Saturday, April 30, 2011

C’mon, Man! #2

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I am no royal watcher. Let me just say that. I saw the wedding, but only because Patty was watching it, and some of the afterwards carriage rides and such. I dig the pomp and circumstance, mostly because of the traditions and the soldiers all decked out.

But I have to say, Princes Beatrice!? Honey-bunches-of-oats! Even an uncouth, color challenged, redneck, colonial like me… would’ve known better than to wear that hat! EEK!

 C’mon, Bea!





It is so bad, it even has its own Facebook page. Now, friends and neighbors, That’s bad.



Of course, Maybe she wasn’t so fashion challenged, after all. Maybe. Just Maybe. It was her way of telling grandma how ticked she was that dear old mummy didn’t get an invite.







 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

You go, girls!

A Conversation With God

So I just read Alton Gansky’s newest book, A Conversation With God: If You Could Ask God Any Question What Would It Be? First, let me say that I was impressed with the book itself, physically I mean. It is a sturdy book with thick high quality paper. Well worth the suggested retail of $15.99. That may not seem like a big deal to some, but my books are usually put through the ringer. Most of them look like they’ve been rode hard and put up wet. So I appreciate a sturdy book.




But I also can appreciate the style of this book. I’m not sure that I have ever seen a book with this particular approach. I have several books that answer people’s questions about God stuff. But it is always the author’s answer, usually based on Scripture. Gansky takes the approach of answering the questions “from” Jesus, God, John, Paul, Mary Magdalene, or any other Biblical character that might be relevant.

For instance, on the question of Eternal Security, we get answers “from” Jesus, God, and Judas Iscariot of all people. When I saw that I was a little concerned; but Gansky doctrinal positions are very sound and sturdy, just like the book. (I really appreciate the physicality of this book, if you couldn’t tell.) Anyway, I was impressed and believe a scholar, pastor, Sunday School teacher, or even a younger student could benefit from having this book on their shelve.

Well worth the money as an investment for a teaching aid for you or for a young Believer just getting off the sincere milk.

The NFL Draft

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You know a sport is popular when their television show of the transition of armature athletes to professional athletes has more viewers than another sports actual games. Such is football these days, when more people watch the draft than a MLB game.


Some quick notes through the third round. (These are antidotal, and in no way statistically viable. I din't have time to run any standard deviation analyses in all my spare time.)

Looks like Miami has had a big draft so far, with five players taken in those opening rounds. Alabama is my big winner, though, having four go in rounds 1-3, but THREE of those in round one alone! Including Julio Jones to the Falcons. (Darn you Bengals. You could have had Jones two picks earlier and left AJ Green for us.) LSU and North Carolina also had four.

Speaking of which...apparently in the football world the proverb about bad guys finishing last doesn't hold water. UNC had four of its players go after the rules violations they had, AJ Green went #4 overall, and Cam Newton was the Top Pick. This only goes to show that the Universities are the only ones being hurt by the NCAA and their foolish, out-of-date rules. It's time to let colleges pay players a stipend that is fair and equitable. i.e. ALL players get the same money, regardless of team size, player ability, or supposed value to the team. The colleges rake in millions every year from these sports programs, and kids are selling their jerseys to go eat pizza. It doesn't add up, especially when the colleges are left to clean up their mess while the kids are signing huge bonuses with the NFL.



One last thing. Georgia had three go in the first three rounds. AJ to the Bengals at #4. Justin Huston to the Chiefs (Yeah, Dan!) at #70, and Akeem Dent to the Falcons at #91.

What about the Sons of Perdition you ask? Well, speaking of bad guys coming in last....Georgia Tech has had zero players drafted. Bwahahahahahahaha. What a rambling wreck.

Go Dawgs! Beat Tech!

Friday, April 29, 2011

The Beatification Of John Paul II

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On May 1, 2011 Pope John Paul II will be pounced as "Blessed" by the Roman Catholic Church. This is the second of three steps that will end in him being declared a "saint." Which is immensely different than the process for us lowly Baptists, who call every born-again, regenerated soul a saint. You get saved, and you're a saint. Baptism by immersion is not even required.



I find the whole process interesting and disturbing at the same time. But then again, my expectations are very low for the church that claims Mary as co-redemptrix. So it is no real surprise that I am both mildly amused and severely repulsed by some of this nonsense.





*******Note to Roman Catholics who used to read my blog**********
(I'm quite certain they won't after this post).



While I know the following will offend, it is not meant to. It is my desire that all come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, not co-Lord, co-God, or co-redeemer. Jesus said it as plainly as it can be said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" John 14:6. Mary cannot save you, answer your prayers, or talk Jesus into anything for you.


************************************************************


Now, back to John Paul. Benedict declared him as venerable, step number 1. This basically means that he lived a heroically virtuous life. I can see that in John Paul. He was an ecumenical wreck, but he did bring many faiths together, reuniting the Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox churches. He had a major hand in bringing down communism in Europe, especially in his home country of Poland. So, yeah, calling him venerable is not a bad thing.

The second step takes place on Sunday. Benedict will pronounce him blessed and he will become what is known as beatified. Once this takes place he will be well on his way to sainthood. The qualification of becoming beatified is that a bona fide miracle must be attributed to the individual. Here is where certain problems come in for me and a whole world of Evangelicals. (Notice that I did not say Protestant. That is because I am not a Protestant. The word comes from "to protest;" as in the Reformers protesting the abuses of the Catholics. I'm not a Protestant because I never protested anything. I am a Baptist. We left a century before Luther!) Anyway, among the festivities of the beatification are things that cause Catholics to worship the individual. As one example (the list is long) the marble slab that covered John Paul's tomb is being sent to his homeland of Poland. Where it will be set up as a shrine, and ultimately where people will flock to offer their reverence...then their adoration...and eventually, their worship.

Step three by-the-way, is the process of canonization, or making the person a saint. Canon is simply the word for measuring stick, like a yard stick. It came to mean a list of things, because the canon was the list of the books of the Bible. Those books that had been canonized, or measured and found to be worthy, were entered into the Bible. So canonization of the saints is adding them to the list. In order to become a Saint, one must have a miracle attributed to that person posthumously. In-other-words, someone prays to the person, after said person is dead, and said person performs a miracle for the someone. It won't take long for someone who has been praying to John P. to get healed of something, and they will give the credit to him instead of Jesus. Sister Teresa already has had two miracles attributed to her since her death.

The main problem I have is the way Roman Catholics attribute God's attributes to people. And dead people at that! This leads to them being elevated above their place as mere servants of God, to a place where they eventually can become, like Mary, co-equal with God. That is a very scary road to walk down, and will always lead to a Second Vatican Council mentality.

C'mon, Man! #1

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So, DC Comics is keeping pace with Marvel, in a, "Hey, we're not really "American" super heroes. wink. wink." public relations stunt. Marvel has dropped a portion of the title for its upcoming movie about Captain America, releasing the film under the name The First Avenger outside of the US.


Now DC says that in an upcoming Action Comic it will have Superman renounce his US Citizenship in front if the United Nations. C'mon, man! Really?!

So much for Truth, Justice, and the American way. I suppose it's now truth, justice, and the way of corruption and bureaucracy. aka the United Nations. Next I suppose he will start wearing tights colored that wimpy baby-blue of the UN helmets instead of the red and blue of Old Glory, and change the S on his pajama top to an O for Nietzsche’s Overman.



I have one question for the "artists" and PR people at Marvel and DC:
"If the people of other countries won't buy a comic book or movie ticket because the superheroes are "too American," then why on God's green earth are those self-same people fighting to get the chance to own American comic books and to see American movies? Not to mention their desperate attempts to move here.”

I remember my dad telling me how Ford, realizing that the majority of the people buying the T-bird were middle-aged white men, redesigned the car to look like a middle-aged white man's car. Then they wondered why only old women started buying them. In-other-words, don't pay so much attention to what people say...watch what they do.

So...Stan? If you and the folks over at DC keep watering down the Americanized part of our supers, don't be surprised, Mr. Lee, when the only people going to see Wonder Woman, are Taliban women in full length burqas.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

President Obama's Birth Certificate

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I am sooooooooooooo glad that the POTUS released his birth certificate.





Maybe, just maybe, it'll stop the dribble that is taking our collective eye off of the important stuff that people have put aside. Like $4 gasoline and what that will do to our fragile economy. I know it is absolutely hurting MY fragile economy! Of course, it probably won't take the fruit-loops from assuming he's not a natural born citizen. It will just convince them that he's not a natural born citizen that will use the full resources of the US Government to forge a birth certificate. So, I'm expecting a flury of new allegations. Such as...hmmm,






Why is the background and border so seamless, if this was taken from one of those bound books? As the curl would suggest!? Hmmm?!




It sure does look in good shape for a fifty year old document! Mine's only 43 years old and it's got a lot more wear.


In the “This Birth” box there are two mysterious X's above “Twin” and “Triplet.” Is it possible that the POTUS is actually twins or even triplets. No doubt his duplicitous nature makes me wonder. Perhaps it is like in The Prestige movie--twins who live one life, hiding the fact from even their wives. That could explain his "I hate war," vs. "We must send more troops;" "I am a Christian" vs. bowing and scraping in front of the Dali Lama and his fascination with all things Islam; and his ability to take multiple vacations in a single month!


What is the significance of the mysterious penciled in numbers outside of some boxes?


Why, in box 21, does the “Signature of Local Registrar” read Ukelee? Is that a NSA agent's feeble attempt at "Proving" he was born in Hawaii? Hmmmmm???? I ask you! Hmmmm? (Note to the CIA, FBI, and NSA: It is spelled “Ukulele." I'm just saying! Is all.)

And the coup de' grace: If you copy the cert, found here, into MS Paint, why does all the pertinent information appear as a washed out white spaces. HMMMMMM!



Of course, I DO BELIEVE that the man was born in Hawaii. I do believe that he is a Christian. (I DO NOT believe; however, that he is a Believer; a true, regenerate, Christ follower. But most of the population that claims "Christianity" fits in the same category)
But I ask you, what is the point of following the conspiracy theory? Seriously! He is ALREADY the POTUS. So drop the crap and start worrying about important things, like:

Why he is telling us to buy a new car, instead of authorizing more drilling.
Why we are bombing Libya instead of recalling our troops from Iraq.
Why we are spending more money than it is possible for our grandchildren to pay back.
And why we are we so divided as a nation. (Last week I was called a racist by an old friend because I disagree with his policies. This is about ideology, not race. I didn't like Bill Clinton, John Kerry, or Howard Dean and I was just right wing. Now I still don't like the same policies, and I'm a Nazi!?)



So to the right I say: Fight the real battle. The battle of ideas and ideals, and jump off the Trump Band-wagon: it's headed for a cliff.

To the left I say, wake up a smell the coffee. We cannot spend ourselves out of this mess, and it's not racist to say so!

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Monday, April 25, 2011

Easter 2011

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Our annual Family Easter Picture


Saturday, April 23, 2011

New Addition: Podcasting

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I have added an additional feature to my little old blog here, podcasting.




This is, and will be I'm sure, a learn-as-I-go maneuver, so there may be some rough patches along the way, but......it 'tis better than no podcasting at all.

The player is at the very bottom of the page and at least one has the entire service on it, choir, hymns, announcements, silence while the offering is taken up. I'll get that down to just the sermon soon. Otherwise, enjoy. ha ha. As I like to tell everyone who will still listen, I'd rather hear me preach than anybody else I know!

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Blessings, Y'all.

New Messages

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I've put a few new messages up at our Sermon.net site.


Shamgar
and
Jonah

are both from Revival at Shamrock Baptist Church. They're a tad on the long side, which is why I'm telling you it was from a Revival.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Hell? Yes!

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OK. So I know that's a book title, but I've never read the book. I did preach on the parable of the dragnet tonight, from Matthew 13:47-52.


“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, 48 which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, 50 and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”  51 Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?”  They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” 52 Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.” (NKJV)


Hell is a very real place and very sobering concept. I like to mingle humor into my messages, but not on this one. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, "No minister should preach on Hell with dry eyes." It is a sobering thought.

I read today where C.S. Lewis' secretary saw a grave stone that read:

"Here lies John Smith, an Atheist. All dressed up and nowhere to go."

Lewis did not chuckle when told about the humorous sight. Said Lewis, "I'm sure Mr. Smith wishes that were true right about now."

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Biblical Turbulence

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I have started and stop writing over at Biblical Turbulence so many times that I've lost count. My bad. Maybe I can do like my buddy Dan over at Navy Christian and get some guest writers. Hmmm. Not a bad idea. Glad I thought of that!


I think that I was/am taking that site too serious, like sometimes I take real live pastor not quite serious enough.

Anyway, I have written on BT again. No promises of if and when the next post will be. I'll let you know here.