I have mixed feelings.

Link to video

This is an interesting time in America.  The great American idol of greed and success has stumbled.  All of his worshippers are scattering in a panic wondering how their great, omniscient god could betray them in their time of need.  All the priests of the economy are offering sage advice on CNBC and Fox News.  “It’s the Democrats fault!”  “No!  It’s the Republican’s fault!”  “Wait, that isn’t true!  It’s rich white people!”  On and on they go like the prophets of Baal dancing around a cold altar trying to coax fire from the sky.

We thought George W. would be our savior.  Our king who would ride in on a white horse and rescue us from economic and moral damnation.  8 years later, we’re all disappointed.  Disillusioned.  A little hopeless.

So now we have a new lineup of savior candidates.  Obama promises change.  Who cares what the change will be.  Just change it.  McCain promises stability and security.  No one thought he could deliver, but now that the God-fearing Palin has joined the fray, hope rises again.

Prophets are declaring that our country teeters in the balance (is God wringing His hands?).  Famous pastors are endorsing their favorite Republican conservative false savior, reassuring their congregants that if their candidate wins he will save us.  God will smile upon us once again.  The abortionists will all be converted.  The government will bail us out of our financial problems.  Healthcare will be cheap and available to everyone.  A chicken in every pot, a car in every garage, and equal opportunity for all.

Will we have to go through 8 more years of disappointment before we get it?  There’s no substitute for the real Jesus.  No man can save us.  I’m not saying that the election isn’t important.  I’m not saying voting isn’t important.  I’m following the election, and of course I will vote my conscience.  But I hold out no hope that any man can save our country from what is shaking it.

Don’t let the panic in the culture around you grip you.  Don’t let campaign promises entice you into idolatry.  Vote the best you can and put your faith in Jesus.  He’s the only savior that keeps all his promises.  Remember Ecclesiastes 1:15.  Men have been trying to “fix what is crooked” for centuries apart from God.  It hasn’t worked yet.

I don’t think Americans should apologize for living in a prosperous nation.  I don’t think we should apologize for enjoying that prosperity.  However, I think this may be crossing the line.  It’s a little hard for me to reconcile the idea of some rich guy eating a $200 cheeseburger in Burger King while little babies are starving to death in Sudan.

Call me a left wing liberal pinko commie if you want.  I can stomach it. ;-)

Tell me what you think of this.  I’m curious about your reactions.

[tags]burger king, expensive burger, poverty[/tags]

Every year the WordPress community takes a month to honor the creativity and brilliance of WP plugin authors. In support of the community, I thought I would list for you the plugins I use (and could not/would not live without).

1. Akismet – spam filter extraordinaire. It uses a database of spam definitions that is fed by every akismet user. It’s a brilliant idea. Every time I flag a comment as spam, that definition is added to the database so that every other akismet user will not get that spam. It’s works flawlessly for me.
2. Subscribe to Comments – Allows a commenter to subscribe to a comment string by checking a box when they comment. Then they get an email when other comments are made on that post. It’s a great way to encourage commenting.
3. WordPress.com Stats – Gives you all the stats you care about without a bunch of information you don’t need. In addition, the stats are generated on a WordPress server, not your own. So no wasted bandwidth.
4. WordPress Mobile Edition – This is an awesome plugin. It detects if someone is viewing your site with a mobile browser and displays a mobile-friendly theme that is formatted to fit a small size screen.
5. Ajax Edit Comments – I love it and users love it. It allows me to edit comments without using the admin. I can do it all right from the post itself. It also allows a commenter to edit their own comment for a set period of time. I also love how it integrates so nicely into my theme.
6. WP PageNavi – Allows me to use the page navigation that you see at the bottom of the page instead of the default WP one (Prev Post – Next Post).
7. Share This – Puts all the social bookmarking functionality in one package under one button. It also allows a user to send the post by email to a friend or post about it directly to their blog. You can completely customize the look of the pop-up box to fit your theme too.
8. WP DB Manager – After Akismet, this is the first plugin I install on a new blog. It goes way beyond a simple backup manager. It does scheduled backups that you can choose to have emailed to you. it will schedule database optimizations and more. It’s insurance for your blog.
9. Lightbox 2 – Automatically converts all linked images in a post to use the lightbox effect. It’s pure eye-candy, but why not? Just install it and forget about it.
10. Maintenance Mode – This ought to be built into WP. Turn it on, and visitors will see a message saying that the site is undergoing maintenance and to try back after a set amount of time. It’s great to use when you are upgrading or tweaking your site.
11. Best Foot Forward – Allows you to display a list of best posts as a widget in the sidebar. Lots of configuration options for how you want it to display. This is a good way to introduce first-timers to your best content.
12. Full Text Feed – Allows you to deliver full text RSS feeds even when you use the “Read More” divider. This also should be a built in option in WP, but isn’t yet. This option is now available.
13. Scripturizer – Automatically converts scripture references to links. You can also opt to have a javascript drop-down appear that displays the scripture from your choice of translations. John 3:16
14. Similar Posts – This plugin displays a list of posts related to the current one.  It’s the most sophisticated one I’ve been able to find.  It generates the list based on keywords found in the post, category, title, tags, etc.  There are lots of config options too.  This will make it easier for visitors to get lost in your content.

Those are the main ones. There are a few others that do little things that are conveniences to me. If you use WordPress, feel free to add to the list in the comments.

[tags]WordPress, favorite plugins, plugins, plugin month[/tags]

Check out the pictures as well as the story at The Daily Mail.

Skin painted bright red, heads partially shaved, arrows drawn back in the longbows and aimed square at the aircraft buzzing overhead. The gesture is unmistakable: Stay Away.

Behind the two men stands another figure, possibly a woman, her stance also seemingly defiant. Her skin painted dark, nearly black.

The apparent aggression shown by these people is quite understandable. For they are members of one of Earth’s last uncontacted tribes, who live in the Envira region in the thick rainforest along the Brazilian-Peruvian frontier.

Thought never to have had any contact with the outside world, everything about these people is, and hopefully will remain, a mystery.

QUESTION: Should someone be sending the missionaries in or should we leave them alone?

[tags]unreached people groups, missions[/tags]

I thought I would share a few links with you to some amazing images.

BTW, don’t use any of these wallpaper programs that you install on your computer that download daily wallpapers and such. It will kill your computer. And be careful where you go to get wallpaper images. If you Google it you will find some virus-ridden sites with nothing but low-quality pictures of cats and inappropriate content. (As if pictures of kittens and twine wasn’t bad enough)

Wallpaper Changer (download exe) – Windows XP/2000 doesn’t ship with any tool for automatically rotating desktop backgrounds. This one was developed by Microsoft. It’s simple and easy to use. Every other utility like this that I have tried has either bogged down my computer or has been full of spyware.

InterfaceLIFT – Best all-around place I’ve found to get great images. Most of it is photography and not graphic art. It get’s updated a lot and you can find just about any resolution you can imagine.

Photo Collection – Here is a collection of some jaw-dropping photos that I just found. I’ll warn you: you could get lost in here for hours.

Wallpaper Collection – a stunning collection of desktop wallpaper. Most here are not photography, but some are. You’ll also find some links here to other collections. It’s nice when someone else goes out and finds the best ones for you…

Caedes.net – This is a community-driven site that has been around for a very long time. There are tons of images here contributed by photographers and graphic artists. They have a nice community rating system that helps you find the best stuff.

Enjoy!