I didn’t meet him till he was an old man though I had known of him since I came on board. I have heard him speak several times telling about the movement and his time with our leader. There is was always a fierceness and intensity about John that I don’t see in the other leaders. I know that in the big picture the story is not about John. He is just a player, a believer, a follower, but there is more. I’m sure that you like me sometimes wonder why this guy or why that guy is called. Of course we don’t know the plan from the beginning to the end. Even though the story is not about John, I find myself wondering why he was chosen for his part. As far as I know he had no education beyond being a fisherman. He’s not a rabbi or a philosopher, so why John?  Perhaps like so many that have been called it was because of his lack of qualifications so that the divine plan could be showcased instead of the players. Perhaps I will ask when I get the chance, or not.

So back to John, we know that he and his brother were fishermen born into a family of fishermen as is the custom. I doubt that John thinks of himself as brave but I think he is. Every day he faced the power of the sea in a very small boat. Every day even one small misstep could cause the death of one of his crew or him. John is a big man with broad shoulders, well muscled and defined forearms, even at an advanced age he is straight. There is an energy about him that is hard to describe. His face is covered with a full beard which accentuates his large nose which has been broken at some point. His black eyes glow with a fire that makes me tremble. His skin shows the ravages of sun, sea, and wind. When he speaks there is a power that makes me listen with rapt attention, I know that he will say something important. I know that he has been here since the beginning.

As I am sure is true of most you who have heard the story from others, I did not expect to learn any surprises from John’s first hand account. I did learn something and I think that you might also. Take a little time with God in 1John. I know that you will be blessed. All of his fellow apostles are gone now, John is the only one alive who saw our great leader, who walked with him, and heard him speak. I can tell from his very first words that he knows the truth and has no choice but to share it with a passion born of a divine call.

John is a survivor, a man’s man, strong enough to endure the storms yet so humble it  brings tears to my eyes as I listen to him tell the story. There is gentleness about this fierce giant that I know comes from deep inside his heart where Jesus Christ is alive. God has shared John with us so that we can know His mercy and saving grace. John has only one agenda, and that is to share the love of God with you.

Do most people outside of government understand the political agenda that the leadership of the country is promoting? Do you? Or, are you like me in that you don’t know or understand what is going on with the economy?

Who pays the cost when the government “creates jobs?” Is it you and me the common taxpayer?

One thing is for sure nothing happens in our economy until a product is produced and a sale is made.

Is there much that you and I can do about the national situation?

What does the current economic situation mean to you and your business? Do the same old rules of business apply? What are some new things that must learned to be successful? Do hard work and honesty still gain positive results? Here are some (hard hitting and interesting) answers to these and other hot questions of the day.

There are many things that you and I can do about our personal economic situation.

Do the same old rules still apply to business and career?

Work hard and stay with your company (ride for the brand)?

Work smart?

Be honest?

Now before you get all upset and start throwing rocks the answer is a qualified yes with some new twists. Hard work and working smart are still required. Honesty and integrity are still very important aspects of the new business model.

The real difference in wealth creation is that the concept of trading time for money is forever gone.
Even if one could find an additional job, there are not enough hours available to allow earning enough money to make the difference.

Every thing we need to buy costs more than it did just last year.

Many people are finding the answer to individual economic woes is three fold.

--The Creation of home based business.

--Advertise extensively.

--Do business on the “Internet.”

There are several challenges with the above points. Many people do not have a great deal of capital to invest. Advertising requires very large amounts of capital to be effective. There is already a great deal of competition for visibility on the “internet.” Creating a presence on the “Internet” requires expertise and capital.

“Word of mouth” communication (advertising) is still the most effective form.

Word of mouth is not the most efficient form of advertising.

While Word of mouth is low cost it presents a couple of challenges.

Word of mouth is hard to direct.

Word of mouth can be slow.

The phenomenon known as social media is emerging as a very viable marketing tool.
Social media meets business communication needs (advertising) in a couple of ways.
It is consumer directed; basically it is word of mouth on steroids.

The use of social media is not regulated.
Social media usage can be easily measured and tested.
Information travels very rapidly.
Information can be easily controlled.
Social media can be systematically managed while giving the appearance of freedom from management.
The consumer can earn income through social media advertising sales.
The advertiser only pays when a sale is made in the form of a cash rebate directly to the consumer.
The usage of the computer and the internet has surpassed television by nearly ten fold.
The average consumer spends nearly ten times more time on the computer than he/she does watching TV.

Here are three steps to take advantage of this very fertile and large opportunity. This is for the individual and business who wants to harness “social media.” 1.  Here is a power point presentation that will give you a good idea about the potential of social media. Click Here. 2.  Then watch this video to see a fast, fun, and free tool for harnessing social media Blastoff. . 3.  Here is final step that can lead to an exciting and profitable solution for your future success. Step into twenty-first century now.

ANAHEIM, CA - Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori says it's "heresy" to believe that an individual can be saved through a sinner's prayer of repentance.  
In her opening address to the church's General Conference in California, Jefferts Schori called that "the great Western heresy: that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God."    
The presiding bishop said that view is "caricatured in some quarters by insisting that salvation depends on reciting a specific verbal formula about Jesus."
According to Schori, it is heresy to believe that an individual's prayer ...<< MORE >>

June 15, 2009
Fresno, CA

An open letter to:

President of the United States of America

Hello Mr. Barack Obama,

Please allow me to introduce myself. I am a sixty-five year old married man. I am a graduate of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, CO. It took me ten years to earn my degree in economics and business with the help of my family and my own full time employment. I am the father of one daughter and two sons. My daughter earned her degree at the United States Air Force Academy and served this country with distinction in Desert Storm and ...<< MORE >>

The Challenge

About a year ago pastor David Rutherford challenged us to read the entire Holy Bible during the next year. I don't remember exactly when I started the assignment and I do know that I have enjoyed and been blessed by my effort. God has met me in so many ways. I came to Lord nearly fifty years ago at a United Methodist Youth convocation in Salt Lake City. I was sixteen and went because I thought that there would be lots of girls there. That was my plan, God had a different plan. I really wish that I could say that I jumped right in and became what God wanted me to be. I continued to be more interested in girls than Jesus. I won't bore you with the details(click here for the whole story). Fast forward to now. God has been faithful to watch over me and protect me from fatal harm. Over the years I have received a lot of really good biblical teaching and have learned much from the Holy Bible. I have never read the Bible from front to back.

The Journey

Once I started this new journey, lots of things have happened. Not too far into the project our life group did a study of Pentateuch with Bruce Wilkinson that was eye opening. For a couple of years Alice have been reading the days through Proverbs (Proverbs 1 on the first day of the month and so on), so in the last year I have read Proverbs twelve times. We added a chapter of Psalms each day so I read Psalms about twice. I felt the call of the Holy Spirit to really meditate on certain books, so I spent 30 days reading Habakkuk every day listening to God had to say. Then I spent forty days with the "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew. I came away with a very changed outlook on the people I encounter each day. I am much less judgmental and more loving. Next I spent forty days with John, I have written about that experience elsewhere (Have you met John?). I read Galatians five days in a row. I am now in the middle of forty days in 1 John.

The Progress

To date I have read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms times two, Proverbs times 12, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Ezekiel, Habakkuk times 30, Luke, John, Galatians times 5, and 1 John times 21. Obviously I have failed in the completion of this assignment. More importantly God has met me and really cause me to change my life. As the Holy Spirit makes all of this clear to me I will share my experience. For now I thank God for sending Alice and I into the ministry at NorthSide Christian Church. I thank God for David Rutherford's obedience to God's call on his life to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It all depends on who you like, or who you care about.

It is with some trepidation that I enter the discussion of David Letterman's remarks about Sara Palin and her fourteen year old daughter. To begin with David's style has always been to insult his guests. His brand of wit is making light of things that some folks take very seriously. He has made a fortune with the use of words to insult people. He has insulted the rich and famous, the powerful and the wanna be powerful. David insults the hero and villain, he insults every one. I think that he has insulted every president who has served under him except Barack Obama (somewhat odd, I think). When it comes to an insult is there any such thing as good taste. So if I laugh when he insults some one that I really do not care about how can I be upset when he insults some one who I do care about? Just a little some thing to think about. Perhaps the old saw "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me" is not as true as we would want it to be.

Should he be Fired

Some are saying that CBS should fire Mr. Letterman and that would be consistent  what other have done with people who have spoken without enough though. Howard Cosel, E. D. Hill, Don Imus, and many others. I am not sure about the right or wrong in this situation. Mr. Letterman has made his living for many years with wit. Obviously many folks like his style of humor. So where are the boundaries. Who is to decide? So now is this a freedom of speech issue? What happens if Chuck Swindol offends someone by teaching God's word about abortion, same sex unions, or adultery? Do we call for his removal from the airways? Think about it David has a right to be rude to anyone he chooses no matter what I think or how offended I might be. Blessings 30fold, bro d.

Have you met John?

I didn’t meet him till he was an old man though I had known of him since I came on board. I have heard him speak several times telling about the movement and his time with our leader. There is was always a fierceness and intensity about John that I don’t see in the other leaders. I know that in the big picture the story is not about John. He is just a player, a believer, a follower, but there is more. I’m sure that you like me sometimes wonder why this guy or why that guy ...<< MORE >>

As I reflect on my forty days with Jesus Christ in Matthew 5, 6, and 7 I am trying to decide what the Holy Spirit has taught me. What does Jesus Christ have to say to me in the twenty-first century after his death? How is his message relevant to my life today? I wonder if I would recognize him any better today than the folks did in his lifetime. I am looking for His second coming; the question is what am I looking for that is different from the Jews of His own time? Would I receive the message of God’s desirable attributes: to be poor in spirit (humble), mournful, meek, seeking righteousness, being merciful, being pure in heart, being a peacemaker, and being willing to accept persecution for His sake? I would not be very successful in the eyes of the world if these words were a description of me.

 

When I think of being humble and meek my dad’s response when faced a particularly sticking problem comes to my mind. “Never use force, get a bigger hammer.” I didn’t understand the wisdom till much latter. When you have great strength you can be gentle and not need to force things. I am sure that dad was not thinking of spiritual truth and yet there it is.

 

Would world see me as either salt or light? I think not. The critical point of course is does God see me as salt or light.

 

In this day of relativism, secularism, and narcissism accepting that Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law of God and the prophecies of the Prophets is not even politically correct. People would think me insane if really tried to live by the Ten Commandments and establish a right relationship with God. Even in many gospel teaching churches they preach that it is impossible to follow God’s law. Jesus was very clear when He said “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 5:20 this statement does not leave much room for deciding right and wrong by popular vote. Was he just kidding?

 

Just in case I might be struggling with the original laws Jesus raises the bar. Jesus says that unprovoked and unresolved anger is the same as murder, Matthew 5:17. And it get’s worse when he tells me that just looking at woman with lust in my heart is the same as committing adultery, Matthew 5:27.

 

Oh and by the way Jesus says don’t resist the evil man. If some guy slaps me on the cheek I should turn the other cheek. Jesus says “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you” Matthew 5:42. He wants me to love my enemies. What he really says is that as far as it my doing I should not have enemies.

 

It is good to give to the poor only I should do it in secret so that only God knows what I have done. He wants me to pray in private, again so that only God knows.

He teaches me a very simple prayer; “Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom com, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one,” Matthew 6:9-13.

 

Can you see why Jesus Christ is not popular today? Can you see why His message is not well received? The world teaches that it is every man for himself that I should be out to get everything that I can. If it feels good it must be okay. The world even teaches that there is nothing evil. Sex with anybody and everybody is just fine. Drugs are no problem. Even in the church there are people denying that Jesus Christ is the risen Son of God.

 

The truth is that in these three chapters on the Sermon on the Mount Jesus Christ outlined exactly what God expects from me, how he wants me to live, and how I will be rewarded.

 

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” Matthew 6:33.

 

Jesus goes on to tell me not to judge my brother, to pay attention to my own shortcomings and seek the wisdom of God. He tells me the gate is small and way narrow that leads to heaven.

 

Clear back in high school sociology I was taught that acceptable behavior is determined by what any given society decides is acceptable. There is no absolute truth about how people should live together. In some cultures it is acceptable to kill and eat people who are not part of the culture. It can be acceptable to have more than one wife. We are told today that marriage can be defined any way the majority wants. So marriage could be two men, two women, one man, a woman, and a dog, or any other combination of beings. I was taught that morality cannot be legislated, that it is strictly a personal thing. I was not a very good student as I refused to believe the teaching.

 

The bottom line is that it is up to you. You can decide what is right or wrong or even if there is a wrong. When you believe this you are making yourself sovereign, making yourself God. When it comes right down to it do you believe that there is absolute truth or is everything subject an individual point of view, opinion?

 

The question then is: “how is that working for you?” “How is this working in the world today?” I believe that I will try to walk more like Jesus Christ. It will be a process and I will surly stumble. The good thing is that Jesus Christ has already picked me up. I am seeking the small gate that leads to eternal life with God.

This article about dad and mom appeared in the the October 1955 issue of Farm Journal. Dad's name was Leo William Harsh. I made two small changes to the article by changing the then acceptable term for the enemy to just plain enemy. I believe that this is a very inspirational story.

Some of the people mentioned in the story without names are Harold Trautwein (the banker who did loan dad money), Von Penlend (the coal trucker who bought the first hoist and many others) and Duane Rutherford (the young salesman).

Dad seved on the USS Medusa, I believe that ...<< MORE >>

As I read 1 John 3 verse one I have three thoughts about the magnificence of God. First, there are no words to adequately describe the love that God has for us. Second, there are now words to adequately describe any of God’s creation. And third, words are the way we communicate with each other and God. It is obvious by my words here that I believe in the God of the Holy Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the one true God, the creator of everything that has been created. Having said that I am struck ...<< MORE >>