Sunday, November 28, 2010

Thanksgiving Thoughts

One of the things that continues to amaze me about my Uncle Mel is his ability to enjoy the simple things in life. I took him to the dock at the beach house where we were staying during the Thanksgiving holiday and he was on cloud nine. He enjoyed sitting on the dock's bench just taking in the breeze and the view. While I enjoyed both of those, I was thinking about how to buy the property! How can I make this mine forever! I think that cheapened the experience for me. I should have been living in that moment like Uncle Mel was, instead of trying to find ways to have more of those moments.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Emails from Jericho


Dear Winston,

I am sending this email to update you about the first night of the "Lord, Make it Rain" conference. Let me just tell you! I am so deeply sorry that you are not here because tonight was off the chain! Tonight we had Bishop Jenkins from Arizona and he was on fire! The sanctuary was teeming with people waiting to hear what the man of God had to say to us. I was nervous because we've never hosted a conference this big and there is a huge risk that we would not meet our financial responsibilities. But we collected enough money tonight to settle all our accounts for the next four nights! You can't tell me this isn't a God thang!

Anyway, Bishop's message was about our place in the kingdom as heirs to the throne. Since we are sons and daughters of the King, we have access to all the King's resources. To get these riches, we just have to ask for them. You just have to speak into the natural what is already yours in the spiritual. Man, people were running around claiming all kind of stuff. It was something to see. You know I have been sensing in my spirit that God was calling me to start my own school so I went forward and just claimed that thang!

Anyway, the only bad part about the night was that my car stalled out two blocks from the Dome. You know that's not a good area. The wrath of God was unleashed over there years ago and the people who live there might as well have 'Ichabod' written over their doorposts. As a matter of fact, they should have that tattooed on their foreheads! I was about half a block from where we used to have our evangelistic rallies. I remember the time you were preaching on the corner near the barbershop. You laid into them something serious! But let's be real. That's what those people need. The need to be told that they are sinners and they need to get it together! God is not putting up with their foolishness any longer. You cannot make a mockery of God and not expect Him to blast you. Let me quit. You got me preachin' that thang!

So, I was trying to get my car started when this nasty, bum-looking dude stumbled past me. He actually fell onto the hood of my car. I looked down, saw some blood and tried my hardiest to get the heck out of there! Praise God that as soon as I got back in the car, it started up immediately. It was obvious that God was trying to get me outta there! Somebody from the conference might have driven by, saw me talking to that bum and thought I was buying crack or something! Remember, you gotta abstain from the appearance of evil. I wasn't trying to let my testimony get soiled over some drunk, crackhead. I should have told him to walk away from that thang!

Anyway, it's almost midnight and I have to be up in the morning at six because I'm an armor-bearer for Bishop Popoff tomorrow. I'll talk to you later.

In Him,
Levi

Monday, November 15, 2010

On Me

In reading my RightPath Profile, I learned that I have a tendency to start things and not finish them. So, I'm going to try to

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Does 'Jihad' Have to Several Meanings?

While in India, President Obama was asked his thoughts on jihad. According to one source, the President said:

“Well, the phrase jihad has a lot of meanings within Islam and is subject to a lot of different interpretations,” the president responded. “I think all of us recognize that this great religion in the hands of a few extremists has been distorted to justify violence towards innocent people that is never justified. And so, I think, one of the challenges that we face is, how do we isolate those who have these distorted notions of religious war.”
Is this true? Does the term 'jihad' have many different meanings within Islam? The short answer is sorta. The President is kinda correct. He's just not as precise with his terms (and for that I won't fault him.) The term 'jihad' has one basic meaning in Islam. Jihad means to strive or to struggle. The question Muslims ask themselves is, "With what or whom are we striving or struggling?" One possibly is that we are to strive and to struggle against sin. This is how is it understood, we are told, by the majority Muslims. Allah calls all devout Muslims to eradicate evil from their lives and to live in pure, holy devotion to him. Another option is that Muslims are to strive and to struggle against those who are opposed to Allah. This is holy war and is, according to the President, how the term is used by "a few extremists."

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Why I Am a Conservative (Part 1)

Here is a link to a piece Edward Feser wrote titled, "The Metaphysics of Conservatism." It examples the ontology of my conservatism. Read it slowly.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Should Everyone Vote Simply Because They Can?

Before I get blasted for what I'm about to say, just remember, this blog is a place for me to work out my thoughts.

Last week I had a very brief conversation on Twitter on why black people are not excited to vote in the upcoming elections. The person with whom I was tweeting said that many blacks feel as though they have not been heard or that their situation has not improved over the past two years. This answer baffles me because most black people voted for President Obama (and the House and Senate Democrats) and he has done many of the things that he promised to do. According to the President, these policies are having the effects he thought they would have, it's just moving a little slow. Like he told John Stewart, these things take time. (I personally disagree with the President's chosen path and I believe the effects of his policies merely reenforce my belief that these policies were bad ones.) When I tweeted similar remarks to my online interlocutor, he somewhat agreed, but commented that many people are ignorant of politics and economics and therefore they do not know where to properly place the blame for their current misfortunes.

It was this last statement that I found intriguing. If people are ignorant about the basics of politics and economics, is it really a good idea for them to be voting on economic and political matters? It would be like the time Balki (from Perfect Strangers) placed bets on football games by judging the strength of each team's mascots. He didn't know anything about the game of football. All he knew was that a dolphin was no match for a bear. This is clearly no way to determine who is most likely to win a football game. One must know the rules and objects of the game and then see which team has the components necessary to beat the other team.

Something similar seems to be needed in voting as well. I should know something of how economies are run in order to know whether the House and Senate candidates are offering good economic policies. I should know something about the mindsets and belief systems of our enemies in order to accurately assess a candidate's position on the current war in Afghanistan. In other words, it seems to me that we should be encouraging people to get educated in the areas necessary to make good voting decisions before we encourage them to get out and vote. This proposal might sound elitist, but doesn't it make sense?