It is Christmas!

When I grew up as a child in the United States of America almost everybody said, "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year", this time of year. Now almost everywhere people say, "Happy Holidays." Why is that? Well, we have almost succeeded in dismissing God from the public arena. We have been under the false impression for some time that if we just ignore God He will go away and we won't have to deal with Him. However, just because that is what we think doesn't make it so.

Listen to what the Holy Bible has to say about this. In Hebrews 9:27 the Bible says, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." So whether we have forgotten about God in this life or not will make no difference because after death we must still face God's judgment.

Here is another verse that talks about the fact that ignoring God will not make Him go away. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." II Corinthians 5:10. Again, notice the first part of the verse, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ..."

You mean those who have forgotten God in this life? The verse says, "all."

We have been taught tolerance in the name of the love of God. And we are so afraid of offending others that we have sugar-coated what the Bible says. I do not believe in being unkind to others and the older I get the more compassionate I get but, let's face facts, when one talks about God someone is going to be offended. It has always been that way and always will be. Jesus said we are to "speak the truth in love" but we are to speak the truth. In fact, Jesus was perfect and even He offended others. He spoke the truth to the religious leaders of His day and they were offended. Did Jesus set out to offend? He set out to speak the truth and that is what He did. We are more compassionate to our fellow man by speaking the truth in love than we are by not speaking and letting them believe error. For those who know the truth, it is our responsibility before God to "speak the truth in love." We do no one any good by letting them believe that if they ignore God He will go away. We, too, will give an account to God. Matthew 10:33, "But whosoever will deny Me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in Heaven."

Christmas is one of the holidays in this country in which we celebrate Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. We celebrate the birth of God in flesh who came to this world to redeem sinful mankind. We have been remiss in letting the secular world and the religious world rob us of expressing the true meaning of Christmas. In schools we call it a "winter holiday." In stores they are "holiday trees." No, it is Christmas and they are Christmas trees and this is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Christ, the Redeemer of mankind!

It is Christmas, has always been Christmas, and always will be Christmas. So say it in love but say it boldly and say it with gratitude in your heart. Because God cared enough about you to offer Himself in a body to redeem you from your sin. In order to redeem me, God offered up God and that makes it a:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

The Government's Healthcare System and New Testing Guidelines

Is it me or does anyone else wonder what impact the passage of the new government healthcare agenda has to do with the new guidelines for mamograms and cervical cancer screenings? It seems this thing is no sooner through the House than the guidelines for cancer screenings for women has changed. Ask yourself this, if these things are changing this quickly, what else will be changing if this atrocity passes the Senate?

Let's realize that the insurance companies will take any way out they can to save money. They are already more in control of your healthcare than your doctor. If you don't believe that wait until the next time the doctor wants you to get a test or procedure done that the insurance company won't cover.

Is the timing of the changes in cancer screening recommendations a coincidence? Personally, I don't think so, the timing is just too impeccable. When did the insurance companies and the medical industry ever line up so perfectly on something as this seems to be lining up?

While I will agree that our healthcare system is broken, and has been for a long time. This new healthcare bill is not the answer! What does the government ever control better than private industry? Even the insurance companies that we bailed out with taxpayer dollars are still paying big bonuses. Only thing is, now they are paying them with your tax dollars instead of their own money. Well, I know, it was always the customers' money but now it is also my tax money, and yours. Tell the government to stay out of healthcare until they learn to govern themselves. Hah! that would be something to see!!

And tell the government that they can no longer vote themselves a raise but that the people are going to do that from now on. If we feel that they deserve to get one. When one serves too much time in Congress they get to know too many cronies and gain too much power. That is why we need term limits, but that is another story for another time.

Oprah, Good Riddance!

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Oprah but let's face facts, she is not only the queen of the talk show hosts but the queen of liberalism, as well. For years she has promoted her liberal causes and I wonder how many viewers blindly followed her without thinking about the implications of the things for which she stood. I, also, wonder how many people will upgrade their cable to get the Oprah Network when it materilizes. Oprah said that the viewers have enriched her life, I should say they have, to the tune of $2.5 billion dollars. Don't get me wrong, she did some good things with the money, as many of them do to some degree, but she did a lot of damage to the conservative belief system in this country by promoting her liberal views. And whether or not she really leaves the air remains to be seen. We have seen many celebrities claim they were retiring only to be gone a couple of months and change their minds. I will believe she is gone when after 1 year she doesn't return to do another network tv show (Oprah Network excluded). In my opinion (that is part of the name of this blog), it should have happened a long time ago. I will admit I like Oprah's compassion but it, definitely, came with an ultra-liberal bend and did a lot of damage along the way.

Oprah's stepping down may make 2011 one of the best and most memorable years ever. Goodbye and Good Riddance!!

One Quality Restaurant (And It's Family Owned)

Today my wife and I had occassion to be in Hancock, Maryland. It was lunch time so we decided to stop at a family owned restaurant called Weavers. This place was great! The service was good considering they were very busy and our waitress had another waitress she was training in tow.

This restaurant cares, not only about the taste of the food, but also about the appearance. Every plate we saw brought out from the kitchen looked like something from a magazine. I ordered crab cakes which they get from Phillips seafood. Phillips is known as the best seafood place in Maryland. The crab cakes were cooked to perfection and had very little filler in them. They were the best crab cakes I have ever eaten. I ordered baby carrots and mashed potatoes and gravy as sides and, again, cooked to perfection. All of the portions were sizable as well. Even the coffee was fresh brewed and it was a large cup.

My wife ordered a salad, and a hot turkey sandwich. Real turkey on homemade bread with baked potato. Even the dinner roll I got with my meal was homemade, large, and delicious with melted butter on top.

They have their own bakery right in the restaurant where you can buy cookies, cakes, rolls, buns, pies, etc.

For desert my wife ordered a fudge brownie with peanut butter icing and I ordered a piece of carmel apple nut pie with vanilla ice cream. I had never had apple pie with nuts in it before but it was fantastic. Considering the sizes of the portions, the appearance of the food, the service, and most of all the taste, the prices were reasonable.

So, if you happen to find yourself in Hancock, Maryland and hungry. Weavers Restaurant on Main Street is definitely worth the stop. You will not be disappointed.

Prejudice, yes I have to admit it, I am

Since I have come into adulthood, I have always thought of myself as not being prejudice. However, lately the Lord has shown me that I am prejudice. Oh, I am not prejudice against race, for no one can help which race they are. And I don't believe for one minute that someone should be denied opportunity in life because they happen to have a different color of skin, or are a different nationality. I am prejudice against people who are willingly ignorant. You know, those people who won't listen to anyone who tries to talk to them about their (it's all about me) attitude. That kind of attitude seems to be more and more prevalent today.

I understand people sometimes grow up in that kind of atmosphere. That is the way they were taught by their parents or the influences around them. You know, those who are loud, ignorant, and think the right answer is to just punch someone out that disagrees with them.

Some people try to tell them and show them there is a better way to live but they don't want to hear it. They like who they are, they think that is right, and they refuse to change no matter what you say.

I am prejudice against ignorance and attitude. The kind of attitude I grew up with when I was a child. I still believe there are some people who are only going to understand a good slap in the head but I don't think that carrying out the act is a good way to help someone change and it is, definitely, not a good example to set.

I am not a compassionate person but as I get older the Lord has been working in my life to make me more compassionate. I have a long way to go. And it irks me especially when we as Christians blast someone with our mouths and have no regard for how we made the other person feel or whether or not we ruined our testimony. Let's face it, some people are hard to deal with. That has always been and always will be the case. But do we really have a right to beat them down? What about what the Bible says about building each other up? That's hard to do but necessary if we are going to set a Christ-like example.

Well, this is something the Lord has been dealing with me about and something I thought might be of help to you, too. They say, "Ignorance is bliss." I think to remain ignorant is costly, in attitude, in testimony, in causing health issues, and in dollars and cents. Because beating someone into submission is costly in emergency room bills and lost relationships.

Prejudice? Yes, against those who are willingly ignorant.

I'm Back (Well, at least temporarily)

For those of you who follow my blog (and I don't think anybody does except my wonderful step-daughter) I have been busy with schoolwork but have temporarily returned until my Unix/Linux class starts on May 12th.

I am waiting for my grades from last semester which just finished on April 30th so it might be a couple of weeks. I started my IT internship at the National Park Service on May 1st so life is still busy but there is a short reprieve. I, almost, came out of hiding to comment on Miss California being derided for her comment on homosexual marriage but just didn't have the time. I have nothing against homosexuals as people but their lifestyle is wrong. And it is disgusting that they have defamed the word 'gay'. I don't like to call them 'gay' because that means happy and they can't possibly be truly happy.

It is also disgusting to me that they have taken something as beautiful as the rainbow, which God created as a wonderful promise to Noah, and turned it into a symbol for an abominable lifestyle.

As far as Miss California's comment I have this to say, YOU GO GIRL!!

Well Slap My Wrist

There's something that bothers me. Recently in my home town there was a policeman on trial for pointing his service revolver at his live-in girlfriend's head and telling her she wasn't worth the bullet. All of this happened because she told him she was meeting an old friend who happened to be male. I think they were going to dinner, I can't remember the exact details of all of it.

Anyway, the officer was placed on leave with pay until he went to trial. His girlfriend told the arresting officer's that she didn't believe he would have shot her. Because she made that statement, when the officer went to trial he got off. He wasn't charged with assault because his girlfriend didn't believe he would shoot her. Let's hope she was right.

To me, that officer should have been terminated. I wrote a letter to my hometown newspaper stating such and they decided not to publish it. I mean, here is a guy who is carrying a gun around all the time who, obviously, has a character flaw. All of us have some kind of character flaw(s) but we are not all carrying a gun around everyday. Here is a man who has sworn to uphold the law and breaks the law and gets away with no consequences. Sorry, I just can't agree with that. I know this, I wouldn't want him to mistake me for a criminal he is trying to arrest. If he can't control himself when it involves someone he cares about will he control himself if it is someone he doesn't? Perhaps he shouldn't have, necessarily, gone to jail but I think he should have definitely lost his job and not have been allowed to own a gun again.

And, then, just a couple of days ago there was a story in our local paper about a local prison guard who smuggled marijuana into prison and she got off with an eighteen month suspended sentence and unsupervised probation. Well, slap my wrist!

Can you say favoritism? We are sending the wrong message with this lack of justice. We are telling public servants that they are exempt from the law. I, personally, think that these people should have been held more accountable because of their position, not less accountable. It bothers me that just because of their jobs we turn our backs on right, slap them on the wrist and let them go on to have another opportunity. Oh, the guard did lose her job. Let's just hope the policeman don't lose his temper again or his girlfriend may lose a whole lot more.