Xs and Os

I Never Dreamed

2011-09-19T23:15:00.002-04:00

For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”
- Jesus Christ (Matthew 10:35-37)

Jesus Christ said some pretty shocking things during His time on earth. The passage I have quoted above is certainly one of the most disturbing. In it Jesus stated that His coming would bring division between the most intimate family relationships – division so intense that it would make the members of one's own household his enemies. For years I thought – wished perhaps – that Jesus was merely being hyperbolic. I recently discovered that He was not.

Last week, the Lord directed me to study Ezekiel 33. In that passage the Lord told Ezekiel that He was making him a watchman for Israel. God told Ezekiel that if He sent a warning through him and he failed to deliver it to the people then Ezekiel would be responsible for their failure to respond, but if he delivered the message and the people ignored it their calamity was on their own head. I felt that God was giving me the same charge.

A few days later God called me to deliver an important message to someone who is very close to me. They have been openly engaged in sin and effectively asked me to endorse it. I reminded the individual of my position and the reason why I could not approve. I explained the hope of the gospel to them and encouraged them to repent and turn to God. They were offended. I got unfriended (on Facebook). And from what I have heard some less than kind words were spoken about me.

I'll be honest, it makes me sad. I had hoped that the individual would be born again. Unfortunately, it went the other direction. I suppose it could have been a lot worse. I hope it won't be, but the violent reaction I got made me wonder just how this person will respond if they continue down the path they have taken much longer. I love this individual and really hope that one day our relationship can be restored.

As much as I desire that, there are some things that I cannot compromise: I cannot endorse something that the Bible calls sin, and I cannot allow a person to walk in sin without warning them.

I love this person too much to allow them to believe that their sin is OK. I cannot withhold the truth when directly confronted by the deception that they are living under. A person may think that a stick of dynamite is a candle, but if I let them walk around with a lit stick to find their way I am not loving them as I should. If I don't try to stop them their destruction is certain. Thus it is with sin.

The Bible tells that there is coming a time when people will not endure sound doctrine, but will seek teachers that will tell them what they want to hear, leading them away into deception (2 Timothy 4:3-4). As Christians it is our duty to hold the line and not compromise the message of the Bible. That doesn't mean that we have to be hateful. In fact, it would be best if we're not. We are to speak the truth in love. Does it guarantee that we won't still be hated and reviled as ignorant? No. Jesus always spoke the truth in love and they crucified Him. The Bible tells us that we will become a fragrance to all we encounter – to some we'll be the beautiful fragrance of Christ but to others the stench of death. It will all depend on the path they are taking.

We must be willing to stand unblinking before the wrath of the spirits controlling those we love and desire to see born again. We must hold up the mirror of the Word before them so that they know their true condition and recognize their need for the radical change that can only come from the Savior. We must keep loving them even though they think we are the enemy. And we must believe that God will get through to them eventually as we pray and hold the line against their deception. Never quit! He is mighty to save.

I never dreamed that Jesus' words in Matthew 10 would be true for me. But I was wrong.

Life is Interesting

2010-05-05T21:39:00.003-04:00

Things have been busy lately. As if that were news!

Last weekend my girlfriend scored tickets to the Martina McBride concert in Greensboro. It was a pretty good concert. Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan opened for her. I think the most impressive thing she did though was ride a crescent moon prop across the coliseum while singing the whole time. She ended up on a little mini stage at the back of the coliseum where she sang a couple songs, and then WALKED singing through the crowd back to the stage shaking hands, hugging necks, and waving to the crowd. Impressive.

Saturday I planted the rest of my corn, another row of lima beans, some more basil, and some sage. I also planted a hill of cantaloupe. I worked on some of the irrigation too.

Saturday night we had a celebration for my mom's birthday. My brother made some tasty turkey burgers with spinach and feta cheese. My sister made a really tasty angel food cake trifle with pineapple and vanilla pudding. And I contributed a veggie slaw (that doesn't use any sugar or mayonnaise) South Beach mashed cauliflower, and a wilted spinach dish with portabella mushrooms, asparagus, and cashews. It was a tasty repast!

Sunday I got to play bass at church. It was fun. I haven't gotten to play bass in ages, so I was a little rusty, but I still had a good time.

At work this week I have been trying to get used to some new software. We bought an upgrade to our database program. It is definitely an improvement, but the learning curve has been a little steep. It has slowed down a lot of my administrative duties as I have been trying to figure out where everything goes in the program. It isn't extremely intuitive. A lot of the functionality is hidden until you know where to look for it - which really isn't any different than the last version of the program. I wish they had done a widespread beta. I would have liked to make some suggestions that I think would have made it better. The program is called MarketsharpM, and if you are involved in any type of building industry, I would recommend it. They have a good team of people supporting it and the program is affordable and powerful.

I hope that you all voted yesterday. This primary came up on me pretty quickly. I really didn't have the time to prepare like I would have liked to, but I did feel pretty good about the choices that I made. I was disappointed that James Taylor didn't upset Howard Coble, but I can still put my support behind Howard. I like the way Coble votes, but I just think it is time for him to move on, and I like the way James is thinking.

My band has moved to two a week practices now. We only have 26 days until we will be playing at our church's outreach called "Fields Of Grace." Fields of Grace will be a series of outdoor events beginning the last Sunday night in May. My band will be playing the first Sunday night in June, and there will be concerts the next two Sunday nights. We're just trying to get the salt out of the shaker a little bit.

This weekend will be tricky. I want to get up to visit my Grandmother for Mother's Day (that's this Sunday, by the way) but I still have some gardening that needs to be done. I need to plant my last row of lima beans and want to plant another hill of watermelon and cantaloupe. I may also have some sweet potatoes to plant, and they will need water so I'll have to get my irrigation sorted out better than it is right now. It is always something. I have already spent as much on this garden as I really want to. Oh well.

So that is the latest. I hope all is going well for you! Thanks for reading!

Garden Update

2010-04-29T22:23:00.003-04:00

Well, things have been going pretty well in the garden so far. Two weeks ago I planted half of my tomatoes and some lima beans. Last week I planted just about everything else. I hope to get the rest of it planted Saturday.

When I went out yesterday to check things I saw that most of my first row of lima beans have come up. I was very pleased to see that. If I can get my irrigation out I'm sure it won't be long until the others follow suit.

So far we have about 50 tomato plants, a dozen squash plants, half a dozen zucchini, a long row of blackeye peas, a long row of purple hull peas, a long row of green beans, 2 long rows of lima beans, a hill of watermelons, a dozen jalapeno peppers, 3 red bell peppers, 3 poblano peppers, 3 yellow bell peppers, 3 green bell peppers, 3 purple bell peppers, 3 mild banana peppers, 2 dill plants, one basil plant, and one cabbage plant (that belongs to my niece.) Oh yeah, and three short rows of corn.

Still to be planted are two rows of lima beans (one will get planted next week) three or 4 rows of corn, cucumbers, and several hills of cantaloupes, water melons, and maybe even a hill of honeydew if I can find it. I also have some sweet potatoes to see if I can sprout. I may do some of them too.

It still sounds like a lot, but not so much really. I will probably plant the rest of the corn, one row of lima beans, and one hill of cantaloupe on Saturday. If I can find it I'll probably do a hill of honeydew too.

This year I selected 4 main varieties of tomato. I have a dozen Better Boy plants, because that has been my family's favorite for years. I have also planted a dozen Roma tomatoes for canning and salsa. There is also dozen Celebrity for eating, canning and salsa. Finally, I got a dozen Cherokee Purple for juice. I also added a grape tomato and another "tommytoe" variety. And my friend Terry gave me another variety that I have divided into three plants. Unfortunately I cannot remember the name of that one.

Saturday's work in the garden will also be spent getting my irrigation sorted - or at least planned. Every year you have to chase leaks, and I'll have to take some time to find out what hoses are working, which ones can be repaired, and which ones need to be trashed. Then I can figure out what else I need. I also need to put down some lime and fertilizer. It probably wouldn't hurt to get the tomato stakes in the ground too.

So far the weeds haven't shown up yet, but when they do, I have a handy new pointy hoe to take care of them, thanks to my girlfriend's mom! As much work as gardening is, for some reason I really enjoy it.

Well, that's all for the farm report tonight! I'll try to get you caught up this weekend.

Frustrated

2010-04-29T20:22:00.003-04:00

Hello, friends. It has been difficult finding the time to write here. I have started several posts at different times, but finishing one has been a major challenge. It would seem that my time management skills need some improvement. I am always amazed by the folks that are able to get massive amounts of stuff done with their days. I have that from time to time, but by and large I find that my time is stolen from me by little annoying things more than not.

OK, enough whining - about that anyway. If any of you out there were like me, but found a method that helped you to consistently manage your time well, I'd love to hear about it.

To get more to the point of my title, I am quite frustrated by what I see happening to my country. Every day (literally) I read another headline that points to the greatly decayed state of the union. Every day it is a new revelation of corruption - every day some new abomination laden bill sneaking its way through congress or being ram-rodded through it. And each report brings with it the certainty that my freedoms and rights are being eroded at an alarming rate. I have honestly never been so angry.

As an aside, something else that really pisses me off is the gall of progressives to call themselves that. What a load of crap! Progressive insinuates a moving toward something better, but the path that they would lead us down is anything but better. The progressive path is one headed 180° away from God and his Law. They steal but justify it by claiming that they are doing it to help the poor (which they never manage to actually do). They murder but call it choice. They slander but call it freedom of speech. They lie and call it truth. A perfect example is Al Gore, who was reported to have purchased an $8 million ocean front home this week. Guess he's not too worried about rising ocean levels after all. No, progressive does not match what they are. They are bad, old-fashioned liberals.

And then I begin to wonder, what can I do? Protesting obviously does no good, and violence does no good. Neither do phone calls or emails or written letters. I am losing confidence in the republic. The only hope that I have right now is in prayer and in my vote this November.

Truly, I can't wait for November to get here. God grant that the right heads roll. I would be shocked if there are more than a dozen each in the House and Senate that deserve to be there. I hope that when the dust settles that they are the only ones left. Change is clearly needed - but not of the variety that the current administration has brought. I only hope that God will favor us with a majority of leaders who love what America has historically stood for, are fiscally responsible, are willing to call a spade a spade, can't be bought, are willing to make tough choices for the sake of our country, and who don't give a rat's left hind tit if they get re-elected or not. I'd vote for someone like that any day.

Interesting Music

2010-04-29T20:07:00.005-04:00

I discovered these guys through a friend's post on Facebook and really like their creativity and energy. They are called Pomplamoose. They remind me of my friends, the Dicksons. I hope you enjoy them too! This is one of my favorites, but they have a very diverse repertoire!

Mission From God

2010-04-06T23:07:00.005-04:00

So, me and the guys are putting the band back together. We've been trying to get practices going again because we're supposed to play a gig at our church on June 6th.

This time we are planning to incorporate some "secular" songs in the mix. We did some work on U2's Pride (In The Name Of Love) last week and it went well. This week I am thinking about bringing this song:

I like the key Sara is doing it in. Great song. I also like Edwin McCain's version. I could hear Chris Daughtry singing it too.

I did some checking for tabs for this song and got wildly different versions - all of them wrong. The good news is that I was able to piece most of it together from the different versions that I found. I still have one chord that I can't figure out. There is a passing chord at the end of the chorus that I can't quite figure out. I have something that works, but it isn't what they are doing in Sara's version. If only Justin and Sara (from the Stillwaters Jazz Band) were right up the street I would bug them and get some help!

We're also looking at doing Daughtry's "Home." I have found a really good acoustic version online, but haven't been able to quite figure out what this fellow is doing. I think that he is using an alternative tuning because I can't make the chords that it looks like he is playing work in the tuning that I use.

Of course then we have to find someone who can pull off the song vocally. I'm praying that the Lord will help me to do justice to these songs or that He'll provide someone who can!

Another song that I like comes from a somewhat surprising source. I've really been drawn to Nickleback's song "If Today Were Your Last Day."

Good song. The "official" video is pretty good too, but there is something about the image of the black doctor working on the injured Klansman in this one that is really powerful.

Well, it is getting late so I'll wrap this up. Happy listening!

Perspective

2010-04-06T22:08:00.002-04:00

It has been an interesting season.

Boy, if those aren't loaded words. Terry Pratchett wrote a book called Interesting Times. I haven't read it yet, but if I understand correctly one of the greatest curses that you can invoke on a person on Discworld (the Yoknapatawpha County of Pratchett's imagination) was that they would live in interesting times - which are always a bit more interesting in retrospect than they are when being lived out. Ask Frodo if his times were interesting, and he would have most likely responded, "No, they were bloody awful." Yet for the Hobbit urchins gathered around him listening to the stories of his adventures they were fraught with intrigue and fascination.

I love the way John Eldredge put it,

Twenty clear days a year - that sounds about like my life. I think I see what's really going on about that often. The rest of the time, it feels like a fog, like the bathroom mirror after a hot shower. You know what I mean. What exactly are you perfectly clear on these days? How about your life? Why have things gone the way they have? Where was God in all that? And do you know what you ought to do next, with a deep, settled confidence that it will work out? Neither do I. Oh, I'd love to wake each morning knowing exactly who I am and where God is taking me. Zeroed in on all my relationships, undaunted in my calling. It's awesome when I do see. But for most of us, life seems more like driving along with a dirty windshield and then turning into the sun. I can sort of make out the shapes ahead, and I think the light is green.
- Waking The Dead p. 5

Yeah, that pretty well sums it up.

Lately I have asked the Lord - at the encouragement of my significant other - what the future might look like for me. Not some sort of crystal ball inquiry, but a real frank discussion with Him about direction and destiny. I was surprised to have some answers and to see some really disparate puzzle pieces put into context with each other. It was really nice to see how these vastly different interests could possibly work together. It was encouraging to see that even pieces that I received years ago were not "misses" but are still a part of the plan.

I won't say that I have the road map, but at least I have a good general lay of the land now. That is comforting. I hope I can remember that when journeying through Mirkwood. All journeys seem destined to pass through its depths, don't they?

I have friends plumbing some of the same depths that I have over the past 20 years. It is hard to see them struggling. I hurt for them, but I am also encouraged by their struggle, for it shows me that the Lord has taken notice of them, and He is in the process of disciplining them to make them more like Himself and to help them love Him better.

So often we look at discipline (at least in the United States) as something that is for those who have done something bad. Yet God's discipline is not like that. See, those whom He loves He disciplines. It is kind of hard to understand until you experience it. Often what God is after isn't some great sin pattern in our lives. The thing that often brings His discipline is wrong thinking and wrong heart attitudes that keep us from knowing Him and loving Him correctly. These are almost never our fault, but are the result of woundings that we receive throughout the course of our life.

It is nice to have a little perspective. It makes the discipline a lot more bearable.

So, to my friends who are hopelessly lost in Mirkwood's haunts (now or in the future) my prayer is that you will quickly discover that you are not alone, that God is right there with you, and that God is GOOD. You aren't as lost as you seem. God knows right where you are, and none of this surprises Him. He's got you right where you need to be. Rest in these truths.

Garden Time Again

2010-04-02T23:31:00.003-04:00

Today was the official beginning of gardening season for me this year. I got to disk the garden, which was pretty fun. But then it is always pretty fun to get to drive the tractor.

I had thought to go ahead and till tomorrow, but I think I am going to hold off. I don't really want to plant anything for the next couple weeks until I am reasonably sure that the danger of frost is past. I'm not planning to do any colder weather crops this year.

As I have been thinking about things, I am reasonably sure that I will do tomatoes, green beans, corn, cantaloupes, watermelons, peppers, squash, cucumbers, basil, and fordhook lima beans. I am also probably going to do black-eyed peas as well.

I plan to do a lot of tomatoes - at least 4 dozen plants. I want to do a dozen Cherokee Purple plants for juice, a dozen Better Boys and a dozen Celebrity for just plain eating, and a dozen Romas for canning and salsa. I'll probably also throw in some grape/cherry tomato plants too. I had good results from the Goliath hybrids last year too. They produced longer than the others did. I may do a few of them too. I'd like to do at least 2 Ox Hearts too. That's a lot of tomatoes.

I am going to try something different with my lima beans this year. I am planning to wait until most of the beans on the bushes are just beginning to turn a little yellow and then pull up the plants. In the past two years I have only gotten 1-2 good pickings off of the plants and the first was always bigger than the second. I think that I will have better results by planting pulling and re-planting than by doing what I have done before. Time will tell. Gardening is a great place to experiment!

Well, that is all for now. I'll keep you updated!

Where Does The Time Go?

2010-03-18T20:47:00.004-04:00

I'm just sitting down here to start writing and looking at the clock, thinking, "how the heck did it get to be a quarter to nine?" Where did the time go? Germany?

I turned the computer on about 4 hours ago. Of course, I probably spent more than two hours watching partial clips on the Fox News website about this damnable healthcare bill that the President is trying to push on us without the benefit of a kiss. I am praying so hard for this thing to finally die the death that it should have died in committee.

I love the way they are trying to "help" us. According to all the accounts that I have heard about this bill, it would force all Americans to be covered by some sort of health insurance. That sounds great, right? Well, just how great does it sound? I was talking to a friend of mine who works for the state of North Carolina. Do you know how much he has to pay to cover his 30ish-year-old wife? Over $600 a month. Now let's consider someone who is working for minimum wage. I think that rate is $7.25/hour.

Let's assume a 3,000 hour work year. For normal people it would be 2,000, but someone on minimum wage would have to work two jobs at least best case scenario. That would amount to an annual wage of $21,750 prior to taxes - $1,812.50 a month BEFORE taxes.

Based on the percentages that I found for a typical US household approximately $600 would be spent on housing, $230 on food, $275 on transportation. At least another $300 would be spent on utilities. That tallies to $1,405, leaving only $407.50 for taxes and all other expenses. This scenario would be difficult for a single person. It would only be exacerbated for a single income family.

Check my math, but how would someone in that income bracket afford a $600 monthly insurance bill? Yet the government is going to tell that person that he must choose between, food, clothing, heat, or transportation and health insurance or face a fine - a fine that could eventually land the individual in jail if not paid. A fine that would end up causing the individual to incur legal expenses in addition to their other normal expenses. No thanks. I don't want help like that.

So, it would appear that the government is coming down on the side of insurance. I mean, if everyone has to have some sort of health coverage and there isn't going to be a public option then that means insurers will be the ones still making the money. And I am sure that there will be minimum coverage requirements. This is going to prevent any real change from taking place. If everyone is having to cough up the big bucks that the insurers will charge or face a fine then you are creating a situation that will introduce a moral risk.

It is a lot like people who go to a buffet. They may satisfied after the first plate, but because they have paid a higher fee for "all you can eat" then the inclination is to make sure that they got their money's worth even if they have to make themselves miserable to do it.

The same thing will happen with health care. Because you will have people who are having to sacrifice to make their monthly insurance payments, you can rest assured that they are going to go to the doctor for every little thing. This will put further pressure on the insurance companies to maintain the hefty profits that they are accustomed to resulting in rate increases and compensation decreases to medical providers. It will also increase demand on medical resources.

These pressures will create another "HEALTHCARECRISIS!!!!!!" That will give the government an excuse to create a one-payer system - a system with a dismal success rate historically. The only joy I would get from that is watching Michael Moore's fat butt getting turned away from a government run health clinic because he used up his quota of medicine.

I pray to God that this mess can be undone.

It's Been A Long, Long Time

2010-03-17T20:07:00.002-04:00

Wow. It has been forever since I last posted here. I think a lot of that has had to do with some fairly major changes that have taken place since my last posting. On November 25 I ended an almost three-year-long period of what mostly amounted to unemployment. I have taken a job as the office manager of a small home improvement company that specializes in windows and sunrooms. I'm not going to be taking over Wall Street from this position, but at least I am not losing ground any more, and I do actually enjoy the work most days.

I was somewhat concerned before I got back to work about whether I would be able to handle the 8-5 grind again. I didn't know if I would have the stamina for it. I didn't know if I could handle working for someone else again. I could on both accounts thankfully.

I also started dating someone back in August. Things have gone well for the most part. Today marks 7 months since we re-started our relationship. Seven months on St. Patrick's Day? That has to be a good omen! We had actually dated before back about 9 years ago. Most days we get along fine!

Need I say more? The truth is that those two things have in themselves changed my life fairly dramatically. Since I barely had enough time to engage in all the things I wanted to do when I wasn't gainfully employed and was not sharing my time with someone else it really isn't surprising that I have had a lack of time as a good excuse to be absent.

But beyond that I really haven't had the desire, motivation, spark, interest, whatever to write much. I really haven't had that much to say.

I am so utterly disgusted with the political situation in our country right now that I can barely stand to read the headlines, let alone try to comment on my thoughts. Frankly, most of my thoughts about these things are largely unprintable. I have tried to insulate myself from politics as much as possible. I am so completely annoyed with both parties. While I wouldn't go so far as to say that they are both equally worthless, would be willing to concede that they are both worthless. My only in depth comment is that I hope the Democrats manage to render themselves a non-party through voter backlash if they force this health care bill through. Tarring and feathering all of the "leadership" of that party would be too mild a punishment in my opinion - even if the tar were very hot. (I am only being mildly hyperbolic here....)

Speaking of hot, how about all of this global warming this year? I guess it is a good thing. We would have frozen to death if it hadn't been for that. Al Gore just continues proving that his grip on reality is tenuous at best. Of course, it may just be that his grip on the reality of the money he is making peddling his lies is enough to skew his vision so that he understands how global warming is a reality in spite of all evidence to the contrary.

I have watched Ben Stein's movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed a couple times recently. I am stricken by just how much of Al Gore's brand of "science" has become the standard today. In the movie you see "scientist" after "scientist" who have "suppressed the truth in unrighteousness" and as a result have become "futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise they have become fools," to loosely quote some key parts of Romans 1. It is pitiful really.

One of the scientists forcefully declared that it would be utterly boring to consider that a God or some intelligent being may have created the universe. How tragic that one day very soon most likely (if it hasn't already happened - at the time of the airing of the film he had a recurrence of brain cancer) he will face God and see the most fascinating entity that there ever was and won't ever be able to explore Him. He will be plagued down through eternity with the knowledge that he could have made endless discoveries studying God and His creation yet he chose eternal damnation instead because he thought God would be utterly boring. I hope that God was merciful on him and rescued him, but I doubt that He did.

Anyway, enough rambling for now. I am going to make every effort to get back to writing regularly - perhaps not every day, but at least a couple times a week. That has come about as a result of a conversation with a friend of mine who is in a home group that meets in my house every week for prayer and fellowship. As he was leaving two weeks ago he said to me something like, "If you're not sure what to do, go back to the last thing that God told you to do and do that."

I had to think on it a little while before I remembered what I was supposed to be doing. The last thing that I believe I heard from the Lord was to write about discipleship topics. It is hard to believe that it has been almost a year since I did that last. I shared that with a couple other people who both confirmed that I needed to get my butt back in gear and start writing. So here I am. Hopefully, I will be able to finish the next installment in the Spiritual Warfare series that I began all that time ago. I know that I have said that before, but I'm actually a little more motivated to do so this time. More to come soon!

Let Your Voice Be Heard

2009-11-05T23:47:00.003-05:00

Call your representatives and senators and let them know what you think while you still can.

There is a program going on in my nephew's and niece's school that is seeking to socialize every child with a bunch of ill-conceived psychobabble. The teachers are being forced to take instructional time away from class - EVERY class - to teach this rubbish.

If the teachers don't hang the posters for this initiative they can be fired. If they don't lead the class in the song and hand motions for the initiative they can be fired. ALL of the children are being forced to participate. Any child refusing to participate - even if they merely refuse to do the hand motions MUST be sent to the principal's office. If the teacher doesn't send them to the office the teacher can be fired. Complaints are met with reminders that there are plenty of people who would love to have the teacher's job.

This is the kind of crap that our government is trying to force on us. This is not the way America does things! It is the way the Nazis did things and the way that the Soviets and Chinese did things. If we don't learn to stand up and say, "NO!" then they will keep on pushing until they take every last ounce of freedom and dignity left to us.

But will we be courageous enough to be the first one to stand up and say no? Will we be courageous enough to join the others who have stood up against tyranny and suffer the consequences? Are we willing to pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor? If we hang together, we won't have to hang separately. LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!!!!

Paying For Abominations

2009-11-05T21:53:00.006-05:00

I discovered today that Nancy Pelosi and company have included a provision in the health care "reform" bill that has been dubbed "Obamacare" that would cover elective abortions under the so-called "public option," and that all subscribers to the public option would be forced to pay premium for abortions. See for yourself.

It would seem that the folks in Washington haven't learned a thing from the polls and from the town hall meetings of this past summer. Perhaps we can teach them the lesson better next October. The arrogance of the ruling party in Washington is stunning. It is time for a fanny smack.

Well, not just the ruling party in Washington. It is time for everyone in DC to get a wake-up call. Granted there are probably a few people doing a good job. I will do my homework and determine if the ones that I have a say over are or not and will vote accordingly next November. They can rest assured that if they have voted for this horrible bill or for cap and trade that they will not get my vote regardless of whatever else they have done while in office. Indeed, I will actively campaign against them. I may even run against them.

Here is what we are dealing with...

"Health, welfare, and defense?" Um, that isn't in the constitution. It is bad when a school kid doesn't know about the constitution. It is even worse when a US Senator doesn't. But the real problem is that even if he knew what it said, he doesn't care. He is interested in his own agenda.

The interview covers the penalties built into "Obamacare" for folks that don't have some sort of insurance. One thing that wasn't covered was the fact that there is provision for a person who refuses to pay such a fine to be jailed. Great. That's awesome.

So, how about people who are unemployed or underemployed? Are we going to force them to buy this coverage too? What that in effect will do is tell someone that they have to choose between putting food on the table, heat in the house, gas in the tank, clothes on their backs and going to jail. Brilliant. I just love Democratic compassion.

See Michelle Malkin's article on protests in Washington today.

Keep stoking the fires, y'all. Keep stoking them.

Nidal Malak Hasan

2009-11-05T21:37:00.005-05:00

This is the name of the man who killed a dozen soldiers today at Ft. Hood. He injured 31 others. He was killed in the incident. It is an interesting name, Nidal Malak Hasan. We have been assured that this was not an act of political terrorism. Certainly they wouldn't lie to us. Would they? I hope not, but I know better. At least Nidal knew the difference between a combatant and a civilian.

My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those killed and injured in this attack. May God comfort them and bring healing. My thanks are extended to all who honorably serve our nation in the armed forces. Today's tragic events are a reminder that whether home or abroad these folks put their lives on the line for us every day. God bless and protect the people of our military.

I Have Started

2009-11-05T15:27:00.002-05:00

I have begun work on the next installment of the Spiritual Warfare series. It will be about being properly dressed for battle. There is a good bit of scriptural research to do on the subject, and it will probably take me a few days to process it all. It feels good to be working towards writing again. It has been a long hiatus.

This weekend I will be going to the One Thing conference at King's Park International Church in Durham, NC. I have been looking forward to going since I first heard about it months ago. It is hard to believe that November is already here.

I don't know what I am looking forward to specifically. I think that I am hoping for a supercharge - a shot of nitro - to propel me into a deeper pursuit of the Lord than I am experiencing right now. That is not to say that I am not pursuing Him, but it seems that my pursuit is lacking something important, and I hope to find some keys to help me kick it up a notch or four. I'm not hungry enough for Him right now. I need to be desperate for more.

I was so challenged by the One Thing '08 conference that I watched last December. Today I found two of the sermons that challenged me most online. The first was by Corey Russell. I watched it about once a week when they had it on their website during and right after the conference. I was really bummed when the International House Of Prayer took it off their website. But I was thrilled when I discovered it online today.

Corey Russell - The Call To Consecration

The other sermon was by Lou Engle and was just as powerful.

Lou Engle - Our Nazirite Calling

So I am hoping to hear at least one of these fellows at the conference this weekend. It is going to be great, but I wonder if I am as well prepared as I should be to receive from this conference. May the Lord meet us all there.

Lately I have been teaming up with a good friend to do some web design. It has been good, but challenging. I suppose that anytime you try to start something there is a decent amount of inertia to overcome. Unfortunately for us the resistance may have cost us some opportunities, but hopefully it will show us the things that we need to work on and will propel us to greater excellence. In fact, I need to keep this short tonight so that I can do some work on one of our contracts before my girlfriend calls.

It has been an interesting season. There is a lot in transition, and I feel to my core that some big changes are in the works - good changes! I felt when I turned 40 a few weeks ago that it was significant in a good way - that there was a coming out of the wilderness after a long time. I'd be lying if I told you that I am not looking forward to enjoying the fruits of the Promised Land. They have been a long time in coming. Now to figure out how to walk this out.

But even there my good friend, Bruce, has had a good word, quoting the passage in Joshua where the people are admonished, "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God (representing God's presence and His glory), and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before.... Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you."

That's what I am interested in - seeing the Lord do amazing things among us. But clearly the cost is a consecrated life. Am I willing to dedicate my life to His call that I may see Him do amazing things? I hope so. I have spent much time in His crucible. It would be a shame to become complacent after all of that. May the Lord continue to push all of us further in our pursuit of Him.

Dang...

2009-11-02T01:16:00.004-05:00

Sorry, the post didn't quite happen today. I'm still trying to figure out where the day went. By the time I had finished two phone calls and a visit it was time to go watch some baseball. Yes, I am putting World Series Baseball ahead of a blog post.

Not completely sure how I feel about the Yankees winning tonight. I'm still kind of ticked at them for firing Joe Torre. Not the players' fault I guess though.

Finished off the night watching a special on Fox News about the textbook industry. With each new piece of information I receive the chance that any future children of mine will be educated by the state continues to diminish. I am so tired of the propaganda, lies, and wrong-headedness being unleashed on this nation. Sadly, I'm pretty sure it will get worse before it gets better. God help us. It seems like the nation has been taken over by a bunch of tinfoil hat wearing freaks.

No Really, I'm Back...

2009-11-01T13:42:00.003-05:00

Greetings from the world's slackest blogger! OK, maybe I'm not the world's slackest blogger, but I'm a far cry from the posting that I did last year. Last year I had months that I posted more than I have all year this year. Hmmm. Don't know exactly why that is, but I think part of it is that I didn't have a goal this year of writing an average of one post a day. That was the difference between last year and this. All other activity has pretty much been the same otherwise, so that must be the cause.

Anyway, I hope to do at least one more post today - actually the next installment of my spiritual warfare series. If all goes as planned this afternoon I will be writing about the armor of God. After that I hope to tackle grace, and after that I intend to write on holiness. Hopefully you won't have to wait six more months to get those installments! I will say, though, that grace is a tricky subject to write about, and I have found in the past that it is hard to communicate in words the concept adequately. I guess I am in good company though. Paul's teaching on grace seemed to often be misunderstood. Indeed, I think it is often still misconstrued.

So that will give you something to look forward to! Keep praying for me if you are impatient and want these posts to come faster! I am confident that it will help.

No One To Defend The Helpless

2009-10-24T01:18:00.004-04:00

I don't know if you heard about the Muslim girl who converted to Christianity who has been (somewhat) in the news lately. She ran away from home because she feared that her family would kill her. Today I was saddened to read the following headline:

Judge Orders Christian Convert Runaway to Return to Ohio

My sister in the Lord is being forced back into a situation where she had reason to believe that she would be murdered by her own family. Perhaps the judge is grossly ignorant of the practices of Islam. After all we've been told that Islam is a "peaceful religion." But I've heard too many stories of Muslim converts to Christianity who find themselves "resting in peace" at the hands of those who should have undying love for them.

I am curious what grounds the judge had for forcing this young woman to go back. She is 17 years old - only months from her 18th birthday. Hopefully, those few months will not be her last. I will have to do more research.

The law is to protect the helpless, but in this country it never seems to. Where is justice? Where is the protection for the widow and the orphan? I am convinced that the state of our justice system makes God want to vomit.

I will be praying for this sister. I have been praying - but perhaps not diligently enough. But one thing is sure: God - the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Great I Am, The Sinner's Hope - will be glorified by this young woman's life.

Lord God,

I ask you to protect my sister's life. I ask you to give her courage and strength to face this unjust decision and to trust Your sovereignty and Your goodness. Defend her life, Lord, and soften the hearts of every lost soul that she knows to come to the knowledge of you.

Father, I know that this outcome does not surprise You, and I know that You have prepared her for this moment from before the foundation of time. Let Your Spirit hover close to her. Let her sense Your closeness and Your love. May Your angels encamp around her to keep her from even dashing her foot against a stone.

Fill her with Your word and help her to not worry about what to say or what to do, but to trust that You will give her the words to say and the courage to face whatever comes. Lord God, I place her into Your hands.

Amen.

God be with you, sister. I will be praying for you.

UPDATE:

In another article I read, the father says he loves his daughter and has no plans to harm her. I hope he is telling the truth.

But according to another article the young lady sure seems to think something else:

"If I had stayed in Ohio, I wouldn't be alive," she said. "In 150 generations in family, no one has known Jesus. I am the first — imagine the honor in killing me."

"There is great honor in that, because if they love Allah more than me, they have to do it. It's in the Koran,"

So who do you believe? I think you probably ought to err on the side of life. If it is possible that they may want to kill her then I think she should be allowed to protect her life. We'll see how it plays.

Good Article

2009-10-13T01:39:00.003-04:00

Mike Adams is doing a series of articles this week that he is calling Profiles In Courage to encourage us that not all Americans are the moonbats that seem to be making all the headlines these days. You can read the first installment HERE. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

Sorry I missed you guys during the month of September. A lot happened: I started dating a very special and lovely lady, I sorted through a lot of detritus from my past, I turned 40, started a men's prayer group in my house, and I began the process of dismantling the garden. I have been swamped. Thankfully, things in the garden are nearly at an end, so perhaps I can get the slackness out and start posting again. Thanks to all of you who have checked back to see if I am still alive. Your loyalty is truly appreciated. I will return to the spiritual warfare series and get things rolling with that again too.

Speaking of spiritual warfare, an excellent book to check out on the subject (if you are interested) is The Three Battlegrounds by Francis Frangipane. I read it 20 years ago and thought, "Eh, it's OK." Now with some more experience and wisdom under my belt, I realize that it is a fabulous book. I am underlining about every other sentence. I re-read very few books. I'll probably start over in this one as soon as I finish it. Is that a strong enough endorsement? Get the book.

Well, it is late, so I will bid you good night, but I will be back soon. Thanks for your support!

Priceless...

2009-10-13T01:34:00.001-04:00

Daggum!

2009-08-29T08:15:00.004-04:00

I can't believe it has been so hard to keep up my posting here lately. There are a couple of contributing factors though. My poor computer is in dire need of some attention - not nearly enough memory for what I am trying to do with it. This sad fact makes everything that I try to do with the computer take much longer than it should. The other major factor that has been playing in is the size of my garden. It has been much more demanding this year. Add to that a project that I have been working on at my parents' house to reclaim the basement from its oblivion as the world's largest junk repository and my participation in a new band, I guess it isn't too surprising that something had to give.

Speaking of the band...

If any of you are in close proximity to Rowan County today you should come out to Godstock. It is an annual festival that is held at the South Rowan YMCA on Kimball Road to raise money to help NC families with critically ill children. The money that is raised from Godstock doesn't go to pay medical bills, but is used to pay other expenses like car payments, rent, electricity, etc. for these families who have had to take a parent out of the work force to care for their sick child. It's a really good cause.

Today my band, which is for the moment called Crosswire, will be playing at Godstock from 12:00 noon to about 1:30. Our style is rock. Our music is mostly worship. I wish I had been able to give you a little more notice. I will, however post some pictures in the next several days and let you know how things went.

And with that I need to sign off and finish getting ready to go. I need to leave in about an hour and a half to get set up. In the meantime, I'll leave you with what I am listening to to get me psyched about today!

Interesting Point About President Obama's Legitimacy

2009-08-18T13:58:00.002-04:00

This is a little dry, but it raises some issues that I hadn't heard about. I need to do some more research into her claims, but if what she is saying is true we have a real problem.

Part 1

Part 2

Let Them Eat Cake Instead

2009-08-08T11:03:00.007-04:00

I just finished reading a very well-reasoned and argued article written by Steven Vasquez, the Interim New York State Coordinator for Campaign for Liberty, about why we should oppose any form of nationalized health care program. It is a long read but the arguments are brilliant.

Here are a couple of my favorite parts:

"When a government fails to obey its laws granted to it by the people, it loses its authority to exist."

"The idea that health care is a right is incorrect and immoral. Is housing a right? Is driving a right? Is fresh water a right? Are video games and toys a right? They are privileges earned through productivity, not consumption. The rights we are given are inalienable, and our government can not grant those rights and is prohibited from taking them away through the Constitution's Bill of Rights. We would no longer be a Constitutional Republic, but a Collectivist state, should this occur."

My biggest problem with this health care reform bill is that I see it as an overreaching by the US government in a massive power grab. The government can't run Medicare. It can't manage its own spending. It can't even run a ship disposal program. It has spent Social Security into oblivion and now they want to run health care? I don't think so.

People are very angry about this and the other things that are happening in our government with good reason. No one is listening to them. Is there any better example of gross negligence than the fact that our "representatives" are not even reading the bills that they are voting for? How can you adequately represent your constituents' best interests when you haven't even read the freaking bill? How well would that play in a malpractice lawsuit? "Well the patient looked pretty sick so the doctor just dove in and started operating without reading his charts or talking to anyone about the patient's history first."

And why is it necessary to have a 1,000 page bill ever? Who can possibly digest everything that is in it? And why the rush? If there is nothing to hide, then there should be no rush - especially on a bill that is thicker than an unabridged dictionary. Are people angry? Absolutely!

And instead of listening and slowing down, the administration and many senators and congressmen are ridiculing this anger. I fear that it will be to their own pain. I have never seen the people of this country as angry as they are now, and that is not likely to end well. The problem is the arrogance of the ruling elite right now. They are going to do what they have deemed the "right thing" to do come hell or high water, and anyone who refutes them is labeled "a mob" or "un-American" or "a Brown Shirt."

I managed to earn that scorn from a friend of a friend on Facebook this past weekend for venting a little bit about how utterly ticked I am. I find it funny that Brown Shirts seem to often characterize anyone who disagrees with them as a Brown Shirt. In truth it is the proponents of this bill that are acting the most like fascists.

Is it un-American to protest the loss of liberty that we are threatened with by this administration's policies? The left didn't think so when they were protesting President Bush's policies. I doubt that John Adams or Patrick Henry would have thought so. They both openly pushed for outright war with England! Talk about a rabble rouser! The founders would be appalled that the nation that they sacrificed so much to birth has come to this.

Most Americans have come to understand that the government doesn't listen to polite. It only understands passion - because passion is the only power that the people really have. When people get passionate enough they start acting, and that gets really unpredictable for politicians. Except the current group of Do-dahs that is up there now thinks that they'll be able to pull a Goebbels and repeat the lie long enough for the simple to believe it. And yet, even the President, master of rhetoric that he is, cannot avoid the truth that under his plan there will be certain points where treatment will be withheld.

I really wish I had time tonight to get into more detail about the problems that are coming out about this bill and about some of the alternatives that I have pondered, but it just isn't going to happen. Perhaps I can return to it soon and go into greater depth. Apparently Senator Burr from North Carolina has made a proposal of his own that I would like to read.

The bottom line is that the powers that be need to get a grip on reality, start listening to the people, pay attention to their anger, take them seriously, and readjust their thinking lest they, acting like Marie Antoinette, push the people too far and meet her same end.

Evolution

2009-08-08T10:47:00.003-04:00

The makers of Dove soap have begun a self esteem campaign for girls/women that is pretty cool. Their website contains some pretty amazing commercials that really show how Madison Avenue has negatively impacted the self esteem of millions of people the world over. One that really decloaks the beast is one called Evolution. It is definitely worth a watch. In fact, all the videos on the site are good.

The Latest

2009-08-07T08:51:00.003-04:00

It has been a while since I have published, and that is almost entirely the garden's fault - that and the fact that I have hardly been home in the past month. Tomorrow I am finishing up a house-sitting commitment that I made, and then I'll be back to my own bed. YES! You know, it is hard to beat sleeping in your own bed.

I overdid it with the garden this year for sure. Some things have been sadly neglected - like my purplehull peas. I'll be surprised if I get much from them at all this year. You do what you can do, and decide what to get done with the time that you have. Sadly, the purplehulls have taken a back seat to the limas, green beans and butter beans.

The green beans and butter beans have done better this year than I ever imagined that they would though. I have only picked the limas once and have already gotten more than twice what I got all season last year. The butter beans have produced well too, but I have discovered that they are the devil to pick. They are about 10x harder to pick than the limas - and I used to think that limas were hard to pick. I doubt that I'll be planting butter beans next year. I don't like them well enough to justify the work involved in picking them.

The broccoli has stopped and I need to pull it up, and my corn is coming along nicely. It is a little over knee high. I am still getting tomatoes too, but some of them have quit and others are starting to slow down some. My okra is doing nicely too. The green beans seem to be hitting their second wind, but I am leaving a couple rows for seed. The squash and zucchini are done, but my peppers are still producing very well.

Well, that is all I have time for right now. You can expect to hear more from me next week!

The Counterattack

2009-07-20T11:17:00.005-04:00

A funny thing happens when you begin to write about spiritual warfare - the spiritual warfare that you are experiencing gets more serious. Not long after I finished the article Choosing Your Ground I was hammered by the most intense battle that I have experienced in years.

Did I know one was coming? Yes; but I have to admit that it was far more severe than I had anticipated. It was like a wave that knocked me off of my feet and rolled me around under the water for a while. I am only now beginning to find the ground and get my feet back under me again.

While it is disconcerting that I was hit so hard, I was reminded yesterday by my pastor that, "a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, but the wicked stumble in time of calamity." Thank God that my righteousness isn't based on any goodness inherent in me, but is solely dependent on the perfection of Jesus Christ imputed to me by faith. God is certainly good!

The aftermath of the attack has left me pretty tender and wounded, but I see the attack as a good thing. In it the enemy was allowed to sift me and used a seemingly small area of darkness in my heart as the access point for his attack. He exploited this area of rebellion in my heart to his advantage to quickly open up a breech on a flank that I thought that I had thoroughly defended. Because of this attack I am now aware of an area where I had grown complacent and that needs to be submitted to God.

Another positive on the heels of this attack is that it would seem that the articles that I have written have struck a nerve with the enemy. That is a very good thing. Thus, I intend to continue writing. As I suggested in Total War, if he bloodies me, I have every intention of returning the favor.

The most disturbing outcome of the attack has been how long it has taken me to get back in the saddle. I'm not even sure that I'm back there yet, but I do seem to be moving that way. And as I return to the saddle, I will return to the offensive. I intend to write the next installment of the Spiritual Warfare Series in the coming days.

Garden Update

2009-07-03T09:56:00.002-04:00

Things are going well in the garden. Yesterday I had some good help too. My nephew and my niece helped me pick cucumbers, tomatoes, banana peppers, onions, broccoli, and green beans. They also helped me to put out some more soaker hose for irrigation. And we also encouraged the purplehull runners to climb the trellis. My niece told me, "Uncle Jonathan, this is the most fun we have ever had together!" That did my heart good!

All told we picked about 2 gallons of green beans. They were some of the prettiest ones I have ever seen. I'm looking forward to tasting them soon too! My niece even helped me to string and break the beans last night. While we watched the Braves finish their sweep of the Phillies! Whoo! Now if the Braves can just keep it going for the rest of the season. Gardening is great because it gives me an excuse to watch baseball! You might as well do something while you are processing the harvest!

Some of the new tomato varieties that I grew this year are pretty good. I really like the taste of both the Celebrity and the Early Girl tomatoes. The Celebrity tastes a lot like the Better Boy whereas the Early Girl is really sweet. The German Johnson had a good taste too. We should have some other varieties to taste soon. I have been a little disappointed with the Roma tomatoes' seeming proclivity to bloom end rot. I haven't been able to get any Calcinit Tropicote on them this year and I am sure that it isn't helping matters, but I have only found the problem on my Better Boys and my Romas. I have been putting off putting out the CT because the pellets melted and have become one large block. I don't look forward to breaking that block up into a powder that will get all over my hands when I go to put it out. Blech.

Onions are hanging in there but I'll be pulling them up soon. I think they are about done.

I still need to sort some irrigation issues. I need to get some for my corn and some for the remainder of the purplehulls. My corn isn't up yet, probably because I haven't been able to get any water on it yet. I need to get that sorted quickly because I need to get it going. And I also want to do a couple successive plantings and that needs to be done soon. I'd also like to get some pumpkins planted soon.

Loving the summer weather this week. If it would stay like this I wouldn't mind summers at all. Keep me under 90 degrees and I'm a pretty happy camper.

Garden Update

2009-06-29T20:12:00.003-04:00

Things are going nicely in the garden, although it is starting to get a little dry. I have started getting tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, onions, broccoli, and peppers. All of my beans are blooming, the cantaloupe and watermelon are doing nicely, and the okra is finally getting going.

It is a pretty garden this year. We have put up trellises for the green beans, purplehull peas, and cucumbers to climb. Everything is nice and green. At least for now.

I'm still sorting out irrigation issues. I noticed my green beans starting to go a little yellow on me from the lack of rain and abundant heat over the past week so I went to work to make sure that I got irrigation to them today. I ended up putting 6 patches on one of the soaker hoses. It could have used 8, but I only had 6, so I cut out a bigger section than normal so that I could get the last two leaks repaired. I have two more hoses to get sorted out. I need to do so soon because I have corn in the ground now that I doubt will come up if I don't get some water on it. The purplehulls are going to be needing water too.

And that is your farm report!

A Quote For Today

2009-06-29T20:07:00.000-04:00

Is it the role of the church to shape the culture or to merely reflect it?... Christians need to take a break from worshiping this culture and the idols it produces. We need to take a closer look at the man in the mirror.

- Mike Adams from his article The Advocate Of The Episcopal Church

Ubercool Picture

2009-06-29T00:07:00.003-04:00

Beach Pictures

2009-06-28T22:45:00.007-04:00

If you are interested you can see more pictures from Corolla on my Facebook page. I would post more here, but I don't feel like trying to resize each one! For some reason the small medium and large editor on Blogger isn't working. I will leave you this picture though. It is one of my favorites...

What could be cooler than a monster bus that can drive on the beach? Awesome!

It is hard to believe that this has already been over two weeks ago!

Wynton Marsalis On Integrity

2009-06-22T13:51:00.002-04:00

Excellent interview. I really like the way Wynton Marsalis thinks. He is clearly a very intelligent man. I'd love to have a few hours to sit down with him and talk - and jam too! Too bad most of the folks in charge don't see things a clearly and reasonably as he does.

More From The Beach

2009-06-12T14:17:00.008-04:00

Wednesday we ended up going over to the Currituck lighthouse. It is a very beautiful structure. I believe that it may be my favorite NC lighthouse now. The lighthouse is open for visitors to climb, and climb we did. I got some pretty good pictures all along the way. I would love to share them with you now, but for some reason, my friends' computer cannot find the driver for my camera. I blame Vista. We also looked around at the buildings around the lighthouse too. There were some very interesting details.

For instance, there was a two-holer latrine/outhouse out there. It was not in operation, but an inspection of the building revealed that there would be absolutely no privacy in the privy. If I can get pictures up, you'll see what I mean. I also saw what looked to be a double cistern and water collection system on the keeper's house. I have pictures of that too. It is a shame that they didn't have someone out there to explain what everything is and to give some background information about the lighthouse and grounds.

We also explored the old Corolla village and shops. It is pretty much all tourist boutiques. The one big score that we did get was a barbecue joint that was in the village. Excellent 'que. Their ribs were very good and everything that I tasted was, well, tasty. For Eastern style barbecue it was a pleasant surprise.

Wednesday night we took another swing at Triopoly - although we probably should have called it Dupoly? We took the top level off to help shorten the game. I was playing great and had lots of sets and had even built several skyscrapers, but once again the other players started boycotting my properties. It was very sad, and somehow I ended up being cash poor and going down in ignominious defeat. "The Godfather" seems to have lost his touch. Perhaps it is because we are playing the international edition instead of the original one! After Triopoly we did a little bowling on the Wii. Very fun night. I even managed to pull off a few of my niece's over the shoulder strikes.

Yesterday we went to get some supplies for fishing. We bought bait at one store, but they didn't have licenses and they didn't have the other tackle that we needed. Afterwards we went shopping for some gifts. I was generally underwhelmed at the offerings. I saw absolutely nothing that I couldn't live without. We finished up at another tackle shop where I was able to get my license and some flounder rigs. It was a nice shop and the owner was very helpful. I don't recall the name of the store right now, but it was in the same shopping center as the Food Lion. His prices were pretty reasonable too.

Our fishing expedition didn't go so well. I was fishing with an old Penn Number 9 baitcaster. I had never fished with it before. I guess it would probably be safe to still say that! I spent most of my time "fishing" trying to get backlashes out of the line. I thought a couple of times that I had figured out how to do it, but another cast using the same technique demonstrated (with a mighty snarl of 20 lb test) that I had not. I also had my license checked for the first time on the beach this trip. I thought that it was interesting that it was checked by a deputy instead of a Wildlife officer.

After a couple hours in which no one had gotten a bite (but a lot of fish had gotten a free meal) David's son was tired of fishing. So I left the baitcaster and went back to my more familiar Penn spinning reel. I did have better success, although not with the flounder rig. After about a half an hour of fishing with it getting no bites I decided to switch to a drum rig like we usually use in the fall. It wasn't long before I did get a really nice blue bite. However, by that point most everyone was ready to move on so we packed up and headed on up the beach to look around some.

We didn't see the horses this time, but we did see a wedding on the beach complete with a steel drum band. I have never quite understood the fascination with beach weddings. Not for me, thanks.

Last night we started trying to get rid of some of the leftovers that we have been amassing. Most of the dinner was veggies, although we did take the leftover grilled chicken and steak from earlier in the week and added them to salads. Mmmmmm. Very tasty.

Instead of a game last night we ended up working on development of a game that David and I am working on. It is an iPhone application. I added some information to the database and he did some coding. We also kept an eye on the Baltimore/Seattle baseball game. Tonight Baltimore is playing the Braves. I hope that we can watch some of that too.

Today we have taken our time and not done too much. David and his family went out to play some miniature golf and I have been enjoying the solitude of having the house to myself.

Tonight we will probably play some more games. I am hoping to play some Risk. I've only played it once before and want to take another swing at it. Of course we will also continue to play billiards too. David, his son and his dad are all pretty good. I rarely win against them, but I have managed to pull off some pretty cool shots this week, including a few jumped cue shots to sink a snookered ball.

Sadly, our time here at the beach is coming to an end. We have to relinquish this wonderful house and head back to reality. I'll probably go kicking and screaming!

Update From The Beach

2009-06-10T08:13:00.003-04:00

Yesterday we drove out on the beach above Corolla. It was nice out there. The dunes are really cool. It is strange to see people out on the beach doing anything besides fishing... it has been so long since I have been at the beach during peak season. Usually when I'm here the only folks here are fishermen! The water is also much colder now than it usually is when I am here in November. I doubt the water is much warmer than 60 degrees right now.

I also got to see some of the wild horses yesterday. I only saw them from a distance, but two of the ladies from our group walked up the beach and were able to get pretty close to them. In fact they got pictures taken with them and autographs too.... OK there were no autographs, but there were pictures. My friend, David, drove up to pick up the ladies and he managed to get his picture taken with them too. We also saw some porpoises or dolphins, lots of pelicans, and something that I had never seen before - a whole flock (probably 40 or more) of Canadian geese sitting out on the ocean. They hung around until they saw the dolphins...

The SPF-40 seemed to do the job yesterday. No sunburn.

A big thunderstorm came up after we had been there a couple hours. That was sufficient to get us off the beach. It ended up raining most of the rest of the night. So to pass the afternoon we broke out Triopoli. For those who have not played Triopoly before it is a modification of Monopoly. But the truth be told it is probably not enough of a modification of Monopoly to have kept the creators from getting shut down for copyright infringement. It is almost impossible to find the game now.

But anyway the game is basically Monopoly on steroids. Up to 8 people can play and it takes hours. I have not ever actually finished a game to the bitter end. Instead of one board you have three concentric boards. I'll try to include a picture here in a little bit. There is a whole lot more property than in Monopoly and the stakes are higher. There are also two casinos in the game that can either save you or ruin you! They had almost saved me yesterday. I hit it big 5 times out of six with 100-1 odds.

Last night we enjoyed the best fajitas that I have had in a long time, got down with our bad selves to some 80s funk and 70s disco and played some billiards. A good time was had by all. David is the reigning billiards champ, but you need to look out for his dad who has been dubbed "the closer."

Today I'm not sure what we'll end up doing. Roughly half of our party has to leave today so we will probably go back down to the beach for them to get in one last huzzah before the long drive back home. There has been talk of going to see the movie Up. I'm looking forward to that. I've been wanting to see it ever since I first started seeing the trailers on Facebook. I'm also going to try to make my way over to see the lighthouse and the stuff around it today or tomorrow.

We also have two more games to play. My friend brought the Emergency! board game, which will have to be tried out. It doesn't look all that complicated, but well, it was my favorite TV show as a kid. I also brought Risk. I hope we'll take a shot at that too. I've only played it once, but had a good time even though I made the classic blunder - I got involved in a land war in Asia.

So that's what's new and exciting here in Corolla. I'll update again when there is something fun to report.

Some Time Away

2009-06-08T22:55:00.003-04:00

Today I have headed down to Corolla with some friends, leaving things at home in the capable hands of my cousin, and my dad is keeping an eye on my garden for me.

This is my first time to this part of the Outer Banks. It is really different from the area around Hatteras, but I think it is prettier here than Hatteras is. There are some really interesting things close by that I am going to do my best to go see. Currituck lighthouse is within blocks of the house where I am staying. Definitely will go see that. I also passed by the place where the Wright brothers flew for the first time. Would like to see that too. It seems like I passed something else that I thought I'd like to see. Hmmm.

Gas is a lot cheaper down here than it is at home. It was $2.55 in Salisbury and I saw it for as low as $2.46 here. Never expected that. Not that I'm arguing...

I'll see if I can get some pictures for you. I don't know if I will be able to download pictures while I am here or not. If not. I'll post them when I get back! More later!

D-Day Anniversary

2009-06-06T21:48:00.002-04:00

Today is the 65th anniversary of D-Day the invasion of Normandy. I want to honor the men who faced the horrors of those beaches. They sacrificed in ways that those who weren't there will never comprehend. Thank you, men, for your courage and for paying such a high price to win the war. Thank you for fighting for your buddies and for your families. May your sacrifices not be in vain. God bless you all.

20 Years Ago Today...

2009-06-04T22:22:00.004-04:00

20 years ago today, the communist Chinese government violently crushed a peaceful demonstration by thousands of Chinese people at Tiananmen Square who were petitioning for democracy. Last year I wrote an article titled Remember Tiananmen Square! I think the words that I wrote back then are just as relevant today - perhaps even more so.

Since his election, President Obama has hastened our nation toward Marxism at an alarming speed, with many in the media nodding and applauding right along. It was telling when I overheard a report on the news the other day that people (I think it was in China, but I am not sure because I only caught the tail end of the segment) were asking the reporters if President Obama were a Communist or a Democrat. I've been wondering the same thing.

Leading up to the anniversary of the massacre the Chinese government clamped down on anyone who could possibly draw attention to the significant anniversary. According to an AP report today the Chinese government is taking a similar approach to Tiananmen as the Japanese have taken toward Nanking: they are pretending that it didn't happen, and have been quite terse with foreign governments that suggest that they should acknowledge what happened there.

But how could they acknowledge what happened? Acknowledging it would be to concede the wrongness of their response. To admit wrongdoing would cause the government to lose face and would preclude the utilization of the same response in a similar circumstance. It seems clear from the government's approach to this anniversary that they fully intend to reserve the option to use the same draconian tactics again. Little seems to have changed in the way that the Chinese government does business. It is too bad that the Chinese government hasn't chosen to lead the way by acknowledging what they did. Perhaps it would have helped to encourage the Japanese to acknowledge Nanking.

As for America, the clock is ticking. It is time for us to rise up NOW and begin to protest the theft of our freedoms and demand that the Bill of Rights be held sacred. If we don't have the courage to fight now while we are armed, will we have the courage to face our own tanks when we're as unarmed as the demonstrators at Tiananmen were? Wake up, America!

Law Or Justice?

2009-06-02T08:30:00.005-04:00

I have been pondering an interesting thought this morning. It has occurred to me this morning that our nation's courts, judges, and lawyers are more interested in law than they are justice. Perhaps this is why I am so often flummoxed by the things that lawyers say and do. If this were not the case, how else could a lawyer get someone who is clearly guilty of breaking the law off on a technicality?

An acquaintance of mine is a law student and had the following question on an exam:

Assume that you finally have graduated from law school and have moved to the State of Nirvana, a jurisdiction which follows the general law of criminal procedure that you studied in this course. You have begun work in the Trial Division of the Nirvana Prosecuting Attorney's office and have been asked to evaluate a case in your office. Your task is to write a detailed and candid report to your supervisor, the Chief Prosecuting Attorney, determining the legal issues involved, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses, and predicting the probable outcome of each issue at trial. Structure your report around the items of evidence that the Prosecuting Attorney probably will want to use against the defendant in this case. Following are the agreed-upon facts and procedures up to this point.

The defendant in the criminal case you are analyzing is Xiao-Ling (XL). XL is a 29-year-old woman and a recent Chinese immigrant with an only moderate command of the English language. At the time of the alleged crimes, XL was living in a small apartment at the back of her restaurant. XL is part-owner and manager of the restaurant, working there about twelve hours a day, every day.

Local Nirvana narcotics detectives have long suspected that members of the large local Chinese community were involved in the importation, sale, and distribution of illegal narcotics, particularly cocaine and heroin. The police believed that the narcotics were being brought in from a drug ring in Beijing, dominated by the Dong family. Police officers had no individual suspects locally but generally were watching the activities around the twenty-five Chinese restaurants in Nirvana, including XL's restaurant, in the hope that they might discover evidence of narcotics trafficking.

Two weeks ago on a Friday evening, undercover narcotics officers Able (A) and Baker (B), dressed in casual clothing, went to XL's restaurant at about 7:00 p.m. A and B had dinner and lingered at their table after eating. After a few minutes, A got up from the table and went back near the rear of the restaurant to the men's restroom. Meanwhile, B walked up to the front of the restaurant to talk with XL, who was sitting behind the cash register near the front door. B began to comment on the menu and asked XL how busy the restaurant had been lately. B then asked XL if she knew of the Dong family in Beijing, and XL responded: "Yes, we buy food from them." B then told XL that he was in the market for about ten kilos of high quality "Beijing coke" such as that available from the Dong family and asked XL if she could provide it to him. XL responded: "Tomorrow; noon; I have." B then left the restaurant.

As B and XL were talking up front, A left the men's restroom and looked across the hallway into the kitchen. Seeing no one in the kitchen at the time, A walked through the open doorway into the kitchen. In the far corner of the kitchen, A saw an unopened package addressed to XL and with a return address of "Dong Family; Beijing, China." Just at that moment, the cook came into the kitchen and asked A what he wanted. A mumbled something about looking for the men's room, and the cook directed A to that location.

Once out of the sight of the cook, A walked to the far rear of the hallway to the doorway to XL's apartment. An elaborate curtain covered the doorway, but by standing right next to the curtain and peering through the curtain's few openings, A could see into the apartment. On a table in the apartment, A could see a small weighing scale and small plastic bags such as often were used to divide up large quantities of drugs into small packages for sale to individuals. A wastepaper basket was sitting just inside the apartment doorway on the other side of the curtain. A reached around the curtain and grabbed a small paper bag out of the basket, noticing some sort of residue at the bottom of the bag. He stuffed the bag under his coat and walked through the restaurant and out the front door, joining B outside. The subsequent laboratory analysis of the contents of the bag showed traces of heroin.

The next morning, A and B applied for a search warrant for XL's restaurant and apartment. A and B told the magistrate that they had found the heroin bag in a trash can in the men's restroom, had seen the unopened package with the Dong return address on a table next to theirs in the dining area, and had seen the small weighing scale with white powder on it through an open, outside window into XL's apartment. The magistrate issued the warrant to search for illegal narcotics.

At noon, A and B returned to XL's restaurant with the search warrant but not telling anyone that they had the warrant. Not seeing XL out front in the dining area, B walked quickly back to the rear of the restaurant, pushed aside the curtain hanging at the doorway to XL's apartment, and stepped into the living room of the apartment. XL emerged from her bedroom and told B to wait for her out front. Instead of stepping back out of XL's apartment, B walked over to the table with the scales on it. B picked up a cardboard box from the floor, opened the top flaps, and saw plastic bags of white powder inside the box. B said "Is this the stuff I asked for?", and XL responded "No! Mine! Leave alone! Get out!"

Screaming in Chinese, XL stormed out into the restaurant where she encountered A talking with the cook. The cook had told A that the restaurant gets many packages from the Dong family in Beijing, and XL takes the packages back into her apartment. A approached XL and started to say something, but XL screamed at him: "I get lawyer!"

By then, B had come back out into the restaurant and walked up to XL. B read XL the Miranda warnings and asked if XL wanted to waive the rights. XL did not respond to B's question about waiving the rights but instead asked A and B "You cops?" B answered "yes," and XL responded "Then not talk!"

A and B then placed XL in handcuffs and put her in the backseat of a police car, along with the cardboard box full of white powder found in XL's apartment. Subsequent laboratory tests indicated the white powder was cocaine. A and B sat in the front seat of the police car and began driving down to the police station. B remarked: "Well, we finally found the Nirvana connection to Beijing's Dong family." A replied: "Yup, I think we hit the jackpot." At that point, XL said from the backseat: "Dumb narcs know nothing." B replied: "Sure, lady. We know all we need to know." XL then began to describe her involvement with the Dong Family. By the time the police car had reached the police station about 20 minutes later, XL had made several admissions as to her involvement in importing and selling cocaine and heroin out of her restaurant.

When they arrived at the police station, a retired real estate attorney named John who was a frequent customer of XL's restaurant was just walking by on the sidewalk. XL called out to John, and John came over to her and the officers. XL told John that she had been arrested and that her restaurant had been searched. XL then asked John whether she should be talking with the officers about all of this. John replied: "If you've got nothing to hide, you always should cooperate with the authorities. I'm sure this is all a big mistake and that you can explain everything." John then walked on his way, and XL and the officers entered the police station. XL then agreed to make a full, written confession to the police, which she did, taking over ten pages to complete.

You are now preparing the case for trial and have been asked by the Chief Prosecuting Attorney to write a detailed and candid memorandum structured around the items of evidence that the Prosecutor probably will want to use. The Prosecutor has listed the evidence which presumably will be used as follows:

1. "Yes, we buy food from them."
2. "Tomorrow; noon; I have."
3. Unopened package with Dong Family return address
4. Paper bag with heroin residue.
5. Cardboard box with bags of cocaine.
6. "No! Mine! Leave alone! Get out!"
7. Cook's statements as to packages from Dong.
8. XL's admissions while in police car.
9. XL's 10-page written confession.

Write your report.

Now I'm not a law student or an attorney, but based on the things that I have read and seen on TV, I would dare say that Xiao-Ling would stand a decent chance at getting off (with a good attorney) because of the unethical (and probably illegal) way that the police put their case together and handled her arrest.

That's not justice. That's law. Justice would demand that all of the parties that broke the law would be punished even if the evidence were not gathered legally.

Or for a more practical and common situation; is it just for people to be able to get out of a speeding ticket by hiring an attorney? What is just about that? That arrangement deprives the poor of the same "justice" afforded to the rich. Justice would demand that punishment be required of those who violate the law. No, our society does not love justice.

Perhaps this American mindset regarding the law is why so many have trouble understanding God's justice. God's justice is absolute and cannot be bribed. There is only one thing that will cause you to avoid paying the penalty for your crimes in God's court and that is the surrender of the lordship of your life to Jesus Christ. When we submit ourselves to Him and cry out for His mercy then He begins to advocate for us.

But even this advocacy isn't without justice, for Jesus satisfied the requirements of justice when He died for us. God poured out on Him the wrath that was reserved for those who ran to Him for mercy. But sadly, that wrath is still reserved for those who have not done so. If you have never surrendered your life to Jesus, please do so and hide yourself in Him from the wrath that is to come.

It Has Begun

2009-06-02T08:20:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I spent a good bit of time in the garden. I was able to get some plants in the ground. I planted some more tomatoes, some jalapeño peppers, and cucumbers. I also transplanted some tomatoes that had come up volunteer and some green beans that managed to get out of their rows. I also got up some rocks and tilled one row to get the weeds out. I drove some stakes for the new tomatoes and tied the tomatoes.

I also dug six post holes. That was the toughest thing I did. On my next to last hole there was huge rock about ¾ of the way to the depth that I was digging. It would have been nice to have some dynamite.... After an epic struggle I finally managed to lever that thing out.

Today I plan to do some more work. I need to spray, get up rocks, and till. I'd like to get the rest of the irrigation sorted, but that is probably more than I'll get done today. I also need to fertilize, finish the trellis for the peas, get the peas up on the trellis, and weed the peas. Anybody bored today? Sounds like I have another day's worth of work to do. More later!

Coming Soon...

2009-05-30T15:09:00.003-04:00

I've begun thinking about the next installment in the Spiritual Warfare series. I think that it is going to be about grace. The trick is going to be figuring out how to unravel this very difficult concept. It is more abstract than the concepts that I have tackled so far and is something that I have been pondering for almost 20 years.

Yesterday I managed to write my first query letter and submit my first article for publication. I hope that I'll get a positive response to it. I should know something by the end of June.

I hope to head over to the garden for a little while this afternoon. I have some plants to set out and I will probably also tie up the tomatoes again. I don't think that I'll do any heavy work today because I am playing guitar tomorrow. I'm visiting a friend's church in the Charlotte area.

Now I am going to take a little time and practice guitar and figure out what I will be singing for tomorrow. I hope that you are all enjoying this beautiful Saturday!

Top Ten Things You Don't Want Jesus To Say To You

2009-05-30T12:12:00.004-04:00

Here are 10 things you never want to hear Jesus say to you:

10.) Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

9.) I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

8.) Get behind me, satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.

7.) Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your Name, and in Your Name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!'

6.) You hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

5.) You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation. You who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate.

4.) You wicked, lazy servant! Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

3.) Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

2.) I tell you the truth, I don't know you.

1.) Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.

These are some of the scariest verses in the Bible, and every one of these words was spoken by Jesus Himself. Do not deceive yourself by picking only the parts of the Bible that you like and that make you feel safe and happy. Partial truth isn't truth. It is the language of hell; for satan rarely ever tells a lie that doesn't contain some truth.

The Scriptures are truth, but they must be used correctly. The devil tried to convince Jesus to jump from the roof of the temple, using Psalm 91:11-12 to justify it, but because Jesus knew all of God's Word He was able to refute the devil's lie. Scripture interprets Scripture.

Do these verses sound like "gentle Jesus, meek and mild?" Of course not! We have tried to jam Jesus into a little box that treats Him like a glorified wimp. Nothing could be further from the truth as the aforementioned verses illustrate. Is Jesus loving? Sure He is! Nobody loves more passionately and deeply than He does, but Jesus is also a warrior who will destroy all the works of the devil. He is the King of all creation who will judge the nations with a rod of iron! I don't want to be working against Him when He comes back!

Our lives are so full of sin. Even if we get rid of all of the ones that are obvious, there are still plenty left to debase us. We must humble ourselves and submit to His rule in our lives. We have to stop arguing with Him about the things that He declares to be sin. He is King! He gets to make the rules! And whether we agree with those rules or not, they are still the laws by which we will be judged one day. Please submit to Jesus and His Word. I don't want you to face the terror of hearing Him speak any of this top ten list to you.

Garden Pictures

2009-05-28T20:25:00.015-04:00

Hello everyone. Well, I was able to upload my pictures over at Mom and Dad's house today, and I thought I'd share them with you. To start out I thought I'd show you a picture of the garden from about this time last year.

Here is this year's version:

OK. Not only is the picture larger, the garden is too. In the top picture you will notice that the garden stops at that persimmon tree. This year the garden has engulfed the tree. Also last year's garden ended about where that soaker hose is cutting across the picture horizontally about ½ the way up the picture. I figure that I have probably added about 50% more area this year.

I have rearranged things this year some. The row to the far left is where my okra is planted. Next to the okra are my tomatoes and my sweet peppers. Next to the tomatoes are my fordhook lima beans. And next to the fordhooks are baby lima beans. I also will be planting some jalapeño peppers next to the baby limas and may plant some Irish potatoes in that same row. I also hope to plant some white sweet potatoes on the other side of the persimmon tree in that row.

The section with horizontal rows is arranged as follows: in the section nearest to the camera are my various squash plants. I think I have 9 summer squash and 3 zucchini plants. Next to the squash are my cucumbers. I have six more cucumber plants to put out. Next to the cucumbers I have 5 rows of green beans. Next to the green beans are one section of my onions. There are two different varieties in that section. I really can't remember what they were though. (I think I had some Cherry and some Texas Gold and one other variety, but I really can't remember.) Next to the onions are my green peas. And beyond the green peas are my cantaloupe and watermelon plants. After that is my second section of onions (a third variety), which adjoin my broccoli, and finally 5 rows of purplehull peas (crowder peas.)

Everything seems to be coming up nicely.

Here are green beans a week ago verses where they are today:

I have a squash bloom now!

Onions last week:

And now:

And peas:

Broccoli then and now:

And Purplehulls...

The first picture doesn't show the plants that well, but it does show how much the garden expanded this year. It began on the other side of that tree.

And this is one of the bigger problems that I have to contend with - leaky hoses. The soakers do a pretty good job overall, but they tend to need a good bit of repair through the course of the season.

There are tomatoes coming on and blooms on lots of the plants. Everything is looking good. If it will stop raining for a couple of days I'll re-spray everything because it needs it again. There are some hungry pests out there. I also need to tie the tomatoes again and weed the peas and finish making the trellises. It's always something!

Might As Well...

2009-05-23T02:43:00.002-04:00

Well, it is extremely late, but I still have the energy so I might as well give an update on the garden while I am writing.

Today saw me finishing up some of the work in my garden. I managed to finish weeding the broccoli, hoed in between the last two rows of onions, put out some soaker hoses, and applied an insecticide to the plants that the bugs have been so enthusiastically eating. I also tied the tomatoes for the first time.

Things are going well in the garden. The green beans all appear to be up. The purplehulls are about up, the baby limas are up, and the okra is poking its way through. The fordhooks haven't shown themselves yet, but I think that if I can get some irrigation to them that they will spring forth as well. I about lost my watermelon plants and a couple squash plants to thirst, but I think that I got to them in time.

The big challenge so far this year is trying to figure out how to water this large garden. I don't have nearly enough soaker hoses. At this point the budget for such things is tight, so my only option may be to move the hoses from day to day as things need to be watered. All in all I don't guess that would be so bad - just a little inconvenient.

Yesterday (Thursday) was a hard day in the garden. All of my onions needed weeding and I have a LOT of onions. First I needed to get the weeds out and then I needed to pull all of the dirt back away from the bulb of each onion so that only the roots were left in the ground. From all reports, this is the way that they like to grow. The only way to do them effectively was to either get down on my knees or to bend over and work on them. Some of the onions are really starting to come along. I am anticipating them to do so more readily now that they have gotten some fertilizer, water, and the other attention that they need.

I also drove all of the stakes for the tomatoes. It was a good shoulder workout!

Dad helped out by setting up trellises for my garden peas to run on. I really appreciated his help. We still need to do them for the purplehulls and the green beans. He also helped to get some of the soaker hoses put out, ran the hose from the wellhouse to the garden, and hooked everything up. He even patched a leak.

Speaking of leaks, one of the soakers that I put out today sprung a big one. Keeping them repaired is a constant process.

I believe that I should have some peas ready for picking soon, I have seen a couple small tomatoes on a few vines, and I noticed an itty-bitty head of broccoli forming in one of my plants.

Next week I need to finish tying the strings in the trellis for my peas, put up a trellis for my cucumbers, and finish my hoeing.

I took some pictures tonight of the garden and I'll try to post them here tomorrow. We'll have to see how it goes. I don't have that much memory on my computer, and I think that I took pretty high resolution photos. I may need to wait until I can download them at my parents' house. I should make it over there some time this weekend. I think that I got some interesting shots.

Hope you guys all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. In the midst of all of your recreation take the time to remember all of those who sacrificed their lives to protect our freedoms. God bless!

Lords and Ladies

2009-05-23T00:34:00.016-04:00

If you would like a clear demonstration of where the policies of the Obama Administration and the Congress are taking our nation, you should read an article from the Associated Press about California. Here are some highlights interspersed with my running commentary (emphases mine):

The crisis is a sort of political comeuppance for Schwarzenegger, who took over a state with a projected $16 billion gap in 2003 and promised to end California's "crazy deficit spending." (I guess he didn't succeed.)

The gap has two primary causes: The state has been living beyond its means for years by spending generously on all sorts of programs that the voters, the politicians and the special interests wanted. (Hmmmm... where have I heard of this being done before? Oh yes, our Federal lawmakers have been doing this for the past 9 years, and from the looks of things they have finally figured out how to do it right!) And the recession has hammered California's economy....

...The governor's cutbacks could include ending the state's main welfare program for the poor, eliminating health coverage for about 1.5 million poor children, halting cash grants for about 77,000 college students, shortening the school year by seven days, (At least this one is likely to make someone happy and isn't likely to hurt the kids' education.) laying off thousands of state workers and teachers, slashing money for state parks and releasing thousands of prisoners before their sentences are finished. (Looks like the gravy train done left the station.) ...

...The drastic cuts that appear to lie ahead will, by accident, accomplish the stark reduction in state government that many Republicans have long advocated.

"We should have been limiting the growth of government for years," Villines said. (He's a Republican. Too bad they didn't do it. I wonder if anyone in Washington is taking notes? Not likely. Hey, isn't Nancy Pelosi from California?) ...

...A separate commission is expected to release a proposal to rework the state's tax structure, which is vulnerable to booms and busts in California's economy because it relies heavily on high-income earners. (But wait! I thought wealth redistribution was supposed to be a good thing. This must be a mistake! You mean the President was wrong about that too?) The state also has few limits on what state government can spend and a small rainy day fund that can easily be raided by the politicians. (You mean like Social Security?) ...

Let the hand wringing begin. And that is exactly where our nation is headed if the Federal Government doesn't reign its spending in HARD. You can't pass the largest stimulus bill the world has ever seen, add tons of pork to every bill, finance a war, and fly every senator, representative, staff member, and cabinet member everywhere they go and not see this happen on a national level. You want a warning? LOOK AT CALIFORNIA!!!! This is where we will be before the Obama administration has finished this term if something isn't done quickly to establish some restraint in our government.

Ask Zimbabwe, Argentina, and Brazil how much fun it is to face hyperinflation. Our nation could very well lose its influence in the world and its ability to project power if this is allowed to happen here. It scares me to think of what we may resort to as a nation to defend ourselves in that hour should it come.

The article also said that the state is approaching the Federal Government about a bailout. Great. Just what we need. (Crap, Nancy Pelosi IS from California. What are the chances she'll turn down the chance to throw some do re mi at her peeps?) And if one gets it, you can rest assured that every other state will have to line up for it. It won't matter anyway. All the states that try to exercise some fiscal restraint will likely be sucked down in the vortex created by the states that rush to grab the money first.

North Carolina is apparently in no better condition than California. We are about to close prisons, cut all state employees' salaries (except for our dear legislators and elected officials, bless their hearts), lay off teachers and a whole bunch of other stuff, and yet we have one of the higher tax rates in the nation. Ah, the utopia of the liberal agenda!

Am I the only one who is wondering where all the money is going? I mean we have a lottery that is apparently selling lots of tickets. (The powerball is up to 192 million dollars as of Wednesday night.) The roads aren't getting fixed. They've been bleeding the universities since Easley was governor. Where the crap is all the money going?! I think we need to get some IRS auditors in to audit the government. There's a hole in the boat somewhere.

I'm glad to hear that they have started investigating former governor, Mike Easley, for misappropriation of public money while in office and examining the audacious contract between his wife and my alma mater, NC State. Apparently they are paying her nearly $1,000,000 over the course of five years to arrange a few speakers to come and speak at the university. Bless her heart! I'd gladly do it for half that. Maybe even ¼ of that if I could telecommute. I'd be willing to bet she doesn't do $50,000 worth of work the entire five years. Well, the university need not send me any pleas for money while crap like this is going on.

I am so sick of people being payed far more than they or the job they are doing is worth because they are "connected." I am tired of the Mike Easleys and Nancy Pelosis of this world thinking that they deserve preferential treatment and perks on the public dollar when all they know how to do is serve themselves and run a nation or a state into the ground. I'm tired of CEOs making millions every year whose only skills are to take a viable, healthy company and bleed all of its assets off and know when to jump ship before the effects hit the balance sheet. This junk has to stop.

Our nation was never supposed to have an aristocracy. Where did we get all of these people who think that they are lords and ladies? I can assure you that not one of them works as hard as any of my grandparents did, and my grandparents probably never made as much in their lifetimes as these people make in a year - maybe even a month. I'm pretty sure that they aren't any smarter than my folks either. So why would these "aristos" be entitled to any more than my hard-working grandparents got?

And that is another thing. Why is it that when President Bush was in office his intelligence was constantly slandered, and yet when President Obama finds himself reversing what he promised in his campaign and doing and saying some of the exact same things that President Bush was doing that he is refreshingly intelligent? I am utterly sick of people who are not as smart as President Bush or Sarah Palin belittling their intelligence. Most of the people who are doing so are totally on board with all of the President's left wing policies and believe all of his, er, nuanced answers. How intelligent is that?

When this Administration and this Congress manage to put our nation in the situation in which California finds itself (for I have no hope that they will do otherwise) I am sure that there will be lots of blame casting between the Republicans and Democrats. I'm sure that this will all somehow become President George W. Bush's fault. But the bottom line is that it is "we the people's" fault because we failed to hold our elected officials, educators, and corporate leaders accountable for their malfeasance, self-serving attitudes, and incompetence. (I am not suggesting that all elected officials, educators and corporate leaders are guilty of these things. Certainly there are some who are doing a good job, but sadly the tide seems to be flowing hard against them.)

Regardless of what anyone thinks, all governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed. It would seem that as a people we have decided that it is OK to sell the freedoms and liberties and true prosperity that had been won and defended for generations, for a figurative bowl of stew - a little short term gain. Looks like there were lumps in the gravy.

I leave you with a selection from the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.

Look to your foundations, America. They are crumbling. Think on that this Memorial Day weekend, and remember the many people whose blood helped to establish and protect them. Don't let their sacrifices be squandered. They deserve more honor than that.

Choosing Your Ground

2009-05-20T17:28:00.004-04:00

Part 2 In The Spiritual Warfare Series

It was a bad situation. His brother had parleyed an agreement that dictated the English surrender their garrison at Stirling Castle to them if they were not relieved by the English army by Midsummer's Day (June 24). Robert hadn't wanted to put his troops in a position where open battle against the English army was necessary. Slash and burn techniques and guerrilla warfare had proven the more effective strategy given the strengths and weaknesses of the Scottish and English armies. Yet what was done was done, and once again, as he had for the past 18 years, Robert was making the best of a bad situation.

That the English would come was without a doubt. Edward II had been humiliated by Robert and his men too many times for him to pass up a chance for one decisive victory to win back the lands that he had ineptly lost - lands that his father Edward Longshanks had so ably taken from the Scots. The setting was already chosen - Stirling Castle, and the time was relatively certain. He had just a few months to prepare for the coming battle.

The English would have heavy cavalry and archers. The Scots would have only light cavalry and a few archers. The English would likely have far better armor and would probably also outnumber the Scots heavily. It was unthinkable to attempt to fight the English in the open field. It would have been suicide. Their superior technology and numbers forbade it. So what could he do to mitigate the strengths of the English army and leverage the abilities of his own?

At the Battle of Falkirk, William Wallace had demonstrated that it was possible to repulse heavy cavalry using a bristling formation of soldiers armed with long pikes. Unfortunately, the same battle demonstrated that these formations (schiltroms) were vulnerable to the attack of archers because they were not mobile.

Robert had developed a solution to this problem. He drilled his men, teaching them to be able to move and fight in perfect formation with the schiltroms. Now they were less vulnerable to archers. But that in itself would not be sufficient to give him victory against so large a force. He began to scout the land for a defensible position.

There was little doubt that Edward's army would follow the old Roman road to Stirling. It was the only way that would give his heavy cavalry firm enough ground to be able to operate. But, with the dense Tor Wood to either side of the road, it would be easy to force the English into a narrow formation that would negate their numerical superiority in battle. Robert set his men to the task of digging pits along either side of the road and hiding them under a thin layer of branches and earth. They also cut down trees to make easy passage through the woods impossible and blocked all paths. On the other side of Tor Wood the Bannock Burn flowed through a narrow, boggy floodplain, called the Carse, that created a natural funnel between Tor Wood and New Park - a heavily forested hunting preserve on the other side of the Carse. It was a perfect spot to pick a fight.

He didn't have to wait long. Edward arrived on the scene on June 23 and his cavalry made contact with Robert the Bruce's forces in a frontal assault that was easily repelled by the Scots. As expected, the English outnumbered Bruce's army nearly three to one, but Robert's preparations had borne fruit. Edward turned his forces off the Roman road and crossed the fords of Bannock Burn to camp on the Carse that first night. He had fallen into the Bruce's trap. The battle that followed the next day saw the English routed and Edward abandoning his army to flee for his life, leaving them to get home the best that they could. The victory was so decisive that Scottish independence from England was only a matter of time. Edward never ventured into Scotland again.

The victory that day belonged to the Scots because they picked their battleground wisely and forced their enemy to engage them on their terms. Had Edward been wise enough to recognize the trap that he was walking into, he may have refused to engage the Scots until he had a plan to counter their positional advantage.

The lesson that Robert the Bruce taught to Edward that day is one that we must learn if we are to be successful in our spiritual campaigns. A wise commander chooses his ground carefully and refuses to engage his enemy on a battlefield that does not play to the strengths of his force. How well we do this will determine our success or failure in spiritual warfare.

There is only one battlefield that the saints of the Lord should battle on - the battlefield of truth¹. All other battlefields belong to the enemy. The battlefield of truth is defined by the Word of God. The enemy will do everything that he can to entice us to fight on his terms and on his battlefield. But we must not do this! We can rest assured that it is a trap every time.

Let's return to a story that most folks are very familiar with:

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it — I give every green plant for food." And it was so. Genesis 1:26-30

Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground — trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:8-9

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Genesis 2:15-17

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"

"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Genesis 3:1-7

This story is a perfect example of the devil's tactic. God gave Adam and Eve a specific command, "you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," and a specific consequence for disobeying that command, "for when you eat of it you will surely die." This was the truth. As long as they believed and acted on the reliability of God's truth they would be fine.

But then the devil showed up. And the serpent immediately began to question what God had said. He probed the defenses to see how firmly Eve knew the truth. He began very broadly, asking, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

Eve's answer was sound. She explained that they could eat from any tree but the one, and she even went further, saying that they couldn't even TOUCH it or they would die. It sounds good, right? She was making sure that she didn't eat any of that fruit, because if she didn't even touch the tree she couldn't eat the fruit, right?

Perhaps God had given them that additional instruction, but we have no record of it if He did. Is it possible that this deviation from the truth that was recorded provided the opening that the devil was looking for? Immediately upon hearing her reply the devil lied to her saying, "You will not surely die" and continued to convince her that she needed to eat that fruit to be like God.

At a recent spiritual warfare conference I attended, Steve Thompson² taught that the enemy always tries to convince us that we have to do something to become what we already are. How true that was in this case! Both Adam and Eve were the very image of God, and yet the devil tried to convince Eve that she had to do something else to become like God. Unfortunately for all of creation, she and Adam took the bait, trading their lives and their dominion of the earth for a lousy piece of fruit. The rest, as they say, is history.

The devil didn't make it clear what was at stake. In fact, he flatly denied the truth. I can imagine the old serpent handling the fruit, polishing the fruit, perhaps even tasting the fruit before Eve and demonstrating that it was indeed quite tasty and non-lethal. How different things would have been if Eve (or even Adam) had stuck to their guns and remained firmly planted on the truth. "God is my friend. He loves me, and if He told me that it would kill me then it will. I don't care how pretty it is. I don't care how tasty it is. God doesn't want me to die, and He knows what is best!"

However, that is not what happened, and because Adam and Eve allowed themselves to be persuaded to move away from the truth that God had revealed to them, the enemy was able to defeat them and take everything that was theirs. This story is our example of what happens when the devil is allowed to choose the battlefield and define the terms of the battle.

Fortunately, we also have an example in the Bible of how to keep the enemy fighting in the realm of truth. The story takes place right after Jesus' cousin, John, had baptized Him.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. The tempter came to Him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

(The devil tried the same line on Jesus that he did on Eve. 'If you are the Son of God, you have to prove it!' From the very start he tried to get Jesus to doubt that He was the Son of God.)

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'[a]"

(Jesus set the battlefield and the terms right there: Man lives on every word that comes from the mouth of God. He gave the enemy notice that this was where they would fight. He wasn't going to listen to the devil, and He wasn't going to listen to His body. He was going to listen to every word that came from God's mouth.)

Then the devil took Him to the holy city and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If You are the Son of God," he said, "throw Yourself down. For it is written:

" 'He will command His angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'[b]"

(Impressive. The devil knows some scripture. He pretended to comply with the terms that Jesus set, but he didn't change his premise. He was still trying to get Jesus to question who He is, and he was still trying to dictate what Jesus would have to do to prove it.)

Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'[c]"

(Jesus wasn't fooled by the devil's use of scripture. He recognized that the enemy's tactic hadn't changed at all; he had just wrapped it in a nice religious package. Jesus' thorough knowledge of the scriptures exposed the sin in the devil's enticement. This attack shows us the importance of studying and understanding the scriptures thoroughly - a job that we will never complete in this lifetime.)

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give You," he said, "if You will bow down and worship me."

(The enemy is persistent, and in this temptation he finally got around to what he was after all along. Please notice that he never left his premise that Jesus really isn't the Son of God. Inherent in this promise was the denial that everything in all of creation already belonged to Jesus as the Son of God. The audacity is staggering.)

Jesus said to him, "Away from me, satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.'[d]"

(End of discussion. This was the final word. Jesus was never moving off of it.)

Then the devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him.

Matthew 4:1-11

That is how you beat the devil. You take your stand upon the truth with the help of the Holy Spirit, and you refuse to be moved. Every time he opens his mouth, every time he brings a temptation, every time he attacks you, you must respond with the truth of the Word of God. To be able to stand you must know the truth and you must believe the truth.

To know the truth you must know the Word of God. The Bible tells us that God's Word is truth. It tells us that we shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free. And we also have the important admonition of Paul to Timothy to, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth."

Be diligent! To be able to accurately handle the word of truth we must be diligent in our study of the scriptures. The children of Israel were encouraged:

These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

That is constant marination in the truth! If only we were so diligent to do so! But it is what we must do if we are to know the truth and to believe the truth.

Belief goes far deeper than mere mental assent to the veracity of the Scriptures. Belief begins to kick in when you are willing to stake your life on the truth of the word of God. I know no one who is walking in perfect belief, but this is an area where we must begin to grow!

The trials that we suffer are opportunities to transform our knowledge and our mental assent into true belief; for it is in these trials that we find the enemy's assault on the truth that we claim to believe. How do you respond when sickness comes? Depression? Trouble? Persecution? Poverty? Do you still believe the truth of the scriptures in these situations? Do you still fight against the devil with the Word of God when these situations come against you? How long are you willing to fight? Are you willing to lean on the Word alone instead of running to other supports?

I am not suggesting that you run out and handle poisonous snakes to prove the truth of Mark 16:18, but if you should find yourself bitten one day, will you trust that verse for your life? (You might want to refer to Jesus' response to the devil when he suggested that Jesus jump off of the temple if you are tempted to handle them just to prove it. Don't fall into the devil's trap!)

I am also not suggesting that you must fight alone. God gave us brothers and sisters to stand with us and to multiply our strength when we fight together. I had an experience leading up to my trip to Japan that demonstrates what I am saying very clearly.

All winter I was around many people who were very sick. I was in close contact with people who had sicknesses that lasted for weeks and weeks, yet I stayed healthy. Every time I would begin to feel a twinge of something starting to attack, I would declare that it wouldn't take residence in my body and that I was well. I would stand on Isaiah 53:5, Psalm 103:4 and 1 Peter 2:24, and I was victorious in that fight all winter.

However, three days before I was to leave for my mission trip to Japan, I began to exhibit the symptoms of a cold. I fought them all day with the Word of God and with my declarations. I declared that I did not receive it and that I was well, but as the day wore on it was clear that I was losing the fight. I called two friends who are powerful in faith and asked them to pray for me. They did, but the battle still wasn't won. I had not shaken it yet. So, when I went to church that night for worship practice I asked the band members to lay hands on me and pray. They did, and the sickness broke. I got continually better from that moment, and by the time I landed in Japan there was no more sign of any sickness.

I'll make one comment here regarding battle that I expect I'll come back to before everything is said and done. It is easier to keep the devil out than it is to get him out once he has established a foothold. That is why it is so important to not let him get even one inch of ground upon which he can stand. Call in every resource that is at your disposal to defeat the enemy before he can get established.

I have heard that people trained to spot counterfeit money don't study counterfeit bills - they study real money. They become so familiar with the inscriptions, weight, feel, and smell of real money that when someone tries to hand them something that is fake they know it immediately. Similarly, we have to become so familiar with the truth of the Word of God that we recognize his counterfeits the instant that he tries to pass one.

One of the disciplines that I have developed over the past 10 years or so is the reading of the entire Bible over the course of a year. I use the One Year Bible. I have found that it is a good format for me.

When I first began, my stated goal was not to understand everything that I read, it was merely to make sure that I got the entire Bible entered into my brain. That way, if I were ever without a Bible for some reason, the Holy Spirit would already have the resources stored away in my memory that He could draw back out. I figured anything that God wanted to highlight to me was an added benefit.

As I continued the tradition, I began to read with an eye toward various themes. One year I read, paying special attention to all of the passages that I saw about healing. Another year I read paying special attention to the way that God describes Himself in the Bible. It hasn't been a fast process, but it has been a thorough one.

I would recommend such a discipline to anyone. Over the years I would say that the greatest benefit that I have derived from it is the increased understanding of who God is and what He is like. The better I know who He really is, the better I recognize the lies and counterfeits that the devil tries to float past me.

As we diligently input God's Word into our hearts and minds we will become more and more like Jesus and instantly recognize any attempt of the enemy to take us away from the truth. As we let it begin to change us, we will find that we have greater and greater authority. Then we will find it easier and easier to dictate the battlefield and the terms to the devil. If we stay firmly planted on the battlefield of truth the enemy won't be able to stand before us. Learn this battlefield and refuse to be moved from it.

Go To Spiritual Warfare Series Part 1: Total War

¹I am reasonably sure that I got this concept from Francis Frangipane's book, The Three Battlegrounds. I am not positive because I read the book almost 20 years ago, and I cannot find my copy to confirm it. I remember hearing the phrase "fight from the realm of truth" somewhere, and I think it was from Francis. After 21 years of walking with the Lord it is hard to remember where I picked up my information.

²I was attending the MorningStar Ministries Spiritual Warfare Conference that ran from April 16-18, 2009 and Steve Thompson made this comment on Saturday morning, April 18.

Why?

2009-05-20T00:52:00.003-04:00

I read an article today about the mission to the Hubble Telescope. It turns out that this is the last time that they plan to service it. They figure it will run for another 5-10 years and then they will put a rocket on it and fire it back into the earth's atmosphere where it will be destroyed and probably end up on the bottom of the ocean.

My question is why? Why would they destroy an expensive piece of equipment like that instead of continuing to repair it? I would be willing to bet that the answer lies in some NASA budget - that continuing to use it would prevent them from being able to pad their budgets to build a bigger, newer one - one that would have budget overruns and would cost billions of dollars before it is finally put in place.

But why do we have to be so wasteful? I really am tired of this disposable mentality that we have here. It is like a rock star smashing a guitar during a show. (I haven't liked Garth Brooks since I saw him do that in one of his shows. Not that I liked him that much to begin with, but I really was looking for a reason not to like him after that.)

That offends me. It reminds me of the passage in the Bible where the sheep of Israel were rebuked for selfishly muddying the waters and trampling the grass so that the other sheep couldn't drink or eat. Why do we produce junk that has to be constantly replaced? Why have we allowed companies to get away with planned obsolescence? It is wasteful, and it is greedy, and it annoys me.

Anyone who has read this blog for any amount of time would probably not call me an environmentalist. The truth is that I do care about the environment, but I am tired of hysterical people running around jousting windmills when there are real monsters in the land!

This planet was created to be the home for people, and people need certain things to live. One of those things is heat. It is impossible for us to live on this earth without producing so called "greenhouse gases." We can't eat, work, or survive without that outcome. And apparently God planned for it to be that way. Not since the fall of man have we been able to live without fire. That is one of the reasons that I think that this whole global warming thing is a bunch of baloney.

Yet there are plenty of problems in our environment that can be solved. How many environmental problems would be fixed by merely abandoning this disposable economy that we have and beginning to produce products of high enough quality to be passed to our children's children? I believe that it is time to start thinking about such things. Why don't we work to make companies clean up their waste instead of dumping it into our rivers? Why don't we work to help re-establish habitats so that threatened plant and animal species can recover? These things are so much simpler and far more effective that the other green nonsense that is going on now.

The Next Installment

2009-05-20T00:45:00.002-04:00

I have basically finished the second article in the warfare series, but it needs a little polish still. I'm going to let it sit over night and try to clean it up in the morning. However, if you can't wait and want to see it now it is available at my blog Conspiracy of Kindness.

Tomorrow I hope to go and do some work in the garden to do some of the things that still have to be done in the wake of planting. I'll try to remember to take the camera.

Dave Matthews - Bartender

2009-05-19T20:10:00.000-04:00

I've always liked this song...

Sorry...

2009-05-18T22:27:00.003-04:00

It has been quite a day. Have you ever had one of those days when you felt like you were dragging an anchor behind you all day? I'm not talking about one of those cute little anchors that they use on a bass boat either. I mean one of those big mugs that they drop off the side of an aircraft carrier! I suppose that I have made some forward progress, which is saying something, but nothing like I would have liked to - nothing like I felt like I needed to either.

Thus, the promised installment to the warfare series is delayed. I'm sorry. I really am. (No comments from the peanut gallery!) I did make some progress on it tonight, but I still have several hours' worth of writing to do to get it finished.

Thank you for your patience, and thanks for reading! I'll try really hard to get it finished tomorrow.

God Is So Good

2009-05-17T23:57:00.003-04:00

The rain this weekend has been fantastic. I couldn't have asked for better than what we got today. I was a little concerned when yesterday's rain only lasted for a little while, but today's should have my garden in good shape. For the past two years God has been so faithful to send me rain when I need it! That means that I have the time to do some writing tomorrow while I am waiting for things to dry out again in the garden. I also hope and am praying that things will dry out sufficiently where my Grandmother lives so that I can help her get her garden in at the end of the week.

Today has been a wonderful day of rest. I have listened to several really good sermons today (including my pastor's, one by Bill , and one by Ray Hughes), taken a nap, eaten some pretty tasty food, enjoyed the fellowship of some friends and generally just enjoyed the quietness of this day.

Yesterday was pretty good too. I got everything on my extensive to do list done with the exception of one small item. Not bad. I love it when a day comes together like that.

Tomorrow I hope to finish the new installment in my warfare series. I'm about 1/3 of the way done with it and should have the time to do some good work tomorrow. Hopefully you will have it here by supper time! Hope you all have a good week!

Garden Planted... Mostly

2009-05-16T00:23:00.002-04:00

So today was planting day in my garden. Yesterday I was able to get everything limed and tilled (having a tiller that attaches to the tractor is a serious blessing!) and so all was ready for me to start planting when I got to the garden today.

When I first got there storms were all around. I had passed through a couple significant rain showers on the way to the garden. I was praying back the rain as hard as I could! God heard my prayers and had mercy on me and allowed me to get everything planted before the rain came back. He is so good to me! (My poor Grandmother still hasn't been able to beat the rain and get her garden planted. Mom and Dad went to help her yesterday but it rained all night. I'm going to have to do some prayer for her! Maybe if we link up we can get it dried out enough!) It was a long day, and I'm quite tired now.

The garden this year is quite expanded from last year's model. I have probably added about 50% more area to it. That has allowed me to plant more stuff! I'm not sure how I am going to keep up with all of it and process it all when harvest time comes, but that is beside the point.

So this year I have broccoli, onions, green peas, purplehull peas, cantaloupe, watermelon, cucumbers, baby lima beans, fordhook lima beans, green beens, straight neck squash, zucchini, cilantro, basil, dill, okra, a least 10 varieties of tomatoes, sweet banana peppers, and bell peppers. I was thinking about getting some blackeye peas to plant, but I think I'm going to pass on it. Do I really want something else to have to pick and process? I also toyed with the idea of doing some potatoes or sweet potatoes, but I come back to the same thing. Is it really worth it? I don't know. The insanity may have not left me yet. If I can find some white sweet potatoes to start I may very well go over the edge. I am also planning to plant some corn a little later when my onions are closer to being done.

I need to do some fine weeding in the onions and also pull the dirt away from them so that they can grow. I figure that it will probably be a painful afternoon on my knees in and amongst the rocks. Not really looking forward to it to be honest. (I pulled a rock out today that was almost the size of a shoebox!) I also need to start getting trellises set up so that my peas, cucumbers and green beans have something to run on. Most everything needs fertilizer too. I need to stake the tomatoes, and I need to put the irrigation lines out. I'll probably need to buy more. We barely had enough last year. There will probably be repairs that need to be made too. I'm wondering if the sprinkler heads may not be more efficient this year than the soaker hoses. For the time involved and the expense it may well be cheaper. It may also make weeding easier.

Anyway it is late and I'm tired so I'm going to call it a night. I'll try to get you some pictures soon. It is starting to look pretty good!

Sun And Red Dirt

2009-05-14T22:18:00.009-04:00

It was another glorious day in the garden. I started out by putting out some pelletized lime - about 150 pounds of it. So that got the day started off with some exercise! Then I got the tractor out and tilled. It was great - it didn't break this time. It seems that we have finally gotten the problem with the drive shaft figured out.

I went through the garden and tilled, but the level was too high so I was only able to get a couple inches deep. While I was tilling the first pass, Dad asked me to get the really big rocks out of the garden before I tried to go any deeper. Picking up rocks! My FAVORITE... not.

So when I got done tilling I set about the task of getting the rocks out of the garden that grew there since last year when I hauled off three truck loads! Oh, you can say that rocks don't grow, but I know better.

There were also a couple low spots in the garden that I wanted to get raised up so that they were more level to make the tiller more effective. So I asked Dad to work on that while I got the rocks up. He hooked up the front-end loader and did a very fine job if I do say so myself. His job was a lot more fun than mine! After he finished that chore he took the tractor fixed it so that I could get the tiller a little lower and dig deeper. He finished that a little before I had finished picking up rocks. I figure I got over a ton of rocks for my wall today.

I doubt that anyone would say that I am fast at picking up rocks, but I'm pretty sure that I'm a lot faster than I was as a kid. Back then I pretty much stood there and whined about having to do that terrible job. Mom was usually the one out there with us when we were doing it, and since she hated doing it as much as we did I think that our approach generally got us out of having to do it very long. Today I managed to get the majority of the garden done in a couple hours.

Once I finished the rock collecting, (I really need to find a geologist who could tell me if there is anything valuable in these rocks that I am picking up. I have a feeling that there may be some hidden treasure there....) I got to do some more tractor driving, which brought the fun factor way back up again. I got the entire garden tilled. It looks pretty good.

I really wanted to get my stuff planted, but my afternoon in the hot sun (which was gratefully not nearly as hot as I would have expected for the middle of May) had me pretty worn out. I probably would have pushed on and at least gotten something planted, but the weatherman was pretty sure that I'd have a sunny day again tomorrow with showers in the evening. Perfect for planting! I love it when the Lord sends rain on my stuff just when I need it.

I think I have my layout for the garden pretty well figured out now. Dad and I surveyed it yesterday, and he had some really good suggestions that I plan to implement. So, that is the plan for tomorrow. I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to get it planted this year, but the Lord has finally given me a break from the rain. Soon as I have it in the ground He can bring it back!

I love the smell of freshly tilled dirt in the morning....

Hoping The Rain Will Hold Off

2009-05-12T22:47:00.003-04:00

Huzzah! If the Weather Channel is right, I may actually have another day to work in my garden this week. It is looking like Thursday should be clear and warm now. Was anyone else cold today? Wow. That caught me off guard.

I still plan to go to the garden tomorrow and see if it is dry enough to work. I hope it will be, but if not at least I should have one more day of sunshine to dry it out. That will also give me the time to get the last few plants that I need and allow me to soak my okra seed before I plant them.

Hopefully over the course of the next two days the majority of my garden will be put in. Then comes the weeding, hoeing, spraying, watering, staking and tying that are required to get ready for the harvest. Then the real work begins.

I hope my Grandmother will be able to get her garden in this week too. She has been fretting about it.

Today I worked on the article I mentioned yesterday and got about a third of the way done. It is funny; after 21 years of reading various books and listening to various people teach, I can't remember where I got some of the information that is in my head. Is it something that I learned directly from my own experience or the Lord's instruction, or is it something that I picked up from someone else? Oh well, I suppose I'll treat it as my own unless I come across the source of the information somewhere along the way, and then I'll go back and give credit where it is due.

I hope that the week is treating you well. I hope to write more tomorrow!

In Process...

2009-05-11T22:31:00.003-04:00

Hello, friends. I've been working on the second installment in the warfare series that I have been writing that started with the post Total War the other day. The next part will have to do with picking your battlefield. I'm not going to give any spoilers just now, but this is a critical skill to develop in spiritual warfare - one that corresponds very well to many major historical battles such as the battle of Bannockburn and the battle of Agincourt.

The research for this one has slowed me down a little bit, but I hope to get this one written in the next couple of days. It has taken a lot of time to wade through the thousands of "hits" on keyword searches that I have done. Hopefully my day will facilitate me getting the rest of them done tomorrow so that I can begin writing.

I have also been trying to get into my garden to plant the remainder of my veggies for this year and have been thwarted repeatedly by the rain. I really had hoped to get in there today, but when I woke up at 4:30 this morning to the sound of a heavy rain shower, I knew that my plans had been changed. According to my weather report it is supposed to be fair tomorrow. If the Weather Channel is correct (and they rarely are on the local forecast) it should be nice through Wednesday and then the rain comes back through the rest of the week and into next week. I really hope that I can get my stuff done before it comes back. Hopefully it will be dry enough on Wednesday to work.

More to come soon!

I Miss Reagan

2009-05-11T21:48:00.002-04:00

Want to hear a good speech? Want to hear about a great America? Want to have a dream that actually has a plan to go along with it - a plan that works? Watch this. President Obama, please take notes. This actually works - no theory, no pie in the sky. It was proven and ushered in the greatest period of prosperity that our nation has ever known.

It is amazing how far we have strayed in just a little over 20 years. I really miss Reagan.

Encouragement

2009-05-11T14:41:00.001-04:00

After the sober word posted earlier, it only seemed appropriate to post this encouragement from God's Word.

- Jonathan

Psalm 27
Of David.

¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?

² When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.

³ Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.

⁴ One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

⁵ For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.

⁶ Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the LORD.

⁷ Hear my voice when I call, O LORD;
be merciful to me and answer me.

⁸ My heart says of you, "Seek his face!"
Your face, LORD, I will seek.

⁹ Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn your servant away in anger;
you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
O God my Savior.

¹⁰ Though my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will receive me.

¹¹ Teach me your way, O LORD;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.

¹² Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing out violence.

¹³ I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.

¹⁴ Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

Interesting Day

2009-05-09T16:13:00.003-04:00

Today has been an interesting day. I have spent some time working on projects that have been delayed for one reason or another (but mostly by procrastination) for weeks. I have completed some writing, and now I am trying to decide to do with the rest of my afternoon - not that there is that much left of it. The problem isn't with having something to do. It is more along the lines of which can of worms do I open next?

The temptation is certainly to open no cans, but sit on mine and watch a movie! But after my last post, I'm thinking that might not be the best use of my time. There are plenty of other things to write today. I have some topics in mind that will follow the post on Total War pretty well too. The question is do I want to plunge in that deeply this evening?

I could practice my guitar, and I could do some minor gardening - both of which need to be done. I'm leaning toward gardening first, getting cleaned up, and then seeing about the guitar. There you go. Problem solved. That is probably manageable and will leave me something concrete to work on next week - not that I need any help with that. There is always something to do.

Next week will hopefully involve major gardening if the weather will cooperate. I need to get my ground tilled, my plants set out and my seed in the ground. There is weeding/hoeing to be done, and I need to put up trellises for my peas to climb. Did I mention that there is always something to do? Any of the bored people out there want to tell me how they manage to have nothing to do? I'd be glad to share!

There have been interesting issues with the computer lately. The issue du jour is that I can't get into my email. At first I could see the email but couldn't open it. Now I can't even view the headers. I'm getting some sort of "unhandled error." It is the same problem that I had with it when I was in Japan.

I have written an article that I hope to get published soon. It is about fishing trips. I may publish it here until I can get a buyer. I'm exploring the world of freelance writing. There are many possible outlets for writing and many of them seem to pay pretty well. One of the things that I find most compelling about this possibility is that there are so many publications out there on so many different topics that I could concievably write about something different every day.

Yes, things are stirring here. I hope the change of the seasons is bringing about a good change for me too!

Tsunamis

2009-05-08T16:02:00.008-04:00

Back around the time of the election I wrote a couple posts that were prophetic in nature. Some of the elements of those prophecies have come true and some have yet to come to pass, but based on the accuracy of the parts that have come true, I am convinced that the rest will eventually be manifested.

In that first post I wrote the following about prophecy:

I believe that God still speaks to His people. Down through the ages this communication has been called prophecy. And God often reveals his plans to His people through individuals called prophets. Many of you probably have real doubts about whether prophets even exist in the world today. I can assure you that they do. I have known quite a few and can testify that their words have proven true.

A group of prophets, that included one man that I know personally, accurately predicted (in 1999) the current war against radical Islam. (They also predicted that the war would involve China and that it could be averted by prayer. I am hoping that the China part was turned away.) Months ago another friend of mine predicted the stock market crash that we have been witnessing over the past weeks.

What is prophecy? Prophecy is merely accurately reporting what God says about a situation or a person. The real rub is in the "accurately" part. It is pretty serious business to claim to speak for the Almighty. However, it is clear through the Scriptures that God speaks to His people through prophets. It occurred in both the Old Testament and in the New: Jesus spoke to his disciples about the blessing of receiving prophets, Paul commented that he wished that all of the believers in Corinth would prophesy, we are even encouraged to ask for the gift of prophecy.

Modern prophecy is no substitute for the scriptures. It is by the Word of God that all prophecy is judged. Any prophecy that does not agree with the Bible is false. This premise is critical to grasp. This truth, however, does not change the fact that God also speaks to His people about the things that are going on in their lives beyond the written words of the Bible. He is eager to speak to those who are willing to pursue intimacy with Him.

On January 13, 2009 I believe that I had a conversation with God in my prayer time. In that conversation God spoke to me very clearly about judgments that are coming to our nation and about the church's lack of preparedness for what is coming. I have been pondering this message now for several months and feel that the time is right to share it. The message is alarming. There is a very real physical danger that we are facing. The events of this prophecy will be the most distressing that any of us who have only lived in the United States have ever seen.

The purpose of sharing this message is not to create fear though. I realize that such a statement seems rather counter to common sense. However, when there is danger coming, forewarned is forearmed. My prayer is that each person who reads this prophecy will become sober and vigilant and will begin to prepare in earnest for what is about to happen in our nation.

The best way to prepare is to get serious about knowing God. To that end I would recommend greatly reducing the amount of time spent on entertainment. 24 hours is such a short period of time. If eight hours are devoted to work, eight hours are devoted to sleep, three hours are devoted to meals, one hour is devoted to travel, and two hours are devoted to other necessary personal activities, each person only has about two hours' worth of time left for "leisure." A single 30-minute TV program that promotes the godless systems of our world uses ¼ of the time that is available to seek God. Most people watch far more TV than that.

How can we know God? One of the best ways to start is to begin practicing the disciplines that you have always heard about in church: daily Bible study, prayer (both corporate and individual), fasting, meditation on the scriptures, and scripture memorization. These things will not in themselves cause you to know God, but you won't know God without doing these things.

Quiet yourself and remove as many distractions as possible from your life. Part of the reason that we have so much trouble hearing God is that we have too much sensory input. We are so distracted we cannot be still enough to hear God. Get honest with God about the things that are going on in your life. Look at your life and confess every area of sin that you are aware of, and ask the Lord to help you to be free from these sins. Allow God to begin to speak to you about the areas of your life that the enemy has used to hold you back, and allow Him to begin to heal those areas. Most of all, don't give up. Stick to your pursuit of God like your life depends on it - it very well may.

Below is the text of the conversation between God and me from January 13, 2009. The text in bold font is what I believe the Lord was speaking to me and the normal font was what I said to Him.

My people are not ready. They have not been heeding the warnings. They need to dig down into Me. Be ready. The first waves will catch most of them by surprise. They will need for you and the others that I have prepared to show them where to go. They will need you to help them to get their feet back under them.

It is going to be a lot like the tsunamis that hit Asia a couple years ago. The judgments that are coming will come in just like that, but there will be multiple waves. If My people will respond properly when the first wave comes in many can be saved. Keep your head and direct people to safety.

(I keep seeing images of the tsunami. It will be destructive just like that. I sense that there is a military element to it, but I am not sure if it is terrorist or actual militaries.)

How long do we have?

Not enough time.

Can it be averted?

No.

How do I pray, Lord? What do I pray for?

Pray for their eyes to be opened.

Father God! Open their eyes! Help them to see the truth!

"As in the days of Noah..." life will be going on just as normal and suddenly calamity will come.

Open our eyes Lord! Open our ears that the alarm may register!

Your nation has grown complacent. They do not believe that they are vulnerable to attack, but attack is coming. Their sin has caused Me to remove My protection from them. How I would love to protect them, but they have refused.

You must begin to pray protection over those that you love. Be ready at a moment's notice to pray for your brothers and sisters around the country. For I will arrest you at different times to pray for them. Be ready even in the middle of the night.

Father, will You not help your prophets to warn the people? Will You not help them to uncover the enemy's schemes?

Son, I will tell the prophets, but those in authority won't listen. My message to the prophets will end up saving the lives of the elect.

Father, this is a fearful word.

Remember it is for good. This will end in the liberation of your nation. Your nation will be liberated from the bonds that the enemy has used to enslave it and to derail its destiny. I am rescuing Your nation through My love and mercy, but sin is costly. Its wages are death. They have sown wind, but they will reap the whirlwind.

How do I guard my heart, Lord? How do I prevent the despair and the sorrow from being too much?

You must press in to Me. You must give it to Me. You must come to Me for perspective. I promise that I will be here when you come. I promise that I will comfort you.

Defend my family, Lord. Defend my friends. Defend my brothers and sisters. Defend the helpless and the widows and the orphans. Defend the poor. Protect them from this wave. Let it wake them up. Let it drive them to action.

Later that night there was more:

Much of the damage intended against your nation can be mitigated, but it will not be averted. Even mitigated the damage will be severe.

Father, I pray that the damage done by the attacks will be minimal. Please spare us - especially in the first wave. Give people time to recognize that the prophetic words are true and give them the chance to repent and seek Your face.

There will be loss of life. The degree to which that happens will be determined largely by how effectively and diligently the intercessors stand in the gap.

God, help us to stand mightily.

Many of you will, son. Many will, but there will not be enough to avert the judgment. My people in America largely do not know how to seek My face. They have not been instructed. They have allowed themselves to be distracted by entertainment and by the worries and cares of life and by the desire for things. This initial shaking will wake many of them up from their slumber. Shake as many as you can before the time comes. Wake them up!

Father, anoint my words. Grant them the power to wake them up. Help them to understand the urgency of the hour. Help me to be a faithful watchman. Give me the courage to tell them the truth. Father, break the teeth of the enemy and smash his hands and fingers. Cause him to loose Your people. Force him to uncover their ears. Send Your angels forth to enforce this. Teach me how to pray. Teach me how to unleash Your wrath against the enemy. Teach me how to unlock the passion of the hearts of Your people. Call Your people to action. Uncover their ears so that they can hear the call of the trumpet. Break off of them the spirit of slumber - the spirit of slothfulness - and cause them to respond to the call.

With the inauguration of President Obama my protection will be lifted. It has remained because President Bush has loved Me and fears Me. You and the other intercessors will help to replace that covering, but it will not remain over the entire nation until the nation again returns to Me with a whole heart. The intercession will produce covering in different regions. Some will be as large as entire states and others will be as small as even individual households. Still, you can accomplish much through prayer and even more through prayers of agreement with other saints.

Father, I ask that prayer become a foundational pillar of our new vision at (my church). Please put in the people's heart a desire to pray. Please put a burden in their hearts to pray. Help us, Lord, to spare this county. Help us to join with the other believers around our county to spare us. Help us to desire intimacy with You and not just deliverance from the calamity that is all around us. Help us to seek Your face and the joy of Your presence and pleasure. Forgive me for not seeking this place more often. Captivate my heart - captivate the hearts of Your saints and show them that You are more precious and fascinating than anything that has held their attention before. Help us to connect to Your heart so deeply that we tremble from the joy and passion that we find there....

Who is like You, O God? There is none like You at all. You are glorious and beautiful beyond comprehension. Your love is amazing and overflows to Your creation. Who are we that You have loved us? You are merciful and gracious. Thank You for the treasures of Your mercy and grace.

This is the end of what I believe that I received from the Lord. A friend of mine had some specifics about where some of the attacks may come. This revelation was received on November 10, 2008.

You will see cities burning....

It will be a terrible time for Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Detroit, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Wyoming, and Raleigh. “They” will go after the capital cities in every state, trying to bring down the governments. Austin will be ready because of My prophets there (in TX). Alabama will be ready. Detroit will suffer greatly, as there are many poor people there....

It will not come severely in the first year, but it will crescendo toward 3 years from now. This process will take longer than you would like, but stay faithful. You will see the Great New Awakening that I AM bringing to America, and indeed to the whole world. This is the last great harvest before the end time events are loosed.

Things are no longer “business as usual.” They never will be again. They will first be much worse, then much better. You will rejoice to see it....

Because of the personal nature of other parts of this revelation I left them out, but one of the things included the failure of a major bank. It also talked about the dark times that some have suffered in recent times and how that is part of their preparation for the coming darkness. The struggles that many of God's people have faced will have prepared them to rescue many during these extreme times.

It is beyond time to get ready. If you are reading this and are a Christian, then make your preparation for these events as urgent as if you already saw them happening in your city. There is not time to completely prepare yourself, but you will be happy if you start now instead of waiting for later.

If you are reading this and are not a Christian, then you really should become one. I have explained how to do that many times on this blog. God is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. This is not to say that your life will get easier if you become a Christian - it very likely will not. I will tell you that it will make your life far better in the long run - you will be eternally happy you submitted your life to Jesus Christ. The good news is that those who call upon the Name of the Lord will be saved. Well, actually that is just the beginning of the Good News.

God is good and His lovingkindness endures forever. God loves His children, and He cares for them. Even when we suffer loss and when we suffer hardship, the Lord uses it to bring us to maturity and to bring us to greater trust in Him and His goodness. During these times God will expose your fears. He will expose everything that you lean on besides Him, and sadly, as Americans we lean on many things besides God - even though we claim that we do not. Our fears are proof that our trust is not fully on God and prove that we do not know and love Him as we should, for perfect love casts out fear. Brothers and sisters, trust in the promise that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Finally, take heart that the judgments that are coming against this nation are not for its destruction but instead for its salvation. God has promised to remove everything that hinders love for Him. The shaking that is coming will help to accomplish this purpose and will usher in a Great Awakening in our nation that all who love the Lord will rejoice to see.

You Carry Me - Brenda Janz on Worship Music Radio This Week

2009-05-08T15:19:00.004-04:00

Discovered a really good album on Worship Music Radio yesterday. It is Brenda Janz's latest offering, You Carry Me. It should be available to preview on their website for the rest of the week. Check it out! It has strong lyrics, solid producing, and good musicality. It is not purely a praise and worship album. There is a good blend of songs about home and life mixed with songs of worship. I would probably buy this album. I listened to it all day yesterday and really didn't get tired of it.

Total War

2009-05-07T09:34:00.044-04:00

Part One In The Spiritual Warfare Series

I have been pondering the concept of total war lately. Americans are really not comfortable with the idea of total war. This fact is clearly seen in our impatience with the current war in Iraq and in our approach to the war against terrorism in general. The most recent example of total war in American history was World War II. Yet even that war did not carry the concept to its extreme limits. According to Wikipedia

Total war is a conflict of unlimited scope in which a belligerent engages in a mobilization of all available resources at their disposal, whether human, industrial, agricultural, military, natural, technological, or otherwise, in order to entirely destroy or render beyond use their rival's capacity to continue resistance. The practice of total war has been in use for centuries, but it was only in the middle to late 19th century that total war was identified by scholars as a separate class of warfare. In a total war, there is less (or no) differentiation between combatants and non-combatants (civilians) than in other conflicts, as nearly every person from a particular country (or opposing area), civilians and soldiers alike, can be considered to be part of this belligerent effort.

The "civilized" world in general doesn't seem to have much of a stomach for total war, and I am glad many industrialized nations have embraced the concept of more limited warfare. However, the concept of total war seems to be a good description of the spiritual war in which humanity finds itself.

Consider the reality that exists on Earth. Two kingdoms are engaged in battle for supremacy of the earth. There is no Geneva Convention governing the prosecution of this war. It is a bloody, no-holds-barred fight. Neither side fights fairly, and the weapons of each side are devastating.

The devil and his forces are doing everything that they can to steal, kill, and destroy. They are not above attacking infants in the womb. They put hideous diseases on people. They spawn physical wars. They keep people in bondage physically, mentally, emotionally, economically, and spiritually. They pervert justice and do everything that they can to destroy God's creation. Worst of all, the devil takes advantage of people's fallen, sinful nature to keep them bowing to him. Condemnation and intimidation are some of his most effective weapons. This kingdom uses deception and lies as propaganda to prevent its victims from finding God's light and to entice them to destroy themselves.

On the other hand the Kingdom of God uses weapons that the enemy cannot resist. Those in this Kingdom have access to the precious blood of Jesus that the enemy has no defense against. They can use the name of Jesus that causes every knee to bow in submission. They have the Word of God that is like a mighty two-edged sword. The praises of God in their mouths inflicts "vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, to carry out the sentence written against them." They have the grace of God at their disposal to set them free from condemnation and from the fleshly sinful nature that their enemy had used to keep them in bondage. And they have Almighty God backing them up.

The greatest insult of all to the kingdom of the devil is that the Kingdom of God doesn't destroy anything except the works of the devil. The Kingdom of God is all about restoration. It takes its enemy's greatest warriors and converts them and uses them as weapons against the devil's kingdom. In fact, the word of a Christian's testimony has great power to overcome the devil. So even the things that the enemy intended to destroy are used to overcome his kingdom. And he can't even kill these liberated prisoners to stop their influence, because the blood of the saints of the Kingdom of God is the seed of the Church.

The sooner that we embrace the reality that we are engaged in a total war the happier we will be. For when we finally recognize this truth we will be able to readjust our expectations in a way that will allow us to begin to walk in victory. So many Western Christians have been deluded into believing that spiritual warfare is a metaphor instead of truth. As a result we are perplexed when we see the suffering that exists in our world. We wonder why our lives are so destroyed and why sickness, bondage, poverty, conflict, and trouble are our constant companions. We wonder why our lives as Christians are such a poor representation of the examples that we see in the scriptures.

John Eldredge described it this way in his book Waking The Dead:

Until we come to terms with war as the context of our days we will not understand life. We will misinterpret 90 percent of what is happening around us and to us. It will be very hard to believe that God's intentions toward us are life abundant; it will be even harder not to feel that somehow we are just blowing it. Worse, we will begin to accept some really awful things about God. That four-year-old girl being molested by her daddy - that is "God's will"? That ugly divorce that tore your family apart - God wanted that to happen too? And that plane crash that took the lives of so many - that was desired by God?

Most people get stuck at some point because God appears to have abandoned them. He is not coming through. Speaking about her life with a mixture of disappointment and cynicism, a young woman recently said to me, "God is rather silent right now." Yes, it's been awful. I don't discount that for a moment. She is unloved; she is unemployed; she is under a lot. But her attitude strikes me as deeply naive, on the level of someone caught in a cross fire who asks, rather shocked and with a sense of betrayal, "God, why won't you make them stop firing at me?" I'm sorry, but that's not where we are right now. It's not where we are in the Story. That day is coming, later, when the lion shall lie down with the lamb and we'll beat swords into plowshares. For now, it's bloody battle.

- John Eldredge, © 2009 Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive, pp. 17-18 Thomas Nelson Publishers

Once we embrace the concept of total war we can begin to act like we are in a war. Instead of wandering around the battlefield naked and unarmed we can begin to gird ourselves for the battle that we are in - and like it or not we are all in a battle. There is no sideline. No quarter is given based on age, sex, race, religion, economic status, handicap, or anything else. We are all combatants on one side or the other. If you fight you will be attacked, and if you don't fight you will be attacked. I don't know about you, but if I'm going to be attacked one way or the other, I intend to bloody my adversary as much as I can.

It is important to remember the nature of a Christian's weapons. They are not physical weapons, but spiritual. And our enemies are not flesh, but spirit. That isn't to say that the spirits don't manifest themselves through people for they surely do, but our warfare is against the spirit and not against the individual. When a Christian wars, success will be far more likely when anger is not allowed to be expressed against the individual that the enemy is using for his purposes.

But why do we have to fight? If a person is born again he belongs to God, right? If God is all-powerful then why do we have to fight? Couldn't He just win for us? He could. But that has never been the way that God has operated in the Earth. Even from the beginning, He created mankind in His image and authorized him to rule the Earth. The New Testament does not change this arrangement. In the end God's saints rule with Jesus when He comes back to take physical dominion of the Earth. A good picture of God's attitude towards warfare can be found in the book of Judges:

These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (He did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath.

God actually WANTED all of the Israelites to be trained in and experience warfare! We are no different. The scriptures make it clear that we are to personally engage in warfare through the power and strength of the Lord.

One of the most significant realizations that I have ever come to as a Christian is that the devil does not fight fairly and that I don't either. I am OK with that. The enemy will go after anything that he can to get to me. My family, friends, property, health, and anything else that he could use to harm me are all on his list of potential targets. Anything that I have not protected is likely to be attacked. However, on the other hand the Lord has given us tremendous promises in His Word that allow us to defend ourselves against the devil's schemes.

Peter tells us to "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings." Another version tells us to "be sober, be vigilant." Soldiers in a battle zone learn to be vigilant or they end up dead. God has already given us the weapons to defeat the enemy. If we are alert and on guard against the devil's attacks we can thwart him when he tries to devour that which Jesus purchased for us at Calvary.

There is no doubt that the enemy will get in some cheap shots, but as we learn to fight we will make it harder and harder for him to breach our defenses. Even better we will learn to plunder his kingdom, taking back not only what he stole from us but setting other captives free! We will begin to cause more damage to the enemy than he does to us! When we are on the offensive the battle becomes fun.

I hope that you see that there is no avoiding combat in this war. Our actions either contribute to the victory of the enemy's kingdom or the Kingdom of God. As you begin to engage in the battle do not be dismayed if the enemy intensifies the battle around you. Remember that intimidation is one of his tactics. If you will continue to resist him he will flee. And you don't have to fight by yourself either! We can team up against the devil, and that teamwork multiplies our effectiveness.

Soon I hope to address some of the practical ways that I have learned to engage the enemy and to discuss the weapons that I have learned to use in that fight, but these topics are outside the scope of today's post. I hope that these thoughts have spurred you to recognize the nature of the battle in which we all find ourselves and have encouraged you to take up your armor and weapons to defend yourself against the enemy's attack. May God grant you much grace and reveal Himself to you through His Word.

Go To Spiritual Warfare Series Part 2: Choosing Your Ground

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2009-05-03T23:51:00.002-04:00

Today is my mom's birthday. We had a nice celebration for her over at Olive Garden tonight. We usually celebrate birthdays at lunchtime. Thankfully the celebrations were postponed until supper since I was camping this weekend. I had the Grilled Shrimp Caprese. It was pretty good. The best part of the meal though was the bodacious carrot cake that my brother made. You should consider commissioning him to make you one!

My mom is great. Always there to support and encourage me, and when I was growing up she let me be a boy without trying to protect me from every little bump and scrape. I love her a lot and I am very happy that I still have her here with me.

Happy birthday, Mom!

Pretty Cool - I Wish I Knew How To Do This When I Was 11

2009-05-03T23:28:00.004-04:00

Kids Band Playing Journey @ Yahoo! Video

OK, this just ain't right. How could a group of kids 9-13 years old pull this off? Pretty amazing.

A Few Days Away

2009-04-30T23:52:00.002-04:00

Huzzah! Tomorrow is the departure day for a camping trip with a friend of mine. I have been counting down on Facebook for a few days now and tomorrow is the big day! I have needed some time away and it will be fun to get out of Rowan County for a weekend.

Originally we had planned to go to bee-U-ti-ful Julian Price Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway just outside of Blowing Rock. However, I discovered today that their campsites don't open until May 15. Bummer. So as an alternative we have decided to go to Cade's Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It should be a fun trip. It is a little further away, but I haven't been there in years, and I'm looking forward to visiting some of the places that I used to go with another friend. I hope that we get to see some wildlife, and I just discovered that Rocky Top is within walking distance from the park. (But then again, so is San Francisco.... We'll see if I venture that far.)

I was thwarted in my efforts today to finish planting my garden. Unfortunately the drive shaft that dad had bought for the tiller didn't fit. We ended up taking it back and then going to the John Deere place only to discover that they didn't have what we needed either. They have ordered it and it should be in tomorrow. Unfortunately, I won't be here when it gets in. Hopefully this will fix our problem with the tiller, and I'll be able to finally till the entire garden without it breaking! I have purchased most of my plants and have also discovered a large collection of seeds that my dad had in his freezer. I look forward to getting things squared away when I get back. I have expanded the garden considerably this year. I hope that it will be big enough to handle all that I hope to plant. And I hope that I will be big enough to keep up with it!

I'll share pictures when I get back!

Sons Of Korah - Psalm 117 Live

2009-04-29T10:44:00.001-04:00

These guys are fantastic. They remind me of Burlap to Cashmere.

Stuff...

2009-04-28T23:50:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow will be a major gardening day - at least as I have it planned right now. There is tons to do. I need to do some plowing and I need to weed and hoe. I need to re-plant some of my peas and get my ground ready for tomatoes and other things. It should be a day full of activity.

Beyond that there have been some good things happening. I recently got to attend the MorningStar Spiritual Warfare conference at Heritage. That was really good. I learned some things, but mostly they helped me to fit some pieces together for me. That was the best part. I was pleased to hear the harmony of their message with the guys at the International House Of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City.

Of course on the heels of a spiritual warfare conference there has been some to contend with, but the good thing is that it has mostly been helping to cement the lessons that I learned at the conference and is teaching me how to fight better from day to day. I look forward to expanding the Kingdom of God in my sphere of influence. It starts with my own home.

The weather here has been glorious. I really could not ask for better, and I am looking forward to doing some camping with a friend in the mountains this weekend. I need a retreat. I think this should do nicely. It is supposed to rain some this weekend. I hope it won't be too bad. I'd be fine if it would bypass the place where we are camping, but I think they need rain up there, so I won't complain. I just hope that on this camping trip the skunk that I encountered on the last trip won't show up.

I noticed that Arlen Specter defected to the Democratic Party today. All I can say is that it is about time. I don't know why he didn't do it years ago. It's not like he was a real Republican to begin with. He's been acting like a Democrat for all these years. It isn't that I want the Democrats to get any more votes. I certainly don't, but it chafes me for people to pretend to be something they are not. I guess that applies to just about everyone in Washington.

The only down side is that it puts us one vote away from the Democrats having the ability to stop a filibuster. Thank God for that one vote. We weren't helped any by Al Franken's theft of the election for his senate seat. If only Republicans would be so audacious as he.

With the legislation that is getting rammed through these days the Republicans need to figure out how to filibuster and use it well. I am very displeased by this hate crimes bill that is being run through. Once again, I am astounded by how long it takes to pass reasonable, helpful legislation and yet how quickly a bill that tries to gut the constitution or something that the government has no business putting its hands on can rip through both houses. Refer to the quote in my banner if you want to know how I really feel about it. God will judge.

I will try to do a better job of blogging. I have stayed away from the news a lot lately because I have a severe allergy to stupidity and liars. This allergy makes me want to yell and say ugly words, and it makes it very hard to pray for the people that I am supposed to be praying for. This is bad because it could cause me to be mistaken for a Right-Wing Extremist. Oh wait... But then again in this "new" atmosphere even a centrist looks like one. God help us.

Anyway, that is enough ranting and rambling for one night. I'll do my best to get you updated again soon!

Pick Up Man - Joe Diffie

2009-04-27T12:44:00.002-04:00

This song is dedicated to my friend, Larry. You were a good one. I wish you were still around, buddy.

Rocky Top - The Osborne Brothers

2009-04-27T12:29:00.003-04:00

Too good... too good. Hard to beat the Osborne Brothers.

I Heard My Savior Calling - Rhonda Vincent

2009-04-27T12:16:00.002-04:00

This is good stuff! I've seen her in concert before and she is fantastic.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

He Is Risen!

Congratulations

2009-04-07T17:00:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to the Tarheels who won the NCAA division 1 national championship in basketball last night. It is a good thing that they didn't choke in the big game like they usually do. I had already planned to mock them thoroughly.

Curses! Foiled again!

Actually, I wouldn't have as much trouble pulling for the Tarheels in situations like this if their fans weren't so bloody obnoxious. I have been subjected to their overexuberance now since before the tournament began, and I am as sick of it as I am for the hype over our new president. But since Tarheel fans have no self control, then they will have to give up on counting on my EVER pulling for them under any circumstances whatsoever. And they can prepare themselves for my withering sarcasm when they inevitably lose a big game.

Anybody Know Who These Guys Are?

2009-04-07T16:49:00.003-04:00

These guys were the main characters from my favorite show of all time, Emergency!. I watched the show with great devotion and even have pictures that I drew from no later than second grade based on the show. I watched it every Friday night and woe be unto any stupid basketball game that interrupted its normal scheduled broadcast. Me and my best friend Johnny Ward played this at recess every day.

When it went into syndication I watched it every afternoon - religiously. I lost track of it I think the year that we moved from Greensboro to Salisbury. Yet one more reason to mourn that year.

However, I just recently discovered that the whole series is available on DVD! SCORE! It would be a major score if I had actually acquired them! One day I shall... one day....

HUZZAH!!!!!!! I Wish Every Republican Senator Had This Guy's Moxie

2009-04-02T16:51:00.002-04:00

Mr. President, these words apply as aptly to you as they did to the British Prime Minister. It is equally applicable to every congressman and senator who has used his or her position to increase discretionary spending and line his own pockets. I am frankly sick of each and every one of you who uses political doublespeak to to pretend that you are actually doing something for this country when you are only busy serving yourselves. You will stand before a holy God one day and answer for your malfeasance and for your utter disregard of God's law. It would be better for you to be taken out to the deepest part of the ocean, chained to an anchor, and launched overboard than to be standing in that Courtroom on that day in your present condition.

Amen.

2009-04-02T16:43:00.002-04:00

Pretty much sums it up...

I Begin To Understand...

2009-04-02T15:47:00.003-04:00

Let us look forward to the time when we can take the flag of our country and nail it below the Cross, and there let it wave as it waved in the olden times, and let us gather around it and inscribe for our motto: ‘Liberty and Union, one and inseparable, now and forever,’ and exclaim: Christ first, our country next!

- President Andrew Johnson

I think I begin to comprehend how it is possible that folks wanted to impeach this guy. If he wrote these words he was probably too radical for the powers that be. Too bad that I don't know of any people in our government that feel the same way about it today.

Why Not? Have A Couple More...

2009-03-28T12:59:00.003-04:00

It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one second; but you must suffer it for all of eternity. There will be no end to this extreme horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long forever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains.

- Jonathan Edwards "Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God" (emphasis mine)

This would be BAD - bad on the scale of crossing the streams in Ghostbusters. In fact, that really doesn't even touch on how bad that would be. It will happen to some because they foolishly reject the provision that Jesus has made for them and their sin. Do not let that happen to you.

A much better option follows...

It would be blissful to experience this fierceness of love and pleasure of Almighty God one second; but you shall delight in it for all of eternity. There will be no end to this extreme glorious ecstasy. When you look forward, you shall see a long forever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will be absolutely astounded by the certainty that there shall be no end, no mitigation, no cessation at all. You will know certainly that you must expend long ages, millions of millions of ages in absorbing and basking in this almighty limitless adoration; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains.

- Jonathan Eller from his essay "Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God"

This would be GOOD. In fact, good really doesn't even come close to describing what this will be like. May I suggest this path? It will probably be more difficult on this side of death, but the trials faced are always for our good. And I can assure you that the final outcome will be far FAR FAR better.

Quote Of The Day

2009-03-28T02:45:00.006-04:00

"Michael Squints Palledorous walked a little taller that day. And we had to tip our hats to him. He was lucky she hadn't beat the CRAP out of him. We wouldn't have blamed her. What he'd done was sneaky, rotten, and low... and cool.
Not another one among us would have ever in a million years even for a million dollars have the guts to put the moves on the lifeguard. He did. He had kissed a woman. And he had kissed her long and good. We got banned from the pool forever that day. But every time we walked by after that, the lifeguard looked down from her tower, right over at Squints, and smiled. "

One of my favorite movies of all time...

Another Milestone

2009-03-23T17:57:00.002-04:00

I recall one morning -- early on in our unemployment, the Lord spoke, "Isn't it interesting that you will 'trust' Me with your eternity, but you struggle to believe I will take care of you in the 'now'." Ouch! Yes, that hurt when He said it. But it was corrective truth! The irony is that many of His children are in exactly this place. His desire is to bring the reality of our 'trust' to the present such that it is no longer ethereal --- but walked out in the physical -- right here, right now.

- Deborah from her post His Hold on the blog Joy In The Morning

This was a timely quote from a friend's blog that I read today. And when I was getting ready to post it I realized that I had hit a milestone of sorts. My last post was my 777th post on this blog. I don't suppose that is anything too major, but it is a number associated with the Lord quite often, and I thought it worthy of mention. I suppose that there will be many more posts before I am finished with this blog, but it is nice to mark the ones that seem significant along the way. Actually, it is hard to imagine that I have hit the publish button that many times.

There will be some more posting here soon. I haven't had much to write about lately. I've still been trying to get myself back into the disciplines and routines that I had established before I left for Japan. We're getting closer, but still not quite there yet. And I am trying really hard to not gripe and complain about the administration incessantly here. I really am trying hard to be nice. Politics makes me mean.

Still A Class Act

2009-03-18T00:07:00.003-04:00

Even though the press will never treat him as one - at least not while he is alive - President Bush has once again shown himself to be a man of great class and honor. A news article reported on a speech that he gave in Calgary today:

CALGARY, Alberta – Former President George W. Bush said on Tuesday that he won't criticize Barack Obama because the new U.S. president "deserves my silence," and said he plans to write a book about the 12 toughest decisions he made in office.

Bush declined to critique the Obama administration in his first speech since leaving office in January. Former Vice President Dick Cheney has said that Obama's decisions threatened America's safety.

"I'm not going to spend my time criticizing him. There are plenty of critics in the arena," Bush said. "He deserves my silence."

Bush said he wants Obama to succeed and said it's important that he has that support. Talk-show host Rush Limbaugh has said he hoped Obama would fail.

Perhaps Presidents Carter and Obama should take a few notes....

Um, Can They Do That?

2009-03-17T23:37:00.005-04:00

In an article titled Livid Democrats Demand AIG Return Bailout Bonuses I read today,

Whatever the process, lawmakers of all stripes said, the money — generally "retention payments" to keep prized employees — belongs back in the government's hands.

"Recipients of these bonuses will not be able to keep all of their money," declared Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in an unusually strong threat delivered on the Senate floor.

"If you don't return it on your own, we will do it for you," echoed Chuck Schumer of New York.

Not all Democratic leaders were racing in that direction. Penalizing people with the tax code could be inappropriate, declared Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., chairman of the taxwriting Ways and Means Committee. He said, "It's difficult for me to think of the code as a political weapon."

I don't think that they can do that. How can the government legally target specific individuals for taxation penalties? If they can, then things are worse than I thought, and we might as well change the flag to a solid red field with a gold sickle and hammer crossed in the upper left hand corner.

If the people in Congress and the White House had intended for these funds to not be used that way then they should have had the foresight to stipulate that. Or even better they should have let capitalism do it's thing, letting the companies that have been competently managed thrive and the ones run by boobs sink. The share holders in these companies ought to be out for scalps.

According to the article it would seem that these bonuses were contractual.

Administration officials said Geithner did all that he legally could to avert the payments.

Geithner urged AIG's Liddy last week to renegotiate the contracts that called for the bonuses.

"He recognized that you can't just abrogate contracts willy-nilly, but he moved to do what could be done," Larry Summers, Obama's chief economic adviser, told the AP in an interview Tuesday.

How do I get in on a contract that will pay me million dollar plus bonuses if I run the company into the ground on top of a multi-million dollar salary? I need to get me some of that. How is it that the share holders allow this sort of thing to go on? Something stinks like five-day-old road-kill. The "little people" don't get deals like that. No wonder American business is floundering. Toddlers are sailing the ship. Wait, toddlers would probably do a better job.

Reality Check

2009-03-14T01:21:00.004-04:00

China's premier didn't say it in so many words, but the implied warning to Washington was blunt: Don't devalue the dollar through reckless spending. Premier Wen Jiabao's message is unlikely to be misunderstood at the White House. It is counting on Beijing to help pay for its stimulus package by buying U.S. bonds. China already is Washington's biggest foreign creditor, with an estimated $1 trillion in U.S. government debt. A weaker dollar would erode the value of those assets.

"Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I'm a little bit worried," Wen said at a news conference Friday after the closing of China's annual legislative session. "I would like to call on the United States to honor its words, stay a credible nation and ensure the safety of Chinese assets." Read more...

I wonder what might happen if Washington were to NOT honor its words and hurt the Chinese economy and government. Would they consider that worthy of a military retaliation? Would our government - if it were in a position to default on those treasuries - be able to field an army if it were that broke? Or would the Chinese merely use it as an opportunity to attack Taiwan to bring it back under the authority of the homeland? The US certainly couldn't do anything but yell and scream if they did under those circumstances. And if China "annexed" Taiwan what are the chances that Russia would maintain its borders? And what about Venezuela? And Iran? Things to be considered.

Man, I Feel So Much Better After Hearing This!

2009-03-14T00:58:00.003-04:00

Turning more upbeat, President Barack Obama said Friday his administration is working to create a "post-bubble" model for solid economic growth once the recession ends. He said that means the days of overheated housing markets and "people maxing out on their credit cards" are over. But first, Obama said, "We've got to get through this difficult period."

Find out more about his plan...

Wow! That's amazing! How will you do it Mr. President?

"Well, uh, well you know it's like, um... like that time when I was, y'know, um, uh... and there was the bubble and all... um... and we're going to take all of the land and... um... this one kid kept stealing my ice cream cone and I said to him, 'Hey mister, you can't do that 'cause it isn't nice.' and, um, after that, well, he kicked my butt, but ha ha, I won the election, but because the government will take it all we will never have people maxing out credit cards again."

Right... And how are you going to be helping small businesses, Mr. President?

"Well, um. You see, we're going to raise taxes on people who make over $250,000 (but not Democrats) uh, or married couples that um, well, ah, make $300,000 and well, then that money will, um, be given to other people who will make, er, well, it will make things all better. It's redistributing the wealth.

I see...

Another Brilliant Idea From The Genius Trust In Washington...

2009-03-14T00:24:00.004-04:00

Ahhh, liberal doublespeak. Don't you just love it? I swear, sometimes I think I've stepped into Orwell's 1984.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance. Full Article

I really am starting to wonder if our President and his staff are directing their policy by reading the latest book by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad titled, The Complete Idiot's Guide To The American Presidency. It is really getting to the point of absurdity - like one of those really bizarre, horrible dreams that you just can't seem to wake up from.

Our servicemen and women deserve absolutely everything that we can give them. They aren't paid nearly enough and frankly, if it were up to me, all people who have served honorably in the military, fire department (even volunteers), or police department would receive health care for life. I would even go so far as to make them tax exempt during their time of service and would probably even give them a veterans' tax break after they got out or retired.

Yet, instead of something as worthwhile as that, we are wasting money on a fictional problem like global warming. Or on immoral programs like embryonic stem cell massacres and the exportation of infanticide. Or on billion dollar programs whose money goes God only knows where and derives no benefit to anyone except the bureaucrats that are embezzling the money.

It just disgusts me.

The Pleiades

2009-03-13T13:25:00.002-04:00

I have often heard the name The Pleiades before, but I had never seen it (knowingly) before today. It is shockingly beautiful. To me it looks like an angel. What do you think? Once again, I am constrained to acknowledge that God does mighty fine work.

This past week we watched a video in our Sunday school class that talks about the stars in general and the star of Bethlehem in particular. I've always been interested in the night sky. I can see the stars at my parents' home pretty well - especially in the winter.

This cluster of stars is close to my favorite constellation, Orion. In fact the three stars that make up his "belt" generally point to this star cluster. (They actually lie a little below the area that the stars in his belt point to.) The next time I have a clear night I will have to look for it and see if I can find it.

One day I would love to go out West, far away from all of the light pollution of the East, and spend a night out under the stars. They say that they look close enough to touch. What a glorious God I serve!

The Haka

2009-03-11T11:12:00.002-04:00

This is pretty cool. I saw this the first time a few years ago when I saw some Maori Christians perform it at a church conference. It will get the juices flowing for sure!

A New Habit?

2009-03-11T09:57:00.004-04:00

I did something yesterday that I haven't done in ages. I wrote a real bona fide letter and mailed it. I think that I may try to develop the habit of writing at least one a week.

You never get real letters anymore. I guess that email has pretty much done away with the need for it, but it sure is a thrill to go to the mailbox and get something out that is not a bill and is not a form letter or junk mail. They are so rare they jump right out at you. You can spot one on the bottom of a stack of mail.

I love getting personal emails too. (Unfortunately the first person to ever send spam wasn't hung, drawn, and quartered. It may have prevented people from polluting that form of communication the way that the mail has been.) But I find that the whole texting revolution has cheapened e-mail. I suppose that it is understandable that folks don't really put a whole lot of effort into most of their e-mails (although I have some friends who do) there really isn't any cost associated with sending an e-mail besides time, and time is what e-mail is supposed to save.

I suppose that is the beauty of a real, bona fide letter. If you are going to spend 43 cents to mail something (or whatever the rate is now) you figure you'd better make it worth the expense. You might as well write one a couple pages long. Heck, you get a whole ounce before the rate goes up! I find that is good for about 4 standard sized pages, and if you write front and back that makes for a pretty long letter.

I like letters better than cards too. I mean, a card is better than nothing, but just barely, when all the person does is sign their name to a generic greeting card. It is nice to be thought of and nice to get something in the mail that isn't asking for (or demanding) money, but I am generally not moved. Of course you can spend an hour looking for a card that actually says what you want it to say and then pay $5 for it plus postage. That's almost as good as a letter. I'll keep a card like that, but it still isn't quite up there with a hand-written letter.

I suppose that there are some down sides to the old-school letter. It can be hard to read the handwriting. I tend to make mistakes which gets messy. And I generally like to keep a copy of what I write. This has a tendency to slow down the reply process for me to either hand write a copy or find a copy machine somewhere. Still, I think that the benefit will outweigh the cost.

So, I think that I am going to pick someone I know and write a letter to them - a good, old fashioned letter - every week. It will be a different person every week. If they write back then they'll get another one! It can be my way of spreading a little love in this impersonal, electronic world that we live in. If you want to be included and you aren't sure if I have your mailing address, you can leave your address in a comment on this post and I'll write to you. I won't publish the comment so that you don't have to worry about your information being out there for all the world to see. Let's see if we can revive letter writing!

Ahhh, A Normal Routine

2009-03-10T15:07:00.006-04:00

It is so good to be back to a somewhat normal routine. Today is my 4th whole day back in my home and only the second that didn't involve a bunch of running around.

After I got back from Japan I had to go almost immediately up to the mountains to visit my uncle who was dying from cancer. He had been fighting for almost nine years and everyone knew that the time was short. I was very happy to get the opportunity to speak with him and visit a couple of times before he died this past Monday.

Of course, the snow came Sunday night and between the snow and the cold temperatures I ended up staying most of the week with my parents. The funeral activities began on Thursday and went through Friday.

Friday night I had to come back home and prepare for a band rehearsal with some folks that will be helping me to put on a worship seminar at my church this weekend. The rehearsal was in Apex (since half of the band members live up there.) I got home about 11:30 Saturday night.

Sundays are always busy for me too. There is church in the morning and Youth Band practice in the afternoon. I finished up the night at a friend's house watching the National Geographic Channel special on blue whales. It was interesting. We had a lot of fun making fun of the scientists and some of the dumb things that they said. It seems to me that there ought to be a better way to do things than they were doing them.

Monday was my first day to get back towards my normal routines. I won't say that I really hit them, but at least I was in familiar territory and was able to do some of the things I normally do in the course of a day.

Today has been much closer to a normal day, although I still haven't gotten back into my schedule totally. Perhaps tomorrow?

Or perhaps not. It is gardening time again and I need to take a good portion of my day tomorrow and get my garden ready. I am already running late. (Can you believe that we are a third of the way through March already? Where does the time go?)

I had been somewhat dreading the start of the gardening season, but I am about over that now! I am ready to get some stuff in the ground and smell that great smell of freshly plowed dirt. Plus I get to play with dad's new tractor! Whoo hoo! That in and of itself makes it all worthwhile.

I am sure I'll be adding to my rock collection - yippee. You would think that eventually you would run out of rocks. Seriously, how many rocks could possibly come out of one small patch of dirt? If it were all rock you shouldn't even be able to plow it. I think that they are growing like potatoes - they must be! So you can expect to get some new garden pictures soon.

I may be also playing in a new band soon. An old acquaintance from high school is interested in getting a band started to play out and we are going to explore the possibilities. It should be fun. I don't know what we'll end up playing yet, but perhaps it will be a combination of cover tunes and Christian music. It sounds like a lot of fun. We need a guitar player or two, a keyboard player, and a drummer.

And that is the latest from Lake Woebegone! More to come soon.

Another Good Quote From Sowell

2009-03-10T15:03:00.002-04:00

The same politicians who have been talking about a need for "affordable housing" for years are now suddenly alarmed that home prices are falling. How can housing become more affordable unless prices fall?

The political meaning of "affordable housing" is housing that is made more affordable by politicians intervening to create government subsidies, rent control or other gimmicks for which politicians can take credit.

Affordable housing produced by market forces provides no benefit to politicians and has no attraction for them.

Study after study, not only here but in other countries, show that the most affordable housing is where there has been the least government interference with the market-- contrary to rhetoric.

- Thomas Sowell from his article Subsidizing Bad Decisions

Why Am I So Not Surprised?

2009-03-10T14:22:00.003-04:00

It has been a while since I have posted anything political here on the blog. I honestly have been staying as far away from it as I can overall, but I thought I would break my silence here briefly to talk about the state of the Union a bit. I do mean briefly too.

I have had no stomach for the news of late. Every time I hear about one of the "brilliant" "new" ideas coming out of Washington I have had a simultaneous urge to be sick, yell, and smash inanimate objects. Each tidbit of news that I have gotten is further proof that our commander-in-chief is like the second woman of Proverbs 14:1. God help us.

In truth, I am avoiding the news to make it possible to pray for this man at all. Because the overwhelming urge that I feel when I see what he is arrogantly (or foolishly - you can take your pick) doing to our nation is that I want his policies to reap the full reward of their misguidedness so that no one will EVER try to implement such utter foolishness in our nation - or anywhere else in the world - ever again.

The only problem with such a desire on my part is that all Americans will end up paying the price by reaping such consequences, and that hardly seems right, considering that not everyone is as much in wholehearted devotion and agreement to "the one" in Washington as the American press seems to be. And even though his disciples seemed to think that he was some great "messiah" he has done more walking into walls than walking on water so far.

Case in point is the interesting article written by John Hawkins that enumerates the top ten major blunders by the Obama administration so far. If President Bush had committed even one of these errors he would have certainly been impeached.

Does President Obama deserve to have some slack cut to him? Perhaps the answer is yes. (I know you are shocked that I would say so.) But he is doing precisely what someone with no executive experience could have been expected to do. It will certainly take some time for him to learn the ropes. Too bad the people surrounding him are as unprepared as he is. No, I don't put the full responsibility of all of this on the President's shoulders - I lay this burden squarely at the feet of all of those misguided souls who voted for someone wholly unqualified for the job of President. Thanks, y'all. Lots of people told you it would turn out like this.

I like what Thomas Sowell had to say in his article today.

Even in an era of much-ballyhooed "change," the government cannot eliminate sadness. What it can do is transfer that sadness from those who made risky and unwise decisions to the taxpayers who had nothing to do with their decisions.

Worse, the subsidizing of bad decisions destroys one of the most effective sources of better decisions-- namely, paying the consequences of bad decisions.

In the wake of the housing debacle in California, more people are buying less expensive homes, making bigger down payments, and staying away from "creative" and risky financing. It is amazing how fast people learn when they are not insulated from the consequences of their decisions.

Seems to me that the Utopian "change" that was promised during the campaign has turned Orwellian on us. Not that I am surprised, mind you - I knew that is what he really meant all along.

Do I pray for the President? Yes I do, but my prayers are aimed wholly at him committing his life to the truth of the Scriptures instead of to the whims of his "intellect." Until he begins to recognize that God may know more than he does ,we can expect him to continue to turn our country into a nosedive that will end up destroying us.

The Symphony Of Heaven

2009-03-10T13:21:00.002-04:00

I just saw a really incredible sermon. I would like to go back and verify some of the claims that he is making, but it is intriguing at the very least. Besides that I love that his voice sounds a little like Johnny Cash. It makes me want to go back and rethink my take on some of the scriptures that I have just considered metaphoric or simile.

The sermon lasts about 1:10:40 but it is worth the watch if you have the time.

Home Again... For The Moment - To The Rising Sun With The Risen Son (Part 13)

2009-02-27T09:03:00.004-05:00

Well, I am back home again. Last night I slept in my own bed and it was wonderful! And poor David didn't have to contend with my snoring! I guess David should be landing in Minneapolis within the next two hours. I am sure he is ready to get home.

My flight home was pretty good. It was considerably shorter than the flight out, thank goodness! However, it was a very bumpy ride from Tokyo to Minneapolis. Our plane was too heavy to get above the weather and the fasten seat belt signs were on for most of the flight. It was a lot more like riding in a stagecoach than a jet airliner! At one point the ride got so bumpy that one of the overhead hatches popped open. None of the flight attendants closed it, and as bumpy as things were I was very concerned that something was going to fall out on someone. Thankfully that did not happen. Hopefully, David's trip was much smoother than mine.

I haven't gotten back into my old routines yet. Yesterday I was traveling from Raleigh back to Rowan County and stopped at my parents' to wash clothes. I had planned to head up to the mountains to visit family up there, but a combination of jet lag and a little neediness on my niece's part postponed the trip.

I am sure that there will be additional posts on our trip to Japan as I begin to unpack all that I experienced and as I get more perspective on what we did and why we went. Thank you so much for your prayers and support as we have gone. Your continued prayers are welcomed as David and I continue to ponder our trip and research the things that God led us to discover. Please pray that we will have understanding of what we are to do with the knowledge that we gain and pray that God will direct our research. Thanks again for all of your support. I look forward to talking to you in greater length about the trip!

Every Little Thing She Does

2009-02-27T09:00:00.003-05:00

Here's a really neat music video for The Police's song, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic. Hope you enjoy it!

What If? - To The Rising Sun With The Risen Son (Part 12)

2009-02-24T08:51:00.005-05:00

Wow, it is here. My last night in Tokyo. It is hard to believe that it has come so quickly. We have covered a lot of miles both on foot and by train, and I have seen more new sights than my eyes and brain have been able to handle. I'll be weeks processing it all, and I can already see myself thinking of the names of random Metro stops at odd times once I get back home.

What an amazing trip I have had, and it isn't quite over yet, but in about 33 hours I will be landing in my beloved North Carolina. It will be good to be home. I will enjoy being able to get back to my routines. And it is garden season again believe it or not. I'll have to get started on mine pretty quickly after I get back if the weather will cooperate.

But what if?

What if this trip was merely to give me a taste of this country that is similar, but very different from mine? What if God were to call me to come to Japan as a missionary? I have certainly been invited to come by several missionaries. There is a part of me that is very inclined to take them up on their invitation. And at the same time there is much to keep me locked into my pleasant routines and friendships back home. Those friendships were hard won - especially the ones in China Grove. And what about my beloved family and church? These are precious to me. Do I really want to say goodbye to all of that?

I don't know. I don't know if that is what God is asking me to do. There is certainly a strong tug to say, "No, Lord, I'd much rather stay home."

I understand better than ever what must have been going through some of the potential disciple's hearts when they rejected Jesus' invitation to go with Him. How hard it is to leave the familiar and precious behind! But it is what we are called as Christians to do every single day.

Didn't Jesus tell us to take up our cross daily and follow Him? If He is calling us to die daily then are we to consider anything in our lives outside of the purview of His dominion and rule? The very nature of a covenant dictates that all that I have belongs to the one with whom I have made the covenant if he asks for it. And the same is true in reverse too. So can I refuse anything that Jesus asks from me? How could I withhold my comforts, relationships, and security when He has laid down His very life? The answer is I can't. It all belongs to Him.

Before anyone gets too excited or dismayed, I want to say that I haven't heard a clear direction about this from the Lord one way or the other. I do know that I have begun to have some ideas about ways that I could come back. I have begun to get some ideas for ministry here. That could be a factor of my own imagination and creativity or it could be from the hand of the Lord.

The bottom line is that I intend to do whatever God tells me to do when He tells me to do it. Thankfully, God is gracious and understands how we are. He knows what we need to be able to make a decision of this magnitude, and He is patient and capable of getting us to whatever place He wants to take us.

Today we went to the JEMA plenary session. It was basically a business meeting. Yes, it was pretty boring at times, but we did learn some interesting information and most importantly of all we had the opportunity to meet and interact with some more JEMA missionaries. I was excited by some of the things that I learned today. There are some really good things stirring in Japan.

David and I got to talk to Gilberto again today. What an excellent brother! I am so excited about what God is doing in him. I am looking forward to what God will accomplish through him in the coming days. Gilberto is in the process of developing a prayer ministry in Tokyo. He is a member of the Prayer Committee for JEMA and is looking to do something similar to what the IHOP guys are doing in Kansas City. It will be interesting to see how this takes shape.

I got to meet a couple of other really super people today. I hope that one day I will be able to get to know them better.

Today Mizuko was honored by the JEMA folks for her 25 years' service to JEMA. Mizuko is the face and voice of JEMA and it the only official employee. She has been a valuable aid to David and me. On his last trip here she really helped him a lot and opened some doors for him that he would have had difficulty opening on his own. She is a great lady and it is an honor to know her. Anyway, the meetings took the better part of the day. I think we finished up about 4-4:30. It wasn't a minute too soon.

Afterward we went to Shinjuku to see if we could find a little something for me to bring home to my niece. We did and decided that we would be more likely to find an inexpensive meal in Akasaka than we would in Shinjuku so we took the train home. We went to one of the many tempura places close to our hotel. It was delicious and inexpensive.

I don't know why, but we were worn out tonight. We didn't walk that much at all today by our normal standards - probably not even two miles - but we both felt the wear of the miles that we have walked over the past ten days. I won't lie to you: I am glad that tonight's trek is the last time I'll have to make that long hike from the Akasaka stop on the Metro to our hotel again for a while.

Well, it is nearly midnight here, and I guess I'd better get some sleep. I have to catch the bus to the airport tomorrow around noon. So this will likely be my last post from Japan on this trip. I do still anticipate writing more about this adventure as I debrief. So stay tuned for that. I also think that David plans to do some catching up on his blog here over the next couple of days. He is staying on in Japan until Friday and doing a little work for his company branch office in Tokyo while he is on this side of the Pacific.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support. Please to continue to pray for God to move in Japan. I believe that He has a great tsunami of His glory to release on Japan and cleanse it and set it free from the enemy's strangle hold. Though the enemy thought he had things locked up tight here, God's power will make the devil's schemes look as secure as a sandcastle in a hurricane. I am pleased to be a part of God's wave!

Short Rows - To The Rising Sun With The Risen Son (Part 11)

2009-02-23T09:48:00.007-05:00

So let me tell you a little more about the Hie Jinja shrine. It looks like it may be the most important site spiritually speaking in Tokyo. It is probably a tie between this one and another shrine out close to the airport. But this shrine occupies higher ground and "houses" a couple major "deities." Today we went back to pray at the shrine. Unfortunately, I got my wires crossed with David and we went there BEFORE going to the Imperial Grounds tour.

I had had a very rough night last night and was tired. It was cold and rainy. And I had not gotten ready as quickly as I had hoped. Still, I thought that I had gotten ready in time for us to get to our tour on time, but my lateness had not left hardly any time for us to pray at the shrine. We did however pray there this morning. There were no dramatic events surrounding the prayer. No earthquakes, no fires from heaven - no one even tried to chase us away for praying there.

I really would have liked some more time to spend praying. I didn't feel like I had really gotten anything accomplished. But then again, am I the one who is supposed to be accomplishing anything? This has been the big struggle for me personally on this trip. So much about the trip has not been clear. Have I accomplished what I came here for? It is hard to measure such things when you haven't been given a clear mandate about what you came to do. It means that I have to trust in God's sovereignty and his ability to lead someone who can be as dense as I am at times. May God forgive me for my ability to forget my place! I can do nothing without Him and my only job is to obey His direction. If I obey I have done well. I shouldn't have to see results to know that I have done His bidding.

It was a miserable day for a tour to put it bluntly. There was a light soaking rain and it was cold. It just wasn't a great day to be outside. Well, the ducks didn't seem to mind, but I could think of more fun things to do. OK, I'll stop griping.

We managed to make it to the Imperial residence just as the tour was about to start. We were supplied with umbrellas and listening devices and headed out into the rain to take a tour of the grounds. The taped tour information was helpful. It answered a question that I had about some markings that we saw on some of the stones of the ramparts that we had seen around town. It turns out that the different shogun would put their family crest on the sections of the ramparts that they were working on.

I also learned that when the emperor was moved from Kyoto to Tokyo (after the failure of the Tokugawa dynasty to discourage Commodore Perry from forcing Japan to open itself to the world) that he had an entire building dismantled and relocated from Kyoto to the Imperial grounds. There are some close ties between Kyoto and Tokyo spiritually too. The Hie Jinja shrine was a "disciple" shrine of an older one that was on Mount Hie close to Kyoto.

There were some interesting things to see on the tour, but I think that it would have been much more pleasant in April. It was kind of dreary in February. It is sad that the old Imperial Palace was destroyed in the firebombing of 1945. I would have liked to see the original building.

Lunchtime today consisted of a combination of udon noodles and tenpura. It was very oishi-i (delicious.) It definitely hit the spot and put some warmth back into our cold, wet selves. We came back to the hotel to dry out and get ready for tonight.

Tonight at JEMA we had a great time getting to know some more Japanese missionaries. We brought a bag supper (we brought KFC) and then indulged in some delicious treats that had been prepared for us. I was particularly delighted with some mini cinnamon muffins and with the walnut cake that someone brought. The cheese ball was delicious too.

At the JEMA meeting we had the opportunity to find out about some really neat things that are going on here. One fellow - and sadly I cannot recall his name - told us about some Christian manga that have been developed. He gave us some free samples and they were really interesting. I plan to read mine on the plane home! I am very excited about what they are accomplishing with this genre of literature and was thrilled to hear how God had saved several very talented manga artists and brought them to this gentleman for the purpose of making this project a reality.

In a second seminar, we learned about how Japanese are communicating with each other with cell phones much more so than we do in the States. They use their cell phones for email and for surfing the web and most of their deepest interactions are done via phone. The gentleman who spoke to us about this showed some really great strategies for putting a church or ministry out where it will be easier to serve the Japanese people where they are. Both seminars were very interesting and quite exciting.

Well, it is getting late here and I have to be back in the meetings tomorrow at 10:00, so I'd better wind this down for now. I will do my best to post one more time before I leave. Perhaps tomorrow when we get back from the JEMA conference. In the meantime, thank you for all of the prayers of support. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Just Two Days Left - To The Rising Sun With The Risen Son (Part 10)

2009-02-22T08:45:00.008-05:00

It hit me today when I was writing an email to a friend that for all intents and purposes I only have two days left on this trip to Japan. Yes, I will technically be here on Wednesday, but that day will be obsessed with packing and getting to the airport. How could this time have passed so quickly?

I guess this realization has made today a day of reflection and contemplation about the trip thus far. In some ways I am disappointed that I cannot point to some very clear reason for why I came - at least a reason that would be easy to explain to most people. God often does things that are not obvious. The times that seem the least productive are the times that the Lord is moving the most - even though we haven't a clue. So it is probably my own flesh that wants to justify the trip with some very clear reason that God chose to go to such expense to send me. There is, however, another part that wonders if perhaps we just haven't gotten to that part of the trip yet.

I tend to think that tomorrow will prove to be the most significant part of our trip. In a moment I will talk more about that, but first I want to talk about some of the things that we encountered the past couple of days.

Saturday, we traveled to Shinjuku to take a care package to Abby who is here in Japan as an intern with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptists. (It will forever be the FMB to me. I don't care what they call it now.) Poor Abby had gotten pink eye and a cold just before we were to meet with her. Nonetheless we did have a nice visit with her and enjoyed a tasty meal at a Japanese steak house. (Which is nothing like what you are thinking of back in the States when I say that. This is not like Ichiban at all.)

We had a really good conversation with Abby that helped me to understand some of the cultural issues in Japan that I haven't encountered yet. It was very insightful, and I am grateful for her sharing these observations with us. She helped me to understand how easy it is to become isolated in this culture - both for the native Japanese and for foreigners.

After we left Abby to rest, David and I headed to Odaiba to do a little exploring. This area isn't too far from Walt Disney World - Tokyo. There were certainly some interesting things to see there, including a smaller replica of the Statue of Liberty - which you see in the picture above. There is a large mall there close to the train station where we decided to go for some refreshment. On our way in we discovered a strange sign. One of the entrances to the mall was called the "Gate of godess." I'm not exactly sure what that was referring to, but not too far from there we discovered an idol of the goddess Venus. I have no idea what that is attached to her head and I have no idea what that is beside her. If there is any consolation at all, it is that it does not appear that this idol is being worshiped. Still, it creeped me out a bit. The statue reminds me a lot of some of the images that I have seen of Artemis of the Ephesians.

There were some other interesting things we encountered. We found a monument that looked like a gold, pointy cigar that we think was called the flame of liberty. It looked a lot like Ultraman's rocket.

While we were at the mall we did a little shopping for souvenirs. There was a Toys R Us there and we were very pleased to find that it wasn't filled with a bunch of American toys. Almost everything there was Japanese. We also talked over a drink at Starbucks about the conversation that we had with Abby and about what we have been learning about Japan. It is clear to us that man's inventiveness and clever programs will not set this people free. Nothing short of the power of the gospel quickened by the Holy Spirit will break through in this nation. We also talked about a very unorthodox idea that we had to help reach people here.

We wandered around a good bit, and by the time we decided to head back home we were completely worn out. But before going back to the hotel, David treated me to a wonderful dinner at Outback Steakhouse. In the midst of all of the differentness that there is here, it is nice to find something very familiar. There were some small differences, but it was a great meal.

By the time we got home last night we were both beyond done. We both went to bed pretty early.

Today we went to church at a church that David had found online. It is called the Jesus Lifehouse and was within walking distance from the hotel. It was apparently started by Australian missionaries and is growing very quickly. According to what they told us today they have over 700 people attending the various services through the week. They are running 3 services on Sunday and one on Saturday night. There are also many small groups that meet all over the city. The services are in English and Japanese. Most of the worship songs were from Hillsong in Australia. I don't know if there is a direct link between the two churches or not.

We got the opportunity to speak with several people from the church today, and their report is that God is moving in Japan. They are seeing many people coming in and getting saved and they are finding that the people of Japan - especially the young people - are hungry for something and when they are being shown the gospel they recognize that it is what they have been looking for. We heard a testimony today of a young woman whose job made it hard for her to attend church, but she asked her boss in faith if she could have Sunday off. When she explained why she wanted the day off, she had such favor with her employer that he gave her every Sunday off! Another young man shared how he had come to Christ after being challenged to study the Word of God. We met Nick who told us how he had been raised Buddhist and Shinto, but how through friendship with an American missionary he had been convinced of the truth of the gospel. By seeing him live his life for Jesus, this man was convinced that Christianity was true. I hope that some of the people that we met today will stay in contact with us.

On our way to church this morning we passed a shrine. (It was the Hie Jinja shrine.) We didn't know that was what it is this morning, but on our way back home from church, we decided (well, it was more David's idea than mine) that we should go up and check it out. (Once I found out it was a shrine, I really didn't want to go there.) When we got there we looked around a bit. I doubt that I will take the time tonight to go into all of the details. I need to download some pictures and we need to process some of the information that we have found out since getting back to the hotel tonight.

But to make a long story short, this shrine predates the Tokugawa shogunate. It has been here for a very long time, and it "houses" two very major "deities." The primary one supposedly protects the city and the Imperial family. It is the "god" of the high places. There is also another "deity" here that is a "goddess" of fertility. This "goddess" is one of the most popular figures worshiped in Japan. 1/3 of all of the Shinto shrines in Japan are dedicated to her. Her name is Inari. (I think it is interesting that a character in the series Firefly was named Inara. This, I suspect was not an accident.) This shrine sits on one of the highest points in the whole city. There is also a major link to a similar (and much older) shrine outside of Kyoto.

I was not game for going to the shrine. I just would rather not be in a place where demons are worshiped, but I believe that it was good for us to go there because it gave us the clues that we needed to be able to find out what is really going on there spiritually speaking.

Perhaps the saddest thing that we saw there were some parents teaching their children to worship the idols in that place. Perhaps we should have said something to them. I wish I had thought of that at the time, but I was feeling particularly out of place there. Please pray that I'll do better.

Tomorrow we go to the Imperial compound for a tour. Then we plan to return to this shrine. In both locations we intend to pray. Later that night we will have a time of fellowship with some of the missionaries that have associated themselves and their ministries with JEMA. I truly believe that tomorrow is going to be a pretty important day. That being said, I need to wrap this up and call it a night and get some sleep. Please continue to pray for us as we are wrapping up this trip. I'll update you tomorrow night on what we discover.

Oh Wow, Tomorrow's Saturday! - To The Rising Sun With The Risen Son (Part 9)

2009-02-20T05:36:00.012-05:00

Yesterday was a busy day. The past two have been a bit of a blur to tell the truth. I think if I am remembering correctly that we kind of took our time yesterday morning getting ourselves ready to go. We got lunch at a restaurant called Jonathan's (they even spelled it right!) which is kind of the equivalent of a Japanese Shoney's. The food was good and the best part was that it was reasonably inexpensive. David was impressed that I was able to eat corn and rice with chopsticks. I'm getting pretty good!

When we took this picture a policeman was walking by. He kind of smiled when he saw that I was posing like the sumo in the picture. I see now that I needed to extend my arm more...

After lunch we hopped on the train and went to the OCC (not the same one from the stupid TV show) to visit with the people from Japan Evangelical Missions Association (JEMA). David had met some of the people from this group on his last trip to Japan. We had signed up for a fellowship that they are having on Monday night and wanted to see if it also might be possible to sit in on some other parts of the conference that they are having.

We really didn't know how long we would be there. When we arrived the Association's administrator was trying to finish up some booklets for one of the sessions of the conference. We jumped in and helped to bind them. It was fun. By the time we had finished there were several missionaries working on the booklets and we were having a great time chatting with each other.

The one that we spoke to most is a Brazilian missionary named Gilberto. Part of his ministry focuses on serving the Brazilian-Japanese population here in the Tokyo area. He is also in the process of trying to get a prayer ministry started here. A couple from his church attended the One Thing Conference that I have been raving about since December and have been spending some time at the International House Of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City. Gilberto also had the opportunity recently to visit the Christ For The Nations Institute in Dallas, Texas. I am excited about what he is getting started here. I believe that committed prayer will begin to change the atmosphere here like nothing else has been able to do so far.

He told us that there really hasn't been a strong prayer focus in the churches in Japan. I had to admit that there hasn't been one in the churches in America either. Perhaps that is why the numbers of Evangelical Christians has been shrinking instead of growing in our country.

The OCC (Ochanomizu Christian Center) sits on land purchased by an Irish missionary known as "Sensei" Irene Webster-Smith. The story of how that came about was pretty amazing. I think David may have told the story in a blog post from his earlier trip. Here is a little blurb from a book that David has about Irene that was published in 1965 titled Sensei: The Life Story of Irene Webster-Smith

"With only $18 to her name she (Irene Webster-Smith) bought a house in Tokyo to establish a Christian Student Center. And despite the fact that its price was $18,000, she never once missed a payment. Fourteen years later the property was worth $1,000,000"

Can you imagine what it would be worth today? The building houses many Christian ministries and also has a very nice Christian Bookstore on the second floor.

After we finished up at the OCC we decided to grab some supper. We ate at a Subway just up the street. They have some different menu offerings here. I had an avocado and shrimp sandwich. It was pretty good. I would eat that again. They also had some different cookies from the ones that we can get back in the States. I had a really delicious chocolate and coconut cookie. Mmmm.

The area where we were was full of guitar shops. I think we counted five or six! It was guitar players' heaven. By the time we got back to the hotel we were thoroughly exhausted.

This morning it was raining when we got up. We took our time getting ready to go and by the time we were ready to get some lunch the rain had stopped. We went down to Ginza and had lunch and decided to walk around and see what we could see. One of the places we stopped was a giant music store. I think three floors were CDs. Then they had additional instruments as we continued up the building. One floor was mostly guitars. That was neat. We found an amp that went all the way up to 12! They also were having a special emphasis on recorders. They had every size of recorder (remember the one they tried to teach you to play in elementary school?) imaginable. One of the large ones cost ¥ 300,000! (That's roughly $3,000!) These were all made of wood. I saw one the same size as the one I have for about ¥ 1400. I was very tempted.

We ended up in a department store with a Starbucks on the top floor. We were both pretty tired so we stopped for a bit to give our feet a rest. While we have been here I have been reading The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges. I pulled it out to read while I was having a lovely chai latte. He made a comment that I thought was a little shocking. He said,

It is not those who profess to know Christ who will enter heaven, but those whose lives are holy. Even those who do "great Christian works" will not enter heaven unless they also do the will of God. Jesus said, "not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

"Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons, and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evil-doers!'"

I have always thought that this saying of Jesus was radical, but today when I read this in conjunction with the words that Mr. Bridges wrote I realized just how different this is than the "gospel" that is being preached in many places - especially the United States. How many times have you heard someone declare that holiness is required to enter heaven? As I have pondered this passage what he says is certainly true. Without obedience to God's Word - holiness - we won't see God. And if we don't know Christ - truly having relationship with Him - then we won't desire holiness or be equipped to walk in it. What a fearsome passage of scripture.

After our break we did a little souvenir shopping - more window shopping really. All the stuff we saw there was pretty expensive. Still looking for something cool to take home for my niece and nephew that won't break the bank.

There was another park that David had seen on the map that he wanted to see. So we headed over that direction. As we rounded a building we came face to face with....

G
O
D
Z
I
R
R
A
!
!
!
!
!
!

As you can imagine we were quite excited about it. He wouldn't sign any autographs and he didn't destroy any buildings, so we got bummed and left.

When we got to the park there were lots of things to see. The park was apparently the first western style garden/park in the country. We came across some different kinds of statuary, including, oddly enough, a copy (I think) of that statue of the she-wolf suckling Remus and Romulus. There was a statue of what we are guessing was a Roman or Greek goddess. We found some other turtle statues. There were some interesting things strewn about the park.

But I think the thing that surprised David and me the most was when we found a replica of the Liberty Bell right there on a high knoll in the park.

It turns out that General MacArthur got some American businesses to donate it to Japan after the war. There was a plaque on the back side that explained. There were also some Japanese characters on the bricks that made up the tower. We couldn't read them though.

After we finished up at the park we headed back toward the hotel for the evening, but stopped at a restaurant for some more traditional Japanese fare for dinner. This was the biggest adventure of the day by far. In fact, it may have been the biggest adventure of the trip.

When we looked at the menu outside of the restaurant it looked like something we would enjoy eating. When we got inside, we very quickly discovered that we were in trouble. Only one fellow knew any English at all and the entire menu was in Japanese. (Imagine that! Where do they think this is? Japan?) After much pointing and grunting and referring to a handy dandy pocket dictionary, it became pretty clear that most of the stuff on the menu was going to gross David and me out. Somehow we managed to order. I am really not sure what it was I got, although I have an idea and being not sure is fine with me. All I know is that my meal tasted very good even if the texture was a little unusual.

Tonight we have done laundry and I have been blogging and uploading pictures to my Facebook account. If you aren't on Facebook and would like to see the pictures you can click on these links to the albums:

Japan 1

Japan 2

Hillary Motorcade

Edo-Tokyo Museum

Japan 3

Tomorrow we will catch up with a missionary friend of David's and deliver a "care package" from home. We found out tonight that she has conjunctivitis, so we'll be careful. Prayers for her good health and ours are very much appreciated. Hopefully by the time we meet her for lunch tomorrow she will be past the contagious stage.

It is really hard to believe that tomorrow is Saturday. Time has really flown. It will be time to go back home before I turn around good.

I was asked by a missionary friend today what the most amazing part of the trip has been so far. I didn't get to respond to her because things got off that track during our chat. But I have been pondering my answer ever since she asked it. I guess at this point the most dramatic thing that has happened has been that God got us over here in the first place. That, far and away, has been the most dramatic thing that has happened. But there have been other things too.

Three days before I left I started coming down with a cold. I had been around sick people for months and hadn't even gotten a sniffle and three days before I was supposed to go to Japan I was starting to get sick. I prayed and stood against the sickness myself for a day and realized that I wasn't going to be able to beat it on my own. I went to church that night and asked my church family to pray for me. I also got prayer from two other friends. The next day I was about 90-95% better! By the time I got on the plane I was well. Prayer works! Thanks, guys, for lending your faith to me!

Most of what we have been doing while we have been here could be called "spiritual mapping." In some Christian circles, spiritual mapping is a form of spiritual warfare that does research with the help of the Holy Spirit to uncover elements in a geographical region's past that have either made it more or less receptive to the move of God. Once you know the spiritual strengths and weaknesses of an area it is easier to know how to pray for that region.

I believe that a lot of what we have done while we have been here these first few days has been beneficial, but frankly David and I have been chomping at the bit to discover what was so important that we needed to uproot ourselves to the other side of the world. Perhaps obedience to God is sufficient, but we both feel that we are to do something here that will have a direct impact on the spiritual climate of this nation.

We may have received such a revelation tonight. I will not go into details at this time, but we will certainly be praying about this between now and Monday. Please pray with us that God will give us clarity of purpose and that we'll understand what He wants us to do without question. I would like to get some confirmation about this myself. And please also pray that we will have the boldness, confidence, and courage to be willing to do anything that the Lord asks us to do.

Thank you so much for reading and I'll be updating you again soon!

Continuing On - To The Rising Sun With the Risen Son (Part 8)

2009-02-18T08:08:00.014-05:00

Today we went back to the area around the Imperial compound in front of the statue of the Samurai Kusunoki Massashige and took some time to do some praying. It was a gorgeous day. It was a little cold, but it was nice being outside.

There is a welcome center close to the park and they had some information about the moats and some of the plants and animals that can be found there. I was shocked to discover that they have Largemouth Bass and Bluegill in the moats! They were introduced here from the States. There are some other invasive species that have been imported. These species can really wreak havoc in the native ecosystem. Just as the Northern Snakehead is seen as a danger to North American ecosystems the Bluegill and Largemouth Bass are in the Japanese waters. I think I would have been pretty shocked to go fishing here and come up with a Bluegill on the line.

Anyway, after we finished praying in the park we took the train on a circular route around the city. When we finished with that we grabbed some lunch at an Italian restaurant that we had seen on Monday. We then spent the rest of the day in the Edo-Tokyo Museum. It was pretty interesting. They had some incredible models set up. There were lots of interesting artifacts as well, including some swords and amazing watercolors. The main thing that we were looking for was clues that may help us to understand what is making it so difficult for the gospel to spread in this nation.

I think that we found some interesting leads today that will help. One of the things that struck me was just how ingrained the Shinto religious worship was to many aspects of Japanese life. There were deities associated with nearly every important geographic feature of Tokyo that most likely still hold sway over the hearts and actions of the people. Another thing that stood out to me is that there have been many attempts to bring social justice to the people of Japan. So far those efforts, while well intentioned, have largely failed.

And yet still, as I am learning more and more about Japanese culture, I am convinced that there are also elements here that the Lord can use to make this people a special treasure for Himself. There certainly seem to be aspects of the culture that have a finger on the pulse of special facets of the heart of God. I think about their willingness to die for the sake of honor. If only that could be turned to a willingness to put to death the deeds of the flesh for honor's sake! They are the people of the kamikaze, the "divine wind," who believed that it protected their nation from attack. Is God's Spirit not also called the Ruach ha Kodesh, the divine breath? I believe that these are things that God has implanted into Japanese culture to one day help to lead them to Himself. Sadly, as he often does, the enemy has perverted these very things to prevent that from happening. The good news though is this: God doesn't lose to the enemy! What God has purposed to do in a people will be done regardless of how the devil tries to keep it from happening.

Back to the museum for a second; one of the neatest things I saw there today was a watersystem that the Japanese used in Edo (an earlier name for Tokyo) that was made out of wood. Totally impressive. The water flowed through wooden water mains that were buried underground and brought water to the city. I just thought that was awesome. How creative!

We ended up today by going to a very popular part of the city and getting a little KFC. The train trip there was an adventure to be sure. At one point there were so many people jammed into the railcar that one woman all but had her nose pressed against the window of the door. People were pressing up against me on every side of me that wasn't up against a bulkhead! I really thought I'd freak out, but I thought I handled it pretty well.

Anyway, I was really glad to make it back to the room tonight. I am tired, but it was a great day. Please pray that my snoring will subside. I was keeping David awake with it last night. It was so bad that he ended up sleeping out in the hall! Poor feller.

Tomorrow we will probably stay close to the hotel for the morning and then we are going to meet with the folks at the JEMA office on the other side of town. This is the organization that David made contact with the last time that he came over. We will be attending some events with them this coming Monday and our meeting tomorrow will kind of flesh out exactly how great our particpation will be in those and other events. It is hard to imagine that I only have a week left.