More Bumper Sticker Thought

Following is a hodge podge of B.G. thinking reduced to a Bumper Sticker. It is actually an old post to which I have added some additional thoughts.

1. If you do not want to be deceived, assume that you have been.

2. Beware of those who's political fortunes are tied to your suffering.

3. Of all the things I regret missing out on in life, I think I will regret missing my funeral the most.

4. I am woefully ignorant. My advantage is that I'm not ignorant of that fact.

5. Genius is not conferred.

6. Greed can most easily be seen in others.

7. If you don't like what a law says, change what it means.

8. A bad education is evidenced by pride in knowledge; a good one by humility in fear of ignorance.

9. It's not nearly as good to be better off than someone, as it is bad to be worse off. (this one is in jest)

10. I wish I was half as compassionate as Liberals think they are.

12. A visionary without discipline is just a dreamer.

13. United we stand, so never disagree with Democrats.

14. I once saw a bumper sticker on a large SUV. It read: "I vote pro-environment". This got me to thinking of a greenie bumper sticker for my SUV: "If you can read this, you're polluting my planet"

14. (a) Another sticker that emerged from the liberal side of my brain, but slipped out the honest side: "If YOU were riding the bus then I Wouldn't be stuck in this traffic!"

15. The world would be a much better place if everyone agreed with any one of it's inhabitants.

16. Weak leaders require weaker followers.

17. Deceived leaders require deceived followers,but deceived followers do not require deceived leaders.

18. Mercy is only as wonderful as sin is terrible.

19. It's one thing to say God loves you; it's quite another to say repent. Yet no-one can truly know the former without the latter.

Merry Christmas To All

To all my fellow bloggers I wish you a very merry Christmas and a very happy new year. This is a wonderful and special time of year when we collectively celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world who was a gift from God in Heaven so that we can have the most wonderful gift of all: reconciliation with God! So, I am taking this Christmas season off from blogging and will see you all in 09.

Happy Birthday to ME!

While having coffee in the wee hours of this morning, my wife was discussing the ways we could celebrate my birthday today. My response, why would anyone "celebrate" a birthday after forty? Her response highlighted one of the wonderful differences between her and I.

This difference was also highlighted this Thanksgiving season while we were naming the things for which we could give thanks. My list went like this: I'm thankful that even though I had to take a huge cut in pay, I didn't loose my job; I'm thankful that none of our family was killed or struck down with some horrible disease; I'm thankful that even though our country made a massive leap toward socialism, I can still afford to pay my taxes and to live in non-governmental housing. My wife's list went more like this: I'm thankful for God's provision in our lives, and our health; I'm thankful for my lovely children and wonderful husband.

It was also apparent in our home when our children were younger. At the end of the day as the sun sank behind the horizon I would often say to them: This day is over now, and it will never come again. This comment always drew the ire of my optimistic wife who, after a time, came up with her own follow up saying. So, on many evenings in our home as the sun was setting this scenario would play itself out: Me in a melancholy voice: Well Children, this day is over, and it will never come again. Her in a happy voice: But tomorrow's a brand new day!

You see, on this day, my birthday, I saw things in my normal way; me growing old. I don't know anyone who celebrates or looks forward to growing old and feeble. My wife on the other hand saw plenty of reason for celebration because I had been granted yet another year of life. Her response to me this morning reflected just that sentiment which gave me reason for pause. So, happy happy birthday to me!

Obama Pardons an Unborn Child; What If?

It's likely you've seen or heard about the footage of Gov. Palin's pardon of a turkey today at a turkey slaughter house. It seems her enemies in the press....aaaahh, her enemy, the press, is making hay over the activity going on in the back ground. It's obvious that the camera man is shooting Gov. Palin at one side of the screen so that the activity in the background can be plainly seen; the activity being the very thing one would expect to see at a turkey slaughter house; the slaughter of turkeys.

From a thinking perspective, it's not evident what Palin's great sin is here, other than not being politically savvy enough to avoid being taken in by her sworn enemies. But we live in an image driven society. It doesn't matter that in less than a week a large majority of Americans will be having turkey for dinner, including those aghast over the "controversial" images in the back ground. Never mind that Beef, chicken, fish, mutton, horse meat for the dog, are all food that must be murdered and prepared for the super market, but the image of such slaughter, it would seem, should not be tolerated. This does beg the question of who looks worse here, Palin or the media showing it all day? But this is a question that requires thinking; something that doesn't come easily for an image driven society.

As to the source of the media's hatred for Palin there can be no doubt. We can be assured that it has nothing to do with her not rescuing turkeys, but rather from the fact that she is a Christian who believes in rescuing babies. The irony of this fact, and the images being shown today, is nothing less than horrific when one considers a filmstrip negative of it. This negative would have Obama, or some other Liberal, pardoning an unborn child from the abortionist's knife while in the background can be seen babies being slaughtered and cut into peaces to be sold to researchers. But don't expect to see images like this from the image brokers because although they themselves have no problem with it, they know that most people would have a serious problem with it. That would sorely upset their powerful apple cart but perhaps worse, we would not be able to continue living the image of our lives sterilized of the horror occurring beyond the viewfinder.

Unity At Last

It is proclaimed throughout the land, we now have unified leadership to lead us out of the morass that our past disunity has gotten us into. Why you ask? Those divisive Republicans are now out of power and the majority of Americans now agree with what ever it is that Democrats stand for. What that is will be forthcoming, but for the mean time, unity at last, unity at last, thank God almighty, unity at last!

I'm nor sure where "freedom" fits in.

Electing Priests To The Temple of Our God

No question, these are bazaar times. Regardless of the outcome of the election, we are proving the validity of the Bible. Obama is ahead in the polls despite perhaps the longest list of reasons in the history of this nation that he will be bad news for the country and for every person voting for him (with the possible exception of those who are fabulously well to do). Reasoning is fruitless. There is something deeper going on in the hearts and minds of people when reason is tossed to the wind and a significant number of Americans, including many who call themselves Christians, cast a vote for their own harm. It is apparent that the problem is not of an economic nature but a spiritual one.

Our spiritual manual gives a diagnoses for the ailment of having eyes and not seeing and ears and not hearing. It is the result of idolatry. Coincidentally this is a theme throughout the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments. (1) . One of the clearest passages describing this phenomenon is Psalm 115:

Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the
glory,because of your love and faithfulness. 2 Why do the nations say,"Where is
their God?" 3 Our God is in heaven;he does whatever pleases him. 4 But their
idols are silver and gold,made by the hands of men. 5 They have mouths, but
cannot speak,eyes, but they cannot see; 6 they have ears, but cannot hear,noses,
but they cannot smell; 7 they have hands, but cannot feel,feet, but they
cannot walk;nor can they utter a sound with their throats. 8 Those who make them will be like them,and so will all who trust in them. NIV

As to modern idols, consider some of the things that Liberalism is known for:

....sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. NIV (Col 3:55)

If you have bought in to this notion that greed is the exclusive domain of the conservative, think back to the main theme of almost every single campaign ad you've heard for the past two years. They are almost always about money, which has been America's god for some time now, either how to get more of someone else's through government confiscation and redistribution, or how you can keep more of your own through tax cuts.

Today Americans will choose priests to preside over the temple of their god. I suppose this is how it must be for an idolatrous people.

The question remains however whether or not the people will realize their mistake when things go ill for them. My prognosis is that they will not. The past eight years of Bush bashing will provide another four or more years of excuses and blame for any down-turns or terrorist attacks and will distract most from realizing the root of the problem.

Another question is whether the salt of the land will become salty again? Will we repent of our own idolatry of placing the government, or riches, as the provider of our security instead of the most high God who possesses that sovereign place? This will require soul searching and prayer for revelation, for if we look anywhere else for our security and provision, we too have eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear.

note 1: Isa 6:9-10, Ps 135:15-18, Jer 5:21, Mt13:13-15, Mrk 8:18, Acts 28:26-27,Rev 3:18 plus more.

Happy Holidays?

As for the title, I didn't want to say "happy Halloween", so I borrowed a trick from the scrooges at the mall. Found this on my all time favorite blog of all times- then I stole it, he he he.

Can Obama be Beaten?

This coming election is not the most critical of our time. But perhaps these are the most critical times of our lives. It so happens that elections are only manifestations of changes that have already taken place in the hearts and minds of the people. They are critical only in that they act to seal that change.

The real change that Obama touts is a change from Capitalism to Socialism, at least on the fiscal front. On the social front the change will be to further institutionalize the religion of secular humanism (The Supreme Ct. deemed Sec. Hum. a religion in Torcaso v Watkins, 1961 .) with increased government hostility to his own supposed religion, Christianity. Of course both of these, socialism and secular humanism, become one in meaning under the heading of Marxism. Nothing new here except perhaps to a generation ignorant of life under such an oppressive regime that Marxism by necessity is.

There is a constant drumbeat that appeals to the more base and emotional elements of our humanity, such as fear, rebellion and envy. For at least a half century now the news media, academia and entertainment industry have been conquering and occupying the minds of an ever growing segment of the population. For these Obama is more than a person. He has become more than any mortal man is or ever could be. What he is for most of those who will cast a vote for him is a great equalizer, a righter of all wrongs, a wall fixed between action and consequence, between sowing and reaping. How he will do this is not important; after all, the daze of emotion and hope are too often interrupted by the harsh reality of choice and consequence.

For the elites on the other hand, he is a tool.  He will be used to implement their new ideas for an "even greater" society. As such, he is sandwiched between two segments of the population, the masses and the elites. For the one, blinded by their anger that others have more than they do, he embodies vane hOpe. For the wealthy liberal elites filling his campaign coffers, he embodies power.

Win or lose for Obama, America is at a tipping point. For the conservative, the fact that the likes of Obama-or Kerry, or Gore for that matter-would get more than ten or fifteen percent support in the polls should be terrifying. It wasn't long ago his ilk, by necessity, lived in the back rooms of Hollywood and in the basements of universities. Yet now his kind may be the next president; and even if he isn't, we will be right back here in two years hoping and begging for four more years of America. At this rate it is only a matter of time that we will prove Khrushchev ¹ right, that socialism would win "without firing a shot".

So can Obama be beaten? The Bible gives us a little insight by asking another question: "can a man walk on hot coals and not get burned?". This latest bailout is a time compacted example of the government going broke standing between what we sow, and what we reap. Having grown accustomed to this, it has come to be expected, deceiving us into believing that we can indeed sow without reaping. If that is what the people want, I'm afraid Obama cannot be beaten; that is unless we call beating him doing what he does better. As a conservative however I'd have to call that a win for Obama regardless of what happens this forth.

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Note 1

More Khrushchev: "We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism. We do not have to invade the United States, we will destroy you from within". (old enemies are so passe, don't you think?)

Are Reptiles Smarter than Mammals? Perhaps sometimes they are.

Like Pavlov's Dog, when I hear phrases like : "then he decided to....", or "he got it in his head that..." , I get ready to laugh. These phrases are normally followed by a story that has you shaking your head and chuckling. Then with a look of bewilderment and a scratcing of the head someone asks "What goes through a man's mind?"

This video is about 5 seconds, and it does beg that question.

A Word About Modern Compassion

The compassion of the wicked is cruel. (Prov. 12:10)