Tals-2-cents!

 Revival.  That's what I need, that's what this country needs, and it's what this world needs. So, I've been hearing about the Asbury Revival in Kentucky and seeing footage of it.  Apparently it's been going on awhile.  On the surface it seems like exactly the thing that we need. Of course Satan would be thrilled that there is no revival at all. In Acts 10, Peter is summoned by Cornelius, a gentile centurion of Rome with many people under him.  Peter goes and preaches the Gospel of Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection and being Jesus being "Lord of All" (which was and still is blaspheme to some groups).   At this time, the Holy Ghost descended upon those in attendance - and gentiles (the uncircumcised) - and even the circumcized witnessed the fact that non-Jews could receive the Holy Spirit and be brought into the Body of Christ.  At this very early time of the Church (Body of Christ), there were many believers (of Jewish origin) who doubted this.  Ev

Stephen in Acts 7 was speaking truth to high priests who should have known how to conduct themselves in the performance of their priestly duties as well as how not to be hypocrites. Stephen preached everything from the time Abraham was led out of Mesopotamia to the Israelites being led out of Egypt by Moses to Solomon building a temple. He preached it all and he shucked that corn all the way down to the cob.  The high priests needed to hear this from one of our first deacons - and also who would be considered Christianity's first martyr.  This is what he said that really torqued off the high priests : " 51 Y e stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye .   52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:   53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, a

 In the Old Book, but not too old the passages Psalm 1:1-2 provide guidance to followers of God.  "1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.   Starting right off the bat, "Blessed is the man".  The antonyms of the word "blessed" include:  cursed, condemned, damned, disapproved, unblessed. Consider this rewording:  Cursed is the man that walketh in the counsel of the ungodly, who standeth in the way of sinners, and sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Try:  Condemned is the man.... Try:   Damned  is the man.... Try:   Disapproved  is the man.... Try:   Unblessed  is the man.... How many of us know of or have been a person that doesn't have the discernment to recognize "the ungodly", "way of sinners", or "the seat of the scornful".  How can we not walk away, not stand in, or not sit in the presence of something we don't r

It was after Carver Elementary School in Raymond, Mississippi voted for the election of Gerald Ford for president after he became President after the resignation of President Richard Nixon.  1976, Carver Elementary and even my classroom voted against the "peanut man" for the guy with a cool name similar to the cars that many parents drove.  Yep, that was the logic of my classroom of 3rd graders in our early November social studies (or whatever) class.  We were being taught the power that American's have as Americans - the ability to affect the process by voting. This was also before the actual winner, Jimmy Carter led our country to long lines at the gas-pump, inflation that reminded folks of the Great Depression, and to international embarrassment by allowing Iran to capture and hold captive 52 American hostages for 444 days.  These days were bleak and drab looking as many of our overly smoggy polluted cities and as depressing as the funky attire that people wore in thos

 In sports, we like to talk about the greatest of all time (GOAT).  We do it for basketball, and I am convinced that Michael Jordan is the GOAT.  Newer people would say that LeBron James is the GOAT.  Older people might say Kareem and even older ones might say Wilt Chamberlain.  It’s simply unfair to compare the players who played in different eras because the evolution of the game.  The rules, the physicality of game in the 80’s, etc.  can you imagine these players today playing against the Detroit Pistons of 88 and 89? You name a sport, and most of them have changed and it’s again unfair to compare players of different errors. Similarly, you cannot slap the social standards of 2022 on people from 1978, 1945, 1910, 1861 or 1791. In 1945, it would been a thing not noticed for Americans (and folks from other countries) to call Japanese “Japs” or Germans “Krauts”.  These people that did this fought and many died in the defense of freedom and the destruction of totalitarian or otherwise e

 Nine years ago, I was taking courses at Aiken Technical College and was able to complete 30 hours in 1 year - which is full-time college.  Before you laugh too hard, the classes taken there were every bit as robust as any course from the other 5 or 6 colleges or universities that I attended previously or since.  In some cases, more rigorous. It so happened that I did a Philosophy course to fulfil the need for another social science course that I would need for my bachelor's program. We were tasked to write an APA formatted paper and we were given a small list of choices.  To me, delving into the best form of government between Monarchy, Democracy, or Communism was of interest to me.  I'll not be using APA format or citing anything.  Unfortunately, the original paper is lost - this one is mostly a recollection of the original - with almost 10 years of insight.  I scored 117 out of 120 on the original - with 3 points lost sprinkled about for  grammar violations.  Would probably