A Day of Praise

What a day!

We had two mission reports in our worship today.

The first was from a teen who went of a missions trip to Washington.

The second from our youth group, who went to Indiana on a missions/home restoration trip with World Changers.

All I can do is praise Him for allowing us to serve Him.

To the King of Kings and Lord of Lords we say, "Praise you."

For paying the ransom for our souls, "Praise you."
For your healing power, your forgiveness, your grace, your mercy, "Praise you."
For this great land founded on your principles, "Praise you."
For sparing us the penalty of everlasting death, "Praise you."
For bearing us up in your arms daily, "Praise you."
For protecting us and providing for us, "Praise you."

We bow before you in humility and awe, Father, and we praise you.

This hymn seems appropriate:

Praise, My soul, the King of Heaven
By: Henry F. Lyte, 1793-1874

Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;
To his feet your tribute bring;
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,Evermore His praises sing;
Alleluia, alleluia!Praise the everlasting King.

Praise Him for His grace and favor
To His people in distress;
Praise Him still the same as ever,
Slow to chide, and swift to bless:
Alleluia, alleluia!Glorious in His faithfulness.

Father like He tends and spares us;
Well our feeble frame He knows;
In His hand He gently bears us,
Rescues us from all our foes.
Alleluia, alleluia!Widely yet His mercy flows.

Angels, help us to adore Him;
You behold Him face to face;
Sun and moon, bow down before Him,
All who dwell in time and space.
Alleluia, alleluia!Praise with us the God of grace.

Have a great Lord's day.

The Order of Things

My blog is, as is yours, a place for self expression. It is where I express myself. (That's what "self expression" means isn't it?) (Was that redundant or just repetitive?)

Mostly what you read here is my own personal take on things that interest me.

I am not a preacher, but I am interested in things spiritual, specifically Biblical.

I am a radio Production/Operations manager at a Christian radio station, a sort of radio-ologist.

I am a part-time Minister of Music and Education.

I am a former Minister of Youth, but a bit long of tooth for that now (although it pleases me that youth still crowd around me, I cannot begin to keep up with them).

I actually get along with teenagers and children MUCH better than I do with adults, mostly because I, myself, have never completely grown up (and don't intend to, thank you very much).

I am also a bit off center. And proud of it.

I have a sweet wife, whom I love more dearly today than ever.

I love order, but rarely keep it.

I am serious ONLY about Jesus...not about me, not about you and not about anything that happens. I write about serious subjects from time-to-time, but do not take my own writings too seriously.

People often ask me, "Joe, can't you be serious about anything? Are you always on?" To which I answer, "Of course. On What?"

My wife can't take me anywhere.

At the check-out in a restaurant, when the cashier asks, "How was everything?" I am likely to respond, "Well, I didn't have EVERYTHING, but what I had was pretty good."

Or the conversation might go like this: "How was your dinner?" "It ruined my appetite." "Oh? What was wrong?" "Nothing. That's what I came here to do." (I actually had to duck a towel once after that one.)

Things that pop into my head just roll right out my mouth without going through the "come on, Joe, do you really want to say that?" filter.

My tongue stays very sore from being so firmly implanted in my cheek.

I have two rules in life: Rule #1) If you haven't touched it in two years, throw it out. Rule #2) Ignore Rule #1.

I HATE poor grammar, but manage to pull it off from time to time. (Remember: Voice, Mood, Tense, Person and Number applies to subjects and predicates, not to objects of prepositions and predicates.) (I knew you wanted to remember that.)

You may correct my grammar/spelling any time you want to. I'll cry...but I'll get over it.

With all of this in mind, and having visited some blog sites that do things this way, I thought I would trek off in a new, more organized direction.

This will be my new blogging schedule:

BLOG SCHEDULE

Sunday: Spiritual Things
Monday: Personal Things
Tuesday: Political Things
Wednesday: Spiritual Things
Thursday: American Things
Friday: Open line Friday and Week in Review
Saturday: Nutty Things

This schedule is posted so that you can come visit me on the day when what you're most interested in is likely to be posted.

Be warned! This schedule is more likely than not to be adjusted from time-to-time, sometimes, often or always, which ever comes first.

It will be brought to you in Living Color, stereo (where available) and HD (also where available).
But mostly in black and white.

Keep up if you can (or dare). Comment whenever you like (or don't like). Anonymous comments will be evaluated on their content and how much or little they agree with me and then either deleted or allowed, depending on my mood that moment.

I really love "bloglinking" (my term for going from link-to-link-to-link), so be sure to leave your name, number any personal information, such as bank account number, SS number etc., that might be helpful, but most of all, a link to your site.

Thanks for your support.

Freedom - The Cry of All Hearts

There are some things that we know empirically. I know that I have to breathe. Whenever I don’t breathe for a period of time, I get very uncomfortable. Now if I don’t breathe at all, I will die.

The first part of that I have experienced, discomfort from not breathing for a period of time. The second I have not yet experienced, but I know it is true.

How do I know it’s true? I know it is true based on what I have read, medically and scientifically, and by viewing people who are not breathing. They are all dead.

Now suppose I choose NOT to believe that a lack of breathing will kill me. How will that change what will happen to me if I stop breathing?

Some things we know by the preponderance of the evidence, whether written, spoken or spiritually discerned.

When I first was introduced to Jesus, I had choices to make. I could choose to believe what I had heard and read or I could choose NOT to believe what I had heard and read. I was free to choose either one, but I was NOT free to choose not to make a choice.

It was testified to me that if I chose to trust in the finished work of Jesus at the cross of Calvary. I also read that in the Bible.

It was also told to me that certain things would occur in that part of me called the “heart” if I chose Jesus that would NOT occur if I did not.

Based on what I had been told and what I had read, I chose to believe.

Now the test of whether I made the right choice would be the empirical test of whether the things happened that I was told would happen.

They did. My “heart” suddenly got a new attitude. I began to understand things I had never understood before.

The Bible became not a set of rules and regulations to follow, but a revelation of God’s love for me and His plan for my life.

I developed a love for people of like mind that my “me exclusively” self would not have entertained before.

Praising and living for the Lord became a top priority, as did growing in the knowledge of the Lord.

One of the most important characteristics God gave mankind was a deep, insatiable yearning for freedom. With the fall of man came a warping of that desire for freedom into a desire for selfishness: I want, what I want, when I want it, how I want it. A kind of “I” trouble.

Still, God has given us one freedom that we can exercise any time we want to: the freedom to choose to accept His free gift of salvation by grace through faith in His Son, Jesus. We are free to choose Him. We are free NOT to choose Him. We are NOT free not to choose whether or not to choose Him.

There are dozens of different “faiths.” You may pick and choose from among them. Not only has God given you the freedom to choose, we live in a “free” country in which you are allowed by the government to choose any faith-system you like. Or you may prefer no faith-system at all. That, too, is allowed. (Not all governments allow that.)

Some of these faiths are predicated on “pleasing” God.

If God is God, the perfect, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient creator of all that has been created, what in the world makes anyone think we who are imperfect can please Him by our own volition?

Answer: We can’t. Period. If we depend on ourselves we are totally without hope. We don’t have it in us.

But God, loving His creation, made a way. He came to earth in the form of a babe, grew into a man, bore the penalty of sin on the cross, and rose triumphantly from the borrowed tomb in which He had been laid.

God then sent us a love letter called the Bible. In it He said, among other things, “If we confess with out mouths the Lord Jesus, and believe in our hearts God has raised Him from the dead we will be saved.”

If you have read this far, I need to warn you of something: When you die and stand before a Holy God, who demands absolute perfection and He asks what you did with His gift, the one answer you will NOT be able to give is, “I did not know.” I just told you.

What if you choose NOT to accept the gift?

You are certainly free to do so. No one will try to force it down your throat. (I don’t have the faintest idea why people think that because Christians believe they have the Truth we are therefore “cramming it down their throats.”) The government will not banish you from the country. You will not be beheaded. Your family will probably not “disown” you. Your boss will not fire you.

God will not send you to Hell.

You see, He provided the way to live with Him eternally. You are free to choose that way. But if you don’t, you will have chosen the alternative. Get it? You choose to go! You are free to make that choice!

Would you like to know what freedom is? Here goes: If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Do you yearn to be free? Choose Christ.

The Great Weigh-In

I am about to weigh in on what is, to me, at least, a very heavy topic: Followship.

I took a philosophy course in school in which 90% of the discussion centered around the works and life of St. Augustine.

Now, St. Augustine was an interesting person, a pretty good theologian and right fair philosopher, but I do not follow St. Agustine.

John Calvin was a16th century theologian who is referred to often for ideas about the doctrine of predestination. I am Calvinistic in my own personal views, but I do not follow John Calvin.

John Bunyan was a 17th century writer and preacher. He was the author of "Pilgrim's Progress," most remembered for its graphic depiction of Hell. He also wrote the autobiographical, "Grace Abounding," many precepts of which are engaging, but I do not follow John Bunyon.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor and theologian was imprisoned and hanged for plotting to overthrow Hitler. He was a great protestor, most assuredly a man of courage and conviction, and wrote much from prison, but I do not follow Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

The Apostle, Paul, is, of course, the greatest human theologian to have ever walked the planet. He wrote The Acts of the Apostles, Romans, two letters to the church at Corinth and so much more of the New Testament. I love his writings and read them almost daily. But I do not follow Paul.

I follow Jesus. Period.

When I say that I follow Jesus, I do not mean that I dress like him. I rarely wear sandals. I never wear a robe. I do not do the things that were customary socially when He walked the earth.

What I mean is that there came a moment in my life when I felt the tug of the Holy Spirit urging me to acknowledge the fact of sin in my life, to recognize that its consequence was eternal separation from God in a place not even designed for me, to repent of the sinful condition in which I was mired, and to turn in faith to the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary.

I mean that in that moment I committed and submitted myself to Him, asking Him to forgive my sin and assume control of my life from the inside out, which He did immediately and eternally.

Since that time, I have sought to grow in Him through the study of His Word, through consistent prayer and by daily relinquishing more and more of myself to Him.

My walk has been neither perfect nor consistent. Things I know I should not do, I do. Things I know I should do I don't do (Paul faced the same issues).

But He has drawn me ever closer to Him with every passing day. I can honestly sing, "Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before," and "I'm not what I ought to be, I'm not what I'm gonna be, but thank God I'm not what I was."

I take absolutely no credit of any kind or on any level for what God has accomplished in me. It is all a work of His matchless grace. It is Him refining me in His fire.

Believe me, there have been, are and I am certain will be times when He must turn up the heat. He grabs my heart and says, "Don't be like that! I did not bring you this far to have you bring shame to my Holy Name. Pay attention!"

Personally, I do not know why anybody would reject the Lord, Jesus, Christ. I have found Him to be everything He said He is. I have found Him worthy of followship beyond my wildest imagination or ability to understand.

There was a song in the 50s that said, "To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him, and I do..." It was not written about Jesus, but it applies.

It is impossible to know and love Him and then to stop knowing and loving Him. If one ever really knows Him and really loves Him, he/she could NEVER turn away from Him because it is not we who do the keeping, but Him. If one ever "turns from Him," he never knew Him to begin with.

I know that there are millions who have called themselves "Christian" at one time or another and subsequently "left the faith." Those people were most often following a religious faith-system. They had never been adopted into the family of Christ, for once one is adopted, one is never un-adopted.

Let me tell you why I am writing about this.

Yesterday I had a very bad time with my heart. (For those who don’t know, I have lived through a series of myocardial infarctions [heart attacks].)

I was reminded afresh that I might have a day, a week, a month, a year or several years to live. I don’t know.

But I know this: every day I have to spend with Him on earth is a blessing, but nothing compared to the blessing I have to look forward to spending eternity with Him.

I do not look toward some continuation of a pleasure I enjoy in this life. I’m not expecting T-bone steak every eternal night, 73 or 80 "virgins" to pleasure me, a planet to populate, or an alien with whom to be reunited.

I look forward to being in the presence of my Jesus, doing whatever it is He wants me to be doing, for whatever the unknowable meaning of eternity is, in a place so beautiful that the world’s most precious metal is only fit to be trod underfoot.

Wouldn’t you like to come, too?

I say, with John the beloved, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus"

My King

A great preacher, who has gone on to be with the Lord, named Shadrack Meshack Lockridge, delivered the most powerful sermon about who Jesus is I have ever heard. If this is the Jesus you know, then rejoice! We know the same Jesus! Here is the very slightly abridged text of his message:

My King was born King. The Bible says he’s a seven-way King.

He’s the King of the Jews…that’s a racial King. He’s a King of Israel…that’s a national King. He’s the King of righteousness. He’s the King of the ages. He’s the King of Heaven. He’s the King of glory. He’s the King of Kings and He’s the Lord of Lords.

Well, I wonder if you know Him. Do you know Him? Don’t try to mislead me. Do you know my King?

David said, "The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork." My King is the only one whose limitless love cannot be measured. No far-seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supplies. No barriers can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing.

Well, He’s enduringly strong, He’s entirely sincere, He’s eternally steadfast, He’s immortally graceful. He’s imperially merciful.

That’s my King.

He’s God’s Son, He’s the sinner’s savior. He’s the centerpiece of civilization. He stands alone in Himself.

He’s august. He’s unique. He’s unparalleled. He’s unprecedented. He’s supreme. He’s preeminent. Well, He’s the supreme problem of higher criticism. He’s the fundamental doctrine of true theology. He’s the cardinal necessity of spiritual religion.

That’s my King.

He’s the miracle of the age. He’s the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him.

He’s the only one able to supply all of our needs simultaneously. He supplies strength for the weak. He’s available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and He saves. He guards and He guides. He heals the sick. He cleansed the lepers. He forgives sinners. He discharges debtors. He delivers the captives. He defends the feeble. He blesses the young. He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. He rewards the diligent and He beautifies the meek.

Do you know Him?

My King is the key of knowledge. He’s the wellspring of wisdom. He’s the doorway of deliverance. He’s the pathway of peace. He’s the roadway of righteousness. He’s the highway of holiness. He’s the gateway of glory. He’s the master of the mighty. He’s the captain of the conquerors. He’s the head of the heroes. He’s the leader of the legislators. He’s the overseer of the overcomers. He’s the governor of governors. He’s the prince of princes. He’s the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

That’s my King!

His office is manifold. His promise is sure. His life is matchless. His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

I wish I could describe Him to you. But he’s indescribable! He’s incomprehensible! He’s invincible! He’s irresistible!

I’ve come to tell you that the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, let alone a man explain Him.

You can’t get Him out of your mind. You can’t get Him off of your hands. You can’t outlive Him and you can’t live without Him.

Pharisees couldn’t stand Him, but they found they couldn’t stop Him. Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him. The witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies of agree. Herod couldn’t kill Him. Death couldn’t handle Him and the grave couldn’t hold Him.

That’s My King!

He always has been and He always will be. I’m talking about: He had no predecessor and He’ll have no successor. There was nobody before Him and there will be nobody after Him. You can’t impeach Him AND HE’S NOT GOING TO RESIGN!

We read, "Thine is the Kingdom...and the power…and the glory."

All the power belongs to my King.

We talk about black power and white power and green power, BUT IT’S GOD’S POWER! THINE is the power and the glory!

We’re trying to get prestige and honor and glory for ourselves, but the glory is ALL HIS!

Yes, Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever and ever and ever…how long is that?…and ever and ever and ever and ever. And when you get through with all of the forevers...then AMEN!

If this is NOT the Jesus you know, get in touch with me. I'd love to introduce you to Him.

The Big Fight

I have been wrestling with myself over what to write about today.

As I wrothe in pain, having put myself in a toe-hold, I considered tackling the existential convergence of the emerging cataclysm and its effect on philosophical conceptualism.

But, hey, it’s late in the afternoon.

It seemed that an arm-lock was in order.

Yes! It was. Arm-lock one came before arm-lock two. The arm-lock was in order!

By now, the knee-bone was connected to the shoulder-bone.

I looked like Mr. Potatohead, all askew. (God bless me)

Surely you’re not serious! Yes, I….oh never mind.

It was the full body slam that really got me down.

After that I was so depressed that I wanted to jump in front of a parked car.

But I picked myself up, brushed myself off and started all over again.

"Haven’t we been through this before?" I asked.

"Shh!," I answered, "Don’t say anything. Nobody will notice."

The rest of the wrestling was done in silence.

Like a mother hen gathering her chicks, I brooded.

Then I reached for it. I felt its cold handle against my palm.

It was the ladle, the one with the Hispanic writing.

It was the ladle of Spain.

I brought it down on top of my head.

That was my first mistake. (Maybe not)

I had visions of accordions squeaking and pumping all around me.

The image of me doing a Polka while I wrestled was more than I could bear.

I need to think of something to write about….soon.

This is awful!

(See below for explanation)

The Explanation

It appears that I have overstepped the bounds of the ridiculous and oozed into the slime of the sublime.
So, reluctantly, I will explain (for length’s sake I will single space.)
The key here is the concept of WRESTLING WITH ONESELF. The phrase conjured up in my demented mind a picture of a person putting himself/herself (OK, look from now on its going to be himself. Enough with this PC stuff already) in a ring and having a wrestling match with himself. (Let me know when I get too deep).
"Wrothe" is (in my feeble mind) the past tense (y’all remember that from grammar class, right?) of the verb "to writhe"
The "toe-hold" is a reference back to the idea of wrestling.
"I considered tackling the existential convergence of the emerging cataclysm and its effect on philosophical conceptualism." is total double talking nonsense.
I wrote this in the afternoon, hence the reference to the afternoon. It has nothing to do with anything else.
The arm lock is a reference back to the idea of wrestling.
Something that is in order could conceivably be in numerical order. Since I checked to see whether the arm-locks (reference back to wrestling, remember?) were in order. They were.
Wrestling with oneself could be dangerous. Someone could get hurt. Since I am the only one wrestling, (see above), I am the one most likely to get hurt. As a matter of fact, my knee-cap seemingly came losse and got attached to my shoulder bone. This was a veiled reference to the old spiritual called, "Dry Bones," which drew its inspiration from the book of Ezekiel.
Mr. Potatohead was a toy around before the invention of Play Station, in which one had to actually, physically manipulate the parts around to make Mr. Potatohead look bizarre.
The "Surely you’re not serious…" routine referred to a scene in the movie, "Airplane II."
The full body slam is a reference back to the idea of wrestling.
The idea of a depressed person jumping in front of a parked car is funny because jumping in front of a parked car would do no harm, thus thwarting the intention of the jumper to do himself in.
"Picked myself up, brushed my….." harkened back to a song from earlier times. The actual line was, "I’ll just pick myself up, brush myself off and start all over again."
When you have started over, you are repeating something you’ve done before, thus, "Haven’t we (a reference to me, myself and I who are wrestling with each other)been here…."
Since I told myself to "Shhh…" it is obvious that from that point on there could be no more talking while wrestling.
Baby chickens are called "a brood."
I don’t know whether you have ever watched a "professional" wrestling match, but wrestlers are not nice to each other. The referee is always distracted while the combatants pick up tables and chairs and things and hit each other with them. I chose to hit myself (Remember? I’m wrestling with myself) with a ladle(a deep spoon for dipping soup, etc. A deep dipping spoon).
The Hispanic thing gave me the opportunity to turn this into a terrible (therefore good) pun with the concept of the "ladle of Spain" which was an old Polka often played on the piano-accordion, called "Lady of Spain.".
Hitting myself over the head with a ladle caused me to see accordions (not stars), otherwise I would not have been able to finish the "Ladle of Spain" idea.
As for me Polkaing as I wrestled, well that’s probably just funny to think about.
The first mistake thing probably wasn’t (my first mistake, that is).
"I need something to write about" was funny because I had just written a whole (if not coherent) post.
Finally, the "This is awful," remark was a recognition on my part that the entire post was ludicrous (if, at the same time, uproariously funny, in my own aforementioned demented mind)
Just to make sure, I read my post over.
I still laughed.
If you still don’t get it, ask Jeff. He did.

He's Everywhere

Jesus is the subject of every book of the Bible.
A Song by father/son team Aaron Jeffrey expresses it like this:

"In Genesis, He's the breath of Life
In Exodus, the passover Lamb
In Leviticus, He's our high priest
Numbers, the fire by night
Deuteronomy, He's Moses' voice
In Joshua, He is salvation's choice
Judges, Law giver
In Ruth, the kinsman redeemer
First and Second Samuel, our trusted prophet
In Kings and Chronicles, He's sovereign
Ezra, true and faithful scribe
Nehemiah, He's the rebuilder of broken walls and lives
In Esther, He's Mordecai's courage
In Job, the timeless redeemer In Psalms,
He is our morning song In Proverbs, wisdom's cry
Ecclesiastes, the time and season
In the Song of Solomon, He is the lover's dream
He is, He is,
He is In Isaiah, He's Prince of Peace
Jeremiah, the weeping prophet
In Lamentations, the cry for Israel
Ezekiel, He's the call from sin
In Daniel, the stranger in the fire
In Hosea, He is forever faithful
In Joel, He's the Spirits power
In Amos, the arms that carry us
In Obadiah, He's the Lord our Savior
In Jonah, He's the great missionary
In Micah, the promise of peace
In Nahum, He is our strength and our shield
In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, He's pleading for revival
In Haggai, He restores a lost heritage
In Zechariah, our fountain
In Malachi, He is the son of righteousness rising with healing in His wings
He is, He is,
He is In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
He is God, Man, Messiah
In the book of Acts, He is fire from heaven
In Romans, He's the grace of God
In Corinthians, the power of love
In Galatians, He is freedom from the curse of sin
Ephesians, our glorious treasure
Philippians, the servants heart
In Colossians, He's the Godhead trinity
Thessalonians, our coming King
In Timothy, Titus, Philemon He's our mediator and our faithful Pastor
In Hebrews, the everlasting covenant
In James, the one who heals the sick.
In First and Second Peter, he is our Shepherd
In John and in Jude, He is the lover coming for His bride
In the Revelation, He is King of Kings and the Lord of Lords
He is, He is,
He is The prince of peace The Son of man
The Lamb of God
The great I am
He's the alpha and omega
Our God and our Savior
He is Jesus Christ Lord and when time is no more
He is, He is"

So the next time you are reading the Bible, if you find Jesus you have interpreted it correctly. If you don't find Jesus, you've missed the point.

It's OK!

I was beginning to have guilt feelings! But at last Darlene has moved from her chair. What a relief!

(Ya kinda have to read the previous post to know what this is about...even then it's not a sure thing.)

Help Wanted

I am really concerned about our friend, Darlene, over at "What Would Jesus Blog?" (link to the right).

I have not yet marked my calendar, and she has gone on a sit-down strike. She is not moving until I mark my calendar.

Please go to her site and encourage her to go ahead and get up.

Life has so much more to offer than just waiting for me to mark my calendar.

Besides, I have misplaced my calendar.

And my marker.

Let me know when you have given her the encouragement she needs.

Thank you all.

Whew!

Well.

After yesterday's post(s) I am worn out.

So today I thought I would write on a lighter note.

The note I first thought about was a C-sharp.

But even that one seemed too heavy, so I settled on a B-flat.

If you are a tight-rope walker, you must C-sharp or you will B-flat.

I know, I know...it hurts.

Maybe it would be better if I just didn't write anything today.

Yes, that's the answer. I will not write today.

I will not write about my right-wing politics. I will not write about my absolute faith in Christ Jesus. I will not write about my hilarious pug or my sweet wife's sewing a new outfit. I will not write about my friends who are on vacation.

In addition, I will not tell you about my heart health or my 10 pound progress on my diet. I will not write about my heavy work load due to Parker's absence or the number of cars on the road during the season when everybody's supposed to have gone "back up north."

Today, you wlli smiply not read abotu my lysdexia.

Today you will not learn about the southern gospel singing group that sang during our worship services last Sunday. Nor about the missions trip 20 of our church youth and their adult supervisors went on to Indiana.

As for my attention deficit disorder, I have another project to start, so I won't have time to fini

How Long, Oh World Leaders?

Inquiring minds want to know:

How many more times will it happen? How many more people will have to be injured? How many more people will have to be killed? How many more people will have to lose their property?

Germans and Frenchmen, how long before you admit something has to be done? Do you think "they" will never come after you? You are wrong! As soon as they get the rest of us they will be after you.

Then you'll say, "Is there nobody who will help us?" And there will not be anybody left to help because you did not help when you could have.

World leaders, how long before you get off of your stupid, lazy, "can't we just all get along" duffs and unite against these ignorant, uncivilized, EVIL people?

Fact is, like it or not, we CANNOT all just get along. If you let them they will decimate any and everybody who disagrees with their depraved way of life.

I believe Jesus when he tells us to "...turn the other cheek...", but I recognize that He was refering to individuals. It does not apply to terrorists. Period.

We must find a way to combine our efforts and snuff radical, Islamic (and any other kind of) terrorists from the face of the earth.

The UN will never do it. Not one person at the UN has the either the intestinal fortitude or the political will to do it.

In fact, I challenge anyone at the UN to take a firm enough stand to get ANYTHING done about terrorism. Come on! Prove me wrong! I double-dog-dare you!

You haven't the guts! You are lily-livered, yellow-bellied, sap-suckers (with apologies to the woodpeckers out there). To a man or woman, you are spineless morons who know how to do nothing but huff and puff. You will probably "huff and puff" at this post (assuming you have the courage to read it)!

In fact, you are the only thing on the face of the globe WORSE than the terrorists.

So who will take the lead? U.S. liberals? Fat chance. You are equal to the UN members. You are so filled with hot air that it escapes from orafi not to be named here. I pray that we can find a way to plug you up so you will expand until you explode!

You had a chance. You had both the presidency and congress at one time, and did NOTHING with them. NOTHING!

To hear most of you we should all just dig large holes, lie down in them and allow the terrorist to cover us up, lest we offend their poor, misunderstood psyche's.

BALDER-EVER LOVIN' BLUEYED-DASH!

So...who will it be? Who will stand up against the terrorists? Where can we find a leader who is willing to do whatever it takes to rid us of this plague? Which man in world leadership position today might set the charge against terrorism? To whom can we turn? Is there anyone who will muster the troops? Oh, tell me please!

From whence will come the resources? What nation could possibly take on the responsibility, and under whom?

Inquiring minds want to know.

(Look below for the answers)

And Now the Answers

For those of you who could not figure out the answers to the questions at the end of the above post, I will give them now.

There are two world leaders who are willing to do something about the terrorists and whose countries have the resources to accomplish the task:

George W. Bush, United States of America

Tony Blair, Great Brittain.

The only question left only you can answer: Will you back their efforts?

Elements of Truth

There are brand new old sayings that I love to use from time to time. Some of them are designed to make you think, some to distract and some just to irritate (my specialty). Here are a few:

Surely a person as intelligent as you can see that I'm right.

I wouldn't be as old as I am if I had started a little later.

Everything you need to know about God is found in the Word of God. Nothing you need to know about God is NOT found in the Word of God. Everything you THINK you know about God that's not in the Word of God you just made up.

When approaching an intersection it helps to know whether you should be in the left left lane or the right left lane.

It wouldn't be this hot if it were a little cooler than it is.

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary, go ahead and do it.

If you were half as smart as you are smartie, you wouldn't be as dumb as you're gonna be if you don't wise up.

I'm so brilliant my father used to call me sun.

Subjects and predicates should agree in voice, mood, tense, person and number...every other letter of the words VoMiT PaN.

It isn't about you.

I took a short-cut through a strawberry patch. It was sort of a strawberry short-cut.

I'm not afraid to admit when I am wrong. One does not have to fear that which never happens.

In the nick of time, so-and-so stepped in. We don't know what he(she) stepped in but he(she) saved the day.

History repeats itself. Does it also mumble?

My personal favorite: You can disagree with me if you want to. This is America...you have the right to be wrong.

With A Song in My Heart

While bloglinking along, I came across several sites that deal with worship and worship music.

What interested me was the diversity of opinion about what constitutes "good" worship music.

One writer uses only "high church" music. Another only country. A couple used only "praise and worship" styles, and one used a "blended" worship format.

So who is right?

I was raised on Beethovan and Bach. My meager training was in the classics. When "high fidelity" came out, I promptly bought a set of Beethovan's nine symphonies.

[Later I learned to love Louis Armstrong, Tony Bennett, and even Elvis (to some extent).]

When I came to know Christ, I believed there was only one kind of music suitable for Him: High Church/John W. Peterson (Well, at the time I did not realize how "common" JWP was. I just knew how much the church members liked him and how easy his music was).

I "looked down my musical nose" at all other forms of "Christian" music, giving some allowance to Tenessee Ernie Ford because I liked him and his "pea-pickin' heart."

Southern Gospel? Not. Black gospel? Forget it! Urban praise? Not in my ears you don't! Country? God could NEVER bless that! Blue-grass? Yeah-right.

Where did this "musical snobbery" come from? It came from the distorted notion that God needed ME to stand up for Him. It came from the notion that I knew what was right and anybody who couldn't see it need an attitude change. (Today that idea makes me rofl.)

Many years ago I was asked to "judge" at a regional music festival, which I did with enthusiasm. One of the choirs sang a Southern Gospel selection. In my comments, I fried them. How dare they bring such tripe to a Holy God?

About a week later, The Holy Spirit started wrenching my heart over my comments. He ultimate led me to write a letter appology to the church from which the choir had come. He taught me a lesson in humility I could not have expected.

As incredible as it seems, I was wrong. I had lived my entire Christian musical life wrong! The truth is, although I thought I was exalting God, my perception of God was too small.

In His Word I began to read about praising Him with "clap offerings." I learned about praising Him with timbrel and harp, with tiny cymbals and loud crashing cymbals and with dance (Hold it! I'm a Southern Baptist! Isn't the correct translation, "creative movement?"), and stringed instruments! (This praising God stuff is getting grim).

Here is what I now realize about praising God: Worship is for Him AND for us! Worship points us toward Him and allows us to express ourselves to Him in the way that satisfies our heart's need to worship Him.

Today I serve a congregation that allows me to use many forms of worship. We have a lady who sings Christian blue-grass/mountain music. We have some trios who sing traditional old songs. We have a country singer and we have his daughter who sings in a contemporary style. We sing new praise and worship and we sing old choruses. One lady from India, sings in her own distinctive style. We even sing hymns.

It is my honor to lead the congregation to engage in "...psalm, hymns and spiritual songs." What a trip it is!

In my mind it gives new meaning to the end of Psalm 150: "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise YE the Lord."

It's Over!

The vacation is over.

Tomorrow I go back to work. Back to WJYO/WBIY 91.5 FM & 88.3 FM. Back to kingdom.fm on the Internet.

About once a week, Charlie, after whom my pug is named, calls and asks, "Are you working today?" "Yep," I answer. He says, "You call that work?"

Being a radio Production/Operations Manager/On Air Persona is not at all physically demanding. But it takes a lot of concentration.

I even went to Concentration Camp to learn how to do it.

Actually, I am looking forward to it.

One of the reasons that I look forward to it is that it hasn't happend yet. Once it happens, if I want to look at it at all, I'll have to look back on it.

I do some of my best blogging while both of my radio computers are busily downloading, uploading and reloading audio program and music files for future airplay and/or playing programs and/or music that has already been downloaded or up-loaded. (This makes me tired just thinking about it.)

Once the process gets started you can neither walk away, nor do anything else. So I blog.

And you are the beneficiary (or victim) of my efforts. (Lucky you.)

I also read your blogs.

I love "bloglinking" (my term for going from link-to-link-to-link).

I go to a link on my blog, find a link to someone whose blog I have never read and go read it. Then I click on a link from that blog and go read a favorite blog of a blogger whose blog I have never read.

Once I get over my confusion, I decide whether or not to add more links to my blog so I can go bloglinking some more!

It's sort of like yard-saleing, only it doesn't cost as much (only $700.00 - $1,200.oo or so for a computer and parts).

Until I took up blogging, I had no idea there were so many witty, half-witty and dim-witty people out there with something interesting (or not) to say.

Any way, I enjoy them all and hope this phenomenon goes on for many years.

Keep on blogging!

I'm Ba-a-a-ak!

Well, howww-dy. I'm so glad to be here.

The trip was uneventful, but the stay was something else.

My sister says I have an aura that attracts wierd stuff. I have no idea what she's talking about.

Do you remember my post about my hospital stay? Well, let me tell you about my motel stay.

There is only one motel in Inverness, Florida (a town about 1 hour, give or take, north of Tampa). It is called The Central Motel. It is located on the outskirts of town.

When we made the reservations, there were only two rooms available for Thursday and Friday night, so we picked one...Room 35. (Actually, it was room 135, located on the second floor.?)

The key (no, I mean key...a real stick-it-in-the-doorknob-and-turn-it-key) had to be jiggled profusely to open the door, but we got in.

Upon entering, we noticed that there was some waxy looking stuff on the carpet. We later learned that it was wax, hence the waxy look.

We also noticed that the carpet had some fuzzy stuff on it along with some twiglets and some other non-descript matter.

Then we saw it...a very large bandage with dried blood on it sort of hiding under the traditional motel round table just inside the door.

Being very tired, we did not call the front desk immediately, but chose to take care of the kinds of things you have to take care of after a long automobile trip (our car not having come equipped with bathroom facilities).

The bathroom door would neither close all the way nor lock. (Actually it would lock, but with the door un-closable, it did not matter that it was locked, it was not locked.)

Shortly after our arrival, and while we were trying to take care of those things we had not been able to take care of in our non-bathroom equipped car, there came a loud knock at the door.

"Hi!" came the voice of the knocker, "I'm supposed to get some wax off of the carpet." (This is how we learned that the waxy looking stuff was wax.)

I said, "Oh, well come on in."

"Oooo! That's a lot of wax. When are y'all goin' out? I'm (pronounced "Ahm") gonna need to put some strong stuff on that and y'all don't want to be in here." He had that part right, but we had already paid for the room.

So we left to spend time with my more-than-slightly disfunctional family.

My afore mentioned sister had gone to get some KFC. When she got back, she discovered that, although she had asked for the sixteen piece family special, there were only 12 pieces. We called KFC, and they said come on back and they'd have the other pieces waiting for us. I volunteered to go get the other four pieces.

When I pulled up to the window, this young fellow stuck his head almost into my car and asked, "Which four pieces were you missing?"

Trust me...it has been a very long time since I have been speechless, but he was not going to withdraw his head until I answered, so I said, "The four on the right side of the chicken."

"OK," he said, "I'll (pronounced "ahll"...I think he might be related to the wax guy) be right back."

We had a great time eating our chicken and had four pieces left over.

When we had bid a good night to all and returned to our motel room, the smell of the strong stuff lingered, but we were tired so we went to bed.

In the dim light of the motel room night we bacame aware of shadowy movements atop the bedside table. On came the lights.

Roaches!

I dispached one of them, but the other had taken lessons from Roger Bannister (do a Google or Wikipedia search), and got away.

My wife thinks roaches are creepy. She was not sure she could sleep.

So I got up, made some "I'm looking for you" motions, slapped the side of the table and shouted, "Gotcha!"

We slept OK.

The next morning Bonnie (my wife) looked on top of the bedside table. There was a roach crawling around.

"This place is infested," she whimpered.

To make a long story short (ever notice how people never say that until it is too late?), housekeeping removed the leftover medical debris, the wax was almost gone and management promised to spray for roaches (which, of course, will be of no benefit to us...we are gone.)

But God is good.

My 87 year old mother is doing as well as a woman with only 3/4 of one kidney, an enlarged heart with leaky valves, emphysema, asthma and brittle bone disease could be expected to be doing. She laughed and told the same stories of yesteryear that she always tells and had a good time.

My depressed sister laughed and my manic sister cried. My brother-in-law sat around saying very little and then went off to bed.

Today we came home.

Charlie, our vivaciously funny pug, and the subject of many future posts, went straight to his bean-bag, circled 17 times, mashing and butting it until he got it just the shape he wanted, curled up and went to sleep.

Bye-Bye for Now

I will be gone for a couple of days. I'm going to visit my mother in Inverness, Florida. She is 87. She was told in 1957 (yep...that's '57) that she had 5 years to live...max.

She does not even have a computer and I have no laptop.

So you know what that means.

I will suffer withdrawal pains, I'm sure.

You will probably do so, too.

Go ahead and read the other blogs until I get back on Saturday.

I'll check in then.

Try to get along without me.

In His Name,
Joe

Lies and Counter Lies Part III

In Matthew 27:5 these words appear: "(Judas)... went and hanged himself."
In Luke 10:37 we read: "Go, and do thou likewise"
In John 13:27 the Bible says, "...that thou doest, do quickly."

Let's put them together: "Judas went and hanged himself. Go and do thou likewise. That thou doest, do quickly."

Although those are exact quotes from The King James translation of The Bible, they clearly are not what the Bible says.

When we ignore the context of things we can make them say pretty much what we want them to say. Many stupid, mindless cults and sects have done just that with catastrophic results (Think Jim Jones and mass suicides).

When we talk about the war in Iraq, it is imperative that we put the part into the whole in the right place.

In a speech, President Bush said the words, "That man tried to kill my daddy..." (His reference, of course, was Saddam Hussein).

Everybody in the room knew the context of that statement, and almost nothing was made of it until no less of a "political expert," John le Carré (could that possibly be a French name?), a writer of fictional spy novels, wrote an article about it. Do a Google search on the phrase and you will find that over 90% of the references are not original opinions of the statement, rather they are simply cut-and-pastes of his article.

Then the thoughtless parroting began.

There was attributed to President Bush some deep psychological meaning to the phrase. It was made into "the reason for the war," when the fact is it had NOTHING to do with the reason for the war, and if you think it did, you need to go back to third grade and take a reading comprehension course.

If you have an earned degree from Yale University, raise your hand.

John Kerry has a degree from Yale University. So does President George W. Bush. For some reason, the degree counts for something in the minds of some for John Kerry and counts for nothing for President George W. Bush. That's pretty stupid (I'm sorry...was that too blunt? Pitty).

President George W. Bush speaks with a Texas accent (why would that be, I wonder?). He is not a particularly eloquent speaker. He tends to stumble when he speaks. He gets a sort of quizzical expression on his face when he makes a point.

President George W. Bush ran for office on a platform that laid out what he would do if eletced. Guess what: HE WAS ELECTED. He IS the President. He has done what he said he would do. How dare he? His predecessor would not have done that.

Now I am not a William J. Clinton hater. I am a Clinton strong-disliker. I think he believed things were true because he said them, not because they were ACTUALLY true. He and I disagree on things political. He was held in contempt for lying. He lost his license to practice law because of it. He performed immoral acts with an intern while in office. I don't think those things are excusable. Sorry, I just don't like the guy.

As long as he was President William J. Clinton, decisions rested on his shoulders. History will tell whether or not he was a good president (or, you can just ask me).

Here's a surprise for you: I am not a Bush lover. I am an I-like-Bush-better-than-I-liked-the-other-guy-er.

I agree with him about 67.3% of the time. He irritates me about 43.6% of the time.

But the President of the United States of America is George W. Bush.

He has to make the diecisions.

On the day you guys give that responsibility to me, I'm planning to cut and run. I don't want it. In the immortal words of former presidential candidate, Pat Paulson, "If nominated I will not run. If elected I will not serve." So don't get your hopes up.

My job is to be the best citizen of this country I can possibly be. That does not mean I have to walk in lock-step with whoever is President. It does mean that I should do only that which builds up my country. It means that I should be as involved in "the process" as I can be. I should vote regularly.

My daddy served in WWII. I did not like that we had to fight WWII. I did not like that we were fighting the Germans. I did not like that we were fighting the Japanese. I did not like that we dropped an atomic bomb on two Japanese cities. But I was proud of my daddy. I supported my daddy. I would never have under-cut him or the rest of the troups on whom he depended by cutting down my country's leaders.

I do not like that we are in Iraq fighting terrorism. I wish our troups could come home today. But I will support our troups, not by saying "I support the troups, but...," because that is NOT supporting our troups. I will support our troups, period.

When you disagree with President George W. Bush's policies and decisions, that's perfectly acceptable...even expected. Say so. Write your representatives. Whatever. But when you fire your vitrol at him in a way that demoralizes our troups and cuts down my country, do not expect me to EVER think of you as a patriot.

If you do that, you are NOT a patriot. Period. No exceptions. No "wiggle room." You may think you are a patriot, you may wish you were a patriot. But you are NOT a patriot. Why don't you go find a better country to live in? (Bet you won't do that).

It's not "my country, right or wrong," it's "my country...let's work toward righting her wrongs and enjoying her rights."

Pray FOR our country. Pray FOR our President. Pray FOR our troups. Pray FOR our House of Representatives and our Senators and our courts, Supreme and otherwise. Pray FOR each other. If you don't have a God to whom to pray (get in touch, I'll help you find Him), pray anyway. It will help you and help make the country stronger.

This concludes my discourse called "Lies and Counter Lies Parts I, II and III"

We now return to our regularly scheduled blogging. And a great sigh of relief was heard by all.

In His Name,
Joe

Lies and Counter Lies Part II

In my last post we agreed that President Bush did not lie to us about weapons of mass destruction.

Now let's look at some facts.

Fact: There had been WMDs in Iraq. We don't think that, we KNOW it. Saddam Hussein had not only used them, he had bragged about using them.

Fact: We don't know what became of them. Did they get destroyed? No evidence of that. Did they get hidden? Since we haven't found them, we don't know. Did they get moved to another country? We don't know.

Fact: Saddam Hussein was killing citizens of Iraq, his own people, by the hundreds, even thousands. Many he did not kill he only tortured them by cutting off their fingers, hands, electric shock and what-all. He is not a bad dude, he is a very bad, evil dude.

Fact: Those he killed he was dumping in mass graves. (Does the phrase "mass graves" suggest any other historical event to you? Think Hitler, think WWII, think Jews, think gas chambers.)

Fact: Saddam Hussein had declared that anybody who did not follow his ways was his enemy. He had already shown what he did to his enemies.

Fact: Al Quaeda training camps were in Iraq.

Fact: Saddam Hussein provided "safe haven" for terrorists with a global reach. He gave haven to: Abu Nidal. He also gave it to Abdul Rahman Yassin, one of the conspirators in the 1993 WTC bombing; Kala Khadr al-Salahat, who made the bomb for the Libyans that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 , Abu Abbas, mastermind of the October 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking as well as the murder of Leon Klinghoffer, and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, formerly the director of an al Qaeda training base in Afghanistan, now leading Al-Qaeda's forces in Iraq.

Fact: Al Quaeda flew two airplanes into the World Trade Center Towers and one into the ground. They had had plans for at least one more airplane that day.

Fact: Saddam Hussein gave a speech in which he praised the actions of Al Queda and pledged his support for their holy work.

Fact: We managed to put a hurt on Al Quaeda in Afganistan and then turned our fuller attention to Iraq.

Fact: The UN had passed MULTIPLE resolutions asking Saddam Hussein to comply with their various demands that he stop doing bad things. He smiled and said "Shove it." (A loose translation.)

Fact: Saddam Hussein declared the United States of America to be his enemy.

OK. That's enough. I don't want to make my case too strong.

Now the only questions left to answer are whether Saddam Hussein had any intention of using either WMDs or some other means to attack the United States of America or its allies, and whether a pre-emptive strike was justified if he was.

The task of deciding what to do belonged to a man who was elected President of The United States of America. His name is George W. Bush. By having been elected, the call fell in his lap.

History will decide whether or not he was right, nevertheless, acting with the information he had, and after much consultation with members of his political party, and members of the other party, he made a decision to go into Iraq and rid them of any WMDs they might have had, liberate the poeple from that extrordinarily repressive regieme, and help the people establish a democratic form of government.

I don't suggest that we common citizens should not have our own opinions on this matter. We should. We do. Most of them very strong opinions.

But here's the thing: George Bush is the President. I am not. Neither are you. It was not my call to make. It was not your call to make. It was his. Rightly or wrongly, he made it.

We have elected men and women in Washington whose job it is to represent us. They are members of the House of REPRESENTATIVES. (I know...we have Senators, too, but I'd like to save them for another time). They are the ones to whom our opinions should be directed. Soon we will have an opportunity to express ourselves at the ballot box.

In the mean time, we need to put aside our opinions (I don't mean we can't have them...we just need to put them aside), get rid of our self-centeredness, put aside our political differences (strive to make changes where they are needed), and get behind this effort to rid the world of terrorists.

The sooner we do THIS, the sooner our troups will be able to come home. The longer we take, the more heartened the terrorists will become and the longer this war will take.

Set a time limit and they will bide their time until we are gone and then will continue wtih their terror.

Question: Do you want the war to go on longer, or would you rather it be over as quickly as possible?

If the former, undermine everything we are trying to accomplish by whatever means.

If you want it over, let's get it done.

Above all, say or do NOTHING that will demoralize our troups or make their job harder. Let them know you appreciate THEM.

Stay tuned for "Lies and Counter Lies Part III." It's gonna get even better!

Lies and Counter Lies Part I

Suppose I bought a car.

Suppose I told you I had bought a red car.

Suppose you told your wife that I had bought a red car.

Suppose the car I bought was actually green.

Question: Did you lie to your wife?

When we relay information that came from a source that is supposed to be in the know, we act in what's called "good faith."

If the information we receive is false, but we have reason to believe it is true based on what was told us by those who were supposed to be in the know, we are not lying when we pass the information on, we have been misinformed.

In a series of three posts, I am going to venture into an area that is dividing our country: The War In Iraq.

UN inspectors came out of Iraq without finding weapons of mass destruction. Putting aside whether or not their efforts were bone fide, let's take their findings at face value: they found none.

Intelligence reports to the UN, to the US, to the UK and the rest of the free world said otherwise. Many world leaders believed the intelligence reports.

"...intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members, though there is apparently no evidence of his involvement in the terrible events of September 11, 2001. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons."

Know who said that? Hillary Clinton.

To make the claim that President Bush lied about WMDs is to say YOU lied when you said my new car was red.

Some have said that the current administration has claimed a cause-and-effect link between Iraq and the Al Qaeda attacks of 9/11. That has never been the position of the Bush administration.

Here's what Condolisa Rice said about that: "Oh, indeed there is a tie between Iraq and what happened on 9/11. It’s not that Saddam Hussein was somehow himself and his regime involved in 9/11, but, if you think about what caused 9/11, it is the rise of ideologies of hatred that lead people to drive airplanes into buildings in New York."

So President Bush did not lie to us about WMDs and did not claim that Saddam Hussein was involved in the distruction of the World Trade Center Towers.

So why are we in Iraq? Let's find out the truth.

Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free."

Tune in next time for the next edition of "Lies and Counter Lies" part II.

The Best Laid Plans

As Worship Leader at my church, it is my responsibility to submit the Order of Worship each week. This is usually worked up on Tuesday evening and given to the church secretary on Wednesday.

This week we were scheduled to have a group of youth from Valdosta, Georgia present a special program of music and drama in place of the pastor's message. The rest of the service was to have been "truncated" to allow for the visiting group.

Saturday night I received a call from our pastor explaining that because of the nearness of hurricane Dennis the group would not be present.

Instead we would have a commissioning service for a missions trip early on and a regular message in its regular place.

Needless to say (ever notice that when people say, "needless to say," they go on and say it anyway?), an attitude of flexibility was in order.

I am please to say that the Holy Spirit of God took over. The hymns and choruses were sung with even more enthusiasm than usual, the commissioning service was excellent and several people came to the altar to pray for their needs and the needs of others.

To top it all off, we baptised a young lady who had given her heart to the Lord during VBS!

We followed the service with a regularly scheduled business meeting that was the essence of harmony and cooperation.

And we're a Baptist church.

God is good!

Homecoming

The phone rang.

I usually don't answer the phone at my house.

I don't like phones.

You and I can sit and talk for hours person-to-person, but on the phone just tell me what you have to tell me and get me off of it!

Today I answered it.

It was my friend Jeff, about whom I have written in previous posts.

He is home from the VA hospital in St. Petersberg, where he had sucessful leg surgery...phase one of at least two that will hopefully get him back up and "running."

Praise the Lord!

He and I will get together in the next day or two and probably share one of our passions: flying the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004. I've been learning a few things on it and will share them with him.

It is going to be fun.

Welcome home, Jeff!

TIME OUT!

This is a significant day. It is the first day of my vacation. It is the first vacation I have had in five years.

So far, I've only gotten two calls from work. But they were minor (sort of) so it's OK.

I am the Production/Operations Manager at a Christian radio station in Ft. Myers Florida. (WJYO 91.5 and WBIY 88.3 FM. Kingdom FM and available online at kingdom dot fm [kingdom.fm]).

We are not going anywhere, or anything like that, being somewhat fiscally challenged. I'm going to just hang around home and continue to recover from my heart attacks, while my wife, Bonnie, frets about trying to keep the house clean behind me...a daunting task at best.

As I work on my 6 or 7 projects, there are times I get interrupted. When that happens, I get up to tend to the interruption, leaving everything just where I was working on it, so that it will be there when I get back.

When I have tended to the interruption I start a new project.

That way, every thing that needs doing gets started.

Two weeks later I remember a project of which I was in the middle and pick up where I left off.

This system works really well when I am at work each day and out of earshot of my wife.

"Do you think the music project needs to be finished?" she asks sweetly (I'm also the Worship Leader at my church).

"Sure, Baby-Doll." My answer has only a hint of "Sweetie-Pie, can't you see I'm in the middle of project 4 and will get it done as soon as I'm in the mood?" to it.

Right now I have a music project (afore mentioned), a Bible lesson, a pile of papers to be filed, a mattress to move, a county tax form to complete, and a myriad of other minior chores.

Of course I must find time for blogging. AND I love to fly my Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004! (My favorite is to fly IFR from Sarasota Florida to Page Field in Ft. Myers in inclimate weather.)

You have to get your priorities right.

The question does occur to me from time to time, though: How on earth, but for the grace of God, does she put up with me?

London Broil

So, the lilly-livered, yellow-bellied, sap-sucking, idiotic, half-witted, uncivilized, cowards have done it again (In a future post I'm going to tell you what I really think of them). They have exploded four of six bombs in London to kill and/or maime innocent people.

They are cowards. Real "men" face their adversaries. These "people" to not have the guts to face theirs.

They are uncivilized. Civilized people work out their differences.

They are infantile. Children strike when they don't get their way.

Oh, wait, I forgot. We don't really know who is "responsible" for these dastardly acts yet. As I write this, we have no reports of anyone taking responsibility for these bombings.

OK, so right after whoever comes forward to accept responsibility begin applying the above tirade.

I'll tell you this, though: If we as a nation, and a leader of nations, do not realize that this war on terrorists is only winnable if we come together, work together, fight together and bring the rest of the world along with us; if we think these terrorists are open to reason; if we think we can withdraw from the conflict and they will then just leave us alone, we will reap the unthinkable consequences.

If there is one politician who does not now realize that we must stop the stupid rhetoric of mutual self-destruction and join together against these enemies, he or she should be impeached, run out of office and replaced with a patriot.

Yes, if you are a politician and you do not now realize that we must stop the stupid rhetoric of mutual self-destruction and join together against these enemies, you are NOT a patriot and you do not deserve one single benefit afforded you by citizenship in this nation. Get out of here!

I have read arguments against "the war," I have read arguments in favor of troup withdrawal from Iraq, Afganistan and other regions of the world. I have heard the "oil" thing and I have heard the "religious" thing. I'm here to tell you that none of them is worth the effort it took to write or say them.

We must take WHATEVER steps are necessary to find these terrorists in the mountains, in the valleys, in holes in the ground, in caves, in tunnels, in basements, in apartments, in garages or wherever they hide in their cowardly fashion and wipe them off the face of the earth.

Don't give me that "we'll give up too many 'freedoms' " thing. We can do this without giving up one single solitary freedom IF we come together. If we unite we will stand. If we remain divided, we will fall.

If we don't take the necessary steps now, we will not have to worry about it later. We'll lose our freedoms alright...along with our country and everything it has stood for, is standing for and ever will stand for.

Those who live in nice houses on nice pieces of property will lose them. Those who live in apartments will be kicked out. Our buildings will fall and our streets will go to pot. Our electrical infrastructure will colapse. Our yards will grow weeds and our fields will stop yielding crops. Our livestock will die and our stores will run out of inventory.

The entertainment industry, which seems determined to give the very country that affords them the opportunity to bilk us our of our money with their pseudo-importance, will disolve. Our space program will be gone, polution will rise geometrically and cities will crumble.

Why? Because we will lose our country to those terrorists. They are not freedom lovers. And our country was built by freedom lovers. Non-freedom lovers do not know how to run a country.

Young men and women need to enlist in the FBI, USAF, USA, USN, USMC, CIA, and whatever other areas of service may be available. Then they need to get out there and get the job done.

The rest of us need to get on our knees and pray and pray and pray until God brings us TOGETHER for the accomplishment of this just cause.

"...Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just; And this be our motto: "In God is our trust!" And the star spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave." (From our National Anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner.)

First Liberty

I was reading some comments about the role of religion in government. The writers were "trying" to be "balanced." (Their words) Under the guise of being fair, they presented "both sides" of the issue."

Trouble is, they represented one side as though it was sensible and reasonable, and the other side (which they DID in fact present, if badly skewed) as if it was zaney and stupid.

One writer surmised that right wing radicals want to allow the government to support "good" religions but not "bad" ones.

I am a proud "right-winger." I run with "right-wingers." I do not know, have never met, have never read and have never heard any "right-winger" who wants the government to support good religions but not bad ones.

I HAVE heard my cohorts speak of the government not restricting the practice of religion anywhere, anytime, for any reason, so long as other human beings are not hurt, based on the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.

One writer recommended the removal of all hints of religion from "public" places and from government buildings.

Well, what do we do about those hundreds of government edifices that are replete with references to God, have the Ten Commandments engraved in their building blocks and scripture references carved in their walls? Do we tear them down and grind out said references?

Did you ever ascend the Washington Monument? Try it. Watch your step. You'll be surprised.

And how come the government agencies that had them built in the first place did not know that they were violating the Constitution when they included those references?

Why were prayers instituted prior to almost all government meetings in our early history? Why was swearing to tell the truth, in court or before congress, done with a Bible?

Why was preaching in PUBLIC squares was allowed and even encouraged?

Why is it thatI never attended a football game at my highschool that did not begin with a prayer by a local Rabbi, clergy, or even a teacher known to be a Christian.

Why did we have invocations at assemblies in school.

By the way, when did public schools become federal government entities? It was NOT always so. (Hint: follow the money.)

Did you ever read the first textbooks used in schools in this country?

Have you ever checked out the history of Harvard University? (You are so well informed that I KNOW you knew it started out as a Christian institution...right?)

Is it that we were too stupid to know better? Has society become so smart compared to those who actually put this country together that you think you DO know better?

Why is it that the further back in our history one goes the more speeches by government leaders we find making references to God, Jesus, the Bible and prayer? Many of their speeches are preserved and available online. Check it out, if you're "open minded" enough.

Did you ever read the writings and speeches of the likes of George Washington, John Adams, John James and, yes, Thomas Jefferson?

By the way, do you know what Mr. supposed Diest, Thomas Jefferson, did every Sunday and where he did it? (Hint: Think "worship," think "rotunda," think "Capitol."

Why did the Supreme Court (not this one, that's for sure) declare that this "...is a Christian nation...?"

The thing is, you see, I have lived, breathed, and given to and for this country for 63 years. I did not accomplish that without learning a few things along the way. When you get to be my age, you'll know exactly what I mean.

So I say: "God BLESS America!" "God bless AMERICA!" "GOD bless America."

And: "America...let FREEDOM ring!"

It's OVER!

Yes! It's over! Poverty in Africa is over! Didn't you hear? It's OVER!

Here's what happened:

Artists from all over got together and sang and pointed and swore and what-all.

They then agreed, to a man/woman, from now on to take only $40,000.00 from their earnings for their own use. 100% of the rest, millions per artist, will go to Africa to eliminate poverty.

They also agreed to sell their multi-million dollar homes, buy homes not to exceed $300,000.00 in value and send 100% of the rest, millions per artist, to Africa to eliminate poverty.

Their agents, staff and body guards agreed to take salaries of no more than $35,000.00 each and to send 100% of the rest of their earnings to Africa to eliminate poverty.

The euphoria spread. Late last night, the very eve of Independence day in the U.S., every movie and stage actor, including, but not restricted to, Tom Cruise, agreed to take only $50,000.00 from their earnings for their own use and sent 100% of the rest to Africa to eliminate poverty!

Who knows where it will all end? TV stars, sports stars, and stars of every other ilk will soon be following suit.

Politicians are sure to get on board, along with captains of industry.

As for me...I'm relinquishing all I own and am moving to Africa.

What's that you say?

It didn't happen?...It didn't happen??...Are you sure it didn't happen???

I was so sure............

I Believe So

A friend asked me the other day, "Do you believe in space ships from outer space?"

I thought it was an odd question, because it came out of nowhere. But I don't want to deal with the specific question, I want to deal with the issue of truth in general.

One thing I know about "truth," it is not dependent on what I believe.

I can believe the moon is made of green cheese. I can believe it sincerely. I can believe it because I want it to be true. I can believe it because some friend told me it was true.

No matter what I believe about the green cheesiness of the moon, the truth is: the moon is made of geological matter, not green cheese.

I can believe inGod. I can believe in Him sincerely. I can believe in Him because I want Him to be real. I can believe in Him because someone told me He is real.

No matter what I believe about the existence of God the truth is: His existence is not dependent upon what I believe or don't believe.

He is. Period. Whether I believe in Him is not the issue. The Bible says, "In the beginning God..." He calls Himself " I Am." He tells us that He is the PRE-EXISTENT ONE." He always has been and always will be.

He has revealed Himself in Jesus, who claimed to be the Christ (the Greek word for "Messiah") predicted in the Old Testament. That claim by Jesus was the reason the Pharasees wanted Him crucified.

What I believe about Him is not what determines whether or not He is, and is who He says He is. He is who He says He is quite independently of my belief.

However, He made a statement about my belief. He said, "...whosoever believeth in me should not perish but have everlasting life." That "whosoever" included me. It includes you, too.

If you will believe in who He is and trust what He has done for you as a finished work at the cross of Calvary you will be given a gift...the greatest gift of all: the gift of everlasting life with God in Heaven.

You can't buy it. You can't work for it. You can't do anything good enough to earn it. It is a gift. Something you don't pay for. Someone else paid for it. His name is Jesus.

You don't have to. I'm not trying to "cram my religion down your throat," I'm just telling you what is true. You do what you want to with it.

I pray that you will receive His gift.

Getting Blogged Up

A few weeks ago I began blogging. My friend, Jeff, introduced me to it and my friend and co-worker, Parker helped me with some techie stuff and encouragement and all.

Parker says I run around with my cup half empty, while he, and others, have cups that are half full.

Well, I've been bloglinking most of this afternoon. "Bloglinking." That's my term for clicking on a link on my page, then a link on the linked to page, then a link on the linked to linked to page, and so on.

Well...I have read so much good stuff today; stories, miracles, poems, pictures and more, that my cup is decidedly filled to overflowing.

So I am issueing this proclamation to all of you bloggers: Thank you for a great, fun, thought-filled day!

(Just, please, don't answer, "No problem.")

Jeff Update

For those of you who prayed for Jeff, thanks!

Jeff called today from his hospital bed.

His surgery went well. The doctors removed his metal leg, which was infected, and replaced it with an antibiotic infused cement one! They placed the metal one in an antibiotic solution.

In about 5 weeks they will go back in and take the cement one out and put the metal one back in.

I never heard of such a thing, but praise the Lord it could be done and step one has gone well!