On The Eve of History

Tomorrow morning, in Washington, D.C., America will swear in Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America. Friends, regardless of your political opinions, tomorrow we will witness a very pleasant and positive kind of history in the making. A black man will live in the White House, not as a slave as in times past, but as the resident for the 4 (or potentially 8) years. Incredible.

I didn't vote for the man, for many reasons that don't matter right now. That being said, I am very proud to be an American right now, even more so than normal. I just want to stand and cheer for America as a whole, that we have finally leveled the playing field enough that this is even possible.

The picture to the left here is of President-Elect Obama standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, paying homage to a man who literally gave his life for the cause of equality in America. I can only the imagine the conversation that took place between President-to-be and that large chunk of marble. Tomorrow's events couldn't have been anything more than a distant dream in Lincoln's day. He would undoubtably be smiling were he breathing today.

Let tomorrow serve as a reminder and as evidence to every person everywhere who thinks that they can't accomplish something simply because of the color of their skin or where they came from. This abolishes every possible excuse or complaint. To every welfare mooch swinging on a front porch today, here's your wake-up call. If you don't make something of your life, don't blame America, or us. Point your finger in the mirror, because you're the only one to blame. After tomorrow, no more complaining that you didn't get a fair shot. Mr Obama got to where he is through hard work, eloquent speech and the blessings of Almighty God. You can do the same. We don't owe you anything, stop asking for a hand-out and look for a hand-up. If you don't think it's possible, just go ask soon to be President Barack Obama.

Blessings...

Think

Why are you breathing right now? Is there a reason that blood is flowing through your veins at this moment?

What is your purpose? Why are you here?

You have 168 hours to live next week. That's the same number of hours that George Washington, Billy Graham, Albert Einstein, Michael Jordan and Mother Theresa had in their weeks. What are you going to do with your next week?

Does this scenario sound like fun to you? : Born, grow up, have some fun, spend your time looking for "fun" and trying to make money, "win" someone to marry, struggle for stuff and things for 40 or 50 years, have some kids, just "try to do your best" and then some day assume room temperature and join humanity past on the other side of eternity's door?

The one thing that scares me most in all of life is insignificance.

Any problems that come along, whether financial, relational, physical, even death. They can all be dealt with in due time. Our God has been and will always be completely faithful to see us through trials under His provision. That will never change (Deut. 31:8 "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.") & Joshua 1:5 "I will never leave you or forsake you".

You and I have a choice every day, hour, minute and second we're given. The question is not whether you are sinning or trying to live righteously, that's the easy part. The question is, are you daily seeking God's face and His will for not just your life, but your day? Many days I fail miserably. That doesn't stop me from getting up the next morning and starting off right.

A wise man once said, "the bad is not the enemy of the best, it is the good." I believe the God that called the men and women of the Bible to genuine greatness, the God who created you and I...that same God has a vision for your day. Today! Right now! How exciting...

Please let this little ramble encourage you. There is nothing aimless about your days. Don't allow insignificance to claim one single moment of your life. Get out there and be a blessing to those who cross your path. Make them laugh, give them your ear, pray for them, be the godly man/woman you and I are called to be.

The world doesn't need any more lone ranger Christians. We are in this together. Be blessed today...

The Fairwell Victory Tour

Well, this is it. After all the up and downs, career plans failing, and changing and failing again...it is inevitable. I can't avoid it any longer. They are forcing me out.

4 months from today, I will be a college graduate. I will save the emotional re-cap and closing thoughts for another day. This is just the formal declaration of the spring semester being officially dubbed the "Farewell Victory Tour: 2009".

Everything between here and graduation is the "last ______". I intend to make the most of the next 120ish days.

Cheers...

Gaza Strip Incident

Today marks one full week of a full-scale Israeli air assault on the Gaza Strip. In case you're not familiar with the events currently happening, you can click here, here or here. I thought it was worthy of writing a short blip of my thoughts on the subject.

First off, I should state that I'm not the least bit objective in this matter and that I fully support Israel on a fundamental and idealogical level. I find it laughable how most the Middle East is trying to make this whole incident look like unwarranted Israeli aggression when it's Hamas terrorists who are responsible for starting the whole thing.

I applaud Israel for showing as much patience as they have in the previous months. I guarantee if you shot rockets into my backyard it wouldn't take me a day to respond with every bit of force available to me. Hamas should be glad that Israel hasn't done more in response.

Hamas continues to issue threats and warnings even as they are currently 95% without power and almost completely without any basic utilities functioning. It just goes to show again the blind, unfounded arrogance of the modern terrorist. Do they just not realize that most of their land has been reduced to rubble in the last week?

Even more amusing is that the leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, is exiled in Syria...yet he keeps running his mouth, declaring a "day of wrath" against Israel for the attacks. What are they going to do, throw more rocks at Israeli tanks as they roll past?

It really is a shame that there has to be so much violence and hate in the region. Unfortunately, we all know that there will never be lasting peace in the region. The fact that some limp-wristed pacafists in the UN are calling for a cease fire...again...is definitely worth a sigh and a good roll of the eyes. Terrorist cowards, which is all Hamas is, will never stop being terrorist cowards. They are raised on a doctrine of hate and violence. They are simple-minded creatures who only know how be angry and blow things up. Trying to reason or negotiate with them is pointless. They will only do what Hamas did during the last cease-fire (which lasted about 6 months), stockpile weapons and supplies in preparation for the next time the little rats decide to crawl out of their holes and blindly fire their crude, homemade weapons into Israel.

Hamas should be glad that I don't have any say in Israel's strategy. Were it up to me, I would have brought troops and tanks into Gaza long ago, swept the area completely clean and executed every member of Hamas as the terrorists that they are. It's a real shame that politics get in the way of justice and the safety of innocent civilians.

At a time like this, it is important to remember the innocents on either side of the offensive. Allowing 270 Palestinian civilians who hold international passports to leave Gaza was a classy move on Israel's part. I hope and pray that the offensive will be successful and that Hamas will be fully neutralized.

Pray for safety and protection for the civilians in Gaza, and for the armies of Israel as they deal with the terrorists swiftly and forcefully...