Saturday, January 31, 2009

Why I will Root for the Cardinals Tomorrow

Kurt Warner.

If you have email you have probably at one time or another received this touching tear jerking story. It's not accurate, but pretty soppy.

If you read on you will read the REAL story. Actually, the real version is just as good in my opinion.

The Arizona Newspaper today has an article about Brenda and Kurt.

A TRUE story.

They are people of faith who have overcome.

I can root for that.

Martin Luther’s prophetic word for 2009?

From Prophetic Reformation

Gold

Martin Luther has not stopped speaking, and he has a word for us in 2009!

I know that some of you are concerned about what we may face this year, and the security of your jobs or finances. I encourage you to keep looking to God and remember to remind yourself to be generous and kind to those who are going through difficult times.

I read this today in Luther’s catechism. I encourage everyone who is wanting to be used by God in Prophetic Ministry, to give themselves to serious biblical study and to read through some of the giants of the past, particularly the reformers.

Such study will enrich your ministry. In the midst of it all you will find gold.

Today I found a massive nugget of gold, and with a grateful heart to God I wish to share that same blessing with you.

Martin Luther has not stopped speaking. Here is his message from God for 2009;

“See to it that you let Me alone be your God, and never seek another,” ie. Whatever you lack of good things, expect it of Me, and look to Me for it, and whenever you suffer misfortune and distress, creep and cling to Me. I, yes, I, will give you enough and help you out of every need; only let not your heart cleave to or rest in any other.”

God bless you as we venture into 2009. Keep your heart pure, stay humble before God, and keep a warm heart open to the opportunity that the unexpected Jesus will help you in the most unpredictable way.

A question for those who think they are Atheist

A while back I upbraided a blogger by the name of John Shore. I don't know him. Other than what I read. There is much he has written that frustrates me. His blog is linked to and published as part of a website that speaks to pastors I care about. That's the rub. He writes to an evangelical audience who accepts and embraces him. That wouldn't always be me or the Pastors with which I am associated.

But like the blind squirrel that finds an acorn, he has written some pretty insightful stuff addressed to Atheists. I dropped him a note and gave him an attaboy. He deserved it for this good effort. I apologized for my anger towards him. I was over the top. I don't back off on the concern I have had over what he says sometimes. There is deep disagreement and he sometimes writes from a self erected pedestal. But, I wanted him to know that it's OK to disagree in unity. He said thanks. He's a pretty good writer and as an example this is a good article.

What he says is worth reading.


Thursday, January 22, 2009

Atheists: To Whom (If Anyone) Are You Ultimately Grateful?

A while ago I posted An Honest Question: Atheists, How Do You Process Your Guilt?. The question I asked in that piece has been on my mind, because I've lately had occasion to feel truly overwhelming happiness as a result of some stuff happening in my personal life.

We often reference and feel the succor that God offers us in times of grief and pain, but I can honestly say that I'm as grateful for my belief in God when I'm experiencing extreme joy as when crippled by pain. And I mean really grateful, because if I didn't have a God to whom I could send up my gratitude that is so far beyond my ability to comprehend or grasp, I'm not sure I'd know what to do with the intensity of that emotion. It feels like I would just explode.

You know how that is. Your children form a tableau in which it's evident they're at perfect peace with the world. Or you're watching your spouse as he or she sleeps, and have that moment where it moves through you what a wonderful choice you made, what a superb man or woman you're spending your life with. Or you work really hard at something for a very long time, and it produces tangible results beyond anything you ever dared imagine it might.

All those sorts of moments, you know, where you feel that sheer, crazy, almost immobilizing joy.

And right then, when I feel that feeling, I am sooooo glad that I believe in God. Otherwise, I just can't imagine what I would do with that emotion---which, for me, so quickly turns into gratitude.

So atheists/agnostics! Tell me what you do with your extreme joy and happiness. Does joy of that turn for you into gratitude? I am truly and seriously wondering. I'm not trying to trap you, or any of that nonsense. I genuinely want to know. I'm Considerably Dense, but I'm not so slow that I think that only people who believe in God ever feel so joyful and grateful that crying is basically the only response to it.

And I know that when I feel grateful in that way, everything in me seems to naturally and spontaneously . . . pour skyward.

Anyway, if you see what I'm asking: When you feel the kind of joy and happiness that I'm here (so lamely) trying to articulate, what do you do with it? Does it fly upwards for you, too? Or does it stay inside you, and sort of ... I don't know ... bounce around in there, making your insides ring and light up like a pinball machine? Does joy of that sort become gratitude for you---and, if so, what do you do with it?

C'mon. We Christians are always telling you how you can experience Extreme Joy with God. Share with us, if you would, how you experience it without God.

Did the Prophet Jeremiah speak to OUR day?

Pastor’s Reflections
by Dr. Jeffrey E. Frantz

How can you say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us, when in fact, the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie? The wise shall be put to shame, they shall be dismayed and taken; since they have rejected the Word of the Lord, what wisdom is in them? Therefore I will give their wives to others and their fields to conquerors, because from the least to the greatest everyone is greedy for unjust gain; from the prophet to the priest, everyone deals falsely. (Jeremiah 8:8-10)
The bailout that is shaking our foundations. Growing up, my parents spoke often of the Great Depression which millions of their generation lived through back in the late 1920’s and 1930’s. The recent financial crisis that has sounded across our land is our worst such crisis since those depression years.

Consequences of the crisis will no doubt be with us for years. Everywhere people like me are concerned about our investments and hoped-for retirement. What is perhaps most amazing about this crisis is how uncertain everybody is about how best to respond. The truth seems to be—flat out—we’re not sure.

Hopefully, down the road, we’ll learn some critical lessons about all of this—like, how we got here to begin with and what we could’ve and should’ve done to avoid it. Still, as comprehensive bailout legislation is being glued together in the US Congress, one thing is abundantly clear: the underlying problem is greed. Greed, the impulses of which started in the 1980’s, and which has marched on, mostly unabated, down to the present time. To hear the experts tell it, there’s been greed pretty much at every level of the housing market.

The above reading from Jeremiah is a humble reminder that greed is, of course, nothing new. It is sin, rooted in the human spirit, that is timeless. In many ways it’s linked to the survivalist impulse to look out for number one. It’s the other side of doing for others what we would want them to do for us.

We Americans have become such an immediate gratification culture. Everything, it seems, is short-term perspective, short-term vision. It’s as if we don’t have enough trust in the future to tie our horse to the long-term of anything. Whatever happened to thinking through possible consequences? And anticipating the future?

As congress tries to lead us out of this financial disaster, everywhere, it seems, Americans are angry—fiery angry. And for that reason, those representing us in Congress are increasingly nervous about their political future. All over, politicians are skittish, not wanting to mess up or come down on the wrong side of whatever bailout package finally passes.

There’s nothing about this bailout that feels good. As one congressperson said, Nobody wants to support this bill. Later, another chimed in how everyone left the table unhappy. Whatever form the bill ultimately takes, it will be an orphan bill with no one claiming parentage.

What’s there to learn? In a word, lots. To begin with, our lives are not just about us; they’re about all of us—the person seeking the loan (mortgage), the person making and packaging the loan, the lending institution, the insurance people, all the agents involved at whatever levels, and certainly the hotshots manipulating the numbers and playing up the percentages at the top.

Whenever immediate gratification impulses take over our decision making—about anything—eventually there will be consequences. Lesson to be learned: there’s no free lunch. Second lesson to be learned: what goes around comes around. As the reading from the prophet Jeremiah suggests, whenever greed knocks us off balance in life, whenever it lures us into losing sight of the big picture of our lives, whenever our clamoring for profit and benefit runs amok, it becomes for us a lie, the antithesis of wisdom, a denial of God’s purposes. And again, always—however long it takes—there are consequences.

The ultimate remedy for our financial blues is nothing less than the rebuilding of our foundations—foundations which rest on the pillars of integrity, honor and loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Not to Scare you, but we must be like the sons of Issachar

Hyperinflation is a possibility, say Morgan Stanley

That’s not in Zimbabwe by the way.

Morgan Stanley’s Jocahcim Fels and Spyros Andreopoulos look at the possibility of hyperinflation hitting the western shores of the UK, Europe and the US in their latest note. Their conclusion is a little scary (our emphasis).

One stark lesson from the ongoing financial and economic crisis is that so-called black swans — large-impact, hard-to-predict and seemingly rare events — can occur more frequently than generally believed.With policymakers around the world throwing massive conventional and unconventional monetary and fiscal stimuli at their economies, we think that it is worth exploring the black swan event of very high inflation or even hyperinflation.

While such an outcome is clearly not our main case, the risk of hyperinflation cannot be dismissed very easily any longer, in our view. We discuss the historical evidence, the conditions that can lead to very high or hyperinflation, and whether and how it might happen again.

So hypinflation is a black-swan event that, given all the other black-swan events of late, should not be dismissed.

As they remind, the classification of hyperinflation is: an episode where the inflation rate exceeds Hyperinflation50 per cent per month. In history this has occurred in the 1920s in Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Russia. Germany in 1923, for example, experienced a 3.25m per cent inflation rate in a single month (see picture left). Since the 1950s hyperinflations have been experienced in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, Ukraine and Zimbabwe - so confined largely to developing and transitioning economies.

The root cause of hyperinflation is: ‘excessive money supply growth, usually caused by governments instructing their central banks to help finance expenditures through rapid money creation.’

Back to whether it could happen to Europe or the US? Morgan Stanley says possibly yes, under certain conditions.

Firstly, the rapid expansion of the monetary base by the Fed, ECB and BoE would have to continue and feed into a more rapid and sustained expansion of money in the hands of the general public.

G4 base money growth - Morgan Stanley

Secondly, Morgan Stanley says governments would have to face difficulties financing their bailout packages and funding their debt.

Lastly, public confidence in the government’s ability to service debt without resorting to the printing press would have to disappear, as well as the government’s actual ability to withstand the pressure to do so in the first place.

And while all of the above is an extreme scenario, the Morgan Stanley analysts say:

…given the size of the current and prospective economic and financial problems, and given the size of the monetary and fiscal stimulus that central banks and governments are throwing at these problems, investors would be well advised not to ignore this tail risk, especially as markets are priced for the opposite outcome of lasting deflation in the next several years. Put differently, we believe that buying some insurance against the black swan event of high inflation or even hyperinflation makes sense and is relatively cheap currently.

Of course, when hyperinflation occurred in the eastern block countries towards the end of the communist era, most citizens hedged via significant purchases of black-market US dollars, the US dollar becoming the effective proxy store of value. This time round, that would not be an option.

Weimar hyperinflation


The Coming Mega Inflation

Remember 20% interest rates? Remember 15% inflation. More than 1% per month?

Remember when you could buy a Coke for a dime and now it's a buck?

The ten dollar Coke is on the way. Then the Hundred Dollar Coke.

Don't worry about the national debt, we'll pay it back with funny money.

Glen Beck explains why, too much money following too few goods.

If this doesn't put the fear of God in you, you're dead.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

What's Going to Happen in the USA and in North Dakota

Here’s what’s about to happen:
  • Stimulus package passes.
  • “We have to DO something” ism takes over
  • Some peace takes place and the markets recover early this year
  • Then inflation begins to steam up….$150 crude
  • Driving the market down
  • The world economy collapses and demand for commodities declines mid 2010 oil back to $35
  • We end up in a deep hole, bad economy, low demand, commodity prices without demand, goodbye good times in North Dakota. Cheap wheat, cheap oil = broke state.

Not until 2017 do we see things start to get well at all.

OH, and all that “Debt” the government is generating that people wonder how it’s going to get paid? Never mind, all major debt is monetized. That means that if you owe a billion, you print enough money until the billion is really fifty bucks, pay it off and viola, presto, gone.

I don’t know how you are going to deal with all this, but I thought you would want to know.

OH, and, This WILL be blamed on the Democrats by 2012. Obama better HOPE a bit of this works or he will duplicate Jimmy Carter’s term in office.

The Amazing Blago

I watched our governor on Larry King. I watched him on the View. I watched him on Glen Beck.

He's amazing. Never fazed. Without remorse. Steady.

Glen thought he had a shot at humiliating him. NOPE. The Gov stayed steady.

I will make a prediction right here and now. He will be removed from office but never go to jail.

He kept saying on Beck, "I have done nothing wrong". He's right. He hasn't. He's done a lot of things stupid. He's done a lot of things funny. He's talked pretty bad. But he has done nothing wrong.

I think Patrick Fitzgerald is about to have his rear handed to him.

That is just my opinion.

Sarah Palin Nominated for President along side Obama

From Politico:
In what could be a preview of the 2012 presidential race, Sarah Palin and Barack Obama will share a stage together this Saturday night in Washington, Politico has learned.
..............................

And aside from the real thing, club members always nominate a mock candidate for the highest office in the land. The “nominee” is then required to give an acceptance speech.

Should Palin be this year’s lucky nominee, she’ll be in good company: Three honorees have actually gone on to actually become president – Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.
And you think I'm kidding. She's the real deal.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Two Visions equal DI-Vision

I am a conservative. Unabashed. Not everything Rush Limbaugh does thrills me. I have been critical of him in the past. Here. Other places.

Right now we are as Conservatives fighting for our lives. We are batting at the wind. Then Pres Obama says something about Rush and Republicans tip over.

The story is here.
You probably heard this. An update to all this is that the Conservatives and some Republicans have apologized and contacted Rush to make right. All is OK now.

BUT

This is an example of what is happening. We are a big tent coalition. Social Conservatives mixed with Social Liberals. Religious mixed with unbelievers. Believers in Darwin mixed with believers in the Biblical account of Creation. Fiscal conservatives and those who would spend money for the common good freely.

The problem is we know what we believe, whoever we are. Beating each other up over what we believe is counter productive. We can argue, but sometimes it goes beyond that.

I think the Rush experience has demonstrated that we need to behave and not let our President push us around. Or even each other.

What concerns me even more is the anti Intelligent Design pro Darwin wing in the Conservative tent that has somehow decided by itself that unless you believe as they do you can't be accepted. This won't work and is counter productive to the Nth degree to other causes we agree on.

That's not going to work. We will only insure that the Liberals stay in power forever.

This internal war can be settled. But it’s got to be settled with vision. One vision. Not two. Two Visions equal division.

It’s a vision that includes fiscal restraint, self reliance, libertarianism sprinkled in and a strong dose of social conservatism with faith in God as it’s core. I know that disturbs people who don’t believe in God, but 80% of conservative voters do. They may not always live that way but they believe.

So, if we are going to succeed we have to allow those who speak up informed by faith to have an opinion not being denigrated by those without.

In this year of Darwin Worship, that will have to include those of us (me) who do not buy the whole Evolution thing in spades. I’m not a young earth-er either. There were dinosaurs. They just weren’t my ancestors. Neither was any ape I know. I did have an uncle once....

I read the tirades against intelligent design on conservative blogs and all I see is people trying to destroy one thing that holds many of us together, A faith in a God we know is there. If you choose to not believe, that’s OK. We hope you do someday. But don’t denigrate those of us who do.

When the line in the sand is drawn over evolution or creationism you are asking a large portion of conservative Americans to abandon deeply held religious beliefs to be part of your club. We don’t deserve or expect ridicule. The operator of Pajamas Media who writes Little Green Footballs is one of the worst offenders in this. How does poking fun at me or trying to make me feel stupid help the cause? Here is his latest broadside attack.

We have bigger fish to fry than arguing about Darwin and his wacky theory. Cut it out.

The 92 year old man that froze to death in his home

You probably read about this man from Michigan.

This is where the Church should be involved. A good Christian Church (or perhaps even a Mosque or Synagogue) would not let this happen. I’m talking smaller churches. Huge mega Churches may not keep track of this guy. My church would. Does. It’s makes that sharing all things in common thing work pretty well.

I don’t know if he was connected. Who did his wife’s funeral? Why wasn’t that pastor in touch with him or one of his friends? Or maybe it was a civil funeral. I don't know.

About the idea that he froze in agony. I doubt that. I have almost frozen to death. It’s not agony. Hypothermia and then you go to sleep. So, that part of the story isn’t true. Ask anyone who grew up in the frozen north. Freezing isn’t a bad way to go.

The Eskimos who set their elderly out on ice floes to freeze to death (when they ask to be let go) are doing a form of euthanasia, but at least one that is painless and worthwhile. I don't endorse it but they have concluded that freezing to death is a good way to go.

I told my wife that when that times comes dress me warm and drop me off in the woods. I’ll go till I can’t any more. Or up at the top of some windy butte. I was on one on a very cold winter’s day overlooking the Missouri River north of Bismarck once as the sun set. I thought about what it would be like to just sit and change worlds right there. I'm kidding, but I have always wanted to go like Moses. OR Enoch.

ON the other hand. This is a bad deal. Lots of blame to go around. Bureaucracies run wild. They'll cure this. With more Bureaucracy.

I wonder how much more of this there will be. I just heard of a local family who’s electricity and gas has been shut off. They are burning candles and kerosene lamps at night for light. Heat is a wood stove. Food is food pantry provided. Carrying water to drink from the neighbors. Melting snow to flush the toilet. All in all they are getting along OK without Comcast.

When we were first married we lived like that. No indoor toilet. Carried water. Burned wood. We did have electricity. So it can be done. I'd miss my high speed Internet. That's a God Given Right, isn't it?

Maybe it’s time to get back to the basics. Maybe we will all have to.

Not EVERYONE should go to College

From John Stossel

A college diploma is supposed to be the ticket to the good life. Colleges and politicians tell students, "Your life will be much better if you go to college. On average during your lifetime you will earn a million dollars more if you get a bachelor's degree." Barack Obama, stumping on the campaign trail, said, "We expect all our children not only to graduate high school, but to graduate college."

Rachele Percel heard the promises. She borrowed big to pay about $24,000 a year to attend Rivier College in New Hampshire. She got a degree in human development. "I was told just to take out the loans and get the degree because when you graduate you're going to be able to get that good job and pay them off no problem," she told me for last week's "20/20."

But for three years she failed to find a decent job. Now she holds a low-level desk job doing work she says she could have done straight out of high school. And she's still $85,000 in debt. This month she had to move out of her apartment because she couldn't pay the rent.

The promise about college? "I definitely feel like it was a scam," says Rachele.

Her college wrote us that that many of its graduates have launched successful careers. But Rachele's problem isn't uncommon. A recent survey asked thousands of students: Would you go to your college again? About 40 percent said no.



Read the whole thing............

Not Just for NEW Pastors (my comments in RED)

Preparing for the Ministry

Dr. Ray Pritchard

Author, Speaker, President of Keep Believing Ministries

When you are asked the same question twice in the span of a few days, that does make you pay closer attention. So here are my thoughts, arranged in no particular order, to the question, “What advice would I give to a young person preparing for the ministry?"

1. Read widely.

In the years ahead we will need well-educated young men and women. So read widely, read from the bestseller list, read people you don’t agree with. It’s not a good sign if you’ve read 700 books and all of them support what you already believe. (be careful to read things that aren't going to pollute your spirit however, balance is important here)

2. Learn to speak well and write well.

All things being equal, the people who can speak with confidence and who can write clearly will rise to the top in any field. Take a few speech classes, join Toastmasters, take every speaking opportunity you can get until you feel at home on your feet. As for writing, technology gives this generation a huge advantage. My parents were raised on manual typewriters, I started with an IBM Selectric. The advent of the personal computer means that no one has an excuse for not writing well. Keep a blog. Write out your sermons in full. (AMEN TO THIS, learn to speak well)

3. Find out what you can do well.

This takes about ten years–or maybe a little longer. In the beginning, you naturally think you can do everything. You can’t. You’ll learn that the hard way. Find out what you do that God blesses–and keep on doing it.

4. Decide now to be flexible later.

Don’t get stuck in the trap of thinking that you have to be a pastor or a teacher or a missionary forever. We’re past the day when people stay in the same position for a lifetime. Your only call is to serve the Lord in whatever way he chooses to use you and wherever he wants to put you. Flexibility is a great blessing and inflexibility tends to be a career-ender. So stay loose.

5. Ask the Lord to put you in over your head.

He’ll probably do it anyway, but it’s more fun if you ask in advance. If you are so cool and so well-prepared and so competent that you can do it all, why do you need God? It’s a good thing to be thrown in the deep end where you don’t know what you’re doing and if God doesn’t help you, you’re sunk. That’s when you learn how to pray. (ask for help, God's still God, you aren't)

6. Beware of envy.

It’s a big time-waster. In the great game of life, we’re all constantly being compared to everyone else around us. We’re all being measured, quantified, and examined to see how well we’re doing versus those around us. And there is nothing we can do about it. Envy tends to be the sin of moderately successful people. Pray to be delivered from it because it destroys your joy and makes you a miserable person to be around. (find a few people you trust and have them help to sharpen you)

7. Learn to do a few things well and the rest just okay.

In the beginning you won’t be able to specialize so learn how to do it all. In my first church I folded the bulletins, printed them, opened the church, led the singing and preached. But I started my writing by doing a weekly column on the back of the bulletin and continued for 27 years. Do whatever needs to be done–and then learn to do a few things well. (Pastor Dan was NOTED for being wise, he was good at other things, but his wisdom was the core essential, I miss him)

Good News

Sarah Palin Unveils National 'SarahPAC' Organization

Tuesday, January 27, 2009 3:56 PM

By: David A. Patten

In a major step closer to a future run for national office, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Tuesday established SarahPAC, a political action committee expected to play a key role in financing upcoming political endeavors.

“SarahPAC believes the Republican Party is at the threshold of a historic renaissance that will build a better future for all,” the SarahPAC.com Web site announced Tuesday. “Health care, education, and reform of government are among our key goals.”

The site, which invites donations, calls energy independence “a cornerstone of the economic security and progress that every American family wants and deserves.”

NBC’s Norah O’Donnell characterized the creation of the fund-raising organization as “a sign Sarah Palin wants to continue to be a player on the national political stage.” O’Donnell added that the Virginia-based PAC “is modeled after HillPAC, Hillary Clinton’s former political committee. Palin’s committee allows her to raise money for other Republicans.”

The PAC Web site describes the organization as “Dedicated to building America's future, supporting fresh ideas and candidates who share our vision for reform and innovation.”

The Alaska governor’s popularity remains undiminished since the election. O’Donnell reports Sen. John MCain’s running mate has over 465,300 supporters on Facebook.

Truth and Nihilism

Last night Peggy and I went to see Macbeth at the Shakespeare theater on Navy Pier in Chicago.

Blood and guts.

Lots of famous lines.

Double trouble...
What is that I see before me....
Out Out damn'ed spot.....


The soliloquy that Macbeth rehearses upon discovering Lady Macbeth dead is famous and oft quoted. It can be nihilistic. Yet, there is reality that is horrible for the unbeliever and comforting for the believer. Here's what he says:


To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death.

Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow,
a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more.

It is a tale Told by an idiot,
full of sound and fury,
Signifying
nothing.
Macbeth Act 5, scene 5, 19–28
I placed the spaces as I heard Ben Carlson give them. The breaks.

People who don't know Jesus look at this soliloquy and say, "see....... even Shakespeare knew there is no god".

Except that God talks about the foolishness of life when it's not invested in Him. How we can lose our life because we waste it in vain pursuits. The devil wants us to perish. John 3:16 has less to do with heaven and much to do with life here and now. We have a Godly purpose. The devil wants to destroy it. To perish. Still alive but spiritually dead.

God speaks in his word things that seem to agree with Macbeth.
Isaiah 40:6-8
A voice says, "Cry out." And I said, "What shall I cry?" "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."

"The one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business." Jam 1:10,11

Hebrews 9:27"Everyone must die once and after this comes judgment."
BUT, there is hope in God -

"The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."1 John 2:17

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.1Peter 1:23-25


The reality is blind ambition, the killing that goes on in the name of being king in this play is futile....King of WHAT? Watch as kings of industry are taken down and humiliated. They are destroyed by ambition without God.

We were all made for something much greater. We were made for significance. We were made to fulfil our Godly purpose. It's only when we chase after shadows that our brief time on this earth is wasted. We perish. Without Hope. Signifying NOTHING.

So next time you see or hear someone pontificating about how important they are or what they are doing is, remember they are only amusing God:
Psalm 2

1 Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!”
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them.

He who seeks God finds him. And he finds life. He doesn't end as Macbeth does. Alone and hopeless. He will find himself like David:
Psalm 63
A psalm of David, regarding a time when David was in the wilderness of Judah.
1 O God, you are my God;
I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in your sanctuary
and gazed upon your power and glory.
3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself;
how I praise you!
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
5 You satisfy me more than the richest feast.
I will praise you with songs of joy.

6 I lie awake thinking of you,
meditating on you through the night.
7 Because you are my helper,
I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.
8 I cling to you;
your strong right hand holds me securely.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Jimmy Carter's Quest for Respect

Jimmy Carter is still hoping to be ranked among the top 43 presidents of the USA.

Desperation #1

Desperation #2

Jimmy Carter is pathetic.

And for your reading entertainment, Google "jimmy carter is an idiot". Pages and pages and pages of stuff about Mr Peanut brain. I don't know any President so universally despised, not even George Bush. I have much to admire GWB about and nothing to admire about Carter. How could one man generate so much disdain. He ranks fully 44 out of 43 in Presidential ranking. I hope Obama does a little better. I fear he might be Carter round 2. Let's hope not.

Save The Planet - Ten Ideas

A Go-Green Guide for the Hollywood Community

More than ten years after the Kyoto accords, our planet continues to careen helplessly toward certain environmental destruction. The skies are choked with pollutants. Adorable helpless polar bears plunge through thinning ice caps. Ben Affleck still can’t find a decent comeback project.

The signs are ominous, but it’s not too late to do something. As a member of the entertainment community, you are uniquely qualified to save our planet from coming climate disaster. But it will take more than raising awareness — it will take action. Have your personal assistant add these 10 to-dos to your Blackberry, and let’s get the Earth on the road to recovery!

1. Reduce Water Consumption. One single dripping faucet or flushed bidet may not seem to be much of an environmental threat, but those numbers really add up when you’re hosting an NRDC fundraiser for Laurie David and all 10 of your bathrooms are in use. When possible, encourage guests to pee in the pool, and remind them that “if it’s yellow, let it mellow.” Unless you’re serving asparagus canapes.

2. “Green Begins At Home.” Whether you live in East Hampton or Topanga Canyon, there are dozens of little things you can do around your compound to reduce your carbon footprint. For instance, tell your groundskeeping crew to plant a tree. Save your leftover foie gras to grow your own homemade organic Botox. Turn off your energy wasting security cameras between 1 AM and 7 AM. If you own a vanity cattle ranch in Montana, email the trail boss and tell him/her to add Beano to your herd’s feed to reduce ozone-depleting methane emissions.

3. Upgrade To a New Gulfstream G550. Next time you take off for Cannes or Sundance or that big Environmental Defense Fund gala, stop and think how much fuel that clunky old G450 is using. Not only does the new G550 have real burled walnut and 10.8% better fuel efficiency, it has smoother ride — meaning 20% fewer annoying turbulence-related Cristal and cocaine spills. And with a maximum cruising speed of Mach 0.885 you’ll never be late for the red carpet at the Palm d’Or!

4. Crush a Third World Economic Development Movement. One of the most pressing threats facing our environment is rising income in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. A generation ago these proud little dark people were happily frolicking in the rain forest, foraging for organic foods amid the wonders of nature. Today, corrupted by wealth, they are demanding environmentally hazardous consumer goods like cars and air conditioning and malaria medicine. You can do your part to stop this dangerous consumerism trend by supporting environmentally progressive leaders like Hugo Chavez and Robert Mugabe, and their programs for sustainable low-impact ecolabor camps.

5. Don’t Reproduce. Many people are shocked when they learn that fewer than 25% of the Screen Actors Guild have been spayed or neutered. Sure, babies make great fashion accessories and it’s fun to give them awesome names, like Kumquat Wildebeest Paltrow and Toploader Enchilada Cage. But these miniature humans will eventually grow up and begin ravenously eating up the Earth’s depleted reserves of aux pairs and psychotherapists.

6. Use Alternative Fuel Motorcades. Let’s face it: whether you are on an international press junket or going to an awards banquet, limousine motorcades are a way of life. But this doesn’t mean you can’t make your red carpet entrance in an eco-friendly way. When possible, tell your publicity team to request a electric, hybrid, or E-85 stretch limo for you and your entourage. Later, when you are vomiting outside the Viper Club, encourage the paparazzi to share the photos to conserve high-energy-use camera flash pods.

7. Avoid Over-Packaged Products. Just look at all the wasteful packaging that goes into your DVDs and CDs: bulky plastic jewel cases, annoying and unnecessary anti-theft devices, price stickers. To reduce the use of petrochemicals, encourage your fans to download copies of your latest album or movie straight from the internet — for free! When they realize it sucks even worse than the reviews on BitTorrent, they can simply erase it from their hard drive instead of sending it to the landfill.

8. Go On a Random Killing Spree. The scientific debate is over: our current environmental mess is caused by an oversupply of human beings, and it’s high time we address these two-legged eco problems head on. Next time you’re on your way to a location shoot, do a little location shooting of your own - Biggie/Tupac style. Have the driver lower the tinted windows and pop a few caps on behalf of Mother Earth. Not only will you be doing the environment a good turn, it will earn you valuable youth market “street cred.”

9. Destroy The Entertainment Industry. Science shows that no single sector of the economy exemplifies America’s obscene energy waste more than show business. Witness the untold megatons of carbon released into the atmosphere every year by the production and consumption of entertainment, with no objective benefit to society. It all adds up to one gigantic, mindless, Earth-raping waste of time, and will take the commitment of progressive industry leaders like you to stop it. Before greenlighting any new project, make sure it contains at least 85% organic recycled preachy self-indulgence. By ridding your products of their dangerous popular appeal, you can keep the public where they belong — at home, with the TV off, playing eco-friendly board games like ‘Scrabble’ and ‘Mystery Date.’

10. Commit Suicide. As an eco-aware, planetary resource parasite, you will eventually want to kill yourself to spare the environment any further damage that your personal existence has already caused. However, it is important that you plan your suicide carefully as not to disturb the ecosystem’s delicate balance. Self immolation, while poignant, can release up to 50 kg of airborne fluorocarbons. Why not try the the hot new Malibu trend, ritual Japanese sepukku? it’s exotic, elegant, and your intact corpse will make a great compost pile addition!

How Soon can Sarah Palin become President?

Last night I watched and listened with admiration at the State of the State address by Governor Palin in Alaska. It was excellent. I hope that Tina Fey loving lefties get a chance to see it. All of the snarky left wing ideas they have about her would be destroyed. They will but they won't admit it. When you watch this video in full you will see why the left fears her so much. She's the real thing, informed, articulate, focused, determined and conservative. Exactly what we need today. They must destroy her.

I wish McCain had won so we could have had Sarah as President. (I would be hammering for Pres McCain to resign from day one. She will be a great one some day.

Here is a short News account (about 2 minutes) from the NBC station in Alaska:


Here's the whole half hour address. She is terrific. President Palin. Such a nice sound.

I support President Barack Obama

It's some of his policies I am hoping will go down in flames of failure.

It's a lot like supporting our troops overseas but being against the war.

I'm a true patriot, just like the "supporting the troops against the war" left leaning types are.

I hope that's clear.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Scripture As It Is Really Lived - You have to see this!

Directly Stolen from Steve Scott at From the Pew - Thanks Steve.
I came across a blog devoted to the topic of ecclesiology, the study of the church. Alan Knox at The Assembling of the Church has one series of posts where he takes familiar passages from Scripture and "re-mixes" them with strikethroughs and red lettering to tell the story of how we really live out what the bible says. Humorously sad and sadly humorous. He's up to 38. Read them here.

I have seen the future, and it doesn't work

  • "UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE": Socialized medicine that will cost billions and introduce unprecedented waste, incompetence, and malpractice to American hospitals.


  • "ENVIRONMENTAL CARE": Climate-change hysteria and vastly expensive projects to conquer "global warming." You'll be made to feel anything less is un-American.


  • "MULTICULTURALISM": An immigration policy based on the lie that not allowing anyone into the U.S. is racist and that open borders prove our love for multiculturalism.


  • "SOCIAL JUSTICE": State-enforced "fairness" through policies that reward those who make no effort and punish the successful.


  • "ETHICAL FOREIGN POLICY": A powerless national security policy created because the left refuses to believe the truth - that terrorists have a violent, and homicidal hatred for our culture and will do anything to wipe it off the Earth.

Does ANYONE on the planet believe in Man Caused Global Warming Any More??

My brother attended a Green Expo (horticultural) confab in Minneapolis. Minnesota is the center of liberalism. During the meeting a Meteorological Scientist spoke. He radically debunked the whole Global Warming caused by man theory. He said in effect, It's a scam.

What is even more amazing (remember this is Al Franken's Minnesota) is that almost no one objected.

I think the global warming scam has finally collapsed of it's own weight.

Anything founded on Bull Poop will sink to that level.

This article is like that.
Does anyone anywhere (other than Obama Voters) believe this any more?

By Jim Fedako

It’s easy to feel isolated from the mainstream, especially with the media crafting images of a collective mass blindly worshipping the state. While it may be true that the center of this mass has turned onto the road to serfdom, the mass itself is not as cohesive as the media leads us to believe. Recently, I became aware of fracture in the collective mass in an area where I thought a fracture could never exist.

Years ago, I started noting something a local TV weatherman mentioned each December. As soon as the temperature turned cold, he would tell viewers that he was installing a backyard skating rink. He even offered to provide installation advice to anyone who called him at the station.

Six years ago, with an approaching winter, I decided to build a rink for my kids’ enjoyment and to ward off my winter blues. I called the weatherman and got the necessary details, built the rink, and waited for the first real cold spell.

Now, a backyard skating rink in Ohio is an iffy proposition. Sure, the water will sit waiting for the cold, but the real cold may never come. While I have my good years and my bad years, this year has turned out to be exceptionally good. We are having a blast skating just about every evening.

Recently, in place of our evening skate, I took my older children to a meeting of the local chapter of the Campaign for Liberty. The topic was global warming and the guest speaker was none other than my local weatherman. As he and I chitchatted before the event, I thanked him for inspiring our backyard fun.

The meeting began and the weatherman rose and addressed the audience. Keep in mind that this gentleman has one of the most recognized faces and trusted names in Central Ohio. Sure, he occasionally gets his temperatures wrong, they all do. However, he is trusted as someone who tells the truth, as he knows it.

His presentation was to the point: There is no proof that human activity is causing global warming. None. Coming from a member of the mainstream media, this statement had quite an impact – coming from this man, even more so.

Over the next 20 minutes, he captivated his audience by detailing the holes in the supposed science of global warming. He successfully indicted the government and its agents for being inept and for working an agenda.

That night, there was no talk of CO2 as a poisonous gas, slowly cooking the Earth’s atmosphere. Instead, my media hero stated the true science of weather: temperatures rise and fall with the number of sunspots, and it is all cyclical. More sunspots, higher temperatures. My skating rink is hard as ice because the sun currently has no spots. No spots, colder temperatures. That is easy science. That is real science.

According to this weatherman, most meteorologists do not support human-induced global warming. Therefore, it would appear that the science of weather is not on the side of human-induced global warming – sorry Al Gore.

The night did not end there. The speaker was more than just a skeptic of global warming; he was a friend of liberty. He presented his political views – views strongly shared by the audience. That is when I realized that we are not alone in our fight.

And it was the realization that sanity does exist – in places I would never expect to find it – that made the evening special. The collective herd is not running as one toward the cliff of socialism. There are the recalcitrant few who still believe in liberty. And these folks have the ability to save our future.

Of course, the audience that night was predisposed to liberty. Nevertheless, trusted voices like my weatherman can halt the herd and expose its agitators – revealing the lies and manipulations for all to see. If only the herd will listen.

Don’t bet that the world will race off the cliff. Many will question the prevailing nonsense if they hear the truth from a trusted voice. And, remember this: like water, most folks simply seek the path of least resistance, without bothering to look toward the horizon and impending doom. For them, politics and economics are best left to the supposed professionals. Yet, with a little coaxing, the right voice can open their eye and allow them to see the approaching cliff and to embrace life and liberty over socialism and chains.

The state’s hold on the collective mass is fractured, and, through each fracture, light shines. Support the efforts of organizations such as the Campaign for Liberty. Help get the trusted voices before the ears of the uniformed and misinformed. Those willing to face the raging herd need as much support as we can give. Liberty lost is liberty never regained.

January 26, 2009

Jim Fedako [send him mail] is a homeschooling father of five who lives in Lewis Center, OH, and maintains a blog: Anti-Positivist.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Muslim Mob Wild in the Street Cower Cops

This is really sad. Right in the streets of Old London. A Muslim crowd pushes around the police. They run.

This is coming to our country in the name of tolerance. This isn't tolerance, this is anarchy.

Not a surprise, Ex Pres Carter is a rat fink

Outgoing President George W. Bush had a warning for President-elect Barack Obama when they gathered with three former presidents at the White House — be wary of “meddlesome” Jimmy Carter.

Bush, Obama, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Carter met for a photo op and lunch on Jan. 7, and W. told Obama the guy he has to watch out for is “James Earl Carter,” a source disclosed to news reporters who were there.

According to a source close to the Bush White House, Bush called Carter “extremely meddlesome” and “a real pain in the neck.” Interestingly, Bush also told Obama that Bill Clinton had been helpful and supportive dealing with foreign leaders.

Carter has irked Bush with his globe-trotting efforts over the years.

* In April 2008, Carter reportedly met in Syria with a leader of Hamas, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization, and laid a wreath at the grave of Yasser Arafat.
* Carter met with Hamas leadership again last December.
* The former president has created controversy by equating Israel’s policies in the Palestinian territories with apartheid.
* In May 2002, Carter visited Cuba and met with Fidel Castro. He has called for an end to the U.S. economic embargo of the island nation.
* Carter criticized the Iraq war as “unnecessary.”
* In June 2005, Carter urged the Bush administration to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.
* In 1994, Carter had traveled to North Korea and brokered an agreement on that nation’s nuclear program. But the agreement collapsed in 2002 after Bush included North Korea in the “axis of evil.”


I am NOT surprised that Bill Clinton has been a great deal of help. Carter was such a jerk and remains one to this day. That's why the ex Presidents despise him so much. I'm guessing Jimmia won't be invited to the White House any time soon.