Author Archive
If Vehicles Were Treated Like Firearms
Just think what life would be like if automobiles were treated like firearms.
- You could not purchase a long vehicle until you were at least 18. In some states you would only be able to purchase ANY vehicle after your 21st birthday.
- You could only obtain a short vehicle after your 21st birthday. Read the rest of this entry »
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The New Black Panthers, La Raza and the KKK
There are some racial groups around the United States that are promoting racial hatred and bigotry. During the last elections several polling places were haunted by persons of a certain race who carried impact weapons, dressed an in intimidating way and basically did their best to keep people of other races from voting. Racial epithets were used and on occasion even violence was implemented against those with whom they did not agree, either on the basis of opinion or simply because of the color of skin. The new news media, YouTube, has plenty of videos on the subject for those curious enough to take a look. Interestingly enough, the current Attorney General has seen to it that charges against such perpetrators were dropped. Of course, surely it isn’t because they share the same race, is it? Isn’t it time justice were really blind, not hampered by the color of anyone’s skin? A white attorney general dropping similar charges against a white perpetrator of racial hate actions would have been called on the carpet, at best. In fact, we’ve seen this government even go after their own Navy Seals for doing their job and bringing in a terrorist, why do they cut a racist slack when he was doing his best to disrupt the electoral process? Read the rest of this entry »
The Good Lord Willing And The Creeks Don’t Rise
Recently some friends of mine were discussing the origins of an old saying, “The Good Lord willing and the creeks don’t rise”. The question was asked, “Does anyone know if the reference is to a creek (little river, stream, bayou-ette) overflowing its banks, or to the Creek tribe going off the reservation?” It turns out that some folks claim that this goes back to the Creek War of 1813-1814. But those speculating on such origins probably never lived in the backwoods. Unless someone makes the effort to look through historical documents until they come across some ancient writing in which the words are written (I suspect that some variation of this theme may be found on Cuneiform tablets in some ancient city) Read the rest of this entry »
People of Faith
“People of Faith” – a term that many in today’s culture bandy about with derision and scorn. They look down on folks who are “people of faith” and turn up their nose at the ideas such folks espouse. And yet, what does the term mean? What are “people of faith”? Are they people who have faith in faith? Are they folks who trust in trust? As far as that goes, who ISN’T a “person of faith”. Even the atheist is a “person of faith” – they have faith that their ideas are right. They have faith in the non-existence of a divine being who will one day ask for an accounting. Each one of us had faith in something or someone. Each one of us expects life to be a certain way and to run by certain rules.
So, what is this with “people of faith’? When it is used in today’s culture, most often it refers to people who believe in God, the Creator. The people who are immersed in our post modern culture looks down on such people because supposedly they are so much more “enlightened” and have a better perspective on life. It is high time we started to use words correctly and to hold others responsible for doing so too. The next time someone looks down their nose at you and says, “You say that because you are a person of faith” – or some such silly “put ‘em in their place” argument – simply smile and respond, “You, too, are a person of faith.” It’s time to reclaim our language – and our culture.
A Complainer Or A Doer?
We all have it within us to complain and criticize. We all have it within us to become an agent for positive change. So the question is – which will we put in practice? The former is far easier than the latter. But in the long run, the latter is SO much better. Which will you have as your epitaph – “A Complainer” or “A Doer”? Someday we must stand before God’s throne and give an account of our life. How much better it would be for us to stand there and say, “I did not like what I saw because it did not match Your Nature – so I did what I could to restore Your order to the world around me.”
Sexual Purity – Christian Dating
Recently a friend posted on Facebook the following question: If a man cannot stay sexually pure while he is single, why would God trust him with someone the Lord really loved? This question generated quite a bit of discussion and a few responses of my own. What follows are the responses I made to the initial question but edited and expanded for the purpose of my blog. I don’t include that written by others, other than the original question.
Knowing my friend and his desire to honor God I knew that the original question is a rhetorical one. So in my first response I summed it up as follows: In other words, if you want a special someone for a wife (or husband) – be a special someone. God takes sexual purity seriously, so should we.
What follows are the rest of my contribution to this thread as well as further amplification and clarification of the theme. Read the rest of this entry »
Some Thoughts On Church Growth
“Church Growth” – it is now the stuff of books and seminars and college courses. Men dedicate their lives to understanding how to achieve this holy grail. Huge temples are built and marketing experts consulted with the goal of being “seeker friendly” and filling the huge hall with crowds of people. Different denominations and congregations find different ways of fulfilling this goal. Rallies and “Crusades” are held to “bring in the sheaves” (although that ancient hymn is not sung anymore by the majority of those seeking “church growth” ).
Over the years I’ve seen “revivals” and “crusades” and “rallies” performed with the intent of bringing growth to the church. And over the years I’ve seen the same people flocking to the “altar call”, time after time after time. Yes, there are some souls reached through mass means. Yes there are some lives transformed. But are they really effective? The last figures I saw for a huge “Crusade” were something less than five percent (if I recall correctly it was less than one percent, but let’s be generous anyway) of the “decisions for Christ” actually resulted in a person who joined in with a local congregation.
Mobile blogging
We live in a marvelous time. In my own brief life time we have gone from rotary phones on a a party line to cellular phones that allow one to call or be called over a vast portion of the world’s surface. We have gone from mail service that could take a week or longer to take a message from on end of the country to another, to email that can show up on another person’s computer, across the hall or half way around the globe, in a matter of seconds. Mimeograph machines had to have their templates painstakingly created by hand or on a type writer and each sheet of a multipage document had to be printed off separately and then each set had to be carefully correlated prior to handing out or mailing. Now one can type up, spell check, lay out and print, together with full color images or even high resolution photographs, multipage documents completely correlated and ready to be handed out or mailed. And that same document can be made into a pdf file which allows it to be sent via e-mail or posted to the internet so it can be downloaded. Such a document can be printed identically by virtually any computer and printer any where in the world.
Health Care
Growing up on the edge of the Amazon rain forest forms the back ground for a lot of my ideas and thoughts. Having a father and uncle who taught us to be upright and self reliant helped too. We were our own first responders, capable of taking care of any thing common such as a cold, a cut or a fever and even some of the more “exotic” situations such as amoeba, giardia, subcutaneous fly grubs, sand fleas, hookworm and hepatitis A – to name but a few of the things we came across. When a health issue would come we’d use common sense and do what we could to take care of it. Medicine was readily available over the counter at that time. For common problems we had no need of a doctor to tell us “You’ve got amoebas again, take flagyl every day for a week and you’ll get over it.” After you or a family member have had amoebas a few times you know the symptoms and the treatment. Why spend money on a doctor and a lab when they’ll just confirm the obvious? Of course if you’re in a place where the lab technician can’t ID an amoeba to save their soul and the doctor won’t trust your knowledge and the pharmacy won’t sell without a prescription – you’re in a bind. That happened to my mom one time. Soon after we hit the U.S. she came down with classic amoeba symptoms. I’ve no idea how much they spent on doctor and lab – but the lab never could come up with a diagnosis and the doctor wouldn’t prescribe based on another person’s (especially a non-medical professional) experience. So she suffered until she got back home to Brazil, walked into a pharmacy, bought the medicine and was well in a matter of days. We took personal responsibility for our health and actions and sought medical attention when something beyond our capabilities came up.
Favorite Sins
Sin – the wedge that separates man from God. Ever since Adam and Eve went against God’s will there has been a great chasm between God and man. Through Jesus the Christ, God reached out to bridge that gap. And His grace allows us to come into His presence, cleansed by the sacrificial death and resurrection of His Son.
If we walk in the light then we learn to abhor sin. But as humans we all harbor varying degrees of attraction to sin. The big problem is that we also tend to have blind spots. We may say “I don’t smoke and I don’t chew and I don’t date the girls that do.” – but what about less obvious sins? What about that which we allow our minds to dwell on, taking comfort in “well, at least I didn’t DO it!”. And what about those thoughts and attitudes that do not reflect the mind of Christ?