Saturday, July 05, 2008

Hope Reigns Eternal

I have never had any luck rooting Rhus Growlo.  I have tried hardwood cuttings.  Softwood cuttings.  Root cuttings. Layering.  All with little or no result.
 
Today I put out several hundred.  1000 hormone.  I was told that no moisture other than initial is required or needed.  OK.  That's good.
 
I will see what happens.  This has not been the easiest plant to root.
 
But I have been in agriculture for most of my life and giving up is not on the menu.
 

Friday, July 04, 2008

For the Theologians Among You

I have not read this in detail. I'm not that in need of theological information verifying and endorsing the revival in Lakeland by reputed theologians.

I guess I operate on faith.

Anyway, if you like lots of footnoting and such you will find this long very in depth theological treatise of interest.

If you comment on all this I probably won't be able to respond to that either.

I just know this one thing, My spirit bears witness with the Spirit that is in operation thru Todd Bentley in Lakeland Florida. Romans 8:16 & 1 John 5:6

I'll just take the Spirit of discernment's word thank you.

For anyone else, read what the good PHD has to say.

How Stupid it all Gets when the Greenies are in Charge

A permit to build a coal fired plant using the cleanest burning technologies (very low pollution systems) has been denied in Georgia because there is no amelioration of CO2 production. We can build new coal power plants that burn almost as clean as natural gas. There is no such thing as CLEAN COAL but almost clean coal exists today. This is so wrong it's nauseating.

This is where the world has gone completely wrong. There is no HUMAN CAUSED global warming. There is climate change. Repeat that until you get it.

So, now a badly needed power supply is held up by a myth propagated by a false religion.

We are in so much trouble if we don't reign in these crazies now! We should be building 100 cleaner coal plants and 100 nuclear plants today. That will take a lot of pressure off, create jobs and help our energy problems. Just think, you can plug your plug in electric car and drive on nuclear power.

Makes sense to me. Too much sense for the nuts in Georgia who made this stupid decision.

I saw this and thougt it was good

Ten Things I Love About America
Teresa Neumann/op-ed (July 4, 2008)

American Flag

1. The U.S. Constitution: particularly the freedom to worship as we choose. Imagine living in an age, or a country, where your religion is determined by the state. It's a freedom well worth protecting and defending.

2. The U.S. Armed Services: God bless our brave men and women in uniform. It is because of them—and the grace of God—that we dwell safely in this wonderful country of ours. They more than deserve our support and prayers.

3. Capitalism: That's right, the good ol' free enterprise economic system touted by none other than John Calvin. When one considers the alternatives, it's no contest. For all its grand ideals, communism was rife with abuse and failed miserably. As for socialism, ask the middle classes of socialist countries about their tax burden and quality of healthcare. While abuse is inherent in any economic system, and must always be checked, entrepreneurialism and free market enterprise is part and parcel of the history of a prosperous America.

4. Largesse; Our National Consciousness: Largesse means "liberality," or "generosity." Typically, it is generosity that goes beyond the norm; abundant beneficence. It manifests in global giving to the poor, and right here at home when neighbors reach out to neighbors. Largesse is at the core of how we Americans view ourselves and how we respond to national and global challenges. Our optimism and can-do attitude match the vast open skies of the West, the Great Plains of the Midwest, the sweeping seashores of the Atlantic and Pacific, and the soaring mountain chains that crisscross this breathtaking nation. We think, act, and feel as big as the 3,000-mile-wide cord that connects us. Big stores, big skyscrapers, big cars (hopefully fuel alternatives will allow us to keep them!), big ideas, big dreams. Don't ever feel guilty about employing righteous and healthy largesse in your life. After all, God is Largesse.

5. Conveniences We Take for Granted: Americans who have travelled overseas are only too aware of the joy of these conveniences. Clothes dryers, air conditioners, dishwashers, microwaves, hair straighteners, escalators, vacuum sweepers, etc., etc. Every country is known for its love of something or other. France loves its food, Italy loves its art, and we Americans love our conveniences.

6. Customer Service: True, customer service is better in some areas of the country than others, and there will always be that incompetent clerk who will drive one to utter distraction, but by-and-large customer service in America is superb. (Think Costco, Nordstrom, Wal-mart, etc.) One need only consider India, where shoppers aren't allowed to touch, or closely observe, anything in a store before buying, let alone return anything, to appreciate this point.

7. Educational Choice: Don't like the public school in your area? Send your children to a private school, and take your pick from any number of religious institutions running them. Don't have the money to send your children to a private school? Homeschool (that is if you live outside California).

8. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC): Granted, we have a long way to go to clean up the airwaves in this country, but at least we have something, compared to Europe where network television is shockingly amoral. Remember Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction?" Europeans were stumped at the public outcry against it. Such American puritanism they snarked. I rest my case.

9. Our Infrastructure: Rule of Law on Highways, and the Courage and Kindness of Strangers. Again, think India where pedestrians, bicyclists, dogs, mules, carts and cars all share the road in common. One Indian friend of mine noted that the worst road in America is better than India's national highway. Not only are American highways efficient and well-maintained, but they are used by drivers who, for the most part, obey the law. Try driving somewhere like Marseilles, France, where no one reads, or cares about, road signs. If that were not enough to be thankful for, far more Americans are known for their quickness to come to the aid of someone in need or in danger—on the road or elsewhere—than the few who make headlines preying on such victims. When disaster strikes in America, Americans rise to the aid of their countrymen.

10. Peanut Butter: Any kind, but Skippy is my favorite.

OIL TROUBLE ROIL AND BUBBLE


In 2001 before 9-11 global oil demand was 27 billion barrels per year. Today before the price rise we have just experienced demand was about 35 billion barrels.

In 2001 before 9-11 a barrel of oil sold for about $18.

Today $145.

Production is increasing rapidly and more all the time while at the same time demand if going thru the floor.

Geo Political uncertainty (like blowing up Iran) makes traders nervous.

But when I say with certainty that the supply demand fundamentals of the oil markets are fully out of whack I say it with confidence.

Now, to be sure, oil must be higher than it was before 9-11. It was artificially low then. Now it's artificially high.

So, just bide you time. Patience is a great rewarder. I have patience that time and patience will pay out for the doubters about the Iraq War, tax cuts and the price of oil.

Hang on folks, Adam Smith's moving the invisible hand.

Gas is finding a top.

A visit from a future Baseball Star (and his dad)




Yesterday Josh Scheffert and his Dad Skip (Peggy's Brother) left us to go back to Lincoln. He was at the White Sox camp being held in Indianapolis. There were 700 American League Scouts there and 200 candidates. Most were High School Srs. A few were in College.

He did real well some of the scouts said.

In the next two weeks he is going to the KC Royals camp and then to the Minnesota Twins camp.

But, he is also thinking of Going to College to play College Ball. If he gets a good offer does he take it or go to college? Very interesting situation.

So take a good look at the Josh. Skip (dad) always dreamed of being a professional ball player. Played legion ball and did real well. I think I smell a little Stage Dad going on.
That's OK. Go for it Josh. You won't get a second chance.

Happy Froze of July

Last night we went to watch small town fireworks up close and personal.  I like to have someone else blow stuff up.  I get no thrill out of doing so myself.
 
We used to do this in North Dakota.  Drive to a little town south of where we lived that had a pretty good display, Frederick SD. 
 
This was like that.
 
What else was like that was cold.  I mean midsummer's is past.  We are supposed to be global warming.  Last night it got into the 40s in IL where we live.  We sat on our bag chairs under a blanket with jackets on and froze.
 
When we have gone to Pheasant Lake and blew fireworks from time to time in Dakota it got cold.  Jackets were needed.  The mosquitoes went into hibernation.  So all was ok except we froze. 
 
I just read a prediction that winter is going to come very early this year.  I mean big snow October. 
Maybe that global cooling thing is real.  What if the weather in the world goes very very cold.  HMMM.
 
So, in a soft way we are living in Dakota weather without living in Dakota. 
 
It was nice enough in Burlington.  The park was packed.  It was pleasant.  Very Norman Rockwellian. 
 
It's not too late to say thank you to the men and women who fought and are fighting for our freedom.  I speak German by choice and English by nationality because it is the language of commerce in the world.  If the men and women who fought and fight didn't shed their own and others blood the language of commerce might be something else, German and Japanese. 
 
Oh Beautiful for Spacious Skies.  I hadn't been in the country to see them for a while.  It was magnificent.
 
I'm going out to pull some weeds. 

Thursday, July 03, 2008

This is becoming normative

Maybe it aways was supposed to be:

Baby stillborn, after 27 hours dead comes back to life as the result of intense prayer.

Didn't Jesus say, "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. You have received without payment, so give without payment". Matt 10:8

When was that revoked?

As of today there are a reported 30 people who have been reported to have risen from the dead like Lazurus was since the Revival in Lakeland began. Faith for resurrection is growing like wildfire.

I feel like maybe we have missed it. Time for a new look.

I got this note - Is Patriotism Godliness?

Below is a note from a man much younger than I am. His perspective is right. His allegiance is skewed. I'm of the opinion that we must have allegiance to our country or we will fail to defend and protect against all enemies foreign and domestic. That's what the oath of Citizenship requires. If you were born here and have never taken the oath, it's implied that your birthright is that oath.

There is a story in the Bible where a young man not understanding the potential ruin that could befall him gives away his birthright for a bowl of soup. We are in danger of that here. Yes, America is not the only country in the world. Yes there are other great and wonderful countries. I lived long enough in Germany and have a deep enough family tree (stambuch) to have without any objection become a citizen of Germany. There would have been social benefits to doing so.

But, I'm an American, flag waving firmly in hand. To deny that allegiance or even water it down as this correspondent does has implications for the future I don't look forward to. Read his letter, what think ye?

A couple of years ago, I was at a game with a friend, and prior to tip-off, they announced the singing of the national anthem as they always do.

“Please rise as we honor God and America with the singing of our national anthem,” said the announcer. When I pointed out to my friend that there are no words in the anthem referring to God, he accused me of being cynical.

Really?

My generation has the stigma of being unpatriotic, at least within the context of what has been considered patriotism in the past. We don’t have the same general affinity for flags and patriotic songs as generations before us have. Most of our parents lived through Vietnam, the most culturally divisive war in American history since the Civil War, and the repercussions helped shape our view of our government and our global standing as a nation.

There are a few points of resistance with which I know many of my peers can relate. One has to do with the McCarthy-like strategy of suggesting you’re either “fer us or agin’ us.” If you don’t support the idea of preemptive strikes in Iraq, or the greater war on terror, then you’re not patriotic.

This sort of gauntlet, once it’s thrown down, can do nothing other than cause schism. You feel forced to pick sides, and if you differ with those drawing the line in the sand, it places you on the outside of the patriotic circle.

Another point is the ongoing Pledge of Allegiance debate. Some insist that people should not be forced to pledge faithfulness to a nation “under God,” while others contend this position is a direct attack on America itself. Never mind that the phrase “under God” was added to the pledge just over a generation ago.

And, the idea that ours is a Christian nation is a fallacy. In fact, most of our founding fathers were either deists or agnostics who championed the principle of practicing the religion of one’s choice. However, they also asserted the freedom from the mantle of organized religion all together, if one so chooses.

Finally, the matter of patriotism commingling with religion is particularly disturbing to many younger folks. In a time when America was more religiously and culturally segregated, it was easy enough to think everyone believed and looked the way we did. Now, in a much more pluralistic society, the notion of “status quo” is increasingly abstract in every walk of life.

Some see this as a threat to valued traditions, while others look at such critical questioning and thought as an opportunity. For someone who grew up singing patriotic songs in church, and looking at an American flag next to the cross, such symbolism seems perfectly natural. For those of us raised to inspect all leadership and traditions with a critical eye, such things cause us a moment of pause.

There are those who actually believe that America is the home of God’s new chosen people. Most thinking people will agree this is absurd, but this notion is not promoted any more often or passionately than it is from some pulpits on Sunday mornings. For others, the flag and patriotic songs feel right in church, and they have never questioned their place there.

There are those of us, however, who were raised around as many Jews and Muslims as Christians, and living with neighbors, most of whom didn’t look like us. Anything that even suggests a “God loves us more” attitude smacks of elitism, exclusivity and a sense of arrogance, rather than a love of country.

I thank God for being born in this country, and for the many privileges it affords me. I am grateful to those who have preserved the principles of freedom and democracy upon which it was founded.

But the next time you encounter someone who doesn’t express their patriotism in the same way you’re used to, ask questions first and really listen to where they’re coming from, rather than assuming their behavior is patently un-American.


Where Neo-environmentalism will lead us --- The Earth Yes, But People No?

Joseph Rago's piece "A Planet Without People" (Taste: de gustibus, June 20) says exactly what I have come to believe. The environmentalists' true wish is for all the unenlightened masses to disappear and leave the earth to those who can truly appreciate it. Sadly, they haven't yet found a method for eliminating humans selectively.

Meanwhile, look for more and more social pressure, and possibly laws, to limit the number of children couples can have. Elimination of the unfit (mentally ill, physically handicapped or simply old) will be examined, and seen as a humane solution to many of our problems. Suicide will be regarded as a sacrificial act. We are in danger of being brainwashed into a culture of death.


Mary Harrison
Newport News, Va.


From the Wall Street Journal July 3, 2008 letters section

Positive about the USA

I'm waving a few flags here, but I am not convinced all the gloom and doom about the USA is even close. Oh, it's OK that we go thru a few corrections and pain. It makes us stronger.

But, the USA isn't anywhere NEAR finished.
From the article:

As a historian, I find this trend fascinating. After all, since humans climbed out of the trees and began surveying the lion-infested Savannah, none have ever lived in a period more prosperous, secure and stable than Americans do today. The U.S. is not only the wealthiest and most powerful country on earth now, but in all of history. There's never been a better time and place to be alive than America in the 21st century.

So why all the decline theorists?

Here's my theory: Prosperity and security are boring. Nobody wants to read about them. The same phenomenon occurred in ancient Rome, the last state to acquire such a firm hegemony. By the second century B.C., Roman citizens were affluent and their empire no longer had any serious rivals. With the dangers past and the money rolling in, they developed a taste for jeremiads. If you had a stylus, ink and scroll you could hardly go broke telling the Romans their empire, culture and way of life were yesterday's news.



Jeremiah Wright is Wrong Ron.
Can you expect God to keep blessing America, not matter what? Will a time come when God chooses to curse America? That seems to be a question that American’s do not want to think about.


The day America is finished the world is a worse place. We have a destiny to fulfill.

Daniel 11:29-30
"At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time the outcome will be different from what it was before. 30 Ships of the western coastlands will oppose him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant. He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.

We are to be in the dis-heartening business. So, if you are disheartened about what America is doing in the world, then.......

Why are you so downhearted?? 2 Corinthians 4

Why we went into Iraq

In case there are a few left among my readers who doubt the truth about why we went into Iraq in 2003 here is a complete story of it all.

That ought to settle it.

Discriminated to Death


A guy is at a subway shop in Florida. Ex Marine. 71 Yrs old. It's a little after 11. Two armed thugs rush in and rob the store owner. Guy does nothing. Then they try to force the older man into the bathroom and take his wallet at gunpoint. Man feigns dropping his wallet. Produces a 9mm handgun (legal, concealed and with a permit) and blows one of the idiots away and a slug in the chest of the other. No charges filed. Dead Perp and mortally but not yet dead other perp.

Now Grandma of the dead thug is crying elephant tears about "her baby". The old man shouldn't have shot him. He was discriminated against.

Someone observing this thing said that this is just very very late term abortion. I don't think it's funny.


BUT: These thugs fit the pattern of Isaiah 59:7
Their feet rush into sin;
they are swift to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are evil thoughts;
ruin and destruction mark their ways.
In fact all of Isaiah 59 deals with people who prey on society and innocents.

My pity-o-meter for this grandmother is at zero. I guess that's why I'm a better Prophet than Pastor. If she came to me I would have a cold steely look for her.

She was grandmother to a thug. A dead thug now.

That marine did God's Work (Isaiah 59:18):
According to what they have done,
so will he repay
wrath to his enemies
and retribution to his foes


Or maybe it's simply Proverbs 21:16
The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding Shall rest in the assembly of the dead.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

A pretty good list why people are healed

A week ago I posted in two parts teachings from Todd Bentley of why God heals his people.

But, someone else did it better than I can. It's below in a link.

I'm waiting for someone to publish the first 15 reasons why God doesn't move in some people's lives in miracles. I have the second set from last night. They are all good reasons. Lack of faith is not among them, the famous bugaboo. Murmuring was the one that convicted me. I have murmured.

Soon as I get them I'll publish them. There is a whole teaching series wrapped up in these truths. It has helped me renew my commitment to people being healed and ministering healing to people in the right way.

Here at this site are all 30 reasons why God heals his people in one list. Read it and prepare to be healed.

Phony Sustainability and Liberal Extinction

Are liberals extincting themselves? Is San Francisco a model for the decline of liberalism? Is the whole idea of Sustainability as a religion a complete myth? Liberals keep talking about sustainability. What is that?

From Chicago Boyz Smitten Eagle:

Perhaps we ought to redefine what sustainability is. It ought not mean organic soy milk, fair-trade coffee, the Toyota Prius, or voting for Obama along with the rest of your sorority. It should be more radical than that. It should be an unabashedly pro-human philosophy, as we should recognize that sustaining humanity is our top mission, not sustaining nature. This means using nature for human benefit, not Gaia’s. It means giving economic vitality to humans by creating trade pacts where they can export to the world market. It means opposing autarky. It means recognizing that human life is more important than nature, and affirming humans’ mastery of nature. This sustainability is really humanism, and is the stuff of the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, and the Globalization, where in each case people have created systems to increase fertility, wealth, and freedom.


And Victor David Hansen's take on Liberal Sustainability:

I spent some time speaking in San Francisco recently… There are smartly dressed yuppies, wealthy gays, and chic business people everywhere downtown, along with affluent tourists, all juxtaposed with hordes of street people and a legion of young service workers at Starbucks, restaurants, etc. What is missing are school children, middle class couples with strollers, and any sense the city has a vibrant foundation of working-class, successful families of all races and backgrounds. For all its veneer of liberalism, it seems a static city of winners and losers, victory defined perhaps by getting into a spruced up Victorian versus renting in a bad district, getting paid a lot to manage something, versus very little to serve something. All in all, I got a strange creepy feeling that whatever was going on, it was unsustainable–sort of like an encapsulated Europe within an American city. The city seems to exist on tourism, and people who daily come into the city to provide a service, get paid–and leave….

I remember SF in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a kid visiting with his parents. A much different place altogether of affordable homes, vibrant docks, lots of construction—and children everywhere.

While I agree with VDH I think its tragic that a whole artificial culture has devolved into this. Let's hope for sanity. Growth and Development of our internal creative ability will get us out of this, not artificial sustainability.

Tilted Windmills

I have railed against stupid energy technologies in the past. Ethanol, Hybrid Cars, Wind Power.

I'm not alone by thinking these nasty warts on the planet called wind towers will be regretted long long after they have fallen into disuse and are impossible to remove. These awful things are the death throes of a failed economic policy and will long stand as a symbol of what happens when government gets into supporting politically correct but stupid technology. What's worse is they are falling apart, they freeze when it's too cold, stop when it's too hot and most of all are halted when the wind blows too much. Stupid ideas from stupid politicians.

Here's a view from a conservative British writer who says it better than I can. I just wish we would start tearing these things down now and sell them for the erect scrap metal they really are.

Since Gordon Brown on Thursday launched what he called "the greatest revolution in our energy policy since the advent of nuclear power", centred on building thousands of new wind turbines, let us start with a simple fact. Nothing conveys the futility of wind power more vividly than this: that all the electricity generated by the 2,000 wind turbines already built in Britain is still less than that produced by a single medium-sized conventional power station. There are nearly 50 nuclear, gas or coal-fired power plants in Britain today each of which produces more electricity in a year than all those 2,000 turbines put together.

I make no apology for returning to this subject because the "100 billion pound green energy strategy" published last week, by what is now laughably known as the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), contains not only many smaller deceptions and self-deceptions but one so great that almost everyone has fallen for it. The starting point is the EU's requirement that, to combat the "threat of climate change", we must drastically reduce our CO2 emissions, chiefly by building thousands more wind turbines.

It is quite clear from the paper that BERR's officials know we haven't the faintest hope of meeting our EU target in this way. So its number-crunchers have been working overtime to squeeze down the amount of energy we source from wind to the lowest figure it thinks can be made to sound plausible. Until last week BERR had been claiming that our EU requirement meant that we must generate 38 per cent of our electricity from renewables, the largest contribution coming from 11,000 offshore turbines, representing 33 gigawatts (GW) of capacity. But all this has changed dramatically. They now talk only about the need to meet 32 per cent of our total EU renewables target through our methods of electricity generation, with only 32 per cent of that needing to come from wind - and that, they say, can be done with a mere 7,000 new offshore and onshore turbines.

However, our present generating capacity is 76GW. By 2020, on projected demand, to replace one third of one third of our capacity with wind power would mean generating an average of 10GW. And herein lies the central misconception which bedevils the entire debate. Because of the wind's intermittency, turbines generate on average at less than a third of their capacity. Thus to contribute 10GW would need 30GW of capacity, which would require up to twice as many turbines as ministers are talking about - needing to be erected at a rate of more than four every working day between now and 2020.

In practical terms, even if they grossly bend the planning rules (as MPs voted for last week), there isn't the remotest chance that anything like this number of turbines could be built in time to meet their target. For instance, the world only has five of the giant barges that can install monster turbines offshore - and for more than half the year our weather conditions make installation impossible anyway.

But in addition we should also need to build at least 20 new conventional power stations simply to provide back-up for all the times when the wind is not blowing - at a time when, within seven years, we already stand to lose 40 per cent of our existing generating capacity through the closure of almost all our ageing nuclear power plants and half our major coal and oil-fired power stations (due to the crippling cost of complying with an EU anti-pollution directive).

It is a total mess. The reality is that, thanks to the dithering and wishful thinking of our politicians, it may already be too late to avert that breakdown of our electricity supply which would be one of the most serious disasters Britain has ever faced. And, ironically, no one at present looks more likely to inherit this mess than David Cameron - whose only response to last week' s pie-in-the-sky from Gordon Brown was to say that the Government should have been building all those useless windmills years ago.

Hail Gaia full of Grace - Environmentalism as Religion

The author Michael Crichton has written a very insightful article (from a speech) that demonstrates for many people environmentalism is religion. In it he says in part:

Today it is said we live in a secular society in which many people---the best people, the most enlightened people---do not believe in any religion. But I think that you cannot eliminate religion from the psyche of mankind. If you suppress it in one form, it merely re-emerges in another form. You can not believe in God, but you still have to believe in something that gives meaning to your life, and shapes your sense of the world. Such a belief is religious.

Today, one of the most powerful religions in the Western World is environmentalism. Environmentalism seems to be the religion of choice for urban atheists. Why do I say it's a religion? Well, just look at the beliefs. If you look carefully, you see that environmentalism is in fact a perfect 21st century remapping of traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and myths.

There's an initial Eden, a paradise, a state of grace and unity with nature, there's a fall from grace into a state of pollution as a result of eating from the tree of knowledge, and as a result of our actions there is a judgment day coming for us all. We are all energy sinners, doomed to die, unless we seek salvation, which is now called sustainability. Sustainability is salvation in the church of the environment. Just as organic food is its communion, that pesticide-free wafer that the right people with the right beliefs, imbibe.

Eden, the fall of man, the loss of grace, the coming doomsday---these are deeply held mythic structures. They are profoundly conservative beliefs. They may even be hard-wired in the brain, for all I know. I certainly don't want to talk anybody out of them, as I don't want to talk anybody out of a belief that Jesus Christ is the son of God who rose from the dead. But the reason I don't want to talk anybody out of these beliefs is that I know that I can't talk anybody out of them. These are not facts that can be argued. These are issues of faith.

And so it is, sadly, with environmentalism. Increasingly it seems facts aren't necessary, because the tenets of environmentalism are all about belief. It's about whether you are going to be a sinner, or saved. Whether you are going to be one of the people on the side of salvation, or on the side of doom. Whether you are going to be one of us, or one of them.
The whole article is worth reading and next time you see some human caused global warming fundamentalist raving about how we are all going to die, just think Jim Jones.

They are the same.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Truth that Shouldn't be Told

Long ago I wrote a booklet that included 15 undeniable truths about women and men.  Some women hated the list but understood that I knew what I was talking about.
 
Now some guy (who I won't link to) is teaching men how to touch a woman to seduce her.  This is not a secret that should be taught to young men even if it's true.
 
There is too much manipulation involved.  I learned what I did on this issue from (you ready for this?) Dr James Dobson.  Things NOT to do that can send messages you didn't intend and cause you all kinds of problems.
 
The relationship between men and women shouldn't be toyed with and seduction "Techniques" should be learned with wives.  Not for street fighting.
 
This is a sign of the Apocalypse. 

I must be stupid or something - or maybe not

I read a number of "Christian" blogs. Not all of them are about Christian things all the time. But most are most of the time. Kind of like this blog. About lots of things but with Jesus in the center of it all.

I appreciate good practical Christianity lived out in blogdom. Then there are a few who are so pedantic that they are nearly unreadable. How can we make the gospel lived out so complicated and potentially contentious as to make it incomprehensible except to a few?

I can follow the arguments. I may not have read all the books they did but I get it. I know how to speak christianeze. It's just not that complicated. The more I get to know HIM the less complicated it is. Oh, it's unexplainable all right. There are no words to speak about the Holy. Except if you speak in tongues. And then it will only be understood in the spirit. But it's not complicated.

I think a Christian for whom everything must be clearly and rationally understood he or she may never really know God. There are some things that must be accepted as mystery. I'm somewhat convinced that over reasoning theologians are operating from pride and obfuscation not to be understood. We know more than you do. We have a degree in Science (remember Dr. Science on the Radio?).

That's why my friend Martin Luther said, "Reason is the enemy of Faith".
Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has: it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but--more frequently than not --struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God.

But since the devil's bride, Reason, that pretty whore, comes in and thinks she's wise, and what she says, what she thinks, is from the Holy Spirit, who can help us, then? Not judges, not doctors, no king or emperor, because reason is the Devil's greatest whore.
He is right. If we over think and over analyze we might never come to true faith.
It's just not that complicated. It's a relationship, not religion. We have to get over over analyzing.

Word as Bond or Bondage

Short and sweet. Based on recent personal events.

Let your words be few, and when they are given, let them be your bond.

That goes both ways. If you speak the word becomes a pledge or bondage.

Let your words be few and choose them carefully.

Carve your words.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Home Boy comes Home

Last night in Church during the singing of a song written by Corey Pelley; out walked Corey Pelley.
 
That wouldn't be unusual except that Corey had gone to World Harvest Church to be a worship leader.  TV. Rob Parsley and all.  He was there three months.
 
Now he's back in Rockford.  Needed to get some questions answered in Columbus.  They were.  I understand all that.  I for a long time thought I was going to go back to Fargo to First Assembly.  I didn't.  I know why.  The questions were answered.
 
Corey said he was coming back home.  He is.  I know that feeling.  Faith Center has been a church we have been part of since 1993.  We have grown as they have grown.
 
We almost moved to Rockford once.  I don't sense that we will any time soon.  But it is home in many ways for us. 
 
I keep hoping that a free worship and ministry spiritual portal will open up in the St Charles area.  I see it in the spirit.  I know what it looks like. It's a vision God gave me long ago.  This is where we live and would like to not have to drive fifty miles one way at four bucks a gallon to get some. 
 
It's like a restaurant.  I like the Olive Burger that Beef a Roo serves.  I have ordered Olive Burgers in other places.  None of them are ever like they were supposed to be.  
 
They are always just a bit off.  Sometimes a lot.
 
Personal preference?  Maybe.  Or maybe if you get an olive burger here they are trying to mimic what Beef a Roo offers and expect me to not to notice the difference.
 
I notice.  So would you.
 
It's a crying shame that hungry people are looking for a place of ministry that provides what they need in times of crisis and pain.  A lady we have known for many years was at a graduation party Saturday.  She used to be part of our home group years ago. She is recently divorced.  50ish.  Children still at home.  Struggling with painful rheumatoid arthritis.  Needing healing and encouragement.  She lives in Batavia.  Life seems pretty dismal for her right now.  She has bounced around to different churches trying to find one that will encourage her in Jesus.  She gets either emergent seeker-friendly mile wide and an inch deep or traditional church that is powerless even if it's doctrinally sound.
 
She asked.  I had no answer.  I hope someday I will.  I didn't know where to tell her to go.
 
I am believing God for a powerful church that ministers to the broken addicted generation that is in pain beyond feeling.
 
We shouldn't have to drive 50 miles to find that.  
 
One other note.  This is not an indictment of the local church I am part of; we just aren't there "YET". 
 
I hope we will  become what people really need.  Jesus on earth.  Acts 10:38 
 
My friend is oppressed of the Devil.  Needs healing.  We need to become that place.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Confusing Giftedness with Personality or Weaknesses

A person becomes a spiritual leader when his life lines up:

  • Passion
  • Life Experiences
  • Giftedness
  • Calling
  • Style
When all those come together at the same time it's a wonderful thing. Add to that an anointing beyond simple giftedness and you have a man or woman who are ready and able to be used by God in a big way.
The problem we as Christians have is we decide somehow that the Gifted and Anointed person must be perfect. WOW. There's a stretch.
Pastor Phil spoke today from Chapter 7 of Romans. The long and short of that Chapter is Paul the Apostle was gifted of God but weak. That's me. That's probably you.
If the Apostle Paul confesses that he is subject to weakness in his flesh how much are you or your pastor or the man you respect as a prophet, evangelist, teacher or apostle weak? How is it that we developed this idea that we as ministers of Jesus must be perfect?
In the Lutheran Church many wear robes to cover their weak flesh to show that it's the office that's strong and not the person. I doubt very seriously that Paul former of Tarsus wore any such robes. In fact I suspect he was pretty human.
For that reason I am against the wearing of robes. It assigns unhuman qualities to a very still human man or woman serving God.
I believe that God is now using Todd Bentley with lip studs, earring, and way more tattoos and rings than any human should have to confuse the wise. It's too much for me sometimes. He's overweight, has the dunlop waistline. He is imperfect in every way. Yet he is gifted beyond measurement on a human scale.
Last Sunday after evening service in Rockford Peggy and I were stopped in the parking lot. I had spoken briefly a word of Prophecy. I made an impact. They wanted to know more about the Prophet. How did I become a prophet? When did I realize that the gift of Prophecy was on me? How did I cultivate it? What's it like for Peggy to be married to a prophet? That last one (which we get fairly often) is humorous. Being married to a prophet is like any other marriage. I had a couple women come to Peggy once after a Meeting I conducted under the anointing. They said, "It must be wonderful to be married to such a gifted man of God like your husband is". She was gracious and said it was. If they only knew.
I tried very hard to dissuade the people in Rockford of the whole idea that the gift and the man are somehow at any level equal. They aren't. I am a gift, wrapped in human flesh given by God to the Body of Christ and open to anyone who will unwrap it. I know many pastors, teachers, evangelists and apostles who are as flawed as I am. Certainly as weak. Certainly as prone to humanity. Yet the gift is without repentance. I am studying Romans 11 right now and the gift of God without repentance factor is big in that chapter.
I know where I am weak. I'm not going to list them all here. Anger is one. Pugnacity is another. I'm sensitive to being marginalized more than I should be. I'm impatient sometimes. And I can be petty. Many would say human. Yep, that's me.
I have a good friend who is a pastor who says to me, "If you were in my church you would scare me to death". Not the gift or who I am. The fact that I could cause uproar. I try not to. But I could. I try very hard to keep the up to a low roar.
So, my dear friends, relatives and associates, please understand that the gift of the office of Prophet is a gift wrapped in human and flawed flesh. Just like every prophet in the Old Testament was. They were all unusual in some ways. They were all a pain in the butt to many in leadership. But they were essential to the health of the Body.
Just as are the Apostle, Teacher, Evangelist and Pastor. Please, Please, apply the same principles of judging character to the Prophet that you would to any other five fold ministry gift carriers. They are human, flawed and just like you. They just happen to carry a gift. Don't make the mistake of rejecting a great gift because it comes in a badly wrapped nasty looking (and sometimes acting) package. Like me.
Every Apostle, Teacher Evangelist and Pastor on the earth if you were to hang out with them 24-7 would start to show scars and flaws that might cause you to question the call of God on their life. That would be a big mistake. Romans 11.
Many would and in fact did reject the Apostle Paul's giftedness for others who came with a better pin striped suit. Read 2 Corinthians 11
Discernment would be very important here. Fear God and you will be established, listen to the Prophets and you will Prosper. That's Bible.

Snorting Coke in Church

Mark Batterson had someone doing Coke (not the drink, the drug) in Church today. We had a young lady try to commit suicide last night here.

Somehow it all seems normal. What's it all about if we aren't ministering to the addicted and suicidal?

I don't know how, I feel inadequate. But I know someone who IS up to the task. I want both of these folks to find the answer to the question they are asking. The answer is Jesus.

Sometimes we have been accused of answering questions no one is asking. I think they are, just not in words.