Howie Luvzus

I can’t believe it! My website won a very prestigious award. It’s The Wade Award. Or the 1st Annual Academy of Southern Baptist Blog Awards for Best Visual Effects! The award was, um, awarded by K-Dawg on March 2, 2006.

It’s such an honor to have received the award with such other Baptist blogger greats as Marty Duren, Joe Kennedy, Dorcas Hawker, and others!

I can’t believe I’ve achieved such notoriety in spite of being refused the privilege of being a member of the Southern Baptist Bloggers! I just knew my readership would suffer because of being excluded from the group.

My acceptance speech (destined to become a classic):

I’d first of all like to thank the Lord because without God’s patient grace and mercy I’d have been thrown in the pit of Hell for blasphemy and a host of other things long ago! I’d also like to thank Michael Homan and the mysterious and infamous Editor B for helping me to acquire the incredible skills required to win such a prestigious award and my friends DR and Joe for helping to keep me humble.

A special thanks goes to Becky for showing me that blogs can be funny, informative, and very powerful and Marty for showing how deeply persons can be touched by a blog.

I also appreciate Al Mohler, George Bush, Jerry Falwell, and Fox News for providing so much material to laugh and cry about.

I can’t thank my friends and fellow bloggers enough for providing encouragement and hope during the past few months. It’s meant a lot to me and Shirley!

God Bless! Be good, and if you can’t be good….be careful!

Republican Congressman Lynn Westmoreland was interviewed on the Colbert Report a couple of nights ago and it reminded me of something. Watch the video–it’s very funny!

When I used to teach at a Baptist seminary I would often begin my lecture on Baptist distinctives by giving the seminary students a quiz. Here it is:

For 10 points each, list the 10 Commandments in order.
For 10 bonus points, list the scriptural reference.
A related issue: Do you believe that school officials (teacher, principal, etc.) should lead students in prayer every morning? (No points will be added or deducted)

Guess what? I don’t remember the statistics, but they were pretty awful. When I began to discuss whether the 10 Commandments should be posted in a classroom, I think the tone of the rhetoric was squelched a bit. As those who argued for the inclusion of the 10 Commandments in the classroom spoke, I would thumb through the quizzes to see their answers.

My final response was usually something like: “I agree with you. The 10 Commandments need to be in all classrooms because the church is doing a pretty poor job of educating folks.”

Then I would ask for a show of hands of those who prayed with their kids before sending them off to school. The numbers were always staggeringly low. Then I would thumb through the quizzes again and say: “Seems like we need prayer in schools too since we seem to be neglecting to teach our kids to start off their day with a prayer!”

Then I would ask—”Why is it that we want the government to do what we are to lazy to do?” “Why should it be the school’s job to instill religious values in our kids that we don’t hold?”

As you might guess, when I began to explain further why it is a good idea for the church to do religious stuff and the state to do state stuff, I had a lot less arguments from hotheads.

Such was life teaching theology in a Baptist seminary. You can’t just begin a discussion and expect civility and respect. You have to prepare students to understand the ramifications of their views before you examine them.

Man, I miss those days. Sometimes.

I know I give Bush a hard time.

I don’t apologize for that. I think many of his decisions have had terrible consequences. The America I know and love has probably been forever negatively changed by his administration.

Sometimes I feel like speaking out against his policies is a waste of time, but I do it any way.

But, I also think Bush is a nice guy. He proved it yesterday by calling Los Angeles Times reporter Peter Wallsten on his cell phone yesterday to apologize for remarks that he had made during an earlier press conference. That’s pretty impressive for a president to do. His joking with Wallsten was seen as disrespectful. It wasn’t intended to be. He apologized personally–that was the right thing to do.

I can’t hate George W. Bush. I don’t think he’s a good president, but he’s a really nice person. Rove, Chaney, Libby, Wolfowitz, Bolton,….that’s a different story.

I saw this cool car on my way back from the 5 mile trip to the nearest open fast-food joint for lunch that I make many days. I see it now as a symbol of my life this last year.

I imagine the original owner who must have thought that this Mercedes 380 SEL was a real “head turner.” It still is. It no longer runs. Its tires are flat. But someone has come along and tried to use it to make a statement. You could even call it a work of art. It’s not really that useful and perhaps many would be glad to see it go, but it does bring a smile to a few faces. It will never be the same. It can’t really do what it was designed for, but it does serve some kind of purpose.

Damn, I’m pretty depressing huh?

Michelle Malkin’s reaction to suicides at Gitmo? Boo-freakin-hoo! Ann Coulter’s latest book slams widows of 9/11 victims. All this and “Christians” continue to watch Fox and claim to believe in the sanctity of life and hold the moral high ground on all issues. I think I’ll follow Tony Norman’s lead and publicly state that I am not a Christian.

To live in a country where Coulter can spread her hate and call herself a “Christian” without blanket condemnation from “Christian” leaders is to live in a country where the traditional term “Christian” has no meaning. To see someone’s response to the death of three persons loved by God and created in God’s image as “boo-freakin-hoo” and not be outraged is to demonstrate a total misunderstanding of the grace of God revealed in the life and death of Jesus Christ.

So… Am I a follower of Jesus? Yes. A Christian? No. That term is now offensive to me. Real Christians cannot stand by and let hatred reign in the name of their Savior. Christians must stand up for the sanctity of all life.

Tomorrow I go in for a stress test. Hmmm. Bet it shows I’m under stress. No job after the end of this month. I’m not able to spend the time with my friends that I need. Tax time is coming. Watching the news and reading the paper here is very stressful too. Let me give you an example.

Last night, lead story…1.Washington Post editorial says Cat 5 Levees are waste of money.
2.Fema money running out for aid to firefighters.–We have so many leaks in our water system that Coast Guard helicopters have been dropping water on our fires. That money is running out.
3.Legislator tries to form committee to determine how money is spent in Lower 9th Ward. Why can’t the folks who live there do it?
4. David Vitter’s unbelievable comment:

When the saints come marching in

Sorry, Sen. Inhofe, but the gentleman from Louisiana just passed you in the pandering lane.

The Republicans’ constitutional amendment banning gay marriage got just 49 votes this morning, far short of the two-thirds majority it needed — and was never going to get — for passage. Along the way to the vote, Republican Sen. David Vitter defended the GOP’s efforts on the election-year measure by saying: “I don’t believe there’s any issue that’s more important than this one.”

We don’t mean to speak for anybody else, but we’re wondering if any of Vitter’s displaced constituents in New Orleans — or, say, the 57 Louisiana families who have lost loved ones in Iraq — might see America’s priorities just a little differently.

As senators voted on the ban this morning, Kansas Republican Sam Brownback vowed that “people are going to be responsible for this vote.” Where men like Vitter are concerned, we can only hope that he’s right.

Dumbass… One of three things is going on here:
1. Vitter is a moron.
2. Vitter things folks from Louisiana are morons.
3. Folks from Louisiana are morons.

Well, maybe all of the above.

Are Conservative so stupid that they don’t see what’s happening to them here?
Let me make one thing perfectly clear here. I honestly don’t think that all of those who are against gay marriage hate homosexuals. Many honestly believe that it is a sinful lifestyle and it shouldn’t be condoned. If that’s your view (and you don’t hate homosexuals) God bless you. But, please don’t let these ignorant politicians play you. It makes you look stupid.

Finally, Boudreaux’s Butt Paste Sold to Indiana Firm! Looks like Katrina WAS the biggest cultural disaster in the history of our country. Indiana…Sheeeesh!

UPDATE: Got One rejection letter. Waiting on the other.

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