From time to time I find things worthy of discussion... they may be in the news... or in the ultimate wisdom of God's Word.
Churches – Large and Small
There has been a debate for some time about whether a small church or large church is the best place to be. I can only talk about my experiences. Over the past several decades we have seen the development of mega churches... particularly in the evangelical community. So…
You are walking into church on beautiful Sunday morning. Off to one side you see a man in shabby clothes get out of his equally shabby car. He drops his cigarette to the ground and steps on it. You think to yourself something like “can't that guy dress a little better and show some respect when he g…
I was listening to a pastor explaining why additional Bible study classes were necessary for those looking to go beyond a surface understanding of the scripture. He said there were of many new people and new Christians in the Sunday morning services and they didn't have the preparation for some of d…
Often when event takes place, it triggers a whole string of other events – some expected, and some come completely as a surprise. For instance, when satan saw Jesus teaching about the kingdom of God, performing miracles with many people following Him, he did everything he could to stop the Son of Go…
Having been around to remember the assassination of John Kennedy and his brother Bobby, Martin Luther King Jr, Medgar Evers and Malcolm X, and now, Charlie Kirk along with multiple attempts on President Trump's life as well as attacks on innocent school children, it appears that things that just d…
A short time before his passing, Hulk Hogan gave an interview where he talked about the reality of the spiritual world and the illusion of reality in the physical world. When I was a young man, I heard this from several people but really did not comprehend what they were telling me. Many people toda…
A few weeks ago I spent a glorious week in Clearwater FL. My room had a great view of the intracoastal waterway and Clearwater Beach. Unfortunately since I was in Morton Plant Hospital for triple bypass surgery, I didn't have the opportunity to enjoy it very often. The people there were first class …
After the thrilling finish of this year's Indianapolis 500 ever intrusive television camera's found second place finisher, Marcus Ericsson, quietly weeping for coming with one second of winning the big prize. This emotional response, especially when the margin is slight, comes about when you have th…
When I was in Junior High School, like many of us in the late fifties and early sixties, I was fascinated by the thought of space travel. Along with several class mates we built large scale models of the rockets we were reading about in the papers and magazines. On May 5, 1961 we all filed in to the…
I was sitting listening to my Pandora channel of old time rock'n roll. Thankful that I grew up in a simpler, happier time. No computers, no cell phones. Happy, feel good music on the AM radio as I cruised down Broad St in my Tri-Power Pontiac. My needs were simple and I had pretty much everything a …
Churches – Large and Small
There has been a debate for some time about whether a small church or large church is the best place to be. I can only talk about my experiences. Over the past several decades we have seen the development of mega churches... particularly in the evangelical community. Some see this as an impediment to the church actually fulfilling it's function in the world and other see it as the way the church really should be working.
Those who choose to attend a more local community church appreciate knowing pretty much every one in the body. This is the kind of church I grew up in and the music was generally the hymns of the church that brought comfort to the members in times of trouble and joy. People pitched in when there was a need. We lived in rural Pennsylvania at the time and there was a family in a neighboring church whose barn was burned to the ground. The members of their church got together and built them another one.
These organizations were run by a pastor and a fairly small staff with member volunteers handling most of the work. At times these volunteers confused their opinion with biblical mandate and an occasional squabble would arise. Often they were resolved with a few ruffled feathers, but at times, they led to factions going their own separate ways.
On the other hand, some churches turned their focus outward, looking beyond the scope of their current membership to those in the area that had no connection to their Creator. Most of the time there was a genuine concern for the lost neighbors, even though a few ego driven, numbers seeking leaders were more concerned about building their brand and status.
Whether real, imagined, or statistically driven, changes were made to the operation of these churches as they desired to bring in new people. Leaders believed people would be put off by “old fashioned” church music. (I discussed here this a few weeks ago) They have substituted theologically correct but sometimes musically lacking contemporary worship music that often contains much repetition – as in helping newcomers get a few things settled in their minds. The “sermon” became a “Bible study”. “Sunday school” became a variety of names... I think the current term at my church is “life group”
Bible studies did not go as deep as before and are often geared to the new comer, or “seeker”. Those desiring an better knowledge of the Word of God were encouraged to go to their life group or other classes scheduled to help the new believer grow.
All these changes are enough to encourage those looking for a traditional body where they can feel comfortable to find such churches in the area. Some church growth gurus believe this is a good thing. I'm not sure making any members, new or old, feel unwelcome is the best idea. Most others accept the changes, some with enthusiasm and other grudgingly.
So, is this a good thing or not? I can't speak for all mega churches, only the one that I am part of. There are some inconveniences to the old members and many of the new members don't appreciate what has gone on before. With the steady steam of new music coming along they may never have the kind of connection we had to the John Newton and Amazing Grace or even Bill Gaither and He Touched Me.
With all the seeming negatives with a large church bringing people in from the community, are the benefits that keep people coming back, even when everything is not completely to their liking?
For me, the benefits can be summed up in one number. Six hundred and fifty people were baptized last year, some in the auditorium (not sanctuary any more) of my church and some on the beach of the Gulf of America. That is six hundred and fifty people who decided to accept the salvation offered by the blood of Jesus. For those who think that is no big deal – and there are churches who have seen much larger results – it comes down to the purpose of the church – making and descipling new believers.
Considering the eternal implications of the decision, THIS IS the mission of the church.
Despite the disruption of the traditional worship, our life group, or whatever we call it this year, is a place where we get to know each other, pray with each other and help each other when there is a need. As with the smaller churches, most of the work is done by member volunteers. Of course the paid staff is much larger, but so is the need and the things that have to be done, so there is plenty of opportunity to volunteer in the area that most closely fits you interest and skills.
When I look at the multi-million dollar budget, I can see that my little contribution doesn't mean that much – but if everyone thought that way, nothing would get done. So every contribution means something. When we all do our part, good things happen. I can deal with the first half hour of the Sunday service and listen to music that speaks to me at home.
As Charlie Martin has said: You have to keep the main thing the main thing.
You are walking into church on beautiful Sunday morning. Off to one side you see a man in shabby clothes get out of his equally shabby car. He drops his cigarette to the ground and steps on it. You think to yourself something like “can't that guy dress a little better and show some respect when he goes inside the house of God. He gets to the door a little before you and smiles as he holds it open for you and your family to go inside..
Once inside you overhear a couple of guys talking about the rough week they had. As they speak one of them lets a word slip out that is not used in polite company, especially at church. He looks a little embarrassed and his friends tell him it's OK. You think to yourself, “I haven't used that word in years, that guy has a ways to go.”
As you settle into your seat the choir begins to sing – and you know that you sound better than that tinny voiced soprano who has been there for ages.
Does this mean you are a terrible person? It means you aren't as far along the path to Christian maturity as you think you are. It means you are judging these people and you really don't know much about them. You don't know what struggles they have gone through and obstacles they have overcome just to be there with you in your nice clothes that beautiful Sunday morning. If you have been a believer for very long you know it is not your job to look down on such people. if you have been a believer for very long – YOU ALREADY KNOW BETTER!
What we want to look at today is another kind of comparison that limits our growth and effectiveness. You look at the pastor who dresses nicely, speaks nicely and everyone loves the caring way he treats them. You see your connection group / life group / Sunday School (whatever your church calls them) teacher and admire his knowledge of the Word. He is only slightly less holy than the pastor. You see the nursery director who has a special way with small children, making even the most anxious ones feel comfortable and loved. Even the janitor keeps the church cleaner than your own home.
Every well functioning church has people who handle the various tasks so the purposes of the church body are accomplished. You look at them and think that it is good they are there because you could never do that good a job.
Here is just one more place you have the comparison wrong. As with the people at the beginning, you may not understand what these pillars of the body had to go through before they showed up as church leaders. They are humans just like you, with human imperfections. What they have done is allowed God to use their skills and talents for a larger purpose.
Because of this, many members of the congregation shy away when asked to do something within the body or assume a position of leadership. Granted, none of us can do everything well, but each of us has something to contribute to the growth of the kingdom. The saying: “God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called”, sums it up accurately and concisely.
Knowing our abilities and interests can guide us into areas we never anticipated. For myself, I do enough to humiliate myself that I do not take part in the music ministry. That is not the call on my life. Sometimes others see abilities in you that you don't really recognize. It may be the Spirit's gentle nudging you into your place in God's program.
Whatever your place, don't let false, or excessive real, humility, cause you back away when you have the opportunity to become part of the functioning body. You may guide someone away from a tragic eternity.
These leaders do not walk on water, and they don't wear capes. They are real people, like you and me, who have allowed God to use them. What could you do that would benefit the body of believers or your neighborhood. Just remember, if God puts you in a position of any kind, He is the one who will give you the abilities to do a proper job.
I was listening to a pastor explaining why additional Bible study classes were necessary for those looking to go beyond a surface understanding of the scripture. He said there were of many new people and new Christians in the Sunday morning services and they didn't have the preparation for some of deeper studies. This brought to mind Paul's admonition to the church at Corinth that they were still consuming the milk of the gospel and had not yet progressed to the meat of the Word.
Then my mind turned to the “worship music” heard so often in these same services. While some of this is actually good music, that does not seem to be a requirement as it is often one dimensional and relies on repetition rather than skillfully crafted lyrics and melodies. Having said that, repetition, in itself, is not necessarily bad given the target audience of new believers and seekers. It is the same programming principle used by many others for nefarious purposes.
Repetition does have a way working it's way into the minds of the singers and listeners. For a few weeks I even find some phrases stuck in my head from some song that I found wanting in many areas. Then another new song would come along to replace it and the memory is gone. Some songs sing of joy but hardly produce any – at least not in the range of a Sunday evening in a Pentecostal church.
There are many contributing factors to this musical migration. I guess a large part is the tendency of younger generation to assert its own style and values – this applies to both sacred and secular music. We've seen this in early fifties when boogie woogie replaced the big bands of the forties. Then Elvis brought the country into the rock'n roll era. Then the malaise brought on by the Vietnam war turned music from the unbridled joyful enthusiasm of Little Richard to the more somber efforts like Barry McGuire's Eve of Destruction. Then on to the “classic rock”... so it goes with tastes shifting every decade or so.
The same could be said within Christian music that went from hymn books in the pews to George Beverly Shea to the Imperials, to Carmen – and so on. Times change and tastes change – but there are forces pushing and accelerating these changes beyond the generational desire for something of their own.
The music business – both secular and sacred – requires a steady stream of new material to sell to the consuming public. If I am happy with my Linda Ronstadt music, which I am, then Taylor Swift comes as a nice try. Similarly, I am happy with the Cathedrals, Jordanaires and Keith Green, and many of the things they are peddling today that give me little inspiration? Yet they push and push – gotta make a buck. So it is also an institutional effort to replace the music that has comforted people for decades... centuries even.
Change is the only constant in our lives. If we are seeking our Creator, He won't let us get too far sidetracked by either the traditional or contemporary music we are led to sing. If today's guitar strumming worship leader leaves you cold, it's good to remember that he has a responsibility to the Creator and he may be doing exactly what he is supposed be doing for the new people in the congregation. If he is not, it is a much higher power he must answer to. This is why it is essential to keep the worship leaders in our prayers just as we do the pastors.
What this means is that, just like additional study being necessary for a more complete understanding of scripture, you may find the inspiration you need at other times from other sources. For instance, I usually prepare my breakfast to the sounds of Pandora's Southern Gospel station that features the greats of the past, to which I added a little Andre Crouch. If I want some of the newer artists, I play the Karen Peck station... or for something a little more radical: Larry Norman.
The thing to remember is that Sunday morning isn't the only time to hear, appreciate and learn from Christian music – or at least it shouldn't be.
PS: If you've never heard of some of these people mentioned, check them out. You may be surprised what is out there.
Often when event takes place, it triggers a whole string of other events – some expected, and some come completely as a surprise. For instance, when satan saw Jesus teaching about the kingdom of God, performing miracles with many people following Him, he did everything he could to stop the Son of God from reaching those he came to save. Finally when satan thought he finally succeeded by having the religious leaders and Romans kill Jesus by hanging Him on the cross.
He probably celebrated the whole three days Jesus lay in the tomb. What he didn't know was that, his actions were part or God's plan and the resurrection sealed satan's fate and will eventually consign him to the lake of fire – forever. This was definitely a case of “be careful what you wish for”. Even the smartest and most devious creature cannot outwit the Creator of the universe and thwart His plans.
Charlie Kirk was a young man endowed with the gift of communicating with young people. He was a voice of reason and he convinced many of their need for a relationship with their Creator and the corresponding implications for their personal and political lives. He was effective in drawing these young people out of satan's grasp, turning them into warriors for good.
One of these young people that Charlie loved and wanted to help allowed the evil that comes with our fallen nature to fester into the hatred for this heroic speaker to the point where he became the tool of the prince of darkness to silence the voice of truth. The young man saw Kirk through the scope of this rifle, squeezed the trigger – and Charlie Kirk was dead – Turning Point, the organization he founded, was without it's leader and would now fade into nothingness. That was the plan.
But it didn't happen that way! Just as Jesus death and resurrection, along with the gift of the Holy Spirit, gave the disciples the courage and ability to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, this tragic event caused thousands, tens of thousands, and perhaps millions of Americans and others around the world to understand that now is the time to make a stand for right over wrong – good over evil.
Thousands of applications poured in for Turning Point chapters in universities and high schools through out the country. People bought Bible's and returned to churches, renewing their faith in God. Christian Broadcasting Network interviewed Jesse Watters, a Fox News program host, as he told of leaving the world of C&Es (Christmas and Easter attendees) and he began reading his Bible and taking his faith seriously.
Satan did silence one voice, but raised up thousands more. Charlie's courage in spreading the truth was multiplied as was the mass of people seeking the truth that drove his work. This is confirmed as the expansion of his ministry has been met with opposition in high places and violent demonstrations looking to put an end to Turning Point.
I can just see satan sitting in his lair, regretting his decision and plotting another attack on humanity. He won't quit until he is thrown into the lake of fire so we cannot quit watching for his evil schemes. Sometimes they look pretty good on the surface which makes our job difficult but not impossible if we cling to the Savior and listen to the Holy Spirit. We win in the end.
Note: Yes, I am aware that proper style says names should be capitalized. However the failure to do this for one name was not a mistake. It was a decision to give the accuser the respect he deserves.
Having been around to remember the assassination of John Kennedy and his brother Bobby, Martin Luther King Jr, Medgar Evers and Malcolm X, and now, Charlie Kirk along with multiple attempts on President Trump's life as well as attacks on innocent school children, it appears that things that just don't happen in this country really do happen in our country. Despite the tales we are told about the disaffected loners on some of the other killings, this lone shooter seems to be true on the last few, but is it?
On top of this, we are seeing legal action taken against political opponents in order to smear them publicly or, with success, remove them from the political game. We saw the Russian interference hoax attempt to damage Donald Trump. Despite the fact that it was proven to have no relationship to reality, it was endorsed by many people in positions of governmental authority and used as the basis for FISA warrants to spy on American citizens.
The January 6 investigators produced all sorts of specious “evidence” that there was an uprising in Washington. Somehow all this “evidence” disappeared when the new administration took office. Now we are learning that the FBI had more than 200 plain clothes agents / provocateurs, embedded in the crowd.
Many of these things were actionable crimes and as I write this James Comey has just been indicted on two counts... with more indictments to follow we are told. We will face a chorus of political revenge complaints form the left, but what else can we do when there have been attempts to subvert our political system and laws broken? Often times such shenanigans have been overlooked to keep from rocking the boat and many times the guilty parties have been charged with oversight of the criminal actions. We really cannot allow this to continue and it appears that the current administration is working in this direction.
The danger we are facing is that the party that created lawfare – the practice of using courts and contrived evidence to damage or eliminate political opponents – will use this prosecution of criminal activity as an excuse to justify more of the unproven and unprovable charges should the return to power.
Given the willingness of a segment of our population to swallow anything they want to be true as gospel, this puts more of the unbalanced and unthinking into acting as lone gunmen to take out those opposed to their agenda. While some of the earlier killings appear to be organized and promoted by those who are charged with preventing such things we have to keep in mind the CIA MK-ULTRA program that had, among other goals, the development of mind control techniques that would turn innocent subjects into assassins without their knowledge or memory.
We are told that the project was abandoned – but then we are told many things. Sirhan Sirhan claims to have no memory of his attempt to kill Robert Kennedy. After eliminating Lee Oswald, Jack Ruby acted like he didn't know why the police jumped on him and wrestled him to the ground.
I have no evidence that the deep state performed such actions with the present day shooters, but even without that, the steady barrage of negative misinformation from party leaders and the compliant press could easily enough led unstable people to act out their violent fantasies. In the days of MK-ULTRA the handler had to be in contact with the victim, today they can sit in their air conditioned offices or by their pool and scan the internet to find people primed for violence and provide the encouragement to take action. MK-ULTRA 2.0 is not outside the realm of possibility.
So the current administration is faced with the dilemma of prosecution of crimes that cannot be ignored and opening up the opposition to claims of political revenge and motivating them expand their lawfare activities – or – letting the misdeeds be swept under the rug of public opinion, thus letting them know they are not held accountable for their crimes and encouraging them to continue.
It would take the wisdom of Solomon to figure this out. I would come down on the side of doing the right thing with strength and courage rather than running off in fear. Often doing the right thing is not easy, but understanding it is simple.
A short time before his passing, Hulk Hogan gave an interview where he talked about the reality of the spiritual world and the illusion of reality in the physical world. When I was a young man, I heard this from several people but really did not comprehend what they were telling me. Many people today have the same thinking – how can anyone say that something you can see and touch not be real?
After many years, I began to understand. As an example from this motor head: I had a number of cars over the years that I really enjoyed driving and being seen in. I had a '60 TriPower Pontiac, a red '62 Chevy SS convertible with a “four speed, dual quad, positraction 409” (as the Beach Boys sang it), a '64 Pontiac GTO and a '66 Plymouth Belvidere that won me numerous trophies at the local drag strip.
I loved each of those machines and, at the time, they were my reality. Where are they now, I don't even want to think about it. Probably crushed and melted down for scrap metal years ago. They were here for a while, then they were gone. Just like the Bible tells us we are.
The same could be said for the houses I lived in over the years. They have a longer life span but they don't last forever. How many 400 year old houses are in your neighborhood. OK, when I was in Amsterdam many years ago I did see a few. I grew up in a house next to one that had been a stop on the underground railway. Mine was from the same era. The other house has been replaced by a doughnut shop and mine with a parking lot and small park.
We are not here forever and neither are the things we work for and spend our money on. That “reality” is a disappearing reality. I could go on about clothing where you get the latest style and next season it's out of fashion and you have to get something newer... or it just plain wears out. What used to be my favorite shirt is now one I wear when I am working around the house or car.
When we measure our reality by the things around us and the things we own, we have a shifting version that is constantly changing and has no guarantee of being there tomorrow. A long time ago we were awakened by flashing red lights out in our street. I looked at the window and saw flames coming from the house across the street. A little boy ran back in to get his jacket, but in the morning, the house was gone and so was the little boy. Things changed over night.
Last fall, we had two hurricanes hit our area within a few weeks of each other. Beautiful homes by the water now were submerged in four feet of water. More lives turned upside down.
I guess with all these changes, many people are still trying to hold on to the material world that they can see and touch as their “reality”, but there are things that don't change, they don't disappear over night. That is in the unseen spiritual world.
The Bible tells us that God, our Creator, is the same yesterday, today and forever. It says that the same spirit that gave wisdom to the Apostle Paul is still alive and well in the lives of those who accept Him. This is a reality that doesn't change with seasons or the fashion magazines or the rising and falling of the stock market. Paul talks about being content when he had plenty and when he had little because, in the big picture, those were all temporary circumstances.
So which reality is the best reality... one that can be snatched away in a moment or one that will still be there no matter what happens. The choice is ours and our choices determine our futures.
A few weeks ago I spent a glorious week in Clearwater FL. My room had a great view of the intracoastal waterway and Clearwater Beach. Unfortunately since I was in Morton Plant Hospital for triple bypass surgery, I didn't have the opportunity to enjoy it very often. The people there were first class and I received very good care.
However, as two nurses were figuring out what to do about the sore on my left buttock, it occurred to me: there is no dignity in the hospital. First, they start you out with those ridiculous gowns, then they come wandering into your room at all hours of the night. My favorites were the merry band of x-ray techs that burst in every night around 3 AM. One shoved a board under my back and the other took the picture.
All the patients suffered the same indignities. I tried to moderate it by wearing a robe, but to limited effect. We accepted it because we all needed something and all the wires and tubes attached to us made the gowns part of the deal.
It didn't matter if we arrived in a new Lexus or twenty year old Honda, or even had an original Shelby Cobra at home in the garage. It didn't matter if they wore Armani suits, Walmart jeans or Jimmy Buffet Hawaiian shirts. It didn't matter if they had a high rise condo, a small rented house, or a home on the water. We were all there seeking the same care and receiving it. Hopefully everyone went home with the mission accomplished.
Sometimes it seems to be just the opposite when we gather at our church. We see the some fancy cars in the parking lot and how people dress. We may even know where some of them live. But this is just the veneer that is obvious to all and there are some people who are quick to size up other members and interact with them based on these visible factors.
They are irrelevant! Coming into a house of worship is not the place to show everyone how much we have things together, but to get help becoming more like our Creator. The church is a hospital for the sick... and if we make out like we have no needs we miss out on the value of attending. This involves spiritually putting on the flimsy hospital gown. God already knows everything about us, we aren't hiding anything from him... just like in the hospital where they all know what is under the gown.
It is when we come into the presence of the Lord and drop our pretense of being fine that He can help us and we can grow closer to Him. There is nothing wrong with having nice things, but don't let them keep you from associating people less fortunate. If you come in with your spiritual act, some people will fall for it, but that will be your reward and nothing more... and it may keep you from the eternity you say you are seeking.
I was once in a men's Bible study when one of the men commented on how frustrated he was about some of the things he still was dealing with, not as successfully as he would have liked. I told him to look around the room and he could tell the perfect people who had everything together because they had halos above their heads. He nodded and smiled – he got it.
So set aside all the pretense of needing nothing and put on the gown of one who needs what the Creator has to offer – remember, he already knows all about you – and ask for His forgiveness and direction. No matter how good you think you are – you still can't measure up.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
After the thrilling finish of this year's Indianapolis 500 ever intrusive television camera's found second place finisher, Marcus Ericsson, quietly weeping for coming with one second of winning the big prize. This emotional response, especially when the margin is slight, comes about when you have thirty three extremely talented and highly motivated drivers all chasing a prize only one can catch.
The t-shirt often seen at NASCAR tracks that says: Second place is just the first loser, sums up the mindset of many like Ericsson as they chase their dream at speeds well over 200 mph. As gut wrenching as the near miss was, Ericsson had to absorb another punch to the gut – this time from his own team. His car, along with two others failed the post race inspection and were relegated to the back of the field. This is in addition to two of the fastest cars starting at the back because they failed tech inspection before the race.
The shocker in this sad tail is that these were not small, under financed teams but giants in the racing world – Penske and Andretti. They did not get caught in some gray area of the rule book. The rules were that certain parts were to be used just as they were manufactured. It does not suggest they should not be modified or tweaked, it says don't mess with them. Simple enough. Twenty eight teams were able to get it right.
In fairness to the Captain and the Andretti's, these are not the people turning the wrenches and working on the cars. In Roger Penske's situation, he fired the three men he found to be responsible... experienced team members who should have known better. His problems were found before the race so at least they had a chance. However from starting at the rear of the field and working his way up to fifth place, Josef Newgarden thrashed his car so hard it eventually gave up before the race was over.
I don't know why Andretti's parts issue was not discovered before the start, or how they handled the situation within the team, but in both cases, there were lower level people working in a highly competitive environment where one second at the end of five hundred miles can make the difference between success or failure. It's not just the drivers and owners that want to win, that spirit permeates the entire team.
It is no surprise that some will go beyond the rule book looking for an advantage. In the early days of NASCAR, slipping something past the tech inspectors was almost expected and car builders like Smokey Yunick built a reputation on it. He claimed to be responsible for half the rule book. The TransAm series gave Roger Penske's team the opportunity to have their own “legendary” interaction with that rule book. With Indy cars, teams bought or built their chassis and if it passed the safety inspection, it was good to go.
The system worked fairly well, despite each circuit losing a driver or two every year. However, costs increased. Speeds increased. With Indy cars, the decision was made for everyone to use the Dalara chassis. While there is no way to be absolutely safe traveling in a pack of cars going well over 200 mph, the record is remarkable as drivers are now walking away from crashes that would have been life ending the past, or at the very least, career ending.
This is why the organizations tend to come down hard on certain modifications. This is why there are plenty of ways to find more speed and why there are parts that should be left as-is.
I'm not one to follow rules just because they are rules, and probably neither are half the people reading this. I don't know what the safety impact would be for the modifications in question, but it does give a background to the disqualification issue.
The point is that someone, probably not the top guy took it on themselves to make a tweak to the supplied parts, possibly endangering the driver and chance of victory for the entire team. I'm sure they did not think about it that way at the time, but in a win at all costs culture that we see today, it's easy to understand how some would try for an advantage and just hope they don't get caught.
We see this in the corporate world, in other sports, in politics – where it hurts all of us. There is very little honor left in out system. In some companies, there are more lawyers than planners and builders. They have book length contracts where these lawyers try to cover any devious plan that could be developed. These lawyers are good at coming up with devious plans as that is what they get paid for.
President Reagan used the term “trust but verify” to describe his foreign policy. The hand shake deals are a thing of the past in most cases. Would I like to go back to that? Not with the people we are dealing with today!
Disqualifications in racing are just a byproduct of our society. They can take the word of the teams that everything is on the up and up... but then they need to SEE FOR THEMSELVES!
When I was in Junior High School, like many of us in the late fifties and early sixties, I was fascinated by the thought of space travel. Along with several class mates we built large scale models of the rockets we were reading about in the papers and magazines. On May 5, 1961 we all filed in to the school auditorium to watch Alan Shepard's sub-orbital first step into space. We were uncertain if he would emerge a space pioneer or if he would be the first fatality in the quest to conquer the new frontier.
As much as we admired the guys who strapped themselves into these rockets where they risked their lives to venture into the unknown vacuum of space, the man who got the press and was credited as being the brain behind our efforts to outdo the Soviet Union exploration of the unknowns of space. This man was Wernher von Braun.
The achievements he guided the NASA team to spoke volumes about his ability to design and motivate America's best and brightest rocket scientists. When he spoke, it was with a German accent that enhanced his European intellectual image.
It wasn't even a generation after the end of World War II. We were aware of the war. Many of our parents had unspoken memories of the brutality of the conflict. There were some in our town with wounds testifying to their part in the war. There were communities of Europeans displaced by the fighting. Yet, in our innocence we did not understand what had really taken place.
Today, if you take the longer tour of the Kennedy Space Center – the part that ventures into the military base that is part of the center – you visit launch pads used for the early flights into space. As you visit the block house where Shepard's launch was controlled, you can even press the button that von Braun himself pressed to send our first American into space.
Who was this man led the US in the cold war space race? As we look into the days following the allied victory in Europe there were highly educated technologists who developed weapons, some of which were superior to those the Allies used. It was open season on German intellect and talent. Looking into the history of the time, Operation Paperclip was an official government program designed to bring the cream of captured talent to the US as we were squaring up for an increasingly hostile Soviet Union.
But what did we get – and was it worth the price?
We got a brilliant German aristocrat who was the driving force behind their V1 and V2 rocket programs that rained death and destruction on the enemies of the “master race”. He was recognized multiple times by der Führer for his fine work. Von Braun was a loyal member of the Nazi party as were all who wished to be able to practice their craft in the the Third Reich.
Perhaps this could be overlooked along with his SS membership, but the supervision of underground production facilities where capable concentration camp prisoners were brought to produce the technology for the Germans was a little harder to take. Most prisoners were did not have to work very long as the average life span in the facility was around three months.
Such was the paranoia about the intent of the Soviet Union that the US brought in hundreds of war criminals in an effort to maintain superiority. Von Braun was one of the more benign Nazi scientists as was his superior, General Walter Dornberger, who found his way into the Bell Helicopter operation.
What could be worse? The intelligence people sought out Nazi scientists with particular interrogation skills. The weapons people brought in experts in biological warfare. Medical researchers were anxious to find out what limits of human endurance were discovered in concentration camp experiments such as putting naked prisoners out in sub-freezing temperatures to study how body temperatures would drop and at what point death would take over.
The Allies beat the bad guys, then invited some of the worst into our land to learn what they learned without actually taking part in the barbaric practices.
General Patton and General LeMay warned us of the danger posed by our former ally, but publicly they were ignored. Internally it was a different story. You can find out more about some of the things our fear of the Soviet Union drove the US to do in Annie Jacobsen's book, Operation Paperclip.
In case you are curious about the name, the operation was named after the practice of putting a paperclip on the profiles of the scientists the intelligence community thought might be helpful to bring into our operation. The reality is that some were spared that hangman's noose if their knowledge was of sufficient interest. Some even wanted Göring to be spared, but that was just too much to pull off.
Perhaps I was expecting too much of my heroes... or perhaps our country was expecting too little.
I was sitting listening to my Pandora channel of old time rock'n roll. Thankful that I grew up in a simpler, happier time. No computers, no cell phones. Happy, feel good music on the AM radio as I cruised down Broad St in my Tri-Power Pontiac. My needs were simple and I had pretty much everything a teenager in a small town could want.
Sure things were not perfect as many perpetually negative America haters would be quick to point out. Things would soon change for the worse as word came to my school that President Kennedy was killed on the streets of Dallas. This precipitated some bad times for many young men around the country. Whereas the young president was preparing to withdraw Americans from Vietnam after seeing how the French had failed in that country – the new president, Lyndon Johnson, gave the go ahead to the Joint Chiefs and CIA to begin the involvement that would cost over fifty eight thousand American lives.
This took place just four days after the events in Dallas before Kennedy's body found its permanent home in Arlington Cemetery. The real push came in August of 1964 when the alleged attack on an American vessel in the Gulf of Tonkin was used as excuse for ramping up US presence – and the intelligence community along with the military-industrial complex had their war. The problem was that the incident we were told about and the politicians used as justification never happened.
We bought their story and learned the truth only decades later. The father of lies did his work on the American political class and brought and end much innocence in America. The good times or “Happy Days” were over as we saw weekly casualty reports that told us we were winning because more enemy were killed than Americans. President Johnson waged his war of attrition against an enemy that did not value life as we do. However these optimistic reports didn't ease pain of families who welcomed their sons back in body bags.
Years later, as I walked along the wall in Washington, looking over the names of the Americans we lost, all I could feel was rage at the damage this corrupt president had done to our country in general and some families in particular. Each of the dead had their own story and ambitions... but it wasn't only the dead. Many thousand more came back horribly wounded and disfigured. Even those with no visible signs came home after seeing and doing things no young man should have to live with. Some of the best and bravest had been sacrificed.
As for Lyndon Johnson, he and most of his cronies were long gone from the land of the living by this time. They had fallen into the hands of the living God – something far more frightening than anything an angry country could do to them.
The good time rock'n roll turned more somber and nihilistic. The young men now had a shadow over them as they didn't know if or when they would be drafted into a military where they would be expected to kill strangers they were told were the enemy.
As time went by more and more truth began to emerge despite the best efforts of the ruling elites. Recently President Trump has declared that we should see the truth about the deaths of President Kennedy and his brother Robert, along with Martin Luther King Jr. Considering how the ruling elites in government, military and industry saw each of them as an obstacle to their nefarious ends, it could be very interesting as well as very dangerous to those seeking to find out what really happened.
We may well be faced with the choice of the blue pill or the red pill. However we need to remember only the truth will set us free. Lets choose the red pill and pursue the truth. It may not be as comforting as believing the lies we are told but we will no longer be slaves to the ruling class lies.
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