RECENT STUFF C 2013
1852- SPECIAL COUNSEL?
Let’s cover a few of the top
stories of the week.
Yesterday I heard a report- from
NPR radio- not what you would call a ‘right wing’ show.
They were covering the debacle in
Libya.
That the country is in a
shambles- that the terrorists that now run the place are holding the family
members of Gadhaffi- and will not turn them over to the U.N.
That they bombed one of the
‘peace keeping’ vehicles.
And that the massacre of/by
BLACKS continues [Blacks have been killed- and they are now fighting back].
What?
I covered this underreported story before.
In Libya you had a strange
situation- Gadhaffi saw himself as a savior for the Black men/women on the
continent.
For whatever reason- he stood up
for the Black Africans- more than any other leader on the continent.
When we did our so called ‘no fly
zone’ and bombed the hell out of the country- we were fighting Gadhaffi- and a
huge militia made up of Black Africans [who spoke French!] who were from the
Sub Saharan part of the continent.
These Blacks supported Gadhaffi.
So- when we toppled the leader
for political purposes- we unleashed a torrent of violence against Black women-
men- and children.
They undergo forced castrations-
women raped- men murdered- kids raped.
We did this- the U.S. allowed
this to happen.
The ‘winning’ side- made up of
lawless thugs roaming Libya- see ALL Blacks as those who sided with the former
leader.
Okay- this has been going on
since the toppling of Gadhaffi- and if you’re Black- you’re in danger every
single day of your life.
Why is it important for you to
know this?
Because this administration is
indeed responsible for this.
If this were a White president- a
Bush- who did this- this would be the number one story on the nightly news.
HOLDER.
Enter the attorney general who
got grilled yesterday by congress.
The calls for his resignation are
growing- and it does seem like a storm is brewing.
What’s the big deal?
Holder has been involved with all
types of shady stuff- the Fast and Furious cover up is just the latest.
[Holder sought and recommended
the pardon of Mark Rich. Rich was a billionaire who fled the country because he
was a tax evader. Rich knew Clinton- Bill ‘knew’ Richs’ wife. Rich had connections to Clinton- and Clinton
got a pardon for Rich- Holder did the dirty deed].
Holder will not release the
documents that will show- one way or another- how far up the chain this went.
These are the papers that deal
with the murder of border patrol agent Terry.
At his death scene- we found the
guns that Holder and the justice dept allowed to be there thru the sale of
illegal weapons to drug guys from Mexico.
This was the botched program
called Fast and Furious.
What we have been trying to find
out is who authorized this deadly program- and how far up the chain did this
go.
It seems like Holder is covering something up.
Now- some are calling for an
independent counsel to look into the national security leaks- Holder just
appointed 2 U.S. attorneys to check it out.
The Dems are raging ‘how dare
anyone call for an independent counsel’.
Won’t the attorneys be fair?
Let’s see- one of them was a
political worker for Obama- he was on the team that picked vice presidential
picks for Obama.
Yeah- I’m sure there will be no
conflict of interest.
So- McCain and others are calling
for an independent counsel.
What’s hypocritical is the fact
that Obama and Biden were some of the loudest voices calling for an independent
counsel under Bush.
Okay- the Repubs calling for the counsel
are wanting to investigate the leaks of classified info that came out the last
few months.
These are high level national
security secrets that some think were leaked for political purposes.
When Obama and Biden called for
this special counsel during Bush’s term- they were investigating the Valerie
Plame name leak.
I have written on it before- for
the most part this was a silly issue.
Valerie Plame was a woman whose
husband was sent to Niger [back to Africa] because he spoke- well French!
Yeah- just like the Gadhaffi
guys.
How did this happen?
Africa [Niger and other spots]
was colonized in the past- and one of the colonizers was France.
So- during the Bush years when he
was making the case against Iraq- one of the big pieces to the puzzle was
whether or not Iraq was trying to obtain nuclear materials from Niger [called
yellow cake].
So- some guy- Joe Wilson- goes to
Niger [cause he speaks the language- this is how his wife got him the gig- she
recommended him] and comes back and writes a piece in the N.Y. Times that said
‘Cheney sent me to Niger and I came back with proof that they were not selling
yellow cake to Iraq’.
Well- for some guy- that nobody
really knew who the heck he was- to write a story like this- raised lots of
eyebrows.
[note- congress investigated the
whole thing- and one of the conclusions was that Joe Wilson lied about Cheney
sending him].
The biggest brow being that
belonging to Cheney.
He asked ‘who in the h.. is this
guy claiming I sent him to Niger’.
They found out he was the husband
of Valerie Plame [this was the real reason Plames name came out- people wanted
to reveal that Plame got her hubby the job- that he was a liberal Dem who had
his own agenda- that Cheney never sent the guy to Niger].
A lady who worked for the govt.-
and in the past held a ‘secret’ security type clearance.
Okay- a reporter- Bob Novak-
wrote a story about the incident- and named Plame.
The left [dems] went nuts- and
charged ‘Bush and Rove leaked the name of a secret Agent- AHHH!’.
Was she really secret?
No.
Everyone knew her by her real
name- she appeared on the cover of a magazine- and she was no longer a secret
agent.
Never the less- her name should
not have been outed.
During the investigation- by the
special counsel that Obama called for [Patrick Fitzgerald] they found out-
early on- that the name WAS NOT LEAKED by any Bush politicos.
The guy who inadvertently coughed
up the name was Richard Armitage- someone who the Dems actually liked.
He worked for the dept of
defense.
But- nobody knew this yet- only
the insiders.
So- instead of dropping the case-
the special prosecutor continued pursuing the Bush guys- and finally got one.
Scooter Libby.
He was asked ‘do you remember
when you first heard the name Plame’.
He said ‘I think Tim Russert told
me’.
Russert [former Meet the Press
guy- now dead] denied it.
They convicted Libby for lying
about Russert giving him the name- and gave him a prison sentence.
What?
You mean even though he [and no one else] ever
purposefully leaked any name- yet- the prosecutor- who Obama called for- tried
to send a Bush guy to prison for this.
Yup.
Bush commuted his sentence [but
did not pardon Libby] and till this day- Cheney’s pissed that Bush never
pardoned his friend.
Okay- if something as stupid as
this required a special counsel- what about the serious national security leaks
that have endangered the lives of many.
How so?
Someone leaked info about the Bin
laden killing- they leaked that a Pakistani doctor had a secret vaccination
program that obtained DNA from a family relative of Bin Laden- this DNA was
used to identify Bin laden after we killed him.
Within days this doctor was tried
for treason and is now doing 35 years in prison.
Pakistan has since shut down
their nations child vaccination program.
His wife and kids are in constant
danger.
Is this worse than saying ‘I
think I heard Plames name from Russert’?
Israel-
Iran has been under a ‘covert’
attack for the last couple of years.
Their nuclear facilities have
been blown up- their top scientists have been killed in the streets- and they
have been blaming Israel for it.
Israel has not admitted a thing.
We leaked the fact that Israel
and the U.S. were behind the computer virus that attacked the nuclear
centrifuges in Iran
We just ‘outed’ Israel.
And we have also leaked the Drone
attacks- top secret info about them.
Should we have a special counsel
look into these leaks?
Obama and Biden were for the
imprisonment of a man whose crime was ‘I heard the name from Russert’.
They were vocal advocates ‘we
need a special counsel- this leak rises to the level of a special counsel’.
But Holder and Obama seem to
think these leaks- that caused real national security dangers- that these don’t
rise to the same level.
Do you think these leaks rise to
that level?
I don’t know- why don’t you ask
the doctor- sitting in a Pakistani cell
for the next 35 years- maybe he can clue us in- maybe?
1853- SEX- ALL TYPES
Let’s cover the ‘other’ news
story of the day- the Elephant in the room.
Yes- with all the things going on
in the news this week- we also have had the start of the Jerry Sandusky sex
case.
Most of you know the scoop.
Sandusky is the famous coach from
Penn state that worked for years with the famed Joe Paterno.
There were rumors- and ‘chance’
encounters where people saw Sandusky with young boys- and he was caught
molesting kids.
As the defendants have been
testifying this week- well- we heard bad stuff.
I don’t want to ‘defend’ the
Sandusky’s of the world in any way- but I want to speak openly- and in a
politically incorrect way about sexual orientations of all kinds.
I have a book here in my study-
about 3 feet from where I’m sitting.
It’s the story of Jeffrey
Dahmer’s conversion to the Lord after he was sent to prison.
I do realize that we see lots of
jail house conversions- and for some people they will never believe that a
Dahmer could convert.
But as I read the book- and also
have watched the re play of the interview that Dahmer did with MSNBC- I do
believe he was sincere.
One very interesting- and
truthful part of the interview was when Dahmers dad was asked ‘why do you think
this happened to your son’.
The dad- who is a Christian man-
said he felt like somewhere along the line- Jeff associated- connected- the act
of sex with dead things.
That he was fixated as a boy with
skulls and dead things- and in time when he went thru puberty- that he also-
somehow- connected the joy of collecting skulls and stuff with the act of sex.
Now- some might dismiss this as a
lame excuse- and of course the crimes Jeff committed were very serious [for
those not familiar- Dahmer is the famed serial killer who cannibalized his
victims].
In point of fact- people- in all
societies and in every age- can- and have ‘learned’ certain types of behavior-
for good or ill.
The reason this debate is hard to
have in our country- is because the present debate over gay rights pits one
group against another.
For anyone to say ‘we actually do
have proof that certain sexual behavior can indeed be learned’ seems to be
bigoted and against the civil rights of people.
The purpose of this post is not
to get into a long drawn out discussion over this.
I want to simply say- there are-
and have been- all types of sexual associations that people have made with
certain acts.
In the Sandusky case- with
minors.
In the Dahmer case- with dead
things.
The list does go on.
Is it possible to ‘un learn’
associations like this?
In short- yes.
Is it easy?
Probably not.
A few years ago I noticed that
one of the major hospitals in the U.S. - famous for doing sex change
operations- very quietly quit the practice.
As I listened and read about the
story- I came to find out that the hospital- that was lauded for their non
judgmental attitude- their willingness to break ‘the religious bigotry of our
day’ that after doing the operation for years.
Admitted that the results were
horrendous.
How?
The rate of depression and
suicide among most of the patients went sky high.
After years of doing the
operation- the data showed that despite all the ‘political correctness’ the
facts on the ground were these operations were doing more harm than good.
Yet- year after year we see
people who have had the operation- on well meaning news shows being
interviewed- and the interviewer- without fail- always comes across as ‘look
how accepting I am of you- look how wonderful it is for us all to celebrate
your freedom and to not judge’.
Yet- many of the times I get the
impression that these people are under great pressure to go with this line.
That they are cast into the
limelight as a great example of acceptance- and they seem at times to not want
to let the interviewer- or the world- down.
But- if the data says the rate of
suicide and depression sky rockets among those who have gone thru with the
procedure- then if we really love these people- or our kids- or generations to
come- then we would be more careful before we jump on the ‘what a great thing
you did’ bandwagon.
In the whole debate about whether
or not sexual orientation [or simple associations of sexual expression with
particular acts] is changeable- we need to be aware of the overall effects we
are having on all sorts of people.
In the Sandusky case- we do see
an attraction that many men have.
There are entire organizations
supporting man/minor ‘love’.
NAMBLA- North American Man Boy
Love Association- being one.
Do these men make the same
argument that some have made with the gay rights issue?
Yes.
Many argue that that they have
had this ‘orientation’ for as long as they can remember.
They argue that they share a
common orientation with thousands of other men all over the world.
They argue that its’ the
‘Victorian era morality'- that religion wants to impose on people- that tells
them- and society- that they are wrong.
After all- if ‘God created me
this way- why should I not express it’.
Now- I- like you- do not accept
these arguments- but in truth- they are basically the same type of arguments
that others have made with the gay rights debate.
[Note- I do have gay friends- and
I do not want to come off as saying I equate child molesters with gay people- I
don’t. The point I’m making is the NAMBLA folk are saying ‘who has the right to
say that Man/Boy sex is wrong’. And to be honest- if you reject the basis of
natural/moral law- then they win the point.]
The point I’m making is if we- as
a society- tell people that sexual orientation is never learned behavior- then
we are in ways justifying the NAMBLA argument.
I was going to delve into the
entire field of what we call natural/moral law.
Where does it come from?
Does society simply make up moral
law?
Actually no.
This is a very long debate- going
on since the days of Immanuel Kant [one of the great thinkers going back a few
centuries].
In short- some have argued over
the years that we need to rid society of moral law- that it’s these
restrictions on men [particularly sexuality] that is the cause of society’s
ills.
The famous thinker Freud [and
Nietzsche] advocated this.
But after hundreds of years of
debate- there are no examples of any successful society that has managed to
develop any type of functioning ethic- apart from what we call the
Judeo/Christian ethic.
I don’t mean to come off as
judgmental- nor to offend any group of people- but if we are telling entire
generations of people ‘you are a slave to your sexual orientation’.
If we are saying to people ‘you
can never change’ or overcome your sexual associations.
Then we might be biting off more
than we can chew.
If it simply makes us [the interviewer]
feel better about ourselves when we say ‘see- you have done such a great thing-
if only these religious bigots would stop judging you’.
But in reality- the data show
that these people suffer tremendously- for the most part- after they get the sex
change.
Then maybe we need to re think
what we are saying to them as a whole.
Maybe we should tell people ‘yes-
associating sexual expression with a particular act- or life style is a very
strong thing’.
In most cases- even in cases like
Sandusky- even if there are hundreds of thousands of people with the same
‘feelings’ all over the world.
Yet- if we do love people and are
honest- we would tell them it is possible to change the feeling- the
association- dare say ‘orientation’.
We must realize that there are
many types of sexual expression- that society- and moral/natural law say is
wrong.
Those in these lifestyles- often
will argue that the orientation was with them for as long as they can remember.
Others argue that there are many
others like them.
All this may be true- but in the
end- this does not mean the association is right [NAMBLA] or can never be
broken.
I’ll end with a couple of verses
‘I hate vain thoughts- but your law do I love’ ‘commit thy works unto the Lord
and thy thoughts will be established’ ‘God will keep them in perfect peace
whose minds are fixated on him’.
This entire debate is long- and
even many Christians disagree on some points. There are movements within the
church that seek to accept the gay lifestyle as an acceptable lifestyle.
Today’s point is- if we tell
people- with all types of orientations- that you can 'never change’ them- or
overcome them- then we are not being honest.
If we think that the solution is
‘let's just live with no moral law’.
That has been debated- and tried-
and found wanting [Freud died in a mental hospital- going insane from a sexual
disease].
If we love our kids- those around
us- our neighbor- then we should not encourage those among us struggling with
orientations to ‘go with what you feel’.
Or to be so accepting of an
operation that the data shows does not solve anything- only makes it worse.
In short- if we love people- we
must be truthful with them.
Yes- try not to judge- love them
even if they don’t become what you think is best.
But be honest with people.
I feel sorry when I see Chaz Bono
being interviewed- time and again- everyone telling her how happy they are for
her.
When I know in reality the data
says something different.
The statistics show that those
who go as far as ‘changing’ their sex- many of them take their own lives.
And it’s not because they feel
judged- it’s because many of them can’t believe what they have done.
Sad that we hide this- sad.
1854- WEEKEND WARNING
Before I forget- the odds of the
market selling off today are high.
If you are in- and have been for
a while- no big deal.
But if you are one of those types
that buy and sell every couple of days/weeks.
Then I wouldn’t buy today.
Okay- have a lot to cover and not
much space.
I found it interesting to watch
the narrative that I have been talking about these last few days to have been
so blatant yesterday.
On MSNBC the hosts are now
regular telling people that the Euro zone crisis is a direct result of
austerity measures [spend less than you have].
This is an outright lie- I wrote
about this lots the last few weeks and don’t want to re hash the thing.
The point is the entire network
is now saying this- and if you are someone that’s invested in world events- you
are being lied to- daily.
I caught the morning NPR show
yesterday- I usually catch the early show [sometimes right at 5 am].
I’m an early riser- been up since
3:30 this day.
So- it was interesting- right at
7:05 the report was some bad housing numbers- foreclosures were up from last
month.
They were up 16% from this time
last year- 9 from last month.
Bad- but not surprising [to me].
Then- at 8:05 am- the report said
‘good news for the housing market’.
I mean- you can’t make stuff like
this up.
Why are these bad numbers not a
surprise?
Last year many of the banks put a
hold on their foreclosures.
You had the Robo Signing scandal
[people just rubber stamping foreclosures- using fake names].
And you had the president
purposefully do a short moratorium on foreclosures.
Okay- so what would happen when
these temporary fixes were over?
Foreclosures go up.
Then why don’t the financial guys
tell you this- why do they make it sound like all is well?
I don’t think these guys are
purposefully lying [most of them] but when your whole career is based on the
market- then you have a natural tendency to hear [say] what you want- not
what’s necessarily the truth.
Why am I so negative on the
market today?
Yesterday we had a short run up-
primarily because the central banks [in Europe and presumably us- the Fed] made
it sound like they might help the cash strapped European states and pump
‘liquidity’ [cash] into the system.
Okay- so the Dow went up- not
because we had good economic news- but bad.
That is- things look so bad- the
world banks said ‘we might help’.
Okay- why does this help the
market?
These last few years- our nations
bank- the Federal Reserve- has pumped trillions of dollars into the system.
Some think this is bad monetary
policy- others say it’s good.
Now- as a matter of simple math-
if you put extra money into the system- this money has to go somewhere.
And eventually a large part goes
into the market.
This in reality is a fake way to
‘stimulate’ the market.
So that’s what you saw yesterday.
EGYPT
Yesterday the high court
disbanded the entire Parliament.
The military are still in
control- and it looks like Democracy has failed.
Now- do I think this is a bad
thing?
Not really.
Why?
Look- the Muslim Brotherhood rose
to power after the protests.
These guys just had thousands in
the streets calling for the destruction of Israel.
They are indeed radicals- and if
they run the country you will have another theocracy like Iran.
This is not good for the rights
of women- Christians- and many other groups.
The economy of Egypt has been
ruined.
For centuries people have been
going to visit the pyramids- that whole thing is now dead.
Tourism was a major part of their
economy.
We have not helped the cause of
these people- we might have meant well by toppling Mubarak- but the aftermath
is bad.
GLOBAL DOWTURN
Oil prices are down 12 %- because
of a global slowdown.
Asia [China] is slowing down
faster than anyone thought- China just took financial action to try and
counteract this.
In the beginning of the year many
were projecting 3.5- 4 % growth for the U.S.
The Bulls and Bears were just
about split [I was- am still a bear].
Half way thru the year- the
estimates are now 1.7 % growth- terrible.
There is no way we are going to
see an upturn for the rest of the year- not possible.
Now- will the markets go up?
I don’t think so- but people do
crazy stuff.
I’m saying the global economic
outlook is terrible- very very bad- The E.U. crisis is very bad.
Spain and Italy are in trouble-
not just Greece.
Greece is on the verge of exiting
the Euro- and many investors have taken their money out of Spain and Italy.
Italy is really ‘too big to
fail’.
If the Italian economy crashes-
the Euro\zone is over.
Now- Do I think the worst will
happen?
I don’t know for sure- but for
financial advisors to be telling people that the ‘fundamentals’ are strong is
ridiculous.
This has been the mantra the last
year.
That U.S. companies [and banks]
have much more cash on hand- the price for stock- compared to ‘projected’
growth/income of the company is cheap.
And some paint this rosy picture.
If you own a McDonalds on your
block- and your ‘fundamentals’ are strong- but if everyone on the block is
going broke- it makes no difference how strong the fundamentals are- the
customers are broke.
That’s what the E.U crisis means-
they are our number one trading partner- yes- they beat China.
If they are having all these very
real problems- then we are in danger of another recession.
Most of the recent numbers seem
to be saying this.
The last few weeks we are seeing
a rise in the weekly unemployment numbers.
Our economy is softening- and the
trend is not your friend.
With all this going on- the
message of the president makes no sense.
He gave a speech yesterday- he
basically is saying ‘do you want what we had the last 10 years- look what Bush
gave you’.
I mean he acts like he has not
been in charge for the past 3.5 years.
Look- I’m starting to worry about
the man.
One interesting thing to keep
note of.
The markets play into what they
think might happen.
If the Supreme Court shoots down
Obama care this month- markets WILL LIKE THAT.
And- the truth be told- if they
think Romney is going to win [the odds look much better for him now than 3
months ago] the markets will factor that in as a positive sign.
All in all- today might be a
rough day for stocks.
We do need to batten down the
hatches for the rest of the year and realize at midyear- we have made a turn
for the worse.
Don’t worry- don’t panic- but
make sure your listening to good advice.
I am not a total doomsayer when
it comes to this [Beck type]- but I see the writing on the wall- the global
economy is slowing down- we are on the verge of a double dip recession- and the
Euro Zone looks very bad- despite the central banks action.
1855- UNFINISHED BUSINESS
First we need to take care of
some unfinished business.
Yes- I’ll admit- yesterday’s
prediction failed.
The post warned of a possible
sell off in the market [I guessed around 100 or so points- nothing real big].
But- the market went up around
100.
If I have learned anything in
life- it’s when you blow it you need to fess up- come clean- in Christian lingo ‘confess your
sins one to another- so you will be healed’ [James].
So- to all who read this site- I
have one thing to say.
My account was hacked [Anthony
Weiner?]
Okay- let’s move on.
Actually- most of everything I
posted was [is] still true.
I don’t want to do another whole
post on economics- but some analysts think the market went up- not because we
had good news [yesterday stats showed factory orders were down in May from the
previous month] but because we had bad.
Like I wrote- if investors think
things are bad- that makes them think the Fed will act [put more money into the
system] and Walla- the Dow goes up.
There are a few other things too-
like the Greek vote on Sunday [whether or not they will stay in the Euro] but
overall I still stick to my post- absent that one line that was hacked!
Okay- did we have any other ‘big’
news yesterday?
There were a few things- some ‘bigger’
than the media [or the administration] would like us to know.
The president did a funny thing
yesterday- he sent a letter to congress saying he ‘declassified’ info about our
terror [drone] campaign in Yemen.
This is the first time he did
this [as far as we know?] since he’s been in office.
Why does this really look
suspicious?
His administration is under
criticism right now- it looks like they have indeed been ‘leaking’ these
stories to the press.
The whole recent scandal of
national security leaks.
Of course he has denied it.
But- if he [and his political
people] were behind it- then they obviously had a strategy about how much would
come out each month.
This ‘late Friday’ release- seems
to go along with this theory- it looks funny to me.
The president also did his
‘kinda’ executive order- by giving some type of cover to some illegal aliens.
For the record- I’m liberal when
it comes to this subject [for those who think I’m too far right!]
I want for our nation to work out
some type of deal for the kids of illegal’s- who were young when they came to
the country- who are in school- basically grew up just like you and me- I don’t
want these kids to be afraid of getting sent back.
I also realize the need to have
some type of border enforcement- I just want to say I’m not against the
principle that that the Pres laid out.
Of course it was politically
timed- I mean you’re in office for 3.5 years- and now you do it.
In actuality there really is more
‘politics’ to it than meets the eye.
When the president’s real plan
for immigration was shot down- The Freedom Act- he simply blamed it on the
Repubs.
But something unsuspected
happened.
Marco Rubio [the Cuban American
Republican from Florida- possible V.P. pick for Romney] began working on a Repub
plan to allow the minor kids of illegal’s to stay in the country.
The same basic thing that Obama
wanted to do.
Okay- to the surprise of some- he
seems to have convinced enough fellow Repubs to sign on.
Now- the part you don’t see is
this.
What the Pres did- and the other
Democrats- was they saw how bad it would look if the Repubs actually passed a
law that favored immigrants- that if Rubio succeeds- than it will look like
they did something Obama was not able to do- pass immigration reform.
So behind the scenes Obama and
the Dems have been telling fellow Dems ‘don’t agree with Rubio!’
Some have jumped ship and simply
said ‘look- we want reform- we [the Dems] had total control of the govt. for
the first 2 years- you [our leader- Obama] spent all your capital on health
care- so we don’t care if it’s Rubio- we simply want TO HELP THE KIDS AND GET
THE REFORM DONE’.
Okay- that sounds principled to
me.
So- Obama realized he was gonna
look bad if the Rubio thing goes thru- and he came out- after 3 and a half
years- and said ‘I must act now’.
He pulled the rug out from Rubio
[which in reality hurt the long term solution- which would have been much
better for the Hispanic kids].
And gave an ‘order’ to Janet
Napolitano [the lady that oversees the immigration laws] and said ‘put a 2 year
hold on deporting the kids of Immigrants’.
Now- there’s more to it- but this
is the short story.
It really would have been better
to just let the Rubio idea pass- because the new plan from the Pres still
leaves the kids in limbo- they simply get 2 years to not get deported.
That’s politics.
Okay- lets end the week with a
few verses.
I have been reading Isaiah
chapters 26- 30.
Some notable verses ‘your dead
sons will arise- together with MY DEAD BODY shall they arise’.
This week the more
historic/traditional churches celebrated the Eucharist [communion- the actual
term means Thanksgiving].
This past Sunday was a church
memorial that always sticks in my mind each year it comes up.
It’s a special day that celebrates
the Feast of Corpus Christi.
This feast is a celebration of
the Body of Christ- but because that’s the name of my city- I usually make note
of it when it comes up annually.
I like the above verse- I have
quoted it every week for years [it’s one of the many prayer verses I have
painted in my yard].
It’s a prophetic verse speaking
about both the future resurrection of all men- and it’s also speaking about the
Lords Table.
At the last Supper Jesus gave his
men [and us] an ongoing memorial of his death for us.
‘Take Eat- this is my Body’.
He broke the bread and poured the
wine.
We as believers have been keeping
this memorial for 2 thousand years.
The apostle Paul told the
Corinthians ‘as often as you do this- you do show the Lords death until he comes
back’.
I love the celebration of the
Eucharist- the Catholic scholar Scott Hahn says something I like.
He says ‘Jesus said DO THIS in
remembrance of me- not- write this’.
His point- to us ‘scholarly’
types- is that we often emphasize the bible- the written word- while Jesus told
us the doing of the memorial was what would ‘show his death’ till he comes.
I like that.
So- for you non church goers-
maybe tomorrow [or in the near future] you can make an effort and go to church
and celebrate the meal.
Isaiah said ‘your dead men shall
rise- together with my dead Body they shall live’.
Gather ‘together’ with the
confessing church- celebrate the meal- lets all live TOGETHER.
1856- FOR THE BIRDS
Late happy father’s day to all
you dads out there.
Yesterday I got up early and went to Wal Mart-
I wanted to get presents for my girls and do a kind of raffle at my oldest
daughter’s house [Bethany].
I had wanted to meet at the
beach- but I realized that plan wasn’t going to work so we ended up at her house.
I bought some nice stuff for the
kids- and had a home bingo game I bought a while back [my wife plays with her
sister- so I got them a cheap home version] and I used the thing that
turns/mixes the bingo balls in the cage- and stuck the names of my kids on the
balls.
It was silly- but they liked the
stuff.
So- after I bought the gifts I
took a ride to the beach [about 2 miles from where I live] and jumped in the
gulf- yeah- it was dad’s day- so I swam.
O- I forgot- while driving to Wal
Mart we had one of those quirky storms- and I [and everyone else] spotted a
Funnel Cloud over the bay.
I stopped and took a few
pictures- we do get them in our area- but it might be only the second time that
I spotted one live [you see them on the news at least once every year or so-
from the area].
As I was walking back to the
truck after the swim- I heard someone yell out ‘hey John’.
Sure enough it was my buddy Tim
[carpenter Tim- I wrote about him in the last few weeks].
Yeah- I have not spoken with Tim
in years- like I said- sometimes I’ll run into my homeless friends once or
twice every 2-4 years.
That was the case with Tim.
He was on his bike- and he told
me he just got back to the area.
He rode the thing to Roswell N.M.
[no joke- he’s a real bike rider!].
So we talked for about 2 hours
[yeah- was running late for the father’s day gig].
Tim shared with me all the times
the Lord provided for him on the bike ride.
At one point the weather got real
cold- and the day before he found some long John’s [thermal underwear] at a
rest stop- they were still in the bag!
He told me how this was how God
provided the whole time [a few week- month type trip].
He told me he still has a camp in
the Bluff [where I live- many years ago I used to visit Tim regularly in the camps-
many of the homeless have camps- Tim was a regular friend- I would trek thru
the brush area- maybe half a mile or so- Tim would have a nice camp set up-
he’d brew me some Folgers over an open fire].
As we were talking there at the
beach- he had some of the old Folgers coffee in his bag- sure enough he broke
it out and made some right there.
I gave Tim some money- he really
did not want to take it- then he tried to give me something of value [he had
some music C.D.’s].
I told Tim ‘no buddy- the last
few weeks I have been giving 20’s away- felt like I needed to catch up’. I was
slacking with helping the poor- so it was the lord that allowed this chance
meeting.
Tim told me he still has a camp
on the property of some rich lady who lives here in town.
He does work for her- at almost
no cost- so she lets him live there- outside!
He has told me about her in the
past- nice lady- but a staunch atheist.
You know- the type that really
lets you know they don’t believe.
He was telling me how she’s an
avid bird lover- has all the stuff on her property for birds.
I gave Tim a quick Apologetics
argument he can use with her- if he ever gets the chance.
I have written a lot about this
over the years- but let me give you the short version.
Apologetics is the field where
you argue for the existence of God- you use the proofs from science and logic
and philosophy to argue your case for the existence of God.
Okay- this is the short version.
The fact that ANYTHING EXISTS- is
proof that God exists.
How so?
For many thousands of years-
dating back to the time of the famous philosophers- Plato, Aristotle and
Socrates [5- 600 years B.C.] people who studied the universe [Cosmologists]
believed that the universe [time, matter, space- all things that make up the
physical world] had no beginning point.
Most [though not all] believed
that the universe was eternal- even the contemporary Carl Sagan said ‘the
universe is all there ever was- and all there ever will be’.
So- when Christian thinkers
argued for the existence of a creator- most used the Aristotelian argument that
said ‘God is the Prime Mover’.
Which meant- He started all
motion.
Even the great 13the century
Catholic scholar- Thomas Aquinas- used this argument.
But- in the modern era- science
has found out that yes indeed- there was in fact a time when no physical matter
existed.
We learned this in the 20th
century- men like Einstein made great breakthroughs in the field of Physics-
and they showed us that there was a time- well- when there was ‘no time’.
It would take too much to cover
this here- but men like Hubbell and a few others made some great scientific
observations that backed up Einstein’s theory- and vice versa.
So- when SCIENCE [not religion-
not bible- not ‘God talk’] showed us that all matter had a starting point- it
left the atheist in a tough spot.
If there was a time when nothing
existed- then how did everything get here?
The only logical conclusion is
something [or someone] who exists outside of the physical realm [called the
metaphysical realm] had to have been responsible for it.
Why is this the only logical
explanation?
Because things cannot come FROM
NOTHING [the ancient saying ‘out of nothing- nothing comes’].
So- we are left with the dilemma
that there was indeed a time of NO MATTER- and therefore something- outside of
the material realm- has to be responsible for it.
This is indeed- in my view- the
greatest Apologetic argument used to ‘prove’ the existence of God.
Now- some say ‘but how do we know
it’s God- maybe there is some other ‘non material’ thing/being that did this’?
Look- some of the so called ‘new
atheists’ have gone down this line of reasoning- and made fools of themselves.
One quick example.
One of the famous present day
atheists is Richard Dawkins.
He was pinned down in an
interview- and he was confronted with this dilemma.
He actually said that he thought
it was possible that some ‘being’ from another time might have made all things.
He said the being- well- would
have to be eternal [because if he isn’t- you have the problem- where did he
come from].
He said this being had to have
been very smart [you can’t get intelligence from non intelligence- this is a
scientific observation].
And this being had to be very
powerful- because he created all things.
In short- when Dawkins was done-
he described the attributes of God down to the last detail [omniscient,
omnipotent, etc.]
So- any thinking person- even an
avowed atheist- realizes the problem that they face in trying to explain the
existence of all things.
I told Tim it was ‘funny’ that
this lady loves birds- but ‘hates’ God.
The Apostle Paul said in Romans
chapter one ‘they did not want to have God in their thoughts- so God gave them
up to worship the created order- Birds, etc..’
Yeah- men who rejected the
obvious proof of God- creation- became worshippers of creation [they made idols
of animals and birds].
I found it interesting that Tim’s
bird lady was living proof that the bible is true.
I had a good time talking with
Tim- it’s been a while- he asked if he should come by the house and visit in
the upcoming weeks- I told him sure.
Tim is one of the homeless guys
who does not like to impose on people- that’s why I hardly ever see him- he
won’t even go to the free mission to eat- he avoids the whole scenario of
looking like your homeless.
He works- lives- and feels like
it’s his right to not have a home- without being looked down upon.
Well- I’ll end with that for now-
for those who want to read more about Apologetics- I have stuff on the blog you
can find- have fun.
1857- LIBYA REDUX
I was going to post this morning
on ‘secondary causes’.
That in nature- and the created
world- there are what we call secondary causes.
That means God does not ‘create’
everything you see- as he did the original creation.
We see trees- plants- fish- even
humans- and even though it is proper for us to refer to these as Gods creation-
yet we can also examine the natural process of reproduction- seeds falling to
the ground- and even ‘test tube’ babies- and this is still a creation from God
[man can’t duplicate life- even in the lab] yet- these creations are not
direct- as the original creation.
Anyway- maybe I’ll do this
tomorrow.
What I want to do today is simply
re hash some of the posts from the last year.
The other day when I checked my
site [Face Book] I had a few comments about my political posts.
At the time I did not realize I
knew the person.
She is a good friend who was an
original church member form the church I started years ago in Kingsville.
I did feel bad a little- that I
responded to the comments- not in a bad way- but without first saying hi.
Then after thinking ‘geez- this
name sounds familiar’ I realized it was my friend.
Actually – she does have a good
story to tell.
Janie met her husband- Emit [or
Emmet? I never knew the correct spelling] at our little church.
Emit was one of the first ‘drug
addicts’ that joined our church.
He was a friend of Elias [another
addict I met while preaching at the jail] and our little home church was made
up of these families.
Anyway- Emit- and Aunt Bee- the
aunt who raised Emit- and Emits son [Emit Jr.] were all church members.
Emit Jr’s wife- Veronica- and her
mom- Yolanda- all came too- I mean Kingsville is a small town- and after a
while you meet the whole crew.
I was happy to see Janie and Emit
meet- and later marry.
I would visit her and the boys
[she has lots of boys- and a sweet daughter- Rhonda].
I knew these kids when they were
young- I’m sure they look different today.
Janie and Emit and the family
made a nice family.
Then one day I heard Emit died.
As far as I knew Emit was clean-
not on drugs anymore.
And his son told me his dad died
because his liver was bad- after all the past years of drugs.
I don’t know the whole story- but
this was what his son told me.
By the way- Emit Jr still keeps
in contact with me till this day.
So- before I get into the
political debate- I wanted to tell the story of Janie and her family- it really
is a good story to tell.
Okay- in some of the comments-
it’s hard to re-tell all the posts I did last year- and the comment section on
Face Book is too small to really do it justice.
One of the debates was over
whether or not Gadhaffi slaughtered his people.
Did we [Obama] intervene in Libya
because the leader was slaughtering his people?
I disagreed- and this is the
reason why.
There was an ongoing policy
debate within the administration [the president’s team].
There were some on one side-
Susan Rice, Samantha Powers- and the other side was pretty much made up of the
defense secretary and the military folk.
I remember reading/hearing about
this particular debate- because some in the media made it sound like ‘the
women’ won over the men.
Basically the debate was ‘should
we- the U.S. - and the Obama presidency- should we set a new precedent that
says- we will use military force- BEFORE a slaughter takes place’.
What you had in Libya was a very
public ‘civil’ unrest.
90% of the population lives right
off the Mediterranean coast- in the West you had the capitol city- Tripoli.
In the east the main city was
Benghazi.
The rebels from the east rose up
against Tripoli.
Gadhaffi and his men were
attacked by the east- they made it all the way up until the western stronghold
of Tripoli.
[Note- these guys raped- killed-
and committed ‘crimes against humanity’ on the way- that’s a fact]
After a few weeks of fighting-
Gadhaffi re grouped and began his trek east- and wound up at the gates of
Benghazi.
Okay- was there a slaughter that
took place?
No. It was GOING TO TAKE PLACE- at least that’s
what the threat seemed to be.
Gadhaffi was saying- very
publicly- that he would go in and go from house to house and get all those who
are siding with the rebels.
Some think this was just a
threat- that he wanted the city to abandon the rebels cause- and this was
simply bravado.
Anyway- on both sides- there was
killing- but no slaughter [slaughter is what took place in Rwanda- a million
dead].
President Obama and his team
admit this- this was their argument ‘we acted first- before the slaughter took
place’.
Now- I don’t want to re hash the
whole thing- nor do I think it profitable to get into debates like this- with
my friends.
It’s just some of the comments
said I basically was an idiot and had no idea what I was saying- and I felt
like I needed to respond.
I actually am on the side of
Obama right now- in his decision to not act in Syria.
There are those calling for
military intervention- but we [the U.S.] have intervened too much already- very
rarely does military force do the job.
In Libya- before we acted- people
living in Tripoli had a good life.
I used to see actual
documentaries on the open markets of the city- venders selling olives and fish
and all the wonderful produce form the Mediterranean region.
You had doctors and professors-
kids going to school- you went to the hospital- just like here in the U.S.
After the killing of Gadhaffi-
that city is ruined.
If you take your kid to the
hospital now- there are opposing militia groups [terrorists] who walk through the
hospital- carrying guns.
They are all saying ‘we are in
charge- no- we are’.
I heard this from an interview
from a doctor- it was on NPR radio- a very reliable news source.
The non Black leaders that were
from the east- the group we sided with- they have taken the Black women and
children and have made them- well- slaves.
The leaders we backed- they hate
Blacks- with a passion.
I explained why this is in the
past- basically Gadhaffi loved the Black skinned Africans. So the ‘friend of my
enemy is my enemy’.
There are many reports that these
wonderful Black people- I mean some were doctors and school teachers- you need
to see how bad this is.
These Black people are now
actually doing slave labor- they have them cleaning up the streets and working as
slaves- these are reports I heard from multiple reliable sources.
I mean how would you feel if the
U.S. came to your city- and your Black kids were used like this?
Taken out of school- their future
gone- their dads castrated.
This has been going after the
death of Gadhaffi.
How can anyone think this is
good- that we helped these people?
Libya- Egypt- and yes- Iraq- they
are all worse off than before.
This debate is not about whether
or not someone’s favorite president did better than the other president.
It’s about U.S. intervention-
it’s about the use of force.
It’s about the plight of the Blacks in Libya.
No- Obama did not go in because
Gadhaffi was slaughtering his people- he went in to prevent what he said would
be a slaughter.
Either way- we ruined that
country- for good.
1858- WHO WAS THAT MASKED WOMAN?
I want to try and cover a little
more on Apologetics- but just a few notes.
Yesterday my favorite news
channel [you know I’m joking?] MSNBC once again showed why they have the lowest
ratings around.
Lawrence O’Donnell- he did a
report on Ann Romney's disease- she has M.S.
In the report he questioned her
use of trained horses as a recommended therapy for her sickness.
By the way- a Cali news paper did
the same thing a few weeks back.
For those who don’t know- some in
the media mocked Ann Romney because she works with these ‘dancing horses’.
Yeah- it’s not what the average
person does- and that’s exactly why they think its fine to mock the lady.
So last night O’Donnell said that
he had his team investigate whether or not this is an actual treatment for
M.S. He then quoted some report- that
it’s not in the top 10.
Why?
Well of course you would not
recommend the average M.S. person to go out and by dancing horses at the rate
of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I mean this is common sense.
But if you have the money-
working with horses is indeed a legitimate treatment for all types of motor
skill injuries/diseases.
The shameful thing is this
network deems this as a legitimate story.
When Michele Obama got caught in
disguise a few weeks ago- to be honest- this was very sad.
Why?
She went shopping- against the
warnings of the secret service- and against the wishes of the president himself
[you can’t do stuff like this- an unplanned shopping trip into town].
But there have been lots of
reliable reports that Michele Obama has had a very hard time adjusting to being
the wife of a president.
She initially wanted to stay in
Chicago with her 2 girls- and simply travel back and forth to D.C. every few
weeks/months.
Obviously this would look bad- so
the president convinced her to live with him.
Now- when I heard/saw the story
that she actually put on a disguise and went shopping- against the strong
recommendations of the pres and the secret service- I knew there were real
problems.
I did not rejoice over it- I
pray- by name- for him and his family every Monday and Friday [those are the
days I use for regular prayer intercession- I pray every day- but those days I
mention world leaders].
Okay- if this happened to Sarah
Palin- or any other top political figure from the other side- you would have
had the late night comedians dressing up in masks.
You would have had MSNBC and the
shameful crew laughing nonstop.
I mean an incident like this- is
fodder for the ‘press’.
Yet I never heard one story like
this- I simply saw the hard news story on it- and that was it.
Now- I’m sure the White House
prepared- braced themselves for the jokes- none came.
I think it’s shameful for MSNBC
[and the Cali paper] to have actually investigated the recommended treatment
that Ann Romney uses.
They went- in detail- on how much
insurance she holds on each horse- they mocked the fact that she used a lot of
money to work with the horses- I mean they investigated her more than Obama- I
mean the press never even read his autobiography!
When the media celebrated that
20,000 pages of Sarah Palin’s emails were released [many emails that were
between her and her daughters- things that you would not want released].
They actually tried to recruit
the public to ‘go thru them and see what you can find’.
Yes- at least one news paper
asked this of their on line readers.
What did they find?
Absolutely nothing.
It was a shame that they did
this.
They released- and put on line-
emails that they did not even read yet.
Say if there was one that said
her daughter had some type of sexually transmitted disease- the public would
have know this- and it would have been out there for the world to see.
Yet the same paper- the N.Y.
Times- did not release the emails about the scam that some global warming guys
perpetrated.
These emails showed that some of
them [not all!] actually rigged the data to make it look worse than it really
was.
The Times said they would not
report- or reveal- these emails- because- quote ‘the original writer did not
intend them to be made public’.
Too bad they never gave the same
courtesy to Sarah and her kids.
Right now- as I speak- the
attorney general of the U.S. - Eric Holder- is ‘holding’ on to around 70,000
pages of emails and other info that would show us who was responsible for the
program that resulted in the death- and cover up- of a U.S. border patrol
agent.
Holder has released around 20,000
pages- and he’s trying to ‘bargain’ make a deal ‘how bout I give you so many
more- and then you wont ask for the rest’?
Who are you bargaining for?
Why are you even trying to make a
deal?
We are asking- we- the American
people- are asking ‘who in the heck is responsible for the murder of agent Terry’?
No deals- no bargains- if the
media rejoiced that the American public read everything about Palin and her
family- email’s that spoke about family problems- the whole thing ‘we have the
right to know!’
Then what about the right to
finally find out who is responsible for the dearth of Terry?
The problem with politics- and
the way we side with either side- is we begin rooting for things that are
wrong.
Yesterday I posted about how our
action in Libya has caused the Black people of Libya to be persecuted against.
Yet there are many supporters of
Obama- who will not report this story.
These people are complicit by
their silence- yet they claim to be on the side of the Black people.
I had a talk a few weeks back
with a liberal friend.
It was during the time of the
debate over Planned Parenthood.
I explained to my friend that the
founder of Planned Parenthood- Margaret Sanger- was an extreme racist.
I wrote on this a while back- and
even posted the on line info on her [you can Google her name and it shows up on
the first page].
Sanger observed the Black race in
major cities- and came to the conclusion that the Black race were like rodents-
that the more they increased- the more they would be a drain on white society.
She looked at the Blacks in N.Y.
and said if they keep ‘breeding’ they will eventually overburden the welfare
system.
She wrote- using this language-
in many of her published papers.
She said it was obvious that the
Black race were an inferior race- who could not compete with the more enlightened
White race- and that we need to find ways to eliminate the Race.
Okay- the first clinic opened in
N.Y. - with the intent on cutting back on this ‘breeding race of rodents’ [her
language- not mine].
Today- Planned Parenthood is the
number one provider of abortion in the country- and Blacks make up their
biggest client base.
Now- this is simple fact.
I am not saying that all the
current workers know this- I’m sure they don't.
But when I revealed this to my
liberal friend- the racist language and all- my friend tried to defend the
woman by saying stuff like ‘well I’m sure she meant well- but maybe used
unfortunate language’.
You see- we are so joined to
either party- to either side- that when a real injustice is done- we will even
defend ‘our side’ even if that means defending a true racist.
Do I think its ‘funny’ that Ann
Romney does the silly dancing horse thing?
Not really- I don't think
anything she does in her private life- unless its illegal- should be a platform
for some immoral reporter like O’Donnell to shamelessly broadcast to the world.
To question whether or not her
horse thing is a ‘recommended treatment’ for her disease.
If the media- and the comics-
were able to ‘overlook’ Michele’s shopping trip- incognito- then let’s leave Ann
alone.
1859- NOT A CHANCE
Went Down to the mission
yesterday- saw the guys.
Dirk has his van running good-
put the new radiator in [a few posts ago].
Gave Henry a ride back to the
boat dock where he works- there were these beautiful Pelicans all lined up
along the dock- never saw so many in a row like that.
On my way back to the house I saw
a few cars in front of me make a detour- I realized there was a cop car with
his flashing lights parked in the local speed trap.
Of course they’ll stop you for
anything- I had gotten a ticket for driving without my license in the same spot
a while back.
My inspection sticker has been
expired since around May- of last year.
Yeah- I know.
I took it to the inspection guy a
couple of month’s back- it failed for the tires.
So- as I saw the cop- I did a
detour too- and went to another shop [yeah- I know].
I figured ‘Lord- I just helped
the guys out- maybe I can get a break’.
So as I sat in the waiting room-
doing one of those silent prayers ‘Lord- blind his eyes to the tires’.
You say ‘John- I thought you
weren’t one of those positive confession type guys’.
I’m not- but when you’re in a
bind you do what you have to.
The kid comes back ‘sir- your
tire failed- your brake light is out- and you have a hole in the catalytic
convertor’.
The plan didn’t work out too
well.
Okay- let me finish a few more
comments on proofs for the existence of God.
Yesterday I got into it a little
with Dirk- and the other week I mentioned my friend Mike.
I have known Mike for a long time
[the homeless artist] and I never knew he was really into the science shows and
all.
As we talked Mike told me how
over the years he has spoken with Christians/preachers and he has said ‘why do
you think God created everything- Fungus and bacteria seem to produce on their
own- maybe the cause for all things is that’.
Now- this was a good question-
Mike told me that the only response he ever got was ‘the bible says God made
everything’.
Okay- I got the point.
I told Mike that what he has
observed over the years- the shows he has seen- that these things are good-
they are true- science and God do not contradict.
I simply explained to Mike that
fungus is part of the material world- and science teaches us that the material
world did not always exist.
Therefore- if fungus did not
always exist- it could not be the ‘creator’ of everything else.
Mike never heard this simple
truth.
He actually thought about it-
kind of in a way- a look on his face- like ‘geez- I just lost the last thing I
clung to’ type expression.
He thought it through- understood
what I said [I went a little more in depth] and then responded ‘well- maybe
some other non physical being did it- instead of God’.
I simply gave him the argument I
posted around 2 posts ago.
Okay- what was Mike seeing in the
fungus?
He saw what we call Secondary
causes.
That is there are many things in
the natural world that do indeed re produce on their own.
Things grow and develop.
God made the creation to be self
sustaining in a way.
Yet- many good people have heard
‘bad’ arguments- things that are false on its face- and don’t really know it.
The most popular ‘misstatement’
today is ‘everything was made by CHANCE’.
Now- I’m not a physicist- but
this statement- on its face- is not true.
Why?
Look carefully- chance is NOT A
THING.
Okay- chance is NO THING.
Chance is NOTHING.
When people make this statement
they do not realize what they are actually saying.
This statement says ‘chance is
the actual cause of creation’.
They are giving what we call
Ontological status to the word Chance.
They are treating it as in if
chance was a living thing- a real thing- not simply a word that describes the
odds of something.
Okay- the other misconception is
‘Given enough time- anything can happen’.
Is this true?
No.
If you took a room- were able to
seal it- nothing gets in- nothing gets out.
And you have nothing in the room.
How many years would it take for
you to open the door- and find a functioning world?
People- planets- stars- parades-
horses- stores- etc.
I mean- is it possible- over a
long period of time- for this to happen?
No- this is simply not possible-
not scientifically possible.
But if you knew there were some
being who had control over the room- who did have access to it- and had the
power to create.
Well then it would be possible
for the room to contain things.
When it comes down to it- there
are really only 2 choices.
Either everything popped into
existence from nothing [this is impossible].
Or something caused everything to
be here [the Christian view].
When people realize this- that
this debate is not about ‘well- you believe in faith and the bible and fairy
tales- and I believe in fact’.
Actually no you don’t [you being
the atheist- unbeliever].
No- in this debate there really
is only one rational conclusion- that someone is responsible for ‘everything in
the room’.
The other explanation ‘everything
in the room came from chance- given enough time’ is not an option- at least not
a logical one.
See?
1860- POLITICS OR RELIGION?
I wasn’t sure how to close up
this week- I know how much you guys like it when I do politics! [note- every
now and then I drop a joke or 2 in- I realized once that everybody does not
know when it’s a joke- but if you have to say each time ‘here I kid’ it kinda
ruins the thing].
I did go to the mission
yesterday- and Dirk- my homeless friend that I gave a lecture to on the ‘proofs
for the existence of God’ [he was kind of going off the other day on how
everyone believes what they hear- that there is no real way to know who is
right- so I covered the history of apologetics and the proofs for the existence
of God- I kinda blasted the guys for about 15 minutes- and wasn’t sure they
were following].
So when I see Dirk- the first
thing he shows me is this book on Bertrand Russell- the famous British
philosopher- I wrote about him when I was doing the study on philosophy.
Dirk was kind of repentant- he
must of took my ‘speech’ to heart- and he told me he was going to put more of
an effort into researching stuff.
Now- it was a surprise to see my
homeless buddy running around with a Russell book- but I got the hint that he
did get something from my talk and wanted me to know he was trying.
By the way- being he showed me
the book- I encouraged him to read it- but had to let Dirk know that Russell
was a very influential 20th century British philosopher- he was
famous because he was a public protestor against the use of nuclear weapons.
But in the field of thought he
became an Agnostic.
He was raised as a believer- but
at a young age he read a book from another famous thinker- John Stuart Mill.
Mill wrote about what we have
been discussing these last few days- the law of Cause and Effect- and how
things came into being.
Mill said ‘if everything has to
have a cause- then why not God? Who caused God?’
Now- Mill wasn’t the first
thinker to pose the question- but Russell became influenced by this idea and
espoused it for the rest of his life.
The problem?
Though both of these men were
smart- they stumbled over this misconception.
The law of Cause and Effect [also
referred to as causality] does not say EVERYTHING has a cause.
It states that all EFFECTS have a
cause.
In essence- it’s within the realm
of logic to espouse an infinite- causeless being.
Now- some might say this is
‘illogical’ but using the laws of logic [like we covered the last few days].
In the end- the only logical
explanation for all things is an infinite being.
Anyway- don’t want to re hash the
whole thing again- just thought it interesting that Dirk was reading Russell’s
book.
Even though there are a lot of
news events that could be covered today- lets finish with a few ‘religious’
things.
I have a verse here [about 200!]
hanging on my wall- it’s from Isaiah [I think? I write them down and hang them
up- but I don’t write the reference].
It says ‘do these things- and
when others read about them- this will be a witness to them’.
There are others along this line
that I have come across these last few years.
I started working with the homeless
in 1992- with guys that were on drugs- ex-cons- before that.
I never told any of these stories
until a few years back.
I started the blog in 2006-
Facebook a couple of years later.
I felt that it was part of the
‘next step’- that is doing ministry- that the Lord wanted me to get into.
So- even though I did not even
have email until 2006- or even get online until that time- I did my best to put
together the blog [amateurish as it is] and start the process.
Now- over the years- as a student
of religion, philosophy, ecclesiology [church]- I have written a lot about what
it means to ‘do church’ or ‘be church’.
In Christian circles this has
been hotly debated in recent years.
Many in the House Church movement
have written- and debated with those who are more into the Traditional type
churches.
There are many Protestants who
have all types of ways they see ‘church’.
In its most basic form- the best
definition that I have been able to come up with- is Church is a community.
It’s a worldwide community of
those who confess Christ [the universal church].
And it’s a local community of
those who follow him.
If you read the gospels- Jesus
and his disciples are a good picture of the church.
Now- many will say ‘No John- the
church was not formed until Acts chapter 2’.
Okay- I hear that.
I see the whole thing.
But- as community- it’s a
mistake- in my view- to dismiss the gospels as ‘pre church’.
I don’t want to get into a
theological debate- because I’m not even sure how many are following right now.
But- the point is- if we actually
read the things that Jesus told us to do [sounds simple enough].
We would end up doing a lot of the things that most of us call ‘prison
ministry’ or ‘street ministry’ or ‘outreach ministry’.
In actuality- these things are a
main function of being a community.
So- over the years- because many
of us associate church with the meeting [or the building]. We have a tendency to shift the focus from
community- to the corporate entity.
Years ago I filed the corporation
papers for our ‘church’.
Instead of paying a lawyer- I got
a self help book- ‘how to incorporate your church’ and filed.
It was no big deal.
But I realized how we confuse the
actual corporate laws of a state- they have ways they recognize what they call
‘a local church’.
And what the bible actually
teaches.
In the bible- the church is a
community of people- much like Jesus and the disciples going thru the towns-
preaching- healing- helping others.
Yet- much of the focus of modern
‘church’ is the corporation ‘how much do we need this month? How many members
do we need each month to tithe- and cover the vision of the church’.
Much of the focus- and effort- is
spent on raising money for the corporation.
People are ‘challenged’ to
sacrifice for Gods work- but the challenge is often seen thru the lens of ‘give
till it hurts’.
Look- I’m not against giving- I
give lots of money away.
But when you have the majority of
church goers- who mean well- when they begin seeing their sacrifice mainly thru
a paradigm of giving more money to a corporation- then this blinds them to the
majority of teaching in the New Testament that calls us into the world- in real
ways- to be the ‘actors’ [ones who act- function- not just give money so others
can act/function on our behalf].
That is- the primary
responsibility of the believer is not simply to go to church on Sunday [though
this is a good thing].
Or to tithe to the ‘church’.
But to be active in helping one
another- to be giving our lives away for other people.
This is the heart of the whole
New Testament.
So- my purpose in telling these
stories the last few years was simply to show one example [out of many- there
are many Christians who do see the stuff I just showed you] So these things
could be ‘the wisdom’ that the example of people seeing what it means to ‘be
church’ might lead others to a ‘more better way’ [Hebrews.]
So- I’ll end the week with the
example of my homeless buddy reading the writings of a 20th century
British philosopher.
The politics will have to wait-
yeah- I know your sad.
1861- THE 40 YEAR REUNION
Let’s recap the week’s news.
The lines are drawn- the pres has
asserted Executive Privilege- for the first time.
And Pelosi has come out and
accused the Repubs of outright racism.
Chris Matthews- the most
dangerous man alive [sorry Ken Shamrock] has also jumped on the bandwagon.
He had on 2 Black Dems and said
those who want Holder to release the documents on fast and Furious are racists.
The other week Matthews was
defending the right of Asian Americans to abort their baby girls because they
preferred a boy.
Yes- he took the other side when
the Repubs wanted to outlaw sex selection abortions.
Now- he claimed he was not for
it- but argued against the passage of the law- because he said it was only a
problem in the Asian community.
So- he thought ‘why outlaw it-
only Asian girls are dying’.
This is the same guy who sees
racism in the Holder affair.
About a month ago I said to
myself ‘let's see how long it will be before the media begin re running the
Watergate movie nonstop’.
To my surprise- not only are they
running the movie- but all the major networks have come out in full regalia-
‘celebrating’ the 40th anniversary of Watergate.
I also read an article the other
day- some Texas professor wrote Holder- demanding the release of the other
documents from Watergate.
Holder responded in a way that
sounded like ‘there is no longer any good reason to continue the cover up of
Watergate- by golly- the truth must show!’
Let’s see- did we celebrate the
20th- 30th anniversary?
No.
Do you normally celebrate the 40th
anniversary- of anything?
No.
Your normally have a big bash on
the 25th- and 50th.
But the media have actual real
time scandals- the cover up of the murder of 300 hundred Mexican citizens- and
at least one border patrol agent.
The Solyndra scandal that
revealed that the presidents own men [All the Presidents men?] actually told
him- in a memo- that what he was about to do looked illegal.
This was said- in a memo- by his
own men.
What he did was changed the loan
to Solyndra- in order for his top fundraiser- who put money in the company- to
get paid back first if the company went bust.
This loan change was not done for
any other person/company- only for the loan that his top fundraiser made.
When this was first revealed- a
mainline news reporter [Sharyl Atkinson] who broke the story said it looked
like this might bring the presidency down.
What?
This was all revealed on a
Friday- after months of denying any involvement in the scandal.
For it to be revealed that your
own people thought what you did was illegal [not just knowing about an illegal
act- Wateragte- but actually doing it!] and you did it anyway.
And you did it for your friend-
against the actual law that regulates the loan- which said you can’t do this.
Well- even a mainline reporter
thought it as bad- or worse than Watergate.
What happened John- Nothing.
The media simply kept silent.
Now- in the current scandal- you
know- the ‘race haters’
In this scandal- when congress
asked the Justice Dept. if they had any knowledge about the Fast and Furious
program- they sent a letter to congress denying involvement/knowledge.
This was the beginning of 2011.
Now- when you go on record like
that- the investigating team usually drops the case- because you would be lying
to congress at that point.
Holder left the letter out there
for most of the year- claiming they had no knowledge of the program.
When congress continued digging-
Holder pulled the letter back.
Why?
Because they did indeed know
about the program- this in itself is enough for a resignation- this in itself
is a Watergate.
Congress just tried Roger
Clemens- twice- for lying to congress.
I’m glad he got off- they found
him not guilty.
Did he lie John- and use
steroids?
Sure.
But for this crew to be trying
people for lying- well that’s laughable.
So- Holder basically already
admitted that he lied- whether he knew it or not at the time we don’t know- but
we do know they said- for around 9 months ‘we had no knowledge of the program’.
Then he pulled the letter back.
At the least- we need to know
what changed- who was lying- why?
The parents of the dead agent-
Terry- went on the news this week- they too think Holder and Obama are covering
up- by all accounts- it does look like they are covering up.
Are the parents racists?
According to Pelosi and MSNBC-
yes.
We have very real scandals-
things that rise- easily- to the level of Watergate.
Watergate was the cover up of a
botched break in of a political office in a hotel- the name of the hotel was
Watergate.
The cover up of fast and furious
involves the murder of at least 300 Mexican citizens [the Mexican govt. by the
way does not see this as a joke- they are outraged over this].
And the murder of an American law
enforcement officer.
The Solyndra scandal was
presidential involvement [not just knowledge!] to change a loan- illegally-
even said to be illegal by the president’s own people- in writing!
He changed the law so his number
one fundraiser would not loose money- and he denied it- until he was caught.
These lies- these scandals- they
outrank Watergate- I said it at the time- but the media tried their hardest to
make these things look like nothing.
I’ll end with one last ‘lie’.
This week I read some of the
Leaks that are believed to have come from this White House.
These are the leaks of all the
classified intelligence info that outed Israel- got the Pakistani doctor put in
prison for 35 years- you know- no big deal.
When I looked at the leaks- I
mean they were laughable in the way they were made to portray the president in
a favorable light.
Most leaks are simply info coming
out- lots of time from good men who see wrong things and are trying to expose
the corruption.
We call these people Whistle Blowers.
But as I reread some of the
recent leaks- I mean they are saying things like ‘As the president sat there in
his chair- debating on which terrorist to kill next- he contemplated his recent
study of Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas- and he acted with righteous
indignation’.
What?
St. Thomas and Augustine.
I mean these are 2 of my favorite
Catholic scholars.
Augustine- the 4/5th
century Bishop of North Africa- and Thomas- the great 13th century
Doctor Angelicas [Angelic Doctor].
Yes- these are some big players
in Theology and Philosophy.
So why have the media reported
that the pres used them in his war strategy?
They are also famous for the
development of the Just war Theory.
Yeah- people for centuries have
appealed to these great thinkers in their justification for war.
But Obama- how does he find the
time to read these guys?
I mean- unless their names are on
the golf balls [he just played his 100th round!]
I don’t see him having time to
read them.
So why mention it?
Because he fumbled the ball with
our Catholic friends [who just began a 2 week prayer and fast against the
repression of religious liberty- because of the presidents demands that they
provide birth control thru their institutions].
And he needs to make amends- so
lo and behold- he loves reading the Catholic scholars!
If you put all this together- the
ongoing scandals- not just one.
The actual lies- the ones they
have been caught in- on paper.
I mean even a mainline reporter
could not believe that the revealing of this was ‘no big deal’.
And now- the fact that the pres
came out the other day and addressed the nation ‘me and my Whitehouse have not
released any CLASSIFIED information’.
‘It’s an insult to think this’.
Then- one week later- on Friday-
they sent a letter to congress- declassifying the drone war
in Yemen.
They were basically saying ‘yeah-
we were behind the releasing of all the info- it’s just we ‘declassified it’
first’.
He is going to say when he
released the info- his office first ‘declassified it’.
But when he addressed you- and
me- he was outraged- he made it sound like he was not aware of the leaks.
And 99 % of the public took it
this way.
Look- when you get caught doing
this- over and over and over- I mean this is not a one time affair.
Then it does make the public
wonder about everything else.
And when the public asks for
answers- and you respond by playing the race card- then it’s time for some
people to resign.
Holder needs to go.
Whoever else has lied about their
involvement also needs to go.
And if Nixon had to go because he
lied about his knowledge about a 2 bit break in- then what about the possible
cover up of your knowledge about the murder of a U.S. border patrol agent and
at least 300 Mexican men, women and children.
But wait- I forgot- we don’t have
time to cover these present scandals- no- we are covering the golden [or
brass?] 40th year anniversary of Watergate.
Drink up.
1862- LOVE THE ALIEN- FOR YOUR
WERE ALIENS IN THE LAND OF EGYPT- Deuteronomy 10:19
The Supreme Court came out with a
few rulings yesterday- the big one was their decision about the Arizona
Immigration law.
Most of you know that the
governor [Jan Brewer] has been fighting with the Justice Dept. [Holder] over
their stringent immigration laws.
Arizona- like other border sates-
has had a problem with illegal aliens for some time.
So- they passed new state laws
that made it tougher if you were an alien in the state.
If you applied for a job- and you
were an illegal- you would get arrested.
If you got stopped by the cops-
they could ask you for your papers.
A couple of other things that
went beyond the federal law.
So- Eric Holder [attorney
General] did what he does best- he sued Arizona.
[As a side note- this is not a joke- he has
sued states/cities ever since coming into office. He just threatened to sue the
Fire Dept. here in Corpus Christi. They settled for hundreds of thousands of
bucks- why?
We were ‘discriminating’ against women.
How?
Some of them could not pass the
physical exam- you had to do things like pull a dummy- the weight of a person-
to show that if you were in a fire you would be able to rescue either your
partner or a victim.
Many times women would fail this
part of the test.
Okay- so some depts. changed the
test.
But lots of women do- by nature-
have a hard time passing this requirement.
If you ‘dumb’ down this part of
the test- you are putting people’s lives at risk- both the woman as well as
those she would need to rescue.
Holder threatened to sue- Corpus
settled.
He also sued 2 north eastern
depts. a couple of years back.
He said they were not hiring
enough Blacks- he told them to change the exam.
They spent about a million bucks
redoing their exam.
Some Black applicants failed.
He then ordered the dept. to lower
the passing score to 60.
Finally- the BLACK firefighters
union said ‘ENOUGH- YOUR GOING TO GET US ALL KILLED HERE- Blacks and Whites!’
So- Holder does have a penchant
on suing cities/states when he perceives a racial issue.]
What did the court do?
They struck down some of
Arizona’s law- but upheld the most controversial part- the cops can still ask
for your papers at a stop.
I found it interesting that
Justice Kennedy- who wrote the majority decision- seemed to side somewhat with
the more liberal argument.
One thing he mentioned was when
dealing with illegal immigrants- we need to keep in mind that we are dealing
with people.
I know this seems obvious- but
when issues become politicized- we have a tendency to forget this.
I live in an area where over the
years I have seen lots of Illegal’s coming thru.
The Fire Dept. that I worked at
had calls where illegal’s would accidentally start a brush fire- they maybe had
a camp under a bridge and lit a fire to stay warm- stuff like that.
I had friends- Mexicans- whose
families gave them food and water when they saw them in the fields.
The point is- the immigration
problem is a real problem- and it is true that all countries need to be able to
control their borders and have a system of legal immigration.
At the same time- we need to also
look at the person issue- the above verse was a reminder to the Jewish people
that they too were illegal at one time- when they were staying in Egypt.
In all these debates- we tend to
forget that we are all ‘aliens’ in a sense- our country is made up of
immigrants [the American Indian is the only group that can claim non immigrant
status].
I personally have a problem with
the amount of lawsuits that Holder has launched against the states.
He is suing Florida over their
voter registration ‘purge’.
The governor- Rick Scott- has
made an attempt to get non citizens off the voter rolls.
Okay- should we be letting non
citizens vote?
Of course not.
Then why is Holder suing?
He sees [like others] this as a
racially motivated purge.
He argues that what Florida is
really trying to do is get the minorities to not vote.
Okay- the governor simply asked
the justice dept. to give them a list of non citizens- those they know to be
illegal.
Holder refused.
Why does Holder- and others think
that Scott is anti minority?
Because after they checked the
data base- the majority of those who were non citizens were indeed minorities.
So- according to Holder- this is
racist.
But who else would be on a ‘non
citizen’ list?
I mean do we have a massive
migration of say- polish folk who are washing up on our shores?
Not yet- unless this E.U. thing
gets out of hand.
So- if you are ‘purging’ the
voter list of people who are not citizens- by its very nature you are going to
get more minorities on the list.
Yet Holder sees this as racist.
So- both sides need to be honest-
and fair.
The Right side of the aisle needs
to keep in mind the above verse- that in the end we are all aliens- yes- our
grandparents came legally and it’s not the same as those who are coming
illegally- I hear that- but we are still dealing with humans [Kennedy].
And the left- if Holder keeps
suing fire dept’s- and thinks that his role in life is to use the justice dept
to accomplish some type of political agenda- then I think the words of my
fellow Black firefighter should be kept in mind.
If you keep this up- ‘your going
to get us all killed’.
1863- HARDBALL- CHICAGO STYLE
Yesterday morning I caught NPR
radio news.
They were talking about the
presidential campaign- and how the Repubs are using the accusation that Obama
was/is part of the corrupt political machine that has existed in Chicago for
decades.
In Chicago politics- just like
where I grew up [N.J.] you had a lot of illegal- strong arm type stuff going
on.
If you felt it was to your
advantage- you would ruin a person’s life- or hurt them- just to make an
example.
Now- the NPR show was discussing
this- and a woman reporter said that Obama was not really a part of the corrupt
‘machine’ of Chicago.
Then- an older male reporter- I
recognize the voice but don’t know his name- said ‘I am going to have to
disagree with you’.
I was surprised- you normally
don’t hear it that blatantly.
Then he went down the list and
actually covered a brief history of Obama’s time in Chicago politics.
He seemed like he knew his stuff.
He brought out the fact that the
machine was made up of men like former mayor Bill Daly- and Rahm Emanuel.
The Daly family was an
institution in Chicago politics- and they were ‘the machine’.
Of course we all know that Daly
actually went to work for Obama in Washington- and Rahm Emanuel was his first
chief of staff- Daly eventually replaced him.
The reporter also brought out the
fact that Obama was the man that the corrupt machine backed in Chicago.
He ran against another prominent
Black leader- Bobby Rush.
The Black community backed Rush-
the machine backed Obama- Rush won.
It was simply a short lesson that
contradicted the false media narrative that somehow Obama was connected to all these
guys- but was never really ‘a part’.
The reason I bring this up is if
you realize this- then you might not be surprised that the president has indeed
crossed the line- many times.
One of the reasons that many
believe the president is behind all the leaking of national security info these
last few months is because of the way he ‘shut down’ all unauthorized leaks in
the first couple of years of being in office.
How so?
Now- this is where you need to
‘see’ the Chicago machine.
In all administrations- you have
leaks.
Some hurt you- some help
[actually Obama’s recent leaks have helped him].
But- you did have some the first
2 years that were real leaks- leaks that people usually believe will bring
sunlight into a corrupt- or wrong practice.
How do presidents deal with them?
It’s their choice- it ranges from
letting the person off the hook- called forgiveness.
To firing the person.
And in rare occasions- you press
federal charges against the leaker.
For instance- the Watergate
‘scandal’ and other exposes' were the result of leaks- most liberals thought it
good.
Okay- in the first 2- 2.5 years-
president Obama has sought to try- imprison- and yes- execute leakers.
This is no joke.
President Obama has used the
strictest federal law to go after leakers- the Espionage Act [usually used on
real spies] and he has used it 6 times.
‘Okay John- what about other
presidents- have they used this act’.
Sure- 3 times- total.
What?
Yeah- all former presidents of
the U.S. - combined- have only used the act 3 times to go after people like
this.
This is amazing- this is
astounding- this is the Chicago machine- but you don’t see it.
One case I heard/read was an
outstanding man [maybe a Dem?] who was also a university professor.
So- in the long tradition of men
who leak- and take the risk of maybe getting fired- he did what he felt was
right and leaked something about some program, that he felt was unjust.
Okay- he took the risk- if worse
comes to worse he might get fired- from Washington- and go back to work at the
university.
What happened?
Obama pressed the highest charges
against the man [the Espionage Act] and put him away- if I remember- for life.
Yes- he sent the man to prison.
The man’s wife and kids [he had 2
daughters in school] begged the govt. To ‘please not do this- please just treat
us- like say- BUSH’.
The family has been ruined.
The man is in prison- divorced-
his kid’s lives are ruined.
Now- this is one case of 6.
In another case- a ‘gay leaker’
at that- the president- thru Holder- raised the offense to the level of an
executable crime.
What?
Are you kidding me John- I have
never heard this.
I know- the media don’t like
telling you this.
Yes- to the shock of many- even
many inside military men- the president raised the charge on this gay soldier
to a charge that would merit execution.
Unbelievable- never- ever- in the
history of the country has a leaker been charged like this.
When you use the Espionage act-
it’s usually used for real spies- not for leakers.
Even one of our countries worst
spies- Jonathan Pollard- who spied for Israel- against us- even he did not get
the Ax.
Yet- Obama has sought to charge
this soldier with this type of crime.
It should be noted- that Holder
said ‘even though we are seeking this charge- we probably will not ask for
execution’.
Gee- what a nice guy.
I remember an instance when some
person- an insider- stole- and leaked info on Bush.
When they caught the person- Bush
simply forgave the person.
I am telling you these stories
because the average American has no idea that the president has operated like
this- this is the most ‘strong arm’ presidency in the history of the nation.
I mean the death penalty- for
things that others simply lost their jobs over- if that.
You see- when the lady NPR reporter
said ‘no- even though Obama was in tight with all these Chicago guys- he does
not play their game’.
The older male reporter corrected
her- he does play the game- a lot better than most people realize.
[One last note- many reporters-
who were really Obama supporters at the start have seen this- and they will
tell you that it is impossible to get real leaks anymore about anything. These insiders see the volume of recent leaks
about national security stuff and they know these are being done behind the
scenes with the full permission of Obama- I mean after the first 2 years- who
in their right mind would leak anything without the permission of the White
House?]
1864- BLAME THE MESSENGER
I was tempted to post a quick
note last night- but I thought it better to wait for today.
As I was watching the various
news shows- I caught an interview with some lady who just wrote a piece [for
some magazine] that said the Fast and Furious scandal- was not a scandal at
all.
She did a 6 month investigation-
and lo and behold- there was never any ‘gun walking’.
Huh?
Yeah- instead she talked about
the real reasons these guns were in the hands of Mexican drug lords.
Go on- I’m hearing you sister.
She explained that many of our
law enforcement guys have tried to get the guns off the streets- but because of
the Republican [and NRA] loose gun laws- that to their dismay- they cant stop
the drug runners from purchasing the guns.
Oh- I see now.
O yeah- one last thing- she said
there was ONE case where she did find a Gun walking activity.
It was the single Whistle Blower
[Dodson?] who did this.
As the woman made the rounds [I
saw her on CNN] the ‘new’ story was that both the Repubs- as well as their
cohorts in crime- the actual whistle blowers- that these were the ones who were
blaming Holder [because he is Black?] while all the while Holder and his people
are really innocent- after all- they never sold guns!
Now- I was really mad when I saw
this latest story.
Why?
This last year- as I actually
watched some of the congressional hearings- and read lots of sources and stuff.
The REAL STORY is there were guys
working for the ATF and other law enforcement agencies- and these guys
complained- for a couple of years- that the Gun walking program was a very
dangerous and real program- even Holder has said this.
Now- these were the actual guys
doing the ground work- of course they were the ‘gun walkers’ they worked for
the govt.
So- after complaining about it
for a while- nothing was done.
Eventually the story made it to
the news- and the govt. [Holder] denied it.
At that point- some of the guys
involved risked their careers- because they knew the govt. was lying- and they
went public and said ‘look- I am one of the guys who actually bought and sold
the guns’.
So- instead of demonizing these
guys- like the lady making the rounds on MSNBC and CNN- we should be thanking
them for what they did.
Quite frankly- this is about as
low as it gets- they were actually saying ‘Holder never walked guns- but these
darn whistle blowers- who are making the charge- they are guilty!’
Sad- so sad.
One other charge came out- it was
initially made by those on the Right- and now it’s used by those on the left
[as a counter charge].
When I first heard this charge-
by some on the Right- I was mad.
I was mad because I knew the
charge was false- and I could not believe that some were actually falling for
it.
The charge?
Some have said that the Fast and
Furious program was designed- on purpose- to get guns into the hands of drug
lords [actually- this part is true- they wanted the top guys to get the guns-
then they thought they could catch the big boys. The goal was noble- the way they went about
it was stupid].
But some have said Obama
purposefully wanted the gun crime to go up- so in the end he could blame the
loose gun laws [NRA folk] and pass stricter gun laws.
Now- I have heard this by some
radicals on the right- and this is not true.
Then why is the charge gaining
ground?
Because- in the mess of this
whole thing- there was indeed some memo that slipped out- by the Dems- that did
say ‘if this gets out of hand- and you are asked about the program- turn the
conversation into one that says ‘see- we need stricter gun laws’.
Yes- the Dems did say this- and
indeed do this.
As I watched the news over the
months- whenever a Dem was asked about the scandal- he/she said ‘well- it’s
because we need better gun laws’.
Is the scandal about this?
No.
Is it about some whistle blower
who is guilty- while Holder is innocent?
No [Holder- and the ATF big wigs
were in charge- they bare the blame for the peons at the bottom that they
ordered to do this].
The whole scandal- is simply the
fact that the Justice Dept. - under Holder- at first denied the program- then
later admitted it.
He now will not release the other papers that
probably show that they were indeed trying to cover their tracks after the
story broke.
That’s it.
Congress will vote today on
contempt charges- and Holder will probably be the first Attorney General of the
U.S. to be held in contempt.
This week I have been reading the
story of John the Baptist.
John was an interesting guy.
The bible says he was filled with
the Holy Spirit ‘from his mother’s womb’.
The prophets Isaiah and Malachi
spoke of John ‘before the great day of the Lord I will send Elijah the prophet
and he will restore the fathers to the sons and the sons to the fathers’
Malachi chapter 4.
Isaiah said ‘I am the voice of
one crying in the wilderness- prepare ye the way of the Lord’.
John was the fulfillment of these
prophecies.
One time the people came to Jesus
and he asked them ‘what did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed
shaken with the wind- or someone dressed in expensive clothes?’
No- you went to see a prophet-
and I tell you- more than a prophet.
For this is he of whom the
prophets spake [above].
Then Jesus says something kinda
strange- he says ‘I tell you- of all that are born of women- there has not been
a greater than John the Baptist- but he that is LEAST IN THE KINGDOM is greater than he’.
Over the years I have heard
various takes on this- most say that Jesus was saying that even the ‘least’ in
the new church age- the Born Again Christian- is greater than the greatest of
the Old age [Law].
Maybe?
But I like this interpretation the
best.
Jesus often spoke about himself
in the 3rd person ‘for God so loved the world that he gave his only
Son’.
Maybe Jesus was really saying ‘he
that is least [himself] is greater than John’.
Jesus spoke about the smallest of
seeds falling into the ground and dying- then later it becomes the greatest
tree.
He said this about faith- about
Gods kingdom- and also about himself.
‘Except a grain of wheat fall
into the ground and die- it abideth alone- but if it dies it will bring forth
much fruit’ [John’s gospel].
Jesus was the ‘least among men’
that is- he gave up his glory- his position with the Father and became a man
and humbled himself unto the death of the Cross.
Because of this God raised him up
and seated him at his own right hand in glory.
Jesus was [is] greater than John-
yet John was up there on the charts.
John was- in a way- a Whistle
Blower- he revealed the secrets of men.
The thing that got John killed
was his preaching against corrupt leadership.
He said ‘Herod- you snake- you
have your brother’s wife- and its wrong!’
One day Herod had a party [he was
the puppet king that ruled the Jewish region of the Roman Empire].
And Herod's daughter in law
danced for the king.
Herod was struck ‘I'll give you
anything honey- up to the half of my kingdom’.
The mother says ‘ask him for the head of John
the Baptist’.
Yeah- the wife got tired of
John’s whistle blowing- and John lot his head over the thing.
Today congress votes on Holder-
also the Supreme Court will rule on Obama Care.
Both sides have all the reasons
why they are right- and the other guys wrong.
Lets agree on one thing- let’s
not blame the messenger- the guys at the bottom who were ordered to do these
things- they risked their lives and careers in revealing the program- because
they were good guys not bad.
Yeah- the least- the small seeds-
these are the valuable ones.
1865- HEALTH CARE RULING- AND A
BED
Okay- before we get to the health
care ruling- let’s do some spiritual stuff.
When I got up yesterday morning-
I determined not to listen to too much news before I go to the homeless spot.
I mean I like keeping my mind
free- at least until I get back from visiting with the homeless.
On my way to the mission- I put
on the Christian music station [I listen to classic rock- talk radio- news- and
Christian stuff at various times].
I was in such a spiritual state
of mind- avoiding all the political stuff.
Then my music station broke in-
yeah- one of those ‘breaking news’ type things- like CNN did one day- in the
middle of real news- they broke in ‘BREAKING NEWS’- gee- what could it be
that’s so important- I mean they were already covering real time important
stuff- Syria shooting down a Turkish jet- you know- stuff like that.
Then the urgent story broke
‘Obama rose 2 % in a poll’.
Sad- so sad.
So my Christian station ‘broke
in’ I mean I was in a good state of mind- free from Rush [on the right] and NPR
[a little left].
It was short- and well- sweet
‘the Supreme Court has upheld all of the Obama care law- yes- all of it’.
Now- go back to your spiritual
state of mind.
Thanks a lot.
Actually- at first I was
surprised- and thought for a moment ‘am I mad’ ?
You know- I wasn’t.
Am I in shock?
No.
I was just surprised.
Those of you who have followed my
posts this last year realize that I was not a total rejecter of Obama Care.
I did feel that the main
justification for the mandate- the way Obama used the Commerce Clause- was a
mistake.
The administration said they had
the right to make people buy insurance because the Fed. Govt. has the right to
regulate commerce [under the clause].
And that health care is
‘commerce’ that takes place between the states- so they are ‘regulating’ it by
telling you to buy insurance.
In short- this seemed like a
stretch to me.
I also wrote that the pres does
have the authority to pass a law that could tax people for health care.
But Obama- and the Solicitor
General [the lawyer who argued the govts. case before the court] chose to
reject the ‘we have the right to tax you’ law- and instead argued the ‘we have
the commerce clause right to regulate you’.
So- that’s really why I thought
the law would get rejected by the court.
But who am I- just some arm chair
peon who watches the news- a lot.
When I got home from the mission-
I caught the latest and realized that I was actually right.
The court did reject the Commerce
Clause argument.
The 5 more conservative justices
did in fact shoot down the Commerce Clause argument.
Hum?
Then how did it pass
constitutional muster?
John Roberts [the chief justice]
then sided with the 4 more liberal justices- and said in essence ‘you [Pres and
Congress] do have the right to tax [which we all agree on] therefore- Obama
Care passes because it’s just a tax’.
Huh?
The Solicitor General- and the President-
have argued- time and again- that this is not a tax.
Yet Roberts said ‘we pass the law
[mandate part] because it’s a tax’.
It seems like a contradiction to
me.
Then- when I read/heard the
dissenting opinion- from the 4 ‘conservative’ justices- they ripped into
Roberts.
They basically said what I just
told you.
They said Roberts and the 4 libs
did indeed change the law- by saying in their ruling that it is a tax.
The 4 dissenters said it is the
courts job to simply rule on the law- the way it was written- and the way it
was argued- and that both said this was not a tax.
So- in the end- for some reason-
Roberts took it upon himself to kind of be a ‘judicial activist’ and in a way
re write the rule himself.
This is a little strange to be
honest.
And it confuses the public.
There are now many Obama
supporters who are saying ‘see- we told you it was constitutional all along’.
But actually- the way it was
written- the Commerce Clause thing- was said to be unconstitutional.
Yes- the majority says the way
the law was initially written was unconstitutional.
So- those who said this from the
start- were proved right.
Yet- those who defend the law are
skipping that [as they make the rounds on the news] and are simply saying ‘see-
it was constitutional all along’.
What a mess.
I fear Roberts- in his desire to
make the court look like it’s not too political- might have made one of the
worst decisions- that is- a decision that seems to be political.
From the start I was [and am
still] not someone who outright rejects the goal of universal care.
I never made the strong right
argument that what Obama did was socialized medicine.
In actuality the law is simply a
mandate for citizens to buy private insurance- without limiting what private insurance
can charge.
I think in a way this is a boom
for the private insurance industry.
I would have preferred a more
European style thing [see- you guys who think I’m all ‘right’ have not read my
blog too long].
Yes- I know both sides of the
issue- and realize that true universal care- Canadian style- has its good and
bad.
I just felt from the start if you
are going to shoot for universal coverage [a noble goal] that the way Obama
went about it was not the best way.
Okay- enough of that.
I hung out at the mission for a
few hours- had a good talk with Dirk and a few other friends.
Around 1 o’clock one of the new
ladies that has been coming the last few weeks- she had a free bag of goods
that the mission gave her- and had to walk a few blocks in the heat.
She’s also pregnant- so I offered
to give her a ride home.
Tammy also asked if I could give
her a ride and I said sure.
Most of the times I will leave
with Henry- and he comes back to the house and hangs out for the rest of the
day.
But he was not around so I just
gave the girls a ride home.
It’s been real hot in Corpus the
last few weeks- we have been breaking records.
Anyway as I was dropping off
Tammy she was telling Johnaa that she is sleeping on the floor of her trailer-
she has no bed.
Right at that point I make the
turn to get to Tammy’s street and some people look like their moving out and
have about 5 beds right there on the street.
So Johnna says ‘hey look- there’s
a bed’.
I asked Tammy if she wanted to
turn around and see if they want to sell one.
Of course she was broke- but I
told her maybe I can get a deal and I’ll buy it for her.
So I did the U turn and asked the
guy- he said they were moving out and we could take one.
I’m like ‘praise God brother’.
I noticed he had on that little
Elder tag that the Mormons where.
Now- I like Mormon people- and
over the years I have had very open and honest discussions about their faith.
I do try to be nice when I refute
some of their teachings- and have really made headway with them over the years-
being open too- and willing to hear both sides.
So the guy I talked too had the
badge on- plus there were about 5 more of them standing in the garage.
It must have been some missionary
house that they were moving out of.
So I told them I just left the
mission- I gave the Elder my ministry card [so he knew I wasn’t making stuff
up].
And I kinda saw the whole thing
as God working it out.
They seemed to not take it the
same way.
I mean- they didn’t say anything-
but it’s almost like the elder didn’t even want to touch the card.
I realize why they are like this-
and if any of you guys are Mormons- I’m glad you read the site.
Yet- I felt they just were not
that ‘into me’.
Anyway- far be it from me to hold
a grudge- I mean that’s childish.
So we got the bed.
Oh yeah- one more thing.
If Romney thinks I’m gonna vote
for him now- well he better think again.
1866- MARY- THE MOTHER OF GOD-
WHAT DID SHE SAY? [or- I am the Egg Man]
As we close the week- lets recap
a few highlights.
Of course the SCOTUS ruling was
the biggest news- and we also had congress vote- and pass- the contempt of
congress charge against Holder.
But there were a few other
‘lesser’ stories that in a slower news week would have gotten more attention.
The enemy of all conservatives-
yes- the peanut farmer from Georgia- Jimmy Carter- got some heat over his
criticism of Obama.
What did he say?
He made some comments about our
Drone war tactics- and said there is no doubt that the U.S. is violating human
rights.
How?
The drone planes are remote
controlled unmanned planes- Bush was the first to ‘arm’ them- and Obama
followed his lead.
We used to use them as
surveillance planes- but when we stuck bombs on them we started using them to
go after the enemy.
The problem?
Being we don’t have pilots in the
planes- we are basically doing our best to hit the target by remote control-
and we often kill civilians in these strikes.
We are doing this in Yemen and
Pakistan as I speak.
So- after years of killing lots
of the wrong folk- these people are outright pissed off.
In Pakistan- there is some lawyer
representing the families of the victims- and they have been saving the debris
from the bombs- writing down the serial numbers and all- and using them for
evidence on some future court case against the U.S.
We recently found out [thru
leaks?] That the way the U.S. counts the amount of terrorists that are killed
in the strikes is ‘every adult male killed in the vicinity is considered to be
a terrorist’.
Huh?
Yup- that’s the rule.
So if we accidently kill- let’s
say 15 men- and even if the remote control operator messed up- and hit the
wrong spot- we count this as ‘15 bad guys dead’.
Geez- with scoring like this- how
can you lose?
So- Carter came out and said this
type of killing is wrong.
Was he right?
Of course he was- we have killed
a lot of women and kids- that’s wrong- in everyone’s book.
Then why don’t we stop it?
Good question.
The newly elected president of
Egypt- the Muslim Brotherhood guy- he has already given signs to Iran that he
wants to form some sort of an alliance with them.
He has also told the U.S. that he
wants us to turn over the Blind Sheik.
Who’s he?
If you remember- years before
911- we had another attempted bombing of the World Trade Towers.
They traced the original plot to
some Muslim radical who was based in New Jersey.
I remember the case because as I
watched the story- the guy had his office/mosque set up right on a storefront
street- and when I saw the spot- I recognized the street as one of the places I
walked passed as a kid [I think one time I illegally rode my dirt bike right
passed the area- you know- one of those late night street rides when the cops
chase you].
So- the new Egyptian president
wants the guy released and sent back to Egypt.
And we have hailed this election
as a great thing- we forced a former leader out- who we were actually allies
with- and we [Obama] publicly supported the Brotherhood.
This is sad.
And last but not least- I told
you the other day that Holder sued Florida [man- he needs to stop suing
cities/states- this guy is out of control].
He sued the Repub governor- Rick
Scott- because Scott ‘purged’ the voter rolls of non citizens.
Huh?
Yeah- Scott actually identified
real non citizens who were on the roles- and he tried to take them off.
It is against the law to vote if
you’re not a citizen.
Why the suit?
Holder believes that the states
that are doing this are really trying to hurt the Dems by going after
minorities.
Okay- but say if we know- for a
fact- that the people he’s removing are only non citizens- would that be okay?
According to Holder- no.
Huh- huh?
Yes- Holder said the state does
not have the right to remove NON CITIZENS from the rolls- because it is within
90 days of an election- and darn it- those non citizens have rights too!
So- the case went to a federal
judge- and the judge said- in so many words ‘are you nuts man- it’s against the
law for non citizens to vote. The state
and governor can actually be held liable if they don’t purge the voter rolls-
of course Scott can do this- it’s required by law’.
I mean even the judge- a Dem
appointed judge- thought Holder must be delusional - because they were
upholding federal law.
As a side note- Holder has also
sued some Egg farm.
Why?
Because he said they were
requiring too much proof- from non citizens- to prove they were not illegal’s.
Yes- he sued this private
business- not because they were requiring the proof from citizens- but from non
citizens.
Why did the egg company do this?
If you get caught hiring an
illegal- you pay a fine or go to jail.
They just raided a pizza place
here in Corpus for this.
So- if the Egg man actually got
caught hiring an illegal- then off to jail he goes.
So- he simply tried to make sure
that the people he was hiring were in fact citizens- Holder sued him for this.
These are the things that have
really riled up some on the other side.
I mean who cares if your Black,
White or Green- this guy is absolutely off his rocker.
Okay- lets end with a bible thing
here.
I mentioned the other day that I
read some chapters about John the Baptist this week.
One of the big [and long]
chapters was Luke 1.
In the chapter we read about the
angel Gabriel appearing to both Mary- the Mother of Jesus- and Elisabeth-
Mary’s cousin.
Elisabeth and her husband
Zacharias were older folk and were never able to have a baby.
Then one day God does a miracle
and Elisabeth gets pregnant and has John the Baptist.
The miracle was not the same as
when Mary gets pregnant- but the miracle was they were older now- past the
normal time to have kids.
Mary is told about this and when
she gets pregnant with Jesus she visits Elisabeth and when Mary- who is
carrying Jesus in her womb- sees Elisabeth- who is pregnant with John- the
bible says the ‘baby leaped in her womb’.
It was John the Baptists purpose
in life to be the fore runner of Jesus.
And even before he was born- he
still responded this way as Christ showed up in the womb of Mary.
When the angel reveals to Mary
that she will bare Christ- she bursts into this prayer/proclamation of praise.
Scholars call this Mary’s
Magnificat [her magnifying of God].
If you have time- read this
prayer in Luke one.
It does not sound like the prayer
of some humble- quiet little lady.
It’s more like a prophetic blast
of Gods rule.
Mary says things like ‘He hath
put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree’ ‘He hath
filled the hungry with good things and the rich hath he sent away empty’.
I mean these are some of the same
themes we see in the teachings of Christ.
As I write and blog about
politics- I do try to be fair.
I know it must have been hard
these last few months for my friends on the left side of the aisle.
Trust me- about a year or 2 ago
my friends on the right went thru the same thing.
My ‘job’ is to not simply pick a
side- and then defend that side at all costs.
I think that’s the mistake many
in the church have made.
We have really lost our prophetic
voice as the people of God.
The modern Evangelical church
[and the televangelist world] has lost the true social justice message of the
church.
They [we] have traded that
message in for one of self help- how to become wealthy- how to be happier- how
to have a better life.
We have lost the prophetic voice
of the church- the one that speaks out against the murder of the innocents
[drones] or the lying about killing terrorists- just because we count ‘all
adults in the area’ as the enemy.
Yes- the ‘church’ is supposed to
have a voice for the defenseless in society.
No- we are too busy having an
American party.
Beware- Mary said ‘the high he
will bring down- the rich he hath sent away empty- the famous/proud will be
bring low’.
I can’t think of a better
description of the church today- can you?
1867- DID JESUS WHERE AN ARMANI
SUIT?
I was debating on what to talk
about this morning- I want to do a little more on Leaks and the freedom of the
press.
But I think instead we’ll cover
some more about the nature of the church.
I read an article yesterday- it
was about a church in Singapore whose pastor was arrested because he ‘funneled’
19 million dollars from the Charity Chest- and he used it to support his wife’s
‘international singing ministry’.
They showed the picture of the
wife- she was supposedly trying to break into the ‘secular’ industry [non
Christian music] and she simply looked like any other rock/pop star.
I don’t say this to be critical-
and whenever I deal with these issues- people get mad.
Why?
Most of you see stuff like this
and right from the start see it as wrong- and you should.
But there are many people- good
people- who head up big ministries- who actually think this type of stuff is
okay.
How?
It takes a long time to explain
it- but over the past 40 years the Evangelical church has developed a type of
theology- usually called The Prosperity Gospel- and many good people have been
inundated with all types of arguments- even from the bible- that seem to teach
that fame and fortune are actually Gods plan.
Often times these people think-
sincerely- that any rebuke of this type of stuff is simply a rebuke from those
‘old time traditional churches- those religious folk’.
But in reality- a proper reading
of the bible- and especially the life and teachings of Jesus- show us that this
type of idea- the fame and wealth thing- is not really a right biblical
understanding.
Let’s do a few examples.
A few years ago I read an article
in the San Antonio paper- to my surprise it was about a church in the city that
was embroiled in a controversy.
I knew the pastor- used to listen
to his teachings [years ago] and read a couple of his books [sitting here on my
shelf right now].
The controversy was some board
member from the church took the church to court- because the pastor publicly
exposed him as a trouble maker from the pulpit on a Sunday morning.
This board member was a ‘trouble
maker’ because he revealed to the church that at a time when the church was
going thru this huge money raising campaign- encouraging people to give
sacrificially- the Pastor bought a 4 thousand dollar Armani suit for another
board member- as a gift [with church funds].
Yet- at the same time- there were
lots of poor people who were giving there measly widows mite- to whom 4
thousand dollars is not a drop in the bucket.
So the board member exposed the
thing- they went to court- and the whole thing was a mess.
Now- as I read the story- at one
point the Pastor defended his buying of the suit by quoting the story of Jesus
in the bible- when the lady pours expensive perfume on Jesus.
The Pastor basically said ‘see-
its okay to waste lots of money’.
This story is often used to
defend a lavish ‘ministry’ lifestyle- and innocent people- people who hear
these types of so called ‘biblical arguments’ do become convinced over time.
Needless to say the story in no
way defends wealth and fame- but simply shows us that it’s okay to worship THE
LORD extravagantly- not man.
One more.
Another bible story is often used
in these churches to defend wealth- wealth as being Gods primary will for his people
that is [it’s okay to be successful- and have money- but I’m dealing with the
abuse of it- the 19 million dollars from the Poor Fund being spent on the
singing career of the pastors wife type of thing].
In the gospels we read about the
Crucifixion of Jesus.
At the foot of the Cross the
soldiers gambled for the robe of Jesus.
There actually is an Old
Testament prophecy that said this would happen- it was written hundreds of
years before.
The prophecy says ‘they will cast
lots for my vesture’.
Okay- why did they gamble for it-
instead of just ripping the thing in half?
Because this coat was an
expensive coat- sort of like the coat that the patriarch Joseph had from his
father [Genesis].
The bible says Joseph’s coat ‘of
many colors’ was a source of jealousy for his other brothers.
When you have a seamless coat- in
bible days- that’s a lot of work- so these types of coats are indeed the
Armani's of the day.
‘So John- the Armani thing is
good- to spend 4 grand for the board member’?
Actually- no it’s not.
Some- many- have argued that
Jesus was indeed rich- owned his own home- and was one of the richest men of
his day.
Years ago when I was on the
radio- I used to preach against this a lot.
I had an older listener- he was
steeped in this doctrine- I mean he would write me very long letters- over many
years- and I knew he read the bible a lot.
After years of hearing these
arguments- he became one of the innocent victims of false teaching.
He really did thank me for my
teachings- and every so often if he missed the program I would send him the
tape- but this person was not an outright con artist- he was convinced of this
belief.
He had a very long justification
for why he thought Jesus was the richest man of his day.
I know it’s hard for the casual
observer to understand how people can be duped like this- but trust me- this is
no isolated case.
Okay- back to the coat.
Did the fact that Jesus had an
expensive coat mean he was rich?
No.
How did he get the coat then?
The bible does not say- but the
first story I told you- the perfume- gives us a hint.
People did do extravagant acts of
worship on/for Jesus.
And it’s quite possible that some
person gave their expensive Armani to the Lord.
That’s it.
One day I was watching Larry
King- you know some think he actually lived at the time of Christ [sorry].
He had on a very popular
prosperity preacher.
King was open and honest- he
always was a good interviewer.
King asked the man ‘how can you
actually think Jesus was rich- I mean even the New Testament speaks about him
as not being a millionaire’.
And the preacher- he sincerely
believed that these types of verses I just talked about proved King wrong.
Now- this preacher- like many
others- have a huge influence in the modern church.
They often have very large
audiences and they do reach entire continents with this message [Africa].
Yet- at the end of the day- even
though they mean well [for the most part] they teach a tragically flawed
gospel.
I mean there's no other way for
me to say this- in a way it’s nothing less than ministerial mal practice- on a
huge scale.
Let’s end with this- many times
people will never listen to reason- even if you give them biblical arguments-
they become fixed in their view- and that’s that.
I simply recommend people read 1st
Timothy chapter 6.
The apostle Paul warns his young
protégé to avoid this type of thing.
He says ‘we came into this world
without material wealth- when we leave we can’t take it with us- so be content
with what you have’.
Notice- Paul does not say
‘Timothy- you must believe for great wealth so you can reach the world with the
gospel’
Or
‘You must get rich- so you can
fulfill the promise that Jesus told us- that he came to give us abundant life’.
No- the apostle does not use any
of the reasoning of the many who are preaching this gospel today.
In fact- many of the modern
preachers say Paul’s idea was wrong- they say ‘if your happy with the little
you have- you’re in sin’.
,
Who you gonna believe?
I’ll go with Paul.
1868- ALIEN INVASION
Last night I was watching a talk
given by the Ohio congressman- Dennis Kucinich.
Dennis is known as a big Lib- he
has been the butt of jokes for years- he once saw a UFO- and that pretty much
put the nail in the coffin.
But- to be fair- the guy is smart.
Now- I’m not saying I believe
everything he says [accept of course about the alien ship] but during the talk
he was asked a question.
And he used an example from
Evolutionary Biology.
He said- in so many words
‘scientists tell us that there is this thing called Punctuated Equilibrium’ and
he used this idea to make a political point.
Now- as I heard Dennis- I thought
‘geez- if I get into this in the morning [now] it will take the whole post’.
So let’s see how far we can go.
I laughed somewhat over the
example.
Why?
Evolutionary Biology has made
great strides- and had setbacks ever since the idea was popularized by Charles
Darwin in the 19th century.
Now- Charlie was not the first
person to espouse the idea.
In fact- there was another famous
scientist at the time- who some believe Darwin ‘stole’ the idea from him [much
like the debate with Einstein- the famous Mathematician- Max Plank- at one
point took part of the original idea of Einstein and almost became the famous
one].
So- what Darwin is famous for is
coming up with the theory of Evolution [what we call Macro Evolution- that all
species came from a common ancestor- one spontaneous living cell that popped
into existence from nothing- Charlie did not teach this by the way- not fully-
but the modern theory has gone there].
Okay- it would take too much
space to explain all the ins and outs.
But the debate that has raged for
the past 150 years has been whether or not this ever really happened.
That is- have all species
actually come from a common life.
The strong evolutionist insists
[or did insist] yes.
Those who questioned the theory
[not just Christians or Theists- but there are many in the scientific community
who have expressed real doubt- these men are not believers- but it’s virtually
impossible for their voices to be heard because when you question some of the
huge problems with the theory your usually tagged as a right wing nut].
So- after 150 years- the evidence
that they thought would be there- is simply not there.
How so?
After many years of discovering
fossils- and trying to see if there is a pattern of things actually evolving
over millions of years- the evidence does not show this.
Huh?
You heard me- the evidence shows
something quite different.
It shows us that new species came
into existence at set points in history.
That is- we might find a certain
species living for so long- and Walla- seemingly overnight- a new one pops up.
There is absolutely no regular
pattern of what you would call transitional species- it’s simply not there.
Okay- if this were the only
Monkey Wrench [pun intended] then that wouldn’t be so bad.
But as science has advanced- we
have also been trying- desperately- to get some type of species- anything- to
actually become something else.
The way we [science] attempts
this is thru the experimentation with fruit flies.
In the lab they have been trying
to simply get a fruit fly to become another thing [they breed and reproduce
fast- so that’s why they use them].
After many dollars and years
spent trying this- they can’t get this to happen.
There are many more reasons I
could give- but after things like this kept popping up- some in the field-
leading Evolutionary scientists- Gould [MIT]- one of the daughters from the
famed Leaky family- etc.- starting having real doubts.
Now- these doubts were not based
on religion- but science.
The data showed that there seems
to be this huge wall between species- that is it’s not as easy as Darwin first
thought.
As a matter of fact- the science
showed that it is virtually impossible for one thing to become another thing
[as far as we can tell right now].
So- the normal thing you would do
[should do] at this point is to say ‘maybe we got it wrong- maybe we need to
look in another direction’.
And Walla- Punctuated
Equilibrium.
Yes- as Dennis said- scientists
have said that this is the idea that instead of things slowly evolving over
millions/hundreds of thousands of years- they simply changed overnight.
Now- this in reality would be
saying ‘the other side- those who questioned Evolution- are right’.
Because the 2 major competing
theories are Evolution [things changed slowly over millions of years into new
species].
Creation- things came onto the
scene at once [or set times].
The Punctuated Equilibrium idea is
simply a fancy way of saying the evidence points to the creationist as being
right.
But instead of coming right out
and saying it like that- instead the theory sounds like it is a result of
Evolutionary biology.
I have heard this stated over the
years- that indeed Evolution has made this new discovery possible.
Now- I’m not a total rejecter of
the entire theory.
I have said in the past that
there is no doubt that evolution [natural selection] does take place within the
known species [called Micro Evolution].
But there is lots of evidence
that seems to say Evolution does not take place on the bigger scale- species
changing into another species over long periods of time.
[Darwin thought that whales
changed into cows over many years- he thought that the Black aborigine tribes
were proof that Evolution was true- he said these Black races were less
advanced along the scale. And the famous ‘Monkey Trial’ here in the U.S.
[Tenn.] made it look like the Christians were idiots. Many are not aware that the Evolutionary book
that Scopes was accused of teaching Evolution from was actually a racist book
that the KKK endorsed. The book [by
George Hunter] had a scale of the most advanced races- and the least advanced-
of course at the top were Whites- the bottom were Blacks. Yet the media made it sound like the more
noble side was indeed those who backed using the book in public schools].
But the entire argument shows you
how people’s bias affects the end result.
In reality- for anyone to say
that Evolutionary science has been responsible for the great breakthrough-
known as Punctuated Equilibrium- well it’s ridiculous.
Because Punctuated Equilibrium is
simply saying that those who reject the theory that species change into new
species over long periods of time- they are right.
So what you see is a manipulation
of the argument- to make it look like the ‘losing side’ is actually responsible
for this discovery.
But in reality the other side was right all
along.
See- I knew this would take the
whole post- thank Kucinich for it.
O- by the way- he does have a
backup plan.
He can always say the aliens did
it.
1869- THE GOD PARTICLE [and Mayan
flag day]
Hope you ‘all’ had a good 4th
of July.
I actually flew the flag for the
2nd time in so many months.
For years I never had a house
flag- I hung them up daily at the fire dept for 25 years and it never dawned on
me to get one.
So when I woke up on Memorial Day
and saw my neighbor’s flag flying high- yea- it made me feel like a commie.
So I went and bought a flag.
I asked my wife- ‘where did you
put the flag’ ‘it’s in the closet’.
I get the flag- it’s around 7 or
so- and I walk back into the room ‘let’s go hang the flag’.
My wife says ‘what do you mean-
you need 2 people to hang it’?
No.
But I want you to stand next to me and recite
the pledge.
I thought it was funny- she
didn’t seem to think so.
Yeah- I’m one of those types that
get the most use out of a purchase as possible.
I’ll probably be flying it on
that Mayan calendar day- I think it’s coming up pretty soon?
So- as I debated about what we
should discuss today- I picked up the paper [yesterday morning] and the front
page headline read ‘JUSTICE DEPT SUES CITY’.
I mentioned this the other day-
about the fire dept not hiring enough women [they say].
I read about half of the article-
I read the stats- we actually hired more women than other comparable cities.
I really did not want to do
another whole post on the thing- but it was sad to see that as a front page
headline- I don’t think we have ever been sued by our own govt. before.
[in the post the other day- I
think I used the word threat- maybe not- but now I know they did sue].
I have written about our attorney
general before- Eric Holder- this guy has politicized the justice dept to no end.
I could give you example after
example- even his past dealings are very shady- the Mark Rich pardon- a pardon
he recommended when he worked in the Clinton days.
By all accounts- Clinton pardoned
a crook because he had connections- Holder used his influence to get the dirty
deed done.
Pure- 100% Chicago politics-
corrupt to the core.
Okay- instead- let’s do the other
big news story- the so called God Particle.
Yeah- I heard/read a bunch of
stories on the so called breakthrough discovery.
Now- I am not ‘anti science’.
I am not a person who believes
the earth is only 6 thousand years old- or that kids rode on the backs of
dinosaurs.
But- in the historic setting of
apologetics- and the role that science has played in the debate- I must say
there are lots of misconceptions floating around in the air.
Okay- a brief history of the
scientific method and how it came to be.
The past year or so I covered
lots of posts on philosophy and physics and world history in general.
We covered how during the middle of
the last millennium [500years ago] the world began a break thru in many areas-
and we often refer to this as the modern era.
Man- science- thought- all of the
fields we see as part of the modern era- they began at around this point.
Science/philosophy and religion
all played a big role in the debate.
One of the big boys was a man
named David Hume- he was a thinker who questioned what we talked about the
other day- the law of cause and effect.
This law simply says that every
effect has a cause.
Hume challenged the popular idea
that we can know causes.
He said we think we can know the
cause of something- but in reality we can’t be sure.
The example Hume gave was the
Pool table.
He said we see a person hit the q
ball- the ball hits another ball and it goes into the pocket.
Hume said it might look like this
a string of cause and effects- but we don’t know for sure.
Maybe there are other reasons why
the balls are reacting like this.
Another famous example is the
Rooster crowing- the guy couldn’t sleep in because the sun kept shinning in his
window- so every morning right before the sun rose he heard the darn rooster
crow.
So he shot the rooster.
Just because one act precedes another- this
does not mean that is the cause.
Okay- we got it Hume.
But some began to doubt all
possible knowledge- they said you can’t make any judgments at all- because we
don’t know for sure what the real cause is.
Okay- this led another great
thinker- Kant- to challenge Hume [the famous quote from Kant was ‘he woke up
out of his dogmatic slumber’] and Kant said even though we can’t be 100 % sure-
yet for any possibility for science to function- we do need to be able to have
some type of way we can settle on knowledge- science does need to be able to
say ‘okay- we have looked at this long enough- we think this is what’s causing
this’.
Okay- this whole debate is called
Epistemology- how we know stuff.
Now- the God particle.
As I listened to the various
reports the last 2 days- I could tell right off the bat that there was some
funny stuff going on.
The actual statements form the
scientists are saying ‘well- we haven’t ACTUALLY seen the particle [also called
Higgs Boson] but- we have detected enough other particles- so we think the
Boson is more than likely there too’ or ‘it’s like looking in the distance- and
you think you see someone- but maybe you’re looking at his twin instead’.
Okay- what kind of argument is
this?
This is what we call a
Metaphysical argument.
It’s an argument that is made-
not because you actually detected the thing- but you have come to a conclusion
based on the Scientific Method of Induction/Deduction.
You looked at- observed- and
tested various things- and you now say ‘well- it must be there- because look at
all the other stuff’. [layman’s terms].
Okay- is there anything wrong
with this.
Not really.
But- here’s the catch- many in
the modern field of physics refute the argument for the existence of God
because in the end it is a metaphysical one.
That is- the materialist
scientist [one who says we only deal in facts that we can actually see\detect]
uses metaphysical arguments all the time- he just does not realize he is doing
this.
Remember the other day- I posted
about the many contradictions good men make when mixing science with apologetics
and the laws of argumentation [or logic].
They often do not realize they
are contradicting themselves- or making out right nonsense statements- because
they are scientists- not logicians.
So what we have in the Higgs
Boson case- in the Dark Matter- Dark energy case- in the entire Multi Verse
theory [many universes].
In all these theories- which now
make up the majority of modern physics- they are all the same type of argument
that the materialist scientist says are not good arguments- at least when it
comes to the argument for the existence of God.
In a nutshell- if we agree to
accept that a certain particle must exist- not because we have actually
detected it- but because ‘well- it must be there- because if not- then how do
we explain everything else’?
If these arguments are being used
in all of the above scenarios- and trust me- they are.
Then we can’t exclude the Theist
from the table- we can’t say ‘no- you silly Christian- you deal in things we
DON’T SEE- we deal in things we do see.’
Actually- you don’t.
All of the above theories are
conclusions based on how the other things around them respond.
The reason many think Dark Matter
exists- is not because we have found it- we haven’t.
But because in order for the
standard model- well- to stand- then Dark Matter simply ‘must be’.
Okay- this is the same type of
argument the Theist [one who believes in God] uses.
If you want to exclude the
believer from the table- on the grounds that he appeals to a ‘non detectable’
being.
Then we must ditch all of the
above.
And it seems- Higgs Boson too.
NOTE- all scientists are not
materialists- many are believers- and even many non believers are not
materialists. If you are a pure
materialist scientist- one who says we cannot accept any other non material
arguments [things we don’t actually see/detect] then you also would not be able
to accept any of the major theories of physics today- that is if you were
consistent in your thinking.
Also why did the researchers at
CERN release this as some great new finding?
The ‘discovery’ was made at the
new 10 billion dollar Hadron Collider.
This is the world’s largest Atom
smasher.
In order for the Europeans to
justify the cost- they had to convince people that this was the best chance to
actually discover this long elusive particle.
Now- Europe is in a near
depression- as most of you know.
This underground ‘particle
smashing tunnel’ [I think it’s right on the French Swiss border?] when first
opened- had a bad day.
It leaked oil into the tunnel and
it was shut down- and had to be repaired at the cost of millions of dollars.
Okay- all of these guys realize-
if you do not justify the cost of this thing- in the midst of a European
depression- then what are the odds that your gonna keep getting funded?
I don’t know if this was the main
reason they came out with the statement now- but for them to have come out- and
kinda have fudged on it- makes me wonder.
1870- THE PRAIRIE PROPHET
This week I read the book of
Amos.
Amos was a prophet to the northern
nation of Israel- 750-790 b.c. [though he had a few prophecies for Judah- the
southern nation].
He was unlike the other Old
Testament prophets- in that he was an ‘uneducated’ shepherd that came from a
little village [Tekoa] about 5 miles south of Bethlehem.
Yet- Amos knew history.
He railed against the political
leadership of the nation- he spoke up for the poor ‘in the gate’ and condemned
the ‘church’ of his day.
He said they were spending all
their time and money on religious celebration- on their own ideas of what they
felt God wanted [Amos says they worshipped the ‘gods that they made’].
And yet justice was falling down
in the street.
Yeah- Amos was a prophet sent
from God- and the people knew it.
I watched [re watched] a
documentary this week on the failed run for the presidency by George McGovern.
Now- as a news buff- I never
really studied McGovern- but have heard so much about the guy [usually
negative] that my view of him was formed by these little clips of his life.
McGovern is famous because his
loss to Nixon in 1972 was one of the biggest landslides in presidential
history.
As I watched the documentary- and
read Amos- I began seeing a type of Amos in McGovern.
McGovern was from South Dakota-
outside of the mainstream ‘machine’ of the Democratic Party.
He was raised in a preacher’s
home- and dabbled at becoming one himself.
He would eventually enter
politics- and also had a background as an historian [Amos].
They called him ‘the prairie
prophet’.
He was not the favored candidate
for his party’s nomination.
At first it looked like Muskie
would be their man.
But old Ed didn’t seem to have
the temperament for the job.
At one campaign stop he was
picketed by some gay rights group.
He said- quote ‘If I have to be
nice to a bunch of Soddomites to get elected- then fuck it’.
Unquote.
McGovern would eventually win his
party’s nomination- and lose in the general election.
As I watched the rise of
McGovern- the animosity- and outright hatred- from his own party.
I also saw that he indeed was a
voice in the wilderness at times.
McGovern is most famous for his
opposition to the Vietnam War.
It was said that just the name of
McGovern being said would send Lyndon Johnson into a rage.
McGovern stood steady in his
opposition- and as an historian he had read that other world watchers had
predicted that there would be an uprising in Indo China and South East Asia.
They said the people groups were
growing tired of colonialism- and they would eventually rebel.
So McGovern did not see the
Vietnamese as a communist threat- that left unchecked would have a domino
effect.
After the assassination of Bobby
Kennedy he was convinced to briefly throw his hat into the ring and run for the
68 nomination.
But the 1972 nomination was his
big achievement.
In the book of Amos there are
some choice quotes [not like Musky].
‘Hate evil and love good-
establish judgment in the land’
‘Let judgment run down as waters
and righteousness as a mighty stream’ [MLK’s famous line too]
‘Woe to them that are at ease in
Zion’ [the present day church]
The one that caught my eye the
most-
‘He strengthens the spoiled
against the strong so that they come against the fortress’.
At times in history there are
voices that rise- sometimes they are Prairie Prophets.
Sometimes we don’t realize the
importance of what they are saying- until after they are gone.
Rulers- people in power- they are
not all corrupt- but many are.
LBJ referred to Vietnam as a
‘little piss ant of a country’.
He [and Nixon] bombed the hell out
of the land- not wanting to be seen as week.
A small- little ‘piss ant’
country in South East Asia.
Hundreds of thousands would die
needlessly.
Men like McGovern- for all their
critics- saw the writing on the wall.
At the present day- as I write-
we have been at war in Afghanistan for around 11 years now.
We just reopened a key ground
[truck] route thru Pakistan- it has been shut for 7 months because we killed
around 30 Pakistani soldiers in a mistaken identity case.
NATO was flying over the border-
we were fired upon from the ground- and we bombed them.
We thought they were Taliban-
they were Pakistani.
Pakistan got pissed off- and they
forbid us to use the key supply route until we apologized.
We just did.
We are now having talks with the
Taliban- to come to some type of Peace Terms with them.
Our goal at the start was to
remove them from power because they gave Al Qaida a place to operate from.
At the start we were warned that
the Taliban [and the Afghanis in general] are a resilient people.
That to enter into a ground war-
in some ‘piss ant’ part of the Arab world would be foolish.
We are now trying to find a way
to untangle ourselves from this mess.
Yeah- after 11 years- our guys
coming home without their body parts.
Thousands dead- many of them
women and children.
Yeah- after 11 years our only
response is.
Well- in the immortal words of Ed
Muskie #$@^%$
1871- LIAR
Let’s recap a few recent news
events.
Yesterday Libya held their first
Democratic election.
To my surprise [and glad about
the thing] it seems [so far!] that they might have elected a ‘non Islamic’ guy.
Huh?
Yeah- every so called Arab Spring
state has gone the other way.
Yet- in Libya- maybe- just maybe
they will get a good guy.
‘John- do you mean to say the
Muslim Brotherhood’ are bad’?
In a way- yes.
Why?
What we have done in the Western
world [especially the President] is we have sided with those who have been
‘rebelling’ in these various nations.
You might have a situation like
Egypt- where we were actually good allies of the former leader- Mubarak.
Yet- he- like the other autocrats
in the region- did indeed abuse his power.
His police force were brutal- and
eventually the people rose up and had the historic protests in Tahrir square.
We then began calling for Mubarak
to step down [the infamous words of Robert Gibbs- the former press Secy- ‘he
needs to go- yesterday’]
And he did just that- he stepped
down under pressure.
Now- as ‘righteous’ as the U.S.
looked- we actually conspired secretly with the Egyptian military and used this
inside pressure to get the guy to go.
How come we had that type of
influence?
Because the top military leaders
were all trained at West Point- here in the U.S.
Our generals and military guys
all knew their top guys- and that’s how we did it.
Okay- the rest is history.
The Muslim Brotherhood guy just
won the election in Egypt- and he is calling back the Parliament- the military
dismissed them a few weeks ago- and the new guy is going up against the
military.
The Parliament had a majority of
Muslim Brotherhood in the ranks.
Because the Egyptian law limits
the majority in parliament- one party can only hold so many seats- their high
court ruled it ‘unconstitutional’ and they were ‘let go’.
So- the new Brotherhood guy wants
them back.
All in all- many [most] of these
countries are going the way of Islamic law.
This is not good for the rights
of women- it’s not good if your gay- and it’s bad if you’re a Christian.
Yes- even though they might have
been elected by the people- makes no difference- if you want to rule your
country by religious law- then that’s not good- period.
Okay- then why did we just have a
couple of days of worldwide media coverage about the Taliban killing the woman
‘taken in adultery’.
Look- we- the U.S.- use
propaganda all the time.
We are all affected by it.
The Taliban shot a woman because
she committed adultery with some military guys.
The media have been showing this
‘shocking’ tape.
We have been trying to negotiate
a peace treaty with these guys.
And how have they responded?
They blew up a few buildings and
killed a bunch of guy’s right after one of the recent meetings.
They are saying ‘screw you’.
So- we show how bad they are.
Got it?
‘But John- isn’t it bad’.
Of course.
But they do the same thing in
Saudi Arabia- Bahrain- and a bunch of other places.
And we support these other
leaders- even though they indeed do the same thing- based on Islamic law.
So- when we show the killing by
the Taliban- make no mistake- many of
‘our friends’ do the exact same thing.
I hope Libya turns out well- but
it’s too soon to tell.
Every now and then I’ll see that
they’re playing that Jim Carey flick.
Liar- Liar.
It’s kind of a kid’s type movie-
but when I saw it years ago- it was funny.
Carey is ‘cursed’ by having to
tell the truth for 24 hours.
His kid made a birthday wish and
Carey becomes this saint.
So- he finds himself in these
tough spots- being he is a lawyer.
He tells his secretary about the
curse- but she doesn’t believe him.
He says ‘go ahead- test me- ask
me something that you think I would lie about’.
So she begins questioning him
about the time she asked for a raise and he said that the bosses said they
couldn’t approve it because then all the other secretaries would want one.
She then recounts how he told her
he offered to pay out of his own pocket- but they said no.
As she recounts the tale- Jim
covers his ears and says ‘never mind- don’t ask- don’t ask’.
The next scene- she’s emptying
out her desk.
His son tells him ‘dad- my
teacher said that true beauty is in the heart- it’s not the outward
appearance’.
Carey responds ‘that’s just
something ugly people say’.
He does this all thru out the
movie.
At one point the secretary
answers the phone- it’s one of his regular ‘customers’.
She informs Carey that it’s him-
and he’s asking for advice- he just got busted doing some drug thing- or break
in.
Carey takes the phone to give him
the advice- actually I hesitated on using this- I mean I did drop the F bomb in
the last post- but he takes the phone and says ‘stop f$@# up- A- hole’.
What’s the solution to all these
uprisings?
We are now using the same words
that we used in all the other spots- we are talking the same way about Syria
‘the wrong of history- his time is short’.
I have stood on the side of the
people in all these uprisings- and at first I wanted to see real democracy
spring forth.
Yet- we must realize that many
radicals in these countries are also using the whole ‘wrong side of history’ to
see if we will come in and do the dirty work for them.
One of the militia leaders in
Libya- the side we backed- is actually an Al Qaeda guy who was released from
Gitmo.
Yeah- one of the prisoners we
released- he‘s running a military group right now in Libya.
So- what do we do?
When various groups rise up-
start an armed uprising- then say ‘look- do something- see- we are dying’.
We need to say- we support
democracy- everywhere.
But- if you want our backing-
then you can’t install Islamic rule- as the law of the land.
The U.S. would not permit it- so
we won’t back you if you keep doing it.
Second- if your ‘rebellion’
includes the bombing of civilians- hospitals- and other ‘non military targets’
[like the Syrian rebels] then we won’t back you.
In short- we- the U.S. and the Western
World- we are not responsible for all the world’s problems.
We want to help people- but not
groups who are tied to Al Qaeda.
We want to support democracy- but
not ‘democracies’ that elect leaders who want Islamic law.
Yeah- maybe the advice of Carey
to his client is what we need to tell them- stop- well- you know.
NOTE- Let me give you one more
example of ‘propaganda’.
Last year I watched a story
unfold on MSNBC.
Thru out the week they did their
usual Sarah Palin bashing.
Now- I have said in the past- I
think she was not ready for the job of V.P.
But- that doesn’t mean open
season on her- and her kids.
The story was some book writer
rented the house next door to the Palin’s.
He set up all the stuff to see if
he could catch them doing anything that the world might want to see.
I guess the guy had cameras and
recorders rolling.
So- the response of any normal
person would be to- get mad.
So they put up a bigger fence-
and tried to protect their privacy.
Then- some out of town reporter showed
up- he came to Alaska for the sole purpose of digging up dirt on the family.
He actually approached the
younger daughter of Palin- I think it was at the school yard.
She was around 13 at the time.
When mom and dad found out- they
were rightfully pissed off- like any normal parent would be.
They informed the guy- from out
of state- to stay away from this minor- I mean who knows- the guy might have
been some sex offender.
So- one day in town- the guy
approached the daughter again.
When Sarah found out- she was
fuming.
So they contacted the
authorities- and they tried to press charges.
How did I find out about the
story?
Well- on MSNBC- Keith Olberman's show- before he
quit.
He covered the story as 'Sarah
Palin and her nut family’.
Yeah- he had the reporter on- and
they made him look like a victim.
‘Who does the daughter think she
is- damn it! I mean- it’s not illegal to walk up to somebody in town!’
Yeah- you tell em Keith.
The story went on and they
depicted Palin- and her minor daughter- as nut cases.
The reporter defended himself by
saying after the school yard incident- he decided to leave the girl alone.
But being he flew to Alaska- he
might as well not waste the ticket.
So- he went ‘sight seeing’.
As he was ‘sight seeing’ in town-
low and behold- the daughter- by chance- spotted him.
He says she approached him.
Then- MSNBC made it look like the
daughter was the nut ‘who does she think she is- she’s the one who was out
looking for you’.
Okay- this guy is in Alaska for
the sole purpose of getting dirt on Palin- yet the daughter sought him out.
It was sad that a so called news
organization would do this [another reporter- Andrew Sullivan- reported a story
that Sarah’s Down Syndrome son Trigg- was really the ‘bastard’child of Bristol-
this story will forever live on the internet- the son- and all the family will
one day read it].
It was even sadder that many
believed it.
I usually have talks with my
liberal friend when stuff like this happens- and they usually have swallowed
the line.
‘Geez John- look how dumb Palin
is- who does her daughter think she is- just because your 13 doesn’t mean adult
men cant approach you’.
Say of the story were turned
around- say if this happened to Sasha or Malia- the presidents girls- would we
be saying the same thing?
See- that’s media bias- that’s
propaganda- that’s what happens to all of us- regardless of what side of the
aisle your on.
1872- TEXAS ‘HOLD-ER’ [Texas
Hold-em is a popular scratch off down here in Skynard land]
I had an interesting day on
Facebook yesterday.
I kinda hung out for most of the
day- reading my friends sites and all.
Being I’ve been living in Texas
for the past 32 years- to me it’s neat to see all the old pics from my hometown
area.
Some of my friends post classic/current
pictures of my old stomping grounds- that’s so cool.
As I perused the landscape- I
also noticed something- many of my friends get lots of comments.
At first this seemed like a good
thing- but as the day wore on- and I watched the news [Holder story- in a sec]
I began letting ole slew foot in the door.
‘Yeah- why do they get so many
comments- and I get none’?
‘Wait John- don’t go down that
road- you know where it leads’.
Okay- I resisted ‘resist the
devil and he will flee from you’ [James].
Yet- the more comments I saw- the
worse it got.
‘John- focus on the word- find a
short- 2 or 3 word verse that you can fixate your mind on’
Good idea!
‘Love those that treat you wrong-
don’t get even- don’t be jealous’.
I mean- there are so many to choose
from- plus- they sound real good- but I can’t seem to ‘get satisfaction’ by
focusing on them.
I also saw lots of old Rock pics
and stuff- yeah- even ran across that old Stones tune ‘I can’t get no
satisfaction’ I know what you mean Mick.
So- after a while- I found a
short- 3-4 word phrase that seemed to do the trick- but it came from the
Facebook site itself.
REPORT/BLOCK THIS PERSON
Oh yeah- sweet- so sweet.
Easy to remember- and it feels
sooo good!
Okay- I kid.
Now- what actually did get me riled
up a bit?
As a news watcher- I flip the
channels nonstop.
I watch em all.
So- as I’m resisting the jealousy
thing- I see that Eric Holder came to Texas to address the NAACP.
They showed a few short clips of
the speech.
He has sued our state multiple
time- he just sued Corpus Christi last week [few posts back].
So as he’s giving the speech- he
criticizes the new voter ID law.
He even mocks good ole Texas.
You know- Skynard said ‘southern
man don’t need him around anyhow- in Birmingham we love the govn’r’ yeah- he
stuck it to old Neil Young.
So Holder says that the new law
would permit you to vote if you showed a pictured gun permit- but you could not
use a student ID.
Yeah- you preach it Holder!
Doesn’t that sound like Texas is
filled with a bunch of A holes?
Boy did they roar in the crowd.
He then went on and said the law-
which requires an ID [I’m pretty sure you can get one for free if you don’t
have the money?] is a POLL TAX.
He said we were all racists.
This is our attorney general.
‘John- be honest- it’s because
he’s Black- isn’t it’?
No- that’s only about 5 % of it
[okay- I kid once more].
The truth be told- this is indeed
playing the race card- and for the chief officer of the justice Dept. to be
playing this card- well- that’s bad.
I mean why would a gun permit do
the trick- yet a student ID wont?
In Texas- many students
[thousands- 10’s of thousands?] are not U.S. citizens.
It’s not against the law for a
non citizen to have a Texas student idea.
Yet- you can’t get a gun permit
without an extensive background check.
If you have a permit- you are a
citizen.
Now- Holder knows this- so what
he did was pure politics- he appealed to the racist instinct in all men- yes
even in Black men- and he played the race card.
This is shameful- it is racist-
and the man needs to resign his job- now.
Okay- see- now I’m struggling
again- just like the comment thing ‘love your enemies- pray for those who do
you wrong’.
Yeah- I know.
But BLOCK THIS PERSON.
It just feels so much better.
All right.
Psalms 78.
I have been reading/meditating on
it the last couple of days.
The Psalm recounts the story of
God meeting the needs of his people when they came out of Egypt and were in the
wilderness- for 40 years.
You find the story in the book of
Exodus.
During this 40 year journey-
which in reality was a couple of day journey- but they wandered in circles for
40 years because they would not believe the promise God made to them.
So- during this time they
complained- lots.
‘we will starve out here- we have
no bread- no water- no meat’.
And time after time God would do
a miracle and give them what they needed.
In the Psalm we read that he gave
them bread from heaven- it was called MANNA- the word means ‘what is it’.
It was called Angels food.
It was a little wafer type thing
[Catholic friends- think Host] and in the morning when they got up it was on
the ground- every day- for 40 years.
They wanted meat- they started
complaining about the Manna ‘Manna every day- cant we change the menu up
Moses’.
So God sent them meat- he caused
a strong wind to blow and tons of Quail blew in from off shore- they had meat
‘until it came out their nose’- yeah- this is a quote from the bible.
So- God did provide for them- yet
they still complained.
Years ago when reading the story
I came across a verse I liked [almost as much as BLOCK THIS PERSON].
It said Moses kept the ordinances
in the wilderness for 40 years.
Think about that.
After God parted the Red Sea-
they spent 40 years wasting time.
They were supposed to go right
into the promised land [Cancan- Israel] but because of their whining- it took
40 years to make the 3 day trip.
Yet- God gave them ordinances-
religious type rituals that he wanted them to keep- Passover- etc.
And Moses kept observing them-
even though the promise was so far away.
Yeah- that’s the tough part if
you will- what divides the men from the boys.
It’s not your talent [or how many
darn comments you get] or your good looks.
No- at the end of the day- can
you keep the ‘ordinances in the wilderness’.
Can you do what needs to be done-
even when all hope seems gone.
Yeah- that’s the key.
So- as I end this post- I too
have a choice.
Will I think ‘happy thoughts’?
Nah- the BLOCK THIS PERSON still
seems to give me that extra umph- one more night with the frogs will have to do
[one of the 10 plagues- it’s a long story for another day].
1873- DON’T DO THE CRIME IF YOU
CANT DO THE TIME
Last night I was arrested for
impersonating a cop.
Okay- not really [see last
Facebook post- real time].
No- the title comes from one of
my favorite TV shows as a kid.
Barretta.
How many of you saw the interview
he did last night with Piers Morgan?
I rarely watch this show- but the
night before I saw a quick plug for it- and decided to watch the thing.
It was one of the weirdest
interviews I’ve seen.
Blake [Robert Blake played
Barretta in the cop flick].
He made it into the headlines a
few years back because he was suspected of shooting his wife- Bonnie Lee
Blakely.
It became one of those viral type
stories- you know- the whole ‘movie star’ is in trouble thing.
He was eventually acquitted- but
found guilty in civil court.
I was surprised to hear Blake
talk about God- a lot.
He cursed Morgan a few times-
rambled about his past- and it was genuinely a wacky interview.
I started thinking about the old
TV shows when I was a kid.
Okay- what one was your favorite?
[Between 1970-80].
I’ll never forget this one
episode of a show simply titled FAMILY.
It was one of those down to earth
Walton type things.
I used to watch it with my
sister.
This one episode- the star of the
show- I think the actor was Gary Frank [show name- Buddy?]
Anyway- I guess he was the latest
‘cute kid’ that the girls flipped over.
I hated having to compete with
these guys.
You know- how can you impress the
girl in class if she’s thinking of David Cassidy all day?
So- in this episode some ex-con
knocks on the door.
Buddy gets it.
The guy introduces himself and
then the mom comes.
Buddy walks away- and the convict
says ‘That’s one tough looking dude’.
Huh?
Where in the world did the
writers come up with a line like that?
I mean it was so out of the blue.
This convict just spent 10 years
in the hole with murderers and all.
Yet- his first impression of
Buddy was ‘he’s tough lookin’.
So- as we laughed- hard.
I told my sister ‘I know- Frank’s
contract must have been up- and instead of a raise- he wanted this line in the
next show’.
Ahh- vanity of vanities.
Okay- the other day I got with
the homeless guys.
I was surprised- Mike [the
artist] had a gift for me.
As we sat at the mission- outside
on one of the benches.
Mike pulled out a new CD- still
in the wrapper.
Boston.
I told Mike- you wont believe
this- I just asked my girls to get me the Boston CD for father’s day.
They made me about 5 cd’s from
the internet. [I told my future son in
law- after he informed me of where he can burn them- for free. I said ‘I do the
same thing- I just Google ‘burn illegal songs without getting caught’ and a
bunch of real good sites pop up- even from the FBI]
Actually- he did burn me some
good tunes.
But Mike remembered that I said I
liked Boston [the rock group- not the state]
And he picked me up the CD.
I also had another good long talk
with Dirk.
Dirk lives in his van- has been
for the past 25 years- ever since I’ve known him.
Dirk can't stand the homeless
guys- even though he is one.
One good friend Henry [written
about a lot over the years] is also the ‘street Deacon’ for a church that’s
called ‘Church without walls’.
Brother Ray- a street preacher-
runs the ministry.
Dirk often talks bad about Ray-
and the people that go to the free meals he serves [Dirk being one].
So Dirk was once again ranting
about the bums and addicts and all.
He often says ‘the bible says
you’re not supposed to help these people- if they don’t want to work [like
Dirk] then they should not eat’!
He is blind to the fact that he
is actually one of them.
He mentioned the apostle Paul’s
writing to the Corinthian church.
Paul did say ‘don’t eat with the
heathen’.
Dirk said ‘see’.
I spent a little time trying to
put it in context.
Let’s try.
Jesus was accused of being A
FRIEND OF SINNERS.
Notice- it wasn’t just ‘I have a
ministry to homeless folk’.
No- a friend.
That’s what irked the ‘heck’ out
of the Pharisees.
I mean they were willing to
‘minister’ to them [by judging them].
But no- Jesus was their friend.
Actually- there’s a famous song
on this very theme.
Okay- in the city of Corinth-
well- you had a lot of stuff happening.
Corinth was on the way to Athens
[the center of philosophy of the day].
And it would be considered one of
the more ‘liberal’ cities of the day.
It was like the Amsterdam of our
day.
Prostitution was legal and open
on every corner.
Paul told the women in the
Corinthian church to ‘wear head coverings’ when they went to church.
Huh?
Why?
More than likely- a cultural
thing just for the day.
The way the ‘street ladies’ put
on the Red Light was to wear no veil/hat.
So Paul told the women in the
city- wear your hat.
You had a few other things like
this- where the context explains the meaning.
So- another big thing at Corinth
was eating ‘at the table of idols’.
One of the local customs was you
would buy some type of animal- use it as a sacrifice to one of the idols- and
then the meat would be sold ‘at the shambles’.
A sort of market where you bought
the meat at a cheap rate.
This stuff became an issue at
Corinth- and they wondered whether it was okay to eat the meat.
They also had a controversy over
the Lords Supper [Eucharist] and some other stuff.
So- Paul did say ‘don’t eat with
the heathen’.
But- in context- he was telling
them not to be a part of the custom of eating at this idol type buffet thing.
See?
They were having their own meal
[Lords Supper] and they ought not to be worshipping the idols at the other
table.
Okay- that’s context.
That’s why Jesus did eat with the
prostitutes and sinners- and he was not violating the law.
Okay- there are lots of things like
this when you study the bible.
And I do see the point that Dirk
was making.
You do want to encourage people
to not become a permanent member of the welfare state.
You do want to try and help them
get on their feet.
The apostle Paul did say ‘if they
don’t work- they should not eat’.
Talking to the actual church
members- he did not want people ‘coming to Christ’ for the free stuff.
But- we always have people in
need- and we’re commanded to love/help them.
Okay- that’s it for now- maybe I
can catch a re- run of Barretta tonight?
I have not seen it yet on the
guide.
I try to avoid Family- Buddy
scares me.
1874- THE MONEY PIT
The other day I took a few pics of my homeless
friends.
I thought I better get them while
I can- I have had a few of the guys die on me.
So- I checked my old cell phone
and found a few from some friends who died already [Shelby] - plus a few old
pics from the fire dept.
I’ll try and post them this week.
Okay- the day I took the recent
pics I saw Buck.
I haven’t seen Buck in around 3
years.
[I had heard he died once- then
later saw him.
Henry- who is usually real
reliable- a trusted friend- told me Buck died.
He also told me Roger died in
jail.
And he told me Vern died [all
over a period of 3 years or so].
Then one day while sitting at the
mission- with Henry- Buck showed up.
‘Hey Buck- I heard you died’.
Then Roger showed up.
‘I can’t believe it- you’re alive
too’.
I realized at that point that
Henry was not the most reliable source when it comes to the Obit column.
I will not be surprised if I see
Vernon one day. ]
Bucks a nice guy- but a falling
down drunk- you know- the type that’s so drunk he passes out on the street.
I’ll admit- I have had my
problems with drinking a little more than you should over the years- no
excuses.
But Buck goes real overboard.
The thing that surprised me was
Buck was missing an arm- he lost a ton of weight- and he’s in a wheel chair.
He looked so bad- almost to the
point where you would avoid him.
When the guys went inside the mission
to eat- I sat opposite Buck at the table.
Buck recognized me and asked for
a couple of dollars.
I try not to give drunks money-
but I have given a few guys a few dollars.
I give away money- but I realize
with Buck he will drink.
So- I had a 20 on me- and asked
for change from the workers at the mission.
No one had any- after a little
while I gave Buck the 20.
Was he happy?
Yeah- and no.
Being he’s in a wheel chair- and
one arm- he can’t push the thing [you know- circles].
So he asked if I could push him
to the restroom.
They have a bathroom for the
homeless- and one for the employees.
The homeless one was occupied- so
Buck had me turn him around and he ‘went’ in the workers bathroom.
I had no idea about the rule- but when he
asked me to stop him at the workers bathroom- he stood up and took a leak.
The lady that runs the place
screamed at me [no lie] ‘your gonna clean it up mister’.
I said- fine- if that’s what you
want- no problem.
I did.
Look- I was in the Navy before-
so having ‘latrine duty’ was no biggy.
When I wheeled Buck back to the
table- he bummed a cigarette from Don and asked me to wheel him outside for a
smoke.
I told him I was gonna sit inside
for a little bit- but he would not stop asking.
Buck is a narcissist- he found
someone who was willing to help- and the demands came- one after the other.
I wheeled Buck outside- and had
to walk away- he would not stop seeking
his own welfare- nonstop requests.
So- I sat with Andy and Huey- old
friends.
Huey asked if I had a couple of
dollars- I told him [and Tammy] ‘look- I had a 20- I wanted to get change- and
you guys could have split the money- but Buck has the 20’.
They wanted me to get the 20
back- and they would get change.
I told them ‘I’m finished with
Buck- if you want- you get the change’.
The wheels started rolling [in
their head- not Bucks chair].
So- after a few requests- they
conned Buck out of the 20.
He wanted cigarettes [another
request] and Andy said he’d get the smokes- and then bring a 10 back- and Huey
and Andy and Tammy would split the rest.
So- Andy gets back [he had
someone’s truck] and as he spreads the loot- Huey grabs the 10 and Buck gets
the cigs and 2 dollars.
Bucks pissed- Huey laughed- and I
told them ‘I don’t care who gets what- leave me out’.
Actually- first I said ‘hey- I
just remembered- I have no gas- can somebody lend me 2 Bucks’.
Yeah- a test.
Actually- they all were willing
to give me a couple back.
I know to some folk- this looks
bad.
In a way it is- trust me- I have
lots of friends who never- not one time- ask me for money.
I had some that took me out to
eat- they saved thru out the week so they could buy.
And the whole thing this day-
well- it was kind of funny in a way- I know these guys well- real well.
Huey was asking Andy [his
brother] to go down the block- to the motel- and go to room ?- tell the girl
‘I’m Huey’s brother’ and then get the 2 ‘things’ in the cabinet.
Now- I realize he’s giving him
directions to get some type of drug.
Not sure what type- maybe Meth-
it’s popular in this area [called Ice].
But Andy kept saying ‘look Huey-
if you want me to go- tell me what it is’.
He didn’t want to say it with me
there- I walked around the building for a sec- and came back.
Andy went on the mission.
He came back- the girl was not
there.
When I was going thru my phone
pics- I saw I had one of Andy and John David [all 3 are real brothers- Andy,
John David and Huey].
And I thought I will post that
one for sure- we were at my house and had a fellowship- we did the lords Supper
right in the yard.
John David and Andy are actually
seeking God.
At the time of the picture- John
David was clean from drugs for a couple of months.
He had a great story- wrote about
it at the time- but he really made an effort to seek the Lord.
I guess I’ll re- tell the story-
it’s worth it.
Many years ago when the brothers
lived in Dallas- John David shot- and killed his best friend with a shotgun.
The case gained publicity- and
John’s mom did her best to get her son a good lawyer.
She was told that the best guy
was the guy who actually defended the guy who shot Lee Harvey Oswald.
He told me the name- I forget it
now.
But his mom went to the lawyer’s
office and waited all day- he was trying to avoid her.
Finally- at the end of the day-
he came out of the room and she asked if he could defend her son.
He did the job pro bono.
He got John off.
John told me a year later he went
to his friend’s grave and ‘pissed on it’.
He was in no mood to repent.
The family moved to Corpus after
that [early 70’s].
And John David had a thriving
construction business.
He also hated the homeless
people.
John became a big time addict
[Coke- etc.]
He eventually lost it all and
wound up on the streets- with the people he despised.
Over the years when I met the
different guys on the streets- John kept his distance.
He looked bad- scary looking-
like someone that would indeed shoot you to be honest.
Anyway- I met his brothers- Andy
and Huey- and John kept his distance.
One day at the mission John was different.
He actually couldn’t wait to tell
me the story.
A few months earlier he was all
strung out down by the bay [I’ll post these pictures too- we live surrounded by
water].
He was doing the usual thing-
getting high.
He was tired- he lost his business-
family [he had a boy get run over- the boy- and the doctor who ran him over-
were both drunk at the time- the boy died].
John sat there and said to God
‘if you’re fucking real- then do something’.
A couple of days later- 2
strangers came up to him and offered to pay 5 thousand to send him to the local
re-hab- called Charlie’s place.
John went- met a bunch of
Christians- and got clean- and dedicated his life to God.
John came over to the house a few
times- we had a few fellowships [I’ll post the pics] and he stayed clean- for a
long time.
That’s been about 5 year’s now-
and the other day I heard one of the guys tell Andy ‘I heard John David was not
doing well’.
I dreaded to ask- but I did ‘what
do you mean- he’s back on drugs’?
The guy- who did not know me from
Adam- said ‘no- actually he’s be clean for years- but he needs heart surgery
and back surgery’.
I was not glad to hear about the
medical problems- but was glad to hear he was still clean.
So- all in all it was a good day.
Yeah- the guys fought over the
20.
I cleaned the bathroom.
But in the end- it was worth it.
Oh yeah- John David got his answer ‘I’M REAL’.
1875- FELON
I wanted to cover a bunch of
stuff today- but I know I won’t be able to get to it all.
I haven’t commented on the news
in a while- and there are some trending narratives that we probably should do.
This last week the Obama campaign
accused Romney of possibly committing a felony.
Now- most of us know why the
accusation was made- and yeah- we all know politics gets dirty.
What I find ‘funny’ is- out of
all the presidents- and potential presidents of the past few decades- none-
zero- has had the corrupt connections like the present president.
Why?
Look- I’m not an Obama hater- nor
a Romney lover.
But- the reality is- our current
president has all types of current/former political connections that are
presently on the verge of being convicted for committing felonies- or are
serving time for just that.
But- as you listen to the news-
you would never know it.
Right now- as I write- Jesse
Jackson Jr. is in ‘treatment’ for a Mood disorder.
Jackson left his post a couple of
months ago- and his Chicago constituents were asking where he was [he’s a
congressman from Chicago].
The story finally made it into
the national news.
Some thought he was in hiding- or
on the run.
The latest is he is being treated
for the mood disorder.
Why was there speculation that he
was on the run?
Because another associate just
got sent to prison for his involvement in the Chicago political corruption.
The case?
It involves illegal contacts with the Obama
people when he was running for pres- yes- real felonies- not fake ones.
Enter the former governor.
Rod Blagoavich [sp?] also got
sent to the pokey.
Why?
You guessed it- more illegal
contacts with the actual Obama people- caught on actual FBI tapes.
Rahm Emanuel- the president’s former chief of
staff- and current mayor of Chicago- he was on the tapes.
Yeah- real felonies all around.
Tony Rezko.
Who’s he?
Glad you asked.
Once again another close
confidant of Obama sent to prison for corrupt real estate deals- they were
committing crimes by doing illegal deals for their friends.
Obama actually bought real estate
from this man- he actually was involved in one of the deals.
These are all real felonies- real
crimes- that all of the people who were wheeling and dealing with the
president- while he was a senator from Illinois- have gone to prison for.
Yet- the media covered these
stories at a minimal rate.
Some of you never even heard of
them until now.
But- the major media market has
been intensely going thru all the business deals of Romney.
Not one news organization that
has investigated it has said Romney has done anything even being close to
illegal- yet this is the major story of the day.
This is what you call media bias.
You have one person [Obama] who
was surrounded with friends/political partners who were all convicted of
felonies and sent to prison.
One of the players is currently
in treatment for a ‘mood disorder’ yet- the media rarely mentions that the real
problem is they were all involved with illegal deals while in contact with the
Obama people.
This is real- these people were
all sent to prison because of this.
Rezko sits in prison right now-
and he actually sold one of the homes to Obama- no joke.
To even have this ‘side’ make an
accusation of a felony is unbelievable- yet- the media try to make you believe
it.
‘John- how do you know Romney
wasn’t really doing an under the counter deal- maybe he was lying to the govt.
when he said he was still the CEO of Bain’.
This is how- if you are trying to
deceive the people- and your plan is to say- on paper- that you’re the CEO of a
company.
Then- as you are trying your
hardest to stay ‘undetected’ you then proceed to run the U.S. Olympics for 3
years.
I mean who in their right mind
would do something like that- unless the story is true.
The story that Romney says is
true.
He went and took the job at the
Olympics because he thought it was a good thing to do.
He refused to get paid by the
way- just like when he was governor of Mass- he refused to take a check.
There are other things that the
president has done that has turned some heads- even liberal ones.
Obama is the first president in
the history of the nation to have executed an American citizen without a trial.
Huh?
Yes- no lie.
When asked what his justification
was- the ACLU sued to get the administration to release the justice dept.
papers that justified the killing.
The Justice dept refused to
release the memo- and instead made a statement that said ‘Due process does not
mean you get a trial’.
Huh?
Most observers- liberal ones-
said this is outrageous.
The U.S. constitution says U.S.
citizens have the right to due process- which means the courts.
Holder interprets that as saying
the process ‘they do’ at the justice dept will cover it.
Even Colbert mocked it- he said
‘o- they mean it’s a process YOU DO’.
I’ll end with this.
When Obama authorized use of
force in Libya- he did not go to congress to get approval.
The constitution does give the
power to go to war to the congress.
When this happened- some in the
media reported that Bush did it too.
That was wrong- Bush sought
congressional approval twice- and got it.
Obama was the first to go it
alone.
He argued that planes dropping
bombs was not ‘military action’ but ‘kinetic action’.
[it was later reported that we
had men on the ground in the action]
He forever changed the standard
of war.
I could go on- but I think you get
the hint.
So- the next time you see a media
report about Romney being a felon.
Re read this post- it will help
you keep things in context.
1876- THE SPEED OF LIGHT
Wasn’t sure which way to go- but
this morning I was walking in my yard [I get up real early!] and I thought
about the story of the Unjust Judge.
It’s a parable that Christ told-
I actually haven’t read it in a while- but remember it pretty well.
Jesus said in this city there was
a widow who went to this judge- the judge did not ‘fear God—or care about men’.
She had a situation where she
needed the judge to do justice on her behalf.
The judge at first put the woman
off- but then he said ‘I better do something- because her continual nagging is
driving me up the wall’ [my paraphrase].
Jesus then said ‘see what the
judge did- how much more will my heavenly father do for those who come to him’-
then he says ‘he will avenge THEM SPEEDILY’.
We often tell the story like this
‘see- God is like the judge- he will defend you’.
Actually Jesus is saying ‘God is
not like the judge’.
This judge acted- not out of what
was right- but out of pressure- you know- the lobbyist wins.
But God- he does what’s right.
I was thinking about my governor
when this verse ‘speedily’ dropped into my head.
During one of the debates Rick
Perry used an example- I forget what the whole thing was about- but he said
‘such and such will happen- at the speed of light- literally’.
I think he was talking about Iran
coming into Iraq and having more dominance in the region [which by the way he
was right about].
But- when you use an example that
has ‘the speed of light’ in it- well- it’s usually Figuratively- which just
happens to be the opposite of literally- you know- a minor detail.
Okay- I can hear my Jersey
friends now ‘wow John- you got one heck of a governor in the Lone Star state’.
Yeah- what can I say?
Maybe this ‘didn’t I see Christie
on the boardwalk the other day’?
Let’s let bygones be bygones-
deal?
Our timing- what we think is
speedily- is not the same time line of God.
There are many texts in the bible
that talk about the ‘end of the world’ and ‘the coming of Christ’ and it says
it will happen fast.
These verses were penned 2
thousand years ago.
[Actually this is a pretty in
depth study- how the church has handled the verses that deal with the End
Times.
We call this Eschatology.
There are different views on
this- Futuristic- Historical- Preterist.
This entire teaching is worth
doing- I have done some over the years.
In a nutshell- some of these verses
say ‘at the end of the age’ not ‘world’.
In the Greek language- which the
New Testament was written in- the word used is age.
So- they are not always saying
‘the world will end soon’.
But ‘the age’.
What age?
In context- the old age [dispensation]
of law- the Old Covenant.
And the New age- the age of
Grace- has come.
This debate does have some
[lots?] of merit to it- and it ‘solves’ some of the complaints from the critics
of Christianity who say ‘Jesus was wrong when he said the end of the world
would happen soon’.
In the above context- it did
happen soon- see?]
So- we all have requests- we are
in a way like the woman going to the judge.
Ask- Knock- don’t quit.
Jesus said ‘men ought always to
pray and not to faint’.
Pope John Paul said ‘prayer is
strength for the weak’.
James said ‘the continual fervent
prayer of a righteous man avails much’.
Yeah- whatever the request is-
the good judge will do what’s best- not because you’re bugging him nonstop- but
because it’s right.
1877 CHINESE FOOD- RELIGION-
POLITICS [WOW!!]
Let’s try and cover a few things
today.
Yesterday I went down to the
mission to see the guys.
Henry showed up- I was hanging
out with Dirk and Joe for a little while.
Henry heard they were serving
chili – he has stomach problems- so he invited me and Joe to go to the Chinese
buffet about a block away.
Henry has been working regularly
at the boat dock and he had some cash.
We walked down to the Chinese
place and Joe and Henry ate- I never eat lunch [or b-fast].
We had a good time- I actually
took a few pictures and my daughter will try and post them [I’m bad at that].
We talked for a while- actually
the guys brought up politics on their own.
Geez- Chinese buffet- homeless
outreach and politics- I thought for sure the Kingdom had come.
Henry told me ‘John- did you
hear- the cops cuffed me at HEB the other day’.
He told me the story.
Henry is one of the most
upstanding guys you could ever meet.
He is a deacon for church without
walls [a homeless church].
He is practically a scholar when
it comes to the bible- and he does not do drugs or get drunk [he drinks wine.
Not a lot- he thinks it helps with his stomach- that’s actually in the bible.
Paul told Timothy ‘drink a little wine for you ailments’].
So- just to let you know- Henry
is not a trouble maker by any means.
Why did the cops cuff him?
He went to HEB [our local
grocery] and bought lunch.
He ate- then went to catch the
bus.
Someone had called the cops and
said a homeless guy was threatening him if he didn’t give him money.
HEB is right next to the mission
so it’s possible that one of the other guys did do this.
So- when the cops got there they
thought it was Henry and they cuffed him.
Henry does get mad- over the
years they have arrested him- for no reason- they were just doing a sweep of
the area- business people complain about all the ‘bums’- the cops pick a bunch
of them up with no real charge- Henry is not loitering- he’s not drunk- he just
looks bad [check out the picture on Face Book].
So- he has had to sit in jail-
without doing any crime- and of course it would piss you off- it would me.
So anyway he told me the scoop-
they finally uncuffed him- and let him go.
I took a few more pictures of the
guys- now that I started posting pictures of the guys- I’m like the dad that
keeps making his kids pose for pics on vacation [like my dad did a lot].
The guys were like ‘why are you
taking pics’?
I told them I started posting
them to the site.
They said ‘wow- were gonna be
famous’.
One of the guys said ‘you can’t
take my pic- the cops might find me’.
Yeah- figures.
I mentioned that I regret the
fact that some of the guys have died and I never got a picture.
I talked about Bill.
Bill was one of the first guys I
met on the street- he was about 30 years older than me and I have written a few
posts on Bill over the years.
Bill eventually saw me as his
‘best friend’ almost like a son/brother.
I guess I took Bill out to eat
more than any other street guy.
Bill died a few years ago.
So- as I mentioned Bill- Joe told
me that they have a picture of Bill hanging up inside the mission.
I couldn’t believe it- they had
one of Bill- and the camp!
I took a pic- will post it.
Many of the guys live in
makeshift camps- I have visited hundreds of camps over the years.
These are little ‘tent cities’
that pop up in the vacant fields all around the area where I live.
I live on a bluff- a peninsula
type jetty sticking out into the bay- right off the gulf.
So- there are lots of beach spots-
and areas where the homeless can camp out.
My area is nice- it’s been
developed over the years and marketed because of its closeness to Padre Island
[right over the bridge and you’re at the beach- the national sea shore- you
could walk it].
So- after a while the locals
complain about the homeless population- and every so often they do a sweep- and
go thru the camps and cut the tents [cops] and stuff like that.
I have bought tents for the guys
over the years- and I get mad when I hear the cops cut another tent.
I’ll try and get these photos up
loaded soon.
On the way back to the marina
[where Henry works].
We started talking about all the
guys who have died these past few years.
I told Henry that when I do my
early morning prayers- I try to ‘see’ these guys as part of the community- the
little fellowship of friends I have worked with over the years.
I told Henry- that in a strange
way- I still sense Bill- Shelby- etc. - as ‘hanging out’ with us [I just looked
up over my head- I have a ball cap of Bill hanging on my shot gun rack- after
Bill died I found it under my car seat.
He must have left it there one day when going out to eat- I kept it as a
memento].
I mentioned that as Protestants-
we usually neglect the biblical teaching that our Catholic friends emphasize.
The Communion of the Saints.
That even though Protestants
don’t practice prayers to Mary and the saints- yet in a very real way those who
have died in the faith are indeed still part of the community.
I mentioned the book of Revelation-
it speaks about the prayers of the martyrs [dead Christians] going up to God as
incense.
I told Henry- just because our
friends have died- that does not mean they can’t still pray- even for us!
Being Henry knows the bible well-
he was familiar with the passage that I mentioned- he just never saw it like
that [see- there are lots of things like this in the Christian journey- that’s
why we should hold judgment on other Christian denominations as much as
possible- we all ‘see dimly’ at times].
Okay- I guess will end there.
I was gonna do a few news items-
yesterday the ‘rebels’ in Syria bombed a key headquarters of the leader- Assad.
This was a suicide bombing- by
most accounts- Al Qaeda did this.
Yet- the U.S. - and the western
media continue to describe these guys as innocent civilians whom Assad is
killing.
This happened in Libya as well.
I am not defending Assad- but we
in the West need to stop referring to all the rebel groups in the various Arab
spring uprisings as ‘innocent rebels’.
Many are not- many are
terrorists- they practice such things as suicide bombings.
The one yesterday killed some key
Syrian men- one was the brother in-law of Assad.
Things are getting very unstable
over there.
Our recent killing of an Indian
fisherman [we shot the fishing boat off the U.A.E the other day].
And yesterday’s terror attack on
a bunch of Israeli tourists.
These are all signs of major
unrest in that region- It’s possible that this might be the straw that breaks
the camel’s back when it comes to Israel taking out the nuclear facilities of
Iran.
Obama has been trying to get
Israel to hold off on the Iranian attack- you guessed it- till after the
election.
But after yesterdays bus bombing-
they might decide to go.
So all in all- there’s lots of
stuff going on in the world- lets pray for peace- for all people.
PEACE ON EARTH- GOOD WILL TO MEN.
1878- THE DARK KNIGHT OF THE SOUL
Well today is surely a day of
mourning.
As you all know- yesterday marked
another tragic day for our nation.
We had another deadly rampage in
Colorado [Aurora].
Right down the road from
Columbine.
James Holmes- a 24 year old
student- walked into a theatre- carrying multiple guns- and shot randomly at
the audience.
Last I heard- 71 shot- 12 dead.
It was at the premiere of Dark
Knight Rising- the new Batman movie.
We don’t yet know the motivation
for the killings- maybe we never will.
But of course- that won’t stop
the media from making fools of themselves.
Brian Ross- ABC’s ‘chief
investigative reporter’ had breaking news on their morning show.
He actually had the audacity to
report that he found a man with the same name- James Holmes- who had a web site
affiliated with the Tea Party.
Huh?
Gee- I’m sure there are no other
people with such an odd name that live in Aurora Colorado.
I’m sure if this were a Muslim
name- I’m sure you would have reported a random find- that you found another
Muslim name- sounds the same- and he’s affiliated with Al Qaeda.
The sad thing is- after a little
while- Ross had to apologize- the man he ‘outed’ was not the shooter.
The shooter was a 24 year old-
the Holmes from the Ross report is 54.
The 54 year old had to disconnect
his phone- his family immediately became a target for revenge.
What a bang up job you did Brian-
may God have mercy on your soul- and please- please go away.
It’s sad- right up the road from
where I live- we had the Fort Hood shootings.
Major Nidal Hassan walked into a
crowded room on the base and fired on his fellow military men and women.
Killed many- shouted ‘Allah
Akbar’- and opened fire.
During the investigation we
learned that Hassan carried a card that identified himself as a soldier for
Islam.
He dressed in garb that indicated
he was Muslim.
He made many statements thru out
his career that said he was a radical.
He had on line contacts with nut
sites that advocate radical Islamic terrorism.
Yet- for all this- the
administration refereed to this killing as ‘work place violence’.
Yet- ABC news thought it fine to
simply share- with the world- that someone with the name Jim Holmes was
connected to the Tea Party.
We had another ‘attack’ just up
the road from me a few years back.
The nut who flew his plane into
the IRS building in Austin.
The NY Times reported- on their
on line forum- ‘Tea Party unhinged’.
It was later found out that the
pilot was actually a communist sympathizer- not a Tea partier at all.
Gifford’s- when the congresswoman
from Arizona was shot- the media spent a week trying to connect the dots- that
somehow the political use of ‘targeting a district’ used by Sarah Palin- was
responsible for the tragedy.
And of course- who can forget the
nemesis of the large size cola.
Yes- a few years back Bloomberg
[mayor of NY] referred to the Times Square bomber as ‘probably someone who is
mad at Obama Care’.
We later found out- yes- once
again- that the guy was a radical Islamist.
It’s sad how slow the media are
to report the associations of radical Islam- when it’s obvious for everyone to
see.
Yet- they go hunting- and even
report innocent names- when they think there might be a connection with a right
wing group.
How did Ross do his research?
You think he just stumbled upon a
name that was the same?
You think he might just have
googled ‘Tea Party- Jim Holmes’.
No- I’m sure the chief
investigative reporter would never stoop so low.
I’m sure.
This last week I’ve been reading
Isaiah- chapters 49 thru the end.
There are so many key verses in
these chapters- ones that I have memorized and quoted over the years during
prayer.
In chapter 53 we read that God
saw the ‘Travail of his soul and was satisfied’.
‘Because he poured out his soul
unto death’.
‘He was numbered with the
transgressors’.
The chapter speaks about the
suffering Messiah.
Our Jewish friends apply this to
their struggles as a nation.
I think both are applicable.
There is a term we use in
Christianity- it’s called ‘The dark night of the soul’.
Saint John of the Cross [a famous
Christian from church history] made the term popular.
Mother Theresa- we found out
later- lived many of her years in this state of ‘darkness’.
It simply speaks about the trials
we all go thru- times when we think all hope is lost.
Some people experience it more
than others- the above chapter says this travail- this numbness- is redemptive
in nature.
God uses it- and the people-
nations- that go thru it for a purpose.
It was because Christ suffered-
poured out his soul ‘unto death’ that he became the savior for mankind.
It was because of the struggles
of the Jewish people that they have now become one of the most prosperous
nations in that part of the world.
I’m not saying God ordains that a
mad man shoot innocent people in a movie.
But I am saying that we as a
nation can become a better people thru it all.
Yesterday Obama and Romney both
suspended their campaigns for a day.
And I even heard MSNBC give credit to both men
for it.
Yeah- we saw civility- by both
camps- for the first time in a while.
Today we pray for the victims of
Aurora.
We try and resist the stupidity
of associating this mad kid’s act with any group- at least until we get more
facts.
And we- as a nation- have an
opportunity- we have a ‘dark night’ opportunity- we can either become worse-
hate more- blame the other side for it.
Or we can reflect- we can turn
our minds to the things that count.
In the end- we can find
redemption in the collective ‘travail of our souls’.
1879- GOAT MAN [or Fire Walkers]
I have a couple of news articles
I clipped last week.
The first ‘Goat man spotted in
mountains of Utah’.
The first paragraph says the
authorities are worried that a man- dressed like a goat- living with a bunch of
other goats- might be in danger as ‘hunting season approaches’.
I refuse to read the rest of the
article- why ruin the fun?
The second- ‘21 people treated
for burns at fire walk’.
The story is that Tony Robbins
[success guru] did one of his ‘unleash the power within’ seminars- and 21
people received 2nd and 3rd degree burns while trying to
‘unleash the power’.
The other day I was going to
mention the death of Stephen Covey.
I was a fan of Covey’s stuff- I
actually pulled out his book from my shelf the other day- to make sure I
spelled the name right if I did a post.
There was a notable difference
between Covey’s approach and the other so called ‘motivational speakers’ of the
day.
Covey took a more biblically
oriented approach- he said success was not so much a technique thing [Robbins-
he even taught the way you look- if you look in a certain direction while
thinking- or posture yourself a certain way- that this too bread success].
Covey taught 7 basic principles
[when they played the clips of his stuff- I knew it by heart- I listened to his
c.d.’s many times].
They focused you on trying to
work on the most important things- the things that you do have some influence
on.
The things you can’t change-
leave them be.
And ‘begin with the end in mind’.
Basically think ‘legacy’ don’t
live for pure hedonism- but make something of your life that’s worthwhile.
I liked Covey- sad to see him go.
These few stories got me to
thinking about the goal of faith.
I throw the word ‘metaphysical’
around a lot in my posts- usually talking about physics.
But there are what people refer to
as ‘metaphysical cults’.
Huh?
I don’t like the word cult- to be
honest.
I have friends who are in groups
that other Christians call cults.
I prefer to be honest and open
with these friends [Mormon friends and Jehovah Witness friends].
Covey himself was Mormon.
And I have had really good-
nonjudgmental talks with both of these groups many- many times.
When they come over- I talk to
them as friends.
I’m not trying to continually
persuade them to think my way.
I also realize that for someone
that has studied church history- theology- various religious movements.
That it’s not very hard for me to
throw out the standard talking points that most people use when trying to prove
their side is right.
These types of ‘talking point’
debates usually lead nowhere.
So- I see the various guys who
come and knock over the years- as well meaning people who wake up every day-
and with a sincere heart are going out to do what they feel is God’s will.
Upfront with them?
Yes.
At the same time understanding
where they too are coming from.
Got it?
Okay- said all that to say this.
The metaphysical ‘cults’ are
groups that view the ‘real world’ as the non material realm.
‘Geez John- don’t we too walk by
faith’?
Yeah- but walking by faith- and
not by sight- is different from what these groups do.
Many in the Christian world have
embraced lots of these ‘positive confession’ type beliefs- not realizing that
they do fall into this category.
One example.
A few years ago I heard very
popular preacher from this genre talking about an incident where a man ‘froze’
to death in a freezer.
The preacher said that they later
found out that the freezer was unplugged- yet in his mind- what he thought
‘created’ an environment where he froze to death.
Okay- did this man freeze to
death?
No.
He more than likely died of a
heart attack.
Now- the mind does play a role in
things.
So- I saw the point.
But New Testament Christianity
does not see the key to the Christian life as someone who masters certain principles
like this.
Often times the letter to the
Romans is used.
Paul says ‘we look not at the
things that appear- but that do not appear’.
This is in Hebrews as well.
These examples come from the life
of Abraham- when he walked by faith- not by sight.
Many times he rejected the
evidence that said ‘this will never happen’.
Instead he trusted in God- and
God did what seemed impossible.
Okay- that’s faith.
But Abraham lived quite the life.
He failed many times thru out the
journey [too many to recount now].
He struggled with doubt too.
But in the end- faith was him
believing God’s promise- not mastering some type of technique that denied
physical reality.
So that’s the difference between
biblical faith- and ‘positive confession- motivational’ type faith.
Be careful- if you confuse these
2- you might just get burned in the end.
1880- ZIGGY STARDUST
I’ve been catching some of the
classic rock concerts on VHF 1- you know- the stuff I [we] saw back in the day.
I must admit- I have been an
amateur ‘singer’ for many years.
I used to belt them out at the
fire house on a regular basis- you know- sweeping the stalls- or doing a daily
routine thing.
Okay- no lie- I did get some real
compliments over my ‘career’.
One of the Captains asked one morning
‘were you playing the radio in there’.
I told him no- laughing- he did
not believe I was singing.
My captain [Lopez] said for years
that I should go on the ‘Americas got talent’ type shows.
So- after a while the guys would
give a request or 2- and I tried my best.
I remember Sam- a younger guy-
one day I sang Lola [the Kinks].
Sam knew the song as a remake- I
guess some new group re-did it.
So- I sang the words- which Sam
said he never really knew.
I told Sam ‘you do know who Lola
is’.
He did not.
‘She walks like a woman and talks
like a man’
‘When she squeezed me tight she
nearly broke my spine’
‘I never ever kissed a woman
before’ [nor this night!]
Yeah- you’re talking Penn State
football locker rooms for the years that Sandusky was there.
So- one day I drove the girls to
school- I tell them ‘you guys want breakfast- then you have to bear thru
another one of dads songs- without laughing’.
They were up for it.
So- I picked one from my catalog
[in my head!]
And I was off.
They managed to not laugh- or
smile- that was the deal.
At the end- my daughter- per
instructions of the bet- said ‘wow dad- that was really good’.
Hmm?
Still- no laugh.
I responded- with a dead pan
serious face ‘are you serious.’
She lost the bet right there.
Ziggy Stardust.
So- I caught the re-run of a
David Bowie concert tour.
To be honest- I never really
liked the guy- Changes was an all right song- but not much else.
But the stardust character that
he sang the tour as [he was this androgynous type persona for the tour]
reminded me of the famed Physicist – Neil Tyson.
Tyson heads up the Hayden
planetarium in N.Y.
My dad took me there a bunch of
times as a kid- I loved it.
Tyson has been making the rounds
recently- talking about the Higgs Boson thing.
He is a nice guy- and he is
trying to ‘popularize’ physics for the average guy- a noble cause.
But he- like a long line of
others- stumbles very badly when he wades into the field of Apologetics/Logic.
Recently I saw a clip- he gave a
very enthusiastic account of how the stars ‘made us’.
He said that we now know that the
basic elements of the stars are in us.
And he then reached the unfounded
conclusion that ‘we came from stars’.
Okay- a brief review.
This type of argument- which is not
new- says if you find common elements in 2 different things- then one must have
come from the other.
Why would this be false- at least
in the star debate?
Because you cannot get
intelligence- information- consciousness- from a non living thing.
As wonderful as the study of the
stars can be- yet- to give the stars ‘Ontological status’ [meaning- you give a
non living thing the status that only a living thing has] is wrong.
Tyson gives us no mechanism of
how the stars actually created us.
I mean you can’t even appeal to
biological evolution- because at least it uses living things.
No- the stars have no life.
Then how would you [I] explain
the fact that stars have the same base elements that humans have?
Easy- there was one creator- a
‘first cause’ if you will- and according to the biblical argument- he made man
from the base element- dirt.
So- in the Christian view- you
have both how the same elements are in various things- and you have a
‘mechanism’ that explains how intelligence- consciousness- and life arrived.
They came from an infinite being-
who has life in himself.
In the end- this is really the
only logical explanation for the creation.
Remember- you can’t get
intelligence from non intelligence.
It would be like finding a C.D.
in a field- you popped it into a computer and you found information on it.
Then- you broke down [in a lab]
the basic elements of the makeup of the C.D. - the actual hardware- not the
info on it.
And said ‘aha- I have found the
source of the info on the device’.
And you proceeded to show me the
ingredients that make up the disk itself.
I would respond ‘all you have
done is shown me the common elements that make up the disk- you have in no way
proven that these base elements are responsible for the info on the disk’.
That’s the mistake that Tyson
makes- he assumes that the common elements we find both in the stars and in
humans- is proof that ‘we came from the stars’.
He’s wrong- very wrong.
About as wrong as me thinking I
can make it on America’s got talent.
1881- GOAT MAN SAGA CONT.
Okay- I never thought I would
write a follow up post on the Goat Man [few posts back].
But- yesterday morning I read
another story about this masked [or fur coated?] man.
Yes- this time I figured I’d read
the whole thing.
For those who didn’t read the
post- Goat man was simply some guy- dressed like a goat- ‘living’ among the
goats in Utah.
Some tourist spotted him and
reported him to the cops.
So- Goat man made national news-
and the story went viral.
They were looking for the guy-
fearful that he might get shot.
So- the follow up story said the
local authorities received a call- by a ‘very agitated man’.
He simply said- quote ‘leave Goat
man alone- he’s done nothing wrong’!
Hmm?
Could this caller be wearing a fleece?
Yes- it was the infamous goat man
on the line.
The story went on and said he was
a hunter who was simply preparing for a Canadian hunt.
He made the ‘goat outfit’ using a
painters type suspendered pants- and some type of hair.
Okay- maybe goat man is innocent.
But I must correct our furry
friend- no sir- dressing like a goat- making it into the national news- twice-
at the age of 50 something.
O- this is wrong- so very wrong.
Second- I find funny stuff in the
most unlikely places.
The other morning I was listening
to NPR [radio news] and they were doing a story on Muslim athletes who are
competing in the Olympics.
The reporter introduced the piece
by saying the Muslim fast of Ramadan has just started- and that some Muslim
athletes are ‘struggling’ with whether or not to observe the daily fast.
Muslims are not supposed to eat
during the day.
So- I was expecting to hear the
athlete say ‘Praise Allah- I have struggled much with this decision- and…’
You know- some type of real
personal turmoil over this great dilemma.
They guy comes on and says ‘Nah-
I’m not gonna be doin that’.
Huh?
Sounded like this Muslim brother
came straight from the streets of Jersey- sort of like the Henry Hill character
from Goofellas [or Depp in Donnie Brasco- take your pic].
So- over all- I had a few good
laughs.
Okay- It’s been a few days since
I did economics/politics.
But I must say- the news this
past week has been very bad- economically.
Britain has reported a worse
recession than previously thought.
China has been fudging their
numbers too- they made it sound like they were doing better than they were.
And the E.U. crisis is not
getting better- or even staying stagnate- but getting worse.
So- the other day after the
markets looked like they were going into another sell off.
The dow was down around 200.
The Fed chairman popped into
action and basically said they were going to do another Qe-3 [put more money
into the system].
Normally- this would drive the
market way up.
This time- it simply stopped the
sell off for the day and the market has only risen a few points since then.
That’s a bad sign- even the
investors are saying this won't do.
I heard a quote from a
knowledgeable guy the other day- on one of the business shows.
He said the real money- the
institutional investors- they see all this Fed action as dangerous.
That to simply print money like
this- and for the market to ride on it- is not good economic policy at all.
It looks like he was right.
We really should have a national
debate over stuff like this.
I feel bad for the seniors who
were forced out of the interest rate market [Cd’s and bonds] and were told ‘you
need to be in the market- look- you can’t live on 1 % inertest’.
So- many of these older folk- who
were perfectly happy with 5-7 % on their money- they were forced out of that
stable market- and into this terrible market that we have had these past 12
years.
That’s the fault of the various
Fed chairmen- when they decide to enact fiscal policy that says we want to keep
the rates really- really low- then that leaves the seniors no other option-
they get thrown into the risky stock market- and then they take a hit.
I am not a ‘right winger’ or left
winger on these things- but I do see the Fed at the end of the road- they
simply have done all you can do at this point.
I think they should leave the thing alone- no
more stimulus- it’s just throwing money into a system that’s in the process of
de-leveraging- and just like the real estate market- we simply need to let the
system bottom out- because if we keep propping up the system- then it will
never really get fixed.
[yeah- Krugman- it’s not that
easy]
And Cali.
We have now seen 3 cities declare
bankruptcy in the great state.
Some city is messing with the
idea of actually doing Eminent Domain on the houses that are underwater.
They want to ‘seize’ the
mortgages of these homeowners- and force the banks to re-do the loan- at a loss
to the mortgage holder.
If they do this- trust me- your
home in that town will be worth nil.
Why?
Everyone in the state will know that if you invest in a house in that
city/county- that you might someday be forced to take a loss on that house- by
Eminent Domain.
These ideas come from well
meaning people- but for the most part they have no business experience.
Last year the president talked
about stuff like this on a national level.
It wasn’t Eminent Domain- but he
made the argument that if we come to some type of a deal with the banks- to
‘make’ them lower the values on these homes- that it would help everybody out.
Obama said ‘it does no good for
you to have 3-5 foreclosed homes on your block- so this will prevent that from
happening’.
Look- anyone who has any
knowledge at all on real estate will tell you this would be an unmitigated
disaster.
Why?
If you go into a neighborhood
where the homes on average sell [or sold] for 150,000.
And you take half of the homes on
that block and reduce the value of the homes to 100,000.
You did not do the other home owners
a favor [the ones who by the way are paying their bills!]
You simply ‘revalued’ their home
to a hundred thousand as well.
See?
So all in all- sometimes people
mean well ‘look- lets seize the mortgages on these struggling folk- and force
the bank to take the hit’.
Sounds good- but if you do that-
you will ruin the value for all the other people in that county.
Also- the biggest retirement fund
in the nation- in Cali- just reported 1% growth- not the 7% it had counted on.
I think California is in danger
of possibly declaring bankruptcy for the whole state.
They say ‘they way Cali goes- so
goes the nation’.
Let’s hope this is not true this
time around.
1882- IS GAIN GODLY?
As we close the week- lets re-cap
a few things.
As an avid news watcher- once
again the media over covered a very tragic event.
There were numerous days of
nonstop coverage on all the news networks- of the tragic killing of 12 people
in Aurora- Colorado.
While we don’t know all the
motives of the sick person who did this- yet it is possible that one of the
motives is attention.
And if we give a person nonstop
coverage- then in a way we are playing into his distorted mind game.
The next day or 2 after the
shooting [or the same day? I forget] we had 15 people killed right here in
South Texas in a truck crash.
It was another case of a bunch of
illegal aliens in a truck- coming into Texas.
The tire blew out- and 15 died.
Now- we also have had a string of
murders going on in Chicago- it is really strange.
Ever since the former White House
chief of staff- Rahm Emanuel- became mayor of the city- the death rate has sky
rocketed.
I don’t know why this is- but it
is a fact.
So- the real danger in the
country is not the lone psycho who will walk into a theatre and open fire.
But it’s the regular gun violence
taking place in Camden [N.J.] or Chicago- or any other inner city USA.
We have a terrible culture that
exists in the gang lifestyle- and these are the real stories that if not dealt
with will eventually kill tens of thousands more each year.
So- don’t want to lessen the
horrendous act of Holmes- but just want to keep things in perspective.
The other week I caught an
interview with David Brody- a reporter for CBN [Pat Robertson’s ministry].
He put out a book-
Teavangelicals- and was talking about the ‘religious right’ and stuff.
The interviewer brought out some
very good points- he challenged some of the ideas of the so called right.
Brody said many identify their
faith with capitalism- he used a famous verse form the Old Testament ‘a good
man leaves an inheritance to his kids, kids’.
I have heard [and read] this many
times over my life.
So- Brody said that’s why the
religious right identify with ‘right wing’ politics.
The interviewer quipped back ‘yes-
but that’s one Old Testament verse- and all thru the New Testament Jesus railed
against riches’.
Wow- I was surprised that the guy
new his stuff.
Was he right?
Actually- yes.
This is what I talk about a lot-
keeping things in context.
Avoiding what we call ‘proof
texting’ which means you pick one verse out of the bible- and then build an
entire belief system from that verse.
Jesus did say stuff like ‘What
does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?’
‘You cannot serve God and money’.
‘It is easier for a camel to go
thru the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven’.
Now- I can go on- and in the past
I have.
But the point I wanted to make
was the news guy was right.
We need to see the Christian life
primarily thru the ‘lens’ of the teachings of Christ- and emphasize the things
he taught the most.
Now- this does not mean we should
ignore a verse like ‘leave an inheritance for your kids’.
But we should absolutely avoid
making stuff like that the main thing- I mean we- in the modern evangelical
church have seemed to have fallen into the whole trap of ‘keeping up with the
Joneses’.
Years ago one of the prosperity
preachers of the day put out a little book- the title was ‘righteousness is
profitable’.
Of course the title told it all.
It was a short- and all consuming
teaching that comes from this camp- and it basically taught that if you are a
child of God- you will make lots of money [profitable].
The problem?
Once again- the verse comes from
the Apostle Paul’s letter to Timothy [1st Timothy chapter 4].
And in context it does not mean
what the author said it meant.
2 chapters later Paul will
actually write ‘the love of money is the root of all evil- some say gain
[profit] is godliness [righteousness] avoid them’.
The point is- the author took
Paul’s words- from the bible- and ‘made’ them say the opposite of what he said.
Then taught ‘see- that’s in the
bible’.
Actually ‘that’ was not in the
bible- at least not the way the author made it sound.
So- at the end of the day- we
need to keep ‘first things first’.
Yes- there are many people who
live day by day- lives without purpose or meaning.
And we- the church- don’t want to
tell them that the purpose is more material stuff.
That’s not the message Jesus
gave.
Sure- we can find a good verse
about leaving money to your kid when you die.
But read the WHOLE bible in
context.
Jesus put much more emphasis on
warning people that if they ‘gain the whole world- and lose their soul- it
profits nothing’.
The Kingdom of God is not about
making a fortune- it’s about living your life for a higher purpose- a more
noble goal- give your life away- that’s what the Master said.
1883- ALL AND ALL IT’S JUST
ANOTHER BRICK [NOTE] IN THE WALL?
So the news for the last few days
has focused on Romney’s ‘world tour’.
As most of you know- he embarked
on this trip to boost his foreign policy credentials.
And of course- the ‘main stream
media’ has made it sound like he has made the worst gaffs since the time Biden
told one of his political ‘close friends’ to stand up at some rally.
Biden ‘go ahead- stand- don’t be
shy’ of course the guy sat there- still- hoping Biden would move on.
Not Biden.
‘Go ahead stand man- stand damn
it- enough of this false MODESTY- stand!!”
Finally- someone from the
audience yelled ‘he’s crippled you ….’
Close friend- remember?
So- in London Romney’s asked
about the Olympics- does he think there might be some security problems.
And as a former CEO who ran the
Olympics in the past- he was honest- he said there might be some difficulties
with the security people who were hired to do the job.
Oh my- the press in the U.K. and
the U.S. made it sound like this was the worst thing in the world.
They spent days- top headlines-
top world news- yes- ‘how can this be- Romney singlehandedly has destroyed the
greatest coalition ever- NATO and the Brits will fall apart now!! Oh my!!!’
I mean it’s hilarious.
Most don’t realize that Romney
simply expressed- in a nice way- what the British press has been saying for
weeks.
As a matter of fact- the security
company who was hired to do security were about 3,000 men short.
The British military filled the
gap.
This is bad- very- very bad.
Though I’m sure the military are
good guys- yet they are not trained for this type of job.
The London games is a major
target for terrorism- and if the truth be told- Romney’s comments were mild.
But because they decided to
portray them the way they did- now the media are stuck in a way- because the
games have had a bad start.
Most of the seats are empty- they
actually need people to attend the events.
Yet- you have people who can’t
get tickets.
Why?
They don’t know for sure- but it
might be that lots of companies bought tickets- and gave them to their people-
and the people are not going.
I mean I’m sure it couldn’t be
the fact that the media have been reporting for weeks that the security is in
fact not good- no- it can’t be that.
Either way- Romney was right- and
those who follow the news know it.
Then- Romney trotted off to
Israel.
Of course the media have found
their niche- they are waiting to stomp on him every time they get a chance.
So- he tells the Israelis ‘your
culture obviously has contributed to your success as a nation’.
Okay- is this true or not?
Look- as a bald faced statement-
it is true.
What did the media say?
Oh my- Romney has insulted the
Arab world- he has defamed the Palestinians- how could he ever have made a
statement like this!
Now- as an independent- I do not
always side with U.S. policy in that part of the world.
And- I think the American
Evangelical church has made some big mistakes when they read the bible- and try
to fit current U.S. policy in with their interpretation of end time events.
So- I do not see the Palestinian
problem as one side being the enemy [Palestinians] and the other as the ‘people
of God inheriting the land’.
For the most part those are Old
Testament mindsets that overlook the New Testament view- that we are all called
to inherit the kingdom thru the Cross.
So- just wanted to make that
clear.
But- the truth is Israel has one
of strongest Democracies in that region of the world.
They are governed with a system
of courts and laws- that have even ruled on the side of Arab people- against
their own govt.!
That’s rare- very rare- you do
not find that in Arab states- that a court in Iran would rule against their
leaders- and side with a Jew.
You have certain Arab states-
that to even be Jewish would get you killed on the spot.
And some Arab states [not all!]
have no real rule of law- even though they have tried- many are living a
lawless existence.
Okay- I know there’s more to the
debate- but on its face- Romney simply told the truth.
Yet the media are reporting it as
a huge blunder- the likes of which has never been seen before!!
So- they show a clip of Romney
putting a folded prayer request in the Wailing Wall [Jerusalem].
They then do a quick story ‘I
wonder what he said’.
You know- it’s a traditional
thing- the wall is a place for the Jewish people to connect with God- and they
pray daily at the wall.
So- Romney kinda says what he
wrote in the note- he says he thanked God for the source of our salvation- a
few other things.
Then they show the shot of Obama
when he did his note- of course they had the scoop form Obama’s note.
He asked for ‘wisdom and
knowledge to govern the people’.
Basically the same prayer that
king Solomon prayed [convenient that this slipped out- in Jerusalem!]
Then they had the shot of good
ole G.W. [Bush].
I braced myself.
They simply showed him putting
his hands on the wall.
I was waiting for Brain Ross to
break in [you know- Ross is the news guy who ‘outed’ Jim Holmes from the
Colorado shooting- he said he was a Tea Partier from Aurora- of course he outed
an innocent man].
Yeah- I was waiting for the ‘Ross
Report’.
‘George- I have breaking news- I
don’t know if this is the same GW from Texas- but a goat herder was walking by
the wall- and he found this note had fallen- strangely- it was signed by a GW
from Texas’.
Go on Brian- what does it say
man?
‘Well- like I said- we don’t know
if it’s Bush- but the note says- and I quote- “What’s it like to be a wall”
unquote’.
Yeah- I was waiting for the
scoop.
So- you get the idea- the media
have the power- and the desire- to depict one side as total idiots- and the
other as those who can do no wrong.
I’m not on either side- trust me-
but the bias is hard not to see.
Okay- I actually do have more to
say- maybe tomorrow.
Right after I post this- I’ll
post some pics from the weekend- now that I got my smart phone- I’m taken pics.
In a little while I will be
driving my daughter to San Antonio- she’s catching a flight back to Indiana-
she’s staying there for now- her boyfriend has been working across the country-
right now they are in Indiana.
So- I’m sure I’ll take some pics.
That’s it for now- enjoy the
pics.
And don’t forget the lesson of
the day.
If you’re in a political rally-
and Biden says ‘go ahead- stand up man- for the love of Pete’.
Just leave- it will save you from
a very awkward moment for sure.
1884 AND THEY CALL THEM ‘SMART PHONES’
I dropped my daughter off at the
San Antonio airport [by the way- we do have a nice Corpus airport- but the
flights are cheaper if you fly from the Alamo city].
The next day [yesterday] as I was
catching the news- I saw that they locked down the airport- they had a bomb
scare at the same time we were there the day before.
Glad I missed it for sure.
Okay- there are always a few
current event things to do- lets hit some real quick.
The Chick- Fil- A debacle.
As most of you know the president
of the restaurant got into some hot water by saying he was for traditional
marriage-- not ‘gay’ marriage.
Then you had the ‘left’ go
ballistic ‘how dare you hold values different than ours'!
The mayor of Boston [Menino] and
Chicago [Emmanuel- yeah- him again] were outraged.
So outraged- that they said they
were banning the chain from opening up restaurants in their cities.
Wow- what noble ethics these guys
have.
If the CEO of a company simply
holds traditional values- you forbid him to operate in your city.
Even though gay people actually
work for the company- and they also serve gay folk.
No- if you say your view is
different- you’re out.
I like Old Emanuel [not really].
The other day he teamed up with
Farrakhan- he said they were going to work together to combat the killings that
have taken over the city ever since Rahm took the reins.
So- let me get this right- you
are not only willing to let Farrakhan operate in your town- but you give
credibility to the man by publicly teaming up with him.
His values?
Jews are lying cheating bastards
that need to die.
Whites are the demon seed- the
kids of satan.
This nut job has spewed the most
racist stuff that you could ever imagine.
Yet- Rahm refuses to let Chik-
Fil- A operate- because ‘we do not share their values’.
Great job Rahm [and the political
strategists of Obama- who were probably behind the whole thing].
Okay- enough of that ;stuff’.
Now that I have my new ‘smart
phone’ I have been noticing the commercials and stuff about the phones.
I actually have learned a few
things from just watching the commercials [sad- I know].
So the other day I’m watching the
news with Dianne Sawyer [ABC] and they do a piece on all the injuries that have
increased because of these new devices.
They do the stats on the increase
of broken head/face bones [people walking off stuff].
All the neck injuries and stuff.
Then they show a clip of a guy
walking into a bear- he’s not looking- he’s got his face in the phone.
Some person walking off the
subway rail tracks.
A few other ‘smart’ phone folks
walking into walls- or the pond thing in the middle of the local mall.
I mean it was funny in a way- I
just didn’t realize I was getting into another high danger field- just by
purchasing a phone!
I remember years ago at the fire
house- all the younger guys were getting the latest phones and stuff.
I never was the type to update
something just because the next new thing came out- I kept the laptop and phone
for years before I would upgrade.
But you had the guys walking
around the fire dept with the hands free thing- you know they are walking-
talking- and nothing in their hand.
I thought they were talking to
me- or themselves.
No- they were just doing the
hands free thing.
Then we all got new pagers- and
we had to wear them- all the time.
You know- just in case the chief
needs you.
At a fire?
Yup.
Fine.
So- I would be at the scene of an
emergency [fire- car wreck- heart attack…]
And sure enough- the ‘darn’ pager
would buzz.
‘gee- who could that be- after
all I’m just inside this house- on fire’.
I look at the pager [after the
smoke clears].
It’s the latest scores for the
college game [Basketball?]
I was ready to chuck the thing in
the fire.
Yeah- we had pagers that went off
every time the sports channel did an update.
So- we live in this strange new
world of technology.
We also have Dem mayors refusing
to give business permits to restaurants- at a time when people are dying for
jobs.
And these same mayors- who refuse
on the grounds that ‘they don’t hold my values’.
They are teaming up with leaders
of racist movements who call for the deaths of Jews and Whites- way to go Rahm!
Yeah- it’s a strange new world.
Okay- that’s it for now- need to
upload some of the S.A. pics I took the other day.
You know what that means?
Yeah- I’ll be using the phone-
pray for me- please!
1885 WHO’S THE GREATEST?
Got with the street guys
yesterday- will post a few pics right after this note [p.s. every morning that
I post- I post to the blog and Facebook- these are not ‘generated’ posts- I
write- post- and leave. So- if you’re reading this on the blog- the pics are on
Facebook].
2 guys died this past week.
John- a nice brother- carried a
staff- sort of like a prayer thing.
I didn’t know him well- but just
spoke to him the other day.
The other death was a good
friend- Donald D.
I met Donald 20 years ago- he was
one of the first street guys from the Bluff.
He was a real nice guy- sure-
problems- but nice.
Donald did not hang out at the
mission- so I would maybe see him once every few years- for the past 20.
He always treated me like a
brother- big hug- you know- like when you see a family member.
I was sad to hear that he died.
A few years ago I met his son-
Eddie.
At first I didn’t realize it was
his son.
Eddie told me they were
originally from the Garden state [N.J.].
I was surprised- being I’m from
there as well.
He told me they lived at Lake
Hapactkon [spelling?]
Wow- I went there as a kid with
my dad- a small world.
Okay- let’s finish the week with
something spiritual.
I have had a few things I wanted
to say this last week- but haven’t really had the time to cover them all.
So- let’s pick one.
In the gospels the mother of
James and John [disciples] ask Jesus for a favor ‘can my 2 sons sit at your
right hand and left in your kingdom’?
Jesus tells her that it is not
his place to decide that- but God [the father] will make that decision.
The other disciples hear about
the request- and they get mad.
They begin a debate about who
will be the greatest.
Then Jesus says- in the world you
measure greatness by how far up the ladder you go- how many people are under
you.
But in his kingdom it’s not like
that- but the least will be the greatest- the ones who serve- not the ones
being served- are ‘great’.
This simple example covers a lot
of ground.
I have friends in ministry-
pastors- ministry leaders- etc.
And it’s often difficult to
‘explain’ the ministry to them.
Usually- we see ministry as
setting up 501c3 nonprofit- raising money [usually lots] and then becoming-
well- famous.
Often times what we call
‘pastors’ are really just motivational speakers who speak weekly- or travel to
an event- all well meaning men- but that’s the category many of them fall into.
So- when I’m asked ‘to preach’ or
‘how are you funded’ it comes as a surprise that I never take money- ever.
Some of my pastor friends
actually think that it is wrong to not take the cash.
I remind them that the apostle
Paul left that option open in the N.T.
My purpose is not to debate this
whole subject right now- I’ve taught it in depth many times over the years- but
just to say that we usually judge ministry by criteria that Jesus himself said
was wrong.
It’s not how many people are
‘under you’ or how much money you bring in- or how famous you are.
It’s a matter or serving others-
laying down your life for others- not always seeking your own welfare- but the
welfare of others.
These principles are the main
principles of leadership- and Christianity in general- but they are often over
looked because we simply have substituted the modern corporation for ‘the local
church’ and we basically run ‘the church’ along the same lines of the corporate
world.
I am not one of those critics who
hates going ‘to church’ [the building].
There are many who don’t go-
because of the things I just shared with you.
I’m not in that camp.
But- the things I did just share-
they are very important to get a grasp on- for those who see themselves in
ministry- or as pastors.
On the blog- if you look to the
left you’ll see a few short books I wrote years ago.
The one called Further talks on
Church and Ministry deals with this subject a little more in depth.
Also- under the Feb. posts of
each year- there’s a category called ‘what in the world is the church’. There
are posts about this there as well.
Okay- the point today is we
[leaders- believers- the whole bunch] are not to measure success in ministry as
attaining some type of material success.
We should not view Christianity
thru the lens of ‘what can I get out of this’.
These are usually the main themes
that you see from the TV preachers of our day- and I know they mean well- but
that’s simply not the heart of Christianity.
The writer to the Hebrews said
‘you took joyfully the spoiling of your goods- knowing that in heaven you have
an enduring substance’.
He was talking about the
persecution they went thru- they were robbed of their stuff.
In today’s world the average
preacher would say ‘get back what the devil stole'.
The writer of Hebrews says
‘praise God- you have a better inheritance in heaven’.
The apostle John wrote ‘if you
have this worlds goods [see- he does not call material stuff ‘true riches’] and
you see your brother in need- and don’t help him- then how does Gods love dwell
in you’.
The apostle Peter says ‘you were
not redeemed by corruptible things- like silver and gold- but with the precious
blood of Christ’.
I could go on- but just want you
to see that we in the modern church really don’t focus on these themes any
more.
Sure- most well meaning preachers
will say ‘yeah- I believe that’.
But we often [if ever?] actually
teach it.
The bible says we should listen
to the WHOLE counsel of God- not just to the ‘bless me’ verses.
Got it?
Okay- that’s it for now- I know
some of this stuff rubs some of you the wrong way- in the past I have had
friends ‘un-friend’ over stuff like this- so whatever will be will be.
If you want more about this
subject- also on the blog- you will see another little book ‘House of Prayer or
Den of Thieves’ I wrote that years ago- at the fire house- but it gives you
some verses that might help.
Okay- have a good weekend- and
don’t worry- I’ll be back to politics soon- I know how much you guys love it!
1886- DIVINE LOGOS
Okay- just read Isaiah 65- one
chapter left.
These past few weeks I have been
going thru the last 15 or so chapters of the book.
There are lots of great themes to
do- maybe I’ll take a pic of the verses I wrote down and hung up here in my
study.
I also wanted to engage in a
conversation on the Divine Logos.
Huh?
Well yeah- maybe a little
scholarly sounding- but my goal has been to ‘upgrade’ our level of teaching.
When I say ‘our’ I’m talking
generally about the present day church in America- and the obsession with ‘the
now’.
That is ‘what do I get out of
this- monetarily?’
Yeah- that’s the rave of the day.
So- every so often I do my best
to walk the other road- to give the other side of the coin.
So- a few weeks ago I was at my
daughter’s house- we usually have the whole family over for the b-days and
stuff.
And my kids like playing those
word games.
So they bought some game- don’t
remember the whole name- but part of the name had LOGOS in it.
I just quipped ‘you do know what
that means’?
Now- I kid around so much-
sometimes they have a hard time believing me- like ‘sure- you’re making it up’.
No- for real!
Logos means WORD.
It’s the Greek language- which
the New Testament was written in- and it simply means WORD.
My 2nd oldest said ‘I
should have known that’.
My oldest daughter- Bethany- just
turned 27- Becky is a couple of years younger.
They both have degrees from
A&M University here in Texas- top notch school for sure.
So that’s why Becky ‘should have
known it’.
Anyway- this word is a favorite
in the writings of the apostle John.
In both the gospel and his 3
little letters [1st, 2nd and 3rd John] he uses
this term to describe Jesus.
‘In the beginning was THE WORD
and the word was with God…’
That’s the Greek word- Logos.
It should be noted that the early
Greek philosophers had a concept much like this.
All the way back to the time of
Plato- Socrates and Aristotle [around 500 years before Christ] the Greeks were
speaking about a universal principle- some type of ‘unifying theory’ that would
be the basis of all knowledge.
They spoke about this principle
as THE LOGOS.
So- some of the critics of
Christianity did use this as a criticism of the church- they say ‘see- the
disciples were just making stuff up- borrowing themes that were already there’.
Do they have a point?
A point- maybe- but that’s all.
In the letters of John we also
read him refuting a cult of the day- called Gnosticism [Gnosis is the Greek
word for knowledge. They believed that they had secret knowledge that the
others did not have. A modern twist on
this is sometimes referred to as Revelation Knowledge- it’s a form of this
‘special knowledge’ idea that existed in the early days of the church.]
An off shoot of this group were
called the Docetists.
These guys were pseudo
Christians- they held to some form of Christian belief- but denied the true
faith of the church.
They taught that Jesus was ‘a
phantom spirit’ that is- they denied what we refer to as the incarnation.
That God became man in the person
of Christ.
John was one of the youngest
disciples- and he also outlived the others.
His writings are probably the
oldest in the N.T. [Revelation]
So- he was around long enough to
refute the growing philosophical challenges to the church.
So- putting all this together-
when John said Jesus was the Divine Logos- he was not ‘stealing’ that idea from
the earlier Greek philosophers who were indeed looking for a Logos principle.
No- he was saying ‘look- we- the
followers of Christ- have found the thing you were looking for all the time- he
is the Wisdom- the Logos of God’.
See?
Okay- I haven’t read John in a
long time- nor have I ever studied Greek.
But- I do have a Greek lexicon [a
book that gives you the Greek word before it was translated into English].
And back ‘in the day’ when we
were young believers- seeking to learn the faith- these were the basic tools of
the trade.
But today- well- the tools are
motivation- success stuff.
Learning how to invest- make a
buck [or 2] - how to ‘create your world’.
Yeah- we really don’t have time
for all that silly stuff like the Logos.
After all- it’s all Greek to me.
Yeah- I know.
1887- SIKH YE FIRST THE KINGDOM
OF GOD
Let’s talk about the temple
shooting- but first a verse from the prophet.
‘I will gather all nations and
tongues and they shall come and see my glory- I will set a sign among them and
send those that escape to the nations’ Isaiah 66:18-19
Over the next few weeks I will
try and post some of the verses from Isaiah that I have been reading- the ones
I think have special importance.
This one is a familiar one I have
been praying for years- it speaks of the greater purpose of God.
He wants ALL NATIONS and cultures
to come into the kingdom of God.
The purpose of the church is not
to fight and be a stumbling block to the nations- but to be a sign of peace- a
witness to Christ’s kingdom- and those ‘that escape’ those that come ‘out of
Babylon’ and into the new kingdom- they are the ones who will ‘go tell it to the
nations’.
Okay- now the shooting.
As most of you know- the day
before yesterday we had a shooting at a religious temple.
The religion is Sikh [pronounced
Sick- or Seek] they are not Muslim- but they look Muslim- so these past few
years they have been the target of hate.
The guy who shot and killed about
7 or so people was killed by the cops at the scene.
Now- as I watched the media
coverage- they used this type of language.
‘He comes from a White
Supremacist group’
‘They hates Jews and Blacks’
‘Stupid and uneducated’
‘Domestic Terror’
‘He was not nice- he was crazy’
On and on.
Now- once again- I in no way want
to make light of this terrible tragedy.
This type of hate crime- if it
turns out to be one- is obviously terrible.
The point I make is you would
never- ever- hear the media describe a radical Muslim shooting with these
terms.
As a matter of fact- the
president himself refused to describe the Hassan shooting as terror [the
shooting that took place here on the military base in Texas- Hassan was a
radical Muslim- and also a major in the U.S. military]
They made a huge point that if
Hassan acted alone- then it was not terror.
Yet- the president- and the FBI
have been saying this temple shooting is indeed domestic terror.
As far as we know- this shooter
at the temple also acted alone.
Why the distinction?
A few weeks ago Brian Ross from
ABC- along with his ‘partner in crime’ George Stephanopolous were the ones who
jumped the gun and associated the Colorado shooting [the Batman movie] with the
wrong person.
Ross reported- on air- that there
was a Jim Holmes from the same city who had a Tea party web page.
So?
Could it be that maybe another
person with that very strange name- you know- about as strange as John Smith-
might be the web site guy?
Sure enough- they ‘outed’ the
wrong guy.
So- Ross was one of the first to
come out and use this language about the temple shooting.
He couldn’t seem to wait- to say
‘see- I told you these Tea party- I mean right wing groups- are the real
threat’.
Yeah Ross- you tell em!
Now- as someone who holds to the
theological belief that the above verse speaks about- I have made efforts to
have Muslim friends.
I have Jewish friends as well.
I try not to only have
associations with other Christians- because I think we all need to talk to [not
at] each other- and that Gods purpose is for the church to be a blessing to all
nations and cultures.
So- that’s my position.
Also- we need to be honest about
the real threats that face our world today.
As a student of history and
religion I have come across a few recurring things.
One of the themes I see every so
often is ‘look- we all [Jews, Christians- Muslims] have radical terrorists in
our ranks- and we should not condemn the other group’.
Realistically- the very real
threat that exists is within the extreme elements of Islam.
Everyone knows this- it’s no
secret.
Now- do I want to offend my
Muslim friends?
No.
But- the truth is- are there
real- huge scale threats of radical terrorism coming from the Jewish people?
Of course not [they usually point
to a single incident in the history of the Jewish people- during the
restoration of their nation in the 20th century- and this one
incident has become the mantra for those who say ‘see- the Jews have terrorists
too!’]
What about the far right wing
hate groups?
A little more of a threat- yes-
but a global threat- one that has the potential to destabilize nations- no.
That’s the whole point.
During the broadcast of the
temple shooting- you also had the other news of the Syrian uprising.
These are the various nations in
the Arab world and North Africa [Tunisia- Egypt- Libya] that have been going
thru the Arab Spring uprisings now for a couple of years.
One of the major players in the
overthrowing of the leaders of these nations is Al Qaeda.
Now- there are also innocent
Arabs/Muslims who are being caught up in the fire fight- but you also have a
very real presence of Al Qaeda in these rebellions.
The leaders themselves- who we
have demonized to no end- have been saying this.
Gadhaffi, Mubarak- Assad- they
have all said that the ones ‘rebelling’ have Al Qaeda in their ranks.
We [the western world] have for
the most part played that down- heaven forbid that we should go against the
‘democratic spring’ that is sweeping the world!
The fact is- during the same news
broadcast that is so quick to associate a single- isolated shooter- as an act
of terror.
The same news media that refuse
to use this type of language when a person [Major Hassan] who did indeed
identify himself with radical Islam- a worldwide movement that is responsible
for many worldwide terror acts- the media refer to his shooting- at an actual
military base here in the U.S. [Fort Hood].
As ‘work place violence’.
The double standard is so big-
you have to be blind to not see it.
Yes- right wing hate groups are
dangerous- but they pose absolutely no threat on a global level.
Do they pose a Tim McVeigh
[Oklahoma city bombing of the fed building] type threat?
Yes.
But not a real global threat- one
that would in fact meet the criterion of being terrorism on a global scale- no.
We need to be honest about these things- the
media have once again dropped the ball by associating what seems to be an
isolated act- with terror.
They showed video of the hard
right rock group that this shooter played in- with no disclaimer that the other
members of the group do not condone the actions of the shooter.
They used quotes from bystanders
who said ‘they are uneducated idiots’- referring to this movement that does
indeed have racist elements in it.
But I have heard the same racist
stuff from Farrakhan- many times.
Yet the media would never- ever
use this language about him.
As a matter of fact- Obama
attended the million man march before he was president [I think he was the
senator from Illinois at the time- the march was held by Farrakhan].
So- if hate speech is wrong- then
it’s wrong all the way around.
If we condemn White hate groups-
which we should- then we need to condemn Black hate groups too.
The New Black Panther party are a
bunch of racists.
The leader of this group was
photographed behind Obama during the 2008 campaign.
He was holding up his hand- in a
Black Power display- and he was walking right behind the president.
They were in Selma at the time.
The media never covered this- or
showed this picture.
That’s what you call a double
standard- that’s what you call ‘media bias’.
See?
NOTE- do you think a Romney type
person- who was running for president- if he attended a David Duke rally- and
had Duke march behind him on the campaign trail- would have escaped Scrutiny?
Not on your life baby.
1888- THE NEW AMERICAN GIGOLO
Okay- let’s talk.
Before I forget let me finish a
note on one of the pictures I posted last night [Facebook].
I posted an old pic from a
fellowship we had at a ranch in Bishop- at Eli’s house.
The reason I have posted some of
these blurry pics- taken from a very old cell phone- is because they have
friends in the pics who have died and I will never get any new pics from them.
In this photo there was a shot of
Shelby- who passed away a few years back.
Henry was also there- these are
my friends from the streets of Corpus Christi- and the Bishop fellowship was
one of the few times that the 2 different groups met- one group from the old
days in Kingsville/Bishop- when we had our little home church.
And the later days- the guys who
I now work with each week- the homeless guys.
Part of the note that got cut off
was one night I was driving Homer home- he was Eli’s- Bebe’s and Rudy’s dad.
They all came to the church.
And Homer told me how happy he
was to see all his boys in church.
I am still in touch with these
Kingsville/Bishop guys- some are on the site [Facebook].
I plan on making a trip soon [so
if you guys are reading- let me know the best day- I’ll bring a few street
guys].
Okay- that finished that.
I also had one of those strange
experiences.
The other day while I was praying
for all the different guys- I also prayed about the ‘jail’ ministry.
For many years I used to preach
at the county jails in Kingsville.
When I moved to Corpus- I tried
to get in at the one here- but they had certain rules that made it hard for me
to get in.
I usually do stuff like that thru
the name of our ministry- corpuschristioutreachministries.
But this time they wanted me to
go thru another church- so it didn’t work out.
I left it at that- I mean I still
have plenty of other guys to work with.
So- as I was praying I asked the
lord if he wanted me to get more involved- then he would have to show me.
It was only a day or 2 and I got
the letter from my friend in prison- in N.J.
So I felt this might be an open
door.
I mentioned that I was suspired
to get a letter from Jersey- and the next morning I wrote a post and
‘unwittingly’ titled it I KNEW A LITTLE GREEK.
Just a play on words [the post is
a few back- I was talking about the Greek language].
Later in the day I realized that
this buddy who just wrote me- he is the only Greek friend I have!
So- that was cool too [you know-
the first letter in years- just happened to be the only Greek guy I know].
Okay- let me quote another verse
from Isaiah-
‘Behold- I create new heavens and a new earth-
the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind- be glad and rejoice
forever in that which I create’.
This verse is also found in the
book of Revelation.
Here in Isaiah God is speaking
about a new future for his people- a time of restoration.
God’s people went thru years of
struggle and hardship- and he is telling them ‘look- those days are now over-
yeah- they served a purpose- a lot of it was stuff you reaped from making bad
decisions- and to put it bluntly- sinning and messing up. But no more- this is
a new time- rejoice- be glad- this is a new season’.
Got it?
For those of you who need it-
just take it- no charge!
And I’ll end with the tragic news
event.
Yeah- I’m sure you have all
heard- Romney kills women [to my less astute political readers- I kid.]
Yeah- Obama’s people put out an
ad- I watched it.
It sounded very sincere- the guy
said he worked for the company that Romney’s firm eventually shut down.
He then said ‘when Romney shut us
down- I lost my insurance- soon after my wife died of cancer- we had no more
insurance thanks to Romney’.
Now- by just watching the ad- you
would have thought that the guy’s insurance covered his wife- and thanks to
Romney- the lady died.
The truth is- the lady was not
covered by the husband’s ins.- she had her own.
When the guy got fired- his wife
still had insurance.
She finally lost hers- and later-
6 years later [after Romney left the company] the lady got sick and died.
I mean if you want to blame
somebody- why not the employer who she worked for?
This whole thing is stupid- they
now found out that this guy also did another ad for Obama.
That’s a big no no.
The latest ad was by one of the
super pacs- and the actual campaigns are not allowed to co-ordinate with the
super pacs.
It looks like the Obama people
might have screwed this one up- big time.
I also liked the other Romney
story I read the other day.
Some guy smashed his wife’s lap
top.
Why?
He saw a picture of Romney on her Facebook
page- and thought she was a ‘cheatin’
on him [he did not know who Romney was].
Yeah- he hit her and broke the
computer- all because of that darn home wrecker- Romney.
Wow- he kills women with cancer-
he wreaks havoc in homes- homes he has never been in.
Yeah- that Romney is some piece
of work- a reincarnation of the American Gigolo- way to go Romney- way to go.
1889- MANNA
I woke up early yesterday- prayed
and blogged.
Then I went food shopping around
5:30 or so.
I like going early before the
crowds get there.
Then I took one of my weekly
drives around the area.
I drove over the JFK causeway
bridge to the Island- took some pics.
Took the ride around the City of
Corpus and drove thru Cal Allen- Robstown and back past the airport.
I’ll try and post the pics this
morning or tonight.
A few weeks ago our city started
stepping up the code enforcement for various stuff.
Lots of people park their cars on
the grass- or let the grass grow too long- stuff like that.
The sub-division I live in is
nice- because of that we get lots of solicitors- selling all types of stuff.
They think we must be rich
because we live in a nice spot.
Yeah- my home is close to the
bay- and the Gulf of Mexico.
But I bought it years ago- at
around 60,000- I got it under the real value.
I used to buy and rent houses- so
I knew how to spot a deal- and that’s how I got this house.
It’s worth at least double now-
but as a retired firefighter- I am not rich.
Anyway- we get the snake oil
salesman here all the time.
So- when the city stepped up the
code enforcement- my neighbor told me that one of the ‘enforcers’ was asking
about my mustang in the drive way.
I was like ‘what the heck are
they asking about the car for’.
It’s parked on the grass- but
it’s not the ‘yard’.
Lots of the homes here have an
area for RV’s or boats- and my house has a spot with the double gate- that
people park their boats and stuff in.
So the mustang sits in a parking
spot in front of the double gate.
Anyway I was like ‘why don’t they
worry about all the door knockers coming around all the time- I mean every week
I have people trying to sell me stuff’.
So- as my nature is- I sent an
email to the mayor- and yeah- I let him have it!
So- the next day or so I figured
let me get the car ready for sale.
When my girls got their drivers
licenses we bought them all their first cars.
This mustang- 1998- is a nice
car- we bought it for Becky about 10 years ago- and then gave it to Debbie [my
youngest].
They all have their own cars now-
so I have the mustang here- with the van- my wife’s car, my truck- and my
classic 66 mustang in the garage [and Christina’s car too- my daughter].
So- I do need to sell the car.
Plus- the morning I was going to
work on it- my wife came home later that day and said ‘your truck has a flat’.
Darn it- I have to fix the flat
and mess with the car.
So- I get the car ready for sale
and tell my daughter to call her friend and let her know I’m selling it- the
girl had stopped by a few times to ask.
So- the girl comes over with her
dad and boyfriend- she wants the car- but will ‘come up with the money’ on
August 9th.
So- I told them ‘well- I’m still
gonna list it on Craig’s list- and keep the for sale sign on it’.
They tell me they will come back
and put a down payment that night- they beg me to not list it.
So- what the heck- I told the
girl ‘okay- don’t worry about the down payment- just come back in 10 days and
I’ll hold it for you’.
So- after waiting for them all
day- they never show.
I was mad because I had a few
other people who wanted the car- and I told them it was sold.
So- after stewing a while- I’m
catching the local news- and seeing all the stories of the code enforcement.
Which was what started this whole
thing.
And I see some lady crying- ‘I’m
an old disabled woman- and your here threatening me with a fine over some
weeds’!
Yeah- the local news media are
all over it.
So- I’m watching it- identifying
with her pain ‘yeah- and what about all the darn solicitors who come by my
house every week- why don’t you do something about them- instead of worrying
about my daughters car in the driveway!’
All of a sudden I hear a knock on
the door- when the girl who wanted to by the car came by- for some reason she
knocks- I mean I do have a doorbell.
So I thought ‘well- maybe the day
won’t be that bad after all’.
I rush to the door- and there are
2 people walking away.
Hmm- doesn’t look like them?
‘Can I help you’?
They go into this long story-
there sister died of breast cancer [last night mind you].
And they’re out selling some
stuff to raise money for the funeral.
Yeah- more solicitors.
Okay- I am up to my ears with
these people.
So- I told them ‘I’m busy man’
and yeah- I made sure the door shut real good- you know- some people call that
‘slamming’.
All in all- what else can go
wrong?
My wife walks in the door- she
says ‘your truck has another flat’.
I kid you not [solicitor’s
revenge?]
So- the chapter for the week was
Exodus 16.
It’s the story of God’s people in
the wilderness.
They are complaining about Moses
taking them out of Egypt and bringing them into this wilderness place.
They said ‘why didn’t you let us
stay in Egypt- we had all the food in the world- now we are starving out here’.
So God gave them a miracle- he
rained bread from heaven.
In the morning when the people
arose- there was this bread type wafer on the ground.
When they saw it- they said ‘what
is it’- or the word- Manna- which means the same thing.
And Moses said ‘this is the bread
that God gives to you- you are to eat it’.
I find it funny- they were used
to the gluttony of Egypt- stuffing themselves to the brim- even though they
were in bondage- they were slaves in Egypt.
Yet- God has freed them- and he
is giving them food- maybe it doesn’t taste as good- but it will sustain them-
it’s what they need to finish the mission- but they are not used to it.
See- they developed an appetite
for ‘the abundance’ of Egypt- they were hooked on getting ‘all you can get- the
God of more than enough’.
Yet- the real God said ‘this is
what you need- it might look strange right now- but trust me- this is the bread
I am giving you’.
The last few months- for whatever
reason- I have been hitting on the themes of carrying our cross- denying
ourselves- living for God- not cash.
All themes that I have spoken
about lots over the years.
Yet- for some reason- I felt the
lord wanted me to go over them again.
It often takes time to see this
stuff- we- in the modern church- have been fed a ‘buffet’ of teaching that says
‘stuff yourselves to the full- get all you can- eat until it comes out your
nose’.
And God says ‘look- this Manna-
this ‘new’ bread- yeah- it might be strange at first- you might say ‘what is
this’- but this is what you need’.
Sometimes we get caught up in Egypt-
we don’t even realize we are slaves- we get used to it.
The apostle Paul wrote about his
credentials- he said he was beaten- stranded- stressed out- people talked about
him- he ran out of resources- he was hungry at times- he gave a long list of things
that would seem to contradict the ‘abundance mentality’.
Preachers today actually take
verses- sentences- from his letters- and they teach the opposite of what he
said.
They actually develop entire
systems of thought- that go against the actual experiences of the apostle.
Where are you today?
Is the car still for sale- is the
tire flat [mine is!]
Don’t judge things by stuff like
this- sometimes we get the things that we need- the ‘Manna’ often looks strange
at first- we have been fed the Egyptian buffet for so long- we don’t even
recognize the real food when it comes.
1890- FAME
I’ve been wanting to write on
this for a few weeks now- but the opportunity never arose.
Yesterday me and my wife were
driving to church- and I noticed they put up a new sign on the front.
We attend the only ‘mega church’
in the area- and they do all the things that mega churches do.
So- this sign is like the big
marquis things you see while driving down the highway- I mean its big.
As we were right by the sign-
ready to turn into the parking lot- I said ‘hey look- Bethany’s face is on the
sign’.
Bethany is my oldest daughter-
she’s a school teacher- and she helps out a lot at the church.
So- my wife looked- and was
shocked- she thought I meant that Bethany girl [Soul Surfer] who lost her leg
in a surfing accident.
That Bethany was at the church a
few weeks ago- telling her story.
But no- the one on the sign was
our daughter.
Fame.
What’s it to ya?
Many years ago when I first
started writing little books and stuff- I told one of my kids that I put a
story about the cat in a book.
Response?
Wow- OUR cats are gonna be
famous!
The other day when I got my new
camera phone- I started asking all the street guys to pose for pics- so I could
put them on the web site.
Response?
Hey- were gonna be famous!
Yeah- it’s in our nature- I mean
we want it- deep down inside- to be the top dog.
A few posts back I posted about
this thing popping up in the minds of the disciples [post was called GREAT].
Jesus quickly rebuked the idea.
I was going thru the book of Acts
the other day- and in chapter 9 we read the ‘famous’ account of the conversion
of the apostle Paul.
Paul is on the original Damascus
road and he’s blinded ‘by the light’ and after 3 days God sends a disciple
named Ananias to restore his sight and baptize him.
Jesus tells Ananias ‘I will show
Paul the things HE MUST SUFFER for my names sake’.
Hmm?
If we use the criteria of the
modern preaching of our day- we might say to Jesus [or Ananias].
‘Don’t listen to negative
confessions- Jesus talking this way will bring you down’.
Or
‘If you hang out too much with
people who talk like this- you know- suffering stuff- then it will affect you’.
Yet- Jesus was simply telling the
truth- that in order to be a true disciple- you must bear your cross.
This wasn’t a ‘negative
confession’ or some type of thing that was denying our ‘covenant rights’.
It was simply teaching- from
JESUS- about the cost of discipleship- nothing more- or less.
I have spent many years
reading/learning from many different camps.
And verses like this- or the one
in chapter 7 where Stephen is martyred for the faith.
These verses didn’t seem to fit
in with the modern message of success.
I mean we view success as not
suffering- or not being killed for the faith!
Yet- success in the kingdom is
different than the world.
If we want to find our lives- we
must lose them.
If we want to be first [fame] we
must be last- the servant of all.
These are the things that Jesus
taught.
I even remember how some of the
teachers would do their best to say that the suffering Jesus spoke about was
not ‘real’ suffering.
Some said it was the affliction
you go thru when you become rich- and then when the other Christians [like me] teach
different- then you ‘suffer’ because you are rich- and people talk about you.
What about Stephen?
It doesn’t seem like that would
fit his case- I mean the guy was killed for Christ.
Oh- yeah.
Some taught that Stephen DID NOT
HAVE TO DIE.
If he chose to believe- and have
faith- he would have been delivered- but it was his choice- or lack of faith
that brought him to martyrdom
I could go on- but why?
Yeah- I was glad to see my
daughters face on the big screen- and it’s okay that she was on it.
But the faith is not about fame.
When Jesus said ‘let your light
shine before men’.
He was not talking about talents-
singing- preaching- etc.
If you finish the verse he said
‘so they may see your GOOD WORKS and glorify your Father in heaven’.
Once again- the good works of
charity- giving to the poor- laying your rights down for the benefit of others.
That’s ‘the light’.
See?
1892- WHAT A DEAL!
Well I finally sold the Mustang
last night [a car- not horse].
I put it on Craigslist for about
a week- geez- too many calls.
People would ask for directions-
I’d give them the address and directions- then they would call back ‘well- I
don’t speak English too good [lots of Mexicans buy the cars from this area and
sell them in Mexico] - I’m still in the parking lot ‘[Wal mart].
Okay- would could I do?
I told a few people ‘look- I gave
you the address- directions- part of this project is you need to be able to get
here- if you can’t complete this part of the ‘mission’ then I guess you won’t
be buying the car brother’.
Yeah- they need that type of
tough love.
So anyway it sold for 700.
That was a steal to be honest.
1998 mustang- runs good- does
need a starter.
Another one was selling for 1500-
with a blown motor!
Okay- let’s do another verse from
the prophet.
‘In all their affliction he was
afflicted- and the angel of his presence saved them’ Isaiah 63:9
If you read the entire chapter
you get a scene of someone treading the Winepress.
I spoke about this a while back-
the imagery of a Winepress- a place where you crush the grapes and make the
wine- is used by the prophets in the bible.
Jesus himself uses the same
imagery in the gospels.
Here you have God saying ‘I
looked for a man- someone to do this mission- and I found no one- so my own arm
brought salvation’.
It is important to note that in
this chapter we see God [Jesus] stained with the blood of those who are being
trampled at the Winepress.
In the book of Revelation we this
same thing.
Many modern prophecy teachers [another
pet peeve of mine by the way] have an end time scenario all figured out- they
see these things thru the ‘lens’ of modern warfare- which nation should get
which piece of land [Israel- Palestine- etc.]
But they fail to see how the New
Testament focuses on all ethnic groups- Jews, Palestinians- etc- as being One New Man in Christ [Ephesians].
So- this image of the winepress
sometimes is associated with a final battle of Armageddon scenario- that makes
me cringe when I hear it proclaimed- in an ethnic way- from the media pulpits.
‘John- how should we take it
then’?
Look- I’m not saying ‘my way’ is
the only way- or the right way.
But when we read the bible- we
must also take into consideration the broader themes of the love and grace of
God- yes- judgment too- I don’t deny that- but the mercy of God must be there
as well.
So- in this imagery of Jesus
being stained with the blood of sinners- at a Winepress- the ‘place of
pressing’ [like the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus started to bleed- pouring
out his blood].
We can also see this as a type of
the Cross- the place where the judgment and wrath of God was poured out- on
Christ himself.
Maybe the blood that the
‘treader’ is soaked in- maybe its redemptive- just maybe.
See?
But the actual verse I wanted to
hit on was that ‘in all our affliction- he is afflicted’ [which by the way fits
in more with what I just said].
In 1st Peter 4 we read
that we are partakers of Christ’s suffering.
The apostle Paul said ‘I fill up
the sufferings of Christ’.
They saw their trials as being
redemptive in nature- that is they felt like the things they were going thru in
life were for a higher purpose.
They did not view the Christian
experience thru a lens that was primarily seeking self benefit.
Many today see ‘church’ and
Christianity as a means of self improvement- often times you hear the same
thing from the pulpits as you hear on the weekend self help infomercials [or
the ‘how to get rich’ guys].
Is this a right view?
No.
We are on the earth to glorify
God- and to finish the work he gave us to do.
If part of the cost is suffering-
then so be it.
These verses I have quoted show
us in no uncertain terms that we are called- at times- to suffer.
As a student of all types of
scholars- I must confess that our Catholic brothers and sisters get this right-
much more often than Protestants.
So- those of you who have been
tracking this journey- you have seen some flat tires- some wrecked trucks- and
yeah- some up’s and downs.
I’m not saying all of this is
equal to the sufferings of the early apostles- but in a small way- we can
identify- and gain comfort- to know that these are not ‘strange trials’ these
are things we all go thru in life.
I just wish we could take turns!
LOL
1893 CHAINS- TREES AND RYAN
It’s been a few days since Romney
picked Ryan as the V.P.
And I find it interesting how the
media has covered it.
Last night I caught Blitzer [CNN]
grilling a Repub on all the votes/positions Ryan has held since being in
congress.
I mean the media have been doing
this since day 1.
So- Ryan and his defenders have
spent time saying ‘look- when someone is picked to be the V.P. - he realizes
that the top guy on the ticket is the one who calls the shots’.
Is this true?
Of course.
As a matter of fact- I never
heard one reporter ever pose a question like this to Biden.
When Obama picked Biden- Biden
had cast tons of more votes than Ryan- he has been in the senate for years.
Yet not a single question- not
one- about Biden casting votes that were contrary to Obama.
Yesterday we also had some bad
news- a shooter walked into a political opponent’s office [he held the opposite
views of this organization] and opened fire.
Yes- the shooter was associated
with groups on the other side- politically- of the people he shot.
Now- where were the Bryan Rosses
of the world?
You know- the reporters who were
going thru the shooters background- even reporting that they found people with
the same name as the shooter [Jim Holmes] who held the opposing political views
of the people he shot [Ross falsely associated the batman movie shooter with a
Tea party guy].
No- for the most part yesterday’s
shooter got little coverage.
Why?
He was a left leaning Democrat-
active in all types of liberal causes.
Now- Biden just came out and made
the now infamous ‘they are gonna put YOU ALL back in chains’.
You all- the Black folk in the
audience.
How lovely Joe- you just keep
hittin' them out of the ball park ole buddy.
So- when you have a shooter ‘shoot’
at some type of Democrat type organization- or at some type of liberal leaning
organization [abortion clinics].
The media spend days- weeks-
asking the question ‘do you think the language of ‘the right’ is responsible
for this’.
Yet- you have Biden- Obama- and
the entire left side of the aisle spending the last few months demonizing rich
folk- business people- people who hold to conservative views.
And not one single question [that
I saw] asked about whether or not this type of incendiary language [their
words- when covering the right] might have caused some unstable person to shoot
at the Focus on the Family people.
See?
As the media can’t seem to stop
covering every vote Ryan made that was not 100 % in line with Romney- I saw a
short report last night from the local NBC affiliate.
It portrayed Romney as being
angry- mad- unable to handle the tough campaigning.
It showed Obama and his team as
good natured folk- people who live and let live.
Yet- as I have been watching the
news- I have not seen Romney openly angry- stressed out- or frustrated to no end.
No- as a matter of fact- many on
the ‘right’ are upset with Romney- because he is not doing this.
Let me make a point here to some
of my Christian friends.
I know most of you know Romney is
Mormon- and has played a very active role in his church.
Did you know Romney was what we
consider a Pastor for many years?
People that know him will tell
you straight up that he is the basic pastor type person in all of his dealings.
That in all his business
dealings- even if you disagree with him financially or politically- they say he
is a very honest guy.
So- when the NBC report was
painting a narrative that said Romney was this stressed out angry guy- I knew
they were telling ‘their story’ and theirs alone.
Then- at the end of the piece-
they added in the recent comment of Biden that Romney wants to put Black people
back ‘in chains’.
Which was what you saw in the
clips they played of Romney- his response to the latest attack.
I also saw another interesting
news story.
It was on one of the world news
shows that come on at 5:30 in Texas- 6:30 in the east.
They were talking about the
wildfires out of control- they then mentioned the global warming thing- how it
is behind the fires.
Then- they showed a picture of
Palm trees burning- all by their lonesome.
Hmm?
They then insinuated that global
warming is so bad- that palm trees are ‘spontaneously combusting’ from the
heat.
I kid you not.
Now- did these trees just ignite-
by themselves- because of the heat?
As a firefighter- who worked 25
years in a very hot state- days of 110 degrees- with many palm trees.
We never had a case of a palm
tree doing this.
So what was the news doing?
More than likely- they were
showing you some trees- that probably did ignite- but they were not showing you
they were about 100 feet from the rest of the blaze.
Yes- in fire science you learn
that the heat from a fire- many more times hotter than the actual temp- even in
the worst ‘global warming’ spot on the planet.
The heat from a fire can heat up
a close object to its ignition temp.
Now- the fire has to be real hot
[your talking thousands in degrees- not 110!]- and the object has to be pretty
close- like the fire in the above scenario was probably right out of the
picture- on purpose.
So- the news story can say- with
some truth ‘this palm tree spontaneously combusted by the heat’ and in the same
breath talk about global warming.
They did not outright ‘lie’ but
they gave you a narrative that mislead you.
The media do this day in and day
out- with everything.
So- as we watch the media go with
a fine toothcomb thru every vote Ryan ever made- as they portray Romney as this
angry cult leader- who is unable to deal with the stress of a campaign.
Yes- as they show us the palm
tree that spontaneously combusts- because those damn Repubs won’t stop global
warming!
Yes- as we view all this thru the
looking glass of the tube.
Just remember- that when Biden
[or Obama] accuse the other side of wanting to put ‘you all back in chains’.
Or wanting to kill grandma while
rolling her off the cliff.
Remember- when the left uses this
language- and a Democrat walks in to a Christian ministry and starts shooting-
remember- this has absolutely nothing to do with the man’s act.
But when some nut shoots and
wounds a Democratic senator from Arizona- Gabbie Gifford’s- the media spend an
entire week asking if the use of the word Target- by Sarah Palin- was
responsible for the shooting.
Yeah- that’s the good ole honest
media for ya- you know- the ones who just happen to spot palm trees
spontaneously goin’ up in smoke.
NOTE- I kid you not- right now-
just as I wrote ‘up in smoke’ I look up- and yes- my desk top [wood] is
actually on fire- for real.
What?
I have a habit of burning
candles- lighting my own home made lamps [bottles with wicks in them- filled
with lamp fuel].
And burning incense.
So- my wife keeps telling me
‘your gonna set the house on fire one day’.
Sure enough- I had a candle burning-
and it lit some spilled wax on the desk top [I have a spot where I burn candles
and the wax gets on the wood].
I look up- the thing is in
flames.
If I had the time I would have clicked a pic!
I put it out with a towel- but I
almost had to grab the garden hose- let’s hope my wife does not read this one
[or one of my daughters squeals on me! You know- Biden style.
1894 HEROD- FAME- AND ONE COOL DUDE
I mentioned the other day that
some of the street guys said ‘wow- were gonna be famous’ when I told them I was
gonna post their pics to the site.
The next day I was watching the
local news- and they did a report about 2 guys getting arrested for peeing- on
a cop car- at the police station.
So- whenever I see a news teaser
like this [you know- ‘coming up next’] I think ‘geez- wonder if I know them’.
Sure enough- it was Albert and
another guy that I just saw at the mission.
They did want to be famous.
Right after I posted yesterday- I
read an article that backed up my suspicion.
It was so obvious it was funny.
I wrote that I saw an NBC news
clip that portrayed Romney as this angry- mean- loser who can’t stand the heat.
Then- they spoke about Obama as a
very calm- almost messianic figure.
So- right after the post I read
my paper- there was a report by the AP [associated press].
Let me quote the first paragraph-
it’s right here ‘Romney is portraying THE OUTWARDLY CALM PRESIDENT as a man
seething with animosity and power lust as the Repubs seek to undermine one of
the Dems greatest strengths- his PERSONAL LIKABILITY’.
I mean it’s so obvious- you can’t
take these guys serious.
I was watching MSNBC- Matthews
was responding to the court ruling that backed the Repub rule that in
Pennsylvania you need to show voter I.D.
This has been an ongoing
political battle in a few states- including mine.
The Dems charge that there is
absolutely never any voter fraud- ever.
[note- a few years ago they
showed a tape of a Texas Dem- she was speaking to a room full of Mexicans- down
by the border- she said ‘go out and vote- even if your not a citizen- they cant
check!’]
They say the Repubs are doing
this because they know many ‘poor Blacks’ who vote Dem- cannot get their I.D.’s
Once again- they don’t realize
that this stereotype is racist.
Like when Harry Reid said of
Obama- and Biden too ‘he’s the first CLEAN BLACK guy- on a national scene- he
can talk good- he doesn’t SOUND BLACK- only when he wants to’.
Yeah- you tell em guys.
I’m surprised Biden didn’t kick
in ‘yeah- you need a slight Indian accent in the 7-11’s and Dunkin Doughnuts
too’- ‘I’m not kidding either’- yeah- we heard.
So Matthews goes on and asks his
guest ‘tell us what this rule means for the poor voters in the state who
usually vote Dem’.
The lady goes on and says that
this forces them to travel across the country [huh?] in order to obtain their
proof of birth from their state.
What about the fax machine?
Then she said many of these
people were born by midwives [many- these people- hmm?]
And they don’t have birth certificates.
One of my daughters was born by a
midwife- she has a birth certificate.
My homeless friends are
constantly losing their picture I.D.’s- which is an important thing for them to
have- and they regularly write- contact their home state of birth- without
actually going there- and they get new I.D.’s
I really don’t know why MSNBC
calls itself a news station.
Then the wonderful Chris Matthews
says ‘they are going back to the days of King Herod- where he made all the
world travel back to their homeland to
be taxed’.
Please- Please- try and stick
with the news as best as possible- because when you guys delve into the faith-
you really screw stuff up.
Oh- I forgot- I also cut out the
picture from the article- it shows the most calm picture of Obama I ever did
see.
He’s with his wife at some
function.
She looks good too- like a happy-
sweet angel.
Romney?
He is on a plane- doesn’t look
that bad- but maybe a little stressed.
Now- I’m sure they searched high
and low for a stressed pic of Romney- this was probably the best they could
come up with.
I remember when Newsweek posted a
cover picture of Michele Bachman- I mean it was the most insane shot I ever
saw- like some wild eyed lunatic.
Yeah- the media do stuff like
this- all the time.
People don’t realize they are
affected by it- but they are.
Okay- this past week I posted
some pics of old friends and I also shared a story about some of these friends
with the homeless guys.
So I think I’ll post another
‘post’ right below- one that has some info about these old friends.
So- enjoy your weekend- Oh- if
you’re a Black person from the great sate of Penn.- say high to King Herod for
me.
We bought the Rocu thing the other day.
That’s the device that lets you watch movies on line.
You get a lot of real good stuff- I was surprised.
I was also surprised to see all the documentaries about
religion and Christianity.
The ones from Netflix looked interesting- so I watched a
couple.
Yikes!!
All of the ones I saw were done from a skeptic’s point of
view.
Now- as someone who writes on apologetics [the defense of
the faith] I am familiar with these arguments against the faith.
But- if you are not familiar- these doc’s will shake your
faith- for sure.
Why?
They are done from the perspective that Christianity
basically copied the Greek myths of God and religion- they focus on the
‘similarities’ between Christianity and Greek [and other cultures] religions.
Okay- what was wrong- or deceptive?
First- this entire school of thought was popularized in the
19th century- from the Christian universities in Germany.
Yes- some good men- well meaning men [others not so good!
Freud- etc] believed that in order for the faith to survive in this ‘brave new
world’ [modernity- and the whole humanistic advance of man since the
enlightenment].
That they had to re-fashion the faith and sort of bring it
up to date with the times.
Men like Rudolph Bultman introduced the idea of ‘de
mythologizing’ the bible.
So- these guys rejected all the supernatural elements of the
bible- no more miracles- angels- demons- or resurrection!
Many people embraced this ‘new’ bold approach to the faith-
and basically became theological liberals.
One of the reasons some of these men went down this road
were covered in the above documentaries.
Okay- as I watched a couple of them- they had similar
themes- and were also wrong in the same way.
They compared about 25 other religious myths- from other
cultures- and they said these other religious myths all had a savior- a son of
god- who had 12 disciples.
They said this Lamb of God died- was buried- and on the 3rd
day rose again.
They said he did miracles- was born of a virgin- was called
Lord and savior.
And they made it sound like this ‘story’- in complete form-
was repeated many times before the Christians ‘picked it up’.
Wow- double wow.
Why are these documentaries dangerous?
First- I actually have read/studied in this field.
The similarities that they described in the doc’s were way overdone-
they simply are not true.
That’s the first problem.
But- they did mix in some truth- with the false stuff.
Both of the documentaries I saw [it seems like there is one
person- producer- behind the 2 I saw] did give an actual quote from a 2nd
century Christian leader- Justin Martyr.
The quote is indeed real- Justin is known as one of the
first Apologists of the church.
He defended the faith during a time when many enemies of the
faith slandered the religion.
In one defense [out of many] he said that those who reject
Christianity because we believe that a Divine son rose from the dead- that
others also held the same type of belief in the pagan world.
He was referring to the god Jupiter and the stories that
surround those who believed in him.
You also do find this same type of thing in the myth of
Hercules.
Okay- so the skeptic was right then?
No.
In the documentary- the skeptic actually gives the quote
from Justin- and Justin says that just because these similarities did exist in
other religions- before Christ- that this in no way means the Christian faith
is false.
How so?
Justin said it was possible for satan to have ‘imitated’
what was really going to happen.
The skeptic mocked this argument from Justin- and went on to
challenge the faith.
A few things.
First- it is possible that Justin was right.
2nd.
This whole line of attack is not new [unless you never heard
of it before- which is why I’m kinda surprised that Netflix has them in their
lineup].
It goes all the way back to the writings of Gilgamesh.
These are writings that also have similarities to the things
we find in the bible- yet they are not coming from the Christian perspective.
They contain a story about a flood [like the one in
Genesis].
So- over time- skeptics have said ‘see- the bible must have
copied these flood stories- because we find them in other cultures’.
I actually covered this before.
Let me give you the short version.
We- as Christians- do indeed believe the story of Noah [the
flood].
Some debate whether it was a global event or local- I don’t
want to get into that now.
But- if there was a huge event- say like a 911 plane attack
on the world trade center.
Would you not expect to find that event- recorded in more
than one culture?
Of course you would.
So the fact that other cultures have a flood event recorded
too- this does not mean the Christians plagiarized the flood- no- it would be
evidence that the flood really did happen.
See?
Now- the similarities between a divine son who rose from the
dead.
First- there ARE NOT 25 or so stories like this- with 12
disciples- raised on the 3rd day- and so on.
The producer of the doc was simply mislead- or outright
lying.
2nd.
We must remember that anything we find in Greek culture-
which predated Christian ‘culture’ was also predated by Jewish culture.
That is to say that the story of Judaism comes before the
Greek philosophers.
Are there any themes in the Jewish religion that speak about
a Messiah who would come- die- and be the Messiah of all mankind?
Yes!
So- you could argue that any similarities between Greek
myth- and Christianity- are actually ‘copies’ taken from the Old Testament
story.
That is- God himself gave us clues about the story of
redemption- and these clues might have very well ‘seeped’ into the Greek
culture- before Christ- and that’s why you might find similarities between the
2.
See?
Okay- I could go on- but I think I made the point.
I was not mad that these documentaries were on net flix.
But I saw the danger in presenting one side like this-
without giving the other view [which I just gave].
All in all- the Christian faith has more historical backing
[like the many thousands of bible manuscripts that survived the early days]
than any other religion or writings of any kind.
The documentaries made a couple of good points- things that
were indeed true- but they had way too much mis information in them to be
playing on such a huge venue.
Buyer [or watcher] beware!
1896 SIGNS OF THE
TIMES
‘Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised
thee- is burned up with fire’ Isaiah 64:11.
Yesterday I mentioned that I watched a couple of negative
documentaries about Christianity- they were done from the extreme skeptic’s
perspective.
In these types of shows they usually have a few
Christians/preachers that they portray as idiots.
In some cases- we can’t help ourselves!
One of the scenes was this group of protestant Christians
traveling to Israel on a holy land tour.
When they are at the site of the temple mount [a real big
deal for certain protestants- called Dispensationalists].
The pastor is speaking- very loudly- and quoting Jesus from
Matthew 24.
He says ‘Jesus said there would be no stone left upon
another- he meant it- all these stones will come down’!
Now- I know he meant well- and it must have felt
exhilarating for him to kind of be standing up for Jesus- but we all know that
there is this huge gold mosque sitting right at the spot where the temple used
to be.
And this is where- for some Protestants- the rubber meets
the road.
The above verse comes from the Old Testament prophet- the
people of God [Israel] were being judged- they lost their homeland and
eventually their holy temple would be destroyed.
Over a period of time they would return to their land and
the temple would be re built.
During the days of Jesus you had a 3rd temple-
even though the 2nd rebuilt one was never destroyed- yet Herod [the
father of king Herod whom we read about in the bible] would undergo this huge
rebuilding project- and he turned the temple of Jesus day into this huge
majestic place.
So- when the disciples were with Jesus one day [matt 24]
they said ‘look at all these great buildings Jesus’.
And that’s when he gave the response ‘their will not be left
one stone upon another that shall not be cast down’.
This event took place in the year AD 70- the Roman general
Titus would sack Jerusalem and the temple was cast down- there was not ‘one
stone left on another’ literally.
After the destruction- many went in and searched thru the
rubble for the gold that melted and fell between the stones- they actually laid
every stone bare during this process.
So- the actual words the minister quoted from Jesus- these
words were not defending the glory of the temple- which in Christ’s day came to
represent religion apart from God.
No- the words of Jesus were actually a rebuke to those who
put too much emphasis on the temple
itself [which just happened to be the camp that the above minister was in-
ouch!]
Christians do have a problem with stuff like this- lots.
I also caught a few preaching shows over the past week- and
many of them had the same theme.
One man was ranting against Muslims- he was quoting verses
in the Bible that talk about avoiding the evil person.
I actually just posted on this a few weeks ago.
These verses come from the Apostle Paul’s pen- in his letter
to the church at Corinth.
He was not saying to have no contact with unbelievers [or
people of other faiths]- he was talking about ‘church members’ who were living
in open sin.
I got into it the other day- don’t want to rehash it again.
The point was- even though this minister meant well- he was
giving the opinion that Christians should have no peaceful dealings with
Muslims- or any other religion for that matter.
Is this right?
No.
The bible says we should live peaceably with all men.
In the Old Testament we read the story of Joseph.
He became the second most powerful figure in the land of
Egypt- only Pharaoh was over him.
Joseph was living- and functioning- in the midst of the
Egyptian people- who did indeed have different religious beliefs than Joseph.
Yet we read how Joseph earned great respect from the
Egyptians- and when Joseph’s dad died [Jacob- who was named Israel] they
respected the wishes of Joseph and even mourned with him.
Now- this is a great example of believers having friends-
functioning in society- without purposefully offending people.
I do not claim to have perfect understanding about the end
times- but I do see some major flaws with what most people think about when
they hear ‘end times’.
Many Christians see a future restoration of the temple in
Jerusalem.
They see a huge problem that the mosque sits on the temple
site- and they have various scenarios to see the thing removed.
These same believers- all good people mind you- also see
Jesus restoring the sacrificial system- and him ruling over Jerusalem- with the
sacrifices taking place once again.
Problem?
In the book of Hebrews- in our bibles- the writer says
‘those who continue the sacrificial system- after the crucifixion of Christ-
are doing disgrace to the Cross of Christ.’
Theologically- the above end time’s scenario does much harm
to the basic message of the Cross.
Geopolitically- it spells disaster.
No comments:
Post a Comment