Profound and Sometimes Preposterous Ponderings of Pete

In my life, I have fired 0.22 cal rifles, 0.32 revolver, 0.40 cal automatic pistol, 1911 0.45 cal automatic pistol, Makarov 9 mm x 18 mm, various 0.380 cal and 9mm automatic pistols, AR-15, and AK-47.  All at targets.  None of them alive.  Was it fun?  You betcha! Were the people I went shooting with knowledgeable about handling firearms and safety?  Absolutely!  Did I learn anything from them?  Yes I did!  Thank you Jake Kligmann, Mitchell Lee, and Coulton (sorry I don't know your last name)!  Was it frightening?  No way, especially with the aforementioned guys who were with me. I have cut down several trees with ax, saw, and chainsaw.   Did I know how to do this?  Yes I did. Was that scary?  Yes it was at first, even with training and praactice. I have worked with high powered lasers and high energy unstable explosive materials.  Did I know how to do this?  I have a MS in Chemistry that says that I di...

My beautiful wife whom I adore, you know her as Corinne, has told me that I need to lighten things up a little.  She said my posts, while good, are too often very weighty and cerebral. So, I used to write limericks.  No not the ones that potty brains enjoy but cornball ones.  So, here I go. I wed a woman who looks quite hot, she got in return one who is not. even though quite pretty, she bestowed great pity, and acquiesced to conjoin the knot. My quiver has twelve pointed arrows, more precious than a flock of sparrows. While I sit at the gate, with others and debate, They all will contend with the pharoahs. My kids are all great culinarians, While I descend from barbarians. My wife is a great catch, Any plan she can hatch, they keep me safe from librarians. My moniker used to be Peter, My disposition was quite sweeter, Twelve teenagers I raised, My wife should be praised, When they're gone our house will be neater.

This post is going to make me very unpopular with many people. I will not apologize for what I state but I want my readers to know that this is not coming from hate or judgement.  It is out of love for the body of Christ.  If you are not a follower and believer of Jesus Christ, who is God who took human form to pay the price for the sins of human beings so that those who accept this gift of redemption will not spend eternity in hell, it does not pertain to you so you do not need to take any umbrage by it.  All that being said, I read today that a Lutheran Church ordained a trans-gender pastor and celebrated this past Sunday his/her renaming of their self. I guess that this church has not read the book of Revelation or if it has, has rejected the Holy Bible.  If the former is true there is still hope.  If the latter is true, then I fear for that church and for those within it who have been mislead. To the Church in Pergamum 12 “To the angel of the church in...

Take a knee, don't take a knee.  Honor the flag or burn it.  It is your First Amendment right and a multitude of men and women have died to protect that right.  That being said, the national anthem is an emblem of citizenship in a country that has provided more freedoms than any other country present and past.  The country has made some grievous mistakes in its older and recent pasts; however, it is still a privilege to be born here or achieve citizenship here.  If you are dissatisfied with current situations it is your right to say so and to protest, peacefully and civilly those wrongs that have been done. Protesting the symbols of this country (flag, anthem, et.al.) is essentially stating that you are not happy with being a citizen of this country. As such, you also have the right to go live somewhere else and you should.  If that is not what you wish to project, if what you want to project is your dissatisfaction with the laws and attitudes of the curre...

Helpless! Helpless!  Helpless! Why oh Lord have you rendered me so? You have taken my youth. You have taken my strength. You have left me a fool. You have told me that the pot has no claim on the potter. You have have told me that wisdom is for those who ask. Then why dear God am I adrift at sea? Why Holy Father do I feel so alone? Why do I feel like my faith is lost? Why is my honor questioned at every turn? Why is your voice silent to me? Why do I feel like I have no protection? I know of and ashamed of all of my sin. I know that you forgive me when I repent. I know you are strong when I am weak. I know that what I call good, to you is small. You and you alone are God. For me there are no others. You died so that I would live. You showed me your glory. You have adopted me as a son. Forgive me Dad, my friend, my teacher, for I see so dimly and my faith is little. You my God are the only one Holy! Your glory is evident in all that I see! I will praise...

There are many, many, many, many (have I said many enough?) different definitions of church. Place of worship House of prayer Religious gathering place These are just a few very general definitions that can be applied to almost any religion. So let's be a little more specific to Christianity. cathedral temple sanctuary tabernacle Lord's house mission + aforementioned Again just a few of the very many.  Now let's see how God defines church. Where do we do that?  (I know it's a leading obvious question) In His Word. The first mention of church in the New Testament is in the book of Matthew chapter 16.  Where Jesus asks: 13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, ...

God sees everything black and white! He has no shades of gray! God cannot abide with sin! Etc.  Etc. Too many times I have heard these exclamations.  To my detriment, I have even said some of them myself.  I was mistaken in my application and so is anyone who has made the same proclamations. Let's take the easiest one first.  God cannot abide with sin! This statement makes no sense.  I will show you why or rather His Word will. Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” 9 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reas...