Empty Vessels

I’m sitting here on my apartment balcony watching neighbors walk their dogs, cats sitting in windows, and caged birds singing a tune from their owner’s balcony.  I also see cows grazing in fields, stray cats slinking by, and wild birds doing their business across the rooftops and trees.  It all makes me think of the measures some take to cater to animals.  From over indulgence of pampering their pets to spending millions of dollars to protect some odd species.

Okay, lets put this in Biblical perspective, God created us, Mankind…flesh and blood with a living soul.  Our bodies are but vessels for the soul, and real eternal life or death begins when our vessel ends, our soul is cut loose, and the final eternal state begins.  Animals don’t have that.  Animals, such as dogs, have spirits, they have emotion to a certain extent, but when they die, that is it, they are absorbed back into the soil and that is the end of the story.

That is just the way it is, but don’t get me wrong, God also gave us the task to care for Earth and animals, but within reason people.  Animals are here to serve us, to sustain us, to help us.  If we are doing are jobs right, there is a healthy balance of maintaining population and putting Mankind before the animal kingdom.  We get in trouble when we start putting the animal kingdom above Mankind. We should, as stewards of this Earth, be responsible and manage responsibly, and protect the animal kingdom from abuse, but when it comes to the betterment of Mankind versus the animal kingdom, Man wins.

God is going to wipe this Earth and Universe out eventually, so keep it all in perspective, accept and get your life right with Christ, and eventually, once your short 70 some odd years (or less) are done here in this world, it will all be gone and you will be living in a new perfect world and universe under the active, present rule of Jesus Christ.  If you don’t, you’ll be in eternal burning, isolated, darkness.  All this debate and confrontation concerning the environment and the empty vessels of the animal kingdom of this temporary world will be long forgotten.

This is just a reality check, take it or leave it.

Experience of an America’s Got Talent Audition

I thought I’d write this while it is all half-way fresh in my head, but I just returned from a weekend in Dallas and did an audition for America’s Got Talent.  It was held at the Dallas Convention Center.  If you preregister prior to going to the audition, it doesn’t do much for you in terms of getting in sooner.  It is still, first come, first served.  When you preregister though you get an email with some nice to have details about the audition and the location etc, so still do it.  Make sure you follow the directions and check your spam in-box for their messages because that is where they go.  At least with Yahoo.  Also, make sure you print and complete the audition forms prior to going to the audition, it saves you a lot of hassle.

I drove to Dallas 3.5 hours from my home and spent the night in the Indigo Hotel in downtown Dallas Friday night, the Indigo is about 8 blocks or so from the convention center.  I planned to walk to the audition, but the stupid weather did not cooperate and it was biting cold.  Had to take a cab since the hotel shuttle was not operating yet.  Only cost $5.65 plus tip.  Glad I did not have to park my own vehicle, saw a big line held up at the convention center parking garage.  My cab rolled me right up to the entrance.  The line of people was not that bad, turns out I was number 72 in line.  I got there right at 6am, some of the fools were there in the wee hours of the morning freezing their rear-ends off and didn’t need to.  At 6:15 they let the first batch of 70 contestants and friends/family go in.  I froze in the wind for about 30 more minutes and then they let the next batch go through.

Inside they give you the paperwork if you need it, give you your contestant sticker/number, and then security uses a metal detector and has you empty your pockets and bags.  Then I got upstairs to a super huge room where you get in line to have someone look at and mark your paperwork good-to-go.  Then I sat down amidst a bazillion chairs and waited and started watching the people around me, good entertainment.

I got there at a good time, because I never had to wait very long at all, but the line was getting bigger and bigger behind me, so get there at least at 6am and you should be good.  The wandering camera crews started to appear about this time also, doing interviews and looking for the, how shall we say it, the energetic and peculiar contestants.  Wide variety of people in there for sure.

I only sat there maybe 15 minutes and then a guy with the name tag Dragon called for all contestants numbered 0-150.  He took us downstairs to a holding room.  We sat there for no more than 5 minutes and then we all went out into the open area of the convention center where it had stairs and balconies etc, this was where they were to film the commercial break type footage using the crane camera and other cameras.  You will spend about 1.5 to 2 hours doing this depending on how well the crowd is following instructions and giving them good footage.  Nick Cannon showed up for the last 30 mins or so to do his lines and all of us cheering etc.  I was like 3 people away from him so I should be in a lot of the footage even if I don’t make it back to the celebrity judging.

After that filming, we were back in the holding room and the audition process began.  They took the first 0-50 contestants and took them out to the auditioning rooms.  About 20-30 mins they came back for the next 50 which included me.  I took my paperwork and followed Dragon out to the hall.  In the hall they divided us into two groups, singer/musicians and variety.  Then they split the singers from the musicians.  Then, they broke us singers into groups of ten.  The ten of us were taken to a hall and sat down to wait for our number to be called to go audition.  About 15-20 minutes of sitting later they called my number along with three others, which happened to be 3 girls all about 10-12 yrs old.  Felt like I was trying out for a part in an elementary school play.  We walk into the audition room, it has a nice high ceiling for bouncing your voice around, so I was happy.  The three producers in there gave no indication at all what they were thinking.  A girl there probably no more than 24 yrs old hardly looked up from her Apple laptop, probably playing Tetris or updating Facebook.  The guy that did all the talking only said, “That’s good, thank you, next.”  The first girl sang real quiet, but sounded okay, but no projection.  Second one sang Carrie Underwood’s Cowboy Casanova with all kinds of attitude and belted it out, sounded pretty good.  Then I sang.   Go figure I worried myself sick leading up to this and had a head-cold going, but either way I still feel I did really good.  Then the last girl did Josh Groban’s Raise Me Up song and sounded good.  That was it…they called the Raise Me Up girl back in to sing another song, don’t know if that is good or bad.  They said we will be contacted in April if we are coming back.  I have no clue what to expect, but either way it was a fun experience and glad I did it.  I look forward to seeing the Dallas audition air this summer even if I don’t make the show, you will be able to spot me in the masses in some of the shots, fo’ sho’.

Sin is Sin, Including Homosexuality and Lesbianism

In my life, homosexuality and lesbianism seems to be more and more of a regular encounter.  Personally, my uncle lived a homosexual life.  Over the course of my life in recent years I have come across multiple individuals who live in this type of lifestyle.  Many of these individuals are more pleasant to be around than heterosexual friends who struggle with other sinful issues. I love the Ellen Show and she seems to be a wonderful person, so I don’t have homophobia or an angst against humans caught in this sinful web.

Off the bat, I direct you to http://www.biblebb.com/files/macqa/70-18-2.htm to read a detailed, enlightening and informational dialogue by John MacArthur using Scripture as support…and to sum it up, sin is sin.

We have all been born with different challenges, different vices that demand our attention.  Some of us struggle with gluttony, some with alcohol, some with an ego the size of Texas, and some of us are drawn to the same sex.  Sin is sin, no matter what you say, the Truth is the Truth.  To say one is born that way is a futile excuse to condone the act.

I have major sympathy for homosexuals based upon my personal experience with my uncle.  He was the sweetest, kindest, gentlest person I ever knew but he gave himself over to a temptation that ultimately destroyed him and he is no longer with us.  Consequently, his loving partner stole all is wealth on his death bed from my mother which my uncle had promised her, but don’t get me wrong, the money is not important, the end result of his actions is just further evidence of the baseness of this lifestyle and the self-pleasuring arrogance it harbors.  His partner now prowls around town in a new sports car with the plates “2hot4u”, or something like that, and may God have mercy on his soul.

Our society is slowly being handed over to this as the advocates of it’s legitimacy push for rights as a minority as if they are a race.  Just another thread being unraveled from the moral tapestry our world is based upon.  Just like after the Romans accepted all and any act as okay and eventually was destroyed, our country is on the same path.  Not a surprise, it is all written in the Word and expected, so I sit as a casual observer doing what I can to help those around me and pray they are able to pry the talons of this smothering sin from their lives and find the Truth before God hands them over to their perverse desires.

I find the following an excellent answer to, “What is life all about?”, by Rick Warren.  I may not be on board with everything Mr. Warren has written, but I love this text and to sum it up, this life on Earth is a dress-rehearsal of our real lives, whether in Hell or Heaven.  I totally respect what he has done with the wealth and success God had granted him.  Do you want to know why you are here and want a good example to follow, than read on what Rick has to say:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life?

And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body– but not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act – the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys – you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don’t believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems:

If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain.’ But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don’t think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit.. We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free..

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God’s purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He’s more interested in what I am than what I do.

That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.

Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.

Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD..

Painful moments, TRUST GOD.

Every moment, THANK
GOD.

Lazy Leaches

For the first time in my life I am faced with collecting unemployment benefits after being laid off.  I am very happy to be collecting the $1,400 or so a month from the State of Missouri.  I have been diligently searching for employment for months, documenting each contact, and without the unemployment income I would be in dire straits.  The unemployment is keeping me afloat and helping me to be able to live and provide something to my children.

Unfortunately through this experience I have learned of other individuals who abuse this lifeline.  One example is an individual who works during the summer but because of the nature of his business is out of work during the winter months.  Instead of finding winter work he sits on his behind collecting unemployment benefits until the next summer.  Another example is a person who has skills as a welder but has been collecting unemployment dollars for almost two years I think.  His benefits expire in September of this year but he has milked the max from the system with no inclination to find work.  The last example is another individual who is in his upper 50s or lower 60s who was laid off and has not actively searched for new employment for months and months now.  Instead, he has taken money from the State coffers for the maximum amount of time allotted and is happy doing nothing and living off the money our tax dollars provide.

I diligently document all the companies I have applied for employment to on a weekly basis.  I go to the unemployment office monthly to check in.  I am following the rules and trying hard to get a new job since being laid off, but it is so discouraging to see these individuals taking advantage of a system put in place for people like me.  Where are the checks and balances to weed out these lazy leaches?  According to the documentation I have read there are apparently random audits against unemployment beneficiaries.  Evidently, that is not enough.

If I know of just three cases of abuse, I can only imagine what is happening with this situation compounded on a national scale.  I have read about prosecutions against individuals committing fraudulent acts against the system by collecting unemployment while actually banking employment checks elsewhere, but what about these slugs who are living off the benefits willingly and doing nothing to find a job?  The Labor Department has only one decent publication addressing this issue and that was published in 1953!  The only check and balance in place today to identify and prosecute these leaches is a random audit that obviously is not random or frequent enough!

Just another example of a government system that is easily abused and the honest man’s  tax dollars are just being handed over to a society of slugs…and the government wants us to trust them to manage a health insurance program.  No thanks.

Brother, Can You Spare A Bedroom?

Feels like an economy lobotomy is being administered to me.  The past four, almost five months now I have searched for a job to no avail.  I’ve never been in this position before and I don’t like how it feels.   What a bummer.  Ironic to say, “What a bummer”, when I’m living kind of like a bum.

I discovered in March that the new-wise-pinhead boss that breezed in from Ohio was laying off all the contractors, despite breaking previous promises made, in terms of contract-to-hire.  I realized this pinhead was actually a boardroom summoned hatchet man, dang the luck!  I immediately went into survival mode and circled the wagons, or wagon in my case.  Kind of dizzy doing circles by myself for months now.  This self preservation included breaking from my apartment lease and shacking up in spare bedrooms of friends and family to save spending money on rent.

It is okay doing this for a month or two, but I am growing weary of the whole situation at this point.  I miss being alone and not having to worry about being a burden to the other person’s home.  I am very fortunate and appreciative that I have many spare bedrooms to stake a tent…I have wonderful friends and family.  Regardless, I’ll be very happy and appreciate getting back into my own digs when that day comes.

I’m very happy that I have lived my life so far as a minimalist.  With all the moving I have done and presently living in limbo, it is good not having to haul a bunch of junk around.  I have one row of earthly goods stowed in my parent’s garage and don’t plan to ever have much more than that, who needs a bunch of stuff, I am in full agreement with George Carlin in that department.

Hopefully things will improve shortly, glad I saved enough money and I don’t have to ask for a dime at this time.  For now, just need a place to lay my head, so brother, can you spare a bedroom?

Swine Flu Ground Zero Caught on Film!

Swine Flu Ground Zero

Amazon Con?

I don’t want to be construed a conspiracy therorist or anything, but knowing how lunatic the enviroMENTAL type folks can get, I can’t help but wonder if this new “uncontacted” tribe that I read about at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7426794.stm is actually legit.  Seriously folks, the environMENTAL folks could have easily planted some actors in the jungle to play the part in order to save the foilage from illegal timbering.  Anybody else consider that a possiblilty?  Just a thought.

If they are uncontacted peeps out there in the wild of the Amazon that is actually really cool and I see Hollywood wrapping a story/movie around it easily in the near future to make some dough.  Kind of crazy that we live in 2008 and supposedly have 100 tribes out there in the jungle wungles who have not ever met civilized peeps.  Is that possible with the Internet, satellites, and I-Phones?  Crazy crazy world it is we live in.

Flash Headlights Against Fuzz

I have some good memories of riding in the car with my father on back country roads of Iowa and even Interstates where, after seeing a highway patrol staked under a bridge or behind a billboard, he would flash oncoming drivers in an attempt to warn them of the fuzz.  What happened to that practice?  As an adult now I never see that happening and it is such a simple and productive act to help fellow drivers.

If I see a police car staked out painting the highway for speeders I flash my headlights for the next couple miles trying to warn drivers who are heading for the trap.  I imagine I have saved many drivers a ticket if they paid attention.  It seemed commonplace back in the 70s when my Pa was teaching me driving etiquette.  It is a lost art from what I have witnessed.  We need to begin a new campaign to revive this simple and effective method of countering the fuzz.  I am not the only one thinking this way, see this blog to see that it works: http://forums.motortrend.com/70/6524763/the-drive-in/do-you-ever-flash-your-headlights-to-warn-driver-o/index.html

Anyway peeps, lets work together, this is a method that is better than radar detectors and can do us all some good…so get to flashin against the fuzz!

I Wanna Be Ann’s Man!

I love older women and Ann Coulter fits the bill since she has chalked 10 years more than me. Every time I see her the Oak Ridge Boys break into harmony…“Ann Coulter, would be a beautiful lover, I said Ann Coulter, she’d understand, I’ve been dreamin’ some, that I will discover, that Ann Coulter knows just how to please this man.”

Honestly though, how does a Regular Joe ever have a prayer of dating a hottie with celebrity status? How do I as a regular Joe get into that celeb circle? I don’t wanna have to work as a waiter where they frequent, or clean their pool, or be a Manny. That is servant status and I don’t want to present myself as such. I’m talkin’ us everyday relatively successful regular guys that dwell in cube-a-cells, or behind wheels, or on construction sites, or simply put, those of us who are not seven-figure affluent via inheritance, business, or entertainment. That’s all I see. I see heiress whores “interfacing” with fellow brats of billionaires. We see actor with actress, actress with musician, musician with athlete, athlete with model, model with actor, actor with producer, producer with actress, on and on. I do understand why it is this way. Gold-diggers (think Heather Mills) and nutcases (think Heather Mills) are real threats.  I also realize celeb careers have similar lifestyles; crazy schedules and lots of travel. Johnny Cash is a good example; his first marriage to Vivian Liberto had lots of issues (drugs, infidelity), but one part that played a factor in their demise was her griping about his constant absence from touring. That knot eventually unraveled, but his marriage to June was a much better fit since they were both musicians living similar lives.

I can think of some commoner/celeb relationships but most of them began before the fame and either lasted (think Alan Jackson) and so far so good Chris Daughtry.  Or it ended when the fame destroyed it in some shape or form (think Jim Carrey). Other commoner/celeb relationships really aren’t relationships, but more like hook-ups. The peasant comes in the form of waitress, flight-attendant, or pappafarzzi, but the whole thing is depicted in the media like the celeb went slummin’.

I digress, returning to my original thought, how do I get a date with Ann without coming across as a nutcase or a gold-digger? I’m beginning to think it is almost impossible. I think the only way that has real potential is if you happen to work with or are friends with a celebs relative. For instance, Tyra Banks, her brother is an Air Force officer as I was. If I had been assigned to the same base and got to know him and became friends I could eventually have met Tyra in a normal and safe environment such as his home when she visited. The closest I got was when he was stationed in D.C. and I was in Hampton Roads, VA, so close! Another almost brush with celebrity I had was when I worked with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio’s sister in Iowa of all places. Mary would rarely come visit her family because they were spread all over the U.S. and she was living in Europe, so she would fly them all to one of her homes in Italy for annual get-togethers. I was friendly with her very nice sister but not close enough to make inroads to Mary’s celeb connections.

I answered my own question; unless I meet some of Ann’s family somehow I can forget it. I guess I must accept I will never be Ann’s man. I will just have to be content reading her books/columns, watching her television spots, and staring at her “I Am A Luce Lady” poster on my wall. Speaking of Luce women, Michelle Malkin is right there with Ann in the looks department and matches her intellect so she is the hottest married woman on Earth. Her poster is on my wall, and I read her books/columns and watch her TV spots, but she is disqualified due to her marital status, so I can’t pine for her like I do Ann.

Ann, as you scour the Internet for material towards your next piece, you may come across my blog and you’re reading this right now; how ’bout dinner at my place?  You can trust me, I won’t lock you down Annie Wilkes style, honest!

Joel Osteen or Jesus?

If Roman Empiresque persecution was knocking on the arena doors of Lakewood Theater, 100% of the members would say,” Jesus who?” and say they’re just there for some inspirational teaching. Gentle congenial Joel is smoking a bowl if he thinks what he is doing pleases God. They appropriately chose theater like seats so the attenders can sit back, relax and enjoy the theatrical, dramatic, and flashy show. He wants us to find the champion in ourselves. LOL, how about we accept the Gift and let Jesus Christ inside of us? If I want to be a champion I’ll go to the gym.

I am on this soap box because I watched his interview on 60 Minutes this week, and BTW, Byron Pitts asked some hard-hitting questions. I’m going to keep an eye on his segments, I like what I see so far. Anyway, Joel says he wants to enlighten the masses about all the good things about God and that everything will be alright, totally ignoring the meat of the Message.

Unholy Joel has squandered his responsibility as a church leader. He professes to be a part of Jesus’ church but what he preaches is the doctrine of devils. He claims he’s making a difficult message simple, like the general population has no ability to do so themselves. While in truth he convoluted a very simple Message that even a child can understand. His message is not even in the same zip code as what Scripture teaches. Plain and simple, he is nothing more than a motivational speaker raking in millions not for His Commission, but his commission. Cajole Joel operates under the guise as a preacher. Is it to avoid taxes? Is it a thirst for power and prestige? Only he and God know his true motives, but I can guarantee it isn’t to cultivate Christians.

To see an example of a true Christian leader, go no further than Dr. John MacArthur (www.gty.org) who preaches the whole Book and not just the fluff. If you go across the pond and back a hundred years, Charles Spurgeon is another good example (www.spurgeon.org). Christ didn’t humbly descend from Heaven to Man’s level and endure the vicious and brutal torture and crucifixion administered by mere mortal Man so that Joel could cajole millions into believing there is no obligation to follow Jesus’ teaching. Joel says to just think happy thoughts and everything will turn out okay. Jesus was hated, not loved, and said the same would happen to His followers. If you claim to be a follower of Christ but cuddle with the carnal world, then you’re fooling yourself for whatever reason and you’re a christian by Man’s false definition alone. That is, basically you’re a good person and believe there is a God and God is a softy who will let you in based upon your merits.

Hate It, don’t believe It, twist It, whatever you want to do to It; but nothing changes It. Just like the wind, you can say it doesn’t exist because you can’t see it, but that doesn’t change the fact that the wind is very real and on the move. Every knee will bow one day and each of us will profess,” Jesus is Lord.” Will your knee bend voluntarily or be forced? Will your lips utter He is Lord willingly or by command. Are you going to follow Joel or Jesus?

For a shining example of what kind of people they are outside the Lakewood Theater, check out this story…

http://www.okctalk.com/faith-values-open-discussion/7297-joel-osteens-wife-assaults-batters-flight-attendant.html

A good piece on this false pastor…http://www.portfolio.com/executives/features/2008/07/16/Megachurch-Preacher-Joel-Osteen