HAPPY DRAW MOHAMMED DAY!

And I hope that it is a beautiful "Draw Mohammed Day" wher'ere y'ar. Click on the title link to go to the facebook page for 'Draw Mohammed Day' if so inclined. May 20 is the proposed date, so I'm just a lil' early.
If you think about it, Islam is stupid and dangerous about images of their very human, hardly holy sinful "leader".
Jesus is all over the place. You can't walk in Catamaran without tripping over Buddahs. Michelangelo's masterpiece "David" shows a Jewish sheepherder and no one in the Hebraic community gets steamed about it.
But some pedophile creep terrorist who murdered untold numbers of innocent peoples is so holy that it's considered a capital crime to depict him in any way? Nah.
Lacking any aritstic talent, how could I join in the 'Draw Mohammed Fun'? I want to play!
Bottom right, below Sarah's elbow. Some dust on the table in the Kuwaiti chow hall-that's all that would be left of Mohammed in 2010. The ashes to dust at least-the rest is burning in hell right now.

If I Ran The World…

As the saying goes-”If” is for children. “If” is the province located one step away from Reality, which we can call “Is”, as in, “It is what it is.”
It’s dangerous to hunt crocodiles in the swamp-it is their home ground/water, and they have great advantage over humans who like to stand upright on dry land.
I am going to take a chance, and venture into “IF”-the home ground of Liberals (and other children). Without “IF”, they couldn’t handle “IS”. They need to be lifted up by their hopes and dreams above Reality which proves their ideas to be foolish and dangerous exercises in delusion.
“IF’ can be argued all day, until tempers are shortened and jaws tired. I usually don’t waste time on “IF”.
But now I will, for this post, in order to outline what I would do if I had a position of power to change the world.
First and foremost, I wouldn’t want that power. This is a sinful, fallen world, and I wouldn’t want to hold life or death sway over ANYONE.
I am waiting for the return of Jesus Christ, Who will rule the world from His city, Jerusalem. He will sort things out.
But until His return, IF I were in a position of power where I could change the world to how I feel that it should be, I would:

1. Exterminate all religions. Be it Catholicism, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Festivus, etc etc. etc. Gone.
All wiped off the face of the earth. Each and every one of them is evil, sinful, wrong.
Man has in his heart a ‘random religion generator’ which kicks in when Man wants to replace God with a god of his own creation. This happens when Man sins, knows that he has sinned, but doesn’t dare face the true God. So simple sinful Simon makes up a god he can bow down to which he hopes can absolve him of his sin. He’ll light candles, sing songs, maybe sacrifice a goat or a child to his god. Maybe he’ll even wage war against anyone who refuses to recognize his god. People can get pretty righteously outrageous while practicing their false religion!

2. Abortion. You knew this one made my list. Killing children is only legal because of the political fiction that they are not human beings. Here’s your classic liberal ‘If’-
“IF they are not yet out of the womb, they do not in fact exist!”
Yes they do, butchie. Your ‘If’ is trumped by “IS”.
If I could change the world, the actual reality of a baby being a living person endowed with rights and privileges would be globally recognized. And more children would survive. Even Liberal children deserve the right to breathe air.

3. Remember-this is my “IF” list, what I would do to change the world to one of my liking. I would go all “John the Baptist”, as in “Prepare ye the way of the Lord!”.
I know that Christ will return someday. I would do what I could to get the peoples of the earth ready for that Day.
This would include having the Gospel preached throughout the world.
And I would make the world recognize that Israel not only does exist (It is what it Is!) but that, when Christ returns, it will be the place through which the entire world will be blessed. So get in line with “IS” now-respect and honor Israel; denounce, reject and outlaw all those with animus against Israel and the Jews.

4. I’d throw a pile of money at Chris Nolan to get cooking on the next Dark Knight movie. No 3D.

Your list will differ. Maybe you're looking forward to Batman 3D. ever 30

JAH!

Just rusing the per today-thinking about thought, about know ledges and wise doms.
I just counted, and my Internet is basically 26 sites wide, meaning that I have fewer bookmarks than your average first grader.
Of couse I (using myself as an example) go to more than 26 sites on the 'Net, but my bookmarks are where I usually start from.
It doesn't matter if I (or any of us) is rowing a boat on the ocean-we only see/know/use our little corner of the water, if unfrozen water could be said to have corners. The internet may have billions of pages, but all I care about are my 26 plus.
I've been reading in Ecclesiastes that there is nothing new under the sun. Of course, King Solomon hadn't seen a single youtube karaoke, but he is still right.
Imagine trying to stump the King by attempting to show him NEW items under the sun:
"O King Solomon! Here is an iPad! Something new!"
"That's mighty nice, Doug. It has 3G, a book reader function, pictures, and music, right?
We had words, drawings and singing in my Kingdom, and we didn't invent any of those-they were old then."
"But King, this iPad has gigs of memory!"
"Memory. Storage, right? We had storage; we kept our memories IN those songs and writings."
"Okay, King Solomon, but we have Islam on the earth now-that's something new to you, isn't it?"
"New to me? They worship what started out as a moon goddess, right? Now it's supposed to be God in Heaven? Oh, that's original! Doug, we chased their forefathers out of Judah and they're still whining about it."
"We've been to the moon!"
"You, personally?"
"No, but..."
"The moon. I looked at that same moon in my nights and you know what? It hasn't changed.
Your people got there in a spaceship, right?"
"I know, I know-you had ships back then."
"That's right, built by men to carry them elsewhere. Your spaceships are only that."
"King Solomon, one final question for the wisest King ever: could you tell me how President Obama's initiatives can possibly benefit the United States?"
"WHAT? You want me to say that here? Do you realize the tax burden I'm already under as the richest man ever? I should WANT another bullseye painted on the back of my royal robe? Stop the interview!"

The Division Bell Is Ringing

24There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. 25For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? 26For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind. Ecclesiastes 2: 24-26

What a book. Whereas Proverbs is full of Wisdom, Psalms is Worship...Ecclesiastes is full of head-hurting conundrums. Ah well.

""24There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. 25For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?"
Call this the common Grace which we all benefit from. He makes the rains to fall on the just and the unjust. Everybody works, eats, drinks, and lives the life which we have. We mostly take pride in our work, whether we are working to glorify God or ourselves.
This we all receive from the hand of God. Who can have enjoyment without Him? In this present world, within this common Grace, while we live, no-one has enjoyment without Him. Everything which brings us joy has its origin in our Creator.

Now the division comes in verse 26-those whom God loves, who are good in His sight, receive a greater Grace: wisdom (of God), knowledge (of God), and joy (in God). I think those are the wisdom, knowledge and joy which the sinner does not, can not and will not receive. The sinner is only fit to work and strive, gather and collect his lifelong pittance which he will leave behind him when he dies. Whether he passes it down to sons and daughters, making them 'rich' makes no difference-eventually it is all left on this side of the grave. You could be 'Bill Trump or Donald Gates rich cubed and squared'-if you are not good in God's sight, all of your accumulation of treasure is vanity and striving after wind.
Ah, but...those who are good in God's sight will be with Him on the other side, and through all Eternity. Whether or not we are rich in this present world, we are rich beyond measure in the next because we are loved by God. Mighty cool!

As the Federal Government does not obey it's own laws with regard to 'illegal immigration', Arizona passed it's own law, one which they will enforce. Arizonians cheer this law.
For this lawful act, the state of Arizona has earned President Obama's scorn.
For this lawful act, Arizona has earned my praise and admiration.
Some of the goofier liberals are demanding that all things Arizona be boycotted, including the Arizona Diamondbacks.
"We'll teach you a lesson, Arizona! D-backs come to OUR town and you will see..."empty seats!"
Of course, it's April for one more day, and there are empty seats in every stadium until the schools let out, but still...Forrest's Mom was right.
President Obama is, as others have said, siding with the lawbreaking illegals against the American people. They can have him.

Snowy Mountaintop

I mentioned recently (April 1st post) that I have been ‘Doug in motion’-exercising to fend off physical ailments in my later years, as best I can. Being in better shape will hopefully keep my blood pressure low enough to avoid pills, blood sugar low to avoid diabetes, and generally keep me fit.
It would be futile to expect that my better health will somehow make me invulnerable to getting old.
This sinful flesh profits nothing. Nothing. We age and die in our time.
But I see God’s Grace at work in our years:
Boys live forever.
Man, so proud in his strength, his abilities,he feels that he WILL live forever, so he has no need for God.
But God is patient, and, in some cases, He allots enough years to a man so that he can grow old,
humbling prideful Man with age, with illness; some who would not seek His face in their youth may cry out to their Creator as they approach Eternity.
Note that I said, ‘in some cases’. None of us are promised a minimum number of years-babies aborted in the womb are denied even a ‘birth’. God sets the number of our years.
It hurts to see some of my elderly friends becoming more frail, but I know that God has ahold of their hands.
If God gives me a long life down here on Earth, I will survive just as I do today, by God’s Grace.
May He grant you the faith to believe and become a partaker of that same Grace, for the duration of your time here and into eternity.

Happy Mirthday, Peoples!

Well, it's over at last-the epic Smurphtastic "Avatar" has broken out on Bludvd in celebration (read:commercialization) of Earthday. Save the planet by shelling out hard earned to be lectured to by a hug-treer. Nah.
Looking around in 2010, I see a Government at odds with its peoples, a world in denial about God,
people acting like they are somebody when they aren't...it makes you either cry at the tragedy or laugh at the comedy. I do both.
But today, a beautiful day, a Friday ahead of a weekend...laughter or tears, I hope that this is a great day for you.
Postscript: If they remade "Avatar" as an earthbound urban drama, you'd have the Bruce Willis movie of last year, "The Surrogates". No Smurphette?

Grace

"5For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God."
Romans 8:5-8

In my future, when I am out of this corrupted body and living in a glorified one, I will no longer be capable of sin. Not there yet.
The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, which I understand fully; I have cherished that life and peace, that 'water which eternally satisfies' for many years.
But, still waiting for the final redemption, I struggle along in this sinful world, falling and getting up, falling
It is the common experience all Christians share-we want to please God, but in our lives we often fail and do things which displease Him. Paul said:
"18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
21I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin." Roman 7:18-25

Wretched about covers it. Our only Hope is in the goodness of God, that He will do as He has promised, freeing us from sin.
There is evidence of God keeping that promise in the Romans 8 passage above.
I would have no struggle with sin at all if I did not belong to God.
Pagans and those who do not know God may struggle with the breaking of moral codes, but they are generally self-imposed. They try to please themselves by living a good life and not murdering too many people, or only cheating a little on their taxes or spouses.
As with Paul, I say that nothing good dwells in me, in my flesh. If I had to trust in my goodness to get to Heaven I would be bound for hell. But we trust in the goodness of God, Who loves us in spite of our failures.
If you see a Christian sinning, don’t think for a moment that he or she is having a good time. We fall. We have defects, some of them debilitating to the point that we bring all kinds of grief on ourselves. Not because we are Christians, but because we are sinners, saved by God’s Grace, but still existing in this sinful world. Looking for the day of our redemption.

People In Motion

"The preservation of liberty is up to the people"
Sort of. In a way. Kinda yup, kinda nope.
I have great respect for the people in our country who have spoken up about the 'coarse' our country has been on.
The "Tea Party" peoples-may God Bless them!- are Patriots with a capital "P", exercising their rights of assembly, free speech and dissent against a Government they feel is harming instead of helping our country.
"Tax Day 2010" saw many Tea Parties hosted across our nation.
I didn't go to a rally, but instead did my part by going to work.
Here's the 'kinda nope' part.
God is in charge, and for His own good reasons He has established the Government we have.
Throughout the Bible there are examples of God punishing the Israelites with an evil king when they would go off into idolatry, ignoring Him and His Law. The evil king would make things so bad that the peoples would then cry out to God, repenting of their sin, begging for deliverance from the king.
While I cheer on the Tea Party people, I think we will accomplish more by seeking God, asking Him to deliver us from evil. For His is the Kingdom, now and forever.

And Maggie Said...

Bliss Cavendar: You're my Hero!
Maggie Mayhem: Put on some skates-be your own hero.

I've known quite a few Heros...and a few villains.
That line spoken by Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig) in "Whip It" resonated for me because I see too much tribute being heaped at the feet of "celebrities"-sports celebrities, political, moviestars, etc. which is undeserved.
There are even "rockstar Preachers" who have followers and adherents willing to lemming right over a cliff if asked.
Maggie had it right. Don't look to others to build up your self esteem-if you wear a Dale Earnhardt jacket because your identity is tied up in your "Hero"...you can look in the mirror and no one's there.
Oh, and NFL fans who decorate their lives with team colors? The saddest idolators in town.
Be your own hero.

Good For The Roses

"16Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. 18If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 19This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths." Zechariah 14:16-19

This prophesy has been on my mind lately. To get the full intent of these verses, it would be helpful to read all of Zechariah chapter 14-in simple, the Lord brings all of the nations of the world together against Jerusalem in order to judge and conquer them, setting up His Millennial Kingdom. Psalm 2 is a great companion scripture to Zechariah 14.
"any who are left of all the nations"-after that Day when Christ returns, the world population will be decimated. Look to the book of Revelation, with God's judgments/plagues coming down on a world which had refused His offer of Salvation. Decimated populations is inadequate language, but it will do for now.
There will be a remnant of humanity, the 'any who are left', and those peoples will be called to go up to Jerusalem and worship the King. As these verses state, some will be unwilling. No surprise.

Doug's speculation, meaning my opinion, which could be wrong as wrong can be:
I think that the individual peoples will decide what they will do; I am going to use myself and my buddy Bill Maher as examples.
Let's say that Bill and I each own part of a duplex in Lithuania when Christ returns-for the sake of this speculation, I wasn't "raptured" but instead lived through the Tribulation period.
Christ is on His throne in Jerusalem, and the edict goes out for all the nations to go up to Jerusalem to worship God in the Feast of Booths.
Egypt has declared that they will not go up, even though they know that they will be plagued with no rain, no favor from God, have no part in the common Grace.
Lithuanians gladly go up to Jerusalem, myself included, but Bill, who hates Jesus Christ, moves to Egypt, because he would rather die in the desert than worship Christ.
Populations will shift like this all around the world-those who would worship God that live in Egypt will move to a nation that will go up; those who refuse to worship will find their way to Graceless nations.
Right now I am an American, and I serve God in America. If America were on that Graceless nations list, I would move to Lithuania (example) because as much as I love my country, I love God more, and I wouldn't stay in a place that God would curse.
Merely speculating, but I think that is how it will go. Zechariah is a prophetic book filled with mind-blowing truths. May God Bless your reading of it.

Jesus Christ Is The Same, Now And Forever

There is only one Jesus Christ; He is not defined by His enemies, but simply is Who He is.
Most of the world does not accept Him. He knew that would happen, before the creation of the world. Still He came to restore Humanity, raising up a remnant of believers to have fellowship with God.
Why so few? Why not everyone? Why did He allow Adam and Eve to sin?
I accept on faith that He has His reasons, which we mere mortals have no right/ability to judge.
Christ glorifies His Father, our Father, the One Who said of Jesus, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” Each Glorifies the other.
That is reason enough for me.
About those enemies of Christ who would like to define Him in their own terms: unloving, hateful, weak, incapable of stopping the evil we see every day. Or indefferent to evil.
He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. He is Who He IS. Holy. Righteous. God.
His Victory over sin was a foregone conclusion before the foundation of the world, though accomplished on Calvary some 2000 years ago. He could not fail, He did not fail, and evidence of that is found in your own heart.
Your heart either holds Love for Him, or hate. You yourself are evidence that He is God.
How can you go from being a Christ-hater to a Christ-lover?
You can't do it. It's beyond you. But if you seek Him earnestly, desiring to repent, turn away from this sinful world...He may find and change you. He loves doing that. Make the angels dance.

A Good Name

A Good Name


How much is your name worth to you? Would it bother you if your reputation were stained, not through something that you have done, but because of a smear, a lie, put on you by someone else?
I've been there, and it doesn't feel good.
If you treasure your good name, I doubt that you would be the one impugning someone else's reputation, as you wouldn't want to be known as "that" guy.
Go a step further. Don't echo "that" guy, don't broadcast his dirt, even if it is in line with your prejudices.
Be honorable. Prove yourself worthy of everyone's good impression of you.
You will feel good, and be able to look in the mirror without cringing.
toodles

No Worries, Mate!

Open up a bit time. I'm standing on a cusp, and said cusp presents two futures: get back in shape, to maintain a better healthy older age, or not.
I do not choose 'not'.
Months ago, I began eating healthier, especially at work, where I tend to graze through the night.
About a month ago I returned to the "gym"-I feel bettter, stronger, less stressed.
Now, with the Springtime arriving as the snows are departing, I have much to do outside, away from this keyboard.
I am still chock full of opinions, and will continue FDW...but if the posts become more infrequent,
that is because my life is more frequent.
Doug in motion.