SUNDAY MORNING PRAYER

A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked

1 Why do You stand afar off, O LORD ? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble ? 2 In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted ; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. 3 For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD. 4 The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, "There is no God." 5 His ways prosper at all times ; Your judgments are on high, out of his sight ; As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them. 6 He says to himself, "I will not be moved ; Throughout all generations I will not be in adversity." 7 His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression ; Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness. 8 He sits in the lurking places of the villages ; In the hiding places he kills the innocent ; His eyes stealthily watch for the unfortunate. 9 He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair ; He lurks to catch the afflicted ; He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net. 10 He crouches, he bows down, And the unfortunate fall by his mighty ones. 11 He says to himself, "God has forgotten ; He has hidden His face ; He will never see it." 12 Arise, O LORD ; O God, lift up Your hand. Do not forget the afflicted. 13 Why has the wicked spurned God ? He has said to himself, "You will not require it." 14 You have seen it, for You have beheld mischief and vexation to take it into Your hand. The unfortunate commits himself to You; You have been the helper of the orphan. 15 Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer, Seek out his wickedness until You find none. 16 The LORD is King forever and ever ; Nations have perished from His land. 17 O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble ; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear 18 To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed, So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.
New American Standard Bible

SUNDAY MORNING

Back after a quick trip to Illinois for my sons 34th birthday. Hard to believe my daughter is 38 and my son 34. Where does the time go? The older I get, the faster it goes, which is probably something you don't want to happen. Anyway, we had a good time. Ate at his restaurant, had the best filet I've ever had. My wife had salmon done on a cedar plank. He's a great chef. Wish I could say I taught him everything he knows. He grew up to be a good man. This Sunday morning, I'm proud to have had a little to do with that.

SUNDAY MORNING SERMON

Most of us call ourselves Christian, yet I get the distinct impression we give little thought to what that means. We take from the Bible what fits our ideology, and leave the rest. The Jewish people fled Egypt, freeing themselves from the corruption of the Pharaoh and his system of scarcity. (Little food, little family time, 18 hour work days, little justice). The Jewish people fled to Sinai, the Promised Land, and received rules to be guided by. (The Ten Commandments). They were to pay homage to God, be good neighbors, and take a little time off from those 18 hour days. It was no longer necessary for you to struggle to feed yourself and your family, God would provide, which didn’t mean you were to sit by and pray for the best, but to give thanks for the bounty that was possible through your hard work, devotion, and commitment to community building. As it happened, Christ entered the picture and challenged the hierarchy of the Jewish leaders, who he believed had strayed away from the promise. Challenging those in power is never a good thing, as we are finding out today in the Occupy movement. Anyway, Christ emphasized the common good, being a good neighbor, and devotion to God, not man. As Christians, we were moved from a place of bondage, scarcity, submission, and blind obedience, to a place of abundance, hope, freedom, the common good, and the promise of community and neighborhood. All we need to do is remember.

SUNDAY MORNING QUOTE

“As I look around on Sunday morning at the people populating the pews, I see the risk that God has assumed. For whatever reason, God now reveals himself in the world not through a pillar of smoke and fire, not even through the physical body of his Son in Galilee, but through the mongrel collection that comprises my local church and every other such gathering in God’s name. (p. 68, Church: Why Bother?)”
Philip Yancey, Church: Why Bother?: My Personal Pilgrimage

SUNDAY MORNING

Creating a new church culture:

• We have to cultivate a healing culture-where it's okay to be imperfect.
• We have to become a forgiving culture-where grace is expected and extended.
• We have to create a culture of acceptance-where love is unconditional.
• We have to offer a culture of permission-where we can wait to move until we hear God's voice.

Dr. Karyn Purvis

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Order derived through submission and maintained by terror is not much of a safe guaranty; yet that is the only "order" that governments have ever maintained. True social harmony grows naturally out of solidarity of interests. Ina society where those who always work never have anything, while those who never work enjoy everything, solidarity of interests is nonexistent; hence social harmony is but a myth...Thus the entire arsenal of government....laws, police, soldiers, the courts, legislatures, prisons....is strenuously engaged in "harmonizing" the most antagonistic elements in society."
Emma Goldman

PEEVER LAW #32

Justice is one of life's finer purchases.

Revealed: NSA Does Not Need That Warrant After All | Common Dreams

Revealed: NSA Does Not Need That Warrant After All | Common Dreams

Smile and speak politely of the government, for you know not who is watching and listening. Assholes.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"The civil-right generation feels like this younger generation has no drive, is suicidal, especially black makes. But think about this generation coming up with almost no jobs, access to firearms, thanks to the NRA, and no hope. Imagine people saying you'll never get the kind of jobs your parents had, and by the way, here's some malt liquor and crack cocaine."
Robin D.G. Kelly

JUSTICE

 Corn can't expect justice from a court composed of chickens.

PEEVER LAW #71

Life will not get better by using alcohol or other drugs. It will only get more distant.

THE BOTTOM LINE

In the alcohol and drug field, we talk about people "hitting the bottom." This means that their addiction has taken them to the end of the road. There is nowhere else to go. They are down and out. In reality, there are a lot of people born at the bottom. There are many people who shouldn't be parents. Their children are already at the bottom when they are born. Alcohol and drugs makes it impossible for them to rise above that bottom. Often it's the legal system that keeps them there. It takes away their hope for a better day. There is no wondering where hell is at when you see this happening to someone.

Time-Tested: If the FBI Shoots You, It's Always Justified, Says FBI | Common Dreams

Time-Tested: If the FBI Shoots You, It's Always Justified, Says FBI | Common Dreams

They could never be wrong. After all, they work for the man.

Indefinite Gitmo | Common Dreams

Indefinite Gitmo | Common Dreams

In jail for years. No evidence against them. But sorry, we can't release you. You are very dangerous.  What a crock.

Quote of the Day

“The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful then a thousand heads bowing in prayer.”
Mahatma Gandhi

SUNDAY MORNING

How to Cultivate a Spiritual Life

• Attend church irregularly.
• Spend more time practicing good. Get rid of the racial talk and jokes. Accept diversity. Give up the idea that your way is the only way.
• Rather than collecting possessions, collect friends.
• Don't believe everything you hear, even if the messenger is wearing a collar, a robe, or a designer suit. In fact, be especially skeptical if they are wearing any of those.
• It is better to approach faith inwardly rather than outwardly. That way, you can own it, rather than buy or borrow it.
• If you think your God is bigger and better than mine, how about letting me see you walk on a bed of red-hot coals, kind of as a sign.
• If you're practicing right-wing, Christian, Republicanism, get out. You been brain washed. It's a cult of the worst kind.
• We are each fashioned after the Divine, which I interpret to mean we each have a touch of the Holy in us. We should treat ourselves and each other accordingly. Thus sayeth the Gospel According to The Peever.

Snowden Supporters Rally in Hong Kong | Common Dreams

Snowden Supporters Rally in Hong Kong | Common Dreams

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Politicians are like warts on the body of society. And the only thing worse than warts are lawyers and lobbyists.
”
Jarod Kintz, Who Moved My Choose?: An Amazing Way to Deal With Change by Deciding to Let Indecision Into Your Life

CHEAP ADVICE FOR THE POA DIRECTORS

I called Jeff Adkins before he was re-elected as a Director and suggested that he abstain from any discussion about Village lots, due to the fact that he owns over 100 of them. This would create a clear conflict-of-interest. Obviously, he didn't take my suggestion. It appears the board seldom follows any kind of standard rules regarding its meetings and discussions. I'm assuming there is no one acting as parliamentarian. They also should not be taking any type of vote in executive session. All votes must be public. They use no protocol that I am familiar with, having been on a county board for ten years and a parliamentarian for six. They need to fix these things are remain "out of order."

Peever Law #39

It doesn't hurt to want, but eventually you have to pay for it.

Say What?

“Here's the truth: the Soviet Union had thousands of nuclear weapons, and Iran doesn't have a single one. But when the world was on the brink of nuclear holocaust, Kennedy talked to Khrushchev and he got those missiles out of Cuba. Why shouldn't we have the same courage and the confidence to talk to our enemies? That's what strong countries do, that's what strong presidents do, that's what I'll do when I'm president of the United States of America.”
Barack Obama

Demand Zero: Because Words - Even Obama's - Must Mean Something | Common Dreams

Demand Zero: Because Words - Even Obama's - Must Mean Something | Common Dreams

THE TAO OF PEEVERISM

• If you think you can escape the chaos of the world, forget it. The world was born out of chaos and will end out of chaos. In-between, you had better pay attention.
• People are not willing, or allowed, to work to their greatest potential.
• Governments would be wise to minimize expenses by moderating desire and ambition.
• Anyone who wants to be a leader must be able to chose winners as followers. Those who will be able to utilize everyone's power and determination toward a common goal will be successful.
• It is far better to Peever someone off than it is to ignore them. When people are complacent, society suffers. When they are upset, they work to make things better.
• Never underestimate your personal power. But first, you have to find it.
• Lavish buildings and frenzied profit making are not the signs of a wise society. Feeding the hungry and housing the homeless are.
• Capitalism uses cunning and deceit to dress up profiteering and imperialism.
• What is going to war over a lie all about? What is continuing that war, even when the lie has been exposed, all about? It cannot be about democracy and freedom. Those ideals are not born out of lies and deceit.
• Do not expect yourself to be perfect. After all, you are probably human.
• Life's three biggest vices: Doing nothing. Being satisfied with doing nothing. And doing something that amounts to nothing.
• Justice is far more important than profit. Immature people crave profit and ignore justice.
• People like the good-old-days. They know what to expect because they have already lived them. But try as we may, the good-old-days will not return. That is not the way of the world. These people end up not knowing what is what.
• You cannot seek spiritual wellness outside of yourself. You will not find it in books or in the words of others. No one needs to tell you of it. IN looking for the Holy, look in a mirror.
• When your outside behavior does not match your inner wisdom, you have lost your way.

PEEVER LAW #43

Drinking is an oxymoron. The more you drink, the bigger the moron gets.

WAYS TO EXPLAIN THE DOWNWARD TREND IN HUMANITY

1. It could be the fluoride in the water.
2. I personally think things started going to hell when Jack Benny died.
3. Wal-Mart.
4. Blame the monkeys. If that don't work, blame the politicians. But I repeat myself.
5. Too many people, not enough disease.
6. Perfumed toilet paper. Makes even assholes smell good.
7. The decline of intelligent sperm.
8. The increasing gap between the rich and the poor. And the rich and the richer.
9. We got too many right-wing Republicans with too many crazy ideas.
10. If it's not the monkeys, the fluoride, Wal-Mart,  the right-wing Republicans,, or perfumed toilet paper, then it must be, oh forget it, I'm pretty sure it's the right-wing Republicans.

Another Truth-Teller Steps Forward | Common Dreams

Another Truth-Teller Steps Forward | Common Dreams

Peever Law #55

Because someone is exerting their authority does not make them right.

Quote of the Day

We have a right to privacy. It is an essential liberty enjoyed in a democracy. The government cannot take that away from us. It does not make us safer to take away our liberties.
The Peever

Bush-Era Spying 'Made Legal' Under Obama | Common Dreams

Bush-Era Spying 'Made Legal' Under Obama | Common Dreams

Who Are We Talking About Here?

"These religious types were the fans that Jesus seems to have the most trouble with. Fans who will walk into a restaurant and bow their heads to pray before a meal just in case someone is watching. Fans who won’t go to R-rated movies at the theater, but have a number of them saved on their DVR at home. Fans who may feed the hungry and help the needy, and then they make sure they work it into every conversation for the next two weeks. Fans who make sure people see them put in their offering at church, but they haven’t considered reaching out to their neighbor who lost a job and can’t pay the bills. Fans who like seeing other people fail because in their minds it makes them look better. Fans whose primary concern in raising their children is what other people think. Fans who are reading this and assuming I’m describing someone else. Fans who have worn the mask for so long they have fooled even themselves.”
Kyle Idleman

Loaves and Fishes

I'm looking for a church that is into Mission. Not like the mission done by missionaries, but a church that is serving the poor in our neighborhoods and towns. Foreign mission is great, and needed. But our need is equally as great here. Arkansas has one in four children going to bed hungry. This is a local disgrace that needs to be confronted. The "church" should be out front in addressing this problem, but most often is not. Oh, they might take up a canned good offering once a month, or send a little money somewhere. But how many will go downtown and feed the hungry in Hot Springs or Little Rock? I wish I could say I was. This is also a self-indictment. I have been here for two years and have only talked and written about the problem. It is time for that to end. I'm looking for people who are interested in feeding the hungry in Hot Springs or surrounding communities. Someone who knows the non-profit organizations that exist. Or a church that is doing something other than promoting Sunday morning services or working on a building fund.
weik@grics.net

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“It's a fine line between Saturday night and Sunday morning.”
Jimmy Buffett

SUNDAY MORNING

Face the Face

• You cannot hide behind a lie, because a lie never stands still.
• You screw up, you re-do. If you don't re-do, you stay screwed up.
• In seeking revenge, you'll never be satisfied, because revenge has no final resting place.
• Talking the talk is not enough. You have to walk the walk. Do the work. Bust your ass. Pay the price. Draw the line.
• In seeking The Call, follow your heart, not the sales pitch of a military recruiter or the promises of a career counselor or the beckoning of your family.
• I would just as soon feel pain as nothing at all. Pain reminds us we are alive, when sometimes we forget.
• Fight the fight without ever raising a hand or making a fist. Give up the need to conquer and dominate.
• There's nothing wrong with silence. Feeling the need to talk fills no human requirement, outside of showing others just how dumb you really are. Perhaps by talking the talk, you are trying to impress someone? Maybe that someone is yourself.
• When you look in a mirror, don't turn away and run. Face the face.

Peever Law #69

If you are rich and want to get richer, you are the worst kind of human being.

Quote of the Day

“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.”
 Edward R. Murrow

Spying Made Easy

If the government wants to spy on us to see whether we like or dislike them, all they have to do is ask us. It would be much cheaper and very definitive.

Quote of the Day

“I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:
1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.”
Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt

Civil liberties: American Freedom on the Line | Common Dreams

Civil liberties: American Freedom on the Line | Common Dreams

Naomi Klein: 'Anti-Shock Doctrines' Show the Way to Resist | Common Dreams

Naomi Klein: 'Anti-Shock Doctrines' Show the Way to Resist | Common Dreams

The World Economy Is a Ticking Time Bomb (and The Fuse is Burning) | Common Dreams

The World Economy Is a Ticking Time Bomb (and The Fuse is Burning) | Common Dreams

Bradley Manning Is Guilty of “Aiding the Enemy”—If the Enemy Is Democracy | Common Dreams

Bradley Manning Is Guilty of “Aiding the Enemy”—If the Enemy Is Democracy | Common Dreams

This whole thing has been a bunch of crap from the start. FREE BRADLEY MANNING NOW. his right to a speedy trial was violated. Of course, the military probably doesn't have any such rules.

Quote of the Day

“Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms.”
 Groucho Marx

PEEVER LAW #18

The older you get, the better you were.

PEEVER LAW #5

If you are going to screw someone, make sure it's your wife, or husband, or the government.

Quote of the Day

“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy?”
Mahatma Gandhi

HERE ARE SOME DANGEROUS LIBERAL QUESTIONS THAT EVEN I HESITATE TO ASK

HERE ARE SOME DANGEROUS LIBERAL QUESTIONS THAT EVEN I HESITATE TO ASK

• Shouldn't it be as easy to spend money to pay for quality health care for every American as it is to spend money to wage war?
• Is it possible for an American to retire in at least reasonable comfort after working a lifetime for minimum wage?
• How can anyone who doesn't live in lala land believe that American corporations will reglate themselves and protect the environment?
• By indiscriminately killing people, is it possible to save humanity and bring about peace?
• Which came first, George W. Bush or terrorism?
• Is it possible that some of the things we do in the name of capitalism and global imperialism might just provoke much of the world into hating us?
• Can we imprison every immigrant and minority person in America and still claim to be a democracy?
• If what is currently going on in America is called justice, democracy, liberty, and freedom for all, clue me in, I must have missed something.

PEEVER LAW #27

If you are anything but rich and think the republican Party is going to give you a break, you better get a proctology exam to see if your head is up your ass.

Religious Surveys

The fastest growing religion on recent surveys has been "none of the above."

PEEVER LAW #13

There's nothing wrong with being religious, so long as you mean to do something good with it.

CALLING ALL DOERS

We need a nondenominational church in the Village that is mission oriented. We need to follow Christs calling to help the poor and marginalized in Hot Springs and the surrounding area. We have the resources. Why not get involved? Like or comment if you have any kind of interest or ideas.

SUNDAY MORNING

"For I was hungry, while you had all you needed. I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water. I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported. I needed clothes, but you needed more clothes. I was sick, and you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness. I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved."
Richard Stearns

Peever Law #26

No matter what your status in life, keep you head up and don't be afraid to tell them to kiss your ass.

EAT IT

Twinkle, twinkle, little scar,
how I wonder what I ate.
A double cheese or 2 for 2,
something caused my veins to ooze.
They cut me here, they cut me there,
they cut me almost everywhere.
Now all I know is what they say,
you shouldn't have ate all that junk food, you idiot.