Michael, you’d better watch it! 1st (insert denomination here) of (insert town name here) in the US of A needs that new gym! I don’t know if you remember, but I posted on the old Pipertalk message board that I thought it was ridiculous for churches to spend that kind of money on a place to play basketball instead of foreign missions. The “recreation director” (or something like that) at Piper’s church blistered me with a post because they use their’s to minister to inner city folk (Piper himself has said that there is no inner city in Minneapolis; he’s right.). Folks tend to get a little testy when it comes to their “Family Life Centers”. BTW, I appreciate the hope with which you see the world. That’s the kind of missiology that I learned from Let the Nations be Glad! and from our main missions prof here.

Ronald: CAUTION- This computer may drop letters and words in posting. First, let me mildly clarify this matter of what post mils actually believe. The popular notion that a post mil eschatology is the arrival of a political golden age is a narrow 19th century interpretation. Today, the idea would have much more to do with the “puritan hope,” i.e. the conversion of the nations. (See Ian Murray, The Puritan Hope.) And this does not mean a process where oppostion suddenly vanishes. Scripture clearly teaches that the preaching of the gospel to ALL the nations goes on right alongside constant persecution. Dispy Pre mils read Mark 13 as all about the tribulation. Post and a mils read it as about history. The Gospel is preached to all nations and there is intense persecution at the same time. Yes, the greater hope is that the growth of the Kingdom will bear more and more fruit in history, and sure, shallow temporal notions of that in 19th century British and American Christianity did fold under the historical realities you mention. But that hasn’t dimmed my hope for the conversion of the nations. Read Revelation. it is the Nations in the New Jerusalem. Nations that I assume weren’t abandoned by missionary efforts.

And that really is the topic that must be explored. First, forget the number of missionaries represented by each view. Pre mils have more because pre mils te in the sending nations. The observation that there are more pre mil missionaries says nothing about pre mil as a system. It simply says pre mil tes in our ure, schools, books, etc. Second, pre mils do not believe in the conversion of the nations. They believe the nations are under and will be under the sway of the antiChrist. A pre mil view of the 10/40 window is “Yep. ’s stronghold.” My view is that God can turn the Muslim nations upside down in a day or a decade and we are to operate on that hope. There is a huge difference here!! Huge. Scofield pre mils look at history with pessimism, assuming all the nations are heading down the commode of history with a few souls plucked from the fire along the way. Post and optimistic A mils can look at history differently. Don’t tell me that pre mils saw the fall of communism as part of the plan. But Post mils see it as an example of what God can do.

I think this is why you see more post and a mil types in frontier missions like Frontiers and NTM. The overwhelming odds don’t seem overwhelming if you think history is going to see greater and greater manifestations of the triumph of the Gospel. Face it: American Christians are blaming their own sad and sorry decline on God by way of pre mil theology. According to the Pre mil Apostles, the chruch in America is in decline and apostasy because it is on the way to lining up with the RCC and the New Age and the AntiChrist. I see a world where Christianity is exploding!!! Literally exploding in Asia and Africa and South America. Europe and America are missing the party as the Gospel grows at a greater rate than ever before in history.

My old home church is building a $750,000 gym. Why aren’t they weeping and sending to the nations? Do they really believe the worldwide purpose of God is furthered by 3/4 million dollar gym? No- They have given up on the nations. Sure they do Lottie Moon, but they won’t even tithe that building program money to missions. That is American Christianity. Third world missionaries look at this as insanity because it is so inconsistent with scripture. And I think it grows in the soil of dispy pre mil’s accomodation to the world as it is, so let’s go shoot hoops. (I have an article on all this in the works.)

So, yeah, I do believe optimism FOR THE GOSPEL and the NATIONS is warranted and yeah I do believe that ultimately Scofieldism is detrimental to missions. Not to an individual Christian’s motives, but to the overall mindset of the church.

In other news… my celtic pagan cousin told me last night that he’s feeling that God is calling him back to some form of Christianity. The proof is in the pudding of course, but I’d like to ask for prayer for this yungin’.

About Tim Lahaye: I want to be really clear that everything I know about TLH says that he is a genuinely nice person with a wonderful Christian character and a real concern for the salvation of everyone he meets. I don’t at all begrudge TLH his success as an author and spokesman for his segment of the Christian community. My despondency over Left Behind is the embracing of this worldview by millions of Americans who have no idea what the Bible says and the vast majority of Christians who have abandoned the command of Jesus in the Great Commission for a wholesale embracing of extreme pessimism. I work with these people and it is a real thing. Missions requires optimism. The pessimism of Left Behind, and the pessimistic interpretative system that lies behind the books, is perfect fodder for a church and culture already wrapped up in materialism and not interested in seeing the nations come to Christ..

Steve- I am no friend of the left, and IM has called them promoters of tyranny from the first day I published. But I don’t automatically call Ellen Goodman a liar because I disagree with her politics. From all I know, she is an established and respected journalist. The Boston Globe, her home paper, has quite a reputation for fact checking its columnists. Ask Mike Barnacle. And besides, I don’t see any reason to attack the messenger in this instance. Sure, her analysis is from the left, but what she is describing is going on. I know lots of these kinds of people in public schools here in KY. My point is- assuming the basic factual truthfulness of the problem (allowing for an exaggeration factor)- advocates of Abstinence Education owe it to all of us to keep explicit Christianity out of the public school arena and to do what they promised with these programs.

I agree that NASA has become a management mess. I am echoing Brother Mcfarland’s basic sentiment. I think the great quest would be worth it.

In talking with a lot of letter writers about the Vine’s article, I pointed out that marriage at age 13 or 14 has been part of mountain culture for years. My point was that Vines’ characterization of Mohammed as a pedophile was an ignorant claim.

When the SBC did a similar resolution several years ago- with a specific apology to African Americans- a lot of SBs went ballistic, but I thought it was appropriate and removed at least one frequent rhetorical stone that was frequently hurled at us.

Hey everybody read this! Ellen Goodman on Christians going overboard in public school “Abstinence Sex Ed” programs in Louisiana. My first observation is that when Christians fight for these $$$ programs and then abuse them along these lines- turning them into fundamentalist parties and mind games- they are inviting the media, ACLU and others to come running. Are these Louisiana Christians so stupid as to not understand that going to an abortion clinic for a prayer vigil or memorizing Bible verses ain’t gonna fly in a public school? The other thing I will say is that there is a public health issue in the sexual behavior of teenagers. I don’t care how many fundamentalists want to lecture us about keeping sex ed at home- which I totally believe is correct- we all still have a stake in whether Boy and Girl have an out of wed lockchild. Illegitimacy is a national problem- a huge contribution to crime, povertry and many other social ills. PART- not all, but PART of the response from a reasonable public must be the availability of straightforward birth control information. I know, I know, I know- I don’t want the public schools giving my kid or anyone’s kid a condom and a bananna, but the abstinence approach can’t be the only or complete response. There has to be a modest component of sound contraceptive information in public schools, starting at least at grade 6. Go ahead. Kill me. I’ll close my eyes.

It ain’t pedophilia. It’s just unbelievable: “Iran is raising the age at which a girl can get married without her parents’ consent—to 13. The old age of consent, Reuters reports, was nine. The age of consent for boys is also rising, to 15 from 14. Nine-year-old girls will still be able to marry, but only with their parents’ permission and “approval of a ‘righteous court.’ ”

Good article on why the environmentalists are to blame for the fires. Also, Best of the Web Today is extra good today.

An e-mail posted over at the Corner, dealing with whether the U.S. should declare war.: “E-mail: “You quoted an e-mail to you in The Corner recently: “The United States has not actually declared war since the declaration of war against the Axis powers in 1941.” This is true, but in international law a state does not have to declare war if another recognized and constituted sovereign declares war on it. Thus although we reciprocated the German and Italian declarations of war on the US, the US did not declare war on other minor Axis powers which did declare war on it, e.g. Hungary, Romania, etc. This did not mean that legaly speaking a state of war was not recognized to exist between the United States and Hungary or Romania. (An interesting side case is that of Siam, now Thailand: its’ pro-Axis government actually did declare war on the US, but the Siamese charge d’affairs, an Allied sympathizer, refused to deliver the declaration to the State Dept., and the State Dept. decided to ignore this, in order to preserve the legal fiction that the United States and Siam were not at war.) It is a forgotten fact that Panama’s National Assembly (controlled by Noriega but legitmately constituted) declared war on the US at the time of Operation Just Cause. Thus although the last time Congress declared war was in December 1941, the last time the US was legally in a state of war was December 1989!”

The PCA has made a public statement of repentance as a denomination. I know some of you don’t think this sort of this is good, but I think it is a good “offense by defence” tactic that allows a response when we are accused of supporting racism and oppresion.

Rosie O just said she can’t stand Clinton because he lied and pined the Scarlet A on Monica. How delightfully Catty. Scratch him Rosie.

Gregory: I know that pastors are often eccentric, but imo, your interim pastor is more eccentric than most. The gaffs and errors you have cited go beyond an occaisonal slip to just plain wrong, and a couple of elders need to kindly, charitably point out to him that some of his proclamations are unsupportable from scripture or good pastroal practice. The Paul witnessed to by Barnabbas story is an outright perversion of scripture. You can’t preach Bible stories from pure invention. Reasonable implication is one thing. Invention is another. I would take time to remind the deacons that the job of an interim is to bring the congregation to unity on the way to a new shepherd. This fellow is on the way to dividing the congregation. The Jezebel sermon shows a real lack of pastoral temperament and a desire to be combative and divisive over a minor matter. Hijacking that Biblical language to argue about literature is nuts and counterproductive to his calling in this instance. I would tell your elders time to trade in for another interim if a new pastor isn’t in the pipeline.

Steve/Judd/Space Cadets: I think that NASA’s moon shot was a good investment. I know the current libertarian/conservative take is to say no government spending, but I think some government spending is worth the hassle for the potential and actual returns. For me, the space quest is beyond dollars and cents, and beyond commercial interests. It is like arguing about Columbus’ voyages or the exploration of the New World. There is something important here to the human spirit and the human imagination. We need a journey into the unknown. We need it. Yeah, we can debate this in the budget books and tax policies, but calling it “flags and footprints” could only be said by someone who didn’t live through it and experience what it did to all of us in that generation. As one who was in the middle of that era, I know what Steve Mcfarland is writing about. it was magnificent and mythic. This was a humanizing, elevating quest that affected our view of ourselves and impacted the human spirit around the world. It united our world and ignited our minds and imaginations. It was worth it. Privatize it or whatever, but do it and make it the great quest our civilization needs. (Send Al-Queda on the test shots.)

Ronald: Your brand of denominationalism is what I grew up with, and I have commented on my own journey through and away from it elsewhere. I have great respect for journeys that are different from mine so its cool.

By reading my article on PK, you are aware that I am not a lemming for PK. Having said that, I find most of the internet criticism of PK to be insubstantial and inaccurate at best, and blithering idiocy at worst. It tends to come from the kind of people who find John Macarthur and John Piper heretical. (Most of these sites are people who light up a fire anytime someone befriended anyone related to psychology or counseling. It’s like playing Kevin Bacon, only using Larry Crabb as a link to Sigmund Freud and Satan.)

PK, as a parachurch, is not obligated to have the confessional standards of a local church. That is the difference between anything that is not a local church and what is a church. Its evangelical credentials do not require specific historic confession or doctrinal statements. Laundering the speakers at PK would be like laundering the speakers at a Billy Graham school of evangelism. What’s the point? It’s not a church, and anyone is free to take it or leave it. This may seem silly, but it’s like a grocery store you choose to patronize. Does Kroger need a doctrinal statement?

I believe denominationalism has many positive aspects, especially in preserving historic distinctives. On the other hand, denominations often need correctives from outside themselves. (The abolition movement, or the pro-life movement would be good examples.) PK is a reaction to the feminization of the culture and the church. Sure, its extremely generic doctrinally, and charismatics tend to float to the top of the leadership and worship ladder, but it is a viable and spiritually vital, Christ honoring, Gospel preaching movement. I find it to be much more doctrinally explicit than most churches and the vast majority of Christian publishing. I won’t even venture into how it compares doctrinally to CCM.

Where I differ the most is this: I believe I must have convictions, but I also think I have to have the humility to treat those who differ with me as my equals, and to love them as part of the body of Christ. I grew up in a church that consigned everyone who wasn’t a Southern Baptist to hell. (Even Independent Baptists. They didn’t give to the CP or use our literature.) This resulted in treating other Christians with disrespect. (More like lepers really.) For example, I was taught to fear and despise Methodists because they drank. I think conviction is fine, but that should not stop us from worshipping and working together with others.

(There is a flap in the LCMS because some pastor participated in a post 9/11 event with some liberals, New Agers and secularists. It may be silly, but on a human level, what’s the big deal? Why not take my faith in Christ and pray a prayer with Jesus’ name in it wherever I can get in the door? Missionaries can go to savages, but a pastor can’t pray with Oprah?) No compromise, but treating every other person as person whose spiritual journey is worthy of respect. I know your comments were not going down that road, but this is where I would differ.

BTW, since most Southern Baptist Churches have no confession of their own beliefs that member must affirm, on what basis do they make any criticism of other movements doctrinally?

GROUP: Just read all of Time’s current issue on the end of the world, which is primarily about LEFT BEHIND and Tim Lahaye. It is thoroughly depressing, but Time does a good job. That Lahaye is the most significant Christian of our times is profoundly sad. Here is a man who has and absolutely pessimistic worldview. I need to avoid the topic.

Greg: After much debate and thought, I think Michael has provided the deep, thoughtful answer as to why you can’t understand your pastor. Frankly, he sounds like the type of guy that edits the Bible to fit his own personal opinions. Should fit right in with most congregations today.

Steve: Ayn Rand’s particular type of messed-up philosophy is called Objectivism.

Ronald: I do not have a problem with approval. It has even been suggested, and summarily vetoed, that we put together a list of acceptable curriculum, as well as means of putting materials up for approval. That is why we hired him. But, the answer to this compromise was “Lifeway or nothing.”

This has had the greatest impact in Sunday School, where teachers that have been teaching for years are willing to stop teaching rather than teach Lifeway. The curricula they currently use was approved by the church, prior to the minister of education getting his position. He is, at present, unwilling to allow them to teach the old curricula, or even take a look at it.

As for the pastor, I have had previous issues with his teaching. According to the pastor:

• John, the disciple, carried off the body of Jesus to the gravesite of Joseph of Arimethea. (contrary to John 19:38-40). This is, of course, a minor issue, but was used to fit the fact that the passion play we did had John carrying off the body with Joseph of Arimethea.
  
• The bible says children shall lead us (used when a child got up during an altar call). At best I can assume he was meaning we have to come as children to Christ (Mt 18:3).
  
• Paul became a Christian when Barnabas witnessed to him in Damascus. In Acts, Barnabas was a friend, but he did not appear in the conversion story, as did Ananias, and it was unlikely Paul needed a witness at this particular moment, as he had just had an encounter with God almighty. As the sermon was on friends, I assume the friendship of Paul and Barnabas was his core issue here.
  
• Murder and adultery are the only sins which cannot be atoned for. I have searched for anything that fits this, but have yet to come up with anything where I can even
  

To sum up, I am not certain this is the man who should be preaching to us about our inability to pick good material. In addition, I believe there should be a method in place to have other types of material preached.

It is unfortunate that we are in this position now. Church membership has falled to almost half over the past year. Of the current church members, many only attend Sunday school and avoid the service. The financial consequences are easy to figure out, as collections are down over 1/3. It is likely that more people will join the exodus if the hard line stance is continued. I have not yet made a decision to leave, but if the new pastor is as sloppy as the transitional pastor, it is likely I will find another church home.

Koffi Anan rises to the podium of the UN, looks at his notes, and closes his eyes briefly. For prayer? For effect? We will never know. He then lifts his head and begins to address the delegates. “Ladies and Gentlemen… have you all filled out your forms to buy some of my daughter’s delicious Girl Scout cookies? Try the Thin Mints – they’re wonderful.” Anan sits. The delagates mumble in agreement.

Mohatma Ghandi will speak briefly this afternoon on the following topics: The Mideast situation and its effects on worldwide oil supply; The continuing animosity between Muslims and Hindus and the nuclear threat they now present; flossing properly; and the Global Pandemic of AIDS and its effects on India.

Vladamir Putin, halfway through his recent speach on the economic hardships faced by Russians in the post-communist reality, breaks into a Kazoo rendition of “Freebird”.

Have another wonderful church issue. As some of you know, we are with a transitional pastor at the moment. We also have a minister of education that was hired after the last pastor left. Two weeks ago, we got a mandate that it was Lifeway or nothing (Sunday School curicula from birth to death). Last week, our leaders protested. On Sunday, the pastor preached about the church at Thyatira. In the middle, he talked about false prophets in the church (Mary Baker Eddy, et al) and then subtly compared those that do not wish to go to Lifeway to Jezebel. Having heard both sides of the argument, I believe he has overstepped his bounds on this one, esp. as I am included in the Jezebel crowd. I am going to write a letter and see where it lands. Pray for me.

Michael: It could be worse than a steak upside the head. In India, if you are a waiter and serve a vegetarian any meat, you could go to jail. Talk about a bad day.

Steve, you’re a libertarian, aren’t you? (I am, so the question wasn’t meant as a slam). I think what turned me against the space program (slightly) was being in third grade and watching the Challenger explode. I didn’t want to be an astronaut after that.

Please pray for my grandmother, Edith. She had a stroke yesterday and is in the hospital indefinitely. She and I are very close so this is really difficult for me. Also, my sister just moved out to Denver and she’s there by herself with no friends and family and she’s taken this pretty hard.

Steve S.- Re: your question about last Lord’s Day’s message. I believe that we humans are designed for far more than the sum of all that life on earth can muster. God has set eternity in our hearts, which is why we long for, search for, scheme for, feel for, workaholic ourselves for…more. That “more” is found in the life Jesus offers, or in the words of John 10:10- ” I have come that you might have life and life to the full”. If that life can’t be derived or produced from what earth offers (as history & experience clearly demonstrate), then this must be life of another kind, from another place. Only when we are “born from above” ( John 3:3), or as I phrased it, receive ” heaven’s life”, can we know soul satisfaction and begin to experience human life as it was meant to be. And that brings deep and intense joy. Hope that translates a little better….

John Ashcroft calls a news conference to warn Americans about dangerous feminine hygiene products.

Abraham Lincoln, speaking at Gettysburg Cemetery, urges all Americans to consider the joys of knitting.

Do any of you guys think the Apollo 13 incident planted the seeds of the end of the space program’s appeal?

Well, this is a photograph that should earn some kind of award, maybe the “Teabag” award or something like that. Man alive!!! Talk about a bad day.

Are you aware that if your wife gets hit in the face with a steak it diminishs your sex life by 75%?

The whole story on the 38 year old second grade teacher and the 14 year old boy. She got five years mandatory. (I have a friend who got three for the same thing. He was a single teacher and got involved with a student, who talked four years later.) Do you think that is an appropriate punishment? Some will say that a 14 year old boy isn’t being sexually abused- he’s doing what boys dream of doing.

The environmentalists are taking a beating in these Colorado fires. No roads built during the Clinton years.

Marie Antoinette distributes brochures on nutrition, while reminding children of the pitfalls of eating too many sweets. After all, they can’t just eat cake, can they?

Steve: AMEN!! on your space article. I share your theory that an innumerable amount of benefits in the last five decades are direct spinoffs from the space race. (I also happen to believe that the invention of the 401k plan is the second half of the dynamic duo which has created so much technological prosperity for the U.S. in general… but that’s another topic).

One of NASA’s problems is that they don’t toot their own horn loudly enough. They don’t have much of a PR machine, and what’s there just doesn’t push themselves with enough fervor (for my taste). That may just be an institutional thing… and may be unavoidable. I’m not sure what kind of bureaucratic restrictions, conflict-of-interest issues may be at work there. Just my opinion.

My hyper-capable wife Amy is a manager in the ISS (International Space Station). She has spent her career making sure that EVAs (extravehicular activities—or spacewalks) go smoothly; that the astronauts have the right tools, the right safety equipment, the right training (she dives a lot in the NBL- Neutral Buoyancy Lab, or the big swimming pool where astronauts train). As ISS “crew”, she’s been to Moscow four times to coordinate EVAs with our Russian partners.

Also a pet theory of mine—any good detente between the US and Russia may probably be traced directly back to the hard, thankless work of people like Amy, who get to konw and like their Russian counterparts while engaged in the quixotic task of building (yes, it’s still growing) and running a huge orbiting community, in the face of cultural, linguistic, and mainly, POLITICAL obstacles.

I agree that the languishing of the space program is a good sign that we Americans have lost “the fire in the belly”.

Ron: My sympathies to your church. May God put mercy in the hole where words used to be.

Here’s the website many of you have been praying for. (Particularly the band ;-) ChristiansForCannabis.com.

Does anyone else think Prez Bush lecturing the country on fitness is Clinton-esque? This is the kind of thing Clinton called great leadership. I thought it sucked. The idea of the leader of the free world lecturing us on exercise is nuts. I mean nuts nuts nuts. SO HERE IS THE CONTEST: WHAT BIZARRE COMBINATION OF WORLD LEADERS AND TRIVIAL SUBJECTS CAN YOU CREATE?

Winston Churchill speaks to the nation about the need for everyone to wash thoroughly, especially in some of those places we tend to miss.
Franklin Roosevelt pauses from planning WWII to address the nation on the importance of giving everyone you meet a cheery greeting.

“Stephen Boyd, author of Men We Long to Be.” This is a sentence waiting to be slightly altered.

You know, it sounds like Boyd has some unresolved issues himself. Either that, or he thinks that American Beauty is real life.

I have just updated IM with two new articles. My article on PK, and Steve’s article on the need for a new space race.

I am about to post my IM article on PK. Listen to this from the Detroit News. The Next step for PK!

” Theologians and men’s studies experts say Promise Keepers has done a phenomenal job in reaching out to men, who have been taught that masculinity means repressing some emotions. Stephen Boyd, author of Men We Long to Be, says Promise Keepers has opened up an avenue for men to be fully human by crying, hugging and expressing their emotions not only to their wives and families, but also to other men.
Boyd, who is also a professor at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, believes one of the biggest reasons for the Promise Keepers’ decline is its failure to continue nurturing men’s passion to follow Jesus and to go all the way in breaking down traditional masculinity by dismantling sexism and homophobia.
He said around the time of its financial crisis, Promise Keepers cut back on its materials and staff for the small men’s groups that began to form. It also planned events without consulting with some of the churches who were working with the organization. That failure to communicate created friction.
Meanwhile, Promise Keepers continues to reinforce some norms of traditional masculinity, such as being the head of the household. And that leads to men continuing to stay disconnected from their feelings, their wives and other men, the exact opposite of what the Promise Keepers hope to foster.
“Until you deal with sexism and homophobia,” Boyd said, “you’re not going to have small groups between men that really work.”

At the next PK, we will resign as the head of our families and become homosexual. That will take care of business.

My prayers are with them.

Here’s info on the bus crash, courtesy of CNN.

Have been keeping up with the story. Terrible. Will pray as often as I can. Our school travels hundreds of thousands of miles with our students each year and in 102 years we have never lost a teacher or kid in an accident. Lord, have mercy on us because we don’t deserve such kindness. Then we lost a student to suicide in November and that is still shaking me and others. So I will pray and I know others will as well.

Movie Report for the Week
Saw both “Minority Report” and “Lilo and Stitch” this past weekend, and I’m pleased to say that a good time was had by all. Minority Report should’ve been rated “R” for sheer ickiness in a couple of scenes, but it was a good, solid flick that kept you on your toes until the last 20 minutes.

Lilo and Stitch was decent family entertainment. I was, however, more entertained by the baby in front of me who kept grabbing the straw out of my drink, and kept starring at me. At least I have hope that I’m more entertaining by myself than anything the Mouse could put out.

Then we caught “Office Space” at home on Sunday. Makes work on Monday much more bearable.

From David Brooks over at Weekly Standard: “THE POWER of the religious impulse is really quite extraordinary. The sainted folks over at Opinion Journal inform us of the conniption being thrown by the American Atheists, the group founded by the late Madalyn Murray O’Hair (may God have mercy upon her soul). It seems that when the World Trade Center collapsed, the force of the fall, or some supernatural force, fused two steel beams into a 20-foot-high cross, which has been kept on the edge of the site. The atheists want the cross removed, of course, but in their passion to do that, as the wise OJ webmaster notes, they are actually revealing their faith in the power of the cross. If it didn’t have power, why get so upset? The truth is that even atheists feel emanations of the sacred in the material world. They’re just moved in different ways.”

I’ve had lots of comments from readers about the Father’s Day pieces. Thanks again to everyone.

We got our daughter off to Governor’s Scholar today. Five weeks. That’s a record. It will be hard for us, but getting us all ready for next year and the real deal.

I need time to write! I am in one of those stretches that it is one thing after another and no time to sit down and surf, read and post. I hate it when its all talk talk talk, but that is my life a lot of the time. Without reading and reflecting time, I get to feeling burnt out. I’m preaching tomorrow and Tuesday. Our students are ready for the mid summer break and I won’t complain. We will be traveling some over that break, but not much. Poverty is good for homebodies.

I’m trying to put away a buck a day for missions. Seems simple, and so much better than spending it on junk food.

SInce abortion is not a Confessional Issue, the liberals have been more successful on the public stands on that one. But most Presbys are pro-life. Presbys Pro Life is a strong organization within the PCUSA with no liberal counterpart organization. Conservatives have been more successful on issues where the Confessions are explicitly relevent. Current event issues without a confessional element are the liberal playground.

Michael: I went to the link you put out for the PCUSA. I am disturbed by one of the things put forth.

Sanctioning late term abortions: The church sanctioning the ending of life (something biblically left to God alone), is a slippery slope. Admitedly, they stated only after counseling and only in certain cases (cases for which I, myself, as a human, would agree with), but the church should be firm on their commitment to life. The church should be there for those who have gone through abortion, but I cannot, in good conscience, see a church sanctioning abortion in any way, shape or form.

I am not going to take a stance on the homosexuality issue, as I agree that specifically asking a person about his past, considering all have sinned, is a dangerous trend. Anyone openly sticking to any sin should not be in the pastorate, but that should include all sinful lifestyles and not single out homosexuality.

Ronald: Thanks for the question. Please read carefully.

By John H. Adams The Layman Online Thursday, June 20, 2002

---

214th General Assembly
Columbus, Ohio
June 15-22, 2002
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The 214th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), after only a 10-minute debate, has declared that Jesus Christ alone is the way, the truth and the life and that no one is saved apart from him.

Respectfully, I think you have misread what is going on in the PCUSA. First, I will answer your question, then try and give you some context.

The PCUSA is a confessional church. The church, and every elder and member, is committed to the Apostle’s Creed, Nicene Creed, The Westminister Confession and four other confessions in the Book of Confessions. In this regard, they are far more theologically committed than the average SBC church. The campus SBC church here at OBI has no confessions, covenant or constitution and refuses to consider any of the three. So conservatives in the PCUSA, like the 1,200+ Confessing Church movement, are standing on the church’s confessions. The General Assembly reaffirms the church’s stand on this question in this General Assembly.

Conservatives are right now using the demonination’s judicial structure to charge several pro homosexual churches with ordaining gay elders in violation of the church’s constitution. The liberals do not have the church’s constitution or confessions on their side.

The Liberals that infest the hierarchy and seminaries of the PCUSA are, by and large, not Christians, and conservatives understand that. The “Who is Jesus?” debate started because conservatives reacted to a speech two years ago by a PCUSA missions professor in which he said God may choose to save outside of a historical knowledge of Christ. (A position many evangelicals hold by the way.) The church debated whether a FURTHER clarification was needed beyond what had already been said in the confessions and in documents based on the confessions. The church decided it was satisfied with our confessional statements about Jesus and I agree. The confessions show that the liberals are heretics.

An individual PCUSA congregation is only required to give a 1.5% offering to its own local Presbytery. The National denomination lives off offerings from the Presbytery and special offerings (which conservatives ignore.) It would be good to remember that the PCUSA allows organizations, both conservative and liberal, to organize within the denomination to promote their point of view. These organizations are NOT funded by the PCUSA, but they can speak at PCUSA gatherings and they are “recognized” as part of the PCUSA family. The media and the public hears statements made from the PCUSA left, and assumes it is the official PCUSA position. Not the case at all.

Finally, the PCUSA, unlike the SBC, isn’t run by a small cadre of leaders. It is a true family of elders from all the Presbyteries. So you will not hear one voice speaking for everyone. Nothing wrong with that, but it means you must listen to the PCUSA differently from the SBC. For example, they just traded a liberal moderator for an evangelical, and that is normal. Leadership shifts from year to year. The church where I serve as interim has little to do with the denom. We support our presbytery and mission causes that we feel are worthy, such a Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship and Presbyterians Pro Life and Voices of Orthodox Women.

Steve: I, too, believe Microsoft should pay for some of what they have done. I also happen to believe, after reading much about the case, that much of it has been overblown. The first judge overstepped his bounds and the government is now paying for it. Had he kept with his initial thoughts, rather than bandstanding, it would be fine. As for the other states, I believe it is as much for receiving press than to get a proper settlement from Redmond. I could go into it further, but this blog is overloaded with geek speak.

On a lighter note, Kermit will now have his star on the walk of fame.

I’m off to bed now. I am severely sun-burned on my back, I am spending the weekend with the in-laws, and I am grumpy. I trust that when I wake up tomorrow the world will again be safe to not give a fiddler’s fart about every mother’s son’s preference for computer-y acronyms and such. Goodnight.

Steve: THIS IS NOT A CUT. Interesting question for David, because neither David or I have absolutely any idea what you guys are talking about in the language of computer-Zion ;) ;) ;-)

Eric: 51. And it matters to ME MAN!!!!!

I’ve just been in a couple of hours, so I have no time to post. Saying good bye to my daughter, who is leaving for five weeks studying Anthropology at Centre College in the morning. Then I have Psalm 132 at 8, Music at 9 and music and the sermon at 11 (Denise is my piano player.)

I will be writing an IM piece on PK. I had a new piece “On Being a World Christian” but I will shelve it. Mine and the new Mcfarland piece should be up before Monday.

Guys: It is interesting that all of us have a specialized field that somewhat frustrates the other posters. I consider a few catcalls from the audience legal in the instance of long theological or technological tomes. Have mercy on the laymen gents.

Well, I haven’t been able to get on here since Thursday, and I was a bit worried that I would have a butt-load of reading to do to catch up. The good news is that I was able to skim over and skip TONS OF CRAP THAT IS ABOUT AS IMPORTANT AS HOW MANY TIMES JAMES T KIRK SCRATCHED HIS A** IN THE FIRST SEASON OF STAR TREK.
Thank you. It saved me so much time.

Great—first time in weeks that I’ve had any free time to spend at the BHT and I stumble into a computer-speaking-in-tongues conversation. I’d love to chat, but I don’t have the first clue what much of anything in the last two days of posts really means, so I guess I’ll try again later.

Preaching tomorrow on the promise that we can live rather than just exist. Glorous to be reminded that the ordinary everyday of the Jesus-follower is overflowing with heaven’s life, so far beyond all that earth can muster.

Have a great Lord’s Day, everyone.

Where am I? Did this used to be a bar? hello….Hellll-oooo??

RonH: While not publisized to the extent of Microsoft problems, there are both UNIX and Linux virii and security holes. In general, they are not as popular for a number of reasons.

• Much smaller install base, so less damage is caused.
  
• Many people hate Microsoft, as they believe all software should be free. While this sounds nice, it generally means “all software should be free, but I should still be able to make a living coding mine.”
  
• Less press when a virus is created. This gets back to number 1. Of course, this is also why you hear of so few.
  
• Most UNIX/Linux profundants know computers, so it is not as easy to infect them. They also tend to keep up with security and other patches.
  

I had a nice discussion with someone who told me Linux was more stable than Windows. Overall, I would agree with him, but you are generally dealing with a stacked deck. First off, you rarely get a green bean working as a systems admin in a Linux or UNIX shop. The same cannot be said for a Windows environment. In addition, you generally see a greater financial output for UNIX (and some Linux) servers. I see very few UNIX installations where the company spent less than $50K per server, with many shops much higher. WIth Linux, the server is generally $10K or greater. I have seen Dell desktops serving as critical servers, however, in the Windows environment. But, when the proper environment is set up, I have seen a WIndows NT server, with Exchange, run for over a year without a reboot. If you have a Windows admin as dedicated, you get some wonderful stuff. I am not stating that Windows is more stable, just that it, like Linux/UNIX requires tuning and that many companies hire admins that have no knowledge of tuning.

I also had an interesting test at one job. They ran a web load test against a ColdFusion/UNIX app and my ASP app (thrown together in a few minutes just to test). Jaime, our UNIX guru, claimed victory when he saw the average time to serve a page in UNIX was 3.5 seconds, and 7 seconds in Windows. He forgot quite a few things, however. Hardware: Sun Sparc dual proc with 2 GB memory versus a Compaq workstation (single proc with 128 MB of memory) turned server. UNIX hooked directly to database server, Windows hooked via a 10MB/second line. UNIX procs both peaked at 100% utlization; windows never above 21%. UNIX box losing 24% of connections; at end of test period, Windows still losing 0%. Now, I also think this was an ASP versus ColdFusion test, so I am not indicting UNIX. The app also had problems with the data retrieval, et al.

On the blogger issue, Let’s play “which is more likely?”

1. Microsoft paid off blogger to be IE-compliant only (OR) the developers are not extremely proficient in cross-browser compatibility?
   
2. Microsoft created tools that only develop IE-compliant apps (OR) the developers are not extremely proficient in cross-browser compatibility?
   

If you stated the former in either, you might want to check your bias. It is most likely that the company developed the product and found it did not support the browsers after the fact. They then had to make a decision whether to roll back to the old version or plod on. Based on market share, they probably decided the latter, with the intention of adding the compatibility when it was the most pressing issue. Of course, this helps those with an elitist attitude jump and bash Microsoft, forgetting that in 1996 it was exactly the opposite. Many websites, back then, were Mozilla friendly, and not IE friendly. The point is I do not think you are justified in asserting a bias here unless you have more information about how the company develops.

As for the $ in Micro$oft. It is both elitist and childish. Yes, it annoys the crud out of me, and if that makes you happy, more power to you.

As far as Microsoft is concerned, I think you have been watching too many conspiracy theories. Microsoft is a for profit company. I think you can definitely tell they were unprepared for the security issues (and virii) when the Internet exploded, but UNIX would have been in the same boat had the PC been on everyone’s desktop in the 60s. I believe, if you drop the bias for a moment, that you will find they are struggling both to remain profitable and to increase the value, stability and security of their OSs. I think you will also have to, if you are honest, admit that they have made great strides. They are in a no-win situation, however. Every time they improve their information exchange or create tools to more easily patch holes, they are lamblasted by advocates of other systems and the press picks up on it. There is always someone who is cheesed off, who knows he will get a platform to spout off, despite how true or false (ie, stupid) his comments are, as he is opposing Microsoft (aka, the evil empire).

On the developer aspect, I think it would be hard to argue that any company has done as much as Microsoft to try to educate developers. Look at MSDN and TechNet. Oracle has tried, but much of their content leads to items you have to pay for. I do, however, respect Oracle’s free downloads for developers (and wish MS would adopt a similar option, although I do not begrudge them for just offer evals).

Oh, BTW, I knew the majority of the Internet backbone was still on UNIX. I also knew about Apache and sendMail. I am not bigoted against Linux (have a server running at the house, at times) as you seem to be with Microsoft. I would love to persue more Linux programming, but I do not see it as a good use of my time, presently, as there are no jobs here. When the choice comes to spending time with my family or learning more Linux, guess which one loses. If I were to implement a firewall currently, esp. for SOHO use, I would go with Linux. There are some other areas where I would opt for Linux (or a UNIX dirivative) over Windows.

Bart: No, not Mothra—Mozilla! You know, like that BOC tune: “Oh no, there goes Tokyo. Go go Mozilla“

BTW exactly where did you have lunch today, and what did you have to drink?:)

Hey—Mrs. Michael :) Your story about the boys’ drive thru dilemma reminds me of Lethal Weapon 2 when “Leo Getz” does his rant about what happens at the drive thru. If you saw the movie, you know the scene. Funny stuff.

We interrupt this discussion (which seriously needs interrupting, I might add!) to bring you this special news bulletin from Michael at Promise Keepers in Knoxville:
First, he and Clay were majorly ripped off by a KFC and given little chicken/biscuit snack packs when they had ordered—-and paid for—-full meals. Of course they didn’t realize it till they’d already driven away, gone to the stadium, and made it to their seats. What kind of a meal is that for my two manly men?
Second, he reminds everyone that Promise Keepers (which used to be free of charge) is now asking for $60.00 per person for conferences, and he reports that the prices being charged in the stadium for food and drinks are outrageous. Michael said to tell Rob in particular that he suspects all the money is going to the band….presumably so they can buy pot.
Third, he states that judging from the number of overweight, bald men there, Promise Keepers must actually be some sort of vast cloning experiment!
O.K. That concludes Michael’s report. Back to the (yawn) Microsoft-Mozilla-Lynx-etc. discussion! Have fun! :)

No, this will make you feel like a dork.

Ha ha! I hope no one read the post that I am currently editing. I’m a dork.

Steve: I am far past the point of trying to evangelize the world in being compliant. First off, the W3C makes recommendations, not standards. This is part of the reason Microsoft went with ECMA with the .NET platform. It was also a PR battle, as Sun has enforced standards in Java through licensing rather than opening the standard to the world. Microsoft has encouraged developers to use their cool tools. Some have taken this invitation and the sites are not open to other browsers. But, that is a decision that the site owner has made, not something that Microsoft has enforced. If you believe that Microsoft should be faulted, my question is do you also believe that bars are responsible for drunk driving deaths? They fall in the same form of displaced responsibility. Sure, Microsoft wants superiority, but the developers had to be willing to go down that path, so they made a choice.

As far as the ethics question, you are way out there. Most likely, you have a bunch of developers that are developing using IE as their test browser. Blogger may or may not have a good QA department. If so, they found out it did not work with Opera, NetScape, et al, and made a decision that there was not enough market to pay the developers to support this number of people. If not, they were most likely clueless that anyone was having a problem until you complained (you did, right?). No matter which direction the path took, there is no ethical question over making a business decision to go with the masses. If you were PAYING for this service, and used Opera (esp. if they told you they would fix it), you might have a legal and ethical argument. As it stands, there is no ETHICAL argument, any more than there was an ethical argument that I was ripping off a client for not making a site completely Lynx friendly in 1996, when she was the ONLY Lynx hits for the whole site. But, I would love to hear your defense of calling this UNETHICAL; please show me how writing a site for IE is unethical.

I did a quick look for recent browser stats, and come up with the following:
IE6 25 – 39%
IE5 41 – 53%
IE4 1.8 – 3.1%
IE3 .05 – .25%
IE2 0 – .05%
Gecko 1.2 – 9.1%
NN4 3.7 – 7.4%
NN3 .05 – .15%
Opera 0.8 – 1.2%
(other) 1.4 – 7.5%

Slicing this up into a reality cake, Internet Explorer owns more than 70% of the browser market when using the best estimates (meaning best percentages for non-IE browsers) from these site. Now, I am sure there are sites where Opera or NetScape rules, but, in general the majority of people are using IE. If I were advising Blogger on whether or not to pay developers to fix the current release to work with NetScape and Opera, I would suggest devoting more time to NetScape (which overall seems to work for me) rather than focus on a 1.2% share, at best.

If you hate Blogger, that is your imperative. If you have not even discussed the issues with them, I feel you are being rather childish about complaining to us, as the best we can offer is a sympathetic shoulder. I can do nothing to fix Blogger for Opera. Now, personally, I think Opera is a fine browser. I do not use it much currently, as I am not developing UIs right now. I believe that developers should check out sites in other browsers. However, designing a site for what are now known as “down browers” is a case of a limited return on your investment. I am not sure I can suggest to anyone that they spend a lot of time and money chasing 1% of the population, even though I would most likely aim to develop so it did not exclude. However, if I had a feature that could enhance my site and get more people to use it, and it meant losing that 1%, I would dump them in a heartbeat.

I concur with the OS X comment. Very nice front-end for UNIX (BSD). I also like Gnome for Linux, but it is not quite as friendly and I have not played since the late beta stages.

MB: thanks for the gut check….I feel…repentant…sorry…apologetic…sort of. Is it true!? can I really profit from my faith? Can I really stop being a distributor for girls gone wild? Speak to me Mohammed, lead me down the path of right thought. You see, I seek only to triumph.

Japanese Monster Movies! My God! well it has everything to do with that. I mean we are talking about Mothra here.

Okay, guys, I’m not very computer savvy. So, could someone please explain to me what any of this has to do with Japanese monster movies?

Mike: I don’t like stereotyping or elitism of any form. It seems to be very popular to write Bill Gate$ and Micro$oft, as if everything the company does is some $atanic ritual. I am quite disgusted by some of what Microsoft has done, but to act like their actions are the only thing that drives the browser market is putting on blinders. I did not notice a whole lot of problems with Mozilla, so I am not even certain the Blogger comment was fair. However, I am willing to accept that people have had problems with non-Microsoft (ie, IE ;->) browsers. But, the hackerese $ for an s is a bit over the top. I do not speak for Bart (or is that Angus). Microsoft is an easy target right now, as they are in the middle of a court settlement. They have done some bad things, but that does not mean everything that they have done is a piece of Krytonite from the evil empire.

Thanks for the tip, Steve, but I think I’m going to buy one of the new iMacs.

Bart; Gregory: Okay. No play time for you two. I think you both need to spend a time out in here. And, don’t come out until your ready to share something with everyone.

OUCH! OUCH! Baaaaarrrrt; Grrrreeeeeeg! We just got Steve back and you two jump on the poor guy. Gaaaaawwwwwsh!

Just to see what was being talked about, I decided to download Mozilla 1.0 and post. I am not experiencing the vast right-wing Micro$oft consipiracy, but I have noticed quite a few annoying bugs (er, features) in Mozilla. The address bar is largely useless on my Windows 2000 Server machine (have to use File >> Open Web Location instead), etc. Everyone has the right to choose their own software, and there were times that I could see using NetScape over IE. It used to load much faster. Personally, I would opt for Opera over this browser. Just my two cents.

Steve: With comments like “In any event, Blogger is bigoted against non-Micro$oft products.”, I begin to wonder if you even realize the incredible assumptions your statement implies. Perhaps a history and economics lesson is in order:

Back in 1997, the W3C realized that the web lacked a certain amount of pinache, so they requested RFCs to develop a more dynamic vision for the web (aka DHTML). The rules of the “competition” were fairly straight-forward: the W3C would find the best ideas from all RFCs as long as they created no new tags. They could extend tags, but not create new ones. Netscape, which had a commanding share of the browser market, comes up with the tag. Wow, that was a pretty stupid maneuver. So, Microsoft’s vision (or should I say M$ to denote that Microsoft is more a capitalist pig-dog than Time-Warner-AOL-NetScape?)

Now, I have no doubt that MS further contributed to the demise (and should pay the price), but the NetScape model was already in a state of decline. They further shot themself by going open source. I have nothing against open source. In fact, I have contributed in some projects. The problem was the NetScape Mozilla engines was in a massive state of bloat. So much so, that I did not see any value in devoting the massive amount of time necessary to contribute. Don’t believe the “bloat” comment? Then, explain four years to get a 1.0 release out? Normally, it is quite easy to get open source out, as the work is componentized. Mozilla was a total mess.

Now, to the real issue: As IE got newer cool tools, many people created sites that were not Mozilla friendly. In the current market, IE commands an overwhelming share of the market (last I checked it was anywhere from the 80%+ mark, with many sites at over 95% IE). From a pure business perspective, many companies choose to get an IE site up and running and then determine whether or not to support Mozilla and other browsers based on hits.

When I first started developing, the argument was that you were ripping off the public if you did not have a Lynx-friendly site. I had a personal war with a Lynx user over a site I created for a client. Considering her browser was the only Lynx browser using the site, it was fairly easy to convince the client that it was not worth the extra development time to make her happy. Unfortunately, the share of NetScape has falled so much that the same argument applies.

This leads to a couple of choices. 1) You can switch to IE and see the site. 2) You can do something productive and try to convince the site owner that they should be more friendly to non-IE browsers. 3) You can bitch and moan and do absolutely nothing to solve the problem, but you can bash Micro$oft (look a $; hope I made you happy) and pat yourself on the back for being a progressive.

I just must be out of touch…I mean, I’m a Calvinist wannabe; I love and have been educated in the use of Microsoft Products and development tools, I provide a good living for my family using these tools (along with about 90% of the rest of the software developing world), I’m conservative, I love guns (I secretly desire to own a .50 caliber sniper rifle that uses armor piercing incendiary rounds), I love this country, I hate the idea of having to pay taxes, I have a masters degree, I married a hot red head with a masters degree, I have three awesome kids, and I am listening to Ted Nugent Right now. Geeze! Somebody help me…. Please!

I’m sorry it’s cool to resent the success of the corporation that, arguably, could be credited with single handedly spawning the current boom in the IT field. I mean, it would have been cool if Steve Jobs had decided to allow other people to develop applications for the Mac format without paying for the use of his proprietary software….oh wait, that was Bill Gates…sorry.

Michael S: Hey – I’d like some reparation cash. Can you count me in as a Calvinist Sympathizer?

Guess I’m covered.

Steve: Welcome back

Welcome to Troy Walling, new BHTer from Nebraska.

By my count, there are 6 Calvinist sympathizers out of 18 on here. So we are a minority, and I feel the rest of you owe us reparations.

Do not believe all the lies you are told. Yesterday, a suicide bomber blew up 19 soldiers dressed as women and children. And, today, a gunman killed five soldiers who were also dressed like women and children. If these soldiers would stop playing dress up, the world would understand that these are military targets that appear to be buses, bus stops, schools and restaurants.

Sincerely,
Arafat

P.S. – Yes, my ire is up a bit.
—GB

TULIP and Low view of scripture. That’s me, in case anyone was wondering.

I’ve never been a big fan of sequels, but, man, am I looking forward to this one.

MichaelS: If I said any more, I’d have to kill ya :-)

My friend said most of the questions were about assisted voting. His first impression was that someone is challenging the election results.

MichaelS: I have no idea what in the wide, wide, would a sports is a goin on with that grand jury. They have subpoenaed over 450 people to testify, and some folks think they are just getting started. For those of you outside our little county, there were around 9,000 votes cast in the ENTIRE COUNTY during the May primary election, and 450 people (5% of the total vote) have been dragged before the grand jury. Someone is putting on a show. Who? I have no idea. Rest assured, though, it’s just a show.

Steve: Are you still mad at me? What’s the matter, CAT got your tongue? :)

Matthew: So—how much for the wife? :) “How much for the women? How much for the little girls?”

MatthewJ:I want to see a debate between Sprague, Spong and Sproul. Of all the heretics around these days, I can read Borg without seriously freaking out. I use one of his essays From Meeting Jesus again as sort of an Intro to liberal Biblical interpretation for my Advanced Students. Seems like he has no real personal axes to grind. Probably smokes dope.

RonH: It didn’t sound like you, but the guy is going by Ron H. I don’t remember the thread. I can only take it in small doses. A serious lack of a sense of humor on theology discussions. Keyes was not a good choice. Probably a cheap choice. Couldn’t afford Buchanon.

Sprague is an idiot. I think he is the one who sent a copy of one of Marcus Borg’s books (if you can call it that; I prefer to call it toilet paper.) to every elder in his conference (Chicago, I think). He was also “preaching” at Iliff which is a notoriously liberal seminary. He probably would hav sung a different song if the audience had been more conservative. You know how liberals are. How did you get to read the editorial from the Demazette? I’ve been reading their text only version for a while but it hasn’t been up there the last couple of days. I E-mailed them when they went to the “pay to read” version of their web site. I told them that I didn’t have to pay to read the Times of London and that the Demazette is nowhere near the quality of newpaper that the Times is. I never heard from them. Jerks.

MatthewJ: Look. A Methodist Bishop going to hell. (I have to look these sorts of things up to balance off the Vines and PCUSA stuff) BTW, the Arkansas Dem Gaz has a killer editorial about Vines. I would reprint it all, or I may put it on the sidebar. Can’t link because they are trying to make $$$ off the site. Captialist Pigs, so to speak.

I think that video Bart mentioned is available from The Door. They have the best videos.

When I heard about the Supreme Court’s decision to ban the execution of retarded folks I was reminded of Pedro Guerrero. Pedro was a major league baseball player and apparently none too bright. He couldn’t even pass a driver’s license examination. Well, he gets busted with butt-load of dope and is arrested. His attorney has him plead
not guilty” to charges of intent to distribute because “my client is too dumb to come up with a plan like that.” He was acquitted.

Blogger is acting up again. You may want to switch back to version 1. (Over on your right)

Don’t sell her Matthew. You may not get another one.

PK, huh? I went to one of those my sophomore year of college. I drove five hours from my university to Memphis. I think I smoked a pack and a half on the way down there. “Oh, dark mother! Once again I suckle at your smokey teat!” (That’s not original.). Needless to say that wasn’t one of my better days. My uncle put my name and address on every thing and I’m still getting stuff from Jews for Jesus and Exodus International. The best part was that we got to sit in a luxury box at the Liberty Bowl. My aunt’s boss owns a skybox so we sat in an air-conditioned box and drank Coke all day whilst everyone else melted underneath Memphis’ heat and humidity.

I found a hard drive but it was $200. I’d rather get a new computer. Heather and I are in the midst of heavy negotiations.

I see that Alan Keyes is going off the air. I know that conservatives rule radio, but we are not doing that well on TV other than Fox. MSNBC is bringing back Phil Donahue, which is enough to make me want to move to France. I just have to keep telling myself that the audiences for these shows are so small that it doesn’t matter. More people are reading Chick tracts than are watching CNN.

I have two Chick tract t-shirts. No joke. Should I offer them as a prize on here, or just give them to Rigney.

We listened to Larry King interview the Smart parents last night. Oh my…..you have never heard anything so awful. “Do you sleep at night?” “Does the phone ringing frighten you?” “Did you ever consider that she might have a 14 year old boyfriend and they just ran off?” Is ther