Tired N Retired

Vanity of vanities

2012-01-07T06:02:00.001-06:00

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,
“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”
What advantage does man have in all his work
Which he does under the sun? . . .
All things are wearisome;
Man is not able to tell it. . . .
There is no remembrance of earlier things;
And also of the later things which will occur,
There will be for them no remembrance
Among those who will come later still.

Vanity ~~ We really do not use this word, very much, any more. Seems we more prefer “vain” as in Joni Mitchell’s song “You’re so vain, I bet you think this song is about you, don’t you, don’t you!”

I am of the age that I remember a piece of furniture found in some homes that was called a “vanity”. I suppose antique hunters and owners are familiar with it. What was interesting about the vanity, was that it was a relatively small desk, with a number of small drawers. The center part of the desk, was considerably lower than the sides, which allowed for a good sized mirror, so, the person sitting in front of it could have a good look at themself. But if you remember, then you also remember there was a smaller mirror on each side of the larger mirror. These were on hinges, to allow them to be moved to give a more advantageous look at the person sitting there. I can imagine the desk got the name from people thinking that sitting in front of the three mirrors was vanity (being vain).

So, in the wee hours of this morning, my mind was cogitating on vanity. Imagine that! Only a different kind of vanity, but vanity none the less. Think about this... a person goes into a casino, sits down in front of a machine, plays the machine for four hours, spending one thousand dollars. Then, they hit a jackpot for say, one thousand six hundred dollars, and they are ecstatic! They beat the system...they won! Ah, but think about this...the thousand dollars they spent, had already been taxed as income, so, now, they have a thousand six, and that is going to be taxed also.

Is it not vain to think it is all right to pay high taxes, to a central governing body, so the body can then send back a portion? How often I have heard people brag about how much government money our state has been able to receive. Want to know what people want in an elected federal representative??? That’s right...how much money can you give us?

At the expense of being redundantly redundant, our founding relatives chose to risk months of sea travel, to leave behind countries that had rulers demanding onerous taxes, and demanding people belong to a certain church. Guess that might have been a part of Hitler’s amenability to be leader of Germany, and Germany’s state church. The Preacher has said,

“There is no remembrance of earlier things;
And also of the later things which will occur,
There will be for them no remembrance
Among those who will come later still.”

Methinks we do not suffer from excess vanity, but instead enjoy every bit of it!

On a Roll

2011-11-21T11:09:00.001-06:00

How have we progressed to the point where men are considered to be perverts, and rapists, without proof? How is it, a woman is able to make a claim against a man, and it is believed even though there is no supporting evidence? What an interesting time to be alive.

Been thinking some about feminism and Sharia law. Feminism has brought us to this point of men being sexual predators, and women being helpless victims. Every where we look today, we see that “feminism” does not speak out against Sharia law, and to some extent seems to hope for it to be incorporated into our culture. What a juxtaposition!

Only in America, the United States of America, does a woman have the ability to wield any power over society, or men, or whatever. In China, girl babies are being aborted, in the Middle East, girls are subjected to honor killings for bringing dishonor on the family. Feminists rail about the mentality of “barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen”; yet, nothing is said about the middle east keeping women hidden in burkas and hajibs.

Remember that song, about forty or fifty years ago, where a woman sang, “Johnny get angry, Johnny get mad, give me the biggest lecture I’ve ever had; I want a brave man, I want a cave man, Johnny show me that you care, really care for me.” Hmmmmmmm! That kinda turns the whole feminist thing up on its head, don’t it! So, where does that leave us?

There are always unintended consequences for every fanatical endeavor. As feminists rail, are they really hoping for men to stand up, and tell them to shut up, and get back where they belong? Is there security, for a woman, in knowing that a man is going to take care of her, protect her, and provide for her and her children?

Thinking, n not getten paid for it

2011-11-21T09:40:00.000-06:00

Have politicians always been liars and thieves?

What a refreshing thought to reflect that George Washington was begged to be President, and he turned down the offer. He, the one, who is remembered for stating, “ I cannot tell a lie, I did it.” Was he being prescient in refusing the position? Perhaps there is some merit in the person who is well qualified for a position, but does not want the position.

The Marine Corps taught me that integrity is embedded in real leaders. You know, real leaders lead from the front. Thusly, it is real leaders that get shot down first. How do you get to be a real leader? You start by being a real follower. A follower that is intent on learning the ins and outs of leadership. We look at the kung fu movies, and find a lot of entertainment in them, but we seem to fail to see the overwhelming evidence that the one who excels at doing the mundane in their training, eventually becomes the stronger.

So, I am to understand, the President of the United States is considered to be the “Leader of the Free World”. The penultimate leader of this country, did not even want the job. Every aspect of human life is rife with temptation to do wrong. Integrity has a lot to do with what you do when no one is watching. Sadly, integrity is full of honesty. And honesty is another trait of a real leader.

So, to answer my question; yes, it seems politicians have always been liars and thieves. A real leader is concerned with the well being of the followers. Politicians only care about themselves and what they can get away with. I imagine there is a special level in hell reserved for politicians.

2011-11-07T14:53:00.003-06:00

November 23, 1966. Dyenna Rae was born, and without a doubt the most beautiful little girl God ever allowed to grace this old world. This year would have been her forty-fifth birthday.

July 14, 1967, she received massive head injuries in a head-on collision that also involved a third vehicle. She mercifully passed away two days later.

Forty-five years, some might say that time heals all wounds; or as someone once said, wounds all heels. Such a double-edged sword! I well remember when my dad died, my Grandmother, his mother, said it was not right, that a parent is supposed to die before their children die. The story of Cain and Abel, gives us insight into the parental side of the loss of a child. Perhaps that is the first recorded incident of a child dying before the parents.

I was a young Marine at that time. I didn’t understand a lot of what had happened. The Marine Corps was instrumental in teaching me about “after action reports”. Based on all the information available, you try to figure out what went wrong, what “might” have been done to bring about a different outcome, and what needed to be done to prevent similar future events. Suffice it to say, that I chose not to consider what needed to be done, nor did I make any effort to change.

Anyway, forty-five years later, I do miss her not being a part of this, or my, world. I once heard love described as: your heart has the ability to expand to allow someone in, and when you allow your heart to thus expand you have loved someone. In the case of a child, there is a special place in your heart where they are placed. When they are gone, there is a hole left...a hole that never heals, nor ever scabs over.

I truly miss my little girl. I know she is in a far better place. I have no doubt that the God who sent her here to bless and enlighten my life, also warmly welcomed her back and healed all her wounds, and dried all her tears.

When peace like a river attendeth my soul, or when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul.

Ramble, on...

2011-08-30T06:17:00.001-05:00

Well, school has started again...yup!, that means school buses are back on the roads again. So, my second week of driving, and yah, you guessed it!
A “Direct TV” van came racing up beside me, and quickly cut in in front of me, and hit his brakes to keep from hitting the vehicle in front, and...to let his traveling buddy pull his van in front of him. I am deliriously happy to know that so many people are so excited to get to their jobs, that they will race all the way, and take chances. Huh! Is there justice in the world? So, yesterday afternoon, in a different part of town, I noticed a rear end bumper thumper involving, yes, that’s right, a “Direct TV” van. Was it the same one? I have no way of knowing, but I would not be surprised at all.
So, a new school year has started, and the city has just about every major route torn up for some kind of construction or repaving. Talk about a zoo.
Oh, yeah! I have a court date next month, a citizen is pleading his case before a judge for running my red lights and stop arm. Never know how that will turn out. But it is always interesting.
My mind has been wandering around a little lately, and has turned out a switcheroo on an old song...”Oh we ain’t got a barrel of monkeys, and we may not be really funky, but we’ll travel our road, sharing our load, side by side.” Psychiatry tells us, that a true indication of mental instability is if you cannot laugh at yourself. I guess that is true, cuz, I do believe that God wants us to have fun while we are passing through this world. Just think how demoralizing life would be if you could not find something pleasing or fun in your day?

CHAPTER XVI.

2011-08-15T16:38:00.001-05:00

LAZARUS, THE SOUL WINNER.

We have come to the last chapter, and in this chapter we want to talk about winning souls. The old prophet said, He that winneth souls is wise. And again we read, And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever. Again the blessed Christ said, I will make you fishers of men. At another time He said to them, Henceforth ye shall catch men. Again He said to them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, and he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned. We could go on and pile up many Scriptures, but there is no use of it.
The text for this chapter is John 12:10, 11: “But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus.” The reader will notice that the first time we saw Laarus [sic] he was a sick man, but the last glimpse that we had of him he was a soul winner. Notice, it says that many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus because of Lazarus; we don’t know how many, but we do know that a great multitude did believe. It is a very strange thing when we think of where the Lord goes to get his preachers. How natural it was in the prophet when he went to the house of Jesse to anoint a king for the Lord. Jesse and the prophet both looked on the fine looking young men and one by one they passed before the prophet but the Spirit said, He is the one, and when all of the fine looking ones had passed and no one had been chosen, the prophet asked, Is this all of your sons? Well, Jesse said, all but one stripling who is out with a herd of sheep. The Lord had found a great preacher out with a herd of sheep once before that, and so Jesse had the lad brought and he proved to be the one. He turned out to be the sweet singer of Israel, and afterwards wrote the Twenty-third Psalm, which has brought joy and gladness to the hearts of thousands of the Lord’s little ones.
To look at Lazarus as we have seen him in the different stages of death he looks like everything on earth but a revivalist; but look at the great crowd who believed on Jesus because of Lazarus, and you will be fully persuaded in your mind that he was one of the greatest witnesses Jesus ever put on the witness stand. All Lazarus had to do was to go and tell his experience, and he stopped the mouth of all gainsayers.
Christ said one day to His disciples that I will give you a mouth and a wisdom which all of your adversaries shall not be able to resist or to gainsay. Without a doubt Lazarus had this mouth and this wisdom, for he had come from the bottom and he was on top, and the Jews knew that Lazarus was no sleight of hand performance for they had been there to the funeral and they saw Lazarus go down into the tomb a dead man. They staid there with his heart-broken sisters for the full four days and after Lazarus had been dead four days Jesus, the very one that the Jews did not like, came to town and declared Himself to be the resurrection and the life; they were right there when the Son of God called Lazarus out of the tomb. Now look at that dead man in the tomb all covered with putrefaction and just think of that man as a great revivalist. Who on earth would think of such a thing.
You will bear me witness that when Jesus went to town there was not a man in town that had any thought on earth that Lazarus would ever be a preacher. Why, man, he was dead and bound and in the tomb; he was already putrified and the tomb was already sealed up. Even his own nearest friends had lost all hope and so it is to-day, but when the Lord comes to town, and before we hardly know it, He has the fellow out of the tomb; the next thing we know he has all of the strings off of him; the next thing we know he is feasting with his Lord; the next thing we know he is persecuted, and the next thing we know he is a great soul winner, attracting more attention than any man in the field. The devil has mud on his horns and the smoke is flying. The devil is making an awful howl and the chief priest says it will never do to allow this fellow to go on in this way. He is out of the natural order. O, yes, my brother, he is out of the natural order. He is out of the tomb instead of being out of the university. He is a Christ-made man, a heaven-born man, a Spirit-filled man and as he feasted with his Lord, the wise looked wise and scratched their heads and said, He is a great disturber of the peace of our Zion. But the revival is on, the altars are full, the saints are shouting for joy, the face of Lazarus is all lit up with the glory of God, he is all out and out for God and the calls are coming in from all points of the compass.
The chief priest consulted that Lazarus might be put to death also, and they met, just as I have known them to do, and wrote out a long document in which they said, Be it resolved, whereas, we the undersigned have nothing to do with the meetings that are now being held in the city. I have seen wagon loads of just such as the above, and while the dear brethren were taking no stock in the holiness meeting, I want you to see that the holiness meeting did not take any stock in them. We know that real Bible holiness is the hope of the church, and when a man gets to the place that he will have nothing to do with holiness he is on awfully dangerous ground at the very best construction you can put on him and his conduct. We have a holy God and a holy Christ, the Holy Ghost and the Holy Bible, and a holy church was started by our heavenly Father. The holy apostles were left in charge of it and the object of a holy church is to make men holy. We have the holy angels to watch over us while we live holy lives, and then we are to go to a holy heaven, and live with the holy saints forever and ever. Amen and amen.
It is not hard for a holy man to have revivals of religion anywhere on earth he goes; in fact, the revival is on when he takes charge of the church. I will give you a case that came under my own observation. There were two men in the same conference and there was but little difference in their ages. There was no difference in their preaching ability, so far as we could see. If there was, the one that refused to preach holiness had the advantage of the other. They took two churches at the same time and were only about fifty miles apart. There was no difference in the strength of the two churches––just about the same. One man had the experience of holiness and preached it and the other did not, but fought it; the one that preached it, in the four years, had from two to three big revivals each year. The other fellow did not have a revival in the four years. The one that was all out for God and full salvation added to the church in the four years about 400 members and the fellow that fought holiness added one member to his church roll in four years. The one member he got was converted under my preaching up town in an old storehouse meeting, and if the brother had a soul saved in the four years nobody ever heard of it. He was a nice man and was not a sinner; he seemed to have some religion, and was a good preacher. In many respects he was a fine man, and was a friend of mine, but he spent much time in proving to the poor hungry multitudes that they could not be sanctified. At a glance we see that he was not a soul winner. He was not like Lazarus. You can read between the lines that many of the Gentiles did not believe on Jesus because of this man, but we see that many of the Jews did believe on Jesus because of Lazarus.
One of the greatest gifts on earth is the gift of soul winning. How it fills my heart to hear a man or a woman preach the gospel and fill the altar; to see the penitents weep their way to the altar, pray through, strike fire, and get up with a shine on their faces and tell the glad story of pardoning love; and at the same altar service I love to see a number of seekers for the blessing of sanctification; to see them get up with the glory of God all over their souls, and listen to their testimony as they try to tell between their sobs and shouts, what the Lord has done for them. Oh, it is beautiful!
I know it almost tickled Lazarus to death just to listen to the testimonies of the people around the town of Bethany. The high priest was mad and Lazarus was glad, but the revival was on; a revival of old time power is too big for the chief priest or anybody else to stop. A soul winner in a great revival is about the happiest mortal on earth and cares about as little for the growls of the chief priest as any other mortal above ground.
I see three things in the great holiness revival that I would call three gets: You have to get the blessing or get out of the way or you will get run over. Well, remember that many of the Jews believed on Jesus because of Lazarus.

CHAPTER XV.

2011-08-15T12:59:00.001-05:00

LAZARUS PERSECUTED.

The reader will notice that while Lazarus was at the feast that the chief priest laid a plot to put him to death. It is a very dangerous thing yet, in some localities, to feast with the Lord. One thing that carnality can’t stand, is to see a holy man or woman really enjoy the presence of the blessed Holy Ghost. I have seen opposers just broil with anger while the true children of God were feasting with the Lord; and so we notice that it was not the the sinner, the saloon keeper, the gambler, the fighter, the dancer, the Sabbath desecrater, the man in the chain gang, the man just out on bond, nor the common people, for they heard him gladly; not the common preacher even, but just stop and take the second look. It was the chief priest, and what did this man want to do? Why, man, he went so far as to lay a plot to put Lazarus to death.
Well, what on earth was that man Lazarus doing? Just stop and look at him and see what he is doing. Behold he is feasting with his Lord. Look out there, man, don’t you shout too loud; don’t break the limbs off of that tree; don’t throw down your old coat for the Master to ride on; you will get in an awful fix there. You must understand, old boy, that you are not in a political meeting. The Democrats or the Republicans can shout as loud as they please. The meeting that you see is not a week of Elks. When the Elks come to town, they can bring harlots, or they can bring whiskey or beer right into a prohibition town and nobody says a word, but the meeting that we refer to is a meeting of a different kind. At this meeting we are to give the God of heaven all the glory, praises and honor, for Thou art worthy, O Lord God, of honor and power and glory forever and ever. But see the frown on the face of the chief priest. See how sullen he looks. You would imagine that some awful crime had been committed and the visitors in the conference room look on and wonder what this man has done. To their surprise they find out that the man has gone to a holiness camp meeting and heard of full salvation and that he went forward and fell in the straw and was wholly sanctified; for the last few months he has been feasting with his Lord. Just look, you can see two or three men in little groups all over the conference floor and they seem to be uneasy and they tiptoe and whisper one to another; while all of this is going on you can see Lazarus sitting down over there in the corner with a smile on his face and the crowd seems to be wondering what is to become of him. There he sits with full salvation hung up all over his face and he is the only easy man in the conference. Not a wave of trouble rolls across his peaceful breast, and he says,

How well I remember in sorrow’s dark night,
The lamp of His word shed its beautiful light;
More grace He has given and burdens removed,
And over and over His goodness I proved.
Shall I turn back into the world?
Oh, no, not I, not I.”

As he remembered the day that he was converted and how that he passed from death unto life, how the Lord called him out of the tomb of despair and spoke peace to his troubled soul and that his name was written in the Lamb’s book of life, and that he was adopted into the heavenly family, a thrill of joy goes through his soul and he praises God for the knowledge of sins forgiven. Then he remembers the day that he put himself on the altar––soul, mind, and body for time and eternity, and how the fire from the skies went through his heart. He knew by the witness of his own breast that he was sanctified through and through and the glory rolls up and down in his heart. He is feasting with his Lord in the truest sense.
Now the chief priest is ready. Ready to do what? To locate this man. Well, what has he done? He got sanctified. What else did he do? He shouted and praised God with a loud voice. And what else did he do? He told the people everywhere he went that they could get the blessing of Scriptural holiness. Well, did he do anything else? Yes, he had revivals all over his work and built a new church or two, added a large list of new members to the roll of his church and brought up his conference collecteions [sic] in full; but he did preach holiness as straight as a gun barrel. He is to be located on the charge of inefficiency. You see he got the strings all off and went to feasting with his Lord, and that is a dangerous thing to do. Why didn’t he let holiness alone? If he had joined the lodge it would have been all right, but instead of that he went to a holiness revival and got the fulness of the blessing and went to feasting with his Lord, and trouble broke out before Lazarus got away from the supper table.
How much like our day is this fact before us. Reader, just let you mind run back over the past twenty years and just think of all the plots that have been laid and planned to keep holiness out of the churches in the United States of America. I heard a pastor one time my own self in trying to keep any of his members from testifying to the experience of sanctification, tell them that in the testimony meeting he did not want them to testify to anything that they themselves had, but to testify on something else. You say that was not hard. Well, I know it wasn’t, but the thing I am after is this, there was the pastor of the flock plotting to keep holiness out of his church, and to do just what the chief priest did to Lazarus. The chief priest laid a plot and God saw it and was not well pleased with it. The hope of any church on earth is the holiness that is in it and not the worldliness that is in it.
I believe there is enough holiness in any church to leaven the whole lump if the leaven was allowed to work. If the holiness revival that was started under that mighty man of God, John S. Inskip, could have run on without a break, it would have swept the United States before now. Every time that it has been hindered from taking the country the chief priest was on hand, and I don’t mean that it was always a bishop or an elder. I have known other churches to have a revival started and those in authority would rise up and stamp it out and stop the fire and keep their members from seeking and obtaining the greatest thing in the world, which is the baptism with the Holy Ghost.
Now, reader, Lazarus a free man is a beautiful type of the wholly sanctified man, and the persecution that broke out at the feast is nothing uncommon, for the rulers in all ages, so far as I have ever been able to find out, have been on the opposite side of deep spirituality. As a general thing a man is not big enough to stand the prestige of an office and keep up spirituality at the same time. No doubt that was the trouble with the chief priest. He might have started out well, been kind to the men under him, but day by day his love and kindness go and he becomes very hard, and finally reaches the point where he is going to have his own way if he has to take the heads off of men. The case in hand will prove it to be true, for as far as we can see, Lazarus had done nothing to the chief priest, but Lazarus had been raised from the dead, and so has the justified man; Lazarus had been set free, and so has the sanctified man; while Lazarus was feasting with this Lord the plan was laid to dispose of him, and so it was of me, if the reader will pardon me for referring to myself.
We have said in this chapter before that one thing that old carnality can’t stand is religious joy; the old man can stand all of the average church work and he is real friendly to a cold, dead formality, and will even help support a great popular revival and give freely of his means to carry on such a work, but just let the saints go to rejoicing, and the same trouble that the chief priest had in his heart will rise up to-day and demand of you and if you don’t stop you are at least liable to get into trouble with him. There are no doubts in my mind but that there are in the United States many thousands of good people who don’t know just what to do. They love their church and live right in the church, yet have but little church fellowship and they feel that they are in the way. If they rejoice in the Lord there is a very critical eye on them and they don’t know just whether to give up and quiet down or go ahead and take the consequences. I am of the opinion that Lazarus went ahead, from what followed, for the next time we see him he was a great soul winner. If he had gone back on the Lord we never would have heard of a revival from him; but thank the Lord he stood true and God was with him and the world has not quite talking about him yet.
I am to-day in love with the Lord and all mankind, and it is remarkable how the Lord has walked with me and led my by His hand. What He will for the one He will do for all, and so far as I know every man will have a part in the trials and misrepresentations, and just as true as Lazarus had his trials to meet we have ours. If they don’t come from one source they will come from another. It doesn’t hinder the spiritual progress of the church for the devil to make an attack on us but when we as the people of God rise up in our own ranks and put on the breaks [sic] and clog the wheels of Zion, then the harm is done, and then a gulf stream of worldliness will break in on us, and it is a fact if we don’t grow we will die; if we don’t keep hot we will freee [sic]; if we don’t keep going we will stagnate. We are like the bicycle, the faster we run the straighter we stand; the slower we go the worse we wobble, and when we stop we fall.
The hope of the world is that the church may rise up in her God-given power and get the man out of the tomb. We must rescue the perishing; the hope of the church is that as a church we may go down before the Lord and get every string taken off and be set free and then go to the feast with the Master. It makes my heart rejoice when I read that Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Reader, let’s not let anything in the world stop us. It is a fact that the chief priest did not kill him for we see him after the feast in a great revival and many believed.

CHAPTER XIV.

2011-08-14T15:44:00.000-05:00

LAZARUS AT THE FEAST.

Now, reader, I want you to see Lazarus feasting with his Lord. That is the subject of this chapter. After Lazarus was resurrected and got the strings off of him the next thing that we see of him is at the feast. He is feasting with His Lord and Master, and it is a fact, no man ever feasts with his Lord until he is wholly sanctified. How natural it is to see a man feasting with his lord after he gets all the strings off. You will notice that Lazarus never feasted with his Lord as long as there was a string on him, and neither do we. We must be powerfully converted and then most gloriously sanctified to feast with the Lord.
There is much connected with a feast, and the real object of a feast is to get full. I know that the linen is generally the best that can be secured in a great feast and the china is something lovely; the waiters are the best, and the food is the most appetizing that can be secured or the best that the market can afford. Just think of a black walnut table and the finest linen, the most lovely china and silver knives and forks, the most lovely teapots and well dressed waiters, and the governor of the feast giving orders and the waiters flying in every direction, but not one thing on the table to eat. Don’t you think that the feast would be a flat failure? Why, of course it would, because that which goes in to make up a feast was left out, and that was the food. Don’t you see that the object of a feast is to get full? The very word feast carries with it the idea of something good and plenty of it.
We see Lazarus at the feast. We read that Martha served but Lazarus was one of them who sat at the table with Him; there is no way to describe the joy and peace that comes to the life of a wholly sanctified man. About the best way to describe it is in the text, just simply feasting with your Lord, and it is called the fulness of joy. Why is it called the fulness of joy? Because it fills the man with foy [sic] and a filled man is a full man; it is also called the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ; there is the same idea of being full, or the idea of a feast.
We read that Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom; that Stephen was full of the Holy Ghost, that Barnabas was full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, and that when the day of Pentecost had fully come the disciples were all filled with the Holy Ghost. All this carries with it the idea of being full, and so we just look around and see Lazarus feasting with his Lord. Bless his holy name, it is His plan and purpose for every one of His children to come to the feast.
On one occasion the Master said to His disciples to go out and invite the hungry multitudes to come to the feast, for all things are now ready. The business of the church is to take away the stone and get Lazarus out of the tomb, get him wholly sanctified, get all of the strings off of him and get him to feasting with his Lord. Who can tell the good that would come to this world if the church would go down before God and get the experience of Scriptural holiness, and truly go to feasting with her Lord.
Now, reader, it might not be out of place to just let your mind run back over the life of Lazarus for a few minutes and see what progress he has made. The first time that we saw him, he was a sick man; the second time we saw him, he was a dead man; the third time we saw him, he was a bound man; the fourth time we saw him he was an entombed man; the fifth time we saw him, he was a putrified man; the sixth time we saw him, he was a resurrected man; the seventh time we saw him, he was resurrected but he was still bound; the eighth time we saw him, he was a free man–every string was off of him, and he was as free as heaven; and the ninth time we saw him, he was feasting with his Lord. Now, reader, just look and see what wonderful progress this man has made all the way from the tomb to seat at the table with Jesus. What a work there is for the church to do if she was up to the place where the Lord could use her. If she would go to work and get the strings all off and get to the place where she could feast with her Lord there would be plenty of sad souls looking on who would be ready to surrender and call on the Lord for mercy if they could just see the church feasting with her Lord one time.
Now in a kind way I want to just call your attention to a church that I was in not long ago. It was a beautiful red pressed brick that cost nearly $75,000 and they had run for thirteen years and had not seen a single soul brought to God. Now don’t you see that they had not taken away the stone? Don’t you see that it was impossible for the Lord to get Lazarus out of the tomb? Don’t you see that there was no chance on earth for that church to ever have a spiritual feast? Don’t you see that Lazarus had to be called out of the tomb, and don’t you see also that Lazarus had to not only be called out of the tomb, but he had to have the strings all taken off of him before he could go to the feast? Therefore the church had stood there all these long years without seeing a soul brought to Christ.
To show you that church members are bound by the strings of this world I was in a nice town in the month of October, 1908, and there was a nice church in the beautiful city with 588 members on the roll. One night while I was in the town the prayer meeting was held and there were eleven persons present; the next night there was a church entertainment and according to the report of the town paper, there were 1,100 out. Now there was feasting, but not with the Lord. The feast of Lazarus was a type of the spiritual life that he received when he got the strings off of him; and the hope of the church is to get to the place where she will have 1,100 out to pray, sing, shout, and testify for the Lord, and let the world know that we are free and happy, that we are going through with Jesus, and that it is a much greater feast to serve the Lord than it is to serve the devil. It is a well known fact that sin can never produce happiness and the devil has no happy men and women. and those who serve him are unhappy, miserable, sad, and in despair and without hope; nothing but death, sorrow, hell and damnation looks them in the face; that is the reason so many of them are committing suicide and ending their own lives–they are deceived by the devil and led by him captive at his will. But not so with the man who walks with God.
To be called out of the tomb of sin, of despair, of despondency and the tomb of death, and to stand in the presence of the Lord with spiritual life and to know for your own self that you are out of the tomb, and that new life has entered into you is blessed. Not only that, but have got all of the strings of this old world off of you, and are heaven-born, heaven-bound, heaven-filled and the glory of God is burning on the altar of your soul; that you are now ready to go to singing the lovely little song, I am feasting with my Lord, I am feasting. I am feasting on the living word. Day by day I have a new supply, I am feasting, I am feasting with my Lord, redeemed by His blood, forgiven by His blood, and sanctified by His blood, and kept by the power of God through faith unto the end; that is, the end of our probation. We are kept here, but in heaven we will not be tempted by sin and the devil. Glory to God forever!

CHAPTER XIII.

2011-08-13T11:18:00.001-05:00

THE SECOND COMMAND.

Now reader, we have come to the second command of the Savior. We have seen the first command and also the first call, but now we want to look at the second command. What was it? We will see for ourselves.
Listen to the words of Jesus as He said “Loose him, and let him go.” This is the second command of the Master. The first command was, Take ye away the stone, and the second is Loose him, and let him go. You can see the importance of this second command. How important it is that we get all of the strings off of us.
We see in these two commands the two works of grace. Notice, the first was to take away the stone; that had to be done before Christ could call Lazarus out of the tomb. After the stone was removed we hear Christ say, Lazarus, come forth, and behold we see a living man before us, and to our surprise he is still bound, hand and foot, and the napkin is still over his mouth. Now we hear Christ say to the church, “Loose him, and let him go.” This brings out the twofold mission of the church in the world. We are to get sinners converted and we are to get believers into the experience of sanctification. Everything on earth that we are to do is hinged on the fact that we get all of the strings off of us. No man is at his best for God or man until he is wholly sanctified, and of course if no man is at his best for God, how could he be at his best for himself, or the church of which he is a member. Therefore, I offer you this thought: If a church that is unsanctified is left for a year or two without a pastor it will die and you may go back in a year or two and not find a thing of the church left. Well, why is that? Because a church with its hands and feet tied and a napkin over its mouth can’t feed itself and if they don’t have a pastor to look after them they will die; but it is not so with a holiness man. I have seen men and woman all over America, who had been without a pastor all the way from one year to maybe a half dozen years, and they would be standing as true as steel, with the glory still in their souls.
Well, why is it that a sanctified man can live better than the unsanctified? It is because the sanctified man has got all of the strings off and can feed himself. That is the reason. Look at Lazarus bound hand and foot and even his mouth tied. How in the world would you expect him to feed himself? Don’t you see that if he doesn’t get help he will die, and now how long would a card-playing, dancing church live without a pastor? You can see that they are as completely bound as Lazarus was, and therefore they can’t feed themselves. How thankful I am that we can have every cord broken and have perfect freedom, and because we are free we don’t advocate the idea that holiness people don’t need a pastor and don’t enjoy one, for they do. To go to church and enjoy a message they beat any people that it has ever been my privilege to meet. They enjoy the message as no other people on earth can, from the fact that they have the use of their hands and feet. They can walk in the ways of the Lord and can clap their hands for joy; the napkin is off of their mouths and now they can praise God with a loud voice. Therefore, they are world beaters when it comes to enjoying a religious service.
The crowd that is bound by the things of the world never seems to really enjoy a religious service, and as the people with all of the strings off leap and praise God, and clap their hands, the bound crowd looks on with perfect amazement. In fact they don’t see a thing in the world to praise God for. While the holiness crowd is just tearing up the ground the other folks look on and wonder why these folks are so awfully excited, when there is really nothing to shout about. But don’t you see that they have been called out of the tomb of spiritual death, and don’t you see that they have got every string off of them? It is no wonder to me that they shout. It is a wonder that they ever keep still.
So the Master said, Loose him, and let him go. Yonder stands a bound man, but look again and yonder stands a free man,–not only out of the tomb, but out of the strings. I have seen people so completely bound by the opinious [sic] of folks that it almost fit them like a garment; and I have seen big strong men so bound by the man-fearing spirit that they were almost miserable and had but little religious joy for fear they wold offend somebody up town who did not believe in making a noise. Well, folks, if such a fellow had been there the day that Christ and His disciples came into Jerusalem and if they had seen the disciples leaping and praising God and breaking down the limbs of the trees and throwing down their coats and whooping to the top of their voices, such a fellow would have had a convulsion right on the spot. Men don’t have to have much religion to give God a good deal of glory and the more they have the more glory they are going to give their Lord. One of the greatest commands that ever fell from the lips of the Son of God was, Loose him and let him go, and for the past ages the church has heard His voice as He called out to His ministering servants, Loose him, and let him go.
Again, there is in the bosom of every man a longing to be perfectly free, and no man is a free man who has the carnal mind in his heart, for the carnal mind is in fact the cords that bind men. When the carnal mind is gone and the old man is destroyed then brother you are a free man, and not till then. I don’t care what you may have or may not have, you are not a free man until old carnality is gone.
I heard a young man say the other day, O Lord, crucify the old man and then back up the hearse and haul off old carnality, and I said, Well, glory, that is a new one on me, but it is a good one and I will remember it.
As long as the roots of bitterness or the carnal mind or the old man or the body of sin are allowed to remain there cannot be perfect freedom in the religious life; but thank God, Christ says in a loud voice, Loose him and let him go. Every string can be removed and the child of God can be made as free as heaven, and we can walk through this old world as clean as if we were in heaven. Of course the devil doesn’t die when we get the strings off and thank the Lord we don’t either, in the sense of being dead to what the devil is doing; we are alive and we catch on to what he is up to and we are ready to meet his assaults. With all of the strings off and Christ enthroned in the soul we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us and gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify us unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Now, reader, when you come to think about it, the most beautiful thing that you ever saw was a Christian without a thing in the way of their Christian work. Take a man or a woman who is all given up to God and delivered from the man-fearing spirit, who is delivered from the people, who is long-suffering and plenteous in mercy and filled with all the fulness of God, who knows how to love God and lost humanity, how to pray and bring things to pass, you look at them and admire them because of their freedom and deliverance. You would not have the same respect for them if they were all tied up with the world. But a free man is the ideal of all men, and what makes men free? Nothing but to be delivered from all sin and filled with all the fulness of God. That means out of the tomb and all of the strings off.

CHAPTER XII.

2011-08-12T12:13:00.000-05:00

THE CALL OF THE MASTER.

The stone has been removed and now listen to the call of the blessed Christ, “Lazarus, come forth.” and he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot, with a napkin about his mouth. Reader, Lazarus as a resurrected man is one of the most beautiful types of the blessing of regeneration that can be found in the Bible. Lazarus proves that our holy religion is not man-made and proves it to be supernatural. Don’t you see that Lazarus was beyond turning a new leaf? Don’t you see that he was beyond a little human enthusiasm? Don’t you see that he was beyond signing a card? Don’t you see that it would have been impossible for him to have ever gotten out of the tomb? Don’t you see that he was beyond the help of man? Even man, in all of his glory, was unable to do one thing in the world for Lazarus, for he was dead, bound, entombed, and putrified, and the tomb was sealed up and he on the inside. Ho, man, it will take a God to ever get you out of that tomb. Now Lazarus stands before us a living man, which is a type of the new birth. We saw him dead and now we see him a living man, and it is no sleight of hand performance, for it is a well known fact that he was dead and now he is alive. There he stands in the presence of the Christ.
But there is another fact that I want you to see and it is this, that while Lazarus is alive and represents the new birth, he also brings out another fact in the experience of every regenerated man. While he has life he is still bound and he has the strings on him yet. We see him a living man and he stands in the presence of the Master, and there is shouting ground and rejoicing enough for us to shout over for the next thousand years. While that is true and we all see it, at the same time he has the cords on him also, and we have seen Christians all over the land as completely bound by the opinions of other folks as Lazarus was with strings. Reader, just think of the twentieth century church and take one look at it and you will see a Lazarus standing before you completely bound. Look at the present and you will see men and women bound by a man-fearing spirit, bound by the opinions of the other fellow, bound by the cords of worldliness, bound by the awful secret oaths of their lodges, and it is not an uncommon thing for men and women to dance and play cards and run after the circus, theater, and all kinds of worldliness.
Now, I want you to see that when Lazarus got out of the tomb there was something else that he needed. Then take a look at the average church member and in all kindness and honesty you are forced to say that the church member needs the strings taken off of him as bad as Lazarus did. Lazarus was alive, but he was bound. The regenerated man is alive, but he is bound. Nevertheless, while we stand and look at the Christians we wonder why they don’t walk in the light as He is in the light; but then we remember that their feet are still bound, fo rhis [sic] feet were bound. We wonder why they don’t clap their hands, and then we remember their hands are still tied. Then we wonder why they don’t shout, and behold we look and see that the napkin is still over their mouths. We know that a man can’t do much with a napkin over his mouth. When will the church get all of the strings off and get to the place where she can walk, leap, rejoice, praise God and clap her hands, and rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
We see that the resurrected Lazarus is a type of the new birth but we see that the bound Lazarus is a type of the unsanctified Christian. It is life and strings and life and strings; a living man but a bound man; a living church but a bound church; a man next to helplessness and a church next to helplessness. I know that some good people will say, Well now, Bro. Robinson, if Lazarus still had the strings on him, his conversion was not complete, and they will say that conversion is a perfect work or it is a failure one or the other. You will notice this fact, that the resurrection of Lazarus was a perfect resurrection, and also that Lazarus had perfect life, but he still had the cords on him.
You will also notice that the new birth of a Christian is a perfect birth, and that the new convert has perfect life, but Lazarus, like it, still has the strings on; so you see a perfect birth and new life in the new convert, but at times there will be cords of anger or cords of pride, or there will be cords of jealousy, or cords of the man-fearing spirit, or a craving for the things of the world, which is out of harmony with the blessed, sweet will of God. We see all of those things almost every day of our lives, as we go up and down in this country, and I have seen them by the thousands tumble into the altar and pray through and get all of the strings broken; that is the only hope of the church to-day. I am glad to see the man out of the tomb, but I am so anxious to see him get every string taken off. I would love to live in this country just a few years when every Christian in the United States had every cord broken and was as free and happy as a bird that cleaves the sky. How many Christians have been called on to pray and at once begged to be excused, and there was no excuse on earth that they could offer, only they were bound hand and foot and still had a napkin about their mouth.
I know a lot of Christian folks who never say a word of all the Lord has done for them. Their voice is never heard. They go to church on Sunday if the weather will permit, but if it rains or is too hot they sit at home all day and the Sunday papers of course afford their litertrue [sic]. Not one of them ever thinks of being a witness for the Lord.
Now, reader, I am going to show you one of the most pitiful things in the whole land. Well, you ask, What is it? It is a Christian all bound by the things of the world until they are perfectly helpless and almost lifeless and just about hopeless. To see a sinner bound by the cords of this world is sad enough, but to see a Christian all tied up until he is a slave of the devil is one of the saddest things I ever looked at and as you look at Lazarus you see so many confessing Christians. Brother, there is no mistake about it, we are not deceived, we are not preaching heresy, it is an awful fact. Lazarus is a bound man; although he has life, and is in the presence of the Lord a bound man.
Not twenty-four hours ago a young man told me that his elder did not want him to preach on holiness for fear that he would dishearten the young converts. Now reader, do you suppose that it would have disheartened Lazarus for somebody to have told him that he could get all of those strings off of his feet and hands, and that he could get that napkin off of his mouth? How an elder can make up his mind to the awful fact that his members are better off with hands, feet and mouth bound, is a mystery to both God and man; and, I might say, to angels. Oh, the deadness in the average church; how helpless they are no man can tell. Think of a church with 565 members and only 15 of that number can be counted on at the prayer meeting, and only five out of the fifteen that are willing to work in the altar, and try to get sinners converted. Man, do you tell me that they are not bound? Do you tell me that they are happy and free, and do you tell me that they don’t need another work of grace? Why man, just look at the multiplied numbers of the leading church members who are as worldly as the sinners of your town, and you can’t look at them and tell any difference in them and the sinners.

CHAPTER XI.

2011-08-11T07:24:00.001-05:00

THE FIRST COMMAND.

Now, reader, we have come to a very interesting fact in the history of this remarkable man. We now have the first command from the blessed Savior. It was given to the church. You will remember that the woman in the old Book most always represents the church, and we now listen to the first command. What was it? Well, just stop a minute and listen, and you will hear just what it was: “Take away the stone.” If every church in the land would obey and take away the stone there would be such a revival break out, as has never been heard of since the day of pentecost.
We can look at anything that hinders a revival and it will take the place of the stone at the grave of Lazarus; one card playing Christian can prevent and keep a revival out of a church for a whole year. A few of these kind altogether may keep a revival out for several years. But here is the Master at the grave and the tears are still on His cheeks. His voice rings out loud and clear, Take ye away the stone; but oh my, the church has got to the place where she doesn’t believe in revivals and she begins to make some sort of an excuse and proceeds to tell the Master the condition of the community. Listen at the awful description of the man. Lord, by this time he stinketh.
Now reader, you have the condition of every sinner in the land until he is regenerated; but thank the Lord the Master has given His command and right in the face of the unbelievers He stands by the tomb and says, Take away the stone. Listen to His words to Martha when she was just about without a particle of faith. He said to her, Did I not say unto thee if thou wouldest believe thou shouldest see the glory of God? She believed and obeyed the Master and the stone of difficulty was removed and behold there was great joy in that city, for the revival broke out, and it always will when the church obeys the command of the Master. When we see what took place there just by obedience it looks like every church in the land would go to work at once to get all of the hindrances out of the way, for it will be impossible for the revival to break out while these things are in the way.
Every card playing and every dancing, theater going church member is a great stone that the devil has rolled in the way of an old time revival, and until we rise up and obey the Master’s command we will never see a revival in the church that is bound by worldliness. It is impossible. If you will look for just a minute you will see that it would have been impossible for Lazarus to have ever been raised from the dead. So it is with your own son. He is dead and bound and entombed and putrified; the tomb is sealed up and a great stone is rolled against the mouth of the grave. The Master stands without and says to us, Take away the stone; remove all of the difficulties; get ready, look up, and expect a revival; throw every doubt away, pull up unbelief by the roots and throw it over the fence; put all the faith that you have on the throne; muster all of the courage possible, and look the world in the face and tell them to come to the old-fashioned revival, for it is on. Expect the altars to be full from the first service, for the Mester [sic] is in town and He is at the grave of Lazarus and has given the command, Take away the stone, for the revival is on just now and somebody will be converted in the first service. That always takes place when the church obeys the Master and removes all the stones.
Now we want to move to the next step in this man’s life, or history and see what took place when the stone was removed. It will be worth while to look at the next stage of Lazarus.

CHAPTER X.

2011-08-09T06:45:00.001-05:00

CHRIST AT THE GRAVE.

Now, for a little while we want to look at Christ at the grave of Lazarus weeping over him. This is one of the most touching incidents in the life of the blessed Son of God. It brings out the heart and tenderness and love of the blessed Christ as no other incident that is recorded. We see Him at another time weeping over the city of Jerusalem, and as we hear Him say, Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stones them that are sent unto thee, how oft would I have gathered thee together as a hen doth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not; therefore your house is left unto you desolate. And as He behold the city He wept over it, but at the same time it seems that when He saw the broken-hearted sisters, the criticizing Jews, the doubting of the sisters of Lazarus, and knowing that they had given up all hope and that Lazarus was not a ghastly corpse in the tomb, His poor heart almost broke and he stood and wept with Mary and Martha. He said to Martha, Your brother shall rise again; and Martha said, I know that he shall rise again in the last day. She could not grasp the thought that Lazarus would rise that day.
It seems that it is much easier to have faith for the future than to have faith for the present. Martha had no trouble in believing that Lazarus would be raised at some future time, but to bring it right down to the present moment, she doubted it, and I have met with so many mothers who thought that at some future time their son would be saved and they seemed to rest in perfect ease about it. At the same time they had no faith on earth for their son at the present time, and he was just as dead and hopeless as Lazarus.
The devil comes up and helps people to have a future faith. He says, Oh well, it will all come out right in the end; go and have a good time and don’t bother yourself about it. The Lord will bring it all out just right,–but he doesn’t tell them that while they are going on and living without a burden for the lost that he has them in his hand and that they are just as hopeless as Lazarus. Just as truly as the blessed Son of God wept over Lazarus He is weeping over every sinner on earth to-day; and just as truly as Lazarus was dead and bound and in the tomb and putrified, every sinner in the land to-day is in the same condition morally; and just as truly as Lazarus was in a hopeless condition every sinner is in the same condition. The very fact that Christ wept over Lazarus shows us that He was interested in him, and if He was interested in Lazarus He is in every sinner in all this broad land of ours. If Lazarus was not a hopeless case then there is hope of every sinner in the land, for there is no man that could be more corrupt morally than Lazarus was physically. He was just as bad off as a fellow ever gets, and we will see pretty soon that there was hope of him. It is not any easier for the Master to raise a fellow from the dead that has only been dead one day than it is to raise one that has been dead four days. The same life-giving word that it takes to raise a man that has been dead one day would raise him if he had been dead ten years, and we see that when it comes to the salvation of a man’s soul that the same act of divine grace that it takes to forgive a twelve-year-old boy will save his father. One word from the Master will settle all questions. Glory to His name.

CHAPTER IX.

2011-08-08T12:26:00.001-05:00

CHRIST SEEKS THE DEAD MAN.

Dear reader, we come to the ninth stage in the history of the man Lazarus. We saw him sick, dead, bound, entombed, and putrified, and then we first saw Christ appear on the scene and declare Himself to be the resurrection and the life. Then He inquired about the dead man, and now He is seeking for the dead man. We read in Matt. 18:11: “For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost,” and again we read in Luke 19:10: “For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
No person ever came on such a mission as the one that the Son of God came on. His was purely a missionary journey, and thank God it was self-supporting, for we were unable to do what He came to do, and in this narrative we have Christ in the town of Bethany, seeking a dead Lazarus. If we will lift up our eyes and behold we will not only see Him seeking a Lazarus, but we will see Him seeking a lost world. He is seeking the sinner, the wanderer, the lost, the homeless, the friendless, the tempest-tossed, sin-sick soul. Hear His voice take courage, and rise up, for He calleth for you, and while He seeks the sinner He does many other things. He meets a blind man and says to him, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash, and he went and washed and came seeing. He met a man with a withered hand and said to him, Stretch it out, and immediately his hand was restored whole as the other. On His journey He met up with a man that was deaf and the Lord spoke to him and the sound of the voice of the Son of God entered into his head and he never had any more trouble with his hearing. Well, I say glory to God!
He met a man with the leprosy and said to him, Go shew yourself to the priest and as he went he was cleansed from his awful disease and turned back to give glory to God. He met a man with the palsy and spoke the living word to him and the man had no more trouble with his nerves all the days of his life. Hallelujah!
We next read that He met a woman that had been diseased for twelve years and she had spent all her living on the physicians and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she saw Jesus she said, If I may but touch His garments I shall be made whole, and she slipped in behind Him and touched His garments and immediately she was made whole. I tell you, old boy, a Savior who can do that is worth tying on to. Bless His dear name. Again we read that one beautiful Sabbath morning the blessed Son of God was out for a morning stroll. He went out about the sheep market and He saw a poor man on a cot, by one of the pools of Jerusalem, who had been there for thirty-eight years, Jesus looked at him and said, Arise, take up thy bed and walk and go unto thy house, and behold, the next thing we see is a man going down the streets of Jerusalem with a bed on his shoulder. Oh my, the next thing we see is those old Jews. Now just listen to them. They say to him, It is not lawful for you to carry your bed on the Sabbath day. But listen to him. He said to them, He who made me whole said to me, Take up thy bed and walk. Bless the Lord, somebody had been to town that could do something. There that poor man lay for thirty-eight years and I don’t suppose that one of those old Jews ever prayed with that poor fellow in his life, but just as soon as the blessed Son of God got him off of his bed they raised a racket with him. How much like some of the rest of us that sounds. After Jesus met us and blotted out all of our sins and called us into His blessed work and sanctified us and then healed us and put us out on the turnpike for glory; then the D. D.’s [Doctor’s of Divinity] began to wherefore and whereas, and resolve and be it known that, we do not indorse or take any part with or have anything to do with the meeting that is now being held by the said ––– . I will just leave off the name and you can put your name there and you will have the key to the gate.
But thank the Lord the blessed Christ went on down the stream of time and He met a poor woman with seven devils in her, cast them out, and left her rejoicing, and I suppose that Mary hasn’t quit rejoicing yet. Well, I can’t stand much more. I want to shout now. I know that she loved Him for we find her at the grave weeping. In His strolls through the country He met up with a few fellows fishing and He said to them, Let down your net for a draught; to their surprise they caught a boat load. Ho, man, He knows where to catch ‘em, and they always bite His hook or go into His net, one or the other. He went on out into the mountain and a great multitude came out to hear Him preach and they hung on His word until they were hungry and famishing. He blessed five barley loaves and two small fishes, and fed five thousand men besides women and children. That night He wanted to cross Galilee and the boat was gone and He did something that no other man has ever done; He went afoot, and the waves of Galilee were adamant under His feet; He did not get the soles of His sandals wet.
At another time we see Him out on Galilee and an awful storm came up. He was asleep and the disciples became much alarmed and awoke Him and said, Master, we perish. He arose and rebuked the wind and sea and they obeyed Him. Every blue breaker went back into his hole and shut his eyes and kept quiet because the Master had spoken.
When He had reached the other shore or come over to the country of the Gadarenes, He met a man with a legion of devils in him and He cast them out and the whole herd of devils ran into a herd of swine and they we choked in the sea. The last time we saw the man he was clothed and in his right mind, sitting at the feet of Jesus and wanting to become an evangelist. But the Master said to him, Go back to your house and tell what great things the Lord has done for thee. He went on his journey and found a woman at Jacob’s well and told her her life’s story, an caused a great revival to break out in a city of Samaria and she found that a greater One than Jacob was there. As He journeyed on in search of those who needed help He found a man up a sycamore tree and said to him, Make haste and come down, for I must abide at your house today. The man came down, and thank the Lord he got religion between the first limb and the ground, straightened up his life, and I expect to see him in heaven. Glory to God in the highest!
Now, reader, it was this same Jesus that we have been telling you about who came to Bethany and declared Himself to be the resurrection and the life, and inquired about the man Lazarus, and He is now seeking for him. I believe He will find him in spite of that old critical Jew, and in spite of the doubts of Martha and in spite of the fact that Lazarus has been dead four days already. I believe that something will be done. I can feel the victory now and hear the roar of the battle. I am expecting an old-fashioned revival to break out and shake the whole town and put the whole pit in confusion and knock the scales off of the eyes of those old Jews and bury the doubts of Mary so deep under the hills of Bethany that she will never see them again in this world. Well, amen. Keep up your faith, the victory is ours. Christ is in town and the revival is on and the devil is almost ready to give up the fact that something will be done. A little faith in a big Jesus will bring a big blessing to the heart of any of God’s children.
Now we have come to the next stage in the history of this, the most remarkable man that is described in the New Testament or the Old either. Before we take up the next chapter I want you to see just how much ground Lazarus does cover. We first saw him a sick man; second, we saw him a dead man; third, we saw him a bound man; fourth we saw him a putrified man; sixth we saw Jesus appear on the scene; seventh, we saw Jesus, the resurrection and the life; eighth, we saw Jesus making inquiries about the dead man; ninth, we saw Jesus seeking for the dead man, and tenth, we see Jesus at the grave of the dead man weeping over him. The reader will notice that there is no hope of Lazarus in the world. If some power unknown to man doesn’t enter into him he will stay there in that tomb forever and ever, for he is beyond turning a new leaf, and he is beyond new resolutions and he is beyond human enthusiasm, for he is dead and putrified and in the tomb and the tomb is sealed up. Without a doubt, he is a dead man, but thank God there is hope, for Christ is in town.

CHAPTER VIII.

2011-08-07T12:42:00.001-05:00

CHRIST INQUIRES ABOUT THE DEAD MAN.

Now we have come to the eighth stage in the history of this man Lazarus. We have just discussed the first ray of hope and Christ the resurrection and the life. The next thing that we want to notice is Christ not only in town and not only the resurrection and the life, but now he makes inquiry about the dead man. Listen to His own words. He says: “Where is he?” Now it begins to look like He meant just what He said when He said that I am the resurrection and the life. Here He is in town and He said I am the resurrection, and He said, Where is he? No doubt those old Jews said, Well, He claims to be the resurrection and the life, but He will never go to the grave of Lazarus, for they knew that Lazarus was a dead man, not a sick man, – no put on about it, for they had helped to bury him and they had been there four days weeping with Martha and Mary.
Now, mother, if Jesus comes to town and makes inquiry about your dead boy whom you know is dead in trespasses and in sins, whatever you do, never stop until you get Christ to come to the grave of your boy and call him out of the tomb of spiritual death and set him free. Christ says, Where is he, and He acts just like He wanted to find him. I believe that those old Jews began to feel a little shaky, for here is Christ right in town and Lazarus has been dead already four days. At once Christ proceeds to tell just what He can do, and He said that He could raise a dead man to life; and now He goes so far as to ask about Lazarus and says, Where is he? it really looks like He wanted to find him; but at this moment a few of those old Jews believed that something might be done. Some of them were still hard and cold and critical, and watched Him with an evil eye, and tossed their heads and said, Oh well, the Pharisees have proven Him to be an impostor, but a man of faith can begin to feel revival fire in the air, and already the people are beginning to talk meeting and some of the hardest cases in town have have been asking when the revival would start, if the revivalist had come, and if they thought he would be a success. Praise the Lord, He has come and He is a great success, and we are just as sure to have revival before He leaves town, as the world stands. Glory to His name!
Just here we read that some of the Jews went their way. Oh yes, the world is still going their way, and it is an awful way. Just think of a man turning away from the blessed Son of God and going his way; where will his way lead him, do you think? Down to the pit of eternal despair, of course. But thank God, Christ is in town, and has already said, I am the resurrection and life. He has already inquired about Lazarus and asked, Where is he? Oh, reader, if I could have felt that Christ was inquiring about me, it would have almost tickled me to death. Today there are not less than 5000,000 men and women in the United states, who, if they could just feel that Christ loves them well enough to inquire about them, would get saved in the next forty-eight hours; but they are down and nobody cares for them and the devil tells them that Christ will ruin them if they give Him their lives; that He will rob them of all of their pleasure and fun. While he lies on the Son of God he doesn’t tell them that he himself has made them miserable and wretched and hopeless and friendless and homeless. What a vile devil he is. He tells them that God is a hard Master and for them to never trust Him with their lives; at the same time while he deceives them he keeps them blinded to the awful effect of sin on the human family, and while he has broken hearts, robbed heaven, populated hell, broken up homes, wrecked lives and disgraced whole communities, he is so sly and subtle that he keeps all of this in the background.
The devil will say to a man, serve me and I will make you a happy man, and turn around and rob him of his manhood and swing him off of the gallows by the neck, and put him in hell and laugh at him as he goes down. The other sinners will stand by and see the whole thing and go right on in the service of the devil. Didn’t the word of God call him a deceiver, and a devil and a serpent and a dragon and Satan, and the accuser of the brethren? How many women he has robbed of every hope and laughed at their dying groans and mocked them as they tried to call on God for mercy in the jaws of death. Yet the women are almost as bad as men and will flirt with the world or die, and go to an awful hell in spite of the grace of God, and the blood of Jesus Christ and the prayers of God’s people. And in the face of wreck and ruin the devil well tell men that if they will follow him he will give them freedom.
Well, I saw 1,036 the other day in one of the state prisons behind the wall with striped clothes on that the devil had set free, and I just watched them, as the overseers looked on, and wondered if they were out if they would give up sin and follow the blessed Son of God and enjoy real freedom; or would they go into sin again and get back into the pen and go on enjoying the devil’s freedom. You see, the devil’s freedom is a bloated face and a big stomach and a red nose and greasy breeches and run down shoes, a slouch hat, and no home, no friends, and jails and prisons and scaffolds. Doesn’t that look like freedom?

CHAPTER VII.

2011-08-06T09:03:00.001-05:00

CHIRST, THE RESURRECTION.

In our last chapter we had the first ray of hope and in this one we have Christ, the resurrection and the life. You see that there is not only hope, but thank God there is help and not only help, but there is help at hand, for you can see at a glance that if Christ can’t do something supernatural there is no use in His going to Bethany, for the man there is dead. You see that Lazarus is beyond turning a new leaf or making new resolutions for he is cold and stiff in the arms of death, but Christ is in the village and has already declared Himself to be the resurrection and the life. This statement from the lips of the blessed Son of God gave these heart-broken girls a double hope, and so it does us. How gloomy the grave would look if it were not for the statement of the blessed Son of God, that He was the resurrection and the life.
He proved His doctrine to be true before night. The grave has no terror for a fully saved man and for proof of that fact you go to a big camp meeting and just listen to the holy people testify, sing and shout and see them dance before the Lord, just as if there was not a grave on all the face of the earth. The holy people are not looking down at a hole in the ground, they are looking above the clouds and shouting, and when they do look at the grave they only look at it as a kind of a gateway to something better. The apostle Paul said, Oh death, where is thy sting, oh grave, where is thy victory. Some fifteen hundred years before the sad day in Bethany Job had asked a question and it was this: “If a man die shall he live again?” and the question had never been answered and could not be answered until it was answered by the blessed Son of God. When He went into Bethany and said I am the resurrection and the life, a new doctrine had been borne to the world and a new hope had sprung up in the hearts of the little family at Bethany and from that day to the present the doctrine of the resurrection has been settled in the minds of all true believers, for if there be no resurrection of the dead, says the Apostle Paul, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Then he adds, ye are yet in your sins, if the dead rise not.
All Bible Christians believe that when a sinner repents God pardons him; that when a believer consecrates, God sanctifies him; that when a saint is resurrected God glorifies him; The sinner is resurrected from the state of moral death when he is converted, and the believer is purified from a state of carnality when he is sanctified, and the saint is resurrected from a state of physical death when he is glorified. There is nothing hard about that to a man that believes the Bible and is on his way to a home in the glory land.
Now just at this moment Christ walks up and declares Himself to be the resurrection and the life, and if He can’t do it He is going to get Himself into trouble, for He said that He could, and all the town of Bethany is full of higher critics and every eye is on Him and it is up to Him to do something. His bitterest enemies were there and they watched him as a hawk would watch a chicken. Up to that day they had denied every claim that He had made and rejected both Him and His doctrine, and now He makes a claim that goes far beyond anything He has claimed up to date – that he is the resurrection and the life. But I believe He can do it.

CHAPTER VI.

2011-08-04T21:27:00.000-05:00

THE FIRST RAY OF HOPE.

Now, reader, we come to the first ray of hope as we discuss the history of this remarkable man. What was it? Well, look and see for yourself. Jesus, who is the hope of the world, appears on the scene, and when Christ comes to a world, or to a city, or a village, or to a single individual, they can never be the same again. From the night that the angel band swung low in the heavens and the shepherds heard them sing, Peace on earth and good will toward men, the world has never been the same, and can never be the same, for a Savior has come, and thank God has called for us, and there has been new hope and new desires and new expectations, and new prospects, and our up-look from that night until today as a world has been all that was needed; and when we look at that thing that we call future we see a Savior before we see the other end, and then we sing, “There will be no dark valley when Jesus comes, to gather His loved ones home.” as Christ was the first ray of hope to this dark sin-cursed world so is He the first ray of hope to the poor, lost sinner for He is the light of the world.
When Christ appeared in the little village of Bethany four days after the death of Lazarus, there was a ray of hope that settled down over the village, and he had no sooner reached the village than Martha was out to meet Him. When she saw Him she told Him at once that if He had been there her brother had not died. That shows the confidence and the faith that she had in Him although everything goes to prove that she had no idea on earth that Lazarus would ever be resurrected until the end of time. Such a thing, that Lazarus would be resurrected that day, was undreamed of with her. It seemed to be enough for Martha just to know that the Master had come, and when she had unburdened her heart to the Lord she seemed to think that something was going to happen, though she did not know just what it was. As the burden rolled away from her own heart, she at once turned and ran for Mary and said to her, The Master has come and calleth for thee, and we read that Mary arose and went to the place where Jesus was. He had not yet come into the village, and you can see her as she hastens through the village to meet Him; when she met Him she fell down at His feet saying, Lord, if thou hadst been here my brother had not died.
Now, reader, you can see at a glance that neither of these girls had any idea of what the visit of the Master had in store for them. Their poor hearts had been buried with Lazarus, or, in other words, their hopes had. How many times in my meetings have I heard mothers raise a shout because a wayward son had heard the voice of the Son of God and was coming home. I say thanks be unto God for a Christ that will visit a community, lift heavy burdens, comfort sad hearts, lift up the downtrodden, revive the drooping spirits, speak peace to the troubled soul, and revive the hopes of those in despair. And as our blessed Savior walked into the little village of Bethany you can hear Him say, Lift up your heads oh ye gates, and be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Now just think of the honor of having the blessed Son of God to visit our town or village. Would we ever get over it? Just think of you and Jesus walking the streets of your own town together. The first thing He did when He got to Bethany was to comfort the broken-hearted. Well, the old Book says of Him that He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him. We read of Him in Isaiah, 61:1-3: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.” it seems like the above Scripture was written for the little family at Bethany.
We see that Mary and Martha are to be comforted and that their broken hearts are to be bound up and that Christ is to pour in the oil of joy and to give them beauty for ashes, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; and as Lazarus was dead and in the prison of death he was to be set free. You see death had taken him captive and bound him and put him in the tomb of death and Christ said that He was to open the prison to them that were bound. We thank God that when Christ arrived in Bethany, One was there who could handle death. So, dear sinner, there is hope, if the Son of God will only come into the community. Bless His name for the thought that He ever came into the settlement where I lived. I will never let Him hear the last of it, for I, like Lazarus, was a dead man and a bound man and in the tomb and putrified and hopelessly lost, but now I live. Glory to God!

CHAPTER V.

2011-08-02T10:29:00.001-05:00

LAZARUS, THE PUTRIFIED MAN.

We now have before us Lazarus, the putrified man, and in this stage he represents the old sinner in the last stage of sin just before he drops into the pit of eternal despair. We have seen him first, a sick man, second, a dead man, third, a bound man, fourth, the entombed man, and fifth, a putrified man. These are the five steps in the life of the sinner, from the crowing babe with the carnal mind in its heart, to the old sinner, reeking in sin and vice and dropping into the pit.
The reader will notice that there is no physical soundness left in Lazarus; he has corrupted throughout – no soundness at all left in him, and when the old sinner comes to the last stage of life he has corrupted throughout and there is no moral soundness left in him. He is now qualified and prepared by the devil to commit any crime that is known to the human family, and anything that the devil will dictate, he will do. He is as corrupt morally as Lazarus was physically. I know some may draw back and say that I have overdrawn the picture, but I feel that I have not in the least, and for a few minutes let’s look at Isaiah 1:6, and see what the old prophet says about man in his last stage: “From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores; they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.”
Now reader, don’t you see that the old sinner is in the same condition, morally, that Lazarus was physically? You just think of a man full of wounds and bruises and putrifying sores and of course it has reference to his moral condition, and not his physical condition, for no man could live if his physical man were in the condition that is described in the above text. But just look at the man as he walks the streets of the city, and you will see the saloon, the gambling house, the race track, the ballroom, the theatre, the circus, bawdy house, the calaboose, the county jail, the state prison, the gallows, a broken heart, and a wrecked life, a ruined home, a lost soul, and the grave of the drunkard.
The old Book says that the child of God is to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; but the same Book says of the sinner that the last stage of that man is worse than the first. Don’t you see Lazarus in all of the different stages in which we have followed him? When Lazarus first died you could wash and dress him and shave him and put a new suit of clothes on him, and pin a bouquet of lovely flowers on him, and he looked nice and respectable after he was dead; and so did your boy. After your boy chose sin and died he could hold a cigarette between his thumb and fore-finger, and draw the smoke down into his lungs and blow out through his nose, and some people thought that he was alive; but from the standpoint of morality he was as dead as Lazarus was physically.
Again, when you look at Lazarus now you see a man that you can’t handle. There was time when you could handle Lazarus, but it is not now. He says to you, Hands off, gentlemen, without saying a word to you, and you obey him and keep your hands off of him. Well, why can’t we handle him now? somebody may say. Because he has putrified, and that means hands off. How much like your son that is. When your boy first went into sin, you could handle him pretty well and he seemed to have some sound streaks left in him, but just look at him now. He says, Hands off, mother, and she has to obey him. You see that just after he went into sin he seemed to have some respect and some regard for the will and wish of his mother, but not so to-day. See his manhood and money and health and friends are gone, and he is called by some people a bum, by others a jail bird and by others a criminal. He is now growing in sin and the knowledge of the devil and is making his last run for the pit and outer darkness.
He is now a graduate from the school of sin and holds in his possession a diploma signed by the devil. On the face of his diploma the devil himself says of this man that, he is qualified to commit any crime that is known to the human family; he further says of this man that he has no time to waste on old men and women and if you can’t make him up a class of boys and girls that he will have to go on to the next village, for his time is precious and that he must catch the youths of the land before they get their eyes open; that he is prepared to teach all youths the latest arts in any line of sin that they may choose; that if you don’t think that he can commit the blackest and most devilish crimes that are known to the human family, all he asks is that you give him one chance only, and if he doesn’t convince the most skeptical mind of his ability to commit crime then he will give it up. That is a fair proposition of its kind, but the man is indeed stupid that would deny the above statement of the devil. Think of an American woman that would persuade her husband to have his life heavily insured and when all of the papers are fixed up and made payable to her at his death she slips into the room while is asleep and with his own razor cuts him to pieces, cutting him seventeen times in the face and neck and over the heart until she sees him struggle to death in his own blood. I was in the city when the trial was going on, Of course any thinking man knows that the scheme was hatched out in the pit, and was among the first brood that the devil hatched off.
Somebody might say, why on earth would a woman do such a thing? Well, don’t you see that Lazarus has putrified? Don’t you see that that woman was as corrupt morally as Lazarus was physically? Don’t you see how ghastly Lazarus looks? Just turn and look at that old sinner as he goes down town to his trial. He has committed some crime and the officers are on the way to jail and to trial with him.
Matthew, Mark and Luke all describe a fellow that stayed out in the tombs. Now this fellow that is on trial here in the city stays down in the slums, and is a slum runner when he is out of jail. You can look at the fellow and see he was born with the carnal mind in him; that his disease proved fatal, that he died, that he was bound, that he then went into the tomb of despair and that he has now putrified and is as corrupt morally as Lazarus was physically.
We have now covered the five stages of sin and the five stages that we have seen Lazarus in are a type of the sinner from the day of his birth until the day of his death. You see Lazarus sick, dead, bound, buried, and putrified, and you see the sinner in all of the above conditions, from the screaming child to the old sinner with the rope around his neck, as he was swung off of the gallows and went out into eternal despair without one ray of hope.

CHAPTER IV.

2011-08-01T12:08:00.000-05:00

LAZARUS, THE ENTOMBED MAN.

We have come to the fourth chapter of the history of this remarkable man and we have seen Lazarus, the sick man, Lazarus, the dead man, Lazarus, the bound man, and now we have before us Lazarus, the entombed man. Just think of it – sick, dead, bound and buried – a type of the lost and ruined sinner. Lazarus, the sick man, is a type of the child that is born with the carnal mind in its heart. Lazarus, the dead man, is a type of the child when it comes to the years of accountability and chooses sin and dies and becomes dead in trespasses and in sins. Lazarus, the bound man, is a type of the child when it goes into a life of sin and is bound by its habits and the devil leads him captive at his will; and now, Lazarus, in the tomb, is the type of every sinner when he gives up all hope as you have seen them. Oh my, I have seen sinners by the thousands give up all hope and go into the tomb of despondency, and, spiritually speaking, they were as much in the tomb spiritually as Lazarus was physically. All hope was gone and at a glance you could see that they had gone into the tomb of despair; and if a lowly Nazarene doesn’t come by and call them out they will stay there forever and forever. The land is loaded down with men and women who used to have hope and the devil has swept them off their feet so often that today they are in the tomb of despair and every hope has fled, every friend is dead; they have an empty purse, and aching head, and an empty stomach, with no Christ, no God, no salvation, and no hope of heaven. Where are they today? Oh, my friend, you can answer in the tomb of despair. Look at them and hear their sad wail as they march through this world without one ray of hope, homeless, friendless, and penniless, without one ray of sunshine over their door.
You remember when Lazarus went into the tomb Mary and Martha lost all hope, and when Jesus appeared on the scene their hopes were as completely buried as Lazarus was, and there are millions to-day with every hope in the tomb. The burial has already taken place, and despondency has settled down over them and they are ready to-day to take their own lives. They are doing it by the tens of thousands. Why do they do such a thing? somebody may ask. Because they have given up all hope, and when hope goes there is nothing to build on. But, somebody may ask, why don’t they get up and get a move on them? Well, just simply because a dead man can’t get up, a blind man can’t see, a dead man can’t hear, a bound man can’t walk, the man in the tomb is a hopeless man, and so we can just make up our mind that if a Christ doesn’t come along, Lazarus will never get out of the tomb, and the sinner will never awake out of his dead state of guilt and condemnation. I have known some men to be converted and start off well and run for a while and then the devil would sweep them off their feet. In a few months they would get reclaimed and make a fresh start and run pretty well for a while and finally backslide again; the next time it was several years before you could get them to make another start but their friends would plead with them and pray for them and by and by they wold make another start and run for a while, and to their surprise they find the same old enemy in their heart; as they struggle with it they almost give up hope and finally go to their pastor and consult with him and ask him if they can be delivered from that awful uprising in their breast. He tells them that they cannot; that he, himself, has the same kind of struggles that they have; that there is no remedy and, that if they will be faithful till death the Lord will give them a crown of life.
While they fight the beast on the inside the devil laughs at them and tells them that they had just as well give it up at once and be done with it forever, and about this time he comes up to the fellow and tells him he had just as well take a dram, for he can’t hold out anyhow and the poor fellow yields to the tempter and gets on another big drunk. When he sobers up and sees his condition he gives up all hope and goes down into the tomb of despair, and he is as much in the tomb as Lazarus was. He was sick, he died; he was bound, he went into the tomb of despair, and there he will stay until some outside power calls him out.
Again I have met people, by the tens of thousands, who, at one time hoped to be well off some day and they have fought poverty and low wages and high prices and their hardships bravely, and each year they have run behind a little and maybe could not pay their bills; they would almost give up all hope, but they would take fresh courage and buckle down to it a little harder and think that they would come out ahead next year. Sure, but to their surprise the next year they were further behind than they were the year before, and finally they gave up all hope of ever owning a home of their own, and they have settled down to the idea of living in a little rented cabin all the days of their lives. To-day their names are legion that have given up all hope of ever being anything but a cheap day laborer. Their wives are half dressed, their children are uneducated, and they are American white slaves and their hopes are in the tomb. Their prospects in life are as completely buried as Lazarus was.
Again, I have seen people who were on their beds of affliction and for weeks and months and maybe for years they were in great hopes of some day being well; they fought pain and suffering with a brave heart. In the face of afflictions they would see themselves well and out in the fields, in the woods, on the creeks, and on the mountains, as they used to be. They hear of a great medicine that is supposed to cure all diseases that are known to the human family, and of course they send for it and take it according to directions. To their sad surprise they get no relief, and then they hear of something else that cures all of the human ills. They send for that and take it in great hopes of soon being well again, but find no relief whatever, and after a while hope, that blessed hope the stay of life, takes its everlasting flight, and today they are on their beds by the tens of thousands and they never expect to get off of that ded (sic) until they go into their box. All hopes have gone into the tomb and they are as completely entombed as Lazarus was. No more of this world’s pleasure for that man; no more days out in the beautiful sunshine; no more days to sit out on the porch and feel the soft wind play on his withered cheek; no more days to spend at the house of God; that poor man is bound by the cords of afflictions and he is in the tomb of despair. Every hope has left the country where that man lives. Yonder he lies on his couch, helpless and hopeless, so far as his world is concerned, and he may be friendless and homeless and penniless also. Thousands of them are, and they lie in the hospital up and down the land by the thousands. How sad!

CHAPTER III.

2011-07-29T08:04:00.001-05:00

LAZARUS, THE BOUND MAN.

Now, reader, we have noticed Lazarus the sick man a type of the child born into the world with the carnal mind in it, and we have noticed Lazarus the dead man a type of the child when it comes to the years of accountability and chooses sin and dies and becomes dead in trespasses and in sins. Now we have before us Lazarus, the bound man. We see from the case of Lazarus that it was the custom in the Oriental world to bind a corpse when they got it ready for burial. Just why they would bind a dead man is a mystery to me. It doesn’t look reasonable, but we see that it was done. It may be possible that the Lord allowed them to do it in order to teach us some spiritual lessons that would be profitable to us in our day, for we know that sin will not only kill the man but we know that it will bind him after he is dead.
Just as truly as Lazarus was bound the sinners in our country are bound also. We read that Lazarus was bound hand and foot, and we see that the sinners of our day are bound hand and foot also. Lazarus was helpless and the sinners are helpless. Lazarus had no power to deliver himself from the cords that were around him, and the sinner has no power to deliver himself from the cords that the devil has put around him. We read in Psalms 107:10: “Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron.” That, of course, is the picture of the sinner as King David saw him and he says that the fellow is bound in affliction and iron. In the next verse he tells us why the fellow was bound. He says it was “Because he had rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High.” how much like the twentieth century sinners that is. You can see them if you will look.
Now reader, we want to read a verse in 2 Tim. 2:26: “And that they may recover themselves out of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” You will notice that somebody here is described as being in the snare of the devil, and not only in his snare but taken by him captive at his will, and don’t you see that if the devil has a fellow in his snare and is taking him captive at his will, that he has the fellow bound? How could he take him captive if the fellow was not bound by the devil? Of course you know that you meet sinners every day that are as completely bound by the devil as they would be if they had chains on them. I have seen sinners that were afraid to try to escape from the devil, they were so completely overpowered by him. I have heard people say, How does the devil bind a fellow? Well, he begins by first putting the carnal mind in the human heart, and the child is born with depravity in its heart. The carnal mind leads him astray and he chooses sin, and now he is dead in trespasses and in sins. After he is dead morally the devil begins to put the cords on him and bind him. One of the first cords that the devil puts on him is the cord of disobedience. Two or three years ago you had a sweet baby, but to-day you have a stubborn, hard-headed disobedient boy. You are surprised to see him as stubborn as he is and wonder who he takes it after. The next thing you know, your boy is a profane swearer and it almost breaks your heart but the devil has put another cord on him. Don’t you see Lazarus bound and don’t you see your own son bound also?
The next string that the devil puts on him will be tobacco; now he is a cigarette fiend and will smoke and lie about it, and tell his mother that he never smoked in his life. When she catches up with him and he has to own up he will get mad and swear right in the presence of his old mother, and she is afraid to say a word. He begins to threaten to leave home if he can’t have his way, and his mother thinks it is all because he has been keeping bad company. Well, of course, he has. The devil has been after him ever since he was born and is still on his trail; and the devil may take that nice boy of yours and put him in the chain gang, and finally in the state prison, and finally in an awful hell.
Don’t you see that the young man is bound by the devil and led by him captive at his will? When your boy was a babe and kicked and screamed and fought and bit and turned over chairs and threw things off the table, it was so funny that everybody thought it was cute in the little fellow. When he takes one of his spells now it is not as funny as it used to be. His mother sits down and weeps by the hour. What is the trouble now? Well, Lazarus is dead and they have bound him for the burial and his friends are weeping over him. Your babe is no longer a smiling babe; he is a great rough sinner and bound by the cords of disobedience, profanity, tobacco, strong drink, Sabbath desecration, lust and anger; and many of them are bound by the cords of theft and murder. Oh my, how different he looks now to what he did before the devil put the cords around him! You see, reader, that the devil laid his plans in the garden, and he is working out his plans in the field. Yes, in the fields of life. How busy he is; not a moment to lose. His victims are driven by him just like they were beasts.
Again the devil not only has power to bind the souls of men but he seems to have power to bind their bodies. In proof of that fact I offer you the following Scriptures: Look at Luke’s gospel, 13:16: “And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” The Master Himself said that this woman was the daughter of Abraham, and He also said that Satan had her bound for eighteen years. How many have I seen that Satan had bound and put them on their beds of affliction. I have seen them all over the United States as completely bound by Satan physically as they were morally. He is an awful devil and he hates Christ and wants to defeat Him and he wants to rule this country. I have seen some people that I think the devil knew he never would get their souls and he seemed to afflict their bodies to hinder their life’s work. I as much believe the devil tried for years to kill me as I believe that I am alive to-day.
Now we will turn and read Acts 10:38: “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power; went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” Here the reader will notice that Jesus was to heal all that were oppressed of the devil, so we see that he (the devil), had power to bind a woman for eighteen years and here he has power to oppress or to afflict mankind. We also see that Jesus had power to heal all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him. You may take a man or a woman that has a fine mind and a fine, strong body, and a soul all on fire for God, and they can do much to the kingdom of the devil; he knows it as well as we do and he hates such people.
I will only speak of one other binding, and that is the case of the man in the tombs recorded in the eighth chapter of Matthew, the fifth chapter of Mark, and the eighth chapter of Luke. Saint Mark says of this man that, no man could bind him; Saint Luke says that he was driven of the devil. Mark you, he doesn’t say that he was led or tolled of the devil, but that he was driven of the devil. They also tell us that he wore no clothes, that he made his dwellings among the tombs and that he cut himself with the stones. There was a man that the devil had bound mentally, morally and physically, and if it had not been for the fact that Jesus of Nazareth went by that man would have stayed in that awful condition until the day of his death. What would we do without a Savior? Just think of a world with a devil in it and no Christ in it. If we did not have the Holy Spirit in the world to restrain and check and drive back the devil, what is it that he would not do? My, man, it almost makes your blood freeze in your veins to think of living in a world without a Savior in it. I believe that the sinners of the country are restrained by the grace of God, and while they may not know it, yet I believe it is true, and we cannot tell what they would do if it were not for the grace of God. Just look at the man in the tombs and you have the human family under the dominion of the devil instead of under the dominion of the Son of God. Now, reader, if you can see one ray of hope there I wish you would show it to me, for I am frank to say that the picture is as black as the midnight hour to me. When I see men and women going on in sin and rejecting the Savior I wonder if they want to go to the tombs.

CHAPTER II.

2011-07-27T13:38:00.002-05:00

LAZARUS, THE DEAD MAN.

Now, reader, for sometime we have been looking at Lazarus, the sick man, but now we have come to the second stage in the history of this remarkable man. Just as truly as Lazarus the sick man is a type of the child that is born into the world with the carnal mind in its heart, Lazarus, the dead man, is a type of the child when it comes to the years of accountability, and chooses sin and dies; and now the child is dead in trespasses and in sins; and just as turyly as Lazarus was dead physically the child is dead spiritually, or morally. As you look at Lazarus you don’t see a sick man, you see a dead man; and as you look at your boy you don’t see a child with only the carnal mind in him, you see a sinner dead in trespasses and in sins. The teaching of the old Book is that the sinner is dead. We first saw the child a sinner by nature, and now we have before us a sinner by choice; quite a difference. So you see the child chose sin and died.
We read in Romans 7:8, “That being dead wherein we were held.” That is a picture of a dead man bound by death. What an awful thought! A double death it seems. Again in Romans 7:11 we read, :For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.” You see the thing put the man to death. It slew him. What was it that slew him? Well, he says that it was sin. When did it slay him? Just at the time that it slew you. When he came to the years of accountability and chose sin, he died morally,; now he is dead – not a sick man, but a dead man. He was not dead physically or he could not have written this letter; he was dead spiritually, and sin, the old man, killed him just like he has all the rest of the human family.
We read again in Eph. 2:1, 2: “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” Reader, just see what all the apostle says about these people: First, they were dead, and they were dead in sins. That proves that they had died somewhere back down their trail, and he said that in time past they had walked according to the course of this world. He also said that they had walked according to the prince of the power of the air, and that these children had in them the spirit of disobedience. What was that spirit of disobedience? Nothing more or less than the old man or the carnal mind, or the indwelling sin, as Paul calls it, or the old Adam, or the roots of bitterness, as he calls it in another place in the old Book.
Now we will turn to Paul’s letter to the Colossians and read the thirteenth verse of the second chapter. Notice what he says: “And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.” In this text we have before us a dead man, and then we see him quickened, or made alive, which proves that the man was dead. You see a dead Lazarus and a dead sinner. Lazarus was dead physically and the sinner is dead spiritually. One is without physical life and the other is without spiritual life. The sinner is as bad off spiritually as Lazarus is physically; there is no difference in them. If Lazarus ever gets out of that grave there will have to be a miracle performed, for he is a dead man; and if that sinner ever gets out of the grave of spiritual death there will have to be a miracle performed, for he is a dead man – just as dead spiritually as Lazarus was physically. He is dead to God and to holines, to rightousness, eternal life, and to all that is good and pure; and he is alive to all that is bad. What a pity. Oh my, how many I have seen just like that.
Now in I Tim. 5:6 we read: “But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.” There is the picture of a worldly woman, a society-runner, a pleasure-seeker, a fun-lover, a God-forgetter, a Christ-despiser, and a blood-rejecter. Paul says that she is dead. Yes, and so was Lazarus; so you see that the type still holds good. She is alive to everything that belongs to this world; she is alive socially, she is alive mentally, and she is alive financially; she is only dead to her eternal welfare. What an awful thought; dead to eternal life and alive to eternal death! Somebody may say poor Lazarus. Yes, and somebody ought to say poor woman; she is as bad off as Lazarus ever wasl how could she be in a worse fix than she is in? Paul says that she is dead while she liveth, and so was I and so were you, my friend.
There is nothing beautiful about death; nothing lovely, nothing that looks encouraging or hopeful. If it were not for the fact that our blessed Christ has promised us a glorious resurrection, I don’t see how I ever could bear the thought of going down to the grave for it makes my very blood run cold when I think of the grave. If it is my Father’s will, I would rather preach holiness until Jesus comes and then go up with Him and not go by the grave at all, but I may have it to do, as my brethren have had to do.

CHAPTER I: LAZARUS THE SICK MAN

2011-07-25T09:47:00.000-05:00

Lazarus is a type of the whole human family. No other man in the New Testament covers as much ground as the man Lazarus; he is a type of the sinner in every stage of life, and also a type of the Christian from the young convert to the old saint, as he passeth through the pearly gates into the beautiful city. The first mention that is made of Lazarus is in the eleventh chapter of St. John’s gospel and the first verse. We read: “Now a certain man was sick named Lazarus.”
The reader will notice that the first mention that is made of Lazarus is that he is a sick man. We read nothing of his parents; we suppose that he was an orphan boy. There is not one word about his mother or father in the New Testament. If he had a brother he is not referred to; we only hear of his two sisters, Mary and Martha. The first time that we hear of Lazarus he is sick. The Book says nothing of his boyhood days, and in fact, we hear but little of Lazarus himself. We read nothing of his standing in the community; not a word about his education or his political or religious views, but we suppose he was a very religious man from the fact that the Master loved to go to and abide in his little home in the village of Bethany. This was one of the homes of the Master, as He trod through the earth a homeless man in search of an opportunity to do something for the other fellow. Bless His dear name forever and ever. How I love Him and how good He has been to me!
Now, in the first place Lazarus, as a sick man, is the type of the newborn babe. When the child is born into this world it comes to see us with the carnal mind in its heart and is unwell morally. Lazarus was unwell physically and the child is unwell spiritually, so the first glimpse that we get of Lazarus and the newborn babe is that they are both unwell, and if we will look at them for a few minutes we will see that the disease proves fatal in each case. We know that Lazarus died and if we will look we will see that the child dies also. For a little while let’s take a look at the moral condition of the child and see if he isn’t born into this world with the disease of sin in him. We will notice first Isaiah 1:2-6: “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord has spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel, unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.”
Now, reader, I submit to your honest judgment the above description of the unregenerated human heart. Does it not look like the human family is in a depraved state? If that is not total depravity what would you call it? They are put down below the ox and the ass, two of the dullest dumb brutes in the field, and they are both ahead of the children of Israel. Oh, yes, my friend, the human family is born with the old man in the heart and he begins his work as soon as the child is born; he doesn’t wait until the child is grown to put him at the thing that he knows is contrary to the will of God; but as soon as the child is born the devil is ready to give him a job, and it is not long until he has him on the way to destruction.
I feel sure that King David wrote under the inspiration of the blessed Holy Ghost. See what he says about the child, Psalms 51:5: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother canceive me.” Again, before we pass from the Psalmist, we will notice the 58th Psalm and the third verse: “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” This doesn’t look like they waited to be grown to go into sin. I have said it a number of times, and you may have said it before I ever thought of it, that every child that was ever born in Texas lied before it could talk and stole before it could walk. The Psalmist said that he was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did his mother conceive him. Well, that is the way they are all born into this world.
I have known children to be born into the homes of good, religious parents and these children were never conquered in the lives. I have known some good Methodist mothers to name their baby boy for one of the bishops and consecrate him to the Lord to be made bishop, and he was elected before he was two years old. You could go to the home and the two-year-old boy was making all of the appointments; he commanded and his mother had to obey; he screamed and whooped and yelled, turned over chairs and slammed the doors, and would get up and throw the teacups, and the knives and forks off the table, and his mother and all of the other children had to obey him or have one of the biggest rackets that you have ever heard in all of your life. So you see, my friend, that Lazarus as a sick man is a pretty good representative of the child when it is born into the world with the old man in its heart. Lazarus was sick and the child is not well by any means.
Now for a little while we want to look at some Scriptures over in the New Testament. First, we want to look at the third verse of the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, and just see for ourselves: “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath even as others.” The apostle says here that we are by nature the children of wrath even as others. Notice first that he doesn’t say we are the children of wrath by choice nor does he say that we are the children of wrath by practice; but notice what he does say; he says that we are the children of wrath by nature. Now reader, if you had a tree that was by nature a tree of wrath, what kind of fruit do you think would grow on it? Well, we can find out by going to Gallatians 5:19. Just see for yourself, and oh my, it almost takes your breath. “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which the these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, varience, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.” I submit to your intelligence as an honest man or woman, don’t you think that the above crowd is in a state of total, yes in a state of teetotal depravity. That crowd of people is qualified to commit any sin that is known to the human family, and yet I have heard much about our beautiful human nature; but just look children and see for yourself. I don’t suppose that a man could find a harder crowd this side of the pit than the above.
But before we leave Paul’s letter to the Galatians, we want to notice the 17th verse of the 5th chapter: “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” The reader will notice here that the word flesh refers to the carnal mind, or the old man or inbred sin, whichever you would rather call it. Of course the word flesh there could not refer to your bones and blood, for the Spirit of God and your bones could not be contrary the one to the other; but there is something in man that is contrary to the Spirit of God, and of course it is the carnal mind, for St. Paul says in Romans 8:7 that, “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” So you see at a glance that Romans 8:7 explains Gal. 5:17, where Paul says that the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. If the child doesn’t bring the carnal mind into this world with him when he is born of the flesh, then he must receive it when he is born of the Spirit, and you could not think of a thing of that kind. But at the same time we see a man here with two minds in him and each one wants to rule and each one wants to sit on the throne and hold the reins of your life and do the driving.
Now reader, the only way to make these Scriptures plain is to see them in their true light. The child is born into the world with the carnal mind in him and when he is born of the Spirit he receives the spiritual mind; he already had the carnal mind and now he becomes a double-minded man, both carnal and spiritual, and the war is between the carnal mind and the spiritual mind. When we are born of the Spirit we receive the spiritual mind and when we are baptized with the Holy Ghost and fire we get rid of the carnal mind and that leaves the mind of Christ in our heart to reign without a rival. If you will look, you will see that Lazarus as a sick man is a type of the child that is born into this world with the old man in its heart and if you are not satisfied with the above Scriptures, at your leisure you might read St. Mark 7:21, 22, and when you get through with that lesson you might read Romans 3:10-20. By that time you will be convinced that the human family is born out of gear and out of harmony with God, out of harmony with itself, and out of harmony with the world round about it.
Is it not a fact that two old sinners can’t hardly live in the same community, and get along with each other; sometimes they don’t do it, but fall out and fight and go to law with each other. Again I have seen boys not ten years old meet and fight every Sunday for nearly a year and almost kill each other, and nobody think anything of it at all. Again I have seen small children two or three years old fall out and fight just like beasts, and I have seen their mothers pull them apart and whip them and it seemed to do no good. Now the question naturally arises in the mind of a fellow if the child is not a depraved being, what is the matter with it? Don’t you see a sick Lazarus there, and don’t you see that the disease has proven fatal and that Lazarus is dangerously ill?

THE AUTHOR’S PREFACE

2011-07-25T08:20:00.000-05:00

Dear Readers: I am not going to beg your pardon for sending out another book, but I am going to ask you to please overlook my mistakes and blunders, and be just as patient with me as you possibly can. I want to thank all of the dear brethren in the field who have given me any light and help on this remarkable man called Lazarus. I heard one sermon preached on Lazarus, by a Methodist pastor at Omaha, Ill., a few years ago; that is the only sermon I ever heard preached on Lazarus. I also read a little sketch in one of Dr. Carradine’s books on Lazarus, but the man who gave me more help on Lazarus than any other man was Dr. McAmmons, a Methodist pastor in Chicago, Ill. Apart from these three men I never heard a man in my life say anthing about Lazarus; but to me he is one of the most interesting characters that is discussed in the New Testament, and for the past three or four years I have been studying Lazarus as a type of the whole human family, and to my mind he comes nearer being a type of the whole human family than any other one character that is found between the lids of the Bible. There is no condition in life but what Lazarus cover the ground. As a sick man he is a type of the newborn babe with the carnal mind in its heart, and as a dead man he is a type of the child when it comes to the years of accountability, and chooses sin and dies, and is now dead in trespasses and in sins; and as a bound man he is a type of the child when he has gone into sin and has been bound by the devil; as an entombed man he is a type of the sinner when he gives up all hope, and goes into the tomb of despair; as a putrified man he is a type of the old sinner when he becomes sin-hardened and corrupted in his whole moral nature. Lazarus called out of the tomb is a type of the new birth; Lazarus set free is a type of the experience of sanctification; Lazarus feasting with his Lord is one of the most beautiful types of the life of holiness that can be found in the old Book; Lazarus persecuted by the high priest is one of the most striking incidents in the life of every holiness man. Just as sure as you get sanctified you are sure to have the high priest on your trail. It never fails. Just as sure as you get filled with the Holy Ghost and go to feasting with your Lord your testimonies will stir up the carnal mind in the man that has not got a clean heart, and he will become jealous of you, and the fight will be on, O Christian soldier. Lazarus, the soul winner, is a beautiful type of the holiness evangelist of the present day. A Spirit-filled man is a soul winner. It cannot be otherwise. It must be so in spite of men and devils. BUD ROBINSON

Just because

2011-07-23T10:36:00.001-05:00

During my pastoring days, I sought to amass a library, that would inspire and educate me in the Christian way. Fortunately, I was able to obtain some books that were printed years ago, and share some really good insights. One of those books is one I would like to reproduce here, not all at once, but over a period of time. I think one chapter at a time should suffice. I will begin with the Author's dedication.

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The Story of Lazarus
Bud Robinson
Pentecostal Publishing Company
Louisville, KY
1909

DEDICATION

When I wrote my first book, Sunshine and Smiles, I lovingly dedicated it to the whole human family. What a poor, silly goose I was, for as I stood by the wayside with the book under my arm, I cried to the passing throng, Ho! everyone that wants reading matter, come buy Sunshine and Smiles with money, and the price is fifty cents; but the whole human family seemed to pass me by like the wind and never even stopped to see what I had for sale; but I was not disheartened at all.

I went to work and wrote another book and called it A Pitcher of Cream, and I lovingly dedicated it to old Jessie, a lovely old Jersey cow which had been a good friend to me and my family. I told the reading public that there was no buttermilk or clabber, or blue-john or skimmed milk, in the book; but to my surprise old Jessie joined the Prohibition Party and voted the Prohibition ticket and went dry by a large majority; there I stood by the public highway with Sunshine and Smiles under one arm and A Pitcher of Cream under the other with a grinning world on one side and a dry cow on the other. Ho! reader, reader, you must indeed be very stupid, to allow Sunshine and Smiles and A Pitcher of Cream to pass you by; but I have read that a fortune knocks at every man’s door once in a lifetime and if he fails to open she goes on never to return.

As I have just completed the story of Lazarus, I lovingly dedicate this book to Miss Sallie, and if she doesn’t beat the whole human family and old Jessie, I will be the worst deceived boy above ground.

Methinks

2011-07-22T08:53:00.002-05:00

So, if you voted for B Hussein for President, to prove you were not racist; then you will need to vote for Sarah Palin for President to prove you are not a misogynist!

Pinheads and Patriots

2011-05-28T08:59:00.001-05:00

As I have stated over and over again, I own a TV but do not have a subscription to any televised service...I have a library of DVDs that watch, over and over again. On occasion, I may stop in at a sports bar and grill, and perhaps catch some program; therefore, I am not totally ignorant of what is going on. I also tend to prefer reading to watching. Currently I am reading Bill O’Reilly’s book, Pinheads and Patriots; Where You Stand in the Age of Obama.

On page 63, beginning at line 12, Mr. O’Reilly states: By contrast, my analysis of Barack Obama and everything else in the public arena is fact-based, not ideological. The President, as I’ve suggested, cannot be accurately branded a “socialist” until he starts messing around with private property. You can rightly call some of his policies “socialistic”–and I have–but saying Obama is the El Norte version of Hugo Chavez is absurd. Are not the policies of an administration reflective of the leader of the administration?

Only 6 pages later, Mr. O’Reilly states: President Obama and his team want to pass laws that put even more power and money in the hands of the federal government; that, very simply, is my primary beef with them. The more shots are called from Washington, the fewer options we the people have in our own lives. Rugged individualism made this country great, not entitlement programs rigged to provide “income redistribution.” Is not the bedrock of personal property ownership, the ability to earn a day’s wage, and to keep it? Additionally, owning personal property, inherently involves the “freedom” to do with the day’s wages, as I please?

So, I am wondering, the war we fought with Great Britain, the great Tea Party, were embodied with the understanding that we were through with oppressive taxation. We were through with not being able to own personal property; to do with what we have made, as we see appropriate. A lot of the “old money” we find in America today, was earned while this country was not “socialistic” in ideology...a lot of that money was earned before there was much in the way of income tax. Fact is, wealth comes only from being able to earn, and do with the earnings as the individual deems appropriate.

Is it not educational to recognize that one of the basic tenets of Marxist-Leninist ideology is a progressive taxation? And are we not currently utilizing “progressive taxation” in this country? Soak the rich? Make the rich pay their fair share? Until we scrap the “progressive taxation” method, and replace it with perhaps a wealth tax...we are not going to be the land of the free. The rich are not affected by the laws that get passed regarding taxation, simply because, they have the money to circumvent the law. OK, we tax income, but we allow deductions for mortgage interest, charity work, and investment. Pure income tax, would tax every penny a person receives for a day’s work. You want to make the rich pay? Remove all income deductions, and tax every cotton-pickin penny a person gets. Does that sound, uncaring, unChristian? Well, any taxation is actually uncaring, unChristian!

So, let me get this straight...I spent twenty-nine years on active duty in the US Naval Service. Every penny I made I paid income tax on; and social security tax. Except for the thirteen months I was identified as being in a combat zone, which con-gress said income was tax exempt. Now, I am retired from the military, and I am paying income tax on the retainer pay I receive. Are you surprised I call it “retainer pay” rather than “retirement pay”? It really is “retainer”; I am still subject to recall to active duty, and I am under the auspices of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Funny, military personnel are paid from “public funds” (taxes), but do not have the right of collective bargaining. Get over it! The average military person is the true “public servant” and serves the public, not for what he/she can get out of the public, but because it is the right thing to do, and because there is national pride there.

So, I am labeled a “veteran”, yet, because I receive a retainer pay that I pay taxes on, and it is greater than the “means testing” amount allowed, I am put at the back of the line in utilizing VA medical benefits. OK, I don’t use medical much anyway, so, I can live with that. I am also labeled as a “senior citizen”; and I am drawing on sosh security benefits...that I have paid into for most of my adult life, and I am getting my socks taxed off because of the benefit. I should have saved for my old age??? Most of the time I was on active duty, I didn’t make enough money to do a lot of saving. But guess what? Today, we are being taxed oppressively on savings, because of interest earned. GIVE ME A BREAK!!! Oh, and didn’t I hear something being said about Obama’s administration wanting to convert 401K, and IRA accounts into government accounts, administered by IRS? GIVE ME A BREAK!!!

Bottom line, I guess is still, if it walks like a duck, if it talks like a duck, if it smells like a duck, if it looks like a duck, it sure ain’t a lamb!

my two cents

2011-05-08T09:45:00.000-05:00

I been cogitating on “The Tea Party”.

If we were to revisit the “Tea Party” held in Boston bay, we would find the rebellion centered around taxation, and onerous government. What happened? Did the people band together in groups and wave signs and listen to speakers talk about how mad we are? I don’t think so. What they did do, was to dump the British tea...taxed to the hilt...into the sea, to tell the king, we are tired of your ways, and this is what we think of it.

So, here we are, a couple of hundred years later, and we are attempting to resurrect the efficacy of the Boston Tea Party. Symbolism does nothing; it takes substance to get anything done. We have had Tea Party get togethers, and even had the Tea Party Express traveling across the country to demonstrate our solidarity. But where did that get us? The government looks at the effort and makes jokes, they libel the name by which we are attempting to have a say. The government knows we are not a threat, because they have all the media supporting them, and assisting them in denigrating grass root activism.

The dirty little secret??? They know we may gather in groups and talk and listen, but when it comes down to the rubber meeting the road, they know we ain’t gonna do anything.

So, me thinks, what would approximate a Tea Party today? Indulge me a moment while my mind wanders and looks at possibilities.

How much impact could we have, in the say of things, if everyone who claims to be a supporter of the Tea Party, smaller government, less taxation, less discretionary spending, and less social spending by government were to take a stand?

What statement could we make, if everyone would, say, all in one month, cancel all subscriptions to newspapers, newsmagazines, and cable/dish/satellite television? Would that not be a dumping of the “tea” in the harbor? All these media people shill for the socialist government thugs, because they realize how stupid the average munchkin in flyover country is. They know that we will continue to pay for their slanted stenography and they have nothing to worry about. What would they do if all of a sudden twenty or fifty million people cancelled their subscriptions?

Think about it! That’s all I am asking...THINK ABOUT IT!!!!

Shirt Come And Take It

2011-04-17T08:55:00.000-05:00

Shirt Come And Take It

Say it ain't so

2011-04-12T20:57:00.000-05:00

Well, shucky-durn! Anybody that did not see higher taxes coming? Well, I suspect that the people who received the “stimulus” money are not too worried about tax increases. But, how bout them folks who are about to really feel the change that is about to become reality? Reality can be a real bitch! Wanna know why they used drugs in the 60s? Drugs help color reality, so you can cope... Yeah!, right.

We apparently have some people that really believe the federal hog trough will never run out. Yeah, sock it to the rich. I for one would really like to see all the rich MFCS in Washington, DC lead from the front. They complain there are too many rich people in this country, but I don’t see any of them willing to give up their wealth and lucrative compensation.

Look at what is happening in New York City...the rich are being confiscatorily taxed...and they are running away. We have already seen the results of taxation...look at the businesses that have moved overseas. Why do you think that has happened? Not because labor is cheaper ~~ but because taxation is less.

One day, we here in America are going to wake up and find that we are no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave. When only the political class has any money, and the general public stand and wait for a little benevolence from the rulers, there is no longer any freedom. We are already hearing the political class talking about this being a nation of laws. Bull shit!!! This is a nation founded on the principle of freedom and liberty. Every time a new law is written we have lost more freedom and liberty. Don’t think so??? How about going to renew your driver’s license. We now have to show birth certificate, sosh security card, and current bills from our residence. There was a day in this country when a person could travel around without a job, and not be hassled, except when hopping rides on trains without paying. You didn’t have to have a sosh security card, or ID card, or health insurance, or life insurance, or proof of residency. And today, if you are stopped for walking along the roadway and cannot prove residency, you can be locked up for vagrancy.

I remember reading a book by a Russian named Sergei Kourdakov. In the book he told of life in Soviet Russia; life back in the 50s and early 60s. Back when they were a nation of laws, and there was no freedom or liberty. Sure, you had the freedom to stand in line for days to maybe pick up a loaf of three day old bread, but generally found out you were too late for any. He told of how neighbors feared the government, and would tell on their neighbors. Think about it...you get your neighbor locked up for something, you can pretty well help yourself to their goods. Think that could not happen here? Try this on for size...in either New York, or California, you can call the police because you can smell cigarette smoke coming from your neighbor, and the authorities will cite them...how much more will it take for the violator to be arrested? He told of how you could be arrested and incarcerated for talking against the government. So, the husband/father gets arrested for speaking against the government, and his family is shunned. They are not allowed to receive any welfare...mom cannot get a job...the children look for food wherever they can find it, and most usually get in trouble for trying to steal from vendors, which gets them locked up also.

Yeah, there is coming a day, if we don’t realize what is happening. We will no longer recognize this great nation. There will be only downcast eyes wherever you go. No one will be allowed to own property of any kind. Only the political class will have private vehicles, and homes with electricity and running water. Only the political class will have food enough. And then, and then, AND THEN, uhn uh... it will then be too late, because we, the people will no longer have a right to vote, or have any say in how we are governed/ruled. I gave 29 years of my life to protect this way of life, where we the people have a say in our governing...how it breaks my heart to find there are so many people who think there is a better way of living.

The human soul longs for freedom...when freedom is gone, the soul is crushed. May God have mercy on our souls.

Whatever will be, will be

2011-03-20T08:16:00.000-05:00

I believe it was William Bendix, back in the old “Life of Riley” TV series, that used to lament: “What a revoltin’ development this turned out to be”. Yeah, I can relate; or as we used to say, “I second that emotion”.

So, are you aware that ignorance is bliss? Look how blissfully we have existed this past couple of decades with “Public Servants”. I have applied for employment at the county building a number of times, and was aware that starting wage was like thirteen dollars an hour. Truth be known, I thought that might be a good job to get into. The blissful ignorance comes in to play when I learn that “Public Servants” are paid from our taxes. Hmmmmmm!!!! See?

And so, I hear the Mayor, and the Governor talking about how we need to cut spending for schools, police, and fire fighters, or increase taxes, and I think about how that sounds right. No more!

Unless I am mistaken...who garnishes the most disparaging remarks from the average citizen these days? Ain’t it the DMV? Ever try to ask a question of one of the “Public Servants” working there, especially if your number ain’t come up yet? Yeah!! You got it. So, she is making fourteen dollars an hour to tell me to wait my turn; and I am helping to pay her wages. Ah, yes, have you been to the local county office, lately, say to renew your vehicle license plates? Uhmmmm! How long did you wait in line? Right, and the person you spoke to definitely demonstrated excellent people skills, right? Hey, you catch on pretty quick...Yes! They are also “Public Servants” probably making thirteen or more dollars an hour to see how much you can be inconvenienced.

Now, honey baby, that ain’t right!

Because, that is exactly what is going on in other states today, as we hear about Public Service Unions demanding collective bargaining rights. You see, they want to talk with our “elected” officials about how much money they should be getting for the long, and tedious hours they must work...when we the people are actually their employers. If they want collective bargaining, they need to be talking with us. Not the Mayor, or the Governor. Can you imagine what would happen if we the people were bargained with for their pay, and benefits? After spending two hours to renew your vehicle or your driver’s license, and putting up with the excellent people skills of the “Public Servants” how excited are you gonna be to vote to increase their wages? That’s what I thought.

Now, when it comes time to vote, because we have a right to be in on this process, since we are the ones paying them...you gonna vote to raise taxes to increase their wages and benefits, while reducing what the police, and fire fighters get paid? You know, I haven’t even gone into the pay and benefits that go to the legislators, and Mayor, and Governor. Some where, some how, the gravy train has got to stop. Ignorance is rapidly becoming depressing rather blissful. What do you think?

Yeah, What a revolting development this has turned out to be!

2011-02-19T08:55:00.003-06:00

Well, this morning began with a promise...Then I looked at the latest news, and realized that reality just doesn't like homeostasis.

States on the brink of bankruptcy, and yet, law-making critters refuse to do what needs to be done in order to correct the deficiencies. South Dakota isn't on that list, but we see the results of political leeches doing what they can to perpetuate their idiocy. The recent snow found us with many roads not plowed curb to curb, and as the snow melts, streets and sidewalks are flooded turning to ice as temp drops. Talk is of reducing budget monies to police, teachers, and firemen...but as of yet, nothing about reducing social programs like "sculpture walk" or welfare, or you name it.

And just listen to the law-making critters scream when talk is of reducing their stipend...there is just something not very moral about elected "public" officials making more money than the average citizen they are elected to take care of. This is true at all levels of gummint. We really have left all semblance of reality when it comes to governing.

Methinks it takes a pretty poor specimen of humanity to want to tear apart the country they live in. Kind of reminds me of dog kennels...everyone knows that when you inbreed dogs to some degree, they lose all sense of taking care of themselves...even to lying and sleeping in their bodily waste. Yeah, does kinda sound like some of them "con-gress critters".

May God Almighty have mercy on our souls for destroying a blessed life.

Topsy-turvy?

2011-01-18T11:13:00.000-06:00

We have reports from early historians (including Jewish), that Jesus Christ, literally turned the world upside-down. How, you may ask, could He have turned the world upside-down? He disdained the popular understanding of man’s relationship to each other, and to God.

Jesus was probably the first “equal rights” crusader. For sure He healed indiscriminately, and met people at their need, not their want. He spoke of going the extra mile, and that a worker was worth his pay. He spoke of loving, and forgiving, those around us, rather than extracting an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. He set forth the example we were to follow: Love as I have loved you, and forgive as your heavenly Father has forgiven you. Jesus spent His days lifting others up, and encouraging them to be the best they could be. Isn’t that the pattern set down throughout the Hebrew/Jewish history? He taught us to value all life.

Today, we are witnessing another upheaval in the world. The movement appears to be returning to the old ways. One person has property rights over another. We no longer are satisfied to get along, we now have a need to get even. We no longer respect or value life. We indiscriminately kill people before they are born. We are seeing evil being extolled, while good is attacked as bad. I am amazed to learn that law-abiding citizens are considered a threat to our livelihood, while people committed to destroying us and our way of life are considered to be heroes. A lie told often enough becomes a form of truth.

Pundits claim that the increase in gun and ammo purchases after the debacle in Arizona is a harbinger of calamity. If you are a law-abiding citizen, and you lawfully own firearms, you are a threat to the rest of the country. My guess is, that had the people gathered to hear congress-critter Giffords been packing lawfully, there would not have been so many people shot. Criminals feel safe in “no gun zones”. They are pretty sure there is no one going to stop them until they are able to do the damage they want.

It is true, I carry a gun, not because I am afraid, but because I am confident that I can defend myself when, and if, it should ever come to that. I also carry a gun, because I cannot carry a cop; have you ever called 911? Think about the time it takes for the operator to extract the information they need, to verify there is a threat, and then think about how long it takes for law enforcement officers to get to where you are.

Christianity is the only religion/belief that encourages living in peace. So, then, how come with all the bumper stickers, and billboards touting the message, “unity” “coexist” “can’t we all get along?” are we seeing an unprecedented attack on Christianity? How come, the department of home land security has identified Christians as terrorists? If my remembery is correct, it seems to me, that the Communism that was rampant when I was growing up, had quite an adverse reaction to Christianity. Then, history shows us that the Third Reich primarily failed because they acted to erase the Jewish/Hebrew people, only to find out that the Christian community stood up and stood beside the Jewish/Hebrew people. The two world wars we were involved in have shown us that Communism, socialism, Nazism have their beginnings in evil. When people wish to lord it over other people, and take the opportunity to exterminate others who do not see eye to eye with them, we are dealing with evil. E V I L!!!! For evil to flourish, a good man need do nothing.

How have we gotten to this place in time, and in history? America is considered to be a Christian nation. Ask anyone on the street, and they are probably going to say that they are a Christian. They have gone to Sunday School, recited catechism, been confirmed and baptized and are now a part of the body of Christ. You will even hear that they have been married in the church, and have made arrangements for the church to perform their funeral. They even force their children to go to Sunday School, and go through the motions of meeting the requirements for the ritual of joining the church. They may even pray before meals, but come Monday morning through Saturday night they forget that Christianity is a way of life, they assume it is a point to reach, an apex, an ultimate place to stand. There is probably no better example of this than “Mardi Gras” or “Carnivale”. Well, we do need to consider Halloween as maybe a close second.

What is the symbolism behind “Mardi Gras”? To begin with, the peak of Mardi Gras is “Fat Tuesday”. The day before Ash Wednesday. The participants wear masks and costumes, basically resembling demons and ogres. It is fashionable on that day to dabble in as much debauchery as you can possibly get into. And what is the reason for the debauchery? Yeah, you bet! Come early Wednesday morning, you go to confession, receive the mark of the ash on your forehead, and you are ready for the Lenten period. You have made yourself ready for the new birth that is heralded by Easter Sunday.

And Halloween? I’m glad you asked. Halloween is considered to be a contraction of All Hallows Evening. Why is that important? Well, the next day, November 1 is All Saints Day. History reflects that there was a time, when Christianity was “turning the world upside-down” that people continued to maintain their old pagan ways. One of the rituals they had was, on the day before All Saints Day, they would watch for the ghosts, or spirits of the dead to come back and go through the town. If they were able to receive treats, then the spirits would bring a blessing to the town, and would not haunt it. If they found the townspeople to be inhospitable, they would wreak all kinds of terror on the town. So, today, we dress our children up, as ghosts, ghouls, ogres and other forms of spirits and allow them to “trick or treat”, and if they don’t get a treat for their trick, then they treat the offender to another kind of trick.

How true is the axiom, that those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to relive it. Jesus issued in and ordained a new day, a new world. Many of our ancestors came to the New World, to avail themselves of the new life that Jesus had brought. Here in this country was the freedom to live as best you could, to own what you work for, to worship God, as the Creator and Sustainer of this old world. How true, that familiarity breeds disdain. Too many of us have been raised in the lap of affluency, and have exercised the God-given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, until we truly believe that we are the only one who has any right to it. How can someone in their right mind ever conceive that having the governing of man is better than the governing by a Sovereign, beneficent Creator God.

May God have mercy on our back-slidden souls.

Gimme a break

2010-10-02T12:12:00.000-05:00

On a billboard, here in town, I viewed a message that reads: “UNITY What makes this country great.”

I wanna puke! Since when is unity the reason this country is great? This country is great because of freedom. Freedom to be and do what I feel is best for me. Freedom to work for a day’s wages, freedom to keep, and use, those wages as I desire. Freedom to give what I want to, and freedom to stand up for what is right.

It was freedom that was on the minds, and hearts, of the founding fathers. Freedom from gummint intrusion, freedom from having a day’s wages taken away to support a gummint. Freedom to believe as I choose. Freedom to live where I wish.

It was freedom that gave us our continental states without any requirement to show identification to travel from one state to another. Freedom to move wherever I wish.

To my military mind, it is unity that is dividing this country. Too much emphasis is being placed on all of us being the same...liking the same thing...having the same things. Isn’t that what “outcome based education” touts? Everyone being the same? If God wanted us to be the same, I believe He would have created robots, instead of people. Truth is, He created us with “free will”, and a heart and soul that cries for freedom.

So, each and every day, we are being bombarded by freaks that don’t like people having freedom. Gummint has been granted too much liberty to confine the citizens of this country.

Then again, the Bible clearly defines for us what happens when we place our trust in man, and not in God. May God have mercy on us.

WTFO?

2010-09-26T09:40:00.002-05:00

Once upon a time, in this country, there was no “concealed carry permit”. Reason? Every body carried, and the funny thing was, most of the armed robberies were out on the open plains, where it was easy to out number those with protection in mind. Think about it; eight men on horseback surround a stage coach with maybe four or five armed men in, or on it. You might get one of them, but they are gonna get all of you.
Words, really do mean a lot. Just think of the difference between the statements, “Gun Free Zone” and “Clear Fire Zone”. Yep! We gotsa problem of communication right now. Is it any wonder there is so much effort to legalize criminals? And crime? Here in South Dakota, a new law was passed identifying three levels of sexual crime criminals: So, some sex crimes are less offensive than others? You ever wonder why there is such a strong push to legalize crime??? More Democrat voters, sure, I’ll buy that. But what about the idea that so many of the people wanting these changes are criminals theirselves, and want to try and minimize the effect on their life.
We now have a “Commander in Chief” who campaigned on “Hope”. When this country was founded, the leaders leaned on “hope”. A hope centered in the Creator, Who bestowed upon us lowly critters the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. You can bet your sweet bippy that ain’t the hope B. Hussein has in mind.
So often we hear the question, “Why do you carry?”; I think the correct question should be “Why don’t you carry?” To my military mind, the person who won’t carry, and wants to think the world is populated with caring individuals who are not interested in harming anyone, has no concept of evil. What is that old saying, “The smartest thing the devil ever did, was to convince people he didn’t exist”? Anyone seeing that statue of the three monkeys??? Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil?
We will never be able to take back our country, and enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness until we are able to remove all the laws, that subjugate the citizenry, and embolden the criminals.
That President was entirely wrong when he made the statement, “We have nothing to fear except fear itself”. We need to fear evil, and not just fear it, but be prepared to engage it in mortal combat, to keep the freedom our forefather’s fought so hard to bequeath to us.
When you are willing to give up your freedom for security, rather than providing for your own security to preserve your freedom, you are a sad specimen of humanity.
Go ahead, prove me wrong!

Progressive aka regressive

2010-08-09T08:13:00.001-05:00

I see on Facebook, an advertisement for “Balance Our Budget Now”. Haven’t we gone beyond that expression yet?

The current administration has deftly increased our budget deficit into trillions of dollars; trillions! Yeah, it would be nice to balance the budget. When we exercise the platitude of “Balance Our Budget Now!” we are actually playing into the Marxist/Leninist/liberal playbook. Balance the budget is actually political speak that means nothing more than, increase taxes, and reduce individual wealth. In truth, we have been raising taxes, and inventing new taxes; and yet, the deficit continues to run us deeper and deeper into national debt.

I truly wonder how many of us are really adamant about balancing the budget! How much are we really willing to give up? At what point, will we cry foul, in watching more money being taken from our income in the name of social improvement?

In Oakland, CA the police department is all but shut down, no funding. In another town, the three public libraries are being shut down, and planning on a huge book sale. In my own city, of Sioux Falls, SD, we are seeing reductions in street maintenance (pot holes, widening, snow removal, etc. Yet, we have a scenic “Sculpture Walk”, which I am sure was instituted, and maintained with public funds; we are debating an events center, which for sure will include public funds, and most likely additional taxes.

Nobody wants to talk about it, but we have a sinister system sucking money like a vacuum gone crazy. Sosh Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment compensation, welfare: every gummint instituted program for social purposes is another example of refusing to balance the budget. In fact, every gummint instituted social program is just another way of saying redistribution of wealth. Anyone with any sense of understanding, should go and read the Communist Manifesto. See how it calls for gummint programs to redistribute wealth. Then listen to this administration talk about how the wealthy are taking money away from the poor. There was a time in this country, when gummint didn’t have its hands in so many pies, and pockets of those willing to work to better themselves and their living environment.

We can balance the budget, but are willing to give up allowing gummint to dictate our lives and make us pay for things we don’t need, but are nice to have to make us look “progressive”?

We the people have been blessed by God Almighty with the right to the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness, yet, our liberty, our life and our happiness is currently in great danger. Wake up America!

Everly Brothers - Crying In The Rain

2010-08-02T18:01:00.000-05:00

A nuther Hollyweirdo stands up to beat the drum

2010-07-30T18:34:00.000-05:00

So, “good-ole boy” Andy Griffith is showing his colors...

Well, I guess if we consider his playing a sheriff on tv, he was pretty much anti-gun, and made an effort to end any trouble by talking rather than collaring. I had never thought about it much in that vein, until I heard that he has come out pretty strongly in support of B. Hussein’s health care program.

And what about lawyer? He did play a lawyer on tv; and apparently a very good one, he never lost a case. But, did you ever notice? He wore the same suit every day...he once said he had a closet full of the suits becuz he liked em. Well, I guess that is alright, when I was in the military I had a locker full of the same uniforms. And it seems to me, nothing was ever as important as having a hot dog.

Ok, yah, sure, ubetcha!! He is a Hollywood personality...why would I have ever entertained the idea that he was a baseball, mom’s apple pie kind of conservative? I spose if I had taken the time to think about it, I would recall that Ronald Reagan didn’t fit into the Hollywood mold, and for some time he was persona non gratis in that realm.

Ummmmm, I spose it goes without saying that he is wealthy...His Mayberry RFD reruns have got to be bringing him in good royalties; and it seems like the reruns of Matlock have been picked up by more than one cable station. Yup, seems like he is more out of the mainstream of American people.

Now that I think about it, he prolly is a good salesman for AARP and B Hussein’s health care.

There is something in this world that is unforgiving, and is mean as a steer with a head at each end of his body...that something is reality. And when reality smacks ya, you know you have been brought up short. When all is said and done, reality is going to surprise a lot of people in this country; however, by then it is too late to change.

Signs of the times

2010-07-30T07:41:00.002-05:00

My rudimentary understanding of Spanish leads me to believe that burrito is a little donkey. With that in mind, perhaps it is better for the USA to expell the illegals, and lose all the burritos...my military mind tells me there are enough jack asses in this country as it is. And too many of them are not little.

Let it be, let it beeeee

2010-07-26T10:13:00.001-05:00

Well, looks like the “nanny state” “do-gooders” are back at it again.

The poll listed on the Argus Leader’s online edition asks the question: “Should Sioux Falls residents be allowed to park their recreational vehicles in front of their house?” As of 7:15 am, the response was “Yes, 40.4% and No, 59.6%”.

To my military mind, this entails a discussion on freedom, and property rights.

Of course, it stands to reason that freedom inherently entails the right to own property, and to do with said property as the owner deems appropriate. Unlike the song that says “freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose; nothing ain’t worth nothing, honey, if it ain’t free”. Until the gummint comes in...yah, sure, ubetcha!!! Eminent Domain is the power (some say the inherent right) of gummint to seize/appropriate a citizen’s “private” property for public use. When “we the people” no longer have the “right” to own private property and dispose of it as we see proper, we have lost freedom. It may be a right, or power, invested in gummint to “seize/appropriate” citizen’s private property for public use, but that does not make it morally right. That brings up another thought...freedom is a moral absolute. That is why the framers of this great country put together the Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence specifically identifying freedom as a God given right, not a man given right. Good people know there is evil in this world, and evil men and women do not like people having individual rights, liberty, and freedom. They demonstrate this by dreaming up ways to take freedom and rights and liberty away from others. The human soul was meant to be free, to create, to nurture, and yet, there are souls that despise all things good.

Methinks, that if there is a right of way in the street that is supported by gummint, then gummint has the power to determine how that street and the right of way are used. There is no need for discussion about whether or not a citizen can park an RV in front of his home. By all rights, there should not be any discussion on whether or not someone maintains their yard in a pristine condition. But that is exactly where we find the nanny state do-gooders or nattering nabobs. They demand that everybody do what they want. You see, they want the freedom to live as they wish, but they don’t want anyone else to have that freedom.

These are the parasites, the leeches, the blood-suckers that are changing this country from the land of the free, and the home of the brave; into the land of the slaves, and the home of the chikken-shits.

We have met the enemy, n he is us!

2010-07-20T15:03:00.000-05:00

What has happened to our patriotic side? Our love of this great nation, that has brought prosperity to so many?

Recently, I was discussing the differences between the World Wars and Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.

During the big war, gasoline was rationed, food was rationed, men, and boys, lined up at recruiting stations willing to leave home and family to go “over there” and fight. Those of us left at home did all we could to support them, we bought war bonds, we donated time and money to the USO, we did what we could to support the war effort. Sure, there were probably anti-war people around back then, but they were not as well pronounced as they are today. Stop and think about it...once we went to war, the automobile factories retooled, and started putting together tanks, and armored vehicles to send “over there”. I wasn’t around during the war, but I well remember the late 40s, when automobiles came in the basic color of white, black or green: the period of retooling to put together automobiles, rather than military vehicles.

So, again, the question being asked is “why the difference?”

An important factor, that I believe gets overlooked has to do with our collective mindset. Back during the time of WWI, many of the people living in this country, were relatively recently arrived here. They carried the memory of life in Europe, under oppressive gummints that wanted to run everybody’s life. Think of the immigrant, who was poor in Europe, and was not able to get ahead because of onerous taxation; he/she travels to the “new world” where they are able to start a business, and earn more than a living. They are able to keep the money they work for and earn, whether working for someone else or for themselves. To these people, the threat of a screaming dictator from Europe declaring war against the rest of the world, was a reminder of what they had to give up, to go back to that way of life. In their mind, they would rather lose their life, and protect their family and new way of life, than allow some radical to destroy what they had found in the “new world”.

Add the time of about one generation, and we find our country again involved in a world war, “over there”. To the older people, they still remember life in Europe, their children may remember also, but they have seen the devastation wrought by the malefactors involved in WWI; and once again, our young men are hot to trot to get to the recruiting station, sign up, and take the battle “over there”. We are still a young country, less than two hundred years old...and the people love the freedom and liberty they have found here, and are not willing to give it up for anything. Once again, the men are willing to give up their life, to protect their family, and the life they have found.

Well, WWII, ended in 1945, Vietnam came into full swing in 1965. We had come a long way from the life of both world wars. We now had businesses whose sole purpose was fabricating war materials and vehicles. The auto makers no longer needed to retool, though GM did eventually put together the Hummer division to provide new replacement vehicles for the old Jeep and power wagon. The older generation that had the collective understanding of life in Europe were pretty much dead; their children who fought in WWI, and their grandchildren in WWII had decided to make a better life for themselves while they could. They remembered the elite of Europe, the learned class, and they committed themselves to ensuring their children had the best of education. Methinks there may have even been a consideration that if all people were highly educated there would no longer be any elites.

Suffice it to say, here we are in 2010, two centuries removed from the first immigrants landing on our soil, and our collective mindset is no longer relative to life in Europe, but is accepted that we have always lived in this country, and no one has ever set foot in here to cause us harm. We have the greatest military history has ever known, but I don’t want to send my son or daughter into harm’s way, let someone else do it. In earlier days, while I was on active duty, there was a little ditty that would not stand up today’s PC culture. “My _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, my _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, you fight for me, I fight for you; you die for me, tough shit for you”. And that pretty much tells me a lot about the difference. We have become a society that is fixated on me, myself and I. We teach our children, “never volunteer”, “be the best you can be”, “stay out of fights”, “mind your own business”. We have encouraged a society of lovers and not fighters.

Sadly, we have also become a society that no longer embraces freedom and liberty, and what it will bring; but have sold our soul to the devil, to get a little bit of what isn’t ours. We no longer worry about any invading army setting foot into our country, though, every day, more and more of the enemy fighters are gaining entrance, and even citizenship. We have become complacent to let gummint, at all levels, tax us to death, as long as we know we will have nice sculptures to reduce the blight of buildings in downtown areas. As long as we know that that same gummint is putting out money to take care of the down and outers. So, often, I answer these polls that ask, “What price will gasoline have to get to to change your driving patterns?” A more burning question that needs to be asked is: “At what point will taxes cause you to change your behavior?” When will we reach the point where we stand up and say, “enough is enough!”?

In our complacency, we are like the frogs in a bucket of cold water sitting on a stove with the burner on high. We are enjoying life, while we are being robbed of our life. Our country was founded on the principle of freedom and liberty, under God. Today we have left out God, and traded our freedom and liberty for a passel of laws, “to protect me and mine”. Go ask Alice?

Methinks, it stinks

2010-07-11T10:15:00.000-05:00

We are witnessing an unprecedented grab of power by the union backed democrat government. When will it all end?

Recently, it was discovered that corporations were holding billions of dollars in cash, and not investing. HHHHMMMMMMM! Do that make anyone stop and think? Well it did me!

As new regulations go into effect, and more taxes are levied, in this country, the people with the money, are less and less interested in losing what they have. I find it truly interesting, that the unions are so hell bent for leather on taking control of all work in this country.

What do unions do? They argue for more and more money from the businesses they get involved with. Seems to my military mind, that when unions have taken over all jobs in this country, there ain't gonna be no money for work to be done, bcuz those with the gold make the rules, and when they aren't able to have their money working for them, they pull their money out.

What then happens to this country, when there is no money for the workers to earn?

Think about it...we are already witnessing the exodus of wealthy people out of the really strong liberal/union run states. We have even seen the moving of businesses from the continental United States to places that for the time being provide a shelter for the businesses and their stock holders money. An old fairy tale, talks about the golden goose that lays the golden eggs, but when you kill the goose, yep, u guessed it, there ain't no more golden eggs.

When are we, "we the people" going to wake up, and see the power slide we are on that is destroying this country? As my momma used to say, you never truly miss something until it is gone.

Passing comments

2010-07-06T09:40:00.001-05:00

Another July 4th has passed, I am told that I have seen 64 of them; tho I really don’t remember that many.

A trivia question that seems to trip people up asks, if Great Britain has a fourth of July. Of course, since the fourth of July is so impressed upon our psyche, and our memory as an historic day for our country, we ignorantly answer “no”: and we get the question wrong.

The fourth of July just happens to be the day “we the people” celebrate the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain and her despotic king. Of course Great Britain would not be celebrating too, they lost some good support.

How ironic, “we the people” declared our independence from Great Britain, and a king who taxed us oppressively; and some two hundred n thirty years later, we are driving “hell bent for leather” back into dependence on a gummint that has no consideration for “we the people”.

I am told, that ostriches, when confronted with something they can’t comprehend, quickly shove their heads into the dirt, to hide...I am afraid that too many of our “countrymen” have shoved their heads into their rectums, to hide from things they don’t understand.

How, in the name of everything sacred, could our national outcry go from “GIVE ME LIBERTY, OR GIVE ME DEATH”, to “Give me social security, and take away my wealth?” SHEEESH!!

C’mon, Scotty, beam me up, there ain’t no intellugent life on this planet.

Random thinking

2010-06-28T13:22:00.000-05:00

So, this morning, there are two subjects on my mind that I want to explore.

First, Senator Robert Byrd, has assumed room temperature. I am one of those critters, the Democrats have identified as a terrorist. I believe in, and trust God, as the Creator, and Sustainer of ALL life. I dedicated 29 years of my life to supporting and protecting this country and what she stands for. I believe in, and trust, the Constitution of the United States. I firmly believe this great nation was founded in faith upon God’s direction. And Senator Byrd assuming room temp, has given me pause to think...sadly, this nation has become barely a shadow of her greatness. This has primarily been attributable to those “safe” seats in con-gress. Methinks, there is a serendipity in hard core con-gress critters that cannot be removed through the voter process, are being removed by Mother Nature (?), by God (?). I am also wondering whether or not the loss of Ted Kennedy and now, Robert Byrd, are a direct product of the current administration’s plan of “hope and change”. It is definitely bringing hope to many, and assuredly bringing change in the con-gress.

Second, President B. Hussein, over the weekend, indicated he had plans to reduce the national debt by 2013. How sweet, that date is a year after his first term ends. Methinks this is a trial balloon popped up to see how it looks for the 2012 national election. In other words, he cannot reduce the national debt, unless he is reelected. We have seen an enormous explosion of the national debt, just since this administration was ushered in. I think I can help him in reducing the debt. First, do away with Secret Service protection of himself and his family, and the con-gress critters, and all previous presidents. Next, he can do away with con-gress’ non-participatory retirement fund, and ensure that presidents will not receive any money once they leave office. Then, he can insure that the monetary stipend con-gress critters receive be reduced to reflect the average earnings of Americans {defined as those who live in flyover country}.

The President is supposed to be a leader...my training in the Marine Corps taught me that a leader always leads from the front. Is that really too much to ask from the President of the United States? That reminds me of another pet peeve, or burr under my saddle, and that is referring to con-gress critters as “lawmakers”. Inherent in that moniker, is the idea they must be making laws in order to be doing their jobs. How appropriate is it, that so many of these “lawmakers” have so recently been “lawbreakers”. I love it! You know, one of the traditions we have brought forward from our days in the United Kingdom, is the reference to con-gress critters as “the Honorable”; to my military mind, there is no honor in many of the things that have arisen from our elected officials in Washington. First among their crimes is the armed robbery of the citizenry of this great country.

There is a way that seems right to a man.

Words

2010-06-14T09:45:00.000-05:00

Say them over again to me, wonderful words of life
words of love and beauty,
words of life and duty, beautiful words,
wonderful words, wonderful words of life.
It is true...words do have meaning.
It is also true, that words can have multiple meanings, tho the most common use of a word, is generally what the connotation carries.
Politicians are good to remind us that there are "nuances". Yeah, turning words to mean what you want them to mean to fit the moment.
I think a case in point is the Democrats desire to no longer be called the Democrat party, but the Democratic party. In the past couple of decades, they have proven that there is nothing "democratic" about them. Hasn't someone said that a lie told enough times, and over a length of time, begins to take on the mantle of truth? What does this mean practically? Well, if we conservatives follow along and refer to them as the democratic party, we are in essence saying that they are better than us, and their ideas are "progressively" better than ours. In doing so, we proudly sound the death knell of any political ideology other than theirs.
Another way to dupe the common person, is to talk about tax cuts for the "working" people. It is no secret that the Democrat party is part and parcel bought out by the unions. To us, "working" people are the ones that get up every day and go to work, to try and better their lot, and move up in the world. The people who are honest, pay their taxes, mind their own business, help out their neighbors when they can; to the Democrats, "working" people are the union people. Think I am blowing smoke? Look at the "minimum wage" issue. Democrats tell us this is so the "working" people can take care of their families...and how does the minimum wage affect the "working" people? Well, primarily it helps unions to set their wage scale. Entry level wage is set at a percentage above "minimum wage", this gives the incentive for people to sign up with the unions, rather than working in a non union position.
I have often heard it asked, if you are invited to play poker, you understand there are certain rules that are inherent. But, if the dealer says those rules are non existent, we are playing with the rules that I determine are important at the time, your wining hand, could be a loser, just because the dealer doesn't want you to win. For instance, it is quite understood that being dealt a face card and an ace is automatically blackjack, or twenty-one. Now, the dealer could easily say, that is no longer true, that face card and ace only come up to eleven points, do you want to stand or take a hit? Again, the dealer could say, face cards are no longer ten points a piece, but are relative to their place in the deck. A jack would be eleven points, queen would be twelve and king would be thirteen.
I guess, what I am trying to say, here, is that there must be absolutes. Yes, in the color spectrum there is black and white, and in between different shades. That goes for the world of color. In the world of words, and ideas, there must be an anchor point where understanding stands premier...
I guess another pricking point in my skin is the idea that the Democrat party is identified with the color blue, while the Republican party is identified with red. I am reminded of the brouhaha over teachers using red pens/pencils to grade students papers; or how people are affected by seeing red fire trucks, or red lights on the roofs of emergency vehicles. Have we not been told that red is identified with fear? I am probably a lot older, but I well remember the old saying I'd rather be dead than red. And now, the Republican party is branded with the color red, bringing with it all the baggage it can carry. I guess I would like to see the Republican, well, maybe the conservative Republican candidates, start using the colors "red, white and blue" rather than accepting the standard that we are red. Methinks, those of us, here, in flyover country would gravitate toward the red, white and blue colors for a candidate rather than plain blue or red; let's start using some of the "nuance" of color, to identify us.
Many will probably say, it is too late to try and make ourselves over...truth be told, we ain't making ourselves over, we are establishing who we really are, irrelevant of what the lame/main/drive by media wants us to be. Let's stop talking about welfare, and minimum wage, let's get off Roe v wade, let's get on with what is rock bottom true with the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. We were founded as a land of liberty and freedom...freedom to do, and to be the best we can be. Heh, heh, "vegetarian, is an old Indian word meaning non-hunter". The carrot that was hit by a truck along the road, and after three hours in OR was determined it would live but would be a vegetable the rest of its life.
Isn't it time, we stood up for what is right, what is right in this country, what is right for this country? We don't need to make ourselves over, we need only to stand up for who we are, and what we stand for.
America!, America!, God shed His grace on thee.
Say them over again to me, wonderful words of life.

Day late, n a dollar short...

2010-06-10T08:15:00.002-05:00

Just found a link to a Tammy Bruce interview with Sarah Palin.

Many thanks to SondraK and her blog, Knowledge is Power.

Irregardless of what you may think of Tammy Bruce, it would behoove all of us to listen to this interview.

Definitely lifted my spirits, and blessed me.

Rave on, it's a funny feeling

2010-05-23T10:25:00.002-05:00

Are you going to tour SculptureWalk?

Number of votes: 277

Yes: 32.1%
No: 67.9%

If this is the consensus of Sioux Falls residents, what then, is the impetus for wasting tax money on establishing, maintaining, and advertising a "Sculpture Walk"?

So, again, we hear how the city, county, state is hurting for funding...yet, the "lawmakers" find it important to waste money on "aesthetic" things that make them feel better; make them feel like they are cosmopolitan because we have a sculpture walk where "tourists" can ooh, and ahh, over stuff that crowds sidewalks.

I continue to be amazed that our ancestors left europe, on a hazardous journey to live a life that was different than what they had there. And today, some bunch a generations later, we have disgruntled citizens who think european life is better than what we have...those aren't earthquakes we feel when the ground moves, they are our ancestors turning over in their graves.

I have a great idea: Let's encourage all the disgruntled "useful idiots" to abandon their U.S. citizenship, and move to europe where they are free to be as metrosexual as they wish; then we can look at the illegal aliens that are flooding our cities, and find out which ones are willing to forsake their citizenship in their country of birth, and make them citizens.

This country became great, because we are, were, different than the rest of the world. This country was established on the premise, and promise, of freedom, and liberty. Today, she stands on the precipice of sliding into the oblivion of history like so many other "metropolitan" european countries.

So, why does that have to happen? Why are we so hell bent on slipping into the morass of inconsequentialness? Why are we, as a people, so content to lay around and allow individuals to drag us down into the pit of worthlessness just because they don't think it is fair for one country to be better, or greater than any other country.

Sadly, I am old...my better days are well behind me. I gladly put myself into harm's way, 29 years of active duty, because I believe in this country and what she is, and stands, for. Now, I am watching those cowards, who hid in universities revelling in the security provided by me and those others who were willing to stand in the gap, drag this country down because they think we are better than being the greatest country history has ever revealed. A pox on every one of them.

If you don't like our way of living, leave! You know, I think about the "illegal aliens" flocking to get into this country to work and better their lives and lifestyles, and I look at the worthless citizens that lay around all day, waiting for the government to give them something else they want.

I cannot begin to tell you how much it irrigates me to listen to the radio piece where the woman brags about helping her people get back their "unearned tax credits". They aren't theirs to begin with. If it is "unearned" then it has been taken away from those who have "earned".

So, now you know, why I ain't gonna tour SculptureWalk...

Bottom line: Sculpture walk is not worth my time, nor my money; and by me touring it, I would be affirming that I am happy to be a part of the wastefulness. Clean up the sidewalks, let the "artists" earn their living they way everyone else does, rather than depend on the government to pay them with someone else's hard earned money.

Ahh, having a one-sided conversation with an empty wall...Oh well, how much longer will I have the privilege of being able to say what I want?

Yah, Sure, Ubetcha!

2010-05-06T10:49:00.004-05:00

Things are starting to come to a head now. Yep, it has been a long time coming.

Recently, we have been treated to incidents involving "naturalized" citizens of the US. The really egregious examples appear to be from middle eastern countries. Some might say these are sleeper cells that have been groomed over many years.

My military mind continuously causes me to look at what regulations there are covering situations, and see what, or where, we went awry.

I am sure there are many who were born and raised in this country, who are not aware of what it takes to become a naturalized citizen. So, I have decided to list the Oath of citizenship, so, we might all have a little background on who these "naturalized citizens" are that are working to destroy our country.

Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America

"I hereby declare, on oath,

that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject of citizen;

that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;

that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law;

that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law;

that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."

Pretty interesting commentary, no?

My mind keeps telling me, that after taking this oath, a person becomes an American citizen, who has burned all their bridges and sunk all their boats. They have chosen to leave the past behind, and work for a new life. Yeah, right!

So, if this be the case...how come we have people calling themselves "African-Americans", "Polish-Americans", Mexican-Americans", etc.? How come we are so wound up over "Cinco de mayo"?

You see, how we have incrementally moved from being Americans, to being quasi Americans?

So, on the news, I heard the individual who left the car in Times Square loaded with fertilizer is a Pakistani-American, who is naturalized. What a crock of Bovine Scatology. He is either Pakistani or he is American. If he is naturalized in this country he has sworn an oath of allegiance, and has renounced his allegiance to a former sovereignty.

To my military mind, he has clearly shown a disregard for being a subject of the United States of America, and a desire to stand with his renounced sovereignty. He has negated his "naturalized" citizenship, and should either be treated as a hostile terrorist in this country illegally, or he should at least be deported back to his country of origin.

If we were truly serious about this country being the greatest country history has ever known; we would not be calling him, and his ilk, "Pakistani-American", we would strip him of his citizenship and summarily execute him for being a terrorist within our sovereign territory. Historically, the death penalty, carried out, has always been a great deterrent to criminal activity.

According to this current administration, I am a domestic terrorist, I believe in God, I own guns, I am a veteran of our Armed Forces, I believe in individual responsibility, I believe in smaller government. So, this rant is not raising any flags, it is simply verifying that I am who I am.

Un~freaking~believable

2010-04-15T09:10:00.000-05:00

As Yakov Smirnoff might say, "Gee, is this a great country, or what?"

The last coupla days, I have heard a commercial on the radio by a woman named Vivian Moreno. She was bragging how she has helped hundreds of her neighbors receive thousands of dollars in "earned income credit". She really believes she is doing good in helping others realize the American dream through redistribution of wealth. C'mon, give me a break...my annual income is less than $50,000, yet, I continue to pay more and more taxes.

Think about it: my tax sheltered annuity is taxed at about 27%...ain't that a kick in the pants! And, sosh security is taxed at about 17%. Who woulda ever thunk we would be paying taxes on money that was a tax in the first place.

Ok, I get it...only specific individuals in this life are eligible to have any amount of money...if you ain't one of the elite, then screw you, charly! There are a bunch of young people in this country that really believe they will be able to amass wealth, and live better than their parents did. Well, maybe if they don't work, and make babies, they can have it all.

Earned income credit...don't make no money, you still can soak the earners, cuz you can get more money refunded than you have made all year. Give me a break!

Yeah, we seem to rapidly be coming to a crossroad...either this country is gonna wake up, and stop the pilfering, and placating, or we are gonna continue to slip into a country of slaves, where the elite tell us where to go, what to do, when to do it, and that we can't cuz we ain't got enuff money.

SHEESH!!@@@!!

Rave on, it's a crazy feeling

2010-04-08T12:47:00.001-05:00

So the current meme is that 47% of the population will pay no income tax for 2009. What do I have to do to get in that line?

If I give up my military retirement, forgo sosh security benefits, and dump my "tax sheltered annuity"; sue my apartment complex for charging too much rent, change my affilitation to D, and sign up for welfare, or simply sign up as a homeless Vietnam veteran, post photos on FB of me laying around in a cardboard box with a bottle of Wild Irish Rose, stand in front of a downtown restaurant and flash all the women who come out. Yeah, maybe then, I would not have to pay any income tax. You know, I could even get free viagra, and condoms.

Just think, I wouldn't have to worry about anything because there are so many "soshal" programs available between federal, state, county and city, {mustn't forget church affiliated} that I would not have to break a sweat, and when April 15 comes around each year, I could hold up a sign saying something like: "Thank you, for letting me live like a king, without having to break a sweat, or pay income tax."

Think about it. Once or twice a year, the local Salvation Army place holds a "Veteran's Stand Down", I can go there, and get fed, get a haircut, and beard trim, get new sox and underwear, and even pick up some cold weather gear, and it don't cost me a penny.

Add to that, B Hussein's great health care initiative, I won't even have to battle the VA for veteran's health care, cuz the Prez is gonna pay for me to get all the health care I need; plus free Viagra.

Well, that seems like an easy thing to do, but I gotta admit, I don't understand how anyone can live like that. I guess I am an old fuddy-duddy, but I believe that every person should take care of their own self; take responsibility for their own life.

There was a time in this country when there was no tax, or only a minimum tax on income. For those people who do not know the history of the United States of America, our country was founded on the theory that taxation was wrong, and we fought a bloody war to rid ourselves of onerous taxation. And so, for many years, there was very little income tax. Those few whose family was able to benefit from small taxation and build up a sizable estate, are now the ones who don't want any of the rest of us to be able to benefit. Here is an idea that will make income tax fair across the board: Make the current, or projected tax rate retroactive...yah, sure, you bet, let's go back and tax all the income made by the Kennedy's, the Ford's, the Metro Goldwyn Meyer's, the Heinz's, and every one else whose largesse was a result of no, or little taxation in the early years of this country.

For those who truly believe the maxim, "from everyone according to his ability, to everyone according to their need" I would say, "Lead from the front...before you demand that I give up what I have earned, let me see you give up what you have earned". Any intelligent individual, not totally wrapped up in their own personal life, will understand that ain't gonna happen. Taxation, welfare, sosh security programs are all a form of control. The human spirit was created by God for freedom and liberty. Any ideology, or philosophy that goes counter is evil, and will only enslave the spirit and the person.

God created us with a free will; a will to do what He expected or to do what we wanted...ne'er the twain shall meet. Each day we are heading either more toward God, or more away from God. Depending on people will only end up in slavery. True freedom comes from knowing that all is right in my life, between God and me. You can take my freedom, you can kill my body, but my spirit will remain free, as long as I keep my allegiance where it belongs.

Don't pay no income tax? Pshaw!! Naked I came into this world, and naked I will leave it. Blessed be the name of the LORD.

Random Rant x2

2010-04-06T12:46:00.001-05:00

Random Rant x2

I was reminded this morning of another species of the "assholus americanus".

This is the individual that drives 10 miles an hour slower than the speed limit, and when they get to an intersection where the light is about to turn red, they speed up to slip through the early red light, and leave the vehicles behind them to sit at the stop light.

For those who enjoy doing this, I would only caution that your enjoyment does generate a little road rage impulse on those behind you, who perhaps one day will follow you through the early red light, and commence to educate you on common courtesy.

Reality, and karma, suck. Both of them have a preponderancy of coming down upon someone when they least expect it. Messing around in traffic, can cause unwanted consequences.

Much Ado About Sarah

2010-03-10T19:56:00.000-06:00

In her post "Much Ado About Sarah", Cassandra follows up on questions posed by another blogger.

The first question just begs to be looked at, and commented on.

"1. Do you think the reason [Sarah Palin] is so despised by some is that she threatens "The Elite's" control on politics?"

Whew!!! To an extent, that is an understatement.

In the past few decades, we have been treated to an understanding of how the "political class" sees the average American. "Joe six-pack", "rifle rack on the back of the pickup cab", "trailer trash". Yeah, ad infinitum.

Reading history, we find that in the middle of our war with England, there were members of the communities, here in this country, who were caught up in not fighting for independence but remaining under the rule of the king of England. AAACCCKKKKK!!!

In the Bible, we read of the people of Israel clamoring for an earthly king to rule over them. Even in that day, there were individuals who felt it was their life script to rule over others, and demand obeisance from them. Though Eli was considered to be one of the better prophets, his sons, who were to inherit his position, were not of the same cloth. It is my opinion that some people truly believe that a ruler will rule with justice and honor.

Ah, think about it...In this country we have a law that demands "truth in advertising", only it exempts political speech. So, politicians can say anything they like, and don't have to prove it: or be held accountable. Taking this a little bit farther, we find the "drive-by" media exploiting this to the max, when they make up stories to belittle, or build up candidates. Hence, the axiom, the way you can tell if a poli-tic-ian is lying, is when his/her lips are moving. How sad.

Sarah Palin speaks to the members of flyover country. She speaks the language of the founding fathers who wanted no part of aristocracy. She is real; does not need a teleprompter to tell her what to say. She speaks from the hip, and from the heart. She disdains the political class, and does what she can to undermine the old crony system of government. She doesn't need an echo chamber to stimulate audiences. She speaks what we know, and understand. she resonates with the people of flyover country who are fed up with the political class, and people doing what they want rather than what we want.

Basically, I believe the "Elite's" control on politics is being eroded by their every day existence.

In a perfect world, everyone would love God, and would respect God's creation. We can respect God's creation without taking money from each other to take care of our pet projects.

Sarah Palin believes in individual responsibility rather than government "chosen" to take care of us. I agree.

Random rant

2010-02-23T10:39:00.000-06:00

I have identified a certain species of homo-sapiens that I call "assholus americanus".

They come in a plethora of mutations; but the one I guess I want to focus on today is the one that always speeds up just enough to get around you, on the interstate, and then when they get in front of you, they slow down: slower than you were going originally.

It is obvious to the casual observer that their mother apparently didn't have any children that lived: or maybe she happened to drop them on their head, and they ain't been right since. At any rate, there must not have been qualified lifeguards in their gene pool.

I normally, do not succumb to road rage, and do stupid stuff, cuz then I would be putting myself into that species. But I must admit, I have secretly wished there was a way to install a 105 recoiless rifle under the hood of my vehicle, to ensure these individuals do not have the opportunity to breed, or cause a serious accident.
Often I have entertained the thought that if there is ever a stupid test for getting a driver's license, there are gonna be a lot of unhappy people walking around. Yeah, Forrest Gump was right when he said, "stupid is as stupid does".

Randomly cogitating with no monetary reward

2010-02-09T07:32:00.000-06:00

Years ago, when someone around me would do, or say, something genuinely stupid, I might respond with "Did your mother have any children that lived?", or "My mama didn't raise no idiots!"

So, windmills moved from Kaliphornia to Minneesoda, don't work; temp is too cold? Wonder why we don't see huge windmill farms around the Chicago area; is not Chicago the "windy city"?

Here's a thought: If the windmills in Minnesota are not working because it is just too cold; then why not move them to DC? There is definitely a lot of hot air blowing around there.

Watched the YouTube video clips of Sarah Palin at the Nashville tea party. How interesting, to hear her say, "We need a Commander in Chief, not a professor of law standing in the podium", or words to that effect. Seriously, we are too rapidly becoming a country of laws, rather than a country of freedom and liberty. There is no other place on the face of this planet, where a foreign terrorist is afforded the rights of citizens. How have we come to this place in the annals of history?

You know, I have a theory. Throughout history, there have been many attempts to completely destroy the Israeli blood line. It looked like it may well have happened during WWII. The difference was, Christians came to the aid of the Jewish people. I truly believe that evil has been trying to destroy good for as long as human history has been going. WWII taught a great lesson, for those who carry evil in their hearts. To accomplish the complete destruction of the Jews, Israel, Christians must first be destroyed, and there will be no one to provide aid. Yes, you heard that right. And today, right here in the good ole USA we see an underhanded assault on Christianity and everything that is good.

We are in the second presidential administration that has gone public with statements indicating Christians, and benevolent people are evil, or intent on evil. It is truly beyond my comprehension of how people living in freedom and liberty with the opportunity to own personal property, and to be the best they are willing to be, are willing to let someone else have control over their lives.

We are definitely living in perilous times. We should be sounding a clarion call of a clear and present danger. Instead, we waddle along like a bunch of sheep being herded into the slaughter house. Make no mistake, there is evil in this world, and it is hell bent on destroying anything that is good.

Incrementalism is the method being used. Take away a liberty, or freedom, based on someone's personal injury, and soon, no one has liberty, or freedom. It has never worked, in all of human history, and what makes anyone think it will work now?

Give me liberty, or give me death.

Stoppin in to see what condition my condition was in

2010-02-02T09:28:00.000-06:00

How is that "hope and change" working?

I don't think for one minute there is any humor in the fact that B Hussein has "promised" there will be "NO" tax increases for anyone making less than $250,000 a year. In the past few days, he has even had the audacity to claim that not only have taxes not been raised, but a tax cut has been given.

Ok, this is my blog, and I have the authority to rave on if I want to.

First, this administration manipulated the economy to reflect no economic increase, therefore, Sosh Security, and military received no cost of living (COLA) increases. That may not mean much on the surface, but stick with me, and I will bring it all together shortly.

No COLA increases for the military also includes retired military. Which means, I have not received any increase in my retired pay, but my withholding tax has increased $9.30 per month. I guess I should get down on my knees and thank the almighty B Hussein for my glorious tax reduction. I can guarantee that his cutoff point for tax increases is at least five times my annual income.

OK, let's take a look at how my tax return for 2009 is shaping up. Based on simply my retired pay, and wages earned driving skool bus part time, I was on the way to receive $491 dollars back from the IRS. I wasn't too happy about that, cuz I would rather have had that money, than to see it being used by the gummint with no interest on the loan.

Next I entered the amount of Sosh Security benefits. You have to know that each payment is reduced by 10% for income tax purposes. Doesn't that just bless your soul? OK, so, I add in the Sosh Security info, and "VIOLA!!" I learn that that $491 IRS owes me, has been reduced to $49. Ain't that cool?

OK, ok, so, then I add in my "Tax Sheltered Annuity" payments received. Uhmmm, these payments are reduced by 20% for income tax purposes. Lo, and Behold!. That $491 return that was reduced to $49 is now reflecting me owing IRS $334. Now, how about them apples? Ain't it good to know that you've got a friend in gummint?

And to put gravy on the entire enchilada, my total earnings still do not add up to $50,000 for the year.

Yeah, "hope and change" my rosy red rear...Rush was right when he transposed the saying to "hoax and chains".

Whether we know it or not, there is a clear and present danger.

So, I'm thinkin...maybe I should have listened to Karen, back in 1963 when she begged me to stay in Thornton, and get married and settle down. I could have joined a union, and by now, I would be retired with all the benefits that come with that union. And I would never have had to put my life on the line for this country; I would not have had to go to Vietnam and become an agent orange covered Vietnam vet, with less than 5% disability. Boy, how could I have been so stupid? No wonder I am tired, and retired. Come to think of it; what if those 50,000 names on the wall had not chosen to serve their country, and instead stayed home and joined a union. Why, look how much better off they would be.

Oh, B Hussein has shown me the error of my ways. I now see that I was being foolish, and selfish, by joining the military. Hallelujah, I was blind but now I see!

The Womanliness Project

2010-01-23T13:12:00.002-06:00

This morning's blogroll reading led me to Villainous Company where I found Cassandra asking for input into her post "The Womanliness Project". Below is my response to her request.

Anything I might say is a direct product of as much of my 64 years as I can remember, through three marriages and divorces, death of an infant child, 29 years of active duty in the US Naval Service, five years of pastoring a rural church, nine months of serving as a volunteer missionary in Ecuador, and death of my father at an early age. I would preface all remarks with the thought that my experience does not qualify me as an expert on any subject; even tho I may have the subjective and objective knowledge and understanding.

To begin, I believe God created humans for the purpose of being in fellowship: with each other, and with Him. I have studied psychology, in its many manifestations, and have seriously looked at Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. He coined the term "self-actualization" and placed it at the top to indicate a person becoming the very best they could be. Inherent in attaining self-actualization is the ability/availability of having met all the needs we understand humans have.

Being in fellowship with each other presents its own pantheon of road blocks and pot holes along the road of life. I have often thought how good it would be if God would just drop down a note saying where I am supposed to be, how I am supposed to live, and what I am supposed to do. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, that doesn't happen. I do believe, however, that God has provided us with an "owner's manual" in the form of what we call the Bible, or Scripture. And sometimes, I just don't want to look into the manual to learn what I am supposed to do.

Probably, the most copacetic life I have lived was in the Marine Corps, and I am not surprised that the Corps' philosophy was "God, Country, and Corps"; with the motto "Semper Fidelis". Multitudinous manuscripts could be penned regarding the Latin term "Semper Fidelis", Always Faithful! In this post-modern world we are living in, faithfulness is considered to be archaic, old-hat, part of an old paternalistic oppression. There was a time when the shaking of hands was considered to be good faith; today, we need a team of lawyers to decipher and translate small print, to make sure it is understood who is responsible.

Oh!, there is that inescapable word: "RESPONSIBLE". So much energy has been spent on making us understand that we do not have to be responsible for anything. We are told "guns kill people", "SUVs kill people", "its the environment that caused someone to do something", "my wife/husband doesn't understand me", "the Devil made me do it".
Something that has been nagging at the back of my mind is the idea that someone owes me something. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Roman Christians, entreated them to "Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law." It was Jesus who is quoted as saying, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."You know, I served 29 years in the naval service, basically laying my life down for: my friends, my family, my neighbors, but, also, every person who has ever breathed the air in the USA. Though I didn't know it at the time, my love was God, Country, and Corps. Had I been more oriented toward loving only myself I would have never put myself in the position of standing up to protect this country and the people who call it home. How do I qualify, or quantify, the fact that there are fifty thousand names on the Wall, and mine isn't there? I can't! Uhmm, while counseling, I learned that "I can't" is a cop-out; whenever I use it in a conversation, I need to replace it with, "I won't". In this case, both terms are effective. "I can't" explain why my name isn't on the Wall; and "I won't" even attempt to understand why.

Oooooppsssss! Kinda got off on a tangent.

When we accept the premise that God created us, and made us just the way we are, to be complementary to each other, in fellowship, we find the lines demarcating the separateness between us being blurred; and even eradicated. Something a friend of mine once told me, has had quite an impression on my outlook. A term we use for God, is Yahweh, or YHWH. Inherent in the understanding of Yahweh, is the understanding that God is both male and female. Now, isn't that a revelation? Feminists tell us that God is a male that has no understanding of female.

When I go back to the Bible and spend some time reading and studying, I find that, yes, God created us male and female, man and woman, but He also gave us the gifts we needed to be complementary. We need look no further than Jacob and Esau. We are told that Esau was a man of the earth, and Jacob was a man of the tents. Esau was the epitome of manliness...while Jacob was more domesticated. He liked to cook, and basically hated hunting. He preferred the safety of home, to the freedom of the open road. And guess what? Jacob became the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. Now, how can a reasonable person qualify, or quantify, why Jacob would be the "superior" one, and Esau would be in a secondary position? Basically goes against everything we are being taught in these days.

I have found, that my ability to cook, sew, wash clothes, iron, mend and do them domesticated kindsa things, has the propensity to bring out animosity from women. I look back on my most recent marriage and divorce, and realize that life would have been much different if both of us had accepted who we were, and were willing to learn from each other, and to help each other, rather than marginalize each other.
My ex has a beautiful singing voice, she plays musical instruments by reading notes, and "by ear"; and I am told she has perfect pitch. All my life I have wanted to be able to sing, and play an instrument. My father denigrated any effort telling me I was tone deaf. When I was participating in Barbershop quartet singing, I was given the opportunity to listen to the notes, and practice hitting those notes; sometimes pretty time consuming. How much different the relationship between my ex and I might have been, had she been willing to teach me some of the things she taught music students, rather than telling me I was hopeless.

I can see how the relationship might have been different if we had worked together in the kitchen, sharing cooking secrets, rather than feeling animosity because one was different than the other.

Seems to me, that if we will be comfortable with who we are, rather than striving to be someone we can never be, life would be so much better.

My mind has just told me, that what I am trying to say is, if we are willing to live in fellowship with each other; ready to learn from and teach to each other, life will be more copacetic, and livable. And we won't have any reason to demand respect or love from each other.

Priorities

2010-01-17T12:52:00.000-06:00

I observed a pickup truck, one day, with a bumper sticker that proclaimed, "When the Church ruled the world they called it the 'dark ages'".

I have been pondering that statement, and though I did not follow the vehicle and talk with the lady that was driving, I want to take a moment to look at that statement.

Today, more than at any time in my life, we are experiencing an all out effort to rewrite Amercian history, to remove any reference to God's involvement, or the involvement of the Christian Church in the founding of our country. For years, now, I have listened to radio announcements regarding graduation that proclaim, "Whenever a small community began to grow, the first public building that was built was a school." I don't think that is true.

When a group of people decided to form a town, the first public building they built was usually a church. It was the church that took on the resonsibility of teaching people to read and write, and do their numbers. The initial textbooks were the Bible. For the most part, the pastor, or parson, was the most educated person in town; and it was understood that he would do the Christian thing to educate everybody.

The first colleges and universities were also started by the Christian church, for the purpose of training clergy to continue the good work.

In the Continental Navy, the chaplain was also the purser, and the person who took care of the administration. Again, not only was he the most educated person onboard, he was also the most trustworthy.

Finally, hospitals in this country were founded by the Christian church, as a means of taking care of sick people, keeping them near the doctor, and isolating them until they could get along on their own again.

If that was the "dark ages", that is the life for me. I am tired of living in the age of enlightenment, where morals and ethics are dependent on each person's interpretation and perception.

At the end of his long life, Moses spoke these words to the Israelites: "See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity;...I call heaven and earth as witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."

Today, we would do good to pay heed to the words Moses spoke. Our post-modern world is driving us farther and farther away from "loving the LORD our God, and obeying His voice"; and farther away from life and the length of our days, and especially living in the land which the LORD swore to our Fathers. Those who refuse to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.

The time has come,for all good men & women to come to the aid of their country

2010-01-15T17:45:00.004-06:00

OATH KEEPERS: ORDERS WE WILL NOT OBEY

Click here to read full length version.

1. We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people.

2. We will NOT obey orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people

3. We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal.

4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state.

5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty.

6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.

7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.

8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control."

9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies.

10.We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

Click here to read full length version.

Bless = Bliss

2010-01-12T10:01:00.002-06:00

My special friend, Sherri, authors periodic thoughts for email, entitled "mind medicine". If anyone is interested in receiving these thought provoking emails, simply send an email to "bahasherri@yahoo.com", subj line: Mind Med, including the email address you would prefer they be sent to.

This morning's thought:
"Bliss. Bless.
Bliss = Bless
Bless = Bliss

These two words seem interchangeable to me."

Got me thinking. To my understanding, to bless is to show approval. Biblical history shows us that when people were where they were supposed to be, doing what they were supposed to be doing, and being who they were supposed to be, they were blessed. Should they be off in any one of these areas, there was a sense of having lost the blessing.

Sadly, today, we talk about encouraging self-esteem in each other; which is consistently difficult to accomplish. Self-esteem, is how we feel about ourself...especially as it relates to others around us. So, we hear platitudes about respect me, I am your equal. Generally, when we are seeking to feel good about our self we have lost the blessing, and we compensate for that by demanding that others recognize us for who we want, or used, to be.

There was a time, when a father would "bless" his children. I don't know if we use the idiom much anymore, but there was a time when a man would ask a woman's father for his blessing on their marriage. You see, in reality, blessing is a blessing; and to our disadvantage we have chosen to not bless our children, and instead seek to encourage their self-esteem building.

Henri JM Nouwen in his book, "Life of the Beloved", Crossroad, New York, 1994, page 56, said: "Let me first tell you what I mean by the word "blessing". In Latin, to bless is benedicere. The word "benediction" that is used in many churches means literally: speaking (dictio) well (bene) or saying good things of someone." On page 57 he continues by saying: "A blessing touches the original goodness of the other and calls forth his or her Belovedness." I am amazed at how close the two words appear to be: blessedness and belovedness; because, you know they are basically the same. Oh, if only we could get each other to again recognize the value of being blessed.

Father Nouwen, then goes on to relate an incident in a home for mentally challenged people, where he was resident priest. At one of the prayer meetings, one of the members asked him if he would give her a blessing. He responded by making the sign of the cross on her forehead with his thumb. The member, exclaimed, "No, that doesn't work. I want a real blessing!" At the close of the prayer service, he invited her to come forward, and offered to give her a hug. As she closed in for the hug, he wrapped his arms around her. Of course he was wearing his sacramental robe, and in the process of enfolding her into a hug, he completely covered her with his robe. That picture still brings tears to my eyes. Yes, that is a blessing! What an affirmation of her blessedness, her belovedness. For me, that presents what I believe about God, that when we go to Him in repentance, He draws us close and enfolds us in His humongous arms, and we are loved like we have never been loved. Yeah! that's what its all about.

And that, conveniently leads me into the second part, the word "bliss". How should we define bliss? Is it not a feeling of extreme well-being? How much more can we possibly have a feeling of well-being, unless we are where we are supposed to be, when we are supposed to be there, and doing what we are supposed to be doing? That definitely sounds like being blessed. On the other side of the coin, we have the angle where we experience the bliss of having blessed someone, of having affirmed them, of having touched their original goodness and bringing to their mind their belovedness. You see, when we are blessing, we are receiving a blessing, and everyone comes out a winner. No need to demand equalness, or respect. We know we are at peace, and the world is copacetic.

Oh, if only we were able to understand and accept this simple bit of information; how much different this world would be. Wanna talk about hope and change? Look at the hope that would be engendered by blessing each other. You wanna talk about change? Just think of the change that would be wrought simply because we are all affirmed of our belovedness, and none of us worry about be shut out.

Thank you, Sherri, you have stimulated my mind. I love you.

Pause for the cause

2010-01-06T10:16:00.003-06:00

While traversing the internet this morning, I came across the following post by Cassandra at http://www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/.

Defining Conservatism

A while back I was asked by a very lovely and intelligent lady to write an essay on conservatism.

I did quite a bit of research and was rather surprised by what I learned. Yes, I do have an opinion on this subject. But I hear so many people say, "He/She isn't a conservative" that I can't quite resist throwing the question back at you all: "OK. Exactly what IS a conservative? Define it for me."

So that's my challenge to you, whether you are a blogger or a reader. Define conservatism for me. Better yet, do it for yourself.

Have at it in the comments section. And if you are a blogger and want to post your reply, let me know and I'll post a roundup of responses.

Should be an interesting discussion.

So, how do I understand conservatism?

I think it is about personal responsibility. I know that is a big umbrella to start out with, however, I must go back to the understanding that the God who created this world, universe, and all living creatures, thought it pertinent to bestow on us, human critters, free will. We have the ability to do what we want to, but we also have an "owner's manual" that tells us what happens when we choose to live a certain way.

The human heart cries out for freedom. All across the history of mankind, we find those in bondage, crying out to be free. And all across this history, we find those whose whole purpose in life appears to be enslaving others, and having power over them to refuse them any opportunity to exercise their free will.

Involved in my idea of being free, is the ability to earn and hold private property. I grew up in the forties and fifties. I well remember watching "Victory at Sea" at the local theater, and watching the news items that showed how people over in Europe lived. I read the Declaration of Independence, and learn that the people most instrumental in beginning this country, left Europe to get away from onerous taxation, and overbearing government. I grew up with the story of Robin Hood...not the Robbing Hood we have today, of the government taxing every aspect of our lives, but the Robin Hood, who battled the oppressive government of the day, to take back what rightfully belonged to the people.

Since I graduated from high school, I have had the privilege to visit places like Seoul, Korea; Manilla and Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines, Hong Kong, Guyana, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and parts of Guatemala. I have also had the privilege of being able to live in Quito, Ecuador for nine months. I have been able to see the lifestyle of people who do not have the freedom we have been inherently provided by God. I have watched children take off their clothes to go swimming, because it was the only pair of pants and shirt they owned. I have seen how people live because the government controls everything in the country.

Conservatism, means respecting each other's right to freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I have experienced some moments of hillarity, when I have read the billboards that say: "Respect me". Respect is a two way street, and I find it really hard to respect someone who does not respect me. The hard knocks of the school of life have taught me to give the benefit of the doubt to everyone I meet. I choose to respect every person I meet, or come in contact with; however, when someone disdains my respect, or uses it to gain power over me, I lose respect for them. Sometimes, I can understand the words of Linus from the Peanuts cartoon where he said, "I love humanity, it's people I can't stand.

I guess, respecting each other's right to freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness goes beyond "Live and let live". I believe that God created mankind to be in communion, with each other, and with Him. Being in communion with each other means lending a hand when needed; encouraging someone who is losing courage, helping to raise each other above the level we think we are only capable of reaching. I do not consider government taking hard earned money from earners, and giving it to non earners to be humanitarian. In fact I find it to be humiliating. Again, this goes back to individual responsibility.

Our collective consciousness shows us how beautiful life can be when we all work together, encourage each other, and strive to be the best we can be. I guess in a kind of a nutshell, that would be conservatism for me.

New year, new rant. same ole same ole

2010-01-01T15:06:00.000-06:00

January 1st. The first day of the new year. Everyone has been talking about change for over a year now, and this may be the year.

Come September, the end of the federal government's fiscal year, I will be removed from the health care program I have been with since I retired from the military. Which will require me to sign up for Medicare, or whatever that government health care insurance program is. The silly part has to do with whether or not I wish to keep the Tricare program, labled; Tricare for life. That program requires you to be signed up with medicare, and medicare part B.

I know no one has asked me for my two cents worth; but I'm gonna give it anyway, cuz this is my blog, and my opportunity to get it off my chest. I completed 29 years of active duty in the US Naval service. According to the VA, I have less than 5 percent disability. Guess what the VA, the VFW, the American Legion, and all them "service oriented clubs" have in common! Yep, they are all oriented to supporting the disabled. So, since I am not disabled, the better way to go would have been to stay on active duty, and perhaps be in a combat zone, and; well, you know the rest. However, con-gress decided some time ago, that a person could only spend so much time on active duty. I am a firm believer, that someone, at some time, decided young blood flowed better on the battlefield, than old blood.

Yeah! I turn 65 this year. In some ways, I cannot believe this many years have gone by already. George Jones, in a recent record stated: "I ain't ready for the junkyard yet, I still feel like a new corvette; my body's old but it ain't impaired, I don't need your rockin chair." I can't say I feel like a new corvette, but I can say I don't feel like a run down Hudson Hornet either. Yeah, I agree, "I may be slow, but I'll get there, I don't need your rockin chair." All things being considered, my dad died at age 54; his dad died at age 34; his mother was 89 when she chekked out. Some tell me, that based on the mortality figures of my paternal predecessors, I should chekk out at age 74. We'll see. I am not one of those people who hope to live a looooong life. Now, if I knew that I was going to live to be a hundred and twenty years old, and I would be able to say at that time what Moses said, many centuries ago, I would have no qualms living that long of a life.

I am reminded that one of the benefits of dementia, is that you are always meeting new friends...I like that. It is a new year, and I do look forward to meeting new friends. Oh, in about three n a half years, will be my 50th high school reunion...wonder if I will still be around for that; and wonder how many of the 140(?) in our graduating class will still be with us. Have heard it said that, time heals all wounds; and wounds all heels. "One day at a time, Sweet Jesus, is all I'm asking of you, just show me the way to be everyday what I ought to be; yesterday's gone, Dear Jesus, and tomorrow may never be mine, teach me today, show me the way, one day at a time." An email I received some time back said, "Yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the future, today is a gift; that is why it is called the "present".

With the new year, comes change. There are some in this country who have been hoping for change for a long time. I guess change is good, but it depends on what is being changed. President B Hussein promised that there would be no tax increases for anyone earning less than 250 or 200 thousand dollars a year. Lo and behold...my retired pay doesn't even amount to 50 thousand, and according to the defense finance command, my income tax whitholding is increasing $9.30 a month beginning January 1st. Now, don't that beat all? Reminds me of that joke I heard many years ago..."If you had ten male deer, and ten female pigs, how much money would you have?" Now, that's something to contemplate, ain't it? Of course, you would have "ten sows and bucks". What did you think?

Rush Limbaugh coined the phrase "Hoax and chains" for the administration's logo of hope and change. If you ain't feelin the chains yet, don't worry, they be comin.
I have found it interesting to see the information that was put out by the State Department, identifying what a terrorist is. You see, those who fail to learn from history are doomed to relive it. I just wonder how many of us remember that back in 1994, {Yep, democrat administration} then attorney general Janet Reno informed a reporter from 60 Minutes of what a terrorist looked like. Yah, shure, ubetcha! Almost word for word the same as what just came out. You see, back then, when the firestorm hit, the dutiful minions of the democrat propaganda wing, {spell that mainstream media, or drive-by media} went to general quarters to quash the information, and within a few days there were no more references to be found anywhere on the internet. Including the You Tube clips. Ain't it interesting that when the firestorm hit this time, the democrat propaganda lackeys again went to general quarters to cover and make sure that there could not be any continued argument? Seems to me I heard someone say, that is not the official stance of the government, and any reference to it has surely disappeared. Well, "WTFO"!?! Just one more instance of the "elect" telling us to "bend over and grab our ankles". Sheesh!!! give me a break, and I don't mean a Kit Kat bar, neither.

Well, I think that is prolly enuff of a rant for one day. I want to wish everyone in America a healthy, happy, prosperous new year. Of course, I understand that no one is going to realize all that, unless they have a personal relationship with God, through Jesus Christ; may each and everyone of you come to that understanding, so we can turn around the craziness that is going on in this country.

Ded in the water

2009-12-25T08:08:00.001-06:00

Motherboard in computer went graveyard ded a week ago last Tuesday. So, ain't gonna be no communicating for a while.

Cuz I kin

2009-12-08T09:02:00.000-06:00

This morning’s newspaper poll asks the question: “Should education be spared from cuts in this year's state budget process?” As of 7:33 am the results are: 50.7% Yes, and 49.3% No. I wonder why there is even any debate about where to cut monies in the budget; be it city, county, state or federal.

Why, are we so exuberant about making sure there is public money available for statues in the city? Most of the statues I see, as I drive downtown, are ugly, and more of an eyesore than a landscape enhancement. Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder…Any reason that money couldn’t be better utilized in repairing the streets downtown?

Since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, how come the affluent people, who desire these sculptures to be available, don’t fund them their selves? Why do we always have to use public monies? Public monies are taxes paid by honest hard working citizens.

Why do we have to use taxpayer dollars to build a “convention center”? Every convention center I have ever seen, seems to be collocated with a major hotel chain. If the hotel chain wants the events center so bad, why don’t they build it? Have you ever tried to stay in one of the hotels at the convention center? I have never made enough money to participate in that extravagance.

Well, I am afeared, that the reason the governor is going to “cut” funds for education, is because the affluent in this state, would rather see tax income going to artificial beautification, than to actual beautification. You see, when you want the general, hard working public to get behind something, you scare them into believing there is no other way, than to cut the funds from areas that we really need.

You see, I question why we need to have homeless shelters paid for by tax dollars. Back in the “boom years” of this country. When taxes were almost non-existent, there were itinerant workers all over the place. No one worried about building hotels and “projects” to give them a place to live. Employers, made sure their employees had some kind of a roof over their head. Even if it was a tent. Whole communities sprung up, because of employment needs. Look at the towns around mines, and large factories, like steel mills, and automobile plants.

We are informed that a considerable number of our homeless are mentally unstable in one way or another. There was a time when these people were committed to “non-profit” institutions. Places where they received the care they needed, and received their medications on time, every time. Yet, in the name of all that is “humane” we shut these institutions down, shamed the people who made them work, and turned this part of society loose on the world. Yep, you got that right…let the taxpayers figure out what to do with them, instead of private funding.

Well, for those of us who have taken the time to read “The Communist Manifesto”, and taken the time to learn about world affairs, it is a no brainer that for more years than I have been alive, we have been slipping down the slippery slope of surrendering our personal freedom and liberty, for the artificial security the affluent tell us we really need because of the situations they put us in.
Yes, folks, evil really does exist. Especially the evil that perpetrates envy, and jealousy between the people of this great nation.

Unless the people of this nation, realize how far we have slid from the founding fathers’ ideas for a great country, predicated on the grace of God, endowing each citizen with the right to pursue excellence, and individual freedom, we will find ourselves living in the hell our forefathers left Europe to get away from.

May God have mercy on our souls.

My two cents; for what its worth

2009-11-14T10:17:00.000-06:00

This morning's paper online asks the poll question: "Should the decision be appealed by whichever side loses in the smoking ban case?" As of 9:07 am the results are: 210 votes cast; 25.7% say yes, while 74.3% say no. I see two dynamics at work here.

First, there are people whose whole purpose in life is to make sure that everyone is as miserable as they are. The old song, "Misery Loves Company" surely was written before its time. These people also want to run everyone's life. I suppose deviant behavior analysts would have a lot to say about this, but that isn't where I want to go. Suffice it to say, that I am getting really tired, no, I've been tired, I guess that means I am retired, regarding people attempting to run my life, through getting legislatures to pass laws. First, they come and tell us that smoking can kill you, and second hand smoke can kill you, and they even believe that third hand smoke can kill you. Who really gives a big rat's ass? Lightning can kill you; swallowing spiders while you sleep can kill you; drinking alcohol can kill you; having an affair can kill you; walking down the street can kill you, hey, just being born can kill you.

What I find so sinister about this is the fact that this country was founded on liberty and freedom. Uhmmm, that is L I B E R T Y and F R E E D O M! And these nattering nabob's have tweaked the system until we are no longer centered on freedom and liberty, but are a nation of laws. For crying out loud, that's why so many of our ancestors left the old world to come to the new world. To get away from oppressive laws. There are people in this country who are multimillionaires, and for their benefit it is called "old money". They call it old money because it was earned when there were very few laws, and taxes being levied. It was during the time of unprecedented freedom and liberty, to do, and be the best you could be. Now, those "privileged" few, want to make sure no one else can have the benefits they have, so, they get elected into positions of making laws, and they can't find enough areas to write laws on. Sheesh! Can I get a witness?

Well, these nattering nabobs get the legislature critters to write a law outlawing smoking in public places; makes no difference whether the only clientele are smokers, or not. They want to control people, and make everyone as miserable as they are. So, when the business owners, and the people who provide the business income, don't want that law passed, they file a lawsuit, to stop the progression, and bring the thing to a public vote. I daresay, a lot of laws would not be put into place if it depended on the citizenry to vote them into place. How have we become so complacent that we no longer want a hand in the laws that are written?

Secondly, in the past handful of years, we have witnessed a lot of voter fraud in this country. Not too long ago, the Attorney General of one southern state informed the governor and the legislature that they could not clean out the voter rolls; by removing names of dead people, and people who had moved away. When we the people said enough, we want voter ID, the people who want to run our lives told us "NO!"

To exacerbate the entire folly, we see groups of people being bussed to voting sites, and paid to vote a certain way. When we complain, we are told “Hey, that is the American way”. To which I say, “Bravo Sierra”, or “Bovine Scatology”, or, I guess in good old American slang, “Bull Shit!”

The person who is willing to surrender their liberty and freedom for security will soon have no freedom or liberty. Hey, my military mind just popped up an analogy of security and freedom and liberty. Freedom and liberty allow me to go where ever I want, when ever I want. All I need to do is open the door and come and go as I please. Security on the other hand, is being locked up all the time. Why else do you think we term our prisons, “maximum security”, “minimum security”?

Well, I’ve vented my spleen. I guess if you are happy being locked up, and knowing there is very little chance of anything happening to you; then, I guess, I wish you well. If you want nothing more out of life than to be told what to do, where to do it, when to do it, and how to do it, then I wish you the best. However, just because you desire to live like that is no reason for you to require me to live that way. I recall, Hank Williams wrote a song a while back wherein he said, “Mindin other people’s business seems to be high toned, I got all I can do just to mind my own, why don’t you mind your own business? If you mind your own business you’ll be busy all the time.” And that’s all I’m gonna say about that!

Post Veteran's Day commiserating

2009-11-12T13:10:00.000-06:00

The US Navy, and the US Marine Corps birthdays are behind us, as is Veteran's Day. So, in this post remembrance period, I am going to take a little license and say some things that have been percolating in my military mind.

What have we learned from the Fort Hood, shooting? To listen to the majority of news pundits, we have nothing to be concerned about. But, what do you think? On a military base where ALL firearms are to be turned over to the armorer, except for the ones that are being used for maneuvers, or qualification/requalification, we have a basically non-combatant officer going around the base with a loaded weapon. Talk about a serious case of cognitive-dissonance...

My 29 years of active duty in the US Armed Forces taught me that medical personnel are primarily non-combatants. There is no call for them to be armed in order to do their jobs; especially in garrison. My money is on the outcome of this fiasco, had all the military people been packing heat of any kind. If there is one thing I am sure of in this crazy mixed up world we are living in, it is that criminals/thugs/terrorists think twice when they are going into an area where there are armed people. Especially on a military base, think about it, probably every one of those combatants could have stopped that muslim terrorist cold in his tracks with one shot, instead of having to cower for cover.

While watching Monday night football, a commercial came on advertising an upcoming movie. The preview showed cities crumbling, apparent tsunami waves rolling through the city, and apoplectic activity all around. What was the title of the movie? “2012”. Now, who’da thunk that? My immediate thought was, Hollyweird is trying to tell us that the 2012 elections are going to be catastrophic. Yep, they would rather not have the elections and just crown B Hussein king for life. How sad, that people who live in this country, the greatest country history has ever known, are willing to destroy everything we stand for.

Finally, I have come to see that there is EVIL in this world. Evil does not depend on mental conditions, though it does have a lot to do with moral conditions. Stay with me for a minute. The bottom line for me is whether or not there is a God, in the sense of being The Almighty, The Creator, The Sustainer, The Finisher. If there is a God, who is Sovereign, and controls everything, we know, and then some. We have a distinct responsibility to know where we fit in in the scheme of things. If we believe there is a God, and we choose to align ourselves with Him, then there are some things that stand out, and need to be dealt with.

First of all, if we truly acknowledge God, and love Him, then we must also love His creation, for it is an image of Him. That means, we must love the life He provides, in any and all forms. If we then love in that manner, we cannot reconcile hating another person, or considering taking their life for any reason. See, the ramifications? That makes it morally wrong to kill someone or something: If we are not going to eat the game we hunt, then why kill it? You see, then we have to ask, how we can justify killing a person who is still in the womb, and has not seen the light of day, nor taken a breath on their own. This also relates to the planet and all forms of life. In my heart and mind, God is love, and in order for me to acknowledge Him, and live my life to the fullest, I must love others as God loves.

Alternately, if I believe there either is no God, or the God there is, could care less about his or her creation, then why should I be concerned? If all there is to life, is an accident, that will end when I expire, what should I care? If there is no reason to love one another, then I can very well look at someone and decide if they should be able to breathe the air, that I want to breathe. The difficulty with that mindset, is I have to figure out pretty quickly where I stand, to prevent that other from erasing me from this existence. Isn’t that what we call a dog-eat-dog life? Along this same line of thought is the idea that if some other has what I want, and I normally do not have any way of obtaining it, I can take it from them, and if need be, erase them from this world.

You see, evil does exist in this world, and evil is hell bent on insuring that none of us love and worship the One True God, but instead, place ourself above everything else. That gives us the impetus to do whatever it takes to feel good about ourself, and our station in life. I would probably continue writing here, but the voices keep telling me it is time to stop; that no one is going to listen anyway.

God, country, Corps

2009-11-06T17:32:00.001-06:00

Tuesday is November 10th. For most of the citizens of this great country, it is just another day. For many, it is the day before Veterans day; and probably just as meaningless as just another day. However, to a number of us it is the day the Marine Corps was officially founded. Yes, that would make this the 234th anniversary; or as we choose to call it, the Marine Corps Birthday.

Why, you probably ask, would grown, intelligent men and women choose to celebrate the birthday of a national fighting team? That would be a good question. I might basically answer by saying, there is no other fighting force known to modern man, that commands such respect, and awe as the United States Marine Corps. History is replete with comments from many sides. The name "Leatherneck" is a title of respect, earned by the men who rode the ships of the continental navy, and were prepared to defend them to the death. "Devil Dog" was an endearing name given by the Chinese many years ago. General MacArthur, General of the Army, made it known, that he could take a certain piece of land, but only with the Marines.

I joined the Marine Corps in August of 1963. For a small town boy, the Marine Corps was quite a wake up and learning experience. Consider, that in my seventeen years of life, the most powerful weapon I had ever fired was a .22 rifle. By the time I completed my basic training I had fired an M-1 and an M-14 rifle; a Browning Automatic Rifle; a flame thrower; a bazooka; a .50 caliber machine gun, and had thrown real grenades.

Perhaps the most endearing part of my time in the Marine Corps came from the understanding that our priority was God, country and Corps. You see, every Marine, male and female, is first of all a rifleman; a grunt, a groundpounder, an infantryman. A large part of basic training, was formulated to bring a bunch of rag-tag ignorant civilians and turn them into a team, capable of working together without getting in each other's way. Of primary importance was the person next to me, my life depended on that person, and they depended on me. I was taught ways of surviving in unfamiliar and uncomfortable situations.

In the end, being a United States Marine, has taught me many things, but more than anything, I learned to love the Corps, like my own mother and father, because that is where I learned many lessons that have served me well throughout my lifetime. I choose to celebrate the Marine Corps Birthday, because all I am has depended upon the skills learned and honed through sixteen years as a Marine. On the internet, I use the moniker "Gunny Pink", when I left the Marine Corps in 1979, I had attained the rank of Gunnery Sergeant, and for the rest of my life, my honorable discharge gave me the right to say I am Gunny Pink.

I wish every person could know the camaraderie and respect those of us who wear the Eagle, Globe and Anchor have. But then, if every body knew, and understood, there would be no need for a Marine Corps.

HAPPY 234TH BIRTHDAY, U.S. MARINE CORPS.

Soggy cogitation

2009-10-15T20:06:00.000-05:00

Sittin here at my computer, listenin to the rain fallin, and the water runnin off the roof.
Listen to the rythm of the falling rain, pitter-patter, pitter-patter; raindrops keep fallin on my head, but that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin red; they must be raindrops, so many raindrops, it feels like raindrops, fallin from my eyes; so you'll never see my pain, I'll do my cryin in the rain; just walkin in the rain; rainy days n mondays always bring me down;rain, rain, go away, come again some other day.

HAPPY FALL TO YOU

2009-09-21T12:26:00.000-05:00

From one pumpkin to another!!!!!!!

A woman was asked by a coworker, 'What is it like to be a Christian?'

The coworker replied, 'It is like being a pumpkin.'

God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you.

Then He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff.

He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed.

Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see.'

This was passed on to me by another pumpkin.

Now it's your turn to pass.

I liked this enough to send it to all the pumpkins in my patch.

Rollin down the road

2009-09-14T12:20:00.000-05:00

Last week I was driving south on I-29 toward KC. Somewhere between Sioux City and Council Bluffs, I saw a huge reddish-orange ball in the sky. By the time I was able to find a safe place to pull off the road, where I had a clear unobstructed view, the clouds were already covering a lot of the sun.

But the picture still turned out pretty neat.

Thanks Pamela at Atlas Shrugs

2009-09-14T09:01:00.000-05:00

Okay, here comes the "change" our astute leader has been promising, and hoping for. I, for one, cannot believe we, the American people, have not learned our lesson voting for democrats and republicans in name only.

My brain housing group, and heart are severely taxed, knowing there are so many "scrambled, brains" in this country that are so hell bent on giving up everything we stand for, and everything our forbears brought about in this country. "WHISKEY FOXTROT TANGO OSCAR!!"

So Osama bin Laden thinks B Hussein Obama is a weakling...do you think he had to hire a behavioral analyst to come up with that assessment?

Methinks, someone in this administration has a severe case of "cranial-rectal insertion". It is one thing to bury your head in the sand...it is quite another to bury your country!

May God have mercy on our souls

Awesome testimonial to a fallen hero

2009-09-14T08:56:00.002-05:00

You just can't say it any better than this.

You truly can see the difference between the patriotic (people who choose to put on the uniform) and the useful idiots (people who choose to denigrate them).

Thank you Linda for reminding us.

Random ramblin

2009-09-06T08:06:00.001-05:00

I left Olathe, KS late yesterday, and drove east to Montgomery City, MO. East meaning traveling on I-70. For some reason, eastbound I-70 is home to some of the most dangerous, discourteous, drivers, I have come across in my fifty-some years of driving.

I remember, back in the 60s driving old route 66, it was a major highway, but only two lanes, one in each direction. The courtesy afforded to everyone, by everyone, was common. The rule of the road allowed a slower vehicle, that had caused traffic to back up, and included more than three or four cars, to pull over to the side, and allow traffic to continue. Driving at night was always an experience, specially, when you were going to pass a semi. Of course, back in those days, semis were restricted to only one trailer.

Today, with super, four or five lane, highways, we no longer have to worry about traffic delays from slower vehicles; or tractor trailer rigs with multiple trailers. And yet, it is nothing to watch the traffic situation ahead, and see brake lights coming on.

Yeah, wanna see some really crazy, bordering on stupid, driving? Get eastbound and down, when there is a Jayhawk, Tiger, Cornhusker college football game somewhere in the distance. Yeah, you kin tell which vehicles are trying to set speed records for getting somewhere.

Oh yeah, the primary reason for my rant today, has to do with the cool customers, who wish to "draft" on another vehicle, therefore using less fuel. I find it fun to watch vehicles come racing up behind me, and then suddenly, within thirty feet or so, to suddenly drop speed to match mine. Yup! Just because I choose to drive a good sized SUV does not mean I am totally unconcerned about gas usage. But you know what? You wanna be out on the road, take responsibility for yourself. If you don't want to be buying the gas it takes to get where you wanna go, stay home; or take the bus and leave the driving to Gus.

You wanna draft on me, you gonna find me slowing down to ten or twenty mph under the speed limit, yeah, you got no prolem with that, then go ahead and draft on me; otherwise get off my tail.

The I's have it...

2009-09-06T07:31:00.003-05:00

Getting my head right

2009-08-28T13:19:00.001-05:00

How sad…Ted Kennedy is dead.

The thought running through my mind, relating to the adoration and adulation going on throughout the media, I think, is a little bit different than what I am hearing across the air waves.

We are told he was an “icon”. In today’s language, an icon, is primarily a way to enter into another web site with just the click of a mouse. In religious, or archaic, language, an icon is something tangible that is designed to transfer your heart or mind to God.

What an interesting thought…the Kennedy family are undoubtedly, members of the Roman Catholic church. There has been much throughout history that has been instrumental in turning people away from organized religion, and especially the Catholic church.

To my military mind, Ted Kennedy is the epitome of immorality, impurity, enmities, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, drunkenness, carousing and things like these. Yes, you see, by him being an “icon” we think of these things when we think of him. So, what does that say about our national consciousness?

How truly sad, that our society immortalizes someone like this. Is there any wonder how our “Christian” nation has become a “non Christian” nation? Is there any doubt how we have gotten the gummint we have?

More, and more, I am wondering if there is any intelligent life left on this planet.

Came in my email

2009-08-23T19:38:00.000-05:00

The Scent Of Freshness

A new Publix supermarket opened in Hudson, Florida.

It has an automatic water mister to keep the produce fresh. Just before it goes on, you hear the distant sound of thunder and the smell of fresh rain.

When you pass the milk cases, you hear cows mooing and you experience the scent of fresh cut hay.

In the meat department there is the aroma of charcoal grilled steaks and brats.

In the liquor department, the fresh, clean, crisp smell of tapped Miller Lite.

When you approach the egg case, you hear hens cluck and cackle and the air is filled with the pleasing aroma of bacon and eggs frying.

The bread department features the tantalizing smell of fresh baked bread & cookies.

I don’t buy toilet paper there anymore.

Cognition n re-cognition

2009-08-16T14:00:00.000-05:00

I have just finished reading Winterflight, Joseph Bayly, Word Books Publisher, Waco, TX, 1981. I was drawn back to the book by the events of today, primarily having to do with the “Obamacare” debacle.

The story is of an extended family consisting of husband and wife, their daughter and her husband and son. Involved in the story is 1) state run health care, 2) genetic disposition, and 3) senior citizens. The story takes place in the United States. At the time of the story, nationalized health care has been the law of the land for about ten years.

Due to the success of the state run health care, there are no invalid people. Every citizen is healthy, and productive members of society. We got to this point by ensuring that everybody was healthy to begin with. Families could only have one child, and pregnant women were required to have pre-natal medical care; which firstly consisted of checking the fetus for any congenital markers. Should a fetus be found with the any markers, the fetus was to be aborted immediately.

On the other side of the equation, when an individual reached the age of seventy-five, they would receive a letter notifying them of their termination date; which was generally within three months of their birthday.

Instrumental in maintaining a healthy society was the Center for Life Support Systems; commonly referred to by the people as “Thanotels” and more descriptively as “organ factories”. In the event that prenatal screening did not locate suspect markers, and the child later came down with some life threatening malady, the state would require the parents to take the child to the Center for Life Support Systems. Upon entering the thanotel, the child would be put on life support equipment, and a part of the brain would be destroyed. Then the child’s body would be able to be sustained for a number of years, and replacement parts could then be harvested to place someone else back into a productive status in society.

You prolly gonna say, that would never happen here in the United States, but my military mind tells me, if someone could think it up, or even contemplate the possibility, it could very well happen. When the citizenry gives the gummint the power to make decisions on what a healthy society looks like, anything is possible. It is not out of the question, nor reality that we could reach this position.

For over thirty years now, abortion has been the “law” of the land. Gummint supported and gummint financed. During the most recent presidential campaign, we were treated to one candidate’s ability to amass millions of dollars by suing hospitals, HMO’s and health insurance companies for birth defects in children, supposedly caused by errors in the hospital. Look at all the money that would have been saved, simply by aborting the child before birth, and avoiding the follow on malady.

We have a president who campaigned on the slogan of “hope and change”. Apparently our country was not right, and change was needed. Today, his highest priority is nationalizing health care. Rush has said, and I totally agree, that we don’t spend any health care money on healthy people. Stands to reason, no? So, in the scheme of things, if we are gonna reduce health care costs, what do we gotta do? Ahhh, get rid of unhealthy people, yeah?

Somebody once said, be careful of what you hope for, cuz you just might get it.

Obamacare concern

2009-08-14T15:20:00.000-05:00

Like many of the other concerned American citizens I have been thinking and rolling around in my mind, just what our country is heading for.

Having spent about half of my life in the military, I have come up with some concerns that seem appropriate to me, and so far, I ain’t seen nobody else talking about.

Primarily, I must say, I am concerned about our military; it is no secret that B Hussein has gone on public record saying since our military is all volunteer, wounded military members do not need public funded health care; as in VA healthcare. Now, I have my own bone to pick with VA and the fed, but that ain’t what I’m addressing here.

Let’s think a moment about all that we know, right now, regarding any proposed health care reform. A gummint panel will evaluate any requests for health care, and decide on validity. We already know this administration and their complicit lackeys are dead set against the military to begin with. You know it really is beyond my ability to comprehend why anybody would hate this country for her strength and benevolence. Even the staunchest Marxist-Leninist communists believe in a strong military. Yet, the statists in this country hate our military, and our ability to stay on the cutting edge of updated military armament. I just don’t understand it!

Anyway, here comes the Obamacare proposals that will do away with individual care, and require everyone to come under the federal gummint auspices. Are you following me? Can you see one of our service members, being wounded in combat, only to come home and be told he/she is no longer a productive member of society, therefore, they cannot avail themselves of our social medical care? Outrageous??? Think it couldn’t happen here? Just think of the money the gummint could save, cuz there would be no “medical retirements” so they wouldn’t have to pay out retirement pay.

As a Marine, we do not believe in leaving anyone behind in combat. But what is gonna happen when we realize that someone has lost both legs, an arm, and sight in one eye, and we are gonna do all we can to get them home, only to find out there is no medical care for them?

I am going to reread Joseph Blayly’s book “Winterflight” because I want to take another look at what he referred to as “Thanotels”. How interesting that a book published in 1981 is so prescient for today. But then again, as Rush says, the dems have been working on getting this far for over sixty years.

Just a minute...

2009-08-07T12:35:00.001-05:00

My heart has no desire to stay, where doubts arise, and fears dismay…

How efficacious is God’s Word for today? Have the times changed so much over the centuries that we cannot still receive direction, and comfort from God’s Word?

Matthew 22:15-21, {Moffatt} Then the Pharisees went and plotted to trap him in talk. They sent him their disciples with the Herodians, who said, “Teacher, we know you are sincere and that you teach the Way of God honestly and fearlessly; you do not court human favour. Tell us then, what you think about this: is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” But Jesus detected their malice. He said, “Why do you tempt me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the taxes.” So they brought him a shilling. Then Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness, whose inscription is this?” “Caesar’s,” they said. Then he told them, “Give Caesar what belongs to Caesar, give God what belongs to God.”

The current talk around town has to do with not only the health care bill, it also has to do with taxation. The current administration is hell bent to take away wealth from people and give it to illegal aliens and people who refuse to work. I just heard about a law being worked on that would allow gummint to have access to our bank accounts…I assume that includes safe deposit boxes.

Yesterday, I spoke with a person who informed me they have money in a safe deposit box, and a small safe in their home. And my military mind went back to stories I recall about life in communist Russia. Not only was the gummint able to look into your bank accounts; they would periodically change the monetary medium, leaving people with money stashed away, without anything. Once the dollar bill you hold is no longer acceptable, you are out of luck. Yeah, the gummint would allow people to bring in their old money and trade it in for the new…Yes, another way of keeping track of how much money you have.

When the people allow the gummint to rule over them, they have to accept that whatever the gummint can control, they will.

And God’s Word reminds us, “Give to Caeser what is Caeser’s, and give to God what is God’s”.

This should give us cause to stop and cogitate on where our priorities are. As a Christian, my first priority is supposed to be God. The Psalmist said it succinctly, “The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want…” The argument appears to be that Christians don’t want a democracy, they want a theocracy; and I have to look back at the people who laid down their lives, livelihood, and wealth to establish this country as a God-centered land. And as I look around, I see “Christians” who are more concerned about their money than what God wants them to do.

As a Marine, my loyalty, my priority is, God, country, and Corps. See???, that assumes me is at least fourth in line for priorities. And yet, we can get so caught up in making sure that I am taken care of first. Oh, right! “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” See, that moves me down the priority line also. What I am trying to say, is gummint can take everything away, but they cannot take away my belief in, my trust in, my hope in God Almighty.

We elected a person who ran on the platform of “hope and change”. Bottom line, and I think we Christians have misplaced this idea, is that only God can give hope. Only God can make the change in a life, that will bring hope. Only God is to be worshipped and depended upon.

Reflective pause

2009-08-01T10:35:00.000-05:00

Took the opportunity to attend a concert by The Blackwood Brothers Quartet, last night. Program was sponsored by the Union Gospel Mission here in town.

Pretty good turn out for a payday Friday night. The nose bleed seats were pretty much empty, but the rest of the auditorium was pretty well filled up. There are not very many opportunities for me to attend with my mother and both of her sisters. We had a great time.

Although this group is not made up of the original singers, the Blackwood Brothers started singing publicly back in 1934, they maintained the level of harmony and spirituality that all would be able to remember from the days of yore.

The two hours were very refreshing. I would highly recommend everybody find the time to attend a good southern gospel concert at some time; you really will find your spiritual batteries recharged.

The AMA's take on Obamacare

2009-07-30T12:11:00.002-05:00

Found this post at An Ol' Broads Ramblings and thought it was worthy of being brought over to my blog. It do give another perspective.

Apparently the American Medical Association has weighed in on Obama’s Nationalized Health Care Plan

The Allergists voted to scratch it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves. The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve.

The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception. Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted. Pathologists yelled, “Over my dead body!” while the Pediatricians said,”Oh, Grow Up.” The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it. Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing.

The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic Surgeons said, “This puts a whole new face on the matter.” The podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea. The Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas and the Cardiologists didn’t have the heart to say no.

In the end, the Proctologists won out, leaving the entire decision up to the assholes in Washington.

Paranoid schizophrenia

2009-07-30T12:08:00.000-05:00

The final vote on the Thune bill to allow persons with concealed carry permits to carry across state lines, definitely shows us the schizophrenic mind set permeating the current plethora of con-gress critters.

To say that honest, law abiding citizens {persons who take the time and effort to apply for and receive an honest, gummint founded personal firearm carry permit} crossing state lines, for whatever purpose will cause violent crime to increase, is, in my military mind really stretching any credible intelligent understanding of reality.

I’m sorry, I must have had a lapse in brain activity…apparently I forgot that the left-leaning, statist, cranial-rectal insertion types see personal responsibility as illegal or sinful. Oh, yeah, almost forgot…how else could the gummint declare so many of us honest, law abiding citizens as domestic terrorists?

Sometimes, I wonder if there has been too much inbreeding in the democrat held constituencies. One thing I learned in the Marine Corps, is to never shit in your mess kit, or your sleeping bag.

Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing, where have all the flowers gone, long time ago, gone to graveyards everywhere; when we will ever learn?

Random thinking when I don't get paid for it

2009-07-28T09:10:00.001-05:00

This morning’s devotional readings got me to thinking about a couple of things, that relate to what is going on in our world, or more to the point, in our country.

First, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.” “Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.” (1 Pet 2: 13-15, 17, NASB).

Submission is a difficult concept for us to consider. In this postmodern world, we have been conditioned to reject any semblance of being subjected to another person. We are so full of ourselves, and we preach constantly that “self-esteem” is the number one priority for each of us. What is “self-esteem”? Is it not, realizing that you are just as good as the next person; and just as worthy of love and appreciation as is the next person.

We have been taught that submission is being a doormat, that people can walk on and clean their feet with. Now that I think about it, perhaps this explains why the divorce rate, and inability of employees to get along with bosses, and employers is so high. I sense, also, there is a modicum of lack of trust in others, that exacerbates our prejudice against submission, or submitting. It probably doesn’t help any, that the term “submission” conjures up images of people being tied up, whipped, humiliated, and treated as scum of the earth. Yeah, what healthy ideas we have pertaining to submitting.

Should we ever go back to the basics, we would find listed in the book of Psalms, this passage: “But God is the Judge; He puts down one and exalts another” (75:7, NASB). How unfair! It is God who chooses who is to be leader over another? Doesn’t He understand how devastating that can be to our psyche, and our self-esteem? Ah, perhaps now we have gotten to the heart of our rejection of submission…we don’t trust God! We just cannot believe He has our best interests in mind, when He places someone over us.

Secondly, we are called to “honor all people…honor the king”. Actually, this goes hand-in-hand with submitting. When I refuse to submit to another, to accept my place in the scheme of things, I cannot in all true honesty give honor to another; especially because I feel I deserve the honor more. You see, it can become a tiring, endless circle of trying to be better, and more deserving than others. Yet, God calls us to accept our position, realizing that He has placed us just where He wants us. Jesus is the Great Emancipator, He is the ultimate Savior; yet, he got to His position by submitting to the will of God.

The Apostle Paul adjures us to “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look our for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of me. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights inb the world“ (Phil 2:3-8, 13-15, NASB).

Ah, so that’s it…we are in training mode here on earth for a life that is far more better than we could ever imagine; but are we interested in making the grade, or is self-esteem more exciting?

Finally, I consider the thought of love. Where is love in this ole world? God calls us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might (Deut 6:4).” Jesus goes one step further by calling us to: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might, and you shall love you neighbor as yourself“ (Matt 22:37, 39).

Methinks, in the event I cannot trust God, in order to submit myself to authorities, then I cannot love God with all my heart, soul and might. If I cannot love God, then I sure am not going to be able to love myself, and you can forget about any love being there for my neighbor. I am too involved in my own personal life to be aware of God working in and through my life. Sure I love my new car, cuz it inflates my self-esteem; I love my beautiful garden, cuz it inflates my self-esteem; I love my job, cuz it inflates my self-esteem. I can’t love God, myself, and my neighbor, cuz it calls me to forget about myself, my self-esteem, and submit myself to God as the ultimate Authority. And so, I struggle, here in this life, trying to get through as much of it as I can under my own power, while felling good about myself.

May God have mercy on our souls.

Imagine

2009-07-23T09:10:00.000-05:00

For some time now, I have noticed vehicles {mostly gummint ones} with a bumper sticker that says: “ERACISM”. I guess, there was something in me that thought this was something to do with bad English. Then I guess, I came to realize that it was someone’s bright idea of contracting two words “ERASE RACISM” into one word.

Talk about cognitive dissonance…we have gummint workers brandishing “ERASE RACISM” bumper stickers, and a gummint that continually markets racism. Methinks these are the same moonbats who propose “ENVISION PEACE”, “MAKE PEACE NOT WAR”, “WORLD PEACE, WE CAN DO IT”. Feel good platitudes that have no place in reality. Reality is a hard taskmaster. Back in the 60s and 70s it was not uncommon to hear someone proclaim, “Drugs are for people who can’t handle reality”. YUP!!! Pipe dreams. Hmmm, haven’t heard that in a while.

By the way, am I the only person who remembers the call to “get the gummint out of my bedroom”? Sheeeshhhh! Now forty years later, these same reality drop-outs, moonbats, are running the gummint, and everything they preached against back then, they are implementing now. Sometimes, I wish they would have dropped acid, and dropped completely off the face of the earth…OH!!! I guess that makes me guilty of being hateful. Now, we get off another tangent, because my military mind asks me, if wanting this country to be like it was when I was growing up is demonstrative of being a hate monger.

Perhaps that is why the gummint has branded us conservative, veterans, Christians as domestic terrorists; just because we don’t want to give up our liberty and freedom, we are deemed a threat to the gummint that has evolved.

Well, God’s Word tells us that love overcomes a multitude of sins, and fear. As the moonbat’s key spokesman, John Lennon has said, “IMAGINE”; and from that we have “imagine peace”, “imagine world peace”, “imagine peace in your time”, “imagine living together in peace”. So, I wonder what this world would be like if we imagined every person 1) loving God, 2) loving their neighbor as theirself, and 3) loving theirself.

When we truly love God, we have no need to fear Him, and when we no longer fear Him, we find peace between ourself and God. Hmmmmm, imagine that.

When we truly love our self, we have no need to fear what we may do or say; because truly loving our self, we can trust that we will do what is right, and therein lies the peace that will permeate our being. Hmmmmmm, imagine that.

When we truly love our neighbor, we have no need to fear him or her, because this is love that one would lay down his or her life for another. Culminating in peace with God, myself, and my neighbor. Hmmmmm, imagine that.

Praise where praise is due

2009-07-22T14:31:00.000-05:00

I asked Jesus if He’d make me whole,
and He reached out and mended my soul;
I asked Him to help me along,
and He gave me a special song;
I asked Him each day for things so small,
and Jesus said, “Terry, I want you to have it all”.

I cried out, “This me just won’t do“,
And Jesus said, “I’ve made all things new”;
I complained and cried, and cried,
and Jesus said, “For those tears I died”.

I told Him, “I’m tired of being so strong”,
He answered, “I know, I’ve held you up all along”;
I cried deep within my being,
and shuddered at all I was seeing.

Then Jesus told me not to grieve,
to accept His gift, and then believe.
So, I raised His name in song and praise,
and saw His grace light up my days;
I’m truly thankful for what He’s done,
and I’ll strive to keep Him Number One.

A matter of perspective

2009-07-22T14:28:00.000-05:00

In search of happiness we find
that happiness lies within our mind.
In search of patience we soon learn,
we cannot watch a candle burn.

And peace is just an elusive dream,
beyond our grasp, so it would seem.
Yet, love, we think we know the best
as that which beats inside our breast.

Its oh so hard to understand
that these all come from the Father’s hand.

Respite

2009-07-22T14:26:00.000-05:00

Once more the sun burns to its towering height
Eating away the dark shrouds of night.
Giving vent to the warm rays of light
Illuminating this world so brilliantly bright.
Reflecting off majestic birds in flight,
Representing spectacular universal might.
Erasing all semblance of humanly fright
Allowing to the knowledge of heaven’s delight;
Compared to the universe, its merely a bite
Never changing ~~ not even a mite.
Appearing only to rest sometime at night.
Giving the feeling of being polite
Showing the way of the pilgrim’s plight
Restoring the light that helps our sight.
Giving off the warmth that draws our skin tight
And heals the flowers of cold’s crisp blight.
Yet oft times appears so trite
And eventually shows that all is aright.

Cogitatin n regurgitatin

2009-07-13T08:19:00.001-05:00

How is that “hope n change” workin fer ya?

Each day, I roam around the internet reading various sites. I admit the internet has become quite an educational medium for me. Sure, there are sites where you can see things that still don’t seem to be real. But, I am not really wanting to look at what is on the internet, per se. There is another area, that interests me, and it comes from walking thru sites, and having the privilege to see the hearts of many, many people.

I am pretty much up front, with how I feel about our current economic and poli-tic-al atmosphere, in this country. And this weekend, my military mind has been flashing on that old bumper sticker that says, “Don’t blame me, I didn’t vote for him!” What a panacea, we can use to salve our minds, because “we” elected people to con-gress and the highest office in the land, who we don’t trust. I use the term “we”, because in truth, “we” voted him and them into office.

This, then, brings me to the area I wish to discuss. In these latter years, and elections, we have become more and more aware of the “single issue” voters. You know all about them, in fact, you may even be one. I am of the mind, that single issue voters have been instrumental in getting us to where we are today.

“Don’t blame me, I didn’t vote for him!” is quite a platitude, except, we cannot really use it in truth, if we did not cast a vote. And that is where I get caught up in the single issue voter. Have you ever heard: “ I won’t vote for him/her unless they will revoke Roe v Wade”, I cannot vote for him/her unless they support hate crime legislation”, “Unless they speak outright on the second amendment, they aren’t getting my vote”, I won’t vote for him/her because they have not stated unequivocally that they will reduce my taxes”.

For all practical purposes, each one of these voters, refuses to vote, PERIOD. Simply because the candidate doesn’t meet their prerequisites. And based on the single issues addressed above, we can see there are four votes that are not cast for the candidate that may well be a champion in the other areas.

And this tells me, that we have truly gotten away from the love of liberty and freedom that the United States of America has so strongly stood for over the years. How does it feel to know that we are rapidly losing the distinction of being the “Land of the free, and the home of the brave”?

There is an analogy I love to use, that really shows me where too many of us in this country have come to. In the realm of breeding dogs, it is well understood that too much inbreeding will cause the animals to lose a lot of their instinctual behavior. So much so, that they have been known to “shit in their mess kit”, and even where they sleep, and not be bothered by it. And I wonder, if something along that line is happening to our collective mind set. Are we seeing the truth of the axiom, “Familiarity breeds contempt”?

Well, I have gained a little catharsis, by getting it off my chest. So, for those of you, taking the time to read this, “HOW’S THAT HOPE N CHANGE worken for ya?

Token Cooking Post

2009-06-30T10:25:00.000-05:00

Precious friend Katherine at Smoky Mountain Cafe recently encouraged me to post any of the recipes I try, so, I thought I would give the one I tried last night a chance. Unfortunately, I don’t have cool pictures to go along with, so, bear with me, and we’ll see how this turns out.

I started with eight chikken breast tenders, threw em in a collander and washed them real good {as Emeril would say, you never know when the chikken police are watching}. While the tenders were draining, I placed about five pats of butter in a medium sauce pan, and started the butter melting. Then I placed 1-¾ cups of rice in the pan, plus 2 tablesoons of rosemary n garlic seasoning, and allowed that to cook for about ten minutes, occasionally stirring, until most of the rice turned brown. I next added 3-½ cups of chikken stock and stirred until it began boiling, then turned heat down to low, and covered the pan.

While the rice was steaming, I poured “sweet rice flour” in a dish, and stirred in black pepper and rosemary n garlic dried seasoning. About 2 tablespoons of EVOO in a large frying pan, then rolled each tender in the flour, and fried til both sides were brown. Then placed the tenders in another pan and in the oven at 300 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.

Now the rice was done, and the chikken was done, and WOW was it delicious. I didn’t fix any vegetables with it, but I could see the possibility of having hominy or fried okra along with it.

God’s Word For Today

2009-06-30T10:22:00.001-05:00

Dear children, let us not love in word only and with the lips, but in deed and truth. In this way we shall come to know that we are loyal to the truth, and shall reassure our hearts in His presence in whatever matters our hearts condemn us ~~ because God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. [1 John 3: 18-20, Weymouth]

Unable to agree among themselves, they as last left him, but not before Paul had spoken a parting word to them, saying, “Right well did the Holy Spirit say to your fathers through the Prophet Isaiah: ‘Go to this people and tell them, you will hear and hear, and by no means understand; and will look and look, and by no means see. For this people’s mind has grown callous, their hearing has become dull, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes, or hear with their ears, or understand with their minds, and turn back, that I might cure them’ (Isaiah 6:9, 10). [Acts 28:25-27, Weymouth]

Rubicon or rubics cube?

2009-06-27T09:58:00.000-05:00

Received an interesting email this morning from a good friend of mine…I’ll go ahead and post it here, and we can see what goes.

The message below is written by Scott Wagner, a law officer from Columbus, Ohio.
Note From A Cop
The fear on the street is palpable. Ever since the election of Barack Obama as President of these United States in November 2008, coupled with the election of a democrat party majority in both the U.S. House and Senate, concern for the United States and personal safety has ignited like a fire in dry grass.
Sales of guns – black guns, rifles, shotguns and handguns (particularly 9mm) everywhere, have gone through the roof. AR15s have literally flown off of dealer shelves, and only now in the spring of 2009, have I seen the display samples of ARs begin to reappear on the wall of my favorite shooting emporium after the initial post election rush.
Manufacturers of ARs are still working to catch up and some of the major suppliers are as much as 150,000 guns behind. Not only that, ammo is in the shortest supply I have ever seen in the 43 years of my shooting life. Have you recently tried to get 5.56mm, 9mm or even 380 ammo?
Supplies of 5.56mm and 9mm ammo are in short supply due to the black gun buying craze; .380ACP because of the rise in people getting concealed carry permits and the resurgence of interest in convenient 380 handguns like the fine Ruger LCP. In fact, in doing a review of the Ruger LCP, my gun store only had a small supply of ONE .380 round on hand, the Winchesters 95-grain SXT, which they had just gotten in. Unfortunately, I had to do a 30-round review of that pistol. There was none other to be found.
The 5.56mm was the first caliber to noticeably be in short supply. This was first due to the war effort, the headlong adoption of 5.56mm rifles by law enforcement agencies ever since the great LAPD bank robbery and shootout, the general shooting public interest in and acceptance of the AR15 weapons system along with a realization that yes, the AR does have sporting purpose, and of course now, this new fear that is on the street. Sales of ARs also went up following 9/11.
What is odd about this new fear is that it is not coming from the average citizen gun owner out there, but it is coming from what to me is an almost shocking source: street cops.
Street cops and SWAT cops that I know from various agencies – rural, suburban and metro – in my area are scared. Cops that before November 2008 never gave much thought (that I knew of anyway) to politics or more importantly to gun rights. For the most part, these are the guys that didn’t generally have any interest in shooting or gun ownership beyond keeping track of where their duty gun is, and a few of them didn’t even do that so well.
The guys I am talking about now are some of the same guys who used to not even carry off duty on a regular basis- but not anymore. They don’t scare easily, defenders of the Constitution of this State and the United States (as our oath of office reads), have been buying ARs, survival gear, and all the ammo they can lay their hands on. All of them (or I should say “us”) have been discussing and have been acquiring guns to provide a layered perimeter defense.
We want something in .308 (or in my case a superb M1 Garand in .30-06) for covering the outer perimeters, 5.56mm weapons for mid-range use (for some with more limited funds, the AK-47 and 7.62×39 cartridge will suffice), and for the close up stuff shotguns and handguns (love my Benelli M4 Tactical and Beretta 92 9mm).
What are we suddenly so afraid of?
Well in our discussions it seems to boil down to four areas.
First, fear of federal government intrusion into our lives. Every time I look at or listen to the news, there is something new and intrusive coming out of the Obama administration and this Congress. New tax schemes, government-run Canadian-style healthcare, a volunteer citizen defense force (whatever that is, what happened to the National Guard?) equipped with funding similar to our military, forced voluntary “service” after retirement, a lack of a southern border with hordes of illegal and criminal aliens pouring over our border, the swine flu scare as well as government forced closing of thousands of privately held Chrysler and GM dealerships, which will be the final nail in the coffin for these companies and the list goes on and on.
But these items in the news are just the tip of the iceberg. We can’t see the full impact of these actions yet, but we don’t know what was added into the thousands of pages of stimulus package bills in the dead of night yet. I predict however that when the plans contained in the stimulus packages go into effect, a lot of us are going to be surprised if not shocked by what has suddenly and sweepingly changed.
What also scares us is the Second, well-founded fear that there is an assault weapons ban looming, one that would make the Clinton Ban appear like a look of disdain in comparison. I remember well the 1990s and the Clinton years: the rise of militia groups, the “black helicopter” rumors and paranoia, all of which was motivated by the Brady Law and the Assault Weapons ban.
What if a new ban comes requiring registration or confiscation and turn-in of banned weapons as what happened in Australia? I watched cops and citizens alike purchase these guns at $900 dollars and more, with custom or tricked out guns easily running into the $2,000 range.
Then add on all the accessories, red dots, lights, slings and anything else you can name and you may have up to $3,000 wrapped up in your rig. I saw the looks in their eyes. These purchasers weren’t spending this kind of money just to turn in the guns for no compensation when a government tells them to. I foresee much civil disobedience coming down the road.
Americans are citizens, and not subjects like the British, Canadians or Australians. They just don’t always obey the law blindly and not one officer or citizen that I spoke to said anything like “I hope I get to keep this gun for awhile before they are banned; They are fun to shoot, so I would hate to give it up.” It isn’t going to happen, so the cop on the street and the soldier on the base needs to think now what he will do if the orders come down. I think you all get what I am saying here.
Which leads me to the Third fear, that there is a revolution coming, yes, a revolution on the scale of the original American Revolution. You can hear this topic discussed on many of the talk radio shows by even the big name hosts. The possibility of an armed revolution against the U.S. government is being discussed, albeit very gingerly and fleetingly and as something to be avoided, which it is. I never heard this mentioned in the 90s. One of my quietest, low profile officer friends brought it up the other day.
He said that at some point in the near future, he felt there is going to be an armed revolt if things keep going the way they are. Something has got to give. I was shocked. Yes, I had heard this from some of my more radical cop friends in the past, but to hear it from a guy like this was unprecedented. Now, these guys are not saying this will happen to foment revolution, preach sedition or to even participate. They just want to be ready if it happens, to at least defend their families, because number four on the fear list is general societal chaos.
Cops fear for their parents, wives, children or grandchildren more now than ever before. Most cops are encouraging their spouses and loved ones to get concealed carry permits. Not only that, but some of these same cops are buying gun mounts for their personal cars so they can carry an AR in the family ride at the ready all the time. They are also strapping on heavier forms of off-duty hardware. I have other friends that are issued ARs or subguns for tactical team use, who always have their gear with them and are planning on just commandeering these weapons for personal use in defending hearth and home.
Final Notes
This is pretty heady and maybe even dangerous stuff. Know fully that I am not advocating anything here. I am reflecting to you what I see and hear going on around me, and maybe saying things that haven’t been said in the open, until now.
It is something to think about.
“People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough|
men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” - George Orwell

I am not a cop, I have never played a cop on tv, and I have not stayed in the Holiday Inn Express. However, I have spent bout half of my life in this country’s armed forces. I have been, and lived in other countries that do not have a modicum of the freedom and liberty that this great country stands for. I do not see myself as being particularly ignerant, nor stupid; but I have a lot of trouble understanding some of the thinking that is going on in the minds of some of my fellow citizens.

I learned, years ago, that if you do not exercise your muscles, atrophy sets in, and they turn to flab. I am not so sure the brain is a muscle, but I am sure that if it is not properly exercised, it too becomes flabby, in a sense. Our gummint indoctrination stations, currently known as publik skools, have made a mess of edjmacation over the past fifty to sixty years. When I was stationed in northern California, I vividly recall hearing about schools teaching children, that if you need something and you do not have the means to buy it, it is ok to steal it, because if someone else has it, and you don’t, that ain’t fair. Criminetly {sic}, how have we gotten to this point in our history?

We now, feel good about robbing, hard working, people, to try and level the playing field for those who refuse to work. Am I missing something here? People still risk their lives to come to this country for the ability to pursue their dreams, and they are being cut off at the knees, and being told they can have it all, and don’t need to do nuthin but vote for the cat whats gonna give them the most. Obviously, there ain’t a lotta intellejunt cogitatin goin on around here. Scripture talks about sheep being led to slaughter…ask any sheep person, they will explain that sheep are about the dumbest animals given to this earth…they don’t take care of themselves, they walk around with their head down following where the grass goes, just so they can be content. They don’t fear, cuz all they are interested in is getting their belly full. They will walk right off a cliff, or into a predator’s camp simply following the grass.

My, how much that reflects what we are seeing in the people of the USA these days. No concern bout where they b headin, as long as they are getting what they think they need.

I sure I am glad I have lived longer than I have left to live. I feel sorry for my children, and their children.

Still above ground

2009-06-25T15:11:00.000-05:00

Well, I see I ain’t said nuthin for over a week…Let’s see, what has been happenen.

Last Thursday, I went down to KC area to spend a coupla days with my children. I do love them both, and the grand-daughter is soooo precious. I didn’t take any pictures this time around, but had a wonderful time with the kids.

On Friday, son directed me to a gunsmith in the area, to see about replacing rear sight on my S&W 686. Finally found the gunsmith, and he indicated, that he normally would not have the rear sight in stock, but that another man had come in some time back and ordered one, and never came to pick it up. So, within a half an hour, I had a new rear sight and was off to see my daughter. I think I may have touched on this before, but I dearly love my 686...with the 4” barrel and seven round .357 magnum cylinder. I had previously had a S&W .40, but the local dealer gave me a great deal on the 686 with the .40 trade in.

On Friday evening, son and family came over to daughter’s house, and we had a great roast dinner {daughter’s first time cooking a roast in crock pot}. Found out daughter’s old boy friend has been threatening her, even to the point of having him arrested and filing a restraining order. I left my Glock 32 with her with two mags of seven hollow point rounds. Yes, I have a .357 Sig Glock, and think it is one of the great wonders of the world, especially since I found magazine extenders and can tote 1 in the oven, and 14 in the mag.

On Saturday, son and I did some running around, til about noon, when daughter joined us and we went out to a gun range. Pretty neat idea, there in Missouri. The range is owned by the state game and fish, and they charge $3 an hour to shoot. You can’t beat that even with a stick. So, finally got to put a few rounds through my new Marlin 30-30, I think that one is gonna grow on me.

Son, spent a considerable time with daughter on the firing line, shooting the different handguns we had between us, trying to get a feel for which one fit her best. She finally decided that son’s .45 ACP seemed to agree with her more, than the 9mm or .357 Sig. Did I say it rained? So funny standing on the firing line with a roof overhead, and shooting in the rain. The target area did not have any roofing, so, the targets got kinda wet in the process. Anyway, daughter had to go to work, so, we called it a day, and headed back.

I have to admit that it is pretty awesome seeing that your children are grown and doing well on their own.

Well, I mentioned that it rained while we were at the range, what I didn’t mention is that the temps were in the high 90s and humiditty was prolly just as high. When I left Sioux Falls, temp was up pretty high with high humiditty, also. To be honest, when I got to KC I thought I was back on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi cuz the heat and humiditty were so high. Well, I drove back on Saturday night, cuz, son and family were going to wife’s family for Father’s day on Sunday, and daughter was back on work schedule.

Can you believe it? Got back to Sioux Falls bout 10:30pm, and the humiditty was so high, that it took me a good hour to cool down and get the sweat to stop. And since then each day has been high heat and humiditty…guess I have gotten too fat, just can’t take that high humiditty any more, so, pretty much been holed up in the apt with the blinds closed to stay cool.

And so, now you know why I ain’t writ much this past week.

AUGGHHHHH!!!

2009-06-16T12:14:00.000-05:00

My military mind just formulated where the “crisis” is in health care in this country.

There is a large majority of people made up primarily of “illegal aliens” and “welfare recipients”. Sadly, these people are the ones who primarily vote for liberal candidates with liberal policies, especially those that take money from the earners and give to the non-earners. You know what, my sister, her two daughters, and their three or four children are all welfare recipients. It is much easier to let the gummint give you the things you want, rather than have to go to work to get them.

So, back to the health crisis. All across the nation, states have been clamoring for our borders to be closed, and illegal aliens to be sent back home, because they are draining our economy. They generally have little money for medical care, and the medical care they generally go for is the emergency room. Anybody in their right mind realizes that emergency room care is the most expensive care, and is available to everybody, whether or not you have insurance. The writing is already on the wall that states are trying to get out from under having to provide emergency care for illegal aliens, and indigents. Add to this, that the majority of indigents are covered under Medicaid, and make ridiculous trips to the ER for routine care.

That is the health care crisis that we have encumbered ourselves with. It takes a liberal gummint to decide that the way to deal with the problem is to take away money from the earners, especially those who very seldom use the ER and make it available to the ones who habitually misuse the ER.

I can see Rush’s explanation as being a part of the situation, and recognize it is incumbent with the current administration. As Rush said, by B Hussein taking over health care, the unions would be able to drop their responsibility to cover their employees with health care insurance. Is there any doubt in anyone’s mind, today, that the Obama administration is in the tank, uhmmm, the pocket of the union’s?

In rethinking, if you add the two ideas together, then you do get a panorama of a mega health care crisis. A crisis that only the B Hussein administration is qualified to handle.

Funny, I often wonder how so many of us got to be the age we are, when as children, there was no health care insurance…doctors made house calls. I remember when I broke both wrists, there was no hospital near by, we went to the doctor’s office, waited maybe fifteen minutes and were taken care of by the local doctor.

What has happened to this country? How is it that we are now so intent upon going crazy over anything that is out of the ordinary? Scotty beam me up, there ain’t no intellejunt life on this planet

Un{freakin}believable...

2009-06-12T09:54:00.000-05:00

Rodger The Real King of France has posted regarding the lack of mainstream media acknowledgement of the bombing of Sarah Palin's church in Alaska.

Each day, it appears to my military mind that DOMESTIC terrorists are creating more damage in this country. And it didn't start with Bush...

What was that axiom? There is nothing a good man need do for evil to flourish? or something like that?

How's that "hope n change" worken for ya?

Its 2009, parents do you know where your kids are?

2009-06-11T09:08:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, while I spent an hour waiting in line at the local DMV, the man in front of me was talking with a woman who worked in the Auditor’s office; since they were standing within one foot of me, I was treated to their conversation.

At one point they got to talking about voting, she indicated that the most recent election had pretty nearly taxed her office in the area of absentee voting. She stated that the majority of absentee voters were RV’rs; and that the only requirement for registering to vote in this state is to spend one night. As they discussed this, they talked about there being a lot of RV parks in the area, and that one of the largest parks is in the county that had the largest number of absentee voters.

Now, for some time, I have wondered how it is that a conservative state like South Dakota can vote, so strongly, for some pretty damn liberal things. And I think I am beginning to see the light…

What ever happened to the requirement for being recognized as a citizen in good standing, of being in the place (city/state/county) for at least six months, changing driver’s license and vehicle registration, and establishing a domicile?

{Scratching the back of my head} Now, I think I begin to see why so many of the conservative, right-wing bloggers use the phrase “nuking futz”! The great philosopher of our time, Pogo, once commented that “We have seen the enemy, and he is us!” When are we going to wake up and realize that we have shot ourself in the foot, or stuck our sword in the dirt?

Add to this idiocy, that fact that a state supreme court recently informed the state they could not legally purge their voter rolls to eliminate dead people, and illegal voters, it is no wonder this country is going to hell in a hand basket!

Would I be redundant to say, I am so tired, even to the point of being retired? You know, how sweet it would be in the midst of all this screwin’ we’re gettin to maybe get kissed once in a while.

Think about it

2009-06-07T17:48:00.000-05:00

The Second Book of the Kings, chapter 22 verse 18b-19, NASB.

Thus says the LORD God of Israel, “Regarding the words which you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you,” declares the LORD.

There is no other way, we are going to save this great nation, except that we tenderize our hearts, and humble ourselves before the LORD.

As we read through the Bible, we see over, and over again, God’s call to people to humble their selves, and soften their hearts. How much plainer can it be laid out than to see the prosperousness of the people of God, and how they allowed their hearts and minds to turn away from God, and how they paid a severe price, in spite of all God did to turn their hearts and minds back to Him.

To my military mind, there is no plainer picture of our nation than the picture of Egypt, when God determined to make His Name known among the Egyptians. The Book of Exodus tells us that over and over again, God called Pharaoh to repent, and acknowledge the One True God of the universe and creation. Yet, time and again, he refused to humble himself; he was considered to be a god among the people and he would not allow his sovereign status to be relegated to another. History tells us that his arrogance brought calamity to himself, and his nation.

Well, if we refuse to learn from history, we will endeavor to relive it. Think about it!

Slipped Back Into The World

2009-06-05T08:08:00.002-05:00

Found this in this week's newsletter from Sgt Grit. Spoke to me, but then, like the bumper sticker in the rear of my truck: "Its a vet thing; if you weren't there you won't understand.

Vietnam. The word brings different images to different people, often with some sort of negative connotation of a quagmire of a war fought as much in the political arena as on the battlefield, although the stakes were much higher for those on the battlefield. Most people I think would even have trouble finding Vietnam on a map, if they could do it at all.

When I think of Vietnam, I think of "Joe". Joe can find Vietnam without a map. He usually finds it in the middle of the night when he wakes up in a cold sweat and shaking because he just realized that he's still alive... again. He's been finding it every night for 40 years, but he probably won't tell you about it because the first time he tried to tell someone he got burned. The last time, nobody cared anymore.

Joe isn't one person of course, he's 3 million American's who went to Vietnam for no other reason than their country asked them to and then shamed them for going. 58 thousand of them came home in boxes; 155 thousand came home in pieces and the rest wake up at night shaking. That's Joe.

My Joe is a smaller group of people, maybe half a dozen that have I been honored to know and have blended together to try and tell a bit of their story. Joe decided to join the service in 1967 because at 18, he thought he could make a difference in the world. He went to his local recruiter and proudly announced that he was there to join the war effort to go stop communists in Vietnam. After an interview and a couple of weeks of meetings and evaluations, it was decided that he would he would leave for boot camp in 6 weeks. Several days later at the dinner table of his parents' home, he received a phone call letting him know that a slot had become available immediately and that he could leave for boot camp the following morning.

Unfortunately, he had neglected to tell his parents anything about his plans yet. Why should he have? He still had six more weeks, and that is a LONG time... well, it is if your 18, isn't it? "Mom, Dad, I have something I need to talk to you about. I've been thinking about it and, well, I've joined the military and I'm going to serve in Vietnam. I know what you're thinking, but I've already made up my mind and I signed all the papers earlier today." Silence. "Mom... Dad?" Finally, dad mustered up a few words. "When do you leave?" "Tomorrow morning. I go to boot camp for 13 weeks and then probably straight to Vietnam. I don't know when I'll be home again after tonight."

His mother now lost what remaining vestige of calm she had left and fled the room in tears. Dad was able to keep control of himself in rapt silence, but Joe found out later that he had a nervous breakdown not long after he left for the war and Mom ended up being the glue that held the family together.

Boot Camp is where you lose your identity and then get a new one back. You are stripped of any sense of self, and you learn a humility that is beyond imagination to most of us. I'm not just talking about sleeping in a bunkhouse with 100 other people or changing your clothes in public. I'm talking about 10 toilets in a room with no walls or doors. Variations on the word "I" will be used only under pain of a million pushups, and replaced with "this recruit". The closest you will come to even being acknowledged by your peers is when you are screamed at by a drill instructor at 3 o'clock in the morning because there is a bug on your bunk, because you have no peers.

You are a recruit, and that is the worst scum on the earth. Even the other recruits aren't your peers, because they are you. All sense of identity is lost here. What comes out at the other end however, is a sight to behold. Boys come out men and girls come out women with a whole new identity. They are the most polite, cleanest, responsible, and well behaved group of young people you ever will meet. They are also your worst nightmare if they need to be.

Joe actually liked boot camp. Sure, he would write letters home complaining about the food, or more specifically the lack of it, or about the drill instructors and the physical demands, but he felt like he was starting to fit in. He was learning to trust himself, and to trust the person on his left and the one on his right. And as much of a jerk as that drill instructor seemed to be, Joe was coming to realize that this was a person he would never forget. To this day, he has not.

On graduation day, Joe and his fellow recruits were marched onto the parade grounds to perform a very elaborate ceremony that would be witnessed by a handful of officers and noncoms but an otherwise empty grandstand. Joe's parents were not there, but he expected that, no one's parents were there. To the outside observer, it must have seemed a very lonely and sad day, but Joe had never felt like he belonged anywhere more than he belonged here at this exact moment. These were his people now.

For the next three years, Joe's story mostly disappears for those of us who stayed home. To be sure we have movies and books and newsreels, but for the most part we don't hear the stories from the people who lived them and I'm not sure we ever will. I'm not sure we ever want to.

For something to be so horrible that close to 3 million men and women hold it inside for nearly 40 years, it cannot be easy to bear. What we do hear is the stories of friendship and the bonds that were created between them, which is where my Joe comes back into the telling. His best friend was kneeling over him holding his hand and trying to reassure him that he was going to be all right.

Joe was bleeding badly and his unit was in the middle of an intense firefight but he could hear the helicopters finally coming in to get him and the other wounded out. He had no idea how badly he had been hit, but he knew that he couldn't move his arm and that he was starting to lose consciousness. His friend had patched him up as best as he could and helped get him on the waiting helicopter, which then sped out of the jungle without time for a goodbye. They would not see each other again for 40 years, not even knowing if the other was still alive but when they finally did meet again, it was as if two brothers long ago separated had found each other. They had both cheated death together, and they knew it.

His next memory is of being in a bunk on board a naval hospital ship in pain and without enough room in his bunk even to roll over, let alone get comfortable. He had just about decided that his life was as bad as it possibly could get when he turned to look at a young man in the bunk below him who was driving him nuts with all of his moaning and whining. The young man was in a similar bunk, but he was confined to his back not because of the cramped space, but because he no longer had arms or legs. It was at that moment that Joe decided never to feel sorry for himself again; to my knowledge, he never has.

Eighteen months later, the war now over for him and his wounds as much healed as they were ever likely to get, Joe came home on a commercial flight and landed at his hometown airport. There was no pomp or fanfare or cheering throngs with welcome home signs. He was one of the lucky ones, left alone that night. No protesters were there to meet him because it was too late in the evening to be bothered with going out to spit on another soldier or call him a baby killer and so he quietly grabbed his bags, walked out of the terminal and slipped back into the world as alone as he was the day before boot camp. The country he had given so much of himself to didn't even know he was home, and sometimes didn't care.

Today, Joe is an executive, and a truck driver, and a teacher, and a police officer, and a friend. Sadly, he or she may have gotten too lost to get back and is no longer with us, but more often he is right among us still hanging onto an anonymity that protects him from any more hurt. More and more though, he is starting to emerge as America finally starts to understand that he is still here and deserving of our respect. He organizes crowds at the airport to make sure that our newest generation of fighting men and women come home to the sort of welcome that he should have had. He volunteers to pack care packages for our troops overseas even after working ten hours and driving 90 minutes to get there, and he gives his dog tags to a young Marine heading into battle.

As a society, we need to make sure that he keeps coming out; that he knows that we are a grateful nation and understand that without his sacrifice, not even protests would have been possible, let alone prosperity and freedom. If you know a veteran, tell him thank you; it might just be the first time anyone ever has. Write a letter and take it to the Veteran's Affairs office. Do something to let these men and women know that they don't need to hide anymore, that we're proud of them, and that we get it at last. And if you see someone wearing a yellow bar tipped on the ends in green with three vertical red stripes through the middle, that's Joe. Shake his hand and tell him that you know who he is, and that you appreciate what he did. Remember, he's been to h≪ he'd go again if we asked him to, and he might go there tonight before he wakes up shaking.

Thanks Joe... and Roger... and Mike... and Lloyd... and Jim...

Linda on top of the news whats fit to print

2009-06-01T11:18:00.004-05:00

Hard to imagine, but guess it could happen: cutting off your nose to spite your face?

Da Cajun comes tru agin...

2009-06-01T10:40:00.002-05:00

Found this at one of my favorite morning stopping places, and thot it was too good to pass up, and not {mis-}appropriate. I did take a little poetic license and encased it in {}. Thanks Tanker!

Importance of Walking

Walking 20 minutes can add to your life.

This enables you at 85 years old to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing home at $7000 per month..

My grandpa started walking five miles a day when he was 60. Now he’s 97 years old and we don’t know where he is.

I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.

The only reason I would take up walking is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.

I have to walk early in the morning, before my brain figures out what I’m doing.

I joined a health club last year, spent about 400 bucks. Haven’t lost a pound. Apparently you have to go there occasionally.

Every time I hear the dirty word ‘exercise’, I wash my mouth out with food. {I lay down on the couch and eat a Snickers bar! And wait for the thought to pass.}

I do have flabby thighs, but fortunately my stomach covers them.

The advantage of exercising every day is so when you die, they’ll say, ‘Well, he looks good doesn’t he?’

If you are going to try cross-country skiing, start with a small country.

I know I got a lot of exercise the last few years … just getting over the hill.

We all get heavier as we get older, because there’s a lot more information in our heads. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

AND

Every time I start thinking too much about how I look, I just find a Happy Hour and by the time I leave, I look just fine.

A Marine ain't happy less he's bitchin

2009-05-28T11:13:00.000-05:00

I signed up with Sprint cell phone service in June 2000, and Sprint “Broadband” service in October 2007. To my military mind, that would indicate a loyal customer; I did not say, necessarily satisfied customer.

Sprint advertises their “Broadband” service as “hi-speed”; yet, here in Sioux Falls, it is dial up out of a tower in Minnesota. I have had numerous contacts with Sprint in the past six months regarding the slowness of the “Broadband” and its ability to drop calls in the process of trying to access the internet.

On Saturday, my computer was taken over by a Sprint update; there was no option to cancel, or relegate to a later time. The download took about an hour and a half to complete. Yeah, it screwed up my system, big time. On Sunday, the system was still screwed up so I called tech support, and spoke with a lady named Pamela, she walked me through a removal of the download, and then sent me an email to download a better update. She also promised to call me at 4:00 pm the next day. You guessed it, here it is Thursday morning, and I still haven’t heard from her.

On Tuesday, I sent her an email documenting what problems I was encountering due to the download; and I haven’t even received an email from her, nor any contact, at all.

So, lo and behold, on Tuesday, I start receiving these message windows that Sprint has a “PRL” download ready for me to process. Got another message this morning when I logged on. I spose it is possible that Pamela may be working behind the scenes to correct whatever has happened due to the download, but I don’t think she should be sending out downloads without at least letting me know it is coming, and how it is going to make a difference.

If this is the level of competence and loyalty we may expect from companies, these days, I can truly see why there is such an overpowering desire among the great unwashed to allow gummint to take over businesses…I can see it; but I can’t believe it.

I have thot in the past, about dropping Sprint broadband, however, I am not aware of any other company that provides just mobile broadband. Seems like everything, here, in this part of flyover country is oriented toward desktop computers and bundled with phone and cable tv service. That do make it difficult to be on the move, working from a laptop.

Paranoia strikes deep, into your life it will creep;
Starts when you’re always afraid, step outta line the man come and take you away.

Cogitating on right and left

2009-05-26T08:59:00.000-05:00

I am becoming more and more intrigued with the mind of William Barclay. I really appreciate his astuteness and willingness to go the extra distance to help me understand a lot of things.

In today’s devotional reading from his book, Daily Celebration, Word Books, Waco, TX, 1972, pgs 135, 136; we find the subject Two Natures.

Which is the real man? I read in the papers about a criminal who, during his gaol sentence, had tamed a magpie and who had so won over the bird that it was quite fearless. The criminal, or the man who with infinite patience tamed the bird ~ which is the real man?

This question is written into the Bible. Which is the real David? The David who spared Saul’s life with infinite magnanimity, who would not drink the water which his mighty men brought from the well which was by the gate, at the jeopardy of their lives, or the David who callously arranged the death of Uriah that he might lustfully possess Bathsheba?

Which is the real Peter? The Peter who denied Christ in the courtyard of the High Priest’s house, or the Peter who took his life in his hands for Christ before the Sanhedrin?

Which is the real John? The John who wanted to call down fire from heaven to blast a Samaritan village, or the John who had but one message: “Little children, love one another.”

For that matter, which am I? I can work to the point of exhaustion and I can be completely lazy; I can be generous, and I can be mean; I can be kind, and I can be cruel; I can be patient, and I can be impatient.

The Jews said that inside every one of us there are two natures ~ the Yetser Hatob, the good nature, and the Yetser Hara, the evil nature. They said that every man had two angels, a good angel on his right hand pulling him up, and a bad angel on his left hand dragging him down.

Socrates said the soul was like a charioteer with the task of driving two horses, one gentle and tame, the other wild and undisciplined. The one was the passions, the other the reason. With almost poignant vividness Paul described the struggle within in Romans chapter 7.

It is a characteristic of human nature that we are a mixture. To the end of the day that remains true. There is only one person who can control the evil side of us and who can make the good supreme, and that is Jesus Christ himself.
In this life we never finally win the victory, but the nearer we live to him, and the more constantly we remember him, the more the good in us is victorious and the evil is defeated. In him alone there is conquest of ourselves.

Basically, two ideas stand out for me in this devotional thought.

First is the idea of two sides inherent in each of us: the good side, and the evil side. Throughout the entire Bible we are shown the power of God residing in His mighty right hand. We understand this to mean His power for good. We also know that when a king, or a sovereign wishes to recognize someone for the good they have done for them, they are seated at his right hand. You know, Scripture tells us that Jesus returned to heaven and sits at the right hand of God ever ready to intercede for His own.

Continuing in this thought, I am reminded that in earlier times, it was considered to be bad, or evil for a person to be left-handed. If we talk with our parents, or grand-parents, we learn that in school they were forced to use their right hand to write even if their left hand was their dominant hand. The popular belief, I believe was that a child who used the left hand was destined to deeds of evil; so, nip it in the bud, and get them on the right path.

In ancient cultures, and in many of the mid-eastern cultures today, the right hand is good and the left hand is bad. You never use your left hand to eat with, nor to greet another. The left hand is used to clean yourself after using the bathroom, it is dirty, and can never be cleansed. Witness, the cruelest punishment a thief can receive in that culture…to have the right hand cut off. You immediately become an outcast, right up there along with the lepers who raise fear and loathing in others.

Today, we talk about the “left” and the “right” in the realm of politics and intellectual direction. We generally relate the left to mean, oppressive, degenerate rulers who have no concern for their fellow man. We think of Stalin, Hitler, Cesar and the many of their ilk.

I am amazed at the Jewish interpretation of Yetser Hatob and Yetser Hara: the angel on the right hand that pulls you up; and the angel on the left hand that pulls you down. Isn’t that what we are seeing today in the political struggle we are witnessing? To my military mind, the “left” is definitely pulling us down; as a nation and as individuals. Make an attempt to discuss something with someone from the left, and they end up calling you names, and doing all they can to destroy you or your character. If you want to have a real down to earth discussion with someone, you must meet with a person who is dedicated to the “right”.

The second idea that readily stands out in my mind is the thought that the evil side has the tendency to be the dominant direction in our lives. After all we live in a fallen world, a world that has chosen to deny God, and invent our own gods that we can worship and depend upon.

I am sure that every one of us alive can testify how easy it is to do something wrong, or evil, and yet, how difficult it is to do something good. One of my favorite statements has been in reference to physical exercising: “When the thought crosses my mind to exercise, I lie down on the couch and eat a Snickers bar.” Consider the time a clerk gave you back too much change, and how difficult it was to bring it to their attention and return the overage. Wow, how much easier it is to just put the windfall in your pocket and walk out thinking, they will learn.

The only remedy, that can bring us beyond this overpowering bent to do evil rather than good, is to trust totally in God through Jesus Christ, that He will, and can, change us into loving, caring persons who are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow in our dealings with each other. Sadly, we have come to point where we no longer believe in evil…so, we continue to steal money from the workers to pay to have babies killed in the womb; we free criminals who prey on society, we continue to steal money from the workers to support the lifestyles of the criminals and the lazy; all in the name of being beneficent.

Until the time, we as a nation, and as individuals, come to the realization that there is evil loose in this world, and that only God, the Creator, is capable of controlling the evil in this world and in our lives, we will continue to deteriorate until there is nothing left of good. May God have mercy on our souls.

Memorial Day pause; addendum

2009-05-25T07:30:00.000-05:00

When the Army and the Navy
look up on heaven's scenes;
they will find the streets are guarded
by United States Marines.

Memorial Day pause

2009-05-24T09:43:00.001-05:00

From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli;
we will fight our country's battles, in the air, on land and sea.
First to fight for right and freedom,
and to keep our honor clean,
we are proud to claim the title
of United States Marines.

Over hill over dale, we have hit the dusty trail;
and the caissons go rolling along.
For its hi hi hee, to the field artillery,
shout out your number loud and strong.
For where'er we go you will surely know
that those caissons go rolling along.

Stand Navy out to sea
Fight our battle cry:
We'll never change our course
So vicious foes steer shy-y-y-y
Roll out the T. N. T.
Anchors Aweigh
Sail on to victory
And sink their bones to Davy Jones, hooray!

Off we go into the wild blue yonder,
Climbing high into the sun;
Here they come zooming to meet our thunder,
At 'em boys, Give 'er the gun! (Give 'er the gun now!)
Down we dive, spouting our flame from under,
Off with one helluva roar!
We live in fame or go down in flame. Hey!
Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force!