All posts by Joshua

Current Events

An International View on the VP Question

Today as I browsed the international news reports, I discovered an interesting article from the TimesOnline.co.uk about who McCain may pick as his VP running mate. The article posted some good suggestions beyond the standard Mike Huckabee answer – especially now as Huckabee starts his comeback tour.

If, and I do mean "if", John McCain does win the Republican primary, he will have to be very careful on who he picks. Tim Hames of the Times Online poses three reason why McCain has too be ultra careful:

1) The US vice-president post has been "revolutionized" under George W. Bush and Dick Cheney from a "pitcher of warm spit” (as stated by John Garner, Franklin Roosevelt's VP) into a de-facto "deputy president". Since it is highly unlikely that any future VP will want to go back to the "warm spit" job, it means who ever gets picked as McCain's running mate will have a lot of work to do.

2) McCain is in his 70's… if he dies, while morbid – it is a possibility, his VP would become president. That means whoever gets chosen as his running mate will need be creditable enough to one day be president.

[@more@]3) Right now the Democrats have the "lime light" in this battle (mainly because of the Clinton-Obama face off). When it comes time for the final election, McCain will need a VP with LOTS of name recognition as he can not afford to waste time educating the American people on who his running mate is.

With those three reasons staring him in the face, McCain has quite the decision to make (assuming Huckabee does upstage him). That is why Mr Hames final pick in his article is so striking – General David Petraeus.

Current Events

Bodybuilders pluck car from ditch

Here's a great article about some friendly neighbors…ones with strong backs:  Tongue out

From correpondents in Berlin

February 12, 2008 12:36am

News.com.au Article from: Reuters

A GROUP of 10 bodybuilders from a German gym took a break from their normal training routine to help a driver whose car was stuck in a ditch, police said.

The men were training at the Explosives fitness centre in Bad Zwischenahn near the western city of Oldenburg when the 38-year-old driver lost control of his vehicle, veered into a meadow and plunged the front of his car into the two-metre-deep ditch.

"They dropped their sweat towels and water bottles and ran over the road to the crash site," a police spokesman said.

"They then heaved the car out. It only took them a few minutes."

The grateful driver joined the men at the fitness centre to treat them to a round of energy drinks, the spokesman said.

 

General

wow – what an election!

I stop checking the news for a few days and everything changes… *sigh*

I just now found out that Romney dropped out – and it seems that Huckabee is giving McCain a run for his money. wow… what a change! =/

oh – by the way, Plumbline was good. God really showed up and touched some people. It was amazing to see Isaiah 61 happening right in front my eyes. He is amazing!! Glory be to the God of Host!

Current Events

Who's going to be VP?

Just for fun – who do you think is going to be choosen for VP on both the Democrats and Replication?

Here my thoughts:

Democrats:

  • If Clinton wins, I think she will pick Obama.
  • If Obama wins, I think he might pick Edwards or maybe Nancy Pelosi

Replication:

  • I think Huckabee will be the VP on either McCain or Romney's tickets.
  • If Huckabee pulls off a miracle and wins, then I think McCain would be his running mate.[@more@]

 

 

Payette River Vineyard, Vineyard Movement

Divine Plumbline 2008

I'm getting beat up this week. Not physically – but emotionally and spiritually, in a good way. Laughing

You see, I'm taking a 4-day seminar called Plumbline which deals "with issues of rejections and rebellion; those hurts and wounds that hold us back from being all that God would have us be."

Basically, God is beating me up. Which is awesome – I want Him to speak to me this week as I look back over my past and deal with any thing that might still be dragging be backwards. Yeah – It's going to hurt (and I aint look forward to that), but I know it's worth it.

Em when through the class a few months ago and really got touched by God. Let's pray that He touches me too. Smile [@more@]

Interests

Knees vs Knight Rider

Knee Report

I had a checkup with the physical therapist Tuesday to see how my knee was going. Over all, it's improving very steadily.  The therapist gave me some different exercises to do for the next few months. After that, I'm hoping to get with a trainer to set up a long term routine – that way this won't happen again. Innocent

Knight Rider

Guess what? Netflick has all the old Knight Rider TV shows available online via streaming media. Laughing

We watched Season 1, Episode 1 Monday evening – it was so cool! Talk about memories. Tongue out The coolest part is that Em has never seen Knight Rider – so this is her first time. [@more@]
 

General

John McCain vs Barack Obama

It has been a while since I commented on the recent election. As many of you know, I originally supported Ron Paul for his views on limited government and the Constitution  of the United States of America.  However, Ron Paul doesn't seem real "electable"… (note that he DID beat Rudy!) As a result, I have been looking around at some of the other candidates – mostly John McCain and Barack Obama.

In the interest of space, I'm going to list some of my likes and dislikes along with some links for folks to find more information.

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John McCain

Like:

* Background with war and a divided nation (ie. Vietnam war hero)
* Good thoughts about the war. He doesn't like the way it has been handled. But he also is looking at what would happen if we pulled out to fast.
* Climate change – after his 2000 presidential bid, he decided to find out more about this issue. As a result, he traveled around the world and saw the hard, cold facts. Now he realizes that we need to do something soon to lower carbon emissions. Or we will be giving our kids a dead world.
* Pork – doesn't like them. He stated that he will veto any pork barrel bill that comes to him as President (note that he thinks all the pork bill has breed corruption).

Dislike:

* McCain he has missed 56% of all votes for the 110th Congress. Basically, he decided that he doesn't need to show up for work. If he was working any other job in the country, he would be fired.

I don't know about you, but I don't want a President who can't even show up for the job he was elected to.  By the way, to put his absenteeism in perspective, Hillary Clinton has only missed 25% of all votes this term. Barack Obama has only missed 35% of all votes….

Sources: Washington Post and Dailykos.com

* McCain voted to remove Habeas Corpus. I hope this disturbs you….

For those of you who don't know what Habeas Corpus is, it is the "summons with the force of a court order addressed to the custodian (such as a prison official) demanding that a prisoner be brought before the court, together with proof of authority, allowing the court to determine whether that custodian has lawful authority to hold that person, or, if not, the person should be released from custody." (source)

In regular English, the USA government can legally hold any one accused of being an "unlawful combatant" forever without telling them or anyone else why they are being held. What is even scarier is that it only takes one person, the President of the United States, to label anyone an "unlawful combatant".

So when does the term "unlawful combatant" become attached to Christians? Or anyone who dislikes the polices of the current President? Slippery slope…

Sources:
Senate.gov – amendment to "strike the provision regarding habeas review" (McCain voted against it)
Senate.gov – Military Commissions Act (McCain voted for it)

Interview at Google

Barack Obama

Like

* Obama voted against the Military Commissions Act and the removal of Habeas Corpus.
* He wants to open up communication to all nations, instead of "punishing" bad nations by refusing to talk to them.
* He recognizes that the problems with this nation is not one party or the other. It's a mind set – a way of doing things. He wants to change that – starting with himself.
* He wants to update our country's out of date military and foreign policy practices.
* Obama has lived among the poor and knows what it's like. In fact, his first job out of college was helping those in need in Chicago.
* He has an international feel having lived among the people of Indonesia. Currently he has a grandma in Kenya and sisters in Indonesia… While I know that this doesn't make a good president, I like the fact that he has experienced and understands other cultures.
* Obama wants to open up the government records to allow for people to see what is happening in congress minute-to-minute. If a congressman/women votes to add some pork to a bill, the people will know within minutes – not after the bill has already past.
* I also like he view on the environment. We need to take care of it and not throw away the very gift God gave us.

Dislike

* While I support the need to get out of Iraq (where we shouldn't of been in the first place), his current plan for pulling out seems a bit crazy. Basically he wants to pull out troops within 16 months. However, I think this may be an overstatement as part of his desire to distance himself from Hilary Clinton.
* I'm not one for "big" government – however, it has been my experience that both Democrats and Republican are big government parties so it doesn't really matter any more. For example, we had a "small" government party in office for eight years (ie the Republicans) and now the government is larger then ever before. Plus, the national debt is larger – we have given up our right to Habeas Corpus – and we now have a government who can legally spy on it's citizens. Case over.

Sources
New Beginning in Iraq – Part 1 & 2 (speech)

Interview at Google

Summary:

I don't know yet – I'm still praying that God will give me wisdom as the election draws near.

General

2008 Hopping Newsletter

We just emailed out our 2007 Newsletter. If you did not get one, but you would like to know more about what is happening in our lives – please let me know and I will email you a copy. Laughing

God bless.[@more@]

General, Payette River Vineyard

SBS: Super Bowl and Snow

For the first time in two years, we cancelled church last night. Some folks may think we cancelled it because of the Super Bowl…. and they would be partly right. Tongue out

The real reason was the white out conditions in the area due to a snow storm. Add to this the fact that our pastor lives a hour away and would have to drive home after dark in the snow – we decided to call it a day and let everyone know that church was cancelled.  

The cool part was that everyone somehow got notified or just decided not to come due to the weather. How do I know that? 'cause I was sitting out in front of the school for half an hour waiting for someone to come, but no one came – so everyone must have been notified. Thank the Good Lord for small town phone chains. Laughing

Well, now that church was cancelled – we just had to watch the game. Right? =P Actually, we were already planning a Super Bowl party at a friend's house. Before we cancelled church, we were just going to go to the school for the service and then come back – catching both the front and end of the game. As it turned out, we got to see the whole thing.
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The best part of the night was that my team won. Yelp – I was pulling for the Giants while Em was supporting "whatever team Josh wasn't supporting". (I think our marriage is good…) Innocent

Speaking of the game – boy, was it a good game!! A four point spread for most of the game – wonderful!

I'm glad my one-football-game-per-year turned out so good. Cool

Theology Thoughts

Dreams or "The Year of the Goose: Part II"

Do you ever wonder why God gives us dreams? I'm not talking about the "dreams" one has while asleep – I'm referring to those "dreams" concerning the future. Dreams about your life; your goals; your life focus. Sometimes I wonder if I heard Him correctly… Other times, I'm dead certain that I'm doing exactly what Him said to do. It's a strange place to live – between two opposite poles, trying hard not to lose your balance.

We are in a new year – 2008.

2008 – wow, it has been 10.5 years since that day I pledged my allegiance to the ultimate Master. Sitting here, writing this post, my heart goes back to July 19, 1997 at 4:30 pm on the steps of the National Museum in San Jose, Costa Rica. It was at that time, on that day, that the Man from Galilee showed me how real He was and is.

I will never forget the look of that young man's face as he looked at me with tears in his eyes. His words echo through my ears day in and day out: "I feel something now". This man felt the presence of the Kingdom where a minute earlier he confessed his hollow soul.

The Kingdom. It is here today and yet It is not. We are to walk each day as it's the last.

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Did you ever wonder about Jesus story of the Pearl of Great Price? Why was it that a man went out and sold all he had to buy a single pearl? It never made sense to me. If the pearl cost the same as all his belongings, why buy it? You're not making a profit? In fact, all you're doing is tying up all your resources into one item – an item that could be stolen or lost.

If the Kingdom of Heaven is the rule and reign of the One Mighty Lord, Creator of Heaven and Earth. If the Kingdom of Heaven is all that Isaiah said it was. If it really is what Jesus demonstrate – that the lame will walk, those in bondage will be set free, the dead shall live, leapers will be cleaned and the oil of gladness will be given instead of mourning.

If THAT is the Pearl of Great Price – then "YES" – I want that. I want to walk where angels tread. I want to walk in the Kingdom, across the highways and byways of this life – searching for those in shack cloth; those in the ditches; those whose faces are stained with tears of mourning; those who have no hope, no future, no life – just a chain of guilt and emotions. To those we walk towards – like the man who discovers that there are tress outside the cave and runs back inside to bring joy to those left behind.

I do not want part of the Pearl. I want ALL of it! I want to see His Kingdom crash in upon this world. Ah – to play a part in the coming Kingdom.

Yet who am I that I might play a part on the great orchestra of life? Nothing but a serf playing out his part as directed by his Lord.

2008. A new year full of old and new dreams. Some may call it the year of the rat. I am calling it the "Year of the Goose: Part II".