Wednesday, October 28, 2009

It's time for us to get fed up and put our foot down!


Today I read and article on AJC.com where a Home Depot employee was terminated for wearing a pin on his work vest that said "One nation under God, Indivisible" with a US flag background. It was said that it was because that it didn't conform to dress codes and they offered to give him a pin instead that read "United We Stand". He was asked to remove his pin and he refused. I applaud him for doing so. He was fired for wearing a patriotic pin with a quote from our very own Pledge of Allegiance.

The article can be read here: http://www.ajc.com/business/fla-man-says-home-175481.html

I am sick and tired of government and corporate America pushing God out of our schools, workplace, our communities and our very lives. I'm tired of voting for politicians that stand for the self interest of political parties and supporters. I'm sick of Democrats. I'm sick of Republicans. I'm sick of lawyers hungry for the opportunity of a law suit that disputes Godly morality. I'm tired of this country losing Purity and becoming a filthy gutter slut of a nation.

Politically I'm waiting for candidates that want to return us to "One Nation Under God" again. Until then, there isn't much I can do about government. Corporately however, I can effect those that won't stand with God and Country. I promptly e-mailed Home Depot and notified them that I have been a loyal customer for 10 years. I have spent a great deal of money there and every time I did,  I drove past a Lowes to get there. I told them I would now start saving on my fuel cost and begin to stop at Lowes. I'm paying off the little I have on my Home Depot account and I'm going to destroy my card. The very money that Home Depot so eagerly takes in daily has "In God We Trust" inscribed on it. Somehow they don't seem to have a problem with that. Then again, how much longer before God is removed from our currency. I assure you there are lawyers working on that one right now.

In a nut shell, nothing is going to change for the good by the hands of politicians and lawyers. We need to make the change. We make the change by taking a stand. Put your foot down America.........One Nation Under God!  Indivisible.

Sidenote: Georgia Vs Florida this weekend. I'm not very confident in a win here but I do know that in the SEC, an upset is possible. I think it will either be a blow out with Florida eating us alive or a victory in a close one. Either way, GOOOOOOOO Dawgs!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

One for you my Lord.......nine for me.

This past Sunday our pastor spoke on a very unpopular subject: Tithes. For months now I have been "high five-ing" myself for following Gods' plan as each weeks sermon was a confirmation that I was doing the right thing. I've not been very humble and have had very little humility as I've been proud to be a "born again" Christian if you will. Wooo- hooo look at me go, look at me go! Then this past Sunday I slammed face first into the wall of reality. I am robbing God who has given everything to me.

Malachi 3:6-12
 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty. "But you ask, 'How are we to return?' 8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.

I'm not saying my wife and I don't give money to the church every Sunday for we most certainly do. However, we haven't been giving the money to God and most certainly not in the amount he has clearly specified. It should be ten percent off the top. That means the first ten percent and that means gross. That is Gods part. That means if you give the ten percent you are tithing. If you do not give the ten percent you ARE NOT tithing. God has challenged us to test him in this. If you tithe as God has specified you will be blessed. My wife and I live paycheck to paycheck just like everyone else. Ten percent of our salary is a big chunk of money. To tithe is a huge leap of faith. How do we squeeze blood from a turnip?? The answer: We don't, that's Gods part in all this. It is He that makes the impossible possible and it is us that must simply have faith. I don't know any way to make this happen other than to pray and just do it. The rest is in Gods hands.

I also learned that a little more than 97 percent of Christians don't Tithe by definition. There are so many of us who's money and finances are cursed. I'm getting out from under that curse. Part of me says "boy this is gonna hurt". However, I also thought being a Christian and walking with Christ was going to be a burden and it is anything but. I have faith that the Lord will meet my every need. My family will thrive under the love of God.

I have to look at it this way. It's all Gods' anyway. I'm not giving him ten percent. He's giving me ninety percent and He gave his only son to pay for my sins. I don't want to rob from God who has given me so much any longer.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Just how bad is it?

Two years ago Georgia went up to Knoxville flat and lacking passion for the game. To put it simple we were not fired up. We got our tails handed to us by a team that was not nearly as good as we were. But they were better that day. Coach Richt said we would never go into another game unprepared and lacking emotion. We did it again this last Saturday and we made the worst QB in the SEC look like Peyton Manning. We were never in the game and even the Jim Donnan teams of the 90's put up a better fight against better Tennessee teams.

Lane Kiffen made the bold statement that he would see to it that Tennessee would never loose to Georgia as long as he was coaching. This man, who most of us thought was a fool coming into the season did at least keep his promise to the Vol nation so far. Our Coach let us down.

What's wrong in Athens? Well, it you break it down to it's simplest form the problems with losing are caused by one of two things:
  • Lack of Talent
  • Lack of Coaching
We have dominated in recruiting battle for the last 7 years. We have as much talent on our team as anyone in the nation. We don't have a lack of talent. We have a coaching problem. Am I ready to throw Mark Richt under the bus? Absolutely not. I was hoping Willie Martinez would not be on the travel team this coming Saturday. I also wish Bobo were coaching QB's and Richt was calling plays.

What about Coach Mark Richt himself? I love it when he is calm as a cucumber during the crunch to remain focused on the game. I do not at all like it when he shows no emotion when we are being made a fool of by a team that's got nothing but Eric Berry. I'm ready to see some snot bubbles and spit barking out of a hopping mad Mark Richt. His team needs snot bubbles and spit! Dawgs Slobber for goodness sake!

We only have one game left this year that I don't much worry about and that's Tennessee Tech. I don't know if we can stop anyone else left on our schedule. One of the worst offenses in the SEC hung nearly 50 points on us this past Saturday and at this time Tennessee Tech is dreaming big thinking maybe they stand a chance.
Everyone else is certainly coming in thinking they will beat us. We have to prove them wrong. I don't know if firing someone in mid season is the right thing to do. But I think a statement needs to be made. A simple win against Vandy this weekend isn't going to cut it.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Sometimes you can't go back home.

This has been a week of reflection for me, a look back at the past. Places of precious memories stained by time. It started by going to a funeral in deep South Georgia for the death of my closest friend's father.  Valdosta was a long drive for my wife and me and offered plenty of time for me to reflect. I have lived from one end of this state to the other and there I was driving that trek twice in one day. I grew up in Middle Georgia. Dublin, Perry and Warner Robins are where I spent my youth. Valdosta came about as I went there for college. I adore it all and miss many things that simply are not here in Northwest Georgia.

I thought about the Georgia coast as well. I didn't actually live there but my father did and it is probably one of my favorite places with so much natural beauty. I love those live oaks that stretch out more than they do up. I loved being underneath the canopy of a live oak, curtained with Spanish moss as my bare feet dug into the black sand and a warm breeze blew off the salt marsh. That breeze carried a sweet stench from the marsh that I would say is an acquired taste, or smell if you will. I think about the friendly folks at Shellman's Bluff. Most of the people there were not from there at all but spent the weekends there. It was as if it were a place where people went to be friendly. Time certainly slows down there and there is a sense of peace. The local restaurant at the Bluff was ironically called "Speeds", named after the family that started it many years ago. The placemats and menus, from what I remember read, "we move slow here" as a reminder of where you are and that the food was cooked fresh to order. As I thought of all this I couldn't help but wonder if I would ever go there again. I certainly hope so.

Nevertheless, I traveled the same stretch of interstate I did as a young buck in college going back to school after a weekend at home with family. I had to look hard for the things from my youthful memories. Time had covered many of these memories as trees grew taller and the general terrain changed. That's easy enough to accept because things change in time. Some of the change however is not so easy to swallow.

There have always been quite a number of billboard advertisements along I -75. Many of these served as landmarks as I journeyed up and down this highway in my youth. Stuckey's, Disney, Silver Springs and their glass bottom boats, even adds for farmers markets and fruit stands where fresh Florida oranges were always available. Although those billboards still exist, they are rare and for the most part have been replaced by something very disturbing. The have been replaced by "Strippers", "Intimate massage", the "Love Store" and an endless array of sexually themed advertisements that I can only assume are targeting lonely truck drivers that must truly be lost. However, although the trucker may be the target, it just as often misses its mark. I grew up knowing that when I saw the "King Frog" billboard, I was almost to Valdosta, or Florida if that was where I was headed. Now it is the "Lions Den" adult novelty store. The logo features two lion's silhouette in an intimate position with a gold sun backdrop. That's the memories for the kids today. There isn't just a few of these type advertisements, the highway is littered with them and it seems the further south I went, the worse it got.

It certainly had a "life in the fast lane" feel to it as if it were a road straight to hell. It is certainly a different place and far from the likeness of Speeds Kitchen where no one is in a hurry to get anywhere, particularly hell. Nevertheless, it's a different place this state I live in. At the same time, I have to ask myself  "How much of this change is because I am looking at it though different eyes?" Thank you Jesus. The last time "the devil went down to Georgia" as I remember it, old Johnny sent his butt back to hell whipped and defeated. Of course this isn't factual but does hold truth because we used to give him resistance. Now it seems he owns the largest advertisement network on I-75. Why isn't this a big deal?

Sometimes you can't go back home. Sometimes it's because it isn't another place but another time. In addition, there is certainly something to "home is where you make it". Ultimately, home is where I want to go, and although it is not of this earth, I bet it will have live oaks and black sand.