Tuesday, December 18, 2012
A Question of Order
A simple question I'm contemplating today as a pastor: Does anyone think that anyone can conduct a church service with one disruption after another? We, at Grace Fellowship (where I am pastor) believe in Paul's instructions that "everything must be done in an orderly manner".
Several years ago a teen would come to church without his parents (or when his parents were there would sit separately from them) and would disrupt the service by acting up the entire time with his friends. People complained (and some left) that we needed to do something about the disruptive people because they could not worship nor could they listen to the teaching.
After talking to the child and his parents many, many times, we spoke to the parents one last time and let them know that their son needed to be accompanied by a parent and sit with his parents from that point on, or he was not welcome to attend. Well this mother went ballistic saying, "everyone should be welcome in the house of God".
Everyone should be and everyone IS welcome at Grace Fellowship. However, everyone should consider his neighbor no matter where he happens to be. In a movie theater, disruptions are not tolerated. In and orchestra hall, disruptions are not tolerated. In a theatrical performance of a play, disruptions are not tolerated. At a public speech, disruptions will not be tolerated etc, etc, etc. Why in the world would we expect that when God's Word is being taught anyone should be allowed to interrupt and disturb others from hearing what God would like to say to His church?
It's been many years and this young man has grown up and been welcomed in services many times since and has behaved without incident. His mom, dad, brother and sister have attended as well.
I invited this woman, who has since left her husband and all of her children, to one of our church events for Christmas and she blasts me again over this incident which occurred many years ago. I was kind of blown away at this and it has bothered me, not because of this woman's accusations, but because of the mindset that seems to pervade our society.
I write this to say that we live in a society that is so self-centered that many will not require their children to be good citizens and behave properly in public. Why? Mostly because it takes hard work, patience and consistency to discipline a child properly. As parents, we need not blame the institution that will demand that we behave with a certain amount of decorum in public. We should correct our children and teach them that their behavior affects others around them.
We often wonder why our world is in the shape it's in. I truly believe it's largely because many parents refuse to be parents anymore. It's inconvenient. It's more convenient to be a buddy than a parent. The Bible admonishes us to "train up a child in the way he SHOULD go and when he is old he will not depart from it." Too many parents have given up this admonition by scripture and hope that others will train their children for them. They won't. If you are a parent, it is your God-given calling and no one else's to train your child to be a productive citizen in this world. I commend all of you who have taken God's command and calling to train your children seriously. I commend you for the hard work and I can say from experience, the hard work pays off in the end.
Well that's my rant for today.
Until later,
Don
Friday, November 16, 2012
My Commentary on Unions
My commentary on the closure of Hostess: While I'm sad that 18,000 plus people have lost their jobs. I'm encouraged that this is one more nail in the coffin of the union movement that is already dying in America. (May unions die out as swiftly as possible)
Unions claim to be for the "workers". However, this is how negotiations with unions almost always go. Unions strong arm employers who only have so much capital to work with. Hostess had already filed bankruptcy in 2004. Union bosses seem to have no math skills and continues to push for more than Hostess has. Hostess warns them that they will have to close their doors if the unions will not be reasonable. Union bosses refuse to negotiate and threaten to strike instead. Hostess has no choice. They close their doors. All 18,000+ workers (people with families going into Thanksgiving and Christmas) lose their jobs while the union bosses continue to draw their salaries and keep their pensions and I
Unions claim to be for the "workers". However, this is how negotiations with unions almost always go. Unions strong arm employers who only have so much capital to work with. Hostess had already filed bankruptcy in 2004. Union bosses seem to have no math skills and continues to push for more than Hostess has. Hostess warns them that they will have to close their doors if the unions will not be reasonable. Union bosses refuse to negotiate and threaten to strike instead. Hostess has no choice. They close their doors. All 18,000+ workers (people with families going into Thanksgiving and Christmas) lose their jobs while the union bosses continue to draw their salaries and keep their pensions and I
'm sure will have a wonderful holiday season and lose no sleep over destroying almost 20,000 families.
The so called "working person" they supposedly represent will suffer and Hostess will sell off their assets to someone smart enough not to hire union workers and will prosper, but those union (and non-union) workers will go into the holiday season without a paycheck. Way to go unions!!! Way to care about your workers!!! NOT!!!
I'm not railing against those who have been duped or strong-armed into joining a union. You just want to provide for your families and in many states you must be in the union to find work. No. I'm railing against the arrogant, uncaring union bosses and the union organizations themselves. How they can ever claim that they represent the working man I will never understand. They pit worker against employer when they should be working as a team. Everywhere I look in America right now, I see someone pitting one group against another and no one coming together. We have become more divided than ever and I'm sick of trusting people being hurt because they have been misrepresented and lied to. Union leaders are absolutely corrupt and all unions need to be done away with in this man's opinion. If you disagree, that's fine. I see unions only raising the cost and proficiency of doing business. I see unions intimidating their rank and file. I see unions not living up to what they have promised their members and ruining people's lives.
I know many fine people who are union members. But enough is enough. When is it going to be your union and your job? Believe me, you are not exempt from the idiocy which is the union leadership. I pray your job remains secure, but I don't see how with fiscally impaired individuals running these unions and ruining the lives of the union members and their families. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
The so called "working person" they supposedly represent will suffer and Hostess will sell off their assets to someone smart enough not to hire union workers and will prosper, but those union (and non-union) workers will go into the holiday season without a paycheck. Way to go unions!!! Way to care about your workers!!! NOT!!!
I'm not railing against those who have been duped or strong-armed into joining a union. You just want to provide for your families and in many states you must be in the union to find work. No. I'm railing against the arrogant, uncaring union bosses and the union organizations themselves. How they can ever claim that they represent the working man I will never understand. They pit worker against employer when they should be working as a team. Everywhere I look in America right now, I see someone pitting one group against another and no one coming together. We have become more divided than ever and I'm sick of trusting people being hurt because they have been misrepresented and lied to. Union leaders are absolutely corrupt and all unions need to be done away with in this man's opinion. If you disagree, that's fine. I see unions only raising the cost and proficiency of doing business. I see unions intimidating their rank and file. I see unions not living up to what they have promised their members and ruining people's lives.
I know many fine people who are union members. But enough is enough. When is it going to be your union and your job? Believe me, you are not exempt from the idiocy which is the union leadership. I pray your job remains secure, but I don't see how with fiscally impaired individuals running these unions and ruining the lives of the union members and their families. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
Until Later...
Don
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Reason for the Petition To Secede
It has come to my attention that some have misunderstood the petition for secession as a hatred for our country. Nothing could be further from the truth and those who post things like that are simply misinformed. Those who have signed petitions are those who deeply love this country and hate to see it following the way of Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx. It is a cry out to our federal government to please listen. No one really wants to separate from America, but our nation needs to chart a different course or the United States of America as we know it will cease to exist and terrible things are on the horizon. Thomas Jefferson said, "What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?"
So, what do we really want from the petition? We want the issues that are destroying our nation to be taken seriously. Signing a petition does NOT in itself split a state from the nation. This petition is simply to get enough signatures to make the White House respond to these issues. That's what this is about. It's NOT a return to the Confederacy or anything of the sort. It is a peaceful petition to hear us and finally do what has not been done in the past 4 years. We are heading towards a cliff at a rapid speed. The President and Congress need to stop playing games and fix things.
The main issue is that this government has basically thrown the Constitution to the side and is ruling as a dictator. If Congress will not pass what this President wants, he rules through executive order. This must not continue!!! The issues at hand are the escalating national debt. The congress must pass a balanced budget that begins to pay down the ridiculous debt. We MUST stop borrowing from places like China because we spend more than we bring in. We need a business environment where the private sector can once again create jobs. The federal government cannot create jobs. They can however stifle the ability for the private sector to create jobs. We must stand up for religious liberties and stop forcing those of faith to do things which fly in the face of their religious convictions. We need to lower the cost of health care, not force everyone into expensive health insurance plans. We must not burden the citizenry with higher taxes. We must protect the lives of every citizen including the unborn.
This is not a complete list, but it is a good start. This is what we want answered. This is what we want done. That's what the petition is about. Texas is already a Republic. That status was never removed. We are simply reminding the White House that things need to start improving because we have other options. We do not need to go down the road of the former Soviet Union. We need to return to the rule of the Constitution.
Now I think I'm done with political commentary for a while and will return to my true love. Promoting the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
God bless you. God bless The United States of America and God bless Texas.
Until Later,
Don
So, what do we really want from the petition? We want the issues that are destroying our nation to be taken seriously. Signing a petition does NOT in itself split a state from the nation. This petition is simply to get enough signatures to make the White House respond to these issues. That's what this is about. It's NOT a return to the Confederacy or anything of the sort. It is a peaceful petition to hear us and finally do what has not been done in the past 4 years. We are heading towards a cliff at a rapid speed. The President and Congress need to stop playing games and fix things.
The main issue is that this government has basically thrown the Constitution to the side and is ruling as a dictator. If Congress will not pass what this President wants, he rules through executive order. This must not continue!!! The issues at hand are the escalating national debt. The congress must pass a balanced budget that begins to pay down the ridiculous debt. We MUST stop borrowing from places like China because we spend more than we bring in. We need a business environment where the private sector can once again create jobs. The federal government cannot create jobs. They can however stifle the ability for the private sector to create jobs. We must stand up for religious liberties and stop forcing those of faith to do things which fly in the face of their religious convictions. We need to lower the cost of health care, not force everyone into expensive health insurance plans. We must not burden the citizenry with higher taxes. We must protect the lives of every citizen including the unborn.
This is not a complete list, but it is a good start. This is what we want answered. This is what we want done. That's what the petition is about. Texas is already a Republic. That status was never removed. We are simply reminding the White House that things need to start improving because we have other options. We do not need to go down the road of the former Soviet Union. We need to return to the rule of the Constitution.
Now I think I'm done with political commentary for a while and will return to my true love. Promoting the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
God bless you. God bless The United States of America and God bless Texas.
Until Later,
Don
Saturday, January 7, 2012
I appreciate all the concerns and prayers
I have just been hearing all sorts of things about my health lately and I wanted to straighten a few things out and help calm any worries some may have. I found out some months ago that I have a lung disease that makes it difficult to breathe. That's why I'm a bit winded after worship and cough a bit while teaching. I went to Denver to a specialty clinic which is the best in the country for this disease. We now have a plan in place to get rid of this once and for all. With this plan includes taking me off the med which has caused all the weight gain over the past few years which should take care of my high blood pressure which is the main difficulty with my heart now that my cholesterol is normal.
Now, I know most of you don't care about all the details, however, some have been worried and I want to assure you that God promised me when this first started that I will get past this and be well again. I trust Him. So, until that time, I keep pressing on toward the goal to win the prize. I thank you for your prayers and your friendship. Let's just continue to press on together. I'm OK. Everyone is going through something. This is just what I'm going through at the moment. "It's happy testing time"... Consider it all joy...
See you in church I hope!
Until later,
Don
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