Revival

Revival services are being held at One Way Baptist Church in Randleman tonight through
Friday.  We'd love to have you visit the church.  Services start at 7 pm. 

North Korea Has Another Temper Tantrum

  North Korea says if the United States of America attacks them they are ready to respond as they have nuclear missiles.  The United States of America has no reason or desire to attack North Korea.  If North Korea ever fired one of it's nuclear missiles the missile would prove to be a bigger danger to North Korea than to the United States of America. 
   North Korea reminds me of the story about the country that started a war but no one else came.  "The Mouse that Roared" or something like that.  A little fellow was picking at a big, big man, wanting to start a fight.  The big fellow told him "If you hit me and I find out about it you'll be in big trouble."  North Korea's leader reminds me of a fat three year old who holds his breath and rolls around the floor kicking his legs.  It's all for show. 
   I'm not sure what the man is trying to accomplish by his tactics. Maybe it is a show for the average citizen  to convince them that he is a brave leader and that their poverty is the fault of American policy and not the fault of the North Korean leadership. 

I couldn't believe he did this

       He purchased for gift cards and the verses in the cards were from an unauthorized version so instead of writing an authorized verse in place on the one on the card he changed the version.  I mean like he is giving cards to preachers wives and thought if he changed where the verse came from they wouldn't know it was wrong.   If it wasn't so pathetic I'd be upset. 

When Things Upset Me

      March is Pastors wife appreciation month.  We showed our Pastor's wife appreciation during Pastor Appreciation Month.  I don't know who makes these things up but I do know there was never an apostle appreciation day.  Anyway my wife is not a pastors wife.  She doesn't need, want, deserve, or appreciate being given recognition for something she is not and she told the Deacon that but he claims he spoke to God and God told him to honor her and that the pastor approves. 
    I don't think God would put his blessings on earthly honors and I seriously doubt that God would speak to this Deacon.  he God di one would think he wouldn't have to cheat in Sunday School and wouldn't be stealing from the church.  I'm rather tired of his antics.

A Sad Thing

              I grew up in a different time than you did, most likely.  When I was conceived WWII had not been over long.  Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected President of the United  States of American the year I started first grade.  For most of my adolescent years dope was a soft drink, grass was just that, grass, and weed was anything that wasn't a flower, grass, tree or a vegetable that grew in your lawn.  Blacks and whites went to separate schools. 
     I remember taking a speech class in college one time and one fellow did his speech about a person he had meet and had made a recording of on cassette tape.  This person drew a great deal of interest from the other students so many years later after I lost my business and I was struggling financially and was single  and lonely and broke, I thought maybe I could find something interesting to write about that would not only garner me some attention but make me some money.  Writing a novel was difficult, writing a true story harder still, but selling it to the public was a skill I did not have.   But through the researching and writing of the book I learned a valuable lesson. 
    After I graduated high school I went off to college.  The Vietnam war was starting to affect young lives by then but it wasn't something I really paid much attention to.  It wasn't until my junior year when I transferred to a larger school that I got a close look at how the war was affecting people.  A few of the students were addicted to hard drugs like LSD and they acted really weird.  I didn't much care for the way it effected them so illegal drugs had no lure for me.  By the time I got my draft notice drugs were ingrained in the youth culture along with "free sex".  Terms like "Hippies" and " Helter Skelter" made the news along with the Black Panthers,  student protests and anti-war activists.  For the first time in history people know where Hanoi and Saigon were.  Real war was broadcasted right into our living room during the evening news. 
    The war finally ended but by then drugs and an antiestablishment mentality was firmly ingrained into our youth and it is a battle that is still being waged today.  Our youth know longer remembers where Hanoi is and there is no Saigon.  The Vietnam conflict has given way to many more conflicts and wars.  America has discovered that wars fought with guns and bombs is easier to win than wars fought with ideas.  And so it is with our domestic war: the War on Drugs.  We cannot eradicate the sources and there are just to many users to deal with.  eliminating the suppliers is the hardest battle of all. 
   Writing my book gave me a first hand look into the underground of the sellers and the hard core users.  To many of them drugs offered freedom:  cash to buy what one wanted, freedom to escape poverty and the hurt of being abused, and a chance to live life free of any ones control.   The saddest part is the harder one tries to gain freedom from ones past and to garner freedom for ones future, the more enslaved they  obey is your master.  Drugs do not offer freedom but only serve to enslave you.  The same with sin.  The saddest thing of all is the person who rejects Christ because they falsely believe following Christ is giving up freedom when following Christ is the only way out of slavery.    
 

Taxes are complete

     The CPA just finished my taxes.  The bank usually does my taxes and because I'm old they do not charge but the bank refused to do my taxes this year because my wife inherited some money.  It cost $170.00 to get the tax forms prepared but that is far less than others charge for the same service so I'm not complaining.  It is the first time in over fifty years I've paid ; the last time it costs me $35.00.
  The biggest surprise about this years tax returns (Federal and state) is that the total on both forms is zero.  If it wasn't for inheriting some stuff, I probably wouldn't have to file again. 
   My wife and I tithe 50% of our taxable income ( before deductions) and not counting offerings.  In case you don't understand, a tithe is 10%  of ones gross income and an offering is hat is given above that.  In addition we give another 10% of our taxable income plus an amount that is even larger in labor and other gifts.  For example, I purchased a riding lawnmower, a weed eater, a push mower, and a chain saw, mowed the grass ever week that it needed mowing for the past four years, purchased chemicals and grass seed, cleared half the property of trees and over growth, purchased outdoor carpet and installed it  on the steps and handicap ramps to make them safer to walk on, and have done almost all the regular maintenance on the property.  That equates to over $4000.00 a year in free labor and materials for maintenance on church property, or a total considerably higher than my  taxable income . 
   I'm not writing this to brag on my giving but on God's generosity.    During the last 4 1/2 years God has given me back my wife and even made it possible for me to pay off all my debt and even double my savings in one year after my wife had to give up her job and faced with thousands of dollars worth of hospital bills.  So even if I give back to Him all that I have it pales in comparison to all that He has given me. 

Pinto Beans

We are have a fund raiser with having a pinto bean supper at $6.00 per person.  If interested in buying a ticket please contact me.

Getting ready for spring

      One really doesn't get ready for Spring as it comes whether we are ready or not, just like "it" in hide and seek but there are things one does in Spring that one doesn't do any other time of year. 
   One thing we do is "spring forward' which we will do this weekend in honor of daylight savings time or the end of it, I never can remember.   But there are more personal things for me.  One is my ponds.  I take my pumps out I the fall and have to reinstall them in the Spring.  since my neighbor has an Oak tree I can't take my netting off   until all the old leaves have fallen off his tree.  Having the netting on makes it much more difficult to put the pumps back in.
   Other things I do is open all the vents around the house.  Open vents keeps the house cooler in the warmer months and closing them keeps the house warmer in the cooler months.  My neighbors don't understand this concept as they never change theirs.  It only makes a few dollars a month difference but a few dollars more is better than a few dollars less. 
  I  have my lawn care equipment serviced in the fall so its ready to go.  I just have to take Mom's stuff back to her house.  This Spring I'm going to sow grass seed as well as till my garden space and fertilize my fruit trees and begin preventive spraying.  I hate having to spray but if I don't my tress get diseased and I have no produce. 
   Of course it's still winter and half my front yard is under water and a deep freeze will cause my yard to be a sea of ice.  it hasn't happened yet but with all the saturation from the recent snow and the all day rain we have had it is just possible with temperatures down to at least 20 tonight.  I have at least twice as much water standing in the front yard as I have ever  had and that is even after I unclogged the drain hose. 
   I'm ready for Spring, for real, even if I do have to work harder. 
 

Spock WAs Right

    A bi racial girl wrote a letter to Spock asking him how he handled being bi-racial when he was growing up.  I really never thought of being bi-racial along the same lines as being the fat kid, the tall kid, the ugly kid, the poor kid, the nerdy kid, or anything else that sets us apart from others.  Perhaps being of a different color makes one a target to a wider group of people but it really doesn't matter.  The problem and the solution is the same. 
   In a nutshell, what Leonard Nimoy told the girl was she had to make the decision to either seek popularity or to be true to who she was.  He pointed out that if she sought popularity and found acceptance your friends still could turn on you.  No, it was best, he believed, to be the best you could be at who you really were. 
   Excellent advice. 

Church was awesome yesterday

      I always enjoy church but yesterday was one of those really special services.  I'm not going to discuss why yesterday was so special as there are so many unbelievers that whatever I say will be met with skepticism and ridicule.  Those that know Jesus would understand  but even those that only call themselves Christians would think I was fanatical,  yet to me it was normal and natural to let God have His own way in His house.   
    At one time I was just like most people, never giving Jesus much of a thought, feeling better about myself when that rare occasion came that I went to a church service and yet wishing that it would soon be over.  Not many years ago I would have thought a person insane who went to church every time the doors were opened and actually believed that Jesus was as real as anyone but yet that is exactly who I am today.  I am that religious nut I always wondered about yet I feel neither religious nor foolish for I have discovered that Christianity is not religion.
   Some,  things are hard to explain, at least they are to others, yet to me those things are reality.  I have experienced to much to ever doubt again and yet I can understand why others don't see what I know but yet I still can't for what I know is truth they still can't  accept.  But the only way to really know is to believe yet they want to really know before they can believe  yet if I could prove it then it would no longer be of faith. 
         

Looking for trouble: Road Rage Killing

           The initial story said that a mother was teaching her daughter to drive when a man became upset that she was driving too slow and passed them, somewhere bumping the two cars together.  The angry driver followed the mother/daughter home and then shot the mother in the head, taking her life.  It seems the original story isn't accurate at all. 
     It seems that the mother was driving after the lesson and a man passed them at a higher than posted speed so the daughter, from the passenger seat,  tooted the horn.  The mother and the other driver exchanged words. 
      The mother drove home, dropped her daughter off, picked up her adult son who had a weapon, and went looking for the other vehicle.  They found the car and it's driver.   What happened between then and the shooting wasn't made clear but what is known is that there was no collision between the two cars and that the driver of the other car shot and killed the mother. 
    I'm sure the daughter wishes now she had never tooted the horn.  I'm sure if the mother were still alive she would say that she should have just let the other car go on it's way.  After all it was just a brief, momentary encounter that most likely would never happen again.  I'm almost positive the son wishes he had been mature enough to tell his mother to just let it go, that no good would come from  incident, even if they could find the other driver.  And I would hope that the man who pulled the trigger regrets doing so and has learned that patience is a virtue.  Even id the car in front of him was driving to slow for his taste chances are it would have made only a minute or two difference and the delay could have enriched his life just as easily as it delayed his plans. 
    People are going to do stupid things and situations are going to arise in which we feel disrespected.  Sometimes others are going to think we were wrong when we were not and sometimes we think we were right when we were wrong.  In other words, things happen.  But in most cases the situation is over in a moment and it is best to just let it go.  If the situation  escalates or threatens to become a recurring problem it is best to let the authorities handle the problem.  I know we like to channel the John Wayne inside of our selves and believe we will be okay because we are in the right and God is always in the side of right. 
   Well life doesn't always work that way my friend.  it's best to just let it go.   
  
   

A Lasting Marriage is Like Shampoo

A Lasting Marriage is Like Shampoo

It is an assumption of this article that the reason for the marriage was love. People get married for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it is from desperation, sometimes convenience, sometimes for money, sometimes to seal a deal or to fulfill family obligations. Have you ever washed your hair when it wasn't dirty? Of course you have.

Many mornings I awake with bedhead so I wash my hair to untangle the mess so my hair doesn't appear matted down. Sometimes it gets washed just because I happened to be taking a bath anyway. The point is sometimes we wash our hair when it isn't necessary and truthfully, washing our hair may not be the best thing for it. Sometimes two people just shouldn't be married.

A young couple just got married. One old lady said “it won't last.” Maybe she's jealous. Maybe she thinks the couple may have gotten married for the wrong reason. I'm not sure what was her motivation for saying that. After all, the couple have been an :item” for five years now and have made their father's house their home. But it seems, where they live is the problem. The father has a leadership position in church and he was given the option of getting his house in order or resigning his position.

This mans first step was to tell his son and his girlfriend that they either had to get married or move into a place of their own. That answers the question of why they choose to get married now but it does open up another question: did they get married because they love each other or because they need a place to live? Why is it important that the couple get married at all?

The answer to that last question is simple. The world doesn't care but God does.

Remaining unmarried hurts the testimony of the father and is also a hindrance to his son and his girlfriend accepting Christ. It was a necessary and an important step in their relationship, in the stability of their home life and for their relationship to Jesus.

I know that he loves her. Some people have the money, the looks, the talent, and/or the personality to attract another to them as does poop to flies. But to others finding a suitable mate is a once in a lifetime option. This couple falls into the latter category so finding each other may be their only hope of finding love.

For them, remaining married may be easier than for the most attractive people for surely they have less opportunities for romance outside of marriage. Still, who wants to be stuck in a loveless marriage?  It is important to get that love fresh and alive. 

One must approach marriage just as one approaches shampooing their hair.

I hope it's obvious that on the day he proposed he was in love. I know that on the day I first met my future wife I was nervous and excited and was hoping I'd like her and that she would like me. I took a bath, shampooed my hair, cleaned my car, put on clean clothes and made sure I had my wallet with plenty of money. If I was attracted to her I wanted to impress her.

My wife and I have been married 10 years now. It doesn't matter if we are going out for a date or just to Hardee's for a burger. We could be going to the grocery store or to church. Regardless, I make sure my car is clean. I make sure I am clean. It is just as important to me now to impress her as it was the very first time we met. I am just as excited to see her in the morning as I was to see her on our second date. Making her happy is just as important to me today as it was the day I asked her to marry me.

There was sometime about me she was impressed with enough to fall in love with  and want to spend her life with me. I always want her to keep that impression. Whatever I did that caused her to love me is something I want to keep repeating. The directions on the shampoo bottle say wash, rinse, repeat. To keep a love strong, follow those directions: whatever you did that made someone fall in love with you, just keep repeating.

What is a basic girl?

I saw a headline state says" 35 Tattoos Every Basic Girl Wishes She Had"  Sponsored Brainjet.com

  What exactly is a basic girl?  I didn't know they can in different models.  How does one tell if his girl is a basic, a standard, or the deluxe model?  You tell your girl she is just a basic model.  I'll keep telling mine she is special. 

To Give or Not, That is the Question

     I'm a generous tipper.  My wife and I give 10% of our total income to church plus we give extra for the evening and mid-week services and for all the special needs offerings plus we buy a lot of things for the church, especially things that have to do with maintenance plus I take care of the mowing, lawn care, and just about any project that comes up.  Last month I purchased carpet and carpeted the two handicap ramps and the two flights of stairs.  All I'm saying is I'm not cheap nor am I opposed to giving.
     In October we had a family in need and my wife purchased $80.00 worth of food for them.  In November when my mom moved I gathered up all her food and gave to them.  There was at least $500.00 worth of food not counting what was taken out of her upright freezer.  We have given generously to everyone who needed help even when they haven't asked for help. 
   One lady who comes but has  to depend on others to get her there has asked for help for the fourth time, and this time she wants us to bring it to her.  She has an adult son who lives with her but he is too lazy to bring her to church so she has asked for rides from every member of the congregation.  Patsy quit the church because this woman would call twelve to fifteen times to make sure she is coming.  One elderly couple almost split up over this woman and another couple actually moved to avoid her.  She doesn't give a dime to the church, never says thank you to anyone who gives her a ride nor offers gas money or a lunch as a way of showing gratitude.  The only time her family comes is when they can get something for free from the church.  At a dinner the church put on they took 17 plates of food home with them.  At Christmas they take as many treat bags as they can garner. 
   And now the lady is asking for food again.  She hasn't been to church is several months because no one wants to give her a ride.  I am one of the first to step up if there is a fellow congregant  in need. 
Ever now and then we all get into a situation we need help.  A few years ago my wife had a brain aneurysm so the church brought us a chicken dinner that was enough for four meals for each of us.  Families get sick, suffer fires, auto accidents, lose jobs, and suffer losses that leaves them needing a little help getting by.  I am eager to help. 
   Where I draw the line is when I am expected to provide for some ones upkeep.  I pay taxes and give to charities for that.  My family budget doesn't provide for supplementing someone else upkeep.  Am I wrong?
  

No Drone Fly Zone

No flex drone! They knooooow better! (Thinkstock)

As anti-drone sentiment spreads, a new organization has risen to help individuals secure the blue skies above their properties. 

NoFlyZone.org lets you register your address online, letting drone manufacturers and fliers know that their machines are not welcome near your business or home, according to a report from TechCrunch,

Asheboro HUB

Former Courier-tribune editor Ray Criscoe has begun his own publication called the Asheboro HUB.  the first issue was released today and it's free, so far.  I suppose he is hoping to sell enough ads to cover printing costs and leave a little left over to support himself and his family.  I wish him well.

Ryder plays fetch

It doesn't seem like such a big deal that a pet would play fetch except that Ryder is a cat.  She is a tortoiseshell cat no one wanted but she is my baby.  She has a little blue mouse and a green mouse she prefers.  We have other colors but she all but ignores them..  She carries the mice between my room and my wife's room trying to get us to play fetch with her.  It isn't something we taught her but something she taught us to play. 
    She wants to play every day and often several times a day and she will play until either she is exhausted or our other cat Smokey has her attention drawn to the mouse.  For some reason Ryder always defers to Smokey yet they are about the same age and Ryder is the heavier of the two cats (although Smokey looks bigger because of her extra long coat). 
   Ryder always likes to be near someone.  In fact she is sitting on the back of my chair as I write.  She loves to be petted but don't even think about picking her up.  I did post a video on you tube but I have idea how to access it. 
 

ISIS beheadings

Another type of crime has been in the news lately and that is the beheadings and killings of hostages by the militant group known as ISIS.  Beheadings were shocking enough but it seems that with the burning of the Jordanian pilot, ISIS has sunk to the level of the Catholic Church. 

Trouble comes in three's

     When I was growing up people were fond of saying "Troubles come in three's" and it did seem like there were a bit of truth behind that statement.  Now it seems we would be fortunate if we could limit troubles to only three. 
    Work places shootings, shootings at school, and murder and murder-suicides at home seem to dominate the news in bunches.  Yesterday it was a family of four and today it was a mother and her 10 year old daughter.  It seems like an almost daily occurrence here recently.  I wonder if stories like this motivate others to commit similar act of violence.  Not copy cat killings per se but an encouragement to act on ones demented passions.
   I always wonder why the killer ends his rampage by taking their own life.  Is it a mistaken attempt to escape  blame or punishment or embarrassment for their irrational acts of violence?  Unfortunately we can't ask why because the killer is dead.  Sometimes though, the perpetrator fails to kill themselves and if pressed to give a reason for their actions they just say they don't know why.  Even they don't understand their own motivations behind their despicable actions.   But I'm like the vast majority of people, both bad and good that just wish these tragedies never occurred and that the rash of them will stop at the latest one. 
   
 

Check engine light in on again.

A few weeks back when it was nice, warm and sunny outside I washed by van.  Under the hood was covered in willow oak leaves so I made the mistake of washing them away.  Later when I went to drive the van it wasn't wanting to act right.  The check engine light came on so I took it to the shop but they found nothing wrong.  About three days after getting the van back the check engine light came on again and my mechanic still could find nothing wrong.  today coming back home from Hickory I was halfway to Randleman from Archdale when the check engine light came on again. 
   It is either a reaction to a fill-up in Thomasville  or there is something wrong under the hood. 
The first test showed a possible fouled plug in cylinder number six but it wasn't conclusive.  The second test showed absolutely nothing.  It did seem that sometimes when I needed to accelerate the engine wanted to bog down a bit.  It seemed that if I let off of the gas pedal and then accelerate the engine would pick up speed.  The van seemed as if it ran a little rougher at times.  maybe I do have some fouled plugs. 
   I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

Cold lingers on.

On January 28th I reported the signs of my first cold.  I started with zi-cam as always.  This cold was a little different as most often my cold starts in my head then goes to my chest but this on started in my chest.   I never did develop a full blown chest cold.  it moved into my sinuses and after a few days I developed the hacking cough.  I started sucking on cough drops  and then I purchased some nasal spray.  Monday was the only day I ran a slight fever.  today was the best I've felt in awhile.  Mostly I've stayed home and inside but today I ventured out for a road trip to see Mom.  I was a little stuffy when I got home but a cough drop and a squirt of nasal spray cleared me right up.  I think I have this cold whooped now. 

I'm not understanding it

    I love my savior and I love reading and studying the bible and I love teaching.  What I don't understand is how people you don't study scriptures and ignore the circumstances around when and why a particular scripture was written, believe what they have been told and will attempt to destroy a man's ministry or break a church apart while refusing to view any evidence that might show that just maybe they didn't understand the scripture correctly. 
    Why are some people who are so ready to claim their love for Christ are so ready to condemn their fellow brother in Christ.  I am beginning to understand why people who quit going to church refuse to come back.  Christians can be so cruel to each other.  They will nod in agreement that they fully understand how to handle conflict as Christ has taught us yet they act as though their feeling and their ideas are so superior to other people that they can't possible be wrong and Christ's way is good enough for other but my indignation is to pure to be handled God's way. 
   I'm just not understanding this at all. 

How long to use a razor blade?

    It seems there have been attacks on the multi blade shavers of today. Oh, they are good but they are expensive.  For some reason disposables leave me bloodied and red so I only use them in cases of extreme emergency.  Because of the expense of the blades and, the irritation of my skin I tend not to shave everyday.  Now that I'm retired I could shave every other day.  When I worked I had to shave 5 days during the week and if I worked 3 or more days in a row my skin would be almost raw from the irritation. 
     I'm not about to go back to using the old style double edge blade.  One had to keep a stock of septic sticks and band aids handy when using those things.  I liked the Atra razor but there are no blades for them any more. 
    With the multi blade razors I could get about 10 shaves from one.  That was a pricy shave but with my coarse beard I dared not push it beyond that.  Then I discovered baby oil.  Go to the dollar tree.  don't look where the baby stuff is.  In my local store if you go to the register then turn right and walk all the way to the back of the store  one can pick up a ten oz. bottle for $1.00.  In the baby section the 6.5 oz is sold.  Walmart sells a 2 oz bottle for over $2.00.  Anyway, after your morning shave put a couple drops of baby oil on your blades, back and front.  Doing that I've stretched my comfortable shaves to 4 weeks. 
     In Oct 2014 the nearest K-mart closed in doors and I purchased a cheap electric shaver, battery operated for half price.  it doesn't give a really good shave but using it is better than not shaving at all.  Now I shave with a razor on Wednesdays and Sundays every week (for church).  I shave with the razor every other Tuesday (for church visitation days) and on any other day when looking ones best is required.  I use my electric shaver   one the other days.  It works out to be about half and half, electric vs. manual shaving.  What I have found though is that if I use the electric shaver first then my manual shaver later and continuing to us the baby oil I can use my razor blade for a much longer period of time.  it fact I just installed the first new blade since I purchased my electric shaver.  That is 5 1/2 months on one blade.    
   Now shaving isn't expensive any more. 

My two cents worth on the Super Bowl

     I haven't watched a football game in several years now and it's been 5 or 6 since I've seen a Super Bowl game.  Even so I know the score and who won and how the game ended.  The coach was thinking that the opponents were expecting a run so a pass might have a higher than average chance of working.  If it had he would be called gutsy and brilliant.  The play didn't work  and the play is being heralded as one of the worst decisions in history of professional football.  That is a little harsh but some decision has to be the worst one and this decision certainly has some qualifications.  At first I thought it might have been just sour grapes over a favored team losing but then I remembered a game I played in as a youngster.
    The team I was playing for was a few points behind and the ball was about a foot or less from the goal line and we had a first down.  The game was almost over.  I was playing a position I don't believe exists anymore.  It was called right half back then.  I was supposed to take the handoff.  The right end was supposed to drive his man to the right and the tackle was supposed to drive his man to the left and I was supposed to drive my way through the hole.  The only problem with the plan was the tackle on defense was a monster,  He was not only big but he was tall and he moved really quick.   I got back to the line of scrimmage and that was it.
   We called the same plan and had the same results.  We tried it the third time and I ended up in the same spot.  The quarterback was frustrated.  No one knew what to do.  It was a fact that if I couldn't get the ball across the goal line no one on our time could.  The decision was made to call a different plan but I said "no".  All three times we ran the play we had the exact same results.  I had memorized everyone's reactions.  "Let's run it again," I begged, "I saw something and I know I can score."  My plea prevailed.  I took the snap and the linemen made contact with their men just as before.  The hole opened up just as it had in the previous three plays.  As played I cut to my right to drive through the hole and just as it has previously the hole began to close.  Their big man was about to do to me what he had done three times before. 
  Immediately after I had cut to my right I made a quick turn to my left, jumped over my   lineman into the space vacated by their big man.  We won.
   The point of this story is not that I was the team hero that day but that when the game is on the line the best play is to do what you do best and use your weakness to your advantage. 
      

    

Controversy and stubborness

       If I told you a lie but it sounded so good you believed it and repeated it for years and years, even though it could destroy the careers of many a good man and prevent the careers of countless others, why would you continue to believe that lie after being presented with the truth?  Well, it seems many people do that very thing. 
    It's such a simple little lie.  I Timothy 3: 2 sates "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach. 
    No, the whole verse isn't a lie and the verse means what it says and says what it means.  The lie comes in the interpretation thereof, i.e.,   "the husband of one wife".   The hurt comes when a preacher is fired from his job because his wife dies, or  a man is denied a pastorialship because   he once was married or he had remarried.  "Oh, the bible says a man can only be married once" people claim.   Some even interpret the verse to mean that a man must be married in order to be a preacher. 
   I know of a man that started a bible study in his home and soon had to move to a building.  The building had to be enlarged 5 times and even at it's largest people were standing outside looking in the windows to hear this man preach.  yet, after twenty years of preaching, when the man's wife died, the deacons came to him and asked for his resignation.  Oh my, the devil sure is a sly one, isn't he. 
   Please, please, read the verse.  It plainly says the husband of one wife.  The verse says absolutely nothing about marriages.  It does not say a man can only be married once, it says must be the husband of one wife.  It does not say a man must be married, it says the husband of one wife.  Please do not substitute the word marriage for one wife.  They may seem the same but there is a vast difference. 
    Everyone has said something sometime that was exactly what they wanted to say yet the hearer of the r words took it the wrong way.  One has to be careful to fully understand why the speaker uttered the words that he did. If we could go back to the time that Paul penned those words "the husband of one wife" and ask him exactly what he meant he would quickly tell you the truth, making it clear so as to there being no misunderstanding. 
    In the days that Paul wrote this letter to Timothy polygamy was a common practice in Israel.  it was legal for women as it was for men.  For a woman who had two husbands, if one husband objected to the other, the woman had to divorce both men and was forbidden to have a relationship with either ever again.  If a man had two wives and one objected then the man did not have to divorce either one of them but even if he divorced one she was forbidden to remarry.  Polygamy, even though legal, was not socially acceptable like it is among certain segments of the Mormon Church.   
   Paul was only cautioning Timothy to not ordain a man who had multiple wives.  His statement had nothing to do with marriages but the number of women a man could be married too at the same time. 
   If people could understand that then many a good man  who has been cast aside would still be proclaiming the gospel and  leading churches.  Many a young man who has not married would be allowed to follow God and preach God's word. 
     But alas, some will reject the truth and still insist that the verse says that a man cannot be divorced or cannot have a wife that died and cannot be single and stand in the pulpit, even though the verse never mentions marriages at all. 

Gospel Singing

Feb 8, 2015 will see the return of "Mountain Joy" to Randleman for their annual appearance.  They will be at One Way Baptist Church on Sunset on Sunday, Feb 8, 2015 and their appearance begins at 10:45 am.  We have double the seating as we did last year but one should be sure to get there early.  Admission is free.  Lucky you.    
     Sunset is either a street or a Road, depending on whether one turns from Main Street or from Stout street in case you are wondering why I didn't included it in the address. 

Crumley-Roberts ad

The lady said her husband had no memory of an accident he was in yet he says the first think he thought of when he awoke in the hospital was hiring Crumley-Roberts.  Exactly why would he do that.  I would think his first thoughts would be on why am I in the hospital, how long am I going to be here, and exactly what happened to me. 
   I think the ad is stupid and is a good reason not to hire Crumley-Roberts for anything.  They have demonstrated a tendency for faulty reasoning and I want a better law firm than that.   

1st Cold

      Sunday night a familiar feeling was present in my chest one that foretold of an impending cold.  I seldom get sick.  I think it was 1978 that I missed my first and only day of work because of illness.  I took my first job at 11 and retired when I was 64 so I figure that's pretty good; one day in 53 years.  I did have a serious bout with the flu when I was an eight grader which resulted in the only time I was ever absent from school.  Once, in 1983, I had another bout of flu but I was on vacation when I got sick. 
   It may seems like a charmed life  but in 1970 I had appendicitis and in 2012 my blood sugar spiked to an avg. daily reading of well over 400 and a A1C of 14.  Insulin quickly brought that under control.  In todays world neither one of these illnesses are considered life threating but had I been born in the early 1900's an appendectomy would have been considered major surgery  and a few years before that would have most certainly been fatal.  It hasn't been that long since an A1C of 14 would have been deadly too. 
   I think of it often; how I could have been dead at twenty one.  I suppose it's no big deal considering all my other close calls with death.  One, like the time I hit a bridge column at 92 miles an hour or the time a drunk slammed into me head  on.   Then there is the time I was robbed by 4 guys at knife point and once where an ex-friend of mine pulled the trigger on a 357 magnum aimed at me.  She was only 3 or 4 feet away and she missed all three times. 
    I may have been luck and it may have been divine intervention.  And these incidents I've described have not been the only times my life has been in danger.   Twice people have set out to kill me.  Once, in Texas a young man mistook me for someone he hated and relished his opportunity to kill.  Another time a man  Burlington a man brandished a gun threatening to kill me because I didn't get the door to my store unlock fast enough to suit him. 
   Considering what I have survived, a little cold is nothing to worry about.  I just start popping Zi-cam  and sucking on cough drops and usually in a few days I'm fit as a fiddle.  Obviously I would rather not get a cold but even I can't be that fortunate. 

What to do in retirement: to RV or not to RV

        When I was in the military I met a guy named David S.  We became friends mainly because we were both defiant people and both of us married girls from the Philippines.  My wife and I never talked about him without mentioning his wife nor would we talk about her without mentioning him.  It was as if each had the same name, David and Ramy.  They seemed so happy.  That's why it came as a huge shock to learn of their divorce.
    I suppose the divorce had a big influence on Dave and my relationship as we never saw each other but once after they separated and last touch after their divorce was final.  That is why it was a big shocker when about eight years ago I heard from Dave and he had not only remarried but had already retired.  He was just in his fifties and he had married an attractive blonde.  Dave and his new wife, Chris, were living it up visiting beaches up and down the eastern seaboard and even a few in other countries.  After a few years of that the to of them purchased an RV and began living this way during the spring, summer and fall, only returning home in the dead of winter.  This year they have ventured out and are  RVing full time.  We keep in touch via Facebook and are regularly updated with pictures of campsites, menus of places they eat and stories of people they have meet.  Seems like the perfect carefree life. 
    I suppose, for them, it is.  Dave and Chris had spent their lives living in one city and working for the same manufacturer raising their respective families in a seemingly humdrum world.  I spent my life working at various jobs and lived in different places.  Dave;s life was stable and mine was in constant turmoil.  When he retired he was ready for some adventure.  When I retired I was ready for some stability. 
   I remarried after my wife passed away and we settled in a small town, purchased a modest home and have dedicated our lives to serving God at a small local church.  I give aid to my Mom and did so to my wife's mother when she was still living.  I spend many hours working at the church. I believe there is more yard work to be done in the winter what with clearing some land.  That's about to come to an end which is okay with me.   I think it about time I switch gears and concentrate on something beside the physical.  I do as I also teach and write for the newspaper.
     I love my stability and the fact I can have friends  and belong to things and feel like my life has a purpose.  While Rving seems glamorous and I do feel a ting of jealousy now and then, especially over the pictures of my friends sitting around a campfire with good food and new friends.  Then i noticed someone wearing a light jacket and think it must be a little cool and I see the Tiki torch
and think of the bugs and mosquitoes   and then I realize that soon my friends must clean up, pack up and move on, spending countless hours on the move to a new campsite.  Maybe the next one will not be so nice. 
    There is just as much work involved in maintaining an RV lifestyle as there is in maintaining a 'home.  I can do a lot more to entertain myself than I do.  I can fish more and take more day trips.  It's nice to have a choice of how to spend ones day.  My uncle compromised.  He worked for his church as a Deacon just as I do, had his home, wife, family and garden, and yet he had his RV and spend many an hour in the mountains or by a lake doing what he loved best:  sharing time with his wife and fishing.     One can have it all I suppose. 
      One doesn't have to choose to RV or not.  There are many more choices out there than that.  The point is that in retirement one can spent time doing what one loves to do.  it is said one gets out of life what one puts into it and that is never more true than in retirement.  

Keeping up Appearances

      I'm really not interested in keeping up appearances: that phrase just seemed like a nice line for a title. 
     Sometimes life can seem difficult and discouraging and it feels like one is just going through the motions or, as the title suggest, just keeping up the appearance of being interested in what is happening outside one's little world.   
     As far as myself, most things are fine but it does get somewhat frustrating when it seems all my efforts are for nothing.  No, I'm not talking about my marriage as it really couldn't be better.  Things are fine around the house.  My neighbor purchased the property beside me and had it surveyed so for the first time I know exactly where my boundaries are and I am pleased with that.  I've been spending some time working in the yard getting my lawn ready for the sowing of seed this spring.  It has been a hard struggle getting this  rocky red clay in such a shape to grow something besides weeds. Everything is fine at church;  the services are great, and we have finally got a visitation program that is working.  No, my frustrations lie elsewhere.
    It is the hard hearts of the community and the lack of honesty on people's part.  If I invite you to church and you would rather not go I would much rather you tell me so than to lie to me.  I will appreciate your honestly much more than I will your lie. 
  

Malarkey admits malarky

     Tyndale House, publishers of the book "A boy who came from heaven" has finally pulled the book from publication.  The co-author Alex Malarkey, has admitted that he never went to heaven. 
   The book should never have been published as anything but fiction to begin with.  Only three men in the history of the world have ever returned to earth from heaven and those were Jesus, Elijah, and Moses.  The returning of Moses and Elijah is recorded in the book of Matthew in the 17th chapter. 
   There are many people out there that reject the bible as the inspired word of God and in fact there are many who reject God and even some that reject the idea of God.  They think that believers live in a fantasy world and yet they are ready to accept evolution and the big bang theory.  Talk about a leap of faith. 
   Let's start with the scientific law that nothing can be created from nothing. Now scientist acknowledge it is a fact if nothing ever existed then nothing ever could.  Yet these same men would have you believe that everything is existence came into being is a fraction of a second due to some impossible to exist gravitational force.  But then they backtrack and claim all life evolved  from a single cell creature.  Now as I understand the theory of evolution, evolving comes about by a creature adapting, or changing to better survive in its environment. 
   Now if every living creature was a single cell animal and it could reproduce itself then it would have had no enemies and would never be turned down for sex then why did it need to evolve?  And if it evolved then why are there still single cell animals?  if man evolved from an ape, then why can't man swing from trees and why isn't he born covered in fur and with a long tail?  Apes are stronger and more athletic than humans and are born protected against the elements.  man was born with a brain instead so he could gather wood and eventually discover alternate fuel sources  to heat the structures he had to build because he was born without fur.  Seems a step backwards to me.
    Yes, I'm a Christian.  I can understand why non-believers feel they are correct in rejecting God.  They can't see Him, feel Him, or notice any evidence of His existence.  Creation once pointed to the existence of God but now man believes creation is now evidence that God does not exist.  How sad. 
One thing I  do know from experience is that if one is a believer then God will interact with you and the more he interacts with you the stronger your faith becomes and the stronger ones faith the better the relationship. 
   In any case, any reputable publisher should have known that anything contrary to God is not of god and therefore is not true.  Maybe the book should have been published but published as fiction only. 

Read This and Die

No,not you, me.  Over the years I've read about publishers and writers and artists who have been threatened with death for commenting on Islam and/or publishing/drawing a picture of Mohammed.  I've always wondered how Muslims know if a published image is Mohammed if images of him are not allowed.  I guess if the artist says it's Mohammed, the Muslims can then get upset. 
    This reminds me of the Muslim woman who said it makes her so mad when westerners say Muslims are not a peaceful people she just wants to slap them.  Yup, nothings shows that you are a peaceful person more than an angry slap.  You go girl.
     Three people dressed up like Ninja Muslims and attacked a newspaper in France, killing 12 people because someone there published a picture of Mohammed.  That seems about right since Mohammed was a war mongering pedophile who got  a bunch of losers to swallow his propaganda because what he taught was as close to the truth as he could get it and still be a total lie.  It was good as long as it wasn't Jewish.
    Islamists act like a bunch of immature brats who want to hurt people who disagree with them.  Seems silly but they believe it's okay to be a terrorist as long as it's in the name of peace.    

Did they hear the same thing I did?

Did they hear the same thing I did?  Last Sunday night our pastor delivered a message on the sincere milk of the word and Paul's desire that Christians mature to he could teach them deeper things.  The basic tenants of Christianity are simple.  Because of our inherit sin nature we are separated from God. We all must die a physical death just as we all were born with a physical body.  When this body dies we will receive an eternal body and either be reunited with God or eternally separated from Him.  Spiritual death is the consequence of sin but we do not have to suffer that death also.  Christ died upon the cross as a substitute for us so that we may be reunited with God. 
    That experience is called the second birth and all our sins are forgiven.  We then become sons of God and are expected to live a life pleasing to Christ and God the Father and to yield our decisions to the Spirit of God that indwells us. 
   The problem is we still live in this sinful wicked world in our body of flesh and have to deal with our shortcomings and  the wiles of Satan.  We can withstand his temptations and live a life as sweet and holy as that lived by Christ but only if we grow up, or mature.  We need to pray constantly, yield or thoughts and decisions to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, study God's word and apply it's teachings to our life. 
   No one is born a mature Christian.  Christianity is not a set of rules to follow or rituals to preform nor is it setting ourselves above the rest of the world as somehow better than others.  That is a deception of Satan.  Just as physically we start out as helpless babies we do the same as new Christians.  We have to develop spiritually and the relationship between us and God had to be nurtured. 
   Just as some humans always seem to make bad decisions, have a hot temper, and have not been able to develop relationships with others, some Christians never seem to mature.  Christ teaches us how to handle conflict with each other, how to deal with our enemies, and how to have a mature relationship with him.  Yet some people just never seems to get beyond being a child.
   Often times  our pastor will allow congregants to sing before the service but not always.   Sunday night was one of those rare nights that we went straight into the preaching and apparently one lady was wanting to sing.  "Well", she said, "if the preacher won't let me sing I'll just quit the choir." 
If that wasn't bad enough another member heard what she said.  I don't know if she spoke to him or was just overheard by him but he just couldn't wait to get to the preacher to tell him what she had said. 
   So what we have heard is a lady acting negatively to an event and another person gossiping about it.   To be honest the lady can't sing a lick but that isn't the point.  She does what she does because it is a way to praise and honor God.  She also knows many kids songs and loves to work with the juveniles by teaching them these little choruses.  Even so, it is immature to get upset because "I" didn't get to do what "I" wanted to do. 
   The man who heard her sentiment should have prayed for the lady  asking God to help her with her understanding.  If he was to say anything to anyone he should have spoken to her and corrected her attitude.  That's why I wonder if they heard the same sermon as I did.

Jodi Aries testimony postponed

   It was announced today that lawyers wanted to interview witnesses so the sentencing phase of convicted murder Jodi Aries has been postponed once again.  I suppose she has drawn so much exposure on TV and other new media because she is rather attractive.  Once doesn't normally expected an attractive women to kill a boyfriend. 
   When I was a working stiff I was employed by a national chain in Burlington, NC and I was sent an employee of a yet to be opened store to train.  She was what one might describe as drop-dead gorgeous.  Another employee kept telling me she looked familiar but he couldn't remember where he knew her from.  After a couple of weeks he remembered.  He had not meet her but remembered that her picture was in the newspaper.  She had been arrested and charged with the murder of her husband.  As usual in such cases she had a boyfriend and it seemed much easier just to shoot her husband in the back of the head than to go through a divorce.   But such wasn't the case with Jodi Aries.
    I  don't think this guy and her were together anymore and I don't recall if they were ever live in lovers but in any case there really doesn't seem Miss Aries had anything to gain from his death.  What was most shocking for me wasn't that pretty women kill because I know they do or that she killed for no apparent reason because they do that too.  No, the most shocking thing was her preposterous lies.  I think she thought they sounded so good that she had to be believed, especially since she was so pretty. If you thought that women would was acquitted in the death of her little daughter  was a lousy liar, and she was,  you would be correct but she was a sweet innocent compared to the whoppers Jodi Aries has come up with.  It is unconceivable that anyone could tell such stories as she has and really expect to be believed. 
   Maybe she didn't.  Maybe she just wanted to cast down on her guilt.  Now that she has been convicted the decision has to be made between life or death.  She is claiming that "she has so much to offer" because she is so smart that she could really help the other prisoners build a life for themselves when they are released.  I'm not saying she should be given the death penalty but if she is given life instead I sure hope it isn't because anyone really believes she wants to help others build a productive life.  No, the only thing she is trying to do is save her own neck.  I can't blame her for that except being a liar got her in the predicament she's in now and more lies shouldn't get her out. 
  

Think of the bible as a well.

Think of the bible as a well.  Some people feel they have done well by reading some scripture and others think they have done well also when they learn some scripture but the bible is only the well.  The words therein is the water which quenches our thirst.

Watchnight Service

While many spend will spend the last day of the year at a New Year's Eve party awaiting the coming of the New Year, I will be at a watchnight service with my Christian brotherns and sisters awaiting the return of Christ.  Do I believe he will come at midnight?  The odds are stacked against it but as each day goes by we are one day closer to His coming to get his church.  The watchnight service is just a way to remind ourselves the importance of waiting and watching for His promised return.

  There will be a guest preacher, Time Pope, our pastor, Charles Garrett, and several other preachers there would will deliver messages. 
   I wish all of you could be there.

Wheelchair delivered

You are built for jail

    I don't know exactly what that means except it has to do with race relations and black men going to jail because they are black.  From what I have experienced over my lifetime is that our parents didn't teach us to be prejudice.  That is something we are born unto as a survival instinct.  We have to be taught not to judge people except by who they really are.  At school we call it bullying  because you pick on the kid that is different.  No ones parents taught them to pick on the fat kid, or the skinny kid, or the tall child, or the ugly child, or the child that is different from you.  We have all done this at least once in our lives even if we want to deny it.  Sometimes bullying goes to far and we have to step up to make things right. 
    I remember the first time I took a school bus to a city school.  I was just starting the 10th grade and with the exception of a lady that was hired to take care of my brothers and I for a couple of weeks when I was thirteen I had never seen a black person.  I do remember the lady and I was fascinated by her.  Not because she was black but because she was beautiful and told such sad stories. 
   Anyway, on my first day we passed the black neighborhood and there were several black children walking on the sidewalk and another kid yelled "hey chocolate drop".  I asked him why he did that and he said because they were white on the inside and black on the outside, just like the candy chocolate drop.  Well the next day I yelled out the window too but a couple of the children looked up at our school bus and I saw the look of hurt in their eyes.  That made me feel really bad and I thought about those stories Geneva told me and I understood. 
   I went away to college and when I came back I went to the Community Center hoping to see some of my friends only to discover it was now a private club.  A young kid was sitting on the wall along the walkway and looked so sad and I asked him what was wrong.  He said he had hoped to join the community center but all the memberships had been sold. 
   I went up to the people checking membership passes and asked if it was okay if I just went in for a minute or two to see if any of my friends were there.  They told me no but I could buy a membership and go in for as long as I liked.  I remarked that I thought they didn't have any left.  At lest, I said, that's what I was just told.  Oh, you mean that young kid over there.  Yea, we sale memberships to keep his kind out.  I said, oh, okay and purchased a year membership.  I then walked back to the kid and handed him my membership card and told him he was now a member. 
   I don't know what ever happened to him but I know what happened to me. 
   To be perfectly honest, I'm like most folks and I am cautions  around people different that I am.  I don't like rap music nor any music that anyone plays too loud.  I will ask you to turn it down.  I don't like saggy pants, body jewelry, tattoos, foul language, people who use illegal drugs, liars, thieves,
people who pretend to be something they are not and snobby folks.  I like people who are clean, nicely dressed, and genuine. 
    You can be anyone you choose to be.  It's none of my business but it is my business who I let into my world and who I choose to let in.  A lot of folks don't like me because I'm   conservative and I'm not charming.  I'm not ugly but I'm not pretty either.  I'm just about as average as a man can get in most aspects of my life.  I prefer you go live your life and let me live mine. 
  Of course being white it is easier to sum up another white person.  I don't judge whether  they are a good person or not but only if I would consider letting them be part of my world.  There is no circumstance under which I would deny any one respect even if I determine you are not they type of person I want to be friends with.  yea, you are right.  There are plenty of people with tattoos  who were saggy britches and body jewelry who are perfectly nice, descent people who are as honest as the day is long.  Never said there wasn't.  I can't be friends with everyone.  Neither can you. 
     I don't like someone just because they are white anymore than I would dislike someone because they aren't.  that would not only make me a racist but I would also be a bully. 

I wished my brothers a merry Christmas

My older brother had no idea where is mother is.  My younger brother actually called my nephews wife and asked her advice about what to do with Mom but never spoke to me about it   and I had been her care giver for the past sixteen years and her son.  Oh, he didn't wish me a merry Christmas either.
     I know mom has a point when she justifies the youngest for taking her home after he promised to care for her.  She says it isn't any fault of his because the bible says a man must leave his parents and cleave to his wife.  That may be true but it doesn't excuse a man from making poor decisions, reneging on promises, ignoring his brother, and acting like a first class jerk. 
   First of all he should not have left the care od his mother to his wife.  Secondly, he should have been aware of his wife's growing resentment of having to take care of his mother and taken steps to ease her burden.    Third, when it became obvious that things were no going to work out he should have been more forth coming with information about the arrangements to bring her home so a plan of action could have been put into place for her care.  Instead he just dumped her off at her house with no telephone, and no groceries and no one knowing exactly when he was bring her and hat he planned on doing or not doing. 
    He (or his wife, I don't know but the e-mail was issued in his name) it simple read 'Do you know Mom's telephone number?"
   Really?  No, how is Mom doing.  Did she receive comfort from her hurt feelings and broken heart?  Was anyone able to come by and bring her some food?  No hoping she didn't fall and hurt herself with no way to call paramedics for help.  Did   she have any money to pay for anything she might need before family and friends could arrive to care for her since her youngest spend all her money and had control of all her accounts?   
     I figured if Mom wanted to talk to him or her eldest she could call them.  But if she didn't it wasn't up to me to allow them to contact her.  it was their need of privacy they threw her out to begin with so I wasn't going to be party to them invading hers. 
    Mom told me not to be mad at him for what his wife did.  I told Mom I wasn't mad at him but I did have enough sense not to allow him to continue to play his hurtful games with us.  No, I actually wished both my brothers a merry Christmas. 

Surviving retirement

  Yeah, I'm one of those who rely on Social Security for the majority of my income  and my house isn't paid for.  No, I don't work.  But so far retirement has been a pleasure even though I can't take those extended vacations.  Sometimes I feel envious of my friend Dave and his wife Chris.  They have traveled up and down the east coast for 10 years now living in their RV and making friends and seeing many places.  But to be honest I'm satisfied with my life. 
   Boredom is not a problem by any means and so far each year has been different.  Actually my house payment is cheaper than the little duplex I was renting a few years back so making the payments isn't a serious burden.  The first few years after I purchased my house I busied myself in landscaping and gardening and the last four years I have worked at the church clearing land, mowing and doing what needed to be done around the church.  For two years I took care of Mom, doing her lawn, repairing her house and doing her shopping as well as helping take my mother-in-law to her doctor appointments.  For sure those activities kept me busy. 
    Well my wife's mom passed away earlier this year and there isn't much landscaping to be done here anymore:  it's just a matter of maintaining.  There is still plenty to do around the church and my mom needs a little more care now than she had.  My wife and I are both veterans so we get good care through the VA. 
  So far I am doing  what I want to do and even though I am one of those living near poverty I still give about 15% of my income away (sometimes a little more and sometimes a little less).  I can say that I am happy, healthy, and satisfied with how my life is going.   

Pennsylvania police find head on rural road, seeking body to match

Her mother always said she'd lose her head if it was tied on.  I guess the knot came lose.

It's time to stop

I know police are not popular today and seemed to be actually hated by many people.  I realize that there are some policemen out there that tarnish the badge and act as if they are above the law. 
Often times we break the law and when we get caught we get mad at the police officer who caught us.  Most often our dealings with the police are not beneficial to us as seldom do they have reason to deal with honest people.  And yes, they make mistakes and sometimes people die because of those mistakes.  Some times it's the bad guy that is killed but some times it's an innocent person who suffers. 
  There is no amount of reasoning that can make a bad cop behave correctly just as there is no reasoning with bad people to obey the law and act nice.  But because one officer acted in a way we think was wrong has seemed to motivate people to boldly attack and kill police officers with no justification.  if those that hate officers would really stop and think what life would be like without them then they wouldn't like the new reality.  I firmly believe that if ever person was law abiding and there were no speeders or thieves or burglars, or murderers, or arsonists, or crooks, or insider traders nor any other kind of mischief maker we would still need a police force. 
   Why I believe this is simple.  There will always be situations occur when we need someone of authority to take control of it.  Sometimes there will be large gatherings of people and there is a need of someone to take control to come to the aid of a person suddenly stricken  with an illness.  A traffic light quit working and no one knows who should proceed.  A sporting event is over and everyone is leaving in their vehicles at the same time.  A sudden storm comes up and people don't know where to go for aid, cover, or shelter. 
  If we all did what we were supposed to do then there would be no police to misbehave.  I think it is time we stop hating all police because when all is said and done they are more necessary than we really care to admit. 

Elderly Abuse

Mom has been back at home for 12 days now.  For those that haven't read my previous posts the story to date is this:  Mom is 89, legally blind, and almost deaf and she has bladder control issues.  It became obvious back in October that she wasn't capable of taking care of herself so I notified by two brothers.  My older brother has financial power of attorney and my younger brother has financial and medical.  I just take care of her as best as I can  from 110 miles away.  I call almost everyday and go take care of her at least once a month.  I buy her groceries, do her yard work, and do maintenance on her home and run errands for her.  My older brother has her two or three times a year and my younger brother calls her weekly but only chats for a few minutes.  I talk to her as long as she needs me too. 
   Its been sixteen years since dad died and about four years since the state took Mom's driving privileges  away.  Her only living brother passed away a few months ago.  Mom and Junior were close and his death was very hard on Mom. 
  Anyway my younger brother, the spoiled rich kid, swooped in to save the day.  He wanted the three sons to split the cost of an assistant living facility but my share would have been from $100.00 to $300.00 more per month than I make and my older brother didn't want to help at all.  Without any discussion my younger brother made the decision to move Mom to Ga. to live with him so he came, packed a few items for her and took her away. 
    His daily routine was to say hello in the morning and kiss her good night each evening and on occasion invite her to sup with the family but the majority of her time was spent in her room by herself.  My brother and his wife each had their cellphones and shared the landline with Mom.  The wife became Mom's caregiver which my brother took over all the others parts of her life.  His wife controlled what and when she ate.  The one thing she could not control was the number of friends Mom had and the fact they called her almost everyday. 
  As each day went by each phone call seemed to make my brother's wife madder and madder until one day she could take it no more.  She called her husband on the phone and told him to take the old lady back to Hickory   so he left work immediately, packed her up and took her home.  I received an e-mail stating that other arrangements had to be made for her care but no information on when she would arrive or what was to be done for her when he got her home.    He did cut the water back on for her and left her with a box of cereal and some milk.  He has yet to inquire about her well being and my older brother has shown no interest in her welfare either. 
   I did receive an e-mail yesterday asking if I knew her new phone number.  There was no inquiry as to how she was doing, no sympathy for her plight, nor concern about her whatsoever.  I did respond to the email informing them that I do not give out phone numbers belonging to other people.    I don't care if she is his mother, it should be her choice to talk with them or not.  She can call him if she wishes and give him her number.  She is deeply hurt by all that happened so how she handles things should be entirely up to her.
   My older brother is now a widower, makes $35.00 an hour and works 60 hours per week and lives in a two thousand square foot house.  He also draws social security.   My younger brother makes more money than I ever dared dream of making and could have made better decisions regarding her care.  I live on social security and have a disabled wife and a house that is probably smaller than my younger brothers living room but I would take her in if necessary.  It would be extremely hard on my wife with all her physical disabilities as well as the lingering effects of her brain aneurysm. 
  I am not as upset with my sister-in-law even though she is the one who kicked Mom out of her house.  My brother should never have stuck Moms care on her.  Mom didn't need to be held prisoner in a rich mans bedroom either.  What I had wanted to do was buy a place or rent a small apartment for Mom close enough to where I live so she could maintain her lifestyle yet close enough so I could give her daily care.  When I first proposed this to her my two brothers complained that I was just trying to manipulate Mom so I could get her to live me all her assets.   Even if that were true, which it wasn't, their involvement in Moms life would remain the same.  One could call her every three or four months and the other could continue making his five minute weekly call.  Both brother claim they have no interest in anything she owns anyway. 
   The only thing I care about is that my Mom is taken care of.  I have been there for her for sixteen years now and her will still divides things equally so I just don't believe if she lived closer to me it would make any difference in whom gets what.  If Mom ever changes her will it would be because of what they did or didn't do and would have nothing to do with me.  Frankly I hope she leaves the will as it is so maybe after Mom is gone then my two brothers can live their life happy Mom is gone and they don't have to ever see me again. 
   I know you are probably wondering why my brothers don't like me.  it's quite simple.  My older brothers first wife had five children while married to him and he was the father of the first one only.  he propositioned me one night and I turned her down so she got mad and told him I was the one who got her pregnant.  Any reasonable man could figure out that I wasn't even in this country when she conceived and it didn't matter anyway as I have medical proof that I am unable to father children. 
   My younger brother is a jerk and has always been a jerk.  When I was in the ninth grade members of the 7-8 grade basketball team came to me and said that my brother was a jerk and they wanted to kick his butt but out of respect for me they didn't.  I told them not to let that stop them.  Yea, I told my little brother but not for his safety but to protect my friends from getting into trouble because my brother was a jerk. 
   While he was a college professor I met one of his students and she admitted she disliked him  
intensely.  His first act as the new head of accounting at a big international company was to fire ever accountant that was under him because "they didn't know hat they were doing."  Really?   Everyone in the marching band was out of step but him.  Amazing.   
   He was an officer stationed in South Carolina and lived with his wife and was able to continue school and obtain his masters degree .while I pulled two tours of duty in Vietnam and 36 straight months of overseas duty with out a single day of leave yet he claimed I had the easier duty because enlisted me got to decide if they wanted to follow his orders or not.  He once told my father that the church he was pastor of was not good enough for him to attend.  Once he sat on Moms couch with his feet extended straight in front of him so that when Mom was unloading the car she had to step over his feet to get by.  he neither offered to help her nor to move his feet out of her way. 
   Once, as a Christmas present he gave me nothing while giving my wife and I a small display case about 5 inches high that had been reduced from $12.50 down to a buck seventy five.  The jerkiest thing he ever did was at Thanksgiving.  I had an idea that my parents myself and my two brothers would take turns hosting Thanksgiving.  I had it the first year and he the second.  Instead of just family he invited co-workers  and friends and he sat with them in the main dining room.  He sat my parents and my older brother in another room at a picnic table, and the children sat at a third table in what I suppose of the living room or family room.  My wife and I were seated my ourselves in a hallway.  Maybe he was offended because my wife was Oriental but that is no excuse to relegating my parents to a second rate table away from his friends and co-workers. 
    he always tried to blame me for us not being close.  When Mom's sister was alive my brother would drive her from Hickory to Burlington to see her.  On their way back home in would stop in Greensboro around two pm and call my house to see if they could stop by for a visit.  Seriously?  Almost everyone with a job is at work at 2 in the afternoon.  Even if one worked second shift one could hardly accept company that was as yet 45  minutes away from your home.  But he would always claim "I really wanted to see him."  Well gosh, if you really wanted to see me why didn't you call the day before and see when it would be convenient or better yet a week or so in advance so maybe I could take a day off from work? 
    That's what he did when he would come to Hickory on his biyearly visit when he wanted to get together with my other brother to play golf.  Me?  He had Mom call me at 7am and asked me if I wanted to join my brothers for breakfast.  Off course I live two hours away and they had already left home for the restaurant which they had forgotten to tell mom which one they were going to.  But he could always claim he really wanted to see me. 
  Yeah, he's a jerk.  Maybe I should have let the basketball team beat him up.  I couldn't then and I couldn't do that now.  But it is sweet to think aout.

Surprise Party was a real surprise

    I really didn't think I could pull it off.  After all having a surprise birthday party at the church for the pastor is no small feat because the more people that know the less chance one has to succeed.  I was fearful that someone would give it away at the last minute and that almost happened.  One of the little girls walked into the sanctuary carrying her present for the pastor but fortunately she was redirected to the fellowship hall without the preacher being the wiser. 
    I think the party came at the right moment because the preacher seemed a little down tonight and it was just the thing to cheer him up.  He was turning 60 and maybe that number was a little depressing.  As soon as the service was over I went to our out building and retrieved the wheel chair I had decorated with balloons while everyone else was whisked away into the fellowship hall.  I stepped back into the church and told the preacher I needed to see him outside.  He got a big kick out of the wheelchair and put on a little show for us.  I then asked hi to step into the fellowship hall which had been magically transformed.  There were two birthday cakes, one saying Happy and the other saying birthday.  I explained it took tow cakes because old peoples vision fades and we had to write real big so he could see. 
   We then gave him his presents, all gag gifts.  he received everdent, fixident, a denture brush, back ache pills, and other gifts related to growing old.  He received two pair of shorts, one red with white trim and the other green with bells on them.  Someone gave him a pocket watch which I explained by saying 'That's another timepiece the preacher can ignore ".  We then sang Happy birthday "really loud" to compensate for the reduced hearing people experience as they age.  I let the preacher cut his piece of cake then I sliced and served the rest of it. 
   It was a grand evening and the preacher was really surprised and it did cheer him up so. 
  I then cleaned up and helped take all the presents to the preacher vehicle, including the balloons and put away the wheelchair before locking up the church for the evening. 
   It was a special evening, not just the surprise birthday party but the service itself.  I have never been to a church where the members loved each other the way One Way Baptist does.  I believe we exhibit the kind of love for each other that would be pleasing to God. 

And the world shall wax worse and worse

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Taliban gunmen stormed a military-run school in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Tuesday, killing at least 84 people, officials said, in the worst attack to hit the country in over a year.

The overwhelming majority of the victims were students at the army public school, which has children and teenagers in grades 1-10.

Dump the old lady off

Wow!  It's hard to believe the nerve of some people but the world is full of jerks.
    My Mom is 89 years old, deft, and legally blind to the point of only being able to see fuzzy shapes.  In October he fell asleep while trying to fry a hamburger patty and set the fire alarm off.  She has little control of her bowels and suffers from various aliments.  A week after she set the alarm off she fell and sat in the floor for several hours until she could reach a phone.  She managed to get to the door but couldn't open it so the rescue squad had to break into her home. 
   My younger brother wanted to move her to Savannah, Ga. to stay with him so he packed her up and took her away on my birthday.  Well, that should have been a happy ending for all concerned but it wasn't.
  It seems by little brother decided to leave the care of his mother to his wife and daughter.  Mom is a difficult person to get along with.  She is as sweet as she can be but she likes to talk, like no stop, and she is fiercely independent and she is very particular about what she likes and what she doesn't and s.  she will tell her friends about things.  If one is sensitive, and most people are, then one is better off not getting involved with Mom.  She is as good as gold but she will grate on a person's nerves, telling the same stories over and over talking about peoples faults and shortcomings.  Her biggest fault is she doesn't like to admit she has made a mistake. 
  Even so, I think the situation she has found herself in is deplorable.  Her daughter-in-law found it hard to deal with Moms talking and her dirty diaper pail and her complaining about missing home and leaving her friends.  The last straw for her came when she overheard Mom complain to one of her friends (over the phone) that she had been left alone with no food in the house.  She was justified in her decision to become upset at Mom's behavior.  Old people can be hard to deal with and the job should not have been hers to begin with.
   Little brother, on the other hand, had delegated his responsibility to her and his reaction to his wife becoming upset was to pack his mother and her belongings and drop her back in Hickory.  There is no food in the house and no telephone.  No one knows she is there but  me and my older brother and he doesn't care.    The worse part of the deal is he gave no thought to working out a solution to the problem nor discussing a timeline with me.  She drive her home and dump her off. 
   To me, he's always been a jerk and I believe he still is. 
  

Church and Beer

      I  suppose most Americans drink beer.  I don't really know because I never asked them but if not beer, then some form of alcohol is consumed by most people.  I never saw the need to drink,  I have to admit in my younger days I tried in a few times because I thought it was the cool thing to do but for the most part in either made me sick or made me do really dumb things.  For me if I have to drink to have a good time I'd rather be a party pooper.  I see no need to alter reality.  It doesn't taste all that good,   it doesn't cause me to relax or unwind, I don't think it's cool and it can be dangerous.  Thanks but no thanks but I'd rather deal with this cruel and unpredictable world with all my faculties in their best working order. 
    There are some churches that not only tolerate the drinking of alcohol but actively participate by keeping a stockpile on hand for special events.  On the news this morning some church through a singing and beer party so they can take the church to the people.  I found it upsetting that a church would do this.  They may be a social organization but they are no church.  I doubt Jesus would find
a beer guzzling religious crowd suitable to consider as his bride.  Seriously, I doubt if most people would want to marry a drunk so I'm sure the Christ has higher standards than most people. 
   

he tugged on my heartstrings and landed in jail (or who robbed the church)

 Sunday, November 30, 2014 Randleman, NC

   Stephen L.  was late getting to church but he made it in time for the preacher to deliver his sermon; and what a sermon it was!  Stephen was so impressed he stayed around after the service to chat with the preacher.   He captured the pastors attention with his tales of his singing in church and his faithful attendance until his father died and sadly, Stephen blamed God.    He was so angry at God for taking his dad he found himself in trouble but after hearing the preachers sermon he decided it is time to quit being angry and start living right. 
    He went on to tell of his pitiful situation and of how he needed to find some help for his baby son.  He wasn't looking for a handout, he said, just to be connected to someone that could help him take care of his baby. 
   Well, that did the trick as far as the giant of a preacher with an equally big heart.  ignoring church guidelines he gave the young man some money from the church coffers plus an equal amount from his own pocket.  'I'll definitely be back tonight" the young man said as he gladly accepted the cash.
    Tuesday morning it was discovered someone had broken into the church.  Nothing was taken but the rear door will have to be replaced which is a big expense for a struggling small congregation to have to pay, especially this time of year with all the extra expenses for the holidays.    It was painfully obvious that the burglar was after the jug of cash he saw in front of the remembrance table that he mistakenly assumed was left during non service hours. 
   The young visitor on Sunday morning didn't come back Sunday night as he promised he would but it was equally obvious he did return on Monday night in search on the money jug.  a burglar with transportation would have taken the stereo equipment and  any thing else of value but this one took nothing.  Our visitor arrived to church and left on foot. 
   He recognized one of our members and thought greeting them would enhance his credibility but in the end it proved to be his undoing.  He provided false information on his visitor card but the member was able to discover his real address and phone number.  The police was able to gather enough information to place the man under arrest. 
    It seems the backwoods country church was neither as easy a target or as dumb as he anticipated we would be and neither as forgiving.  (let me clarify that by saying we hold no ill will towards Stephen but he did the crime so must do the time.)