AN EX-MUSLIM MAN'S SEARCH FOR TRUTH!

(Worth the 15 minutes to watch)

I began my prayer this morning with a heavy heart for each of my three children.  I prayed that God would bless my children and bring them closer to Him. I prayed for my wife and our relationship.  I prayed for my children's mother.  While Praying for myself I asked God why there is so much turmoil in my life and why I can't seem to get ahead. I've been a "nice" guy, I give to causes, I don't take what is not mine, I hurt when I see people hurt...   yet, there's always trouble in my life!   This morning I received an answer that hit me pretty hard:
 
"If all was good in your life, you would no longer have an occasion to spend time with me!"
 
But, I have always thanked God for my meals, warm sunny days, puppies and kittens, etc... Just the other day I was on my motorcycle and a slow eighteen-wheeler got in front of me and my response was "Thank you God for protecting me from something that might have happened if this truck had not slowed me down."   So...  In my head I rationalize that I DO talk with God and ALL the time, so what could God be telling me?  Could I be wrong about God's response?  

Shortly afterward I continued with my morning ritual of searching YouTube for perspectives on problems in the world.  Most often, the videos zero in on Islam and terrorists, but this morning right after my prayer, I found this video about a Muslim man who found Christ, only because his heart was lower than his knees and his knees were on the ground!  This video clarified what God's message to me meant!   This man found God because he cried out from his heart!  His intellect was shaped and molded by the Koran and Islam, but he cried from his heart - instead of from his head!  I cried while watching this man's testimony and now I know what I have been missing all along!  I study my bible, listen to sermons, and rationalize God in my mind, but I've never been on my knees long enough to let the cry be from my heart! I have over-intellectualized my faith!  I have processed God through my own logic filters, and I am missing out on what He wants for me! It is a blessing from God that I never had to walk in this man's shoes.  I have become an armchair Christian giving glory to God from a climate controlled living room! How easy is that?  Have I simply come to expect comfort in my life while my whiney tears fall into the plush carpet beneath my feat? Do I "know" hardship that I can petition God for relief?  

God please forgive my selfishness and teach me to trust you each day for that day's needs!  Thank you God for my troubles, as small as they be, because they tell me that you are mindful of me and you are helping me to grow in faith!  

There's a reason God says He knows our "hearts" before we pray.   Right or wrong, good or bad, the heart is where God finds truth!  Our truths, which cannot be misrepresented to Him by our minds or our mouths!   What I am particularly touched by in this video is the man's recollection of the day he was forgiven and felt the love of Christ!  WOW!!!   God truly can, and will, take something bad and bring good out of it!  Not a one of us is an exception to that so no matter how the world and its agents would hold you down or accuse you - rise up in the redeeming power of God's FORGIVENESS and LOVE!

Islam in America?

Publius Huldah discusses Islam in America!   <--  MUST SEE VIDEO!!!


Our God told us to shake the dust off our sandals and walk away when someone does not want to convert to Christianity! Alah tells his followers to torture and butcher people who don't convert to Islam. Our God gave us the 10 commandments and appointed a priesthood to keep Israel holy and/or "atoned" before God! The priesthood were fallible men and proved God's point that He alone is Holy and man(kind) is in need of a savior. Jesus came to suffer the entire wrath of judgment and redeem all mankind for the glory of God! Is there a more perfect picture of God's love? In the Christian heaven, Man and Woman share EQUALITY in love, peace, and reward! In Islam heaven, MEN are rewarded with the SUBJEGATION of virgin women to please them for eternity!

(KORAN 78:31): "As for the righteous, they shall surely triumph. Theirs shall be gardens and vineyards, and high-bosomed virgins for companions: a truly overflowing cup."

It takes little effort to see that this is a DOUBLE-D focused "cup;" a man-made, self-serving, lust-driven reward to the righteous!" How could anyone be so blind to NOT see that the "righteous," in this context, can only apply to the males? How stupid is it to believe that any God would objectify women to be rewards for righteousness?

BIBLE (Genesis:) "Male and female He created them, and He blessed them." Yes - Them!!!
No Islam in America please!!! It's not a phobia, it's simply an educated rejection of another man-made system of oppression used for control under the guise of religion to solicit protection surreptitiously from the U.S. Constitution! I enjoyed the smack-down Publius gave this notion that Islamists have “protected” rights!

(This message brought to you by the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution)

Second Amendment Rules!

I believe that America would support measures that keep guns out of the hands of felons, the mentally ill, etc... and even expanding background checks; however, do we trust an administration to introduce and pass gun control laws having already set the precedence for being the most surreptitious and closed administration in history - despite promises to be the most open (transparent). Clearly, the bill has language that is cause for concern and that is likely why it failed. Fact one, a 100% background check on U.S. citizens buying guns will be lead to databases of the applicants. So do we simply believe that no one in Washington would mine that data? Of course they will, and they do! Para 2 of Sections 102 and 103 both prohibit a national firearms registry, but let's not be naive about this; names, social security numbers, and any other data submitted to check against the criminal database is not simply discarded after it is submitted. Otherwise, what proof would there be that an individual was approved to buy a gun? There are many databases to which only segments our government have access. Although the  databases may not include what kind of gun or serial of that gun, they would indicate a high probability that the individual is a gun owner - if the background check results in "APPROVED." Each time someone buys a gun, a new background check is run, hence simple database queries can provide the number of approvals for any individual leading to a good guess at the number of guns a person owns. A firearm registry by another name... Why is this a problem?  How you you like to buy your fifth gun and then be raided by the ATF for having an arsenal and questioning your intentions?

"Fast & Furious" put guns in the hands of criminals and people died, yet this administration wants you to believe they care about the lives of America's innocent victims. Why didn't they parade the families of those killed in Fast & Furious around Washington? Because their appeal to emotion attempt would get trumped by their hypocrasy!

Stairway to Heaven Guitar Solo.

I heard an old rule about learning guitar (pre-YouTube), Always play with people better than you! Well, that covered just about everybody I knew, so the field was wide open for me. Then I realized that everybody better than me was too busy playing with people better than them. As a result, I learned to play the guitar on my own. I played mostly with records (i.e., like a vinyl CD) and I learned rhythms and leads note for note. I could play a pretty good cover of a song, but when it came down to improvising on the spot, I was lost. Still I get lost from time to time... I play a lot of pentatonic scale based riffs in Rock and Blues songs and sometimes I can string together a solo, but not long ones. I tried looking for jam buddies on Craigslist and other sites, but people are just too busy these days. So, I just jam with CDs and plug away at improvising! I gotta send out a plug for a guy that is awesome at teaching guitar. It's so selfless to share guitar knowledge the way he does. Marty Schwartz. I'd love to hear how others have done it!

Lift a Heavy Elephant Challenge

This is my strength work out video. In it I show how to knock out the bulk of the weight in the "Lift a Heavy Elephant (26,000 lbs) Challenge." It has to be done in less than an hour. I was working on improving my form on the upright bench (bringing the bar down to where my arms and forearms are at a 90 degree angle - but I broke a rib and stopped lifting for a while. So, I'm not sure how long it's going to take me to get back up to the "Heavy Elephant" strength level. Once there, my goal will be to do it once a month. I'll be doing regular workouts every other day, and then the Heavy Elephant once at the end of each month. It's fun - Give it a try! Heavy Elephant Challenge

Immortal Vengeance by: C.D. Buchanan (Me)

I planned this to be a two book series and am currently writing the second one. This book is the first and is available from several sites includling Amazon and Barnes & Nobel.
Synopsis:
Dr. James Meek, a prominent scientist, loving husband, and father of four, is at the forefront of a new technology. He founded his company, NanoTek, on the potential of nanotechnology for medical applications. The company's R&D effort promised to provide nano-scale systems that could assemble material to repair aged or damaged cells. Although the scientific community dubbed the research as another unrealistic "fountain of youth," Dr. Meek and his team worked tirelessly to prove their theories.One day, the doctor's daughter failed to return home from school. Dr. Meek turned his entire focus from work to finding his daughter. After searching for hours, he found his daughter near death. Dr. Meek, faced with the most important decision of his life, must decide whether his research is mature enough to save his daughter without causing unforeseen side effects.

My Review of Les Miserables (2012)

First, I am very critical since I've read the book, seen the play four times, and watched the mildly entertaining 1998 movie. This effort was a blend of big screen acting and theater so there was a lot of vocal latitude - it's not about pitch as much as passion. Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) Was incredible! His "God on high, hear my prayer" for Marius and then again at his death were so moving... And when Fantine joined in from beyond... Man-o-man goosebumps!!! Inspector Javert (Russell Crow) was solid as the relentless persecutor! His voice was deep and cold - until the end! The young Cosette was adorable! Fantine (Anne Hathaway) captured passion needed for her role! Her pain and passion were expressed brilliantly! Eponine (Samantha Barks) who had two of the top songs ("A Little Fall of Rain," and "On My Own") did a great job - I felt it! Gotta love the Inn-Keepers, they made me love hating them! Marius did well projecting his being torn between "the cause" and love! Little Gavroche won me over! They always find such good child actors for his part! Finally, Older Cosette (Amanda Seyfried)... Her passion was made believable by her acting ability; however, her vocals were too out of place - mostly the high-pitched and sheepish vibrato. I still give her credit for her acting work! I give this film 5 out of 5 stars! The star, in my opinion, all things considered was Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman, a.k.a Wolverine!) Anne was a close second. Take the time to go see this and use the restroom before you take your seats! Included with my review is my own fan art. Because I love this Novel / Play / Movie!

Evolution of generations in America

I recall the days of my youth when I knew it was time to go home by the absence of the sun or presence of the moon! If I wanted to talk with or play with friends, I went to their houses and knocked on their doors, or I went to places where I'd expect them to be (usually the ball-ground). We respected adults, authority, property, etc... Well, we did get in to mischief, but nothing serious. We left the U.S. back in 1975 to live in Turkey for two years (My father was in the U.S. Air Force). In 1977 we moved to Germany and to Holland in 1981 where I started college at the Troy State University extension campus. At the ripe old age of nineteen I left home and lived on my own back in Germany as I waited for my flight back to the U.S. to join the Air Force. In Turkey, we didn't have TV and our whole time in Europe we didn't have phones. How in the world did we ever survive? Well, my parents were my role models. Dad worked hard and if anything was broken at the house, he would fix it. If we didn't have the money to buy a new starter, he would rebuild the old starter himself. He just did what needed to be done. He would wake me up in the mornings and we'd work on a car, or on his airplane – something! Mom kept a clean home and had my sister and me doing chores – nothing grueling, but just stuff that needed to be done. Mom made meals that would put Julia Childs to shame.

When I look at children / young adults today, I see something very different. I still have one child, no, adult, living in my home. I had to force him out of the house to go get a job. I had to register him in college, because he didn't do it, even though I set it all up and made it easy. All his free time is dedicated to “VIDEO GAMES!” There it is, the crux of this post! I can't say that I'm totally at fault as his parent, because two out of four do not make video games their whole lives. I asked my son, who was probably 21 at the time, “Hey, how about mowing the lawn while I'm gone for the week?” To which, he replied, “What's the criteria for knowing when the lawn should be mowed.” Another time, I was out working under his car, because it needed to be fixed. I went inside and saw him sitting all comfy under a blanket watching morning cartoons (Twenty one years old!) I asked him why not come out and learn something and see if you can help fix YOUR car! He said he didn't want to know about cars and just planned to take it to a shop whenever it needed to be fixed. So, I quit working on it and told him to take it to the shop. On the way there the timing belt broke. It cost him $1,200 that day and that hurt him! I chuckled a little inside!

If this trouble was just in my household, then no problem right? What if it is this way all over the U.S. and world? The youth find more value in learning how to play a three- buttoned guitar instead of a real one. They don't interface anywhere but online and in role playing video games where you can simulate just about anything! I can't tell my son anything as he takes the opposite side of almost everything I am or like. I'm Christian, so he's now atheist; I'm a software engineer, so he chose anything but that. I try to stay open minded and realize that every generation is different, but when does it start hurting a nation. I read where there's not enough enrollment or interest in technology fields to sustain the current infrastructure that we older employees plan to leave behind. That's not good!

I was always comforted by the idea that when he's out there, truly on his own, then the world will teach him the lessons he needs to learn. You want to eat, work! You want a car, work! Something's broke, fix it! But, darned my luck! Over the last four years we've witnessed our U.S. Government breast-feeding and burping our adult citizens. “There, there!” they say. “We'll give you some of the other people's money because they have too much and you don't have enough!” Or, “there, there! You don't have to work, vote for us and you can stay home and get more than you'd earn out there in the mean old workforce! That's just a rumor that you can excel and succeed to bigger and better rewards! Stay here where it's safe and we'll give you all you need!” Somehow, I think my parents would now prefer the hippies of the 60s over the gamer/slackers of today, and certainly over the gimme, gimme zombies of tomorrow.

Stop communism and save America, take a right the next chance you get!