regarding victory

A very good article.

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=11802

It amazes me what politicians will sacrifice for political victory.

It amazes me what a nation can so easily forget.

No Drive-In Party tonight

I am sorry for the disappointment. Gina decided against it and she's the birthday girl. We'll do one soon.

the drive-in mafia strikes again

Gina told me tonight that she would like to do the drive-in thing this Friday night to celebrate her upcoming birthday. There's no way I can tell what's showing on a Friday night except to wait until Friday afternoon. We've had a good bit of rain lately, so we've got some variables. Considering we've got dry weather that day...considering we've got good movies showing...we'll do this thing.

Gina said to invite any and all who wanted to come, so this is open to all. You need to let'm know how the drive-in mafia does it. We take folding chairs, coolers of drinks, a jam box and sit on the front row. We also like to get there when it opens so we can fellowship while the kids play on the green as the sun goes down. I'll bring a large tarp for the kids, but do bring blankets for the kids to lay on. Sometimes it turns a little cool at night. Bug repellent is good to bring but I usually have that covered.

Usually it's ten bucks a car load, so it helps if people meet at a parking lot and stuff one care with human bodies. If you think you will be leaving after the first show, come separately. Harry Potter has been playing at most of the drive-in theatres and they bumped the price up per individual. Maybe they'll lower it after it's been showing for two weeks, or maybe they'll be showing something different that will be 10.00 a car load. We'll see. I will send out a mass mail as soon as I find something out.

I am pretty sure we'll be going to the Sand Mountain Twin but who knows, we might end up in Piedmont. I go to the www.WQSB.com website to check on what's showing where.

We can't do this on a Saturday night this time because Gina doesn't want to have to drag out two children out of bed for church Sunday morning. So let me recap. If it's not raining...if there's something good showing...we are going to party like it's 1969.

skylight revisited

I was sitting with AJ and Rick at Dairy Queen after the 4:00 service at Vineyard. They asked about Christian Brothers. I gave a ClifNotes version but also mentioned that I'd send the the website URL to read a little more.

I pulled the site together the week of 9/11. I guess at the time I was taking my mind off the terrible present of that day by recording this ministry's past. The URL is at http://skylight.faithweb.com/ and is unfortunately an Ad-supported site. You might want to engage a pop-up blocker because there's pop-ups. There used to be less Ads when I started writing and adding photos into the template. Still, there's a lot of good stuff there.

I had several people share photos with me, Dan Noojin, Lisa Hill and Becky Armstrong. Brooky handed me an large envelope of the photos that was Christian Brother's Association. I had old newsletters and old print media. I haven't added anything to it in years.

I remember being a kid among the initial prayer meeting that later became F.R.E.E. House. I was a tag along to any concert Emory, Don, Jennie or Brook played. The fellowship grew after Emory's death. You can find my account on this blog as well as at the skylight site. There is an image of Emory on this blogspot that I found off an old negative earlier this year. I never posted at the Skylight site. I recorded Brook's account of Christian Brothers from the twenty year celebration Skylight newsletter. There is a page of Michael's account that I pulled from one of his early Greene Street Letters when we were in the process of ending Skylight for good. We gave the building to Gadsden Vineyard.

Even though Christian Brother's is indirectly kin to Vineyard, it would be nice to hear more about the coffeehouse that Michael and Jim were part of back in the early seventies called The Other Door. I never went there but I know that is a story to tell there. How about it Michael? I also remember another coffeehouse ministry back in the early seventies called Living Water. It was Pentecostal and at the time, a strange place for a very young United Methodist boy. I later grew up.

So we weren't the only kid on the block, Christian Brother's did out live the others on through the seventies, eighties and most of the 90's. We seemed to be a magnet for talent and it's odd how the Vineyard is a magnet for artist. The coffeehouse is long gone but today we find a church standing where Skylight used to be. The pastor, Jim Bentley, a retired art teacher and still today, a very different ministry standing in Skylight's place, a magnet for artist. It's a God thing I know.

As most of you know, I never fit within traditional church or normal crowd. Christian Brother's met a lot of needs for me growing up. I didn't have the relationships in high school that most people do. People kept an eye on me in traditional churches. I found a place that I fit in at Christian Brothers. I hung out with oodles of Christians from different denominations that simply loved and desired to serve God. I lived, worshiped, played and LAUGHED between the denominational walls. Growing up among the religious, laughter wasn't very much welcomed. Don't get me wrong, a good chuckle was allowed after a pastor's humorous antidote that preceded every sermon. I could laugh at Christian Brothers, I could make others laugh and it was a good thing.

I learned to write and play guitar during the early years and Skylight gave me the stage to spread my wings and build confidence. The ministry had her flaws but I am compelled to forgive those shortcomings. God used that ministry and let me be used to minister too. The ministry facilitated many ministries in her day, but I reflect upon Christian Brothers as a place where many young people learned to minister, a place to make mistakes...ministry training wheels

the new Bruce Cornutt action figure

I don't know if any of you have seen this new action figure as of yet. It has life like hair and a kung-fu grip. I have the Bruce Almighty Worship Man set that comes with an acoustic guitar, Vineyard songbook, microphone and a bottle of water.

new made for tv movie: The Brooky Finlayson Story

I might be going to a gun show with Brooky and Dan this weekend. I don't have any money and thankfully don't have any need for a gun in the near future. I mean, not that I know of. I do however like to hang with my bro and bro in-law. Seeing the above picture of John Goodman in the Big Lebowski made me think of Brooky for some reason. I think if anyone were to make a movie of Brooky, you'd need to cast John in the leading role. Not that Brooky is a fat guy like me, but rather he's got this Brooky look in his eye while brandishing a firearm. Is it just me?

of war

Within the last pages of the book FLYBOYS, James Bradley shares a phone conversation with a flyboy veteran Joe Bonn, who saw last saw his buddy Jimmy Dye descend toward the island of Chichi Jima by parachute. James Bradley had just returned from Japan where he had talked to Hayashi-san, the Japanese soldier who was ordered to decapitate Jimmy. The following is an excerpt from page 332:


...That's the way it was," he had explained. I wondered how he would react to
the news that I had met with the Japanese who had swung a sword at
his friend.

I had explained how Hayashi-san had unwillingly followed an order under the duress of strict command. Lieutenant Hayashi, the meek radar technician had had no animosity in his heart when a drunken Spirit Warrior forced him to wield his untested sword. Hayashi had been just one of Japan's many good children scarred by the Spirit Warrior's non-Bushido mania. Drunken cannibal officers abusing their troops are not part of the samurai tradition.

After I told Bonn about Jimmy's last moments, there was a silence on the telephone line.
"That's a hell of a thing." he finally said.
After a few seconds I asked, "What's a hell of a thing?"
"Well, I don't think it was right to cut Jimmy's head off," he answered.
Now it was my turn to be still. I could agree with Bonn, but just days before I had
had tears in my eyes as I listened to Hayashi-san. I took a chance and said,
"Yes, but maybe the civilians you strafed thought that was a hell of a thing."

Now there was even a longer silence. I wasn't sure if I had gone to far. Finally the former Flyboy sighed, "Yeah, I guess it just matters what side you're one."


Frankly, throughout the entire book, that's the back story that Bradley wanted to tell...that the Americans were just as much the devils as the Japanese were. I believe Bradley actually went too far with the old veteran. James Bradley capped off his telling of his Flyboy book by getting a HERO to pretty much say he was just as bad, just as evil, as the Japanese devils. Those Flyboys, were good, decent young men who were sent to fight and WIN a war they did not start but had to finish. They went to serve their God and country, not as occupiers...but to put an end to an evil empire. I pray that Bradley doesn't disturb the sleep of an old man who probably suffered enough nightmares from a war he fought so bravely so long ago. I am glad that moral equivalence and political correctness wasn't the thinking of the day back in those dangerous times.

Bradley had some pictures in his book of charred citizens that were burned from the massive B-29 bombing strikes over Japan. I think he should have included more images like this one. To my understanding, this was typical Japanese workmanship. Don't get me wrong, Bradley spent much of his book on the Rape of China...a holocaust that out-shadows what the Nazi's did to the Jews. I'll cut the author some slack. Most of the photos I've seen of the rape of China by the heartless Japanese forces aren't very nice to look at.

We have a war today, an evil empire teaching their children to hate America...encouraging them to become martyrs for their little god of hate...little human bombs for Allah. Do we as a nation have what it takes to win a war...to be hard core...do what has to be done? Evil does exist America. I read this book about a time in Japan's history that was simply demonic. I could'nt help but think about our present war, about our enemy out there, and how stupid the politicians who are politicizing this war, struggling for power at the cost of our security and the morale of our service men and women. Evil must be faced eye to eye. Evil must be conquered and there's no such thing as a pleasant war. It's not a popular thing to say but I'll say it. Devils must die for freedom to live.

Do I sound pissed?

Coming soon to a theatre of war near you!

salute the flyboys!

I just finished the book FLYBOYS by James Bradley. He's also the author of the book FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, son of one of the marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima. The book FLYBOYS is an incredible read. My only criticism of the book is the author's constant attempt to place blame at America's feet. I'm sorry Mr. Bradley, but America did what it had to in order to break the back and will of Japan.

The book delivered a history of the Japanese culture the preceded the Second World War. Let me put it this way. I don't believe judgement should be withheld toward a serial killer because he/she experienced a bad childhood...the same goes for a nation. A war crime is a war crime. The Japanese were guilty of countless atrocities that surpassed what the Nazi's did to the Jews. The Japan and Germany were the BAD GUYS...not us.

Don't get me wrong, FLYBOYS is an excellent read. The author dug into the declassified transcripts of a war crimes trial on Guam following the war. So top secret, that not even the parents and families of the eight young fly boys shot down over Chichi-jima were told of their son's horrific fate.

George H. Bush, SR was interviewed for the FLYBOYS. There is a powerful interview and his account is touching.

I recommend the book. It played out in my mind like a Ken Burns documentary. FLYBOYS is filled with a great deal of sadness. It's a story of war in the Pacific on a very personal level. I disagree with the James Bradley's premise and conclusion, but there's a great deal to appreciate about this book.

new from Cheezy Religious Toys, Inc

This post is inspired (if that's the right word from it) from Michael's blog. His posting of the weird Passover Ten Plague Puppets reminded me of the Jesus Action Figure I saw a while back. The above images is of the DELUXE Jesus Action Figure Set, complete with fishes and loaves. You'll notice the water into wine ewers. You can impress your friends by keeping the wine ewer hidden until just the right moment. When they are not looking...swap the water ewer for the wine ewer and get ready for awe inspired moment. You'll be the envy of all your young friends. An action figure that works miracles! Go on a picnic with your friends. Just make sure you've got plenty of Captain D's and rolls stuffed in your back pocket for that miracle.

Where to next? The Passion action figure? It would be interesting to find out if the plague puppets are made by the same company as the action figure.

good one Plato

"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws."