Not a good idea. Little children may think that someone dying means they become an angel. So, when grandma dies, she becomes an angel. This is NOT true. Matthew 22:30 says, "For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven." Angels are not super humans. Angels are messengers from God. Although the specific time frame was never specified in the Bible about when angels were created, we DO know that God created them. Colossians 1:16-17 says, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” No, grandma is not an angel.
2. "Thank goodness you have other children," or, "You're young. You can have more kids."
This is simply a horrific thing to say to a grieving parent. It's like saying, "Don't worry. Kids can be easily replaced."
3. He/she was just on loan to you from God.
Apparently, God uses his power to create some happiness for you, and then decided to take your happiness away simply because he can. 4. God doesn't give you more than you can handle.
Really? Why does God allow your neighbor's wife to leave him right after losing his children in a house fire, all the while after losing his job?
5. We may not understand it, but this was God's will.
How do you know God's will?
5 Things We Should Say
1. I don't believe God wanted this or willed it.
No, God doesn't want us to suffer. God has feelings too. He gets upset.
2. It's okay to be angry, and I'm a safe person for you express that anger to if you need it.
Be the friend that they can talk to about whatever needs to be talked about. In 1969, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross wrote in her book, On Death and Dying, that there are 5 stages of grief.
1.) Denial: I feel fine.
2.) Anger: Why me!? It's not fair!
3.) Bargaining: I'll do this to have a few more years to say goodbye.
4.) Depression: Why even bother going on? Just end it now.
5.) Acceptance: It's ok. I can't fight this, so I might as well prepare for it.
3. It's not okay.
It's really not okay to lose 30 people in a school shooting. Any sane person can deduce that.
4. I don't know why it happened.
This is just being honest. If you're looking to me for answers, YOU'VE DEFINITELY COME TO THE WRONG PLACE.
5. I can't imagine what you are going through, but I am here to support you in whatever way feels best.
Just be a friend.
Please pray for those affected by not only this tragedy, but those affected by the tragedies of similar proportions in the past.
I've been interning at a recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee for the past month and half. While down here, I've been attending St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Hendersonville, just northeast of Nashville.
An interesting question came up in adult Sunday school last week.
"Do you worship and pray to God because you want him to give you something, or do you worship and pray to God because of who he is?"
Wow....that was like a punch to my face. I never really thought about that. Do I worship/pray to God because I want something, or do I worship/pray to God because he's God?
First of all, what do I want in general?
-A nice job
-A nice family
-A nice house
-A nice car
-To be healthy
-To be happy
-To be...
-To be...
-To be...
I can go on and on for days.
What if we don't get what we want?
"I want some of grandma's cookies, so I'll write her a letter. "
"No cookies, grandma? I'm never going to talk to you ever again."
Only God knows what I've prayed for, and never received.
“Prayer is not about coming to the Lord to ask Him to give us anything we want. It’s about connecting with God on a personal level –and in the way He commands us to.”
He commands us.....hmmm....where have I heard that before?
"Dear God above, please let me do YOUR will -- not my will. Help me to do it here on earth. Show me some spare time where I can read the Bible and pray to you more often. Please forgive my sins, and the sins of others. Don't let me fall back into sin, either. Keep me away from Satan's power, and help me be closer to you, because you have the power to do all of this. Amen."
During today's Sunday school class, we were talking about Ecclesiastes, and how negative it appears. I was struck while reading this last night.....
Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under Heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless (Hevel= vanity, emptiness, false gods, shit), a chasing after the wind.....Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but i learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind. For with much wisdom comes sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.
....but I want knowledge! I pray to be smarter! Chicks dig smart guys! After reading this passage, I was reminded of the movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. In this movie, Indie (Harrison Ford) and several others are captured by a group who want a crystal skull that Indie and his son, Henry "Mutt Williams" Walton (Shia LaBeouf), have. Colonel Dr. Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchette), the antagonist, is determined to put the last Crystal Skull on the last incomplete crystal skeleton, because she believes a legend that the person who returns the skull will gain all the knowledge of the universe because she wants to utilize its power to better the Soviet Union's military. Indie and his gang lets her put the skull back. When she does this, her eyes catch on fire, and she disintegrates into dust because her brain can't comprehend what all is going on. She overloads. Why do we want to knowledge? Why do we want to become like God? Honestly, I don't think I want to know everything there is to know about everything. I don't think I can take that kind of stress. Look what happened to Bruce Noland (Jim Carrey) in Bruce Almighty. He thought he could do a better job at being God (Morgan Freeman) than God did. When God offered Bruce the job, he took it. Bruce just couldn't deal with all the prayers being asked at once. Bruce couldn't deal with people asking for petty things like, "Let me win the lottery," or, "Let me lose weight on the Krispy Kream diet." I don't think I can deal with that kind of frivolousness. Can you? "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Can you get me a cookie? Are we there yet? Can we eat something? Are we there yet? Can I go potty? I really need to potty!!! She's pointing at me! She's staring at me! Are we there yet? Are we there yet?!!!" I guess this is all just a "ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ITS ALL ABOUT ME" kind of thing....the world revolves around ME. I've seen a teenage girl in a t-shirt that says, "The World Revolves Around Me." I can't help but think how sorry she's going to be when she moves out of mommy and daddy's house and can't get a job because she's too much into herself, and that the boss really isn't going to give one crap about her. I'm sure God gets pretty frustrated with me and everyone else who constantly whine about "me, my, mine," prayers.
I don't think it's a bad thing to ask for green lights between the house and work, but just be aware of what you're praying for, and leave these things for last. Ask God for what is most important: That you have a good, solid relationship with him. After being forgiven, you might get all green lights, but you're stuck behind Old Lady Jones who is 90 years old and can't see over the steering wheel and dashboard in her ginormous 1984 Buick.
Maybe there's a reason Old Lady Jones is holding you back from work. Maybe while on your way to work, you get a call from your boss that you don't have to come in today for one reason or another. If you were at work when that happened, how much more frustrated would you be than if you were halfway there? ("I drove 30 miles for this?") You can just zip a U-turn and head right back home, take your pants off, and flop back into bed!
Thank you, God, for being patient with me. Thank you for putting your own son to death to save us from our sins. Thank you for being you.
________
If I don't see you again for a while, have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a Happy New Year!!!
Interesting Q/A from The Lutheran Hour broadcast on Sunday mornings on 650AM WSM.
For the past few weeks they've been answering questions about Christmas. Today's question was in regards to the actual date of Christ's birth. Wasn't December 25th a pagan festival?
-Jesus' real life, real death, and real resurrection are important for our lives. However, I don't think it really matters what date it was on, as long as it was completed.
-Early Christians didn't have a specific date to celebrate the birth of Christ (there was no Twitter back then).
@TheRealGod4857*: Yay!! Son just #born! He will somday #save u.
Here is what really interested me. Just because Dec. 25 is borrowed from a pagan festival, this proves Christianity is another human-created religion trying to get power.
There are over 24,000 pieces of documents of eye witness accounts and facts.
There are only 49 ancient documents about Aristotle.
My last post brought up another issue. I remind myself that humans were the ones to put the Bible together. God may have inspired man to write these books, but humans put them together. Did God inspire the Council of Nicaea to put the Bible together, or did they let go through each book, picked ones out that they thought sounded good and went with their moral beliefs at that time, and stick those selected books together? Are there books out there that were written AFTER 400BCE that should be included in the Bible? I'm sure there are. God didn't just drop off the face of the Earth and not inspire people to write things. Heck, I even think God inspires me to write stuff for this blog. Even though I haven't published anything for quite some time, I have started (and not finished) many posts because I didn't think I could get anything out of them. I didn't think I could finish them. In fact, the previous post sat there for nearly three weeks while I thought through what I wanted to put. In fact, I'll tell you some of the things I haven't released, and probably won't. I started a post on the Satanic Bible, published by HarperCollins. I haven't released it, because I don't want people who just look at the title to come in here and slander and post negative things about me personally, even if they didn't read the post at all. I also have one called "We All Have That One Sin....," which was suppose to be an essay on how we all have that one particular sin that we are aware of, yet we continue to carry through with that sin.....Actually, I may go ahead and finish that one after just writing that sentence. Back to the topic...... Here is the criteria of putting together the Bible, according to GotQuestions.org. 1) Was the book written by a prophet of God?
2) Was the writer authenticated by miracles to confirm his message? 3) Does the book tell the truth about God, with no falsehood or contradiction? 4) Does the book evince a divine capacity to transform lives? 5) Was the book accepted as God's Word by the people to whom it was first delivered? I'm sure there have been many prophets since Biblical times. I'm sure there are many more writings out there that deserve to be included in the Bible. Why not go through and find new inspiration? I know there will always be people who will be like, "You can't do that! We've had that for nearly 1500 years!!!!" or "Nothing else is inspired by God!" ....that last sentence seems to tell me that God has left us alone. I hope that didn't happen! I'm reminded of a song....
When Jesus called to God upon the cross No answer came for his will must be done Then how the word trembled at his voice When he said this is my beloved son
It isn't God but man that's dead When love is locked outside Do you deny that there's a God or is God just denied God is not dead he never died
What man on earth can make one blade of grass And who can make one seed then make it grow With all the power and wisdom in our hands Who can command which way the wind to blow
And who can match the miracle in an eagle's eye Or hang a rainbow in a cloudy sky God is not dead he did not die God is not dead God is not dead
____________ But of course, I'm going to get emails and comments on how I'm wrong and how I should repent from my sins. Yes, I may be wrong. Yes, I repent everyday (or try to). I'm not a scholar. I've only taken a few classes on Christianity and religion in general. I'm still a 21 year old college student who is currently away from school for a semester. I'm still doubting. I'm still wondering. I'm still thinking. I'm still learning. Get off my back, please.
Phew! It's dusty in here! I've been away for a while because I haven't had anything to write for a while. A few weeks ago during Sunday School, my pastor told us about the old changing its policy and ALC (American Lutheran Church, now part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of American) ordaining women back in the mid 70s. Apparently, the LCMS, or Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, said they would ordain women if the ALC could find some biblical way to ordain women. The ALC did not find a biblical reason, so the LCMS continues to disallow women ministers to this day. The ALC did start ordaining women ministers, but only because of the changing culture. Did Paul do the same thing when he said women should not be leaders in church? Was he following the changing of the times? I've been simmering on this the past few days now. I looked up 1 Timothy 2: 11-25, which says,
A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing-if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with propriety.
This passage is always used to justify not ordaining women in the church. I want to pay close attention to some of the words in this passage. 1.)
I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man....
The word Istuck out to me. (1 Timothy is a letter supposedly written by Paul (some scholars disagree on this, even though his name is mentioned) to Timothy regarding his ministry in Ephesus.) Was thisPaul saying this, or was he inspired by the Holy Spirit to say this? I have trouble thinking it was the Holy Spirit saying this because of the role of women in the story of Jesus. The first person Jesus went to after being resurrected was a woman (Mary Magdalene). Jesus felt the touch of a woman on his cloak in Mark 5:21-34. Jesus felt his spirit leave him and enter someone else, so he bent down and told this woman that her faith has healed her. This tells me that there is something special about the role of women in Jesus' lifetime. 2.)
She must be silent.
She must be silent? Why? Psalm 92 says,
It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High.....
3.)
Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.
True, but when Adam did get deceived as well. He got deceived by Eve. The Doctrine of Original Sin came from the fact both Adam AND Eve fell temptation to Satan, and fell into sin. Not just Eve, making the idea of Men being superior to Women completely ridiculous. 4.)
But women will be saved through childbearing-if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with propriety.
This contradicts the idea that we are saved by grace through faith found throughout Paul's teachings. It appears to be works-righteousness. What was Paul trying to say here? Honestly, I don't have an answer for that. I do think Paul was letting his secular beliefs into his writings. Paul states in 1 Corinthians 11:8-12,
For man did not come from women, but women from man. For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head. In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.
Yes, man did come first. However, man and woman are equal in the eyes of God. Both are creations of his, and both deserve equal respect. Do not hold women lower than men. (I could also turn this into a political post, but I won't). I have a love/hate relationship with Paul. Some of the stuff he says I think is great, while some other things I disagree with him. I remind myself that I'm a Christian; not a Paulinian. Are Paul's writings fit to be included in the Bible? Are there other writings out there that are better suited for the Bible?
The following is an open letter that I have sent to Mike Huckabee.
Dear Mr. Huckabee,
I have to say, even though I am Democrat, I like you. You don't seem to be a crazy maniac when it comes to being Republican. I respect you for that.
However, I do have to say one thing. I support equal rights for the LGBT community, and I support celibate same-sex marriage (this is for another place and another time). I respect your decision on the issue, and I applaud your for organizing such a large event as Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day.
I've seen many pictures of lines nearly a mile long of people at Chick-Fil-A restaurants across the country. Something bothers me though. How come I don't see those long lines of people at church every Sunday morning? As a fellow Christian in the Lutheran tradition, I have to say it bothers me that 72% of people in Hocking County (where I am from) are not church affiliated. If you remember in Matthew 28, Jesus says, "...go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, son, and holy spirit." Why aren't we, as Christian brothers, not doing so? Why are we fighting of little prissy and minuscule stuff like same-sex marriage? Isn't it our job to proclaim the good news (gospel) of Jesus Christ? Shouldn't we focus on that instead? The two great commandments that Jesus gave were to love God and love neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40). Why aren't we doing this? Why aren't we focusing on this instead of supporting or boycotting Chick-Fil-A?
I'm not going to badmouth you or the Chick-Fil-A company, even though I don't agree with both of your decisions (this is also for another place and another time). Eat mor chikin, or don't. But for God's sake, don't stop loving.
Thank you for taking your time to read my letter. I hope it brings some good discussion among you and your colleagues in the future.
I was reading a blog post over at CyberBretheren about how to write a truly awful worship song. You can read the post here.
I've never been a fan of the "flowers and butterflies" aspect of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). They all seem the same.
"I love you.
I worship you.
You are my God."
Uh huh. Yup. Common knowledge there. Give me some substance.
I gave some advice that I use all the time when writing songs.
If you really want to write a good song, go out and slug someone in the face. Then write a song about it.
I don't really mean to go out and slug your pastor or your mother. What I mean is that you should use your life experiences as material.
Here's something I wrote back on April 11, 2011 based on Psalm 25.
*Show me your ways, Oh, Lord.teach me your paths ?????????Guide me in truth and teach meRemember Me! Oh Lord, Remember Me.
Remember not the sin of my youth.Remember not the sin of today,According to your love, Remember Me.For you are good, Oh Lord, Remember Me!
The troubles of my heart have multiplied.Free me from my anguish and my sinMay integrity protect me.Let me not be put to shame, Remember Me!
After reading it through, I figured there was not enough pain and pleading in this song -- now that I look back, it's more like a poem then a song -- so I rewrote it.
**Show me your ways, Precious Lord.
To you, I life up my weary soul.
Guide me in truth and teach me
Remember me! Oh Lord, Remember me!
Remember not the sin of my youth.
Remember not the sin of today.
Please, dear God! Pardon my guilt.
Remember me! Oh Lord, Remember me!
Relieve the troubles of my heart.
Free me from my anguish and my sin,
Please let integrity protect me.
Remember me! Oh Lord, Remember me!
Consider how many brothers are my foes
and with violent hatred, they hate me.
Oh, guard my life, and protect me.
Remember me! Oh Lord, Remember me!
I don't know if I'm still happy with this, but you gotta start somewhere, right?
Sorry for not posting lately. Not much to say. I've been doing a lot of yard work (trimming trees, tearing out bushes, etc). I've also been dealing with a case of identity theft, so that's taking up a lot of my energy trying to get that sorted out. I've been to the bank many times and have been to the sheriff's office many times.
I've been reading John as part of the New Testament in a Year class at my church, and was struck by the following section. You can read mine below, or you can use the new Blogger Bible feature to the very left of your screen. (<--- over there).
John 12:1-3
Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, and expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
One would not typically anoint the feet of a living person. He or she would wash the head. You would only wash the feet if someone were dead. Mary was (rather unconsciously) preparing Jesus for burial, even though he was still alive -- although he wouldn't be for long.
John 12:4-6
But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
As each gospel was written, it seemed to me that as time progressed, each gospel portrayed Judas as being more and more evil. I recall Mark simply saying that Judas betrayed Jesus. Matthew and Luke both call him a traitor, and John gives a whole spiel about Judas' thievery. John writes about Judas' bad character even before the betrayal. He breaks away from the story at hand to step up on his soap box.
One thing I have noticed with all four gospels is that they all clearly state that Judas was the betrayer, even before it was to happen in the story. You see, "Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, did yada yada yada....." I'm always like, "Why did you (the author) give it away!?" It's a bad move to give away information like that. It's like me telling you that the dad dies in the movie The Road. "The father, who later dies, caught the man who stole their cart of food and clothes and made him strip naked." See? I gave it away. It doesn't makes sense for me to do that. Why did the gospel writers do that? I guess they expect the reader to be familiar with the story of Jesus and who Judas was. Still, if the reader knew who Judas Iscariot was, why even mention him as the betrayer? This just doesn't make any sense to me.
John 12:7
"Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."
Jesus is basically saying, "The poor have been poor for years. They can wait a few more minutes."
John 12-8-11
Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, who he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.
It's interesting to note how the high priests want to kill Lazarus. However, you don't see this happen. This never got past the planning stages. I guess they had too much on their plates (Jesus) to deal with Lazarus. In the movie The Last Temptation of Christ, Lazarus is seen being killed by Saul to discredit Jesus.
____________
Go out and buy the book The Road by Cormac McCarthy (of No Country for Old Men fame) and read it. It's incredibly tragic. After reading it, go watch the movie. Both are heart-wrenching and you WILL cry. This is probably one of my favorite fiction books of all time.
Today, one day after sentencing William Inman II to life in prison without the possibility of parole, I was interviewed by NBC4 out of Columbus, Ohio, and the Columbus Dispatch.
I was interviewed by NBC4's Steve Wainfor for a news segment on the 5 o'clock news. You can watch the resulting video here.
In this blog, I will try to simplify the case as much as I can in laymen's terms.
Evidence
We were shown nearly 190 piece of evidence. However, only one piece of evidence tied the whole crime together. The GPS unit was the only thing GIVEN to the detectives, and it was the one thing that we found to be the defining aspect of our guilty verdict. Without the GPS, the detectives would never have known that the Inmans went to two car washes, (both had recoverable security camera footage), and an auto salvage store, where the Inmans switched the tires on their white 2003 Ford Crown Victoria, a former Streetsboro Police Department car. The second car wash showed the Inmans appear to clean the car and remove the spotlight on the driver side "A pillar," (the one closest to the front of the car).
The owner of the auto salvage store stated during testimony that William Inman I (dad) had bought tires that were not as good condition as the tires that were on the car.
The GPS corresponded with a cell phone call that was made by the younger Inman in front of the Logan WalMart store. Willie made this call to Summer to state that he was broken down near Mansfield and was not able to pick up the kids that day. He was not in Mansfield, he was circling Logan waiting until Summer got off of work. He lied to the police, and he lied to Summer.
I do have to add one thing. Many people are saying that "oh they had 190 pieces of evidence, but one convinced them. They must be stupid." Listen. An overwhelming majority of the evidence was pictures of the same thing, taken from different angles. I think there were 20 pictures of the outside of the car......
Verdict
While looking through the evidence during deliberation, we found no evidence that William Inman II pulled the zip tie around Summer Inman's neck because any fingerprint evidence was destroyed when Summer's body was dumped in the septic tank of the Faith Tabernacle Church near Nelsonville, Ohio, (this is the same church where Summer and Willie met and were married). However, while we did conclude that Willie was involved, we were not convinced that he was the sole proprietor (or principle offender, as the instructions said). This simply means that Willie may have pulled the zip tie, but we found no evidence to show us that. I know this is hard for people to accept, but this is how it's done in the court of law. For this case, there were two stipulations for each aggravated murder charge (the highest form of murder in the state of Ohio).
Stipulation 1: William Inman II was the principle offender Stipulation 2: William Inman II was a conspirator, and was involved with the murder, but did not necessarily pull the zip tie.
According to Ohio law, these two are to be deemed equal, and should be treated equally.
Sentencing
As mentioned in the Columbus Dispatch article, my first response was that Willie should get life with the possibility of parole after 30 years. I was quickly persuaded though to accept life with no possibility of parole.
I must stress that no one was forced or pressured into the verdict. Everyone was eventually convinced that life in prison without parole was necessary.
We felt that the mitigating factors outweighed the aggravating offenses.
Mitigating factors: William Inman II was, emotionally and psychologically, a 12-13 year old (even though he is 26). He was spoiled by mom, with no restrictions or discipline, and a controlling father. He had no self-identity and was wholly dependent on mom and dad to do everything. Aggravated offenses: William Inman II was a conspirator, and involved with the murder, but did not necessarily pull the zip tie.
Because of our decision, death was to not be imposed, as per instructions from Judge Wallace.
Comments
I personally am against the death penalty, but because it was a secular institution, and because it was law, I felt that I would have been able to sign my name to put William Inman II to death.
Here are some comments that I am seeing on Facebook and the various news sources.
OMG this story is so scary! To think that he could have gotten away with this horrible gruesome murder if not for the GPS.Did the jury not hear or see all the 191 pieces of evidence? I am so sick of people crying about there childhood and using it as an excuse to kill someone.My Daddy made me do it. Bullsh--! He wanted to do it! I hope the next two juries are smarter then this one!
WELL IT'S A DAM SHAME THAT TAX PAYERS ARE GOING TO HAVE TO PAY TO KEEP HIM FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE,I SAW THIS MAN IN JAIL AND HE COULD CARE LESS THAT HE IS THERE,IT'S A FREE RIDE FOR HIM!! THEY SHOULD TAKE HIS LIFE THE SAME WAY HE TOOK SUMMERS!!!!!!!
(My favorite) He deserved to be eaten alive by wild dogs instead of afree ride at taxpayer's expense for the next 60 years.
weak. Why dont they sentence people to death anymore? I swear, we ahve to many people who are too sensitive to people getting punished. Oh well, were all going to pay for his living exspenses. Thank you Jury who voted for life w/o parole.
Should have got the death penalty ! Mental issues is a cop out excuse , if you can figure out how to kill someone u deserve the same !
Such a sleaze!!!!!
They should stuff him in a septic tank.
Then let those jurors pay for his time in prison because I do not want to pay for every meal he has that keeps him alive, all the water and soap to keep him clean and feeling good, the electricity used to power anything to help him read books or news papers. I don't want to pay for that and I'm sure nobody else does either
I still think they ought to tie him up in the town square and let the residents have a go at him. Instead we get to support him for the rest of his sorry life. :/
don't like we are paying for his keep, but the death penalty is too easy for him, he deserves so much more I agree with *********
If this is your first time to my blog, you probably should know that I suffer from clinical depression. I was first diagnosed with depression back in about fourth grade. In September of 2008, I was in a downward spiral, emotionally, mentally, and physically. I was dealing with a lot of issues concerning schooling, family, and friends. The medications that I was taking weren't working. I attempted suicide on September 17, 2008 in my home outside of Logan, (thankfully I was treated and released from the hospital the same night). I think the depression was brought on by the torment and bullying that I experienced all throughout school by the rotten spoiled rich kids. It has affected my life drastically that I have to seek counseling and have to take medication everyday. Folks, psychological issues are real. These feelings don't just come and go, they come and they stay. They stay for long periods of time. They affect my life, my relationships, and my family and friends.
Taxpayer Cost
The one thing that I see consistently is that the taxpayers shouldn't keep him alive. In Texas, it costs nearly 4 times more money to put someone to death than to keep someone alive. Check out this website to see how much it costs to put someone to death. We were to not consider the taxpayer cost in our deliberation.
Emotions
I also see a lot of people putting their emotions into this. Putting your emotions and preconceived notions forward was the thing you should NOT do in jury. You have to consider the facts and evidence shown, and NOTHING ELSE.
Advice For Future Jurors
I was asked by Steve Wainfor for some advice to future jurors:
1.) Do not let your emotions show, and do not let your emotions cloud your focus
2.) Leave all your perceived notions outside, and focus only on the facts and evidence.
3.) Leave your baggage and anger outside the courtroom.
Why did I do this? I believe that jury duty is a very serious job. I treated it like a job. I did my job, even if I didn't like some aspects of it. Anyone who has a job dislikes something about it. My mother, who is a clerk, hates doing things more than once. I kept my Christian beliefs out of this because I felt that this was not the appropriate time to bring it up or to be "religious." Remember: Separation of church and state.
God bless the family and friends of Summer Cook-Inman in their time of pain.
In case you didn't know, I was juror number 181 in the trial of the State of Ohio vs. William Inman II. On Tuesday, we convicted Willie of 2 counts of aggravated murder, kidnapping, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a corpse. Today, we just sentenced Willie to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. We all did what we felt was best.
March 22, 2011, Summer Cook-Inman had just clocked out of her job at the Century National Bank in downtown Logan, Ohio. Her estranged husband, William Inman II, father-in-law William Inman I, and mother-in-law, Sandra Inman, were all arrested days later.
Sandra confessed to Logan Police that the family had kidnapped, murdered, and dumped Summer's body in a church septic tank.
She was found a week later with a large zip tie around her neck, and three zip ties around her wrists.
We just finished the sentencing and final phase of William Inman II's trail.
Willie could have faced the death penalty. I'm morally against putting someone to death, but I would have been willing to do so.
The 10 Commandments say thou shall not murder. There is a difference between killing and murder. The taking of one's life for justice is not murder.
I was looking through an old book at my church today before a wedding rehearsal and I found three really interesting articles that involve Capital University, where I attend school. These articles come from around the 1920s.
Palestine Student at Capital Dies
Afif Nicola Shahla, 26, a native of Palestine who was enrolled in the Theological Seminary of Capital University, died late Tuesday at Mt. Caramel Hospital following an operation of appendicitis. He was widely known thruout [sic] the state by his lectures on the Holy Land
Student Dies
Palestine Youth Succumbs To Appendicitis Attacks
Funeral services for Afif Nicola Shahla, 26, a native on Palestine an a student in the Theological Seminary of Capital University, who died Tuesday evening in Mt. Caremel Hospital, will be held at Christ Lutheran Church in Bexley, of which he was a member. Death followed an operation for appendicitis. he had been ill for 11 weeks.
Shahla was born in Jerusalem and was a shepherd boy in Palestine for 12 years. He worked for the British government for two years and came to this country in 1921. He entered Capital in 1922 and would have been graduated in another year. He was a naturalized citizen of this country.
Shahla paid for his college expenses by delivering lectures on the Holy Land. He leaves his parents, five brothers and five sisters, all living in Jerusalem. Burial in Eastlawn Burial Park.
Mr. and Mrs. Otto Schenk
Wheeling, W. VA. leading benefactors of Capital University, are shown above congratulating President Otto Mees of Capital University (right) on the celebration of his forty-ninth birthday.
Mr. and Mrs. Schenk were in Columbus this week to attend the opera, "Rigpletto," Wednesday night. THey were donors of the [destroyed] which made possible the [destroyed portion of article] of the Divinity Hall the building which houses the theological seminary of Capital University, and which is one of the finest examples of collegiate Gothic architecture in the county. They, in company with Dr. and Mrs. Mees dined at the new girls' dormitory Wednesday evening, and Mr. Schenk addressed the co-eds.
He has said that is very anxious to see the further growth of Capital university, and intimated that he is willing to give his financial aid to the expensive [rest of article destroyed].
I thought these articles were interesting, since they predate the founding of Trinity Lutheran Seminary.
I've recently gotten back into hiking (mainly for my health). I went along Ohio's Buckeye Trail for a little while today and took some pictures. Enjoy!
If anyone has any information, I'm curious as to the source of mysterious blue wood that I always find along the Buckeye Trail. Thanks for any help! The second to last picture here is of the blue blaze that signifies the Buckeye Trail. I'm looking for information on the third to the last picture, and the piece in my hand at the end of the third row.
Stormy Rich, 18, was riding a school bus when she noticed a special needs student being bullied. She consistently told the bus driver and administrators what was happening to this young woman who was being bullied.
Yet, the administrators shut her up by suspender her for bullying, and not the students she was reporting.
You all know that I am a big advocate for anti-bullying legislation, but school administrators need to be careful who they consider bullies.
Suspending Rich because she turned in other students for bullying is like taking the batteries out of a smoke detector when it is going off and saying look the fire must be out.
Here's what I say. After reading this article, and many others like it, and writing a research paper on it, I have come to this conclusion: SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS ARE DUMBER THAN BOXES OF ROCKS.
Fire ALL administrators in the Lake County Schools. Fire the bus driver for not doing anything. Screw policy. Use COMMON SENSE. Not Zero Tolerance. The administration should be ashamed of their hypocrisy. The press needs to keep this issue afloat and in the mainstream to pressure schools to not screw up like this again. Shameful.
When geologist study earthquake activity, they look for layers of sediment in the rock that are disturbed.
There are four major types of earthquakes, and they are described here. Just pay attention to letter B. Don't worry about letter A.
Scientists are able to calculate the date when the earthquake happened by looking at the surrounding sediments and rock layers like you would look for rings on a tree trunk. The older the rock layer, the further back in history that rock layer goes.
The author of the article above summarizes a paper written by Colin Humphreys and Graeme Waddington.
All four gospels and Tacitus in Annals (XV,44) agree that the crucifixion occurred when Pontius Pilate was procurator of Judea from 26-36 AD.
All four gospels say the crucifixion occurred on a Friday.
All four gospels agree that Jesus died a few hours before the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath (nightfall on a Friday).
The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) indicate that Jesus died before nightfall on the 14th day of Nisan; right before the start of the Passover meal.
John’s gospel differs from the synoptics; apparently indicating that Jesus died before nightfall on the 15th day of Nisan.
Since the calendar has changed several times since Jesus' time, these changes have been factored in and a highly possible date (in today's calendar) is April 3, 33.
This article briefly mentioned the fact that 3 gospels describe a darkness coming over the land after Jesus' death. This makes me wonder if a volcano somewhere erupted. Volcanos and earthquakes go hand in hand, as they both are features in the Tectonic Plate theory. This theory states that the earth is covered is chunks of crust called "plates," and that these plates are not stationary. When a volcano happens, an earthquake is bound to happen as well. The area around the Pacific Ocean is called the "Ring Of Fire" because of the various collisions and sliding of the plates.
These plates slide against each other (San Andreas fault in California, where the "Big One" is suppose to happen), the collide with each other (Mount Everest, which is constantly growing taller), and pull away from each other (Mount St. Helen's). See the picture above. When plates pull away from each other, the magma underneath becomes exposed, and possibly becomes pressurized and gets released on the crust of the earth, creating a volcano. The resulting ash and dust can cover a large area. This dust and ash can be the darkness that is described in the gospels.
I am currently transferring some old reel to reel tapes of Dr. J. Vernon McGee for the folks at Church of The Open Door in California right now, and one of the tapes is a sermon called "The Prodigal Family," originally preached on December 4, 1966. Of the five sides of tape I have transferred so far, this is the most interesting sermon so far.....Here's why.....
Dr. McGee first gives some definitions of some of the names in the book of Ruth, where the majority of this sermon takes place.
Bethlehem: House Of Bread Judah: Praise Moab: God's "washbasin" (see Psalm 108:9) Elimelech: God is my King Naomi: pleasant; "Mary Sunshine" as Dr. McGee said because of her chipper and positive attitude Mahlon: unhealthy Chilion: puny
Alright. Since Elimelech left Bethlehem (House of Bread) because of a famine, he went to Moab (God's washbasin, or God's trashcan).
This family tree is from Wikipedia.
Now, since Ruth was a Moabite, she was a God's Trashcanian. Since Obed was Moabite, he was God's Trashcanian. Since Jesse had Moabite blood in him, God's Trashcanian blood ran in him. Since David had Moabite blood in him, God's Trashcanian blood ran in him.
Go to Matthew and read the genealogy of Jesus. Jesus is a descendent of David.
Hi folks. This is a shameless plug for my company. Jesse Harmon Productions now offers tape, vinyl, and shellac transfer to CD, tape, and flash drive.
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Reel to reel tapes will be coming soon. I just have to get my reel to reel tape machine fixed. Head on over to my website for more details.
I looked up Congressman Gipson's email address because I wanted to express my concerns to him in a polite way, so I sent him this email.
Dear Congressman Gipson,
Please carefully and prayerfully consider what I have written in this email.
Since you are a politician and a worker in a SECULAR institution, I believe you should keep your faith and religion out of your secular work. If the United States Government were to be a sacred institution, our democracy would in fact be called a Theocracy, much like that of Iran or of ancient Hebrews.
However, I do have to point out the error in your judgment.
The Old Testament became moot the second Christ died on the cross. The laws in Leviticus are from something called the Holiness Code, which was written for the children of Israel. Christians do not need to follow these laws.
Jesus said he came here to fulfill the law and prophets. We are to follow the words of Jesus. Not the words Moses wrote in Leviticus. Moses is dead. Christ took over, and he still reigns today.
Reread Matthew 7 all the way through. Ask yourself, "Who said this?" Then you can decide whether or not it's your place to judge someone.
It probably shames and saddens God that humans have ridiculed, taunted, teased, beaten, raped, and murdered homosexuals. These things are hateful and wrong and anyone who does these things in the name of Jesus need to repent right NOW.
One of the bad things about we Christians is that we put sins in an order. We put several sins in groups and put them in order of how bad we think they are.....ALL sins are bad and need equal treatment. Not just homosexuality.
Sir, might I ask, what are your sins?
My sins include, but are not limited to, these.
lust
greed
anger
arrogance
bitterness
condemnation
doubting God’s presence (this is a big one for me)
hate
selfishness
swearing
ungratefulness
disobeying God’s will
worshipping false idols (another big one for me)
sexual immorality
All these are just as bad as (and sometimes worse than) homosexuality.
Congressman, I do hope you look back at your remarks and see how you have hurt so many people. Please ask God to help you and to forgive you.
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to read this.
Jesse
I completely forgot a very important point though. I forgot to mention that I do not think he was calling for the killing of thousands of people. I knew what he was trying to say, but his choice of words and Biblical verses were wrong.
I sincerely and whole-heartedly believe everything I said in my email to Mr. Gipson. I believe that our morals are different from the morals of Moses' time. I believe that Jesus came here to take our sins away. I believe that ALL sins are bad, not just the cherry-picked ones that are easy to fight. I believe in respect and tolerance for ALL human beings, no matter what race, religion, political party, sexual orientation, and gender orientation. I believe Matthew 7 is one of the most important chapters in the Bible because it tells us not to do the one thing that humans are known to do the most; judge.
I'm sorry to inform you, but the Holy Bible is not United States Law.
A K-Mart store in Kentucky is going out of business. A man decided that he was going to buy up the rest of the stock, and donate it to charity.......Read the article below.....
We as Lutherans see the only way to righteousness is through faith. That's all hunky-dory and everything, but what does God REALLY think?
If you regularly read my blog, you know that my church hands out water bottles to people stopped at red lights in town. We are also encouraged to pay for the meals of other people in the restaurant or fast-food drive thru.
This man, however, BOUGHT AN ENTIRE STORE'S STOCK and donated it to charity.........I used to say doing good deeds makes you a real Christian. Is this true? I want to think so, but the Bible doesn't.
Romans 3:21-26
But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.This righteousness is given through faith inJesus Christ to all who believe.There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,through the shedding of his blood —to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished —he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
This man has a big heart, and an empty wallet now. I'd like to see him as a true Christian.....
Last year, in June, my mother was getting the mail (or doing something outside) when she saw a man with a large backpack walking down the road we live on. He stopped by and chatted a little bit with mom. His name isAlastair McCandless, and he is walking across the entire United States to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. Here is the organization's mission and purpose.
To raise awareness and enlist the public's aid for the needs of injured service members.
To help injured service members aid and assist each other.
To provide unique, direct programs and services to meet the needs of injured service members.
Mom came back inside and got him a bottle of water. They chatted for a few minutes about dad and his liver transplant that he had back in December of 2010, and his broken hip a few months later. She then told him about how he had missed several major festivals around the area: The Nelsonville Music Festival (where I had seen rockabilly and country artist Wanda Jackson), the Moonshine Festival (where I had seen Tommy Cash, brother of the late Johnny Cash), and the Washboard Music Festival. Later that night, Mr. McCandless wrote a blog about his meeting with my mother. You can read that blog post here. His entire blog is very interesting and very funny.
I was thinking about this chance encounter, and what my mother and Mr. McCandless talked about, I was reminded of this week's Gospel lesson and sermon at church.
John 15: 12-13[Jesus said,] "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." (NRSV)
Dad has Hepatitis C, which is a disease that kills the liver. The liver filters out the ammonia from the body, and when the liver is dying (or dead), the ammonia builds up in the brain. For about six months, dad was not dad. He was confused as to where he was, and maybe as to who he was. He had taken a leave of absence at work in May of 2010 just after I graduated from high school, and was finally admitted to the hospital in October after a terrible fall. He was not doing well between October and December. The last day of the semester at Capital University was the day the Cleveland Clinic called because they had found a new liver for dad. I was not home two hours when that call came in. I remember it seemed like it took us a whole day to drive from our humble abode in Southeastern Ohio to the bustling city of Cleveland. I remember mom, my sister, and I were all silent the whole way up, save for a few words about going to the bathroom. Also, I remember it was snowing, making our trip take longer than usual.
Dad received his liver early the next morning around 3am. The surgery lasted until noon, where he lost nearly 25 liters of blood, a VERY large amount seeing that the body only holds about 7 liters. We went up after the surgery to ICU. Four years prior when mom, dad, and I took some time away from work and school to go to Cleveland for 3 days to get some tests done, we went around the whole Cleveland Clinic complex. We walked into ICU to check it out. I guess we did that so we can expect what to see when the actual surgery happened. It didn't frighten me like usual. Only two of us could go see dad, so I stayed behind while my sister and mom went into the room. When my sister came out, I went in. Dad had a respirator on, and two skin-colored pads on his cheeks holding it in. The nurse there was shaving his face with a Gillette safety razor around the various tubes, knobs, buttons, and switches that were implanted in him. We asked the nurse if he could be woken up, so she woke him up with some sort of medicine through his Peripherally inserted central catheter. We talked to him a little, but he was still under a lot of drugs so he couldn't communicate very well.
Mom told him that he had lost 25 liters of blood, and his eyes widened and he pointed up to God with his hands still restrained to the bed. We told him we loved him and that he will be ok, so he patted our hands. The nurse then put dad back to sleep.
I honestly expected dad to be much worse.
We don't know much about the woman who passed away, but we do know that her organs were donated to save the lives of many, including my dad. I think this kind of thing is what Jesus was talking about when he said to give one's life to his or her friend, (even if they don't know each other at all). This woman died (how? I don't think it really matters), and her body helped save the lives of many others.
