tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-340825242024-03-13T21:55:13.714-05:00The Green SideThings can only change while you are still on the green, grassy side of things. Once your on the brown side looking up it's too late.daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-3680286605446066362009-07-26T20:44:00.001-05:002009-07-26T20:53:00.046-05:00Empty Cell FaithEarlier this week, I was reminded of John the Baptists last days. He was sitting alone in a cold, dank, probably empty cell. That corner over there was his toilet. This one was his bed. He had nothing. He probably knew he was going to die. He was looking at his life and wondering if he had done what he was supposed to or if he had missed the mark. He sent some of his followers to ask Jesus if he was actually the Messiah. <br /> <br />Normally, Jesus didn't respond well to such things. “Oh ye of little faith!” “How long must I suffer this people?”. Yet, when John asked, “Are you my Messiah?” Jesus answered him without a word of reproach. Why didn't he rebuke John's lack of faith after proclaiming Jesus' coming? Because John had faith. That's all he had. He wasn't hoping for a new car, a better job or to make the house payment. Sitting in that cell with nothing left all he had was just enough faith to believe.<br /><br />The last week or so has flatly been one of the worst weeks of my life; certainly my life since becoming a Christian. There were times when the idea of being dead sounded like a really good idea. If you have never had a time in your life when your prayers seemed to just hit the ceiling and fall back to the floor for the cat to bat around, I envy you. I have had that feeling for a long time. More than that, I believed God didn't WANT to answer my prayers. Blessings were for other people. Any real prayers getting answered was far beyond what I got.<br /><br />Earlier this week I was done. Everything I have ever hoped for or dreamed of was securely out of my reach. My cell was empty except for the refuse of my own making. All I had was my faith, what was left of it. I prayed the most honest prayer I have ever prayed in my life. I told God things I felt about Him, what He has done with my life (with much help from me I might add), and the Universe in general. I said things that would probably get me kicked out of most churches if they found out about it. Shocked? Why? God already knew it was in my heart, even if I had never said it. <br /><br />What John did was essentially the same as Peter's answer when Jesus asked the disciples if they were going to desert him too after a particularly tough sermon. Peter answered: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69 ESV) Sure, things could hardly get worse for John but what was he going to do? Turn his back on the Most High, the only source of eternal life? <br /><br />That's where I was this week. My post from last week shows how lost and alone I was. I still am mostly. Even if God chose to hold me up for ridicule and leave me wasted and alone, where else could I go? But that was all the faith I had. I'm not proud to admit that I may have actually said out loud to the God of the Universe that if there were another option I'd take it. But there isn't.<br /><br />This is not glorious strong faith. This rock bottom, got nothing left, hey God have you considered just killing me faith. It's an empty, cold faith. I can't claim it as my own. I am not writing this to brag about how much I'm like John the Baptist or how faithful I am. I'm not. I had no other choice and God gave me the grace to know that just like he did Peter and, I believe, John. It's not an automatic. Judas didn't get it. Judas tried to find another way right up and including hanging himself from a tree. <br /><br />Just this morning I told God I needed to hear from Him. Not just a vague feeling or a verse that stood out. Something. Anything. I love you. I hate you. Who are you? I didn't really expect it. I NEEDED it but I've needed it for awhile and the cat was swatting that prayer under the couch. <br /><br />Then, in church, it came out. The Pastor, who knows little or nothing of my struggles, gave the interpretation to a word spoken in tongues. I am a believer in the present Gifts of the Spirit but I am also jaded. I have seen the “gifts” move in ways that are less than inspired. Yet, Pastor recited a list of things God was saying. Each one was something I had prayed about in my “faithless” prayer. The phrases “I have heard you” and “Don't give up” were even mentioned. I don't really believe in coincidences. Sure, he didn't walk up to me and say “God told me to tell you..”. Sure, it would have made it crystal clear if I had been called out by name. But how dim do you have to be to not put a little stock in a person who had no idea what you prayed and would probably be offended by it if they did can tick off the complaints like they were standing next to you when you prayed it? <br /><br />It's not my pastor who knew. <br /><br />It was my God. <br /><br />Maybe there really is hope for that road ahead.daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-38425238567998671222009-06-19T20:27:00.002-05:002009-06-19T20:40:23.159-05:00Be PreparedI was just thinking about “emergency preparedness”. You know, survivalist type stuff. We have been conditioned to think it's crazy or paranoid or both. Maybe it actually is. I do have some questions for Christians who do NOT believe in preparedness.<P><br /> As men, we are charged with being the head of the household like Christ is the head of the Church. We are instructed that it is our responsibility to feed and clothe our families. Paul even writes to Timothy “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” (1 Tim 5:8 KJV) Remember, both Peter and the writer of Hebrews tell us that if one denies the faith it is impossible “to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.” (Heb 6:6 ESV) That seems to mean that if one CAN provide for his family and yet chooses not to that he is in real danger of going to hell. Paul takes this as a VERY serious matter.<P><br /> What happens to your family if you lose your job? Do you simply go on unemployment until you can find another job? What if this recession we have blossoms into a full blown depression? You can't create $2 TRILLION out of thin air and not have some watering down of the value of a dollar. We call that inflation. Two trillion dollars worth could send us into hyperinflation. Ever wonder what it would be like to have to use a wheel barrel to carry the cash needed to buy one loaf of bread? Or what it would be like to be a trillionaire with only <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Zimbabwe_$100_trillion_2009_Obverse.jpg">one bill</a> in you wallet? What happens to your family if you can not get another job because everybody is out of work? Will you hit the soup lines and beg? <P><br /> How about using a little of that back yard to try your hand at gardening? Get some corn, some tomatoes, some lettuce, some green beans and plant a few rows right there. Learn what it takes to grow your own food while actually growing your own food. You will almost certainly encounter some problems. You may even loose entire parts of your garden. If you do, go to the grocery and buy more; you can still do that. It's better to learn now when there's no real downside then to wait and have to feed you children with what you grow. Most people in the 1930's lived on family farms and were able to grow their own food through out the Great Depression. <P><br /> How important is this? Our Congress is considering a bill that will allow the Federal Government to regulate all places that produce is grown or processed. This includes a backyard farm!! Why would Washington ever want such power? That brings us to the next point for Christians to consider. What if the government turns on us?<P><br /> Let's be honest, we're not all that popular right now; and not without cause. That is for a different article however. The sense of anger or at least ambivalence towards Christians in this country is rising. We have been raised to believe that persecution only happens in OTHER countries. Many of us have been taught that before things get bad we will be Raptures away, spared from any unpleasantness. The unspoken implication of that teaching is that God doesn't really care about the Christians being tortured or martyred in China, North Korea, choose an Islamic country but as soon as things are about to get uncomfortable here in the US the eastern sky will split open and Jesus will come rescue his favorites. Arrogance doesn't even come close to describing that theology. <P><br /> Revelation talks about the Beast being “given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Rev 13:7-8 KJV) So, the Beast, part of the unholy trinity is given the ability to make war with the body of Christ and to WIN. That's not all. He also controls the ability to even buy the food or other things you need. “Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.”<br />Rev 13:16-17 (ESV)<P><br /> It doesn't have to be the Anti Christ but just some anti-christian government. What happens if a government comes to power here in the US that controls who gets food and when, just like the USSR did? What if there are food lines and you have to swear an oath, either directly or indirectly deny Jesus to receive the handout? You can get food if you stop going to a non state approved church or if you quit talking about Jesus. If it comes down to denying Jesus or watching your kids STARVE TO DEATH what will you choose? <P><br /> Jews in Germany were banned from shopping at regular stores. They were put into walled in “neighborhoods” called ghettos and isolated from the rest of society. They were banned from all government service and certainly from being in the military (mostly). From the time they entered the ghettos until the Endoslung was stopped by Allied troops, they were completely dependant on the Nazi government for everything, even simply not being attacked. With this brutal leverage the Nazi's caused Jews to sell out other Jews for food, for safety, for a little human decency, for the promise to kill their families last.<P><br /> What if you have food stored away? And toilet tissue. What if you know how to make or repair your clothes? What if you don't have any need for the “gifts” of the government? How free are you really if you have to rely on someone else, even a grocery store, to provide food for your kids? How free are you to serve God if you have to obey the government's rules to keep your family alive?<P><br /> As our government here takes control of more and more things, intrudes into areas no one ever believed they would get involved in, isn't it time to start considering what to do? Certainly, Jesus said not to worry about what to eat etc. God also told Pharaoh to store up food during the good years for the bad years. He also felt in necessary to tell His people that feeding their family was important. Do we really think that it could never happen here, even though the Bible is pretty clear it will happen EVERYWHERE at some point? Do we believe that God likes American Christians better than our brothers and sisters around the world? Do we really want to explain why we said “I'm not a Christian.” in order to be given food or safety for our children?<P><br /> Just something to think about.daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-72164399318097130492009-04-05T20:22:00.002-05:002009-04-05T20:26:59.073-05:00In the final week of his life, Jesus, itinerant preacher and miracle worker comes to Jerusalem to celebrate what would be his last Passover. The people, knowing of his arrival, greet him in the streets. They lay palm branches before him as the donkey he is riding trods slowly up the street.<br /><br />“Hosanna!”, they cry.<br /><br />“Hosanna to the Son of David”, their cries acknowledging him as their rightful King and Messiah echo off the walls and cobblestones. <br /><br />“Hosanna in the highest!” exalt the people of the Holy City.<br /><br />We call it the Triumphal Entry. It is the start of Holy Week. We see it as full of rejoicing. I think it was more like coming home to be kissed by a cheating wife.<br /><br />Imagine your a man. You work hard, pursue the woman of your dreams. You catch her. Every day, when you get up to go to work; it's for her. Every day you can't wait to get home; for her. Every day you work to make things the absolute best they can be for your beloved. Then, you discover she's cheating. Not once, not twice, but she's made a lifestyle out of cheating on you with whatever guy will have her.<br /><br />You come home to her, knowing that she has probably been with some other guy that very day. She has broken every promise she has ever made to you. You're certain that the neighbors know, possibly even people at church. You are being humiliated in front of people daily. As you enter the house, she sweeps down the hallway towards you. She smiles that smile that still melts your heart. She rushes into your arms and pulls you close. Her lovely hair brushes past your face. You can smell the sweet smell of her perfume. Your heart races as she gently nuzzles you and her lips brush over your lips. It's all for her...<br /><br />But you know that she cheats. As much as she adores you right now and as much as you have and would do simply to be with her she will, sooner or later, return to seeking pleasure with another man. Possibly even someone you know.<br /><br />This is what the entry into Jerusalem was like for Jesus. Jerusalem, the city that God had chosen to make his dwelling place on Earth. It was home for the Almighty. The people of Jerusalem, of Israel, were his beloved; his betrothed. He had covenanted with them. They would be His people and He, the Creator of all that is or was or will ever be, would be their God. Yet God says of his beloved:<br /><br /><i> “Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became more corrupt than her sister in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister. She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way. But she carried her whoring further. She saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, wearing belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them having the appearance of officers, a likeness of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. When she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, she turned from them in disgust. When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister. Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt and lusted after her paramours there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses. Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed your young breasts.” <br />Ezek 23:11-21 (ESV)</i><br /><br />Within days, Jerusalem who had greeted Jesus like the love of a young bride's life would be screaming for the Romans to crucify him. Instead, they wanted their other lover; Barabbas. He would give them what they wanted...<br /><br />Jesus knew this as he rode into town. He knew what was coming. He knew that no matter how enthusiastic her love was now, that soon she would grow bored and seek another lover.<br /><br /><I>“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! See, your house is left to you desolate.” (Matt 23:37-39 (ESV))</I><br /><br />Notice the sarcasm in the last line, where he mocks her pleasing words: <I>"39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’" </I><br /><br />There is some call for rejoicing. He leaves his betrothed and wins a new one, a Bride that He will share eternity with. The Wedding Feast is yet to come, but we are called. “The Bride has made herself ready...”daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-41637822338519323772009-03-25T17:11:00.001-05:002009-03-25T17:11:37.820-05:00Humana is the Worst Insurance Company Ever!!I need to vent, so here's the place to do it. I am so sick of people who can not think for themselves but simply go by the manual...no matter what. This isn't entirely about that but...<br /><br />A week and a half ago my Mom had her second stroke in 6 months. It wasn't catastrophic but she has some impairment. The doctors decided to put her in rehab before sending her home. That's great. I want Mom to be able to live the liestyle she's used to. If it takes a couple weeks in a rehab facility to achieve that so be it.<br /><br />Then, on Monday, Mom's best friend died. When I say "best friend" I mean had dinner with her every night (or nearly) for three to five years and they have known each other for 30ish years. Obviously, Mom wants to go to the funeral or at least the visitation. Medicare would allow it, on a special pass with permission from her doctor.<br /><br />Humana won't. If she leaves for any reason that there is a record of, their stance is she doesn't need to be there at all and won't pay for her time there after that. This is a "Medicare Replacement" policy. The facility says there's nothing they can do and blames it all on Humana. Humana's Customer Service and the Medical division say she can go and blames it all on the facility. Apparently, they say that then later deny the claim using the pass as the excuse. Her case manager for Humana is actively dodging my calls to get an official word. Of course, the nurses who are so deeply touched by the situation won't do a thing to help. It's easy to "care" when it has no price.<br /><br />Humana is simply billing fed.gov for her expenses as a Medicare replacement but adds extra rules on TOP of Federal Law to make more money. If Medicare will allow it, how is it legal for them to deny it?<br /><br />So, Mom can't see her best friend buried. Mom cries. This makes me want to hit people in the mouth. Repeatedly. I may make an adult cry yet.<br /><br />I'm against Obama on every subject (except maybe funding new school buildings) but I hope he nationalizes the insurance companies. Right now, I want Humana crushed. They won't even give an old lady three hours for her best friend's funeral.<br /><br />Of course, this would be moot if the nurses could just let me take her for "a walk". No one would ever know. But again, it's safer to break her heart and tell yourself you're still a good person because the manual said you had to do it.<br /><br />I feel like the worst son ever.daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-74253458470447395782009-02-16T09:44:00.001-05:002009-02-16T09:46:50.934-05:00Excuses, Excuses, ExcusesEverytime I get this thing rolling, something comes up to distract me from it. This time, it's a return to college after 8 years. Hopefully, this time my degree will oh, I don't know, help me get a JOB!!! I hope to start posting two to three times a week once I get into the groove of my new schedule. We'll see.daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-33402126030544811082008-12-15T10:53:00.000-05:002008-12-15T10:54:30.072-05:00Revival Tarries<center>1What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. <br />James 4:1-4 (ESV)<br /></center><br /><br />These four verses offer a plethora of topics to discuss. I think I'm going to focus on just a line or two. “You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” Some of you just about stopped reading because you thought “Oh no, another Vending Machine Jesus message.” Keep reading though. This one's about revival.<br /><br />A couple of days ago, a good friend of mine updated his status at Facebook. My friend “is grieved in my spirit...we need revival.” I can't agree more. A Southern Baptist evangelist recently wrote an article that suggested that the lack of revival in America is attributable to churches not bringing in traveling evangelists. Leonard Ravenhill wrote books like “Why Revival Tarries” to explain why we are not seeing a sweeping move of God across this country...and this was written 40 or 50 years ago. To a man, the entirety of American Christianity will tell you that we need revival. If we all agree that we need it, why don't we see it?<br /><br />There's several reasons, I believe. First, I don't think most Christians are actually praying for revival. That's Mr. Ravenhill's stance. I don't watch much of the TV preachers or the ones on radio but I can't think of the last time I heard one of them preach on either evangelism or revival, let alone tell people to pray for it. I hear requests to give more because the ministry is facing hard times. I hear about praying for the election. I hear about praying to receive that car, house, job, functional savior that will make you life perfect and show God's favor to you.<br /><br />I also think that the average American Christian has no idea what revival is. I'm not talking about my friend here, just the average church goer in this country. When I do hear someone talking about revival from the pulpit, it almost always seems to involve politics. We need revival so folks will vote the right way next time. We need revival so that gay marriage doesn't get legalized. We need revival so that young girls quit wearing short skirts. We need revival so our taxes will get lowered. We need revival so that God will be pleased and the stock market will go back up and gas will come down to stay.<br /><br />When we do ask God to pour out His Spirit and bring revival, if we aren't seeking political change, we're looking for a personal renewing. Many people's idea of revival is their church getting excited about Jesus again. It usually involves a traveling preacher stopping in for a few days, preaching some really well delivered and exciting sermons, collecting the offering and leaving. Sometimes it involves someone reading a new book and getting excited. Maybe it's stumbling across an Emerging leader or someone offering different ideas from what their church has been doing for 50 years. Sometimes it is a new “outpouring” of the Spirit. We abandon all Biblical discernment and chase after signs, wonders and miracles. Sure, more often than not that involves manifestations of things long considered to be demonic possession or of men pretending to pee on the church walls, but hey..it feels good. It is also ALWAYS temporary. Take the Lakeland circus this summer or the Airport Vineyard thing a decade ago.<br /><br />The last dramatic revival on this continent took place over a hundred years ago during the Third Great Awakening. Maybe not since the Second. Not even the Jesus people movement of the 60's and 70's or the Charismatic Renewal of the 80's came close. In fact, I would argue that the Charismatic Renewal is exactly the type of revival we want from God; one that blesses us. We seek revival not to spread the word of God and warn the lost to flee from the wrath to come into the arms of Jesus. No, we seek revival so we can feel better, consuming it for our own pleasure. We have sought material gain and labeled it as Godly while trying to criminalize the lost while calling it “family values”.<br /><br />Can you even imagine a mainstream preacher preaching a sermon like “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” now days? Less than 2% of believers have shared their faith with someone in the last year. Of that 2% how many offered God's Plan for a better life instead of warning them that apart from Jesus they are headed to Hell? Is it any wonder we don't see people coming to Christ in the thousands? Does it surprise you that the gifts of the spirit seem to be manifesting less and less? Ask your self when was the last time you saw a true, immediate healing? Mine was in 1994 or 1995 on my knee. Sure, prophesy is still around but it all seems to be political or “encouraging” words. When was the last time you or someone else “read someone's mail”? The gifts of the Spirit are there to give credence to the claims of the Gospel. The power shows that Christianity is not just another man made religion. If we aren't seeing the gifts, is it because we aren't preaching the Gospel.<br /><br />We have not revival because we ask not. When we do ask, we don't want to share we just want a bless-me club and call it revival. We have to go OUTSIDE of the Church walls if we ever hope to see revival.daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-69218501141241918332008-12-10T08:20:00.002-05:002008-12-10T09:02:58.315-05:00Legalsim or Antinominism?Recently over at the <a href="http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/the-gospel-believing-christian-in-the-midst-of-legalism">Internet Monk</a>, there was a discussion on how to live as a Christian in the midst of legalistic churches. That's a sticky question on all sorts of levels. First, we have to define what "legalism" is. I would say that any church or person who puts more faith in works, or what your deeds are, to get you into heaven than in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus is legalistic. This is doubly true if the deeds that are emphasized are not deeds mentioned in the Bible as being problem areas. If there is any sort of a Checklist of Salvation the chances are pretty good it's legalism. And we are not under the law but under grace.<br /><br />Shall we sin so that grace may abound? Ahhh, yeah. That part. The most common response to legalism is to go hard the other way and essentially state that there are no rules. Jesus loves you even when you're banging the neighbor's wife and anybody that says otherwise is being judgmental. The war cry for these folks is two fold. The aforementioned "under grace" line and the ever popular "Judge not lest ye be judged." In my experience everyone who has said "Judge not" while discussing sin and the repentance from sin, is currently doing some thing that violates their conscious but would rather ignore it than repent.<br /><br />Jesus talks about how to properly, and lovingly, correct someone and, if they refuse it, to kick them out of the church. Paul, who stresses unity above almost everything, still says there are times when a person needs to be asked to leave. He even cites a couple of cases. What's this got to do with legalism? Simply, there ARE some "rules" that one needs to follow if he/she expects to remain in the fellowship. Jesus didn't just say "give me your burdens". He also said to take his up. Carry your cross daily. James said faith without works is dead. It's impossible to read the NT and not come away with the idea that if you do indeed believe in Jesus, there will be things you do, and don't do, because of it. <br /><br />The big danger here for churches and church leaders is knowing what to expect from the congregation. Quite simply, if the Bible doesn't forbid it expressly, I think it's best to leave that up to Christian Conscious. Drinking alcohol is nowhere forbidden in the Bible. Therefore to preach that it is sin to EVERYONE is wrong. Are there those in your church to whom drinking is a sin because God and their conscious has deemed it so? Yes. And your job as a brother or sister is not to drink around them, not to tell stories involving a good drink etc. around them and to encourage them in their own walk. If it's too big of a sacrifice to go out to eat at Perkin's instead of Applebee's when they're with you, maybe you need to examine your own heart. The same is true if they insist that nobody, EVER has a drink.<br /><br />There are any number of things clearly spelled out in the Bible as "sin". Lying, gossiping, sex outside of marriage, unforgiveness, irrational anger at somebody are among them. If somebody in your church is doing these things, it is our responsibility to bring them up. Not in a finger pointing, AH-HA!!, sort of way but in love, like the way you would tell your children not to play touch football on the four lane street. On the flip side, these things can not be allowed to fester and grow in the church. If the person continues to resist the correction both Jesus and Paul say to kick them out of the body. Like a cancer needs to be cut out before it kills you, people sinning unrepentantly need to be removed from the church body before it catches on.<br /><br />It's a fine line. Separating the two takes a lot of prayer and a lot of time in the Bible. I was once told "Stupid rules get made because people do stupid things." This is true. It is also how legalism gets started, with the best of intentions to help someone you love. Soon, what started out as a temporary request becomes doctrine that must not be violated.<br /><br />Pray hard.<br /><br />DDdaveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-41145566827405447292008-11-25T19:30:00.002-05:002008-11-25T19:51:56.181-05:00And we wonder why the Church is shrinking...The last 24 hours have been interesting. Last week news broke that Tony Jones, one of the muckity-mucks in the Emerging Church movement, has come out to say that unrepentant homosexuals can be a part of the Church and continue to date other men or other women etc. While there are some that pounced on the news, it was mainly the folks who think loving your neighbor should take a back seat to not drinking and making sure every one's dressed "appropriately". <br /><br />Meanwhile, Ed Young makes national headlines by encouraging his married members to have sex everyday for a week. People who normally are for the whole "community" idea and a more "honest" Christianity went immediately ballistic over this. It was dirty. It was a cheap publicity ploy. It was unloving to single Christians or to those with troubled marriages. That church is a "cult".<br /><br />One man proclaims as truth things that are not only not in the Bible but against what it says there. The other preaches that married couples aren't supposed to use sex as a weapon against each other, do what they enjoy and do it more often; all of which can be found in the Bible...both Old Testament and New. The one who seems to be getting the majority of the criticism from "christians" is the guy preaching the Word.<br /><br />If you are more offended by the idea that married people are God ordained to have sex and yes, even to like it, than you are by accepting people still in active sin they have no intention of ever repenting of then you need to check and see if you are still in the faith. Don't give me any of that "We all still sin.." garbage either. Yes, we all have sin that God has not convicted us of yet. Very few of us, however, have sin that is clearly spelled out int he Bible that we have not addressed. If you do, you need to check yourself again.<br /><br />I believe this is why the Church, at least in Europe and America, is shrinking so dramatically. We can't or won't even get the basics right. We'd rather be guided by our emotions (scared or offended by open sexuality or compassion for the lost that over rides the call to repentance because it might hurt their feelings) than be guided by the word of God. <br /><br />If judgment comes to America it will be because of things like this not who we elect. Judgment begins in the Church, one of the Apostles told us.<br /><br />DDdaveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-77442042708037418242008-11-10T15:53:00.003-05:002008-11-10T16:07:04.682-05:00The Idolatry of ObamaIt is the summer of 64 AD. A great fire has swept through Rome, the seat of one of the greatest empire's to ever exist. Of the 14 neighborhoods in the capital city, four have been completely destroyed and seven more have been badly damaged. The people of Rome are furious, looking for someone to blame. Many blame the the man in charge. They know he had plans to build himself a bigger palace and the fire has freed up land in the crowded city for him to do so. In order to deflect blame from himself, the Emperor begins to blame a small sect of weirdos that have come to Rome. These folks, followers of a man named Jesus, whom they call Christ, refuse to worship the Emperor as a god and deny that Rome, and by extension he, is the final authority in the world.<br /><br /> This man, Nero, sends out orders to his military. He has Christians arrested. He opens his private gardens to the public, hosting parties for the commoners that last well into the night. All is well, however, there is plenty of light to see by. He has ordered some of these Christians covered in wax or pitch and had them crucified them along the paths of his gardens. When it becomes dark, his servants light the Christians on fire, illuminating the party. <br /><br /> When the parties are not enough, he hosts shows at the Circus. He has Christians wrapped in animal skins. They are thrown into the arena with wild dogs or lions, neither of which have been fed in a long time in order to increase their aggressiveness. Nero and the crowd watch as the animals hunt, kill, and eat the Christians. This is great entertainment.<br /><br /> The Emperor does not stop there. The people are behind him. He has free reign to deal with these people not just because of their religion but “ for hatred of the human race”. He tortures and murders Christians in such heinous ways that the very people who once cheered it begin to show sympathy for those killed. <br /><br /> This man, this Emperor, was so full of rage at Christians that he killed not one, but two men known as Apostles. Nero had Peter crucified upside down in 64 AD reportedly on the Vatican hill. Paul was beheaded along the Via Ostiensis in 67 AD. He was a hateful, sadistic ruler that ruthlessly persecuted and murdered Christians. In was under his tyrannical rule that Paul wrote :<br /><br /><center>“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” <br />1 Tim 2:1-4 (ESV) </center><br /><br />What?! No cry for revenge?! No call to overthrow the government that so coldly, if such cruelty can be called cold, persecuted himself and the Church? No, not even the thought of it. <br /><br /> Perhaps, as the events of our recent election unfold, we should remember this. While Barak Obama was not, is not, my choice to be President of the United States the fact remains that is what he is going to be. If God really does raise up kings and powers, then God has put Mr. Obama on the throne of our country. Paul says very clearly in Romans that as God's appointed man, we owe the incoming President respect, honor and our prayers.<br /><br /> Those of us who believe that the “wrong guy” got elected or that we're going to be judged because we elected a Democrat are simply wrong. I find it amusing that they grieve that a man who claims to be a brother in Christ got elected over a man who once called Christians “agents of intolerance” and, if I remember correctly, “a poison in the political system”. He referred to Falwell and Robertson , and those who follow them as an “evil influence” on the Republican Party. I'm crushed that the Christian hater didn't win over the socialist.<br /><br /> Back to my point, God is not angry at America because we elected Barack Obama. He is not going to judge us unless we repent and elect lots of Republicans for Congress in 2010 or a Republican (even if he HATES Christians) in 2012. There are lots of reasons for God to judge America and they have been going on for 30 years or more. Not the least of which is idolatry.<br /><br /> The bulk of the American Church has spent 30 years worshiping at the alter of the Republican Party. <U>They</U> are our champions against abortion. <u>They</U> will protect us from those who wish to harm us. <u>They</U> will give us freedom. If we elect Republicans, then God is pleased and all will be right with the world. Except it isn't...never has been, even during the Regan years. There are those on the other side who will sacrifice to the Democrat god. <u>They</U> will supply all our need. <br /><br /> Both sides are <a href="http://theresurgence.com/md_blog">looking</a> for a messiah. We have elevated a political party to the stature of “savior” in practice and emotional responses if not in creed. Anything worshiped as savior other than THE Savior, is nothing short of idolatry. <br /><br /> If you think judgment is coming because we rejected the Republican candidate...repent.<br /><br /> If you think that Mr. Obama and his Cabinet will make your life great and give you everything you want, bringing justice in his wake...repent.<br /><br /> If Paul can tell early Christians to pray for the man who will eventually kill him, a man he has met before, then we need to quit our whining and prophe-trying of God's wrath and get to praying for the man elected as our president who has not, as far as I am aware, used one Christian to light a cocktail party in his backyard.daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-11936235717565349732008-10-21T11:49:00.000-05:002008-10-21T11:50:37.174-05:00I don't know if it's because it's October or if it's the election coming up and the incessant bleating about it. I don't know why but I am once again on my anti-American Church kick. Not that I'm going to stop going. Some of the same old things are starting to really rub me the wrong way again. Why do we read the Bible and, when it's hard enough to live up to the standards that are CLEARLY printed there, we add to it.<br /><br />For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. <br />Rev 22:18-19 (KJV)<br /><br />Most churches seem to apply these verses to the entire Bible. I think it is specifically for Revelation but let's assume it does apply to the whole Bible. God has told us, through His written word, what is required for salvation. Believe on Jesus and follow him by loving our neighbors and God. Easier said then done but there it is nonetheless. So what do we do? Add things to that.<br /><br />If you are saved or a “good” Christian you don't smoke. We have preachers who from the pulpit will preach with great enthusiasm that smoking is a SIN. Not a bad choice. Not a bad habit. A sin. That means, no matter how they hem and haw about it, that these folks believe that smoking will take you to HELL. Haven't you read that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit? The Bible says it twice. One reference is about sex and marriage and the other is in a discussion of works and the judging thereof. <br /><br />Of course, we don't apply this principal to other areas of our lives. Are you fat? That's fine. Skinny but sedimentary? Okie dokie. Eat red meat? With gravy. Extreme sports that lead to broken bones, concussions or worse? Rad. You can do anything to abuse your Temple you want to as long as it's not smoking, drugs or possibly alcohol; then it's a sin.<br /><br />Then there's drinking. Since the late 1700's here in America and in England, there has been a segment of the Church that rails against drinking alcohol I all forms and in any amount. It was not always this way. Various abbeys were regarded as great breweries. Monks INVENTED champaign. The Reformation, which most of the anti-drinking crowd is a proud part of, was, in part, launched/discussed/debated in pubs and taverns. Luther himself said this of the Reformation: "I opposed indulgences and all the papists, but never with force. I simply taught, preached and wrote God's Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept [cf. Mark 4:26-29], or <b>drank Wittenberg beer </B>with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it." <br /><br />I can't find a single verse in the entire Bible that says “Do not drink.” Not one. The bible repeatedly condemns being drunk but never once mentions drinking. Jesus mad wine for the wedding party!! He drank wine at the Passover! What sort of twisting of things do we have to do to come to the conclusion that drinking is a sin? I've heard the arguments that the wine Jesus made was non-alcoholic. I've been told about the word in Revelation 21:8 is pharmakeus which comes from pharmakon which means a drug, i.e. spell-giving potion. It, and it's derivatives, are translated as sorcery or witchcraft. Somehow this means that drinking is wrong. Taking aspirin, or other legal PHARMAceuticals is fine, but drinking is wrong. To be fair, there is a group that has seen the logical problem with this argument and forbid taking all medicines (ie drugs) as sin.<br /><br />Jesus very specifically said that what we eat or drink does not “defile the temple of the Holy Spirit”. Really, Jesus said that. <br /><br />“10And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” <br />Matt 15:10-11 (ESV)”<br /><br />17Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. <br />Matt 15:17-19 (ESV)<br /><br />Not only does he specifically say that what we put in our bodies does not defile us or is not sin, he goes on to list out things that ARE sin and do defile us. <br /><br />Then we'll go to Halloween. It's a pagan holiday. It's roots are in ancient pagan traditions, child sacrificing and such. So it's bad. The spring solstice is also an ancient pagan holiday accompanied by the same kinds of acts that came with Halloween. The winter solstice is also a pagan holiday of high order. We celebrate two of these in the American Church every year. Easter (the spring solstice) and yep, Christmas (the winter). Easter is a form of the name Ishtar, a Babylonian goddess of war and marriage. Why is one pagan holiday evil while using the trappings of two others for our own purposes is fine? Why do we have Harvest festivals and Fall Celebrations the week of, or actually on Halloween and call these good when we are still essentially celebrating Halloween????<br /><br />Again, we stress out over these things while we allow divorce to flourish. We even appoint divorced men and worse, remarried men to the eldership or pastorship clearly against God's will. Our kids our having sex. We gossip like lonely old women, usually under the guise of a prayer request. “Could you pray for Bertha? She found out Tom was cheating on here and really needs God's grace.” “Pray for Bob. He really needs God's provision. They've cut off his power and they may come take his car next week.” We judge each other at the drop of the hat over both Biblical and not-so Biblical things. We covet after things of this world all the while claiming it's the promises of God. We don't tell the lost about Jesus. <br /><br />Lord, Lord. I didn't smoke or drink and I sat locked in my dark house hiding from Trick or Treaters.<br /><br />41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels: 42for I was hungry, and ye did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; 43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. <br />Matt 25:41-43 (ASV)daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-15098893929164611072008-08-09T10:05:00.000-05:002008-08-09T10:06:18.243-05:00Are we offended by sinners?<br /><br />Think about that question. Am I, as a good church going Christian, offended by the sinners I interact with every day?<br /><br />The Jews of Jesus' time certainly were. Not only did the completely write off the Gentiles as lost but they considered the Samaritans unclean. They worshiped wrong, said the wrong things, did the wrong things. It was so ingrained in the Jews that they would rather travel AROUND Samaria than through it.<br /><br />Who would you rather go around than deal with? What bothers you so much that you flee from it?<br /><br />Most Christians I have met from the “Holiness” spectrum of things seem to spend most of their energy staying away from “worldly” things. By that I mean anybody outside of their church. If a sinner cusses, they get offended. If they make a bawdy joke, they get offended. If another Christian doesn't live according to their “holiness” rules they get offended. <br /><br />It's not just the far wing either. The problem is, too many of us sit in our little comfort zones. We get used to hearing only "Christian-speak". No one smokes, no one drinks, no one cusses, every one is perfect. When we are forced, and it does sometimes take force, to go out among the "unwashed", do we take the Light with us? How many times have you seen Christians out protesting some show, song, book, or movie for being too whatever? They are offended by something that they will probably never see in the first place but want to make sure that others, sinners, don't get to see it either. Because then everything will be fine...if only the sinners, and everyone else, lives just like us. <br /><br />A while ago a couple in Pennsylvania were taking a city to court to remove a billboard that deeply offended them. What was this billboard about, you ask? A porn shop? A strip club? Some atheist group? Nope. Sheetz Gas Station. Why? Because the sign read “Crispy Frickin' Chicken”. Let me spell this out clearly: this is NOT being light. This is being a moralist. This is trying to impose your beliefs on others not for their good, but for your's. Removing this sign does not get anyone closer to accepting Jesus. Removing this sign does not move anyone further away from Hell. All it does is piss people off or cause them to mock you, and your faith, for being a whiny little brat. <br /><br />Jesus was never offended by the sins of the ignorant. He never condemned the woman at the well, the tax collectors, the whores. No, he condemned the priests and religious folk of his day for trying to follow the Law the way it was written (the letter of the law) while ignoring the whole point of the Law. That's what this guy is doing. His moral laws say cussing is wrong and so is fornication. There fore, all references to such things are to be done away with. Meanwhile, he's ruined his ability to witness to any number of people who hear about this. How many people may end up in Hell because they won't hear him, or another Christian, now because he's just another "religious kook"?<br /><br />There are times to fight. Clearly, there are times to stand up and call sin sin. Cursing, foul language etc. is at best a gray area. Like drinking, gambling, smoking, rock music; I don't think you can make a case from the Bible that it is SIN. Not helpful, yeah, probably. But sin, no. Yet these things deeply offend so many Christians, not just when it's in the church, but when their lost neighbor does it. Do you know why the guy across the street gets so drunk he can't walk? Because he doesn't have Jesus. Do you understand why the girl down the road sleeps with every guy that she can? Because she doesn't have Jesus. Do you know why the guy at work is so full or bitterness and rage? Because the world has stomped on him, spit on him, left him broken and bleeding and he needs Jesus.<br /><br />One of the Christians highest callings, maybe THE highest calling, is to warn people of the judgment to come and point to Jesus as the ONLY way to escape from that judgment. To do this, we need to get out of our little buildings and go into the world. It means to not have only Christian friends but to have friends that wouldn't set foot in a church if you paid them. <br /><br />How can we be "in and not of the world" if we are so offended by the world we can't stand to be around it?daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-47239606763520567272008-08-06T09:45:00.002-05:002008-08-06T10:36:21.207-05:00I don't know exactly when it started. Right around the turn of the year, I think. I came across a video on Youtube called "Hell's Best Kept Secret". It's from a series of videos called "The Way of the Master", which is also a TV series though to be honest, TBN would rather you see "Your Best Life Now" than this show, which airs at about 2 am.<br />It's hosted by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron...yes, THAT Kirk Cameron.<br /><br />God had been speaking to me, I believe, before that. "Be Fruitful." How God? How do I be fruitful? Go to church? Listen to "good" music only? Never have a glass of wine with dinner? Tithe?<br /><br />"Do the work of an evangelist."<br /><br />Ah, crap. I have a saying that I'm fond of: I'm really more of a preaching to the choir sorta guy...<br /><br />Then I saw a video about doing just that, going out to the Lost and telling them the Good News. I was convicted of my own sinfulness, even while doing the "right" things, and that no one was out telling people that they were lost and had earned Hell but God, in his love and mercy, had made a way for them to escape.<br /><br />So, I bought the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Way-Master-Ray-Comfort/dp/0882702203/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218036134&sr=8-1">"The Way of the Master"</a>. That only made things worse. It convicted me like I had never been convicted before. I was sinful. Even as a Christian, I was every bit as sinful as the Lost. I had lusted after women, I had stolen without even realizing it (making copies of software that I never bought etc), I had lied. I needed to repent. <br /><br />I bought the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Why-Revival-Tarries-Leonard-Ravenhill/dp/0764229052/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218036209&sr=1-1">"Why Revival Tarries"</a>. The author is right, we need to pray more, not just for revival, but for everything. He was also wrong on this one count: we can pray all day but if no one does the work we're still in sin.<br /><br /> God commissioned US, you and me, to go out into all the world and make disciples for Jesus. Every time we shrug off the urge to walk up to a stranger and tell them about Jesus we sin. Every time we fail to tell someone we know the truth about the sin in their lives, like living together, we sin. Every time we separate ourselves from or are offended by the very sinners God came to save WE SIN. That's a whole post in itself.<br /><br />So here it is August. In a week my church starts the Way of the Master Basic course on evangelism. It gives you some tools to break the ice and start THAT conversation without having to beat someone over the head. I am reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Radical-Reformission-Reaching-without-Selling/dp/0310256593/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218036255&sr=1-1">"Radical Reformission"</a>, the idea that we need to be out among, friends with the lost in their culture, but different from it. Just like we do when missionaries go to Africa. We don't try to make them all white American suburbanites we meet them where they are...where Jesus met us.<br /><br />I've said all this to get here: I have sinned. I have sought the approval of man before that of God. How? By being afraid of the rejection from folks if I tell them about their desperate situation and The Way out. I have chosen, repeatedly, to be liked or, at least, not disliked, instead of telling warning people to flee from the wrath that is to come. Are there people in Hell right now because I was afraid of them? And by that fear, ashamed of Jesus?<br /><br />I never thought I was ashamed of Jesus. If anyone asks me a question about Him, I answer directly. I admit to being a Christian...it's no secret. Yet, every time I refuse to tell someone about Jesus I prove that I am, when the rubber hits the road, ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.<br /><br />I repent. I have no idea how to fix that flaw in me, but I will. I will pray because Jesus is the source of our strength. But just praying isn't enough. I need to find concrete ways to force myself to do things I am uncomfortable doing. Hopefully, this Way of the Master course will help.<br /><br />I may not be the guy standing on the street corner today. Or even tomorrow. I will get there, however.<br /><br />Here's the part of the video that really got my attention, there's three other parts before this one and I encourage you to watch all four. Watch how the kid's attitude changes from mocking and light-hearted to serious and concerned. The fields are ripe, my friends, over flowing in fact. If you aren't telling people about Jesus, repent. I'm not talking about street preaching, I mean just talking to the people you interact with every day. Now. Before it's someone you love who dies without Christ.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xnWpSZ5YxZw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xnWpSZ5YxZw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-90907973014724776312008-07-30T10:01:00.002-05:002008-07-30T10:34:26.416-05:00“Hey Brian, we have a problem.”<br /><br />I look up from my desk to see Alan, my assistant leaning in the door to my office. What's new, I wonder.<br /><br />“You need to see this. Now.”<br /><br />Oh great, this can't be good. I wonder what the dimwits up stairs have done now. Sooner or later, the guys with initials in their titles will figure out that we actually have a clue about what we're doing and quit trying to make us “better” at our jobs. Better always means lots of meetings, some headaches and maybe a sleepless night or two before we sneak back to doing things the way we always have.<br /><br />“Channel 13.”<br /><br />I really wish they'd figure out a way to keep people from stealing code while still allowing the FEED into the building. I hate not being able to access my tech FEEDs.<br /><br />I follow Alan down the hall to the conference room. He has the TV on one of the 24 hour news networks still around. Footage from one of the SecureCams of a man walking into a McDonald's with an AK 47. He hoses down the whole place. They follow this with a clip of the man being drug out on a stretcher. His eyes are wide open but clearly not seeing. He ticks his head to one side repeatedly like he was having a seizure; the same seizure over and over again. A terminal feedback loop?<br /><br />“Any reason to think that's us? I mean, it's not like someone's real brain doesn't break every once in a while.”<br /><br />“Keep watching.”, he responds coolly.<br /><br />The next story makes my heart drop. A woman in Duluth had run her entire family through a wood chipper. The scene is something out of a nightmare. There's still a leg sticking out of the feed port of the chipper. Red and small chunks are sprayed all over the bushes on the other side of the machine.<br /><br />“When did the last Update go out?”, I ask.<br /><br />“Twelve hours ago.”<br /><br />“That's an awful long delay.” <br /><br />Usually conflicts are immediate. Even if they're not, we usually catch any bugs long before an Update FEEDs.<br /><br />“Daniels called down.”, Alan informs me, “He wants us to find out if we've got a bug and quick. He didn't sound happy.”<br /><br />Of course he didn't sound happy. His programmers screwed something up that may cost Ment-ronics real money. Now, he's going into full CYA mode...which means he's going to try to blame us. I will NOT let that happen.<br /><br />Of course, if it was a bug, then one of my guys HAD missed it. We all had.<br /><br />“Damn it.”<br /><br />I go back to my office. I need to make some calls. It's Saturday and most everyone is off. I only came in to grab my sunglasses.<br /><br /><I>Resource Conflict</I><br /><br />Huh? What's that?<br /><br /><I>Rebooting in ...3....2....1<br /><br />Systems Check......Online</I><br /><br />“What'cha need Alan?” I ask my assistant who is leaning in my office door.<br /><br />He stares at me blankly for a moment. He looks like I just said something funny.<br /><br />“The news?”, he finally answers.<br /><br />What about the news? Oh, crap! Is that ours? <br /><br /><br /><br />Five people. Out of a division of 30, five people could be bothered to show up to help with this. There are times I really hate people. Daniels called again. He really is near panicking. He's got all his programmers coming in to help. I already know this, however, since one of his guys, Debbie, is standing in front of me. She came down to help troubleshoot the Update. She's still new and doesn't know that Daniels' folks and mine aren't supposed to play nice together.<br /><br />Still, I'll take her over Steve any day of the week. She's his replacement. Upgrade really. She's easier to look at and a thousand times more competent than he was. He was never what I would call Top Shelf anyway but he had gotten to the point where all he did was play WOW: D all day long. He was too stupid or smug to even pull up a programming window to open if a boss walked in. Daniels sent him packing six months ago. One of the few times I've ever agreed with Daniels on anything..<br /><br />“Thanks for the help, Debbie.”<br /><br />“No way I wouldn't be here. If this is us...we screwed up bad.”<br /><br />Sooner rather than later she needed to learn that around here, as a programmer, you never, ever admit to a mistake. It just isn't done.<br /><br />“Everybody here is going to get the Update...fresh and clean. Then we'll...”<br /><br /><I>Resource Conflict</I><br /><br />“What now?”, I grumble.<br /><br /><I>Rebooting in ...3....2....1<br /><br />Systems Check......Online</I><br /><br />“Then we'll....what?”, Debbie from Programming was looking at me asking.<br /><br />“Then we'll what, what?”, I have no idea what she's talking about. Programmers aren't really used to interacting with other people.<br /><br />“You were just telling me how we were going to troubleshoot the Update.”<br /><br />“Troubleshoot the Update?”, was she drunk, “On a Saturday?”<br /><br />She stares at me like I've lost my mind. I just came in to grab my sunglasses. Why would I want to spend the day troubleshooting an Update that had already gone out? Especially with this head ache coming on.<br /><br />“Brian, what's the plan?”, Alan asks me.<br /><br />There's five of our Shooters standing in the conference room behind him. On the TV, images of a blood stained wood chipper fill the screen. Holy crap!!! I forgot where I was, what was going on. Talk about a brain fart.<br /><br />“Everyone gets a clean install of the Update.”, some groans, “I know. Just back up your implant now and when we're done you can overwrite that image back to it.”<br /><br />Most people had a lot of stuff loaded on to their implants. Music players, videos, photos of family members, some games. Deleting everything and starting from scratch sucked. <br /><br />“After the clean install, we add the standard suite to two of us, the power user suite on two of us and the newbie suite on two of us. Debbie and I get nothing. She's not one of us, and at least one of us needs to be unaffected. Then we wait 12 hours and see what happens.”<br /><br /><br /><br />We can't help but watch. After all, it isn't every day that the world goes mad. In Las Angeles there were riots spreading though Compton and Watts. Detroit was apparently burning to the ground, thousands were hurt or dead. In Texas, a refinery worker had rammed his car into the facility causing a massive explosion. It had even knocked down buildings in the nearby town. There were even unconfirmed reports of a company of Marines and a company of soldiers trading shots down at some military base in the south. The reports were overwhelming. <br /><br />In just under 30 hours since our Update had gone live nearly twenty percent of the population, about Ment-ronics market share, had gone fruit-loopy.<br /><br />“Well, anybody showing any problems?” I ask Alan.<br /><br />“Nope. All our diagnostics are normal.”<br /><br />“Then it can't be our Update, can it? By now, people were shooting up McDonald's and chipping their families. The worst we've had is an argument over what to put on the pizzas we had delivered.”<br /><br />“Maybe we just don't have the right suites installed. There's a thousand combinations and any one of them could be causing this.”<br /><br />Thanks for the pep talk, Alan.<br /><br />“We have simulations...they're close. What's different here as opposed to the wild?”, I ask.<br /><br />“Any number of things. It could be some badly programmed open source stuff. We update our suites from drive while most people use the FEED.”<br /><br />“The FEED?”<br /><br />“That couldn't cause this, could it?”<br /><br />“There used to be viruses that lived totally within the protocols for the old Internet. It's possible to add a bit of data here...a bit there.”<br /><br />“How do we find out? Send someone outside to use the FEED?”<br /><br />“Not if I can avoid it. I know a guy over at InterMind. I'll give him a call and see what he thinks.”<br /><br />I pick up the phone and search my contact list for Corey at InterMind. Do I even have a home number for him? Yes! Good. <br /><br /><I>Resource Conflict</I><br /><br />Ring.<br /><br /><I>Rebooting in ....3....2....1</I><br /><br />..ng.<br /><br /><I>System Check.....Online</I><br /><br />“Hey, Brian!” a voice on the other end of the phone greets me. Who is calling me?<br /><br />“Uhm, hey. How's your Sunday?”<br /><br />I hate when people do this. I check the screen on the phone. Corey at InterMind? Why would he be calling me on a Sunday?<br /><br />“I'm still alive and not in a riot. How about you?”<br /><br />Not in a riot? What does that mean?<br /><br />“I, uh, I've got a screaming head ache.”<br /><br />There's got to be some aspirin or Tylenol in my desk somewhere. Oh come on!!! <br /><br />I slam my drawer closed.<br /><br />“Crap. Someone stole my painkillers.”, I think, out loud apparently.<br /><br />“I bet you guys are really kicking yourselves.”<br /><br />“Over what?”<br /><br />“Steve Abati.”<br /><br />“I don't miss him one little bit.”<br /><br />“Really? You guys must have some really strong programmers if this is the type you let go.”<br /><br />“You guys hired him!?”<br /><br />“Steve's sharp. He comes in early, works late every night. He's even caught some problems with the other programmers code.”<br /><br />I guess getting canned straightened him out.<br /><br />“Is this stuff you guys?”, Corey asks.<br /><br />What stuff? Can't people TALK and make sense anymore?!<br /><br />“What stuff?” I ask. <br /><br />Why is Alan standing in my office. Why are there Shooters here today? And a Programmer? <br /><br />“There's a “glitch in the matrix” somewhere. Is it you guys?”<br /><br />Glitch? The murders! The riots!!! How could I forget?! What a brain fart!!<br /><br />“The FEED?”, Alan prompts.<br /><br />“Oh, uh, yeah. Corey, we've been running tests here for the last 13 hours or so. We've got no issues either live or in the simulations.”<br /><br />“So what do you think the issue is?”<br /><br />“Well, we don't have the FEED in here...it's blocked.”<br /><br />“You think it's us?!”<br /><br />“I don't know. When was your last update?”<br /><br />“I don't know, Brian. I don't have that stuff at home....at least not at hand. This is your mess. We're just the network.”<br /><br />“There used to be TCP/IP viruses.”<br /><br />“We've never even been able to create a FEED virus ourselves...and believe me we've tried.”<br /><br />“Look, I know how it sounds. Could you just find out when the FEED's last download was? Please?”<br /><br />“It was sometime Saturday. Wait a minute....let me look”, I can hear the clicking of a keyboard, “Yeah. It was 10 am Saturday.”<br /><br />Two hours before Mr. Mc Donalds and Woody.<br /><br />“Look, that was just two hours before this all started.”<br /><br />“Brian...”<br /><br />“It's possible, right? Not probable, but possible?”<br /><br />“Yeah. Yeah, it is.”, the tone in his voice is down, like the thought that I might be right just hit him., “I'll look into it.”<br /><br />He hangs up on me. On ME?! Like I'm not having a bad enough day already!! People killing each other, locked into work on the weekend, a screaming headache and I keep forgetting things I ought to remember....<br /><br />Three times. Three times in the last day I have completely lost track of what I was doing. No, four. Oh no. No!!! I've completely blanked out four times....since my Update. Is that even possible?<br /><br />What was that? I look over at Alan who is staring at me like I'm Robin Williams. He looks up at the ceiling just as I'm about to think I'm hearing things.<br /><br />“Fire crackers?” he asks the ceiling and the programmers above it.<br /><br />“It wouldn't surprise me.”<br /><br />It's not uncommon to hear Shooters cuss. In fact, it should probably be in the job description. I think nothing of hearing the Shooters outside my office let loose. Why is Daniels down here? What does he want NOW?!<br /><br />“Brian.”, he says in monotones, staring at me wild eyed.<br /><br />Is he bleeding?? Is that a gun?!!<br /><br />Oh no!! He's infected! I start to dive under my desk.<br /><br />“The programmers...my guys....”, he can barely speak, “I came back from getting some Chinese and found them....Tim...”<br /><br />“Alan, take the guys and go upstairs. See what's going on.”<br /><br />I can't believe this!! Just what I need right now!!<br /><br />“Daniels, could you, uh, give me the pistol?”<br /><br />Why does he even HAVE a gun?<br /><br />“I shot him. I killed Tim.”, he walks, no shuffles forward and lays the revolver on my desk, “He killed them all. Tim killed my guys.”<br /><br />Alan runs past my office and I can hear him throwing up somewhere. Greg, one of the other Shooters stands in my door. He's pale and looks shaken.<br /><br />“They're dead. All of them I think.”, Greg takes a deep breath, “I don't think most of them were shot...they were...it's bad.”<br /><br />BAD?! No this isn't bad. Bad is a flat tire on the way in to work. Bad is a Tim Burton movie. This is a DIASASTER!!<br /><br />“Call the cops. We need to let them... Is that thunder?”<br /><br />The sky is bright blue and cloudless. It ss a beautiful summer day. Oh, no. <br /><br />“Look! Over there!!”, Debbie says, pointing out a window to the east.<br /><br />I had caught a glimpse of it as it rolled up over the top of the Frasier Building. Now, she and the others were seeing it. A black cloud filled with orange, pushing towards the sky. Some thing had exploded. I guess the cops won't be coming to us....no TV cameras in here, just SecureCams.<br /><br />This has to end. Now. I don't care what Corey thinks. The FEED is causing this and it needs to stop now.<br /><br />I flip through my contact list, there has to be someone who can help. My Dad was a HAM radio operator until they shut them all down. He knew a guy in the FCC....what was his name? We used to go fishing out on his farm? Tom!! Tom Koenig!! <br /><br />Ah-ha!! A number. <br /><br />He answers more quickly than I expect.<br /><br />“Tom. Brian Tam here.”<br /><br />“Brian!! How's your Dad doing?”<br /><br />“He hates retirement with a passion. Look, I'm short on time. Have you been watching the news?”<br /><br />“Sure have. It's awful isn't it?”<br /><br />“I think I know what's causing it.”, I explain where I work, what the last 33 hours have been like and give him my prognosis.<br /><br />“So, you want me to shut down the FEED? I don't have that kind of power.”<br /><br />“Just shut it off for here. If it isn't the FEED, nothing's going to change. If it IS the FEED and we shut it off, they'll just sorta shut down.”<br /><br />“Shut down?”<br /><br />“I don't know exactly. I've only read some of the theories about a total FEED failure. The point is, if I'm right we stop the killing. If I'm wrong, a couple hundred thousand people don't get streaming video of it on their implant...they have to settle for cable.”<br /><br />“Yeah, you're right. Let me see what I can do.”<br /><br /><br /><br />We're all standing around the TV in the conference room. Tom had come through. The FCC was going to shut off the local transmitters for the FEED. If I am right, we should know immediately. As we watch, the growing mob of people here in town stop, one guy with a shopping cart raised over his head poised to go through a plate glass window. They stand there for a moment and then collapse to the ground like those goats that fall asleep when scared.<br /><br />“It's the FEED. There is a bug in the FEED that corrupts our wetware.”, Debbie states the obvious.<br /><br />It doesn't take long before the President is on TV. He announces that he has signed an executive order to shut down all FEED transmitters until a fix can be found. All over the country the images come in as transmitters go off. Rioters, fall to the ground, asleep with their eyes open. One man, braining a woman with a cobblestone stops. His eyes roll back into his head, he drops the stone from limp hands and he slumps off of her onto the bloody pavement.<br /><br />“Is it over?”, one of the Shooters asks.<br /><br />“Yeah, I think so.”, I answer.<br /><br />My email is signaling. Who would be sending me an email right now? Save the country and I don't even get a moment to rest.<br /><br />It's from Corey. He sent me some code. It's base code from the FEED!! Why would he send this to me? Oh, the Feds were raiding InterMind's offices. He needed to get this out. Why?<br /><br />Wait. What's this line of code here? It doesn't do anything. Sloppy programming. Who did this, a drunk monkey? It should be digitally signed...huh. Steve Abati. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. He's not such a catch now, is he Corey?<br /><br /><br />I send the Shooters and Debbie home. Not much we can do right now. Not with only one, rookie programmer. Daniels is sitting slumped against the wall of my office. Pouting, I think. So he killed Tim? It's not like the guy didn't need it? Sheesh. WHy am I thinking like that? I bowled with Tim sometimes.<br /><br />Down the hall, I hear the music that the news channel plays for breaking news. I glance at Daniels, still pouting, and I head down to hear what there is to hear. It's the head of the FCC.<br /><br />“Due to the strategic importance of the FEED to both the national infrastructure and national defense, the need for such a system is clear.”<br /><br />NO!! They're going to turn it back on?!!!<br /><br />“The current system, for obvious reasons, is incapable of performing the tasks that are crucial to recovering from this crisis. As a result, the President has accepted an offer from Ment-ronics to allow the use of their new, high security, FEED system. It is a completely new protocol and can not be affected by whatever plagued the old FEED network. At first, the use of the new network will be limited to government officials and first responders. <br /><br />"The new system requires a patch from Ment-ronics. It will be installed by hand. Once it is installed in all affected citizens then FEED transmitters will be switched back on in a few trial cities. The “reboot” will be gradual. We ask for your patience.”<br /><br />We are now the sole proprietor of the Wetnet. InterMind's not going to like that one little bit. We have a patch for the FEED transfer? Was that what Daniels had his guys working on during all this? Couldn't be. He's not smart enough or brave enough to think that far ahead without orders. It couldn't have been done in the last 8 hours, the programmers are all dead. The cops and the morgue will get here as soon as they can..that's what they told me at least. What does this mean?<br /><br />It means I need to take a look at our code. I don't believe in happy coincidences or in programmers that plan for their own, or another's, mistakes. Both are pure fiction.<br /><br />I can't get into the source code from down here. I'm going to have to go upstairs. Well, I can't say I haven't wanted them dead before...Stop that!<br /><br />Wow. The brutality of it all stuns even me. Maybe if my head wasn't about to explode I'd care more but as it is, I just have to know when that patch was written.<br /><br />It doesn't take long to get to a usable computer. I just have to be careful not to slip in the mess. Oh, here we go. It was written a week ago? By....Daniels? He hasn't touched a line of code since I've worked here. Why this?<br /><br />A TV somewhere up here catches my attention. The lawsuits are already pouring in. InterMind is being sued for trillions,TRILLIONS, of dollars in damages. Their CEO has come out accepting responsibility for a glitch. They are claiming it was in the transmitters themselves. Sure they would. They're desperate to not go bankrupt and keep us from taking over the Wetnet. They're done. And they know it.<br /><br />Things are not adding up. Why would you write a patch to fix a FEED virus a week before it hits? How could you? Maybe, it doesn't fix the virus as much as just over writes it and installs our protocols over it. It was meant to switch new users over to our FEEDs. Still...<br /><br />I pull up the source code for our latest Update out of the server. It could take me weeks to go through it all, line by line. Why am I even looking?<br /><br />That's why. Look at this mess of code. I scrolled through just glancing at the code when I came across a section that looked like a hoarder's living room. Who writes code this jumbled? Oh, yep, there it is. Steve again. I'm so tired of cleaning up his messes. Didn't he ever hear about deleting useless lines....<br /><br /><I>Resource Conflict</I><br /><br />NO!!! Not now damn it!!!<br /><br /><I>Rebooting in....3.....2....1<br /><br /><br />Systems Check......Online</I><br /><br /><br /><br /> Huh. What is this? Wow, this is some really bad writing. All style no substance.<br /><br />You know, this almost looks like programming. They showed us some in school. I wonder if I can still make it out...It's been awhile. <br /><br />Hmmm. Why did someone highlight this line? That's odd. I don't think that does anything. <br /><br />Wait. I KNOW that line. I've seen it before...<br /><br />AHHHG!!! I can't think with this head ache!!! It feels like there's a dwarf in there with an air hammer!! It's like the time the FEED got a loop-back error...<br /><br />“THE FEED!!! That's where I saw that code!!”, I think out loud again.<br /><br />"It's possible to add a bit of data here...a bit there." I can hear myself saying to Alan earlier. That's what they had done. Part of the code in our Update, the other part in the FEED's protocols!!<br /><br />Oh no. Oh dear God no.<br /><br />What was that noise? Ah, God that burns!!! Why...why am I bleeding?<br /><br />Turning around, I see Daniels standing in the door way of the office I'm in. Ohhhh, this burns! He's holding that pistol...<br /><br />“It was us.....WE did this!?”, I gasp as I fall to the floor.<br /><br />He's walking towards me. I can see him but all I can do is lay here in this mess and burn.<br /><br /><I>Resource Conflict<br /><br />Rebooting in....3....2....1<br /><br />Systems Check.....Offline</I>daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-25716435647028644402007-10-29T15:09:00.000-05:002007-10-29T15:10:31.465-05:00Never quit.<br /><br><br /><br /><br /><object width="440" height="361"><param name="movie" value="http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/player.swf?mediaId=3083220"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><embed src="http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/player.swf?mediaId=3083220" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="440" height="361" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed></object>daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-26844396923752699162007-10-07T11:02:00.001-05:002007-10-07T11:39:51.411-05:00Republican does NOT mean Christian.<br /><br />I know. That comes as a surprise to some people. It borders on blasphemy to still others. It is, however, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">unarguably</span> true. This is a fact that we have seen time and time again in the last year or so.<br /><br />Start with Mark <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Folley</span>, Republican Representative who got caught sending naughty emails to MALE pages. Then we have old Senator Craig who was "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">livin</span>' the life", looking for a quick hookup in a public men's room. While , contrary to popular belief, most Christians don't hate homosexuals, we do condemn the act of homosexuality. Here we have two homosexual Congressman who got in trouble not because of what they were doing but because<span style="font-style: italic;"> they got caught.</span> Other Republicans knew what they were doing but kept it hush-hush. Not really a Christian sort of thing, to hide <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">some one's</span> sins...or at least it shouldn't be.<br /><br />Now, we have dear <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58026">President Bush</a> telling the world that Muslims and Christians pray to the same god. He's a Christian remember. A follower of Christ. That's part of what made him a good President to a lot of evangelicals. Problem is, I'm not sure what Christ he is following. See, Jesus is the ONLY Son of God. He claimed to be "the way, the truth, the life." If he is, as Christians believe, then <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Muhammad</span> can't be right 600 years later when he says Jesus was a prophet, not the Son of God, and did no redemptive work. The other alternative is that <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Muhammad</span> was right, and we've been following a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">nutjob</span> (at best) or a liar (at worst) for the last 2000 years.<br /><br />There's really no middle ground. Either Jesus was/is the great I AM or he wasn't. Two contradictory statements can NOT both be true. Jesus and his disciples state <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">uncategorically</span> that he was God and claimed to be the ONLY way to Heaven. <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Muhammad</span> wrote that his own teachings were from God and the ONLY way into Heaven. Only one can be true.<br /><br />I could go write about the fact that we have at least four <span style="font-style: italic;">eyewitness</span> accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus and a fifth <span style="font-style: italic;">eyewitness</span> account of seeing the RISEN Christ. I could talk about the fact that when God sent messages and messengers throughout the history of Israel, they were ALWAYS accompanied by the miraculous. It was God's way of authenticating the message, sort of like the way kings used to seal their letters with a bit of wax and their emblem pressed into it. I could tell you how even the Jews admit Jesus did miracles, calling him "a magician who tried to lead Israel astray."<br /><br />I could also tell you that the only eyewitness account of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Muhammad</span> meeting the angel and copying down the message is.....<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Muhammad</span>. There were no miracles backing up <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Muhammad's</span> testimony, in fact he even writes an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">explaination</span> for the lack of the miraculous in the Koran. I forget exactly what it was but it amounted to "because I don't feel like it."<br /><br />I could tell you that both religions of peace have always spread best by the sword. <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Christianity</span> spreads best when it is under the sword. To confound the wise, the more you persecute the faithful the more numerous and stronger they become. We've tried it the other way around and it doesn't work well. Islam, has always been its most virile while wielding the sword. The great <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Muslim</span> caliphate that stretched to Spain was almost entirely conquered nations and forced conversions...or the "not Muslim" tax.<br /><br />To be honest, there is a group of evangelicals here in America that would like to see Christianity the legally enforced religion of the country, just as there are Muslims who want us all under Sharia law. Maybe that's where the President got confused.<br /><br />Or maybe, he never really knew him in whom he had believed.<br /><br />You can't have it both ways. It's either Jesus or Allah. Which one do you <a href="http://bibleresources.bible.com/passagesearchresults.php?passage1=Joshua+24:15&version=9">choose</a>, Mr. President?daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-24298039454004950972007-07-24T14:06:00.000-05:002007-07-24T14:15:41.097-05:00<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I recently visited <a href="http://www.godtube.com/">GodTube</a>; the Christian version of YouTube. Here, people from all over the world get a chance to post videos ranging from fun to informative to boring to insulting. The “Are You Ready?” video in my previous post is in the fun/informative category. <a href="http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=240ad5b9b413aa7346a1">This</a> is in the insulting category. It's a ripoff of the Mac/PC commercials though this one pits the stuffy, suit wearing and incompetent Christian versus the hip and savvy “Christ Follower”. As a friend of mine said after watching it; just what the Church need, more division. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">While I agree, as you know, that judging someone who doesn't wear a suit to church as less that saved is extremely wrong. Is it any less wrong to judge someone who DOES wear a suit as less Christian? Exactly where is the problem with putting bumper stickers on your car? The arrogance and condescension in these videos is more than annoying.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">For the record, “Christian” MEANS “Christ Follower”. Get over yourselves. Are you, being an eye, more important or better that the guy in a suit, who is an ear? NO!! We are all ONE BODY and to condescend to another believer because he doesn't fit your mold, even if it is the slacker mold, is quite simply SIN. Don't believe me? Read Paul and his letter to the <a href="http://bibleresources.bible.com/passagesearchresults.php?passage1=1+corinthians+12%3A12-12%3A27&passage2=&passage3=&passage4=&passage5=&version1=49&version2=0&version3=0&version4=0&version5=0&Submit.x=31&Submit.y=12">Corinthians</a>.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">This video is not an example of “Come, there is a better way.”. It is, however, a perfect example of “Hey, I'm better than you! Be like me!”</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">We, as the Church, can't keep our kids, heck our SELVES from committing things clearly labeled as SIN. Sexual Immorality? Check. Gossip? Check. Backbiting? Check. Theft? Yep. Living a life completely indistinguishable from those who are not saved? Oh, yeah baby. But we sure can get our panties in a bunch about whether you look or act like I do.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.</p>daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-79635994696059723772007-07-12T14:56:00.000-05:002007-10-28T19:40:31.410-05:00I was reading over at the <a href="http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/">Evangelical Outpost</a>, and discovered this:<br /><br><br /><embed src="http://godtube.com/flvplayer.swf" FlashVars="videoThumb=http://www.godtube.com/thumb/1_1814.jpg&flvPath=http://www.godtube.com/flvideo/7e18e50b58eb7e0c6ccb/1814.flv" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="330" height="270" name="flv_demo" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" /></embed><p><br /><br><br />I'm not really a Pre-Trib sort of guy, but this video is REALLY good.daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-79657852172802554162007-07-08T11:30:00.001-05:002007-07-08T12:10:37.386-05:00There are times when I really despair for the Church. When I hear a preacher preach one message from a text that very obviously says nothing of the sort, when I hear how not drinking a beer or dressing in a suit is the way to salvation, or any number of other things that really make me wonder if we're paying attention.<br /><br />Then there are other times that I see the Remnant.<br /><br />Today, interestingly enough, fell into BOTH categories. I went to the early service today because I was up and ready. It had been awhile since I had been there, what with this being my busy time at work and all. One of the first things I notice is that the bulletin has no information in it other than the alter workers meeting time and three ads for things the place is shilling. Money changers in the Temple is a real sore spot for me, so this wasn't a good start.<br /><br />Then I notice that they had removed the Bible verse that had adorned one wall and replaced it with some bland, but visually attractive "mission statement" of sorts. Why wasn't the Word of God good enough? Two strikes and the Praise and Worship hadn't even started yet.<br /><br />There was a little worship, but even less praise. There were at least three songs about how "we" long to praise God. Yep, we really want to praise you. Can't wait to praise you. Oh yeah, listen to us wanting to praise you. I was ready to suffer through the service and get out.<br /><br />And then the couple came in. No more than 18 but the guy was at least 16. She rubbed on him so much that I almost leaned forward to tell her to get a cat...or a room. She really did come just short of giving him a hand job then and there. Why would you even bother coming to church for that? The way they leaned into each other and such was too intimate for people who hadn't already been MUCH more intimate; you married folks know what I mean.<br /><br />Then, old Pastor Troy preached on the Second Coming. He has a really annoying style but he does have a LOT of insight so I can usually deal with his pleading for our attention. This week he was really upset that people weren't standing on their chairs cheering about the eminent return of Christ. Then he covered the Blasphemy Project or whatever its actually called. To get a free copy of an atheist movie all you have to do is look into a camera and blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Apparently, 21,000 people have already done this. The church responded like you'd expect them too...stunned silence at best.<br /><br />This really fired him off. Don't we care that these kids have doomed themselves to Hell for eternity? <span style="font-style: italic;">Yes, but there's not much we can do for them NOW. </span>That could be your kid, or my kid, there doing that. <span style="font-style: italic;">Probably not if we're actually LIVING what we say we believe.</span> You think you can drink whatever you want, look at what you want and it has no consequences...we need to get right with God...<br /><br />And here was where I really wanted to have my say. :) Here this man is railing against having a beer when I've got two of his teens nearly making out in front of me instead of listening to the sermon. We get so caught up in this <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">periphial</span> crap that we turn a blind eye to SIN, real and actual. The reason why kids raised in church going homes were denying the existence (or worse) of the Holy Spirit had little to do with anyone having a beer or even watching porn. It did, and does, and always has, have to do with the fact that we say we believe in "Love thy neighbor" and then spit hateful gossip about him because he watched Desperate Housewives.<br /><br />We lie, we cheat, we steal, we have affairs...all REAL sins, but bemoan the condition of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">somebody's</span> soul because they wore jewelry to church, or wore pants or didn't wear a suit or has long hair or any number of pet doctrines that have only the scarcest Biblical foundation.<br /><br />Pastor Troy then turned his back on us and threw himself down at the altar. I can't fault a guy for being so passionate about the state of souls ( and make no mistake, he is PASSIONATE about seeing people saved) that he feels the need to prostrate himself before God right then and there. I'll pray for that!! Were that more Elders and Pastors would do such things.<br /><br />Time came for the second service and most of us were still there praying in some manner or form. There were people waiting out in the foyer, who were now let in. Church prayer is a great thing. Prayer is a great thing. Where two or three are gathered and all that.<br /><br />Then I saw HER. She was a teenager, wearing a dress and some little jacket or something. What got my attention was not what she was wearing but what she did. She came in and looked around at the groups at the altar and those at their seats. She saw that we were praying...and she RAN to it. She dropped her Bible off in a chair and was praying by the time she hit the altar. She didn't ask why. She didn't stand and wait for directions. She just knew that prayer was needed and dove right in. I started crying...I'm crying as I type. THAT is what will keep our kids and other's from going to hell. That passion, that love, that realness.<br /><br />And that's why I go to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Kingsway</span> Fellowship. There are people there who know Him in whom they have believed. It is also why I still believe revival is possible in the US. It is what I hope to be.daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-87914854806468932452007-03-04T16:54:00.000-05:002007-03-04T17:04:47.021-05:00"Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/16/miami.preacher/index.html">here</a> is Christ, or <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=439755&in_page_id=">there</a>; believe it not." : Matthew 24:23<br /><br />The days are growing short, my friends. Wars, rumors of wars, "christs" popping up all over the place.<br /><br />Just a thought for a Sunday.daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-1170605610657861452007-02-04T10:43:00.000-05:002007-02-04T11:13:30.690-05:00<span style="font-style: italic;">"Freedom = The distance between church and state." </span><br /><br />That's the bumper sticker I saw recently. Bumper stickers bug me anyway as the almost always reflect a deep lack of understanding of a subject or a trite one liner. This one was no exception.<br /><br />One could make an argument that the sticker was commenting on ALL religions. It would be a false argument, though. By using the word church, we come directly to the idea of keeping Christianity away from government. In a way, I agree. The "church" can't even agree on things like baptism and sex outside of marriage and they get VERY angry and bitter over it. Do I want the "us four and no more" mentality with the full force of law behind it? Under no circumstances. That is one of the major dangers of "official" religions. Constantine tried it and we got the Catholic Church...pieces of pagan religions thrown in with Christian theology.<br /><br />The idea here is distinctly anti-religion or, as I said, anti-Christian. The people who sport these sort of bumpoer stickers don't want to be told that you have to be a believer to be in office, and rightly so. They are, however, more than willing to be able to tell you or I that we are unable to serve because we ARE a believer. It also shows a profound lack of knowledge.<br /><br />First of all, take a step back, Hippie, and look at the world. Big, green and blue, and mostly impoverished and/or oppressed. Most of the world falls under the control of people espousing religions OTHER than the much- feared Christianity. Hinduism, Islam and Atheist Communism rule over at least half of the world's population. Pagan religions and other minor beliefs rule over much of Africa and Asia that isn't Communist. One would be hard pressed to successfully argue that China, India, North Korea, Africa, or any of the Islamic countries are warm and fuzzy places to live.<br /><br />The Chinese oppress ALL religions, and political dissent. They will shoot you in the head and then bill your family for the bullet. India has had mass removals of Christians and Muslims. This deosn't even touch the fact of the horrid, mind boggling poverty in that country. Burhma is targeting Christians. Try being an atheist in one of the sand box Islamic countries. Even in Post Christian Europe the idea of free speech is being increasingly squashed or dominated by the Muslim immigrants.<br /><br />The simple fact is that the very religion that these people are railing against is the very reason they have the RIGHT to do so. For the last 2000 years, those nations who consider themselves "Chirstian" nations are the ones who have driven the progress of the human race. Air Conditioners? Yep. Cars. Yep. Flight? Yep. Microwaves, free speech, the printing press, the end of slavery (except in Muslim countries), private property, the single most economically successful country in the history of the world? Yep. Allthese things and more spring from Christianity. It may not be a direct source, but it was the soil in which these things took root and grew. Things which are noticably lacking in those places, like modern day Europe or China, where the more enlightened idea of atheism holds sway.<br /><br />So, where would you, dear Atheist, prefer to live? Or, as the case may be depending on the country, die?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /></span>daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-1170448891327855812007-02-02T15:26:00.000-05:002007-02-02T16:41:31.230-05:00Well, my Canadian friends out there, it's about time to pick a <a href="http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/feb/07020104.html">side</a>.<br /><br />It seems there are those in the Snowy North that want allegiance from the church. The idea is that any religious organization that does not adhere to what the State considers "good" should have their tax-exempt status revoked. It seems to be aimed at the Roman Catholic church, and "orthodoxy" in all Abrahamic religions in general. The simple truth of the matter is that the cowards on the Left will, at best wag their fingers at Islam for treating women like cattle but will go out of their way to shut down Catholic churches for not ordaining women clergy. Why? Because Father Bob isn't likely to walk into city hall with a bomb strapped to his chest or to behead a member of parliament. Muslims may, as the murder of Theo Van Gogh and the "cartoon riots" of last year demonstrate.<br /><br />If this does happen, and your chruch decides to acquiesce to the government...run. I don't care what reason they give or how reasonable it sounds. They may say they are just submitting to the authorities over them like the Bible commands, or rendering unto Caesar, or how ordaining women or homosexuals or dogs is the loving thing to do...they will be lying!!! If your church submits, flee for the hills, knock the sand off your sandals and don't look back.<br /><br />"A man cannot serve two masters (God and money) else he love the one and hate the other." <a href="http://bibleresources.bible.com/passagesearchresults.php?passage1=Matthew+6:24&version=9">(Matthew 6:24 KJV, paraphrased)</a><br /><br />Either they will relinquish their tax-exempt status and serve God or they will chase after mammon, forsaking God's heritage.<br /><br />"Choose this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve God."(<a href="http://bibleresources.bible.com/passagesearchresults.php?passage1=Joshua+24:15&version=9"> Joshua 24:15</a> ish, KJV, paraphrased)daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-1169498687800455012007-01-22T14:52:00.000-05:002007-01-22T15:44:47.880-05:00So much for updating a couple times every week.<br /><br />I've been mulling this one over for quite a while. Where do we, those of us who are Christians, draw the line between holiness and legalism?<br /><br />Last fall I attended fall convention at the bible college/school I went to in the early 90's. Their conventions are always interesting; four days of good preaching, seeing old friends and making some new ones. This one was no exception, I am glad I went.<br /><br />The message one night centered around the idea that when some one comes back to the Lord, or just comes to the Lord, that we seem to feel the need to put extra requirements on their repentance. Sure, Bob said he was sorry and asked for forgiveness and has turned his back on his old sin, but we want more. Bob needs to work scrubbing toilets for awhile. Or sit in the back of the sanctuary during services or some other payment for his debt or "proof" of his repentance. It was a good sermon and touched a nerve with me on several levels.<br /><br />Immediately after the service, I went with the crowd for the offered refreshments and to see who I could see. I ran into a very attractive young woman who I knew from my time living in the area. We started talking, catching up on friends that one of us had heard from and the other hadn't. I told her that a number of people we knew could be found on MySpace. She gave me "that" look; the disapproving one that some Christians seem to get.<br /><br />"Yeah, I know.", I told her, "But there are some good committed Christians on there too."<br /><br />I understood the initial response. Anybody who has browsed through MySpace understands. There are a lot of girls in skimpy clothing taking pictures of themselves in the bathroom mirror..and guys too. Interspersed in between these are people who are just using it to keep up with their friends, have a blog or just have some space of their own on the web. I found my chruch from a blog on MySpace, but that's a whole other story. It was her next comment that floored me.<br /><br />"I don't think good Christians should be on MySpace."<br /><br />I felt like asking why. There is smut on TV, yet very few would say that there shouldn't be Christians on TV. Radio is every bit as raunchy as MySpace, but if you shut down the local Christian radio station the out cry would be tremendous. People use cell phones to surf for porn, so no Christian should have one. Books and magazines contain filth but I hear no one calling for an end to Christian writing. Those that do preach such things are generally, and rightfully, considered nuts.<br /><br />I wanted to ask her if she had been paying attention during the service. After listening to and probably "amening" the sermon about not putting extra requirements on repentance/salvation, she could sit there and in all earnestness, say that a person's salvation should be judged by their participation on MySpace. Why? Because she had taken the idea of holiness and crossed it over into legalism.<br /><br />Is God, through his Holy Spirit, telling you not to go on MySpace? That is holiness. Questioning my walk with Jesus because I do go on MySpace...that's legalism. Don't drink because you feel God doesn't want you to? Holiness. Criticize Joe because he has wine with dinner or a beer every so often with the guys? Legalism. Dress up in a suit and tie for every service because you want to please God? Holiness. Won't go to church unless you're dressed up or you look down at somebody who isn't dressed up? Legalism.<br /><br />The Bible speaks very clearly that God will write His law on our hearts. He is looking for people who will follow his voice, follow his law, not because they HAVE to but because they WANT to. When we look down on people who aren't dressing like we think they should, are listening to music we don't like, go places we don't feel free to go to, we are making a new law. The church places an extra burden on the believer. Sure, you believed and repented, but that's not enough. Never touch alcohol again. Don't listen to that sort of music. Don't go to eat at a bar. Don't associate with THOSE people. If you do these things, you must not be right with God, poor soul.<br /><br />In the end, I think holiness is like a back brace. It supports you. It keeps you from injury. It helps you do more work. Holiness we do willingly out of love for the Lord.<br /><br />Legalism is harder to define. It's like the back brace put on too tight; you can't breathe, it causes pain and may eventually be dangerous. But it is the same back brace, just used incorrectly.<br /><br />Finally, any time we judge someone, or make them feel less accepted, because they are not walking the walk like we are or think they should, THAT's legalism. It's too bad to, because she really is beautiful.daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-1158956891256704682006-09-22T15:08:00.000-05:002006-09-22T16:27:44.316-05:00Why are we still pretending that these <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52102">people</a> can be reasoned with? By quoting someone who said Mohammed was violent and evil, the peace loving Muslims go absolutely buggy. Sure we killed some people and we WILL kill you, but it's your fault for saying something we don't like. WHAT?!<br /><br />The simple fact of the matter is that at least 110 MILLION of these rabid dogs are out there. How many more agree with them but don't have the guts to actually cut someone's head off so they just give money, shelter etc. to the nutjobs? Why do we hem and haw and do our best not to say the truth out loud? Islam is a religion of murder. It always has been. From the day it was started it was spread by war. Has anything changed?<br /><br />The sheik is right about two things. We are afraid. And we are losing. We are afraid to admit that this is a religious war. Islam declared war on the US and Israel and anyone who will not submit to their rule. If they want a war, let's give them a war. Quit playing games in Iraq like not killing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moqtada_Sadr">Al Sadr</a> when we had the chance because it might make the locals angry. They were ALREADY angry, so off the guy. The military is around to kill people and break things. LET THEM DO IT. If you want to throw a rock at our troops..bang. If you want to shoot at our troops..bang. If you hide the people who are trying to kill our troops...bang. Why is this so difficult?<br /><br />We are afraid of what the "international community" will say or think about us so we hold back, letting our people die needlessly while the Iraqis either kill each other or run away to another country. We refuse to kill those who need killing. The bad guys have no such problems; they kill anybody who's not them. This is why we are losing, and why we will lose, this war. Unless we realize what's really going on, get ready to convert to Islam, maybe pay a tax for not being Islamic, or die.<br /><br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-1158181796633599642006-09-13T15:29:00.000-05:002006-09-13T16:09:56.646-05:00<a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51956"> This</a> shouldn't surprise me, but it does. What's even worse is the response of the crowd there at The View. They applauded Rosie's comments. When Jesus said that men would revile us and the Bible says that they love darkness rather than light, this is what He was talking about. <br /><br />The idea that "radical" (that would be you, me and all who actually try to put action to their faith) Christians are as big a threat to our country as Muslims is one that I have heard before. On September 11 or 12th 2001 as a matter of fact. CAIR has tried repeatedly to equate Eric Rudolph and Timothy Mc Veigh with Islamic nutjobs to show that there are threats in any religion. Except that it is false.<br /><br />Did Christians bomb US Marine barracks in Lebanon?<br /><br />Did Christians blow a plane out of the sky over Lockerbie, Scotland?<br /><br />Did Christians float a raft of explosives out to the USS Cole?<br /><br />Did Christians detonate a bomb in a club in Bali?<br /><br />Did Christians blow up a senior center in Rio Degenaro?<br /><br />Did Christians incinerate women and children at weddings, restraunts, busses etc in Israel?<br /><br />Did Christians attack hotels in Egypt?<br /><br />Did Christians hijack 4 planes and fly two into the WTC, one into the Pentagon and would've put number four who knows where?<br /><br />Are Christians raping and slaughtering people in Sudan?<br /><br />Did Christians kill scores in the London Subway and a bus?<br /><br />Did Christians bomb trains in Spain?<br /><br />Did Christians just release a religious <a href="http://pandagon.net/2006/03/15/homo-fatwa/">order</a> to kill all homosexuals? (Yet Christians are mentioned in that post because saying it is wrong is EXACTLY like killing people.)<br /><br />Did Christians hatch plans to blow up 10 or so airliners bound for America?<br /><br />The answer is no. Yet we are constantly lumped into the same category or exalted as being WORSE than Muslims. Why? Because we follow the truth. We preach the truth. Every time they see or hear us they are reminded that they are in sin and, instead of repenting when confronted with that guilt, they lash out at us for "oppressing" them.<br /><br />They did it to the prophets. They did it to Jesus. They did it to the apostles. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Foxe-Book-Martyrs-Gold-Classics/dp/0882708759/sr=8-1/qid=1158180964/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-6391196-6319131?ie=UTF8&s=books">Foxe's Book of Martyrs</a> tells tale after tale of it. Revelation says "And it was given to him to make war with the saints, and to prevail over them."<br /><br />Face it; we are not welcome here. This world is NOT our home. This is just where we <a href="http://bibleresources.bible.com/passagesearchresults.php?passage1=Luke+10:2&version=9">work</a>.<br /><br />DD <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span>daveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34082524.post-1158006209154092182006-09-11T14:40:00.000-05:002006-09-11T15:23:29.176-05:00It's hard not to stop and reminisce about where you were 5 years ago when you first found out what was going on. I was at Ivy Hills. We, the maintenance crew, had just finished preparing the course for the Ladies Member-Member (or Member-Guest) tournament. We were gathered in the shop getting ready to leave when the Super came out of his office.<br /><br />"My wife just called. She said someone flew a plane into the World Trade Center.", he told us all.<br /><br />As we moved into the break room to turn on the TV, I figured that some poor guys was drunk, out of control or suicidal and flew a Cessna into one of the towers. We turned the television on and the picture came up showing BOTH towers smoking. That didn't make sense to me. How does one plane hit both buildings, and apparently from different sides? Then they showed the replay of the second plane slamming into the tower. Oh.<br /><br />We had just missed seeing it live by no more than a few minutes, maybe even just a few seconds. My first thought was that the Palestinians had figured out a way to hit us over here. We raged over what should be done to those responsible, and I am still NOT satisfied with what has been done. To sum it up, we have B-52's; let's use them. But I digress...<br /><br />One of the guys was a volunteer fire fighter in a township just up the hill from where I live and occasionally in my little burg. At some point he mentioned the idea of all those firemen and police going into the buildings. Looking back, it seems almost prophetic.<br /><br />I went home and watched the events unfold. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the first tower fall. Neither could Peter Jennings, the anchor I was watching at the time. "What? What just happened?", I remember him saying as the plume of dust rose into the air. I thought "At least there's one left." My heart really sank when the second one fell.<br /><br />I'm sitting alone in my living room watching this happen live. There were reports of a car bomb going off near the Pentagon. We all know what that turned out to be, conspiracy nutcases aside...and I like a good conspiracy theory. My aunt lives a rifle shot or two away from the Pentagon and I was concerned. I called her. She called back later that night. She was fine.<br /><br />An acquaintance of mine was attending Seton Hall at the time. We didn't hear from him for a few days. Finally, when we did, he told us he knew four people in the towers that day. Two made it out. Two didn't.<br /><br />Some 2800 didn't.<br /><br />200 or so never left the Pentagon.<br /><br />40 more took fate in their own hands and died in a Pennsylvania field.<br /><br /><br />So, where were you at 9 am September 11, 2001?<br /><br />DDdaveofspadeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17972654123978953527noreply@blogger.com0