The power of the badge

I thought this joke was pretty good. :) It was taken from an email by the Patriot Post

The Power of a Badge

A Drug Enforcement Administration officer stops at a ranch in Texas and talks with an old rancher. He tells the rancher, "I'm here to inspect your ranch for marijuana."
The rancher points and says, "Okay, but don't go in that field over there."
"Mister," the DEA officer explodes, "I've got the authority of the federal government with me!" He produces his badge from his pocket and proudly displays it to the rancher. "See this? This badge means I'm allowed to go wherever I want -- no questions asked or answers given. Have I made myself clear? You understand me, old man?"
The rancher nods politely, apologizes, and goes about his chores.
A short time later, the old rancher hears loud screams and sees the DEA officer running for his life chased by the rancher's gigantic Santa Gertrudis bull.
With every step the bull is gaining ground on the officer, and it seems likely that he'll get gored before he reaches safety. The officer is clearly terrified.
The rancher throws down his tools, runs to the fence and yells at the top of his lungs: "Your badge. Show him your BADGE!"

Spring has sprung!

Hello brothers and sisters in Christ, I would like to begin using my blog as a platform for some accountability for growing in Godliness and combating the world's false ideologies. It is the first day of spring, a time for new growth.

First, a confession. I have become complacent and have not truly strove towards biblical fidelity in the ocean of ungodliness around me. If Godly growth is my aim and desire than I should have read the entire bible umpteen times as I am more than halfway into the first year of the second decade of my life. The truth is that for many years of my life, the bible has been put on the back shelf and largely ignored or forgotten.

As it says in 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness," 


Reading this verse in the past, I became confused as to why Paul would say teaching and training in righteousness in the same sentence. Isn't training and teaching the same thing? So why mention them twice? But, the reason they are in the same sentence is simply because the teaching refers to the Bible and the Holy Spirit being the teacher. Not me! Now... the last piece in the puzzle finally makes it complete!

My trips to Grand Island twice a week has given me many more hours of driving time that I wouldn't otherwise have enjoyed. The blackberry that I have, offers the capability to listen to pretty much anything I want on the way. I have listened to presentations by the Botkins, John Piper, and Paul Washer, as well as catching up on the news with the Laura Ingrahm talk show. :)

It has given me extra time to commune with God and meditate on scripture. I thought I would be bemoaning the long trips halfway into the school semester but instead it is quite the opposite!

I mentioned accountability at the beginning of this post, so I would like to explain the road map ahead for this blog. I would like to start with bi-monthly posts that explain what God has taught me the last few weeks. These posts will include the following:

• Scripture I have committed to memory
• Lessons or insights God has taught me 
• Excellent quotations I have heard or read

I see a tremendous lack in these areas in my life and want to try this and see if it helps fill in those gaping holes. I am excited to see what the Lord will do.

I also want to say that it would be easy to post this and give the glory to myself. But, that wouldn't be right. All the glory goes to our Redeemer and Creator.

If you would like to participate, I give you my permission to yell at me if I haven't posted a report after more than two weeks time. Other unrelated posts will probably be scattered between these bi-monthly reports, but it is my goal to stick with that schedule until the end of this semester.

P.S. To you guys who are reading this, I would highly recommend listening to a couple excellent dissertations on biblical masculinity. These messages were presented by Paul Washer at a men's conference and really challenged me.

Biblical manhood part 1

Biblical manhood part 2