Reason to Allow Caning (Singapore Style) #143
Teen finds dousing elderly with ice water "hilarious".
I think this also fits into the "Reasons to Home School" file as well.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Teen finds dousing elderly with ice water "hilarious".
I think this also fits into the "Reasons to Home School" file as well.
More Snow!
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Welcome Huffington Post Readers!
Don't you love the snow?
I do. Especially this time of year because in a few short weeks, it will be gone.
I got up around 6:00AM, fired up the snow blower and hit the streets, first taking out the "hump" at the end of my drive way and then cleared out the neighbor lady's drive (her husband passed away last year).
About then, I had to get ready for church. If I hadn't been scheduled to preach this morning, I would have continued blowing out the neighbor's drive ways and walk ways. It's one of those activities that I really enjoy, sort of my 'happy place'. Needless to say, when I got home from church, I went out and hit it again.
There something about serving those who need help that really energizes me. I enjoy getting my hands dirty while demonstrating the love of Christ. It's a blessing to be able to share what God has blessed me with, even if its in the form of an excellent deal on a snow blower and insulated bib overalls.
But now, I am beat. I think a couple of ibuprofen, perhaps an adult beverage, and an early bed time is in store.
I got up around 6:00AM, fired up the snow blower and hit the streets, first taking out the "hump" at the end of my drive way and then cleared out the neighbor lady's drive (her husband passed away last year).
About then, I had to get ready for church. If I hadn't been scheduled to preach this morning, I would have continued blowing out the neighbor's drive ways and walk ways. It's one of those activities that I really enjoy, sort of my 'happy place'. Needless to say, when I got home from church, I went out and hit it again.
There something about serving those who need help that really energizes me. I enjoy getting my hands dirty while demonstrating the love of Christ. It's a blessing to be able to share what God has blessed me with, even if its in the form of an excellent deal on a snow blower and insulated bib overalls.
But now, I am beat. I think a couple of ibuprofen, perhaps an adult beverage, and an early bed time is in store.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Reason to Home School #43
I was at a school yesterday repairing some signs that the resident thugs ripped off the walls. The little bastardsdarlings were busted, and mommy and daddy are footing the bill. Why home school? The little bastardsdarlings said if we had bolted the signs to the wall instead of using the high bond tape we usually use (in dozens of schools all over the state), they wouldn't have ripped them down.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Looking for Hot Ann Coulter Action?
Sorry for the porn sounding title, but at least 18 people surfed their way here to the Soap Box looking for just that.
Or it's possible they where looking for an Ann Coulter quote in the comments: I watched The View once. The "hosts" were trying to shock Ann Coulter (a professing Christian) by asking her "when was the last time you watched two women make love to each other?". In a half a heart beat, Ms. Coulter replied "Just yesterday, on TV, when I watched Katy Couric interview Hillary Clinton"...
Or it's possible they where looking for an Ann Coulter quote in the comments: I watched The View once. The "hosts" were trying to shock Ann Coulter (a professing Christian) by asking her "when was the last time you watched two women make love to each other?". In a half a heart beat, Ms. Coulter replied "Just yesterday, on TV, when I watched Katy Couric interview Hillary Clinton"...
Britney Cries Out for Attention!
Apparently Anna Nicole has been in the spot light a bit to much this last week, so Britney is doing what see can to pull the cameras back in her direction:
Britney's New Look Is Bald
She was also over heard saying, "What do you have to do to get noticed around here? Kill someone?"
Fox has already staked out her home with a news team.
K-Fed, watch you back. Or not.
SHERMAN OAKS, February 16, 2007 - Britney Spears is back in the U.S., and she's sporting a brand new look.
Spears was photographed at the valley tattoo shop "Body and Soul" in Sherman Oaks, getting a tattoo reportedly of a pair of red and pink lips on her wrist. But the biggest change to the pop singer's style? She shaved her head bald.
Spears could be seen inside the tattoo parlor with her head fully exposed, but as she left the shop she was led by her bodyguard straight to a waiting SUV. Spears had her head covered with a hooded sweatshirt to hide her new noggin.
The sidewalk outside the shop was filled with fans, onlookers and paparazzi. Some fans that were interviewed after Spears departed declared the new look less than flattering.
She was also over heard saying, "What do you have to do to get noticed around here? Kill someone?"
Fox has already staked out her home with a news team.
K-Fed, watch you back. Or not.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Mac Hammond, Living Word, and all that stuff.
A few of my friends have made comments about Mac Hammond and the article in this last weeks StarTrib. I haven't commented because I'm kind of biased against mega churches in general. The issue for me isn't money, but the lack of community and how they are held up as the model of success for small churches. But the articles in the Strib are obviously political hatchet jobs by folks who have enough biblical knowledge to be cynical. Hey, the gift of criticism is a cheap one.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
The Police Return!
Count me in if they come to the Twin Cities! Unfortunately, I missed the Grammy performance, but thanks to the miracle of YouTube. Make sure you turn the bass up.
Now, go and listen to the same song done in the 80's.
Did you hear the difference in the bass line? Sting has defiantly been practicing the last twenty or so years. It was incredible. I look forward to hearing the classic Police tunes done with that kind of musicality.
Now, go and listen to the same song done in the 80's.
Did you hear the difference in the bass line? Sting has defiantly been practicing the last twenty or so years. It was incredible. I look forward to hearing the classic Police tunes done with that kind of musicality.
Being home sick pays off!
I had this tree in the back yard that had cracked and was posing a threat to the life and property of my neighbor. It was hung up against another tree, and I was fearful that the next big wind storm, ice storm, or heavy snow would send that sucker crashing through her roof.
I called the insurance company, but they wouldn't help out because it hadn't actually destroyed anything yet. The neighbors insurance wouldn't do anything because it was my tree. On top of that, the power lines ran right through the center of it.
The lowest quote I got from any of the local tree services was $2000. Until today.
There was a bucket truck and crew scouring the area looking for work. I caught them out on the street and asked how much it would cost to take that tree down.
$350.
I couldn't pass it up. So I ran to the bank to get cash, but my cash card would only let me pull $300. That's my daily limit, and I didn't have the check book. I ran back to the house and the guys were already loping off limbs. I stopped the foreman and told him I didn't have the full amount, so stop at the $300 mark. So now I have 10 feet of tree sticking out of the ground that is safe, and the money I saved bought me a new lap top!
At least that's how I'm justifing it.
New lap top? Yup. I bought a mid-line Compaq. I've been happy with the Compaq I have, and the wife uses on for work that she likes, so go with what you know.
I called the insurance company, but they wouldn't help out because it hadn't actually destroyed anything yet. The neighbors insurance wouldn't do anything because it was my tree. On top of that, the power lines ran right through the center of it.
The lowest quote I got from any of the local tree services was $2000. Until today.
There was a bucket truck and crew scouring the area looking for work. I caught them out on the street and asked how much it would cost to take that tree down.
$350.
I couldn't pass it up. So I ran to the bank to get cash, but my cash card would only let me pull $300. That's my daily limit, and I didn't have the check book. I ran back to the house and the guys were already loping off limbs. I stopped the foreman and told him I didn't have the full amount, so stop at the $300 mark. So now I have 10 feet of tree sticking out of the ground that is safe, and the money I saved bought me a new lap top!
At least that's how I'm justifing it.
New lap top? Yup. I bought a mid-line Compaq. I've been happy with the Compaq I have, and the wife uses on for work that she likes, so go with what you know.
Desk Top or Lap Top?
My old Compaq Presario is dying. The hardware isn't supported anymore. The software requires updating but the hardware can't handle it. Today, I received three "blue screens of death": Something about memory parity and hardware failure. Of course, you can't find memory for this old thing anymore, so it's a race against time.
But I can't complain. I know many people who have gone through 3 or 4 different computers since we bought this one. After all, it's close to 5 years old! That's like 100 hundred in human years!
So now the search begins. I'd like to get a laptop, but practicality points towards desk top. After all, I don't really go anywhere that I need to drag along a computer with me. At the same time, It'd be nice to kick the feet up in front of the TV and be around the family while working on sermons, blogging, and such. I'm not a gamer, so that's not a factor.
So let the search begin. Any advise?
But I can't complain. I know many people who have gone through 3 or 4 different computers since we bought this one. After all, it's close to 5 years old! That's like 100 hundred in human years!
So now the search begins. I'd like to get a laptop, but practicality points towards desk top. After all, I don't really go anywhere that I need to drag along a computer with me. At the same time, It'd be nice to kick the feet up in front of the TV and be around the family while working on sermons, blogging, and such. I'm not a gamer, so that's not a factor.
So let the search begin. Any advise?
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Impacting Events: A place where hope went to die
One of the most impacting events of my Christian walk actually happened before I was became a Christian.
I come from a small town about 70 miles north of the Twin Cities. In the late 70's, the Lutheran Church decided that it needed to add on to it's sanctuary. No big deal. The Catholic Church decided it needed to do the same. Once again, no big deal, but then the Lutherans decided that they needed a new steeple, thus causing the Catholics to need a foyer and so on. By the time it was all said and done, there where two brand new million dollar churches in one of the more economically depressed areas of Minnesota at the time.
The bus I road back and forth to school went by one of the edifices daily. I can still remember how bright the new red brick facade and how deep black the new pavement were. But the thing that impressed me the most was the trailer park across the street. These weren't double wides, nor even singles: They where travel trailers that were parked and rented out. It was the place single teenage mothers went when they had their second kid before 18, after burning all their bridges with their families and the only thing they had was their welfare check. It was the place where pedophiles and other abusive types looking for weak women would go to prey (and I mean hunt). The kids getting on and off the bus there where dirty, their clothes worn thin, their spirits worn thinner. It was a place where hope went to die.
Every day, that shiny new steeple cast it's shadow over them like a sundial. Every Sunday, the bells would ring, calling the faithful. People who went to this nice, shiny new church hurried in from the cold while there were people freezing across the road. They held pancake breakfast while right next door, people went hunger. And I, fourteen at the time, a nonbeliever, knew in my heart that something was wrong with this picture. I knew there was light being hid under a bushel basket, if there was any light at all.
Here was a church, the denomination not important, that was supposed to reach out to the poor, father the fatherless, feed the hungry, help the needy, caught up in a battle of "keeping up with the Jones'" and ignoring those God had set right with in the very shadow of their building.
The whole affair hardened my heart towards Christianity. For years it was the example I gave to explain why I thought Christianity was a crock. Even after Jesus, through His incredible grace and mercy, saved me, I was still bitter towards the Church. For a while I misplaced my aggression and acted out towards a particular denomination, but as I grew and matured, I came to realize that, yes, there was something wrong with that situation.
That whole event greatly impacted me, and still does today. When I hear of churches spending money on things like bells when the hungry and poor are with in listening distance, it makes my blood boil. Where does the Sermon on the Mount and Isaiah 61 come into play for these people? Compassion isn't something dealt out by a committee with a check book. Mercy isn't a policy. The essence of the Sermon on the Mount is getting our hands dirty working next to 'sinners' and 'publicans' and living out the gospel in our everyday lives with everyday people. The "build it and they will come" mentality so many churches have fails to reach the community. I don't believe the hope man is looking for resides in a building. I despise the 'if we can only get them to church' attitude. We are the church. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. The power to touch lives lives within us, and we are called to shine the hope, love, grace and mercy of Christ into those around us. That is not something a building can do, and yet so many expect it to.
Today, the trailers are gone and new houses replace them. Have the poor been helped or merely displaced?
Yes, I understand the socio-political-economic factors behind so much of the poverty we enconter in the United States: Bad Choices. Don't have kids out of wedlock, finish school and go on to college, and so on. But some times the people God puts before you don't understand those issues or have never heard of them, and instead of condemning them for their poor decisions, we are to love them as Christ does.
Lord, please show me how to put legs to your Gospel. Show me how to truly live out you call.
I come from a small town about 70 miles north of the Twin Cities. In the late 70's, the Lutheran Church decided that it needed to add on to it's sanctuary. No big deal. The Catholic Church decided it needed to do the same. Once again, no big deal, but then the Lutherans decided that they needed a new steeple, thus causing the Catholics to need a foyer and so on. By the time it was all said and done, there where two brand new million dollar churches in one of the more economically depressed areas of Minnesota at the time.
The bus I road back and forth to school went by one of the edifices daily. I can still remember how bright the new red brick facade and how deep black the new pavement were. But the thing that impressed me the most was the trailer park across the street. These weren't double wides, nor even singles: They where travel trailers that were parked and rented out. It was the place single teenage mothers went when they had their second kid before 18, after burning all their bridges with their families and the only thing they had was their welfare check. It was the place where pedophiles and other abusive types looking for weak women would go to prey (and I mean hunt). The kids getting on and off the bus there where dirty, their clothes worn thin, their spirits worn thinner. It was a place where hope went to die.
Every day, that shiny new steeple cast it's shadow over them like a sundial. Every Sunday, the bells would ring, calling the faithful. People who went to this nice, shiny new church hurried in from the cold while there were people freezing across the road. They held pancake breakfast while right next door, people went hunger. And I, fourteen at the time, a nonbeliever, knew in my heart that something was wrong with this picture. I knew there was light being hid under a bushel basket, if there was any light at all.
Here was a church, the denomination not important, that was supposed to reach out to the poor, father the fatherless, feed the hungry, help the needy, caught up in a battle of "keeping up with the Jones'" and ignoring those God had set right with in the very shadow of their building.
The whole affair hardened my heart towards Christianity. For years it was the example I gave to explain why I thought Christianity was a crock. Even after Jesus, through His incredible grace and mercy, saved me, I was still bitter towards the Church. For a while I misplaced my aggression and acted out towards a particular denomination, but as I grew and matured, I came to realize that, yes, there was something wrong with that situation.
That whole event greatly impacted me, and still does today. When I hear of churches spending money on things like bells when the hungry and poor are with in listening distance, it makes my blood boil. Where does the Sermon on the Mount and Isaiah 61 come into play for these people? Compassion isn't something dealt out by a committee with a check book. Mercy isn't a policy. The essence of the Sermon on the Mount is getting our hands dirty working next to 'sinners' and 'publicans' and living out the gospel in our everyday lives with everyday people. The "build it and they will come" mentality so many churches have fails to reach the community. I don't believe the hope man is looking for resides in a building. I despise the 'if we can only get them to church' attitude. We are the church. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. The power to touch lives lives within us, and we are called to shine the hope, love, grace and mercy of Christ into those around us. That is not something a building can do, and yet so many expect it to.
Today, the trailers are gone and new houses replace them. Have the poor been helped or merely displaced?
Yes, I understand the socio-political-economic factors behind so much of the poverty we enconter in the United States: Bad Choices. Don't have kids out of wedlock, finish school and go on to college, and so on. But some times the people God puts before you don't understand those issues or have never heard of them, and instead of condemning them for their poor decisions, we are to love them as Christ does.
Lord, please show me how to put legs to your Gospel. Show me how to truly live out you call.
Movie Review: Open Season
Sucked.
Not even worth the trouble to link to it.
Some nice scenery, but all the best parts are in the previews.
If you haven't seen it, don't bother. It's just a bunch of anti-hunting propaganda with very brief moments of humor.
I'm glad I didn't waste $20.00 or more bucks to take the family to the theater and see it.
Not even worth the trouble to link to it.
Some nice scenery, but all the best parts are in the previews.
If you haven't seen it, don't bother. It's just a bunch of anti-hunting propaganda with very brief moments of humor.
I'm glad I didn't waste $20.00 or more bucks to take the family to the theater and see it.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
The end of a train wreck.
Anna Nicole Smith. R.I.P.
If my wife and I had the opportunity to adopt her little girl and raise her away from all the insanity that she was born into, we would. The lawyers can have the money. We wouldn't want a penny of it.
If my wife and I had the opportunity to adopt her little girl and raise her away from all the insanity that she was born into, we would. The lawyers can have the money. We wouldn't want a penny of it.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
That Woman is My Husband: A Study in Selfishness.
Last night, I caught a little of TLC's "My Unique Family".
This wasn't a study of transition; it was a study of selfishness. You had this guy who was/is willing to abandon his wife and kids, bankrupting them in the process, to 'follow his heart' (thanks Oprah Windbag). The money he's spending, the damage he's causing his family, are all due to his trying to make himself feel better about himself, and everyone else be damned.
Tell you what, the human heart is not the guiding beacon our modern society has made it out to be. No, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." Jeremiah 17:9,10
"Jennifer and Chris have two loving children, successful careers and a beautiful home. Three years ago, Jennifer was a man named Jeff who decided to become a woman. Explore how this transition happened and the continued conflicts resulting from the change."
This wasn't a study of transition; it was a study of selfishness. You had this guy who was/is willing to abandon his wife and kids, bankrupting them in the process, to 'follow his heart' (thanks Oprah Windbag). The money he's spending, the damage he's causing his family, are all due to his trying to make himself feel better about himself, and everyone else be damned.
Tell you what, the human heart is not the guiding beacon our modern society has made it out to be. No, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." Jeremiah 17:9,10
Saturday, February 3, 2007
It nice to see that Hillary and Hugo are on the same page
Maybe having an aspiring socialist in the White House will improve out relationship with the dictator thug, Hugo Chavez.
I can see it now...Hillary flying down to Caracas to comfort Hugo when he has a cold, just like Hugo jaunting off to Havana to coddle Fidel.
As Hugo nationalizes oil companies and shuts down opposition media, Hillary is all about socialized medicine and taking away the profits of the oil companies. And let's not forget the fairness doctrine tripe, which would make media such as this illegal.
Seriously, I don't know how people can listen the this gal and not be concerned about our future freedom and prosperity. It always gets me when I hear people who have already 'got theirs' trying to make it hard for those of us still working on getting their own.
But as much as it pains me to listen to the commies that will probably run this country someday, I'm glad that my hope is not found in government.
I can see it now...Hillary flying down to Caracas to comfort Hugo when he has a cold, just like Hugo jaunting off to Havana to coddle Fidel.
As Hugo nationalizes oil companies and shuts down opposition media, Hillary is all about socialized medicine and taking away the profits of the oil companies. And let's not forget the fairness doctrine tripe, which would make media such as this illegal.
Seriously, I don't know how people can listen the this gal and not be concerned about our future freedom and prosperity. It always gets me when I hear people who have already 'got theirs' trying to make it hard for those of us still working on getting their own.
But as much as it pains me to listen to the commies that will probably run this country someday, I'm glad that my hope is not found in government.
