Day Three Of A Week Of Prayer And Fasting.

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I made it almost two days before I started going crazy. About four this afternoon, as a matter of fact.

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I guess my highly tuned physique wasn’t ready for an abrupt change in diet to simple, high-fiber foods. I usually subsist on a diet of bacon intermixed with caramel, hamburger, chips, and diet soda. The switch was… well, let’s just say that I did actually contemplate what would happen when the man who cleans my area came by to vacuum tomorrow and the walls of my cube were desecrated. Blown out, covered in bits of skin and flesh, just like Monty Python’s Mr. Creosote.

Yes, I did have a long evening of misery thinking about whether or not I’d survive. I have decided to moderate the fast tomorrow and eat at least 2 pounds of meat to offset the healthy stuff. I will only eat that one meal a day, and only during the hours I’d talked about, but I have to give my guts a break or I will not survive.

Back to the topic – well, there wasn’t one. But in the comments I have been asked about the book, Assault On Saint Agnes, and where you can buy it legally (bootleg copies are evidently available in Kazakhstan.) The answer will be forthcoming next week. Really. Honest. Dates of availability and the whole thing. That’s the plan.

Last but not least, there is a State Fair jam update: we didn’t win. Heck, we didn’t even place. The whole thing was rigged. I don’t know who got paid off, but one guy walked away with at least $20 in the end. Seriously, we did well. I got the score sheets for a couple of the products last night and the orange rhubarb got 90 out of 100 points. I was really pleased with that one. My tart cherry got 70+ points – hey, I like it more than that score. The hot cherry version didn’t get judged because there were so many entries that it wasn’t even ranked. Too bad, it was even better than the tart stuff.

Tomorrow I will be working on a top-secret project – fine, I’ll share that one next week as well. It’s pretty exciting.

Keep praying, keep working on your fast (I will, after I recover,) and count your blessings.

Day Two Of A Week Of Prayer And Fasting.

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If you’re tuning in for a blow-by-blow of my rumbling stomach, I’m going to have to dissapoint you. Consider the fact that a gigantic clod like me is only eating a simple meal once a day and running on fluids the rest of the 20 hours and it’s a given.

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Today’s blog is focused on some reflection I’ve done over the past year. I have not been able to go on a missions trip in 2014 and instead focused on meeting the nutritional needs of the homeless in my birth city. It has been very rewarding. I think the smile on my face says it all:

Overwhelmed with joy.

Overwhelmed with joy.

There is a part of my heart that loves travelling to Haiti, or Belize, or to whatever destination God puts out there, and doing His work. There is an equally large part of my heart that says to stay here and work with people in need that I pass on the street each day. I have been torn with the conflict and wondered how to resolve it with some kind of coherent thought process.

Whether you love her, or hate her, Ann Coulter always makes you think. She wrote an item a few weeks ago about Ebola and the missionaries that had contracted it while treating the victims.

Her question, and it’s a valid one, is whether or not we are narcissistic for “saving” people overseas when so many in this country need our help and witness. It made me stop and ponder the question once again and I’m a little closer to an answer. But not yet firm in my thinking: it will continue to evolve.

I will again go overseas on a missions trip. But I will also work here, in my home town, to provide that witness, evangelical message, and support to those in need. It means I have to work harder to raise that money next year, to take that trip and provide those meals, but God has been good to me in providing over the past few years. He has presented me with an opportunity to grow my income once again, and very soon I will share that with all of you. No, it’s not a pyramid scheme, and nobody wants your email list. But it will open doors for me and help me meet those goals I have in the missions field.

Each of us will have to answer the questions that Ann raises. She’s a smart-aleck with a sharp tongue, but she made me think hard on the topic. I appreciate that fact, and enjoy her style.

So my thanks go out to Ann Coulter for questioning my actions and plans. Now the question is, will she read my novel Assault On Saint Agnes for possible endorsement? It’s only fair, Ann: I just endorsed you.

Day One Of A Week Of Prayer And Fasting.

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Not that it’s going to change my posting habits forever, but this week I plan to post every day through Saturday.

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Here’s the deal: I promised to do a week of fasting and prayer about a month ago. One of my regular readers reminded me of this Friday (Hi, Brenda!) I’d forgotten. Lots going on in my world right now, details to come soon. But God puts these things in front of you for a reason. It’s an excellent time for me to focus on my soul and pray.

So, for the next 7 days I will eat a single meal a day, fasting for 20 hours. Oatmeal, fresh fruit, and honey. I will drink lots of fluids, so don’t worry, Mom.

I will read only scripture for 1 hour a day (except for work projects I have to do) and no pleasure reading on my own hook.

And I will watch and wait for what I suspect will be an awful week. around the world.

I hope you join me in this prayer and fast. We need it right about now.

Joe

Is It ISIL Or ISIS? I Spell It Islamic Murder Society.

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Well, I’ve kind of been waiting for a fatwa, so that ought to do it.

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For those of you not paying close attention (since about 1400 years ago, so kind of newish to our Commander in Chief,) Islam is a virulent disease with the goal of taking over the world through the means of shedding blood.

Harsh? Nah, just right on the money. Read the Quran and it will fill in all the details. Beheading innocent journalists? Fits in to the plan. Subjugating women? Nice stuff, again on the plan. Invading neighboring nations and giving the choice to convert, be subjected to heavy taxation, or be killed? Ding, Ding, Ding right on the money.

Linguistically, and I love starting sentences that way, the sheeple of the west have accepted the stupid notion that Islam is the religion of peace. Truth of the matter is that Islam is the command form of the Arabic word “submit.” As in, “Submit to Islam or be put to the sword.” Read history and find the truth. A couple of years of Arabic lessons will also help.

Nobody who understands Islam is in the least bit surprised that they like beheading people. Kind of a trend the last few years, but it’s an old habit that just never goes out of style for Islam.

Radical Islam is what fools call this manifestation of the virus. No, it’s “Pure Islam” to those who study such things. This is the hateful, world conquering ideology that is prophesied in the Koran. (Multiple spellings, I’m not done yet.”

Since we’re on the topic of a movement that wants to subjugate the world, let me throw out a little prediction: It’s about to get really ugly.

I know Barack Obama is constantly surprised at what he reads in the papers, but that’s only because he doesn’t attend his intelligence briefings. So, Mr. President, I read the papers for you and wish to give you a heads up: ISIL, ISIS, Hair Club For Murderous Barbarians, or whatever their name is this week, is not done with us yet.

My biggest clue was that just two weeks before the anniversary of 9-11 (The day of the attacks on New York and Benghazi) the King of Saudi Arabia warned that it was about to go off the hook. Why would he do that? Simple: he’s got actionable intelligence on something awful and he can’t/won’t do anything about it because he’s the head of the Muslim world. Too dangerous, politically, for him to act. So he threw the ball to Barack and hopes he can say, “Well, I warned you” when it hits the fan.

Mr. President, I don’t blame you for the most recent beheadings. But I sure do blame you for saying that you don’t have a plan. David Cameron might be bluffing, but he gets it. You don’t, or won’t, speak out on this as you should. Grow some backbone and keep clear of the tenth tee for a few weeks. It’s about to get real.

That is my prediction. But what do I know, I’ve only spent 30 years studying the issue.

Long, Hot Weekend In Our Future – Let’s Keep Out Of Each Other’s Faces.

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I get the feeling that I’m the only one who watches the whole video when people post the latest “Brutal cop beats upstanding minority scholarship winner/grandmother/wheelchair bound disabled vet/paralyzed sheep dog” videos on the web, particularly Facebook.

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Why do I watch them? Because violence of that sort is fascinating to a writer. Also, given my skills, experience, and training I see things differently. Sometimes that means that I’ll be on the sidewalk cheering when they lead officer stupid to the waiting car in cuffs. Most of the time I see where the judgement call went south but wasn’t too terrible. From time to time I see one that was done perfectly for the cops and the people involved. Other times I see videos that have been manipulated to create chaos and unrest. But I watch them and put them into their little boxes and think about them. Now I’m writing about one of them.

My friend Reggie posted one earlier today that sure looked like a young, white, female cop beat an elderly black woman and slammed her to the ground for no good reason. First glance was really horrible. Camera shook at a vital moment but stuff happens, right?

I watched the video 10 times. By the third scan I was pretty sure my hunch was right. By scan 6 I was positive about what happened. By scan 10 I knew the video was trying to stir up another racially based incident. So, take a minute to watch this 5 year old video that is now being presented on social media as an indictment of the police for brutality. I’ll explain it afterward. (Language alert!)

So, looks awful at first glance. Until you take a breath, watch it start to finish, and observe what happens. If you stop at the first flash of the woman being taken down, you’d blame the cop unless you were listening closely. If you were listening closely you’d hear the officer asking the woman to drop the knife.

Wait: isn’t that an indicator of a threat? Yup. She (the officer) neutralizes the threat. Our rule was pretty much like this: you bring a fist, I bring a stick. You bring a stick or a knife and I bring a gun. You bring a gun, I have all my friends bring guns.

The woman was evidently suffering from dementia and not all there in the incident. But when you face a knife, you face death. One slash/stab from that blade and you can die. There’s no “hit the wrist and get the knife. Why? You’re inside the threat circle and can be killed or wounded by the knife. Taser from ten feet might be good, but …not always a taser handy. So what does the cop do? She picked the middle ground and used martial arts to disarm the woman when she wouldn’t drop the knife and stand still. Beats getting shot.

Now, listen to the bystanders until the end of the tape. Lots of commentary about how she was standing in the lot waving a knife around – that’s why somebody called the police in the first place. She was a threat to herself and others. The cops can’t just say, “She’s old, she’ll tire out soon and go home.” Nope, immediate threat.

So, after watching this and posting my comment on the entry with my analysis, my friend Reggie chimed in: he approved. You see, I’m white, he’s black. But we’re brothers. At the same church. Friends, colleagues, compadres. And that relationship trumps the race-baiting nastiness that seems to be so popular in this country this week.

Two reasonable men, one white and one black, took the time to study the video and came to the same conclusion. The cops didn’t want to do it, they are clearly anguished over the woman’s being hurt. They treat her well once she’s not a threat. No beating, no nasty, no naughty. What they should do.

This weekend as you travel about, try to remove that filter on your brain. Not all cops are good, not all cops are bad. Not all black people are good, not all black people are bad. Not all white people are good, not all white people are bad. But we are all people. Children of the living God. What say we act like it and treat our brothers and sisters well until they prove themselves unworthy. Optics matter. Color doesn’t.

In the meantime, I wonder if Reggie is up for dinner after church? I need to break bread with a man of valor and conviction. A man who values truth over teams.