Happy Independence Day…
Enjoy the fireworks if they haven’t been banned due to the drought conditions…… Continue reading Happy Independence Day…
A Catch 22…..
Source: U.S. employers waiting and watching before hiring – USATODAY.com. Business has picked up. Yet American companies are too nervous to step up hiring. The economy seems so gripped by uncertainties that many employers have decided to manage with the staff they have. They aren’t convinced their customer demand will keep growing. Or they worry that Europe’s festering debt crisis could infect the global economy. Or they aren’t sure what Congress will do, if anything, about taxes and spending in coming months. This kind of sounds like a catch-22 doesn’t it? Employers won’t hire until the economy comes back but consumers … Continue reading A Catch 22…..
Just Ordinary People….
For the month of July we will be studying just how the early Christians went about practicing their faith. As will be typical of many of my posts I will start them out with quotes from one of my many sources that got me to thinking about the current post. This quote comes from a book by Robin Myers entitled The Underground Church – Reclaiming the Subversive Way of Jesus. We forget to distinguish between history as a record of the elites and history as a record of the people. While most academics concentrate on the theologians who wrote the treatises and on … Continue reading Just Ordinary People….
Post Truth Politics……
Naming today’s age beginning with the word “Post” seems to be a dominant thing lately. Since I am doing a study of the history of the Christian church over at http://www.RedLetterLiving.net I am very familiar with the term Post-Christian. Here is what Wikipedia says about that: a post-Christian world is one where Christianity is no longer the dominant civil religion, but one that has, gradually over extended periods of time, assumed values, culture, and worldviews that are not necessarily Christian (and further may not necessarily reflect any world religion’s standpoint, or may represent a combination of either several religions or none). In my studies I can see … Continue reading Post Truth Politics……
Small People….
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too, can become great – Mark Twain While I never really appreciated many of Mark Twain’s books I do enjoy his quotes. They often give me inspiration. The one here is as true as they come. Often times when someone mentions some of their ambitions others tell them that you are not capable of such lofty things! They say that you will only get hurt if you dream too big. Other might say you are … Continue reading Small People….
Air Force Museum – SR 71
I am starting a new tradition here called Photo Saturday. I have a vacation portfolio of more than 10,000 pictures so I thought I would pull some out every Saturday. I hope you enjoy them. The SR-71 Blackbird has always been one of my favorite airplanes. This one is located at the Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio. This is kind of a different view. If you are interesting in the history of flight this museum is top rate. Continue reading Air Force Museum – SR 71
Opportunities….
”Opportunity is missed by most people because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work”– Thomas Edison Thomas Edison certainly wasn’t one to shy away from work. Another of his famous quotes was. Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. People, no matter the period, have always dreamed of striking it rich; we want instant wealth with the least amount of work possible. That is what drives all the lotteries that currently rake in billions of dollars each year. That is what keeps all the casinos that are popping up in almost every State still growing. That is what keeps … Continue reading Opportunities….
A Mosaic….
Next time I will be starting to relay stories of the early church. Up front I want to make sure you understand that this journey into the history of the church and how we got here will be a mosaic rather than a timeline approach. It will also likely be a “people’s history type account. That is it will where possible be based on accounts of the common people rather than the primary leaders of the time. It will be a mosaic instead of a timeline. In each post I will give you a small piece of the history that … Continue reading A Mosaic….
Almost as Good As an iPad….
Source: Windows 8: We kick the tyres on Redmond’s new tablet wheels • The Register. Why is it that the once innovative start-up companies turn into stodgy of slow-moving monoliths? Of course in my mind Microsoft is currently at the front of this pack. I remember when Windows first came out to compete with Apple products. They were a young and brash bunch back then. They actually started the business by writing an operating system for the current monolith called IBM. The stories about how all the Microsoft guys would dare to show up in meetings between the two companies without … Continue reading Almost as Good As an iPad….
Its About Time — Whites Account for Under Half of Births in U.S.
source: Whites Account for Under Half of Births in U.S. – NYTimes.com. After years of speculation, estimates and projections, the Census Bureau has made it official: White births are no longer a majority in the United States. I bet the racist blogs this morning are white-hot, pun intended, talking about this article! But for myself I say it is about time. I think that our strongest point as a nation is our diversity. We generally don’t have one segment of society having total say on the rest of us. Now I am not inferring that the tyranny of the majority doesn’t, … Continue reading Its About Time — Whites Account for Under Half of Births in U.S.
Getting Someone To Read It…..
Over here you can write whatever you want to. The only trouble getting somebody that will read it. – April 18, 1933 Will Rogers Sometimes we in the U.S. forget just how good we have it. As Will says over here we can write whatever we want. That is definitely not the case in many parts of the world today. Yes, FaceBook and such have made putting your words out there easier but they can still cause some bodily harm. Let’s never forget that we have it so well here. But to us authors, I am including all us bloggers … Continue reading Getting Someone To Read It…..
Rummage Sales
Before I get into the “details” I wanted to throw out another unique way of looking at church history. Here is the way author Phyllis Tickle describes church history in her book entitled The Great Emergence : The only way to understand what is currently happening to us as twenty-first-century Christians in North America is first to understand that about every five hundred years the Church feels compelled to hold a giant rummage sale. And, he (Rev Mark Dyer) goes on to say, we are living in and through one of those five-hundred-year sales. Now, while the bishop may be … Continue reading Rummage Sales
Inspiring Words From Gandhi…
As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world — that is the myth of the atomic age — as in being able to remake ourselves — Gandhi Gandhi was a firm believer that small actions can result in big things. He spent much of his live doing small things but the result did remake the world. He managed to free India from British rule and he became the godfather of the idea of peaceful resistance which was later used by Martin Luther King and many others over the years. We all need … Continue reading Inspiring Words From Gandhi…
Aside… History Ain’t
I don’t know if you have noticed or not but I have been feeling artsy lately so have been playing with the header to this blog. The quote found there will change often and some of the other things as I get the urge. The quote for today does strike home to me. With the blog I get my chance to tell you what history is. I definitely feel the power; I hope it doesn’t corrupt me :) Continue reading Aside… History Ain’t
Worriers….
My wife is a worrier. That is just who she is. I have learned to accept that part of her character over the years. Sometimes when she is not worrying she worries about not worrying enough. :) I only bring this up here to say I see the same thing in the U.S. stock market. They are just worrier who worry that they might miss something to worry about. Years ago the value of a stock was determined by the performance of the company. Now it seems to be more related to: how the EU is doing, what the unemployment … Continue reading Worriers….
Gaming The System……
Source: Get personalized help to max out Social Security. Social Security Solutions’ optimization plan calls for my wife to file for her own benefits at age 67 but immediately suspend her payments — a perfectly legal strategy known as a file-and-suspend. We start getting some Social Security benefits immediately when I apply (at age 66) to receive a spousal benefit based on her earnings record, half of what she could receive. At age 70, my wife starts her own benefits; a year later, I switch to my own benefit when I turn 70. Both of our benefits are now at the … Continue reading Gaming The System……
History of the Church — More Details …
I realize that due to trying to keep the last post brief I did not fully explain the three ages (Age of Faith, Age of Belief, Age of the Spirit) very well so I am taking another shot at it here. As a quote to explain it further I am using one from Diane Butler Bass in her book entitled Christianity After Religion. I realize it is kind of strange to use one author quoting another but I believe this quote is the most descriptive with the fewest words of any I currently have in my database. (I’m and information … Continue reading History of the Church — More Details …
On-The-Road Washington DC
Ok this is the close up post for this on-the-road series on Washington DC. I missed a few days posts because of late night arrivals to the hotel and just being too tired after we got home yesterday. After we left DC on Monday we went to Baltimore Maryland’s Inner Harbor for a quick visit. We got there just after a celebration weekend for their part in the war of 1812. Fort McHenry there is where our national anthem was written during this war so they make a big deal out of that one. As a result of the celebration … Continue reading On-The-Road Washington DC
A High Level View….
In this post I will try to give you a very high level view of what I believe is the critical history of the church. Of course, as this study progresses there might be some things I change likely my mind about. As with most everything else I am open to different views and one of them may change my overall concepts (but I kind of doubt it ;) ) Before I get into the view I will be using I want to give you some idea of other ways church history has been viewed: Here is a very colorful … Continue reading A High Level View….
On-The-Road Washington DC Day 4
The first thought that comes to mind to describe today is CROWDED!!! Everywhere we went there was simply masses of people. I expected crowds, even on a Sunday, but not that many. We started the day at Arlington Cemetery and caught the changing of the guard as soon as we arrived. It was a rather somber thing. But then again I think there were more live people there than there were dead ones. We actually missed the grave of JFK because there were people crowding around it we just didn’t see it. I seems like it must have been downsized … Continue reading On-The-Road Washington DC Day 4
On-The-Road Washington DC Day 3
Today started at 5:00am. We left so early that we missed breakfast at the hotel but did make it to the White House before 8:00am as dictated by the security people there. They seem to be much more serious about their job than when I was there forty-seven years ago. :) We were only allowed to go through some of the rooms on the first floor but did manage to see everything between the East Room and the West Room. Was it worth getting up so early? I am not sure yet; I guess so…. After the White House today … Continue reading On-The-Road Washington DC Day 3
RJ's Corner - Having My Say 