Psalm 18:28-29

This has year has been a tough year for me and with the holidays here all of my "garbage" has been weighing on me greatly. The weird thing is I was just surfing around not really thinking what I clicking around on and I stumbled onto my pastor Dave Workman's blog and he quoted Psalm 18:28-29 - “Lord, you have brought light to my life; my God, you light up my darkness. In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall.”

I guess a little Divine intervention going on there...

That verse just connects with me right now as I trudge through my holiday mire, muck or junk. Just wanted to say "thank you" Dave. Your words have made an impact on me.

Another Glenn Beck thingy...

December 16, 2008 - 13:02 ET
GLENN: From WSC in South Carolina, man, it is always good to be in the South. Welcome to the program. We're glad you're here. We just had a guy call. Dan, do you remember where he was calling from? What city was he calling from? Does anybody know, Sarah?

STU: Cincinnati. He was in Cincinnati but he was actually over the river, Glenn. He was over the river and he was in Kentucky. He was a few miles away from Cincinnati. He just wanted to make sure you knew that, he wasn't in Cincinnati.
GLENN: Yeah, he had to point that out to me. All right. So he's south of the Mason-Dixon line. He's in Kentucky, and he said "Your theory of capitalism is flawed." And I said, how's that? He said, "Well, because in your theory even if, if we play this all out to the extreme," he said, "Even if everybody works as hard as they possibly can, gets all the education that they can, there will still be people working at McDonald's." Whoa. Well, first of all, let me say this. I'm sorry that working at McDonald's is so bad. I'm sorry that honest labor now in this country is so bad. I'm sorry -- I hope this guy never eats at McDonald's because you're taking advantage of the disadvantaged. If you believe that, then by working -- by buying anything at McDonald's, you are helping apparently what is slave labor. You're just furthering the evil clown.

Let me ask you this question: If everybody had the most education and everybody worked hard and there were still people working at McDonald's, should we just then have the government go in and abolish McDonald's? Should there only be Ruth's Chris steakhouses? And even if there were Ruth's Chris steakhouses, wouldn't there still have to be people that wait those tables? This is the insanity of people who embrace socialism.

Gang, I told you a year ago that you were going to wake up one day and your country's going to be different. The country is different. Socialism is there. They have suspended any kind of sanity. They are intentionally now trashing our dollar. There's no way else to explain what's going on. Let me -- for those of you who think that it's so unfair that we have to have people that work at McDonald's, let me ask you this: How many people in this country have started behind the counter at McDonald's? I washed pots and pans; I'm rich now. God bless America. There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with it. Only in this country can you become rich and come from nothing. That's the American dream, that you can pursue your dream. Not that you get your dream.

You know, the scariest thing my daughter has ever, ever said to me, and she said this to me and it scared the living daylights out of me because it's what I said. It's one of the reasons why I was an alcoholic and quite honestly a loser for a lot of my life. She said to me, "Dad, I don't think my life is going to work out how I had it planned." I broke into tears. I said, "Honey, you're right. It's not. But that's a good thing. Life never works out the way you planned. It's a journey. It's being able to look at the things that have happened to you and being able to flip them upside down and see them in the proper perspective. There is no bad. There is only things that happen to you, and you choose to make them bad or you choose to grow from there. You choose to learn from your mistakes."

As a guy who refused to learn from my mistakes over and over an over again, you can get so bitter, "Oh, well, I'll never get out. Oh, well, these people are always..." those are loser statements. "They always are trying to keep me down." The only ones that are ever trying to keep you down are not the ones who are saying "Cut the crap." Take everybody out of the path. Let me succeed or fail on my own. Anybody who tries to say, "Oh, well, you need me to help you," that's an enabler. "Oh, you need me."
You know when we really succeed is when we don't need anyone. We choose to engage with others because we know that, man, if I combine my talents with your talents, my self-awareness with your self-awareness, we can really do great things. But when somebody's in a relationship where the other one's like, "Okay, well, you're just too stupid" or you're just whatever, and they are constantly telling you -- remember, what this government is doing is telling you, they are convincing you that you can't do it. That is an abusive relationship! That's mental abuse. If this was a relationship, a husband and a wife and you were the husband or you were the wife and the government was the other spouse and you went to a counselor and you would say to the counselor, "Well, these are the things that my spouse keeps telling me, that I can't do it without them, that I need them, that they'll protect me, that I'm too weak, that I need bailing out, that they'll clear the path," at some point the counselor would look to your spouse and say, "You're abusing them. You are weakening them. You are intentionally implanting that message in their head over and over again constantly 24/7 and you are crippling them." Then the counselor would look to you and say, "Well, now that you know the truth, what are you going to do." And unfortunately, because I see it over and over and over again, the abused always says, "Well, they really do love me and I'm sure they'll change. And they don't mean it that way. And, well, I just don't want to start all over again. Well, I don't know if I can make it on my own. I... I'm better off where I'm at." You know why that happens? People don't like change. No matter how bad it is, they are more afraid of the unknown than the abuse. Don't be afraid of the unknown. That is -- I have to tell you, that's the point, that's the message in the Christmas Sweater, and I see this on a personal level with almost every single person I meet. The people who are not successful are always the ones standing in their own way of success. I meet people -- and I mean this. Every day I meet somebody, whether they are in my industry or somebody else's industry and I meet them and I think to myself, that person is a multimillionaire. Why? Why are they not successful? Why are they struggling? And if I take the time to talk to them, I can see it. They don't believe or they're engaged in some sort of self-destructive behavior. Everybody puts a limit on themselves, and nine out of ten times it's because of arrogance or it's fear. They just think that they're so great, they treat others like garbage. That was my problem for years and years and years, arrogance. But my problem also had the other side: Fear. I was so arrogant because I was so afraid that there wasn't anything real inside of me, and I think most people are like this. They don't think that there's anything really inside of them. They don't think that, "Well, they have these dreams, but those are stupid dreams and I can't talk to anybody about those. I made so many mistakes, I'll never get back, and I'm afraid everybody's going to figure out that I'm really a fraud." All of that stuff is stopping you! And it's all stuff that allows others to have power over you. Don't care anymore. The secret is don't care.

You know, when I'm out on these book signings, I try so hard to listen to the spirit, I try so hard. I look, I try to at least, I look at everybody in the eye. When you come to meet me, we only usually have about five seconds, but I try to really look you in the eye for as long as I can and I can feel it. People break their eye contact from me so fast, and I wish I could just say, "You, go stand on the other side." When they come by, I can see it. They break their eye contact. Some people don't even make contact. They will glance up real quick, but they won't really make eye contact. And I just want to say to them, "You, go stand behind me. I'm going to spend 15 minutes with you afterwards." Because I can tell the ones that don't believe in themselves or are hurt or something is going on inside of them that they don't want to look because they know. It's like they -- whether it's subconscious or not, they can't handle somebody looking in their eye because they know that that person, they think that person's going to be able to see who they really are, and who they really are is not very good. And that's a lie! I can see it in people's eyes. I can see it when they come by and they are the first ones that they are looking at me in the eye before I am and they are walking away and they are turning their body and they are still walking away and they are still looking me in the eye. That person has what they need. But they are afraid. Most people are afraid, and I know. Because you don't know what it is that's inside of you.
Let me tell you what's inside of you: Peace. Happiness. There may not be success in the worldly sense, but that's what's so screwed up about our country right now. Jeez, didn't we learn this on September 11th? Success wasn't money. It wasn't a bigger house. It wasn't a bigger television. Success was happiness. Success was family. The big thing I struggle with, the hardest thing for me to do is to be with my children. It really is. I don't know how to be a good dad. I don't. I struggle with it every single day. But let me tell you something: I'm gonna do it. I spend time with my kids, and my kids know it.

The "Fairness Doctorine".

From "Fusion" magazine by Glenn Beck...

“Our massive strategy was to use the Fairness Doctrine to challenge and harass right-wing broadcasters and hope the challenges would be so costly to them that they would be inhibited and decide it was too expensive to continue.”
Bill Ruder, Assistant Secretary of Commerce in the Kennedy Administration

Conservative talk radio has a big bull’s eye on it, and Dianne Feinstein, John Kerry, Dick Durbin and other Democrats are aiming right for it.
Those politicians are among the people now calling for the reinstate­ment of the Fairness Doctrine, which started back in 1928 as a way to press broadcasters to show “due regard for the opinions of others.”
The idea was that, if someone got on the radio and advocated one side of an issue, stations were obligated to air the opposing viewpoint, or risk losing their license. The policy became law in 1959, but the Supreme Court started repealing parts of it in 1984 and it was completely off the books by 1987.
Over the years, Democrats have continually made noise about bringing the doctrine back, but their attempts have always failed. Rumblings started again last summer, and have become so loud that President Bush said in March he would veto a bill to reinstate if it comes across his desk.
Of course, the politics over the fairness doctrine are entirely due to the politics on talk radio. Let’s face it, virtu­ally all successful talk radio leans conservative. Democrats/progres­sives/liberals who have tried it have almost always failed.
Air America is a high profile example of that, but it’s not the only one. Proponents of the Fairness Doctrine argue that the public is only getting one side of the story and is woefully mis­informed as a result. One such supporter of that idea, Dianne Feinstein, insists that talk radio listeners are pushed to “extreme views without a lot of information.” That being said, she must also think that talk radio listeners are incapable of independent thought. To think that these same radio listeners actually have listened to both sides and still disagree with Democratic principles must be something incomprehensible to her.
Besides, if we’re going down the “viewer zombie” road, then shouldn’t television shows that glorify murder turn us all into crazed killers? Shouldn’t movies that focus on sex turn our kids into nymphomaniacs? Shouldn’t books that bash the President brainwash the whole country into impeaching him?
Of course not, because people aren’t just empty hard drives onto which others can download whatever viewpoint they want. People have their own brains and make up their own minds—which is exactly why networks like Air America always fail.
Regulating the airwaves may have seemed like a good idea seventy years ago, when people could get their news from only a handful of radio frequencies and Al Gore had not yet invented the internet. But it’s very difficult to make that argument in the year 2008.
In this day and age, you have to try hard not to be smothered by political information. In addition to talk radio, our world consists of network and cable television, thousands of newspa­pers, satellite radio, and 24/7 blogs on, what else, the internet.
Besides, it’s really easy to make the case that public information is unbalanced if you ignore a couple of important facts:
· Far more journalists are liberal than conservative. A recent report by the Pew Research Center revealed that only seven percent of journalists identify themselves as “conservative,” while 34 percent identify themselves as “liberal.”
· Our universities are overwhelmingly liberal. Anne Neal, President of the American Council of Trustees, says “the lack of intellectual diversity is the great­est problem facing higher education.” Her study found 72 percent of college professors identified themselves as liberal, while only 15 percent said they were conservative.
A case can be made that conserva­tive talk radio has flourished because it provides balance in a world full of liber­al influence. Talk radio allows listeners to talk back to the New York Times, the mainstream television media and Sean Penn. And radio hosts identify their political ideology right off the bat; there is no attempt to hide under the guise of “unbiased” journalism.
Democrats claim they have no intention of taking conservative radio off the air; they just want to force sta­tions to devote time to the other point of view. The problem with this logic (ignoring for a moment the very blatant potential for abuse, a la the Kennedy administration), is that someone will have to decide what issues need to be rebutted, who can go on the air to rebut them, and for how long and in what for­mat. It’s likely the regulation nightmare and constant complaints will cause sta­tions to refuse to put any commentary on the air that could get them in trouble with the FCC—and that’s exactly what the Fairness Doctrine proponents are hoping for.
What is lost in all this debate is the fact that radio is a free market system.
That’s right, radio stations are businesses. Station owners put on programming that people want to hear.
As a result, they hope to get ratings and, eventually, attract advertising money. You can mandate that a person like Al Franken be put on the radio, but you can’t make people listen to him.
In addition, if Democrats really were concerned with “fair” broadcasting, it would mean that every time Katie Couric (or any “journalist”) makes a pro-Hillary comment or a liberal leaning remark, a conservative would be around to give an alternate point of view. But the Fairness Doctrine would regulate mainly radio; which weakens Democrats’ “fair” argument.
Government control of our airwaves is not reasonable, nor does it have any place in a democracy. We should heed the words of Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), who says listeners should be the driving force of radio: “The best way is to let the judgment of the American people decide, and they can decide with their finger.”
04 BEST

Genuflection?

"The unexamined life is not worth living."

I've always liked that quote. Socrates definitely seems to always hit life's deepest points right on the head. Lately he must be jumping out of his grave and beating me over my head with a shovel for all of the "examining" I've been doing in the past weeks.

It seems with the holidays arriving and certain life-changing events that have happened to me this year have really thrown me into constant state of retrospect and/or genuflect lately.

Where to begin? That is always the "perverbial" question. Yes, a cheesy, ordinary and ill-witted (is that a word?) one but one nonetheless. The problem I always seem to have (now being one of those times) is my mind meanders so much because there is so much crap running through it constantly, flying in and out of my sub-conscious and conscious and it always seems impossible to focus. Okay John... relax. Turn the chaos off and stop thinking. That's what I do when I'm drumming and I get bored. Turn the head off and the heart on. Everything usually falls into place after that. Maybe that's where I'm going with this. I don't know I just wanted to try something new and actually open up a little for once. So I guess I'll start thusly (now that word's funny! Has a kinda quirky lisp to it doesn't it?) I digress... as usual!

I'm new to Christianity and giving my life to Jesus has saved my life. All of the insanity I've lived throughout the years had come crashing down on me back in July and I was on my own "death march" you could say. Not on purpose mind you, just my poor decision making and lifestyle was spiraling me down to the most terrible place I've ever been. I honestly think I have been in Hell.... I wouldn't wish those feelings of loneliness, hopelessness, despair (the list is endless) on ANYONE! I think God intervened because I finally opened up to Him.

The help of wonderful friend got me through this part. She literally pushed me into church and it forever changed me. She told me that "Jesus has been banging at your door for quite some time now and he had to really kick your head in for you to find him. He must have something special in mind for you!"

I started going to the Vineyard which was an incredibly difficult decision for me because I was a staunch agnostic and thought that the Bible and Christianity as I knew it was a complete hypocritical farce. After the first Celebration I attended taught by Joe Boyd , I knew that this wasn't true and I was relieved to find out what the true translations were and how they really touched our lives. I was forever changed and I absolutely love it there! Within less than a month without knowing anyone there and just going by myself the church already had me actively involved with worship service (I run FOH on the tech team) and involved with special functions. Also my life started glueing back together. My friends were asking me "what have you been doing?", "there's something different about you!" "What's this church you've been going to?" Pretty cool for a bunch of reprobate musicians!

I'm far from perfect mind you. These scars of mine are very deep and some are disturbing but with God's direction they slowly seem to heal one little crack at a time. Someone sent me a quote in an email: "Blessed are the cracked, for they are the ones that let in the Light!" Some great words by Spike Milligan (comedic genious and maybe a crackpot) but I love the quote anyways. Yes, I slip, fall, tumble, jump and run from God's path sometimes but God has a way of dragging me by the scruff of my neck back home like the great Dad He is.

I guess I'm still an agnostic in a sense because I question my faith every day. It seems the more I question though the closer I get to God because questioning makes me seek answers. The more I seek for those answers the more I stay on His path! I'm still new at this but it's the one thing I've realized in my life that always stays constant is God's Love.

Wow! I don't know where all of this just went but it's just another unexpected path which seems to be the norm. Never a dull moment in John's world that's for sure!

I know this jumps around and moves fast but it's the quickest I can keep up with my flurry of ideas that overwhelm me when I "open up the faucet" so to speak.

Well, there it is! Some open holes in the discussion but I might discuss them later. Very deep and well.... personal.... Thanks for spending some time with me!
- John