Wednesday Bible Study: But what about the pomegranates?

A few days ago, a Catholic FB friend came off the 30-day Facebook snooze list.  Immediately, the "fun" began again, and as I read and received attacks from his friends, all "good" Catholics, I understood what God was telling me about this week's verse.  This verse was way beyond me pulling anything out of it, until I saw the reactions of these Catholics to my defense of God's Word.


Our verse is 2 Chronicles 3:16.

He made chains like a necklace and put them on the tops of the pillars, and he made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains. 

Okay.

The "he" is Solomon, and he is in the midst of building the First Temple.  The ten verses previous start with the gold he used to overlay everything in it; the ten after end with overlaying other articles in bronze.  A perfectly bland verse, until you start digging in.  First, what about that gold?  

2Ch 3:6  He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold of Parvaim. 

And what is gold of Parvaim?  Well, some say it is from Sepharvaim, a town which is also mentioned as one of the cities whose gods didn't save them from the wrath of Assyria.  It was a "double named" town; on one side of the river was the city of Sipara, the other side was ancient Akkad. Some rabbis apparently claim this was a special red-hued gold.  And the sanhedrin claims this was the gold Jehoiakim was talking about, which we discussed just last week:

 He even boasted of his godlessness, saying, "My predecessors, Manasseh and Amon, did not know how they could make God most angry. But I speak openly; all that God gives us is light, and this we no longer need, since we have a kind of gold that shines just like the light; furthermore, God has given this gold to mankind [Ps. cxv. 16] and is not able to take it back again" (Sanh. l.c.).

In other words, the gold that the King thought was JUST AS GOOD AS GOD, so who needs Him?

Yes, I have a reason coming up to mention that.

So I got looking into the significance of the pomegranates, which were decoration on a lot of Holy things in those days.  If you look on the internet, and in many historical studies, you find out that many experts conclude that this was a fertility symbol.  A symbol for sex.  And they even sited Solomon himself:

Eccl 3:12 A garden locked is my sister, my bride,

    a spring locked, a fountain sealed.

13 Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates

    with all choicest fruits,

    henna with nard,

14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,

    with all trees of frankincense,

myrrh and aloes,

    with all choice spices—

15 a garden fountain, a well of living water,

    and flowing streams from Lebanon.

And they point out the doubled pomegranates on Nebuchadnezzar's palace are symbols of this.  One thing I didn't know was that we weren't talking about the fruit that we all know- we are definitely talking about the flower thereof.  Remember how the Beast of Revelation's number is 666- the number of God doubled, or "man making himself God"?  Well ol' Neb had a fourteen petalled flower because the actual number of petals was seven- another of God's sacred numbers.  Even then, I read one "expert" that said the pomegranate was chosen ONLY because it was easier to embroider of metalwork than a rose.  God's House would be full of His symbols, and the seven petal pomegranate symbolized one of His sacred numbers- the seven days of creation, the seven pairs of clean animals on the ark, and so on.

And I thank The Temple Of Solomon: Its History And Its Structure, William Shaw Caldecott, for these 

You have to understand that, while secular experts seek to bring everything in the Bible back to "pagan roots", God originated all of it- even the pomegranates were first used as a design on the Tabernacle 1,000 years before Nebuchadnezzar, and the colors of the veil for the Holy of Holies (which the writer of Chronicles mentions two verses before ours, are the same as that which separated the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle;

Purple for the Kingship of God

Blue for the Divinity of God

Scarlet for the Blood.

(And you can think about the similarity to the verses of We Three Kings; after all, the OT IS the story of the coming of Christ.)

So finally, I looked at the pillars themselves.  Again, experts point out the "Fertility pillars" were well known "phallic symbols" that all the pagan nations have; the certain implication that Solomon built the Temple from pagan influences, not some "invisible god."  But regard- these pillars had NAMES:

2Ch 3:17  He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south, the other on the north; that on the south he called Jachin, and that on the north Boaz. 

"Ah, ha!" you say, "At least I know who Boaz is, we've done him before!  But what does he have to do with it, and who's the other guy?"

Answer: Nothing and no one.  The names have a very special meaning;  Jachin is "He will establish", and Boaz means "By His strength".  And when you see how this all fell together, you'll get the meaning.  

Don't worry about the "mystery of the pillars" stuff.  Just note that to get to God, you enter between the pillars "which He has established by His strength".  And as you go inside, you see cherubim guarding the way to the Holy of Holies.  And they are all facing towards the Holy Place.  Why?  Read this from Matthew Henry's commentary:

 Each wing extended five cubits, so that the whole was twenty cubits (2Ch_3:12, 2Ch_3:13), which was just the breadth of the most holy place, 2Ch_3:8. They stood on their feet, as servants, their faces inward toward the ark (2Ch_3:13), that it might appear they were not set there to be adored (for then they would have been made sitting, as on a throne, and their faces towards their worshippers), but rather as themselves attendants on the invisible God. We must not worship angels, but we must worship with angels; for we have come into communion with them (Heb_12:22), and must do the will of God as the angels do it. The thought that we are worshipping him before whom the angels cover their faces will help to inspire us with reverence in all our approaches to God. 

In other words again, they were arranged so as to give the MOST GLORY TO GOD.

In all our worship, we need to be God focused.  One thing I have noticed, sadly, in debating Catholics is that they will go to the wall to defend their Church; but I never ever hear them say one thing about the Christ that established the church.  I ask them to think for themselves, they tell me "I DO think for myself", and follow that up with, " Enough to know that we would not have been left at the mercy of self interpretation of a book."  Which is basically saying, "Because I think for myself, I rely on other people to do my interpretation for me rather than ask the Holy Spirit to teach me as I ought."  And so, they put the saints in front of God.  They put Mary in front of God.  They put the "church fathers" in front of God.  Let me show you something.

Eph 2:11  Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands-- 

Eph 2:12  remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 

Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 

Eph 2:14  For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 

Eph 2:15  by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 

Eph 2:16  and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 

Back in Old Testament days, you the worshipper were separated from the Holy Place by a 60-foot high, thick woven veil- the one Solomon commissions in 3:14.  When Jesus died on the Cross, that heavy veil was torn, TOP TO BOTTOM, not by human hands but by God, to symbolize that there is now nothing between us and God save for Christ.  We don't need to ask a priest, or a saint, or Mary, to go to Jesus for us.  Jesus established that way by His strength, and won our admittance by His blood.

Father, I ask of You that we try to seek You- to not be afraid of You, or seek someone to hide behind.  You promised us a Messiah- and You Delivered.  You promised us the Comforter, who would come and teach us all things- and You Delivered.  Open our eyes, that we not be held back by old wives tales and idols that Satan erects to pull us aside.  Open the eyes of those who hate your word, have lost sight of the Creator and worship the creation.  I WILL NOT FEAR MEN.  The battle is yours.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Martin World News

Well, it's certainly been a while since I rolled the ol' MWN banner out, mainly because I hadda wait on the world to get a bit more amusing.  Whether it has or not remains questionable, but here's what caught MY eye...

ITEM:  First we send you out to the Emerald Isle of Ireland, who just went through a controversial vote on abortion.  NO, I am not about to get THAT serious, but if I were Irish (and therefore still Catholic), this would have left me a bit confused.

Story #1:  A pro-life leader accused Irish bishops of "destroying the Irish conscience" and thus allowing the electorate to liberalize the laws.  John Smeaton, head of the Society For Protection Of Unborn Children, had this among other things to say about how the bishops messed things up:


One of the ways in which the Irish bishops misled the faithful was by telling them in 1992 that they could vote according to their "consciences" on a referendum to liberalize abortion laws. The government was threatening to pass even worse abortion laws if that referendum didn't pass. Irish Catholics "were being invited by their bishops to vote in favour of an intrinsically unjust law that would permit abortion" in various circumstances, Smeaton said.


So the Bishops declared it not a sin to vote yes- or did they?  In the next article...

Catholics who voted Yes in the referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment should consider going to confession, the Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran has said.

He said he believed voting Yes was a sin if someone “knew and intended abortion as the outcome” of their vote.

The bishop was speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Sean O’Rourke about Friday’s referendum, which saw 66 per cent of the Republic’s 2.15 million voters backing repeal of the amendment.

Bishop Doran said “every person’s vote has both a moral significance and a political significance”.

While “the Catholic Church is a family and nobody ever gets struck off”, he said “what I’d say to a Catholic who voted Yes is this, if you voted Yes knowing and intending that abortion would be the outcome then you should consider coming to confession”.


So it wasn't a sin to vote to legalize abortion- unless you did it figuring that abortions would then occur, which would be a sin.  "Och, I'll vote yes, no one'll ever go through with it..."

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ITEM:  While we're in the area of religion (if not faith), let us turn to Louisiana where a televangelist needs YOUR help...

Jesse Duplantis, 68, a Christian minister based in Destrehan, about 25 miles east of New Orleans, says his ministry has paid cash for three private jets.  Duplantis is now reportedly seeking the funds for a Dassault Falcon 7X, worth $54 million.

The problem with the previous jets, he says, is that they require multiple stops to refuel. But flying the Falcon 7X, Duplantis says, will allow him to save money and not pay “those exorbitant prices with jet fuel all over the world.”  

“I really believe that if Jesus was physically on the earth today, he wouldn’t be riding a donkey,” Duplantis says in the video, “He’d be in an airplane preaching the gospel all over the world.”

I really believe that if Jesus was physically on the earth right now, you'd be looking for another line of work.  But just getting around isn't all there is to it, is there, Jesse?

Duplantis’ video comes after another televangelist, Kenneth Copeland in Texas, purchased the Gulfstream V jet for $36 million.


Oh, a little monkey see, monkey do, here.  And why, pray tell, do y'all need private jets?


Both televangelists defended their use of private jets during a joint appearance on Copeland’s program, saying that commercial airlines are filled with “a bunch of demons” that get in the way of their busy schedules.


I'm kinda thinking that they'll still be full of demons...


ITEM:  Perhaps the stupidest thing so far from the haters on social media came this weekend when Ivanka Trump posted a lovely mother child-moment...

...and the rabid left all pounced because she should be more worried about all the "terrible things" her father is doing than posting "contrived photo ops".  Oh, you mean like holding her father's fake severed head?  Just so any stray leftists of this level of sickness drop by- this is the kind of thing that makes me willing to vote for Donald Trump for the next 500 years if I have to dig up his grave and prop him up.  Your hate makes me sick.  The love in that picture reminds me that I can't call fire down on you.  Just yet.


ITEM:  Next up, a series of three "you get what you deserve" stories.  Now this first one isn't so much about the guy who got victimized as where it happened...


Here is update as Austen Akinwuronu, a 63-year-old businessman, who allegedly obtained the ATM card pin of a man fraudulently and withdrew N173,000 from his account,  was on Monday brought before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court.
Meanwhile according to newsmen, the accused was arraigned before the Magistrate, Mrs B.O. Osunsanmi, on a two-count charge of fraud and stealing.
Akinwuronu, who resides at Ejigbo, a Lagos suburb, however, pleaded not guilty and was admitted to a bail of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.
Osunsanmi said the sureties should be gainfully employed with an evidence of two years tax payment to the Lagos State Government.
The prosecution  had told the court that the accused committed the offences on Feb. 6 at Iyana-Ipaja in the suburb of Lagos as he defrauded the complainant, Mr Anayochukwu Ojor, of N173,000.

ASP Ezekiel Ayorinde said the complainant ignorantly sent his Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) card number to the accused when he received a text from the accused that his Bank Verification Number (BVN) had been blocked.
“The accused sent a message to the complainant that his BVN had been blocked and that he should send his ATM pin so that it can be rectified.

“The complainant, who was not aware of the fraud being perpetrated by the accused, thought that the message was from his bank.


“He quickly sent his ATM pin and after few seconds, he received debit alert of N173,000 from his bank,” he said.

Yes siree, a Nigerian falling for a Nigerian scam!    Maybe the next one I get, I should figure out a way to change the banks and such and scam them!  "Dearest One, this is Martipher Christian, and Have to inform you of the passing of Joe Bubblkionge, who claimed to be your sixth cousin twice removed.  He had N173,000 in an account at our local bank and wanted you to have it..."


ITEM:  It seems I'm not the only one who's made use of the Facebook "30-day-snooze" feature of late...

Papua New Guinea will ban Facebook for a month while it identifies fake profiles and considers the website's effect on the country.

Communication minister Sam Basil said users posting pornography and false information would be identified.

He also suggested the country could set up its own rival social network.

Facebook has faced scrutiny following the Cambridge Analytica scandal and has been criticised over the way it has tried to tackle fake news.


I'm guessing Zuckerland isn't trembling at the news given PNG's 10% computer-use rate.


ITEM:  And this is my favorite...

Local police in Turkmenistan are inspecting toilets for evidence that locals have been using newspapers containing photographs of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to wipe themselves, it's been reported.

The regional police in the western region of Balkan have allegedly instructed community policing officers to check toilets in public places and private houses, and to find evidence of people using newspapers with pictures of the country's president as tissue paper, Moscow-based news website Fergana.ru - known for its credible reporting on Turkmen affairs - reports.

Officers have been told to look for the Turkmen leader's "soiled" pictures at landfill sites, as well as among garbage at waste collection points.

"There is a special janitor at each landfill site whose job is to inspect garbage, to look for soiled newspaper photos, to establish the house or flat of the newspaper subscriber and to report it to the police," Fergana says.

It adds that people found guilty of "damaging" the president's image will be issued with a warning. But, according to the Alternativnnyy Novosti Turkmenistana website, there are likely to be a huge number of issued warnings, as Turkmens - impoverished from an ongoing economic crisis - do not tend to spend their money on toilet paper.

At the obvious level, that's kinda disturbing.  But they DO have a good reason...


"Why buy toilet papers if you have piles of newspapers which people in Turkmenistan are forced to subscribe to," the report says. It adds that it is difficult not to soil the Turkmen leader's photos because his pictures dominate all newspapers.


Fort Wayne has a similar problem with Tom Henry... JUST KIDDING, MR MAYOR!

Wait a minute... I'm not sure that was funny...

ITEM: Yesterday I read a very inflammatory article on the BBC about the government crisis in Italy.  What crisis, you say?

Italy, the EU's fourth-biggest economy, has been without a government since elections in March because no political group can form a majority.

Two of the big winners from the vote - Five Star and the League - attempted to join forces but abandoned efforts after the president vetoed their choice of finance minister.

Mr Mattarella said he could not appoint the Eurosceptic Paolo Savona to the post, citing concern from investors at home and abroad.

The rare move by the president sparked fury from both parties, who say they will reject Mr Cottarelli's nomination in parliament.


Now I went back on my computer's history to fish this article out.  Problem is, what I found is NOT the article that I originally read- and even though I went to the link, it was utterly neutered.    It originally ran with a headline paraphrase of a quote that has been removed, basically accusing the President of caving in to Angela Merkel and the EU.  I did fish this quote out of the rest of the web...

“We worked for weeks, day and night, to ensure the birth of a government which defends the interests of Italian citizens. But someone (under pressure from whom?) said no to us,” Salvini wrote in a Facebook post. “At this point, with the honesty, coherence and courage of always, you must now have a say,” Salvini added in a call for early elections.


As well as this:

Both Salvini and Five Star leader Luigi Di Maio reacted furiously to the president’s intervention on Sunday evening, with Di Maio blaming credit-rating companies for torpedoing the cabinet.

“Let’s be clear then, what’s the point of going to vote since governments are decided by the credit-rating agencies and the financial lobbies,” Di Maio said on his Facebook page. 

Looks like someone is afraid of pissing off Queen Angela- and it ain't the Italians.  You know who it might be, BBC?


ITEM:  And just so we remember the point of MWN is world-shaking nonsense:


Snoop Dogg now has a Guinness World Record for a cocktail under his belt.

The “Drop It Like It’s Hot” hitmaker and rapper Warren G were among those who set a record for “the largest paradise cocktail” over the weekend at BottleRock Napa Valley, USA Today reports.

The massive alcoholic beverage contained gin and juice -- two ingredients famously included in a Snoop Dogg song title.

The cocktail contained 180 bottles of Hendricks gin, 154 bottles of apricot brandy and 38 3.78 litre jugs of orange juice, topped with a giant drinking straw, pink parasol and a garnish of pineapple and melon on a sword.


Now, Snoop, make me a 50-gallon Duck Fart, and we'll talk...

Memorial weekend '18... s'okay...

Well, Memorial weekend rolls to an end, and most of the best stuff I just lived for a change, no pictures.  I did get something fairly unusual Thursday.  Problem being, the woods was deep and dark where I saw it and the shots didn't come out extremely well.


It all started with a neat pose by two bunnies and His Eminence...

But onto what I was talking about.  From a distance, it was "the skunk that walked like a squirrel..."

But eventually, you knew it was a squirrel... or TWO...

And as you can tell in these last two shots, it was two squirrels- one was jet black, the other normal body but an almost white tail...

Moving on...

And the Bunny Summer II rolls on..

Friday was music night at home;  Saturday KC cooked out, and Peanut and Granpa shared a walk and lots of hugs. Oh, and Boofus and I met a stranger on the Greenway path...

Along with our second Monarch of the year...

Sunday I got to watch my and Laurie's Indy drivers wipe out, while Scrappy's guy limped home 18th.  Much better fun at the Charlotte race.  I win another Pepsi (bet at work Truex vs Keselowski), see Harvick crash out early.  When Keselowski got stuck going down pit row without being able to hit his stall, I looked at Laurie and said, "This race has been just magical..."  Not magical enough for me to win money on DraftKings, but good enough.

Today it was "get a quick walk in the early morning and cower inside from the heat" all day. 

Hockey season ends at last...

This isn't a "have to read" post, I wanted to put all this here on the blog so I won't have to hunt for it in a couple of months.  However, if you are so inclined, and like to see the girl humiliate the guys, read on!

Last night, the Hamilton Bulldogs got knocked out of the Memorial Cup, finally ending our family hockey season.  Me, Laurie, and KC have a list of 23 teams from leagues all over the world- including 2 each in the NHL- that we follow in a friendly competition.  Laurie's Hamilton team was the last survivor of the list, and so I am jotting down the facts and figures of our league's list of trophies.  I'm also going to list our top 20, based solely on record and going by the baseball "games back" method.

First, we look at regular season championships.  Laurie won in Denmark with Herning's Blue Foxes, the OHL's eastern division with Hamilton, in Finland with Karpat, and the NHL regular season with Nashville's Predators.   KC won regular seasons in France with Grenoble, and in Hungary with DVTK.  I got blanked.

Second, we counted a lot of internal and international tournaments in which our teams played.  I took the European Champions League cup with Finland's Jyvaskyla (ending a 2- year run for Laurie), Laurie snagged the French Cup with Lyon and the UK Challenge Cup with Belfast's Giants, and KC grabbed the Hungarian Cup with DVTK.

Then come the league's playoff champions.  KC won the Latvian championship with Kurbads; I snagged wins in France with Rouen's Dragons and Hungary with MAC Budapest, and Laurie won the cups of Slovakia (Banska Bystrika), Finland (Karpat), and the OHL (Hamilton).

Another thing we did was keep track of the goals scored by guys from our teams in the recent IIHF internationals.  Laurie won that with 39.

Overall, KC's DVTK won the best record.  Between their own season, a couple of Euro tournaments, and the Hungarian tournament, they racked up a 66-17 record, beating my Rouen by 8 games.  And 4 of those 17 losses came in the last six games as the exhausted team fell to my MAC Budapest in the Hungarian finals 4 games to 2.

We followed stats all year, too, and I set us up the following awards:

The Wayne Gretzky North American goal champion:  Laurie's Matthew Phillips of Victoria (WHL) with 55.  This was the last title in doubt, as her Hamilton boy Brandon Saigeon had 53 at the end.  Phillips also bagged the Mario Lemieux overall points title, topping KC's Evgeni Malkin 131-106.

The Ulf Nilsson European goal champ:  Lasse Lassen of Herning with 38 for Laurie, tied with her Charles Bertrand of Karpat.

The Igor Larianov Euro scoring title:  Based on the NHL rule of ties being broken by the more goals, Sebastien Sylvestre of Belfast beats Teammate Brendan Connolly with 72 points and 30 goals to Connolly's 27.


The Frankie Brimsek award for best goals-against average goes by a wide margin to DVTK's Attila Adoran at 1.70.

Another thing we contested was who had the most prospects on the NHL Scouting Combine's final draft rankings.  KC blew us away there, with 11 from his Canadian Junior (OHL, WHL, CHL) teams and one from his Swedish HV71 team.

And finally, the Scotty Bowman overall record looked like this:

Laurie  761 wins, 664 losses;  Chris, 753-700, 22 games back; KC, 721-724, 50 GB.

So that gives Laurie 16 crowns for the season, with KC having 7, and me?  Well, I got 3.

And last up is our final Top 20.

1-  DVTK,  Hungary, KC, 66-17
2-  Rouen, France, Me, 48-15
3-  Hamilton, OHL, Laurie, 61-31
4-  Herning, Denmark, L, 48-19
5-  Karpat, Finland, L, 53-25
6-  MAC Budapest, Hungary, C, 44-19
7-  Nashville, NHL, L, 60-35
8-  Dukla Trencin, Slovakia, C, 49-25
9-  Sheffield Steelers, UK, C, 48-27
10-Banska Bystrika, Slovakia, L, 50-29
11-Grenoble, France, K, 43-23
12-Lillehammer, Norway, K, 39-20
13-Nurnberg Ice Tigers, Germany, K, 41-23
14-Belfast Giants, UK, L, 43-25
15-Kurbads, Latvia, K, 31-14
16-Frolunda, Sweden, L, 41-25
17-Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, Russia, C, 40-25
18-Ocelari Trinec, Czech, C, 47-32
19-Zug, Swiss, L, 40-26
20-JYP Jyvaskyla, Finland, C, 47-32

And our top goal guys:

Matthew Phillips, Victoria (WHL), L,    55
Brandon Saigeon, Hamilton (OHL), L,   53
Ty Lewis, Brandon (WHL), C,                50
Stelio Mattheos, Brandon,                        49
Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh (NHL), K,      46
Jeff Brazeau, North Bay (OHL), K           44
Matthew Strome, Hamilton                       41
Anders Lee, NY Islanders (NHL), C         40

Time Machine co-ordinates VILIII48852566

So today is May 25th, 1966, and I welcome in Mr. Edgar M Cortright from NASA history:

One of the great days in the history of the Cape was May 25, 1966, when Apollo-Saturn 500-F-a test vehicle built by Marshall Space Flight Center that duplicated everything except engines and spacecraft, of which it had none - rolled out of the VAB on the crawler and moved at glacial speed to Pad A, gleaming in the brilliant sunshine. It was the biggest rocket ever built by man, dummy though it was, and up there, safely on the pad, Saturn V was something to behold. It was five years to the day since President Kennedy had proposed landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth. When the crawler put the launcher on its supports that afternoon, one of the men who (along with me) breathed easier was Don Buchanan, on whose able shoulders the design responsibility for both the crawler and launcher had been placed three years before. 

And a big thank you to the NASA history site for all that!  After buzzing the launchpad, we'll settle down for some fun, with Peter Noone (at least I hope), two of my favorite ladies debuting this week on the M10, a classic dismantling of that wonderfully cringeworthy show Glee!, and whatever other trouble we can get into!  3...2...1...


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And we are going right to our first debut- a song whose proceeds will be directed to the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention- a cause Phantogram has espoused since singer Sarah Barthel's sister committed suicide.  They had already received the organization's Public Awareness Award, and at that gala released a two sided single- and here's the side I fell in love with (Not actually a pun over the fact that their other time in the M10 was the #1 Fall In Love)...at #10 this week.





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Welcome in Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits!  Nice to see you Peter, how ya doing?

Very well.  Yourself?

Just fine.  I notice that you don't have the level of accent I was expecting...

Well, we "upped the gain" on my accent for you Yanks.  You want me to, I can manage a bit...

No, that's okay, this makes it easier for me to write your part understand you.  So are you familiar with the concept here?

Yes, sir, I read off the list, make funny banter, try to slip in an Elvis joke, and then you lot vote which one had the most #1s.

Well, maybe you can leave out the Elvis part.  So 22 contestants from 91 stations, and four of them took in 70.3% of the vote!  Here's your list...

All right, then, let's have a look... First vote goes to a song called All These Things by the Uniques, a band from Louisiana... it says here that they were led by future Country and Western star Joe Stampley, who re-released it and hit the tops of that chart.  This version, goodness, was all the way down at #110 on the Yank Cashbox chart this week.

Then we have, er, Cool Jerk by the Capitols, at #20.

The Loving Spoonful were at #8 with Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind.  We should have taken a hand at that one...

Well, here's an unusual title, mainly because it's in Boer... or as you might say, Afrikaans.  It is from a South African folk act called Des and Dawn Lindberg, and it is called Die Gezoem Van Die Bye,  which translates into "The Buzz Of The Bee", but you Yanks know it better as Big Rock Candy Mountain."  It was a big hit there, and the couple are South African hall of famers and still perform quite regularly.


The Rascals are at #11 with Good Lovin'.

Then comes The Mindbenders- noted, "this time without Wayne Fontana"- and Groovy Kind Of Love.  It was at... ah, #3.

Tommy James and the Shondells debut at #91 with Hanky Panky.  Oh, my, sounds a bit naughty!

Hey, how did we suddenly go backwards?

Because I alphabetized on song by act instead of title.  Sorry.

I see.  So then, here should have been- and is- The Leaves with Hey Joe at #88.

An Australian act called Bobbie and Laurie  get a vote for a tune called Hitchhiker.  Is that your bird?

Hm, oh, no.  That Laurie is a guy.

Ah.  Next come Sam and Dave... no last names either... with Hold On, I'm Coming, at #17.

And we're back in order again!  Next we have surf-rock instrumentalists the Clee-Shays- apparently they did well in Japan, but not here- with the Theme From The Man From UNCLE.  Is that a movie?

TV show- spy drama.

Oh, rather like the Avengers, then.  Then come the Mama's and the Papas, with a song that is on the charts in both our countries!  Monday Monday was a bit higher here this week, placing at #2 to our #17- BUT, we also had them at #26 with California Dreamin'.

And the next on on both sides of the pond is the Rolling Stones with Paint It, Black.  It was at #4 here, and number five in England.  BUT, it WAS their FIRST week on the chart back home.

Now, here's one we had and you didn't!  Crispian St Peter's Pied Piper, which had a few weeks before its American debut in late June, but we had at #8.

And now, another one we both had in the top ten... but I don't seem to know it by title... Bob Dylan's Rainy Day Women #s 12 and 35...

"...everybody must get stoned..."

Oh.  OH.  All right.  It was #10 back home and #7 here.

Another one we were a bit late at, understandably, was the Beach Boys and Sloop John B.  We had it at #2... you lot had already had it near the top and it had fallen to #26.

Frank Sinatra managed to get into the count with Strangers In The Night... we had him at #12 this week, you at #19.

Another one with a bit of an early start... Bobby Hebb and Sunny.  Two weeks out from its national debut.

My, but a lot of songs getting the jump on your Cashbox lot this week.  Tommy Roe gets a vote for debuting at #97 with Sweet Pea.

And finally, Percy Sledge with When A Man Loves A Woman, at #1.  And that's does it!

All right, thanks, Peter!  So like I said, there were 4 songs that took in most of the vote- BUT that doesn't mean it was close between them.  Choose from Groovy Kind Of Love, Monday Monday, When A Man Loves A Woman, and Paint It, Black.  Yes, #s 1,2,3, and 4.


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One show I made it a point to avoid ( one of many) was Glee!, that wonderful Fox program about a high school glee club.  Among the many things I didn't care for during its heyday was ALL the singles they released.  From May 19th 2009 to January 1st of 2013- a 189 week stretch- they charted 207 singles on Billboard- about one every six days for 3 years, 7 1/2 months.  They broke all kinds of records by the Beatles and Elvis- but wait a minute.  Even if you excise the dozens of songs they released that never charted here, the average stay on the chart was 1.25 weeks per song.  That's right, the longest stay on the chart for any one song was their first- the highly overplayed Don't Stop Believing, which passed the Journey original- charting at #4 to their #9- though Journey lasted over twice as long (16 weeks) and outsold them by a factor of SEVEN.

Being a highly offended Beatles fan, I wanted to rub their ephemeral success in their faces a bit, so I calculated how many weeks Glee racked up with their 207 singles to hit the American chart ( a few more in the UK, believe it or not...), and the answer was, 260 weeks.  The top third of the Beatles charting singles tops that.  In fact, it took Glee's first four highest weeks-on-charts songs to pass Hey Jude alone!  The Beatles collected 609 weeks on the US charts (2 1/3 times as many as Glee) on 63 singles ( less than a third as many)!

And, I might add, Don't Stop Believin' was the only legitimately released song from anywhere approaching the Martin Era that Glee beat- the closest outside of it was their take on the Stones' You Can't Always Get What Yo Want (a b-side that hit #42, while Glee made #71.)  And out of their mighty list of chart hits, their Martin Era covers missed completely 8 times, squeezed in between #100 to #50 22 times, and cracked the top 50 just 10 times.

And what brought this all up?  Well, on top of all the songs you never wanted to hear them kill, on top of some truly head-scratching medleys (Don't Stand So Close To Me / Young Girl- yes, the Police and Gary Puckett, or Start Me Up/Living On A Prayer), how about the MOST unexpected song I found on the list was our 6D victim- James Brown's It's A Man's Man's Man's World at #5- with which Glee spent a week at #95.


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This week was a fairly easy one to work out for the M10.  Our debut at #9 will make next week's chart a major disaster to come up with.  Fourth time on the chart this year for Shilpa ray...






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Stat Pack:

38 I knew this week...

Louis Armstrong had yet another Musical soundtrack hit for our #66 in '66 with Mame.  Curiously, Bobby Darrin's version was just three spots below him at #69.  Herb Alpert would also have a go, but wouldn't start until November.  He'd hit 17 CB on Christmas week, while Satchmo and Bobby stopped at #60 and 63 respectively.  Billboard, just to be difficult, had them finish at 81, 53, and 19.

Tammi Terrell had the #101 with Come On And See Me, one of 4 songs she charted without Marvin Gaye.  None of them cracked Billboard's top 60.

Because it never hurts to have another pretty face for the Beauty Contest...

The big mover were the Temptations with Ain't Too Proud To Beg, which covered the 31 notches from 86 to 55 in a single bound.

And the British top dog was Manfred Mann's Pretty Flamingo, which peaked at #29 here.


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The remainder of the M10:

illuminatti hotties go their separate ways this week; Paying Off The Happiness tumbles from 3 to 8.

Flipping the 6 and 7 spots were Cullen Omori's Four Years and the Knocks' Ride Or Die, with Four Years taking over at #6. 

Family Of The Year slams up 3 to #5 with Let Her Go. 

Gilbert O'Sullivan sneaks his 72 year-old butt up to #4 with Where Did You Go To.

The hotties' other hit, Shape Of My Hands, moves up a spot to #3.

Eleanor Friedberger is still at #2 with Make Me A Song.

Which means a second week at the top for

...Caroline Rose and Jeannie Becomes A Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the Panel pick?  Well, the Mindbenders woulda got you 12.1 %...

The Mamas and Papas nets you 15.4 %...

The Stones would have raked you in 16.5 %...


But if you wanted the winner, and their 26.4 % stake, you needed...

...TA-DA, Percy Sledge and When A Man Loves A Woman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


That's it for this trip!  Stay gleeful, and we'll meet again, Lord willing, in my kindergarten year of 1967!

Wednesday Bible Study- the Fold- again

This week was another verse that was really difficult to figure out what we were to draw from this.  But in the end, it was so like the last few studies we've done- I just had to step back far enough.  Let me share with you first our verse- 1 Chronicles 3:16:


 And the sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, and Zedekiah his son. 

Not much to work with, eh?  Right smack dab in the middle of a genealogy.  But not just any genealogy- it is the path from David and Solomon through the Kings of Judah and into and out of the Exile in Babylon.  So let me give you a picture of what is happening here.

The previous verse gives you the four sons of Josiah, the last faithful King of Judah.  They were, as listed:  Johanan the first-born, Jehoiakim the second, Zedekiah the third, Shallum the fourth.  And when Josiah died, according to the Scriptures, the nobles of Judah picked the youngest son, Shallum, to be King; and they changed his name to Jehoahaz.  This name means, "Seized by God", and indeed that's just what happened.  You see, Josiah died in battle with Pharaoh Necho of Egypt- a battle Necho warned Josiah that God didn't want him to fight.  So when the nobles looked at the choices- perhaps Johanan was killed in battle, I have no idea but he was not considered- they saw that Eliakim (which was Jehoiakim's original name) was already a burgeoning dirtbag (more on that later) and passed by him and Mattaniah (Zedekiah's original name), and went to the youngest.  Necho didn't approve of the appointment (since he didn't make it) and he returned to Jerusalem, appointed Eliakim- changing his name to reflect his subservience- and took Jehoahaz to Egypt where he died a prisoner.

So that brings in Jehoiakim, who the Jewish sources spare no words in painting as a dirtbag.

...he was a godless tyrant, committing the most atrocious sins and crimes. He lived in incestuous relations with his mother, daughter-in-law, and stepmother, and was in the habit of murdering men, whose wives he then violated and whose property he seized. His garments were of "sha'aṭneẓ," ( mixed wool and linen, which was prohibited by the Law of Moses) and in order to hide the fact that he was a Jew, he had made himself an epispasm (Think, "reverse circumcision") by means of an operation, and had tattooed his body* (Lev. R. xix. 6; Tan., Lek Leka, end; Midr. Aggadat Bereshit xlviii.; see also Sanh. 103b). He even boasted of his godlessness, saying, "My predecessors, Manasseh and Amon, did not know how they could make God most angry. But I speak openly; all that God gives us is light, and this we no longer need, since we have a kind of gold that shines just like the light; furthermore, God has given this gold to mankind [Ps. cxv. 16] and is not able to take it back again" (Sanh. l.c.).

*That tattoo was described as an idol, perhaps with the word "Heaven" over it.

Now the Jews had a discussion of how every King who was described in Scripture as "did evil in the sight of the Lord" were forbidden heaven, with the exception of those, apparently, who were saved by the worth of their sons or their own late-in-life repentance.  In discussing how Jehoiakim didn't make this list somehow, the Jews said that they did not know.  This will lead to another fascinating bunny trail in a bit.  Jehoiakim is the King in Jeremiah who takes the scroll of Jeremiah's prophecy and cuts it up line by line and throws it in the fire; therefore, he is prophesied the "death of a donkey"- his body cast over the walls of the city when the armies of Moab, Ammon, and others take him down at Nebuchadnezzar's request.  Keeping in mind this prophecy, and the casting of the scroll into the fire, let me share then the final fate of Jehoiakim, according to the Jews:

Even this shameful death, however, was not to be the end of the dead king, upon whose skull were scratched the words, "This and one more." After many centuries the skull was found by a scholar before the gates of Jerusalem; he piously buried it, but as often as he tried to cover it the earth refused to hold it. He then concluded that it was the skull of Jehoiakim, for whom Jeremiah had prophesied such an end (Jer. xxii. 18); and as he did not know what to do with it, he wrapped it in a cloth and hid it in a closet. After a time his wife found it and showed it to a neighbor, who said: "Your husband had another wife before you whom he can not forget, and therefore he keeps her skull." Thereupon the wife threw it into the fire, and when her husband returned he knew what the enigmatical words "this and one more" meant (Sanh. 82a, 104a). 


Though I could not find evidence in the timeline, I saw at least one source that Jehoiakim had executed the prophet Isaiah.  He had brought up the apostasy of Menasseh in his bragging- but forgot to mention Menasseh repented after being imprisoned in Babylon by the Assyrian King Esarhaddon for a time.  Which brings up another interesting tidbit I found in the Sanhedrin:

These are also the proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.1  Now, would Hezekiah king of Judah have taught the Torah to the whole world, yet not to his own son Manasseh? But all the pains he spent upon him, and all the labours he lavished upon him did not bring him back to the right path, save suffering alone, as it is written, And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people: but they would not hearken unto him. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.2  And it is further written, And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And prayed unto him, and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem unto his kingdom, and Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.3  Thus thou learnest how precious is suffering.'

I had been spending some time wondering the very question that was first asked there- is this the lesson- why it is that the best fathers (Hezekiah and Josiah) brought forth the worst monsters as sons?  But I read this passage and understood that each man's choice of path is his own, and despite the Rabbis' debating of whether the son's virtue saves the father, this wasn't our point.

So with Jehoiakim dead, it was Babylon who picked the next man up, which was the son Jehoiachin- also known as Jeconiah.  Jeconiah wasn't going to be long either.

Jehoiachin was made king in place of his father by Nebuchadnezzar; but the latter had hardly returned to Babylon when some one said to him, "A dog brings forth no good progeny," whereupon he recognized that it was poor policy to have Jehoiachin for king (Lev. R. xix. 6; Seder 'Olam R. xxv.).

A curious thing happens next.  You see, Jehoiachin/Jeconiah is no better than his father- and Jeremiah cursed his father with a curse that will become key to where we are going...

Jer 22:30  Thus says the LORD: "Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah." 

But it seems that at the end of things, Jeconiah had one somewhat noble deed left- and it led to a miraculous response.  From my main source in this post, the Jewish Encyclopedia:

 In Daphne, near Antiochia, Nebuchadnezzar received the Great Sanhedrin, to whom he announced that he would not destroy the Temple if the king were delivered up to him. When the king heard this resolution of Nebuchadnezzar he went upon the roof of the Temple, and, turning to heaven, held up the Temple keys, saying: "As you no longer consider us worthy to be your ministers, take the keys that you have entrusted to us until now." Then a miracle happened; for a fiery hand appeared and took the keys, or, as others say, the keys remained suspended in the air where the king had thrown them.

And then Nebuchadnezzar did what I'm guessing was the ultimate insult.  After removing Jeconiah to Babylon in chains, he bypasses the natural succession- which would have went to Jeconiah's brother Zedekiah- and went back to the sons of Josiah, taking a third son, Mattaniah, and naming HIM Zedekiah.  Zedekiah would prove not only to be a dirtbag, but a stupid dirtbag.  He joined in rebellion against Babylon, which fulfilled then the prophecies of Jeremiah by bringing Jerusalem to the worst siege conditions possible- the dregs of their judgment being drained- and eventually falling.  Zedekiah and sons tried to sneak out in the confusion- much as Jehoiakim apparently had in another verse- and for his troubles got to watch his sons executed before his own eyes were put out.  

And while he would die in chains, Nebuchadnezzar's successor would look kindly on Jeconiah and release him and treat him as a noble in Babylon.  He would go on to father Shelatiel, who would be the father of Zerubabbel the governor, who would be one of the "burning lamps" with which God re-lit the faith of the returning exiles, and be the common McGuffin in both Joseph's kingly line and Mary's blood line to Jesus.  If you look at Matthew's genealogy of Jesus, you will see all of these- with the exception of the evil Jehoiakim, who according to Jeremiah's prophecy, Matthew left off his list.

And that is when it hit me.  One of the commentators had mentioned that the 1 Chronicles genealogy had followed the straight succession of the kings- until it hit Josiah, who God considered the last King.  All the rest were appointed either by foreign rulers, or in Jehoahaz's case, illegally.  So instead of continuing a kingly genealogy, after Josiah it became a genealogy just like all the others, with many sons listed, and including daughters and Leviritic matchups.

Just like our last few 3:16s had been a hinge place for the stories surrounding it, so was this- the fold-point between the old Kingdom and the new Israel awaiting a Messiah.  At that point, Israel is drug to exile in Babylon.  And just as the old Israel was born in it's release from exile in Egypt, the New Israel would be born from this exile in Babylon.  So it's not just a fold point.  It's a birth point- and a death point.

And now, in our day, we have seen the birth point of another Israel- after a much longer exile (because of a much deeper rejection of God), we have a new iteration of Israel- but not necessarily a DIFFERENT Israel.  The Book of Revelation tells us that there will be one more death-birth cycle for Israel- the last one.  And the only question, the one we are watching unfold, is how shall she listen to her Prophets THIS time?

The Third Ten

So long ago I'd almost forgot about it, I did a version of Newspage Go, that involved the ten smallest nations in the world, and a week or so later, the second ten.  You can find the second ten here if you must; there's a link to the smallest ten on that page.  And today, I thought, "Hey, why not go to the third ten?"  So I looked up my trusty size comparing and population sites, figured out who comes next, and away we go today, from #30 to # 21...

Cape Verde

Size: 1,557 Square Miles (Bigger than Rhode Island, yet smaller than Fort Bliss in New Mexico and Texas)

Population: 552 K (or thousand if you're ambitious)

News:  As you remember, the rule here is first story on first legit news site.  And we have a nice one here.  Seems that President Jorge Carlos Fonseca has vetoed a bill that sought to set standards and rules for essential public services, as there was one proviso he's been advised won't pass the Supreme Court's review.  And what, pray tell, would that be?

The document states that although the President of the Republic agrees with the inclusion of solid urban waste management services in the list of essential services, he had serious doubts as to the constitutional conformity of the standard of that legislative act, which states that non-payment of management services of solid urban waste is a reason for suspending the provision of any other essential public service, ie suspension of water supply, electricity or fixed telephone service.

So, if I get this right, if you fail to pay your sewer bill, it gives the utilities an excuse to turn off any other of your utilities as well.  That seems pretty poopy to me, and apparently to Fonseca as well.


Samoa

Size:  1,089 sq. mi. (Roughly 110 times the size of Tuvalu, which was on the first post.)

Pop: 198 K (Not quite 2 South Bends)

News:  Samoa Airways is likely to get the bum's rush on their request to have landing fees waived, according to Minister of Works, Transport and Infrastructure, Papali’i Niko Lee Hang.  It is not given how much Samoa Airways is trying to get out of, but Papali'i (Samoan for PayPal) says:

Papali’i was unable to pinpoint how much the Samoa Airways landing fees, but made it clear that “other airlines are paying their fees and so should Samoa Airways”.

However, they are not hard-headed about it; they are looking into greatly reducing the fee, adopting a commonly used "incentive plan" for new carriers (which Samoa Airways technically is after a re-organization in 2017, though under one name or another it has been around since 1959).

The catch?  Yep, Samoa Airways is government run.  So yes, that would be the government telling itself to pay up.

Luxembourg

Size: 998 sq mi (You could cram 36 1/2 of 'em in Indiana.)

Pop: 590 K (Somewhere shy of Milwaukee)

News:  So I had to sign up for a free account with the Luxembourg Times, come up with a password I'll never use again ("G00dgrief"), click the link e-mailed to me, and sign in all over again, just to read a story about how a big Luxi fund manager bought a little fund manager run by some Swedish bank.  Hey, have you met Liechtenstein?

Mauritius

Size:  780 sq mi (Twice Indy)

Pop: 1, 267 K (Stick Ft Wayne inside San Jose...)

News:  "22 May, 2018: The Ministry of Civil Service and Administrative Reforms will launch the Public Service Excellence Award (PSEA) Edition 2017 in June 2018. The theme for this eleventh edition is "Fostering creativity and innovation to better respond to citizens’ needs". 

The PSEA aims at recognising organisational excellence and rewards Ministries/Departments or Divisions/Units that have adopted innovative and environmentally-friendly means to deal with daily challenges. It also promotes a performance-based, responsive, customer-focused and accountable public service."

I think we get the picture of their civil service when the "Edition 2017" new award is awarded in June of 2018.  Pretty creative and innovative.


Comoros 

Size:  719 sq mi (6 1/2 Ft Waynes)

Pop: 830 K  (close to Indy)

News:  The last two Presidents of the island nation have been arrested in an investigation of corruption.  A delightful scheme to help poor people stuck in Arab nations like the Emirates who have no "official citizenship" by selling them Comoros visas started in 2008 SOMEhow managed to lose "at least $100 million".  I know I've run across this story before- in fact, I had to case the first two lists to make sure I hadn't done them before- these "stateless ones" (the equivalent of our "illegal immigrants" are called Bidoon...

No, Bob, not BA-doon...

...and once they would have gotten Comoran citizenship, they could have gotten better jobs in Kuwait and the Emirates.  Kind of like how California gives drivers licences and voter registrations to illegal Mexicans, and just about as intelligent and successful.


Sao Tome and Principe

Size: 372 sq mi (just over half the size of Allen County)

Pop:  208 K  (Fort Wayne in the summer)

News: Apparently there is a big to-do going on over the electoral system.  Involving the company that made the software not changing passwords and therefore allowing certain government groups the ability to play around with them if they so chose, an independent consultant was brought in.  His report said that TECHNICALLY there was no fraud detected.  The head of the election board modified that to,  "It was made clear that there was never an Electoral Commission fraud or intention to prepare the massive fraud as we had heard in our country".  Which, the writer astutely noted, is two different things.  He tried to point that out on what passes for mainstream media there (which I never quite found), but says, "The media present, gathered opinions from the participants, but, as is already the case, TVS simply and surgically CENSURED the essence of the interview that was granted to me."

Kiribati

Size: 313 sq mi (About 3 "Newies", Jo-Anne)

Pop: 118 K (Evansville)

News:  A ferry sank with all hands back in January- 80+ deaths- and what passes for government there is still playing pass the buck on what happened.  More to the point, what didn't?  The rules that the boat was to be audited on were "not in place," so the auditor could not audit them last year(?); the boat was overloaded with copra; the crew got drunk the night before, and the captain hit a shoal he should have known was there prior to leaving port.  The parliament is fighting over how many members get the chance to take it out on the other guy as they debate blame, and the investigating commission asked for more time at the beginning of the month.  I think Columbo might have wrapped this one up in time to play about 45 extra commercials.


Bahrain

Size:  295 sq mi ( about NYC)

Pop: about 1.6 million  (Good enough for the lead so far on this post)

News:  Bahrain seems to be in a bit of a housing crunch.  The big news today was that the Crown Prince had met with several high muck-a-mucks to get the ball rolling on the next "allocation" of 5,000 housing units.  Since the King set a goal of 25,000 units by this year back in 2016, as far as I can figure, there are 15,000 built, another 15,000 already in process- but the Crown Prince had to up his game as the King jumped the goal to 40,000.  A lot of digging later, I found out how it works:

Under the programme, eligible applicants making between BD600 ($1590) and BD1200 ($3180) monthly can obtain mortgages with repayments capped at 25% of their income. The state then finances the difference between the borrower’s monthly payment and the amount required by the lender. Under the programme, applicants can purchase a housing unit approved by the MoH or from an accredited developer.

So not a bad deal, I guess.  Maybe they should invite some Bidoon over...


Dominica

Size:  290 sq mi (half a million hockey rinks)

Pop: 74 K (A full house at a Carolina Panthers game)

News:  Somebody ran off the road...

Several people were hospitalized.  Developing story...


Tonga  

Size: 277 sq mi (You could put 3 1/2 of them into the Ponderosa and have plenty of room left for Hoss)

Pop: 108 K (just one South Bend)

News:  "A 54-year-old man of Asian origin was arrested by police on Tuesday, May 15 at Fua’amotu International Airport after attempting to smuggle $100,000 out of Tonga in different currencies. 

Police today said the accused was released on bail on Wednesday, May 16 to appear at the Fasi Magistrate’s Court.

In the meantime, he has been charged with failing to declare that he was taking more than the required amount of $10,000 pa’anga, ($4319) as he was intending to fly out of Tonga.

The cash was taped onto his body and included cash of USD$50,000, AUD$10,000, Tongan cash and other currencies."

Y'know, if you'd have just bought that "Tourist's wallet"...

School shootings

So today as I was failing to take a nap, I was listening to Jay Sekulow (for those not in the loop, America's biggest lawyer on the subject of defending rights of faith) talking to guests and callers about the recent school shootings.  He was making a fair point- if these things happen even with gun control laws and with items other than guns, then the 'solution' is to make our schools "hard targets" with metal detectors and beefed up security.  Which I suppose will help short term- and I am being a skeptic here for a reason- but one must remember the old saying:  "When man makes a better mousetrap, nature makes a better mouse."

For example, limited access facilities- herd kids through one entrance/exit or a limited number of them, so all can be checked for weapons.  So what then happens when a prospective shooter makes himself a 'nest' near one of those points of entry- instead of going in- and guns them in the crowd?  In 1966, 17 were killed from a tower.  What then happens if they come in with plasticized explosives to beat the metal detectors at the doors?  Or are we going to ban tall buildings in rifle range of a school? (good luck with that, Manhattan)  Oh, how about we just surround the schools with walls a la the border fence?

How much education will kids get in a prison?

My point not being something is right, something else is wrong.  But in a world where we are constantly finding ways to overcome the best defense, what good does it do?  First you had nutbags injecting Tylenol capsules with poison.  So we safety sealed everything.  Then it was anthrax letters, until the average nutbag discovered that it wasn't terribly effective as far as body counts.  Then it was Saren gas; then it was fertilizer truck bombs; then it was flying planes into buildings.  Each time we tried our best to secure the weak spot, and evil found a way around it.

This weekend, a father gathered his family in a restaurant, and once they were all seated, he drove his vehicle into the wall behind which they sat, killing his daughter and injuring others.  So lock down the school.  Then watch the nutbag du jour invite everyone to a party at say, the mall, and blow them away there.  Or even more creative- dump poison into the water supply.  Or the air ducts.  Legionnaire's disease proved how effective that is.


So I went looking for data on school shootings- and found it is a tricky task.  What is your definition of a school "mass shooting?"  Can you get reliable data seeing's as the Government in the '90s forbade the CDC from collecting data on gun deaths?  Amazingly, the best source- and God have mercy on my soul for using them- is Mother Jones.  They have a school shootings database which goes back to 1982.  So I began working with their numbers.  I decided that the best way to see a trend was to take a year by year average of how many average shootings a year.  And I found something pretty chilling.

The first 9 years, 1982-90, it stayed pretty flat in the 0.5- 1.0 shootings range.  Then, after a 2-year mild step up, it shot to 1.5 per in '93; and through '98, that became the approximate new normal.

Then came 1999, and Columbine.  the five incidents that year sent the average to 1.72- but from there it did a slow drift back down.  In 2002, MJ listed no incidents; by 2004, it was back to pre- Columbine levels.

And then, boom.  the last four years of the GW Bush presidency, it shot up to 1.74, the highest ever.  Obama's first term, it went up another .29; at the end of his presidency it had climbed another .4, and had spent the entire term climbing through the 2s to 2.43 in his last year.

Not blaming Obama.  The first year of Trump's presidency, it climbed another .24, and extrapolating for a full year 2018 would give us 3 more incidents yet this year and a whopping 2.81 average- nearly double what it was at that low spot in 2004.


What happened?  This is my speculation, in an area impossible to prove.  So from here, just hear me out and make your own decision.

In 2004, San Francisco legalized same-sex marriage, and shortly thereafter Massachusetts joined in.  I know, I know, but again, hear me out.  God has consistently warned repercussions on nations that reject him.  What are the main ways of rejecting him as a nation?  Well, for one would be idolatry.  Do we have idolatry?  When I was a kid, the minimum pay for a major league baseball player was $67,500; it is now 8 times that.  Throw in Entertainment tonight, the National Inquirer, TMZ, the Academy Awards, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and you tell me.  Sacrificing to idols?  Ask 50 million aborted babies since Roe V Wade.  Failure to obey God's word?  How about driving out prayer in public, starting with schools?  And making a nation an abomination in God's eyes.  Was Same-sex marriage the last straw for God with the USA?

Consider this.  According to wikipedia, and here I myself am guilty a bit in manipulating data, from 1900 until the banning of prayer in schools in 1962, there were 17 school shootings that involved more than one death- and seven of those were 1900-1909.  So that gives you 10 such incidents in a tetch over 50 years.  From the prayer ruling to Roe V Wade, there were SEVEN shootings in 9 years- which takes us from 0.18 shootings a year for the previous 53 years to 0.77- a four-fold increase- in those nine years.  Then, from Roe V Wade to 1982 (When Mother Jones kicks in), we add another 5 in those nine years.  So, from 1900 to school prayer, we averaged 0.27 incidents a year; by Roe V Wade, we were at .32; by 1982, we are at .35; and when you combine these wiki numbers with Mother Jones, we would have been at .6 in 2004, and we are now at .88 since 1900.

When this latest shooting took place, I told Laurie, " Once you kick God from the school, what's to stop the demons from pouring in?"  But the school shootings are just a symptom.  When the school prayer decision hit, you made a decision that would be a slow ripple through a generation.  2004 was one generation from the school prayer verdict.  We are just past a generation from Roe V Wade.  Society has been fundamentally changed, and merely undoing what we did wouldn't be enough by half to fix things.  Ask Josiah of Judah.  He dedicated his life to rebuilding his nation's place with God; it took three months before his sons had cast it all away.

Yes, I'm a skeptic.  And that is because God promised Israel a remnant.  He made no such promise to George Washington.

"It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor."
- George Washington

Sunday Message- "Religious experts"

The problem with today's religious experts is that they are "religious", but not experts.  This week, what should have been a joyous occasion- the dedication of the new US Embassy in Jerusalem- was marred by evil in every direction.  Most of which you can find on mainstream media- and if you do a little digging, you can get past that and make an informed judgment.  I'll leave that to you and your own sense of what's right and wrong.  What I want to address specifically is how several "religious experts" attacked one aspect of this story- that President Trump made the wise selection of Pastor Robert Jeffress to dedicate the building.  Jeffress is a man I have listened to many times and respect for his no-holds-barred preaching of what is actually in the Word of God.  Now, I am going to bring in two experts- and later, a third- and show you why "religious expert" is an oxymoron.

Robert Jeffress says “you can’t be saved by being a Jew,“ and “Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell.”  He’s said the same about Islam. Such a religious bigot should not be giving the prayer that opens the United States Embassy in Jerusalem.- Mitt Romney.

A clergyman (or clergy-woman) is expected to be a servant of the Most High God, delivering messages of love, tolerance and peace.  Yesterday’s dedication of the American embassy in Jerusalem, an historic event in our historic capital city, was tainted by the presence of a Baptist preacher, a man who hates all non-Christians, who delivered the opening prayer.- Esor Ben-Sorek, retired professor of Hebrew, Biblical literature & history of Israel. 

Mitt Romney speaks from the perspective of Mormonism.  The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints tries to pass as a Christian church, but it is nothing of the kind.  In the early 1800's, Joseph Smith claimed to have a visit from an angel who dictated to him the Book of Mormon from Golden tablets that no one has ever seen again.  Now, I am not going to waste time refuting Mormonism.  Paul destroyed it in one blow 1,800 years before it began:

Gal 1:8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.


Revelation to the Church ceased with the Apostles.  That is why they (not the Pope) are the rock upon which Christ built the Church.  It, therefore by the words of Paul- whom Peter himself said is as inspired as Scripture- a "heresy from the pit of hell."  Strike one, Mitt.  And the same goes for Islam- and again, not trying to spend a lot of time on refutation. BUT, where we believe that God showed the only way to erase the sin in man and make him righteous was for His Own Son to die and take the punishment for those sins Himself, Islam believes that at the last second, God did the "ol' bait and switch"- took Jesus off the cross and into heaven, and put in a stand-in (maybe Barabbas), who couldn't POSSIBLY have been an acceptable sacrifice.  If you believe in God at all and think that's feasible, I cannot help you.  Strike two, Mitt.

And "you can't be saved by being a Jew"?  That is dead on as well.  Hear it from John the Baptist, whom Jesus called the greatest of men born to women:


Matt 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

One thing I have learned from my recent Bible studies is the Jewish concept of being made righteous by just being a Jew.  But it doesn't work that way.  600,000 corpses littered the Sinai in Moses' time because being a Jew isn't enough.  Two Temples have been levelled because it isn't enough.  And Jesus died because it isn't enough.  Now perhaps Mitt, reading his agenda into things, thought Jeffress was saying Jews can't go to heaven.  But even if he did, he's still wrong.  Strike three, Mitt... you are out.


Now, to Mr.  Ben-Sorek.  First, "delivering messages of love, tolerance, and peace".  Is that how YOU define a preacher of the Most High God?  Name one in your OWN Scriptures who did that.  Let me name one in the New Testament who did not- Jesus:

Matt 10:34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Mr. Ben-Sorek, I think I know which kind of preacher you want.  Maybe like this one:

2 Tim 4:4 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 


Sounds like perhaps you- and many around you- have "wandered off into myths" on this one.  Strike one.

"...a man who hates all non-Christians..."  Let me do a parable of my own for this one.  There were two men standing at the side of the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago.  One man said, "I am going to cross the highway on foot."  The other said, "No, you mustn't do that; you will be killed."  The first said, "Oh, you just hate me.  You want to tie me down to your concept of the world.  I believe any man can cross the 14 lanes of packed 80 MPH traffic if he is sincere in his belief."  So the man came out onto the highway, and was soon splattered across a windshield like a big dumb bug.  A third man then comes up and says to the one that's left, "It's a shame that you ruined his last minutes with your hate."   He who has ears, let him hear.  Strike two, Ben-Sorek.


"...was tainted by the presence of a Baptist preacher..."  Funny how tolerance is such a one-way street.  Strike three.


Now, I am going to attempt to give you the base problem here, by bringing in our third "expert"- the Pope.  Here is a quote from him that I found  in trying to REFUTE that he said it...


There are those who believe they can maintain a personal, direct and immediate relationship with Jesus Christ outside the communion and the mediation of the Church. These are dangerous and harmful temptations. 


"The mediation of the church?"  Meaning that you are not allowed to think for yourselves; it is dangerous for you to, say, go to the Son of God who died for you, without doing it through the church fathers and the Pope and the priest.   Or Mary, or some saint, or any of the million other layers that the Catholic Church thinks must be put between you and Christ.  But what did Jesus say?

John 14:1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? 

Does that really sound like someone who wants you to go through the hierarchies of man to come to Him?  THINK ABOUT IT.

Unfortunately, they are the voices being held up as "religious experts" by those who have not given in to the "dangerous and harmful temptation" of surrendering their life to their Savior.  They are the ones who are leading the world down the merry road to the Antichrist, while naming believers as "religious bigots".  Do not be fooled, not even by me.  LOOK into it for yourselves.  You have a mind, and a soul designed to seek the truth if not so weighed down by "heresies from the pit of hell."  Put some logical thought together:

- If God made the world, would He not give you the "instruction manual?"
-If He COULD make the world, don't you think He'd be able to get that Word to you down through the years, despite the best efforts of man and demon?
-If the first two are right, don't you think you should pick it up and read it on your own?