New Year, New Hope, New Reality

I was sitting in our local McDonalds early one morning last week having some breakfast and doing some reading when I looked over and took this photo. Of course, it wasn’t anything new to me. It’s already been “years” since any of us can recall the good ol’ days of life being normal. Playgrounds all over the world were shut down faster than the NFL season.

I sat there remembering the times my son Quinn would play plan in that play area. He’d go up to taller, older kids and say “Hi. What’s your name?” They’d tell him and he would promptly ask them to help him up to the next level since he was too short. My twin girls, Chloe and Sidney and my other son, Zane, too had lots of fun times in this playground and others like the ones at ChickFiLa. As parents it was a great way to grab a few minutes to talk or simply chill from the busyness. Kids would scream in fun, run around, go up and down numerous times, lose a shoe, eventually get hurt and come running out crying and then we’d leave. Fun times.

But 2020, Covid and mankind’s fear gave us all a new normal. Covid is this generations 9/11.

Hard to believe in 2021 we paid our 20^th anniversary tribute to the evil acts of 9/11. Twenty years. Say that with me again…Twenty years.

I remember exactly what I was doing doing and nearly every detail of that long day. I’m sure you do too.

And, I remember how things changed. Forever.

No more walkin’ loved ones through the airport. Metal detectors at all major events. No large bags allowed. Rules upon rules regarding travel and getting half naked before getting your full body scanned. Facial recognition cameras installed all over the country. No more in and out access. Technology taking the place of simplicity and privacy. Worried faces about what would happen next.

Twenty years later we have all of that and more.

“Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” – said by In 1849, by French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse. More commonly said these days as “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

According to Wiktionary, this proverb makes the observation that “even the most turbulent of changes do not affect reality on a deeper level other than to cement the status quo.”

We all know already that the days before Covid aren’t ever really going to fully come back. I’ve got my reasons why and I am sure you have yours. Conspiracies aside, what we see now for the most part is what we get. I believe 2022 will likely cement most of these changes into the “status quo”.

I don’t think the playgrounds will ever open back up. Temporarily closed will soon be permanently closed and removed.

So how do we respond?

Not in fear. Not in angst. Not dismay.

We respond in kind…by changing with it.

As the world changes, so must we. We change for the better. We change to be more loving, pure and Godly in the wake of uncertainty.

Our like my favorite brand “Life is Good” says…. We change to be more like the person our dog thinks we are.

That’s the change we can all embrace.

I hope for me it’s my new realty. I pray the same for you.

Don’t let the world determine your status quo. Let God changing you do that instead.

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19

© 2022 No Bones About It

The Greatest, Most Genius Political Scam Ever

What just happened????

We must go back in time…

2020 A Timeline of Insanity

Pre 2020 Key Background Facts/Info:

1. World Economic Forum hosts economic “DAVOS” meetings every year. Their agenda is very progressive, liberal, anti-American, and one-world seeking based in terms of policy and ideology. At DAVOS hundreds of the richest most powerful world leaders meet to discuss – yes Bill Gates was there of course. China has become a huge player, loved by all and yet America has remained ambiguous and non-commited for the most part.  It has gained more and more steam and the central point of a world movement. Hillary was going to be the final key to getting America fully involved… (now you know the rest of the story that’s about to begin…)
2. After Trump won election in 2016, the Dems publicly vowed to do “whatever it took” to get him out of their progressive agenda ways.
   1. Immediately screamed voter fraud and collusion with Russia
   1. Spent four years investigating him with the goal of trying to persuade America through the media and tarnish him from day one
   1. They spent fours years focused on hating Trump – they didn’t accomplish and single piece of significant legislature or work with Trump on anything
   1. Impeached Trump over a very week phone call with President of Ukraine
      1. Later we learned VP Biden had direct connections with this country and even used his position to influence their handling of relations with us son Hunter
3. Early 2016 Dr Facui warns of great “respiratory” virus “That’s easily spread and highly contagious.”
4. Early in 2017 – Dr Fauci is quoted as saying “Trump administration will not only be challenged by ongoing global health threats such as influenza and HIV, but also a surprise disease outbreak.” (any idea how he knew??? Hmmm)
5. China lab in Wohan has been working on similar viruses that are believed now to be Covid129 all the way back to 2012. They have been manipulating and testing them there in Wohan. It is believed it leaked or was released via human contact not animals in late 2019.

2020 Begins…

Key Things to remember:

• America is in strongest economic recovery in the history of the world
  • Stock market is exploding
  • 401ks and savings are growing
  • Gas prices are down
  • Taxes are down
  • Economy and GDP are booming
  • Jobs are plenty and unemployment is down
  • Real Estate in certain parts of the nation is more active than ever
  • We are standing up to evil players around the world
  • Military is rebuilt
  • Peace is in full swing – we pull troops of out various areas around the world and no major terrorist activities take place
  • Trump approval rating was at 52% – very strong
  • Essentially nothing is wrong except they simply HATED Donald Trump and he was in the way of their DAVOS Great Reset plan being implemented world wide

• Democrats have a Whatever It Takes Mindset and Strategy about 2020 election
• Understand and Appeal to the Democratic voter as profiled below:
  • Votes on who is likeable, cool, hip
  • Go with the crowd types
  • Gets news from CNN, rarely researches beyond that
  • Easily offended
  • Sees ALL opposition as a racial issue
  • Doesn’t care what a political leader actually does, more concerned about what they say and how they say it
  • Doesn’t readily know the political issues at hand
  • Doesn’t readily know their own politicians stances or views on those same issues
  • Is easily swayed by the mainstream media, celebrities and Hollywood
  • Despises most Christians and doesn’t hold to Christian values
  • Hasn’t ever seen or no longer sees America as a “Christian” country
• Attack Trump from get go and keep him on edge with attacks of racism, fraud, etc regardless if true or not.
  • Remember former DEM leader Harry Reid later admitted to lying about Romney back in 2012 that he had IRS trouble…there is a track record of them doing this stuff that goes back years
• Use Trumps weakness (his mouth) against himself
• Ensure Biden is candidate and that Harris is selected as running mate to gain black vote
• Keep Biden out of the public eye as much as possible
• Distract the media from Biden to Trump or other issues
• Use the media to create civil unrest and increase racial tensions
  • Womens Movement DC protests
  • Kavanaugh Hearings protests
  • Protest nearly every month for every reason imaginable all heightened by overblown media coverage
  • Migrant caravan (stopped the day after mid term elections)
  • Infiltrate Trump rallies with impostors that in turn make Trump supports look bad (this was done during his campaigning as well)
• Align with leaders of Big Tech (Google, Facebook, Twitter) all of which support the Great Reset movement
• Ensure 2020 election is won by votes:
  • Four years to figure out how to “do whatever it takes” to win…to be interpreted
  • Make sure necessary states make it easier to vote by mail, etc
  • Find volunteers from coast to coast that empathize with “whatever it takes mentality”
  • Meet and work with voting machine/software makers to assist with “whatever it takes” – ensure what is done is untraceable

January –

1.  “The Great Reset” concept and platform was introduced and embraced by the powers to be at DAVOS.
2. The road block according to them from fully launching their platform around the world? Donald Trump. He initially rejected invitation but finally decided to attend and spoke. He basically gave them the middle finger saying “To embrace the possibilities of tomorrow, we must reject the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse,” 
3. Trump attended DAVOS begrudgingly and essentially told the members America would not participate and America didn’t to subject itself to the rest of the world.
4. Who announces a new virus is found in China.

February –

1. First case of Covid19 in US
2. Reports of massive death count in China from Covid19
3. Trump closes travel and borders – Dems respond by calling him xenophobic
4. Trump accuses China for letting virus happen – Dems defend China and call out US President for using term “china virus” when in fact it was a virus from China.

March

1. NBA, NHL, NCAA, Houston Rodeo, MLB all suspend operations
2. Various states issue stay-home orders for two weeks to curve the spread of virus
3. All eyes are on virus and Trump. Election and Biden are nearly forgotten.
4. Virus spreads and hot spots are mainly in the North

April –

1. Covid19 owns center stage with a all media coverage taking spotlight off Biden and fully on Trump who is doing daily press briefings
2. World in basic lockdowns at this point
3. Hydroxychloroquine controversy – the beginning of pushing the only real solution is a “vaccine”

May –

1. Black Lives Matter becomes from center stage cause after death of George Floyd –

Summer of Fear & Distraction –

1. Everything in media is focused on Covid19 fears, nationwide riots in various major cities, need for a vaccine, Trumps response to it all and global shut downs.
2. Rioters in these cities are backed & funded by the likes of Siros and others. The BLM movement is hijacked for political purposes almost immediately. Trump is blamed for it all.
3. Economy begins to tank
4. Biden is nowhere to be seen – kept hidden from nearly all media – so he doesn’t have to speak, share who his VP pick would be, etc. All focus was on Trump and Covid.
5. Biden wins DNC nomination and later picks Harris as his VP, someone that couldn’t even get one delegate vote from her own party and is considered the most liberal, anti-God politician in DC.

October –

• Fox’ Chris Wallace gives one of the worst moderator performances in the history of TV debates with complete slanted questions, baiting Trump.
• Trump ran his mouth and fell into the trap making himself look terrible.

November-

• Certain states relax rules for mail in voting – most doing so illegally.
• Election night fiasco –
  • Trump has pattern of starting off behind in almost every important state but gaining the lead much later.
  • Fox calls Arizona way early and Chris Wallace once again makes numerous anti-Trump comments.
  • At around 10:30pm CST, at nearly the same exact time, votes stop being counted in AZ, WI, MI, PA and GA. Told they would finish the next morning. Since when does a Presidential election not finish counting the same day?????
  • Trump was gaining in each of those states.
  • Following days Biden wins each of those.
  • How did they win?
    • Illegal mail in votes, vote tampering (just enough to not be noticed), some grassroots, naming a woman VP solely because of skin color, ballot tampering/destruction, illegal votes…just enough of each.  
• Democrats call for Trump to concede almost immediately and says it is unpatriotic to not do so (despite their own taking months to count votes in 2000)
• The media begin to spin the poor image of Trump being a sore loser.

December

• Affidavits and reports of voter fraud around the country are reported by the thousands.
• No hard evidence can be found of fraud can be found however
• Media ruthlessly hammers message of Trump being sore loser though he had every legal right to purse the truth
• GOP RINOs (not real conservatives – establishment, career politicians) align against Trump and don’t come to his defense. They wanted him gone too. Swamp.

January –

• Capital riot occurs and though most Trump supports were not a part of it and many fought against those few radicals doing the damage, media ignored this and made false claims that Trump orchestrated this riot.
• Game over. The DC swamp and the establishment finally got their man.

President Joe Biden – #46

Unanswered Questions…

Why isn’t Covid19 called the Wohan Virus? Viruses are always named for the region or thing in which they come.

Was Covid19 released by China on purpose to hurt the world, but most importantly the USA?

Is this really a pandemic and if not, who was behind making everyone believe it should be?

Is Covid19 really more contagious than the normal flu or other flu like viruses?

Is Covid19 so deadly that we should shut down the world and the world economy?

If real reason for the shutdowns to protect the vulnerable and keep hospitals from overflowing?

• Build more hospitals – probably cheaper – aging large population
• The vulnerable are out and about putting themselves at risk
• If masks work, then they should be protecting the vulnerable from getting it

Is there a movement to reduce population and to “reset humanity”?

Why is Bill Gates suddenly an expert on viruses and farmland?

What was the only way Trump could lose the election?

• Our enemies feared us again, economy was rolling like never before
• Fear, Racism and Fraud
• Trump being Trump (debate #1)

Is Trump really a racist?

Did the DNC use Fauci, China and others to use Covid19 to turn Americans against Trump?

Would the DNC do “anything” to defeat trump?

Is it possible that voting fraud occurred?

• Election night…never stopped before
• 4 years to plan it
• Briefcases of money behind closed doors…has happened since time began
• Untraceable, little real evidence
• Amount of Biden voters seems impossible
  • He didn’t even campaign
  • No event energy when he did
  • Trump rallies

If masks work, why are more getting the virus when everyone has been wearing them for months?

What happened to all the riots and Black Lives Matter?

Why does the DNC now talk about “working together” and “unity”?

Why are there not more blacks in the GOP?

• Fear
• Racism
  • SC justice
  • Collin Powell had to convert
  • Herman Cain
  • Ben Carson

Why are they calling it a vaccine when in medical terms it is really an experiential drug since formal testing has not been completed?

Why are so many so willing to allow something without such testing be put in their bodies?

How long until you can’t work or go anywhere without proving you have had the vaccine?

I said Moderna would be one of the vaccine makers back in March and now they are…why?

Why do democrats justify their own actions, but when conservatives do the same thing they scream and shout?

What happens to Trump now?

Where will his supporters go and what happens to the GOP?

I could go on…

My Biden Predictions….

1. Economy will stay strong and he will take credit for what Trump actually did
2. Gas prices will rise
3. Jobs will flatten
4. Covid cases and deaths will decrease by the end of 2021
5. Harris will take over within first term
6. Calls for unity will be made but only if you agree with them…
7. They will increase our debt even more
8. Millions more will be granted citizenship and/or voting rights
9. China will be bragged about and fully embraced
10. Deals with IRAN will happen
11. Israel will be a target of US angst once again
12. The Trump hate will amplify and his supporters will be vilified the entire term

Have Fun America!

What Set Baby Jesus Apart

The Angel said to Joseph …”you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Luke 1:21)

No other spiritual leader. No other religious icon. No other system guru. Not Gandhi. Not Muhammed. Not Buddha. Not Confucius. Not Krishna.

None of them had the mission to “save their people from their sins”.

Only one in the history of history came with the purpose to be a Savior to those that had no means to save themselves.

I don’t know about you, but this 2020 Christmas Eve, I’m certain of two things. One, if the world ever needed saving 2020 is the year for it. Two, I certainly sin and unless you’re the next Baby Jesus, you’re right there with me.

When the angel spoke to Joseph late one night, he became the first man to understand just who his baby was going to be. Unlike any before him or any after, this baby was going to save the world from itself. No need for mindless acts of prayer 3 times a day facing towards mecca…no need for trying earn your way to heaven by riding a bike around in a suit and tie for two years…no need for hoping you’re been a “good enough person” to earn your spot in eternity…no need for the lies of scientology, worthless hours of cross legged meditation, or the misguided thoughts of “secular relativism”.

Jesus would be and is all we all need. He did it all without you, but he did it all for you.

All you have to do is believe.

Merry Christmas.

Pastor, It’s Time to Take a Lap

I knew after he had a heart attack last year that this day was going to come sooner than any of us wanted to. You can’t run a church you have overseen that has grown from just 30 members to over 3000 without it taking its toll on your body. His mind might be willing but the body just wasn’t gonna take it much longer.

So, our Pastor, Randy Weeaks, retired yesterday.

I’ve been a member of a church my entire life. I was raised that Sunday belonged to God and my butt better be there. Sure, I skip out here and there and sometimes I really do want to just sleep in, but after all the Lord has done for me over the years the least I can do is give him a few hours of my focus, worship and time with my fellow believers each week.

During that time I have had numerous preachers or pastors I have led by. Most of them have been great men that enriched my life in some form. Growing up in Houston Brother Judson Edwards was the first pastor that truly made that kind of impact. What he did with that little church south of Houston and those people, most of whom we still call friends all these decades later, was truly a work of God.

But no one will ever be another Pastor Randy.

I don’t even have words to say honestly. He is hilarious, down to earth, loving, strong, bold, compassionate and a great visionary leader. Everything about him points people to the love of God.

We have been members of Walnut Ridge Baptist Church for 11 years now. My kids love the place and we have lifelong friends there now that have made a huge impact on our lives. As a group they helped us during one of our worst financial times as we were adopting Zane and trying to get him home. All of this because we had a pastor that demanded that we love each other and that we love the world around us.

I could write for days about who he was and the things he did, but unless you were around him this would just be another article about a good man. But in our day and age when so many Christians in the church are viewed as hypocrites (and yes most of us sure can be!) and in an age when too many Christian “leaders” are seen building “their own” kingdoms instead of building God’s kingdom, I had to share.

Coming from spending nearly a decade at the big blue roof church down the road where we were essentially booted out and threatened with a lawsuit by the pastor because I confronted him for financially screwing over a friend of ours in our class, Pastor Randy was like a shock to my system. My family and I had been mortally wounded by that experience and even I began wondering if there were any real churches left anymore.

I’ll never forget the Sunday I went by myself and we had just gotten home with Quinn from South Korea. Pastor Randy had completely changed the format of that Sunday morning so that he could focus the time that morning on adopting children. After the service I went up and introduced myself and told him we had just adopted and gotten home a few days ago. The very next Sunday we came back and he walked right up to Quinn and said “this must be Quinn?” and loved on him.

That’s my Randy story and 11 years later he hasn’t changed at all. He’s been like a father figure from stage all these years and in so many ways reminded me of my dad all the time. (For those of you that knew my father, just imagine some of the funny things he said coming from your pastor. They were cut of the same mold. For example, Randy would talk about when he and Doris started dating….he said they were “sniffing around on each other”. That was our Pastor Randy.)

Now he is moving on to the next phase God has for him and his amazing wife Doris. They are starting a new ministry called “Why Not Bless” and we will certainly be big supporters. I can only imagine the lives they will touch and change and I will encourage everyone I know to stand behind them and help them help others.

His legacy in Mansfield will live on. From the annual “Beast Feast” to “Community Outreach Days” each year and to the countless organizations he helped launch from Mansfield helping people all over the world, Randy has left us with the challenge of the great commission; showing others the love of God by being real, giving and embracing joy and laughter. Our good friend Erik Irby is set to take the baton and keep us all going forward into the next generation for Walnut Ridge and for that we are blessed and excited.

Pastor Randy was just a good ‘ol boy from Comanche, Oklahoma, who God supplanted from redneck country right into the heart of the Metroplex. His impact over the last 26 years will remain for decades to come as he “takes a lap” down into Granbury, Texas,  where he can spend some more time fishing for those elusive catfish.

Randy, my family is gonna miss you big time my brother. God speed. We will forever be “your people”.

Yes, Donald Trump Is a Tool

No doubt about it. President Donald Trump is a tool. He was a tool before he got elected and 18 months later I think nearly everyone can agree he’s a tool; one way or the other.

Yes he’s a bullying, womanizing, demeaning, weird, ego maniac. His mouth is a proverbial conduit of wonder and amazement in most days. Just when you think you’re heard it all…right? He says things that blow your mind and make you nearly pull your hair out. Oh Lord, there’s really no telling what kind of morally questionable things he’s done in his personal life all these years being one of the richest guys in the world since we can remember. But he’s kind of like your favorite restaurant….you really don’t want to go back there and see the kitchen do you?

ISSUES WITH HIS SUCCESS

Honestly, as an entrepreneur there isn’t a lot for me to hang on to either. He’s certainly a success story and that can’t be taken away from him. But, like some people I know who either work for their father or were given their fathers’ business, he was handed success in a bottle to a degree. He had access to millions to start his career. He can’t relate to the “small business owners” like me with no capital to lean on; no endless bank account or American Express card paid by dad, no robust salary to lean on no matter what happens, and the sleepless nights wondering how the electric bills gets paid the next day. That wasn’t his lot or his journey down Success Ave. So be it.

In his defense, I do admire his bullish attitude and mindset, and he has an amazing ability to overcome what people think and move on. When facing business failures (and like most of us true entrepreneurs he’s had a few), he has been able to recover and rebuild. He seems to have a strong family that love each other and are smarter than most of us combined. That says more about him that most give him credit for – yes even if that’s a product of his lovely bride!

THE TRAP HE SET

Of course liberals, and many so-called “conservatives” or “libertarians” have about lost their minds over him. It’s just silly and comical. He laid the trap and they have taken the bait and ran with it. In the process of spewing their hate, they alienate themselves more and more from millions of swing voters. It’s one thing to share your angst or dislike of our President. It’s another to call for violence against him and his supporters, call the First Lady a “b*tch” or “c*nt”, make his daughter sound like the spawn of Satan, not to mention burning American flags. The DNC has become a bastion of far left progressives with no middle ground and an apparent lack of professional discourse. The MMS (main stream media) is their pawn and fans those fires minute by minute each day. Meanwhile, Trumps sits back and laughs at their folly. And that’s the irony. The man who invented folly now giggles at those doing the very thing they hate on him for doing. They hate his hate, so the respond in hate. Crazy right?

HE FALLS IN LINE WITH OTHERS BEFORE HIM

There’s a pure revolt over Trump and who he is. He’s made heads spin and the moral police are in full tactical gear. All of a sudden he’s the most strange, vile, vulgar, mean, hateful, arrogant President we have ever had. It’s “shameful” and embarrassing” they scream. The office of the President is supposed to be revered and held by one just a step below Jesus… apparently. But let’s take a quick walk down Presidential History Ave and see that Trump might be the worst of the worse, but we’ve certainly had our share of Presidential blowhards and evil doers (this list does not include administration scandals either).

• President Clinton – Monica Lewinsky and womanizer
• President Andrew Johnson – was a drunk
• President Reagan – sought insight from astrologist and mediums
• President Harding – his term was full of affairs, corruption and ineptness including his visits to strip shows
• President Roosevelt – had on going affair during his term – his wife’s secretary at that
• President Cleveland  – married a girl in the White House he was guardian over
• President Adams – skinny dipped in the river often
• President Tyler – fathered 15 kids with two different women
• President Obama – had an anti-American pastor for 20 years and was friends with a domestic terrorist
• President Jefferson – had numerous affairs, including one with the half sister of his own wife
• President Truman – in a letter written to wife said “he went n**gr” chasing in Africa”
• President LBJ – was known as a total jerk….also called his penis “Jumbo” and proudly displayed it often to staff members and the like
• President FDR – was behind the anti-homosexual movement called the Newport Sex Scandal
• President Pierce – was a total party animal and drunk
• President Kennedy – cheated on his wife and likely the biggest womanizer ever

*Honorable mention – Vice President Burr – killed someone with a gun, while in office!

Now, none of this gives Trump any excuse to be the tool he is and he certainly can be. But at the same time, people need to get off their moral high road. Especially those woman out there I see that have flaunted their own bodies all over social media for years and yet spew their hate for Trump because of what he has said about woman. Give me a break. Let’s remember we have all sinned. Let’s pull the log out of our own eyes first.

A TOOL WE CAN USE

Political strategy requires thinking beyond the here and now. Sometimes in life you have to do what you don’t want to do now so that you can have what you really wanted to have later. Donald Trump was and is a long term play from the get-go for us real conservatives. Does anyone really think we were all that excited about a man that singled handedly ruined the good ol’ USFL?? I mean come on. Yet, he is an ends to a mean and right now that mean is getting closer and closer.

Trump was timed perfectly. People were and remain tired of the Establishment strong hold in both parties and we will see that in 2018 and again in 2020, especially with the GOP. He’s the total opposite. And we took advantage of that, much like Obama did by taking advantage of being the first black President. Neither Trump nor Obama should have been elected but both were. Obama was a tool himself; being used to reduce our military, weaken our foreign alliances, increase our debt, establish government healthcare, and appoint liberal pro-abortion judges. Trump is the opposite for us true conservatives and we knew that going in to vote.

For me I have always said, the only matter regarding our politics that Jesus really cares about are the protection of the unborn. Roe vs. Wade needs to be overturned immediately. Jesus doesn’t care about our taxes, our roads, who has health insurance or not, our open or closed borders or foreign affairs (outside of Israel of course). But he does care about us allowing millions of babies a year to be murdered and will hold us all responsible one day. Supreme Court judges can change this in the future and Trump was and is the path to giving the life of the unborn a chance.

Those of us with the ability to see the long term ramifications of a Hillary White House knew we didn’t have a choice and we had to use him as the tool he now is. He will likely nominate two or three Supreme Court judges and many, many federal judges as well. These will direct and dictate our laws for decades to come and could be the very reason babies one day are saved from the knives and suction tubes of abortion clinics around the U.S. This one thing is way more important than his mouth, how he handles Putin, what he says on twitter or behind the podium.

Much like Obama, he will be gone and on a list of names one day. Yes, a list even I will cringe at when I see his name. He’s such a tool.

But he’s a tool we are gonna use like crazy right now and honestly I thank God he’s there.

Jesus is Just Another April Fools without a Resurrection

There has only been one religious leader in history that was predicted to die, predicted to rise again and then did so. Jesus Christ.

All of the others remain in their graves; Mohammed, Buddha, Gandhi, Confucius, Zoroaster, Zeus, Apollo, on and on I could go. All are dead…just bones. Lifeless and worthless.

But Jesus overcame death and lives today.

It’s funny how the world today hates Jesus and his followers. Just as He predicted they would by the way in John 15:18 when He told his disciples, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”.

Boy do they! The spike in angst and hate towards those of us that believe in the name of Jesus is once again something that sets Jesus apart from the rest. When was the last time you heard someone rant and rave about Buddha or Gandhi or even Mohammed and his crazy followers? It just doesn’t happen. The world seems to embrace all of those but runs from even mentioning the name Jesus. A great example is the recent Disney movie “A Wrinkle In Time” staring Oprah (who in the past has claimed to be a Christian) when throughout the movie they characters referenced powerful quotes from past philosophical and religious leaders. Not one quote from Jesus, the one with the biggest following in the history of mankind. Go figure.

Why does the world embrace and celebrate the others but have gag reflex when it comes to Jesus? Because they are lifeless and dead. They aren’t a threat and because in their mind there is no accountability for their deeds, good or bad. They can live howsoever they choose.

Jesus didn’t say He was “one of the ways to get to God”. He didn’t say “I can help you get to God”. No Jesus said to him, “I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me,” in John 14:6.

Now you know why He is hated.

They key to all of this however, is the resurrection. Without it He too is still dead and His words just become neat little phrases to share and live by. Him rising from the dead however changes everything. For everyone.

Lee Strobel, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune and a graduate of Yale Law School, wrote “The Case for Christ” among some other investigative writings about Jesus. Lee had formerly been an atheist and was compelled by his wife’s conversion to evangelical Christianity to refute the key Christian claims about Jesus.

What he learned changed his life forever. He too now believes.

I could spend hours breaking down facts about the resurrection…including historical witness and testimonies to the fact and scientific research that emboldens the idea. But in the end, it must be accepted by faith. Paul says in Ephesians 5:28, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.”

And that step is one that every person on the planet will one day face. What did you do with Jesus? Think about standing before God one day and being asked that. You might should have the right answer…

For the most part the world chooses to hate Him. Others hold Him at a distance as a “good man….part of our history”, and still others do choose to believe with many risking their lives to do so.

Without the resurrection Jesus would be just another April Fools. With it, those who don’t believe are foolish for not. It is a game changer.

Believe in Him today and let Him change your life from the inside out. He will.

Then you too will know the power of the resurrection.

And that’s no April Fools.

^“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

(c) 2018

No Bones About It

 

 

There Was Jesus & Then There was Grandma Kat

Few lives have ever been lived like that of Kathrine Barton Speers. And few people have ever lived life like she did. We knew her as “Grandma Kat” and other than Jesus Himself, there just wasn’t another better as a person than her.

She was the Fruits of the Spirit. All of them. She made the Ten Commandments and 1 Corinthians 13 look like a walk in the park. Talk about a constant witness for God…She was selfless, loving, caring, patient, kind and best of all very, very funny.

Born on January 23, 1923, and spending most of her life in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, she ended her earthly journey and received her eternal reward on January 12, 2018; this close to 95 years of a life few can ever imagine. She is survived by her daughters Linda and Janet and her youngest son Troy. Her family included four children, seven grandkids and nine great grandkids. Her husband of over 60 years, Jack Speers, passed away in 2004 and her oldest son, Charles Jack Speers, passed away in 2017.

There are so many stories to share when someone has walked the earth for almost 95 years. So many experiences. She has lived through and seen the Great Depression, World War II, watched the space race and then a man landing on the moon…the growth of color TV and automobiles, the invention of air conditioning, color cameras, cell phones and the Internet. She has watched Cowboys Super Bowls (remember those), the assassination of a President, the impeachment of another President, the Civil Rights Movement and the rise and fall of the USSR.

19 Presidents took office while she was alive. We have only had 43 of them! They included: Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump. She was around to see the rise of rock music, Elvis, the Beatles, and even the works of Michael Jackson. Her decades included the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s 90s, 00s and 10s.

I could go on for days thinking of all the things that her eyes have witnessed. In a nutshell, she lived a long, long, long time and she never waivered in who she was.

Despite all of those, she would be the first to tell you that the best thing she experienced in all of those years was finding Jesus as her Lord and Savior. She spent her life learning who He was, learning to live as He lived and doing all she could to share His love with those around her.

She made it her mission to ensure that our family was united and close. She made sure everyone got the change to her God’s word and did all she could to keep us all in line. She understood the importance of living this life to the fullest while preparing for the life to come. She was this close to Jesus on a daily basis and few Bibles have had more pages turned.

There aren’t enough pages to write all she meant to us as a mother, grandmother and great grandmother. Whoever comes in second place as “Grandma’s of the Century” will be a distant 2^nd. She took us fishing, played countless games of “Sorry” with us and back in the day learned how to beat us in Atari followed by Nintendo. She made the best homemade dinner rolls ever (some of you have had them) and I will never forget all those summers my sister and I got to spend with my cousins at “the farm” in Ennis, TX. Her and Papa made my childhood a dream. Even as a great grandma to my four kids, she left a mark in their lives and it won’t be the same without her there. I guess we are going to have buy and do a puzzle each year as a family in her honor…

She was truly one of a kind and the world has lost another important piece of what is still called “the greatest generation that ever lived”. She grew her own food, took care of a husband, four kids and a farm. She sewed her own clothes and up until these last few years hand made quilts by hand, something few even know how to do anymore.

My dad even caught her trying to climb up into a tree with a water hose during a drought filled summer…she was 90 when she tried doing that. She broke her arm in her late 80s and drove herself to the ER, without calling a single person because she didn’t want to “bother anyone”.

This was my grandma. Always saying yes, always smiling and always making those around her happy. Her pastor told me the day she died, “I don’t know what we are going to do without her. She meant so much to our church family.” At 94 she was still hosting class parties, serving in the church every Sunday and never missed a chance to help. She was the life of the party.

On one of those last days, I was able to grab a few minutes with her in the hospital alone. I kissed her on the forehead with tears running down my cheeks and rubbed my hands through her beautiful white hair. I said “you were the greatest Grandma a little boy could ever have”. She smiled with tears of sadness and joy in her eyes as we both realized she would soon step over to the other side. She told me she couldn’t wait to see my Grandpa and my dad again. What a reunion that must have been just a few days later!

My heart breaks thinking about how many things are now going to change without her around. It just won’t be the same. She was the cog for many wheels. A very large empty chair can be overwhelming to think about. But she has won her race and passed the torch to us to carry on and that we must. Even if we only fill one of her shoes, we will have made her happy as she watches us from above.

One of her favorite songs was “I’ll Fly Away”. Some of her grandkids sang it to her at Christmas just a few weeks before she died. It has these words…

Some bright morning when this life is over….I’ll fly away
To that home on God’s celestial shore….I’ll fly away

I’ll fly away, oh glory….I’ll fly away in the morning
When I die, Hallelujah by and by….I’ll fly away

Fitting that she died on a bright, sunny morning. I couldn’t help but think that was just a little reward from Heaven of a job well done….for a life lived like few ever have.

Love you Grandma.

 

Zane’s Day with the Judge

One of the neat procedural things done during the adoption process is meeting with the local judge to make it all “official” and “final”. This means the child can take the families last name and the journey is officially done.

For Zane that took place today as we made our way to the county courthouse and met with the judge who signed off on it all. It wasn’t a necessary step, but like with Quinn, we wanted to participate in this part of the process.

I know one day we will look back on these moments and cherish them even more than we do now. Dad was watching in spirit as this neat moment took place. Life is too short to miss it for us still here.

God is good all the time and all the time, God is good. Now we press on.

Astros Win It All For All of Texas

Baseball is truly America’s sports. No playoffs are as intense, scary and exciting. Each pitch, each hit, each run scored is total drama. So amazing.

It has taken me a few days since the Astros won the World Series by beating the LA Dodgers to figure out just what to say. When you’ve been a fan of a team most of your entire life and they finally win it all, the words are hard to come by.

Did I cry a little? Yes. Did I scream and party a little? Yes. Did I believe they would do it? No! I was too scared to hope for anything better than a 2nd WS appearance. I was happy with that sadly. Days later and I am still in shock with an endless smile on my heart. They freaking did it!!!!

My dad passed away in July and my prayer then was the Astros, and my Cowboys, would win it all for him.

After all I owe my love of sports to my dad.

I’ve been an Astros fan since 1974 when we moved to Houston as a kid. I’ve waited my entire life cheering them on, and the Rangers, hoping one of my teams would finally bring the World Championship to the great state of Texas. Fitting that the Astros would do it first!

My dad took me to a handful of games nearly every year I can remember as a kid. We would sit way up high in the Astrodome. We’d leave early most games because I had school the next day and I would fall asleep listening to Milo Hamilton call the end of the game. (Sadly he passed away just two years short of seeing this happen!)

These games hold some of the most precious times with my dad…especially now looking back on them without him here. I know he was watching in his ugly orange Astros shirt cheering them on with me and forever I will hold those memories close to my soul. I miss him so much every day.

Now I have the goal of passing on the love of the game to my kids. They are full throttle Rangers fans and I can only hope and pray I have given them so of those great memories like dad gave me. I take them to as many games as I can and every now and then I run them down to Houston for an Astros game. Maybe one day the Rangers too will win a ring for us all.

Texas proud. Houston strong.

Thank you Astros. And if you want to win it again in 2018, please do!

Astros Dodgers. This time it’s for all the marbles.

I will never forget the Astros Dodgers National League series in 1986. My family and I sat and watched as our beloved team made their first run at the pennant. It was incredible and all of us cried when it was over. We got that close.

It was 2005, nearly 20 years later before we finally made it to the World Series. Only to get swept by the Whitesox in four. Julie and I were there and happy to experience it.

But this team is different. We are watching something that could be years in the making. The talent, pitching and the chemistry. It is all there. Only the hated team from LA stands in the way and man are they good.

Maybe this will be the year we win it all. For my dad.

Let’s do this!