Please, no more bail outs!

Congress is now wondering what Mr Paulson is doing with the $700 billion that they put in his lap about 3 weeks ago. Where is the oversite? Why is he changing his mind? Because Congress was in such a hurry to "fix" the problem, nothing was really thought out before the money was allocated.

And now they are getting ready to bailout the auto industry. $25 Billion for what? - To prolong the misery. If they would just let the companies in trouble dig themselves out or go bankrupt, they would have to get rid of the leadership that put them in financial trouble in the first place. The union contracts would go out the window and everyone would have to get real about salaries and benefits that will keep the American automobile competitive. Please Congress, President Bush and President elect Obama, "No more bailouts!"

Obama meets with McCain tomorrow?

When I heard this was actually happening I pondered what the reason could be. The only thing the two men are close to agreement on is immigration. I just hope and pray that they will not be meeting to greatly ease the immigration requirements. If that happens it won't be long and we can change the name of you know which state to Mexifornia. It will also potentially make it easier for terrorists to infiltrate our country something that is already too easy to do...

First Reactions to President Elect Obama

With the new President on the horizon, it is uplifting to see the positive reaction that the country is taking toward his election. While the actual numbers continue to be in the toilet, consumer sentiment is definitely on the rise - a direct reflection of Obama's magnetism.

The whole country is in anticipation for January 20 when he takes the reigns and begins to make the decisions. And with the economic situation the way it is, he has a major task in front of him. As I stated in a previous blog, I am opposed to the $700 billion dollar bail out package and I certainly am opposed to throwing money at any other major concern that is in trouble. Paulson took the $700 billion and has changed his mind on how to spend it. He now wants to shore up financial institutions that offer consumer credit rather than purchasing troubled assets. This may be a better way to spend the money but what bothers me, you'd think they would have come up with that in the first place.

President elect Obama had the ability to get huge quantities of money to run his campaign from such organizations as MoveOn.org and the big labor unions. They are already expecting him to fully keep his campaign promises, a task that may be harder than it seems.

His opposition to the Iraq war is undeniable. He was the only major candidate who opposed the war from the beginning, wants to cut investments in unproven missile defense systems, will not weaponize space, will slow the development of future combat systems, and has set a goal to have a world without nuclear weapons, a very worthy goal but is one that I believe is unattainable.

Joe Biden said the worlds thugs will test the future president and they may already be setting the stage by recently increasing the enemy activity in Iraq. With Obama having said he wanted diplomatic talks with Iran, he has to see that this increase in activity in Iraq is a direct Iranain challenge to his incoming regime. Many tough decisions are looming for this man when he takes office.

Romans 13:1-7 talks about God's hand with respect to the worlds governments. Read it if you are so inclined. I support future president Obama and I pray for his success....

October 31, Halloween, Nevada Day or....

October 31 is day to remember because of its significance with respect to Christianity. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted a proposal at the doors of a church in Wittenberg, Germany to debate the doctrine and practices of Indulgences. This proposal is popularly known as the 95 Theses which he nailed to the Castle Church doors. An indulgence is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven according to Roman Catholic theology.

During some rough times in the Catholic Church these indulgences were sold much to the dismay of Martin Luther. When Luther was excommunicated in 1520 the Lutheran tradition was born which in turn led to the creation of the Reformed traditions of which my church is a member.

So we spent the evening having a delicious meal compliments of mom where there was so much food we could not eat it all. It was a great celebration!

That Dumb Broom

Well this has been a day of memories. I remember how much I hated to sweep things up. Poor Dave my son always got the task of sweeping when he was young. But you know something I think I did him a favor because he knows how to sweep now...

Today I took on the task of cutting the dead branches from the palm trees.

After I finish I was left with a pile of palm frongs...

that ended up in the garbage can. But you know what I hated more than spending 2 hours doing the job was sweeping up the small amount of leaves that were left when I finished the pile. Ah but alas...the outside vacuum cleaner...took care of the problem and the broom went in the trash...

Our Sorry Politicians

Guess it has been a while since I have written anything. I am compelled to write because of what is happening in our country right now. I faxed to everyone from George Bush down including Barack Obama and John McCain not to throw money at a bail out. And what has happened - Nothing except all of our tax bills have increased. And now Pelosi wants to waste another $300 billion for what? If our country depends on our top leaders to solve the problem we have a problem. Neither George Bush, John McCain, or Barack Obama have shown any leadership or proposed anything to tackle the problem except throw money at it. Now investors are waiting to see what the government is going to do before they step up to the plate to begin investing again. The spiral continues downward. The best thing that could have happened was nothing. The free market would have taken care of the problem without the government doing anything. Yes there would be a great deal of pain but the country would be much stronger as a result of it...

Small Groups reign

Thursday was a day where my friend James needed a ride to the hospital. He broke his nose playing soccer and he was out of it. James has been a real contributor in our small group and is a very caring person.



Thursday night was Surge at the Church in Henderson. Several small group leaders went from Summerlin and it was very inspirational. Because Las Vegas leads the nation in suicides, addictions, divorces, and just about everything else that society does wrong we all need to step up and do more to bring people to Christ. Our pastor drove the big van and it was a great evening of fellowship.

This is just a few of the small group leaders from Summerlin. There were over 300 small group leaders that attended from both campuses.

Our small group gets together again right after Labor Day after a 1 1/2 month summer break. At Church today several of us got together and were excited to realize we would soon be together again just like the small Christian groups did in the Book of Acts when the church first started. One of the first things we will be doing is seeing this DVD by this very funny geek pastor who really has a great way of communicating. We will be seeing "Everything is Spiritual" by Rob Bell.

After Church I went to a connection event and got two more couples to come to our small group meeting. I'm excited...

Being a Techy

Oh to be able to keep up with technology. This is what allows us to sell real estate out of our home, monitor currency trading, do Christmas letters, and greeting cards among other things.

This weekend our fax machine went down. We needed it badly in our real estate business for some important documents. Bj has more tenacity than anybody I know. She tried everything to get it to work including getting into the hub of our wiring in the pantry. This morning she added an updated driver to the machine and wal-a. It fixed it!

Back to the Blog

Well it has been two weeks since I published this blog. I wrote a piece about the book of Revelation which I am studying but found it to be too deep for me to even understand in rereading it. So I am back to square one. Some significant things that have happened since I last published - I went and had breathing tests by my pulmonary doctor and good news. They were better than they were two years ago. With the death of Bernie Mac - it has brought out much about my disease "sarcoidosis" and what it is all about. The condition started when I was living in the Seattle area and has obviously not gotten any worse here in Las Vegas. Do you think the master plan was for me to come here and by the grace of God I am still alive? I do not believe I have finished all that he wants me to do before I go join him for all eternity.

Church today was all about what "Church" is. Nothing to do with a building or events that go on - but about people - people in God's community. They are so intertwined in my life.

Last night was the "Showdown at Saddleback". The format was outstanding because it eliminated all of the jabs that the candidates throw at each other. If you did not see it - Rick Warren asked each candidate the same questions, without the other candidate hearing what each other had said. It really pointed out the vast differences between each of them but highlighted their strengths. There should be more formats like that to make the decision easier for those who are on the fence.

Last night was my high school class reunion. I felt bad I could not be there but worse because I was not able to visit my family who I miss terribly....

Beautiful Music

This was the morning we deviated from our normal church service and went back and relived our Lutheran background. The reason was to hear the Taylors sing "The Prayer" and it was exhilarating. Katharyne is fantastic and Stephen - Wow! The service was more ritualistic than what we experience at Central Christian - but it was for God's glory, very well done.....

Fun in the Kitchen

Yesterday was another amazing day! Real estate in the morning and raviolis in the afternoon! Bj and I had a day of cooking. I am the baker and she is the chef. She for the most part created the pasta and I made bread. The only thing we had to put up with was the temperature was 108 degrees outside and see as how we are economizing - the temperature got pretty warm inside when the oven was heated to 500 degrees to make the Ciabatta bread. The boys and Kristina came over in late afternoon to use the pool making the day complete.

Sorry

Last evening before the boys went home, Damian and Isaiah - our grandchildren, we sat down for our last game of "Sorry". When the boys are with us - they dominate our time. Sorry is a game that Ryan, my brother, and I played as we were growing up. Because the boys had lost the rules we had to make them up as we went along. Damian ended up wooping me. Oh well - that's the way it goes when your a grandpa....

The Beginning

Well here it is - the start of my very own blog. Who'd of thunk it. This is due to the inspiration of my youngest daughter, Dr. Beth, who has her very own blog, a most entertaining account of her life. She is living her life to the fullest - something I am sucking into my soul as the right thing to do.

I am most happy with my life - my health is good - I eat like an absolute king because of what my wonderful wife Bj puts in front of me to eat - I can say it is in most cases - gourmet to say the least. And I am particularly happy because my priorities are in order. My relationship with my Lord and Savior is primary to my existance. Because I have turned my life over to him, I have a sense of peace like never before.

I am currently reading the book of Revelation, the last book in the Bible. What Jesus reveals, we have to look forward to in the future dead or alive. The web site that I am using was recommended by Charlotte who is in our small group. You can preview it at http://www.prophecyupdate.com/the_revelation.htm . Jesus Christ visits John, the last remaining disciple, at the time had been imprisoned on the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea. The year was approximately 95 AD. He tells John to write down what he is experiencing so that we all can benefit from what he reveals. For those of us who study it, God blesses us as recorded in Rev 1:3. It is most fascinating when he talks about the seven churches which existed at the time and whose existence reveal the seven time periods in the future that the world will go through. Most theologians believe that we are in the seventh time period which could mean the second coming is near. All I can say is that it is a most interesting read.

My interest has rekindled for the currency market. My friend Katharyne, who with her husband are going to singing this weekend at the local lutheran church, has stuck with currency while I went back to real estate full time. She has been successful recently and is very good about sharing her techniques. To digress, Katharyne and her husband Stephen will be singing The Prayer, recorded by Celine Dion and performed with Josh Groban, and Andrea Bocelli. Check it out on YouTube. Our small group will be attending the service. This means attending Central Christian at a later service which is out of our routine.

It has been a great start.