Bummer when your new slogan bears an uncanny resemblance to the title of a Will Smith movie, ain’t it? Well, I decided to combine the two for a faux movie poster with a North Dakota theme. I played around in Photoshop a bit tonight to rig up this cheesy imitation. It ain’t my best work, but it gave me a few chuckles. Now, on to some of my other year-old projects around the house…
The license plate reads “MOGWAI.” For those of you who don’t get that… you are obviously not children of the 1980s. That or you didn’t see this movie. In any case, I caught the reference instantly.
This was a pleasant surprise, because I already had the “4×4 Mongrel Trifecta” completed:
I figured my work was done with the trifecta. Then I found myself employing a term that doesn’t even exist in my dictionary as this fourth photo op presented itself. If I ever run into that pink/red El Camino 4×4 that used to sit in the used car lot over at Cedric Theel a long time ago, I’ll have the quintfecta! Ugh…I need to come up with better terminology. I could say something like “4×4 by four” I suppose, that’s got a nice ring to it…but what happens when I see a fifth?
I remember a time back in the early 90s when my car was hit by an inattentive driver on the capitol grounds. I had parked near the State Library to return some books, and came out to find my driver’s side door pushed in. They backed into it with their van, then accused me of parking illegally (thus making it my fault). I pointed out to the highway patrol officer writing the report that, due to the legislature being in session, I was not parked illegally and the guy should have been looking where he was backing up. The officer agreed and noted so in his report.
A short while later I got a call from the guy’s insurance company indicating that they were refusing to pay my damages because their insured told them I was parked illegally. I referred the person to the policy regarding parking during the session, and they agreed to pay to fix my car.
It’s a bit of an odd phenomenon to see signs bagged like this, but here’s the explanation. Two more interesting North Dakota facts: the parking meter was invented in North Dakota, and parking meters are illegal in North Dakota!
And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. (Genesis 47:13-14)
As Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel put it, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” While we don’t have a literal famine going on right now, we do have something similar in our financial crisis. Our reliance on our prosperity for our happiness puts us in a very vulnerable position. Proverbs 13:8 tells us that “the ransom of a man’s life are his riches…” and once our comfortable lifestyle is threatened, many panic and can be easily controlled by a government promising a solution.
And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth. And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail. And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year. (Genesis 47:15-17)
The citizens came to the government and willingly gave their property (and their freedom with it) for some security from the government. The money failed…does that sound remotely familiar? Sure, there’s a spiritual back story to God’s provision through Joseph, but as he is acting on behalf of the world system portrayed by Egypt in the Bible he takes over the nation progessively by “taking care of” the people in exchange for all that they have.
When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands: Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate. And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s. (Genesis 47:18-20)
The insidious nature of government expansion is that it never quits unless we stop it. All that’s needed for a takeover is a willing populace, whether asleep at the wheel or simply scared into submission. The people, having been frightened into relying on the government to provide for them, sold their possessions, their land, and themselves to the government in the span of two years. All they needed was a little crisis to shake them up, and as long as they weren’t relying on God they would gladly give everything to whoever else they thought could provide. Then, before they knew it, they were slaves.
And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof. Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands. (Genesis 47:21-22)
While ideologies like socialism, communism, and the like promise “equality,” they deny the undeniable human spirit, the desire to achieve. Therefore, these types of government require one class for all the “little people” and one class to enforce the “equality.” Left alone, people all want to better themselves to a degree…some more than others. That doesn’t work in a self-proclaimed “egalitarian” society unless you have a class of enforcers above all of those deemed “equal.”
Notice how the rest were moved into cities. Remember how cities like Bismarck, Fargo, and others are submitting (without voter approval, mind you) to “smart growth” schemes, denying property rights, asserting extra-territorial zoning authority, and pushing mass transit? Individual property rights are merely a nuisance to government; if we let them continue on this path, we slowly (albeit more quickly these days) give up our liberty. The founders or our nation realized that individual property rights are a huge component of personal liberty.
Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land. And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones. (Genesis 47:23-24)
There you have it, folks. Nothing granted by government comes without strings attached, and good luck getting rid of those strings. Just ask the banks that didn’t want TARP money, took it at the insistence of the government, are now finding themselves run by the government, and find that the government will not accept the bailout money back when they try to repay it! The automakers are another case in point. Once you accept the government’s provision, you’re Owned. That’s with a capital Obama O. Once you’ve accepted the “generosity” of the government, then the list of demands start rolling in. These people sought help from the state, and before they knew it they were working for the state.
And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants. (Genesis 47:25)
Here’s the real sad part: the people were so deceived that they counted themselves as having been saved by the government. There is no salvation in government, folks. The problem today is the same; people aren’t relying on God, their own individuality, or the wisdom of the founding fathers in drafting the foundation of our country. In fact, most people are too ignorant to the intentions of the founders of the United States of America to even realize how far we’ve come. John Adams said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” That falls right in line with the old phrase, “If you don’t believe in God, you’ll believe in anything.” That’s what happened to the people of Egypt thousands of years ago, and it seems we’re in the process of falling for it again, having departed so far from the faith and values upon which our nation was founded.
There you have it folks. I was considering a post like this a while back, then I heard a preacher talk about something similar recently and decided to put my thoughts into writing. Another time-tested cliche’ talks about those who are ignorant of history being condemned to repeat it. Sadly, I think that today’s under-educated, entertainment-driven American masses have departed so far from the ideals of the original United States of America that they were primed for a cult of personality to come along and sweep them into collectivism. My hope and prayer is that there are still enough of us left, the vigilant and faithful, who believe in this nation as it was conceived and founded over two hundred years ago. If we can steer this ship aright, we can avoid becoming an Obamanation.
_____
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:3-12)
_____
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
…For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
(Romans 5:12, 17-18)
_____
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (I John 2:1-2)
_____
Nothing we can do — no good deed, sacrament, or anything else — can negate our burden of sin. Jesus paid the penalty for that sin, however, “once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). We need only to accept the free gift mentioned in Romans 5:15.
There are millions of people out there trying to work their way into heaven. The fact of the matter is that the price of our salvation was paid once for all when Jesus died on the cross and rose again. We need only to put our faith in him rather than ourselves or any earthly institution. That’s why eternal salvation is referred to as a “gift” by Jesus himself and apostles Peter and Paul. My wish this weekend is that everybody reading this would take those Bible verses to heart, do some Bible reading on your own to see that the verses quoted above are only the tip of the iceberg, and accept that free gift of eternal life through the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf.
He was actually scared as it went overhead, which was surprising because he hasn’t been before, but then asked for “one more airplane” after it had passed. His 1 yr old brother took it all in stride, and gave me a bonus when he started to say “Daddy!” for the first time, and kept saying it as we drove around in the truck. What a summer this is going to be!
These beautiful colors lasted mere seconds as the sun hit the perfect point, splashing color and shadows simultaneously across the clouds. This is the sliver of time that makes North Dakota sunsets so memorable, and it requires some keen timing and a bit of preparation. They’re still the finest sunsets I’ve ever seen, which is why I never tire of chasing them and posting them here.
You need only to do two things: first, download and print out a copy of this PDF document. Second, take it to a Space Aliens Restaurant near you and present the printout when you pay for your meal. They’ll donate 25% of the bill to benefit baby Charlie and his loving mommy and daddy.
Isaac and Elysa are truly great kids, and I want to do what I can to help out with this fundraising. If you are unable to make it to SA this Monday, you can also call American Bank Center and inquire about the Charlie Smith Benefit Fund. The address of the fund:
American Bank Center
attn. Tina Valeu
320 N 4th St
Bismarck, ND 58501
Here’s the link to the PDF document one more time.
If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed, you’re good to go. It may take a little bit for the program to load, but the file should download reasonably quickly. Click on the icon below to download the free Adobe Reader if necessary.
When you print the PDF, don’t forget to take it with you and present it to your server when you pay for your meal! This is only valid for April 6th at the time of service. Thanks in advance if you’re able to help on Monday. You can also download the PDF file and email it to others if you think they’d be interested.
One interesting thing about this pole is that the glass insulators are intact. I recall that these are collectibles, at least the ones that haven’t been shot to pieces by some idiot. This pole stands alone beside the road, short strands of wire intact, wound around a perfect pair of antique glass insulators. It’s beautiful in its own way, a mere stone’s throw from the current city limits, and I hope it stays right where it’s at.