Plan "B"

GREETINGS SIR/MADAM,

I AM PRINCE ABDULA QUANSA. MY FATHER, THE LATE KING QUANSA, HAD A GREAT SUM OF CASH IN A SECRET ACCOUNT ...

Ever get these emails? I get them all the time. I've been wondering what I can do about them when I realized that there's very likely no way to stop them from coming. They sneek past spam filters and they fill up my in box. Since I'm usually one for creative solutions, I tried to come up with some way of using these emails to my advantage.

I remember when I had been getting annoyed at the noise of the Harley Davidson motorcycles in my neighborhood that I decided to buy a bunch of Harley Davidson stock. That way, the noise was more like cash register rings.

So, I've started responding to these emails for soulwinning. :-) I urge you to do the same. You can copy my response or make up one of your own. Please be loving to these people. You may be the first Christian they have ever met.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your recent email. As you read this email, you are likely in a country with much poverty and crime and the Word of God is just a lone voice calling in a great crowd. But I tell you, that if you have access to the Internet - as you do - you can know today with the greatest of certainty that God loves you, and He has a gift and a plan for your life if you just accept it.

I get emails like this quite often. I have a great concern for people who are attempting to gather information and/or money from innocent people across the world. The motives for doing this act against God and humanity could be anything from simple greed to the funding of terrorists in other countries. It's very likely that you don't even know what your actions are funding on the other side of your employers. I don't know why you have chosen this life, but in any case, the results of such deception is clear. God's word says that the wages of sin is death. Moreover, the fate of sinners is almost too grim to mention.

But I leave you with GOOD NEWS! The wages for your sin has been PAID IN FULL if you are simply willing to accept the gift that God has freely offered and turn from your wicked ways. If you confess to God that you have been doing wrong, and that you are sorry, and you accept the the sacrifice of Jesus' death on a cross as the blood payment for your sins (which God requires), and that you are willing to obey His word - He will be quick to forgive you and give you grace beyond measure. These are the TRUE RICHES that you should be seeking. Not the things of this world which bring satisfaction for a short time, and are here today, but gone tomorrow. The true reason for your existence is to honor God, your creator, who loves you so much that He gave His only son to be the payment for what you are doing right now.

As I have taken much time to write this letter, and I have prayerfully considered everything in it, I urge you as strongly and as heartfelt as I can to please use the Internet to find information about God and His plan for your life. One place to start would be http://www.needhim.org/ or http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=276, but these are by no means the only places. I would also urge you, if you are able and if one exists, please find a local fundamental Bible believing church where you can have RICHES BEYOND MEASURE.

In God's Grace,

Johnny

Well, howdy! This week, I've been helping out with VBS, which is definitely out of my comfort zone. I've only tried helping out with youth one time before several years ago. It didn't work out very well because it was too easy for me to get to their level instead of the other way around. I tried it for a year, and it didn't have the results I thought it would have. But I was wiser for the experience.

Anyway, this year I was approached about helping out as more than just a cookie supplier. I agreed and we were off, but I really thought it was outside my comfort zone. The more I thought about it though, the less reason I could find to refuse (and the more reasons I had to help). I've been helping out with the penny offering and cleaning up mostly. For some reason, kids are messy. Then, Sheriff Stan got stuck in a meeting in San Francisco and couldn't make it to the skit. I was roped in, but I also semi-volunteered.

Yep, that's right. Speakin' roles and actin' and everything. It went much better than I had feared. That's most likely because I wasn't in charge. ;-) I put my cowboy hat and wranglers to good use this week. I don't have cowboy boots, so I wore my combat boots. I found a big belt buckle with a belt attached that has crosses on it - so it really matches the theme.

Who da thunk that I'd be running around in a cowboy outfit playing with kids and acting in skits. I tell ya', it's really been a blessing to help out, and I hope to do it more.

2 hours at a time last night. Broken by moments - minutes of WIDE AWAKE!

5 hours last night! Woo Hoo! No Tylenol PM either.

Sort of good news. I got 6 hours of sleep in a row on Friday night and 4 hours on Saturday night. A record weekend since the beginning of March. I've been licking my wounds this past week, and I need to stop, drop, and roll through it. Pray for me. I guess this is what life's going to be like for a while. How long? Only God knows.

I still can't believe it.

I was going to rant about how it still stings, but that wouldn't be productive. I pray for peace, the fruit of the spirit, each night. And I must forgive each morning. It's either that or start ripping pages out of my Bible. I do wonder how people (Christians) get around what the Bible says about this though.

So, it's high time that I get some pictures from the Pines up to the web.




More foot pictures. Michele and I spent some quality time at the pool playing chess. I actually went into the pool a time or two. I didn't spend much time in it, and I DID NOT use my snorkel gear (although the thought had crossed my mind to practice snorkel diving). For those who don't know, the pool is where most people spend most of their day.




I brought a canopy, but I wondered if anyone would use it or if they would rather be in the sun. Well, PU1 made first use of it, and before I knew it, the canopy was festooned with bodies. I initially brought it thinking that we could stand under it when we went shooting, but I didn't bring my gun. Consequently, I didn't go shooting - or golfing - or tennis. My shoulder is still sore from the Men & Boys campout, so I wanted to take it easy. Chess and Cadillac were more my speed this year.




Mom had noticed that except for Tony, all the kids from a picture that she took about 35 years ago were all up there and all still friends. Tony would be airbrushed between Dan and Me.

I wonder if people are going to take these other pictures of the same kids in 35 years. I'm not sure we'll be able to get Miles to put his foot in his mouth in 35 years. :-)



The remainder of our time at the Pines is spent at appetizers or dessert on people's porches. I LOVE the Deerings' meatballs and sausages and I LOVE the Scotts' popcorn. The Scotts win again for the most traveled distance. The only other thing that we do (but I don't have any pictures of) is lying down on the tennis courts at midnight while we cound satellites and comets. I did that about 1/2 the nights.

Lastly, we've finally solved the problem of not having fireworks for the 4th of July. Bill was talking about MythBusters and was telling people of the Diet Coke & Mentos trick. He got some 2 Liter bottles of Diet Coke and a tube of Mentos... Sure enough, the bottles would nearly empty when he dropped in a few candies.

It was a nice visit with everyone. I'm looking forward to next year.

I recently got a form in the mail asking if I wanted to be a permanent absentee voter. I think voting is one of the most important and abused and neglected rights that we as Americans have. One of the blanks for me to fill in is [POLITICAL PARTY:]. I was once a republican, but now I'm pro-peace. I can't be a democrat because I'm pro-life. I started by Googling "political parties" and was sent to Wikipedia's list of political parties. Hmmm, as my eye scrolled down the list...

American Fascist - no
American Nazi - nein
Democrat - nope
KKK - nah
Pacifist - whatever
Republican - nope

I also found two parties that had the word Christian in them. One was the Christian Falangist Party of America. Well, I know what a Christian is, but what is a Falangist? It turns out that it's roots are in Fascism. Well, Christian + Fascism = oxymoron, but I was willing to examine it closer.

Using Wikipedia again, The Christian Falangist Party is:

• Right Wing - o.k. I've heard people tell me I'm right wing
  
• Pro-life - that's definitely me
  
• Opposes gun control - why are Christian organizations so bent on preventing gun control? I think that if there's anything we should have control over is the ability to kill other people.
  
• Wants to outlaw public displays of homosexual behavior - alright
  
• Anti Islam - well as far as they're lost and need direction o.k., but I'm not "anti" anyone.
  
• Anti Freemasonry - hmm, old coots in funny hats. Same deal here. Instead of being anti-anything, I'm pro-God - first and foremost.
  

In reading about this party in Wikipedia, I got the feeling that they're no worse than any other political party that I get to pick from. They have the word "Christian" in their name, so they must have some Biblical principles, right? I clicked on the link to their website on Wikipedia, and I was pretty surprised.

For some value of 'home'. I finally got back after 9 on Sunday, and I'm simply exhausted. I left WP on Saturday afternoon after saying my goodbyes to everyone that I'm not going to see again for a while. We had a small crowd of 50 this year compared to the 100+ crowds of prior years. I drove up to Clear Lake, where Arna just opened up a coffee shop. It was her first day open, and the place smelled like freshly cut wood. She had done a complete remodel job of a former antique shop. It looked great, and I wish her all the blessings she can handle.

Next it was off to Tom and Laura's for a visit. I hadn't seen them in (oh, I dunno) about 10 years. They looked the same, but now they have two beautiful children. I couldn't get over how well behaved the kids were. I had to cut the visit shorter than I had wished because I told my Godparents that I'd visit on my way down, so I was off to visit them. I arrived, and they had just finished dinner with some friends. We chatted for quite a while - mostly about how everyone has been friends for so long. Sure, I've been friends with Michele for 40+ years, but Mike and Kay have been close with my Mom & Dad for more than 50 years! Imagine that. We all went camping with people who have known each other for 1/2 a century and longer. I'm still amazed and amazingly blessed to know people so long.

The sun had gone down, and I wasn't going to be getting home very early, so I thanked Mike and Kay for their hospitality and left Santa Rosa. I was a few miles north of the Golden Gate when I decided to call Melinda to see what she was up to. She was in a taxi cab coming home from Oakland airport after a trip to Chicago. I offered up a cup of coffee and she agreed. We ended up getting dinner instead, but it was a nice time of catchup after having been absent for a while.

I finally made it back to Mom & Dad's place since I was going to a baby dedication at my old church the next morning. I went to the Singles class at 10:00, service at 11:45 and a party after that at Paul & Tara's club house. I saw Robert finally and tried to catch up, but he wanted to know everything about me first, so we promised to make a weekend where we could really catch up on him. Robb, if you're reading this - you've just created more questions. The party broke up around 4, so I went back to my parents to reload the truck with all my camping stuff. I said my goodbyes and was going home. I was tired and hot and ready for some relaxation. I realized that it was going to be about 5:30 when I got home, and if I really wanted to, I could still make the evening service in Morgan Hill. I had plenty of reasons why I didn't have to go, but I'm really glad I did. We're still studying Joshua. Pastor really brings it all home and makes these studys personal.

I finally got home after 9 pm and besides the dead lawn, all was well. The house is still on the market, but I'm still not worried. The fridge didn't smell funny, and I even got a load of laundry started before hitting the hay. I finally drifted off around 10:30. Then, woke again at 1.