World Championships and World Champions Part 1

      Recently I went to the World Parachuting Championships in Ottawa, IL forty-eight countries were represented.  The last one I went to was in August 1972 in Tallequah, OK.  It doubled as a honeymoon having just got married. A lot has happened in the forty-four years since then.  There were sixty-eight countries at that event.  While I did not meet anybody that I could remember knowing back then, I did meet several people who were jumping at that time and we had many mutual friends.

    What I found interesting at the recent one was that almost the first people I ran into were parachute riggers.  That was my job when I was in the Army.  The sport has changed a lot since those days, but riggers are still a necessity to the sport.  Parachutes went from round to square for one thing.  The squares were just becoming popular when I quit jumping in 79 due to a back injury.  The views and attitudes however were pretty much the same as the last time I had an opportunity to have a multi-national conversation in France in 1974

                                                                                                                                                                  There was one major difference for me.  The last time I had such a conversation it evolved over a twenty hour period with about seven languages and fourteen nationalities involved in the conversation.  To carry on a conversation I would speak to the person from Spain who would speak to the Russian, who would speak to the Norwegian.  Then the answer would come back the same route.  Of course people hearing the conversation in their language would want to put in their two-bits, which is part of why the conversation took over twenty hours    

      At the end of the conversation we came to the conclusion that “we the people” of the world could get along.  We all wanted the same things, security for our families, a job, a home, an education, and being able to meet the needs of our families and loved ones.  We also came to the agreement that the problems of the world were created by the governments, not the people.  

     That conversation was over forty –two years ago.  My conversations this time were biased as I already knew what I wanted to ask and came away with one insight.  People from all over the world watch our elections and are just as upset with this election cycle as the Americans are and they, like many Americans, are not happy with either option we have for president. Also one thing that has not changed is that the governments are still the problem.

    Another insight I had is that it is a sport for skinny people.  There were very few people that looked over-weight.  When I left the sport I weighed in at 180 pounds.  After almost twenty years of trucking and eating where they had three all you can eat buffets a day I peaked out at just over 350 pounds.  I had lost 90 pounds by January 2004 when I had the big one.  It caused me to quit trucking and go on disability.  

      The reason I was losing the weight was  I wanted to start jumping again and the maximum weight for the equipment was 220 pounds.  After the heart attack and getting my defibrillator I gave up on the idea of jumping.  My logic was if I couldn’t drive, I couldn’t jump.  Then in November 2013 I got my Agent Orange compensation from the Army and went to Florida for a few weeks in January and February of 2014.                

                                                         

                          The Canadaians

      That was when I met some really neat Canadians from the Ontario area.  In the course of our conversations my problem came up and they said they did not see it as a problem and knew people in Canada who jumped with defibs.  Over the next few weeks I discovered people in the USA did also.  When I got home I asked my doctor and he said he had no problem with it.  So now I am trying to lose weight again.  I found 40 of the pounds I originally lost over the eight years between the two events. The good news for me was they raised the weight limit for the equipment to 250 pounds.  So now all I have to do is lose 60 pounds.  It should be a piece of cake as I lost 90 the last time.   

     

The World Champion Golden Knights Four                      Way Women's Team 

   Almost half of the jumpers at the World Championships were females.  In the day, meaning back when I was jumping, there were hardly any female jumpers. I certainly don't remember any female "teams" Of course that might have been influenced by the fact that most of my experience was in the military. 

      One of the good things that happened to me was meeting John King.  Or as he calls himself “The King of Riggers” I originally met him at the U.S. Nationals in 2014 along with quite a few other riggers, of which almost half were females.

      John is a pretty awesome experience to meet and he has a very outgoing and happy personality. John has been in the sport a day or two and is originally from England. He started jumping in 1966 and has managed to accumulate over 5000 jumps.  He has jumped in 35 countries and about as many states.  He has visited or been in over 66 countries.  He is the self proclaimed head of the Black Death Packing Company and has packed over 50,000 parachute according to him, and has never lost a customer.  As he claims, "they have always found the bodies."  If you ask him he claims be a Nylon Compression Engineer.

     He encouraged me in my attempt to lose weight. I had the opportunity to introduce him to my great nephew who was with me.  He asked where we were parked and I said near the restroom.  My grandson said near the gym and John said, “That is a waste of time, because you ain’t gonna use it.”  I said, “That wasn’t nice” and he said. “Sometimes the truth hurts.” And as I had only lost ten pounds in the two years since I had seen him he was right.  That evening at supper I was convicted that he was right and when I got home I ate the only peanut butter and Jelly sandwich I have ever ate in my life, at least willingly.  At 70 I may have eaten some when I was younger, but not because I chose to.  I never liked peanut butter or baseball, which almost makes me un-American.  Thanks to John I am back on my diet and hopefully the next time I see him he will be able to “see” that I have lost some weight.

Every time I think of him I am reminded of the verse from John 3:8, he is definitely a free spirit who moves where his spirit guides him, and says what needs to be said.                                                     

 

If he is not a legend yet, he should be.

Father and daughter rigging team from Brazil

Two young ladies from Poland who we met at our motel the first morning.

It was nice to get almost adopted by the Russian Team and their families

Gamal from Qatar

                                                     

Blessed to Death II

                                  Blessed To Death II
 

       Sometimes life can get really strange and at times it can even be a good kind of scary.  At almost seventy it has become my observation that when everything is going your way, things are about to change.  The thing that is hard to tell is how.  Last weekend part of my family came and spent the Labor Day weekend with us. It allowed me to spend time putting together a cabinet in my shop with my grandson Isaiah and my Great-Nephew Gabe. It was an enjoyable day for me as we had talked about doing it for some time and it had just never happened.  The blessings seemed to keep happening all week. Right after our youngest daughter passed away my wife and I were sitting on the front porch and butterflies started landing on us. At the time we did not have any butterfly bushes like we do now.  It gave us a lot of peace and still does when I think about it.

    Today I found out my twin Great-Grand-Daughters get to start the Headstart program next week.  My daughters went to it and I think it is an awesome program that gives kids boost when they start school.  Also their Mom got a promotion at work. Which means a pay raise.  I like the hours better.  It is getting old getting up at 4 AM to go take care of them.  Now I won't have to get up till 6 AM.

    Another neat thing is that for the first time in months I not only get three days off in a row.  My great-nephew and I get to go to Ottawa, Illinois to the World SkyDiving Championships.  Which is totally cool for me as I spent many years of my life involved in skydiving. The last time I went to one was in August of 1972 in Tahlaquah, OK and it sort of doubled as our honeymoon which was okay back then as we met because of my skydiving.

    Sunday will be the 15th anniversary of 9/11. Since then I have been technically dead and retired. I remember being in Bayonne, NJ that day and looking across the water and watching the smoke pouring from that building into the clear blue sky.  Wondering what kind of idiot runs into a building under those circumstances. In less than twenty minutes all of America found out what kind of an idiot would do that.

   Just this week I stumbled on something that made me wonder.  Anybody who has read my blog knows I am always looking at numbers and seeing how the Bible uses them. Sometimes they are used over and over. Fifteen years jumped out at me this week as I was reading and came across the story of Hezekiah.  He became king after his father Ahaz who worshipped pagan gods and idols. When Hezekiah became king he turned Israel's heart back to God.  God worked mightily on his behalf and he became sick and the Prophet Isaiah told him he was going to die,  The story has it he turned to the wall and prayed and God told Isaiah to go back and tell him he would get another fifteen years.  In the end he watched his sons go into the Babylonian captivity.  That was a great fall from where he was.

   It really moved me as I believe I was far more ready to die when I had my heart attack than I am now. I mean I don't mind the idea of dying, it just seems my heart was closer to God then than I am now.  Even though I still see him working on my behalf in ways that would take a book to explain. When I had my heart attack I wasn't ready for it, At least not financially, but the Lord sustained us through it all. I had to sell my truck and my equipment, but during the whole sixth months with no income till my disability started he sustained my family. That period lasted almost eight years, but it allowed me to be with my daughter during her seven year battle with her brain tumor.  Then a couple years later after she passed the Lord Blessed me. My income multiplied several times and made a major adjustment that I could see his hand in all of it.

    It is not my goal to scare anyone, but it would not hurt you to get a concordance and read the verses dealing with Hezekiah. Isaiah 36:1 to 39:8 and Jeremiah 15: 4 to 19 will give most of the story.  There is a little in IIChronicles 28:27 to 33:3 also.  You might read it though and come to your own conclusions on the matter.

    With the chaos in the present election cycle one has to wonder if God is getting ready to deal with America. Micah is another book that deals with things that were or are supposed to happen in the end time and much of it already has  Isaiah talks about the towers falling 30:25, but if you read from 23-26 you might get that it is in this day and age that cattle eat cleaned feed, that it is to come to pass. Isaiah has many verses that foretell of the coming of Christ.

  It is my prayer we all have a peaceful 15th anniversary and many more in the future,

How Dancing Lessons Could Fix America

                                            How Dancing Lessons Could Fix America


   Four or five days a week I take care of my twin four year old twin great grand-daughters from 4 AM till 3 PM while their Mom is at work.  It gives me a chance to bond with them and saves her the babysitting money. Their Mom had to drag them out in the cold to a babysitter in the middle of winter. It really bothered me until I read the verse in First Timothy 5:3 that says, “he that does not take care of his own is worse than an infidel.”  It was when I read the definition of infidel that I realized I needed to do something. I spent thirteen years in the Army and have always believed the saying, “ Your either part of the solution or part of the problem, so either lead, follow or get out of the way.” Understanding what the Word said, where I stood and what I chose to do were on me.

     After pondering the matter for a bit I realized I needed to do something. Being seventy years old and retired was not an excuse to do nothing. Age does not change the rule. When I told my wife what I intended to do she said I was nuts. She helps me when she is here, but she is gone several months out of the year and has lots of activities that take up her time. I don’t, so it fell on me. Having spent thirteen years in the Army and twenty years driving a truck, I was not around much when our kids were growing up.  My wife pretty much carried that load till they were grown.  I always felt a little guilty about not being home, but I was making a living. Now I am not and really have no excuse not to step up to the plate.

    It was a challenge at first with both of them in pampers.  I adapted to it and now that they are out of diapers it is a lot easier. My outlook is that if I carry the ball till they start school next year I will have fulfilled my duty in life. It may go on beyond that, but having already been dead twice, I will be happy to make it that far down the road. I learned in January of 2004 at the age of 57 not to take anything for granted. I had gone from 350 pounds down to 260 pounds and was exercising regularly when I had the big one. It forced me to retire and sell my truck and equipment. Also to make a lot of changes in life I had not planned for.

     At the time it happened my youngest daughter was fighting a battle with a brain tumor.  The hidden blessing in the heart attack was that I was available to take her to radiation and chemo during the seven year battle with her tumor.  She would have been thirty-nine last Saturday. She went home to be with Lord a couple weeks before her thirty-third birthday.

        As I look at all the things going on in the world around me, especially all the shootings here in America. I have to wonder what the cause is and is there a solution?  I have come to the realization there are two reasons why. One is a lack of responsibility and the other is a lack of discipline. Both come from being raised in a Godless and non God fearing society and world.  Especially when the vast majority of the world believes in a faith that offers no salvation or respect for God created life. So in essence we need to return America to its God fearing roots.

      The Bible says, ‘I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.” This verse has opened my eyes several times in the course of my life.  Recently I had a real big dose of it when I least expected it.

     My wife was gone to Texas for three weeks and I had the girls all by myself.  One day we were eating lunch and Nicole said to me, “Papaw, Emma stuck her tongue out at me.” I laughed and said we couldn’t be doing that and that we would have to cut her tongue off. Thinking that was the end of it I walked to other end of the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, I opened the drawer to get a spoon and suddenly Nicole came running up to me and grasped me around the legs and said, “It is okay. Papaw, you don’t have to cut her tongue off.” I have always tried to teach my kids that if I say I am going to do something, I am going to do it. This experience reminded me that sometimes we need to be careful what we say.

      Another time, my oldest grandson and his Mom who lived  with us were sitting in the kitchen talking about the good old days. As it was snowing and my wife was in Texas for a couple of months the conversation  got into the, “Uphill both ways in a blizzard type of stories.” Which turned into stories of things we didn’t have when we were kids. I told how I didn’t have a bathtub in the house I grew up in. We took bathes in an old metal tub in front of the coal burning stove in the kitchen and how I had to haul all the coal in everyday as one of my chores.

      Then my daughter Christina said that when she was growing up they did not have microwave ovens.  My nine year old grandson in total disbelief and totally serious said, “No way. How did you cook?” My daughter and I about lost it.

     My grandson Daniel and his Mom went on my truck with me out west. We went to Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, San Francisco, Crater Lake and after driving down the coastal highway to L.A delivering kitchen cabinets to distributors. We got a load going home via Las Vegas and stopped by the Grand Canyon on the way.  Just before entering the Park area we stopped to get ice. I got two bags and Daniel, who was eight at the time wanted to carry one of the bags. Outside the store they had a metal hitching post and I used it to break up my bag of ice before putting it in the cooler.  As I did I looked over and saw my grandson breaking up his bag of ice. It made me realize that everything we say and do is subject to being absorbed by those we come in contact with. Our walk with the Lord is not just a Sunday thing. Everything we do, all the time, is subject to interpretation by others.  Hopefully it is done in a manner that brings praise to the Lord and a good example to those watching us.

     Discipline was something I was taught early in life. Sometimes the lessons were more than I needed. I didn’t forget them and made my mind up early in life that my children would not receive the type of discipline I did. I can remember going to school one day when I was in the second grade and I was standing by my desk and did not sit down when the teacher said we could. She told me to sit down and I told her I would rather stand. When she asked why I told her my Dad had given me a whipping with a belt and that my legs were oozing and if I sat down my pants would stick to my legs and it would hurt too pull the pants loose. Something I had learned from previous whippings. She looked at me a couple minutes then said, “That is okay Richard. You can stand.”  She did not send me to the principals office or do anything else. That is just the way it was back then.

     Life has a way of going in circles. Later in life as the father of four wonderful girls the need to discipline became my responsibility.  I became very creative at it thanks to having to deal with and train soldiers in the Army who sometimes got out of line. I was taught from my time in the learning phase of military life that there are things that are worse than whippings.  My wife used lecturing the girls.  She would sit them down and start talking and sometimes it would go on for a couple of hours. It used to crack me up when I would see the girls roll their eyes and basically tune her out.  They were there physically, but mentally they left less than five minutes into the lecture.  The meanest thing I could do or say to them was, “I am going to let your Mom deal with you on this.”

     Eventually I did have to give in an use corporal punishment.  It came from an episode at the store. They were screaming and misbehaving and out of control. I was really frustrated and told them. “ When we get home you are going to get a dancing lesson.” They settled down and thought they were going to have fun when we got home.  When we did get home I took off my belt and asked them why they behaved the way they did. There were no answers.  They were focused on my belt. I don’t think I had ever hit them at that time, but I had a habit of snapping it together and threatening them when I was at wits end. I grabbed the oldest and gave her a whack with the belt and she howled. I told them their behavior at the store was unacceptable and if they ever did it again they would get another “Dancing Lesson” and that it was not a threat, it was a promise. They all four got their whack with the belt and it became the threat that would not be dismissed. If you were threatened with a Dancing Lesson, you would get one.  Even if it was hours later or even the next day. They knew if I said they were going to get one, they were in fact going to get one.  When they got older and I told them to go to their Mom, a couple times they asked me if I would just go ahead and give them their whack. My answer depended on the offense.

     They all grew up to be good people and Dancing Lessons have been passed on down through the generations. It is kind of a family thing. It still has the same effect and has made me realize that the lack of Dancing Lessons in America is probably half the problem we have today.

      I am into gourds and decided to take my great-grand daughters and their Mom with me to the state gourd show.  They have craft programs for the kids and it was my first time out in public with them. They were wild and unruly.  I told them when we got home that we were going to have a talk. It went much like the lecture my children received almost forty years ago.  I will say that I can talk to them now and they will settle down.  They listen to me and that is all I ask of them.

       The Bible says “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” I prefer to say, “Say what you mean and mean what you say.” Do not make idle threats and only use the rod to emphasize what you say. It works and it is something this generation needs to learn. Along with learning the book that the saying comes from, and getting to know its author in a personal way. It is a book that says what it means and means what it says. You can take that to the bank. I am a few years into taking care of the girls now.  They have gotten one dancing lesson and when I ask them they do not want another one, When they get totally out of control it is my threat of last resort, but I have never had to repeat the punishment, tho I have repeated the threat several times. If they see me pick up my belt the problem is over.
they have good memories and know why I am picking it up.

Comprehensive Two Part Gun Solution

                       Comprehensive Two Part Gun Solution

       Controlling the size or type of weapons will not reduce the crime level in America.  Several serial killers and mass murderers in American history never used a gun.  Jeffrey Dahmer, Timothy McVeigh and the 9/11 terrorist never used guns to inflict injury.  They fell through the cracks in the system back then and still would.  As far as I am concerned they can have an Abrams Tank as long as they are willing to cough up the fees for the permits and have a legal right to own a gun.

      The weirdos and wackos who are intent on committing a crime will do so regardless of the laws.  Just like Americans who use drugs.  If they want them they will get them.  A large portion of the killings in America are crimes of passion and they could be reduced considerably if the party involved knew they were going to pay steeply for their actions.  England and Japan are a perfect example of that fact. Why a two part solution? One part deals with the death and carnage that guns cause in our country and to save lives. That is a totally seperate issue from gun controls. I deal with both issues seperately, both, however, boil down to respect for human life.

     The real problem is a lack of respect for life and authority in America. All lives matter.  Yes even black lives matter. To fix the gun problem America needs to deal with the real problem.  Today in America there is a lack of willingness to accept blame or to assign blame.  The standard is to give everybody a break, especially criminals.  The gun problem needs to be dealt with by Federal laws.  The right to have a gun is given in the Constitution to all American citizens and should therefore be a Federal offense. Those not born in the USA should not be entitled to that right unless they are naturalized citizens who have sworn and allegiance to the United States. Just because someone is visiting America should not give them the rights of Americans guaranteed under the Constitution. That is not unfair as convicted felons no longer have the right to own a gun. I have been told that in some states they allow felons to only have muzzle loading weapons after a criminal conviction as it is what they had at the time of the Constitution's writing.

     England has a population of about sixty three million people, but they supposedly only had fifty eight shooting deaths last year.  In America almost 400 were killed by cops alone.  While America has five times the population England has.  We have over eight thousand shooting deaths a year. That is over one hundred and thirty times the amount shooting deaths England has.  Police in England do not even carry guns. That may have changed with all the terrorism today. The question is why so big a difference. The police officers in England perceive their duty as maintaining the safety of their fellow citizens, not defending the state.  It boils down to respect for life.

     The punishment system needs to be modified to reflect the seriousness of owning and using guns.  There needs to be a set punishment for certain crimes.  They need to be enforced with no plea bargains being allowed.  You commit the crime, you do the time.  My views may be harsh but they are fair if they are enforced without favor.  These laws all need to be Federal crimes and punishment done in the Federal prison system. Proof that you had a gun is all that is required to be sentenced. Period

     So how do we make room for all the new prisoners without building new prisons. America needs to decriminalize marijuana which is not the same as legalizing it. It simply makes it not a crime to have or grow it.  Alcohol is not illegal, but it is still regulated. Marijuana and all drugs grown from seed should be decriminalized. If you want to take the time to grow your own you should be allowed to. Native Americans are not allowed their religious freedom as the government has criminalized the plants they use in their ceremonies.  Prohibition should have taught us something. Decriminalizing alcohol and making it legal ended the mob violence. Legalization took the profit out of it for everyone except the government. Making laws against nature is almost as asinine as the politicians that pass them. You might check Genesis 1:29 and the Declaration of Independence and see that all plants from seed are a God given right.  Removing people from the prison system who have an addiction and treating them for it will make plenty of room in the prison system.  Then you will have room for the criminals who deserve to be there.

    The following laws would go a long ways towards a realistic solution. Ending the Wild West attitude in America would be a step in the right direction. There was a time when guns were needed. That time has passed. We also need to get our government out of the killing business. All lives matter, even foreign ones. The very first rule is that there are no plea bargains. You commit the crime, you do the time, period. 

     Why do I have such an attitude?  I knew a young man who at the age of 14 with two friends shot and killed his grandmother so they could go for a joy ride in her car. He was incarcerated in the state system as a minor and because of Indiana law, when he turned 18 he was released.  Just after he turned twenty he went back to prison for killing his employer.  He was an easy going and soft spoken kid and I did not believe he did the first murder and that his friends had set him up. The second murder proved I was wrong. Another young man I knew beat a man, there was no gun, severely.  He got a sixty year sentence and his victim is out living a normal life. The system definitely needs some reworking and making all gun related crimes Federal Crimes would be a step in that direction.

1.  Commission of a crime with a gun should be a Federal offense and should carry a minimum of a life sentence. Regardless if anyone is injured.  Just the presence of the gun at the time of the crime would require enforcement.  The word will get out quick and attitudes will change. (Japan has such a law and has virtually no gun murders)

2.  Shooting someone in the commission of a crime would carry a life sentence with no chance of parole.   

3.  If anyone is killed in the commission of a crime the minimum sentence is life in prison without the chance of parole. Number three may sound harsh but the victim who is shot does not get a second chance at life.  Knowing there is a set penalty for a crime might stop some from committing a crime, but not all. I worked my way through college tending bar in a private club and knew many customers who had DWI's and no license and continued to drive. Which proves to me that the only real solution is to remove the problem from society, or it will happen again and again. Till someone is dead. My preference would be capital punishment for crimes which take a life, with execution within twelve months of sentencing so we do not put the burden on society for the criminal’s action.  Would you want the person who kills you to go on enjoying his life at the expense to your family in the form of higher taxes?

4.  Anyone who possesses, uses, or transfers a licensed weapon without a proper permit and title transfer will receive a minimum five year sentence. Number four means if a person with no background check, no permit to own a licensed weapon or with a criminal record is in possession of a gun they can be charged.

5.  Threatening a person with bodily harm while using a weapon of any kind is grounds for a ten year prison sentence.

The only exemption from these punishments is an act of self-defense to preserve a life.

The sentences should be cut and dried.

Possesion of a gun during a crime automatic five years in prison.

If the weapon is used during the crime the sentence is an automatic ten years

Injuring a person during the commission of a crime, Twenty years to life. 

Taking a life in the commission of a crime, mandatory life sentence.

Taking of more than one life in the commission of a crime, automatic death penalty.

Persons committing a crime which requires the death penalty must be executed within ninety days of sentencing.

                                           Part II

This second part deals with gun ownership.

Guns should be broken into two categories or classes of guns.                                                  1. 1. Constitutionally allowed guns or type 1 guns.                                                                                 

2. Recreational Licensed guns or type 2 guns.

The mandatory sentences in part One apply regardless of the type weapon used in the commission of a crime.

Constitutional or type one guns should have no conditions to owning them or how many you can own.  This class includes muzzle loaders, bolt action, lever action, shotguns and revolvers.  All weapons that must be loaded or cocked between shots would be in this category.

 This nation was liberated from England with single shot weapons and it was preserved as a nation with single shot weapons.  Single shot weapons properly handled can save a life or shoot game to provide for the needs of the hunters family.  Generally these are not the weapons chosen for mass murders.  They are often used in crimes of passion however.  These guns should not require a permit or a license of any kind.  This would preserve the rights granted under the Constitution.  These would be called Constitutional or Type One Weapons.

     The second class would be recreational or licensed weapons.

     All semi-automatic pistols and rifles, and all automatic weapons should require a permit/license for ownership.  These would all be considered class two guns.

(We require a license to drive a car, and proof of age to acquire alcohol.  Both of which often take lives, just like a gun.) The permit should require both a background check and mental evaluation.  It should be kept on permanent record.  All of these weapons should be licensed just like a car with a minimal annual fee.  They should have a certificate of title and the title should be changed anytime ownership of the said weapon takes place.

    Anyone having three or more weapons should be classed as a collector. Collectors should be required to keep all their weapons under lock and key.  The weapons and the ammunition including magazines should be required to be in separate storage units each having its own key.

    Some of the funds raised by this program could be used to teach gun awareness and handling in the schools.  This would reinforce the understanding of why we have a second amendment.  It could be combined with an understanding of the

American Constitution and history. The classes should also teach ethics and values and the sanctity of human life when using guns.

   Finally and mainly the funds could be used to put bullet proof doors on American Schools and classrooms.  A card lock system that restricts the entrance to any school except by a designated door should be put in place.  The system should be able to lock all classrooms from the main offices.  A system similar to those used in most motels and hotels in America should be installed.  This could be used to restrict intruders from entering a classroom without the proper card.

     This system does not take away any rights.  It does provide for a system of control and accountability as to who has weapons.  Penalties could be put in place for having a weapon without the proper paperwork also.  The system of permits and licenses could be put in place retroactively without violating the Constitution or the ex post facto laws.  Slaves were long term held property and their status was changed by use of the Constitution and all were freed.  Regardless of their standing before the war, all blacks received freedom.  This would be similar in nature. The ex post facto laws should not apply

JESUS SAID IT, NOT ME

                       JESUS SAID IT, NOT ME

  .  With all the evil, death and destruction we see daily in the news, it has to make us wonder why it is happening.  To make it simple, it is happening because Jesus said it would happen.  Jesus quoted a lot of the prophets and events from the Old Testament.  In fact he quoted two of the most controversial characters of the Old Testament validating the references to them that many today say are not real.  He said only one sign would be given, “The sign of Jonah.”  He also said what it would be like in that time. He said it would be as it was in the days of Noah. He mentions marriages and feasts, but if we go to Genesis it is plain and clear that this day and age is very much like Noah’s days.  Genesis 6:5, and 6:11-13 tell what it was like.  Mankind was evil and the earth was filled with violence.  That does sound a little like this day and age.

     A lot of the focus is on ISIS and rightfully so.  However the evil and terrorist activities in a America are not all focused on or around Islam.  Waco, Oklahoma City, Columbine, and numbers of other events have nothing to do with Islam, but they do have to do with twisted and perverted views of or about religion. America has had as many or more attacks by Americans as it has by Islamic extremists.  As America continues to fall away from its Christian roots the problem will continue to grow.  The moral foundations are eroding.  That is plain to see for anyone that has read the Bible. It states clearly God will give people over to a reprobate way of life.  Reprobate basically means depraved and that is a good description of the world we live in today.

    While those things are bad enough there are other things that will be happening.  There will be two witnesses to the end time and they will not be saying things that make most of the world very happy. It says they will testify or witness for three and a half years and then they will be killed. That is totally believable especially in the present environment in the Middle East.  Surviving that long may be the real challenge. Fortunately it tells us where they will testify, Jerusalem, and that the whole world will hear them.  That part of the prophecy could not have happened till the last twenty years or so. One of the things I find interesting in Jesus prophecies of the end time in Matthew 24 is that he starts by saying people shall hear of wars in verse 6, but when he gets to verse 15 he switches from hearing to seeing. I do not think it is an accident. To me it shows the change from then to now and brings his message into our time.

     There will also be an earthquake at some point that will be like none ever before it. The Bible says that. In fact it was Jesus that said it, so you can pretty much take it to the bank. I have a couple links on that topic.  It is scary as it is suppose too kill a third part of mankind.  That is a pretty serious earthquake, but after the tsunami we saw in 2004 and as many people as live close to the oceans it is a distinct possibility.

    The Bible makes clear that we will see much tribulation before the end comes. The key is holding onto our faith as we see the world falling apart around us. If you believe in a Left Behind series of events, you may be in some serious trouble. The only way to survive is to have a personal relationship with God through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way to really “know” God is to know His Word, because His Word was made flesh and the Bible testifies of him.  We do not get to make our own rules, or pick and choose like it is a smorgasbord. We need to read it all and let him give a discerning spirit to our hearts so that we may know that whatever is coming.  He is with us till the end, if we are with Him.  The Left Behind series is not the Bible and is  only a writer's imaginary view of the end times, while it is good reading, it is weak on facts.

   The only thing I am saying in all this is that I believe the time is short. Does that make me right? Not even on a good day.  It does mean that when Luke 21:31 says you see “all these things” coming to pass it is time to start looking up and make sure our hearts are right with the Lord and if there is anybody we really care about, which should be everybody, then we need to share the love of Christ with them and start fulfilling the Great Commission in Matthew 28: 19-20.

    If you have been putting off getting to know the Lord, or sharing your knowledge with others, it may be time to start acting on what your instincts are telling you to do.  The evil in this world is hard to overcome and it is a challenge to separate ourselves from it. I used to look at terrorism and say well that is just how they live over there.  After the San Fernando attack two things changed for me. One it is not just over there and secondly and more evil to me is the fact the two who killed all those people worked with the people for a period of time.  They killed indiscriminately black, white, Asian, preachers, women and men. It was no longer an accidental random killing.  These people deliberately chose to kill the people they associated with every day at work. It made me realize there are two things Islam does not have that Christianity does. It does not allow for a personal relationship with God, nor does it offer the hope of salvation, and certainly no respect for God’s created beings. Instead its focus is on hate and destroying anything they do not understand. Like Mad Dogs they bite anything and everything. The bombings in the Middle East are both senseless and mindless acts that pervert the teachings of both the Bible and the Koran.  Fortunately we were warned by Jesus that it would be this way in the last days. So the only question is are these the last days?  If not we can be sure of one thing, things are going to get worse if we do not get serious about fulfilling the Great Commission and teaching that there is a better way. Thank God.

A Tale of Life and Death, My Last Post?

                                             Hard at work in the field in Panama

                              A Tale of Life and Death, My Last Post?

     Third time is a charm they say.  It saved my life at least once.  If one of the people in the operating room when I had my heart attack had not said it, I might not be setting here writing this.  That was clear back in January 2004. Tomorrow I will be going to get my third defibrillator since that historic event.  So just in case I am not so lucky this third time I thought maybe I would share why I write in the first place.  The purpose of this post is to show that God is in the details in our life and hopefully to show others that he is still working in our lives.  Update...All went well by the Grace of God, Lord Willing I will continue writing posts.

     There are four reasons I write.  First and most important, my Mother encouraged me too.  Second is because I entered a photo contest in Panama and my Battalion Commanding Officer gave me a job as a photo/journalist, based on my photography, and ordered me to write. Third my daughter wrote a blog while she was finishing her college Spanish requirements in Costa Rica. I saw it and liked it and she encouraged me to write stories.  So my grandkids might someday read them and know more about me.  The fourth reason is I like to write and it allows me to share some of the experiences I have had following God during my life so somebody else may be blessed as I have been.

    There is one difference between this third time and the first one.  I did not see it coming and did not even know what was happening, but I was at peace with God and would have been happy with the outcome regardless.  This time I know it is coming and I thank the Lord for these last twelve years.  Especially for blessing me with seven grandchildren and two great grand-daughters, and they truly are. A few years ago I was reading a verse in the Bible that says, “He that does not take care of his own is worse than an infidel” Then I looked up the word infidel and it means a person that does not know God.  It changed how I look at things in life, especially my relationships to people and doing things for those we love, or at least are supposed to love.

    The following Testimony was taken from the start of a book I was trying to write which never really got finished though pieces of it are all over my blog posts, but nowhere in its entirety, I pray you enjoy and it doesn’t bore you to death.

       My youngest daughter Glenda's dog, Forrest Gump, She left him to me in her 

        Will  She went home to be with the Lord in August 2010 just before her                         thirty- third birthday and after fighting a seven year battle with a brain tumor.  

        She left behind three sons.  So no matter how it turns out tomorrow I get to be                with ones I care about

                                               A TESTIMONY

      Do dates and times mean anything? Well the 22nd of January, 2004 will be important to me as long as I continue to draw a breath of air.  It was literally the first day of the rest of my life.  If one has been dead and managed to come back, that tends to get your attention. Actually, this was one of the last major events in my life.  Is it right to start at the end?  It doesn’t really seem to matter. Lots of dates seem to be important to us. Our birthday, the day we got married, and the day we got out of the Army could all be important to us.

       When you wake up and don’t really know where you are, with a doctor you don’t know from Adam leaning over you and listening to your heart with a stethoscope, it might seem a little strange.  When he asks you how you are feeling, the only witty answer you can come up with is, “I feel like I have a six hundred pound gorilla on my chest.” It really gets strange when the doctor starts talking about being lucky to be alive. Then he says something about having lost you twice and putting some kind of things in your heart. The doctor then asks you questions like you are some kind of computer. “Do you drink?” “Do you smoke?”  “When did you quit?”  “How much did you smoke?”  “You need to lose some weight,” he says. Finally, here is, something I can give a positive answer to. “I have lost eighty pounds over the last six months,” I say, trying to smile. “That’s good,” he says, “If you hadn’t, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation.” I am thinking, “I thought that was the whole point of losing weight.” My attitude is starting to get a little sour when all of a sudden the light comes on to what he is saying.  Having lost all that weight actually did help save my life!  All of a sudden, I feel a little bit better about all this.  However, the gorilla returned to his seat, and I went back to sleep.

    The next time I remember waking up my wife and daughters were standing by my bed. I don’t really know how long I slept, but it was about eight or nine in the morning when the ambulance took me to the hospital in Baltimore. So, considering my family came from Indiana, it must have been awhile.

    Who am I that I am writing a book about my experiences and my understanding of them?  Very simply, I am nothing and nobody. So, what makes me feel I have something to say that may interest you?  How about a common bond, in that we are both seeking to know the will of God in our lives!  At least it is my hope that is our common bond.

        Why start with a testimony?  Well, first, it gives you an insight about me and where I am coming from.  It is not my desire to have you waste your time reading something you think is just a nice story.  However, I will try to tell it in such a way that you don’t have to use toothpicks to hold your eyes open. Yet, I want you to know that everything said in this book is the truth to the best of my knowledge. If you begin to believe what I am saying is not the truth, then I encourage you to quit reading this and spend your time more productively by truly seeking the presence of God in your life.

       Millions of people have heart attacks every year. What makes mine so special or different? Maybe it was the circumstances. One thing is that only by the grace of God, did I had the wisdom to ask the people at the business where my situation occurred to call an ambulance for me, because more than once in my life I had shrugged things off physically till I literally woke up in a hospital.

      Initially, I had broken out in a cold sweat.  That happens to people who have hypoglycemic attacks because they do not eat properly. Your sugar levels get all out of whack.  Driving a truck and eating regular meals sometimes is not easy to do. Often you are not near a place to get something, and you wind up spending longer than you intend waiting to get loaded or unloaded. However, that morning I had eaten a normal meal. Thinking it was still just an imbalance issue, I went to the cab of my truck and got a swig of pop and some soda crackers which usually worked.

        Upon returning to the inside of my trailer, it quickly became apparent something else was wrong, as I could not get my breath.  I mean, I could breathe, but it was like I was not getting any oxygen.  Finally, things started into a slow spin, and the urge to go to the bathroom became overwhelming. With much effort, somehow I managed to get the couple of hundred feet to the office and asked the people there to call me an ambulance. It was a just a matter of minutes till the ambulance arrived.  The ambulance was on the way back to the hospital from a previous run and was only a couple of blocks away when they got the call. Much of this I found out after the fact.

      One of the things I do remember is how nice the ambulance crew was upon their arrival.  Getting on the cart was the last thing I remembered till a doctor at the hospital asked me to sign a paper and told me he was performing a procedure to help me, because I was having a heart attack. If I signed the paper, I do not remember.  The next memory I had was the doctor standing over me with the stethoscope.

 

     Coincidence number two was that I had only been about a mile and a half from Saint Agnes hospital in Baltimore. If you are going to have a heart attack, that is a good place to be.  The reason is that Saint Agnes was the first hospital in America to come up with the idea of a specialized cardiac care facility.  They also have some of the top people in the field of cardiac care.

     The third thing that saved my life was that the actual cardiac arrest did not start till I was in the emergency room at the hospital. The doctor informed me that if I had not been where I was, when I was, we would not have been having our conversation. He said if the attack had started in the warehouse, they could not have gotten me to the hospital in time to save my life,  even with the short distance involved.

   Supposedly, the final thing that saved my life was that, during the emergency, they had to hit me with the defibrillator paddles. They lost me twice.  As I understand it, the first time they brought me back with a single hit.  However, the second time they hit me twice, and I did not come back.  They thought I was gone; and someone said “Third time is a charm,” and they hit me again.  Fortunately, it worked.  The burn marks from the paddles were one of the worst side effects of the whole ordeal.  However, if you consider the alternative, it was not that big of a deal.

        Several days later, my family and I left Baltimore and flew into Louisville, Kentucky on our way home.  This small part of my life came full circle to me as I looked down at the C-130 airplanes on the tarmac at the airport. The C-130 had been central to several of the main events in my life.  It was almost as if I heard an audible voice say to me “You have had your time; now it is my time.”  God had given me fifty-seven years of life, and now He was calling a promise I had made due.

        Why me; why now; why at all?  God does not have to answer to anyone, especially a man who has run from Him most of his life. He has spoken through the mouth of a donkey. That is in Numbers 22.  He has used people who were the epitome of evil to get “His will” done.  Also, just as I know, I could die before I get this done; God will get His message out with or without me.  It is vanity and pride to think God needs us to do anything.  However, I believe the things I have come to understand and see, speak to this day and age in a special way and with a special purpose. Yet, God’s Word has always been special.  Soon and very soon, mankind will come to a very vivid understanding of that.

       Yes, I believe we are in the end time.  The next part of my testimony will test your ability to accept things as they are. Some will discard what I have to say quickly and say God does not speak to people anymore. That is their privilege.  However, when I read the Bible, I find that Jesus marveled at two things while He was here on earth.  He marveled at total blind, unquestioning faith, and He marveled at unbelief.

               First, I would like to say something about unbelief, because I think it is the most deadly thing that can happen to someone. When someone rationalizes why they do not believe something or why God cannot do something, they are treading on very, very thin ice, as far as I am concerned. Yes, there are some things God cannot do. Before you write me off as nuts, at least read the next paragraph and see if you do not agree with me. Only a faithful person will agree.

     First, God cannot lie. If God says it, that makes it truth. Second, God cannot steal, as everything in the whole universe belongs to Him to start with.  Thirdly, and finally, God cannot cheat, because He is the One who makes the rules to start with. So there are three things God cannot do.  That may be playing with words, but it is the truth as far as I see it.

     That is as good of a place to start in my estimation as any. When asked what truth was, Jesus replied, in John 8:32 “I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  If one comes to understand that Jesus was God’s Word made flesh, then you also know that without knowing Him, God’s Word, you cannot know God.  John 17:17 makes it clear we are “sanctified through the truth, and His Word is truth.” Too many, that may sound adversarial, but if you are seeking God and if you hope to find Him, it will be on His terms.   If you are not willing to meet Him on His terms, you are suffering from vanity and pride. Those are two of the things He hates most so your chances of success are slim unless you discover a little humility along the way.  You do not even have to ask to get a big dose of humility.  It is one of the reality sticks with which he opens blind eyes.

  All that being, said I must admit, yes, I have lied and occasionally still do.  However, nowadays, it is more from senility than intent. The testimony I am about to give though is the truth.  It is still as fresh in my mind as the moment it happened. Reflecting on my past, I would say one of my biggest problems was that I was a “the grass is always greener” person.  The only good places in life were where I had been and where I was going. It took me many years to get over that.  Once you learn to be happy with where you are, God will open the gate and put you where He wants you to be. However, it will be on His timetable, not ours.

      It is not my intent to bore you, but I would like to give you enough background on me to be able to form some type of an opinion.  It will be warts and all as they say.  It is not to shock or upset, but let you see some of the wrong turns that the good Lord can undo when given the opportunity. Believe me I made plenty in my life.

                                                                A Vision ?

       In January, 1967, I went to bed, and, best as I can remember, everything was normal.  I had not been drinking nor doing drugs. I did at that point drink sometimes, but I had never tried drugs other than those prescribed by a doctor.  The next thing I knew, I was standing at the window of my room in the barracks looking out.  The window was open, and it was a nice spring like night.  As I looked, I saw two people walking down the street across from the barracks.  All of sudden, I realized one of the two people was me. I was telling the person with me about the Bible and the coming of the Lord.

      It was or seemed like a spring like night. One thing I noticed was that I had this peace about me. It was a peace that surpassed all understanding.  It was a peace to the core of my being.   Believe me, that was not the state of my life at that moment in time.  The next thing I knew, the heavens parted and I saw Christ coming forth on a white horse, with an Army in white, and a golden staircase preceded him. Trumpets blared, and the earth shook, and people started running in all directions and screaming.  Again I noticed that peace about me. All of a sudden, it was over.

        The next thing I knew, I was standing at the window and looking out. However, it was not a spring like night.  It was blowing snow and freezing cold, and about six inches or more of snow was on the ground.  I stood there a couple of minutes kind of dumbfounded by my experience. I looked around the room. The light was on.  It was a four man room, but all my roommates were gone.  It was very late. I closed the window and watched as a couple of cars passed by.  Slowly, I went back to my bed, turning the light off on the way.

   

      I laid there and tried to absorb what I had just experienced.  It was some time later when one of my roommates came in.  That was a relief.  It was not the rapture, and I had not been left behind.  I remember his asking if I was okay.  I said yes, but wondered if my voice betrayed my concern. He never mentioned it again.  Sleep was hard coming, but sometime later it overtook me.

        The next day I talked to Allan who lived in the next room.  That was his last name, at least I think it was, and I do not remember his first.  After all, it was forty plus years in January.  That is not an excuse, because I can close my eyes and replay that moment almost as vividly as the moment it happened.  It had not been my custom to talk to Allan; in fact, he was almost a social leper. He was a born again, Bible thumping Christian.  In the course of the day, I managed to get alone with Allan and discuss my “experience” with him.  He seemed to tolerate me.  While I had not played any of the tricks on him that the others had, I had not shown any sympathy or compassion either.  His main advice was to pray on the matter.

        While I did not do much praying, I did consult a Bible.  My success was limited to a verse a member of our church had written in the Bible before giving it to me on my return from Bible camp. It was Proverbs, chapter three, and verses five and six.  Since that day, they have become my life verses.  The fact I still had that Bible was a miracle in itself.  At that moment in time, it was my Rock of Gibraltar. It was all I had to cling to.  It was the needle that led me out of the haystack of confusion, although it was some time before I truly even grasped its significance.

      Slowly, I came to the conclusion that the Rapture was going to be in the spring.  So I came up with my plan.  Like Jonah, I ran.  I volunteered for Vietnam.  In my peanut brain and higher logic, I expected God to put everything on hold while I went to Vietnam. Spring came and went, and I was still in Germany.  Finally, in May, I got my orders for Vietnam and had to wait till the 20th of June, 1967 to leave.  In my job as a parachute rigger, I thought I was going to go straight to Israel instead. God was playing a trump card and sending me straight to Armageddon. Let me say that Israel was going to have backup if they needed it. The Israeli Six Day War came and went though, and off I went to Vietnam, with a short stay at home in the states.

       After forty-five days at home, it was time to go on to Vietnam and my appointment with destiny.  My year in Vietnam was a strange one to say the least.  It turned out to be more of a Jonah experience than I realized.  The units I was assigned to were over- staffed.  Upon arriving at the 101st Airborne in Phan Rang, I spent ninety days guarding water pumps for the Air Force.  After that, I returned to my unit, only to be transferred to Cam Ranh Bay.   Shortly after arriving there, it was my privilege to again be sent on temporary duty.  I managed to survive three months of driving convoys up and down the coast on Highway One.  Little did I know that this would open a door later in my life . Finally, when the Tet Offensive started in February of l968, it was my chance to perform in the field the Army had trained me for at great expense.  Many units were cut off and completely surrounded, our job became vital. We were returned to our home units.  Supply by sky, or by parachute specifically, became the sole means of getting supplies and equipment to many units. It was around the clock work for almost sixty days.

      Finally, my time in Vietnam came to an end.  When I had volunteered for Vietnam, it was really to get back to the states a little quicker.  At this point, I need to give a little background as to how I got to Germany the first time.  I had reenlisted to go to France, and upon getting there in September of 1966, my dream got cut short.  French President De Gaulle told the Americans to leave.  You know who left with the advance party.  Not being impressed with Germany helped me make my decision to volunteer for Vietnam.  The vision or dream I had also helped encourage me to leave. Otherwise I would have spent three years in Germany and then my last year in the States.  However, by going to Vietnam, I would get back to the States almost two years earlier and finish my time there.

      It almost worked.  I did go back to the States after leaving Vietnam, and spent almost eight months in a heavenly place known as Fort Bragg, North Carolina.  It was not Germany, and it definitely was not Vietnam, so for the time being I was happy.   At least till February of 1969, when I got orders to go back to Germany.  It was funny how Germany no longer seemed like such a bad deal.  After all, I was not going back to the same unit I had left.  At the time, there were only two company size units with my job specialty in Europe. At least I was not going back to Idar.

      As they say, God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.  My time flew by, and I took my short leave and off to Germany I went. Arriving at the airport of Rhine-Main in Germany, I got off the plane still in a fairly exuberant mood. The Rapture had not happened, and I was back Germany, but not where I was before. As I exited the terminal a young specialist walked up to me.  He asked my name.  He was there to pick me up.  Well, first, they do not send a jeep to pick up a specialist, and secondly, he was not wearing an Eighth Division patch.  He was wearing the patch of the unit I had left almost two years before. In short order, I explained these minute details to him.

       He smiled and handed me my “new orders” explaining I had been transferred en route back to my old unit.  My cheeriness of moments before was gone.   Getting my bags and the almost three hour drive back to my unit was all a blur, and truly hardly any of it is remembered.  My conversation was mechanical, as I was lost in deep thought all the way.  How could this be, I kept asking myself.  Finally, we arrived, and I came out of my stupor.  There were a lot of smiling faces, a lot of back slapping and shaking hands.  The job field I was in was small.  After just four years in the Army, I had served with and went to school with many of the soldiers greeting me.  Also, as I said, it was a three- year tour, and I had only been gone two years. So some of the faces were familiar from when I had left.

       It was almost surreal as I came “home” the conquering hero.  They carried my bags in and took me to the First Sergeant and introduced me.  He shook hands and welcomed me to the unit.  Then he explained he would get someone to take me to my room.  I remember telling him that would not be necessary as I knew where I was going.  He explained that was impossible as he had not even told the clerk where he was putting me yet.  I smiled and looked at him, and by this time I knew where this journey would end.  I had literally gone clear around the world and was back in the same Company, in the same barracks, on the same floor and in the same room.  I explained to him my room was the second from the end on the right.   He looked at me puzzled.  I just smiled back and left with my entourage.

     As I reached the room, I opened the door and looked in. The bed on the right was taken the two by the windows were also taken.  Finally, I looked behind the door and sure enough the bed and wall locker were empty.  I had gone all the ways around the world to come back to the very same bed and wall locker I had left almost two years before. However it hit me that God does have a sense of humor.  The day I arrived was April 1 1969.  At that point, I became a little overwhelmed by it all.  I asked all the people to give me a few minutes alone.  I sat down on the bunk and leaned back against the wall.

       Many might dismiss all this as coincidence, but I felt God had actually showed me the reality of his Being.  As I sat, there I told God, “I do not know what all this is about. I will not be a hypocrite and get down on the floor and plead and beg. But I know now you are real and there is a meaning and a purpose to all this. I intend to continue on with my life, and, when it is time, you give me direction.  I will do whatever it is you want me to do. I do not know what it is, but I will do it.  My life is in your hands; do with me as you please.  When you call I pray, I have the wisdom to answer.  The call came in April of the year 1984.  At least the call to start turning my life around and get some direction to it seemed pretty clear at that point.

      That moment is also etched in my mind and was a moving experience.  However, this whole thing is not about me. It is about knowing God and His Word and having the faith to live by that Word.  In the course of this testimony, I left out a lot of the details, because, while they are important to me, they are not what this is all about.  It is about a revelation I have had over the years in my time in the Word of God.  There is nothing new here that has not been there all the time.  It is just looking at it all from a different perspective and saying why is this here?  What does it actually mean?

       To me, it means if we are willing to get into and truly search his Word, the answers are there.  The whole plan is laid out for us to see.  We just need to open our eyes.  The stories are not for entertainment, but for enlightenment.  All I am about write and explain came from asking God to answer one simple question.  He has been over twenty years answering it.  The answer gets more and more detailed as time goes on.

       Many years ago, when I first started walking the way the Lord wanted me to walk, at least I felt it was the way he wanted me to walk, many things troubled my mind.  Some things I could not grasp. Had I any clue how detailed the answer would be I might have tried to change my profession, had I felt called in that way.  To this day I have not felt called, just blessed.  At least that was the way it was till I started this project.  This has become a consuming fire.  Often I wonder if I have waited too long or put it off too long, but I do not feel that is the case. There is a purpose to all that God does, and, after, all this time I know He would have put a boot under me or sent the message to another.  Only time will tell, but it is my belief I will be here for the rapture.  Sooner or later “it will happen.”  My belief is that we are closer to sooner than we are to later.  My recurring question is, will I know that person I was walking with in my vision when I meet him?

The rest of this book is basically things I have come to understand out of the Bible that makes me believe we are at a time close to the end.  If you are not into end time stuff, this is a good time to quit reading, but all that follows is taken directly from the Bible.