Thursday, October 23, 2014
Saturday, August 09, 2014
A Man Needs A Shed
Neil Young sang "A Man Needs a Maid," but if rumors are true, he didn't care for maids himself. But having the y chromosome... albeit a confused y... He certainly would appreciate my new shed.
It is 10 feet by 16 feet, and is made of treated lumber... And, it's the biggest and best shed in the neighborhood. HA!
....
Neil Young sang "A Man Needs a Maid," but if rumors are true, he didn't care for maids himself. But having the y chromosome... albeit a confused y... He certainly would appreciate my new shed.
It is 10 feet by 16 feet, and is made of treated lumber... And, it's the biggest and best shed in the neighborhood. HA!
....
Friday, August 08, 2014
I've Dug a Potato or Two
You no doubt ask, "Does it take a man to grow potatoes such as these?" Oh yes... yes it does. And he must be a mighty man... Virile, robust... Yet strangely humble.
When digging potatoes, it's best to wear boots like these... Preferably with bibs that are three sizes too big. Bibs are a garment meant to get lost in.
....
You no doubt ask, "Does it take a man to grow potatoes such as these?" Oh yes... yes it does. And he must be a mighty man... Virile, robust... Yet strangely humble.
When digging potatoes, it's best to wear boots like these... Preferably with bibs that are three sizes too big. Bibs are a garment meant to get lost in.
....
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Monday, June 23, 2014
Friday, June 13, 2014
Saturday, December 28, 2013
If It Walks Like a Duck
We've all heard the media clobbering Phil Robertson by saying he made ant-gay comments in an interview with GQ.
Christians know this is a lie.
Phil didn't make anti-gay comments, but rather talked about what the Bible calls sin.
We've all heard gay activists say they want Phil fired for being ignorant and hateful.
Christians know this isn't what they really want.
Gay activists want Christians punished when they talk about what the Bible says about homosexuality... They want Christians censored like they are in Canada.
Phil was brave and spoke out against sin.
The media was cowardly and didn't admit what they really believe... That the Bible has No Authority to define sin... That it hasn't the Authority to suggest how we should live.
....
We've all heard the media clobbering Phil Robertson by saying he made ant-gay comments in an interview with GQ.
Christians know this is a lie.
Phil didn't make anti-gay comments, but rather talked about what the Bible calls sin.
We've all heard gay activists say they want Phil fired for being ignorant and hateful.
Christians know this isn't what they really want.
Gay activists want Christians punished when they talk about what the Bible says about homosexuality... They want Christians censored like they are in Canada.
Phil was brave and spoke out against sin.
The media was cowardly and didn't admit what they really believe... That the Bible has No Authority to define sin... That it hasn't the Authority to suggest how we should live.
....
Friday, November 22, 2013
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
My Dad and Frenchie
In the Pacific during the second world war, my dad served on a destroyer, the U.S.S. Hoel. Three months before the Hoel was sunk, my dad was selected to return to Boston and help train a green crew on a new destroyer, the U.S.S. Purdy.
While putting the crew and the new destroyer through maneuvers along the Atlantic Coast, the ship experienced stormy conditions and high seas which damaged the deck around the forward gun. This required the ship to be taken to Portland Maine for repairs.
My dad's friend, Frenchie (Arthur Pereault), had a wife living in Lewiston Maine and he expressed the desire to visit her. But he said he didn't want to go by himself. So my dad said that he would come along.
The two were supposed to be back onboard before midnight, but they didn't arrive back until 5:30 AM. The officer on deck, an ensign, stopped them and chewed them out for being late, and then he began filling out a form to put them on report.
Just then the engineering officer, my dad's boss, came aboard and said, "Malott! What's going on?"
The ensign explained what had happened and that they were being put on report.
The engineering officer took the form from the ensign, tore it in two, and said, "Where these boys are going, this doesn't mean a damned thing." And handed the torn form back to the ensign.
....
My dad didn't want to leave the Hoel and go to Boston, but the reassignment saved his life. When the Hoel was sunk, none of the men in the engine room made it off the ship alive.
....
In the Pacific during the second world war, my dad served on a destroyer, the U.S.S. Hoel. Three months before the Hoel was sunk, my dad was selected to return to Boston and help train a green crew on a new destroyer, the U.S.S. Purdy.
While putting the crew and the new destroyer through maneuvers along the Atlantic Coast, the ship experienced stormy conditions and high seas which damaged the deck around the forward gun. This required the ship to be taken to Portland Maine for repairs.
My dad's friend, Frenchie (Arthur Pereault), had a wife living in Lewiston Maine and he expressed the desire to visit her. But he said he didn't want to go by himself. So my dad said that he would come along.
The two were supposed to be back onboard before midnight, but they didn't arrive back until 5:30 AM. The officer on deck, an ensign, stopped them and chewed them out for being late, and then he began filling out a form to put them on report.
Just then the engineering officer, my dad's boss, came aboard and said, "Malott! What's going on?"
The ensign explained what had happened and that they were being put on report.
The engineering officer took the form from the ensign, tore it in two, and said, "Where these boys are going, this doesn't mean a damned thing." And handed the torn form back to the ensign.
....
My dad didn't want to leave the Hoel and go to Boston, but the reassignment saved his life. When the Hoel was sunk, none of the men in the engine room made it off the ship alive.
....
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Sunday, October 06, 2013
Free For All Q&A - Are some chosen to be saved and some not?
Predestined to Choose
Isn't it good news that we don't have a sadistic Creator that made some "un-chosen" humans for the soul purpose of populating Hell?
All Baptists should listen to this clip.
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Isn't it good news that we don't have a sadistic Creator that made some "un-chosen" humans for the soul purpose of populating Hell?
All Baptists should listen to this clip.
....
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Eternal Separation from God
Not your grandfather's Hell...
Every American male who occupies a pulpit today, along with every American pew-sitter, has been raised on television. And the comedies, the dramas, the news, and every other type of programming is a constant diet of the world's wisdom.
This is important to understand, because the world's wisdom teaches us that the Hell described in the Bible is an unreasonable punishment. There may be a creator, but Hell is not fathomable. Hell is the stuff of jokes.
Based upon everything I've absorbed in 55 years of listening to the world, it's hard for me to believe in Hell. This is because my default position is to filter God through what I've learned from the world. I have to stop and think if I want to filter the world's wisdom through what I've learned about God in scripture.
I've been purchasing and downloading sermons by Jonathon Edwards, Wesley, Spurgeon, and other pre-mass-media preachers. These were serious dudes who talked much more about repentance and obedience than grace. They didn't tell jokes from the pulpit. And, for them, Hell was as the Bible described, not the more palatable concept of being separated from God.
Maybe they had read: “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. – Revelation 14:10
The worst thing that could happen to a soul would be to spend eternity in Hell. Why would anyone that cared about souls dress up this horror with a euphemism? Why would they attempt to palliate such a tragedy with the almost innocuous phrase separation from God?
I think I know why: The world's wisdom tells them that it's not cool to use the word Hell. They believe God sounds more reasonable and fair if they use the euphemism. Simple as that.
So the next time I hear a media-satiated believer with a Bible College Degree honor the world by using the phrase Eternal Separation from God... I'm going to take a stand... I'm going to get up and walk out.
It's the right thing to do.
Evangelist Dwight L Moody died in 1899. It is said that he never preached on Hell without breaking down in tears. Obviously the wisdom of the world escaped him.
....
Not your grandfather's Hell...
Every American male who occupies a pulpit today, along with every American pew-sitter, has been raised on television. And the comedies, the dramas, the news, and every other type of programming is a constant diet of the world's wisdom.
This is important to understand, because the world's wisdom teaches us that the Hell described in the Bible is an unreasonable punishment. There may be a creator, but Hell is not fathomable. Hell is the stuff of jokes.
Based upon everything I've absorbed in 55 years of listening to the world, it's hard for me to believe in Hell. This is because my default position is to filter God through what I've learned from the world. I have to stop and think if I want to filter the world's wisdom through what I've learned about God in scripture.
I've been purchasing and downloading sermons by Jonathon Edwards, Wesley, Spurgeon, and other pre-mass-media preachers. These were serious dudes who talked much more about repentance and obedience than grace. They didn't tell jokes from the pulpit. And, for them, Hell was as the Bible described, not the more palatable concept of being separated from God.
Maybe they had read: “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. – Revelation 14:10
The worst thing that could happen to a soul would be to spend eternity in Hell. Why would anyone that cared about souls dress up this horror with a euphemism? Why would they attempt to palliate such a tragedy with the almost innocuous phrase separation from God?
I think I know why: The world's wisdom tells them that it's not cool to use the word Hell. They believe God sounds more reasonable and fair if they use the euphemism. Simple as that.
So the next time I hear a media-satiated believer with a Bible College Degree honor the world by using the phrase Eternal Separation from God... I'm going to take a stand... I'm going to get up and walk out.
It's the right thing to do.
Evangelist Dwight L Moody died in 1899. It is said that he never preached on Hell without breaking down in tears. Obviously the wisdom of the world escaped him.
....
Monday, September 16, 2013
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Saturday, August 03, 2013
People I Can't Tell Apart
Sir Alec Guinness
Sir John Gielgud
Peter O'Toole
Richard Harris
Erika Christensen
Julia Stiles
Keira Knightley
Natalie Portman
Ned Beatty
Charles Durning
Yassir Arrafat
Ringo Starr
Zooey Dechanel
Katy Perry
Anthony Perkins
Montgomery Clift
James Mason
Rex Harrison
Richard Burton
Paris Hilton
Miley Cyrus
Christina Aguilera
Nicole Richie
Lindsay Lohan
Britney Spears
Tia Carrere
Barbara Carrera
Lucy Liu
Sandra Oh
The entire female cast of The Joy Luck Club
River Phoenix
Curt Cobain
Heath Ledger
Venus Williams
Whitney Houston
Serena Williams
William "The Refrigerator" Perry
Oprah Winfrey
Whoopi Goldberg
Additions welcome.
....
Sir Alec Guinness
Sir John Gielgud
Peter O'Toole
Richard Harris
Erika Christensen
Julia Stiles
Keira Knightley
Natalie Portman
Ned Beatty
Charles Durning
Yassir Arrafat
Ringo Starr
Zooey Dechanel
Katy Perry
Anthony Perkins
Montgomery Clift
James Mason
Rex Harrison
Richard Burton
Paris Hilton
Miley Cyrus
Christina Aguilera
Nicole Richie
Lindsay Lohan
Britney Spears
Tia Carrere
Barbara Carrera
Lucy Liu
Sandra Oh
The entire female cast of The Joy Luck Club
River Phoenix
Curt Cobain
Heath Ledger
Venus Williams
Whitney Houston
Serena Williams
William "The Refrigerator" Perry
Oprah Winfrey
Whoopi Goldberg
Additions welcome.
....
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
15 years Ago
The smiling woman pictured here is strapped to a table and is about to be executed.
The smiling woman pictured here is strapped to a table and is about to be executed.
| "Yes sir, I would like to say to all of you — the Thornton family and Jerry Dean’s family — that I am so sorry. I hope God will give you peace with this. (She looked at her husband) Baby, I love you. (She looked at Ronald Carlson) Ron, give Peggy a hug for me. (She looked at all present weeping and smiling) Everybody has been so good to me. I love all of you very much. I am going to be face to face with Jesus now. Warden Baggett, thank all of you so much. You have been so good to me. I love all of you very much. I will see you all when you get there. I will wait for you." --Karla Faye Tucker I love stories of redemption. Maybe even more amazing is the story of David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam Killer. Convicted of killing six women and shooting seven others in New York City over 13 months in 1976 and 1977, Berkowitz is serving six consecutive 25-years-to-life sentences. He is imprisoned at the maximum-security Sullivan Correctional Facility northwest of New York City. I was 10 years into my prison sentence, and I was constantly in trouble, you know, a disciplinary problem. I had a really bad attitude. Living with a lot of anger, and so forth. And one night I was walking the prison yard, and another inmate came up to me and introduced himself. And said, listen, I know you're David Berkowitz, and I want to tell you something. He says, I want you to know that Jesus Christ loves you, and he's got a plan and a purpose for your life. And I says listen, I don't want to hear that, because, you know, I've done too many evil things and there's no forgiveness for me. Maybe there's a God out there someplace, but I don't think he has any interest in me at all. He says, no, you're wrong. David, God has sent me here to this prison just to tell you that he loved you, and he can forgive you. And he says I would like to be your friend. Well, we started to talk a little here and there. I would see him in the yard, because he lived in a different cell block. And we would meet in the yard, and we would walk around together, and he started to share Christ with me. And within a couple of months time he led me to the Lord. I know what Jesus Christ has done in my life. And I can understand that people in prison, out of prison, can be skeptical. But I have put my faith in Jesus Christ. He has done so much for me. I believe in him, and no matter what people say, I'm going to continue to serve him. I serve the Lord, ministering to the men in here, ah, doing Bible studies with the guys, I go into the chapel, I'm a chaplain's clerk now, and I preach the gospel even overseas through correspondents and testimony tracks, and so forth. So, I know I'm living for Jesus, and no matter what man may say, I belong to him. I've been purchased by Jesus Christ with his blood. --David Berkowitz He was first imprisoned at the Attica Correctional Facility and has served a total of 36 years. He has been up for parole every two years since 2002. He wrote in a letter: “I have no interest in parole and no plans to seek release. If you could understand this, I am already a ‘free man.’ I am not saying this jokingly. I really am. Jesus Christ has already pardoned me, and I believe this.” .... |
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Holiness Lost
With the Supreme Court's latest surrender to the Enemy, I look at the path that our country is on and wonder why Holiness is not the hot topic in our nation's pulpits. The podcast preachers I follow will speak out against immorality, but they say little about "Coming out from them," to be separate... to be pure, Holy, and set apart for the Bridegroom.
Hebrews 12:14 tells us, "to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord..." So it must be important.
Here's my theory: If a preacher is being unfaithful to his wife, he probably isn't moved to preach about the evil of adultery. In the same way, if a preacher is addicted to the worldly media and its entertainment, he probably doesn't feel moved to preach about separation.
If a preacher in America brought up the subject of television's most popular sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, the congregation would probably smile, if not applaud. This makes it problematic to speak of the female character as a little whore who, I understand, has slept with two of the male characters. After all, this little blond is adorable and most pew-sitters will overlook such indiscretions in order to be entertained.
Anyway, here's my conclusion: As long as our preachers and their congregations are willing participants in the Enemy's incredibly influential media, they will be so much like the unbelievers that they will have no influence upon the culture... or their neighborhoods. They will be personally moral, but because they love to watch immorality, they never attend their thoughts to separation... To Holiness.
It's just not much fun to deny yourself. Seeking the Narrow Gate is neither entertaining nor titillating. Laying down worldly idols is a lonely business. Good luck finding a support group.
Another problem is that Organized Religion in America is so... American. We pew-sitters want to whoop it up, put on big smiles, and feel good about ourselves. Concentrating on something at which we are so dreadfully pathetic, separating from America's ugly culture, might be a bummer and might fill neither the building, nor the collection basket. It hurts our pride to try and repent of this sin and know that we fail every day.
But if we hope to see the Lord, we must be down for this struggle. If we hope to inherit the Grace of God... Not the words, "I never knew you," repenting of worldliness must be our passion. We will not be consistent... We will fail daily. It won't make us popular at work or in the community... or at Sunday services. But being among "The Few" has eternal advantages.
....
With the Supreme Court's latest surrender to the Enemy, I look at the path that our country is on and wonder why Holiness is not the hot topic in our nation's pulpits. The podcast preachers I follow will speak out against immorality, but they say little about "Coming out from them," to be separate... to be pure, Holy, and set apart for the Bridegroom.
Hebrews 12:14 tells us, "to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord..." So it must be important.
Here's my theory: If a preacher is being unfaithful to his wife, he probably isn't moved to preach about the evil of adultery. In the same way, if a preacher is addicted to the worldly media and its entertainment, he probably doesn't feel moved to preach about separation.
If a preacher in America brought up the subject of television's most popular sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, the congregation would probably smile, if not applaud. This makes it problematic to speak of the female character as a little whore who, I understand, has slept with two of the male characters. After all, this little blond is adorable and most pew-sitters will overlook such indiscretions in order to be entertained.
Anyway, here's my conclusion: As long as our preachers and their congregations are willing participants in the Enemy's incredibly influential media, they will be so much like the unbelievers that they will have no influence upon the culture... or their neighborhoods. They will be personally moral, but because they love to watch immorality, they never attend their thoughts to separation... To Holiness.
It's just not much fun to deny yourself. Seeking the Narrow Gate is neither entertaining nor titillating. Laying down worldly idols is a lonely business. Good luck finding a support group.
Another problem is that Organized Religion in America is so... American. We pew-sitters want to whoop it up, put on big smiles, and feel good about ourselves. Concentrating on something at which we are so dreadfully pathetic, separating from America's ugly culture, might be a bummer and might fill neither the building, nor the collection basket. It hurts our pride to try and repent of this sin and know that we fail every day.
But if we hope to see the Lord, we must be down for this struggle. If we hope to inherit the Grace of God... Not the words, "I never knew you," repenting of worldliness must be our passion. We will not be consistent... We will fail daily. It won't make us popular at work or in the community... or at Sunday services. But being among "The Few" has eternal advantages.
....
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