In Memorium

This weekend we observe Memorial Day.

We remember those who have given their lives so we can:

1. Get up in the morning if we need to.

2. Have running water to bathe and shave in.

3. Have good smelling lotions to wear after we have cleaned up.

4. Have bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast.

5. Or if we prefer some other fare, to have it.

6. O not to eat breakfast at all if we don't want to.

7. To kiss our wives or husbands and drive our cars to work.

8. Or almost anywhere else we want to drive them.

9. To work at jobs we love, hate or just endure.

10. To change jobs if we want to.

11. To know that if we are willing to do what it takes to do what we want to do, we can do whatever we want to do...period.

12. Wanna be a doctor? Study to become a doctor.

13. Wanna be a mechanic? Study to become a mechanic.

14. Wanna be a radio announcer? Study to be a radio announcer.

15. You can be what you want to be, be it physicist or ditch digger, if you are willing to do what it takes to be what you want to be.

(I heard of a famous concert pianist who was approached by an audience member who said, "Oh, if I could play like you, I'd play all day long." To which he replied, "Madam, if you played all day long, you could play like I do.")

16. To stop at McDonalds on the way home and pick up a burger, or a large Coke, or a milk shake.

17. To greet your spouse with a kiss and eat a good dinner and watch the news.

18. To go bowling, or to the beach, or shopping.

19. To worship when, where and how you please.

20. Or not to worship at all, if that's your choice.

21. To own a home, or at least part of one.

22. To rent a home, if you prefer.

23. Any kind of home, any where you want a home.

24. To wear socks and even shoes.

25. To realize that, given world poverty, dictatorships, evil empires and the like, almost half of the world cannot do any of those things, even if they want to.

This country is, even with its faults, the best one in the world.

No?

Well, one of your freedoms is to leave it if you want to.

Or to help change it.

Frankly, I don't want to live like the French, or the Germains, or the Welch, or the Ugandans or the Britts, or the Canadians, or the Mexicans or the Panamanians, or the Chileans.

I love living like an American, a citizen of the United States of America.

Thank you to those who down the years have made it possible. We remember you with pride and gratitude.

Here is living proof that there are still those who make it their business to make it possible: http://www.warriorsthefilm.com/Movie.html

A Secular Government?...Part 1

If you believe that our forefathers set forth on this continent a secular government, you are either stupid, cannot read or are a blatant liar.

That includes, but is not restricted to, the likes of Larry King, Chris Matthews and a host of other "celebs" who espouse the secularity of our country.

You are fools...and that's the best that can be said of you.

Consider these quotes from Inaugural Addresses, farewell addresses and other addresses by our presidents:

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens." George Washington-in his farewell address.


"As the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and the blessing of Almighty God, and the national acknowledgment of this truth is not only an indispensable duty which the people owe to Him, but a duty whose natural influence is favorable to the promotion of that morality and piety without which social happiness can not exist nor the blessings of a free government be enjoyed; and as this duty, at all times incumbent, is so especially in seasons of difficulty or of danger, when existing or threatening calamities, the just judgments of God against prevalent iniquity, are a loud call to repentance and reformation; and as the United States of America are at present placed in a hazardous and afflictive situation by the unfriendly disposition, conduct, and demands of a foreign power, evinced by repeated refusals to receive our messengers of reconciliation and peace, by depredation on our commerce, and the infliction of injuries on very many of our fellow-citizens while engaged in their lawful business on the seas--under these considerations it has appeared to me that the duty of imploring the mercy and benediction of Heaven on our country demands at this time a special attention from its inhabitants." John Adams

"Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own Federal and Republican principles, our attachment to union and representative government. Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe; too high-minded to endure the degradations of the others; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation; entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our own industry, to honor and confidence from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth, but from our actions and their sense of them; enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter -- with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people?" Thomas Jefferson

"In these my confidence will under every difficulty be best placed, next to that which we have all been encouraged to feel in the guardianship and guidance of that Almighty Being whose power regulates the destiny of nations, whose blessings have been so conspicuously dispensed to this rising Republic, and to whom we are bound to address our devout gratitude for the past, as well as our fervent supplications and best hopes for the future." James Madison

"Our free Government, founded on the interest and affections of the people, has gained and is daily gaining strength. Local jealousies are rapidly yielding to more generous, enlarged, and enlightened views of national policy. For advantages so numerous and highly important it is our duty to unite in grateful acknowledgements to that Omnipotent Being from whom they are derived, and in unceasing prayer that He will endow us with virtue and strength to maintain and hand them down in their utmost purity to our latest posterity." James Monroe


"Is there a possibility that the government of nations may fall into the hands of men who teach the most disconsolate of all creeds, that men are but fireflies, and that this all is without a father? Is this the way to make man, as man, an object of respect? Or is it to make murder itself as indifferent as shooting a plover, and the extermination of the Rohilla nation as innocent as the swallowing of mites on a morsel of cheese? If such a case should happen, would not one of these, the most credulous of all believers, have reason to pray to his eternal nature or his almighty chance (the more absurdity there is in this address the more in character) give us again the gods of the Greeks; give us again the more intelligible as well as more comfortable systems of Athanasius and Calvin; nay, give us again our popes and hierarchies, Benedictines and Jesuits, with all their superstition and fanaticism, impostures and tyranny." John Quincy Adams

"The same diffidence induces me to hope for instruction and aid from the coordinate branches of the Government, and for the indulgence and support of my fellow-citizens generally. And a firm reliance on the goodness of that Power whose providence mercifully protected our national infancy, and has since upheld our liberties in various vicissitudes, encourages me to offer up my ardent supplications that He will continue to make our beloved country the object of His divine care and gracious benediction." Andrew Jackson

"So sensibly, fellow-citizens, do these circumstances press themselves upon me that I should not dare to enter upon my path of duty did I not look for the generous aid of those who will be associated with me in the various and coordinate branches of the Government; did I not repose with unwavering reliance on the patriotism, the intelligence, and the kindness of a people who never yet deserted a public servant honestly laboring their cause; and, above all, did I not permit myself humbly to hope for the sustaining support of an ever-watchful and beneficent Providence." Martin Van Buren

I will give you them all as future posts are prepared.

Who's First?

As a nation, we have a real problem.

Well, we have a number of them, but here I refer to an issue at the top.

I'm referencing our First Lady and our Potential First Lady (or Man).

The current holder of that position, Laura Bush, just has too many questionable qualities for the tastes of Mr. & Mrs. Average American.

For instance, grace.

Who needs a first lady who responds to hard questions from media with grace?

And poise.

Laura Bush has so much poise, one might consider her "poise-on."

She has a brilliant command of the English language...who needs that?

And she smiles a lot.

My gosh! If you're going to go around smiling all the time, what will those dignified potentates from other lands think?

Speaking of dignified, not since Barbara Bush have we had a First Lady who conducted herself with such dignity and charm.

And there is no mistaking that, whatever you may think about her decision-making, she loves The United States of America from the bottom of her heart.

No, no, no.

See what we need (and sadly missed out on) is a First Lady who can cuss and scream like that Heinz lady could.

We need someone who has only been proud of America since her husband decided to run for her highest office.

Someone who can get caught "off-mike" saying words that are generally banned from family programming would make a great First Lady, don't you think?

The new First Lady should be filled with ambition, so that someday, she, too can run for the world's most powerful position.

Perhaps we should consider a First Man, preferably someone who can point a finger at folks, especially if they are judges, and lie with a straight face.

A man who believes that things are true, not based on whether or not they actually happened, but based on the fact that he said them...and if he said them they become true because he said them...that's what we need.

We need a First Man who knows how to entice young ladies to satisfy his need for control and passion while he is serving in the post.

Whether we get a First Lady or a First Man, we must be sure we get the kind of person we deserve who can stand along side our new President and be his (or her) confidante, advisor and lover (or loverette), properly demonstrating what the First Lady of The United States of America should be.

Isn't that the kind of First Person you want?

UN-REWRITTEN HISTORY

Let's start by making it clear: For the first time in recent history, The United States of America was attacked on its own soil...the Twin Towers on 9/11.

Contrary to what some would have you believe, we were not attacked because we had a greater or lesser presence in some Middle Eastern country.

We were not attacked because we had engaged in some military action on foreign soil.

We were attacked because a large segment of a very vile and hate-filled religious belief system saw us as "The Great Satan," and believed that they were scoring points with the Moon God (whom they call Allah, and whom they try to make us believe is "just another way of expressing the God we all serve.")

We went to battle these vile types in their county (Afghanistan), for the expressed purpose of keeping them from doing it again.

They were driven from their country and given safe-haven in another land, and they were rendered basically ineffective, at least for the time being.

While driving them from their country we got word from what should have been trusted sources, sources that were trusted by former President Clinton, Presidential hopeful, Al Gore, Nancy Pelosi, and many other Democrat leaders as well as many Republican leaders, that Iraq was planning or helping to plan similar attacks against us with WMDs (weapons of mass distruction).

That it turned out not to be the case (according, at least to some) is irrelevant, in that everybody thought it WAS the case.

So we launched a preventive strike.

It, so far, has worked.

Now we are not the bad guys here.

In fact, seven times we Americans have taken arms and sacrificed the blood of our troops, in the defense of Muslims ( Bosnia , Kosovo, Gulf War 1, Kuwait , etc.), who had not really done anything to deserve our defense.

In the course of war, things are sometimes done that should not be done.

A reading of the Bible reveals that sometimes when Israel faught and/or won battles they disobeyed God and took spoils they should not have taken.

When you are dealing with such huge numbers of human beings, things happen.

That does not excuse them, it just recognizes that not everything is perfectly controlled all the time, precicely because we are human.

And so there are sometimes atrocities committed by segments of armies.

Some armies cut off the fingers of prisoners.

Others apply high voltage to inappropriate portions of anatomy.

Women prisoners are routinely raped, beaten and tortured.

But not by our troops.

There are no documented cases of that kind of torture committed by US military personnel.

There is "waterboarding," about which there is political argument as to whether it is an appropriate form of interrogation, but that does not even come close to the horrible things mentioned above.

How does our treatment of prisoners fare overall?

We give them three meals a day, sanitation facilities, exercise time, and time to exercise their religious belief system, by devotional time, prayer time, and even by providing them with free copies of their religion's sacred book.

How terrible of us!

Do we subject them to interrogation?

You betcha!

And well we should.

These are not nice, reasonable people. They are people who will do their best to kill anyone, including you, who subscribes to the American Dream, thinking that by killing us they will gain favor with their God.

Here are some facts to consider:

We were attacked by Islamic Arabs.

Most Arabs and Muslims have to live under savage dictatorships.

The majority of them are poor, because their governments take all they have.

Their governments breed hate for the US in their religious schools, mosques, and government-controlled media.

The U.S.A. is the biggest financial supporter of poverty stricken Arabs, while wealthy Arabs blame the U.S. for all of their problems.

Some Arab governments pay the families of suicide bombers who sacrifice themselves trying to rid the world of "The Great Satan."

The governments that encourage suicide bombers think babies, pregnant mothers, the elderly and a vast aray of citizens are fair game.

Muslim extremists have killed more Arabs than any other group, including the U.S.A.

Terrorists take refuge in "holy sites," knowing that Americans respect those sites so much that we are reluctant to persue them there, yet those same terrorists are gleeful when one of our holy sites is damaged or destroyed (think: Sait Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in NYC).

Now we have people who think we should withdraw from our war on terror by withdrawing troops from Iraq.

"We're turning it into another Viet Nam," they say.

They are insane.

They, in fact, would be guilty of turning the war into another Viet Nam by doing what their kind do...quitting before the job is done.

Not one of them is any better on any level than the terrorists.

TYRANT-A-SAURUS-REX

There once was a tyrannical CEO of a small, almost insignificant newspaper in a fast growing metropolitan area.

He had never run a newspaper before he bought this one, but he had read a lot of them and figured, "How hard could it be?"

When he bought the newspaper, it was on a slow, but steady rise in both readership and income.

Over a brief period of time, this CEO made sudden and unusual changes to the newspaper.

There were pictures where most newspapers put text and text where most newspapers put pictures.

"We don't want to be like them," he proclaimed. "We want to give the people a choice."

Whereas most newspapers had discovered over the years that there were certain things they could do to attract readers and certain things they could do that would repel readers, this brilliant CEO figured he could bypass those conventions and do things his own way.

When his employees, some of whom had been in the newspaper business for a quarter of a century, tried to help, he rebuffed them, scolded them and insisted that they let him run his business his way.

The first year of his ownership, the newspaper actually increased in readership and income.

"Just look at me!" shouted the CEO (who really spent a lot of time shouting, as that was his concept of what enthusiasm was). "We're doing OK! We didn't meet all of our expectations, but we're doing OK."

But the second year things did not go so well.

"We have to make more changes so people will buy my newspaper."

So he put the captions for the pictures under different pictures. Some of the captions he just put at the bottom of the page.

"This will give the readers something to do as they read. They'll love it!"

They didn't really love it.

In fact, the next year revenues went down again.

"Those stinking employees of mine have caused this!" He, of course, was yelling as he said it.

"Let me set them straight!"

And so he did.

As he whipped his employees in line, he once again believed that he had fixed the revenue problem, so his enthusiastic yelling increased.

Revenues dipped again.

"We know God won't let this newspaper fail. After all, this is HIS newspaper. I have asked Him to bless us and He, therefore, must do so."

"Let's get rid of some of the features that people love and replace them with features by authors no one has ever heard of."

It was his idea of how to make changes that would bring in more revenue.

Well, the fourth year revenues fell to a new, all-time low.

One of his employees suggested that changing the phone number to the call-in opinion column needed to be reconsidered.

"After all," pointed out the employee, "People know the old number. They're used to calling it."

"We were getting too many calls for things other than opinions!" retorted the wise CEO. "Just be quiet. I know what I am doing."

Yeah. He knew what he was doing.

After all, he was the sole decision maker, having micro-managed every minute detail of the business. No suggestions from any employee, no matter how experienced they might be, were even tolerated, let alone implemented.

One could reasonably conclude that whatever state the newspaper was in was totally, one-hundred percent, absolutely at the feet of the CEO, and nowhere else.

But he was too blind with arrogance and pride to see it.

And one day the newspaper simply ceased to exist.

No one in the fast growing metropolitan area noticed.

B.O.

So now B.O. (you know, the guy running for president), says that he would not want his daughter, if she were to "make a mistake," to be punished with a baby.

Hmmmm.

So having a baby is punishment.

I wonder whether my mother was feeling "punished" when I was born.

How about yours?

How about his?

Frankly, B.O. seems to fit.

THE LEGACY OF SLAVERY

In this land of unequal opportunity, unfair big corporations, social injustices, lack of universal health care, too low taxes and who knows what all that keeps people of color from accomplishing anything other than dependancy on the welfare system...

A BLACK MAN IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT!

Not only that, but his liberation theologist former pastor spewed out inflamatory rhetoric the likes of which would have gotten him tortured and executed in more than half of the other countries in the world.

Talk about a land of opportunity!

A Leader in His Field - NOT

There once was a man named Arnold who had a sort of romantic notion that he would really like to own a food kitchen.

After all, food kitchens are neat! They help people! They feed people!

In fact, he, himself, had eaten in food kitchens on special "open house" occasions, and it gave him a feeling of excitement to think about the setting up, cooking, and all of the other trappings of running a food kitchen.

He convinced himself that God was calling him to own a food kitchen.

"How hard could it be?" he asked. "You just cook food and serve it to needy people."

So, having been blessed with a certain sum of money, he bought a food kitchen.

It was not a very large food kitchen, but it would be a good start.

There was a guy named Sam at the food kitchen who had been serving as its manager, and the new owner decided to keep him on, at least long enough to get started.

Sam had managed the food kitchen for a few years, during which donations to the food kitchen had risen each year.

Right away, Sam told Arnold that there were certain rules and regulations that the Health Department had regarding food kitchens with which he would have to comply.

"But," said Arnold, "I don't really think those rules are all that serious."

"Sir!" answered Sam, "The Health Department can shut you down or fine you if you do not follow their rules."

"Stop!" yelled Arnold. "I don't want to hear it! Especially not from some prideful dolt like you! Why I could fire your butt right now! Don't think you are anything special. This food kitchen can get along without you! So straighten up, do what I say, when I say, how I say 'cause, and get this well, I OWN this food kitchen!"

"Yes, sir," answered Sam meekly.

And he did what he was told.

As time passed, Arnold saw that not as many people were using his food kitchen as he had hoped.

The first year he operated the food kitchen, receipts went up.

But in subsequent years people did not donate as much.

By the fourth year that he owned the food kitchen, receipts had fallen off by over 60%!

"Must be the bad economy." reasoned Arnold.

"We'll just pray that God will bless this food kitchen, even though we don't follow the Health Department's rules and regulations. He has to bless us, 'cause this is HIS food kitchen."

Still, few people came to the food kitchen.

A professional food kitchen promoter came to the food kitchen one day to help Arnold get donations from the community to support the food kitchen.

"Why, your food is not at all what these people are used to or are looking for," he stated. "In fact, it is very poorly prepared and nobody has heard of most of these dishes."

Arnold responded, "Where I come from, people ate this kind of food all the time. I will feed it to these people and they will like it or lump it!"

"You should at least learn to prepare it properly," said the professional food service promoter.

It turns out that Arnold had almost no taste buds and could not tell which of his meals tasted good and which ones could not.

Nevertheless, he pressed on, believing that God HAD to bless the food kitchen, because he had said that it belonged to God.

Now there were expert food kitchen operators right there in his own staff, as well as around the nation.

There were food kitchen publications and online sites that contained a lot of information about how to properly run a Christ oriented food kitchen, but Arnold was not interested in giving the time to them that was needed to learn from them.

"God has shown me a different way to run food kitchens!" he proclaimed. "Just because others have found certain ways that work, is no reason to think that God wants me to run my food kitchen that way."

So, Arnold went on running the food kitchen the way he wanted to.

One day he got a great idea!

He would go to a neighboring community to wash graffiti off of the walls of buildings.

So he contacted the various news media and asked them to cover his graffiti washing efforts.

A couple of them did, and he got a total of almost two minutes coverage.

But still, the people did not support his food kitchen. Nor did they eat his food.

Part of the problem was that they did not understand the connection between washing graffiti off of walls and the operation of the food kitchen.

They reasoned that they did not want to give money to a food kitchen only to have it used to wash walls.

Not that washing walls was a bad thing.

It was, in fact, a good thing...just unrelated to food kitchen operations.

What Arnold was too proud to understand was that turning the food kitchen around was really a matter of learning the real function of a food kitchen and following the lead of those who had experience with successful food kitchens.

He had some right under his nose, in his staff, but he was too dull witted to let them help, even though they wanted to desperately.

He felt threatened by their knowledge and was too insecure to allow them to exercise it.

Arnold really wanted to be in control...to be the "boss" of a lot of people, a lot more than he wanted to really get to know the food kitchen operation.

And so, the food kitchen languished.

Oh, a few people patted him on the back and nibbled at his food, but for the most part the community just ignored his food kitchen.

And God finally just let Arnold have his way.

Thousands of people who could have been fed, starved.

GETTING PERSONAL

As you know, I work as the Production Director of a Christian radio station, WJYO, 91.5 Kingdom FM, heard all over the world online at www.kingdom.fm.

Radio is a unique medium.

With no pictures, radio becomes "theater of the mind."

So many times people have come up to me and said something like, "I have tried to picture you as I listen."

Then they usually say, "You're not at all the way I pictured you."

I never know whether or not that is a compliment.

The point is, radio becomes very personal to listeners.

They like the idea of a person guiding them through the music and programs of Christian radio.

Our afternoon announcer, Steve Gimbert, is one of the best I've ever heard at making you feel like he's in the passenger seat next to you as you drive here and there. (He's on from 3:00 PM to 6:00PM EST)

When radio stations just play one song or program after another, with no personality evident, the listeners are most likely to punch the button for another, more personable, station.

Christian radio should take advantage of this tendency by being sure that the listener has someone with him/her at all times.

Not to do so, thus causing people to tune elsewhere, affects a lot of things, not the least of which is the contribution level.

If your Christian station plays long stretches of music or programs without personality, and then complains because their giving level is low, you might suggest to them this important piece of the listener support puzzle.

IN CONCERT

It had been some 30 years.

Joseph Martin played piano for my Youth Choir at Parkway Baptist Church of Plantation, Florida.

As I said in my former post, I knew him to be an extraordinary musician, who, if he wanted to, would go far.

He wanted to.

Yesterday, after a series of emails and phone calls, we were able to see each other.

He was in concert at the Kirkwood Presbyterian Church in Bradenton, Florida.

We were able to spend the afternoon together, remembering old times and people who had been in our lives.

Joe is one of the most personable people on earth, even more so now than I had remembered him to have been.

And then the concert.

WOW!

Joe has a stage presence that rivals that of any performer I have ever seen. He was witty, well paced and so very talented.

As I had told him earlier, the difference between being a good, or even above average performer is threefold: 1) talent - which is God given; 2) confidence - which comes with knowledge of one's craft; and 3) energy - not to be confused with loudness.

Joe excelled in all three.

The first thing that caused my heart to jump and my attention to be grabbed was his very unique use of the glissando (the sliding of the finger or fingers up or down the keyboard)

Joe's glissando was dynamic, meaning that it could change in volume or speed as it was being played.

For many pianists, the glissando is nothing more than an embellishment for the purpose of showing off. Quite often, the artist does not time it out well enough, and has to either change the rhythmic pattern of the song or simply "jump" to where he is going without finishing the glissando.

For Joe Martin, however, the glissando itself became a part of the structure of the piece.

Once he had my attention, I began to focus on his various other techniques.

Whether he was playing an expressive adagio (slow and emotional) or an il più presto (as fast as possible), he was superlative in its treatment.

Joe's enthusiam for his work was evident on both the traditional "high-church" selections and the gospel and hymn treatment pieces.

In one song, "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho," one could hear the trumpets as the Israelites marched around the city, even though there were no trumpeters hiding in the piano (as far as I could tell). And when the "walls came-a-tumblin down," you could feel them fall, crashing to the earth.

Enough, already!

Suffice to say it was a joyous day.

As I told his lovely wife, Sue, even if nothing else of significance happen this year, it is already the best year of my life.

Thank you, Lord, for having allowed me to have had a part in Joe's life, and for the honor he brings me by having reached for, and acheived his ever expanding potential.

CALM DOWN?

Here is what John McCain said:

"I do hope that at some point we would just calm down a little bit and see if there's areas we can agree on," McCain said at a news conference in a Phoenix airport hangar before he flew here.

Johnny, there are undoubtedly areas we can agree on.

That, as you know if you are half a smart as your angry, condescending attitude seems to project you to be, is not the point.

The point is that we DISAGREE on some areas that are supremely important to conservatives.

You do not have permission to redefine what conservatism is, thank you very much.

You are NOT a conservative, no matter what you say or how angrily you say it.

Like most liberals, you believe something is true because you say it is true, whether or not it is really true.

You never have been, are not now and never will be my choice as a republican nominee.

You have stolen the meaning of republicanism in your pompus, inane way, and I don't appreciate it one bit.

Were we to meet face-to-face, I would tell you so, as politely as I know how, that you are a fraud.

You will no doubt retaliate, should that ever come to pass, but so be it.

That you have garnered so many delegates and votes in the primaries is a testament in your unique ability to fake people out, to lie, to cheat and to pretend to be something that your record screams that you are not.

If you go on to win the nomination, as it looks like you will, you will have given us a choice between a very liberal candidate and an extremely liberal candidate.

Some choice.

COMING SOON

TO A USA NEAR YOU!

Unless there is a spectacular come-back, which will only happen if Huckaby drops out of the race, we now know we can look forward to:

1. Higher taxes

2. Continued abortion on demand

3. Everybody paying for everybody else's health care.

4. Further government intrusion into an educational system the government managed to distroy.

5. A greater loss of privacy than even Bush accomplished.

6. Fewer freedoms than we had under England, pre-Revolution.

7. Liberal Supreme Court judges.

8. More "reaching out accross the aisle" to those we conservative don't want to work with, whose ideas we want to defeat.

9. An increase in the number of successful attacks from extremists, including an increase in the loss of American lives ON OUR OWN SOIL!

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

As time got short, the Giants got going.

In the end, they won, and are now SUPERBOWL CHAMPIONS!

Here's what happened:

The Patriot's offensive line provided the Giant's defense an opportunity to enable the Giants offense to have an opportunity to win.

So it goes.

JOB CONTINUES

GOD ENTERS THE SCENE

Chapter 38

God sets the rules: I will ask the questions; you will answer me.

Don’t mess with God. He’s bigger than you are

Learn the art of listening to Him…you’ll learn from it.

Both Job and Elihu had obscured the truth with their theories and ideas (v2)

There is an air of Holy Sarcasm in His questions and His statements.

Where were you…?; Who…?; Have you…?

You have lived so many years (v21)

Chapter 39

The questions continue

There are some descriptions of how He has designed the world.

The Psalmist and the Apostle, Paul, both tell us that the evidence of God’s handiwork is all around us.

The universe
DNA molecules
The interaction of living cells
Poisonous frogs

Chapter 40

God turns to Job and demands an answer to all of His questions.

Job is awed, humbled and embarrassed before God.

In God’s presence, we are all vile, filthy sinners.

Until we recognize that, we cannot be saved

The wretchedness of sin is beyond our understanding.

If we think our actions can please God, we just don’t understand how great, perfect and mighty
He is.

God again asserts His awesomeness as the Creator of all.

IV. Chapter 41 – The Behemoth and the Leviathan

If anybody tells you what they are, watch out for them...they'll lie to you about other things, too.

I OBJECTives

This is Superbowl weekend.

So, I am going to write about football.

But don't dispair!

This is not so much for the sports enthusiast as it is for you.

Trust me.

(Or not)

Question: What is the object of football?

"Duh!" I hear you say, "To score points."

If you think points are the point, you have missed the point.

The ultimate objective of football is for the team to win the Superbowl trophy and the players to win a ring.

Each team has an owner, a bunch of administrators, a slew of coaches, one head coach and a bevy of players.

There is a rule book and folks whose job it is to help the teams follow the rules (referees).

In the spring, the teams begin the process of planning, coordinating, evaluating and practicing that they hope will gain the prize.

Then, after a few pre-season games, the real season begins.

In order to obtain the objective, teams must play a series of games, culminating, after a series of play-offs, in the all-important Superbowl.

Only two teams make it.

Each game starts with a kick-off by one team, which gives posession of the ball to the other team.

The team with the ball in their posession, receives instructions from the coach through the quarterback about what "play" to run.

This plan of action is communicated to the team members in a group meeting called the "huddle."

The idea is to advance the ball down the field in a series of up to four plays.

Each time the team advances ten yards, it is awarded four more plays.

This continues until the team either does not advance ten yards in four plays or it reaches the goal line and scores.

There are five ways to score points in football:
1. Crossing the goal line with the ball (worth six points);
2. Kicking the ball between the uprights after crossing the goal line (worth 1 point);
3. Carrying or sucessfully passing the ball over the goal line after the initial crossing thereof (worth 2 points-and called, "going for two)";
4. Kicking the ball between the uprights because the team couldn't quite make it to the goal line, (worth 3 points);
and
5. Catching the opponent behind his own goal line (worth 2 points)

At the end, the team with the most points wins the game.

So it works like this:

Make Action Plans: The Pre-Season practices and Game Huddles

Execute the Action Plans: Run the Plays

Reach the Goals: Score Points

Reach the Objective: Win the Superbowl by doing a better job than any of the other teams.

I like all of this because it is somewhat analogos to our mission as The Church.

We need to know our Objective, often articulated as a Mission Statement.

There is a Rule Book/Owner's Manual (The Bible), that also serves to reveal to us truth about the owner, and His plan for us to reach the Objective)

We must set goals to reach the Objective (quantitative values, never philosophical statements).

We must make plans to reach those goals.

We must work the plans.

We must have an assortment of leaders to guide us in making and working the plans (pastors, deacns and committee members, perhaps?).

We have an Owner who really knows it all, and who bought us with a price, His Son, Jesus' death, burial and resurrection.

While this may seem a bit sterile, when it is done under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and according to the Owner's Manual, it is anything but.

In football, nobody knows how the final game, the Superbowl, will turn out.

But if you read the back of our Rule Book, you discover something really exciting:

WE WIN!!!

THE GRUDGE THAT STOLE

THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU.

Have you ever had anyone tell you they were going to do something for you and then they failed to do it?

We all have.

What is your reaction to them when later your paths cross?

Jesus says we should forgive, in the same way that He forgave us our sin.

But forgiveness is not easy.

It wasn't easy for Him, either.

Nevertheless, He did it.

Do you?

Or are you like some people who, once they perceive that they have been wronged, carry that perception forever?

What about people who promise to be somewhere and then don't show up?

Should you let it slide? Or should you bring it up every time his/her name comes up?

Suppose a friend said he was going to give you a gift, and then didn't do it?

Would you hold that against him?

Would you say something like, "Well, now I know who my friends are!"

Shame, shame and double shame on you!

The old addage, "Two wrongs don't make a right," applies here.

If it is true that the other person did not do you right, getting even, or even having a bad attitude, is not the response a spiritual person would have.

What would help you most would be to forget about it.

Yep, just forget about it.

See, it is not your responsibility to help God judge that person for "wronging" you. That's God's job.

Your responsibility is to forgive IN THE SAME WAY JESUS FORGAVE YOU.

Ephesians 4:32 says, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

Colossians 2:13 says, "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins...,

Colossians 3:13 says, "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."

You did not deserve forgiveness.

But you got it.

Now it's your turn.

Give it.

Holding a grudge will come back to bite you.

And it will ruin the testimony you have tried so hard to portray to people.

MUSINGS ON MINISTRY

Christian Ministry: Discovering the spiritual and other needs of people and taking action to meet those needs.

I was called into Christin Ministry when I was seventeen years old.

Ever since that call, I have served somewhere in the field of ministry.

I have served in churches and in para-church ministries.

There are a lot of things I do not know.

Ministry is something I do know.

Every fibre of my being has been steeped in ministry in one or more of the following areas, sometimes at the same time: Minister of Education; Christian School Administrator; Minister of Music; Minister of Youth and now Minister in Christian radio.

I have also run a successful business.

They are not the same.

Business is business; ministry is ministry and never the twain shall meet.

In fact, if you are a minister of any entity and try to run it like a business, you will ultimately fall flat on your face.

While you can run a business according to God's Word, if you try to run it purely as a ministry, you will fall flat on your face.

Ministry is God driven, and serves people.

Business serves people but is income driven.

Money follows ministry.

Money leads business.

Take Christian radio, for instance.

To succeed, Christian radio must follow ministry precepts.

Every word spoken, every song played, every announcement made must point people toward the Lord, Jesus, Christ, build them up in the body of Christ, give them encouragement in Christ and lead them closer to Him.

The key to finding support for Christian radio lies not in the skillful "selling" of radio time.

In fact, only about one-third of a station's income should come from programmers and underwriters.

Two-thirds should come from the contributions of listeners.

If those two get out of balance, gloom and doom looms.

The secret of support for Christian radio comes from increasing listenership, as only 5% to 7% of listeners will ever give a dime to the station no matter what you do.

To increase listeners, Christian radio MUST:

1. Be involved in the Christian community.

2. Be at every Christian event possible: walk-a-thons; bike-rides; community-wide church events; Christian concerts; Christian Chamber meetings; church worship services and any other place you can find to be.

3. Realize that most of those events will not return a single dollar to the station...they may even cost money, but the exposure will pay off in the long run.

4. Disperse information about the Christian community, as well as community public affairs.

5. Never waste a single moment on activities that do not promote the station to the largest possible segment of the Christian community, it results only in the spinning of the wheels and is a despicable misuse of the resources God has given the ministry. After all radio is not narrow-casting, it is BROADcasting.

6. Get an audience before congregations, where you can tell people about the station, take a brief survey and objectively discover their needs.

You may react, "But I am not interested in those things! They have never made the station a dime! I don't get why they are important to the exclusion of promotions like a good business would do, and like "selling" air time.

Then you have not been called into Christian radio.

It is a different animal, this ministry thing.

It is totally other oriented.

It is NEVER about self and self-preferences.

It is ALWAYS about the needs of the listeners...not the needs one THINKS the listener has, the needs one KNOWS the listeners has.

Ever wonder why God blesses some para-church ministries and not others?

Now you know.

What ever your ministry: Christian radio; food and groceries; soup kitchen; shelter; ministry to foster children and orphans; whatever it is, it must follow the proper precepts or it cannot succeed.

When it does follow the proper precepts...stand back! Get out of the way! God is going to bless your pea-pickin' socks off!

A NEW CONNECTION

A few days ago I was blythly recording some Ministry Calendar announcements at the Christian radio station where I work (if you can call what I do "work").

I recorded one that said, "Pianist Joseph Martin will be in concert at Peace Lutheran..."

"Hmm!" I said. "I know a Joe Martin. I wonder if this is he (if this is him? if this be he?...no, that sounds silly)."

Wishing to make Google earn its keep, I searched the World-Wide-Web for Peace Lutheran Church in Fort Myers, found their calendar, on which was a biography of the visiting pianist, the afore-mentined Joseph Martin, including his Email address.

"Worth a try."

So I tried.

Imagine my delighted surprise when I got a response from the artist, himself, expressing his astonishment that I was me (who, by the way, I have always been...or at least for as long as I can remember) and that we were making a fresh connection!

See, Joseph Martin, known to me as Joe, was a member of my youth group when I was Minister of Music, Youth and Education at Parkway Baptist Church in Plantation Florida, a number of years ago that shall remain unnamed.

Although circumstances kept me from the concert, I was able to contact him by phone.

What an absolute trip that was!

I just knew he was destined for musical greatness, because he oozed music from every pore of his being.

It looked funny and smelled odd, nevertheless, it was obvious that music was his essence.

Often, when he got home from school, I would go over to his house for a visit and he would make straight for the piano.

He seemed to enjoy making his fingers express themselves, whatever the musical subject.

Joe is the only person I've ever met who could make playing musical scales and exercises an art-form.

He was also tremendously fun.

We had bunches of Youth types who liked to play football, so I bought a bunch of flag football equipment and we formed a sort of league.

Joe and I would assume the role of "team owners" and use play money to bid on players for our teams.

Then we would gather at the highschool practice field and play flag football.

His team usually won, 'cause I kinda liked to pick those guys (and gals) who often did not get picked.

On one occasion we wanted to see the movie, "Jaws." Joe's girlfriend didn't want to go, my wife didn't want to go, so Joe and I went together.

In other words, we were more than Youth Director and Youth, we were friends.

Life has a way of doing things, and one of the things it did was to move me to another place of service to God.

Joe and I lost touch.

The years have changed us in ways neither of us expected.

You know the drill: age; weight; hair style (or in my case, hair loss).

But we have made a new connection.

For that I praise God!

I really hope we are able to get together from time to time and catch up on each other's life, remember old times and just revel in God's goodness.

He lives far away, but comes to Florida like a magazine...periodically.

So today I say, "Joseph M. Martin...COME ON DOWN!"

I'll buy the coffee.

A STUDY IN JOB - Part 4

In our continuing study of Job, we come to the fourth "friend," Elihu.

Elihu stayed out of the fray until the other had exhausted themselves.

Then he stepped in.

We're not sure what he stepped in, but it sure made a mess of things.

Here is how it went:

CHAPTER 32 AND FOLLOWING

Chapter 32 Elihu’s discourse.


He is a Buzite — Buz was evidently an Arab tribe (Genesis 22:21).

Elihu has been one of the auditors to this contest.


He has kept silent because of his youth, though he wanted to speak.

When the three friends have nothing more to say and have lost the contest, Elihu is angry because:


He feels that Job justified himself and condemned God (v. 2). (He had not, of course.)

He feels that the three friends of Job have failed to answer him adequately.


When Elihu finally speaks, he speaks longer than any of the three friends or Job (chapters 32 — 37).

Chapter 33


Elihu maintains that:

God is right in all that He does; (He is, of course, but that is not Elihu's point)


God created man (v. 4); (He did, of course, but that is not Elihu's point)

God is responsible to no one (v. 13); (He isn't, of course, but that is not Elihu's point)


God speaks to man by dreams and visions [before He gave a written revelation] (vv. 14, 15); (He sometimes does, of course, but that is not Elihu's point)

God instructs men through discipline (vv. 29, 30). (Sometimes He does, but that is not Elihu's point)


Notice that he suggests the reason for the Incarnation (vv. 6, 7).

Chapter 34


Elihu declares that God never acts wickedly nor commits wrong acts (v. 12). (He doesn't, of course, but that is not Elihu's point)

Chapter 35


Elihu reproves Job for inferring that he is more righteous than God (v. 2). (Job did not do that.)

God is teaching Job a lesson, and both Job and his friends missed this truth (vv. 10-12).


Chapter 36

God is the great Teacher (v. 22).


It was said of Jesus, "Never man spoke like this man" [John 7:46].

Chapter 37


Elihu infers that God is too far removed for man to communicate with Him (vv. 22, 23). (Absolutely not true)

However, it is not the greatness and majesty of God that has separated man from Him; it is man’s sin that has caused the disruption (see Isaiah 59:1, 2). (True, of course, but that is not Elihu's point)

In all of this, Elihu has been using truths, half-truths and untruths, to beat Job over the head as though he were guilty.

But at the beginning, God said Job was blameless.

Either God was right, or He is not God.

He is God.


Chapter 38

God breaks through and speaks to Job.


During the entire dialogue a storm has been gathering on the horizon. At this point, it breaks with fury.

The crowd scatters and scurries for cover, leaving Job alone with God (v. 1).


Both Job and Elihu had obscured truth with their theories and ideas (v. 2).

God’s appeal to Job is on the basis of His role as Creator.


Remember that this was before there was any written revelation (v. 4).

(Compare Romans 1:19, 20. )


This is a good introduction for every book on geology and origins.

This response (v. 7) predates the creation of man. Actually, man is a "Johnny-come-lately" in God’s universe.

What did the writer of Job or Job himself know about the beauty of a snowflake (vv. 22, 23)?



Chapter 39

God’s wisdom, person, and power are revealed in creation.

Chapter 40


God now demands Job to answer Him (vv. 1, 2).

Job begins to see himself in the light of God’s presence — he is vile.


Job becomes suddenly silent (vv. 3-5).

The storm breaks in all of its fury and God speaks out of the whirlwind. He continues His appeal through creation (v. 6).


Chapter 41


God continues to quiz Job relative to His acts of creation.

TOMATO MINISTRY

Once there was a tomato farmer.

He grew lots of tomatoes.

Then he needed someone to pick the tomatoes.

So, he hired a bunch of tomato pickers.

"You work for me!"

He made certain that every one of them understood that.

Whenever one of the tomato pickers picked a tomato that was not exactly perfect, the farmer yelled mercilessly at them.

"Pick only the perfect tomatoes!" he screamed.

"This is God's tomato farm!" He yelled. "You work for me! You do what I say, when I say, how I say, IF I say."

"Sir," ventured one of the tomato pickers, "I have been picking tomatoes for 26 years. If you only pick perfect tomatoes, they will never make it to market, as they will become over-ripe before anyone can buy them."

"Don't tell me what to pick!" bellowed the farmer. "I've been a tomato farmer for four years. I know what it's about! You have nothing to teach me. And if you did, you would be out of line to try to teach it to me, because this is MY tomato farm. I am the owner. You work for me!"

"O God," the farmer prayed, "Please bless this tomato farm." I dedicate it to you."

"This is God's farm, I tell you. God's farm."

"Now get to work picking, and pick only perfect tomatoes."

The farm's income dropped.

"Oh God!" pleaded the farmer, "I have dedicated this farm to you. It is your farm. Now you must bless it. You promised!"

The farm's income dropped some more.

"What we need is a fresh infusion of money," decided the farmer.

"Who will send money so we can keep this farm and supply tomatoes to the people?"

Nobody sent money. Mostly because the tomatoes were over-ripe at the market, and they did not see the wisdom of supporting a farm that was producing over-ripe tomatoes.

"This is all the pickers' fault. If they would just do what I tell them, and pick only perfect tomatoes, we wouldn't be in this terrible shape!"

"Perhaps I am not yelling loud enough at them."

"I will yell louder and get them to love me."

"Then I will go to the next town and help the people build a road."

"When they see me care about them, and build a road, they will surely buy my tomatoes and my troubles will be over."

"That will cost me money, though. So I will delay paying my workers. They are less important than the roads I will build."

"But sir," said one of the pickers, "What has building a road got to do with growing tomatoes? How will that inspire people to buy your tomatoes?"

"It is God's work," answered the farmer. "Just because it is unrelated to tomato farming is no reason for the people not to buy my tomatoes."

Still, the people did not increase their support of the farm's tomatoes.

The tomato farm lost some more money.

It sure is a good thing the farmer was not trying to run a ministry.

A STUDY IN JOB - Part 3

This is the sequence of the speeches given by Job vs. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, 3:1 — 32:1 and Job’s responses:

There are 3 rounds of speeches:

(1) By Job, then Eliphaz, and Job answers him;

(2) By Bildad, and Job answers him;

(3) By Zophar, and Job answers him.

This is repeated three times with one exception — Zophar does not give a third speech.

The dialogue is in the nature of a contest.

Under the critical and accusing eyes of his friends, Job finally explodes with his tale of woe and a wish that he had never been born.

Review of Chapter 11

Zophar is the voice of legalism.

Legalism is any set of "rules" that must be followed in order to "please God."

Adherence to a particular pattern of religious practice is legalism.

Requiring a prescribed method of accomplishing something is legalism

Legalism may or may not reference the law.

Zophar is mistaken in his view of God

Sees God as being bound by law…God is not bound by anything.

Speaks dogmatically, but without revelatory authority

Is pretty crude in his comments.

Chapter 12 & 13

Job’s response

Job seems bitter and sarcastic.

Seems to resent the superior claims of his friends (vss 12:1-3)

Calls them "physicians of no value" (Vs 13:4)

Job maintains his faith (Vs 13:15)

B. Do we ever find ourselves under attack by "friends" like Zophar?

Chapter 14

Job’s speech on death.

The stats on trouble and death are 100%

We all undergo trouble.

We all face death

Hope beyond the grave: Christ (Vss 14 & 15)

Chapter 15

Eliphaz’s second discourse.

Calls Job’s words "foolish." (Vs 6)

Defends himself and his two partners friends by reminding Job of their advantage of maturity over him.

He states a great truth, but it is no more applicable to Job than to any other human being.

Chapter 16 & 17

Job labels his friends "miserable comforters"

Job says that if their situations were reversed, he could say the same things about them. (vs16:17)

Job stands on his record (vs 16:19)

Chapter 18

Bildad’s second discourse

Suggests that Job stop speaking and start listning (vs 2)

Since Job is being judged, he has committed some gross and secret sin.

He brings nothing new to the table, but seeks to prove his accusations by being loud and redundant.

Chapter 20

Zophar’s second discourse.

He introduces nothing new.

He rests upon his seniority and resorts to the same legalism.

He still holds to the theory that Job is a very wicked person because of the law that the wicked must be punished (vv. 3-5).

Chapter 21

Job’s answer.

Job is growing weary of their false charges.

He appeals to a higher court (vv. 1-4).

He agrees that the wicked will be punished but insists that this does not apply to his case.

SOME LESSONG TO LEARN FROM ALL OF THIS

Some people seem to believe that they can convince the other person that their point of view is
correct by repetition or volume.

Sometimes we are so convinced of our position that we fail to take in to account what God says (in the Bible says in its immediate context and in the context of the whole).

Sometimes we allow a form of legalism to dictate our arguments.

Our sense of religiosity is not a substitute for the truth of God in Christ.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA BACTERIA

I would like for a person, who believes that evolutionary forces produced the variety of living things on earth today, to point me to a scientific article demonstrating that any of the trillions to the trillionth power of single-celled bacteria, amoeba, or viruses, having mutated to their hearts'* content, have ever been seen to evolve into anything other than another bacteria, amoeba or virus.

Please include the publication's name, the name of the article and the date of the article.

If is is available online, please give the URL/link.

You may respond in my comments section.

*Yes, I am aware that in a technical sense they do not have hearts as we understand them.

A STUDY IN JOB - Part 2

As we continue in Job, we find his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, having come to him to "comfort" him, giving speeches to him about what he must have done to bring on the misery he was experiencing.

We know, however, that they were wrong. Job had done nothing wrong. God said so. And if God says so, it does not matter what we think, it is so.

In the final chapter we find God saying of them that He was angry with them because they had lied about Him.

Actually, a lot of what they said contained half-truths and common suppositions about God, but they were using tradition, convention and legalistic arrogance to "beat Job over the head"

Here is the outline of the next several chapters:

BILDAD, JOB AND ZOPHAR


Bildad’s Discourse (Chapter 8)

Bildad’s is the voice of the past.

Depends on man’s traditions (Vs8)

Considers Job a hypocrite (Vs 13)

Claims Job does not know the ways of God (

Job’s reply (Chapter 9)

Bildad has failed to meet Job’s problem (Vs 2)

He needs someone on his side to present his case (9:19, 20)

Notice Job’s heart cry for Christ (Vs 32-35)

Jesus is the mediator between God and man (1Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;…)

God knows that Job is not perfect, but He also knows that Job is not
wicked (Job 10:6, 7).

Zophar’s Discourse (Job 11)

Zophar is the voice of legalism.

He holds that God is bound by laws and never operates beyond the circumference of His own laws.

He accuses Job of covering his sin with words (v. 2).

He assumes the pious position of being on the inside with God while Job is on the outside (vs. 4-11).

He predicts the complete judgment of Job unless he confesses his secret sin (v. 20).

Job’s Reply to Zophar (Job 12)

Job becomes bitter and sarcastic. He resents the superior claims of his friends and their accusations (12:1-3).

Job would bypass his friends and appeal to God directly (13:3).

Chapter 14 — A great elegy on death.

Trouble is the common denominator of mankind (v. 1).

Job knows that death is inevitable and that he must depart from this world (v. 10).

Job has a hope beyond death and the grave (vv. 14, 15).

As we read Job, we are reminded that the hope he has beyond death and the grave is through none other than Jesus, Christ.

He is our only hope...a hope that is steadfast and sure.

Back in Chapter 1:21, Job said the most remarkable thing. He said, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."

We are good at the part about "the Lord gave."

When the Lord gives health, we say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord."

When the Lord gives wealth, we say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord."

When the Lord gives us family, we say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord."

But when the Lord does not give us health, can we still say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord.?"

When the Lord does not give us wealth, can we still say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord.?"

When the Lord does not give us family, can we still say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord.?"

When the Lord takes away, can we still say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord.?"

Only if we know Him through Jesus.

SOME RADIOLOGICAL THOUGHTS

God called and led me into Christian radio in 1982.

I have worked for WSOR in Ft. Myers, Florida when it was owned by Riverside Baptist Church and was kept on to work for WSOR when it was bought by Moody Broadcasting of Chicago.

In December of 1999 I was named manager of WJYO/WBIY radio in Ft. Myers and LaBelle respectively when it was owned by Taccoa Falls College of Georgia.

I now work for WJYO, now owned by Art Ramos, President and CEO of Airwaves for Jesus, Inc.

You can listen online at www.kingdom.fm.

Over the years I have learned a few things about Christian radio.

I'd like to share some of them with you for no particular reason except that I want to share them.

1. Christian radio is a ministry of the Gospel, in the same way that a church is a ministry of the Gospel.

2. Christian radio must see itself as a ministry, not a business, if it wants to survive.

3. Christian radio is different from secular radio in that regard and in many other ways.

4. Christian radio is governed by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), and is subject to its rules and regulations.

a. Christian radio cannot engage in "consideration," which FCC defines as "money for minutes"

b. Christian radio cannot air spots for commercial entities that call for action on the part of the listener; eg: Christian radio cannot say, "Call......"; "Stop by...." "Go to www....." "Tell them..."

c. Christian radio cannot describe products or services of a commercial entity with qualitative terms; eg: Christian radio cannot say, "They handle fine china and colorful silverware..."; "They sell those heavy duty Ford trucks..."

d. Christian radio cannot air an "inducement to buy;" eg: Christian radio cannot say, "They have a half-price sale in progress..."; or "They're featuring a two-for-one sale..."

5. Christian radio must bring in income, if it is to continue to exist.

6. Christian radio benefits financially in direct proportion to the way it ministers to its listeners.

7. There are lots of good things Christian radio could do that do not result in either more listeners or more income. That does not mean they should not be done, just that it is futile to expect those things to benefit the radio station.

8. To be "successful," Christian radio must do those things that lead to a substantial increase in listenership. Things like:

a. Be involved in the Christian community.

b. Get before congregations with a brief presentation about the station and a short survey of the members.

c. Do remote broadcasts from every community ministry event. (Secular radio stations figured this out long ago...and few days go by that one cannot see a W___ ___ ___ van at some parking lot or another).

d. Visit businesses run by Christians with NO agenda other than letting them know you exist and to find out how you can serve them.

e. Sponsor local events, such as concerts, conferences, etc. that relate to Christian radio. A concert by an artist whose music is not played would be counter-productive.

f. Everything Christian radio airs, whether Bible studies, music or announcements, must point people toward Jesus and/or build them up in Him.

g. In Christian radio, it is never about personal preference. It is always about the spiritual listening needs of the audience, revealed objectively, not subjectively.

9. In Christian radio, stability, integrity and consistency are essential.

10. Christian radio must be dependable.

11. Christian radio must carefully air programs that present the Gospel without introducing doctrinal issues over which the majority of "mainstream," conservative Christians disagree.

12. The music Christian radio airs must be aimed at its demographic 100% of the time.

a. It is a gross mistake to select music that appeals to the younger half of the audience, while offending the older half.

b. It is a gross mistake to select music that appeals to the older half of the audience, while offending the younger half.

c. Christian radio must stress that every song has something to offer to every part of its demographic. Christian radio cannot say, "Here's a song we like, and you're going to listen whether you like it or not." The listener is always in control of his/her on-off switch.

Well, those are some of the things I have learned about Christian radio.

I did not make them up, they were taught to me by people with far greater knowledge than I'll ever have.

And I had the good sense to let them teach me what they know.

That's a good thing.

LADY AND GENTLEMEN, WHO ARE YOU, ANYWAY

I long for the day when politicians from all parties will say, "This is who I am and what I stand for. If you like who I am and what I stand for, vote for me. If not, please vote for the person you DO like."

Politician A - I want higher taxes so government can "give" you more services and rights.

Politician B - I like lower taxes so a larger base will mean more income to the treasury and I can "give" you more services and rights.

Politician C - I like having everybody pay a set percentage of taxes, government doing the six things it is supposed to do and keeping out of the things it is not supposed to be into.

Politician D - I like the power and prestige of holding the world's highest office. I'll give you anything you want, and will provide you with a list of things you can want.

Then I could choose intelligently.

Won't happen, though.

TYPICAL TOPICAL

There are different formats that pass themselves off as "preaching."



Each theological seminary tends to magnify one style over others.



Some formats are "self-determining," that is: they have their main points dictated by Scripture.



Other types of "preaching" involve inserting the ideas and philosophies of the "Preacher" into them.



The most difficult style of preaching, and the most likely to err, is topical preaching.



In it, the "preacher" selects a TOPIC (led, of course, by the Holy Spirit). He then sets about the task of developing the topic, using Scripture verses to back his point of view.



One major issue with this preaching approach is that the preacher must constantly guard against allowing his point of view to supersede the view of Scripture on the subject.



He must also avoid using Scripture verses out of their context to "prove" his point.



Often, the verses chosen are really teaching an opposite principle, but because they sound right, seem "spiritual" or use language that makes them seem as though they "fit" the topic, he uses them, blithely disregarding their true meaning.



For example, suppose a preacher wanted his listeners to learn the importance of listening carefully, studying hard, becoming wise and doing the right thing.



He might search Scripture until he found Job 34:2-4. Hear my words, you wise men, listen to me, you men of learning. For the ear tests words as the tongue tastes food. Let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good.



"Sounds good," you say.



Maybe so, but it would be an abomination to use those verses to teach the lesson he wanted learned, because they are the words of Elihu, about whom God, Himself, said, (speaking to Eliphaz) "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has."



In fact, here is why God would be angry about Elihu making that statement:



1. It is self-serving. Count the number of times he refers to himself.

2. It is being used to accuse Job of doing that of which he is innocent.

3. It suggests that men determine what is right on their own...a very common approach in even today's secular society.

4. It teaches that together we can learn what is good, apart from God.



Now Job is a perfectly good book of the Bible...of course.



But one must be very careful about quoting Job, for it is replete with traps just like the one above.



In fact, to quote what Job says is to reveal his despair.



To quote what God says reveals His character, love and long-suffering.



But to quote Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar or Elihu as though they have anything constructive to say is to reveal one's total misunderstanding of the point of the book of Job, which is:



Religious people (Job's accusers) tend to misuse truths about God to beat the faithful over the head, especially when they are down, and God does not like that.



Two-thirds of the book deals exactly with that issue.



In fact, so many people misuse the book of Job, that I wonder whether they know how to read at all.



Job was not patient, yet we speak of the "patience of Job."



Job was righteous...God said so, yet we try to figure out what he did wrong to deserve his travails.



Job was depressed, wishing he had never been born.



Job was angry with God, questioning His motives and actions.



But Job was faithful.



For the faithful...truly faithful...the reward is beyond our wildest dreams.

A pastor once said to me, "There may be one meaning to a Scripture verse, but there are many applications."

Poppycock!

God's Word means what it means. Otherwise it would be arbitrary and capricious, and one could never be certain of its meaning. Its "meaning" would be subject to various interpretations and winds of doctrine.

If you are going to preach topically, at least let the Scripture dictate your topics and don't try to "proof-text" your sermons.



After all, not one soul on earth needs a behavioristic religious philosophy lesson.



Few souls on earth care about your "life systemology."



What they need is to hear the Word of God rightly divided.

The Bible is God' revelation of His character, His love for His Creation and His plan for its redemption.

I WISH FOR YOU

A HAPPY AND CHRIST FILLED NEW YEAR!

Why Did God Become a Man?

The following is an outline of a sermon by one of my favorite preachers, Dr. David Jeremiah.

I invite you to look up the scriptures, as they are not quoted completely in this post.

Most of all, I invite you to consider that the Mighty Creator, the One who holds more power in one hand than all of the power of all of the atoms in the universe, loves you enough to have come to live among us a sacrificial birth, a sacrificial life and a sacrificial death in order to afford you an opportunity to live with Him eternally.

God became a man to satisfy the prophecies of the Old Testament.

Luke 24:44 "All things must be fulfilled…concerning me."

Isaiah 7:14 "The Lord will give you a sign…"

Micah 5:2 "But you, Bethlehem…whose origins are from of old…"

Jeremiah 31:15 "A voice in Rama…they are no more."

Matthew 2:16-18 "Herod…was angry…and put to death the children…"

Herod had been named "King of the Jews" by Rome.

He feared this new "King" would dethrone him

Foretold hundreds of years before it happened

God became a man to show us the Father

John 14: 9 "He who has seen me has seen the Father."

Jesus was God in a body.

To know who God is, you must know who Jesus is.

Jesus is not an idea of God, not a picture of God, He is God Himself.

Colossians1:15-19 "He is the image of the invisible…fullness dwell in Him."

John 1:1-3 "In the beginning…that has been made."

Before Jesus, man could only philosophize and guess about God’s nature. Now we can know Him.

If you want to know God, you must get to know Jesus. "I am the way…"

God became a man to save us from our sin.

I Timothy 1:15 "This is a faithful saying…that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."

He had to become one of us so He could pay the penalty we should have paid.

He offers salvation to anybody who will come to Him in faith, trusting in, and only in, His finished work at the cross of Calvary.

Luke 19:10 "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.

John 1:29 "Behold the Lamb of God…of the world."

Without accepting Him we cannot be forgiven.

God became a man to sympathize with our weaknesses.

Hebrews 4:15 "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize…"

Jesus’ temptations were not philosophical, they were real.

He understands you like no one else.

Apart from Christ there is only discouragement and despair at Christmas time.

Jesus came knowing what it would cost Him.

God became a man to secure our hope of Heaven.

He came down so that we could go up.

Until Christ is in you, you can’t go to Heaven…not Politically Correct, but I don’t care.

He had to come as He came to be what He was

He was both man and God

Born uniquely of a virgin with no sin nature.

He had to be what He was to live as He lived.

He lived a perfect life

He had to in order to be the Perfect Lamb of God.

He had to live as He lived to do what He did.

He could not have otherwise saved us.

If He had gone to the cross with just one sin, He would have gone in vain.

This Christmas remember that He was born to die; that His physical death, though horrible, did not compare to the moment when God left Him alone with the sins of the universe on his soul; and that His death provided that if you want to be with God forever, you can. His resurrection guarantees it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!

ASTONISHMENT AND AWE

I got a comment on my last post from Shari http://sharisnewblog.blogspot.com/.

We had communicated before, and she had communicated with my wife, Bonnie, about her dad.

But being the sort of addle-headed person I am, I had heard without hearing (more correctly: read without reading).

Turns out that Shari is the daughter of a radio announcer who recently went on to be with the Lord.

Turns out also that her father and I (long before he was her father) had spent time together in my home in Warner Robins, Georgia, playing radio announcer with an old Revere reel-to-reel tape recorder which we discovered generated RF (radio frequency).

When one spoke into the microphone, the signal could be picked up as far away as the house next door.

We played music for the guy next door, who could pick us up on his bedroom radio.

Interestingly, both of us actually ended up in radio, though neither seems to have known that about the other.

His name was Seymor C. Holmes III, but nobody really knew him by any name other than "Skip."

When I knew Skip, "rought around the edges" would have been the kindest thing one could say about him.

He tended toward the profane, smoked like a chimney and I'm not really certain what we had in common enough to be friends.

Not that we were close, nevertheless, he was occasionally at my house and we messed around with things that teens in those days messed around with.

Mostly, I think, I served as a diversion for him.

We did not stay in touch.

According to his own testimony, he did not "grow into a fine young man," but drifted downhill until late in life.

And then...Oh but then.

Something happened in Skip's life that you need to hear about.

In a presentation a couple of years before his death, he gave his testimony.

You can hear it here (click on the picture with the cross):

http://myspace.com/skipholmes

And I recommend that you do.

It is some 28 minutes long, so set aside some time, but it is worth every second of it.

I was moved to tears as I listened, and I don't do that often.

Every day, when I sign off my air shift at the Christian radio station (heard online at www.kingdom.fm, I say, "The Lord willing, I'll be back here again tomorrow, and if you'll join me, we'll praise God together through music and the Word. Have a beautiful day, today. Make it a Christ filled day, and I'll see you here, tomorrow. But if I don't see you here, I'll see you over there."

Skip Holmes, wait for me, Brother in Christ. I won't see you over here, but I sure do look forward to seeing you over there.

DAFFY DEFINITIONS?

I was listening to a radio talk show the other day.

The host was interviewing an author whose latest book defended the presence of illegal aliens in our country.

During the interview she made the most remarkable statement.

She said, "Somehow we in America have equated 'illegal' with 'criminal,' and that's unfortunate."

I fled to my thesaurus and looked up "illegal."

Here is what I found: unlawful; lawless; prohibited; criminal; illicit; unauthorized; illegitimate; unlicensed."

It seems there are those in this county who would make it their practice to define, or re-define, words to mean whatever they want them to mean at the time they are using them.

The way a society defines words depends on many factors, such as their linguistic origin, their historical meaning and, to a lesser extent, their common usage.

Sometimes common usage, over an extended period of time, can alter the meaning of a word.

"Cool" is an example.

"Cool" means less than warm.

But it began being used to mean something that is sociologically desirable, as in, "That is a really cool game."

Of course in that context the word "cool" has nothing to do with temperature.

Over time, as society used the word more and more to mean something "hip," [a whole different discussion. (Hint: it's not a body part)].

However, it is not the prerogative of someone to arbitrarily change the meaning of a word.

For instance, "marriage" has historically meant the union of a man and a woman.

Some have tried, unsuccessfully to one degree or another, to change its meaning to include the union of two people of the same sex.

If we do so, we will need to come up with another word that means what "marriage" used to mean.

I drive a 1995 Saturn SL2. If I decide to call it a 2007 Cadillac, will it become one?

The nature of something cannot be altered simply by changing its name, or ignoring its definition.

Therefore, that which is against the law may be referred to correctly as illegal, criminal, or any of the other synonyms listed above.

An illegal alien engages in unlawful behavior by breaking in line in front of those who go through the proper steps to enter this country, and is therefore a criminal.

Now all that's left to do is to decide to what level of criminality it rises and to react appropriately.

I wonder whether any member of our government is able to do that.

A TAXING SUGGESTION

I have, after much consideration of the present tax code, the proposed "Fair Tax" plan, and my own belief in a flat 11% tax on every earned dollar in the country - personal and corporate - over a poverty line, with no deductions (which, of course, would give the government more money than they'd know what to do with [although they most certainly would figure it out]), decided on an alternative plan.

The federal government (our universal fiscal savior) should tax us at the rate of 100%, taking every dollar we earn.

Then they could set up a chart by which they can discern the value of every person and decide how much each should receive.

How much do you think that might be for you?

Does the figure "$0.00" come to mind?

THE SUBJECT IS ONE BILLION

A good friend sent this to me.

If you haven't read it, do so, but be warned: This is too true to be very funny.


The next time you hear a politician use the word "billion" in a casual manner, think about whether you want the "politicians" spending YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were Living in the Stone Age.

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.


While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division . .

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number, what does it mean?


A. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you Each get $516,528.

B. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.


C. Or, if you are a family of four, your family Gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D.C .. HELLO!!! ... Are all your calculators broken??


Tax his land, tax his wage,
Tax his bed in which he lays.
Tax his tractor, tax his mule,
Teach him taxes is the rule.

Tax his cow, tax his goat,
Tax his pants, tax his coat.
Tax his ties, tax his shirts,
Tax his work, tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco, tax his drink,
Tax him if he tries to think.
Tax his booze, tax his beers,
If he cries, tax his tears.


Tax his bills, tax his gas,
Tax his notes, tax his cash.
Tax him good and let him know
That after taxes, he has no dough.

If he hollers, tax him more,
Tax him until he's good and sore.
Tax his coffin, tax his grave,
Tax the sod in which he lays.


Put these words upon his tomb,
"Taxes drove me to my doom!"
And when he's gone, we won't relax,
We'll still be after the inheritance TAX!!

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Perm it Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax),
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax),
Liquor Tax,
Luxury Tax,
Marriage License Tax,
Medicare Tax,
Property Tax,
Real Estate Tax,
Service charge taxes,
Social Security Tax,
Road Usage Tax (Truckers),
Sales Taxes,
Recreational Vehicle Tax,
School Tax,
State Income Tax,
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA),
Telephone Federal Excise Tax,
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fe e Tax,
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax,
Telephone State and Local Tax,
Telephone Usage Charge Tax,
Utility Tax,
Vehicle License Registration Tax,
Vehicle Sales Tax,
Watercraft Registration Tax,
Well Permit Tax,
Workers Compensation Tax.


STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.


We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened?


Can you spell 'politicians!'

And I still have to "press 1" for English.