Hot Topics - Part II

The oven of Topics is smokin' hot and producing more and more baby! The weekend edition of USA Today that I am holding in my hands has on it's front page this article -
"For feds, more get 6-figure salaries" -- Average pay $30,000 over private sector

Federal employees are "enjoying an extraordinary boom time - in pay and hiring - during a recession that has cost 7.3 millions jobs to the private sector." Folks this is just fantastic! Here are a few more highlights of the article:
-When the recession started, the Transportation Department had only one person earning a salary of $170,000 or more. Eighteen months later, 1,690 employees have salaries above $170K. -Here are a few numbers that show percentage increase of $150k salaries in the different departments from the start of recession Dec 2007 to current.
Commerce Dept: 395% increase, Dept of Education: 296% increase (isn't education a state issue?), Homeland Security: 233% increase, Housing and Urban Development: 227% increase, Justice Dept: 567% increase. The list goes on.

Folks, this is unsustainable. Let me rephrase this so there are no misunderstandings: We can not follow this path forever. The relentless growth of the Federal government, the national debt, their rules and regulations cannot continue. Change is coming or a break is coming. I'm not talking about the kind of "break" where you run down to Rexalls for an ice cream cone, this is the kind of "break" where things break. Let's hope for change. Thankfully, I am losing some of my cynicism about our government as I think there is hope out there. There are two US Senate races for 2010 that could help dictate some real change. One is Dr. Rand Paul (Ron Paul's son) running for senate in KY showing he has early leads, another is Peter Schiff (Paul's former campaign economic advisor) running for senate in Connecticut. Polls show he has an early lead over Chris Dodd! I am not sure why some Republicans are so against Paul and Paul-like thinkers (Mitch McConnell has said he will not let Ron Paul hijack the Republican party). Actually, I do think I know why, it is because the current Rep/Dem thing is just one party, one big two headed monster.

Another great thing happening through grass roots internet work is the co sponsorship of Paul's HR 1207 to audit the Federal Reserve. This bill is now out of the House Financial Committee (Barney Frank did everything possible to halt this, but when you have 317 co-sponsors that is tough thing to do. That's right 317 co-sponsors!). Our own U.S. rep Blaine Luetkemeyer signed on after a number of us contacted him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9nOIusbDwI
You may have seen this video before, but it shows clear evidence that Ron Paul's popularity was superior on the internet as compared to Obama, Clinton and McCain in 07-08, but yet the mass media does not give even a minuscule amount of coverage the others get.

Love One Another

I am going to jump off the Hot Topics soap box just for a moment and share some words that were resonating with me today. They go like this:

8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:8-11

I had the privilege to write a research paper on 1 John in the Spring of 2008. Unlike Paul's letters which contain salutations and greetings this book appears to be a homily (sermon). But like the epistles, it was directed at a certain audience. It contains a wealth of information on Christian belief and life. An outline might look like this:

1. Theological Intro 1:1-4

2. What is Christianity 1:5-2:28

3. Life in the Church Family 2:29-4:12

4. The Confidence of our Faith 4:13-5:21

Intertwined within the whole of the book is the subject of love, and no passage illustrates this better than the above. This agape love that Christ showed to us is of a nature that it fills us and we cannot love God without also loving our fellow human, even (and especially) who we perceive as unlovable. I pray today that you and I will experience the love of Christ, and share it with those who deserve our love and those who do not. Whether the love is a feeling, or an action, or a noun. Let it fold on.

Hot Topics

Boy, Trying to find a hot topic to think and write about these days is like walking into Grandma Kauffman's kitchen just before Christmas with a sweet tooth. Luke, you know exactly what I am talking about and I'm sure many of you have a similar memory. The kitchen itself is so full of pies and cookies that the side room that occupies the washer and dryer is utilized to help keep containment on all the goodies. Oh, choices, choices.

I think today I will start with something.... oh mildly controversial, how about homosexuality. My views are reasonably old school on this issue, but don't worry conservative readers, I've got a challenge for you too, I think my next post will deal with the subject of water boarding and so called "confession."

I see the homosexuality debate as best broken down into two different arenas: The Church and the State. Others may see if differently, but here I will make my case. Since the Bible is clear in both the OT and NT that homosexuality is a sin, there really shouldn't be much of a debate for the church in my mind. I wrote an opinion letter for the Mennonite Weekly Review earlier this year, which I will copy part of here. The Mennonite church, like many bodies, has people within it who are pushing for an understanding of homosexuality that separates it from sin. The paper published most of this but edited out some of my imagery, you will probably figure out which parts:).

The issue with homosexuality is not easy, but it is clear. The Scriptures do not speak often of homosexuality but when they do, it is always an offense and it is always sinful behavior. This same viewpoint is expressed from the Old Testament Law to over a thousand years later in Paul’s letters. In many instances today the church has not responded properly or treated folks who are entrapped in this sin with holy love; the love that Jesus called us to embrace.

Now, I will attempt to respectfully respond to two comments in the February 16th issue:
1. “When will the Mennonite church be faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ?” (Nachtigal) As a United Methodist who is learning more about and interested in my Anabaptist heritage, I must ask Mr. and Mrs. Nachtigal, “Can you show me another denomination that has been more faithful to the Gospel?” I agree with you that all people (including homosexuals) should be welcome in Church, but that doesn’t eliminate the need for repentance. Whether someone is born with certain tendencies or not isn’t the issue; this is part of the fall of creation. I have three boys, and if one of them is born with a temper and likes to push or hit the other two, that doesn’t make it acceptable. The Mennonite church has some elements in it that are very attractive to people. I hope one of the reasons is not to find a place that appeases a sinful appetite.

2. “Our churches should bless all unions” (Steelberg). I am sure this statement is made out of love, but where does this lead? Would you bless a union of a man and a dog? What about a union of man and a little girl or boy? This may sound preposterous but these were the sentiments about homosexuality a few generations ago. Once the body of Christ begins to accept sin without repentance we are embracing something Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace.”


Okay, so my view of this topic within the church is pretty self explanatory. Now, how about the state? I think since it has been reported by various outlets that the first thing a student at a secular college thinks when they hear the phrase "Evangelical Christian" is that they are anti-homosexual, we need to be cautious about the message we are sending. This is amplified with other evidence that marriages among believers have no better (if not worse) divorce rates than non believers. Yikes, what message are we sending? That being said, the state has clearly adopted the understanding of "marriage" from a Judeo-Christian ethic. So the church should have a say into how marriage is defined, right? Is this getting muddy enough yet?!!

Here's the thing though, are you ready for this? Homosexuality is perverted. It takes natural desire and "perverts" it for the unnatural. People need to hear this! Paul wrote about this when he says God "turned them over" to their evil desires. But you don't even need Scripture to see that homosexuality does not fit in the natural order. Do you remember James Holsinger who was nominated to be Surgeon General by Bush in 2007. He was a Godly man with a remarkable career as a physician and a retired major-general. He was Chancellor of the University of Kentucky Medical school and on the board of trustees at Asbury Theological Seminary. He nomination didn't even reach a vote in the senate because he had written an article that gay sex was "unnatural and unhealthy" in a United Methodist publication several decades ago. In addition to this he helped found a church that ministered to people who no longer wished to be involved in gay or lesbian lifestyle. If these views prevent qualified Christians from serving the country, I think this is pretty sad.

So, that all being said, what do we do? The middle ground that many have taken in regards to homosexuality and the state is to accept civil unions but deny gay marriage. I guess this seems reasonable in a free country, I don't know it is a toughie. The End (for now).

The 21st century gold rush

I find it interesting, if not a little comical, that many of the mainstream media are "onto" this gold rush of 2008-2009. They missed calling the dot.com bubble of the 90s, and for sure missed calling the real estate bubble earlier in this decade; but they are "onto" the commodity bubble like white on rice. Waiting for it to burst. To think that investing in something like gold, or silver, or corn, or copper, or natural gas is sound investing........It's just all so pre-modern or something. I do appreciate the balanced reporting by the two dudes at the Yahoo-Finance outfit, at least they appear genuine. Blodgett writes good blogs too.

But the question of the day is how did one ounce of gold end up being worth, at today's count, $1200.00?

There are probably many factors involved in this, but I think that irresponsible money management plays a big part in the answer. How has our country ended up in so much debt?...... Further playing into this is the fact that China, India, Brazil and South Korea all have huge reserves, but their reserves are mainly in U.S. dollars (they are our creditors after all). China is doing everything it can for the government and their people to get precious metals without putting the prices into orbit. They are recommending that all their saving citizens put at least 5% of their savings in gold and silver. They are also buying up gold mines left and right. If there is a gold mine for sale anywhere in the world, China will buy it before the rooster crows. The IMF is selling it's gold "off the market" so not to dramatically disrupt prices. Last month they put some (200 tons) up for sale. Oops China! India got to it first and bought every ounce. Crazy.

So where do we (the good ole U.S.) stand in all this? We have gone through interesting changes in our country for a while. We had a time of industrialization, this is probably known as the good times for many. Sometime in my life time, I don't know when for sure, we morphed into financialization. When I say this I mean that Wall-Street's primary focus went from preserving wealth at interest to the creating of wealth. In the late 90's you could not watch a football game without being inundated with 25 investment commercials. Easy money was the name of the game. This is a difficult drug to get off of once you get addicted.

And now we are going through "politicization." This is probably not a good thing. Government is best when it is localized, but more and more power is heading to D.C. It appears now that Wall-Street and D.C. have entered into some strange sort of marriage. Big banks fail, and the D.C. gang bails them out and keeps the leaders around.

Here's another example of politicization: I read yesterday that $31 million dollars from the stimulus package was alotted to renovating two remote border crossings between Montana and Canada. The average traffic per day at these crossings?..........22 vehicles. This is great work. Fold on-- Big brother!

Matt and The Bean Stalk

Well, I will stick with my two day old tradition of showing strange pictures. This is actually the four foot tall Brussels sprout plant from our garden just prior to the final harvest this past week. It was a good year for Brussels sprouts! That single plant must have produced 200 sprouts. Glad we have a large deep freeze.

They are a delicious food that is also high in vitamins and fiber. This is our favorite way to prepare the sprouts:

Steam for about five minutes.

Then saute w/ butter, salt and pepper. Stir constantly. It is important not to overcook Brussels sprouts as they release a sulfur smell if they get too much past al dante'. But otherwise they are scrumptious as all three of our boys eat them.

They go very well with beef filet.

Redneck Awards Finalist

Sunday, 4pm
Thanksgiving Weekend 2009

If you temporarily convert a Weber Skyline Gas Grill....


into a deluxe venison hickory smoking station for deer jerky....

it's possible you might be a redneck!

Just Win, Baby!

As my wife can attest to, I spend a fair amount of time reading sports articles on the internet. Probably like many of you the name Brett Favre, prior to about 10 weeks ago, brought a frown to my brow. For the last several years, Favre has made a long, Jordanesque, drama queen, tearful, pathetic goodbye. I'm going to retire, no I'm not, yes I am, maybe, no I'm not (typing that sentence just wears me out!).

The way one "finishes" is such an important aspect of their legacy. Do you remember John Elway's goodbye. It couldn't have been better if it were a Disney movie. Here I was, a KC Chiefs fan through the 90s. Time and time again we saw Elway and his Broncos beat us when it mattered most. He was such an easy guy to despise with that cheesy grin. And then Elway lost so many Superbowls, you remember that? Crazy. But several years later they mounted a comeback. And with the feet of Terrell Davis also as a weapon, won two Superbowls in a row. Elway retired shortly after the second Superbowl victory. At the beginning of the following season he said goodbye publicly, once and for all time in regards to his football playing career. It was halftime during a Monday night game against Miami in Denver, John Elway's number was retired in the Broncos "Ring of Fame." While Tina Turner's "Simply the Best" was rocking the woofers of the stadium he stood at the 50 yard line and said a wonderful goodbye to his loyal fans. It was awesome, what a great moment. It was possible a tear came to my eye, I'm not sure it could have just been the onions from the nachos.

Now, back to Favre. He has at current time, led the Minnesota Vikings to an 8-1 record. If he was not winning it would be pathetic, he had a short stay at the Jets and now "Benedict Arnolded" the Packers and joined their archrivals. I read on the news, Wisconsin soldiers are told "Favre, Favre" by non English speaking Iraq detainees, again pathetic.

But you know what, he is winning. Nothing cures sore muscles and sore memories like a win. And that makes it all better. Of course, the season is not over so it still could get ugly, but for now............................. "Just Win, Favre!" I like it, and you may too.