We Should Only Allow Sick People To Decide On ObamaCare

The more I defend the importance of America finally deciding to enact universal healthcare, the more I realize that American's don't understand much at all about healthcare or health insurance.

It's not hard to find someone who truly understands insurance, or someone who truly understands healthcare. Finding people before the ACA who understood both was rare.  Add the changes from the law and you are talking about a really confused nation.

But it is not our fault.  We knew for some time now that healthcare was getting out of control which meant expensive and confusing.  There are a lot of people without insurance in emergency rooms, but a lot us have insurance and just put off our illness until it was urgent because we are universally afraid of the whole beast.  Basic checkups are the only thing that seems to be simple and cheap enough to endure and even that can take a few hours out of your day and $20-$30 in copay if your insurance is the "I rarely go to the doctor" variety.  Somewhere into hour number one we all wonder why we pay the premium if it still will cost $30 and 2 hours to get a 5 minute talk about family and a handshake?

As we consider the points of importance in this debate, it is valuable to start to separate the health insurance conversation from the healthcare conversation.  Healthcare is vitally important and something that we need to promote for obvious reason's.  Health insurance is simply the manner in which we pay for healthcare.

Just for the sake of agreement I would love to direct the rest of my comments at all of the people who actually use health insurance on a regular (weekly or more) basis.  The problem is, I try not to spend a lot of time preaching to the choir.  They already understand the problem.  Every person that is so ardently opposed to this new law seems healthy to me.  Some of them may have chronic illnesses that they just don't care to talk about on television, but it seems that the major concern for ObamaCare is that it forces people into choices that they did not wish to make.

When we finally get people going to doctor's instead of just having insurance than I would love to have the real debate.  When we finally get healthcare into the hands of those who need it and can say that it is being used (and is not just a premium) than I would love to revisit the cost concerns.

Right now America is sick and needs to get healthy.  If we truly call ourselves Americans than our overall health should be the most important focus right now.  Physical health and mental health to include education should be as important to this nation as war, and we seldom ask how we will pay for war.

How long will it take to get healthy?  Forever if we don't turn this conversation into a universal healthcare debate and not a debate on health insurance premiums and who should pay for them.

For Believer's Only: Which god are we serving? (pt. 5)

By virtue of one miraculous gift, God compressed years worth of doctrinal instructions into two simple commands.  Honor the only God and no other, and love thy neighbor as thyself.  In doing these things we accomplish the entirety of God's expectation of humanity.  Our desires and wants become our god's and as a result we get left to the power of the god's that we covet.

If Jesus was any type of example, this war is for  the sake of the least of these. Mankind was created for the same mission and there are no bystanders in this war.  You are either fighting to save souls or you are only fighting for your own.  God intends for us to achieve balance with these pursuits, and we do this with our tongue.

By, Michael Duever

 We shall be known by our fruit, so our words only carry so much weight as we live.  Yet, in the heavenly realm, our words express a recognition of earthly struggles versus struggles against principalities.  Many of our blessings get tied up in the heavenly realm while we walk around desperately speaking earthly wants.

Does God need me to recognize the forces of evil  against  me just to bless me?

The earth belongs to God and all that is in it.  He is not short of provisions, but His promises have been spoken against sin and its messy minions.  Sin is a messy business that existed on earth long before we came to join in the party. As we find ourselves stuck in the mud, it pays to remember that this is not our mess, its just our mission.   We released sin on earth and thus, are born of it, but sin did not create us and will not satisfy that deepest WANT that shall never escape those made by Him, for Him and in His image.

Born of his image, we have the power to go get it; whatever it is we want.  When our want aligns itself with God's plan, and especially God's plan for us, than all of our wants seem to come flooding in.  When they don't, we can still go get it, its just harder and it never seems to satisfy that deepest WANT.

In all thy getting, get an understanding.  Understand that your obstacles along this journey will be whatever your words make it. Obstacles are connected to action, and to whom much is given, much is required. There are obstacles in the Land of No Want, but you perceive them as the other side of a blessing; as muscle building for the journey.


Next post:  Satisfying that deepest WANT

Previous post:  Speaking your way out of the jungle.

What's Up With The Law? Has The NBA Figured Out Denver's Ty Lawson

You know the old adage.  If you are not getting better you are getting worse. Your competition knows when you've won 57 games and prepares accordingly.

The Nuggets are like scared orphan's who just got placed into a safe home, but are afraid to trust so they revert to old habits. Whenever you are using athleticism and not smarts to ignite your hoop  game, you are one Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried athletic move away from recovering from an injury.  Athleticism gets you points, but it rarely wins you games, and the legs only have so many of those type of plays in them.  Close games are almost always closed out on the free throw line or with a second chance opportunity, meaning the first chance usually fails.

Ty needs to get to the hole and teams realize it, so they have to be sacrificing something.  I saw Ty draw a triple team to stop his penetration but you can't be passing and dribbling at the same time. Ty has never been good at using a pick.  None of the Nuggets do this great, but Ty is one of the worst.  His love of the dribble forces the pick to happen off the dribble leading to the illegal pick you see called a lot on the Nuggets.  Even with his poor use of the pick, his speed forces defenses to back up and give him the room to shoot if he would come off the pick shooting.  Ty has also never been good at coming off the pick and shooting immediately, without extra dribbles..

I was a big time Nene fan who kept saying (to my brother that I argue with over these things) that he would break out someday and we would be sad if we gave up on him.  He argued that potential is overrated.  After a few years, you are what you appear to be. Only the truly great players add to there game in a real way.  It appears that I lost that argument rather soundly.  So soundly that I am about to apply it to Ty.

Is this the best we will ever see from Lawson?  Explosive?  Yes, if he is healthy or confident, but a style of game that lends itself to neither.

I'm putting down this keyboard and praying away that very notion.

Are The Nuggets Fighting For Playoffs Or Future

This slide is starting to scrape off skin and needs to stop quickly.  Will it stop in Memphis? What we have working in our favor is the absence of the MVP of this team, Marc Gasol.  What we do not have working for us is our everything else.

The Nuggets may be more than sliding.  They are flailing in the wind a bit.  Coach Shaw understands  players going through a slump.  You can sit them, or you can let them play through it.  If they don't play through it you have a bigger problem in the end.

Quincy Miller showed every Nugget fan how bad this problem has gotten.  As Quincy entered the game yesterday against the New Orleans Pelicans, I felt it was about 3 games later than I would have put him in.  With the way he played, the coach might agree.  Quincy did what nobody on this team seems to be able to do consistently.  He played with confidence.  He clearly has very little to lose in that he is the last man on the bench and the least likely to see minutes every night.  If you aren't sure the next time you will see the court, there is no expectation level to distort your confidence.

This is a mental winner for Quincy that worked well for all of the younger guys who didn't have a resume but are now struggling to get shots off with better defense on them.  Of course it is hard to tell how good the defense really is when Ty Lawson wastes 16 of every 24 second clock dribbling no where. Lawson may determine this to be a throw away season all by himself.   If this is going to be a throw away season as Brian Shaw is exposing the weaknesses in our so called leaders of this team, then we will eventually see a wholesale shift away from scared starters.

Last night was the beginning as both Mosgov and Jordan Hamilton started for Foye and the injured Kenneth Faried.  The absence of Javale McGhee has nurtured Mosgov into a legitimate piece of this puzzle. Ty Lawson's brain strain that followed his leg strain might force Evan Fournier back into action soon.  The Nuggets badly need somebody, anybody, to get into the paint. Without guard penetration, we will

need a great deal of luck to beat any team, even a Gasol free Grizzly team.

We probably can't win a lot of games if we have to rely on inexperienced back ups, so watch closely at the use of players like Quincy Miller and Evan Fournier because they will determine if we are still fighting for the playoffs or the future.

For Believer's Only: What is happening to today's believer?

What is happening to today's believer?

Well it depends upon what exactly it is you believe in.  Christianity, which is the faith of 1/3 of the entire world, is growing, but not much in America.  Even worldwide atheism, or the anti-theist religion, is growing more rapidly  than Christianity, Judaism or Islam.  Why is this occurring?

I have a few thoughts on that subject, but I am forcefully declaring to every atheist, you have chosen a path that needs no converts and should never be offended by ridicule. If the atheist is correct, there is no consequence so there should be no concern for differing ideology because religion should be neither valuable nor harmful. The common atheist complaint about the history of death caused in the name of religion is as congruent as blaming the religion we call Islam for the decisions some make to murder in the name of Islam.  Evil people have always done bad things and hidden behind religion.  Ask those young boys who got molested by Catholic priest.  They will confirm that the bible didn't justify their abuse.

Judaism and Christianity are essentially the same except for a messianic dispute.  For every other belief system, there is no consequence if the Christian is wrong.  Only the Christian should be concerned with the salvation of mankind because only the Christian has accepted that every knee shall be made to bow and every tongue to confess.  If you dispute that belief, you accept the 'no consequence' alternative and should leave the Christian to the consequence of their own doctrinal fears.

In my mind you are a religion if you thrive through spiritual conversion and memberships.  Converts to all religions serve a purpose to the furtherance of that religious ideology.  In the end, they are the foot soldiers for the future of faith.  However, any faith that concludes that their is no ultimate consequence to sin is also saying that there is no presence or need for morality and man should feel free to test the law to its very limits since laws are the only governing force that remains.

As we debate over the existence of God we collaborate on the elimination of God from our presence.
Religious doubters prefer to eliminate the guilt of sin by eliminating the existence of God rather than  eliminate the guilt of sin by simply opening the gift of grace.  Catholicism is proof that the Christian desires the religiosity that Christ tried to save the Jew from.  We will always struggle to spread the love of God expressed through Christ when we teach it as something that any of us earn.  Our rebuke of others is an indirect judgement about what we think of God's view toward's us.  If we really knew, our words would remain more measured and more kind.

Today's believer needs to be reminded that God loves you the same way all the time.  His love doesn't rise for our good deeds or fall from our bad.  His presence might be impacted by our deeds, but even  far away God's powerful love makes him arrive on time.

Today's believer needs to know that Christ spent so much time chasing filth because he came to do all of the washing. . If you believe but not in Christ, you shouldn't have anything to worry about anyway.

For Believer's Only: Speaking Your Way Out Of The Jungle (pt. 4)

Prosperity preachers have confused the masses a bit. There really is nothing within our spiritual understanding or our fleshly desires that guarantee's any of us a life of wealth and comfort.  The obstacles you overcome to achieve are at times of your own creation, but at other times they are demonic forces systematically designed to keep you from your destiny.

Of course the hills we climb are intended for muscle building but only God knows how much muscle it will take to endure the journey of your life's destiny.  Every living thing under the sun has a reason and a purpose.  Each of us was uniquely made for a purpose.  Free will does not change this design truth, but you can fight against your own destiny
if you choose, to attain many things.

Prosperity might include wealth, but if it does not, can you glorify God even more?  Our society does not separate people from their possessions.  This world will judge you by your status in life.  If you let that judgement drive your decisions you might push yourself into achieving many wants, or you could torment yourself into bad decisions that push you further and further away from your wants and further from the covering of the shepherd and into the jungle of life.

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The wolves lurk in the jungle waiting for a sheep to wander too far away. Keep in mind that the word says it will be harder for a rich man to make it in to heaven. Why?  Sometimes poverty is saving us from demons that too much money would set free.  Rich, poor, wise or foolish. Why we end up in the jungle means very little to the wolves.  They are looking for a meal any way they can get one.  If there is only one point that you can take away from this journey to the Land of No Want, it is that YOUR words created the jungle you are in. In order to fight your way out of the jungle that your words created, you will need to speak your way out.

Every time you tell the spirit realm that you 'don't want' something that it believed you were a slave to, it wounds the power of darkness that's fighting you.  It also removes the blessing blockers that your words triggered. God already knows our needs before we ask him. He encourages us to utilize prayer just so we can develop a relationship with him, one in which we are reminded that he is in the business of answered prayers.

When I say to God, I 'don't want' to be removed from my struggle, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, you declare to him and to your oppressor that you can rejoice in your status because you understand who is in control of status.  When you declare; Lord " I don't want my kid to get accepted into the college of her dreams" you are saying that you have already accepted this in your prayers and have no need or want of something that you have already taken possession of.  To say or pray that you want things means that you need God to manifest (show proof of) his provisions.  If you need to see to believe, your doubt has caused you to also speak a want of things that you should have already released into the hands of God. In the Land of No Want, we may walk with the eyes of human beings, but we speak with the words of the spirit.

It doesn't take much intentional effort to fall off of a cliff.  You don't even need to use a muscle to descend into a deep chasm in life.  What we all discover is that climbing our way out takes power.  So much power that many of us tire out trying to climb out.

In the Land of No Want, you provide the words and God brings the power. When you understand how to harness the power of words, you can walk out of your jungle with the words of your testimony because the power is in the blood.


Next Post:  Which god are we serving? (pt. 5)
Previous Post: Taking The Plunge Into The Land Of No Want  (pt.3)

John Podesta: Republican Enemy #2

Republican's may soon be attacking him.

Politico.com called John Podesta "... the quintessential Washington wise man".  With a president who has shown on the basketball court that he takes a cool and easy approach, but is still going for your jugular, Podesta represents a new sword in this battle. Excalibur if you will.

 The do-nothing congress has triggered several acts of retaliation. This is just the latest.  Executive orders get ratified by judges so it stood to reason that republicans would do what they could to thwart the president's executive privilege of tilting the balance of the federal courts therefore freeing up the Obama administration to take the executive order back door around congress. When multiple judicial nominee's got jammed into the pipes from the battle being waged on this front, Senator Harry Reid invoked the nuclear option  to run some drain opener through the pipes and get these judicial posts filled.

If the republican's think that ObamaCare was shoved down the pipes, Podesta is about to demonstrate the capacity of our plumbing. The executive order is firmly written within the constitution. What is not so firmly interpreted is how far is the latitude of the executive order.  In the absence of clarity, presidents have accomplished a lot of substantive policy work outside of the vote of congress.

Obama is hardly the most extreme abuser of this tool.  Reagan had 381, Clinton 364, George W. Bush 291.  Through his first term Barack Obama had 147.  The hiring of Podesta signals an Obama agenda to increase in the use of them. Podesta understands the power of the executive order like no other.  Most importantly, he understands how difficult it is to legislate against an executive order because of the super majority vote it takes in congress to reverse one, and the potential political fallout from getting on the wrong side of this kind of action. As a result Only two executive orders have ever been reversed.

Government shutdown intended to defund ObamaCare was not just a crazy last resort for a desperate party looking for a way to slow the momentum of a landmark election, it was the last resort, period. The last resort against an executive order is reverse it or defund it.  The executive order has too many historical footprints for it to be challenged. Angry republicans across the nation are blogging and bagging on Obama for this discovery while searching for a challenge to the constitutionality of this presidential instrument.  If Obama was not already republican enemy #1 as Mitch McConnell declared him to be, the executive order has secured his position as the right's most hated, ever.

Once the republicans finally finish their internal war and determine who will be their Sherman, Monarch Obama has chosen his general Grant and his name is John Podesta.  Republican enemy #2.

Nuggets Need A Closer and Lawson Needs To Be It

Slides are like winning streaks.  Once they get momentum, they have to lose steam before coming to a halt.

The Nuggets are on the verge of losing steam with this latest slide, which means we see moments of Ty Lawson returning to form, followed by the scared Ty that comes back to life when we least expect it. As Ty goes, so go
the Nuggets.

Tonight's game against the Nawlins Pelicans is the type of game that could end a slide, if we hadn't squeaked out a close win against them a few games back.  Basketball players are like hockey players in some ways.  They do not forget it when you get the best of them and they will bring those memories to bear when they get a chance to exact revenge.

Tonight we confront the story of competing motivations.  Are they more motivated to get the revenge than we are to prove we are a playoff team? The return of Anthony Davis for the Pelicans makes the rebound mission a more difficult won to win, but it will be absolutely necessary if we expect to capture this victory.

The Nuggets will win this game simply because we have taken some painful punches from the NBA upper echelon.  The Pelicans will mimic the shoot 'em out of the gym approach that other teams have used to beat the Nuggets, but will come up short due to the same malady that we suffer from.  No closer.

I expect Lawson to be a closer for us tonight.  Lawson responds well to motivation and his recent failures will motivate his game tonight.  What Nuggets fans should hope for is the day when he is inspired to motivate teammates every night.  A strong contribution from someone else (Foye or Chandler should add some extra shooting) will be needed early to give Lawson a chance to close late.  This is the formula that will get us through to the return of Danilo Gallinari, or a big time trade.  Without one or the other, this team will scratch and claw for an 8th spot in the western conference.

Since we are never going to

Obama Has The Birthers and Black Nerds Have The Blackers. Fair or Foul?

When the hash tag #FastTailedGirls hit the blogoshpere, it went viral for many reason's. I imagine that one of them is because it struck a little close to the bone for some.  This topic does for me.

I grew up in a ghetto environment common across our nation in which there is little tolerance for  blacks who act white #blackNerds. What is acting white?  It is a black kid who behaves at school; who finished his food at lunch and gets a certificate for nutrition; who plays in the band and works for the school paper and runs for class office and speaks with proper English too often.  The good part for me was also the bad part. Most black kids who fit this mold will get picked on by many different forms of bully.  I had most of those bullies in my own family.  Oh yeah.  My middle name is Dwight.  (I heard that)

Fortunately, few people outside of my family had the courage to pick on anyone in my very large family.  Most of the neighborhood roughnecks became friends because they would always gravitate to the kind of folks that I come from.  Inside of my family it sucked being me because I often found myself on the wrong side of  those family wide sessions of the dozens.  To adjust, I became like George W. Bush who was easy to love and easy to ridicule because he was fertile for ridicule.  We may not have understood his pain, but it was clear that he could understand our laughter.  Over time, I learned not to take myself too seriously.

Black people are like all people.  We need to feel pride and respect and not absorb an inferiority complex for our shortcomings.  Our spirit of endurance is anchored with a stubborn backbone.  If you mock us for our language we will turn it into common vernacular. As a result of this spirit it is now one thing to be wearing jewelry and another to be blinging.  This spirit also makes it hard on the black kid that doesn't conform to the vernacular.

Jonathan Martin is most likely a victim of this undying reality. The black kids that come from the south are even more likely to perpetuate this mindset because they are the most stubborn of us all with rejecting the Kings English.  The NFL is full of southern brotha's.  The notion that the honorary black man "Richie Incognito" would be assigned to toughen up white boy Martin is well within my realm of understanding.  I would hope that black people would rise up someday and challenge this cultural shortcoming. Who gets to define what is black enough.  The blackers?

We make it so hard on black kids that do not conform that our kids begin to straddle the fence.  They will work hard to get the grade that their parents encourage while pretending not to be very studious in the face of other black kids.  When you straddle a fence you will eventually fall one way or the other.  Even cool white boys have started to call each other white boy to mimic the criticism that blacks began against each other.

The brothers with hood swag probably assigned Incognito to this task because hood swag has power.  Power, however, always demands wisdom.

The NBA Power Structure: Is The East Finally Better Than The West

Hell No.

Next Post.

Oh, you east coast Chicago Bull loving, Boston Celtic cheering, Indian Pacer people need to relax a bit and look at the bigger picture.  Yes, you gain extra points for the fact that the back to back champion has come from the east.  I even give you the fact that the team they beat to play for a title (the Pacers) is seen as the best team in the league right now.

If few argue that you have the undisputed #1 and #2 teams in the league it is hard to argue with the east coast bias in this matter.  What I know is that I have seen teams with top two sprinters at a track event lose the team scoring because the effect of the masses.

The west has the masses.  My Denver Nuggets are on the outside looking in at #9 because of a 4 game slide.  Absent that slide and they are a top 5 team in the west.  Move them to the east with their 14-13 record and the Nuggets become a #3 team.  In fact, only two teams in the West do not have a record to be in the playoff picture in the eastern conference.  The gap between the have's and the have not's in the western conference has closed rapidly so that Utah, the so called worst team in the West, is still capable of beating any team in the league on any given night.

Now the same could be said of  Milwaukee in the east, but not with the same conviction.  If you are looking for a couple of gimme games in today's NBA, you had better work on the dregs of the east.  Disregarding the bottom dwellers, there is an even bigger point to be made about the contenders.  In the east we know for certain that one of two teams will represent the east for the chance to win it all.  In the west, it is a 6 team tango in which any one of the top 6 (or more) could represent the west in the end.

Right now western conference teams are just beating up on each other along the way to bringing a title back out west, because without the title, this debate rages on.

Christmas Confirms That America Has A Savings Problem

The obvious thought that comes when you read a headline regarding a savings problem is that we don't put enough money in our bank accounts, yet this might be more problematic than that.

As we grow up in America, we understand the goal. Get paid, live a happy life, buy lots of toys each year at Christmas time and hope to have some money left over to do it again next year.  This year, retail sales over Christmas are down 3% from last year when we apparently had less.   I would hope this means American's have decided to save their money for the uncertain future, but we all know better.

Retailers will get that money.  They may lose profit, but they know for certain that American's will respond to deep discounts.  Eventually, we will take our piggy banks and justify smashing them open for deals that were "just too good to pass up".  Next year we will do the same song and dance between ourselves and retailers.  The goal is to step on each others toe in this dance and the winner is the one with the toes that are the least sore.

Christians across the country are fighting like mad just to preserve the real meaning of Christmas because Christ is being subverted for Santa in the role of the monogram of Christmas.  While this is the right fight,  the place we wage this fight is upon the symbols that garnish our government buildings at this time of the year.  Most retailers have already acquiesced to the "Happy Holidays" hysteria figuring it is not a fight worth losing business over.

The blood of the Passover is battling a bunny in a similar fashion.  However, it isn't as though the Easter bunny or Santa just started last year.  These instruments of celebration have always needed the perspective that our families gave.  The problem is that families are having a hard time giving in to capitalistic Christmas or the ego Easter (with all the fancy clothes) and still telling our children that God is the reason for the season. Mine too.

Just the intrigue of wondering how deep discounts will go is enough to get most of us to buy something.  But at what cost?  These days, the only time we are saving something is when we are saving those memories of our childhood.  When the Christmas that had more lights and more toys would be outdone by the next Christmas that had even more lights and even more toys.  We are saving childhood memories that sometimes don't coincide with real life economies, and our children grow up to do the same for their children and so on.  We become adults guilty that we can not give our kids all of the things that our parents really couldn't give us either but did because they had similar guilt.

We surely are saving something, but it ain't money.

For Believers Only: Taking The Plunge Into The Land of No Want (pt. 3)

Some who might read this post have already experienced the thrill of sky diving.  That is the artistic expression that we use for people who jump out of flying airplanes and parachute to the ground. I say it in that fashion because, until you have experienced the thrill of such an experience, it is likely that you continue to see the mere thought as jumping out of a flying airplane.  If your sense of anxiety for this type of experience makes it hard to even imagine it, this post could feel similar.  Lets, take the plunge anyway.

A lot of us want certain things in life and many things  like our passion for life, or fear of failure, have helped us to achieve some of it.  In the Land of No Want, to seize hold of these things that slip through the grip we have to let them go.  Take a moment and imagine your top 3 greatest desires.  I'll give you mine:

1.  For my family to be healthy and happy.
2. For a cure for Lupus and it's life robbing affect.
3.  For all of our children to see hope in the future.

If you have your top three in mind its our time to jump.  Close your eyes and say in quiet prayer or loud exclamation if you dare: "Lord I don't want for my family to be healthy and happy. (I can feel the wind now). I don't want a cure for Lupus . (Get ready to pull the cord)  I don't want hope in the future for our children.

 Michael Duever

If you are like most, the mere notion of speaking these words feels like flying in the wind.  You see, we have been holding so firmly to our desires that we can't let go and let God do his thing.  Even if we pray in a fashion that we think represents letting go, we often then speak contradictions and obstacles into the spirit realm when we continue to declare the want of anything.  If you have to use this word, practice, literally, saying I don't want (fill in the blank as I did above) and then shake off that feeling of fear you will instantly get from letting go of wantonness.  Now that we are back on the ground, take some time to just listen to yourself and see how often you speak the word 'want' into the wind. Until you recognize your challenge, it will be hard to climb the mountain.

One thing I know for sure is that somehow, all you who have the life to read, have overcome many things in life.  Some of us develop rational explanations for a few things we've experienced, but other things you simply can not explain (without giving God the glory).  This universal human experience crosses over our religious ideologies.  This says to me that God cares for the lily of the field and his eye is on the sparrow so we know that he watches each of us, whether we recognize him or not.  In other words, the Lord is OUR shepherd.......if the sheep have a want, it is because the shepherd did not provide for them, or that the sheep have wandered outside the realm of promise.  God is not limited by anything except his own promises.

The closer you get to the shepherd, the more you begin to reap the benefits of his provisions and promises. Conversely, the further away you get from God, the more necessary it becomes to speak your way through the jungle.


(Next Post) Speaking Your Way Out Of The Jungle (pt. 4)

(Previous Post) The Lord Is My Shepherd.......I Shall Not Want (pt. 2)
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For Believers Only: The Lord Is My Sheperd.....I Shall Not Want (pt.2)

The Land of No Want Is Closer Than You Think

So we concluded the last post (What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?) talking about the characteristics of faith.  "What does faith look like"?  Action is a simplistic explanation of specific behaviors. Step out on faith is a common refrain because every little step we take came from every little thought we made.  However, the real action begins win we begin to speak our dreams into existence.

I am certain that every person who has heard of Tony Robbins or Zig Ziglar understands the basic concept of speaking your life into existence, but what you want and what you say could be directly at war with one another.

When I first met Michael Duever (the author of "I Shall Not Want") he was unlike any Christian evangelist that I had ever met.  He was unafraid of sharing his love of God, but he was sensitive to the reality that many people don't care to hear it.  My receptiveness to the mere presence of a believer allowed him to open up to me about the concept of this book, though he proceeded with caution.

I share it with you in a similar fashion.  By the time Mr. Duever departed my presence when we first met, he assured me that what he had shared might take months or longer to adopt as a way of speaking and even longer to become a way of living.

When the bible speaks of the command that we "Shall Not Want", it is more than just a good road map for life, the spirit of want is a contradiction to the provision and promises of God.  For man to declare himself in a state of want speaks to a desperation of spirit that dishonors God's ever moving hand.  Faith teaches us that God will meet your needs in his time.  Often times, simply declaring the word want says that you doubt and have not truly taken grasp of the things that you are praying for.  Have you ever  noticed how people who are in great relationships talk about how they had wanted someone so bad but couldn't find anyone to love, but the moment that they did "not want" it anymore is when it happened?  That is not just an odd  coincidence, it is a by-product of the change of spirit that occurred.  When we don't want (or remove the wanton spirit), we open ourselves to the provisions and promises of God (he still answers prayer) because our spirits and our words align with God's.

The challenge that I had when I discovered this revelation was trying to remove from my language a word that has become fully integrated into how I speak.  What I did not know was that our thoughts are not open for exploration.  Only God has the power to discern the desires of our heart and mind.  Satan can put together some context clues driven by your behavior, but mostly he simply sits on the sideline and listens to every word that you say and uses them to put you on trial.  Every utterance of the word 'want' creates the very ammunition that Satan will use to delay what God already sent your way. He can't stop you, but if he can slow you down enough to the point of frustration he is hoping that you will stop yourself on his behalf.

It can be hard to digest life changing ideas in one feeding so I won't try.  Stay tuned for more in the journey to the Land of 'No Want'.

    Next Post ( Taking The Plunge Into The Land of No Want) (pt. 3)

    Last  Post (What Would You Do If Knew You Couldn't Fail?) (pt. 1)

Who Needs Von Miller When You Have Paris Lenon

Paris Lenon was brought in to provide depth in the absence of Von Miller at the start of the season.  

The Denver Broncos are one the teams favored to win the Superbowl this year.  They have had laser focus on this goal after Baltimore did their best to ease our pain from the Jaguar loss in the 90's.  It worked. This team has overcome more obstacles than we can count at this point because they have made every hurdle look like a bump in the road.

Trust me when I tell you that I was concerned about the locker room division that was being reported as a result of Paris Lenon beating out Wesley Woodyard after Woodyard suffered an injury.  Tape don't lie, and coaches could not justify putting Woodyard in front of Lenon, especially as a run stopper.  The Woodyard loyalist must have struggled to stay silent about it as word of this controversy has been gaining speed every day.

Until Sunday.  Von Miller went down, and Derrick Wolfe, who could replace him, is also not cleared to play yet.  Lenon is a banger who loves to be in the middle of the scrap.  He should do exactly what they brought him in to do.  If this gets Woodyard, who thrives in the role of defensive quarterback, back on the field full time, it will be better for the team in the long run.

Besides.  That fat guy who ate Von Miller was not too impressive anyway.

President Limbaugh Declares Attacking Capitalism Wins Love From Left

You might have helped to elect that Monarch Obama, but I'm still the running this thang........ Oprah!

In an amazing declaration from the towers of EIB,  Rush Limbaugh encouraged Phil Robertson to blame capitalism and he could have endeared himself to his critics and removed some of the heat from this flame.
According to Rush, the easiest way to deal with this mess is to avoid apologies.  Rush added,

"........and it's probably even too late to do a tirade against unfettered capitalism.  I was thinking if he maybe did that, he could turn around some of this hate that the left has for him and turn it into love."

                                 -Rush Limbaugh (12/19/13 transcript)

The President continued.  "It's a popular thing to do today. If you want love and appreciation from the left, you attack capitalism in America.  But I think even that might be too late.  It may even be too late for my help. "

Now how in the world could it ever be too late for President Limbaugh to come to the rescue?

President Limbaugh knows what we all know.  Unfettered capitalism, not the forces of integrity, moved to suspend Phil Robertson.  Unfettered capitalism also chose not to fire him outright or cancel the 36 hour Duck-a-thon that remained on the A&E schedule, an it will certainly play a role in determining his return to television as well.

We will see if the integrity of the Robertson family will have something to say in the end.

Nugget's Playing With 'Here We Go Again' Syndrome

(From an older post of mine:  If the Nuggets don't win, and win with smarts, OKC, Phoenix and the Clippers will ride our errors into a slide.  If we can start and end well, we might get the confidence to get back on a streak.  I don't really see us having a give and take on these games.  They will be boom or bust).

Bust it is.

The Nuggets have become the victim of their own success as teams are not taking them lightly.  Fortunately for our opponents, the Nuggets aren't taking themselves too seriously.  It's hard to imagine that a muscle strain would shut down Ty Lawson and his confidence, but they are both clearly strained still.  We knew he was valuable to the Nuggets, but with no one else who has the confidence to take late game shots, his absence has been painful.

This team has Coach Brian Shaw constantly switching bait and recasting his line into the waters for a bite.  He is a patient man (as most fisherman are), but his patience with some players is not paying off.  Okay, I'm talking about that darn Randy Foye again.

Here is the Rany (he's got no 'd') Foye problem.  If you sit him now you signal to every team that might need a shooter to forget about this one.  If he doesn't play we can't trade him, at least not for value and he is not exactly a cheap player to begin with.  All of the new players need a chance to prove themselves before we give up on a new investment.

J.J. Hickson is a keeper even though he never faced the basket one time when he received the ball in the paint last game.  A few games prior, he started to shoot and hit that mid-range shot.  Right now we need somebody, anybody, to take that shot as teams are forcing the Nuggets into a jump shooting team.

So the formula for the last few games is to turn the game into a jump shooting contest because the Nuggets are not confident enough in themselves that they can match any team shot for shot. They actually have the talent to do it now, but until they know it, it matters little.  Team's are now playing the Nuggets into the 'here we go again' syndrome. When the game starts to turn late, you can see it in the way they take the ball out of bounds, and the lack of urgency of their
assault on the rim.

The nature of a young team is the propensity for boom or bust scenarios.  Maturity teaches us to give a consistent effort throughout the game and let the chips fall where they may.  These moments of the season require a collective fight or kind scheduling.  Tonight we get the Golden State (jump shooting) Warriors.

The schedule is not kind.

Real Talk For People Who Need It: Is The New Peyton Manning The Old Lebron James?

Real Talk For People Who Need It: Is The New Peyton Manning The Old Lebron James?:          

So you are telling me that he has to beat Tom Brady every game for ever to get his respect.....really?

Von Miller Out Again, This Time For Good

Maybe its just me, but that fat guy who ate Von Miller was not terribly impressive t.  We have  survived without Von and Champ.  Some would say that we looked better when they were out.  We expect PFM to rise to the demand of his legacy. Now the only real question about the Bronco's is this defense.  
     
If you are the incoming offense against Peyton, you are praying the night before for all of your cocky defenders, realizing that if your prayers don't work, you may have to match 50 in order to win. 

Peyton has not only turned this team into a championship contender.  He has made the Denver Broncos into the most hunted team in the league and every team prepares like they are going in against Goliath.  

Who is this attack being waged against?

I contend that the rock that David keeps throwing at this Goliath is being aimed at our defense. Has our defense prepared themselves for this reality.  I think so, because they adjust and they  get key stops and turnovers.  We keep wanting  to see their best over the course of a game just to help us know that they have it in them, but the truth is that we only need this defense to rise to the challenge of one big game.

     When Peyton is great, as he often is, the defense only has to be good, maybe even okay.  On that rare occasion that Peyton is not great, the defense will need to be good, maybe great for the Broncos to win it all.  We've seen signs of really really good from this defense, but only time will tell if they can be great when it matters, or if they will even need to be.

Barbara Walters: "We thought Obama was the next Messiah"

If you missed the headline, Barbara Walters was quoted as saying that "We thought Obama was the next Messiah".  She clarified it in advance as a manner of speaking, but she was more honest and more true than she realized.

Honestly, Barbara was bearing her soul and that of many in her social strata.  The 2nd great depression was some scary shit.  Especially for people who have something. Poor folks not only got to sit back and grin a bit, we got food stamps rather quickly to keep money going into grocery stores, and to keep the demand for consumables high (gotta feed the beast).

It is not surprising that we would let Obama clean this mess. If you watch enough pro sports, you realize that it is not uncommon for the black guy to get the job when the franchise is at its lowest level.  He is also likely to get quick heat when the change is not fast enough, or when the job looks more desirable to people who did not want it before.  No matter how noble the gesture, the person who hired him is always holding the scissors to make sure they cut you off before they lose a job or credibility (is that you Barbara?).  This example is not given to assign blame or fault,  it is just a reality of our world right now. There is no blaming once we lock arms in a commitment to be better.  

Barack is no messiah.  However, he may be divinely favored for the task at hand.  Those of us who believe in divine favor understand that its power is manifested best in the storm. The beauty of the black American spirit is that we are not afraid of the impossible anymore.  In fact, we may even desire it in some sadistic way.

Still, I can't help but wonder what Barbara  was thinking with the Messiah reference.  You mean the man who was crucified on the cross for teaching  love for the needy.  The one that they called King  in order to get Herrod to kill him for treason?  Don't confuse how we love Jesus today for how he was treated when he lived.

Christian's should watch the Passion's of the Christ once a year to remember the way that we treated the Jesus we love so much.

Conservatives  might want to consider how much attacking King Obama will add to his legacy in the future.......SquareBiz.

For Believers Only: The Story of Mandela Reminds Me of Christmas

God is a good God and no matter how much you love Jesus, the Son always points The Way to the Father.

In fact, if we could have figured the way, he would not have come to show us.  His life was an example, his death was an acquittal and his resurrection was a relocation.  Christ declared to the pharisees that he did not come to destroy the law.  What they didn't quite realize is that he did come to give the church a new address.

The story of Nelson Mandela is a poignant one because it speaks to the enduring spirit of forgiveness and the power that it gives us over our enemy.  In fact, what we mostly discover from forgiveness is that you are your only enemy, and you capture or set yourself free by virtue of forgiveness.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.  Mandela knew this message because of the powerful relocation project of Christ called Emmanuel.

Emmanuel means God with us.  God with us is not just the promise of the comfort of his presence.  It is the dedication of God's new church address. You know,  the same one that Mandela attended while in prison.  God absolutely needed the church to save his people, so he place it in the heart of the believer so that no matter where you find yourself, there he is.

Next time you head off for Sunday fellowship, remember that God's church, Emmanuel, is inside of you.

Behave accordingly.

For Believer's Only: Was Man A Mistake of God?

While I believe God should be a part of everything we do, I don't always give the heavenly response to earthly problems that we discuss.

Hell, I don't even resist the temptation of  curse words from time to time, but I love God deeply.  Moreover, I thank him as often as I remember for his gift of Grace that we call Jesus Christ.  In fact, in light of this post being shared days away from Christmas, I encourage anyone who hasn't unwrapped the gift of Grace to take a moment, read John 3:16, forgive yourself for .....whatever, and join us back here when you are done......we'll wait for you.

You back?  (Thank the Lord for Jesus)

The headline is the question. Did God know that man would mess things up this bad or are we an experiment gone awry?  More specifically, lets explore the beginning of the Christian bible.  The story of Adam and Eve talks of the second sin or sin entering into the earth.  Eve could have finished that whole fruit and sin would not have had free reign.  Only when Adam disobeyed was sin set free.  Yet, this story begs a couple of obvious questions.

Why was the tree in the garden in the first place?  I hear the voices say, free will.  Well, yeah!  But why was the tree placed there if God did not expect that we would fail.

This goes even further.  Why was the serpent who tempted Eve given free reign near holy ground?  Was God oblivious to the whispering of this evil spirit?  This goes further still.  When did this spirit of evil arrive on earth?  Before Adam was created or after?  Either way, God sent the tempter or sent us to the tempter (I believe in the latter).

At this point you have to either see the glory of the Lord at work or you will reconsider Atheism.  Some people that I have posed these questions to choose to assume that God messed up and did not expect us to fail as we did. When you are mad at God, this is an easy view to take.  I've come to believe otherwise.

God did not make a mistake on us and he knew very well that we would fail and sin would be given free reign on earth through the hearts and behaviors of man.  In fact, that was the only way sin ever could have entered  the earth. Through the prophecy of Isaiah we learn that Lucifer, who was one of God's beloved angels, was cast to the "darkness that was upon the face of the deep" and then God brings the light and the rest of the creation story.


At this point, this debate usually begins to remind me of a line from Lauren Hill and the Fugee's.  You might win some, but you just lost one; so I will close on this thought.  We are considered the bride of Christ because our relationship represents the completion of God's army against sin.   We carry a dual role in the sin game because we are the one's who set it loose, the one's who give it life, and the one's sent to destroy it. We should always remember that Lucifer committed and thus created the first sin in heaven, which is why he
is the father of sin.  However, we should also remember that Christ came to join YOU, to complete God's army and finish the war against sin.

When you think about humanity and you start to lose hope, keep in mind that sin is not our mess, it is simply our mission.

Only One Answer To Duck Dynasty Debate: Switch Networks

The forces of profit have no integrity.  They move to sustain themselves.   Period.

Unfortunately, a world without integrity is only surviving, not working.
_________________________________________________________________




Here is the biggest problem I have with this whole Duck Dynasty stuff.  Nobody is wrong, which means no one can be right.  

Phil Robertson was reading from the same bible that we all read from....until he wasn't.  Yet, even in his out of bounds, red necked rant, he didn't say anything wrong.  The spirit of those black folks in the fields would make any non-black person think, "these people can find joy in jail".  Yes we can (we love you Nelson Mandela)!  

He said what every heterosexual male who loves women has said, either in their mind or out loud.  He said what every insensitive, self righteous Christian  has said about homosexuality.  If you are old enough you remember Archie Bunker and some of the stuff he said.  We usually shook our heads in agreeable disdain.  I have plenty of well intention'd family who struggle with mastery over the English language and mastery over anger at the same time sometimes.

I can't argue with the people who say that A&E had the right to suspend the show's star.  I really can't argue with those who say, what did you think you were employing, scripted actors?  This is a reality show, and they are paid to show their reality. 

Then I ran across this post below about Cracker Barrel who took down these Duck Dynasty figures and then hurried to put them back on the shelf when they took some criticism (lost profit) for the decision.  

Is there anybody who thinks that Phil won't be back sooner or later.  The suspension is probably a ratings boom for the network.  The question of the day is whether or not Duck Dynasty will remain a reality show, or will it be a muted reality show in the future.

If I was the Robertson family, I would not work with a muzzle.  It's time to switch networks or shut it down.For integrity sake.

Kelly Rittenbach originally shared to The Conservative Union (Open Discussion):

Cracker Barrel putting Duck Dynasty back on the shelves.

Cracker Barrel: Oops! We're Putting Duck Dynasty Products Back On Our Shelves!

http://www.forbes.com/site 

What Is A Conservative Socialist Liberal Republican?....I hate labels

Socialism is both necessary and dangerous. If I were Monarch Obama, I would add to ObamaCare free, or highly subsidized education in exchange for the GRADUAL dismantling of the inefficient systems of reactionary socialism that we call welfare. Frankly, healthy and educated people are typically strong contributors to a society, and the mere existence of our current system of welfare is shameful and a blight on America- one we should work to make it go away.

I used to believe that to be educated and healthy made us self sufficient.  The truth is, no one is self sufficient.  Even the ones who think they are tend to take their welfare from the government in April and not each month like medicaid/food stamp/welfare recipients. I have come to realize that being a strong contributor does not make any of us "self sufficient" because on some level or another, we will always need the positive collective programs socialism provides(i.e. roads,military, schools, emergency response, a government option in healthcare and in banking to competitively regulate both industries better). We wouldn't be the United States of America if unity was not a necessary part of the equation, however, sitting on the shadowy side of unity is the demonic reality of what we are all up against.


Do you know why it is so hard to stay married? Because marriage and family are so vital to the future of humanity. If you aren't spiritual and do not believe that evil forces are at work to divide marriages, and thus families, then I will not be able to convince you that evil has a vested interest in dividing America, the worlds beacon of hope. A divided and polarized (code word for labeled) America threatens the entire worlds existence. Our labels are only helping evil out.

The two party divide is so intense in America that we have a version of it growing within one party. As a Christian, I get it. True conservative doctrine, as defined by President Limbaugh, does not allow for compromise with liberal air space, much less liberal ideology. If you even smell of liberal air(sorry Chris Christie.....their rules, not mine) you shall be battered and bludgeoned in favor of a properly labeled conservative........who probably can't win a general election.

To all who follow HIS spirit be warned. Religion has become a conservative crutch for intolerance. The word denomination is code for disagreements that spawned another church. Sarah Palin calling the Pope "somewhat liberal" is all the proof you need that conservatives have claimed religion so much as their own, they can't relate to the liberality of Grace. Why do we need so many Christian labels? Did Christ really come to have several thousand interpretations of the simple Gospel of Grace? (another blog...another day)

Labels are the tool of division and serve only to allow us all to retreat to our corner of righteous indignation. Humans are just as flawed as the political and religious ideologies we dream up. The notion that any one of them is purely right and righteous enough for us to impose on each other is arrogant and dangerous.

While Obama's liberalism did not stop him from using a conservative plan to create ObamaCare, conservative disdain for government does not stop them from taking government tax credits or using loopholes in the code every year around April, although some are claiming that they won't take a healthcare subsidy. If I claim to be a socialist but wish God wasn't kicked out of our schools so that we could have an LGBT club instead, is there a label for me? Are there no LGBT Christians? I hate labels......All of them!

https://twitter.com/squarebiztweet

There Are Scorers and There Are Winners: Which one is Wilson Chandler?

We have seen Wilson Chandler do some really impressive things on the court.  It seems that his exile to China added a little euro-flair to his game to go along with a solid jump shot and some steady defense.

He comes out in most games and shows some solid signs of an NBA All star caliber player.  Her could put up 20 and 10 every night if he wants to, but until recently he didn't even realize that he needs to shoot with a green light.  If my brother Troy was given that same green light he would shoot 20 shots a half.  No, really.

Chandler is struggling to put up 15 shots a game.  Worse than that, he rarely shoots and scores in the waning moments of the game.  As a lifelong coach I have to remind all of my players that it matters little who starts each game.  The most important players on the floor are evidenced by their presence on the floor when the game is on the line.  Wilson Chandler is on the floor, but you would hardly know it.

What he does at the start of the game is soften you up with a deep 3.  Later, he will ball fake you and drive past you.  When you figure that out, he takes one dribble and pulls up inside of the 3-point line.  If they spread the court and leave  you by yourself he will drive at you, euro-step and lay a floater in the hole before you can get off of your feet.

When the game is on the line he will shoot 3's.  That's it. He will pass too, but since the team is looking for points and he has been instructed to shoot, he does.  If he adds the Michael Jordan, drive to the free throw line, pull up jump shot, he will dominate this league.  That spread legged, long range, wish it would fall, 3 point shot late in games could get him on the trade block soon.

Wilson Chandler is a high level scorer in the NBA.  Whether or not he is a winner is under jury deliberation.

Nuggets Coach Brian Shaw Say's: My Fault Fellas. (I thought you were better than that)

Can Chandler score late?

Somewhere into the middle of a 21 point lead I put that Suns game in the bag.  The Nuggets players bagged the game too, and paid for it.

Tonight's  game against the Clippers, the Nuggets get to take the value of a lot of lesson's and put them together.  The first lesson came when they returned from a long, but succesful road trip to get blasted at home by the Jazz.  The second was playing blow for blow with a big time contender in OKC, and shrinking in the end.  Jordan Hamilton had a deeper lesson about going blow for blow as he took a couple of stiff hip checks from Adams of OKC and retaliated with a swing that cost him a game.  He didn't even get his money worth with the love tap he laid on Adams.  Lesson: Get your revenge in the flow of the game, or shut up.

Last night's lesson was, 'don't look ahead'.  Coach told them to put this team to bed and save some energy for the Clippers and they came out to do just as he asked.  He told them that everyone would play and he did just that.  The problem with that formula is that it only works when it works.  If you don't win the game when you coast, you have to judge how liberal you should have been with the lineup. Yet, a good coach has to rebound from this type of loss. So what message does he give to his team in response?

My fault fellas.  I thought you guys were good enough to call off the dogs.

Brilliant coach.  Brilliant.

Watch out Clippers.