When Hilary first ran for nomination I would have rather seen her win than Obama and nothing has changed to alter that opinion. Something was mentioned on a national news program today that makes me doubt that she would be a worthy President. As you probably know Hilary was Secretary of State when the Benghazi incident occurred. Hilary discussed the situation with ex-president and husband Bill Clinton and he advised her not to resign for fear it would hurt Obamas chances of being reelected and the Democratic party might hold a grudge against her for that and lessen her chances of being elected in 2016.
Hilary has been quoted as saying that Obama is inexperience and way over his head and doesn't really know what he is doing. In other words she is claiming that Obama is incompetent. This is all before the 2008 election. From this incident and discussion and Hilary's decision, it is obvious that she had placed her desire to become President above the need of America to have a competent leader. In other words, she feels her desires are more important than the needs of the country. Do you really want a leader that feels they are more important than the country? I would hope not.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Man Arrested After Son Skips Church [VIDEO]
There is no video and the man's arrest had nothing to do with church, religion, or God as the headline would lead one to think. A church van came by to pick the children up for church by the 8 year old slipped off. The man was charged with neglect after police were summoned to a local Family Dollar store to retrieve the boy.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Bad title, bad idea
Sometimes headlines don't really convey what an article is about. My article "I hate religion" might have given many the impression that I hate religion but far from it. I am a deacon at my church and also a ordained minister. What the article was about is the erroneous conclusion about the Reformation and the churches role is the slaughter that occurred. My apologies to anyone who thought it was about God bashing on my part.
Monday, June 23, 2014
Happy Anniversary
On the 14th I celebrated my Mom's 89th birthday and the next day I celebrated fathers day. Today was my 10th anniversary and I'm still on my honeymoon I believe. We went back to the place we first met and then to the movies to see The Jersey Boys. It was a pleasant day all around. We met in October 2003 just before her birthday and I haven't quit smiling since.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
I hate religion
I hate religion. Man has killed millions in the name of religion. I hate it when Christians cram religion down my throat. Jesus is a fairy tale. Religion is a crutch.
Those are some of the everyday and nice things people say about Christians and Christianity. Many people think Christ and God are make believe beings like the Easter bunny and Santa Claus. I would like to set the record straight on what happened during the reformation. The Catholic church was a religious organization but they had nothing to do with Christianity. John Wycliffe, the first man to translate the bible into English was persecuted by the church and was hated so much that 40 years after his death his body was unearthed and burned at the state and his ashes scattered in the Rhine. That is not of the Christ I serve.
No, the Catholic church was actually a criminal organization lead by evil men for the purpose of making money. Selling certificates absolving the processor of all sins for the remainder of his life is not what Christ taught. No true believer in Christ ever killed anyone in the name of religion. During the reformation millions of people were slaughtered by the Catholic Church in the name of religion by the authority of the Pope but no one single person died in the name of Christ.
One should study their history before making judgments on what really occurred and one should get to know Christ before deciding he isn't real.
Those are some of the everyday and nice things people say about Christians and Christianity. Many people think Christ and God are make believe beings like the Easter bunny and Santa Claus. I would like to set the record straight on what happened during the reformation. The Catholic church was a religious organization but they had nothing to do with Christianity. John Wycliffe, the first man to translate the bible into English was persecuted by the church and was hated so much that 40 years after his death his body was unearthed and burned at the state and his ashes scattered in the Rhine. That is not of the Christ I serve.
No, the Catholic church was actually a criminal organization lead by evil men for the purpose of making money. Selling certificates absolving the processor of all sins for the remainder of his life is not what Christ taught. No true believer in Christ ever killed anyone in the name of religion. During the reformation millions of people were slaughtered by the Catholic Church in the name of religion by the authority of the Pope but no one single person died in the name of Christ.
One should study their history before making judgments on what really occurred and one should get to know Christ before deciding he isn't real.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Plant sale at the Zoo
I went to the plant sale at the zoo this morning and got a little carried away. I purchased to red ice plants (I already have purple ice and yellow ice), 2 sedum plants, blue grass, a couple of cone flowers, a hibiscus bush, some hens and chicks, and a Red Velvet Elvis (its a red Iris). Some people purchased a lot more than I did but I'm running out of room in my little yard. Not satisfied, I ordered two more grape vines via the internet today. I have to confess I killed my only seedless grape vine this week so I'm having to replace it. I feel really bad about it.
My garden has started producing. I've already picked my peas and some lettuce and cucumbers and of course some hot pepper. I even gave some of them to my new neighbors. The German Johnson's have a couple of tomatoes ripe for the picking and I just grabbed my second squash off the vine today. I was checking over my garden and noticed I have six watermelons growing (Charleston Greys and I think a Crimson sweet or two). I purchased Charleston Grey seeds and a friend of mine gave me a package or two of seeds which I think were Crimson Sweet. The cantaloupe vines are running and have plenty of flowers but I didn't notice any set fruit as of today. I picked more blackberries today. I'm getting about a pint a day but next month more and more should be ripening on a daily bases.
My garden has started producing. I've already picked my peas and some lettuce and cucumbers and of course some hot pepper. I even gave some of them to my new neighbors. The German Johnson's have a couple of tomatoes ripe for the picking and I just grabbed my second squash off the vine today. I was checking over my garden and noticed I have six watermelons growing (Charleston Greys and I think a Crimson sweet or two). I purchased Charleston Grey seeds and a friend of mine gave me a package or two of seeds which I think were Crimson Sweet. The cantaloupe vines are running and have plenty of flowers but I didn't notice any set fruit as of today. I picked more blackberries today. I'm getting about a pint a day but next month more and more should be ripening on a daily bases.
Remember when bankinhg was personal
I just saw an ad for Piedmont bank in the latest copy of Our State Magazine and in the advertisement the question was asked "remember when banking was personal?" I didn't read the ad for I'm sure that Piedmont Bank wanted to convince me that I would enjoy some personal attention if I banked with them. I use a bank to cash a check once a month. Other than that I can do all my banking on line so I really don't need the personal touch. Besides the banks are staffed with young female tellers and if a older man like myself tries to talk to one they are left with the fear the teller will jump up screaming rape or something. Personal and friendly they aren't. It's a major accomplishment to get a smile or a friendly word. I'd rather stare at my computer screen than deal with people who act afraid to speak to a customer. EEEW!
I remember going to banks when all the tellers were men in dark suits and ties hiding in cages with bars between the customer and them. They weren't chatty people either but at least they knew your name. By the time I got old enough to bank for myself the bars and cages and male tellers were all gone but computers had not yet arrived on the scene. Those were the good ole days of personal banking. Clerks sat in the bank and made hand entries of every transaction. No, I never actually met one of those people but they knew me. They knew what time and what day I made my deposits and how I spent my money. if something was out of the ordinary they knew my habits well enough to determine if the matter was legitimate or if special attention was needed.
My payday was on Tuesday and I made it to the bank ever Tuesday at 3 pm to deposit my check. Several times in the course of banking with Huntsville bank I either goofed up or found myself hedging a little and getting caught. sometimes I wrote checks for a dollar or two more than I had in my account. Once it was an accounting error and once I took a chance the check wouldn't get to the bank until Wednesday but it was presented on Tuesday morning. I was never charged a fee. The bank always honored the check because they knew my deposit would be there at three o'clock on Tuesday afternoon and they also knew that over drafting my account was not my usual practice.
The third time I did this I had forgotten to enter a transaction for a few dollars and I had over drafted my account by something like 46 cents. The bank bounced the check and I had to pay a $5.00 fee to the bank and had to face the embarrassment of picking up a bad check and paying a bounced check fee as well. I asked my bank why they didn't honor the check and it was explained to me they had borrowed us of the big banks computer. The computer only knew numbers. It didn't know people. That was the day personal banking died. Brag all you want in ads but unless the bank can really know people by their banking habits it ain't personal.
Once I applied for a car loan and I was turned down because I had no credit history. it's true I had never borrowed money before. I had just been discharged from the military and was trying to get myself established. I rented an apartment, paid cash for new furniture, and found a job. All I needed now was a car. When the loan officer was explaining to me why he couldn't do business with me the bank President walked by. He glanced at me and smiled "Aren't you so and so's son?" I answered yes. "Give this young man anything he wants" the banker instructed. I know his family so there is no risk to the bank.
Bankers can't do that anymore.
I remember going to banks when all the tellers were men in dark suits and ties hiding in cages with bars between the customer and them. They weren't chatty people either but at least they knew your name. By the time I got old enough to bank for myself the bars and cages and male tellers were all gone but computers had not yet arrived on the scene. Those were the good ole days of personal banking. Clerks sat in the bank and made hand entries of every transaction. No, I never actually met one of those people but they knew me. They knew what time and what day I made my deposits and how I spent my money. if something was out of the ordinary they knew my habits well enough to determine if the matter was legitimate or if special attention was needed.
My payday was on Tuesday and I made it to the bank ever Tuesday at 3 pm to deposit my check. Several times in the course of banking with Huntsville bank I either goofed up or found myself hedging a little and getting caught. sometimes I wrote checks for a dollar or two more than I had in my account. Once it was an accounting error and once I took a chance the check wouldn't get to the bank until Wednesday but it was presented on Tuesday morning. I was never charged a fee. The bank always honored the check because they knew my deposit would be there at three o'clock on Tuesday afternoon and they also knew that over drafting my account was not my usual practice.
The third time I did this I had forgotten to enter a transaction for a few dollars and I had over drafted my account by something like 46 cents. The bank bounced the check and I had to pay a $5.00 fee to the bank and had to face the embarrassment of picking up a bad check and paying a bounced check fee as well. I asked my bank why they didn't honor the check and it was explained to me they had borrowed us of the big banks computer. The computer only knew numbers. It didn't know people. That was the day personal banking died. Brag all you want in ads but unless the bank can really know people by their banking habits it ain't personal.
Once I applied for a car loan and I was turned down because I had no credit history. it's true I had never borrowed money before. I had just been discharged from the military and was trying to get myself established. I rented an apartment, paid cash for new furniture, and found a job. All I needed now was a car. When the loan officer was explaining to me why he couldn't do business with me the bank President walked by. He glanced at me and smiled "Aren't you so and so's son?" I answered yes. "Give this young man anything he wants" the banker instructed. I know his family so there is no risk to the bank.
Bankers can't do that anymore.
Friday, June 20, 2014
Supporting others is not a detriment to ones finances
I read an advise column the other day on bad habits that lead to financial ruin and one of them was having a soft heart and contributing to charities. That must not be true as Americans have been and still are among the wealthiest people and also among the most generous.
Most of my life I have struggled financially and when I started going to church on a regular bases my wife didn't think we could contribute but we did anyway. I believe she finally became convinced that not only tithing but giving beyond what is required is a good thing. Currently our giving level is at 15% of our income. I am on Social Security and she draws a disability check from her traumatic brain injury. We paid all her medical bills in full, paid off our car, purchased another vehicle for cash, paid off all of our other bills, put on a new roof and built a porch cover over our front porch, and now are replacing our living room carpet with flooring and have more money in the bank than we did when my wife had her aneurysm. I have discovered that a person cannot out give God.
Most of my life I have struggled financially and when I started going to church on a regular bases my wife didn't think we could contribute but we did anyway. I believe she finally became convinced that not only tithing but giving beyond what is required is a good thing. Currently our giving level is at 15% of our income. I am on Social Security and she draws a disability check from her traumatic brain injury. We paid all her medical bills in full, paid off our car, purchased another vehicle for cash, paid off all of our other bills, put on a new roof and built a porch cover over our front porch, and now are replacing our living room carpet with flooring and have more money in the bank than we did when my wife had her aneurysm. I have discovered that a person cannot out give God.
Big Bang breakthrough team allows they may be wrong
Big Bang breakthrough team allows they may be wrong reads the headline of an article in todays edition of Yahoo homepage. Most people believe that existence was created via either the Big Bang or via creationism. The Big Bang breakthrough team thought they had identified the means by which the universe expanded trillion of times in a fraction of a second. They had identified some gravitational beams and had they been correct they would have proven that Albert Einstein was correct. It seems that a little bit of dust got in the way of them proving the Big Bang theory.
Actually the breakthrough team is very close to the truth. However it isn't Einstein 's theory that is correct, although it very well may be. I know the source of what caused the Big Bang and how the universe was able to expand trillions of times in a fraction of a second. Before I reveal the truth I want to call your attention to some well known facts.
We are talking about the creation of something, the very first thing. It is a scientific fact that something cannot be created from nothing so before there was a gravitational beam there had to be nothing. And even if there was a gravitational beam how was it able to expand ;nothing into the universe in a fraction of a second? According to science, the Big Bang theory is an impossibility.
It stands to reason that is there was a gravitational beam among all the nothingness before there was anything that there had to be something else in order to make nothing expand into all there is today.
There also seems to me that it is just as probable that God existed as it is probably that a gravitational beam existed. God has the capability of creating something from nothing and the ability to create everything in a fraction of a second. And not only has God that ability he is also able to make everything work together in a well ordered universe. A gravitational beam does not.
So if you want to believe it the randomness of creation by an impossible means be my guest. I would prefer you believe that existence was an intelligent design by a kind and loving God and that he sent his only begotten son to die upon a cruel cross thereby paying the penalty of sin and rising from the dead thereby offering you the free gift of life. I would also prefer you to accept that gift so that you may b e rejoined to the creator and live life as He had intended.
Actually the breakthrough team is very close to the truth. However it isn't Einstein 's theory that is correct, although it very well may be. I know the source of what caused the Big Bang and how the universe was able to expand trillions of times in a fraction of a second. Before I reveal the truth I want to call your attention to some well known facts.
We are talking about the creation of something, the very first thing. It is a scientific fact that something cannot be created from nothing so before there was a gravitational beam there had to be nothing. And even if there was a gravitational beam how was it able to expand ;nothing into the universe in a fraction of a second? According to science, the Big Bang theory is an impossibility.
It stands to reason that is there was a gravitational beam among all the nothingness before there was anything that there had to be something else in order to make nothing expand into all there is today.
There also seems to me that it is just as probable that God existed as it is probably that a gravitational beam existed. God has the capability of creating something from nothing and the ability to create everything in a fraction of a second. And not only has God that ability he is also able to make everything work together in a well ordered universe. A gravitational beam does not.
So if you want to believe it the randomness of creation by an impossible means be my guest. I would prefer you believe that existence was an intelligent design by a kind and loving God and that he sent his only begotten son to die upon a cruel cross thereby paying the penalty of sin and rising from the dead thereby offering you the free gift of life. I would also prefer you to accept that gift so that you may b e rejoined to the creator and live life as He had intended.
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Need some advise or a sympathetic ear
Larry, Jeff's brother, was hired to build the front and back porch and the handicap ramp on a commercial building. When it came time for the building inspector to inspect the work neither Jess nor Larry were present but a third person who was mowing the lawn. The inspector failed the project and gave the third person a verbal list of things that needed to be corrected.
This person sought to go over the list with Jeff so Jeff could explain what needed to be done with his brother but Jeff became angry because he believed his brother did the work correctly and the county inspector was full of it. The third person explained to Jeff that he was only the messenger and that by default but to not avail.
It doesn't seem to matter to anyone that this third person, the man mowing the grass, is the actual owner of the building and is the only person who has the financial means to correct the problems with the deck. He has not been consulted about how to get the problem fixed.
So what is the proper way for this person to proceed. Just stay out of the situation or take charge?
This person sought to go over the list with Jeff so Jeff could explain what needed to be done with his brother but Jeff became angry because he believed his brother did the work correctly and the county inspector was full of it. The third person explained to Jeff that he was only the messenger and that by default but to not avail.
It doesn't seem to matter to anyone that this third person, the man mowing the grass, is the actual owner of the building and is the only person who has the financial means to correct the problems with the deck. He has not been consulted about how to get the problem fixed.
So what is the proper way for this person to proceed. Just stay out of the situation or take charge?
Monday, June 09, 2014
Trouble in Paradise
One always expects trouble when good things start happening around the church. Several years ago we were just a hand full but lately we have started growing and so much so that we needed more space. The fellowship our church belongs too has been growing too. When our church joined there were twelve of us and now there are over twenty churches. I suppose growing pains are inevitable so there will be a meeting this month to discuss the future direction of the fellowship.
One pastor who has led his church from meeting in an old house to a regular church building was accused of something unspeakable by a young girl. When asked to show proof of her claims she had to admit her claims were false. She had a crush on the young preacher and was upset he paid her no attention.
We knew that trouble would be brewing once we started an expansion program and it was, for sure. We had one lady, a long time member and a faithful one at that, left and then health problems started affecting our membership. A few years ago when we started our nine pm prayer program everyone in the church got sick and one member died. It seems that problems have started popping up all over the church. Car troubles, unexplained flat tires, mechanical failures, physical illnesses, financial problems, and now it seems the flesh has reared its ugly head.
Remember when you were young and you meet this person you liked and wanted to go out with them but wouldn't unless they got a date for your best friend or they wouldn't go out with you unless you gat a date for their best friend? Well, that is sort of the case in this situation. We met a family that is a perfect fit for the church but in order to get them we also had to take the wife's brother. You know those relationships never work out. Neither is this one.
One pastor who has led his church from meeting in an old house to a regular church building was accused of something unspeakable by a young girl. When asked to show proof of her claims she had to admit her claims were false. She had a crush on the young preacher and was upset he paid her no attention.
We knew that trouble would be brewing once we started an expansion program and it was, for sure. We had one lady, a long time member and a faithful one at that, left and then health problems started affecting our membership. A few years ago when we started our nine pm prayer program everyone in the church got sick and one member died. It seems that problems have started popping up all over the church. Car troubles, unexplained flat tires, mechanical failures, physical illnesses, financial problems, and now it seems the flesh has reared its ugly head.
Remember when you were young and you meet this person you liked and wanted to go out with them but wouldn't unless they got a date for your best friend or they wouldn't go out with you unless you gat a date for their best friend? Well, that is sort of the case in this situation. We met a family that is a perfect fit for the church but in order to get them we also had to take the wife's brother. You know those relationships never work out. Neither is this one.
Sunday, June 01, 2014
I can't believe they did that!!
In the news today was an announcement that Casey Anthony has adopted a baby. Casey Anthony is the young woman who made national news after she was arrested and charged with murdering her own baby girl. I know she was acquitted but that doesn't make her innocent. I just can't believe they did that/
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