William and I have been surprised lately by the statistics showing “jobs growth,” most of which coming from low skilled positions by the way, however an advertisement caught my eye in my inbox yesterday. I shop, like many other Americans online; usually getting free shipping and most of the time paying no sales tax. Under Armour basically spams my inbox daily; however, this one was a doozy and the guy who sent it out probably should be re-assigned. Here at reallyright.com we don’t have a practice of call for people to be fired (unless they work at ESPN or for taxpayers). Take a close look at the email…it says additional 30% off! Yet the prices of said items have actually been marked up by 30%. Not a great look if you are a major, publicly traded company, especially one with a ton of people who consume your products.
Under Armour plus 30 percent sale Hurry 05/22/2019 Only
This is really a rough look, which makes me wonder if they decided to switch to an inflation model where the price changes as inflation rates are dictated? Or is this a new Venezuela based system that since the value of the currency is so low the price must keep going up? Either way rough look, nonetheless. What’s even more disturbing? The original email went out at 9:58 am and the retraction didn’t go out until 6:15 pm. Who was minding the store? I find it hard to believe no one caught this…this is a pretty large error? The retraction gets sent at the end of the day? I wonder what sales were like? The types of things in this society that go unnoticed blows my mind.
As an additional nugget a “pride email” showing off their newest “pride offerings” went out as well, and there were no errors in that, so I guess we see where they stand on “the issues.”
This is an issue that has been building for a while now, I will detail it in a future blog, but the “job growth” is happening at the high end, or the very low end. The 90-day types will cheer the job reports, but mass layoffs have started, and it is not pretty. These are low skilled workers assigned to social media/email accounts trusted with sending the info out. They are monitored by aloof absentee middle managers who spend most of their time applying for their next job, so retractions don’t go out till later. Anyone want to take bets; if the “pride email” was screwed up, a couple of people would be paying with their jobs?
Wow, I thought I was tough on Tesla but others are really piling on. The consensus is that their stock is heading down to about $100 per share. However, Morgan Stanley is even more dire.
Morgan Stanley cut its bear (worst-case) forecast on Tesla’s stock from $97 to just $10 on Tuesday, citing concerns about the company’s increased debt load and geopolitical exposure.
“Our revised bear case assumes Tesla misses our current Chinese volume forecast by roughly half to account for the highly volatile trade situation in the region, particularly around areas of technology, which we believe run a high and increasing risk of government/regulatory attention,” the research team, which included analyst Adam Jonas, said in the note.
But it’s not just the Tesla bears making cautious calls. Financial services firm Baird also cut its Tesla estimates Tuesday, lowering the company’s stock to $340 from $400, while T. Rowe Price, for years one of Tesla’s biggest investors, sold around 81% of its holdings over the first three months of 2019.
The article also couches the story as Tesla can overcome all the adversity but they are hoping that Tesla can change. I don’t know about you, but the last guy selling hope and change was to total disaster.
Oh, there is a bright spot. Like Microsoft propping-up Apple in during the Clinton Administration to avoid accusations of a monopoly, other auto makers are paying money to Tesla so they can build cars that people want to buy and still meet the emission standards set by the government.
Carmakers across Europe are striving to meet a 2020 EU target of average car CO2 emissions of 95g per kilometer. To avoid the fines, the EU allows automakers to pool their fleets together and purchase credits from other automakers with a surplus. Last month, Financial Times revealed a deal between Tesla and Fiat-Chrysler (FCA) worth “hundreds of millions of euros”. According to the Financial Times, the understanding is now worth around €2 billion ($2.3 billion USD). The deal with FCA is expected to be an extremely great boost of money for Tesla but FCA should keep in mind that the sale of emission credits will not last forever. The new regulations while helping Tesla financially are pushing other carmakers to release their own all-electric vehicles as nobody in the industry is ready to keep dispensing billions to their own competitors.
Elon Musk with the look that says, “It’s not personal, it’s business”
Tesla has also introduced another price cut for its cars. OK, actually they raised the price of their cheap cars by $400 and cut about $300 off the higher priced vehicles. Contained in the story are these choice words.
The moves come as Tesla’s stock is under pressure from investors who are becoming skeptical of CEO Elon Musk’s ability to turn a profit and keep the business growing, all while balancing demands of developing a self-driving ride system and building new products such as a small SUV, a pickup truck, a new roadster and an electric semi.
“The business fundamentals of Tesla always have been shaky, but the stock price has been buoyed by the story that this is a company that was going to do huge things,” said Navigant Research analyst Sam Abuelsamid. “What we’ve seen in the last month or so is people are starting to recognize maybe that wasn’t really true.“
Last quarter was among the worst for Tesla in the past two years. Sales tumbled 31% in the period. Musk predicted another loss in the second quarter but said Tesla would be profitable again by the third quarter.
Tesla’s slide in value continues. The gap between what Elon Musk promises and what he can deliver is finally becoming apparent to more people. Investors took a risk on his out-of-the-box thinking but clearly he has failed to deliver on the promises. Once governments quit propping him up, the market will get to decide his fate.
Lastly, we have no word on anybody accepting the bet for $10K that Musk is right on his predictions even though it’s been out there for the better part of a week. Nevertheless, Mr. X has contacted me and is ready to serve Kool-Aid for whoever takes the wager.
Oh, the children in his neighborhood have offered their tea set and a bag of Chips Ahoy cookies for use at his Kool-Aid party.
In a shock to no one with an IQ north of a potted plant and no genetic relation to a Park Brother, the College Board is adding a new “adversity score” to students who take the SAT. This adversity score will add and likely subtract from a student’s score based on several things: neighborhood they live in, school they attend, number of parents/siblings in household, household income, marital status of parents, and if the applicant has a child among other things. This has finally gone way too far and there will be major pushback from several different ethnic groups. While the “adversity score” doesn’t mention skin color, I’m sure it’s included somewhere. This whole thing is a tragedy, and a direct attack on college access based on hard work, I’ll continue later.
Truth is this has been in the works since “no child left behind” or as I call it “no child turned down until you cannot afford tuition” was written by Sen Kennedy and signed by George W Bush.
George W Bush signing No Child Left Behind
While that law has been a disaster, this amendment has been in the works for a while. The backlash will be interesting on this one. As you may recall, we had SB 1 here in California and the Asian community caused such uproar it was instantly squashed. This is about equal results folks, it has nothing to do with equal access or any other line of BS put out by the elite. This is an affirmative action plain and simple, and forcing college compliance with mandatory minimum quotas of people from all socio-economic status. Instead of SAT score, academic achievement, extra-curricular involvement you will be scored as well on “adversity?” How exactly does that work? So if you live in a bad zip code, attend a bad school, come from a broken home and have a single parent who doesn’t work, that makes up for the lower test scores/grades? If you attend a private school, live in a nice neighborhood, have 2 parents who work, your score will be reduced because you’re privileged? According to what metric? What about the gender/sex of the parents? I would assume if your parents are a same sex couple you get a higher score since there’s “adversity?” I would assume if the student or a parent is transgendered it would be like hitting the jackpot since they seem to be getting all the sympathy in America now?
Here at Really Right we see this as an attempt by the powers that be to put their hand (not just their finger) on the scales to get the outcome they desire. The dirty little secret is they do not like the fact that Asian students dominate all the supposed “elite schools” in America and want to change all that. Have a student who is very talented academically and you hire a tutor and put them in advance placement classes? You will be knocked down a peg or two as a result. Now we won’t be accepting the most qualified, we will be trying to have a completely gentrified campus with no one socio-economic status dominating the student body. Lawsuits will start flying and we will rue the day this became a qualifier to gain acceptance.
Martin Luther King told everyone no one should be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character…..too bad, those times are long gone. I have a hard time believing he is agreeing with this type of scoring model.
However this should surprise no one, all politicians preach inclusion and equality so as a result we have new rules like these. By the way if you go to DC and see the MLK Jr Memorial look for that quote, but don’t take too much time since you will not find it on the statue. (Hat Tip to William on this one)
I for one would like to see this applied to the football and basketball teams at colleges, boy how funny would that be, imagine the outrage in certain communities that their children cannot apply since there is a “adversity score” added to short/un-athletic people. Oh by the way the guy who helped birth Common Core David Coleman, is the same guy who is behind this.
So basically what we have here is legalized reverse racism with a voodoo scoring model that no one will have any clue how it’s calculated.
I for one, went to private school my whole life, attending prestigious Jesuit High and was a player on the only football team to go undefeated in school history, ask for a look at my football championship ring, I’ll show it to you! I would be given negative marks, I’m also white, and have 2 working parents and live in a nice part of South Sacramento County.
Now let me add an “adversity” to my score. If instead I had attended Pleasant Grove High School, while it is considered one of the best, my school district, since it has a very high level of people on free or reduced lunch program, I would get added adversity to my SAT score! By the way as William can likely attest getting on this program is not very hard.
The overall point we try to strive for here at reallyright.com is to present facts and have you decide. We both believe students get out of school what effort they put in. Why should one be punished for getting a tutor to help, or taking AP classes? Or the color of their skin? Or if their parents are married/or any other factor? I thought this was America? The republic is at a tipping point. Once again we see the elites switching equality of opportunity for equality of outcome and hoping no one notices. I’m not sure if the emperor ever had any clothes on but thinking he can pull this off with a straight face is stretching credulity.
“The Chief”
Editor’s note: Thankfully there is an alternative to the SAT called ACT. If students quit taking SAT as a result of adversity scores, this social experiment will go away quietly. Liberals claim they are all in on socialism but the truth is that they will follow the money.
Tesla backers out there, would you bet $10,000 that Elon Musk is right? We here at Really Right invite you to pony-up or quit telling me I’m wrong about this modern-day P.T. Barnum.
Oh, before I get to the details of the wager, Tesla stock closed Friday at $211.03. The stock was at $370.13 in mid-December.
Former hedge-fund manager Whitney Tilson isn’t shy about his bearish outlook on Tesla.
…he predicted the stock would finish 2019 under $100 — so far so good on that particular vision.
Now he’s out with another anti-Tesla missive.
“Tesla is a zillion miles from Musk’s promise of Level 5 by the end of this year and a fleet of a million robotaxis by the end of next year,” he said in an email to investors that was posted on ValueWalk.
“Level 5” is basically the point at which cars are capable of driving themselves anywhere, under any conditions, with no limitations. Of course, none of those cars are on the road currently, and critics are doubtful we’ll see them anytime soon.
In fact, Tilson is so confident that it won’t happen he says he’s willing to wager anybody who thinks otherwise. What’s more, he’s willing to bet $10,000 that Musk doesn’t even come within a year of either of those promises.
If Musk is right, you get $10K. Easy-peasy. There’re no limits on the number of people that can bet on Musk. It’s open to all takers. So, all you true believers out there, time to break-out your checkbooks. Remember, money talks and b.s. walks.
P.T. Barnum said, “There’s a suck born every minute and two to take ‘em.” Well here’s your big chance to prove him right. Ya’ll have fun betting with Elon. Oh, and rumor has it our very own Mr. X is willing to buy any takers of the bet a cold pitcher of your favorite Kool-Aid brand drink. The way I figure it, that’s the only thing you’ll ever get for making this bet, so my advice is take him up on it.
As promised, we visited Bonchon located in Elk Grove for this week’s food review. Hope you enjoy.
Bonchon is a new concept to both the area and to the United States, as they are Korean owned and known for their fried chicken, and Asian fusion cuisine menu. The stores are franchised so you could see some variation depending on where you visit. They are growing rapidly in the US and the fad seems to be resonating with the people, so Johnnie had to try it out!
Ambiance: This place gives off a fast-casual order at the counter vibe; however, that is not the case. They do a ton of takeout/carry-out business so the cash register up front is a little misleading. The place is very small maybe the size of 2 Subway stores. They have a small bar/counter area and the rest of the place is for seating. The kitchen is hidden from view, only a small window where the food is handed to the servers makes for very little transparency. This is definitely a hipster type joint and played to a younger freer spirit type crowd. 3/5 for the ambiance because it was so small the waiting area essentially spilled over outside the store, which makes things seem a little awkward.
Food: The place is a Korean food joint so menu items include friend chicken, bulgogi beef, and other entrees which were on full display on the menu.
The Korean fusion part is they offer fried rice, and tacos as well as chicken strips, etc. Like any other review, I visited the place twice. I will say they offer quite a bit in terms of variety, chicken katsu, biminbap, everything looked good, but Johnnie Does wants to try what you are known for, so I went fried chicken. You can choose from 3 different flavors; spicy, soy garlic, and sweet crunch; I went half and half with soy garlic and spicy. I was very impressed. For $9.95 my food also came with a side so I went French fries…at a Korean joint….I know. The chicken was outstanding, they double fry it, then rather than spin or dunk the chicken they paint the sauce on it, getting great coverage and not allowing waste. Total 4.8/5 on the chicken.
The fries were also very tasty and I would recommend again. The tacos were my other entrée of choice later in the week, for about $10 you got 3 tacos in spicy chicken flavor, it’s a $1 more for beef. I will say this, the tacos were very spicy, if you don’t like spicy avoid. I’m talking like there should almost be a warning about how spicy, the spicy chicken strips were tasty and I guess I didn’t remember them being as spicy. 3.1/5 for the tacos. Overall 4.3 between the chicken strips and the fries bringing the score up.
Overall: Bonchon was awesome! I would for sure have a disclaimer about how hot spicy is….however a few friends of mine remarked Korean food is very spicy by nature and everyone knows that. I guess Johnnie Does needs to avoid the salsa bar and get out more often! Some idiosyncrasies about the place: they are closed Tuesdays…. very random day of the week to be closed. Additionally, they open for lunch, then close, then re-open for dinner, I have to believe this has to deal with the rising cost of minimum wage and helps keep the cost down. However, price points were great especially for lunch, and I would definitely recommend this place to anyone, however I would not take a date here as it can be very noisy. 4.5/5 for Bonchon Elk Grove.
Know a place you want Johnnie Does to review? Put it in the comment section!
PS Maybe change the name? Bonchon kind of sounds like a medical issue requiring a shot of penicillin or is it just Johnnie Does liking the salsa bar a little too much?
I ran across an article about a pastor that in one Twitter storm announced that he quit his job, his faith, his family, and his god. While this case is extreme, I don’t think this man is alone. I would like to look at his post and go thru it. The posts were assembled on a reddit page.
The Pastor, Dave Gass, ministered at Grace Family Fellowship in Missouri.
Grace Family Fellowship was founded as First Baptist Church of Pleasant Hill in 1867 with 18 charter members. God has been faithful to us for over 150 years! We are centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we desire to make disciples of all nations.
Gospel centrality not only means that we declare the gospel, but also that we demonstrate it with our lives. We do this by being good neighbors, befriending our coworkers, working for the good of our city, and caring for the least, the lowest, and the lost.
The church website does not list any background, biographical information, or qualifications of its pastoral staff; thus I don’t know the specific flavor of Baptist or seminary preference of this particular congregation. However, having spent many years of my life as a Baptist (ages 13-22), I know the distinctives of their beliefs.
The reddit page where the tweets were reassembled into an essay has some errors. The biggest error is that some paragraphs were repeated in their entirety which really disrupts the flow. Other errors are related to spelling and grammar-some purposefully done.
I will quote the pastor’s presentation without the repeated paragraphs and periodically insert my comments. I believe this topic has application beyond this particular set of circumstances and touches on the reasons that many youth are falling away from organized Christianity. Several of his accusations against the Church have been stated by others.
Oh, and as an added bonus, following my take on Pastor Dave’s Twitter storm, there is as Paul Harvey often said, a “Rest of the Story” moment which may make you reread this letter again, this time in a different light.
Note: Just for easier reading, I will show Pastor Dave Gass’ letter excerpts with yellow background throughout this post. Bible quotes in red and any other quotes in blue.
I’m not a Christian anymore: a thread. After 40 years of being a devout follower, 20 of those being an evangelical pastor, I am walking away from faith. Even though this has been a massive bomb drop in my life, it has been decades in the making.
When I was in 8th grade and I was reading greek mythology, it dawned on me how much of the supernatural interactions between the deity of the bible and mankind sounded like ancient mythology. That seed of doubt never went away.
The pastor makes many truth claims in this article which are either outright distortions or untrue. Equating the God of the Bible with Greek mythology is just the first. The God found in the historic Creeds which are a summary of the Christian Faith as found in the Bible are diametrically opposed to the Greek, Roman, Germany, Egyptian, Sumerian, or any other belief system in the world. Monotheism didn’t evolve from polytheism and he knows it. In fact history shows the opposite to be the case.
Gass also may be invoking a variation of the heresy known as modalism. Some falsely believe that God is portrayed in the Old Testament is petty, cruel, and harsh (thus the comparison to Greek mythology) but suddenly in the New, God is displayed as loving and compassionate. I have heard others express such beliefs from the pulpit but again this is not derived from Scripture but ignorance.
I was raised in a hyper-fundamentalist family, and it felt good to be in a system that promised all the answer and solutions to life. The problem is, the system didn’t work. The promises were empty. The answers were lies
We are not called to be followers of a system, a religion, or a set of rules. Baptists are really big on reducing Christianity to a set of negative propositions. The old saying about, “I don’t, smoke, drink, or chew and I don’t go with girls that do” is really true in some circles. Except you need to add prohibitions to dancing, rock music, mixed bathing, interracial marriage, smoking, Sabbath breaking, organized sports, etc. I have encountered all these rules at one or more churches in my lifetime; often in writing. The song line, “I was dealing with a system, now I’m dealing with the King” comes to mind.
As an adult my marriage was a sham and a constant source of pain for me. I did everything I was supposed to – marriage workshops, counseling, bible reading together, date nights every week, marriage books – but my marriage never became what I was promised it would be
The more times I read this paragraph, the more I get the feeling that he was trying to reduce marriage to a set of rules that could be followed to be successful. Marriage is a relationship that takes daily effort. The Bible makes a direct linkage between being a pastor and having a successful marriage.
For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? I Timothy 3:5
There is a lot of “I”, “me”, “my” in this essay. This guy is as self-focused and full of hubris as President Obama.
Biblical Marriage is not about what I can get out of the relationship. Instead, it is about what I will do for my wife because I care for her. I put her first. I am commanded to love her as Christ loved the Church and gave His life for it (Ephesians 5). I put my wife and children first every day. That is my job as a husband and father. This is not always easy nor was it promised to be. We’ve had our struggles but when my wife knows that I put her first, then she is willing to follow my lead. At our wedding, she promised to “honor and obey” because that is biblically what she is supposed to do.
I was fully devoted to studying the scriptures. I think I missed maybe 12 Sundays in 40 years. I had completely memorized 18 books of the bible and was reading through the bible for the 24th time when I walked away.
Pastor Gass followed all the “rules” for being a good Christian. So what? Our faith is a relationship based in love not a spiritual checklist. He sounds like Saul of Tarsus.
Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. Philippians 3:4-6
As Baptists are quick to point out, head knowledge and heart knowledge are two different propositions.
I devoured all the “christian apologetics” books that came out, and none of them answered my questions regarding the nature of god and the problems I found within the Scriptures. I found these books to be trite, dismissive, and full of pseudo science and evidence.
I don’t know what books the pastor is referring to, but the use of the word “all” covers more ground than he could possibly cover. Josh McDowell, Ray Comfort, Ken Hamm, Walter Martin, Greg Bahnsen, Henry Morris, Kenneth Gentry, Gary North, David Chilton, Ray Sutton, and Francis Schaeffer are just a few of the guys that I can think of that Pastor Dave has clearly not read. I have read much by these guys and there are many more. Yes, the selection at your average Christian bookstore—if there are any still out there—is lame but as a seminary graduate you should know better than I where to get such books.
There are defects in Baptist theology but that is not the Bible’s problem. Some apologetic books are defective in the sense that you can’t reason yourself to Christ. You can prove He exists because we already know that He does (Romans 1:19-21), but only special revelation can teach us how God restored our relationship with Him.
I think these comments by Pastor Dave also reveal a defect in the Baptist church model where the local pastor is not accountable to any other clergy. They are purposely and proudly left to fend for themselves as they shepherd their flock.
“We believe in the autonomy of the local churches, free of any external authority and control.” –Grace Family website
If your church is independent, then who is your pastor’s pastor?
The more I read and studied the scriptures the more questions I had. Literally from the first chapter to the last, so many problems. And the more I learned about how the scriptures were canonized, the less I could believe in the “inerrancy” model that I had to espouse.
The Pharisees read the Scriptures and didn’t understand them either. When I was running around in Baptist circles we used to talk about nonbelievers being unable to understand the Bible because they were reading someone else’s mail.
I always marvel when a person claiming to be a Christian denies the authority of Scripture. The Bible is an all or nothing proposition not a cafeteria where we can only pick the things that we like.
We have more evidence of the truth of the Bible than any previous generation and more availability of copies of the Bible and this ironically has translated to a decline in the number of believers. We, as a people, have forgotten God and take for granted the blessings that he has given. We are not thankful for his blessings.
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Romans 1:21
I can see why Pastor Dave might have a problem with the cannon of Scripture when he doesn’t vest any authority in The Universal Church. The true Baptist knows only the local level and rejects the continuity of the faith. But the Church was created by Christ who rules and governs it. The Church is the only institution that will last forever. Christ commissioned first Apostles and then Bishops to oversee local congregations. It was those holding the office of bishop that met to discuss and decide the cannon of the New Testament. (The Old was never in dispute.) When Baptists reject the authority placed over The Church, is it such a leap of logic that they could question the cannon? (Although most don’t since the cannon was decided by the early and undivided Church.)
In 40 years I never witnessed a single event that was supernatural. Not one. Time and again I watched people die of cancer. I did funerals for 47 people from the age of 4 to 96. I prayed in faith with hundreds of people for healing to no avail. god didn’t answer prayers
This guy is really selfish, blind, and dumb. I see miracles all the time. No, not the quadriplegic picking up their bed and walking out to the parking lot kind but I know God could do it if he wanted. Seeing my son born, having the wife that I do, being alive, watching the fall of the Berlin Wall, getting safely to and from work each day, having a place to live, my marriage are all miracles. Miracles happen all the time but apparently this man of God thinks the world is governed by chance, coincidence, and randomness.
Dear pastor, none of us get out of here alive. We can exercise, eat right (whatever that is), get regular check-ups, take multivitamins, or whatever, but we will all die of something. You of all people know this to be true. You sir, are a most selfish and ungrateful person.
My devoutly christian parents were abusive, my marriage was a sham, prayer was never answered, miracles were never performed. People died, children rebelled, marriages failed, addictions occurred – all at the same rate as non believers. The system just doesn’t work.
Here is a summary of the above lamentations. He blames his parents, his wife, and God for failing him and his expectations. The bottom line is that his ministry made no difference to the people under him thus when it comes time to affix blame, it was God’s fault.
I pastored mega churches & tiny churches. I did college ministry, camp ministry, youth ministry, music ministry, preaching ministry, church planting – everything in the church except work in the nursery. And what I saw was people desperate for the system to work for them.
thousands of teenagers at a time, wrote blogs, was published, formed curriculum, taught workshops, was an up-and-comer reforming my denomination. The whole time hoping at some point it would click, and become true for me.
An inescapable reality that I came to was that the people who benefited the most from organized religion were the fringe attenders who didn’t take it too seriously. The people who were devout were the most miserable, but just kept trying harder.
Christianity for this man is a system of rules but notice that there is never a single word about a relationship with Christ. Christians are followers of Christ not followers of church.
A constant theme in this essay is that this man is trying to be good enough for God. He is pursuing salvation thru works not trusting in the grace of God. He is in the same place as Luther before comprehending grace in the book of Romans or Saul on the Damascus road.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? Matthew 7:22
All the while, the experience I had within the church was that a lot (granted, not all) people use the church for power and influence. Many involved people in churches use it as their small kingdom for personal control and ego.
And the entire system is rife with abuse. And not just from the top down, sure there are abusive church leaders, but church leaders are abused by their congregants as well. Church people are just shitty to each other.
I spent my entire life serving, loving, and trying to help people in my congregations. And the lies, betrayal, and slander I have received at the hands of church people left wounds that may never heal.
I get the feeling reading to this point that the pastor views his office or calling as being more spiritual than being a plumber or carpenter. Yes, some people go to church to be seen or perceived as being spiritual without really knowing Christ. Read Machiavelli. In The Prince, he says people should appear to be religious but don’t really let it affect the way that you live.
Depending on the particulars, in a Baptist church, the congregation is ruled with an iron fist by either the pastor or the board. When things are good this seems to work but in the face of conflict, it can be very destructive.
One undercurrent thru this document is a sense of pride. I really get the vibe of an “I’m better or deserve better than I got” attitude. I also sense a real lack of thankfulness for the blessings that he has been given. It’s more of an “I deserve” sense of entitlement. Almost a strain of the prosperity gospel where it’s God’s will that we all be healthy, wealthy, happy, and comfortably upper-middle class.
Sorry pastor but last I heard, a church was a hospital for sinners. We all suffer from a fatal case of sin nature. Only when we look to Christ can we begin to overcome—by God’s grace—our propensity to wrong doing. As a congregation, we confess our sin and enjoy Communion with Christ on a weekly basis, something you seem never to have experienced.
This massive cognitive dissonance – my beliefs not matching with reality – created a separation between my head and my heart. I was gaslighting myself to stay in the faith.
Eventually I could not maintain the facade anymore, I started to have mental and emotional breaks. My internal stress started to show in physical symptoms. Being a pastor – a professional Christian – was killing me.
The pastor finally hit the wall and could no longer maintain the façade of a believer. Please note that he viewed himself as “a professional Christian” as opposed to the rest of us. Also, note that he admits to self-deception. You will see this again as you read further.
During this time I also found something amazing: I found a handful of people who were more Christian than any Christian I had ever met – and they weren’t Christian. I found love in places where love wasn’t supposed to exist. I found acceptance among people who were godless.
I learned that love is real. That acceptance is possible. That life is vibrant and full. But the church burdens people with fear, shame, and guilt, all for the purpose of maintaining control. I now see the church as a system perfectly curated to control people and culture.
I was a part of a system that enslaves people, and I was both a slave and a slave driver. We called chains freedom, and misery happiness. We had impossible standards that we could not meet so we turned the attention on others so the spotlight wasn’t on our own inadequacies.
These words sound familiar to many of us. Claims of finding acceptance and love outside of God, Christ, Christianity, and the Church are the same arguments that homosexuals use to try to prove they are not notorious sinners and should be accepted without the need for repentance. “…hath God not said?” seduced Adam and Eve into error and that refrain still does today.
Instead of God’s Law measuring us and driving us to repentance, we prefer using our feelings as the measure of all things. When comparing ourselves with others, we tend to do well on whatever scale we choose to utilize. However, God doesn’t grade us on a curve, we all fall short. Measuring others by our standards is simply a form of self-deception or as Romans says, exchanging the truth for a lie.
Love—be it God’s love for us or ours for each other—is beyond the scope of what this pastor discusses. Again, Christianity is not following a set of rules but a living relationship with our Savior. We can never perform well enough to gain God’s approval. The Bible says our righteousness, our best good deeds, are nothing but used tampons (flithy rags) in God’s sight. It is Christ that did the work not us.
As for enslaving people, Pastor Dave do you really want to go there? The Bible says in Romans that we are dead in our trespasses and sin. We are enslaved to sin. None of us are righteous. There is no hope. But then Paul writes about us partaking in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:22-23
Dave, the dark side seduced you. That’s not anything new or a George Lucas thing, it’s a Genesis thing. You are more comfortable being a slave to sin. Gary S Paxton called it “That prison called freedom.” Cue Keith Green singing “So you wanna go back to Egypt.” Dylan was right, “You gotta serve somebody.” Our options are serving sin or God; there is no third option.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:30
Eventually I pulled the lever and dropped the bomb. Career, marriage, family, social standing, network, reputation, all gone in an instant. And honestly I didn’t intend to fully walk away, but the way the church turned on me forced me to leave permanently.
For those of you who want to yell at me, that’s fine. I know that many will call me an apostate, say I was never really saved, that I was a wolf in sheeps clothing, and that a hotter hell awaits me. And to you I say I love you. My heart is tender toward you.
To those who have been in my congregations or under my teaching/preaching I sincerely apologize. I thought I was right. I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I could fake it until I made it. I was wrong. I’m sorry. I love you.
I have lost everything. I gave literally everything to serving Jesus. And walking away has cost me everything. All I can hope for is that the second half of my life can be full of love and genuine human relationships. I was wrong. I’m not faking anymore
So faced with a crisis of continued hypocrisy or getting out, the good pastor quit his job, his marriage, his reputation, etc. He flushed his whole life away to start over. This was necessary because “the church turned on me and forced me to leave.” It’s one thing to have conflict in a church which does happen but to be shown the door by the congregation, now that’s a new wrinkle in this tale.
He apologizes—well sort of—saying that he lost everything. Then curiously he claims that “I gave literally everything to serving Jesus”. This is the only mention of Jesus in the whole account.
Again, I get the vibe that he was trying to do good works to become acceptable to God but following the church playbook proved a fruitless and futile venture. And, now failed by his parents, wife, congregation, and God, with nowhere to go, the pastor gets booted from his own church and has nothing to show for it. Bummer!
But folks, the story doesn’t end here.
As promised, the Rest of the Story.
Paul Harvey
A Twitter user quote tweeted Gass’s thread, saying “There is something simply off in this thread…something about the language rings alarm bells, makes me skeptical. But at the least if it is truthful (background wise) it speaks to the foolishness of churchianity. Real faith lives in the real world.”
Justin Tuttle responded to the tweet, saying “Yes, he was my pastor when he ‘walked away.’ He actually just slept with a married women in the church and got caught. He never repented and they still live together.”
“Last year all the information came to light,” Tuttle added. “The affair happened for almost a year before it was uncovered. So the whole, ‘I did everything right in my marriage’ part was kinda funny until I saw how many people liked his story.”
So now you’ve read the tale of Pastor Dave Gass; a man that literally threw it all away so he could roll in the hay with another man’s wife. I know Baptists stay away from the Ten Words but it’s funny that Pastor Dave followed all the manmade rules but not God’s. I think that his whole Twitter storm was just a tantrum on why he shouldn’t repent.
Dave, I have some bad news for you. Every clergyman that I know that followed his “little brain” to be with someone else’s wife, had his stay on the planet cut short. You may be seeing Jesus sooner than you planned on.
In case you missed it, PG&E is bankrupt; however, they are allowed to continue to operate while the state regulator figures out whether to let them re-organize or partout the company. PG&E has been wallowing for about a year now, trying to convince legislators to overturn the “inverse condemnation” law that forces them to repay any damage done by their equipment in the event of a wildfire. This has gone nowhere and predictably the utility has responded by saying they are going to implement “rolling blackouts.” The policy, as explained by the utility, is that PG&E will attempt to reach out to affected customers within a day or two of the scheduled blackout. Such blackouts are contemplated when high winds are in the forecast. They will send out a warning, and then cutoff all power to the area. The company goes on to add, the power will be restored when danger of their equipment causing wildfire is no longer imminent. The spokesperson added that some customers could be without power for days.
Under intense scrutiny from regulators and an unsympathetic federal judge, the utility Wednesday rolled out a fire-safety plan for 2019 that calls for shutting power to vast chunks of its territory when winds kick up and other fire perils abound. It’s designed to curtail the type of deadly wildfires that drove PG&E into Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month.
…PG&E is still evaluating the criteria it uses for blackouts, which are based on heat, lack of humidity, high winds and other factors.
In any event, he said the company is committed to a system that, when blackouts are imposed, will spread the impacts to much wider areas than before.
On one hand I understand why the company is doing this. If the windstorm knocks over the power lines causing a fire to spark, they are on the hook for all damages. Easiest way to prevent said liability? Cut the power! If you happen to live in an area where a wildfire could start if their equipment is knocked over? Too bad, so sad. Have solar on your roof? Thanks for your service….but your power is still being cut. If you’re thinking about buying a Tesla emergency battery generator…in addition to reading some of Williams articles, just understand that battery could either catch fire….or not last long enough to generate power for your dwelling. In addition, if you live in a rural area, you are automatically a low priority for having your utility service restored. So if you live in the sticks, or a tee pee like me, you could be without for several days. The battery power generator you are buying will only work for a few hours at most, keep in mind most houses in rural areas tend to be much bigger than a standard tract home in the city or suburbs.
Who Decides
The scariest part of this is that you are at the mercy of a very corrupt and morally bankrupt PG&E. It’s frightening that their “meteorologists” (no doubt overseen by a team of lawyers) will determine when the power should be cut and restored. It’s alarming to be at the mercy of the only utility on the planet whose carbon foot could be seen last summer with the naked eye from the International Space Station.
Camp Fire Satellite Image
In California where the utility pays for all damage caused by their equipment, you can rest assured your power isn’t being restored until everyone is certain the storm has more than passed. Even more worrisome are the practical ramifications of this policy. While hospitals and maybe assisted living centers will have a backup generator, it will not power the facility very long. The entire community, city, or region will be without power meaning no street lights, gasoline or other fuel sales, restaurants, stores, everything will be down.
Summary
Thanks to Pacific Gas and Electric, this summer you can relive the glory days of Governor Gray Davis and simultaneously live like the folks in Venezuela. From now on, in the PG&E service area, electrical service is a privilege not a right. What’s the old saying, “Forewarned is forearmed”? Unlike the Gray Davis era, in the enlightened age of Gavin Newsom, they’ll let you know when it’s convenient to provide electrical power. But remember, you only get billed for what you actually use.
As an added bonus, PG&E could now consider letting their union workers have holidays like the Fourth of July and Labor Day off. This will save them having to pay double and triple time to their union employees working on legal holidays and it won’t inconvenience many customers because most folks are eating out of their ice chests and picnic baskets during these holidays.
There is Hope
Despite these ominous threats, fear not fellow Californians. Our leader of the republic, Gavin Newsome, has committed $75 million to the cause. No word on what that money will be spent on. We wait patiently to hear more about the other added millions later in this process. Newsome added he is “scared.” Well rest assured sir, your house in Fair Oaks is in SMUD’s service area, and chances of a wildfire causing your power to be cut are NILL. In addition if your power were to go out, I’m sure you won’t have to wait in line like the rest of the unwashed masses, his majesty will have power turned on far before any of us.
Stripping PG&E’s Carcass
In related news: The City of San Francisco has begun discussions to look into buying the local SF portion of PG&E during the bankruptcy process.
As PG&E (PCG) continues to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the city of San Francisco is reportedly considering offering a deal to the utility for some of its power assets.
The multimillion-dollar deal is expected to happen within the next few months as Mayor London Breed told PG&E back in March that a formal bid would come if it proves feasible for the city, Bloomberg reported.
San Francisco is looking to purchase PG&E’s electric distribution system in the city, which it estimates “in the range of a few billion dollars,” according to Monday’s report from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
I’m unsure of what they are thinking because the city would be liable for any equipment damage causing a resulting fire. In addition, does anyone know what infrastructure is even located under the city’s streets? Also, where do they plan on getting the power needed for their city? As William pointed out, there is precious nothing as far as electricity generating assets around the City, please don’t think Hetch Hetchy is capable. Maybe using the methane from their own citizens “deposits” found all over the town’s sidewalks? I know liberals want to send us to a Dark Age with all the green new deals; however, it seems like PG&E wants to do one better and send us to the Stone Age; less the ability to wield fire.
Apple is having a bad week. First the US Supreme Court says their app store is likely a monopoly and can be sued in lower court as such (without specifically ruling on the merits of the case) and then China and the US are at loggerheads over trade and tariffs.
Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court dealt Apple Inc. a major setback in an eight-year-old lawsuit over the App Store on Monday, but the bigger news is the big effect it could have on Big Tech.
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that plaintiffs have a right to sue Apple in a class-action lawsuit that alleges monopolistic behavior in the App Store resulted in overcharging. While the end result for Apple is uncertain for now, the ruling appears to be positive for consumers who buy services on platforms owned by Apple and other tech companies, because it gives them the ability to sue for alleged monopolistic pricing practices.
The case was filed in 2011 by four iPhone users who alleged Apple had unlawfully monopolized “the iPhone apps aftermarket” and that Apple locked iPhone users “into buying apps only from Apple and paying Apple’s 30% fee, even if ” the iPhone owners want to buy them elsewhere.
Apple closed down nearly 6% on Monday after news of a major escalation in the U.S.-China trade war.
China said on Monday that it decided to raise tariffs on some U.S. goods after President Donald Trump threatened to further raise tariffs on Chinese imports last week. The trade war is affecting a lot of different stocks, but Apple seems to be hit harder than most. The Dow Jones Industrial index dropped 2.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.5%.
Apple is especially vulnerable to a trade war with China for two primary reasons.
First, it assembles its iPhones primarily in China. Although it has a lot of American suppliers — it spent $60 billion on American suppliers in 2018 — iPhone assembly is done in mainland China.
The other reason is that Apple, unlike other big tech companies, makes a substantial amount of its money by selling its products to Chinese consumers.
OK so what does Apple have to do with a Tesla fire? Well this story is from Apple Daily. No word on whether this is a subscription service offers by Tim Cook and company but here’s the story.
A Tesla Inc electric car caught fire in a parking lot in a Hong Kong shopping mall, the Apple Daily newspaper said on Tuesday, but no one was injured in the blaze, whose cause was not immediately known.
The electric car burst into flames 30 minutes after being parked in the city’s San Po Kong district on Sunday, the newspaper said, with three explosions seen on CCTV footage.
OK, so pop quiz. What is the acceptable way to fight a Tesla fire? Can you just pour water on the burning battery or would this be an environmental offence, especially here in California? Do the synthetic materials used in its construction give off cancer causing fumes? This vehicle certainly must come with a Prop 65 warning label. When fully involved, is it a Class D fire? 45 minutes to burn may be normal if water is not allowed.
Apple crashing and Tesla burning, oh, what a week (and its only Tuesday).
Yep, leave it up to Democrats to push for their “green” agenda and then screw the folks that drink the Kool-Aid thinking that they are socially responsible and saving the planet. You and I know this is utter crap, but some folks are slow learners.
Illinois drivers are learning that utopia isn’t cheap. If you own a Tesla or other electric vehicle, the Illinois legislature thinks that you can afford an annual registration fee of $1,000 per year. Why? Because electric vehicle owners don’t pay their fair share of gas taxes.
Electric car owners in Illinois could take a large hit to their bank accounts after lawmakers proposed an extreme hike in registration fees for electronic vehicles in the state.
The proposal would raise the annual registration fee to $1,000, more than 57 times the current amount of $17.50.
Illinois officials believe the legislation will raise $2.4 billion for future projects, the major one being roadway improvement, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The bill was introduced last week by Chicago state Sen. Martin Sandoval, a Democrat who says the registration fee hike is imperative to help fund necessary infrastructure improvements.
The reason for the extreme hikes are that electric vehicles don’t provide the state any gas tax revenue.
Oh, Liberals in the state are outraged:
“It’s outrageous,” Tesla owner Nicoletta Skarlatos, 56, told the Chicago Tribune. “I thought Illinois was progressive and would want to encourage EV (electric vehicle) ownership.”
“Imposing fees on EVs that are over 400 percent more than their gasoline-powered counterparts is not only unfair, it discourages promising new technology that will reduce our dependence on petroleum, reduce emissions, and promote the Illinois economy,” Rivian spokesman Michael McHale told the Chicago Tribune.
OK, learning opportunity for Liberals and low information voters…Progressive means getting financially screwed by the government because government can never really be too big, and after all it is your god and the proper way of worship is giving your all to the divine. “Green Agendas” and “Carbon Footprints” are all about centralizing power in the government by reducing your freedom. There is not now nor ever was any manmade climate crisis. It is hubris and arrogance to believe that is even possible. Oh, sorry, hubris is:
English picked up both the concept of hubris and the term for that particular brand of cockiness from the ancient Greeks, who considered hubris a dangerous character flaw capable of provoking the wrath of the gods. In classical Greek tragedy, hubris was often a fatal shortcoming that brought about the fall of the tragic hero. Typically, overconfidence led the hero to attempt to overstep the boundaries of human limitations and assume a godlike status, and the gods inevitably humbled the offender with a sharp reminder of his or her mortality.
Oh, those of us using internal combustion engines are not exempt from the wrath of the legislature.
The bill would also make things more expensive for residents who drive non-electric cars. The state’s gas tax would go up 19 cents to 44 cents a gallon, fees for driver’s licenses would double and the registration fee for non-electric vehicles would go up nearly 50% from $98 to $148.
The article concludes:
Illinois was seventh in electronic vehicle sales last year and there are about 15,000 registered in the state. Over 200,000 electric vehicles were sold last year, about two percent of total U.S auto sales, according to Jenny Acevedo, an analyst with auto research firm Edmund.
“Every automaker has broadcast loud and clear that the future of automotive is autonomous and electric,” Acevedo told the Chicago Tribune. “Certainly, going from $17.50 to $1,000 in terms of registration isn’t going to move the needle in the direction the industry is hoping.”
Did you note in the above that only two percent of autos sold in the country were electric, yet Tesla is now reportedly the number three US automaker. Using what metric? Sorry but production numbers do matter to us in the real world.
Prediction
If this law is defeated, look for it to be followed-up with a mileage tax. I think that is the real plan here, but you need to mold public reaction to be that $1,000 per vehicle is harsh but a mileage tax on electric vehicles is “fair”. This “fairness” is a Liberal buzz word for spreading the misery. Note that no one is disputing the premise that vehicle taxes should be increased, its just a matter of how to do it. Most electric vehicles are purchased by the wealthy so making them pay more is going to happen. I have always said the greatest so-called benefit of electric vehicles is not paying the gas tax but politicians will fix that loophole.
Some folks around the social orbit our editorial staff just don’t have a clue what economic mischief is afoot at the “Bill Mill” so I thought I would break it down for the slow learners. If you are a low information voter or a 90-Day Calendar Guy, this includes you.
Prop 13
Proposition 13 has been a protection on property taxes for Californians since Jerry Brown was governor the first time. If you have no clue who Rose Bird is then it was implemented was before your time. No one serving in the Legislature is old enough to remember the world before Prop 13 was enacted thus they have no idea what an economic benefit this has been to California businesses and homeowners.
Reasons for Prop 13
The holy grail of many Liberals in this state is to dismantle the protections afforded by this ballot proposition. The most logical way is to bifurcate the law by separating business from residential property. Most interpretations of this arbitrary split result in rental property ending-up in the business bucket. Give our “housing crisis”, all this will do is result in even more upward pressure on rental prices. Having businesses and residential property taxed at different rates is only the first step in scrapping Prop 13. At some point, residential folks will get stripped of their protections too.
Prop 13 allows max property tax increase of two percent per year
Rent Control
Using the “housing crisis”, California voters will be given another opportunity to enact rent control in 2020. Again, if this ballot measure does not implement a statewide rent control program like the one just implemented in Oregon, it will be a big step in that direction. I think rent control is likely to pass next time. If not, it will keep showing up on the ballot until it does. Look for the ballot title and summary to be the Affordable Housing Act of 2020 or something similarly deceptive.
2017 graphic–before Oregon enacted rent control
Sales Tax
Many services are currently exempt from charging sales tax. Since the Board of Equalization has been gutted, I see a path cleared to changing the law to get rid of most protections and subjecting virtually everyone and everything (except diapers and tampons) to sales taxes. Thus your haircut, car repair, tax preparation, attorney, etc. will cost you even more.
Summary
The above will all be sold on the basis of class warfare to economically illiterate people—mostly public school graduates—as a punishment on “the wealthy” because they believe that people can only get wealthy by screwing the “little guy”.
Ultimately, these issues will not be decided on what is best for you but on whether the Democrats are happy with the revenue stream going to Sacramento. This is allegedly a time of surplus revenue but I have my doubts. We know the long-term prognosis is bad but whether the folks at the Capitol have a clue… Oh, please don’t pin your hopes on that.
Anyway, the words quoted by H.L. Richardson keep flowing thru my mind, “But look what we let them keep”. Let’s hope the legislature keeps their hands out of our pockets but I don’t think they can help themselves.
