Reading Scripture….

All followers of Jesus should be regular readers of Scripture. This is the primary place where we get our lessons from Jesus Christ. Learning how to read scripture is at the heart of learning what Jesus intended for us to do.  The topic of literalism came up very early in church history. Origen, who was one of the first church theologians, warned us not to take much of what is in scripture as  literal. That seems to be a lesson lost on so many in the fundamentalist’s organizations even today.  They insist that everything in the Bible is literal and … Continue reading Reading Scripture….

The Sun…..

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ConserveI want to warn you up front here that I am putting on my “green” hat now. I don’t mention the fact that I am green often on this blog but it is yet another thing that I have at least a degree of passion for. I try to do my part in energy conservation. One part of that is to daily follow my wife around the house and turn off the lights she constantly leaves on. :)  But another more serious part is preaching to anyone who will listen about our dependence on fossil fuels and how it is hurting the earth. Continue reading “The Sun…..”

Our Natural Gas – What is Good for the Nation???

“If exporting [LNG] means accelerated development, then we will more rapidly deplete natural gas resources that could help sustain future generations of Americans, leading to higher prices as resources diminish,” he wrote. source: Should US export natural gas? Study for DOE fuels fiery debate. – CSMonitor.com. This was a rather lengthy article (3 pages) and it was not until the last paragraph (shown above) did the question “what is good for the nation?” actually come up. Throughout the article it was widely acknowledged that if we allow natural gas to be exported it will result in significantly higher natural gas and … Continue reading Our Natural Gas – What is Good for the Nation???

In Service Of Others……

  The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself  in the service of others. Mahatma Gandhi It is obvious to most of you that I think Gandhi was a very inspirational person. The above quote is certainly an example of that. Of course the bible has many quotes with the same message. The ultimate example of this is when in Matthew 20 Jesus himself said he came to serve, not to be served. I looked up the phrase “to serve” in my bible app and it returned 150 occurrences. That tells me that to be a Christian means … Continue reading In Service Of Others……

The Church and Evolution….

I know you expect this post to be about how the church is very much against the idea of evolution. But really it is going to be quite the opposite. Yes, many denominations within the church, like so many other areas of science, deny evolution of the species as originated by Darwin. The Scopes Monkey trial was evidence of that. William Jennings Bryan put up quite an argument about that and the church has for the most part has stiffly followed it up since then. But, this post is actually about how the church has practiced evolution over its two … Continue reading The Church and Evolution….

Your Actions Have Consequences….

  Source: Lance Armstrong confesses to Oprah Winfrey about his doping – The Washington Post. The network’s Scott Pelley also reported that Armstrong is in talks with U.S. Justice Department officials, who are weighing whether to join a whistleblower suit against him, about returning a portion of the roughly $35 million that the U.S. Postal Service paid his cycling team in sponsorship dollars. I don’t follow sports much anymore but it is hard to not see that Lance Armstrong won a bunch of bicycle races that made him a multimillionaire and that he apparently won them because of drug use. It … Continue reading Your Actions Have Consequences….

Man’s Fingerprints…..

One thing that seems so hard for many fundamentalist Christians is the idea that much of their religious traditions and beliefs come from man, not God. They seem totally unable to even conceive of that idea. Without that acknowledgement they have doomed their version of Christianity to the trash heap of time. Science, that they generally deem as the enemy, will eventually become just be too convincing for them to deny. Before I was excluded from a Lutheran church for my belief that the Bible is not totally literal or inerrant I had a lengthy discussion with a clergy leader … Continue reading Man’s Fingerprints…..

The Poor Get Poorer….

  There is one rule that works in every calamity, be it pestilence, war, or famine: The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The poor even help arrange it  — October 31, 1929  Will Rogers The quote from Will above just shows us that this saying that “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” has been around for quite a while. It has been a fact of life for longer than we can imagine. But the last sentence is pure Will. I just can’t wrap my mind around how so many of us poor folks around … Continue reading The Poor Get Poorer….

Sobering Statistics — Gun violence in America

Source:  Just the facts: Gun violence in America – U.S. News. The big picture: Every year in the U.S., an average of more than 100,000 people are shot, according to The Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence. Every day in the U.S., an average of 289 people are shot. Eighty-six of them die: 30 are murdered, 53 kill themselves, two die accidentally, and one is shot in a police intervention, the Brady Campaign reports. Between 2000 and 2010, a total of 335,609 people died from guns — more than the population of St. Louis, Mo. (318,069), Pittsburgh (307,484), Cincinnati, Ohio (296,223), Newark, … Continue reading Sobering Statistics — Gun violence in America

About That Pork…..

Source: Fiscal cliff deal includes at least $67.9 billion for special interests – U.S. News. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was less diplomatic. “It’s so incredibly disappointing that members of Congress saw fit to add hundreds of millions of dollars in special-interest handouts to the recently passed ‘fiscal cliff’ bill, which had the simple purpose of avoiding massive tax rate increases on average Americans,” McCain said Thursday. “It’s hard to think of anything that could feed the cynicism of the American people more than larding up must-pass emergency legislation with giveaways to special interests and campaign contributors,” he said. “And this growing … Continue reading About That Pork…..

Inclusiveness…..

Despite recent trends the U.S. is still pretty much an inclusive society. As the saying on the plaque at the Statue Of Liberty goes we welcome all others to our shores. The resulting diversity is in my mind one of the primary reasons we have been such a strong and prosperous country. Elitism is by definition exclusive. It wants more and more for a smaller and smaller portion of society. It celebrates that fact that more than half the wealth of this country is in the hands of the top one percent of the population. The advantages of inclusiveness and diversity … Continue reading Inclusiveness…..

About History…

There is an awful lot of difference between reading something and actually seeing it, for you can never tell, till you see it, just how big a liar History is. —  1926 Will Rogers I doubt if there is a thing in the world as wrong and unreliable as History. History ain’t what it is; it’s what some writer wanted it to be, and I just happened to thing I bet ours is as crooked as the rest. I bet we have started just as much devilment as was ever started against us — maybe more.  —  March 12,1932   … Continue reading About History…

Leaving No Troops???

Source: President Obama, Hamid Karzai: US Combat Operations in Afghanistan to End in Spring – ABC News. Roughly 66,000 U.S. troops are serving in Afghanistan. The military has proposed keeping several thousand troops in the country after 2014 as advisers, trainers and logistical support for Afghan forces; the White House has said it remains open to pulling out all troops entirely. Leaving no troops behind when we finally exit Afghanistan?  That would be a first for us.  We currently have troops stationed in about seventy-five percent of the world’s countries.  It wouldn’t be so bad to just leave some temporarily behind … Continue reading Leaving No Troops???

Criticizing Too Much……

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criticI am sometimes accused of criticizing too much on this blog. Some seem to think that if we were all just more positive as a society good things would then happen. Being a history buff I know that is not the case. Sorry if you disagree but that is my current line in the sand so to speak. Criticizing things is just about the only way to affect change in our society and if we need anything in today’s gridlocked world it is a change. Until enough people are critical of things nothing changes.

Yes, we could like the German citizenry did during World War II, ignore the problems around us and say every thing is fine and dandy. We could ignore all the unemployed and underemployed workers the same way they ignored all the millions of people who disappeared from their streets.  We could ignore the horrendously increasing cost of medical care in this country and how so many were locked out of the old system the same way they ignored the stench coming from some of their smokestacks. Let’s face it ignoring problems don’t make them disappear; if only that were a solution wouldn’t life be easy.

I do try to celebrate many things in today’s world. Not everything needs criticism. Continue reading “Criticizing Too Much……”

Social Conscience…..

  “One sure way to determine the social conscience of a government is to examine the way taxes are collected and how they are spent. And one sure way to determine the social conscience of an individual is to get his tax reaction. Taxes, after all are the dues we pay for the privilege of membership in an organized society.” —President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, actively making the case for taxes as part of his re-election campaign in 1936. I know I am going to make some of my more conservative readers barf here but I consider FDR to be one … Continue reading Social Conscience…..

The Persona of John Boehner….

Ok, I have been working day and night to try to find the right persona for John Boehner and I finally have it. After outing Mr. Cantor as the Lone Ranger I am here to do the same for Mr. Boehner. His persona is Rodney Dangerfield. I’m sure anyone over fifty knows that Rodney Dangerfield was a comedian who’s most famous line was  “I don’t get no respect” Although I like to go by the name RJ my first name is Rodney so I was always painfully familiar with Mr. Dangerfield. My family and people I knew during my childhood … Continue reading The Persona of John Boehner….

Do What I Say….

Let’s get back to Luke 6 for our study today. “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is … Continue reading Do What I Say….

Who Do We Owe Our Allegiance???

Today I want to look at some words from Brian D. McLaren in his book A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith Our faith is vain and self-centered if it only brings blessing for us or to us. It also must result in blessing that flows through us to the world….. If we locate Jesus primarily in light of the story that has unfolded since his time on earth, we will understand him in one way. But if we see him emerging from within a story that had been unfolding through his ancestors, and if … Continue reading Who Do We Owe Our Allegiance???

Man’s Inhumanity To Man…..

Man was made to mourn: A Dirge Many and sharp the num’rous ills Inwoven with our frame! More pointed still we make ourselves Regret, remorse, and shame! And man, whose heav’n-erected face The smiles of love adorn, – Man’s inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn!   By Robert Burns  1784 I always wondered where the phrase “Man’s inhumanity to man” came from. I didn’t realize it is generally attributed to Robert Burns. I’m not sure what the difference between a poem and a dirge is? They look pretty much the same to me. Wikipedia, as usual, has several other references … Continue reading Man’s Inhumanity To Man…..