Hey ‘Crash’, I’ve got a question for you. I’ll have to paint a little bit of a backdrop for it though.

Yesterday in our worship service at church (as I often do), found myself ‘carried’ away during a particularly moving song. As I stood there in full worship mode, eyes closed & hands lifted, in my mind were images of God’s holiness as opposed to me, the small image of complete ‘unworthiness’ if there is such a word. In this ‘movie in my head’, there was brighter light than can be described, filling the sky, and as my feeble body had arms lifted and eyes closed, my flesh fell (like boiled chicken), leaving a skeleton, then the bones turned to dust and fell leaving more room for the bright light to spread. Now I don’t pretend that God gives me visions (though He might) during worship, but I do believe He sees what’s in my mind.

In reference to the post with a life of it’s own (actually the comments that veered from the real post point), do you believe that God is disappointed in the scenes filling my head as I worship Him? Are those visions representative of heresy?

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

Tonight you would have found me at our local movie theater with our younger 3 children and two of their friends (one friend along gets me nominated, but TWO friends should make me a shoo in for ‘Parent of the Year’) to see “Horton Hears A Who”, which is a post all in itself. I can’t even tell you all the political metaphors experienced, but it’s Suess. That’s what he did, besides entertain gazillbatillions of Whoville kids, including me.

ANYWAY . . . as I was saying . . . we got there 40 minutes early and decided to walk around the local shops. One of our favorite places to go is always the pet store. As we stepped in, there was a giant elevated open ‘pen’ that by the signs we could tell once held 2 baby pot-bellied pigs for sale. It was empty except for the shavings, water & food bowls. Directly next to the ‘pen’, stood a  stacked high shelf looming over. It held wire baskets full of pig ears and snouts for dogs to chew.

You know, I’ve always heard those things were smart. You think they figured it out & hit the road?

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

Yesterday, unbeknown to you I’m certain, a spring shower started over in  my direction. Rather than bore you to tears, let’s just say that the old adage ‘When it rains, it pours’ is true. . . . no, I’ve changed my mind. I am going to go ahead and bore you into that miracle cure for insomnia you’ve been searching for . . . I shall proceed with my esoteric diatribe. . .

Here’s a page out of my day, yesterday:

At 2:30 after I finished washing and refilling the 100 gallon water tank that the cows had decided was really a giant bovine potty (that didn’t flush), I looked at my watch and realized that it was time for my sons mid-day medicine which I had failed to put in my pocket that morning. I quickly cleaned up, got together with him in the truck & told him we’d run by the house, grab his meds, and swing into carpool line. Being the ever flexible fellow that he is, this was great news to him. Everything is great news to him, he’s just a happy camper no matter what, unlike me.

So it’s 2:35, we’re strapped in the truck, turned the key . . . click, click, click. No one ever wants to hear that sound when they are in a time crunch. I looked over at my son & his Jimmy Stewart response was “Oh well, can’t go”  which is fine in his view, but not mine. My first idea was, check the battery cable connections, etc then try again, to no avail. Fortunately, my mother is still able to come running when I call, so I called her house to ask her to run carpool while I figure out the truck & medicine dilemma. No answer. Dialed her cell, no answer. I hate ever calling my husband during his work day, but next on my list was getting that mid-day dose for my son. Being the Eagle Scout (my husband) that he is, might have an emergency dose hidden in his desk somewhere. Called his cell. No answer. . . but before I can leave a message, my cell’s other line is ringing, so thinking it’s my Mom, I hang up rather than leave a message. It wasn’t my mother . . . It’s a trailer load of new horses moving from out of state to our farm (on my calendar to arrive April first) for boarding. The driver on the phone, “Hey there! We’re about ten miles out from your place & wanted to give you a heads up that we’re here” . . .

‘Where there’s a will there’s a way’, is also true. It all worked out. (And NOBODY got hurt !) The truck is still dead as a hammer, but my son got his medicine, the school system did not call DHR, and the new horses are happily grazing on the front pasture as we speak. All that, and I didn’t have to disturb my husband’s work day. He would have dropped everything and fixed it all, but he’s got enough on his plate without my stuff too . . .

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

In case you haven’t listened yet, and I highly recommend you do, ‘Crash’ and I have a terrific time using ‘chop logic’ on our “Just Talking It Up” show.  He has a pretty good grip on logic in general and we can ALL learn from him. He’ll probably cringe when he reads that. . . I make him sound like an old professor but, A) He’s far from ‘old’, and B) He has a lot to learn himself, he’s just further along than most people I know. But I digress. . .

I have a favor to ask of you (if you’re reading this, I’m writing to you). I humbly ask, as I have no cause, since you owe me nothing. I will simply be in your debt. We’d like to add a segment to the show that centers around the occasional ‘situation’ presented by a listener or reader. Sort of a short discourse on personal ‘situation ethics’ based on scenarios presented by you, via email.  Hence, you can remain completely anonymous to everyone but JTIU producers. You can even make up a question or situation, it doesn’t have to be from private experience. Just a situation that ‘Crash’ and I can comment on, even help solve or at least advise.

Like this, remember the old ‘lifeboat’ question that went something like: A lifeboat at sea with room & water for only two. The occupants are a child, a woman, and an elderly man. Who should be thrown overboard to insure survival of the other two? 

Come on, let’s see if we can throw him off balance. I’ll bet it can’t be done, but let’s try. You may submit by the comment section here if you’d like, but I’d really prefer you send it privately to feedback@JustTalkingItUp.com That goes directly to the producers & no one else. You can leave it on ‘comments’, but that gives him time to calculate his answers. . . which is OK, too.

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

No matter who you are, if you are an “Idol” watcher, you know that David Cook ruled tonight with an iron fist. That boy has pipes out the wazoo, and guts to match. Nobody takes on Sir Michael (Wacko-Jacko) in front of 30 + million people and does it better, but tonight he did just that. Let’s just pray that he doesn’t turn out to be as weird . . . . he wasn’t the guy early on that saved all his bitten off fingernails in a ziploc bag was he? Oh great. Another fluke of nature who requires a ‘personal umbrella holder’ at social or court appearances. . .

ALMOST equally as shocking was Michael Johns . . . who I think (before tonight) would have made a better model than singer. Again, you don’t face off a legend (Freddy Mercury , preceded in death by his own p.u.h.)  in front of the whole world if you might not pull it off. He did. He was awesome.

Brooke, whose raw talent and ‘aw shucks’ attitude won my support early on. OK, she won my husband’s support first. At first I thought it was those gorgeous blond locks, and that beaming Carley Simon smile that he liked about her. . . . but OK, she is charming and she can sing with heart. I like her.

I actually thought everyone did well tonight. The song young David Archuleta (sp?) did was new to me but I certainly liked it! I think it was a hit in Australia and never really made it here. ANYWAY . . .

If I had to put money on someone going home, it would be the little sushi bar waitress. I can’t even remember her name and I’m too unimpressed to Google her. You know who I’m talking about. She really can sing, but I think maybe the pressure has gotten to her. She’s cute as a button, and I’m sure she’ll get better tips now when she goes home . . .

Well that’s my take on it. I’d love to hear yours!

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

I just heard a VERY short sound bite where John McCain is asked ‘who’ is being considered as a running mate. The only name in this minuscule sound bite was Condi Rice . . . I wonder if he reads this blog . . .

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .

Truth. . . absolute or relative? Listen as Janet gets a lesson from ‘Crash’ and his course on life! As usual, HE learns a thing or two as well!

Always informative . . . always RIGHT . . . always fun!

Tolerance…..It can mean, “allowable difference from a standard”, or “ability to withstand” or “acceptance of another’s right to hold a belief system that differs from your own”. It’s the last definition that has been so significantly maligned, abused and even tortured by our culture’s ever expanding purveyors of political correctness.

Looking back it seems almost instantaneous that the socially accepted meaning of tolerance changed from “the right to hold a different belief system”, to “the responsibility of everyone to accept all belief systems as equally correct”. How totally incongruent with reality this is. Core to rational discourse and a fundamental tenet of logic is the law of non-contradiction which states that…..a statement cannot be both true and false at the same time. It then logically holds that two fundamentally opposite world views defines that one holds the other to be false and vice versa. Therefore, I can and should have tolerance for another’s right to believe or not believe what they choose. I cannot and should not, however, be socially required or forced to accept their beliefs as my own. All beliefs ARE NOT EQUAL! Beliefs that coincide with truth are superior to those that do not. That fact established, the responsibility then becomes to discover and discern truth.

We are engaged, arguably, in a global battle of world views. The battle is primarily between Christianity and Islam. Interestingly and very significant is the fact that, among many others, one difference between the two is that God teaches that man has a free will. Conversely, Islam requires adherence to its beliefs by its citizens. Yes, its citizens, because in most Islamic countries their religion and political systems are one in the same. God draws man to the truth but does not require acceptance or adherence to The Christian Faith.

Now to the tolerance for the tolerance of “tolerance”. Christians have a vast opportunity and responsibility to defend “the Faith” in a marketplace of widely divergent ideas. I have no tolerance for blindly accepting someone’s world view but treasure the opportunity to challenge other’s views in a truly tolerant manner. These encounters provide an opportunity to “share” (there’s that Christian word) the difference between the Godly definition of tolerance and today’s socially acceptable or politically correct definition of “tolerance”. I strongly believe it to be a simple apologetic, not one difficult to communicate. It does, however, require us to apply the Boy Scout motto and be prepared.

This battle is not one over a benign non communicable disease. It concerns a cancerous, highly communicable and lethal disease whose prognosis is eternal death if not arrested. Christians must, through the power of the Holy Spirit, develop the ability and willingness to bring God’s healing message to a dying world. An intolerance of our flock’s malaise and resulting silence over this issue is not, I believe, a sin. Georgia Democratic Senator Zell Miller, in his much heralded speech to the 2004 Republican National Convention, said that “silence is not golden…it is yellow.” I wish I’d said that.

Admittedly the American Idol craze has either passed me by or leaves me cold, I can’t decide which. At any rate I have absolutely nothing to say about it because I know absolutely nothing about it….or them. Before you jump for joy that there is something I chose to not opine on let me quickly disabuse you of that thought. As a substitute for my dirth of knowledge on this subject, I thought I’d like to introduce you to, or in some cases re-introduce you to music that might have been a part of an “idol competition” were it to have been held 45-50 years ago. In an attempt to prevent a dismissive attitude and therefore action on the part of the younger generation, I thought it might be interesting to have a small contest attached to three Youtube clips that I will include in this post. Each musical clip will have a question attached to it. Should you decide to participate, please post your answers as comments attached to this post. Each question will relate in some way to music that young and old alike might find in current musical libraries and played often. Now…no Googleing for answers until you have exhausted your memory skills and no looking at others’ posts. OK, here we go.

1. Play this clip. The group shown came along at the tail end of the folk music craze in the early 1960′s. One of the members of the group went on to form one of the greatest musical groups of the late sixties and arguably ever. Who is the group member? What group did he form? What was the original name of the group? Who were the four members of the group? Which one of the group is still alive today?

2. This musical clip shows a very young member of an early folk group. He went on to write and perform solo many of the most poignant and touching songs of the period from the early 60′s to the modern day. Now here are a couple of easy questions. Who is the artist? With what group did he start his musical career? What is your favorite of his many songs? How did he die?

3. Play this one. The group is obviously Peter, Paul and Mary, arguably the finest musicians of the folk genre period. Later in his career one of the members of this group wrote a song that remains extremely popular today. As a matter of fact it is often sung on an important day in a person’s life. What is the song? Who wrote it? What event in his life was the catalyst to his writing the song? On what specific day is it often sung? If you would like to hear the song play this one.

I hope you have enjoyed this little trip down memory lane….my memory at least. Post your answers. Hopefully there are enough of you interested that a contest will result. If so, I’ll give time for the interest to wane and then post the answers along with the prize winner. The winner will have bragging rights among the visitors to JTIU. Also, if they desire, I will send the winner a CD of one of the group in the first clip. The winner will be the first person to post all correct answers. Absent that, the person with the most correct answers when the contest is called to a halt will be the winner.

I hope you have enjoyed this. If so, I am tremendously pleased. If not…….well I did anyhow!

At least for the time being a major financial catastrophe has been sidestepped with the “bail-out”, aka “purchase by J.P. Morgan” of Bear Stearns. There is tremendous complexity imbedded in the financial roller coaster of the last few years that culminated in the transactions and occurrences of this week. There is, however, a way to simplify the complex that might remove the mystery or at least minimize the haze of the week just past.

A required base for viewing the equity and debt/credit markets is the understanding that confidence is at the core of all financial markets and transactions. Each time you or I exchange a dollar for a product we are putting this confidence to work. The use of a check is even a stronger recognition of this confidence. The opposite of this confidence would be the return to a complete barter system. Readers probably have investments at banks, mutual funds, etc. Your total indication of worth is tied up in some virtual ink on a CRT screen or, if you print your statement, real ink on a page. When this confidence is eroded, our system is in trouble. We were in trouble earlier this week. Truth is….we still are.

The purchase of Bear did not bail them out, it bailed US, you and me, out. If allowed to “fail”, our financial markets could have collapsed. The Fed chose to intervene and JPM stepped up and bought Bear for peanuts…$2 a share. Recognizing that even in its compromised state Bear was worth more than $2 ($236 million total) investors swooped in and purchased shares causing the market value to increase fourfold. The Fed also opened its window in the future to brokerages, not just banks as in the past, in an attempt to under-gird the stability of the financial markets. This could serve to cause severe inflation in the near future.

Bear Stearns, as well as most financial firms serving both institutions and individuals, have in recent years created convoluted and esoteric products in an attempt to get an edge on traditional markets and thereby generate additional sales revenue. When combined with the high risk real estate loans of recent years, a significant level of credit risk was injected into the markets. Additionally, Bear Stearns was prime broker for numerous hedge funds who had purchased many of these investments.  As credit markets came under pressure, firms began to pull their money from Bear because of a lack of confidence.  This began the snowball effect which resulted in the capital (amount of value that backed up their investment positions) crunch at Bear.  Being unable to get further credit and being for all intents and purposes out of capital, they had no choice but to sell to the only bidder around at the time.  Something basically had to be done by early in the week to restore order and some confidence to the markets.

Now to the simplicity. In Frank Capra’s 1946 movie classic, “It’s A Wonderful Life”, an investor in the “Building and Loan” Company became fearful his investment was becoming worthless. He went to George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) the president of the company, and asked for his money back (demanded full liquidity).  He was told he couldn’t get his cash right then because “it had been loaned to other city residents to build their houses.” In more stable times this investor’s confidence in the B & L would have been high. When his confidence was in question it caused others to likewise question the safety of their money and, therefore, want it back immediately.  The result of this illiquidity was a ” run on the bank”.

Today’s markets are in ways much more complex. At their core, however, both today’s global markets and our system of value exchange operate on the same principal as Bedford Falls’ Building and Loan….CONFIDENCE of investors, lenders and borrowers. Simple ain’t it.