On Fire for God

Today I spoke at First United Methodist Church in Watsonville. I was invited to speak for Laity Sunday.

I arrived early enabling me to listen to the choir as they practiced before the service. As I listened, I found myself getting choked up and I was surprised by this. The chorus of the song they were practicing went (something) like this:

Even though I cannot see you, Lord, I love you
I cannot touch you, but I embrace
I cannot know you, but I follow
I cannot see you, but I believe

It brought tears to my eyes as I listened to these words. I thought to myself 'how perfect the song goes with my message today'...

Again during the service as the choir performed the song, I found myself choked up - it brought tears to my eyes - the song was so meaningful for the message I was about to give to the congregation.

As I stood to give my message, making a final blow to my nose and wipe to my eyes, I told the congregation how I was feeling and how I was so joyful to be with them that morning. I delivered my message about faith and doubt and I could feel it was being well received.

At the end of the service, the pastor asked me to join her at the exit of the church and we greeted the congregation as they exited. They were so kind to me with comments, hand shakes and a few hugs!

Finally, the pastor shared with me how perfect she thought the song had turned out for my message and she explained that the choir director had selected the song BEFORE knowing what I would speak about or the scriptures I would reference!! I laughed out loud when I learned this...

This perfect song to accompany my message was selected WITHOUT any knowledge of what my message would be. Can anyone say GOD IS ALIVE AND WELL!?!?

I certainly can and how wonderful God is in showing me how on target I am with my speaking. It's not the easiest thing in the world to go from non-church person to church-person-speaking-at-the-pulpit in the short amount of time I have made this transformation and there has been a ton of doubt to accompany me along the way. But God is there, too, and He reminds me today that I am not alone on this journey - He is there guiding me and holding me up and for that, I'm on fire for God!

-- Kristin

The Market Speaks ... and It Isn't Good.

In looking at the market today, I'm thinking to myself, "Didn't Congress supposedly save us from this already?"  I'm also wondering if all those House Representatives that voted for this ridiculous excuse for legislation are now more worried than EVER about losing their seat in the House!

Wasn't the bailout, rescue, welfare-for-wall-street (whatever you want to call it) suppose to ease the markets and ensue confidence?  Apparently, it didn't work.  And today when Paulson announced that we would start injecting liquidity by purchasing preferred and common stock shares, the market tanks some more.... in fact, the market may be responding to today's actions regarding the resolution of Lehman's CDS (Credit Default Swap) contracts.

And NO ONE is talking about things the SEC could do RIGHT NOW that would boost confidence - like suspending the mark-to-market accounting rules that helped to get us into this mess in the first place!  Well, almost no one - Newt Gingrich has a statement calling for this action here.

Other sites that I'm reading are warning Americans to be prepared for a long and deep recession with hoarded cash, non-perishable food stock holds and NO DEBT!... yeah, right, like Americans will get out of debt by this Friday..

My opinion is that the way America has been living for the past few decades (way beyond our means) is now coming home to roost and I think there's going to be a heavy price to pay.  And if you think countries can't go bankrupt, read up on what's happening in Iceland as we speak.

Here are some predictions that I've read in the past 1-2 days:

1.  There will be massive lay offs over the next 12 months... they've started already and will accelerate as the days and weeks pass

2.  The election will be a botch job from Hell with voter fraud, voter disenfranchising and legal action.  There will be no outcome the day of the actual election, rather, a repeat scenario like 2000 will ensue.

3.  As more and more Americans face circumstances they've never contemplated let alone planned for, violence will escalate.  Civil unrest will outbreak across our nation giving a strong possibility for martial law.  Read about the recent repatriatization of an Army Brigade to the homeland here.  I don't really think I want the Army "helping people at home".. 

It makes me wonder what WILL happen next.

The best analysis I'm reading:

By Karl Denninger here.
By Nouriel Roubini here.
By Global Research here
By Jim Sinclair here

Finally, for some fun and to make a very important point with Congress, if you want to send Congress a bona fide Pink Slip, check out this great site:

http://sendpinkslips.com

Of course, the best pink slip of all will be your vote on November 4th - remember, the ENTIRE House of Representatives is up for re-election and we need to send most of them home...

-- Kristin

Senate Blantantly Ignores Constiuents By Passing Bailout Bill

In a historic vote yesterday, the Senate passed the bailout bill with an overwhelming majority of 75 to 24. This passing occurred even with unprecendented outcry from Americans against the bill.

As I watched the hearings, I heard repeatedly about how "angry" the Senators were to "have to" vote for this bill. My own Senators, Boxer and Feinstein, also consented that they would support the bill, Feinstein going all the way as to saying she knew "better" than the nearly 90 thousand constitiuents that contacted her office against the bill.

So much for "representation" in our Government.

The bill passed by the Senate has more than 300 pages of earmarks, yet both Presidential candidates voted for it.

So much for reducing Government spending and keeping watch over our children's futures.

The bill passed by the Senate rewards companies that have mismanaged (criminally in my opionion) billions of dollars of wealth by repairing their balance sheets and allowing them to continue to be in business.

So much for accountability in our corporations.

The bill passed by the Senate gives American tax payer money to foreign banks and entities.

So much for bailing out Main Street.

And yet it passed with a landslide majority. Here's a tinyURL link to the roll call vote so you can see how YOUR Senators voted:

http://tiny.cc/9FN1q

The bill will return to the House where it is expected to pass according to the mainstream media. Oh really?! Not if America has anything to do with it.

At this point, we must contact every House Rep that previously voted against the bill - we must encourage them to stand strong with their no vote. Most of these Representatives are in tight re-election races back home and we need to let them know they are doing the right thing to resist the temptation to pass this bill. Remember, EVERY HOUSE MEMBER IS UP FOR RE-ELECTION ON NOVEMBER 4, 2008.

Call every Rep that voted no - don't waste time with email as the email system has been limited in the past week to keep the system from crashing. You need to pick up the phone and call.

Here's the link to the House of Representatives contact list to find your Rep's contact #:

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/

And here's the link to the House roll call from the previous vote:

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll674.xml

Don't delay - time is of the essence!

And if you need further convincing that this bill is bad for our country, I urge you to read up on some of the top economists in our nation commenting on what will work and what won't. I've been following Nouriel Roubini of New York University and he has many pages on the web explaining why this bill is flawed. Read one of the articles by following this tinyURL:

http://tiny.cc/LHd1n

This is a bad bill for our nation and for our future and it must be stopped.

-- Kristin