Somebody In Baltimore Loves a Tree

To: All Employees

Fm: Your CEO

Re: Exciting new product promises to reduce air and water pollution.

First, let's give a big round of applause to the researchers who came up with today's product launch. They spotted the fledgling market in the U.S. for "carbon offsets" that enable ordinary people to compensate for their personal contributions to global warming by funding carbon reduction projects.

These typically include renewable energy or energy efficiency programs that result in less carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases being pumped into the atmosphere.

After some considerable effort, we've found a way to jump on this particular bandwagon, with a not-so-little thing we're proudly calling the Tireless Recycling and Emissions Extractor - or TREE.

Now, if I understand the science correctly (and hey, I'm an MBA, not a Ph.D.), consumers can buy a TREE and simply place it in the soil. With just a bit of patience and care, the product will eventually generate a whopping $31,250 of oxygen, provide $62,000 in air pollution control, recycle $37,500 worth of water, and control $31,500 worth of soil erosion over a 50-year period. In terms of return on investment, I've got to tell you, that's completely off the charts.

The units are cheap to produce and maintain, long-lasting, totally recyclable (into something we're calling Leftover Organic Generations, or LOGs) and, according to our focus groups, quite beautiful from a purely aesthetic point of view. Really top-notch work, guys.

Incidentally, today is National Arbor Day, and the folks in marketing say we couldn't have picked a better holiday to call attention to our TREE. I think you'll agree with us that with a little investment in advertising and consumer awareness, this thing could really take root and grow.

Tip o the Hat

May I Have Your Permission Please to Call the Left Liars

I will be kind. As kind as I know how. The left Lies. That makes them Liars. The left's main mouthpiece is the media sycophants and mis-leaders like Bill Moyers.

I will also go out on a limb and without reservation call the left unpatriotic. I have called them traitors before. Today I'm being kind. They are just unpatriotic.

Why such vinegar today?

Ken has posted some of the lies the left uses as if it were truth and we are all supposed to just believe what they say and what they do without question.

Question everything. Be careful who you read, see, hear. They lie. They can't help it. They're liars.

STOP SAVING ME SO MUCH MONEY

I was in a conversation yesterday about false economy. The idea that in saving money you can go broke or die.

Can saving too much money kill you? Yes.

• I know people who will not see a doctor on a timely basis because they want to save money.
• I know people who will eat risky foods (dumpster divers) to save money.
• I know people who live in cold damp houses and are sick all the time because they want to save money. (or too hot in the summer)
  
• I know people who won't repair a faulty furnace and die of monoxide poison. (this almost happened to me). I was saving lots of money and almost died of it.
  
• I know people who drive an unsafe vehicle because they don't want to repair it for financial reasons. How many people die for lack of spending $300 needed dollars.
  

This is a big deal to me because:

My own father and mother were killed 48 years ago driving a cheap truck with a load of oats on it and there have been suspicions that it was a "Money Saving" truck. Bought cheap. Good enough. Not perfect but it ran. UNSAFE. Transmission failed, clutch failed, brakes failed. Flying down the hill with 30 tons of grain at 100 miles per hour I'll bet their last thoughts were "boy are we ever saving money as we orphan our 3 children and put them in financial legal jeopardy".

That accident killed not only my parents but several other people. It was a horrible tragedy. WHY? Saving money. They saved so much money on that truck it killed them. (and others)

I used to have this nice lady, Teresa who worked for me. She suffered from false economy. When we bought filing cabinets we had to buy them twice because the ones she bought were so darn cheap they didn't work at all. Price was her only motivation.

Same with desks, chairs. Bought cheap then bought right. If we had bought good value the first time, even high quality used, we would have had something. We didn't. So we bought twice. I finally said to her, "Stop saving me so much money". I'm going broke buying everything twice.

I believe buying right means buying good. If you buy a vehicle that is such a piece of junk that it requires constant repairs you aren't saving money, you are being bled by false frugality. We had a sump pump go out this morning in our house. We are about to buy another. I will spend extra money for one that has a longer duty cycle, more robust system, bigger motor, oil cooled. If I "Saved" money I would get to replace it again twice as often and run the risk of water all over the floor. That would be dumb. Cheap can be dumb.

I don't really understand the allure of cheap. I know this, if you buy cheap you get cheap and you rob yourself of the joy of abundant living. Living like you were on welfare by using the cheapest products available to save a few bucks is on the edge of insanity.

In ministryI have tried to help homeless people by taking them to the grocer to buy groceries and other essentials. It's always amazing how they are driven by the price tag and the volume. When I ask, "what about getting a little better quality" they moan about the price. When upon further examination they discover as I point out to them that it costs almost no more to go first class they are amazed. They live better on the same money. The dollar stores are a haven for the poor. They have a poverty mindset and live below their potential chasing an elusive bargain. I bought a bottle of Ketchup recently at the Dollar Store. I was there with my wife. I asked the clerk how much the Ketchup was. He looked at me funny. Everything's a dollar he said. So I bought it.

We went to our local grocer later. Same bottle, same brand 79cents. People seeking a bargain getting ripped off. They know you are cheap and laugh all the way to the bank.

Few bargain hunters really bag actual bargains. Not every coupon you clip saves money. The big lie is that Sams Club is cheaper. It's not. They just sell you more of what you don't need. Sometimes less price = less value (by a lot).

Those who live with a spirit of poverty possessing them are no better off than those who are actually impoverished. Oh, they have money, but they live like virtual paupers. It's like reading, those who won't read are no better off than those who can't read. Same difference.

I had an aunt who was famous for driving 80 miles round trip to save $3 on groceries for the week. When quizzed about this she protested "I was going to go anyway". It wasn't true. She was going for the chickens, so she could buy some shoes. But she was going to buy shoes so on the way she bought the cheap chickens. Self defeating philosophy.

That's like the guy who says I have lots of time on my hands so since my time is worth nothing I'll do this. This Aunt was so cheap she used coupons to keep even with her own husband in "Sharing the Cost of living". He own husband. How did all this end up this way? How did we become so addicted and deceived by the almighty dollar? I am convinced that in life and in spiritual things riches are deceitful above all else.

LAST EXAMPLE:

My Aunt Dolly died and we buried her over the weekend. She died penniless.

Over the same weekend Sam Walton's Billionaire widow died.

They both took the same amount of money to the grave. None. They both took their last breath in the same way. Neither woman's last years were improved or dis-improved by the amount of money they did or didn't have.

Spend it and enjoy life a little. Read the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. Maybe you can get over your false economy. And for God's sake spend it so you are safe and comfortable. False economy is no economy. Or, you can always send it on ahead. Lay up for you treasures which are in heaven. Send some on ahead. You can then spend some here to make yourself comfortable.

Environmentalists take Longer to Learn

I don't know why but people blinded by the Global Worship of the Earth, the religion led by it's pope, Al Gore are incapable of critical analysis.

When the big push to Ethanol came, I yelled, Whoa. This is not common sense. It takes more energy to produce liquid energy than it produces. What? I was accused of hating the earth. Not loving the environment. NOT TRUE. I just think stupid is as stupid does.

But all across the fruited plain there are mushroom emergences of ethanol plants. I even know a man who has mad millions building them. If for one month the subsidies stopped they would all be shuttered.

Now, the Dutch are coming out with some common sense to say, If we are going to do bio-fuels at least lets try to do it right.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - It's the new climate change dilemma: finding alternatives for oil and gas without doing more harm than good.

In the rush to develop biofuels, forests are burned in Asia to clear land for palm oil, and swaths of the Amazon are stripped of diverse vegetation for soya and sugar plantations for ethanol.

This is good news. Maybe the mania will subside and some REAL research will ensue.

Then this story which is another "AHA". People who issue carbon credits are fraudulent. This is a big ho ho ho. These are the same carbon credits that Al Gore bought to offset his 10X house at home power usage. The same ones that Richard Branson bought to offset his Virgin Airway Jets. Suckers.

Why is THIS a story at all. Of course Carbon Credits are a fraud perpetrated on weak minded people like poor good-singer-fine-looking-women like Sheryl Crowe. The earth worshippers are such guppies for a sad story.

Then some guy comes along and says, "Give me your money and I will assuage your guilt". They think they invented this. HA. The Catholic Church in the 14th Century sold Indulgences. They didn't do anygood either. A hero of mine, Martin Luther blew the whistle on it all. Things changed.

I would have written a clever piece announcing the Gene Redlin Carbon Credits Company and that you should send me all your money to deal with your egregious energy usage. I would have written it but I was beaten to the punch by my better. Julie. Read her piece. Buy a carbon credit from her. It will do far more good than sending it to some scam artist living off the stupidity of the Eco-nuts. She's an artist but not a scam.

Who Should NOT be allowed to have GUNS

The Virginia Tech Murders tells us one thing. The Insane should not be able to buy a gun.

I noted that a famous patriot tell us that there is another category of mental illness should not be allowed to own a gun. Michael Savage says that Liberalism is a Mental Disorder.

Now Rush has identified Cho the Killer as a liberal.

So, the conclusion, Liberals shouldn't be allowed to own a gun.

Makes sense to me.

12 Ways God wants to be Worshipped

In the old covenant there was much written in instruction of the correct manner of worship. It was formal, careful, and precise. In fact if you violated the procedure you were killed by God. That happened to a man who touched the Ark. It happened to priests who didn't purify themselves before entering the Holy of Holys. They had to tie a rope around his leg and bells on his coat so if the jingling stopped they could drag his corpse out of the sanctuary.

Then there were the two sons of Aaron who offered strange fire before the Lord. They were killed. God has pretty precise ways he desires to be worshipped. Man has a need to "Modify" God's plan. That's why in Isaiah 58 God's pretty clear that he doesn't get much satisfaction from Fasting as a religious practice without proper followup.

And in Hebrews when the writer talks of the blood of Bulls and goats not fulfilling the law. When Jesus came the need for further sacrifice stopped.

God still has a pattern of worship that much of the Church world chooses to ignore because it's not their "Style". We Prefer to worship otherwise. Preferred style of worship will ultimately lead to apostasy and idol worship. It has in the modern church. We worship symbols, we worship tradition, we worship denominations, we worship comfort and preferences. Unfortunately even if lukewarm worship might comfort you, If I read my bible right, it doesn't do much for God. Does God have a preferred way he desires to be worshipped in the new covenant? YES and most of the church world misses it. Paul is so bold at to say his prescribed worship format is a command from the Lord himself?

There is an important chapter in 1 Corinthians 14. You can read starting at Verse 26 here. That's important because I am going to ask a few questions about the church services you attend or conduct. I will take these questions from this passage. In the church services you now attend:

1. Does one sing, another teach and another tell some special revelation God has given?
2. Does one will speak in tongues, and another interpret what is said?
3. Does everything that is done strengthen all of you?
4. Do two or three speak in tongues one at a time, and someone interpret what they say?
5. Do People speak in tongues to God privately in the Service?
6. Do two or three people prophesy, and others evaluate what is said?
7. if someone is prophesying and another person receives a revelation from the Lord, will the one who is speaking stop? (That includes the Sermon)
8. Do all who prophesy have a turn to speak, one after the other, so that everyone will learn and be encouraged?
9. Are the people who prophesy in control of their spirit and can take turns? (For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God’s holy people).
10. If you claim to be a prophet or think you are spiritual, you recognize that what I am saying is a command from the Lord himself? (But if you do not recognize this, you yourself will not be recognized as a prophet, apostle, teacher, pastor evangelist)
11. Are People eager to prophesy?
12. Does the Church you are in forbid (Public) speaking in tongues? (But be sure that everything is done properly and in order.)

If the church you attend doesn't follow God's order as defined by the Apostle Paul, Find a different Church. You are partaking in dead works. Show me your works, I'll show you your faith.

I Don't mean to be so direct but we must quit playing games in the body of Christ. It's time to grow up.

There is one part of the passage I skipped intentionally, the one on women speaking. There is much to understand about that part of the text. I will say this in agreement with the passage, a church made up of and controlled strictly by women is a dead church. That's why I have a passion for men's ministry. We must have men who are God-ordained spiritual heads to lead. Women are not disqualified but it's not God's perfect plan.

Now, my challenge to you next Sunday, Take that Checklist from above and see how many of them your Church engages. If it's less than 2 get out. There are still biblical churches in your town. GO THERE! For your own spiritual health.

I'm in Hell and Proud of it

This story hit the wire this morning. Wiccan symbols will now be on the gravestones of Pagans and Heathens. I guess if they want that on their tombstone they can have it. They were exultant to now proclaim their permanent eternal torment for all to see.

Al McKeel, a Reno resident who prefers to use his spiritual name Shadow of the Nine Grays, was excited to hear the news.

"Our religion has been so misunderstood," he said. "Pagans and heathens everywhere are celebrating. I am so happy."

Seems like a finny thing to want a hopeless hellbent proclamation on your grave marker for great grandson to see. It says to the generation after you, "Hi little Johnny. I died and went to HELL because I wanted to. Isn't that special?"

Little Johnny can then ask his mommy, "Why did Grandpa want to go to Hell?"

OK Mommy, splain that.

I know that when I walk the graveyards of my ancestors and see all the biblical annotations that not every ONE of those folks will stand next to me on the Glassy Sea in eternity. I know that. That's why it's called HOPE.

Putting a guaranteed hopeless symbol on your gravestone is dumb, empty and useless.

Rebellion against God: it's been tried, didn't work. Never will.

There is a great White Throne Judgement. He get's the last word.

This isn't a good thing if you have a Wiccan Symbol as your last act of Rebellion.

Ghosts of Christmas yet to Come

I was at a family funeral in Watertown SD, the place of my birth. It was sad to see that the "Plaque" was not up yet. You know, the one that says,

"Watertown Memorial Hospital, Birthplace of Gene Redlin"

A little megalomania goes a long way with me.

While there we got to see aunts and uncles of many years. In the Redlin clan with relative longevity and vigor 80 is still going. 90 is not. Most of my kin work at something till 80. That means I have 18 years till I retire. My Uncle Earl worked just passed his 80th birthday. My aunt Lou is still pretty solid and go ahead at 80. Maybe it's true the new 65 is 80. I hope.

The image and words of "Prophecy" was in watching My uncles Earl and Wally both 90+ shuffle along together talking as brothers. Someone said, "There you and Steve (My Brother) are in 30 years. Not a hopeful sight.

It took me all day yesterday to shake that image. It frankly depressed me. I don't see myself there. I see that 80 year old tiger. 90? Wow.

So, I'm back on even keel.

Oh, the funeral? Dolly my dad's sister, 93.

Living long is a blessing if you live well.

Live long and prosper.

I'll buy that.

100 Signs of Death

Once in a while I get a comment to a post that is a "Blows me Away".  This is that.  In response to Robochurch the comment below appeared.  Thanks to mr/mrs anon.

 

Working in Corporate America for the years as I did and in the Church World this list rings so true it's scary.  I have heard many, yea even most of these at one time or another.  It's a disease born in fear and cowardice.  That's why most of the innovation and creativity and new jobs and groundbreaking takes place in small businesses and small churches.    The big ones are too "STUCK". 

 

Once before I wrote on the emptiness of the cynic.  Any fool can be a coward.  Most are.

 

100 Ways to Kill a Concept:

1.the boss won't go for that.
2.the lawyers won't go for that.
3.the accountants won't go for that.
4.the client won't go for that.
5.the salespeople won't go for that.
6.the investors won't go for that.
7.So and so won't like it.
8.It's not us.
9.It won't fit into our system.
10.We're not ready for that yet.
11.I don't think it will work.
12.I don't understand.
13.Do you understand?
14.Will anyone understand?
15.What will they think of next?
16.It's politically incorrect.
17.It's too complicated.
18.It's too late for that now.
19.It's too expensive.
20.We'll lose money.
21.Why?
22.What!?
23.Who says?
24.nobody will want that.
25.Where are you coming from?
26.It can't be done.
27.Have the committee review it.
28.Let's do more research.
29.Let's take a vote on it.
30.Let's play devil's advocate.
31.I've never heard of such a thing.
32.We've already tried that.
33.that's been done before.
34.It's not how we do things here.
35.We've never done anything like that.
36.We'll get back to you.
37.that's a subject for another meeting.
38.It creates more problems than it solves.
39.Sounds like too many problems.
40.that only solves some of the problems.
41.that's going to cause problems.
42.Here we go again.
43.that's unique, but . . .
44.Very interesting, but . . .
45.I understand, but . . .
46.I love it, but . .
47.Great idea, but . . .
48.Yes, but . . .
49.Sounds simple, but . .
50.But . . .
51.It's just not for us.
52.try again.
53.that sucks.
54.needs more pizzazz!
55.I don't like it.
56.Have you thought it through?
57.It won't sell.
58.Maybe next time.
59.Another day.
60.What are people going to say?
61.People will think we're nuts!
62.that's BS.
63.Be realistic.
64.How about this instead?
65.Get a grip!
66.Are you serious?
67.that turns me off!
68.the client is too liberal for that.
69.the client is too conservative for that.
70.What else do you have?
71.So!
72.So what?
73.Oh . . .
74.Oh?
75.Oh, really!
76.Get real, it's not feasible.
77.Sounds crazy!
78.nobody does that.
79.Are you kidding me?
80.that's too off the wall.
81.You can't argue with success.
82.You can't fight City Hall.
83.We don't have time to do it.
84.Let's not reach beyond our grasp.
85.We're overextended already.
86.Let's wait 'til we see the numbers.
87.You're proposing what?
88.Let's not rock the boat.
89.Silence.
90.Laughter.
91.Boos.
92.Where did that come from?
93.I've got a better idea.
94.Hey, there's a recession going on.
95.We've never done anything like that.
96.the press will kill us.
97.that's not your decision to make.
98.We'll step on too many toes.
99.Just leave it to me; I'll take care of it.
100.You could lose your job for that . .

sound familiar?

Liberal Porn Kings Real Motive in Persecuting A/G Gonzalez

There is always a story behind the story. Why has the Liberal Media and the Liberal Nuts in Congress gone ofter Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez? It was a dumb premise in the first case. Firing a dozen Attorneys.

Then I saw the real situation. At the behest of the Porn Kings in the USA the Liberals in Congress have decided to take Gonzalez out. That's right. The left takes it's marching orders from the very same people that bring you all the wacky pornography on the Internet and in your motel room.

This article tells the whole story.

The Nation and other publications say a Sept. 20 e-mail by Ward indicates that the U.S. attorney firings are part of a renewed war against porn. The e-mail, sent to Kyle Sampson, Gonzalez’s chief of staff, reads:

“We have two U.S. attorneys who are unwilling to take good cases we have presented to them. They are Paul Charlton in Phoenix and Dan Bogden in Las Vegas. In light of the AG’s comments … to ‘kick butt and take names,’ what do you suggest I do?”

Despite the e-mail, Truman said the U.S. attorney firings had nothing to do with a crackdown on porn.

ROBOCHURCH

Sometimes I am absolutely struck how many churches I have been in that are so dependant on other people's leadership and direction it's like they have no idea how to worship without a worship leader. Everyone in the congregation does what they are told or led to do. If no one leads or tells them they do nothing. Robotic Congregation.

It's like they can only sing if the band and singers are leading. If the guy running the screens screws up the words everyone is dead in the water. They just stand like a post. Entering in means following along.

Stand up, the worship leader says. You may be seated. Clap. Don't Clap. Raise your hands. Bow your heads. Let's Pray.

Then there is the sermon. If the powerpoint goes out the place goes silent. The sermon is the least interactive part of the whole service.

What did we do before microphones, powerpoint, worship bands and overheads?

We are Robochurch. We will assimilate you. Resistance is somewhat futile unless you backslide and leave.

Sorry, that's just how it looked today.

Nano Nano.