Gems and Donuts

      I just spent a week in the throes of perpetual activity, thrust into my sedate and somewhat peaceful domain, by my ever so endearing daughter, her ever so cool husband, and their ever so endearing children. They are not the assorted donuts I’ve titled in this analect, but rather my assorted gems, and something truly to be treasured.

      I’m not going to promote the commonly ridiculous notion that they, the grandchildren, are my responsibility to spoil. They’re much too precious. They are much too precious. They are very much too precious! All of them, all ten of them, unique in personality, disposition, temperament, and beauty are worthy and deserving of our nurturing, care and shelter.

      I personally have done nothing to deserve this unmerited blessing from God.  My life, until recent years, has left nothing but a trail of crumbs from the insatiable sampling of every donut I could get my hands on. On the other hand, my grandchildren’s diet has been carefully and prayerfully provided by their parents. The first step my son-in-law took was in the selection of his life-long mate. They both agreed that their special donut should not be served until after dinner and never to be shared with anyone else. They rightly knew that the consumption or sampling of other donuts would create an insatiable appetite that would lead to a life of severe indigestion and complications. It is prudent at this juncture to point out, somewhat embarrassingly, that my understanding of this is, sadly enough, skewed. You see, of course, that I will never know or completely understand this because I didn’t wait to share this donut with the one God intended me to share it with. Once shared of course, you are on the other side of what could have been with no way back. This leads to an endless pursuit for many, having less and less to share until it is all gone.

     The second step my son-in-law took was the shelter he would provide for his gems. Romans 16:19 “ but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.” Of course, if you’re an avid donut eater, this is impossible. It certainly means an end to that vile, beastly corruptor and perverse intruder into our homes. You will never, ever, provide shelter for your God-given gems with a donut factory in your living room. This too is a mystery for many already across the divide. Thanks to my dear sweet wife, we have lived without one for sixteen years, and yes the sensitivity returns, but sadly, this side of heaven we will never know what it would have been like on the other side. Oh to be “simple concerning evil.” This means it is imperative to keep your gems precious. The Public Sewer System will destroy, corrupt and sever your gems from ever pursuing the precious diet God intended for them. God didn’t entrust your gems to anyone else. This includes the church, especially today. I can’t find any evidence for God delegating that responsibility to anyone else but Dad. God forgive me for what I did to my own.

      The nurturing of our entrusted little gems is surely a strange thing in these days of gluttony. After all we deserve our time alone. I saw little of this with the keepers of our little grand-gems. They seem to have laid down their lives, and in a strange way, have been taken up into a far better realm, or what I perceive as a true reality. The reality offered by the world is the foreigner, and as seen in the light of obedience, reveals itself as it truly is, vile and filthy, spoiled forever. Obviously, I as a Christian, and by the grace of God, will never view this trust in a dualistic way, giving evil the same footing as goodness, but as something of infinite value in the eyes of God, to be preserved and nurtured, or by default by our negligence, turned over to the one who destroys and very efficiently blinds. Our daughter has very wisely, much to the dismay of other gem keepers because of the discomfort it seems to breed inside of them, chosen to be a mother. Daycare doesn’t nurture like a mother. She has laid down her life and taken up, once again, something more precious. Once done, I can hardly picture her viewing it as a sacrifice. This is something else that is incomprehensible to someone that has eaten the donut.

     I don’t imply perfection on their part or a lifting up. It’s just a choice. It’s a choice that puts you at enmity with the world. It’s a choice that will leave our son-in-law’s family without the regret that my wife and I live with. It’s an unpopular choice that people will attack and yet some will marvel at. It’s a choice that will change the world more than anything else can. I can assure you that at God’s banquet, the donuts served up by this world will not even be on the menu, or even be a memory, and surely not desired, for what God serves will forever satisfy and fill with goodness everlasting for those who chose to treasure their gems.

1 John 2:15   Love not the world, neither the things [donuts] that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Target Practice

  
    This will be short and sweet! First a disclaimer ... I don't have a subscription to the newspaper ... I don't have a parakeet. I do peruse the want ads and read Pickles in the comics. And then, I reluctantly admit to browsing thru the rest to kill and or to waste time. Today, Gordon Howie made the front page again because he's selling property to pay taxes and to subsidize his income. It bears asking the question "why are they still trying to paint [to smear, tarnish, infer, taint] a less than desirable image of the man?" After all, the election for Governor is over. He certainly draws criticism even from some Christians [he reads his Bible]. The answer is easy! This guy doesn't know when to quit. He's off and running again with his Life and Liberty Group. After sponsoring or co-sponsoring all the pro-life legislation the past six years, he's taking aim at the pro-death camp from the street level. He's not going away. The difference between his Christianity and the more prevalent christianity is that he knows we're in a war. His endurance reminds me of a story about John Quincy Adams who, after fourteen years of being one of the most reviled representatives in Congress for his unrelenting commitment to end slavery, was asked by a reporter ... " Why do you do it? How can you keep going year after year, battered by the newspapers, against insurmountable opposition? Why do you do it? " His response was simply this. "The duty is mine, the results are Gods." JQA read his Bible.

     Matthew 7:29 says " Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

     When I watched Veggie Tales,  " The Pirates That Don't Do Nothing, " I thought, I know you guys. It's the church that ”doesn't do anything.” I removed the double negative just for my mom. You're all over. You're the ones that can't call murder, murder. The harder you try not to be offensive the more you are ... to Christians. In the KJV truth and mercy are yoked together. It's not merciful if it's separate from the truth, and truth without mercy is fruitless. Repentance and healing do not come from admitting to a procedure to remove tissue. When facing the consequences of divorce and trying to move on, it didn't work to tell myself I made a bad decision, lots of people do it, and the kids will be okay. Rationalizing ... that's another name for lying. What works is the truth. I'm an adulterer and to top it off I'm a liar in whom vows to my wife and God meant nothing, or surely not enough. Repentance isn't always easy but it works and it is necessary! C.S. Lewis stated that, as with a mathematical problem, after making an error it does no good to continue forward for the solution. As with the problem, the quickest and only way home is to go back to where you made the error and correct it before continuing. All right, it was something like that. Anyway, it sounds like I'm attacking the Church. Well, you're right! I am. I'm tired of kicking a dead horse and I'm tired of people that think being a Christian is a spectator sport. I also know it's not everyone, just too many of us. I want more than to know about God. I want to be known by God. It might be a dirty job to be me, but that's the option God gave me. He'll also give me the qualifications and hopefully an occasional prod when I need it. I pray that I can be known by God... not famous, not in the paper, but for sure not on the sidelines. I'll never be perfect this side of eternity and I've made more than my fair share of mistakes but I won' be drawn out of the battle, and I feel rather certain that Gordon Howie will not either just because the enemy is using him for target practice. What God desires is for His people to move out of the trenches. We're supposed to have the armor for defense but he also equipped us with a sword. Now if we could only quit cutting each other with it and use the sword as intended, as our one offensive weapon.

Shirt-Tales vs. Shirt-Tails

  I sometimes wish I could be hopelessly ignorant of the cascading, downhill slide of the degeneration of our culture. Degeneration here is the key word. It's a process. It takes time and in our culture it also takes planning. I'm going to suggest here, much to the dismay of our planning committee, that it is a Judeo-Christian heritage that is on the skids. We're now to the point of delusion that they'll even argue about that. But what really ruffles the feathers is when you can still tie all the underlying good and virtue that under girds the foundation of this country riding on those shirt-tails, ragged as they may be.
     1799 - Dr. Jedediah Morse reminds us "To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoy. In proportion as the genuine effects of Christianity are diminished in any nation, either through unbelief, or the corruption of its doctrines, or the neglect of its institutions; in the same proportion will the people of that nation recede from the blessings of genuine freedom... Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all the blessings which flow from them, must fall with them."

Once again we have another quote from some nut associating Christianity with our democratic --- oops I guess he said republican --- form of government. 

     1783 - Dr. Ezra Stiles, President of Yale University on the First Pillar of the Constitution: "All the forms of civil polity have been tried by mankind, except one, and that seems to have been reserved by Providence to be realized in America...[That wonder was a unique kind of republic] "... a democratical polity for millions, standing upon the broad basis of the people at large, amply charged with property..."  This, for all of us that weren't home schooled, is talking about " The Principle of Representation." Notice the mention of property. A persons property was equated with his freedom in those days and not something for the government to be equally distributing among those they deemed deserving. The Bible was essential to the desire for liberty, and the ability to be self-governing, in turn, was paramount to preserving that liberty. The biblical view of man lead the way in developing a form of government not blindly led by the will of the masses or by the tyranny of one man. That's why Exodus 18:13-21 was a primary guide for our Founding Fathers. Jethro exhorts Moses to choose qualified judges for guidance and direction. In Webster’s dictionary  "republic" was stated as "A Commonwealth; a state in which the exercise of the sovereign power was lodged in representatives elected by the people. " Oh, to have qualified and Godly representatives.
       Oh, and why did they keep saying that the separation of powers came from that silly old Bible verse, Isaiah 33:22?  " For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our King." They said that be cause that's where "The Second Pillar of the Constitution, The Separation of Powers" comes from. I don't remember that part from my public school indoctrination.

Now, not only did God give us the model for our system of balanced branches of government, but He gave us Guidelines and Limitations of power. That's just one of the reasons the Founding Fathers founded a whole bunch of Bible societies with the intent of getting Bibles into the hands of ... EVERYONE. They very correctly reasoned that an illiterate person incapable of reading the Holy Scripture was easily misled and incapable of judging the legitimacy of laws passed. State constitutions were quick to establish the three prerequisites of public education in the pursuit of passing these ideals on to the coming generations. 1. The teaching of religion [Christianity] 2. The teaching of morality 3. The pursuit of knowledge. I'm surprised they haven't cut off access to The Library of Congress. All you have to do is to be able to read, accompanied with a little initiative, and you can see for yourself what they actually said. I can see that day coming round the bend when that option is gone. Maybe not, with our nosedive into the low ranks of literacy, [700,000 recent graduates could'nt read their own diplomas] the need will not arise.
      Another quote: Rosalie J. Slater "Can we expect these three governmental actions to operate correctly if we, as individual Christians, do not know the source from which they are derived, and what was their purpose? In our ignorance today we are tempted to believe that the power of the judicial, executive, and the legislative branches of our government resides in those individuals who staff these offices. Yet, upon on consideration of the Biblical base and purpose, we can see that the power or control resides not in the staffing but in the electorate, which these offices represent. It resides in each individual Christian as he allows Christ to rule his life."
      Now there's a concept for us that doesn't allow for too much blame shifting. There's a reason the judicial branch didn't have their own building until 1935 and why they occupy the smallest portion of the Constitution. It's not because the original intent was for them to decide what was deemed okie dokie for the rest of us. The original intent lies in "We the People."  The people, as in the ELECTED representatives, the ones that hear more than one hour of presentation of argument, and have to answer to their constituents, the legislative, the part that inherits the lengthier portion of the Constitution, were the ones to decide POLICY and the rule of the land. Does anyone ever read the heading on all the official court documents, "This is the opinion of the court?" Ignoring the irrefutable intent of the Constitution, the blatant imposition of their personal agendas, and defiance of past precedent and blatant omission thereof would certainly have earned them the well deserved boot, if not worse, from any of the founders of this document. The mere indulgence of the thought of a five from nine majority ruling the roost would be an anathema to anyone living in the first century of this country. Actually it still is today...but no one seems to have the courage to put a stop to it. They're there for life and people are duped into thinking this is their representation?   I could write several quotes now on the importance of integrity and Christian morality as presented to us by our Founding Fathers, but I've already done that.
     The Third Pillar of our Constitution: "A Dual Form of Government" Math.22:35-40
Jesus states the greatest commandment, as “Thou shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, and mind." The second as "Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself." The first commandment applies to our national sense in that we are willing to be God governed. This extended, in their eyes, to going further than printing slogans on coins that read "In God We Trust.' We have inalienable rights and responsibilities that extend to institutions such as home, church, school, and state. It shouldn't be surprising that these are the areas targeted by our planners in their quest for dismantling this document. Inalienable, God given? Central government has never had the power to encroach upon these liberties. Central and State are each supreme in their own sphere.
     This pillar addresses the age-old question,  "How can unity and diversity co-exist in harmony?"  It's not doing so well under the current philosophy of the day. It could be that the Founding Fathers concluded that a government that allowed both form and freedom, unity and diversity, was possible only through a balanced Biblical perspective. I agree. It's too bad Biblical is not inclusive in the new definition of diversity. This would once again tie us to an immovable foundation inclusive of those darned absolutes. This is going to hurt a little bit, but they're talking about limited government and accountability, and a strict adherence to their delegated authority. Delegated authority is the key phrase here. What we have now is corrupt, self-appointed authority, especially in the judicial and executive, wielding powers not expressly given them. The weakest branch, once pre-eminent, has now become that of the people, the representative. But as Benjamin Rush, John Adams, and other signers of the Constitution observed, the removal of the Bible and its teachings would lead to the eventual demise of our system of self-government.
     Unfortunately, as I said earlier, the ride on the shirt-tails of what was, even with the protections foreseen by the founders, is not going to sustain us much longer. This is surely a joy to many, a horror to some, and a battle cry to others. The planners for our demise fear only our vision restored, our ignorance dispelled, and the fear of God, which is the beginning of knowledge, once again instilled in our hearts. Their own shirt-tales, lacking even a good semblance of a fairy tale, are showing their tawdry origins as examined and exposed in the light of truth, and truth I'm afraid to remind them, is immutable and unchanging unlike their distortions and lies.

The resources used for this post are The American Covenant, by Marshall Foster, excerpts from David Barton of Wallbuilders, Library of Congress, the Records of Congress, and the KJV Bible.

Sex Education

     We have a rancher friend who lives in the middle of nowhere [Wyoming]. Upon his arrival at the ranch last night, he was contacted by a neighbor informing him of a man [in gender only] standing alongside the road near his buildings at 7:30 in the morning dressed in nothing but net stockings and a g-string, displayed in all his glory for the passing of the school bus. Can anyone else see the intrinsic value and the common sense approach of doing what you can with what you have, a staple of American ingenuity.  With the impending cut-backs coming in education, here we have a public service provided by one of our most revered citizenry of late saving the taxpayers the expense of a field trip or of providing the usual in-class presentation. It just goes to show that we can't be outdone here in the wild west.
We can be every bit as progressive as our urban neighbors. Thank goodness for our ever so endearing pliability and willingness to change. Obama rules!

As it was once said, "When the left is right, look for the sun to rise in the west."  (An excerpt from ancient Gordonian Literature)

About a Minute ---- ?

     Do you ever wonder why you bother reading letters to the editor in the paper? I 'm always amazed to find out what a hateful ignorant racist I am. It's surprising, considering I've yet to engage. I confess my sloth doth hinder my reluctance to response as does the more obvious absence of reasonable argument to contend with. Still, one should make attempts despite the seemingly abundance of evidence of a reprobate mind. I know that sounds extremely judgemental, but the vitriolic rhetoric spewed, devoid of any semblance of truth, or rational progression of thought, leans towards what I consider to be the saddest state of all confirmed with outstanding consistency.
     Today I read all about filthy republicans enraged by their inability to pass legislation to murder abortionists now responding with legislation to destroy womanhood. [I have to state right now that the her definition of womanhood would hardly be within a stones throw from mine.] It takes about a minute to see how stupid that is. Just kidding! It doesn't. What response could be presented that would draw any less blatant distortion or condemnation? None I suspect. Why would one respond except perhaps to draw more attention to the denigration of a mind inundated by a steady diet of  godless morally bereft liberal left wing drivel. I really think they're their own worst enemies. I doubt very much that I could make a better case for their moral degradation by anything more than to let them be their own billboard. The lady in question, in her attempt to defile anothers image, paints a far more revealing portrait of herself. I can conjure up little more than pity for her condition and her insistence of portraying it to the rest of the world.  I know I sound condescending ---- so here it comes --- a confession. I used to run around saying you can't legislate morality. I still can't believe anything that dumb ever came out  of my mouth but  I am after all, a lapsed liberal. Yes, It takes about a minute to see how stupid that is. Just kidding! It doesn't.
     I read another letter expounding a woman's right to choose, after all our country was founded on freedom of choice. It takes about a minute to see how stupid that is! Just kidding! It doesn't. I am by far not as well read as I should be, but in all the historical accounts that I have read, I've yet to find one based on everyones right to choose what they want to do. They always want to apply a precept such as "freedom of religion" one of many principles our country was founded on, and liberally misrepresenting it, likening it to butter or jelly smothering the bread beyond recognition. I have read enough of the founding fathers to say with confidence that you're not going to find one that would not be repulsed at the killing of the unborn let alone the the idea that they implied any inherent rights to do so. They did overwhelmingly adhere to the idea that freedom of choice was restricted by biblical scrutiny and biblical truth trumped man's law. You were free to do good, period, as the bible states. I realize they forget to teach that now, but omission doesn't change the reality of what was. Now I'm going to readily admit that while I would be opposed to a woman aborting her body I am adamantly opposed to her aborting someone elses body. I like to reason these things out. You start with a common sense test like the following.
      If a woman is raped, who should pay?
            1. The woman
            2. The taxpayer
            3. The rapist
            4. The baby
     If a couple has sexual relations outside of marriage resulting in pregnancy, who should pay?
            1. The couple
            2. The taxpayer
            3. The baby
     The baby is the obvious fiend and punishment should be quick. Surely, if the little fiend can't be pulled apart in the womb then the job can easily be finished outside of it quickly enough or not. Payment for his or her crime can be made by way of research or by way of ingredient in a multitude of useful products.
     It takes about a minute to see how sick this is! Just kidding! It doesn't.

Collective Sand Party - Everybody's Invited

     I don't mind going to a party, as in celebrating a birthday or the like, but always disliked going when coerced. You have to go! What will people think if you don't show up? It's not going to hurt you one bit to go! Well, sometimes, I admit it's not always as bad as I thought it would be, but this collective sand party is one where they'll be dragging me kicking and screaming. Before I start pleading my case though, I will concede, reluctantly, that while a little collective sand is inevitable and unavoidable, I reserve the right to hose down, re-groom and withdraw to my own little hobble. You see, I grew up and the allure of the beach parties with their sand castles disappeared when the tide of reality came rolling in. You see, I listened to a friend who talked some about sand and about a rock. No one wants to talk about the Rock anymore --- everyone wants to talk about the sand, and if we use all the sand, we'll be able to build this incredible castle. All you have to do is forget about the tide and that silly old Rock.

     I suppose everyone's wise to me now. This is going to be another cheap shot at my " Deluded Dreamers". I really can't afford to do much else and as people start waking up they'll realize the same. This is usually when a good "DD" will remind me that we're all in this together, and I agree. As Lewis acknowledged in his fleet of ships analogy, most people will agree that the ship needs to be seaworthy. Secondly, that for the safety of the other ships, rules of the sea must be observed. Thirdly, the one that causes all the conflict and confusion, is agreement on the destination. I must be blind at this point not to see the obvious innuendos of a socialistic unity as the only way to achieve the obvious goals. Well, what's the cost of membership going to be? Oh,  and what exactly is a member? What kind of a unit --- oops! I mean member am I? I mean we are all like the grains of sand, united in our quest to build our super, fantastical sand castle. Oh! I almost forgot, who gets to be the architect? As you probably suspected I have a few thoughts of my own. Shoot, I just broke one of those membership rules ---- private thoughts and or opinions are strictly prohibited and unnecessary and will be supplied by the state. Obviously, this is one of those silly blunders I always seem to make. I hope someone has the good sense to respond and give me a good name-calling. That's the best way to deal with people who are too stupid to change. Sorry! I'm too stupid to learn my lesson so I'll continue.

     It's time for a quote. "...the modern notion that children should call their parents by their Christian names is so perverse.  For this is an effort to ignore the difference in kind, which makes for real organic unity.  They are trying to inoculate the child with the preposterous view that one's mother is simply a fellow citizen like everyone else, to make it ignorant of what all men know and insensible to what all men feel.  They are trying to drag the featureless repetitions of the collective into the fuller and more concrete world of the family.  A convict has a number instead of a name.  That is the collective idea carried to its extreme."  C.S. Lewis

     Well, I am a firm believer in membership, one that acknowledges how unique we all are and the awesome way in which we compliment the body, one that bestows abundant honor on members perceived to be less honorable, one that suffers when another suffers and rejoices when another is honored. I hear an objection coming ---- Why can't I see how truly collective this is? I'm not going to disagree. This is true unity! I hate to gig your bum now by bringing up that silly old Rock again. He told me that this little grain of a person that I am shouldn't be yoked to you forgetful little grains regardless of the fact that at some point He may require me to lay down my life for one of you. You know, grains that are prone to huge exaggerations, denying the Rock, doing despicable things like dismembering little unborn grains and throwing them in the trash while reaping huge profits, and let's not forget the less discreet grains engaged in their nasty little perversions with anything that walks or just about walks, oh, and the grains that worship little made-up rocks while telling little fibbers about them all being the same. Gosh, after all, things have always been going on the same way forever what with all this evolving and constant mastering of concepts like relativity and subjectivism.

     I know that last sentence didn't make sense [being the same and changing --- mastering the constantly revised], but some people are determined to preach it as the gospel, and we shouldn't be surprised. 2 Peter 3 tells us that in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts would say all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation [uniformitarianism]. They would be purposely ignorant of the flood and creation. All you have to do is believe reason evolved from chaos and blind chance against insurmountable odds, that reason is an unintended by-product of a mindless process, and your mind is a product of the irrational. This is the foundation of their sandcastle and the reasoning they base the plausibility of their fairy-tale on. Sounds reasonable if reason would somehow become reasonable. I wonder if that's why chapter 3:5 says they'll be dumb on purpose. What were they thinking? Doesn't matter if thinking's just an accident like they say.

     I've got a theory ---- and it conforms partially to what they're saying. Things aren't changing much. What we're seeing is part of a revolution [as in revolving, like one of those doors]. Society goes corrupt and immoral and guess what? All sorts of things start falling out the closet just like history has shown us over and over again until the show's over and the tide comes in one more time. The sandcastles will be gone but the Rock will prevail with all His little tiny rocks that clung to the only reasonable recourse, the absolute and unchanging, the beginning and end.

Sheep Sheparding Sheep Shearing Sham

I struggle sometimes with opening my mouth, although probably not as much as I should. I struggle with the fact that God chose and entrusted people with the duty and obligation of spreading the Gospel. I have often thought his idea of using a talking jackass in the OT a more fitting and prudent choice than the alternative of allowing us the arduous task of transforming ourselves into the one and same. I'm not espousing evolution here ---- really! After all, we're supposed to be sheep, right. It gets confusing though, what with wolves in sheep's clothing shepherding or sheep shepherding sheep without the shepherd. Why couldn't we be cows ---- religious only when we're in the mooood accompanied with our ever so endearing bull? Actually, chickens are kinda herd-like, like sheep, and we've got the pecking down [note that I did not make a gender reference here as in hen-pecking because I'm especially sensitive in that respect]. Sometimes a good duck is preferable to a branding, although once again that's another area of expertise [I know I've branded my fair share]. I know, I just evolved into a lame duck --- I was just horsing around. Oh well, if the shoe fits and it fits too well sometimes, isn't it all tolerated here on our animal farm? Doesn't diversity suit the times and relevance of the church today, and doesn't it make you feel so good to fit in?  Well, I've uddered enough, I'm off to get my spring shearing done.

I’m afraid I have a tendency towards sarcasm, surely something I need to work on. I was relapsing when I wrote the above. I have this fear that at the end of my blogging days I'll still be referencing this quirk in my personality [quirk sounds better than fault or dysfunction]. I had an older friend say to me once, after I was carrying on about the church, "yes, one church, a lot of ideas". Since that visit I've been trying to have a gentler approach, which the word supports, with the exception of outright heresy [then I'm right back to the Elijah, and our own Lord's rather direct, dead men's bones, confrontational in your face, let's make one thing clear, you're messing with my own and destroying lives approach]. Gosh golly, I still like to picture Elijah's onslaught of ribbing while the priests of baal, hopelessly embarrassing themselves, try to "light their fire". Ooooh! And all that cutting on themselves thousands of years before band-aids were even invented. And it's just one guy pulling the rug out from under this really cool racket that took years to establish. Makes you wonder what happened to their media mud slinging team.

Sorry, I regressed a little again. Anyway, as a sheep, I'm in the market for a good shepherd. I know we live in a small town, but there are fourteen churches here, so why am I the only one who's got it right? I bet a lot of you are thinking you've all ready met me. Seriously, I like people and I don't do the church-hopping thing too well, but the church [in our country at least] is on a downhill slide. Am I wrong? Let me clarify a bit --- I require a church I can bring our son [the boy] to without exposing him to scantily clad females --- I know it's everywhere --- billboards, checkout counters, worship teams, etc. ---- but it's getting harder and harder to leave the house. [My wife and I, understandably, could go to a few of the churches] Why is the church so busy being relevant? I'm always wondering why we aren't setting the standard.  After all, we didn't have to think one up.  God did that already. If we're so worried about being a little stale, I have a suggestion---let's live up to the standards God gave us and watch what happens.  And I have another suggestion for the entire evolving theology crowd ---- think up your own name for your religion and quit sullying Christ's. Actually, I think I know the answer to that one too---it's in the Bible. The best damage is always from within.

By the way I'm a black sheep, not suitable for a good sacrifice ---- kinda blemished and whatnot so please look elsewhere, and besides my wife still loves me and would kinda miss me.