Tony Wheeler dot Net

I’ve been reading through a book that is basically a “United States Constitution for Dummies”. It has really been an enlightening book for me. While I have always been fascinated with history, I must admit that my knowledge of the Constitution is pretty severely lacking. I decided to do some research into a product that could teach me. On a recommendation from Ron Paul, I picked up the book The 5000 Year Leap: Principles of Freedom 101 . This book is written by W. Cleon Skousen of the National Center for Constitutional Studies. He should probably know what he is talking about.

One of the things that is always thrown around by the Christian Right is that this nation is a Christian nation. I guess the rebel in me always always wanted to not admit that..I used to have a line that I would say when someone would go off about how the United States is a Christian Nation, but I can’t for the life of me remember what it was. Jeepers, getting old. Anyway…After reading the portion of the book that I have, I have to confess that I now agree, at least in part, with the idea that this is a Christian nation. The other part is based on Jewish Law, particularly the Ten Commandments, and also Natural Law. Strictly speaking, I would venture that the Ten Commandments are one of the only things in this country that are, in fact, Constitutional. So put them back up!

I’m excited to read the rest of the book, it really puts perspective on the nation as it is today and also on the nation as it was intended to be by the founding fathers. Go check it out for yourself if you, like me, are quite under knowledged (that isn’t a word, I just made it up) in matters of the Constitution.

Other stuff I’m reading:
Dreams From My Fathers by Barak Obama
The Cat Who Brought Down the House
The Ultimate Guide to Adwords

My friend Chris Elrod wrote two very powerful posts recently. In one he talks about the ‘emergent church’ and in the other he talks about the ‘mythical Jesus’. I gotta tell you that I read both of these posts with great interest because I’ve been interested (like the rubbernecks at a car wreck) in the whole emergent movement for a number of years. There are some non-theological issues that I think the emergent movement has right on. I’ve long held that if Christians were doing EVERYTHING that Jesus taught that there would be no need for homeless shelters, soup kitchens, welfare, and all of those social programs that so many rely on the government to provide. Yes, of course, the poor have always been among us and always will be, but I think it would look much different than our current system. But, theologically speaking, I think Chris is right on. It is absolutely stupid that leaders, teachers, pastors, and authors throw out the Word of God as some plain old book that is filled with neat stories that may or may not be true. Jesus lays it all out pretty well in the Sermon on the Mount (more specifically Matthew 5-7). Of course, you would have to believe that Jesus is who he says he is and that this book that we supposedly are to follow is true. That really is where the chasm occurs. If a person cannot believe the Bible as the inerrant Word of God, then what are they basing their ‘faith’ upon? I do realize that people in countries without the scriptures in their hands believe in much of the same things many of you and I believe in, but they seem to have gotten the word in some other fashion. The emergent people have the Word and are parsing it in their favor. The funny thing is that these people are doing a lot of good in the world, but they are doing it under false pretenses. I’m not intending to call anyone on the carpet, I’m just stating some of the thoughts that were sparked in my head by reading what Chris wrote. As he said, some of you may choose not to fellowship with me because I don’t agree with your theology. That is fine.

Honestly, I know Chris well. He is a solid God-fearing and Christ-loving man. He would give you the shirt off of his back and a bottle of water or ten. He loves other people more than he loves himself and takes every opportunity to show them that. But he is a serious guy (kinda strange since he used to be a comedian). He is serious about God. He is serious about His Word. He is serious about seeing everyone in Polk County, Florida come into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ and will let nothing stand in the way of that. That is why he comes across as ‘I don’t have time for this crap’. He doesn’t have time for it. The flock that he leads really is his first priority and love. I’m not really trying to defend Chris here. He doesn’t need me. He has a congregation behind him. I’ve met some of them. Polk County borders some pretty serious redneck areas and Chris has been a chaplain to a number of prisoners. (Also, I think the Russian Mafia is pretty active in Central Florida…don’t ask why I know that) He is covered.

Anyway….go read his posts. I’m sure that these two posts will break both his email inbox and his server. What they don’t know is that Chris probably never will see any of the hate mail. Chris, PREACH!

I was going a little research on the visitors to this blog and found some interesting statistics. The thing that I really found strange was that much of what is considered the “western states” of this fine country, have not visited this site. I’m pretty sure that even though the population of some of these states is pretty low they do in fact have internet connections there.

I’m calling you out, western United States!

Utah: Although this site deals mainly with things related to Christianity and not Mormonism, you should at least stop in once in awhile. Trinity Jordan of Elevation Church, where you at?

Wyoming: Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam, and the deer and the antelope play….Dave Freudenthal, Wyoming Governor, why no love?

Montana: Another of the great western states. I realize that you people are busy elk hunting and fly fishing, but it is pretty much winter now. Log on, surf on over! Chris Cunningham, I know you’re a busy man, but you’re at least 1/4 Minnesotan. Show some support, brother!

Maryland: This one is really strange. I’m guessing that Kyle Boller has other things on his mind than coming here, but at least my boy D-Plum could stop by at least once!

That is it ladies and gentlemen. There are only four states in the union where I don’t have visitors. Perhaps Kyle Boller can change that! I actually thought it would be an interesting experiment to see if I can get all 50 states in one month. I think that it is possible! In case Dave Freudenthal cannot stop by, maybe you know someone in Wyoming?

I’m doing some crazy things right now. We are moving full speed ahead with our future plans, at least with the ones that we are able to move forward with. I’m working on some business ventures, mostly online. I’m going all out to not have to have a traditional job when we move. It is going really well..I’m learning a ton that can help with some of the stuff that God is calling us to do. Sorry I’ve been spotty with the postings. Truthfully, it is pretty quiet here in my world. Lots of things going on, but I’ve been spending time writing other places and learning other things that really don’t fit on this site.

I hope and pray that you are all well!

“My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.”

Albert Einstein

I’m sure most of you have heard that many of the screenwriter’s are on strike. Some of you may have been wondering if I have been on strike since it has been awhile since my last blog posting. I’ve been busy with other internet ventures…good times! Back to the issue at hand. For many Americans, this is a crushing blow to their daily intake of news from late night talk shows. Surprisingly, many people actually do rely on Jay Leno to tell them what is going on in the world and also whom to vote for in the next election.

A few things come to my mind when I think about this. First, I’ve never really thought in depth about the things that Americans take for granted, but I think this is one of them. Being that we are a nation of freedom, we enjoy our freedoms liberally. Television, sports, plays, etc. We love to be entertained with mostly mindless junk. Don’t get me wrong, I like to watch T.V. just as much as the next guy, but have we taken it too far? We spend billions per year on entertainment related stuff. I have no doubt that this writer’s strike will have some impact on the economy simply due to the sheer amount of cash we lay out. There is something wrong here. Personally speaking, our cable company just announced a rate hike. They also announced that there will be less channels for that amount. Seems like a great deal. I’m cancelling it along with my 50 dollar a month internet.

I guess there really isn’t a number two. Or three. They shouldn’t hire me to write for T.V. Although, i am sure there are scads of students and aspiring writers out there that would jump at the chance to write for T.V. We could also outsource all of the late night T.V. writing to Bollywood. They will gladly work for a dollar or two a word. And, they actually have some very good cinema. Hollywood studio people, do you hear me? Outsource. it isn’t much different than a call center (someone had to write their scripts, too!).

That is all. Oh yeah, I would work for a dollar or two a word as well. I guess we will have to buy DVD on TV or download old stuff from Amazon.

Amazon.com has recently been stepping up it’s efforts in downloadable material. Amazon Unbox is one of the newest ways to get T.V and movies online. It is legal and pretty inexpensive. As I fight with the idea of having television piped into our home, I turn to the internet to find out what options are available. Amazon hit the scene in the music download arena a few months ago and now they are going to video. There are a ton of videos that you can ‘rent’ for about a buck. No late fees, not hidden charges. You can subscribe to a whole season of your favorite show and have it automatically download to your PC or TiVO. If we are honest with ourselves, there isn’t that much good TV out there. I watch a few shows here and there and I would probably spend less money if I combined Amazon’s Unbox with the shows that I can watch online. Networks like ABC and NBC offer the current seasons of many shows for free online. This is how I have been keeping up on The Office, Chuck, and barely passable shows like Cavemen and Car Poolers.

Saw this posted over on Mind Your Own Business. Get a 2008 Entertainment book for 5 bucks off the purchase price, also get free shipping. Great book with tons of coupons especially if you live in or near a major metro area. I’ll post up the link for the good folks over there.