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Here is another one by Blind Willie Johnson. This is my favorite!
I have what some would call a very eclectic taste in music. My I-Pod contains everything from Gregorian Chant to Bon Jovi. One of my favorite artists is the 1920’s gospel blues musician Blind Willie Johnson. Some of the most powerful gospel songs I have ever heard have come form this man. Here is a video of one of his songs; you may want to turn up your volume to hear all of it. If you like it, his complete anthology is on I-Tunes for a reasonable price. Enjoy!
Psalm 22:1-31 (ESV) Psalm 22:1 TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING TO THE DOE OF THE DAWN. A PSALM OF DAVID.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
8 “He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.
12 Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet-
17 I can count all my bones- they stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O LORD, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!
22 I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
28 For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.
As many of you know a series of concerts called “Live Earth” was celebrated this past week in a variety of locations across this carbon dioxide stricken globe. The point of these concerts was to inform the world (at least the parts of the world that get cable) of the greatest evils of our time. These evils include such atrocities as eating meat, driving anything that gets below 35 mpg, or having a job. Strangely absent from their list are the more simplistic evils of mass infanticide, global terrorism, nuclear holocaust in Israel, and the lack of true religious liberty in much of the world. Of course a campaign against these evils won’t get you network and cable air time, so I guess they had to prioritize.
Leading this moral crusade were such notables as Madonna, Snoop Dogg, Kelly Clarkson, and other paragons of virtue led by their supreme pontiff Al Gore. His holiness even went as far as to issue the 7 commandments of his new religion. They are:
- Demand that my country join an international treaty within the next two years that cuts global warming pollution by 90 percent in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth.
- Take personal action to help solve the climate crises by reducing my own C02 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become “carbon neutral”.
- Fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the C02.
- Work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation.
- Fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal.
- Plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests.
- Buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crises and building a sustainable, just and prosperous world for the 21st century.
I think the stupidity of these seven points are self explanatory, but this opinion article pretty much lays out the case of how the application of radical environmentalism will kill rather than save. The article comes from Kofi Bentil a professor at Ashesi University in Ghana. Mr. Bentil shows that to much of the non-industrialized world the views coming out of Live Earth will create a carbon neutral Dead Africa.
Here is the full article:
Few people in Africa will get to see Al Gore and his troupe of rock-star ecologists strutting their stuff during the series of Live Earth concerts this weekend –because most have neither television nor electricity.
That’s just as well, because they would be aghast at LiveEarth’s bizarre message. In Africa, we have much more serious things to worry about than climate change. Indeed, if they achieve their objective the concerts will have done harm to the people of Africa.
Britain’s former Secretary of State for the Environment, David Miliband, recently said that the rest of the world cannot aspire to the UK’s standard of living because: “If the world were to have the same living standards as we have in the UK, then we’d need three planets to support us.
“Presumably Mr Miliband would disagree with Indira Ghandi, who famously said, “poverty is the greatest polluter.” Miliband was replaced by Hilary Benn, who as Minister for International Development ran the Department for International Development (DfID). One might have thought that DfID would have supported economic development as a means of escaping from poverty and pollution.
But in its Rough Guide to a Better World it advocates “Development by Dung” and claims that “As poor countries develop, it is essential that they do not follow the same failed patterns of energy use.” So it’s dung not diesel for Africa–while India and China soar ahead because they are too big, and nuclear-armed, to stop.
Even if we accept that global warming may have a significant effect on our climate, limiting the use of fossil fuels in Africa would be counterproductive. Respiratory infections are the leading cause of childhood deaths on my continent, mainly from inhaling the smoke produced by burning wood and dung in our quaint mud huts.
Why do we burn these “renewable” but very dirty fuels? Not because we have some desire to save the Earth. No, sir. It is because we don’t have access to natural gas or electricity.
The second leading cause of childhood deaths is not malaria or AIDS, it is diarrhoea, caused by drinking dirty water. Why is our water dirty? Mainly because we lack cheap, efficient means of pumping and cleaning it. That requires fossil fuels–either directly or to produce electricity.
An underlying cause of many health problems in Africa is malnutrition. This is a consequence both of inefficient farming and poor food distribution. To rectify this situation will mean using cheap and relatively clean fuels, such as gasoline and diesel.
(Of course we also need better roads–which can only be built using machines that burn… fossil fuels.)
Our already poor and struggling countries are being sucked into a giant movement to save the Earth–with aid money as the carrot and the stick. If we are cajoled into using more expensive “renewable” forms of energy, we will remain uncompetitive and our rates of economic growth will remain low or shrinking.
That would be a tragedy because economic growth has been shown to be the best way to reduce poverty and improve health. Please, Europe and America, spare us! You can cut your own emissions if you want, but don’t tell us what to do. We really have much more serious and urgent threats to deal with.
Unfortunately, our beggarly governments are very susceptible to diktats from on high, especially when they are offered aid (which they use to line the coffers of their bank accounts): don’t encourage them!
Humanity has proven itself hugely adaptable. We survived an Ice Age and a period probably much hotter than today (around 8,000 years ago).
The Dutch salvaged land from the sea and built on it. In Saudi Arabia, they drink desalinated sea water.
The Tuaregs adapted to the blazing heat of the Sahara and the Eskimos adapted to the freezing cold of the Arctic. So why do the pessimists think we won’t adapt to another change in climate? Why are they hyperventilating about what is likely to be a relatively minor environmental shift? Perhaps they dislike the idea of Africans really developing.
But if global warming is real and does change the climate in Africa, then we will need greater wealth and access to modern technologies in order to adapt.
Schemes that bar us from those technologies and undermine economic growth will prevent us adapting to change. What will the ageing politicians and rock-star ecologists do for us then?
The author is a lecturer at Ashesi University, a business strategy consultant in Accra and winner of the World Bank “Ghana Development Marketplace” award for entrepreneurship.
I think anyone who devotes even a modest amount of time thinking and writing about politics has some “pet” issues. These would be issues that whenever you hear an opposing argument all congeniality exists your mind and you go into automatic political attack dog mode. I passionately care about a host of issues, but in only a handful of cases are the opposing arguments so offensive and mind-numbingly stupid that I actually have to pray for the Lord’s peace to calm myself down after hearing them. This annoyance is only confounded when the wrong view (aka; any view other than mine J) has infiltrated the popular culture and has become “common knowledge.”
Today’s popular radical environmentalism is one of these issues. And while the environment is a complex issue and there are many ideas floating around out there for me to rage over, nothing is dumber than the current Eligovermedia’s© (Elites, Government, & Media) obsession with Ethanol. I came across an article the other day from one of the good people over at the Acton Institute for Religion and Liberty. Ray Nothstine points out that many think Ethanol is our countries salvation from America’s national original sin: carbon emissions. However Nothstine contends that one of Ethanol’s many drawbacks is causing a real moral/social crises rather than preventing a fake one. Below the article is printed in its entirety, but can also be found here. Enjoy!
“Ronald Reagan once said that the most terrifying words in the English language are, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” His one-liner immediately comes to mind when looking at the problems behind the federal government’s campaign to boost production of corn-based ethanol with a massive, 51 cent per gallon subsidy. Ethanol and other bio-fuels are advertised as one of the main cures for our oil-thirsty economy. But it’s clear that the ethanol boom, with a major assist from Washington, is succeeding in simultaneously raising both fuel and food prices.”
“With more than 20 percent of corn now dedicated to ethanol production, the USDA is projecting a record U.S. corn crop in 2007 — along with record prices. Outside the United States, the unintended consequences of ill considered policies promoting ethanol and other bio-fuel crops are already in full view. The poor, of course, are hardest hit.”
“In Mexico, where corn is a staple, rapidly rising prices for tortillas has sparked open revolt. Tortilla prices skyrocketed more than threefold last year. In fact things were so bad protestors took to the streets in Mexico City to fight back against the steep surge in prices, compelling the normally free market minded President Felipe Calderon to cap prices at 78 cents per kilogram.”
“Religious leaders are speaking out. In March, Roman Catholic bishops in Brazil warned that a rapid increase in ethanol production based on sugar cane could lead to widespread deforestation, massive relocation of workers and their communities, and harsh working conditions for cane cutters. Analysts predict that Brazil, the world’s largest exporter of ethanol, may increase ethanol production as much as 40 percent in the next four years. “We are going to turn the country into a huge cane (plantation),” said Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo.”
“In Colombia, Christian aid organizations say armed groups are driving peasants off their lands to make way for plantations of palm oil, another biofuel. Acreage dedicated to production of the palm oil tree has more than doubled in the last four years.”“Religious leaders who are demanding action on global warming may soon be demanding action on some of the quick fixes put in place in the name of “renewable” energy sources like ethanol. I attended an Evangelical Wesleyan seminary where the global warming scare rapidly gained exposure in chapel and in the classrooms. Consumerism — exemplified by profligate energy use — is considered one of the greatest sins of the West by many religious leaders. One professor declared the polar bears were groaning with creation (a reference to Romans 8:22) because of the melting ice caps. Several professors admonished U.S. dependence on oil and called for repentance. Now that Big Oil has been demonized in many seminaries, can Big Corn be far behind?”
“Religious leaders should be thinking about the economic impact of ethanol, which goes far beyond the price of tortillas. Ethanol is expensive to produce, has contributed to a rise in gasoline prices, and has its own pollution problems. It requires a lot of fertilizer, fresh water, and productive farm land. And, because of corrosive properties that make pipeline transportation problematic, it takes a lot of trucks to haul it.”
“Americans may be able to afford their corn on the cob for this year’s Fourth of July celebration, but price increases are increasingly noticeable for a wide array of foods. That’s because of the widespread use of corn products in U.S. food, less land for other crops due to an increased need for corn fields, and the higher cost of corn feed for livestock. In the first quarter of this year, food prices rose at an annualized rate of 7.1 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Think of it as a regressive tax on the consumer.”
“Today’s religious leaders would do well to look to the example of their forbears. John Wesley, the 18th century Anglican minister who founded Methodism, was a man of practicality who published articles, tips, and advice for helping the poor reduce costs. Wesley’s ministry reached out especially to the kind of poor and marginalized hit extremely hard by rising food costs. It’s hard to imagine that John Wesley would side with the unintended consequences of environmental quick fixes and against the poor and needy of the world — especially when the environmental quick fixes are so impractical or destructive.”
Ray Nothstine is associate editor at the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
I thought we could all use a few words of wisdom from my favorite French megalomaniac. Enjoy, and have a great week.
Napoleon Bonaparte
“The people to fear are not those who disagree with you, but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know.”
“When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.”
“Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.”
“Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.”
“Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.”
“In politics stupidity is not a handicap.”
“It is the cause and not the death that makes the martyr.”
“Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.”
“The French complain of everything, and always.”
