The F-22

         Lockheed Martin's F-22 stealth fighter jet is the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world, even on anyone's drawing board. The United States originally intended on buying over 700 of these jets but the number consistently was lowered. Congressman Barney Frank considers it wasteful spending. On order are 183 jets and Lockheed Martin is scheduled to shut down production unless more are officially ordered. Debate continues on whether we need "major war" fighter jets or "guerrilla war" fighter jets. Ultimately, money is the issue.
         When the Soviet Union collapsed, most commentators spent too much time arguing over who gets the credit and far too little time considering the Dialectic of Communist theorists where one defeat only leads to metamorphosis. In other words, there was no guarantee that Russia would remain dormant or not rise in another form. Time has proven that we rejoiced too early. My comments at the time were "Russia is about to be invaded by American culture and there is no stability there." As for the budget, social programs that help our elderly and our disabled are not to be touched, nor is our military defense in a world steadily spiraling out of control.
         Currently, sale of the F-22 to a foreign country is banned by federal law. There is a proposal to build a different aircraft in place of the F-22, the F-35 that would be more suitable for ground war. Eight nations are in the process of designing this jet so everyone will have it! President Obama's decision on the F-22 will be forthcoming. Stay tuned.

My Profile

         I went to the "My Profile" section again tonight with the intention of "considering" writing something in it. It's an anonymous blog and I'm not really sure why. It's not the only peculiarity that I have, or have you noticed? I spent the first eight years as a professing Christian involved in "cult research and apologetics." My theology changed dramatically in the 80's and I didn't like the fact that I accepted some erroneous doctrines so easily in my early Christian life. The emphasis of my reading changed to heterodoxy within the Christian church. Combine this with various secular reading interests and a tendency to analyze everything, and, well, putting my name to something seems to be going against my instinct that "personalities" too often get in the way of truth.
          I have never seen Facebook or MySpace, or is it MyFace and SpaceBook? Whatever. I'm into anonymity. My wife doesn't even know my first name and the only reason she knows my last name is that it's hers also. And I definitely would not put a picture here. She always tells me to smile and I have to remind her that this is my smile :( On the other hand, I probably should give some information, so here it is. Favorite color? Brown, its hard to see me in the pew. Favorite movie? The Invisible Man. Age? I'll give you a hint. My mother always blamed me for the Korean War. Where do I live? Latitude 40.44 N Longitude -79.996 W. Well, that's about all that there is to know of me.
          Oh, a little more, I met my lovely wife while at the University of Pittsburgh after getting out of the army. We were married at Heinz Chapel and ten years later, along came our son. I work in the Electric Power Generation Industry and have almost completed a masters in Higher Education. I don't want to rush it because the job market is bad right now. I'll finish with a quote, " A book is like a note from my wife. The more times I read it, the more chance that I'll understand it."

Japan

         Japan had its own banking problem of enormous proportions in the 1980s. Low interest rates and high real estate prices caused a bubble that burst and a stock market that collapsed, Japan tried similar measures that we are now trying. They did not work and were followed by what became known as Japan's "Lost Decade."
         For our economy to recover, people need to buy things. Other people need to produce things and put the people that are buying things to work to have money for their purchases. Complicating things immensely is globalization. We have to coordinate our plans. If a recovery starts here and China collapses, we slide right back down with them. A bigger problem is, what we need, we need to get rid of. We need to "consume" but we have been awash in consumerism.
         The Japanese are a frugal people, to their credit, as Americans used to be. If we do learn something from this crisis, and become more frugal, the crisis lasts longer, but the potential of another "boom and bust" lessens. Its a moot point because the "stimulus" will probably cause a burst of consumerism followed by, just a burst. If I had my druthers, we would say good-bye to globalization. We could then produce many of the basic goods that are produced elsewhere and put our people to work. That might put us back to where we once were, prosperous, somewhat frugal, able and desirous of "helping" the rest of the world, for they are going to need it unless they adopt similar methods.

Finish Line

         Dan Gable was a collegiate wrestler in the 70s who, I believe, lost only one match in his career and defeated that opponent when he wrestled him a second time. Gable beat a Russian for the Olympic gold medal when Russian/American competition was a very big thing. One of the networks did a special on Dan back then, emphasizing the extreme dedication that drove him. If I remember correctly, he had a large banner that proclaimed Beat The Russians in his basement where he trained.
         How many other stories of dedication have we heard? Bobby Fischer's chess ruled his life. Rocky Bleir came back from wounds from the Vietnam War that should have kept him out of football. Gary Player made the statement that he was certain that there was not another human being that hit more golf balls than he had. Pete Maravitch is another story of dedication. He may have been the most talented man, with a basketball in his hands, that ever lived. Near the end of his life he became a Christian. He made a statement that he wished that every hour of practice that he put in on basketball had been spent on learning the Bible (or words very similar.) Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great English preacher read a book called The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, over 100 times during his lifetime! That book is about the only dedication that counts for eternity.
          I cannot possibly list all the difficulties that a Christian encounters in life and most of them comes from himself. The discouragement from sin, from failure, from lost opportunities of starting late in life, from making wrong choices and from believing doctrines that ultimately prove untrue, are often enough to make us want to quit. I know that there are ladies out there who may earn their living washing cafeteria floors, who are not well versed in biblical doctrine, who are also far more faithful Christians than I am. There are men who work hard to feed their families and do not have the time that I have to read and attempt to defend biblical doctrine, and are stronger Christians than I. I have more than ample evidence to persuade me to quit and failures to discourage me.
         There is another athletic event of extreme dedication that I remember. It was a few decades ago. A women was running a distance race and her body had given up near the end. She was not "running", not even stumbling. Her movements were contorted. The crowd was in shock as she appeared as one having a seizure as she crossed the finish, but she crossed the finish line. I don't know if I'll run or walk, stumble or crawl, but God has promised and I cling to that.

Chess Game

         Currently, I am an observer of a labor contract dispute. I keep a journal and the January 17th, 2008 entry was "contract...six meetings so far." Thirteen months later, they are still negotiating, nothing has been accomplished and it is a complete disaster. Woody Allen once wrote a humor piece about a chess game by mail. It was called The Gossage-Vardebedian Papers and can be easily accessed through Google. Here is a sample of in the ongoing dialogue of Allen's piece... Vardebedian: I have just finished perusing your latest note, the one containing a bizarre forty-sixth move dealing with the removal of my queen from a square from which it has not rested for eleven days. Through patient calculation, I think I have hit upon the cause of your confusion and misunderstanding of the existing facts. That your rook rests on the king's fourth square is an impossibility commensurate with two like snowflakes; if you will refer back to the ninth move of the game, you will see clearly that your rook has long been captured. Indeed, it was that same daring sacrificial combination that ripped your center and costs you both your rooks."
          What are they doing on the board now?" President Obama mentioned, and was given a favorable reply by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about "talks" between the two nations. Here is a sample of what we might see in the future: "Dear President Obama. Your request that we stop supplying insurgents in Iraq with arms is confusing since you, "The Great Satan" have propped up the real "insurgents" for many years now. We have indeed sent much supplies to the great patriots of Iraq, but it has all been baby bottles, diapers, candy for the children and medicine for the wounds you have inflicted upon them. As for our "supposed" nuclear arms program, we desire nuclear energy solely to be able to provide light and heat for the poor criminals in our prisons! My apologies that it took a month to get back to you on your last request, I was busy volunteering for al Qaeda's "Toys for Tots" program. I do have good news for you, since it is now 2010, we have all the "electrictiy" that we need, and will gladly shut down our nuclear reactor, that is until more "electricity" may be needed. This dialogue has been very good! Sincerely....." There is no chance that Ahmadinejad would enter into serious talks. Any talks would be a "delay tactic" and if they did agree to "help" us in either Afghanistan or Iraq, we should look intently at what we give up in the deal, and it would probably effect Israel's defense.

American Malaise

         I have to wonder what it felt like in February of 1942? The Imperial Japanese Navy was moving fast and on into the Solomons. It had captured Manila and it did not look good for thousands of United States troops on Bataan. U. S. troops were just arriving in Britain and war was raging in North Africa. Most American men were signing up for the military and women were moving into the factories to keep production going. They worried about civilian infiltrators from the countries we were at war with. Generals were fired, men were lost through mistakes.
         I have heard numerous stories from my mother about the rationing to keep the family going. I did not read Tom Brokaw's book The Greatest Generation for I knew what they did. My father was burned badly on the deck of a troop carrier after a Kamikaze attack, coming home from New Guinea. There were controversies over the war but Pearl Harbor had made it very clear that a "war" had begun and needed to be finished. Many commentators wrote about 9/11, that America would never be the same. I had my doubts then and they proved true. The unity lasted a few months and then it was back to business as usual in the political arena.
         As a people, we do not 'know' that we are in a war. We may be in a 'mess' but not really a 'war.' This past week we were told that the financial crisis had supplanted terrorism as our main concern. I don't believe that "terrorism" is our main problem. The "American Malaise" is ahead of it. Beyond our 401's for the upper classes, and that "idyllic image" that our ever-present advertising has given the rest, we are a people adrift.
          Is there an area of American culture that has not been affected? We are like a large piece of glacier that breaks off and drifts towards warmer waters. The temperature affects the entire mass, just as the culture, through television and the various entertainment industries settles over and molds us. I have mentioned on previous blogs, one area where we can fight back. One post is titled "Pet Project," and describes my hope that some day we can bring only the television stations that we want into our homes. As it is now, we are at their mercy. If we want "Discovery," we get "MTV" with it. I hope to bring this topic of "a la carte cable" up occasionally. Please consider this. They (the television industry) are feeding us as if in a high chair, "open up...aah...now didn't that taste good!". We need to demand that we will order what we want. I'm convinced that given a few short years of choosing from our own menu, that this "malaise" will weaken.

What About The Children?

         The "experts" tell us that television does not influence children and young people. To those old enough to remember, Marshall Dillon was shown drawing his gun and firing at the beginning of Gunsmoke. We are not shown it but we know that the other man fell. Some people say that a gunfight without blood could desensitize young people to the reality of the harm of what guns can do. These same people, or at least people who travel in the same circles, have no problem with today's television where you can hardly run through the channels without seeing an autopsy of a mutilated body with the forensic specialist describing the murder, or view every possible scenario of physical violence.
         There has been a lot written over the decades on the influence of television. I fall on the side that it does influence and we see the results in the newspaper every day. That is not the topic here though. Ingrained in the psyche of America is the demand of "personal rights;" not "civil rights" or "constitutional rights," but "personal rights, The right to do what we want as long as it does not hurt anyone else. The big problem with this is that it does not take the children into account. In order to have the television and the movies that we want, we have to ignore, or explain away, the fact that the children will partake as well. We say that we love them and want to protect them but, ultimately, we fail to consider the enormity of the weakness of human nature and the extent that we can be blinded by seeking our own desires.

Introspection and Prayer

         Just firing off some quick opinions here, we had a "bailout" that was too big and hastily designed, a "stimulus" that is a hole big enough to dump any benefits the "bailout" might have accomplished. We have two or more major financial "hurdles" ahead, to put it mildly. That is if it gets that far without another front in this war on terror. If we get over the hurdles and are free of further wars, we get to start another wild ride on Wall Street where the rich get greedier, the poor get even more taken advantage of and the middle class muddles on. I believe that we need our desires to lessen. We need to know what is fleeting and what isn't. How do you legislate that? Introspection and prayer are two words that come to mind.

'Accepting' Christ?

         There was never a time when someone said to me "Do you want to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?", and I am thankful for that. I was a church goer when I was young. In the army and college, I tried to find a church to go to. In 1981 I had read two powerful apologetics against the reason and soundness of what I know now as the gospel. The books were The Denial of Death, a Pulitzer Prize winner by Ernst Becker and The True Believer by Eric Hoffer. God seemed to place these books before me before he regenerated me and then called me to believe through His Spirit.
        I did not know how it worked at the time. I thought that I had chosen Christ. My first few years as a Christian were typically passionate proselytizing. I believed that faith preceded regeneration. I used anything that I could to encourage people to be a Christian, prophesy, Biblical archeology etc.. At work, I led eight men in the Sinner's Prayer. Today, seven of those men have the same beliefs they had at first, one is a Christian and he had come to me after returning from drug rehabilitation treatment. There are certainly many who were saved the night of a crusade, or the morning of an altar call.
          My point is that they are merely methods that may or may not coincide with God's timing. Problems can and do arise. Personality comes into the equation. A person may respond to the emotion of a crusade, enter a church and then go on to be a deacon or an elder or even a minister. This and other influences have given us a church today that has paganism, gnosticism, liberal theology and other "man made" religious doctrines. A second person may be at that crusade, and hear for instance, a strong gospel message by Billy Graham, but he does not go forward even though God has regenerated him. My proselytizing did not dampen after my theology changed. In fact, it increased, only now I want to proclaim Christ. I'll talk about anything but I want to lay before a listener, sinners forgiven and redemption accomplished. I want to explain a doctrine to the best that I know it, and I don't ever really desire to have someone say that I led them to Christ. I just want them there, with the rest of us undeserving sinners.

.A Day In The Life Of Congressman.....

       I'm sure that there are some Representatives of Congress out there may keep an online journal, but I'd like to see someone take the issue a few steps further. The rooms may not be "smoked filled" anymore but the "behind closed doors" mentality still exists. Too many politicians, in too many different parts of the country, say the same thing and use the same words, the day after a high profile issue brings controversy.
         I would like to see this "someone" announce their candidacy something like this; "If elected, I intend to publish a daily online journal of my time in Congress. I'm sure that the first days after the votes are counted will be filled with phone calls of instruction on moving into an office, protocols, privileges, duties and so forth. All conversations will be summarized in the journal.
         After taking my seat, I will have to learn my craft. Certainly, I will be instructed as to the responsibilities of a new member of Congress, to my constituents, to the country and to our party. I want to be up front from the beginning to all of my future peers. Everything that I learn on the workings of Congress will be published. Issues will be summarized for the readers perusal. All perks that come with the position will be displayed for public scrutiny.
         If I am offered a "political junket," I will turn it down and announce it. Information on the "politics" of life in the house will be shared. If I should see unethical practices, others will see them also. If I make a mistake, it will be highlighted. I will go out of my way to be fair. This journal will take no part in gossip, and any difficult conversations that I may have with my elders will be run by my staff first, to insure that I am not seeking personal benefit.
         I will not relay discussions that might be considered "side bar," unless they sidestep ethics or blatantly condescend to the public. The purpose of this online journal is threefold. First, I have cast my moorings around honesty and the desire to serve, and I will face this journal, or the failure to keep my word, every day. Second, the public has a right to know our daily workload and the practices of governing that we employ, especially in this age of distrust. Third, hopefully it will be instruction to students and may be encouragement to those of any age that may want to seek public office. This task that I have taken upon myself may indeed ensure a "one-term" period of service. So be it. It may keep me from committee appointments, appointments that may even have helped my constituents. This is regrettable but hopefully what they and others read here, and a Congress that deals with it, may prove beneficial, in the long run, to political life in America."

"Iron Sharpens Iron"

         Fifty years ago yesterday, Buddy Holly died in a plane crash along with the Big Bopper and Richie Valens. It's near unanimous that the form of Holly's band, his methods and beat were the real beginning of Rock'n Roll even though Elvis preceded him. I wasted far too much time on music in my youth. It's a hard habit to break, in fact XM 6 is playing softly as I write this.
          A study recently released and reported in today's Wall Street Journal determined that television watching by young people leads to depression when they are adults. An estimated crowd of 350.000 (that's right, 350 thousand) people lined the streets of Pittsburgh today to celebrate their football team's victory. In the 70s, I was one of those celebrating Steeler Super Bowl wins. So there's music, television and sports, where we as a culture have exceeded moderation and there is a whole lot more.
          As a people, we lack discernment, we have trouble electing good leaders, we fall for the allure of Madison Avenue and Wall Street and we have changed the meaning and expanded Harry Truman's phrase to "The buck stops here, and I'm keeping it, I deserve it, in fact, I want one of yours." Not only am I, not blameless in the collapse of our culture, I swung my own axe on it. We are where we are at and there is plenty of blame to go around.
          In corporate America, there is a "problem solving" method where everyone involved starts shouting out, around the table, ideas to resolve the problem while one party writes them down. The thinking here is to encourage spontaneous ideas and the more timid individuals to share what might be good ideas. So here goes, I'll shout out just one thought. We need to set apart some time every week to meet with friends and just discuss the cultural situation we are in, how we got here and what we might be able to do to make a difference in at least our own lives. "As iron sharpeneth iron, so one man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." (Proverbs 27:17)

Metropolitan Tabernacle

         Germany fueled the Reformation that returned "Justification by faith...alone" back to the people. America is the primary reason that 20th century Fascism and Communism were halted enabling the gospel to be spread throughout much of the world, but it was England that took the baton from Germany and eventually gave birth to America. My book collection has as many British authors as American.
          I have visited England a couple of times and walked the halls of Cambridge and Westminster. What I remember and value most was Easter Sunday 2001 and the Lord's Day service at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in Elephant and Castle in South London. Charles Haddon Spurgeon was the most well known and influential pastor in the world in the 19th century. I mentioned his conversion story in a previous blog (Friday.....America.....1st Day Of The Week Dec. 26, 08) Spurgeon's sermons were wired to America and read throughout the United States. Even today, you often hear a pastor reference the London Baptist preacher. He preached to throngs in London at Exeter Hall and Surrey Gardens Music Hall. He preached to Prime Ministers and the poor, the influential and the curious. He was not seminary trained but his pastor's college sent many ministers to congregations throughout England and beyond.
          Today's Christian bookstores are filled with collectibles. jewelry, window ornaments, music and an assortment of books that are written for the modern evangelical tastes, but of the strong literature that might be there, there will be Spurgeon. In 1861 Spurgeon's congregation built the Metropolitan Tabernacle that I visited. Much of it had been destroyed by fire and war but the portico remains and the sanctuary was rebuilt. Spurgeon was embroiled in what became known as the "Downgrade Controversy" in his later years. Liberalism was creeping into English Christianity and Spurgeon fought this right up to his death in 1892. The Baptist Union, of which was filled with ministers that were trained in Spurgeon's school voted to censor his efforts. This is not unusual in Christian history as Jonathon Edwards was dismissed by his own congregation and J. Gresham Machen was defrocked by his denomination for defending scriptural truths.
          A small but good read on Spurgeon would be Spurgeon, A New Biography by Arnold Dallimore (isbn 0 85151 451 0.) A very good book, more on the "Downgrade" would be Ashamed Of The Gospel by John MacArthur. (isbn 1583242888.) A verse in the book of Jeremiah leads us to look to the old paths in times of confusion and error (Jer. 6:16) "Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it. Then you will find rest for your souls." Spurgeon, Luther, Edwards, Machen and the Puritans are all part of the "old paths" for us today, and maybe John MacArthur, Michael Horton, R. C. Sproul and others will be the "old paths", should the Lord tarry, for many tomorrow.

'The Letters Of...'

           I have maybe a dozen books on my shelves that are The Letters of...." various people from history. I would imagine that biographers value the "letters" of their subjects. I was never a great fan of Joseph P. Kennedy, but when I read his letters to a young JFK, I saw someone that the history books did not adequately describe. I needed to see Joe Kennedy the "father" and JFK the "son" to get a better picture of who our 35th president was. Probably my favorite book of this type is The life And Letters of Stonewall Jackson By His Wife. The film GODS AND GENERALS had a few chronological flaws as to Civil War battles but its depiction of Thomas Jonathon "Stonewall" Jackson was flawless and I highly recommend it. Stephen Lang's portrayal of Jackson would have been "Oscar" material were this not the politically correct culture that it is.
         Here is a sample of one of Jackson's letters. It arrived in Lexington, Virginia about two days after the first battle of Manassas. A crowd had gathered to hear news of the battle from the mail. Jackson's pastor had received a letter from him and the pastor exclaimed to the people "Now we shall know all the facts." He read the letter, "My dear pastor, in my tent last night, after a fatiguing day's service. I remembered that I had failed to send you my contribution for our colored Sunday school. Enclosed you will find my check for that object, which please acknowledge at your earliest convenience, and oblige yours faithfully. T. J. Jackson."
          From a historical and literary perspective, where will we be in the future without such correspondence to help us understand the leaders of today. We have become a society of email correspondence. President Obama made news last week when he was allowed to keep some of his text messaging ability. Unfortunately, the emails of well known people today that make it to books are of a nefarious nature. I never kept any letters I received while in the army. Sometime in the 80s I started to store all my correspondence. I have to wince when I read some of it today, but it is time well spent and hopefully lessons well learned.

"Born Again"

         There are numerous Christian forums, websites and blogs, not to mention books and commentaries that give "chapter and verse" for their definition of the term "born again." My purpose here has been more of a conversation that I might have with a fellow worker or someone that I might meet in everyday life. As I have mentioned before, the media's knowledge of the Christian faith is limited. Consequently, it first went to Billy Graham for interviews, in the 80s it turned to Pat Roberston and Jerry Fallwell, in the 90s it included liberal (sometimes feminist) theologians from Ivy League schools and in this decade is relying on the popular author Rick Warren.
         Charles Colsen's 1975 book Born Again and Jimmy Carter's candidacy for President brought the term to the forefront. Certainly, many professing Christians claim to be "born again" and they are not; others have been "born again" and have not, as of yet, considered the terminology although they have felt the impact. I was a "liberal" (old school) and became a conservative Republican in 1982. Correctly or not, I saw things differently. My name is written on a Republican roll somewhere, but not a thing happened to my person. There was just a change in my thinking. Bolsheviks were shot in the streets in their revolution, John Brown was hung for his acting upon his beliefs, Buddhists in Vietnam dowsed themselves with gasoline and set themselves on fire. Neither Communism, Abolitionism or Buddhism altered anything in these people but their thinking and their actions. Now when they died, they indeed were changed. The fundamental status of their being changed. To the Christian, their soul departed from their body. To the atheist, their existence ended, a change either way. So where does "born again" fit into this? Is it a change like my becoming a Republican, or another becoming a Communist and dying in a guerrilla war somewhere? Or is it altogether different?
        I came into the Christian faith from outside evangelicalism. The term "born again" was easy to ascribe to. In my new and immature faith, I grabbed the baton of salvation from a deserved punishment and ran as fast as I could. I immediately saw concepts that I was previously oblivious to. Still, there is a resemblance here to merely changing political persuasions, to thinking differently. The question is, is my name "really" written in a book that is kept by Almighty God? Was I "really" at one moment condemned and at the next, forgiven? Did I, at one moment, have no brothers and sisters and in the next moment have many? Had I "really" been "ripped" out of something and "grafted" into another? Compared to these concepts, my turning from liberal to conservative is no greater than taking one hat off and putting another one on. It is only logic that I am addressing here.
        If you are a Christian, do you easily and gladly acknowledge that there is nothing, not even death, as great a concept as having been "born again?" My doctrinal belief leads me to return every day to "make sure" of my salvation, to see it again in its greatness, to acknowledge my trust and thankfulness again, and to draw upon the strength of its promise again. The non-believing world sees "born again" as a religious commitment, a new way of thinking (which it is!), a different hat. We know it as living death, to being "born again" to life. If a professing Christian cannot see the immensity in the concept of salvation then it should be investigated right away for a determination.