Mark Byron

Earthen Vessels

I had had been getting some Google hits for my old Midland pastor, Tim Ortiz, which was odd. What was odder was the reason why; he's up on rape ("third-degree criminal sexual conduct") charges.

That's a jaw-dropper.

We left Father's Heart about three years ago when Tim's preaching became (IMHO) a bit too perfectionistic in striving to follow God's will 100.000000000% of the time. I wondered whether I was too lax in my faith or he was over-the-top in his, but when both Eileen and I have a worry-streak that gets us depressed when we get perfectionistic, we needed to leave before we went crazy.

Was Tim dealing with his internal shortcomings by getting perfectionistic in his teaching?

Prayers for him, his family, and the church are an order. A pastor in prison on those charges is going to have a bulls-eye on his back, so even if he did what he is alledged to have done, he still needs prayers for survival in the prison system.

...We're Just Negotiating the Price

I was thumbing through CNN's website while proctoring an exam and saw the Reators^© running an ad: "Tell Congress: Extent the Homebuyer Tax Credit Now."

OK. $8000 tax credit, of which about half will go into the Realtor^©'s pocket, given a 5%-or-so commission. You would normally thing that the real estate folks would be fans of limited government, but like most folks trolling K Street, the punchline of the old joke "We know what you are... we're just negotiating the price" seems fitting; that's why hearing that Steve Largent is now on the wireless-lobby dime is disturbing.

Your tax dollars at work. Yes, tell Congress to get that McMansion-Monger^© a $5000 commission at your expense NOW.

Watch Out for the Double Dip

We had some surprising GDP numbers come in; we had 3.5% growth in the third quarter. The BBC home page had a Cash-for-Clunkers car as its poster boy.

The White House will be happy with this news, but they shouldn't get too thrilled. We dug about a 3% GDP deficit in the last year, so a 0.9% increase (the economy only went up 0.9%, but that's a 3.5%/year rate) only climbs about a third of the way up out of that hole.

A lot of that increase was from extra economic activity due to housing and car incentives; one interesting analysisthat Drudge pointed to noted that Uncle Sam paid about $24,000 per new car sale that wouldn't have happened otherwise. According to that Edmunds study, about three-quarters of the CfC customers would have bought a new car this year anyway.

The fourth quarter will still havethe new-home sale tax rebate that expires at the end of next month but car sales are now on their own. That might make for an iffy 4Q and a potentially rocky 1Q 2010, especially if a contractionary health care bill squares the legislative circle and gets to Obama's desk.

I know that this reminds me of what Laura Ingram called the But-Monkeys; it's good news, but.... She didn't like it when Democrats played the game to minimize Bush successes, and it isn't quite fare to Obama when applied from his right. It is good news.

However, if some rather statist policies come out of Congress, we could easily see a double-dip recession, as businesses who are keeping their powder dry put the powder on the shelf indefinitely while the new mandates mess with businesses and the economy. Right now, Democratic leaders seem to be reaching for their aspirin bottles in increasing regularity as getting a health care bill through seems just out of reach; if it stays that way, the recovery might continue strongly.

[Update 2:55PM- Here's a But-Monkey right out Central Casting that I found blog-Googling for "double dip"-his headline, "Third Quarter GDP Rises to 3.5%… But…"]

Chain Gang

Our sermon this morning was in Acts 26, where Paul is witnessing to two local governors, Festus and King Agrippa; let's pick up the action in verse 28-

²⁸Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?"

²⁹Paul replied, "Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains."

He was in Festus' court, but in that context is was where a ruler meets his subjects. That being said, I have an image of Paul in a modern-day court, in a orange prison jumpsuit, handcuffs and ankle-cuffs; not exactly a great example to look up to for the outsider.

However, what Paul had was the Gospel and a knowledge of Jesus that these folks didn't have. That is worth copying even if the big-house couture wasn't.

A lot of folks in the Peanut Gallery are scared to be evangelizing in part because we feel like poor examples. "Why would they want to be like [insert shortcomings, e.g.- a overweight, geeky introvert who can't keep his emotions in check]?" you hear your inner demon whisper. 

Why, indeed? Well, despite the shortcomings, we know a God who can help with those shortcomings and who sent part of Himself to die for our sins. Even Paul had his unspecified "thorn in the flesh" that he dealt with, and he was arguable the greatest evangelist of all time. Most of his epistles were written in prison 

So, we can witness despite our flaws; just tell people to ignore the mess and show them a God that helps you be less of a mess than you were without Him. With Him, I've become less geeky, less introverted and better able to handle my emotions; the overweight part is a work-in-progress, but three out of four ain't bad. Most of you can report similar success stories, even if they aren't the 100% healed type of story.