Finding Joy in the House

Imagine that you are on a tall ship, a ship of long ago with tall masts carrying 2 and 3 sails. You can hear the creak of the wood and the splash of water against the hull. There is a gentle breeze ruffling the sails and the sound of gulls circling above. Breathe in and imagine the smell of the sea. Suddenly, there is the loud whistling sound of a projectile in the air coming across the bow. In ocean going terms this is called a shot across the bow. It is sometimes a warning, sometimes an alert, and sometimes just to get attention.

Consider the story of the Prodigal Son. But focus on the Prodigal Father because he was the One who exhibited this extraordinary response of grace and compassion and kindness. Remember that the son had a speech prepared that he had no expectation that his father would welcome him back as a son but would be willing to work as one of his father’s servants if he would have him back. Of course the father would have none of that and welcomed his son back and threw a party for him. The implication here is that he would be welcomed back into the house and would not be living or working as one of the servants.

Is it possible that we, who are depicted here as the returning son, are still living in the bunkhouse as a servant even though we have been invited to live as sons and daughters of the father in the main house?

As followers of Jesus we often concentrate a lot of our energy on getting “into” the kingdom, into Christ, and then “find ourselves an ottoman, get a drink and check out what’s on cable.” Not the Religious Type, Dave Schmelzer 2008 p165

We feel that it is our duty to go to church as often as we can. Sometimes it means getting some tasks at the church and doing our duty there. Sometimes we feel that it is our duty to give some money there too.

I’m not sure about you but while I’ve had some fun, I haven’t found much lasting joy that way. At least if I do my duty then I won’t have to feel guilty with God. At least I know that I’m “in” with God. I’m in the circle. I believe in Jesus. I know that I have eternal life. But the joy that is supposed to come with that is often elusive.

I don’t want to completely rain on the duty motivation. Many times in my life including this year, duty was all I had that kept me going in the face of tremendous grief. But I’ve also found recently that that is not the place that I’m designed to live.

Am I alone here? Have you all found the joy button and you’re hitting it all the time?

The Apostle, Paul, wrote about this problem even in his day. A chronic problem kept recurring in the early church. They kept returning to the law as source of their faith.

Col 2:13-14 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.

Col 2:20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:

As humans we are constantly looking for the rules. Then we find ourselves rebelling against these rules. Finally, we arrive at a place where we find that rules cannot bring life or joy.

I love Pecan Pie. It has texture, sweetness, and it gives me great pleasure. The rules say that I should eat more vegetables, even broccoli but that doesn’t bring me joy or pleasure.

Where is this lasting, inexhaustible supply that is reported to come with following Jesus? I’ve found a lot of rules and things to do and some great friends. Sometimes I’ve thought to myself, that life was really about following the rules and just surviving without getting hurt too badly until we get the call up to our forever life.

Is it possible that sharing our faith with others could be difficult with this point of view? I’m not sure that I would buy into that program. In fact I think that lots of folks who aren’t yet followers of Jesus may feel more optimistic that I do at times.

So where is this joy? Where is this intrinsic happiness that transcends the events of life?

We have this teaching from Jesus,

Mat 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

He tells us to seek God, to seek His kingdom before all other things. Is it possible in doing this that not only will we have all the material things that we need but that we will have an unlimited well of Joy to draw from as well?

What if it isn’t about being inside or outside as much as it is about seeking God? What if we have all been on a journey toward God or away from God or some erratic pattern in between for our whole lives? Yes our decision to follow Jesus gains us entrance into the Kingdom of God for eternity. We have that on the authority of God’s Word. But is the journey complete there?

Jesus promised abundant life:

Joh 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Abundantly here means “super abundantly” or Superior in Quality.

Are we experiencing this Super Abundant life, Superior in Quality or just life?


David, a “man after God’s own heart” writes this:

Psa 98:4-8 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn— shout for joy before the LORD, the King. Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy;

It sounds like he was on to something. He had tremendous adventure in this life, some great sin, and some great grief. But in the midst of all of it he found Joy in the Lord.

In another Psalm he writes that joy is found in the Lord’s presence:

Psa 16:11 You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

On and on we find David, this man who perhaps understood the Joy of being in the presence of the Lord more than most, claiming a joy and pleasures from the Lord.


This is the shot across our bow: God is not opposed to joy, to happiness, to pleasure. Who knew? In fact He wants us to experience full and complete joy that never runs out.

Is life sweet, full of texture and brings joy?

It is too easy to fall into the ottoman life. To become a follower of Jesus and “tag up” each week at church.

We can also find ourselves involved in outreach and ministry because we believe that we owe God or we feel that these are the rules if we want to belong. Perhaps strangest of all we may even read the Bible because we feel that that is a rule for followers of Jesus.

None of these things are bad but they can be done by the servants who live in the bunkhouse.

Don’t we really want to live in the big house with the compassionate Father who stood on the road looking for us to come home and then threw a party?

Don’t we want to take our meals with Him and learn from Him?

Don’t we want to serve along side of Him as He seeks out others on their journey to Him out of the Joy of just being with Him?

Don’t we want others to come to Him because they can find a well of Joy that never runs dry just as we have?


You What about you?

Have you been living a life of duty? A life of rules?

Is that why you come to church? Have you found joy in that?

Have you wondered if there is more for you?

Would you really like to find a source of real, inexhaustible joy in your life?

Is this something that you want in your life today and from now on?

Are you hungering for more of God and His presence in your life?

Do you think that we could ask God for this?


If that is your desire today, consider doing 3 things to make that happen:

1. Say yes to God today that you want to accept His invitation to move into the house as a son or daughter. If you haven’t become a follower of Jesus yet, this would be a good time.

2. Ask someone to pray for you today that God will draw you closer to him give you this joy today and everyday going forward. In just a moment we will give you an opportunity to get that prayer.

3. Pray or read 5 Psalms from the Bible each day for the month of December. Did you know that 45 Psalms call for joy in the life of the reader? Many of these are connected to joy in the presence of the Lord.

Redistribution of Wealth

This has become a hot topic during this election season and many different ideas have confused the meaning. Historically, in every culture wealth has moved around. After every revolution wealth starts out somewhat widely distributed and over time it always ends up in the hands of a few. America was designed to be different. With it's great resources there has been tremendous "opportunity" through out our history. Several times in our history our government gave away land. The only condition was that you had to "get there" and you had to build on the land. This often involved traveling a great distance, enduring great hardship and sacrifice and intense, back breaking work. Some tried and failed. Others succeeded. Not everyone was willing. Some stayed back in the familiar environment of the eastern cities. This pattern repeats itself in every generation in every family across America. Opportunities exist. The Government gives away free education. The quality is mixed much like the land previously mentioned.

Whether it is land that requires tremendous dedication to develop or skills that are required in our culture today, the burden rests on every individual to make the choices required to achieve their goals. No where in America until the "New Deal" brought about by Franklin Roosevelt as a response to the Great Depression was there ever a "guarantee" of outcome of some set of choices.

We have finally arrived at a time in our history where the hard work of those who put aside short term comfort to increase their income and wealth is now subject to forfeiture against their will in order to transfer that income to others who did not try so hard and chose short term pleasures instead of sacrificing for the future.

Many will say that they didn't feel like going to college. Remember the excuse of not being able to afford college doesn't fly since many institutions are state run and not exhorbitantly expensive. Many people, myself included, worked while going to school, took small loans to pay for tuition and paid them off with the better jobs that they took after graduation. Others may have decided to start a family before gaining the ability to support that family on their own.

No one should be faulted for their choices. This is America. Land of opportunity and choices and freedom. However, this is America not Russia or China. Everyone here is free to choose and free to fail. No one here until recently is required by law to subsidize the choices and failures of others. If this is still truly America then anyone who tries harder, puts aside comfort for some greater goal, delays their family development is entitled to the fruit of their labor. No one else is entitled to it.

Yes there are those who appear to have a headstart in making millions. Still making millions is not the only option. This is not a zero sum culture. Everyone has the opportunity to make something. Our country has created millions of jobs. From minimum wage to billions, the income from these jobs varies. It is not even hard to discover before heading down a path to find out how much these many different jobs pay. It is not hard to find out how much it costs to live in a particular area of the country. A job paying $25k a year allows more options in northern Florida than Southern Florida, in North Carolina than in NYC. Everyone has the right to live where they want if they can afford it. No one has a right to the fruit of someone else's labor.

Many will say that it's not fair that a teacher should make less than a banker. Some may even say that the teacher works harder. However, anyone can find out how much a teacher makes and a banker makes and make a choice based on that what kind of lifestyle they want. But it is Un-American to force the banker to subsidize the lifestyle of the teacher. If the banker has children he is free to pay the teacher what the teacher requires for this service.

It is a tremendous tragedy that our society has come to the point where at least 45% of the culture believes that income redistribution is a right and good thing. I suppose that this is not surprising when the top 40% of income earners in this country PAY 97% OF ALL FEDERAL INCOME TAXES. Did you know that?

As Christians we are called to be generous. Even before Jesus came to John the Baptist, John was teaching them that a sign of a person of God was that if you have 2 coats you ought to give one to someone who has none. God's people are generous. However, that is about philanthropy and charity. Everyone feels good about that including the giver. No one feels good about having their income taken away by force (all legislation is force) and given to others who did not work as hard, or sacrifice without any accountability for better behavior by the recipient.

We have arrived at a place in this country where hard work and sacrifice are punished by the confiscation of the fruit of that labor and that fruit is given to those who do not work as hard or sacrifice. The sad part is that many will believe and say that they do work hard and sacrifice. But their definition doesn't match. If you want to improve your lifestyle then you should be working every hour you aren't sleeping. That's what successful people do. Successful people do not live off the fruit of someone else's labor.

Finding Success I

Showing up is more than half of success. This sounds so simple but in reality it is harder than you think, apparently. Any of you who have your own business' and have to hire people know what I talking about. I hear the complaint often from small business' about how hard it is to get people just to show up for their appointed schedule. We hear excuses like they overslept, they had a flat tire, they had to take their pregnant sister to the doctor. Remarkably, someone who shows up consistently, regardless of other skills often receives a promotion.

Showing up isn't just about keeping a job. How many people have you heard say that they wish that they had more friends? Yet often they are not willing to "show up" where friends can be made. In my travels I hear people comment that they did not like Florida when they moved here for awhile because they didn't have any friends. Yet friends can easily be made at church, classes, community functions, etc. Making friends is not just difficult at home, it may be impossible. Making friends while shopping is possible but probabilities are low. It may even be difficult to make friends with neighbors depending on your community. But "showing up" to activities with people of common interest has a very high success rate for making friends.

I seem to be in tremendous company in this last area where "showing up" can bring success. The gym. If I show up there I am highly likely to achieve the success I desire. Yet I find plenty of reasons to keep that from happening. Am I alone in that? I know that when I show up at a restaurant that I am going to achieve the results that I came there for. The same is true of the gym. I even find that if I get there once or twice I am likely to continue for awhile until that chain of showing up is broken.

If we desire a closer relationship with God showing up is still the key. Of course I'm not referring to showing up in heaven. But God is present with us everywhere, everyday. He has shown up in our lives for fellowship with us. We can "show up" with Him by prayer, reading the Bible, worship and spending time with other's who share your desire. As with the gym I find that a day or two put together will often keep me going in this pattern for awhile until something breaks the chain. I've started and stopped, started and stopped. Yet showing up remains the key.

Showing up is more than half of success. Notice that it will not take you all the way to success whether it's in your job, in making friends, taking off those pounds, or growing in your relationship with God. However, without showing up the rest is guaranteed never to happen.

Untimely End

My best friend passed over last weekend. 11 years and an untimely end. Diagnosed with Cancer 3 months ago. Remedial therapy added only months. Some say that he could not feel the loyalty of his canine counterparts yet...he met me at the door. He slept on my pillow and my keyboard. He chased the mouse pointer across my screen. He looked at me with the expectancy of a retriever.

He came to me with blue eyes at a time of great solitude from the hands another great friend. We kept each other company while his eyes turned gold until more roommates arrived. Throughout many moves and miles, marriage and other felines we remained devoted to each other. Through many moods and tantrums we loved each other.

He never understood why everyone who met him wanted to pick him up.

Many prayed when the news came back from his surgery but it was not to be. Our timelines are not God's timelines and we don't know what impact events have in the stream of life. We had 3 more months and had to watch as he declined.

We were blessed with 11 years. It's wonderful to be loved by a cat. I was made better by the love of this cat. I am less with his passing.

A Man Without a Party

I've been a life-long Republican. I cried when Reagan died. Unfortunately, the conservatism that brought me into the party died with him. I had such great hopes when my party finally gained control of both houses of congress in 1994. Even with a Democratic president we had such great opportunity to return this country to the values of the founders and of the constitution. If it hadn't been for Ross Perot, Bush Sr would have been re-elected and continued the Reagan legacy. Clinton was elected with only 45% of the vote.

However, shortly after taking control, 2 sex scandals forced 2 speakers of the House of Representatives to resign. With the resignation of the last one, Newt Gingrich, the party was lost. Corruption, pork spending, and failure to vote to indict Clinton destroyed what was left of the fiscal and social conservative mantles of Reagan.

I voted for George Bush both times only to have him not use his veto pen in 6 years until the Democrats took over congress again. He signed protectionist legislation in the form of steel import tariffs. He signed the largest highway spending bill in American history. He signed bill after bill put up by the flagrant, pork spenders of his own party. (The "bridge to nowhere" was for Senator Ted Stevens (R) AK). He failed to campaign hard enough to privatize social security. Admittedly, he really needed the help and courage of his fellow Republicans but they did not have the spine for it. Yes, I was very happy with the tax cuts but again the Republican majority did not have the spine to make them permanent. They compromised with the socialist Democrats and put an expiration date on the cuts. Even so the Republicans, including Bush, did not cut spending at the same time as they cut the gov't revenue. So gov't grew enormously under their watch.

I confess that I believed him when he told us that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. I believed that Hussein should not be allowed to thumb his nose at the whole world. I trusted that the President had the best intelligence available in the world. I no longer believe that. I do believe that a new brand of Republican, the NeoCon, had taken over the Administration and was trying to conduct a new "Manifest Destiny" in the world exporting our values everywhere. Don't get me wrong I do believe wholeheartedly in the values of our constitution but I don't believe that we are that country anymore.

George Bush and the Republican party of the last 14 years have been a disaster and have set the stage for a Democratic party sweep this November and a return to the socialist values of the Great Sociey. It is very likely, that the next congress will be filibuster proof. That is, that the Democratic party will have enough senators to terminate any attempts to filibuster to stop a bill or stop the appointment of judges. We will see continued redistribution of wealth from those who work hard and make good choices in life to the lazy, the sexually flagrant, the irresponsible, the substance abusers and the like.

I no longer have a party of any substance to support. The Libertarian party still has some attraction but has no chance to rise to power. The Republicans have left me as they are no longer the party of Ronald Reagan. There is fundamentally little difference between the parties now. John McCain's values are not much different from Joe Lieberman's. The fact that there are so many Americans who know more about American Idol contestants than how much they pay in taxes or what rights they have in the constitution shows how truly shallow and ignorant this country has become. I am frightened at the growing number of Americans who don't know what the constitution says. How many people believe that healthcare is a right? Show me that in the constitution. If that is a right why not a right to housing, or food, or a car, or a job? Why wouldn't anyone have a right to build their house in a disaster prone area and expect the rest of the country to rebuild it when the inevitable happens?

Where did I put that Constitution? Our Constitution has been lost and replaced from disuse.

I love the idea of America found in the Constitution and the writings of Thomas Jefferson. We are not that country anymore. We have found that we can "vote ourselves money from the treasury" and that will truly be our downfall. Success is no longer admired except as a well from whom we can draw revenue to redistribute to the failures among us.

I am a man without a party and without a country he can believe in.

You might not believe in freedom...

You might not believe in freedom if ....

1) you believe that the gov't is the answer to anything.
2) believe that anyone should pay more taxes than you.
3) believe anything a politician says.
4) believe that it's unfair for anyone to have more stuff than you.
5) believe police can protect you from crime.
6) believe that the gov't wants to protect you from anything.
7) believe that you have a right to

a) a job
b) healthcare
c) a mortgage
d) food

8) believe everyone doesn't have the right to do with their property as they choose.
9) believe that it's the gov't's job to keep people from hurting themselves with drugs or alcohol or a gun or their car.
10) believe that the gov't should force everyone to wear a seatbelt.
11) believe that parents should not have a choice about which school their child should go to.
12) believe that the gov't has a huge pool of money.
13) believe that the gov't should rebuild your house after a disaster.
14) you ever said the words "There ought to be a law."

Freedom is the practice of living out any personal choice without limitation except as it interferes with the freedom of another. You may choose to purposely limit yourself, perhaps wisely, but if you believe that your choices should be legislated for all then YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN FREEDOM. You may be an an American citizen by accident of birth or by criminal invasion but YOU ARE NOT AN AMERICAN IN SPIRIT.

Legislation is looking to the gov't to fix your life. Everytime you do that you surrender your freedom and that of others. Legislation used to be the last resort of the impotent and weak now it's the first step.

If you don't like the Spirit of Freedom, then go somewhere where you will feel safer but know that you will be less free.

Faith for Forgiveness

I’m a particularly skeptical person. I rarely believe things that I read or hear in the media. Regularly, we hear studies that contradict other studies.

I don’t believe in global warming. I don’t dis-believe it either. I am not in a place to form a strong opinion because the sources of information are suspect to me.

I was like this about the Bible too. I grew up in a Christian home and studied the Bible all of my life. But as I said, I don’t take anyone’s word for it. I studied the history of the Bible. I researched the events described in the Bible. I even studied other religions.

I came to the conclusion that every one lives by faith.

We believe many things that are simply not true

From WebMD:
1. Medical Myth: Drink at least eight glasses of water per day.
Reality: There's no evidence that you have to drink that much water to assure adequate fluid intake -- and drinking too much water can be unhealthy.
2. Medical Myth: We use only 10% of our brains.
Reality: Most of the brain isn't loafing. Detailed brain studies haven't found the "non-functioning" 90% of the brain.
3. Medical Myth: Mobile phones are dangerous in hospitals.
Reality: "Rigorous testing in Europe found minimal interference and only at distances of less than one meter [about 3.28 feet]," write the researchers. But that may be a point of controversy. In September, Dutch doctors reported that cell phones may interfere with critical care equipment and shouldn't be used within a meter of medical equipment or hospital beds.
4. Medical Myth: Eating turkey makes people especially drowsy.
Reality: Turkey isn't all that rich in tryptophan, the chemical linked to sleepiness after eating turkey. But eating a big, decadent meal can cause sleepiness, even if turkey isn't on the menu.

Did humans really land on the moon? On February 15, 2001 the FOX television network aired a program titled Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land On The Moon? This program showed alleged evidence that NASA faked the moon landings.

Believing the story from someone about events that occurred when you were not there.

If you believe in science you are doing so by faith unless you were present personally to make the observation yourself. Maybe you read it in a scientific journal but you are still taking it on faith that the scientists reported are reliable and the reporter hasn’t filled in any details.

Do you believe everything you read in the newspaper? The People Magazine or USA Today or the Wall Street Journal? I’m not saying that they are not reporting events as they are related to their reporters. I’m only saying that we take on faith the truthfulness of the events.

If you have ever been on a jury, you have had to take on faith the testimony of witnesses to events because you were not present to witness them for yourself.

Many people believe that if you live a life by “faith” that somehow you are simple, uneducated, or narrow minded. But everyone lives by faith.

Do you believe in global warming? If so is it because you read or saw it in the media? Have you been to the Arctic and observed for yourself? Have you visited the ocean buoys that record temperatures and compared them to prior records that you recorded? I’m guessing not. The you are trusting in the testimony of those who claim that they have done this research.


So when we believe the things written in the Bible we are not behaving any differently than when anyone reads the newspaper or a scientific journal or sits on a jury. We believe these things to be true based on witnesses that we trust.

This week I had the strong impression that God was asking me if I had enough faith for forgiveness.

It’s an interesting question because when we first come to faith in Christ we also are accepting that He paid the price for our sin and bringing us into a relationship with the Father. We basically express a “global sorry”. We confess that we are sinners and need His forgiveness.

Still each day I feel like I need more forgiveness.

I can’t live each day without feeling that I have not lived as Jesus would or how He would like me too. Sin and selfishness has once again crept into my mind. Evil thoughts sometimes are given voice by my mouth.

Once again I must ask for forgiveness from the Lord.
In the Bible God tells us

1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Wow. Cool. Is that really in the Bible?

Each time though I wonder if I’m reaching the end of my forgiveness account. Is He getting tired of hearing the same things over again? Worse still will I avoid Him for awhile because I’m too ashamed to ask again?

A good friend and a professional Psychologist tells me that there is healthy shame. We should experience a healthy shame when we are mean to someone or are dishonest or behave immorally.

Healthy Shame is the consciousness or awareness of dishonor, disgrace, or condemnation. Genuine shame is associated with genuine dishonor, disgrace, or condemnation. This often results in trying to repair the fault or offense. – Wikipedia

With toxic shame we believe that something wrong with us and there's nothing we can do about it; we are inadequate and defective. – John Bradshaw

Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the cage of shame and tells us that we are loved and are not defective. Jesus came to give us this message. We are loved by God and we are not defective.

Together with the question whether I had enough faith for forgiveness, I was reminded by the Lord this week that Jesus has paid the price for all of my sin and shame long before I was born.

As we continue to read through the New Testament we will find these verses in the book of Colossians.

Col 2: 12-14 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
Col 2:13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
Col 2:14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.


When Jesus was nailed to the cross God put onto Him all the sins of the world. Past, Present and future.

There are no penance to do. There is no purgatory where you have to sit for awhile until your sins are absolved. All means All. At Dictionary.com it says “wholly; entirely; completely;” as in “He ate all of the peanuts. They are all gone.”

“God put onto Him all the sins of the world.”


John 19:30 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips.
Joh 19:30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Jesus said “It is finished”. Done. Over. Our sins have been paid for so that we can now live a new life.

Haven’t you ever wanted to start over? To have a clean slate?

This is the message of God. He loved you so much that He gave His only Son for you. For the joy set before Him Jesus said “yes” I will take their sin on me so that they can be together with me for all eternity.


Do you have enough faith to be forgiven?

Do you believe what the Bible teaches that Jesus has already paid the price for you, past, present and future?

If you have been avoiding God for awhile because you feel that you cannot be forgiven? Is today the day when you will get over it? It is finished! Over! Done!

Bubbleheads in the Media

Peggy Noonan writing in a WSJ editorial. Very perceptive and honest.

Let me say of myself and almost everyone I know in the press, all the chattering classes and political strategists and inside dopesters of the Amtrak Acela Line: We live in a bubble and have around us bubble people. We are Bubbleheads. We know this and try to compensate for it by taking road trips through the continent -- we're on one now, in Minneapolis -- where we talk to normal people. But we soon forget the pithy, knowing thing the garage mechanic said in the diner, and anyway we weren't there long enough in the continent to KNOW, to absorb. We view through a prism of hyper-sophistication, and judge by the rules of Chevy Chase and Greenwich, of Cleveland Park and McLean, of Bronxville and Manhattan.

And again we know this, we know this is our limit, our lack.

But we also forget it.

And when you forget you're a Bubblehead you get in trouble, you misjudge things. For one thing, you assume evangelical Christians will be appalled and left agitated by the circumstances of Mrs. Palin's daughter. But modern American evangelicals are among the last people who'd judge her harshly. It is the left that is about to go crazy with Puritan judgments; it is the right that is about to show what mellow looks like. Religious conservatives know something's wrong with us, that man's a mess. They are not left dazed by the latest applications of this fact. "This just in – there's a lot of sinning going on out there" is not a headline they'd understand to be news.

So the media's going to wait for the Christian right to rise up and condemn Mrs. Palin, and they're not going to do it because it's not their way, and in any case her problems are their problems. Christians lived through the second half of the 20th century, and the first years of the 21st. They weren't immune from the culture, they just eventually broke from it, or came to hold themselves in some ways apart from it. I think the media will explain the lack of condemnation as "Republican loyalty" and "talking points." But that's not what it will be.

Another Bubblehead blind spot. I'm bumping into a lot of critics who do not buy the legitimacy of small town mayorship (Palin had two terms in Wasilla, Alaska, population 9,000 or so) and executive as opposed to legislative experience. But executives, even of small towns, run something. There are 262 cities in this country with a population of 100,000 or more. But there are close to a hundred thousand small towns with ten thousand people or less. "You do the math," the conservative pollster Kellyanne Conway told me. "We are a nation of Wasillas, not Chicagos."

http://online.wsj.com/article/declarations.html

Chilling...

Sorry that it has taken me so long to get back to you. This topic is loaded and I've thought a great deal about it over the last couple of years. I won't overwhelm you with all the research that I've done but here in a nutshell is what I believe: (I hope that it is not too gloomy for you.)

1. The expansion of Islam is a problem for the whole world and in particular the US but I believe that that influence will be stifled by their militant methods. Any attempts to use violence to achieve their ends in the US which seems quite common are likely to be met with a huge backlash.

2. The above expansion of Islam will likely be further slowed by immigration from Mexico. Mexicans are staunchly Catholic even though many don't participate regularly in church activities. They are not easily influenced by Islam even in prison. Blacks are more easily influenced but, as with anglos, blacks are declining as a percentage of the population with the unchecked immigration from Mexico.

3. Lastly, and in my mind more devastating, I believe that the US is declining economically in the world which will eventually mean that we will lose our leadership in the world on many levels. This problem is not one that will come from a foreign enemy. It will come from within based on the compacency of the American people. Our government is printing money like crazy in an attempt to bail out investment companies, banks, home builders and buyers and continuing to fund the war. Privately, people are continuing to increase their personal debt with the use of credit cards. Their houses are losing value back to a few years ago. (Ours included). If Obama is elected he will take more money out of the economy for use by the government to create programs that are as poorly run as the post office and the TSA. Likewise if McCain is elected he will be hamstrung by the Democratic congress and President Bush's tax cuts will be allowed to expire in 2010. I saw an interview with demonstrators at the Dem convention. They were asked to identify an array of pics of political figures and none could identify Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, or Dick Cheney. Furthermore, many were asked to identify a specific legislation that Obama has sponsored that got them to believe in him. Not one could identify a single thing that Obama had ever done only what he says that he will do. This is a sad commentary on the state of the American people. They know more about the contestants on American Idol who have no impact on their lives than the men and women in politics who do. America will implode. Fully half of the American people are liberal and believe that it's the gov't's job to fix the problems of the country and the world. They are not just ignorant of the impact of an adjustable rate mortgage they are ignorant of the impact of the spending behavior of the gov't. Most people are not aware that 1/3 of the $3 trillion federal budget is interest on the money already borrowed by the gov't. The total federal budget is likely to grow exponentially as more boomers retire and SS is found to be bankrupt. There is no SS trust fund. ALL of the SS trust fund has been borrowed by the general budget. The budget surplus touted by the Clinton admin was a hoax. They simply borrowed from the SS trust fund and used accounting tricks to cover it up. How long until that 1/3 becomes 1/2 or 3/4 of the budget? Where is the money going to come from? Already, according to Forbes magazine wealthy people and not so wealthy are moving out of the country seeing this decline. If the more productive members of the society leave what does that leave? The burden on the remaining people will become even worse. If all of the countries around the world begin to believe that the US gov't is no longer a safe place for their money they will move it elsewhere and our dollar with free fall causing inflation like we have never experienced in our lifetimes.

4. Disasters: Americans are wimps and children and fools. Each time a disaster comes upon us, whether natural (Katrina) or man-made (9/11), Americans are willing to give up their freedom to the gov't so that they may feel safe or they are willing to let the gov't spend billions of dollars on foolish enterprises like rebuilding homes below sea level, and providing $2k debit cards and buying mobile homes that are never used. Each new disaster that occurs will further erode our freedom, both physical and economic.

5. The Bible has taught us that the end will not be pretty. Though many scholars have tried there is very little evidence of a country like the US having any great influence on the world stage when Armageddon comes. I believe that Israel will have to stand alone because we will have collapsed. We know that "a days wages for a loaf of bread", inflation will consume us. We also know that people will be "marrying, and giving in marriage" and going about their business as though nothing is wrong. We know that Jesus will return with a shout and the true end will come in judgement. But we will see terrible things before that. I believe that perhaps in my life time or in the life times of your grand kids that the world will see the Anti-christ and 1 world government.

6. I have become quite gloomy in the last year seeing the condition of our country and have even done research about living in places like Panama or Costa Rica. They will not be spared the judgement of the world but they will be late to that party as they are not a target of terrorists, they are not dependent on the American economy and their immigrants are the best and brightest from the US and around the world seeking to escape the tyranny and economic disasters that their homelands are becoming. God may have another plan for my life and I will do and go where He wants but if He allows a wise person will see the decline of our country and move on.

"All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing." It is too late to protect our government. The liberals and humanists and God haters have taken control.

Note: I may be a gloomy gus or a Jeremiah, but if you agree with any of this tell everyone you can especially your kids and grand kids.

Use Your Power for Good Not for Evil

Have you made any bad choices in your life?

It’s hard to live too long without a rap sheet of choices that turn out in hindsight to be ill conceived.

Maybe it was a bad relationship.

Or bad judgment in your job.

Or a bad business deal

Or a bad grade in a class that you chose not to attend.

In answer to the question, “What is the greatest gift that God ever gave us?”, most people are likely to answer either “Life” or “Jesus”. Both of these are good answers but consider this,

Without choice neither of these matter.

Life without the ability and liberty to choose is not quality of life. It’s the life of a drone, a creature who only operates out of it’s programming. Without the ability and liberty to choose there is no reason to choose Christ for there would be no sin. Without the ability and liberty to choose there could be no love.

I have sometimes wondered why God put that tempting tree in the garden which has caused such great tragedy and pain and evil in the world. If He hadn’t done that then all would be well. But once again without that ability and liberty to choose we could not really know love and “God is love”.

Those of us who have chosen Jesus as our Lord have already changed the direction of our lives for eternity.

Those of us who have chosen to marry and bear children have changed our lives for the rest of our earthly lives.

Those of us who have chosen advanced education have changed our lives even further.

Those of us who have spoken into the lives of others to share God’s love for them have changed their lives forever.

There is incredible power in our choices. But as with all power and riches these can be squandered. How often have we heard stories of people who have won millions of dollars in the lottery and not too much later we hear that they have nothing left? We HAVE won the lottery. We have the ability and liberty to choose.

But what good would that be without great things to choose from? I can choose to rely on my own wits and wisdom and trial and error or We can choose God. I can tell you that I have tried my own way. Yeah I can get things and proven that I can lose things as well. But the real Holy Grail is to find happiness and peace. There is no lasting happiness or peace in things. In fact my pursuit of things leads to stress. I have to work more to pay for the things and pay the debts for things that I thought could make me happy.

But the greatest thing in life is that we can choose God. In God there is happiness and peace without regard to things. We are rich. Rich in happiness. Rich in peace. And Rich in Love.

Many things influence our choices

1. Feelings
2. Culture and family values
3. Momentum
4. Fear of consequences

Too often we abdicate the richness and power of our choices because we let these things make our choices for us. We can allow our feelings to prevent us from reaching out to people outside of our comfort zone. We can let our culture and family values prevent us from choosing to rise up out of a history of pain and even separation from God. We have friends in Spain that have been working diligently to bring the Gospel back to that country for years. However, individuals there who choose to follow Christ in a personal way are often disowned by their families because of the power of tradition and culture and family values.

We can let the momentum of life determine our choices in marriage, children, school, and work. How many people are working in a career that they fell into by association with people rather than viewing the universe of careers and picking one? How many people have married the one that was available at the right time rather than waiting for one that might be more suitable? How many people have had children at a time not of their choosing but now may have to drop out of school to care for them? We can miss out on the riches that God has for us because we are afraid to choose to step out in faith to share our faith or pray for someone or come to a growth group.

Many of us who have chosen to take Jesus as our Lord live as though that was the last choice we have to make. However, that may be far from the truth.

When Moses lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and into the wilderness God provided food daily . Each day the people had to go out to collect it. God could have allowed them to store up their food or even permanently relieve their hunger altogether. Instead each day they had to get up and choose to trust Him. Exodus

The Apostle, Paul, tells us that we must “walk by faith”. Each step in that walk is a choice. 2 Cor 5:7

He also suggests to us as he did to Timothy that we train ourselves in godliness like an athlete trains for an event. This involves choosing to “work out” and choosing to avoid negative activities such as some foods. 1 Tim 4:8;2 Tim 2:5;1 Cor 9:27

The choices that we have before us include these:

Will we make ourselves available to Him?

Will we trust Him to take care of our needs?

Will we trust Him to call us to do some risky things? I.e. Outreach, share our homes, share our faith, pray for healing for people in our workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods. Will we prioritize time with Him? Alone personal time, time in worship, time in fellowship with other believers.

Is today your day to choose?

Robert Frost, a great American poet wrote a famous poem that is often quoted on themes like this.

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

If you have not chosen Jesus as your Lord is today your day? Have you found lasting happiness and joy in the things of your life? Or do you need more things to find that? God gave you the greatest gift in your life, the ability and liberty to choose. He already loves you. Will you receive the riches of His relationship with you?

If you have already chosen Christ as your Lord are you living in the light of His presence each day? Are you still living a life of frustration and stress because you don’t want to bother God with your stuff? Would you choose Him again today and every day? He loves you and wants to be more real to you. You were created for friendship with the Living God. The Ministry Team is here for you too. They will pray for you to help you get started again in that daily walk with Him…to experience again the great power and riches in choosing Him everyday.

One of the great heroes of the Bible put it this way.

Choose this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house we will serve the Lord. Josh 24:15

Second-Hand Noise

Societies have come around to the impact that second-hand smoke has on non-smokers and many regulations have been passed to force smokers outside and further away from civilized areas. While there have been a few jurisdictions that have passed ordinances on night clubs whose sounds have escaped their premises, there has been little discussion of the impact of second-hand noise in other areas.

Wikipedia defines Noise pollution (or environmental noise) as displeasing human- or machine-created sound that disrupts the activity or balance of human or animal life.

Most of us have found the noise of jack hammers or small cars with ear splitting vibrations from enormous speakers in the rear highly distressing. However, did you know that prolonged exposure is actually harmful?

"Though it takes about 8 hours to harm your ears at 85 decibels, crank the tunes up to 110 decibels, and it only takes a minute and a half to endanger your hearing.
You might be surprised to know that normal speaking is around 60 decibels, a baby crying is about 110, and an airplane taking off is around 140." http://ask.yahoo.com/20040528.html

Of course jack hammers and loud cars can be avoided or departed from but it seems that too often screaming babies cannot. Families insist on bringing babies onto airplanes or to restaurants creating second-hand noise pollution that is at first distressing to the psyche but can also be harmful. Any criticism of these parents often results in harsh words from all and comments such as "What should we do? Stay home?" Answering that question in the affirmative often results in further altercations.

The solution here should be the same as with smoking. Designate areas in restaurants as children or not children. People without children seldom disrupt others around them. Bars might be the exception. However, it is inevitable that children accompanying their parents into public will disrupt others. Some commentators have already suggested that Adults only airline flights would be attractive to many and even warrant a higher ticket price. Jet Blue can already be designated the Disney or Chuck E Cheese airline sheerly for the number of children on board.

Any one person's lifestyle choices (having children is a lifestyle choice) should not interfere with the lifestyles of others.

Everyone lives by Faith

We hear alot about "faith-based organizations" and some say we should keep faith out of politics and public policy. But really, how do you do that. Everyone lives by faith. People who believe in God or a Supreme Being or reincarnation, etc. are said to have faith because they believe in something that cannot be proven or measured with current metrics. However, their faith is really rooted in the word of someone else, usually a book, a holy book in some cases. If anyone claims to have information from God then each person must decide for themselves if the person claiming this is credible and reliable. The same thing happens in a courtroom. A witness testifies to what they saw. A jury must decided if that witness is truthful and reliable and render a decision. That decision is based on faith. Faith=Belief. If you believe what someone said about events that you did not witness then you have faith in what they said. This is definitional and indisputable. All beliefs are by definition faith. Some beliefs have their basis in personal experience. I believe that at this moment I am typing this blog. You may or may not believe me later when I tell you that I did. If you believe me then you are taking my word "on faith".

An Atheist believes that they do not live by faith. However, it requires perfect, absolute and comprehensive knowledge of all existence to assert that there is no god and be certain to be correct. Such knowledge is beyond any human mind no matter how brilliant. Therefore, an atheist believes on faith that there is no god. An atheist may say that this is a different kind of faith. But in fact, it is not. Belief is faith is belief.

An individual may believe in global warming. However, unless a person has personally conducted the research and has access to all necessary measurements then they believe the word of someone else on faith. Even believing something on concensus, because it is popular to believe, does not make it fact. Believing second hand information is faith.

Everyone lives by faith.

Self-Esteem Generation

As a consultant I see the inside workings of many companies. Many of them are highly respected in the market place for a variety of reasons. Behind the scenes, though, it is surprising to find out how poorly managed many companies are due in part to the problems surrounding the youngest members of the organizations who received only positive, self affirming feedback. No teams ever really lost. Everyone received the awards because to do otherwise might negatively impact someone's self-esteem. No child is ever held back for poor performance but socially advanced in order that they are not psychologically damaged. Negative progress reports are transformed into extolling "other virtues". Of course once they reach the workforce they could find themselves blindsided by rigid requirements of showing up on time and delivering results and maybe receiving a poor performance review. Not finding this appealing they move on in search of their "passion" that will continue to reinforce their self-esteem without rigid requirements.

Finding a whole generation like this Human Resource departments are forming new guidelines for "associate" retention. Flexible schedules. Performance plans. Managers no longer have the freedom to give negative feedback or tell their "associates" that they are not meeting expectations without an HR representative present. This has translated into an epidemic of missing goals and deliverables. Deadline used to mean "drop dead date". "Not to go past this date." No such thing any longer.

Self-Esteem has trumped performance in the US. As this attitude grows the US will continue to lose jobs to other countries where performance still trumps self-esteem and comfort even if their wages are considerably lower.