Chocolate Acres

I've moved

2006-07-27T19:26:00.000-07:00

I'm currently putting my 'serious' blogs over at townhall.com.

http://chocolateacres.townhall.com/Default.aspx

I cross-post and do some much lighter stuff over at Xanga.

http://www.xanga.com/barnabas_12

Hope to see you there.

More Christian Hatred

2006-07-09T21:05:00.000-07:00

Here is an article out of the Seattle Times. The students unanimously voted to have ‘Ave Maria’ played by the band at Graduation. Many people consider this one of the greatest pieces of music of all time. It is one of those classical musical themes that can make you cry. Anyway, the superintendent vetoed the song because it was too Christian. Funny thing is, the tune is secular in nature, written by Bach as part of Das wohltempierte Klavier (First prelude from Book 1). In English, this translates to ‘The well-tempered piano’ – not too religious so far. ‘Ave Maria’, the words, were put to this music much later by a French Composer named Charles Gounod.

So, what the Superintendent did was ban the students from playing a secular Bach tune because someone, somewhere along the line, once put Christian words to it. I suppose if the Superintendent begins to lose the lawsuit, she may plead ‘musical ignorance’. However, I believe this is another case of, “when blinded by Christian-hatred, the facts don’t matter”. Seems like there is a lot of this going around.

Schools against chasity

2006-06-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

The previous stories got me going, and this story just keeps it up. Apparently, schools can hand out condoms but will ban chastity rings – but only because they associate them with Christianity. Anything from any other religion goes. My daughter wears one of these rings. Looks like she is a rebel just like these kids.

Power in the name of Christ

2006-06-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

Update: Here is another graduation story. It sounds like an urban legend, but it is true.

Recently, I’ve been going through my Father’s things. One thing I found was his graduation program from 1944. Boy, times have changed. The pastor of one church gave the Invocation and Benediction. Another pastor from a neighboring town gave the message, titled “Vim, Vigor, and Victory”. I sure wish I had a copy of that speech. I bet is was great.

In 1984, at the same school, we had the pastor of the same church give the Invocation and Benediction. I had the privilege of giving a speech. Although I was not the valedictorian, my classmates voted me in. It was a small town school, and I gave my life to Christ in the middle of High School. Christ radically changed my life, and they knew at the time I would talk about it. I did, and it wasn’t a problem.

Here is another story. Looks like times have changed. This is about a school cutting off the microphone of the valedictorian because she was planning on taking about Christ in a portion of her speech. Sounds like the ACLU was standing there giving their approval (sort of like Saul watching Stephen being stoned). This web site has an account and is also taking a vote (currently 70/30 in favor of the girl). Think about it, kids rebelling against adults by being Christians.

In case you don’t believe that Christianity is under attack, here is a story out of NY. Apparently, the New York Division of Human Rights thinks that playing Christian music on private property is a violation of human rights. A roller skating rink has ‘Christian Skate Night’ (where they play contemporary Christian music) and include this in an advertisement. Even the newspaper is being charged with ‘aiding and abetting.’ This is a huge assault on free speech. I venture to guess that if they had Muslim or Buddhist skate night, there would be no complaints. However, skating works best if the music has a beat, so I’m not sure how well those would work. Anyway, they are appealing to Governor George Pataki for help. Wonder, why not Hillary?

It looks to me that even though Christianity is under attack, there is power in the name of Christ. Whenever it is mentioned, it sends liberals into a tizzy. With all this power, Christians will certainly win in the end.

Mr. Nice Guy

2006-06-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

Update: The worldview article linked below seems to have disappeared. Try this one at World Net Daily.

Although we have free speech, some speech is more free than others, apparently. Christian speech is under fire – all over the world. (Hat Tip to Tongue-Tied).

In the U.S., there is a battle going on for a ‘Choose Life’ license plate in Missouri.

In Canada, a professor is under fire from his school for a letter written to a church Bishop.

And in Australia, they aren’t even allowed to say the words ‘mother and father’ in school anymore for fear of being insensitive.

However, this one got me worked-up enough to blog again. The secret service of my country, the United States, is raiding offices and confiscating gospel tracts. These are not ‘fringe’ groups either, regular evangelical guys.

This is a major assault on religious speech. This is wrong, and this wrong must be corrected. The only question is how. Will the government correct itself, with checks and balances kicking in … or must the church rise up and say “No more mister nice guy”?

Back in the Saddle

2006-05-19T19:18:00.000-07:00

My father's funeral is complete, and things are getting back to normal. He died very peacefully. He was a true man, never complained once.

I'm still pretty busy catching up with things. Therefore, my usual blogging will take awhile to get back up to speed.

Going Home

2006-04-20T05:49:00.000-07:00

I've been back with my father the last few weeks. He has had health problems for severals years, and it looks like he is losing the battle. Barring a miracle, another WWII vet and member of the greatest generation is going home to see Jesus. It is the world's loss. Please pray for my family.

Bush Was Right

2006-04-04T05:55:00.000-07:00

You can see the music video here.
You can read the lyrics here.
Bush was right.

Tar Baby

2006-03-30T07:21:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting story from the near-by city of St.Cloud, MN.

This guy, Leigh Lenzmeier, in a city meeting, referred to a sticky situation as a ‘tar-baby’.

A little research on the term shows that this is an appropriate use of the term.  Apparently, most people were exposed to the term through the Br’er Rabbit folk tale, which can be read here.  Here is the folk-tale from the Afro-American Almanac.  Apparently, some claim the story is originally African or African-American in origin.

A Wikipedia search on the term refers to the Br’er rabbit story and a novel by the same name written by an African American author, but does not reference any racial connotations here.

But, you guessed it; some people claimed the remark is a ‘racist slur’ against African Americans.
In an e-mail to the Stearns County board, former president of the St. Cloud Area NAACP, LeRoy Hill Jr., called Lenzmeier's comments "bigoted and insulting" and said he "punched our community in the eye with that remark."
I think his comment is interesting; noting that he did not use the phrase “gave our community a black-eye”.   Seems the injured eye turns the save color as the sticky substance.  We have to be careful when making reference to any substance that has or could have a dark hue.     In the case of the ‘eye’ comment, the easy distinction of the discoloration of the injured portion of the face relative to the rest of the complexion is the actual meaning of the phrase.  Mr. Hill demonstrates that PC sanitization does not enhance public discourse but simply confuses it.

Mr. Hill should be able to recognize that at worst this comment was an honest mistake.  At worst.  However, I also question the sincerity here.  Does Mr. Hill call out everyone that is a ‘punch in the eye’.  What about rappers?  Does he rage against them?  Is he just ‘scoring points’ in some kind of battle?  Will he ever understand that the rest of us are ready to move on from that battle.

I think there are two directions we can go here.  One would be to make a giant list of every term that anyone, anywhere on the planet may find offensive.   Then train everyone, everywhere on the planet about those terms and instruct them not to use them.  Call it the big eraser system.  Such a list can be found on the internet.  Some of the terms are very offensive.  I thought at age 40 I’d heard every profanity out there.  Now, at 41, I’ve seen a few more.  (Since my children read this blog, I will not link the list here.)  However, there are many, many things there that struck me as silly.  Teapot, telephone, and Thanksgiving were a couple examples in the t’s (near tar-baby, which was also listed as a slur in the UK).  There are several problems with this approach, making it a bad idea.  The list itself is so offensive, it would be the worst violation in itself.  Also, the process would equip racist people to be more destructive and efficient with the use of racist terms.  Another problem is that, even if you could erase certain words and phrases from the planet, new racist terms would develop.  This does not address the heart of the problem.

The other approach would be for people to get a thicker skin, give one another a break, and stop the ‘victimhood’ mentality.  Tar-baby is not common racist slur.  It just isn’t.  It may be an obscure slur in another part of the world, but it doesn’t have that meaning in St.Cloud MN (or at least it didn’t until recently).   Perhaps someone in St.Cloud has heard the term used racially before, but I suspect not.  Clearly, the cause of anit-racism is not served by the actions of the professional victims that find racism in innocent remarks.  I would agree that this approach (although much more sound than the other) still leaves us short.

Perhaps the answer lies with a third solution.  This one will work because it comes from Christ.  “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  And “the standard which you judge other, so to you will be judged.”  Preaching these will affectively combat those other problems without creating additional ones.  The left, who are constantly reminding us of the problem, will have no part of the only solution that addresses the real problem, which is the hearts of people.  They seems to want everyone in a state of anger toward one another and staying there.  Sort of the opposite of God’s love.  I wonder where that comes from?

Rebel Attack

2006-03-29T19:02:00.000-08:00

Easter Bunny Update:
As predicted, the ‘rebels’ did show up. (Read the last part of my previous entry). You can read their story here.

Another Martyr update

2006-03-27T11:22:00.000-08:00

In my original article on the issue of the Afghan martyr, I stated “Something tells me this martyr is going to impact the world.” Well, it looks like it is starting to happen. This article tells of a surge in interest in Christianity in Afghanistan. It’s a good, quick read.

One story of interest:

Andaryas recalled instances like the one in which a father and two sons all became Christians independently of each other, but were so careful about keeping their new faith secret that more than a year passed before each became aware of the others' conversion.

It concludes:

Andaryas' own journey took him from Afghanistan to Iran, where he said he was caught communicating with a local Christian and arrested. In detention, he was cut with a knife and beaten with a rod bearing the words "confession or death" in Farsi."The three days and nights of torture in Iran brought me to understand that God cannot be like that, that God does not need protection for His religion, His way," he wrote later.

I agree, and I think that most Afghans will be able to apply the same logic. This may lead to revival in Afghanistan. It could happnen.

This Will Make You Proud

2006-03-24T11:02:00.000-08:00

I usually don’t pass on tear-jerker stories. Many that you see aren’t even true. However, here is a good read that will indeed make you proud. It is completely a true story. READ IT! I guarantee that you will be glad you did.

Bad day in the Twins

2006-03-23T12:17:00.000-08:00

This is scary (From the Minneapolis Star Tribune here in the Twin Cities – Hat Tip again to the guys at Tongue Tied). A teacher in Minneapolis did a demonstration on censorship, and ‘pretended’ to put a Koran in a burning trash can (the fire was fake). Well, now he is in trouble.

“A ninth-grade student, who is Muslim, was offended by the librarian's remarks and actions, sparking calls to the school from her parents and the Muslim American Society-Freedom Foundation. … Using the Qur'an, a book that is holy to 1.7 billion Muslims in the world, was "misguided," said Murad Mohammad, a director for the Muslim foundation's Civil and Legal Rights Department.”

Needless to say, everyone is running scared and tripping over themselves apologizing, All will definitely be sent to sensitivity training.

“Muslims living in a post-9/11 world face daily questions about what Islam stands for, Mohammad said. And with a worldwide controversy sparked by Danish cartoons illustrating the prophet Mohammed, it should be obvious that using the religious text held sacred by Muslims would evoke a strong sentiment, he said.”

This is the scary part. He seems to be saying ‘Haven’t you learned your lesson yet? Do we need to repeat the reaction to the Danish Cartoons here? You do something we don’t like, you die.’

And what respect is our culture showing to other religions? A look at the other paper in the Twin Cities (the St. Paul Pioneer Press) shows us this article.

“A toy rabbit decorating the entrance of the St. Paul City Council offices went hop-hop-hoppin' on down the bunny trail Wednesday after the city's human rights director said non-Christians might be offended by it. ... The decorations — including the stuffed rabbit, Easter eggs and a handcrafted sign saying "Happy Easter," but nothing depicting the biblical account of Christ's death and resurrection — were put up this week in the office of the City Council by a council secretary. … "I sent an e-mail that Easter is viewed as a Christian holiday and advised that it be taken down," said Tyrone Terrill, the city's human rights director.”

But that guy is an idiot, blinded from truth by his hatred for anything resembling Christians or Christianity. There is obviously nothing religious about any of that.

“As for the Easter bunny, the disputed rabbit has its origin in pre-Christian beliefs in Europe, according to theological historians. The hare was the most fertile animal known and served as the pagan symbol of new life during the spring season.”

And

And the name Easter comes from the "pagan fertility goddess Eostre", to quote Wikipedia.

The guy would have more credibility demanding them to change the name of the city (Saint Paul?). It's only a matter of time.

Thank God for the rebels, standing up for truth.

“Before Christmas 2001, Council Member Jim Reiter and a Ramsey County district judge sneaked a half-dozen red poinsettias into City Hall — which also serves as the Ramsey County Courthouse — leaving them near the "Vision of Peace" statue that dominates the lobby. Red poinsettias had been banned as being too connected to Christianity. Instead, the City Hall-Courthouse was displaying white poinsettias during Christmas that year.”

Looks like it was a bad day in the Twin Cities for free speech.

Relating the Stories

2006-03-23T06:04:00.000-08:00

Looking at my own two posts below, I began thinking about a challenge I heard in a sermon years ago.

If being a Christian were to suddently become illegal, would there be enough evidence in your life to bring you to conviction?

This is real for the Afghan guy, but only hypothetical for us. Here, it looks like it would be easier if the ACLU were the judge. All you need is a few traditional values. However, God will be our judge. I think I'm going to try to leave some evidence out there today.

Where will we go from here

2006-03-23T05:55:00.000-08:00

It’s hard to know where to start with this story (Another Hat Tip to Tongue Tied – the best blog on the net written by an atheist). It used to be that you had to at least mention religion, faith, or a creator to violate the establishment clause. Now it looks like, at least according to some Yankees, that all you have to do is come from South Carolina and value abstinence for children. You can read the article here.

"Lawyers at the Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union first complained last year that a now-abandoned textbook used by Heritage of Rhode Island taught students that girls should wear clothing that doesn't invite "lustful thoughts" from boys. The book described men as "strong" and "courageous" while women were called "caring."....

Pawtucket's top school official complained that he was duped by Heritage officials and halted the program even before a parent complained to the ACLU. "We really don't promulgate any religious opinion in this school system” …

"Out of the box from South Carolina, things just didn't translate here," Plante said."....

My atheist friend at Tongue Tied made the best comment:

It looks like we REALLY have an established church in Rhode Island. You can teach feminism but not traditional values. And describing traditional values as "religious" is just a ploy. I am an atheist and I have similar values so it is nonsense. It is a partisan attack on the values that got us to where we are today, full stop. But Rhode Island clearly bows down to the established church of Leftism.

Where will the country go if all Christian values are banned?

Afghan Martyr update

2006-03-22T20:47:00.000-08:00

Update: Fox news, and apparently President Bush, have picked up on this story. You can read an update here. The highlight is more ‘Baghdad Bob’ type comments.

“The constitution of Afghanistan provides protection for freedom of religion. The government of Afghanistan will ensure that the constitutional rights of its citizens, international principles, and the due judicial process are respected and implemented," the embassy statement said.”

Oh yea, then why is the guy on trial? They explained.

“Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said in a press conference that the Afghan government has "nothing to do with" the prosecution.”

What!?!

Anyway, my new hero appears to be still standing strong.

“…in a recent court appearance, the defendant appeared entirely cogent as he thumbed through his translated Bible and testified once more to his faith.
"I believe in Christianity. I believe in the Holy Spirit. I am a Christian," “
Good boy. Taking the good book anywhere takes guts. Taking it to your death penalty trial for becoming a Christian is another matter. They are using his Bible as evidence against him.

Tonight this story is on Nightline. Afghanistan has itself in a political mess. It appears their strategy out is to declare him ‘mentally unfit’ for trial – thus letting him go but not declaring conversion OK. This guy has the power of the Holy Spirit. He’s the only one ‘mentally fit’ in the bunch.

The Battle for Texas (again)

2006-03-21T19:43:00.000-08:00

Looks like we can chalk one up for the good guys (Hat tip: Tongue Tied). A school district in Texas has a web site that lists the student clubs with a description. Nothing unusual. Apparently, one day they decided to wipe out the listing for the Bible club. You can read the story here. It looks like the students didn’t back down, but filed a lawsuit. The school must have decided one religious discrimination suit at a time was enough. They decided to back down, as you can read here.

You have to wonder about that school. Obviously, there are some Christian-haters there. This time they didn’t win, but they won’t give up soon. We need to keep fighting the good fight.

Another Martyr

2006-03-20T12:35:00.000-08:00

Now here is a real Christian.

Apparently, this guy in Afghanistan converted to Christianity, and is now facing the death penalty. The most amazing quote is below:

“We are not against any particular religion in the world. But in Afghanistan, this sort of thing is against the law," the judge said. "It is an attack on Islam.”

Love the disclaimer, like Hitler saying “I’m not anti-Semitic, but …”

You have to like converted guy, though. He’s sticking to his new faith.

"He would have been forgiven if he changed back. But he said he was a Christian and would always remain one," Wasi told the AP. "We are Muslims and becoming a Christian is against our laws. He must get the death penalty."

Something tells me this martyr is going to impact the world.

Abuse Of Power

2006-03-14T05:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Doug over at SCO pointed to two stories not being reported by the news media.  The first one is a discussion of the new tapes and papers found in Iraq that are now being translated.  They detail several things, including Saddam’s plans to hide his WMD and fool those silly inspectors.  It looks like all those ‘Bush lied’ people need to scrape off their bumper stickers and apologize.   Perhaps they will realize that those leading the ‘Bush Lied’ charge were actually the ones lying.   Now they will put on new bumper stickers saying ‘Howard Dean Lied’ or something like that.

The second one (registration required – sorry – but it’s free) is about Valerie Plame.  Apparently, she wasn’t actually an undercover CIA agent.  She had an embassy as her official address.  It looks like all those political mudslingers misled the American people on this one as well.  In a sense this really isn’t news.   Scooter Libby isn’t under indictment for breaking her cover, he is in trouble for perjury (which is not really a crime for Clinton supporters).  This story is just the final word on Plame.  The jury is back, and Plame was NOT an undercover agent.

But to me, the interesting thing is the connection between the two stories.  Deeper in the first story, you will also see there are records of Saddam attempting to buy Uranium from Africa.  If you remember, Plame’s claim to fame was that she recommended her husband, former ambassador Wilson, to investigate this story (Can you say nepotism?  Can you say ‘taxpayer funded witch hunt’?).  He did, and supposedly determined that it wasn’t true.  (He intended to find nothing, and miraculously, he managed the accomplishment.)  So, it turns out that not only was Plame not an agent, but Wilson’s original report was also wrong.

The question is, ‘Does the truth matter?’  Lots of political points were scored against the President.  That seems to matter.  Lots of newspapers were sold.  That seems to matter.  Bush’s approval rating is down from all time highs to all time lows.  That seems to matter.  Bush was accused of abusing power.  The truth is that Bush was right.  The MSM and others need to correct the wrong they have done to Bush.  Otherwise, they will be the ones guilty of abuse of power.

Pleasant Surprise

2006-03-12T19:40:00.000-08:00

I had a rough week last week.  I spent the week on business near Toronto.  Friday night my flight got cancelled, leaving me stranded in Milwaukee.   Saturday, after getting home, I went to dinner with my wife.  I must have eaten something that did not agree, because last night I woke in the middle of the night with stomach problems.  At 1:00 am I turned on my new TV to one of  the PAX channels, and I was amazed.  A documentary on the life of Ronald Reagan was on called ‘In the Face of Evil’.  (Check out their web site here).

What stood out was the country’s strategy of ‘Détente’ with the Soviet Union.   ‘Let’s try to compromise, make deals, not offend, understand, stay balanced, etc.’  However, each time we gave in to something, the Soviets rewarded us with more aggression.  Reagan had a much different vision; to end communism and remove the Berlin wall.  He wanted to win the cold war outright.    I could not stay awake to the end.  But if I remember correctly, he does, and the world is a much better place because of this great leader.

I could not help noticing the similarities with today’s response to terrorism from Muslim extremists.    Many are embracing the failed policy of Detente.  However, I think we need to think more like Reagan.  We will never be able to move on until we defeat this.

Anyway, I still hope to see the end of this remarkable presentation.  I do have a birthday coming up.  Perhaps my sweet wife will read this and get the hint.  I can only hope.

DaVinci Strategy

2006-02-28T19:58:00.000-08:00

Hugh Hewitt has some great commentary on the DaVinci Code at a site called The DaVinci Dialogue. Hugh suggests preparing for discussions on the topic strategically. He has some general good advice for winsome point making there as well. Worth a read.

Message to ECI: Be Careful

2006-02-27T20:26:00.000-08:00

As a Christian, I’ve been following the Evangelical Climate Initiative (ECI) closely. Doug over at Stones Cry Out thinks most closely to me on this issue. You can see his postings and some comments by me here. Like it or not, the ads will be running soon.

Sure, Christians should be treating the earth well. God has called us to ‘fill the earth and subdue it’. I like the idea of nuke power, E-85 Fuel, and Bio-diesel. My company is huge into solar (I think we are #3 in the world and climbing fast). We need to be doing things that make sense, and continuing to develop new technologies. However, I’m not comfortable with a few things going on here.

Overall, I don’t think their statement is well worded. In point 1 it claims:

“those in the scientific community most seriously engaged with this issue that climate change is happening and is being caused mainly by human activities.”

1. The sentence is a little ‘run-on’.
2. Who is the ‘scientific community’? Atheists and others use the phrase ‘scientific community’ to lend credibility to their claims. Now this group of evangelicals is using the same technique.
3. Many in the ‘scientific community’ believe otherwise.

The ‘scientific community’ used to believe the earth had long cycles, global cooling was the problem, and that we were headed toward an ice age.

Now they believe the planet is warming, and have created a model to ‘prove’ it. Well, like most things, the global warming model is flawed. You can see some ponderings examples in one of my previous blogs here. Some other critiques can be seen here and here. (I’m sure there is other stuff, but I’m not going looking tonight). Of note:

Computer simulations, for example, indicate that over the past century the
"enhanced greenhouse effect" should have increased the temperature globally by
about one degree Celsius (or 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit). But, Baliunas notes, "the
actual temperatures have not cooperated with the computer models." Records
reveal a temperature rise of 0.5 degree Celsius over the past 100 years, peaking
before 1940. After that, the Earth's average surface temperature decreased until
the 1970s. Baliunas reminds us that was the time that doomsayers were warning
about an impending ice age! Since the 1970s the temperature has risen modestly
0.2 degree Celsius until now.
What is most significant about this brief
summary of global temperature patterns is that the warming of the Earth prior to
1940 must have been from natural causes, since more than 80 percent of the
manmade carbon dioxide has entered the air since the 1940s. No significant human
influence on climate existed in the early decades of the 20th century.

I’m a firm believer in data. Overall, I believe that the sun determines the temperature of the earth (Warmer sun, warmer earth, and vise-versa). Pretty radical, but you can read more here.

Also, I’m not comfortable with the spirit of the website. They seem very self-absorbed, relishing in the media coverage they are getting. On their home page, they link a video speaking of the ‘break’ from Bush. Are they delighted that they are scoring points against the president?

I liked Rick Warren’s book. However, today I’m disappointed he has cast his lot with these radicals. As I warn at SCO, he and the others are risking much. Sadly, the risk is unnecessary. I know that they could have put out a message saying ‘Take care of the planet’ without getting into bed with the extremists.

I’m not losing sleep over this. Overall, the cause of Christ will be in His will, not dependent on Warren or any of the ECI guys. Ultimately, I believe God will take care of the planet also, but that’s just me.

KSTP - Supporting the troops

2006-02-18T06:56:00.000-08:00

The KSTP/ MidWest Heroes story is HUGE in the blogosphere. Being MN based, I can’t ignore it. The biggest blog that has been following closely is Powerline. You can see stuff here, here, and here. Make sure you go to MidWest Heroes site and check out all the videos. If you want even more encouragement, surf over to the parent site and check out the additional stories here. This woman is launching a personal jihad against KSTP. I hope she gets far. You can write Hubbard here.

I’ve been watching these commercials during the Olympics on KARE11. They are fantastic. KSTP was my favorite station, mostly because their radio station is pretty well balanced. I suppose Hubbard has a right to refuse these commercials. I have a right to make KARE11 my new favorite station. However, there is a portion of the story that bothers me. Hubbard says the allegation that the media doesn’t give the whole story isn’t true. Well, who better to tell the whole story than the soldiers themselves? I would claim they should be at least a part of the whole story. By blocking their story, Hubbard proves their point, and proves true that which he claims in untrue. I’m sure the irony is lost on the liberals, however. The other have is the Democrats. They loved the Sheehan protest and celebrated it as free speech. Now, they want to block the free speech of the soldiers and their families. It shows they do not defend freedom, but value political gain above all. This protest, however, will backfire on them. The Heroes message will go forward in power, and the hype behind the protest will only HELP send the message forward. Thanks Democrats and Hubbard. You’ve finally figured out how to help support our troops.

Gumbel

2006-02-16T20:49:00.000-08:00

I had a long drive today, and listened to lots of radical right wing talk radio.  One story caught my attention involved Bryant Gumbel and some racist comments he made.  Apparently, the transcript was taken down from the HBO site pretty quickly.  I was able to find it and some comments posted here.

I’ve been watching some Olympics.  Like most people, I like some of the games, and not others.  However, you have to respect all the athletes involved.  I don’t like figure skating, bores me to tears.  Tonight, however, they showed the story of a poor Russian figure skater (Plushenko) who dedicated his life since age 11 to his sport.  His parents picked up bottles for money so that he could have lessons.    He won the gold by a huge margin.  This guy knows more about being a real athlete than Gumbel could ever dream.

If Gumbel wants to slander the GOP, well, that’s no surprise.  It’s been open season on Republicans for some time.  If he wants to make racist comments, that’s another thing.  Lots of sports figures have made this mistake, and many have lost their jobs for a lot less than Gumbel’s remarks.  However, Gumbel showed enormous disrespect and contempt for some great athletes.  Athletes that deserve respect.  Gumbel has embarrassed America.

1836

2006-02-15T18:11:00.000-08:00

According to this article, the Houston soccer team, the Houston 1836, now must change their name. (Hat tip to Tongue Tied).

Sources told 11 News that after pressure from the Hispanic community the name “Houston 1836” will be changed. 1836 is the year Houston was founded, but it is also the year Texas declared its independence from Mexico. For many Mexican-Americans 1836 represents the year thousands of their forefathers lost their lives and their land.

This article, from when the name was announced, describes the name as the year the city was developed. Apparently, that fact doesn’t matter to the ‘offended’. Several other facts don’t seem to matter either.

When Texas declared independence from Mexico, it was ruled by Santa Anna. He was elected president, but declared himself dictator and was particularly brutal. He has been quoted as saying "......it is very true that I threw up my cap for liberty with great ardor, and perfect sincerity, but very soon found the folly of it. A hundred years to come my people will not be fit for liberty. They do not know what it is, unenlightened as they are, and under the influence of a Catholic clergy, a despotism is the proper government for them … ".

There is no shame in declaring independence from Santa Anna. Many of the people fighting for freedom in Texas were Hispanic, fighting side by side native Americans and people from every other heritage.

I’m not from Texas, but it seems to me that the year 1836 should be a proud year for anyone that values liberty. Now it looks like we have to change names of sports teams because people are ignorant of history.

End of the End of the Spear

2006-02-14T15:29:00.000-08:00

A friend asked me about the ending of End of the Spear (angles, etc.). Here is an article by Mr. Saint from 10 years ago in Christianity Today describing the source of this information.

3 Cheers

2006-02-14T10:01:00.000-08:00

I read a letter here regarding our military from a leader in Iraq. This is how many really feel. (Hat tip to SCO). It’s pretty enlightening, describing the liberation of a particular city, and how well we went about doing it.

Sounds like the troops involved are now coming home. I sure hope their homecoming goes like this. (Hat Tip to my old friend Lee). This is what they deserve. Something tells me that it won’t, simply because the average American is confused about the war. I hope the MSM picks up on the letter, and I pray that America will embrace its heroes.

World's Worst Council Member

2006-02-08T17:26:00.000-08:00

I saw this over at Tongue Tied, called ‘Words Fail Us’. This guy wrote a letter describing conditions in his neighborhood to his City council member. The letter wasn’t well received. Instead of addressing his concerns or simply ignoring him, she took action against him. She declared the letter ‘racist’ and turned it into a public issue (It does not look racist to me – but I guess these things are open to interpretation these days). Apparently, the guy works for a construction outfit that does a lot of work for the city. After an inspirational call from the council member, the employer fired the guy after 27 years. The guy, faced with the label of ‘racist’ and the loss of his job, decided to take his own life. Some of the comments on this article are from people in the area and are insightful.

This council member neglected her duty to respond to the note. She took it personally, when I don’t believe it was intended that way. She overreacted to the note’s personal nature. She decided to retaliate. She abused her power in the retaliation. She did all this with disregard to the consequences. She is the world’s worst council member. She should be removed from office and prosecuted for her crimes.

Overall, this is a very sad situation. People really need Jesus.

Graduation rates.

2006-02-01T08:41:00.000-08:00

Looks like the truth still doesn't matter to John Kerry. Either that, or it looks like Kerry really needs help from one of those math teachers himself.

The Oscars

2006-02-01T06:10:00.000-08:00

I’m probably getting into trouble over at Stones Cry Out again. You can read it here.

Global Rich List

2006-01-31T18:48:00.000-08:00

This is interesting, and roughly in line with what I thought.

Ethical Decision Making

2006-01-31T10:58:00.000-08:00

It looks like it didn’t take long for this campaign to get ugly. The Democratic challenger in my congressional district, Coleen Rowley, is already calling the Republican, John Kline, a Nazi. She has photo-shopped images to support her position. Powerline has a screen cap and some background information here. Even the Star Tribune has reported this. The article is here, although they don’t show the picture and dedicate a good portion of the article defending Rowley’s position.

Powerline stated it best. “If Rowley really doesn't understand the impact of depicting a Congressman and 25-year Marine Corps veteran in a Nazi uniform, she is not ready for prime time, to put it mildly.”

Funny thing is, Rowley’s campaign slogan is ‘Ethical Decision Making’. How ironic.

If Only ...

2006-01-30T19:04:00.000-08:00

Now that Alito is about to be confirmed, I think it would be good for us not to forget that the process is really messed up. Kennedy spent most of the time reading from an article that Alito didn’t write in a magazine he never saw – and demanded the candidate to explain. Funny thing, I believe this article that Kennedy took so seriously was actually intended as satire.

Anyway, Robert ‘KKK’ Byrd actually made a good speech on the subject. It’s a very good read, and you can find it here.

Byrd says “… Mrs. Alito … as she fled the hearing room in tears, fighting to maintain her dignity in response to others with precious little of their own?

WOW! Kennedy is completely marginalized now. Even Byrd can’t take it any more.

Then a friend sends me the piece below. Too funny.

Subject: If Only

Wouldn't you like to see Judge Alito and Chief Justice Roberts questioning the Democrat Senators to determine their qualifications for Public office?
Just imagine matching the IQs of the Senators and the Judges!

The questions might go like this:

Judge Alito (JA): "Senator Kennedy, I see from your official resume that you attended Harvard University..."

Senator Kennedy (SK): "Yes, your honor, I certainly did."

JA: "Did you graduate?"

SK: "Your honor, I respectfully ask that you not pry into my personal life..."

JA: "Is it not true that you were expelled from Harvard for violating the honor code, to wit, you hired someone to take an exam for you?"

SK: "Mr. Chairman, I want to go on record that I disagree with this line of questioning. I ask the chair to order the Judge from asking questions about my private matters.."

Senator Specter, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee: "Answer the Judge's questions. He answered all of yours.."

JA: "Senator Kennedy, we have on hand a transcript of the session of the university's honor council attesting to your fraudulent examination and subsequent expulsion from the university..."

SK: "I have had all I can take of this line of unreasonable questioning.
I am going to ask Al Gore how he managed to keep his early departure from Vanderbilt University Divinity School away from the eyes of you religious nuts..."

JA: "Wait, Senator Kennedy, I want to ask you about the 26 phone calls you made from a motel room the night Mary Jo Kopecne drowned in your car at Chappaquidik, when you said you were asleep all night..." [ Kennedy flees the hearing room ]

Senator Specter: "Chief Justice Roberts [CJR] will now interrogate Senator Biden [SB}, Democrat of Delaware..."

CJR: "Senator Biden, is it not true that you were expelled from law school for plagiarizing another student's work?"

SB: "Wait, Ted, I am going with you..." [ Biden flees the hearing room ]

Senator Specter: "Judge Alito will now interrogate Senator Feinstein, Democrat of California..."

JA: "Senator Feinstein [SF], why did you vote for the former Grand Kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan of West Virginia [Robert Byrd] to be the Democrat Senate Majority Leader in 1986, 1988, 1990, and 1992?"

SF: "Wait, boys, I am going with you..." [Feinstein flees the hearing room ]

[ end of hearing ]

Missionary heroes

2006-01-28T14:19:00.000-08:00

Finally got to see the movie ‘End of the Spear’. If you are not familiar with the story, you can get a preview at that site. I like the summary here better.

The movie was good for the following reasons:

Missionaries were shown as martyrs... heroes. (As stated below, anytime Christians are portrayed in a positive light by film makers is a miracle in itself.)

Missionary wives were shown as strong, capable, brave, and independent.

Tribes people were shown as they really were – savage, lost, and miserable.

The message of the missionaries is credited with changing lives for the good.

Cinematography was very good.

I loved the movie and would consider it a must see – at the theater. Do not wait for the rental. However, there was one disappointment. The power of the Gospel, God’s Word, and the Holy Spirit are not credited. The omission of this leaves a confusing gap in the story. To the credit of the makers, they did not redirect the motivation of the missionaries in some sort of PC fashion. They just left it out. As a Christian, I knew, and so the movie still worked. These people bought an opportunity for someone to hear the gospel with their blood. And it was worth it, because they have assurance in their salvation. An emphasis on this aspect would have made the movie even better.

Uganda Girl

2006-01-28T09:30:00.000-08:00

This week brought me to Europe.  I visited Ireland and Germany.  On the long flight back from Amsterdam to Minneapolis, I sat next to a very interesting person.  This was a young (college age) girl from the mid-west returning home.   She is perhaps the most independent person I’ve ever met.  She had no use for peer pressure or anything that one would typify for her generation.  As part of this independent spirit, she had decided to take a break from school and go to Uganda.  Alone.  She dropped out of college, sold her car to pay for the trip, and just went.  Her stories were fascinating as she described conditions and experiences there.  Her trip ended up getting cut short due to a bout with Malaria where she could have died.  In hind site, she decided going along was not the wisest move, and that she was lucky to have survived.

I couldn’t help but relating her experiences to my own as a short term missionary.  There is a fulfillment that is difficult to explain related to such an experience.  However, I think she was missing something compared to mine.  I’ve tended to go with a team of people that have a purpose, which is to share the love of God.  She didn’t build any houses or share the gospel.  She did not appear to be a person of faith, just an amazing person seeking something more in life.

We also talked about other things, mostly goats and dating.  She hasn’t found any guys that she felt were as interested in her as they were themselves, and didn’t know how she would every go about meeting anyone that was.  I told her about the courtship model as an alternative to dating, and suggested she find a church where people believed in such things.

Overall, I don’t think she got lucky to survive the trip.  I believe God has a plan for her life.  This plan will give her more meaning in life than she could ask or imagine.  I pray that she begins this adventure soon, so that God can use her in mighty ways.  Somehow, I believe this will happen.

Exorcism

2006-01-28T08:49:00.000-08:00

We’ve been getting movies after McDonalds at the Red Box there. $1 is a good price for a DVD rental. My wife had taken one daughter to ‘End of the Spear’, and my younger boys wanted to rent “Star Wars III” again because “It has the most and best light saber battles”. Therefore, I was left with the opportunity to get a movie that only my older daughter and I would want to see. The answer, ‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’.

This movie was good for several reasons:

It was a ‘thinking man’s’ horror movie. OK, I like horror movies, but as I’ve got older, they’ve been a little harder to swallow. This one fit the bill.

It was generally clean. No language or sex. Just an interesting story.

It portrayed a religious person in a positive light. (A miracle unto itself).

Yes, the key figure, a Priest, is on trial – and the movie leaves the question open if all this is real or not. However, the Priest is portrayed as caring, upright, and sincere; not a nut job. He is willing to sacrifice himself and his career for what is right. Supporting a major label release that shows something like this is worth $1 alone. The scary stuff was all bonus material.

The Blood of the martyrs

2006-01-19T17:30:00.000-08:00

The Blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.

The movie ‘End of the Spear’ opens tomorrow, and I’m going. If you are not familiar with the story, you can get a preview at that site. I like the summary here better.

I heard Nate’s son on the radio today. He was only 5, but remembers his Dad going to visit the Huao tribe. Although they had guns, he told his son that he could not use them on the Huao, even if there was a problem, because they did not yet have Jesus. However, the missionaries did have Jesus, so if would be OK if they died. They were ready, the Huao weren’t. Something always good happens when someone lives their faith.

Chocolate and Nuts

2006-01-17T06:26:00.000-08:00

Being a web site called Chocolate Acres commenting on religion and politics, I’d be remiss if I left out a case where chocolate, politics, and religion (sort of) all come together. Check out the excerpts of the New Orleans mayor’s MLK speech here.

Seems to me that lots of people like NUTS with their chocolate, and there are plenty of them in this mix as well. Nagin even does a ‘Pat Robertson’, saying the hurricane is punishment from God for liberating Iraq. Go figure. The talk of chocolate being a mix of black and white were backtracking comments AFTER his speech.

Overall, I do NOT think MLK would have been impressed with the speech. MLK preached of a ‘color-blind’ society, where people are judged by their character, not their color. Let’s test this. Let’s say a majority vanilla (or insert whatever flavor you want) city with a vanilla (or insert whatever flavor …) mayor had a disaster that struck the vanilla (or insert …) neighborhoods. This leaves the majority thinner, or perhaps now a minority. So the vanilla (or …) mayor says “We will make this city a majority vanilla (or … ) again, because that’s what God intends.” If this happened, there would be an outcry. But then again, this is what just happened. Where’s the outcry.

We used to think ... but now we know ...

2006-01-16T19:15:00.000-08:00

OK, Here is a good one. Turns out trees are bad for the planet and pollution is good. The article reminded me of the song by the band Rush, called ‘The Trees”.

Overall, there is a problem with science. There is always an assurance that today’s understanding is right on – while yesterday we were confused. Think about it. Didn’t they say that yesterday as well? Won’t they find out tomorrow that what they are telling us today is wrong? I call the “We used to think … but now we know …” syndrome.

Viva la Venezuela

2006-01-10T15:37:00.000-08:00

I have a new post on Stones Cry Out that you can see here. Read the news article first, it is unbelievable. I sent the Foxnews.com version to a couple people. The ‘scrappleface’ commentary is a little humorous. Obviously, I take this one seriously. I have no sense of humor on this one.

Kennedy vs. Alito

2006-01-10T08:12:00.000-08:00

OK, my wife asked me this a.m. if I’ve given up on my blog, so I better get on my horse (as we say here at Chocolate Acres). The Judge Alito hearings are all the buzz, and much is being blogged. My favorite character is Kennedy. As usual, he is embarrassing as usual. He is funny in that he is (or should be) embarrassing to liberals. However, it is sad in that he is an embarrassment to the country. You can listen to his speech here. There are many places you can read it as well. I found the section particularly interesting that is time stamped 3:30-3:00 (amount of time left in his speech). If you can’t ‘stomach’ the entire speech, just listen to that part. Note that Kennedy (purposely?) mispronounces his name. That cheap trick aside, the statement was otherwise a complete lie. Below I’ve listed a little information from the ‘Committee For Justice’ website/blog. You can read it here. (Hat tip to TL for his post here - there is also humorous content there ).

Seems like there is a recipe for ‘Borking’ a judge, and one ingredient is allegations of racism. Since there were no prior allegations, Kennedy had to manufacture some. Apparently, the facts do not matter, it’s just part of the process. This behavior is wrong, and Kennedy is more than embarrassing. He is damaging an important governmental function and needs to be corrected. I hope the MSM takes the time to do so. However, I suspect that this story is moving too fast, and Kennedy will get away with his lie, and adding this ingredient to the receipe.

Anyway, for the record, here's the truth.

· In Reynolds v. USX Corp., Judge Alito ruled that a black woman whose co-workers and supervisors regularly made racial and sexual slurs against her and denied her training opportunities was entitled to $124,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees.

· In Zubi v. AT&T Corp., Judge Alito authored a lone dissent, arguing against a stringent limitations period in which civil-rights plaintiffs must file their claim. The Supreme Court unanimously vindicated Judge Alito’s position four years later.

· In Smith v. Davis, Judge Alito held that the district court was wrong to dismiss the African-American employee’s claims of discrimination. Judge Alito found that there was evidence to support a finding that the employer’s stated reasons for firing the plaintiff were not genuine.

· In Goosby v. Johnson & Johnson, Judge Alito ruled that the plaintiff, a black woman, was entitled to a trial on her claims of employment discrimination. Judge Alito concluded that there was evidence that the employer was willing to overlook problems with white, male employees that it held against the plaintiff.

· Judge Alito's dissent in Sheridan v. DuPont, 100 F.3d 1061 (3d Cir. 1996) (en banc), is a principled balancing of the interests of employees and employers, and the Supreme Court later vindicated it.

· Judge Alito interpreted the Supreme Court's holding in a previous case as requiring that a Title VII plaintiff who produces certain evidence i.e., that the employer's stated reason for the employment decision was false should "usually" but not necessarily "always" be permitted to go to trial.

· The Supreme Court agreed with Judge Alito's Sheridan dissent in Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc., 530 U.S. 133 (2000). Reeves was a unanimous opinion signed by Justice O'Connor whose seat Judge Alito is poised to take.

· In Bray v. Marriott Hotels, 110 F.3d 986 (3d Cir. 1997), Judge Alito would have affirmed the trial court's ruling for the employer because the plaintiff, an African-American woman, had failed to meet her burden of proof under relevant Supreme Court precedent.
· Marriott explained that it promoted a white female instead of the plaintiff because the white female had a higher objective employee rating, had superior experience, and had participated in more seminars and training sessions.
· Judge Alito argued that discrimination claims of require evidence of actual discrimination, not just evidence that an employer failed to comply with its own internal procedures.

· Judge Alito has held that prosecutors' efforts to exclude African-Americans from juries is unconstitutional discrimination.
· In Jones v. Ryan, 987 F.2d 960 (3d Cir. 1993), an African-American defendant was convicted in Pennsylvania court of robbery and criminal conspiracy; at trial, the prosecutor used peremptory challenges to exclude three African-Americans from the jury. Judge Alito joined a unanimous opinion holding that the prosecutor had discriminated against the potential jurors on the basis of race, and granting the defendant habeas relief.
· In Brinson v. Vaughn, 398 F.3d 225 (3d Cir. 2005), an African-American defendant was convicted of first-degree murder in Pennsylvania court and sentenced to life in prison. The prosecutor had used 13 out of 14 peremptory challenges against African-American potential jurors, and Judge Alito held that this pattern raised an inference of discrimination.

Spiritual Survey

2005-12-31T11:35:00.000-08:00

Spiritual Survey

Here is a spiritual survey. No, not the kind leading to a gospel presentation, just a survey. At the end it gives you a score. Nothing too serious, just fun. I answered honestly, from my own worldview (evangelical Christian), although you can really see the different worldview in the answers. I got 95 – highest category – “candidate for clergy”. I don’t know if the high score is for consistency or for getting the answers right. I might take the quiz again and consistently answer from a secular humanist worldview or mix up my answers and see what I get.

Protecting America

2005-12-29T07:46:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine sent me a good article by Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., which I found on-line here. I thought this to be must-reading. You will definitely want to read the article before trying to make sense of my comments below:

"…the question should be: Would we forgive ourselves, and our leaders, if — out of an unwillingness to infringe in any way upon civil liberties in time of war — we fail to bring such tools to bear, only to discover after another horrific attack occurs that these measures would have enabled it to be prevented?"

Problem is, Bush-bashers are bashing for both reasons. He's doing too much and not enough at the same time – wherever they can ‘score points’. Liberal politicians are putting ‘scoring points against the president’ above the safety of the people. This is a problem.

"the disclosure of this highly classified program ... prompted denunciations from organizations like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). ... "All Americans should be concerned about the apparent trend toward a two-tiered system of justice system ..."”

I'm concerned about what they think they need to hide when sampling the air near their building causes such a reaction. They can sample the air outside my house if they want. If they find something, I'd like to know about it. I’d pay for such a service. I'll be proud to submit a sample of anything if it helps them to keep me and others safe. If they are really peaceful people that are just misunderstood, they would understand that the actions are to protect all people, including Islamic people. That's a one-tiered system of protection, not a two-tiered system of justice. They certainly understand that protesting in such a manner doesn't help their cause and only makes them look more suspicious. Complaining about the 'justice system' BEFORE they are even in the justice system is reason enough to believe they are hiding something.

As a conservative, I believe in a limited federal government. However, it is a legitimate function of the executive branch of the federal government to protect the people from these types of threats (see Article II of the Constitution). The Bush administration needs to do this type of investigation using all of the tools they have available.

UPDATE: I've posted some related comments on a similar topic over at
Stones Cry Out.

Nabbed by the Spy Sheriff

2005-12-28T16:15:00.000-08:00

I had a serious curve-ball thrown my way today. It was called ‘Spy Sheriff’. These guys have a web site, and appear to sell a legit product. However, they are criminals.

Suddenly, I got a pop-up on my computer saying I had a spyware problem. Funny, since I have a pop-up blocker and a virus scanner/blocker that usually works. My screen turned blue and said my computer could not go on until I removed the spyware. Then Spy Sheriff started running. It reported that it found a large number of spyware problems and wanted $19.95 to register the software and remove the problem. (Note: many of the spyware removal programs offer a trial version that detects only, and you pay to get the full version which will remove problems). This scheme is known as Malware. This is a serious Trojan. Turns out my virus blocker (trend micro) even lists this on their virus/trojan list. However, it got through somehow.

See a more detailed description and a reasonable solution here.
I did that, including the extra things found in the notes and e-mails below.

When I was done, I used Ad-Aware (free version) which can be downloaded here.

When done with that, I used Ewido – which is a member of the product category “Anti-Malware” (something more we have to have,) and can be downloaded here.
I’m still on the 14 day trial, we’ll see how I feel in a couple week.

Turns out there are a lot of malicious spyware programs. I found a list here.
There is a ‘short list’ of good ones there as well as a lot of good tips.

Check out the reports of the FTC getting a few of the guys, yet the list has grown to over 200. Guess the FTC can’t keep up. Computer users need to get smarter or the bad guys need to find Jesus. Let’s work for both.

After Christmas

2005-12-26T19:21:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas here at Chocolate Acres. My Dad and nephew were here for the whole weekend. On Christmas day, another family came over. They have five children. That made a total of 15 people! Three of the other family's kids were young. It's great to have young kids around on Christmas day. They went out and saw the animals, including sitting on the pony. The highlight for me was giving everyone a ride in the bucket of the tractor. (I have a 'trip-bucket' loader for my '57 Allis-Chalmers). Then it was tubing rides behind the snowmobile (I have a '72 Artic Cat and a '80 Kitty-Kat). Funny, all the toys, etc., and still the best stuff is those animals, that old snowmobile, and that old tractor.

Today (day after Christmas) was just as great. I spent much of the day playing with my 4 kids. We played foosball and video games. We all got hooked on some 'retro' games which you can now buy embedded into a single joystic. Pole position, Ms Pac Man, etc. Too funny. Just 'bonding', as they say. Quality time ... sure ... but there is something to be said for quantity of time as well.

Intelligent Design Debate

2005-12-22T06:38:00.000-08:00

I have a new post on Stones Cry Out.
Make sure to check out the site I reference and the Clayton Cramer, site mentioned. His whole site is good.

New-Age gal

2005-12-21T07:51:00.000-08:00

For those that don’t know me, I travel a lot for work. This week, I had to go to NJ Monday and return Tuesday. All was aggravating, as travel is this time of year. When I travel, I usually speak with and get to know the person sitting next to me on planes. This is somewhat unusual behavior in itself. Most people put their nose in a book and never even look at anyone. However, I’ve found that people do like to talk about themselves, so asking a couple questions gets people to open up. I had 4 legs of air travel, and met 4 very nice people.

1. Christian Bookstore guy. He sells gifts to Christian book stores.
2. Toothpaste girl. She works at a toothpaste factory, and knows everything about toothpaste.
3. Sweden guy. He was coming back from his aunt’s wedding in Sweden.
4. New-Age gal. Former Catholic, now ???

As a committed Christian, I’ve been studying New Age a little lately, trying to understand what they are really teaching. This is part of a leadership training program through my church. I found New-Age difficult to understand. The thought processed seem a little disorganized and incoherent, not clear and concise. I had become doubtful to believe that anyone actually thought in this manner.

Then there was New-Age gal. I was reading my Bible, and beside me she was reading a a book by Eckhart Toole. I glanced over and noticed part of the title was something about ‘Awakening your Life’s Purpose’. I opened by saying that her book’s title resembled something I’ve read recently, Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Life”. I figure Toole has recognized the success of Warren’s book and was hoping his title would also boost sales. Surprisingly, New-Age gal indicated that she had read the book, and that is was from a different perspective than this one (duh?). She said she didn’t like Rick’s book because it said your life was all about the church, which is just a building. Buildings are material, and a life about material things is egocentric. I tried to explain that the ‘church’ meant the PEOPLE of God’s church, not the building. She said she didn’t get that at all, but got that Rick was one of the most egocentric authors she ever read.

I went back to reading my Bible. How could she have missed it that badly. Obviously, without the Holy Spirit, her thinking was VERY cloudy. I contemplated this as I re-read John 7-8 where he talks about being the Christ and listened to Narnia soundtrack. {United has a Disney channel on the in-flight headphones. I actually got to hear Delirious, Jars of Clay, Jeremy Camp, and Kutlass among others, courtesy of United Airlines}. After a while I prayed, saying “God, she’s probably a lost cause, but if you want me to try, I’m willing”. Well, eventually she indicated she had a paragraph in her book she wanted to show me. {I guess God was answering my prayer – as usual}. I was presented with a paragraph of nonsense, where Tolle indicates that Jesus said “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”, and we all can be like that, we all have the Truth. Anyone can be the “I Am”. Then went on to say ‘Truth’ was found in the other religions as well. She explained that Jesus was one of a number of ‘enlightened’ people of history and there are many ways to God because God was within.

My response was that Jesus claimed to be God. That the next verse Tolle wasn’t including was “No one comes to the Father except through me.” Therefore, if Jesus claimed to be part of God and the only way to God, how could he be enlightened and wrong? This didn’t seem to bother her at all. She just repeated he belief that Jesus was one of many ‘enlightened’ people of history. Apparently, facts and logic don’t matter in New-Age. This makes it very difficult. I shared my testimony with her. However, I lost her when I talked about Satan. Apparently, in the New-Age, we all have God within, but there is no Satan. She wasn’t impressed. She was nice and the exchange was pleasant.

Ultimately, I’m not sure what God is going to do in her life, but I suspect it is something. He has a purpose for her life too Like everyone I see on planes, I probably will not ever see her again. However, you never know … there’s always heaven.

2005-12-18T12:38:00.000-08:00

This is me with my youngest son Caleb

Welcome

2005-12-18T11:55:00.000-08:00

Welcome everyone to my new Blog. Check back later for interesting stuff. It will probably be mostly about faith, politics, family, and tractors.