MUSLIM STUFF B 2013

1910 PROTESTS CONTINUE

I normally don’t post on the weekends- but it’s been a big news week.

First- let me talk a little about the street fellowship.

I saw Henry yesterday- he heard we had an ‘overnight’ fellowship the other day [had a few street guys stay over- a chance to get off the streets].

So- I did tell Hugh ‘when you see Henry- tell him he missed out on a great time!’

Sure enough- as I sat with Henry at the mission- Hugh showed up.

He told me that he let Henry know- and that Henry was kinda mad.

Henry said ‘John knows where to get me- he could have come got me!’

Henry works at the marina.

So you could tell that the gig was up- Hugh ‘outed’ Henry.

Henry tried to brush it off.

I told Henry ‘I would have come to get you- but Huey told me when he’s getting free food he prefers the ambience of a small crowd’.

Yeah- I know.

Okay- the news.

First- the current uprisings in the Arab world are very dangerous indeed.

The right and the left are sacrificing true news coverage to gain political points.

You say ‘John- I see how the right- and Romney are doing it- but the left’?

The way the left [some Democrats] are doing it is by making most of the news of the past 3 days about some stupid statement Romney made about Obama not handling the thing well.

Look- I have said I think Romney jumped the gun by criticizing Obama on the first day of the uproar- but come on- it’s been 3-4 days- okay- there's real news to cover.

Both Obama and others said Bush was actually responsible for the deaths of Americans ‘Bush lied- people died’ was the campaign mantra of John Kerry.

He said Bush was directly responsible for the deaths of Americans- because he lied.

He said this over and over and over- while the guys were dying.

So please- some of Romney’s criticism is accurate- Obama is responsible for not beefing up the security at the embassies.

Last night I heard a report that Libya actually warned the U.S. that they can’t secure the embassy in Benghazi- geez- they told us this.

So- the real story- the important story- is the ‘Arab Spring’ is now an Arab winter- but they are protesting the U.S.

What do we do?

Hopefully these protests will peter out- but if not- then we have problems.

The other big news thing.

The Federal Reserve came out and said they will start buying Govt. bonds- and they will continue to buy them until things turn around in the economy.

Once again- those on the left [Dems] are happy.

The right- not so happy.

Why?

 This action will cause the stock market to go up [though it is dangerous to make it go up this way].

And we are about 50 days to the election- and it can only help the president.

Now- what exactly does QE-3 mean?

What the fed is doing is called ‘Quantitative easing’ which simply means what I said above.

This is the 3^rd time they did it- that’s where you get the 3.

They feel that buying U.S. bonds will have an economic impact that will help the overall economy because it will keep interest rates real low- that will prod investors/business people to ‘get off the sidelines’ and use some of the money that is being saved.

Problem?

The Federal Reserve is the nation’s own bank.

They are not run by elected officials- they have minimal oversight- and they can basically do what they want.

If they decide to print money [by buying bonds] they simply do it.

Now- when they buy U.S. debt- it’s like if you needed money.

And you wrote I.O.U.’s to people all over the world [China, Japan, etc.]

After a while- you wrote so many [16 trillion debt] you turned to your spouse and said ‘honey- I can’t write any more to the people down the block- will you buy my IOU’s?’

That’s what the fed is doing- they are buying the debt- but they are our own bank- we are selling bonds to ourselves for heaven’s sake!

Now- this will keep interest rates low- but they are already at all time lows.

You can get a mortgage at under 3%- that’s low.

This tells me that the Fed sees real problems down the road.

The world economies are in trouble- the jobs creation in the U.S. is very bad [last numbers were under 100,000].

So- the action of the fed- in my view- is one of desperation.

It’s artificially inflating the market.

In the short term- yes- you can make money.

But in a way it’s like building a house of cards- in my view.

Okay- that’s it for now- continue to pray for our country- and yes- for the president.

We are seeing a very serious situation develop around the world.

People have lost their lives.

I do commend the Libyan govt. - they tried to stop the attack that killed our ambassador- and by all accounts- they liked him- and appreciated the U.S.

The attack in Benghazi was by radicals.

Egypt is another story.

There newly elected leader- Morsi- responded like he was still the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood- not the elected president of Egypt.

He later backtracked and made a better statement.

All in all- this thing has spread to many Arab nations as of today- and we hope and pray it will only last for a few days- without loss of life.

If it grows- then we have real problems.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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.

1910 PROTESTS CONTINUE

I normally don’t post on the weekends- but it’s been a big news week.

First- let me talk a little about the street fellowship.

I saw Henry yesterday- he heard we had an ‘overnight’ fellowship the other day [had a few street guys stay over- a chance to get off the streets].

So- I did tell Hugh ‘when you see Henry- tell him he missed out on a great time!’

Sure enough- as I sat with Henry at the mission- Hugh showed up.

He told me that he let Henry know- and that Henry was kinda mad.

Henry said ‘John knows where to get me- he could have come got me!’

Henry works at the marina.

So you could tell that the gig was up- Hugh ‘outed’ Henry.

Henry tried to brush it off.

I told Henry ‘I would have come to get you- but Huey told me when he’s getting free food he prefers the ambience of a small crowd’.

Yeah- I know.

Okay- the news.

First- the current uprisings in the Arab world are very dangerous indeed.

The right and the left are sacrificing true news coverage to gain political points.

You say ‘John- I see how the right- and Romney are doing it- but the left’?

The way the left [some Democrats] are doing it is by making most of the news of the past 3 days about some stupid statement Romney made about Obama not handling the thing well.

Look- I have said I think Romney jumped the gun by criticizing Obama on the first day of the uproar- but come on- it’s been 3-4 days- okay- there's real news to cover.

Both Obama and others said Bush was actually responsible for the deaths of Americans ‘Bush lied- people died’ was the campaign mantra of John Kerry.

He said Bush was directly responsible for the deaths of Americans- because he lied.

He said this over and over and over- while the guys were dying.

So please- some of Romney’s criticism is accurate- Obama is responsible for not beefing up the security at the embassies.

Last night I heard a report that Libya actually warned the U.S. that they can’t secure the embassy in Benghazi- geez- they told us this.

So- the real story- the important story- is the ‘Arab Spring’ is now an Arab winter- but they are protesting the U.S.

What do we do?

Hopefully these protests will peter out- but if not- then we have problems.

The other big news thing.

The Federal Reserve came out and said they will start buying Govt. bonds- and they will continue to buy them until things turn around in the economy.

Once again- those on the left [Dems] are happy.

The right- not so happy.

Why?

 This action will cause the stock market to go up [though it is dangerous to make it go up this way].

And we are about 50 days to the election- and it can only help the president.

Now- what exactly does QE-3 mean?

What the fed is doing is called ‘Quantitative easing’ which simply means what I said above.

This is the 3^rd time they did it- that’s where you get the 3.

They feel that buying U.S. bonds will have an economic impact that will help the overall economy because it will keep interest rates real low- that will prod investors/business people to ‘get off the sidelines’ and use some of the money that is being saved.

Problem?

The Federal Reserve is the nation’s own bank.

They are not run by elected officials- they have minimal oversight- and they can basically do what they want.

If they decide to print money [by buying bonds] they simply do it.

Now- when they buy U.S. debt- it’s like if you needed money.

And you wrote I.O.U.’s to people all over the world [China, Japan, etc.]

After a while- you wrote so many [16 trillion debt] you turned to your spouse and said ‘honey- I can’t write any more to the people down the block- will you buy my IOU’s?’

That’s what the fed is doing- they are buying the debt- but they are our own bank- we are selling bonds to ourselves for heaven’s sake!

Now- this will keep interest rates low- but they are already at all time lows.

You can get a mortgage at under 3%- that’s low.

This tells me that the Fed sees real problems down the road.

The world economies are in trouble- the jobs creation in the U.S. is very bad [last numbers were under 100,000].

So- the action of the fed- in my view- is one of desperation.

It’s artificially inflating the market.

In the short term- yes- you can make money.

But in a way it’s like building a house of cards- in my view.

Okay- that’s it for now- continue to pray for our country- and yes- for the president.

We are seeing a very serious situation develop around the world.

People have lost their lives.

I do commend the Libyan govt. - they tried to stop the attack that killed our ambassador- and by all accounts- they liked him- and appreciated the U.S.

The attack in Benghazi was by radicals.

Egypt is another story.

There newly elected leader- Morsi- responded like he was still the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood- not the elected president of Egypt.

He later backtracked and made a better statement.

All in all- this thing has spread to many Arab nations as of today- and we hope and pray it will only last for a few days- without loss of life.

If it grows- then we have real problems.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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.

1909 FROM THE STREETS OF CORPUS TO THE WORLD

We got up early yesterday- had a couple of the street guys spend the night.

I cooked breakfast and we went to pick up Andy’s daughter.

For some reason this past week she had some kind of mental breakdown.

Her name is Rocelle [yeah- not Rochelle] she is around 38 years old and Andy [her dad] told me she tried to commit suicide the other day- she has been acting different- a type of mental breakdown.

So her husband is afraid to leave her alone when he goes to work- and we went and got her.

She spent most of the day with us- we drove over to the hospital to see John David.

He would be her uncle- Andy’s brother.

He just had open heart surgery.

Rocelle liked my yard/study.

It’s funny- I have verses and stuff all over the place- lots of people think it looks overdone- sort of ‘trailer trash’.

I do joke about it at times.

But Rocelle told Andy- as they were walking back into the house- that she wanted to just walk around and read all the verses- she was ‘fascinated’ by it.

I also had another friend- who just happens to suffer from mental problems- he too loved the yard- just ‘being there’.

In a way I do think it’s a sort of prayer garden type experience- these friends sense the presence of God- I walk the yard early in the mornings and pray- many of the verses are written out of this prayer time.

So- in a spiritual way- they are entering into this time.

We went and seen John David- I posted the pic last night [with Huey his brother by his side].

I haven’t seen David in a few years- I have written a bunch of posts about him- he was the one who killed his best buddy years ago in Dallas.

Got off by his mom hiring the lawyer who represented the guy who killed Lee Harvey Oswald [remember the post?].

Anyway David was an addict for many years- got clean a few years ago and has been wanting to start a halfway house.

David and his brothers have told me that he was a very successful business man years ago- made lots of money [millions?].

You know- he had a construction business- a big one.

He eventually blew the money on drugs and became a street guy.

As we were waiting at the hosp to see him- we walked passed some guy- dressed nice in a suit and all- and later he came up to us.

He told Huey ‘do you remember me’?

Huey said no.

He told Huey he was John John.

Huey told me that John John was a young boy who used to work for David years ago.

They all hauled concrete and stuff together.

Huey told me that John John is a ‘big wig’ now in the area- runs a big furniture store- lives in Kings Crossing [a rich area].

He came to see David.

He said David was his neighbor years ago.

David lived in the rich section too.

So we talked with David- I prayed for him- and I told him I’m gonna try and help him set up the half way house.

I drove by the house he’s looking at- right in the drug area- perfect spot.

I had Andy drive me by John David’s apt.

We got out to talk to his girlfriend- Andy tells me ‘be careful round here- it's a big drug dealer spot- don’t look at anyone’.

I laughed- I told him I have been ‘hanging out’ on the corners the last few weeks [remember the posts on Terri and Arnold- and the guy I tried to give a dollar to- he ran away!].

Yeah- it was funny.

We had a good day- Rocelle asked if we could do this again.

I told her sure- she can come with us when we get together.

Now- I know that driving around- we did pray- shared scripture- stopped for snacks- I know from years of experience- that in a way this can be true fellowship [I have actually written a few books about this- on the blog].

So- Rocelle was simply enjoying the fellowship time- she is having a hard time- and instead of being out hooking up for drugs [I think the reason she has been having this difficult time- in her mind- is her dad and uncle think she might have done some type of new drug- maybe Bath Salts- the drug that has caused people to go nuts].

All in all- it was a good day.

I do want to mention the current situation in the Arab/Persian nations right now.

Yesterday I posted about the killing at our embassy in Libya- and the protests at our embassy in Egypt.

Over the night they have now spread to Yemen and Sudan- and maybe more.

The news talk now is about the politics of the whole thing.

Did Romney criticize too soon?

Did the state dept. [our embassy in Egypt] jump the gun in a kind of apologetic statement they put out- sort of ‘siding’ with the protestors.

This last year [even this last week- before this broke out].

I have been saying that the media have not been truly covering the aftermath of the things we have dome in Libya and Egypt.

I told a friend that Libya is highly unstable.

I told him that various militia groups still roam around- fully armed- and no one is really in control.

My criticisms have been that we sided with the people in the east [Benghazi] and ‘took out’ the leader in the west [Gadhaffi- Tripoli].

The problem?

The people of the east- many of them- are/were anti American- and some of them are indeed Al Qaeda [do you remember Gadhaffi saying this- over and over again?]

Now- without re-posting everything.

One of the reasons some in the eastern part of Libya wanted to remove Gadhaffi- was because he was seen as a ‘puppet’ of the west.

Yes- he decided to work with the U.S. and this angered some of the radicals in the east.

Okay- what happened yesterday?

These same radical groups- who are walking around with heavy artillery- Rocket Propelled Grenades- they basically attacked our embassy- in Benghazi- in the eastern ‘capital’ and killed 4 Americans.

See?

The newly installed govt. in Libya has said that they have no control over the country.

They said this a few months ago.

Why does the average person not know this?

Why have we not been doing  more to protect our embassies- we know [I hope] that Libya cannot provide the security needed- they have said this publicly for heaven’s sake.

I do think we need to pray- I do think the initial statement from the state dept. was bad.

And I do think Romney should have waited- at least a day- before commenting.

But the bigger story is when the U.S. involves itself militarily- to depose a leader- any leader- we need to also be aware of the aftermath- the instability that will result when the job is ‘finished’ [even in Iraq- and right now in Syria- we need to stop saying that these leaders- any/all of them- are committing ‘crimes against humanity’- geez- both sides are. We need to stop making it into a soundbite ‘you are on the wrong side of history’. No- the answer- moving forward- is for all sides to sit down and talk- Russia is right in what they are saying about Syria].

The statement [or lack thereof] from the new Egyptian president- Morsi- was dismal.

Last I heard- he still has not condemned the attacks- and he basically sided with the protestors.

We have no ally in Egypt- the people we backed in Libya [not all of them] just killed 4 Americans- and it seems like the violence is spreading.

Pray for world peace- I know it sounds ‘liberal’ but it is the will of God.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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.

1908 ATTACKS IN LIBYA AND EGYPT

Last night we cooked late- so I let a couple of the street guys spend the night.

I have done this every so often in the past- not really a big deal.

But the reason I usually avoid it is because I have a ‘million’ homeless buddies- and once you go down this road- well you got the picture.

But I felt the lord wanted this.

The pics I posted last night [by the way- whenever I post pics during the day- I never check Facebook form my phone. So- if I take a trip to N.J. - I’ll probably post pics- but will not get on line until I get back- so for those who leave comments- I won’t see them till much later].

So- the pics from the day [or month!] before will get descriptions when I’m back at the lap top.

Okay- Andy and Huey spent the night- they watched the Green Mile [twice].

I asked them what channel they liked- to leave on all night.

They wanted the classics.

We never got a chance to see their brother yesterday- David.

He had triple bypass heart surgery- and we were gonna see him.

His nephew [Andy’s and Huey’s too] hitched all the way from Louisiana- just to see John David in the hosp.

That’s the son of an older brother who died.

I told Andy ‘bring Leon over in the morning’ they are sleeping on the streets- geez.

But Huey got a call as I was cooking- he left last night [hitching a ride].

We will go see John David later- Andy told me David even asked if I was still around.

Me and David became good friends after he quit the Ice [he was a huge meth addict].

When he got clean- and got right with God- he just wanted to get together all the time.

Like a new Christian- wanting to learn everything he can.

As the guys were crashed out on the floor last night- I of course caught my news fix.

I was surprised to see the very serious story about the Islamic protests in Egypt and Libya.

Just a note- this should have been the top story on every news network- it met the criteria of serious breaking news [which the networks now say about everything].

But the one station- at least at 7 pm- that did the right coverage- was Cooper from CNN.

Now- Fox of course covered it- and I guess MSNBC- but Cooper treated it with the coverage it deserved.

What happened?

At first it was reported in a deceptive way.

The coverage said that these protests- which killed 2 Americans in the American consulate in Libya- were a reaction to a negative movie put out by the now infamous pastor from Fla.

You remember him- the guy who started  trouble a while back.

So the way the news reported it- it made it sound like he just put out another negative Muslim thing- and that’s why the angry response happened.

But then they reported that this video was out for weeks [or months].

And that some of the radical Islamic sights were already calling for protests on 9-11.

So- for there to have been these types of very serious uprisings- in 2 countries that we had a major role in removing [or killing] the leaders- this is bad- real bad.

Fox showed a speech by the president- a famous speech he gave in 2009- called the ‘Cairo speech’.

It’s famous because critics of the president have used it to say he kind of sucked up to the Muslims.

As I heard the speech- in context of last night’s news- I agreed with everything the president said.

He did offer somewhat of an olive branch to the Muslim world- but he was very careful to say this branch was to those who reject violence.

He spoke about living peaceably in a world with other faiths.

I listened carefully- I agreed with everything he said.

But it is important not to miss the fact that we have never had our embassies assaulted like this in the past- and that these attacks took place under regimes that we backed.

This is not good.

I found it interesting that I ‘accidently’ spoke about these issues the last few days.

And here we are- it’s the big story of the day [week- month?]

The killing of 2 Americans at a consulate is very serious indeed.

The fact that it happened on 9-11 is very serious.

Today we do need to pray for peace- we need to of course respond in a proper way- either shut down our embassy- or whatever needs to be done.

But we live in a world where we have both freedom of speech- and responsibility.

When this Fla. Pastor first made waves- it was easy for the media to brand him as a nut- a crazy guy.

And I of course do not hold to this guys views at all- the way he ‘exposes’ Islam.

But- to react with violence- to kill people who even show a drawing of Muhammad [which has happened] this is not civilized.

If we [Christians, Jews- Muslims- etc.] are going to try and live in the world together- then we need to condemn these things.

Actually- if you want the right response- the way we need to move forward- just listen to Obama’s Cairo speech- that pretty much sums it up.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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.

1907 IS THE GOSPEL REALLY THE ANSWER?

Of course today we remember those who died 11 years ago.

We pray for the families and friends.

I find it strange that I recently stumbled into some of the verses in Revelation- that deal with nations and systems that war against each other.

It’s almost unbelievable to realize that in the last presidential campaign- you had someone on the Repub platform- talking about the ‘real reason’ 9-11 happened.

I mean comedians got raked over the coals for this- and others fumbled and fell into a great trap by even wading on the water’s edge.

Ron Paul often spoke about the mindset of radical Islam

Paul was the libertarian candidate who ran on the Repub ticket.

He spoke about the mindset that led to the terror attack on 9-11.

Now- in no way do I justify anything like what happened.

But it is important to see the underlying grievance that the radical wing of Islam harbors.

We often hear that the reason for the attack was ‘they hate our freedom’.

Was that the reason?

If you actually read the writings of the radicals- they believe they are indeed in a ‘holy war’.

They see the encroachment of the West- our ‘values’ [last post] and our ‘occupation’ of their holy lands as the grievance.

If you think back- the first real attack against the west was the bombing of the Kobar towers in Saudi Arabia.

This was the first one [that I recall] that was a direct act of what we call Al Qaeda.

The movement started by Osama Bin laden.

They saw Saudi Arabia as their holy land- and the towers were the U.S. base in the land.

Okay- am I justifying the attack?

No- just want you to see the mindset.

Then- the attack on the World Trade center.

The radical mind believes that to hit the ‘occupier’ in her homeland is a justifiable response because we have been engaged- many times- in Arab/Muslim lands- militarily.

I had a talk with a friend the other day- we were discussing these issues.

I told my friend that Christianity- and Judaism- have had their own ‘reformation’ of sorts.

Both religions have come to a place where they see the separation of church and state- that is- they are able to distinguish between religious belief and acts of war.

Now- there are critics of Christianity who still accuse the church of wanting to have a theocracy [church ruled state].

But for the most part- those who believe this [reconstructionist's] are far and few in between.

But- Islam has not yet had her ‘reformation’ moment.

Now- as a blogger who has Muslim, Jewish and Christian readers- my goal is not to offend anyone- nor to skirt the real issues.

There are many fine Muslim people- who do indeed reject the entire mindset of radical Islam.

But- in the actual debates that go in within the religion- there are many who still believe that force- along with reliogus expression- is acceptable.

Islam is not only a ‘religion’ per se- but it is also a way of government.

Now- like I said- during the history of the church- obviously the same thing happened.

I mean any person who studies the rise of Western civilization- the arts- science- history- I mean the church is the major player on the board- hands down.

But- today most Christians see their role as more of a spiritual one- yes- being active in politics- voting- yes- we do have a voice at the table.

But we don’t- for the most part- want to take up an armed resistance against the world.

So- those who adhere to radical Islam- they see their struggle- well much like the last post- a Che type of thing.

I think the future depends- not on us killing all the radicals- no- this can never be fully done.

The mindset lives on in the flowing generations.

No- the answer is in learning mutual respect for each other’s beliefs and cultures.

Now- I’m’ not saying ‘let’s try and understand the poor terrorist’.

But I am saying that we in the West do need to see the root cause of why terrorism happens.

In a little while I will be going to visit John David in the ICU.

John is the friend I have written about over the years.

He was a coke addict for many years- got clean about 2 years ago.

I have pictures of him and his brother on my face book site.

We were having a fellowship at the house and did the Lords Supper.

John had heart surgery yesterday- and I will be taking his brothers Hugh and Andy to see him.

The other day I found a few packets of seeds at the house- the type you plant in the vegetable garden.

Don- the street guy who maintains the garden at the mission- he asked me one day if I could get him some.

I mean he plants that garden from scratch [see the pics on face book].

I gave them to him- he was elated- over seeds!

One day- about 10 years ago now- I was sitting at the fire house- actually it was soon after 9-11.

The fire depts. were on high alert- we had things we were to watch out for- stuff that we never worried about before.

So one day- sitting at the station- may Captain says ‘hey John- go see what the Muslim wants’.

Sure enough- some guy- dressed for the part- was walking around the fire trucks.

This station was right by A&I university [now A&M].

So- we used to keep the doors open all day [not any more] and people could walk in if they wanted.

So I went outside- the guy was just checking all the emergency vehicles out.

He told me ‘I’m doing research for a school project’.

Hmm?

As I talked with him- we got into ‘religion’ and I covered the history Of Christians and Arabs.

I traced back to Abraham- went into the story of his sons [Arabs trace their roots to Abraham’s son Ishmael]

And when I was done- I told him the true purpose of God- to redeem all nations of the earth.

That God loves the Arab- the Persian [we often mistake Persians for Arabs].

That he loves all people- and he sent his Son to die for all of humanity.

To my surprise- he told me he has never- not once- heard this story.

His view of Christianity- the west- the entire mindset- was shaped by world events.

He did not distinguish between Christianity and the actual Govt. of the U.S.

He- like many others- view the entire ‘struggle’ as a struggle for who will ‘rule the world’.

In my time with him- I tried to show him a better way.

No- I am not advocating passivism.

I’m not saying if we simply try to understand the terrorist- the he will go away.

But I am saying- in some cases- these people have never really heard the message.

In some cases- like the Apostle Paul said ‘satan has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe’.

In some cases- the Good News [gospel] is really the answer.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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.

1906 CHE

I watched another documentary this weekend.

It was the story of Che Guevara.

Che is well known today as a sort of symbol of the revolutionary youth movement. 

He embodies the persona of those who defy ‘Imperialism/Colonialism’.

Che was an Argentinean doctor- who at a young age took a motorcycle journey thru Latin America [South- Central America] and he saw the extreme poverty of the people.

He would see one of the main factors of this poverty being the influence that the U.S. held over these nations thru corporate agreements with the ‘puppet’ leaders of these nations.

For instance- many of the poor of these nations were peasant farmers- they worked the land for rich land owners- and they subsisted on a few dollars a day wages.

Yet the owners of the land- they were rich.

Likewise- Che believed that the leaders of the nations were ‘in bed’ with the U.S. - and they allowed U.S. corporations to rake their countries of wealth- at the expense of the people.

Now- I am not saying I totally agree with Che.

He has many critics- as well as supporters [he’s dead of course].

Jean Paul Sartre [remember our philosophy posts?] supported him- others did not.

The point being- Che saw a system- the U.S. govt and American corporations- as an all powerful system that polluted the nations to her south.

He felt the influence of greed and corruption were the main causes of the plight of the Latin American people.

His revolution- Che literally left his duties as a doctor and led an armed rebellion against the U.S. - would eventually lead to his execution by Bolivian forces [Bolivia is just north of Argentina- Che’s homeland] backed by the CIA.

Che was a key factor in the Cuban revolution that deposed Batista- the U.S. backed leader of Cuba- and installed Castro.

Che’s influence lives on today in many of the leaders of south/central America.

If you ever hear Hugo Chavez [Venezuela] speak- you hear the words and thoughts of Che.

This last week I have been reading Revelation- the last 5 chapters or so.

The apostle John writes about the Mystery- the ‘Whore of Babylon’- this great city- that pollutes all the nations of the world with her lust for wealth.

This city [nation] lures the other nations of the world by her wealth and power.

She has all types of merchandise- even the Souls of men.

As you read the account- it’s easy to see a type of what Che saw when rebelling against U.S. interests in his homeland.

I had a talk with my street friend Dirk the other day.

Somehow we got into a discussion about the U.S. prison system.

I mentioned to Dirk how over the last 5 years or so I started cutting out of the news paper all the cases of people from this region who got sent to prison.

I regularly pray for them- now hundreds of them- every week [just did this morning].

I try and pick the cases that I think are really tough.

There was one lady- in her 60’s.

Sandra Briggs [I remember her name- and her face].

She was sent to prison for a DWI that killed a person.

Mrs. Briggs was a widow- she owned a jewelry store for many years with her husband.

He was shot and killed a couple of years ago by a burglar.

One night she went to a bar- I guess a place where she would stop in and have a few drinks before going home.

She had a couple of drinks- and on the way home [I think at night?] there was a wreck- and one car was in the middle of the road- and she hit it.

Now- as I read the case and followed the story in the San Antonio paper.

The person who was killed was a young off duty cop.

The other car that hit him cut him in half.

Yeah- a very bad accident.

His body was lying over the barrier- it looked like someone was bending over- to pick something up.

During the testimony- they said how when she was standing there- after the wreck- she was kind of laughing.

I guess it was a nervous laughter type thing- she did not know she killed a person.

The prosecutor made it sound like she was laughing- right over the severed body.

Now- I’m sure the lady had no idea that this guy was dead- and cut in half.

But they gave Mrs. Briggs 45 years in prison for it.

Now- I make no excuses for what she did- she messed up- she should not have been drinking and driving- we all agree.

But I have seen cases where a gang kid shoots another kid in the head- on purpose- and gets less time.

So these are the tough cases.

As I talked with Dirk I told him I was surprised about the large amount of cases where guys get sent up for solicitation of minors.

I never remember hearing about it- years ago.

But the development of the internet- and the availability of everyone on line- well the cases must be up a million %.

Now- here's the rub.

In the U.S. - you have legal porn all over the net.

It’s legal for 18 year olds to be in porn.

The U.S. says this is freedom- this is what we are all about- if you don’t like it- you don’t have to view it- but the U.S. has made it available all over the world- even to countries that outlaw it [Iran- and many Muslim nations].

But- many of the cases I have read- are cases where men tried to contact under age girls for sex.

Yes- wrong- we all agree.

Legally- if you view- or try to contact an 18 year old- this is deemed okay.

A 17 year old- 364 days- and 1 minute form her 18^th birthday- this is a crime.

Okay- yes- this should be a crime.

But why does the U.S protect this [the viewing of the 18 yr old]?

Our country calls the exploitation of the 18 year old- ‘free speech’.

Huh?

You mean viewing or contacting an 18 year old is considered a right- a part of our freedom- yet the 17 year old is a crime.

There are many nations who outlaw it all- now- there are ways people in those nations get around it- but the nation itself does not actually encourage it- like we do.

In some of these nations- we are militarily involved- on the basis of some type of moral judgment.

Yes- all of our wars- in some way- come down to the fact that we deemed some act- like 9-11, as immoral.

Of course most of us would agree that 9-11 deserved a response.

But what about a situation like Libya.

After the rebels rose up- we eventually had an air campaign under the guise of NATO- and it led to the killing of Gadhaffi.

Most people could care less.

His grandkids were bombed and killed in a civilian home- we said it was a legitimate target.

His daughter- pregnant- was on the run to a neighboring nation for safety.

If the rebels caught her- who knows- they might have ripped her baby out right there.

Yes- the rebels we backed have done stuff like this- and much worse.

Okay- the point?

When we- as a powerful nation- make moral judgments and intervene in the affairs of other nations- we justify our actions.

Even though some of these nations abhor our values [the above 18 year old example].

We- in our nation have in a way ‘increased the sins among men’ [a description of Babylon in the book of Revelation].

Because we simply deem the distribution of porno- to all the nations of the world- as ‘freedom of speech’.

Yet- as we ‘protect’ this right- at the same time hundreds of thousands of cases of on line crimes have increased over the last few years.

Are our values in any way contributing to this?

And then we at the same time interfere in other nations- at times militarily- because of a value judgment.

Do you now see why the Che’s of the world have such a following?

Don’t misread this post.

Che is a popular figure among many socialist groups- I am not one of them.

I simply want you to see the ancient war that has been going on since the days of the apostle John.

John described Babylon [any human govt. that becomes corrupt] as a system that increases the sins of men- that pollutes other nations based on her own skewed value system- and that uses it’s extreme wealth to bribe the other ‘kings of the earth who have drunk from the cup of her fornication’.

Yes- as I read the many cases of people being trod off to prison- because they viewed a 17 year old girl- who is being exploited by some money hungry corporate interest- and this is all protected- vigorously- by the U.S. govt. if the girl is 18.

I wonder if our values have contributed to the ‘sins among men’.

A quote from Che  ‘man truly achieves his full human condition when he produces without being compelled by the physical necessity of selling himself as a commodity’

A quote from the apostle John ‘in her were the souls of men- she made all nations drink of the wine of her uncleanness’.

Yeah- some things never change.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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.

1904 JERUSALEM DIVIDED?

I want to pick up a little from the last post- but I also got with the street guys yesterday and maybe will make a few comments.

Yesterday we talked about the first century context of the Jewish people- as it relates to the Messiah.

That is the Jewish nation was waiting for centuries for the promised one who would come and deliver them.

Jesus showed up on the scene and claimed to be the One.

The early followers of Jesus- all Jews- did not fully grasp the spiritual nature of Gods kingdom.

He would teach them principles about the kingdom that seemed to go against the flow of normal life.

‘The last shall be first’

‘He that dies shall live’

‘You have heard an eye for an eye- but I say love your enemies…’

All these principles were showing them that the Kingdom that Jesus was talking about was a spiritual kingdom- that would also affect the world as we know it- but at its heart it was not about material stuff.

Okay- now- the Jewish people at the time of Christ were wanting a national deliverance- they were pre-occupied with getting free from the rule of Rome- and their hopes- like many people today- were tied up in the advance of their nation- their people.

But you have the writings of the early apostles talking about this new kingdom- where Jesus died for all people [Jews and Gentiles] and he ‘reconciled both [groups] unto God in One Body on the Cross’. [Ephesians]

So- your getting a different picture here- Paul the Apostle is saying that we are all now part of this new community of God- he says ‘we are now partakers with the Jewish people- we are this new commonwealth’.

The actual teaching- from the bible- is very advanced for its time.

I mean if you think about it- these words were written 2 thousand years ago- and they speak about relations between groups that the modern church seems to miss.

When we- in our day- appeal to the Old Testament verses about God giving land to Israel- and we couch all of our ‘end times’ preaching in scenarios that have one side killing the other- or when Western Christians visit the ‘Holy Land’- talking about the staging of the final ‘assault’ [Armageddon] and how many Arabs [Muslims] will be slaughtered by a Jewish army- lead by Christ- I mean do we really realize what we are saying?

I just read Revelation chapter 4- and it had nothing to do with this post- but as a side note it said there was thing angel flying in heaven- preaching the ‘everlasting gospel’ to all nations that dwell on the earth.

The gospel means ‘good news’- we often read the book of Revelation- and use it to back up the scenarios I just spoke about.

But this verse says the intent of God is to tell the good news to ALL ETHNIC GROUPS.

No one is left out- do you hear this?

Arabs- Jews- everyone- the good news is Christ brought us all back to God by his death for us.

That’s good news.

Would it be good news if I said ‘hey Arab- guess what- Christ is coming back- oh- he will lead a war against you and your kids- if you get lucky you might be killed by Christ’.

Now- I know this sounds absurd- but that’s the majority teaching in the American Protestant church today.

Just last night I caught a little of the coverage of the Democrat convention.

They were reporting on a ‘big’ news event.

What was it?

That the Dem’s took the wording out of their platform that said they believed Jerusalem should be the undivided capitol of Israel.

Why would this big a big deal?

It dates back to the 19^th century- and the rise of what we call Dispensational theology.

Basically the development of this whole teaching that I just covered.

Eventually the teaching would influence large swaths of American Protestantism.

And it would seep in to the political world.

Yes- the actual statement that Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel- found in the political parties of our day- stem straight from the influence of the Dispensationalists of the 19^th century.

Okay- what am I saying?

Do I advocate for the Palestinians getting half of Jerusalem?

[See- now I’m getting into politics]

Practically speaking- I don’t see how that could ever be workable.

You have Hamas- a recognized terror group by the U.S. - holding elected positions in Palestine.

So- I don’t see how this same group can share Jerusalem- practically speaking.

But- when you begin basing your political agenda on your view of the bible which might very well be wrong- then that’s when we get into trouble.

See?

The New Testament apostles saw Jesus as the Messiah that they were waiting for.

All Jewish people do not see it that way- that’s their right- they have the freedom to believe the way they want.

Arab people have the freedom to believe the way they want.

Christians have the freedom to believe the way they want.

We as believers should share the Good News with all people groups.

That’s our mandate.

I just fear that much of what we are preaching is not good news.

See?

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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.

1903 JEWS AND THE END TIMES?

I want to delve into a hard issue for the church.

The last few weeks I have been watching the documentaries from net flix.

I mentioned that most [if not all?] are done from the liberal perspective- which I’m okay with.

But it is important on all issues to see both sides.

One of the things they dealt with was the history of the church and anti Semitism.

Yes- the Christian church has had a long history of treating the Jewish people badly.

Why?

As a Protestant- those of you who have been reading my posts for a while- well you realize that I’m not in the ‘normal’ category of Protestantism.

Many of the subjects I hit on are going against the strain of what we normally view as American Evangelicalism.

I often reference the Pope- in a good way- or talk about our Catholic brothers and sisters- well- as brothers and sisters!

So- I realize I have rubbed many the wrong way.

So- this subject of the treatment of the Jewish people has seen extremes- and in the American Evangelical church- much too much of the ‘end times’ stuff- in my view- is missing the boat.

As we read the New Testament we see Jesus and the disciples [all Jewish by the way] living at a time when the Roman govt. ruled over the Jewish people- and the Jewish people were waiting for their ‘salvation’ by means of a Jewish Messiah who would come and deliver them from their oppressors.

Much of their understanding of salvation was tied in to a national deliverance.

When you read the prayers/praises of both John the Baptists dad- and also Mary’s praise [called the Magnificat] you see a strong sense of national deliverance.

They speak about God sending the Messiah to deliver the people form their oppressors.

Okay- in this milieu we have Jesus and his guys living and believing that the ‘salvation’ of God is near.

It was only natural for the disciples- especially those who we call Zealots [Simon- not Peter] to think that this whole salvation story was about God restoring natural Israel back to a place of prominence once again- no more Roman rule type of thing.

But we see an interesting thing with Jesus- he keeps making statements that seem to lead the disciples away from seeing things this way.

‘My kingdom is not of this world- or my men would fight’

‘Put up the sword- those who live by it will die by it’

And the verse I quoted the other day ‘see all these buildings- temple- there will not be one stone left upon another’.

He basically is rejecting the nationalistic idea of him being the Messiah who would redeem Israel in a nationalist way.

He’s showing them that his purpose is different- it’s salvific for sure- but not in the way they perceive.

Okay- I’m beginning to realize I won’t be able to cover the whole thing in this post.

Maybe I’ll do a few more like this in the next few days.

The point is- I want you to see that God’s purpose for our Jewish friends- our Muslim friends- for all races and ethnic groups.

His purpose is not to pit one side against the other.

It’s not about Jesus defending one side- at his second coming- and actually leading that side in a real war- where he shoots people- or kills them with a sword!

No- these scenarios- which prevail in the End Times books you see at Wal mart.

These ‘narratives’ if you will- go against the entire grain of the teachings of Jesus.

This is why you see me so negative at times- against the Evangelical church.

Many Protestants- well meaning people- have such a negative view of the historic church- that they reject the ancient church’s position on these things.

For the most part- the historic church took a position called A-Millennialism.

Basically it’s a kind of spiritual way of seeing all these things.

God’s kingdom is not seen thru the eyes of natural war- but thru the eyes of a heavenly kingdom.

I think that’s the correct position- for the most part.

But most American protestants believe that this position is just one of the many ‘doctrines of the Whore of Babylon’ see what I mean?

Okay- lets end there- think on some of this stuff- read the New Testament with this in your mind.

Why does the Apostle John refer to natural Jerusalem as ‘spiritual Sodom and Egypt’? [Revelation]

Was his intent to be anti Semitic?

No- he was showing us that God’s concern was for all people groups- no longer was it about a nationalistic thing- a type of salvation that the disciples at first were thinking of.

As I end this post- I want to make sure that all my friends- Jews- Muslims- all- understand that my position is that God loves us all- and he’s not in the business of backing any side- militarily.

I hope to show you this in the coming days.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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.

1896  SIGNS OF THE TIMES

‘Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee- is burned up with fire’ Isaiah 64:11.

Yesterday I mentioned that I watched a couple of negative documentaries about Christianity- they were done from the extreme skeptic’s perspective.

In these types of shows they usually have a few Christians/preachers that they portray as idiots.

In some cases- we can’t help ourselves!

One of the scenes was this group of protestant Christians traveling to Israel on a holy land tour.

When they are at the site of the temple mount [a real big deal for certain protestants- called Dispensationalists].

The pastor is speaking- very loudly- and quoting Jesus from Matthew 24.

He says ‘Jesus said there would be no stone left upon another- he meant it- all these stones will come down’!

Now- I know he meant well- and it must have felt exhilarating for him to kind of be standing up for Jesus- but we all know that there is this huge gold mosque sitting right at the spot where the temple used to be.

And this is where- for some Protestants- the rubber meets the road.

The above verse comes from the Old Testament prophet- the people of God [Israel] were being judged- they lost their homeland and eventually their holy temple would be destroyed.

Over a period of time they would return to their land and the temple would be re built.

During the days of Jesus you had a 3^rd temple- even though the 2^nd rebuilt one was never destroyed- yet Herod [the father of king Herod whom we read about in the bible] would undergo this huge rebuilding project- and he turned the temple of Jesus day into this huge majestic place.

So- when the disciples were with Jesus one day [matt 24] they said ‘look at all these great buildings Jesus’.

And that’s when he gave the response ‘their will not be left one stone upon another that shall not be cast down’.

This event took place in the year AD 70- the Roman general Titus would sack Jerusalem and the temple was cast down- there was not ‘one stone left on another’ literally.

After the destruction- many went in and searched thru the rubble for the gold that melted and fell between the stones- they actually laid every stone bare during this process.

So- the actual words the minister quoted from Jesus- these words were not defending the glory of the temple- which in Christ’s day came to represent religion apart from God.

No- the words of Jesus were actually a rebuke to those who put too  much emphasis on the temple itself [which just happened to be the camp that the above minister was in- ouch!]

Christians do have a problem with stuff like this- lots.

I also caught a few preaching shows over the past week- and many of them had the same theme.

One man was ranting against Muslims- he was quoting verses in the Bible that talk about avoiding the evil person.

I actually just posted on this a few weeks ago.

These verses come from the Apostle Paul’s pen- in his letter to the church at Corinth.

He was not saying to have no contact with unbelievers [or people of other faiths]- he was talking about ‘church members’ who were living in open sin.

I got into it the other day- don’t want to rehash it again.

The point was- even though this minister meant well- he was giving the opinion that Christians should have no peaceful dealings with Muslims- or any other religion for that matter.

Is this right?

No.

The bible says we should live peaceably with all men.

In the Old Testament we read the story of Joseph.

He became the second most powerful figure in the land of Egypt- only Pharaoh was over him.

Joseph was living- and functioning- in the midst of the Egyptian people- who did indeed have different religious beliefs than Joseph.

Yet we read how Joseph earned great respect from the Egyptians- and when Joseph’s dad died [Jacob- who was named Israel] they respected the wishes of Joseph and even mourned with him.

Now- this is a great example of believers having friends- functioning in society- without purposefully offending people.

I do not claim to have perfect understanding about the end times- but I do see some major flaws with what most people think about when they hear ‘end times’.

Many Christians see a future restoration of the temple in Jerusalem.

They see a huge problem that the mosque sits on the temple site- and they have various scenarios to see the thing removed.

These same believers- all good people mind you- also see Jesus restoring the sacrificial system- and him ruling over Jerusalem- with the sacrifices taking place once again.

Problem?

In the book of Hebrews- in our bibles- the writer says ‘those who continue the sacrificial system- after the crucifixion of Christ- are doing disgrace to the Cross of Christ.’

Theologically- the above end time’s scenario does much harm to the basic message of the Cross.

Geopolitically- it spells disaster.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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.

1892- WHAT A DEAL!

Well I finally sold the Mustang last night [a car- not horse].

I put it on Craigslist for about a week- geez- too many calls.

People would ask for directions- I’d give them the address and directions- then they would call back ‘well- I don’t speak English too good [lots of Mexicans buy the cars from this area and sell them in Mexico] - I’m still in the parking lot ‘[Wal mart].

Okay- would could I do?

I told a few people ‘look- I gave you the address- directions- part of this project is you need to be able to get here- if you can’t complete this part of the ‘mission’ then I guess you won’t be buying the car brother’.

Yeah- they need that type of tough love.

So anyway it sold for 700.

That was a steal to be honest.

1998 mustang- runs good- does need a starter.

Another one was selling for 1500- with a blown motor!

Okay- let’s do another verse from the prophet.

‘In all their affliction he was afflicted- and the angel of his presence saved them’ Isaiah 63:9

If you read the entire chapter you get a scene of someone treading the Winepress.

I spoke about this a while back- the imagery of a Winepress- a place where you crush the grapes and make the wine- is used by the prophets in the bible.

Jesus himself uses the same imagery in the gospels.

Here you have God saying ‘I looked for a man- someone to do this mission- and I found no one- so my own arm brought salvation’.

It is important to note that in this chapter we see God [Jesus] stained with the blood of those who are being trampled at the Winepress.

In the book of Revelation we this same thing.

Many modern prophecy teachers [another pet peeve of mine by the way] have an end time scenario all figured out- they see these things thru the ‘lens’ of modern warfare- which nation should get which piece of land [Israel- Palestine- etc.]

But they fail to see how the New Testament focuses on all ethnic groups- Jews, Palestinians- etc-  as being One New Man in Christ [Ephesians].

So- this image of the winepress sometimes is associated with a final battle of Armageddon scenario- that makes me cringe when I hear it proclaimed- in an ethnic way- from the media pulpits.

‘John- how should we take it then’?

Look- I’m not saying ‘my way’ is the only way- or the right way.

But when we read the bible- we must also take into consideration the broader themes of the love and grace of God- yes- judgment too- I don’t deny that- but the mercy of God must be there as well.

So- in this imagery of Jesus being stained with the blood of sinners- at a Winepress- the ‘place of pressing’ [like the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus started to bleed- pouring out his blood].

We can also see this as a type of the Cross- the place where the judgment and wrath of God was poured out- on Christ himself.

Maybe the blood that the ‘treader’ is soaked in- maybe its redemptive- just maybe.

See?

But the actual verse I wanted to hit on was that ‘in all our affliction- he is afflicted’ [which by the way fits in more with what I just said].

In 1^st Peter 4 we read that we are partakers of Christ’s suffering.

The apostle Paul said ‘I fill up the sufferings of Christ’.

They saw their trials as being redemptive in nature- that is they felt like the things they were going thru in life were for a higher purpose.

They did not view the Christian experience thru a lens that was primarily seeking self benefit.

Many today see ‘church’ and Christianity as a means of self improvement- often times you hear the same thing from the pulpits as you hear on the weekend self help infomercials [or the ‘how to get rich’ guys].

Is this a right view?

No.

We are on the earth to glorify God- and to finish the work he gave us to do.

If part of the cost is suffering- then so be it.

These verses I have quoted show us in no uncertain terms that we are called- at times- to suffer.

As a student of all types of scholars- I must confess that our Catholic brothers and sisters get this right- much more often than Protestants.

So- those of you who have been tracking this journey- you have seen some flat tires- some wrecked trucks- and yeah- some up’s and downs.

I’m not saying all of this is equal to the sufferings of the early apostles- but in a small way- we can identify- and gain comfort- to know that these are not ‘strange trials’ these are things we all go thru in life.

I just wish we could take turns!

LOL

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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.

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 20^th 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.  

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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.

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 20^th 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.  

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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.

1884  AND THEY CALL THEM ‘SMART PHONES’

I dropped my daughter off at the San Antonio airport [by the way- we do have a nice Corpus airport- but the flights are cheaper if you fly from the Alamo city].

The next day [yesterday] as I was catching the news- I saw that they locked down the airport- they had a bomb scare at the same time we were there the day before.

Glad I missed it for sure.

Okay- there are always a few current event things to do- lets hit some real quick.

The Chick- Fil- A debacle.

As most of you know the president of the restaurant got into some hot water by saying he was for traditional marriage-- not ‘gay’ marriage.

Then you had the ‘left’ go ballistic ‘how dare you hold values different than ours'!

The mayor of Boston [Menino] and Chicago [Emmanuel- yeah- him again] were outraged.

So outraged- that they said they were banning the chain from opening up restaurants in their cities.

Wow- what noble ethics these guys have.

If the CEO of a company simply holds traditional values- you forbid him to operate in your city.

Even though gay people actually work for the company- and they also serve gay folk.

No- if you say your view is different- you’re out.

I like Old Emanuel [not really].

The other day he teamed up with Farrakhan- he said they were going to work together to combat the killings that have taken over the city ever since Rahm took the reins.

So- let me get this right- you are not only willing to let Farrakhan operate in your town- but you give credibility to the man by publicly teaming up with him.

His values?

Jews are lying cheating bastards that need to die.

Whites are the demon seed- the kids of satan.

This nut job has spewed the most racist stuff that you could ever imagine.

Yet- Rahm refuses to let Chik- Fil- A operate- because ‘we do not share their values’.

Great job Rahm [and the political strategists of Obama- who were probably behind the whole thing].

Okay- enough of that ;stuff’.

Now that I have my new ‘smart phone’ I have been noticing the commercials and stuff about the phones.

I actually have learned a few things from just watching the commercials [sad- I know].

So the other day I’m watching the news with Dianne Sawyer [ABC] and they do a piece on all the injuries that have increased because of these new devices.

They do the stats on the increase of broken head/face bones [people walking off stuff].

All the neck injuries and stuff.

Then they show a clip of a guy walking into a bear- he’s not looking- he’s got his face in the phone.

Some person walking off the subway rail tracks.

A few other ‘smart’ phone folks walking into walls- or the pond thing in the middle of the local mall.

I mean it was funny in a way- I just didn’t realize I was getting into another high danger field- just by purchasing a phone!

I remember years ago at the fire house- all the younger guys were getting the latest phones and stuff.

I never was the type to update something just because the next new thing came out- I kept the laptop and phone for years before I would upgrade.

But you had the guys walking around the fire dept with the hands free thing- you know they are walking- talking- and nothing in their hand.

I thought they were talking to me- or themselves.

No- they were just doing the hands free thing.

Then we all got new pagers- and we had to wear them- all the time.

You know- just in case the chief needs you.

At a fire?

Yup.

Fine.

So- I would be at the scene of an emergency [fire- car wreck- heart attack…]

And sure enough- the ‘darn’ pager would buzz.

‘gee- who could that be- after all I’m just inside this house- on fire’.

I look at the pager [after the smoke clears].

It’s the latest scores for the college game [Basketball?]

I was ready to chuck the thing in the fire.

Yeah- we had pagers that went off every time the sports channel did an update.

So- we live in this strange new world of technology.

We also have Dem mayors refusing to give business permits to restaurants- at a time when people are dying for jobs.

And these same mayors- who refuse on the grounds that ‘they don’t hold my values’.

They are teaming up with leaders of racist movements who call for the deaths of Jews and Whites- way to go Rahm!

Yeah- it’s a strange new world.

Okay- that’s it for now- need to upload some of the S.A. pics I took the other day.

You know what that means?

Yeah- I’ll be using the phone- pray for me- please!

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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.

1883- ALL AND ALL IT’S JUST ANOTHER BRICK [NOTE] IN THE WALL?

So the news for the last few days has focused on Romney’s ‘world tour’.

As most of you know- he embarked on this trip to boost his foreign policy credentials.

And of course- the ‘main stream media’ has made it sound like he has made the worst gaffs since the time Biden told one of his political ‘close friends’ to stand up at some rally.

Biden ‘go ahead- stand- don’t be shy’ of course the guy sat there- still- hoping Biden would move on.

Not Biden.

‘Go ahead stand man- stand damn it- enough of this false MODESTY- stand!!”

Finally- someone from the audience yelled ‘he’s crippled you ….’

Close friend- remember?

So- in London Romney’s asked about the Olympics- does he think there might be some security problems.

And as a former CEO who ran the Olympics in the past- he was honest- he said there might be some difficulties with the security people who were hired to do the job.

Oh my- the press in the U.K. and the U.S. made it sound like this was the worst thing in the world.

They spent days- top headlines- top world news- yes- ‘how can this be- Romney singlehandedly has destroyed the greatest coalition ever- NATO and the Brits will fall apart now!! Oh my!!!’

I mean it’s hilarious.

Most don’t realize that Romney simply expressed- in a nice way- what the British press has been saying for weeks.

As a matter of fact- the security company who was hired to do security were about 3,000 men short.

The British military filled the gap.

This is bad- very- very bad.

Though I’m sure the military are good guys- yet they are not trained for this type of job.

The London games is a major target for terrorism- and if the truth be told- Romney’s comments were mild.

But because they decided to portray them the way they did- now the media are stuck in a way- because the games have had a bad start.

Most of the seats are empty- they actually need people to attend the events.

Yet- you have people who can’t get tickets.

Why?

They don’t know for sure- but it might be that lots of companies bought tickets- and gave them to their people- and the people are not going.

I mean I’m sure it couldn’t be the fact that the media have been reporting for weeks that the security is in fact not good- no- it can’t be that.

Either way- Romney was right- and those who follow the news know it.

Then- Romney trotted off to Israel.

Of course the media have found their niche- they are waiting to stomp on him every time they get a chance.

So- he tells the Israelis ‘your culture obviously has contributed to your success as a nation’.

Okay- is this true or not?

Look- as a bald faced statement- it is true.

What did the media say?

Oh my- Romney has insulted the Arab world- he has defamed the Palestinians- how could he ever have made a statement like this!

Now- as an independent- I do not always side with U.S. policy in that part of the world.

And- I think the American Evangelical church has made some big mistakes when they read the bible- and try to fit current U.S. policy in with their interpretation of end time events.

So- I do not see the Palestinian problem as one side being the enemy [Palestinians] and the other as the ‘people of God inheriting the land’.

For the most part those are Old Testament mindsets that overlook the New Testament view- that we are all called to inherit the kingdom thru the Cross.

So- just wanted to make that clear.

But- the truth is Israel has one of strongest Democracies in that region of the world.

They are governed with a system of courts and laws- that have even ruled on the side of Arab people- against their own govt.!

That’s rare- very rare- you do not find that in Arab states- that a court in Iran would rule against their leaders- and side with a Jew.

You have certain Arab states- that to even be Jewish would get you killed on the spot.

And some Arab states [not all!] have no real rule of law- even though they have tried- many are living a lawless existence.

Okay- I know there’s more to the debate- but on its face- Romney simply told the truth.

Yet the media are reporting it as a huge blunder- the likes of which has never been seen before!!

So- they show a clip of Romney putting a folded prayer request in the Wailing Wall [Jerusalem].

They then do a quick story ‘I wonder what he said’.

You know- it’s a traditional thing- the wall is a place for the Jewish people to connect with God- and they pray daily at the wall.

So- Romney kinda says what he wrote in the note- he says he thanked God for the source of our salvation- a few other things.

Then they show the shot of Obama when he did his note- of course they had the scoop form Obama’s note.

He asked for ‘wisdom and knowledge to govern the people’.

Basically the same prayer that king Solomon prayed [convenient that this slipped out- in Jerusalem!]

Then they had the shot of good ole G.W. [Bush].

I braced myself.

They simply showed him putting his hands on the wall.

I was waiting for Brain Ross to break in [you know- Ross is the news guy who ‘outed’ Jim Holmes from the Colorado shooting- he said he was a Tea Partier from Aurora- of course he outed an innocent man].

Yeah- I was waiting for the ‘Ross Report’.

‘George- I have breaking news- I don’t know if this is the same GW from Texas- but a goat herder was walking by the wall- and he found this note had fallen- strangely- it was signed by a GW from Texas’.

Go on Brian- what does it say man?

‘Well- like I said- we don’t know if it’s Bush- but the note says- and I quote- “What’s it like to be a wall” unquote’.

Yeah- I was waiting for the scoop.

So- you get the idea- the media have the power- and the desire- to depict one side as total idiots- and the other as those who can do no wrong.

I’m not on either side- trust me- but the bias is hard not to see.

Okay- I actually do have more to say- maybe tomorrow.

Right after I post this- I’ll post some pics from the weekend- now that I got my smart phone- I’m taken pics.

In a little while I will be driving my daughter to San Antonio- she’s catching a flight back to Indiana- she’s staying there for now- her boyfriend has been working across the country- right now they are in Indiana.

So- I’m sure I’ll take some pics.

That’s it for now- enjoy the pics.

And don’t forget the lesson of the day.

If you’re in a political rally- and Biden says ‘go ahead- stand up man- for the love of Pete’.

Just leave- it will save you from a very awkward moment for sure.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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.