"HOW SHALL WE THEN LIVE?" Francis Schaeffer

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

WIMPY PREACHING

I like this:  IS YOUR PREACHING WIMPY?

The Joy of Children

Found on Powerlineblog.com

this piece by Phillip Longman in the March/April issue of Foreign Policy, which includes the following:
[N]early 20 percent of women born in the late 1950s are reaching the end of their reproductive lives without having had children. The greatly expanded childless segment of contemporary society, whose members are drawn disproportionately from the feminist and counter-cultural movements of the 1960s and '70s, will leave no genetic legacy.


Now that is sad.  Children are a great blessing.  There is so much joy and pleasure in one’s children.  Of course they have no idea how much one treasures their every word, thought, deed or semi-accomplishment.  To go through life without children to watch; now that is an empty sadness.

Sunday, February 26, 2006

CT on Larry Norman

The following post is an excerpt from Christianity Today’s review of Larry Norman’s last American concert.   Read the whole enchilada  HERE

Farewell Larry Norman

“Farewell, Larry Norman
The man known as the Father of Christian Rock, whose health has been failing in recent years, played his last U.S. concert Friday night in his hometown of Salem, Oregon.
by David Sanford | posted 06/27/05



SALEM, Oregon—In what he called his last U.S. concert, 58-year-old Larry Norman came out of retirement Friday at the historic Elsinore Theatre and wowed a sold-out audience that included fans from England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, and Australia.

Norman played his last U.S. concert on Friday night

"As far as I can tell, this is the last time I'll be able to play in America," Norman, known as the Father of Christian Rock, told the crowd, an enthusiastic and eclectic mix of all ages and styles of appearance.

Since suffering head injuries in an airplane accident 27 years ago and severe heart problems 14 years ago, Norman has been unable to tour regularly. He officially retired in 2001, the same year he underwent quadruple bypass surgery and was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.”


It is almost unbelievable that Larry Norman is still alive.  Unless you were a teen or older in the early 70’s, you would not know what a profound impact Larry had upon Christian rock.  He is the grandfather of it.  Now he is very sick, he has a hopelessly bad heart, he has no insurance and friends have basically enabled him to stay alive through their donations.  He is a gentle man with a huge heart for God.  Every day he lives is another miracle day.  jb

Barney - RIP

     YESTERDAY was a sad day in TV-land.  Barney Fife,  aka Don Knotts, passed away at the age of 81.  Besides the Andy Griffith show he also made several movies.  NO TIME FOR SARGEANTS, circa 1954, starred Don Knotts plus Andy Griffith as the dumb but smart country boy who gets drafted.  In this movie Don played an Army psychologists who’s job was to test the recruits.  The scene where he’s testing Andy is truly comedy gold.

Don died very famous but fame on Earth doesn’t necessarily translate to a walk with God.  It would be nice to know that Don Knotts came to know and love the living God; but we don’t hold that most vital information.

Barney - RIP

Friday, February 24, 2006

Radical Pursuit of Jesus Christ

Too often I'm neither nor.

A few of my failings

2Older men are to be sober, serious, temperate, sound in the faith, in love, in endurance. 3Older women likewise are to be reverent in demeanor, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teaching what is good, 4so that they may urge the young women to be lovers of their husbands, lovers of their children, 5 temperate, pure, homemakers, good, submitting to their own husbands, lest the word of God be blasphemed. 6 Likewise exhort the young men to be sensible, 7in all respects showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, dignity, incorruptibility, 8sound speech that cannot be condemned, in order that the one who is an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us. Titus 2nd chapter

If “sober” means not drinking, I’m okay but “serious,” “sound in love and endurance,” I think I miss the mark there. jb

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Cool website

Cool website RIGHTCHERE that lets you see the Number 1 song at the time of your birth.

The number one song on my day of birth was BUTTONS AND BOWS by Dinah Shore.

For my son it was, ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL by Pink Floyd

For my daughter the song was, PART-TIME LOVER by Stevie Wonder

How cool is all that.

Friday, February 17, 2006

The last year?

Spoke with my sister this evening about my Dad.  They saw an oncologist – finally – and he spoke pretty cautiously.  They’re not going to do any treatment other than the hormones.  Mom and Dad both know he is going to die sometime in the  near future.  Dad is, at this point, pretty cheerful.  They’ve given him some more powerful pain meds; the meds will continue changing until he reaches Morphine.  I guess that is the final medicine.  It is hard to believe that one year ago he was taking his next to last college class for his second bachelor’s degree.  He earned his first B.A. when he was 70.  There has been a huge turn-around.

I checked out Orbitz this evening.  A round trip to Sacramento is about $270 on A.A.  I wasn’t planning to go for 90 days but my Sis doesn’t think I should put off the trips too long so now I’m looking at 60 days.  I’m self employed and the expense of a trip is not the airfare, it’s the days that I don’t work.  When you’re self employed this adage applies:  No workee no eatee!

Life does move on in its inexorable march towards cessation.  Dad will be 83 April 8th.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Early worrying

So it’s 4 in the morning; I’m up just because I am.  Hopefully I’ll go back to bed for a little more sleep in the next hour.
I’ve been worrying/praying about my college attending daughter with diabetes, my working-stiff son, my church, my ex-pastor, my still unknown future pastor and my Mom and Dad.  I wonder how they’re doing right now, 2,500 miles away from me.  They should be asleep.

I listen to classic Christian music via the internet.  It truly does sooth me and I find myself praying some of the hymns.  Right now they’re playing, “Rock of Ages, cleft for me; let me hide myself in Thee.”

That is a great comfort ya know.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Aging, not much fun

I’m quite tired.  I made a 4 day trip to the West Coast to see my ailing father and my equally ailing mother.  They live safely with my responsible, eldest sister and her husband.  They are very blest that they’re not forced to be in a nursing home; I hope they never will be.  But who knows what the future holds.

Now the dirty deed stretches before us.  It is no longer safe for my father to drive; my mother gave up driving a couple of years ago.  Their neighborhood is dependent for access and egress upon a very dangerous boulevard that hides oncoming traffic in both directions.  They have a car; their memories are very poor and sooner or later they’re going to go to the store in their car if nobody is watching or if nothing is done.  We the children have painfully decided that we have to take away their car, for their sakes and for others sakes.  You don’t want to take away your parent’s car; that permanently drives a stake into the heart of their “independence.”  Who wants to take away their parent’s independence.  No one.   But we fear the time is upon us.   So in the near future my youngest sister and her husband will drive into town, talk to the parents and take their car away.  We’ll promise that if Dad gets better, we’ll make sure they have “wheels.”  The doctor’s say he won’t get better.

I’m pretty sure Dad isn’t all that excited about driving anymore but he’s been driving for almost 70 years.  It is a part of who he is and we’re about to take that away from him.  His passion for decades has been exploring the countryside in his car with his wife at his side.  I believe they’ve been on every road in California.  He’s got the pictures but no longer remembers much of the stories.  Now he’ll be dependent upon us to tour the countryside and he no longer wants to travel to far from home.

Aging; it’s not too much fun is it.

Friday, February 10, 2006

Liberal Churches for unrestricted abortion

You should know this to be true. Thanks to Mark Tooley on Nationalreview.com

Aborting Churches
Unholy death warrants.

By Mark Tooley

Early in January, just in time for the 33rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Episcopal Church reaffirmed its membership in an abortion-rights coalition.

During its January 9-12 meeting in Des Moines, the executive council of the Episcopal Church voted to clarify and affirm its membership in the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC).

RCRC, formerly known as the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights, was founded in 1973 with funding from the Playboy Foundation (and later from the Ford Foundation), to organize religious supporters of legalized abortion. RCRC is absolutist in its rejection of any restriction on abortion, defending the legality of partial-birth abortion, and opposing parental-notification laws, as well as other sensible restrictions.

Agencies of the Episcopal Church, United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the United Church of Christ, Reform Judaism, and Conservative Judaism all belong to RCRC. So too does "Catholics for a Free Choice." RCRC was founded in the wake of Roe v. Wade to counteract Roman Catholic opposition to the Supreme Court ruling.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

The God-Man

An interesting “discussion”  HERE on Corretta Scott King’s funeral.  As many of you know both Joseph Lowery and Jimmy Carter took “shots” at GWB who was in attendance.  There is a hue and cry over the appropriateness or inappropriateness of using Ms. King’s funeral for political gain.  On the one hand nay sayers suggests it is pretty tacky to use the occasion of a funeral to score political points.  The other side says Corretta Scott King was all about liberal Democratic politics.

Here’s the truth.  The very moment Corretta Scott King assumed room temperature she realized that politics in life didn’t mean “jack” in the afterlife.  No bonus points in the afterlife for being either a lib. or a conservative.
Only one thing matters and that was your relationship or non-relationship with the God-man, Jesus Christ.

Were you a senator in life? Doesn’t matter.
Were you a successful CEO of a large company?  Doesn’t matter.
Were you a Boy Scout leader?  Doesn’t matter.
Did you write legislation that made innumerable people’s lives better? Doesn’t matter.
Did you pastor the world’s largest church?  Doesn’t matter.
Did you serve time in prison?  Doesn’t matter.
Did you have a drinking problem?  Doesn’t matter.
Were you an NFL team owner?  Doesn’t matter.
Were you a famous movie star or starlet?  Doesn’t matter.

So anybody who says Corretta Scott King woulda agreed with politics at her funeral doesn’t understand about the afterlife.  The “things” we do here are not important there.  Only one thing counts; our relationship to the God-man, Jesus Christ.

Ooohhh this is powerful

Ooohhh, this is powerful stuff about ancient Scripture

Listen: that's terrifying stuff. God says here that His word is like fire and like a hammer that breaks rock to pieces. God's word is not like the banter in the marketplace; it's not like conversation at the dinner table. So in the first place, when you are asking God to speak to you, you are asking for something you probably have no point of reference to receive.That's not saying you're stupid or evil: it's saying that what God has to say is beautiful and dangerous; it is powerful and fearful. What God has to say is not something you're going to get via IM or in an e-mail from throne-of-heaven.com.

(Found on Pyromaniacs)

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Literary hypocrites

(Found on Nationalreview.com/corner)

LESS THAN MIGHTY PEN [Cliff May]
I’ve been looking at the home page of PEN, an “association of writers working to advance literature, defend free expression, and foster international literary fellowship” (emphasis added).
There’s not a word about the Danish cartoons, the violent protests, the threats to journalists and to freedom of the press inherent in this controversy.
Instead, the first item under “Get Involved” is: PEN Goes to Court to Challenge Patriot Act Exclusions of Foreign Scholars.

Yes, show me an organization of liberals touting free expression and I’ll show you world class hypocrites;  Time and time again.

Corretta Scott King - just people

Corretta Scott King passed away.  You would think she was larger than life; but she was just one of us; famous for being the wife of Martin Luther King.
Who she was married to will not determine her future relationship with the Living God.  Nope, our marriage choices carry no real weight in Heaven.

Rest In Peace Corretta; hopefully you truly knew your spiritual father.

Random Thoughts

Depending upon which search engine you choose, this blog pretty much owns “rabbi philosopher” or absolutely owns “rabbiphilosopher.”

What is sadly  obvious; nobody but myself and my mother ever “google” rabbi philosopher.

So on the one hand I own, without much effort on my part, a location in the Internet.  On the other hand, nobody actually cares about rabbi philosophers.  Hmm, well I’ll try to think pleasant thoughts today.  grin

Sunday, February 05, 2006

B Friedan and Al Lewis

The passing of Betty Friedan (The Feminist Mystique) and Al Lewis (grandpa on the Munsters) has been noted.

Personally, I believe Al Lewis in his role on the Munsters and in the hilarious comedy CAR 54 WHERE ARE YOU, did more good for the country than Betty Friedan.  Al brought cheer and laughter to several generations; Betty brought unhappiness and despair to many.

While you have to be careful when reading statistics; a couple of years ago I read that 2/3 of all divorces are now initiated by women.

Perhaps that is Betty Friedan’s true legacy.  Women get divorced and destroy their own safety net.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

A Gracious God

A well known verse; it comforted me this morning.

My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness . . . He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.

So very many things going on in my life.  Not all bad but all taxing/stressing.  It is good to remember that God is watching out for me, as I let Him.  I’m low energy, His is the inexhaustible flow.  My wisdom is paltry, His is perfect.  I have many doubts, He has none.

What a gracious God!

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

There are HEROS out there

There are HEROS out there and often they are grandmothers.
From Scrappleface.com

THIS IS NOT SATIRE…  Scott OttJanuary 31, 2006
Jessica Rachel McMaster (née MacMenamin), the woman who coined the term ‘ScrappleFace’ as a nickname for a family dog, passed away late last night or early this morning.
Mrs. McMaster is the grandmother of ScrappleFace.com editor Scott Ott, and served as a mother to him and three brothers since the late 1960s.
Jessica McMaster gave up her career, surrendered much of her pension, and walked away from a comfortable lifestyle in a handsome apartment to move to an old house in the country and take care of four boys. Without her sacrifice, and that of her husband James McMaster, 84, these boys were candidates for foster care or an orphanage. Thanks to their love, these boys are now… an airline pilot, a university professor, a construction worker and a Christian children’s camp director (who happens to write satire).
James McMaster has devoted more than a decade to caring for his wife in their home as she moved through the stages of dementia. He kept his promise.
Both of them serve as inspiring role models to their boys, and to many others.

Classic Hits

A couple of years ago, while seeing people in a nursing home, the Today Show had Jimmy Buffett and his group on.  K. Couric was talking to him about his concerts and he mentioned songs they would absolutely have to sing or be killed.  At this point Couric requested they do Margaritaville.  Well Jimmy politely suggested/begged something else but she wouldn't have it.It struck me, watching JB try to squirm out of it that there are probably a lot of musicians out there who absolutely "blow chunks" whenever they have to perform their ancient classics.I wonder if Billy Joel doesn't actually hate "Piano Man."  How many times has he had to perform it in the last 30 years.  I might have a drinking problem too.