Merry Christmas

When I was a boy around Christmas time we had an old book that had stories, songs, and poem in it.  As I remember they were all Christmassy, but may not have been.  There was one small poem that became a family favorite, called The Snowman.  I am sorry, but I don’t know who to credit as the authority.

The Snowman
Once there was a snowman who stood outside the door,
He thought he'd like to come inside and play upon the floor, 
He thought he'd like to warm himself by the fire light red
He thought he’d  like to play upon the big white bed 
So he called the north wind, “help me now I pray,” 
I'm completely frozen standing here all day,  
So the north wind came along and blew him in the door, 
Now there’s nothing left of him but a puddle on the floor.

Have a very Merry Christmas

Jerry Falwell and Kicking Butts

Does anyone know the source of the oft repeated quote from Jerry Falwell about “kicking butts?”  Jerry is not always the most delicate spokesperson but I would like some proof that he said this.  

"The fact is we've gone on the offense now. We've put them on the defense. We're kicking their butts and they're unhappy."

I have seen it quoted in a lot of places.  No one has said where or when he said it.  I just wonder.

    

Joining the Holiday vs Christmas debate

     This is quite interesting methinks.   On both sides the heat is up and the thinking is down.  Or maybe I am just dense and don’t even know when I am insulted.  When I was younger and heard the phrase Happy Holidays or Season’s Greetings it didn’t immediately jump to my mind that someone was replacing Christmas.  I thought they were being inclusive of the three major holidays in 5 ½ weeks to end each year.  There are actually 5 holidays if you include the eves.  So if you wanted to wish someone a great 5 ½ weeks you could just abbreviate and say, “Happy Holidays”  That phrase was meant to include Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, and if you were Jewish you could substitute Hanukah  for Christmas if you wanted to, and nobody seemed to mind.

     Christians don’t mind sharing their season.  What they mind is getting kicked out of their own holiday.  The problems began when it became politically correct to avoid the terrible C word.  Whatever you do don’t say Merry Christmas.  You might offend one of the 6% of Americans who carry such a chip on their shoulder.  When a store begins to demand political correctness from its employees they need to be ready to take the heat.  

     There are some great cartoons, (representing both sides in the debate) at http://www.cagle.com/news/PoliticallyCorrectChristmas/main.asp

Sports Nut or Nutty Sports

The last two nights have been unusual sports nights for me.  On Thursday night I saw the Lakers beat the Jazz.  What is unusual?  I am not crazy about the NBA.  I agree with a friend of mine who said “In the NBA they ought to give both teams 100 points and start the fourth quarter.”  

The game ended in controversy.  Kobe Bryant shot a desperation shot as time ran out and missed. Utah and Utah fans thought they had won the game.  The Delta Center erupted in noise.  But—and this is a big one—There was a foul called.  Kobe made the foul shots and the game went to overtime where the Lakers prevailed.  Two days later the Utah papers are crying foul, or rather “what foul?”

Then last night I went to the first college volleyball match I have ever attended.  It is the first round of the NCAA playoffs.  I learned that volleyball scoring has changed since I was in gym.  Some of the other rules have changed too, but since I never knew the rules anyway that didn’t make a difference.  The other thing I learned is that there are an awful lot of really tall girls in college these days.  

I enjoyed the two nights mainly because of the friends I went with.  Thank the Lord for friends, they make the day worthwhile.  

T.V. Must be Sad

I think television must have hit its low point. Yesterday was prime example. First, our local Salt Lake City CBS station thought that showing the Chargers/Patriots was a better choice than the Broncos/Jaguars. Notwithstanding probably half or more of the football fans in Utah are Bronco fans. Then in the afternoon game, for whatever reason, the Fox channel shows the Chiefs/Eagles rather than the Raiders/Cowboys. I don't understand that one at all.

The Sunday night game was between two loser franchises, and was boring so we started looking for something to watch. The news channels were endlessly repeating last weeks news, the movie on the western channel was showing for at least the 25th time this month.

So starting with the local broadcast channels we started cruising the channels and you know what we finally ended up watching? You won't believe it. We watched three episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. Yep with Andy, Barney, Aunt Bea, Goober, Gomer, Opie, and all. The best thing on TV was a 50 year old black and white sitcom.

Oh my.

A Church Dilemma

Squirrels had overrun three churches in town. After much prayer, the elders of the first church determined that the animals were predestined to be there. Who were they to interfere with God's will? they reasoned. Soon, the squirrels multiplied.
The elders of the second church, deciding that they could not harm any of God's creatures, humanely trapped the squirrels and set them free outside of town. Three days later, the squirrels were back.
The deacons in the Baptist church baptized the squirrels and registered them as members of the church. Now they only see them on Christmas and Easter.
--The 50 Funniest Jokes, Readers Digest September 2005, p 101 (only changed slightly)

The Great MooseCapade

What happened that day will never be explainable in human terms though I am sure there is a moose somewhere who could give sufficient information. I was minding my own business early on Saturday morning. We were camping in the mountains not far from home. There was a nice little stream with some beaver dams and ponds. The creekside was filled with willows. I was enjoying my first cup of coffee when I looked up and saw the moose.

I called to my friends and they all came to see the moose, standing in the meadow a few hundred yards from the camp. He was there with a few of his friends and they were nonchalantly browsing their way along the creek bank.

With camera in hand I slipped down to the waters edge to get a good snapshot of them as they wandered past. I was positioned perfectly. I was going to get some good shots. “What was that? Did that moose just wink at me?” I think he did.

“How do you want me to stand for the best pose?”

“Who said that?” I was startled.

“I said it! Who did you think?” And the sound was coming right from the moose.

“I can’t believe I am talking to a moose.” Was all I could think. I looked and he was grinning from ear to ear.

“Well,” he said, “not every one gets an opportunity to talk to a moose. Better make the most of your opportunity.”

“Wow!” I said. “How is it that you can talk?”

“We can always talk,” said the moose. “What is unusual is that you can hear. You have been chosen as MooseMaster.”

“What? What is a moose master and who chose me and why me and what does that mean and ….”

“Hold on a minute buster. One question at a time. And we don’t have forever so make your questions count. What is it you always wanted to know about us Mooses?”

“Mooses? Is that a word?” I asked.

“Do you want to spend your time with grammar questions? Maybe we should choose a new Moosemaster.”

“No, I mean O.K.. I will ask a question. Let’s see. The one thing about Moose, or Mooses that I have wanted to know is how deep you can go under water. The ranger at a museum in Montana said that you could dive 15 feet under water. Is that true?”

“You must have moose understood the ranger. Why would I want to go 15 feet under the water?”

“I don’t know! But I am sure that is what the ranger said.”

“Well,” said the moose, “he was moosetaken. I don’t think I ever knew a moose who would go that deep under the water.”

“Have you ever tried?” I asked him.

“No.”

“Would you like to try?”

“Well, not here. The water is only two feet deep.” And I am sure I heard him chuckle to himself when he said it. “Where was this ranger that told you this fine story about skin diving moose?”

“It was last summer in Grand Teton National Park.”

“Grand Teton National Park!” the moose exclaimed. “Why the water there is so cold even wading to your knees is a mooseareable experience.”

I was about to ask him what the deepest he had ever been was when off in the distance a dog barked. He turned to look, turned back to me, and as he was preparing to leave he said, “well I gotta go.”

“Wait!” I said. “That dog won’t bother you. He is a long ways off.”

“I know but my buddies are leaving and I have to go with them, after all we are the three moosekateers.” And with that, he was gone.

I waited each morning for the rest of my vacation. I was hoping that my moose friend would come back by. I saw a moose off in the distance on the last morning but he never came very close.

I know you probably think I am making this up or perhaps relating a dream. I have a picture of my moose friend to show you. If you look closely in his eyes you can tell that he has just finished a wink. And it just goes to show that you may not want to believe everything you hear a ranger say.

Next time one of them tells you that moose can dive 15 feet under water ask him if he ever saw one or if he is just relating what he has heard. Then tell him it probably isn’t so, and you heard it straight from the moosemaster who heard if from the mouth of the moose.

Finally, the end of the ski season

July 4 was the last day of the ski season here in Utah. Snowbird was open for the last day. People were skiing in shorts and hawaiian shirts. It looked like fun, but we went and picked cherries. Yep, skiing and fruit harvest at the same time.

Today, to celbrate the opening of the gate to the upper reaches of Mill Creek canyon, Jen and I went to Elbow Fork. Leaving the road there, Jen, Uma, and I hiked out of Mill Creek Canyon and over the pass into Lamb's Canyon.

The temperature was in the 90's when we started, making for a pretty hot hike. It was two miles up to the pass, then two miles back. It was a sweaty, tired threesome, (well two of us were sweaty, one was just panting) that arrived back at elbow fork.

For 3 hours though we were beyond the reach of Al Queda. I suppose they could send a suicide bomber to Lamb's Canyon Trail, but what would be the point. But then what is the point of blowing up a lot of innocent Londoners?

Not only were we out of the sights of Al Queda, we were also out of range of Fox news telling us about Hurricane Dennis. Mercy, they sure get stuck on a subject and go over and over and over it. But for three hours all we saw was blue sky, not a cloud one, and no threats of 150 mile an hour winds, or even the reports of such.

Enjoying the beauty of God's creation is one of the blessings we have. The flowers were varied and beautiful. The creeks were roaring with crashing water. The views were magnificent. The only thing that would make it better would be wildlife. All we saw were a few bees, some birds, including a woodpecker, one black beetle, and countless black biting flies. As bothersome as they are, black biting flies are not as troublesome as back biting people.

A New Yankee Stadium

Today I heard the news. The Yankees and New York are building a new Yankee stadium to be ready for the 2009 season. Even though it has been remodled several times, the stadium is still the space roamed by the greatest players to ever wear a uniform.

Some of my earliest baseball memories are of Yankee world series games. They were the first team of any kind I had any feelings for. Before the Denver Broncos, L.A. Lakers, UNM Lobos or even the Aztec Tigers, I was rooting for the Bronx Bombers playing at Yankee stadium.

The Mick was my first hero outside my family. This is where he roamed center field and smashed the tater into the upper decks.

I know it is probably time. And it will be a good thing for the team and the city. I am only glad I was able to finally attend a couple of games at the stadium in my 53rd year.

Maybe I will have opportunity to attend another, I have the rest of this year, and then three more seasons.

Blame The Pope

I don't understand the way our crazy society thinks. Oliphant's political cartoon today casts blame at the Pope for the sourge of AIDS. Somehow because the new pope keeps the same moral beliefs that Popes have carried for 2000 years (or at least for 1600 years if you aren't catholic) AIDS becomes his fault. Nobody gets AIDS because of the Catholic Church's teachings.

If a person isn't wearing a condom when having unsafe sex it is not because they are strictly following the church's teaching. If they were strictly following the Pope's beliefs they wouldn't be having unsafe sex.

It is not that the teaching of the church has changed. It is that the church refuses to relax its morals because of the immorality in the world.

Since the election of Pope Benedict all we have heard is how his beliefs are so dangerous. He is unwilling to change church doctrine to meet the changing currents of modern society. Paul, the New Testament apostle, says that it is children that are tossed around by every shift in doctrine. (Ephesians 4:14) So Pope Benedict is a dangerous man because he is just that, a man of conviction, not a spiritual child.

PS. for any of you who might wonder. I am not Catholic.

The Monster Under The Bed

I saw a most interesting statistic last night. According to "Unexplained Mysteries," 98.5% of all alien abductions happen at night. I knew it! I knew it! Ever since I was a little boy I knew that the monsters came out at night.

The ones that lived under my bed were only there at night. In the daytime I never had any problem with them, but at night, at night they crawled around under my bed just waiting for me, or if I could talk him into going first, my brother to step to the floor. Then some monster would reach out from under the bed and grab a leg and that would be the end.

I am sure mom must have wondered what the noise was when we leaped from the bed toward the door so our leg wouldn’t come down in reach of those ugly villains under the bed.

Even today, the aliens are only out at night. The room next to my office in the church is the youth room. They have a big cutout of Darth Vader over by the window. Sometime back someone put a large curly wig on Darth. I was going down the hall at night with all the lights off. Just enough light was coming through the window to let me know a very big person with a large curly hairdo was in the youth room.

After I got my breath back I thought how it would have looked the next morning to find a middle aged Pastor dead from a heart attack laying on the floor outside the youth room. But it wouldn’t have been so unusual. Killed by an alien, at night, of course.

May all your alien contacts happen in daylight. You are safer that way.

Think About It

"And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you can determine what really matters and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and promise of God." Philippians 1:9-11 (HCSB)

Just an old ski bum.

I didn’t move to Salt Lake City until I was a half century old. I think that is a good thing. If I would have been younger the temptation to be a ski bum might have been more than I could have withstood. The snow, 456 inches this winter, has settled to 137 inches of base. No wind, warm sunshine, short lift lines. Wow, what a day. Jen and I skied this morning. 27-37 degrees. Right now in my front yard it is 47. (8:21 pm) I could have played golf when we got down this afternoon. If I had younger knees that is.

Utah snow is not a secret though. On the lift we rode with people from Delaware, Boston, England, Pittsburg, Florida, Wisconsin, and one guy from Salt Lake City. And we only skied half of the day. The guy from Delaware was here for the 4th time this season and has 3 more trips planned before the end of April. (a computer business software writer)

The Cost Of Discipleship

Being a disciple means loving Jesus more than any other person.
Being a disciple means wanting Jesus more than any other thing.
Being a disciple means following Jesus instead of any other way.

Jesus said, "Do you really want to be a disciple? Then count the cost."
Luke 14:26-35

Hey, You're On My Turf

I have been really interested in this discussion about bloggers and journalists. Somehow the journalists believe that when they give their opinions we ought to pay special attention but the opinions we read on a blog will be biased.

Duh! As if the opinions of the newspaper journalists are always unbiased and based on truth. They can distort truth as well or better than any blogger. It seems for the main part, the editors don’t care.

Anyway, I am excited to think of myself as a journalist. I have always believed that one of the best jobs in the world is a sportswriter. You are paid to go to the sporting events and all you have to do in return is write a story about what you saw with a few quotes from coaches and players. Then in a day or two you write an opinion column where you give your opinion of the team, the coach, the players, etc. That is something all sports fans do regularly, without compensation.

Truthfully, their opinions are not anymore valid than mine. Their predictions are no better. They play loose with the facts so as to distort the truth. And that is the sports reporters. The political reporters are no different. And if the sports reporters can’t get it right any more often than a novice blogger, what makes the political reporters think that they can?

I think the journalists are crying loudly to keep respect for their jobs. I understand. I object when they delve into faith issues of which I think, as a rule, they know very little. What say, let’s all protect our turf.

Life Lesson #4

People aren’t against you, they are for themselves.
Gene Wood

This life saying is a new one. However, the thinking behind it is one I came to grips with long ago. In life, in leadership, there are always those who seem to oppose you. If you have an idea, they are opposed to it. Often they can be critical and even outspoken in their criticism.

The leader has to learn that usually people aren’t against you, they are simply for themselves. When you keep that in mind, it helps to keep from taking opposition personally.

I have never been a politician, but I believe most politicians probably have this idea down pat. And when you listen to a politician being critical of another, almost always it is because they are trying to increase their own poll rating.

Some people simply have to tear another down in order to build themselves up. If you let those people immobilize you, you will be unable to accomplish your own goals.

This is the last of my sayings. Next blog I am going to try and loosen up a little.

Life Lesson #03

A rolling train don't stop for no barking dogs.
Dr. B. Carlisle Driggers

When a person is responsible for making decisions that affect other people he can be sure of one thing, there will be those who complain. We see that carried out regularly in opposition to the President. (And it doesn't make a difference which party the president is from.) Those in the other party throw rocks.

It is true for the Pastor too. It doesn't make any difference what you do, there will be those who will think you should have done something different and thus they complain. I suspect it is true of leaders in most any profession.

When Davy Crockett was fighting in the war of 1812 he made a similar statement. "Be sure you are right, then go ahead." That is the attitude successful leaders need to have. And when you start rolling, don't stop everytime there is criticism. Otherwise you will never get anything done.

Of course, it could be dangerous. I don't know if that was still Mr. Crockett's motto when he headed for Texas, but he paid for it with his life. Even so, I believe if anything positive is ever to be accomplished, when you are sure you are right you must go ahead, and once moving, you don't stop when the criticisim begins.

Life Lesson #2

No believer’s spiritual life will ever rise to stay above the level of their praying.
Jack Taylor

Back in the late 70’s and early 80’s I heard this little tidbit for the first time. It was just one of Jack Taylor’s “Seven Prayer Principles.” It pretty much stands alone without the need for elaboration.

We all seek a spiritual life, what we neglect is to spend time with God who is the author of life.

(for the other 6 principles of prayer give me a response)

Life Lesson #01

I am beginning my blog by taking a few days and sharing some of the lessons I have learned and documented. This will take a few days, one lesson at a time.

Don’t take shortcuts in the quest to know God, they take too long.

Leaving a family reunion when I was about 15 I wasn’t looking forward to the 6 hour drive across New Mexico to home. The reason it was six hours is that there was no road across Northern New Mexico at the time. But shoot, that didn’t stop my dad from attempting to cross the road less country. After all it was a shortcut. Actually, the problem wasn’t so much a lack of roads, but the lack of a bridge across the Rio Grande which in that part of New Mexico flows at the bottom of a mini grand canyon.

One road we took ended in a mud puddle. We had to back track. The one bridge Dad had heard about, at Ojo Calliente, turned out to be out. We had to back track.

I don’t remember the conversation between Mom and Dad at the time, it must have been mostly under their breath, but I do remember the griping and complaining coming from the back seat where four boys were getting mighty tired of this shortcut. We had to back track.

Finally, after 8 hours in the car, for this 6 hour trip, we arrived. No, not at our destination, but back at the origination. Yes 8 hours totally back tracked. I believe that may hold a record for family vacation shortcuts.

I have discovered that trying to take shortcuts in my spiritual life are just as unfulfilling as that family vacation shortcut. Time with God is the only way to the spiritual life. That means I spend time reading and studying God’s word, the Bible. I need to spend time in prayer and meditation. I have to spend time in worship. Singing, writing, just generally praising God.

When I neglect to spend time with God and try to take shortcuts, I discover that I lose the Spiritual vitality that I desire and my spiritual road ends in a mudhole.

First Blog

I have been inspired to blog. What was my inspiration? 1. A pastor's blog I found in a magazine inspired me with his use of the blog to share Biblical insights. 2. My son's blog made me laugh until I had tears in my eyes.

While I claim to have neither the insight of above Pastor or the quick wit of my Son, I do feel that I have some interesting things to say and some insights mined from the mountains of material I read and the interesting people I meet.