Andrew Klavan: Good News, Beheaded Christians! Good News For Dead Jews Too!

YOU SILLY, SILLY PEOPLE, DON'T YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT? President Obama tells you so.

Really Cute: Seniors Learn to Use Computers/Internet

SHORT AND SWEET. Am now stationed in Houston, Texas for the moment and glad to be here! Came down to watch the Hammerheads play Little League... Traffic here unbelievable, even for an experienced roadie.

From Business Insider---What Everyone Needs To Keep in Their Cars

I'M A ROAD WARRIOR, SO I HAVE MOST OF THIS IN MY CAR ALREADY. Still it's good to see what other drivers think essential for both short or long hauls. Am packing my car now for a little road trip soon....

Lent Sunday: Jesus At the Last Supper Washes His Disciples' Feet

SUNDAY LENTEN REFLECTION FROM ED MORRISSEY: MARK 1:12-15 THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13:1-17: It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” 9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” 10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. 

N.C. 'Caveman' Blogger Wins First Amendment Case On Giving Nutrition/Fitness Advice Online Without A State License

A VICTORY FOR FREE SPEECH, PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY,  INTERNET FREEDOM AND ALTERNATIVE NUTRITION AND FITNESS EVERYWHERE! Can anything be better than this combo?

SOURCES: HOTAIR,
INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE 
STEVE'S DIABETES-WARRIOR BLOG 

BELOW, FROM THE INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE'S WEBPAGE:

In December 2011, Steve Cooksey started an advice column on his blog to answer reader questions about his struggle with Type II diabetes. Cooksey had lost 78 pounds, freed himself of drugs and doctors, and normalized his blood sugar after adopting a low-carb “Paleo” diet, modeled on the diet of our Stone Age ancestors. He wanted to use his blog to share his experience with others.

However, in January 2012, the North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition informed Cooksey that he could not give readers personalized advice on diet, whether for free or for compensation, because doing so constituted the unlicensed practice of dietetics. The board deemed Cooksey’s advice the unlicensed practice of nutritional counseling, sent him a 19-page print-up of his website indicating in red pen what he was and was not allowed to say, and threatened him with legal action if he did not comply.
“All I wanted to do was give adults advice on what they should buy at the grocery store,” said Steve Cooksey. “I was astonished that the government thought it had the power to regulate that sort of ordinary advice. These new guidelines make clear that I can provide that advice to anyone who wants to hear it, and they will provide important protection for all North Carolinians who want to talk with others about diet.”

Cooksey’s situation is not unique—the Institute for Justice is currently litigating two similar cases based out of Texas and Kentucky. In Texas, the Texas Veterinary Board wants to use its licensing power to shut down a retired veterinarian who uses the Internet to give veterinary advice to pet owners who often live in remote areas of the world without access to veterinarians. In Kentucky, John Rosemond—America’s longest running newspaper advice columnist—was ordered by the state’s Psychology Board to cease publishing his parenting column because the Board believes John’s column constitutes the “unlicensed practice of psychology.”

“Cases like Steve’s raise one of the most important unanswered questions in constitutional law: Do occupational licensing laws trump the First Amendment?” said IJ Senior Attorney Paul Sherman. “The Institute for Justice is committed to protecting occupational speech throughout the country. This settlement is an important victory in that fight.”

Business Insider: 6 Secrets of Excellent Conversationists

I LOVE QUICK REFRESHERS LIKE THIS. No one does it better than BI. These are tips you already know,  but need to re-instill from time to time.

What could be better than doing this while inside, waiting out the most horrible, terrible, really bad weather we've had in decades. Showing a real interest calling a person by their name, and saying Tell Me are just a few ways personal and business relationships are improved instantly.

Often the Price of Too Much Success, Fame and Fortune

FAME AND NOTORIETY ARE OFTEN AN ADDICTIVE TRAP THAT, ONCE HOOKED, A PERSON CAN NEVER GET ENOUGH OF.

Success, especially quick success, is much more difficult to deal with than failure: relationship breakups, divorce, money problems, drugs and alcohol, sexual addition, anger, failed expectations, lack of humility, preoccupation with self and image, enslavement to the pursuit of success and a sense of entitlement are all a part of the 'Oscar Syndrome' whether from fame, fortune, financial success or any other myriad of other accomplishments.

The outcome for many, if not most, is the same. The statute above embodies the sad reality of life in a fallen world of reaching for things that can never bring real long-term contentment  but never realizing it. Better to live with our feet on the ground, in the day-to-day, on the Rock than any worldly promise that never lives up to expectations in the long run.

Bottom line,  enoy the acclaim for a moment, then let it go and get back to the real day-to-day living.

Ash Wednesday: Saying They've Suffered Enough, Theological School in Massachusetts Postpones Lent Due to Unprecedented Snow, Cold

ANN COULTER SLAMS GOP DOUBLE-CROSSING TRAITORS 

CALLING THEMSELVES THE OLDEST AND BOLDEST RELIGIOUS SCHOOL IN THE
COUNTRY,  ANDOVER NEWTON  THEOLOGICAL TODAY MADE A LIGHT-HEARTED LENTEN ANNOUNCEMENT:

The school is postponing Lent for a week.

CBS Boston explains:

“Part of our mission as a school is to be ‘radically open to what God is doing now.’ Well, we have no idea what God is doing now, except this: Snow. Lots of snow,”  President Martin Copenhaver joked.

“We have had to cancel classes on six days already — that’s already a whole week (minus Sunday, of course). In other words, we are already a full week behind. Therefore, we feel obliged to respond. Moving Lent seemed the least we could do. Is it controversial? Yes, but we are not only the oldest, we are also the boldest seminary in the country. Here we stand. We can do no other.”

In the press release, Dean of the Faculty Sarah Drummond said that after meeting with staff on campus “I have determined we have suffered enough.”

The school was founded in 1807.

Lent, begins today, Ash Wednesday, February 18 and lasts until April 2.

Freezing Winter Ice Storm In Middle Tennessee

HARVEY WEINSTEIN INVITES WARREN BUFFET TO OSCARS AND GETS A BIG NO!
DON SURBER: CATCH UP ON SURBER'S FABULOUS SERIES, AMERICAN VIGNETTES OF AMERICA'S OFTEN UNSUNG HEROS

NASHVILLE WAS SUPPOSED TO GET ICE, THEN SNOW STARTING EARLY MONDAY.

The ice pellets began pounding the city right on schedule, as temperatures quickly dropped to freezing winter lows from the 50s.  But only a dusting of snow followed the 4-6 inch forecast in the afternoon.  The effect was chilling as the entire city became one big sheet of ice.  I've never seen anything like this: the entire town has practically shut down. Streets are  mostly empty,  many stores closed and almost everyone is staying home.  With even colder temps predicted for Wednesday through Friday in the range of 10 to -7,  it's likely this place will not begin to get back to normal until early next week.

Meanwhile,  it's a great time to take it easy,  recharge our human batteries,  read and catch up on our sleep.

Just in case you're looking for a great and momentous read,  I cannot recommend highly enough the new piece on ISIS in the March Atlantic magazine.  It's by Graeme Wood and titled What ISIS Really Wants. It's Wood's magnum opus on the most terrifying fundamentalist religious organization in the world that wants to bring about the end of the world.  If you think you understand Islam and ISIS now,  I  assure you you don't nearly as well as you will after reading Wood's piece.  It's a long, arduous read but well worth every minute of your time.

So fix a cup of hot tea or joe, wrap up in a warm blanket, and learn about the new caliphate and caliph in this incredible story of ISIS.   I'm even going back to read it a second time and maybe a third.

Thanks Michael Walsh for calling our attention to this waiting-on-the-apocalypse force on PJMedia.

NASCAR'S Darrell Waltrip Speaks At 2015 National Prayer Breakfast Recently

  

FREEZING OUTSIDE AND TOMORROW IS A SNOW-BOUND HOLIDAY FOR MILLIONS. So it seems like a good time to enjoy former NASCAR driver Darrell Waltrip's talk and testimony at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. last month. His story is one of a transformed and transforming life.

He also gets a zinger in with President Obama who's sitting at the table about a time when he, Waltrip, thought rules applied to everyone else, but not him. Waltrip always wanted to change the rules to suit himself....at about the 9 minute mark.  Pretty gutsy.

 He and his wife live just down the road in beautiful Franklin, Tennessee.

Sunday John Piper on Romans 8--If God Is For Us---Who Can Be Against Us?

MORRISSEY ON MARK 1:40-45: JESUS HEALS A LEPER PIPER continues his series on Romans in the 8th chapter:  Romans 8:31-32:

MORE THAN CONQUERORS

31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Psalm 35, below, a psalm of David,  goes well with Piper's expository teaching.  It is found in today's readings at One Year Bible blog linked on my sidebar:


1 Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me. 

2 Take up shield and armor; arise and come to my aid. 

3 Brandish spear and javelin[a] against those who pursue me. Say to me, “I am your salvation.” 

4 May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plot my ruin be turned back in dismay. 

5 May they be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them away;

6 may their path be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them. 

7 Since they hid their net for me without cause and without cause dug a pit for me, 

8 may ruin overtake them by surprise— may the net they hid entangle them, may they fall into the pit, to their ruin. 

9 Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord and delight in his salvation. 

10 My whole being will exclaim, “Who is like you, Lord? You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them....

Saturday, Valentines Day

HAVE HAD THE GOOD FORTUNE THIS WEEK OF HAVING BEEN OFFLINE SEVERAL DAYS and actually finished reading several good books that had been collecting dust on my bedside table. Have also spent two days in a beautiful setting.

Friday the Thirteenth has always been one of my favorite days, and yesterday's 13th was no exception---one of the best ever!   Have you ever had something happen that seemed momentarily to be a setback but upon reflection was really an incredible blessing in disguise?  I hope so, because I  can only give thanks for events that unfolded yesterday.

Meanwhile, it's very cold here in Middle Tennessee.  But the sun is shining and it's a great day to be  alive!  Happy Valentines Day! P.S. I will not be going to see the silliest V movie ever made, 50 Shades, with a good friend tonight anytime soon, or ever, which ever comes first.

It's About Federalism Not Gay Marriage: Justice Clarance Thomas' Blistering Dissent from SCOTUS On Its Increasing 'Cavalier' Attitude Towards States

HOW SHACKING UP LEADS TO DIVORCE
 
IN AN EXTREMELY CRITICAL---BLISTERING---DISSENT, Justice Thomas takes the majority decision of SCOTUS to task that temporarily allows gay marriage  in Alabama before the high court rules later this summer on the constitutionality of federally legalizing gay marriage in all states.

Justice Thomas is not amused.  Nor am I.

Make no mistake, this is not  about legalizing gay marriage.  It's about federal mandates overriding/ trumping states rights in egregious ways. And it's a major constitutional issue, the likes of which we haven't seen since Civil War days.

From CNS News:

In his dissent from the court's refusal to grant the stay, Justice Thomas rhetorically smacked his colleagues for disregarding its own standard practices and the deference due to state governments and voters.

"This acquiescence [in the lower court ruling] may well be seen as a signal of the Court’s intended resolution of that question [of same-sex marriage]," wrote Thomas.

"This is not the proper way to discharge our Article III responsibilities," he said. "And, it is indecorous for this Court to pretend that it is. Today’s decision represents yet another example of this Court’s increasingly cavalier attitude toward the States. Over the past few months, the Court has repeatedly denied stays of lower court judgments enjoining the enforcement of state laws on questionable constitutional grounds.

"It has similarly declined to grant certiorari to review such judgments without any regard for the people who approved those laws in popular referendums or elected the representatives who voted for them," wrote Thomas. "In this case, the Court refuses even to grant a temporary stay when it will resolve the issue at hand in several months."

I completely agree with Justice Thomas---the voice of reason in these constitutionally shady times we live in.  I shudder the think how states will handle the increasing intrusion of the federal government's It's Our Way or the Highway policies that  now reach into every aspect of our lives.

One can only wonder what will soon trump freedom of religion in this Submit, Convert or Die religion that all people and churches must accept the religion of gay marriage,  Truly frightening.

Meanwhile,  Alabama chief justice says SCOTUS decision violates state law.

Sunday: Why Bible Typography and Good Page Design Matters To Understanding God's Word

 

A FASCINATING VIDEO.

 Ed Morrissey's Sunday Reflection on Mark 1:29-39:

On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them. 

When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him. 

Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.” He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

Brian Williams To Step Down From Anchoring 'For A Few Days'

HUBRIS:  FIRST COSBY, NOW WILLIAMS
 
SATURDAY AFTERNOON COMES THE NEWS THAT WILLIAMS will step down for a couple of nights from anchoring the NBC Nightly News.

This inevitable breaking story from The Hill:

Brian Williams will step away from his daily broadcast of NBC’s “Nightly News” for the next “several days,” as he battles criticism stemming from his admission that he had not flown on a helicopter hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, as he had previously said. 

“In the midst of a career spent covering and consuming news, it has become painfully apparent to me that I am presently too much a part of the news, due to my actions,” he said in an email to NBC News staff forwarded by an NBC News spokeswoman.

“As Managing Editor of NBC Nightly News, I have decided to take myself off of my daily broadcast for the next several days, and Lester Holt has kindly agreed to sit in for me to allow us to adequately deal with this issue. Upon my return, I will continue my career-long effort to be worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in us.”

Of course none of us knows what will happen.  However,  I'm betting Williams will never be back and his career as a credible journalist is finished.

Pants On Fire: NBC Newsman/Anchor Brian Willaims Does Damage Control After Being Forced To Admit He Lied About His Time Covering Iraq In 2003

GOP UNVEILS NEW OBAMACARE ALTERNATIVE WHICH TOSSES THE MANDATES BUT HELPS EVERYONE GET INSURED 
























IT'S IS A DISGRACEFUL DAY FOR A NEWSMAN LIKE WILLIAMS TO INFLATE HIMSELF AND THE TRUTH TO HEROIC PROPORTIONS about his time in Iraq. Good for the vets who were there and called him out on this decade-long lie.

Williams even grossly misrepresented his 'apology.'

Mr. Squeaky Clean Nice Guy has clay feet and he's lost a lot of credibility in having to admit a lie in the process. While Williams does a nice, low-keyed job of damage control, make no mistake, it's still an egregious, egregious misrepresentation of the truth. It will forever damage his reputation as a newsman and anchor for NBC news.

Meanwhile,  Williams relished David Letterman calling him a 'war hero' on his show years ago.

One only wonders what other misrepresentations and delusions of truth he's made, along with his liberal MSM cohorts and Hollywood friends, over the years? And yes, this is not limited to one side or the other of the political spectrum.   In truth, I'm not surprised.  Only once in a blue moon do I ever watch Williams, but now I'm done with him.

I shudder to think.

 It's a slippery slope, Brian.

Update.

Hitler Learns How Pete Carroll Lost the Superbowl for the Seahawks...

I'M DONE WITH THE SUPERBOWL, THE LEFTIEST HAVE WON---NEXT YEAR BRING BACK BEER, BOOBS AND BACON BURGERS
JUST WHEN WE THINK WE'LL NEVER SEE IT AGAIN..... 

 H/T POWERLINE

What Do Malcolm Butler of the Patriots and Lord Grantham of Downton Abbey Have In Common After the Superbowl?

THE THREE MOST TERRIBLE, REALLY AWFUL SUPERBOWL ADS  

ANSWER: BOTH INTERCEPTED BALLS AT THE LAST MINUTE KEEPING THE OTHER SIDE FROM SCORING TO WIN THE GAME.

Brilliant move on both their parts.  And not a minute too soon.  Good work, men.

Malcolm said, he just knew something good was about to happen...

MEANWHILE: Worst. Call. In. Superbowl. History. It's gotta be a dark day for Pete Carroll and the Seahawks.

Superbowl Sunday: Does God Care Who Wins? And Lifting Jesus Higher Than the High Things In Our Lives @ RiverCrossing

PASTOR MIKE ATKINS IS JUST BACK FROM KENYA AND TALKS ABOUT EVERY FOLLOWER OF CHRIST'S BIGGEST BATTLE....ONE OF HIS BEST.

Satan's desire is to become higher in our lives than God's place. Time to continue dethroning the enemy---the father of lies--in our lives, and lift Jesus higher and higher.

********************
 SEAHAWKS ASST COACH ROCKY SETO:  JESUS BETTER THAN THE SUPERBOWL
ED MORRISSEY'S SUNDAY RELECTION FROM THE GOSPEL OF MARK

THIS IS WRITTEN BY ED USZYNSKI AT DESIRING GOD:

Huge games annually provoke the question, “Does God care who wins these games?” 

Hovering over this discussion is a predominant but twisted American value long ago absorbed into our sports culture itself: Winning is everything in life, and losing is for losers. Winning is the ultimate worldly good in the sports culture; therefore, since God does “good” toward those who do “good,” the team reflecting the most “goodness” should win — or so the thinking generally goes. 

Though most people might cringe at the unsophisticated nature of this argument, a recent Pew Religion Research Institute article reports that 48% of Americans believe athletes of faith are rewarded with good health and success, and the number jumps above 60% for professing Protestant Americans, regardless of racial background..... We assume that God will bless the righteous with scoreboard victories and leave the less righteous sorting through their own limitations — both physically and spiritually. 

Isn’t It Silly?

Christian athletes likely have fed this faulty theology in three decades worth of post-game interviews in which the victor ignores the first question and instead thanks God or his “Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” While subtly he may be thanking God for both the physical body and competitive opportunity to play, disguised instead in this shout-out to the divine is a cause-effect deduction: “Thank you, God, for loving me by being on our side and causing us to win!” 

We quickly devolve into silliness when forced to imagine God wearing a particular nation’s jersey during the World Cup, or a Seahawks jersey this Sunday — or that he is somehow predisposed toward one major institution or another at the conclusion of March Madness. 

Yet even if God operated in this cartoonish way, even if we could put all the “righteous” on one team or another, God has a history of allowing his people to lose on the field so they can somehow win in the deeper, soul-centered arenas of life. 

His view of what constitutes a “win” or a “loss” couldn’t be more contrary to what we typically are fed as American viewers and participants of sport and life. (See the life of Joseph in Genesis 37–50, for instance.) 

Yes, He Cares But God most certainly does care who wins — just not in the way we do, and certainly not in the way implied by most post-game interviews. 

He cares about everything that happens in the universe. His sovereignty extends to the sub-atomic level, where every part of every atom arranges itself in relation to every other according to his plans and purposes — all of this in a world where humans make real choices that matter and have real consequences at every level of society. To suggest he doesn’t “care” who wins is to be pressed into a corner opposite, but just as ridiculous, of the idea that he remains vested like a Vegas gambler. Indeed, his concern regarding games extends far beyond our own thin ideas of victory and defeat, profit and loss, success and failure.