"HOW SHALL WE THEN LIVE?" Francis Schaeffer

Friday, December 30, 2005

Men ruining women ruin men

One of many "money quotes" from K. Lopez's interview of Kate O'Beirne from NationalReview.com,

O'Beirne: The men in our lives can shape our views on the most destructive ideology afoot. I have long thought that if high-school boys had invited homely girls to the prom we might have been spared the feminist movement. We live with the destructive feminist agenda because the fathers or husbands of so many of them, including Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Germaine Greer, and Jane Fonda, never failed to fail them. The views of these angry, abandoned women inform the modern women's movement.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Flacking Hatemongers

The ubiquitous web mavens of HATEMONGERS QUARTERLY have moved from blogspot to mu.nu.  Frankly, I’m not sure the move has helped.  They’re still chasing humor likes beggars after a burger.  But read today’s WHOLE ENCHILADA anyway.

Monday, December 26, 2005

A great post HERE. Should be titled the liars and the left.

excerpt:
Enric Marc�'s imposture brings back memories of such famous exposed phonies, all heroes of the Left, as Anita Hill, who lied about alleged sexual harassment by right-wing judge Clarence Thomas; Rigoberta Mench�, who lied about her family's history in Guatemala; Lillian Hellman, who lied about her own history and her ties with the Stalinists; Jesse Jackson, who lied about his relationship with Martin Luther King; Edward Said, who lied about his family's alleged persecution by the Israelis; Ward Churchill, who lied about his American Indian ancestry; Fran�ois Mitterand, who lied about his Vichy collaborationist past; and Bill Clinton, of course, who lied about everything to everyone, including the United States Congress.

What do they all have in common? They all basked in the attention of the correct-thinking folks of the Left. It's fun when everybody feels sorry for you and thinks you're a big hero. When their credentials were checked, though, they turned out to be fakes. One wonders how many other stories of victimization are made up. One also despairs at the undeserved discredit that will be cast upon the histories of true innocent victims of persecution by these frauds.

Sid Barrett

Last Year while reading a blog I found a URL where Pink Floyd was performing "Wish You Were Here." It is a truly great song. Wish I could find the URL.

Supposedly the song is a tribute to the founder of Pink Floyd - Sid Barrett. From there the story gets interesting.

By accounts Sid was a gifted, artistic young man who fell into drugs; possibly LSD and other drugs. Within 3 or 4 years he was no longer with Pink Floyd. He had, in a psychological sense, gotten "lost" and was no longer able to participate with the band. They ultimately replaced him with a childhood friend, David Gilmour. Still, in the early 70's he managed to do two albums but as one writer suggested; listening to his albums was listening to someone going through a complete nervous breakdown.

Since then he has disappeared from music and fame. He, by all accounts, lives in Cambridge, England and as recently as 3 years ago, some photo journalist shot a picture of this balding man in shorts and tennis shoes walking along, carrying a paper and seemingly distracted. There is nothing in the picture that suggests of the young genius who was doing cutting edge music in the 60's. But apparently it was/is Sid Barrett.

Sid has been hospitalized in the past, and lived with his mother in her basement until her death in 1991. At one time he talked of making a come-back in the 1980s but that was followed a month later by him sticking his head through the ceiling of his basement requiring further hospitalization.

NOBODY has direct contact with him. Due to residuals, his estate still brings in over 6 figures a year but apparently he lives reclusively by himself and avoids all contact with people who would be interested in his past as a musician or as a member of Pink Floyd. Nobody in Pink Floyd has spoken with him since the 70s. It is rumored that two of the core members, Gilmour and Waters, may have made sure he's had enough money to survive over the years. The rumours also suggests he has not owned a guitar in years and has never returned from his psychological exile.

Probably interviewing him would be very difficult and not very fruitful. He has all the signs of a paranoid schizophrenic. These people are not dangerous, for the most part, but they are truly incapable of comprehensive verbal give and take. They can be very frustating to talk to. When interviewing them, one always hopes there will be a glimmer of insight, a porthole into their soul. But there never is. Their schizophrenia is a wall of defense that is not easily breached.

Sid Barret is now probably 58 and he will never be anything more than he is now. A recluse, a non-musician; a hermit. One day he will die and there will be 1,000 articles about his strange and sad life. Sid, we all "wish you were here." JB

[Sid Barret died July 7th, 2006, a couple of years after the original post.]

Saturday, December 24, 2005

You will not read the obituary in People magazine. Time and Newsweek will overlook it to say nothing of the Washington Post or the Oregonian. But a really fine, sweet-heart of a lady died this week in a nursing home at the age of 78. I've known her for 35 years; I called her Mom for 34 years. She was my gentle mother-in-law, Donna Gaumitz. She was born and reared in no-wheres-ville Minnesota. She had her first four children, all girls, within 6 years. Her last two children, a girl and a boy, came many years later. Six kids; none of whom have an arrest record. They are not perfect but they all loved and respected their mother. She wasn't well educated formally, her view of the political world was limited and she didn't care to be wealthy. She thought life was all about serving God, serving her husband, her church and her children. Later on, her children served her in return. She was appreciative of that. She educated herself using the greatest book, the Holy Scriptures, as her text for understanding life. And she understood it well. She stood by her husband for almost 50 years; she was mostly content to let him be the head of the home; when he became ill she cared for him until her own strength gave out. She honored God, she honored her husband, her children honor her as do all her sons-in-law. A great lady has passed away; the world does not note her passing, the Creator of the Universe does and He has welcomed his daughter to her new, eternal home. Donna Gaumitz; rest in peace and joy. Your son-in-law, jb

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Carols & Psychiatry

Combining the best of both worlds; Psychiatry and Carols

I know we have all seen this before....but once more for the tradition...
 
Christmas Carols for the Psychiatrically Challenged
  1. Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?
2. Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Queens Disoriented Are
3. Amnesia --- I Don't Know if I'll be Home for Christmas
4. Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me
5. Manic --- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and Fire Hydrants and ...
6. Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Get Me
7. Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire
8. Full Personality Disorder-- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll tell You Why
9. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ---Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells ...
10. Agoraphobia --- I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day But Wouldn't Leave My House
11. Senile Dementia --- Walking in a Winter Wonderland Miles From My House in My Slippers and Robe
12. Oppositional Defiant Disorder --- I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus So I Burned Down the House
13. Social Anxiety Disorder --- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas while I Sit Here and Hyperventilate.

Friday, December 16, 2005

Internet Romance gone wrong

Way too rich – you’ll be chortling yourselves.    READ

A love-struck Frenchman wooed the online girl of his dreams for six months - only to discover at their first meeting that he had in fact been chatting up his own mother, Yahoo! reports.
This nightmare scenario (for Daniel Anceneaux that is - as far as we’re concerned Xmas has come early) began when the Marseilles X-Ray technician came across a fellow internet luv-seeker called Sweet Juliette.
A shaken Anceneaux takes up the story: “Mum called herself Sweet Juliette and I called myself The Prince of Pleasure, and unfortunately, neither one of us had any idea who the other was. The conversations even got a little racy a couple of times.
“But I really started to fall for her, because there seemed to be a sensitive side that you don’t see in many girls. She sent me poems she had written and told me about her dreams and desires, and it was really very romantic.
Indeed. When the proto-Romeo asked for a snap of Sweet Juliette, she sent him a “curvy, half-clad cutie she’d scanned from a men’s magazine”. Anceneaux recalled: “The girl in the picture was so beautiful, I begged Juliette to meet me on the beach - and mum said yes. Mum says she was falling for me, too, and she just wanted to meet me, even though she knew I’d be disappointed when I saw her.”
Disappointed doesn’t even begin to describe it. Anceneaux continued: “I walked out on that dark beach thinking I was going to hook up with the girl of my dreams. And there she was, wearing white shorts and a pink tank top, just like she’d said she would.
“But when I got close, she turned around - and we both got the shock of our lives. I mean, I didn’t know what to say. All I could think was, ‘Oh my God! it’s Mama!’.”
It gets better. A policeman then turned up and “cited them for visiting a restricted beach after dark”. Mum Nicole confessed: “Danny and I were so flustered, we blurted out the whole story to the cop.”
Nicole said: “The policeman wrote a report, a local TV station got hold of it - and the next thing we knew, our picture and our story was all over the 6 o’clock news. People started pointing and laughing at us on the street - and they haven’t stopped laughing since.”
And what did dad make of all this? Well, Paul Anceneaux “wasn’t too happy when the story hit the news and his beer-drinking friends made him the butt of their jokes”, Daniel admitted. “Dad was angry for a while and he banned mum from talking to anybody on the internet ever again,” he concluded.
I’m tellin’ ya; you just gotta be careful with these internet romances.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Movie Way

Okay, forget King Kong and Chronicles of Narnia. In Hollywood it turns out that “Gay’s the Way.”

Have the Golden Globes gone gay?


“Brokeback Mountain” — Ang Lee’s sweeping Western romance revolving around two cowboys — led the way yesterday with seven Golden Globe nominations for best drama, actor, director, supporting actress, screenplay, original score and original song.


The film received best picture honors earlier this week from the film critic societies in Boston, New York and Los Angeles.


But the Hollywood Foreign Press Association didn’t stop there, also spreading love to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered themes and actors in “Capote,” “The Producers,” “Transamerica,” “The Matador” and “Breakfast on Pluto.”

Here’s the WHOLE GUACAMOLE TORTILLA (found on theedge.bostonherald.com)


Oh Well!

Famous Quotes

Famous Quotes on the need for valor and backbone.  (From a Paul Greenberg column – HERE)

"I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king and of a king of England, too; and think foul scorn that Parma and Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm." — Elizabeth I on the approach of the Spanish Armada, 1588
"England expects every man will do his duty." — Admiral Nelson at Trafalgar, 1805
"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country. . . . We fight not to enslave, but to set a country free, and to make room upon the earth for honest men to live in." — Thomas Paine, "The American Crisis," 1776-1777
"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country. Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history." — Abraham Lincoln, Second Annual Message to Congress, Dec. 1, 1862
"I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." — U.S. Grant, May 11, 1864
"When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck before you crush him." — Franklin D. Roosevelt, Fireside Chat, Sept. 11, 1941
"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never . . . ." — Winston Churchill, Oct. 29, 1941
"With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounded determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us G-d." — Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dec. 8, 1941
"I shall return." — Douglas MacArthur, Corregidor, March 11, 1942
"We can do it!" — Rosie the Riveter, pictured in a World War II poster
"OK, we'll go." — Dwight D. Eisenhower, June 5, 1944, D-Day minus one
"In war there is no substitute for victory." — Douglas MacArthur, April 19, 1951
"Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."— John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, Jan. 20, 1961
"Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women." — Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address, Jan. 20, 1981
"Remember, George: This is no time to go wobbly." — Margaret Thatcher to George H. W. Bush, 41st president of the United States, shortly before the first Persian Gulf War of 1991
"But in my political lifetime I believe that it is fortitude or courage that we've most needed and often, I fear, most lacked." — Margaret Thatcher, Dec. 10, 1997
"Inspired by all the courage that has come before, we will meet our moment and we will prevail." — George W. Bush, 43rd president of the United States, Oct. 11, 2001
"The idea that we're going to win this war is an idea that unfortunately is just plain wrong." — Howard Dean, chairman, Democratic National Committee, Dec. 5, 2005

TAMMY BRUCE VS hollywood

TAMMY BRUCE suggests some reasons why the Hollywood Box Office is not prospering.   (read the WHOLE GUADALUPE)

1) A love story between two gay sheepherders (erroneously labeled 'cowboys' by the media, I suppose because they wear hats).*
2) A film portraying as noble the efforts of journalists to demonize and "take down" a US Senator whose anti-communist policies they did not like.*
3) A film about, as one movie-going reviewer noted, "...the horrors of big business and the way they are willing to experiment on the poor to achieve their goals..."*
4) The demonization of the average mid-western American man as someone who is no hero, but a cold-blooded killer at heart.*
5) And lastly, a Woody Allen film about infidelity. Well, he should know.*
So you can take your gay sheepherder, noble communist supporting reporters, big-business is evil, Americans are hopelessly and inherently corrupt and violent and unfaithful movies and go to Cannes where at least the Parisian set will love you. But that won't exactly pay the bills, will it?
[* 1) Brokeback Mountain, 2) Goodnight and Good Luck, 3) The Constant Gardener, 4) A History of Violence, 5) Match Point]

Movie Reviewing

One of the Llamabutchers takes a shot at movie reviewing.  He’s got it down pat.

National Treasure is so bad, it's Kurt Russell bad. Seriously. It's one stinking bromide of badness, which makes it ever so watchable. It's Nicholas Cage at his obtuse best, kind of an Indiana Jones with a solid case of Aspergers. Needless to say, that makes it one of my favorite flicks of the past five years.

Based upon the review, I must see this movie.  Indiana Jones with a solid case of Aspergers?  Is Blockbuster open all night?

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Domestic news about IRAQ

Domestic news about Iraq

Average household incomes have soared by 60 percent in the last 20 months (to $263 a month), 70 percent of Iraqis rate their own economic situation positively, and consumer goods are sweeping the country. In early 2004, 6 percent of Iraqi households had cell phones; now it's 62 percent. Ownership of satellite dishes has nearly tripled, and many more families now own air conditioners (58 percent, up from 44 percent), cars, washing machines and kitchen appliances.      MORE HERE

To this point in time;  when the American Army provides real security to a country that has been foundering, good things happen.  Capitalism flowers and people have a chance to make changes in their material wealth if not their spiritual wealth.

It is interesting that a 60% growth in household incomes translates into $263 a month.  Ya know what?  That’s still not very much money.
Then what about the popularity of cell phones; from 6% to 60% plus.  I wonder how this phenomenon is explained sociologically.  EVERYBODY has to have a cell phone.  Oh Well.

Anyhow, may Iraq experience real freedom including the freedom to know and worship the ONE living God.

Monday, December 12, 2005

More on gluttony

More on gluttony from an SBC pastor  HERE

(excerpt)
What about the astronomically high number of cases of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and other physical problems associated with the consumption of high calorie desserts at our church fellowships? Why don’t we discipline people for the sin of eating the “wrong” foods? Have you looked at the average weight of Southern Baptists compared to overseas evangelicals? Go on any mission trip and sit in the airport and watch people walk the terminal. You will be able to spot the Americans, and more than likely, distinguish the Southern Baptists from the rest of the Americans.

I do suspect that the  average American Evangelical is OVERWEIGHT.  Luckily we don’t drink?  Hmmm, it all will kill you before your time.

Gluttony? It's ME

A blogger, Joe Thorn, in response to the SBC’s disapproval of alcohol wrote his own “be it resolved” about a problem that affects millions of Christians; including me.    Read THEBIGTACOWITHGREENSAUCE

ON GLUTTONY AND SELF CONTROL
WHEREAS, One third of all American adults (well over 60 million) are obese; and
WHEREAS, 16% of American children (9 million) are overweight, and the percentage continues to increase (the numbers have tripled since 1980); and
WHEREAS, Obesity is now recognized as a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, which can lead to heart attack; and
WHEREAS, Gluttony is one of the causes of obesity; and
WHEREAS, The Bible condemns gluttony as a serious sin akin to drunkenness; and
WHEREAS, Gluttony is the abuse of God’s gift of food to us; and
WHEREAS, Gluttony is the opposite of self control, a fruit of the Spirit; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina, June 13-14, 2006, decry the lack of self control, and over-indulgence in eating throughout our culture and our churches; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we promote moderation in all of our eating, giving thanks to God.

I come from a long line of tee-totalers.  I don’t have to resist the temptation to drink; I simply never think about drinking (alcoholic beverages).  BUT, gluttony?  Thou art named JB!
While my body wants to weigh a certain weight; it could be happier weighing less than it does.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Hollywood academy

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS critic Jack Mathews predicts the gay cowboy movie, which takes place in Wyoming, may be "too much for red-state audiences, but it gives the liberal-leaning Academy a great chance to stick its thumb in conservatives' eyes."

Playwright and lifelong Wyomingite tells the STAR-TRIBUNE of Casper this week that she has never encountered a gay cowboy, and doesn't think it's right for Hollywood to portray Wyoming as a state with gay cowboys.

Her message to the writers of BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN: “Don't try and take what we had, which was wonderful -- the cowboys that settled the state and made it what it was -- don't ruin that image... There's nothing better than plain old cowboys and the plain old history without embellishing it to suit everyone."

(From Drudge:   HERE)


To find that the “liberal-leaning Academy”  sees this movie as a “great chance to stick its thumb in conservatives’ eyes” is no surprise.  After having read and participated in a comments debate about Brokeback that was on a Christian website; I will assure the 3 or 4 readers of this site that the gay and lesbian community will turn out in force; over and over and over in their attempts to legitimatize homosexual behavior.  On the other hand it is hard to imagine that a gay cowboy movie will stir the hearts and minds of people who like a good cowboy movie.  We’ll see.

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Some great movie quotes

Some great movie quotes found on EVANGELICAL OUTPOST:    
Catch the WHOLE GORDITA

Mumford

Mrs. Crisp: What kind of doctor are you?
Dr. Mumford: Ph.D. in psychology.
Mrs. Crisp: Oh. Not a real doctor.
Dr. Mumford: That's right, the fake kind.


PCU (a “frat” movie)

Droz: "Pigman is attempting to prove the Cane-Hackman theory: no matter what time of day it is you can find a Michael Cane or Gene Hackman movie on TV."
Tom (pre-frosh): "That's his thesis?"
Droz: "Yes, that's the beauty of college these days! You can major in Gameboy if you know how to bull%$#t."
(more from PCU)
President Garcia-Thompson: You passed out cigarettes for a smoke-a-thon on Earth Day. You installed speed bumps on the handicapped ramps and, most recently, you dumped 100 pounds of... MEAT on a peaceful vegan protest!Droz: Oh, come on! That was way more than 100 pounds.

JB here:  Obviously I’ve got to rent PCU.  After all I loved Animal House but haven’t actually seen the movie version in decades.

Politically Correct DSM IV

In case ya didn’t know.

So when homosexuality was unpopular, it was a mental disorder. Now that it's popular, not liking it is a mental disorder. Evidence for either position? Not much. My diagnosis: How about we recognize a disorder consisting of turning intellectual fashions into pseudoscience? Seems like this is a case of "mental health" consisting largely of agreeing with whatever political opinions psychiatrists hold at a particular moment in time. Psychiatry, heal thyself.   (Found on Instapundit.com)

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Eccentric People

Quote of the day

We Christians are the world's most eccentric people in a postmodern age. We are committed to a faith that is structured by a book that is two thousand years old. Beyond eccentric, we are increasingly seen as dangerous. A people who live by the light of an ancient book – and who dare to call it the very Word of God – will look exceedingly dangerous to the prevailing worldviews of this age.      Al Mohler          HERE

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

PASTORS Disney want your Pulpit

PASTORS:  Disney wants a piece of your pulpit!

Just when I thought commercialism in the church couldn't get any worse I read this from the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Attention, pastors: You have just four weeks remaining to work a lion, a witch or a wardrobe into your next sermon. Walt Disney Pictures is so eager for churches to turn out audiences for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which opens Friday, that it's offering a free trip to London - and $1,000 cash - to the winner of its big promotional sermon contest.

It seems Disney isn't content with having Narnia merchandise, posters, and books in the church--the Mouse wants a view from the pulpit too.

Catch the WHOLE MOUSEY THING HERE

Post Modern Intolerance

Postmodernism claimed that this new postmodern age--with the end of modernity, the demise of scientific objectivity, and the openness to new forms and understandings of truth--would lead to an opening of the mind. But as is always the case, the totalitarian opening of the mind always ends with the radical closing of the mind. There is nothing less tolerant than the modern ethos of tolerance. There is nothing less open than the modern idea of open-mindedness. In the darkening sky and the gathering clouds, we see the haunting closure of this supposedly open mind.   -  Al Mohler         more HERE

If you haven’t been paying attention the party of the tolerant ( radical liberalism) is amazingly intolerant and grow more so each passing day.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Todays MUST READ

Today’s MUST READ.   Al Mohler on the state of Western Civ.

Monday, December 05, 2005

SCOTT ADAMS on Humor

SCOTT ADAMS of Dilbert fame lists the 2-6 rule for humor.  There are 6 items that bring humor and you must engage at least 2 of them for a comic strip to be funny.   Read the WHOLE ENCHIRTO WITH HOT SAUCE.

I wrote on this topic more extensively in my book, The Joy of Work. So I’ll just give you the highlights here. The core of humor is what I call the 2-of-6 rule. In order for something to be funny, you need at least two of the following elements:
Cute (as in kids and animals)
Naughty
Bizarre
Clever
Recognizable (You’ve been there)
Cruel

Where'd it go?

Hey, where's my website?

Whoa! Discipleship? Hmmm

Let’s not go to “whole hog” with this Discipleship thingy.

The point is, am I prepared deliberately to give up my right to myself to Jesus Christ? Prepared to say, "Yes, take complete control"? If I am, Jesus Christ has gained a disciple. We don't go in for making disciples today, it takes too long; we are all for passionate evangelism-taken up with adding to denominational membership, taken up with things which show splendid success. Jesus Christ took the long, long trail- "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself-"Take time to make up your mind." Men were not to be swept into the Kingdom on tidal waves of evangelism, not to have their wits paralyzed by supernatural means; they were to come deliberately, knowing what they were doing. One life straight through to God on the ground of discipleship is more satisfactory in His sight than numbers who are saved but go no further.
Oswald Chamber    (Hattip - Slice of Laodicea)

I’m an American; denying myself seems somehow unpatriotic.  <grin>

God Rest Ye Merry PEOPLE?

The Christmas Madness continues.  From Captain’s Quarters:  HERE

“UPDATE: CQ reader Dan notes that the Christmas carol madness continues, although along an entirely different front:
It's pretty bad. Especially considering at my 'conservative' christian college, (Whitworth College, Spokane, Washington) the Whitworth Choir is required to sing, "God rest ye merry *people*."
Never mind tradition. We don't wanna rankle people with a *sexist* Christmas Carol. What's next?
- “Frosty the Snowperson?”- “I’m dreaming of a multicultural Christmas?”- “Rudolph the differently-abled Reindeer-American?”- ’Jolly’ Mature Morally-Gifted Nicholas?”
Dreaming of a multicultural holiday, Dan. Back to the Gloria Steinem Re-education Camp for you! (And wasn't it "Rudolph the Recovering-Alcoholic Reindeer"?) Seriously, Dan, thanks for the laughs and hang in there.”

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Conservatives vs Episcopalians

I’ve been wondering, why would a staunch conservative attend an Episcopalian Church.  You would never confuse them with the Independent Baptist.   One of the Llamabutchers drops the dime.

Gratuitous Episcopal Fuming
This morning at church we were informed, among other things, that America's holding of prisoners at Gitmo is the same thing as the Roman Emperor Diocletian's rounding up and persecution of Christians back in St. Nicholas' time.
I'm about this close to just walking away.
Thought you'd like to know.
UPDATE: I was in a hurry earlier and only managed to get that one gripe out. Here were some other fun facts we learned:
-- That prostitution rings in Cambodia and the slave-trade in the Sudan are the direct result of American economic hegemony.
-- That George Bush, as the above parallel indicates, is engaged in building what he himself calls an "American Empire".
-- That 50% of all married women in this country are subject to some kind of spousal abuse. (I find this statistic preposterous unless "abuse" is defined so broadly as to include "occassionally getting snapped at".)
-- That the United States is in the grip of pandemic hyper-consumerism, which in turn is "inevitably linked" with unbridled militarism. (The rector didn't elaborate, but I gather he meant that we buy everybody's stuff and then we kill them.)
Even though our rector is a gen-u-ine Manhattan Lib, he's generally pretty good about keeping politics out of his sermons. But he sure let himself go this morning. This was followed by some aging hippy talking about the life and "meaning" of St. Nicholas during the adult forum afterwards.
Grrrrr.

Struggling with God

A post I wrote regarding homosexuality, for what it’s worth.

as I tell clients ALL the time,  your problem is with God!

Does anybody choose to grow up in an abusive home?  Probably not; their problem is with God.

Do little kids choose to be molested by older kids or older relatives?  Probably not; their problem is with God.

Does one sign on to have a controlling, over-bearing mother and a weak passive father?  Probably not; then  their problem is with God.

Did you choose to feel different then other boys while growing up?  Were you un-athletic, were you a pretty child, were you a natural target for predators?  Did you choose those traits?  No; then your problem is with God.

For all of us there are those two lines.   Line one: we chose to take road A and the consequences of our action is painful.   Bad choices on our part lead to painful consequences.  We all understand that.

But on the other hand; things over which we had no control (such as the parents we were born to) have also led to pain.  Who’s to “blame” for that?

If God is completely sovereign, as I believe Him to be, then our problem is with Him.

“Male and Female” He created them.   Your problem is with Him.  Creator God designed the system.  If you feel like the system isn’t right; your problem is with Him.

Your problem isn’t really with Jared, it’s not with me, it’s really not with the Bible-thumping community.  Oh, we are no saints here but we’re not the big problem.

You and He, God the Father, need to talk it out.   He’s the only one who has a clue.

Your problem is with Him.                        

Most Respectfully     jb

Saturday, December 03, 2005

If its not one thing

If it’s not one thing, it’s possibly another.

H5N1: Has Human To Human Transfer Begun?

This is not good news, if it's confirmed.

Officials in at least two nations now suspect the avian flu bug has mutated into a virus that is being transmitted from human to human – a development world health authorities have estimated could result in the deaths of tens of millions.

Thai health officials have expressed concern that the country's two latest confirmed victims may be the beginning of the much feared human-to-human transmission.

Democrats to blame Bush; but you knew that.

Judging God

There are some fascinating comments on the worldmag blog website regarding Jared’s expression of the “yuck factor” about the upcoming movie, Brokeback Mountain starring Jake G (forgive me for not even attempting to spell his name) and Heath Ledger.

This response from a female was quite instructive.
As far as the Christian views.. well, I am myself a believer in God and Jesus Christ. It's hard to label myself as a Christian because I don't seem to follow most traditional paths of the church.
Thing is, to me it logically doesn't make sense for homosexuality to be a sin. When Jesus said the most important thing was to love God, love yourself, love your neighbours, that is the easiest part to take to heart. That is what I try very hard to live by.
The other sins make sense, when living by this. Murder is a sin because if you love God, you won't destroy His creations. Drinking can be sinful because many people under the influence of alcohol do things that are hurtful. I just can't see the connection with homosexuality though - being gay doesn't hurt yourself or God or your neighbours.
I do have to say though, Jared, as much as I disagree with your views, I appreciate that you do have a polite manner about expressing them. I also appreciate your point that if you really wanted gays to go to hell, you wouldn't say anything. I do think you're misguided, but there is a feeling of love-for-your-neighbours there.
Encapsulated in her sincere post is the whole of the discussion between Adam and Eve and the serpent in the Garden of Eden.  I can hear it now.
SERPENT:  Ya know, all of God’s rules I agree with but this one, not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, just doesn’t make sense.
ADAM & EVE: – (sotto voce)  Frankly, we’ve been talking amongst ourselves and we’re not really thrilled with it either.  I mean what’s the big deal.
SERPENT:  See, there’s no big deal.  Besides nobody will be the wiser.
ADAM & EVE: except us (laughing at the humor)
SERPENT:  Go ahead, take a bite.
ADAM:  Eve, why don’t you go first!
And there you have it.  We like the rules, laws and principles we like found in Scripture and we judge God to be wrong about the ones we don’t like.
How very human.

Friday, December 02, 2005

Wrong about Jared

I was wrong; Jared’s post is NOT a snarky movie review.  I just got caught up in the Homer Simpson quote and posted before finishing the article.
My apologies to Jared.  He actually wrote a very careful and thoughtful post.  It elicited quite a bit of  ah      opposition?  That of course was interesting.

Snarky movie review - Brokeback

Oohh, a snarky movie review.

Brokeback Mountain and The "Yuck" Factor
by Jared Wilson December 2, 2005 09:15 AM
I like my beer cold, my TV loud, and my homosexuals flaming! -- Homer Simpson
Read THE WHOLE CHALUPA

Idaho honors Napoleon

( Excerpt Found on www.thinklings.org)  

A little gift from Idaho to Napoleon Dynamite

WHEREAS, Napoleon’s tetherball dexterity emphasizes the importance of physical education in Idaho public schools; and
WHEREAS, Tina the llama, the chickens with large talons, the 4-H milk cows, and the Honeymoon Stallion showcase Idaho’s animal husbandry; and
WHEREAS, any members of the House of Representatives or the Senate of the Legislature of the State of Idaho who choose to vote “Nay” on this concurrent resolution are “FREAKIN’ IDIOTS!” and run the risk of having the “Worst Day of Their Lives!”
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the First Regular Session of the Fifty-eighth Idaho Legislature, the House of Representatives and the Senate concurring therein, that we commend Jared and Jerusha Hess and the City of Preston for showcasing the positive aspects of Idaho’s youth, rural culture, education system, athletics, economic prosperity and diversity.

My U.F. daughter turned me onto Napoleon.  It was quite a treat.  I hope you’ve seen it.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Dropping F Bombs at Scum of Earth Church

This is not your father’s church.  But Leadership Journal’s new blog tells the fascinating story about an alternative church in Denver named Scum of the Earth and how the pastor decided to handle a poem presented to the congregation that quoted delinquent teenage boys as they dropped the “F bomb.”

You really should read the 4 articles.  I have a feeling Leadership Journal’s blog is going to do well.

Wendie Jo, R.I.P.

This saddens me.

“Bosom Buddies" Wendie Jo Sperber DiesThursday December 1 12:55 PM ET
Actress Wendie Jo Sperber, who starred opposite Tom Hanks on TV's "Bosom Buddies" and who in his words became "a walking inspiration" after she contracted cancer, has died. She was in her 40s.
Sperber died at home Tuesday after an eight-year battle with breast cancer, publicist Jo-Ann Geffen said Wednesday.
A Los Angeles native, Sperber appeared in dozens of television shows and movies, including all three "Back to the Future" films.
I’m pretty sure Wendie Jo was the rotund, energetic one always chasing after Tom Hank’s character.  She played her role well.

Now the transient act of life is over and she faces eternal reality.  I hope she was ready.  

Worldliness Quote

Phillip Johnson, the PYROMANIAC, has the quote of the day; so far.

As a matter of fact, I know some hard-core fundamentalists who are the rankest kind of worldlings, because they imagine that holiness consists only in external and cultural things, and they have not cultivated a genuine love in their hearts for that which is spiritual.

Truly, the practice of legalism and fundamentalism does lend itself to a sense of moral superiority.  That leads to, or becomes, pride in ourselves.  BIG SIN, right there.  But it is So easy to fall into that sin.  We’re a mess; not at all worthy of God’s grace yet he has found us worthwhile for His grace.  What an awesome God.

My beloved mother in law

My beloved mother-in-law is not doing very well at the moment.  Unluckily she lives on the other side of the country and I rarely get to see her.
She’s been a part of my life for 34 years and she has always been most gracious, kind and respectful of me.
Long ago she made her peace with the living God and now we simply await His plan and timing.  She may well recover for awhile more but she will not ever again be healthy.   And you hate that.  You want your healthy parents back, but eventually they become unhealthy and incapacitated until their life span comes to an end.

Here’s to you Mom Donna.  You’ve been the world’s best mother-in-law.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

HOW CRAZY CAN YOU BE

HOW CRAZY CAN YOU BE and still legitimately serve in a pastoral ministry?

A version of this question has been the source of a heated debate found HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE.   Reading the debates and commentaries has been fascinating – I’ve discovered some new websites that now appear on my list of favorites.

I have a couple of good friends who should not be, but are, in pastoral ministries.  They’ve left their love of expositing Scripture and now live to build more buildings and guarantee their retirement.  Probably all of us are familiar with that posture.  I would tend to assess their issues as  a) a lack of faith and b) a loss of their initial calling.  Pastoral Burnout is another term that perhaps describes their state.

If you’re suffering from extreme Pastoral Burnout, should you continue as a pastor?  (Is Pastoral Burnout a real status or is it simply more of the therapeutic mumbo jumbo that is an absolute CURSE in our westernized society?)

If you happen to go psychotic I suspect your church will not allow you to pastor OR if you’re in a church where you have total power and then go psychotic, your church will ultimately leave you.  But bottom line is this; Pastors who go psychotic end up being ex-pastors.

Is having a “nervous breakdown” the same as going psychotic?  Can you legitimately have a “nervous breakdown” and come back to the ministry?
Charles Stanley, speaking to a large conference of Christian counselors in Atlanta more than a decade ago referenced at least two periods in his life where he had experienced some state of severe stress and was unable to function as a pastor.  I do not remember exactly whether or not he used the term “nervous breakdown” but I think he did.  Unluckily it is kind of a broad term that lacks specificity.

Charles Stanley also has seen the end of his marriage while he continues to pastor..   I know enough to hazard a guess at some of the issues that led to the divorce but it has always been obvious that immorality was NOT an issue.  Does he bare some responsibility for the divorce?  I suspect he does.  Does he still pastor?  Yes.  Has he remarried?  Not to my knowledge, and wisely so.

Jimmy Swaggart.  Does he still pastor?  I think he does.  Should his weaknesses/sins (an attraction to prostitutes) keep him from the pastoral ministry?  ( For a definitive answer;  John McArthur game a 12 point message in 45 minutes at a chapel at Master’s College in the late 80’s when the whole shebang came to public knowledge.  I still have a copy of the tape somewhere.  It was “lights out.”)
Has Swaggart repented?  Did he repent like King Saul or like King David?
Either way a high price is demanded whether or not the repentance is from the heart or just from the lips.  Swaggart has surely paid a high price.   Should he still be in the pastorate?

Possibly to be continued -

R U a Christian?

GEORGE BARNA’S research group has contributed mightily to our understanding of “Christianity” in these United States.  Below is an excerpt from his most recent publishing.

Catholics, in general, were uncomfortable with the phrase “born again Christian.” Although just 14% said it described them accurately, 23% qualified as born again according The Barna Group’s definition.
Regionally, residents of the Northeast generally accepted the terms “Christian” (74%) and “committed Christian” (61%), but were far less likely to adopt the “born again Christian” phrase (29%) or to meet the Barna Group’s born again standard (29%). People living in the West had a similar portrait. Adults in the South were comparatively less likely than others to say they were a “committed Christian.” People in the Midwest were the most likely to claim to be a “committed Christian.”
The research also found that self-described conservatives were three times more likely than self-described liberals to embrace the “born again” label; blacks were two-and-a-half times more likely than Hispanics to do so; and people without any college education were almost 60% more likely than those with a college degree to stake a claim to being “born again.”
Only half of both of the “born again” segments (i.e., those self-described by the term and those defined by The Barna Group’s questions) had prayed to God, read from the Bible and attended a religious service in the past week. In comparison, nine out of ten “committed Christian” adults had done so and just one-third of those who said they are “Christian” engaged in the three behaviors.
Read THE WHOLE ENCHILADA

George indicates that 80% of the population in the U.S. would describe themselves as “Christian.”  But behind the term we find this;  being a self-described “Christian” gives no real indication of one’s status as a true Child of God.   Even those who are self-described as “born-again;”  ½ of them did not pray, read from the Bible or attend a religious service in the past week.
We’re big into labels; not so big into devout pursuit of the Living God.

Monday, November 28, 2005

Risky Battles?

From National Review’s website – The Corner

RE: “THE ROCK” [Cliff May]Tom, that’s very encouraging. A military guy told me the other day: “For our side, battles are not that dangerous. It’s just getting to the battles that’s risky.”

Sunday, November 27, 2005

Bloviating Blogging

I do like humor a lot;  possibly more than a lot;  possibly into excess.  Laughter is good medicine and an effective foil against unwarranted ( or warranted) attacks.  I know I can dish it out, I think I can take it.  But, we all have our moments.

As a public school student, I did enjoy making the class laugh, but if I was really on a roll, making the teacher laugh too.  But there was always danger in playing the role of class wit.  Just because the teacher laughed Thursday morning didn’t mean she’d laugh Friday afternoon.   So you could be wearing a grin on Thursday and  a shirt with a note pinned on it Friday.

I was no Robin Williams but I did appreciate humor in the classroom.  It seemed to break up otherwise boring and dull days.

I think humor in blogging is worthwhile.  I’m not appreciative of bloviating blogging however.  I hope I don’t bloviate.  Sigh

Tomorrow is Monday.

Riding Bikes in L.A.

An article from Slate HERE on biking (bicycling) in L.A.

I am an avid bicyclist.  Me ‘n my rapidly aging, and overweight, buddies refer to ourselves as F.O.M.Bi.C. – Fat Old Men’s Bicycle Club.  We ride for exercise and fun.  Basically there are two rides we use.  One is an 8 or 13 miler down the coast and back.  Generally we’re riding very early and it is primarily through neighborhoods so it’s quite safe.  Our second ride is a “Rails to Trails” 15 miler that is totally safe.  It is a paved road but no motorized vehicles are allowed so one is bicycling along very nicely having no traffic concerns.

On my own I do a couple of different rides in the city streets.  One is an 18 mile loop that is a combination of bike lanes and a few neighborhood streets.  I feel relatively safe though the cars go wizzing past on the 3 lane boulevard.  The bike lane is about 5 feet wide but you don’t want to ride too close to the curb because that is where the majority of glass, nails and road debris end up.  Of course the closer you are to the lane, the more dangerous it can be so there are decisions to be made.

Then a ride I like to do on Sunday afternoons is to head on downtown.  Our city is NOT one of those where people live.  Downtown is where people work and then go home.   So once I get past the requisite mall I have 8 or 9 miles of lightly traveled main roads until I get to the downtown bus stop.  There I load up my bike on the bike rack, pay my 75 cents and bus back to within a mile or two of my home.  It’s quite interesting if not down right fun.

I have biked in L.A., I was reared there.  The most fun biking in L.A. was when I would head down one of the dry, concrete riverbeds where there is a paved road along the top of the bed.  I lived in Whittier and I’d get on the Rio Hondo and head on down to Long Beach.  It was probably 15 to 20 miles.  That was fun.

I feel blessed that my knees, legs, hips all seem to work okay at this time.  I’m way too heavy but my body is used to it and the good bikes are so light weight that it can seem almost effortless once you’re in basic biking shape.

Hey, if you get a chance, get your bike out, clean it up, pump up the tires, oil the chain and have yourself a nice ride.

Saturday, November 26, 2005

George Best - gone

I really don’t follow soccer very closely but I knew about Pele and English soccer star, George Best.  Well George died yesterday; I believe it was from general organ failure.  His reputation was he abused himself royally.

He left us with a noteable quote however.

“I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.”

Sadly there is no reason to think that George Best rests in peace.

Friday, November 25, 2005

Yaconelli and suicide

I spent much of this evening reading about an imbroglio (hat tip Phil Johnson for the spelling) between Michael Spencer, Frank Turk and others. It was quite interesting. But it got me to thinking about the late Mike Yaconelli. He was an editor of the Wittenburg Door and wrote the "back page" for many years. The Door in it's early life was truly cutting edge and at times tremendously funny. However over the years it tailed off and seemed to become more of a rant than anything else. But Yac bought himself significant street cred with the "back page."

That Yac was troubled was both a trigger for some of his brilliance and a concern as he seemed to so easily drift both theologically and perhaps personally. I don't know his family history and all I knew of him was the bits and pieces of persona he admitted through his writings. He was a patchwork of seeming contradictions. Mostly I think he was a permanent adolescent; the rebellious urge never quite matured.

A couple years ago while driving down I-5 in Northern California he drove off the road and into a concrete abutment effectively killing himself. It was a shock to all; admirers and critics. I don't think it's been established that it was suicide but looking at Mike's life I think maybe it was. Things had not gone well for him as he aged (does it for any of us) and I believe his father had died? That's not really enough to kill yourself over; unless you're one of those who struggle with self-destructive tendencies.

I was sad that he died. He could be, and sometimes was, a creative genius. But sometimes he was just a jerk. I think he was a true believer; but God has sorted it out already.

URL for Derbyshire

URL for John Derbyshire’s article in the National Review
http://www.nationalreview.com/derbyshire/derbyshire200511230838.asp
below

John Derbyshire on white men

John Derbyshire, regular contributor to National Review Online made the following post.

The notion that our government might once again put a man on the Moon, let alone Mars, is absurd, and can only induce laughter, or tears, depending on one's mood.
These failures themselves are only symptoms of some more profound civilizational sickness. Western — let us be blunt about it: white-European — civilization is on its way out.

We are a victim of our own excesses.

There is a great verse in the Old Testament book of Isaiah.  In the NIV it reads;  “  Everything we have accomplished HE has done for us.”
So ultimately we have nothing, as humans, upon which to brag.  That’s humbling.

Thursday, November 24, 2005

Jessica, Nick & the Lions

Breaking News:  Jessica and Nick have announced the end of their storybook romance/marriage/career/publicitystunt/ whatever.  Each has indicated, “I’m no longer stuck on stupid.”

Actually, they are both real individuals and they probably entered into the marriage hoping they could make it work.  I would think the odds of them having a successful marriage were less than 1 %.  And actually that is sad.

So on Thanksgiving Day 2005, the big news seems to be the end of the Simpson/Lachey marriage and the fact that the Detroit Lions absolutely suck.  Discouraging that.  Luckily I’m not particularly a Lion’s fan.  Whew.

Wait ‘til next year.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

X-Box insanity

Fascinating socio-cultural story.  A client today was telling me that one of his buddies at work, Marcus,  went to the local Best Buy last night to stand in line so he could have a shot at buying the new X-Box 360.  Marcus arrives at Best Buy at 10 p.m.  Marcus is the 10th person in line. Best Buy will open the next morning at 8 a.m.

What Marcus plans to do is sell the X-Box on E-Bay hoping to make a tidy little profit.  So Marcus is there all night holding his place in line.

At exactly 7:30 a.m,  one ½ hour before opening, someone came along and offered him $400.00 for his spot in line.  That’s right.  Someone offered him $400 cash for his 10th spot in line.  Marcus is no dummy, he took the cash and went home.

I could just weep.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Internet dating

Without morality and ethics ( a strong component of the Judeo Christian ethos) these things happen in business.

Match.com, one of the top Internet dating websites, has been accused of hiring people as "date bait" to date some of their one million customers to encourage them to keep paying for the service.
A Los Angeles racketeering lawsuit said the lonely hearts website secretly recruited people to send enticing emails to its customers and to go out on dates with them as a way of getting them to keep up their 30 dollars monthly subscription.
The company's ringers, branded "date bait", went on as many as 100 dates a month -- three per day -- with Match.com customers, who use the site to search for boyfriends, girlfriends, and possible husbands and wives.
"Hiding behind Match.com's portrait of online success is a very big, very dirty secret ... Not everyone you meet and date through Match.com is just another Match.com member," said the lawsuit, filed in a Los Angeles court on November 10.

Well, all you desperate singles out there,  perhaps you should think carefully about the whole internet dating thingy.  There’s either more there than meets the eye or less there than meets the eye.

UNCONDITIONAL

There are some painful issues affecting the group of people with whom I regularly worship.

Today I assured one of the leaders that he has “fifty percent of my full, unconditional and unqualified support.”

He seemed less than relieved.

Traffic in L.A.

I was born and reared in L.A. but left 30 years ago to pursue the completion of my degree.  I don’t remember when traffic wasn’t bad; but it is worse.
HERE is a fascinating article in the L.A. Times about the present and the future.  If you don’t live in L.A., read with pleasure.  If you do live in L.A., why haven’t you moved?  It’s time ya know.

Saturday, November 19, 2005

A.W. Pink with the hammer down

So how staunch is the Evangelical community in our Evangelical churches?

An old, and now deceased, Presbyterian turns up the heat.  (hattip thinklings.org)

The following excerpts are from A.W. Pink’s Present Day Evangelism:
To say nothing here about those cheap-jack evangelists who aim no higher than rushing people into making a formal profession of faith in order that the membership of the churches may be swelled…
The feverish urge of modern evangelism is not how to promote the glory of the triune Jehovah, but how to multiply conversions. The whole current of evangelical activity during the past fifty years has taken that direction. Losing sight of God’s end, the churches have devised means of their own.
Once a man makes the conversion of sinners his prime design and all-consuming end, he is exceedingly apt to adopt a wrong course. Instead of striving to preach the Truth in all its purity, he will tone it down so as to make it more palatable to the unregenerate. Impelled by a single force, moving in one fixed direction, his object is to make conversion easy, and therefore favorite passages (like John 3:16) are dwelt upon incessantly, while others are ignored or pared away.
In twentieth-century evangelism, there has been a woeful ignoring of the solemn truth of the total depravity of man…The teaching of Holy Writ on this point is unmistakable: man’s plight is such that his salvation is impossible unless God puts forth His mighty power. No stirring of the emotions by anecdotes, no regaling of the senses by music, no oratory of the preacher, no persuasive appeals, are of the slightest avail.
The “evangelism” of the day is not only superficial to the last degree, but it is radically defective. It is utterly lacking a foundation on which to base an appeal for sinners to come to Christ.
The gospel is not a thing apart. It is not something independent of the prior revelation of God’s Law. It is not an announcement that God has relaxed His justice or lowered His standard of holiness.
The nature of Christ’s salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day “evangelist.” He announces a Savior from hell rather than a Savior from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of fire, who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness.
Inasmuch then, as Christ’s salvation is a salvation from sin—from the love of it, from its dominion, from its guilt and penalty—then it necessarily follows that the first great task and the chief work of the evangelist is to preach upon SIN: to define what sin (as distinct from crime) really is, to show wherein its infinite enormity consists, to trace out its manifold workings in the heart, to indicate that nothing less than eternal punishment is its desert.
The way of salvation is falsely defined. In most instances the modern “evangelist” assures his congregation that all any sinner has to do in order to escape hell and make sure of heaven is to “receive Christ as his personal Savior.” But such teaching is utterly misleading. No one can receive Christ as his Savior while he rejects Him as Lord!

Saturday Morn

Sometimes it is hard to get going. There are things going on that I worry about. Worry is, generally, totally unneccessary but we all seem to do it. I used to think that when I got older I would worry less. To this point that is not necessarily true. I feel greater responsibilities at this age.

At the same time I have a stronger sense of God's presence as I recognize how little control I have over the issues surrounding me.

I assert this morning, 11-20-05, that God is indeed God!

Friday, November 18, 2005

A little inbreeding?

A little in-breeding problem in England?    
Here’s an excerpt or read THE WHOLE ENCHIRITO

It is estimated that more than 55 per cent of British Pakistanis are married to first cousins, resulting in an increasing rate of genetic defects and high rates of infant mortality. The likelihood of unrelated couples having the same variant genes that cause recessive disorders are estimated to be 100-1. Between first cousins, the odds increase to as much as one in eight.
In Bradford, more than three quarters of all Pakistani marriages are believed to be between first cousins. The city’s Royal Infirmary Hospital has identified more than 140 different recessive disorders among local children, compared with the usual 20-30.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

For the Church world

For the Church world of our day is a veritable side show of charlatans, heretics, hucksters, religious politicians, "celebrities," and just plain untaught leaders who have led the people of God down a primrose path of ignorance, vanity and abuse.  Like the blind leading the blind, "comparing themselves amongst themselves" (II Cor 10:12), they have gotten their cues from the most daring amongst them to commercialize the Gospel, promote trendy fads that bring the masses in, exploit the people of God, take their money, suppress their questions, teach them to submit to men rather than to the Lord Jesus, and lead them into a discernment-lacking ecumenism that leaves them in danger of falling for the ‘Great Apostasy’ foretold for the Last Days (I Thess 5:3; II Thess 2:3, 8-11, etc.).”  Vintage Metro - My Eight Years with the Kansas City Prophets, by Don Clasen

Whoa Nelly!

One more time:

For the Church world of our day is a veritable side show of charlatans, heretics, hucksters, religious politicians, "celebrities," and just plain untaught leaders who have led the people of God down a primrose path of ignorance, vanity and abuse.  Like the blind leading the blind, "comparing themselves amongst themselves" (II Cor 10:12), they have gotten their cues from the most daring amongst them to commercialize the Gospel, promote trendy fads that bring the masses in, exploit the people of God, take their money, suppress their questions, teach them to submit to men rather than to the Lord Jesus, and lead them into a discernment-lacking ecumenism that leaves them in danger of falling for the ‘Great Apostasy’ foretold for the Last Days (I Thess 5:3; II Thess 2:3, 8-11, etc.).”  


Man and our human nature is the problem!  God is the answer

Whacked and needing Mercy

I’ve spent much of my evening reading James Spurgeon’s various post on the legalistic insanity of Longview Baptist Temple and then switched over to the fighting fundamentalists website and ended up reading about charismatic prophet Paul Cain who apparently has ended up in alcoholism and homosexuality.

I’ve been reading about excesses.

Listen, I attest that we are “all whacked.”  I also attest that our moral frailty and ability to implode/explode suddenly is very real within us all.  We are, or maybe I am, one moment away from doing the stupidest thing in my life; at any given time.

I testify that I’m a life-long project many times gone awry.  I testify that God’s grace is sufficient;  it’s all about HIM, it’s none about me.

I simply pray that God will always hedge me about; keep me from the worst excesses of myself.

We all desperately need mercy.   JB

Woodward & the Scooter

I love, and envy, Hugh Hewitt.  He’s everything I’m not.  He’s brilliant, verbally capable, a great writer and appears to have obscene amounts of energy.  His blog  hughhewitt.com is terrific and he was a way of analyzing things that really sharpens the focus and perspective.

Today he said:

Woodward as Nixon: "I hunkered down. I'm in the habit of keeping secrets. I didn't want anything out there that was going to get me subpoened."
by Hugh Hewitt
November 16, 2005 04:11 PM PST
First Rather, now Woodward: Guilty of the very sort of cover-ups for which they pursued Nixon relentlessly.
How long until Woodward declares "Your assistant managing editor is not a crook?

Yep, turns out good ol’ Bob Woodward knew about Valerie Plames identity before Scooter Libby had a clue, or a scooter.  But he let Woodward and others dangle in the wind.  He had a secret.   Hmm, we’ve heard that before.

Metro-Spiritual? Puhleeesssee

R U possibly “metro-spiritual?”







(image placeholder)Gwyneth Paltrow is one. So are Angelina Jolie and Leonardo DiCaprio. Chances are your bikram yoga teacher has the major characteristics and so does the guy who makes your fruit smoothie at Jamba Juice. Donna Karan is totally in on it. The salesperson who helps you find the right Botanical Kinetics moisturizer at Aveda is probably one, along with your eco-tourism guide at Costa Rican surf camp. Richard Gere may be the proto-one and Uma Thurman was pretty much born into it. What is influencing Hollywood stars and Wal-Mart shoppers, fashionistas and Filene’s basement-dwellers alike? It’s called metrospirituality, and chances are you already know or even lead the life of a metrospiritual.    
  Read the whole sickening BURRITO SUPREMO

Listen; if you’re leading the life of a “metro-spiritual” we need to talk.  Does Dana Carvey as the church lady saying, “isn’t that special” ring in your ears or what.

If you’re a “metro-spiritual”  just KNOCK IT OFF WILLYA.  Sheesh!

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Watching the charismatics

One of the reasons I’ve feared the charismatic movement.

(From an article in Charisma Magazine)   read the WHOLE QUADALUPE
That’s how strange it is getting out there. Something has gone terribly wrong in our movement. Everywhere I turn I find that leaders of so-called Spirit-filled churches are making bizarre choices that compromise basic Christian integrity. Some examples:
  • At one charismatic megachurch, staff pastors successfully convinced all their wives and female staff members to get breast implants. (I wonder: Was this discussed at a staff meeting?)

  • A church in California (known for its revival meetings and prophetic ministry) recently imploded after members learned that several men in the church had been having homosexual affairs with the pastor, who was married.

  • A leader with an international following (who wears the label of “apostle”) recently informed his leaders that men of God who reach his level of anointing are allowed to have more than one sexual partner. Then his own son offered his wife to his father out of a sense of spiritual obligation.
We can all say together: “Eeeuuuwww!
What has triggered this madness? The devil is working overtime, yet our discernment is at an all-time low. Satan’s tactics are more brazen than ever. We might as well let him walk into church on Sunday morning and give him the microphone.
We’ve been bewitched. What matters to us today are the carnal things. We want flash, bang and the wow factor. If a person can shout loud enough and get everyone to swoon at the altar, we don’t care how he or she lives at home. Morality is irrelevant.

Well, there you have it.  BUT, let’s not give my brothers, the “frozen chosen,” a “get-out-of-jail” card.  My brethren have ruined enough homes to stock a Vegas hotel.  But I think that the charismatic approach lends itself to abuse; it’s easier to tell the congregation “God told me” versus the Evangelical’s “the Scripture says.”    You can’t really argue with “God told me.”  But when the preacher pulls out his Bible, you can see if “the Scripture says” is accurate.  You can, in the venacular of the blogging street, “fact check his a**.”
Well, onward to the next post.

Polygamy here and there

A lot of people simply hate the restrictiveness of human sexuality expressed in the ancient Scriptures:  sexual relationships reserved for one man, one woman in the bounds of a covenanted marriage.

However, our version of sexuality is wreaking havoc through-out the world.  (Hat-tip, Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs)

Polygamy among immigrants is one cause of the rioting that has plagued France for the past two weeks, according to Gerard Larcher, the Employment Minister.
M Larcher was quoted as saying that large, polygamous families sometimes led to antisocial behaviour by youths who did not have a father figure in the home, making employers more cautious of hiring staff from ethnic minorities.
There are fears that M Larcher’s comments could further fuel the debate about the cause of the unrest and possibly outrage Muslim and anti-racism groups. Polygamy is banned in France, but an estimated 30,000 mainly African families have more than one wife.      
The WHOLE ENCHILADA

I remember reading something about Brigham Young (famous Mormon patriarch) of yesteryear.  Brigham had 40 wives or so.  He once commented in a personal letter that “life was hell” around his home.  Forty wives?  You bet it was hell!  One wife is enough “hell” for any man.
p.s.  Do NOT call my beauteous wife okay?  <grin>

Oops

Oops.       HERE is the URL for the article referenced below.

The Great Train Robbery

Does crime pay?  HERE’s a little nugget that suggest it doesn’t.

“I’m getting on very well indeed,” said Biggs [the robber]. A few years later, a retired Slipper [the cop] went to Rio to see for himself. “His villa was bog-standard and in the wrong end of town. His swimming pool was so black with algae even a stickleback couldn’t live in it. He was flogging T-shirts to tourists to make a living.”
Ronnie’s Brazilian son had been a child pop star, Little Biggs, for a couple of years, but that was over. And in the end sun-drenched days and bossa-nova beach babes in minimal thongs are small consolation if you’re pining for a warm pint and a Marmite sandwich. Over a beer, Slipper asked, “So Ronnie, does crime pay?” Biggs shook his head. “I’ve left my family and my home. I’ve got nothing left.” In 2001, broke and sick, he return to Britain after 13,068 days on the run to serve his remaining 28 years in gaol - because the prison hospital was the only way he could get access to medical treatment. The Great Train Robber had finally hit the buffers.
The Great Train Robbery in Britain, 1963, netted the robbers about 75 million dollars.  Within 1 month the case had been busted wide open but Ronnie Biggs escaped to Rio with whom Britain had no extradition treaty.  He got a girlfriend pregnant and from that point on he safe from the British authorities.  But, as the author (the always brilliant Mark Steyn) of the article wrote, he actually gave up his freedom in Brazil to go back to England and jail.
Hmm, maybe crime’s not all it’s cracked up to be?

The Most Dangerous Book

The University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire has correctly diagnosed the Bible as a very dangerous book and has banned its residents assistants ( R.A.’s) from leading in private studies of this book.    
Read the WHOLE CHALUPA

Truth be told, there is NO other book that has revolutionized the World like the Bible.  It has turned the world upside down and continues to do.  I believe I once read that to be at the top of NY Times best-seller list requires something like 60,000 volumes purchased.

I suspect 60,000 Bibles are printed every week. (I could be wrong of course but they’re churning them out at an incredible rate.)

So it the Bible dangerous?  Absolutely.  After all it has the power to transform lives.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

P. J. pounds the prophets

Phillip Johnson pounds the Prophets

Think of it: in very best of cases, modern prophets are dead wrong at least a third of the time. One of every three "prophecies" is totally bogus. That would be more than enough to get a seer stoned to death in Old Testament Israel.     Get THE WHOLE GORDITO

After 50 years I’ve come to this conclusion;  You’re better off betting AGAINST the modern prophets.

Dr Adrian Rogers R.I.P.

Dr. Adrian Rogers, pastor Emeritus of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, has died from cancer.

He was 3 times the president of the Southern Baptist Convention.  His was the  pivotal presidency whose appointments to the boards began to reverse the trend away from Biblical orthodoxy towards unbiblical liberalism.

Because of men like Adrian Rogers, the Southern Baptist Convention is not torn apart over issues like homosexual ordination.  Under Adrian Rogers, the convention has embraced Biblical inerrancy and has made ancient Scripture the standard of faith, belief and behavior.  Having adopted the clear teaching of Scripture as its centerpiece, many cultural issues and fads become non-issues.

By all reports Dr. Rogers was a pleasant, humble man who was hated by others, but never hated others.  He felt called to battle for the Scripture in the midst of a culture that wants to, forever, water down Scripture’s timeless and unchanging truths and message.

At this moment I know one thing.  Adrian Rogers ABSOLUTELY rests in peace.  His faith was genuine, his love for God never questioned.  He has found his eternal reward.

Monday, November 14, 2005

Dennis Prager & the Muslims

In an Op-Ed for the L.A. Times, Dennis Prager asks the Muslim community 5 questions.  Read the WHOLE TACO

(1) Why are you so quiet? Since the first Israelis were targeted for death by Muslim terrorists blowing themselves up in the name of your religion and Palestinian nationalism, I have been praying to see Muslim demonstrations against these atrocities. Last week's protests in Jordan against the bombings, while welcome, were a rarity. What I have seen more often is mainstream Muslim spokesmen implicitly defending this terror on the grounds that Israel occupies Palestinian lands. We see torture and murder in the name of Allah, but we see no anti-torture and anti-murder demonstrations in the name of Allah.

(2) Why are none of the Palestinian terrorists Christian?If Israeli occupation is the reason for Muslim terror in Israel, why do no Christian Palestinians engage in terror? They are just as nationalistic and just as occupied as Muslim Palestinians.

(3) Why is only one of the 47 Muslim-majority countries a free country?

(4) Why are so many atrocities committed and threatened by Muslims in the name of Islam?

(5) Why do countries governed by religious Muslims persecute other religions?


As I’ve noted before; until the larger Muslim community through-out the World stands up and disavows itself of the great evil done in Islam’s name; the murderous attacks will continue.  

Islam is well used by the powers of spiritual darkness.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

There are wackos out there

There are wackos out there (and you know who you are) that want to convince people that the World Trade Center Towers  collapsed due to an inside job.   Popular Mechanics has a terrific article  HERE.    Excerpts below.

FACT: Once each tower began to collapse, the weight of all the floors above the collapsed zone bore down with pulverizing force on the highest intact floor. Unable to absorb the massive energy, that floor would fail, transmitting the forces to the floor below, allowing the collapse to progress downward through the building in a chain reaction. Engineers call the process "pancaking," and it does not require an explosion to begin,……
Like all office buildings, the WTC towers contained a huge volume of air. As they pancaked, all that air--along with the concrete and other debris pulverized by the force of the collapse--was ejected with enormous energy. "When you have a significant portion of a floor collapsing, it's going to shoot air and concrete dust out the window," NIST lead investigator Shyam Sunder tells PM. Those clouds of dust may create the impression of a controlled demolition, Sunder adds, "but it is the floor pancaking that leads to that perception."

Human nature being what it is; where there are big tragedies there will be big conspiracies.  That’s the way it is.

Spurrier Rules

Being a California boy for the first 3 decades I’ve always followed USC football and UCLA basketball.  Did I mention I’m a fair-weather fan.  I don’t follow the teams too closely when they’re not playing well.  
Anyhow I moved to Florida a couple of decades ago and under the fell influence of one of my bicycle riding buddies, began to follow FSU football.  That was good.  Bobby Bowden was a middle aged genius and FSU won a couple of national championships.  Then the dreaded “Spurrier years” began at U.F.  FSU fans both hated and FEARED Spurrier.

A couple of things you should know about U.F.  Before Spurrier they had NEVER won the S.E.C. title.  Under Spurrier they won a bunch of them.  Before Spurrier the Georgia Bulldogs OWNED U.F.  But in the Spurrier years his teams won 10 of 11 from the Bulldogs.  He owned them.  Peyton Manning, perhaps the best college quarterback , NEVER beat Spurrier teams.  So Steve was a terrific coach.

Then he left for $10 million dollars to coach in the NFL.  For several reasons, he was not successful.   Us FSU fans were SOOOoooo happy that he had left U.F.  The coach you loved to hate, and feared,  was gone.

Well he got out of Pro football and put his hat in the ring to take over from Ron Zook at U.F. – who had followed Spurrier.  For reasons somewhat unfathomable, U.F.’s response to Spurrier’s desire to return was tepid at best.  Spurrier withdrew his name from the U.F. search and got snapped up by Univ. of South Caroline – the raging Gamecocks.

Well the Gamecocks have never been particularly good and over the summer a number of their best players were kicked off the team due to fairly serious disciplinary reasons.  Then when the season started Spurrier lost 4 or 5 of his best players.  But he has WON!  USC (South Carolina) is an amazing 7 wins and 3 losses.  In his first year Spurrier has accomplished two amazing feats.

One, he beat Tennessee in Tennessee.  Let me just say this,  Phil Fulmer hates Steve Spurrier.   South Carolina had NEVER beaten Tennessee in Tenn.

Then yesterday Spurrier beats the Florida Gators.  USC had not beaten the Gators since 1935.  But Spurrier beat a team that was better at every position than his.  That is simply an amazing feat.

Now that Spurrier’s teams will probably never again play FSU – I LOVE Steve Spurrier.  The “ol’ ballcoach” is a genius.

So on this Sunday morning, KUDOS to Steve Spurrier.  He should get the “Coach of the Year” award for his genius in having an absolutely terrible team achieve a winning record.      Go Gamecocks!

Saturday, November 12, 2005

IOWAHAWK presents Les Risibles

IOWAHAWK presents his new musical “LES RISIBLES”.   Read it and weep,  with laughter.  HERE

Friday, November 11, 2005

Timothy Walsh

BTW, the post below was received by “moi” in e-mail.  The name on the end of the post was “Timothy Walsh.”  Possibly, he deserves all the credt.