My Bloggy Blog

I Can Only Imagine

2007-06-30T00:19:00.000-04:00

Grace and Peace,

{{{Candleman}}}

This was…

2007-06-19T03:22:00.000-04:00

…the first Father’s day, that I came to visit you, but you weren’t there.

Your name was. Chiseled into the granite formed so many centuries before.

Harvested to mark the bookends of your life on this earth.

But that doesn’t describe the man, father and husband you were.

The man, who’s devotion to his Lord and Savior was paramount in his daily living.

The love and commitment you demonstrated in almost fifty years of marriage to the wife you left behind.

To the testimony that lives in the hearts and lives of your three sons.

To the legacy you have passed on to us to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

And so this Father’s day your last grandson was dedicated to the One you are now in the presence of. It was a very special day.

For you the veil has been lifted, having passed from this life to the next, you no longer look through the mirror dimly, but see the total splendor of His majesty. What an awesome place it must be.

We love you and miss you Daddy.

In Memory of My Father

2007-01-16T01:25:00.000-05:00

On December 4th, 2006 my father went home to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am sure in the future I will have some posts about my dad and my memories of him, but for now, much of what I want to say is sumed up in the eulogies my brothers and I delivered at his funeral. I encourage you to listen to the audio file link below, and see what impact one life can have when lived for the Lord (due to audio quality you make have to set your computers audio on the high setting). The eulogies are delivered by his sons, with Steve speaking first (that's me), then Kevin and Bob.

Click on arrow to play (aprox. 22 min)

Or right click this link and choose "save as target" to download the audio file to your PC.

Grace and Peace,

{{{Candleman}}}

Larry Norman Does Christmas???

2006-12-24T01:31:00.000-05:00

You betcha...

{{{Candleman}}}

9/11: Press for Truth

2006-09-12T23:22:00.000-04:00

While I am no conspiracy theorist, after I posted my multimedia presentation, Remembering Nine Eleven on a few video posting services, I started looking at other peoples tributes and movies in regards to the same topic. I ran across a must see video found on Google Video titled 9/11: Press for Truth. Or visit Press for Truth.Com. It is not some wacky conspiracy theory that you can readily find out on the Internet, that the World Trade Towers were really blown up ect. This is a journalistic look into the events of 9/11, that was spurned by “the Jersey Girls”, a group of women, whose husbands where killed in the attacks, and wanted some answers.

I highly recommend taking the time to view this movie.

I also recommend reviewing the information at Complete 911 Timeline.

I don't know why, but after watching this movie, this verse came to mind.

Grace and Peace,

{{{Candleman}}}

Remembering Nine Eleven

2006-09-09T01:48:00.000-04:00

There’s two things my Pastor, Jim Brashear does every Sunday. One he prays, by name, for every soldier that is connected in any way to our local church, who is currently in the military fighting the war on terror. He also prays for the families who have been touched in a profound way, by experiencing the loss of a loved one from the terrorist attacks that occurred on 9/11 at the World Trade Center, The Pentagon, and the heroes of Flight 93, who charged the terrorist causing the plane to crash in a field in Pennsylvania, instead of its likely target, The White House.

When creating this post, I had started out with just gathering pictures of that tragic day, and the more pictures I found, the more tears welled up in my eyes as I thought it has only been five years and I have forgotten so many of these images that was once seared into my eternal consciousness. The pictures of ash covered people, walking around in a surreal daze. The pictures of people fleeing in terror of the crumbling buildings. The pictures of lost loved ones that went up all over lower Manhattan, placed there by loved ones who kissed them goodbye that morning, forever.

I felt posting pictures to my blog just doesn’t do it justice. So I created a small multimedia presentation, with images of that fateful day. I hope in some very small way, the memory of those lost will live on. While the images I used reflect the horror that was visited upon Manhattan that day, lets us also remember the victims, family and friends of the terrorist attacks on The Pentagon and Flight 93. And my we never forget what occurred on that horrific day, Nine Eleven.

Music by:Larry Norman - "Diamonds", "One Way", 'Hymn to the Last Generation"

Follow this link to learn about Larry's failing health.

To all of us who have been blessed by Larry's music, consider making a donation to his medical fund during his time of need.

Images - Mainly from September 11 News .com

In addition to the links shown below, you can also view Remembering Nine Eleven by clicking on the YouTube embeded video above.

Click here to see a picture mosaic of the victoms of the World Trade Center (1.3 MB)

Click here to see the names of those who lost their lives due to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Click here to see an incredible online movie at Google Video, called 9/11: Press for Truth.

{{{Candleman}}}

A Blast from the Past - To My Buds at Slice of Laodicea

2006-09-03T15:38:00.000-04:00

{{{Candleman}}}

2006-09-02T21:09:00.000-04:00

Thanks for the BlogSpot listing Phil, I eagerly await Guilt by Association II.

{{{Candleman}}}

Recipe For The Perfect Slice of Laodicea Post

2006-09-02T12:56:00.000-04:00

{{{Candleman}}}

Blog Traffic 101

2006-08-31T15:46:00.000-04:00

Create a post like you always have in the past, writing about stuff that's on your mind.

Some how have the imonk stumble across it and post a link to your site.

…and proud of it.
One bloggers encounter with the queen of the watchbloggers.
“Don’t push me Steve.” Posted by Michael Spencer on August 30th, 2006 19:34 in Uncategorized 0 Comments Trackback

Watch sitemeter go off the hook.

Thanks for the link imonk;)

PS Love your Larry Norman piece!

{{{Candleman}}}

A Beam in Her Eye and Proud of it

2006-08-23T15:30:00.000-04:00

Ingrid Schlueter and the slicers and dicers at Laodicea , seem to have a twenty four hour watch on things apostate. I wonder how they have developed such a keen sniffer for such things. Well, it’s quite easy, first you need to believe you and you alone have a corner on the truth and anything that does not line up with your truth is of course false, and therefore apostate. Then you write a story about it and accentuate only what you want to about the story, leave out anything that would be redeeming about the church, person ect. your ripping apart. Next have your band of merry men and women all chime in on the comment section, validating your latest slice and dice, and lastly delete any comments from anyone that can poke the preverbal hole in the irrationality of your post.

It goes something like this:

Find a picture of a church sign that is advertising an upcoming event – Comedy Night – July 21 7PM –9PM and laugh all night. Post the picture of the church sign with the post title of“Lukewarm and Proud of it”. Soon the amen corner will show up and they are all amazed at how Ingrid has found yet another fantastic example of how pathetic the 21 century church is.

Forget to mention that this church in fact has a very sound doctrinal statement that is far from lukewarm. Forget to mention that the Comedy Night was not on a Sunday, but was in fact on a Friday and was scheduled to be a part of a “Date Night” or “Family Night Out” that the church was sponsoring to foster fellowship amongst its members. And lastly disparage the ministry of Christian Comedian Mike Williams, and mention nothing of his marvelous Christian ministry and his testimony where he talks about how God saved him from a horrific family life. How is he was born in Chicago to a drug abusing Mom, and a father that eventually committed suicide. All his siblings either died in prison or became addicted to drugs and became prostitutes. His mother gave him away to a Christian couple that had been praying for a child for 12 years, where they raised him in a Godly home, and he too became a Christian.
I praise God for his sovereignty, and how He miraculously rescued Mike from his horrible home life, and how he was placed in the arms of a wonderful childless Christian couple, who prayed for a baby for many years. What providence.

But of course a more indepth anayisis is not what sites like these do. They would much rather troll the internet and news sources to find headlines that fit their extermely narrow minded point of view.

Oh yeah, one other thing, when the senior pastor asks you to remove the post, do so quietly, and offer no apology for slandering a church and a ministry, ( your supposed to be gratefull that her Ingridness has heard the gracious petition and has agreed to remove the post, even after the slanderous post was exposed on the internet and on Laodicea’s site that is getting 100,000+ page views per week).

And one last thing, don’t attempted to communicate with Ingrid, because it will go something like this:

Hello,

You had a post called Luke Warm and Proud of It, concerning a church that had a Comedy Night, Google has it as July 14th (http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com/archives/2006/07/lukewarm_and_pr.php) which shows up at this link, but not in your blog archives under July 2006. Any idea what happened to it?

Hi Steve,

I took the post down after an email conversation with the pastor of the church. I didn't realize the comments were still up. The site exasperates me when I try to take something down because it never seems to get everything erased. I felt that I needed to remove the post after talking with the pastor.

Ingrid

Hi Ingrid,

Well, I am glad you did, because I think the post was uncalled for, and since it was posted and commented on, you really should also post a public retraction to the ministries you slandered, both Southcrest and Mike Williams, the Christian comedian who was coming to the church for a family night out.

Steve

Steven,

I can always put it back up again. I stand by my statement that comedians don't belong in church, period. I took it down mainly because of the pastor's gracious spirit and his request that it be taken down. As his sister in Christ, I honored that. It doesn't change the reality of the fact that rather than prayer meetings to bring in funds, churches now do fund raisers with comedians and feature their appearances on the church sign. "Laugh all night...at church!" I object to that and have publicly said so. Don't push me, Steve.

Ingrid

Ingrid,

Not sure what "don't push me Steve", means. Is that some type of threat or something. If it is, believe me, I'm not scared. The fact of the matter is, is that you publicly slandered a church and the ministry of a Christian comedian who has a wonderful testimony , and instead of admitting your error in the same public way you slandered them, you quietly remove the post. Yes, put it back up again, it would be more honest.

Steve

Isn't it interesting, Steve, the different response you got from that of the pastor of the church? You email me demanding apologies and public retractions and telling me what to do with my site, accusing me of slander and more. Your email is in stark contrast to the courteous complaint of the pastor. You received a very different response because your spirit is very different. Your angry and nasty personal tone is tempting me to react in the flesh as well. I will not post any retraction because as I have said already, I stand by my belief that the church of Jesus Christ is no place for fun family outings featuring laugh all night comedians, period. You can call that slander if you want to, it does not matter to me. But I will not tolerate being told what to do on my site, anymore than you would tolerate me telling you what to do. My email communication with you is over with this email. I would suggest you take a deep breath and ask the Lord exactly how he would have you handle your anger. At this end, all I hear is wrath, which as our exchange proves, doesn't work the righteusness of God. Ingrid

Yes, Ingrid, publicly posting a picture of a Church with the caption, “Luke Warm and Proud of It”, is slandering the church, as well as Mike Williams ministry, especially when you know nothing about either ministries. And your right, I can see any further communication with you concerning the subject will get no where.

I have found the best way to deal with these sites is blog about them when you must (since they won't post contrary opinions), other than that delete them from your bookmarks and try to forget they exsist.

Personally, I agree with Brad on this one and I think Phil Johnson, while he had a very eloquent post about Guilt By Association, however I think he really missed the mark in his last paragraph. Not many bloggers use the tactics that SOL does and his drumbeat that his post applies to us all (which it does), but refuses to call Ingrid out specifically on her acidic post titles and content baffles me.

{{{Candleman}}}

Pray for my Dad

2006-08-11T01:21:00.000-04:00

Snippet of Sermon preached by my brother about the impact
of my father's faith.

Updated September 20, 2006 - My brother, Rev. Bob Riedy, recently mentioned my father, and his impact on his life at a young age on the clip shown above (click on the arrow to play). This clip is a small snippet of the entire sermon that can be found here, which was preached on August 27, 2006, his sermon starts at the 34:00 mark. This was Bob’s first sermon preached at The Church of the Open Door, a church he just started ministering at this summer, after serving in a church in New England for many years.

My father tried chemotherapy for a week, and he had to stop due to the side effects and weight loss he experienced. Currently my parents are seeking an appointment at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Thank you for all who have commented and are offering prayers for my Dad and our family.

-------------------------------------------------------
Original Post

I have written about my father and his impact on living a Godly life in front of his family on a on going basis here before. How his simple faith and his willingness to share it with anyone he meets (he has been involved in the local prison ministry for many years with Yoke Fellowship), and the dignified manner in which he has conducted himself as he has fought cancer these past five years. The scans from the doctors this week are rather grim. A man who was in good physical shape most of his life (he was a bricklayer by trade), now weighs in at 115. There is a confirmed cancerous mass growing again in the area where his esophagus meets his intestine (he had his stomach removed 4 years ago, due to stomach cancer). Certain lymph nodes are twice the size they should be (not a good sign). He will be 74 this October, and if he lives until April of next year, he and my mother will celebrate 50 years of marriage. A feat not possible in most of marriages today that last a few years at best.

More tests are coming to determine possible treatments, but with his age, and current weight, I don't see how he can undergo any type of radiation treatments or major surgery. So pray for guidance, we pray for the Lord to perform a healing miracle that only He can do, and short of that, if it is his time to "stand in the presence of the Lord", that is would come without a long drawn out illness and much pain and suffering.

{{{Candleman}}}

BTW - The reason I blog with the name Candleman, is because back in the mid-70's, my parents bought me a candle kit for my birthday. I didn’t tinker with its contents much, but my father did. After spending a hard day at work laying bricks and building buildings, he would come home and make candles. Soon a few stores asked for them locally here, and after a while he had enough stores and other customers to be able to quit laying bricks. He treasured going down to the basement to make candles for his livelihood.

While I didn’t care much for the making of the candles, I did like to sell them. So prior to the rise of the Internet, I marketed the candles under my company… American Candle Classics, via mail order. In the mid-90’s I moved the selling of the candles to the Internet, and this continued until just a few weeks ago, when, due to his recent rapid weight loss, he did not have the strength to make candles in his current condition, and I had to write a rather difficult letter to our customers. So when you Google “Candleman” and this blog comes up in the top three, now you now why ;)

A Welcomed Breath of Fresh Air

2006-08-10T00:00:00.000-04:00

Concerning the Calvinism Debate at Liberty University in October 2006

Well, these two posts , one at Dr. Whites blog and one and Tom Ascol’s blog is most certainly a breath of fresh air in the rather rambunctious and un-Christ like conduct of men with Doctorates in front of their names, Dr. James White and Dr. Ergun Caner. I have long felt that the exchange between these two men was equally embarrassing, on both their parts. The exchange was strident, shameful, proudful and should never had occurred in private, let alone public. It all started here back in February, and then continued on as the rancor increased unabated through May. It is obvious that someone with some Godly character
stepped into this free for all, and sat these two down and mediated this via a private chat, rather than over the Christian blogesphere. Or perhaps they realized the error of their ways on their own, we don't know the details of the resolution, we are just glad it occured.

The joint communiqué reads:

A Public Statement

Since February 27th of this year, plans have been underway to schedule a debate on Baptists and Calvinism. Drs. James White, Ergun Caner, Emir Caner and Tom Ascol initially agreed to participate in this event which was scheduled to be held at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia on October 16, 2006. Over the last five months, efforts to negotiate the terms of the debate at times degenerated into heated, antagonistic exchanges between the four participants. In both speech and tone too much of the communication has been perceived and/or characterized by sinful attitudes that have not honored the Lord Jesus Christ. We acknowledge our responsibility in this and deeply regret that we allowed it to happen. Each of us longs to represent Christ honorably and our intent is to conduct further negotiations in ways that will do so.

Through ongoing communication out of the public eye we have come to terms regarding the debate. It remains scheduled on October 16th and will involve all four of us. The topic will be, "Baptists and Calvinism: An Open Debate." The length will be three hours. The format will be modified Parliamentary. The place will be Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia.

We are committed to engaging in a debate that will highlight the significant differences that exist between our respective views of how the Gospel of God works in bringing salvation to sinners. We believe that such debate can be conducted in a lively, vigorous exchange that need not violate the standard for Christian conduct that God has given us in His Word. Our goal is to do exactly this. The issues on which we disagree are important. It is because of our love for Christ and His truth that we believe these issues are worth debating. However, we regard this as a fraternal debate and intend to approach it not as antagonists, but as brothers with strong disagreements.

To that end we are asking those who have followed the issues surrounding this debate to join us in prayer that the Lord will guide us as final preparations are being made and that He will help us to conduct ourselves in a manner "worthy of the calling with which [we] have been called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:1-3).

Sincerely in Christ,
Ergun Caner, Emir Caner, James White, and Tom Ascol

Yes, gentlemen, and for us lay people who have struggled with this issue, this statement is a God send, and we eagerly a wait the evening of October 16, 2006.

{{{Candleman}}}

Jason's First Wedding

2006-07-30T23:19:00.000-04:00

My son went to his first wedding this month, (his two sisters were flower girls for the first time). After we got home that evening, while I was doing the "bedtime routine" and having our bedtime prayers, he prayed:

Dear Lord,

I thank you for the "hokie pokie," thank you for "the chicken dance." And Oh yeah Lord, I thank you that I got married today. Amen"

{{{Candleman}}}

I Want to Sing a Song - Third Day

2006-07-19T01:57:00.000-04:00

OK, I don't know what it is about this song, but I can't get enough of it, since I first ran across it last week. Third Day is coming to Bethlehem, PA this October, and my wife and I hope to see them and I am sure my wife will be there with her ear plugs in tow;) She is the only one I know that goes to rock concerts with ear plugs in her ears. I thought that was suppposed to be part of the experience, great music, loud.

{{{Candleman}}}

Sing a Song

verse:
I want to sing a song for You, Lord
Lord, for You I want to sing a song
And I want to lift my voice to Heaven
And listen to the angels sing along

chorus:
A song of Your faithfulness
A song of Your grace
And of Your loving kindness
To the glory of Your name
With everything that's in me, Lord
Listen to me say
I want to sing a song for You
I want to sing a song

verse:
I want to live my life for You, Lord

Lord, for You I want to live my life
And I want to praise the name of Jesus
And Pray above all things You're glorified

go to chorus

And I sing about Your mercy
And I sing about Your love
Your goodness, Lord
Your righteousness
I want to sing...
go to chorus

And we'll sing holy, holy, holy
We'll sing holy, holy, holy
We'll shout holy, holy
Are You Lord almighty
(repeat and fade out)

Memory-of.com

2006-07-15T02:55:00.000-04:00

This picture you see here to the left. I don’t know him. I never met Dale Vincent Milligan (1987-2004). But I can feel the pain of his father a half a world away. That last good bye, the tender touch, the memories of a life time – that are now only memories. The kiss on the way out the door of your spouse that will be your last, the gleam in your two year old's eye as he gets up every morning and silently goes about his day of growing, learning and exploring the world he has come to know inside your little parcel of real estate on this earth….. and then with out forewarning, in the flash of an eye the life you have come to love, nurture, and long for is gone.

As a father of four young children, two girls ages 7 and 6, and two sons ages 4 and 2, I often wonder what life has in store for our family. My wife writes birth stories how our children came into this world, I hope and pray we don’t have to write a death story way before four scores have ebbed from time present to time eternity. Will I get to see all my kids grow up? Will they be well adjusted, and happily married? As a parent that is what we long for. Will this tremendous faith passed on to me by my father and mother also take hold in the hearts and lives of my kids?

Who is really irritating you in your family today? Are you and your wife growing apart? Is the spring of your marriage turning to fall and heading for winter? Did your two year old get up today, needing a diaper change, and your 5 year old, wanting to let you get some more sleep, attempt to change the diaper her self, not quite doing so wonderful job and leaving a mess for you to clean up, all while greeting you with a big smile saying, “Seany boy had a mess this morning, but I helped him and changed his diaper, daddy.” Has your two year-old discovered your fridgerator (water and ice server) makes for great fun after holding the water on for five minutes and leaving a half an inch of water all over your kitchen floor?

Has your teenager lost their way? Doing drugs? Pregnant? Have green hair? Doing the Goth thing? Has a piercing you detest? Lost their first love for God and no longer seek Him? Are you at you wits end, lost your patience, kicked someone out of your house? It could be worse.

Now go back to that family member or loved one, and hug them like there is no tomorrow, because just like everyone of the people who are sharing their stories on this site, it just may happen that tomorrow may never come. Work on your marriage until its spring again. Be patient with your infants, toddlers and young kids, just as the Lord is patient with you. Love your teenager through those troubling years and back out the other side into young adulthood, when they will come back around and recognize you for the parent you tried to be, no matter how miserable you may have failed.

I just happen to stumble across the Memory Of web site , and sat and read the stories written through the tears of mothers, fathers, siblings, spouses, cousins, parents and grandparents, and hope and pray I don't have to experience the loss of my spouse and children in a sudden tradegy or to a terminal illness way before their time.

Who is irritating you today? Do you think any of the people telling these stories would exchange one day dealing with the source of your irritation for just one minute together again with the loved one they so desperately miss? May we all cheerish the time we have on this earth, for it is like a vapor, here today and gone tomarrow, and in that cheerishing let it change your attitude and how you treat those who are closest to you.

{{{Candleman}}}

Demonic Candles???

2006-03-08T22:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess in light of this article I need to change occupations and go out and find a job where I don't create objects that can be hosts to demons.

The web site goes on to say:

"A former African witchdoctor who practiced witchcraft for over twenty years said that demons are attracted to the substance candles are made out of. Candles were
a part of his witchcraft. It does not matter what color, shape, or smell they have. When lit, the smell of the candle also calls on another big time demon. Is it a wonder why the candle business is in the Billions of dollars a year! No wonder too that so many churches have candles all over the place."

[[[eye roll]]]

As the Pennsylvania Dutch use to say, "sometimes it wonders me".

{{{Candleman}}}

This is Just too Cool - Side Walk Magic

2006-03-03T23:30:00.000-05:00

After a week of attempting to correct misrepresentations by Steve Camp at his blog, here , here and here, concerning fellow Christians that sum up their salvation experience, by stating they came to a point in their life where “they accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior”, I need a break. However I intent to post here soon about my continuing search concerning the five points of Calvinisim.

In the meantime, I just think this is the coolest thing. Julian Beever is a street artist that draws art on the sidewalk. Yes, that coke bottle is really drawn on a flat one dimentionl surface. But it is drawn with such talent and with shading and other elements that gives it the incredible 3D appearance. I found this info at LittleGal’s site who goes one to explain it like this:

Julian Beever is an amazing artist who takes advantage of the way the brain perceives things visually to create some astounding artwork. He calls them "Anamorphic illusions"........ drawn in a special distortion in order to create an impression of 3 dimensions when seen from one particular viewpoint, and he's been doing this type of artwork for about 10 years. The human brain works out our 3D peceptions of the world from the two dimensional light patterns that fall onto our retina at the back of the eye.We assume that textures will fade as they go farther away, parallel lines will converge in the distance somewhat, and that the closer an object is, the larger it seems to appear. Julian Beever's art takes advantage of a knowledge of these processes, so when photographed or viewed from a particular angle, the visual system's built-in processes are fooled, producing a false sense of depth.When viewed from an alternate angle, the illusion is brokem-down, and you can see how the illusion was created. You can find more examples of his art work here. Below I have pictures of a swimming pool that is first shown from the "correct point of view" then the same picture is shown from "wrong side" and you can see how your eye has been tricked. Plus some other of my favorites from Julian's site.

{{{Candleman}}}

Krugle the next Google?

2006-03-03T22:51:00.000-05:00

Krugle is a new search engine coming to the web in early March 2006. The premise behind the launch is that the open source community has come of age, with robust open source applications like Linux, MySQL, PHP and many others to numerous to mention, there is a need for developers and programmers to find working code, instead of having to start from scratch.

Krugle will be a search engine that is designed to fill that need. Krugle supports code search by crawling, parsing and indexing code found in all open source repositories, as well as code that exists in archives, mailing lists, blogs, and web pages. The index will cover around 100 million pages of what company co-founder Ken Krugler terms the "technical web" -- high-quality technical pages for professional programmers. This winds up being a window on all the open-source code in the world," said Krugler, who estimates the Krugle index will contain between 3 and 5 terabytes of code by the time the engine launches in March. A PHP developer could search for a website-registration system written in PHP simply by typing "PHP registration system", and the search will deliver code samples to get that accomplished. Info World has an article on Krugle here.

It sounds very promising, let’s see if it delivers. Something I did notice about their web site that surprised me, if you go under the “news” section and click to the article links, you will be taken to that article and leave the Krugle sight. Web design 101, when developing a site that sells a product or services, never have a link from your site leave your site, always open the link into a target _blank window. Tisk , tisk ,tisk Krugle.

{{{Candleman}}}

Katie's Krush

2006-02-14T21:21:00.000-05:00

My son Sean (two years old) was not feeling well one night so he got up and wandered into his sisters' bedroom, and started crying loud enough for me to hear so I went over to see what was going on. Soon all four of us (sleeping Jessica, Katie, Sean, and me) were in bed as I was trying to calm Sean down. In the stillness of the dark Kate says, “I think Seany has a crush on me.” To which I said, “well Katie why do you think that?” “Well, Daddy because he keeps bringing me things (showing me a pile of items Sean had given to Katie), and people who like each other bring things to each other.” I respond, Hhhhmm, “I see, so what do you think crush means’?" “Daddy, its when someone likes you so much that they want to marry you!” “Ohhh, I see,” I reply. “So Katie where did you learn that at?” I inquired. Katie said in exasperation, “I have only known that like forever!” "Good night Katie…" "Good night Daddy…." (…giggle giggle…)

{{{Candleman}}}

Let Christ Live Through Me

2006-01-17T00:57:00.000-05:00

As I work, side by side, with my non-Christian friends,
Let them see that this new life I do not pretend,
That there is something different in my actions, thoughts and ways,
And it is all because of those words that I prayed.

I asked Jesus to come on inside,
I want Him to be my directing guide,
Every moment I want to become more like Him,
Each day’s battle against Satan; I want to win,
I want people to see,
That I want Christ to live through me.

Let Christ live through me,
And let the whole world see,
That from the moment I accepted Him,
I was changed from within,
So now I let the things of my past life be,
Because I want Christ to live through me.

If I really have been changed, I should want to become more like Him,
Not as if I mumbled a ritual, then I’m back into sin,
If my life has been truly changed,
Then it should not be, as if I am a actor on a stage,
I know I am not what I should be,
But I know I am not what I once was,
And I want to tell you it’s all because,
I want Christ to live through me

When I let my light shine, I know he is pleased,
So when I see Him, He’ll say “well done” to me,
That’s why I no longer need earthly things to make me happy,
I want to be different, so people can see,
That I want Christ to live through me.

Let Christ live through me,
As I pass through trials and temptations into victory,
Let Christ live through me,
Till I meet Him again in eternity,
Let Christ live through me.

© 2006 Steven W. Riedy

{{{Candleman}}}

Memories of Christmas 2005

2005-12-26T00:41:00.000-05:00

Dan over at Cerulean Sanctum talks about that moment in time when Christmas comes alive for him. As he states, “Whenever I hear that line from the prophet Isaiah sung in Handel's Messiah, Christmas comes alive to me.”

Music is very powerful and provokes so much emotion, that a certain song can put us in the Christmas mood. For me, that song is “O Holy Night”. The song was written by Placide Clappeau, in 1847, and was translated from French into English by John Sullivan Dwight. Cappeau was a wine merchant and the mayor of Roquemaure, France. He wrote poems for his own enjoyment, but when asked by the parish priest to write a poem for Christmas, he quickly obliged and “O Holy Night” was born. Placide soon realized that the lyric he wrote was in need of music, so he approached his friend Adolphe Charles Adams. Adams had attended the Paris conservatoire and forged a brilliant career as a composer and as we well know wrote a moving piece of music to accompany the already wonderful lyric, especially when sung like this.

I celebrate Christmas 2005 with some pictures of me and my family. Some pictures of my favorite ornaments on our Christmas tree, and hope that you had a blessed Christmas, and that as this song proclaims, Christmas, at least in our home is all about celebrating “the night of our dear Savior’s birth”.

{{{Candleman}}}

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wise men from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

Merry Christmas from our Home to Yours

My Son Sean and My Pillow

2005-12-17T00:32:00.000-05:00

I don’t know what it is about my son Sean and my pillow, but once he wakes up he makes a bee-line for my bedroom and crawls up on my bed and grabs my pillow and then proceeds to take it everywhere he goes. Sean has a remarkable travel history despite his 23 months. He gets around. He even makes his way around the blogesphere as these pictures attest.

Here he is in Florida hanging out in TulipGirl's garden

Next he heads out to California and stops in at the Pecadillo’s new digs.

Sean is also a party animal just like "the Pec", known to stay up way past 8 O'clock playing Legos

Sean agrees, “what is a kitchen without a bike”

However he doesn’t concur with the potty seat usage here. He thinks it is a serious misuse of a potty seat, and this is a more appropriate use, especially for those approaching potty training.

Next Pec took Sean to see the “old man” and they found him driving his pyro bus around, and he was kind enough to take Seany boy for a ride.

Some how he ended up here.

Yes..... my Seany boy is gonna be trouble.

{{{Candleman}}}

Five Pointers

2005-12-13T02:07:00.000-05:00

I used to think five points refered to the rack on my buck, thank God I have this post to set me straight;)

{{{Candleman}}}

A Very Silly Movie

2005-12-07T23:30:00.000-05:00

I have tons of .avi movies sitting on my hard drive and I have never really looked into trying to edit a movie and making something a little more interesting than the typical unedited home movie .avi file. So after looking around a little I started reading up on Windows Movie Maker that comes on Windows XP Pro, but is also available for the XP Home if you install Service Pack 2 (SP2), (if you don't have SP1 installed you will also have to do that one first, and you may have to upgrade the Windows Media Player too.)

So I upgraded my PC's with SP2 and within an hour was able to create this first very silly movie. If you have a 56K modem connection you can view it here.

Stay tuned for more, and I hope my editing skills grow with subsequent movie projects.

{{{Candleman}}}

War Coverage From A Different Perspective

2005-12-02T12:59:00.000-05:00

Well, I must admit, that I have different opinions about the war in Iraq than many of my friends, relatives and my wife for that matter. However I have run across a blog that certainly is telling a story that we are not hearing in the main stream media. Michael Yon is spending his own time and money to chronicle the war as an independent informed observer. Below is a post from May 2005. I have added Michael to my blog roll, I hope you would consider doing the same.

Mosul Major Mark Bieger found this little girl after the car bomb that attacked our guys while kids were crowding around. The soldiers here have been angry and sad for two days. They are angry because the terrorists could just as easily have waited a block or two and attacked the patrol away from the kids. Instead, the suicide bomber drove his car and hit the Stryker when about twenty children were jumping up and down and waving at the soldiers. Major Bieger, I had seen him help rescue some of our guys a week earlier during another big attack, took some of our soldiers and rushed this little girl to our hospital. He wanted her to have American surgeons and not to go to the Iraqi hospital. She didn't make it. I snapped this picture when Major Bieger ran to take her away. He kept stopping to talk with her and hug her.

The soldiers went back to that neighborhood the next day to ask what they could do. The people were very warming and welcomed us into their homes, and many kids were actually running up to say hello and to ask soldiers to shake hands.

Eventually, some insurgents must have realized we were back and started shooting at us. The American soldiers and Iraqi police started engaging the enemy and there was a running gun battle. I saw at least one IP who was shot, but he looked okay and actually smiled at me despite the big bullet hole in his leg. I smiled back.

One thing seems certain; the people in that neighborhood share our feelings about the terrorists. We are going to go back there, and if any terrorists come out, the soldiers hope to find them. Everybody is still very angry that the insurgents attacked us when the kids were around. Their day will come.

Michael Yon

{{{Candleman}}}

Piglet TV

2005-11-30T11:01:00.000-05:00

Well it seems like our illustrious speaker of the house John Perzel (current salary $110,000; new slimy salary $145,000), went to read to a school to read to the kids, and to donate two whole boxes of books, and instead the little PR stunt turned into a disaster. Click here to see the video. As he opines away about donating two boxes of books to the school, a bulletin board of cut out pigs is clearly visible behind him ( I wonder if the kids have been studying Harrisburg politics??). Is this great or what, when the theme of the past couple months is their slimy pay grab and how they have acted like pigs at the trough. I wonder if his advance man is still employed?

Then, he asks the classroom of kids if they have any questions? Instead of a softball, Chris Mathews Jr. must have been in the class, because a girl threw a hardball and asked, “So did you come here in a Limo? To which he responds, “,it was a car..just a car”. After being peppered with questions by the press on the way out( we he says yes I deserve the pay raise, but refuses to answer the question as to why it was passed in the dead of night with no prior public notice or debate). As the video continues to play it shows the chauffer driven Town Car he arrived in and a little modest SUV he left in as his panicked aides waived him off the ride that brought him to another ride more suited for the common man.

{{{Candleman}}}

It doesn't take Einstein to Compute This

2005-11-22T23:53:00.000-05:00

I saw this sign gernerator and could,'t resist. You can make your own sign here.

{{{Candleman}}}

Piglets at the Trough - Part One

2005-11-21T12:59:00.000-05:00

On July 7, 2005, in the dead of the night, without public notice or debate, the members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a huge pay raise for 1,300 public officials including themselves and state judges. The raises ranged from 16% to 34% raising the pay to most legislators from $81,050 to $89,155. The second highest legislative salary in the nation, only behind California. HHmmm cost of living in PA... cost of living in CA, go figure. However to get around the state constitution the current house of piglets … these sleaze balls put a special little provision in the bill. You see, the current congress cannot raise their own salaries in their current term and have it take effect within their current term.

So what did they do, they entered a unvouchered expense clause into the bill. That’s right, in order to take the pay raise in their current term, they can write “unvouchered, undocumented expenses and turn them in for cash, in order to get their money this term. And since PA accounting laws were written by these slime balls, it is very difficult to find out who has taken these raises so far in the form of “unvouchered expenses" and for how much.

Stay tuned as I continue this series, and show that we the voters do have the power to change the corruption in Harrisburg and we already went to the polls and threw out a state judge in November, the first time in 36 years this has occurred. Also how the weasels are trying to appease us by repealing the money grab. But this is all too little too late, we will not forget!!

What can the voters of Pennsylvania Do?

First of all educate yourself about what occurred, how brazen a money grab this was, and how lackadaisical the General Assembly must think we are that they could even attempt this. What can we do?

Find out if your local representative or senator participated in this unlawful, illegal pay grab

Read the articles and information at Operation Clean Sweep

Get a yard sign so WE REMEMBER next time these slime balls are up for relection and VOTE THEM OUT regardless of partly affliation.

Check out the Wikipedia write up of what occurred.

If you have the money consider sponsoring a bill board

Check out these political cartoons and make your own by naming the local representatives and senators in your area that took this pay grab.

Read the Democracy Uprising site and exactly how corrupt our legislative process is and the reforms suggested

MOST IMPORTANTLY, NEVER FORGET AND VOTE THESE LOUSES OUT NEXT ELECTION!!

{{{CANDLEMAN}}}

Pastor Electrocuted During Baptism

2005-11-18T23:26:00.000-05:00

During a baptism on Sunday Oct 30, 2005, the Rev. Kyle Lake was accidentally electrocuted during the Sunday Morning service. About 10 minutes into the service Kyle stepped into the baptismal and suffered electrocution due to faulty wiring. EMS arrived at the scene and took Kyle to the hospital, but he never recovered from the electrical shock and was pronounced dead at 11:30AM.

Kyle was the loved pastor of University Baptist Church, a haven for Baylor students. Terry, his wife, and 5 year old daughter Avery were in attendance last Sunday when the accident happened. The couple also has twin boys Sutton and Jude, born in July of 2002.

May the corporate body of Christ remember to pray for the Lake family at this time, the congregation of University Baptist Church, and The Baylor University students who have been affected by this tragedy.

Press release:
From: University Baptist Church , Waco, Texas Leadership Team

Re: University Baptist Church , Waco, Texas / Kyle Lake

Dated: October 31, 2005; 4 :00 p.m.

The congregation of University Baptist Church continues to mourn the loss of its pastor Kyle Lake as a result of an accidental electrocution at services on Sunday, October 30, 2005. The determination of the cause of the accident is being reviewed by technical professionals and authorities. We have no further information available to us at this time about the cause of this tragedy.

As a result of the need to allow for the evaluation of the facilities and this accident, Sunday services for November 6, 2005 for University Baptist Church will be moved to the chapel at Truett Seminary. Our focus at this time is to mourn the loss of Kyle Lake and to celebrate his life with his family, the University Baptist Church congregation and the community.

{{{Candleman}}}

Rick is Right... I have been deceived

2005-11-16T11:56:00.000-05:00

You know what Rick, you're right. I am a heathen for having any holiday “customs” in my household for my children to enjoy. I was so blinded, how could I have allowed this totally depraved heathen practice to slip in undetected?

I also have been deceived because my wife’s navtivity scene has angels that have wings and look like they could possibly be feminine ( I hope they are not effeminate!) I will purge my house of these Satanic angels too.

And you're right about the church I attend, I don’t know how I could have missed this! I must be deceived. I must try to find a church that does not have:

A kneeling alter
Any choirs – especially children’s
Any building programs (especially if attendance is 1200 week and the auditorium holds 500. I don’t know Rick, does the Bible specifically call these auditoriums, or sanctuaries or shall we go back to meeting at fellow congregates houses?)
Formal church organizational documents – we know our God disapproves of organization
Sunday School Programs
Children’s Church or Nursery
Christmas programs – why would you want to celebrate a heathen/pagan holiday??
Baptism Ceremonies
Membership Rolls
Business Meetings
Youth Groups
Church Signs – this would help eliminate a previous rant of yours
Associate Pastors
Music Pastors
Youth Pastors
Women leading anything, including toddlers because you know those boys grow up to be men!
Church Secretaries – Did Paul have one? No! So why do we need them???
And my personal pet peeve Vacation Bible School, there were no vacations back then, let alone Bible schools

Also I think you forgot one, I don’t think churches should have bathrooms, for them to be a Godly, sanctified first century church as only found in the Scriptures. Except maybe an out house, because I bet they had them back then. Hmm maybe not, maybe it was just a hole in the ground.

I also don’t think we should run heat in the winter time or A/C in the summer, because these were not a part of any first century church. Whoops….. I take that back, I think a fireplace is a sanctified biblical way of producing heat, but none of those postmodernist natural gas type fireplaces, where you just flip a switch and presto a roaring fire place. (I hear this is the only kind Rick Warren and Brian McLaren will approve of in their churches no wonder they are apostate).

No dammit, if you want heat, work for it. Get out there and chop down a tree, (be sure to use a verifiable cutting instrument from the Apostolic Age, none of this chain saw stuff or a razor sharp axe. The tree should have to take at least 3 days to chop down, so you can appreciate the heat.

And finally, to really be a true biblical church as preached in the Bible, the Bible must be the KJV. Yes the King James Version and none other, for it is the holiest of all English Bibles.

St. Paul used it in his manuscripts.

{{{one very big eye roll}}}

Rick, instead of reading the Bible to find a rant of the day, so you can opine about all the heathen/pagan pseudo Christians out there like me, why don’t you read it to hopefully become more like Him and in doing so I hope someday you get over your god complex.

{{{Candleman}}}

My Son's First Wild Ride

2005-11-08T22:48:00.000-05:00

As with most families we try to do some activities through out the summer to create memories for our children. We take a annual trip to the beach at Ocean City, NJ that the kids have really come to enjoy and look forward to. We live minutes from Dorney Park in Allentown, PA. We have added Dorney Park to our repertoire of family activities that we enjoy taking our kids to.

However this year I am not sure how much my son, Jason, three years old, has taken to Dorney Park. As evidenced by the picture he clearly did not enjoy himself. He saw this ride and immediately wanted to go on the ride. So we waited…..and waited…and waited and finally some 30 minutes later our turn was up. Still excited, Jason boarded the ride with me, and he was fine until that metal bar was locked down over us. Then he really did not want to be on the ride. Unfortunately, soon we started moving and there was no turning back and the camera caught a picture that I will keep and be able to kid him about for many years to come.

Funny thing is… at least once a week he will come into my bedroom and want to see the “Dorney Park picture…." And for the three weeks after his terrifying ride, everyday he would say, “I want to go to Dorney Park…Daddy, can we go to Dorney Park?”

{{{Candleman}}}

Blog Tag

2005-11-02T23:25:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess I was blog tagged by my wife back on October 10th, and I am just finding out about it now. I guess she didn't bug me since I was out of commission with the worst illness of my life from Oct 9th - Oct 22. The first week was spent burning up with fever of 104.5, having numerous blood test to find out what was wrong. The second week was the sore throat from Hell. Oh yeah, how could I forget that wonderful spinal tap to rule of meningitis. Note to reader..... never....ever get a spinal tap unless your life depends on it. Sticking the needle into your spinal column wasn't fun, but the worse part was the nerves it hits on the way in that send electrical impulses coursing through your body. But hold on, the worse is yet to come. Because your body now has less spinal fluid in it, you get vice grip like headaches that for me lasted for days. Don’t ever get a spinal tap! Also don’t ever get the Mono virus in your 40’s!

Well this is starting to turn into a post of its own…so back to the Blog tag. I am supposed to find my 23 post, and the fifth sentence to that post. So here goes:

Awakening to the sound of a ringing telephone beside his bed, he reached for the phone but grabbed instead a Smith & Wesson 38 Special, which discharged when he drew it to his ear.

Which is part of my post about the Darwin Awards.

Now I guess I am supposed to tag other blogs I read and have them do the same. Only problem is the blogs I read, epecially this week probably won’t play. There’s Dr. Mike who has taken up some rather un-Dr. Mike like language this week.

There’s Dan at Cerulean Sanctum who is asking bloggers to stop blogging for a week and instead go out and meet your neighbor, deliver food to the poor, visit a shut in, or invite a new member of your church over for a meal. So he’s not even blogging now… don’t think he’ll play tag with me.

Lastly there is Phil Johnson the Pyroguy ,but I think he might bite my head off if I ask him to play tag with me. Plus it might take him two weeks to find the fifth sentence in his 23rd post. I can just see it now, Phil Johnson bites off the candlemans head as a comic book cover on his site.

No thanks! So sweetie, I guess all your gonna get is my response.

{{{Candleman}}}

Comedy Break

2005-10-08T00:19:00.000-04:00

Why can't potty training be this easy???

2005-10-05T23:48:00.000-04:00

{{{Candleman}}}

How My Kids Raid the Cookie Jar

2005-09-13T23:44:00.000-04:00

Radom Musings

2005-09-13T23:15:00.000-04:00

I found this picture on yahoo and couldn't resist. My wife is a childbirth instructor and a Doula. I have to find a place for this pic and some others I found and incorporate it into an upcoming revamp of her web site.

I also came across and interesting article on businesses take on blogging.

{{{Candleman}}}

The Legacy of a Godly Father

2005-08-08T01:36:00.000-04:00

My dad came to know the Lord in his thirties. He became a Christian at a small country church in Beechcreek, PA, the home church of my mother. The pastor was preaching a salvation sermon, and the Holy Spirit was at work in his heart calling him to an acknowledgment of his sin and a need for a Savior. Change was radical. I remember the Lucky Strikes he smoked for many years soon stopped after his conversion. We soon found a bible believing local church that was meeting in members houses and other buildings as the ground work was being laid to form a formal church.

I grew up in Faith Church, in Trexlertown, PA. Before the buildings that currently comprise Faith were built, we met at the Trexlertown Grange for Wednesday night prayer meeting and at the Masonic Lodge in Allentown for Sunday church services. As a small child I clearly remember the land dedication and beginnings of the buildings that now comprises Faith.

My dad, a bricklayer by trade, was eager to have his building skills used by the Lord, so I remember many nights where after a long days work, we would go out to Faith, my brothers and I would play in the large mounds of dirt, while my dad worked, laying the foundation blocks to the first building built on the land.

My dad, James, is a storyteller. I thought I heard most of the stories he had to tell, but recently he told me a story he never told me before. One of the many brick laying projects he accomplished in those days was the two brick walls that flanked the driveway up to Faith, as you would make the turn off Hamilton and into the church drive way. For many years the white letters on those brick walls announced “Faith Evangelical Free Church” to all who passed by. My dad told me that when he was done laying that last brick, he knelt right there in front of those walls and prayed as the traffic behind him continued to pass by. He prayed this simple prayer “Lord, as people pass by these brick walls on the way into to this church, may they be different, changed people as they pass by them on the way out.”

Decades later, the then pastor of the church, Pastor Solburg, shared with the congregation one of the many letters he receives as a pastor during a sermon. It was written by a grown woman, who as a little girl attended Faith Churches VBS program. She relayed in the letter how as a 6 year old girl, she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior in the VBS program. She also spoke about how her family was not supportive of the decision she made for Jesus. Soon she moved away and grew up far away from Faith, but she knew deep down inside something was permanently changed in her six year old little heart. As the VBS bus drove her home that day, past that brick wall and sign, she was a different little girl. Even though there was not much support from home, her faith blossomed, and today she is a singer, traveling from church to church singing about Jesus.

One day, some 20 years latter, she returned to the Lehigh Valley to find that church where she met Jesus as a little girl. She spent most of the day traveling from church to church all across the valley trying to find the church she remembered as a little girl. Exhausted by her search, she was about to give up as she was driving down Hamilton Blvd. and she saw those brick walls, flanking each side of the drive way, bearing the words, “Faith Evangelical Free Church”. She found it! She drove up the driveway, excited to find someone there that she can share her story with. It was a Saturday, and as she went from door to door, she discovered they were all locked up, no one was around. In the rear lawn of the church, she knelt down on the grass and prayed, just a few dozen yards away from where my father knelt and prayed some 20 years earlier. She prayed, “Dear Jesus, thank you for the people who started this church, thank you for the members who gave their money and time to make this church was it is, and I thank you that I met Jesus as a little girl in this church.”

The church my wife and I now attend recently dedicated a piece of land for a future building project, and attending the dedication made me reflect on my father and his faithfulness and brought back many childhood memories of a church that was the hub of my activites in my growing up years. The land dedication to me was more than a gathering of believers to pray for the future plans of Bethany. It is a hollowed piece of ground, where a church will soon be erected, couples will marry, babies will be dedicated and baptized, funerals will be held. With much prayer, the power of the spoken Word and God’s grace, I want my dads prayer of so long ago to be my prayer. That people will drive up the driveway on the way to church and be different people when they drive out. As my dad passed this wonderful heritage down to me, my wife and I wanted to pass it down to our children.

My dad was diagnosed with stomache cancer in the Fall of 2002. He underwent surgery that removed his stomache and today he is cancer free. However one of the side effects of the surgery is his strength has been sapped and he has trouble keeping on weight. Weighing in at 180lbs most of his life, he now struggles to keep his weight at 120-125. Keep my dad in your thoughts and prayers.

{{{Candleman}}}

Last Man Seated

2005-08-05T03:04:00.000-04:00

I have always been fascinated with courtroom drama and police shows. Give me a good law show like LA Law, The Practice, NYPD Blue or CSI any day of the week. Or when time a lots a great crime novel like the “Prey” series by John Stanford. So I was eagerly awaiting my arrival to the Federal Court Building in Philadelphia, PA on a hot summer day in the summer of 1999.

I was summoned to jury duty in the city of “brotherly love”. I found my way to the courthouse and the “approved parking garage” in order to get parking reimbursed. Went through the perfunctoriness of jury duty, the civic duty lesson and forming of the panels.

Soon our panel was called to a courtroom, and we filed in to be questioned by the judge and attorneys for the state and defendant. “Have you or a member of your family ever been a victim of violent crime? Are you a bank teller or do you work in the banking industry? Hhhmm, my curiosity was getting the best of me now! Have you or a member of your family ever been in a bank while it was being robbed? Bingo… jackpot.. this is a bank robbery trial! Soon jury selection commenced, (there was no “do you consider yourself to be well read”? type questions), just seemed to center on have you ever been a victim of crime, and if so do you think you can still be an impartial juror?

The selection process went fairly quickly, once in a while one side or the other would use one of their challenges and strike a potential juror, but soon 11 of the 12 jurors where picked and my chances to sit on this trial was drawing to a close. Then they called my name! Asked me a few questions and the judge told me to take a seat in the jury box.. I was the last man seated for a federal bank robbery case for a bank that was robbed in Newtown Square, PA! I am thinking, a bank robbery, this has to be a slam dunk for the prosecution. With all the cameras in banks now a days, a finger print or two, eye witnesses, ect. Boy was I in for a big surprise!

Shortly there after, the trial began. The Judge swore us in as jurors, and gave us a law lite speech. Out came the battery of attorneys for both sides and Charlie Manson.. whoops … I mean the defendant. Ok strike one… I mean this guy looked just like Charles Manson less the swastika carved in between his eyes. Scraggly hair half way down his back and a shaggy un-kept beard. I swore I heard “Helter Skeltor” playing in the background. Hello… Mr. Attorney..what are you thinking allowing your defendant to show up like this.? Ok.. keep an open mind, and judge the case on the facts and not the appearance of the defendant, I told myself.

Dilemma of all Dilemmas

Soon it was Wednesday and we were half was through the trial and my theory of a slam dunk soon evaporated. The bank cameras, that were supposed to give me a great face shot, didn’t. I got to see some great close ups of someone holding a gun, a black plastic garbage bag full of cash, someone in a jogger suit with his back to me. No finger prints any where. And no one, not one bank teller or person in the bank that day could look me in the eye and point to the defendant and say that’s the man that did it.

My wife and I were driving to Baby’s R US and I could not contain it any more. She is the curious type and I told her from day one I was not allowed to talk to anyone about the trial, although she did squeeze it out of me that I was sitting on a bank robbery case, which piqued her curiosity even more. I blurted out…. I don’t know what to do!!! I am sure my fellow juror members are going to hang this guy high, but right now, based on the evidence presented, I can not convicted this guy. I will be the lone juror holding out. I also revealed to her the thing that was bugging me the most. A corrupt police force in Oregon.

You see, whoever robbed this bank in PA, eventually made their way to the state of Oregon. The one thing that the police did get was a partial plate and a description of the vehicle the suspect fled in. Some two weeks after the robbery, at a Motel 6, at 2 AM, an Oregon police officer was running license plates at the Motel 6 and bingo… he hit the jackpot. His screen flashed: Wanted…. Armed and dangerous, vehicle was used in an armed bank robbery in PA in the past two weeks.

The Oregon Police quietly emptied the rooms that surrounded the suspect and beefed up the onsite force for the take down. The suspect surrendered without incident.

Something Stinks in Oregon

The defendant came to trial almost three years after the robbery. No reason was ever given to us as to what the delay was. However, I have my suspicions. Come trial time, there was a very large piece of the evidence missing that the Oregon Police could not find for some reason. HHmm…. let just say about $20,000 to $30,000 dollars worth of evidence. That’s right. All the money from the robbery that was confiscated from that Motel 6 and the defendant’s car was missing from the evidence vault. Well… almost all of it, there was about $500 that was left, and guess what that was…you got it.. the marked money.

You see, tellers have marked money, or money on hand that they have recorded the serial numbers to and the bank has taken electronic images of , that they are to make sure makes it into the money being taken during a robbery. So now we have a bank robbery case, that left next to no evidence at the scene of the crime, and the evidence that was damming has been robbed a second time, by the people who are supposed to “serve and protect”. My dilemma just got deeper.. for a little while any way.

Life is a Box of Chocolates

“Stupid is as stupid does”, as the saying goes. The defense did something that in my view lost the case, and shifted the preponderance of evidence against them. He let Mr. Shaggy take the stand. Dumb move. You see while there was virtually no evidence that tied the defendant to scene of the crime, his hotel room screamed guilty. In the hotel room was the gun, OOhh just about $20,000 to $30,000 in cold hard cash, and the plastic garbage bag he used to stuff the cash in. Hello….is it Hotel 6 that says come on in, “we’ll leave a light on for you?” Well this guys light went out a while ago. If you are dumb enough to commit a crime like this, be smart enough to not have one shred of evidence on you or near you for a very long time. Certainly not the gun, plastic garbage bag seen on surveillance cameras or 90% of the loot you got.

The cross examination went something like this:

P- Where were you on June 21, 1996?
D- I dunno.
P- Were you in PA?
D- I drove through it.
P- Why were you there?
D- I went on an impromptu vacation. (getting agitated)
P- Then where did you go?
D- To Las Vegas.
P- Did the police find you in a Motel 6 in Oregon?
D- Yes.
P- How did the gun and money get into your hotel room and car?
D- (now screaming and flailing about) I dunno Mr. Procecutor why don’t you tell me!
P- Well… because you robbed a bank in PA, went to Vegas to gamble a couple thousand, and went to Oregon where the police aroused you in your sleep and found marked money (ooouuucchh!!) that came from a bank that was robbed just three weeks prior. Slice… grind…. adiós. This coming from a guy who has just sat in jail for three years waiting trial, and he couldn’t come up with a believable story? Especially with the ace in the hole the Oregon Police handed him.

Both sides soon rested, and we deliberated less than 2 hours and came to a unanimous verdict of guilty.

And some cop in Oregon that robbed the bank the second time (in my view) had a new addition put on his house paid for by the proceeds of a bank robbery in PA, and Mr. Shaggy hair is doing the time.

Phil..now do you see how much fun doing jury duty can be?

{{{Candleman}}}

Very Bizarre

2005-07-12T03:13:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I was at work bored, so I Googled my name to see what came up and I found a guy in Ohio with my same name. I eventually found an email and wrote:

"Ha!... so you know your bored when you do a Google search on your name to see whom it turns up!"

Steven W. Riedy
Operations Specialist
Andesa Services, Inc.

A few minutes later he writes me back:

Steven,

That is so funny! I was just on google only seconds ago looking up property owners and ended up searching my own name on google. That is really strange! Where are you from? There are not very many Riedy's in the country. Most of them are in northern Ohio from my original bloodline. I have to go soak this in...... freaky. No more google tonight.

Steven J. Riedy
Geotechnical Engineer
DLZ, Ohio Inc.
Columbus, OH 43229

So I wonder, I know there is another Steven W. Riedy in Florida. What would be the odds if I went on a trip to Florida, got into a car accident, and we both pull out our licenses and ...

{{{Candleman}}}

What I am...

2005-07-12T02:56:00.000-04:00

I got this idea from TulipGirl ....

What I am:

Drinking: Mixture of Sprite and Welch's White Grape Juice
Wearing: One of those gray T-Shirts from Old Navy that drives my wife crazy
Reading: Hah! with 4 kids ages 6 to 18 months those were the days, but when I did get the chance to read, I love the Prey series by John Sandford
Listening to: New BackSteet Boys Album Incomplete
Watching: Same as above, the AOL sessions is pretty cool
Cooking: Pork BBQ - Get a boneless pork roll, about 3lbs t0 4lbs, slow cook in the crock pot all day, add a BBQ sauce of your choice, and salt and peper to taste...Immm...Immmm...Good.

{{{Candleman}}}

In Case You Haven't Noticed

2005-07-09T22:09:00.000-04:00

Blogger recently fixed one of the pet peeves I have had about their service, which was the easy uploading of pictures you want to place on your blog. They had you use another service (hello or flicker), and download other software to your PC, which I could never get to work. Or if you have server space, you could place your picture on your server and link it to your blog, which is what I ended up doing.

So here are my first two pics using their new picture uploading feature, of our kids with their Easter dress up clothes.

{{{Candleman}}}

Long Hair Freaky People Need Not Apply

2005-05-22T23:06:00.000-04:00

Over at Amy’s Humble Musings, the topic for two days has been church signs. Reminds me of that song from the seventies Signs.

Apparently quite a few of my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ get very emotionally charged up over the verbiage on these signs. Take for instance the one Amy show cased on day two. It says:

“Our American Idol is Jesus who sings the song of salvation.”

Now I’ll be the first to admit that it is difficult to fit any deep theological message on a sign that holds 10-12 words. But I was rather shocked at the rants that went on in the comments section over this church sign. To me this sign is saying, “We revere Jesus and He sings the song of salvation.” I am flabbergasted at the commentary about this sign, (and signs that others mention in the comments that is apparently just as appalling to certain people). Some of these comments were:

“I can only IMAGINE what their messages are like.” Says Miss O’Hara

There’s a church marquee in our area that says, “Long hair freaky
people can apply. Everyone is welcome at Hilltop.” It drives me nuts every time
I pass it, says Amy.

Rebecca states. “I suppose people
who put up these “messages” do so in the hopes of being hip and relevant and
catchy, and thus intriguing passersby enough so they will visit the church. But
I can’t help but thinking that if I was a nonchristian, such statements would
only confirm my suspicions that most Christians were nut jobs.”

Funny.. I think the reaction to these signs from Christians promotes suspicion that most Christians are nut jobs.

However at least Rebecca , after posting the above comment went on to search out how signs are used as ministries in a Church and people are coming the Lord via these sign ministries.

Then the rant that takes the cake is from Rick
of Rick’s Watchtower
who rants about the sign and that
it shows the state of apostasy in America, and then goes on to admit
that he hasn’t been to church in about a year …HHmmmm.

Glad to see that recently Rick has made his way back to church, and instead of getting the reception he thought he was going to get, he was welcomed back with loving arms, as he states:

Chastening. That’s what I expected from the pastor. For no other reason than
that I knew my course of actions over the past year has been wrong, I expected
to have been reprimanded after the service. Turned away from the church? No.
Explained exactly how stupid I was? I sure expected that.

But that isn’t what I got at all. He seemed genuinely happy to see
me, as did everyone else. There weren’t any fatted calves being slaughtered, but
it’s safe to say that at least to a degree, I know what the prodigal son of
Scripture fame experienced when he came home to his father.”

Yes my fellow Brothers and Sisters in Christ, churches are for Rick, “the long haired freaky types” and everyone in between. Let’s get off our high horse and find other things to rant about than the signs at churches you don't attend any way.

{{{Candleman}}}

If you need Clarification...Ask

2005-05-20T22:11:00.000-04:00

This is a humorus story my wife forwarded me. Moral of the story... if in doubt....seek clarification;)

---------------------------------------------

A very proper lady began planning a week's camping vacation for her and her Baptist Church group. She wrote to a campground for reservations. She wanted to make sure that the campground was fully equipped and modern, but couldn't bring herself to write the word "toilet" in her letter. So, she decided on the old fashion term "Bathroom Commode". Once written down she still was not comfortable. Finally she decided on the abbreviation "B.C." and wrote, "does your campground have its own 'B.C.?'"

When the campground owner received the letter, he couldn't figure out what she meant by "B.C." He showed it to several of the campers, one of whom suggested the lady was obviously referring to a Baptist Church since there was a letterhead on the paper which referred to a Baptist Church. So he sent this reply.

Dear Madam: The B.C. is located nine miles from the campground in a beautiful grove of trees. I admit it is quite a distance if you are in the habit of going regularly. No doubt you will be pleased to know it will seat 350 people at one time, and it is open on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday of each week. Some folks take their lunch and make a day of it. The acoustics are very good, so everyone can hear even the quietest of passages. It may interest you to know that my daughter met her husband there. We are having a fund-raiser to purchase new seats as the old ones have holes in them.

Unfortunately my wife is ill and hasn't been able to attend regularly. It's been a good 6 months since she last went. It pains her very much not to be a able to go more often. As we grow older, it seems to be more of a effort, especially in cold weather. Perhaps I could accompany you the first time you go, sit with you, and introduce you to all the other folks who will be there. I look forward to your visit. We offer a very friendly campground.

{{{Candleman}}}

I've Been Blogged

2005-05-14T17:09:00.000-04:00

Well, I guess I have to get a copy of the latest and greatest Webster’s Dictionary to see if this is even a word, but I found two new blogs this week of note. One encourages the evangelical church to make room for stay at home dads. The other Eternal Perspectives, is a very well written blog by Dr. Mike. I made a comment on his blog and it had turned into two days of well-written answers to a common problem in the evangelical community… OCS. He also explains how one can walk in the Spirit with Pink Floyd.... and I am coming from a back ground where I allowed others to lead me to believe I can't walk in the Spirit and listen to Larry Norman or Keith Green. Dr. Mike is way cool...you should check him out.

{{{Candleman}}}

This Is Just Wrong

2005-05-13T22:40:00.000-04:00

In my book Pastor Chan Chandler crossed the line. I am all for preaching against abortion (what I consider to be the taking of an innocent life), but to single out politicians (of either party), on this issue and name them by name from the pulpit and then say that if you vote for one of these politicians you need to “leave this church or repent”, is crossing the line.
I think this is totally inappropriate. I don't care that he mentions politicians from each side of the isle. It is none of my pastors business whom I vote for...it is a freedom that is cherished in this country just as much as the freedom to worship wherever you please. What will be added to the list next… you will need to leave the church or repent if you... don't have a wife that stays home with the kids…. Are a dad that stays home with the kids, Don’t home school, Don’t discipline your kids by hitting them. Good grief, do we really want to travel this road?

{{{Candledman}}}

Car 54 Where Are You

2005-05-07T22:39:00.000-04:00

Car 54 ,we have a report of an erratic driver on Beverly Dr. He is reported to be swerving into the wrong side of the street, cutting off cars and causing tempers to flair. He is described to be approximately 3 years old; dressed in blue; and riding a red, yellow and blue tricycle.

Yes, while I was upstairs remodeling a bedroom, my wife was outside with the kids and the neighbor was running her dog in the park, which is one step off our back yard. My kids love to go out and play with the dog, so my wife said that was OK, but reminded to oldest one to keep an eye on Jason, and when Boubou (the dog) goes home, everyone come back home and super will almost be ready.

Unbeknownst to anyone, Jason wanders off the to garage, gets out his tricycle, puts one his helmet and starts peddling down the street…, a neighbor who did not realize he was ours called the cops and the rest was history. Book em Danno.

{{{Candleman}}}

50 Cent Booted For Making Booty Call

2005-04-21T22:42:00.000-04:00

Flint, Michigan - Rapper 50 Cent was booted from the Character Inn after a very brief stay. After a grueling concert schedule 50 cent and his posse were ready for rest and relaxation but instead they got the ole heave ho. Realizing that the Character Inn has high standards and is a alcohol and cigarette smoke free Inn, 50 Cent didn’t realize that this also included weed free, (and no not the kind that grows in your back yard…hhhmmm well on second thought, lets make that front yard). However this was an aroma never smelled before in the Character Inn and since it wasn’t tobacco smoke, it wasn’t detected until some staff started complaining of feeling a little too good, kind of like a contact high, or the high received by “the little back box “.

When Fifty and his crew first arrived the ipods and Sony walkman clad hip hopsters music selections was “deceitfully shielded due to their headphones”, said hotel manager, Ken Peirpont. But evil was at work, and it wasn’t long before a dark spirit descended upon the Character Inn, all due to the evil rhythms emanating from the personal head phones. The senior staff of the Character Inn, emphasizes that only melodious music is allowed to be played at the Inn, and certainly no music that is loud, distracting or un-settling. “Music is designed to lift ones spirits and be encouraging”, Ken relayed to Fifty, “however, he went on to say, we are very concerned with exactly what spirit is being uplifted here”.

The last straw occurred when Fifty and his guests were shown to their rooms, and were told of the Inn’s strict rules regarding allowing members of the opposite sex to stay in their rooms. Also at this time Fifty was carrying a copy of his latest CD, which exposes much more than his bedroom thigh and had to be covered up with a towel from the Character Inn. Even though the rules of the Inn were carefully explained to Fifty, when he started to use the Inn’s phones to arrange a booty call and instead he got the boot. Fifty and his posse were not charged for their brief stay and Fifty also received a free copy of Hymns Triumphant as a parting gift. No charges of racism have been brought against the Character Inn as of yet. As Ken explains, “ I don't think racism charges apply here, you either listen to the music we approve of, and be a standard bearer of the morals and character of The Character Inn or you will be asked to leave. “Just last week we unfortunately had to ask Sandi Patti to leave due to her divorce and her ungodly association with the Contemporary Christian Music scene.”

{{{Candleman}}}

My Wife the Super Sleuth

2005-03-15T22:12:00.000-05:00

Below is an article reprinted in it's entirety, from a interview my wife had with a local reporter about her discovery she had while doing her shift at the college library.

A Bookish Search for Librarian's Killer

By NICOLE RADZIEVICHThe Express-Times

Deep inside the Skillman Library at Lafayette College, Jenny Drescher methodically keyed the books' call numbers into a computer.
The Lafayette College freshman had been bar-coding the books for almost an hour. The tedious task allowed her mind to wander to more intriguing subjects, such as the murder mystery of which she had just learned.
After all, Drescher thought as she surveyed the library, this is where the mystery really began.
Librarian Alice Hall spent 25 years there cataloguing the college's collections. She came to the library at the request of a head librarian Clyde L. Haselden, who friends say later became her secret lover.
In March 1984, Haselden found his 65-year-old lover's body on the bedroom floor of her Palmer Township home. Haselden was once the center of the murder investigation, but authorities never arrested anyone for stabbing Hall with a kitchen knife and gutting her from her chest to her pelvis.
Then the library unearthed another secret.

Officials learned someone stole a 3,600-year-old Egyptian artifact from the library's secret vaults and auctioned it off in 1981 to the Boston Museum of Art. Officials took almost a decade to notice the theft of the falcon pectoral -- a breastplate from the royal tomb of Thebes -- because all the library's records on it had vanished. Its cataloguer couldn't alert authorities; Alice Hall was murdered three years after the theft.
Drescher knew all of this because her work-study supervisor, the head of circulation, asked her to make five copies of an article detailing the theft. She made six.
What if Hall knew about the theft, Drescher wondered. Could that get Hall murdered?
The ringing of the telephone interrupted Drescher's reverie.
"Skillman Library," she answered.
"May I please speak to Jenn Drescher?" a familiar voice asked.
The voice surprised her. The caller, her high school principal Noel Hotchkiss, was on a plane to the Middle East to teach Saudi Arabians navigation techniques. She had just said goodbye to Hotchkiss an hour before at Lehigh Valley International Airport.
"Jenn Drescher's not here right now," she joked.
"She's supposed to working," insisted the retired principal. "Would you please relay to her that my flight was delayed because of the thunderstorm."
Thinking Hotchkiss was spinning a tall tale of his own, Drescher argued not a drop of rain had touched the Lehigh Valley.
Hotchkiss, his voice broken by the cellular telephone's static, insisted he was on his way back to find a hotel room because all the rooms in Philadelphia were booked. After volleying the joke awhile, Hotchkiss warned he would be in Easton in an hour and wanted to get something to eat because he missed his meal on the plane.
Good, Drescher told him, because there's much they had to discuss.

# # #
The late-night dinner conversation in 1990 at Phillipsburg's Kentucky Fried Chicken sparked a decade-long research project which led Drescher through newspaper archives and government records. It took her into retirement homes of Hall's old friends and co-workers, and out to Missouri to talk to Hall's sister.
In the beginning, Drescher just wanted to learn about the mystery, and perhaps, compile her research into a book. By the time she got married in 1998 and took the surname Riedy, her goal changed to seeing the killer brought to justice.
A few months ago, Riedy, along with her co-researchers Hotchkiss and Tom Stone, presented their research to Northampton County officials and District Attorney John Morganelli referred the case to the grand jury. The jury began hearing testimony on the 16-year-old unsolved murder this year.
"It's an interesting story because it has so many facets -- the love affair, a stolen artifact, the unsolved murder," Riedy said. "No matter what I'm doing -- whether it be studying, working or raising a family -- it's always in the back of my mind."

Riedy said she began researching the murder as soon as she learned of it. She would scour the library for articles and visit places where Hall worked. Hotchkiss formalized the research, pitching the idea of writing a book.
According to the plan, Riedy would write six chapters about the people involved in the mystery. Stone, a former New York state trooper and Hotchkiss' vice principal at Jordan Elbridge High School outside Syracuse, N.Y., would concentrate his six chapters on the authorities. Hotchkiss allotted himself 24 chapters.
The mystery always lingered in the back of her mind, but Riedy rarely discussed it with people outside her research team. The freshman was busy adjusting to her knew life at Lafayette. She was a full-time student who needed to keep her grades up to keep her financial-aid package.
While working toward her biochemistry degree and psychology minor, Riedy divided 70 work hours between her day job at McDonald's and evening work-study position at the Skillman Library. She also participated in the social living group at the Kirby House, the Christian Fellowship and a community-outreach program.
"Noel encouraged me to pursue (the murder mystery) no matter what I had going in my life," Riedy said. "Noel is the type of person who grabs hold of something and won't let it go."

Hotchkiss was a guiding force in her life long before Riedy ever heard of Alice Hall. Riedy calls Hotchkiss her "foster father." It's not a legal reference; the title is just easier to explain than the truth, Riedy said.
When she was 16 years old, Riedy and her brother and sister left a physically and emotionally abusive home to stay with a teacher, she said. Hotchkiss helped her with legal matters and guided her toward a financial-aid package that landed her a job in the Skillman Library.
The retired principal stayed in touch, sometimes lending Riedy his car when he went away to places such as Saudia Arabia. The gesture, he said, was to keep Riedy on track with all of her obligations back in New York. He did the same to keep her on track with the research.
In the summer of 1992, Riedy reached out to Hall's friends. She began with the rest homes and talked to her former choir director, Gloria Hunter. Hunter provided details such as how Hall faithfully attended choir practice, but skipped services when the communion hymn "Fountain Filled with Blood" was scheduled, Riedy e-mailed Hotchkiss.
Slowly, an image of Hall started to emerge. The young researcher said she felt she was getting to know Hall.
"She was really ahead of her time," Riedy said.
Hall, a stylish, petite blond, was at her physical peak -- walking and riding her bicycle right up until her murder. The image poked holes in any theories Haselden, an elderly man, could overpower Hall, Riedy said.
Hall was meticulous about her work, but yearned for romance. Riedy theorized Hall was unconditionally committed to Haselden and once refused a marriage offer late in life. Haselden never so much as smiled at Hall during the working hours, former library employees told Riedy. And when his invalid wife died in 1982, Haselden did nothing to make the romance known, Riedy said.
Still, Riedy said she couldn't flesh out Hall's character any more with the resources in the Lehigh Valley. Hotchkiss and Stone were also running into problems with the authorities. Hotchkiss said the investigators refused to release evidence because the investigation was still open.
Hotchkiss refused to let Riedy quit.

# # #
During the 1994 Martin Luther King Day holiday weekend, Riedy and Hotchkiss flew to St. Louis, Mo., to interview Elizabeth Noble, Hall's sister. As a sibling of the victim, Noble had certain rights to the murder evidence.
Hotchkiss originally planned to go alone, but economics got the best of him. A ticket from his Syracuse home cost $800, and a flight from Newark was $160. He would be able to take his "foster child" along and save money.
"In spite of her scientific background, Jenn has this compassion about her. I think it's because of her background. People seem to open up to her," Hotchkiss said. "Mrs. Noble was somewhat standoffish when we set up the meeting, but whatever reluctance she had disappeared once Jenn started talking."
Upon meeting Noble, Riedy immediately began chatting about Lafayette, and that seemed to put the woman at ease. Noble released her sister's poetry, unpublished novel and love letters. Riedy described the cards Haselden sent as crude. One card depicts a French poodle on the cover and reads: "With the looks you've got and the looks you get, you can strut your stuff for ages. Happy Birthday."
"She did a lot of research and knew what she was talking about," Noble said. "I was impressed there was someone out there doing all of this for my sister, for someone they never met."
Through Noble's efforts, Riedy became privy to some secrets close to the investigation. She learned of an Oriental throw rug police seized from Hall's living room. Authorities supposedly found a half-eaten apple on the rug.
But missing from all this evidence was if the stolen pectoral was connected to the murder. Riedy said she wanted to question college officials, but wanted to wait until she graduated. She described colleges as "image conscious," and she didn't want it to appear as though a student was trying to tarnish that image.

After graduation, she set up an appointment with a college official to "chat."
The trio of researchers didn't get any new leads that day, but Riedy said she was glad to see the official -- whom she had gone rounds with over a mandatory meal plan -- "squirm."
"Jenn is compassionate, but she can be very pointed with her questions," Hotchkiss said with a laugh. "When he asked who Alice was, Jenn responded: 'How many card cataloguers in the college were murdered?' "
After the interview, Riedy tried to get her feet grounded in post-college life. She was hired at Cryogenics of Air Products in Bethlehem, and started taking classes toward her master's degree. She would do research on her breaks.
She joined a Trexlertown church, and met and married Steve Riedy. Eighteen months ago, she stopped taking classes and gave birth to Jessica, a red-headed girl in the "75th percentile of height and the 50th in weight." In two weeks, Riedy will give birth to her second child.
But she said motherhood won't slow down her research. During maternity leave, Riedy plans to weed through her black binder of notes and write her part of the manuscript. She has many theories about the murder, but is reluctant to announce the findings for fear it would jeopardize the grand jury investigation.
"Everyone who knew Alice thought it was a miscarriage of justice because no one paid for the crime," Riedy said. "I really hope this story ends with a trial, and hopefully, a conviction. I hope Elizabeth Noble lives to see justice."
Riedy said her objectives have changed since she first learned of the crime while working at the library.
"I don't think we understood what our role would be when we began this research," Riedy said. "Somehow along the way, we became active players."
© 2000 MediaNews Group, Inc.

My Baby's Got Book!!! Yeeaaaaahhh!!!;)

2005-02-25T11:06:00.000-05:00

It is not often you can find something Christian and this funny. I found the the video here. But if you go to the guy's web site that made the video, I can't seem to bring it up. I think Miami University may have cut him off because it is sucking up too much bandwidth. Any way to find out about the video's author and why he made it, go here.

{{{Candleman}}}

Hair Design Workshop The BG Way

2005-02-07T23:42:00.000-05:00

Ladies attending the Hair Design Workshop can become competent and experienced in the skill of enhancing the outward appearance to the glory of God. This ministry may be used in the home to meet the needs of family members, friends, church members, and the elderly. However do not cut anyone else's hair outside this sphere of influence, since it might lead to a profession outside the home which could lead to a satanic dart that pierces through your “umbrella of protection”. As we know this umbrella is only available to a woman while inside her home. Well.... only if your father or husband is at home. Also, since accepting others outside your sphere of influence may actually lead to you being paid for your services then this would no longer be a ministry and therefore the Lord will remove His blessing from your ministry. Lastly, by only making your ministry available to family members, friends (fellow ATI grads), church members and the elderly, you will lessen the attacks of the Devil. Since you may get tempted by a woman of ill repute who may bring a worldly magazine to your home to show you how she would like to have her hair styled..whoops, I mean enhanced; not to lift her countenance, but rather to draw attention to her hhmmmm...womanly attributes, so she can be flirtatious and cause little boys to have lascivious thoughts that could lead to the sin of Oman. So please, keep it in the home, don’t make any money off it, and whatever you do, don’t do anything that will pop even the tiniest hole in your umbrella of protection. Warning!!!…keep that “Umbrella of Protection" away from the “Hedge of Thorns!!!” These are two very different universal non-optional principals and they cannot be inter-twined!!!

Phase One - of the Hair Design Workshop will include two days of instruction on the attributes of hair! This includes never before heard of insights to the characteristic of human hair that were recently discerned by Bill Gothard himself after he memorized and mediated on the only four hair passages that are found in the Bible. You won’t believe what hidden truth he discovered when meditating on Judges 16:17. Blunts and under cuts, advanced techniques in layers, tapers, stacking, male clipper cuts, and much more will be included in the seminar. Instruction will also be given on the only haircut ordained by God for men, (well most men..those “Queer Eye for the Straight Guys” types are hopelessly lost since they have gone all the way down the reprobation chart and have almost no hope of even climbing their way back to say… number five. Using the male clipper cut principal, you will be taught how to never leave any hair over the ear or have it touch the white shirt collar or heaven forbid the blue suit collar!

Phase Two - (advanced) is designed to further equip you in cosmetology skills for your ministry. This course includes advanced techniques in haircutting, hair design, perm wrapping, manicures, pedicures, skin care, make-up, protocol, hospitality, etiquette, and building your ministry. Prerequisite is Phase One completion.
Special attention will be paid to hair colors and making sure you understand Godly hair colors as found only in His creation, (no hot pinks, greens, blues or other colors found only in the false god worshiping Canaanite culture). Also, while manicures and pedicures are covered, (how to trim your nails and clean your hands so they are wholly acceptable to Him), applying any type of color to the nail is not covered, since this is one of the 5 signs of a harlot. Only five to ten minutes is given to make-up, just to reiterate that it is forbidden, and is counter productive to countenance enhancement since it draws the attention of men to your face, and you know first the face, next the bosom and then the, …. aahhh don’t you just hate those slippery slopes. Finally material from the Song of Solomon is not covered until Phase Three!

Phase Three - is currently under development but can only be attended by pastors wives who has had a hair design ministry in their home for at least 7 years, 7 months and 7 days and has had at least 8 offspring, and has never used any form of birth control (this is includes the rhythm method!!!) Complete memorization of the Song of Solomon required. The main topic covered will be Hair Design and talking to the folks in your ministry about God's heavenly design for conjugal relations. For you Growing Kids Gods Wayer’s out there, Gary Ezzo has granted special dispensation to Bill who will explain this to you with a “chaulk talk”. This features a diagram of a flower with a extremely explicit close up of both the stamen and pistil; all while rapidly repeating I Cor. 6:18

{{{Candleman98}}}

I’m Tripping Out…

2005-02-06T23:33:00.000-05:00

Because my home church is inviting Tedd Tripp for a Seminar this spring and I am just trying to fathom why. I have read, “Shepherding a Child’s Heart” and have the following issues with it:

Page 108 – What is the Rod? – “The rod is a parent, in faith toward God…(who) undertakes the responsibility of careful, timely, measured and controlled uses of physical punishment”.

Page 109 – “God has mandated its use…..God has commanded it”. So if I do not use spanking as a Christian parent, am I in sin? I guess I must be if God has mandated it and commanded it. By the way, he states this, but does not support it on this page with any biblical references.

Page 138 - Obedience Defined – “Obedience is willing submission of one person to the authority of another. It means more than a child doing what he is told. It means doing what he is told, without challenge, without excuse and without delay.” I do not want my children raised like this. Often I’ll tell my daughter who is 6 to come over to the computer room for her lesson (we home school). She might say, “OK, but can I go get a snack first..or can I finish coloring this last page”. Trip actually mentions “finish coloring this page”, as not acceptable. Why? My child is a human being who has a mind that can think. Maybe her body is telling her she is thirsty or needs a snack before we sit down to do school work. If you are like me, I know that when I am engrossed in a project and almost finished with it, and my wife calls for me, I will say I need 5-10 more minutes and I can be done. Why can’t we allow room for our children to express this same need? Although he does not state it on page 138, but I would surmise from reading his book, that this type of response does not met his definition of obedience and therefore should be dealt with by spanking

I have found a very interesting article by Dennis Prager, which notes that the name God gives Jacob and His Choosen People is “Israel”, which literally means “Struggle with God.” Many people argued or struggled with God, and did not met Mr. Tripp’s without challenge, without excuse and without delay criteria. So if God does not require it of us as adults why are we requiring it of our children?

Page 151 – The “How” of Spanking – “Remove the drawers so that the spanking is not lost the padding of his pants.” You know to this day I can remember my Dad spanking me like this when we were visiting some ones house. It is embarrassing and humiliating to expose your child’s nakedness for a spanking, and if you read around much on the net there are many stories of how this sexualizes this form of discipline and has left many people pretty messed up because of advise like this.

Page 153 – The Why of Spanking – “God Commands it.” My antenna’s have a habit of going up when someone subscribes something to God, but offers no verses for me to look up so at least I can find a verse that states this. “Spanking comes only because it is God’s method of driving foolishness far from your child’s heart.”
Really…. again, no chapter and verse attached to the statement. There are no other methods approved of by God to accomplish this?

Page 154 – When is the Child Old Enough – “When your child is old enough to resist your directives, he is old enough to be disciplined. When he is resisting you he is disobeying. If you fail to respond, these rebellious responses become entrenched….Rebellion can be something as simple as an INFANT struggling against a diaper change or stiffening out his body when you want him to sit on your lap. The discipline procedure is the same as laid out above.” For the life of me I cannot figure out why my church is allowing a man to come to our pulpit to espouse such drivel. An infant….6 months old is in rebellion for struggling during a diaper change and is subject to “the rod” for this. I have asked my Pastor, Elders, the committee that decided to give Mr. Tripp an invitation to our church, how they can justify this, and to date I have not received an answer. I know why, because it is not defendable.

Page 155 – Child Did Not Hear You - “When you hear my voice you should perk up your ears. From now on, if you fail to obey because you “did not hear”, I will spank you for failing to listen to my voice.” I hope Mr. Tripp and his devotees have not had children who truly have a hearing deficiency. I wonder how many kids have endured spankings due to this advise before the parents realized there is a genuine medical issue. Even if my children do not have a medical hearing problem, why would I spank them for this. If this was a repeated mantra of a given child, that would be dealt with, but why does it need to be dealt with by me hitting my child?

Page 151- 152 – “After you have spanked, take the child up on your lap and hug him, telling him how much you love him, how much it grieves you to spank him…At this point there should be complete restoration between you and your child…If he is mad at you, if he refuses to receive your affection, then something is wrong….On some occasions we have we have had to say to say to our children, “Dear Daddy has spanked you, but you are not sweet enough yet. We are going to have to go back upstairs for another spanking.” Mr. Tripp does not define this rather odd term “sweet enough”, nor does he give a number as to how many times he ends of spanking until a child is “sweet enough”. And most importantly he does not cite any Bible verses to support this reasoning.

{{{Candleman98}}}

An Evening With Keith Green

2005-02-05T16:35:00.000-05:00

The wind was howling and the rain was coming down like crazy as we traveled to Conestoga High School near Lancaster PA. But that was OK, me and my buddies were on our way to see Keith Green in concert. I guess I was with my buddies (dateless), because I was still in my Bill Gothard stage of “when you see a pretty woman don’t look at her, but rather be as if you are dead to her”. Kind of hard to get a date with advice like that. HHmm… but then again, if I was in my Bill Gothard stage what was I doing at a Keith Green concert? I guess I was in my “backslidden” BG stage. Anyway, we got there nice and early so we could get great seats. And along with that something happened that we never expected, but it was one of the thrills of my 19 years.

As we stood inside the schools common area, (many others were not so lucky, they were outside braving the storm for the lines were long), we could hear Keith doing his sound check and various familiar piano riffs in order to get things just right. As we heard him, he also was hearing the tremendous clapping of thunder and raging storm going on outside the high school. It must have concerned him to have his guests outside in such a storm, because before we knew it, the doors swung open to the auditorium, and the concert promoter and his staff just started telling everyone to go on in. “Keith is concerned about this storm and doesn’t want people standing in it”, they said . So everyone came in and besides getting to see Keith Green in concert, we got to see him do his sound checks.

We got GREAT seats. I mean I was second row, fifteen to twenty feet away from the piano. Out waltzed Keith Green, full beard and those curly locks..just like those pictures on his albums. He saw me and my buddies and motioned to us, “Hey guys, come on up here for a minute, I need your help!” Wow! My heart started pumping, wide eyed, we leaped up to the stage. It seems Keith did not like the set up. He wanted to be closer to his audience. We helped him move that beloved piano to the edge of the stage, and a few other pieces of electronic equipment and speakers. He graciously thanked us as we moved back to our seats…the seats that was fifteen to twenty feet away from the piano…now were seven to ten…max…. With the piano angled favorably in my direction so I could see both Keith and the ivories. Ohhh what a night this is going to be!

I took in the next two hours like my one year old son Sean takes in his day; endless amazement, astonishment and awe in the environment he finds himself in. He played all the familiar songs , You Put This Love In My Heart, Because Of You, When I Hear The Praises Start, So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt, Song To My Parents (I Only Want To See You There)… His fingers just flew across they keyboard.
I mean.. I never saw anything like it in my life. Singing away… a quick microphone adjustment or a nudge of his clunky watch back up his arm with his one hand while the other hand never missed a beat. I sat in amazement. I still do.

“La,La,La,La…La,La,La,La …..if you soften your heart….”

{{{Candleman98}}}

Larry Norman..Still Alive and Kicking

2005-02-05T00:57:00.000-05:00

Aaahhhh, my man, Larry Norman (the “grandfather” of the modern Christian Rock movement) is alive and well after a lengthy and still on going illness (congestive heart failure, please keep him in your prayers). Considered too Christian for the mainstream and too “Rock and Roll” for the church world, he pioneered a genre of music that is still my favorite to this day. My kids love music, Jessica (6), Katie (4), Jason (2) and Sean (1)…but I have yet to turn them on to Larry. We are building a new home, and my home theater system sits in it’s box awaiting the new digs, and Jason just loves CD’s, unfortunately he does not treat them very well. So they are up on a shelf awaiting the new multi-media cabinet we will also get when the big move comes this Spring. I can’t wait for the first day when I can crank Larry up on the new system and jam out with the kids. I think I’ll have to do it when my wife Jenn is away though…she doesn’t like loud music, and there is only one way to listen to “ole Larry”….crank it up!!!

It was the summer of 1977, fresh from a re-commitment of my faith to Christ, a sophomore in high school and trying to walk the Christian walk in a wild and crazy public high school setting. Along came Larry Norman and the all time classic album “In Another Land”. My best friend at the time “Peanut”, hooked me up with that album. It is the type of album where one song flows perfectly to another and for a moment in time I could be transported from the current worries of the day to “Another Land”. With classic songs like, “He’s the Rock that Doesn’t Roll”, “Why Don’t You Look into Jesus….He’s Got the Answer”, “Shot Down”, and “I Wish We All Been Ready” (if you can't get them to play off the site, right click the song and choose "save as target", and save it to your PC and double click the file and your favorite MP3 player should take over from there). Soon I started to explore other albums Larry made, and discovered little gems like “Why Should the Devil Have all the Good Music” and "Sweet, Sweet Song of Salvation”. His best friend at the time and fellow Christian rocker Randy Stonehill recently wrote a song about those days, called “We Were All So Young” (also available as a MP3 download), with special appearances by Larry, Phil Keaggy, Barry McGuire and Noel Paul Stookey. May God Bless Larry and may you live to sing again!

Up and coming entry....the day I got to help Keith Green set up for a concert in Lancaster, PA…

{{{Candleman98}}}

My News Years Resolutions (OK… so I am a month late)

2005-02-05T00:37:00.000-05:00

1) Stop procrastinating.
2) Start Smoking.
3) Gain 50 pounds.
4) Start Drinking … only the good stuff….. 80 proof or better.
5) Start running……. from my Lazy Boy to the Fridge.
6) Start chewing snuff (I have known people who can actually have a wad in their mouth and eat their meal. I put a little in my mouth once and it gave me hallucinations…HHHmmmm, I am going to have to rethink this one.
7) Stop knewing thine self, by thine self (Break out the KJV to discern this)…..HHmmmm this is a reoccurring resolution since about age 14.
8) Start rearing my children via the advice of Ezzo, Tripp and Pearl. Hey, at least they will be so terrified of me they will listen to my every word. Hmmm should I use a strap, glue sticks, belt, or “the rod”. Where’s an Old Testament when you need one?
9) Hold a Bill Gothard book burning…..only his books.
10) Wear pajamas that will totally defraud my wife, so she will discern that I am horny and want some. Warning!!! This may lead to lasciviousness behaviors.

{{{Candleman98}}}

While I am No Supporter of Darwin and His Theories...HHHmmmm

2005-02-05T00:33:00.000-05:00

The 2004 Darwin Award Nominees

Nominee No. 1: [San Jose Mercury News]: An unidentified man, using a shotgun like a club to break a former girlfriend's windshield, accidentally shot himself to death when the gun discharged, blowing a hole in his gut.

Nominee No. 2: [Kalamazoo Gazette]: James Burns, 34, (a mechanic) of Alamo, MI, was killed in March as he was trying to repair what police describe as a "farm-typetruck." Burns got a friend to drive the truck on a highway while Burns hung underneath so that he could ascertain the source of a troubling noise. Burns' clothes caught on something, however, and the other man found Burns "wrapped in the drive shaft."

Nominee No. 3: [Hickory Daily Record]: Ken Charles Barger, 47, accidentally shot himself to death in December in Newton, NC. Awakening to the sound of a ringing telephone beside his bed, he reached for the phone but grabbed instead a Smith & Wesson 38 Special, which discharged when he drew it to his ear. (For whatever reason, residents of Southern states always seem to figure prominently among the Darwin nominees.)

Nominee No. 4: [UPI, Toronto]: Police said a lawyer demonstrating the safety of windows in a downtown Toronto skyscraper crashed through a pane with his shoulder and plunged 24 floors to his death. A police spokesman said Garry Hoy,39, fell into the courtyard of the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower early Friday evening as he was explaining the strength of the building's windows to visiting law students. Hoy previously has conducted demonstrations of window strength according to police reports. Peter Lawson, managing partner of the firm Holden Day, told the Toronto Sun newspaper that Hoy was "one of the best and brightest" members of the 200-man association. (Nice tosee another Canadian province getting into the awards.... The Maritimes always have been heavily involved.)

Nominee No. 5: [Bloomberg News Service]: A terrible diet and a room with no ventilation are being blamed for the death of a man who was killed by his own gas emissions. There was no mark on his body, and an autopsy showed large amounts of methane gas in his system. His diet had consisted primarily of beans and cabbage (and a couple of other things). It was just the right combination of foods. It appears that the man died in his sleep from breathing the poisonous cloud that was hanging over his bed. Had he been outside or had his windows been opened, it wouldn't have been fatal. But the man was shutup in his nearly air tight bedroom. According to the article, "He was a big man with a huge capacity for creating "this deadly gas." Three ofthe rescuers got sick, and one was hospitalized.

Nominee No. 6: [The News of the Weird]: Michael Anderson Godwin made News of the Weirdposthumously... He had spent several years awaiting South Carolina's electric chair on a murder conviction before having his sentence reduced to life in prison. While sitting on a metal toilet in his cell attempting to fix his small TV set, he bit into a wire and was electrocuted. (South Carolina entrants are always perennial favorites.)

Nominee No. 7: [The Indianapolis Star]: A cigarette lighter may have triggered a fatal explosion inDunkirk, IN. A Jay County man, using a cigarette lighter to check the barrel of a muzzle loader, was killed Monday night when the weapon discharged in his face, sheriff's investigators said. Gregory DavidPryor, 19, died in his parents' rural Dunkirk home at about 11:30 PM. Investigators said Pryor was cleaning a 54-caliber muzzleloader that had not been firing properly. He was using the lighter to look into the barrel when the gun powder ignited.

Nominee No. 8: [Reuters, Mississauga, Ontario]: A man cleaning a bird feeder on the balcony of his condominium apartment in this Toronto suburb slipped and fell 23 stories to his death. Stefan Macko, 55, was standing on a wheeled chair when the accident occurred, said Inspector D'Arcy Honer of the Peel Regional Police. "It appears that the chair moved, and he went over the balcony," Honer said. (Another Ontario entry.... I wonder if people are moving there from the Maritime Provinces.)

Finally, THE WINNER!!!: [Arkansas Democrat Gazette]: Two local men were injured when their pickup truck left the road and struck a tree near Cotton Patch on State Highway 38 early Monday. Woodruff County deputy Dovey Snyder reported the accident shortly after midnight Monday. Thurston Poole, 33, of Des Arc, and Billy Ray Wallis, 38, of Little Rock, were returning to Des Arc after a frog gigging trip on an overcast Sunday night, when Poole's pickup truck headlights malfunctioned. The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on the older-model truck had burned out. As a replacement fuse was not available, Wallis noticed that the .22 caliber bullet from his pistol fit perfectly into the fuse box next to the steering-wheel column. Upon inserting the bullet the headlights again began to operate properly, and the two men proceeded on eastbound toward the White River Bridge.

After traveling approximately 20 miles, and just before crossing the river, the bullet apparently overheated, discharged, and struck Poole in the testicles. The vehicle swerved sharply right, exiting the pavement, and striking a tree. Poole suffered only minorcuts and abrasions from the accident, but will require extensive surgery to repair the damage to his testicles, which will never again operate as intended. Wallis sustained a broken clavicle and was treated and released, "Thank God we weren't on that bridge when Thurston shot hisballs off, or we might both be dead," stated Wallis. "I've been a trooper for 10 years in this part of the world, but this is a first for me. I can't believe that those two would admit how this accident happened," said Snyder. Upon being notified of the wreck, Lavonia (Poole's wife) asked how many frogs the boys had caught and did anyone get them from the truck??? Though Poole and Wallis did not die as a result of their misadventure as normally required by Darwin Award Official Rules, it can be argued that Poole DID, in fact, effectively remove himself from the gene pool.

{{{Candleman98}}}

God and Me

2005-02-05T00:26:00.002-05:00

Bill Gothard and Moving On

2005-02-05T00:18:00.000-05:00

A recent post at Tulipgirl encouraging ex-Gothardites to move on, prompted my thoughts on the subject. Wow! Does this bring back memories? I've been browsing the X-ATI Guy link. While I did not go as deeply into Gothard's ministry as he did, I certainly did attend my share of Basic Seminars and one "Advanced" Seminar back in the late 70's and early 80's, and bought almost everything he said, hook, line and sinker....including the bible verse that was attached to everything he said. Too bad the verse quoted rarely matched the point he was trying to make. When you sign up for a seminar that requires you to attended nightly seminars for 2 to 3 hours, and all day Friday and Saturday, with no time to really reflect and actually look up the scripture that is being subscribed to the given "universal non-optional life principal" Mr. Gothard is equating it to, no wonder so many people have followed in lock step with his teachings. Indoctrination 101. My wife writes about it here. When I got that letter in the mid-80's just before Christmas from "the headquarters", that admonished Christians everywhere not to purchase "Cabbage Patch Dolls", due to their "Satanic Nature", and if you have one to remove it from your home, so it won't have "bondage over you", I finally thought he went off the deep end.

X-ATI Guy directs readers to Al Menconi's website and his book "Dear Mr. Gothard" which counters much of Gothard's teachings on Christian Rock. While I did buy into most of what Gothard said; I always found his lectures about Christian Rock unconvincing, but not enough that for one small, but regretful time in my life I gave up the very music that I loved and was a bedrock for my teenage Christian faith. I loved Larry Norman (read my recent blog about Larry here), Randy Stonehill, Keith Green, ect ..but I let Gothard's arguments convince me they where evil, sinful, and not of God. So I exchanged my Christian rock tapes and made a tape of his "10,000 voices singing the hymns" album. But, boy did I go up on the spiritual barometer! Or so I thought. Nineteen years old and driving around listening to "How Great Thou Art" a cappella 24/7. I gave up a Larry Norman/Randy Stonehill together in concert with a full band, because I had "made a commitment" not to listen to CHRISTIAN ROCK!!. Yes Christian Rock...songs about Jesus that have beats and tempos not approved of by Sir Gothard. Aaaahhhhh, my friends thought I had lost it. Like a lemming to the sea I was!

Menconi makes a great point when he states, "He is such a powerful influence in the conservative evangelical community that people often quote Gothard before they quote God." It is very sad, but true. If we would actually (myself included) read and study the passage of Scripture that a Gothard, Ezzo, Tripp or Pearl attaches to a point, there would be much less false teaching and "lost Christians" who spend a part of their life buying into the "teacher of day", and then determine that it is not working in their life the way the teacher advertised. So the thinking goes.... I still must not be Christian enough, spiritual enough and soon the "struggle" to be a Christian in a un-Christian world goes by the way side....because this isn't working. A spiritual drift sets in. You can pray for me....because this is kind of where I feel I have been at for quite some time. I don't want to be duped again... but I also want a deeper, more fulfilled, less sinful walk with Christ than what I have now. What do I do?...Where do I go to have my faith restored? Tulipgirl and others who are blogging about a fulfilled Christian walk...you are helping to reconnect people to their "first love", whether you realize it or not.

{{{Candleman98}}}