Trying hard to not be misunderstood

In a prior post I got a "rebuke" from someone about entertaining Goats rather than feeding sheep.

That post and comment are here.


I responded to the idea that I was being critical of Music or the form of Music in the Church. I never even mentioned music. Neither does Spurgeon. It's the whole Churchitainement industry I rail against.

My response:

I just reread the whole post and nothing anywhere says anything about music.

It's about trying to be funny. Trying to entertain. Cleverness.

Missing the Prophetic word of God.

Some music is entertainment. Some is prophetic revelation. I like the latter instead of the former.

Where I get into trouble is the idea that the worship leader thinks he or she has a backup band.

NOPE.

That's not it.

WE worship, one leads, but we are all in this together. NO backup band. The backup band idea has destroyed more worship in the church than anything else.

I was watching some old Doo Wop stuff on PBS. They were raising money.

I saw these old guys singing old songs. Then I saw the band behind. Mostly young guys reading a chart to back up the old guys.

That's what a lot of worship leading is. If you brought in the band who backs up the Doo Wop you would have the same level of anointing many worship bands have. NONE!

Unless every musician and singer is sold out for Jesus in Worship nothing is going on other than entertainment.

But, if you thought that was the point of the post you missed it.

Of Passion and Holiness

Passionate is how many people describe me.  I guess they might be right.  I see what I am as normal.  I don't understand dis-passion.  When they say, "I love your Passion" I say to them, "You can live like this".  They don't for the most part.

 

It's all about being certain of certain things.  I'm certain in Jesus for instance. People have said that I act like what I believe is right (about anything).  Well, If I believed it I must think it's right, RIGHT?

 

People have said that I apparently believe I have the answer to some things.  If I believe, and if I am convinced I am correct and if I have Passion.......

 

That has been true in my love life.  When I knew that I knew regarding Peggy I was not going to question what was true for me.  Oh, I was stupid a few times but Loving Peggy has been a correct belief I will not back down from.

 

Some might say I am unevolving.  I guess I am.  I don't change things I know to be true unless something, an event, or supernatural persuasion causes me to rethink.  That is less easily executed as time goes on.  I am not open to ideas that do not fit into the passion I have.  In fact, a pretty good post about that appears on Barry Kolb's blog.  It's just a thought.  Thinking on things can cause you to stumble.

 

This brings me to the core of this whole thing.  I am very suspicious about "Christians" who are not Passionate.  Oh, they don't have to be wild eyed radicals (Although I like wild eyed radicals).  They just should exhibit some passion about Jesus beyond the minimum needed to go to heaven. 

 

I have lots of friends, in and out of church.  If I am in conversation with them for 10 minutes I can tell what their passions are.  I am feeling the same thing that Jesus felt.  I don't mind if they couldn't give a rip about things of God.  I have friends like that.  We talk of other things.  Politics, environment, getting older. 

That's ok.  I enjoy them for who they are.  I think God is like that.  He loves every one.  He sent his Son Jesus to suffer and Die for them.  HE is concerned for them and even if they are still sinners and consider themselves enemies of God they are still on his mind.  He cares about them and what they care about.  He loves them.

 

There are those who are sold out passionate lovers of Jesus. Poke them at 3AM and that's what they talk about.  Sure they are flawed, clumsy, sometimes stupid.  But they are in Love with the Lover of their souls.  Jesus is who they talk about for the most time.  They talk about experiences they have had in him, revelations they have received about him from the word and from His Spirit, sense of his presence around them all day long.  They live in God concienceness.  Everything that happens to and for them happens inside of what God is Doing.  It's all miraculous.  I love being around people like this.  I love being a person like this. 

 

Jesus however is sick to his stomach of the dispassionate.  He said so.  Cold or  Hot.  That's OK.  Lukewarm.  Nausea.  You know the passage.

 

That's how I feel when I am around people that on a multiple choice quiz would self identify as Christian as opposed to Atheist going to hell or Muslim.  They treat Jesus casually, without much fire, he isn't what they think about all day long.  They have compartmentalized Jesus to a few hours a week of "Church Stuff".

 

It makes me sick.  It makes Jesus sick.  He would rather they just admit the truth and quit playing the game. 

 

Misty Edwards sings a song: You are always on my mind.  He is always on your mind, You are always on HIS mind.  And permutations there of.  The idea of the song is God's attitude toward you.  Your attitude toward him.

 

I don't think you can teach it.  You either have passion for Jesus or you don't.  The fire is either burning or it's going out.  It's not a choice.  It's a fire stirred up by the Spirit of God.  I am suspicious that dispassionate people are not even saved.  I can't understand people being dispassionate and casual toward Jesus and still believing they are saved.  This is about to change.

 

Here's a prophecy. 

 

The winds of change are blowing hard on the body of Christ.  It will either fan into flame the fire of God or it will blow out the coals till they are dead. 

 

Jesus is not going to stand for a cold dead church.  She will either come alive or die.  There is no middle ground.  It has already begun.  It is about to accelerate.

 

A few weeks ago someone sent me this passage from Philippians 3. 

Pressing on Toward the Goal

 12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

 15All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

 17Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. 18For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. 20But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.  (NIV)

 

I am wondering if it isn't a message for all of us.  If the people you hang out with aren't on fire, find some that are.  Join with them.  Feed on another coals from the Altar. Those passive people you hang with now are about to be extinguished spiritually, don't be found among them.  

According to the passage above they are enemies of God with their mind on earthly things.  What fellowship does Christ have with belial?

2 Corinthians 6:14 You are not the same as those who do not believe. So do not join yourselves to them. Good and bad do not belong together. Light and darkness cannot share together. (new century version)

To be Holy is to be separate, different, unusual from the world, a peculiar people, not formed by them, formed and hard after God.  Is that you, is that who you hang out with, is that those who you fellowship with in Church?  Now the question is, What do you do now?

There is no passion without holiness, there is no holiness without passion.

Churches should have mystery shoppers!

If I could I would hire one person per week who was a professional mystery shopper to come to our church to do an evaluation. No one would know who they were, not even the pastor.

They would come early, participate in the service, drink a cup of coffee and leave. That afternoon he or she would be debriefed. A report would be written. Given to all the leadership and staff. No names. That would be on record in case anyone doubted the veracity of the report.

That would uncover the parts of what happens in Churchianity that isn't working, is confusing, difficult to grasp, banal, irrelevant and downright irritating.

That might be the pastors sermon or the music or who knows.

In any case, I would hope that just the fact that the Mystery Shopper could be in the building would cause everyone to start looking around for things we can do better.

Maybe then we might get back to the basics again as Spurgeon said in the post below. Tough to fake reality isn't it?

Can we get rid of Wind Power while we are getting rid of ETHANOL?

I have NEVER EVER thought wind power made any sense. I think it's a waste of time, money, takes up land, screws up the environment visually and in every way makes no sense whatsoever. IF they had to create wind farms on a free market basis there would be NONE which would be the exactly correct number.

Let's cut it out. Birds by the thousands are ground to death by these behemoths. It's time to stop the insanity. Defund all of these stupid schemes. Oh, that goes double for Hybrid Cars. Another big scam.

From The Heartland Institute

Bird Brains

Wind farms produce only a fraction of the energy of conventional power plants while requiring hundreds of times the acreage. Two of the biggest wind farms in Europe have 159 turbines and cover thousands of acres between them, but together take a year to produce less than four days' output from a single conventional power station. Similarly, a proposed wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts would require 130 towers and more than 24 square miles of ocean.

Anti-wind farm activists also object to the harm done to migratory birds and bats. Wind farms must be located where the wind blows fairly constantly, areas also favored by migratory birds, including protected species like bald and golden eagles. Ironically, wind farms act as both bait and executioner--prey animals taking shelter at the base of turbines multiply with the protection from raptors, while in turn their greater numbers attract more raptors to be killed by the turbines. "Windmills are taking a horrendous toll on bird populations unaware that the spinning blades will slice them in midflight," said Jay Lehr, science director for the Heartland Institute. "Windmill advocates claim that wind power is environmentally friendly power, but such assertions ignore the significant dark side of wind power," Lehr added.

--H. Sterling Burnett, National Center for Policy Analysis, for the Heartland Institute
Blame Game

From Steve Forbes Comments Column this week

Windbags

Politicians these days, especially Senators Obama and Clinton, routinely bash the oil companies and call for more efforts to come up with cleaner alternative fuels. But it turns out that, as with most political rhetoric, this is easier said than done.

One favorite energy alternative loved by greenies is windmills. The problem is that these things kill birds by the thousands. One notorious example is a wind farm in Altamont Pass, Calif. In their 27-year lifetime these wind turbines have dealt a grizzly end to upward of 130,000 birds. And these aren't just plain, everyday birds. For example, between 75 and 116 golden eagles are sliced to death each year. H. Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, points out a basic conflict: Wind farms have to be places the winds blow steadily, which often also happen to be areas favored by raptors and migratory birds.

Problems with the use of corn ethanol, another energy- alternative favorite, are also becoming more widely recognized. The energy needed to produce a gallon of corn-based ethanol can exceed the energy generated by the ethanol itself. Last year U.S. farmers planted more corn and fewer soybeans. To take up the slack, Brazilian farmers are clearing more of the Amazonian rain forest to plant soybeans. Those global-warming worriers are acknowledging that many biofuels ultimately result in more carbon dioxide wafting into the atmosphere. Nevertheless, many environmentalists fiercely resist any moves to ease arbitrary, prohibitive barriers to the construction of the best non-carbon-dioxide-producing energy source of all: nuclear power plants.

Can we just STOP - PLEASE?

Giving up my Religion

John Armstrong writes a good article regarding Cardinal George's effective and correct Discipline of Father Pfleger. You can read it here.

Father Pfleger is to his people the Catholic Church, if he represents it grossly incorrectly he should be disciplined. This is not a doctrinal discussion like one that was held on Dr Armstrong's blog regarding Open or Close(d) communion. This is about besmirching what the Church is in the lives of it's parishes.

I only have one quibble with my dear brother. He says in it regarding ministers in Politics, that they should:
give up his ordination when he ran for office, as I would say for any other minister.

Give up his ordination? Can you? Sure you can turn in your credentials. You can turn your back on Jesus. You can renounce the faith. You can go to hell if you desire but you'll still be ordained in HELL.

Ordination is forever. It's people by the Spirit of God saying YOU. It's not a "Turn in able" title the result of education or time.

I am somewhat concerned about the whole concept of hierarchy of credential ling. It's not really in line with scripture. It follows with my concern about the whole Church Membership idea that my Blog Friend Steve Scott has written so well on.

The point is, if GOD ordains one to the ministry and that is acknowledged by some worldly institution which is the greater. Which is eternal. Institutions should only be in the business of recognizing the ordination of God. Not trying to supplant Him.

Pfleger if he goes to hell will still be Ordained. I hope he doesn't but there are no guarantees, ordained or not.

Closed Circuit only for Leaders of Ministries that want to be part of what GOD is doing right now

THE SURVIVAL OF YOUR CHURCH AND MINISTRY DEPENDS ON KNOWING WHAT GOD IS DOING AND COOPERATING WITH HIM. (Henry Blackaby)

I know that's a pretty big claim. I know this, something is changing and for some ministries it's bad news. Things are going south in some ministries and churches right now. Things are not working out.

For other's in ministry and in some churches an explosion is happening. What side you are on is going to count for eternity.

Last night there was a round table discussion conducted by Mark Chironna that included 2 men I know or have met personally and one I respect.

1. Lance Walnau who was here in St. Charles a week ago was one of the participants. I met and talked with him in Dallas a couple years ago and stay in contact with his ministry weekly. I respect his view of what is happening.
2. Ron Carpenter Jr who is a true apostle and the leader of a large network of Churches in the southeast USA. He is an IPHC credentialed minister as I am. His current challenge from the Lord is 50,000 on a Sunday Morning. It's not about growth, it's about reaching people where they live. If you listen for nothing else, listen for his vision on this. Currently he is running less than 10,000. I have met and talked with Ron Jr. I know his dad better. Wonderful people. What Ron says in this discussion will cause you to rethink everything you know about ministry.
3. Rick Joyner of Morningstar Ministries was the third person around the table. I have been connected with his ministry since the mid 90's. His book, Final Quest has been one of the most influential in my Christian Walk. If you haven't read it you should. It will challenge and inspire you to greatness. I often post what he writes verbatim on this blog. He has that much insight. So for three men who I respect as deeply as I do these three and Dr Chironna to sit around a table and have this discussion has significant impact on the kingdom.

I am recommending to anyone who really wants to understand what the next decade will look like in the Body of Christ, the Church and your ministry you would serve yourself well to watch this interview.

The discussion including some musical interludes runs two hours. What I suggest is you put it on and let the sound run, you can multi task. You can even do other things on the computer as you do, but, if you really want insight you should take notes. This is that good.

GO to this page:

Search out the Mark Chironna interview on June 3. Click on whatever speed you have and be prepared to have your ministry refired with wisdom from the Throne room of God. It's that good.

Night Vision

Last night I had a terrible dream.  A nightmare.  It woke and stirred me all night long.  I didn't sleep well.

 

• I dreamt of European like incarcerations of Americans who use free speech to say what they mean.
• I dreamt of universal health care that allows people to die rather than provide for them to save money.  In fact encourages them to die.
• I dreamt of taxation run completely amuck until nearly everyone was broke and I was one of them.
• I dreamt of abortion being funded and encouraged as birth control for 13 year old children as a mainline policy.
• I dreamt of homosexual marriage being legalized and mandated nationally, while traditional marriage abandoned as the norm.
• I dreamt of terror worldwide from religious fundamentalist sects to "repay" supposed slights against images and cartoons of Mohammed.
• I dreamt that America ceased to be America and whatever was left of nobility and goodness was exported to China.
• I dreamt that all the while the population of people living in the shores of the USA would be concerned about Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton and who wins American Idol while the country drifts into oblivion.
• I didn't sleep well last night.  I dreamt of a land I love that became a foreign country that didn't want the likes of older, outspoken, Christian, married, conservative people like me would be illegal.

 

This is the world I dreamt of because somehow before I went to bed the real possibility that going to hell in a hand basket for America was one step closer based on what they said on the news regarding the nomination of Barak Hussein (but not actually a Muslim) Obama as a candidate for the Highest office in the land.  A man who has never actually held a real job in his life.  A man who has no comprehension of what is ahead of him if he should by accident become POTUS.  This is truly the monkeys running the zoo.  (I suppose some thin-skinned somebody will read this and decide that is a "Racist" comments.  Do a search on this blog, I use monkeys running the zoo all the time. It fits here TOO)

 

This is not good news.  I hope I can sleep tonight.   Maybe if I click my heels together 3 times I can get back to real life and not this nightmare.

 

I did and it's still here.  I'm still dreaming I hope....

 

I dreamt that my ability to even write this blog was cu

 

Faithlessness is sin

I picked this up, Think it's good, don't agree with everything this guy says, so I will refrain from linking to him. His teaching is pretty good on sin however. We need to be reminded that Sin isn't only what we do, it's what we don't do. We don't do what God has called us to do because we don't have faith in God. Faithlessness is a sin. Read the list:

WHAT IS SIN?

NUMBER ONE:

Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. (1 John 3:4 AV)

Sin is the disobedience to the LORD GOD's Laws.



NUMBER TWO:

All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death. (1 John 5:17 AV)

Sin is unrighteous. It is unjust, immoral and wrong.

There are different degrees of sin. Not all sin is unforgivable and punished by death.



NUMBER THREE:

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. (James 4:17 AV)

A person that knows to do good works, and does not do them is sinning.

A sin for one person may not be a sin for another person.



NUMBER FOUR

Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. (Romans 14:22-23 AV)

Faith is between each individual and God. Faith is a Gift from God. GOD decides how much faith you must have, and he will transform you by the renewing of your mind so that you know what is good, acceptable and the perfect will of God. IF much has been imparted and you still don't do what he called you to do it is sin. Conversely, the LORD God by the Holy Spirit will reveal to each individual what their sins are.

A sin is committed if a person believes a certain truth, then doubts that truth and acts on his doubt in stead of his faith. In fact the cowardly fearful are condemned to the lake of Fire:

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Rev 21:8 kvj)

If a person's faith allows him to act, and he does that act in faith, he will be happy. (Blessed)

If a person's faith allows him to act, yet he condemns with guilt, doubt, punishment or fear on the act, he will be unhappy. (Not Blessed)

If it is not of faith, it is sin.



NUMBER FIVE:

The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men. (Proverbs 24:9 AV)

It is a sin to plan or think wickedly or recklessly. Scorning (See Hank Handegraff post below) is an abomination to men.



IN SHORT:

There are five types of sin. These types of sin are:

1. Transgression - Disobedience to the LORD GOD's Law
2. Unrighteousness - Unjust, immoral and wrong
3. Omission of known duty - Failing to do good what God tells you to do
4. Faithless - Failing to act on faith-filled conviction
5. Foolish acts - Wicked or reckless planning.

For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God Romans 3:23 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1John 1:9

It's time to begin calling Sin, SIN and quit calling it something else. This is not condemnation, this is a call to repentance. It starts with me. And YOU.

Worse than Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter was the worst president in all of history. That much is clear.

I think Obama could be worse.

Obama is spineless. Could you imagine for a moment Jimmy Carter renouncing his membership in the Baptist Church he attended in Georgia? For any reason?

And then to make matters worse make himself seem the hero because he "didn't want shut ins harassed" when all the services are on streaming video live and the dvds are sold for a profit. No one harassed any shut ins. That was an out and out lie.

Obama has no shame. It will be a shame if he's elected president. On the other hand, with bonehead moves like this he won't be. That's what you get when you nominate an immature politician. He's slick but he's clumsy. Never a good combination. I guess as a conservative I should be happy. What makes anyone think for a split second that the McCain camp won't rehash this whole thing 60 days before the election. They will and it will hurt Obama.... Bad.

They'll make it look like there is an evil take over of power by Muslims, gangsters, black panthers and terrorists who are all Obama's friend.

Images of interment camps for dissenters against the left will be stirred up. I think this is too bad we have to resort to such things in any campaign but the fact is Obama keeps leaning into the punch. The dems have a good candidate. HC. She would win. Soundly. Conservatives would vote for her. She would remember that.

But like good liberals everywhere they have to get that 38 special out of their purse, aim it clearly at their feet and shoot.

BANG!

Ol Hank has a 100% record and he's STILL WRONG

Maybe you don't know who Hank Handegraff is. That's probably a good thing. He is an ex assembly of God pastor who has made it his mission to be critical of everything that doesn't fit into the most narrow of foci. He is against everyone.

I feel sorry for him. Not enough to send him any money which he needs. Faithlessness has a way of starving out a faithless ministry. His is starving and not a moment too soon.

10 years ago he was uber critical of the Pensacola and Toronto outpourings. They came and dribbled off. But they changed the face of Christianity forever. For the better. Today in nearly every church in America we sing the songs that came out of those moves of God. Today millions have been moved to deeper love of Jesus as a result of this outpouring.

Now a new revival is taking place. Ol Hank's on top of this one too. Todd Bentley is of the devil. Don't go to Lakeland. It's all mind control. I've heard it all before. In his opinion it's all bad. But this is a man who calls Smith Wiggelsworth a false prophet. Hank Handegraff wouldn't be worthy to clean the dirt off the bottom of Smith Wigglesworth's shoes. I don't know how spiritually dead one man can be and still breathe.

Hank has a perfect record of being deceived. He's 100% wrong all the time. I don't so much care about Hank, but for the hundreds, perhaps thousands that actually believe what this apostate preacher preaches. His book Counterfeit Revival has led many to Hell. Their blood is on his hands.

That makes me sad.

He even came against my Friend John Armstrong. Hank hates everyone. It's only Hank and three other people who hold to this warped view of Christianity.

So, don't bother him. Let him die on the vine like the other doubters and faithless preachers. I'm reminded that Paul the Apostle says, anything not of faith is sin. That's in Romans. Good place to look.

Let God arise and his enemies be scattered. I think I know which side Hank is on. I don't want to be on that side. It's the scattering side.

Time and the Prophetic

I have come to grips with something in the prophetic that I believe has been a confusion factor for many.  Even for some prophets.

 

When a prophet gives a timetable it brings into check the quality of the Prophecy.  I am learning and so are other prophets that putting timetables on the Prophetic seldom works.

 

There are examples in scripture of a prophet saying thus and so will happen in such and such a time.  Even in our own time, good people with prophetic giftings have prophesied things that have not yet come to pass but will. 

 

Sometimes a prophetic timetable is appropriate but not often.  Only in a dream does it seem like the prophetic has a time constraint on it.  Joseph and the cows for example from Pharaoh's dream.  Or the story of the lepers at the gate and Elisha prophesying that "about this time tomorrow....." 2 Kings 7:3-20

 

Most of the time the prophetic sees events that have not yet happened.  We are witnesses to things that are yet to occur.  

 

The temptation prophets (and for me) to put a clock on it.  To say, that in a year or 3 years or some time frame thus and so will happen.

 

That is a trap.  One I will try to stay away from.

 

If a prophet has given you a word, if you have been told something you are hoping will happen (as I have) don't get ahead of God.  His word is true.  His prophets are saying what he says.  They see things that have not yet happened and will provide you as much information as they see.  Trust God and you will be established and stand, trust His prophets and you will prosper.

 

Don't be impatient.  Every word is yes and amen.  Seldom yes and when.

 

At the end of every year I seek God and provide a "Word" for the following year to come.   I haven't reviewed them lately but I see events unfolding that were prophesied 2 or 3 years ago.  My mistake was in putting a clock on it.

 

A few of the prophetic future sayings that was revealed a few years ago and published as the Word of the Lord for that year is now being revealed as true.  For example, the devastating China Earthquake and the government of China's response.  The snow in February in China.  The music industry's restructuring.  The price of Gasoline.  The changing of the guard in Christianinaity.  There are others.  I won't rehearse them all here.  But all have proven true if you take out the timetable.

 

Maturity in the prophetic reveals that putting a clock on the creator of time is bad plan and as prophets we have to cut it out.  God is not slow as some would count slow but is right on time in his time, not ours.

The Church of the Poisoned Mind

I'm now on record to say that any church that supports, hoots, hollers and like they did for Jeremiah Wright, Michael Pfleger, and the current Pastor at Trinity proves only one thing to me.

People's minds are being poisoned, polluted, destroyed.

If you are part of any church like that, or know someone who is, tell them to RUN.

There is no Godliness or prophetic power in doing what these men are doing.

How far Religious Liberty has fallen

Two men, pastors, were passing out literature in England. Muslim neighborhood.

They were arrested for a hate crime.

This can happen in the USA if we don't get serious about this thing.

Read about it here.

Daddy's Car

She got to use daddy's car.  Couple of teen girls in our neighborhood.  Up and down the street.  Good time.  Ahhh youth.

 

This old guy (me) out kneeling along the curb planting petunias.  They drive by, peer down and go on.  I feel a little older.

 

Petunias.  I plant them because they spread. The Wave variety.  I have roses that are single bloomers. They succeeded the Bulbs.  When the roses are done I will cut them back in August.  Then I will have nothing there until the asters come into full regalia and the clematis flower.  So I planted petunias.

 

I don't love petunias.  They are short lived, not good cut flowers and kind of random.  As the hort books would say, not orderly. 

 

I was young, very young.  Before my folks died.  Late 50's.  Ruth and Earl had won a trip to Hawaii. The dealership had sold a lot of IHC freezers.  It was fun to think of Hawaii for John and me.  My mom had purple petunias at the left of our front step.  I made a laie  from them. They self seeded.  Volunteered.  Kept coming back again and again. Somehow, she never cultivated that area and they just proliferated.  All purple.  All one glorious mound.  I still can see them.  Not grandiflora.  Small.  Like the flowers on the wave petunias.  Mom was before her time.

 

But fragrant.  Pungent.  When it was warm and very light breeze blew it wafted across our noses.  I have a nose memory.  It still haunts and pleases me.  I don't think petunias smell as good as they did then.  Of course I have an older nose.

 

That's why I planted petunias yesterday.  I hope they stink.