Life, lately

 I have been living with my parents longer than I intended to after moving back to Ohio, and was recently prompted to look into buying my own place. Yes, owning your own place has its challenged and disadvantages, but the rent for an apartment or house big enough for me and all of my stuff would be more than I could afford..... so I started looking.

  I decided the ideal location would be East Palestine, Ohio. It would shave about 25 minutes and about 15 miles off my 45 minute/32 mile drive to work, and would get me as close to my Pennsylvania job as I could be and still live in Ohio - the state border is right at the edge of town.

 It didn't take me long to find a place I was interested in that was well within my price. #1 answer to prayer. I requested a showing.

  The real estate agent turned out to be a 23 year old kid who was raised in the business. He unlocked the door and let me look to my heart's content, where I was joined by my parents a few minutes later.

  I loved  the house at first sight. It is more house than I need, but that is OK. It has a concrete basement with a full bath that hasn't been used for a while and would need some cleaning and repair to be used...... but the basement is pretty decent.

 The main floor: kitchen with hardwood flooring. It isn't big enough for much of a table, largely due to 4 doorways.

 A fairly large room that will be a dining room, and another beside it that can be a living room..... that has hideaway doors on both doorways...... way cool.

  There is a front porch that is decent sized, but has no railings... hence the plastic stuff on the porch for safety for showing the house. The back porch is walled in with waist high walls and an opening for the steps.

 There is a good sized foyer where the steps go to the second floor where there are 4 - yes,  4 - bedrooms and a bathroom. I can fulfill a long time dream of mine - have a room for a library, complete with a lazy boy some time and hopefully a fake fire place.

 And then there was the surprise. A door I opened expecting to find a closet, but instead found steps to an attic not mentioned in the house description. This is not a creepy, dirty attic, but one partially finished with paneling on most of the walls and a couple of small rooms partitioned off. Plenty of room for storage.

 Add to it a one car garage - dirt floor, but it is a garage - and the place is awesome to me.

 I told Evan (the real estate agent) I was interested. He told me I needed to get pre-approved for a loan and then make an offer. Yikes....there is that bankruptcy thing about 7 years ago, what if I couldn't get approved...... oh, and there was an offer on the house. Bleh.

 On my lunch break the next day, I called a bank we have used before to pre-approved. Not only was the bankruptcy no longer an issue, my credit score was even higher than I thought - 742, 8 points short of excellent. I was pre-approved for $15,000 more than the asking price of the house. Answer to prayer #2.

  I went to the real estate agent and signed some papers and gave them a check for $500, that wasn't to be cashed, but was just earnest money.

  And then a couple of days later, Evan called me. Someone made an offer higher than the asking price. I upped my offer $2000, then quickly changed it to $3000 more... still way less than this house was worth..... then I started praying harder.

 I started looking more, and did a drive by of another house I could be interested in that is also in East Palestine. I called Evan and left a message for him on Tuesday asking if he could show it to me, even though it is a different real estate company. He called me back a hour or so later, and told me he had good news........ could it be? Yes! My offer had been accepted. Answer to prayer #3. Wednesday, I got a cashier's check for $500 to exchange for the regular check I had written, and drove again to the real estate office where I signed several pages and handed over my $500.

 If all goes well, the house should be mine - well sort of mine - on October 25, or possibly earlier.

 There is one hurdle yet to be crossed, but I am confident God will answer that prayer also. I will need between $3000 and $3500 for closing costs and a down payment, unless the bank that has the house agrees to pay some of the closing costs. I don't have that money. I have a savings account that I may have to use some of to buy things for the house - blinds, stove, refrigerator, washer, dryer.......and who knows what else....... but not the money. But God has worked this all out so far, so I am praying He will help me find a way to get what I need.

 And God willing, by the time next month draws to a close, I will again be a home owner....and this time with my own library.

The people of my week

  I ran across some people this past week that made an impression on me in one way or another:

1) Cancer patients:

   My afternoons at work have been different the last two weeks and will be until some time in November. There is construction going on in the Emergency Department parking lot, which leaves only 5 or 6 handicapped spots left to park in, and three spaces for the Cancer Center. After my lunch,  I have to stand near the entrance of the cancer center to tell people where to park for the Emergency Department and the Cancer Center.

  Day after day, I see the same people going in for their treatments. Ladies with baseball caps or something else to cover their heads that have little or no hair. They always smile and thank me for showing them where to park, and sometimes I have to go find a wheelchair. As I see these brave people each day, I admire their courage and am thankful that I am healthy and don't have to deal with something so terrible as cancer.

2) The tract man:

  Saturday, as I worked my morning position as Emergency Department greeter, a man that had just registered to be seen walked up to my desk and handed me a Gospel tract. I thanked him and laid it on my desk. He pointed to the cross tie tack I wear and asked me if I was a chaplain. I replied and told him no, that I was just a Christian.

  I later found out he also gave the triage nurse a tract, and I wouldn't be surprised if he gave his nurse and doctor one also. I had to admire the guy. He has more guts than I do.

3) The PTSD guy

  The same Saturday, we were short a guard so they had to pull me from my normal afternoon duties to do what the other guards do, and I got stuck doing a patient watch for over an hour and a half. A patient watch is basically babysitting a patient who won't stay in bed or wants to walk out and can't, and the nurses can't sit there and watch them.

 Due to HIPPA laws, I can't say much, but this patient was a very young man who was in the reserves and was suffering from PTSD. Thankfully, he wasn't violent, but anxious, agitated, and was seeing things... and he didn't want to keep his blanket on or stay in bed. I lost track of how many times I had to take hold of his shoulders and gently but firmly push him back on the pillow..... or bed a couple of times that he actually got out. I and another coworker tried to keep up a steady conversation with him to keep his mind off of leaving. I'd hand him his water glass in between pushing him back onto his back.

  It was a sad situation. Here was a young man who served his country, and now he was out of it. I had never been around someone dealing with that. I have seen people high on drugs, but this wasn't drugs. I have been praying for him ever since that he would get back to normal, and that he would find the God who can heal his mind. And I silently thanked him for his service as he lay there in that hospital bed.

4) The man praying at the pizza shop

  Also on the same Saturday, two of my nieces came down after I got home, and my parents and I took them out to the pizza buffet here in our town. Just as we were sitting down, a man walked in with 4 kids and sat near us. He didn't look old enough to be the father of all of them, but possibly was there dad. He was wearing a sleeveless muscle shirt and had a large tattoo on his one bicep. The unshaven look, a ball cap, and blue jeans rounded out his ensemble. He smiled and said hi to us as he walked past our table.

 I am not big on tattoos, and don't believe Christians should get them.... and I have reasons. No, I am not saying you can't be a Christian and get tattoos..... I just have reasons I think it is a bad idea for Christians to get them.

  So we get our salad and soup since there is no pizza out yet, and this man and his kids also did. We bowed out heads and I prayed for our food. As I started to eat my salad, my eyes fell on the man and his kids. Just as I glanced their way, he removes his hat and said "OK, let's pray for our food."

 Later as I walked past their table on my way back from the bathroom, I stopped at his table and told him I appreciated them praying for their food, and said I liked to see that. He thanked me and said "it's all about Jesus!"

  Yeah, I know. I am guilty of pigeon holing people and making assumptions. To look at this guy, he sure didn't look like the type who would remove his hat and pray for his food in a restaurant..... but he did.


  This is a different type of thing than I usually write, but these people all have made an impression on me in this last week. May I live my life in a way that I make a positive impression on those I interact with and who cross my path.

A note about comments

   I got a couple of lovely comments from some anonymous person yesterday on a blog post I did recently on memes that I hate. It was a post I did for fun about Facebook memes that bug me. I hesitate to put the comments here, as I don't want to give him a platform for his insulting and ridiculous comments, but yet I want to use them as an example of why I moderate comments:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Meme/picture hate": 

"This post sounds like you just whining about stupid stuff on the internet like a teenage girl on her period. Just don't look at them. In fact I should be doing the same thing." 


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Meme/picture hate": 

"Wow "visible after approval." I guess you are really insecure about other's opinions. 

Your whole blog is literally doing the opposite of bringing people to God, by the way.

You should be using a more persuasive technique rather than whining on a blog."

  I have the comments set up so that I have to approve them before they show. It is not that I am insecure, as the person claimed:

I get a lot of SPAM comments that have nothing to a blog post, or is a link to sell something or direct people to another website.

A second reason I moderate, is because of people like this anonymous commenter. I can handle polite disagreement. I have approved comments by anonymous and registered users who disagreed with me..... but if a person is so cowardly to hide behind an anonymous i.d. and make insulting and degrading comments.... I am not approving them. If you're going to insult me and be ignorant, at least say who you are and come out of your closet of cowardice.

  This IS my blog. I will post what I want on here. I have posted funny stuff, rants, pet peeves, political, religious, and other issues....I am not bound to post on any certain issue. And I am not bound or required to approve all comments. End of story,

Creating our own giants

   I am reading an interesting book titled "Jesus and the Beanstalk". I haven't gotten very far in it, but am already finding the book helpful and encouraging. There is something the author said in the last chapter I read that has stuck with me:

"In a land of giants,  too often we Christians spend so much time contemplating our opponents and weighing the odds,  we defeat ourselves.  The odds are always in favor of the giant, but odds don't win battles. Ask David."

   As I have thought on this, the thought hit me, how often to we create our own giants? There is an age old saying "don't make mountains out of molehills", and more often than not, many of us make something a bigger issue or worry than it should be, and next thing we know we are facing a giant and cowering in fear from something we helped create.

 A personal example: about 15 years ago, I bought a small house here in the same town I am living in. I switched jobs a few years later, and wasn't getting enough hours, especially during the winter. I started using credit cards for necessary and unnecessary purchases and got in over my head. I never got behind on my house payment, but I got behind on other things. I sold the house, moved away, and eventually filed bankruptcy. After I moved back to Ohio, I moved in with my parents and put most of my belongings in storage. I have needed my own place for too long, but for a while finances and poor credit kept me from doing anything, but lately it has been fear. I have created a giant so big of fear of failing again, fear that I'll get my own place and not be able to afford it after all, fear that I'll get sick and won't be able to work..... and more. Goliath would have nothing on this giant I have created.

  At the suggestion of a friend, I have started looking to buying my own place again....and the giant is starting to grow again:

What if I can't get approved for a loan, even though my credit is good again?

What if I lose my job after buying a house?

Can I really afford it?

What if I get a house and it needs something major that I can't afford?

Will I have money for Christmas gifts and other things?

Can I really stand on my own two feet again, or will I fail?

Will I have to eat Ramen noodles for the rest of my life?

  There are other fears and worries that add on to this ever growing giant. Others may look at me and think I am nuts for having these worries, and maybe they are right. I don't have enough confidence in myself, but where is the line between that and not trusting God?

  David had 5 smooth stones, but took Goliath down with one. So what are the stones I can use?

1) Prayer

2) Trusting God

3) The fact that I am making almost $3 an hour more than when I bought my first house...and I had no problem til I switched jobs (and a house I'm looking at is the same price as the one I previously owned)

4) A good credit score

5) Hope

   The biggest thing I have on my side is God. If I pray for His will, and find the place I believe He would want - and yes, I believe it matters - then I shouldn't have any worries. A quote in a fiction novel I read comes to mind, A man was doubting God could work something out, and his friend said "Why don't you make a list of the things you believe God can do for you so He knows not to do the things you don't believe He can do...."Ouch. Maybe the biggest problem we have in creating and then defeating our giants, is we don't trust God enough and we try to do it in our own strength.

  And I am not saying in this post that every giant we face is one of our own making, but I do believe all too often we create the giant by making the issue bigger than it really is, and by letting our fears and worry add to it. If we trusted God more, maybe we wouldn't face so many giants, and maybe they wouldn't be so big to us.

God, the founder of complementarianism

I was recently labeled a word I had no clue about. A while back, a blogger referred to my and others' views as complementarianism. Don't feel bad if you don't know what that means...I had to look it up...... and spell check keeps flagging it as a misspelled word.

It means:
Complementarianism is a theological view held by some in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, that men and women have different but complementary roles and responsibilities in marriage, family life, religious leadership, and elsewhere. The word "complementary" and its cognates are currently used to denote this view.

  I read that, and thought, "uh, so this is me.....and what is the problem with being that?"

  To the feminist movement, this is a dirty word. This feminist ideology is creeping into the church. There are men and women in the church who don't believe men and women should have different roles in the home, church, or in life in general. They slam the "patriarchism" of the Bible,(hmm, spell check doesn't think that is a word either.....maybe it isn't..) and they seem to resent the fact that God made man the head of the household and gave men and women differing roles and gifts.

  One of their "favorite" verses is in Ephesians 5 22-24 where women are told to submit themselves to their husbands....and yet, as some have pointed out, the man is given the more difficult thing to do in verse 25:
For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God's word.

  Which is asking more, to ask wives to submit, or asking men to love their wives as Christ loved the church? Obviously the latter, but you'd think this verse ordered the death of all women the way they react to this verse. And the truth of the matter is, if husbands obey the command in this verse, their wives are going to be treated very well and will have no worries about their husbands being overbearing.

 Here are some inconvenient facts for people who hate complementarianism:

God created man first.

God created woman as a help meet for man, not the other way around.

God uses the masculine pronoun all throughout the Bible.

Jesus, God in the flesh, came in the form of  man, not a woman.

God inspired men to write the Bible, not women.

The requirements for church leaders given in the New Testament are all aimed at men.

Men are the ones God ordered and intended to be the breadwinners in the family, not women.

    The truth of the matter is, "patriarchism" is all through the Bible. God set it up for men to be in charge, to put it bluntly. God made men and women differently. Our bodies are different, and typically men are stronger and built to handle more than the average woman...yet women have abilities and things they are good at that the average man does not possess. It doesn't bother me that women are better at a lot of stuff than men, and that there are jobs that employ women more than men.

  There are even some Biblical cases of women doing something that men could most likely not have done:

Jael: this woman is briefly mentioned in the book of Judges. The captain of the Syrian army was on the run, and this woman gave him some milk offered him a place to sleep and hide. As he slept, she drove a tent peg through his head. A man could never have gotten that close to this man to be able to kill him so easily.

Esther: It is difficult to imagine a man accomplishing what Esther did. God had her in the right place at the right time, and no man could have been able to sway the king the way she did.

 And there are other women in the Bible that God used and who had important roles: Lydia, Mary, Ruth, Hannah, and more. God even used Deborah in a way He typically used men, because the man for the job didn't want it.

  For the most part, women are better home makers, are more understanding, compassionate, better cooks, better at sewing and craft type things. They tend to be better at nurturing and are usually the more active parent in their children's lives. There are jobs they are better at than men, and roles they have that they excel at more than men.

  And yet, it seems the feminists want to be just like men, and do everything men do. They aren't content to fill their God-given roles, and do what God gave them abilities and talents to do. They want to dress like men, act like men, do every job men do, talk like men, rule over men.They  resent men for daring to be different and better at anything than them, and they seem to  hold a resentment towards God Himself for daring to set up a "patriarchal" system in the Bible.

   I'm not married, or ever will be. There's that inconvenient issue of my not being attracted to women that gets in the way of that happening... but if I were married, I'd do my best to love my wife as Christ loved the church. I'd pamper her, help her with the cooking and other household duties. I'd die before I became one of those wussy guys who stay at home while his wife was the main breadwinner.

  I am a traditional old-fashioned guy who believes there are jobs women shouldn't do, and jobs men shouldn't do. Some of what I believe may line up with Scripture, and there are those who would argue that....... and some of it may be my own ideas. I don't believe a woman pastor is Biblical, but the Bible does indicate there were women evangelists and prophets, so it seems that God does give women the gift of preaching, but not of pastoring a church.

  I have sat under many women Sunday School teachers, women evangelists, and other women speakers in my life. I am not anti-women.... I just believe the Bible clearly shows men and women are totally different, and He has given them different roles, gifts, abilities, and jobs..... and the church operates best when we fulfill the roles God has for us.

  And maybe the strongest women are those who don't resent men and fulfill the role God has for them in the home and church.

Brothers and Sisters

Verse 1
Because of you, I've had the chance to see
What it means to stand strong for the things that you believe
Because of you, I've grown in my faith
I'm learning how to love with a tender grace
Guess God always knows perfectly
Just what we need, He's made us family

Chorus:
Brothers and sisters, standing side by side
Hand in hand together through the best and worst of times
We're there for one another, whatever life holds in store
Brothers and sisters, brothers and sisters in the Lord

Verse 2
Can't count the times, you knew just what to say
To encourage my heart on the darkest days
Can't count the times I was suddenly aware
That God was on the move, and I was in your prayers
Seems He always knows perfectly
Just what we need, He's made us family

Chorus:
Brothers and sisters, standing side by side
Hand in hand together through the best and worst of times
We're there for one another, whatever life holds in store
Brothers and sisters, brothers and sisters in the Lord

Be not conformed

   I have been thinking about the issue of conforming lately. Romans 12:2 says: And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

    So what does that mean for us living today in 2016? What does not conforming to the world look like? What does conforming to the world look like?


 I looked up the definition of conform, and this is what I found:



1) comply with rules, standards, or laws

2) behave according to socially acceptable conventions or standards

3) be similar in form or type, agree

  The lines between Christianity and the world have become so blurred, that there is barely any difference anymore. But who blurred them? God didn't.... and I don't believe we can say the world did it either. The only other option is the church and Christians.did the blurring. There was a day Christians just didn't do certain things, go certain places, wear certain things....but the church as a whole has conformed to the world to such an extent, that the Christians who dare not conform are hated and treated as badly - and sometimes worse - than the world they refuse to conform to.

  Contrary to liberal Christianity, we do NOT have to conform to the world. We do NOT have to do what the world does. And we do NOT have to be OK with everything the world or liberal Christianity does and embraces.

  This 2016 Christianity that is becoming so popular seeks to quiet anyone who doesn't go along with it. If you dare stick to the Bible or Biblical principles, you are called hateful, bigoted, and worse. If you dare disagree with something or even worse dare to suggest it is something a Christian should not do, you are judgmental and a Pharisee.

  To be looked on favorably by the world and liberal Christianity, you must:

1) Be OK with tattoos and piercings... no matter how extreme or how many.

2) Not believe the Sabbath is any different than the rest of the week.

3) Agree that homosexuality is normal, OK, and that the Bible does not truly condemn it.

4) Be OK with all immodesty, and not even call it immodest

5) Vote for the candidate of your political party, no matter what kind of person/candidate they are and no matter what their values or morals are.... or are not.

6) Be OK with movies like 50 Shades of Grey and Christians who go to see them.

  And more. (And no, I am not un-Christianizing anyone for conforming to these things)

   If you ask the average Christian what they believe a Christian should not do, it would be a short list. Judging would most likely make the top of the list. Murder, stealing, and adultery would make the list....and a few other "bad" sins..... but it would be a short list.

  I have had a lot of pressure lately to conform.

There are people pressuring me to conform to the :"gay is OK" ideology. To toss out what the Bible says, embrace the attractions and desires I experience, and believe that you can be gay and Christian.

There are people pressuring me to conform politically. They expect me to set aside my morals, beliefs, common sense, and go against my conscience to vote for someone I feel I cannot and should not.

There is constant pressure to shut up, accept everything the world and liberal Christianity is doing, and just be OK with whatever comes along, no matter how immoral, obscene, crazy, or extreme.

  But Christianity was founded by nonconformists. Jesus Himself refused to conform, and all through the centuries, and even now in some countries, Christians have been persecuted and killed.... and for what - for conforming? No.... for refusing to conform to the Church when it was wrong, kings and other rulers, and even others who profess to follow Jesus.

  My Christian walk has a been a long and winding one. I have reached a point in my life that I believe I am following God's will and law for my life, and not anyone else's or anything else's. I don't see myself better than anyone, and do believe it is OK to look at something and believe it is something a Christian should not do... whether it be something like tattoos or voting for certain candidates.

  Christians here in America will never suffer any persecution or hardships for conforming. The persecution and hardships will come for not conforming, Christianity is a relationship with God, and it is a religion for nonconformists.

  And if you disagree, then how does this verse apply to us today, and what exactly does it mean.... or is it one we toss aside because it isn't convenient?

Dear Republican Party.... I am breaking up, and it isn't me.... it's you

Dear Republican Party, it is time we broke up. It's not me, but you. You have been steadily getting further and further from my values, morals, and what is important to me. You have become so much like the Democrats that it is hard to tell you apart.

  I guess the nomination of Donald Trump was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back........ but he isn't the problem, but just one of many symptoms of how bad you have gotten to be. You are no longer the "Grand Old Party", and it is time you admit it.

   Time after time, I and other Christians and conservatives have voted for you, and time after time you have let us down. You promise us things, but like the carrot dangled in front of the donkey, we never get what is promised......we just keep following you along hoping you fulfill your promise this one time..... and you never do.

  We are like a prostitute that you have used and toss aside until the next time you need us. Just as the man cheating on his wife with a mistress, you have no intention of ever leaving what is truly important to you and giving us what we want and need.

You say you are pro-life, but never do anything to hinder or stop the murder of innocent babies.

You say you are for traditional marriage, but never do anything to protect the rights of Christians.

You say you are against Obamacare and will end it, but you never have and never will.

   In the last eight years, you have stepped aside and let Obama do pretty much everything he wants. You control the money, the House, and Senate, but you'd think the Democrats are in charge.........and would anything be different if they were?

 It is becoming increasingly clear to we who are awake that all you care about is money and your positions. You don't care about our rights, our values, or anything that is important to us.

  Rush Limbaugh has told a story several times about being at a Republican bash several years ago. Some prominent Republicans brought up Christians. They were wondering what to do about us.... they admitted they want and need our votes, but are sick of our morals and values. I believe him. It is obvious that we Christians are only valuable to the Republicans for our votes. Most of them have never had any intention of doing what we want them to do.

  And can I be blunt? We are pretty stupid. Every election, the Republicans put up a candidate that is less than ideal, but is better - or perceived better - than the evil and ungodly Democrat. They know that no matter how horrible their candidate is, we Christians and conservatives will do as they want us to do and vote for the candidate as long as we think they are better than the Democrat.

  The nomination of Donald Trump has awakened me. This man supported Hillary for years, was friends with her, and said she'd make a great president...... I can't be naive enough to think he has changed. Add to that his vulgarity, serial adultery, his strip clubs, his thin skin, the way he treated his Republican competition and their supporters, and more..... I am unconvinced he is any better than Hillary Clinton. For many of us, the Republican Party has finally put up a candidate that we can't be fooled into thinking they are the lesser of two evils.

  And why would I want to vote for evil anyway? As a Christian, I honestly feel I can't vote for the man. And that aside, I'd have to be an idiot to vote for him knowing what I know, and seeing and hearing what I have from him..... and no, I am not calling anyone an idiot who is voting for him. I said that I would have to be an idiot.

  I have checked into changing my registration to Independent..... but unfortunately in Ohio, you can only change your party during a primary election..... but mark this down, I will do it. I no longer identify as a Republican, and I will make this break-up final at the next primary election. You have fooled me too many times, and have demonstrated that you don't care about what I want.......if this was a dating relationship, I would have dumped you long ago, but the time has gone, Good-bye you pathetic excuse for a political party. I have never been more ashamed to be called a Republican.