earthquakes and tsunamis

this may be too random and unformed of a thought for a Saturday night, but we'll see i guess...

God never meant for there to be earthquakes & tsunamis. that's not the way He created the world to work.
Earthquakes & tsunamis are jacked up.

one day there will be a new earth & there will be no more earthquakes or tsunamis. The "kingdom" of God will reign and everything will be as it was meant to be.

here & now we see glimpses of that "kingdom", that new earth, all the time. we're moving in that direction. God is using us to fix broken things all the time.

is it even possible? dare i even think?
could we STOP earthquakes and tsunamis from every happening?

could we stop all the destruction they cause?

all the lives they steal?

i don't know, maybe i'm just WAY out of the loop and all the smart people have already been talking about this for years and they're onto something and by 2025 they'll have it figured out? maybe it was in TIME magazine or something. i just haven't heard about it.

but if no one is working on it then they really should be. i know it might sound crazy, but the world is not supposed to be this way. God doesn't want it to be this way. i just wonder if we could fix it?

it would be another glimpse of the new earth that will come. a glimpse into the future. when Jesus is King.

that would be way cool. i hope it happens in my life time.
no more earthquakes. no more tsunamis.

let's shut them down.

and with that, good night to a long week.

fire

(i originally wrote and posted this to renown on July 1, 2010.)

today i read The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. it was the 1st book i had ever read by Tozer. I put a Tozer book on my list to read this year because he was a "mentor" of one of my "mentors" (using "mentor" loosely - via influence at a distance) - Louie Giglio. He has influenced me as much as anyone and he says the same about Tozer. In fact, i even asked Louie which Tozer book he would recommend that i start off with. The Pursuit of God was 1 of the 3 he said to start with.

i read the whole thing today. well, some dude read it to me as i worked all morning at my side job. i was digging it and took several pages of notes.

Here was the 1st statement i loved. it's from Tozer's preface to the book.

"If my fire is not large, it is real. And there may be those who can light their candle at its flame."

That is beautiful to me. that is what's in my heart too. there's a burning fire in my heart and it just keeps burning. it's all for God's fame. My heart is pursuing Him relentlessly.
Now, i don't know how big my fire is. it's probably not pretty or cool or current or well-worded or the best fire around... but it is real.

And one of my prayers and aims with writing this blog is that my fire might just allow someone to "light their candle at its flame."
right on A-Dub.

Romney Running MateTalk (Part 3)

With Mitt Romney close to officially clinching the Republican nomination, talk of his potential running mate pick has heated up.  The Drive-By Media, as usual, is calling the bad ideas brilliant and the good ideas bad. According to them, if you're wimpy and moderate, you're perfect, if you're solidly conservative and strong enough to call out Obama, you're a bad option for Mitt.

Genuine political wisdom for Republicans is to ignore the Drive-By Media's suggestions and go the opposite way, so that's what I'm about to recommend. So here comes some real, solid recommendations (and non-recommendations) for Romney's #2, categorized as Good Ideas, Bad Ideas, and Wild Cards (essentially good ideas that are unlikely to happen).  Today we'll start with part three, Wild Cards.  These three names I consider unlikely at this point, but still wins if Romney goes that way:

Wild Cards

1. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul:  Think about it, friends...what better way to get the Ron Paul supporters on your side than to have Rand as your VP?  Not to mention the fact that Rand is as conservative as his father on economic issues and is more realistic when it comes to foreign policy.  Moreover, I think most people expect Rand to take up his father's mantle when it comes to being a Libertarian crusader in the Republican Party, so he's likely to be a Presidential candidate next time around anyway, and one who has a better chance than his father to succeed.  I don't think Mitt will pick him or Rand will accept, but if the stars aligned this would be a home run.

2. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: Condoleezza Rice served in two past Presidential administrations in the Defense Department including being George W. Bush's National Security Advisor before becoming the Secretary of State in Bush's second term. She is well spoken and also has terrific fiscal conservative roots.  For example, as the Provost of Stanford University, she took the school from a $20 million deficit to a balanced budget. She also has the ability to pick up both female voters and minority voters. While she wouldn't be the home run that Senator Rand Paul would be, she would be a big win for Romney.

3. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley:  Governor Haley is a Tea Party darling. She's fiscally conservative, pro-life, and a solid communicator of conservatism. Again, she's a huge win. Like Marco Rubio and Bobby Jindall, she's the child of legal immigrants.  Really a great option for Romney. I'd consider Governor Haley the most likely of the Wild Cards if only because of her endorsement of Mitt early on...surprising to many in the Tea Party.

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Any one of these three would make a great running mate for Mitt Romney, although I wouldn't expect any of them to happen. If they did, however, they could each bring in key groups that Romney needs to have to win, whether it's Ron Paul libertarians, women, or the Tea Party. 

At any rate, we need to push Governor Romney to pick a top notch running mate. You know, not a moderate wimp.

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These three names I consider unlikely at this point, but still wins if Romney goes that way: