Whither the Auto Industry?
observed by Torrey H. Brinkley
Much has changed in a short amount of time for the auto industry in the USA.
--A number of nameplates may disappear from the US scene (Saab, Saturn, Pontiac and Hummer are rumored to go away or be sold).
--Several major auto plants will shut down, even if for a temporary period.
--Even dozens of national newspapers are shutting down their presses because of lack of advertising revenue from auto-related businesses & customers.
--Hundreds of auto dealerships are slated to close soon.
--Thousands of car company & dealership employees will soon be out of work.
--Millions of car sales have already been lost this year, due to the bad economy, loss of jobs for many, and bank loans that disappeared for potential customers.
--Billions of dollars in equity have been lost when General Motors stock plummeted from a high of $42, not that long ago, to 75 cents on May 29, 2009.
--Years worth of good-will, long-term relationships, and product loyalties will evaporate if car & truck models are wiped out.
Much of the media criticism of the automobile industry has been muted recently, as daily reporting on the potential changes seems to boggle the mind. For too long, environmentally-protectionist critics have poked fun at large gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs marketed, bought & driven on our millions of miles of highways. But, these vehicles were needed to haul people, products and equipment, that have supported our active, busy lifestyles in this land. When jobs were lost, in important fields like construction & transportation, then it seemed cruel to criticize those who could no longer go to work in their pickup & delivery trucks.
How ironic that interest and technological advancement in the modern automobile has never been greater than right now. Chevrolet was thrilled to have a new Camaro ready for introduction this very month. Dodge was proud to have a new Challenger sporty car in its showrooms this past year. Ford has revised its Mustang sporty car again for 2010 (its 45th year of continous production). Each of the major US manufacturers had done a big upgrade in design & quality of the major pickup trucks (Ford F-150, Dodge Ram and Chevy Silverado), since they've been among the top 3 selling vehicles in the USA for the last 15 years.
Fewer media analysts have attacked the housing industry, since homes don't crowd our roadways, guzzle gasoline, or get involved in crippling accidents. Yet, houses use up valuable resources, take up much land space, and have been partially responsible for the major national financial crisis (very high demand for bigger & better homes fueled the frivolous lending practices that got us into the mortgage meltdown at all the banks & lending institutions). Way too many folk were dependent on the home-construction industry for employment to build way too many homes, condos, and apartment complexes. Those builders, the bankers who provided the loans, & realtors are now without gainful employment.
Some serious questions need to be addressed before things get better, and before our car-truck makers get back on their feet:
+Will Obama's Government Motors (the new GM), Fiat buying out Chrysler, and odd international firms picking up other assorted auto nameplates be the answer for what ails our transportation economy?
++if the Democratic-controlled Congress forks over billions of dollars to banks & financial institutions (who were poorly managed), why can't they force them to lend money to consumers who need to replace aging cars & trucks, instead of just sitting on that money?
+Will an emphasis on high speed rail service fix the people-moving operations in the USA, since nationally few people (percentage-wise) ride our trains, that never can go door-to-door anyway?
+Can blended fuels be good for our economy, when ethanol gas is destroying many internal combustion engine parts?
+Will the few models of complexly-engineered hybrid cars help the economy, when they cost 30% more than conventional cars?
+Do you wish to be the one to buy a new $5000 to $10,000 battery for a used Prius?
+If our environmentalists scream at tossing old TVs, computer parts and lead paint buckets into our landfills, what will they say about huge, tired-out, complex car batteries?
In the meantime,
....Has anyone convinced you to go buy an 8-foot long Smart car for $27,000?
....Can you see yourself driving an odd Nissan Cube, for $18,000 (check out some photos)?
....Why did you not sign up yet to buy the Ford Escape Hybrid for $35,000?
....Did you replace your old $12,000 used pickup with the new super-long $55,000 Toyota Tundra?
....Do you think the new $90,000 Audi R8 sports car is pretty at all?
....If you had the money, would you throw $400,000 at the frankly ugly Rolls Royce Corniche convertible?
Just checking to see if the modern automobile scene makes as much sense to you as some of Hollywood's far-fetched movie plots (cement trucks turning into monster Transformers that attack people, old museum artifacts that come alive, and Vatican secrets that have been conspiring against the world for 500 years)?
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
FIND A NEED, THEN FIX IT
Memorable Church/Mission Projects
noted by Torrey H. Brinkley
During the course of several church and mission experiences, certain projects stand out as challenging, productive and rewarding. The following are listed as examples of ministry opportunities which can be undertaken by ordinary churches with ordinary resources and personnel.
1) Salt Cellar was a ministy undertaken by 4 small Colorado churches lying in the same geographic community, who individually were not able to provide for a significant ministry to the high school youth connected to their congregations. We planned one weekly youth meeting, visited each of the 4 churches on Sundays, and did a lot of extra-curricular activities. Several youth from this ministry later went on to serve as pastors/missionaries in other places.
2) Bible reading marathons were a challenge mostly presented to youth, who had either Spring Break time off, or summer free in town, or at an isolated church camp. It was easy to get volunteer adults to help chaperone the non-stop readings that took up to 88 hours to complete reading thru the entire Bible. Food & exercise & sleep were allowed for people to keep fresh ( done in Colorado, Kansas & Oklahoma).
3) Back Seat film project was initiated to help identify a need in a locality (Wichita, KS), but which could have national impact. Loneliness in society became the subject matter, and a partial TV crew was used to get interviews, hire some actors, and edit a finished project that won national awards & international recognition. The same film was translated into Spanish, and toured with a professional psychiatrist throughout the Iberian peninsula.
4) Teacher training classes for local church Sunday School teachers (& youth leaders) were accomplished using nationally prepared materials. Workshops usually took all weekend, and attendance & interest was always high. We ran these seminars in a variety of towns & cities in several states.
5) Rebuilding homes in Gulfport, MS after Hurricane Katrina seemed to be a wonderful opportunity for men to bond together, see the enormity of the tasks ahead, and then to accomplish one job after another, all the while laboring as Christ's servants to others. Scriptural teaching of Nehemiah re-building the wall of Jersusalem served as our teaching backdrop each evening.
6) Poolside ministry to searching youth in San Jose, CA allowed for youth steeped in the newly burgeoning drug/hippie culture (1969) to examine life's questions, and receive a Biblical answer from bold prophets like Jeremiah in the Old Testament and a book like Hebrews in the New Testament. Youth would bring new friends every day to sit next to the swimming pool & examine the evidence.
7) Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona was an isolated spot to train youth how to minister to a foreign culture, with a strange language and unusual customs/religions. After doing a Summer VBS with these pre-trained teens, bonds were formed and a world vision was captured. Many participants later went off to serve in foreign countries with their Christ-centered message.
8) During Easter Week we actually super-imposed a map of Jerusalem upon downtown Wichita, KS. We obtained permission to do a drama of Jesus night- time trial right on the downtown Courthouse steps. We carried a heavy wooden cross thru city streets, along a route similar to Jesus' labor of love for us. We also held an Easter sunrise service at the banks of a river, having fish, like Jesus did with his disciples. This did attract interest from local television crews.
9) Down thru the years, summer camps have been a wonderful opportunity to get to know youth and adults alike and to offer teaching, worship, meals and exercise in either a family or youth-centered experience. We have seen many lives changed in such camps in Illinois, Wisconsin, Colorado, Oklahoma, California and Spain down thru the years.
10) Showing Christian movies had always been a meaningful evangelistic/teaching tool. We presented Billy Graham films in a downtown Longmont, CO park, as well as Moody Science films in newly opened Bible centers in some towns in Spain. Attendance, interest, and response was always more than we could have anticipated.
11) Teaching English classes (from native speakers) to Spaniards was one vehicle that we utilized to give the public something that was not available elsewhere. A variety of missionaries participated in this endeavor, and we attempted to teach young children all the way up thru university professors. We often used the Bible as one of our English texts.
12) Teaching baseball to Spanish youth was another Saturday morning activity that allowed us to rub shoulders with youth, who would otherwise never attend a church service. During a cooling off period, stories of athletes who had faith experiences in their lives were shared.
13) Outdoor music concerts in parks in Spanish cities was another way we could reach a curious outdoor crowd. Dynamic music presentations, as well as solid biblical testimonies, gave people a thirst for knowing more about Jesus. Sometimes we tied these concerts into various town fiestas.
noted by Torrey H. Brinkley
During the course of several church and mission experiences, certain projects stand out as challenging, productive and rewarding. The following are listed as examples of ministry opportunities which can be undertaken by ordinary churches with ordinary resources and personnel.
1) Salt Cellar was a ministy undertaken by 4 small Colorado churches lying in the same geographic community, who individually were not able to provide for a significant ministry to the high school youth connected to their congregations. We planned one weekly youth meeting, visited each of the 4 churches on Sundays, and did a lot of extra-curricular activities. Several youth from this ministry later went on to serve as pastors/missionaries in other places.
2) Bible reading marathons were a challenge mostly presented to youth, who had either Spring Break time off, or summer free in town, or at an isolated church camp. It was easy to get volunteer adults to help chaperone the non-stop readings that took up to 88 hours to complete reading thru the entire Bible. Food & exercise & sleep were allowed for people to keep fresh ( done in Colorado, Kansas & Oklahoma).
3) Back Seat film project was initiated to help identify a need in a locality (Wichita, KS), but which could have national impact. Loneliness in society became the subject matter, and a partial TV crew was used to get interviews, hire some actors, and edit a finished project that won national awards & international recognition. The same film was translated into Spanish, and toured with a professional psychiatrist throughout the Iberian peninsula.
4) Teacher training classes for local church Sunday School teachers (& youth leaders) were accomplished using nationally prepared materials. Workshops usually took all weekend, and attendance & interest was always high. We ran these seminars in a variety of towns & cities in several states.
5) Rebuilding homes in Gulfport, MS after Hurricane Katrina seemed to be a wonderful opportunity for men to bond together, see the enormity of the tasks ahead, and then to accomplish one job after another, all the while laboring as Christ's servants to others. Scriptural teaching of Nehemiah re-building the wall of Jersusalem served as our teaching backdrop each evening.
6) Poolside ministry to searching youth in San Jose, CA allowed for youth steeped in the newly burgeoning drug/hippie culture (1969) to examine life's questions, and receive a Biblical answer from bold prophets like Jeremiah in the Old Testament and a book like Hebrews in the New Testament. Youth would bring new friends every day to sit next to the swimming pool & examine the evidence.
7) Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona was an isolated spot to train youth how to minister to a foreign culture, with a strange language and unusual customs/religions. After doing a Summer VBS with these pre-trained teens, bonds were formed and a world vision was captured. Many participants later went off to serve in foreign countries with their Christ-centered message.
8) During Easter Week we actually super-imposed a map of Jerusalem upon downtown Wichita, KS. We obtained permission to do a drama of Jesus night- time trial right on the downtown Courthouse steps. We carried a heavy wooden cross thru city streets, along a route similar to Jesus' labor of love for us. We also held an Easter sunrise service at the banks of a river, having fish, like Jesus did with his disciples. This did attract interest from local television crews.
9) Down thru the years, summer camps have been a wonderful opportunity to get to know youth and adults alike and to offer teaching, worship, meals and exercise in either a family or youth-centered experience. We have seen many lives changed in such camps in Illinois, Wisconsin, Colorado, Oklahoma, California and Spain down thru the years.
10) Showing Christian movies had always been a meaningful evangelistic/teaching tool. We presented Billy Graham films in a downtown Longmont, CO park, as well as Moody Science films in newly opened Bible centers in some towns in Spain. Attendance, interest, and response was always more than we could have anticipated.
11) Teaching English classes (from native speakers) to Spaniards was one vehicle that we utilized to give the public something that was not available elsewhere. A variety of missionaries participated in this endeavor, and we attempted to teach young children all the way up thru university professors. We often used the Bible as one of our English texts.
12) Teaching baseball to Spanish youth was another Saturday morning activity that allowed us to rub shoulders with youth, who would otherwise never attend a church service. During a cooling off period, stories of athletes who had faith experiences in their lives were shared.
13) Outdoor music concerts in parks in Spanish cities was another way we could reach a curious outdoor crowd. Dynamic music presentations, as well as solid biblical testimonies, gave people a thirst for knowing more about Jesus. Sometimes we tied these concerts into various town fiestas.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Traveling on 4 Tiny Rubber Tires
Europe On $5 a Day
by Torrey H. Brinkley
Yesterday was time to stop in and see what was new at the local Mini dealership. They had one vehicle all covered up in a green cloth car cover, all painted to look like a 1950s type "woodie" station wagon.
It reminded me of the green Austin Mini Clubman style van we had in 1969. We bought it used in Switzerland from a young Philadelphia guy who was leaving to go back to the States. After two months of intense studying, two of us couples took the car for a whirlwind trip down to Germany, France, England, Spain, Portugal and Italy. The silly little 2-seat parcel van, with a 850cc engine barely could get out of its own way. We generally drove on major roadways, but there were big differences between the fancy autostradas of Italy, the fast autobahns of Germany, and the pot-holed gravel roads of Spain and even Monacco at the time.
We tried to drive it over the Alps and the Pyrenees Mountains.....but it could not pull four of us over the top, so three of us got out and walked to the top of the Pyrenees. Some young guys in a tiny Honda 800cc Civic coupe (1st model) picked us up & got us up the rest of the way....to meet our friend who coaxed the Mini up the long winding hills.
Amazingly, we were able to drive the car on what is normally the Monte Carlo circuit, where they run the Formula 1 Grand Prix every year. We also drove down the Mulsanne Straight in France, where they hold the 24 Hours of LeMans yearly. We also drove on the twisty roads of Swiss Alps, where the original FWD Mini Cooper cut its teeth doing rallies in the snow. Being passed on the German autobahns by big Mercedes and Porsches going maybe 135 mph was almost embarassing . I do not remember any Ferraris that went by us at 140 mph on the Italian autostradas, but most everyone could pass us in the underpowered Mini.
It was a miracle that this humble little vehicle allowed us to get to see so much of Europe's great beauty and rich history, first-hand and close up. We were able to stop at so many wonderful historic castles, gorgeous art museums, elaborate cathedrals, and complex city centers. Actually, it's hard to remember where we parked the old buggy so we could navigate thru famous cities, usually on foot. As young-married grad school couples, we were on a tight budget and generally only spent $5 a day for food, lodging, gasoline, and sight-seeing.
The Mini also broke down in every major city in Europe, which cut into out daily expense plan. We got to see lots of sights while we waited for repairs to be done. We wound up calling the car "Ridiculous." Some auto mechanics in the Spanish dictatorship once asked us if we got this old car in a auto graveyard!! Rust holes in the floorpan allowed water to come up from the rainy roadways into the vehicle. Fortunately, we found some rubber plugs in the floor, and let the water flow back out onto the ground. Torque steer was a joke in this little car, too, even though the car did not have much torque at all. We sure could pile a lot of stuff into its box-sized shape. 4 people, 4 sleeping bags, a small tent, food & camping gear, plus our clothes went along for the 2-month ride. I think we left a few goodies behind at our school in Switzerland, which we picked up before coaxing the car back to England (its final destination point).
After arriving in London, we met up with another fellow student, whom we convinced to go back to the USA with us for the summer. We picked up next-to-new "driveaway cars" to get across the country, just paying for gasoline. Ron loved viewing everything from New York City to sunny California. He thought Pennsylvania was the prettiest state. Ron also got to go as far south as Mexico and north as Canada that summer. Afterwards, he went back to England, and continued his career as a school teacher near the eastern coast white cliffs of Dover.
Traveling back in the USA in big American cars, on broad wide highways, with gasoline at 35 cents a gallon was a far cry from our travels in highly congested Europe, where gasoline was over $2 a gallon, roads were windy, and parking was almost non-existant. We were glad, as well, to leave behind the fragile, tiny little car they called a "Mini." Now, they honor such a car in the historical murals in Mini dealerships across the world.
by Torrey H. Brinkley
Yesterday was time to stop in and see what was new at the local Mini dealership. They had one vehicle all covered up in a green cloth car cover, all painted to look like a 1950s type "woodie" station wagon.
It reminded me of the green Austin Mini Clubman style van we had in 1969. We bought it used in Switzerland from a young Philadelphia guy who was leaving to go back to the States. After two months of intense studying, two of us couples took the car for a whirlwind trip down to Germany, France, England, Spain, Portugal and Italy. The silly little 2-seat parcel van, with a 850cc engine barely could get out of its own way. We generally drove on major roadways, but there were big differences between the fancy autostradas of Italy, the fast autobahns of Germany, and the pot-holed gravel roads of Spain and even Monacco at the time.
We tried to drive it over the Alps and the Pyrenees Mountains.....but it could not pull four of us over the top, so three of us got out and walked to the top of the Pyrenees. Some young guys in a tiny Honda 800cc Civic coupe (1st model) picked us up & got us up the rest of the way....to meet our friend who coaxed the Mini up the long winding hills.
Amazingly, we were able to drive the car on what is normally the Monte Carlo circuit, where they run the Formula 1 Grand Prix every year. We also drove down the Mulsanne Straight in France, where they hold the 24 Hours of LeMans yearly. We also drove on the twisty roads of Swiss Alps, where the original FWD Mini Cooper cut its teeth doing rallies in the snow. Being passed on the German autobahns by big Mercedes and Porsches going maybe 135 mph was almost embarassing . I do not remember any Ferraris that went by us at 140 mph on the Italian autostradas, but most everyone could pass us in the underpowered Mini.
It was a miracle that this humble little vehicle allowed us to get to see so much of Europe's great beauty and rich history, first-hand and close up. We were able to stop at so many wonderful historic castles, gorgeous art museums, elaborate cathedrals, and complex city centers. Actually, it's hard to remember where we parked the old buggy so we could navigate thru famous cities, usually on foot. As young-married grad school couples, we were on a tight budget and generally only spent $5 a day for food, lodging, gasoline, and sight-seeing.
The Mini also broke down in every major city in Europe, which cut into out daily expense plan. We got to see lots of sights while we waited for repairs to be done. We wound up calling the car "Ridiculous." Some auto mechanics in the Spanish dictatorship once asked us if we got this old car in a auto graveyard!! Rust holes in the floorpan allowed water to come up from the rainy roadways into the vehicle. Fortunately, we found some rubber plugs in the floor, and let the water flow back out onto the ground. Torque steer was a joke in this little car, too, even though the car did not have much torque at all. We sure could pile a lot of stuff into its box-sized shape. 4 people, 4 sleeping bags, a small tent, food & camping gear, plus our clothes went along for the 2-month ride. I think we left a few goodies behind at our school in Switzerland, which we picked up before coaxing the car back to England (its final destination point).
After arriving in London, we met up with another fellow student, whom we convinced to go back to the USA with us for the summer. We picked up next-to-new "driveaway cars" to get across the country, just paying for gasoline. Ron loved viewing everything from New York City to sunny California. He thought Pennsylvania was the prettiest state. Ron also got to go as far south as Mexico and north as Canada that summer. Afterwards, he went back to England, and continued his career as a school teacher near the eastern coast white cliffs of Dover.
Traveling back in the USA in big American cars, on broad wide highways, with gasoline at 35 cents a gallon was a far cry from our travels in highly congested Europe, where gasoline was over $2 a gallon, roads were windy, and parking was almost non-existant. We were glad, as well, to leave behind the fragile, tiny little car they called a "Mini." Now, they honor such a car in the historical murals in Mini dealerships across the world.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Life Is Short - Make the Most of Each Day
TAKE A LITTLE TIME AWAY TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT
In the last 40 years many folk have participated in short term mission experiences that have been enjoyable. While we were serving in Spain building 3 churches, we actually did not have many real short term vacation helpers come. We had some workers who came for 2-3 yr. short term assignments. Several of them went on to do longer term mission service elsewhere later on. Such projects are generally more good for the ones who prepare, go, serve and then return home than they are of true benefit to the missionaries on the ground long term. (This writer did a research paper on this subject when studying at the Denver Seminary back in 1969).
Below is a brief listing of short term projects that were meaningful to this writer.
1) Navajo Indian Reservation in N.E. Arizona. We took a group of about 10 teenagers from our local church in 1972 and ran a Vacation Bible School for area Navajo children. We had the high schoolers sing songs, teach stories, make crafts, and play games with the kiddos. As adults, we drove around for hours rounding up the Indian children on the dry, dusty Reservation, teaching our teens, cooking & shopping, and disciplining them. Some of our teens later, as adults, went off to serve in remote mission areas such as Peru and Russia.
2) Folsom Prison in Calif. was where we went with our church baseball team. We played against the prisoners and then shared in a chapel service with these criminals back in 1966.
3) Rescue missions in Chicago, Denver, San Jose,CA and Wichita, KS were places where we went and sang, preached, and counseled with folk living on the street. As often as one preaches in such venues, it's never clear if one's words are adequate to speak to the needs of those people.
4) A big brother project in inner city Denver, called "Partners" was started by a fellow seminary classmate in 1969. We pared up with 2 black fellows in trouble with Juvenile Hall. We brought them every week to our youth ministry program in a white suburb, let them play in our church basketball league,etc. My wife and I drove these 2 guys with us to vacation one summer in California. One of the fellows later finished high school, & college, got a Master's Degree, a pilot's license, and started his own Denver realty company.
5) A former country club swimming pool was what our church bought in San Jose, CA. We spent the summer of 1969 interacting with and teaching teens around the pool. We got them involved in many Bible studies, although the Calif. scene was into drugs, anti-war protests, and rock music. There was tremendous interest in the Word noted by the thirsty youth.
6) While studying Psychology & Counseling in grad school days, this writer took time to visit Denver Pyschiatric Wards of local hospitals, including resident Mental Health Facilities. Spending time in one-on-one sessions as well as long Group Therapy meetings was grueling, painful, and yet, somewhat rewarding. Many folk hospitalized therein were of above-average intelligence.
7) We spent time interviewing many people in downtown Wichita for our film project, "The Back Seat" in 1975-76, and visiting with a lot of the homeless and alcoholics. One finds lots of needs in the center of a downtown area.
8) They were living in America but had their own world. This was an Armenian community living in Fresno, CA, and the assignment in 1978 was to go and make contact with these folk,who spoke a different language, find out their needs, and see if we could point to Christ as the Answer.
9) There was a big rainstorm that produced a flood of the river in east Wichita, KS back in 1976. We went to work on a project making a levee with the Mennonite Disaster Service. It was long into the night, but the sandbags held and the town was not severely damaged.
10) Some evangelical musicians were coming to town, and we wanted to have a good sized forum for their message to be heard back in the early 1980s. So, we went to the office of the Mayor of Madrid, Spain, and obtained permission to hold concerts in an outdoor amphitheater in this city of 5 million people. Now, almost 30 years later, one off the young people in our church realized a vision to put an evangelical radio station together that broadcast to that same city every day.
11) It was a new assignment for our mission team, back in 1985, when a few families moved to an abandoned town of hulking high rises. New contractors came in to Tres Cantos, Spain to open up apartment living after many years of neglect. Our workers went around to meet & greet all the new families that came there, share the love of Christ, and invite them to Bible studies, sports, and contact activities. Now, 24 years later, the town has over 65,000 people, and the town has donated land for a new church building for the congregation we started there.
12) Our church was not the first, nor the only group, to go help rebuild Gulfport, MS after Hurricane Katrina came & devastated whole sections of that region. But, our rebuilding trip a few years ago, with fellows from our church, was just one small part of giving people hope, showing them the love of Christ, and getting a roof over their heads.
Maybe only in Eternity will we know the results of some of these short term efforts. God bless those countless thousands of folk who give up their vacation time, their money and their efforts to make a difference somewhere else on God's big & wide mission field!
--Torrey Brinkley
In the last 40 years many folk have participated in short term mission experiences that have been enjoyable. While we were serving in Spain building 3 churches, we actually did not have many real short term vacation helpers come. We had some workers who came for 2-3 yr. short term assignments. Several of them went on to do longer term mission service elsewhere later on. Such projects are generally more good for the ones who prepare, go, serve and then return home than they are of true benefit to the missionaries on the ground long term. (This writer did a research paper on this subject when studying at the Denver Seminary back in 1969).
Below is a brief listing of short term projects that were meaningful to this writer.
1) Navajo Indian Reservation in N.E. Arizona. We took a group of about 10 teenagers from our local church in 1972 and ran a Vacation Bible School for area Navajo children. We had the high schoolers sing songs, teach stories, make crafts, and play games with the kiddos. As adults, we drove around for hours rounding up the Indian children on the dry, dusty Reservation, teaching our teens, cooking & shopping, and disciplining them. Some of our teens later, as adults, went off to serve in remote mission areas such as Peru and Russia.
2) Folsom Prison in Calif. was where we went with our church baseball team. We played against the prisoners and then shared in a chapel service with these criminals back in 1966.
3) Rescue missions in Chicago, Denver, San Jose,CA and Wichita, KS were places where we went and sang, preached, and counseled with folk living on the street. As often as one preaches in such venues, it's never clear if one's words are adequate to speak to the needs of those people.
4) A big brother project in inner city Denver, called "Partners" was started by a fellow seminary classmate in 1969. We pared up with 2 black fellows in trouble with Juvenile Hall. We brought them every week to our youth ministry program in a white suburb, let them play in our church basketball league,etc. My wife and I drove these 2 guys with us to vacation one summer in California. One of the fellows later finished high school, & college, got a Master's Degree, a pilot's license, and started his own Denver realty company.
5) A former country club swimming pool was what our church bought in San Jose, CA. We spent the summer of 1969 interacting with and teaching teens around the pool. We got them involved in many Bible studies, although the Calif. scene was into drugs, anti-war protests, and rock music. There was tremendous interest in the Word noted by the thirsty youth.
6) While studying Psychology & Counseling in grad school days, this writer took time to visit Denver Pyschiatric Wards of local hospitals, including resident Mental Health Facilities. Spending time in one-on-one sessions as well as long Group Therapy meetings was grueling, painful, and yet, somewhat rewarding. Many folk hospitalized therein were of above-average intelligence.
7) We spent time interviewing many people in downtown Wichita for our film project, "The Back Seat" in 1975-76, and visiting with a lot of the homeless and alcoholics. One finds lots of needs in the center of a downtown area.
8) They were living in America but had their own world. This was an Armenian community living in Fresno, CA, and the assignment in 1978 was to go and make contact with these folk,who spoke a different language, find out their needs, and see if we could point to Christ as the Answer.
9) There was a big rainstorm that produced a flood of the river in east Wichita, KS back in 1976. We went to work on a project making a levee with the Mennonite Disaster Service. It was long into the night, but the sandbags held and the town was not severely damaged.
10) Some evangelical musicians were coming to town, and we wanted to have a good sized forum for their message to be heard back in the early 1980s. So, we went to the office of the Mayor of Madrid, Spain, and obtained permission to hold concerts in an outdoor amphitheater in this city of 5 million people. Now, almost 30 years later, one off the young people in our church realized a vision to put an evangelical radio station together that broadcast to that same city every day.
11) It was a new assignment for our mission team, back in 1985, when a few families moved to an abandoned town of hulking high rises. New contractors came in to Tres Cantos, Spain to open up apartment living after many years of neglect. Our workers went around to meet & greet all the new families that came there, share the love of Christ, and invite them to Bible studies, sports, and contact activities. Now, 24 years later, the town has over 65,000 people, and the town has donated land for a new church building for the congregation we started there.
12) Our church was not the first, nor the only group, to go help rebuild Gulfport, MS after Hurricane Katrina came & devastated whole sections of that region. But, our rebuilding trip a few years ago, with fellows from our church, was just one small part of giving people hope, showing them the love of Christ, and getting a roof over their heads.
Maybe only in Eternity will we know the results of some of these short term efforts. God bless those countless thousands of folk who give up their vacation time, their money and their efforts to make a difference somewhere else on God's big & wide mission field!
--Torrey Brinkley
Friday, March 27, 2009
CHEERING FOR OTHERS
GIVE THEM A HAND
by Torrey H. Brinkley
It is always rewarding to see someone tackle a project, learn a new skill, take over an assignment, or become one's replacement in a task. Generally a new person can bring a fresh perspective, see a new way of doing things, or build on a foundation that was previously laid. Moses had to relinquish the reins to Joshua. David took over for Saul, the first King of Israel. Paul was glad to turn over the reins of various new churches to capable young pastors/teachers.
This writer has been privileged over the years to serve with some younger folk, who have gladly taken over tasks or started their own new ministries. Sometimes they have asked for guidance & direction. other times they needed to be led or prodded into accepting responsibilities. But what a joy to see how the Lord has led some of these folk down thru the years:
JB was a young black who had been in trouble with the juvenile court system. We took him out of his rough neighborhood, where crime & violence was commonplace, to engage with other youth to study God's Word and enjoy some wholesome activities. We even took him & a friend on vacation with us to California one summer. He later finished college, got an MBA, obtained a realtor's license, learned to fly an airplane, and helped re-develop a run-down neighborhood near downtown Denver.
DN was a high school football quarterback, who mostly enjoyed partying instead of studying. He came to our youth group from way across town, just to see a young Christian girl there. We were glad when he accepted Christ, learned to play Christian songs on the guitar, decided to go off to college, and then a Bible-teaching seminary. After doing some military service, he became a pastor of a church in Colorado and then So. Calif. Then he began service as a chaplain on an aircraft carrier to some 7000 sailors.
DH was a teenager who enjoyed jokes and pranks with other like-minded friends. Even though his family were godly people, we wondered when he would take life seriously. He finally took the challenge and would give his testimony, when singing in a newly formed youth Christian worship band at church, and on short term mission trips. He later served with Campus Crusade for Christ on campuses like Penn State, Stanford and Univ. of Minnesota. He was able to go into eastern block communist countries to share his faith. He decided to study for his doctorate in Philosophy at Oxford Univ. and now teaches ethics at a Christian university.
DS was a collegian, who asked to become our church choir director. He did a fine job, bringing his talent and great enthusiasm. When he thought about running for political office, we went together to spend a day visiting politicians in the Missouri statehouse, seeing how they blended their faith with civic duty. After graduation this fellow worked in a mortuary, and learned the delicate art of harveting eyes for transplant patients. He and his wife serve faithfully in a Kansas City church.
FD was a young boy, whose parents started to fight during his later elementary years. He came to live with us briefly while his parents decided to separate. He was silly but studious,and eventually got his university degree in Madrid, Spain. Then he went off to study at a theological seminary in Central America. He then came back to Spain,where he now pastors the little church that our mission founded when he was just 8 years old. He also has started a Christian radio ministry that broadcasts all over Spain.
CL was another young person who did not take life seriously in junior high or high school years. He still had to listen to his godly mother and teachers at church. But, after completing school, he decided to become more serious. Now he leads a worship team, with his children, at his church in Alaska, where he and his brother run a printing business.
HA was a young agnostic from an atheistic family. We spent many hours debating religion and the Bible. Eventually he came to acknowledge Christ's claim on his life. After college he married a fine Christian gal, who now owns a Bible bookstore in suburban Chicago. His daughter & her husband run a Christian coffee shop for migrant travelers in the middle east.
MF was a young collegian who needed his passions tamed. Always full of energy and ideas, he tried many financial schemes and relationships. He settled down to become a leader in his church and helps guide men who have personal life struggles. He gives many conferences in various parts of the country sharing his expertise and life lessons.
DP was a young man with very intelligent parents from 2 differing countries. He attended one of our little churches in Spain. We brought him back to the USA for a summer vacation with our family. Today he has moved up the management ladder in his employment with Mercedes Benz of Germany.
JW was a dedicated Christian young gal in a Colorado youth group we directed. She went to university and met a tall basketball player. After they married, they completed seminary training and have been serving as missionaries in Italy for over 20 years, helping plant churches and utilizing basketball as a vehicle to win others to Christ.
BS was a young collegian at work, who asked to be mentored for a season. We went over many personal and biblical topics for a year, over early morning breakfasts. Now he is our IT manager at work, is married to a lovely Christian gal, who had served with a Christian high school ministry. He helped encourage & support another classmate friend to start a college campus ministry, that shared Christ thru magic on scores at universities across America.
ST was a young collegian from a town in Canada of 50 people + cows. She came to work alongside of us, in a town of 5 million people who only spoke Spanish. We were glad for her tireless energy and love for children and young adults. Later she went back to Canada to complete her formal education. Now she and her husband have served as missionaries to poor & needy folk in Peru for several terms.
LJ was a young intern who worked with us in Spain as we attempted to start up new churches there. He was gifted enough to be accepted at medical school, but he later chose to attend biblcal seminary. After graduation he pastored a university town church, where he preached every sermon entirely from memory. Then, he was recruited to teach at a Bible college, and now serves as a New Testament professor at a Christian seminary.
HH was a young man, who had never attended church before, but who expressed interest in studying with a group of men. He eagerly soaked up most everything that was set before him to read, as he had never attended classes of higher education previously. God has used him in leading other men, attending many short term mission trips, and organizing many other missions and service projects.
God is good, and He never wants His message and relationship to end with the current believers! Who will take the mantle from you, and do a better job with the "next generation"?
by Torrey H. Brinkley
It is always rewarding to see someone tackle a project, learn a new skill, take over an assignment, or become one's replacement in a task. Generally a new person can bring a fresh perspective, see a new way of doing things, or build on a foundation that was previously laid. Moses had to relinquish the reins to Joshua. David took over for Saul, the first King of Israel. Paul was glad to turn over the reins of various new churches to capable young pastors/teachers.
This writer has been privileged over the years to serve with some younger folk, who have gladly taken over tasks or started their own new ministries. Sometimes they have asked for guidance & direction. other times they needed to be led or prodded into accepting responsibilities. But what a joy to see how the Lord has led some of these folk down thru the years:
JB was a young black who had been in trouble with the juvenile court system. We took him out of his rough neighborhood, where crime & violence was commonplace, to engage with other youth to study God's Word and enjoy some wholesome activities. We even took him & a friend on vacation with us to California one summer. He later finished college, got an MBA, obtained a realtor's license, learned to fly an airplane, and helped re-develop a run-down neighborhood near downtown Denver.
DN was a high school football quarterback, who mostly enjoyed partying instead of studying. He came to our youth group from way across town, just to see a young Christian girl there. We were glad when he accepted Christ, learned to play Christian songs on the guitar, decided to go off to college, and then a Bible-teaching seminary. After doing some military service, he became a pastor of a church in Colorado and then So. Calif. Then he began service as a chaplain on an aircraft carrier to some 7000 sailors.
DH was a teenager who enjoyed jokes and pranks with other like-minded friends. Even though his family were godly people, we wondered when he would take life seriously. He finally took the challenge and would give his testimony, when singing in a newly formed youth Christian worship band at church, and on short term mission trips. He later served with Campus Crusade for Christ on campuses like Penn State, Stanford and Univ. of Minnesota. He was able to go into eastern block communist countries to share his faith. He decided to study for his doctorate in Philosophy at Oxford Univ. and now teaches ethics at a Christian university.
DS was a collegian, who asked to become our church choir director. He did a fine job, bringing his talent and great enthusiasm. When he thought about running for political office, we went together to spend a day visiting politicians in the Missouri statehouse, seeing how they blended their faith with civic duty. After graduation this fellow worked in a mortuary, and learned the delicate art of harveting eyes for transplant patients. He and his wife serve faithfully in a Kansas City church.
FD was a young boy, whose parents started to fight during his later elementary years. He came to live with us briefly while his parents decided to separate. He was silly but studious,and eventually got his university degree in Madrid, Spain. Then he went off to study at a theological seminary in Central America. He then came back to Spain,where he now pastors the little church that our mission founded when he was just 8 years old. He also has started a Christian radio ministry that broadcasts all over Spain.
CL was another young person who did not take life seriously in junior high or high school years. He still had to listen to his godly mother and teachers at church. But, after completing school, he decided to become more serious. Now he leads a worship team, with his children, at his church in Alaska, where he and his brother run a printing business.
HA was a young agnostic from an atheistic family. We spent many hours debating religion and the Bible. Eventually he came to acknowledge Christ's claim on his life. After college he married a fine Christian gal, who now owns a Bible bookstore in suburban Chicago. His daughter & her husband run a Christian coffee shop for migrant travelers in the middle east.
MF was a young collegian who needed his passions tamed. Always full of energy and ideas, he tried many financial schemes and relationships. He settled down to become a leader in his church and helps guide men who have personal life struggles. He gives many conferences in various parts of the country sharing his expertise and life lessons.
DP was a young man with very intelligent parents from 2 differing countries. He attended one of our little churches in Spain. We brought him back to the USA for a summer vacation with our family. Today he has moved up the management ladder in his employment with Mercedes Benz of Germany.
JW was a dedicated Christian young gal in a Colorado youth group we directed. She went to university and met a tall basketball player. After they married, they completed seminary training and have been serving as missionaries in Italy for over 20 years, helping plant churches and utilizing basketball as a vehicle to win others to Christ.
BS was a young collegian at work, who asked to be mentored for a season. We went over many personal and biblical topics for a year, over early morning breakfasts. Now he is our IT manager at work, is married to a lovely Christian gal, who had served with a Christian high school ministry. He helped encourage & support another classmate friend to start a college campus ministry, that shared Christ thru magic on scores at universities across America.
ST was a young collegian from a town in Canada of 50 people + cows. She came to work alongside of us, in a town of 5 million people who only spoke Spanish. We were glad for her tireless energy and love for children and young adults. Later she went back to Canada to complete her formal education. Now she and her husband have served as missionaries to poor & needy folk in Peru for several terms.
LJ was a young intern who worked with us in Spain as we attempted to start up new churches there. He was gifted enough to be accepted at medical school, but he later chose to attend biblcal seminary. After graduation he pastored a university town church, where he preached every sermon entirely from memory. Then, he was recruited to teach at a Bible college, and now serves as a New Testament professor at a Christian seminary.
HH was a young man, who had never attended church before, but who expressed interest in studying with a group of men. He eagerly soaked up most everything that was set before him to read, as he had never attended classes of higher education previously. God has used him in leading other men, attending many short term mission trips, and organizing many other missions and service projects.
God is good, and He never wants His message and relationship to end with the current believers! Who will take the mantle from you, and do a better job with the "next generation"?
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
RIDING THAT HOBBY HORSE
Folk Who Collect are Colorful
shared by Torrey H. Brinkley
It has been fun developing a hobby over the years, where one has a chance to meet others with similar interests. Doing hobby work alone in life would be quite tedious and boring. But, everyone uses a hobby with different goals & perspectives, and often achieving different results. Look at some friends of this writer, who also share the same enjoyment of collecting historical automobile literature:
Steve K. mostly has collected Jaguar sales literature, as he also has enjoyed owning & driving older models of this British car. It took him 19 years, but he finally compiled a coffee table book of all the Jaguars ever made, with photos he captured inside & out of this famous marque.
Andy K. bought himself a 4-cylinder Porsche back in the 1960s and has kept it running & in good shape ever since. He has also gathered Porsche literature, and shared such at various Rocky Mountain Porsche events. He was privileged to run his white Porsche for several years in the Steamboat Springs auto race high in the Colorado Rockies.
Pete T. started collecting auto sales literature back in the 1940s and has amassed quite a collection of interesting folders, booklets and prestige items on nameplates from around the world. He tries to help many others obtain literature for their prized vehicles.
Keith D. is an attorney for a New York burrough, and also has been obtaining literature on various new cars for the last 2 decades. He and his wife gave up their cars, while living in the Big Apple, but the sales literature keeps him abreast of all the latest trends in the car industry.
Richard B. was an east coast transplant to the Denver area, who brought along some fine old auto literature which he started collecting back in the 1930s. Many of the nice pieces that he saved include the special automobiles which he owned & drove down thru the years.
Paul G. is a computer industry businessman, who also owns a Ferrari. He has accumulated some very nice pieces of literature on the Ferrari marque, and has become such an expert that he has been named President of the Ferrari Owner's Club in the USA. Currently he needs a wheelchair, as he suffers from M.S., but his advice on Ferraris still is widely solicited.
Robert S. left his computer customization company to sell European cars in downtown Denver. He sometimes travels to Europe and appreciates all the wide variety of cars that are manufactured elsewhere. He displays a nice collection of auto literature on his salesroom walls.
Erwin M. is a Dutch lawyer, who has had an interest in American cars for several years. He collected literature on autos whenever he could attend prestigious European auto shows from London(UK) to Geneva (Switz.). Recently, he started to purchase 1970s American land yachts like Cadillacs and Thunderbirds (in very good considiton) to show off among European friends with similar interests.
Jay K. was a salesman for Chevrolet in Texas for many years. But he also managed to accumulate much in the way of original sales catalogs. He then started selling such thru an extensive mailing catalog. Customers from around the world were glad to purchase old & newer literature from him. This also made possible many yearly church mission trips to Brazil, where Jay shared of his faith in Jesus Christ.
Gary D. owned and managed a Denver office building, but also had a passion for oddball European cars. He collected sales literature and toy models of these unusual cars, and found these easier to store, display & maintain than the actual cars themselves.
Bert S. was a New Yorker who moved to Madrid, Spain and started up a auto showroom for ex-patriots. There were many fancy European autos he had for sale, and he made sure that all his customers could see & read about the other potential offerings. So, he had made some cabinets full of original sales brochures on autos from Alfa Romeos to Ferraris to Volvos.
What do you have as a hobby? If it involves collecting something, make sure that it is lightweight, like postage stamps or feathers. Our hobby is getting too heavy for our backs as we get older.
shared by Torrey H. Brinkley
It has been fun developing a hobby over the years, where one has a chance to meet others with similar interests. Doing hobby work alone in life would be quite tedious and boring. But, everyone uses a hobby with different goals & perspectives, and often achieving different results. Look at some friends of this writer, who also share the same enjoyment of collecting historical automobile literature:
Steve K. mostly has collected Jaguar sales literature, as he also has enjoyed owning & driving older models of this British car. It took him 19 years, but he finally compiled a coffee table book of all the Jaguars ever made, with photos he captured inside & out of this famous marque.
Andy K. bought himself a 4-cylinder Porsche back in the 1960s and has kept it running & in good shape ever since. He has also gathered Porsche literature, and shared such at various Rocky Mountain Porsche events. He was privileged to run his white Porsche for several years in the Steamboat Springs auto race high in the Colorado Rockies.
Pete T. started collecting auto sales literature back in the 1940s and has amassed quite a collection of interesting folders, booklets and prestige items on nameplates from around the world. He tries to help many others obtain literature for their prized vehicles.
Keith D. is an attorney for a New York burrough, and also has been obtaining literature on various new cars for the last 2 decades. He and his wife gave up their cars, while living in the Big Apple, but the sales literature keeps him abreast of all the latest trends in the car industry.
Richard B. was an east coast transplant to the Denver area, who brought along some fine old auto literature which he started collecting back in the 1930s. Many of the nice pieces that he saved include the special automobiles which he owned & drove down thru the years.
Paul G. is a computer industry businessman, who also owns a Ferrari. He has accumulated some very nice pieces of literature on the Ferrari marque, and has become such an expert that he has been named President of the Ferrari Owner's Club in the USA. Currently he needs a wheelchair, as he suffers from M.S., but his advice on Ferraris still is widely solicited.
Robert S. left his computer customization company to sell European cars in downtown Denver. He sometimes travels to Europe and appreciates all the wide variety of cars that are manufactured elsewhere. He displays a nice collection of auto literature on his salesroom walls.
Erwin M. is a Dutch lawyer, who has had an interest in American cars for several years. He collected literature on autos whenever he could attend prestigious European auto shows from London(UK) to Geneva (Switz.). Recently, he started to purchase 1970s American land yachts like Cadillacs and Thunderbirds (in very good considiton) to show off among European friends with similar interests.
Jay K. was a salesman for Chevrolet in Texas for many years. But he also managed to accumulate much in the way of original sales catalogs. He then started selling such thru an extensive mailing catalog. Customers from around the world were glad to purchase old & newer literature from him. This also made possible many yearly church mission trips to Brazil, where Jay shared of his faith in Jesus Christ.
Gary D. owned and managed a Denver office building, but also had a passion for oddball European cars. He collected sales literature and toy models of these unusual cars, and found these easier to store, display & maintain than the actual cars themselves.
Bert S. was a New Yorker who moved to Madrid, Spain and started up a auto showroom for ex-patriots. There were many fancy European autos he had for sale, and he made sure that all his customers could see & read about the other potential offerings. So, he had made some cabinets full of original sales brochures on autos from Alfa Romeos to Ferraris to Volvos.
What do you have as a hobby? If it involves collecting something, make sure that it is lightweight, like postage stamps or feathers. Our hobby is getting too heavy for our backs as we get older.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Going The Extra Mile
Missionaries are Special People
by Torrey H. Brinkley
In a lifetime, perhaps one meets a few very exceptional people, who have an ability to reach beyond the ordinary, to conquer new frontiers, to create something remarkable, and to truly leave the customary routines of a native culture. Overseas missionaries are generally among this breed of special people. Thankfully, many such folk crossed paths with this writer from an early age, and the ties still continue with many of them.
Here are just a few who have been friends down thru the years, and who have challenged so many people with their love for people of another culture, in a far & distant land, with different life presuppositions, so that they could share the love of Jesus Christ to them.
Herb F.. was an opthamologist from Kansas, who decided to go off and serve the people of Afghanistan in the early 1970s. He developed a way of performing eye surgeries on hundreds of Afghan patients a week, in an eye center. Of course, it was hard to speak freely & openly of Christ's message of hope in a devout Muslim culture, but so many got the message anyway.
Dale W. knew that he wanted to go to an African country and teach people the Scriptures and build up the fledgling Church there. He and his wife served in more than one African country and eventually built a multi-media training center in Ivory Coast for African pastors from many countries.
Sue M. grew up in Chicago, IL with this writer, and saw the servant heart of her dear aunt, who had done missionary service. After completing her education, Sue reached across the oceans and started serving in Irian Jaya, helping translate the Scriptures into the language of these Indonesian people, also living in a large Muslim population base. She is still there almost 40 years later.
Ray P.came from a Russian province to the USA for his education, as did his wife. After graduating from seminary, he went to serve as an overseas misssionary in the Phillipines. Ray then went to do similar work in an African country (Kenya). After that he went back to the Ukraine, where he taught and helped direct a Bible school/seminary for new pastors .
Dan A. was a young husband & father, whose dad had been a missionary to the people of Mexico City. After graduating from theological schools in California, he went back to help his parents in Mexico City. Dan & his wife then came to serve in Madrid, Spain, where we were pleased to use his many talents in our work: preaching, trumpet playing and acting. He and his wife later learned a different language and decided to serve as missionaries in Germany, taking their 3 children with them.
Phil B. was one of 3 brothers in Chicago, who attended church with this author. His talent always had been music, especially playing the trumpet. After completing his education, Phil and wife Arleen went down to Guatemala,where they became Music Missionaries. They share their love of Christ thru music, performing in churches, in concert venues, and teaching in a Central American Bible seminary. Now, they do cross border work with Mexican nationals.
Barry K. was a televison engineer for Philco Corp., before going to seminary to study Greek & Hebrew. His love for the Word allowed him to reach college students at our local church in San Jose, CA. Then he taught at Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland, OR. But, the Lord called him to go help plant and build churches in the Czech Republic and other eastern European countries. He still goes on overseas teaching trips, even though he is pushing 80 years old!
Ron P. grew up on a western Kansas farm, and wound up helping plant churches in a European city of 5 million people. He took his family from there to work among the poor in a poor border town in Mexico. After pursuing graduate degrees in missions, he also has served a missions agency, overseeing personnel, and then pastoring a church in rural California.
Shirley T. came to Spain to help us in our church planting work, before even finishing college. After graduation, she got married and has gone to do missions work in Peru with her husband. Her original home town was a small town of 50 people + cows in Saskat., Canada.
Roy A.was blessed to have a brilliant father, who not only pastored, but was the head of an east coast Bible college. During the time of the dictatorship in Spain, Roy went over to help show evangelical films and pass out Bibles to folk, who previously had only heard church services & Bible instruction in Latin, not their native tongue. Authorities often threw up roadblocks for their efforts to bring the Gospel to small, closed, rural villages. After leaving Spain, Roy was tapped for heading up another evangelical missions agency.
by Torrey H. Brinkley
In a lifetime, perhaps one meets a few very exceptional people, who have an ability to reach beyond the ordinary, to conquer new frontiers, to create something remarkable, and to truly leave the customary routines of a native culture. Overseas missionaries are generally among this breed of special people. Thankfully, many such folk crossed paths with this writer from an early age, and the ties still continue with many of them.
Here are just a few who have been friends down thru the years, and who have challenged so many people with their love for people of another culture, in a far & distant land, with different life presuppositions, so that they could share the love of Jesus Christ to them.
Herb F.. was an opthamologist from Kansas, who decided to go off and serve the people of Afghanistan in the early 1970s. He developed a way of performing eye surgeries on hundreds of Afghan patients a week, in an eye center. Of course, it was hard to speak freely & openly of Christ's message of hope in a devout Muslim culture, but so many got the message anyway.
Dale W. knew that he wanted to go to an African country and teach people the Scriptures and build up the fledgling Church there. He and his wife served in more than one African country and eventually built a multi-media training center in Ivory Coast for African pastors from many countries.
Sue M. grew up in Chicago, IL with this writer, and saw the servant heart of her dear aunt, who had done missionary service. After completing her education, Sue reached across the oceans and started serving in Irian Jaya, helping translate the Scriptures into the language of these Indonesian people, also living in a large Muslim population base. She is still there almost 40 years later.
Ray P.came from a Russian province to the USA for his education, as did his wife. After graduating from seminary, he went to serve as an overseas misssionary in the Phillipines. Ray then went to do similar work in an African country (Kenya). After that he went back to the Ukraine, where he taught and helped direct a Bible school/seminary for new pastors .
Dan A. was a young husband & father, whose dad had been a missionary to the people of Mexico City. After graduating from theological schools in California, he went back to help his parents in Mexico City. Dan & his wife then came to serve in Madrid, Spain, where we were pleased to use his many talents in our work: preaching, trumpet playing and acting. He and his wife later learned a different language and decided to serve as missionaries in Germany, taking their 3 children with them.
Phil B. was one of 3 brothers in Chicago, who attended church with this author. His talent always had been music, especially playing the trumpet. After completing his education, Phil and wife Arleen went down to Guatemala,where they became Music Missionaries. They share their love of Christ thru music, performing in churches, in concert venues, and teaching in a Central American Bible seminary. Now, they do cross border work with Mexican nationals.
Barry K. was a televison engineer for Philco Corp., before going to seminary to study Greek & Hebrew. His love for the Word allowed him to reach college students at our local church in San Jose, CA. Then he taught at Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland, OR. But, the Lord called him to go help plant and build churches in the Czech Republic and other eastern European countries. He still goes on overseas teaching trips, even though he is pushing 80 years old!
Ron P. grew up on a western Kansas farm, and wound up helping plant churches in a European city of 5 million people. He took his family from there to work among the poor in a poor border town in Mexico. After pursuing graduate degrees in missions, he also has served a missions agency, overseeing personnel, and then pastoring a church in rural California.
Shirley T. came to Spain to help us in our church planting work, before even finishing college. After graduation, she got married and has gone to do missions work in Peru with her husband. Her original home town was a small town of 50 people + cows in Saskat., Canada.
Roy A.was blessed to have a brilliant father, who not only pastored, but was the head of an east coast Bible college. During the time of the dictatorship in Spain, Roy went over to help show evangelical films and pass out Bibles to folk, who previously had only heard church services & Bible instruction in Latin, not their native tongue. Authorities often threw up roadblocks for their efforts to bring the Gospel to small, closed, rural villages. After leaving Spain, Roy was tapped for heading up another evangelical missions agency.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Who Has Influenced You?
Learning Lessons in Life
Have you ever considered which persons have most impacted your life? How have you become the person that you are today? Who has instructed you, challenged you, pushed you hard, molded your character, been your friend thru good times & bad? Have you taken the time to acknowledge them, thank them and try to reward all that they have poured into you? For many of us in life, our parents have been the biggest influences, and often a spouse has supported & comforted us.
It is a special treat to read the Epistles of St. Paul, who often starts and ends his letters to churches with words of thanks & appreciation to all those who had done special things for him, and shown God's grace by their actions. He spent much time, of course, teaching & training them.....but he paid a price of imprisonment, shipwreck and hardship for his beliefs and zeal.
For this writer, thankfully there have been a multitude of special folk who have brought insights, blessings and challenges down thru the years. Just a few of them are listed below:
1) Bill L. taught me that a person can do anything, with very little. He escaped from Russia, with his mom during WW II, ala the "Sound of Music" mountain route. He put himself thru med school, and has helped his daughters & nephews also become doctors. He also has served on church, seminary, hospital & college boards.
2) Mark F. found the Lord, and has done church planting now for over 20 years, in spite of severe pain after college wrestling & a professional football career. His music, sermons & intense prayer shows his deep love of how deep & intense our God is.
3) Francis S. studied all the great thinkers of this world, ad many fine artists & musicians, & then integrated a system of showing that God's truth overpowers the foolish arguments of secular thought. His many books and movies prodded young people and churches to consider God's truth vs. secular propaganda.
4) Leith A. became a pastor who always tries to look at the big picture, and who tries to get the most out of every church staff member and person in the pew. He has authored several books, pastored some growing, important churches, and served his graduate school, and now the country's evangelical leaders.
5) Chuck W. took a simple idea of economics and spread it to all the poor corners of the world, allowing simple peasant/village people to have a dream of their own business, making it work, and seeing it grow responsibly. This economic system has the highest rate of loan paybacks that banks can imagine!!
6) Bill B., a businessman, cares so much about all his employees, and works to see that they have stable jobs, good families, and can become responsible citiizens. He opens up his home to others, when so many folk consider their personal space very private.
7) Dale W. is one who thinks of every detail of a church's life and ministry. He attempts great things for God in every little decision that he makes, and knows how to challenge others to do the same. He gave up a very successful pastorate to go serve in poor Indonesia, trying to help folk in another culture to become Christ-like leaders of their people.
8) Larry H. was a consummate professional in the news business. Yhe never wanted the focus to be on himself, but rather on others, who all had stories to tell. He always attempts at getting the full story, and to have it corroborated by at least 2 or 3 other sources.
9) Vernon G. liked to read everything that he could get his hands on, and still does, well into his 90's. He always finds some thoughts that are worth digesting, re-hashing, and even questioning. He loves to bring others into the thought process and to debate points, no matter what the subject matter.
10) Reg B. was a businessman who always liked to work hard, make the right deals, and to dream of what could be done next. Sadly, when he crashed his plane, seeing his wife & 2 sons killed in the wreck, he had to fight thru pain, injuries and tremendous loss & grief. But he still fought back to regain health, dreamt a new dream, and rebuilt his life, affecting his church, his community, and offering jobs and housing to many, many other folk.
11) Os G. grew up in the Far East, as the son of missionaries. His search for the Truth has allowed him to dialogue with and debate the great thinkers of our time. His compassion in Christ has even brought him to be called in as advisor to the President of the USA in a time of personal crisis. In reading his multitude of books, one sees that he tries to debate all of world's value systems against God's Ultimate Truth.
12) Vern C. is a long time friend, who discovered early in life that his family carried the gene for a crippling disease. Somehow, God spared him from having the illness, but yet he has lived life one day at a time, making new challenges for himself and carrying his family & friends with him in an incredible journey of things to learn, places to go visit, activities to do, and a Lord to be served.
13) Darrow M. took his humble beginnings as a construction laborer to study with some great philosophers of this age, and then to transform his studies into something very practical. Now he has shared his studies thru workshops for churches in the world's poorest countries, so that they find a village/town need, expose God's love to that situation, and work diligently to make a Christ-like difference, where folk will be attracted to the Gospel because of their action.
Can you make a list of people significant in your life and note how that has helped shape you? Even a more profound question is:
In what way are you helping influence others to grow & be better humans?
Torrey Brinkley
Have you ever considered which persons have most impacted your life? How have you become the person that you are today? Who has instructed you, challenged you, pushed you hard, molded your character, been your friend thru good times & bad? Have you taken the time to acknowledge them, thank them and try to reward all that they have poured into you? For many of us in life, our parents have been the biggest influences, and often a spouse has supported & comforted us.
It is a special treat to read the Epistles of St. Paul, who often starts and ends his letters to churches with words of thanks & appreciation to all those who had done special things for him, and shown God's grace by their actions. He spent much time, of course, teaching & training them.....but he paid a price of imprisonment, shipwreck and hardship for his beliefs and zeal.
For this writer, thankfully there have been a multitude of special folk who have brought insights, blessings and challenges down thru the years. Just a few of them are listed below:
1) Bill L. taught me that a person can do anything, with very little. He escaped from Russia, with his mom during WW II, ala the "Sound of Music" mountain route. He put himself thru med school, and has helped his daughters & nephews also become doctors. He also has served on church, seminary, hospital & college boards.
2) Mark F. found the Lord, and has done church planting now for over 20 years, in spite of severe pain after college wrestling & a professional football career. His music, sermons & intense prayer shows his deep love of how deep & intense our God is.
3) Francis S. studied all the great thinkers of this world, ad many fine artists & musicians, & then integrated a system of showing that God's truth overpowers the foolish arguments of secular thought. His many books and movies prodded young people and churches to consider God's truth vs. secular propaganda.
4) Leith A. became a pastor who always tries to look at the big picture, and who tries to get the most out of every church staff member and person in the pew. He has authored several books, pastored some growing, important churches, and served his graduate school, and now the country's evangelical leaders.
5) Chuck W. took a simple idea of economics and spread it to all the poor corners of the world, allowing simple peasant/village people to have a dream of their own business, making it work, and seeing it grow responsibly. This economic system has the highest rate of loan paybacks that banks can imagine!!
6) Bill B., a businessman, cares so much about all his employees, and works to see that they have stable jobs, good families, and can become responsible citiizens. He opens up his home to others, when so many folk consider their personal space very private.
7) Dale W. is one who thinks of every detail of a church's life and ministry. He attempts great things for God in every little decision that he makes, and knows how to challenge others to do the same. He gave up a very successful pastorate to go serve in poor Indonesia, trying to help folk in another culture to become Christ-like leaders of their people.
8) Larry H. was a consummate professional in the news business. Yhe never wanted the focus to be on himself, but rather on others, who all had stories to tell. He always attempts at getting the full story, and to have it corroborated by at least 2 or 3 other sources.
9) Vernon G. liked to read everything that he could get his hands on, and still does, well into his 90's. He always finds some thoughts that are worth digesting, re-hashing, and even questioning. He loves to bring others into the thought process and to debate points, no matter what the subject matter.
10) Reg B. was a businessman who always liked to work hard, make the right deals, and to dream of what could be done next. Sadly, when he crashed his plane, seeing his wife & 2 sons killed in the wreck, he had to fight thru pain, injuries and tremendous loss & grief. But he still fought back to regain health, dreamt a new dream, and rebuilt his life, affecting his church, his community, and offering jobs and housing to many, many other folk.
11) Os G. grew up in the Far East, as the son of missionaries. His search for the Truth has allowed him to dialogue with and debate the great thinkers of our time. His compassion in Christ has even brought him to be called in as advisor to the President of the USA in a time of personal crisis. In reading his multitude of books, one sees that he tries to debate all of world's value systems against God's Ultimate Truth.
12) Vern C. is a long time friend, who discovered early in life that his family carried the gene for a crippling disease. Somehow, God spared him from having the illness, but yet he has lived life one day at a time, making new challenges for himself and carrying his family & friends with him in an incredible journey of things to learn, places to go visit, activities to do, and a Lord to be served.
13) Darrow M. took his humble beginnings as a construction laborer to study with some great philosophers of this age, and then to transform his studies into something very practical. Now he has shared his studies thru workshops for churches in the world's poorest countries, so that they find a village/town need, expose God's love to that situation, and work diligently to make a Christ-like difference, where folk will be attracted to the Gospel because of their action.
Can you make a list of people significant in your life and note how that has helped shape you? Even a more profound question is:
In what way are you helping influence others to grow & be better humans?
Torrey Brinkley
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Fine Books, Great Authors
Good Reading Comes from Good Authors
During my earlier years I remember doing lots of reading:
---I recall reading all of Danish writer Soren Kierkegaard's existential philosophy books
---I remember reading the Swiss author, Paul Tournier, & his Christian psychology tomes.
---It was fun reading Shakespeare's works too (as did my wife Vicky).
---I was an odd fan of all of Major Donald Keyhoe's books on Air Force encounters with UFOs.
---Of course, I read & heard all of Francis Schaeffer's works (& his L'Abri staff in Switzerland).
---Upon arriving in Spain, I read all of Ernest Hemmingway's books.
---It was a pleasure to read all of Alexander Solzhenitzen's books while we served in Spain.
When one spends time with pastors & professors, one gets to know a lot of people who write books. Have you read any of these author friends of mine?
1) Francis Schaeffer of course, was the Christian philosopher & apologist, with whom we studied when we went off to Switzerland in 1969. His first books were "Escape from Reason", and then "The God Who is There". His film/book series in the mid- 1970s was called "How Should We then Live?" He and his wife Edith wrote over 25 books of significance for challenging our culture's truth claims.
2) Leith Anderson is the current President of the National Association of Evangelicals. After we graduated from Denver Seminary, we worked together for 3 years at the Conservative Baptist Church here in Longmont, CO. He has authored several books in the last 15 years or so, as 25 yr. pastor of Woodale Church in Eden Prarie, MN. He had opening church services in Mall of America when it first opened.
3) Vernon Grounds is the prolific author/writer and past President of Denver Seminary. His first book was "The Reason for Our Hope." He always has had a positive outlook on life in his writings and shares thoughts he has read with all his former students & friends, even though he is in his 90s.
4) Lynn Jost was a young intern missionary with us in Spain back in the 1978-90 period. He finished his education and seminary training with the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary, where he now is a professor of New Testament (Fresno, CA). As a pastor in Hesston, KS, Rev. Jost always delivered every sermon totally memorized (no notes). Dr. Jost's first book was on a panorama of the worldwide Mennonite Brethren Church. Before joining the mission team, Lynn had been accepted into med school....but chose to serve the Lord instead.
5) Os Guiness was an adjunct instructor at L'Abri Fellowship in Huemoz, Switzerland with Francis Schaeffer, when we went there in 1969. Os wrote his first and most significant book in the early 1970s, "The Dust of Death," where he analyzed all of popular western culture & its poverty of values. "The Gravedigger's File"was another tome, followed by perhaps a new book every few years.
6) Bruce Shelley was our Old Testament professor at Denver Seminary back in 1968-71. He has written "By What Authority?" & many such books on church history down thru the years, and his son has been editor of "Christianity Today" and "Leadership" magazines.
7) Larry Hatteberg wrote a few volumes of his TV interview stories, shown on KAKE-TV in Wichita, KS from the 1970s to the present, called "Hatteberg's People." He was the photographer & director of the film we produced jointly back in the mid-1970s, called "The Back Seat."
8) Steve Kennedy is the author of the definitive coffee table book on all Jaguar automobiles ever produced. It took him 19 years, lots of research, and many rolls of film to compile, edit and have printed this fine book, "Jaguar, The Classic Marque" (in Hong Kong). I helped him with piles of my Jaguar historical brochures down thru the years. Copies sold for $85, $150 and $300, depending on cover type.
9) Jeremy Balzer is an illustrator of children's books, and is married to Kim Penner, the daughter of our missionary associates from Spain. "Orso, the Troll Who Wouldn't Scare" was his first book done with writer Brad Thiessen.
10) Ingrid Law is the daughter of a current work associate, and who has just had her first book published for pre-teens called "Savvy." It has already received some awards and will be made into a movie. Her second book is in the works, while "Savvy" is being translated into several different foreign language editions.
11) Ralph Harris is a local pastor, conference speaker and now author of a book called "You're Better Off Than You Think." Ralph tries to help people re-think their pre-conceived ideas of who God is and how we deal with our guilt trips.
12) Darrow Miller was a former grad school classmate, who also studied with Francis Schaeffer back in the 1969-75 period. He has more recently served with Food For the Hungry, Intl. and has given conferences in many underdeveloped nations. His book just out this past year deals with God's view of women and giving them dignity (something not done in many cultures today). Darrow's new mission is called Disciple Nations Alliance, where one can order his book.
13) Tom Hovestol is a local Colorado pastor who had taught school in Africa before beginning his pastoral ministries in Texas and Colorado(church where we previously served). His first book is called "Extreme Righteousness".
--Torrey Brinkley
During my earlier years I remember doing lots of reading:
---I recall reading all of Danish writer Soren Kierkegaard's existential philosophy books
---I remember reading the Swiss author, Paul Tournier, & his Christian psychology tomes.
---It was fun reading Shakespeare's works too (as did my wife Vicky).
---I was an odd fan of all of Major Donald Keyhoe's books on Air Force encounters with UFOs.
---Of course, I read & heard all of Francis Schaeffer's works (& his L'Abri staff in Switzerland).
---Upon arriving in Spain, I read all of Ernest Hemmingway's books.
---It was a pleasure to read all of Alexander Solzhenitzen's books while we served in Spain.
When one spends time with pastors & professors, one gets to know a lot of people who write books. Have you read any of these author friends of mine?
1) Francis Schaeffer of course, was the Christian philosopher & apologist, with whom we studied when we went off to Switzerland in 1969. His first books were "Escape from Reason", and then "The God Who is There". His film/book series in the mid- 1970s was called "How Should We then Live?" He and his wife Edith wrote over 25 books of significance for challenging our culture's truth claims.
2) Leith Anderson is the current President of the National Association of Evangelicals. After we graduated from Denver Seminary, we worked together for 3 years at the Conservative Baptist Church here in Longmont, CO. He has authored several books in the last 15 years or so, as 25 yr. pastor of Woodale Church in Eden Prarie, MN. He had opening church services in Mall of America when it first opened.
3) Vernon Grounds is the prolific author/writer and past President of Denver Seminary. His first book was "The Reason for Our Hope." He always has had a positive outlook on life in his writings and shares thoughts he has read with all his former students & friends, even though he is in his 90s.
4) Lynn Jost was a young intern missionary with us in Spain back in the 1978-90 period. He finished his education and seminary training with the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary, where he now is a professor of New Testament (Fresno, CA). As a pastor in Hesston, KS, Rev. Jost always delivered every sermon totally memorized (no notes). Dr. Jost's first book was on a panorama of the worldwide Mennonite Brethren Church. Before joining the mission team, Lynn had been accepted into med school....but chose to serve the Lord instead.
5) Os Guiness was an adjunct instructor at L'Abri Fellowship in Huemoz, Switzerland with Francis Schaeffer, when we went there in 1969. Os wrote his first and most significant book in the early 1970s, "The Dust of Death," where he analyzed all of popular western culture & its poverty of values. "The Gravedigger's File"was another tome, followed by perhaps a new book every few years.
6) Bruce Shelley was our Old Testament professor at Denver Seminary back in 1968-71. He has written "By What Authority?" & many such books on church history down thru the years, and his son has been editor of "Christianity Today" and "Leadership" magazines.
7) Larry Hatteberg wrote a few volumes of his TV interview stories, shown on KAKE-TV in Wichita, KS from the 1970s to the present, called "Hatteberg's People." He was the photographer & director of the film we produced jointly back in the mid-1970s, called "The Back Seat."
8) Steve Kennedy is the author of the definitive coffee table book on all Jaguar automobiles ever produced. It took him 19 years, lots of research, and many rolls of film to compile, edit and have printed this fine book, "Jaguar, The Classic Marque" (in Hong Kong). I helped him with piles of my Jaguar historical brochures down thru the years. Copies sold for $85, $150 and $300, depending on cover type.
9) Jeremy Balzer is an illustrator of children's books, and is married to Kim Penner, the daughter of our missionary associates from Spain. "Orso, the Troll Who Wouldn't Scare" was his first book done with writer Brad Thiessen.
10) Ingrid Law is the daughter of a current work associate, and who has just had her first book published for pre-teens called "Savvy." It has already received some awards and will be made into a movie. Her second book is in the works, while "Savvy" is being translated into several different foreign language editions.
11) Ralph Harris is a local pastor, conference speaker and now author of a book called "You're Better Off Than You Think." Ralph tries to help people re-think their pre-conceived ideas of who God is and how we deal with our guilt trips.
12) Darrow Miller was a former grad school classmate, who also studied with Francis Schaeffer back in the 1969-75 period. He has more recently served with Food For the Hungry, Intl. and has given conferences in many underdeveloped nations. His book just out this past year deals with God's view of women and giving them dignity (something not done in many cultures today). Darrow's new mission is called Disciple Nations Alliance, where one can order his book.
13) Tom Hovestol is a local Colorado pastor who had taught school in Africa before beginning his pastoral ministries in Texas and Colorado(church where we previously served). His first book is called "Extreme Righteousness".
--Torrey Brinkley
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
A Sporting Proposition
Sports Hall of Names
A couple of local sports talk fellows discuss names of former athletes every day on their show. I've met these Denver mainstays at a remote site one day, but could not spend time chatting, as they were "live" on the air. It did impress me that athletes are humans, often given special abilities, and yet who also have regular lives after playing sports.
These are some professional athletes I've met in person. Do you recognize any of these names?
1) Rogers Hornsby
2) George Karl
3) Dan Issel
4) Kordell Stewart
5) Eric Young
6) Bobby Unser
7) Jim Grabowski
8) Bobby Howfield
9) Tanner Foust
10) Scott Hastings
11) Alfred Williams
12) Dale McGowan
13) Billy Hamilton
1) Rogers Hornsby was the Chicago Cubs shortstop in the 1930s, and a perennial All Star.
2) George Karl was an NBA point guard in the 1970s, and has coached NBA teams like the Seattle Supersonics, Milwaukee Bucks & now the Denver Nuggets.
3) Dan Issel was an All Star player in the original ABA, and later a forward for the Denver Nuggets in the 1970s, and who later coached the Nuggets in the NBA.
4) Kordell Stewart was the quarterback for the Colorado Buffaloes college football team in the mid-1990s, who threw the famous Hail Mary pass that beat Michigan as time ran out. He later played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who went to the Super Bowl (although he was not the QB of record).
5) Eric Young was the opening day second baseman for the fledgling Colorado Rockies, and who hit a home run his (and team's) first at-bat in Mile Hi Stadium back in 1996. His son is now on the spring roster for the Rockies in 2009.
6) Bobby Unser was a auto racer, based in Arizona, who generally raced open wheel cars. He also competed regularly in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb....and is part of the greater Unser racing family.
7) Jim Grabowski was an University of Illinois football player in the early 1960s, who later went on to play for the Chicago Bears & Green Bay Packers. He just retired from being the radio voice of the Illini after 30 years in the broadcast booth.
8) Bobby Howfield was the Denver Broncos place kicker in the 1969 football season.
9) Tanner Foust is seen regularly on auto related TV shows presently. He is known for his "drifting" skills, but also was a road racer with the Subaru rally teams (one sponsored & maintained by our store in Boulder, CO). Sometimes you will see him on TV moderating luxury car auctions or test driving exotic cars.
10) Scott Hastings was the "center" basketball player for the Univ. of Arkansas, who went on to play for the Detroit Pistons, gaining 2 championship rings (c. 1990-91). He later finished playing with the Denver Nuggets, and is currently their TV courtside voice.
11) Alfred Williams was a defensive bullwark of the NCAA Champion Colorado Buffalos football team in 1990, who later did NFL duties with the Cincinnati Bengals and Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos (1997 & 98). Currently he hosts a sports radio talk show in Denver, CO.
12) Dale McGowan was a SCCA sports car driver (Alfa Romeo Spider) in the 1970s-80s. He later opened and ran a Alfa Romeo repair shop in Denver. Now, Ms. McGowan has retired from racing and mechanical duties.
13) Billy Hamilton was a popular midfielder for the Northern Ireland soccer team which competed for the World Soccer Cup in Spain in 1982.
--Interestingly, I had a chance to meet each of these fine athletes personally, some on several occasions, and played competitive sports with at least one of them.
Torrey Brinkley
A couple of local sports talk fellows discuss names of former athletes every day on their show. I've met these Denver mainstays at a remote site one day, but could not spend time chatting, as they were "live" on the air. It did impress me that athletes are humans, often given special abilities, and yet who also have regular lives after playing sports.
These are some professional athletes I've met in person. Do you recognize any of these names?
1) Rogers Hornsby
2) George Karl
3) Dan Issel
4) Kordell Stewart
5) Eric Young
6) Bobby Unser
7) Jim Grabowski
8) Bobby Howfield
9) Tanner Foust
10) Scott Hastings
11) Alfred Williams
12) Dale McGowan
13) Billy Hamilton
1) Rogers Hornsby was the Chicago Cubs shortstop in the 1930s, and a perennial All Star.
2) George Karl was an NBA point guard in the 1970s, and has coached NBA teams like the Seattle Supersonics, Milwaukee Bucks & now the Denver Nuggets.
3) Dan Issel was an All Star player in the original ABA, and later a forward for the Denver Nuggets in the 1970s, and who later coached the Nuggets in the NBA.
4) Kordell Stewart was the quarterback for the Colorado Buffaloes college football team in the mid-1990s, who threw the famous Hail Mary pass that beat Michigan as time ran out. He later played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who went to the Super Bowl (although he was not the QB of record).
5) Eric Young was the opening day second baseman for the fledgling Colorado Rockies, and who hit a home run his (and team's) first at-bat in Mile Hi Stadium back in 1996. His son is now on the spring roster for the Rockies in 2009.
6) Bobby Unser was a auto racer, based in Arizona, who generally raced open wheel cars. He also competed regularly in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb....and is part of the greater Unser racing family.
7) Jim Grabowski was an University of Illinois football player in the early 1960s, who later went on to play for the Chicago Bears & Green Bay Packers. He just retired from being the radio voice of the Illini after 30 years in the broadcast booth.
8) Bobby Howfield was the Denver Broncos place kicker in the 1969 football season.
9) Tanner Foust is seen regularly on auto related TV shows presently. He is known for his "drifting" skills, but also was a road racer with the Subaru rally teams (one sponsored & maintained by our store in Boulder, CO). Sometimes you will see him on TV moderating luxury car auctions or test driving exotic cars.
10) Scott Hastings was the "center" basketball player for the Univ. of Arkansas, who went on to play for the Detroit Pistons, gaining 2 championship rings (c. 1990-91). He later finished playing with the Denver Nuggets, and is currently their TV courtside voice.
11) Alfred Williams was a defensive bullwark of the NCAA Champion Colorado Buffalos football team in 1990, who later did NFL duties with the Cincinnati Bengals and Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos (1997 & 98). Currently he hosts a sports radio talk show in Denver, CO.
12) Dale McGowan was a SCCA sports car driver (Alfa Romeo Spider) in the 1970s-80s. He later opened and ran a Alfa Romeo repair shop in Denver. Now, Ms. McGowan has retired from racing and mechanical duties.
13) Billy Hamilton was a popular midfielder for the Northern Ireland soccer team which competed for the World Soccer Cup in Spain in 1982.
--Interestingly, I had a chance to meet each of these fine athletes personally, some on several occasions, and played competitive sports with at least one of them.
Torrey Brinkley
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Encounters With Significant People
SO NICE TO MEET YOU
by Torrey H. Brinkley
Most of us have had occasion to meet or greet someone famous in our lives. Take this brief little test to see if you recognize any of these people who have appeared in the national spotlight in the last quarter century.
1) Steve Forbes
2) Abigail Van Buren
3) Tom Tancredo
4) Ricardo Montalban
5) Jeb McGruder
6) James Irwin
7) Joseph Zappala
8) John Perkins
9) Larry Hatteberg
10) James Spainhower
11) Leith Anderson
12) Alf Francis
Do you recall any of these names? Do you know what they have done in life? This writer has met each of the above folk. Take a look below.
1) Steve Forbes is the editor & publisher of Forbes magazine, one of our country's thinking economists, and a former candidate for President of the USA back in 1996. My stock broker invited me to go hear Forbes speak back in 1996 with a group of investors. I got to personally chat with him before the talk and was impressed by his humility and clear vision of economic issues.
2) Abigail Van Buren was the nationally syndicated advice columnist named Dear Abby, who lived in Chicago, IL. When I was on the Steinmetz newspaper, I won some awards for Sports Editor,maybe in 1961, and got to meet Dear Abby at an awards ceremony in downtown Chicago.
3) Tom Tancredo was our senator from Colorado, and another Republican candidate for President in 2008.
It was a pleasure to meet him at a place of business a month ago that I frequent every week. He said he was in need of work ( he did not get the President's White House job), so I gave him some advice.
4) Ricardo Montalban was a TV actor who starred on Fantasy Island show during the 1970s and who did many TV commercials for Chrysler.
When my wife & I took our 3 young boys on the TWA flight from New York to Madrid in 1978, to go start our missionary service, we met Mr. Montalban on our flight. He was a most gracious man & still handome 30 yrs. ago. He just past away recently.
5) Jeb McGruder was part of President Richard Nixon's White House staff, and was implicated in the infamous Watergate scandal. He served some prison time, found Christ, became a minister, and has written of his experiences.
I helped do an interview of him after Watergate with my TV reporter friend in the ABC-TV studio in Wichita, KS. It was shown on TV that night (after editing).
6) James Irwin was one of our first astronauts to go to the Moon. He shared his faith in Christ with audiences around the world along with his lunar escapades. His passion during the 1980s was to discover Noah's Ark, which he claimed to have done in Turkey's Mt. Ararat.
Irwin came to one of the evangelical churches in Madrid, Spain back in 1979, sharing his testimony, and we got to meet him there.
7) Joseph Zappala was a Florida businessman whom Ronald Reagan appointed to be Ambassador to Spain 1989-92. He also worked to help youth with addictions to drugs & alcohol.
Zappala was the invited speaker at the graduation ceremony for the American School in Madrid, where our sons attended. I was the invited pastor to sit on the same platform with him for 3 hours, and shared notes about the various families & programs of the school.
8) John Perkins was a black father growing up in poverty in Miss., who boldly left home for California. He became a successful entrepreneur and Christian speaker & author. President Reagan appointed him to a post of Family Resources Advisor.
I attended a workshop for mission strategists in Atlantic City, NJ in 1986 during the Chernobyl disaster (in Russia), and Perkins was one of our speakers during the week.
9) Larry Hatteberg has been an 40-yr. ABC-TV newsman based in Wichita, KS since his college days. He was voted best Newsfilm Photographer in the USA 2 years in a row, named President of the National Press Photographers' Association, and a regular speaker at their national convention, and has authored a few books.
Larry was one of my parishoners at our Wichita, KS church. We worked together for about 3 years doing a film on loneliness, which premiered on ABC-TV, and then was shown in churches across the USA and Canada. I went on many of his TV assignments, had many breakfasts & lunches together over the years. We still keep in touch, especially after he broke the story on Wichita's "BTK Killer" a few years ago.
10) James Spainhower was a two term congressman from Missouri, and was the Treasurer of the State in the 1970s. He also is an ordained minister.
When my young choir director in our Wichita church wanted to run for political office, I went with him for a full day to interview Spainhower, the Treasurer of Missouri, as well as a Missouri state senator, who was also a Christian. That was a fine, fun day spent seeing our American political process in action.
11) Leith Anderson has served as pastor of churches in Longmont, CO and Eden Prairie, MN, has authored several books, and was recently named President of the National Association of Evangelicals. For a brief time he was interim President of the Denver Seminary.
My first assignment after seminary was working as the associate pastor with Anderson. We served together for 3 years at a Conservative Baptist Church, and I oversaw the youth, Christian Education, missions and music programs of the church. We met recently for our former church's 50th anniversary, and reflected on old times.
12) Alf Francis was the race car mechanic for Britain's most storied race car driver, Stirling Moss (1950s). He also designed what became known as the Ford GT-40, America's first modern era winner of the 24 Hours of LeMans Race (1966-69). He later opened an exotic car dealership in Wichita, KS.
Again, when I found Francis and his showroom & shop full of exotic European cars in downtown Wichita, I tried to get my friend at ABC-TV to come do a TV story on this important older gentleman. The best we could do was have a film crew come & shoot Larry Hatteberg filming me, with my car hobby decorating Francis' sports car facility. Larry was getting a very prestigious national award at the time.
What is probably true for you, as it was for me, is that just a few of these people had a real deep lasting impression on my life's character. Have you thought about those people who impacted you deeply, including the how and why?
by Torrey H. Brinkley
Most of us have had occasion to meet or greet someone famous in our lives. Take this brief little test to see if you recognize any of these people who have appeared in the national spotlight in the last quarter century.
1) Steve Forbes
2) Abigail Van Buren
3) Tom Tancredo
4) Ricardo Montalban
5) Jeb McGruder
6) James Irwin
7) Joseph Zappala
8) John Perkins
9) Larry Hatteberg
10) James Spainhower
11) Leith Anderson
12) Alf Francis
Do you recall any of these names? Do you know what they have done in life? This writer has met each of the above folk. Take a look below.
1) Steve Forbes is the editor & publisher of Forbes magazine, one of our country's thinking economists, and a former candidate for President of the USA back in 1996. My stock broker invited me to go hear Forbes speak back in 1996 with a group of investors. I got to personally chat with him before the talk and was impressed by his humility and clear vision of economic issues.
2) Abigail Van Buren was the nationally syndicated advice columnist named Dear Abby, who lived in Chicago, IL. When I was on the Steinmetz newspaper, I won some awards for Sports Editor,maybe in 1961, and got to meet Dear Abby at an awards ceremony in downtown Chicago.
3) Tom Tancredo was our senator from Colorado, and another Republican candidate for President in 2008.
It was a pleasure to meet him at a place of business a month ago that I frequent every week. He said he was in need of work ( he did not get the President's White House job), so I gave him some advice.
4) Ricardo Montalban was a TV actor who starred on Fantasy Island show during the 1970s and who did many TV commercials for Chrysler.
When my wife & I took our 3 young boys on the TWA flight from New York to Madrid in 1978, to go start our missionary service, we met Mr. Montalban on our flight. He was a most gracious man & still handome 30 yrs. ago. He just past away recently.
5) Jeb McGruder was part of President Richard Nixon's White House staff, and was implicated in the infamous Watergate scandal. He served some prison time, found Christ, became a minister, and has written of his experiences.
I helped do an interview of him after Watergate with my TV reporter friend in the ABC-TV studio in Wichita, KS. It was shown on TV that night (after editing).
6) James Irwin was one of our first astronauts to go to the Moon. He shared his faith in Christ with audiences around the world along with his lunar escapades. His passion during the 1980s was to discover Noah's Ark, which he claimed to have done in Turkey's Mt. Ararat.
Irwin came to one of the evangelical churches in Madrid, Spain back in 1979, sharing his testimony, and we got to meet him there.
7) Joseph Zappala was a Florida businessman whom Ronald Reagan appointed to be Ambassador to Spain 1989-92. He also worked to help youth with addictions to drugs & alcohol.
Zappala was the invited speaker at the graduation ceremony for the American School in Madrid, where our sons attended. I was the invited pastor to sit on the same platform with him for 3 hours, and shared notes about the various families & programs of the school.
8) John Perkins was a black father growing up in poverty in Miss., who boldly left home for California. He became a successful entrepreneur and Christian speaker & author. President Reagan appointed him to a post of Family Resources Advisor.
I attended a workshop for mission strategists in Atlantic City, NJ in 1986 during the Chernobyl disaster (in Russia), and Perkins was one of our speakers during the week.
9) Larry Hatteberg has been an 40-yr. ABC-TV newsman based in Wichita, KS since his college days. He was voted best Newsfilm Photographer in the USA 2 years in a row, named President of the National Press Photographers' Association, and a regular speaker at their national convention, and has authored a few books.
Larry was one of my parishoners at our Wichita, KS church. We worked together for about 3 years doing a film on loneliness, which premiered on ABC-TV, and then was shown in churches across the USA and Canada. I went on many of his TV assignments, had many breakfasts & lunches together over the years. We still keep in touch, especially after he broke the story on Wichita's "BTK Killer" a few years ago.
10) James Spainhower was a two term congressman from Missouri, and was the Treasurer of the State in the 1970s. He also is an ordained minister.
When my young choir director in our Wichita church wanted to run for political office, I went with him for a full day to interview Spainhower, the Treasurer of Missouri, as well as a Missouri state senator, who was also a Christian. That was a fine, fun day spent seeing our American political process in action.
11) Leith Anderson has served as pastor of churches in Longmont, CO and Eden Prairie, MN, has authored several books, and was recently named President of the National Association of Evangelicals. For a brief time he was interim President of the Denver Seminary.
My first assignment after seminary was working as the associate pastor with Anderson. We served together for 3 years at a Conservative Baptist Church, and I oversaw the youth, Christian Education, missions and music programs of the church. We met recently for our former church's 50th anniversary, and reflected on old times.
12) Alf Francis was the race car mechanic for Britain's most storied race car driver, Stirling Moss (1950s). He also designed what became known as the Ford GT-40, America's first modern era winner of the 24 Hours of LeMans Race (1966-69). He later opened an exotic car dealership in Wichita, KS.
Again, when I found Francis and his showroom & shop full of exotic European cars in downtown Wichita, I tried to get my friend at ABC-TV to come do a TV story on this important older gentleman. The best we could do was have a film crew come & shoot Larry Hatteberg filming me, with my car hobby decorating Francis' sports car facility. Larry was getting a very prestigious national award at the time.
What is probably true for you, as it was for me, is that just a few of these people had a real deep lasting impression on my life's character. Have you thought about those people who impacted you deeply, including the how and why?
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Chrysler Looks Different
SAD NEWS FOR MOPAR WORKERS & ADMIRERS
Noted by Torrey H. Brinkley
Mead, Colorado
The automotive industry woes here in the Winter of 2008 have included some sad news that Chrysler Corporation has lost some of its financial support from Cerberus, the hedge fund giant. Mercedes Benz had severed ties less than 12 months ago with MOPAR. Without help from the US government, will Chrysler be able to stay afloat? As well, if private customers cannot get loans from banks and finance arms, how will dealers sell any of these $20,000 to $60,000 vehicles? Perhaps this is why Chrysler has decided to shutter all 30 of its manufacturing plants for 30 days.
This observer has seen many remarkable changes in design and marketing philosophy in the last 60 years for Chrysler Corporation. While some have always felt that MOPAR had some of the best engineering ideas in the American marketplace, their design department has seemed to be more like a bar of soap in the bathtub: interesting and clever, but hard to truly get ahold of.
Think back over the last 6 decades:
----1947-52 featured Chrysler and DeSoto vehicles with elegant and classic lines. Their grilles and bumpers had no peers in that post-war period. Even more lowly Dodge and Plymouth mirrored this fine-edged look. Interiors also showed nice design and high quality materials.
----1953-56 saw the company with evolutionary styling that was a bit more bolder, yet not winning over the masses. Perhaps the best design was the 1955 Chrysler (with 300 coupe being the best), which marketers labeled "the Million Dollar Look". Plymouth cars were #3 in sales right behind Ford and Chevy in the USA.
----1957-61 With the era of big & tall fins, Chrysler almost took the lead in rocket ship imaging. Nothing was as tall and bold as the 1957 Plymouth, Chrysler or DeSoto fins. But nothing got quite as ugly as the morphing of the 1959 & '61 Plymouth and '61 DeSoto (which was killed after that year). MOPAR gained some fans but lost many others during this period. Keep in mind that VW and other imports were entering our market during this time frame (with tiny & economical cars). The new Plymouth Valiant and Dodge Lancer had an odd European styling that was striking, but hard for many Americans to accept.
----1962-68 This was a period that was called the "Muscle Car Era". Plymouth and Dodge had Hemi engines in many of their high-powered cars, that were designed not to offend, but not exactly to inspire either. The best design from MOPAR during this period was clearly the 1967-68 Dodge Charger. Recent sales of vintage MOPAR muscle cars from this era show that many things were done right. Huge Imperial models were not appreciated then, nor are they much seen as collector cars today.
----1969-81 Several factors served to change the auto industry during the next 12 years: higher gas prices, government safety regulations, increasing competition from foreign automakers, and mounting inflation. Chrysler designers kept a "me-too philosphy" for most of their vehicles, thus not distinguishing themselves from other domestic competition. While MOPAR vehicles grew to the size of small barges, engines were choked down, and too many Chrysler interiors were described as much like a "Las Vegas bordello." Perhaps the best designed car was the 1975 Chrysler Cordoba coupe, having a twin Dodge Charger model. But restrictive anti-pollution controls and poor fuel economy gave the marketers a rough time. The Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volare seemed to be a good design, but reliability issues made for tough re-sales.
----1982-93 A government bailout and shrewd leadership from Lee Iococca brought Chrysler from the verge of bankruptcy to re-define itself in the marketplace. All engines were now small 4-cylinders, and size/weights of new Dodges, Chryslers and Plymouths were trimmed way down. Initially the public liked a new cheaper way to drive, but lack of pep and reliability made for a tough sell, when other manufacturers stressed higher quality, bigger designs and more power. Best design for MOPAR was the invention of the minivan, which introduced a whole new segment in America, that gave Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth segment sales superiority for a good 20 years. The Diamond Star car project with Mitsubishi also gave nice Eagle Talon & Plymouth Laser sporty cars for MOPAR showrooms for 1/2 dozen years.
----1994-2004 This was a period when MOPAR designers swung the pendulum back the other way. They decided to make a cab-forward design, with bigger and expansive vehicles. They started a new division called the Eagle, partnering with Mitsubishi to get engines and platforms. These were among the most stylish cars, but marketers had trouble selling cars that were less than reliable, especially in the transmission department. Plymouth did not receive any of the new larger designs, but got stuck with the Neon, a tiny car with plastic engine parts....and soon left the MOPAR scene. Perhaps the biggest design success was the new Dodge Ram pickup truck in 1994, resurrecting what had been a dying truck brand.
----2005-2009 Gradually foreign brands have sucked the life out of most US car makers, in almost all segments, and MOPAR sales had become anemic. Best design change was shrinking the big Chryslers and Dodges down, and the Chrysler 300 series was a big sales success, and the re-introduced Hemi V-8 engines helped sales and excitement (for Dodge briefly, too). But $4 a gallon gasoline choked off that new-found virility among male drivers. MOPAR designers and marketers sadly have no small economical 4-door 4-cylinder (or hybrid) sedan to offer the public. How did they and partners at Daimler not see this need coming? While it seemed like many people liked to buy SUVs, it was not wise for Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep showrooms to load up with 11 SUVs and crossovers, without any economical microcar offering.
Can Chrysler executives right this ship in the next 120 days? Stay tuned, but don't bet the mortgage on MOPAR stock.
Noted by Torrey H. Brinkley
Mead, Colorado
The automotive industry woes here in the Winter of 2008 have included some sad news that Chrysler Corporation has lost some of its financial support from Cerberus, the hedge fund giant. Mercedes Benz had severed ties less than 12 months ago with MOPAR. Without help from the US government, will Chrysler be able to stay afloat? As well, if private customers cannot get loans from banks and finance arms, how will dealers sell any of these $20,000 to $60,000 vehicles? Perhaps this is why Chrysler has decided to shutter all 30 of its manufacturing plants for 30 days.
This observer has seen many remarkable changes in design and marketing philosophy in the last 60 years for Chrysler Corporation. While some have always felt that MOPAR had some of the best engineering ideas in the American marketplace, their design department has seemed to be more like a bar of soap in the bathtub: interesting and clever, but hard to truly get ahold of.
Think back over the last 6 decades:
----1947-52 featured Chrysler and DeSoto vehicles with elegant and classic lines. Their grilles and bumpers had no peers in that post-war period. Even more lowly Dodge and Plymouth mirrored this fine-edged look. Interiors also showed nice design and high quality materials.
----1953-56 saw the company with evolutionary styling that was a bit more bolder, yet not winning over the masses. Perhaps the best design was the 1955 Chrysler (with 300 coupe being the best), which marketers labeled "the Million Dollar Look". Plymouth cars were #3 in sales right behind Ford and Chevy in the USA.
----1957-61 With the era of big & tall fins, Chrysler almost took the lead in rocket ship imaging. Nothing was as tall and bold as the 1957 Plymouth, Chrysler or DeSoto fins. But nothing got quite as ugly as the morphing of the 1959 & '61 Plymouth and '61 DeSoto (which was killed after that year). MOPAR gained some fans but lost many others during this period. Keep in mind that VW and other imports were entering our market during this time frame (with tiny & economical cars). The new Plymouth Valiant and Dodge Lancer had an odd European styling that was striking, but hard for many Americans to accept.
----1962-68 This was a period that was called the "Muscle Car Era". Plymouth and Dodge had Hemi engines in many of their high-powered cars, that were designed not to offend, but not exactly to inspire either. The best design from MOPAR during this period was clearly the 1967-68 Dodge Charger. Recent sales of vintage MOPAR muscle cars from this era show that many things were done right. Huge Imperial models were not appreciated then, nor are they much seen as collector cars today.
----1969-81 Several factors served to change the auto industry during the next 12 years: higher gas prices, government safety regulations, increasing competition from foreign automakers, and mounting inflation. Chrysler designers kept a "me-too philosphy" for most of their vehicles, thus not distinguishing themselves from other domestic competition. While MOPAR vehicles grew to the size of small barges, engines were choked down, and too many Chrysler interiors were described as much like a "Las Vegas bordello." Perhaps the best designed car was the 1975 Chrysler Cordoba coupe, having a twin Dodge Charger model. But restrictive anti-pollution controls and poor fuel economy gave the marketers a rough time. The Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volare seemed to be a good design, but reliability issues made for tough re-sales.
----1982-93 A government bailout and shrewd leadership from Lee Iococca brought Chrysler from the verge of bankruptcy to re-define itself in the marketplace. All engines were now small 4-cylinders, and size/weights of new Dodges, Chryslers and Plymouths were trimmed way down. Initially the public liked a new cheaper way to drive, but lack of pep and reliability made for a tough sell, when other manufacturers stressed higher quality, bigger designs and more power. Best design for MOPAR was the invention of the minivan, which introduced a whole new segment in America, that gave Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth segment sales superiority for a good 20 years. The Diamond Star car project with Mitsubishi also gave nice Eagle Talon & Plymouth Laser sporty cars for MOPAR showrooms for 1/2 dozen years.
----1994-2004 This was a period when MOPAR designers swung the pendulum back the other way. They decided to make a cab-forward design, with bigger and expansive vehicles. They started a new division called the Eagle, partnering with Mitsubishi to get engines and platforms. These were among the most stylish cars, but marketers had trouble selling cars that were less than reliable, especially in the transmission department. Plymouth did not receive any of the new larger designs, but got stuck with the Neon, a tiny car with plastic engine parts....and soon left the MOPAR scene. Perhaps the biggest design success was the new Dodge Ram pickup truck in 1994, resurrecting what had been a dying truck brand.
----2005-2009 Gradually foreign brands have sucked the life out of most US car makers, in almost all segments, and MOPAR sales had become anemic. Best design change was shrinking the big Chryslers and Dodges down, and the Chrysler 300 series was a big sales success, and the re-introduced Hemi V-8 engines helped sales and excitement (for Dodge briefly, too). But $4 a gallon gasoline choked off that new-found virility among male drivers. MOPAR designers and marketers sadly have no small economical 4-door 4-cylinder (or hybrid) sedan to offer the public. How did they and partners at Daimler not see this need coming? While it seemed like many people liked to buy SUVs, it was not wise for Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep showrooms to load up with 11 SUVs and crossovers, without any economical microcar offering.
Can Chrysler executives right this ship in the next 120 days? Stay tuned, but don't bet the mortgage on MOPAR stock.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Bailing Out the Automakers?
Help For the American Automobile Companies
offered by Torrey H. Brinkley
Many and varied are the recent opinions about the condition of the Big 3 American Auto Companies, and what should be done with their financial woes.
Few voices are demanding that GM, Ford and Chrysler be saved from any possible collapse, even if thousands of jobs are lost, and home foreclosures soar any higher in Michigan and Ohio.
---The U.S. Congress, with billions of dollars at their disposal to dole out to financial institutions in dire straights, seem to balk at loaning/giving money to auto manufacturers who actually produce something tangible, that all Americans use and depend upon daily.
---Union leaders scream that up to 3 million jobs nationwide could be lost if production, distribution and sales of U.S. cars & trucks cease, yet union bosses themselves produce nothing, just control things like negotiations & benefits.
---Young workers & students in America have had nothing to do with U.S. cars all along, preferring skateboards, bikes, planes, motorcycles, snowboards and Toyotas/Hondas, and VWs (et al).
---Affluent engineers and urban yuppies also fret not about Chevy, Ford and Dodge products, preferring their jet skis, light aircraft, ski-doos, plus Audis, Porsches, Lexus, BMWs, Mercedes or Italian sports cars.
---America's poor and under-employed certainly can't fathom the job bank centers where idle GM employees go sit, do nothing and collect thousands each month while robots assemble $25,000 Malibus and $60,000 Escalades. If minimum wage folk can barely afford $700 a month apartment rent, they certainly can't comprehend $650 a month car payments (plus $100 a month insurance, $120 a month fuel costs, + tires, repairs and 30% a year depreciation on a newer car).
---U.S. lending institutions have washed their hands of the auto industry and their woes. One by one, banks across America have dropped out of the auto loan business......especially ones who had previously been heavily drubbed by the risky sub-prime housing loans. GMAC, Ford Credit and Chrysler Financial finally realized they couldn't put everybody on wheels.....especially when dealerships were rolling over customers who were $10 to $15,000 upside down in their previous car loans.
Some critics have blamed the Big 3 for bad products, not very economical or often reliable. Others have called for GM or Ford to bring over their European counterpart vehicles (which do have fine engineering and design advantages over most US economy cars). Yet, all such previous imports have flopped in the U.S. market. Besides, the United Auto Workers want to roadblock importing vehciles not made with their "union gloves." The image problem, not so much product design, has been killing the Big 3 recently. Consumer Reports magazine has noted that VW, Mercedes, Suzuki, Kia and Land Rover as much more trouble-prone than typical US products.
U.S. auto manufacturers have done so many things right for over 100 years, and they probably won't fail unless the entire U.S. economy collapses, or the world economy falters. Imagine this:
1) They have provided clean, safe, relaible, comfortable, speedy, personalized transport for rich and poor alike (the poorest driver in a $200 "beater" car shares the same roadway as the driver of a $350,000 Rolls or Bentley, and can arrive at similar destinations in the same time frame.
2) Thanks to American ingenuity, there are private automobiles for families; pickup trucks for tens of thousands of manual labor jobs & industries; sport utilities for scores of athletes & adventure seekers; and thousands of roomy, reliable, minivans to airporter vans for soccer teams & traveling musical choirs; plus fleets full of small, medium & large size trucks to haul food & goods nationwide across roads & interstate highways that connect the entire country!! Ever since the 1960s, many Americans likewise find their identity in the type and nameplate of vehicle they utilize.
3) Few jobs in the USA are not tied into our freely mobile society, compared to the horse-drawn buggy days, or compared to the more isolated localized societies that exist elsewhere. Much employment exists in auto assembly; parts & design manufacturing; service & sales shorooms; our highway departments; contractors building/maintaining garages, driveways, parking lots; our subdivision designers & builders; gas stations & car washes; rental & leasing companies (almost exclusively tied into the Big 3 Auto Companies); auto lending institutions; tire shops & lube centers; automotive computer & navigation systems; marketing, advertising agencies (TV, radio, newspaper, magazines & internet); and all the myriad of customizers of body & engine parts.
If Congress does not choose to bail out the Big 3, what should be done?
a) WAIT. Be patient. Let the US and world economic woes settle down before making rash decisions If the Ford F-150 pickup truck has been the top-selling vehicle in the USA by far for the last 30 years, then why scrap what Americans have been purchasing for something less useful? Remember that gasoline cost $4+ per gallon in early summer, and now we see it priced at $1.60 a gallon in late November.
b) MOVE vehicles the best ways possible. Sell them thru leases, loans or cash deals. We should perhaps consider encouraging businesses and government agencies to purchase autos for use by managers & execs, since they have easier access to cash. The Europeans have been doing this for decades.
c) SAVE money. Ask all Big 3 employees to accept pay cuts (deferred towards better times) from top executives down to union floor workers. Get that $73 per hour cost for a GM vehicle produced down to the $46 it costs Toyota (maybe the UAW would consider doing a little something to help out). Can GM somehow get rid of that $60 billion long-term indebtedness for the health benefits for its current and future retirees?
offered by Torrey H. Brinkley
Many and varied are the recent opinions about the condition of the Big 3 American Auto Companies, and what should be done with their financial woes.
Few voices are demanding that GM, Ford and Chrysler be saved from any possible collapse, even if thousands of jobs are lost, and home foreclosures soar any higher in Michigan and Ohio.
---The U.S. Congress, with billions of dollars at their disposal to dole out to financial institutions in dire straights, seem to balk at loaning/giving money to auto manufacturers who actually produce something tangible, that all Americans use and depend upon daily.
---Union leaders scream that up to 3 million jobs nationwide could be lost if production, distribution and sales of U.S. cars & trucks cease, yet union bosses themselves produce nothing, just control things like negotiations & benefits.
---Young workers & students in America have had nothing to do with U.S. cars all along, preferring skateboards, bikes, planes, motorcycles, snowboards and Toyotas/Hondas, and VWs (et al).
---Affluent engineers and urban yuppies also fret not about Chevy, Ford and Dodge products, preferring their jet skis, light aircraft, ski-doos, plus Audis, Porsches, Lexus, BMWs, Mercedes or Italian sports cars.
---America's poor and under-employed certainly can't fathom the job bank centers where idle GM employees go sit, do nothing and collect thousands each month while robots assemble $25,000 Malibus and $60,000 Escalades. If minimum wage folk can barely afford $700 a month apartment rent, they certainly can't comprehend $650 a month car payments (plus $100 a month insurance, $120 a month fuel costs, + tires, repairs and 30% a year depreciation on a newer car).
---U.S. lending institutions have washed their hands of the auto industry and their woes. One by one, banks across America have dropped out of the auto loan business......especially ones who had previously been heavily drubbed by the risky sub-prime housing loans. GMAC, Ford Credit and Chrysler Financial finally realized they couldn't put everybody on wheels.....especially when dealerships were rolling over customers who were $10 to $15,000 upside down in their previous car loans.
Some critics have blamed the Big 3 for bad products, not very economical or often reliable. Others have called for GM or Ford to bring over their European counterpart vehicles (which do have fine engineering and design advantages over most US economy cars). Yet, all such previous imports have flopped in the U.S. market. Besides, the United Auto Workers want to roadblock importing vehciles not made with their "union gloves." The image problem, not so much product design, has been killing the Big 3 recently. Consumer Reports magazine has noted that VW, Mercedes, Suzuki, Kia and Land Rover as much more trouble-prone than typical US products.
U.S. auto manufacturers have done so many things right for over 100 years, and they probably won't fail unless the entire U.S. economy collapses, or the world economy falters. Imagine this:
1) They have provided clean, safe, relaible, comfortable, speedy, personalized transport for rich and poor alike (the poorest driver in a $200 "beater" car shares the same roadway as the driver of a $350,000 Rolls or Bentley, and can arrive at similar destinations in the same time frame.
2) Thanks to American ingenuity, there are private automobiles for families; pickup trucks for tens of thousands of manual labor jobs & industries; sport utilities for scores of athletes & adventure seekers; and thousands of roomy, reliable, minivans to airporter vans for soccer teams & traveling musical choirs; plus fleets full of small, medium & large size trucks to haul food & goods nationwide across roads & interstate highways that connect the entire country!! Ever since the 1960s, many Americans likewise find their identity in the type and nameplate of vehicle they utilize.
3) Few jobs in the USA are not tied into our freely mobile society, compared to the horse-drawn buggy days, or compared to the more isolated localized societies that exist elsewhere. Much employment exists in auto assembly; parts & design manufacturing; service & sales shorooms; our highway departments; contractors building/maintaining garages, driveways, parking lots; our subdivision designers & builders; gas stations & car washes; rental & leasing companies (almost exclusively tied into the Big 3 Auto Companies); auto lending institutions; tire shops & lube centers; automotive computer & navigation systems; marketing, advertising agencies (TV, radio, newspaper, magazines & internet); and all the myriad of customizers of body & engine parts.
If Congress does not choose to bail out the Big 3, what should be done?
a) WAIT. Be patient. Let the US and world economic woes settle down before making rash decisions If the Ford F-150 pickup truck has been the top-selling vehicle in the USA by far for the last 30 years, then why scrap what Americans have been purchasing for something less useful? Remember that gasoline cost $4+ per gallon in early summer, and now we see it priced at $1.60 a gallon in late November.
b) MOVE vehicles the best ways possible. Sell them thru leases, loans or cash deals. We should perhaps consider encouraging businesses and government agencies to purchase autos for use by managers & execs, since they have easier access to cash. The Europeans have been doing this for decades.
c) SAVE money. Ask all Big 3 employees to accept pay cuts (deferred towards better times) from top executives down to union floor workers. Get that $73 per hour cost for a GM vehicle produced down to the $46 it costs Toyota (maybe the UAW would consider doing a little something to help out). Can GM somehow get rid of that $60 billion long-term indebtedness for the health benefits for its current and future retirees?
Monday, November 3, 2008
Spreading the Wealth Is Easy
How Obama Can Redistribute the Wealth
Once again, it has been uncovered how one presidential candidate plans to convert the USA into a far better place, by re-distributing the wealth of so many rich Americans, into the hands of much poorer, less fortunate individuals. And many of Barak Obama's wealthy, influential supporters are the very ones who have stepped up to the plate, to offer to be the first to give up of their good fortune, to help those in need.
Hollywood Movie Stars:
There are so many of these fine folk who make $10 million per movie and they just don't need all that money. So, they are the first to give generously. Their money will go to support the kids who sell popcorn @ the movie theaters, hairdressers, and cosmetics salespersons at the mall shopping centers. Each actor/actress can support 1000 such young workers. Costner, Cruise, and Spielberg could round up dozens more just like them if Barak calls.
NBA Basketball Players:
These talented young men earn from $1 to $20 million a year, but really don't need all that cash after they get dressed up in their fine gear and shiny bling. The poorest paid NBA star could help support 200 inner city teens with $5000 each. There are about 350 such wealthy NBA players, delighted to spread around their wealth. Blacks helping blacks is a great idea.
TV News Anchors:
They probably don't want you to know that they aren't doing their work for free, but Katie Couric, Matt Lauer and Charles Gibson get paid no less than $15 to $30 million a year for "reading the news" to you, with their liberal top spin on everything. So, we know they'd be willing to part with some of that to support Obama's causes. They could each support 2000 newspaper carriers, gas station attendants and single parents with $10K apiece.
University Professors in our fine liberal institutions, with tenure, receive $100,000 a year + book commissions for teaching 6 hours a week. We're so lucky to have them scattered across our country, relaxing in their pompous "left-wing-for-life" ivory tower positions. (A conservative-thinking friend with a doctorate from Oxford University found that there were 7000 other applicants w/ Ph.Ds for just one opening of a Philosophy professorship. ) If there are 100,000 such profs, certainly many would be willing to contribute something to the day-care workers, kindergarden teachers and school cafeteria workers who get minimum wages, right?
Financial Gurus: like George Soros and Warren Buffet, who both support Obama, must be willing to share some of their billions to help the poor, who just live on Social Security benefits. Each one could double the S.S. income of some 5000 Americans. Oprah, Kobe, Labron and Bill Gates all could do more, if the next President would call.
Isn't this a great country? The nice thing is that none of these donations have to touch the "principal" wealth owned by these model citizens, just one year's wages!!
After these above folk do their part, modeling this generous spirit, then soon all the top insurance company execs, real estate developers, hedge fund managers, doctors and hospital administrators, Washington politicians (the Senate has long been known as the Millionaire's Club), MLB baseball players, NFL footballers, NHL hockey stars, television actors, magazine editors, successful lawyers, for-life judges, and pop music singers will willingly come forth to do the same sharing for those they obviously see in need.
Should the checks be mailed directly to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
How popular is this "share the wealth philosophy" with those who've participated in such a system? Back in 1969 we were studying overseas with a doctor from England. At that time he wished he could move to the USA, because the prohibitve (socialist) tax rate in the UK was 90% for his income level. Upon moving to Spain in 1978 we befriended an aging, & then depressed, actress, famous throughout all of South America for decades, who had fled Cuba after Fidel had taken her home and possessions.
By the way, have you asked yourself what Barak Obama could have done to help the nation's poor with those $610 million he has spent just trying to get elected president? Certainly all those TV stations running his ads are thrilled to get his millions these last 9 months. This year, more than ever, receiving ten political 4-color flyers in the mail per day causes this observer great pain to know that all those trees have been felled to print a bunch of lies and attacks by one candidate/proposal against another.
While the motivation to share wealth with those less fortunate, in order to build a more equitable society might seem noble, one has to learn from history the pitfalls.
Even the early Church community, fresh from observing Christ's resurrection from the dead & ascension into Heaven, voluntarily gave of its bounty to the Disciples early in Acts, so that no one would be in need. But some few, like Ananias & Sapphira, lied to the Apostles and the Lord, and held something back----and were struck dead by the Holy Spirit. They wanted to appear generous & giving, but instead deceived the church community regarding their true intentions.
We are so foruntate that all politicians today operate with pure motives, desiring only to help others less fortunate than themselves!
---The Brinkleman (not political) Observer
Once again, it has been uncovered how one presidential candidate plans to convert the USA into a far better place, by re-distributing the wealth of so many rich Americans, into the hands of much poorer, less fortunate individuals. And many of Barak Obama's wealthy, influential supporters are the very ones who have stepped up to the plate, to offer to be the first to give up of their good fortune, to help those in need.
Hollywood Movie Stars:
There are so many of these fine folk who make $10 million per movie and they just don't need all that money. So, they are the first to give generously. Their money will go to support the kids who sell popcorn @ the movie theaters, hairdressers, and cosmetics salespersons at the mall shopping centers. Each actor/actress can support 1000 such young workers. Costner, Cruise, and Spielberg could round up dozens more just like them if Barak calls.
NBA Basketball Players:
These talented young men earn from $1 to $20 million a year, but really don't need all that cash after they get dressed up in their fine gear and shiny bling. The poorest paid NBA star could help support 200 inner city teens with $5000 each. There are about 350 such wealthy NBA players, delighted to spread around their wealth. Blacks helping blacks is a great idea.
TV News Anchors:
They probably don't want you to know that they aren't doing their work for free, but Katie Couric, Matt Lauer and Charles Gibson get paid no less than $15 to $30 million a year for "reading the news" to you, with their liberal top spin on everything. So, we know they'd be willing to part with some of that to support Obama's causes. They could each support 2000 newspaper carriers, gas station attendants and single parents with $10K apiece.
University Professors in our fine liberal institutions, with tenure, receive $100,000 a year + book commissions for teaching 6 hours a week. We're so lucky to have them scattered across our country, relaxing in their pompous "left-wing-for-life" ivory tower positions. (A conservative-thinking friend with a doctorate from Oxford University found that there were 7000 other applicants w/ Ph.Ds for just one opening of a Philosophy professorship. ) If there are 100,000 such profs, certainly many would be willing to contribute something to the day-care workers, kindergarden teachers and school cafeteria workers who get minimum wages, right?
Financial Gurus: like George Soros and Warren Buffet, who both support Obama, must be willing to share some of their billions to help the poor, who just live on Social Security benefits. Each one could double the S.S. income of some 5000 Americans. Oprah, Kobe, Labron and Bill Gates all could do more, if the next President would call.
Isn't this a great country? The nice thing is that none of these donations have to touch the "principal" wealth owned by these model citizens, just one year's wages!!
After these above folk do their part, modeling this generous spirit, then soon all the top insurance company execs, real estate developers, hedge fund managers, doctors and hospital administrators, Washington politicians (the Senate has long been known as the Millionaire's Club), MLB baseball players, NFL footballers, NHL hockey stars, television actors, magazine editors, successful lawyers, for-life judges, and pop music singers will willingly come forth to do the same sharing for those they obviously see in need.
Should the checks be mailed directly to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
How popular is this "share the wealth philosophy" with those who've participated in such a system? Back in 1969 we were studying overseas with a doctor from England. At that time he wished he could move to the USA, because the prohibitve (socialist) tax rate in the UK was 90% for his income level. Upon moving to Spain in 1978 we befriended an aging, & then depressed, actress, famous throughout all of South America for decades, who had fled Cuba after Fidel had taken her home and possessions.
By the way, have you asked yourself what Barak Obama could have done to help the nation's poor with those $610 million he has spent just trying to get elected president? Certainly all those TV stations running his ads are thrilled to get his millions these last 9 months. This year, more than ever, receiving ten political 4-color flyers in the mail per day causes this observer great pain to know that all those trees have been felled to print a bunch of lies and attacks by one candidate/proposal against another.
While the motivation to share wealth with those less fortunate, in order to build a more equitable society might seem noble, one has to learn from history the pitfalls.
Even the early Church community, fresh from observing Christ's resurrection from the dead & ascension into Heaven, voluntarily gave of its bounty to the Disciples early in Acts, so that no one would be in need. But some few, like Ananias & Sapphira, lied to the Apostles and the Lord, and held something back----and were struck dead by the Holy Spirit. They wanted to appear generous & giving, but instead deceived the church community regarding their true intentions.
We are so foruntate that all politicians today operate with pure motives, desiring only to help others less fortunate than themselves!
---The Brinkleman (not political) Observer
Friday, September 19, 2008
Jesus: No Community Organizer
Jesus Was Not a Community Organizer
by Torrey H. Brinkley
Some liberal politicians have recently tried to identify Jesus of Nazareth as a "community organizer." Even certain political candidates of today, who claim to have been "community organizers" cannot properly identify the term, and explain what they did, or attempted to do.
But, to be certain, Jesus of Nazareth, born some 2000 years ago, was not one who came into this world to organize any communities. There have been many attempts down thru the years to pigeon-hole Jesus into being something that he was not.
Even during his own lifetime, folk had trouble identifying what Jesus' life purpose and mission might have been:
--We see that Magi (or wise men from the East) thought that Jesus was born "King of the Jews" (Matthew 2: 2). Matthew puts Jesus' geneology right in line as being the "son of David" (Matthew 1:1), and notes that the Roman soldiers at his death put a sign above Jesus' head at the cross saying "This Is Jesus, the King of the Jews" (Matthew 27:37).
-- Many scholars in the last century noted that Jesus was a good moral teacher, but nothing more. Early on, the writers of the Gospels observed that Jesus was far more than that. God spoke from Heaven, saying "This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17). Even the Devil, as he was tempting Jesus in the wilderness, called him "the Son of God" (Matthew 3:3, 6).
--Enemies of Jesus thought he was there to stir up the people, and cause them to rebel against authority. But the Scriptural biographies of his life show that he preached and taught with and about godly "authority", and backed it up by healing their diseases and sicknesses, even curing the demon-possesed, the paralyzed and the lame (Matthew 4: 23-24).
--Some folk think that Jesus just wanted to establish an idyllic religious community, solely contemplating about heaven. Yet, clearly, Jesus spent much time calling "tax collectors and sinners" to be forgiven and transformed (Mark 2:14-17).
--In Jesus' day his enemies did not understand what he was doing, nor did they recognize His power and authority (from God). They accused him of being out of his mind or possessed by Beelzebub (the prince of demons)....see Mark 3:21-22.
--Jesus did not come to organize a small community of people who were needy, so as to make them feel good about themselves. He came to plant seeds of a kingdom of God, that would extend to the furthest corners of the world (Mark 4: 30-31).
--Christ knew that His mission was not to bring "peace" into the world, or to solve community issues. His message and claims were so radical that families were divided. "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents & have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me." (Matt.10:21-22.)
--Jesus Christ was far from being a politician who wanted all people to love and admire and follow him or vote for him. As a matter of fact, He did so many things that caused others to hate and dispise him (Luke 6:22):
+++he warned the rich that they were in trouble (Luke 6: 24)
+++those who foretold the future with lies & deceit were condemned (Luke 6:26)
+++Jesus demanded a kingdom where his followers were to love their enemies, and pray for those who persecuted them (Luke 6: 27-28).
+++Christ actually told his followers to lend & give away possessions (even to total strangers) without expecting anything back in return (Luke 30:36).
+++Unlike politicians who constantly criticise those who diagree with them, Jesus warned everyone not to be a hypocrite, but to beware of the log in our own eye (Luke 6:41-42).
Perhaps no one understood Jesus of Nazareth better than his closest disciple, John, who wrote, in his extensive treatise on Christ's life, that Jesus was not a mere mortal who was born and died, frustrated in not accomplishing his life's goals. Rather John portrays Jesus as:
**He was the WORD of God (come in the flesh) ...John 1:1
**Jesus was the LIGHT of the World (which had lived in darkness).....John 1:9 & 3:19-21
**Christ was, in fact, the sacrificial LAMB of God, who died to take away the sins of all mankind (John 1:29 and 3:16-18).
**For those who are hungry, Jesus is the BREAD of life (that came down from Heaven as did the manna in the wilderness)....John 6:35 and 41, 48-51.
**For those who are thirsty in the community, Jesus says "I am the living WATER" ....John 7: 37-38.
**Many people feel lost and abandoned. Jesus said: "I am the good SHEPHERD" ...John 10:11, and he was willing to die for his sheep.
**When Jesus' good friend had died from an illness, Jesus did not organize an elaborate community memorial service; he brought Lazarus back to life. For he said "I am the RESURRECTION & THE LIFE." .....John 11:25-26.
**Jesus notes that there are a lot of trees in the forest, but His is the one with the right branches and bearing the good fruit. "I am the true VINE, and you are the branches. Remain in Me and I in you, and you will bear much fruit." ....John 15:5
**For people confused by all the rival ideologies and political systems and economic realities in this world, Jesus gave the definitive answer (that almost all public school educators, liberal theologians and politicians categorically reject today), "I am the WAY, THE TRUTH & THE LIFE. No one comes to the Father except thru me." ....John 14: 6.
Pilate, the politician, claimed that he did not know the definition of truth (John 18:38). But Jesus claimed to testify of the truth, and that everyone on the side of truth would listen to him.(John 18:23 & 37).
Wise men today still seek him and pay attention to His instruction. The community around Jesus ( the religious leaders, the soldiers, the political establishment and rebellious sinners) all rejected Jesus at the end. They did not like His message, even though he healed their diseases, fed them when they were hungry, and shared about God's great love for them. Those who were humbled, convicted and repentant were grateful for such wonderful transforming news!
Thankfully, Jesus was the "resurrection and the life", and he came up from the tomb, giving life and hope to all who follow Him in grace and truth. (See Peter's observation in Acts 2: 31-33).
Will you cast your vote for King Jesus.......and put aside all pretenders?
---The author served as a church-planting missionary to Spain and in pastoral ministries in Colorado and Kansas.
by Torrey H. Brinkley
Some liberal politicians have recently tried to identify Jesus of Nazareth as a "community organizer." Even certain political candidates of today, who claim to have been "community organizers" cannot properly identify the term, and explain what they did, or attempted to do.
But, to be certain, Jesus of Nazareth, born some 2000 years ago, was not one who came into this world to organize any communities. There have been many attempts down thru the years to pigeon-hole Jesus into being something that he was not.
Even during his own lifetime, folk had trouble identifying what Jesus' life purpose and mission might have been:
--We see that Magi (or wise men from the East) thought that Jesus was born "King of the Jews" (Matthew 2: 2). Matthew puts Jesus' geneology right in line as being the "son of David" (Matthew 1:1), and notes that the Roman soldiers at his death put a sign above Jesus' head at the cross saying "This Is Jesus, the King of the Jews" (Matthew 27:37).
-- Many scholars in the last century noted that Jesus was a good moral teacher, but nothing more. Early on, the writers of the Gospels observed that Jesus was far more than that. God spoke from Heaven, saying "This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17). Even the Devil, as he was tempting Jesus in the wilderness, called him "the Son of God" (Matthew 3:3, 6).
--Enemies of Jesus thought he was there to stir up the people, and cause them to rebel against authority. But the Scriptural biographies of his life show that he preached and taught with and about godly "authority", and backed it up by healing their diseases and sicknesses, even curing the demon-possesed, the paralyzed and the lame (Matthew 4: 23-24).
--Some folk think that Jesus just wanted to establish an idyllic religious community, solely contemplating about heaven. Yet, clearly, Jesus spent much time calling "tax collectors and sinners" to be forgiven and transformed (Mark 2:14-17).
--In Jesus' day his enemies did not understand what he was doing, nor did they recognize His power and authority (from God). They accused him of being out of his mind or possessed by Beelzebub (the prince of demons)....see Mark 3:21-22.
--Jesus did not come to organize a small community of people who were needy, so as to make them feel good about themselves. He came to plant seeds of a kingdom of God, that would extend to the furthest corners of the world (Mark 4: 30-31).
--Christ knew that His mission was not to bring "peace" into the world, or to solve community issues. His message and claims were so radical that families were divided. "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents & have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me." (Matt.10:21-22.)
--Jesus Christ was far from being a politician who wanted all people to love and admire and follow him or vote for him. As a matter of fact, He did so many things that caused others to hate and dispise him (Luke 6:22):
+++he warned the rich that they were in trouble (Luke 6: 24)
+++those who foretold the future with lies & deceit were condemned (Luke 6:26)
+++Jesus demanded a kingdom where his followers were to love their enemies, and pray for those who persecuted them (Luke 6: 27-28).
+++Christ actually told his followers to lend & give away possessions (even to total strangers) without expecting anything back in return (Luke 30:36).
+++Unlike politicians who constantly criticise those who diagree with them, Jesus warned everyone not to be a hypocrite, but to beware of the log in our own eye (Luke 6:41-42).
Perhaps no one understood Jesus of Nazareth better than his closest disciple, John, who wrote, in his extensive treatise on Christ's life, that Jesus was not a mere mortal who was born and died, frustrated in not accomplishing his life's goals. Rather John portrays Jesus as:
**He was the WORD of God (come in the flesh) ...John 1:1
**Jesus was the LIGHT of the World (which had lived in darkness).....John 1:9 & 3:19-21
**Christ was, in fact, the sacrificial LAMB of God, who died to take away the sins of all mankind (John 1:29 and 3:16-18).
**For those who are hungry, Jesus is the BREAD of life (that came down from Heaven as did the manna in the wilderness)....John 6:35 and 41, 48-51.
**For those who are thirsty in the community, Jesus says "I am the living WATER" ....John 7: 37-38.
**Many people feel lost and abandoned. Jesus said: "I am the good SHEPHERD" ...John 10:11, and he was willing to die for his sheep.
**When Jesus' good friend had died from an illness, Jesus did not organize an elaborate community memorial service; he brought Lazarus back to life. For he said "I am the RESURRECTION & THE LIFE." .....John 11:25-26.
**Jesus notes that there are a lot of trees in the forest, but His is the one with the right branches and bearing the good fruit. "I am the true VINE, and you are the branches. Remain in Me and I in you, and you will bear much fruit." ....John 15:5
**For people confused by all the rival ideologies and political systems and economic realities in this world, Jesus gave the definitive answer (that almost all public school educators, liberal theologians and politicians categorically reject today), "I am the WAY, THE TRUTH & THE LIFE. No one comes to the Father except thru me." ....John 14: 6.
Pilate, the politician, claimed that he did not know the definition of truth (John 18:38). But Jesus claimed to testify of the truth, and that everyone on the side of truth would listen to him.(John 18:23 & 37).
Wise men today still seek him and pay attention to His instruction. The community around Jesus ( the religious leaders, the soldiers, the political establishment and rebellious sinners) all rejected Jesus at the end. They did not like His message, even though he healed their diseases, fed them when they were hungry, and shared about God's great love for them. Those who were humbled, convicted and repentant were grateful for such wonderful transforming news!
Thankfully, Jesus was the "resurrection and the life", and he came up from the tomb, giving life and hope to all who follow Him in grace and truth. (See Peter's observation in Acts 2: 31-33).
Will you cast your vote for King Jesus.......and put aside all pretenders?
---The author served as a church-planting missionary to Spain and in pastoral ministries in Colorado and Kansas.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Sports Fans Are Serious Spenders
DO WE LIVE FOR SPORTS?
observed by Torrey H. Brinkley
The Olympic Games have ended for 2008, and perhaps billions of people worldwide had the opportunity to observe some of the athletic prowess and skills of hundreds and thousands of athletes from countries across the globe. Athletic contests are not new, as even the global Olympic games were begun back in Athens before the time of Christ.
Yet today we could perhaps question whether sports activities have become too dominating in our western culture.There is a proliferation of sports leagues and teams:
--the NBA men's basketball has spawned a women's pro league, and the college NCAA men's basketball goes mad in March all across the USA. Girls college hoops are very entertaining, and high school basketball brings out fans every year in noisy gyms in America.
--the NFL season begins in 32 cities soon for football fans, just as college football gets started as well on thousands of small & large campuses, with aspiring players also practicing at high schools from coast to coast.
--Major League Baseball has one more month left in 30 ball parks in US & Canada, while College World Series and even Little League World Series garnered attention on national TV. Rarely do big city folk know of all the scores of Minor League Baseball teams scattered from east to west coasts, but we do see how skilled Girls Fast Pitch Softball leagues have become.
--The NHL has more Canadian players and fans than in the USA, but big money insures that many folk know who are the best players around. College hockey, youth teams and minor league hockey also has its following.
--Auto racing has fans who watch their sport live from February to November in NASCAR, Indy Car, CORR truck, NHRA drag racing, motorcycle and motocross racing, Monster Truck, ALMS and other SCCA sports car events.
--Fans of golf like seeing men and women play for 3 days every weekend on gorgeous courses worldwide.
--Other fans pay attention to tennis tourneys for both sexes, X-treme sports competition, plus other events such as Beach Volleyball, Track & Field events, and Frisbee Golf.
Today there is a huge FINANCIAL committment required to make sports events happen. Grass-covered fields and lavishly equipped stadiums, uniforms and equipment, travel and transportation to & from venues, advertising & sponsorships are all involved. Sporting goods stores, sports magazines, athletic apparel shops, sports trading cards and other sports memorabilia are just a few ways that folk pour money into sports interests.
One is amazed at all the MEDIA coverage given to these sporting events: first there was just newspaper & magazine coverage. Then radio broadcasts were made of games across the country from the 1920s to the present. Starting in the 1950s one could see a sports contest or two on television. Films were shown of real and then staged athletic contests. But today, we have video games of sports, Wii semi-participation, internet coverage, and i-Phone hookups of contests. Direct TV even boasts some 44 sports channels one can watch (for a price). Sadly, some TV sports channels think that watching people "play poker" is a sport, and they broadcast such nonsense for hours at a time.
In recent years, besides the many spectator sports listed above, there are more PARTICIPATORY sports where folk do more than watch someone else get the exercise. We can gain muscles, endurance and feel accomplishment thru:proliferating golf courses nationwide, swimming, ski resorts, volleyball, basketball, exercise gyms, tennis teams, hiking groups, climbing walls & mountains, hang-gliding, water-skiing, bicycling, and off-roading on wheeled vehicles (with or without motors).
TIME involvement is enormous for for athletes: exercising, training, practices, actual game experiences, with the attendant pre- and post-game analysis. In our Denver area, a rabid fan could watch 420 games a year (times 3 hours each) for our pro baseball team, pro football team, pro hockey franchise, NBA round ballers, plus the college basketball and football games in town.
Even sports MEDICINE helps keep athletes in top shape for the games they play: conditioning, massages, surgeries, braces, and prosthetics are available. Countless sports talk shows on TV and radio even spend hours talking about the injuries, ages and condition of players of the various sports.
A major question might be: Who has time & money to dedicate to following all these sporting events?
1) Do you pretend to follow 200 college football teams, who each play 12 games each "before" bowl games yearly?One of the bigger programs, Ohio State University, has a $110 million athletic budget itself.
2) Are you one of those fans of the 32 NFL football teams who play 20+ games and pay $75 a ticket to watch them get exercise down on a grassy field, while you munch down on over-priced unhealthy food snacks? Total attendance would be 22,400,000 to regular season games, who pay out $1.79 billion in seat prices alone!!
3) Each of the 30 MLB baseball teams plays 162 games + Spring Training + playoffs, meaning well over 2500 contests are waged yearly. A season ticket holder of just 2 average seats would spend $3250 + parking + snacks.
4) Do you want to pay $40+ per game to watch your NBA basketball team for 41 home games? That would be $3280 for two season tickets + parking + snacks, for all that time you've "wasted" watching someone else get a lot of exercise. Folk do that in 32 cities in North America.
5) The 30+ professional hockey teams also play 82 games apiece + long playoff series, meaning a total of over 2500 games played.
6) Do you support a college basketball program for their games? Maybe 250 college teams play as many as 32 games a year + tournaments. That's close to 4000 games, where spectators are paying no less than $20 a night per seat.
7) NASCAR draws typically 100,000 live fans to many of its 40 Sunday races, which yields a cool $240,000,000 in seat revenue alone, plus TV advertising and other major corporate sponsorship donations.
We need to be careful in assessing our priorities in society:
a) Let us not become a nation of spectators; it is better to get some exercise than watch others doing it.
b) A soft society desires to be entertained, something that led to Rome's downfall centuries ago.
c) If we have so much excess leisure time with huge discretionary income, then why are we not showing compassion to the poor & helpless among us & around the world?
d) Since we have seen increasingly obese people in our country, why not push for more exercise for the masses instead of eating junk food while accomplishing nothing productive?
e) We need to be careful not to foster violence amongst spectators watching sports that border on agressive competitiveness. If there were no referees on the field, many games would turn chaotic & barbaric. Many fans in various countries have rioted watching soccer contests in the last 10 years, with ugly and even deadly results.
f) So much emphasis on sports and outcomes has fostered a gambling habit, where sports betting has become a huge industry and an addiction on many college campuses. The number of folk wasting money & time on "Fantasy Football" again indicates too much time & excess money going to something which produces exactly nothing for the good of society.
Are you exhausted yet reading of all the time and effort we regularly put into sports? Imagine that we have been sports fans for over 100 years now as a nation? We do this year after year after year. We have the following to show for all this expenditure of time, exercise and money: voluminous record books, perhaps mis-placed hero worship, and some memorable moments in sports.
Perhaps we need to heed the advice of the Roman prisoner, Paul, who wrote to a young man named Timothy some 1950 years ago, while Roman citizens were cheering on the exciting athletic events in their coliseums, including feeding Christians to the lions,
"For bodily exercise profits little, but godliness is profitable in all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." -- I Timothy 4: 15
---The author was the Sports Editor on his high school newspaper (Chicago, IL), served as a Gym Teacher in San Jose, CA at one time, and taught 150 Spanish youth how to play American baseball while serving as a missionary in Madrid, Spain.
observed by Torrey H. Brinkley
The Olympic Games have ended for 2008, and perhaps billions of people worldwide had the opportunity to observe some of the athletic prowess and skills of hundreds and thousands of athletes from countries across the globe. Athletic contests are not new, as even the global Olympic games were begun back in Athens before the time of Christ.
Yet today we could perhaps question whether sports activities have become too dominating in our western culture.There is a proliferation of sports leagues and teams:
--the NBA men's basketball has spawned a women's pro league, and the college NCAA men's basketball goes mad in March all across the USA. Girls college hoops are very entertaining, and high school basketball brings out fans every year in noisy gyms in America.
--the NFL season begins in 32 cities soon for football fans, just as college football gets started as well on thousands of small & large campuses, with aspiring players also practicing at high schools from coast to coast.
--Major League Baseball has one more month left in 30 ball parks in US & Canada, while College World Series and even Little League World Series garnered attention on national TV. Rarely do big city folk know of all the scores of Minor League Baseball teams scattered from east to west coasts, but we do see how skilled Girls Fast Pitch Softball leagues have become.
--The NHL has more Canadian players and fans than in the USA, but big money insures that many folk know who are the best players around. College hockey, youth teams and minor league hockey also has its following.
--Auto racing has fans who watch their sport live from February to November in NASCAR, Indy Car, CORR truck, NHRA drag racing, motorcycle and motocross racing, Monster Truck, ALMS and other SCCA sports car events.
--Fans of golf like seeing men and women play for 3 days every weekend on gorgeous courses worldwide.
--Other fans pay attention to tennis tourneys for both sexes, X-treme sports competition, plus other events such as Beach Volleyball, Track & Field events, and Frisbee Golf.
Today there is a huge FINANCIAL committment required to make sports events happen. Grass-covered fields and lavishly equipped stadiums, uniforms and equipment, travel and transportation to & from venues, advertising & sponsorships are all involved. Sporting goods stores, sports magazines, athletic apparel shops, sports trading cards and other sports memorabilia are just a few ways that folk pour money into sports interests.
One is amazed at all the MEDIA coverage given to these sporting events: first there was just newspaper & magazine coverage. Then radio broadcasts were made of games across the country from the 1920s to the present. Starting in the 1950s one could see a sports contest or two on television. Films were shown of real and then staged athletic contests. But today, we have video games of sports, Wii semi-participation, internet coverage, and i-Phone hookups of contests. Direct TV even boasts some 44 sports channels one can watch (for a price). Sadly, some TV sports channels think that watching people "play poker" is a sport, and they broadcast such nonsense for hours at a time.
In recent years, besides the many spectator sports listed above, there are more PARTICIPATORY sports where folk do more than watch someone else get the exercise. We can gain muscles, endurance and feel accomplishment thru:proliferating golf courses nationwide, swimming, ski resorts, volleyball, basketball, exercise gyms, tennis teams, hiking groups, climbing walls & mountains, hang-gliding, water-skiing, bicycling, and off-roading on wheeled vehicles (with or without motors).
TIME involvement is enormous for for athletes: exercising, training, practices, actual game experiences, with the attendant pre- and post-game analysis. In our Denver area, a rabid fan could watch 420 games a year (times 3 hours each) for our pro baseball team, pro football team, pro hockey franchise, NBA round ballers, plus the college basketball and football games in town.
Even sports MEDICINE helps keep athletes in top shape for the games they play: conditioning, massages, surgeries, braces, and prosthetics are available. Countless sports talk shows on TV and radio even spend hours talking about the injuries, ages and condition of players of the various sports.
A major question might be: Who has time & money to dedicate to following all these sporting events?
1) Do you pretend to follow 200 college football teams, who each play 12 games each "before" bowl games yearly?One of the bigger programs, Ohio State University, has a $110 million athletic budget itself.
2) Are you one of those fans of the 32 NFL football teams who play 20+ games and pay $75 a ticket to watch them get exercise down on a grassy field, while you munch down on over-priced unhealthy food snacks? Total attendance would be 22,400,000 to regular season games, who pay out $1.79 billion in seat prices alone!!
3) Each of the 30 MLB baseball teams plays 162 games + Spring Training + playoffs, meaning well over 2500 contests are waged yearly. A season ticket holder of just 2 average seats would spend $3250 + parking + snacks.
4) Do you want to pay $40+ per game to watch your NBA basketball team for 41 home games? That would be $3280 for two season tickets + parking + snacks, for all that time you've "wasted" watching someone else get a lot of exercise. Folk do that in 32 cities in North America.
5) The 30+ professional hockey teams also play 82 games apiece + long playoff series, meaning a total of over 2500 games played.
6) Do you support a college basketball program for their games? Maybe 250 college teams play as many as 32 games a year + tournaments. That's close to 4000 games, where spectators are paying no less than $20 a night per seat.
7) NASCAR draws typically 100,000 live fans to many of its 40 Sunday races, which yields a cool $240,000,000 in seat revenue alone, plus TV advertising and other major corporate sponsorship donations.
We need to be careful in assessing our priorities in society:
a) Let us not become a nation of spectators; it is better to get some exercise than watch others doing it.
b) A soft society desires to be entertained, something that led to Rome's downfall centuries ago.
c) If we have so much excess leisure time with huge discretionary income, then why are we not showing compassion to the poor & helpless among us & around the world?
d) Since we have seen increasingly obese people in our country, why not push for more exercise for the masses instead of eating junk food while accomplishing nothing productive?
e) We need to be careful not to foster violence amongst spectators watching sports that border on agressive competitiveness. If there were no referees on the field, many games would turn chaotic & barbaric. Many fans in various countries have rioted watching soccer contests in the last 10 years, with ugly and even deadly results.
f) So much emphasis on sports and outcomes has fostered a gambling habit, where sports betting has become a huge industry and an addiction on many college campuses. The number of folk wasting money & time on "Fantasy Football" again indicates too much time & excess money going to something which produces exactly nothing for the good of society.
Are you exhausted yet reading of all the time and effort we regularly put into sports? Imagine that we have been sports fans for over 100 years now as a nation? We do this year after year after year. We have the following to show for all this expenditure of time, exercise and money: voluminous record books, perhaps mis-placed hero worship, and some memorable moments in sports.
Perhaps we need to heed the advice of the Roman prisoner, Paul, who wrote to a young man named Timothy some 1950 years ago, while Roman citizens were cheering on the exciting athletic events in their coliseums, including feeding Christians to the lions,
"For bodily exercise profits little, but godliness is profitable in all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." -- I Timothy 4: 15
---The author was the Sports Editor on his high school newspaper (Chicago, IL), served as a Gym Teacher in San Jose, CA at one time, and taught 150 Spanish youth how to play American baseball while serving as a missionary in Madrid, Spain.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Candidate's Beliefs Do Matter
Beliefs of The Democratic Candidate in '08'
as observed by Torrey H. Brinkley
ON HARD WORK VS. LAZINESS
"In this country, more than anywhere else in the world, we appreciate the dignity of labor & understand that it is honorable to serve. And yet there is room for improvement, for all over over land there are scattered here & there, young men & young women--and even parents--who still think it is more respectable for a young man to spend in idleness the money someone else has earned than to be himself a producer of wealth. ....We must put the badge of disgrace on the idle person." (p. 201)
AS TO GOOD FORTUNE VS. INFLUENTIAL FRIENDS
"I have been a child of fortune from my birth. God gave me into the keeping of a Christian father and a Christian mother. They implanted in my heart the ideals that have guided my life. When I was in law school, I was fortunate enough to fall under the influence of men of ideals who helped shape my course. I have been abundantly rewarded for what little I have been able to do, and my ambition is not so much to hold any office, however great, as it is to know my duty and to do it, whether in public life or as a private citizen." (p. 167).
THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR FREEDOMS
"The Statue of Liberty was the gracious gift of a sister republic & stands upon a pedestal which was built by the American people. That figure --Liberty enlightening the world-- is emblematic of the mission of our nation among the nations of the earth. With a government, which derives its powers from the consent of the governed, secures to all the people freedom of conscience, freedom of thought and freedom of speech, guarantees equal rights to all, and promises special privileges to none, the United States should be an example in all that is good,and the leading spirit in every movement which has for its object the upifting of the human race." (p. 114)
CHOOSING BETWEEN WAR & PEACE
"Nation after nation, when at the zenith of its power, has proclaimed itself invincible because its army could shake the earth with its tread, and its ships could fill the seas, but these nations are dead, and we must build upon a different foundation if we would avoid their fate.
"I appeal to you to make your views known to the President, that he may be strengthened against the insolent clamour of those who ridicule peaceful methods, and, as if infuriated by the scent of blood, are bellowing for war. "I trust that a life devoted to the public, and overflowing, like a spring, with good, exerts an influence upon the human race & upon the destiny of the world as great as any death in war." (pp. 300, 302, 304)
CHOOSING THE RIGHT BEVERAGE
"All hail to the drink of drinks--to water, the daily need of every living thing."Men cannot afford to be drinking alcohol, for financial and physical reasons. The physical discomfort fails to compensate for any possible pleasure. Again, men owe to their progeny life without any inherited weakness, and lastly, 'man is his brother's keeper', and he is morally wrong in drinking alcohol, for the example it sets the weak." (pp. 314-315)
WHAT IS THE AUTHORITY FOR RIGHT DECISIONS?
"The attack being made right now upon those who stand squarely for the Christian faith of their fathers is not an attack on orthodoxy. It is an attack on religion. If you put the hypothesis of science above the Word of God, I don't expect you to tolerate me."The Bible is the Word of God, and the Bible is the only expression of man's hope of salvation. The Bible, the record of the son of God, the Saviour of the world, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified & risen again, that Bible is not going to be driven out of this court by experts who come in to testify that they can reconcile evolution with its ancestors in the jungle, with man made by God in His image & put here for purposes as a part of the Divine plan." (pp. 348, 361)
.........Yes, these were the thoughts of the Democratic Presidential Candidate who came to Denver, Colorado in 1908. Excerpts were from the biography written by Genevieve and John Herrick in 1925 "The Life of William Jennings Bryan".
as observed by Torrey H. Brinkley
ON HARD WORK VS. LAZINESS
"In this country, more than anywhere else in the world, we appreciate the dignity of labor & understand that it is honorable to serve. And yet there is room for improvement, for all over over land there are scattered here & there, young men & young women--and even parents--who still think it is more respectable for a young man to spend in idleness the money someone else has earned than to be himself a producer of wealth. ....We must put the badge of disgrace on the idle person." (p. 201)
AS TO GOOD FORTUNE VS. INFLUENTIAL FRIENDS
"I have been a child of fortune from my birth. God gave me into the keeping of a Christian father and a Christian mother. They implanted in my heart the ideals that have guided my life. When I was in law school, I was fortunate enough to fall under the influence of men of ideals who helped shape my course. I have been abundantly rewarded for what little I have been able to do, and my ambition is not so much to hold any office, however great, as it is to know my duty and to do it, whether in public life or as a private citizen." (p. 167).
THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR FREEDOMS
"The Statue of Liberty was the gracious gift of a sister republic & stands upon a pedestal which was built by the American people. That figure --Liberty enlightening the world-- is emblematic of the mission of our nation among the nations of the earth. With a government, which derives its powers from the consent of the governed, secures to all the people freedom of conscience, freedom of thought and freedom of speech, guarantees equal rights to all, and promises special privileges to none, the United States should be an example in all that is good,and the leading spirit in every movement which has for its object the upifting of the human race." (p. 114)
CHOOSING BETWEEN WAR & PEACE
"Nation after nation, when at the zenith of its power, has proclaimed itself invincible because its army could shake the earth with its tread, and its ships could fill the seas, but these nations are dead, and we must build upon a different foundation if we would avoid their fate.
"I appeal to you to make your views known to the President, that he may be strengthened against the insolent clamour of those who ridicule peaceful methods, and, as if infuriated by the scent of blood, are bellowing for war. "I trust that a life devoted to the public, and overflowing, like a spring, with good, exerts an influence upon the human race & upon the destiny of the world as great as any death in war." (pp. 300, 302, 304)
CHOOSING THE RIGHT BEVERAGE
"All hail to the drink of drinks--to water, the daily need of every living thing."Men cannot afford to be drinking alcohol, for financial and physical reasons. The physical discomfort fails to compensate for any possible pleasure. Again, men owe to their progeny life without any inherited weakness, and lastly, 'man is his brother's keeper', and he is morally wrong in drinking alcohol, for the example it sets the weak." (pp. 314-315)
WHAT IS THE AUTHORITY FOR RIGHT DECISIONS?
"The attack being made right now upon those who stand squarely for the Christian faith of their fathers is not an attack on orthodoxy. It is an attack on religion. If you put the hypothesis of science above the Word of God, I don't expect you to tolerate me."The Bible is the Word of God, and the Bible is the only expression of man's hope of salvation. The Bible, the record of the son of God, the Saviour of the world, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified & risen again, that Bible is not going to be driven out of this court by experts who come in to testify that they can reconcile evolution with its ancestors in the jungle, with man made by God in His image & put here for purposes as a part of the Divine plan." (pp. 348, 361)
.........Yes, these were the thoughts of the Democratic Presidential Candidate who came to Denver, Colorado in 1908. Excerpts were from the biography written by Genevieve and John Herrick in 1925 "The Life of William Jennings Bryan".
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Distorting the Truth
How The Enemy Chips Away at the Truth
by Torrey H. Brinkley
Many have lamented at the loss of absolutes in our society, and how the truth has been warped and distorted. What was once considered wrong is now OK. What we thought was right is now considered "bad form." Things one could once say are now labeled "politically incorrect." Truths taught in our schools & churches are now just old fables. How did this happen?
The Enemy (of the Truth) has always had a plan to deceive and to bring down the wisdom and guidance from above. His steps to lead us into failure and falsehood are measured, calculating, and appropriate for the time. See how it all started:
Questioning Authority: In the Garden of Eden, Satan asked Adam & Eve, "has God said......?" The Devil didn't think these simple humans had a good memory of the truth of God's commands.
--How often is this tactic employed today by those who deny God's instructions? Educated folk today have tossed out bibical Revelation, and have replaced it with fanciful imaginations.
Denying truth statements: As well, in the Garden, the Serpent flatly contradicted what God had told the first couple, "No, if you eat of the forbidden fruit, you will not die!" God's dictates seemed so harsh, that Satan knew the couple would prefer to hear something softer.
--How quickly & flippantly do modern pagan educators dismiss anything stated in the Bible (whether miracles, origins, commandments or salvation-related)?
Building up the listener: Again, the Deceiver told Adam & Eve that they in fact would become like gods, if they would eat fruit from that one tree. Who wouldn't like the extra benefits from a promise like that, even if it means disobeying God?
--Satan loves to "empower" people who feel cheated by the system or the status quo. The Enemy knows there is strength in numbers, even if it is for the wrong cause or purposes.
Putting God out of the picture: If Satan can convince us that the Lord is not around, & He can't see us, then it becomes easy to justify doing something which we think is just our own little secret. How foolish to imagine that God pays no attention to even the smallest detail of our lives! (Just ask Adam & Eve how hard it was to hide from God.)
--To be sure, God has been removed from the modern classroom, for a good part of 90 years in American public education. The modern news media has not uttered the "God" word since its infancy. Hollywood refuses to acknowledge the presence of God, but loves to enable small boys and young, curvy women with magical "superpowers."
Introducing other objects of worship: From early stories in the Old Testament we see that people considered adoring other gods, even things made with human hands (idols, possessions, the fleshly body, lands, etc.). Even the children of Israel frequently left the God who changed history & overcame laws of nature to follow worthless idols.
--Humankind has been able to invent & create so many fascinating technologies, that they have all but forgotten the God who placed them on this planet, set the Sun and Moon in motion, gave us water & food to eat, and instructed us in how to live in peace, harmony & right living. Yet, no matter what things people worship today, they are empty until they find rest in Christ's love, forgiveness and acceptance. We need the Saviour to heal us, not more glamorous celebrities for us to admire.
Adopting the ways of foreigners: Another pronouncement God gave to Israel was to never accept the false teachings and philosophies and deities of their pagan neighbors. Thru foreign trade, social interaction, and inter-marrying, the Jews easily fell prey to those who carried them off into slavery, torture, abuse and degradation.
--No one person in history equalled the success and wisdom of King Solomon, who gained all the fame & fortune that the world had to offer, but he lost his single-mindedness, his purpose and his eventual kingdom, when he made foreign alliances & took on over 700 wives & 300 mistresses thru the goal of greedy "internationalism." Are we any wiser than Solomon today?
Choosing the wrong battles: It is so easy to get distracted from the right focus & the proper direction, and then to charge after the wrong Enemy. David was such a successful warrior and king that he battled scores of enemies around Israel. God eventually had to tell David that he was not fit to build the Lord's Temple and to restore Jerusalem, because he had too much blood on his hands.
--Today we see so many wrongs in the world, often lashing out against all kinds of enemies, and expend all our energy and resources, that we have no time left for God, His Word, sharing His message, building up other believers, witnessing to our neighbors, or feeding the hungry. A wise general reportedly said, "choose the hill you want to die on." That was bad grammar, but good advice.
Therefore, the end result of this attack on absolute values & truths has led to a dismantling in modern society of these pillars:
1) GOD (of the Bible) has been replaced with any religion, or no faith at all. Some even worship the "Planet".
2) COUNTRY (& its founding principles) has been superceded by a global view of history, issues, economics & planning. Some have abandoned hard work & saving, and instead hope for gambling winnings & government transfers of wealth.
3) FAMILY (as an institution of love, nurture & education) is now shown as no better than any grouping of peoples.
4) MARRIAGE (as something God intended for man & woman in blessed intimacy & mutual strengthening) is scorned as no better than any other relationship or laison (without commitment).
5) MORAL VALUES (especially God-given) are dismissed because any & all ideas should be equally acceptable. Popularity is more important than morality.
6) LAWS & COMMANDMENTS are rejected, as modern man asks "why should anyone else have authority over me ?"
--the author studied under Dr.Francis Schaeffer in Switzerland in 1969, and has served as a pastor in the USA and church-planting missionary to Spain.
by Torrey H. Brinkley
Many have lamented at the loss of absolutes in our society, and how the truth has been warped and distorted. What was once considered wrong is now OK. What we thought was right is now considered "bad form." Things one could once say are now labeled "politically incorrect." Truths taught in our schools & churches are now just old fables. How did this happen?
The Enemy (of the Truth) has always had a plan to deceive and to bring down the wisdom and guidance from above. His steps to lead us into failure and falsehood are measured, calculating, and appropriate for the time. See how it all started:
Questioning Authority: In the Garden of Eden, Satan asked Adam & Eve, "has God said......?" The Devil didn't think these simple humans had a good memory of the truth of God's commands.
--How often is this tactic employed today by those who deny God's instructions? Educated folk today have tossed out bibical Revelation, and have replaced it with fanciful imaginations.
Denying truth statements: As well, in the Garden, the Serpent flatly contradicted what God had told the first couple, "No, if you eat of the forbidden fruit, you will not die!" God's dictates seemed so harsh, that Satan knew the couple would prefer to hear something softer.
--How quickly & flippantly do modern pagan educators dismiss anything stated in the Bible (whether miracles, origins, commandments or salvation-related)?
Building up the listener: Again, the Deceiver told Adam & Eve that they in fact would become like gods, if they would eat fruit from that one tree. Who wouldn't like the extra benefits from a promise like that, even if it means disobeying God?
--Satan loves to "empower" people who feel cheated by the system or the status quo. The Enemy knows there is strength in numbers, even if it is for the wrong cause or purposes.
Putting God out of the picture: If Satan can convince us that the Lord is not around, & He can't see us, then it becomes easy to justify doing something which we think is just our own little secret. How foolish to imagine that God pays no attention to even the smallest detail of our lives! (Just ask Adam & Eve how hard it was to hide from God.)
--To be sure, God has been removed from the modern classroom, for a good part of 90 years in American public education. The modern news media has not uttered the "God" word since its infancy. Hollywood refuses to acknowledge the presence of God, but loves to enable small boys and young, curvy women with magical "superpowers."
Introducing other objects of worship: From early stories in the Old Testament we see that people considered adoring other gods, even things made with human hands (idols, possessions, the fleshly body, lands, etc.). Even the children of Israel frequently left the God who changed history & overcame laws of nature to follow worthless idols.
--Humankind has been able to invent & create so many fascinating technologies, that they have all but forgotten the God who placed them on this planet, set the Sun and Moon in motion, gave us water & food to eat, and instructed us in how to live in peace, harmony & right living. Yet, no matter what things people worship today, they are empty until they find rest in Christ's love, forgiveness and acceptance. We need the Saviour to heal us, not more glamorous celebrities for us to admire.
Adopting the ways of foreigners: Another pronouncement God gave to Israel was to never accept the false teachings and philosophies and deities of their pagan neighbors. Thru foreign trade, social interaction, and inter-marrying, the Jews easily fell prey to those who carried them off into slavery, torture, abuse and degradation.
--No one person in history equalled the success and wisdom of King Solomon, who gained all the fame & fortune that the world had to offer, but he lost his single-mindedness, his purpose and his eventual kingdom, when he made foreign alliances & took on over 700 wives & 300 mistresses thru the goal of greedy "internationalism." Are we any wiser than Solomon today?
Choosing the wrong battles: It is so easy to get distracted from the right focus & the proper direction, and then to charge after the wrong Enemy. David was such a successful warrior and king that he battled scores of enemies around Israel. God eventually had to tell David that he was not fit to build the Lord's Temple and to restore Jerusalem, because he had too much blood on his hands.
--Today we see so many wrongs in the world, often lashing out against all kinds of enemies, and expend all our energy and resources, that we have no time left for God, His Word, sharing His message, building up other believers, witnessing to our neighbors, or feeding the hungry. A wise general reportedly said, "choose the hill you want to die on." That was bad grammar, but good advice.
Therefore, the end result of this attack on absolute values & truths has led to a dismantling in modern society of these pillars:
1) GOD (of the Bible) has been replaced with any religion, or no faith at all. Some even worship the "Planet".
2) COUNTRY (& its founding principles) has been superceded by a global view of history, issues, economics & planning. Some have abandoned hard work & saving, and instead hope for gambling winnings & government transfers of wealth.
3) FAMILY (as an institution of love, nurture & education) is now shown as no better than any grouping of peoples.
4) MARRIAGE (as something God intended for man & woman in blessed intimacy & mutual strengthening) is scorned as no better than any other relationship or laison (without commitment).
5) MORAL VALUES (especially God-given) are dismissed because any & all ideas should be equally acceptable. Popularity is more important than morality.
6) LAWS & COMMANDMENTS are rejected, as modern man asks "why should anyone else have authority over me ?"
--the author studied under Dr.Francis Schaeffer in Switzerland in 1969, and has served as a pastor in the USA and church-planting missionary to Spain.
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