Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

No description needed. This one speaks for itself.

Vessels of honour, dishonour
I was having a discussion with a pastor friend of mine last night in a group setting about the topic of being poor in spirit. We discussed the idea of being poor or "broken" in spirit as opposed to being proud in spirit. For example, Ecc 7:8 "Better [is] the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: [and] the patient in spirit [is] better than the proud in spirit." We added to that discussion the idea of being broken and serving the Master in whatever state we are in and whatever he has called us to be/do. Rom 9:21 "Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?" was the topic as the discussion continued. The understanding being relayed was that in the days that the verse was written, there was no plumbing and that the potter in the village was important. He made vessels to carry water, plates, drink from, for potting plants, serving wine, and as chamber pots. Need I explain the purpose of chamber pots? Anyway, we talked about the vessels made for eating on and brought out to serve guests being considered vessels for honour. Something like a chamber pot was an absolute necessity and was created for a good purpose. However, vessels like that were considered for dishonour. None the less, they were all created by a potter for serving the purpose the master created them for. Toilets and fine china are both porcelain. One is worthy of bringing before company for an extravagant dinner whereas one is something you take a dump in. Both are made with care by the same company and serve good but very different purposes.

Anyone have more thoughts on this? Does anyone else feel like a chamber pot that just has to deal with a lot of excrement? How do you see this in contrast to 2Ti 2:20,21 "But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, [and] prepared unto every good work"?

Income taxes are immoral
So are property taxes. But, I don't plan on getting into a rant on that topic. Rather, I would like to throw out food for thought. I love the so called "fair tax" plan. The plan has been getting a lot of press lately. I have known about and supported the idea for years. I do believe it is just as titled and is actually Constitutional. Here are some reasons to support the plan.

If only I had the money....

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A rant on televangelists
Topic: Religious television
I don't agree with all of this man's theology, but we do agree on a lot of things. George does believe a lot like I do when it comes to many of the teachings on so called "Christian television" and televangelists. It is unfortunate that many churches teach self serving doctrine rather than the simple gospel of the cleansing blood of Christ. I listened to one of his rants today and wanted to pass along the link.

An article I saw on line about Ted Nugent and the NRA
Since I am an NRA member and I agree a lot with Ted Nugent's political stances. He is a bit crass in some areas for my taste, but I philosophically agree with a lot of what he espouses. I love the last paragraph.

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Apr 18, 7:33 AM EDT

Ted Nugent to Fellow NRAers: Get Hardcore

HOUSTON (AP) -- With an assault weapon in each hand, rocker and gun rights advocate Ted Nugent urged National Rifle Association members to be "hardcore, radical extremists demanding the right to self defense."

Speaking at the NRA's annual convention Saturday, Nugent said each NRA member should try to enroll 10 new members over the next year and associate only with other members.

"Let's next year sit here and say, 'Holy smokes, the NRA has 40 million members now,'" he said. "No one is allowed at our barbecues unless they are an NRA member. Do that in your life."

Nugent sang and played a guitar painted with red and white stripes for the crowd at Houston's downtown convention center.

He drew the most cheers when he told gun owners they should never give up their right to bear arms and should use their guns to protect themselves if needed.

"Remember the Alamo! Shoot 'em!" he screamed to applause. "To show you how radical I am, I want carjackers dead. I want rapists dead. I want burglars dead. I want child molesters dead. I want the bad guys dead. No court case. No parole. No early release. I want 'em dead. Get a gun and when they attack you, shoot 'em."

Teresa's recording
Mood:  lyrical
Teresa and I had her first ever recording session. She worked on two songs. I don't know if we will keep them as the final cuts or not. There are a few things we wanted to improve on, but we did get a few listenable cuts. Her first one for public consumption is on the web. You will need Real Player to hear it, since the Real format takes about one fourth the server space as mp3. Server space is not an issue yet, but a free account is far more limited than a paid service. Real player is free, so if you don't already have this software, I recommend it. The Real Player also plays mpeg video, mp3, and wav files. It also burns CDs. It is handy software to have.

Yesterday was Teresa's birthday. I took her to The Melting Pot, which is a fondue restaurant chain. We went to the Raleigh location. Neither of us had been there before, but we had seen the menu and prices on line. I knew it was an upscale restaurant, which is what I wanted for Teresa.

We started off with a cheddar cheese fondue in which we dipped three different breads, cauliflower, carrots, celery, and apples. The second course was a choice of three different salads. The dressings were unique, one of which was a raspberry or strawberry vinaigrette. For the main course, we chose a broth in which to boil beef, chicken, shrimp, potatoes, and mushrooms on fondue skewers. Dessert was a "flaming turtle" chocolate sause with caramel and pecans. To dip in the chocolate sauce, we got cheesecake, pound cake, Oreo coated marshmallows, peanut coated marshmallows, brownies, strawberries, bananas, and pineapple. It was great.

Friday night, I drove my friend, Dave Tuttle, to WPTF for a a talk show guest spot. April 15th is not only tax day here in the U.S., it is also the anniversary of the sinking of The Titanic. Dave is one of the nation's foremost experts on the Titanic. He was a guest for an hour on Tom Kerney's talk show. They talked for an hour about the Titanic and associated movies.

Dave, Tom, and I all had a good time talking about radio, WPTF, programming and politics on radio. I look forward to the next time we get to do so. Tom really seemed to want to talk, but he was in the position of not being able to say too much, being an employee of Curtis Media. Understandable.

Today is quiet. That is not a bad thing. All of my work systems seem to be doing well. I got to take a nap earlier, which I don't do often. Other than that, a quiet day of rest.

April 15th...tax deadline
Besides being tax day, it is also my neice's birthday. Happy birthday, Brooke!

Anyway, I saw this bit of info on the Neal Boortz web site this morning. I have been saying much of this for years. Enjoy.
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From T. Coleman Andrews, Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service for three years, from 1953 until 1955

"Congress went beyond merely enacting an income tax law and repealed Article IV of the Bill of Rights, by empowering the tax collector to do the very things from which that article says we were to be secure. It opened up our homes, our papers and our effects to the prying eyes of government agents and set the stage for searches of our books and vaults and for inquiries into our private affairs whenever the tax men might decide, even though there might not be any justification beyond mere cynical suspicion.

The income tax is bad because it has robbed you and me of the guarantee of privacy and the respect for our property that were given to us in Article IV of the Bill of Rights. This invasion is absolute and complete as far as the amount of tax that can be assessed is concerned. Please remember that under the Sixteenth Amendment, Congress can take 100% of our income anytime it wants to. As a matter of fact, right now it is imposing a tax as high as 91%. This is downright confiscation and cannot be defended on any other grounds.

The income tax is bad because it was conceived in class hatred, is an instrument of vengeance and plays right into the hands of the communists. It employs the vicious communist principle of taking from each according to his accumulation of the fruits of his labor and giving to others according to their needs, regardless of whether those needs are the result of indolence or lack of pride, self-respect, personal dignity or other attributes of men.

The income tax is fulfilling the Marxist prophecy that the surest way to destroy a capitalist society is by steeply graduated taxes on income and heavy levies upon the estates of people when they die.

As matters now stand, if our children make the most of their capabilities and training, they will have to give most of it to the tax collector and so become slaves of the government. People cannot pull themselves up by the bootstraps anymore because the tax collector gets the boots and the straps as well.

The income tax is bad because it is oppressive to all and discriminates particularly against those people who prove themselves most adept at keeping the wheels of business turning and creating maximum employment and a high standard of living for their fellow men.

I believe that a better way to raise revenue not only can be found but must be found because I am convinced that the present system is leading us right back to the very tyranny from which those, who established this land of freedom, risked their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to forever free themselves..."