China’s real estate bubble

Source: China’s real estate bubble – CBS News. China has been nothing short of a financial miracle. In just 30 years, this state-controlled economy became the world’s second largest, deftly managed by government policies and decrees. One sector the authorities concentrated on was real estate and construction. But that may have created the largest housing bubble in human history. If you go to China, it’s easy to see why there’s all the talk of a bubble. We discovered that the most populated nation on earth is building houses, districts and cities with no one in them. This article got my attention … Continue reading China’s real estate bubble

Suspicious of Experiences With God…..

This is an ongoing post about the book “If Grace Is True” by Philip Gulley and James Mulholland.  Here are the words for today. Many people are suspicious of experiences with God. The believers in Jerusalem were suspicious of Peter’s experience. You may be suspicious of mine. Some argue that such experiences aren’t trustworthy, that infallible Scripture is the only safe guide in our search for truth. They forget the Bible contains the accounts of hundreds of experiences with God. Again and again, God came to individuals and spoke to them…. The Bible was never intended to end the conversation, … Continue reading Suspicious of Experiences With God…..

Equal Voice At The Ballot Box….

Victor said she was “shocked” when she heard what Scalia said about the Voting Rights Act during the Supreme Court’s oral arguments on a key provision of the law last month. “I thought you must not know what’s happening in this country,” Victor wrote. “After learning more this year from the civil rights group, Advancement Project, I know that just as there were for me, there are barriers to voting for many people – especially people who are black or brown.” Obama pointed to Victor, who waited in line for hours to vote at a polling place in Miami, as … Continue reading Equal Voice At The Ballot Box….

Success. Fear. And stuff…..

  There is only one battle worth fighting: spend every second of your life searching for the spark that makes you feel alive. There’s no other fight quite like it. You fail, and it doesn’t matter. The entire world thinks you’re pathologically unstable, and it doesn’t matter. You receive 200 rejection letters from agents, you keep on writing. Reach for the stars and don’t whine when you fall on your ass. Source: Success. Fear. And stuff. « Cristian Mihai. I certainly enjoy reading posts of my fellow bloggers. As I have said before most of what I read comes from other … Continue reading Success. Fear. And stuff…..

On The Path….

I got to thinking the other day about how I am different than I was ten years ago and especially twenty years ago.  Although much is the same a lot has also changed in my life in those years.  I have a friend at the soup kitchen where I volunteer who proudly wears a T-shirt that says “Thank God, I am not the man I used to be”.  He is a recovering drug addict and one of my dearest friends. I too should be wearing that shirt as I am not the man I used to be either. Thank the … Continue reading On The Path….

Whine Less, Breathe More…….

  Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; hate less, love more; and all good things are yours. -Swedish proverb I don’t know many Swedes I guess so I don’t know if any of them actually live by this proverb. I briefly had a Norwegian roommate in college and he definitely liked to party with his friends.  I can’t imagine another proverb that has so many lessons of life in it.  I wonder where it came from. Of course all of us Christians know about the Book of Proverbs in the … Continue reading Whine Less, Breathe More…….

Moral Elections……

When we start out trying to make everybody have Moral elections, why, it just dont look like we going to have Marines enough to go round.” – Will Rogers, 26 May 1928 After Mr. Bush discovered that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq he turned on a dime to say that he invaded Iraq so that the people would have moral elections.  It looks like that argument is older than I thought as here is Will’s quote from eighty-five years ago saying the same thing.  We didn’t have enough Marines this time around either. He ended up … Continue reading Moral Elections……

The Pledge….

It was nice to see that Rand Paul’s standing filibuster bringing additional attention to the military drone issue in this country. Our country is based on check and balances and the current drone program has neither of those characteristics. The possibility of serious abuse scares me and should scare all of us. But, that is not what this post is going to be about. Instead it is about our pledge of allegiance and our national anthem. I think it is time to replace both of these “sacred documents” to align us with twenty-first century thinking.  We need to get away … Continue reading The Pledge….

Didn’t Die For Us Personally…

  ‎”Can you imagine our Savior dying for all of us, yet we have to argue over just whether he did die for us personally, and not for you. Sometimes you wonder if His lessons of sacrifice and devotion was pretty near lost on a lot of us.” – Will Rogers, 7 April 1935 Those who follow my at my other blog at RJs Corner know that I am an avid Will Rogers fan. I quote him often on that site. But, when I came across this quote I knew it was time for him to appear on Red Letter … Continue reading Didn’t Die For Us Personally…

Two Scenarios….

I want to do a followup of this morning post with a little more whimsical frame of mind.  As I see it we are looking at two different world views when it come to our energy needs. One of our political parties theme seems to be “Drill Baby, Drill”. They want to extract absolutely every drop of oil out of our planet. They adamantly insist on building the Keystone pipeline so that we can take the dirtiest oil around and send it off to countries with little or no environmental regulations. They want to send our kids over to foreign … Continue reading Two Scenarios….

Putting a Man On The Moon And….

  Source: Obama’s $2 billion plan to wean US off foreign oil (+video) – CSMonitor.com. If the Obama administration has its way, $2 billion in new revenue from offshore oil drilling will fund research into how to wean American drivers off imported oil… “The reason so many different people – from the private sector, the public sector, our military – support this idea is because it’s not just about saving money, it’s also about saving the environment. But it’s also about our national security,” Obama said. “This is not a Democratic idea or a Republican idea; this is just a smart … Continue reading Putting a Man On The Moon And….

Keystone Pipeline Opposition Explained….

  Dear R J, The Keystone XL pipeline is a giant straw that spews out some of the dirtiest oil on earth. Christians have advocated tirelessly to stop the pipeline. Despite this opposition, the State Department recently released a report that claims the pipeline is “unlikely to have a substantial impact.” Where did they get their data? The oil and gas industry. [1] Tell the State Department to take a second look at the damage the Keystone XL pipeline would do to God’s creation.  Oil from tar sands releases significantly more carbon pollution than any other energy source we import, and … Continue reading Keystone Pipeline Opposition Explained….

Jefferson And The Clergy….

This is a continuation about Jefferson and religion. As stated before, there are many especially in evangelical circles that say that Jefferson meant for our country to be founded on Christian principles. My posts on the blog are to show that although Jefferson was a follower of Jesus Christ at one level he was by no means saying the U.S. should be a Christian nation. In fact much of his writing said exactly the opposite.  Here are some of his words about Christian clergy: They [the clergy] believe that any portion of power confided to me, will be exerted in … Continue reading Jefferson And The Clergy….

If grace is true, it is true for everyone. – Part 4 If Grace Is True….

I didn’t consider this for many years. I actually thought my experiences rare. I was one of the chosen. I was special. Now I know the truth. God whispers his love in every ear. He isn’t interested in declaring his love to a select few. He doesn’t limit his presence to Vatican City, to the halls of seminaries, to the offices of preachers, or to church altars. God doesn’t restrict his communication to the Bible. He doesn’t confine his presence to any single denomination or religion. God speaks to all people, even when they’re not inclined to listen. Fortunately, God … Continue reading If grace is true, it is true for everyone. – Part 4 If Grace Is True….

About Those Taxes…..

  No slick lawyers, or income tax experts can get you out of a national sales tax. It’s so much on the dollar on every luxury you buy. Then, if you like to live in luxury, the poor fellow knows you are paying for it and he will even encourage you to buy more so it will help out the government.  November 2, 1924  Will Rogers This morning’s post was about closing tax loopholes so I thought I would continue with that thread this afternoon.  I am one that believe that a significant amount of our taxes should be raised … Continue reading About Those Taxes…..

Paul Ryan’s new Medicare plan…

  Source: Paul Ran’s new Medicare plan could be tip of the iceberg (+video) – CSMonitor.com. A parallel factor is rising income. As a society grows richer, it tends to spend more of its income on health care. Add in demographics (an aging population) and a lack of competition among health-care providers in many markets, and you have a recipe for more people to consume more health-care services at higher prices. For once I am not going to comment on Mr. Ryan’s seemingly enthusiasm to balance his budget on the backs of the poor while asking for increases in our bloated … Continue reading Paul Ryan’s new Medicare plan…

Putting Conditions On Accepting God’s Love…..

I am going to jump off the series of posts about God’s grace for a quick aside. It amazes me how God can have agape love for us humans. He puts no conditions on his love and he loves each and every one of us. Knowing that God’s love for me is not dependent on me is reassuring indeed. It also amazes me how we Christians seem to put so many conditions on accepting that love! I was recently vegging out for a few minutes with TV and came across a series that documents a Hutterite community. I didn’t get … Continue reading Putting Conditions On Accepting God’s Love…..

World War IV…..

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. -Albert Einstein When I came across this Einstein quote it almost made me shudder. Even though I have heard it before it struck me this time.  We are advancing technologically at an astounding pace in recent years.  Integrated circuits are in just about every device we now buy. Artificial intelligence is being used for so many things today.  Unfortunately because the Pentagon budgets take the biggest bite out of our discretionary spend technology is at the forefront … Continue reading World War IV…..