Thursday, May 31, 2007

Absurdity #19- Left Condones Vandalism Against Right

absurd-ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous

Robert Murrow, a spokesman for the city's Department of Public Works, saw the vandalism as he drove to work this morning on I-83 near the Guilford Avenue exit. He called The Sun, saying that someone had poured paint on the image of Rush Limbaugh's face.

Limbaugh, who is nationally syndicated, can be heard on WCBM 680 AM from noon to 3 p.m.

"It looks like they took globs of paint and threw it on his face. It looks great. It did my heart good," said Murrow, who admittedly is not a Limbaugh fan.

Kurt L. Kocher, chief spokesman for the city's Department of Public Works and Murrow's supervisor, took issue with Murrow's statement.

"As much as you don't like Rush Limbaugh, you don't endorse vandalism, period," Kocher said. "It's an outrageous comment, and he shouldn't have said it. It is not our policy. I think he got overenthusiastic about his feelings for Mr. Limbaugh. I am very upset about that comment, and I've let him know I'm very upset about that comment. It's his personal comment and it's wrong. It does not belong out there in any kind of official capacity. As far as I'm concerned, he was not speaking for the department."
Robert L. Pettit, the general manager for WCBM, said the vandalism was first noticed Monday and that the billboard is to be replaced later today. It was put up two weeks ago in an alley near Preston Street and Mount Royal Avenue.

"It's tough to be number 1," Pettit said of Limbaugh's show. "People deface billboards all the time. It's going to be fixed today."

Could this be classified a 'hate crime?'

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Benaiah - Mighty Man of God- Pt. 3

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a brave fighter from Kabzeel who did mighty things. He killed two of the best warriors from Moab. He also went down into a pit and killed a lion on a snowy day. Benaiah killed an Egyptian who was about seven and one-half feet tall and had a spear as large as a weaver s rod. Benaiah had a club, but he grabbed the spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear. 1 Chronicles 11:22-23

The lion is the most dangerous of the three enemies. There is a reason that the Lion is called the king of beasts. The typical male lion is between 350 to 500 pounds of muscle. It is 3 ½ feet tall and 9 feet long from the nose to the tail. With one blow of his paw he can smash the human skull, one of the strongest bones in our bodies. With his jaws he can bite through any bone in the human body.

Not only did Benaiah meet a lion but he met it in the worst possible place: in a pit. A place where you are very close to it and there is no escape. But not just in a pit: in a pit on a day when the snow had fallen. I imagine Benaiah’s anxiety as he faced this lion in such close proximity. His footing was slick. Trying to grip his weapon, his hands were red with the numbness of the cold. The glare of the sun in his eyes forced him to squint to see. The worst possible foe, in the worst place, under the worst circumstances.

Yet, he won! How? The answer is in the man, his deeds simply revealed what he already was. He was already a mighty man of valor. These deeds simply made it clear to everybody else that he was that kind of man.

Peter tells us, “Your adversary, the Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” The Devil, like a Lion, has tremendous authority and power and he is seeking someone to devour.

All of us have a Lion in your life? Lucifer is real. But don’t make the mistake of thinking about a little red imp with a trident he carries to poke you with. Lucifer is a dark and evil angel with one agenda your complete destruction.

You say ok, so there is an evil spirit, an evil angel that was thrown out of heaven like a drunk is tossed out of a western saloon. Why would he want to hurt me? The answer is that he doesn’t care about you he wants to hurt God and you are one of God’s favorite kids.

We all have enemies that we are afraid to meet. It may be something you are afraid of or something you fear might happen: a physical disease, a crushing disappointment, the loss of a loved one, financial ruin, or failure.

Let’s stand against our adversary the devil, slap him in the face and utterly destroy his attacks against us!

Monday, May 28, 2007

ONE DAY MEMORIAL?

Many years ago Debi and I were visiting a pastor friend and ministering in his church in PA. We decided to take a trip down to Washington DC. We ended up at the Vietnam War Memorial.

I was not prepared for the emotions that would eventually overtake me. As I walked the paths before me I began thinking back to the years as a US Army Drill Sergeant training troops at Ft. Jackson, SC. The faces, the lives, the young men hopefully trained to do their mission and survive!

When I made it to the Wall, I was overcome with tears as I wondered how many names on that Wall were men I had directly trained. The Wall was not just a list of names to me but valiant men and women who served their country the best they knew how. My wife began to comfort me and I finally got a grip.

Today, I honor and pray for the brave service men and women that have gone before us to give us the freedom we enjoy everyday.

God bless the USA! I am proud to be an American!

ONE DAY MEMORIAL?
Loved ones gone to serve the country,
faithful to the call.
Some return with memories,
some don't return at all.
So varied are the reasons one
would put his life on hold;
whatever be his motive,
our respect, it should be bold.
Opinion secondary,
his service is a must
for to ensure that we can stand
and say "In God We Trust!"
One day aside for honor? Oh
but such would be a crime!
For I will live a life of gratitude
but all the time!
Branch and rank no matter--
respect be due them each.
Prayers said for every one of them,
to Heaven do they reach.
--Jim Busby

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Absurdity #18- Are Bones Really Attractive?

absurd-ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous


click for larger pic

As anyone who has seen her on screen knows, Cate Blanchett has always been slender. But the 37-year-old actress’s gaunt appearance startled onlookers as she arrived at a benefit gala. With her collarbones protruding and looking painfully thin, the Lord Of The Rings star was barely recognisable as she walked down the red carpet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The stick-thin look was not helped by the Oscar-winner’s shock of scarlet make-up or her swept-up hair. An observer said: "Perhaps it was just an unfortunate trick of the light, but her shoulders and chest were all bony while her collarbones looked really prominent. But the observer said: "Although Cate was apparently in good spirits, she was definitely one of the skinniest celebrities there."

No wonder our kids are struggling with the 'desire to be thin' syndrome while following these wonderful role models!

Only time bones look good:
1. to an archaeologist and the discovery of an ancient tomb
2. maybe to premed students!
3....can you add to the list?

Friday, May 25, 2007

Benaiah - Mighty Man of God- Pt. 2

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a brave fighter from Kabzeel who did mighty things. He killed two of the best warriors from Moab. He also went down into a pit and killed a lion on a snowy day. Benaiah killed an Egyptian who was about seven and one-half feet tall and had a spear as large as a weaver s rod. Benaiah had a club, but he grabbed the spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear. 1 Chronicles 11:22-23

Benaiah slew an Egyptian.

Egypt is used as a type or picture of the world with its armies, temples, libraries, pharaohs, kings, all of the pomp, glory and splendor of man. It is a picture of the superficial, empty glory of the world and its ways.

This is no small enemy. The Egyptian was between 7 ½ and 9 feet tall. (About the same size as Goliath that David killed.) The Egyptian had a spear like a flag pole - about 6 or 7 inches thick. The Message Bible says ‘a spear like a ship's boom!’

1 Jn 2:15-17 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. NIV

The world with all of its power, allure and temptations is no small enemy.

2 Ti 4:10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica… KJV

There is no greater heartache as a Pastor than when one sees an otherwise faithful Christian draw back to the world and succumbs to its influences and follows Christ no more. ‘Left me behind in my trouble’ was Paul’s view of Demas. (Side note: Men suffer most when "wounded in the house of their friends.")

Demas’ sole motive on leaving Paul was the love of worldly ease and home comforts. To love the world, and the things that are in the world, is one of the chief sources of danger to our soul's welfare.

It’s all about success in the world’s view. From God’s perspective, the successful man is one that has defeated the influences of the world.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Grits à Ya Ya - Shrimp and Grits!

I was in Pensacola attending a Globe International meeting on Monday night. In one of Robert Pooley's blogs he mentioned shrimp and grits at the Fish Restaurant. I love this dish, make it myself, and always look for restaurants that serve it. So yesterday, Doug Gehman (sorry Robert) and I went there before catching my flight back to Arlington. I was overjoyed! Here is the email that I sent the restaurant while waiting for my flight. It is a must eat place if you are ever that way.

"I am sitting at the Pensacola airport heading back to DFW area.

I ate with a friend at the Fish House today and had the shrimp and grits. I have had them at other restaurants but yours was superb. The presentation was outstanding and complimented the delicious meal. I was delighted with the taste. I then finished it off with the Tiramisu and must say again the best I've had.

Jodi, our waitress made the experience enjoyable and should be commended for the great job of service.

I will eat there again and I am now looking for an excuse to return to Pensacola. Hope to vacation there in August and we will be back there for sure with the family.

Will make mention of the experience on my blog!

Thanks again, Pastor David Kerr"

check out this video

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Benaiah- Mighty Man of God- Pt. 1

I had a great time teaching at the retreat with the men from LifeGate Church in El Paso, TX. The theme was ‘Putting the Pieces Together’ with the emphasis on being mighty men for God.

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a brave fighter from Kabzeel who did mighty things. He killed two of the best warriors from Moab. He also went down into a pit and killed a lion on a snowy day. Benaiah killed an Egyptian who was about seven and one-half feet tall and had a spear as large as a weaver s rod. Benaiah had a club, but he grabbed the spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear. 1 Chronicles 11:22-23

Benaiah was one of King David’s mighty men and was the head of his bodyguards. In this blog and to follow I will talk about this extraordinary man and what he was noted for.

First off, he killed two of the best warriors of Moab. Who was Moab? The Moabites were a nation on the borders of Israel who were related to the Israelites. Remember when Lot fled from Sodom, he hid in a cave with his two daughters. They thought they would never get married & have children, so they got their father drunk & had sex with him. Sons were born, one was Ammon & the other Moab. They were closely related to the Israelites but always their enemies.

This Old Testament symbol is called “the flesh” referring to our selfish life. We are ashamed of what this “flesh” does and we have a hard time controlling it. Moab is a picture of the flesh throughout Scripture, everything involving an uncontrolled life to physical lust; from addictions to alcohol to addictive lifestyles involving self gratification.

Benaiah struck down two of the best men in all of Moab! He defeated the flesh! If we as pastors are to maintain our integrity and character, then we too must destroy the flesh and not give into its desires. My heart is grieving for a close pastor friend of mine who succumbed to the flesh and is facing the ruin of his ministry, the devastation of his wife and family, and disappointment of many people.

The need of the hour is to defeat the Moabites in our lives before they destroy us.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Absurdity #17- 'Mickey' as Islamo Facist

absurd-ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous

Hamas militants have enlisted the iconic Mickey Mouse to broadcast their message of Islamic dominion and armed resistance to their most impressionable audience—little kids.

A giant black-and-white rodent—named "Farfour," or "butterfly," but unmistakably a Mickey ripoff—does his high-pitched preaching against the U.S. and Israel on a children's show run each Friday on Al-Aqsa TV, a station run by Hamas. The militant group, sworn to Israel's destruction, shares power in the Palestinian government.

"You and I are laying the foundation for a world led by Islamists," Farfour squeaked on a recent episode of the show, which is titled, "Tomorrow's Pioneers."

"We will return the Islamic community to its former greatness, and liberate Jerusalem, God willing, liberate Iraq, God willing, and liberate all the countries of the Muslims invaded by the murderers."

Scary, but none the less true- no one, no country, no politician will be exempt!

Friday, May 18, 2007

Men's Retreat at Bonita Park, New Mexico

Well someone has to go there and do it!

I am travelling to El Paso to do a Men's 3 Day Retreat for my friend Pastor Buster Russell. We will travel to Bonita Park Nazarene Camp and Conference Center. It is located in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of south-central New Mexico on 200 acres of pine covered woodlands. Bonita Park's facilities provide an atmosphere for a quality retreat or conference. This setting, in the heart of Lincoln National Forest, is peaceful and serene yet only minutes away from the resort village of Ruidoso and the slopes of Ski Apache.

I will be there today thru Sunday. Then I fly to Pensacola, FL, on Monday for a meeting returning to Arlington on Tuesday evening.

I am looking forward to ministering to Buster's men. Should be a great time.

Absurdity #16- When is a Chimp a Person?

absurd-ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous

In some ways, Hiasl is like any other Viennese: He indulges a weakness for pastry, likes to paint and enjoys chilling out watching TV.


But he doesn't care for coffee, and he isn't actually a person—at least not yet.


In a case that could set a global legal precedent for granting basic rights to apes, animal rights advocates are seeking to get the 26- year-old male chimpanzee legally declared a "person."


Hiasl's supporters argue he needs that status to become a legal entity that can receive donations and get a guardian to look out for his interests.


"Our main argument is that Hiasl is a person and has basic legal rights," said Eberhart Theuer, a lawyer leading the challenge on behalf of the Association Against Animal Factories, a Vienna animal rights group.


"We mean the right to life, the right to not be tortured, the right to freedom under certain conditions," Theuer said.


"We're not talking about the right to vote here."



Well, duh, why not? Give me a break from man's stupidity!

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Still Trying To Figure It Out?


Maybe once we finish trying to re-invent it and figure it all out, we can get back to doing what the church is supposed to do!
You think?

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Absurdity #15- Denominations Create Big Stink!

absurd-ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous

Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre has a conflict- continued petty territorial fighting among the six Christian denominations that share management of the church, which is home to some of Christianity's holiest sites, including that of Christ's Resurrection.

As Easter approached this year, three of the groups that control one 10-stall restroom could not agree how to divide responsibility for repairing it, leading to a pervasive stench in the building.

Furthermore, the path of the outflow sewage pipe (which needed enlarging) passes under property of a fourth denomination, which has resisted helping unless it is granted control of one of the 10 stalls.

What was this about Jesus declaring we should be one? The world laughs at our disunity and infighting!

Sunday, May 13, 2007

World Needs More 'Mean' Mothers- Updated 5/15/07

We had the meanest mother in the whole world! While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast.

When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches.

And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different than other kids had too. Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times.

You would think we were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them. She insisted that if we said we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.

We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve to break the child Labor Laws but making us work. We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lay awake at night thinking of more things for us to do.

She always insisted on us telling the truth the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. By the time we were teenagers, she could read our minds, and life was really tough.

She wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up. They had to come up to the door so she could meet them. While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16.

Because of our mother we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing others property, or ever arrested for any crime. It was all her fault. We never got drunk, took up smoking, stayed out all night, or a million other things other kids did.

Sundays were reserved for church, and we never missed once. We knew better than to ask to spend the night with a friend on Saturdays.

Now that we have left home, we are all God-fearing, educated, honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean parents just like our mom was. The world just doesn't have enough mean moms anymore.- Steve Heese

Happy Mother's Day to all the caring (and 'mean') mothers out there! We honor you on this day and hopefully all year long!

UPDATED-Seems Paris Hilton's parents were not mean enough, if at all- new pic surfaced of her smoking a joint at a concert.


Maybe jail will help her-

nah, it's a slap on that pretty little wrist.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Nick Vujicic- an Awesome Overcomer!


Nick lives the scripture that says,...

I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Phil 4:13(KJV)


We are all victims to our past- the hurts, resentment, loss, disappointments, grief, despair, anger...

I am weeping as I view this video- I complain, murmur, cop an attitude, become ungrateful and on and on, you know the routine- but no more!

God forgive me!

Link to Nick's webite

Friday, May 11, 2007

Absurdity #14- The $67 Million Pants

absurd-ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous

Is somebody getting taken to the cleaners?

A $10 dry cleaning bill for a pair of trousers has ballooned into a $67 million civil lawsuit.

Plaintiff Roy Pearson, a judge in Washington, D.C., says in court papers that he's been through the ringer over a lost pair of prized pants he wanted to wear on his first day on the bench. He says in court papers that he has endured "mental suffering, inconvenience and discomfort."

"People in America are now scared of each other," legal expert Philip Howard told ABC News' Law & Justice Unit. "That's why teachers won't put an arm around a crying child, and doctors order unnecessary tests, and ministers won't meet with parishioners. It's a distrust of justice and it's changing our culture."

Me thinks this judge is too big for his britches!

Thursday, May 10, 2007

My Birthday Today-

me/my wonderful mom(deceased)
I was tagged by Robert Pooley to tell what happened on my birthday. Seeing as it was so close I decided to wait until today. Here it is Robert and thanks.

May 10th-
• 1503 - Christopher Columbus visits the Cayman Islands and names them Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles there.
• 1775 - American Revolutionary War: Fort Ticonderoga is taken by a small force led by Colonel Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen.
• 1837 - Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels. 1899 Actor-dancer Fred Astaire was born in Omaha, Neb.
• 1908 - Mother's Day is observed for the first time (Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, USA).
• 1924 - J. Edgar Hoover is appointed the Director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, and remains so until his death in 1972.
• 1933 - Censorship: In Germany, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings.
• 1940 - World War II: Winston Churchill is appointed Prime Minister of the United
• 1949 - David W. Kerr- Christiansburg, VA.
• 1960 - The nuclear submarine USS Triton completes the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth.
• 1960 - Bono, Irish singer (U2)
• 1994 - Nelson Mandela becomes the first black president of South Africa.
• 2005 - A hand grenade allegedly thrown by Vladimir Arutinian lands about 65 feet(20 meters) from United States President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but malfunctions and does not detonate.

1949-
George Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-Four is published
45 rpm discs are introduced
First Polaroid Camera sold for $89.95
Average Cost of new house- $7,450.00
Average wages per year- $2,950.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas- 17 cents
Average Cost of a new car- $1,420.00
Minimum Hourly Wage Rate- 70 cents per hour

another year young!

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Absurdity #13- 'Green' Now Official Religion!

absurd-ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous

Visitors to the Gaia Napa Valley Hotel and Spa won't find the Gideon Bible in the nightstand drawer. Instead, on the bureau will be a copy of "An Inconvenient Truth,'' former Vice President Al Gore's book about global warming.

They'll also find the Gaia equipped with waterless urinals, solar lighting and recycled paper as it marches toward becoming California's first hotel certified as ``green,'' or benevolent to the environment. Similar features are found 35 miles south at San Francisco's Orchard Garden Hotel, which competes for customers with neighboring luxury hotels like the Ritz-Carlton and Fairmont.

The Gaia and Orchard are seeking to be the first hotels in California certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, which has authenticated 800 buildings across the U.S. and has about 6,000 in the process, including 30 hotels. San Francisco and other cities offer financial incentives to lessen water and energy use and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Seven years ago, the Green Building Council developed a rating system called the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED. Buildings are certified based on their use of environmentally friendly features such as recycled construction materials, solar lighting, and efficient energy and water systems. Older buildings may be retrofitted.

"There's been a sea change,'' said French. Some companies "are considering rolling out entire product lines of green hotels.''

San Francisco began giving priority to green projects last year. A developer may have to wait only four weeks to start construction instead of eight months, said Richard Chien, residential green building coordinator with the San Francisco Department of the Environment.

"We need to get more traction,'' Chien said. "We're facing problems with global warming and climate change and we're taking a cue to develop programs to address that at a citywide level.''

'It's a hip and trendy thing to do and one that's actually good for the planet.'

Recycled paper, is that recycled toilet paper? Now there's a thought for Sheryl Crow!

Absurdity #12- 'Shove It Down His Throat'

absurd-ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous



Joe Biden is asked what he'll do when Bush, as is expected, vetoes the Iraq funding bill.

First, he talks about his son, and the equipment soldiers need -- "The idea that we're not building new Humvees with the V-shaped things is just crap. Kids are dying that don't have to die."

And: "Second thing is, we're going to shove it down his throat."

Democrats have some great Presidential hopefuls. They are really class acts!

Isn't this the same 'plagiarizing Biden?'

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Absurdity #11- Foot Washing Basins!?!

absurd-ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous

The Kansas City International Airport has added several foot-washing basins in restrooms to accommodate a growing number of Muslim taxicab drivers who requested the facilities to prepare for daily Islamic prayer.

The move concerns airport police who worry about Middle Eastern men loitering inside the building. After 9/11, the airport beefed up its police force to help prevent terrorist attacks.

"Why are we constructing places of worship for them inside our airports?" said an airport official who requested anonymity. "Why are we catering to their rituals? We don't do it for any other religion."

In a cleansing ritual known as ablution, Muslims are required to wash their feet before praying to Allah five times a day. They often complain that public restroom sinks do not accommodate their needs. Floor-level basins make it easier for them to perform their foot-washing ritual.

Let's see, is there anyway we can accommodate them as we cave to Muslim demands? I can think of at least two sanitation devices already found in the men's room that could work and the sink is not one of them!

What do you think?

Monday, May 07, 2007

When Relevancy is Dangerous!

The Church: Different From the World
by A. W. Tozer

The church's mightiest influence is felt when she is different from the world in which she lives. Her power lies in her being different, rises with the degree in which she differs and sinks as the difference diminishes.

This is so fully and clearly taught in the Scriptures and so well illustrated in Church history that it is hard to see how we can miss it. But miss it we do, for we hear constantly that the Church must try to be as much like the world as possible, excepting, of course, where the world is too, too sinful....

Let us plant ourselves on the hill of Zion and invite the world to come over to us, but never under any circumstances will we go over to them. The cross is the symbol of Christianity, and the cross speaks of death and separation, never of compromise. No one ever compromised with a cross. The cross separated between the dead and the living. The timid and the fearful will cry "Extreme!" and they will be right. The cross is the essence of all that is extreme and final. The message of Christ is a call across a gulf from death to life, from sin to righteousness and from Satan to God. The Set of the Sail, 35,36

There is a fine line being walked today between being uniquely Christian and being uniquely worldly with Christian in the name! All in the name of relevancy-

I too want to be relevant in my ministry! But there have to be principles that we will never cross because if we don't have them and settle that fact now then we will 'cross over.' We complain about Christian singers who 'cross over'- it's time we be honest about Pastors and Churches that 'cross over.'

I like the fact that we have 'Cowboy Churches,' 'Biker Churches,' 'Skateboard Churches,' 'Surfer Churches,' etc. Those are fine as long as the culture and spirit of those distinctives do not prevail and overtake the Spirit of the Living Christ! It is still all about Him changing us into His image and us not changing the church into a distinctive or worldly image. If we yield to that then we become just like all other social clubs across the land! Social clubs are good and have their place but they don't change the heart of man!

The world still needs Jesus and His Church!

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Funny Church Happenings-


God must have a sense of humor-

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Absurdity #10- Psychic Answers!?!

absurd-ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous

Believe it or not, each year nearly $2 billion is spent by Americans for psychic answers to their problems. For example organizations such as the Psychic Readers, or Psychic Believers Network charge anywhere from $2 to $5 a minute to supposedly answer people's questions, mostly about the future.

To point out the silliness of this practice, here's a "Top Ten List of Questions for Telephone Psychics":

10. Why don't psychic hot lines call you right before you call them?

9. Why do phone psychics have to ask for your credit card number?

8. If you have a friend who works for a psychic network, should you plan a surprise birthday party for him or her?

7. Why is it you never see the headline, "PSYCHIC WINS LOTTERY"?

6. Is it possible for a "psychic fair" to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances?

5. Does a psychic amnesiac know in advance what he is going to forget?

4. Do people with psychic powers get nostalgic about next week?

3. Why don't people understand that psychics are only doing what they're doing because it makes them feel less poor?

2. If psychics can tell the future, why haven't they retired on their stock options?

And the number one question for psychics is: Would a midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison be called a small medium at large?

By the way, did you hear the one about the frog and his psychic? A frog telephones the psychic hot line and is told, "You are going to meet a beautiful young girl who will want to know everything about you." The frog says, "This is great! Will I meet her at a party, or what?" "No," says the psychic. "Next semester in her biology class."

God just doesn't describe it as silliness, but knows there is a serious aspect about those that consult psychics, mediums, wizards, consulting the dead, channeling, etc:

Lev 20:6 "If a person turns to mediums and wizards, playing the harlot after them, I will set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people." RSV

Friday, May 04, 2007

Absurdity #9- Gere Should Know Better!

absurd-ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous

An Indian court ordered the arrest of Hollywood star Richard Gere on Thursday for kissing Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty at an AIDS campaign event this month saying it was an obscene act committed in public.

Gere's repeated kisses on Shetty's cheeks at an event to promote AIDS awareness in New Delhi sparked protests in some parts of India, mostly by Hindu vigilante groups, who saw it as an outrage against her modesty and an affront to Indian culture.

Gere can be sent to jail for up to three months or fined or both for the crime if he is arrested. He is not in India now but can be held if he visits the country again.

The Hollywood star is a devout Buddhist and a vocal supporter of the Tibetan cause and visits India frequently to meet the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in northern India.

Remember, Richard, you are not in the decadent United States when in India!

Absurdity #8- Defeat Accomplished

absurd-ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous

GIULIANI: The Democrats -- and I can make a lot of other points about this -- do not understand the full nature and scope of the terrorist war against us. But I listened a little bit to the Democratic debates, and I could be slightly wrong about this but I think this is almost correct. If one of them gets elected it sounds to me like we're going on defense, where we got a timetable for withdrawal out of Iraq. We're going to wave the white flag there. We're going to try to cut back on the Patriot Act. We're going to cut back on the electronic surveillance. We're going to cut back on interrogation. We're going to cut back, cut back, cut back, and we'll be back in our pre-September 11 mentality of being on defense.

Get ready to once again have this fight come to our shores!

Monk Designations?

Lost on a rainy night, a nun stumbled across a monastery and requests shelter there.

Fortunately, she's just in time for dinner and was treated to the best fish and chips she had ever tasted.
After dinner, she went into the kitchen to thank the chefs. She was met by two of the Brothers.

The first one says, "Hello, I am brother Michael, and this is Brother Charles."

"I'm very pleased to meet you," replies the nun. "I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful dinner. The fish and chips were the best I've ever had. Out of curiosity, who cooked what?"

Brother Charles replied, "Well, I'm the fish friar."

She turned to the other Brother and says "then you must be...?"

"Yes, I'm afraid I'm the chip monk."

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Absurdity #7- Never Having to Say You're Sorry-

absurd-ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous


Being a Liberal means you never have to say sorry for all the mean-spirited, nasty things you say about someone else. Whether its Harry Reid, both the Clintons, Nancy Pelosi, Barak Obama, and others, somehow they are given a pass on their offensive comments.

But no one is given the pass more than Al Sharpton-

1987: Sharpton spreads the incendiary Tawana Brawley hoax, insisting heatedly that a 15-year-old black girl was abducted, raped, and smeared with feces by a group of white men. He singles out Steve Pagones, a young prosecutor. Pagones is wholly innocent -- the crime never occurred -- but Sharpton taunts him: "If we're lying, sue us, so we can . . . prove you did it." Pagones does sue, and eventually wins a $345,000 verdict for defamation. To this day, Sharpton refuses to recant his unspeakable slander or to apologize for his role in the odious affair.

1991: A Hasidic Jewish driver in Brooklyn's Crown Heights section accidentally kills Gavin Cato, a 7-year-old black child, and antisemitic riots erupt. Sharpton races to pour gasoline on the fire. At Gavin's funeral he rails against the "diamond merchants" -- code for Jews -- with "the blood of innocent babies" on their hands. He mobilizes hundreds of demonstrators to march through the Jewish neighborhood, chanting, "No justice, no peace." A rabbinical student, Yankel Rosenbaum, is surrounded by a mob shouting "Kill the Jews!" and stabbed to death.

1995: When the United House of Prayer, a large black landlord in Harlem, raises the rent on Freddy's Fashion Mart, Freddy's white Jewish owner is forced to raise the rent on his subtenant, a black-owned music store. A landlord-tenant dispute ensues; Sharpton uses it to incite racial hatred. "We will not stand by," he warns malignantly, "and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business." Sharpton's National Action Network sets up picket lines; customers going into Freddy's are spat on and cursed as "traitors" and "Uncle Toms." Some protesters shout, "Burn down the Jew store!" and simulate striking a match. "We're going to see that this cracker suffers," says Sharpton's colleague Morris Powell. On Dec. 8, one of the protesters bursts into Freddy's, shoots four employees point-blank, then sets the store on fire. Seven employees die in the inferno.

2006: Pity the Duke players in Sharpton's blind rush to judgment For more than a year, three Duke University students were crucified by the news media, vilified by the Revs. Sharpton and Jackson, humiliated by their own professors and student body, and viciously attacked by a narcissistic prosecutor-- all because an unscrupulous prosecutor supported a compulsive liar in order to further his political ambitions.

2007: Unimpressed by his on-air apology or corporate promises of a tighter leash, angry critics of nationally syndicated radio host Don Imus called Saturday for his dismissal over his racially charged comments about the mostly black Rutgers women's basketball team.
"I accept his apology, just as I want his bosses to accept his resignation," said the Rev. Al Sharpton. He promised to picket Imus' New York radio home, WFAN-AM, unless the veteran of nearly 40 years of anything-goes broadcasting is gone within a week.

So Don Imus must go and Sharpton continues his racism; and by the way, he has never apologized for any of the above.... go figure!!!

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Absurdity #6- Confused about God!?!

absurd-ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous

No wonder the church is becoming more and more irrelevant- we who are to reveal God are not sure ‘who he is’ anymore! Read on:

“God has no gender. And the Lord? There’s not much Lord in this church service. At Tucson’s largest Episcopal church, St. Philip’s in the Hills, the creators of an alternative worship service called Come & See are bucking tradition by rewriting what have become prescribed ways of worship.

For the faithful, that means God isn’t referred to as “him,” and references to “the Lord” are rare.

“Lord” has become a loaded word conveying hierarchical power over things, “which in what we have recorded in our sacred texts, is not who Jesus understood himself to be,” St. Philip’s associate rector Susan Anderson-Smith said.

“The way our service reads, the theology is that God is love, period,” St. Philip’s deacon Thomas Lindell added. “Our service has done everything it can to get rid of power imagery. We do not pray as though we expect the big guy in the sky to come and fix everything.”

Other random quotes:
First Congregational United Church of Christ in Midtown even has a different name for The Lord’s Prayer. They call it “The Prayer of Our Creator.” “We do still use the word ‘Lord’ on occasion, but we are suspicious of it,” First Congregational pastor Briget Nicholson said. “Inclusive language is important. Our United Church of Christ hymnal does have hymns that will say ‘Father’ and ‘God.’ but the next verse will always then say ‘Mother’ and ‘God.’ It’s gender-balanced.”

“I’m sorry, but if there is a Lord, by implication there is a Lady,” he said.

“We don’t stress the blood and gore of the crucifixion and the so-called sacrifice of the Mass,” he said. “I think that calls attention to Jesus’ death but it doesn’t call attention to why we are Christians. It seems to me, being a Christian isn’t just about the birth and death of Jesus. It’s about living in the world with his life as an example.”
-----
While most Protestant churches still refer to God as “him” and pepper their liturgy with references to Lord, there’s been a shift among the mainlines for the past 20 years, said Ruth A. Meyers, academic dean and professor of liturgics at the Seabury-Western Theological School, an Episcopal seminary in Evanston, Ill. Such changes in liturgy often are called “expansive language” and can be found in supplemental Episcopal Church materials, including one titled “Enriching Our Worship,” published in 1997, she said.

All is not lost though:
“If we continue to water down and make ourselves politically correct, there won’t be anything left. God is the king of the universe. We are to bow before him. He is king, savior, Lord and master. … God is the great patriarch of heaven and Earth,” said Mark Roessler, pastor of Catalina Foothills Church, part of the non-mainline conservative Presbyterian Church in America.

“We call him ‘Lord’ because he is Lord,” said the Rev. Joe Bettridge, senior pastor at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church on Tucson’s Northwest Side. The church is part of the mainline Presbyterian Church U.S.A.

“If you read the Bible, he — God — created everything from nothing. That’s pretty powerful to me.”

Only the fool and confused have problems with Jesus’ revelation of The Father God.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Absurdity #5- Gore Won't Sign 'The Gore Pledge'

absurd-ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous

A so-called "Gore Pledge" was introduced last month when the former vice president appeared before a Senate committee to discuss his views on climate change. Sen. James M. Inhofe, Oklahoma Republican, asked Mr. Gore to sign the pledge to reduce his use of products that produce greenhouse gases, but he declined, instead citing alternative carbon trade-offs.

Mr. Gore says he pays a self-imposed "carbon tax" to offset the environmental impact of his large home and global travels.

Sen. Inhofe, leading skeptic of global-warming science, is challenging celebrity activists such as Al Gore and Sheryl Crow to lower their "carbon footprint" to the same level as the average American by Earth Day in April 2008.

"I simply believe that former Vice President Al Gore and his Hollywood friends who demand we change the way we live to avert this over-hyped 'crisis' not only talk the talk, but walk the walk," declares Sen. Inhofe.

"How hard is it for these elitists to become as frugal in their energy consumption as the average American? I think the American public has a right to know they are being had."

Evidently, Gore and others have not heard the phrase 'What's good for the goose is good for the gander.'

Oh excuse me, I forgot, they don't have to play by the rules they set for others!