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Some Thoughts on State of the Union Address

I don't often dwell into the realm of political discussion; I leave that to my brother Ron at Chatter who is much more learned and verbose on such matters. However, I'll take a moment to give you my take on the SOTU addy that President Bush gave last night: Interesting, in one word. Some good ideas on weaning the U.S. off Mideast oil dependency and using alternative energy resources (Advanced Energy Initiative); optimistic views on the War in Iraq and the escalating crisis over Iran's nuclear program; brief defensive positioning over Social Security; a nice opening paragraph about the passing of Coretta Scott King; and a touching moment in introducing Marine Sergeant Dan Clay's family to the assembled guests and legislators. Are there problems? Sure. Was the speech sort of vague in solutions? Yes, but there were the beginnings of hope. Were the Democrats whining and posturing themselves like spoiled kids? Most definitely, and this does not bode well for them in this off-year election campaign. Folks, we need answers to problems, and that means BOTH parties working together for change. Not just one or the other. There are answers to everything, as long as we put God at the forefront and ourselves behind the lines. After all, we were founded under biblical principles as "One nation under God." It's high time we took a step back and realized this, and get back to the basics of life: hearts that are pure, and love that is blind. A faith that is fervently grounded in Christ, and a Hope that endures for ALL time.

Two for Tuesday

We used to have a saying at one fo the radio stations that I was an announcer at; and that was "It's Two for Tuesday...we're playing TWO songs from your favorite artists ALL day long!" Whatever happened to that concept? What's happened to the days when live "disc jockeys" ruled the airwaves every single day, and radio had a personality? Sad to say, satellite-fed stations are now the norm in smaller towns, and those glory-seeking local voices have become just distant memories. Been thinking about that subject and I think I'll touch on that in this month's column for the Linn County Leader.

A Rainy Saturday...

in northern Missouri; one that makes you just want to crawl up underneath the covers and go to sleep. Yeah, one of those days. Not much happening around these parts for the weekend. Just relaxing, chilling, and doing some paperwork for the bakery plans. Have to work on my column for the paper this week, and redesign the SOD Ministry website. Been putting that off for too long and with Jeannie and I having several places set to sing at, it's high time I got things done. Things to ponder: the distant thumping of war drums from the Palestinians and the Chinese government; the callousness of people in today's world who just seem to be looking out for themselves and not for the Kingdom of God and the salvation of souls; and the general downtrodden condition of society. Why is it like this? Basically because we've allowed it to become so sad; there is no one to blame but ourselves. I can remember back in the 60's and 70's, when things were much simpler and the world didn't seem to be so foreboding and, in a word, "scary." Small towns were just that--small and friendly and welcoming. We still have that in Marceline, but I can see parts of the big city life creeping in to the rural Midwest. I thank God that I live here, though, because this is part of the Bible Belt; where going to church feels like meeting with family and friends; where your pastor knows everyone by name and the sermons are Spirit-filled and one can actually glean the message that God is telling us in "nuggets of Truth." Even though we may lag behind the rest of the country in technologies and in "worldly" things, we feel that we are blessed by having a special closeness to friends, family, and the Lord. Now don't get me wrong; I am not saying that there aren't people in the metro areas who aren't this way also; but it just seems that life there is too rushed and too self-consuming. It's always about how far we can advance our lives to be at the top of the food chain instead of letting God come first.