Lyle's Blog

Have you ever wondered what’s important? The answer is different depending on your age or how much future you think you have left. That’s the deception. We believe we have one more day. Many things are important of course but most of us spend our lives making sure our number one is all right. We seek companionship, sex, jobs, lifestyle and retirement with ourselves in mind. And why would we not; it’s our life and the only one we get. We get older and a lot of important things are tossed to the ditch. I really never understand the devotion people have to things that really have little or anything to do with them but especially when they are nearing the end of their life. I suppose it gives them a feeling of self worth by voicing support for some issue. Have you noticed when a person dies nothing is important except life itself. Then all the things you believed and collected become worthless. Life becomes the only important thing. Beyond life is that great unknown. Oh we have ideas but if it’s only a belief we have settled on, that could be unsettling. The atheist thinks that this life is all there is. Religions of various sorts purport other doctrines. But the Bible says that we may have eternal life and that is believed by other than Christian people. Scripture (in the book of John) defines eternal life as knowing God. Not knowing about Him but knowing Him personally just like we know people here on earth. So believing in God is different than believing God. I never give scripture references; I just say “the Bible says”. If you want to seek God and eventually find Him it isn’t that hard to do. Read His word. Follow the commandments of Christ. Seek the kingdom of God. Humble yourself. Become aware of the treacherous position you are in. When you realize that you aren’t as good and special as you thought and feel the depravity that breeds in each one of us, repent as the Holy Spirit draws you to Himself. Like Job we must come to an understanding of who we are and who God is. He is the potter, the one who made man in His image. We are the clay marred by a desire to be the potter. We decided to shape ourselves in the image of pride and lust. You have to be willing to let God redeem you. First, genuine repentance is necessary. One must be ashamed before God for following our own selfish ways. We must accept the death of Jesus Christ as payment for our sin and believe He conquered our enemy (death) in His resurrection. Then we start on the path to eternal life by renewing our minds. Get rid of the old thoughts that are contrary to Gods Word. Learn to give grace to all men as He gives grace to us. That’s the difference in knowing about God and knowing God. When you know Him you want to honor Him by giving Him glory in all you do. So I urge everyone to seek Him now while He may be found.

Why would anyone of the Islamic faith kill a bunch of homosexuals? Are people of the homosexual faith treated poorly in Muslim countries? Are 1.3 billion followers of Allah culpable for not reigning in these “extremists”? So many questions; such easy answers. America is filled with ignorant chumps and the rest of us have to suffer because of their arrogant ranting. A lot of us are tired of it but most of us are getting old and will pass soon. But it’s our kids who must pay the biggest price for the idiot thoughts that rule our country. That’s the most frustrating because many times our own children haven’t caught up to the reality that there are many sinister people out to destroy them and don’t deserve a voice in a free society because they don’t believe in a free society. Basic reality 101: liberty is the only thing that protects us from thugs whether it’s on the streets or in government. Wake up!

I sometimes wonder if praying has become a lost art. In America we have lots of options for solving our problems. I’m retired and live in Sun City. I live in “doctor heaven”. Doctors of all kinds and hospitals are just a minute of two away. There are so many care facilities that the urgent care centers have people on the corner with signs trying to wave you in like furniture stores or pizza parlors do. It’s odd until you think how many thousands of old dilapidated people live here. Yep there is a concentration of people needing help with health challenges just like others need pizza. Still I weary from all this handy lifestyle that threatens to make me a self-centered old codger who doesn’t care much about what’s happening outside the box. I’ll have to admit it is comforting to live in an oasis that’s outside the world that’s spinning way to fast. After a life that seems sometimes like a blur we’ve arrived at the point where nothing matters too much. Our kids if we have any are doing their own thing and don’t really need our input or want it for that matter. Politics matter only in keeping our boats afloat and the dismantling of our societal norms is out of our hands. The fact that we could have had backbones and made a difference escapes our thoughts. Maybe we enjoyed the freedom that ignorance provides. We’ve done what we were programmed to do and on the way went to Disneyland as much as we could, living life like we thought we should, getting all the gusto we could. Now we must succumb to spending time communicating in worthless words, We’ve decided whether there is a God and are content if there is that we are ready to meet Him. We’re good enough. We’re not killers, thieves, or adulterers. We didn’t do anything too bad. The Word of God says we have all fallen short of the glory of God and at best we are naked, blind, and corrupt. Blissful unawareness engulf the old. What are we unaware of? That knowing God personally is eternal life and that if the Lord doesn’t build your life you labored or spent your efforts in vain. I’m trying to convince people that no matter how old you are it’s wise to find the reason you are here which is only one thing and that is to glorify God. If you are young start now. If you are middle-aged start now. If you are old make your next breath one that praises God. Get to work for as the Bible says the days are evil which is to say this could be your last day and it’s our duty to Him to shine the light of Christ in a dark world.

It’s not rocket science. We all know what that means but I’m beginning to think that everything is rocket science to dopes our colleges are turning out. What used to be common sense or just plain simple math has seemingly turned our best and brightest into a caldron of useful idiots. We’ve allowed our young to be indoctrinated by Marxist professors who like their mentors hate what America offers mankind: the freedom to express their thoughts in words. The old saying of not so long ago was: “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”. Political correctness has reversed that idea. Now it’s words that hurt people and if you say them the state will give you your just recompense. The ruthless state decides which words you can say and no mercy will be shown to anyone who defies the glorious state. As part of the fading generation my interest is only kindled by knowing that my children and grandchildren will suffer under the burden of leftist control. I heard a typical comment by a jug head in college; the new communism is good and it’s not like the old communism. I’ll have to admit the left have been very wise and thorough in the brain washing of our youth. And as many despots have noted whoever controls the learning of the young controls the future. So know I don’t expect conditions to change. Even though we have access to unlimited information the fact remains people are ignorant of basic fundamental truths.

Someone once said “A penny saved is a penny earned”. That almost sounds like one is putting the cart before the horse. But if you think it through, a penny saved has big advantages. You can invest the penny, there are no taxes to be paid on the saved penny, and saved pennies can accumulate and fund other necessities and ventures. Therefore saved pennies are less stressful than earned pennies. When you save, you rest; when you earn, you work. Further, passive income is better than earned income. To illustrate I’ll tell of my own tepid experience in this matter. In the army one of my friends would run out of money within a week of being paid. Many times he would come to me and ask for a loan til payday. He would borrow ten and payback fifteen. This happened several times. After the service I bought a small house on three quarters of an acre for $3000. I sold it a year later for $5000. After I married my wife and I bought a house, rented it for a period of four years and then sold it. The new owner assumed the existing mortgage and I supplied the second mortgage. At that time he paid 10% interest and stipulated he could pay $50 or more dollars a month. For three years the minimum was paid which meant that a large part of the payment was interest. I realized the advantages of being the lender! Years later I worked with a guy that, hard to believe, was always short of money. So just like my friend in the service, I would loan him a $100 and pay me back $125. I say all this to urge you to be frugal and prepare for any outcome. There are always opportunities to avail yourself of extra income without adding to your work load. And in doing so you provide a service to those that would otherwise not qualify for a home loan and on the smaller scale not be taken in by title loans and pawn shops. The Bible says the borrower is a slave to the lender. I’ve been both and the latter is so much more fun. Loaning money can have bad consequences, so if you do, make sure of the character of the borrower.