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From The Jewel Box # 24
12/08/08
A few weeks ago one of my friend’s from our Sunday school class hosted a guys night out. We ate BBQ, played Texas Hold ’em poker and played Rock Band until 1:00 in the morning. Out of the blue, our oldest son asked at breakfast this morning, “Daddy, you know that Man party you went to?”
I answered, “Yes.”
He asked, “Did you play hot potato there?”
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Important note: We will not reveal the names of our children on this blog. Any comment that mentions our children’s names will be deleted. It is nothing personal, we just feel that it is an important safety measure for our family. If you would like to read the other FTJB entries, click on the “From the Jewel Box” link in the side bar on the right or on the Jewel Box icon at the end of this paragraph. Come on parents! Feel free to share special jewels from your precious children. Just know that on this blog, our kids are the cutest! 
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We had a good time and I hope you did too. After food and football we had a little activity initiated by Becky’s Dad. He wrote every letter of the phrase H-A-P-P-Y T-H-A-N-K-S-G-I-V-I-N-G on a separate piece of paper. We each had one letter and were instructed to think of something we were thankful for that started with the letter we had on our piece of paper.
I had the letter “A.” I explained that in the light of our recent elections, I am thankful in knowing that Jesus has “all authority” in heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18). Things are still in God’s hands and He never exclaims “Oh My Me!” out of surprise.
Different families have many traditions, but sadly, the families of Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs) are not among those who have Thanksgiving traditions. Like all other holidays, JWs are forbidden from celebrating it. In light of this fact, I decided to post a Quick Question For Jehovah’s Witnesses on this topic.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hwc4wGygHA&hl=en&fs=1]
The next time you speak with a Witness, you might want to ask them this same question.
Homosexual Agenda Attacks the Mormon Church
As many of you are probably aware, California had a very important piece of legislation passed with the recent elections. Proposition eight reverses the decision that activist Judges passed into law on May 15th of this year. These judges imposed homosexual marriage not only on Californians, but also on the rest of the Country because there is no residency requirement. This means that people could travel to California, get married and then expect to have their “marriage” accepted by their State of residency. (Source document here) To see the importance of proposition eight, watch this short YouTube video.
One of the major players in passing proposition eight was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Yes folks, that’s the Mormons. The online LDS journal Meridian Magazine details some of the activities of Mormons in helping pass this legislation. On June 29th, the leaders of the LDS Church asked their members to do all they can to support proposition eight. This angered the homosexual community. So much so that they created this piece of propaganda to attack the LDS Church.
Holey buckets! I’ve never seen anything quite like this. Mormon misisonaries are depicted like home invading gustapo whose sole reason for visiting is to tear up the homeowner’s marriage certificate. While I’ve had interesting experiences with some immature, cocky Mormon missionaries, I’ve never met one who would act anything like the guys depicted in this commercial. I pray for the safety of Mormon missionaries in California and particularly in San Francisco.
While I support the rights of Mormons to disagree with, organize, publically voice their opinions and vote against homosexuality, I find it interesting that the LDS Church is getting a taste of their own medicine. The homosexual community will not allow anyone, and now especially the Mormons, to disagree with their position without labeling them as hateful, bigoted and intolerant.
How have Mormons been hateful? By disagreeing with someone? Give me a break. Let me remind the reader that one can only be tolerant of something with which they disagree. If the homosexual community really wanted us to be tolerant, then they would allow us the freedom to disagree. I do not tolerate something I agree with because, well, I agree with it! The truth of the matter is, they don’t want our tolerance, they want our acceptance and that is a completely different matter.
The same argument holds true with Mormonism’s quest for acceptance within the Christian world. Because Christians disagree with Mormonism, organize our efforts to educate others about it’s real nature and publicly voice our opinions, we have been labeled, ironically enough by the LDS Church, as hateful, bigoted and intolerant. Does this sound familiar? Mormons do not want our tolerance, they want our acceptance.
I have years of experience in public evangelism at Mormon events. I have been called all kinds of nasty names and was once even told that the reason I was there was because I must drink my own bath water. Where is the tolerance on the part of the LDS Church? Do I not have the right to disagree with Mormonism without being labeled an anti-Mormon? Are Mormons now anti-gay?
One of my other favorite terms of endearment is “protester.” If I show up at a Mormon temple opening, I must be protesting it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mormons, if you are reading this, and I know you are, THIS is a protest.
As you can see, there are plenty of angry folks at a Mormon temple protesting the Mormon Church’s involvement with the passing of proposition eight. They are marching in the streets, chanting slogans, and stopping traffic. Again, THIS is a protest.
This is not.
The above depicts Christians, peacefully talking with Mormons. Instead of chants, there is worship. No marching, just preaching.
I truly am sorry that the LDS Church has been the target of unfair criticism to the point of unruly protest. On the other hand, maybe now they can see a difference in what critics of the LDS Church do vs. what is happening in California now that they have experienced a REAL protest. I am curious to see how the LDS Church responds to the unfounded accusations of hate, bigotry and intolerance. If the LDS Church wants to know which answers work best, all they have to do is recall what Christians have been telling Mormons for years. It is the same argument.
Happy Birthday Big Girl!
Our oldest child turned seven yesterday. We had family over for presents, cake and ice cream last night and had a party with her friends at Chuck E. Cheese’s Sunday night. Check out the slide-show and see if you can figure out her favorite color.
[slideshow id=72057594050230261&w=400&h=320]
VOTE!
I voted yesterday and Becky voted the day before. I am a firm believer in personal responsibility and think that every able American citizen has the moral obligation to vote. That includes Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs). If you enjoy the freedoms of the democratic process, then you should also participate in making sure that it works.
Unfortunately, the Watchtower (WT) forbids JWs from participating in the election process. Voting in political elections has been equated to supporting the wild beast of Revelation 13. Witnesses who vote are described as being unsteady, seduced, misled, and slaves of corruption (WT 12/1/89 p. 13-14). Then, in 1999, the WT published an article that seems to change their view. The November 1, 1999 WT states that what a Christian “does in the polling booth is between him and his Creator.” Really?
If this is so, then why do Jehovah’s Witnesses continue to abstain from voting? The truth is that they know they will still be subjected discipline if they vote for a political party. However, there is another way. Witnesses can still vote. Watch the video and see for Whom Witnesses should vote.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIYpxXdYSag&hl=en&fs=1]
Walker Family Pictures 2008
As is our custom, we had our annual family pictures taken recently. This is a bit late in the year for us, but we wanted to wait a few months and make sure that our youngest child could be a little more responsive. We use to take the pictures at Sears, but we switched to Portrait Innovations last year. I absolutely LOVE the idea of getting a CD of every single picture that was taken during our session. The following is a small sampling of the 82 pictures that we taken.
[slideshow id=72057594050220058&w=400&h=320]
Article 11
I just got home about an hour ago from meeting with a 76 year old man who has been a Mormon since 1974. We spent close to three and a half hours talking about Mormonism. He has been doing some serious contemplation about the LDS Church and is really bothered by the polygamy issue. He found our contact information and called to, “find out what he doesn’t know.”
He spoke mostly while I patiently listened. When I did speak, I answered his question’s about the image of God and the gospel. He now has a number of new ideas to think about. One of the things that Mr. E was most proud of about the Mormon Church was the Articles of Faith. These articles are 13 basic points to which the LDS Church believes. Mr. E went through them one by one and when he got to article number 11, he read, “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.”
When I told him that most Mormons I’ve met do not really believe this particular article, he was shocked. He passionately explained how all Mormons worship God according to their own conscience and believe that everyone should have the same privilege. I then explained how I have attended public Mormon events to pass out gospel tracts and witness to Mormons. Mr. E exclaimed, “How Dare you!” as he reached across the table to slap my hand. I laughed as I withdrew my hand and said, “See what I mean?”
That stunned him. I explained that I am worshipping God according to the dictates of my conscience when I am in the act of evangelism at public events. Mr. E sheepishly smiled as he understood my point.
That gave me an idea. The next time a Mormon asks me what I am doing at a Mormon temple opening, the Mormon Miracle Pageant or any other public event hosted by the Mormons, I am just going to answer that I am exercising article 11. At that point, the Mormon has only two choices. They can choose to obey article 11 and allow me to continue in worship or they can deny their Scripture and argue with me about how I do not have the right to be there. It is always interesting to see how much of Mormonism some Mormons really believe.
First Shots With My New Springfield XD
This past Sunday I went to the gun show to look for another Springfield XD 9mm. I managed to find what I was looking for and was pleased to see that it came with night sites. Since most attacks happen at night, having night sites is an important thing to consider for home defense purposes. The good thing for me was that I spent less money than I did three years ago on this second XD with night sites than I did on my first gun without them.
I didn’t get a chance to go out to the range to shoot it until yesterday. I decided to take both guns so that I could do some comparison. The slide show below will help tell my story. As you see the pictures slide by, put your mouse over the picture and they will pause as a caption appears. All shots were taken at 21 feet.
#1 This picture is a bit blurry, but that is because I was in a completely dark closet. The sights don’t look much different from any other sights in the artificially created light of the flash on my camera.
#2 With the flash off, all you can see are the three dots of the sights. Make sure to pause this picture as the front sight will brighten up a bit.
#3 My fist shot with my new XD. I hit the bulls-eye, but not exactly where I was aiming.
#4 The first five shots still found their mark, but they are a bit too high and right from where I was aiming.
#5 After 50 shots, I am beginning to wonder if my sights are off just a tad. The gun is consistent all right with an nice two inch group, but I adjusted my last 20 or so shots by aiming a little low and to the left.
#6 Here is where it starts to get interesting. Since I was unsure of my sights on my new XD, I decided to take five shots at the top number seven with my old XD. As you can see, my old XD is dead on at seven yards.
#7 Here is a close up of those last five shots. The number seven is small enough to be completely covered by a dime.
That is some pretty good shooting, even if I say so myself! The bad news is, I am not as accurate with my new XD. I decided to do some further tests just to make sure that I wasn’t extremely lucky with my old XD.
#8 I placed a “Shoot-n-see” on the left of the target and took five shots with my New XD. I hit it twice, but missed three times.
#9 I decided to take five more shots, but this time I used my old XD. I wasn’t as accurate with these five shots as I was while shooting at the number seven, but you can still see that the shots with my old XD are a bit closer.
#10 Five more shots at another “Shoot-n-see” with my new XD. All misses.
#11 Five More shots with my old XD. Three hits and two misses.
OK, it is now obvious that I am more accurate with my old XD than I am with my new one. When I got home, I took a closer look at my new XD and noticed the following.
#12-13 Here is a comparison of the front sight on my old and then my new XD. As you can see, the front sight does not sit flush on the top of the slide.
#14-17 The same is true with the rear sights. They do not sit completely flush on the top of the slide.
That would explain my shots being a bit high, but it would not explain why my shots tend to drift to the right. I am a left handed shooter so my shots tend to go right anyway, but how do I explain my dead on accuracy with my old XD and the wider grouping on my news XD? Are the sights really off on the new gun or am I just more comfortable shooting my old XD? I’m open to hearing if anyone has any ideas.
If your browser does not show the slide show, then just click View All Images.
[slideshow id=72057594050198778&w=400&h=320]
McDonald’s Boycott Lifted
I received a message from the American Family Association today informing me that their boycott against Micky D’s has been lifted. *Join me as I heave a sigh of relief.* Although I personally took some heat for our boycott stance, it was well worth it. I am thankful that McDonald’s has realized that supporting the homosexual agenda is not a wise business decision. I am also thankful to God for this opportunity to show our kids that God does indeed answer prayer.
When we first informed our kids that we would not longer be eating at McDonald’s, they were bummed, but understood. Since they are so young, we didn’t want to get into all of the details about homosexuality, but we did tell them that they had made some decisions which were against families. That is all they needed to hear. From that time on, whenever we passed a McDonald’s in the car, the kids would yell, “EEEWWWWWW!” Becky nor I instigated this reaction. They came up with it all by themselves. Now I am looking forward to seeing their reaction when I give them this good news.
Here is the letter from the AFA in its entirety.
Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire e-mail list of family and friends.
AFA ends boycott: McDonald’s agrees to changes
October 9, 2008
Dear Keith,
Great news! Because of AFA supporters like you, McDonald’s has told AFA they will remain neutral in the culture war regarding homosexual marriage. AFA is ending the boycott of McDonald’s. As you know, AFA called for the boycott in May after McDonald’s joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC).McDonald’s said McDonald’s Vice President Richard Ellis has resigned his position on the board of NGLCC and that his seat on the board will not be replaced. McDonald’s also said that the company has no plans to renew their membership in NGLCC when it expires in December.
In an e-mail to McDonald’s franchised owners the company said, “It is our policy to not be involved in political and social issues. McDonald’s remains neutral on same sex marriage or any ‘homosexual agenda’ as defined by the American Family Association.”
We appreciate the decision by McDonald’s to no longer support political activity by homosexual activist organizations. You might want to thank your local McDonald’s manager.
Thank you for caring enough to get involved. If you feel our efforts are worthy of support, would you consider making a small tax-deductible contribution to help us continue?
Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon,
Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
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