The Gaffe Wars

Let's face it, some politicians just aren't that bright. If they were, they would have picked another profession. Every politician makes a gaffe occasionally during a speech or an interview (For Joe Biden, "the Gaffe Machine," it's more than occasionally).

Liberals in the media love to ridicule conservatives for their little slip-ups. Remember Dan Quayle and the whole potato / potatoe issue? The media has hammered Sarah Palin for some of her mistakes, and now liberals are going after Michele Bachmann for her recent string of snafus... like when she said John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. (It was actually John Wayne Gacy. Ooops!)

Sure, conservatives make their share of slip-ups. But there is a double standard in the media in pointing out the gaffes of conservatives vs. liberals.

Why does the media always portray Barack Obama as a genius despite his inability to talk without a teleprompter but constantly portray conservatives as dummies? The bias in the media is obvious.

So, in the spirit of fair and balanced reporting, I've taken it upon myself to point out just a few of our president's bone-headed gaffes. Here are a few of Obama's quotes, straight from the horse's mouth:

"Over the last 15 months, we've traveled to every corner of the United States. I've now been in 57 states? I think one left to go."

"...I've got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby."

"The point I was making was not that Grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person..."

"...I inhaled frequently. That was the point."

"Let's not play games. I was suggesting - you're absolutely right that John McCain has not talked about my Muslim faith."

"You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig."

And my favorite Barack Obama quote: "...answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade."

I'm afraid it's all above your pay grade, Mr. President. But, hey, at least you're smarter than Joe Biden!

Have Faith

“Faith defies reason, transcends feeling and gets results every time.” I read that in a devotion, and it really challenged me to trust in God even more.

Many times, we want a reason for everything. We want to know why we are facing hard times . . . why we must go through trials . . . why we struggle with pain and sickness. I know I have asked these questions at times in my life.

God cannot be proven or explained. He’s known only by faith. As believers, we are called to live by faith. Our entire Christian experience is based on faith. Even salvation is through faith in Jesus.

Romans 3:22 says, “The righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” And in Romans 5:1, it says, “we have been justified through faith.”

One of my hardest struggles sometimes comes from wanting explanations and reasons. But Paul says, “to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life.” God is looking for people who will simply take him at his word.

The good news is that it only takes a little faith for God to begin to work miracles in our lives. In Matthew, it says “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Abraham was not perfect. Twice he lied, saying his wife was his sister. And when God told Abraham to move from his homeland, leaving his family behind, he decided to take his nephew and father-in-law with him. But God called Abraham his friend. God considered him righteous because of his faith.

Hebrews 11:1 sums it up, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

God has challenged me to stretch my faith and see if he won’t “move mountains” in my life. Start stretching your faith today and see if you don’t start seeing results, too.

Lone Star Leader

If you want something done right, leave it to a Texan. Our governor, Rick Perry, is testing the waters and is considering jumping into the race for president. I hope he takes the plunge.

Perry has a stellar record as a conservative. During this recession, Texas has created more jobs than any other state, and Perry has done a good job on budget issues. This is the kind of leader we need as president.

I will support Perry if he runs. I like him because of his conservative and Christian values. Perry knows the power of prayer. He has called for a Day of Prayer in August and is joining with other southern governors to pray for our states, the country and the 2012 election. I admire Rick Perry for this. President Obama wouldn't even acknowledge the National Day of Prayer in May. I'm glad our governor didn't follow Obama's example.

In a race between Perry and Obama, it would be a landslide for Perry. Perry has the experience of running a state for 10 years and has been successful at bringing new jobs to Texas. Obama isn't qualified to run a lemonade stand!

I'm excited about the upcoming primary season. The liberal pundits are saying the Republicans have a weak field of candidates. I think it's a strong field, especially if Perry gets in.

Whoever wins the GOP nomination, it should be easy to defeat Obama. If the economy is still in shambles by this time next year, Obama is finished. He's probably finished anyway.

I like the e-mail I read the other day. It said, "If you voted for Obama the first time to prove you're not a racist, you'll have to vote for someone else this time to prove you're not an idiot!" That pretty much says it all.

We've seen what a Chicago politician has done to the country. It's time to put a Texan back in the White House!

One Nation Under God

The godless liberal media strikes again. This weekend, NBC edited a patriotic video at the beginning of the U.S. Open, omitting the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. The video aired twice, and both times the reference to God was left out.

NBC probably thought no one would notice. Wrong! NBC caught so much flak during the show that it issued an apology, saying the omission wasn't intentional. But people aren't buying it. NBC is continuing to be hammered with criticism.

The omission, whether deliberately or accidentally, is just the latest example of the liberal media trying to push God out of our country.

It's sad to see this happening in our country. It's dangerous, too. The Bible says if any nation rejects God, God will reject that nation. I don't know if all the weather disasters we've seen across the United States this year are a result of our nation turning away from God, but it could be.

America is an extremely blessed country. But it's possible that we have walked out from under God's protection and are reaping the consequences of our actions. A severe drought continues to worsen across Texas and the Plains states, and wildfires are raging in Arizona and New Mexico. We've seen a record season of tornadoes and floods. It's bad everywhere you look. And then there's the turmoil with the economy, too.

This should cause us, as a nation, to cry out to God, repent of our sins and return to the Lord. In Amos, it says, "Seek God and live." We need to seek God while He can still be found. It will be a terrible day when God removes His hand of blessing from the nations that reject Him.

I am asking my friends and readers here to pray for our country. God won't abandon us if we seek Him with all our hearts. That's the only hope we have. We must return to God and be a nation that honors Him.

Character Counts

Character counts. Or at least it used to. I was taught that if I am honest and hard working I would gain the respect of others. Loyalty, trust and diligence were important traits for getting ahead in this world. These days, though, the opposite seems to be true.

Today, people seem to look down on Christians and those of noble character while making dishonest politicians and Hollywood actors their idols.

Look at the difference in the way the media treats Barack Obama and its treatment of Sarah Palin. The media helped propel Obama into office by ignoring his radical past and exalting him as the greatest politician ever. He could do no wrong. And the majority of voters went right along with this charade. They overlooked his lies and cover-ups and elected him president anyway.

But now look at how Sarah Palin has been treated. Because she is a conservative and a Christian, she has been attacked in the media since the day she was picked as John McCain's running mate. The media has doggedly gone after her and tried to ruin her reputation. They've been obsessed trying to dig up dirt on Palin, even making up vicious rumors about her.

This treatment of Palin continues even though she's not even running for office now. Recently, the media went through all of Palin's e-mail trying to uncover something to discredit her.

We don't see the media searching through all of Anthony Weiner's congressional e-mails, though. In fact, CBS has gone out of its way to ignore the Weiner scandal, and many voters in Weiner's New York district said he should be allowed to keep his job.

People have their priorities messed up! Character does matter. It matters a lot. I want honest politicians, not the likes of Anthony Weiner, John Edwards and Arnold Schwarznegger.

One day, they will all stand before God, and all of us will, too. On that day, our character will matter when we will be judged by how we have lived our lives.

Flashback Weekend

This weekend was another trip down memory lane. Old cars, old music and old friends made it a great weekend.

I love old cars, and Pampa has a classic car rally and car cruise each year in June. Owners come from as far as New Mexico and Kansas to show off their antique cars. You just have to remember that the rule for cars is the same as it is for women: "You can look all you want, but don't touch!"

There was a lot to look at. My favorite at this year's show: a '40s model Lincoln Continental limousine. I didn't know there were Lincolns back then. I also liked the 60s' Chevy pickups.

After displaying their cars during the day, drivers then paraded them up and down Pampa's main street in the evening. People lined the sidewalks to sit back and watch the car cruise. It was a lot of fun, remembering the days when cars used to cruise the drag in downtown every weekend. Anyone remember the drag and Caldwell's Drive-in?

I got another taste of nostalgia at Kenny Rogers' 50 years of hits concert in Amarillo. He sang a lot of the great old songs that were hits for him during the past 50 years. He's had a lot of them! "The Gambler," "Lucille" and "Coward of the County" are a few of the songs he did last night.

He's quite a showman, too. At one point in the concert, he threw out $10 bills to a guy in the audience for each Kenny Rogers' hit song the guy could name. The guy got more than $100, a pretty good deal for him.

Billy Dean opened the show. He was a popular singer in the '80s, and I'd always wondered what happened to him. I pulled out my old cassette tape of him and am listening to it as I write this. He's still a good performer as last night's concert proved.

Good weekend, good times and good memories... it doesn't get much better than that!

God Always Provides

I'm thankful today that God provides for me and takes care of every need. It's been 18 months since I had to quit work. I know that because my Cobra insurance just expired. I'm glad I had the insurance as long as I did.

But now Medicare coverage doesn't kick in until I've been on Social Security Disability for two years. That leaves a six-month gap between Cobra and Medicare. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I prayed, and once again, God has provided! United Healthcare, the company I had my Cobra coverage with, gave me an 11-month Disability extension.

The Disability coverage is usually a lot more expensive. The company said I could have to pay as much as 150 percent of my Cobra premium. That would hurt! When I got my first statement, though, the premium was exactly the same as the Cobra. So I thank God that He took care of the need and I have insurance until I am eligible for Medicare next year.

Of course, who knows if Medicare will even still be around then. With the government about to go broke, Medicare may be bankrupt, too. I'm not worried, though. My trust is not in the government. It's in Almighty God. Whatever happens with this government system, I know my God will provide. He has never failed to come through for me. That's why I love Him so.

God continues to give me strength each day to walk. Some days, it's easier than others, but at least I am able to walk after not being able to walk at all for a year. I'm still using my leg braces, but now I'm only wearing one brace. I am able to wear one regular shoe and one brace. I know that's a miracle. I'm believing that I'll be able to stop using the other brace, too. Nothing is impossible with God!

I thank God that He is so good. He cares about even the small things in our lives, and He will provide.

Weiner Roast, Anyone?

What can I say about Weinergate... without getting in trouble? There's a thousand jokes out there, and you can probably come up with them on your own. But I have been trying to size up the situation, so to speak, and have a few comments.

Congressman Anthony Weiner has always been, well, a wiener. He's so arrogant. I hear him on the radio talk shows all the time, and he thinks he knows everything. He tries to be a big shot on Capitol Hill, but he's really nothing more than a little pipsqueak (apparently, in more ways than one). Now that he has all this attention, he lies to the media.

Anthony Weiner is certainly not the first politician to find himself in this pickle (I'm sorry, I couldn't resist). Other politicians -- Democrats and Republicans -- have been caught with their pants down.

The difference this time is Anthony Weiner tried to cover it up. Sure, NOW he wants to cover up! He came up with this ridiculous story about his Twitter account being hacked. He calls the media for a news conference and then flat lies to them. He even says he's not sure the picture is of him.

When he realizes this story is not going away, he finally tells the truth and admits he sent the picture. He gives a half-baked apology but says he hadn't broken any laws so he's not going to resign. I guess he doesn't believe in the laws of decency. What kind of congressman sends lewd pictures of himself to young women and then thinks he should get to keep his job?

He shouldn't resign... he should be kicked out of Congress! Instead, Congress will probably let him off with a slap on the wrist, just like it did with President Clinton, who had women problems of his own. Clinton should have been thrown out of office after his Oval Office escapades, but instead he finished his term with high approval ratings.

Anthony Weiner won't be as lucky. He'll be forced to resign, probably before the week is over. He'll soon be gone from Congress, but the jokes are sure to continue for a long time.

P.S. My blog apparently was hacked and someone added all the Weiner jokes. I'm not even sure I wrote this post. My apologies if anyone was offended. -- Chris

Those Were The Days

This month is the 25th anniversary of our church, New Life Assembly of God, in Pampa. I put together a special edition of our newsletter, telling some of the history of the church. My mom and one other lady are the only two remaining charter members. I interviewed them for one article in the newsletter. I also wrote a column, telling some of my memories about the church. This is the column I wrote:

******

I was a junior in high school when our church started. It was an exciting time as people came together to start a new work in Pampa.

I remember the youth group we had then. It was small, but we bonded much like a real family.

In the early days of the church, we met in a storefront building. The Youth Sunday school room was in the back next to the nursery, with only a partition separating the two spaces.

My mother taught the nursery class at that time. Whenever she turned on her tape player to play a song, which the little kids all loved, we could hear the music loud and clear in the youth room. She often played the same song over and over, so the little ones could learn the words. Well, the youth group learned the words, too. When the tape came on, we’d stop our class and just sing along. Those were the days!

Later, the youth moved down the street to the back room of our youth leaders’ store. It was actually a beauty shop. I remember sitting in the hair dryer stations while we had our Bible study. Yes, those were the days.

After the church had been going a couple of years, I graduated high school and later went off to college. I missed New Life, but I came home on weekends as often as I could. I was glad I could still be a part of the church.

I was so excited when construction began on the new building. I had just finished college and was home for the summer. I rode my bicycle to the site nearly every day to watch the progress on the building. It sure was exciting watching that building go up. Those were the days.

The building was finished in June 1992, and everyone was looking forward to moving in. I was, too. I was so disappointed when the day came for the dedication ceremony, and I wasn’t able to be there for the service. I had gotten a job in Amarillo that same month, and I had to work that Sunday. I had to miss the dedication. I was heartbroken.

Over the years, I attended Sunday service at New Life whenever I came home for a weekend. New Life still felt like home to me.

Now that I’m living back in Pampa, I’m happy to be a part of the church again. I believe God has many more great things in store for New Life!

Extremes

The local weathermen have been just gitty. After weeks without rain, the Panhandle finally had a chance of rain several days this week.

It's usually at this time of year that the weather guys go out into the area storm-chasing, but we haven't had any strong storms in the Panhandle. We haven't had any storms at all. So one TV station sent a weatherman out to report on sprinkles outside the studio. Then, he drove all the way to New Mexico to find actual rain. He looked desperate.

It has been a desperate situation. Since the beginning of the year, most of the area has had less than an inch of rainfall. Pampa finally picked up nearly an inch of rain in an overnight thunderstorm this week, but it's still really dry.

It's going to be a long, hot summer! It's only early June, and we've already had several days of 100-degree weather. It was 104 one day last week. It's been an extreme year all around. Remember the below-zero temperatures we had in January?

Then, there's Oklahoma and parts of the East, where there's been record flooding. There have been earthquakes and wildfires, strong winds and tornadoes. I've never seen such weather extremes as we've had this year. What's causing all this weird weather?

It's another sign of the end times. The earth is being shaken. The earth's not going to end like that crazy Harold Camping predicted. But the earth will continue to be shaken with violent earthquakes and tornadoes. The Bible says it is like birth pangs. The shaking will get stronger and stronger as the end gets nearer.

The best thing we can do is pray. Pray for rain. And pray for God's protection from the violent storms. The storms are sure to come, but God will protect His faithful. If our country will turn back to Him, He will protect our land.

As it says in 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."