Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Shot in the Foot …… Christians

 

Shooting one self in the foot is pretty easy.  Best way is to be a hypocrite.  For Christians, these are pretty easy, if they don’t read the bible or understand what they are reading.  Have met so many that spew off sound bites but have no idea of the context.  Nastiest is what I heard from the librarian.  There are religious groups that go into libraries and check out books that are offensive to them, then never bring them back.  An indirect type of censorship.

 

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Yet this extended borrowing of books they deem offensive, should not surprising.  Look at history.  Back in the late 1800’s the Christian Temperance league began.  And eventually they got their way with the 20th Amendment to the Constitution.  The temperance people were notorious for going into saloons and bars and demolishing the place and breaking all the bottles of booze.  All this was done in the name of God, they used him to justify their actions.

They had set themselves up as judge, jury and executioner.  No longer did they trust God to deal with sin.  The temperance people wanted to be gods and mete out punishment.  The height of arrogant Christian hypocrisy.  Using religion, the temperance people forced the rest of the country to follow their beliefs, with an assist from government intervention. 

So when I look at that, I can understand why Christianity is under attack. 

Look at todays issues in the church,look at what some preachers say.  Some of the nastiest hate I’ve heard comes out of the mouths of some of these mega church televangelists.  The very thing they preach against, they do. 

Hardest for some is……. Love the sinner ……. The very thing Christ said ……. “The greatest commandment is, Love Your neighbor.”  Preaching hate in not loving your neighbor, that includes the gay people.  No matter what the secular law of the world says.  Homosexuality is still a sin in the laws of God, in the world of the Holy Spirit.   No matter how hard man tries, the laws of God will not change. 

So when hear about persecution of the church, I did some soul searching.  So many of today’s Christians are not citizens of the Body of Christ.  It is a tough pill to swallow, but God uses things like this to discipline His Children. 

A prayer, that God’s light be sought out for guidance in life’s tribulations. 

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Memories ….. A Mexican Frolic

 

There are some things in life that happen, that are retained forever.  Going through some old slides I relived a bit of one of them.  A winter trip to the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, a small island off the east coast. It was one of those trips to wander with very little care.  Temps were in the low 80’s and overnight, low 70’s.

An afternoon stroll down the beach was as great as could be.  Gentle rolling waves on the white beach, almost no clutter with crystal clear water. 

Walking over a small rise we came to another sparkling white beach.  Out into the surf were poles with a net attached.  Inside this pen in the water, a giant sea turtle could be seen swimming along the pen’s edge.  Ahead was another similar pen with a small pier next to it.  Walking up, we saw another giant turtle lazing in the water. 

Stopping there to watch, a young boy comes running down the beach and wades into the surf, chattering up a storm.  Had no idea what he was saying but one of the biggest smiles ever.  My Spanglish is terrible and my Spanish is worse. 

Soon the water was churning and the boy was shouting and grinning as he was tugging on something back towards the beach.  This was the opening chapter of one of coolest episodes ever. 

The youngster had latched onto a small shark and by the tail was dragging it up out of the surf.  One could hear the delight in the boys voice as he struggled with the fish.  Getting into shallow water the shark tossed an flopped all the more vigorously. 

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That shark did not like getting into the shallow end of the pool.  Soon the water was boiling and with a couple of great twist, the shark got loose and back into the deeper water it swam with boy in pursuit.  Soon he had the shark by the tail again and towards the beach they headed. 

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While we were watching the tug of war, a boat with some boisterous Mexican had landed at the pier.  They were rattling away and empty beer cans were floating through the air.  At the little boy they were shouting and soon they were headed that way.  One of them men had to go visit a tree and make a wet spot. 

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There were two couples, one guy with two women waded into the pen and the man headed out to catch the shark.  Soon he had it in tow and towards the beach he went.  Shark a twisting and flopping and the guy just smiling up a storm a chattering away.

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In the surf they were splashing.  The two women joined him and the air was full of excitement.  Here was the shark, lets pet it, smiles bigger then the Cheshire cat. 

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Oh the chatter was a roar.  Wishing I knew more Spanish.  It was a kick watching the splash in the water, chase the shark and just having one hell of a good time. 

The other guy had finished watering the tree and joined them in the surf.  Out to the end of the pen they went and grabbed the turtle, bringing it up to the beach.  The conversation was loud and boisterous, happiness beyond compare.

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It was one of those days that was etched into the memory bank.  I have never experienced anything like it since then and probably never will.  The shark never attacked and they had so much fun with it. 

Friday, October 2, 2015

Laws of Control

 

For whatever reason, lawmakers feel they can control people with laws.  Look at all of the laws they have passed to regulate the behavior of what is referred to as sin.  These are the alcohol and tobacco taxes and regulations.  Included in that is firearms.  There is a federal agency specifically to oversee alcohol, tobacco and firearms, ATF.   This agency has been around for more then a few decades.  What problems have they solved?

This type of government laws flow from people that have serious psychological disorders of “Power and Control.”  These people tend to want to be in positions of authority and when one looks at the members of congress, lots of psychological unstable can be seen.

With all of the laws and taxes that have been passed to stop a certain behavior, people still drink alcohol, use tobacco and shoot guns. 

Bootleggers have made a nice living off of these inane laws of the federal government.  Even when they are caught and punished the bootlegging goes on. 

Sometimes, I think the government lawmakers take stupid pills every morning and then have a contest to see who can think up the stupid law of the day.

The scary part of all of these laws, is how freedom is eroded.  Every law that is passed, restricts someone's freedom in some manner.

Now look at the constitution and see what gives the right to lawmakers to restrict your freedom……….. to find the answer….. go look in the mirror.