On our way to Branson for a meeting and some Feast of Tabernacles business. After that, we’re off to Texas!
For now, though, I thought I’d wrap up my earlier post by relating (believe it or not) yet another dream featuring the President.
In this one, he was meeting with leaders of the two parties to hear their ideas for a national energy policy. Oddly, the more liberal policy was presented by Ellen DeGeneres while the conservative policy was presented by Valerie Bertinelli. Thankfully, I was nowhere to be found. 
I suppose dreams are like movies: the sequels rarely match the originals…
Clearly, I’ve got to stop listening to so much talk radio and better ignore the television programs showing in local waiting rooms. (At least it wasn’t Tyra Banks, in which I think I would have woken up screaming.)
And I’m sure this is not the worst of it: “Chaos, arm-twisting gave Pelosi win”
Politics is nauseating, no matter who’s in charge.
(For those who don’t get the title, thank Otto.)
Had the weirdest dream this morning! For some reason, I was doing some work that required me to be in President Obama’s office early in the morning. After discovering me there, he asked me to walk with him as he went through his day (which, oddly, wasn’t very busy for the putative Leader of the Free World).
As we went through the day, he asked me my thoughts on his administration, policies, etc. I used the opportunity to explain that I did not think Socialism and Statism were the cures to America’s true ills, but neither did I think that unrestrained Capitalism and pure “Free Market” doctrines held the solution, either. I explained that America needs to <em>repent of its sins</em> and that <em>this</em> was the real key. I also discussed America’s place in prophecy for a while and what Scripture said was ahead for the country and the world.
At that point, the President objected to the idea of national repentance, saying something similar to what I (and many others) had seen from the YouTube clips of one of his speeches (available here; though, as always, let the surfer beware) — mainly the stuff in the beginning. (Actually, that speech deserves more discussion time, and not, I think, for reasons that might be obvious to most. That aside…) In the dream I simply responded, “Mr. President, for those willing to take the first step, God can show how to take the next. For those unwilling to take the first, all the steps that follow will remain a mystery.” (Or something like that.) Then I mentioned examples from some of the reigns of ancient Judah, in which God pulled the nation back from disaster after moments of repentance, however incomplete and temporary those moments may have been.
About that time I woke up. Weird dream to be sure, but one that I have to admit that enjoyed.
Not much time to write, but I wanted to say that I am back from the Missouri LYC pre-teen camp!
For those who came and served, you have my thanks. Of the three years that I have served as the director of the camp, I definitely believe that this was the best year that we have had, yet! And many of those who have been involved with the camp much longer than I have been said that it was the best year EVER. All the credit goes to our wonderful God who truly blessed the camp this year in so many wonderful ways. Of course, God often communicates those blessings through human instruments, and I must say that this year our staff was absolutely phenomenal. Thanks to all of you for letting God work in you to serve the children and families of His Church in such a beautiful and wonderful fashion. If these kids take home with them the examples they saw and the lessons they were given and make those things a part of their lives, they will be truly blessed, as will their families.
My thanks, as well, to those who volunteered funds and food for our camp. I am still reconciling the receipts, and yet it is already clear that this year’s camp has cost the Church less than ever — perhaps nothing at all! Can’t wait to find out later today.
And my thanks to all who prayed to God for our success! He truly did provide in abundance.
It will take a while to dig out from “camp stuff” and settle those lingering final matters that remain, so I may not be posting for a while. (Though when I do, this nifty iPhone 3G S I now hold in my hands may make it a little easier!)
As sundown approaches, let me offer this Sabbath-related item for some light reading…
Those of us who keep the biblical seventh day Sabbath are often accused of being like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day — as if striving to obey one of God’s commandments is somehow a spiritual crime. The passages in Mark 3:1-6 & Mark 7:1-23 (and their parallel passages) in which Jesus confronts the Pharisees and the scribes on their misunderstanding and misapplication of the Sabbath are often cited, though our critics rarely seem to understand or, at least, explain those passages properly. (E.g., Mark 7 may speak powerfully against Easter, Christmas, and Sunday-keeping, but not against the Sabbath — but that’s a post for another day.)
However, that does not mean that a burden-making approach to the Sabbath does not still exist. Exhibit A: “Dial up with teeth, no Sabbath desecration” — a June 10, 2009 UPI article out of Jerusalem that seems as though it was crafted to illustrate those very passages.
Feel free to check it out by clicking on the link, and have a wonderful Sabbath. (And for those who will be traveling Sunday to our Living Church of God pre-teen camp, be careful!)
Quick hit, today. For those who have heard about America’s dangerous exposure to an EMP attack but who may not have fully understood what that means or how devastatingly dangerous the possibility really is, this short video excerpt from the Heritage Foundation, avaiable from the Wall Street Journal online might be informative — and very sobering.
WSJ Online, Film Excerpt: “33 Minutes”
Could such an attack be used to “break the pride of [our] power” (Lev. 26:19)? Hmmm…
My congregations have heard me go on and on about Exodus 19, trying to paint a picture with my words of that incredible scene…
Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.
And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.
And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice.
Exodus 19:16-19 (NKJV)
Then today, I came across these amazing pictures of the May 3, 2008 eruption of the volcano in Chaiten, Chile. Looking at them, I could not help but think of this passage. Check them out yourself by clicking on the link below — I have it keyed to photo number 2, but there are a total of 7, and once you are there you can go forwards and backwards to look at them all. (I’d simply copy & paste them here, but they are the UPI’s property.)
http://www.upi.com/News_Photos/features/Chile-Volcano/246/2
You can enlarge the pictures by clicking on “Enlarge” at the lower right of the page. Awesome stuff.
Know of some cooler pictures? Feel free and link to them below…
“Watt’s Up With That?” is a great blog that I enjoy viewing on occasion. It is an anti-global warming site, though one of the more intelligent that I’ve come across, and — regardless of what you think of the subject — Anthony Watts does a great job of pointing out some of the errors of “groupthink” in his field.
Yesterday saw a nice entry (“Another scientific consensus bites the dust”) in which he highlights the discovery that something taught for quite some time — about Earth’s magnetic field protecting our atmosphere in a way that Mars and Venus do not experience — is apparently completely wrong. And, discovering this was apparently a simple matter of a few scientists getting together to compare notes.
I used to love science and loved thinking that scientists have everything figured out. Now I still love science, but I enjoy it more when we discover that some old ideas need to be thrown out for new ones, so stories like this always get my attention.
For GW supporters and skeptics, alike, I consider Anthony Watt’s blog to be must reading for those serious about the subject. I mention it here simply for your consideration.
Well, my past and present collide in this Bloomberg article passed on to me last week (but buried under many other e-mail items) by Mr. Don Davis: “Darth Vader Lures British Voters Seeking to Punish Lawmakers” (6/3/2009).
The article is actually more informative than the title may indicate to some. It starts off by mentioning the political activities of David Prowse, the man who wore the Darth Vader suit for the first three Star Wars films (Episodes IV, V, and VI, for the understandably confused) and whose voice was dubbed over by the deep tones of James Earl Jones:
Darth Vader dreamed of ruling a galaxy far, far away. For Dave Prowse, the actor who played him, it would be enough to get Britain out of the European Union.
Prowse says later, “[Darth Vader would] want a dominant part in trying to keep Britain Britain.”
The article itself focuses on the growing dissatisfaction amomngst the British with their MPs as revelations of scandal and financial impropriety continue to rise. One poll even reported that, among those surveyed, “46 percent of adults agreed with the statement that ‘most MPs are personally corrupt.’”
Those standing to gain the most are several minority parties, such as the UK Independence Party, and those who express a strong anti-EU sentiment.
I do believe that Bible prophecy indicates that the UK will find itself outside the European Union in some significant manner — either in actuality or in “spirit” — that will better enable the EU to turn on the British.
I just didn’t know that Darth Vader would have anything to do with it.
