Happy New Year

Leviticus 26:9-11

9 " 'I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. 10 You will still be eating last year's harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. 11 I will put my dwelling place [a] among you, and I will not abhor you.


May you see and find all of his blessings for you and your family in the year to come.

Happy New Year one and all.

Merry Christmas

Luke 2

The Birth of Jesus

1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Andy Pettitte

Andy Pettitte wrote the following in his 2005 oeuvre Strike Zone: Targeting a Life of Integrity and Purity by Andy Pettitte and Bob Reccord with Mark Tabb:

As a Christian I also have one goal. I want to fulfill God's purpose for my life. I constantly ask myself "What does God want me to do?" and "Where does He want me to go?" Those may sound like odd questions to ask in a book about purity. After all, doesn't purity just mean sexual purity? Hardly. As I said in the last chapter, living a pure life means trying to please God in everything I do. And the best way to please God is living in a way He can work through me and use me in other people's lives.

Then Andy Pettitte cheated and used HGH to speed through an injury in the 2002 season. His testimony for Christ would have been better now if he never said anything at all, rather than look like the hypocrite he has become.

WE are not perfect and Jesus has provided the forgiveness for what we have done, what we are doing and what we will do. However taking a public stand means that you are holding yourself to a higher standard and scrutiny. If your walk is weak in anyway withhold yourself from being a teacher and rather be just a living example for Christ. Andy set himself up as a teacher, instructing others about Christianity and thus placed himself within that arc of responsibility.

James 3:1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

When you place yourself as an instructor of heavenly things and then fail your failure is not simply a consequence to your walk but to all that ever looked to you. Be true to yourself and acknowledge you may not be ready to teach others about Christ just because you may have an audience that would want you to. Then when you are ready hold firm and do not weaver in your commitment to live out the principles that you expound or others will suffer as a result of your personal foolishness.

Chrsitmas Presents for Police Officers-The Pen

It is very helpful having a pen that will write through carbons, can get wet, will not freeze and that can be knocked around. Fisher Space Pen

· Writes underwater
· Writes upside down and at any angle
· Writes twice as long as other roller ball pens
· The most dependable, reliable, and versatile pen in the world

The Fisher Space pen ink cartridge is the key to its superiority. It is pressurized with 35 pounds per square inch of gas. This pressure pushes on the sliding float ball allowing our unique thixotropic ink to flow smoothly in the tungsten carbide ball.

Designed to withstand the rigors of space travel, Fisher Pens have earned the reputation of a superior technical pen for all applications.
The NASA Astronaut Pen is the most well known of the Fisher Product line, praised for its durability, dependability and design.
The New York Museum of Modern Art has cited the Fisher Bullet Pen as an outstanding example of industrial art.

http://www.spacepen.com/Public/Home/index.cfm

18.75 at http://thewritersedge.com/story.cfm

Christmas Presents for Police Officers-Books

Here are two books that I would highly recommend getting the Police Officer that is close to your heart.

1. Police Officer's Bible: Holman Christian Standard Bible with Special Prayer and Devotional Section for those who Protect and Serve (Leather Bound - May 2004). $13.58.

http://www.amazon.com/Police-Officers-Bible-Christian-Devotional/dp/1586400967/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197600621&sr=8-1

2. The PeaceKeepers (Paperback) by Michael Dye. Bible Study for PO's $14.99

http://www.amazon.com/PeaceKeepers-Michael-Dye/dp/1597550310/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197600621&sr=8-2

Christmas Presents for PO's

Here is another suggestion to get your favorite PO for Christmas that is job related.

The KED100 Elite Duty Glove w/ KEVLAR®. Cut resistant protection for duty officers to use while frisking, searching and for weapon control. The KED100 provides cut protection throughout the entire glove.
100% KEVLAR® knit lining for excellent cut resistance
Durable stretch woven fabric upper with water resistant membrane
Stretch nylon in four chettes allow the glove to mold to your hand, eliminating the bulk between fingers, providing a greater range of motion
.8mm aniline goatskin leather.

I have been using Hatch for years with excellent results.

http://www.hatch-corp.com/detail.aspx?pid=KED100

Christmas Presents for Police Officers

I have spoken to many people that ask me what a PO would like for Christmas. Here is one suggestion. The Inova® Rechargeable LED Duty Light. We are starting to mount the chargers for these in our squads. I have had very good results with these. I was a streamlight guy up till now.


149.99 at Galls

http://www.galls.com/style.html?assort=general_catalog&style=FL494&cat=2831

Working Midnights

Midnights

I have worked the following shifts during my career in law enforcement, all with rotating days off: Midnights (Three Years 2300hrs-0700hrs), Afternoons (Three Years 1500hrs-2300hrs), Days (0700hrs-1500hrs), Tactical (1700hrs-0100hrs), rotating (Initially every 28 days then went to every 72 days) and administrative (0900hrs-1800hrs). My work hours are also affected by up to three court dates a month and overtime details that are in addition to the work hours I have been assigned. It is obvious that Police work is a twenty-four hour, seven day a week job but the affects of the schedule really cannot be understood properly unless you have experienced it. I have found that my wife is the most affected by my work hours, followed by me and finally by the children. I was fortunate, in that I was allowed to begin my career on a rotating schedule, so that my wife was able to get small doses of each shift and we were able to tailor our schedules to fit accordingly.
I was assigned to permanent midnights when my son was one week old. This soon became a huge source of martial discord. I would arrive at home around 0745hrs and get my son up and feed him, while my wife would be getting ready for work. I would stay up with him until about 1300hrs; put him down for his nap and go to sleep myself. I then would get up around 2200hrs, eat quickly, kiss my wife and go to work. The real problems began when I was on days off. I would have a choice; either get off of work at 0700hrs and stay up till we would both go to bed at night or catch a quick couple hour’s nap and stay on the schedule. I would usually be irritable because of the interruption in my sleep cycle. I would also be exhausted because I would loose at least eight hours of sleep a week due to having to convert to a day shift schedule on my days off. The fights then intensified when I would be working and my wife was on her days off. I would be sleeping and feel the presence of someone in the room with me. I would wake up, turn my head and look over to the side of the bed and see my wife’s eyes peering over the top of the covers. After I pulled myself off the floor from the initial shock, she would say, “Oh good your up, lets grab breakfast.” I would kindly (at first) remind my wife that even though it was two in the afternoon her actions affect on me would be the same as waking her at three in the morning. If I refused to get up she would call me “lazy” and if I did get up I would have to go to work that night with less than four hours of sleep. We finally resolved this issue because I started to call her every day at four in the morning in order for her to understand how it felt. However the only real solution to this problem occurred when I had gained enough seniority to go to the afternoon shift. The problem was my wife felt that she was abandoned and without a husband. She simply wanted to spend time with our child, and me, together as a family.
The hours that an Officer works have benefits and determents. I have spoken mainly of the problems of midnights but I have a few personal experiences of how it can aid a family as well as challenge it. One of the benefits while I was on midnights was my wife was able to maintain her full time employment without my son having to have any outside daycare. I was able to be at home when servicemen needed access and chores needed to be completed. If there was a family function or holiday party I could attend without any worry about my work conflict. Finally it allowed me full time interaction with my son that if I had worked a daytime shift I would not have been able to have.

Surviving Midnights

The biggest task that faces a Christian Police Officer concerning midnight shift work hours is not allowing the lack of sleep or sleep pattern interruptions cause you to mistreat your wife and family. Proverbs 21:23 states: 23If you keep your mouth shut, you will stay out of trouble. When I worked Midnights I found that if anything came up during the day that needed me to be present it always cut into the amount I would sleep. The result of these appointments being, a four-hour nap as substitute for a normal eight hours sleep. After a couple of weeks of sleep loss I would begin to subject my wife to my angry outbursts and complete irritation. She responded to my actions by trying to maximize the time we spent together at the cost of what little sleep I already had. This continued in a steady cycle until we sat down and came up with a plan to stop our constant bickering. Our plan worked for us and I would suggest you adopt this strategy so that you may be able to survive midnights.
First you must maintain your daily habits but just at different times. For example, I personally do not eat a big breakfast, if I even eat one at all. I grab a cup of coffee, a couple of vitamins and read the newspaper. What I found myself doing on the midnight shift was getting up at 2130hrs and sitting and eating dinner with my family. This made the first meal of my day the largest. The reaction my body made to this shift in my routine was to react to the start of my day as if it was really the end of my day. I would be drowsy and uncomfortable for the first couple of hour’s everyday. It was not until I treated the beginning of my day with my normal breakfast habits that I started to feel normal. I found that just because it is ten o’clock in the evening does not mean it is not your morning. I suggest you keep track what you do throughout the day and when you enter your midnight shift you maintain your schedule except with the times changed. This will allow your body to get the cues it normally receives so that it may properly adjust as the day progresses.
Second, you must exercise. I found that I could get to sleep faster and not be as sensitive to distractions that kept me from sleeping, if I ran a couple of miles before I went home from work. What tends to happen on this shift is when the fatigue starts to set in you start dropping all your good habits, which only makes things worse. You need to stay in shape to both stay healthy and stay sane.
Third, you must develop the power nap. If you are a little clever you can make up some of your lost hours of sleep. I became an expert at sleeping in doctor offices, grocery store parking lots and babysitting duties (Load up the playpen with one thousand toys and sleep on the floor). My shift commander had a “look the other way policy” while I was on midnights. He took our stats for the year and broke it down to the average day. The deal was as long as we accomplished in four hours what we normally would have done in an eight-hour day; he would not try to find us for the second half of the shift, as long as we answered our calls. I found that this unofficial policy resulted in our shift accomplishing departmental highs in activity with lows in disciplinary problems when compared with past midnight shifts. I know that this kept me sane. I during this time I developed my ability to soundly sleep in the front seat of the squad and yet if someone called my unit number over the radio I would be able to quickly respond. I know that by having this perk on midnights my judgment and Police work were much better than if I could not have taken this nap every so often.
I was sitting in my squad car with a shift-mate who was in his squad opposite but parallel to me. We were in a remote area of our town. We both set our in-car radar to go off should a car drive close to us. The signal tone would wake us up. We both proceeded to fall asleep in our reclined driver’s seats. At about 0530hrs a tapping sound on my driver’s side window woke me. I sat up so suddenly that I banged my head on the driver’s side interior of the car and threw a right elbow into the steering wheel. My shift-mate was my mirror image. I could see out of the corner of my eye that he was holding the side of his head and swearing up a storm. I then heard a little frightened sound outside my car. I turned and looked into the wide eyes of a little old lady holding a leash in her hand. I rolled down the window while holding my freshly bruised head and asked her, “What can I do for you?” She then said, “I saw the two of you way over there and when I got close I thought that you might be dead. I did not want to call 911 before I got close enough to see if there really was anything wrong.” I thanked her for checking on us and assured her we were fine. While I am a firm believer in the power nap, it can sneak up and bite you. Always beware of little old ladies.
The fourth survival technique I utilized on Midnights was to avoid running home and going right to sleep. The reason for adopting this stratagem is that going straight home from work to your bed goes against most of your life’s experience. With normal work schedules most people get up, have breakfast and go to work. At the end of the day you would come home, have dinner, stay up a couple of hours and then go to sleep. If you break this habit then at the end of the shift your body is cued to be winding down to go to sleep, so you are at your lowest point in alertness, mental capacity and problem solving ability. You however, still have a few hours left of work to go. It is not a safe practice. The best plan is to be at your lowest point at around 0930hrs at home and relatively safe.
We had (now ex) a Police Officer that was not pleasant to work with. He decided that it was a good idea to leave his assigned area at around 0530 hrs and try to find things you missed in your area. He then would notify the dispatchers of the problem in your beat hoping to make you look bad or better yet get you in trouble with your supervisors. We all were victims at one time or another of his actions. At the same time we also had a dayshift commander (since retired) that fit the stereotype of the hard-edged, crusty “Old School” Police Officer. In other words he hated everything that had come into Policing since 1980. He especially hated technology. He railed against cellular telephones, pagers, voicemail, e-mail and the internet at every conceivable opportunity. The midnight shift would come into the station at 0755hrs to clean out and drop off the squad cars for the dayshift Officers. This commander’s policy was that the midnight shift had to walk into roll-call so that he could verify that everyone was present and no one had slunk off to go home early. He would not end his roll call till 0800hrs, so we had to come in as quietly as possible and not talk for the last five minutes of the shift. If anyone interrupted this commander’s roll-call, he would stop, yell at you in front of everyone, hold his roll-call till 0805hrs or later (Dayshift was also angry with you now) and then pull you into his office and yell at you some more. Our difficult shift-mate had just recently bought a pager. He had been told many times to not set the pager to vibrate. I cannot even begin to explain the feeling of walking through a huge dark warehouse that had been broken into; attempting to locate a burglar(s) who may or may not be inside and that stupid pager would go off. Our shift then got together and we picked a different Officer each day to quickly go into the office and page him while the rest of us were at the day-shift roll-call. The pager would sound, the commander would bring his roll-call to a stop, glare at the Officer and then after roll-call was over, the commander would have a meeting with the Officer and his pager in the office. This went on for a couple of weeks until the commander told our difficult shift mate that from now on each time he heard the pager go off, he would issue the Officer a day off without pay. This Officer was highly intelligent and all he had to do was turn off his pager at the end of the shift. However, because he would go to sleep at around 0815hrs (He lived in town) he was so tired and out of it mentally, he could not execute this simple plan. I have based much of my midnight shift survival strategy based off of doing the opposite of this Officer. He is an example of how a fundamentally sound street Officer can have things come crashing down around him because he could not handle midnights.
The midnight shift is difficult for anyone with a wife or a family. But if you take these steps it should be a bit easier. A successful midnight plan will translate into a happier family since all of you are going through midnights together. Police Departments use the midnight shift as a way to weed out employees that are not totally committed to being Police Officers. If you truly wish to be a Police Officer you will find a way to get though the required five to six years on midnights. If you cannot handle these hours, then the administration believes that they easily can do without you. But if you can be successful on this schedule then you should see it as a step toward gaining acceptance from your peers and trust from your supervisors, so it is not wasted time. I would keep in mind that everyone who came before you made it through midnights, so you can also.

Banksy

I was reading the newspaper today and I was struck by an English graffiti artist named "Banksy". His real identity is know only to a few and he still goes out to commit his public/illicit art. His works are now being sold in galleries for hundreds of thousands of dollars. I have viewed a number of his works and I really like what he does.

I was struck by two things. First there still is a mechanism in society in which someone by their own hand can propel themselves into success. Second that few people appreciate how the police tend to get pulled into the middle and blamed by both sides of an issue. I was struck by the comments of those who supported Banksy's artistic vision in that they decried police involvement in removing and investigating his graffiti and a group against his public vandalism complaining against the police because they are not enforcing the laws that are already on the books.

Look if you support an issue and it is against the law-get the law changed. We (the PO) can not enforce something that is not there. Second if you do not think we are doing enough about another issue then come to your local station and ask how you can help. What I see is two groups of people on either side of an issue sitting on their pimply backsides doing nothing but complaining. And we the police, who are doing something, interesting for both groups, is main entity being blamed, not the artist, not the building owners, not the gallery owners etc.

In support of doing something about what you believe in I am formally inviting Banksy to come to my house in Chicago and paint whatever strikes him on my detached garage. E-mail me Bansky ummmmmm remember I do have little children.

God's Hand

I have asked and have heard many others ask when events or personal situations take a downturn, "Where is God's Hand in this? Why do I not see him moving?"

The world is an incredibly interconnected place. The idea that when a butterfly flaps it wings in Mexico creates a chain of events that eventually lead to a typhoon in Singapore is true. I have a hard time understanding and recognizing the fulfillment of Gods plan because I can only envision cause and effect as separate incidents and God being Omnipresent and Omnipotent can see then all at the same time and secondly, Gods does not have to take huge macro-steps to get things done. So take hart God is making the tiniest of changes that will great the greatest effect for you and me.

Ephesians 1:11
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

As a case in point here is a Article from John Kass that brought this thought into my head:
Daley up to his gills in diplomatic mess
John Kass
November 28, 2007

Because of a humble gift given to him by the Daleys of Chicago almost 50 years ago, Emperor Akihito of Japan was recently forced to apologize to his nation in an embarrassing loss of face.

The gift?

A couple of lowly bluegills -- Illinois' official state fish -- from the Shedd Aquarium, given to then-Crown Prince Akihito by Mayor Richard J. Daley in 1960.


The tasty Chicago bluegills escaped into Japanese lakes and rivers, making more bluegills, ravaging the ecosystem, steadily destroying the native species and the fish harvests.

That's why, a few days ago, in what The New York Times called "a rare expression of contrition," Emperor Akihito was compelled to humble himself. That's unheard of in Japan, a country where honor is paramount. It's also unheard of for the mayor of Chicago to apologize for anything. If you don't believe me, just take a ride on the public transportation system.

"I brought bluegill back from the United States nearly 50 years ago and donated them to a research institute of the Fisheries Agency," the embarrassed emperor was quoted as saying in a wire report.

"Its cultivation started as there were great expectations of raising them for food in those days," said the emperor, an ichthyologist (fish expert). "My heart aches to see it has turned out like this."

My heart aches, too. But not for the emperor. It aches for Mayor Richard M. Daley's pinkie.

The only thing to do, it seems, is for the son of the great fish giver, our current mayor, to act honorably in recompense for this diplomatic disaster.

His father, Chicago's fish giver -- the late Richard J. -- often fondly dreamed of Chicagoans and that noblest of creatures, the fish.

"People from the Loop could catch fish in the Chicago River and barbecue them on lower Wacker Drive," he was known to say, when he dreamed such dreams, even though to most people, eating fish from the Chicago River would be a nightmare.

But the Daley clan's fish dreams have become a catastrophe for the people of Japan. This is an international incident. An emperor has been humbled. And now Chicago's emperor must pay.

FCPO

I was able to attend a meeting of the Fellowship of Christian Police Officers meeting over the weekend at Judsen University in Elgin Illinois. I was revivified to see other dedicated Christian men in the policing field. They ranged from Chiefs to patrolmen. I was once again reminded that my struggles and concerns are not unique to my personal experience but rather the price of being a Christian in a fallen world. In this position we as PO's have so many opportunities to be a positive influence in a another's life and especially with marginalize people that no one else is able to connect with, that seeing a room full of people dedicated to this idea is very heartening. Below is the link to their website. If you are considering it, I would recommend joining it.

www.fcpo.org

Where the Rubber Meets…

I responded to a Home Invasion in progress that required the entire shift to respond. We were dispatched to a home in the north part of town. The homeowner had informed the 911 operator that she was currently hiding in her bathroom behind a locked door with the telephone in fear for her life. A large young female had pushed her way into the caller’s home and was currently stealing money and refusing to leave. The six squads quickly reached the house. I parked my squad, jumped out and ran to the incident location. I quickly observed a stout female standing on the grass right outside the front door wearing a nursing uniform, looking impatient. I walked up to her and she immediately said, “Thank God you are here; that woman is impossible and I did not know what else to do.” At this statement the stereotype personified for all little old ladies everywhere stepped to the screen door and quickly locked it from the inside. The little old lady looked out at me and disgustedly stated, “About time you got here. I did not know how much longer I was going to have to spend trapped in my house with this intruder. She has been here all day and I shudder when I think of all the things she has stolen and given to her fellow criminals.” I turned toward the lady waiting patiently next to me and noticed for the first time that she had a label nametag and a stethoscope dangling from around her neck. I asked for her nursing identification and she provided it for me. I verified her identity through our computer database and called her employer to further confirm that the little old lady was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, and the in-house-nurse had been hired by the little old lady’s son. As, I walked over to the screen door to speak to the homeowner, she immediately said, “Well, what are you waiting for? Arrest her!” I asked to be let inside so that I could speak to her about this matter but she refused. I told her that it would not be a good idea to speak to her through the screen door because the nurse (home invader) could hear our conversation. She shook her head no, and told me that if she opened the door the burglar would get back into her home. I had to promise her that I would stop any attempt by the nurse/burglar to reenter the house. She reluctantly and dramatically unlocked the door and let me into the house. I made several attempts to explain to her that the burglar was really a nurse who was in the house to look after her well-being. She refused to even consider the possibility. Faced with this failure to communicate I went out and found my Sergeant and he attempted to convince the ill woman to allow the nurse to come back into her home. He was not in any way more successful than I had been. The nurse was able to provide me with the telephone number for the homeowner’s son and I called him at work. The ill lady was handed the telephone and she spoke to her son for a while but still would not allow the nurse to come into the home. She even told me, between screaming at us to arrest the nurse, that the person who she had spoken with on the telephone could not possibly have been her son because he would never take the burglar’s side and as such had to be an imposter. We concluded the incident through the use of a ruse by convincing the little old lady to check on her paperwork in her bedroom, which allowed the nurse to sneak back into the home. The second that the little old lady saw the nurse, she began to scream, “Get her out! Get her out!” We tried to calm her down but she would only say over and over, “Why are the Police helping someone steal. Where is the justice? I need help! You need to help me!” My fellow Officers and I could only walk out of the front door and back to our squads with her shrieks following after us.
I was very troubled by this call for a number of reasons. Apart from my frustration due to my inability to help her, I was troubled by her situation. I understood her perspective; she truly believed that a criminal had broken into her home and had reached out to the Police to save her. Instead, in a way similar to the Twilight Zone-esk way the Police not only do not help her; they enable the criminal to stay in her home. The issues raised were all due to her horrible debilitating disease. She truly believed that she was being held captive in her home. Further, all involved were similarly affected by this delusion. The nurse had to continue to treat her patient, even though the patient believed that she was there to hurt her. The nurse asked me if I had any idea how hard it is to give someone their medication when they were convinced that you are trying to poison them. The son was attempting to honor his mother’s wishes for her to stay in her home for as long as was possible because she dreaded (rightly so) being sent to a nursing home and yet his mother would curse at him for allowing others to enter her home. The Police responded to this home at least a dozen more times for 911 calls but found they were powerless to do anything constructive for this stricken woman. A true nightmare for this woman and her family to be trapped in that would only be solved (With today’s medical knowledge) with her eventual death.
I have learned to value these types of calls. This is the place where I am tested and find if I truly have a strong faith in God. If you can enter this house and return still firm in your faith of a good and faithful God, you have met the challenge and prevailed. I have seen many types of living horrors from the mundane to the grotesque and as a result have found my walk with Jesus strengthened (Some took longer for me to understand God’s holiness than others). People in most other professions find their belief challenged only when they are affected by personal tragedy. As a Christian Police Officer you have your job to supply you with a seemingly endless series of tests and trials. If you want to know where you are strong and where you are weak with your walk with Jesus you will find it here. Psalm 26:2 states: 2Put me on trial, LORD, and cross-examine me. Test my motives and affections. Romans 5:3 states: 3We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us--they help us learn to endure. 1 Peter 1:7 states: 7These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 1 Peter 4:13 states: 13Instead, be very glad--because these trials will make you partners with Christ in his suffering, and afterward you will have the wonderful joy of sharing his glory when it is displayed to all the world. Psalm 66:10 states: 10You have tested us, O God; you have purified us like silver melted in a crucible. . If you can pass these tests you will be a stronger Christian from the experience.

Mercy Me

My wife and I in the company of two of our friends went up into Wisconsin on Saturday to attend the Mercy Me concert. What a great experience. I was very pleased that Mercy Me sounds live just like they sound on their CDs, a rear feat these days.
How refreshing and battery recharging to go to a social activity in a Christian environment. I would recommend a Mercy Me concert to anyone.

The Christian life is not simply an exercise in worship on a Sunday or simply an accuse to separate oneself from all of life's tasks. Rather it is the ultimate joining of the four tasks of life (Worship, Work, Leisure and Family) for a higher purpose. It's sad that I have to remind myself now and again that leisure is an integral part because of my over focus on the other three.

So go out there and have fun.

John 15:15
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Jesus is the ultimate friend among many many other things. How much more important is your Godly interactions with your other friends knowing that Jesus is part of that group.

Doug Parker Where are you.

I find it strange that you can loose friends and acquaintances in this day and age of electronic communication. Or maybe they want to be lost, I never know. The ease of communication at times makes it easier to maintain surface relationships rather than be challenged to have deep and lasting friendships. Anyway there are a couple of people that have slipped by me that I would like to reconnect with.

So I am going to see how true the six degrees of the Kevin Bacon game really is.

If you know a Doug Parker who attended the Illinois Police State Academy from Jan-May 1997, then worked as a conservation officer in either Lake or McHenry Counties (I can not remember which) then went to Georgia to be a a conservation officer there and then, I believe, went to Atlanta PD. Then have him contact me here at the blog or leave a way to get a hold of him (I assume E-mail).
Look out Chris Wood you are next.

Beer

I did not really have anything that struck me today so...since I am drinking a beer I will provide my top five favorite beers topped with a bit of guilty or guzzling feelings.

1. Shiner Blonde (Larger)from Spoetzl Brewing Co Gambrinus Company San Antonio, Texas Year opened 1909

2. Blue Moon (Belgian white ale) from Coors

3. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale-Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Chico, CA United States
Year opened 1979

4. Bass (Pale Ale) Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire United Kingdom Year opened 1777

5. Pacificio Cerveza-The Pacifico Brewery is located in beautiful Mazatlan, Mexico. The brewery was founded in 1900 by German settlers.


1 Samuel 1:15
"Not so, my lord," Hannah replied, "I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the LORD.

Proverbs 20:1
Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

Proverbs 31:4
"It is not for kings, O Lemuel— not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer,"

Proverbs 31:6
Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish;

Nothing in isolation

Well after three false starts I finally have my modem and I can get back to blogging. You gotta love At&t, they can mess even the simplest things up.

Anyway, I was reading in the Chicago Tribune about the growing scandal concerning Oral Robert's University and the suspected pilfering by his son and daughter-in-law (Richard and Lindsey Roberts) (article link in sidebar). This controversy again reminded me that sin is not a personal act but rather an action that has a corporate affect.

When you take a personal, moral and ethical stand as a follower of Christ you are being watched to see if what you profess matches what you do. I wonder how many will use the failure of the Roberts family as an excuse to reject the message they professed.

No one is prefect and Christ is needed for everyone due to that fact. However nothing goes unseen and sin has a wave of effect that radiates out from the sinner and makes it to all the edges of the pond. I wonder if we take into account the ramifications not only to ourselves but the affect on others would we still commit that sinful act of pleasure.

A convicted moral stand begets responsibility beyond who you directly affect.


Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.

Fun with Norris

I still do not have my new modem.

Here is the link to Chuck Norris Facts. http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com (Cut and paste it into your web browser). Humor is a necessary key to life.

Ecclesiastes 3:3-5

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

Here are my two, Chuck Norris doesn't need a gun, he just spits the bullets out. Chuck Norris does not get parking tickets, cities pay Chuck to park.

For a short time

I have lost my DSL modem and am waiting for a new one through the mail. Probably by the end of the week I will go back to posting every other day.

What I aspire too

My DSL modem crashed so sorry about the late post.

The following verse is the attitude/action/emotions/understanding/faith that I am striving to emulate. I seem to be able to treat the initial blow as I should, however after the incident I find my self muttering the mantra "Not fair" over and over again. I hope that one day I will find myself with the same level of faith and joy that these men of God demonstrated. Until then and it will be until I kneel at his thrown, a work in progress.

This is the verse that I use as my goal.

The verse: Acts 5:41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

The verse in context: Acts 5:40-42 40His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

41The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.

Someone who "gets it".

Every so often I encounter someone who, for the lack of a better term, "gets it" about our walk with Christ. He or she presents a concept that produces a "eureka" moment for me. It is always a concept that I am either first encountering, forgotten or (wrongly) not practicing. The means in which I discovered these religious nuggets are varied and rarely predictable. In this particular case I had my inspiration in the book written by Henry Rider Haggard called, Alan's Wife(1889).

First, about Haggard (From Wikipedia): Sir Henry Rider Haggard KBE (June 22, 1856 – May 14, 1925), born in Norfolk, England, was a Victorian writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations.

Secondly there is some controversy about Haggard and for that I point to the last page of his Alan Quartermain book: Maiwa's Revenge: or, The War of the Little Hand as proof that the controversy is essentially wrong.

Rather then continue to explain what I found I will simply present the passage from the book Alan's Wife (1889)that made me say that Haggard's got it. The Holy Spirit was with him. Excert from Project Gutenberg: It is in the Character's Alan Quartermain's voice.

Well, we reached the kraals safely enough, seeing nothing more of
Hendrika, and, were this a story, doubtless I should end it here
with--"and lived happily ever after." But alas! it is not so. How am I
to write it?

My dearest wife's vital energy seemed completely to fail her now that
the danger was past, and within twelve hours of our return I saw that
her state was such as to necessitate the abandonment of any idea of
leaving Babyan Kraals at present. The bodily exertion, the anguish of
mind, and the terror which she had endured during that dreadful night,
combined with her delicate state of health, had completely broken her
down. To make matters worse, also, she was taken with an attack of
fever, contracted no doubt in the unhealthy atmosphere of that accursed
valley. In time she shook the fever off, but it left her dreadfully
weak, and quite unfit to face the trial before her.

I think she knew that she was going to die; she always spoke of my
future, never of _our_ future. It is impossible for me to tell how sweet
she was; how gentle, how patient and resigned. Nor, indeed, do I wish
to tell it, it is too sad. But this I will say, I believe that if ever
a woman drew near to perfection while yet living on the earth, Stella
Quatermain did so.

The fatal hour drew on. My boy Harry was born, and his mother lived
to kiss and bless him. Then she sank. We did what we could, but we had
little skill, and might not hold her back from death. All through one
weary night I watched her with a breaking heart.

The dawn came, the sun rose in the east. His rays falling on the peak
behind were reflected in glory upon the bosom of the western sky. Stella
awoke from her swoon and saw the light. She whispered to me to open the
door of the hut. I did so, and she fixed her dying eyes on the splendour
of the morning sky. She looked on me and smiled as an angel might
smile. Then with a last effort she lifted her hand, and, pointing to the
radiant heavens, whispered:

"_There, Allan, there!_"

It was done, and I was broken-hearted, and broken-hearted I must wander
to the end. Those who have endured my loss will know my sorrow; it
cannot be written. In such peace and at such an hour may I also die!

Yes, it is a sad story, but wander where we will about the world we can
never go beyond the sound of the passing bell. For me, as for my father
before me, and for the millions who have been and who shall be, there is
but one word of comfort. "The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken
away." Let us, then, bow our heads in hope, and add with a humble heart,
"Blessed be the name of the Lord."