Thoughts on Forgiveness

All of us have some things in our life for which we needed to ask forgiveness. We have hurt our friends, family, co-workers, etc... However, in the same vein we have all been harmed at one time or another and to one degree or another. While the extent of our harm varies we all share in that we are not perfect. We have both harmed, and been harmed. Hence the need for forgiveness.

It occurs to me that forgiveness is not for the person who has done the trespass. Forgiveness is for the person who has been harmed. Follow me for a moment here.

Have you ever been angry with someone for something they did to you? Did they know you were mad at them? If so, did they care? If they cared about your relationship perhaps they did, but what if they didn't. You could be angry and they would never know. You would sit up at night and they would sleep. You could let the harm shape the rest of your life, ruining relationships. You could even hate them. It won't matter. They'll sleep like a baby.

The only exception I see to this is when a person feeling guilt requests forgiveness. In that case however, the person asking for forgiveness often feels as thought they have harmed themselves while harming you. In the end whether you forgive them they must forgive themselves.

Do yourself a favor. Forgive the person who has hurt you the most because they aren't even thinking about you. Forgive yourself too. You deserve it.

Abortion Thoughts

I read a number of blogs of women who are ardently pro-choice. I don’t know why I read them. Perhaps it is just because I like to read the thoughts of people who have a radically different world view than my own. I am bored to tears reading the words of those who I agree with on most every subject. Especially if I disagree with the way the promote their ideas.

For some reason those who are pro-life have been labeled Super-Christians, murderers, haters, and so forth. I wish I could disagree with you, but when I look around I see much of the same even as a pro-life Christian. Here are some of my thoughts.

As a Christian you are called to love others. It is tough to do that standing in front of an abortion clinic holding a sign that calls scared teenage girls murderers.

As a Christian you are called to proclaim the good news of Christ, which is about forgiveness of sin. You are not called to convict others of their sin. That is the Holy Spirits job. You aren’t any good at it anyway.

Abortion is a sin…… So is hating someone. In fact it is the same as murder to God. I wonder if you are guilty of that. As you know, if you have broken just one of the laws you are guilty of breaking the whole law, hence the need for Christ and His good news.

Do I believe abortion is a good thing? No. But I believe as Christians we are fighting the wrong battle. Instead we should love those who are hurting, provide food for those in need. We should provide medical care for those in need, and show the lost world that there is a better way. Not doing so with an air of contempt, but with compassion and understanding.

Women who have had abortions have not done so on a whim, and many times they are hurting over the difficult decision. Standing in front of them calling them murderers is not what Christ would do. He would show compassion. Will you?

Another Pregnant Man

The headline to the story reads "Another Pregnant Man". I remember when the first of these stories came out a while back, and my reaction is the same the second time around. THIS IS NOT A MAN.

For some reason the media promotes this as though it were a man who by some freak of nature was able to conceive a child and carry it to term I don't know somewhere in his urethra. That is obviously not the case here. Just like the first time around we have a woman who has been changed surgically to look like a man. Fine. I don't care what you want to do to your own body. If you want to add a third eyeball because you feel that you were supposed to be born a tri-clops, whatever, that is your business. But please then don't act as though you are doing something special.

You may look like a man, but so what, all your parts are still woman on the inside. I mean for goodness sake the lunch lady at the high school has a moustache and is well on the way to a beard. That doesn't make her a man either. For the record, no man has EVER given birth to a child, and they never will.

To add to the odd factor here, the partner is also a woman. So, we have two women who are both surgically altered to appear like men. They then couple up and date another woman who looks like a man.

For the sake of this child I really pray these parents can provide some sort of positive identity to this life they have created. This baby will have two mothers pretending to be fathers, and no one to actually be a mother or is that father. You see the dilemma.

Same Sex Marriage Fails Again

Same sex marriage still has a zero percent passage rate when put to a vote by the people of ANY state. Zero percent. That isn't very good. Is it?

(photo from AP story)

A Life All In

The first mission trip my wife ever took was to Mexico. Sponsoring that trip were Chris and Jackie Leggett. This was a transformational trip for my wife. Instrumental in that change were Chris and Jackie who truly exemplified living the life of a Christian.

Chris and Jackie were missionaries to Mauritania, Africa. Where they gave micro-business loans to locals to help build their economy, as well as teach the women trades such as sewing.

In addition whenever the opportunity arose they would share their faith in Christ with the people of this Muslim nation. As with most Muslim countries Christian proselytizing is strictly prohibited.

After marrying, my wife introduced me to the work of this couple, and suggested we support them financially whenever we could. A couple years ago they visited us in our home and spoke at our church. I’m sure we never told them, but they were a greater blessing to us in those few days than we were ever to them.

Chis was killed this June while arriving at his office in Mauritania. Apparently he was shot during an attempted kidnapping. Chris leaves behind a wife and 4 kids. Al Qaida has claimed responsibility.

Chris Leggett lived a life All In. He will be missed.

Racism.... Yee Haw!

This past weekend my wife and I held another fundraiser to help us gather the 30 thousand dollars we'll need to adopt a pair of kids from Ethiopia. It was a garage sale held at our church. On Friday evening we brought our goodies for the sale. My mother also came along with a number of great garage sale items including a small portion of her magnificent doll collection. (I was a little sad to see her selling these, but I also knew she would rather ad her 7th and 8th grand kids to the foll than continue to look at dolls gathering dust). Then suddenly trailers began arriving from parishioners, loaded down with items to donate to our sale.

I will say I hate garage sales, no really, I hate them. This on the other hand looked more like a swap meet. I believe I counted 6 televisions and 4 stereos. There were 2 dining tables, 1 couch, 3 recliners, 2 complete dish sets, and hoards of other pieces of merchandises strategically marked down to garage sale prices, including a small increase to create the necessary room for bartering.

It was about 4 hours into the sale which opened at 6 am when I met an old codger we'll just call Hank. Hank approached us with a rack of some kind in one hand and a shiny new quarter in the other, Hoping I'm sure to work us off our 50 cent price tag.

Hank was wearing a US Navy Ball cap. I instantly thought I'd like this old guy. Then he asked why we were holding this sale. Promptly my mother holds up the donation can and explains that we are raising money to adopt from Ethiopia.

Immediately I see the old mans nose begin to curl.Perhaps I was wrong about liking this guy. Then from his mouth comes a word that sounded as though it had come from somewhere deep in his bowls. "You mean there gonna be "BLIICCK"." I think he meant black. After wiping the old man's spittle from my eye, I attempted to explain to him the orphan situation in Ethiopia. My attempt was for naught as he immediately interrupted me to launch into his tirade about having worked in law enforcement in the south. Where he had apparently "locked up" many-a-bliicck.

I've come to some of this with our interracial adoption, and the potential response from the ignorant, but experiencing it first hand was new.

All said it was a great yard sale. We raised over $1300. It was definitely more than I had anticipated. Tainted only by one old ignorant hack.

It was a good day.

My Friend Val a Long Time Coming

A friend of mine Val Geissler called to tell me this week that he couldn't run from a relationship with God any longer. I love this man, but had wondered if I would ever see this day. I could not have more joy than this news gave me.

Val is a charactor and America's Favorite Cowboy Entertainer. Val has since given up the show circuit but still puts on a funny show. If you have a few moments check out this link. It is about 15 minutes, but you won't regret it. It's the cremation of Sam McGee.

While I Wasn't Paying Attention in Church

While I would like to pretend that I am the ideal parishioner, I confess that often I am not. This past Sunday while the preacher was speaking on the topic of.... well I forgot that too, I was thinking of something else. Although this time I can say it was Jesus who was occupying my thoughts.

If Jesus were to arrive today in the United States, not to take us to heaven, but if His first coming were to be today, I would love to just sit and pick His brain. I found myself wanting to ask about what we as a nation should do regarding the "War on Terror". What we as a nation should do about our economy, or poverty or gun laws. If He came today, I would ask Him and surely he would tell me, and probably agree with what I believed all along.

It was then that it hit me. Those are exactly the thoughts the pharisees were having. They thought Jesus would come as a reigning king. He would ride in, destroy the roman oppressors and lead Israel back to her promised glory. Instead He came and spoke to individuals.

If Jesus were to have come for the first time, and I saw Him, maybe I would have asked those questions. If I had, I believe Jesus would have answered cryptically because I would have been asking the wrong questions.

The right questions are. What should I do about the killing in my town? What should I do about my neighbor who needs help? What should I do about the poverty around me? What should I do? That is the question.

Thankfully I don't have to wonder. He already told me.

Only 53

The late Tony Snow with President GWB. Tony Snow was a great american. From his speech writing days with Bush 1 to his radio show or his serving as the White House Press Sec. He always seemed to be spot on. Even if it meant disagreeing with the administration, party or both. Tony Snow, you were a great father, patriot and Christian, you will be missed.

Reporter Doesn't Get It

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has been called into question by a
radical new interpretation of a tablet found on the eastern bank of the Dead
Sea.
The three-foot stone tablet appears to refer to a Messiah who rises from
the grave three days after his death — even though it was written decades before
the birth of Jesus.
The ink is badly faded on much of the tablet, known as
Gabriel's Vision of Revelation, which was written rather than engraved in the
1st century B.C. This has led some experts to claim that the inscription has
been overinterpreted.
A previous paper published by the scholars Ada Yardeni
and Binyamin Elitzur concluded that the most controversial lines were
indecipherable.
Israel Knohl, a biblical studies professor at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, argued Monday that line 80 of the text revealed Gabriel
telling an historic Jewish rebel named Simon, who was killed by the Romans four
years before the birth of Christ: "In three days you shall live, I, Gabriel,
command you."
Professor Knohl contends that the tablet proves that messianic
followers possessed the paradigm of their leader rising from the grave before
Jesus was born.
He said that the text "could be the missing link between
Judaism and Christianity in so far as it roots the Christian belief in the
resurrection of the Messiah in Jewish tradition." -Fox News

What? This is the most ridiculous article I've ever seen. Really? "the missing link for the Christian belief in the resurrection of the Messiah in Jewish tradition." Hey Fox News, Next time let some one who has read the bible write the story.

Separation of Church and State

The separation of church and state, a phrase thrown about today to keep churches from putting up Christmas decorations on public ground, or from preaching regarding politics from the pulpit, but what is that phrase all about.

Though we have adopted this phrase as constitutional doctrine it can be found nowhere in the constitution or bill of rights. It was written in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury, Connecticut Baptists on the first day of 1802. The entire letter is only 3 short paragraphs. Two of which contain a gracious open and close. Here is the body of the letter which has dictated the separation of church and state for 200 years now.


Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.

It would appear to me from this letter quoting the constitution that Jefferson is trying to clear up what is meant by, "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" is protection of the church from the government. Both the establishment clause and the free exercise clause limit the state, not the church.

In fact wouldn't nearly every assault against the church, regardless of denomination be easily defended with the phrase, "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof", a phrase actually found in the constitution, and supported by this letter from Jefferson.

I am not one to think as a pastor I would want to endorse a candidate, However, should a pastor wish to do so, I believe he would be under his rights to do so.

Marriage Contracts In Saudi Arabia

Saudi marriage officiant Dr. Ahmad al-Mu’bi told Lebanese television viewers last week that it’s permissible for girls as young as 1 to marry — as long as sex is postponed.
Al-Mu’bi’s remarkable comments also included an explanation that “there is no minimal age for entering marriage.”
“You can have a marriage contract even with a 1-year-old girl, not to mention a girl of 9, 7 or 8,” he said. “But is the girl ready for sex or not?” What is the appropriate age for sex for the first time? This varies according to environment and tradition,” al-Mu’bi said. - Fox News

Close Encounter with 4 Gay Women

The vehicle rolled in slowly though it was still running. Just as soon as the Ford Explorer stopped people started hopping out. The first two were ordinary bubbly young ladies. The second two on the other hand gave away what this was all about. Not the flat tire on the rear drivers side, not yet visible from my vantage point, but that this group was in town for the gay pride rally.

With me were two other guys. We watched for a moment as these 4 women, 2 of which looked like women, made an attempt at solving the problem that ailed them. It was not going well. They quickly located the jack and a tire iron, but looked at them with bewilderment as it was one of those factory installed contraptions with many pieces which must be connected before use. They could not locate the spare tire, despite 2 of them apparently wanting to be men.

Off my companions and I went to the rescue. We quickly removed the spare tire from its neatly hidden location, and replaced the flat with its full size spare. Problem was the spare was low on air. Not an issue for us. As men are required to have at all times an air compressor within arms reach. The spare was inflated to its proper level and all in under 5 minutes.

2 of the women dressed in flowing sun dresses were grateful for our efforts, and thanked us sincerely. The remaining half of their party, dressed in baggy clothes to hide any hint of a womanly figure, scowled at us scarcely uttering a word.

I am only left to presume this look was intended as some sort of "man to man" intimidation. It is good to know that no matter how perverse our society becomes, no matter what gender a woman decides to see romantically, there will always be a place for a man when it comes to changing tires... and killing spiders.

Sin

Which sin is the worst?

Not Because You're Christian

I love politics. Really for me the presidential elections rival the Super Bowl in excitement, and the primaries are on par with playoffs. While the NFL playoffs come around every year like clockwork, presidential elections are so exciting that they are only allowed to occur every 4 years. This years' contenders, Barak Obama and John McCain.

You may think I'm just kidding but I'm not. If you talk to my wife you'll understand her misery. I subject her to various news channels day and night, and when the news is done it's time for analysis. It really is 24 hours a day with me. Some people yell at the TV during scary movies, others yell at the refs on television when they perceive a poor call. I yell at the TV when I see Olbermann or OReilly "miss a call". I've got a problem, no question about it.

You hear sometimes how as Christians you have an obligation to vote this way or that. How even has a Christian you have an obligation to vote. Really? I would disagree. As an American over the age of 18 you have the RIGHT to vote, not an obligation to vote. If you do vote you have an obligation to know the issues, but that is a topic for another post.

My point today is that if you call yourself a Christian you aren't required to vote, you aren't even required to be patriotic. In fact I would suggest that as a Christian we should be more concerned about individual people and their salvation on a global level rather than whether you are a republican or democrat. Rather than whether you are an American or Frenchman. Rather than whether you are for capitalism or socialism.

I know I'm stepping on some toes here, but would someone please show me where Jesus took a stance on a political issue. Sure, He caused a little riff between Pharisees and Sadducees, but he never took a position regarding roman occupation. He didn't address the national pride of the Jewish people. Instead He avoided the issue of taxes, and went straight to the heart of the people to whom He was speaking.

You might be a republican, you might be a democrat, conservative, libertarian, liberal, American, member of the military, but it isn't because you are a Christian.

Sure you may select your party based on biblical principals, but you are not commanded by God to join any political parties.

Vote Republican;)

Why Whites Don't Engage on Race

With the unprecedented opportunity to have a black man at the helm of our country it seems that race issues are coming more and more to the forefront of our minds. At least the blogs I read would lead me to believe that is the case. There are a number of blogs that would fall into that category. I will take a look one of those today.

"The Black Sentinel". Let me say up front, I like this blog quite well. I feel it gives me a window into how the average black person might feel about race relations in this country. I have added this site to my blogroll for the time being so that if you wish to visit there you can. However, please be warned there is language on this site I would not allow on my own, and wouldn't want children to see.

Topics covered on The Black Sentinel are all race related with headlines such as; How Is Pfleger Connected To Obama?, White Bigots A Plenty, Enabling Co-Dependency, and Doomed Black Community. The vast majority of commenters on this blog, of which there are many, appear to be in agreement. I do not know if they are black. On occasion there is a comment from someone professing to be white. Sometimes those comments are on track in my opinion. Sometimes they are racist rants. Either way any disagreement with the "Sentinel" or its’ commenters is usually met with an accusation of racism. I’m not saying this to change “The Black Sentinel”. I’m saying it merely as an example of how the discussion of race takes place in this country.

This is the reason white people refuse to engage on the issue of race. It's simply not worth the cost to most folks. Let me be frank, the average white person has little to gain by the discussion. I'm not going to say individual racism doesn't exist, I'm not saying black people shouldn't fight against it, I'm only saying that most of the time it isn't worth the fight. White people are fearful of even the debate because at the slightest disagreement they are told they are racist. A label no one wants, that can be difficult to live down. So instead of true debate black and white together discussing apparent disparities you have white people giving up, shrugging their shoulders and walking away from the table.

I'm not blaming the "Sentinel", Again, I like this site. I hope you'll visit it. I'm only making an observation as to why it seems that most whites are apathetic to the current state of race relations in our country.

As a result, the discussion rarely occurs in mixed company. It happens without the presence of a dissenting voice. Allowing stereotypes to go unchecked, not out of malice, but out of ignorance. What say you?

Democrat? Part 2

Some of you have read the previous post entitled Democrat? If you haven’t read that one yet take just a moment before you continue here as it is important to this story. As I sat talking to this woman she continued to list off the litany of problems plaguing this country as she sees it as a prominent older woman. Some of those problems included the war in Iraq, our economy, welfare, poverty, housing market... etc.

I have told you already that this woman is a democrat. But I didn't tell you her other solution to all these problems. Put women in charge. That is why she is voting for Hillary. Not any woman will do though. It must be a woman over the age of 50, through menopause, and not taking ANY hormone pills. Her reasoning, they are all *mean. (*her wording was far more crude)

Aside from her reasoning being absurd is she on to something. What kind of world would we live in if women ran the country? Can a woman run the free world? I think so. Are there inherent differences between men and women? I think so. Would those differences have an impact on the ability of a president to function? Maybe. Should a woman be elected solely due to her gender?

How Whites Get Everything

This is the secret white people don't want blacks to know. When we are born after a dna test to confirm there is no black dna that has crept into our bloodline we are bestowed a manual. This is a handbook designed to show you how to get the advantage over other races in all situations. Unfortunately there is no section in this book regarding how to dance, dunk a basketball or sing the blues. Apparently those are sections our white ancestors failed to master.


In reality I've been reading lately in a few blogs about "white privilege". In the name of full discloser, I am a white guy of Scottish ancestry. That doesn't mean I wear a kilt and play bagpipes in the same way a black person doesn't automatically eat watermelon.


Here are my thoughts on the subject of white privilege. I didn't ask to be born white. I'm not going to feel guilty about something that I can't control. I think there is some modicum of racism left in America. It is not what it used to be. It is getting better with each passing generation.


Part of the definition of "white privilege" describes this as an advantage not shared by all. A person who didn't grow as tall also shares a disadvantage they can't control. Normal sized models have a disadvantage. Bald actors share a disadvantage when it comes to getting leading roles in major motion pictures. I am not saying that these are all equal but they have the same premise. A person with a disadvantage being discriminated against by the general population.


Here is what I want those complaining about race to understand. You are not helping your cause when you group white people into a category that is deemed "racist". Not all whites are racist. In fact most are not. Not all whites are rich. Many of us don't have much money at all and live paycheck to paycheck. So when we hear that whites are granted jobs/money, we wonder why we were left out. Am I not white enough? Many of us had our own handicaps that caused discrimination. Perhaps the discrimination you encounter is worse.


I don't know of a law that can be changed that would make things more equal. In the letter of the law things are equal, even if not in its enforcement. When it comes to the masses there may still be prejudice lurking within. That is easing with the passing of time as whites and black spend more time with one another and with the Asian and Hispanic. That is what the United States is all about. The melting pot. What is black is American. What is Scottish is American. What is Mexican is American. America takes what is great from all of us and makes it her own. We are all Americans and we are in this together. Life is hard enough with out seeing the hyphenated race.


So from one white guy. Will you please stop calling me racist? If you have a problem with an individual, even me, call him by name. You might be surprised how many white people join along side you.

Kennedy has Tumor

Senator Ted Kennedy has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Prognosis: Not Good. Survival rates are 1 year for advanced aggressive tumors and up to 5 for the slower kinds. Most pro-life, defend the border, cut social program conservatives have found Sen. Kennedy to be one of their biggest hurdles in the past. So I ask, is your compassion for this man bigger than your desire to see your political agenda come to fruition? I hope so.

Blood Sport

Let men be men. Lets face it, guys enjoy fighting. Most guys anyway. We enjoy the battle even if we lose. On May 24th I'll be watching the latest Ultimate Fighting Championship fights. Yes it is brutal and sometimes bloody. So what is wrong with that.

Stop feminizing men. Let us be warriors. Let us fight for what is right. Let us celebrate what it is to be a man.

To be a man you should;

Show love to your family sometimes through physical affection.
Support your wife if you have one.
Encourage your kids if you have them.

Some would like to end the list there. However, There is more to this story.

Be the provider for your family. (Shelter, food, clothing..etc)
Be the spiritual leader for you family.
Protect your family from harm.
Fight for what is right.

Usually fighting for what is right just means standing firm and using words. On occassion, however, it means using force.

This was not a complete list. Feel free to ad to it if you like.