Now That's Bile!

The Rev. Fred Phelps is at it again. The man who gave the world "godhatesfags.com" is presenting his newest target, Lady Gaga. That's right, now if we believe the good Reverend, God is taking time out of his busy schedule to hate a pop singer.

Can't blame him though, according to Rev. Phelps quoting Jeremiah 3 she has "a whore's forehead and refuses to be ashamed." Well, if that isn't enough reason to hate the woman...

He declares that Lady Gaga hates her fans and at the end of his press release says "You're going to hell." I'm guessing he means the singer, not everyone who downloads the press release.

Just so that the gist of the press release is not lost on the minions of Satan, er, the people of St. Louis, the Westboro Baptist Church will picket her concert at St. Louis' Fox Theater on January 10 from 6:30 to 7:30.

Hey, be there or be square!

I don't know what to say, lest this, We are saved by faith though grace. It will matter not how many shows get picketed, or presidents (he picketed Clinton in Fayetteville in the late 90's), or soldier's funerals.

I dare say that presenting a word of hatred, particularly a prophet of God's hatred, will be not only ineffective, but counter productive to the work of God. Still, if Phelps actions can get people into scripture and into the chruch where they can hear the Word of God's grace and peace through Jesus Christ, even this work can be redeemed.

A God that can use the flawed human words of the Rev. Fred Phelps and of me; now that's the work of a powerful God.

NFLPA cannot pay fine if Ochocinco wears No. 15

The-Artist-Formerly-Known-as-Chad-Johnson, Chad Ocho-Cinco, wants to wear the jersey number of his recently deceased teammate Chris Henry. By calling anyone by the name "The-Artist-Formerly-Known-as-" you can imagine that Mr. Ocho-Cinco has a tendency to occasionally be a spectacle. This would be true.

Well, this Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals wide-receiver, number 85, wants to wear the number 15. And the National Football League, the NFL, a group often called the "No Fun League" has rules to prevent this and will fine 85 if he goes ahead and wears 15. They've fined him before and they'll do it again.

The player's union, the NFLPA has offered to pay his fine, but that too is against NFL rules. See this link for details: NFLPA cannot pay fine if Ochocinco wears No. 15. (Even though they can't officially pay it, they have offered to match it, paying the same amount to the NFL as Ocho-Cinco's fine.) A gesture in honor of a man who lost his life gets fined because it's against the rules? Shame on the NFL.

What do I say about this? I say let all of the Bengals come out wearing #15 jerseys, every single one of them; and let the opposing team do the same thing; and let everyone in the NFL do the same thing and let go the dogs of NFL fines.

Mr. Henry wasn't always a good guy. It seemed that he was beginning to straighten his life out, though details of his death may show that there were some speed-bumps along his way. But if a man who lives to draw attention to himself wants to draw attention to a recently deceased teammate, I don't care what the NFL says.

Pay the fine? Shoot, let's see the NFL fine the whole league on Chris Henry's behalf and we'll see who seems more mature in the end.

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This Strikes Me as Odd

This morning I was heading into WalMart to get something for our potluck covered dish dinner after worship today. Leaving, I saw this sign on the door:

Extended Hours

Closed December 24-8:00 pm-

December 26-6:00 am

Here's the question, how does a 24 hour WalMart say that closing 34 hours constitutes "extended hours?" The shame is that the answer is easy. In the past, our WalMart closed at 6:00 pm on Christmas Eve. By closing two hours later on Christmas Eve, our WalMart increases the number of hours open this year by 0.39% over last year.

Please add your own snide or surly comment here.

Hold That Tiger!

If you have been under a rock, you may not know that the best golfer in the world, one Eldric Tiger Woods, has been part of a scandal due to his alleged infidelity.

Whoopie Goldberg, host of "The View" and moderator of their Roundtable segment, has said that she will not comment on the Tiger scandal because it "does not put food on her table."

Whoopie, I must disagree. You host a chat show, one that deals with celebrity, moderating the segment that is loaded with scandal and inuendo. Whoopie, I'm sorry but it does put food on your table. If there's another reason you don't want to talk about it, that's fine, but please own the fact that you do get paid to talk about this stuff. If you don't want to talk about Tiger's stuff, please find a better reason.

Carolyn Gaines

Miss Carolyn Gaines of Berryville, Arkansas died shortly after 3:00 pm on Thursday December 3, 2009. She was a child of God, a joy to be around, and an elder in the church. She will be missed.

I met Carolyn at First Presbyterian Church in Conway, Arkansas in June 2005. She came to the meeting of the Arkansas Presbytery where I was examined to become a Minister of Word and sacrament.

It was a wild day for me. Marie and I had just made it into town from central Missouri the day before. I was just getting done with my examination sermon and its bulletin for the meeting. I was so nervous since I was going to be asked questions by not only the committee, but by anyone else who had a question. I successfully navigated the storm, becoming one of the few (if not the only) candidates in the history of the Presbytery who made the assembly laugh during the exam.

Carolyn and her ride had to get going before the end of the meeting. Carolyn had tremendous circulatory problems, and the ride up and down from Berryville to Conway and back that day were causing havoc on her legs. Before they left, I got to say good bye. Carolyn hugged me and said, "I love you, darling." I said, "I love you too."

That was the moment I became a pastor.

Miss you Carolyn. God bless you as you sing and dance for our God.

A Little Story...

Once upon a time, a rabbit was bounding down the path. Suddenly a bear came out of the trees holding a bunch of leaves in its paw. The bear asked the rabbit, "Do you have trouble with poop sticking to your fur?" The rabbit said, "No, why?" So the bear threw the leaves down, picked up the rabbit, and reached back...

I feel a lot like the rabbit right now.

Living with Regret

Please, cue the maudlin music...

The past couple of months have had more than their fair share of pain and disappointment. Far more than their fair share. Now I sit here staring at my monitor and wondering about all of those things that I wish had never been.

Do you know how some folks say that they live life without regret? In my opinion, people who can live life without regret have either never tried to live life and don't know any better or are so selfish and so far beyond self-reflection that they truly have no sense of regret.

As for me, this sense was overdeveloped and I regret much.

I have hurt people in my life, this is true. I too have been hurt. There are scars on my heart that wrench every time my chest beats. Sorrow and remorse fill me like Billie Holiday, and as she once sang, "Mama may have, and Papa may have, but God bless the child who's got his own."

But here's the thing about remorse. To say that you have no remorse is to say that you are without sin. To say that you have done everything to perfection is to say that you have no need for God. Not good.

Yes, regret is necessary. Regret says that you have failed, it says that you are human. Remorse recognizes we have hurt others, we have sinned against others. It opens the door for us to say that we need Christ in our lives. It opens the door to Christ.

There are a good many mistakes I have made in my life. I live with the consequences of them everyday. But two of these consequences are life in Christ and the love of my wife. Her love itself a gift from God.

These mistakes have made me the man I am today, both for better and for worse.

Thanks be to God. Amen.