Economics 101

Not Lawyers, But Lovers

Someone has observed that God has not called us to be lawyers, but lovers.

We in the Church of Christ have developed some strange concepts of Christ’s law. We seem to conceive of a system of law half revealed and half concealed in biography, historical accounts, treatises, personal letters, and prophecy. Clues to the laws are scattered through these writings to be discovered, pieced together, and interpreted by studious lawyers of the Word. We must not trust anyone else for this, we are cautioned, though his talents, training, and dedication may be much greater than ours. We must become lawyers ourselves. Lack of literacy or academic training is no excuse.

It is like a child’s puzzle - a maze. If you are astute enough, you can be among the spiritually elite who are able to work their way through the maze. But if you make a wrong turn, which most religious people presumably have done, then you will find yourself in the dead end of eternal punishment. That is the verdict, at least, the lawyers of the Word render as they put on their robes and sit in judgment of all others. The majority of the most learned, sincere, and devoted students of the Word are lost in the interpretive maze, while lots of us simple folk breeze right on through to eternal glory.

Such an approach to interpretation as I have described has been drilled into us for most of this century. How appalling! How sad!

From the book “Free In Christ” by Cecil Hook.

The most valuable book I ever read. It changed the whole direction of my life.

Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less.

Posted by RedPlanet Artist @ 10:16 am

Investor’s Business Daily: Crude Scapegoats.

It’s now a cliche: fat-cat oilmen control our destiny by holding back supplies, letting prices soar, then pocketing the profits. But if any fat cats are to blame for the energy crisis, it’s those on Capitol Hill.

Funny how so few, especially our friends in the mainstream media, seem to notice Congress is the culprit. When it’s not stopping the development of the energy resources we need, it’s busy demonizing the very entities — such as the oil companies — that can go get them…

That oil has surged to $130 a barrel is no surprise: The supply is shrinking. Yet, Congress refuses to let our oil companies tap the massive assets that lie offshore and under our mountains — reserves that dwarf what we have today.

Our Outer Continental Shelf contains as much as 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of gas, according to the U.S. Minerals Management Service. That’s more than 10 times the oil and 20 times the natural gas we use each year.

Then there’s oil shale. At least 1 trillion barrels of crude — possibly as many as 2 trillion — lie in formations across the Rocky Mountains and into Canada. “This,” the Institute for Energy Research said recently, “is more than seven times the amount of crude oil reserves found in Saudi Arabia, and enough to meet current U.S. demand for over 250 years.” Yet we don’t want to disturb it.

And then, of course, there’s the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Since 2000, U.S. oil consumption has increased roughly 750,000 barrels a day. If we had started drilling in ANWR back in 1995 — when President Clinton and congressional Democrats joined to kill it — we’d have an extra 1 million barrels of oil a day now.

The problem is clear: We now pump about 5 million barrels on our own and import 12 million, making us vulnerable to market blackmail by foreign producers. As recently as 1985, we pumped 9 million on our own and imported just 4.3 million.

This is our energy deficit, created by congressional incompetence and inaction. It’s time to stop the blame and start the drilling.

Bush weighs new measures to help stimulate economy

President Bush is considering new measures to help stimulate the battered economy, the White House said Friday as unemployment and oil prices soared and Wall Street sank. White House counselor Ed Gillespie said Bush’s advisers are constantly looking at options for new economic proposals.

HOW ABOUT American Workers, working in American Factories powered by American hydrocarbons, manufacturing American products!

John McCain’s Idea Of Change

Does this look vaguely familiar?

I kid you not, this was taken directly from the McCain web site. Underneath the picture are these words:

“The choice is between the right change and the wrong change; between going forward and going backward.”

I may be wrong, but if McCain wants to promote himself as “the right change” a good place to start might be by not ripping off his opponents logo and slogan.

From the “desperado”

Four More Years

Young Hillary Clinton

Three minutes worth you time!

Thanks to Jim Miller

How can you trust the Democrats to follow the law? They can’t even follow their own rules.

A Fish Tale

Some time ago, as I sat listening to Dr. Hillery Motsinger talk about the Family Upreach ministry ( a Christian ministry to prison and jail inmates and their families ) my thoughts were prompted by what he called “a fish tale.” As he related the story of a young woman who had been reached in prison through the Family Upreach ministry I was reminded of some very early fishing lessons at the side of my grandmother.

It seems that after the young woman was out of prison and living for a while with a Christian lady it was decided that it was time for her to get a job and a place of her own. Immediate panic set in and the young woman disappeared. A decision made for her and not by her had made her so afraid of those she had trusted that she fled.

It was as Hillery compared the lesson he learned on this occasion to a fisherman knowing when and how to “set the hook” that I thought of my grandmother’s ability to snag those brim and perch out of Starks’ pond. She knew what bait to use, how to present it, and had the patience to let the fish make the choice. I used the same bait, presented it on the same hooks, but always seemed to jerk that hook right out of the fish’s mouth.

Jesus said, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matt 4:19)

From the apostle Paul we can learn:

What bait to use - “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1 Cor 2:2)

And how to present the hook - “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” (1 Cor 9:22)

When we truly understand the bait and how the hook works we will know as Paul also knew, not to “jerk the hook.” “But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. {9} Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.” (1 Cor 8:8-9)

When we have to have our own way in matters that don’t really matter, aren’t we just “jerking the hook.”

Do you know any fish with scars in their lips? I do.

Just A Christian

Comedian Emo Philips tells a story.

“In conversation with a person I recently met, I asked, ‘Are you a Protestant or Catholic? ‘

My new acquaintance replied, ‘Protestant.”

I said, ‘Me, too! ‘What franchise?’

He answered,’Baptist.’

‘Me, too!’ I said. Northen Baptist or Southern Baptist?’

“Northern Baptist,’ he replied.

‘Me, too!’ I shouted.

We continued to go back and forth. Finally I asked, Northern conservative fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1879 or Northern conservative fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1912?’

He replied, ‘Northen conservative fundamentalist Baptist, Great Lakes Region, Council of 1912.’

I said, ‘Die, heretic!”

Thomas Campbell found himself a member of the Old Light, Anti-Burgher, Seceeder branch of the Presbyterian church of Scotland when he decided to be simply a Christian. In the same way, you and I might be sitting on our usual pew when we decide to quit thinking of ourselves as a member of the “Pro-Cooperation, Amillennial, Weekly Communion, Immersionist, Acappella, Restoration Movement Church of Christ! (Please understand that I am using this as if it were a distinctive name of some kind!) and we begin to be a citizen of the entire church - all the way to the very edge of the borders!

Pat Lorenz - thanks for the memories!

There are some people you meet in life that just make life more enjoyable. Here was one.

Pat (McCloud) Lorenz

Pat (McCloud) Lorenz, age 79, passed away Monday, May 26, 2008, in Seguin, Texas. She was born 50 miles northwest of Fort Worth in Bryson, Texas, on August 14, 1928. She moved to Stockdale, Texas, after her father became superintendent of schools, where she met and married her husband, R.W. “Wade” Lorenz. After receiving her master’s degree from the University of Houston, she moved to Lake Jackson, where she taught high school in the Brazosport school system for 22 years. Upon their retirement, Pat and R.W. moved back to the country outside of Stockdale, where she wrote a popular newspaper column under the pen name “Noe Ed Awl.” Pat will be remembered for her overwhelming generosity, her appreciation of nature and her unrivaled pecan pies.

Pat was preceded in death by her parents, Oliver and Annie Laurie McCloud; her husband of 53 years, R.W. Lorenz; and her sister, Sally Ann Hagerty.

She is survived by her son, Clay Lorenz of Seguin; her sister-in-law, Betty Bird of Austin; and numerous close friends and cousins.

Visitation will be held at Finch Chapel from 2 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, May 28, with the family receiving friends from 6 to 8 p.m.

Service will be Thursday, May 29, 2008, at 3:00 p.m. at Christ United Methodist Church, Stockdale, with Pastor Carolyn McGuire to officiate.

Interment will follow at Stockdale Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to Christ United Methodist Church at P.O. Box 247, Stockdale, TX 78160.

You are invited to sign the online guest book at www.finchfuneralchapels.com.

Finch Funeral Chapel, L.L.C., P.O. Drawer 69, 400 S. Fourth St., Stockdale, TX 78160. (830) 996-3811 or fax (830) 996-3805.