Sometimes you have to see it

Occasionally, one comes across something that sounds so disheartening and so absurd that you really have to see it to believe it. I am referring to a brochure titled "Your Life, Your Choices". It was written in 1997 to give to veterans who visit VA hospitals, but was later suspended for some "questionable" ethics. Recently it has been reinstituted and to my understanding every physician in the VA is asked to refer this to veterans to help them plan.....something.

The main author, Dr. Robert Pearlman is a documented advocate of physician assisted suicide. I am going to copy some of the questions that are asked.

The title on page 21 of the document is "What makes your life worth living?"

Some example statements are:
-I can no longer walk but get around in a wheelchair.
-I can no longer get outside, I spend all day at home.
-I can no longer contribute to my family's well being.
-I need someone to help take care of me all the time.
-I can no longer control my bladder... my bowels.
-I can no longer think clearly, I am confused most of the time
-My situation causes severe emotional burden for my family (such as feeling worried or stressed all the time).
-I am a severe financial burden on my family.
-I can not seem to "shake the blues."

To each of these above mentioned statements there is an option to check one of these-- difficult but acceptable, worth living but just barely, or not worth living.

The page goes on says and I quote: "If you checked 'worth living but just barely' for more than one factor, would a combination of these factors make your life 'not worth living?' If so, which factors?

If you checked "not worth living" does this mean that you would rather die than be kept alive?"

Folks, this is absurd. I can think of no other way to describe it. To think that a depressed 20 some year old war vet could be handed this pamphlet by a physician after he has been wounded in combat;.....it just makes me sick.
For more info check out this opinion article in the WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204683204574358590107981718.html

The Front Porch

Last year when Jamie and I were considering building a home we looked at a number of house plans on the internet and other places. One thing I noticed almost universally: All the new home plans do not have a front porch that serves as anything but decorative, or as a rain shelter while you unlock your door. And these were pretty nice homes, 4 bed+ and very nice roof designs. They did all have, however, very large back decks.

We ended up not building a home but stayed in our current house. She was built in or around 1920. Luckily for us, old houses are not in very high demand in Macon and we considered our house quite a bargain when we purchased it, well below the national average in price. But when it was built I think it would have been considered on the upper end for our town. 3200 sq feet not including a full basement, 3 bath, 4 oak pillars in the entry, pocket doors and oak hardwood and fixtures everywhere. In fact the builder of this house had quite a vision for the future, because upstairs we have two bedrooms that are both 18x20 ft, both with walk in closets and one with a second closet. You just don't see these qualities often in old houses.

Anyway, back on track, our house has a 733 sq foot front porch. I know this because I have been over every inch a number of times in the last three months as I stripped off an outdoor carpet, glue and about 15 layers of paint. That might be a slight embellishment into the number of layers of paint, but I'm not sure. The original wood is in excellent condition and I can't wait to stain it.

Our back porch off the mudroom has about enough room for one adult and one dog and that's it. And I have noticed that the majority of old houses also have a large front porch. So this is interesting, when did the large size of porch move from the front to the back? What does this mean? And ( as we say in Inductive Bible study) what are the full implications of this switch?

Free Will -- Part II

There is a story in the 38th chapter of Isaiah that offers an interesting glimpse of our Creator. God sends Isaiah to tell King Hezakiah to put his house in order because the illness he has will not be recovered from and he is going to die. King Hez. prays and simply asks the Lord to remember the faithfulness and devotion of his life. The Lord sends Isaiah back to tell the King that he has heard his prayer and will add fifteen years to his life. Besides being a beautiful story between the God of Israel and the King of Israel, this story seems to affirm what the Psalmist and James both say; God hears the prayers of the righteous and responds.

The Lord created us in his image, and I believe, with freedom. Freedom to respond to him and even freedom to reflect his holiness. Micah asked, "what does the Lord require of thee?" to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God. He enables us to do these things. After the death and resurrection of Jesus, God also sent believers his Holy Spirit. This is no small thing and we can only begin to understand this mystery. The Spirit works as our personal counselor, but also works through us using our head, hearts and hands in this world.

Among glorifying God, spreading the good news and edifying fellow believers, we have a charge to resist evil. Jesus says in John 14 that Satan is the prince of the world. Paul calls Satan the god of this age (2 Cor 4:4) and that his agents rule this present darkness (Eph 6:12).

Is this evil one doing the will of God? I think not. He fathers lies (John 8:44), schemes (Eph 6:11), seeks whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8), sows weeds (Matthew 13:39) and is the dragon who leads the world astray (Rev 12:9). So what are the implications of this? I believe God "allows" evil to happen, not "wills" it. And there will be a day when he will not allow it anymore. I believe Jesus Christ is the predestined one. Those who become "in Christ" are destined for glory. We are now "chosen" because of The chosen one.

I've either written this freely or I'm just predestined to think this way!!!
"He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

Free Will -- Part I

In essence, everyone of us is a theologian to some degree. A belief that God does not exist, a belief he exists but in a non-personal way, and a belief that he exists personally and fully in the person of Jesus Christ are basic theological views and of course there are many more.

One of the great debates in the theology of the Christian faith is the question of humanity's free will or lack there of. Does God predestine each individual human to the life they will live? And choose in advance who will and will not spend eternity with him? Or is this more a matter of a personal choosing as to whether or not we respond to him? A broad stroke of the first view is called Calvinism (but Calvinism covers much more) and the second could be called Arminianism. Both John Calvin and Jacob Arminius were products of and active in the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. And both fields of thought are still very active today in Evangelical Christianity. Although Arminianism might be more commonly known as Wesley-Arminianism today because of John Wesley's influence.

Although this question can not be answered in an absolute fashion until the afterlife (when we will no longer see dimly), I think it is still a great debate. I hold strongly to the free will position of this argument. I do believe our Heaven Father is all knowing and all powerful, and included in this is his complete foreknowledge of the future. But there is also that thing called love. If God is a master of puppets, I am not sure how he can be truly loved back by his creation. I believe that through the sacrificial act of love and reconciliation on the cross that God has given every person a free will choice to respond to his love. That is what the cross represents. God is love and he wishes to have a loving relationship with us through his son Jesus.

Another strong point that reinforces the free will position is the "problem of evil." Those who do not believe in free will must ultimately come to the point that evil itself is ordained by God. I don't buy this. Although all things can be worked for the glory of God, I don't believe he would sanction evil, even in it's simplest form. I believe that God allows Satan and his evil ways to exist. We are in a constant battle with the spiritual forces of this present darkness. As promised through scripture there will be a day when God defeats Satan and evil will no longer exist. Oh what a glorious day that will be.

What is "Folding On?"

A waterfall in the Caribbean National Forest, Puerto Rico I appreciate the number of comments I have received in my personal email about my new blog site. Thank you. I think I have now enabled individual blogs to have comments added if you so choose. This post deals with the title of my blog - Folding On.

"Folding on" is a term my good friend Drew and I adopted from a blues song and is now a backpacking term. Although it can be used in any setting in life when you need to push hard or just need an inspiration to take the next step. The story of Folding On goes like this: It was May of 1999, I was working and living in Evansville, IN and my bud in Columbia, MO. We planned a backpacking trip across the Island of Puerto Rico and thru the Caribbean Natl Rain Forest. The night before we flew out we met in St. Louis and hit a small bar in the area of Soulard.


Molly's was the name of the establishment and the main room must not have been much larger than 16x80ft. But that night there were three elderly black men who had come to play some blues. One of their songs was titled "Fold Fold On". "You just gotta Fold--Fold On.." Like the fourth quarter of a tight game, these guys gave this song all they had. Awesome is a word that doesn't seem quite right to describe it, but I guess that will work.

Fast forward several days: We had checked out San Juan and took a bus outside the city to the Atlantic Coast. My idea all along was to hike N-S across the island, starting at the Atlantic and ending at the Caribbean Sea. Much of the 40 mile hike was thru the Caribbean Natl Rain Forest, the only tropical rain forest in the U.S. Forest System. Save for the heat, it was a beautiful backpack most the way, that included swimming in a crystal clear river and finding a wild raspberry patch. About 2/3 the way thru we reached some area of the trail that had yet to be repaired from Hurricane Hugo ten years prior. The jungle was so thick that we tried not to get much more than five feet apart so we wouldn't lose on another. I am saying it might have well been night as dark as it was in this place. But we "folded on" and on and on....and we dipped our feet in the sea the next day. We saw a much different side of Puerto Rico on the south, but that is a tale for another time.


Sometimes life gives a person challenges and tribulations. You just have to Fold -- Fold On!

Habakkuk breaks it down real well in the final verse of his oracle. "The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights."
Fold on today brother and sister.

Davy Crockett

Sing it with me now... "Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee, Greenest State in the Land of the Free....Davey, Davey Crockett..., King of the Wild Frontier." Or actually if you take the tail off the cap is he the youngest member of the Russian mafia?!

This is a pic of Benjamin, our youngest son. Last Christmas my sister Jean gave two coonskin caps to Isaac and Daniel. During the winter when the nights are long Jamie and I would play "coonhunting" with the boys.

It is played by hiding stuffed animals all over the house on the first floor while the boys are not looking. Then all the lights go out with the exception of one mag light. The boys go around and shoot an animal with the mag light and it's powerful beam. You then "bag it". It is a great game.

"In the fear of Jehovah there is strong confidence, And to His sons there is a refuge." Proverbs 14:26

A ceiling or a floor

With the price of gold hovering in the $1,000 range it makes interested parties wonder if this is a ceiling for the metal, or is this the new floor? Last year the price of gold went thru 1000 (I think up to 1030) and then quickly dropped back down not long after. It is hard to say what will happen this time as there are so many factors involved.

The fundamentals of gold are, as they have been since Old Testament times solid. Gold is rare, beautiful and utilized as a preservation of wealth. It is universally accepted as money. You will find no country in the world (past or present) that will not accept it as payment for debt, goods or services.

In the following link you can see a chart that displays the enormous infusion of money the Fed has put into the U.S. financial system.

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/AMBNS

I once read an illustration that gave me a great understanding of how a fiat money system works. The story goes like this. Imagine you live in a casino. Everything you earn, and all the goods and services you purchase are in the casino and thru their chips. So if you have $250 worth of chips you can purchase $250 worth of goods and services or you can put money in the market to see if you can earn even more. So your chips will be worth the same tomorrow as they are today right?..... Not if the casino has the right to produce all the chips they want. Operating real casinos must have cash to back up all their chips. But does the Fed operate on the same rules as it orders the infusion of money???? It is hard to say how they operate for sure.

The U.S. dollar has depreciated 96% since the United States went off the gold standard in 1913. When you look at the chart in the link you see a savage ascent. Doesn't Sir Isaac say that every reaction will be countered by an equal and opposite reaction? Or something like that.

Mizzou's close call with Bowling Green

What is it that makes a good football game? Is it when your favorite team pounds the other and the game is essentially over mid way thru the 2nd quarter? Is it when both teams play their best? What about when your team comes from behind... especially against a superiorly talented team. Well, Mizzou did come from behind last night and no disrespect to Bowling Green (they are a good football team and will probably have a winning record), but the home opener should have been a little easier than that.

The Mizzou offense played a great second half but they need to get things going a little better or they will run into trouble. I suppose the experience of coming from behind will be good for Gabbert and the rest of the young offense, in the long run. It was a thriller listening to it on the radio last night. I think all along you sensed the Tigers knew they were going to win, it just had to wait for that "Joe Montana" timing.

Derrick Washington rushed for over 120 yards and one touchdown. This balanced running attack really helped get the whole offense going in the second half. Mizzou's defense played pretty well the whole game, but they needed to get that turnover earlier in the game. It will be exciting the see this defense develop over the season.

Nebraska seems to be looking like the days of old. They are not just beating folks, they are blowing them out. Twelve points allowed over two games by the defense. If Nebraska can win at V-Tech this next week (and Mizzou gets a couple needed wins) the nationally televised Thursday night matchup on October 8th will be exciting. Probably putting the winner in the drivers seat to win the North. Of course there are some Jayhawk fans who might have something to say about that!

"You Lie!" and respect for the office

I am in danger of talking about something that is already outside of the 48 hour news cycle. I have heard that in today's quick news and communication world if it's past 48 hours it's probably worn out it's welcome (or at least newsworthiness.) Oh well, here goes anyway, the above mentioned title refers to an outburst a U.S. congressman made to the President of the United States in front of the entire congress and national television.


This is a sad example of something that is happening here, there and everywhere -- lost respect for authority. Now I did not vote for Mr. Obama, but he is the President. He was democratically elected to represent the people of the United States as the executive officer. He also is the head of state and should be treated as such. I remember from management training in the hotel business: "praise in public, rebuke in private." At least that seems to be the way to be respectful to folks and bring about positive change. It is abhorrable that the outbursting congressman (or people from his outfit) are benefiting financially from this mess; as his campaign has raised over "200 large" since the outburst.

I am not sure where I stand on the Healthcare debate. But I do know the problem seems to be bringing out the worst in people. As a Christian, we have a charge to share the good news of Christ. With so many credible people seemingly on both sides of this debate it would seem that the best things for Christians to do is participate in consensus that is brought about honorably and respectfully. It doesn't seem easy to answer. I believe that a growing lack of individual responsibility for family wellbeing and righteousness will corrode our society. But as believers we have direct commandments to care for the "least of these." The questions are, I guess, why isn't the church more involved? And should government be involved to the degree that some propose?

Grape-Nuts Kick

When one was "into" something growing up in my house it was known as a "kick." Perhaps you have/had this in your family as well. A kick was essentially when you were a big fan of something for a while and then it settled back to normal at one point or another. One "kick" that seems to come back to me every 18-24 months is a Grape-Nuts Kick.

Now when I was a young lad my family ate a lot of cereal. Cereal was the universal feel good-good for you to snack; not just for breakfast but for anytime of day and even right before bed is especially good. The same still holds true today in my current home; we eat a lot of cereal. In fact I almost named this blog "five gallons a week," showcasing the amount of milk we go through any given week.

I find myself again on a Grape-Nuts kick. It is possible I am on my third box in about as many weeks. Grape-Nuts are interesting, they of course contain neither grapes nor nuts, but are in fact delicious. What a delight to see last night as I was reading the box, smacking away my "nuts" when I see that the Post Cereal company is located in my home state, headquartered in St. Louis, MO. Now they taste even better, I love supporting Missouri companies. As I read on I discovered that g-n's have about as many vitamins and nutrients as a supplement. What a great nut! And to my understanding they have been the same great old nut since the late 1800's. That is a time tested cereal. Well, this concludes my first blog. I wanted to start out with something non controversial. I think I nailed it!