Please give me one minute, that is, 90 seconds of your time!

Hello friends and neighbors and welcome to Wednesday’s machinations on this February 3, 2010. Back in the day when we read the Sunday comics, that is, only after attending Church services, of course, I remember the one entitled “Snuffy Smith.” One of the favorite phrases of the hillbilly Snuffy Smith was: “Time’s a wastin.” This strip was created in 1922 and it continues to be published today in some newspapers. But I always think about that saying when I consider how time seems to be getting away from those of us who are in the last quarter of our sojourn here on the planet. As I was traveling the other day I heard a fascinating report on the radio about the issue of time speeding up as we grow older. This is a reality and it can be proven that older folks actually do believe time is moving faster, but it is also a true mystery to scientists as to why this is the case.

They can prove that older folks do live with the concept that time is moving much faster than it did when they were younger. However, it’s interesting because when they blindfold older and younger people and ask them to press a button when they think one minute is up, the young people typically are within plus or minus 5 seconds of the actual 60-second count. Meanwhile, the older folks on average hit their button around 30 seconds later. This means their guess for how long a minute is comes up to an average of 90 seconds. If time is moving faster for them, how in the world would they guess a minute to be longer? That’s part of the puzzle that has yet to be put together. One school of thought says the slower response of the brain plays a role because the older person sees more happening because they are no longer counting time accurately. In other words, the world is moving faster because we, over the hill folks, see and account for 90 seconds of stuff for every actual minute. I will have to think about that one.

Another theory has to do with experience. When we were younger, we experienced many things for the first time. Our brains paid very close attention to all the new details that surrounded that ‘new’ experience. As we grow older our threshold for experience becomes less acute since we have so much already recorded, therefore, the theory is that our brain sees a special event as being much faster since we record less detail. I will have to think about that one. Finally, there’s the neuron deal where some stuff works differently and all of that along with everything else causes this sensation to be a way of life for the older generation. Enough already. I believe it really has more to do with our perception that our world is changing even as we speak and that us older dudes really do get Snuffy’s evaluation: “Times a wastin!” Have a great day and may God bless. Amen. …..More later.

Finally! The economy has made its way to the top of the list, unfortunately, the response is way off!

Good Tuesday morning on this February 2, 2010. I am really thankful that Washington is finally zeroing in on the greatest need we have as a country. Well, at least as it relates to the current crisis we face. The real issue for every person and every nation is to recognize and respond to the Sovereign God, Creator of all things, but that’s not on the current agenda. Instead of chasing polar ice caps and making huge investments based on questionable science, our President has awakened to the fact that it is not a good thing to have up to 20% of our citizenry either unemployed or under employed. Even though the cry of folks everywhere has been loud and long, it took the entire first year for the new administration to come down from their ivory tower long enough to decipher what was being said. Folks need jobs.

Now, having recognized this, the question has to do with how it will be responded to. I work in a small business. President Obama said that small businesses are the primary engine for job growth. That is true. So what does he recommend? He is proposing a $3,000 tax credit for every new employee that a small business hires. Sounds fair enough, right? WRONG! We who help to operate a small business know very well how to hire people and put them to work. Folks, that is not the problem. It’s the demand side that must be addressed so there will be a need, a business reason, to add staff. Say for instance you pay an entry-level person $25,000 per year in salary. You then must add to this the overhead required to maintain that person on the payroll. That person is currently not required because there is not enough work coming in to justify hiring them. How in the name of any common sense whatsoever will a $3,000 incentive to hire a person who is not needed do any good at all?

The other recommendations he mentioned might help some where investments will be encouraged and capital gains taxes waived, but, sadly, the administration who lacks any practical business experience, is really banking on this $3,000 credit to get people off the unemployment rolls. That’s pretty scary from where I sit but I am sure they have plenty of paid experts who have blessed his ambitious plan. As I sit here this morning I can tell you without any equivocation, that, we, as a small business, stand ready to hire as many folks as the workload demands. Therefore, I humbly recommend we forgo the gimmickry and focus on stimulating the production side of the equation. If and when this is done, through whatever means and incentives, the rest will begin to take care of itself. I actually wrote this assessment without any assistance from the folks who were paid handsomely but missed the last one million warning signs that we were headed for big trouble. One should hope to ever find a job like that where you typically always get if 100% right, that is, but only after the fact! Am I missing something, or what? Have a blessed day and may God bless you and yours, and may God bless America. Amen. ……More later.

Not forgetting to remember my own failings!

Good Monday morning on this first day of February 2010 and welcome to another week where I find myself doing word trapeze without a net. Lately I have been thinking about the opening words from what we call Hebrews Chapter 12: “1)Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2)looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” These words follow that great text where folks past, present, and future are singled out for their faith in God despite horrific challenges and circumstances.

The phrase, and the sin that so easily ensnares us, is a very personal one because it speaks to each individual and their need to deal with their very own temptations. That’s right. Many of us have grown up in a circle of belief that has often been identified by what it is that we do not do. It’s the old cliché: "I don’t smoke and I don’t chew and I don’t go with the girls that do.” Jesus dealt with folks that were steeped is this profile of self-definition. Many times He, in very scathing tones, rebuked them for their sanctimonious spirit because He could read their hearts. And so it goes with us today, if we are not careful. It is extremely important what we do and not do, but relationship with God is not defined by our human efforts, it only comes through a believing faith in God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews wrote to Jewish people who had placed their faith in Jesus. These folks knew all about the law, the rules of conduct, and the traditions from their elders. They would have been intimately familiar with the heroes of faith mentioned by name in Chapter 11. In fact, the recipients of this letter were folks who were undergoing persecution and pressure to renounce Christ and return to the rituals of Judaism. This is the setting that brings us to a personal challenge found in the words I quoted above. The inspired writer throughout this great letter encouraged them to consider the blessings of knowing Christ, consider His fulfillment of every type represented in their previous practices, and to not lose heart as they remained faithful to Him. That leads into our verse in just how it is that we can run our own race, not the other fellow’s race, but the one we have been given to run. Our “run” includes taking stock of and in dealing with the sin that so easily ensnares us, therefore, we should spend more time dealing with the huge timbers that end up sticking in the eye of me, myself, and I, than in trying to use a microscope in examining the tiny splinter marring the other dude’s vision. (See words of Jesus in Matthew 7:5) Good preaching, brother, because me, myself, and I need to hear it! Amen. ….More later.

Today I learned: How much rain could a rain cloud rain if a rain cloud could rain, rain?

It's Friday January 29, 2010 and I was wondering if anyone had a spare rain suit with knee high boots. I've seen rain and then I have seen rain but I will tell you that I came about as close as I ever have been in my life to having been washed off the road this morning. Windshield wipers? Forget about it. Driving slow? Forget about it. I actually found myself off the road on both sides of the road at different times. Please don't tell my wife about this because she is still asleep and she would be furious. The problem comes when you have no place to pull over. I travel down a fairly isolated country road every morning and there's not that many places one might take refuge in, and it doesn't really matter if you can't see them anyway. Speaking of sleeping. It reminds me of the time I worked as a kid on a job where some guys were supposed to be filing the ends of pipe up ahead. They put some distance between the main work group and themselves and decided to take them a brief snooze. When they woke up they found a note on their lunch buckets that read: "You have a job as long as you are asleep, but when you wake up, you are fired!" That's sort of like my wife right now. She is snoozing away as the rain pours outside but when she wakes up and reads this, man, I will be in for it!

I am still trying to dry out just from opening the main gate and getting myself into the office. I only met one car, thank You Lord, and he or she was doing their 5 mph just like I was. Never have two ships passed so slowly in the night. But all I can do having arrived safe and sound is to thank God for His provisions. I refer to my physical person because mentally my head is still going forth and back like a ping pong match as I am still chasing those windshield wipers. But enough of my start of the day, how in the world are you doing, anyway? Don't say I didn't tell you what to expect in the President's State of the Union Address. I heard someone say he used the personal pronoun "I" 97 times. That somehow makes sense when you think about how he views the world. I did get home from Church in time to catch nearly all the speech. Like all things, one hears through their own set of filters. Some folks were so mesmerized they were ready to faint from the greatness of his rhetoric. Others, myself included, wondered if anyone would be naive enough to buy what he was trying to sell.

The good news is that we can be assured that our Great God is still in control. He is Sovereign and He is exactly Who He has revealed Himself to be in The Scriptures. This means that you and I can be rightly concerned as we observe all that is happening around us but at the same time we should never lose heart. Why? Because as believers we have our citizenship in a Kingdom that is quite different from the domain where we currently live out our daily existence. That Kingdom has God as the Ruler and He does all things well, all the time. We should be living first as the citizen of God's Kingdom by Kingdom principles as we finish our sojourn here. What are we to do about all these perplexing issues that surround us each day? Our dear brother last Wednesday shared this wonderful verse: "Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16) That verse will work in the sunshine or during the rainstorm. That verse will work no matter which party is in power. Don't forget to meet up with other folks who practice this verse this coming Lord Day's Sunday and I must tell you that Lord willing and in this instance, if the creeks don't rise, instead of the Creek Indian Nation, I will see you again next Monday. May God bless. Amen. .....More later.

Coming to you live and in person, warts, blemishes, typos, and now and then a wrong word sneaks in!

Good Thursday morning on this January 28, 2010 where we are bracing for another shot of super cooled air headed in our direction. We can’t complain. We’ve had several Colorado blue sky days this week and will just have to bundle up while we realize it could be much worse. Speaking of much worse, I want to apologize for the sloppiness that makes its way to this page on some days. I used to be able to quickly change and repost my blog to correct those I find later or that are pointed out by my editor in chief, my dear wife. But since I started pasting the contents into my email for the convenience of some I typically don’t go through the process of resubmitting it for a minor error. Those minor errors do bug me, however, and I lament any time they show up. I’m not asking for sympathy, I’m just sharing my disappointment when I fail to meet the quality standards I set for myself.

I read enough on the internet to know that communications of all types are riddled with mistakes. Many of these can be found in top-notch news sources as well as in emails, blogs, MySpace, Facebook, and other forms of dialogue. I do attempt to spell check my work but as I often point out the spell checker can’t correct the use of a wrong word spelled correctly. Most of the folks who read and comment on my blogs would have no issue with an improper word here or there BUT here again, I do! At any rate I always seek to try and do a better job. I know by experience that when you hold yourself to a high standard of accountability and do your best to achieve it, it does tend to leave you open to the ah-ha response when a mistake is made. I consider that to come with the territory.

I think everyone who has read anything I have written about our current political scene would recognize my staunch conservative views. I want everyone to know that my viewpoints are never intended to demonize any person or political party. We have many folks masquerading as conservatives while playing the Washington game and I feel angry at their shenanigans just like I do about those who favor liberal socialistic policies. Even here in a so-called conservative state I find myself having to hold my nose while voting for the lesser of all evils among those claiming to carry the conservative banner. This deal about demonizing folks is a real issue in our current political climate. It’s easy to cross the line in wishing someone harm as opposed to standing against his or her policies. It is my desire not to cross that line because we all are sinners in need of grace every minute of the day. I read and hear far too much that borders upon hate and this should never be our mantra, even as we boldly stand up for what we believe to be the principles that honor our nation’s legacy and our God. Now that I have cleared all that up I’ll get busy checking this one over to see if I’ve goofed up again. May God bless one and all. Amen. …..More later.

Welcome to State of the Union Wednesday.

It is Wednesday, January 27, 2010, State of the Union Address Day for our nation. Let me again tell one and all that while I am extremely dissatisfied with the principles and policies being followed by our current President, I fully appreciate that he is our President, and he is also a husband and a father, and he deserves all the respect and honor that comes with the office. I pray for him and his family and continue to seek God's help in forging the direction of our nation. Having said that, I now will proceed with my show and tell for today.

I will likely be at our local fellowship meeting place for our regular Wednesday evening Bible study while our President addresses the joint session of congress. However, they have pretty much leaked much of what he is going to talk about, therefore, I will get caught up, after the fact, on the flip flop. They have determined now that he should suddenly become interested in the middle class. In case you didn’t know, that’s most of us, those he previously described as the folks out there that during difficult economic times we tend to cling to our guns and our God. I don’t know about clinging to guns but I sure recommend we all cling to our God, in the good times and in the bad. Perhaps we end up being the butt of the joke he made about Scott Brown who won the senate election up in Massachusetts where the President questioned his trustworthiness because he drove a pick up truck.

This shows just how out of touch our President is with the common ordinary schmuck who is currently occupied with doing everything he can to provide for his family, that is, if he has a job, which we now understand has become the number one priority of this administration. Can you imagine that: People with no jobs being a priority? What about Copenhagen? What about health care? What about making the world love us? Someone must have whispered in the President’s ear that without folks working there’s no one to pay the taxes and printing money like there is no tomorrow is going to eventually have to end, one way or the other, with mostly horrific consequences especially to elected officials including the one who occupies the desk at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Now that kind of information will get a politician’s attention faster than the speed of light.

The disconnect thus far comes from folks viewing these people who have lived as if they have thrones but now want everyone to think they are basically just like the average American who can’t get a job and can’t get a clue as to who took a screwed up mess and make it very much worse. The part about being clueless may be on target but I love our country too much to want to see more damage done to working families. I hope there really is a shift in priorities where the full resources of our government will now be focused on what it should have been focused on over the past twelve months. Maybe the regular Wednesday evening “Happy Hour” at the White House which was implemented by the Obama’s can be changed to a job summit meeting each week to focus on something that really does matter to the American people. Maybe the huge entourage who, we, the tax payers, provided with first class accommodations for the wasted climate control summit in Copenhagen can now find a few minutes to spend on helping the family climate here at home. I can already guess how the rhetoric will be strong and heated as the President pleads his case. Yet, his track record thus far indicates not much more meaningful progress than that achieved by his unplugged teleprompter. Remember this verse from the Bible: "The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes." (Proverbs 21:1) Amen. ……More later.

He is with me wherever I go!

Hello friends and neighbors, it is Tuesday, January 26, 2010 and it's somewhat hard to imagine that we have nearly used up the first month of our brand new year. I am still trying to get my stuff transferred from my 2009 calendar book to the new one. Since our clan has grown so much, it's a sizable effort just to keep up with all the birthdays and other special remembrance days. But God is good to allow us the opportunity to be out and about, active, and mostly occupied, most all the time. When the doctor asked me last week how I was doing, I felt compelled to quote from an elderly gentleman I used to go to Church with: "If I kicked, I ought to be!" Of course I am still awaiting the results from the lab tests and that will likely indicate whether we need to adjust my medication regimen. But for the most part I am in pretty good shape for the shape I am in. I told the doctor that I sleep well, I am able to work twelve hours a day, and pretty much feel reasonably okay. Sure, I would prefer not to have to be concerned about the diabetes and the aches and pains associated with my arthritis BUT those seem insignificant compared to so many others who are dealing with serious health issues.

I was by the hospital a couple of times over this past weekend to visit a dear man from our local fellowship who had suffered a stroke and it doesn't take long being in a place like that to realize the life and death struggle faced by so many, every single day. It's so much easier for me to identify with those of us who are older but my heart melts when I see little ones having to deal with serious health issues. It reminds me that we live in a fallen world where we need God and His provisions of mercy and grace every second of every minute of every day. I am also reminded of how blessed we are to live at a time when so much in the way of medical knowledge and technology is available to respond to crisis situations. I had just seen my dear brother last Wednesday evening in our Bible study. He has many health related problems but he told me how well he had been doing of late. On Saturday morning he suffered a major stroke. We never know what each day will bring but thank God that my friend knows, and we know, who does.

Being able to hold the hand of one of God's own dear children as they struggle for the next breath allows us to pray with confidence, not because we know the immediate outcomes, but because we know the One who does, and we also know that He cares. When it is all said and done we who know the Lord have an amazing advantage over others because we have His very presence to see us through whatever we are dealing with in our life. What a difference this makes, folks, and what a blessing to see this difference reflected in the lives of those dealing with great challenge. Concerned? Sure. Wearied? Understandably so! But at the same time there is the sweet glow of that spark of confidence born out of the heart knowledge that God is with us, no matter what, every step of the way. I thank God for this testimony of His grace and I commend Him and His offer of salvation to any and all who seek peace in what often is a turned upside down world. As the song my wife and I used to sing says: "Jesus is right for whatever is wrong in your life!" Amen. .....More later.