Is This You?

Recognize this Bluto? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, avowed Muslim extremist, who believes wholeheartedly in Islam. Mahmoud is a mook waiting for the 12th Imam or Mahdi to show up and clean house on the unbelieving world, specifically Jews and Christians.
So why, you may ask, is he pictured in a Christmas scene?
He is an enemy of the true and living God. He has not an iota of faith in Jesus Christ…read on, if you dare.
At this time of year, millions (billions?) of the enemies of God who lack faith in Christ decorate their lives and houses for Christmas. They believe that they are somehow being good religious people by paying a bit of lip service to God-singing carols, wishing each other a ‘Merry Christmas’, buying gifts for loved ones and even tossing a few bucks into S.A. kettles.
God is not pleased. Read Malachi and see what he thought of religious folk going through the religious motions.
“ 6And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6
It doesn’t really matter to us if unbelievers get Christmas wrong-our duty is to get it right, to honor God and rejoice in the Salvation God set into motion for us one day in ‘the little town of Bethlehem.’
O Come, all ye faithful. Everyone else, have a nice day.

Enough With The Flowers!

If memory serves, Jessica Mitford (of the Mitford girls-look them up) wrote a chapter in her book "The American Way of Death" titled "Omit Flowers". Fascinating expose of the hidden dirty nittygrit behind the Funeral industry...60 years ago.
Omit flowers. I personally have had enough funerals this year to last me. I hereby declare a moratorium on all things Mortuary. No tisket, no tasket.
Omit flowers. Omit the whole rigor mortise rigamarole. Who's with me?

When a Zombie Meets A Mummy Comin’ Through The Wry

Please forgive me for the title-my unrefined mind sometimes makes me giggle. I just watched “The Mummy” last night, the one with Rachel Weisz and Brendan Fraser standing in for Harrison Ford and Karen Allen. It’s a charming movie, full of fun moments.
Of, course, the mythos/paganism of “Mummery” is nonsense, but no more non-sensical than the “Zombies”  presented in Frank Darabont’s AMC series “The Walking Dead”.
Here’s a co-incidence for you-I just checked and both Karloff’s “The Mummy” and Lugosi’s “White Zombie” premiered in 1932. Huh.
Anyway, back to the front of the post.
Vampires. Mummys. Frankenstein’s Monster. Zombies. Sounds like our fear of death makes us create boogeymen who have another life after death. Sometimes they have superpowers and can fly, and are impervious to conventional weaponry.  I’m not afraid of anything…except a lit match. (IF I only had a brain!)
Man can imagine just about anything…but what does God say?
“1 A good name is better than a good ointment, And the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.” Ecclesiastes 7:1
What? How can that be? People are cheered at a baby’s birth, but we grieve someone’s passing.
Maybe we have it wrong. We are born into a sinful world, and a baby child has a lifetime of struggles and pains ahead of him or her. Decades, maybe a century of tears here in…this.
Someone passing from this sinful world, however, is on the doorstep of Eternity, entering into Rest and Peace if they belong to God-I think that was Solomon’s/God’s point.
It isn’t wrong to cheer for a baby’s birth; we praise God for children as they are a gift from Him.
But we should also cheer when one of God’s children passes beyond this troubled world into His rest.
I call that a win.

post script post: Leslie "Shirley aka Frank Drebin" Nielsen died yesterday...this picture fit so better and if it seems in poor taste...Leslie would love that.

Happy Black Weekend, Everybody!

I mean, why should Friday get all of the moneylove when there's an entire weekend following behind it?
We had a ver' nice Thanksgiving yesterday-a great meal and lots of fine conversation. No major caster-taffies.
I call it a win.
But back to Black. I will be celebrating Black Friday by refusing to go into debt-MY ink will remain Black in my checkbook, if you know what I mean.
T'is the season, I guess. Being fiscally responsible is Always in season. Hava Happy.

Even Moreso Especially In This Day

Ireland can’t make a pub run.
(Or, I guess, a country.)

President Obama wants to bring peace to the Muslims and Israelis. President Obama wants them to play nice and share. And they should listen to him because?

King Solomon had it right: every human endeavor is vanity.
If you read through Ecclesiastes you will find the king God granted Wisdom teaching some things that you might not believe…are in the Bible. Some are ‘hard sayings’, as in hard to understand. He sums up the book in the last paragraph:
“13The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.
14For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”
This is how it is: though what we do is vanity upon vanity, we are still called on the carpet by God for our actions.
There will be two resurrections, friends-one for the living and blest, the other for the guilty and messed. I won’t quote the entire chapter, but read Revelation chapter 20 for the details.
Those in the first resurrection heeded what God directed Solomon to write: Fear God and keep His commandments. Those in the second group din’t.
Funny how things motate in my head-I was going to write a Thanksgiving post and I ended up here. But I am Thankful for all that God has given me, done for me, for all of us who are in His family.
I am especially even moreso thankful for this:
“3And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
4and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
Amen.

Faith Like A Rock

Perlous Times, my friends. Not one worry.
It has been quite a journey the past few years-life shaken and stirred...but not failed.
Faith in God keeps me thrivin' and not merely survivin'.
Those who think that any faith in anything is good enough are wrong, deadly wrong.
Some worldly gurus receive adulation and praise for "holy deep thoughts" such as:
"Today is yesterday's tomorrow." or "Love is all you need."
Thanks for nothing, Johnny Ace.
Actually, Jesus Christ is all you and I and any of us need. With Christ, we have God.
Those of us who have been Blessed to become part of His family will have unlimited tomorrows, eternal Love.
This present world matters less than nothing. What matters is how we respond to God, to His Good News of salvation being available as a free gift right from His Mercy seat.
Ask God for the faith to believe, and He may extend His Grace to you, even you. Wow.

Dancing Barefoot On Knifepoints

No photo needed for this one. "Dancing barefoot on knifepoints" is a metaphor, meta for how, in our daily lives, we have pains, hurts that we live with, endure because we must.
God is indeed good, but he doesn't promise us a rose garden without thorns on this side of the veil. He only makes it possible for us to continue to dance. There is a better, tear free life ahead of us, and our destination is well worth the journey.

Coldish Sunlight

Things work funny. I now live in a house which was built the year that Toulouse-Latrec painted this picture.
God has Blessed me in so many ways, that I can't keep up counting. That doesn't mean that I don't have struggles and troubles like everyone else; it means that if I need a house, God makes it possible for me to buy a house. All good gifts come from above.
Does that mean that I can depend on God?
Yes.
Does that mean that I can live foolishly, rack up credit card debt, borrow more and more and lose the house?
I CAN...but I won't. God sets examples all though His word for us to follow if we wish to live well. If I practice those precepts, I will be fine.
If I did the foolish things, God may choose to bless me with a harder struggle, a more troubled road for my journey. Who needs that? Hopefully, not me.
As for the title-it's chilly here, as we head towards Winter with a capital 'W'. I enjoy a cold house, and, as I no longer have to adjust temperature for the comfort of others, I can set the thermostat to make my home as cool as I am. (joke)
May God extend His Grace to you and put in your heart a desire for Him.

I Wish I Were Drinking

Thirtytwo Fiftyeight. My minutes and seconds invested in "Batman And Robin" tonight. If I were partytaking in a drinking game for this movie, I'd be one unsober Doug.
Blame it on my misspent middle age-I had never seen this movie when it was released, as I was living six dozen miles from anywhere back then. But rumor had it to be a stinker, and rumor was right.
Thirtytwo Fiftyeight. As I only paid one dollar for the DVD at some sale, and I've watched one quarter of the show...I'm breaking even. Whatever happened to George Clooney?

D.O.U.G. Back On The Net

In the short time since my last post I have moved into a new (to me) house and have just now gotten internet set up.
It feels good to be back in the 21st Cen.
May God richly Bless you today!

Heaven's Freshman Class

I hope that no one thinks that my title for this post is disrespectful. It is this:
God sets the number of our days, and when our personal summation is reached, then we are done down here.
It could be a life of hours or days, or a life stored in decades-done is done. Those of the remainder,we who have not yet reached our day...we grieve, we cry, we look forward to our being re-united with those we love. That's part of life, too.
Daily around the planet there are souls set free from the earthly encumbrances who are being welcomed into Heaven. We are almost like backwards rain, falling up.
The freshman class of 2010 is at Peace, and among their number are some of my friends and family. Peace...a wonderful word, a promise from God.
May God Bless you today, and may we someday meet in Heaven.

"Quiet! Miracle In Progress!"

The concept of a “Miracle”: God interrupts His Creation in a special way-plagues of locusts, waters parting, people raised from the dead. Stuff only God can do He does, so that the people of His Creation know that He is there, and that they should Glorify Him.

But God is not a far off God, a distant Zeus tossing lightning bolts down from Mount Oly.

He also reveals His presence in “quiet Miracles”; for example:

1. You exist. That God is loving and patient is proven by the miracle that He didn’t totally destroy humanity back before you were born. I guarantee you that your great grand grand grands going back to the Flood were just as big a stinkers as you are and yet, through His Grace, they survived, and here you are.

2. The world continues to exist. We love our planet, we enjoy God’s Creation, but many ignorant bipeds act as if THEY own it.

God could snap His fingers and make it all go away. He won’t, as He has plans for His Creation which no hammerhead human can possibly frustrate.  But the world, the heavens, all of His Creation belongs to Him.

3. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son”

You don’t hear about souls being saved. You won’t find a mention in your local paper that Bobbi Simpson gave her life to Christ last week. It will never be reported on CNN that someone repented and was restored to a right relationship with God.

This is a very quiet miracle, one happening daily as God draws peoples to Himself. May that miracle happen to you.

Cheerfully Into The Would Chipper

Okay, so we're cleaning out our house, or trying to, and I pass by the trash and see one of my old anti-Q plates resting on top. Rescuing it from it's fate, I carry it in to where my Mother says, "It's chipped."
I knew it was chipped when I bought it. She sees the chip, I see the flowers.
It's like this: we are all chipped. Imperfections abound from our toes up to the top. We all deserve to be tossed out.
But God in His Mercy extends Grace, and picks some of us out of the trash and sees only the flowers-it is said that when God looks at those of us who are covered by the blood of Christ, by His redemptive work on the cross...God sees only Jesus.
Be grateful today if that applies to you. If it doesn't...it can. God is still in the redemption business. Today, while it is called today, you can say yes to God.
"It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord."

Some Idiot Burned A Copy of Korn's Album By Mistake

Calm down, citizenry. The only book which is wholly Holy is pictured above. Burning a Koran means nothing. It means less than burning last week's newspaper. But some minister in Fla is planning a Koran Kookout.
I know he is planning his protest because Islamists attacked us on September 11th, 2001. Sir, they have been attacking us for centuries. They will continue to attack us until Christ returns.
What happened to "Count it all Joy?"
What happened to:
"Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord." Romans 12:19
I'm not saying that the minister is not within his rights-we have Freedom of Speech here-but I wouldn't burn Korans to make a political or theological point.
I did publish the cartoons of Mohammed, and I am fully against all false religions, including Islam.
But if I attempted to play "The Payback Game" every time I was attacked, slighted, opposed for being a Christian...I'd be too busy to do anything else.
Burn Korans? Someday God is going to burn the entire world to make way for the New Jerusalem.
He will repay. I'm just along for the ride.