I'm Afraid That I'm Becoming Obsolete

You know that now we've been in the 21st Century for a few years, I'm becoming more and more aware that I may be in danger of becoming obsolete.

As I watch society and see the changes that have been rocketing us into a new place, I find that my thoughts tend to not fit in as well as they used to. For instance, tattoos have become common place. People are getting tattoos so fast the ink hardly has a chance of drying before they are getting another one. I for one, do not like tattoos. I remember the days when the only people that got tattoos were soldiers, prisoners and your crazy Uncle Louie (name made up to protect the innocent) who thought it might be fun to get one. Now kids are hardly out of grade school and they are designing the tat they are going to get as soon as they can. And I'm labeled a crack pot, or fool because I don't like them.

Another thing is society's pre-occupation with the "coolness" of being gay or lesbian. I personally believe that it is wrong. That is "my" opinion, which I am entitled to have. I have friends that are in the gay/lesbian camp. The friends that I have there I consider to be really good friends of mine, and I love them deeply. But I do have to say, I don't understand their decision. And I know that it is their decision to make, and if I'm to stay their friend I have to accept them and the decision they have made. I don't have to agree with it, but I love them and will continue my relationship because of my love for them.

Yet, I don't understand this whole gay/lesbian attitude to force people to accept them. It seems for the most part, and I know that I am talking in the general sense here, that if I don't accept the gay/lesbian way of thinking, and make their point of view my point of view, then my ideas, my thoughts and my opinions are labeled as hateful ones, and not worthy of any time in the debate. My obsolete opinion is just trod under foot as that of an un-enlightened primative man's musings and therefore not worth anything.

I'm in danger of becoming obsolete, because I think that a man should be a man and stand up for what is right and true in life. I'm really tired of special interest groups telling everyone else what to believe, and that if they don't agree with them then they are wrong. I'm in danger of becoming obsolete because the world doesn't want real men anymore. In the world's eyes there is no need for men. We should all be androgynous beings, not really male or female, just beings who "love" each other.

What happened to the men that fought in World War II? What would happen if we were forced to re-instate the draft and go to war in the near future? Would there being any men left to go to war? Or would they be too concerned with getting along with everyone and just refuse to fight injustice? Sometimes there is a peace that only comes at the end of a sword, I don't like it, but that is just the way it is. There are bad people in the world that want nothing more than to kill as many people as get in there way. The only way to stop them is for someone to stand between them and the innocent. That takes real men, and this way of thinking is becoming obsolete.

I may be in danger of becoming obsolete as a man in this 21st century, but let me say one thing...I will not become obsolete without a fight. There is one man here who is willing to stand against injustice, and the will of special interest groups who fight unfairly. I am that man, and will continue to be that man until they finally cover my grave with dirt. So, who's with me? Strength and honor....

What's The World Coming To? You Choose.

Okay, so last night I'm watching a little bit of Law and Order Criminal Intent on Bravo, when this commercial comes on for chemistry.com. It's one of their "I promise to...." commercials with couples that have met on the website making promises to each other in various public places.

So I've been seeing these for a while, and to tell the truth, I wasn't really paying too much attention to it, and chose to get up and grab a cup of coffee. I hear this guy saying something like, "I promise to never play the martyr role....", and then the strangest thing, I hear another male voice promising something back to the first male voice. At this point, I quit pouring my cup of coffee, and looked at the screen. I must admit that I was shocked at what I saw there in living color on my television. There are two guys standing there holding hands in a market and promising things to each other.

Now, now before you say it, I'll just go on record and say that I do not subscribe to homophobia, nor do I think of myself as a homophobe. Here is the definition of homophobia: irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals. I do not fear nor have an aversion to, or discriminate against homosexuals in any way. We as part of humanity have all been created in the likeness of God and that likeness is a spiritual one. Yet I will go on record as disagreeing with their life's choices, just I would if I saw someone who was an alcoholic, or a man beating his wife and children. Which unless I'm mistaken is still my right to do in America...at least for a little while.

What I do disagree with, and have an aversion to is this type of blatant, in your face tactic to push the homosexual agenda forward. I do understand that for chemistry.com this was probably a business decision to cater to the homosexual demographic, thus increasing their marketshare and making them more money. I guess kudos to them for reaching out...but what I think bothers me the most here is that it is just one more thing in bringing this minority to the forefront, making people think that it is really the majority.

The real problem here is that from my side of the fence (an overtly Christian viewpoint), homosexuality is usually attacked by hurling insults, Scripture and homophobic rhetoric and not viewing it for what it really is...a choice. I seem to remember somewhere in the Bible where we are told that life and death, blessing and cursing are set before us, we are then told to choose life, but ultimately we are the ones who must choose. God does not force His will upon us, and neither should we force our will upon others...no matter which side of the fence we are on....strength and honor....

I Used To Fit In With The World

I was on my way to work yesterday, it was time once again to inventory the shoe store. On the way to work I was listening to my truck's radio and there were people talking about recycling our trash. They actually used the words "good trash" and "bad trash". Okay so here it is the definition of the word "trash" - rubbish: worthless material that is to be disposed of. Okay that is according to Webster's Dictionary.

As I decided that I had heard enough of that station, I changed it to another local station, and heard them talking about how "green" our city is. They used the phrase, "green footprint", meaning how well we are protecting the enviroment. I must admit, that I did not really understand what any of these people were talking about. I used to fit in with the world, but apparently not any more. I felt like an old, used up has-been from another era listening to those radio broadcasts.

I personally believe that "going green" and recycling everything under the sun is an excercise in futility. Let me explain what I mean by that. According to

2 Peter 3:7 & 10 (7)By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. (10)But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

I say that it is an excercise in futility because of the fact that one day it will all be burned up in the day of judgement. This planet that people are feverishly trying to save, will be destroyed eventually...and no matter how big a green footprint we leave, it is not going to stop it.

This is not to say that I think we should willingly pollute the enviroment, no not at all. If you would take a look inside the cab of my truck you would realize that I think littering is a bad thing. So much so, that I would rather ride around with a bunch of trash in the floorboard than to throw it out.

I guess my question is this, what are we really teaching this younger generation? That if they seperate clear plastics from dark plastics it makes them a better person? How? What is the agenda here really? It seems to me to be more about "how" it makes the person who is doing it feel, than actually about the "what" it does for the enviroment.

I'm just becoming obsolete as a member of society I guess, not that that's really a bad thing...the way society is going. I'll keep my enviroment clean of trash, (I learned that from the crying Indian) but I'm not going to recycle...I'll leave that for the "feel good" generation....

Stand Up

Okay, so I'm not a fan of beauty pagents, and I don't watch them. But apparently this last Ms. USA pagent has had some controversy surrounding it. I watched the clips where Perez Hilton, this guy who's claim to fame is that he is some type of celebrity blogger was a judge for the pagent. He asked Ms. California a question did she think all states should allow gay marriage.
Her answer was that while she thought everyone was entitled to choose, her opinion was that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.

The thing that I find interesting is then a day or two later he is referring to her using the "b" word and the "c" word. I'm wondering what she did to deserve such horrid and deragitory treatment. She answered his question in a way that he didn't like! What has this world come to when we are asked what our opinions are and then we are blasted because we didn't answer in the way the person asking for our opinions wanted us to?

This little poser boy should be taken to task for his treatment of her. Where are all the women's groups? They have been mysteriously quiet as this girl has been raked over the coals. If she had been raped physically by Perez Hilton there woud be all types of outcries...wouldn't there? He has verbally raped her, and don't think it is anything other than that. He has violated her as a person, not caring the least bit for her heart. No, all he is doing is trying to get a little bit bigger piece of fame and fortune for himself, and I for one am sickened by the lack of support for this girl who stated her mind.

Okay, so I'm a little worked up today over this, because it seems that if we stand up and say what we believe and it doesn't match up to the main stream of society then we are treated as lepers or outcasts. I for one, would much rather spend time with lepers and outcasts than the mainstream of society with its small view of a person's heart.

So hear my battle cry today, "Stand up! Stand up for what is good, honest and decent! Don't cower down to the main stream of society that says you are a bigot if you don't agree with them! Stand up and look evil square in its face and call it what it is. No more should we stand idly by while all that is good, virtous and true get trampled in the name of getting along! Stand up and speak the truth in love all the while keeping your spine stiff and straight as the onslaught of popular opinion crashes into you like a wave!"

I'm reminded of the quote, "All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men and women to do nothing." (Dave's paraphrase) It's time for those of us who are tired of the main stream of society to get out there and divert the flow of it away from what is good and true, and aim it in the direction of where it really needs to go, the sewer.

Where are the leaders?

Okay, so I've just gotta get this off of my chest. It's really been bothering me, and to be quite honest if I don't get it out, I think I might literally explode.

WHERE ARE ALL THE LEADERS?

I mean come on, I wonder where all the leaders are nowadays. When I was growing up back in the late sixties and early seventies, we knew who the bad guys were because of the way they acted. Now that I'm forty-five, I wonder if anyone really knows who the bad guys are. What I've seen doesn't lead me to believe they do.

When my childhood hero John Wayne fought against the bad guys in the movies he was in, you could always tell who they were. For the most part it was simple, they were the guys who were trying to tell other people what to do. Things really haven't changed that much in all these years. The bad guys still are telling people what to do.

In the movies, the bad guys would start messing with folks, and some good guy would ride in and take care of them. One of my favorite scenes of all times is in the movie "True Grit". John Wayne plays a crotchity old guy named Rooster Cogburn. He's been hunting this particular bad guy for a while, and it's time for the showdown. Rooster hollars at the man, "Fill your hands you s.o.b.!" and taking the reigns into his mouth he charges his horse across the field firing a rifle from one hand and a pistol from the other.

What I love about this scene is that Rooster Cogburn just takes care of business. He doesn't wait for a comittee meeting, or worry if the political pundits will say anything negative about his decision. He just takes care of business, like a leader should.

In this day and age, we need leaders both men and women to stand up and do right because it's the right thing to do, not because it might make it onto the news and make them look better. Where are the leaders? I'm not sure, but I know this...if John Wayne were still alive, he'd probably have a big job using his boot to get his point across...strength and honor....

Life Gets In The Way

You know today I was working on a message that I'm going to share with a men's group next week. It's all about how it is important that as men we have a band of brothers that we can depend on.

As I was writing my thoughts down, I realized that I was going to tell the men that one of the things that they need to do to make it work is to be sure and find time for each other outside of church and bible studies.

I for one, have a real hard time making this happen, although I am making better strides at this year than ever before. It's just that it seems that life is always getting in the way.

I mean you want to get together with a couple of buddies and hang out around a campfire, but you've gotta do something at work that takes all night, or you have work around the house to get to. It always seems to be something.

What I've done that has really helped this year is to actually schedule my times of hanging out with my buddies. I don't take it for granted that we'll get together, I make it a priority and put it down in my scheduler...and you know what? I'm finding that life is not getting in the way nearly as much now...

Okay, so there's that...strength and honor.....

A Tribute To One of My Fathers in the Faith

On Sunday March 15, 2009 a great man passed from this life to the next. Richard Large is his name, and I say “is” because while he may not be here on this planet any longer, he is in the presence of Jesus very much alive and well.

I met Richard on an Easter Sunday in 1987 at Hillcrest Christian Fellowship in Muskogee, Oklahoma. I had decided to go to church that Easter because of a girl that I was dating at the time. (Okay, so God uses foolish things.) I remember thinking that if I was going to go to church, I had better buy some dress clothes and a Bible, so I did just that, and on that Easter Sunday, I marched right into that church full of bravado and arrogance, finding a seat that was right in front of the podium, thinking to myself, “I bet this guy doesn’t know anything more than I know about God, so we’ll just see what he has to say.”

You must understand, I grew up in the Methodist church learning all the mechanics of what Jesus did by dieing on the cross and being raised from the dead on the third day. What I didn’t learn was at the heart of why Jesus did that for us through His sacrifice. It was precisely that which Richard spoke about that day.

I must have looked pretty silly when my chin hit my chest that morning, because he did show me things that I had never seen before. I continued going to church after that every time the doors were open, and it wasn’t too many weeks later while we were at an after church fellowship that he did something which completely changed my mind about Christianity forever. While we were fellowshipping around the dining room table that night, I asked if anyone would mind if I lit up a cigarette. (I was a two pack smoker then.) Richard and his wife Ducky looked right at me, and with love in their eyes said, “No, not at all.”

That one sentence was the beginning of what changed my life. It so shocked me that I forgot to light up. I did ask Richard however, “What is this born again thing that you are always talking about?” And he instructed me to go get my Bible out of my car and he would show me. I’m pretty sure that they all began to pray for me as I left the room.

When I returned he had me to turn to Romans 10:9-10 and read it to the group, which I did. He then began to explain what these scriptures meant. I didn’t ask Jesus to be my Lord right then, but that night as I sat cross legged on my bed, I re-read those scriptures over and over until I finally decided that this was for me. I confessed Jesus as my Lord and Saviour right there on my bed and was catapulted from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of light.

I continued to serve at Hillcrest Christian Fellowship for many more years working on the praise and worship team, in children’s ministry and with the youth. I met my wife Cheryl there and it was Richard who performed our wedding ceremony. There are two things that I remember vividly about Richard Large, and they are 1) whenever listening to a teacher, or studying the Bible never take anyone’s word for anything, always find at least two or three witnesses for everything (this is something that has kept me from trouble on more than one occasion) and 2) Plod on, Plod on, Plod on. (This was a poem that Richard wrote. It had only six words in the stanza, but you could repeat as many stanzas as you needed until the situation you were in was resolved.)

Richard Large was a great man, one without whom I probably would have never accepted Jesus. He is the first Pastor I ever had, and has always had a special place in my heart. I will miss him, even though we haven’t spoken in years. I look forward to the day when I will be able to sit with him and share once more how grateful I am for all he did for me.