In case anyone here missed it

[Blackwater]

The link below was initiated by Ithaca Gunner in the pit, and I thought it might be good for anyone here who doesn't hang out there to see. It's kind'a long, but very much worth a view. We Christians have long been lulled into a recessive, non-reactionary type manner of behaving, but there IS, quite distinctly, a time for us to act. This sermon provides an answer to when that might be, even if it is a bit general, and shows what the phrase "the courage of our convictions" really means. Hope y'all enjoy it as much as I did. Always good to have a reminder that we're not in Heaven just yet, but in an evil world where evil abounds. Here's the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5i2viK-C8o&feature=youtu.be

[DerekP Houston]

I'll take a look when I get done here at the office, a bit too long for me to watch with out "alt-tabbing" when someone walks around the corner :D.

Thanks for sharing

[jcwit]

Hey, get to work!!

[DerekP Houston]

Hey, get to work!!

I *AM* at work :D, lovely part of IT work. Unless we sell something or it breaks, I'm just awaiting another project.

[shdwlkr]

what no busy work to do ?? I used to hate it when they brought that **** around, but the up side was most often by the time they got me so I knew what they wanted done another user had screwed something up so I had real stuff to do. Worked in IT for my last 15 years of work don't miss it a bit. Did programming, data base design and maintenance, network admin, system developer, system maintenance, etc.

[DerekP Houston]

what no busy work to do ?? I used to hate it when they brought that **** around, but the up side was most often by the time they got me so I knew what they wanted done another user had screwed something up so I had real stuff to do. Worked in IT for my last 15 years of work don't miss it a bit. Did programming, data base design and maintenance, network admin, system developer, system maintenance, etc.

I lucked in to a consulting position as system engineer / solution architect for enterprise level storage. I volunteer to help the other practices/departments out as needed, but they gotta earn a favor before I volunteer it anymore. With the downturn in the petrochemical field a lot of places are just "making do" with their existing environments so I've been traveling to the North and East for work. If I'm in the office that typically means I ain't doing nothing but busy work. Things were crazy last month, but yeah I'm addicted to the forum so I pretty much always have a screen up with it on somewhere. Especially if I work remote from the house...We spend a lot of time just dorking around with new equipment in our lab environment for testing purposes until we get a sale of the item.

Users are not my problem thankfully!

[shoot-n-lead]

Hey, get to work!!

172106

[jcwit]

172106



LOL, Love it!

[rl69]

You got time too lean you got time too clean grab a broom

[shdwlkr]

Derek
Users were almost as big a problem as where I was they would load up the latest patch without checking to see how it would function in our system and many times all heck broke out because it killed some critical part of our system.

[Boaz]

I posted this a couple of times back when . Had him visit and our church give the Black Robed Regiment talk . Very smart man , good speaker , pastor , Oklahoma state representative . He is strongly for churchs giving up their tax exempt status so they will be unbridled from the federal government and I agree .

[Pine Baron]

Boaz, That's an interesting viewpoint. I think I agree. I like the idea of the independence gained, just unsure of any "unintended consequences", if there are any.
I like the defining of "the courage of our convictions". Kind of sets a goal.

[Blackwater]

I dunno guys. I know the argument for paying our taxes, but the power to tax is the power to destroy. Let's not forget that part of it. These days, whatever we forget, CAN be used against us! It's a very complex and evil world now, and we can't afford to forget ANYTHING now! And everything that would be taken away in taxes is that much less that we can do with what funds we get. It's a much more complex question than we can deal with in sound bytes here. And the price for failing to be right could well be bigger than we want to think. I don't have all the answers by any means, but I try to see the question in light of ALL the factors I can identify, and like everything, there's assets and detriments both ways. I'll take the tax exemption myself, though. The more gov't can get its pointy teeth into our churches, the more I think they're likely to suffer, and the less work they'll be able to do. Keep gov't OUT of our churches/religion. The more influence and effect they have on us, the more they'll do us like they've done everything else they've touched. That's my view, at least.

[Preacher Jim]

If every pastor would stand for the truth of the Bible this country would be one nation under God again.

[Blackwater]

Jim, that's the crucial point, and it matters more than all the other "details." If we were a nation under God again, we'd have SO much better leaders! So very, very much would be different! We'd spend our money with the little shops instead of always thinking we're "smart" for buying from the big guys who are NOT our neighbors and friends. We'd look for more in our politicians than who's gonna' scratch our backs best and longest and most pleasurably. We'd be done with this "every man for himself" ethic that seems to pervade our culture these days. Fathers would stop thinking themselves failures if they didn't have the newest, latest, shiniest cars and boats and homes and clothes. Moms would keep the home (a VERY difficult and time consuming job!) and would be home when the kids got out of school. They'd have a very different attitude when hubby came home, and when the kids acted up. Truth would be more important than money, and how much of it we have in the bank. Church pews would fill that had been vacant for years, and everyone would be happier and more balanced and more free than they ever thought possible. And if we had better politicians, it wouldn't matter whether churches paid taxes or not. That would be like it once was. No, even then, it was no panacea, for people have ways of pulling problems out of thin air, and making them grow into monsters for them, but it'd be SO much better than what we have now.

I miss the 50's and early 60's, and the people I knew back then, and the atmosphere that pervaded the land. Yeah, it was no garden of Eden, but compared to today ..... it was as close as we're ever likely to get!