RECENT STUFF 2013- A

1800- THE CHURCH LADY

I caught the debate last night [number 20!] and was surprised that King only asked one question on ‘social issues’ [I think?].

He did bring up the ‘controversy’ over birth control.

Now- up until a few weeks back- starting with the question by Stephanopoulos [a Dem insider- worked for Clinton- admitted- on air- that he cried while sitting at home during the Obama win.  You say ‘so what John- Boehner cries too!’ Yeah- but he’s smart enough not to admit it when he weeps in private].

Yeah- when Stephanopoulos brought up the silly question on whether states had the right to ban birth control- right after that the media jumped on the band wagon and have been saying how the Repubs want a war on women’s right to health.

The media keep parading women across the screen- decrying the attack on their health- after all- birth control cures cancer! [The truth be told- there are many more health risks to abortion and birth control then there are health benefits].

Yes- they want the country to see the Repubs as right wing ‘satan hatin’ preachers!

I just read an article the other day- 2 ‘women’s health clinics’ were fined in Texas- their disposal company was dumping the bodies of aborted babies in the city dump.

A woman’s right? I wonder how many of these little bodies belonged to future women.

So the debate goes on- and the populace drinks it in.

They have been showing the clips of a speech by Santorum- he talked about evil as a reality and satan as an enemy.

Okay- he was speaking at a Catholic university forum- it was about 4 years ago- what’s the big deal?

‘Well- you never know- say if he starts talking like this in office’

You mean like Obama?

Yes- 2 weeks ago the Pres was speaking- at a political/religious forum- in Washington- and he defended his tax policies by saying they are based on Jesus’ teachings in the gospel of Luke.

He quoted Jesus ‘to whom much is given- much is required’.

Okay- I see the point he’s trying to make- asking the rich to pay more.

But for a sitting U.S. president to say that his tax policy- as opposed to the other side- is the ‘Jesus one’ well- that would have been world news for days if it were Bush.

So the satan speech- given at a catholic school- geez- give it a break.

The media would have you think that Santorum is the church lady from SNL [Saturday night live].

Dana Carvey did the Church Lady- he would often come up with some circumstance- and then reply ‘hmmm- could it be satan’.

Yeah- that’s Santorum!

This week I have been reading Ezekiel chapter 34.

It talks about the leaders- shepherds of the people. They are being rebuked because they are like ‘shepherds who feed themselves- they kill the sheep- eat the meat and wear the wool as clothes’.

In the New Testament Jesus alludes to this when he says ‘beware of false prophets- they are like wolves in sheep’s clothing’.

Yes- that’s where the term comes from.

The term means more than meets the eye.

It’s speaking about a mindset- one that sees people- church people- citizens- any group of people being ‘ruled’ by others.

And the mindset is ‘I can benefit in some way from my position over them’.  This usually means financially.

I have written much about this over the years- and I’m convinced that many good men in modern ministry do not see the violation of scripture they engage in when they enter ‘ministry’ and constantly appeal for money- even to the point of thinking that their becoming rich off of the giving of people is ‘Gods way’.

But also in the broader sense- God is rebuking the leaders because they really don’t have the true concerns of the people at the fore front.

Good leaders- politicians- presidents- congressman. They should be willing to make the right decisions- even if those decisions seem less popular at the time- they should do it because it’s right.

The Pres put out a policy yesterday that said he wanted to lower corporate tax rates and eliminate tax loopholes.

Now- I haven’t read the thing- and I know some say it’s really a scam- I don’t know.

But if it has some truth in it- then it would be a good thing.

Why?

Because most analysts say that’s really a major step in the right direction.

Dems and Repubs- responsible ones- have already said this needs to be done.

So if the thing is accurate- then we should support the pres.

The other major thing that the next pres must deal with is the entitlement programs- but whoever gets in- whether it be Romney- Obama- or the Church Lady- they will need to govern for the people- not pander to them for personal gain [popularity that will help them win again].

Don’t get me wrong- as a Christian I’m glad the Pres talked about Jesus- and that Santorum talked about satan.

But the reality is- the ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ looked/talked just like sheep- that’s how they kept getting into the sheepfold- but all they really wanted was personal gain- they saw the sheep [people] as a means to an end- and that’s what gets us in trouble- every time.

1801- LOVE MEANS NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOUR SORRY- I THOUGHT.

Let’s end the week with a few top news events. Yes- once again we have had the burning of the Quran- and the violent aftermath.

What happened this time? Well- it was not an outright insult to Islam- like the Florida pastor who hosted ‘burn the Koran day’.

These Korans were part of a ‘detention’ library facility [gee- maybe that’s the 1^st problem?] where prisoners have access to religious material.

They were available to Afghani’s who were being held as prisoners of war.

So- our side found possible hidden notes in them- and yeah- we burned the stuff.

Okay- was this a bad thing to do? Sure.

But the nonstop apologies- the reaction of Muslims rioting and killing- all over the world- not just in Afghanistan- this reaction needs to be condemned.

We are falling into a trap- a mindset that says ‘we will tolerate- and overlook intolerance- because after all- it’s not as bad as 9-11’.

Yesterday Iran was going to execute a Christian pastor because he refused to denounce his faith.

You say ‘yea John- but we condemn Iran anyway’.

But they do stuff like this in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain too- and these are our ‘good friends’.

I was watching a show the other night- it was a defense of Islam- against those who have a ‘crusade’ against it.

Though the show portrayed the people against Islam as bigots- they showed a few clips and interviews with a woman who was raised in a predominantly Muslim land- and she now lives in the U.S. and she feels that many in the U.S. media are overlooking the very real prejudices against women who live in these countries.

So- during the interview- intended to make her look bad- they ask her something like ‘but what about all the Muslims who reject violence’.

The reporter wanted her to commend those in Islam who reject violence [Muslim Brotherhood groups] yet still advocate for Shariah law.

The ‘radical’ anti Islam woman’s response ‘so- you want me to give credit to people just because they don’t want to kill me’.

The lady was right- she warns people against the rise of Shariah law- as the ‘law of the land’ and even though some of these groups are trying to achieve their goals peacefully- thru the ballot box- yet the end result is a society that executes Christians because they believe.

So as the week has passed- we have been apologizing nonstop- writing personal letters [Obama to Karzai].

Showing clips of our commanders instructing our soldiers to not react- to not ‘get upset’ that Muslims are rioting and killing them.

Look- we made a mistake- on the scale of ‘crimes against humanity’ the mistake rates at around zero.

Yes- we understand that to Muslims it’s a blasphemous act- and we did not do this out of disrespect for Islam.

But we must say- loud and clear- if your religion justifies the killing of people simply because they burn a book- or write a comedy sketch- or do any of a number of things that most of the civilized world do- then you need to either change your religion- or come up with a better interpretation.

Because we can’t all live in a world where stuff like this continues to happen- and we in the West seem to say ‘we understand your side’- no- when your side kills because of it- then we must condemn that side- whether it be Christian or Muslim.

1802- THE HARVARD PROFESSOR

Caught an interesting show the other night- a Harvard economist [liberal] gave a lecture on economics.

Now- when I say ‘liberal’ I do not use the term in a derogatory way- no- he was the type of economist that would fit into the category of a Paul Krugman.

Krugman writes for the N.Y. Times and often [always?] gives you the Keynesian view.

So anyway this Harvard prof. made some good points.

But he blundered somewhat in his defense of Socialism/communism.

He talked about Karl Marx [the ‘founder’ of the system] and said that what happened in the Silicon Valley boom [the Dot.com businesses] was a type of Marxism.

The internet boom companies had a different view of the business structure- instead of the ‘bosses’ being over the working class stiff- you would have the actual employees run the show.

Yeah- when you watch the documentaries on Facebook [and other Companies like it] you do see an environment where all these young ‘hipsters’ are calling the shots- and they do have a sense of freedom that you don’t see in the standard business model.

But the Harvard Prof. went a step too far when he compared this to Marx.

Marx was raised in Germany- he was a Jew.

His father had to re-locate his business and join the Lutheran church in order to fit in with the people he needed to do business with.

Marx would eventually go to ‘university’ in England- and he developed his ideas in an environment where the industrial revolution took off.

He witnessed the plight of the working class man [proletariat] and how he became a victim of the factory system.

In England you did see many hopeless workers fall prey to a lifestyle that had you going to work at the factory all day- often in a dark and dingy environment.

You would come home to a gloomy existence and often drink yourself to sleep.

Marx saw the working class as victims of the Ownership class [the original 99 versus the 1%].

Marx saw that those who ran the system- and ‘owned the tools’ had the true influence in society- and according to Marx- they used two primary means of controlling the masses.

Law and Religion.

So Marx advocated for a violent overthrow of the system- thru Revolutionary means- in order to free the working class slave from the power of the few.

Now- where the Harvard Prof missed it is he compared Marx’s idea to the Dotcom business model.

Facebook and other internet businesses- they tried to empower the worker by making him part owner.

When Facebook went public this last month [Initial public offering] it was said to have made many millionaires overnight.

Why?

Because those who got in at the start [even the kid who painted the Graffiti on the walls of the building] were offered the option of cash or stock.

Those who took the stock became rich when the company went public [it actually will go into effect if a couple of more months].

So- this model empowers the working class person by making him part owner.

Okay- Marx wanted to ‘level the field’ by putting the State in charge.

He felt like if you took the power away from the private owner [capitalism] then you could even out the scales by making the state decide how much pay was fair- and the state would literally own ‘the tools’ of the system.

 Most of us know by now that his system failed pretty badly [Soviet Union].

Though he meant well- trying to defend the hopeless worker- yet he created a Monster State- and the state would become the new oppressor of the people- and take away the incentive that the private ownership model gave.

So all in all- the Harvard prof had some truth to what he said- but he went a step too far.

In today’s political climate- we all have a tendency to hear one side- and if we lineup with that side- we very rarely question those who advocate the way we believe.

It’s important to hear both sides- to give credit to the ideas that are good- and then reject the ideas that are bad.

Marx had some very legitimate concerns- the founder of the Salvation Army- William Booth- began his ministry to the same class of people that Marx saw.

Marx rejected religion because he believed the ownership class used it to keep the masses under.

Any truth to this?

Some.

Many of the Black slaves were encouraged to attend church and keep singing their Black spiritual songs.

Why?

Many of the themes of these great songs did indeed encourage the suffering servant to just hold on until he/she gets to the Promised Land.

As a matter of fact- many of the themes taught that if you rebelled against the slave owner then you would forfeit your reward in the hereafter.

Marx experienced the power of religion- and the role it played in his own family in Germany- his father had to join the Lutheran church- even though he was Jewish- just so he could be in contact with the people of influence in his town.

So yes- it’s good to hear both sides- give credit when you can- and also reject what you must.

Yeah- the Harvard Prof seemed to be a good guy- he knew his stuff- just not well enough.

1803- A MONKEY- A BLOGGER- AND- WELL-  A ‘SLUT’.

Okay- once again we have spent a news week- with some very important stories to cover [Syria- etc] and some stupid stuff.

So what was the stupid/silly stuff?

Well- as a 70’s generation kid- sure- I liked the Monkees [Hey- Hey with the Monkees- …].

You remember?

Its Saturday morning- can you just hear the song in your mind as you read the above line?

If so- then you- and me- are actual nerds.

Big deal- Yeah- I watched the thing- and even walked to school with a Beatles lunchbox- you know- the metal kind- hey- it beat having a Brady Bunch one.

Davy Jones- the lead singer- seemed to be a nice guy- he passed away- and it was sad to see him go- I prayed for his wife and kids.

Then we had the passing of the right wing blogger- Andrew Brietbart.

He was known for his bold- in your face style.

Famous for bringing down Tony Weiner- the N.Y. Dem who liked texting his genitals to unknown women on his Facebook sight.

He was also famous for posting a video of Shirley Sherrod- a Black woman who worked for the govt. - she handled loans for farmers.

This dept. has been sued in the past for discriminating against Black farmers and they settled a big lawsuit a few years back.

Anyway- Shirley gave a speech at some Lib/Dem thing- and in part of the speech she said how when White farmers came in for loans- she thought to herself ‘why should I help this white guy- it’s now his turn to get the bad end of the stick’.

Later in the speech- she said she now knows these thoughts were wrong- and she said how God rebuked her for it.

Okay- when the short clip got out- only showing the first part- there was a firestorm and Obama fired the lady.

Later we found out about the whole clip- and he offered to rehire her- she said forget it.

So- the media- all over- every day- accused Brietbart of only showing the bad part of the clip- and not the good part.

‘You SOB’.

Actually- in his original post- he showed both the good and the bad.

It was Glenn Beck and a few others who only showed the bad part.

But the media- who all feed off of each other- kept going with the fake story that he only posted the bad stuff.

Till this day- they still believe it.

So just this last week Brietbart was on a progressive [liberal] show- Cenk Ugyr- Young Turks- and Cenk accused him once again of the false accusation.

For the first time on TV- Brietbart corrected the accusation and rebuked Cenk on air- Brietbart revealed the false charge that the media kept reporting- that he only showed the bad stuff.

Then a few days later I noticed he was invited on a number of more liberal news shows- to sit as a commentator on the election.

I think some of these news guys [Piers Morgan- CNN] might have double checked the story and found out that yes indeed- they all ran with the fake story- even till this day.

So- what do you know- Brietbart dies at the age of 43- and Andrea Mitchell- Shep Smith- and a few other news reporters once again repeated the charge- the false one- that he was famous for railroading Sherrod by only posting the racist part of the video- not the repentant part.

Ah- what can he do to defend himself- he’s dead- Yippee!!

Sad.

And last- but not least- we had the uproar over the Rush comments about Sandra Fluke- the Georgetown University student who testified before congress about her having to pay for her own birth control- which cost a lot- damn you!

Yes- Rush made fun of the girl- and said she was ‘a slut’- and he wanted her to post her ‘extra curricula’ actives on line for all to see- because she wants the tax payer to pay for her birth control.

So the media thought this important enough to bill as a top story- right up there with the deaths of the Syrians in Homs.

They are asking all the Repub candidates to make Rush apologize- on and on.

Now- was Rush wrong?

Of course- I mean no one should be using this type of language.

But to hammer the Repubs on it- like they are responsible- heck- they don’t control the guy.

Then yesterday as I was musing on the thing- I thought ‘Tomorrow I’ll write on it- and I’ll use Bill Maher as the counter argument’.

Sure enough- as the day went on- all the shows already got to him.

Maher is the Dem supporter- who just this last week donated 1 million to Obama- he has had his show ‘politically incorrect’ [or Correct?] on HBO for years.

I really don’t like the guy- for a bunch of reasons- but he often uses real off color language when referring to Repubs.

Okay- WARNING- this part will get rough.

A few weeks ago when Tebow lost the game- Maher tweeted ‘Jesus f—ked Tebow’.

As you know- Tebow is the Christian Quarterback that is outspoken for the faith.

Sarah Palin- a book came out that said she once slept with a famous Black NBA player.

Maher made a comment- about a woman who ran for office- a politically active Repub- former Alaska Governor- who has kids- ‘she would have f—cked him too- if he was Black’.

He was referring to some White guy.

Speaking about a Repub ‘he can suck my d—k’.

Now- all these things- and more – were said on national TV.

This guy just made a 1 million dollar donation to Obama- as he made the rounds on the news shows- not one time was he- or Obama- or any other Dem asked ‘do you think you/he should apologize for these remarks’.

What if Rush spoke about Michele Obama like this?

That she would ‘f—k’ some guy if he were White.

Do you think that story would get covered?

The whole point is the media plays selective outrage- sure- all of this language is wrong- but Limbaugh does his thing- Maher his- and if you want to go down the road of making political figures responsible for what others say- then that’s a long road to walk.

This week I read Jeremiah chapter 33.

This chapter has some great promises in it- the famous verse ‘call unto me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things you know not’.

But the bulk of the chapter is God reassuring his people Israel that he will indeed keep the promise that he made to them years before.

A while back we covered the Old Testament and I said how you can almost sum up the whole O.T. by saying it’s the story of one man and his family.

That man was Abraham.

In Genesis chapters 12 and 15 we read about the promise God made to him- that if he left his home town and went on a journey to the promised land- then God would make him into a great nation- he would have kings sitting on the throne for generations to come- and they would be a great people.

Yet- at the time of Jeremiah the people were divided- they were captive- and things looked really bad.

In chapter 33 God tells them ‘do you think my promise will fail? If you can break my promise to the day and night- that day and night will happen every 24 hours- then you can break my promise to you’.

God was telling his people that even though things looked bad- yet he would fulfill his word- and bless them like he said.

One of the verses in the chapter even speaks to the divided nation accusation ‘some say these 2 nations will never be a great people’ and God rebukes that accusation.

As I look out over the terrain of our nation- and all the stuff ‘all of the above’ it does look at times hopeless- a whole week on some commentator calling a girl a slut- please!

Yet I still see some light at the end of the tunnel- congress and the President actually passed some stuff these past few weeks- stuff that seemed like was never going to get done- so yeah- maybe we can see the light right now.

But if a huge donor to the Obama campaign can get away with saying ‘Palin would have f—ked him if he were Black’ on national TV- and not one reporter asks Obama if he should ask Maher to apologize- then maybe we should dial down the rhetoric on the ‘slut comment’ a little- you think?

1804- THE NEW ISAAC

So a few days have gone by- and the number one media story- the story that topped the deaths in Syria- the U.N. report that says we and NATO backed a group that committed ‘war crimes’- yes- the top story- that Rush Limbaugh referred to Sandra Fluke as ‘a slut’ and that he finally apologized- yes this was the headline of the week.

What U.N. story John?

Glad you asked.

If you remember during our ‘kinetic action’ in Libya- I wrote a bunch of critical posts about our involvement.

I kept saying that we were using the wording of the U.N. resolution- that said we had the authority to go in and use DEFENSIVE means to protect civilians- well that wording became twisted [by us] to mean we can chase down Gadhaffi and his family [and his friends] and simply kill them.

When some observers began questioning this act- we said we were using ‘defensive’ means to knock out the ‘command and control’ of Gadhaffi- and that’s how we justified it.

Now- this whole thing was a farce- there never was any ‘command and control’ in the buildings we bombed- we simply thought Gadhaffi might have been there.

So we bombed his sons house in a private neighborhood- killed his grandkids- but missed him.

Okay- the U.N. did a yearlong study to see if we did indeed violate human rights by lying like this.

The report came out- and it said we tried to reduce the civilian causalities- but did kill around 60 innocent people under the guise of ‘taking out command and control’.

They found that there was no evidence at all that these buildings we targeted were command and control centers.

War crimes?

Yes- the report also states that the rebel group we backed did commit war crimes- now- the report says Gadhaffi’s side committed ‘crimes against humanity’ [far worse] but that our side did commit war crimes- and till this day the new ‘govt.’ will not investigate the possible crimes committed when they killed innocent people.

So- this story was a small article in the back of the paper- it should have been headline news- not ‘the slut’ comment.

Okay- in the last post I commented on Jeremiah chapter 33.

This was the promise God made to Israel that he would fulfill his promise and they would be restored into a strong nation.

I referenced the earlier story we find in Genesis [chapters 12-15] where God makes this promise to Abraham.

If you read these 2 chapters- plus 17 and 22- you will get the main promise.

God called Abraham to leave his homeland and go on a journey. In this new land God would bless Abraham and he would have tons of kids and grandkids and eventually become a nation [the nation of Israel].

So over a period of time- thru many dangers and trials- he finally has a son- named Isaac- and this son is the promised child thru whom all the others will come from.

In chapter 22 of Genesis- when Abraham was an old man- Gods tests him and says ‘Abraham- go and take Isaac- your only beloved son- and offer him up to me on Mount Moriah’.

Abraham went thru many years of doubt and struggle before he finally received the promised son [read chapters 17-18 of Genesis].

And when Sarah finally had the child- it was a miracle.

So when God says ‘offer this boy up’- to Abraham it was putting at risk the whole purpose of his life- the very reason he left his friends and family and moved to a strange land.

But the bible says he took the child- and when they got near the range of mountains where mount Moriah was- he told the servants ‘you guys wait here- me and the boy will go to worship- and we will BOTH BE BACK’.

This phrase is picked up in Hebrews chapter 11- the writer says Abraham simply believed that God would raise the boy from the dead- that’s how he justified in his mind the order to offer his son- and this same son being the child thru whom the others would come.

So as Abraham approaches the mountain- he takes the wood for the offering- the ‘fire’- and no animal.

He puts the wood on Isaac’s back- to carry up the hill.

Isaac asks his dad ‘dad- we have the wood and all- but where is the animal for the offering’

Abraham simply tells his boy ‘God will provide himself a lamb for the offering’.

As they get to the top of the hill- Abraham ties Isaac with the rope- and puts him on the altar and takes out a knife to slay him.  At that moment- an angel calls out to him and says ‘STOP!’

The whole thing was a test- to see if Abraham would do what God said- even if it seemed contrary to Gods promise and purpose for his life.

It should be noted that the Rabbi’s tell us that Isaac was not a young boy at the time- he was probably an older teen- strong enough to carry the wood up the hill.

This signifies that Isaac could have probably put up a fight- and won!

But he heard all the stories about God’s miracles- his dad recounted all the great signs and things that God did in their lives- and when Abraham got to the point of offering up his son- maybe Isaac simply accepted that God was in control and he would do whatever needed to be done.

Over a thousand years later- Jesus would walk the dusty streets of Jerusalem- he too was a promised son.

He preached and healed and was a true miracle worker.

He often used ‘Father Abraham’ as an example to prove his teachings- one time he said ‘before Abraham was- I AM’.

This incensed the hearers and they took up stones to kill him- the words I AM- are the words that refer to God [during Moses time he told Moses he was the I AM].

So the day comes for Jesus to ‘take the wood’ of the sacrifice- and go up the hill- called Calvary.

History tells us that Calvary is in the same range of mountains that Moriah sits on.

Jesus- the ‘second Isaac’ took the wood of the Cross- just like Isaac- and carried it to the top.

In the story of Abraham- when the angel said STOP- they looked around and found a ram in the brush- they used the ram as a sacrifice.

But this day- the day of Jesus- no ram was to be found- he looked up to his God- and he said ‘why do you forsake ME LIKE THIS’.

Yes- Jesus was the lamb that Abraham prophesied of- he was the ultimate sacrifice.

Sometimes we go thru things that seem contrary to the true purpose- things that we see as course changers.

When Jesus died- all of his followers thought the goal was gone- they thought he was going to lead a present day rebellion against Rome and become the new Messiah ruling out of Jerusalem.

When he died on the Cross- they could not harmonize what they thought was the whole purpose- and this gruesome death.

Yet 3 days after they saw the true purpose- the ultimate reality.

Are you at Mount Moriah?

 The place that seems like all is lost.

Trust God- after 3 days everything will look totally different.

1805- GROUND ZERO- ABOTTOBAD [Pakistan]

Let’s start with an article I read this week on the last days of Bin Laden.

Now- I must admit when I got about halfway thru I could not stop laughing.

I sit in the yard during the day when reading- and yes- I was outside- laughing loud.

The story covered how during the last few months of Bin laden on the lamb- that his oldest wife ‘showed up’ one day at the compound.

Yes- the article repeats this- she ‘showed up’.

It made it sound like they did not want her to know where he was living.

Understand- his 3 story compound- which we have all seen on the news- was considered the world’s most top secret hiding spot- hidden right by the Pakistani military academy- to protect it from the U.S.- and we spent years trying to track him down.

Even on the day of the famous seal team 6 raid- we still did not know for sure that he was there.

Yet- this oldest wife- well- she ‘showed up’ one day [just a warning to all you players out there].

Now- the story goes that everyone in the compound [28 people in total] were all afraid that she was going to rat them out.

Bin Laden lived on the 3^rd floor with his youngest wife- from Yemen.

And he had another wife living with them on the 3^rd floor- she slept in the computer room.

But the oldest wife- the one who just ‘showed up’ she stayed on the 2^nd floor- right below Bin laden.

Now- one of the sons of the other wives kept asking her ‘what are you doing here?’- And she finally said- I’m quoting from the article now ‘I HAVE ONE LAST DUTY TO PERFORM FOR MY HUSBAND’.

The son immediately ran to the 3^rd floor to inform the world’s most feared terrorist- the man who masterminded the worst terrorist attack to ever hit our shores- 3,ooo dead.

The son tells him the ominous tone of the woman’s voice.

It is said that Bin Laden simply replied ‘the will of Allah be done’ [okay- I hedged some- the article states he simply felt fate would take over].

Fate taking over- Allah’s will be done- come on man- do something about it.

Now- as a Christian blogger I usually don’t advocate for murdering a disgruntled spouse- but I just saw this past week how some American took his wife ‘deep sea diving’ and was charged with killing her- they think he turned off the air valve.

Okay- rank amateur- American born- you would think Bin Laden could have done more than say ‘the will of Allah be done’.

Okay- the famous night of the raid- he’s living on the 3^rd floor- a compound within a compound- everyone in the home fears for their lives- not from the U.S. - but from the oldest wife.

Then all of a sudden- you hear a commotion- guns going off- we have all seen the depiction of Bin Laden standing by the bed- reaching for a gun- when the door breaks and seal team 6 arrives to save the day.

Yes- the cartoon depiction [we have no real video] left one thing out- Bin Laden probably said ‘Oh thank Allah- it’s just you guys’.

I will end the Bin Laden saga with one last quote- the article states that after Bin laden's death- the Pakistani intelligence people- who just happen to have actual Taliban and terrorist within their ranks- when they interrogated the older wife- they said- quote ‘She is so aggressive- she borders on being intimidating’.

They basically were afraid of being in the room with the woman- now we know why we have all the videos of Bin Laden sitting in his room- looking at that TV screen- isolated- alone.

The reports were he was sick- and some questioned his mental health.

Yes- it looks like seal team 6 did save the day- for the U.S. - and Bin Laden.

Okay- wasted too much time on that one- and too risky.

You say ‘John- you do have readers in some of these countries in the Arab world- should you so freely be joking like this?’

To which I have one reply ‘who’s John’?

Okay- like I said in the last post or 2- the backlash of the Rush ‘slut’ comment- which caused him to lose advertisers- has provoked a response from the right- they have now gone and found the statements of Bill Maher- and have made a short UTUBE clip about them.

I don’t want to repeat the ones from the previous post- but be warned- these get bad- real bad.

Maher referred to Palin getting the job at fox ‘Palin is now going to comment on fox- her night job is like her day job- talking to Down Syndrome people all day’.

Note- Down Syndrome is a serious problem- one of the stigmas of it is many people used to confuse it with other more serious mental retardation issues.

How anyone can say this on national TV- and at the same time be a major supporter of the president- it’s beyond me.

Okay- he also refers to Palin- as ‘that C-U-N- and then a T’ [I mean- it’s so bad I have to find ways to say it- without ‘saying it’.]

As the week progressed- and the comments came out- some on the right are simply saying ‘this guy is a major funder of Obama’s PAC- he has made all the rounds on TV- he even called Plain a MILF [mothers I’d like to f—k] on CNN- and the news media are not asking Obama or his supporters if he should apologize’.

Yes- Obama needs to give the blood money back- disconnect from this idiot- and part ways.

But wait- as I was listening to right wing radio- Hannity- they had some Democrat woman on- who said these comments were acceptable- because they were made in a political environment- and were not a personal attack against all women.

Calling her the C word- bringing her sons sickness into it- acceptable? Unbelievable.

And last but not least- the videos and connections Obama has had with radical left wing Black activists.

A video came out that showed Obama supporting/introducing a Black racist.

The video simply showed Obama at Harvard introducing Derrick Bell- a radical racist activist who is anti White and Anti Semitic.

Now- Obama did not just do a onetime introduction- when Obama taught at the University of Chicago- he had this man’s books as required reading for a law class he taught.

Bell advocates for ‘radical race theory’- an idea that says the ‘JEWS’ conspired with the Whites in order to keep the Black man down- and that the only solution is to ‘abolish the White race as a social category ‘[actual quote].

Okay- a few years ago I remember when Trent Lott- the leader of the Repubs in the senate- he made a silly/stupid comment at a birthday party for Strom Thurmond.

When Strom was younger- he did run as a presidential contender in the south- and the Repubs and the Dems have a history of racism in the south- actually the Dem’s have a more racist history in the south [Dixiecrats].

So Lott says ‘things would have been a whole lot better if you won’

Okay- the media and the Dems went nuts- were you saying you wished that the south ‘won’ and the racists took over?

He simply apologized and said it was a stupid statement he gave at a party- he shouldn’t have done it.

Now- Lot lost his spot as the top leader over this.

Yet Obama has endorsed- spoken kindly about- and even recommends the books of a man who hates Jews- wants to ‘abolish the White race as a social category’- and has said these things openly before the whole world.

‘Well John- you don’t believe Obama believes this- do you’?

I have no idea- the point is he does have all these bad connections with people- things the media ignores- and at the same time he calls for a more civil discourse- on the right side of the aisle.

Okay- will end with one last quote- this came up on the Opie and Anthony show- the guy was some type of Democrat ‘entertainer’- he referred to Sarah Palin’s son- who has Down Syndrome ‘that retarded piece of &^%$ that came out of her C---T’.

Yes folks- you heard it- this same man was scheduled to speak/entertain at a Dem fundraiser later in the year.

I have not heard one prominent Democrat rebuke these comments- the things Maher has said- on video- not one Democrat has come out with the same ‘righteous outrage’ that they felt when a Republican called a lady- a Slut.

If we want civil discourse Mr. Obama- then let it start with your supporters- because it seems like they never heard the phrase.

1806- THE 2% LIE

I want to talk a little bit about how we perceive things- the way the media and politicians use propaganda to sway the way people think.

This weekend I spoke with my liberal friend from N.J. - by the way- when I use examples from our talks- these are real discussions that I have had with this friend for the last 30 years.

This is not a ‘made up person’.

Okay- one of the first things they said was ‘can you believe these Repub candidates- all they want to talk about is birth control’.

Now- I told my friend that this was a perfect example of how the propaganda machine works.

If you remember back to the first time birth control came up during this election- it was a question by George Stephanopoulos.

He asked Romney if states have the right to ban Birth control.

Everyone on the stage- and in the audience were shocked- surprised. Why in the heck would you ask a question like this- no one on the trail is talking about it [until then] and it simply was not part of the ‘conversation’.

A few days later- Stephen Colbert had Stephanopoulos on his show [Colbert Report] and he asked him ‘why would you ask a question like that’?

He responded ‘I had a bet with Dianne Sawyer that I could get Romney to admit that birth control was a good thing’.

He lied.

What really happened was the Dem strategists had a plan- they knew that it would be difficult for the President to run on the economy [even though now the numbers are looking better- to his credit].

So they had a strategy to turn the conversation into one on birth control and ‘the war on women’.

The president was just about to announce his new rule on birth control- that the Catholic church would no longer be able to not provide it thru their plans- and this whole conversation was orchestrated to get the average person to wake up one day and say ‘geez- look at all these stupid stone age Republicans- all they want to talk about is birth control’.

And Walla- my friend swallowed the bait- hook line and sinker.

Now- do both sides do this?

Sure- I’m just showing you how.

Now- the present problem [in my mind] is that Obama has been unable to distinguish between speaking honestly as a president- and speaking ‘politically’ as a campaigner.

What do I mean?

The last 2 weeks the president has been going around making public speeches and saying ‘when these Repubs say “drill baby drill” they are lying to you about the problem- even if we drill- we use 20% of the world’s oil- and only have 2% of the oil reserves here in the U.S.’.

Now- he has said this more than once- and sometimes he qualifies the statement by saying ‘proven oil reserves’.

But as you hear the words- you- the average Joe [Mary] think ‘geez- if we only posses 2 % of the world’s oil- and we use 20%- then just doing more drilling is not the answer’.

Okay- do we only have 2% of the world’s Oil here in the U.S.?

No- if you opened up ALL the oil rich regions- both offshore and on land- we would have 100% of our oil needs met- for 250 years.

Yes- you heard me- we would have so much oil- that we would not have to import any- nada.

So John- how can Obama say we only have 2%?

Well- put aside the ability to lie for a moment- and realize [like the birth control] that the political insiders for Obama realized that the gas/oil issue does have the potential to derail the presidents bid to get re-elected.

So they devised a strategy to respond to the Repubs argument that gas is going up- and blame Obama.

Now- here’s the tricky part.

When Obama uses language like this- he is using a little known definition of ‘proven oil reserves’ that the OMB [office of management and budget] uses.

This definition of proven oil reserves actually means- all the oil reserves that we are currently tapping into- and the ones that the govt. /pres has already approved down the road.

In essence- Obama is saying ‘out of all the oil reserves THAT I AM GOING TO APPROVE- we can only get 2%’.

And when the ‘drill baby drill’ folk say ‘let’s drill’ they are talking about all the reserves that we are not drilling from.

So- in essence- Obama simply lied.

Now- did he lie- like under the legal definition of Bill Clinton ‘were you ever alone with Lewinsky’?

Answer ‘No’.

  Reason ‘there were other people in the building at the time’.

Okay- he was alone with her in the Oval Office- but in his mind- if there were other people in the building- or lets say in D.C.- or lets say ‘in the world’ well yes- you can technically say that none of us ‘are ever alone’.

But to the average mind- well- you were ‘alone’.

So- when you hear the president- saying over and over again [he has now stopped- I think- he got caught] ‘we only have 2% of the world’s oil reserves’ well- he’s using Clinton language.

Problem?

When you campaign- and do stuff like this- okay- they all do it- it’s not right- or good- but they do it.

When you are actually holding the office- and people hear you say this- you are purposefully deceiving folk- you know they think something other than what you are saying.

I mean who thinks ‘Ah- he’s using the OMB definition for oil reserves- not true human speak’.

Who remembers where we left off on our Philosophy posts?

We were in the 18^th century and were discussing Empiricism- the idea that we obtain true knowledge about things thru the things themselves- the empirical evidence.

One of the famous philosophers that falls into this category was a Bishop named Berkeley.

Even though he is called an Empiricist- he kind of had some ideas that were also Idealist- those that saw ideas and the Metaphysical world as the main source of knowledge.

You might not have ever heard of Berkeley- but most of you are familiar with his famous statement ‘If a tree falls in the forest- and no one’s there- does it still make a sound’.

Or the modern version ‘if a man speaks in a room- and no woman is there- is he still wrong’.

Berkeley grappled with the debate of what role does the observer play in the actual existence of things.

Does reality depend upon an observer- if something is not being perceived- does it really exist?

His conclusion was- things do depend upon an observer to exist [I don’t hold to this view by the way] and that God is the ultimate observer- he is observing all things at all times- therefore all things really do exist.

As you can see- Philosophy does get fuzzy at times.

When people use language- ‘2% of the world’s oil reserves’ they expect you to be using language that most humans agree upon.

When you say ‘I did not have sex with that woman- Miss Lewinsky’.

They don’t realize that your definition of sex does not include oral sex- or any other sex- outside of standard missionary position intercourse.

So as we progress over the next few months- yes- both sides are going to be using propaganda- the media- to make their point.

And some things are true- others are not.

Reality/truth is not something that changes- or depends upon an observer- if the tree falls- yeah it makes a noise- whether you are there or not.

When you say ‘2%’ of the world’s oil- yes- it makes a difference that you are using a definition that MOST HUMANS ARE NOT OPERATING BY- and whether an ‘observer’ catches you or not- it’s still wrong.

1807- HAVE A FINE WINTER TIME IN THE POCON…- NAH- HOW BOUT BARQA.

Have you heard the good news?

Yes- the world community has just added another nation to the pot.

It’s this wonderful coastal state that sits right off of the Mediterranean [club med?].

You know- the northern part of Africa- on the border with that other famous tourist spot- Egypt.

Yes folks- last week the eastern half of Libya broke away from its capital [Tripoli] and launched their own state.

The new ‘leaders’ of Libya- they said it was an Arab conspiracy to destroy the nation.

Why are the new leaders- the guys we installed- crying?

Let’s see- the eastern half of the Arab nation has all the oil- oh- so what we did in Libya- the military action that is regularly touted as the new successful model- it split the nation in half and will probably send them into a long term civil war.

In the last post or 2 I also mentioned how the new leaders are guilty of war crimes and are continuing to oppress the part of the population that supported Gadhaffi.

Yes- the new nation is called Barqa- and I bet this is the first time you heard the ‘good news’.

Why is this stuff important John?

Because what we did- did not work out well at all.

Yet the media- and the supporters of the president- continue to talk about our action [with NATO] as a great success.

As far as I can tell- it’s turning into a mess.

Iraq?

Yes- after all the blood spilled- both American and Iraqi- how are things working out?

The leader- Malaki- he has charges against the vice president [of another sect] and he’s trying to try the guy on terrorist charges- he’s hiding out in the north- the Kurdish region.

It looks like Iraq will also divide into 2 or 3 territories.

The leader- Malaki- is a supporter of Iran- and is even supporting the Syrian dictator- the one we are trying to get out- yes- the guy we backed in Iraq is supporting Iran and Syria- and not us.

Last but not least- Afghanistan.

Yes- we had the tragic incident of one of our guys leaving the base and killing 16 innocent civilians in cold blood- many of them women and children.

Tragic.

We have had Afghans protesting in the streets- images of Obama being lynched [did you see it? I did].

After all this time- trying to pretend that the Afghans see us as their liberators- they see us as occupiers- and we are their oppressors.

The Taliban put out a statement after the killing of the civilians- it said that if the U.S. military blames this on a mentally unstable person [he was a staff sergeant who had suffered a previous bran injury].

They said then it shows you that the U.S. is so bankrupt- that they are putting guns in the hands of their mentally unstable soldiers and sending them to our country.

Don’t tell me these Taliban are not smart.

Yes- after all this time- all the blood and money and time- it seems like all the nations we have been involved with militarily- well they are either worse off- or just as bad- as before we got involved.

Isaiah chapter 2 says at the end of time the Lords kingdom will prevail over all kingdoms- men will take their military weapons and turn them into instruments of peace [swords into Plowshares ring a bell?]

Yes- the ultimate goal is ‘war no more’ [this is also in the chapter- learn WAR NO MORE].

I’m not a pacifist- I believe we have the right to defend ourselves with force if need be.

But we must use it as a last resort- we must see that force- military action rarely wins the hearts and minds of people.

And for a Western ‘Christian’ nation to go into the heart of the Arab world- even with good intentions- and to think that our killing of other Arabs/Muslims can with the hearts and minds of the people- then we are on a fool’s errand.

Yes- maybe well intended- maybe justified in the sense that we had the right to strike back- but the overall strategy is failing- terribly.

Oh well- maybe if we all take a vacation things will look better when we get back- how bout we all go to the sandy shores of Barqa- I hear the Margaritas are great.

1808- 22 DAYS- AND COUNTING

As we end the week it’s been 22 days since Obama has held possession of the 1 million dollars that Bill Maher gave him.

I’m not sure how much longer he will keep it- all the clips of Maher calling women bad stuff- well they have been going viral on the net.

I even heard Ed Rendell- a big Democrat insider- say that he has Democrat women telling him that Obama needs to give the money back.

Maher just did a sold out show here in Texas [San Antonio] - he talked about giving up the ‘cu-t’ line about Palin [he also speaks of her as a ‘twat’ and makes fun of her Down syndrome child].

He said he gave up the ‘cu-t’ line [left the n out] even though it was the funniest line in his routine- that everyone loved it.

If that’s the funniest line on your show- then you have one dull show.

Sinbad [the Black comedian] is funny- you laugh when he does stand up- and you never hear any stuff like this out of him- if you need to degrade women and Down syndrome children to get laughs- then you have a problem.

The sad thing is- Obama and his guys are still 100% behind Maher- defending him on TV [Axelrod].

I heard Axelrod give a defense of Maher just the other day- while at the same time accusing the Repubs of waging a ‘war on women’.

Too much- that’s funnier than all the Maher skits combined.

Okay- let’s ‘keep em honest’ [as Cooper says].

As the debate heats up- Obama has been denying- vehemently- that he wants higher gas prices.

He told one reporter at a news presser- ‘do you really think that a president- in an election year- wants gas to go up’?

Actually- I don’t.

Then why ask this?

One of the political positions that some have taken over the years [Gore] believe that in order to wean the nation off of fossil fuels- that you have to get the gas prices high enough that it would then make the alternative clean fuels more economically feasible.

At the same time- this view believes that the Govt. should invest in clean fuel companies [thus Solyndra] and help them get off the ground.

Okay- has Obama and his Energy secretary ever espoused views like this?

Yes- many times- in public- on camera- on utube- even in the last couple of years.

Okay- do we have the right to be suspicious?

Obama- and Chu [energy secretary] have both said there goal was to get fuel prices higher- Chu said 8 dollars would be about right [a gallon].

This administration has touted clean fuel companies and has even been caught [emails] telling one company that was about to go under [Solyndra] ‘wait until after the midterm elections before you go bust’.

They have held this anti fossil fuel position for a long time.

Then why is it so unreasonable to simply ask ‘do you still hold to your past position- one you are on record as having- that you want gas prices to go up’.

Yet- the MSNBC crowd- and the other supporters of Obama in the media- they cant believe that anyone would ever believe that Obama and Chu would want gas to go higher.

Chu was confronted this week at a congressional hearing- the congressman asked him if he still held to the words he spoke a few years ago when he said he wanted gas to go up in price.

Chu said- ‘no- I don’t hold to that view anymore’.

Geez- this was your life long mission- something you advocated for- for many years- you’re were on that side- the Gore idea- and now you say ‘I don’t hold the view’.

Who do we believe man?

As MSNBC continues their ‘war on women’ accusation- we now have clips of Sharpton making the rounds [UTUBE] where he calls the Greek Philosophers [the ones I have been teaching on this least year] ‘a bunch of Homo’s’.

How wonderful- Sharpton- a guy- flim flam man- who holds a regular show on msnbc- he degrades Jews- calls Greeks ‘Homo’s’ speaks of Whites in terrible ways- yet he is lauded as some great civil rights guy- and he is a major supporter of Obama.

Race?

This week- the justice dept just overturned a Texas voter I.D. law.

Some states have been passing laws that say you need picture I.D. to vote.

Holder [attorney general- who has said that the civil rights laws are only meant to protect Blacks- not Whites- he did say this by the way].

He overturned Texas’ law because he said it was racist- because more minorities don’t have I.D.’s.

A few years ago- there was a video making the rounds- a Democrat woman [I think Ca.?] she was onstage talking to an Hispanic audience- she said ‘go tell your friends and neighbors to vote- even if they don’t have documentation- because they are not allowed to check at the polls’.

So some states have passed laws- trying to make sure that only citizens are voting.

In 2008- Georgia’s first vote after they passed voter I.D. laws- they had MORE Blacks show up to vote.

In 2008- the Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s voter I.D. law- Justice John Paul Stevens- a liberal- wrote the majority decision.

He simply said that states have a real interest- not racist- to make sure only eligible voters are voting.

He said there was absolutely no evidence to suggest that requiring people to have picture I.D.’s to vote is racist.

Yet Holder says that states that are trying to pass voter I.D. laws are trying to ‘undo’ the civil rights gains that men like John Lewis fought for in the 60’s.

This guy is unbelievable.

So we have an administration- whose public defenders- who’s attorney general- whose energy secretary- and all the other people around him- hold to paranoid views on race and energy and all types of things.

They call women the nastiest manes in the book- they speak about Jews and Whites as groups that conspired against Blacks and who need to be ‘eliminated as a social class’ [Bell].

Yet- at the same time they are also running a media campaign that says 'look at all the Repubs- they are anti woman- they are racist- they call women sluts’.

And then when 2 polls come out [this week- Washington Post and N.Y. Times] they cant believe that Obama’s approval actually fell- even among women.

Yes- after the Super Tuesday results- when Santorum won a large amount of women voters- you had the pundits on MSNBC shocked- even mad ‘I guess these southern women are too stupid- that they would vote for a guy who wants to take away their birth control’.

Now- Southern women- Northern Women- women from all regions and colors- they have daughters and sons who need jobs- who have a very bleak future ahead of them- if the economy does not start really producing jobs.

These women are paying 75 dollars to fill up their cars/vehicles.

These women- they have real concerns about real issues.

And for the media to have really thought that their contrived War on Woman campaign- to have thought that women would go out in huge numbers to vote for their ‘right to have birth control- paid for by everyone else’ for them to have thought this was demeaning- condescending.

Yes- women are concerned about health care issues- and the CBO said this week that Obama care will cost twice as much than what he said [1.7 trillion instead of 900 billion].

And that private employers would drop around 20 million people from their rolls [not 1 million as Obama said].

Yes- these health care issues matter to women- it matters to women that your major supporters degrade women on a regular basis- accuse Jews and Whites of conspiracies.

These things matter too.

But no- the media can’t understand how Obama’s approval actually went down among women- not up.

I guess they don’t realize that Jews and Whites and Hispanics and all other races- well they are women too.

And even though Eric Holder does not believe that these ‘other races’ are covered under the civil rights laws- and that states that simply want citizens to vote- whether they be Mexican or White or Black- they want to make sure only eligible voters vote.

Well Holder says that those states are trying to turn back the civil rights gains made over the past 60 years.

It’s no wonder why the numbers are going down- women see these things- women of all races- and its condescending to have thought that women were going to abandon the other side in huge numbers and support Obama- all because a Georgetown university student- who pays 40 thousand a year tuition- can’t afford 9 dollars a month at wal mart for birth control.

It’s a surprise for me to think that any woman- Black- White- North- South- would have swallowed a line like that.

1809- 3 THINGS

First- Sanford Florida.

The case of Zimmerman and the Black kid.

As most of you have heard by now- Zimmerman was this neighborhood watch guy and he saw a Black kid walking thru the area.

To Zimmerman- for whatever reason- he thought the kid looked suspicious [you know- Black kid walking- yeah- very strange!]

So as any good citizen would do- he stalked the kid!

As you listen to the 911 calls- it seems as if this Black kid realized some guy in a vehicle is following him and he gets scared.

Even though the dispatcher tells Zimmerman not to follow the kid- Zimmerman replies ‘these type always get away’.

Then you hear from the 911 tapes- Zimmerman confronts the scared kid- the kid is screaming for his life- and Zimmerman kills him- you know- with the gun he uses for ‘self defense’.

No arrest- the cops say it was self defense.

Geez- if this was self defense- keep me away from Sanford.

Obviously Zimmerman murdered the kid in cold blood.

Sure- maybe he should not get convicted for the most severe type of murder- but this guy needs to go to prison for this stunt.

Second- George Clooney.

This past week Clooney has made the rounds on the talk shows- and even got arrested at the Sudanese embassy in D.C.

He has been bringing awareness to the tragedy going on in the Sudan [Africa].

Last year I wrote a few posts on the situation.  Sudan had a referendum and the south split from the north.

Clooney did say ‘this is the world’s most recent nation’.

Actually he got that wrong [go back a post or 2 and read my post on Barqa].

But overall he did well.

What’s going on in Sudan is actually worse than what’s happening in Syria.

In Syria- the president- Assad- has indiscriminately bombed civilian cities [Homs] - it is an overreaction that has killed many innocent people [some estimates are around 10,000].

But yet- it is a ‘reaction’.

A response to a popular uprising in the country.

In Sudan- the govt. is simply dropping [literally- rolling them off the planes] bombs on women and children- to get them to move out of the Nuba mountain area- so the govt. can take the land.

The people living in the area- they have already missed the last year of the planting season- and they can’t plant this year because of the bombs- many are on the verge of starvation- and they are living under rocks and in caves because of the bombing.

This truly is a tragedy- and I commend Clooney for his activism.

And last but not least- sergeant Bales.

Yes- we now have had a few reports on the soldier accused of killing 16 civilian Afghans.

As the portrait is being drawn- we see a sad story.

By all accounts Bales grew up as a great kid- well liked and a truly good guy.

He joined the military a few months after 911- and was one of those kids who said ‘this won’t happen on my watch’ type of thing.

He had already seen multiple tours of duty in combat zones- and suffered some severe injuries as a result [lost part of his foot and had some head injuries].

He is married and has 2 small kids.

He owned 2 homes- one was foreclosed on- the other he agreed to sell at a 50,000 dollar loss- one of those unfortunate guys who is ‘underwater’ on his mortgage [you owe more than the house is worth].

On his wife’s blog- she wrote that they were trying to deal with these losses by the possibility that their next tour of duty would be in Germany- Italy or maybe Hawaii.

Bales said the military told him they would not send him back into a combat zone.

Then he got the news that they were going to Afghanistan instead.

 Now- all these things obviously do not justify the killing of civilians- but we need to see that our govt. also plays a role- a responsibility- if we are stressing guys to the limit.

The day before the incident- Bales witnessed his friend getting his leg blown off.

Everybody in the company was upset about the injury.

It is said that Bales was drinking the day of the killings- and by all accounts- it looks like a tragic story of a good man- who snapped.

In all these cases- the killing of the Black kid- Sudan- and Bales- we as a nation get mad.

We see the injustices- the victims- and even the very real humanity of those who perpetrate the crime [Bales].

We want- and should- give people the benefit of the doubt.

But we should also make sure we are not simply overlooking a real crime- because it’s just easier to say ‘oh- self defense’.

The 2 chapters I recommend for the week are John chapter 3 [born again- Jesus] and Ephesians chapter 2 [saved by grace].

If I remember I will comment on them before the week is out.

But they do talk about forgiveness- God sending his Son into the world- not to condemn the world- but to save it.

As we pray for these situations- and also seek justice where it needs to be done [Sudan- Fla.] we need to keep in mind both sides [Bales].

While we never want to overlook a serious offense- we also want to be aware of the overall situation.

Are we stressing our guys too much?

Should guys who have had multiple serious injuries- loosing parts of their limbs- should we be sending them into combat zones 3 or 4 times?

Like I said- no excuses for the wrong done- but have we also done wrong- by putting him there?

1810- THE CRUCIFIED ONE

Yesterday I shopped at the local grocery store- and as my habit is- I started at the vegetable/fruit section.

When I grab the little bags to put the stuff in- I usually grab a few extra- and if I don’t use them I’ll take them home and stick them in the cabinet.

So, as I’m checking out- the lady asks me ‘oh- do you want me to throw these out’. I think she knew I was gonna confiscate them for personal use.

So- as a joke- I say ‘no- that’s fine- I sell them to the homeless guys out front’ [The store is a couple of hundred yards from the homeless mission where I hang out- everyone in the area knows about the ‘homeless guys’].

As I tell her the joke- both she and the bagger- they don’t seem to think it’s funny.

They look pretty mad- to be honest.

I tell them ‘no- I’m kidding- I take them home and use them for the onions and stuff’.

Their look didn’t change one bit- they did not want me to get those damn bags!

Right now in Texas we have an ongoing war with the Obama administration. In all my years as a political observer- I have never seen someone as petty as this current president.

I have written about him denying us federal aid when we applied because of wild fires we had a few years back.

Then the recent accusation that Texas is racist because of the voter I.D. laws.

Plus- the E.P.A. rules that are shutting down parts of our power grid- this coming year Texas is going to face some blackout problems because of this.

So- this week the president cut the federal funds for the WHP program.

This program gives care to poor women.

There are over 2400 hundred providers in Texas that will lose the majority of their funding because of this.

Why would the president do this?

Texas- like a few other states- passed a law that prevents tax payer money going to clinics that provide abortions.

The federal money supplies about 90 % of the funding- the federal govt. said if you deny any funding for the Planned Parenthood clinics- then we will cut all the funding to all of the 2400 clinics.

Now- did they have to do this?

No.

How many Planned Parenthood clinics are in this group of over 2400 providers?

If you simply listen to the media- you would think that just about all of them are- or maybe half.

Out of the over 2400 providers- Planned Parenthood makes up 44.

Yeah- 44.

The president cut off funding for 2400 clinics- that do breast screenings and mammograms.

That actually treat cancer and other diseases.

He cut them all off- because Planned Parenthood would not be in the group any more.

Planned Parenthood does not treat for breast cancer- does not offer pre natal care- and does not even have mammogram machines.

Many of the 2400 clinics that the president cut off do all of these services.

So why would you cut off over 90 % of the clinics that actually do these real- needed services?

Because of the political ideology of being pro abortion.

Obama has positioned himself as being on the side of abortion and his supports want that.

So- to appease his base- he cut off 2400 poor women’s clinics in Texas- this was a choice he made- not Perry.

A poll was done the other day- they asked women ‘would you like free birth control- or have to pay for it yourself’?

Now- if you ask just about anybody ‘would you like free dental- or health insurance- or beer’ what do you think the majority of people would say?

So after they did the poll- they said ‘see- most people support the position the president takes on abortion and birth control’.

See how the media shapes the conversation? You can ask a question in a way that gets a certain answer- and Walla- they achieved the goal.

Society has a decision to make- can we as a people live without any ethical requirements.

Should ethics- making a distinction between right and wrong- should this be part of the conversation?

In our Philosophy study- as scattered as it has been- we ended right around the 18-19th centuries.

We were coming up to the Existentialists.

Existentialism is a difficult philosophy to pin down [as most are].

But the easiest short definition I have found is it’s the philosophy of Existence.

That is real life- It’s not just a matter of intellectual data- it’s what we learn and experience as passionate people- people who have real problems and issues- yet they strive for meaning.

The father of Existentialism was the 19^th century thinker- Soren Kierkegaard.

Kierkegaard was a Christian- he challenged the dead church of Denmark- the state church- and he called for a more adventurous approach to the faith.

Some notable followers of this philosophy took a different approach- they were the atheistic existentialists.

One of the most famous being Frederick Nietzsche.

Nietzsche taught that men should abandon all hope of a future afterlife- that the whole field of ethics was futile ‘do what you need to do to excel- step on the other people on the way up the ladder- and that’s what life is all about’.

He called this the Superman- man coming into this new age of science and reason- and rejecting the old forms of religion and ethics- which keep man down.

Nietzsche spent the last years of his life in an insane asylum.

His sister sold tickets to the ‘audience’ who wanted to see the madman.

She exercised her ‘superwoman’ and did what would benefit her- financially- without any worry about whether it was right or wrong.

The last couple of years of his life- Nietzsche signed his letters ‘the crucified one’.

In his rejection of God- he lost his mind and took the identity of Jesus Christ- the ethical one.

As we grapple with what’s right and wrong- as states pass laws that say 'we don’t want our tax payer money supporting abortions’.

Then we are going to have to deal with the backlash- those who at the time have the power [money] to cut the states off who see ethics as a priority.

Yes- the Superman [Feds] can deny that ethics play a role in women’s health- they can say ‘no money for any of your 2400 clinics’ just because you won’t fund 44 Planned Parenthood clinics.

People can get mad- and even take polls that say ‘we want free things’ [don’t we all? My grocery bags!]

At the end of the day- right and wrong do make a difference.

Trying to live a life- a worldview [philosophy] in a passionate way- that’s a good thing- we are all real people who deal with real issues.

But when you leave God/ethics out of the picture- then you are on a crash course- you might wake up one day- having lost your mind- and signing you letters as The Crucified One.

1811- ETCH A SKETCH

The top story of the day- the big- no- huge- breaking news.

What was it?

You aint gonna believe me.

Yes- the Etch a Sketch controversy!

 During the day yesterday some campaign aid for Romney said when they get to the general election- they will move to the center and do like the Etch a Sketch- shake the game and clear the slate.

Okay- was this the smartest thing to say? No.

Sure- it played into the charge that Romney is a ‘change agent’ [he changes his position to suit the day].

But top news? Please.

What should be top news?

I have covered a bunch of important overlooked stories these last few weeks- there are so many I could write one a day- but let’s hit a couple for now.

The top government leader in Libya has just said- quote ‘the central govt. is incapable of protecting or governing the nation’s vital institutions since the capture and killing of Gadhaffi’.

Yes- we over through that govt. by force- and we left the country in a mess.

Egypt- this week they just acquitted 9 terrorists who belonged to Al Qaeda and were part of the Islamic Jihad movement.

They had charges against them from trying to overthrow the former regime- Mubarak- who we forced to step down.

Yes- the people we enabled to be in charge- they acquitted our so called number one enemy in the world- Al Qaeda.

So why do these important stories- stories that demand headline news coverage- why do they get put on the back burner- and instead we have room for the Etch a Sketch.

It’s because the media do not want to report stories that would have a negative effect on Obama.

John- do you really believe this?

Yes.

Hillary Clinton believed it to.

During her run against Obama for the nomination- her insider political people knew that the media were purposefully covering for Obama.

It has been reported- credibly- that her people actually contacted Hannity from Fox news- and told him that they were grateful that Fox was the only network willing to cover Obama.

A book just came out by David Corn- a liberal supporter of Obama- works for Mother Jones.

In the book Corn says how Obama has told his supporters that his poll numbers are down because Fox news accuses him of being a Muslim 24/7.

I watch Fox- as well as all the news channels- I have never heard a hard news report that claimed Obama was a Muslim.

Now- the president himself has indeed made so many statements in the past- calling Islam ‘my Muslim faith’.

He has said that he studied the Koran- he has prayed the Muslim prayer at sunset- and it was- quote ‘a beautiful thing’.

He has made statements like this over and over again- nonstop- over the years.

So- you would have thought that during the campaign some media people would have simply asked ‘why did you say this- a lot’.

Not one question- instead the media began a campaign to get people to think ‘geez- why are they always accusing Obama of being Muslim’.

The news reporters would ask the opposing candidates ‘do you think he’s Muslim’.

They would ask ‘should you make so and so apologize because he thinks Obama is Muslim’.

Yet not one story on his own statements associating himself with Islam.

Many of you probably never heard the few I just quoted in this post.

Okay- am I on this anti Muslim rant- trying to associate Obama with Islam?

No.

But the book just came out- and this is a charge he makes- that the other side are ‘24/7’ calling him a Muslim- that’s just not true- and any other candidate who made the statements he has in the past- they would have not gotten ‘a pass’.

I talked about the atheist Nietzsche in the last post.

One of the famous comments he made was- man- like the Superman- should ‘will to power’ he should live for what he deems best- and strive for the top- even if you have no real reason for your own existence. He said man should ‘build his house on Vesuvius’ [an active volcano].

As the year progresses- as the top stories of the day become a stupid Etch a Sketch comment- or how one side is so right- while the other so wrong- we need to read between the lines.

There are many serious- important stories to cover.

Innocent people being killed- leaders oppressing their people.

Children starving around the world in vast numbers.

These are all very serious issues that we need to know about- pray about- and if we can- do something about.

But no- we want the Etch a Sketch- we want the stories that have no real value- no true meaning.

Yes- we are building our house on Vesuvius- and we don’t even know it.

1812- John 3- Ephesians 2 [and the chicken!]

I want to cover the 2 bible chapters that I mentioned the other day- John chapter 3 and Ephesians chapter 2.

But first- some business.

I wrote a post the other day about ‘confiscating’ the little plastic bags at my local grocery store [HEB].

And some of you might be thinking ‘see- crime does pay’.

For your information- the bags were probably worth about 25 cents.

The other day I went to take out the chicken thighs for dinner- I couldn’t find them!

Then I thought ‘gee- my truck has been smelling like dead bodies lately’.

Yes- the chicken was left under the back seat for 2 days- cost- about 6 dollars.

Lesson? Don’t steal the bags anymore- cost? Priceless.

Okay- John chapter 3 is the famous chapter where Jesus tells Nicodemus ‘a man cannot see the kingdom of God unless he is born again’ [or born from above].

We also have the famous John 3:16 verse ‘for God so loved the world…’

If you read the chapter- both Jesus- and John the Baptist speak about those who believe- they are not condemned- and those who do not believe are judged.

Yet Jesus says he came into the world- not to condemn it- but to save it.

In Ephesians chapter 2 the apostle Paul says we are ‘saved by grace- not of works- lest any man should boast’.

Both chapters emphasize the role faith plays in salvation.

Okay- where did I come up with these chapters for the reading of the week?

They were both quoted from during the mass on Sunday [as a Protestant- I always try and watch the mass on Sunday- as well as doing our own home church meeting].

‘John- do Catholics believe in being born again’?

Yes- very much so.

Being born again is actually a vital doctrine within Catholicism.

For a brief review of Catholic/Protestant teaching- on my blog- on the front page to the left- you will see a bunch of studies that I have highlighted- click the ‘Protestant Reformation- Luther’ and you will get a more in depth discussion on some of the differences- and points of agreement.

But for this brief post- Catholics [and Orthodox] believe the new birth takes place at baptism- for the most part Protestants/Evangelicals believe it takes place at the point of faith [added to a long list of ‘altar calls’ or ‘5 steps of conversion’ etc.- in short- Protestants have their own sacramental system- they just don’t know it!]

I say- mostly- because there are many various groups within the Protestant movement that also would agree that water baptism is the point of being saved [church of Christ- various Pentecostal groups- etc.].

Now- I hold more to the historic Reformation view [faith] but I do not see a ‘grave’ departure from scripture with those who put more of the emphasis on baptism.

There are verses in John 3- Jesus says ‘a man must be born of water and the spirit’.

Plus- the last half of the chapter starts with a discussion over ‘purifying’.

There was a debate- going on at the time- between Jesus and John’s followers- about baptism- the chapter says the debate was about ‘purifying’.

Overall- it’s not unreasonable- in my mind- to hold to the more traditional emphasis on the importance of the role of baptism.

Yet- Christians fight- vehemently- over this.

In this part of the country it’s common for a Baptist- Assembly of God- or Church of Christ believer to view the ‘other team’ as a cult over this- this to me is very sad.

The main point?

Regardless of how much of a role water baptism plays in your particular denomination- the main point is we are saved by faith- thru the death and resurrection of Christ.

In the Ephesians chapter- Paul actually hits on some pretty deep themes- that the death of Christ removed the ‘wall of separation’ between Jew and Gentile- and we both are made into ‘one new man’.

This shows us the role that the Cross should play in society- it should bring various groups and cultures together- not divide them.

It would take a little too much time for me to go into what the ‘wall of separation’ was in Paul’s day.

But he wasn’t speaking about our sins separating us from God [though this of course is true].

But he was speaking about the role the law [10 commandments] played at the time.

Paul- a zealous teacher of the Jewish law [Pharisee] held the law in high esteem- and often it became a barrier between the Jew and Gentile.

Some of the more fame seeking Pharisees [the ones we see Jesus interacting with in the gospels] used the fact that they were the nation that received the law under Moses- as an ‘I’m better than you’ mentality.

Paul says ‘the law of commandments that was against us- Jesus nailed them to his Cross’ [Colossians].

He also says in his letter to the Galatians ‘if righteousness comes by the law- then Christ died in vain’ strong words indeed!

The point he is making is we- believers- are no longer under the condemnation of the law- no longer under the continual threat of God striking us down at any moment because of our sin.

We have been saved by grace and those who ‘walk in the Spirit’ are no longer under condemnation [Romans 8].

So- Jesus nailed the law to the Cross- and the barrier that separated Jew from gentile- as well as sinful man from a Holy God- has been ‘taken away’ by Christ.

I must note that the apostle Paul himself- who is famous for this teaching- always added the caveat ‘do we now sin because we are not under the law? God forbid!’

He was accused- by the strict sect of the Pharisees [known as Judaizers] of teaching a ‘lawless gospel’.

No- he- as well as most Christian denominations today- teach that the 10 commandments are still very important- and as believers in Christ we will naturally- by our new birth- fulfill the law.

But it is no longer this sword of Damocles hanging over our head.

Okay- for those who haven’t had time to read the chapters yet- try and read them over the weekend- they are short chapters- think about what I said in this post- look for the emphasis on faith- the role that faith plays in our salvation.

I’ll be back in a few days- but I need to go now- need to get another pack of chicken thighs before the store gets crowded.

1813- THE BLACK KID [Trayvon Martin]

About a year ago I was out of town- a city called Rockport- a really beautiful city about 40 miles from my home.

To be honest- it was a rough day- I was on foot, walking. It was about 9:00 p.m. - and I had no cell phone.

To put it simply- I was stuck.

Now- I have been there before [there= situations like this] but it’s been a while- and I’m an old guy now!

Nevertheless I was walking- and thinking of some way to get a ride.

The first store I stopped at- I asked ‘do you mind if I use your phone’- they looked at me like I was Jack the Ripper- they gave me some excuse and sent me packing.

Then there were a couple of ‘kids’ there- looked like the classic gang kids- the whole 9 yards. They were Hispanic- and I asked them ‘hey- can I use your cell phone’?

He let me- I made a call- no one answered.

Then I walked about another block- thinking I would start walking down the highway and just hitch a ride.

I found another store.

At this store I got some change and used the pay phone and called a taxi service- I did have my wallet and took cash from the ATM.

As I was sitting outside waiting for the cab- I noticed a Black kid with a buddy- he was getting gas- it was late- I looked pretty ‘rough’ and I noticed he kept checking me out- he was telling his friend something and he started my way.

I was sitting out of the way- by the air pumps.

I thought ‘damn- I’m tired- It’s been a tough day- I’m too tired to run- let’s see what this kid wants’.

You know- I figured if worse comes to worse- I’ll do the Florida ‘stand your ground law’ yeah- that sounds good [though I wasn’t familiar with their law yet].

Oh-one problem- I don’t have a gun.

So the kid walks right up to me- kinda in my face- I tried to give him the Jersey stare ‘yeah- what’s up man’ [you can’t looked scared or the stare won’t work].

He simply walks right up- takes his hand out of his pocket- and gives me about 2 bucks in change.

Yeah- he thought I was one of the local homeless guys- he wanted to help me out!

Man- I knew I looked rough- but didn’t realize it was that bad!

I kinda laughed and told him I didn’t need it- he left it anyway.

This last week we have been having a conversation about race- the president made a comment about Trayvon Martin- and one of the Repub candidates criticized him for it.

I heard the president- read his statement- there was absolutely nothing wrong with what he said.

I have a feeling that we might find out a few things that we are not aware of right now.

It seems like Trayvon might have fought with Zimmerman [the guy who shot him].

And maybe we will hear a few things about Trayvon- maybe some problems at school or something.

But no matter what his history is- if he did have some problems- or even if he punched Zimmerman in the face and broke his nose.

Yet- the way Zimmerman pursued the kid- even after the 911 dispatcher told him not to- then he got out of his vehicle and confronted the kid- then he wound up killing  him.

Look- the whole thing was wrong.

We don’t need self appointed ‘neighborhood watch’ guys acting like cops- and making 50 911 calls in the last year [which he did].

I worked for the Fire Dept. for 25 years- and I loved our volunteer firefighters- some of the guys were really helpful.

But you had a few that never could get hired as full time guys- and these guys acted like they were the ‘real deal’.

I mean they wore the fire dept Tee shirts around town- had the lights on their trucks [the paid guys never did stuff like this].

They wanted to be firefighters- paid- and if they couldn’t score high enough on the test and get on the dept. - then they did the next best thing- they acted like they were on the job!

I see this in Zimmerman- and while we don’t have all the details- he was not justified in killing this kid- no matter what else we find out- this was an unjustified killing.

And I agree with the president- every person- Black- White- Hispanic- should be concerned about this shooting- and we want to get to the bottom of this.

For a 17 year old kid [Black- White- whatever] to get shot in cold blood- and to be lying on the slab for 2 days before the parents know what happened.

And for the shooter to be home- still playing ‘cop’- and keeping his gun- this stuff needs to stop- and we as a country need to condemn stuff like this.

Yeah- did I feel nervous when the Black kid walked up to me at the gas station that night?

 Sure.

He saw some White guy- a guy he thought was homeless- and he wanted to help.

When we see a Black kid- a hood or not- let’s not think ‘this kid is up to no good’ [the words of Zimmerman on the 911 call].

If we/you think something looks suspicious- yeah- go ahead and call 911.

But for heaven’s sake- if your packing heat- don’t get out of your car and play cop.

There's a reason some of the volunteers never got hired- and there’s a reason Zimmerman was not a cop.

If you aint ‘the real deal’ then call the pro’s- and stay in the damn car.

1814- I WILL NEVER SEE MY HOME AGAIN

When I was a kid growing up in New Jersey- there were certain stories that I heard- you know- things that stick with you for the rest of your life.

One of the all time greats was the day my mom took my Italian Grandma to the store.

Now- my mom was notorious for getting lost- even as a young kid I would tell her directions on my way to school- blocks from the house!

But this one was the best.

The store they were headed to was named Valley fair- it was about 15 minutes from the house- I drove passed it many times- even rode my bike there.

So my mom picks up Nauna and off they go.

Now- my Nauna was a first generation immigrant- you know- came over on the boat [Plane?]

So you might see things differently because of that- having had the experience of leaving your homeland and moving to some strange new world.

As they make this ‘short’ drive- my mom begins worrying that she might have missed the turn.

As a matter of fact- it seems like they have been driving for a while [quite a while to be exact!]

So she finally stops at the gas station and asks the guy ‘do you know where Valley Fair is’?

The guy looks puzzled- and you must understand [to those of you not from the Garden State] that the cities are so tight- it’s easy to drive thru 10 cites without even realizing you did it.

So the guy asks ‘what city is the store in’?

Simple enough.

She tells him [I think the town was Little Ferry?]

He still looks puzzled- he asks ‘what state is that in’?

Yes- they drove out of state and were wandering in New York state.

My Nauna simply said ‘I will never see my home again’.

Yes- we all hate change- we fear the new environment- having to learn new tasks.

Today is day 3 for the Supreme Court to hear the oral arguments on Obama Care.

They set aside 6 hours over 3 days for the case- which is really extraordinary.

They usually give you one hour and that’s it.

But they know this is a major thing- and they want to hear both sides.

By most accounts- the Solicitor General for the govt. [the lawyer who argues the case for it] had a bad day.

Some even went as far to predict that the law will get struck down [Toobin for CNN].

I think it’s still too early to say that- but it did look like the court might be accepting [at least asking] more arguments on the side of those who want to overturn the law then those who are for it.

Why are so many people against it?

About 2/3^rd’s of the country do not like the mandate [Me too].

People will indeed be forced to buy insurance- or pay the fine.

I found it funny that one of the more liberal justices- Stephen Bryer- kind of rebuked the president’s lawyer [the guy arguing for it].

The lawyer kept referring to the fine as ‘the tax’ and Bryer called him out on it.

Why was the lawyer fudging like this?

Because if you argue that the mandate is simply a tax- then by all accounts the govt. has the power to tax.

But the law was not drawn up this way- because of political reasons.

So instead of saying the charge is a tax- they said it’s a fine.

As this case has made its way thru the courts- the govt. has tried this a few times- and one judge said ‘look- you have argued in public that this is not a tax- now you are saying it is- you can’t have it both ways’.

So the govt. [Obama] has really twisted this thing a lot.

I don’t know if the court will uphold or reject the law- but things look brighter today for those who want it struck down.

One of the things that will happen- is if it passes- is things will change.

Now- frankly I’m not in the camp of thinking the whole country will go socialist over it- to be honest the mandate used to be a Repub idea [the Heritage Foundation- a conservative think tank- once supported the idea].

Socialism- in its truest form- would have been the one payer- govt. run system- this plan is not that.

But yeah- there will be changes- many for the worse- a few for the better.

Many people will lose their employer provided insurance- because it will be cheaper for the Employers to drop their coverage and let people fall into the plan.

So that will be bad for some.

And of course- the argument that all the govt. is doing is regulating commerce [that’s the argument they are using- the commerce clause] is really silly in my mind- they are trying to mandate people to buy a private product- from the private business sector- this is much more than simply regulating commerce.

But overall- if it passes- things will change.

Yes- change is scary- we get used to familiar surroundings- then one day you wake up- head out to the store- and before you know it- you will never see your home again.

1815- HEAD TRANSPLANT

I have been reading the San Antonio paper the last few weeks- and they have been running some ad for dental implants [fake teeth].

They have the ‘before/after’ pictures- whenever I see the ad- I think ‘before what? A complete head transplant’!

Yes- the before shots remind me much of my homeless buddies- the after shots look like glamour pictures for the ‘most beautiful person in the world’ contest.

This last week I have reached a sort of milestone- a few years ago I began praying [more than usual] for all types of criminal cases that I read about- or see- on the news.

I actually painted their names all over my gazebo- the back fence- and yes- right on the back and sides of the house [along with lots of bible verses].

I have hundreds of pictures/articles cut from the paper- their pinned to my office walls.

You say ‘John- I know you mean well- but do you think this is normal’.

Actually no- neither does my wife.

I have been threatened ‘if you keep doing this- I will paint the whole house’.

My paints [and brushes] have been hidden [by others!]- and when Christmas comes around- I tell the kids ‘hey- just get me another 5 gallon bucket of paint- I’m running low’ [yes- this part is a joke].

Some of the more severe cases- the ones that stick in my mind- I paint their names- the others I just pin up the article.

Sometimes I see the cases more than once- at the time of the crime- and then when they get sentenced.

This week Jacob Gonzales was sentenced to life without parole.

He plead guilty to a triple homicide he committed last year- shot 3 girls in cold blood.

The worst homicide the city has ever seen.

So I had written the name of Jacob down- and saved the article.

As I looked for a spot to paint the name- I realized that I already wrote the name Jacob- in big letters- on a ladder on my gazebo [long story- bible verse about Jacobs Ladder].

So it kinda just fit.

I knew his case was significant- I do ‘forever’ pray for these guys [and women] and being it was a local case- and he will be in jail for life- he would benefit more from the prayers.

During my normal reading for the week- I was reading Jeremiah chapter 31.

I usually focus on one or 2 chapters a week- and if I remember I comment on them at the end of the week.

As I read chapter 31- it starts with a verse that should be added to the previous chapter.

Sometimes you run into a chapter like that- our bible chapters and verses are really ‘man made’ that is the chapters themselves are not inspired- just the content [chapter divisions].

So I thought ‘heck- let me go ahead and see if the Lord has something for me in chapter 30’.

Now- this is the week where I added Jacob to my prayer group- again.

And I felt there was some special significance to his case.

In Jeremiah chapter 30 the Lord says ‘this is the time of Jacobs’s trouble- and I will save him out of it’.

It would take too long to teach the actual doctrine of Jacobs Trouble- but it is a long- and sometimes controversial teaching that we find all through the bible.

I say controversial because many [most?] Protestants have an ‘end time’ teaching about this [called Dispensationalism] that I don’t agree with.

I hold more to the historic churches’ view on these passages [Catholic, Orthodox, etc.]

But Jacob- in the bible- is the son of Isaac- the son of Abraham.

God changes his name to Israel [he is the father of the 12 tribes of Israel].

And the name obviously holds a lot of significance in the bible.

The ‘trouble’ part refers to the passages we find in the bible that speak about a very troubling time for Israel as a nation- in many of the End Time books/movies- it’s called ‘The Great Tribulation’.

But the significance for me- this week- was God kinda spoke to me thru the connection of this kid Jacob- who I prayed for all week.

Yes- Jacobs’ time of trouble.

In chapter 31 [Jeremiah] God tells Israel ‘there is coming a time when I will make a new covenant with you- not like the one I made with you during the time of Moses’.

This fits in with what I taught last week- how the apostle Paul said we are not under the old law [Moses and the 10 commandments] but under a new covenant- the new and everlasting covenant of the Blood of Jesus.

In the chapter it says God will write his law on our minds and hearts- it won’t just be an outward law- written on tables of stone- but one written on the inside.

Yes- he says ‘all things will be new- I will never remember your sins any more’.

You know- I guess complete head [heart] transplants can happen- but it takes a miracle from God.

1816- CASA DI MI PADRE

This is the latest Will Ferrell flick to hit the big screen.

It’s in Spanish [no joke] and Ferrell speaks all his lines in Spanish.

I caught his interview on Jon Stewart- plugging the movie- and it looks funny.

I do like Ferrell- I clipped an article [so I would remember to mention it] and just about 5 minutes ago as I re-read the thing- I couldn’t stop laughing.

It shows a picture of Ferrell- all made up to look like a Mexican drug lord [I think he plays a brother of one in the movie] and he’s holding this rifle- in a real awkward way- and he looks like an idiot.

That’s what makes me laugh about the guy- he’s just funny.

The movie is a spoof of the Spanish Telenovela movies- he’s basically making fun of the genre- and at the same time trying to appeal to both Spanish and English speaking audiences.

As the week ends- there have been some surprises in the news world.

Most observers think the Health Care law has more of a chance of being struck down by the court than less of a chance.

It was not so last week- so this is a major story.

Also about 2 weeks ago I wrote some posts on the Syrian situation- if you remember both Russia and China rejected the U.S. lead effort [in the U.N.] to condemn Assad [the Syrian president] and call for his ouster.

At the time I said the U.S. needs to realize that we can’t keep calling for the ouster of leaders- even bad ones- every time a rebellion rises up.

Why?

Because the radical Islamist groups see this- and that’s why you started having various protestors calling for ‘NO FLY ZONES’.

They were reading us- and at times trying to simply manipulate us to do their bidding.

Now- after our U.N. resolution failed [because of China and Russia voting it down] Susan Rice- the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.- made a public statement- calling it ‘unconscionable’ and using language that you normally don’t see by ‘fellow negotiators’ from the U.N.

As I watched the fallout- I saw that experts at how the U.N. process works- they said Rice was incompetent- and her reaction showed her inability to handle the job.

These criticisms came from both sides- Russian and U.S.

I also said at the time that the U.S. needs to basically listen to what Russia’s objections are- and we need to move in their direction on this- and not the other way around.

Russia basically was fed up with the West coming in and backing rebel groups- unseating the leaders of the countries- and then leaving the place a mess [Libya- Egypt].

Russia [and China] saw the writing on the wall- and they called for a ceasefire on all sides- and for everyone to sit down at the table.

I thought this was the best way to go as well.

But Rice [U.S.] called for Assad to step down [which means he will get tried and executed- as various Al Qaeda groups take the country over].

So just the other day- the news headlines read ‘Russia capitulates to U.S. position’.

As I read the article- the opposite happened.

We agreed to the Russian position- not the other way around.

But every article on it- bar none- made it look like ‘we prevailed’.

That Obama and his team were the real experts- standing up for liberty- and the other side lost.

How many people knew enough to see that the articles were wrong- how many just read the headlines and thought ‘wow- what a bang up job that Susan Rice is doing at the U.N.’

This is how media bias works- sometimes I think they even believe their own stuff- even when it’s obviously wrong.

In the next week or so I’m going to try and wrap up a few more posts on Philosophy.

We started around 6 months ago- with the pre Socratic Philosophers [7-800 years B.C.] and made it all the way up to the Existentialists of the 19^th century.

I hate to stop there- because we were right at the time of the rise of the Atheistic existentialists- the Nihilists- who saw no hope in existence.

These guys ‘stole’ existentialism from its founder- a Christian- Soren Kierkegaard- and developed a purposeless philosophy- a ‘man without hope’ future world.

Guys like John Paul Sartre and Camus [20^th century] were writing/saying things like ‘the only question now left is the viability of suicide’.

Books with the simple title ‘Nausea’ or ‘no exit’ [a play]- describing the fate of man.

As I watch/read the current trends- it is tempting to see our future in this way.

I mean society is struggling for meaning- Arab nations are going thru tremendous times of questioning- and some observers are grasping at the solutions that the 19^th century Atheists already espoused- and failed.

Men like Sam Harris [the End of Faith] blame all society’s ills on religion itself- pointing to Islamic terrorism- and making statements like ‘almost all wars are religion based’.

I mean his argument sounds good- he’s just wrong.

Out of all recorded major wars- around 1700- under 10 % are considered religious in nature.

But who really has time for facts like this?

So- over the next few weeks- as I watch the scene- maybe catch the Ferrell flick- I will keep in mind another famous line of Ferrell’s.

He was talking to Christina Applegate- in his classic film ‘Anchorman- the Legend of Ron Burgundy’.

And there sitting at some lookout- viewing the city of L.A.

And Ferrell waxes eloquent about the city- he says ‘L.A. - the city named after..’

Well- it’s kinda crass- he basically says it was named after the female part of a whale.

Christina looks at him- puzzled- and says ‘I think its name means City of Angels’.

Ferrell disagrees- he tells her ‘well- we will just have to agree to disagree’.

She says ‘no- I’m pretty sure I’m right’.

I’m glad the country is having a debate about what’s right and wrong- the Trayvon Martin case- the ethical responsibility that society has to the poor [Health care arguments].

Our role as a lead nation ‘among nations’- how to side with the protestors- in a responsible way that doesn’t leave the nations in a mess when where done.

All of these debates are ethical in nature- the questions we are asking is ‘is this right or wrong’.

And contrary to some modern thinkers- there is a right and a wrong on these issues- yes- sometimes we compromise- sometimes we ‘agree to disagree’ and sometimes it takes one side to tell the other ‘no- I think you are wrong on this’.

Do it in love- do it with boldness- ‘speaking truth to power’ but when you see the need- then do it.

1817- SCOTUS stuff

As the week begins I want you to see if you can catch the narrative- the ‘new’ story that the media is going to tell.

This past week- the top story was the case of the Supreme Court hearing the arguments about the health care law [referred to as Obama Care- not the real name].

As the justices closed the last day of hearings- most observers seem to think that the law will be struck down as unconstitutional.

This came as a surprise to some in the ‘media/legal’ world- but not all.

As a brief review- the main argument against the law [there are a few] is that the federal govt. overstepped its boundaries by telling the states that their people had to by a private product- health insurance.

Now- as the year went by- some of the lower courts agreed with the President’s side- others did not.

They just about split 50-50 on it.

Some judges did indeed seem to agree with the side that said the federal govt. - under the Commerce Clause- does not have the right to make people by insurance.

Now- why would the president have constructed the law- using the Commerce Clause as the basis to make people by insurance?

He knew that to simply do a straight ‘raise a tax to pay for health care’ would not pass.

That is- would not pass congress- though there is no doubt that it would have survived the courts.

Yes- the constitution does indeed give the power to tax to the federal govt. - this is clear.

So- in my mind- when I first heard the 2 sides- I thought it was actually reasonable to conclude that the law would get struck down- because the Commerce Clause says the govt. has the right to regulate commerce [business] between the states- but not to force people to buy a product..

And the President said ‘being everybody will eventually access the system [which by the way is not true- there are some people who live- and die- without ever even going to the E.R. ]

But the Presidents side said being everyone is already doing ‘commerce’ by the fact that they will someday use the system- therefore we are just regulating it by telling people to start paying now.

To me- this was a stretch- and it seems like a majority of the court agree.

So- after the very bad week for the Presidents side- the media began spinning the story.

Nina Totenberg- NPR- a fairly liberal news lady- been around for a while.

She was on one of the morning news shows and she said that almost ‘all’ legal experts agree that this case is a hands down win for Obama.

But because the court- the 5 conservatives- are the ‘Bush Court’ [they gave the election to Bush under the Bush versus Gore ruling] that they are now basically a Tea Party court- a right wing court who either does not know the law- or is refusing to rule according to the law.

Now- the problem with this is the media are going to being spinning this- a few others have already gone down this road [Carville].

I can already hear my liberal friend- in a week or 2- saying ‘geez- can you believe these Bush justices- they are practically breaking the law by going against Obama care’.

It’s sad- and wrong- because this is not what happened at all.

There are 9 justices that make up the court- most think that 4 are liberal- 4 conservative- and that justice Kennedy plays a ‘swing vote’ role.

Why are some said to be liberal and others conservative?

It’s not a political statement to say this about the justices- but it has to do with the way they interpret their role on the court.

Conservatives believe it’s the role of the court to simply interpret the constitution.

That when they hear cases- they simply need to look at the constitution- and the way the previous courts have ruled- and that’s how the decision should be made.

The Lib’s have an idea that the constitution is a ‘living document’ [Ginsberg has said this- a liberal justice on the court]. And they believe that you should be able to make decisions based on what the founders might have thought if they were around today- don’t just limit your decisions based on the ‘static’ reading of the constitution.

Okay- because it is true that Republicans usually nominate more conservative types- and Democrat presidents nominate liberals- this does not mean in any way that the justices make rulings based on what party they belong to.

It’s really slanderous for the media to begin telling this ‘story’ this narrative that the 5 conservatives are ruling ‘politically’ because after all- their conservatives.

See how they do this?

Whatever way the court rules [they actually voted the other day- but the final ruling wont be revealed until the summer] it would be right to think that they ruled according to the way they think- that the conservatives more than likely thought the Commerce Clause did not give the federal govt. the right to mandate people to buy a product.

And the Liberal justices who will vote for it- they probably will do so because it fits more in with  their legal thinking- they won’t vote for it simply because they are politically liberal [though that’s also probably true] but because that’s the view they sincerely hold to.

So get ready- you will begin hearing how the justices are either outright hostile to Obama- because they owe their allegiance to Bush- or they are really inept- sort of a picture of them being out of touch with ‘the majority’- if not all- of the ‘legal experts’.

Read- think for yourself.

My first impression- when I first heard the Commerce Clause argument- was that the argument was weak- and that to interpret a law that says ‘the federal govt. has the right to regulate commerce’ to think that means ‘we can make you buy insurance’ it just seemed like a stretch to me.

I really don’t need Totenberg- or Carville- or anybody to explain to me that ‘all’ the legal minds think the other way- besides this being not true- you can simply read the case being made- and see that the conservative argument- over this particular point- seems right.

I am not saying that there are not real issues about health care that we do need to deal with- there are.

Nor am I saying that ‘Obama care’ is a socialist takeover of the country [that’s as bad as Totenberg’s lie].

But I am saying- don’t let the media tell you how to believe- begin demonizing the 5 conservatives to a point where you believe the lie- that there is ‘no way’ true- honest- legal minds would have struck down the mandate.

The fact is- most reasonable people would probably conclude the same thing.

The majority of the American people believe the same thing about the mandate- that it is wrong.

The majority of the court seem to be saying the same thing.

But the Totenberg’s of the world- they are going to tell you ‘another story’ try- real hard- to see that it’s just ‘a story’.

te you�sM|d �� �u� Thanks- John

1825- PHILOSOPHY [conclusion]

Today let’s wrap up the last philosophy post for now.

Over the last 6 months or so I have posted around 25 posts- covering the pre Socratic thinkers [800 B.C.] and we made it all the way up to the 19^th century.

The main philosophical thought of the 20^th century was called Logical Positivism.

This idea said there were 3 stages to Western thought/culture;

First- Infancy [religious/myth]

Second- adolescence [philosophy]

Third- adult [science/empirical]

This idea said that man in the 20^th century has finally advanced beyond the silly stages of religion and has now moved into a stage where the only true things are empirical in nature.

That is- for something to be true- you must be able to show it scientifically [or mathematically].

It did not take too long before the critics figured out the major flaw with this idea.

This philosophy states ‘the only truth is empirical’ this statement in itself [as well as all the books written on it] is not an empirically proven statement.

Therefore- according to its own criterion- it is false.

This particular aspect of the philosophy was called The Verification Principle [had to be proven/verified scientifically to be valid].

Pragmatism- this is the only home grown philosophy that had its roots in the U.S.

Founded by Dewey and Peirce- this thought denied objective reality and states that ‘whatever works- use it’.

Of course being ‘pragmatic’ in a practical way is fine- we do want things to work.

But at its core Pragmatism says there are no real ethics- no right or wrong- just things people do.

In the beginning of the 20^th century you had the British thinker/mathematician Bertrand Russell.

Russell was a good man- raised as a Christian.

But as a young man he read a book by John Stuart Mill [19^th century] that questioned one of the classic arguments for the existence of God [the argument from first cause].

Mill said ‘if everything has to have a cause- then why not God- who caused him’.

Russell accepted Mills claim- and became an influential atheist/agnostic.

The main flaw with this argument- that everything ‘has a cause’ is that it’s false.

The law of Cause and Effect [Causality] does not state that everything has a cause- it says that ‘every effect has a cause’.

That is- there is nothing in existence- an effect- that came from nothing.

Some argued that there was no initial cause- but an infinite series of ‘little’ cause and effects that go on forever.

This too is wrong- it leads to another problem called the Infinite Regress.

 If there is no First cause- then logically you can never arrive at ‘Now’

There had to have been a starting point somewhere [Einstein has since proved this] and the starting point [Big Bang] could not have come from nothing.

This too is a very common belief among many well meaning people- that somehow science has taught us that all things came from nothing.

This could not be further from the truth- this is referred to as Creation Ex Nihilo- which too is scientifically false.

The only other option- beside the Infinite Regress- and the creation out of nothing- is there had to have been some type of first cause- who is not limited to the material realm.

By nature this being would have to be Metaphysical [outside the physical realm] and would have to be self existent- having no beginning.

To have a First cause- who himself is infinite- is indeed consistent with the principals of logic- and at the end of the day is the only reasonable explanation for the existence of all other things.

Okay- as we end our posts on philosophy for now- why did I cover this?

Thru out the history of the church Christians have grappled and challenged the other world views- and have done a good job at it.

The Christian perspective is not some silly religious way of life that has no real proof.

To the contrary- the church has had the upper hand in all these debates down thru the centuries.

But in today’s ‘media market’ Christianity- the proliferation of self help books [everyday day a Friday?]

The nonstop talk about becoming rich- or sending your money to ‘my ministry’ as a ‘seed faith’ to become rich.

In this environment- many outsiders see the church as an irrelevant- never ending drum beat that they can’t wait to switch to another channel.

This is not the history of the church- and the church has historically won the debate on the reality of God.

It’s just the average person does not know it.

So- for the Christian to be learned in these fields- to have a working knowledge of the opposing world views- is a good thing.

Why do so many believers avoid a field like philosophy?

The apostle Paul warned the Colossians ‘beware of the philosophies of men’.

He also wrote to his protégé Timothy ‘beware of the oppositions of science- falsely so called’.

The word for science in this text is Gnosis- the Greek work for knowledge.

In the early days of the church there was a Christian cult that rose up- called Gnosticism.

More than likely- Paul was not saying that all science- as we use the term today- is bad- but he was warning against a particular from of science- called Gnosticism.

The same with the warning on philosophy- while you could apply it to all philosophy- that is to say that we should be careful when people try to give us opposing ways of thought- yet in context it seems like the apostle is dealing with the philosophies that oppose Christian thought.

For the first 1500 years of the Christian church the study of Theology and Philosophy went hand and hand.

After the Protestant Reformation [15^th century] many Protestants avoided the field- which I think was a mistake.

So- as we close up this subject for now- maybe review a few of the posts on the blog that I did these last few months- become more familiar with the apologetic arguments for the existence of God.

Christians do not have to argue- or oppose atheists- or other religions that hold a different view than we do.

But we should be able to give a defense for the faith- to explain to society around us why we believe the things we do.

At the end of the day- we really do have the winning argument.

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

1800- THE CHURCH LADY

I caught the debate last night [number 20!] and was surprised that King only asked one question on ‘social issues’ [I think?].

He did bring up the ‘controversy’ over birth control.

Now- up until a few weeks back- starting with the question by Stephanopoulos [a Dem insider- worked for Clinton- admitted- on air- that he cried while sitting at home during the Obama win.  You say ‘so what John- Boehner cries too!’ Yeah- but he’s smart enough not to admit it when he weeps in private].

Yeah- when Stephanopoulos brought up the silly question on whether states had the right to ban birth control- right after that the media jumped on the band wagon and have been saying how the Repubs want a war on women’s right to health.

The media keep parading women across the screen- decrying the attack on their health- after all- birth control cures cancer! [The truth be told- there are many more health risks to abortion and birth control then there are health benefits].

Yes- they want the country to see the Repubs as right wing ‘satan hatin’ preachers!

I just read an article the other day- 2 ‘women’s health clinics’ were fined in Texas- their disposal company was dumping the bodies of aborted babies in the city dump.

A woman’s right? I wonder how many of these little bodies belonged to future women.

So the debate goes on- and the populace drinks it in.

They have been showing the clips of a speech by Santorum- he talked about evil as a reality and satan as an enemy.

Okay- he was speaking at a Catholic university forum- it was about 4 years ago- what’s the big deal?

‘Well- you never know- say if he starts talking like this in office’

You mean like Obama?

Yes- 2 weeks ago the Pres was speaking- at a political/religious forum- in Washington- and he defended his tax policies by saying they are based on Jesus’ teachings in the gospel of Luke.

He quoted Jesus ‘to whom much is given- much is required’.

Okay- I see the point he’s trying to make- asking the rich to pay more.

But for a sitting U.S. president to say that his tax policy- as opposed to the other side- is the ‘Jesus one’ well- that would have been world news for days if it were Bush.

So the satan speech- given at a catholic school- geez- give it a break.

The media would have you think that Santorum is the church lady from SNL [Saturday night live].

Dana Carvey did the Church Lady- he would often come up with some circumstance- and then reply ‘hmmm- could it be satan’.

Yeah- that’s Santorum!

This week I have been reading Ezekiel chapter 34.

It talks about the leaders- shepherds of the people. They are being rebuked because they are like ‘shepherds who feed themselves- they kill the sheep- eat the meat and wear the wool as clothes’.

In the New Testament Jesus alludes to this when he says ‘beware of false prophets- they are like wolves in sheep’s clothing’.

Yes- that’s where the term comes from.

The term means more than meets the eye.

It’s speaking about a mindset- one that sees people- church people- citizens- any group of people being ‘ruled’ by others.

And the mindset is ‘I can benefit in some way from my position over them’.  This usually means financially.

I have written much about this over the years- and I’m convinced that many good men in modern ministry do not see the violation of scripture they engage in when they enter ‘ministry’ and constantly appeal for money- even to the point of thinking that their becoming rich off of the giving of people is ‘Gods way’.

But also in the broader sense- God is rebuking the leaders because they really don’t have the true concerns of the people at the fore front.

Good leaders- politicians- presidents- congressman. They should be willing to make the right decisions- even if those decisions seem less popular at the time- they should do it because it’s right.

The Pres put out a policy yesterday that said he wanted to lower corporate tax rates and eliminate tax loopholes.

Now- I haven’t read the thing- and I know some say it’s really a scam- I don’t know.

But if it has some truth in it- then it would be a good thing.

Why?

Because most analysts say that’s really a major step in the right direction.

Dems and Repubs- responsible ones- have already said this needs to be done.

So if the thing is accurate- then we should support the pres.

The other major thing that the next pres must deal with is the entitlement programs- but whoever gets in- whether it be Romney- Obama- or the Church Lady- they will need to govern for the people- not pander to them for personal gain [popularity that will help them win again].

Don’t get me wrong- as a Christian I’m glad the Pres talked about Jesus- and that Santorum talked about satan.

But the reality is- the ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ looked/talked just like sheep- that’s how they kept getting into the sheepfold- but all they really wanted was personal gain- they saw the sheep [people] as a means to an end- and that’s what gets us in trouble- every time.

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

1775- WHAT DID HE SAY?

Let’s do a little review today. I know the history posts go a little long sometimes- and many Christians do not see the value in studying church history.

But I have found over the years that a lot of independent type churches- good men- good people- but cut off from the broader church- well these churches have a tendency to get off in a rut- a particular doctrine or style of teaching- and after a while it becomes impossible to get these good church folk back on the balanced course.

A few examples. Many years ago- as a young Pastor- I had lots of good Pastor friends who too were doing their best to do what they felt God wanted.

At the time- I began having difficulty with many of the most popular interpretations of the bible that these good men were using.

After a while I realized that some of the stuff was so off course- that if they didn’t make some major course corrections at the time- that they were going  to end up spending their entire Pastorate teaching stuff that is out right false.

I have talked a lot about this over the years- and the examples are too numerous to cover them all- but a good example is the ‘Camel going thru the eye of a Needle’ verse.

One time Jesus and his men were going thru town and a young  rich guy asks Jesus what he must do to be saved.

A pretty straight forward question- right to the point.

Jesus tells the guy to keep the law- the guy asks which ones.

Ah- now you’re digging yourself in brother.

So Jesus says to love God and his neighbor- these are the top ones.

He asks ‘and who is my neighbor’?

Jesus goes on and gives an explanation- and he also tells the guy to go and sell all he has and give it to the poor- and follow him.

The guy goes away sad  because he was rich.

Then Jesus says ‘it’s harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a Camel to go thru the Eye of a Needle’.

What?

The disciples [I think Peter?] say ‘then who can be saved’?

Jesus says with men it is impossible- but not with God- with God all things are possible.

[just a quick side note- I haven’t read all these stories in a while- trust me- they are all in the bible- but I might have mixed a few together- but the main point stays the same]

Okay- in context- what could Jesus be saying about the camel and the needle?

It sure seems like he’s using a figure of speech  that would mean ‘look- the guy is too attached to his money to fully give himself over to being a follower of me- maybe down the road he will change- but he’s not ready yet’.

Seems reasonable to me- don’t you think?

But wait- in the group of pastors/teachers that were popular at the time- one of the main teachings was how to get rich- and they saw financial increase as the main thing- I mean that’s what they focused on  all the time.

So what do you do with verses like these?

You simply change them- you make them say what you want.

So the ‘true’ explanation for the Camel and the Needle became ‘the Eye of the Needle is the name of a low passage way thru the wall into the city- and the merchants- if they have lots of stuff- well the Camel has to stoop low to get thru’.

Aha- so what seems to mean ‘rich folk will have a hard time making the kingdom’ really means something else- as a matter of fact- it means the opposite- because the Camels that have to ‘scooch’ belong to the owners who have a lot of goods- thus the Camel has to get low.

Okay- maybe as rank amateurs this stuff was not the unpardonable sin- but many of these men are still teaching this type of stuff- and this one example is the tip of the iceberg- I could go on for a long time quoting all them but that’s not the point for now.

The main point is- if Christians separate themselves from the broader church- not just talking about ‘going to church’ but talking about the broad understanding that the people of God have- the books and teachings of those who have gone before us- not just one small group- but the whole community- then we will avoid these kinds of pitfalls.

As we do a few more posts in the coming weeks on church history- we will see this was one of the things restored by the Protestants Reformers during the 16^th century.

Luther restored what’s referred to as the Literal Sense- that when you read the bible- you should be able to take it at face value- as much as possible.

Sure- you also want to ‘hear God’ speak in a personal way- but if what your hearing is the exact opposite of what the text is saying- well then we do have a problem.

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

[1769] Happy new years eve to all. Let’s do a brief Year in Review.

We did have quite a busy news year- last night I caught a CSPAN clip of Newt- yeah- he was crying like a baby!

Okay- not that bad- but he did break down for a few seconds on screen. Some of the pundits debated if it were ‘planned’ or real.

I think E.J. Dionne [a liberal news guy] got it right- he said he thought it was sincere- but how much it will help a man in a Repub primary fight- well that’s another story.

Boehner said he didn’t see anything wrong with it [lol for you non savvy political folk- who knows- maybe they will both run for office in North Korea? The crying capitol of the world].

The big story of the year? Well- there were a few [Tsunami- Arab Spring- E.U. crisis] but as a geopolitical event that was big- I guess I would say the shakeup we saw in the Arab world was pretty major.

It started with a street vender in Tunisia- he refused to pay ‘the tax’ to the cops for his street profit- it’s really a form of extortion like the mob uses. So in frustration he ‘self immolated’ [lit himself on fire!] and he died a few days later from his injuries.

This led to the overthrow of the long time leader in Tunisia [Ben Ammi]- and then the Egyptians followed suit by protesting in the historic Tahrir square.

Mubarak got toppled and then Libya gave it a shot. Of course we [the U.S. and NATO] basically bombed the hell out of the place and then let the rebel’s claim they won.

Last week in Nigeria- on Christmas day- Muslim radicals bombed a Christian church and killed many worshippers. Nigeria is much like the Sudan- the country is divided North and South by Muslims and Christians [Sudan’s south also has lots of Animists].

What do all these countries have in common? They are all in Africa. Yes- the African continent probably saw the most ‘action’ though the last part of the year we have focused on Europe.

Yes- Europe had her own Western style debt crisis. It can get a little confusing- I mean I was watching one news show- the title was the Euro Zone debt crisis- and they said there were 27 nations in the Euro Zone.

That’s a common mistake some have made. The Euro Zone is made up of 17 European nations- that have entered into a treaty that allows them to all use one common currency- the Euro.

But there are a total of 27 nations that make up the European Union- the biggest Economy out of all of them is Britain- they are not part of the Euro Zone- though they are part of the E.U. - got it?

By the way- Brazil just passed Britain as the world’s 6^th [or 7^th?] largest economy.

And Japan faced her devastating earthquake/Tsunami [I think it was this year?] anyway there economy has been in the doldrums for around 20 years. Japan had her own recession/depression many years ago- and they have still never fully recovered.

Which brings us to the end of the year in the U.S.

We end the year with some better than expected economic numbers- but don’t be fooled- the numbers are not great- they are actually not good- they are just better than expected.

Some now predict that the last quarter will see around 3 % growth [it takes a few weeks for the data to come out] and some are predicting that 2012 we’ll see around 3 % growth.

3 % is not good- it’s actually bad- but it’s not as bad as a recession.

What we need to keep in mind is our economy has gone through some major hits- and like Japan- you don’t just pop out of it in a few years.

Many of the companies are in better shape- because they scaled back- they cut people and downsized- some for good.

So- the DOW might look good because of stuff like this- but we have now had a few years of college grads who have been unable to find work- and they missed the ‘boost’ of getting a good job- buying a car- getting a place to stay- and this group of young unemployed kids- well they might never get the jump they need to do ‘better than their parents’.

So by no means have we as a country recovered from our debt/economic problems- and the E.U. still has a lot of risk in the coming year.

In the last few weeks the Federal Reserve and a few other central banks made money available to the E.U. banks at a cheap rate.

The theory is if you pour money into the banks- that might loosen up lending- and you avoid a real problem. Just like our own TARP thing we did in 2008.

But lo and behold- some of the E.U. nations sold [tried] to sell some bonds- and the banks did not buy as many as people expected. The banks took the cash [like the U.S. banks did in 2008] and basically sat on the money.

So all this means we still have a tough year ahead- globally- and just because some numbers are looking better at the end of the year for the U.S.- this does not mean all is well.

The scripture reading for this week is Isaiah 52. The prophet speaks about Gods people- he says ‘Wake up- rise up- shake the dust from your feet and move on’.

He also says that blessed are those who preach the Good News- the good news of salvation. Those who publish peace- those who declare Gods rule.

I have a habit- every week [just about] I watch the Catholic Mass on the tube- those are the bible chapters I cover during the week.

Of course this past week I watched the Popes Mass from Rome- the Pope spoke against the commercializing of Christmas- and he reminded us that the true message of Christmas is Emmanuel- God with Us.

As we end the year- I want to encourage all my readers/friends- the reality of God being with us is what’s important. Yes- I do think many are not seeing the ‘story behind the story’ in the above news events- many want to believe there is no way they might have lost money [401 k’s] and they might never see that money again.

But that’s okay- even if you didn’t lose it this past year- you were going to ‘lose it’ someday- we all have to leave some day- and we have a tendency to put that reality off.

One year I had a friend- another firefighter- who just started investing in Real Estate. And all the guys knew I was doing that for years. I used to have renters come by and drop off the rent checks and stuff like that.

So when one of the other guys got into it- they would ask me for advice. One day I had a friend- around 50 years old- and he bought a few homes.

As he was talking- he was telling me that he would pay off these 2- sell this one- rent the other- I mean he had all the plans first time buyers/investors get into. I simply tried to give him some sound advice- and I also had to stop him at one point.

He was telling me the plans he had for the 3 homes that were on a 30 year mortgage- and I had to say ‘Mike- I know your excited about the houses- but you’re talking about paying off these homes- you do realize you might be dead before the mortgage is paid off’.

I wasn’t being funny- I actually was telling him something that many investors do not calculate in when they do the numbers- they very rarely calculate in their own mortality.

So yes- we will all do our best- we will watch the numbers this year- and well will try and publish the good news- the good news of God being with men- that God became a man- was crucified- died- and buried. He rose again the 3^rd day- according to the scriptures- he will come again to judge the living and the dead. Amen and Amen.

Happy New Year to all.

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

[1763] JESUS FOR PRESIDENT?

Let’s try and cover a few current events. Obviously the media lost a major ‘player’ [source] of ‘news’ when Cain left the stage. And it only took them a few days before they attached on to Gingrich.

Christianne Amanpour [CNN] asked ‘do you think a twice divorced person can get the support he needs to be president’. This is not the first time I have heard this.

I think Newt is a smart guy- I’m not a big defender of any of these guys- but the hypocrisy of the media to keep asking this- as a major campaign question- is nuts.

Sure- he’s been divorced- we got that. Yet Edwards [John] actually fathered a child with a woman- while his wife was suffering from cancer [the same thing that Newt did] and the media did not think that story was relevant- they indeed knew about the thing.

It was only after the Enquirer actually got pictures of Edwards holding the kid- then the story broke.

So this obsession with Newt’s divorce- please.

Okay- the headline read ‘Woman in prison for being raped is pardoned’. Wow. Yes- this headline ran in a couple of my papers- right next to the name Afghanistan.

So- if you didn’t read the story- you would think that some woman got raped in the country- under those bad Taliban folk- and because we ‘liberated’ them- she's free.

Actually- that’s not the story. The woman was raped during the present regime- our guys [Karzai] and the courts made her a deal ‘if you marry the rapist- you go free’. She refused. She has been raising her daughter in jail- and Karzai made her the offer a 2^nd time [how noble of him] and she married the rapist and she’s out.

The title should have been ‘Woman who was raped is forced to marry the S.O.B.’

Biden goes to the ancient city of Constantinople the other day [Modern day Istanbul- Turkey]. He’s having a meeting with a group of business people and young entrepreneurs that the president had launched a few years back.

In the meeting Biden stands up and gives this Joe Paterno like speech ‘way to go boys- we [Turkey and the U.S.] have come far in this liberating project of business- our success and democratic spirit have been a lynchpin for the Arab Spring….’ you know- Biden likes to talk a lot.

Right after he gave the sermon- one of the Turkish guys got up and slammed the West [us and Europe] for being a bunch of inept leaders- nations who spend more than they have like spoiled brats- and have no political courage to change course. Yeah Joe- you sure told them!

As we approach the end of the year- there are so many very serious world events taking place- events that will play a major role in our lives here in the U.S.

For the life of me- I can’t see how investors can be up on the market- even though some numbers are good- these other things are hanging right on the edge.

The Euro Zone is nowhere near being fixed- and the options are terrible. They will either have to jump in 100 % behind the Euro [which Germany and others will never do] or they split up.

The break up looks like it might happen- the odds are higher now than ever. Okay- if that happens- it will affect world markets- and many analysts fear it will cause us to go into another recession.

So- if these scenarios are possible [probable] then how can you have an optimistic overall outlook- economically speaking? Sure- you can hedge your bets and do well- I’m not saying we are all gonna die- but to be acting like we are on some boom market- that’s nuts.

During the time of Jesus you had a divided people. In 1^st century Palestine the Jewish people split into 4 basic sects. 2 of them are pretty well known- the Pharisees and Sadducees- they are mentioned often in scripture.

The other 2 are less well known- the Zealots and the Essenes. The Zealots are named in the bible- but only in passing. We have no references to the Essenes.

The Pharisees were sticklers for the Torah [Jewish bible] and the Sadducees centered their life around the Temple- they were more of a political/religious type group.

They stuck to the Torah alone. That is they only received the actual first 5 books of the Old Testament- which is the Torah [also the term is used to speak of the entire Old Testament] and that’s why the Sadducees rejected miracles and angels and stuff. Most of those stories are found in the other O.T. books.

The Zealots were a group of people who hated compromise- they were actually a 1^st century ‘terrorist’ group- who carried out assassinations. Not on Rome- but on their own people!

The zealots hated those who compromised with Rome- and if they felt a leader was too chummy- they killed him.

The Essenes were a separatist group who lived in ‘the hills’ [Qumran community] they simply gave up completely on any political solutions for the day- and went and lived in the hills. These are the ones responsible for hiding the Dead Sea scrolls [old bible books found in the last century] in a cave.

It’s interesting to note that Jesus had both a Zealot on his team [Simon- not Peter who also went by that name] and Matthew- a Tax collector. Tax collectors were considered the biggest sell outs of all- they actually worked for Rome and scammed their own people- it must have been hard for Jesus to lead this group [the 12 disciples] who came from such opposite ends of the political spectrum.

Yet Jesus did lead them- he was even offered earthly rule a few times [once from satan- and once from the people who heard him] he rejected it both times. His kingdom was not ‘of this world’.

In the New Testament book of Philippians- the bible says that though Jesus was in the form of God [deity] yet he became a man and humbled himself to the death of the Cross- a shameful way to die.

We have one letter written in the N.T. by a ‘family’ member of Jesus- that’s the epistle of James.

Protestants believe that Mary had other kids after Jesus was born- our Catholic friends teach that she remained a Virgin her whole life. My purpose right now is not to get into that.

James was considered the ‘half brother’ of Jesus [Mary was the mom of both boys- Joseph was the dad of James- Jesus’ father was God]. Okay- James was slow to believe in his brother- but over time as Jesus was declaring himself to be the Messiah- I’m sure James had to wonder- you know- think back ‘gee- come to think of it- I can’t’ remember a time where my brother got in trouble’.

Wait- now I remember- yeah- that time when Jesus was 12- we all went to Jerusalem for the big feast- and Jesus stayed behind while we started the trip home. Yeah- we went 3 days before we realized he was gone. Boy was mom mad that day.

So we went all the way back to get him- and when we found him- he was sitting in the temple- asking these questions- I mean questions that only theologians knew- Jesus was still a kid.

Mom said to him ‘son- why did you stay behind- we were worried’! Yeah- she was mad- if there was ever a time my brother came close to getting in trouble- this was it. But Jesus said ‘why were you worried- didn’t you know I would be doing my Fathers business’ yeah- he sure seemed different- but the Messiah- come on.

So as the ministry years of Jesus role by- there are all these reports of miracles and healings- blind people seeing- dead people coming back from the grave.

Yeah- James has got to be wondering now- but no- he could not accept that his own brother was the promised Son of God- no- too much.

Then the day came- that terrible day where mom had to watch Jesus die on that rugged Cross- on Golgotha- man the hill looked like a skull.

Yeah- it was a strange site- I mean the sky got dark- an earthquake shook the place- and even the Roman soldier who witnessed my brother die said ‘surely this was the son of God’. Wow- too much- my bother has carried this thing too far- even in his death he won’t let this obsession go.

Then James hears some disturbing reports- his friends are saying that Jesus has come back- that he pulled it off- the greatest miracle ever- the one Houdini himself couldn’t do.

But are the reports true? I mean if  anyone could tell if this guy walking around is really Jesus- James would know.

We don’t read of the account- but all we know is James became a believer- a believer that his brother was indeed the Messiah- the Son of God.

I guess it went something like this- Jesus sitting there with his men- James shows up and sees his brother- the perfect one- not a spot on his record. Maybe Jesus looked up- maybe he said ‘brother- do you now see’ and yeah- he saw.

James would go on to be one of the leaders/Pastors of the church at Jerusalem- we read about him in Acts chapter 15. Most scholars believe this was the same James who penned the short letter we find in the N.T. that bears his name.

One thing James hits on a lot in his letter- is he defends the poor- the downtrodden- and he rips into the rich- the elite of the day. He warns us not to be biased- not to use ‘uneven scales’ when dealing with people.

James hit on social justice issues- he picked them up from his brother.

We need to be concerned about the world- if a raped woman is forced to marry her rapist- then we ought not say ‘she was pardoned’. When we critique one person for past failures- then we must do that to all.

But at the end of the day- Jesus never took the earthly crown- he did not see the solution to be a political one- he brought Simon and Matthew together on the same team- and he showed them what it means to lay your life down for others- to live without the praise of men- the earthly standard of success- he chose another way- and he left that path for us.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

[1759] Where’s the oil?

Let’s cover a parable of Jesus. In Matthew 25 Jesus tells the story of the 10 virgins who went to meet the bridegroom. 5 were wise- 5 were foolish. The wise ones took containers of oil with their lamps. The foolish ones took lamps- but no oil.

All the virgins were waiting for the bridegroom to return [Jesus] and as the wait went long- they all fell asleep.

Then at midnight the bridegroom came back- and they all awoke. The virgins who took no oil asked the ones who had oil ‘can you give us some’ they were told ‘no- but you go buy some too- like we did’ and as they went to buy- the bridegroom took the ones who were ready- they went into the feast and the door was shut.

The ‘no oil’ crowd missed out.

Okay- what does this mean? Well- if you have lamps at the house you need to…- Well maybe there’s a little more to it than that.

When we read the parables of Jesus- the most important thing [in my view] needed to understand them is the context. I have heard many good teachings over the years- on all the parables- and lot of times the preachers/Christians ‘place’ them in the context of ‘current church’.

Maybe the parable of the sower- they’ll struggle with ‘okay- is this group ‘saved’ or what about these who endure to the end’. While of course it is true that we can apply the parables to modern life- most of the times when we approach them with the mindset that Jesus is speaking  specifically about ‘your church’ or church group- well then I think we miss the main meaning.

Having said all that- I think I will ‘apply’ this one to some current events of the day. But first- Jesus is basically telling his audience- the Jewish nation- that many people will think they are ready for his return and they will find out- too late- that they were not really ready- no oil.

As a ‘teacher’ who likes to teach all Christians- Catholic, Protestant- etc. What I try to do is present both sides of the issue. I also strive to teach from ‘a storehouse’ of oil- I make an attempt to be familiar with the current trends in Theology- hear/read what the scholars are saying- and to also have a background on the history of the various churches.

Then- when doing the teaching- I try to be honest- and fair. If I have a particular point of view- or a way I think the text should be taught- or what the ‘right’ doctrine  is- I will share it from that point of view.

But it would also be unfair to use the years of study- and then ‘blast’ another denominations adherents- fully realizing that the average church attendee probably does not have the same background info that I’m familiar with.

So it’s important to teach from ‘a storehouse’ while at the same time not using the storehouse to simply prove your point.

Get it?

Okay- Over the years I have bought tons of books- and as time went by- I had to eventually make room for this collection. Though I have a huge wall in my study just for books- yet I still ran out of room. So one day I packed up all the ‘less valuable’ books- and off they went to the half price book store.

I kind of reminisced as I went thru the process of ‘should I dump this one’ or should I hold on to it. A lot of the titles were silly- things like ‘when your money system fails’ or stuff like the mark of the beast- or more practical titles like ‘flying higher’ or ‘improve your serve’.

All well meaning books/authors- who for whatever reason woke up one day- had a ‘thought’ and off to the printing  press they went.

Okay- storehouse? No. Well meaning? Yes. But a storehouse [operating out of years of good learning] no.

Now- I don’t want to be too mean here- there are times where a book- or teaching that is simple can speak to people. Jesus parables were indeed short stories that were simple- people could remember them- not like a long  theological treatise from the great apostle Paul [Romans] where you learn from hard study- but Jesus style was indeed short- and sweet.

Plus- it’s easy to remember the moral of the story- without banging your head up against some heavy doctrine.

Yet- heavy doctrine plays its role as well.

Now- most contemporary teaching- like going to church on Sunday-most of it today springs from this ‘I’ll take my lamp and I will see what we got for this week’. You know- you wake up on Monday- kind of go thru the week [talking pastors here- which I did myself for a few years] and you ‘come up’ with something for Sunday.

Sometimes you come up with something good- sometimes not so good. Often times you’re simply going from  week to week- sort of like my bookshelf- listening/reading stuff- well meaning stuff- but just stuff.

I mean an entire book on ‘flying higher’. Yeah- I still remember it. A well meaning pastor- but the whole book was based on how one day a friend told him about how pilots use a certain technique when they fly- and Walla- a book!

Or another title form a very famous preacher of the day- ‘how I lost 30 pounds’ [I think it was 30? But who really cares!]

Say if you went to college- and as you arrived at the class- your professor said ‘okay- this week we will cover [math- or whatever subject]’ and he went on and taught an entire lesson from some sign he saw while driving to the school [you know- a literal sign that said ‘2 plus 2 is 4’].

You would think to yourself ‘geez- at this rate- I will never really get an education’ and you would be right.

So why do believers think its okay to learn the faith like this?

The bible commands us to be childlike in faith- that is to be like a child when approaching God- as our Father. But the bible also says to be mature when it comes to our understanding ‘in understanding be men’ [Apostle Paul].

Wherever you are at today on your journey- I want to encourage you to ‘clean out the book shelf’ don’t live with a ‘lamp only’ mentality- that is you show up at the party with a lamp [some gift/tool that might be a good tool- like writing a book- or preaching  a sermon] but a lamp is only effective if it comes with a container- a container that has some oil to ‘back it up’.

I fear that too many of us are showing up at the party- we have waited a long time for the groom to come back- and we realize too late that we spent a whole lot of time perfecting our ‘lamp skills’ and the important stuff [oil] is missing.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

[1751] FOR A PAIR OF SHOES? CMON!

Yesterday I saw a few clips from a talk Joe Biden gave- he was at some municipal type function [Cops- Firemen] and he was basically defending the presidents ‘jobs bill’. I mean the guy really impressed me with his mastery of the numbers.

He rattled off ‘in 2007- you had this many cops on the street- this many rapes- this many killings’. He then went on to the following years- you know- showing us that as the force went down in numbers- that the violent crimes went up.

I mean- it was so smooth- you would think he was just pulling the numbers out of the air.

As he left the hall- some reporter got him on whether or not it was right to associate voting no on the ‘jobs bill’ with being for an increase in rapes [Biden was saying if you vote no- then the number of cops being let go will go up- and the rapes will go up too- according to his numbers].

Biden kind of got into a little scuffle ‘hey buddy- don’t you misquote me on this- this is what I said’ you know- Biden has never had trouble with talking off the cuff like that.

Then sure enough- the Repubs got the actual numbers from the FBI on the rapes and stuff from that city [I think he was in Boston?].

And the actual numbers were the opposite of what Biden said- the rapes went down over the years he said they went up.

I like old Joe- he lives his life for the moment. You know- having a few shots of J.D. with the guys at the Fire Dept. Hanging out with the cops and all my fellow union bro’s [still am a member with the fire fighters union] and then going to the union hall and hitting one out of the park- just giving this soul stirring defense of the president’s policy- rattling off those numbers like one of the local lotto ‘quick 6’ guys does at the corner store.

Then of course the thrill is short lived- sure it made you feel great as you hung out with the boys for the rest of the day ‘Biden sure defended us today- way to go Joe- way to go’. Then he gets back home and sees all the clips of how he screwed up the whole thing.

You know- his wife saying ‘hey honey- look your on CNN again- they’re making fun of you’. And Biden probably just fluffs the thing off ‘Heck- this aint the first time baby- and won’t be the last’. Oh- and by the way- Obama’s trying to get a hold of you- ‘just tell him I’m’ busy hon- talk to him another day’.

Ah- the more I watch these guys- the more I keep thinking of the Don Knott’s movie ‘the gang that can’t shoot straight’ it’s sad- but at least you can laugh as the country goes to Hades in a hand basket.

Okay- to my liberal friends- this next one is for you.

I do think very seriously that our country- and the world- has very serious problems facing us these next few years. I do not see the answer to these problems as being conservative or liberal- I think that both sides really need to be able to come to the table and talk as adults- that has not happened yet.

I’m going to defend Obama right now- just a warning to both sides.

These past few months the U.S. has been trying to negotiate a deal with Iraq- we originally signed an agreement with the new govt. that we would stay in their country till the end of this year.

As the months rolled by the leadership of Iraq has had some very shaky people join their ranks. Iraq is now considered [by many insiders] as being part of a group of 3 nations [Iraq- Syria- Iran] that are strengthening their ties- as sort of a buffer against the other nations in the region.

One of the leaders in Iraq- on the official payroll- is Muqtada Al Sadr [I’m guessing on the spelling?] Do you remember him?

This guy led his own militia during our war in Iraq. At times we went back and forth on whether or not we should target his little enclave and take out his personal army.

Eventually we decided to let the guy live and he finally got on the actual team of leaders that make up the new Iraqi leadership.

This guy has killed our guys- we have killed his.

Now- a while back he agreed to putting a stop to the killing of American soldiers in Iraq [gee thanks a lot!]. He is a religious leader with a following- and at one time he justified [Fatwa] the killing of American soldiers as being part of fighting the ‘infidel’ invaders from the west.

After he got in office- he agreed to tell this people ‘stop killing them’- for good? No- just until the official agreement of our forces staying until this year ends- but after that- he has said its open shooting once again.

Okay- this guy is part of the Iraqi govt.- he’s telling us he will take his guys and kill American soldiers if we stay past the deadline.

Obama has been trying to extend the deadline [at the secret request of the Iraqi leaders- they want us to stay longer- but because of political posturing won’t say it openly]. But in order for them to look tough to the outsiders- they are refusing to sign an agreement that would give our guys legal immunity if we stay.

So you have these guys playing ‘hard ball’ with our guys- we are not asking them to pay the 800 billion dollar bill we have racked up over these past 10 years- they have officials in their govt. who are openly saying ‘you stay past the deadline- your dead’ and the other leaders will not grant our guys immunity.

I would have done the same thing Obama did- you know what- we shed blood here- your govt. has turned into a major supporter of some of our biggest enemies in the region- and your own officials are calling for the killing of our men- after the deadline.

Your damn right we’re not staying- no way in hell.

But we are so divided- the Repub candidates have used this as a tool to criticize Obama- and the left has done the same dirty deeds [Biden’s numbers game?]

This week the DOW went up to around 11,800. I’ll admit- I did not think we would see those numbers this year- nor do I think it’s smart for us to ‘see’ those numbers.

Why? I have said a bunch of times over this last year that the global economy is not in good shape.

Some economists think we [the U.S. and Europe] are going through a De- Leveraging cycle. They feel that nations/economies can only go so long through a borrowing/spending cycle- and then they have to ‘bottom out’ and go through a long season of deleveraging.

Many think that the west is in this phase right now- and will be in it for a number of years.

That’s why Greece- once again- is having open rioting on the streets. They have over borrowed- over promised- and now are doing what’s called Austerity measures- they have to cut.

Now- in our country- we too have these same problems looming over the horizon- we are not technically as bad as Greece [yet] but we are in trouble.

The only way to really deal with this problem- is for both sides to actually make some serious cuts/changes in what we call entitlement programs [Medicare being the biggest] and yes- some type of income on the ‘revenue side’.

Not raising taxes across the board [maybe?] but doing what many on both sides have called for- closing a lot of the loopholes that are in the tax code and making real ‘adjustments’ to entitlements- if we don’t seriously do this- then we will be in big trouble.

Okay- why do I think the DOW is way too high? Investors have been looking for a sign- any sign- that they can use to hang some hope on- that we will not go into another recession.

Sure enough- some good news did come out- and some not so good.

Then once again- the European debt yoyo- it went up again- the investors thought ‘o- maybe the Euro Zone will fix its debt crisis’. Look- no matter what deal they do- they will still have a very long way to go to get out of their problems- and their banks and economies are going to still suffer- no matter what.

And why was Biden doing the speech? Because he was trying to get support for Obama’s plan to send more federal money back to the states. The states have been propped up by the stimulus package and fed. aid- and that moneys gone.

So yes- the states are going to lay off this year- more than any previous year- the moneys gone.

All of these things are huge problems- on a Macro level- that are going to effect the global markets for many years to come- even if the actual figures for business look better [many financial guys have been saying ‘the fundamentals are much better’- true- in a way].

But no business functions in a vacuum. No matter how good the bottom line looks- if people are out of work- and banks are not lending- and if we are really in a de leveraging cycle- then no matter how good the ‘fundamentals’ are- the ‘customers’ are broke- or can’t get a loan to buy the good/service- see?

Okay- lets end with some bible stuff- before I lose all my Christian readers.

A while back we were doing an over view of the entire bible- and I probably should have done at least one last post or 2 before we stopped [maybe will get to that in the next few weeks?]

We stopped at the O.T. prophets- and under that category- you have what we call the Major and Minor Prophets. That’s simply a distinction in the size of their books [Isaiah is long- major- Amos short- minor].

I did hit on Isaiah some- and for a minor prophet- if I could only do one- it would be Amos.

Amos was a very strong defender of the poor- the weak ones in society. He railed against the rich- and the powerful- ‘you sell the poor for a pair of shoes- there is no justice in the land’.

In a way- you could fit him in at one of the Occupy Wall Street rallies.

Amos also condemned the ‘church folk’ he said [like the other prophets too] that the religious people were having great meetings- they were rejoicing in their religious life- they had a great time ‘practicing’ their religion [every day a Friday?] Yet there were many injustices in the land- things that God was not happy with.

And these things were the uneven balances that existed in their day.

When he said ‘you sold the poor for a pair of shoes’ yes- the ‘market’ was that bad- that you could ‘buy a slave’- that cheap.  Was it ‘just’ simply because that was the market value?

Hell no- people have more value than a damn pair of shoes!  What about his injustice ‘rant’?

That spoke specifically about ‘justice in the courts’ the rich were able to ‘buy’ a better outcome in the courts- than the poor.

Man- if these things are not signs of our times- then I have no idea what is.

Okay- I’m glad the President did what he did on the troop thing- if your country can’t guarantee immunity to our guys- yeah-were gonna get the hell out.

Oh- one last thing- I think I hear a phone ringing- all the way from Delaware- yes Joe- someone wants to talk to you- and soon.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

[1734] PLEASE DON’T EAT THE DAISIES [OR THE SEAL].

I heard a news story the other day- some kids in a Massachusetts school district found a stranded baby seal on the beach one day. So like most environmentally minded young folk- they rescued the seal and brought him back to their town.

As the news got out- the town decided to adopt this helpless thing- and they went all out- the school district put out lots of money [they spent about 80 thousand overall] and after a couple of years- little ‘flipper’ was ready to launch.

So they all went down to the ocean one morning- and it was truly a tearful moment [maybe a little too tearful?]. As they launched their beloved child- you know- sending him [her] off to brave new worlds- places ‘no seal has gone before’- as soon as the lad was released- an Orca [killer whale] came up from the water- and swallowed him whole.

Now- you have the kids and all standing at the shore- asking their elders ‘mommy- daddy- what happened’. And of course that began a long week of mourning for the whole town.  Whose fault was this? Was it anybody’s fault? Would it be right to make this someone’s fault?

As we enter this last year of the president’s term- for whatever reason- he has made a conscious decision to ‘blame the rich’. Now- those of you know me- and have read my posts for a while- will realize that I am no defender of ‘the rich’.

I have worked with poor people for most of my life- and I refuse offerings or help- because I have always felt that the influence of money [like ministries always begging for it] has been a blight on the church.

Yet at the same time- there are lots of very hard working people- who are being categorized as ‘the rich’ who don’t pay their ‘fair share’.

In the current Obama plan- couples making over 250 thousand a year [and singles making 200] are considered ‘the rich’.

Now- depending on where you live- this might be rich- or maybe not.

Where I grew up in N.J. - if you’re a cop- or firefighter- maybe the wife is a teacher- you might fall into this rich group.

And if you are paying the very high North East mortgage payment- then to hit a family like that with a huge tax increase- well that’s gonna hurt.

The example the president keeps using- well he’s making it sound like most of the rich are really paying less. The truth is we do have a graduated income tax rate in this country- that goes up as you make more.

I think the bottom is at around 5 %- the top around 29 % [plus you have around 40-50 % who pay no federal income taxes at all]. So why is the president saying the rich pay less than their secretaries? [Buffett’s famous line]. Because Buffett- like a few other billionaires- pays only capital gains tax- taxes on investment income and dividends from stocks.

Yes- for those few fortunate billionaires- they have managed to live off of the interest- and the tax on that kind of income is around 15 %.

How many of ‘the rich’ are not paying ‘their fair share’ by doing this. I don’t have the exact number off hand- but it’s close to around 1 % of all those who file who make around a million a year or more.

The point is- the people who are ‘not paying their fair share’ are not the people the president is branding as ‘those who are not paying their fair share’.

So- it’s just dow right unfair to the working cop and teacher- who might be getting hit with the new ‘fair rate’ and to brand them as not pulling their weight in society- when the truth is- these are the people who are really paying close to 80% of all the taxes in the country.

Now- I do think we should get rid of corporate loopholes- and yes- if we do a ‘billionaires’ tax type thing- to deal with the few Buffett’s of the world- than I really don’t care much.

But the reality is most of those being accused of not paying their fair share- well- they are paying the lions share right now.

It’s easy to get people on your side- if you find a noble cause [saving the baby seal- or helping the poor working folk] and if you can put the blame for this injustice on someone else- then you almost always win [the argument- though you might still lose the seal].

I’m sure the kids at the beach that day would have liked to have blamed ‘that darn Orca- taking more than he should- probably eats more than the other species of fish- who are struggling in life- but no- this bully had to have the very last bite-‘ and on and on.

When we feel like an injustice has happened- like the scales are not tipping right- we want to find a scapegoat- to find the real culprit’s behind the injustice. Sometimes things happen- sometimes societies [Greece- Italy this week] overpromise too much to people- and if these societies are spending money they don’t have- well it’s easy to blame it on the Orca- the ‘big bully’ who seems to get his full- while we baby seals are left here on the shore struggling to survive.

I know it’s hard to take this position and defend the ‘Orcas of the world’ and the whole reason some people blame the Orcas- well- it’s because they know they are an easy target- you don’t get many people to stand up for the right of the Orca to eat the baby seal.

But this is such a dangerous game- and it’s unfair to the majority of people who are in this ‘rich’ category [not the Buffett’s] who are really paying their fair share- and more.

I think the president should make this clear- and not divide the country over this- sure- you might be on the side that will naturally garner the most sympathy- but that still doesn’t make it right.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

[1704] DO THE HUSTLE?

One time Jesus was engaging with the religious folk- and he said they were like kids/people in the market place. They said ‘we piped and you did not dance- we mourned and you didn’t respond how we wanted you to respond’ [my paraphrase].

A few years back a lot of things changed with me [us- ministry]. As a ‘ministry’ I never took money for personal use- no salary- nada. And eventually I ‘forsook’ all money. That is in the first few years as a home church- we did take offerings- and it was used to meet the needs of people.

When we did rent a place to meet- we used some for the expenses. But as I progressed [some say digressed!] I just cut the whole offering thing off. On the radio- we [I] was the only person who actually paid out of pocket for the air time. Though you had others who never asked for money- yet these shows were underwritten by their church.

So I just said ‘from now on- I will not take money- for anything’. I also quit claiming my giving [which was a lot- considering the radio alone] for tax purposes. I simply wanted to give the example that being ‘in ministry’ is not some type of business that you have to constantly be prodding people to ‘give to God’. I realized that much of what we call ‘ministry’ is simply well meaning people- setting up Christian non profit organizations- and then developing a mechanism to get others to ‘support the work’.

Some churches teach ‘church membership’ but many times what they mean is- after you come for a while- we want you to commit to giving 10 % of your salary to the church.

Other ministries take various approaches.

After I retired from the Fire Dept. I got into a bind- I lost my health insurance- it was too expensive to keep- so I dumped the thing. This left me in a curios spot- I was still helping lots of the people out [homeless- church friends] and sometimes I would pay a bill or 2 for them- maybe 100- 150 dollar type thing- and I would be out that month. Yes- I live off of a retirement check- just a little over what some of these friends were getting- if you add in the Medicare/Medicaid- and some had disability/s.s. checks.

I guess they didn’t realize that paying a bill or 2- actually- really left me broke. Now- I didn’t complain [unless you count this post as a complaint!] but at times- after doing the ministry this way- I always found it strange that people still questioned me [and others in general] about the ‘money motives’ of ministry.

I had a relative call me and straight out question me on why I was not financially supporting another family member [kind of a bold thing to ask- out of the blue] I knew this relative was quite rich- multimillionaire? At least in the category of a millionaire. They said ‘if your spending all this money on your homeless friends- why don’t you use some of the funds for so and so’ I said ‘what funds are you talking about’?

They then realized I was basically doing the stuff from my measly check- yes- as bad as that sounds- that’s the deal.

Then they were upset that I was ‘wasting money’ on helping people.

Like Jesus said ‘we made music for you- and you didn’t dance’ that is people see ‘ministry/church’ as ‘we expect you to respond in a certain way’ and sad to say- because of this very subject- money- many preachers/churches do ‘adjust’ their messages based on how well the giving went in the previous month.

Needless to say- the whole thing at times seems to be a vast wasteland- coming up with all types of ‘bible verses’ and telling people ‘if you don’t give- your testing- robbing God’ geez- we better make sure were using that verse in context [Malachi] because in most of these scenarios we are not- and then to falsely charge people with ‘robbing God’ that’s pretty darn bad.

I don’t blame my friends for not realizing that at times- me helping them out- well- it did put me in a bind. And sometimes- they don’t realize that because I don’t have health care benefits- that if you actually added everything up- many of these friends are actually making the same [or more] than me.

I just feel like we all need to do our best to help others- don’t assume that people have money- or that they are in it for the money. Many times people are just doing what they feel they are required to do.

And of course- you’ll always have the friend/relative who wants you to do a dance for them- to justify- for them- why you do what you do- never mind that they are worth a hundred times more than you-  and they are in much better shape to help the relative- no- that’s none of my business. But when they Pipe [make music] they just want you to dance- geez- I never was a good dancer- why start now?

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

[1695] WHAT MATTERS?

The other day I mentioned how believers have a habit of getting caught up in certain ‘religious’ views [tithing was the example I gave] and over time these views develop to a point where they take precedence over the things Jesus actually placed real value on.

In the 1^st century when Jesus showed up on the scene- the religious practices of Gods people were centered around religious meetings [holy days] prayer, fasting and tithing- mainly to be seen of men- that is religion digressed to a point where what seemed to be the most important thing- was actually not important.

So how did Jesus respond? He spends the 3 very public years of ministry- healing the sick, telling the poor they are the blessed ones who will inherit Gods kingdom- and blasting the rich- and those in power- by telling them that their day was coming too.

In essence Jesus was the ultimate prophet- he followed the long line of Jewish prophets who took these same positions. The prophet Isaiah told the people ‘God is tired of all your religious activities- your church meetings- your special ‘sacrificial’ offerings- these things are a stench in his nose!’ then he would go on and say that God wanted justice for the poor and widow.

Amos also rebuked the rich and defended the poor- Ezekiel said the shepherds [religious leaders] were fleecing the sheep- they were leaders who were making a financial killing off of the people.

All of these things- in today’s world of ‘ministry’ are making a comeback- it’s just we don’t see it because they are dressed in a different way. But at the end of the day- for the most part- American style Christianity is usually measured by how much money you give [or take in] how faithful your are to attend religious meetings- and how famous your ministry is- are you a really gifted speaker? Or do you give a great ‘stage’ performance.

And in the mind of the average Christian- if you ask them ‘when was the last time you gave of your goods to your neighbor- reached out to the poor- showed your Christianity thru charity’? Often times they will answer that that is not ‘their ministry’ or that their giving to some Christian organization/church is their role- and it’s up to ‘the church’ to actually help the poor.

But these responses miss the main point- Jesus [and the prophets] were saying that’s the mistake- thinking that ‘religion’ consists in these outward religious acts- which are really for show- while the true acts of mercy and love are all too often neglected. People today have made the same mistake as the religious observers of Jesus day.

The letter of James- written by the brother [half] of Jesus- tells us that Pure religion- is to keep yourself unspotted form the world- and to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction. That’s it. No mention of religious holy days? No. No mention of special tithes/offerings? No. But what does he have to say about the modern religious view of the accumulation of wealth? Let’s not even go there [believe me- it’s pretty bad- go read the letter- its short].

This week in Somalia the estimates are 11 million people are on the verge of starvation- 2 to 3 million are kids. The world at large has had a hard time getting the food/resources in- because the country [like many other African nations] is in a sort of civil war.

The militant Islamic group fighting the govt. [Al Shabbab- I think that’s the name?] are made up of children. Yes- the kids have taken up an armed resistance against the leaders- and they are killing each other. I saw a news report on Mosaic world news- and the kids were in the streets- sort of like any kids on a block- but they had guns.

One young kid [10?] was pulling on the rifle of an older boy [15?] and the older boy got mad- like some school yard thing. The older boy just pulled away- and pointed the gun at the ‘opposing kids’- at the same time- they were playing in the street- throwing rocks and waving sticks- and pointing loaded guns at each other- it was like it was a game- they were used to shooting each other if they had to.

There are many things happening in our world today- things that matter to God. Many Christians- though they mean well- seem to leave these other things up to others. They feel that if they can just make it through another week- attend religious meeting on Sunday- put in the tithe- that if they live up to these outward religious standards- that they have done well.

Jesus taught a different way- the apostles tried to follow in his way. The apostle John said ‘if you see your fellow man in need- and don’t actually help him- do what needs to be done to defend them- then how can you say Gods love is in you’ [my paraphrase].

The apostle Paul wrote the Colossians- he said ‘I’m worried about you- you are observing days and times and other outward religious rites- I’m afraid you are falling away from the true faith’.

There was always a danger that Christians would fall into this rut- this thing where they unconsciously make the least important things- the most important. When the religious leaders of Jesus day were conspiring to kill Jesus- they had a problem- if they killed him on the wrong day- it would mess up their religious festival going on at the time. If they had to deal with the dead body- on the wrong day- they would be technically unclean according to Jewish law- and it would throw off their game.

So they worked it out where they would kill Jesus- and leave the body alone on the Sabbath- and they had it all worked out. One problem- they were violating the most important commandment of all- given to them by their most important law giver [Moses] that said ‘thou shalt not kill’ but somehow- over a period of time- they saw these things as the most important- their special observances of holy days- keeping themselves ceremonially clean- not ‘unspotted from the world’ as James said- but religiously clean- so they could put on a good public show.

I just finished praying for a bunch of stuff- of course I prayed for the kids in Somalia- those dying and those killing. Yes- I also send money every month to the starving kids- but these things are not enough. I [we] need to also engage those around us- those hurting and dying and struggling in real ways. We need to make the most important things- important again.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

[1650] TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON-

Yesterday was the end of an era for me- after 23 years of doing broadcast radio- I thru in the towel. I have been on radio right from the early days of ministry. I started recording my messages even earlier. In those days everything was done on cassette tape. I watched the times change over the years as I would go to the local [regional] radio station to ‘drop off tapes’- geez- thousands of times.

I would notice how most of the other ministries were converting to C.D. [also now a dinosaur] and I was still using cassettes. I would often say to myself ‘John- don’t let the devil make you feel bad- you’re not behind the times’ and I would pop in my Styx 8 track on the ride back home [okay- fudged a little on this].

Anyway I had a system going where I would record the tapes and make high speed copies- the copies would get dropped off- the originals [masters] would not. This was just in case the station lost the program- or a tape broke- you would still have the original. Well as the times changed you couldn’t even purchase [have serviced] these old tape duplicators. As an independent preacher- someone who takes no offerings or receives any financial support [because of principle- way too much money involved in today’s church] I took the risk of just dropping off the originals- and every so often they would ‘get lost’ [I think one of the employees might have enjoyed taking them home to listen to- which was alright with me- it’s just I needed them back].

So over these past few years I did my best to try and solve the problem- it never worked. The station manager- a good friend- told me he would copy the tapes to C.D.’s if I wanted- I said yeah! He never got around to doing it. He then told me he would save the programs in digital format [they put them on computer] and I would be able to copy them that way.

So the other day I finally had him make a copy to my flash drive- at least I would have them that way. I realized they weren’t even playing the right tapes [using the older- out of order stuff]. Then when I got home I realized they did indeed ‘lose’ another tape- part of a series that if you lose one [like a bible study] it ruins the whole set.

 So I went and picked up the last batch of tapes and told them that I was sorry- but I had to finally cancel the show. They gave me a break on cost- but I literally spent thousands of dollars over the years doing these broadcasts- it was time to move on.

So hopefully I will soon have a link on the blog where you will be able to hear the programs [simply on line]. I found out it’s a real pain to convert the tapes to Mp3 format- then to get them on the blog. I spent the whole day yesterday messing with it- I ordered the convertor you need to do it. Then I had to start a Host site- the blog does not have space for this- and now I think I will have to get another computer- I do all my work from a laptop- I think the cord for the converter will only work on a desk top.

As someone who is computer illiterate- for the most part- it’s frustrating to have to deal with it. Geez- just getting the Host site up took me forever. So being I was already feeling bad about going off the air- it was something I loved to do- I figured I would just get a quick News fix- in the background- as I’m trying to figure all this out on my laptop. Of course all the channels were showing the Royal Wedding- enough said.

I hate it when the news fixates on a story- or presents something silly- and they do it all day long. One time at the fire house- I was sitting there with a good buddy- we had the news on [the guys used to get mad- for real- I had the news on all the time] and sure enough the actor Lloyd Bridges died. So as I’m sitting there glancing at the screen- I tell my buddy ‘Gee Joe- you think they could show a more ridiculous photo of the poor man’- I mean they had a picture of him from one of the spoof Airplane movies- he had a towel sticking out of both ears- with a goofy face- making it look like the towel went thru his head- ear to ear.

Joe started cracking up. I mean the poor man’s grandkids were probably saying ‘why does grandpa have a towel in his head mommy’. I mean the man had a long career- lots of serious movies- no, CNN liked the towel picture.

So for today I think I will work on the on line format some more- I do have some programs already on computer disk- trying to convert them to the host site and add the link to the blog. So for those of you who are interested you should be able to hear us on line soon- no more radio.  Talk to you guys later-  John

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

[1642] LESSON FROM A MUSLIM-

I read a story in my local paper yesterday- there was an ecumenical dinner held this week between Christians, Jews and Muslims. The Christian staff writer who attended shared how it helped her to overcome previous prejudices that she had. She told what the various speakers discussed and I was particularly impressed with what the Muslim speaker said- she talked about how true religion is not performance, putting on a show- but is expressed in reaching out to those in need- the poor and hurting.

In fact she was basically quoting the New Testament book of James- James says ‘pure religion is to visit the fatherless and widows and to stay clean from the world’. A few weeks back one of my homeless buddies stopped by- he’s basically a genius when it comes to the bible- I mean it’s sort of an autistic thing to be honest- he knows- by memory- much more than the average preacher. As I visited with Henry I gave him the latest bible studies that were sent to me over the last few months. Years ago I heard a N.J. Jewish preacher- who pastors a Messianic congregation in Lodi, N.J.- he had a short radio show on the same station I’m on- and as a courtesy I sent him some of my books and told him hi and all- being I’m a former Jersey brother and all. Ever since he has sent me these really great bible studies every month.

The studies are really in depth- and he usually only sends them to partners [those who support his ministry with money]. But I guess he appreciated my sending him a nice note and he forever put me on the list. Now- I’m an avid reader- I’ve read just about everything you can get your hands on- but these past few years I’m trying to stick with scholarly stuff- not that I’m ‘too good’ for the basic stuff- It’s just I really don’t have the time to just read tons of stuff that’s in the category of ‘devotional’ material- stuff that just kind of talks about Christian things.

So I hate to throw the stuff out- I mean they’re great bible studies. I don’t want to write Jonathan [the pastor] and say ‘take me off your list’- so I save them up and give them to Henry- he devours them and even quotes them back to me the next time I see him. So anyway we had a good talk. Somehow we got into discussing the book of James [the verse I quoted above] and I told Henry how it’s funny that James [we believe this letter in the New Testament- called James- was written by the James who was Jesus’ brother- mentioned about in the bible. He was the same James mentioned as one of the leaders in the church at Jerusalem in the book of Acts, chapter 15. To my Catholic friends- it might sound strange ‘Jesus had a brother?’ these words are found in the New Testament. Catholic teachers don’t deny this- they just interpret it to mean ‘cousin’ or near relative- some say its speaking of ‘Christian brother’. Don’t want to debate it- just thought I should mention it].

Anyway- I told Henry how it’s strange that one of the key leaders in the early church- who was closer to Jesus than all the other disciples [he lived in the same house] that he would write such a scathing indictment against the rich- and he would defend the poor so strongly. James’ letter is one of the strongest rebukes against the rich that you will find in the bible. Anyway Henry agreed with me- of course Henry’s poor- homeless- but he knows his stuff. He said ‘you know John- as true as you are- you never hear this from the famous pulpits in America’. He was agreeing with what the Muslim lady said at the dinner- that true religion is not fame and glory- but serving those in need.

I liked the spirit of the article I read- It does not mean I will not continue to advocate for the exclusivity of the gospel of Jesus- that Jesus is truly the only way to God. Pope Benedict has also come under some heat for saying the Catholic Church teaches that Jesus is the only way of salvation- to which I agree.

Yet at the same time- as we make our case to our Muslim and Jewish friends- we can also sit down with them- live as citizens of the same community with them- and even learn something from them every now and then.

NOTE- To any of my friends who might be ‘rich’. The early church did have certain individuals who were rich- and it was oaky. The person who gave his grave spot to Jesus- Joseph of Arimathea- was rich. Also in the books of Acts there were believers who sold their real estate and dedicated the money to the church. So the bible doesn’t just outright condemn those who are rich- but there are many warnings against being rich in ‘this world’ while forgetting to build riches in the kingdom [works of love and charity]. That’s the main theme of James’ letter.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

[1632] 3^rd PILLAR- ZAKAT.

As I was debating whether or not to continue my study on Islam [today] the spot I stopped at last was the 3^rd pillar. Sure enough yesterday [and the rerun at 1 a.m.] Beck did an interesting show on Zakat. He had on a few experts- who are known to not be sympathetic to Islam- and they covered the subject of non violent Jihad- those who advocate for an Islamic society thru non violent means. Now- I know some Beck supporters have been upset with me in the past because I criticize Beck- it’s not that I don’t think he actually brings up things that other networks don’t- sometimes he does reveal stuff that the other networks don’t because they are so ‘in the tank’ for the president. I never thought I’d see the day where a news host actually would describe his ‘feelings’ that come over him when he hears the president speak- he actually used sexual connotations to describe it [a tingle goes up my leg]. Now- I’m not saying this to be cute [okay- maybe a little] but to say I have never in my life seen the media- the so called 4^th estate- so one sided. So Beck [Fox] does serve a purpose. Now- Beck covered the groups that raise money under the banner of ‘charity’ and yet they have ties to radical Islam, and they discussed the ancient Islamic practice of Zakat [or Tithe].

In the Muslim community Zakat is giving a portion [2.5%] of both goods and finances for the sole purpose of providing for the poor. In Muslim communities the Zakat is like social security. The word literally means purification. The word itself is not a terrorist term- nor the practice. It is important for Beck and others to cover stories about the use of Zakat given to charitable groups for radical purposes- yet most Americans have probably not heard of the term before- and their first introduction to it was seen thru an association to terror.

Years ago I had a chance meeting with a Muslim- I’m sure he didn’t realize he ran into some nut who studies just about everything a person can study [I was working at the fire house and on duty]. He was a devout Muslim- dressed in Muslim garb an all. As we talked I gave him the biblical history of Abraham and his 2 sons Isaac and Ishmael. I traced the lineage of Christians and Jews from Isaacs’s line, and the genealogy of Muslims [Arabs] thru Ishmael. I spoke about the coming of Jesus in the 1^st century of the Common Era as the promised offspring that God originally told Abraham about. I explained the purpose of the Messiah [Jesus] as being the predestined one sent by God to unite all people and tribes under one new nation- the Kingdom of God. I explained to my friend that Christianity teaches that Jesus was not simply a prophet- but one who died for the sins of the world and rose again as the final sacrifice that would ever need to be made for the sins of men. I was surprised to see my Muslim friend hearing the whole story- for the 1^st time. He told me he was not familiar at all with the history [even though it is both biblical history and Islamic- the part about Ishmael which is found in the book of Genesis]. He seemed so grateful to have heard it thru ‘this angle’ not from the angle of the Crusades- or of Western Colonialism- but from the angle of the grace of God that has come to all tribes and races thru Jesus Christ.

As I watch the media day after day- seeing more unrest in the Middle East than I have ever witnessed in my lifetime. Seeing the growing strain between Christians and Muslims and Jews [the Fla. Pastor went and burned a Koran and Muslim demonstrators in Afghanistan attacked the U.N. building and killed and beheaded some workers]. As I see the lines being drawn in the sand- I come back to the story of my Muslim friend- who obviously was dedicated to his faith [wearing the robe and all] yet he never clearly heard the gospel- which actually means Good News. The bible commands us [Christians] to live in peace with ALL MEN- to love our neighbor as our self- to even love those who hate us- to pray for those who persecute us and to do good [a type of Zakat] to our fellow man. While I make no excuses for the killing and beheading of the U.N. people- yet to burn the holy book of another religion is also not living peaceably with all men.

I believe the Islamic practice of Zakat is closer to actual biblical teaching than what most Christians practice today. The majority of Christian giving- often wrongfully referred to as the Tithe- goes to the function of media ministry- church buildings- salaries- etc. under 10 percent goes to meeting the needs of the poor. Yet in the teachings of Jesus and in the New Testament the majority teaching on giving is in context of giving to meet the needs of the poor [go read my books under the Feb- 2010 posts- and also the study called ‘what in the world is the church’ under the Feb posts]. So in a very real way I do think the Islamic Zakat is closer to the biblical practice than what most 21^st century Christians practice. 

I will obviously have many things I will not embrace about Islam in future posts- I will try and cover those differences as respectfully as I possibly can- without being a biased defender of Islam [as my current instructor on the course seems to be]. And I will make the case for Christ as well. At the end of the day hopefully we can learn more about our various beliefs- try and have respect for those who differ- and root for the moderates among us. I reject the Koran burning pastor in Fla. And I hope most Muslims will also reject the radical elements within their ranks. The history of the 3^rd Pillar of Islam is a good one- a practice that centers around the teachings of Christ- it’s a shame that some in the Muslim community have hijacked it for violent Jihad.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

[1629] MUSLIM IN AMERICA- THE PRESIDENTS SPEECH AND OTHER MUSINGS.

Last night the president finally spoke to the nation in defense of our military action in Libya. He made the case that there are times when the U.S. can/should act if we feel we can avert a humanitarian disaster- he also said we can’t always intervene in every conflict. I guess for the most part this makes some sense- it’s just the way he handled it [going on vacation- congress in recess]. There are still lots of questions to be asked/answered. Today the rebels are on the outskirts of a western city that is ‘pro Gadhafi’. The city is called Sirte and like other cities in the west they favor Gadhafi more so than the rebels. The question is; how do we justify the bombing of Gadhafi’s military- in order to protect civilians- while the rebels are getting ready to overthrow a civilian population- with force- against the majority of the will of the people? We have indeed enabled the rebels to advance this far west, and we are basically on the side of the rebels- in this case- against the populace.

The other night I watched a CNN special on Muslim discrimination in America- most of you who read my posts [blog] know I try and take the more moderate position of not branding all Muslims as radical. I do think there are times when Muslims are discriminated against wrongfully because of their faith. Yet at the same time the media often show their bias. The show did a good job at revealing how Muslims face discrimination in America- the host- Soledad O’Brien- kind of showed the ‘ignorant’ Christians versus the moderate Muslims. The town was Murphysboro Tenn. [yes- they picked a spot that would be a little more redneck than usual] and they interviewed a few American Muslim women whose sole experience of Islam comes from an American perspective. These women, as sympathetic as their causes are- do not even begin to breech the absolute discrimination and oppression that many Muslim women experience around the globe on a daily basis- it was just unfair for CNN to portray Muslim women as victims of Christian discrimination while overlooking the real problem- expressed by many women who have chosen to speak out- against the oppression women face when living in countries that have Sharia law as the law of the land.

As I continue to teach the study on Islam [so far have only done 1 post on it] I want to try and approach the strained relationship that exists between Western society and Islam- yet I don’t want to be an apologist for Islam. I’m currently going thru a course on Islam that is taught by the official govt. teacher on the subject. I believe he was sitting in the second row of the president’s speech last night. Over the years I have studied on lots of subjects- years of utilizing the public library system, buying university level books [not pop culture Christian stuff on how to ‘get what you want’] and I have also ordered courses [C.D. and book] from the top professors of the universities of the world. These course are not cheap- yet they are cheaper than actually getting credits for the courses [you can take the same courses as extension courses from the universities and get credit- but that’s way too expensive- especially if done thru the elite universities- Harvard, etc.] So instead I simply purchase the courses and do them on my own. Now- the reason I say this is to explain a ‘funny thing’ that happened on my study of Islam. When I first ordered the course I noticed the ratings were not that great. Most courses are rated in the 80-90 percentile- from others who have done the course- this one was in the 60’s. I hesitated to get it- but the other courses that dealt with Islam also dealt with other religions- and I didn’t want to do an entire comparative religion study at this time. So these courses are taught by the top tier professors in the world [these professors are peer reviewed and deemed to be in the top 10 %]. This one on Islam is taught by the person who teaches Islam to the incoming govt. employees under president Obama. As I’m going thru the course- there are times where I feel like the teacher is too defensive of Islam- sort of like the CNN special. At one point the professor defends Muhammad as a religious leader who freed women from oppression and instituted an open and liberal society for all people- especially women. Geez- stuff like this is very problematic- I know enough about the current world nations that have Islam as the official religion of the nation- these nations are without a doubt very oppressive to women.

Like many things in life- we all try and do our best to give people the benefit of the doubt- and as someone who has disagreed with the president and been openly critical of him- yet I try not to be so biased that I find fault with everything he does. The media has far left defenders- who never find anything wrong with the man- and far right critics who never find anything right. At this time- the revolts in North Africa and the Middle East are really getting out of hand- the Christians in Egypt- an ancient Christian church [Coptic] have lived there since the early days of Christianity- they have just voted in Egypt to recognize Sharia law as the official law of the land- this referendum was passed by 70 % of the population- and the Muslim Brotherhood showed their organizational abilities by gaining a majority of the vote for the things they wanted. So now the Christians in Egypt might face the same fate as those in Pakistan- being put to death for blaspheming Islam [which often means witnessing for Christ]. The rebels who we are fighting for in Libya are much more radical than Gadhafi- yes Gadhafi was/is a madman- yet the rebels have more Al Qaeda influence than Gadhafi- they have been enemies in Libya for years. Do we really want our people dying for the Rebels?

There are still lots of questions to be answered- I am uncomfortable that the course I’m going thru on Islam is so skewed to the point of defending Islam as a great liberator of women and their rights- I was even more troubled to have seen ‘my instructor’ sitting in the 2^nd row at the president’s speech.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

[1615] EXODUS 33- The Lord tells his people that they must get up from the place they are at- Mount Sinai- and move on to the new place he has promised to them- Canaan [the Promised Land]. Okay- symbolically what does this mean? Sinai represents law, promised land= the Cross, the ‘new land’ of grace and freedom found in Christ. In the New testament- this is the way all the apostles dealt with these promises [Hebrews, Galatians, Peter’s sermons in Acts]. It is vital for Christians [especially T.V. preachers!] to get this right. The message to the Muslim/Arab world is not ‘God is taking sides in a land war in Israel/Palestine’ but the message is ‘in Jesus, all nations/ethnic groups are welcome- leave Sinai [the old law mentality of seeing God thru the lens of a strict judge who wants to get you] and come to the ‘new land’ this land of grace where Jesus took upon him the sins of the whole world and bore the punishment for us’ this is really the message of Christianity- many people see Christianity/Christendom thru a 2 thousand year history [okay to do- I too am a historian] but they look at the mistakes- the Crusades- the Christian hatred of Jews that existed- the Muslim/Christian battles- many people do not really see the true message of the Cross- the new land of grace and acceptance thru Jesus- they are stuck at Sinai [a mountain that we already saw was fearful, people trembled- were scared- strict judgment] and can’t seem to get to the next mountain.

Also the Lord tells the people ‘take off your costume jewelry’ they wore the celebratory stuff- sort of like Mardi Gra stuff- when they sinned while worshipping their idols. God says ‘it’s not a performance- your service to me, your worship- take the fake stuff off’. In Matthews gospel- chapters 6-7, Jesus says ‘this thing is not theatre- how to perform and gain an audience’ I mean you can’t get stronger than that. Jesus also says ‘prayer is not mastering some type of formula to get what you want- create lots of wealth’ I mean he really takes to task the majority of American Christianity-  a huge percentage of it is really performance- seeing ‘church’ as a place where we go once a week and actually watch a stage/theatre performance- ouch! God told the people ‘get rid of the costume jewelry- I have more important stuff for you’. Right now there is a lot of stuff happening in the world- the voice of the church needs to be a voice for justice in the earth. I watched an interview on Fox news this weekend- the host described our wars as just- and the Muslim/Arab side as terrorism. I had just read a news article describing the accidental killings of the 9 Afghan boys who were gathering fire wood while our attack helicopters killed them. The boys were between 5 and 11 years old. One boy- the only survivor, named Hamed- said as they were in the field they heard the chopper coming. Of course it’s a scary sight for little boys. Then as the chopper left- it came back again- like stalking them. They stood still- until the first boy was mowed down. They ran in all different directions- the chopper methodically hunted the boys down- one by one. This boy survived because a tree fell on him and hid him. I know our side thought the boys were enemy combatants- I know we did not intend for this to happen. But to excuse our actions- to say ‘we are just’ and the other side- some who are simply fighting for the Taliban because they need the job- to say they are immoral- and we are moral- seems like a joke after hearing about the deaths of these boys. May God have mercy on all of us.

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[1594] THE NARRATIVE- These last few days we have all been given a lesson in Narrative- that is we have been shaped by ‘the story’ that people tell. If you view a certain event thru a conservative lens- then you will see things in the story that confirm what you already believe- the same with a liberal bias. These past few weeks I have been reading the book of Proverbs- just a few hours ago I read the verse ‘labor not to be rich, cease from your own wisdom’ then it referenced the verse I quoted the other day in 1^st Timothy chapter 6 ‘those that desire to be rich have fallen into a trap and have swerved from the true faith’. Now- I haven’t spoken on this topic for years- but whenever I bring it up- it usually seems to disturb the narrative [story line] of the contemporary evangelical church. Many well meaning believers have been given a story line that says ‘the old traditional churches have told us money was not good- that God loves the poor- but the bible teaches otherwise’ now- are there verses that do speak about God blessing people financially? Sure. But the other side of the coin [like the verses I just quoted] these are not ‘old church traditions’ these are also part of the biblical narrative- the whole story we find in the bible. So we are often given- or drawn to- the story line we like the most- and then we look for proof that our story is the only right one. Last night [actually the repeat of the 1 a.m. show] I saw Beck interview a moderate American Muslim- he is the president of some Muslim group who have vocally rejected militant extremism. Now- Beck introduced him in a well meaning way- as a friend he met around 5 years ago. But in his introduction he said something like ‘I have been looking for a Muslim who is willing to tell the truth- to reject radicalism- and I finally found one’. In Becks mind- moderate Muslims don’t seem to exist- except this lucky one he found. Yet the man shared how his organization is made up of the majority of Muslims who in fact reject radicalism- he was Becks friend- but his reality did not fit Becks story line. As time was running short- Beck just really wanted the man to admit ‘yes- we Muslims are all basically dangerous- and I’m the only brand that managed to get plucked out of the fire’ their story lines contradicted each other. I have a confession to make- a few years ago when working at the fire dept., yes, I used to pick up the N.Y. Times and read it along with our Texas papers. Now- these past few weeks I have been picking it up every so often. I actually read the whole paper- just about every article- you have to be a junkie to read the entire times [very long articles]. Why do I do this? Because even though the Times is at times biased [let's see- McCain runs for president- a few days before the primary vote- the Times runs a front page, top of the fold article about a rumor that he was ‘too friendly’ with a female staff person. John Edwards- known by the insiders to have actually fathered a child out of wed lock, how did the Times originally treat it? Nothing- you know- it’s the man’s personal life- got ya] yet I do find the articles real thorough, and you get to hear both sides of the narrative- something that you very rarely get from television media [especially cable]. So it’s important for all of us to try as hard as possible to be exposed to the different sides of the story. Now- Egypt. Some have said ‘do you really think that the Egyptians just woke up one day and wanted Democracy’ this narrative says it’s the radical Muslims behind the uprising. At the same time- many Egyptians themselves will say ‘you are disrespecting us- when other countries citizens rise up [Iran] you cheer for their independence- yet you treat us with disdain’. These protesters are saying we are getting the story wrong. And in the Arab world- yes- you have all sides realizing these things. So the pro Mubarak group- while being against militant Islam- at the same time realizes that if the world thinks the protests are being fanned by the militant Muslims- then Mubarak knows the world will turn against the protests and support him. So they attempt to tell ‘that story’. After reading all ‘the stories’ it seems to me that the initial protests were indeed the younger generation feeling like they had no real future- they seem to have really ‘woken up one day’ [being emboldened by the Tunisian protests] and yes- wanted Democracy. This is not to say that the radical Muslim groups are not trying to use it to their advantage- but in a way these protests actually work against ‘the narrative’ of the militant groups. How? The ‘story’ that the radicals try to tell is ‘the only way we can be free from these autocratic, western loving- Israel peacemaking leaders is thru violent revolution’ if the Arab street believes peaceful protests can do it- then they not only challenged Mubarak’s rule- but also the narrative of the violent radicals- see? So as we view these events from afar- be sure you’re not only being shaped by one sides view- even if the side you listen to seems sincere- heck- I think most of what Beck says he believes! But at the same time there is good journalism out there [I do think the Times still has tremendously valuable info. Despite the bias] try and listen to the more respectable news sources- for many years I did not subscribe to cable- I watched the networks and P.B.S.- yes- the news hour is an excellent source for news. And at the end of the day realize that there might be some truth to both sides of the argument- it is rare to find the whole truth resting with only one side.

[1590] WILL WE SUFFER? I was going to do another post on the Jewish contribution to Modernity- the Jewish thinkers and their contribution to the Western Intellectual Tradition [an ongoing on-line study I’m doing] but instead let me share a few more practical thoughts. The other day I wrote a post on the persecuted Christians in Pakistan- and I had a few Pakistani Pastors email me- thanking me for the web site- telling me it’s been a blessing to them- and even inviting me to speak or start a ministry under our name/title in their country and they would work with me. I of course thanked them for the offer- and just encouraged them to freely use all our stuff- make copies of the books- hand them out- use all of our stuff as much as you wish. I have waved the copyright to all my stuff years ago. Then I caught a quick few minutes of Peirs Morgan- the guy who replaced Larry King- he was interviewing Joel Osteen. Peirs was asking him something about the abuse of money in the modern televangelist world- and Joel answered cautiously- rejecting the title of Prosperity Preacher- and shared the basic theme that God doesn’t want his people being poor and suffering and beat up all the time. I like Joel- I’m very familiar with his belief system- Joel's dad- John- was one of the pioneers of the Word of Faith movement in this part of Texas- and over the years I even had some ordained ministers who were ordained by Lakewood church [Joel’s church] who were members of the church I started back in the 80’s. So I basically am familiar with the scoop. Okay- the contrast of Joel’s simple remarks- given in a good spirit- just did not fit the lifestyle of the fine Pastors who I had just been in contact with over the past few weeks. Men who have been literally risking their lives- suffering- fellow believers being killed- all the descriptions that Joel felt were not what God wanted for his people. The book of Hebrews says ‘you suffered the loss of your material possessions willfully- knowing that in heaven you have eternal riches that will not fade away’. There is a verse [Proverbs?] that says ‘don’t make me rich- lest I forsake you- don’t make me poor- lest I curse you- just give me what I need’ or ‘those that desire to be rich [just the desire mind you!] have swerved from the true faith and have gone shipwreck’ [1^st Timothy 6]. The point I want to make is we often hear snippets of things- things that seem innocent enough, and yet they violate the basic truth of scripture. I am not upset with Joel- Joel is a good man who has the gift of encouraging people- I do not see him as your typical ‘money preacher’ but I just wanted to give you the balance. The apostle Paul spent a few years living with the believers at Ephesus [I think you can read the account in Acts 20- I also wrote on the subject in my commentary on the book of Acts- in the 2-2010 posts] and as he was teaching them- he called the leaders of the church [called elders in the bible- what we would see as Pastors today] down to the shore- and he gave them a going away speech/warning- he told them after he leaves ‘wolves’ will come in- men who will take advantage of the believers- and he goes on and says ‘all the years I was with you- I refused to let you guys support me- I worked day and night- not only to support myself- but to pay the way for the workers I brought with me’ then he says ‘the reason I did this- was to give you preachers an example- so you too would work with your own hands to provide for yourselves’ now- the entire subject of supporting Christian teachers/preachers is a long one- and I’m not against supporting our Pastors/Priests in a moderate way- them having incomes commensurate with the people. But how many times have you ever heard the story I just shared with you? I mean does the average person even know that the apostle Paul taught stuff like this? You would think it was heresy if it weren’t right there in the bible. If you want to read more about this stuff- under the section ‘what is the church’ an ongoing series I’ve been doing for years- I share about this a little more- but today’s point is we need to be careful as preachers- when we view Christianity primarily thru an American lens- I’m sure Joel meant no harm- but there are indeed times when Gods people are persecuted- broken- afflicted- suffering- these are very real situations that many of our brothers and sisters face on a daily basis thru out the world. We don’t want to give them the false impression that they are suffering contrary to the will of God- there are just too many bible passages that say otherwise [ ‘it has not only been given to us to believe on Jesus- but to also suffer with him’ the Apostle Peter- etc. etc.].

J.W.�%7�p l �u� �� good defense for their view- and they were not totally ‘deceptive’ in their argument. But they did quote lots of bible verses that kind of backed up their side- and they quoted some from Isaiah. But they left out chapter 9.

The famous passage that says Jesus is the ‘Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace’ very strong language indeed.

What about the argument that the early Catholic bishops polluted the true teachings of Jesus by introducing Greek thought into Jesus true teachings? It is true that Greek philosophy had a belief that there was a pre existing principle of wisdom- a ‘divine logos’ if you will.

The only problem with the argument that the Catholic bishops were the culprits who introduced Logos Christology into the doctrines of the church is that the New Testament itself has ‘Logos Christology’ in it. What is Logos Christology?

Logos is the Greek word for ‘Word’. Christology is the study of Christ. Logos Christology is the description of Jesus found in the writings of the apostle John that describe Jesus as the Eternal Word of God.

John wrote the gospel of John, the 3 letters- 1^st, 2^nd and 3rd John- and the book of Revelation [some scholar’s dispute that John authored the last one]. In these writings Jesus is called the Word of God- he is described as the Word that was ‘with God, and was God’ [John 1].

So the bible itself has Greek influences- because it was written in Greek! And even though the pre Christian philosophers had a concept of a personified wisdom [the Jews also- read Proverbs 8] yet the New Testament also speaks of Jesus as this Eternal Word of God who was indeed ‘true God from true God’.

So I think the talk I had was good- I understand that many groups of people have had difficulty with the doctrine of the Trinity and the accusation that Constantine and the Catholics ‘hijacked’ the true religion of Jesus has been made by many groups over the years. Yet at the end of the day the doctrine of Jesus being God is clearly found in the bible [and yes, even in the Old Testament] and we as Orthodox Christians confess Jesus as God-  not because of the Greeks- or the Catholics- or because of any other influence that ‘snuck in’ we confess him as God because ‘the bible tells me so’ Amen and Amen.

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[1655] A WAKE UP CALL TO THE PROFESSOR-

 There are a lot of things I want to hit on today- let me start with an article I read in the paper yesterday. It was a study that compared students who studied physics using 2 different methods. The traditional lecture room environment- taught by veteran teachers. Versus an interactive classroom environment taught by inexperienced students [no teacher] who simply shared the things they were learning with each other.

To the shock of the traditional advocates- the kids who were taught without a teacher scored twice as high on the tests as those who sat in the classroom. The study was headed up by a top rated scientist who works for the president.

This reminded me of all the teaching I did over the years on the nature of the church [the study on the blog is called ‘what in the world is the church’]. After years of studying and doing many of the ‘interactive’ principles found in the study- I do see how important it is for believers to interact with each other- not just during ‘fellowship’ times- but as a main part of worship.

It is no accident that the churches in the New Testament were structured along these lines. In the bible you simply did not have churches structured around a single figure who ‘lectured’ week after week to the people. Now- this debate has been raging for a while amongst those who debate stuff like this. And a few years back some scholars from the more traditional view really went after the more ‘organic’ type church brothers.

But overall I believe the interactive ‘church meeting’ is really the most biblical way to go. I still think there is room for the more traditional style of ‘lecture hall’ but that is a small part of being in Christian community- yet for many that seems to actually be what they refer to as ‘the local church’ very limited perspective indeed [you can also read my short book on the left of the blog site- Further Talks on Church and Ministry].

Okay- maybe I’ll hit a few more thoughts in keeping with this idea. After the fellowship lunch the other day I invited Henry [my homeless friend] back to the house for the day. These guys are on the streets most of the day and they appreciate being able to rest and catch some news on the tube.

Once again as Henry left he told me ‘John- this was one of the best days I have had in a long time’. He told me this the last time I had him over. Why? What I do with Henry is I try not to act the ‘preacher/pastor’ role. That is I share and interact with Henry as an equal. Henry just so happens to be real knowledgeable when it comes to the bible and theology.

Part of the discussion was Henry sharing how the letter to the Romans [written by the apostle Paul] was the only letter written to a church that Paul did not found himself. Now- I knew this before- and most bible students know this- but yet it started a conversation that both of us could engage in. Henry had read somewhere that the church at Rome might have been started by the Diaspora [the scattered] Jews/Christians who dispersed after the Martyrdom of Stephen in Acts chapter 7.

I told Henry that I actually taught on this before- but I referenced the dispersion that took place in Acts chapter 2. At the day of Pentecost there were Jewish worshippers who came from all parts of the known world at the time- they were gathered at Jerusalem for the big holiday.

After the Spirit came on the early church- these believers went back to their homes and some of them did indeed go back to Rome.

Either way- the point is that Paul did not start the church at Rome- and there are no records [in the bible] of who was the first founder [yes Peter also went to Rome- but he too was not the initial 'church planter’].

Okay- why even mention this? I think Henry has these ‘best days of my life’ days because the fellowships we have are based on the organic church style- that is I’m not always ‘preaching’ to him in the conventional sense.

I hope to get with the guys again this week- same place [Sirloin Stockade off of SPID in Corpus] I will let everyone know a day ahead- so if you guys want to make it a weekly thing you can join the group. But I have been meeting with these friends for 20 years now- just sharing the interactive way.

The above study was said to have been a real wake up call to the actual veteran lecturers- they couldn’t believe that the students on their own- without the ‘pro’ lecturing them- would do twice as well as the students who sat ‘in church’ [the lecture room] simply listening to the able speaker- speak.

The apostle Paul knew this trick 2 millennia ago- he wrote the church at Corinth ‘and when you meet together- let everyone of you share what you have learned- do it in order- but let everyone speak’ I like Paul’s method a lot.

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[1654] OPEN THE BOOK AND BREAK THE SEALS

We had a good fellowship the other day- I and 2 homeless bro’s got with 2 Kingsville originals and we  all ate at the Sirloin Stockade. I want to try and meet once a week for lunch in Corpus- everybody is welcome by the way. I’ll try and mention it on the sites [Blog, Facebook] a day ahead of time, and you are all invited.

I will only cover the cost of the homeless guys though- everyone else it’s Dutch. Okay- this week I have been reading revelation chapter 5. We see this image of John the apostle standing in the throne room of God and God has this book in his hand. John is upset because no one is able to open the book and loose the seals. As John is upset, one of the elders comes up to him and tells him not to worry- Jesus- the Lion of the tribe of Judah, he has prevailed to open the book and to break the seals.

The vision is you have these elders and beasts and John and a multitude of angels and people from all nations- it’s a great gathering of saints of the most high- a true picture of the people of God.

I applied the vision to our little fellowship- made up of people from all over- different ethnic backgrounds and cultures. And John the apostle is struggling with this mandate to get the message out. Remember- the book of Revelation begins with Jesus telling John ‘write these letters to the 7 churches’ so John has this task to communicate this message from God. Yet he runs up against the classic roadblock ‘Who is worthy’ in so many words ‘why did you pick me for the job- I’m not able to do it’. You hear the words of Isaiah here- Isaiah said ‘I am a man of unclean lips- in the middle of a bunch of unclean people!’ Geez Isaiah- you’re not only too hard on yourself, but everyone else!

In the Isaiah vision God takes a coal and uses it to cleanse the lips of the prophet. So John is distraught over the fact that this book is sealed- and no matter how hard he tries- he cant open the thing. Jesus steps up to the plate and takes it and opens it. The whole community rejoices- they sing this song- a new song ‘Worthy is the lamb to open the book and to loose the seals thereof, for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us unto God by thy Blood out of every kindred and tribe and tongue and nation- and hast made us priests and kings unto God our father’. Yes, I put this verse to memory this week and sang it all thru out the week.

Sure- my wife said ‘who are you talking to’. I just blew it off- I have been talking to myself for years. So I’m identifying somewhat with John- also struggling to ‘open the book and loose the seals’. These last few weeks I dropped our radio program and was in a mad rush to get the shows on line [there on now]. But I dropped on a Friday and wanted to have them up by that Sunday.

So after ordering some equipment on line [stuff to convert tape to computer drive] and having my daughter teach me a few computer things [I am computer illiterate- really. Just looking at HTML/JavaScript is like reading a foreign language!]. But even though I was ‘unworthy to open the book and loose the seals’ somehow by Gods grace we were up and running by Sunday.

So as I’m praying/singing the ‘new song’- kind of an intercessory thing- believing God to help us get the word out. Sure enough I sing the thing and the bell rings. That was my buddy Emit [last post] and from that surprise visit a few doors opened to get together more often with the brothers.

Of course I’m just applying these things- obviously revelation is not about eating at the big cow! But God does use stuff like this to speak to us- the principle of Jesus alone being the one who is worthy to ‘open the book’ well that’s a truism that will always be there.

Down the road I hope to teach a little more on the book of Revelation. It’s really not as hard as it might look. Basically you have the command of Jesus to John to write the 7 letters. John sees Jesus as the one who will assist him in getting the message out. The book had 7 seals. The opening of the last seal releases 7 trumpets. And the last trumpet leads to 7 bowls [vials]. Then you have the last few chapters that speak about the wrapping up of the kingdom and the resurrection and the final judgment. You end with a new heaven and a new earth and whoever wants ‘let him come and drink of the water of life’. That’s really it- sure you do have a lot of numbers and images and stuff- but overall this is the basic outline of the book.

In the book of Daniel he sees a lot of the same things that John sees in the book of Revelation- but Daniel is told to seal up the vision- for the time was not ready. John is told to ‘un seal’ it- the time is at hand. For many of the new friends that came in this last year- the time was ready for you guys to ‘read the book’ so to speak. Just remember the key- only Jesus has the ability to show you what’s in the book- to make it clear. Read and pray and ask God to help you understand- he alone can do it.

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[1653] A SURPRISE VISIT

I had a surprise visit last night- one of my original ‘church members’ stopped by to see me. Emit was the 2^nd generation family, a son of one of the guys who was hooked on Heroin in the early days. Emit’s dad [Emit senior] was also part of the first group of members.

I would hold bible studies for the guys in the county jail- some were waiting for their court dates- they would do lots of time in Texas’ famous prison system- others were just doing time for minor offenses- things related to their drug addictions.

So anyway Emit Jr. was in that first group. I would pick up his dad for our church meetings [first held at an old abandoned hospital- later moved to my garage]. We had around 30 or so people who made up our little group. Mostly families of the guys I met thru the jail meetings. But every so often we had someone hear about us and they would join our group.

I remember Roy and Kathy- they were in this group of ‘normal people’. Roy was a liberal news reporter for the local paper- and Kathy was a bible college graduate. I don’t know how they found us- but they liked the bible studies I would do and they became good friends. The same with Hubert and his wife Katy.

Hubert actually taught at a regional bible school [Pan Am school/church] sponsored by the Presbyterian Church. It was their Latin American outreach school- located in Kingsville. So we had some up-standing folk as well. As I was fellowshipping with Emit we had some good laughs. I told him now that I’m posting the radio shows on the blog that in the future I’m going to post some of the old recordings from the early days. You can hear Emits dad on these tapes.

It was funny- the guys acted like we were just hanging out at my house- even during the church meetings! Emit [Sr.] had a habit of raiding my fridge right before the meetings would start- I mean I couldn’t keep Pecan Pies away from the brother. I eventually hid the good stuff before Emit got there. Hey I loved the bro. but the Pecan Pies were not part of the deal!

Emit told me he still has a few of these tapes and he hears his dads voice on some of them- His dad has been dead for many years now. He was clean at the time- but he ruined his liver with the Heroin and it finally caught up with him.  His dad met his wife- Janie- at our little church. Janie was a single mom who had a bunch of boys- I worked with her sons and she would attend the church- Emit met Janie and sure enough they got married. They were a nice couple.

So last night Emit calls some of the other original group [geez- he had all their numbers in his phone]. So in a few hours I will be taking Emit, David [Buentello] and Henry [one of the homeless guys] to lunch in Corpus. David and Emit both work in Corpus now- they still live in Kingsville.

David too was a ‘founding member’ I met his dad while preaching at the jail- Leonard was a long time addict. Once again I met the sons thru my friendship with the dad. David has a bunch of brothers and I met Leonard [Jr.] and Ben and a few others. David spent lots of year strung out on drugs. I must have written Dave a few hundred times over the years when he was in prison- I saw this as a ministry- keeping in touch with the brothers as they did time- lots of time- in prison.  David got his degree [he started while in prison and finished after he got out. It’s a program that helps the guys get a degree with aid from the state. Texas just ended the program this year; they said ‘why should we be paying for ex con’s education for free’. As someone who has seen the good results- it really was worth it].

David has been clean for many years and he is a professional counselor working in Corpus Christi. One time I asked David to pick up the guys for our meetings the next day. Many times I was working the night before at the fire house and it helped if someone could pick the people up in the morning- it gave me a little more time to prepare for the meeting. So I gave Dave the Suburban and he had it for the night. I knew it was a risk- not that he would steal the darn thing- but be tempted to score drugs and all.

Sure enough Dave came by the fire station early in the morning- he was fessing up- telling me he blew it and he was gonna leave the truck. I told him just because he had a bad night- I still needed him to finish the task and pull through. He did- he picked everyone up and attended the service.

Lots of times the guys in these situations have never had any home structure- I mean their parents love them and all- but when the dad struggles with addiction- they’re not there to support the sons. So this was training in a way for Dave.

So hopefully they will all find the restaurant [it’s right off the main drag- but I’m not sure they know the spot I was telling them]. It was funny- as Emit was leaving I walked him out to the car. He was wearing these coveralls from the auto dealer that he works for- he has this lawnmower sticking halfway out of the trunk [he was cutting yards for money after work]. And I asked him about his new girlfriend and all [Emit was married years ago to another person whose family were church members of our group. His wife, Veronica, had a few boys and one girl with Emit. They eventually divorced. One time at work we had a call for a stabbing- the person who was stabbed- Junior Perez- was another family member who I met from the jails. Junior’s younger brother- Tony- was a faithful church member. His older brother- Daniel- was the one I met thru the jail. Junior was dating Veronica at the time- it was an abusive relationship- she stabbed Junior while he was trying to get into her house. She lived there with her mom- Yolanda- yes another one of our church members. She killed Junior that night- no charges against her- but she would eventfully move out of town]

So as Emits leaving I ask him about his latest girl- he says she a nice person- but its one of those situations where the family doesn’t know she’s dating him [I don’t know why- just some family thing]. Then I asked him what happened with his other girl friend- the one he dated for years ‘Oh her, they took her away from me’ [now- I know what Emit meant- her family didn’t get along with Emit and they eventually convinced her to leave Emit]. Now, even though I knew what Emit meant- I was like ‘Hey bro. you show up with these work coveralls- the type you usually see on these serial killer types- you know the video of some guy kidnapping someone at the local store- and you have this ‘after hours lawnmower job’ [classic cover up for stuffing things in the trunk] and you tell me the current girl friend’s family- well they don’t know about your ‘relationship’ and the last one- well ‘they took her away’ [I mean who is they- the cops! LOL]. I said if I didn’t know any better it looks like you might have spent the last 10 years as a serial killer’!

He got a kick out of that. Okay enough for now- maybe I’ll let you know how the fellowship went tomorrow. Emit told me his youngest boy- Justin- is a full blow Heroin addict in Robstown. Geez- I just took a ride thru there the other week- felt like God wanted me to simply do a prayer drive. And now we are going to visit Justin in a few days- maybe it was a sign. Okay- please  pray for my buddies and their families.

I’m glad they’re still hanging in there- but I need to try and get with them more often- hopefully today we can schedule a few more fellowship meetings- it’s been too long.

 [NOTE- Dave- if you read this- just leave a quick comment on Facebook- so my friends from Jersey can see who you are- I have lots of old friends on the site- thanks]

 P.S.- As Emit was giving me all the updated phone numbers of the brothers- I was writing them down in my address book/organizer- geez- as I turned to the ‘E’ page and the ‘D’ page and all- I still had the original names and numbers of their dads and all. One entry said 'Emit/Janie’ it brought back lots of memories.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

[1652] LETTER FROM AN OLD FRIEND 

The other day I mentioned how over the years I have come to ‘see’ the community of people that I speak into- those friends I have worked with on the streets and all the readers/hearers of the ministry- I have come to see them as one community. I even began to see the friends who died as still being part of the community- just because they are not physically present- they are still ‘there’.

In the letter to the Hebrews the bible says Jesus stands in the middle of the congregation and sings praises unto God. On the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus met with Moses and Elijah [2 dead saints] and Peter, James and John. The community was made up of both earthly and heavenly saints.

Okay- said all that to say this. When I first came to Texas I drove down with a good buddy I grew up with. His name was Miguel and we hung out as kids. Eventually Miguel would give his life to God [after me working with him for a few months] and I saw him as one of my 1^st converts to the Lord.

I gave Miguel my first bible and got another one. Over a few years me and Mike tried to establish ourselves and our young families on this strange Texas frontier. Eventually Mike went back to Jersey. The night before he left [I drove him to the airport in San Antonio the next day- and his family]. We took a drive to Corpus Christi [where I now live- we both lived in Kingsville at the time- about 40 miles from Corpus] and spent the last night as buddies just hanging out on Padre Island- eating Whataburger’s [a great burger restaurant in Tx.] and just talking about what God had in store for the future. Actually, as I sit here and type I’m about 100 yards from the main road going straight to the Island- the same road we drove on 25 years ago.

As the years passed I would get a call from my old buddy every so often. One time Mike called to give me the news ‘John- I wanted to let you know I tested positive for Aids’- What! How’d that happen? [Probably a bad response now that I think about it]. Mike wasn’t ‘gay’ or bisexual- but he had lots of girlfriends- all the time. Back then safe sex was more of an option- and obviously Mike wasn’t too careful. Mike told me his wife- Lu Ann- also tested positive. What a tragedy- they had 4 boys.

So of course the whole family became a regular prayer request- till this day- every morning [every!] I pray for Mikes boys. One time I came home from work and my wife said ‘John- Lu Ann called’ I said ‘Mike died’ she said yes. Mike was 32. One day I received a letter from Lu Ann- she told me how her oldest boy was a preacher now in N.J. and he was on fire for God. She wrote a nice long letter. It must have been something God wanted her to do- I will forever remember that letter.

When Mike left Texas- I got that old bible I gave him back. It was just a sentimental thing of keeping your 1^st bible. Then one year I started reading from it again and found that Mike had sprinkled notes all thru out it- things like ‘ask John this’ and stuff like that. So it was cool to catch these short notes every so often. I could almost hear Mikes voice as I read the notes.

So anyway as I pray in the mornings I have a conscious sense of my old buddies who have died- lots of homeless friends- a few ex- con/addict friends- and of course Mike and Lou Ann- [I guess she’s dead by now?] So last week as I’m just asking the Lord what chapter to read. I turn to Exodus 16- and Mike had a bunch of notes on this page- stuff like ‘NOTICE THIS’ and things that were weird- like he was writing notes to me. It did freak me out- I ‘fellowship’ with Mike when I pray for the Bro’s- and sometimes it’s like Mike is saying ‘John- thanks for praying for the boys’. And then to read notes later that say ‘Notice this’ or ‘ask John this’ it’s freaky.

Okay- that chapter dealt with God giving his people Manna- bread from heaven. It was the same week I dropped the radio program- I felt bad about doing it- but it was time. I told the Lord ‘If I messed up- sorry’. That is if I dropped it cause I was mad they kept losing the ‘darn’ tapes- then I repent. So anyway one of the verses in the chapter says ‘some people went out on the 7^th day- to get their daily bread- and they found none’.

I knew there were going to be lots of long time listeners- who have written- who loved the show. These would ‘go out’ on the 7^th day [Actually Sunday is the 1^st day- but you get the idea] and would find ‘no bread’ for the first time in 15  years of broadcasting over KCTA. Actually over these last few days I have had lots of confirmation that this was the way to go- I began putting the shows on my blog- you can now listen and download the stuff 24/7- as opposed to only being able to hear it once a week. At the broadcast rate- geez it took 5 years just to recycle some of the older messages.

So for today- we learned that those who have gone on- our spiritual brothers and sisters- they are ‘still alive’. Now the bible forbids communication with the dead, and there are lots of religious superstitions that cross the line in these areas- but at the same time we do believe in eternal life- and if God speaks to me thru the words of one of my old buddies- stuff like ‘notice this’ then who am I to not notice?

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

[1646] I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE-

 The other night I had a weird dream- 2 young guys showed up at my door. They rang the bell and as I opened the door one of the boys said ‘John, do you remember me’. Now- to be honest this has happened lots thru out my life. At the Fire House I would often show up for shift in the morning and the off going shift would say ‘John- one of your convict buddies stopped by yesterday’ [they eventually caught on that lots of the guys I worked with at the jail/prisons knew where they could find me when they got out- and they figured they would catch me at the Fire House].

So stuff like this has happened lots- and there are times when I simply don’t remember who the guy’s are- if you give a bible study 5 years previously- they might remember you- but you might not remember them. So in my dream I told the kid [around 19 years old] ‘to be honest I don’t really remember you- just a little’ [Yes- I admit at times I have said ‘yeah- I think’ just so I wouldn’t offend the brothers].

The boy tells me that I did indeed help him and he won’t forget it. So I fellowshipped a little while. Then the boy asks a strange request ‘John- will you draw me a picture’. Sure- it seemed like something a young boy would ask- but why not. So I drew a picture of the beach and us just sitting there- like Father and son- and he asked me to sign it for him. I gave him the simple request and he seemed like a little boy getting a present from his dad. He talked a little more and as he began to leave he told me his name. He said ‘I’m Texas Ruiz’. And he left.

As I woke up [around 3 a.m.] I didn’t think too much about it. As I started the coffee, getting ready to go in the yard to pray. I remembered who Texas Ruiz was. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I pray for the cases I see in the paper- or on the news- the severe cases of crimes that have been committed. I have a wall of names [around 30 or so] that I paint the names of these people on. They will forever be on my prayer list- so I try and pick cases where the criminal [or victim] has a long lasting result/penalty- so as I pray for them over the years they can benefit from it.

One of the cases was a local one- here in Corpus Christi. The stepdad called 911 and his stepson [around 1 year old] had died. At 1^st they thought it was from some natural cause- then they found out the step dad abused the boy and he died from this abuse. I saw the boy on T.V. a lot- being it was local. As Protestants we usually don’t pray for the people who have died- but I actually have felt the Lord challenge me about this over these last few years- and I do pray for the victims sometimes, even though they are dead. When I saw the boy on TV I would just raise my hand towards him and pray that God would be with his soul- I felt real bad for the kid. I did this a few times over about a week. I felt like a ‘dad’ to the kid- just praying for him. The boys name was Texas Ruiz.

There is a verse in Ezekiel 37- God says ‘in the day I raise you up and bring you back from the dead- in that day you will know that I am God’. I wrote this verse down on an ongoing journal type thing- every week I add whatever verse/book I’m studying from- whatever I feel might be significant. So I stuck this verse on the top of the page. A few days went by and I wrote the dream on the same page- I felt it was significant so I wrote it down.

After a few days- while reviewing the page- I saw that on the top it said ‘in the day I bring you back from the grave’ and in the dream- yes one of ‘our people’ did come back- it freaked me out.

In John’s gospel, chapter 11, we read of the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus and his sisters- Martha and Mary- are good friends of Jesus. They lived in a little town named Bethany [the name of my oldest daughter] and for the Jewish people to openly embrace Jesus at the time- it was a sacrifice. Many of the religious leaders already had turned against Jesus.

So one day Lazarus gets real sick and the sisters send word to Jesus ‘Lazarus- your friend- is sick’. Now- Jesus is going all over the place- healing sick people- opening blind eyes- multiplying bread and fish. I mean the sisters must have thought ‘well- at least all the flack we’ve taken over openly befriending Jesus will finally pay off’. But when Jesus hears about Lazarus the bible says he purposefully waited 2 extra days before heading towards Bethany.

Now- after a few days Lazarus did indeed die. The sisters are mad- ‘wow- he healed all these others- strangers- yet no time for us’. When he gets to the outskirts of town Martha goes out to see him ‘Jesus- why didn’t you come? You could have prevented this from happening’. Eventually Mary says the same thing to him. Jesus tells them ‘I am the resurrection and the life’.

The sisters only saw Jesus thru the lens of ‘why didn't you fix the problem when it was still possible’ Jesus was saying ‘it’s still possible’. He was telling them ‘Just because the thing you thought I would do- in life- didn’t happen yet- I can still overcome the devastation that it has caused you’. Jesus of course will raise their brother- it becomes a huge miracle to the point where the religious leaders conspire to kill Lazarus too- because so many Jewish people begin believing in Jesus because of this miracle.

In Ezekiel 37 God told Ezekiel [and the nation of Israel] ‘in the day I bring you back from the dead- in that day you will know I am God’. Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. A real event that took place in time and has stood the test of historical examination [too much to cover right now- but take my word for it- the evidence is overwhelming].

Sometimes we are like the sisters of Lazarus- we expected God to prevent the disaster from happening ‘Lord- if you were here this would not have happened’. The test of faith is to continue to believe- even on the other side of the disaster. The problem with Mary and Martha was they felt like Jesus simply did not come thru in time- they heard all these great stories about how Jesus helped all these others- yet they sat at home- with a dead brother and a funeral to attend.

Today I want to challenge you- are you like the sisters? Did God not prevent the disaster from happening? Did he not do for you what he did for the others? You might not see the ultimate ‘healing’ until the resurrection- the ‘last day’- but be assured- in the day he raises you from the dead- you will know that he is God.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

[1645] THE CHINGALINGS-

Got an email the other day from one of my old buddies who I haven’t heard from in a few years. He must have googled my name and found the blog site- it’s not hard to find me being my name is on a lot of the posts that I publish.

He was surprised to have heard that I retired; he used to call me up a lot over the years when I was at the fire house. We grew up together in N.J. and he was one of the friends I always kept in touch with. He told me that a mutual friend was still in prison [Rahway, N.J.] I told him ‘yeah- I know’ I have been writing him in prison ever since he first told me about it a few years back.

He finally sent me the ‘rap sheet’ I knew our friend was doing time for a serious offense, just never knew the whole story. As I read the link I pictured in my mind the whole scene. They pulled up to some house on 70 something street- late at night. The owner was a 73 year old salvage yard owner. My friend had done business with him being he too owned a trucking business. As my friend waited in the Getaway car- his cousin [who I also knew] and another guy go upstairs and knock on the door- he answers ‘who is it’ they reply ‘PSG & E’ [I guess the name of the utility co. in Jersey- I grew up in Jersey but never paid a utility bill]. The guy says ‘one minute’ and as ‘he’ unlocks the door they rush in- to find the cops waiting in the apt. They were set up.

The case showed how they had plastic restraints and duct tape and all the stuff you would need to kidnap someone. They basically were there to rob the guy- he supposedly had a safe with lots of money in it- instead they got busted. As I read the case- the wife’s testimony [I knew her since I was a kid too- they were together since ‘way back then’] I could hear her voice- reading my friends testimony- the story he came up with- I knew I was hearing my friend. It was sad- yet I felt like I was there.

One time this friend stopped by my house in Jersey ‘hey John- let’s take a ride to the shore’. Sure- where did you get the car? [Nice new Nova] ‘I found it- it was just sitting there with the keys in it’ sure enough I went. We had a few incidents take place where he owed me some money- one night I was at the carnival with another friend and I said ‘if I see so and so tonight- its over!’

Sure enough my friend spots him a little while later and I got into a severe fight with him. The next day I found out he had to go to the hospital and his family pressed charges against me- and his ‘biker friends’ [from Fort Lee- young guys- all our age] were gonna get me. I joined the Navy a few days later.

Over the years I always tried to ‘convert’ my buddies- the first time back after this incident [maybe a couple of years later?] I hooked up with these old friends- my one friend [geez- I don’t want to use their names] the friend that I didn’t get in the fight with- he said ‘John- so and so still holds a grudge, maybe you better not get in touch with him’ I just blew it off- we got together and nothing happened. I felt bad- he did have some scars from the incident a few years earlier.

I have always tried to stay in touch with these old friends- I have made lots of friends thru the years- guys who have gone to prison- involved in bad stuff- yet lots of them do actually get into the bible- seek God- and many of them do come around.

I have always had sincere friends say ‘John- maybe your taking too many risks by being around these guys’. I have had a few good friends tell me this recently about my friends contact with these Muslim groups on facebook ‘John- you never know if these guys are terrorists or what’ I hear them- yet the ‘risk’ of possibly having a ‘secret’ terrorist friend on the net- well that’s really not something I worry about- plus- these guys do read my posts, what more could I ask for?

I haven’t heard from my friend in prison for around 8 months now- he was real happy to write- he asked for some radio tapes from my programs- I sent him a bunch- he was grateful- shared them with the brothers in jail [the way my buddy was- always scamming someone- I wouldn’t put it past him to have sold the tapes!]. The charges against him were attempted kidnapping and robbery. They caught him because the plan was hatched with a biker gang out of the South Bronx [N.Y.] and they had an undercover informant in the gang. The gang are called the Chingalings, I saw an A&E special on them years ago- never knew my friend [or his cousin] were in the gang.

So anyway hopefully I’ll hear from him again- I saved the address [I used to never save the addresses of my friends who I wrote to in prison- I have been writing the brothers for years- teaching them stuff- one on one, like the blog- but I would simply get the address from the next letter- this time I thought I should save one of the envelopes- so sure enough I have his Rahway address- his prison number and all].

One time I got an email from a friend- a girl I grew up with- she read the blog and said something like ‘gee- I like the blog John- and I know you are always challenging us to go out and help people like you do- but I’m not like you- I can’t get with all these convicts’. I emailed her back ‘PLEASE- DON’T GET WITH CONVICTS!’ I had to explain to her that she shouldn’t take my blog challenges the wrong way- I never meant for the average homemaker to go out and meet with the Chingalings!

Yet I do try and challenge my old buddies- guys who have done time in prison- ex drug addicts and all- I do often tell them ‘hey guys- don’t forget where you came from- there are still others like you that need someone to go and take a chance on them- like I did with you’. All in all I’m sure God’s will will get done. Anyway it was good to hear from one of my old buddies- he’s not on Facebook- I searched for him when I first got on- I told him that would be the best place to keep in touch. Either way it’s important to make an effort- even if its small- to try and help out your friends- you might have to take some risks- but in the end it will be worth it.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

[1642] LESSON FROM A MUSLIM-

I read a story in my local paper yesterday- there was an ecumenical dinner held this week between Christians, Jews and Muslims. The Christian staff writer who attended shared how it helped her to overcome previous prejudices that she had. She told what the various speakers discussed and I was particularly impressed with what the Muslim speaker said- she talked about how true religion is not performance, putting on a show- but is expressed in reaching out to those in need- the poor and hurting.

In fact she was basically quoting the New Testament book of James- James says ‘pure religion is to visit the fatherless and widows and to stay clean from the world’. A few weeks back one of my homeless buddies stopped by- he’s basically a genius when it comes to the bible- I mean it’s sort of an autistic thing to be honest- he knows- by memory- much more than the average preacher. As I visited with Henry I gave him the latest bible studies that were sent to me over the last few months. Years ago I heard a N.J. Jewish preacher- who pastors a Messianic congregation in Lodi, N.J.- he had a short radio show on the same station I’m on- and as a courtesy I sent him some of my books and told him hi and all- being I’m a former Jersey brother and all. Ever since he has sent me these really great bible studies every month.

The studies are really in depth- and he usually only sends them to partners [those who support his ministry with money]. But I guess he appreciated my sending him a nice note and he forever put me on the list. Now- I’m an avid reader- I’ve read just about everything you can get your hands on- but these past few years I’m trying to stick with scholarly stuff- not that I’m ‘too good’ for the basic stuff- It’s just I really don’t have the time to just read tons of stuff that’s in the category of ‘devotional’ material- stuff that just kind of talks about Christian things.

So I hate to throw the stuff out- I mean they’re great bible studies. I don’t want to write Jonathan [the pastor] and say ‘take me off your list’- so I save them up and give them to Henry- he devours them and even quotes them back to me the next time I see him. So anyway we had a good talk. Somehow we got into discussing the book of James [the verse I quoted above] and I told Henry how it’s funny that James [we believe this letter in the New Testament- called James- was written by the James who was Jesus’ brother- mentioned about in the bible. He was the same James mentioned as one of the leaders in the church at Jerusalem in the book of Acts, chapter 15. To my Catholic friends- it might sound strange ‘Jesus had a brother?’ these words are found in the New Testament. Catholic teachers don’t deny this- they just interpret it to mean ‘cousin’ or near relative- some say its speaking of ‘Christian brother’. Don’t want to debate it- just thought I should mention it].

Anyway- I told Henry how it’s strange that one of the key leaders in the early church- who was closer to Jesus than all the other disciples [he lived in the same house] that he would write such a scathing indictment against the rich- and he would defend the poor so strongly. James’ letter is one of the strongest rebukes against the rich that you will find in the bible. Anyway Henry agreed with me- of course Henry’s poor- homeless- but he knows his stuff. He said ‘you know John- as true as you are- you never hear this from the famous pulpits in America’. He was agreeing with what the Muslim lady said at the dinner- that true religion is not fame and glory- but serving those in need.

I liked the spirit of the article I read- It does not mean I will not continue to advocate for the exclusivity of the gospel of Jesus- that Jesus is truly the only way to God. Pope Benedict has also come under some heat for saying the Catholic Church teaches that Jesus is the only way of salvation- to which I agree.

Yet at the same time- as we make our case to our Muslim and Jewish friends- we can also sit down with them- live as citizens of the same community with them- and even learn something from them every now and then.

NOTE- To any of my friends who might be ‘rich’. The early church did have certain individuals who were rich- and it was oaky. The person who gave his grave spot to Jesus- Joseph of Arimathea- was rich. Also in the books of Acts there were believers who sold their real estate and dedicated the money to the church. So the bible doesn’t just outright condemn those who are rich- but there are many warnings against being rich in ‘this world’ while forgetting to build riches in the kingdom [works of love and charity]. That’s the main theme of James’ letter.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

[1576] CHRIS MATTHEWS, ED SHULTZ AND THE HOMELESS- Spent the day yesterday on the streets with my homeless buddies- it was cold! I was on foot. Ran into Henry, one of the brothers who really knows his stuff. Henry is originally from Massachusetts and he always has great discussions about the bible- he’s sort of one of those undiscovered genius types- a ‘rain man’ type guy when it comes to the bible. We came back to the house for the afternoon- made a little lunch/dinner type thing. A few months back another one of my buddies, John David [I wrote about John a while back- he was strung out on cocaine for years- has been clean for a while] came by- he started a drug rehab- told me the location and showed me the story they ran on him in the news [it made it to CNN!] I was excited- the next day I wrote a 50 dollar check- stuck it in my wallet and figured the next time I run into him I’ll give it to him as a gift. Never ran into him since- so I gave the check to Henry- he will get with brother Ray- a street preacher who is also struggling with finances right now- and they will split it. Henry would never be able to cash it by himself- or else I would have just given him the 50. I Heard Roger might have died in jail- about a year ago he threatened to kill a cop [he’s all talk- never would have done it] and they charged him with a terroristic threat- sent him away for a year. Roger was a good friend- hope he didn’t die. Around 4 o’clock Henry was heading out to go down the road to brother Rays place [lives a mile or 2 away] I gave Henry a bunch of bible studies that some ministry sends me every month- I don’t have time to read them- hate to throw them away- so I save them for Henry, he loves them. The preacher is from New Jersey- a Messianic Jew- I sent him some stuff once and just said hi- he has been sending me the studies ever since. As Henry was walking out- he had the check- a little doggie bag I whipped up for him with some stuff- the studies and all- he told me ‘John- this has been the best day I have had in a long time’ I knew it wasn’t the check- or food- Henry sees me as one of his best friends- and he really gets into the fellowship time- I usually share some ‘scholarly’ stuff  I’ve been reading- the trends going on in theology and all- he eats that stuff up- loves learning- but doesn’t always have up to date info on the recent developments in the field of theology- so he just likes learning.

Okay- though I hate to do this- let me make a few more political/news comments. After Henry left I caught the news for a few hours- Chris Matthews has chosen to use the deaths of the innocent victims in Arizona for political gain. He went on a rampage of saying because of this Sarah Palin needs to come out and apologize for using political targets to target Democratic districts- he said she will forever be associated with the deaths- that you will be able to Google Palin and crosshairs and she will be marked for life with the deaths of these people- and he said she will be ‘ERASED’ [no lie] if she doesn’t apologize. This man is more dangerous than Glenn Beck- most people see Beck for what he is- Matthews is not seen as a ‘nut job’ it is very possible to take his words to mean he is calling for the assassination of Sarah Palin- so very sad. Then Ed Shultz [another guy I do like] did his show defending his segment ‘psycho talk’ I missed the beginning of the show- but you got the drift that some on the conservative side have shot back at the liberals and said ‘look- you lib’s use radical talk too’ so Ed was defending his segment- than- to my shock- he transitions to a segment called RAPI- FIRE [God- please help us all] and as he asks the 2 democratic guests their views on the irresponsibility of Palin and the right using images of guns and crosshairs and targets- the 2 guests seem embarrassed that the name of this segment is called RAPID- FIRE with the words ‘rapid fire’ blazed in red and blinking on the bottom of the screen- I mean Shultz comes on MSNBC right after Matthews- who just called for Palin to be ‘ERASED’. I couldn’t believe the stupidity of these men- to put it bluntly. At this point it looks like the shooter was just a mentally disturbed young man who had no consistent political views- yes- in the beginning it seemed like he might have been a right wing nut job- a Tim McVeigh type personality- but the evidence just does not show that. Of course what he did is still horrendous- it just doesn’t seem to have been instigated by right wing ideology. It just seems hypocritical- of course the right wingers are going to show you all the examples of the left doing the same things that they are outraged over- so another ‘target’ was revealed- it was made by the Democrats- and it had exactly the same rifle/scope targets over the districts of Republicans- then they of course showed you the clips of Obama saying ‘when they bring a knife [political opponents] we bring a gun’ and I even caught this one my self- when the president made the end of the year deal with the republicans- the lame duck congress- he had to defend himself against the liberals who were mad- so he innocently says ‘You know- I didn’t agree with everything in the deal- but when HOSTAGE TAKERS are threatening to hurt the hostages- than you make the deal’ now- we all know the president did not mean to send a message to the real hostage takers of the world- telling them ‘yes- I will deal with you if you start killing off the hostages’ and I heard no conservative voice accuse him of this [someone might have- I did not hear anyone so far] - it would be irresponsible to take the political speech of the president [we’ll bring a gun- hostage takers- etc.] and use that as a political tool to shame the man- yet that’s exactly what some on the left are doing- I agree with those on the right and the left who are calling for a step down on the rhetoric- from both sides- but those who are publicly saying that the rhetoric from one side is what caused these peoples deaths- that’s being irresponsible to the max.

[1565]  HITCHENS- BLOOMBERG AND ADAM- Okay- being I’m finishing up my last book, I made the mistake of going to half price books yesterday- mistake? Yes- I’m going thru some courses right now on philosophy and really shouldn’t be starting any new books right now- but heck, I couldn’t help myself. So as my custom goes- my wife dropped me off [they know better than to wait at the store- I usually take a few hours] and I begin the obsession. First I go thru all the shelves of the targeted category [theology, philosophy, etc.] and pluck out the books I think are relevant. Then when the process is complete I usually purchase 3-5 books from the collection [yes- I leave the rest on the shelf for the poor book worker to put back into the proper section]. So anyway as I was walking outside after the purchase I sat at one of the outside coffee areas where lots of people usually hang out [you know- the professors- one time there was a guitar playing hippie singing about the war in Vietnam- in 2009!]. But this day it was surprisingly empty- only one homeless guy. As I sat to start Christopher Hitchens best seller ‘god is not great- how religion poisons everything’ I realized that the reason the spot was empty was because the homeless kid was sitting there at one of the tables- playing with one of those kids toys- you shake it back and forth and it claps- and he seemed to be talking to himself. To be honest- some of these guys are my best friends- I’ve spent thousands of man hours just hanging out with these brothers over the years. I really didn’t talk too much- trying to dissect Hitchens- then my wife drove up and beeped the horn. As I got up to leave- I saw the brother kinda look my way- seemed to be waiting to  see the scared- or violent type response they usually see- you know ‘stay the hell away from me’ type thing. I caught his eye and just gave him a friendly ‘hey brother- how you doing’ he was so glad to be seen as a human being. I walked over and figured I’d talk for a minute or 2. I didn’t realize it at first, but he was wearing headphones and listening to music- he wasn’t talking to himself after all. He told me he was listening to Floyd- I told him I too am a big classic rock fan- that while living in Jersey I missed their concert in 1979-80 ‘The Wall’. He knew the year- it was 1980. I just spent a few minutes having a friendly talk with him- maybe the first real communication he’s had all day- most of these brothers are nice guys- yet they often struggle with mental issues- he looked to be in his late 20’s, originally from some northern state- probably headed south for the winter. As my wife was waiting in the car- beeping the horn- probably thinking ‘Oh know- another one of his homeless friends’ [yes- I’ve met hundreds over the years- and they’ve all been to the house many times] I told my buddy I got to go- he asks ‘what’s your name’? John. Hi John- my name is Adam. Strange- the man who was made in God’s image- Jesus said ‘in as much as you helped one of the least- the down and out- you have helped me’.

Okay- once again I really needed to do a post or 2 on philosophy- before I get too ahead of  myself in the study; but let me make a few comments on Hitchens book [see- I told you I shouldn’t have hit the book store!] Okay- I’m gonna try and be nice to Hitchens- he is one of the famous atheist writers of the past few years- these guys are referred to as ‘the new atheists’ the group consists of some notable names- Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris- a few others. These guys kind of became popular in reviving some of the old arguments against religion and God- most modern readers are not aware that they are simply re-hashing the same old arguments that have been refuted in the past- and to be honest this bunch make a whole lotta errors in their thinking/arguments. Most well trained Christian apologists have thoroughly refuted them. But being Hitchens is dying [or died? I haven’t checked recently] of cancer- I’ll try and be nice [try!]. Okay- like some of the book reviews I read- Hitchens is crude and mean- and yes- at times ignorant of his glaring mistakes. He describes a nice old teacher he had as a youth- as a young boy growing up in England- she taught the schoolboys about nature and science- and yes- God. I thought he was being nice telling the story. Then he calls her ‘a pious old trout’. He refers to the sex abuse scandal that’s rocked the Catholic church- he calls it the ‘no child’s behind left’ scandal [a takeoff on the no child left behind policy]. So yes, this book- while containing some real good history- also sounds overly crude. Hitchens also appeals to mans great intellect and sophistication as being all we need for true morality- he says man does not need God, religion or the bible to be moral- after all we have the great works of literature! Sounds good- right? He then goes on and mentions the names of the great authors- he mentions Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy among others- and makes the argument ‘see- we have morality and truth contained within these books without needing religious truth’- geez- every well read person will tell you that these authors are known for their books being inundated with religious morality- it’s no secret that these 2 authors are considered some of the greatest Christian/religious writers of their time. How Hitchens could appeal to the ethics contained in their writings and say ‘see- we don’t need religious ethics- we have these guys’. I mean these types of obvious flaws jump right out at you- to be honest I have only read the reviews from these famous atheists in the past- but most of the reviews have pointed stuff like this out- I just didn’t think these guys would be this ‘amateurish’ [geez- don’t want to call the guy an idiot- or an old trout- that wouldn’t be the Christian thing to do].  So anyway I guess I’ll hit a few high points of the book the next week or so.

Last- but not least. Have we had our own Greek crisis? Those of you who follow the news are aware that this last year the European Union has suffered from a severe debt crisis- many states that make up the union have struggled to try and cut costs and sure up their economies- Greece, Portugal, Spain and Ireland are still very much in trouble. So the other healthier economies in the union [Germany] have put pressure on the weaker ones to get their houses in order- they refer to this as ‘austerity’ taking measures to reign in the financial crisis. As a response to these cutbacks- like raising the retirement age and hiking college tuition- many citizens have taken to the streets in protest-  govt. workers going on strike and all. People have wondered if stuff like this could happen in the good old U.S. of A- it looks like it might just have! In sort of sneaky way. The blizzard that has wreaked havoc on the north east these last few days has caused problems for N.Y. and N.J. [my old home turf]. The mayor of N.Y. - Michael Bloomberg- has come under fire for not getting the streets cleared in time. Word has gotten out that some of the street workers were told by their bosses ‘go slow in the clean up’ so to put pressure on the mayor to not eliminate their jobs- sort of like an under the cover strike. If this is true [we don’t know for sure] then it would be our own workers rebellion against our austerity measures- while it’s not as bad as what Europe has gone thru- never the less it’s still bad.