Blue Skies & Wide Eyes

God, Mammon or Multi-Level Marketing (Have you met a C.M.L.M. Yet?)

2012-01-06T18:35:00.003-05:00

So you visit a new church and someone with a very bright smile and a big warm handshake welcomes you. That’s to be expected right? In fact you might encounter several similarly friendly folk inside a church right? Well, you should though often you can sadly walk in and out of some fellowships and never hear a word except from those that have “Greeting” as their ministry.

Anyway let’s stay on topic and save that little observation for another day and another rant. So say one of these sweet people invites you to a party. Perhaps asks for your e-mail or phone number, wants you to come over for tea and dessert or insists on going to lunch sometime like right after service. Chances are you may have just encountered a C.M.L.M. A in the in the World you may ask? A Christian Multi Level Marketer, a C.M.L.M. for short.

The multi level marketing craze all started in the 1950’s. Its precursor being the “franchise”, where one could buy their own branch of an already established business. Some say this goes back to Ray Kroc and his start up of McDonalds. Multi Level Marketing to my estimation really began when nutritional, cosmetic and cleaning products companies started to proliferate door to door. Now let’s get it said up front Franchising and Multi Level Marketing are legal and legitimate businesses. My issue here is when they claim connection to and appear in force inside the Church of Jesus Christ.

Now keep in mind M.L.M.’s account for barely 1% of total retail sales in the U.S. Whereas about 50% of retail sales in the U.S. are attributed to franchises. So hats off to Mr. Kroc! Often you will hear a M.L.M. rep refer to M.L.M. as your greatest opportunity to start your own business and their particular company as the best since white bread, toilet paper and the coffee grinder. They are in reality giving you access to a slight sliver of the pie and will undoubtedly stand to profit personally from adding you to the fold and their personal “downline”. So buyer beware.

It might serve us well to remember a bit of scripture, namely Matthew 21:12 -13, Mark 11: 15 – 17. Luke 19: 45 – 46 and on. Here is a quick look at Mark 11:15-17:

15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’[a]? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’]”

From this we might assume that Jesus did not stand for people selling anything in His Father’s House. That’s what I believe but you know some folks might argue.Same folks that like to wait on the hurricane to hit before dashing for the in lands. The type that might say; “I never sell in the church I just meet prospects”. Well that I contend is selling. Indeed this is what one gentleman told me after inviting me to a meeting about a “business opportunity”. I never went and within a couple of years this gentleman’s family was in shambles and that church was as well. Now I understand this is just a personal experience. Anecdotal evidence at best but I can multiply the number of incidence many times. How about you? Anyone have a “Witness”?

Over the years I have personally seen two churches crash and burn due in large part to M.L.M. inside those fellowships. I have seen dozens of friendships damaged, lost or turned to bitter hate amongst the “brethren”. I have also seen brothers and sisters in decent financial shape nearly ruined and others who were close to ruin pushed over the edge. In fact estimates place the number of those that succeed or end with a net profit as low as under 1% and as high a 30% overall. The vast majority earning well less than $100 dollars a month and averaging less than $2.00 an hour. Individual claims will vary for various particular groups but remember, M.L. M. gives you access to just 1% of all sales so consider the probabilities. Most that make money make it on their downlines, those they sign up and take a percentage of sales including their purchase of “inventory”.

It might be making you money, it might help you make friends and it might be a source of hope and excitement. Sadly, statistically when the excitement fades you might find the hope was just like the type promised in 2008. In other words FALSE!

My advice is if one of those sweet smiling C.M.L.M.’s approaches you perhaps you might ask the Head Pastor what the churches policy is on M.L.M. If it turns out that person is his wife, brother, sister or best buddy well there may be a problem getting along if you do not go to “the party”. All I can tell you is Jesus’ might not approve. We would all do well to consult Him before we join the C.M.L.M flock! Here are a few links for your personal consideration. Free of Charge!!!

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2011-02-07-multilevelmarketing03_CV_N.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi_level_marketing

2012-01-05T21:34:00.000-05:00

Christmas and New Years, the most emotionally over loaded week on most folk’s calendar, is upon us. Once again we find ourselves rushing about chasing our gift lists, refining our guest lists and wondering if Santa even knows about our own wee little wish lists. Offices party, family’s party, neighbor’s party and people we may not even know will party with some finding themselves in the raucous merry midst of it all.

Still others may just sit by an aging phone that seldom rings. Remembering the places and faces that filled the sweet celebrations of lighter louder days but now are only faint memories stirred by the season but nearly lost in its present heavy stillness.

In between the two extremes bounce a majority of we everyday people, rushing to the next festivity, reunion, performance or gathering. These are busy grown up people, unaware of the long gone youth of joyful wonders and jolly excitement still in the offings of a familiar old song. Surprised when they bursts out strongly as the Peanuts gather round Charlie Browns little tree, that just needed a little love or Rudolf soars off blazing victorious into the storm of the century.

The holidays mean many different things to many different people. Indeed we can find ourselves in a pickle just wishing the wrong person the wrong celebratory wishes for a holiday they might not even acknowledge or perhaps be opposed to.

What has happened to Christmas? Sure we can mostly all agree on New Years as long as we stick to the “Common Era” ending and leave the “Anno Domani” designation alone but why all the division and emotional mine fields out there hidden in the holidays?

One little word is the reason, Christ. If you take that one little word out of the mix all the conflicts go away. You still have Santa and Rudolf, Frosty, Heat & Cold Miser as well as all the elves and warm happy endings you can shake a stick at.

Still what hope is there for those really “Home Alone”? Where is the comfort and joy of the folks whose phones seldom ring and have lost more friends and family than they remember? Their hope, comfort and joy is in that one little word and that is what we should be celebrating. Not out of malice, as so many politically correct and overtly angry atheists and others would believe but out of reverence, thankfulness and yes, joy.

Christmas and New Years can bring out the best and worst in people. Their selflessness as well as their prejudice, their happy memories as well as their losses and longings can mix with their hopes, disappointments and dreams to find them emotionally charged way past the usual load. Our dual natures and imperfections can rise out of us and serve only to point out what Christmas is really all about.

In my own memories from way back to rotary phones and rabbit eared TV’s I recall the best explanation that stopped a young heathen boy in his tracks one December long ago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn10FF-FQfs

Hold on to the best of what Christmas is all about this year and do not let anyone take Christ out of your New Year either! Blessings, Merry Christmas and to all…a good night!
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Sports Dad Mania: 5 Helpful Tips

2010-06-10T10:18:00.002-04:00

Parents and sports can be a volatile mix. The overly emotional and explosive connections are not just confined to dads either. Sadly we have seen actual fatalities occur in recent years. We need to nip this in the bud for ourselves and our kids.
In years past I spent a decade officiating High School Basketball as a single guy. I encountered everything from drunken yahoos to Local TV personalities with an ego to coaches from other teams hammering out their blackball list for the playoffs. In between all that mess were many sane, balanced and professional moms, dads, coaches and others rolling down a given season's ups and downs.
Having purposed not to recreate the insanity I saw from the business end of the whistle should I ever be a sports dad let me make a few suggestions.

1. Broaden your involvement and perspective.
2. Join the local sports boosters.
3. Run the concessions.
4. Coach a team or two.
5. Officiate a sport (in a league your kids have no ties to).

It is natural to want our kids to excel. What is not natural, healthy or helpful is when the motive is mostly vicarious. In other words our own unfinished business, past successes or failures get projected onto our son or daughter. By broadening our connections to the local sports support groups we create our own healthy outlet where we can sew into many kids experience. This leaves our children able to be about their business on the field unencumbered by what we left undone decades before.

For me it helps to have seven kids. There is just no way to be over shadowing so many. I had 3 sons on one baseball team this year, each very different in focus and ability. I also had 1 daughter in softball, another in HS cross country, one in band, and one in soccer and coached a Basket ball team to an 8-1 season with ongoing dance and piano lessons for fun.

If you feel stressed at games and nagged at home, step back and find your outlet. Set an example for your kids to follow when they are the grey hair that never quite could or wishes he could again. You might find helping a whole bunch of kids so much more fun and fulfilling. As for the nagging thing, hey you are on your own!
Blessings,

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http://freespeakerbureau.com/profile.php/member_no/1000920

Spiritual Jujitsu and Other Fighting Tips for the Poorly Fathered

2010-06-07T16:57:00.001-04:00

Sometimes growing up is the battle of a lifetime. All too often the very one who should be our trainer, coach and mentor is in reality our first adversary. With or without intent, by abandonment or in person a Bad Dad is the first high hurdle some face. Sadly, many may never clear this obstacle. Still, I have learned a trick or two bouncing off the mats towards maturity and I am not afraid to share.

I say I am not afraid because someone can perhaps spin a sadder tale of woes and struggle than you or I can. The value in the story is not simply the height of the mountains faced and conquered. More important are the techniques that enable victory and the reason for fighting in the first place.

My personal heartrending yarn begins with my mom and dads break-up in 1964. Dad was a truck driver, rarely around. It seems he was a good time kind of guy. Guitars, honky-tonks and hillbilly music so to say.

In a few years, my mom re-married and I had a step-dad. Interesting chap always had a 25-caliber pistol in the small of his pants. Under his careful watch, I learned how to load rocks and gravel properly on a wheelbarrow, proper concrete mixture techniques as well as the fine art of stonewall construction. For a five year old, this seemed fun for about six minutes.

By middle school, it was accepted knowledge in my “family” that I was a stupid, worthless, talentless and ugly oaf whose laziness was the stuff of legends. Anger had long ago grown into bitterness and whole hearted hatred for me. So when a second round of parental infidelity and divorce erupted I was well equipped to embrace the dysfunction.

During this period, my mom had a nervous breakdown. For the better part of this time, she took her pills, drank cheap wine and cried. I hated watching her suffer all the while not quite able to understand much beyond the hate or to help beyond refilling her glass.

I share this sob story simply to point out that I have not recreated the hurts and chaos I was born and bred to continue. In fact, I have been married for nearly 20 years to one wonderful woman. I have seven children who range from high school to toddlerdom. Four of which are currently six-year-old quadruplet and I have been their at-home dad for some seven years.

What happened you wonder? Well, a bit of spiritual jujitsu, you might say. Oh, I spent a wayward youth and young adulthood. However, one night, Valentines Evening 1987 to be exact, I found out that God cared. That was the crazy evening that He put a snowplow in my path. While I was going 60 miles an hour!

No this is not an illustrative verse, an allegory, metaphor or what ever. I hit a snowplow! I hit it good and I hit it hard. I should have died but I did not even bleed. I later saw pictures of my car. If you had been in the back, you would have died, if you were in the passenger seat they would have had to bury the whole car to make sure they got all of you. I had only a big bruise right over my heart. Now there is your metaphor.

Now I am not an evangelist. I am just your average at home dad of Quads plus three. My goal is not preaching. It is simply to share the flat out in your face truth that turns all the anguish and hurt aimed at you, now and over the years, across your hip, over your shoulders and flat on it’s evil ass. Learn this one simple move and you will be able to toss the weight of the world off your back.

It is as simple as just plain Forgiveness! Yea I had a messed up dad and an even more messed up step-dad. Sure mom lost it and I was a messed up dude who made many bad choices. Nevertheless, the anger, the bitterness and wholehearted hatred I carried for them and I was nothing more than a chokehold from hell itself.

Our culture is dying one poorly parented child at a time. There is no government solution to this. Nor any social redefinition of marriage or family that will make a thimble full of difference. This all takes places in the heart and soul of guys like you and me. This is the battle of our lifetime. The reason to fight straddles the gulf between our own personal eternity and the hearts and future of the children we father.

It is easy to forgive when you know you have been forgiven. It is also easier to follow an example than make it up on your own. This is where Christ made the difference for me. Now I am not an evangelist but I have seen and been a part of a miracle. Come to my house for a day and you will see it too.

My dad, he was drafted at 18 into the first wave of the Korean War and drove a truck for the Marines. By age 20, he had three Bronze Stars and accompanying Purple Hearts. That means he went through hell in a hat basket. He never got all the way over it either.

My step-dad was raised with an alcoholic father that beat him for sport. By 19, he had enlisted in the Navy and went out on liberty only to tie on a blind drunk that ended in a killing. From age 20 to 31, he was on the chain gang in the Georgia State Penal system for manslaughter. By age 33, he was parenting my brother and me.

Mom had lost her dad at 13 and developed a heart to help broken men. She did not realize that some wounds need a savior to truly mend the damage. She paid a high price for her well-intentioned efforts.

You see I know all this now and I can look back with compassion and love. I can let them all go and leave the hate and the hurt behind. This is the reason I purpose to be a dad like none my families history has ever seen. Forgiven, whole and aware of his place in the chain of fathers, sons, daughters and destiny.

This guys, is my lesson in fighting the battle of your lifetime. It can be done and won. Spiritual jujitsu, bending like a reed in the wind and letting the pain blow away. Sound too simple but it takes time and practice. If you need an example that is my hope. Look at me and see a tiny bit of Jesus and the heart of the Father He and I share. In their care all the fighting ends and your own victory begins. Do not linger for your own snowplow to join us; your kids may not have the time to wait.

2010-06-02T14:44:00.003-04:00

Parenting for Fun and Profit?
By now everyone has seen the merriment and mayhem of parents and their multiples on “Reality TV”. All the free VIP tours of resort parks, major tourist locales and name brand shopping chains have sent many flocking for IVF treatment. Or was there anyone beside Nadja Suleman? Take it from me what you see on TV is about as reliable as the “Mixxie Chopper” for $5.99 that dices, slices and screens annoying calls. Of course the “mixxie “will fall apart the 1st time it leaves your dishwasher and so sadly do most of the made for TV family cash ins. Remember this, whatever they are selling on TV; if you don’t buy it, it goes away! The trouble is too many are buying into these concocted “family” circuses.

Parenting today is a most serious business. Just Goggle “parenting books” you will find 14 million 5 hundred thousand hits! Try “parenting author” you get a mere 18 million 6 hundred thousand. Forgive me if I sound a bit jaded but I have an unusual perspective. Yes I am an at home dad, of quadruplets plus three. Yep, teens to toddlers with 40 acres, 8 dogs, 8 horses, a smattering of cattle and Lord knows how many cats (all spayed or neutered).

Now I am not alone here in the mega dad pool, Brian Reid http://www.rebeldad.com/, Dennis Ross http://www.iparenting.com/dad/0702.htm , http://personalweb.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=personalweb&cdn=compute&tm=191&gps=219_383_1020_567&f=10&su=p284.9.336.ip_p504.1.336.ip_&tt=11&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//quads9.homestead.com/ and maybe a few more deserve some acclaim for having made it through the challenge of a domestic male in the middle of mega multiples and more. I believe myself, Mr. Reid, Mr. Ross and many amazing everyday at-home dads, at-home-moms and just regular moms and dads, grandparents and a myriad of steps all have one thing in common. Our priority and focus is on our kids. Not so much the next round of “Dancing With the Stars”, finding a spot on the “Today Show”, revamping our failed “shows” to keep cashing in on Cable TV’s big-top sideshow revue.

People who parent as a priority, not a profession, let alone as a media personality are the greatest asset our kids and culture have. Some simply prioritize family in an effort to recreate the warm healthy home they flourished in. Others purpose not to recreate the disruptions and confusion of a home life broken, bruised, confused yet overcome. Still more are a little lost having no healthy template to go by and circumstances out of their control. In some of those 14 million 5 hundred thousand hits for “parenting books” there is actually some really good stuff but the real help is closer to you than cyberspace or Books-A-Near-Billion.

Clubs and organizations are out there but they are only as great as the successful parents in them. Those that are making it happen and doing it well must reach out and share their victories, wisdom, heart and purpose. Daddys Home http://www.daddyshome.com/, Mothers of Preschoolershttp://www.mops.org/ , Mothers of Multipleshttp://www.mothersofmultiples.com/, Parents without Partners http://www.parentswithoutpartners.org/ and many others are great resources but it is the personal connections, friendships and outreach they offer that can make the difference.

So as summer brings us the promise of refurbishes and reruns of somewhat entertaining yet potentially destructive, exploitive and dysfunctional “family” entertainment check around for some real relational space you might share with a real family that deserves some help. Offer to baby-sit, call to include or strike up a casual affirming conversation. You do not need to write a book or give a sermon, just set some examples and offer a sincere hand. Your real life connection and caring might mute some of the noise our cash-in culture keep blaring like a crazed carnival barker. Near desperate to promote their half-baked household cabarets with their highly lucrative commercials and freaky future episode promos that keep all three rings roaring along.
* Photos courtesy of http://www.freephotos.com or public domain.

I've got Mail

2010-04-08T11:08:00.001-04:00

Being a dad or a mom is not always easy. It has always seemed as if parenting provides a small view of God’s perspective on folks in general. There is that protective and nurturing season, where the nearly helpless infant needs nearly everything to be done for them. Then the progressive independence that leads to a time of teenaged near blind rebellion. Yep, parenting is a lens that shows so much about our own shortcomings and seditious spirits. That is if we make the humbling effort to distinguish it in the clutter a busy day of parenting.

It is far too easy to just barrel through and not take notice of how we act and react to our kids in all their twists, turns and sputters towards maturity. Many times we find ourselves regretting how we handled a circumstance or two. It is a tricky business dealing with the various differences in stages, personalities and temperaments. Even more so, I suppose for those like we who have several at the same age at the same time. Indeed, I find myself wishing sometimes that our Quads were back at that hectic but predicable infant age. That was a time consuming stage but if planned properly it was manageable and easy to understand.

I guess what I am attempting to explain is what God has dropped in my mailbox today. I am inadequate to the task. I cannot grasp it all from toddler to teen in our home here today. I cannot see over the horizon to what adult kids with tweeners and kindergartener will look like. I cannot guess what grandkids and teen Quads with a tweener will require. On even until all the kids are gone and ….

What God seems to telling me is that I am not sufficient. Even I and my amazing wife together are still not sufficient. But we are able if we accept the Grace to be inadequate, insufficient and less than perfect. That Grace is sufficient. Having done all things we must stand in faith of His Grace. Humbled by the overwhelming realization that in all our season until nothing but pictures and fond memories remain of our unique time. His Grace is more than able to accomplish all that is before us and more. Indeed it will accomplish His will. Even more so if I will let loose of my own!

There, I feel better having shared the mail. I can do this with my peace restored and full of happy expectation because I am not in control. So if you are having one of those out of control kind of days. Stop and check your mailbox or just write your name over this address and let the weight slip off of your shoulder and on to His.

Kate Gosselin: SuperStar!!!

2010-03-16T09:07:00.004-04:00

Kate Gossilen is truly a star now, no SuperStar! Her light twinkles in the faux skies of Hollywood working the angles and elbowing after the gilded ring of small screen success. Her claim to fame and major talent? The use of IVF, conception of higher-order multiples and one failed high profile marriage as seen on TV. Now we are to believe that in order to “keep her family fed” to steal a line from The Beverly Hillbillies, she must be about the business of celebrity and stardom. I mean why let all that expensive plastic surgery, designer hair treatment, personal training and publicist staffing go to waste. Of course perhaps if the money had been invested, saved or earmarked to a trust fund for the welfare of the children. Jon & Kate might still be a couple and their show still reigning on TLC but I digress.

Nearly two years ago I began to question the dangers of exploiting higher-order multiples for fun and profit by their parents. I did it in the pages of Twins’ Magazine, America’s #1 magazine for parents of multiples for some 25 years. At the time I was a columnist at Twin’s and had been contacted by several TV and network TV producers regarding my family of 7 kids with quadruplets in the middle and myself the at-home dad and my amazing wife the successful business women and mega-mom. Jon & Kate were at that time darlings of TLC and promoting a book published by Christian publisher Zondervan. Oh yes indeed God was all in their marriage, conception and etcetera, on and on blah, blah, blah.

Needless to say I experienced some pushback and found my articles no longer needed. In less than two months however Jon & Kate imploded and were off the air in about a year. Now I know I did not cause that to happen but what I had pointed out was correct. The real parenting “stars” are the folks in the trenches. The ones, who do the 2am feedings, change the countless diapers; wash the mountains of laundry and acres of bottles, dishes and Sippy cups. These are those that have no nannies, receive no royalties, gain no notoriety nor enter Disney or other resorts for free with film crew in tow.

Now Kate peruses among the “swimming pools and movie stars” as a “THE” working single mom of note. Let me re state that this is just sad and somewhat sick. There is more failure here than star power and failure where it counts the most. In a marriage that is now some type of broken, blended spectacle and curiosity. I understand fully that therefore but by the grace of God and a heap of hillbilly common sense go me and mine. I can say that with all sincerity and credentials. I hope any that employ Ms. Gosselin will take steps to see that the children get the benefits. I also pray that those that have sat in the parenting frontlines and not flinched, faltered or been famed get the kudos for being the real stars not some would-be reality SuperStar.

Waiting for Change at the Obama Red Light

2010-01-25T20:26:00.001-05:00

Where is the intersection of family survival, political commentary and governmental malpractice? Somewhere at the corner of “why are we spending our children’s future” boulevard and “will you please stop the spending” street! Indeed, we have all arrived at this frustrating and overcrowded confluence and we cannot make the current crop of economic traffic cops rouse themselves and change directions.
Last week the voters of the proud Bay State stood and clearly rejected the nonsense going on in Washington. From bribery for healthcare reform to surcharge fees on financial institutions to payback TARP money. Even Tarp money not lent to them. Even if they have paid back their own Tarp money. The outcome was amazing and its meanings rather obvious. Yet here we are at this confusing and congested junction where the Obama pile-up is whirling back into spin mode.
We are to believe now that The Massachusetts Miracle really means the Bay Staters support Obama policies. No less an authority than Gallop has been sighted by the White House. Who are we to question the questions, methodologies or sampling controls? Why we are after all, ignorant and manipulated troglodytes, especially we southern types, dumber than dirt clinging to guns and God.
We are simply lost at this big city crossroads, feebly attempting to deny Marx and the inevitable evolution of capitalism to socialism on the way towards Communism. After all we voted for change. Now that is all we have in our pockets and we should shut and send that in too! Gee when did Massachusetts become a southern state any way?
What will it take to clear all the wreckage and get the economic traffic running smoothly? My guess is nothing will suffice until political control is wrested from these idealist clowns and teleprompter talking heads shaky misguided hands. They will not stop so we must remove them one vote and election after another.
The process is well under way. Denial will keep the faithful base around a bit longer for Obama and his B-team hacks but the day of reckoning is coming. In the mean time we must remind our congressmen and senators nearly every day. We will get past the corner of “why are we spending our children’s future” boulevard and “will you please stop the spending” street. We will not be taking them with us when we crossover either!
My guess is lots of reaching into the borrowed future tax receipts “Santa-Bag” for little toys and cookies. Like, double the child tax credit, as long as you are not “rich” or employer funded retirement IRA’s. Sadly if you are in the nearly 17% of unadjusted unemployed, a tax credit on earning that do not exist and forcing the employer you do not have to cough up a new benefit will do little for you. But hey, at least Santa came, right
Moms, dads, uncles, aunts, friends and all others not mentioned, we are in a historic time at an historic place. The corner of “why are we spending our children’s future” boulevard and “will you please stop the spending” street is our turning point or our breaking point. Our kids first five years of earnings already belong to China and we can afford no more damage to their future to roll out of a deaf and deluded Washington D.C.
We need to take our place beside the Bay Staters, tea partiers and motivated thinking independent Americans and shout this nonsense down. Refill the switchboards, inboxes, editorial pages, blogs and ballot boxes until the light finally changes and we blow past hopeless change and leave the corner of “why are we spending our children’s future” boulevard and “will you please stop the spending” street way back in the rear view mirror!

The Obama Spin and Pile Up

2010-01-22T06:58:00.003-05:00

How did team Obama spinout, hitting the wall and now sit smoking in denial right in the middle of the track you ask? Sheer vanity really, this all hit overdrive when Rahm Emmanuel announced the need not to “waste a crisis". From that point on these clowns without makeup pushed every far left, socialist, govt. takeover and control policy initiative possible. They did it unilaterally. They spent record amounts of borrowed $$$ and bribed each other in devil may care fashion with it.

As the smoke rises and their engine grows silent we see that they have accomplished little to nothing except a crushing federal debt. The fact is simple socialists Marxists and far left-wingers cannot lead our country at the highest levels. Their agenda is contrary to our economic systems fundamentals and their revisionist world view and social policies are acidic to our national well-being and security!

This needs to be written down in stone and remembered. ONE PARTY RULE IS A DICTATORSHIP, EITHER PARTY! FAR LEFTIST IDEALOGS ARE UNABLE TO SERVE AND PROTECT OUR CONSTITUTIONAL REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY. UN TAX BURDENED BUSINESS; ESPECIALLY SMALL BUSINESS CREATES GOODS, SERVICES, JOBS AND EVEN HIGHER LEVELS OF TAX REVENUE FROM THEIR RAPID ECONOMIC TURNOVER AND GROWTH.

Government and union control of business creates stagnation, unemployment and debt. You think these guys will admit to any of this just because the people now see it? Luckily their admittance is not needed just the people being aware and focused will fix this. Stay awake brothers and sisters and demand better. BHO is in a political box we need to keep making it smaller until it becomes his political coffin!

As conservatives and republicans rush into the political power void the Obama Pileup is creating. We must as citizens and voters express our expectations and oversee the process and outcomes. As one that worked local Republican Headquarters, wrote op/ed’s and generally pushed for George W. Bush only to see that party become fat, dumb and happy with congressional and executive power. I will suffer no foolishness from any of the political professionals ever again.

The wreckage is twisted and terrible but we all walk away wiser. The track will be slick for years to come but we can kill the debt, fix our economy and make ourselves safer if we demand a stop to spending, reduction in taxes and no quarter to terrorist regardless where they are found.

Everyone goes to the races for one thing, a great wreck. Well, we have gotten our money’s worth now! Times to clean up under the caution flag, do the pitting for new tires and take on a fresh tank full of high test is at hand. This race was really to nowhere but is nowhere near over even if the lead driver still wants to believe in running backwards and pretending he did not hit that wall. The Obama Pileup will make the political highlight clips for many decades. He will hang up his helmet for good in less than three years. Now there is the HOPE we NEED and the CHANGE we can BELIEVE IN!!! Listen to crowd roar!!!!

Trip Tested Tips for Fun Family Travel

2009-07-14T14:46:00.000-04:00

Traveling with kids is a needlessly scary idea. For the average American family with kids, especially lots of kids the thought might even seem out of the question. The now nearly iconic chant of “Are we there yet?”www.youtube.com/watchstirs such a nervous sweat and chuckle in most parents that we have a series of movies built around that title.www.youtube.com/watch Nevertheless, breathe deeply, embrace hope and put down the panic button as I share The Quadfathers Trip Tested Tips for Fun Family Travel.

First, you need to have a purpose behind your choice of destination or destinations. Consider the ages and interests of your crew, including you and your mate. Two year olds will probably get little from a trip to Gettysburg National Park. Yet a tour of Hershey Park they might find most sweet. If you have, mixed ages say a fifth-grader that just finished studying the Civil War and some toddlers or even toddler triplets well, this little Pennsylvania get away might be just right for you.travelwithkids.about.com/b/2005/04/04/top-family-destination.htm

Taking off for the 33rd annual gathering at Grandma and Grandpa’s might be great for some folks. Yet, rote travel can be as sour as Grandma’s canned pickled cauliflower. Solicit ideas; look for central locations that afford day trips to meet different inclinations. Bundle your trip, think Multi do not be static and single-minded. Seeing the folks for a day or two and moving on has many advantages and appeals. Make sure your plan suits you and your family and not others expectations of you and your family.

Secondly, choose a season and book well in advance. Resort areas have busy seasons and not so busy seasons. If you are planning, your travel at high traffic times set up your dates as close to a year or more in advance if possible. If you want to save money, travel off-season but still book in advance. The trick is in matching your likes and time frame to their off times and amenities.

Last year we took a great trip by customized van to Maine in the summer. www.visitmaine.com/Now consider we start in Virginia and have seven kids and you will understand why our van is customized. We stayed at a top-flight resort near the New Hampshire boarder that you could not get close to when the ski-slopes are running. We enjoyed full amenities, a full staff and maybe a dozen families were there at this time of year.www.sundayriver.com/summer.html

We day tripped to Bar Harbor were we chased whales and ate lobsters.www.barharborinfo.com/ We went to a State Animal Refuge and saw elk, moose, mountain lions and several birds of prey not all of which grace our beloved Blue Ridge. No crowds anywhere and the folks were glad to see us there. Compare that to a two-hour line for the “Death Coaster” in 90-degree heat with wilting twins in tow and take note. Think out of the box and you will not be caught in one.
Check back soon fo more Trip Tested Tips for Fun Family Travel

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

Don't Run in the House

2009-07-13T20:34:00.001-04:00

As a boy in the days of black & white, my best friends were identical twins. Most kids got them mixed up but I could tell the difference. Matching clothes, hair cuts or not I knew Mike from Mark. At puberty and beyond many of us drifted apart but not this pair. To this day, decades later, they speak and see each other weekly where I have not seen them for a good decade now. I guess it’s no accident that some relationships have built in connection and staying power.parenting.ivillage.com/baby/bmultiples/0,,43wt-p,00.html

So, it was not much surprise when my Quad-son Matthew, after recently sitting in the waiting area of our local “Doc in the Box “ for a long, long time (by five-year-old standards) sighed and said “ I miss Jonathan, Franchesca and Nathaniel, when can we go home to them?” No mention of Mom, neither older nor toddler sisters and not much comfort from my presence. The other three were missing and this, not his impending medical procedure, was his growing concern.

Now a scant hour before, Matthew was in the car with a compress to his head demanding justice. Jonathan had knocked him down. “When we get home Jonathan’s gotta get a spanking daddy!?!” was his refrain. Of course there was no mention of the multiple times their mother had just asked them to not run in the house, pleaded for them to slow down and sagely predicted dire result should her warning not be heeded.

You see, I had just come in the front door with our oldest; the self-described “band-geek” when Franchesca met me with news that Matthew was bleeding “all over his face.” www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-cuts/FA00042Years of parenting with advanced Graduate work as a quad-father has left me with iron nerves. Though you might expect I’d have none left at all. Still this type of information gets rapid response, quick reaction and top priority but no panic.

While running in multiple orders, two or more, in this case four, when in the lead and you are the smallest do not make a sudden stop. Commuters know this. Camry’s and Kia’s do not lock em up in front of Suburban’s and Mack trucks. Matthew stopped, Jonathan did not. The resulting transfer of energy put Matthew on the floor soundly. www.lifespy.com/2007/how-to-prevent-accidents-indoors/The blow must have been evenly distributed like a square shot from a boxer’s glove. There was no growing bump or bruise just a clean split, 3 quarters inch long, 3 eighths inch wide just above the right ear. kidshealth.org/teen/safety/first_aid/falls_sheet.html

Mom had the situation in hand but...

(Check back soon to see how Mom & the crew handled the drama)

Love and Logistics

2009-06-29T20:25:00.000-04:00

Love and Logistics
Proverbs 19:21
“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.”

As the next few weeks came we began to get a picture of the potentialities that this multi-¬bundle of joy might bring to pass. No one at that time had held their quad-pregnancy past 34 and half weeks. Hospitalization could be expected to begin anywhere after 14 weeks and we were at week 10! Detailed lists of complications due to prematurity were laid before us. We began to quantify percentages and statistics against love and logistics, planning and prayer became the order of the day!
Still, it was a heady and exciting time. My wife and I are nearly opposite personalities. The reality is that this seemingly potential weakness is actually a tremendous strength when we are on the same page and relating correctly. We relate our best when we are God focused and not just dually dedicated to an outcome. In this four faceted instance we were convinced that God had made a multi-miracle and the timing was such as to save us from our own plans and noble intents and to bless and refine our family.
My wife "P", is a gifted, goal oriented administrator, planning and proper execution to her are like sunlight and rain to petunias. Details and multi-tasking draw her in and give her focus. I am, well I am not that way. No not at all. I'm relational, gifted to gab, driven to serve, observe, explain, opine and encourage. The greatest blessings and anchor in my life has been "P" my other and better half. Overall we were in Faith that God had a plan here and we had been fashioned and fit amazingly well for it.
Most folk might have panicked if placed at the juncture we were straddling. For us we felt a sense of challenge and privilege as we plotted and prayed out a plan. Having had two children already we were not novices. The amount of time and effort that would be required was not a blind abstract. Yet the first hurdle was getting them all here with everyone's' health, especially "mom" intact.
We were looking at travel restrictions where our church was 35 minutes away and my wife traveled the East Coast extensively with her partner marketing and managing their company. Weekly sonograms and Doctors visits, stress tests, home treatment and monitoring of blood-pressure and contractions all became part of the average day and night at our home. We were as compliant as possible which means I was hard pressed to keep the throttle down on "P" and her instinct to out perform.
We began going to a church close by, marketing went telephonic and we both learned to practice supervised Perinatology at-home. All the balls stayed in the air sort of like juggling Jell-O. Even with everything on an even keel we knew that when they came home someone would have to be home fulltime. So with prayerful consideration of incomes and temperaments we concluded God's wisdom and circumstance had elected me as the at-home father of quadruplets.

Prayer and Ponderance

Proverbs 21:5

James 5:11

Job 12:13

Proverbs 8:14-16

How well do you plan out your endeavors?

How often do you plan at all?

How much does planning allow us to keep in the game?

How often do you seek God’s input?

How much of His word goes into your plans?

How do we take scripture and make modern applications?

Regardless of some opinions the Bible is a relevant guide even to day. Listen for God’s
heart and approach to different matters and His priorities. Inject these into your
planning and you are going to find great success!

Unexpected Expectancy

2009-06-19T06:14:00.000-04:00

Unexpected Expectancy
Luke 6:38
“…A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap…”

Quadruplets! What a large odd word that seemed to bode tremendous uncertainty. We had always enjoyed being parents, especially of infants. We worked well together and I made sure to do all I could to not leave “mommy” as the sole comforter and custodian. In our discussions about twins we had concluded that with our older daughters help we would manage fine but quadruplets were another league all together. I mean up to this point we had never even seen triplets let alone bring home quads!

Much happened in my prayer time that morning that will wait for another venue to be fully discussed. The gist was that we, and especially I, needed to change priorities. The desire to be affirmed had blended into the desire to help others. Compromise had crept too far into our motives for ministering; approval had eclipsed obedience, maintaining the program was preventing the meeting of genuine needs.

This was all taking place around 8am on a Saturday that was supposed to see around fifty parents and teens coming to our home at 3pm for a meal and the unveiling of our one year schedule for youth group curriculum and activities.

My wife and I began our discussion with her telling me she had been hurt but was forgiving me for last night’s in-action. I apologized profusely and insisted that the news though mind blowing was exciting for me. God had already begun to stir up a sense of expectancy in both of us. Who had ever heard of such a thing let alone been blessed to live it!

I explained that we had to lay down our plans. My time with God had convinced me of this; she agreed but cried all the same. We had been impacting these kids. The group had grown; anticipation was aroused in the entire congregation that we would make a change. Yet they had no idea of the adversity and constrictions that were on us. Kids whose parents did not come to our church could not be in the group. Our group could not be a part of out side activities held by any other Para-church or Christian out reach other than those inside our “Apostolic Covering”. All along we had known these were not really biblically sound practices and hoped to bring new freedom and fellowship into these kids “Christian Experience” but for all of our compromising and detailed planning an undeniable call had come that we had to answer.

Friends and family were amazed at our news. Most were tossed for a loop as we explained the little we knew about the demands of quad-pregnancy and at home care. All seemed to confirm our need to make this our primary priority. The remainder of the day was spent making disappointing call to disappointed parents who ranged from ecstatic and understanding to angry and annoyed at our news. With that sad chore done we were left trying to fathom the uncertain void of this oddly unexpected expectancy.

Prayer and Ponderance

Mark 4:8

Proverbs 16:9

Psalm 127:3-5

Proverbs 16:25

Is more of something always better?

What would your reaction be to news about Quads coming?

Does God have your permission to change your plans?

Does He need permission?

How do you view children, blessings, burdens or what?

Can we always be assured our plan is right?

How willing are you to lay down your dreams or plans for God’s?

God is always sifting and refining us, building us in our stewardship and trust of Him. Sometimes He will interject majorly our reaction will say much about our walks.

In the Beginning A Q.D.D.D.D.

2009-06-16T07:44:00.000-04:00

In the Beginning
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”

In the beginning we were told we were having twins! This news was taken with joy as we had wanted another child for some time. Still twins required some review of our plans. At the time I was a purchasing agent for the maintenance of the world’s largest industrial bakery. My days started at 5 Am., ordering from Germany or France, ending at 3:30pm with queries to the orient. My wife was a successful entrepreneur supervising multiple employees in a multi state endeavor.

I was to become Youth Pastor and we the Youth Leaders at our church in just a few weeks with ordination following two months later. My position as Elder and my wife and my work with youth were eating up some 30 plus hours weekly. Still with careful consideration of our situation we decided we could do it all with twins and our 9 and 6 year old daughters in tow!

Truth be told we were stretched too thin but we knew we could perform at the highest level and we were not going to disappoint our audience. Then the truth hit us and our world went sideways.

Around 2:30am on a Friday scantly two weeks after we had been informed about a double delivery my wife woke me up in a panic! She was bleeding and did not feel well. I was zonked. Running on five hours sleep or less was taking me down. Friday was the only night I could really rest. She could not roust me. Fortunately we lived only 5 minutes from a hospital so off she went into the night panicked and alone. I laid there drowsily pondering if we would loose our twins, too tired to do little else.

Now I know these do not sound like the actions of a loving husband and father. You would be right to make that assessment. This was also not indicative of my personality or parenting style. I was woefully spent from months of putting on a façade. Running a rat’s race in a stained-glass maze. Winking and nodding at doctrines I did not truly accept. Leaving my family to attend meetings where nothing was accomplished and much was left undone.

My wife returned a little before 5am and gave me news that did get my attention. We had not lost two babies we had gained two! She was fine but hers was a quadruplet pregnancy and in the morning we had to make some serious decisions. I told her I was glad she was ok and that God was in control and took advantage of few more hours of rest.

About 7am I got my coffee and honestly prayed for the first time in months. It was as if God had been wryly waiting for this conversation. In short time I received peace, release and purpose. Peace from realizing He really was in control. Release from my performance efforts to serve Him. Purpose in seeing His plan and lying mine down in exchange.

Prayer and Ponderance

Isaiah 55:8:11

Acts 16:6-7

Psalm 86:11

Samuel 15:22-23

Have your plans ever been up rooted suddenly?

How easy was it to let go of your plans?

When this happened did it turn out better or worse than you had first planned?

Have you ever felt you had been part of a “Divine Intervention”?

How can we determine if God is rocking your world or just circumstance?

Has stubbornness ever foiled your obedience?

I had been stubborn about my plan to serve God. When I humbly prayed I saw how compromised I’d become. I embraced His plan happily!

Boycott the Octomom Show

2009-06-01T13:12:00.001-04:00

These seem to be the movers and shakers that control access to air waves and audience gathering for much of what we see. The Office, Biggest Loser, on and on. Find one you might like to stop watching if the octomom makes it to the tube.
Stand up and shout this down!
3Ball Productions1600 Rosecrans Ave.Bldg. 7 2nd Flr.Manhattan Beach, Ca 90266310-727-3337 P310-727-3339 www.3ballproductions.comJ D Roth
Reveille LLC100 Universal City Plaza, Bungalow 5180Universal City, CA 91608CA Tel. 818-733-1218Fax 818-733-3303PR@MayoCommunications.com Howard T Owens

Octomom on Reality TV: Gas on the Fire

2009-06-01T09:02:00.001-04:00

The lady who insists her 14 kids do not need a father will be having a show to prove her point. http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/us_world/Octomom-Gets-Reality-Show.html

Nadja Suleman the Octomom has a deal with the same group that brings us The Biggest Loser. Indeed it is the 14 kids that are to be the losers, joining the Gosselin septuplets and twins as the latest make-believe and exploit them while their cute crew on TV’s multi-family train wreck and circus sideshow revue.

Here is the only person more able to degrade family, fatherhood, multi-parenting and the culture more than Jon and Kate. At least Nadja is not writing a book with Zondervan or some other “Christian” cash-in group doing the real writing. Perhaps that will be coming later.

I for one am sick and tired of having faith, family, fatherhood and multi-parenting spat upon by money hungry and maladjusted attention seekers and hypocrites. Christians, dads, moms and all that hold family and the protection of children dear need to rise up against this junk.

If we do not more girls will think having a child without a dad in the mix is cool. More whack-jobs will seek IVF and other fertility seeking 9’s 10’s or more in one pregnancy. I mean $75K a show, free Disney trips, Hawaiian resorts gratis, big house, big car come on what’s stopping them!

Time to make an outcry, start a boycott, write the publishers, advertisers, networks and others who surf along on the profits generated by the lies, neglect and abuse these kids are suffering.

As time allows I will offer up contact info for those mentioned until then …

Be Bold, step up and speak out against this or sit back and get a chuckle or two at their expense. Be an advocate for kids and family or be part of the audience that drives it all along. You choose. I say thumbs down and TVs off!!!

Morning Mail: Jon & Kate Update

2009-05-22T10:50:00.001-04:00

On and on it goes in my E-mail every morning. A new make-over, new hairdo, hunky bodyguard innuendos, open marriage contracts and an all new season full of guest celebs! I suppose that is what I get for setting up a Jon & Kate tracker to my account.
None of this would be a surprise for any A list Hollywood couple. Or B listers flailing about for some notoriety. For those who market themselves as church speakers, Christian authors, parenting experts and America's premier multi-family this is just unacceptable and very sad.
We folks of faith just do not need another black-eye but I guess that is just one of the "Multiple Blessing" we get from the Gosslin's and their "for hire expertise and side show revue". This is an old story with a new twist just Google up Swaggard, Haggard, Baker or a list of other "Sheep-Fleecer's" with naughty propensities.
Faith, family & marriage are being weighed in the balance of our society. Hollywood and an out of touch media have set themselves up as the fulcrum and hope we do not see their big ugly thumb on the scales. Jon & Kate are now painted on the nail of said appendage. To not embrace the redefinition of family and marriage makes one a "Hater". To voice these opinions is hate speech. What a weak argument and load of Bio-fertilizer. We are even asked to swallow a watering down of the fundamental beliefs in our faith as loving acceptance of others. So sorry to say that we can love and speak the truth at the same time! To be really hateful we should do it while chewing gum as well. This should annoy the "Hate Police" tremendously.
Jon & Kate are the poster kids for hypocrisy right now. Many others have been there many will follow. All we can do is not patronize the "family business" as Kate calls this circus. While doing so we must pray for them all and speak truth in their direction. Even if we know they are not listening.
As the scales swing wildly we need every voice and petition aimed at the culture and Heaven to stop the madness. Perhaps then people can just go back to working on their own shortcomings rather than being marketed and entertained by someone else's. Oh excuse me; I have a new update...

Beauty for Ashes

2009-05-16T16:41:00.000-04:00

Beauty for Ashes
1 Corinthians 13:4
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud”.

Beautifully exuberant is the best way I can describe my children at full frolic on a frozen hill top behind our home. Sleds in flight, framed by miles of icy spectacle sets a snowy scene you must see to fully enjoy. Any effort to describe the snowy splendor of the Poffarosa lacks without mention of our four footed entourage. The Poffarosa is what we call our forty acres of Blue Ridge Beauty. Its’ placement affords us what have been called “million dollar views”. Here we have eight horses, seven cats, six dogs, one Cockatiel and a Guinea Pig named Nibbles. These add greatly to my work schedule and recompense as at-home-dad and neo-gentleman farmer, though I am a hobbyist when compared to my hardworking ranching neighbors.

To complete the picture add our two German Shepard’s silently establishing the parameter where they instinctively contain and protect, our pound-puppy mix trailing each sledding sortie, our Papillion content to watch from a warm window, our two mongrel sisters, probing for affection and an assortment of amused cats and horses which watch but have more sense than to pass the lines of tobogganing fire.

Of all our pets my favorite has come to be Ashes the dog. This was not always the case. Ashes when younger was a hunting machine. She would capture ducks, geese and groundhogs. She once snatched a bat out of mid-air. After one incident of snarling and lunging at my daughter Roo then aged two I established my position as alpha male and pack patriarch. This she never challenged but Ashes remained Nasty Ashes. As she aged she became diabetic. She lost her sight and became dependant upon insulin, extra care and concern.

For two years this was my starting and ending daily routine. High protein chow, one shot and let out or bring in Ashes. She became a different dog. She knew she needed help and appreciated it. She became loving and patient. The Fab Four never knew Nasty Ashes, only the slow cautious Loving Ashes. Watching them pet and hug as she rolled over to revel in the attention contrasted so much with the snarling Nasty that went after Roo.

Ashes end began that beautiful exuberant day. I went out twice in the dark and snow all around the Pofferosa but she could not be found. That morning she appeared on the porch. I took her inside and laid her on her bed. She waged her tail and breathed roughly. In a short while she was gone.

The impact of the loss surprised me. I have lost both parents, all grandparents, a couple cousins and pets a plenty. Still, something about how only by being humbled in her strength she was taught fear and controlled and only by loosing her natural prowess she could find trust and become a loving creature. Sadly sometimes it is only by loss and limitations that we become humble enough to love. In this I find my beauty for Ashes

Prayer and Ponderance.

Proverbs 16:18-19

Proverbs 29:23

James 4:6

Romans 1:18-20

Do you think pets will go to heaven?

Can you tell much about some one by the way they treat an animal?

Can you tell much about an animal by how they treat people?

Do we sometime let our perceived or real strengths make us aloof, proud or haughty?

What about animals can they get caught up in themselves and their abilities too?

Anthropomorphically speaking I believe we can observe some biblical principals at work in their lives!

Give Romans 1:18-20 a good read then watch your pets closely!

Sew and Reap

2009-05-15T11:21:00.001-04:00

Sew and Reap
Job 4:8-9
“As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.
At the breath of God they are destroyed; at the blast of his anger they perish”.

Suddenly these insanely sad attacks were inside my head. I franticly called her phone but only got her message. She was transferring in D.C. What flight did they say hit the Pentagon? I called her partner’s phone only the prerecorded message came on. Emotions and the need for mental clarity were conflicting greatly in my mind.

Being a veteran from Virginia married to a girl from New York was not mixing well with the smoldering scenes of the twin Towers now tumbling down on themselves in south Manhattan as hundreds fled the smoldering five-sided command center of all the military that sits proudly in Arlington Va. Simply place my wife in the air lost to my communication and all this was too close to home and way too personal.

My mind reeled at the thought of thousands if not tens of thousands being crushed, burned and suffocated to death. Surely they did not take “P’s” plane. Perhaps she was just landing or stranded at the airport in D.C. No scenario was a comfort. I needed data, to know where she was.

In my Navy days I worked in the Combat Information Center. I operated a missile control system. All information flowed into that red and green lit black painted space. Radar and sonar data converged from all available ships, planes and subs. What was out there, how fast it was going, where it was heading, its threat assessment and engagement envelope was the mission. Data and decisions focus and adrenaline all combined to make C.I.C a solemn, daunting but highly exciting place to be. This beautiful almost fall day found me wishing I was back. Where you knew what was out there and it had to worry about you too.

I called the conference center they were going to and paged “P”, no response. I left messages, watched the news and wondered. Surely God would not put such a blow or burden on me? Then again what about all those that just died? Their wives, husbands, children, friends and family were as dear to Him as me and mine. Finally my phone rang, it was “P”. I was majorly relived. She was as shell shocked as I. “What was all this insanity about? Who could do this and what was our response likely to be?” It seems that “P’s” plane had trouble on the ground in Roanoke. Her partner and she decided to drive any way.

There at my desk wired into the world by phone, radio, fax and internet. I turned to an old and trusted method to give thanks for my family’s safety and comfort for those who bore the brunt of hatred and horror that day. Slowly it dawned on me, all the fear and anger that was rising up was exactly what these sad deceived soul had died to bring upon us this beautiful almost fall day. I left for home secure that what had been sewn in evil glee would be reaped in great regret.

Prayer and Ponderance

Proverbs 3:25-26

Mark 4:39-40

Romans 12:19-21

Romans 13:3-4

Psalm 146:9

How hard is it for you to remember Faith and God inside and outside of a crisis or perceived crisis?

In Romans 12 compels us to not indulge in personal vengeance, we are assured that acts of kindness will be heaping coals on our enemy’s heads.

How does this contrast with Romans 13 letting us know that Nations will be used to punish the wicked by God?

Wherever we stand on war and retribution we must never forget the widowed and orphaned because God says He won’t.

Almost Fall: A Devotional from the QDDDD

2009-05-14T14:23:00.000-04:00

Almost Fall

Job 9:23-24
“When a scourge brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent.
When a land falls into the hands of the wicked, he blindfolds its judges.
If it is not he, then who is it?”

After what seemed a frantic first couple of months a welcome sense of normalcy returned to our family. School was back in session. Fall, my favorite season was just a few weeks away We had made plans; logistics were in place, change was accepted and expected. “P” was working from home I was working outside of it. “P” was scheduled to go to one more seminar with her partner. It was an adjuster’s conference and the high point of that years marketing effort. Her Doctor was ok with the trip as they flew instead of drove to Richmond. So off she went that morning at around 4:30 Am., just after I left for work.

I enjoyed my job. There was something about spending other people’s money that appealed to me. The early hours were not as bad as I had cleared my slate. It afforded me the chance to be home by 3:30pm. I knew I was going to have to leave but I just had a hard time admitting it to my boss Mike who had learned to depend on my ability to ferret out needed resources and stock up special parts.

“P’s” mom stayed over to get the girls off to school so I settled into my day counting and entering stock levels, placing requests for prices and generating P.O. numbers for purchase. In the world’s largest bread plant with ovens suitable for any style of loaf to be produced in the tens of thousands each shift finding a cool spot was hard. I was blessed. I was in the office in the air conditioning on my computer married to my phone. Plants across Canada and the United States e-mailed back and forth checking each others inventories for suddenly important parts. It was cozy and friendly and then the line supervisor burst into the office roaring about the radio. I had a radio on top my computer where I would indulge my right-wing propensities at lunch time. After all I had worked in A.M. radio years back and the Talk Radio resurrection of A.M. was close to my heart.

He shouted “Someone flew a plane into the world trade center! Turn on your radio!” The radio overflowed with rehashes of the news. I ran for the conference room where we had a cable TV hook up. I joined about six Department heads and corporate types standing there slack jawed. There on the screen was the smoldering tower. Not sixty seconds later the second plane slammed into the other tower.

Now I had been a in the Navy as a missile fire control tech. I had more than a passing interest in air defense. I knew where a bunch of the bases were and who NORAD was. I knew a snowball was rolling that would soon be a coast to coast sky wide crackdown. Then I remembered “P” was in the air this clear nearly fall day. Richmond Virginia via Washington D.C. Suddenly the screen shifted to the Pentagon.

Prayer and Ponderance

Find a minute or two to remember.

Ecclesiastes 9:11-12

Mark 4:37-38

1 Thessalonians 5:3

Psalm 48:4-6

Where were you that sad morning?

In the midst of sudden tragedy who gets the blame?

Was God on vacation that day?

Did a false assurance of military strength and a staunch stance of pacifism conflict and combine in the U.S. to help make 911 so unexpectedly shocking?

Has the world changed personally, politically or emotionally for you?

Can you express how?

What was birthed that day?

Do you have an assured view of eternity?

Would you like to have one?

Where is your Love Ya’ll: Tolerating the Intolerant

2009-05-02T10:31:00.006-04:00

The standard accusatory and stinging cry flung in the face of Christians and other social traditionalists is that we must be tolerant, inclusive and accepting. A quick look at the recent eruptions around and vile attacks upon Carrie Prejean, Miss California 2009, and one must ask, “Where is your love Ya’ll”? (Ya’ll), being those demanding our kind consideration of beliefs other than our own.

Perez Hilton is not tolerant, inclusive nor accepting. Indeed, he is close-minded, vindictive and downright hateful. We must try to understand Perez. The poor soul seems a bit immature and glory-houndish. He would probably dry up and blow away without garnering extra attention one pouty tantrum at a time. We must endeavor to turn the other cheek and join Carrie Prejean in praying for him.

Add in the recent broadcast assault on corrupt pseudo-newsman Keith Olbermann’s MSNBC show by one Michael Musto, Gossip Columnist and mean-spirited hetro-phobe extraordinaire and again one must reach down deeply to turn that other cheek. However, as foul these folk’s failings, slanders and hypocritical cries are they are just a trap set by our true adversary to cause us to attack and not intercede.

The truth in love is what we are called to. We cannot allow these straw men to provoke us to anger and retribution. Still, we must also not retreat in fear from supporting our beliefs about life, love, marriage and God’s pivotal place in all these.

More of us need to stand up for marriage as a God centered covenant between one man and one woman. We need to do it openly and practice what we preach as well. In our efforts, we walk on the water of truth in love or sink into the brine of hateful retort. All the while expecting to be slapped up side our head by those that hate our ability to pull it off as long as we keep our eyes on Jesus.

Carrie Prejean deserves our support and encouragement as she steps out of the boat onto the raging seas of social debate. More of us need to speak up and out, in love. It may be the only place most of these deceived souls find real love in their life.

In our willingness to insist on their tolerance, inclusiveness and acceptance, we do not offer a slap back. We offer a mirror that shows clearly what the hate looks like. As long as we hold it steadily, boldly and lovingly perhaps they will see and loath the ugly image they portray. Perhaps not but the world needs to see just who the haters really are. We at the same time must go beyond tolerating the intolerant and attempt to love them as they are. This is a true challenge and our true calling. Lets begin!

Blessings,

Jon & Kate Aren’t Doing Great

2009-04-30T07:52:00.000-04:00

Jon & Kate Aren’t Doing Great

Yesterday it was “Octomom the Musical” and today the made for TV Multi-family meltdown circus and sideshow revue continues. Kate is out of town on a book tour and Jon is allegedly out on the town partying down (at least he is leaving the coeds alone this time they say).

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/jon-and-kate-plus-8-dad-caught-with-other-woman/21893

I go out of my way not to watch most of the blather put out about Mega-families. However, over the years producers and shows have contacted me via my writings on the internet and Twins magazine. Let’s just say me and mine are a wee bit too normal, lacking in certain dysfunctions and a desire to exploit and be exploited on the tube.

My heart bleeds for some of these families and their kids. I have heard and seen Jon Gosslin belittled and beaten by his wife Kate. I take fathering seriously and Jon has been setup to fail and now he is. To bring it up riles their fans and brings charges of jealousy. They need help just as Nadja Suleman does and from someone other than Dr. Phil or a resort looking to be highlighted on an episode.

When the Gosslins ghostwritten Christian book “Multiple Blessings” came out I began to speak out. Zondervan, their publisher really wrote and planted this one on the bestsellers list by making it up. Where are they as their marriage implodes. Counting the cash, I presume.

I understand the pressures financially, relationally and emotionally that lots of kids and a whole lot at once can bring. Adding a film crew and the vanity trap of fame are only bringing added and new pressures. Jon and Kate need help.

Pray for these people as I am. Family, faith, marriage and children, are being bruised and abused here. Prayer is the answer along with turning of the made for TV multi-family circus one TV set at a time.
Blessings,

Mega Mama Drama: Octomom the Musical

2009-04-29T08:00:00.000-04:00

As a son of a single mother. A dad of higher order multiples (At Home Dad even). An advocate of fathers being, hands on, present and important. As well as a one-dad one-mom kind of guy, the Octomom debacle flies in the face of all I hold as good, right and sound for the raising of children, health of our culture and precedent for others.

If you do not believe me, go here: http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/commentary/wb/197974
In addition, here:
http://forum.twinsmagazine.com/showthread.php?t=153659

Now I have compassion for Nadja. She is in a pickle. Sadly, she wanted to be there and is bent on taking full selfish and exploitative advantage of her kids and position as the main Drama Mama of the Moment.

I do have some insight into what she is facing and I am fearful for her kids. Still as it is all out of my control, Nadja’s control and just generally out of control. Let the circus continue.

Octomom the musical is a parody.
http://octomomthemusical.com/News_and_Events.html
I will have to miss the opening but I trust it will be a hoot and a hollar. Sad really but that is showbiz and The octomama eats this up with a spoon. The same spoon I am gagging on.

Agrrgahh…..

That’s better.
Blessings,

You Should Be Committed!!!

2009-04-27T08:35:00.000-04:00

In such a self-serving hedonistic time as ours how do folks make, manage and maintain a health marriage? Interestingly, this is one area where following Christ’s example might find us a bit stumped. Jesus never married. I do not care what Tom Hanks says. The apostle Paul was married back in his hometown of Tarsus. However, he could not even get his ministry going until both Tarsus and the wife were behind him. His advice basically on marriage was “if you don’t have to, don’t”.

Now we could lay out a good Christian comedy routine about here but marriage is not a joke, nor is divorce a laughing matter. Paul valued marriage but was committed to the ministry. It had to be his priority. He had learned that priorities mattered and will take us places. Indeed this is my first point. Marriage must be a priority that we are committed to in order to make it a trip worth taking.

I can hear you saying,”Well DUH Mike”! Just stick with me. Commitments are really about goals. This is where any couple can completely blow it. Trips can be nice but if we disagree on the destination, we have troubles. Too many couples, including the Christian ones, take off on their little train trip of life long love with rosy feeling, warm hearts and good intentions. Some soon find themselves disappointed and going back to the conductor because they did not have tickets to the same locale.

Goals, mutual goals must be in place if we are committed to reaching them. Having no mutual goals means, you have no real commitment. Mutual goals must also be more than wanting to have children and raising them from the same page but this is a good start. Sadly, you would be surprised how many folks even overlook this before signing the papers.

Here is my advice. Sit down together and talk about each others wants, needs, hopes and dreams. List them out, then begin to plan the short, middle, and long term plans to get to those relational destinations. In the effort, you will create mutual goals and mutual understanding. Even if the wants, hopes and dreams do not all come true. You will be fulfilling more than a few serious needs for a good and Godly marriage. Even if you do not like making lists JUST SIT DOWN AND TALK!

Take this advice and apply just half of what Jesus walked and talked about concerning, forgiveness, meekness, kindness and self-sacrifice. That is the example that will smooth out all of life’s travels. Then use those tickets for two on a trip well worth taking with a destination that is mutual and truly heavenly for those committed to getting there together.

Blessings,

Marriage for Christians: Look out behind you!

2009-04-26T10:27:00.000-04:00

Marriage is easier to get into than getting a drivers license. That is; marriage the institution and legal contract. This is what makes marriage vulnerable to all the efforts to redefine and broaden its definition. If all marriage means is a government recognized contract with certain government granted tax and legal consideration well, marriage does not mean much at all. Indeed the government gets to make, broaden or change the definition based on legislation, lobbying or judicial whim.

The God centered relationship between man and woman first mentioned in Genesis is a whole other thing. We, us “Christians” have let marriage become undermined in the public’s eye. We have not prioritized, nurtured or stewarded it as individuals or as a group. Indeed, we may see the day soon when we loose the institution or at least its definition, all together.

Sounds dire and dreaded you say? Here is the silver lining. From the eternal perspective how society defines something does not matter a hill of beans. We are called to personal accountability and stewardship of what is placed in our hands. The more we are drawn into some type of societal showdown and media war the less impact we have where it really counts.

To date, brethren we do not have the goods to win the argument. Christians are just as prone to divorce as anyone else is. Some sects and cults have better records than we do.

We will not be held accountable for the bad laws passed and sad societal trends of a corrupted culture. We will be rewarded for our faithfulness, our stewardship and our responsibility over what we were given and called to protect, love and nurture. In this, we are the salt and light that preserves and guides lost souls looking for answers.

If our fist is in the air railing at our precieved adversaries all the lost see is our fist in the air. In this, our eyes are misdirected as well. These are not our adversaries. As we rage on at the straw man with an agenda, our true adversary is sneaking in behind us. Stealing our passions, strength and purpose from our very own pockets.

So how do we fix this? Stay tuned I have a few ideas.
Blessings