God is a creator, not an imitator. The most God-like thing you can do is create. Write songs, think of new things, create new iPhone apps!!! LOL New ideals should flow from the Church, no need to copy. The God of this world wants to steal your creativity, do not let him.
God told me this as I watched a girl sing a song she had wrote in church this morn.
I pray for new ideals to flow from me for the Church.
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Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sturbucks @ Church
I love church and I love coffee. This is a good place to be!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone 4
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone 4
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Great argument.....Pro Gun
I cannot attest to who wrote this or where it comes from. Fact is, it is still a great argument for guns.
"The Gun Is Civilization!" Interesting take and one you don't hear much.
As the Supreme Court hears arguments for and against the Chicago, IL Gun Ban, I offer you another stellar example of a letter (written by a Marine) that places the proper perspective on what a gun means to a civilized society.
Read this eloquent and profound letter and pay close attention to the last paragraph of the letter....
"The Gun Is Civilization"
by Maj. L. Caudill USMC (Ret)
Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that's it.
In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.
When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force.
The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gang banger, and a single guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.
There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we'd be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for a [armed] mugger to do his job. That, of course, is only true if the mugger's potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat--it has no validity when most of a mugger's potential marks are armed.
People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that's the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly.
Then there's the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser.
People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don't constitute lethal force watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst. The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker If both are armed, the field is level.
The gun is the only weapon that's as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weight lifter. It simply wouldn't work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn't both lethal and easily employable.
When I carry a gun, I don't do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I'm looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don't carry it because I'm afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid.. It doesn't limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation... and that's why carrying a gun is a civilized act.
By Maj. L. Caudill USMC (Ret.)
So the greatest civilization is one where all citizens are equally armed and can only be persuaded, never forced.
Thank You
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
"The Gun Is Civilization!" Interesting take and one you don't hear much.
As the Supreme Court hears arguments for and against the Chicago, IL Gun Ban, I offer you another stellar example of a letter (written by a Marine) that places the proper perspective on what a gun means to a civilized society.
Read this eloquent and profound letter and pay close attention to the last paragraph of the letter....
"The Gun Is Civilization"
by Maj. L. Caudill USMC (Ret)
Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that's it.
In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.
When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force.
The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gang banger, and a single guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.
There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we'd be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for a [armed] mugger to do his job. That, of course, is only true if the mugger's potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat--it has no validity when most of a mugger's potential marks are armed.
People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that's the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly.
Then there's the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser.
People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don't constitute lethal force watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst. The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker If both are armed, the field is level.
The gun is the only weapon that's as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weight lifter. It simply wouldn't work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn't both lethal and easily employable.
When I carry a gun, I don't do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I'm looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don't carry it because I'm afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid.. It doesn't limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation... and that's why carrying a gun is a civilized act.
By Maj. L. Caudill USMC (Ret.)
So the greatest civilization is one where all citizens are equally armed and can only be persuaded, never forced.
Thank You
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Gillette, the worst a church can get...
One summer morning in 1895, an ambitious traveling salesman found that the edge of his straight razor had dulled. King Gillette later said that the idea for an entirely new kind of razor, with a disposable blade, flashed into his mind as he looked in irritation at his dull blade. King Gillette had been searching for the right product, one that had to be used--and replaced--regularly, around which to build a business. His innovation in shaving technology was just such a product. Another safety razor, the Star, was already on the market at the time but, like the straight razor it was meant to replace, its blade needed stropping before each use and eventually had to be professionally honed. Gillette envisioned an inexpensive, double-edged blade that could be clamped over a handle, used until it was dull, and then discarded.
Gillette spent the next six years trying to perfect his safety razor. Scientists and toolmakers he consulted were pessimistic, and thought the idea impractical. Gillette, 40 years old at the time and a successful salesman, inventor, and writer, did not give up. In 1901 he joined forces with William Nickerson, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-educated machinist. Nickerson developed production processes to make Gillette's idea a reality, while Gillette formed the American Safety Razor Company to raise the estimated $5,000 they needed to begin manufacturing the razor. Gillette became president of the company and head of a three-man directorate. Production of the razor began early in 1903.
The renamed Gillette Safety Razor Company began advertising its product in October 1903, with the first ad appearing in Systems Magazine. The company sold 51 razor sets at $5 each and an additional 168 blades--originally at 20 for $1--that first year.
In 1904 Gillette received a patent on the safety razor; sales rose to 90,884 razors and 123,648 blades that year.
Old man billeted had a great ideal that changed the way shaving had been done for a very long time. It worked great for shaving, however it does not work very well when applied to the church.
Churches need a straight razor for a pastor not a disposable razor.
It is my opinion that the most healthy churches in the world have staff members with the longest tenures. When I left college/bible school I was ready to go and minister as a staff pastor wherever God chose for me. I had full intentions of staying at every church I ministered at for a very long time. I had a philosophy that if I could not go somewhere and stay for 10 years or longer that I would not go at all. Yet, somehow the longest tenure I had at any church was just shy of 2 1/2 years. Why did my family and those churches have to go through the pain of separation when we had worked so hard getting to know each other so that we could minister to our community? I can't believe that is the model that is set for us as a healthy church.
I do not think I need to draw the picture of sheep knowing the voice of their Shepard or how a church body is a family. People want to hear a word from God from someone they trust. Someone that has struggled, laughed, and cried with them. They trust someone who has married them and buried their loved ones, someone who has built a life with them.
As I set in church this morning I listen to a pastor that has pastored these people for 34 years.
Churches do not need deposable pastors, they need pastors that for all intents and purposes are permanent. It is a rare thing to find a pastor that has been at the same church for 10 to 15 years. Support pastors make it even less! How does a pastor become part of a church family in just 2 or even 5 years? How does an "outsider" lead a group of people effectively?
I pray that this changes in the churches in America.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Gillette spent the next six years trying to perfect his safety razor. Scientists and toolmakers he consulted were pessimistic, and thought the idea impractical. Gillette, 40 years old at the time and a successful salesman, inventor, and writer, did not give up. In 1901 he joined forces with William Nickerson, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-educated machinist. Nickerson developed production processes to make Gillette's idea a reality, while Gillette formed the American Safety Razor Company to raise the estimated $5,000 they needed to begin manufacturing the razor. Gillette became president of the company and head of a three-man directorate. Production of the razor began early in 1903.
The renamed Gillette Safety Razor Company began advertising its product in October 1903, with the first ad appearing in Systems Magazine. The company sold 51 razor sets at $5 each and an additional 168 blades--originally at 20 for $1--that first year.
In 1904 Gillette received a patent on the safety razor; sales rose to 90,884 razors and 123,648 blades that year.
Old man billeted had a great ideal that changed the way shaving had been done for a very long time. It worked great for shaving, however it does not work very well when applied to the church.
Churches need a straight razor for a pastor not a disposable razor.
It is my opinion that the most healthy churches in the world have staff members with the longest tenures. When I left college/bible school I was ready to go and minister as a staff pastor wherever God chose for me. I had full intentions of staying at every church I ministered at for a very long time. I had a philosophy that if I could not go somewhere and stay for 10 years or longer that I would not go at all. Yet, somehow the longest tenure I had at any church was just shy of 2 1/2 years. Why did my family and those churches have to go through the pain of separation when we had worked so hard getting to know each other so that we could minister to our community? I can't believe that is the model that is set for us as a healthy church.
I do not think I need to draw the picture of sheep knowing the voice of their Shepard or how a church body is a family. People want to hear a word from God from someone they trust. Someone that has struggled, laughed, and cried with them. They trust someone who has married them and buried their loved ones, someone who has built a life with them.
As I set in church this morning I listen to a pastor that has pastored these people for 34 years.
Churches do not need deposable pastors, they need pastors that for all intents and purposes are permanent. It is a rare thing to find a pastor that has been at the same church for 10 to 15 years. Support pastors make it even less! How does a pastor become part of a church family in just 2 or even 5 years? How does an "outsider" lead a group of people effectively?
I pray that this changes in the churches in America.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I am mad at blog press
I just made a post and lost everything!!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Guard your heart
I been thinking about my heart and true motivations.
Also, i have been thinking about the hearts of other people.
Exhibit A: Some people do good things but are all dead on the inside and think bad things and live good but do it not from the heart out of sincerity.
Exhibit B: Other people I know do things they should not, and have problems that some folks look down upon. However, these people are the ones I would have come by and help when my car is broke down or are more likely to spot me 10 bucks for lunch and never even want it back. These kind of people have what we all like to say "a good heart".
What was it about David that made him a man after Gods own heart?
Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life. Proverbs
Do you think mean stuff about people? Are you convicted as soon as you do? Do you have a good heart?
A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. Luke 6:45
Your heart can trick you. You must know your heart. Ask yourself the hard questions.
God knows your heart. He knows it better than you do. Exercise having a good heart! How do you do that? Listen to that small voice that says "that was not nice" or "you really should say this or do that". Pay attention, listen, Gods Holy Spirit will guide you in all truth. He will not trick you like your own heart will. He will not never lie to you.
Here is my prayer today!!!
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts. Psalms 139: 23
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Also, i have been thinking about the hearts of other people.
Exhibit A: Some people do good things but are all dead on the inside and think bad things and live good but do it not from the heart out of sincerity.
Exhibit B: Other people I know do things they should not, and have problems that some folks look down upon. However, these people are the ones I would have come by and help when my car is broke down or are more likely to spot me 10 bucks for lunch and never even want it back. These kind of people have what we all like to say "a good heart".
What was it about David that made him a man after Gods own heart?
Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life. Proverbs
Do you think mean stuff about people? Are you convicted as soon as you do? Do you have a good heart?
A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. Luke 6:45
Your heart can trick you. You must know your heart. Ask yourself the hard questions.
God knows your heart. He knows it better than you do. Exercise having a good heart! How do you do that? Listen to that small voice that says "that was not nice" or "you really should say this or do that". Pay attention, listen, Gods Holy Spirit will guide you in all truth. He will not trick you like your own heart will. He will not never lie to you.
Here is my prayer today!!!
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts. Psalms 139: 23
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Tommy Barnett quote this morning while praying
God, don't help me preach a great sermon, help me deliver a great truth.
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