GOOD MORNING ALL HAPPY THANKSGIVING. It is a beautiful day in Iowa today and an opportunity to say thank you all for your support and prayers over the last year in Iowa. Planning just a simple day with rest and the dogs will walk me somewhere before dinner or lunch or whatever. I remember the farm and how Thanksgiving was the day that one covered the windows with clear insulation and one insulated the farm house with hay bails for the coming winter in Western Minnesota. To think of all the adventures and the friends I have been blessed with over all the years. It will be more rewarding to just be grateful all day. GOD bless, and stay safe. Cares and Prayers ME, Mack and Jake
There is election debate. Weather is changing. There is a terrible pandemic, world wide. There is unemployment. Congress is doing something, aren’t they? There are challenges galore. Dogs want to take me for a walk. At work people ask me how I am doing. So what do I say? Pretty much what I always say: “I’ve made it this far. That’s a bonus.” I have a nice one bedroom apartment to live with Mack and Jake. It has heat and air conditioning. I have a number of masks to wear to work to fight the pandemic and to keep making it this far. I have transportation for work and chores. I do laundry at the apt. During SUNDAY football (no one is in the laundry during football). A refrigerator to have for groceries. And a microwave to cook anything that needs cooking. I have good food to eat, veggies, chicken, salmon, pizza, (in single serve containers). I have Cinnamon Rolls, and chocolate covered caramels. (SWEETS) I have a lottery ticket in case I need it (hope springs eternal).
People want to know if GOD is on vacation and if Jesus studies the news and what does HE think of it all.
I read an excerpt of “LIFE IS” and I sit down to write. If you are willing to search it all out GOD is planning my future, Jesus is getting the plans put together, the sun still rises and sets every day. I watch the news, take a deep breath and always remember:
What a wonderful day off. (plus Sunday). Cousin Nedra just stopped by as I -was getting ready to forward today’s WORD. She called first and asked if I would like some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Well duhhhh. They are great, btw. This is also more than a Daily Word today. The Test is to fill in the blanks. ________________ ASSURANCE __________ ___. Takes me right back to the Church Choir. Life just has a way of putting a smile on your face when you least expect it. Stay safe and enjoy the day.Cares and Prayers ME, Mack and Jake
It is a bit chaotic here in the USA. The election has been an interesting venture this year.
There has been a lot of delusion in the responses of the two parties and it is difficult to grasp all the problems. I’m a pretty simple guy and have had the opportunity to see a great many Presidential elections and this one seems to be the most discerning.
The response of the people to the outcome has been the most interesting thing to watch. I have never seen the response like this before. It developed a few questions that I am really puzzled by. I wanted an analogy that made some sense to me. I went back to America’s favorite sport, football.
Whenever I think of football I think of how people just love football. It brings two teams together. Both teams have adamant followers. Many of the teams play each other at least twice in a season at each others home stadiums.
Usually one of the teams wins and one of the teams loses. The next time they play, the team that lost the first time may win the second time. If they meet in the playoffs one will win and move forward and one will lose and wait until the next year. The fans of the winners cheer and have parties and the one that loses goes home. Everyone has a favorite team. Most have moved over the years and yet they still wear a shirt, or a sweater or a something that advertises their hometown favorite team. I’ve seen people get devastated when their team loses. They get so angry that they may even break things, they yell and they can not calm down for days. Then, a week later, there is another game. Another team. And the team that lost last week, wins this next week. An interception or a scoring run. It varies from week to week. Both teams want to win and plan to win, but realize that it is just the way the game goes.
It is quite a game that is very similar to our political system. It is quite possible that football is based on politics.
There are two main teams, and actually open to any number of people who are able to run for any office they choose as long as they meet Constitutional mandates. It usually takes a bit more resource to get the paperwork, advertising, the recognition and on and on to win in the election for whatever they are running for. It has been like this since the beginning. It is called Democracy. When a candidate wins, they are up for reelection again in a set number of years. They may win again, they may loose the next time, and they may attempt to win again years later. There is however a difference this year.
One team wants to win that lost the election this year. In the long run that losing team wants to eliminate the other team. Unlike football, the losing team doesn’t want to wait until the next Election to win like what was expected of the previous administration. Not only that, they are threatening the country to allow it. The division in America that has been established has been backed up by using the military to disrupt peaceful protests for a photo op of the Bible. More on that later. Marching through DC peacefully until the sun goes down and then getting violent as has happened in other settings.
This team wishes to develop what I would call a Republica. Now when they played the last time they won. There were no mail-in ballot that they wanted to have disavowed. No problems, there was no bad news recounts, they didn’t even get the popular vote and they won through the Electoral College, (oddly enough they lost this election by the same margin). They cheered and partied and started to divide America. To get reelected they also forgot how they play football, a game that they love.
I was reminded of a famous coach. Vince Lombardi. I will always remember the coaching of Vince Lombardi. Vince Lombardi made a well remembered first day of one spring training in 1961 after loosing the championship at the end of the game the year before with the following:
Holding up the pigskin football before doing anything else he said to the team: “Gentlemen, THIS IS A FOOTBALL”.
Back to The Basics.
As I lived in Minnesota back then the rivalry between the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings was legendary. Each stadium was outdoors, no covered stadium. We (The Vikings) won some and Green Bay won some. It was usually real cold. You get frustrated, you get rewarded. In 60+ years of football games at all levels I have never seen the losing team go home and burn cars, attack the police, rob stores and steal tv’s, drive cars through a peaceful crowd, hound the competitors team bus, and threaten, threaten and threaten. Money for you, no money for you. I haven’t seen them threaten their football teams opponents. Or perhaps they have.
But the losing party this year is threatening our infrastructure by encouraging violence to win, from the top down. This is not even football. Best score wins. I have never seen the losing team win a football game at any level with the lowest score. I have never seen a downtown attacked by the losing team.
Football is TV.
I understand that a great many watch it and bet on it and drink over it.
Many of my Christian friends set aside Sunday afternoons for the traditional TV game. They may even spend hundreds of dollars to be sure they can watch their team play every Sunday on cable wherever they are playing whether on their network or not. They wear the jerseys, they have the license plates, they tailgate at the stadium or the backyard BBQ. If their neighbor grew up with the opponents and wear their jersey they invite them to the BBQ. If they have to wear a mask to get to watch in the stadium they will do all that is humanly possible to get in there, no whining and no complaints.
If the opponent wins they do not go to the front yard and set their neighbors car on fire. Or throw rocks through their neighbors windows and want nothing to do with them for the rest their lives, until the rematch a few weeks later or during the playoffs. If they win that next time they celebrate, they say “showed you”. If they lose they say “Wait until next year”.
If Jesus was at the BBQ and He was for the other team would they be respectful of Jesus or would Jesus be left in the living room by Himself?
Would the things they have learned in Church, LOVE ONE ANOTHER, or LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF mean anything to them in that setting? If Jesus was there in the living room would they offer Him a beer, or wine or a cigarette or a cigar. Would their expletives at a dropped pass or a missed field goal fit right in with Jesus the guest and “Do not take the Lord’s name in vain”.. Would they change their game plan because their guest stopped by at an inconvenient time?
You can answer for yourself.
We have two teams we are watching now.
One I call Republica
The other I call Democracy.
It is on TV but it is not quite the same. It is not a football game. It is real life. No one dies at the hands of the opponents in a football game, not intentionally. They do die at the hands of the political process when you drive through a crowd. You can wear a mask to eat dinner at your favorite restaurant or at the stadium to watch you favorite team, no problem. But you can’t wear a mask to save your or your families lives. If your star quarterback died from Covid, would it hurt more than your Mother, or Father, or your child, or your neighbor or your neighbors child would die from your talking and breathing and screaming at tv during the Big Game without your mask on? What exactly are your priorities?
What part of LOVE ONE ANOTHER or LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF is so hard to grasp.
DEMOCRACY is your REAL future. Literally a new civil war will not make AMERICA GREAT at any time in our future. The steller quarterback for that last exercise in have your own way did not even have the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of the sacrifice. In fact the leader of Republica put himself in that same category with Abraham Lincoln, who united the country at his own expense. AMERICA is not UNITED today. Do YOU have more respect for football teams than you have for your own country. This is not news. We’ve had the civil war already. If you can wait for 2 years you can pick and choose who you vote for. You can decide to vote. You can respect the outcome of your football game, that proves to me that you are capable of respect. Or is this one time escapade the best you are capable off?
Saturday has arrived and I have a day off, sort of. Chores. We all have chores. I have been blessed to have groceries to replenish, a space to clean to live in, a car to fill with gas to take me to the grocery store, and an ice cream store nearby. With all the chaos about us, I have a place to rest and have peace and prayer to call my own. Stay Safe and enjoy the simple blessings that the day brings. Cares and Prayers. ME, Mack and Jake
GOD offers blessings to all who seek GOD out and are willing to take the time to chat with GOD. Whether you have a faith setting, a religious setting, a question or a simple prayer, do not be concerned to ask GOD to visit for a while. GOD is LOVE and GOD always can take the time. You can trust me on this one.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (New Living Translation)
I am grateful for all those who have risked their lives, in too many cases lost theirs, to protect me and my family over all these years. I honor them and wish to thank them all and pray for their families and loved ones for their sacrifices and their gift. It goes beyond the friendship as written in scripture for I could never know all their names and all who have given their lives for all of us, our country, and the countries they have served to protect.
Only one other example of true love can ever compare with this and even that salutes them all.
BELONGING Phase One of the election has finished. Many are disappointed and many are elated.
Today we have seen a unique forum in our American History. I simply can not fathom the number of prayers that went into this election for GOD to deal with. I also realize that the contest will not be over until January 20,2021 to bring reality into play. I have been jotting down some thoughts as the process has been moving along.
First of all:
I have started with my original title from my original website home base because UNORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY grew out of creating a LOVING HOME for the disenfranchised. Those who need an accepting home for ALL those whom GOD created as EQUALS. ALL GOD’S CHILDREN.
Jesus is not a CEO of a business. He mentioned that The Meek shall Inherit the Earth. Jesus is not an apprentice in a political football game. Christianity is based on a tenant, a new commandment that was brought forward from JESUS called LOVE ONE ANOTHER. To get your attention and emphasize His point he died on a cross and came back to explain it to you.
Jesus is a lifestyle “Love your neighbor as yourself”. GOD is LOVE LOVE does not threaten. LOVE has no need to threaten. Threats won’t change the worldly. Threats do not create love, they just create actors. Only LOVE can create love. Only LOVE will be recognized as LOVE. Behavior threatens. Behavior creates risks. LOVE is not measured by RED STATES vs BLUE STATES THE BIBLE is not a PROP. It is a book of wisdom to either be accepted or ignored. GOD created the Heaven and the EARTH. Much like ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL, JESUS had expanded on that thought long before our first politicians came up with their thought of what EQUAL meant.
When the people came with their children for Him to lay hands on them and say a prayer with them the disciples rebuked them and turned them away. Jesus said “Let the little children alone, and do not stop them from coming to me; for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to.” Then laid His hands on them and went on His way.
Jesus also brought up another interesting prayer: ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
BELONGING
So many AMERICAN’S believe that they are not the right gender, the right color, the right culture. They feel that they are disenfranchised to the simple basics of life in America to this day. If you want to parade the BIBLE around without LOVING ONE ANOTHER, Or have preference of one group over another, or penalizing and ostracizing those who may disagree with you, you should read the NEW TESTAMENT. The GOOD NEWS.
NOW is the Beginning of PHASE TWO of the election. The REAL GREAT AMERICA that the rich have tried to reserve for themselves and THE NEW WORLD ORDER has done AMERICA no good. AMERICA deserves a second chance to be truly great the first time. To be grateful for the people that have made AMERICA what it is. THE PEOPLE. The protectors, the military, the police, the workers, the miners, the first responders, all colors, all cultures, all faiths, all Church denominations and all beliefs who have worked the hardest for America. The ones for whom many businesses want them to do 40 hours of work with a 20 hour paycheck. The ones that work two and three or more jobs to get to the poverty level and enough to buy a place to live and groceries to eat. The families that need health care in a country that puts more value in their profit as apposed to their people.
BELONGING is the strongest human emotion as you go through life. Our strength has ALWAYS been our diversity. OUR diversity that has included CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS, HINDU’S, BUDDHISTS,and more. NATIVE BORN AMERICAN INDIANS, ASIANS, EUROPEANS, and every other country. GAY, STRAIGHT, and LOVING PEOPLE from around the world coming here to help AMERICA be a HEAVEN ON EARTH, unlike any other nation in it’s scope in the world. PEOPLE who come here with the intention to BELONG. TO be ACCEPTED. To be WELCOMED as all the others have been coming here over the years to be.
AMERICA should not be based on being a third world country with a $26 trillion debt and an upper class investor society that likes all the accouterments that these immigrants and natives have provided for as little money as possible.
WE THE PEOPLE have only progressed to PHASE 2. WE THE PEOPLE have a long way to go to make AMERICA GREAT WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.
