A few years back, Tina Turner recorded the song from which I stole the title for this post. The song’s lyrics relegated love to the unimportant rank of both a “second hand emotion” and “a sweet old fashioned notion”.

Perhaps for Ms. Turner, that’s true. Or maybe not, after all, it’s just a song lyric and she has to sing ‘em like they was wrote! But certainly for the Christian, love has everything to do with it. Far from “second hand emotion” and quaint, out of date notions, love is more than a concept, Love is a Person. That Person is God Almighty.

There are many aspects of love but the most important one to remember is that love is a verb. Even the noun form of the word refers back to the verb for meaning. If I say, “I have love for my wife.”, the usage is a noun but the thought is of the verb. Love implies action. If you love something you will be active in showing that love.

I’ve been thinking about this a bit lately since I was almost seriously injured or killed last Thursday. I recently merged my company with another company and the new company has rented a new location. I was driving a forklift down a portable ramp from the dock to the ground and the ramp shifted just as I entered the top of it.

The short story is that I rode an 8500 pound forklift down a 4 foot vertical drop while carrying a full load on the forks. A friend asked if I managed to soil myself. I replied that by the time I realized what was happening it was over. All I remember was a loud bang and an abrupt WHAM at the bottom of the ride. There wasn’t time to soil myself. There wouldn’t have been enough time to have saved myself either, had the lift flipped or rolled. I would have been ejected and likely crushed. As it was, the lift fell straight down and landed on the forks first and then the back wheels.

The crews working in the building rushed over, worried I might have been hurt. Other than my injured pride and a sore lower back and neck four days later, I am totally fine. The general consensus among the bystanders was, “Dude! You have NO idea how lucky you were!” My opinion is that I was not lucky at all.

You see, I’m convinced there’s One Who loves me. I believe He was watching out for me early that Thursday morning. That’s the reason I survived. My pastor says it like this, “God is not a car crashing, cancer causing Creator. He is a loving, life giving Lord!” Lovers watch out for, look after, protect, care for and generally desire the best for the one they love.

That is true in the spiritual arena and in the natural realm as well. I have always found it interesting that some folks try to deny that truth. They say they love someone or something, behave in a very unloving way towards it, and expect me to believe their words over their actions.

I believe we’re seeing this in some of the national debates America is currently having. People are saying things like, “I support the troops!” or “I’m a patriotic American”. They want me to believe they love the troops, the country or what have you. But I’m looking at their actions. Do their actions match their words? Are they watching out for, looking after, protecting, caring for and generally desiring the best for what they claim to love. If not, I refuse to believe their words. Talk is cheap - actions matter - that’s what love has to do with it!

What do you think? Can you love without action? Are words alone enough? Can I believe what you say if there’s nothing to back up your words?

Remembering that He said we should not love in word only but in deed and in truth …

BCM

7 Comments
Heroes, Patriotism, Spiritual Warfare, Word of God

Ok, I know I don’t usually regurgitate news here on 3G just for the sake of regurgitating, but I thought this was a noteworthy story since it’s right here in my backyard. Well, I guess a English professor out here at North Idaho College (where my mom and sister went to school) by the name of Jessica Bryan, has a bad habit of “Conservative Bashing” in her classroom. Now as fun as liberal bashing is, I would never call for the execution of all folks who voted Democrat… but this precisely what she did; Except she thought Republicans should be shot.

Now this type of hate speech is certainly not acceptable, especially in a English classroom and in Idaho of all states. Well this lady sure does wish she could take back some of her liberwocky:

From WND: Among the allegations: Bryan reported President George W. Bush won the election “because people … can’t read,” and, regarding the death penalty: “First we line up everyone who can’t think and right behind them, anyone who’s ever voted Republican.”

Now I guess, from reading the Headline article on WND, that the Feds are being asked to step in because Ms Bryan has been receiving some nasty little emails. They stepped up security and have changed her email and phone number. Here is just a few excerpt from very pissed off Right Wingers:

“You contemptuous excuse for an instructor. If you are trying to start another civil war and it comes about, I hope your family will be targeted first. As a Republican, I take umbrage at your suggestion that I should be shot. You’ll find that Republicans can shoot back.” “Screw you, communist (expletive deleted). Even though you are entitled to your opinion we all have freedom to vote anyway we please. You would do well teaching in Iran hating Jews. Bottom line I feel the same way about liberal (expletive deleted) such as you.” “I hope you lose your position and cease poisoning the flower of our future who enroll in your class with your leftist indoctrination.” “Pray that there’s never a right-wing coup d’etat in this beautiful nation [because] you’ll be one of the first ones floating in a river like your cronies did in Argentina and Chile.”

I know that Ms Bryan’s statements are a bit on the fringe, kool-aide drinking, left side of the fence, but that doesn’t mean we have to be just as crazy. I wish we would do exactly as these students did and challenge dipsticks like her, but let’s be careful not sink to her level.

JJ, out.

9 Comments
Duct Tape Zone, Education, Insane Leftists

Sometimes things happen you didn’t plan on or that you knew were possible but considered unlikely. Unexpected events are, by nature, Ooo, I don’t know …unexpected? I thought of this Thursday morning, on my way in to work just before dawn, headed to my favorite gas station for fuel and morning coffee.

The station was closed as was a main artery headed into town. Two drunk teens ran a redlight and caused an accident. Their car was almost unrecognizable as a vehicle and they were airlifted to a local trauma unit. They hit a car forcing it into the gas station where it hit another car, smashing car two into the building. Then car one skidded into the gas pumps, almost collapsing the canopy onto the pumps and patrons below.

Definitely unexpected.

Hurricane Katrina was unexpected, too, though not unplanned for. So was the recent Asian tsunami. These two events are much larger than an auto accident but serve to remind us the world around us, macro and micro, holds some nasty surprises. Smart people take steps to prepare for them. In considering larger scale surprises, some stock up food and water, others buy generators and fuel while others establish support networks.

One of the wisest things you can do is avail yourself of your 2^nd Amendment rights and arm yourself. If you have been the prudent ant and stockpiled, there will likely be a shiftless grasshopper in the neighborhood looking to play a little catch up. Being able to defend what you and your family have accumulated for your own protection and survival is a common sense part of your overall plan. Unless, of course, you live in Tennessee.

When I got home from work late Thursday, this nugget was waiting in my inbox from TeamGOP. It’s a press release from TN State Senator Mark Norris concerning TN Governor Phil Bredesen’s response to Norris’ proposed legislation. It reads in part:

NASHVILLE - The Bredesen Administration expressed opposition to Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris’ legislation limiting the Governor’s power to confiscate firearms and restrict the sale of ammunition during declared emergencies. Senate Bill 1597 would prohibit the Governor from confiscating weapons from law-abiding citizens or restricting the ability to purchase guns and ammunition during times of natural disaster or declared emergency. Most of the public is unaware that the Governor currently holds this statutory seizure authority. Norris said he received a letter from Mary Freeman, the Governor’s Director of Legislation, requesting he “consider halting further action” on Senate Bill 1597. The letter states they “disagree with the intent of this legislation and therefore cannot support it.” Norris said he simply wants to protect Tennesseans’ basic constitutional rights. “The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is never more precious than during natural disasters or declared emergencies when self defense can be the key to survival,” Norris said. “The Hurricane Katrina disaster was a wake-up call that this could happen.” In New Orleans, governmental confiscation of citizens’ arms sparked outrage in the aftermath of Katrina. A federal judge later enjoined the City of New Orleans from violating Second Amendment rights after the National Rifle Association (NRA) filed suit. “New Orleans citizens in lawful possession of weapons to protect their homes and families were forced to surrender those arms,” Norris said. “We do not want a repeat of that scenario in Tennessee. The ability to defend one’s home place and family in the absence of adequate law enforcement is essential.”

Count me in the group ignorant of the Governor’s authority to demand I surrender my lawfully owned firearms. I’m stunned to find that such authority exists. My first response is of the Hollywood vapid blonde variety, “Hellloooo …. we have, like, the ConstiTUtion!!”

Once the outrage wore off, I looked at the language and was immediately angry again. The Governor disagreed “with the intent of the legislation”. What?!? As TeamGOP’s intro to the press release stated:

When Gov. Phil Bredesen is out in public, he is surrounded by brave men and women of the Tennessee Highway Patrol who, of course, are armed. Any law abiding citizen deserves the same right and the same protection.

Is our state’s Chief Executive intending to give up his protection in the event of a crisis? Sounds ridiculous to even ask the question doesn’t it? Why does he disagree with my intent to protect my family from the same people he needs protection from?

As usual, the Gov’s intent only harms law abiding citizens with legally owned firearms. To confiscate them they first must know where they are. As we are law abiding, we’ve registered ours in accordance with the law. The bad guys, the ones we need protection from, will have no one knocking on their door to take their weapons since they are illegally acquired. Then, when they come for me and mine, I’m powerless to defend my own family and home.

I know we are unlikely to have hurricanes here, but we do have tornados. Sometimes, lots and lots of tornados. We’ve had areas declared ‘emergency areas’ before for floods and the like. And, lest we forget, Tennessee is on the New Madras fault, one of the largest earthquake fault lines anywhere. It wasn’t all that long ago that we had an earthquake here so strong it made the Mississippi River run BACKWARDS for a time. I’d say that qualifies as a natural disaster.

Contact Mark Norris and tell him thanks for looking out for us and to keep up the pressure. And contact Phil “Just Call Me Carpetbagger” Bredesen and tell him to keep his mitts off our muskets!

Keeping my powder dry, just in case …

BCM

2 Comments
Duct Tape Zone, Gun Rights, Insane Leftists, Weapons

This photo is in honor of God’s Word… our weapon, our inspiration, our hope. It is also in honor of all the men who served this country, whether in peacetime or wartime, to secure our freedoms. Amen.

Just took this shot and I thought I would share it with you all. God bless this great nation.

12 Comments
photos

One of the spiritual gifts my wife and I have is ‘hospitality’. We love to entertain friends at home, the more the better. Some of our past Titans parties approach legendary status. Chad, you’ll have to join us some Sunday this season! If we play the Seahawks we can put JJ on speakerphone and taunt him as his team loses!

But, I digress …

Something we’ve done to get together with friends is establish regular annual celebrations or events. For instance, for years on the Friday before Christmas, M’Lady K and I get together with one specific couple and others (the others vary from year to year) to share some great hors ‘dourves, fellowship and then we watch Frank Capra’s ‘It’s A Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart. We know all the lines and have our favorites and thoroughly enjoy it every year. It’s one way we implement JJ’s ‘Lesson of the Day’ from a couple of weeks ago.

M’Lady K and I were talking the other day about this sort of tradition and wondered why we had one for Christmas but not for Easter. We decided to start one up this year.

We have invited 2 or 3 couples and their kids to join us on Good Friday evening and we’ll be watching Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ together.

We bought a copy of the film when it came out having already seen it at the theater. For those of you that have seen it, you understand that it is a powerful film. I think that’s part of why we’ve not watched it since then. But it’s time. 3 of our 5 kids have seen it and we’re going to allow the younger 2 to watch it with us this year if they want to.

We’re looking forward to time with good friends. We’re looking forward to the new tradition. Most of all, we’re looking forward to remembering the price paid for our redemption.

Over and over the Book encourages us to remember what God did in the past so we have specifics to hang our faith on in the future. This is true whether the event you are remembering specifically happened to you or not. For instance, stories in the Book inspire us and produce faith in us today even though the events happened to other people hundreds of years ago.

If this seems like something of benefit to you and yours, feel free to swipe the idea and fine tune it for you. The key is to lift up the Son, to fix our eyes on Him and magnify His name. Why? Because if Christ be lifted up, He will draw all men to Him.

Realizing I, too, am part of ‘all men’ and looking for a seat closer to the action …

BCM

9 Comments
Heroes, History, Holidays, Hollywood, Spiritual Warfare

Growing up was tough for many. For me I didn’t know any other way. My Dad and Mom worked hard and at one point we didn’t have a vehicle- someone had to take us where ever we went. I was grateful… it was just a part of life. Didn’t have gadgets or electronics or a color TV. I spent my days outside. If it was summer it was day and night outside. Running up and down Mill Creek, Lick Creek, Duck River, and Piney River, playing on the banks we were rich. Growing up tough helps an individual learn to overcome adversity. Now days you have Government handing out money, building a nation that is dependent on Welfare. Reagan stood against it from day one but we are still fighting it. It is straight from the pages of Communist Manifesto. Why should we as citizens be against this sort of thinking. Shouldn’t we as christian people stop poverty, social injustice, and class wars? In one word, NO.

(more…)

13 Comments
Insane Leftists

I ordered my Springfield Micro 1911 .45ACP through a gun dealer in Idaho called Red’s Trading Post. Excellent customer service, reasonably priced guns, and they buy used weapons. This morning Ryan Horsley sent out an email regarding problems they have been having with the ATF (a government agency that has really lost touch with the Second Amendment). I told him that I supported his petition and I would post his email on 3G.

Dear friends, I wanted to thank alot of you for you comments and support with our ordeal with the ATF. I am confident that we will get through this, however I am concerned for other dealers that are in the same position. As many of you know the ATF has begun targeting small gun shops nation wide for clerical errors, stating that they are violations and then attempting to revoke their license. I have formed an online petition that addresses this issue. I am also planning on placing a link on our web site as well. If you get a chance to sign it that would be great, you can also choose to remain anonymous. Here is the link: http://www.petitiononline.com/redstrad/petition.html Again I appreciate the support, we have to support other dealers and our Second Amendment. Please feel free to pass this along. Ryan Horsley – Ryan Horsley-Marketing Director Red’s Trading Post Inc. 215 Shoshone St. South Twin Falls, ID. 83301-6001 (208) 733-3546 (208) 734-2793 Fax www.redstradingpost.com

4 Comments
Gun Rights

A buddy of mine sent me a link this afternoon to “Godmen,” a group of Christian men who want to put the “Man” back in Christianity. They make these interesting points: 1) Christianity and the Church have been feminized in the US 2) Only 40% of churchgoers are men 3) Masculinity has been viewed in a negative capacity in our culture 4) Men ministry in churches are lacking in accountability 5) Jesus was meek, but He also kicked some tail when he needed to.

I tell you, these guys really have something here. Actually, we founded 3G with this very thing in mind. Christians men are NOT pansies! They love guys stuff. They have guy problems. Why try to sugarcoat who we are?

Brad Stine is a funny dude who has a passion for men being able to be men. Do me a favor and watch the video on their events page and tell me what you think of this ministry. They were also featured on ABC News.

9 Comments
Religion, Spiritual Warfare

One of my pet peeves is when people pass on stories via email or some other media without checking to see if they are true. It’s not hard to do. I even include a link to Snopes.com over at Blue Collar Muse for precisely that reason.

Every now and then I’ve been guilty of doing it myself. So, before I pass this on, let me just state, for the record, that according to Snopes.com, the Katie Couric sniper story is false.

That having been said, it’s still a great Urban Legend and deserves being passed on as such. Besides, the pic of the .50 cal is GREAT! While I’ve seen the story before, I’ve not seen the picture. I got it from Gunny John over at Jarhead’s Firing Range and he got it from the boys over at The Politically Incorrect Gazette AKA Pigazette AKA just plain ol’ PIG.

Wondering if I can get a Concealed Carry for one of those things …

BCM

3 Comments
Gun Rights, Heroes, Humor, Weapons

My wife and I have 5 children ranging in age from 8 to 18. Something we have experienced with every child is the dislike they had for punishment when they did something wrong. Each child went through the same progression. First, they were sorry we disapproved of them doing something wrong. Next they were sorry they had been caught doing something wrong. Finally they were sorry they had done something wrong.

These three stages are ones we all pass through. At first we don’t know what we do is wrong. Then we only do what is right if we are forced to or if we believe that we’ll be caught and punished if we do the wrong thing. Finally we arrive at the place where we do the right thing because it is the right thing to do.

With the exception of psychopaths, pretty much everyone older than 10 knows right from wrong. That just leaves two stages to pass through. It is amazing how many people get stuck in stage two.

The time spent in stage two varies from person to person. Some never move on. Some do so only after many years. Most of us make the move anonymously and it’s a good thing since there is much we’ve done that we wouldn’t want to be made public. But some of us don’t. The latest to miss the anonymous trip is American Idol’s Antonella Barba.

Ms. Barba, recently voted off of the popular reality show, is just 20 years old. Despite being talented enough to make the show’s lineup, her personal life left a few things to be desired. She was involved in a sexually active relationship with a recent boyfriend. She allowed him to photograph their intimacy. She also posed for erotic photos in very public places, including a graphic wet t-shirt picture while she was in the fountain at the WWII memorial in Washington DC. After her breakup with the boyfriend she became an American Idol celebrity and her ex posted these pictures on the Internet.

In short, Ms. Barba got caught and is suffering the consequences. Not because she did something right, but because she did something wrong.

They media won’t spin it that way, of course. They’ll sympathize with her, feel sorry for her and denounce those who think what she did was illegal, immoral or, worst of all, sinful! The truth behind the story, however, is Ms. Barba’s actions wouldn’t be newsworthy if we didn’t all know, deep down, what she did was wrong. We may not say it, but everyone knows it.

Sometimes you get away with what you do. The Lord knows I surely have on multiple occasions and I’m grateful for the grace. But sometimes, sometimes the world crashes in on you for one moment of carelessness. I’ve had that happen, too. When it does, you show the world what sort of person you are by how you respond.

Before this morning, I had a great deal of sympathy for Ms. Barba. She messed up, was caught publicly and is paying the price. I wondered how she was really dealing with it and figured I would never know since I don’t know her personally.

This morning, though, World Net Daily linked to a Houston Chronicle story on that very topic and my heart sank. The headline to the story is, “After racy photos on Web, ousted Idol singer wary of trust”.

Having endured all of the negative publicity, the scorn, the pain, the anguish an event like this must certainly bring, the most important thing she learned was, “Be careful who you trust!” I was hoping for, “Be certain anything you do you would be proud to have splashed over the front page of media around the world!” How tragic not to have come away with more considering what this has cost her.

Tragic because Ms. Barba is stuck in stage two. Chief among her criteria for judging her own behavior is, “Will I get caught and how bad will it be if I do?” If I can be certain I won’t get caught, if I’m sure my companions will not rat me out later, I can do whatever I like because there will be no consequences. If I’m not sure my companions are trustworthy, then I better be careful because they might roll over on me later and I’ll have to deal with what I’ve done.

There is no morality. There is only, “What can I get away with!” You can protest, “I do TOO have morals!” However, that some of what you choose to do is generally accepted as “good” means nothing. What you do when everyone is watching is not ‘Character’. ‘Character’ is what you do when NO one is watching, when you’re SURE you won’t get caught. It’s when you do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do! It’s stage three.

Hoping Ms. Barba chooses to perform there soon…

BCM

2 Comments
Heroes, Hollywood, News, Porn, Spiritual Warfare