Who knew? In other news, the I am Legend story comes to life in Austin…

As we go into the new year, there are many uncertainies. But one thing is certain. The Lord God Omnipotent reigns heaven and earth. He is taking all things under His dominion, until His enemies are made His footstool. It will be a good year.

I don’t write enough. When I do sit down to write I have all these ideas running around through my head, bursting to get out at the same time.  In order to keep peace between them I usually end up not letting any of them out. But I need to let some of them out. So here you go. This one I got the idea from my wife (she said I could write about it if she didn’t, and I gave her nearly a week):

Have you ever wondered about the fact that mangers in the general Bethlehem area, circa 3-4 AD, were perfectly baby crib sized? Read the rest of this entry »

The reality of my darling wife’s current pregnancy is now tangible. I can now look out the window and see a reminder. I can go out the door and feed it. Yes, there is a pig in the garden. Two in fact. Come late April one of them will go across the great divide.  The smell of smoke will fill the air, and the church body will assemble once again on our front lawn to partake of barbeque pork and homebrew in celebration of the new member to our congration.  I can now look out at the garden and joyfully anticipate the good memories.

We are preparing for winter. The new wood stove is almost ready to come in. There is plenty of wood stacked, ready to burn, and more ready to cut. The calves in the field have been contained finally (they sure did love the neighbor’s alfalfa field). Much of this progress is thanks to the fact that I didn’t go deer hunting today.  Not that I don’t want to, it’s just that Saturdays are just so hard to come by.  We actually got to listen to almost an entire episode of A Prairie Home Companion.

Have a blessed Sabbath.

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One thing I don’t get is how, in most people’s minds, not voting relinquishes the right of an individual to “complain” afterward. It might be said that by not voting one reserves that right. He is acknowledging beforehand that no matter which candidate is elected our country is going to hell in a hand-basket.

But that is not my reasoning exactly. You see, I look at the choices and I feel that there is no man up for election, with a chance of winning at least, who I can in good conscience support. If I vote for one candidate I support the killing of innocent children in our country. If I vote for the other I support the killing of unsaved women and children in another. I will not be responsible for either candidates policies.

Here in America our god is power. We worship the civil religion, and our sacrament is voting. We march into the voting booth and partake, praying to the powers that be to save us from the ills and woes of the previous administration.

America has been sold a bag of goods and Christians have bought in wholesale. We have forgotten who God is. God is the God of nations, kings, and presidents. He, and He only, can decide who the next leader of our pitiful nation will be. God swings the hearts of nations. He controls this election if I vote or not. Every Christian in the country could forgo the polls and God’s man will get into office. God’s man may bring judgment on our heads, but he will be God’s man, make no mistake.

A duty to do something is not decided by the right to do it. Nowhere in the Scriptures am I commanded to vote in the next election. I am expressly commanded to pray for our leaders, and for our nation, and for our children. To pray for repentance. We will not get a good America by getting a good president. We will get a good president when Americans turn to God. Not the god of personal peace and security, but the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God who judges the wicked and rewards the faithful.

An article I read once claimed that grocery stores are arranged in such a way that as you go down the aisle you will be more likely to buy the more expensive items, and make more impulse purchases. They are, it seems, composed in a way to market their wares more productively. But, being so close to halloween, it seems one of our local stores hired a sadist to arrange the aisles. All I wanted was cream cheese.  I roamed the dairy section for fifteen minutes. I even checked behind the chocolate milk. Thinking with an open mind, I investigated the lunch meat section. Walked the deli cooler three times. Finally, like Odysseus landing in Ithaca, I found it, by the salad selection.

When I was told my job could take me to newer and better heights, I did not figure it to be meant literally. But, when I asked for a raise recently, I was handed a ladder, which I was told I had to share. It is after all, a corporate ladder. Honestly, I am beginning to feel stilted. But I don’t let it get me down. I keep reaching, even when it feels like I have struck the ceiling of my potential. Some days I feel as if I have no choice but to walk the plank. But, as they say, it isn’t the fall that’ll kill you, it’s the sudden stop at the bottom.