Category: Christianity

Living in This Age of Selfishness

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics1 Comment

selfishnessYesterday morning, I fixed my bride and myself some leftover spiral-sliced honey ham sandwiches for lunch. As I was spreading mayonnaise on the last four pieces of bread in the loaf, I took the ends for my sandwich. It was then that I realized that something has been sticking in my craw lately. Maybe ,I’m just getting old.

HEY YOU KIDS…GET OFF OF MY LAWN!

Anyway, one of the things that is currently troubling me, is this unpleasant fact:

Americans are becoming more selfish.

It’s not just the J.R. Ewing kind of selfishness, otherwise known as a thirst for money and power. It’s different than that. It’s more along the lines of adults, who have never grown up.

For example, let’s look at the family living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC.

In the first three months of the year, members of the first family have been on three vacations, averaging a vacation a month. And now it’s being reported that the first daughters are on a spring break vacation in the Bahamas.

The Obamas began the new year in Hawaii. “President Obama departed Hawaii this morning for Washington, after spending NINE days vacationing with family and friends in his native state. Here’s a quick look at how he spent his vacation,” ABC reported on January 6, 2013.

“Obama played FIVE rounds of golf with SEVEN different partners, spending roughly THIRTY hours on TWO different courses on Oahu. The president made FIVE early morning trips to the gym at the nearby Marine Base at Kaneohe Bay. The First Family spent TWO afternoons enjoying the beach on the base and went for ONE hike to a local waterfall. The president spent ONE father-daughter afternoon with Malia and Sasha, bowling and going out for shave ice, an annual tradition.”

Then the first lady and their daughters vacationed in Aspen over President’s Day weekend. “First Lady Michelle Obama arrived in Aspen on Friday afternoon and is here with her daughters for a ski vacation,” Aspendailynews.com reported in February. “Few details about her trip were available. Sources said she is staying at the home of Jim and Paula Crown, owners of the Aspen Skiing Co. She is reportedly skiing at Buttermilk today, where the Crowns, of Chicago, own a home on the Tiehack side.”

We have all seen Obama be a smart aleck  with everyone who dares question his brilliance, to the point of petulance. Obama’s behavior reminds me of the way Paul Reubens as Pee Wee Herman behaves when he’s upset,

I know you are. But, what am I?

And, of course, his lovely wife Mooch, err, I mean, Michelle, fancies herself a Professional Nutritionist…even though it takes her two trips to haul…err…butt.

But, this new selfishness doesn’t just stop with the First Family. It is pervasive throughout American Society. It is taught in our homes, by parents who, wanting the best for their children, teach them, from the time that they are old enough to understand, to look out for number one. Then, these little darlings go to school, where they’re taught that morals, values, and ethics are situational things, and that they owe allegiance to no one, neither God nor Country.

This didn’t happen when I was school age. In Elementary school, we prayed every morning, sang “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning”, and said the Pledge of Allegiance, with our hands solemnly over our hearts.

In fact, by the time we were school age, our parents had already taught us to say “Yes, ma’am” and “No, ma’am” and “Yes, sir” and “No, sir”. If we didn’t, we were disciplined. To this day, the back of my legs faintly read “4…5…6” from my Mother’s yardstick.

Nowadays, in the school my bride works at, the young boys and girls (third and fourth graders) disrespect the teachers, rolling their eyes at them, and back-talking them.  When the staff tries to discipline them, the parents come up to the school and chew them out for treating their little darlings so badly.

The young adults in this country, who were raised in such an ego-swelling, egocentric, lax environment, seem to be having trouble comprehending why they should give a..err..hoot ‘n holler about how their behavior effects those around them.

I, being the old fa…fogey that I am, am always attempting to explain to them that no man is a island. There are consequences for your actions, and, those consequences affect more than just you.

On May 18, 1800, Reverend Joseph McKeen, Pastor of the First Church of Beverly, gave a timeless warning, in a sermon given to the House of Representatives and the Senate of the State of Massachusetts…

Good example acts with the greater effect, because it reproves without upbraiding, and teaches us to correct our faults without giving us the mortification of knowing that any but ourselves, have ever observed them. We feel the force of counsel or persuasion much more sensibly, when we see that one does what he advises or requires us to do. But the best counsel from one, who obeys not his own precepts, nor practices upon the principles of his own advice, will generally be little regarded. We do not believe a man to be in earnest, who advises one thing, and does the contrary.

To resist the progress of irreligion, injustice, luxury, selfishness, and an impatience of legal restraint, is a duty imposed by patriotism.

…The love of liberty we inherit from our fathers; it is so “interwoven with the ligaments of our hearts,î that there can be little doubt of our enjoying it, and little danger of its being wrested from us so long as we are capable and worthy of it. But a capacity for enjoying it depends on a sound and healthful state of the body politic.

The more freedom we have, the more necessary is the aid of religious and moral principles to the maintenance of order and tranquility. When these are lost, or very much relaxed, severe restraints, which cannot always admit of those legal forms, that are essential to the security of liberty, become necessary; yet the people may retain a love of liberty, or rather an impatience of restraint, as the sensualist retains a passion for pleasure, after his constitution is so much impaired by excess, that indulgence would be fatal to him. Liberty, like the pleasures of sense, must be enjoyed with temperance and moderation, lest degenerating into licentiousness it prove destructive. There are none, it may be presumed, who will openly avow that political liberty is, or ought to be, a license for every one to do what is right in his own eyes; yet where the love of liberty is strong, and its nature not distinctly understood, there is too often a disposition to look with an indulgent eye on licentiousness, as only the extreme of a good thing, and therefore pardonable. But the difference between them is greater than some imagine: They are indeed so different, as to be incompatible in society. When one has an excess of liberty, he invades the rights of his neighbor, who is thereby deprived of a portion of the liberty which a free constitution promises him. Liberty in that case becomes exclusively the possession of the strong, the unprincipled, the artful, who makes a prey of the innocent, weak and unsuspicious. A state of things like this is a real despotism, and of the worst kind. It is a poor consolation to the plundered, abused sufferer to be told, that he must not complain; for his oppressor is not an hereditary monarch, acting by a pretended divine right, but only a fellow citizen, acting in the name of “liberty and equality.î

I believe that a lot of this selfishness we see around us, in Today’s America, comes from a generation not “being trained in the way that they should go”. Without strong role models, Christian, Jewish, or otherwise, children have no one to model themselves after. If the parents are selfish themselves, or, enablers, guess what their precious little darling is going to turn out to be?

The precious little darlings of the last few decades, who were raised to be selfish, are now selfish adults.

Unfortunately, selfish children tend to grow up to embrace a like-minded political ideology. And, then, they vote.

God Save the Union.

Until He Comes,

KJ

He is Risen!

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity1 Comment

Wow. It’s really been amazing around here since they crucified Jesus. Did you feel that earthquake? The veil of the temple was torn in half! And did you hear? A bunch of people that had died years ago, were seen walking around the city! But that’s not all. Don’t tell me you haven’t heard?

Listen to this: He has risen! He arose from the dead and was seen by several people. It’s true! I know it sounds unbelievable. I can scarcely take it in myself. Mary Magdalene and Mary, James and Salome’s mother, went to the tomb to perform the anointing of His body and it wasn’t there! On top of that, there was this young guy there, dressed in a white robe. They said he must have been 9 feet tall. He said, “You are seeking Jesus of Nazareth. Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here. See the place where you laid him.” So they went and told the disciples. But you know how Peter is. He just had to go run up there and see for himself.

Jesus even approached two of them on the road to Emmaus. They didn’t recognize him. He even broke bread with them that night. They realized who He was and He disappeared! They ran to tell the disciples and as they were telling them, Jesus appeared right in front of them! They were all starting to panic. Jesus said, “Peace to you.” But they couldn’t believe it was him, especially Thomas. So he had him touch him in the hole in his hand where they drove the nail and where the spear pierced his side.

Jesus ate with them and performed other signs and miracles in front of them and they understood scripture as never before. He also came to them at the Sea of Tiberius. Peter took the disciples fishing and they weren’t catching anything. Jesus told them from the bank to cast the net down on the right side. They did, and they could hardly bring it in the boat! When they got back to land, Jesus already had a fire going and some fish and bread ready to eat. He asked Peter three times if he loved Him, and each time He told him “Feed my sheep’. Hey, isn’t that the same number of times Peter Denied Him?

Anyway, He taught them many things before He left. They watched as He was taken straight up into heaven. Can you imagine?

The disciples are making plans now to go out and starting spreading the Good News about Jesus’ Resurrection. They are talking about going out in pairs. Man. Nothing is ever going to be the same again.

“For God so loved the word, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16

As you read this post today:

33% of the world’s population are  Christian.

The top 3 countries with the largest national Christian populations are :

USA – 224,457,000 (85%)

Brazil – 139,000,000 (93%)

Mexico – 86,120,000 (99%)

There are approximately 38,000 Christian denominations in the world. This statistic takes into consideration cultural distinctions of denominations in different countries.

Today, in the United States of America, about 78% (244, 140,000) of adults identify themselves as Christian. In comparison, the next largest religions in America are Islam and Judaism. Combined they represent only about one to two percent of the United States population.

There are more than 1500 different Christian faith groups in America.

All this and more, because of the sacrifice of the Son of God.
Within the editorial, Jesus, the Perfect Man, published on Christmas Day 1912, C.P.J. Mooney, Editor of the Memphis Commercial Appeal, wrote the following excerpt:

After the experience of 2,000 years no man can find a flaw in the governmental system outlined by Jesus.

Czar and kaiser, president and Socialist, give to its complete merit their admiration.

No man today, no matter whether he follows the doctrine of Mill, Marx or George as to property, can find a false principle in Jesus’ theory of property.

In the duty of a man to his fellow no sociologist has ever approximated the perfection of the doctrine laid down by Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount.

Not all the investigations of chemists, not all the discoveries of explorers, not all the experiences of rulers, not all the historical facts that go to make up the sum of human knowledge on this day in 1912 are in contradiction to one word uttered or one principle laid down by Jesus.

The human experiences of 2,000 years show that Jesus never made a mistake. Jesus never uttered a doctrine that was true at that time and then became obsolete.

Jesus spoke the truth, and the truth is eternal.

History has no record of any other man leading a perfect life or doing everything in logical order. Jesus is the only person whose every action and whose every utterance strike a true note in the heart and mind of every man born of woman. He never said a foolish thing, never did a foolish act and never dissembled.

No poet, no dreamer, no philosopher loved humanity with all the love that Jesus bore toward all men.

WHO, THEN, was Jesus?

He could not have been merely a man, for there never was a man who had two consecutive thoughts absolute in truthful perfection.

Jesus must have been what Christendom proclaims Him to be — a divine being — or He could not have been what He was. No mind but an infinite mind could have left behind those things which Jesus gave the world as a heritage.

In this time in this nation, our faith as Christian Americans has been under attack as never before. Remember, that our fight is against “princes and principalities”.  And…

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

He is risen indeed!

Until He Comes,

KJ

“Endowed By Their Creator”

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics3 Comments

fetus 2

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

When does our Right to Life begin? When we are conceived? When we are delivered?

If you haven’t heard this story, yet…y’all ain’t gonna believe this!

Down in Florida, state legislators were holding committee hearings in consideration of a bill which would require abortionists to provide medical care to an infant who survives an abortion.

Well, their jaws hit the floor when a Planned Parenthood official endorsed the right to post-birth abortion.

A lobbyist representing the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, Alisa LaPolt Snow, testified that the ghouls she works for believe the decision to kill an infant who survives a failed abortion should be left up to the woman seeking an abortion and her abortion doctor.

“So, um, it is just really hard for me to even ask you this question because I’m almost in disbelief,” said Rep. Jim Boyd. “If a baby is born on a table as a result of a botched abortion, what would Planned Parenthood want to have happen to that child that is struggling for life?”

“We believe that any decision that’s made should be left up to the woman, her family, and the physician,” said Planned Parenthood lobbyist Snow.

Rep. Daniel Davis then asked Snow, “What happens in a situation where a baby is alive, breathing on a table, moving. What do your physicians do at that point?”

“I do not have that information,” Snow replied. “I am not a physician, I am not an abortion provider. So I do not have that information.”

Rep. Jose Oliva followed up, asking the Planned Parenthood official, “You stated that a baby born alive on a table as a result of a botched abortion that that decision should be left to the doctor and the family. Is that what you’re saying?”

Again, Snow replied, “That decision should be between the patient and the health care provider.”

“I think that at that point the patient would be the child struggling on the table, wouldn’t you agree?” asked Oliva.

“That’s a very good question. I really don’t know how to answer that,” Snow said. “I would be glad to have some more conversations with you about this.”

Poor little heartless Lib. All she was doing was following the beliefs of the President of the United States…

Back on August 28, 2008, the National Right to Life Committee published the following…

Senator Barack Obama and his campaign staff have made many conflicting claims in an attempt to “explain” his opposition in 2001, 2002, and 2003, while an Illinois state senator, to the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, legislation to provide legal protection for babies who are born alive during abortions. The language of the Illinois bills was very similar to the language of the federal Born-Alive Infants Protection Act (BAIPA), which was first introduced in Congress in 2000 and enacted into law in 2002. This document provides short rebuttals to a number of the often-shifting Obama claims. For much more extensive documentation on the Obama record on this issue, see http://www.nrlc.org/ObamaBAIPA/index.html

Assertion: On many occasions beginning in 2004, and as recently as August 13, 2008, Obama and his official spokespersons said that Obama opposed the Illinois Born-Alive Infants Protection Act because it lacked a one-sentence “neutrality clause” that was added to the federal BAIPA before it was enacted, and that he would have voted for the federal bill (if he had been a U.S. senator when it passed) because it contained the “neutrality clause.” This “neutrality clause” read as follows: “Nothing in this section [that is, the entire bill] shall be construed to affirm, deny, expand, or contract any legal status or legal right applicable to any member of the species homo sapiens at any point prior to being ‘born alive’ as defined in this section.” Obama said that such a clause prevented the federal law from conflicting with Roe v. Wade (a revealing argument, which is explored in detail below). For example, on August 13, 2008, the Chicago Tribune received a “Fact Check” from the Obama campaign that asserted “there are major differences in state and federal bills, including the fact that the federal bill included a ‘neutrality clause’.”

Response: In the first place, the original federal BAIPA introduced in 2000 was only two sentences long — it merely defined as a legal person any human, “at any stage of development,” who achieves “the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother” and then shows signs of life (heartbeat, breathing, or “definite movement of voluntary muscles”). This bill, which received initial approval from the U.S. House of Representatives 380-15 in late 2000, said nothing in either direction about the legal status of a human prior to birth. Therefore the “neutrality clause,” added in 2001, simply made explicit what had originally been clear if implicit– that this bill dealt only with the rights of babies who had already been born alive. Yet, starting during his 2004 race for the U.S. Senate, Obama himself insisted that the purported lack of a “neutrality clause” in the state BAIPA was all-important.

That is why it was of considerable significance when the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) uncovered, and publicly released on August 11, 2008, three documents that proved that on March 13, 2003, Obama, as chairman of the Illinois Senate Health and Human Services Committee, actually presided over a committee meeting at which the original state Born-Alive Infants Protection Act (SB 1082) was revised to make it virtually identical to the federal law — including the addition of exactly the same “neutrality clause.” (To see the exact language of the original bill, next to the final language of the bill that Obama killed, refer to the last page of this document.) Yet, immediately after that change was made, Obama voted against the amended bill, and it was defeated on a party-line vote, 6-4. In other words, Obama led the way in killing a bill that was virtually identical to the federal law — the federal law that, since 2004, he has insisted he would have voted for if he’d had the chance.

Despite the proof released by NRLC, the Obama campaign continued to misrepresent these events. For example, on August 13, 2008, the Obama campaign submitted to the Chicago Tribune (among others) a chart that purported to contrast the “2003 Legislation That Obama Opposed” with the “Federal Legislation That Obama Would Have Supported” — and this chart falsely claimed that the “neutrality clause” was a “failed amendment, not included in final [state] legislation.” On August 16, 2008, when David Brody of CBN News asked Obama (on camera) about the NRLC charges, Obama said that we were “lying.” He repeated his claim that he would have been “fully in support of the federal bill that everybody supported — which was to say — that you should provide assistance to any infant that was born — even if it was as a consequence of an induced abortion. That was not the bill that was presented at the state level.”

On August 25, 2008, the independent group FactCheck.org (www.factcheck.org) issued a review of this question that concluded, “Obama’s claim is wrong. In fact, by the time the HHS Committee voted on the bill, it did contain language identical to the federal act. . . . The documents from the NRLC support the group’s claims that Obama is misrepresenting the contents of SB 1082.”

It is any wonder that the previously mentioned  horrible woman so freely admitted that murdering babies was alright?

She is supported by the Leader of the Free World. 

On this day before Easter Sunday, when  we remember that

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

I believe that our nation and our leaders should realize that you cannot mock God. With actions come consequences. You know, that “cause and effect” thingy that “the Smart people” are so found of bringing up.

Each and every life is precious to The Creator. That baby growing in her womb, is not the property of the mother. Each and every one of us belong to the One who made us. He is our Sovereign Lord.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you…

All those who believe that “it is a woman’s right to choose”…think too highly of themselves.

For every life is a Gift from The Creator to be loved and cherished, as He first loved us.

Until He Comes,

KJ

KJ’s State of the Union. Easter Week 2013 Edition.

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics4 Comments

obamamyworkWould somebody tell me “What in the Wide, Wide, World of Sports is a’goin’ on here”?

This is Easter/Passover Week, the most holy week in the Judeo-Christian Calendar.

For Jews, Passover is observed as a remembrance of  when God  delivered them  from Pharoah and spared the captive Jewish people from the Angel of Death, by having them paint Lamb’s Blood on the frame of their doors.

For us Christians,Easter serves as a observance of the Love of our Savior, a special time to remember that the Lamb of God was nailed to a cross on the hill known as Golgotha, where he took our sins upon him and covered us with His Precious Blood.

While my faith in Christ offers me a peace beyond all understanding, my soul is stirred with anger, exasperation, and disgust with the current situation in this sacred land, given to us by God Almighty.

The Leader of our country, Barack Hussein Obama, spent the last week in the Holy Land, where he attempted to convince God’s Chosen People to give away half of their nation, which God has given them, to The Palestinians, a nomadic group of gypsies, who have never had a country of their own, and who, as judged by their leaders in Hamas, would rather kill the Israelis than live beside them.

As I have chronicled, Obama met with Hamas Leaders, even before he left on his trip. He then met with college kids over there, using the same strategy he’s always used, attempting to sway the malleable young minds of Israeli “yutes”, as he swayed ours.

Finally, last Friday, it was announced that Obama has “freed up” $500 million and will be giving it to the Palestinian Authority.

The Muslim Call to Prayer must be “one of the prettiest sounds on the face of the Earth” because it has enthralled Obama into betraying our friends and his own nation by supporting and giving beau coups of money to those who want to kill each and every one of us.

While Obama is aiding and abetting our enemies, back home, our country is still feeling the manufactured pinch of a presidentially-instigated Sequestration. The White House is still closed to the American People, for tours. Our Armed Forces are still suffering from limited benefits, and the fate of the annual White House Easter Egg Hunt has been in question.

But, hey. Don’t worry. Our money is being used for important stuff. As I write this, the Obama Girls, Sasha and Malia, are having a kick-butt vacation in Atlantis, a swanky resort down in the Bahamas.

Lucky girls. Most American kids are having a Spring Break Stay-cation this year, thanks to their Dad’s poor stewardship of America’s Economy.

Meanwhile, back in DC, the Supreme Court is set to hear two cases concerning the oxymoron known as “gay marriage”. According to what I’ve been reading, Chief Justice John Roberts ‘ (You remember him…they guy who betrayed Americans over Obamacare) gay cousin, will be attending the hearings with her whatever.

There is also a bunch of buzz circulating as to whether Justice Elena Kagan should recuse herself, since it is obvious that she bats from the other side of the plate.

I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for that to happen, y’all.

Gay marriage activists and their Liberal friends, on both sides of the aisle, have been telling everyone who will listen, that a ruling in favor of “gay marriage” will have no effect on us heterosexuals, whatsoever.

What they don’t tell you, is that it is just the first step down a slippery slope. Next, Preachers will not be able to preach against homosexuality from the pulpit. It’s already happening in Canada.

Also, adoption agencies will be forced to allow gay couples to adopt.  If you are an adoption agency funded by a church, you will either have to go against your belief system or shut down, just as Obama is attacking Catholic institutions over the government subsidized Birth Control/Abortion clauses in Obamacare.

Finally, as I sit here, I realize how grateful I am that God loved me so much that he gave his only-begotten son, to suffer and die for my sake.

I am also grateful to have been born in the Southern Region of the greatest country on the face of the Earth.

The freedom we enjoy as Americans is a gift from our Creator. However, as I’ve mentioned before, with that freedom comes responsibility.

Senator Rand Paul has made news the last couple of days, with the assertion that we should not be putting in jail, those young Americans who have been arrested on their first Drug Offense. Well, here’s the kicker: That doesn’t usually happen. On the first offense, violators are usually given a fine, community service, probation, or all three. Drug violators are usually sentenced to jail time when they are repeat offenders.

That being said, there are folks in America who want and love our freedom, but, seem to be allergic to the responsibilities that go with it. You know, the whole personal responsibility thingy. You have folks who believe that they are, in fact, an island, in the middle of society. Their actions hurt no one but themselves. And, whatever the situation is, if it’s illicit drugs or promiscuous sex, it harms no one, but themselves. Never mind their family, friends, and neighbors. They just don’t matter. No one is as important as they believe themselves to be.

Now, you could say that I’m a crazy old coot who doesn’t trust anybody under 40, as somebody said about me recently. In fact, I do trust several Americans under 40, including, but not limited to, 3 young men I raised as my own,  my darling daughter, friends at work, folks I attend church with, and my new neighbors, a wonderful young couple with a 9 month old baby (which I hope we’ll get to baby-sit).

It’s just that I have the benefit of those extra years, and the mistakes and life experiences that go with them. No man is an island. No man stands alone. Everything you do, directly or indirectly, eventually has an effect on someone else.

Accept the responsibility that comes with your freedom as an American, to yourself and others within your sphere of influence.

For, as Benjamin Franklin once said, what we have is a Republic. If, we can keep it.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Of Palm Sunday and Two Very Different Entries Into Jerusalem

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics3 Comments

palm sunday1Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

5 “Say to the daughter of Zion,

‘Behold, your king is coming to you,

humble, and mounted on a donkey,

anda on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

6The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” – Matthew 21:1-9

Today is Palm Sunday. The day when we, as Christians, remember our Savior’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, riding on the back of a donkey. Churches this morning across our nation will celebrate with hymns and anthems proclaiming the greatness of our Holy and Sovereign Lord, as children spread palm branches down the aisles of their church.

As the most important week in our Christian Faith begins, an important week in our nation’s relationship with God’s Chosen People is drawing to a close.

President Barack Hussein Obama, (mm mmm mmmm) has wrapped up his visit to the Holy Land.  While there, this prince among men has managed to torque off both the Israelis and their Muslim neighbors, alike.

In Obama’s Key Speech of the week, given last Thursday, he said,

…the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and justice must also be recognized. Put yourself in their shoes – look at the world through their eyes. It is not fair that a Palestinian child cannot grow up in a state of her own, and lives with the presence of a foreign army that controls the movements of her parents every single day. It is not just when settler violence against Palestinians goes unpunished. It is not right to prevent Palestinians from farming their lands; to restrict a student’s ability to move around the West Bank; or to displace Palestinian families from their home. Neither occupation nor expulsion is the answer. Just as Israelis built a state in their homeland, Palestinians have a right to be a free people in their own land.

…Israelis must recognize that continued settlement activity is counterproductive to the cause of peace, and that an independent Palestine must be viable – that real borders will have to be drawn.

…Speaking as a politician, I can promise you this: political leaders will not take risks if the people do not demand that they do. You must create the change that you want to see.

As I have written before, the Palestinians are the gypsies of the Middle East. They have never had a homeland. There has never been a country named Palestine.

However, the previously-mentioned, prince among men, is determined to give them one, anyway.

Before he left DC for The Holy Land , Obama met with two pro-Hamas Groups, as beforeitsnews.com reports,

President Barack Obama met with several controversial anti-Israel Arab groups ahead of his visit to the Jewish state on March 20. Obama held an “intimate” gathering Monday with Arab American leaders and others to solicit advice and ask questions in preparation for his visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories next week.

I doubt there was a similar meeting with Jewish leaders before a trip to Saudi Arabia, but hey the man did say that he would stand with the Muslims. That’s one place where he kept his word.

Included in the meeting was Haris Tarin, D.C. director of the controversial Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), a Muslim-American group that has falsely accused Israel of harvesting Palestinian organs and has asked for Hamas and Hezbollah to be removed from the list of United States-designated terror groups.

This should come as no surprise, because Barack Hussein Obama has kept MPAC and its founder pretty close, despite a history of support for terrorism.

Also in attendance was the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), a group that has called Israel an “apartheid state” and once presented an award to the author of an essay titled, “Zionism is a Form of Racism.”

ADC also has a predictable record of defending Hamas.In 1994, then-ADC President Hamzi Moghrabi said, “I will not call [Hamas] a terrorist organization. I mean, I know many people in Hamas. They are very respectable … I don’t believe Hamas, as an organization, is a violent organization.”

Then, as  his trip was drawing to a close, Obama, despite having to stop White House Tours, Regional Airports,and benefits for our Armed Forces, found some money to give HIS chosen people, as reported by The Times of Israel,

The US State Department announced on Friday that nearly $500 million in aid had been unblocked for transfer to the Palestinian Authority, months after Congress froze the funds in late-2012.

“To date, we have moved $295.7 million in fiscal year 2012 money… and $200 million in fiscal year 2013 assistance,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.

The announcement came on the heels of US President Barack Obama’s first trip to Israel and the West Bank since assuming office in 2009.

However, Obama’s embracing of the Muslim Radicals hasn’t helped his popularity with them any. Yesterday morning, the official Twitter account of Hamas posted the following message,

Alqassam Brigades @AlqassamBrigade

#Obama: The #Jewish organ grinder’s #monkey.#Obamainisrael http://www.qassam.ps/opinion-6776-Obama_The_Jewish_organ_grinders_monkey.html … pic.twitter.com/rmsSAHx4qg

9:03 AM – 23 Mar 13

Obama, with all of his passion regarding his sympathetic claims that the Middle Eastern Muslims are not getting a fair shake and his vocal activeness regarding procuring a “Homeland” for the Palestinians, does not seem to realize that the Islamic Barbarians don’t respect his civilized sucking up.

Quite frankly, they view the current President of the United States as a dhimmi tool, to be used and discarded, after he has served his purpose.

And, if he doesn’t start paying attention to Genesis 12:1-3, things are not going to get any better…for him,or our nation:

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Until He Comes,

KJ

“We’re Not Here to Rebrand a Party. We’re Here to Rebuild a Country”

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics3 Comments

conservative1Those words were spoken by Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin during the Conservative Political Action Committee last Saturday.

And, as this week has progressed, we have found out exactly what she meant.

The Republicans, the Grand Old Party, if you will, are “preparing their aircraft” for 2016, like a bunch of Japanese Kamikazes preparing to take their final flight into oblivion.

Every day, since The Manchurian President’s re-Inauguration, new revelations seem to be originating from GOP Establishment Headquarters, deep in the bowels of the Beltway.

First, the rumors started swirling about a possible Jeb Bush run for the presidency in some sort of a vain glorious attempt to create the Republicans’ very own version of the Kennedy’s, minus Honey Fitz’ liquor smuggling and that whole “unfortunate incident” involving Teddy, a car, a bridge, and a beautiful young lady named Mary Jo Kopechne.

While I admire both Bush 41 and 43, I agree with the Rev’ruuuund Jacksoooon (as Rush says it). It’s time to “get out the Bushes!”

Ever since Obama ascended to the Throne of the Regime, the GOP has been doing their dead-level best to shoot themselves in their collective foot, and put themselves out of their misery. Instead of wisening up from their ill-fated attempts at winning the presidency throughout the running of Moderate Candidates, the geniuses of the GOP Elite have not only been holding on to their out-of-touch Moderation, they have been steadily moving on a Quixotic journey of embracing the cultural values of those clueless individuals known as “Liberals” or the “Looney Left”.

Not only have the Republican Power Brokers forgotten every cotton-pickin’ thing that they learned during the presidency of Ronaldus Magnus, they seem to be so enamored of the Democratic Party, that they want to be just like them.

In fact, the leader of the Republican Party, Speaker of the House,  John Boehner, recently said that he “absolutely trusts” President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm).

I hope Obama’s old “body man”, Reggie Love, doesn’t become jealous of their “special relationship”.

The GOP seems to be of the mistaken belief that, if they foreswear everything that the GOP has always stood for, completely alienating the Conservative base, which their party was founded upon, that they will gain a bunch of “swell new friends”. By promoting “Gay Marriage”, Gun Control, and a Path to Citizenship for illegal aliens (aka: amnesty), they believe that Homosexuals, *puff puff* Libertarians, and “formerly illegal” aliens will be beholden to them and vote them back into power.

Plus, the Republican Establishment has a lot in common with the Liberal Democratic Leadership: they both believe that they are “the smartest people in the room”, they both like to spend OUR money like sailors on 24 hour leave in Thailand, and they both believe that Reagan Conservatives, like myself, who live in Dixie and the rest of Flyover Country, are “bitterly clinging to their guns and religion”. They also seem to believe that morality is not an absolute, that ethics are situational, words are made for parsing, and truth is made for bending.

They also seem to be relying on the philosophy of  the Prophet of Global Warming, Al Gore and his role-model, P.T. Barnum, who once said,

There’s a sucker born every minute.

The GOP Elite somehow believe that if they place “social issues” on the back burner, or hold views similar to those found “across the aisle”, and make the American public believe that they are “fiscally Conservative”, that Americans will fall in love with the Republican Party.

There are some serious problems with this line of thinking by the Republican Establishment.

Ignoring “social issues” will not make them go away. Christians still make up 78% of our population, and our faith does not end when the preacher says,

Thanks for coming. We’ll see you next Sunday.

Further, as Ronald Reagan explained, Conservatism is a three legged stool:  Social Issues, Fiscal Issues, and National Defense.

For those of you who claim to be “Fiscal Conservatives”, you’re fooling yourselves.

By embracing “Social Liberalism”, you are not shrinking government…you are growing it.  Someone has to pay for the emergency services caused by a hedonistic lifestyle. Booze, pot, and umm…escorts (*cough*) cost money, and when things go wrong, i.e. accidents, shootings, disease, broken marriages, etc., the costs of these “social” matters, both emotional and fiscal, not only affect the individual, but family, friends, and strangers as well.

By tossing Reagan Conservatives, or “True Conservatives”, as we have been derisively called, aside, the Republican Party, and all those who call themselves “Fiscally Conservative and Socially Liberal” are  setting themselves up as the unwitting dupes of the Democratic Party and all of their nefarious schemes to “socially re-engineer” the Faith and Values Belief System of this country.

When Sarah Palin spoke of “rebuilding the country”, she was talking about far more than just the Herculean task ahead of us of repairing the economic damage done to our nation and its standing in the world, the Arctic Fox was also speaking about re-focusing our country on the things that made America the greatest country on the face of God’s green Earth.

Palin is a Christian American Conservative. So am I. We are a part of the Republican Party’s Conservative base, whom the Republican Power Brokers have treated so dismissively the last several years., which has only served to bite them in the hindquarters, come election time.

Now, they apparently are so arrogant and short-sighted, as to want to drive us away completely. 

As Ron White says,

You can’t fix stupid.

Apparently, the GOP wants to double-down on it.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Obama Holding the Easter Bunny for Ransom? The Devil You Say.

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics3 Comments

obamaandtheeasterbunnyLast evening, as my bride was figuring out how to cook some chicken kabobs she had picked up at Kroger, I, of course, turned on the computer and headed over to The Drudge Report, where I saw the Headline “No Money for Bunny?”.

Upon reading the article, I learned that the Obama Administration has sent out a memo to those holding tickers to the annual Easter Egg Roll, slated for April 1st. While the memo does not actually say that The Manchurian President is cancelling the annual tradition, it does warn the ticket holders that the event might be cancelled, due to the sequester.

Finally, by using these tickets, guests are acknowledging that this event is subject to cancellation due to funding uncertainty surrounding the Executive Office of the President and other federal agencies. If cancelled, the event will not be re-scheduled. We will notify you if there are any modifications to this event.

Obama and his not-so-lovely missus were already politicizing the traditional event, having invited the family of Hadiya Pendleton, the 15-year-old who was gunned down by Chicago gang bangers, just one week after performing at Obama’s second inauguration.

Using the Easter Egg Roll as a photo op to push his Gun Confiscation Agenda, how…Machiavellian.

In 1878 President Rutherford B. Hayes opened the White House grounds to the displaced youngsters and the tradition of the Easter Egg Roll on the White House Lawn began. It has continued steadily ever since, interrupted only by bad weather and World Wars I and II.

Back in 1941, some 53,000 people attended the egg roll and 73 children ended up being separated from their parents. In modern times, generally under 20,000 attend the festivities.

Of course, if it happens, this would not be the first thing that Obama has petulantly cancelled due to the Sequester. He has already cancelled the White House Tour, needlessly penalizing America’s schoolchildren, and adults, too.

A government official, Charles Brown of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, had asked if he could spread any cuts from the sequester out, as to lessen the impact on his agency.  He received an e-mail in response, telling him

We have gone on record with a notification to Congress and whoever else that ‘APHIS would eliminate assistance to producers in 24 states in managing wildlife damage to the aquaculture industry, unless they provide funding to cover the costs.’ So it is our opinion that however you manage that reduction, you need to make sure you are not contradicting what we said the impact would be.

So, basically, boys and girls, we have a President of the United States, who is trying to make things as painful as possible for us, the very Americans he is supposed to be serving.

Yesterday, Obama mouthpiece Jay”bird” Carney was asked if the President would be forced to cut back his golf games and he and Mooch’s lavish vacations ,due to the Sequester. Carney’s reply forgot to take that left turn at Albuquerque (as Bugs used to say). It was all over the place.

Q All right. I wanted to follow up on this young woman’s question about the high unemployment out in places like Colorado, all around the country, especially in the minority communities — exceptionally high unemployment. And when there is government workers who may be furloughed, millions of Americans unemployed, and family budgets that have been cut, how does the President justify lavish vacations and a golf trip to Florida at taxpayer expense? And does he plan to cut back on his travel?

MR. CARNEY: I can tell you that this President is focused every day on policies that create economic growth and help advance job creation. We have presided over the past three years over an economy that’s produced over 6.3 million private sector jobs, and we have more work to do. And this President’s number-one priority is growth and job creation. When you come to —

In other words, FORE!

Y’know, I have seen snobbish, uncaring, self-serving politicians before. Heck, I’m from Memphis. We’ve had to deal with the Ford Family for years.

However, this fool takes the cake. Maria Antoinette would be jealous of the Obama’s shenanigans. This “man of the people” is  anything but. He and his wife are grifters, in the best tradition of Chicago’s fabled Backroom Politics. Political Dirty Tricks come as easy to them as breathing in and out.

So, today’s latest slight against The Lightbringer has tickled the He@@ out of me, if you will excuse the expression.

On Sunday nights, on The History Channel, a series titled “The Bible” has been running, which , naturally, follows Biblical History, bringing scriptures to life. It has turned out to be very popular. It is produced by Roma Downey, “Monica” of Touched By an Angel fame, and her husband, Mark Burnett.

Sunday night, the character of Satan, the fallen angel formerly known as Lucifer, The Light Bearer, was introduced.

I about had need of a Cardiac Cath, when I realized whom the character looked like.

obamasatan

Evil personified, Satan , the Adversary, looks exactly like President Barack Hussein Obama.

After all the under-handed, slimy, self-serving, political machinations the Manchurian President has pulled during his tenure as President of the United States, for the character of Satan to look exactly like him, leaves me with only one thing to say,

The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The War Against Christianity – Mississippi Fights Back

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics3 Comments

americanchristianflag 2As I have related before, I live in DeSoto County, Mississippi, in the Northwest Corner of the state, right across Stateline Road from Memphis , TN, where I was born and raised.

A truly remarkable thing happened on Friday in the state of Mississippi. Governor Phil Bryant signed a bill into law. Okay. I know that you’re saying, “KJ, why is a governor, signing a bill passed by his state legislature into law, so remarkable?”

I’m glad you asked. Here is the bill:

House Bill 638

AN ACT TO BE KNOWN AS THE “RELIGIOUS VIEWPOINTS ANTIDISCRIMINATION ACT” OR “SCHOOLCHILDREN’S RELIGIOUS LIBERTIES ACT”; TO PROHIBIT LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS FROM DISCRIMINATING AGAINST STUDENTS BASED ON THEIR EXPRESSION OF RELIGIOUS VIEWPOINTS ON OTHERWISE PERMISSIBLE SUBJECTS; TO REQUIRE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO ADOPT A POLICY THAT ESTABLISHES A LIMITED PUBLIC FORUM FOR STUDENT SPEAKERS AT SCHOOL EVENTS AND TO REQUIRE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO PUBLISH A DISCLAIMER STATING THAT THE STUDENTS’ VIEWS DO NOT REFLECT THOSE OF THE DISTRICT; TO CLARIFY THAT STUDENTS MAY EXPRESS THEIR BELIEFS ABOUT RELIGION IN HOMEWORK, ARTWORK AND OTHER ASSIGNMENTS; TO AUTHORIZE STUDENTS TO ORGANIZE PRAYER GROUPS, RELIGIOUS CLUBS AND OTHER RELIGIOUS GATHERINGS TO THE SAME EXTENT THAT STUDENTS ARE PERMITTED TO ORGANIZE OTHER NONCURRICULAR STUDENT ACTIVITIES AND GROUPS; TO REQUIRE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO ADOPT A POLICY REGARDING LIMITED PUBLIC FORUMS AND VOLUNTARY EXPRESSION OF RELIGIOUS VIEWPOINTS; TO PROVIDE A MODEL POLICY ON STUDENT EXPRESSION OF RELIGIOUS VIEWPOINTS AND STUDENT SPEAKERS WHICH SCHOOL DISTRICTS MAY ADOPT; TO AMEND SECTION 37-13-4.1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 37-13-4, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDES THAT TEACHERS AND SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS MAY PERMIT THE VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION BY STUDENTS IN PRAYER, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 37-13-161, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDES THAT LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS MAY ALLOW REFERENCES TO RELIGION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS WHEN THE REFERENCES DO NOT CONSTITUTE AID TO ANY RELIGIOUS SECT OR A SECTARIAN PURPOSE, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

What this bill does is to allow students to initiate prayers in school and at student activities, to reference their religious beliefs in their schoolwork, both their assignments completed at school and their homework, as well. The bill also allows Mississippi’s students to speak to their classmates about their faith, to “give their witness” as we believers refer to our own personal testimony as to what God has done in our lives.

You will recall, in August of 2011, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a supposedly 13,000 member organization, led by a bitter ex-minister and his equally bitter wife, came down to the Magnolia state , to attempt to ban prayers at high school football games. They prevailed…sort of.

As I wrote, on August 27, 2011,  in a post titled ” The War Against Christianity in America – Battleground: DeSoto County, MS”:

DeSoto County Schools went along with the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s request, despite the disappointment of many students and parents.

And that’s when Americans started organizing.

Y’see, teammates traditionally would take a knee after the game to thank the Lord for a good game and His blessings and to pray for those injured during the game.  And their parents were bound and determined that their young men were not going to have that freedom taken away from them.

So, last night, instead of the coach telling the team to take a knee, the quarterback did.

Earlier, on Friday morning, students and parents held a prayer walk outside DeSoto County Schools.

As the bright, blessed day gave way to the dark, sacred night in DeSoto County, parents and students began to pray.

…Per the local newspaper, the DeSoto Times Tribune:

At the Olive Branch game, spectators began to pray the Lord’s Prayer in unison around 7:15 p.m. just moments before the Olive Branch High School Conquistadors and Memphis Trezevant took to the field.

The same was the case at Hernando High School just prior to kickoff against Pontotoc.

The Rev. Mike Coker, pastor of the Refuge Church in Hernando led a prayer outside Tiger Stadium before the game and encouraged people in the crowd to pray.

After the singing of the national anthem, people in the stands recited the Lord’s Prayer.

A large group of Horn Lake High School and Lake Cormorant High School parents also joined in saying the Lord’s just prior to the Horn Lake – Lake Cormorant football game at Horn Lake.

The group prayer was not sponsored by the DeSoto County School system and was led by parents, not teachers or administrators.

Here is, as my preacher says, is The Big Idea:

What Mississippi has done, in the passing of this bill, is to affirm Mississippians’ Constitutional rights as stated in the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

It will be no shock, that come August, the FFRF will come back down, from the Great White North, with severe, frowning countenances, whining and crying that promoting faith in Mississippi Schools will be offensive and oppressive to those children who don’t have any faith. (Did he just say that?)

The problem they will have, is the fact that participation will be voluntary. They don’t have to include any references to REligion in any of their schoolwork. They do have to attend any Faith-based activities initiated by their fellow students. They don’t have to pray.

Let’s face it. Our children are under attack, by forces seen and unseen, by “princes and principalities”, if you will.

Through political ideology-driven curriculum such as Common Core and programs such as the president’s anti-bullying campaign, a seemingly innocuous program, whose stated purpose is to promote tolerance, and is actually an attempt to mainstream homosexuality, our schools have been invaded by the pestilence known as “progressivism”, or secular humanism. The same pervasive disease that is teaching our children that they are their own god, that there  there are no moral absolutes, and that ethics are situational.

I make no bones about it. I am a Christian American Conservative. I pray daily. And, as I write this, I’m preparing to go to church this morning. If it were up to Barack Hussein Obama, his minions, and those supposedly on “our” side of the aisle, whom I’ve labeled the “Vichy Republicans”, I would be forced to leave my faith at the church door. What they don’t understand, is, the Author and Finisher of my faith is not Obama, Boehner, or anyone else up there on Capitol Hill.

I answer to Someone waaay about their pay grade.

Progressives do not understand Christians at all. They believe that our faith is something that can be taken off and put back on again, as one would a shirt.

They don’t have a clue.

So, why did Mississippians back this bill, provides the impetus for it to be signed into law by our Governor?

Was it simply because we were mad at that bunch of carpetbaggin’ Yankees from the FFRF?

Nope. It’s For The Children.  

Until He Comes,

KJ

Requiem for a Bad Dog: John McCormack 1955-2011 (2nd Anniversary Edition)

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Entertainment1 Comment

Prologue: Today marks the two year anniversary of the death of a Mid-South legend, larger-than-life Radio Personality John “Bad Dog” McCormack.  Here is a tribute which I wrote, upon hearing of his passing.  One man CAN make a difference. He is truly missed.

If, when we’re standing before God, the amount of good we do with our lives, and the amount of joy and happiness that we are able to bring to this world of pain is brought up, then, Thursday afternoon, the Pearly Gates shook with the infectious laughter of one giant of a man.

John “Bad Dog” McCormack lost his long battle with AML late Thursday Afternoon at Methodist University Hospital in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.  Bad Dog was an on-air personality for 22 years at WEGR Rock 103, a Classic Rock Station.

Bad Dog began as a part of the Wake-up Crew with Tim Spencer and Bev Hart.  Dog was basically a 14-year-old kid in a man’s body.  He was a natural-born prankster, and became known for his creation of “The Twilight Phone”, an anonymous prank call he would make to unsuspecting citizens.

In one memorable call, he impersonated an Apartment Manager, calling a guy who dumped his fiance’s dead pet Piranhas into the apartment lake, claiming that they came back to life and the poor sap had to reimburse the apartment $2,8000 for draining and restocking the lake.  And then, there was Bad Dog”s possibly most famous call, where he talked to an older gentleman named Mr. Lannum, impersonating a collector attempting to collect on a  past-due cable bill.  Mr. Lannum went ballistic, cussing a blue streak that is still talked of in hushed tones to this day, 20 tears later:

When he finally clued the individuals in to whom they had been talking to, each one of them eventually forgave him, because, after all, it was Bad Dog.

Another routine that Bad Dog came up with, was remarkable.  In a city known for racial polarization, he came up with the idea of numbering their show’s Black listeners, thinking that actual black listeners would be few and far between.  Well, Bad Dog received a big surprise.

The routine became very popular among Memphis’  Black Community, as people called in to talk to Bad Dog.  He would make up a hilarious “oath” for the listener to say, and from then on, whenever this individual would call in to talk about the subject of the day, they would self-identify as Black Listener Number So-and-So.  Everyone loved Bad Dog.

However, the most incredible thing that this man accomplished during his time with us started when he, Spencer, and Hart decided to begin a yearly Radiothon in support of St. Jude Hospital’s Ronald McDonald House.

Over the last 20 years, Bad Dog and his co-workers have raised over $7 million dollars to help build and maintain the refuge for cancer-stricken kids and their families, so they could have some semblance of normal life while they undergo treatment at St. Jude.

Bad Dog McCormack was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia in late October 2009.  He was still working mornings, though his new partner was Ric Chetter.  Clear Channel Communications, in their infinite wisdom, had split up the popular Wake Up Crew in November of 2006, firing Newsperson Bev Hart, and, eventually moving Rock 103 Program Director Tim Spencer to mid-days.

Bad Dog continued to work as he underwent treatment, as he felt that this was the best medicine for him and was what God had called him to do.  His courage in the face of his own mortality was an inspiration to the entire Mid-South, as his barrel-house laugh continued to reverberate through the car speakers of the Mid-South every morning.  He also continued to work the annual Rock103 Radiothon, letting nothing stand in his way of helping the kids.

Bad Dog underwent a bone marrow transplant in November of 2010.  He seemed to be doing better, and, in December, an online poll of Memphians voted him The Most Noteworthy Memphian of the Year.

On February 10-11th, Bad Dog was at the mic, around the clock, for the 20th Annual Rock103 Radiothon.  When it was over, he announced that more Leukemia had been found.  He remained upbeat, and said that this was just par for the course.

Meanwhile, Clear Channel Communications, again in its infinite wisdom, fired Ric Chetter, and moved Bad Dog and Tim Spencer to afternoons, while bringing in a morning show named Free Beer and Hot Wings, 5 guys syndicated out of the Great White North, whose humor about hockey games is about as relevant to the Mid-South as hunting moose. (They have since been pulled from the Memphis Market. Quel suprise!)

Bad Dog took this change in his usual good-natured stride, happy to be back with his old partner-in-crime, Tim.

Then, last Thursday, Bad Dog took a turn for the worse.  He was rushed to Methodist University Hospital in Downtown Memphis, where he passed away from an aneurysm, brought about by his Leukemia.

In an interview with the Commercial Appeal, Bad Dog made this comment about his battle against Leukemia and his love for the kids at St. Jude:

When I see what they are going through, I have no reason to complain. They are so young and have so much pain. I’ve lived a blessed life. If I died tomorrow, I’d go with a smile on my face.

He also, in his usual big-hearted, gentle way, left a statement to be released after his death:

I have gone to be with God and he is holding me tightly and I am surrounded by many of the Ronald McDonald’s House kids. Do not say you have lost a friend… One is only lost when you don’t know where they are… you know where I am. I thank each and every one of you for your support and prayers. I love all of you and that will never go away. When you are having a bad day… think of my laugh or a Twilight phone or the time we met. None of us is guaranteed tomorrow, make every day great, be the spiritual leader of your family. May peace be with you. Your friend, Bad Dog.

John”Bad Dog” McCormack, 55,  leaves behind his two sons, Buck and Tucker, a huge family, and thousands of fans.

As one of those fans, please allow me to say thank you, Bad Dog, for brightening up a lot of dreary mornings.

A sign currently on display outside  a local jewelry store says it all:

BAD DOG MADE MEMPHIS A BETTER PLACE.

Surgeon General C. Everett Koop: A Man of Science. A Man of Faith

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, PoliticsLeave a comment

koopThe finest Surgeon General of the United States in our generation, C. Everett Koopp, passed away this past week.

The following very fair biography is courtesy of msnbc.com (Can you believe it?)

To judge from the reaction on the left, when Ronald Reagan announced his choice for Surgeon General 32 years ago, you would have thought the man he’d chosen had a horn and tail.

C. Everett Koop, who passed away this week at the impressive age of 96, had been the chief of surgery at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, where he’d pioneered revolutionary techniques that saved countless infant lives. He was also a committed Christian whose faith and medical work had made him a fervent opponent of abortion. Democrats roared in protest and sent months fighting the nomination. Reagan had been elected with a major assist from the burgeoning Christian Right, and Koop perfectly symbolized the hard-right, almost theocratic direction liberals believed the new president wanted to take the country.

“The nomination” The New York Times declared in one of many editorials condemning Koop’s selection, “is a disservice not only to the Public Health Service and the public itself, but also to Dr. Koop. He is being honored for the most cynical of reasons–not for his medical skills but for his political compatibility.”

But his opponents didn’t really know Koop. And actually, Reagan didn’t either. [ I disagree…but, let’s move on] Because he was also a man of science, and of immense integrity–and when he was finally confirmed in the spring of 1981, Koop set about confounding critics and cheerleaders alike, becoming the most consequential surgeon general in the nation’s history and probably the single most important public health voice of the last three decades.

Smoking was one of his first crusades. The tobacco companies and their powerful allies in Congress denied it, but the evidence was overwhelming: Cigarette smoking was killing Americans in droves. Koop had little official power, but he did have a big platform, and he used it fearlessly–issuing blunt reports on the fatal risks of cigarettes, a landmark warning about the danger of second-hand smoke, and barnstorming the country to urge Americans to change their habits. Jesse Helms–one of the conservatives who’d championed his nomination–turned on him. The governor of North Carolina screamed for his impeachment. It all made Koop’s boss in the White House uncomfortable–but the smoking rate went down.

Then there was AIDS. The earliest reports of the killer virus coincided with the start of Reagan’s presidency, but as the death rate spiked and the mystery deepened, the president and his administration said little and did even less. Except for Dr. Koop, who saw AIDS not as a niche concern of gay men–a constituency much of Reagan’s political base was openly hostile to–but as the public health crisis it was. ”It is time,” Koop said, “to put self-defeating attitudes aside and recognize that we are fighting a disease–not people.” He issued a report that shocked the nation and enraged the right: the AIDS epidemic was only getting worse, Koop said, and while abstinence was the only sure way to stop its spread, the use of condoms by those who opted for sexual activity was essential.

When Reagan asked Koop to study the health risks that abortion posed to women, the surgeon general complied. Ardent abortion foes were hopeful: finally, a way to tilt the abortion debate back in their favor. But Koop did his study and reported back with words that bitterly disappointed the president and his supporters: “I regret, Mr. President, that in spite of a diligent review on the part of many in the Public Health Service and in the private sector, the scientific studies do not provide conclusive data about the health effects of abortion on women.”

C. Everett Koop left office just as committed to his faith and just as opposed to abortion as he had been when he entered office. But his personal moral views never clouded his judgment, or his commitment to public health. He was–and still is–a model surgeon general and his legacy is a reminder that sometimes the worst thing you can do is to judge a book by its cover.

Of course, I disagree with MSNBC on one point. Dr. Koop’s “personal moral view”, aka his Christian Faith, guided the decisions he made, in all aspects of his life. This article first appeared in the March 6, 1987, issue of Christianity Today. At the time, C. Everett Koop was Surgeon General of the United States.

My mother was 87 when she died of uterine cancer. She was in a coma, during which people actually asked me if I wanted to put her on dialysis. That would have been ridiculous for personal, spiritual, and economic reasons.

I do not believe—and have never taught—that every patient should be kept alive for the longest time possible. Nor have I said every patient has to have the last bit of high-tech heroic treatment available. I do believe in the right of the patient to say, “I have lived my life,” and to choose his or her own treatment. But that question becomes complicated when we consider the decisions people make for others who are not cognitive and have not made their final wishes known.

Right now, I am 70 years old and in excellent health. If my kidneys shut down tomorrow, let’s say, after a severe infection, I don’t know how long I would want to be on dialysis. It would be foolish and a waste of resources for me to have a kidney transplant at my age. I would probably opt to clean up my affairs, say goodbye to my family, and drift out in uremia.

The important point is that my wife and I know exactly how each of us feels about the end of life. This will be crucial if the time comes to make such a decision and I’m not then able to do so.

Of course, all such talk has different connotations for the Christian than for the non-Christian. My wife knows I do not believe in being ushered out of this life with a lethal injection. I want to hang around long enough to be sure my family is taken care of. But after that, I don’t want my life prolonged in great discomfort when it is fruitless.

I don’t look forward to the manner in which I am going to die. But I do not fear death. Indeed, the way in which we face death is a matter of faith. For the Christian, it is not the end.

Thank you, Dr. Koop, for your service to this nation, and your love of God and Country. You will be missed, sir. Godspeed.

Until He Comes, 

KJ