Silence is Golden or is it?

I have a few commenters on this blog that I know and who's respect I have deep enough that when they say things I think about it.  I reflect on the situation.

 

One is Ron Mackenzie.  The Other is Harold Hein.  If they say something it carries double weight for me.

 

Both recently did.  The question was on the level of Rant and indignation I exhibit on this blog.  Ron asked, did I think that Jeremiah would rant as I do about things in politics, leadership, the church, antichristian positions, stupid things I see.  Did I think he would have been concerned about the false religions like Global Warming and Earth Worship?

 

Harold wondered if in fact Silence might not be better sometimes.

 

I have given this a great deal of thought and I think I can answer them with a Biblical perspective.  I am a prophet not a pastor.  I'm not here to make people happy or comfortable in their sin and error.

 

My goal as a Prophet is NOT to comfort the people I am targeting by my tirades.  I made it clear that I do not always speak directly for God when write, but it's also clear that because the benchmark in my life as a Christian is the word of God I also live and respond to what I see around me with the indignation anyone would have about things out of line with those benchmarks.

 

I have read carefully the prophets of the Old Testament. And I have read John the Baptists recorded sayings as well as Jesus.  I have measured them against my writings.

 

I don't see much evidence of tolerance or silence being golden when they confronted gross error and false religions.

 

In fact Ezekiel pretty much woes everyone.  So does Naham. Hosea.

 

Even good Old Isaiah gets pretty rough in Chap 58. 

 

I'm not in their class but I think the Spirit they show many times is parallel to what I show. 

 

My purpose is to be a troubler to the status quo where it's out of line with the Word of God. In that way I'm like Elijah who Ahab (of Jezebel) called, "You troubler of Israel".  I'm a troubler of Spiritual Israel, the church.  I'm on her case constantly.  God's not happy with the way things are and He uses for better or worse people like me to rattle the cage.  Who will say what needs to be said if we prophets don't?

 

I'm a troubler of the culture who hates or ignores the principles of God.  I'm a troubler of the False Deities man puts up.   I'm a troubler of a false religion and political system like Islam. I'm a troubler of those who think they are OK spiritually when they are on a fast track highway to an eternal hell.  I'm a troubler of theologies that soft peddle the goodness of God in a PC world.  I'm a troubler of misleaders and so called Christians who mislead for political gain particularly from a political perspective that endorses gay marriage, homosexual and abortion.  I'm  a troubler of dead religious systems and traditions that no longer have any effect on the culture.

 

In this response I reviewed every one of the 300 posts I have written since June 1.

 

Most were about troubling the evil in the world.

 

Some were personal observations.  Some just life as I live it.  Some reflections.  And a half dozen actual prophetic utterances.

 

I was clear when I gave them.

 

I think  I most identify with Ezekiel.  He was married.  He had a temper.  He could be short.  He was also amazed at God's Glory. 

 

I'm guessing Ezekiel would have had a blog and it would have looked very much like mine if it had been technically possible.  Dung cake and all.  I've had to eat a few.

 

So, my good friends, Harold and Ron.  I'll not stay silent. I can't.  And I will continue to trouble those things I see out of line with the word of God.  I will say what God says.  I'll not Add nor Subtract.  If I ever say anything that doesn't line up with His word you call me on it.

 

I know you will.

Iran doesn't want to eliminate Israel - and there is a tooth fairy

Ahmadinejad Calls to Relocate Israel to Alaska!

It's Qods Day in Iran!

Thousands took to the streets after prayers to rally against Israel and the West.
Fars News has the latest from Ahmadinejad:

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Millions of Iranians once again held annual International Qods Day rallies on Friday, with a call by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for Israel to be relocated, away the Middle East and the Islamic world. "Canada and Alaska have vast lands, why don't you relocate them (Israel) over there and keep helping them over there with (aid of) 30 to 40 billion dollars per year for building a new existence over there," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech.

Here are a few photos from the Qods Day rally in Iran:

Notice the absence of Israel on this Iranian map of Palestine. (ISNA)


(ISNA)


(ISNA)


(ISNA)


(ISNA)


(ISNA)


(ISNA)


(ISNA)


(ISNA)

More on the Qods Day protests:

The Late Founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, had declared the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan to be "the International Qods Day", intended to be a day to call for the liberation of Qods (Jerusalem) from Israeli occupation.

After Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Jerusalem, or Qods in Arabic, is the holiest place for Muslims.

Hundreds of thousands attended the International Qods Day rallies in Tehran.

Ahmadinejad and ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani held speeches after the demonstration at the Friday prayer ceremony at Tehran University.

Iran does not recognize Israel and insists on a referendum to clarify the geographic and political status of the "occupied territories of Palestine" in which also millions of Palestinian refugees should be allowed to vote.

The Jerusalem Post has more on Ahmadinejad's rant.

Snapped Shot has more photos of the Al-Quds Day celebrations from around the world.

From Gateway Pundit

What is October 12?

Very early this morning, half awake, half asleep I heard the date October 12. I have heard this date over and over and over again. I don't know if there is any meaning to this. There may not be.

On the other hand, why does it keep coming up again and again in my spirit. I know it's the last day of Ramadan. That may mean nothing. OR...........

Keep an eye on October 12.

Ann Coulter is One Smart Broad

I know she is controversial and many on the right think she says things she shouldn't say. She is a lightning rod but she's a smart one. The left needs to hear what she has to say.

She comments on the recent fro fro over the Phony Soldier fiasco. It's so silly.

This is the money quote:

All Democrats in the military are not phony soldiers, but all phony soldiers seem to be Democrats.

A few additional gems from the article:

While liberals have managed to worm themselves into every important institution in America, from the public schools to the CIA to charitable foundations, they are shamefully absent from the military.

She also debunks some liberal lies the left tells regarding some of their war hero's including that phony John Kerry who was mostly unsupported by the military,

"According to a Military Times survey taken in September 2004, active-duty military personnel preferred President Bush to Kerry by about 73 percent to 18 percent."

Or Al Gore who lied about his military service:Al Gore endlessly bragged to the media about his service in Vietnam. "I took my turn regularly on the perimeter in these little firebases out in the boonies. Gore had a personal bodyguard in Vietnam, the most dangerous weapon he carried was a typewriter, and he left after three months. Although to his credit, Gore did not put in for a Purple Heart for the carpal tunnel syndrome he got from all that typing.

Max Cleland, whose injuries are repeatedly and falsely described as a result of enemy fire.

Global Jihad on Christians

Non Christians don't believe it so I thought I would let you know how bad it really is.

Christians are being persecuted worldwide and mostly by Jihadist Muslims. Islam is an anti-Christ religion. There I said it. Not all Muslims are anti Christ but the seeds of anti Christ are in Islam.

Read this account of several Christians killed because of a rumor.

Among the churches burned were: St. Mary’s Catholic Church; St. George’s Anglican Church; Evangelical Church of West Africa; Assemblies of God Church; First Baptist Church; a Pentecostal church called the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church; an African independent church, the Cherubim and Seraphim Church; and two other Pentecostal churches, The Chosen Bible Church and Deeper Life Bible Church.

Children of murdered Christian (Courtesy Compass Direct)

The 10 Christians murdered included: Augustine Odoh and his younger brother Cosmos Odoh, both members of St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Another Catholic, Joseph Eze, was also killed. When Compass filed its initial report, the corpses of the three Catholics were lying at the City Hospital in Kano city. Seven other Christians murdered were buried in a common grave Wednesday, but government workers did not allow relatives or church leaders to identify the corpses.

Over 10,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria in the last couple years. Sharia law pretty much outlaws Christianity wherever it is practiced. Islamic fundamentalists kill and destroy Christians and Churches.

Stupid Carter Speaks Again

I give up. I have never had any respect for Jimmy Carter. When he was President he bungled everything he touched.

Now as ex president, a job I wish we could fire him from, he continues to screw things up.

Example, he goes to Darfur and is hassled by the Gendarmes there. His response? After all he saw and heard there he comes off and says "there is no Genocide in Sudan".

He blames the west for misunderstanding the situation.

I'll bet the Muslim leaders of that country were pretty happy to be handed that blank check.

What a stupid dupe he is.

The War Against Civil Discourse and Against Jesus

---

---

Graphic pix of sex-fest sent to sponsor's hometown
Catholic League delivering photographs to 211 parishes,
more mailings planned

---

Posted: October 6, 2007

By Bob Unruh

---

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Miller's banner over the Folson fair event (Photo by Americans for Truth)

Graphic photographs of nearly nude homosexuals strutting the streets of San Francisco under the sponsorship banner of Miller Brewing Co. are being made available to tens of thousands of Catholics in Milwaukee, the beer company's hometown.

The Catholic League said it is sending the photographs, many of them also posted online under a parental warning about graphic content, to apply pressure to the brewery to halt its sponsorship of such events.

Last weekend's Folsom Street Fair featured blatant displays of public nudity and sex, as well as performances by the anti-Catholic group Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

It broke into the headlines this year with its promotional image mocking the Last Supper scene of Jesus Christ and his disciples, replacing the biblical leaders with leather-adorned men and the bread and wine with sex toys.

The Catholic League had called a boycott of the Miller Brewing Co. after the beer giant failed to have its logo removed from the event.

Catholic League President Bill Donohue has said he'd like Miller to rescind its sponsorship completely.

But officials say the brewer has declined, and so this distribution of photographs will allow leaders, residents and workers in the company's hometown see the results of the company's sponsorship.

"We have been informed by Miller Brewing that it is not prepared at this time to offer assurances that it will never again sponsor an anti-Christian event; it merely says that it is conducting an audit of its marketing policies. Accordingly, our response to Miller's balk is as follows," Donohue said.

"We are mailing pictures of the anti-Christian and sadomasochistic Folsom Street Fair that Miller so proudly sponsors to Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan and to the 211 Catholic parishes in the archdiocese. We want all Catholics in Milwaukee to know exactly what Miller stands for," he said.

"The mailing to Catholics is just the first of many mailings we have planned. Every week we will announce a new segment of the Milwaukee community that will receive the photos. If Miller wants to be so bold as to throw Catholics and Protestants overboard for the sake of siding with the most morally depraved persons in our society – persons with whom no self-respecting heterosexual or homosexual would ever associate – then it must suffer the consequences. The boycott is on, and now the campaign to blanket religious and secular leaders in the Milwaukee community with the evidence of Miller's complicity in this sordid affair has begun," he said.

"We hated to put them up, but thought it was important for people to know," Kiera McCaffrey, director of communications for the League, told WND about the online postings. "Milwaukee deserves better than this."

"Certainly the people of Milwaukee will be disgusted to see this," she said. "That's why we feel it's important people actually see what's going on."

She said the photographs have been edited, unlike the event itself, so there's no full frontal nudity.

"We're not mailing these to children. We're mailing these to pastors of churches, to grownups. … These pictures are awful," she said.

Also providing graphic documentation about the Folsom event is Americans for Truth, whose chief, Peter LaBarbera, and Allyson Smith attended the event.

The results of their trip also are posted online – under a warning of extremely graphic content.

A child watching a show sponsored by a San Francisco bathhouse company (Photo by Americans for Truth)

"We saw children, we saw about 4-5 kids," LaBarbera told WND. "It's incredible that a parent would bring his or her children into that environment.

He said police officers also were present, but there was no apparent effort to enforce any public nudity ban. "I saw hundreds of men totally nude except for sneakers," he said. "Women were walking along in master-slave relationships. It was pretty weird to see people led around by chains."

"We spoke with several policemen and security guards and the consensus was that rampant nudity and public sex are expected every year at Folsom Street (this was the event's 25th year) and that it is the city's politicians — from the mayor on down – who are to blame for allowing it," AFTAH's report said. "(Mayor Gavin Newsom greeted Folsom Street attendees in a letter published in the Fair’s program, warmly telling them to 'have a great day and enjoy this wonderful and exciting event.') It seemed to us that police, as law 'enforcers,' were put in the very awkward position of overseeing sexual anarchy and general lawlessness, as there was expectation that laws would be enforced to stop the public sex and nudity — assuming such anti-lewdness laws in San Francisco and California."

He said an addition to the nudity, there were sex acts going on in public.

"There was utter lawlessness and sexual anarchy. We actually witnessed oral sex on the streets," he said. "There were public whippings and spankings."

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino recently sidestepped a question about the event's mocking of the Last Supper, a move first exposed by the Christian group Concerned Women for America.

Folsom Street Fair promotional poster

"The president does not believe that the First Amendment prohibits him from speaking out against the Miller Brewing Company's widely reported financing of an obscene parody of 'Jesus Christ's Last Supper' in San Francisco, does he?" Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House, asked.

But Perino's response was only: "Well, you're clearing the room, Les. I'm going to decline to comment."

The "clearing the room" reference was to NBC reporter Kelly O'Donnell, who, according to the Catholic League, "stormed out of the room [when Kinsolving asked his question] muttering her disapproval of Kinsolving's question."

The Catholic League said it considered that Perino dropped the ball on the question, and it would not hesitate to comment on both issues:

"She [Perino] was asked a legitimate question about a viciously obscene and anti-Christian event – one that President Bush would never speak approvingly of – and she got cold feet," the organization said. "Perino did so because she followed the lead of NBC reporter Kelly O'Donnell who stormed out of the room muttering her disapproval of Kinsolving's question."

"We'd love to know what is bugging O'Donnell (does she like public displays of S&M and Christian bashing?), but the larger issue is why the Bush administration appointed a coward as its press secretary. Tony Snow would never have allowed a member of the press corps to set the table."

As WND also has reported, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in whose district the event was held, offered a dismissive quip when she was asked about the mockery of the Last Supper.

"As a Catholic, the speaker is confident that Christianity has not been harmed," said Drew Hammill, the San Francisco Democrat's press secretary.

Aquire the Fire

In the Berwyn church there are a several teenagers. They are all attending the Ron Luce Program this weekend. Teen Mania. Acquire the Fire.

Ten's of Thousands of teenagers will be there. These are big events. Those kids will never be the same. Never.

I wish every church could have sent all their teens to this important event. They need to see other young people who love Jesus like they do. Getting connected with others who they can look to in positive peer pressure is really important.

I'm not happy about our trade policy

Seems like neither are a lot of conservatives.

I'm tired of the Wal-Marting of America with Chinese Goods.

Let's take another look shall we?

Evangelical Egotism

If you look up Christian Conservative in the dictionary my picture appears somewhere.

The bad news is as conservative as I am I don't dance to James Dobson's tune either.

So when Fred Thompson told James Dobson to take a virtual flying leap I said Hooray.

I think there is an egotistical importance of some Christian Leaders to tell us that we as Christians should or should not vote for this man or another.

So, Fred, You do what you want. I might even vote for you. I think sometimes they think we can't think for ourselves. Pitifully some cannot.

Tennessee Blues and Grays

I came to Tennessee with a very short agenda.  I told a friend of mine that I have no idea why I came except I knew I was  supposed to.   I have to follow on faithfully when I know I am supposed to do something.  I tried every way from Sunday to talk myself out of coming.

I'm starting to get it.  I have developed some key strategies I could never have developed sitting in IL.  I have created some important connections I have never had in the past.  New doors are opening and I am getting clarity.  Sometimes a road trip clears the mind.

 

Long story short, this may turn out to be the most important trip to TN I have taken in a long time.

 

I must believe that it's not over yet. 

 

I'll keep you posted.  I can't wait to see what is about to happen.  I just knew I was supposed to be here and here I am.

 

Instant obedience = before you ask the answer is yes.

 

Obedience is better than sacrifice.

 

By the way, people are nice here, but they never forgot the war.  With my upper Midwestern Fargo type accent they know I'm a Yankee.  they still like me but they certainly pick me out by my language.

 

I'm blue and they are still gray.  High Schools here are named for Civil War heroes and not those from the north.  There is no Grant High School in Tennessee. (to my knowledge)

Picture of a Prophet

I am a prophet for better or worse. I can't say if I am a good prophet or a bad one, I just am one.

Like a dog. Not all dogs may be good dogs but they are all dogs.

I ran across this the other day, Leonard Ravenhill who died several years ago wrote this piece on how much the Church needs prophets and how little it, THE CHURCH, is willing and able to embrace them.

I reviewed the criteria of a prophet according to Ravenhill (WHO WAS THE REAL DEAL).

I can after reading this whole thing say, I am a prophet, maybe a bad one, maybe a good one, but I am an ordained by God as a called prophet of His. There are excellent and not so great Teachers, there are powerful and passive Apostles, There are successful and mediocre Evangilists, There are good and lousy Pastors. I'm guessing there may be some gradation in the quality of God's Prophets. I don't know where I am in that spectrum. I'm somewhere. I want to get better. Only in Prophets does the body of Christ expect immediate maturity and perfection. Sorry, we are doing what God called us to do for better or worse. We will make dumb mistakes like the other of the 5 fold. But we know our call and it anchors us in the storm.

I know my call and I am well anchored no matter what comes. You can't talk me out of it, you can't discourage me, you can't stop me unless you kill me and then I'll come back to haunt you, at least my words will.

Being called of God is a great and terrible place but rejecting and disobeying the call is worse.

It is a mantle I wear without shame or fear and I endure the rejection and ridicule like every other prophet has before and since. The devil and organized religion always sought to kill the prophets in days of Old. They still do.

I'm not looking for pity or understanding. It just helps me to understand why the Body of Christ is so sick. It's fundamental, the Prophetic and it's partner fundamental the Apostolic has been rejected. That's why it is toppling.

Oh, God isn't done. His body will be restored. It won't look like it does now. Churches who try to do business as usual are like men taking that last walk before execution, dead churches walking.

That's why God sends prophets. Not just to warn but to rebirth ministry they way God demands.

I was told something long ago. I believe it was a prophetic utterance although the man who said it and I don't think he knew it at the time. I was told, "Just say what God says".

I do. When I do I will let you know. Otherwise all my rantings are just me.

Ben Stein takes on the Fake Science Express

Ben Stein who is not a radical Christian but a decent man who is sick and tired of academia that refuses to hear an opposing view of anything.

If you are going to be a professor in a major university there is a canon of beliefs you MUST believe to remain in your position:

• Be open minded as long at the ideas are politically liberal
  
• Evolution is without a doubt how things developed
• God is a concept you can honor on Sunday but don't bring it to the office
• Global Warming was caused by man and man can fix it
• Man is basically good
• Education will cure all ills
• Government grants are the primary way to develop new ideas

I am pleased that Hollywood has decided to take on the big education machine. Read the whole website. It's good stuff.

Faithful are the Wounds of a Friend

That's a Bible Verse. 

 

It's also true.  If you have friends you will be wounded.  The closer you are the more it hurts.

 

I'm in Tennessee and trying to resolve a situation not caused by me but amounting to a great deal of money.

 

I'm often hired by outsiders to come in and make right situations where people  are at odds financially.  Most of the time I succeed before we have to go to court.

 

Why is it the physician can never heal himself? 

 

For instance, I have come to the conclusion that 40 years of significant business experience in the USA and Internationally, training as an instructor for and with the largest training organization in America and significant worldwide, Part of 4 church plants and having been in leadership in several large and small churches (and having tried my hand at being a pastor for a while) may just have prepared me to impart what God has allowed me to possess. 

 

I have a portfolio presentation of training Apostolic Church Leadership to build solid ministry teams that work.

 

My experience with Pastors in General has been that they have all the answers and need none from me.

 

I'm  OK with that.  My goal is not to reach Pastors.  My goal is to find ministry driven men of God who happen to lead a Church and help them.

 

Good Strong Pastors develop Good Strong increase in attendance.

Good Strong Apostolic Leadership develop ministries that Multiply.

 

My goal is to find the second group and help them multiply, not just increase.

I have been a Member of this Church

I should have made this clear, this is from Larknews.com, a Christian satire website. We know how to make fun of ourselves. We are amused at the excesses in Christianity. I only wish the excesses in vapid humanism were poked at with such good humor by themselves. A false idea can't stand scrutiny in humor. They aren't that funny.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — On Sunday morning at Horizon Christian Fellowship, a 15-member worship band cranks out praise songs and the pastor preaches with the aid of stadium lighting and jumbo-size screens. But the church, which is only eight months old, has an average attendance of just 28.
"If we build it, we believe they will come," says pastor Rick Allen, 26, a recent Bible college graduate.
Ninety percent of the people who attend the church participate in the service somehow, either in short dramas, humorous video clips or in traditional roles like ushering. This means that at times there is virtually no audience.
"We sit and listen in shifts," says one woman who is the lighting tech, third camera operator, head greeter and fifth grade Sunday school teacher.
Instead of starting a church in some "depressing little storefront," Allen says he decided to rent the biggest space he could find.
"It reflects our confidence in where we’re headed," he says.
But even at peak usage, the warehouse-style facility dwarfs the Sunday morning crowd. Large, empty corridors and ghostly Sunday school rooms sit unused. With the sermon and music being piped through the facility, it feels like an abandoned shopping mall.
In the massive nursery area, five kids have their pick of toys in a sprawling play room. The high-tech child care includes video surveillance and child-specific beepers, but few actual children.
"Attendance is down right now," says the nursery attendant, who is also the church secretary, missions trips coordinator and assistant to the youth pastor. "Usually we have eight kids, but the Hensons are out of town."
Allen expresses "a little frustration" that he hasn’t yet attracted the congregation he wants. Some in town say the size discrepancy makes the church feel "creepy." But Allen says his market research has identified the perfect place for a mega-church where the population was underserved. He remains confident that it will fill up.
"God honors faith," he says. "He won’t leave this place empty." •

It's 1979 on the Radio

I'm in southern Indiana. I'm on my way to Tennessee to see some suppliers. I may be preaching tomorrow night as well.

Driving along I have been listening to the radio. AM and FM.

If there are Christians Stations I will listen to them if they are any good. Many are not.

I won't sit long on a country station.

Classical will hold me for quite a while.

Talk radio is OK but not great.

That leaves Pop music and a rap station or two.

I have a question.

Has ANYONE written a new song in the last 20 years? Everything I hear is old. Classic Crap.

Couldn't we hear just a few new songs? I blame the corporate ownership syndrome on the whole thing. In fact tonight as I was dialing around I heard three stations playing the exact same song at the exact same time.

Mr Radio Guy? Could we please have just a tad of creativity please?

Missing the Boat

Several Years ago when Google went public I was already using it. I thought it was the greatest thing ever. I couldn't figure out how they made any money. So, even though I thought about it I passed when Google was about a hundred bucks.

I mean, how high can it go?

Well today it cracked $600 bucks. If I had just put $10,000 in today it would be worth $60,000.

Woulda coulda shoulda. That's all it is.

But, I knew better. I loved the product. I would have bought in if I had the guts.

OK, what am I seeing out there that has the same potential today. Still Looking.

Mission Accomplished

For those who are of the not conservative persuasion I have some good and bad news for you.

The war in Iraq is WON. It's over. We win. Yea US. And this report by a left wing source.

That's good news, but here's the bad news, no liberal conformist will ever admit it.

It doesn't change the reality.

Bartle Bull, long-time Iraq correspondent, says the mission is almost accomplished: all-out civil war has been avoided, democracy accepted and life goes on despite the bloodshed

It probably won't change the election in 2008 - Although it should if people voted by knowledge and not leftist propaganda.

I'm still not convinced universal suffrage hasn't caused all of us to Suffer. What if you had to demonstrate some modicum of understanding about world affairs, US government and civics to vote. Just SOME. Would we have the government we have now? I'm not convinced.

A Little More on Justice Thomas

I blogged yesterday on Justice Thomas' new book. 

 

LaShawn Barber knows him.  Here's her take.

Thin Places

Julie has a great post on finding the Thin Places in our lives. 

 

I understand her thoughts on this.  I think every person wants to get that close.

 

I do. 

 

Read her post.

La Boheme Last Night

Opera Season opened for us last night.  It was La Boheme.  Very beautiful.  One of the most performed Operas in the world.  I've seen it many times.  Don't tire of it.

 

Some observations.  Great Tenor playing Rudolpho.  Not really great Soprano playing Mimi. 

 

This is a story of hot blooded love.  Anger, heat, passion, jealousy, rejection, tears, restoration and a hundred other love and love lost emotions.

 

I reflected how much better and richer love of 41 years is.  Not comfortable.  Not taking for granted.  Appreciative, reflective, connected, stable.  Neither huge highs nor devastating lows. 

Oh we have moments but they are not to the edge of the cliff.  I miss the passion but I don't miss the anger that can go with all that.

 

Kevin had lived with a friend in Minneapolis who had a parrot.  In La Boheme Schaunard, who is a musician, plays for a rich person to quiet a noisy parrot.  Without luck, he and the maid feed the parrot Parsley and the parrot dies.  Kevin thought seriously about the vegetable aisle during his stay in MPLS.

 

In the Libretto is a funny exchange between the young bohemians and the landlord Benoit who comes to get the rent.  They tease him (an old frail man) about being out on the town with wild women.  He buys into the tease.  He waxes eloquently about how wonderful full plump women are, Not moonfaced he says, not too fat, just not scrawny (like his wife).  They accuse him and send him on his way.

 

I laughed and thought how like most men Benoit the landlord is.  Men are not nearly as impressed with skinny women as women have been convinced they are.  I'm not.  I'm like Benoit.  I have never understood the skinny on why women are obsessed with being skinny.  A woman should look like a woman.  Skinny women don't.  Movie stars who have starved themselves into oblivion are not attractive. 

 

The music was beautiful of course.  But, there are so many times I hear Madam Butterfly, Tosca and Turandot in the musical colors.  I am not offended.  They are all beautiful.  It's just that composers develop a musical pattern and keep composing the same music over and over again.  Sometimes it's just a few notes, sometimes it's a whole motif. 

 

But then the famed Nessun Dorma comes from Puccini so I'll cut him some slack if he repeats himself sometimes.

 

I'm really glad Opera Season is on again.

Liberal Progressives are the KKK in Drag

I'll let Rob tell it. It's his post. But I have read this elsewhere.

Clarence Thomas knows of what he speaks. He has written a book.

Because he is a conservative and holds pro life views liberalP's feel they have the right to demonstrate their deeply help prejudices against blacks with him as a surrogate.

I know it's true, I have experienced it myself.

Liberal/Ps deep inside are more racist than any KKK clansman. They just couch all they say in a nicey nice tone. Like a drag queen.

I think what offends me more about the limousine liberal/Ps is the fact that despite all the big talk they have never been to or spent any time in and among the populations of our inner city, Black White or Hispanic. They have no clue how life for them really is. What disorder takes place. What despair and hopelessness looks like. How the liberal programs in fact are designed to keep em "down on the farm (or inner city)".

I have, I have seen it. I have lived it. I have friends and business associates who are in it. This is not theory to me as it is for most Liberal/Ps. I would love to look the worst President in the history of America, revered by Liberal/Ps, Jimmy Carter in the eye and ask him, "When the cameras are off Mr Carter, in the privacy of your life, how many inner city black people can you name first and last name that you know personally, that you can pick up the phone and they would know who you are". I doubt he would need both hands of fingers to count if there were any. John Edwards the shiny haired phoney would be another I would love to ask that question of. The only time he ever goes to the hard places is to make sure the evictions of those people are completed properly as he invested in New Orleans.

What a Hypocrite. Update. He divested from that fund. At a profit. To make up for the fact that the 16 million he had in that fund was evicting people from thier homes in New Orleans he has created a fund of $100,000 to ameliorate the impact of his evictions investments. Not all of that is HIS MONEY. To John Edwards a Hundred grand is what, 2, 3 hairstylings?

Liberal/Ps sit in their ivory towers and pontificate like the slave masters they really are.

They want to hear "Yes Maaasssaa".

Clarence Thomas wouldn't say it and that's what ticks them off so much.

What Conservatives are planning for America

There have been a large number of Conservatives who have been in strategy meets on and off over the last month.  These are the results of and the statement of what they have agreed to:

How things SHOULD BE ---

1. Levees shouldn't break, and the Corps of Engineers should be changed until it is reliable.
2. Bridges shouldn't fall, and our federal and state highway programs should be changed until we have reliable inspection and repair.
3. Students should learn, and the bureaucrats and bureaucracies that dominate failing educational systems should be changed every day until the students are learning.
4. The border should be protected for national security reasons, and it should be protected now.
5. English should be the official language of government, and first-generation Americans should be offered intensive English education.
6. Congress should control spending and spend within its budget, so we can get back to the balanced budgets we had when I left the speakership.
7. The death tax should be abolished permanently.
8. The capital gains tax should be abolished to increase the money in our retirement accounts and to help create jobs in America.
9. An energy strategy should be implemented to meet national security, environmental and economic goals and to eliminate the danger of foreign dictators who are manipulating us through our energy needs.
10. Americans should not be bogged down in long, indecisive campaigns: We need a strategy for defeating our enemies, defending our friends, winning the campaign in Iraq and bringing our troops home.

Policy Goals and Strategy Needs:

• There ought to be an optional single-rate tax simple enough to be filled out in one page. The optional single-rate tax ought to have a 17% rate for both individuals and corporations, so we can create more jobs in America instead of seeing them go overseas.
• We need a strategy to reindustrialize America and bring jobs back to America.
• There should be tax incentives for companies that make their headquarters in the United States and want to bring jobs to America.
• We need a decisive series of reforms to keep New York City the financial capital of the world. There must be changes in litigation, regulation, taxation and the visa system if New York is to remain the best place for investment in the world. Every American has a stake in keeping investment activity in the United States, and we need this change quickly or London may replace New York by the end of the decade.
• Social Security today is not facing up to the reality of people living longer, and it should be reformed to ensure it is stable and reliable and taken away from the politicians so the younger generation can rely on it. People should have the option to have a personal account in Social Security that they can invest to get a bigger retirement income. Any money left over in their personal Social Security account should belong to them, and they should be able to leave it to their family -- something they cannot do today.
• Since we have an obligation to be good stewards of God's creation for future generations, we need a new program of scientific and technological change and entrepreneurial leadership to meet the environmental and energy challenges.
• We should dramatically increase our investment in math and science learning and keep reforming and innovating until the failing bureaucracies in education are replaced by systems in which young Americans learn better than their foreign competitors.
• There should be a prize for breakthroughs in the environment and for highly fuel-efficient vehicles.
• Companies that invest in cutting emissions ought to get a tax credit to accelerate lowering carbon in the atmosphere.
• Homeowners should get tax credits for modernizing their homes and reducing energy use.
• The United States could reduce the carbon going into the atmosphere by 2,200,000,000 tons a year and be 15% better than the Kyoto standard if we simply produced the same percentage of electricity from nuclear power as France does today. There should be a strong effort to develop safe, reliable, 21st-Century models of nuclear plants which could be built quickly and reliably.
• Schools should be encouraged to open each day with a moment of silent prayer so those students who want to have a chance to be reverent at the beginning of each school day can do so.
• American history should be reemphasized in both K-12 and in college, and being able to pass a basic test in American history should be a part of both high school and all publicly funded college graduation requirements.
• We should reassert and reemphasize what is written in our Declaration of Independence, that our rights come from our Creator and are unalienable, and we should insist on the constitutionality of saying "One Nation under God" in our Pledge of Allegiance.
• The McCain-Feingold Censorship Act is unconstitutional and is a big part of why we now have destructive two-year long campaigns, and it should be repealed and replaced with a simple system of reporting all contributions every night on the Internet so everyone can see where every candidate's support comes from.

I guess I think these are worthy goals but I think some are too Politically Correct. 

 

I'm glad the Conservatives are thinking things over, I just hope these thinkers don't get off base.

 

Thought you would find it interesting.

September 30

Today is the last day of September.  I just heard September Song on the radio.

 

It's kind of semi sad. 

 

I guess these lines cause me to think about the brevity of life:

 

Oh, it's a long, long while from May to December
But the days grow short when you reach September
When the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame
One hasn't got time for the waiting game

Oh, the days dwindle down to a precious few
September, November
And these few precious days I'll spend with you
These precious days I'll spend with you

Funny, I missed this on CNN, I'm sure it'll be on any time now

US military losses in Iraq for September stood at 70 on Sunday, the lowest monthly figure since July last year, according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures.

The figure also marks the fourth consecutive drop in the monthly death toll following a high of 121 in May. June saw 93 deaths, July 82 and August 79. The monthly toll in July 2006 was 53.

Two US soldiers were killed on Saturday in separate incidents, pushing the overall toll of American losses since the March 2003 invasion to 3,801.

A surge in US troop numbers saw an extra 28,500 personnel deployed from mid-February, mainly in Baghdad and the neighbouring province of Anbar, although commanders said most were not in combat positions until May.

US commanders say the strategy is starting to work and that levels of violence are dropping, allowing for a possible drawdown of the 160,000 or so troops now deployed.

"The trend is certainly in the right direction," US military spokesman Rear Admiral Mark Fox told a press conference in Baghdad.

"The surge unquestionably is what has been the catalyst that has created the opportunity to have more forces operating in more places at the same time and to deny Al-Qaeda and the extremists safe-haven and to take away sanctuaries."

The highest monthly toll was 137 in November 2004 when a US-led force stormed the insurgent bastion of Fallujah in fierce house-to-house fighting. Of the 137 dead, 126 were killed in action.

In April 2004, the second deadliest month since the invasion for US military personnel, 135 troops died. The month marked a turning point in the war with uprisings in Fallujah in the predominantly Sunni west, and in Shiite cities south of Baghdad.

THE BARBER

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed.

As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects.

When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: "I don't believe that God exists."

"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.

"Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine loving a God who would allow all of these things."

The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.

Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and un-kept.The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber:

"You know what? Barbers do not exist."

"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber."I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"

"No!" the customer exclaimed."Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside."

"Ah, but barbers DO exist! What happens is, people do not come to me."

"Exactly!"- affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens, is, people don't go to Him and do not look for Him. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

Viva la Difference

A woman in a hot air balloon realizes she is lost. She lowers her altitude and spots a man fishing from a boat below.

She shouts to him, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”

The man consults his portable GPS and replies, “You’re in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.

She rolls her eyes and says, “You must be a Republican!”

“I am,” replies the man. “How did you know?”

“Well,” answers the balloonist, “everything you tell me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to do with your information, and I’m still lost. Frankly, you’re not much help to me.”

The man smiles and responds, “You must be a Democrat.”

“I am,” replies the balloonist. “How did you know?”

“Well,” says the man, “You don’t know where you are or where you’re going. You’ve risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and now you expect me to solve your problem. You’re in exactly the same position you were in before we met , but, somehow, now it’s my fault.”

Can't get any better than this

I'm sitting on my patio.  It's very dark.  I'm writing this because I want to be outside.  I have the automatic sprinklers on. 

 

It's been so darn dry.  We need rain very much.

 

I'm Hoping it will break soon.  It's not good for nursery stock to go into winter with this level of shortage.

 

But not tonight.  I like tease out of town visitors that it's like this every day all year long.  Of course it's not.  It can get hot in July and August and Cold in December and February but otherwise it's pretty darn nice weather in Il.

 

 

ReThinking Ministerial Credentials

I have been credentialed as a minister for 6 years. I carry a little card in my pocket. I am credentialed with a reputable international denomination. Those ministerial credentials are fully transferable to other recognized denominations like the Assemblies of God and Foursquare.

I have been scratching my head lately to figure out why I should continue to be credentialed. It is not without cost. It seems to be without benefit.

I have this philosophy, anything I am part of I can't contribute to in ways other than money I won't stay part of.

It's the Who's Who syndrome. You or I can be in any Who's Who book in the world (and there are several) if we just pay a fee and submit our photo and some information. I believe if you pay the price your cat can be in Who's Who.

I am wondering why I am part of the group I stay with. Long run what are we really doing? More important, what am I really doing. I could do what I do without the credentials. I sometimes think I would be better off to be as credentialed as Jesus is.

I'm going thru a time of doubt. My friend Barry de-credentialed (for lack of a better word) himself from an organization I know of. I'm not sure he isn't right.

This is transparent doubt. Thought you would want to know.

There is an old saying, people will join and remain a part of organizations (including Churches) not for what they can get, but for everything they feel like they contribute other than money. Keep thinking the who's who book.

Yet, think of how much time we spend on the money part in churches when the money will always follow ministry if we empower people to be engaged (other than money).

People invest in what they are vested in.

I'm not and that's the problem.