15 YEARS AND COUNTING!

Tonight I will be celebrating 15 years of sobriety from alcohol.

15 YEARS!

I've been sober longer than I was drinking.

Of all the blessings that I have, I thank God my wife has never seen me drunk.
With God's grace I will have another 15 years, one day at a time.

GUN LOBBY SHIELDED FROM LAWSUITS!

The House of Representatives passed a bill 283-144 protecting the firearms industry from damages from massive lawsuits brought by crime victims. The White House announced that President Bush will sign it into law.

Astonishing isn't it that this "pro-life" President and his "pro-life" party will stop at nothing to outlaw abortion, but so far has done nothing to prevent the large loss of life brought about by hand guns in this country. It wasn't enough that last year they (the Republicans) let the ban on assault rifles expire, now they have gone after the only recourse that victims of violent crimes had, namely damages.

There is not a day that goes by that I don't grieve over what this President has done not only to the country, but to the Office of President. Is it any wonder that our allies distance themselves from us.

CAMPING OUT WITH BROTHER HAROLD

I confess that while I have many strengths, thorough knowledge of scripture is not one of them. While I have certainly made strides in this area of my life, there are still many passages of scripture that have eluded me. However even I can spot a flimflam artist a mile away. You know the old joke, "How can you tell when a salesman is lying? His lips are moving!"

Harold Camping is that kind of salesman: self-serving and full of himself. The president of Oakland-based Family Radio has made a career pronouncing that the age of the church is over, and that we are in the "great tribulation." Twice he has predicted the end of the world: once in 1994 "somewhere between September 5th and 27th;" and now, in a new book titled appropriately enough, Time Has An End, 2011. The main reason for Camping coming up with 2011 as the year Jesus returns is brilliant in its design. 1. It is 7000 years from the great flood, which he claims to have occurred in 4990 B.C.; 2. It is 23 years from the beginning of the great tribulation (Camping's great tribulation I might add) and 23 is the magic number of judgment. According to Camping, churches are not only irrelevant but "altogether apostate" because they soft-pedal the gospel. God has instead turned to radio - more to the point Family Radio - to preach the good news. You see, brilliant!

Camping isn't the first bible thumper to throw his hat in the ring and predict the end of the world. But what makes his brand of theology so fascinating and, at the same time, dangerous, is that millions of people tune into his family radio network every day. In one way or another most of the people I know have listened to a program or two on 94.7 on their FM dial. Most of the programs are not without some merit, and some actually do some good. That is the danger. Camping isn't some Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell copycat. He hides behind a pulpit that brings at least a semblance of hope to a good many people. While learned men and women in the Word are hip to Camping's charade, the ignorant remain helpless victims.

I have said it before, I will say it again, the Church's refusal to step out and call its false prophets on the carpet, like Paul did in his letters, is the biggest problem besetting Christianity today. Where is the public outcry from the responsible clergy when Pat Robertson openly condoned the assassination of Hugo Chavez? Where is the righteous anger that Christ had when he overturned the tables of the money changers and drove them from His father's temple when self-serving, false prophets attack the Church?

We have a habit of blaming Satan, referring to this world as a fallen world, and the people in it imperfect, as though that somehow gets us off the hook. Bull. Paul, in Romans chapter six, knew exactly where the blame was to be put. ^15"What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. ¹⁸You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."

The gullible need a light at the end of the tunnel to steer them toward the truth. How can we hold Islamic leaders responsible for their unwillingness to condemn terrorist attacks when our own leaders stand by and permit blasphemy within our own ranks. Remember the words of Jesus, "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Matthew 7:5.

EATING THEIR YOUNG

The nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court by President Bush has drawn the ire of many senators and congressional leaders in Washington. The critics have called into question Ms. Miers' qualifications for such a high post as the Supreme Court and have wondered outloud whether this nomination is an example of a President surrounding himself with people who are loyal to him, and yet overmatched for the duties to which they have been appointed or assigned to.

The irony of this criticism is that it is coming not from the Democratic party but from the Republican party, more to the point the right flank of the Republican party - if there is such a thing as a right flank for this party these days.

The radical Right has blasted the nomination as being a betrayal of the conservative values for which they purport to stand for and for which they have assumed this President agrees with.

Now what is so hysterical about this attack is that it has nothing to do with whether Miers is actually qualified to assume the responsibilities of associate judge to the Supreme Court. She clearly is NOT! In deed this is yet another example of this President appointing an underqualified individual for a post out of loyalty. The victims of Hurricane Katrina had to endure the ineptitude of FEMA head Michael Brown as he bungled the relief effort and made an ass of himself on national TV. If Michael Brown deserved to be the head of FEMA, I'm the Pope!

No, what is so hysterical here is watching the radical Right devour each other. It's like feeding time at the cannibal zoo. I couldn't be more delighted. Senator Chuck Schumer was beside himself with glee, stating, "We haven't had the time to criticize this nomination, the Republicans are doing such a good job of it for us!"

But at some point, when clearer heads prevail, a critique of this nomination must go forward. The senate must question her qualifications, as well as her ideology. It will not be enough for the President to say that because she has never been a judge, she has no track record to critique, only her character. BULL! I've never been a judge either, yet I can tell you exactly where I stand on any issue you ask me about. It is high time this administration and this Congress presented the people of the United States - ALL OF THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES - with a Supreme Court nomination worthy of the post being vacated.

Harriet Miers must state unequivocally where she stands on issues that the Court will most assuredly have a say in in the months, years, and, yes, decades to come. To do anything else would be cowardly. It has been suggested that no citizen should have to explain their beliefs to others. Quite so, except when those beliefs would affect how the rest of us would live out our lives.

We are talking about the balance of the Supreme Court for the next twenty or so years. This is a time for true Christians to pray for boldness from our leaders. We need leadership, not partisan politics and cronyism.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

October 8th (Saturday) Maria and I will be celebrating 11 years of marriage. For those of you looking to tell your friends about the miracles that God performs you can pass this along.

Before I met Maria, I thought a relationship was a second date!

The miracle in my life is I get to grow old with the woman I love. Everything else is a distant second.

Happy anniversary, honey!

Peter

CRACKED POT

Vic and Robin emailed this to me and I just couldn't resist.

A water bearer in China had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to theHouse, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of it's own imperfection. And miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you. I have been able to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw. So I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house?

Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them. Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape. Remember to appreciate all the different people in your life. Blessings to all my cracked pot friends.

"Be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you, but do it with gentleness and respect."
1 Peter 3:15b-16

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Peter 3:15b-16