Gentle Warrior

Go Jari, Go Jari

2006-08-17T17:40:00.000-07:00

Did you see the new television ad by Lt. Governor candidate Jari Askins? Wow. It was great. No patriotic music, cowboy boots, or kissing babies. She looked right into the camera and set the record straight. It may not catch the attention of all viewers, but it was perfect for those of us that are political junkies. I got up and did one of those Tiger Woods fist pumps!

Thinking back

2006-08-09T19:20:00.000-07:00

What do you remember about people after they pass on from this life? I have been thinking about that recently. Mostly, because both of my grandparents on my dad's side passed just in the last year. They were amazing people. (Everyone says that, huh) No, but really. My grandma Margaret always made my cousin, my brother, and I hand painted Christmas ornaments. We each had a hand sewn quilt as babies. When I was in college, she would make me dinner a couple times a month.

Grandpa Johnny B. was always so happy to see you. He was never too busy even though he worked until he was into his 90s. I thought it was cool that I inherited the "B". In the summers when I was young and mom was off cooking for the kids at camp, I would stay with them. I remember grandpa getting up to go work at Kerr McGee really early. I always wanted to get up and have breakfast with him. We would have oats and toast. Not oatmeal, but oats...the real deal. [try this recipe - good for the heart: Cooked oats, little bit of milk and sugar, then break off some buttered toast in the oats. Thats a real country breakfast.]

He had a great sense of humor. Something funny always happened with grandpa's dentures. He offered them to my friend who was missing his front teeth. He bit into a fried pie that was too hot and spit teeth and all out. He loved to perplex us little kids by popping them out every once in a while. I guess we were easily entertained!

I'm sure everyone thinks their grandparents were special. But, those are my memories, and thats what matters to me.

Run for the Border

2006-07-23T12:12:00.000-07:00

Remember those Taco Bell commercials with the line "run for the border". That would not go over very well in the current political climate. Republicans are in a pickle! On one hand they want to be the party that protects America's borders. On the other the Chamber of Commerce is in their pockets reminding them that their political coffers are being filled by business owners relying on cheap labor. In my opinion, the Republican party has an easy choice. Go after the working class vote that wants a wall built around America. So you make the big business mad. What are they going to do...vote Democrat?!

Calvey has garnered the endorsement of the Minute Men Militia. Mary Fallin says she is for "Faith, Freedom, and Family" which is pc talk for guns, god, and gays. Cornett says that President Reagan is his hero. What was more heroic, selling guns to guerilla warriors or exploding the national debt. Denise Bode came out with a commercial saying she was one of the first to support ending granting citizenship to children born in the US. Wow! That's one way to make yourself stand out among the army of "true conservatives" running for Congress.

The greatest political news this week was the exchange between Bode and Cornett. Bode put some negative ads out against the mayor. Before a public event, Cornett confronted Bode. Luckily some cameras were close to catch the action. Bode tried to smile and look around to see who heard him, but said "We'll talk later". So Cornett pulled out his phone and asked for her phone number. Ouch! Bode was asked later about the exchange and commented that Mick had not been in politics much and did not understand the need for policy debate. (She meant to say he had not been in politics long enough to lose his conscience!)

How about the Lt. Governors race. My advice, throw your support behind Askins. She is a sharp cookie and well respected in Oklahoma government. If the the House had not flipped last election, she would have been Speaker. I don't know much about Regan, but I would rather see him have some state government experience before jumping into the co-pilots chair. Hobson has been in some trouble.

There's my advice for today. Take it or leave it!

Hello Out There

2006-03-22T13:32:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been a while. Its not that I have nothing to say. I have just been a slacker when it comes to the internet. I just checked my email from December! No more excuses. Things are getting exciting on the political front. The Republicans are leaving Bush out to dry and the Democrats and keeping their mouths shut. Politics is a funny thing. On one hand you do not want your opponent to succeed; however, you don't want your nation to fail. So why would anyone want to be a politician? - Their too ugly to work in Hollywood!

Some Constitutional Principles

2006-01-13T13:50:00.000-08:00

In the past few years there has been increasing interest in making amendments to the US Constitution, as well as growing interest in the way the document is interpreted. Whether someone is a strict constructionist or views the Constitution as a living document has become a partisan issue. This issue has become even more prevalent as the Bush administration has had trouble getting Senate approval of judicial appointments.

Judicial activism has become the new dirty word. Republicans support conservative judges who will "strictly" interpret the constitution, while charging that liberal activist judges are legislating from the bench. I am not denying that some judges have overstepped their bounds, but lets call a spade a spade. We all know that the extreme Right, the neo-conservatives, intent to appoint judges that support overturning Roe v. Wade. I do not support abortion for the sake of abortion, but it is the law. It should be the law until the legislative branch changes the law.

So should they change it with a constitutional amendment. I say no. The Constitution and Bill of Rights are intended to give freedoms, not take them away. It has never worked out very well for the Constitution to take away liberties whether in fact or interpretation, e.g. slavery, women/black vote, prohibition.

Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and an Anti-Abortion Act should not be amended to the Constitution. Making laws is one thing, but making the mistake again of using the constitution to restrict freedoms is setting a bad precedent for future amendments.

Hey, if you disagree.....prove it. I'm open....kind of!

Don't Shop There!!

2005-12-22T07:55:00.000-08:00

You can boycott a store that posts "Happy Holidays" and not "Merry Christmas". Will you stop buying gas, shopping for groceries, renting movies, and buying books from stores that sell pornography? Will you boycott convenience store that sell tobacco and beer to underage kids? (They all do it) Can you stop trading at pharmacies that sell the morning after pill? What about businesses that use sex to sell their goods?

We might have a hard time buying anything anywhere unless we only shop at Mardel's or Hobby Lobby. So lets stop being so hypocritical. Either treat all stores with the same level of criticism, or acknowledge that these are secular companies. Companies don't have a relationship with Jesus, people do.

The Case for Christmas

2005-12-15T11:42:00.000-08:00

Retail sales and "Merry Christmas" go together like. . . Britney Spears and teenage girls. We start next year's Christmas shopping as soon as we throw away the wrapping paper from this one. It seem like this season has become more and more about stuff and not the true meaning of Christmas. I am not saying anything new. This is what we have heard over and over from Christians fed up with companies making increasing profits off Christmas.

Now we cannot stand that secular companies are using Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas in their stores. I could be wrong, but I think we should be more grateful. Maybe stores are unknowingly helping us preserve the purity of Christmas, the celebration of Christ's birth.

So how should people greet one another this year? It would be better when someone said "Merry Christmas" that they meant for that person to have a blessed time with family and friends celebrating the birth of the Savior. Or is it beneficial for Christianity to have every lost soul saying "Merry Christmas" but only mean to have a great weekend and hope you get some nice gifts? I think we as Christians can get so zealous about "preserving our national heritage" that we can cheapen our religion.

So what is our objective after all this commotion? I heard a story about a Christian book store owner that made some rubber bracelets that say "Just Say Merry Christmas". I hear that they are selling like hot cakes all around the country.

What better way to take a stand against the perversion and secularization of our great nation than to buy some cheap jewelry!

Remember How To Worship

2005-11-27T15:12:00.000-08:00

What is true worship? I like the modern stuff. A real band, guitars, drums, and bass, singing praise songs. Sure there is a bit of emotion involved in the experience, but I just have to remember that I am there to praise not to be entertained.

Then there was today. I was reminded that it isn't about preference or quality, its about heart. I sat next to my grandma at a worship service in her assisted living center. We were singing those "old time" hymns. A stranger might have thought a pack of wild dogs were howling, but from my seat it was different. Even though she couldn't see the words, she hummed along with the tune. Despite her disability, she worshiped with her heart.

I have a friend that is mentally handicapped. He loves to go to church. He can't read and understand the words on the page, but he has been in church long enough to memorize many hymns. It brings joy to my heart when we sing a song he knows. He sings without reservation. He raises his voice well above even the strongest of singers in the congregation. He gives it his all.

I have learned something about worship today.

I Know How To Get Prayer In School

2005-11-16T19:45:00.000-08:00

I figured out how to get prayer back in schools: Teach your kids to pray when they are at school. For that matter, teach them to pray wherever they are. I think we should get prayer back in restaurants, at bedtime, at the dinner table, and at work. We don't need the governments permission. At least I don't. Do you?

What Are Our Values?

2005-10-18T15:26:00.000-07:00

All this talk about pandemic is strangely interesting. The Council on Infectious Diseases has created a plan for the distribution and rationing of flu vaccines in the case of a pandemic. The question before them is "Who gets the vaccine first?". They say this is the first time they have had to go beyond the science of controlling the virus and evaluate the values of distributing the vaccine. Should the vaccine be given to those that it will have the greatest affect on, or should it be given to those at the most risk for other diseases. The question really comes down to young or old.

We like to say that we care for the those who need it the most - elderly, poor, and ill. I would agree, in most cases. But what if we have a true pandemic, a virus like the bird flu that can spread quickly and must be treated within 72 hours (so I hear) to even have a chance at survival? Who should be first to get the limited vaccine. Last I heard it was approx. 4 million rounds in government stockpile plus whatever the private sector still has. There are 250+ million people in the United States. That's easy math even for a Poli Sci major.

The argument for the older generation receiving first treatment is that they are the most likely to contract other illnesses and occupy hospital beds for longer periods of time. This would have a significant affect on the response capabilities of health care facilities. Honestly, it would cost the government the most money caring for these people, many of whom rely on Medicare for their health care expenses.

A young college girl and an elderly veteran have beds next to each other in a temporary containment shelter. They are only two of several hundred that are being cared for in different shelters around the city. All the patients have the same symptoms. The hospital that runs these facilities has only been given 200 vaccines. They are promised to have more in 4 to 8 months. Due to shortages only one of our patients gets a vaccine. The young girl has a better chance of the vaccine being affective, but that means the veteran will suffer not only from the flu but increased chance of disease since he has high blood pressure and respiratory problems. He will probably develop pneumonia any day. Or the young girl could be passed over with little hopes of survival, while the veteran receives the vaccine.

What do we value? What should we value? We provide for the elderly now because we do not want them to suffer. But we are not trading suffering for suffering. We are only taking from our comfortable lives to provide some degree of comfort to those who suffer. But what if suffering is a given for both sides. Then what do we value? Does it change things?

In the case of a pandemic, we must protect the viability of our nation. I guarantee other nations will be. (Since when did I become a realist?!)

Which God Do You Know?

2005-10-18T07:07:00.000-07:00

There has been much talk of God's wrath since the September 11th trajedy and now the hurricanes in the Gulf. Here is an article I ran across by Robin Meyers about that very issue. It just proves that there are other Christian opinions out there besides the fundamentalists.

Diligence

2005-09-26T17:35:00.000-07:00

This world is in constant decay. Flowers wither, stars die(even our closest star), marriages fall apart, hair falls out...you get the point. We are mortal beings.

Something stuck me yesterday at first at church then that night in a bible study. That morning we studied the affect our heart has on our actions. Garbage in, garbage out. "Keep a diligent watch over your heart, it is the spring of life" (Proverbs, The Loose Translation) Later that night we discussed how to be diligent in pleasing God more.

Now, I am no wordsmith, but I am in CLET training for the word police. When I see diligent twice in the same day, concerning the same topic, I notice.

Here is the lesson I learned. You do not have to rub sand paper on a wall to make the paint look bad. You must keep the wall painted. All relationships take work, diligent work. My relationships with my friends and family deteriorate if I am not working to maintain and improve them. If I understand it correctly, most of my work(outside of serving others) is sanctification or becoming more like Christ. (I guess I can't and shouldn't separate those two. They compliment each other.)

Diligently guard my heart.
Diligently work to please God more.
Diligently work to be more like Christ.

So much for a day off!

Virtue of Torque

2005-09-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

I drive a big truck. Four door. Dually. Diesel. Black. BIG and NASTY. Now, before you go making judgments about my environmental irresponsibility, it's a necessary evil. It's a work truck. I am not one of those that feeds my ego with a large gas guzzler. My primary vehicle is small and more fuel friendly.

Today it performed beautifully. While clearing some brush, I ran across some stumps that I could not dig or pull up. I had a Tim Taylor moment - MORE POWER! I took a chain and strapped that puppy around my bumper. Feeling a little nervous about the potential outcome of the situation, I did what any man would do...grip it and rip it! I threw the truck in low gear and gave her some gas. She put up quite a fight, but it could not defeat the Big and Nasty.

Lets Get This Thing Started

2005-09-20T18:15:00.000-07:00

Let's get this thing started on the right foot. What better way to start a blog than to talk about serving. In light of Hurricane Katrina and the increased awareness of the plight of the underprivileged, whats more appropriate than a lesson in serving from none other than Mr. Benjamin Franklin.

"For my own Part, when I am employed in serving others, I do not look upon
myself as conferring Favours, but as paying Debts. In my Travels, and since my
Settlement, I have received much Kindness from Men, to whom I shall never have
any Opportunity of making the least direct Return. And numberless Mercies from
God, who is infinitely above being benefited by our Services. Those Kindnesses
from Men, I can therefore only Return on their Fellow Men; and I can only show
my Gratitude for these mercies from God, by a readiness to help his other
Children and my Brethren." (Essays and Letters of Ben Franklin)

Wise words from a confused deist.