Paging Mr Frizzell, Mr Lefty Frizzell

'Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.' ~ II Corinthians 6:2b

‘Let the people assemble at the appointed time, that all being present at the beginning they may unite with one heart in all the parts of public worship. Let none unnecessarily depart until after the blessing be pronounced.’ ~ Presbyterian Church in America Book of Church Order (49-2).

I have to admit that punctuality is very important to me. My daddy raised me with the understanding that being ten minutes early is being on time and being on time is being late. In fact, it's preferable to be 20 minutes early if at all possible. Jorja likes to joke with me about this; I'm usually at least half-an-hour early to our small group meetings.

Of course, marriage and parenthood have ways of thwarting the best of my intentions. Although not what one would describe as serially tardy, Ashlee has never been one to obsess over being early. (It is a running joke that, if her family says they are leaving at a certain time, you can add 20 minutes to it.) Still, I have had to adjust my peculiarities regarding time to meet her more in the middle and, thank the Lord, it has been a pretty easy endeavour--with the result that we are usually on time. (Which, I'm told, is surprisingly agreeable to most people in our society.)

Enter Gracie Mae.

Having a child increases the chances of tardiness exponentially; still, we have managed to maintain an acceptable amount semi-punctuality, in no small part due to my phobia I am sure. I have already begun to steel myself for Covenant Children 2, 3, 4, 5 (and 6?) and the attendant time issues that I have no doubt will accompany their arrivals.

Still, when it comes to worship, I think that we should make whatever herculean efforts that may be required to arrive at church on time--by my daddy's definition, which means early. In that vein, we do our best to leave the house 45 minutes before Sunday School is scheduled to begin. Because it is usually a 35-minute drive, such provides for a 10-minute cushion in case we should (in God's Providence) run into any unforeseen circumstances.

It just seems to me that the standard in our society is to shoot for getting somewhere right on time but, should we arrive a few minutes late, it is acceptable and they'll wait for us. But, although I have failed several times recently in that regard, I don't want that for me and my family.

With God's help, I'm going to make an increased effort to get the Lees to church on time. Early.

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"Major, why did you not run when you saw your command was thus disabled?” Stonewall Jackson replied, “I was not ordered to do so. If I had been ordered to run, I should have done so. But I was directed to hold my position, and I had no right to abandon it."

‘Michael Vick made the mistake of killing and maiming dogs, and PETA in turn organized marches and protests and generally made his life miserable. However, had Vick been financing an abortion clinic, no doubt he would be a hero in the media.’


‘Here, then, is a prominent duty, if we would save our country, that we shall carry our citizenship in the kingdom of heaven everywhere, and make it dominate over every public act. We must obey the law of God rather than the unrighteous behests of party, to “choose out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them to be rulers,” or God will assuredly avenge Himself for our violated allegiance to him. The Christians of this country must sternly claim that wicked or reckless men shall no longer hold the helm of state; that political orthodoxy shall no longer atone for the worst offense against citizenship, a wicked life.’ ~ Rev. R. L. Dabney

‘Freedom brings us all together. We can all agree on leaving people alone to plan and live their own lives, rather than trying to force them to obey at the point of a gun, as runaway government does.’ ~ Presidential Candidate Ron Paul of Texas


'Some folks are born with star-spangled eyes

Ooh, they'll send you down to war.

But when you ask 'em, "How much should we give?"

Ooh, they only answer, "More--more--more."'

~ Creedence Clearwater Revival, Fortunate Son


Mr Potter, your table is ready.

There's no crying in the Happy Hat!!!

A Massachusetts man handcuffed and hauled to jail after he objected to a public school teaching his kindergarten-age son about homosexuality has gone to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking justice.

‘I don't want young people thinking that half-dressing is the way to go. I want them to think about their future.’


‘When we consider the possibility that God used evolutionary processes to create over millions of years, we are faced with serious consequences: the Word of God is no longer authoritative, and the character of our loving God is questioned.’

I'm a lumberjack and I'm o.k. ...

'He said the measure sought "a more fair distribution of the sunrise," which would particularly help poor children who wake up before dawn to go to school.'

Here's just a little something for the ladies!