When I started this blog back up a couple of months ago I mentioned it was going to be it an outlet for spiritual frustration. Well, it's finally happened. My level of frustration is starting to go off the scale. So let me vent:
For almost 40 years I (along with my wife Claudia since we married in 1987) have operated an outreach ministry to people who are lost in pseudo-Christian and other religious cults. As a Christian, it really hurts me to see people who have (for whatever reason) wound up in organizations that claim to have God's truth, but plainly twist (or even ignore) God's Word, the Bible. One of the most important things in the Apostle Paul's ministry was his continual striving against false doctrine. And I stand against these groups who distort or pervert the Bible with every fiber of my being.
But, now I'm seeing a new and highly disturbing (and even frightening) trend within the Body of Christ itself. We now have Christians who have taken to the Internet, cable television, books, CDs, DVDs and other media in a deliberate attempt to destroy their brother's unique relationship with Christ, attempting to win them into their own camp.
At this point, perhaps I should make an effort to define who and who isn't in the Christian community, otherwise referred to as the "Body of Christ." I prefer the National Association of Evangelicals definition above all I have seen. Based on Holy Scripture, the NAE lists four points of doctrine that tell us what true Christians should believe. They are:
1. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity...Father, Son and Holy Spirit
2. The doctrine of the Inerrancy of the Holy Scriptures
3. The doctrine of Salvation by grace alone by faith alone through Christ alone.
4. The doctrine of the certain return of Christ at the end of the age.
Perhaps points 2 and 3 would be similar to what is known as the "Five Solas." At any rate, anything beyond these four comes under Augustine's heading of "non-essentials" in which we are allowed liberty in our beliefs.
However, here I return to the shocking trend I have seen over the last several years as Christians attack Christians, and the hatred I have seen spewed of late simply because a brother won't get on the same page in his "secondary" beliefs with another brother.
Having been a member of, or having ministered in, a host of various churches in my life and ministry (Methodist, Baptist, Assemblies of God, Calvary Chapel, Reformed, New Wave, you name it), I think I'm in a somewhat unique position the make these observations. And I do not like what I see. The Baptists are sniping at the Lutherans. The Nazarenes are firing shots at the Pentecostals, and the Charismatics are after everybody. Please people! Listen to Rodney King! Why can't we all just get along? How do you think Jesus feels to see his followers in-fighting like this? I'm sure He's disgusted to the max.
What disturbs me the most is something that happened over 15 years ago, and although I did not think much of it at the time, I'm now convinced it's as dangerous as trying to set off a stick of dynamite in your own hand. I'm referring to the "Cambridge Declaration of 1996."
The Cambridge Declaration appears (at first look) to be a fine document, outlining Biblical doctrine without compromise (and yes, the 5 solas are included). But look deeper. What does it really say? Here's a quote from page 2, under the heading of "Thesis One: Sola Scriptura." It says, "We deny...that personal spiritual experience can ever be a vehicle of revelation." When I read that, I was flabbergasted! And anyone with half a brain in his head realizes by reading these words that they are intended as direct slap in the face of every Pentecostal and Charismatic on the face of the earth (they take on the Catholics in another part of the Declaration, but that is a topic for another time)!
Think a minute about what they are saying. If personal spiritual experience is not a vehicle of revelation, everyone in the Bible from Abraham to the Apostle John had no basis for writing Scripture under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit! Think about it again. ALL that God tells anyone is done through the revelation of personal experience. Are those who signed off on the Cambridge Declaration saying God has never impressed something upon them? Has He never moved them in prayer to learn something of the direction God has for their life? Of course not. For example, when a pastor (who approves of the Cambridge) says something like, "I feel that God would have me begin a new sermon series on Repentance," you have to ask, "how does he know that?" He knows that because (I hope) God told him! In his life, personal spiritual experience has become a vehicle of God's revelation to him.
What really bothers me is the many well known (mostly Reformed) pastors, preachers, lecturers and authors that put their seal of approval on this document. These are men I admired and believed in, but now I'm not so sure (Do names like Alistair Begg, Michael S. Horton, Albert Mohler, R. C. Sproul, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, Sinclair Ferguson, John MacArthur, John Piper and Derek Thomas ring a bell?). I've honored these men, read with enthusiasm their works and also gone to their conferences. Now I'm beginning to wonder.
The Cambridge document is quick to point out that any "revelation" that doesn't line up with the Bible is a false one, and on that score I'm in TOTAL agreement. The Bible is the rule, the plumb line, the final authority in all matters of doctrine. But, when you take the supernatural out of it (i.e. "personal spiritual experience and a vehicle for revelation'), you have reduced Christianity to nothing more than an academic dialog.
Being a white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP), I don't believe I had ever experienced being hurt for being part of a particular group until now. Yes, I am a Charismatic. And yes, I'll feel hurt by what my Christian brothers (albeit from 15 years ago) are saying about my non-essential beliefs. If they want to try to convince me of their position, they're a little late. I've seen too many signs, miracles and wonders performed by God to convince me otherwise. And they've all lined up with Scripture, at least the ones I've witnessed.
A wise man once said, "The man with the experience is never at the mercy of the man with an argument." And never have I felt that truth more than now. I have trouble believing that the 500,000,000 currently living Christians who have experienced the Charismatic Experience have gotten something from the devil. Not when it glorifies Our Lord Jesus Christ so thoroughly.
Am I shooting back at the supporters of the document and doing the very thing I am accusing them of doing? No! Understand me. I'm only saying to ALL my brothers and sisters in Christ -- STOP IT!! Stop the fighting over secondary doctrine. Stop hurting one another and get on with the business of the Kingdom and go out and win the lost!
Monday, July 25, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
A new direction and an outlet for spiritual frustration
Doubting that anybody reads this site, I'm probably only blogging to myself right now, but hopefully that will change via social media (Facebook, etc.).
I haven't blogged in a long while, but I think that may change also. If for no other reason that the fact that I need an outlet for my spiritual frustration.
Between my church (the model of which has been rapidly shifting), my interaction with other Christians and also my job at Christian radio station WHIM (1080 AM, 50,000 watts) in Miami, my brain (and I suspect my spirit, too) is constantly being bombarded with "teachings" from just about every faction in the body of Christ that exists today: Reform Theology, Third-wave Charismata, Fundamentalism, you name it!
Fortunately (I suppose), none of this spiritual strafing has caused me to change my position on the things I believe (with one fairly minor exception, which I'll talk about in another post), but it has left my mind and soul somewhat exhausted from the invasion. And sometimes I have to play my doctrinal beliefs "close to the vest," because of having to work with ministries all over the Christian spectrum. I don't think that even my pastor knows EXACTLY what I believe on every Biblical subject (although I'm sure at least one believer does, and that's my wife). Lately, I feel like I'm waking a fine line between being "Mr. Sanguine" with everyone, and 'holding fast to what I believe without wavering."
A second area of frustration is the fact that I am a preacher and I don't have a real, physical place to preach. Yes, I am a leader in my local church and "lead" a Sunday morning Bible study group, but the interactive format calls for the folks in the group sharing, and very little, if any, preaching. from me.
For both those reasons (the "bombardment" and the lack of a real preaching venue) I'll be venting here soon (if I'm not already doing it). That venting will take the form of discussion on what I believe God has shown me doctrinally, and why. I hope I get enough folks coming here that will comment on all of this (in itself a form of interacting group sharing).
If no one shows up, at least (thanks to this blog) I'll have a pulpit to pound. Hopefully, that will relieve most of the frustration. In the meantime, pray for me. I need it!
I haven't blogged in a long while, but I think that may change also. If for no other reason that the fact that I need an outlet for my spiritual frustration.
Between my church (the model of which has been rapidly shifting), my interaction with other Christians and also my job at Christian radio station WHIM (1080 AM, 50,000 watts) in Miami, my brain (and I suspect my spirit, too) is constantly being bombarded with "teachings" from just about every faction in the body of Christ that exists today: Reform Theology, Third-wave Charismata, Fundamentalism, you name it!
Fortunately (I suppose), none of this spiritual strafing has caused me to change my position on the things I believe (with one fairly minor exception, which I'll talk about in another post), but it has left my mind and soul somewhat exhausted from the invasion. And sometimes I have to play my doctrinal beliefs "close to the vest," because of having to work with ministries all over the Christian spectrum. I don't think that even my pastor knows EXACTLY what I believe on every Biblical subject (although I'm sure at least one believer does, and that's my wife). Lately, I feel like I'm waking a fine line between being "Mr. Sanguine" with everyone, and 'holding fast to what I believe without wavering."
A second area of frustration is the fact that I am a preacher and I don't have a real, physical place to preach. Yes, I am a leader in my local church and "lead" a Sunday morning Bible study group, but the interactive format calls for the folks in the group sharing, and very little, if any, preaching. from me.
For both those reasons (the "bombardment" and the lack of a real preaching venue) I'll be venting here soon (if I'm not already doing it). That venting will take the form of discussion on what I believe God has shown me doctrinally, and why. I hope I get enough folks coming here that will comment on all of this (in itself a form of interacting group sharing).
If no one shows up, at least (thanks to this blog) I'll have a pulpit to pound. Hopefully, that will relieve most of the frustration. In the meantime, pray for me. I need it!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Dave of the Thousand Days
With apologies to "Casablanca" producer Hal Wallis and those others who
helped make the 1969 film "Ann of the Thousand Days," (Richard Burton,
Genevieve Bujold, etc.) you're about to hear the story of "Dave of the
Thousand Days."
Many of you know the life-changing situation I encountered in the late 90s and
early 2000s with a sleep disorder. For the uneducated, I'll briefly recount what
happened, and how it relates to the "Thousand Days."
All my life, I never had one bit of trouble sleeping. I could practically take a nap
on demand anytime of the day. At night, I was asleep as soon as my head hit
the pillow and woke up after 8 hours or so of dreamless sleep, thinking I had
just laid down a moment earlier.
In 1990, I changed jobs and had to be at work at 4:30 in the morning. This
meant going to bed around 8:30 the previous night. Claudia was working long
hours and usually didn't get home until my bedtime. It's hard to keep a
marriage going when a couple is not on the same schedule and never see
each other, so I decided to try something new. I would get home from work
around one o'clock in the afternoon, eat lunch and lay down for a 3 hour nap.
This gave me time to be with Claudia as I would stay up until about 11 o'clock
or so. I went to bed at night whenever I felt sleepy, which varied anywhere
from 10 o'clock to 11:30. I continued sleeping in "two shifts" for the next nine
years. No problem.
Then in June of 1999, one Monday afternoon afternoon, I lay down for my nap
and only slept 90 minutes. I was puzzled, but it didn't worry me. But the rest of
the week, I began to sleep less and less, and by Friday I couldn't nap at all,
and had trouble sleeping at night. I was getting less than 4 hours sleep in a
24-hour period, and by this time I was panicking! I felt like garbage each day.
Some people just feel tired the next day after losing sleep. I was experiencing
almost flu-like symptoms!
After a visit to my doctor, he put me in the hospital and ran three days of tests.
Nothing was wrong. If he had told me that even healthy people get insomnia
occasionally, I would have simply said, "Okay," and the whole thing would have
been over soon. But that didn't happen. But the continued panic did.
The next week, sleep returned and I slept like a rock for the next 8 days. Then
the insomnia hit again. This went on for the next 21 months -- periods of heavy
sleep and periods where I only got 3 hours or so of sleep each night. One
night I only slept 30 minutes!
I was beside myself! I went to a bazillion doctors who tried every type of
anti-depressant medication and seditive you could name (this was in the days
before Sonata, Lunesta and Ambien -- excellent meds!). Life was really
getting tough to handle. I didn't know whether to throw up, wet my pants or
jump out a window! Yes, I'm a Christian. And I prayed and prayed to God for
help, but it felt my prayers were getting no higher than the ceiling. This is
where I learned the lesson God was trying to teach me. It is: He has his
timing, and it's not mine. Isaiah 40 says to wait upon the Lord. It was tough,
and I was learning the hard way. The Supremes, in the summer of 1966, told
us we can't hurry love. And I had to learn you can't hurry God either.
Finally, the Lord led me to an excellent doctor (a former NASA flight surgeon) who had
seen my symptoms before and knew what to do. He diagnosed me as a
"cycling insominiac," a condition distantly related to bipolar disorder. The
prescription he got me on has worked well up to this day. It wasn't just the
medication, though. I had to literally "retrain" myself to sleep. I had to get out
of the panic. It had created a vicious cycle that was fueling most of my
problem. I began to spend a couple of 20-minute periods a day in relaxation
excercises. Not a bodily excercise, but a mental one. Long periods of
good-sleep nights began to return, starting in late March of 2001.
However, I still had occasional "semi-sleepless night," when I would feel like
trash the next day. First, a couple per month, then about 12 a year...then 8 a
year...then 5 a year...3 a year, ect. I kept a sleep log to indicate how many
nights in a row I slept well. First 30 nights in a row was great, then 100 nights in
a row, and it number kept growing. Finally in 2007 I had only two
semi-sleepless nights for the whole year! Then I went the WHOLE YEAR in
2008 sleeping well. Then 2009 (even though a new job had me working
irregular hours). Now it's 2010 and I'm still going strong.
Is there something special about "a thousand days"? I don't know. John F.
Kennedy's presidency is often called "the Thousand Days of Camelot" (even
though he was actually president 1,036 days). Maybe there's something of a
"completeness" to a period of 1,000 days. I usually look to the Bible for such
ideas, but the Scriptures are silent on this one (although Jesus' earthly ministry
was probably about this period of time).
All I know is that as of Thursday morning of this week, I had gone 1,000 days
without a semi-sleepless night. The last one was May 29, 2007.
Will my sleep disorder return? I can't say. I'm still on my medication, but it's
working great. Although I occasionally have a little trouble falling asleep, I
wake up each day fully refreshed, My doctor says at 62-years-old, my immune
system is rock-solid (sleep restores the immune system, you know).
I feel like a million bucks, and I am active and enjoying life. Not bad for an old
man.
Just call me "Dave of the Thousand Days."
helped make the 1969 film "Ann of the Thousand Days," (Richard Burton,
Genevieve Bujold, etc.) you're about to hear the story of "Dave of the
Thousand Days."
Many of you know the life-changing situation I encountered in the late 90s and
early 2000s with a sleep disorder. For the uneducated, I'll briefly recount what
happened, and how it relates to the "Thousand Days."
All my life, I never had one bit of trouble sleeping. I could practically take a nap
on demand anytime of the day. At night, I was asleep as soon as my head hit
the pillow and woke up after 8 hours or so of dreamless sleep, thinking I had
just laid down a moment earlier.
In 1990, I changed jobs and had to be at work at 4:30 in the morning. This
meant going to bed around 8:30 the previous night. Claudia was working long
hours and usually didn't get home until my bedtime. It's hard to keep a
marriage going when a couple is not on the same schedule and never see
each other, so I decided to try something new. I would get home from work
around one o'clock in the afternoon, eat lunch and lay down for a 3 hour nap.
This gave me time to be with Claudia as I would stay up until about 11 o'clock
or so. I went to bed at night whenever I felt sleepy, which varied anywhere
from 10 o'clock to 11:30. I continued sleeping in "two shifts" for the next nine
years. No problem.
Then in June of 1999, one Monday afternoon afternoon, I lay down for my nap
and only slept 90 minutes. I was puzzled, but it didn't worry me. But the rest of
the week, I began to sleep less and less, and by Friday I couldn't nap at all,
and had trouble sleeping at night. I was getting less than 4 hours sleep in a
24-hour period, and by this time I was panicking! I felt like garbage each day.
Some people just feel tired the next day after losing sleep. I was experiencing
almost flu-like symptoms!
After a visit to my doctor, he put me in the hospital and ran three days of tests.
Nothing was wrong. If he had told me that even healthy people get insomnia
occasionally, I would have simply said, "Okay," and the whole thing would have
been over soon. But that didn't happen. But the continued panic did.
The next week, sleep returned and I slept like a rock for the next 8 days. Then
the insomnia hit again. This went on for the next 21 months -- periods of heavy
sleep and periods where I only got 3 hours or so of sleep each night. One
night I only slept 30 minutes!
I was beside myself! I went to a bazillion doctors who tried every type of
anti-depressant medication and seditive you could name (this was in the days
before Sonata, Lunesta and Ambien -- excellent meds!). Life was really
getting tough to handle. I didn't know whether to throw up, wet my pants or
jump out a window! Yes, I'm a Christian. And I prayed and prayed to God for
help, but it felt my prayers were getting no higher than the ceiling. This is
where I learned the lesson God was trying to teach me. It is: He has his
timing, and it's not mine. Isaiah 40 says to wait upon the Lord. It was tough,
and I was learning the hard way. The Supremes, in the summer of 1966, told
us we can't hurry love. And I had to learn you can't hurry God either.
Finally, the Lord led me to an excellent doctor (a former NASA flight surgeon) who had
seen my symptoms before and knew what to do. He diagnosed me as a
"cycling insominiac," a condition distantly related to bipolar disorder. The
prescription he got me on has worked well up to this day. It wasn't just the
medication, though. I had to literally "retrain" myself to sleep. I had to get out
of the panic. It had created a vicious cycle that was fueling most of my
problem. I began to spend a couple of 20-minute periods a day in relaxation
excercises. Not a bodily excercise, but a mental one. Long periods of
good-sleep nights began to return, starting in late March of 2001.
However, I still had occasional "semi-sleepless night," when I would feel like
trash the next day. First, a couple per month, then about 12 a year...then 8 a
year...then 5 a year...3 a year, ect. I kept a sleep log to indicate how many
nights in a row I slept well. First 30 nights in a row was great, then 100 nights in
a row, and it number kept growing. Finally in 2007 I had only two
semi-sleepless nights for the whole year! Then I went the WHOLE YEAR in
2008 sleeping well. Then 2009 (even though a new job had me working
irregular hours). Now it's 2010 and I'm still going strong.
Is there something special about "a thousand days"? I don't know. John F.
Kennedy's presidency is often called "the Thousand Days of Camelot" (even
though he was actually president 1,036 days). Maybe there's something of a
"completeness" to a period of 1,000 days. I usually look to the Bible for such
ideas, but the Scriptures are silent on this one (although Jesus' earthly ministry
was probably about this period of time).
All I know is that as of Thursday morning of this week, I had gone 1,000 days
without a semi-sleepless night. The last one was May 29, 2007.
Will my sleep disorder return? I can't say. I'm still on my medication, but it's
working great. Although I occasionally have a little trouble falling asleep, I
wake up each day fully refreshed, My doctor says at 62-years-old, my immune
system is rock-solid (sleep restores the immune system, you know).
I feel like a million bucks, and I am active and enjoying life. Not bad for an old
man.
Just call me "Dave of the Thousand Days."
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Let this be a warning to you:
While on Facebook recently I clicked on something that looked interesting. It was called "restoringtheoriginalbible.com" and since the Bible is one of my top interests, I had to check it out.
The Web site offered what was claimed to be "the Bible in the original order that it was written in." The volume has over 280 pages of commentaries and appendices and claims to have restore the books of the Bible to their orginal order. Immediately, I smelled a rat. How would anyone know (unless they've been alive for 3,400 years) the exact order of the writings of the Bible, especially the New Testament. Even our best Biblical scholars are not sure.
So, my "investigative reporter" mode kicked into high gear. Doing a "whois" search on G E E K T O O L S.com I found the domain "restoringtheoriginalbible.com" was registered to the Christian Biblical Church of God of Hollister, California about 80 miles southeast of San Francisco. It wasn't long before I was on the church's Web page, checking out their beliefs.
I soon discovered the following: First, the CBCOG teaches a doctrine called "Baptismal Regeneration." This simply means that no matter how hard you believe in Jesus to forgive you of your sins, you have no justification whatsoever until you submit to their baptism. What you have in your heart for Christ is worth nothing until you crawl in the tank and get dunked.
This is not a unique doctrine with the CBCOG. There are many groups that believe this, including the Roman Catholics, the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Church of Christ and many more. I once had a Church of Christ preacher tell me that if someone suffered a fatal heart attack on the way to the baptismal font, they would go to Hell because they were not baptized. Sorry for you, buddy. Tough Luck!
Regardless of how many believe Baptismal Regeneration, the Bible does not teach it. Nowhere in the Bible will you find the phrase "he who is not baptized will be damned." Those words nor such a concept just do not exist. Our salvation is by the grace of God and is connected to NOTHING that we can do (Eph. 2: 8,9; Tit. 3:5).
Secondly, the CBCOG doesn't even know who God IS!!! Their believe statement says that God is a "family" which currently includes two members, the Father and Jesus. What about the Holy Spirit? Oh, they say that's just an "force" of God and not a person. This is identical to Russellian (Jehovah's Witnesses) theology. Funny, though, Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as "He," "Him" or "His" over and over again. Eight times in John 16 alone. Peter said in Acts 5 that the Holy Spirit could be lied to. You can only lie to a person. You can't lie to a table, a tree, a kangaroo or any other impersonal thing. The Bible clearly teaches the Holy Spirit is a person, and is God. Sorry about the CBCOG.
There are many other points of doctrine where the CBCOG deviates strongly from true Biblical theology, but time doesn't permit an exhaustive study. Perhaps I'll hit some more of these point later...as the (personal) Holy Spirit leads me.
The point is, however, just because a religious group packages a nice looking leather bound "bible" (at the ridiculously low price of a mere $119.50 plus $9.00 shipping and handling), it doesn't mean they have any orthodoxy in their doctrine. STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!! Jesus warned us in Matthew 7: 15 that these false prophets come to us in sheep's clothing, but inside they are ravening wolves!!
Caio for now,
Dave
The Web site offered what was claimed to be "the Bible in the original order that it was written in." The volume has over 280 pages of commentaries and appendices and claims to have restore the books of the Bible to their orginal order. Immediately, I smelled a rat. How would anyone know (unless they've been alive for 3,400 years) the exact order of the writings of the Bible, especially the New Testament. Even our best Biblical scholars are not sure.
So, my "investigative reporter" mode kicked into high gear. Doing a "whois" search on G E E K T O O L S.com I found the domain "restoringtheoriginalbible.com" was registered to the Christian Biblical Church of God of Hollister, California about 80 miles southeast of San Francisco. It wasn't long before I was on the church's Web page, checking out their beliefs.
I soon discovered the following: First, the CBCOG teaches a doctrine called "Baptismal Regeneration." This simply means that no matter how hard you believe in Jesus to forgive you of your sins, you have no justification whatsoever until you submit to their baptism. What you have in your heart for Christ is worth nothing until you crawl in the tank and get dunked.
This is not a unique doctrine with the CBCOG. There are many groups that believe this, including the Roman Catholics, the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Church of Christ and many more. I once had a Church of Christ preacher tell me that if someone suffered a fatal heart attack on the way to the baptismal font, they would go to Hell because they were not baptized. Sorry for you, buddy. Tough Luck!
Regardless of how many believe Baptismal Regeneration, the Bible does not teach it. Nowhere in the Bible will you find the phrase "he who is not baptized will be damned." Those words nor such a concept just do not exist. Our salvation is by the grace of God and is connected to NOTHING that we can do (Eph. 2: 8,9; Tit. 3:5).
Secondly, the CBCOG doesn't even know who God IS!!! Their believe statement says that God is a "family" which currently includes two members, the Father and Jesus. What about the Holy Spirit? Oh, they say that's just an "force" of God and not a person. This is identical to Russellian (Jehovah's Witnesses) theology. Funny, though, Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as "He," "Him" or "His" over and over again. Eight times in John 16 alone. Peter said in Acts 5 that the Holy Spirit could be lied to. You can only lie to a person. You can't lie to a table, a tree, a kangaroo or any other impersonal thing. The Bible clearly teaches the Holy Spirit is a person, and is God. Sorry about the CBCOG.
There are many other points of doctrine where the CBCOG deviates strongly from true Biblical theology, but time doesn't permit an exhaustive study. Perhaps I'll hit some more of these point later...as the (personal) Holy Spirit leads me.
The point is, however, just because a religious group packages a nice looking leather bound "bible" (at the ridiculously low price of a mere $119.50 plus $9.00 shipping and handling), it doesn't mean they have any orthodoxy in their doctrine. STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!! Jesus warned us in Matthew 7: 15 that these false prophets come to us in sheep's clothing, but inside they are ravening wolves!!
Caio for now,
Dave
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Welcome (back) to Dave Mitchell's Blog...
Welcome (back) to Dave Mitchell's Blog. The reason I put the word "back" in parentheses is because my loving wife made me take my last blog site down a couple of years ago when I was a radio "personality" in the Dallas-Fort Worth market. I guess she thought that since I was in the public eye (sorta), I might get sued for exercising my first amendment rights. Well, in today's world, I guess it's possible. Lots of folks are "litigation-happy."
But now, even though I'm still in the radio biz, I'm not on the air regularly (however, I do a lot of voice-over work for two of the Salem Communications stations here in South Florida). That makes me a "common" person and I guess she believes there's no thrill in suing a common person -- and I suppose that's probably right.
So...
Here I am blogging again. Since I have a very large array of interests -- and I have an opinion on just about everything -- just about any subject could come up on this blog site. And one blog will most likely not relate to the next one, and so on. Call it cyber stream-of-conscienceness.
I am realist enough to know that actually nobody really cares what I think about anything, and since I'm not in much of a position to change the world (being a Member of Congress might help), I'm basically using this sight to vent. It is, of course possible that someone out there might like to add his or her two cents to the discussion, so feel free to comment, agree, disagree or simply "take me to the woodshed."
I suppose this is what blogging is all about anyway.
Most of my blogs will proceed from my personal interests which include: The Bible and theology (especially in the areas of religions that are in opposition to mainstream Christianity), radio broadcasting (my 44-year (so far) career), baseball (my actual religion -- Christianity is merely my lifestyle), Ham radio (my callsign is AJ5F), Science Fiction (especially Star Trek and time travel movies). My musical tastes include Top 40 hits from 1955-1979 (mostly) and Country music pre-1985. Movie tastes include older stuff (well, not REAL old). I'm very selective about what movies I see and lately, there hasn't been (IMHO) much worth seeing -- although the 90s were a great decade for film.
I'm also a history buff (which may explain the interest in time-travel). Politically, I'm all over the board -- ultra right wing conservative on some issues and flaming liberal on others, and everything in between. As I add new posts to this blog, you'll probably get a good idea of where I'm going with much of what I believe. And, to tell you the truth (have I been lying up to now?), I'm not so dogmatic as to think my mind can't be changed on a political argument if I get some new information or can re-think the issue. The only time you can be dogmatic is when you know you're right (there's a joke in there somewhere).
Most posts won't be nearly as long as this one, but this time I wanted to get some background established before I move on.
Many people, expecially bloggers, believe that what they say is so darned important that everyone will automatically be interested. What egos blogging has inflated! I hope this isn't the case with me. Most of what I blog will probably bring the response, "who cares?" And my reaction to that is "who cares?"
When I hit a subject that's really important to me, I'll drop a link in my Facebook status. Until then,
May the farce be with you...
Dave
But now, even though I'm still in the radio biz, I'm not on the air regularly (however, I do a lot of voice-over work for two of the Salem Communications stations here in South Florida). That makes me a "common" person and I guess she believes there's no thrill in suing a common person -- and I suppose that's probably right.
So...
Here I am blogging again. Since I have a very large array of interests -- and I have an opinion on just about everything -- just about any subject could come up on this blog site. And one blog will most likely not relate to the next one, and so on. Call it cyber stream-of-conscienceness.
I am realist enough to know that actually nobody really cares what I think about anything, and since I'm not in much of a position to change the world (being a Member of Congress might help), I'm basically using this sight to vent. It is, of course possible that someone out there might like to add his or her two cents to the discussion, so feel free to comment, agree, disagree or simply "take me to the woodshed."
I suppose this is what blogging is all about anyway.
Most of my blogs will proceed from my personal interests which include: The Bible and theology (especially in the areas of religions that are in opposition to mainstream Christianity), radio broadcasting (my 44-year (so far) career), baseball (my actual religion -- Christianity is merely my lifestyle), Ham radio (my callsign is AJ5F), Science Fiction (especially Star Trek and time travel movies). My musical tastes include Top 40 hits from 1955-1979 (mostly) and Country music pre-1985. Movie tastes include older stuff (well, not REAL old). I'm very selective about what movies I see and lately, there hasn't been (IMHO) much worth seeing -- although the 90s were a great decade for film.
I'm also a history buff (which may explain the interest in time-travel). Politically, I'm all over the board -- ultra right wing conservative on some issues and flaming liberal on others, and everything in between. As I add new posts to this blog, you'll probably get a good idea of where I'm going with much of what I believe. And, to tell you the truth (have I been lying up to now?), I'm not so dogmatic as to think my mind can't be changed on a political argument if I get some new information or can re-think the issue. The only time you can be dogmatic is when you know you're right (there's a joke in there somewhere).
Most posts won't be nearly as long as this one, but this time I wanted to get some background established before I move on.
Many people, expecially bloggers, believe that what they say is so darned important that everyone will automatically be interested. What egos blogging has inflated! I hope this isn't the case with me. Most of what I blog will probably bring the response, "who cares?" And my reaction to that is "who cares?"
When I hit a subject that's really important to me, I'll drop a link in my Facebook status. Until then,
May the farce be with you...
Dave
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