National insurrection from within the Church. A couple of links. A little bit of humor.

I am not a huge fan of David French, editor of "The Dispatch" newsletter and columnist for "Time". I do subscribe to the newsletter, as there is usually a lot to be found there of solid conservative journalism, despite my mild distaste for some of Mr. French's rather wishy-washy views. But the other day, Mr. French published a column that I thought was pretty much spot on. Entitled "Only the Church Can Truly Defeat a Christian Insurrection", subtitled, "It’s time to combat the right’s enabling lies."

David points out the following:

... this attack occurred days after the so-called Jericho March, an event explicitly filled with Christian-nationalist rhetoric so unhinged that I warned on December 13 that it embodied “a form of fanaticism that can lead to deadly violence.”

Are you still not convinced that it’s fair to call this a Christian insurrection? I would bet that most of my readers would instantly label the exact same event Islamic terrorism if Islamic symbols filled the crowd, if Islamic music played in the loudspeakers, and if members of the crowd shouted “Allahu Akbar” as they charged the Capitol.

Just playing Whack-A-Mole against QAnon and Stop-The-Steal is not enough. The church needs to stop spreading, or at least enabling, the untruths that feed these events. A Bernie Sanders fanboy shoots up a Republican Congressmen baseball team, so that means that everyone on the left hates you and wants you dead? Seriously?

The Church in America is going to go down in flames if Joe Biden wins? The very gates of hell cannot prevail against the Church, yet you're worried about some temporary political set-back? Since when did the church EVER put its trust in one man or one party other than in Jesus Christ? Never mind, don't answer that. It's too depressing.

The election of Joe Biden will spell the end of America? Didn't we hear the same thing every four years since, well, probably 1996? Or maybe sooner. Yet, here we are. (It's true, the break-up of our nation is probably closer than it has been since 1860. But, if it does happen, the 2020 election will have been a symptom, a big crack in the block, not the cause.)

Bottom line, as I see it, although politics play an important role in the life of an engaged citizen of the United States, as a Christian, my PRIMARY concern is as a citizen of the Kingdom of God, as an ambassador of my Lord to this little patch of ground on this little planet. Nothing happens here beyond my Lord's purview and control, anyway.

We Christians need to focus on our true mission, to make disciples, baptize them, and teach them all that Jesus commands us.

       

Today's links

Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening

• MORNING: "I will help thee, saith the Lord." - Isaiah 41:14
• EVENING: "The Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself." - Daniel 9:26

Today in History, presented by Tara Ross

This Day in History:

Carole Lombard’s tragic WWII War Bonds tour

Carole Lombard and her husband Clark Gable

On this day in 1942, American film actress Carole Lombard is tragically killed in a plane crash as she returns from a WWII War Bonds tour. Her trip had been part of Hollywood’s early response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. ... Jump straight to the full story, here.

A Patriot’s Lament, a Conservative’s Hope

by Esther O'Reilly on Jan. 14, 20121

A thoughtful, nuanced take on the events of January 6. Sympathetic, or perhaps empathetic might be the better word, towards even those caught up in the worst of the MAGA lunacy. Hopeful about the possibility of moving forward, she writes, "But I believe carrying this patriot dream forward in our hearts is the only way for us to survive—as Americans, as conservatives, and as Christians. To that end, God help us, and God bless America."

Folks, as always, it's been a real pleasure. I'm taking tomorrow off, and if health allows, will spend it with the saints.

Don't forget to take a moment to leave a comment and to subscribe. The more interaction like that, the more this little tiny blog will spread.

See ya Monday!

Ron

Interesting links (Trigger warning: they are political!)

Peter Heck writes at Disrn: Opinion: Riots aren’t the “language of the unheard,” they’re the language of the thug. It's pretty good:

I admit that I could be totally misreading my fellow Americans, but placing my figurative finger on the common man's pulse, I don't get a strong sense that many of us are into violent riots. I think most citizens regardless of gender, ethnicity, race, and socioeconomic background thought this was bad:

[He follows this with several graphic video clips of rioting and mayhem, both from BLM/Antifa, and from the mess last week at the US Capital.]

Read it all!

Here's a great one from Laura Mize, also at Disrn: OH governor signs bill banning telemedicine abortions
This is truly good news, a step in the right direction in the fight to protect the unborn.

While you're at Disrn, check some of the other links as well. Lots of good stories there, such as the fake Chuck Norris at the riot and V.P. Mike Pence refusing to invoke the 25th Amendment.

Here's another good one, from Oren Cass at the American Compass website: Where Do We Go From Here?.
Here's a sample:

I often compare President Trump to an earthquake—a costly disaster, but one that exposes structures outdated or sloppily built and provides the opportunity to improve upon them in the rebuilding process. We are living now through the final tremors, which can do most damage because they shake foundations already weakened by what has transpired. Trump’s actions and inactions in the election’s aftermath and especially in the last week are impeachable offenses, but the Congress’s decision whether to proceed is political and prudential in character rather than legal, and impeachment and removal is more complicated than tweeting “Impeach. Remove.” I believe he should be removed as soon as possible on principle, as precedent, and because the benefits outweigh the costs, but I must confess to having weak confidence in that third judgment and I also find persuasive Philip Klein’s argument that a slow, post-inauguration process might be most appropriate. Regardless, I consider intemperate the suggestion that this is an easy decision or that only one plausible position exists. A fine example of a healthier politics would be an acceptance on all sides that “remove the president in the week his term ends” is a proposition on which reasonable people might differ.

As you can tell, it is not very flattering to the president.
Read it all!

I could add a lot more, but that's enough for today.

This picture gives you an idea of why I am leaving Facebook!

Please comment below. And keep it civil, folks! Disagreement and debate are fine, name-calling and so forth, not acceptable, and may be deleted.
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Love y'all!

This past week has been, well, ....

I haven't posted anything in quite awhile. Mostly, I guess, because I really haven't had anything to say that I wasn't already blathering on about on Facebook. But, I'm going on three days free of Facebook. Detoxing, if you will. So, it's starting to kind of back up in me. So you, dear reader, are the beneficiaries (or victims?) of the overflow. So here we go ...

SUNDAY, Nov 6, 2016

The applesauce I made yesterday turned out well, Really surprised me how much the apples cooked down, though. It was easy enough to make. I peeled and cored and chopped enough apples to fill a full-size crock-pot. The "Back To Basics" brand gadget the Debster has had since forever did a great job.

Image downloaded from Cutlery & More's website
(Ours is green, not red, but otherwise identical)

I added a little water, about 1/3 cup each brown sugar and regular granulated sugar, a few healthy shakes of cinnamon, and a little nutmeg. Set on "high", and let it set for about five hours. I stirred it a couple of times, and then used a mashed-potato masher to squash the apples up fine and make sure everything was thoroughly mixed. Tasted great! The 4-quart pot-full yielded about 2-1/2 pints, maybe a little more.
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OK. It is now late Sunday afternoon. Watched Fox news for awhile. Listened to Hillary go on and on about the need for jobs programs to put our people to work rebuilding our infrastructure. Hmmmph. Didn't we hear almost exactly the same thing eight years ago, with Obama prattling about "shovel-ready" projects?
===
I've never been a fan of Steve Martin, and I really detest John Candy. So wouldn't you know, I'm forced to sit hear and listen to "Planes, Trains and Automobiles", which the Debster is watching and laughing herself silly over. I'm hoping that maybe a home invader will break in and steal the TV, or shoot me, or something.

MONDAY Nov 7, 2016

Well, the dead continue to vote in the good ol' People's Republic of Illinois. But for an unusual twist, this time it was downstate, not Chicago, and by a Republican, not a Democrat. An 88 year old Republican election judge was nabbed for forging her late husband's signature on an absentee ballot and sending it in. She claims that her late husband, who had died in September, had fully intended to vote for Trump, but the absentee ballots arrived a couple days after he died. 

Just gonna say this: I'm glad I'm not on Facebook these days. I'd be willing to bet it is going nuts over this. The Trump people twisting in knots to justify what she did, and the Hillary crowd jeering at full volume. Yeeesh! 

TUESDAY Nov 8, 2016

A friend posted this picture this morning.
I couldn't agree more.

WEDNESDAY Nov 9, 2016

Well, I guess what I'm afraid of actually happened: one of the two candidates actually won.
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Interesting, in a train wreck sort of way, watching Hillary Clinton & her minions making nice-talk about wishing President-elect Trump well and calling for healing of our national rifts and divisions. My prediction is all that good-feelings stuff will last, at most, a week.
===
I have to confess that I did not vote yesterday. I could not stand any of the major Presidential candidates. I would have been happy to support Gary Johnson, but his Libertarian Party platform is pro-abortion. There is the Constitution Party, but I don't think they were even on the ballot. Write in for Ted Cruz was a possibility, but also a waste of time. Maybe he'll mount a primary challenge in 2020. Can only hope so.

As for state and local candidates, I'm generally anti-incumbent in principle. I much prefer frequent turn-over in order to prevent any individual from becoming too entrenched and powerful. However, the non-incumbent was almost always someone just as bad if not worse. Hence, no one to vote for there, either. (On a side note, I did find it a little interesting that Republicans ran the table in all the state-wide races in Missouri.)
===
I just read an interesting post on "The Cripplegate" blog, titled "Commander In Chief". I very seriously recommend this in-depth examination of the seemingly-simple phrase "The LORD reigns", found in 5 places in the Old Testament, once in 1st Chronicles and four times in  the Psalms. Eric Davis discovers ten distinct truths about our Almighty God: his certain identity, his exclusivity, his aseity (means self-existence), his sovereignty, his activity, his universality, his majesty, his potency, his certainty, and his eternality. Great stuff! Check it out. Even though it contains a lot of really deep concepts, it is written in an easy-to-understand style.

FRIDAY Nov 11, 2016
Saddened but not surprised by the reports from around the country of mass protests, rioting, looting and other violence in response to Trump's election victory. 

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It's Sunday morning, and time to post this. More coming next week. (Hopefully <grin>) Stay tuned!

God bless
Ron (& the Debster)

Musings on a stormy, rainy day after Christmas

So, did everyone have a good Christmas? Was Jesus Christ honored in your home? I hope so!

Well, it is now the day after Christmas, so THAT madness is over with for a good while. I've written a few posts about that the last few weeks, so 'nuff said.

You know, as crazy as most holidays are, you just gotta love the day after ones like Thanksgiving and Christmas that involve lots of food. Leftovers, baby! Leftovers! No real cooking necessary for several days, if done right. Yeehaw!

OK, moving right along. I am not a believer in the whole "global warming" hullabaloo, at least the stuff about man-made "greenhouse" gases destroying our climate. I do believe that climate is cyclical, with long periods of warming and cooling. Shoot, we're probably overdue for an ice age. But, I digress. What I have noticed, as even a hermit like me cannot avoid noticing, is that our winters have been warmer lately. Here it is a few days from New Years Day, and it is in the 50's outside and in the middle of a day-long thunderstorm. Forecast is for four to ten inches of rain between last night and Monday night, seventy-two hours or so, accompanied by record-setting flooding. Yikes!

I tend to follow these things fairly closely, so I was kind of surprised to just now finding out about a new attempt by our Federal Gubmint to circumvent our constitutional rights. This time in the form of a bill proposed ten days ago by Rep. David Cicilline, D-RI, called the "Assault Weapons Ban of 2015". I can't believe I'm just now hearing about this! Normally, something like this would be all OVER social media! But, I guess everyone was too busy posting cute Santa pictures and stuff. Anyway, here's a link to the actual bill.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/4269/text

I HOPE it never passes! If it does, what little is left of our country's historic rights will go right down the tubes. Please read this, then contact your local Representatives and demand that they make this abomination go away!

I have had an account on YouTube for quite some time, so that I can subscribe to various channels and comment on videos. About a week ago, I began making and uploading some of my own videos. So far there are only three, because at this point I am just learning how to film stuff and edit the clips into something watchable. But I hope to really start putting up some serious content very very soon. Mostly outdoors-related stuff about camping, so-called "bushcraft", gardening, and the like.

This one features Daisy and Stempy, put together from a couple of short clips on my phone from almost a year ago.

This one features Daisy and Gidget, again from a couple of short phone video clips from this past spring.

And the third is actually a short slideshow of pics from a summer day at the park with the Debster and Tyler. Regular readers will recognize the pics from an older blog post, but in the video I did some editing and added a sound-track. It was a lot of fun.

If you happen to like what you see, I'd appreciate your "thumbs up", your comments, your subscriptions, and even sharing with your friends. Just like this blog, I don't make any money at all, and do it for the sheer pleasure I get from doing it.

One other new thing I have started doing, is a sort of journal or pocket diary, where I am just jotting down ideas, random thoughts, and so forth. I had on hand a mini-composition book, 4-1/2" by 3-1/4" with a few pages ripped out, and have begun with that, just because it was handy. But the more I think about, the better I like the small book. It fits in any pocket, so it's always handy. And, the small size pretty much forces me to be concise. As we all know, given the time and space, I can get pretty darn wordy!

I have other things on my mind, but the Debster doesn't want me airing family dirty laundry. So even though I can say what I want to say as general commentary about life, without naming names, she still has fits. So, I'll that all slide.

Well, I've rambled on for too long as it is. See ya next time!

God bless you all
Ron & the Debster

Donald Trump May Be An Idiot, But He Is NOT A Terrorist

So this morning, I was sitting in a Steak-N-Shake restaurant with the Debster, eating breakfast and killing time between two of her doctor appointments. I glanced through the local newspaper which some kind soul had left there. Now understand, I don't normally read the uber-liberal Post-Disgrace, uh, sorry, Post-Dispatch, other than to get sports news. Their hard-left editorial slant doesn't normally affect that department, making it palatable even to me. But, it was there, so I just HAD to ....

Anyway, I happened to glance at the editorial page, for some dumb reason. Yeah, I know. But still, know thine enemy and all that claptrap. Anyway, I started reading Kathleen Parker's column, entitled "CAN WE TALK?" 

I occasionally find myself nodding in agreement with Ms. Parker. One example is a recent column opposing putting women in the military into direct combat roles, which I thought made a lot of sense. However, in this case, I almost went ballistic.

Ms. Parker wants to set up a nation-wide "dialogue", seeking to find common ground between moderate Americans and moderate Muslims. Her goal, an admirable one, is to reduce the level of animosity in our society. I obviously have no problem with that at all. The focal point of her ire is the call that Donald Trump made to temporarily block Muslims from entering the country. 

Look, I am no fan of Mr. Trump. I think he is a self-serving blowhard hypocrite, a right-wing version of Al Sharpton. I think his call to block all Muslims is wrong-headed and counter-productive, not to mention un-American. I don't care what Jimmy Carter did in the 70's. He was an idiot too. 

Here's Ms. Parker's sentence that set me off:

We seem to have no trouble demanding that moderate Muslims condemn the radicals, but we’re less than impressive when it comes to moderate Americans taking a stand against our own extremists. It isn’t really as painful as it looks and should be viewed as an act of patriotism, something the individual citizen can do as part of the nation’s war effort.

This basically equates Mr. Trump, and his supporters, with Islamic suicide bombers. Yes, we have a small minority of idiots that would probably like to engage in terrorist activities against Muslims. The KKK, Aryan Brotherhood, and the like come to mind. If you want to compare those ACTUAL extremists with Muslim jihadists, you could make a legitimate case for that. But to tar somebody like Trump with that brush is, well, ludicrous at best and downright sinister at worst.

I'm going to leave it at that. I need to go wash my hands with strong lye soap for even touching that newspaper!

Merry Christmas to all of you, from the Debster and me!