Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Wild Pigs


Now, I'm not a "forwarder" of emails, chain letters, and the like. Just send it to me to read, but don't ask me to "forward it to 10 my friends". Makes me crazy. Being probably more Libertarian than any other political persuasion, I found this was a pretty interesting analogy in this election year. I predictably decided I would not forward this email. I'm posting it to my blog instead. Read it. What do you think?

Wild Pigs

There was a Chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab the Prof noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his back, and stretching as if his back hurt. The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country's government and install a communist government.

In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked, 'Do you know how to catch wild pigs?' The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said this was no joke. 'You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in The last side.. The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat, then you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening to America . The government keeps pushing us toward socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, et c, etc, etc. while we continue to lose our freedoms - just a little at a time.

One should always remember: There is no such thing as a free Lunch! Also, a politician will never provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself. So, if you see that all of this wonderful government 'help' is a problem confronting the future of democracy in America , you might want to send this on to your friends. If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life then you will probably delete this email, but God help you when the gate slams shut!

In this 'very important' election year, listen closely to what the candidates are promising you - just maybe you will be able to tell who is about to slam the gate on America .

'A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big
enough to take away everything you have.' Thomas Jefferson

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Treasures can be found anywhere........


The first time I ever heard of a fellow named Ross King was when I bought a couple of Breakaway CDs back in the 90's and really started listening to worship music consistently. Loved his music, but hadn't listened to much of his stuff until my brother, Kevin, started telling me about his "To Make God Famous" cd's and I started listening more. Then this guy, Todd Wright, you might have heard of him, got me listening more and more since we were doing "Ross King" tunes routinely in our worship service at church. At this point, I guess I became an even bigger fan. Last year when Todd Wright decided to have Ross King, yes that "Ross King", produce his cd, I got the opportunity to go to College Station with Todd to watch him record and I got to meet THE Ross King. We even ate at Freebirds. YES!!!!!! I must say I enjoyed meeting Ross and his entire family. They are great people and Aggies to boot. All that history aside, I've never really gone back and spent much time listening to the "old" Ross stuff. By old I mean the pre-"To Make God Famous" cd's. I love his "Perhaps I've Said Too Much" cd, but just haven't taken the time to check out the vintage tunes.

Fast forward to today. After playing in a 2 on 2 basketball tournament with my son Cole at our church (we won 2nd) and absolutely exhausting myself, we went over to the local Goodwill store to look for work clothes for our upcoming UMARMY mission trip with David Runnels, our Youth Minister. After looking through clothes and selecting a fabulous wardrobe, I wandered over to the book and music section (yes, Goodwill has one). I could've chosen a multitude of fine vintage Christian music (on cassette)including Amy Grant, Sandi Patty, etc., but what caught my eye was, yes, a Ross King cd from 1995 titled "something by sunrise". I had to have it. $1.99 and it was mine. It will now be added to my Itunes playlists. I want to know who would let this jewel go. I want to thank them for allowing me the discovery of another treasure.