Saturday, April 12, 2008

What to do?

Rachel over at http://www.rachellucas.com/highlights an article http://rachellucas.com/index.php/2008/04/11/one-more-reason-to-sterilize-teenagers/.

Funny, I spent seven years in Adams County even graduated from high school there. We used to go to Commerce City on a regular basis.

Yeah, it has been forty some years since I left, but still these stories remind me, how much our country is falling apart.

I don't remember much in the way of gang related behavior back then, but then again, in today's world, where we are existentially alone, it is not uncommon to see people looking for a place to belong where they can find some respect and care.

May God have mercy on our souls.

Friday, April 11, 2008

For history buffs

Head on over to http://mostlycajun.com/wordpress/.

He has an interesting read up http://mostlycajun.com/wordpress/?p=2992.

I needed this, this morning...

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?

My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say to me, "Where is your God?"

When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me.

For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God.

With the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.

Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.

O my God, my soul is cast down within me; therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan, and from the heights of Hermon, from the Hill Mizar.

Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and billows have gone over me.

The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me-- a prayer to the God of my life.

I will say to God my Rock, "Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?"

As with a breaking of my bones, my enemies reproach me all day long, "Where is your God?"

Why are you cast down, O my soul?And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.

Psalm 42, NKJV

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Shameless plug

Just wanted to say, I am listening to The Isaacs on cd.

Happened to be watching a Gaither video on one of the cable channels a while back, and saw The Isaacs perform.

Well, I did get to see them in person down in Branson, MO last month, and was truly awed.

They are a family, mother, son, and two daughters who perform southern gospel, and some blue grass.

The mother, Lilly, has an awesome testimony of how she has gone from Germany, to New York, and to Tennessee.

They have a really great sound, and I still have not gotten tired of listening to them.

Did I say, I have just about every cd they have put out?

They recently played in Norway, and Gaither enterprises video taped the performance.

It is also great.

That's all.

Tireder

ok...It has started raining already.

Word is, rain supposed to turn to blizzard conditions today, tonite, and maybe tomorrow.

This is April? This is SOUTH Dakota?

I thought the south was supposed to be warmer...

I thought April was supposed to be warmer, isn't this the start of spring?

Guess that's what I get for thinking when I don't get paid for it.

Blessings.

Lighter side

Woke up this morning around 1 and immediately had a thought about a couple of ditties or limericks that were around when I was a child.

Do you remember them?

Fuzzy Wuzzy
was a bear
Fuzzy Wuzzy
had no hair.
Fuzzy Wuzzy
wasn't fuzzy
was he?

Ishey Gooey
was a worm
Ishey Gooey
loved to squirm
Ishey Gooey
sat on a railroad track
Ishey Gooey!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

speaking to myself

Don't know how much Reba's record got played on national radio, but I want to visit it for a moment.

"Once you've learned to be lonely,
and lonely is the only thing you've known,
it begins to feel like home,
it becomes your comfort zone.
Once you've learned to live without someone,
and settle for the silence of an empty room
Oh, it changes you
there's a lot you have to undo
once you've learned to be lonely."

I guess I first realized how easy it is to learn to be lonely, back when I was a kid.

Existentially speaking, it is possible to be alone in the middle of lotsa people.

Experientially speaking, it is real easy to be alone in the middle of lotsa people.

Is it bad to be lonely?

I have learned over the years, that I enjoy my own company.

Truth be told, I am the only one that understands me; the only one that I can talk with, without getting into trouble.

This does not mean that I cannot have any true friends, it just means I have to work a little harder at being a friend, and accepting others.

I know, in my heart of hearts, that I always have God Almighty, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit to keep me company; so, I guess, I am not really alone.

Not sure where I want to go with this post, just doing a little dialoguing with myself.

Revelation

Revelation 7:9-14 gives us a picture of a great many people gathered around the throne of God Almighty, worshiping and praising Him. They are all dressed in garments of white.Verses 13 and 14 give us this bit of information:

"13. Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, 'Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?'
"14. And I said to him, 'Sir, you know.' So he said to me, 'These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'"

Thirty some years ago when I first turned my life over to God Almighty through Jesus Christ, there was a popular conception that these were solely people who lived in communist countries who were being persecuted every day.

Today, however, as I look around our world, I sense that a different tribulation is coming upon us. Every day we see new events taking place that demonstrate Christianity is coming under oppression.

In Europe, Christian churches and Jewish synagogues are being burned. In the middle east we are seeing more and more stories of Christians being beaten and either killed or left for dead.

In our own country, it is against the law to speak of Jesus Christ in public schools, yet, more and more public schools are setting aside time for Muslim prayer, and training.

Children are punished, in the public schools, for talking about their faith in Jesus Christ.

We hear from professionals that teaching children about Jesus Christ is essentially child abuse. Why, even taking a child to Sunday School or church is tantamount to kidnapping.

Our elected officials speak of Christians as being backward; some even consider them to be pickup driving, tobacco chewing,flag waving, rednecks.

We hear of planning sessions being held to figure out how to get the "Christian" vote without being too Christian.

Television programs routinely depict Christians as being ignorant, and socially unacceptable.

Which brings me to the thought I am working on: Are we now, entering into the last days, as forecast in the book of Revelation?

Are we seeing the beginning of the great tribulation?

A large percentage of the American population claim to be Christian.

When push comes to shove, when the rubber finally meets the road, how many of these Christians will be willing, or ready to stand for their faith?

May God have mercy on our souls.

Reflecting

Just want to take a moment to reflect on something.

I have been a 24/7 member of Rush Limbaugh. I have a large collection of the Limbaugh Letter.

Prolly the most important thing to me having to do with Rush, was his "No Boundaries" line of neck ties. I own just about every one he marketed. I have been known to give them away as gifts.

It was a sad day, the day I found out he was no longer marketing them.

Well, this was just a reflection, so, I'll leave it at that.

Things that make me shake my head

Pamela at http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/ has a really interesting post up http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/04/death-sentence.html.

Sometimes, I just gotta shake my head and wonder where this ole world is headed, and what is most important to us.

Thanks Pam, you b good.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

The way to a man's heart...

Katherine at http://smokymountaincafe.blogspot.com/ has a great recipe up for making a frittata.

If u ain't et one before, u need to take a look and enjoy.

yeah, retired...

Is it really true, that the government, federal, state, county, city, et al get more revenue from the sale of a gallon of gas then do the oil/gas companies?

Just chekkin...

Tired, so tired...

This morning's poll in the local paper http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage asks the question "Should victims of violent crimes be compensated using taxpayer money if the perpetrators cannot afford to pay fines?"

Now, that is an interesting poll... wonder what they are trying to find?

Firstly, taxpayer funds pay for our police force, that we know cannot be everywhere at once, and generally, cannot be available at every crime scene. Should we then, have to use tax revenue to make up for what protection the police are not able to provide?

Secondly, tax money pays for the judges and district attorney, if they are not able to quell violent criminals, should we then still be required to use additional tax money to take care of victims?

Thirdly, this state and city have self-protection laws in force, that provide for everyone to protect their life, property and the lives of their loved ones. Should we use tax revenues to pay vicitims who refuse to take steps to protect themselves?

Enough, is enough... let's stop looking for tax revenue to take care of everybody!

Individual responsibility is what made this country great, not dependence upon the government.
No wonder everyone seems to think this economy is going to hell!

The great Marxist/Lenninist philosophy still has the government taking care of everybody, while no one has to take responsibility for theirself; of course, when you go down that road, there is no personal property, cuz, the government owns everything, and decides who gets what.

Guess you know where I stand on this issue.

May God have mercy on our souls.

Monday, April 7, 2008

More mass hysteria?

Well, here we are on Monday morning; the sun is shining, the sky is pastel blue, the birds are chirping, and the local paper says hundreds showed up to protest the building of an oil refinery.

I would sure liked to have been a fly buzzing around, and check to see how many of those hundreds are complaining about the high cost of gasoline or diesel fuel.

Oh, that's right that don't really matter, just don't want it in my back yard.

Then again, I wonder how many of them are farmers, who are 1) getting top dollar for their corn, 2) are getting government subsidies for their crops, and perhaps 3) are receiving government funding for placing any of their land in CRP?

I really think the old adage: "Follow the money" may very well tell the story on why there have been no new refineries built in this country for thirty years or more.

Then again, I wonder how many of these people would protest the building of an "ethanol" or alternative fuel refinery in their back yard.

Astute analysis

Dr. Sanity at http://drsanity.blogspot.com/ comes through with another dynamite post "HOPE", "CHANGE", LEFTIST DISTORTION, AND MASS HYSTERIA replete with analysis of the poli-tic-ian bent to bring on mass hysteria.

'They cannot appeal to fact, therefore they must appeal to emotion.

"This is how a group psychosis (i.e., mass hysteria) is politically created and sustained--by a deliberate distortion of truth for the purpose of achieving political power. The flames of emotionalism and exaggerated outrage must be constantly fanned; and always, the truth must be hidden."

Way to go, Doc!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Love

Some years back I heard that love is "The feeling you feel, that you feel you have never felt before!"

That is an interesting look...I once had an abscesed molar. The pain was so intense, I could not sit for more than five minutes at a time. Even the trip to the doctor, was tough. We had to stop every five minutes so I could get out of the car and relieve the pain. Now, that was a feeling that I had never felt before, and I gotta tell ya, I didn't love it!

But is love a feeling at all?

Some would say love is a four letter word...

From where comes our understanding of what love is?

We say, I really love my new Hummer H3!

I love being in Hawaii during the winter!

I love seeing you at work.

I love having a regular paycheck.

Do these statements infer something about possessing, or owning?

When we consider our relationships, do we use "love" to project our desire for ownership or possession?

When I say to someone, "I love you" am I in reality saying, I would like to have you for one of my possessions?

Wow! That may have something to say about the people who are part of a relationship break up, and yet will not let go. We hear about someone killing another because they don't want to have them be with anyone but them.

The Biblical definition of love is: "That a [man] lay down [his] life for another."

Now, that is diameterically opposite of possessing.

When I speak of loving you, am I confessing I am willing to lay down my life for you; or am I saying, I would really like to have you as part of my possessions?

Seems like being able to understand how I interpret "love" would have a great deal of impact on my relationships.

Guess I need to get out my resources and do a little bit of research.