A Higher Form of Faith? (a theological question)

This is my last post until next Tuesday. I'm going to a Redlin Reunion in Watertown SD. I'm hoping to see Terry Redlin as well. So, until then, sayonara

I have experienced and been taught by Lutherans, Catholics, Baptists, Methodists and Pentecostals in how to pray in faith.

The reformist branches don't reach very far. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. So, pray God's will. That's a good thing if we understand the will of God. Many people pray thy will be done as a cop out and if nothing happens it's God's will. I soon found that to be a pretty insipid way to reach out in faith.

Then there is talisman faith. Baptists and Methodists use this a great deal. They tag a holy talisman on the end of every prayer and hope if they tag it on with enough gusto God would think enough of them to respond. The talisman? In Jesus Name. Not a bad thing to do. In fact it's scriptural. It's just that we tag it on the end of the prayer like putting a stamp on an envelope hoping it will get thru the heavenly post office. Our faith is in the talisman.

Now, to be absolutely clear. When I pray, I always pray in Jesus name. It's the right thing to do. It increases my faith. I also pray according to the revealed will of God. Jesus told us to do so. The problem is it has become very formulaic and automatic for much of the body of Christ to invoke those two methodologies. Not much faith goes into a prayer that prays if it be thy will and in Jesus name without the consideration of what that really means. You could just as well read from a prayer book and expect the same results.

That's the Catholic way. They invoke rote prayers with lots of repetition, appealing to saints and Mary the mother of Jesus. No power just activity. I'm not upset with all that. I can listen to the rosary and get something out of it. When I'm traveling and listen to Catholic radio I do find it soothing and engaging when they pray the rosary. I'm just not convinced how much faith is involved.

There is a story in the Bible which I think is instructive. Jesus had just given a teaching on forgiveness of sin and an admonition regarding the treatment of little children. The apostles were obviously staggered and perhaps a bit fearful of what was just said. They implore Jesus in Luke 17 verses 5-10:

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"

He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.

"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' "

What does this mean? When they ask Jesus for a higher level of faith he tells them to talk to the tree to be planted in the sea. He doesn't tell them to pray that God would plant it in the sea, he doesn't tell them to see if it's God's will for it to be planted in the sea, he tells them to speak to the tree. In faith, their words.

An aside, a tree can't be planted in the sea and prosper. It will die, I say that as a plant guy. Even if it's not a salty sea like the sea of Galilee the plant cannot thrive in the water in the natural. Yet, IF we speak to the tree and it is planted in the sea it must prosper. That means impossible circumstances are made possible when we speak the very creative power of God (WORDS like He created the universe with) to the situation.

He said to them in Matthew 17:21 amp This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.

This isn't the first time Jesus tells them to talk to situations and it should respond. There are two confirming scriptural passages with identical admonitions:

MARK 11:23 NKJ "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, `Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says.

Matthew 17:20 (New International Version)
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

What about you, are YOU supposed to speak to your mountains or just pray about it which it the usual admonition you hear on Christian talk shows. Maybe we are not telling you the truth according to the revealed word of God. Let's look a little further.

Jesus talked to things, and taught that “whoever” could also speak to mountains. A mountain is primarily any obstacle that stands in your way. Faced with obstacles, most Christians pray to God. But Jesus told us to speak directly to the obstacle and tell it to be removed.

There is nothing wrong with discussing things with God. You should. But when something is blocking your progress — Jesus said YOU should tell it to get out of the way.

Most Christians just speak to God about the mountain, instead of following Jesus’ directions and speaking directly to the mountain. Are you just talking to God about the problems in your life, instead of talking directly to the problems and telling them to be removed?

According to Jesus, unbelief keeps us from speaking to our mountains. We need a higher form of faith.

What is the mountain in your life? What stands in the way of your progress? What holds you back from going forward and fulfilling God’s plan?

Speak God’s Word to that mountain! Speak to the devil and his forces and tell them to get out of your affairs. Speak to sickness and tell it that it can’t stay in your body. Speak to debt and financial lack and tell them to be removed from your life. Speak to doubt, fear, and worry and tell them to be gone.

If you say, "I just can’t believe it would do any good for me to talk to problems," that’s why you still have them.

Read what Jesus said again, and again.

When you come up against it Jesus said nothing said about praying in Jesus name, nothing about will of God. It's about speaking to situations, circumstances, diseases, finance and whatever other mountain, tree or weed is in our lives that stands between us and the destiny we carry in our being. It's an increased level of faith.

Of course we should pray. We must pray and have our faith built up, then we must speak in faith and confidence that the situation will be resolved because we speak in faith.

When Jesus came down from the mount of transfiguration there was a demon possessed boy. The disciples had been praying for him, they had been saying what Jesus said to others in mimicry. They had been tentative. The demon wouldn't come out. Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith. He did that a great deal. He said to them in essence there is a higher level of faith when you finish praying and start commanding things to be as you say them to be. Most of us never get out of the first stage of faith and to the next level which Jesus admonished us to reach. Speak to it.


When I minister to the sick, I pray first, I prepare myself and the person I'm praying for. I want their faith and mine to be a full power before I speak to the sickness. Then at the kairos moment I speak the word of Faith. I expect people to be healed. I expect finances to come in. I expect family members to be protected. It's our destiny.

Today in a conversation with Pastor Barry Kolb he told a story which exactly demonstrates this teaching. He said:

"I was on a bus in winter in Russia. Russian and American pastors. The bus ran off the road into the ditch. It was stuck pretty well. We all got off the bus. The American Pastors were all on one side of the bus trying to figure out how to dig themselves out, what could be put under the tires, what might make it all work. They were putting their minds to it. On the other side of the bus the Russian Pastors were praying up a storm. They were getting their faith built up. Then at one moment they all got behind the bus and with one fell swoop the big old bus was pushed up on the road. Of course it was impossible. The American pastors spent the next little while measuring the depth of the rut the bus had just come out of. The Russian Pastors were raising their hands and praising God".

Some years ago I was transporting the Bishop and some other pastors back from the airport. We stopped at my house. They needed some stuff from the trunk of the car. But we had packed the trunk so tightly the trunk was stuck shut. We were all frustrated and I thought I was going to have to take it to the dealership to get the trunk to open. A young ministers wife (20 years old) said, "Let's pray and ask Jesus to open the trunk". We pastors and ministers looked at each other and said, "you go ahead". She prayed a simple prayer of faith and then said, "Trunk open". Of course you already know what happened. The trunk popped right open. I have tell this story to humiliate myself that I was one of the ministers that told that young woman to "go ahead". I didn't enter in. Lack of faith. No wait, that's not true, I had faith, in the car dealership to open that trunk.

IF (and I'm preaching to myself here too) you want a thing to happen or move in your life you must speak to the thing. Pray first, be built up by praying in the Holy Ghost then speak in faith believing. Even if you don't see it right away, believe. We need to walk by faith and not by sight. Jude 20 admonition Jude 1:20 (New King James Version) But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,

The last part of Jesus' instruction, Do what you do as a servant and don't expect to get any thanks or blame for what you do. Just DO IT. When I pray for a sick or distressed person and speak words of faith over them, if they are healed all glory goes to God. If they are not healed I carry no blame. It's up to the Father in heaven. I do what I'm told. That's why you must read this last part of what Jesus said once again:

"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' "

When I speak to a mountain, when I speak to a mulberry tree in faith believing I'm just doing my duty. You go do yours and speak to those mountains in your life. When they move take no credit. Just have joy that they responded to you.

The disciples have just had the opportunity to test their faith in speaking. They come back and this dialog takes place:

Luke 10:17-23 (with my commentary)

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." (THEY TRIED IT AND THEY LIKED THE RESULTS, KIND OF PROUD OF IT ALL)

He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (HE IS SAYING AGAIN, YOU ARE DOING WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO, REJOICE THAT YOU ARE A CALLED SERVANT OF GOD)

At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. (IT GIVES JESUS GREAT JOY TO SEE YOU AND ME OPERATE IN THIS HIGHER FORM OF FAITH)

"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." (THIS REVELATION IS ONLY BY THE CHOICE OF JESUS, IT MUST BE CAPTURED BY FAITH)

Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."

They will. I've seen it. I'll see it again. So can YOU!

ENERGY REPORT

I have been following the whole biofuel development for a long time. I know President Bush has taken a position on the technology that will solve all the problems of the world of fuels. That is his Hydrogen and fuel cell ideas and the push toward ethanol. That is a mistake. We need to allow the marketplace to solve the whole thing. There are a couple of bright spots on the horizon. Here's a review:

Ethanol. Finally, it has come fully to light by anyone with common sense that the whole ethanol headlong push is a farce when we use corn or grains as feedstocks. Cellulosic conversion doesn't work, YET. I'm not sure it will. In the end the chemistry doesn't hold up (I'm pretty deep in Organic Chemistry, I had Jungle Jim as a professor at NDSU) . Perhaps a feedstock genetically developed to yield more sugars like Sugar Cane or High Fructose Corn would be a good intermediate step. What's happening now is a joke and a travesty. Welfare for farmers is all it is.

Biodiesel from Grain like Soybeans. Same deal as Ethanol. You can't grow and crush enough oil to make it work. It's a scam. Plus you are mono-cropping and mining the soils and taking land out of production that would be better used for food and forage production rather than hammering the earth for a few beans to drive the diesel pickup around on. Again if it's possible to develop genetically a plant that produces huge volumes of oil MAYBE there might be some sense to it. I doubt it very seriously.

Butanol. I had high hopes for this technology and perhaps at some point someone will make a breakthrough. It depends on a direct conversion of unfermented sugars processed at high heats and fractions extracted from the precipitates. A shaky low output program. While at first glance it might seem to be a good plan since the promise of being able to use any sugars containing feedstuff (even lawn grass) would be great. The issue gets to be how do you get it captured before it converts to pure cellulose (drys out). My faith is much less on all this.

Garbage conversion: The whole idea of mass fermentation and reduction of garbage into energy makes a great deal of sense if it's combined with the recapture of metals, plastics, and glass for recycling. And, if the deitrus after the conversion is incinerated is used for energy for pyrolysis the system would be a closed loop. The net energy output from this would be less than the cost to do it. BUT, we already artificially support Ethanol. Wouldn't it make more sense to support this and get the energy from the process. Besides, even post consumer plastics can be converted to crude by a pyrolitic process. The water bottle you drank from was made from oil and using pyrolitics the oil can be recovered. As technology continues to find ways to do organic conversions perhaps the oil could be more efficiently recovered. All I know is we throw away masses of latent energy every day and recovering that makes sense.

Hydrogen. NOPE. Just Nope. Nothing about all that makes any sense at all.

Power from Sea Water. Sure. Sort of. I think there may be a way we will use sea water but this may not be it. Fractioning it electrolytically is a poor answer. The power needed to do this is more than the power generated. So we burn coal, oil and natural gas to generate electricity to split water into h2 and o. Dumb

Wind and Solar. Be sure to wear your hemp shirt. It's a bogus zero sum game. No energy is ever actually generated on the plus side by wind when all the inputs are measured. It's a phony program with feel good press releases. Solar has more promise as solar cells continue to improve and they are getting better every day. The problem is like flying to the sun. If you go during the day you will be burned up. You can only fly to the sun when it's night out. (Norwegian Joke). You only generate electricity when the sun shines. It doesn't always shine. Sometimes it's dark. We always need electricity. Putting power back into the grid is a shell game. Pittsburgh never gets a shot at solar power generated in New Mexico. It never makes the trip whole. Line losses and all. But for the earth mother crowd this is a solution that makes everyone feel good but doesn't work.

There are a couple of promising technologies that make real sense on the horizon.

Oil from Coal. It's like oil from Shale Sand. Same technologies. I think this makes sense if we can just get the global warming scam put to bed. If you want to take a simple 10 question test to see if you really understand the whole human caused global warming issue, here's a link for you to look at.

Nuclear Energy. Always made sense. Still does. We need to come up with a better way to dispose of used radioactive wastes. There are technologies that make some sense. If we do this right there is a lot of weapons grade nuclear material that could power the globe for a very very long time.

Algae that is 50% biofuel when crushed from sea water and dirty water like sewage to me holds the greatest promise. I have been high on this low tech way of capturing the sun's energy and converting it to liquid fuel for a long time. I think I am about to be vindicated. It's crude but functional and makes more sense than anything else I have seen. You can read all about it here.

I have been a fan of plug in electric cars my whole life and they have a place. Hybrids are a phony baloney technology. There is hybrid technology that makes sense. It's just not the one we have now. Current hybrids are still hula hoops. Hip to own but not sensible.

We are not going to overthrow a whole liquid fuel powered industry and economic system for some non-working one. We will figure out how to create fuels that can one for one go directly into our fuel tanks and work in our 57 Chevys and diesel trucks. We will. The internal combustion engine isn't going away any time soon. Nor should it.

The good news is in the short run there is no global shortage of oil. There's lots of it. Easy oil is not as easy to find as it once was. Oklahoma gushers are rare. I would rather not dig up the tundra of Alaska. I would rather not drill in the arctic. Siberia is still largely untapped. The Bering strait is full of oil and untapped. South America has lots of undiscovered oil and Africa is loaded, Kenya, Nigeria, and others. The middle east can still pump as much as they ever did.

Much of the issues with oil shortages are political. The good news is I would like to tell the criminals that hold the world's oil to kiss my pitute. I want the USA free of the stranglehold those places have on us.

I believe that day is coming. SOON!

The permanent weaker brother

 

 

I try hard to be conscious of the weaker brother (or sister).  I don't want to be a stumbling block.  Where I fall down is the man or woman who refuses out of spiritual pride or a religious spirit to grow in Christ.  They can do nothing in Christ Jesus because they don't know him. 

 

1st Corinthians 13 is about spiritual maturity.  You can do all kinds of religious things but if they are done for show and not love they are worthless and demonstrate a person's immaturity.  How do I know? I'm an expert at putting on a good show. 

 

We know that if a little girl of 8 has the head come off her Doll she will cry and run to daddy.  But at 20, or 30?  If every little thing in life is a major catastrophe that's a sign of spiritual immaturity. 

 

Or little kids can pout for a long time about petty things.  But I know people in their 40's and 50's who are upset and depressed about things they should have got over 20 years ago. 

 

People who are big babies at 40 never grew up at 12.

 

Life is tough sometimes.  In Hebrews 11:24-26 it says of Moses (who Jesus revered in the story of Lazarus and the rich man): 

   

It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God's people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward.

 

HE CHOSE to suffer. 

 

Being a big baby when you should have grown up already has a name.  It's called SIN.  I must confess, if a weaker brother wants to grow stronger I will do everything I can do to help him.  But, if he doesn't want to step out of his weakness, I will do what I can do to offend him to shock him into reality.  Even Jesus was offended with Peter and Offended Peter by saying "Get thee behind me Satan".  I'll bet when Jesus said at the Last Supper "One of you is a devil" all eyes looked at Peter. 

 

Peter wasn't offended.  He didn't go off and pout.  He did stupid things but kept pushing in. 

 

That's my kind of man, weak but trying.

 

I just have little time for the permanent weaker brother.

Fear of Failure

I have been accused of being overly bold sometimes, even foolhardy. That is a strength in my eyes. I have been writing my testimony for the men's retreat. It's mostly about my failures before Jesus.

What I have come to realize is this, when I was born again my spirit man stopped producing any further fear in me. In other words I believed that I could not be anything but successful in Jesus if I just believed, had faith as a mustard seed and could say to the mountain, say to the sycamyne tree and they would respond.

On the other hand, my spirit can be fed fear. Fear from news media, fear from friends, fear from politicians. I then can decide to accept or reject the fear being fed me. One of our presidents of this great country said,

"So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance".

Yes, that is FDR. He was so correct when it came to fear and the reaction many have to it.

The one thing I have seen in reviewing my life is my point of failure is exactly where my fear point began. Whenever I allow myself to be afraid of taking a step I should take that is the seed of failure.

Fear Stops Faith Steps

I don't know why this is coming up but I wanted to mention what has become obvious to me. When I begin to fear I begin to fail.

If you are gonna be a blogger you gotta blog

I have several friends who after seeing my blog and Julies and a few others decide "I too shall have a blog".

They are easy to start. Easy to begin.

But, if you gonna be a blogger you gotta blog. Every day. If Possible. If you skip you lose readers. People come expecting something and if nothings there they bail.

I have 20 or so blogs on my RSS feeds. You would be surprised how limited peoples blogging really is.

SO, all my good friends who decided to blog because they saw this monkey do, BLOG darn it.

That's why you went to all the trouble. Tell me what you had for lunch. Why the democrats/republicans are all idiots, what your dog did yesterday. Just blog. It's not that hard and it's a good way for those of us who love you to figure out what you are up to.

OK?

Red Moon Rising

Last Night coming back from Church we were far out in the country. It was about 8:30PM. The moon was just coming up. As it breached the horizon and took it's place in the sky the color was bright orange with a smiling face on it. Like the Jack-O- Lanterns of youth.

I know that what I was seeing was just dust in the air adding their tinge of color to the full moon face. I know that. But it is really a glorious sight to behold and at the edge of the horizon as it comes up looks like it takes up half the sky. Not really half but it is beautiful.

Men of long ago spoke prophetically about the moon turning red. That was an ominous sign. Sometimes in war so much smoke and dust would be generated that at certain angles looking thru the dust the moon would appear red.

I don't know if there is any sign. I do know that the moon was pumpkin orange last night. That isn't always the color. It was pretty. But there are anniversaries coming up that terrorists like to observe.

So, I'll watch by the light of a Jack-O-Lantern Moon.

Racking up the Hours

For a lot of reasons I spent a total of 8 hours in church or church services yesterday. My couch called me but I couldn't respond. No nap.

In the morning I dressed like SPOCK to engage folks to come to the men's retreat in two weeks. A couple men signed up.

In the afternoon I was part of the first service ever in the new building in Berwyn. I don't think that precious old church building had heard anything like that in decades. The man from the elder board who sat in as an observer really loved what he saw and heard.

I'm convinced that this is going to work. I'm convinced there is much much more to all this than meets the eye.

Then, we were off to Rockford, our normal church night. A man who came to speak as a prophet and teacher was really on. I had to take a short nap before. But, when 5 guitars, 3 drummers, 2 keyboards, 4 singers and a wind section cranked up full blast I woke up.

The man had a word of warning for me. He pointed his finger at me and told me something I needed to hear. It's a bit frightening knowing HE knows. Not Mike, the Lord. I think sometimes I live like no one knows. HE DOES.

If I had been in the Pilgrim churches of early America I would have been considered a piker. They would go 4 hours at a crack twice on Sunday on a wooden bench without air conditioning. I did my 8 with many luxuries. HOWEVER, at the end of 8 hours I settled back for a long summer's nap.

Too Many Chokecherries

In North Dakota there was always a tug of war between the bird and me regarding the chokecherries on our bushes out front.

They were up earlier and ate faster than we could pick. Jays, Robins, Gracklings, blackbirds. They all feasted at the Redlin table.

I was superficially irritated but I liked to see the birds eat too.

This year it's different. We have far too few apples, no bees. And at this late date the chokecherries are drying up on the branch. This is a bad situation.

I won't use them. We still have chokecherry jelly and chokecherry syrup (the secret is grind them WITH the pits, it's fabulous).

But there are no birds to eat the fruit ready to harvest. Oh there are birds but not cherry eating birds. Nile Virus. It's sad.

I don't know if other areas are short of birds this summer but I am. Come on you guys. The cherries are free and will never taste better.

Sad but Glorious Loss

Since there is next of kin to be notified I'll not say more than this loss of a man who was a family friend happened yesterday in a sad but glorious way. I know he would have wanted to go like this. At the helm of his beloved airplane. Many pilots who I know think of the time of their stepping from time into eternity at the yoke of their bird as an apt way to go. Beats 2 years at a nursing home.

Here's the story. The Forum hasn't acknowledged yet that a Dakota Pilot is the man in the story.

Hail to you Gerry, You died as you lived.

UPDATE:
The Fargo Forum has now published the story.

A local WI TV station has told the story also.

Great Music

A Great Song is Jason Upton's Reason to Doubt from his CD FAITH.

He's a Minnesota Boy who's done good.

The Lyrics are below. If I could find it on line for you to listen to this great song I would. I looked but it's not there.


REASON TO DOUBT BY JASON UPTON

I lived my life for a while
Asking for signs to believe in
God played defense in my trial
Quietly hanging there bleeding
While i cast lots for his robe
While i point my bloody finger
He pays debts that i owe
He says "Father, forgive them"
I used to ask for a sign to believe in
But he never gave me a reason to ever doubt Him

Give me one reason to doubt He is Messiah
Give me one reason to doubt He is alive
Give me one reason to doubt i am the apple of His eye

Just one reason now
Just one reason to doubt
Ahh ah ah
Just one reason now
Just one reason to doubt
Jesus Christ

I see the faith of our fathers
Abraham, Issac, and Jacob
They never saw what was promised
But they never once felt forsaken
Through fire, famine, and sword
Tribulation and war
They never asked for a sign to beleive in
So tell me how we stand in judgment and ever doubt Him

Give me one reason to doubt He is Messiah
Give me one reason to doubt He is alive
Give me one reason to doubt i am the apple of His eye

Just one reason now
Just one reason to doubt
Ahh ah ah (x2)
Just one reason now
Just one reason to doubt
Jesus Christ

Computer Update Update

Well here it is nearly 3 weeks into it and Kevin hasn't killed me yet. I'm a joy to work with ; -)). We're almost up to full power. He seems not to mind my yelling at him all the time. I don't but I can get a little irritable.

We now have high speed. It works. I'm supposed to be able to download at 6 meg or something. It was the fastest ATT DSL sold.

Meanwhile my email provider went offline regarding outbound emails. I get them but I have to send under another email server. All in all silly.

The new HP computer with 2 gig of memory and 200 gig of drive and dual processors is OK. I could have lived without Vista. After 3 weeks it's still awful. If you have XP hang on to it for 2 more years. Maybe someday Vista will get straightened out. I looked at Office 2007 and downloaded Open Office (Free office suite). It's much better than the gobbledygook Microsoft put out. I had to download Realplayer since windows player doesn't play anything. Windows Mail is a joke. It's supposed to be the follow up to Outlook Express. DUMB is what it is. Good ol Thunderbird was Johnny on the spot.

The new computer is fast. Peggy's is full up to speed too. A new Power Supply (Quiet!) and another 384 MB of memory made it a real computer. The upgrade only cost $80.

So, I blog at lightspeed now. Hopefully I'll do some actual work soon.

I am listening to a great internet radio network. THE WELL.

High Speed has many advantages like listening to great music while working. I need to get a set of good speakers to enhance the experience. This is the kind of music that sooths the soul and causes vision to be recovered. Try it.

What's interesting is I personally know many of the artists on this feed. They are rooted in the House of Prayer Movement which kicked off in the late 90's in Kansas City. Peggy and I were present at the birth of this whole thing. That's where I'm headed, to the house of prayer in about 10 minutes. I do it every Friday Night.

Till Tomorrow.

Five Greatest Influences for Good in my Life

We are all influenced or influence everyone we meet every day.  I have been fortunate to have known 5 men who helped shape me into the man I have become.  I also want to help shape others to become the men or women they can become.   It's a "pass it on" obligation.  It's a debt I can't pay back to them but can pay forward to those yet to come.  So I do what I can do hoping a few men I can have some positive influence on will settle an unsettled debt.

 

Earl Redlin: I have written much about him but he is a role model and helped shape this man at a young age with humor, joy and the capacity to look past the situation at hand to what can be.  He is the man who never quit in spite of opposition from people all around.  He never quit working even well into his 80s. I learned much about doing the right thing from him.

 

Dr. Robert Godwin:  He was my Choir director in concert choir at NDSU for 3 years.  An ex-marine he was a taskmaster.  There were no excuses.  There was no failure.  Only better.  His good humor and ability to have fun when fun was to be had and still work at a difficult piece of music made emulating his style of direction a goal in my life.  He dreamed great dreams.  Now retiring in his late 80's he still finds things to challenge his soul.  I Learned about discipline to a task from him.

 

Clair Hudson:  My first real boss.  He was a top down manager who had a vision and who when he decided to follow it was unstoppable.  There was little democratic about his operating style.  Yet he loved his people.  He cared about them.  It's just that his expectation was that we would do what he said we were to do.  If we found success it was because we took the ball he insisted we take and ran with it.  Sometimes a tyrant driven by too much, he showed that Vision and Determination would overcome much.  I learned to never give up, never give in and keep the eye squarely on the ball from him.  I also learned not to be offended if someone yells at you.  Thicken up the thin places in your skin.  He used to say, "Steers try, bulls succeed, what is the difference?"   He implied in his own crude way that sometimes you just have to have the courage to act and quit talking about it.

 

Loehle Gast:  He was the man who got me into Dale Carnegie.  I always appreciated his positive attitude.  Eventually he hired me to form and teach classes which I did for over 10 years.  It was a great time in my life.  I learned the skill of standing before people and getting desired results.  But more important from Loehle I learned to find inspiration in everything I touched or saw.  No sparrow fell to the ground without a story.  Under his good hand I became a confident positive person and during my working with and for him taught thousands of people in speaking, sales effectiveness, management ability and dealing more effectively with others.  He took this rough cut piece of wood from rural Dakota and helped form me into someone who believes in himself with the help of God.  That was a part of my life I didn't up till then have the tools for.  He gave them to me.

 

Pastor Dan Rothwell:  When I first met Pastor Dan in the mid 70's I was impressed with his smile and willingness to be engaged.  I didn't become part of his Church until the early 80's.  I was newly converted from being a nominal Lutheran to a passionate Christian.  I wanted to find a place to grow.  He showed me.  The WOW factor was everywhere.  I had as a Lutheran never seen, heard or experienced anything quite like that.  I saw my first healing in my own body by the laying on of hands thru Pastor Dan.  Faith for health, finance, relationship, mental wholeness and a hundred other things took all the parts of the puzzle and brought them together.  Even when I resisted some of the "New Things" in the body of Christ he dove in with both feet and tested the water.  I became his friend and we spent much time together.  One Monday morning after a particularly way out Sunday Night I called him to ask why we went there.  His answer was a good one.  "If we don't give air to all the things that are stirring in the Body of Christ we will become stale and dry".   He agreed that the guy who has spoken and ministered was way off but that sometimes we need to hear a view that tests our own theology.  I learned much about managing time, managing ministry and the power of managing by expectation.  No one wanted to disappoint Pastor Dan.  If you said you were going to do something you did it.  He wouldn't yell, he'd just be disappointed.  Life in the spirit was for him an adventure to be tested and tried.  Before he was famous Benny Hinn came to our church.  Before he was famous Rodney Howard Browne came to our church.  He allowed people to come and be who they believed God wanted them to become.  He allowed me the same.  I learned from him that God has a call on every one, and we can encourage them to find it and develop it. 

 

Of course there are influences today in my life I value.  Todd Beery.  Don Lyon.  But today I am now on the other side.  I have a responsibility to pay back what has been deposited in me as best I can.  These formative people are all either in the late sunset years of life or gone on to heaven.  I can only do what I can today for those yet to come.  I hope I can pay it all forward.

 

 "When I approach a child, he inspires in me two sentiments: tenderness for what he is, and respect for what he may become."
- Louis Pasteur

"A great man is one who affects the mind of his generation."
- Disraeli

"Nothing in life is more exciting and rewarding than the sudden insight that leaves you a changed person - not only changed but for the better."
- Arthur Gordan

"It is only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth--and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up--that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had."
- Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

"True contentment is the power to get out of every situation what there is in it."
- G.K. Chesterton

Dakota Ghosts

Now and then in the eye of my mind I travel back to a North Dakota that may never have actually been except in the rosy color of my imagination.

Tickle of a breeze thru a tall cottonwood tree shaking the leaves with the spirits of the day.
Thousands of acres producing cattails and ducklings in abundance only God will ever be able to count.

From a high place 25 shades of green are in view, no wait 26; who can count? Huge round bales assembled like marshmallows waiting to be smores for a hungry animal in winter.

Pheasants spring up broods of tennis balls on feet chasing mom across the road. A daddy rooster soars overhead in all his oriental regalia unaware his gene pool scoots along under the canopy of grass just below him.

Wide and far horizons reveal every red purple and gold detail the palate of color sunrise and sunset extends. Infinite distance begs the eye to find the end of it all. We never do.

Vacant farmsteads and dying small towns with structures and populations collapsing belie the beautiful ghetto that is North Dakota, betraying disappointment and promise.

Sunrises come too early and the dusks exceedingly late. Time doesn't seem to matter as much when there's more than you can spend before being spent. Pelicans gather in white pillows resting on the shore of ponds safely away. It's time to sleep and wake again. North Dakota I loved thee once. Sometimes a stirring at the hand of a better lover than I awakens a lost dream of you. Julie did. Read her post. It's beautiful.

Common Sense Lost Today

I won't go back in time. In this blog 5 days after Katrina hit I suggested that the best thing to do with the low places with empty ruined buildings in New Orleans rather than try to rebuild was bulldoze the whole thing, crush and landfill them. This is historically what people have done for centruies. Build on the ruins of former days. We have a landfill that is now a golf course near me. It works. It's less of an eyesore than the rat infestation that is now New Orleans.

Don't landfill a big mountain, just fill in the low places. New Orleans is lost anyway. It will never be what it was. Only wealthy folks are coming back. Heck they are even going to vote republican. Mayor Nagin is over.

So, once more, with gusto, bulldoze the whole works. Fill in the low spots, grow grass for a while then build on that in 20 years.

Here's a couple resources examples:

Chicago was expanded east into the lake after the Chicago Fire. Pretty much everything EAST of Michigan Ave is fill. Smart move. It needed to be raised.

From Comments to this Post:

It's amazing what they'll build cities on top of. Anything named Tel in the Mideast has probably got a mound of cities underneath it. A big thing in the western US is cities that raised their ground level, so you have everyone's old ground floor becoming the basement, as in "Underground Seattle" and even in my own town of Port Angeles. I know they raised Chicago a good 70' (20m) after the big fire in the 1870s. There are probably some pretty neat basements.

I think underground Atlanta is the same thing after Sherman leveled it. Why are we not doing what we should do in New Orleans and start over? Stupid Politics is why.

Otherwise we will have to do this:




HatTip to Barry Kolb

I disapprove of Bush

I heard an AP dispatch saying that nearly 70% of Americans disapprove of Bush's handling of the war in Iraq. Count Me among those people. I disapprove.

I think there are lots of people in my camp. We disapprove. We wish he would have and would still commit us to all out winning of this war once and for all. Use all (read that all) of the warfare tools, pull no punches. Arrest or kill Al Sadar. Forget the political mess. Crush the murderous insurgency with every tool available. That's why you have to read between the lines of a poll when it's published. Disapproval of handling doesn't mean disapproval of the war on terrorists.

I disapprove of GWB's Walk Soft Manner in conducting this war.

IF I WERE ABLE TO MAKE POLICY I WOULD: (White House I hope you are monitoring this phone call)

Give this notice to the Sunni Neighborhoods where most roadside bombs are (after the area is surrounded): You have 3 days to leave this neighborhood. After that it will be bombed to the ground. Only rubble will remain. You can escape death but as you exit we will interrogate, imprison who we want and in general treat every refugee as a potential criminal. Here are the gates from which you can escape. If you try to escape any other way you will be killed. You will be stopped, strip searched, interrogated, and suspected. Then after those 3 days, level the place. Leave not ONE stone on top of another. If anyone stays behind they are killed. Scorched earth policy.

Do this one neighborhood at at time until all insurgency is crushed. You wouldn't have to destroy every neighborhood. After a couple neighborhoods were crushed they'd be anxious to get the criminals out in the open pretty quick.

Declare free Kurdistan. Put borders up. They aren't Iraqi's anyhow. They aren't even Arabs. They are Kurds who are the Ancient Medes, as in Medes and Persians (Iranians) not Arabs either. Have as part of the freedom a debt to be paid via Oil Revenue to finance the battle in the rest of Iraq. Money after that will be remitted as reparations for a while. Don't ask them what they want, tell them.

Put Chalibi in Charge of Iraq as America's dictator. Empower powerful rich Iraqi-Americans in Dearborn Michigan to go there and take over. It's our country now, we bought and paid for it.

Make universal conscription in Iraq the order of the day. Joblessness is rampant. If an Iraqi doesn't have a Job, he's in the army now. The only exemption is if you have an essential job. We would pay them for their conscription but put them in ranks and if anyone gets out of line in the Military type, shoot them, NOW, publicly. That's how you keep order in the army. A few executions from the ranks will enforce discipline. Tell them, rebel, step out of line and it's up against the wall.

IF ANY Cleric acts up in the country and tries to foment revolution he must be hunted down like a dog and killed. I would start with Al Sadar.

I would FIRE the whole "on vacation" Legislature who didn't come back from vacation in 3 days. NO questions asked. Your credentials disappear if you don't show up for work.

Yes, it would be a dictatorship but I disapprove of allowing people to pretend to rule themselves when they refuse to do so. If Chalibi is half the man I think he is he could carry this out easily. If not him, someone else just as mean would be appropriate.

Sure, money would be stolen, lives lost. How is that different from what it is now? We must get this under control. We need to get the Iraqi's to step up by persuasion or force. Persuasion doesn't seem to be working sooo....

The surge was a good idea and it is working. It just isn't enough. George W Bush is just too nice a guy. That is his weakness.

Those Wretched Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers

The most revered man in the early church by Christians other than Jesus the Christ is the Apostle Paul. We have an image of him as a holy man, pure, devoted, nearly sinless and overflowing with wisdom from God. He is most quoted in the Church. He is called St. Paul. Saintly. Holy.

The problem is St Paul was human. Very Human. If he were alive today he would be pilloried by the press of today and discounted in his ability to hear from or report what God is saying. He would be called a hypocrite.

Read what is said in this article regarding this man who called himself Wretched. When they called him a hypocrite he would probably agree. When people call ME a hypocrite I agree. That doesn't make the Apostle Paul any less a man used of God in Great Things. I hope the same is true of the call of God on my life.

I bring this up because I have become aware of a syndrome that has developed in and outside the church. We have a culture of ridicule that we live in. John Stewart, Don Colbert, Letterman and Leno. They don't tell jokes anymore they make fun of people. No one is perfect (except them).

That has now invaded all our thinking. People who don't believe in God will believe what news media and these jokesters say. They believe that the credibility of the message people bring is measured not by the source of the message but by the character or morality of the messenger. Yet in news reportage it seems to be OK that a reporter can be a moral miscreant and still be able to deliver the truth if his sources are good. Yet in spiritual things it seems like we in the church have bought the lie that our messengers have to be perfect or worse pretend to be perfect. We no longer depend on the credibility of the source but on the nature of the delivery system.

I have a handbook given me when I was credentialed as a minister. It has lots of warnings about how important it is to live a holy perfect life in order to not be disqualified as a minister of God. On the surface I agree with the concept. A preacher shouldn't spend a lot of time in Strip Clubs and then expect his congregation to hear what he has to say on Sunday Mornings. But there is a flaw in this philosophy. No minister of God is sinless for very long. In fact all have sinned and sin. If a minister particularly in the fivefold gifts is going to have a shot at living up to this ideal he must do one of two things:

Pretend to live holy lives. Pretend to have overcome sin. Pretend to be perfect. I have known many men who crumbled under this self imposed pressure collapsed under hidden sin.

Or be transparent and run the risk that people will judge him on his hypocrisy. I have chosen this and get a lot of flack. How can YOU bring God's Holy word when we know you are very human and prone to sin.

I have been working in Church work for nearly 30 years. This has given me the opportunity to get to know the dark side of many men and women of God. I can tell you with authority that I have never ever met even one who can stand sinless before the throne of grace of their own accord. They all need and continue to need the blood of Jesus.

Here's the question I would have of anyone who uses the idea that the person who speaks for God can't be speaking for God because they aren't externally holy or sinless enough. WHO WOULD YOU BELIEVE? The pope? The Dali Lama? Trust me they sin too. Who among any Christian Leaders today are sinless enough that you would trust that if they said to you, "This is the word of the Lord for you" and you would say coming from Him or Her I would believe him.

Using the hypocrisy test the answer has to be I can believe NO ONE. This is a scheme Satan has used to blind people to the truth of the Gospel. Even the very word of God, The Bible is now doubted to be infallible by many. There is no longer truth or light. People are lost because they can't answer the question, who would you believe. IF you are going to get the word of the Lord from anyone it will have to come thru a fellow Wretched Man or Woman.

Jesus told the story of the rich man and Lazarus. This was not a parable, this was a story about real people, Jesus called him a CERTAIN RICH MAN. Lazarus dies and goes to heaven (I know you theologians it isn't heaven in the story, I'm trying to keep it simple). The rich man dies and goes to hell. He sees Lazarus in Heaven. He says, send someone to tell my 5 brothers about this horrible place. Jesus said, "They have the prophets and the scriptures, they don't believe them, they wouldn't believe someone even if he ROSE FROM THE DEAD, speaking of course about himself." The Leno's and Letterman's of the day (scribes and parasites) defamed the messengers and destroyed the message. They poked fun and ridiculed Jesus constantly until they got the people to rise up and say Crucify Him Crucify Him. It's no different today. People called of God are constantly crucified with Christ. We are ridiculed and poked fun at. In a way it's a confirmation of the Call of God on our lives. No one ever kicks a dead dog. If we weren't speaking truth we wouldn't be so subject to the pressure of criticism.

Thinking of that I qualify pretty well. I'm a hypocrite and wretched. So if you will hear from Paul you might be able to hear from others. I have come to trust the word of the Lord from a sold out man or woman of God and look past the fact that they are really human and prone to fall into sin from time to time. One man I most love and appreciate as a Man of God is at his heart one of the most flawed human beings I have ever known. It doesn't take away from the Gift God has Placed in him to carry. He's the real deal.

The world has it's false apostles. News, entertainment folks, celebrities, popular politicians. They live phony lives and they project an image that can't hold up. Yet the world flocks to them hoping to believe.

I would rather get my message from people who are honest with us and with themselves to say, "I'm wretched and I have a good word for you". The Church needs to hear what St John (who I'm guessing wasn't all that saintly either) said in his dying days to people who were believers and were in church and were trying to make life work:

1 John 1:5-10 NLT

5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. 7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

The reality of ministry is, we are sinners. We have seen light. We are no longer living in spiritual darkness but we still sin. We confess it, we believe for deliverance and we stop living the life of the hypocrite.

I regret to say many are still putting on a mask and pretending to be something they are not. God deliver them. Deliver ME!

I once more think of that robe that Pastor Phil mentioned and why old high church ministers put it on to preach or minister: To hide in the call of God on their lives and to deflect people from looking at the weak human bearing the strong message. I think there is merit in all that.

The BIG Lie

It's hot in the southwest. It's never been hotter. In fact it's so hot it may mean the end of civilization as we know it.

That's what the news media promotes. It's part of the Hitlarian BIG LIE. Tell a big lie loud enough and long enough and maybe you can fool the dummies.

Guess what, it works.

When it's 100+ degrees in North Dakota or 114 in Phoenix the reportage is not that, "Phoenix is having a real heat wave". No, the reportage implies that Global Warming because YOU ARE ALIVE AND EMIT GAS is causing really hot temps this summer.

Then, Explain this. Las Vegas on average is COOLER than it has been in the past 60 years.

I don't know why the earth cycles, it just does. And neither do you or anyone else. Visiting Lake Michigan yesterday I saw the shoreline. I told Kevin that recently they found a large underground forest from 25,000 years ago 2 miles off shore.

That forest was on the beach of what was then Lake Michigan as it dried up during a warm cycle in the climate. It may well do so again.

We were pretty human lean then on the planet.

What can the human caused global warming believers be ingesting to make the mind go bad like that? They believe everything they hear and march lockstep without brains engaged. Liberals never learn to engage in critical thinking, oh they are critical, but it's without thinking.

Sheep!

I wouldn't let them testify either

I heard excerpts from the testimony of Alberto Gonzales before the Senate Judiciary Committee. It was disgusting.

A bunch of lawyers playing gotcha. I have been on the witness stand in life. Many times. As a defendant and as an expert witness. Thinking about it all maybe 75 hours total. One thing I know is the attorney from the other side ALWAYS has as his prime purpose in life to impeach the witness. To go thru deposition, past testimony and any other information looking for that one tiny detail badly remembered or badly reported.

Lawyer: Mr Redlin, do you recall in your testimony of 3 years ago you said that the sky was blue on the day in question?

ME: I did say that.

Lawyer: I have here a report from the national weather service which says the sky had a cloud in it. Is it possible you were mistaken and perhaps a cloud was in the sky?

ME: It's possible. I don't know for sure.

Lawyer: Then you are saying that your testimony about the sky being blue is not now your testimony.

ME: I'm just testifying what I remember, I remember it being blue.

Lawyer: But you just testified that it could have had a cloud in it.

ME: That's what your report said.

Lawyer: So your testimony today and that of 3 years ago are different, in which were you lying.

That is the essence of the gotcha game the lawyers (none of whom have ever held actual jobs in life) on the judiciary committee are playing. It's the same as the railroad job they gave Scooter Libby.

And they wonder why President Bush won't send anyone to testify? Why should he? What benefit is there to him or his administration? Making friends? These people are his enemies and he has no incentive whatsoever to cooperaate. If I were him I would give the a big wave off in the most graphic way possible and instructions on where and what to osculate.

Get the Kangaroos out of the court and maybe there's a chance. The good news is what I saw the American People saw. FOOLS. They know why President Bush will and should NEVER allow ANYONE ever to testify under oath ever again about even what they had for lunch yesterday. It's all about gotcha.

OH, and so you don't think for a second that the example about the weather is exaggerated. That is a masked version of an impeachment of testimony from a trial I was an expert in a several months ago. The problem I wasn't the one being impeached, it was the plaintiff and it nearly exactly was the nature of the testimony. Remembering the weather.

We won. I wasn't proud of being part of such a process even if I did get paid.

I don't think a few members of the judiciary committee are very proud right now. I wouldn't be.

Shakespeare was right, "First Kill All the Lawyers".

Seed, Death and Rebirth - A Prophetic Word

A few weeks ago I was given a prophetic word. I shared it with a few people but hoped it would mature. Some words come because of a quick download from heaven, some are seed and they mature in the spirit. This is one of those words:

I hear the Lord say, "Do NOT Fear Death".

All changes I want to make in your life, all improvement I want to bring, all prosperity I want to produce for you, all new beginnings must begin with a death, a loss, a perceived failure, an end. With pain and a death.

Every time you experience the pain of loss from a situation dying in your life, look up and see the beginnings of a new phase I am bringing. Unless a seed fall to the earth and die it new birth of a new vision cannot begin.

People go thru great financial difficulty, the collapse or failure of a business, the loss of a home by foreclosure, the end of a relationship, the loss of a job, the illness that causes pain and even the tragic death of a loved one. While on the face these are all bad and painful things, they are at their root seed falling to the ground. If you don't keep digging up the seed by hanging on to the past an mourning the loss you will not experience the new life I want to bring to you. Allow the seed fallen to the ground to grow and bloom. There will come a day when that failure or pain will become seed for greatness in your life.

This is MORE than the promise that I will make all things new, this is more than the promise that I work all things together for your good, this is the promise that I will turn your mourning into joy. That I will take the ashes from your life and make them beautiful.

Don't hang on to the old. The new birth of destiny in your life can only come as you release the past. Press on to my high calling, forget what lies behind. Many rob themselves by mourning the past, trying to hold on to the past, trying to keep the past alive and miss what I want to do in their lives.

That is the end of the word of the Lord.

On a personal note, this word came and as confirmation the Lord showed me how in my life there have been many deaths, failures, collapses and loss and how each of them carried in them the seed of greater greatness that I could never have experienced without letting those things go and pressing on.

At 13 I lost my parents in a car accident. I lived for a short time in limbo. But, by the goodness of my Aunt and Uncle, Earl and Ruth Redlin I was taken in and raised in a loving and supportive home. I missed and miss my parents but the question is, would I be the person I am today without that loss? I don't think so. That loss had at it's core the seed for my good education and other opportunities I wouldn't have had without the money set aside for me and my siblings. A fair trade. NO. On the other hand, the pain of that loss carried with it the seed of a new birth.

In my early years of business I formed several business's some of which worked and some of which did not. Northern Data was painful. There was a day when we put it to death. We decided it wasn't worth going on. From that day that we let it go it began to prosper. We were holding on too tight.

There was a cattle farm that failed. There was a Software firm that didn't work out. There was even the Dale Carnegie work that after 10 years ended. In all three of these cases the residual benefit was greater than I could have ever anticipated. My understanding of production agriculture was enhanced. I no longer feared failure. The software firm prepared me for the eventual Presidency of Commodity Communications Corporation. Dale Carnegie Courses where I poured my life for a long time has produced much fruit in ability, relationship and knowledge of who I am.

There was Ag America Radio Network. An apparent Failure. We eventually merged with another organization. The death of that business and the reversal in agriculture in the early 80's meant that I needed to find a new thing. That meant that I moved to Chicagoland to work as CEO of a floundering data communications firm.

In that capacity I rubbed shoulders with the greats, I traveled the world, I lived overseas. Life was good.

Then that ended too. Another death.

However because I had traveled all over the world I had international experience. That meant that I was qualified to move to Europe and manage an international firm in the machine equipment industry.

After a few years that ended. We moved back. Another death. Then I decided to access my ability in Horticulture and at the age of nearly 50 I leaped once again off the pier of life an launched into a new career.

That has been very successful. Then one day a check showed up. The merger of Ag America was paying dividends. Ultimately it paid big time. Big.

I formed another business. The largest one I had ever formed. This one after several years failed. At that point I was in my late 50's and facing near bankruptcy. At this point I had seen the results of the seed of new birth in every failure. Pressing on looking to the future I expected great things. They happened.

At the same time I was pastor of a little church. That closed too. Great pain. Great rejection. Great betrayal.

In that moment to the world it looked like nothing would work out, nothing could be saved, everything was either death or dying. 2002 was a horrible year.

5 years later. I'm in my early 60s. The Lord kisses me in prosperity I could not have imagined. I walk in ministry in places I could never have walked if I would have stayed pastoring that little church, I have lived and traveled the world, in many ways I am among the respected of my generation.

WHY? The seed to every victory in my life began by something falling to the ground and dying. If I had tried to hang on too hard, feared failure, worried about what others would think I could never have become what the Lord is making me.

Death, where is thy sting, Grave, where is thy victory.

I have no fear of you.

In Praise of Tammy Faye

As you know Tammy Faye Messner (Bakker) died Friday after a 10 year bout with cancer of several kinds. Colon cancer got her ultimately. The same cancer that Pastor Dan Rothwell was stricken and died of a few years ago.

I saw Pastor Dan a couple weeks before he died. He looked OK. I saw the Larry King interview with Tammy Faye. She was 65 pounds and looked pretty bad. Same cancer, different effects.

I have great affection for both Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker. It was in a Watertown hotel room in 1977 that this lost Lutheran boy after a night of doing things he shouldn't have done that I watched the PTL show on TV. I hadn't seen it much before. It was a breath of fresh air. These people had joy. Jim would say "You can Make It". Tammy would say, "It's not over till it's over". I needed to hear that. I was hungry for hope. So, when the end of the program came and I sat up in the bed with tears flowing down my cheeks and he said, "Let's pray" I did. In a way, I was born in the flesh in Watertown SD and Born of the Spirit in the same town.

I would love to tell you that from that day forward everything was wonderful and all my problems went away. I would like to tell you that but it would be a lie. Life was hard. My business, my marriage, lots of things. In fact the battle seemed to intensify.

The difference was these two crazy people seemed to have joy in spite of the fact they were doing the program at that time from the back hall of a furniture store. They moved out the furniture for the show and then moved it back in for sale.

I know all about all the "SCANDAL". I'm not impressed. There is lots of scandal in lots of other church groups beginning with Catholic and the churches on the south side of Chicago where "Pastors" rip off those most vulnerable. What Jim and Tammy did was far less onerous. Wrong but overblown.

That small step that early morning began me on a journey that resulted in the man of God I strive to be today. I owe much to both of them. A few years ago I had an opportunity to meet with and talk with Jim Bakker. He was smaller than he looked on TV. More frail. Weaker. But, his spirit was intact. It was after he had written the book he wrote coming out of jail. "I was wrong". During our time together I told him that he was at the genesis of the walk I walk today. He gave me as big a hug as he can give. I treasure that memory and that time.

As I saw the Larry King interview on the last day of Tammy Faye's life I was sad for her but happy for her as well. She more than anyone knew where she was and is headed. There is nothing more sweet than the death of a saint. To her last day she proclaimed the goodness of God.

Her faith, courage and hope was a way maker for all of us. Bless you Tammy Faye.

Thanks for "You can make it" and "It's not over till it's over".

Your pain is over, and you made it.

Repost - Two Generations and The Genes still follow

This is a picture of my dad from 1950 when he was about 40 Years old. He was on the hospital board in Ellendale.











This picture of Kevin was taken after Church on Sunday Morning. We posed it. Kind of like I did when I posed the William Rhenquist Photo and me.

Who said that genetics don't count for much. Dad was a good looking man, Kevin has his nose and hairline. People always said I looked like Ralph (my dad). I don't think I hold a candle to the uncanny resemblance Kevin has to him at the basically same age.

You have good genes Kevin, enjoy them. Even if we never learned to grow hair. Aww, hair was overrated anyway.

Oil at $100 per Barrel? YAWNNNNN

If you have read this humble blog for a while you will know that high oil prices have never panicked me for a second. WHY?

Because the cure for high oil prices is high oil prices. Everything is relative.

In 1962 when I was a hot rod hipster riding up and down main street of Ellendale Gasoline (regular) was .27 per gallon. A good car sold for $2500. A house in Fargo of decent function was $12,000. People who worked for my dad made $120 per week with lots of overtime. A candy bar was a nickel. A coke was a dime. You could mail a letter for 3 cents.

In 2007 Gasoline I bought last week was 2.83 a gallon. A good car sells for $25,000, That house in Fargo is now $120,000, People working at the garage in Ellendale with overtime make $1200 per week, Hershey bars are 50 cents, Cokes from the vending machine are a buck or so, and you need 41 cents to mail a letter.

Overall about a 10X multiplier.

So, when I hear all the arm waving about the price of Oil I only hope it hits $100 soon so it will collapse even faster and further when the get-rich quick-folks try to cash in. Every technology known to man and some not know will be implemented.

Gasoline is a classic bubble.

This bubble WILL BURST. Count on it.

Is There ANY Meaning to This?

I want to think so. This is a type of the subjective prophetic.

Who Needs Israel, Anyway?

I offer this as a reason to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for the support of Israel. This is more than a spiritual reason which for me is enough, this is a practical set of reasons. Pat Boone speaks for many of us who love the state of Israel.
Gene

Read the whole thing.

Who Needs Israel, Anyway?
Pat Boone
Monday, July 23, 2007

The above question, either in word or implication, is being voiced by way too many these days, as people and governments cast about desperately for lasting solutions in the Middle East.

Many Western and European political leaders — having heard the deprecations and the determination to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, from the likes of Palestinian Yasser Arafat, Saudi Arabian Osama bin Laden, Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and so many other power brokers in the region — have come dangerously close to deciding that little Israel is the "thorn in the side" of world order.

The next logical thought is "Who needs Israel? Let her be erased, her people dispersed (or whatever), and the Middle East can settle comfortably into a harmonious Islamic community of states. Problem solved!"

What folly. What suicidal blindness.

I just returned from a momentous event in our nation's capital. An organization called Christians United for Israel (CUFI) convened 4,000 people from all 50 states in several days of briefings and strategy sessions, culminating in an exhilarating, rousing rally in the D.C. Convention Center featuring Jewish leaders and top Christian ministers celebrating the things we hold in common and the spiritual bonds that unite us.

The next day, several thousand of the participants fanned out over Washington and Capitol Hill, lobbying virtually every representative and senator on behalf of Israel and its sovereignty.

Why? Couldn't we all see this is an exercise in futility, an unnecessary bother . . . that we'd all be better off if Israel didn't exist?

No, we all see clearly that the world needs Israel. The whole world.

What do I mean? Consider:

Israel, the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population, can make claim to an astounding number of society's advances in almost every direction!

Intel's new multi-core processor was completely developed at facilities in Israel. And our ubiquitous cell phone was developed in Israel by Motorola, which has its largest development center in the little land.

Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) technology was pioneered in Israel.

AirTrain JFK—the 8.1-mile light rail labyrinth that connects JFK Airport to NYC's mass transit—is protected by the Israeli-developed Nextiva surveillance system.

Bill Gates calls Israel "a major player in the high tech world"; most of Windows NT operating system was developed by Microsoft-Israel; the Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel; both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the U.S. in Israel; and, with more than 3,000 high-tech companies and start-ups, Israel has the highest concentration of high-tech companies in the world apart from the Silicon Valley.

Get this: Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U.S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25 percent of its workforce employed in technical professions, Israel places 1st in this category as well!

It goes on and on.

The Weizmann Institute of Science has been voted "the best university in the world for life scientists to conduct research."

Israeli researchers have:

# Discovered the molecular trigger that causes psoriasis

# Developed Ex-Press shunt to provide relief for glaucoma sufferers

# Unveiled a blood test that diagnoses heart attacks . . . by telephone!

# Found a combination of electrical stimulation and chemotherapy that makes cancerous metastases disappear — and developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer!

# Designed the first flight system to protect passenger and freighter aircraft against missile attack

# Developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill — used to view the small intestine from the inside, enabling doctors to diagnose cancer and digestive disorders!

# Perfected a new device that directly helps the heart pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with congestive heart failure, synchronizing the heart's mechanical operations through a sophisticated system of sensors.

These are only a few of Israel's recent contributions to the welfare of the world. There are just too many to list here. Water shortage, global warming, space travel, anti-virus, anti-smallpox, blood pressure, solar power, paralysis, diabetes, data storage — these and hundreds more — are being addressed by her scientists.

They're pioneering in DNA research, using tiny strands to create human transistors that can literally build themselves — and playing an important role in identifying a defective gene that causes a rare and usually fatal disease in Arab infants!

Who needs Israel?

Who doesn't?

She produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin; she has the largest number of start-up companies globally, second only to the U.S.; she is No. 2 in the world for venture capital funds, financing all these advances; its $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined; and Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.

And while she maintains, by far, the highest average living standards and per capita income, exceeding even those of the U.K., Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth, relative to its population. It is truly an unparalleled marvel of our time.

So what's the point of all this?

Simply that the very idea of eradicating or even displacing Israel from its historic home is suicidal to the rest of the world, not just her Arabic neighbors. Though there are ominous biblical consequences pronounced on those who "curse Israel," there are also wonderful blessings promised those who "bless" her — and we're seeing those real, practical, humanitarian blessings proliferate around the world, blessing all humanity.

Stop just for a second and imagine a world today that never knew Israel. And then go further: Given their living standards, ideologies, and attitudes toward all who dare to disagree with them, imagine what our world would be like if Israel's enemies held sway. Would you rather live in an Iran, Iraq, Syria, or Afghanistan? Or an Israel?

Who needs Israel? Let's be honest. We all do.

Action Counts More Than Words

DUH - I hear someone say.

The trouble with many of us is we think we can solve our troubles by words.

Some of that is true. Words matter. God can't confirm a word in our life that we never speak out or hear from the prophets.

Moses didn't lay his staff at the edge of the Red Sea and go to lunch expecting God to part it while he was off at Olive Garden for soup, salad and breadsticks. Moses held his staff and declared the word of the Lord and the Red Sea parted. He was a part of the move of God by showing up.

We have to do more than talk about it. In Ecclesiastics 11:4 there is a verse that says: He who observes the wind won't sow; and he who regards the clouds won't reap.

That means if you are waiting or hoping for just the right time to do something you will miss God. If you wait to do what God has told you to do until you are 100% sure you will be too late.

Some impulsiveness in trusting God for the outcome is appropriate. Some courage of conviction in action is needed. Something other than making our life verse, "God will fight out battles for us" is required. God will fight our battles but we have to show up, take action, do the thing we are called to do.

In 2 Chronicles 20 there is a famous bible story of King Jehoshaphat fighting against an overwhelming army. He seeks the prophets. The prophet says, "don't be afraid, God will fight the battle for you, he will destroy all your enemies".

That was a good thing. What happened next is the issue. They went to battle. Wait! Didn't God say He would fight the enemy and destroy him? Why go to battle?

In fact, Jehoshaphat fielded the army. They marched. They put the praise team at the front of the army.

Then God confused the enemy and destroyed the whole bunch.

Here's the question, what if after getting this strong prophetic word from God, Jehoshaphat and his army had decided to stay in bed the next morning. Not go to the battlefront. Not to show up. Would God have fought the battle for him or not? I mean, God is good as His word, right?

NO, I am convinced that even though it is true that God fights our battles for us we still have to strap on the armor and go to the battlefront every day. He fights our battles only as we engage in the battle.

Those who believe they can stay in bed spiritually, wait for the right time, regard the wind and the clouds will miss God.

If we wait until everything is 100% perfect to act we will be too late.

GO, MOVE, ACT, SHOW UP.

Consider this a spiritual kick in the pants which I heard last night from Pastor Marla at Faith Center.

I'm just passing it on. You're Welcome.