From Inside Out      
     
   One might think - 16 centuries after the birth, sacrifice and resurrection of Christ, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we humans would have been sufficiently transformed the world over.

   But, no. Two years before pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, Europeans began a religious conflict which morphed into dynastic, territorial and commercial warfare. German states, France, Sweden, Spain and other powers got involved. 

   Within 30 years, at least eight million died from war, civil violence, plague and famine. Twenty percent of Germans perished ... higher rates in some other regions.

   Only the January-May 1945 conclusion of WWII in Europe was worse. 

   Despite the horrors, Georg Weissel (1590-1635), a scholar, teacher and pastor, found reason to rejoice: God had come into the world in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, freely offering to transform our lives from the inside out.

   Weissel was inspired by David's psalm: Lift up your heads, O you gates; 
be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

Psalm 24:7

   His hymn is a call to open wide our hearts to the King of kings...to confess Christ the true ruler...to be a temple for the Lord...that our inner presence feel his grace and love...and that a new and nobler life begins as the Holy Spirit guides. 

   The King of glory transforms us from inside out. He alone is true hope in this corrupt world. There is no other way. 

      Jimmy

Enough Already!      
     
   Before we dive into today's earthshaking, showstopping blog, we want to make this clear: We are not a BASEMENT BLOGGER...as mockers charge. We don't even have a basement in our home. 

   Let's get into the spirit of Christmas. Peace on earth, goodwill toward bloggers.

Flying Slow   
   Look! Up in the sky. It's a bird. It's a plane. 

                          It's a zeppelin!    

   The Hindenburg disaster may not be the end of airship travel after all. Scientists are looking at zeppelins again. Airships can be more fuel efficient than cargo ships and airplanes. 

   The Goodyear Blimp uses helium, nonflammable, but costly and rare. Abundant hydrogen may be the answer second time around as tech advances have reduced the explosive danger. 

   An airship five times the length of the Empire State Building riding the jet stream could circle the globe in 14 days - faster than any oceangoing ship.

Taxing Religion 
   Is this a winner? Tax faith-based organizations to feed the poor, give healthcare to all, fund social services, resettle refugees and provide housing, education and other goodies. What could go wrong?

   Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson writes that ending tax-exempt status would crush the charitable sector, cripple social services and harm the very causes big government claims to help. He noted that former Chief Justice Warren Burger said taxing churches would entangle religion and government. The tax code "simply abstains from demanding that the church support the state," the justice said.  

      Jimmy

  

Wisdom's Call...       

     

The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works, 

before his deeds of old.

I was appointed from eternity, before the world began.

When there were no oceans, I was given birth, 

before the mountains were settled in place, 

before the hills, I was given birth, 

before he made the earth or fields or any of the dust of the world. 

I was there when he set the heavens in place, 

when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, 

when he established the clouds and fixed the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep, 

and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.

Then I was the craftsman at his side. 

I was filled with delight day after day, 

rejoicing in his presence, in his whole world and delighting in mankind.

Now then, my sons, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways. 

Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it. 

For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord. 

 Proverbs 8:32-35 

The Rail-Splitter    
    
  Okay. Okay!! We'll go along with impeachment, on one condition and one condition only: BRING BACK HONEST ABE. 

   Lincoln then and Trump today share a drive to succeed, care for the troops, political detractors, a divided nation and their need to leave the Oval Office to get things done. As for LEADERSHIP, there is little to compare.

   Leadership: it's difficult, no set rules.

   Lincoln believed in honesty and that integrity was self evident. He was patient, tirelessly nudging Gen. McClellan - a great organizer - to actually go fight.

   He was compassionate, caring for others, and for the rights of individuals. He didn't intimidate others with fear. Affable. Complementary. Ethical. Was easily mistaken as weak and controllable.

   Our 16th president sought to know his subordinates, and forged alliances, keeping human nature in mind. He wanted to understand motives, to be lenient, even with the enemy. 

   His priority was preserving the Union, nothing less. He sought no fame for himself. Lincoln did not coerce subordinates, which is not leadership but tyranny. 

   He believed in the Golden Rule, the pursuit of liberty and equality. Nothing good comes from vengeance or spite.  

   There is no record of him calling Gen. Lee or Jefferson Davis a "nut job."   

   Abe Lincoln:
   "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations."

   He's up there somewhere, folks. God willing, he still has a second term to finish.                                          😔

        Jimmy




   

GROWL!    Now This is Living   

   Three more big cats have found "new life" in Tampa, part of a worldwide attempt to rescue lions and tigers from exploitation in prison-like captivity.

    Dog lovers, we get it. But we've always favored felines, starting with best-friend Scamper, who left us too soon at age 6. 

   Our fascination with beautiful tigers began with...well...the evolution is so:

   At the turn of the last century, Massillon, Ohio boys began playing football. They had no mascot nor jerseys. Someone passed through Princeton University, (the Tigers), and brought back leftover jerseys. The school took shirts and the name. 

   The sport became wildly popular well before young Paul Brown entered school. After college, Brown became head coach, leading MHS to a string of state championships. 

   My good fortune was to be son of a man who claimed he "went to school with Paul Brown." We drove from Pennsylvania once or twice a year to see a game, which to me was heaven. 

   If you watched with me the Tiger Swing Band fast stepping down the field playing Hold That Tiger - two rows of tubas growling - led by a mascot in real tiger skin, you would have become a cat lover too. In later years, they had a tiger cub in a small cage at their games. Maybe not so lovely. 

   Brown went straight from home to Ohio State, where he won a national championship. The military called, after which he formed the Cleveland Browns and won more championships. 

   They aren't named for him, but their helmets are Tiger orange. After a five-year vacation, he formed the Cincinnati Bengals - get it? - whose tiger-stripe helmets today mark the end of the trail. 

   Okay. A male might eat his young if given the chance. But, forget that.
My little buddy had black and gray tiger stripes and a white belly. Meow.  

        Jimmy



   

Why We Separate
Church & White House        
    
   Billy Graham did it right. He was a confidant of many presidents, but only once - mistakenly - got involved in process.

   Before his conversion, the late Charles Colson rounded up the evangelistic community for Nixon. It was just another interest group, as labor leaders are for Democrats.

   "Sure, we used the prayer breakfasts and church services for political ends," he said. "I found them (religious leaders) about the most pliable of any of the special interest groups." 

   Today, TV evangelist Paula White-Cain claims to have Donald Trump's ear on religious matters. We know her from her Tampa days. Not good.

   The president pursues policies that Christians and conservatives support. 
His "adviser" is something else. 

   "Wherever I go, God rules. When I walk on White House grounds, God walks on White House grounds," she is quoted on line. "I have every right to declare the White House holy ground, because I was standing there and where I stand is holy."

   Like other prosperity-gospel preachers, she asks for large amounts of money, which goes into the "department of treasury in Heaven" and will assure the givers their dreams. "Sounds like a spiritual quid pro quo," quips columnist Cal Thomas.

   Apparently she helped herself to treasury funds. She once owned a private jet. She payed for a $2.6 million home and a $3.5 million condo in Trump Tower.  

Speaking of Tampa
   The mayor's chief of staff just returned from the Netherlands to learn how they keep the ocean at bay. Hmmmm. Build a dike?    

      Jimmy

Are We Lonely Today?   

   Almost half of Americans 18 and older admit to being lonely. 

   Gen Z (18- to 22-year-olds) are the loneliest. 

   A state director for AARP says "Loneliness is killing us slowly." It leads to morbidity the same as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and is ahead of obesity and diabetes. 

   Why haven't we heard this? Maybe because no one interacts those who are alone. 

   The AARP director says loneliness is a root of hopelessness, early trauma, more fear and less trust, and despair. (And we blame guns?)   

   He recommends, "Be a neighbor, not a stranger...whether in deep friendship or casual acquaintance. Second, find a cause and volunteer." 

   How would he suggest separating us from our cell phones long enough to actually engage in face to face conversation?

On the Other Hand  
"When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudice and motivated by pride and vanity." 
                                                - Dale Carnegie, Psychology Today 

      Jimmy