of Amos there are
some choice quotes [not like Musky].
‘Hate evil and love good-
establish judgment in the land’
‘Let judgment run down as waters
and righteousness as a mighty stream’ [MLK’s famous line too]
‘Woe to them that are at ease in
Zion’ [the present day church]
The one that caught my eye the
most-
‘He strengthens the spoiled
against the strong so that they come against the fortress’.
At times in history there are
voices that rise- sometimes they are Prairie Prophets.
Sometimes we don’t realize the
importance of what they are saying- until after they are gone.
Rulers- people in power- they are
not all corrupt- but many are.
LBJ referred to Vietnam as a
‘little piss ant of a country’.
He [and Nixon] bombed the hell
out of the land- not wanting to be seen as week.
A small- little ‘piss ant’
country in South East Asia.
Hundreds of thousands would die
needlessly.
Men like McGovern- for all their
critics- saw the writing on the wall.
At the present day- as I write-
we have been at war in Afghanistan for around 11 years now.
We just reopened a key ground
[truck] route thru Pakistan- it has been shut for 7 months because we killed
around 30 Pakistani soldiers in a mistaken identity case.
NATO was flying over the border-
we were fired upon from the ground- and we bombed them.
We thought they were Taliban-
they were Pakistani.
Pakistan got pissed off- and they
forbid us to use the key supply route until we apologized.
We just did.
We are now having talks with the
Taliban- to come to some type of Peace Terms with them.
Our goal at the start was to
remove them from power because they gave Al Qaida a place to operate from.
At the start we were warned that
the Taliban [and the Afghanis in general] are a resilient people.
That to enter into a ground war-
in some ‘piss ant’ part of the Arab world would be foolish.
We are now trying to find a way
to untangle ourselves from this mess.
Yeah- after 11 years- our guys
coming home without their body parts.
Thousands dead- many of them
women and children.
Yeah- after 11 years our only
response is.
Well- in the immortal words of Ed
Muskie #$@^%$
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1867- DID JESUS WHERE AN ARMANI
SUIT?
I was debating on what to talk
about this morning- I want to do a little more on Leaks and the freedom of the
press.
But I think instead we’ll cover
some more about the nature of the church.
I read an article yesterday- it
was about a church in Singapore whose pastor was arrested because he ‘funneled’
19 million dollars from the Charity Chest- and he used it to support his wife’s
‘international singing ministry’.
They showed the picture of the
wife- she was supposedly trying to break into the ‘secular’ industry [non
Christian music] and she simply looked like any other rock/pop star.
I don’t say this to be critical-
and whenever I deal with these issues- people get mad.
Why?
Most of you see stuff like this
and right from the start see it as wrong- and you should.
But there are many people- good
people- who head up big ministries- who actually think this type of stuff is
okay.
How?
It takes a long time to explain
it- but over the past 40 years the Evangelical church has developed a type of
theology- usually called The Prosperity Gospel- and many good people have been
inundated with all types of arguments- even from the bible- that seem to teach
that fame and fortune are actually Gods plan.
Often times these people think-
sincerely- that any rebuke of this type of stuff is simply a rebuke from those
‘old time traditional churches- those religious folk’.
But in reality- a proper reading
of the bible- and especially the life and teachings of Jesus- show us that this
type of idea- the fame and wealth thing- is not really a right biblical
understanding.
Let’s do a few examples.
A few years ago I read an article
in the San Antonio paper- to my surprise it was about a church in the city that
was embroiled in a controversy.
I knew the pastor- used to listen
to his teachings [years ago] and read a couple of his books [sitting here on my
shelf right now].
The controversy was some board
member from the church took the church to court- because the pastor publicly
exposed him as a trouble maker from the pulpit on a Sunday morning.
This board member was a ‘trouble
maker’ because he revealed to the church that at a time when the church was
going thru this huge money raising campaign- encouraging people to give
sacrificially- the Pastor bought a 4 thousand dollar Armani suit for another
board member- as a gift [with church funds].
Yet- at the same time- there were
lots of poor people who were giving there measly widows mite- to whom 4
thousand dollars is not a drop in the bucket.
So the board member exposed the
thing- they went to court- and the whole thing was a mess.
Now- as I read the story- at one
point the Pastor defended his buying of the suit by quoting the story of Jesus
in the bible- when the lady pours expensive perfume on Jesus.
The Pastor basically said ‘see-
its okay to waste lots of money’.
This story is often used to
defend a lavish ‘ministry’ lifestyle- and innocent people- people who hear
these types of so called ‘biblical arguments’ do become convinced over time.
Needless to say the story in no
way defends wealth and fame- but simply shows us that it’s okay to worship THE
LORD extravagantly- not man.
One more.
Another bible story is often used
in these churches to defend wealth- wealth as being Gods primary will for his
people that is [it’s okay to be successful- and have money- but I’m dealing
with the abuse of it- the 19 million dollars from the Poor Fund being spent on
the singing career of the pastors wife type of thing].
In the gospels we read about the
Crucifixion of Jesus.
At the foot of the Cross the
soldiers gambled for the robe of Jesus.
There actually is an Old
Testament prophecy that said this would happen- it was written hundreds of
years before.
The prophecy says ‘they will cast
lots for my vesture’.
Okay- why did they gamble for it-
instead of just ripping the thing in half?
Because this coat was an
expensive coat- sort of like the coat that the patriarch Joseph had from his
father [Genesis].
The bible says Joseph’s coat ‘of
many colors’ was a source of jealousy for his other brothers.
When you have a seamless coat- in
bible days- that’s a lot of work- so these types of coats are indeed the
Armani's of the day.
‘So John- the Armani thing is
good- to spend 4 grand for the board member’?
Actually- no it’s not.
Some- many- have argued that
Jesus was indeed rich- owned his own home- and was one of the richest men of
his day.
Years ago when I was on the
radio- I used to preach against this a lot.
I had an older listener- he was
steeped in this doctrine- I mean he would write me very long letters- over many
years- and I knew he read the bible a lot.
After years of hearing these
arguments- he became one of the innocent victims of false teaching.
He really did thank me for my
teachings- and every so often if he missed the program I would send him the
tape- but this person was not an outright con artist- he was convinced of this
belief.
He had a very long justification
for why he thought Jesus was the richest man of his day.
I know it’s hard for the casual
observer to understand how people can be duped like this- but trust me- this is
no isolated case.
Okay- back to the coat.
Did the fact that Jesus had an
expensive coat mean he was rich?
No.
How did he get the coat then?
The bible does not say- but the
first story I told you- the perfume- gives us a hint.
People did do extravagant acts of
worship on/for Jesus.
And it’s quite possible that some
person gave their expensive Armani to the Lord.
That’s it.
One day I was watching Larry
King- you know some think he actually lived at the time of Christ [sorry].
He had on a very popular
prosperity preacher.
King was open and honest- he
always was a good interviewer.
King asked the man ‘how can you
actually think Jesus was rich- I mean even the New Testament speaks about him
as not being a millionaire’.
And the preacher- he sincerely
believed that these types of verses I just talked about proved King wrong.
Now- this preacher- like many
others- have a huge influence in the modern church.
They often have very large
audiences and they do reach entire continents with this message [Africa].
Yet- at the end of the day- even
though they mean well [for the most part] they teach a tragically flawed
gospel.
I mean there's no other way for
me to say this- in a way it’s nothing less than ministerial mal practice- on a
huge scale.
Let’s end with this- many times
people will never listen to reason- even if you give them biblical arguments-
they become fixed in their view- and that’s that.
I simply recommend people read 1st
Timothy chapter 6.
The apostle Paul warns his young
protégé to avoid this type of thing.
He says ‘we came into this world
without material wealth- when we leave we can’t take it with us- so be content
with what you have’.
Notice- Paul does not say
‘Timothy- you must believe for great wealth so you can reach the world with the
gospel’
Or
‘You must get rich- so you can
fulfill the promise that Jesus told us- that he came to give us abundant life’.
No- the apostle does not use any
of the reasoning of the many who are preaching this gospel today.
In fact- many of the modern
preachers say Paul’s idea was wrong- they say ‘if your happy with the little
you have- you’re in sin’.
,
Who you gonna believe?
I’ll go with Paul.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1866- MARY- THE MOTHER OF GOD-
WHAT DID SHE SAY? [or- I am the Egg Man]
As we close the week- lets recap
a few highlights.
Of course the SCOTUS ruling was
the biggest news- and we also had congress vote- and pass- the contempt of
congress charge against Holder.
But there were a few other
‘lesser’ stories that in a slower news week would have gotten more attention.
The enemy of all conservatives-
yes- the peanut farmer from Georgia- Jimmy Carter- got some heat over his
criticism of Obama.
What did he say?
He made some comments about our
Drone war tactics- and said there is no doubt that the U.S. is violating human
rights.
How?
The drone planes are remote
controlled unmanned planes- Bush was the first to ‘arm’ them- and Obama
followed his lead.
We used to use them as
surveillance planes- but when we stuck bombs on them we started using them to
go after the enemy.
The problem?
Being we don’t have pilots in the
planes- we are basically doing our best to hit the target by remote control-
and we often kill civilians in these strikes.
We are doing this in Yemen and
Pakistan as I speak.
So- after years of killing lots
of the wrong folk- these people are outright pissed off.
In Pakistan- there is some lawyer
representing the families of the victims- and they have been saving the debris
from the bombs- writing down the serial numbers and all- and using them for
evidence on some future court case against the U.S.
We recently found out [thru
leaks?] That the way the U.S. counts the amount of terrorists that are killed
in the strikes is ‘every adult male killed in the vicinity is considered to be
a terrorist’.
Huh?
Yup- that’s the rule.
So if we accidently kill- let’s
say 15 men- and even if the remote control operator messed up- and hit the
wrong spot- we count this as ‘15 bad guys dead’.
Geez- with scoring like this- how
can you lose?
So- Carter came out and said this
type of killing is wrong.
Was he right?
Of course he was- we have killed
a lot of women and kids- that’s wrong- in everyone’s book.
Then why don’t we stop it?
Good question.
The newly elected president of
Egypt- the Muslim Brotherhood guy- he has already given signs to Iran that he
wants to form some sort of an alliance with them.
He has also told the U.S. that he
wants us to turn over the Blind Sheik.
Who’s he?
If you remember- years before
911- we had another attempted bombing of the World Trade Towers.
They traced the original plot to
some Muslim radical who was based in New Jersey.
I remember the case because as I
watched the story- the guy had his office/mosque set up right on a storefront
street- and when I saw the spot- I recognized the street as one of the places I
walked passed as a kid [I think one time I illegally rode my dirt bike right
passed the area- you know- one of those late night street rides when the cops
chase you].
So- the new Egyptian president
wants the guy released and sent back to Egypt.
And we have hailed this election
as a great thing- we forced a former leader out- who we were actually allies
with- and we [Obama] publicly supported the Brotherhood.
This is sad.
And last but not least- I told
you the other day that Holder sued Florida [man- he needs to stop suing
cities/states- this guy is out of control].
He sued the Repub governor- Rick
Scott- because Scott ‘purged’ the voter rolls of non citizens.
Huh?
Yeah- Scott actually identified
real non citizens who were on the roles- and he tried to take them off.
It is against the law to vote if
you’re not a citizen.
Why the suit?
Holder believes that the states
that are doing this are really trying to hurt the Dems by going after
minorities.
Okay- but say if we know- for a
fact- that the people he’s removing are only non citizens- would that be okay?
According to Holder- no.
Huh- huh?
Yes- Holder said the state does
not have the right to remove NON CITIZENS from the rolls- because it is within
90 days of an election- and darn it- those non citizens have rights too!
So- the case went to a federal
judge- and the judge said- in so many words ‘are you nuts man- it’s against the
law for non citizens to vote. The state
and governor can actually be held liable if they don’t purge the voter rolls-
of course Scott can do this- it’s required by law’.
I mean even the judge- a Dem
appointed judge- thought Holder must be delusional - because they were
upholding federal law.
As a side note- Holder has also
sued some Egg farm.
Why?
Because he said they were
requiring too much proof- from non citizens- to prove they were not illegal’s.
Yes- he sued this private
business- not because they were requiring the proof from citizens- but from non
citizens.
Why did the egg company do this?
If you get caught hiring an
illegal- you pay a fine or go to jail.
They just raided a pizza place
here in Corpus for this.
So- if the Egg man actually got
caught hiring an illegal- then off to jail he goes.
So- he simply tried to make sure
that the people he was hiring were in fact citizens- Holder sued him for this.
These are the things that have
really riled up some on the other side.
I mean who cares if your Black,
White or Green- this guy is absolutely off his rocker.
Okay- lets end with a bible thing
here.
I mentioned the other day that I
read some chapters about John the Baptist this week.
One of the big [and long]
chapters was Luke 1.
In the chapter we read about the
angel Gabriel appearing to both Mary- the Mother of Jesus- and Elisabeth-
Mary’s cousin.
Elisabeth and her husband
Zacharias were older folk and were never able to have a baby.
Then one day God does a miracle
and Elisabeth gets pregnant and has John the Baptist.
The miracle was not the same as
when Mary gets pregnant- but the miracle was they were older now- past the
normal time to have kids.
Mary is told about this and when
she gets pregnant with Jesus she visits Elisabeth and when Mary- who is carrying
Jesus in her womb- sees Elisabeth- who is pregnant with John- the bible says
the ‘baby leaped in her womb’.
It was John the Baptists purpose
in life to be the fore runner of Jesus.
And even before he was born- he
still responded this way as Christ showed up in the womb of Mary.
When the angel reveals to Mary
that she will bare Christ- she bursts into this prayer/proclamation of praise.
Scholars call this Mary’s
Magnificat [her magnifying of God].
If you have time- read this
prayer in Luke one.
It does not sound like the prayer
of some humble- quiet little lady.
It’s more like a prophetic blast
of Gods rule.
Mary says things like ‘He hath
put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree’ ‘He hath
filled the hungry with good things and the rich hath he sent away empty’.
I mean these are some of the same
themes we see in the teachings of Christ.
As I write and blog about
politics- I do try to be fair.
I know it must have been hard
these last few months for my friends on the left side of the aisle.
Trust me- about a year or 2 ago
my friends on the right went thru the same thing.
My ‘job’ is to not simply pick a
side- and then defend that side at all costs.
I think that’s the mistake many
in the church have made.
We have really lost our prophetic
voice as the people of God.
The modern Evangelical church
[and the televangelist world] has lost the true social justice message of the
church.
They [we] have traded that
message in for one of self help- how to become wealthy- how to be happier- how
to have a better life.
We have lost the prophetic voice
of the church- the one that speaks out against the murder of the innocents
[drones] or the lying about killing terrorists- just because we count ‘all
adults in the area’ as the enemy.
Yes- the ‘church’ is supposed to
have a voice for the defenseless in society.
No- we are too busy having an
American party.
Beware- Mary said ‘the high he
will bring down- the rich he hath sent away empty- the famous/proud will be
bring low’.
I can’t think of a better
description of the church today- can you?
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1865- HEALTH CARE RULING- AND A
BED
Okay- before we get to the health
care ruling- let’s do some spiritual stuff.
When I got up yesterday morning-
I determined not to listen to too much news before I go to the homeless spot.
I mean I like keeping my mind
free- at least until I get back from visiting with the homeless.
On my way to the mission- I put
on the Christian music station [I listen to classic rock- talk radio- news- and
Christian stuff at various times].
I was in such a spiritual state
of mind- avoiding all the political stuff.
Then my music station broke in-
yeah- one of those ‘breaking news’ type things- like CNN did one day- in the
middle of real news- they broke in ‘BREAKING NEWS’- gee- what could it be
that’s so important- I mean they were already covering real time important
stuff- Syria shooting down a Turkish jet- you know- stuff like that.
Then the urgent story broke
‘Obama rose 2 % in a poll’.
Sad- so sad.
So my Christian station ‘broke
in’ I mean I was in a good state of mind- free from Rush [on the right] and NPR
[a little left].
It was short- and well- sweet
‘the Supreme Court has upheld all of the Obama care law- yes- all of it’.
Now- go back to your spiritual
state of mind.
Thanks a lot.
Actually- at first I was
surprised- and thought for a moment ‘am I mad’ ?
You know- I wasn’t.
Am I in shock?
No.
I was just surprised.
Those of you who have followed my
posts this last year realize that I was not a total rejecter of Obama Care.
I did feel that the main
justification for the mandate- the way Obama used the Commerce Clause- was a
mistake.
The administration said they had
the right to make people buy insurance because the Fed. Govt. has the right to
regulate commerce [under the clause].
And that health care is
‘commerce’ that takes place between the states- so they are ‘regulating’ it by
telling you to buy insurance.
In short- this seemed like a
stretch to me.
I also wrote that the pres does
have the authority to pass a law that could tax people for health care.
But Obama- and the Solicitor
General [the lawyer who argued the govts. case before the court] chose to
reject the ‘we have the right to tax you’ law- and instead argued the ‘we have
the commerce clause right to regulate you’.
So- that’s really why I thought
the law would get rejected by the court.
But who am I- just some arm chair
peon who watches the news- a lot.
When I got home from the mission-
I caught the latest and realized that I was actually right.
The court did reject the Commerce
Clause argument.
The 5 more conservative justices
did in fact shoot down the Commerce Clause argument.
Hum?
Then how did it pass
constitutional muster?
John Roberts [the chief justice]
then sided with the 4 more liberal justices- and said in essence ‘you [Pres and
Congress] do have the right to tax [which we all agree on] therefore- Obama
Care passes because it’s just a tax’.
Huh?
The Solicitor General- and the
President- have argued- time and again- that this is not a tax.
Yet Roberts said ‘we pass the law
[mandate part] because it’s a tax’.
It seems like a contradiction to
me.
Then- when I read/heard the dissenting
opinion- from the 4 ‘conservative’ justices- they ripped into Roberts.
They basically said what I just
told you.
They said Roberts and the 4 libs
did indeed change the law- by saying in their ruling that it is a tax.
The 4 dissenters said it is the
courts job to simply rule on the law- the way it was written- and the way it
was argued- and that both said this was not a tax.
So- in the end- for some reason-
Roberts took it upon himself to kind of be a ‘judicial activist’ and in a way
re write the rule himself.
This is a little strange to be
honest.
And it confuses the public.
There are now many Obama
supporters who are saying ‘see- we told you it was constitutional all along’.
But actually- the way it was
written- the Commerce Clause thing- was said to be unconstitutional.
Yes- the majority says the way
the law was initially written was unconstitutional.
So- those who said this from the
start- were proved right.
Yet- those who defend the law are
skipping that [as they make the rounds on the news] and are simply saying ‘see-
it was constitutional all along’.
What a mess.
I fear Roberts- in his desire to
make the court look like it’s not too political- might have made one of the
worst decisions- that is- a decision that seems to be political.
From the start I was [and am
still] not someone who outright rejects the goal of universal care.
I never made the strong right
argument that what Obama did was socialized medicine.
In actuality the law is simply a
mandate for citizens to buy private insurance- without limiting what private
insurance can charge.
I think in a way this is a boom
for the private insurance industry.
I would have preferred a more
European style thing [see- you guys who think I’m all ‘right’ have not read my
blog too long].
Yes- I know both sides of the
issue- and realize that true universal care- Canadian style- has its good and
bad.
I just felt from the start if you
are going to shoot for universal coverage [a noble goal] that the way Obama
went about it was not the best way.
Okay- enough of that.
I hung out at the mission for a
few hours- had a good talk with Dirk and a few other friends.
Around 1 o’clock one of the new
ladies that has been coming the last few weeks- she had a free bag of goods
that the mission gave her- and had to walk a few blocks in the heat.
She’s also pregnant- so I offered
to give her a ride home.
Tammy also asked if I could give
her a ride and I said sure.
Most of the times I will leave
with Henry- and he comes back to the house and hangs out for the rest of the
day.
But he was not around so I just
gave the girls a ride home.
It’s been real hot in Corpus the
last few weeks- we have been breaking records.
Anyway as I was dropping off
Tammy she was telling Johnaa that she is sleeping on the floor of her trailer-
she has no bed.
Right at that point I make the
turn to get to Tammy’s street and some people look like their moving out and
have about 5 beds right there on the street.
So Johnna says ‘hey look- there’s
a bed’.
I asked Tammy if she wanted to
turn around and see if they want to sell one.
Of course she was broke- but I
told her maybe I can get a deal and I’ll buy it for her.
So I did the U turn and asked the
guy- he said they were moving out and we could take one.
I’m like ‘praise God brother’.
I noticed he had on that little
Elder tag that the Mormons where.
Now- I like Mormon people- and
over the years I have had very open and honest discussions about their faith.
I do try to be nice when I refute
some of their teachings- and have really made headway with them over the years-
being open too- and willing to hear both sides.
So the guy I talked too had the
badge on- plus there were about 5 more of them standing in the garage.
It must have been some missionary
house that they were moving out of.
So I told them I just left the
mission- I gave the Elder my ministry card [so he knew I wasn’t making stuff
up].
And I kinda saw the whole thing
as God working it out.
They seemed to not take it the
same way.
I mean- they didn’t say anything-
but it’s almost like the elder didn’t even want to touch the card.
I realize why they are like this-
and if any of you guys are Mormons- I’m glad you read the site.
Yet- I felt they just were not
that ‘into me’.
Anyway- far be it from me to hold
a grudge- I mean that’s childish.
So we got the bed.
Oh yeah- one more thing.
If Romney thinks I’m gonna vote
for him now- well he better think again.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1864- BLAME THE MESSENGER
I was tempted to post a quick
note last night- but I thought it better to wait for today.
As I was watching the various
news shows- I caught an interview with some lady who just wrote a piece [for
some magazine] that said the Fast and Furious scandal- was not a scandal at
all.
She did a 6 month investigation-
and lo and behold- there was never any ‘gun walking’.
Huh?
Yeah- instead she talked about
the real reasons these guns were in the hands of Mexican drug lords.
Go on- I’m hearing you sister.
She explained that many of our
law enforcement guys have tried to get the guns off the streets- but because of
the Republican [and NRA] loose gun laws- that to their dismay- they cant stop
the drug runners from purchasing the guns.
Oh- I see now.
O yeah- one last thing- she said
there was ONE case where she did find a Gun walking activity.
It was the single Whistle Blower
[Dodson?] who did this.
As the woman made the rounds [I
saw her on CNN] the ‘new’ story was that both the Repubs- as well as their
cohorts in crime- the actual whistle blowers- that these were the ones who were
blaming Holder [because he is Black?] while all the while Holder and his people
are really innocent- after all- they never sold guns!
Now- I was really mad when I saw
this latest story.
Why?
This last year- as I actually
watched some of the congressional hearings- and read lots of sources and stuff.
The REAL STORY is there were guys
working for the ATF and other law enforcement agencies- and these guys complained-
for a couple of years- that the Gun walking program was a very dangerous and
real program- even Holder has said this.
Now- these were the actual guys
doing the ground work- of course they were the ‘gun walkers’ they worked for
the govt.
So- after complaining about it
for a while- nothing was done.
Eventually the story made it to
the news- and the govt. [Holder] denied it.
At that point- some of the guys
involved risked their careers- because they knew the govt. was lying- and they
went public and said ‘look- I am one of the guys who actually bought and sold
the guns’.
So- instead of demonizing these
guys- like the lady making the rounds on MSNBC and CNN- we should be thanking
them for what they did.
Quite frankly- this is about as
low as it gets- they were actually saying ‘Holder never walked guns- but these
darn whistle blowers- who are making the charge- they are guilty!’
Sad- so sad.
One other charge came out- it was
initially made by those on the Right- and now it’s used by those on the left
[as a counter charge].
When I first heard this charge-
by some on the Right- I was mad.
I was mad because I knew the
charge was false- and I could not believe that some were actually falling for
it.
The charge?
Some have said that the Fast and
Furious program was designed- on purpose- to get guns into the hands of drug
lords [actually- this part is true- they wanted the top guys to get the guns-
then they thought they could catch the big boys. The goal was noble- the way they went about
it was stupid].
But some have said Obama
purposefully wanted the gun crime to go up- so in the end he could blame the
loose gun laws [NRA folk] and pass stricter gun laws.
Now- I have heard this by some
radicals on the right- and this is not true.
Then why is the charge gaining
ground?
Because- in the mess of this
whole thing- there was indeed some memo that slipped out- by the Dems- that did
say ‘if this gets out of hand- and you are asked about the program- turn the
conversation into one that says ‘see- we need stricter gun laws’.
Yes- the Dems did say this- and
indeed do this.
As I watched the news over the
months- whenever a Dem was asked about the scandal- he/she said ‘well- it’s
because we need better gun laws’.
Is the scandal about this?
No.
Is it about some whistle blower
who is guilty- while Holder is innocent?
No [Holder- and the ATF big wigs
were in charge- they bare the blame for the peons at the bottom that they
ordered to do this].
The whole scandal- is simply the
fact that the Justice Dept. - under Holder- at first denied the program- then
later admitted it.
He now will not release the other papers that
probably show that they were indeed trying to cover their tracks after the
story broke.
That’s it.
Congress will vote today on
contempt charges- and Holder will probably be the first Attorney General of the
U.S. to be held in contempt.
This week I have been reading the
story of John the Baptist.
John was an interesting guy.
The bible says he was filled with
the Holy Spirit ‘from his mother’s womb’.
The prophets Isaiah and Malachi
spoke of John ‘before the great day of the Lord I will send Elijah the prophet
and he will restore the fathers to the sons and the sons to the fathers’
Malachi chapter 4.
Isaiah said ‘I am the voice of
one crying in the wilderness- prepare ye the way of the Lord’.
John was the fulfillment of these
prophecies.
One time the people came to Jesus
and he asked them ‘what did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed
shaken with the wind- or someone dressed in expensive clothes?’
No- you went to see a prophet-
and I tell you- more than a prophet.
For this is he of whom the
prophets spake [above].
Then Jesus says something kinda
strange- he says ‘I tell you- of all that are born of women- there has not been
a greater than John the Baptist- but he that is LEAST IN THE KINGDOM is greater than he’.
Over the years I have heard
various takes on this- most say that Jesus was saying that even the ‘least’ in
the new church age- the Born Again Christian- is greater than the greatest of
the Old age [Law].
Maybe?
But I like this interpretation
the best.
Jesus often spoke about himself
in the 3rd person ‘for God so loved the world that he gave his only
Son’.
Maybe Jesus was really saying ‘he
that is least [himself] is greater than John’.
Jesus spoke about the smallest of
seeds falling into the ground and dying- then later it becomes the greatest
tree.
He said this about faith- about
Gods kingdom- and also about himself.
‘Except a grain of wheat fall
into the ground and die- it abideth alone- but if it dies it will bring forth
much fruit’ [John’s gospel].
Jesus was the ‘least among men’
that is- he gave up his glory- his position with the Father and became a man
and humbled himself unto the death of the Cross.
Because of this God raised him up
and seated him at his own right hand in glory.
Jesus was [is] greater than John-
yet John was up there on the charts.
John was- in a way- a Whistle
Blower- he revealed the secrets of men.
The thing that got John killed was
his preaching against corrupt leadership.
He said ‘Herod- you snake- you
have your brother’s wife- and its wrong!’
One day Herod had a party [he was
the puppet king that ruled the Jewish region of the Roman Empire].
And Herod's daughter in law
danced for the king.
Herod was struck ‘I'll give you
anything honey- up to the half of my kingdom’.
The mother says ‘ask him for the head of John
the Baptist’.
Yeah- the wife got tired of
John’s whistle blowing- and John lot his head over the thing.
Today congress votes on Holder-
also the Supreme Court will rule on Obama Care.
Both sides have all the reasons
why they are right- and the other guys wrong.
Lets agree on one thing- let’s
not blame the messenger- the guys at the bottom who were ordered to do these
things- they risked their lives and careers in revealing the program- because
they were good guys not bad.
Yeah- the least- the small seeds-
these are the valuable ones.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1862- LOVE THE ALIEN- FOR YOUR
WERE ALIENS IN THE LAND OF EGYPT- Deuteronomy 10:19
The Supreme Court came out with a
few rulings yesterday- the big one was their decision about the Arizona
Immigration law.
Most of you know that the governor
[Jan Brewer] has been fighting with the Justice Dept. [Holder] over their
stringent immigration laws.
Arizona- like other border sates-
has had a problem with illegal aliens for some time.
So- they passed new state laws
that made it tougher if you were an alien in the state.
If you applied for a job- and you
were an illegal- you would get arrested.
If you got stopped by the cops-
they could ask you for your papers.
A couple of other things that
went beyond the federal law.
So- Eric Holder [attorney
General] did what he does best- he sued Arizona.
[As a side note- this is not a joke- he has
sued states/cities ever since coming into office. He just threatened to sue the
Fire Dept. here in Corpus Christi. They settled for hundreds of thousands of
bucks- why?
We were ‘discriminating’ against women.
How?
Some of them could not pass the
physical exam- you had to do things like pull a dummy- the weight of a person-
to show that if you were in a fire you would be able to rescue either your
partner or a victim.
Many times women would fail this
part of the test.
Okay- so some depts. changed the
test.
But lots of women do- by nature-
have a hard time passing this requirement.
If you ‘dumb’ down this part of
the test- you are putting people’s lives at risk- both the woman as well as
those she would need to rescue.
Holder threatened to sue- Corpus
settled.
He also sued 2 north eastern
depts. a couple of years back.
He said they were not hiring
enough Blacks- he told them to change the exam.
They spent about a million bucks
redoing their exam.
Some Black applicants failed.
He then ordered the dept. to
lower the passing score to 60.
Finally- the BLACK firefighters
union said ‘ENOUGH- YOUR GOING TO GET US ALL KILLED HERE- Blacks and Whites!’
So- Holder does have a penchant
on suing cities/states when he perceives a racial issue.]
What did the court do?
They struck down some of
Arizona’s law- but upheld the most controversial part- the cops can still ask
for your papers at a stop.
I found it interesting that
Justice Kennedy- who wrote the majority decision- seemed to side somewhat with
the more liberal argument.
One thing he mentioned was when
dealing with illegal immigrants- we need to keep in mind that we are dealing
with people.
I know this seems obvious- but
when issues become politicized- we have a tendency to forget this.
I live in an area where over the
years I have seen lots of Illegal’s coming thru.
The Fire Dept. that I worked at
had calls where illegal’s would accidentally start a brush fire- they maybe had
a camp under a bridge and lit a fire to stay warm- stuff like that.
I had friends- Mexicans- whose
families gave them food and water when they saw them in the fields.
The point is- the immigration
problem is a real problem- and it is true that all countries need to be able to
control their borders and have a system of legal immigration.
At the same time- we need to also
look at the person issue- the above verse was a reminder to the Jewish people
that they too were illegal at one time- when they were staying in Egypt.
In all these debates- we tend to
forget that we are all ‘aliens’ in a sense- our country is made up of
immigrants [the American Indian is the only group that can claim non immigrant
status].
I personally have a problem with
the amount of lawsuits that Holder has launched against the states.
He is suing Florida over their
voter registration ‘purge’.
The governor- Rick Scott- has
made an attempt to get non citizens off the voter rolls.
Okay- should we be letting non
citizens vote?
Of course not.
Then why is Holder suing?
He sees [like others] this as a
racially motivated purge.
He argues that what Florida is
really trying to do is get the minorities to not vote.
Okay- the governor simply asked
the justice dept. to give them a list of non citizens- those they know to be
illegal.
Holder refused.
Why does Holder- and others think
that Scott is anti minority?
Because after they checked the
data base- the majority of those who were non citizens were indeed minorities.
So- according to Holder- this is
racist.
But who else would be on a ‘non
citizen’ list?
I mean do we have a massive
migration of say- polish folk who are washing up on our shores?
Not yet- unless this E.U. thing
gets out of hand.
So- if you are ‘purging’ the
voter list of people who are not citizens- by its very nature you are going to
get more minorities on the list.
Yet Holder sees this as racist.
So- both sides need to be honest-
and fair.
The Right side of the aisle needs
to keep in mind the above verse- that in the end we are all aliens- yes- our
grandparents came legally and it’s not the same as those who are coming
illegally- I hear that- but we are still dealing with humans [Kennedy].
And the left- if Holder keeps
suing fire dept’s- and thinks that his role in life is to use the justice dept
to accomplish some type of political agenda- then I think the words of my
fellow Black firefighter should be kept in mind.
If you keep this up- ‘your going
to get us all killed’.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1861- THE 40 YEAR REUNION
Let’s recap the week’s news.
The lines are drawn- the pres has
asserted Executive Privilege- for the first time.
And Pelosi has come out and
accused the Repubs of outright racism.
Chris Matthews- the most
dangerous man alive [sorry Ken Shamrock] has also jumped on the bandwagon.
He had on 2 Black Dems and said
those who want Holder to release the documents on fast and Furious are racists.
The other week Matthews was
defending the right of Asian Americans to abort their baby girls because they
preferred a boy.
Yes- he took the other side when
the Repubs wanted to outlaw sex selection abortions.
Now- he claimed he was not for
it- but argued against the passage of the law- because he said it was only a
problem in the Asian community.
So- he thought ‘why outlaw it-
only Asian girls are dying’.
This is the same guy who sees
racism in the Holder affair.
About a month ago I said to myself
‘let's see how long it will be before the media begin re running the Watergate
movie nonstop’.
To my surprise- not only are they
running the movie- but all the major networks have come out in full regalia-
‘celebrating’ the 40th anniversary of Watergate.
I also read an article the other
day- some Texas professor wrote Holder- demanding the release of the other
documents from Watergate.
Holder responded in a way that
sounded like ‘there is no longer any good reason to continue the cover up of
Watergate- by golly- the truth must show!’
Let’s see- did we celebrate the
20th- 30th anniversary?
No.
Do you normally celebrate the 40th
anniversary- of anything?
No.
Your normally have a big bash on
the 25th- and 50th.
But the media have actual real
time scandals- the cover up of the murder of 300 hundred Mexican citizens- and
at least one border patrol agent.
The Solyndra scandal that
revealed that the presidents own men [All the Presidents men?] actually told
him- in a memo- that what he was about to do looked illegal.
This was said- in a memo- by his
own men.
What he did was changed the loan
to Solyndra- in order for his top fundraiser- who put money in the company- to
get paid back first if the company went bust.
This loan change was not done for
any other person/company- only for the loan that his top fundraiser made.
When this was first revealed- a
mainline news reporter [Sharyl Atkinson] who broke the story said it looked
like this might bring the presidency down.
What?
This was all revealed on a
Friday- after months of denying any involvement in the scandal.
For it to be revealed that your
own people thought what you did was illegal [not just knowing about an illegal
act- Wateragte- but actually doing it!] and you did it anyway.
And you did it for your friend-
against the actual law that regulates the loan- which said you can’t do this.
Well- even a mainline reporter
thought it as bad- or worse than Watergate.
What happened John- Nothing.
The media simply kept silent.
Now- in the current scandal- you
know- the ‘race haters’
In this scandal- when congress
asked the Justice Dept. if they had any knowledge about the Fast and Furious
program- they sent a letter to congress denying involvement/knowledge.
This was the beginning of 2011.
Now- when you go on record like
that- the investigating team usually drops the case- because you would be lying
to congress at that point.
Holder left the letter out there
for most of the year- claiming they had no knowledge of the program.
When congress continued digging-
Holder pulled the letter back.
Why?
Because they did indeed know
about the program- this in itself is enough for a resignation- this in itself
is a Watergate.
Congress just tried Roger
Clemens- twice- for lying to congress.
I’m glad he got off- they found
him not guilty.
Did he lie John- and use
steroids?
Sure.
But for this crew to be trying
people for lying- well that’s laughable.
So- Holder basically already
admitted that he lied- whether he knew it or not at the time we don’t know- but
we do know they said- for around 9 months ‘we had no knowledge of the program’.
Then he pulled the letter back.
At the least- we need to know
what changed- who was lying- why?
The parents of the dead agent-
Terry- went on the news this week- they too think Holder and Obama are covering
up- by all accounts- it does look like they are covering up.
Are the parents racists?
According to Pelosi and MSNBC-
yes.
We have very real scandals-
things that rise- easily- to the level of Watergate.
Watergate was the cover up of a
botched break in of a political office in a hotel- the name of the hotel was
Watergate.
The cover up of fast and furious
involves the murder of at least 300 Mexican citizens [the Mexican govt. by the
way does not see this as a joke- they are outraged over this].
And the murder of an American law
enforcement officer.
The Solyndra scandal was
presidential involvement [not just knowledge!] to change a loan- illegally-
even said to be illegal by the president’s own people- in writing!
He changed the law so his number
one fundraiser would not loose money- and he denied it- until he was caught.
These lies- these scandals- they
outrank Watergate- I said it at the time- but the media tried their hardest to
make these things look like nothing.
I’ll end with one last ‘lie’.
This week I read some of the
Leaks that are believed to have come from this White House.
These are the leaks of all the
classified intelligence info that outed Israel- got the Pakistani doctor put in
prison for 35 years- you know- no big deal.
When I looked at the leaks- I
mean they were laughable in the way they were made to portray the president in
a favorable light.
Most leaks are simply info coming
out- lots of time from good men who see wrong things and are trying to expose
the corruption.
We call these people Whistle
Blowers.
But as I reread some of the
recent leaks- I mean they are saying things like ‘As the president sat there in
his chair- debating on which terrorist to kill next- he contemplated his recent
study of Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas- and he acted with righteous
indignation’.
What?
St. Thomas and Augustine.
I mean these are 2 of my favorite
Catholic scholars.
Augustine- the 4/5th
century Bishop of North Africa- and Thomas- the great 13th century
Doctor Angelicas [Angelic Doctor].
Yes- these are some big players
in Theology and Philosophy.
So why have the media reported
that the pres used them in his war strategy?
They are also famous for the
development of the Just war Theory.
Yeah- people for centuries have
appealed to these great thinkers in their justification for war.
But Obama- how does he find the
time to read these guys?
I mean- unless their names are on
the golf balls [he just played his 100th round!]
I don’t see him having time to
read them.
So why mention it?
Because he fumbled the ball with
our Catholic friends [who just began a 2 week prayer and fast against the
repression of religious liberty- because of the presidents demands that they
provide birth control thru their institutions].
And he needs to make amends- so
lo and behold- he loves reading the Catholic scholars!
If you put all this together- the
ongoing scandals- not just one.
The actual lies- the ones they
have been caught in- on paper.
I mean even a mainline reporter
could not believe that the revealing of this was ‘no big deal’.
And now- the fact that the pres
came out the other day and addressed the nation ‘me and my Whitehouse have not
released any CLASSIFIED information’.
‘It’s an insult to think this’.
Then- one week later- on Friday-
they sent a letter to congress- declassifying the drone war
in Yemen.
They were basically saying ‘yeah-
we were behind the releasing of all the info- it’s just we ‘declassified it’
first’.
He is going to say when he
released the info- his office first ‘declassified it’.
But when he addressed you- and
me- he was outraged- he made it sound like he was not aware of the leaks.
And 99 % of the public took it
this way.
Look- when you get caught doing
this- over and over and over- I mean this is not a one time affair.
Then it does make the public
wonder about everything else.
And when the public asks for
answers- and you respond by playing the race card- then it’s time for some
people to resign.
Holder needs to go.
Whoever else has lied about their
involvement also needs to go.
And if Nixon had to go because he
lied about his knowledge about a 2 bit break in- then what about the possible
cover up of your knowledge about the murder of a U.S. border patrol agent and
at least 300 Mexican men, women and children.
But wait- I forgot- we don’t have
time to cover these present scandals- no- we are covering the golden [or
brass?] 40th year anniversary of Watergate.
Drink up.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1860- POLITICS OR RELIGION?
I wasn’t sure how to close up
this week- I know how much you guys like it when I do politics! [note- every
now and then I drop a joke or 2 in- I realized once that everybody does not
know when it’s a joke- but if you have to say each time ‘here I kid’ it kinda
ruins the thing].
I did go to the mission
yesterday- and Dirk- my homeless friend that I gave a lecture to on the ‘proofs
for the existence of God’ [he was kind of going off the other day on how
everyone believes what they hear- that there is no real way to know who is
right- so I covered the history of apologetics and the proofs for the existence
of God- I kinda blasted the guys for about 15 minutes- and wasn’t sure they
were following].
So when I see Dirk- the first
thing he shows me is this book on Bertrand Russell- the famous British
philosopher- I wrote about him when I was doing the study on philosophy.
Dirk was kind of repentant- he
must of took my ‘speech’ to heart- and he told me he was going to put more of
an effort into researching stuff.
Now- it was a surprise to see my
homeless buddy running around with a Russell book- but I got the hint that he
did get something from my talk and wanted me to know he was trying.
By the way- being he showed me
the book- I encouraged him to read it- but had to let Dirk know that Russell
was a very influential 20th century British philosopher- he was
famous because he was a public protestor against the use of nuclear weapons.
But in the field of thought he
became an Agnostic.
He was raised as a believer- but
at a young age he read a book from another famous thinker- John Stuart Mill.
Mill wrote about what we have
been discussing these last few days- the law of Cause and Effect- and how
things came into being.
Mill said ‘if everything has to
have a cause- then why not God? Who caused God?’
Now- Mill wasn’t the first
thinker to pose the question- but Russell became influenced by this idea and
espoused it for the rest of his life.
The problem?
Though both of these men were
smart- they stumbled over this misconception.
The law of Cause and Effect [also
referred to as causality] does not say EVERYTHING has a cause.
It states that all EFFECTS have a
cause.
In essence- it’s within the realm
of logic to espouse an infinite- causeless being.
Now- some might say this is
‘illogical’ but using the laws of logic [like we covered the last few days].
In the end- the only logical
explanation for all things is an infinite being.
Anyway- don’t want to re hash the
whole thing again- just thought it interesting that Dirk was reading Russell’s
book.
Even though there are a lot of
news events that could be covered today- lets finish with a few ‘religious’
things.
I have a verse here [about 200!]
hanging on my wall- it’s from Isaiah [I think? I write them down and hang them
up- but I don’t write the reference].
It says ‘do these things- and
when others read about them- this will be a witness to them’.
There are others along this line
that I have come across these last few years.
I started working with the
homeless in 1992- with guys that were on drugs- ex-cons- before that.
I never told any of these stories
until a few years back.
I started the blog in 2006-
Facebook a couple of years later.
I felt that it was part of the
‘next step’- that is doing ministry- that the Lord wanted me to get into.
So- even though I did not even
have email until 2006- or even get online until that time- I did my best to put
together the blog [amateurish as it is] and start the process.
Now- over the years- as a student
of religion, philosophy, ecclesiology [church]- I have written a lot about what
it means to ‘do church’ or ‘be church’.
In Christian circles this has
been hotly debated in recent years.
Many in the House Church movement
have written- and debated with those who are more into the Traditional type
churches.
There are many Protestants who
have all types of ways they see ‘church’.
In its most basic form- the best
definition that I have been able to come up with- is Church is a community.
It’s a worldwide community of
those who confess Christ [the universal church].
And it’s a local community of
those who follow him.
If you read the gospels- Jesus
and his disciples are a good picture of the church.
Now- many will say ‘No John- the
church was not formed until Acts chapter 2’.
Okay- I hear that.
I see the whole thing.
But- as community- it’s a
mistake- in my view- to dismiss the gospels as ‘pre church’.
I don’t want to get into a
theological debate- because I’m not even sure how many are following right now.
But- the point is- if we actually
read the things that Jesus told us to do [sounds simple enough].
We would end up doing a lot of the things that most of us call ‘prison
ministry’ or ‘street ministry’ or ‘outreach ministry’.
In actuality- these things are a
main function of being a community.
So- over the years- because many
of us associate church with the meeting [or the building]. We have a tendency to shift the focus from
community- to the corporate entity.
Years ago I filed the corporation
papers for our ‘church’.
Instead of paying a lawyer- I got
a self help book- ‘how to incorporate your church’ and filed.
It was no big deal.
But I realized how we confuse the
actual corporate laws of a state- they have ways they recognize what they call
‘a local church’.
And what the bible actually
teaches.
In the bible- the church is a
community of people- much like Jesus and the disciples going thru the towns-
preaching- healing- helping others.
Yet- much of the focus of modern
‘church’ is the corporation ‘how much do we need this month? How many members
do we need each month to tithe- and cover the vision of the church’.
Much of the focus- and effort- is
spent on raising money for the corporation.
People are ‘challenged’ to
sacrifice for Gods work- but the challenge is often seen thru the lens of ‘give
till it hurts’.
Look- I’m not against giving- I
give lots of money away.
But when you have the majority of
church goers- who mean well- when they begin seeing their sacrifice mainly thru
a paradigm of giving more money to a corporation- then this blinds them to the
majority of teaching in the New Testament that calls us into the world- in real
ways- to be the ‘actors’ [ones who act- function- not just give money so others
can act/function on our behalf].
That is- the primary
responsibility of the believer is not simply to go to church on Sunday [though
this is a good thing].
Or to tithe to the ‘church’.
But to be active in helping one
another- to be giving our lives away for other people.
This is the heart of the whole
New Testament.
So- my purpose in telling these
stories the last few years was simply to show one example [out of many- there
are many Christians who do see the stuff I just showed you] So these things
could be ‘the wisdom’ that the example of people seeing what it means to ‘be
church’ might lead others to a ‘more better way’ [Hebrews.]
So- I’ll end the week with the
example of my homeless buddy reading the writings of a 20th century
British philosopher.
The politics will have to wait-
yeah- I know your sad.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1858- WHO WAS THAT MASKED WOMAN?
I want to try and cover a little
more on Apologetics- but just a few notes.
Yesterday my favorite news
channel [you know I’m joking?] MSNBC once again showed why they have the lowest
ratings around.
Lawrence O’Donnell- he did a
report on Ann Romney's disease- she has M.S.
In the report he questioned her
use of trained horses as a recommended therapy for her sickness.
By the way- a Cali news paper did
the same thing a few weeks back.
For those who don’t know- some in
the media mocked Ann Romney because she works with these ‘dancing horses’.
Yeah- it’s not what the average
person does- and that’s exactly why they think its fine to mock the lady.
So last night O’Donnell said that
he had his team investigate whether or not this is an actual treatment for
M.S. He then quoted some report- that
it’s not in the top 10.
Why?
Well of course you would not
recommend the average M.S. person to go out and by dancing horses at the rate
of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I mean this is common sense.
But if you have the money-
working with horses is indeed a legitimate treatment for all types of motor
skill injuries/diseases.
The shameful thing is this
network deems this as a legitimate story.
When Michele Obama got caught in
disguise a few weeks ago- to be honest- this was very sad.
Why?
She went shopping- against the
warnings of the secret service- and against the wishes of the president himself
[you can’t do stuff like this- an unplanned shopping trip into town].
But there have been lots of
reliable reports that Michele Obama has had a very hard time adjusting to being
the wife of a president.
She initially wanted to stay in
Chicago with her 2 girls- and simply travel back and forth to D.C. every few
weeks/months.
Obviously this would look bad- so
the president convinced her to live with him.
Now- when I heard/saw the story
that she actually put on a disguise and went shopping- against the strong
recommendations of the pres and the secret service- I knew there were real
problems.
I did not rejoice over it- I
pray- by name- for him and his family every Monday and Friday [those are the
days I use for regular prayer intercession- I pray every day- but those days I
mention world leaders].
Okay- if this happened to Sarah
Palin- or any other top political figure from the other side- you would have
had the late night comedians dressing up in masks.
You would have had MSNBC and the
shameful crew laughing nonstop.
I mean an incident like this- is
fodder for the ‘press’.
Yet I never heard one story like
this- I simply saw the hard news story on it- and that was it.
Now- I’m sure the White House
prepared- braced themselves for the jokes- none came.
I think it’s shameful for MSNBC
[and the Cali paper] to have actually investigated the recommended treatment
that Ann Romney uses.
They went- in detail- on how much
insurance she holds on each horse- they mocked the fact that she used a lot of
money to work with the horses- I mean they investigated her more than Obama- I
mean the press never even read his autobiography!
When the media celebrated that
20,000 pages of Sarah Palin’s emails were released [many emails that were
between her and her daughters- things that you would not want released].
They actually tried to recruit
the public to ‘go thru them and see what you can find’.
Yes- at least one news paper
asked this of their on line readers.
What did they find?
Absolutely nothing.
It was a shame that they did
this.
They released- and put on line-
emails that they did not even read yet.
Say if there was one that said
her daughter had some type of sexually transmitted disease- the public would
have know this- and it would have been out there for the world to see.
Yet the same paper- the N.Y.
Times- did not release the emails about the scam that some global warming guys
perpetrated.
These emails showed that some of
them [not all!] actually rigged the data to make it look worse than it really
was.
The Times said they would not
report- or reveal- these emails- because- quote ‘the original writer did not
intend them to be made public’.
Too bad they never gave the same
courtesy to Sarah and her kids.
Right now- as I speak- the
attorney general of the U.S. - Eric Holder- is ‘holding’ on to around 70,000
pages of emails and other info that would show us who was responsible for the
program that resulted in the death- and cover up- of a U.S. border patrol
agent.
Holder has released around 20,000
pages- and he’s trying to ‘bargain’ make a deal ‘how bout I give you so many
more- and then you wont ask for the rest’?
Who are you bargaining for?
Why are you even trying to make a
deal?
We are asking- we- the American
people- are asking ‘who in the heck is responsible for the murder of agent
Terry’?
No deals- no bargains- if the
media rejoiced that the American public read everything about Palin and her
family- email’s that spoke about family problems- the whole thing ‘we have the
right to know!’
Then what about the right to
finally find out who is responsible for the dearth of Terry?
The problem with politics- and
the way we side with either side- is we begin rooting for things that are
wrong.
Yesterday I posted about how our
action in Libya has caused the Black people of Libya to be persecuted against.
Yet there are many supporters of
Obama- who will not report this story.
These people are complicit by
their silence- yet they claim to be on the side of the Black people.
I had a talk a few weeks back
with a liberal friend.
It was during the time of the
debate over Planned Parenthood.
I explained to my friend that the
founder of Planned Parenthood- Margaret Sanger- was an extreme racist.
I wrote on this a while back- and
even posted the on line info on her [you can Google her name and it shows up on
the first page].
Sanger observed the Black race in
major cities- and came to the conclusion that the Black race were like rodents-
that the more they increased- the more they would be a drain on white society.
She looked at the Blacks in N.Y.
and said if they keep ‘breeding’ they will eventually overburden the welfare
system.
She wrote- using this language-
in many of her published papers.
She said it was obvious that the
Black race were an inferior race- who could not compete with the more
enlightened White race- and that we need to find ways to eliminate the Race.
Okay- the first clinic opened in
N.Y. - with the intent on cutting back on this ‘breeding race of rodents’ [her
language- not mine].
Today- Planned Parenthood is the
number one provider of abortion in the country- and Blacks make up their
biggest client base.
Now- this is simple fact.
I am not saying that all the
current workers know this- I’m sure they don't.
But when I revealed this to my
liberal friend- the racist language and all- my friend tried to defend the
woman by saying stuff like ‘well I’m sure she meant well- but maybe used
unfortunate language’.
You see- we are so joined to
either party- to either side- that when a real injustice is done- we will even
defend ‘our side’ even if that means defending a true racist.
Do I think its ‘funny’ that Ann
Romney does the silly dancing horse thing?
Not really- I don't think
anything she does in her private life- unless its illegal- should be a platform
for some immoral reporter like O’Donnell to shamelessly broadcast to the world.
To question whether or not her
horse thing is a ‘recommended treatment’ for her disease.
If the media- and the comics-
were able to ‘overlook’ Michele’s shopping trip- incognito- then let’s leave
Ann alone.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1857- LIBYA REDUX
I was going to post this morning
on ‘secondary causes’.
That in nature- and the created
world- there are what we call secondary causes.
That means God does not ‘create’
everything you see- as he did the original creation.
We see trees- plants- fish- even
humans- and even though it is proper for us to refer to these as Gods creation-
yet we can also examine the natural process of reproduction- seeds falling to
the ground- and even ‘test tube’ babies- and this is still a creation from God
[man can’t duplicate life- even in the lab] yet- these creations are not
direct- as the original creation.
Anyway- maybe I’ll do this
tomorrow.
What I want to do today is simply
re hash some of the posts from the last year.
The other day when I checked my
site [Face Book] I had a few comments about my political posts.
At the time I did not realize I
knew the person.
She is a good friend who was an
original church member form the church I started years ago in Kingsville.
I did feel bad a little- that I
responded to the comments- not in a bad way- but without first saying hi.
Then after thinking ‘geez- this
name sounds familiar’ I realized it was my friend.
Actually – she does have a good
story to tell.
Janie met her husband- Emit [or
Emmet? I never knew the correct spelling] at our little church.
Emit was one of the first ‘drug
addicts’ that joined our church.
He was a friend of Elias [another
addict I met while preaching at the jail] and our little home church was made
up of these families.
Anyway- Emit- and Aunt Bee- the
aunt who raised Emit- and Emits son [Emit Jr.] were all church members.
Emit Jr’s wife- Veronica- and her
mom- Yolanda- all came too- I mean Kingsville is a small town- and after a
while you meet the whole crew.
I was happy to see Janie and Emit
meet- and later marry.
I would visit her and the boys
[she has lots of boys- and a sweet daughter- Rhonda].
I knew these kids when they were
young- I’m sure they look different today.
Janie and Emit and the family
made a nice family.
Then one day I heard Emit died.
As far as I knew Emit was clean-
not on drugs anymore.
And his son told me his dad died
because his liver was bad- after all the past years of drugs.
I don’t know the whole story- but
this was what his son told me.
By the way- Emit Jr still keeps
in contact with me till this day.
So- before I get into the
political debate- I wanted to tell the story of Janie and her family- it really
is a good story to tell.
Okay- in some of the comments-
it’s hard to re-tell all the posts I did last year- and the comment section on
Face Book is too small to really do it justice.
One of the debates was over
whether or not Gadhaffi slaughtered his people.
Did we [Obama] intervene in Libya
because the leader was slaughtering his people?
I disagreed- and this is the
reason why.
There was an ongoing policy
debate within the administration [the president’s team].
There were some on one side-
Susan Rice, Samantha Powers- and the other side was pretty much made up of the
defense secretary and the military folk.
I remember reading/hearing about
this particular debate- because some in the media made it sound like ‘the
women’ won over the men.
Basically the debate was ‘should
we- the U.S. - and the Obama presidency- should we set a new precedent that
says- we will use military force- BEFORE a slaughter takes place’.
What you had in Libya was a very
public ‘civil’ unrest.
90% of the population lives right
off the Mediterranean coast- in the West you had the capitol city- Tripoli.
In the east the main city was
Benghazi.
The rebels from the east rose up
against Tripoli.
Gadhaffi and his men were
attacked by the east- they made it all the way up until the western stronghold
of Tripoli.
[Note- these guys raped- killed-
and committed ‘crimes against humanity’ on the way- that’s a fact]
After a few weeks of fighting-
Gadhaffi re grouped and began his trek east- and wound up at the gates of
Benghazi.
Okay- was there a slaughter that
took place?
No. It was GOING TO TAKE PLACE- at least that’s
what the threat seemed to be.
Gadhaffi was saying- very
publicly- that he would go in and go from house to house and get all those who
are siding with the rebels.
Some think this was just a
threat- that he wanted the city to abandon the rebels cause- and this was
simply bravado.
Anyway- on both sides- there was
killing- but no slaughter [slaughter is what took place in Rwanda- a million
dead].
President Obama and his team
admit this- this was their argument ‘we acted first- before the slaughter took
place’.
Now- I don’t want to re hash the
whole thing- nor do I think it profitable to get into debates like this- with
my friends.
It’s just some of the comments
said I basically was an idiot and had no idea what I was saying- and I felt
like I needed to respond.
I actually am on the side of
Obama right now- in his decision to not act in Syria.
There are those calling for
military intervention- but we [the U.S.] have intervened too much already- very
rarely does military force do the job.
In Libya- before we acted- people
living in Tripoli had a good life.
I used to see actual
documentaries on the open markets of the city- venders selling olives and fish
and all the wonderful produce form the Mediterranean region.
You had doctors and professors-
kids going to school- you went to the hospital- just like here in the U.S.
After the killing of Gadhaffi-
that city is ruined.
If you take your kid to the
hospital now- there are opposing militia groups [terrorists] who walk through
the hospital- carrying guns.
They are all saying ‘we are in
charge- no- we are’.
I heard this from an interview
from a doctor- it was on NPR radio- a very reliable news source.
The non Black leaders that were from
the east- the group we sided with- they have taken the Black women and children
and have made them- well- slaves.
The leaders we backed- they hate
Blacks- with a passion.
I explained why this is in the
past- basically Gadhaffi loved the Black skinned Africans. So the ‘friend of my
enemy is my enemy’.
There are many reports that these
wonderful Black people- I mean some were doctors and school teachers- you need
to see how bad this is.
These Black people are now
actually doing slave labor- they have them cleaning up the streets and working
as slaves- these are reports I heard from multiple reliable sources.
I mean how would you feel if the
U.S. came to your city- and your Black kids were used like this?
Taken out of school- their future
gone- their dads castrated.
This has been going after the
death of Gadhaffi.
How can anyone think this is
good- that we helped these people?
Libya- Egypt- and yes- Iraq- they
are all worse off than before.
This debate is not about whether
or not someone’s favorite president did better than the other president.
It’s about U.S. intervention-
it’s about the use of force.
It’s about the plight of the Blacks in Libya.
No- Obama did not go in because
Gadhaffi was slaughtering his people- he went in to prevent what he said would
be a slaughter.
Either way- we ruined that
country- for good.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1854- WEEKEND WARNING
Before I forget- the odds of the
market selling off today are high.
If you are in- and have been for
a while- no big deal.
But if you are one of those types
that buy and sell every couple of days/weeks.
Then I wouldn’t buy today.
Okay- have a lot to cover and not
much space.
I found it interesting to watch
the narrative that I have been talking about these last few days to have been
so blatant yesterday.
On MSNBC the hosts are now
regular telling people that the Euro zone crisis is a direct result of
austerity measures [spend less than you have].
This is an outright lie- I wrote
about this lots the last few weeks and don’t want to re hash the thing.
The point is the entire network
is now saying this- and if you are someone that’s invested in world events- you
are being lied to- daily.
I caught the morning NPR show yesterday-
I usually catch the early show [sometimes right at 5 am].
I’m an early riser- been up since
3:30 this day.
So- it was interesting- right at
7:05 the report was some bad housing numbers- foreclosures were up from last
month.
They were up 16% from this time
last year- 9 from last month.
Bad- but not surprising [to me].
Then- at 8:05 am- the report said
‘good news for the housing market’.
I mean- you can’t make stuff like
this up.
Why are these bad numbers not a
surprise?
Last year many of the banks put a
hold on their foreclosures.
You had the Robo Signing scandal
[people just rubber stamping foreclosures- using fake names].
And you had the president
purposefully do a short moratorium on foreclosures.
Okay- so what would happen when
these temporary fixes were over?
Foreclosures go up.
Then why don’t the financial guys
tell you this- why do they make it sound like all is well?
I don’t think these guys are
purposefully lying [most of them] but when your whole career is based on the
market- then you have a natural tendency to hear [say] what you want- not
what’s necessarily the truth.
Why am I so negative on the
market today?
Yesterday we had a short run up-
primarily because the central banks [in Europe and presumably us- the Fed] made
it sound like they might help the cash strapped European states and pump
‘liquidity’ [cash] into the system.
Okay- so the Dow went up- not
because we had good economic news- but bad.
That is- things look so bad- the
world banks said ‘we might help’.
Okay- why does this help the
market?
These last few years- our nations
bank- the Federal Reserve- has pumped trillions of dollars into the system.
Some think this is bad monetary
policy- others say it’s good.
Now- as a matter of simple math-
if you put extra money into the system- this money has to go somewhere.
And eventually a large part goes
into the market.
This in reality is a fake way to
‘stimulate’ the market.
So that’s what you saw yesterday.
EGYPT
Yesterday the high court
disbanded the entire Parliament.
The military are still in
control- and it looks like Democracy has failed.
Now- do I think this is a bad
thing?
Not really.
Why?
Look- the Muslim Brotherhood rose
to power after the protests.
These guys just had thousands in
the streets calling for the destruction of Israel.
They are indeed radicals- and if
they run the country you will have another theocracy like Iran.
This is not good for the rights
of women- Christians- and many other groups.
The economy of Egypt has been
ruined.
For centuries people have been
going to visit the pyramids- that whole thing is now dead.
Tourism was a major part of their
economy.
We have not helped the cause of
these people- we might have meant well by toppling Mubarak- but the aftermath
is bad.
GLOBAL DOWTURN
Oil prices are down 12 %- because
of a global slowdown.
Asia [China] is slowing down
faster than anyone thought- China just took financial action to try and
counteract this.
In the beginning of the year many
were projecting 3.5- 4 % growth for the U.S.
The Bulls and Bears were just
about split [I was- am still a bear].
Half way thru the year- the
estimates are now 1.7 % growth- terrible.
There is no way we are going to
see an upturn for the rest of the year- not possible.
Now- will the markets go up?
I don’t think so- but people do
crazy stuff.
I’m saying the global economic
outlook is terrible- very very bad- The E.U. crisis is very bad.
Spain and Italy are in trouble-
not just Greece.
Greece is on the verge of exiting
the Euro- and many investors have taken their money out of Spain and Italy.
Italy is really ‘too big to
fail’.
If the Italian economy crashes-
the Euro\zone is over.
Now- Do I think the worst will
happen?
I don’t know for sure- but for
financial advisors to be telling people that the ‘fundamentals’ are strong is
ridiculous.
This has been the mantra the last
year.
That U.S. companies [and banks]
have much more cash on hand- the price for stock- compared to ‘projected’
growth/income of the company is cheap.
And some paint this rosy picture.
If you own a McDonalds on your
block- and your ‘fundamentals’ are strong- but if everyone on the block is
going broke- it makes no difference how strong the fundamentals are- the
customers are broke.
That’s what the E.U crisis means-
they are our number one trading partner- yes- they beat China.
If they are having all these very
real problems- then we are in danger of another recession.
Most of the recent numbers seem
to be saying this.
The last few weeks we are seeing
a rise in the weekly unemployment numbers.
Our economy is softening- and the
trend is not your friend.
With all this going on- the
message of the president makes no sense.
He gave a speech yesterday- he
basically is saying ‘do you want what we had the last 10 years- look what Bush
gave you’.
I mean he acts like he has not
been in charge for the past 3.5 years.
Look- I’m starting to worry about
the man.
One interesting thing to keep
note of.
The markets play into what they
think might happen.
If the Supreme Court shoots down
Obama care this month- markets WILL LIKE THAT.
And- the truth be told- if they
think Romney is going to win [the odds look much better for him now than 3
months ago] the markets will factor that in as a positive sign.
All in all- today might be a
rough day for stocks.
We do need to batten down the
hatches for the rest of the year and realize at midyear- we have made a turn
for the worse.
Don’t worry- don’t panic- but
make sure your listening to good advice.
I am not a total doomsayer when
it comes to this [Beck type]- but I see the writing on the wall- the global
economy is slowing down- we are on the verge of a double dip recession- and the
Euro Zone looks very bad- despite the central banks action.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1853- SEX- ALL TYPES
Let’s cover the ‘other’ news
story of the day- the Elephant in the room.
Yes- with all the things going on
in the news this week- we also have had the start of the Jerry Sandusky sex
case.
Most of you know the scoop.
Sandusky is the famous coach from
Penn state that worked for years with the famed Joe Paterno.
There were rumors- and ‘chance’
encounters where people saw Sandusky with young boys- and he was caught molesting
kids.
As the defendants have been
testifying this week- well- we heard bad stuff.
I don’t want to ‘defend’ the
Sandusky’s of the world in any way- but I want to speak openly- and in a
politically incorrect way about sexual orientations of all kinds.
I have a book here in my study-
about 3 feet from where I’m sitting.
It’s the story of Jeffrey
Dahmer’s conversion to the Lord after he was sent to prison.
I do realize that we see lots of
jail house conversions- and for some people they will never believe that a
Dahmer could convert.
But as I read the book- and also
have watched the re play of the interview that Dahmer did with MSNBC- I do
believe he was sincere.
One very interesting- and
truthful part of the interview was when Dahmers dad was asked ‘why do you think
this happened to your son’.
The dad- who is a Christian man-
said he felt like somewhere along the line- Jeff associated- connected- the act
of sex with dead things.
That he was fixated as a boy with
skulls and dead things- and in time when he went thru puberty- that he also-
somehow- connected the joy of collecting skulls and stuff with the act of sex.
Now- some might dismiss this as a
lame excuse- and of course the crimes Jeff committed were very serious [for
those not familiar- Dahmer is the famed serial killer who cannibalized his
victims].
In point of fact- people- in all
societies and in every age- can- and have ‘learned’ certain types of behavior-
for good or ill.
The reason this debate is hard to
have in our country- is because the present debate over gay rights pits one
group against another.
For anyone to say ‘we actually do
have proof that certain sexual behavior can indeed be learned’ seems to be
bigoted and against the civil rights of people.
The purpose of this post is not
to get into a long drawn out discussion over this.
I want to simply say- there are-
and have been- all types of sexual associations that people have made with
certain acts.
In the Sandusky case- with
minors.
In the Dahmer case- with dead
things.
The list does go on.
Is it possible to ‘un learn’
associations like this?
In short- yes.
Is it easy?
Probably not.
A few years ago I noticed that
one of the major hospitals in the U.S. - famous for doing sex change
operations- very quietly quit the practice.
As I listened and read about the
story- I came to find out that the hospital- that was lauded for their non
judgmental attitude- their willingness to break ‘the religious bigotry of our
day’ that after doing the operation for years.
Admitted that the results were
horrendous.
How?
The rate of depression and
suicide among most of the patients went sky high.
After years of doing the
operation- the data showed that despite all the ‘political correctness’ the
facts on the ground were these operations were doing more harm than good.
Yet- year after year we see
people who have had the operation- on well meaning news shows being
interviewed- and the interviewer- without fail- always comes across as ‘look
how accepting I am of you- look how wonderful it is for us all to celebrate
your freedom and to not judge’.
Yet- many of the times I get the
impression that these people are under great pressure to go with this line.
That they are cast into the
limelight as a great example of acceptance- and they seem at times to not want
to let the interviewer- or the world- down.
But- if the data says the rate of
suicide and depression sky rockets among those who have gone thru with the
procedure- then if we really love these people- or our kids- or generations to come-
then we would be more careful before we jump on the ‘what a great thing you
did’ bandwagon.
In the whole debate about whether
or not sexual orientation [or simple associations of sexual expression with
particular acts] is changeable- we need to be aware of the overall effects we
are having on all sorts of people.
In the Sandusky case- we do see
an attraction that many men have.
There are entire organizations
supporting man/minor ‘love’.
NAMBLA- North American Man Boy
Love Association- being one.
Do these men make the same
argument that some have made with the gay rights issue?
Yes.
Many argue that that they have
had this ‘orientation’ for as long as they can remember.
They argue that they share a
common orientation with thousands of other men all over the world.
They argue that its’ the
‘Victorian era morality'- that religion wants to impose on people- that tells
them- and society- that they are wrong.
After all- if ‘God created me
this way- why should I not express it’.
Now- I- like you- do not accept
these arguments- but in truth- they are basically the same type of arguments
that others have made with the gay rights debate.
[Note- I do have gay friends- and
I do not want to come off as saying I equate child molesters with gay people- I
don’t. The point I’m making is the NAMBLA folk are saying ‘who has the right to
say that Man/Boy sex is wrong’. And to be honest- if you reject the basis of
natural/moral law- then they win the point.]
The point I’m making is if we- as
a society- tell people that sexual orientation is never learned behavior- then
we are in ways justifying the NAMBLA argument.
I was going to delve into the
entire field of what we call natural/moral law.
Where does it come from?
Does society simply make up moral
law?
Actually no.
This is a very long debate- going
on since the days of Immanuel Kant [one of the great thinkers going back a few
centuries].
In short- some have argued over
the years that we need to rid society of moral law- that it’s these
restrictions on men [particularly sexuality] that is the cause of society’s
ills.
The famous thinker Freud [and
Nietzsche] advocated this.
But after hundreds of years of
debate- there are no examples of any successful society that has managed to
develop any type of functioning ethic- apart from what we call the
Judeo/Christian ethic.
I don’t mean to come off as
judgmental- nor to offend any group of people- but if we are telling entire
generations of people ‘you are a slave to your sexual orientation’.
If we are saying to people ‘you
can never change’ or overcome your sexual associations.
Then we might be biting off more
than we can chew.
If it simply makes us [the
interviewer] feel better about ourselves when we say ‘see- you have done such a
great thing- if only these religious bigots would stop judging you’.
But in reality- the data show
that these people suffer tremendously- for the most part- after they get the
sex change.
Then maybe we need to re think
what we are saying to them as a whole.
Maybe we should tell people ‘yes-
associating sexual expression with a particular act- or life style is a very
strong thing’.
In most cases- even in cases like
Sandusky- even if there are hundreds of thousands of people with the same
‘feelings’ all over the world.
Yet- if we do love people and are
honest- we would tell them it is possible to change the feeling- the
association- dare say ‘orientation’.
We must realize that there are
many types of sexual expression- that society- and moral/natural law say is
wrong.
Those in these lifestyles- often
will argue that the orientation was with them for as long as they can remember.
Others argue that there are many
others like them.
All this may be true- but in the
end- this does not mean the association is right [NAMBLA] or can never be
broken.
I’ll end with a couple of verses
‘I hate vain thoughts- but your law do I love’ ‘commit thy works unto the Lord
and thy thoughts will be established’ ‘God will keep them in perfect peace
whose minds are fixated on him’.
This entire debate is long- and
even many Christians disagree on some points. There are movements within the
church that seek to accept the gay lifestyle as an acceptable lifestyle.
Today’s point is- if we tell
people- with all types of orientations- that you can 'never change’ them- or
overcome them- then we are not being honest.
If we think that the solution is
‘let's just live with no moral law’.
That has been debated- and tried-
and found wanting [Freud died in a mental hospital- going insane from a sexual
disease].
If we love our kids- those around
us- our neighbor- then we should not encourage those among us struggling with
orientations to ‘go with what you feel’.
Or to be so accepting of an
operation that the data shows does not solve anything- only makes it worse.
In short- if we love people- we
must be truthful with them.
Yes- try not to judge- love them
even if they don’t become what you think is best.
But be honest with people.
I feel sorry when I see Chaz Bono
being interviewed- time and again- everyone telling her how happy they are for
her.
When I know in reality the data
says something different.
The statistics show that those
who go as far as ‘changing’ their sex- many of them take their own lives.
And it’s not because they feel
judged- it’s because many of them can’t believe what they have done.
Sad that we hide this- sad.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1851- IS THE PRIVATE SECTOR DOING
FINE?
The other day I posted about the ‘new
narrative’.
I talked about the argument that
austerity [cutting spending] in the Euro zone- as well as the U.S. - is the new
reason to blame for the globes economic woes.
I won’t re-post my rebuttal-
suffice it to say I don’t agree.
So- when the president made his
recent gaffe ‘the private sector is doing fine’ the right went nuts- and the
left ran with the new [false] narrative.
With all the talking heads out
there- you would think that they would have put these things together- after
all they get paid lots of money.
I mean even though I’m a regular
critic of MSNBC- I do see them as family.
How so?
When the Nielsen ratings come
out- and Chris Matthews rating is 2 people- at least he knows his wife watches
the show [or has it on mute?].
And I’m number 2.
So let’s weave the web here.
When Obama kicked off his
campaign year- he had some very rough starts.
The Bain capital thing- well that
didn’t work too well.
Then they jumped to the
Massachusetts job record of Romney- when he was governor.
Okay- that’s fair game.
But the argument they were making
was Romney was a failure while overseeing the state.
Yet when he left office-
unemployment was under 5 %- under Obama- we have 8.2.
Yeah- they dropped that line too.
So- the new story is that the
Repub led congress [house] are to blame for the unemployment rate.
That Obama put a ‘jobs bill’ on
the table- and the Repubs refuse to sign the thing.
Thus ‘the private sector is doing
fine’ but because the jobs bill- which is geared towards providing around 250
billion dollars to the states- and union and govt. workers- that because the
Repubs won’t pass it- therefore the ‘public sector’ is dragging down the
economy.
This is the same argument that
says austerity measures are the cause of all the worlds woes.
Last night as I was news surfing
I saw some fill in for Maddow on her show- he seems to be a nice kid- have
heard him before [Ezra something?]
He did the whole show based on
this argument.
He said Romney and the Repubs are
hypocrites because when they are in charge they are for public sector workers
[cops- firemen- teachers].
But now that Obama is in charge
they are cutting them back [note- they were never for trillions of stimulus- as
a regular means of providing jobs. They were for the regular fed money that
would normally go to the states].
Of course- this is the attack on
the dumb [it was dumb] Romney line ‘we don’t need more firefighters and
teachers and cops’.
What did Romney really mean?
He is arguing the conservative
view that says the jobs market really isn’t a function of spending more federal
money.
That even though the fed does
provide money to the states [teachers] yet in the long run it’s the local and
state economies that will decide whether or not to hire more of these ‘public’
sector workers.
As a firefighter- we did not get
federal money to hire new guys- but if our city was doing well financially-
then we had the tax revenue to hire new guys.
That’s Romney’s point.
Last year- the govt. did
distribute billions [yes- with a b] to the states to stave off the laying off
of many teachers and cops and firefighters.
Basically the original 800
billion stimulus simply paid the checks for another year.
But in reality you can’t keep
propping up the jobs like this.
For one thing- it’s not ‘fair’.
What?
Look- any president can say
‘let’s spend another trillion- during my term- to simply pay people so they
stay employed’.
If the majority of the money-
like in this case- is going to workers who give your party lots of money
[unions support Dems] then it would be like Bush giving money just to oil field
workers- during his whole term
Second- we already have spent a
little under 2 trillion fed dollars- propping up the economy.
We had the 900 billion dollar
bail out of the banks- and the 800 billion dollar stimulus money.
Obama is blaming the Repubs for
not passing his ‘jobs bill’.
Is this really a jobs bill?
No.
It was simply another 250 billion
dollars of ‘stimulus’.
We- as a nation- can’t keep doing
this.
Overspending is what got the Euro
zone in deep trouble- not austerity.
Our very high debt is what is
getting us in trouble- as a nation.
Right now- 40 cents of every
dollar the govt. spends simply goes to pay the interest on the debt.
Imagine if almost half of your
household income was simply interest on your credit card.
Would the answer be ‘lets get
another card’?
So- the pres- and some
progressive economists [Krugman- and the MSNBC crowd] are saying ‘let’s get
another card’.
The Repubs are saying ‘no- let’s
start paying the card down’.
You can decide which road is
better.
While the president does have
some truth to the argument he made the other day- the ‘macro’ picture looks
much different.
What was he right about?
When the terrible jobs number
came out last month- the 69,000 new jobs- part of the bad number did have to do
with govt. layoffs.
The private sector created a
little over 80,000 new jobs.
The govt [public sector] lost
around 20,000.
So he was trying to make the
point ‘see- if the Repubs let me spend another 250 billion- then the govt.
would not have laid off folk- and the economy would be fine’.
This argument is being made right
now- on both sides of the pond- but it is really not the full story.
In our country we have millions
of people without work- the unemployment rate is 8.2%.
And the small % of govt. jobs
that are being lost is not the reason why the country is in trouble.
And the solution- long term- is
not to keep getting the country in debt.
Anyone can say ‘pass this jobs
bill’.
If they simply mean ‘let’s spend
billions more- to keep people on the job- just until my election [or term] is
over’ then it really is not a jobs bill.
It’s another 250 billion in
stimulus.
I think we already spent too much.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1849- SHREK- A CITY- AND WATER
FROM A ROCK
I want to end the week with at
least some bible stuff- but let me share a few more homeless stories.
I have been getting with the guys
the past few days and have not written about it every time.
A few notable things.
I heard that Chris- a homeless
friend for many years- drove to Louisiana with another friend [a former ship
captain- a Greek].
And Chris actually got a machinists
job making 15 bucks an hour.
I was happy to hear the great
news.
I have written about Chris
before- he always told me he was a machinist- I think from the classic
Youngstown area [Ohio- Springsteen’s famous song].
One day I had Chris over at the house.
My dad gave me these antique
boxes of his father’s machinist tools many years ago.
As I kid I used to go thru the
boxes in my garage [for any of my old friends who read the site- do you
remember these tools?]
So when Chris saw them- he knew
them like a carpenter knows a hammer.
So I knew he wasn’t making the
whole ‘I’m a machinist’ thing up.
But I also could tell that Chris-
like most of the street guys- has some type of mental problem.
So I never knew if he really was
as good as he made it sound. But after
hearing that he got hired- I was glad.
Dirk [another long time friend- a
good friend] has been messing with the radiator on his van the last few days.
He lives in the van- I see it
parked in the various parking lots on a rotating basis.
Dirk claims to be ‘a winter
Texan’ sort of like he’s a retired tourist guy.
But the truth is- he is homeless-
has been for years.
Anyway- he needed a ride to the
other side of town to buy a new radiator- I obliged.
Henry went with us- Henry loves
the fellowship- he’s the scholar friend- homeless too- but he picks my brain
lots.
Dirk offered to give me 5 bucks
for gas- it was about a 10 mile trek.
But I told him ‘no way’.
About half way back- he realizes
he left his cell phone at the shop.
I was like ‘how did you do that-
I never put my cell phone on a table at a store- when I’m done- it goes in my
pocket’.
Any way- I told Dirk ‘don’t
worry- we’ll get it’.
I kinda felt like taking the 5
bucks now- but let it slide [I have been giving the guys change from 20’s the
last couple of weeks- I try to ‘spread the wealth around’ Obama style!]
Yesterday I helped Tammy [I do
usually give Tammy a few dollars every time I see her].
Tammy is a ‘working girl’.
Her and her boyfriend [Shrek] are
Meth addicts.
It’s funny- I have been giving
Tammy a few dollars for years.
Someone gave her a girls bike
yesterday- but she had to pick it up [a lady at the mission gave it to her for
some yard work she did- Tammy was going to give it to a friend’s daughter for
an upcoming birthday].
So I told Tammy ‘I’ll pick it up
for you and put it in the truck’.
She was going to walk over and
ride it home [home- her and Shrek are staying in some broken down trailer].
I do realize it looks like I’m a
‘customer’ I mean I give the girl dollars- and then a ride.
I don’t really care to be honest-
but I do see how people could talk.
Anyway- when we dropped the bike
off- I saw Shrek [he’s a big kid- around 35 years’ old- 300 lbs].
He’s really a nice kid.
I gave him and Tammy a nice tent
once.
They were living in the brush at
the time and the tent was a 2 person size- a nice one I bought from wal mart.
They never forgot that.
Shrek was glad to see me- it’s
been a while.
Okay- let me cover Deuteronomy
chapter 4.
I have been reading it this week
[it was a chapter from the Mass this past Sunday].
Moses is going over the story of
the Jewish people right before they enter the Promised Land.
He tells them that God did a
great work by leading them out of Egypt and being with them all this time.
A few points.
Moses tells them that God was
angry with him and because of this he will not ‘go in and take the land’.
This 'anger’ moment was when God
told Moses to speak to the Rock when the people were complaining of thirst.
For you ‘non bible readers’ this
would be when Charlton Hesston delivered the people form Egypt and they went
thru the Red sea and were in the wilderness.
At various times Moses loses his
temper with the Jewish people.
This Rock incident was the one
time God said ‘okay- that’s it Moses- you blew it one too many times- you can’t
go in to the land’.
Moses was to speak to the Rock
and water would come out.
He got mad- and struck the Rock-
twice- with his famous rod.
The water came out.
Which was a type of ‘God striking
the Rock’ [Jesus was punished for us on the Cross- Isaiah 53 says it pleased
THE LORD to bruise him- God punished his Son on our behalf- Jesus was ‘the
rock’ that the water flowed from [a symbol of the Holy Spirit]. On the Cross a
soldier put a spear in the side of Jesus and water came out].
So the striking of the rock was a
symbol that God would use- but striking it twice ruined the symbol.
The book of Hebrews says Jesus
was struck only once for sin- not repeatedly.
So because of this Moses could
not go in to the land.
Okay- to my bible scholars out
there- I found a verse where Moses makes it into the land.
What?
No trick [not really].
Okay- when?
In the New Testament Jesus was
transfigured before the disciples- the Mount of Transfiguration.
At the time the bible says Moses
and Elijah appeared with him.
Of course- they were in the
Promised Land at the time.
One more thing from this chapter.
It also talks about the cities of
refuge.
These were cities [3] that God
set aside- if someone accidently killed another person they could flee to the
city for safety.
At the time- if you killed
someone- the family of the dead person had the right to ‘avenge the blood’ of
their relative.
But if it was an accident- you
could run to the ‘city of refuge’ and find safety.
You had to live in the city until
the death of the high priest.
After he died- you could go back
home.
Meaning?
The 'city of refuge’ is a type of
the church- the community of God [not the building!].
We are all guilty of the innocent
Blood of Jesus [he died for us].
We can ‘flee to the city of
refuge’ and find safety from our guilt- as long as the high priest lives
[Hebrews/Romans says we are saved by his life- he lives].
We also can ‘inherit the promise’
enter back into the land- after ‘he dies’.
Jesus died- and rose again- so we
too could partake of the true inheritance- not a ‘city made with hands- but an
eternal one in the heavens’ Hebrews.
Got it?
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1848- WISCONSIN AND THE MAGICAL
MYSTERY TOUR [OR DOCK?]
Let’s cover the recall election
in Wisconsin and a few other news events.
I read an article the other day-
by the AP.
It said ‘the Republicans could
extend the tax cuts if they wanted to- but they don’t want to help the
President so it’s unlikely to happen’.
I’m sure many unsuspecting folk
believe this- even though it’s a lie.
Why?
The Republicans have actually
said they want to extend the cuts- the President is threatening a veto if they do.
The Pres wants to let the Bush
cuts expire at the end of the year- all of them [except for those making under
250,000 a year].
Some Dems [Pelosi, Schumer] want
them to expire on millionaires and over [because they have a lot of rich folk
they represent- and they don’t want to raise taxes on their people who make
over 250,000 a year].
So- the lines are drawn.
Yet- the paper said ‘the Repubs
don’t want to extend the tax cuts and help the Pres’.
Okay- that’s what you call ‘the
main stream media’ they lie often- and could care less.
Now- Walker won his recall
challenge and the media also went nuts.
Ed Shultz- the nut on MSNBC- has
been a strong supporter of the unions and has followed the recall closely.
Now- for full disclosure- I am a
member of the IAFF [international firefighters union].
I was involved with collective
bargaining my whole life- I know the scoop.
When Walker became governor he
dropped the right to bargain for some union people.
They still had their unions [something Rachael
Maddow needs to learn- another MSNBC person who is misinformed. She thinks that
dropping bargaining is losing the union- wrong].
The Unions in Wisconsin got mad
and did a recall election.
After walker won- the exit polls
showed that 38% of union households voted for walker.
Schultz was incensed- he said
‘how could you vote for him! He hates you- he wants to destroy you!! I guess
Obama was right- you folk who cling to your God and guns- you never learn’.
Why liberals allow the liberal
media to trash them- and keep watching- is beyond me.
What’s the MAIN reason Walker
won?
Some say lots of outside money
came in and swayed the vote.
Others say the people are
ignorant.
In Wisconsin- like many other
states and cities- one of the major expenses is the pension benefits for
retired public sector workers.
In some states [Rhode Island]
it’s almost half of the entire budget- they are on the verge of bankruptcy.
Yesterday San Jose and Sand Diego
were in the news- they too have cut the benefits for their retired workers.
In San Jose- the union is suing
the mayor- a Democrat- over this.
In these cities/states- when you
look at the budget- you have no other choice but to reign in the cost of the
benefits to the retirees.
Now- many in the media said
‘Walker is balancing the books on the backs of the average Joe’.
But- if this is the largest
expense to the city/state- then you have no other choice but to cut there.
Some say ‘just raise the taxes on
the rich/corporations’.
Actually Cali and N.Y. and other
places tried it- and many businesses left the state- they lost more income then
they made by doing this.
So- the people in Wisconsin saw
this- and they voted for Walker.
Okay- there are other ‘side
reasons’ too- but for the most part they saw the numbers- and are not stupid.
But when the media says ‘they
must be stupid- that’s why they voted the wrong way’. That’s just
condescending.
This same media- who thinks you
are dumb- reported about a Japanese dock that landed on the shores of
California yesterday.
Of course we have all the debris
from the Tsunami that’s been making its way over to the U.S.
We have had lots of cases of
stuff already washing up.
So the report [CNN?] said
‘mystery dock- will the mystery ever be solved’?
What?
Yeah- they went on to show the
dock- they explained that some people who have been following the aftermath of
the tsunami have said things this big should not have arrived yet.
There have been reports of
Japanese boats also showing up close to our shore- wrecks from the disaster.
Now- they went on for about an
hour talking about this ‘mystery’ as in if it was an alien spaceship.
What’s the mystery- we have debris floating
from Japan- it’s been landing on our shores- and this is debris from Japan.
After about an hour I’m sure some
producer said ‘get that stupid headline down’!
Yeah- the mystery has been
solved.
Now- these are the same media
that think you are stupid- that you [some of you] voted for Walker because you
cling to your ‘God and guns’.
I’ll end with Jack Cafferty [CNN].
I kinda like old Jack.
I grew up in the local media
market where Jack got his experience.
So last night he did his rant
about the debt- yes- he’s mad that we have a 16 trillion dollar debt and
‘nobody wants to fix it’.
He talked about the real threat-
and he said we are in an election year- and therefore both sides wont act.
Now- I’m not a conservative nor a
tea partier.
But let’s do a little history
here.
When Obama came into office- for
the first time in memory- we had one party controlling everything [White house-
Senate and House].
You also had what’s called a
Super Majority- in the senate.
They had a 60 vote majority- a
filibuster proof majority.
So- after the first year being
wasted on Obama care- as they ended their session a reporter asked Harry Reid
‘are you going to pass a budget being you have the majority all the way
around’?
Reid's response was- no- let the
Repubs do one and they can get the blame for it.
What? The Repubs were a minority-
in both houses.
It seemed ludicrous to think this
way.
Then we had the midterm
elections- and it was a blowout- the Repubs took the majority in the House- the Senate held.
So the next 2 years the Repubs
passed budgets in the house- actual budgets that made tough choices- they did
cut the growth of entitlements and made an attempt to balance the books.
The Dems simply used the budgets
as political attacks- they did exactly what Reid said 'let them get the blame
for it' and they were the chief 'blamers' [anybody remember the Dem ad that had
Ryan throwing grandma off the cliff?]
Okay- we have had 4 years of a
Democrat Presidency- 2 of which the Dems held the majority in both houses.
They never passed a budget.
The Repubs came to bat the last 2 years- even
though they are still a minority- they simply have a majority in the house.
Yet- they still passed a budget-
and it was shot down by the Dems. in the Senate.
Okay- to Mr. Cafferty- one side
has made an attempt to fix the thing- the other has not.
As we end the first term of
Obama- after 4 years of ‘kicking the ball down the field’.
He has said ‘if you elect me once
more I will pass a budget- this time’.
If you had 4 years- and by law
are required to pass one- and you did not do it with a super majority- how do
you expect us to believe you will do it now?
The odds of losing the Senate are
possible.
You will never get the house
back.
And you had 2 years of a super
majority to do it.
The only possible solution- in my
mind- is to elect a majority of fiscal conservatives [some Democrats fit this
too- look at all the Clinton 'gaffes’ these last few days].
I mean if you made excuses- when
you had one of the greatest majorities in the history of the country- then
there is no way you will do it now.
So- people are not stupid- they
see the debt- the writing on the wall.
They saw it in Wisconsin- they
see it in San Jose- San Diego and Rhode Island.
They are making the tough
decisions- even the Democrat mayors and governors [Cuomo in N.Y.]
It’s not that we hate the unions-
or that we are clinging to ‘our God and guns’.
No- it’s simple common sense.
Or you can still keep listening
to the main stream media- you know- the ones who can’t seem to explain that
mystery dock.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1847- WE FIX FLAT
I was going to cover Exodus
chapter 4- but let’s see how much time we have.
Last week I noticed a bump on my
right arm- and I was familiar with the feeling.
I told my wife ‘damn- a got bit
by a brown recluse- again!’
Yes- many years ago in Kingsville
I had a bite on the leg.
I didn’t know what it was at
first- so I ‘self treated’.
I had some leftover antibiotics
and sat in Epson salt.
The bite got big- red- and really
ugly [won't give you the gory details- look on line if you want].
It eventually left a hole in the
middle of the infected area.
Years Later I realized it was a
brown recluse spider.
So- when I showed my wife the
bite- she kinda doubted at first.
But after a couple of days she
was like ‘when are you going to see the doctor’.
Of course- I self treated again
[it’s in the final stage- why go now?]
That brings me to another thing-
I don’t have health insurance.
Why?
When I retired from the fire
dep’t we did not have a contract deal like the northern depts.
Today Wisconsin holds their
recall- it looks like Walker will win.
One of the reasons for the recall
was Walker ‘recalled’ bargaining rights for some public service employees.
He left the Cops and Firefighters
alone.
But these guys do indeed have
‘Cadillac’ retirement plans.
They get their insurance covered-
in some cases- 100%.
Not here in South Texas.
So- after I retired I got my kids
on a plan [they are on their own now] and I applied for my wife to get on with
the V. A.
We were both in the Navy [I did
not get on- made too much money- but not enough to buy my own in the private
market].
So- I self treat- or pay cash
[around 120 on average] for a doc visit.
This is what some people don’t
get.
I had a conversation with a
liberal friend of mine.
They get free coverage for
themselves and a family member.
The ‘son in law’ also got on the
plan.
None of them work- the daughter
and the sons are drug addicts.
And the state they live in [N.J.]
considers ‘drug addiction’ a disability- they all get free coverage.
Now- I don’t judge them- or
complain [too much].
But one time they were arguing
with me about how everyone who was complaining about Obama care were deadbeats
who didn’t want to help pay for those in need.
I told them that I not only pay
for myself [when I have the cash] but I also will now pay the fine [if the
Supreme Court doesn’t strike it down].
I explained to my friend that my
daughters will also pay the fine- except my daughter who is a teacher.
So my household will be paying a
couple of thousand extra bucks a year- a fine- because I have no insurance- and
I still don’t have coverage.
So- for people who don’t work-
who get the free coverage like my friend- they don’t understand why some of us
are ‘miffed’.
One time at the fire dept we
‘self insured’.
Every year the city put out bids
for our insurance.
And every so often our plans
would change- you would go in and get briefed on the new plan and all.
So one year they decided to do
the self insurance thing.
The city hires someone to
administrate the plan [Entrust] but they only do the clerical work- the pool of
money is simply the money the city collects from the workers.
Risky indeed- one guy with HIV
and the pool is empty.
So we had a bunch of disgruntled
fire fighters to say the least.
It didn’t help much that some of
us veterans kinda teased them a bit.
They would ask ‘what’s self
insurance’.
We told them ‘whoever is on duty
that night- they will provide the health care for your family’
What?
Yeah- at our fire dept we also
ran the EMS service [ambulance].
Over the years we had various
medical criteria that we had to meet.
For most of my time I was an EMT.
Some of the guys were Paramedics.
Others held something called ECA.
This was truly the bottom of the
line certification.
It was basically a glorified
first aid thing.
Most of the Captains held this-
eventually it was done away with all together.
So- we told the new guys ‘yeah-
that’s what self insurance is- we will be providing the care to ourselves- just
hope you don’t get stuck with the ECA when you call for help’.
Needless to say- they were livid.
You know- kidding around breaks
the ice at a job like that. LOL
One more from the fire dept. and
I’ll be thru.
The town I worked in was a great
little city- Kingsville.
My retirement comes from that
job.
We would drive around often-
whether a fire or simply doing maintenance on the fire hydrants.
So we would see all the little
FIX A FLAT shade tree mechanics all over the place.
We would get a kick out of the
signs that said ‘WE FIX FLAT’.
I mean we didn’t expect the guys
to be geniuses- but at least put an S at the end of flat.
So one time I told one of my
buddies ‘man- you’ll never guess what happened- I brought my truck to the tire
guy- and had a couple of flats’.
He fixed one and said he was finished.
I told him ‘man- what about the other flat’?
He said ‘can’t you read the
sign?’ Nuff said.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1846- FOOTBALL JIM
I’ll probably get with the
homeless guys today- so let me pick up where I left off the last time I spoke
about Mike.
Every so often- I might be
friends with one of the brothers for 20 years- and as fate [God] would have it-
I might spend more time with one of them at set times.
So the last few weeks this is
what’s happened with my friend Mike.
For years I have seen Mike
walking the streets where I live.
He sought of reminds me of the
story of Cain and Able.
Cain killed his brother Able and
Cain was ‘marked’.
The story is found in the bible-
it is sort of strange in a way.
The curse of Cain was no man
could kill him- but he would be condemned to wander the land and never settle.
When I saw Mike over the years- him
being a friend- I would stop and see if he wanted to do lunch- or spend a few
hours at the house- get off the streets a little.
But I wondered how Mike got into
this situation.
He’s about 8 years younger than
me [I’m 49] and he seems like such a nice ‘kid’.
The other day Mike was at my
house and he looked up his daughter on Facebook- she’s up in Austin.
Mike told me more of his story
this day.
Mike grew up in an abusive home-
his dad was [is] an alcoholic.
He has 2 brothers.
One day- when Mike was 16- his
dad came in the room and yelled at him for something.
He told Mike ‘you think you’re
ready to take me on- go for it’.
Mike gave his dad a mean look-
and that’s what his dad told him.
Mike got up- grabbed a bat by his
bed- and almost killed his dad.
He told me that after he hit him
the first time- his dad held Mike’s face- and you could see he felt like he was
going to die.
Mike said he knew one more hit
would kill him- and he stopped.
His dad went to the hospital and
from that point on Mike lived in the garage.
Over time he moved to the
streets.
He did marry a girl from school-
had a daughter- and eventually divorced.
Mike told me his mom and dad
still live here in Corpus.
I never knew that.
I thought it must be strange
seeing your son living on the streets.
The last post I wrote on Mike- he
was staying at a local hotel.
He’s back under the bridge where
we live.
He’s working every day- and has
asked the boss to save his checks until he saves up enough for a better place.
Football Jim.
Yeah- Old ‘football’ died.
I just found out the other day-
he was a friend for lots of years.
Football wasn’t really homeless-
he lived with his bachelor brother for years.
They had a small apt. where they
split the bills.
But football [all the guys have
nicknames- Carpenter Tim- Painter bill- etc.
Tim [carpenter] told me a funny
story one day. His family knew he was on the streets in Corpus.
So one year they told Tim they
were going to come visit him.
Tim is a straight up guy- a good
friend- and works his tail off.
But he lives in the brush- by the
way- he builds the best camps out of all the guys- he is a carpenter after all.
So anyway- he tells them ‘when
you get to Corpus- you can find me at this spot- all the guys know me- just ask
for Tim’.
He finds out later- after he met
with his mom and dad- that they asked ‘where looking for our son Tim, do you
know him’.
One of the street guys said ‘oh
yeah- Drunk Tim- yeah I know him’.
Obviously this is another Tim-
but his folks did not know.
Tim got a real laugh out of
that.]
Okay- Jim was part of the street
crowd- and he would go to the buffets a lot.
One time I took the guys to the
buffet- and sure enough Jim was already there.
It was funny- one of the close
friends who was with me- painter Bill- also was friends with Jim [they were
both in their 70’s].
So at the buffet [Sirloin
Stockade] Bill goes right to the pecan pies.
He’s mad- there already all gone!
The guys like those the best- so
if they get a chance- they grab them when they can.
On our way to get a seat- sure
enough- there was Jim- with about 6 pecan pies slices on his table.
Yeah- the guys have no pride.
So Jim died- kinda sad.
I did speak with Jim over the
years- he kept more to himself.
One time I heard Jim was in the
hospital- he had some problem.
So every week or so I would ask
at the mission ‘how’s Jim doing’.
They would fill me in.
When Jim got out- he came to talk
to me.
I could tell he heard I was
asking about him.
The guys want to know some of
their friends were worried about them.
So they must have told Jim ‘yeah-
John was asking about you’.
Jim- who never talked about the
Lord- told me a short testimony.
He was a believer- and that being
saved was accepting Jesus.
I told him ‘yes Jim- your right’.
It was funny- even though I knew
Jim for years- he never told me this until he realized I was concerned about
him.
Yeah- Jim was a good man- he
loved keeping up with the football scores [thus the nickname] and I was sad to
have heard he died.
The bible says ‘it is appointed
unto men once to die- after that the judgment’.
Jim kept his appointment.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1845- 69,000
I was going to take a few days
off- but yesterday’s news was big.
Actually- in the morning when I
was about to post I almost gave a warning about the market [for real].
Not because of the terrible jobs
numbers- I mean nobody saw that coming.
But because of the overall bad
data that came in thru out the week.
Then sure enough the May jobs
numbers came out- 69,000.
It was a disaster to say the
least.
The Dow went down about 250- and
the spin doctors were on call.
I really found it funny [amazing]
to hear the spin.
Julian Epstein- an Obama guy-
talked about the job loss at the end of the Bush years and the start of Obama’s
term.
The loss was bad- about 800,000 a
month.
Yes- it was a real recession.
So- Epstein noted that for the
first couple of months of this year the jobs were positive- created a couple of
hundred thousand a month on average.
So- he says ‘Obama has turned the
jobs numbers on average to a positive 900,000 jobs a month’ [my paraphrase].
Huh?
Yeah- according to him Obama has
actually ‘created’ 900,000 jobs a month.
He said this was the most amazing
job growth in our lifetimes.
This on a day when the numbers
were the worst in a year.
Then I saw an interview with some
Chicago big wigs.
Rahm Emanuel- another Obama fan-
and a few talking heads were eating some Chicago pizza.
They said that the economy under
Obama is actually great [not good- but really good!]
They gave a few numbers.
Then they said the problem is the
media only play sound bites- and the public gets ‘fooled’.
I have heard this accusation
before- that the insiders who surround the pres actually say this- that the
true message of how well he is doing is not making it into the minds of the
average person.
That the people who ‘cling to
their God and guns’ are actually ‘less than intelligent’ and that’s why they
don’t appreciate his presidency.
Then old Bill [Clinton] made the
rounds- and he pulled a Cory Booker.
He said that Romney’s business
record was ‘superb’.
Geez Bill- how bout he simply
didn’t do shaky schemes? [Like the Chicago pizza crowd- Rezko- shady real
estate deals. Jobs ‘created’ for the wife of a senator- making around 400
thousand a year. And after the senator leaves town and becomes president- the
job never gets filled again. Or Rahm sending a dead fish to a political
opponent- doing a cheap replay of the dead horse head in the God Father movie].
No- not only was Romney a good
guy [according to Bill] but ‘superb’.
I bet Biden was jealous over this
gaffe.
So the week was not good at all
for the president.
Where do we stand?
To be honest- for the May jobs number
to be that bad- was a shock.
You were hard pressed to find any
market Bulls running yesterday.
I do think we are now in a major
slowdown- and if we get any worse- we might see a double dip recession.
And it’s not just the U.S.
economy- the far east is also slowing down.
China’s economy is not as hot as
we hoped either.
‘Well John- then why are oil
prices better’?
One of the reasons oil [gas] goes
up- is because you think there is a demand for the stuff.
If you think the global economy
is slowing down- then you think ‘maybe the demand for oil will be low’.
So that plays a role in the
thing.
I found it sad to see the spin.
I watched most of the news shows
during the day.
And on MSNBC- Matthews [Obama
cheerleader] I did not even hear him mention the number one story of the day-
the jobs numbers.
Matthews spent most of the show
accusing Repubs of wanting to jail women who terminate their pregnancies
because of gender bias.
Now- should women ever abort
their kids because they wanted a boy instead of a girl?
No.
But if you watched hardball- that
was the story of the day- sad indeed.
The ‘real’ story is not that
Obama actually has one of the ‘greatest job turn abounds in the history of the
nation’.
Or that the media have tricked
the gun toting God believing lemmings into thinking his presidency is not
historic.
No- the real story is the hopes
[on both sides] that this year we would see a real economic turnaround has now
faded.
So- this year will not be a
‘superb’ year- by any means.
All the gains in the market for
the year have now been lost.
The unemployment rate has ticked
up to 8.2%.
And the economy is doing badly.
Yeah- the spin doctors were out
in full force.
One particular dose of spin
intrigued me.
It was a report on the Brewery
companies.
They said this was one of the few
businesses that has- for some strange reason- excelled.
Why?
I will quote you a verse- maybe
it will shed some light.
‘Do not give strong drink to
those who are doing well- but give it to those who have no hope- then they can
forget about all the bad news and pass out’ Proverbs.
Yeah- I think that tells it all
in a nutshell.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1844- POPES HOMILY
Got with the homeless brothers
yesterday- found out Football Jim died a few months ago.
Sad to see him go- will write
more on Jim another time.
Spent another few hours with Mike
[few posts back- Scapegoat].
Mike shared more of his story
with me- serious [bad] stuff- he knows I’m chronicling it on the site- he’s
fine with it.
I will tell more about this also-
but not today.
What I want to do today is a post
for my Catholic friends.
Note- I have Protestant friends
who get offended when I use examples from the church- or when I watch [or every
so often attend] the Mass.
There are reasons they get upset-
and it takes time to explain why I think it’s important for me to keep in touch
with ‘the ancient church’.
For the most part- I have been a
student of church history [and the early church fathers] for the past 25 years.
It’s impossible to read deeply
into church history without having an appreciation for the older more
traditional churches.
Over time you begin to view these
churches [Catholic, Orthodox] as sort of older relatives- like an uncle or
grandpa- maybe they don’t know all the current techniques and all [like using
computers!]
But over time you realize they
know more [or are right more often] then you thought when you were younger.
So this has been my experience on
the journey.
Okay- this past Sunday I watched
the Mass on TV.
Every so often if the church is
celebrating a special memorial they will broadcast the service from Rome.
This past Sunday was Pentecost
Sunday- so I watched the Pope give the homily from Rome.
Let’s cover the main verses he
used.
The homily was good- but you have
to pay attention to the verses/chapters to get a full understanding.
The chapters quoted from were
Genesis 11, Psalms 103, Acts 2, John 16, and Galatians 5.
Because it was Pentecost Sunday
the message was on the story we find in Acts chapter 2- when the Holy Spirit
came to the church.
We read that the believers were
gathered at Jerusalem- waiting for the ‘promise of Jesus’ that he would send
them the Spirit [John 16].
When the Spirit came- all the
disciples in the upper room began speaking Gods word to the multitudes that
were gathered at Jerusalem for the special holiday.
They spoke ‘in tongues’ [unknown
languages] and the people were amazed because they all heard the message in
their own native tongue.
This was a Divine miracle that
enabled the message to spread to all the different ethnic groups that were at
the city.
After Peter preaches the gospel
to them they repent and believe and are baptized- and the ‘Lord added 3,000
SOULS’ to the church that day.
The Pope contrasted this with the story in
Genesis 11- The famous Tower of Babel.
This records the time when God
divided the people by giving them different languages.
The people were building a tower
and city that would reach ‘unto heaven’ [a symbol of mans efforts to reach God-
or be like God- on his own- Humanism].
The bible says they ‘wanted to
make a name for themselves’.
They were more interested in
‘leaving a legacy’ then in glorifying God.
God looked down and realized they
were going to unite- in a wrong way- to build this city of man.
The bible says he came down and
divided their languages in that day.
They were unable to communicate
with each other and left off ‘building the city’.
This is where we get the term
‘babble ’ from- when you can’t understand what a person’s saying- he’s
‘babbling’.
In Galatians 5 we read about the
fruit of the Spirit- and how we ‘thru the Spirit wait for the hope of
righteousness which comes by faith’ [a main theme of the Apostle Paul’s
writings].
And in John 16 we read the
promise Jesus made- that he would leave them and send ‘the comforter’- the
Spirit- and he would guide them into all truth.
So we see the contrast of the
biblical stories about language.
In Genesis 11 God divides the
languages of men because they are rebelling against him.
In Acts 2 God ‘reverses’ this
division by allowing them all to hear again in ‘one language’.
The Cross allows humanity to be
united again.
The apostle Paul writes the
Ephesians and says Jesus reconciled both groups [Jew and Gentile- which
represented the major division of the time] by dying on the Cross for all men.
And that all men [who believe]
now have ‘access to God by one Spirit’.
All in all- it was a good
message.
The purpose of the gospel is to
unite men- not divide them [I know Jesus said he came to bring division-
families would be divided- mother- father against child. In context he was
saying there was a reaction to being a follower of him. Sometimes families will
even reject a child because they choose the Christian faith. We see this today
among various religious groups.]
But the overall work of the Cross
unities men- in Christ [2 become one- Ephesians- One New Man].
And we once again can share ‘a
common language’.
The language of the Cross.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1843- BEIBER DID WHAT?
I want to try and do some
spiritual stuff- but I have a few news things first.
Okay- the headline read ‘Beiber
wanted for questioning’.
Huh?
The story was short- and sweet.
Some paparazzi called 911 and
quote ‘complained of being roughed up by the pop star’.
2 things.
Is the actually possible?
And
Why would anybody ever admit
this?
Okay- more important stuff.
A while back I wrote a post on
the train debacle in Cali.
Yeah- the President wants to sink
billions of dollars into High Speed rail.
This was one of his main ideas to
produce jobs.
You hear the same mantra on
MSNBC- day in and day out.
They keep talking about spending
billions on schools [buildings] bridges- ‘shovel ready’ jobs.
And after 3 years- we have thrown
billions of dollars down the drain.
So last night I caught an expose
on CNN.
Cooper did a good job critiquing
the latest fiasco in California.
Now- you must understand Cali is
dead broke- billions in the hole- cutting everything from school funding to
cops and firefighters.
Yet they are still determined to
go forward with the high speed rail thing.
Cooper detailed how the state has
struggled to keep the vision alive.
The guy in charge of the project-
to build the fast trains- came out recently and changed the entire route.
The new route goes thru a number
of different cities- the train goes much slower- and it will now make stops at
more cities.
The initial idea of ‘high speed’
meant the train would not stop a lot- it would go- well- fast- and it would
service this ‘need’ to transport folk who for some reason disdain cars.
But now- it’s simply a train- a
regular good ole U.S. of A Amtrak vehicle.
O- I forgot- the initial cost for
the whole project was around 30 billion.
Obama has already given the state
4 billion [money we don’t have for ‘stuff’ like this].
But the new price is now around
130 billion.
By all estimates- California will
never finish this project.
They already passed some type of
bond money- but to get the voters to approve 130 billion- to put in a regular
train- which no one will really ride- this will never happen.
And to do this when you’re
cutting Medicare- food stamps- schools- I mean the people will never approve
the rest of the money.
So what is the state determined
to do?
The guy in charge says they are
going to spend the 4 billion- no matter what- on the first part of the project.
The ‘foundational’ section will
cost 4 billion- it will simply be rail track going from one town to another.
It’s supposed to be ‘high speed’
so this track is expensive.
It will take around 15 years to
finish.
And there will be no train- no
depot- nothing- but a stretch of track sitting in the middle of nowhere-
costing the taxpayer 4 billion.
Okay- this is what you call
waste- inexperience- bad vision.
These are the types of things
that people in the real world don’t do.
But if you mean well- have some
distorted idea that you can convert the nation- in a few years- to a solar
energy world.
If you think building these
trains all over the country is going to be the answer to lost jobs.
Then you are a well meaning guy-
but you do not have the experience for the job.
One last example.
Last year the President went to
Brazil.
By the way- Brazil just passed
Cali as the worlds 8th biggest economy.
While there he guaranteed U.S.
taxpayer money to Brazil’s national oil company.
For what?
So they can drill all types of
new oil rigs- off shore.
Why did we give them U.S. money
for this?
Because the President said if
they can really develop their oil production we will buy lots of oil from them-
at a high rate.
There was no deal to get the oil
cheap.
Okay- at the same time Texas [as
well as other oil producing states] has gone thru the ringer trying to survive
at a time when the federal govt. has come down hard to stop new oil production
in the U.S.
Many in the oil field have lost
jobs because of the very ‘environmentalist’ agenda of the President.
The guy who was in charge of our
area- recently was fired [or quit] because he was caught making the famous
‘crucify them’ statement.
He was the Presidents man
overseeing our region for the E.P.A.
He said their tactic was to go
into areas in the south- find certain oil producing companies that have any
types of violations- and ‘crucify’ them.
I recently read an article from a
former commerce guy in the town I retired from [Kingsville].
He wrote a piece in the paper
after the ‘crucify’ them guy was let go.
He said for the last 3 years this
guy has done everything possible to kill jobs in the state.
He gave examples of how Obama
used this guy to virtually attack the oil industry in Texas.
Now- at the same time we gave
loan guarantees to Brazil to ‘drill baby drill’.
This was federal tax money- that
many of the oil people paid into the system.
Does this make any sense to you?
About as much sense as calling
911 and saying ‘Beiber roughed me up’
Amen [I told you I would try and
get something spiritual in- this was the best I could do].
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1840- DAVID’S TENT
The other day I went thru the
gospel of Mark.
Of course there’s a whole lot in
the book- but I came across a story that I liked a lot.
In Marks gospel Jesus is with the
disciples and they are going thru the fields picking the ‘ears of corn’ [note-
you did not have corn- like we think- growing in the land at the time. They
were picking grain. But the King James Bible- 1611- which I use- did translate
the term corn].
Now- when the Pharisees saw this-
it was the Sabbath day- they accused Jesus and his men of breaking Gods law.
Jesus responded by saying ‘have
you never read the story of David when he was fleeing Saul- how he and his men
ate the sacred bread- that is not lawful for men to eat- only the priests’.
I always liked this story because
there is so much to unpack- let’s try to do a little.
Was it unlawful for the disciples
to have done this?
Not really- the Pharisees were a
group of religious leaders that rose up during the time of the captivity of the
Jews a couple hundred years before the time of Christ.
They did serve a noble purpose at
the start- they wanted to retain the culture and religious beliefs of Gods
people during a time of displacement from their own land.
So this group established the
synagogue system [sort of a Jewish ‘church’] and they would gather around on
the Sabbath day and read the scriptures and be reminded of their heritage.
Okay- what happened to these
brothers- like many other good things that meant well at the start- was after a
while they became elitist.
They saw themselves as better
than everyone else- they became judges of all other groups- and they developed
a Tradition- called ‘The Tradition of the Elders’ which was an expansion on the
law of God.
This is what Jesus often fought
against in his day- the Tradition of the Elders [not all tradition in general!]
Why is this important?
It is common in our day for many
well meaning believers- Born Again Christians- to disdain all Church tradition.
Many people [like myself] come
from a former Catholic background- and one of the first things you normally
hear is ‘look at all the bad traditions that the church taught’.
This mindset is often justified
by Jesus condemnation of the ‘Traditions of men that make void the Word of
God’.
Jesus was not throwing all
tradition under the bus- he was rebuking THIS specific tradition.
Got it?
Okay- the reason I said ‘sort of’
[at the top] was because the defense Jesus gave said ‘didn’t you read what
David did- when he ate the bread that was unlawful to eat’.
So Jesus really did not mind the
‘you broke the law’ accusation- but instead placed himself in the situation of
King David and said ‘I too have authority over the Sabbath’.
In the Jewish mind of the 1st
century- the statements like this that Jesus made [Moses said this- but I say
this] these statements meant more than meets the eye.
They meant that Jesus saw himself
as being equal with God.
If you carefully read the gospels
you see this.
To the first century Jew- this
was indeed a violation of what they were taught.
‘The Lord our God is One’.
So- Jesus defends himself and his
men by saying ‘I am Lord over the Sabbath’
Strong words indeed.
The story of David is found in
the book of Samuel.
He’s running from king Saul at
the time- and he goes to the ‘House of God’ and needs food.
The priest [Abiathar] tells him
he only has the sacred bread- which is reserved for the priests.
David makes up a story and says
he’s on a special mission from Saul and the priest gives David the bread.
He eats- and gives to his men.
Now- when Jesus uses this story
in the gospel- he does mention that David and his men both ate.
I find this interesting.
Because Jesus will sit down with
his men at the last supper and do the same thing.
He tells them ‘take eat- this is
my Body- drink- this is my Blood’.
How could Jesus ‘eat himself’?
The Bread and Wine represent the
Body and Blood of Christ.
Jesus said his meat [bread- the
thing that sustained him] was to do the will of God and finish his work.
He was sustained too by the
mission he was on- he lived to ‘give his Body and Blood’.
This mission was his life’s purpose-
he too ‘ate the Bread’.
Jesus also came from the lineage
of king David- he was a ‘son’ of David.
In the above verses- it said
‘David came to the house of God’.
We often see this as the Temple.
But remember- the temple was not
built yet.
David’s son Solomon will build it
in the future.
So what ‘house of God’ did David
come to?
It was the tabernacle [of Moses].
This was a tent type system that God gave to
the children of Israel during their wilderness journey.
It became the central place of
worship and sacrifice when they entered the promised land.
Eventually the main piece of this
tent system gets taken by Israel's enemies [They stole the Ark- the box that
held the 10 commandments].
And when David becomes king he
gets it back.
As the Ark eventually winds up
back in the hands of David- he builds another tent thing- called the Tabernacle
of David- and he places the Ark under this tent.
Now- David is king at the time-
the bible says he put on a Linen Ephod and worshipped God before this tent [he
operated as a priest- which was unlawful for kings to do- normally!].
Understand- at the same time the
Tabernacle of Moses still existed- it just did not have the Ark in it- David’s
‘new’ tent had the Ark.
This was symbolic of the New
testament King/Priesthood of Jesus.
He in essence would usher the
people into the presence of God- absent the Veil of the Temple- a covering that
existed in the Tabernacle of Moses- which represented separation from God- but
was not in the one David made.
So you see- when Jesus used David
as an example- there was more than meets the eye- much more.
[Jesus is the New Testament
King/Priest that died on the Cross- the Veil of the temple was ripped on that
day- and he now represents us before the throne of God- absent the veil- the
thing that separated man from God].
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
1839-SCAPEGOAT
Yesterday I went down to the local mission- I usually catch up with my homeless friends there.
Yesterday I went down to the local mission- I usually catch up with my homeless friends there.
I didn’t see Henry- but Michael
showed up.
I met Mike around 20 years ago.
[ just a note- on my blog- under the Feb.
posts of each year I have a category called ‘Homeless’.
I write about my friends in these
posts.
I came to Corpus in 1992- most of the guys I
met the first year or 2.
So you might read a post that
says ‘I knew this guy for 20 years’. Then maybe in another post ’15 years’.
I don’t keep exact numbers- just
realize I have known most of these guys since 1992]
The last time I saw Mike was
around 2-3 years ago.
He was living on the other side
of town- actually- more in the Mexican type area.
Now- I’m ‘at home’ in the Barrio-
just like in the ‘white boy’ part of town.
Over the years I have been to the
Govt. housing- visiting families- wives- kids- of my buddies that were in jail.
Lots of them were members of the
church I started years ago.
So to me- race means nothing.
[Like I told my daughters friend
one day ‘I’m not racist- I think Whites are only a little bit better than the
other races’ Joke!]
But Mike- well- he was in the
‘bad part’ of town.
So he told me he moved back to
‘the Bluff’ and has a weekly room at the Plaza hotel.
A lot of the ‘homeless’ guys do
have places- non permanent- where they stay on and off- this is Mikes thing.
He is working as a cook at the
Golden Corral- a famous buffet in Corpus.
We caught up on old times.
Mike asked if I was gonna be
around for a while- I told him yeah.
He walked back to the hotel-
about 3 blocks- to show me his latest art work.
Mike is an A-1 artist- he has
painted for years.
He even painted the signs for the
apartments my wife manages [about 15 years ago].
He told me he just painted the
for sale signs down the street.
The owner of Floyds Christian
Restaurant is selling some land- Mike did the signs.
So he comes back with about 7
paintings- I mean beautiful stuff- all originals.
He paints ‘free style’ he doesn’t
look at another picture- just from his mind.
I loved the paintings.
They were different than what I
saw before.
Lots of birds- flowers.
Shore line- boats- fish.
He used to do lots of gory stuff-
skulls- Mega death stuff [rock group].
I asked him if I could buy one- he does not sell them- but he told me he would let me have one for the cost of the materials.
I bought a beautiful scene- some
fishermen pulling in their nets by the sea- a huge pelican on the dock- and
these great sunflowers peering over them.
15 bucks.
A steal.
I gave Mike a ride back to the
hotel- he did carry all these pictures by hand.
We talked- for about 4 hours.
I have found the guys- who have
mental challenges- like Mike- they really benefit just from having a friend to
talk to.
It was funny in a way- I must
have quoted 50 individual verses that fit the exact scenario that Mike was
communicating.
I really don’t ‘preach’ much at
all when I’m with the brothers.
They know I’m helping them out [we often go
out to eat] and they know I do ministry stuff.
But all these friendships are
just that- these guys are simply friends I have made over the years.
But this day was different- I
really taught Mike a lot of stuff- in a way that never really happened in the
past.
Example.
He was telling me how he simply
does his art on his own- most people don’t even know his talent.
When he brought the paintings to
the mission- everyone was shocked that he actually painted them.
They have known Mike for years-
yet they never saw his work.
So Mike told me that he likes
doing his work in private- and simply enjoying the satisfaction of the
paintings.
I told him that Jesus taught this
‘when you do your good works- don’t let the left hand know what the right hand
is doing- do it in secret- and God will reward you openly’.
He said ‘yeah- that’s it!’
One painting he had sitting by
the sink- he did not bring this one to the mission- was Christ on the Cross.
Mike showed me the nails in
Christ’s hands.
He made them crooked on purpose-
he said ‘my dad always told me I couldn’t even drive a nail in straight’.
He did this on purpose- in a way
it was prophetic.
The painting of Christ- and the
words that hurt Mike- the words he never forgot thru out his life.
He told me that in the past when
he did artwork for various people [he has done portraits for hundreds of
dollars- though he does not sell his own stuff].
That sometimes people take out
their faults on the artist.
If they are dealing with problems
they tend to pass them off to the artist.
As we sat there- with the
painting of Christ- and the crooked nails.
I told Mike ‘this also is in the
bible’
I went on to tell the story in
the Old Testament of the Scapegoat.
Yeah- the Scapegoat comes from
the bible.
In the Jewish religion at the
time- you had the priest bring 2 goats- on one he would lay his hands-
symbolically saying ‘we put the sins of the people on you’.
The one goat- the Scape goat-
would then run away.
But they took the other- and
sacrificed it.
I told Mike- this is what the
Scapegoat is- Jesus himself bares the guilt and problems that the people bring
to the table.
Mike once again said ‘yeah-
that’s it’.
This went on for around 4 hours-
I felt it was Gods way of communicating to my old friend- in a way that I never
really was able to in the past.
He showed me an art book he
bought from Barnes and Noble.
He really liked the way the
author drew.
It was a teaching guide for
artists.
It had quotes of all the famous
painters of the past.
One from DaVinci said ‘the
greatest mastery of all is the mastery of one’s self’ [paraphrase].
I told Mike ‘this too is in the
bible’.
I quoted from Proverbs ‘he that has no rule
over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls- but
he that rules his spirit is better than he that takes a city’,
Once again- it clicked.
I took pictures of the paintings with my cell
phone- I told Mike if they come out good I’ll try and post them on my site so
my friends can see.
I looked at them later- they did
not come out too good.
The one of Christ with the
crooked nails- that came out good- I have that as my Wall paper on the phone.
Maybe my daughter will help me
post it on the site?
I have known Mike a long time.
His dad was in the Navy and they
moved to the city years ago.
Mike is from upstate N.Y.
I have written about Mike before-
he seems to have burned himself out on some type of drug over the years- you
can tell he has mental problems.
But he is very talented- he has
always worked- as long as I have known him.
And he has been on and off the
streets for years.
I think the story about the
scapegoat really made an impact.
Mike is smart- he asked me lots
of stuff this day.
About creation- and science-
things that other Christians have told him to reject.
I told Mike it’s okay to believe
in certain scientific ‘proofs’ and also be a Christian [he knew a lot about the
natural world- and I have taught lots about this over the years].
So he not only ‘saw’ a lot of
things from the bible that he never saw before.
But I also was able to show him
how the bible does not go against science [I actually just posted a note the
other day on this].
I told Mike ‘why don’t you title
the Cross painting- The Scapegoat’.
Every time you walk in the room-
look at the painting and realize Christ has taken all the guilt and pressure
and stuff that others have put on you- he is the Scapegoat’.
Sometimes its easier to remember
a story when its connected to an image.
That’s why Jesus told parables-
stories that people could ‘see’ in their minds.
Yeah- the scapegoat- with the
crooked nails- yeah- how can you forget that?
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to ‘click’ the note App on my Facebook
Profile- I have posted lots.
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