Hey, that’s me!

Here’s the video of the story that aired on the news tonight.

Here’s the story.

After droning on in the article about every societal ill and political basis or justification, there is one line in a paragraph all to its own: “It was not clear whether those issues motivated the shooter.”

Never let a meta-narrative get in the way of a good story, tragic as it may be.

Here is the audio:

Download audio file (wretched-truth-2010-12-17.mp3)

Earlier in the day, we performed for residents at Porter Nursing Home in Middlebury, Vermont.  As we all aimed southward towards Brandon, the choir stopped as the Middlebury McDonald’s restaurant and sang to the patrons from just about every seat in the house.

I’ve put the songs in the order in which the choir performed them. By request, I also put the actual URL for each song in the post for ease in downloading any MP3s that you may wish retrieve for saving on your computer. Consider it a Christmas gift from the Addison County Gospel Choir and Bill-O’-Notes®!

If you are interested in considering joining the ACGC as they perform this summer, feel free to visit the choir’s Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/ACGospelChoir or contact our director, Suzanne Rood.

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
Download audio file (It_Came_Upon_a_Midnight_Clear.mp3)
http://www.billonotes.com/audio/It_Came_Upon_a_Midnight_Clear.mp3

Hallelujah, He Is Born
Download audio file (Hallelujah_He_Is_Born.mp3)
http://www.billonotes.com/audio/Hallelujah_He_Is_Born.mp3

Sweet Little Jesus Boy
Download audio file (Sweet_Little_Jesus_Boy.mp3)
http://www.billonotes.com/audio/Sweet_Little_Jesus_Boy.mp3

Jingle Bells
Download audio file (Jingle_Bells.mp3)
http://www.billonotes.com/audio/Jingle_Bells.mp3

Joy to the World
Download audio file (Joy_to the World.mp3)
http://www.billonotes.com/audio/Joy_to the World.mp3

Behold That Star
Download audio file (Behold_That_Star.mp3)
http://www.billonotes.com/audio/Behold_That_Star.mp3

What Child Is This?
Download audio file (What_Child_Is_This.mp3)
http://www.billonotes.com/audio/What_Child_Is_This.mp3

O Come All Ye Faithful
Download audio file (O_Come_All_Ye_Faithful.mp3)
http://www.billonotes.com/audio/O_Come_All_Ye_Faithful.mp3

Away In a Manger
Download audio file (Away_In_a_Manger.mp3)
http://www.billonotes.com/audio/Away_In_a_Manger.mp3

Go Tell It On the Mountain
Download audio file (Go_Tell_It_On_the_Mountain.mp3)
http://www.billonotes.com/audio/Go_Tell_It_On_the_Mountain.mp3

Angels We Have Heard On High / Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Download audio file (Angels-We-Have-Heard-On-High_Hark-the-Herald-Angels-Sing.mp3)
http://www.billonotes.com/audio/Angels-We-Have-Heard-On-High_Hark-the-Herald-Angels-Sing.mp3

Mary Did You Know?
Download audio file (Mary_Did_You_Know.mp3)
http://www.billonotes.com/audio/Mary_Did_You_Know.mp3

Silent Night
Download audio file (Silent_Night.mp3)
http://www.billonotes.com/audio/Silent_Night.mp3

10…9…8…7…6…5…4…

Quick observations include this: 1. The CHILD had the most sense among all of the people when she had the sense to turn and run and yell to the ‘grown-ups’, “RUN!” 2. Check out the last worker to make a dash for it and how much she delayed to the very end!

File Under: The best-laid plans of mice and men oft go astray.

[Originally posted May 9, 2010] It was September of 1943 when Peggy Riley loaded up her brand new, yet very used green 1932 Model “A” Ford coupe with its rumble seat and Kelly green spoked wheels, blessed with questionable brakes and glass jars of water for a radiator that was wont to boiling-over.

Armed with a new bachelor’s degree from Emmanuel College in the Fenway in Boston and with a desire to teach, the single child of Pearl and Jimmy Riley, a local “poor man’s lawyer” from Lowell, drove northward into the relatively distant and far-off village of Newmarket, New Hampshire. Peggy had jumped at the offer despite its then-modest eleven hundred dollar teaching salary. World War II remained in full-swing and local jobs were scarce; so, it was time to venture forth.

Peggy Riley would experience a culture shock both within and without the classroom in Newmarket and then the next year in Farmington, New Hampshire. As a young school teacher in a poor small town in the mid-1940s, she would be looked upon for expertise and wisdom far beyond her years and skill solely by virtue of her profession, her credential as educator. One day, Peggy was called to witness the birth of a child of an underage student of hers where no doctor was sought or present. At 22 years of age, Peggy would find herself standing up to high school students nearly her age and twice her physical stature who would demonstrate a paucity of respect for themselves or for those in authority. And Godliness was not standard.

One day, Peggy found herself at the doctor’s office in need of new eye glasses since a young man in her classroom punched her in the face for her attempt to challenge him. The doctor, on learning of her circumstances as being the new young teacher in town, waived all fees for service or glasses as a grateful token of affection to one who would enter the community to serve.

By 1949, Peggy would return to the Merrimack Valley to accept a teaching position in Dracut, Massachusetts, then a small farming community bridging the City of Lowell with New Hampshire. Within a year Peggy Riley would meet a man named Bill O’Neill whom she would wed in 1953. By 1954, Peggy & Bill would be blessed by God with their first of four children, of whom I am the third.

After persisting with the Dracut school leadership in 1954 to allow her to continue to teach even after the customary “time of showing in pregnancy,” Peggy would set aside teaching within the classroom and step forward in the most honorable of professions, of housewife, full-time mother and wife, all with the heart of a teacher.

I am most grateful to God for my mother, Peggy O’Neill on this Mother’s Day 2010, a woman who relied upon God to do His work in her and to faithfully listen to Him for His leading. At 88 years young, Peggy continues to serve God, her husband and family in the great tradition of teacher pioneer. Happy Mother’s Day, Mum.

B. O’Neill, Jr.
[Originally posted May 9, 2010]

Here’s the story from Fox News

“We got everybody here early so we could take up all the parking spots,” Rebecca Rooney of Weston, Mo., told Fox4kc.com. “We did that so Mr. Phelps wouldn’t have a contingency that was really close.”

It seems that there is a steady drumbeat of the lunacy associated with Westboro Baptist Church. Their modus operandi is not the Great Commission, the spreading of the Gospel message, but one of co-opting solemn moments like those of a funeral for a loved one, a loved one whose notoriety is borne out of fearless service to our nation.

In the book of Matthew chapter 28, verses 18-20, Jesus commands,

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

What Westboro Baptist Church disregards, as if their misleading the world into believing that they are acting in accordance with God’s will for His visible church, is this sad fact: Twenty-four year old Sgt. First Class C.J. Sadell is dead. His wife is now widowed and his two young sons are fatherless today. Sgt. Sadell died of his injuries on October 24. He was one of five United States soldiers ambushed on October 5 in the Arif Kala region of Afghanistan. Five of Sadell’s fellow soldiers were killed in that attack.

GotQuestions.org says it best on Christians and hate speech:

A working definition of hate speech is “speech that is intended to insult, intimidate, or cause prejudice against a person or people based on their race, gender, age, sexual orientation, political affiliation, occupation, disability, or physical appearance.” If that is the accepted definition, a Christian should never participate in hate speech. However, the problem is that the definition of hate speech is broadening over time. Proclaiming that a certain belief is wrong or that a certain activity is sinful, based on biblical principles, is increasingly being included in the definition of hate speech.

Ephesians 4:15 refers to “speaking the truth in love.” First Peter 3:15 instructs Christians to defend their faith, but to do so “with gentleness and respect.” Colossians 4:6 proclaims, “let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt…” Sadly, some Christians fail to follow these biblical instructions. Some Christians (or at least people who claim to be Christians) speak the truth, but speak it in such a way that it is very hateful. One prominent example would be Westboro Baptist Church and its “God hates fags” slogan. Westboro Baptist Church is correct in declaring the Bible’s teaching that homosexuality is sinful, but they are declaring this truth in such a way that it is intended to be incendiary, offensive, and hurtful. Needless to say, the Bible does not support such methods.

Would that more Christians would rise up and speak out against Westboro Baptist Church. My small voice should have spoken long ago, particularly given my skeptical and dim view of professed Muslims who have yet to decry 9/11 even ten years gone.

As a friend of mine just remarked, “Meanwhile back at the ranch I am looking for loans to send my kid to school.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.

“Cows emit most of their methane through belching, only a small fraction from flatulence,” said the project’s principal investigator, Ruth Varner of UNH’s Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space.

Pass the Lea & Perrons. Instead.

The Manchester Union Leader reports that we are going to fund nearly three quarters of a million dollars in research to the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH to study burping cattle.

While I enjoy a belching bovine as much as the next guy, would we not be better off putting a cork in that project for a decade or so just to see how it all, well, works out in the end?

Oh, I can hear the naysayers: “How many more must perish before this great nation of ours recognizes our grievous irresponsibility in this matter as we pass gas to the generation of our great grandchildren?”

Pass the Lea & Perrons. Indeed.

Your shell game is shell-shocking, Mr. Shumlin.

So, Mr. Shumlin, you claim that if PRO-LIFE candidate Brian Dubie wins, then young life “loses”? How can you as the pro-abortion candidate point the finger of endangerment to “health and freedom” to the pro-life candidate? With a straight face? There is nothing more protecting of young life than advocating that they get the chance to breathe air in the first place.

All of this is about as inconsistent as your position on “saving” $40(M) million in tax dollars by early release of prisoners spending NEW tax money up front in order to do that, AND also spending $33M from the “savings of $40M to start early childhood education programs.

Your shell game is shell-shocking, Mr. Shumlin. I am hoping that your concession speech will make more sense than your platform.

“We call it… ‘Contemporvant.’”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RJBd8zE48A

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4 [NAS]

Many seekers and professed Christians are presenting themselves in “modern” or “mega” churches needing to be fed the Gospel message and are going away hungry, lost.

Here’s the link. of a resource explaining the damaging pattern of church growth, a primer on the foundation of the ‘movement’ at Saddleback Church and Rick Warren.

In 1998, Dr Dennis Costella attended a PDC seminar where Rick Warren taught that the following had to occur to transform a traditional church into a growing PDC (purpose driven church):

A contemporary-styled, non-threatening “Seeker Service” must replace the traditional Sunday worship service;

The dress must be casual;

The music must be contemporary, the kind that people hear every day.

The message must be only positive so that saved and unsaved alike can feel better about themselves after a message that often mixes psychology and an uplifting Scripture text;

Church ministries must be geared to meeting needs, with support groups for depression, eating disorders, infertility, homosexuals’ family/friends, post-abortion, and marital separation. Warren scoffed at the idea of passing out gospel tracts or going door-to-door since the typical “Saddleback Sam” is offended by such old-fashioned evangelism;

Doctrinal instruction is not given to the church as a whole on Sundays, but is available in sub-groups apart from formal church services;

A spirit of pragmatic compromise must prevail. Warren said, “It really doesn’t matter your denomination, folks. We’re all on the same team if you love Jesus.” (March-April 1998, “Foundation” evangelical magazine)
www.the-tribulation-network.com/denemcgriff/Apostasy/ recognizing_deception_and_apostasy_chapter_8.htm

I took this parody as a warning. “Felt needs” and a “person-centered” gospel is driving the movement such that the true Christ-centered Gospel gets lost in the “strings that make you sad.” As Rick Warren said early in the roll-out of the movement, “The message must be only positive so that saved and unsaved alike can feel better about themselves after a message that often mixes psychology and an uplifting Scripture text.”

If a patient doesn’t know that they are dieing then why would they need a cure?

I’ve worked so hard for that title.

Call Me Senator from RightChange on Vimeo
The question remains, is Senator Boxer entitled to her title? Her constituents will decide in November.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzaOmTwsI48

Notice Shumlin, flanked by rolling cameras (statewide TV news) and others in this obvious set-up intended to embarrass an unprepared challenger. Dubie was not at the location when Shumlin arrived with a box of central casting donuts.

Also, notice the Dubie spokesperson who steps up and hits out the talking points and then hands the copy to Dubie’s challenger and then generously offers Shumlin some Dubie bumper stickers. She did everything but offer him a fresh diaper for the walk over to the debate.

It looks like someone at Brian Dubie’s office got a heads-up call in order to have a video camera rolling and aiming at the door as Shumlin came it. Judging by the entourage of supporters and media, the parking lot activity was likely not difficult to notice from within the Dubie campaign office.

Politics is a full-contact sport but Peter Shumlin played it like flag scrimmage.