The Media

Have you ever wondered who owns your favorite News Channel? Have you ever noticed why other news channels seem so one sided when it comes to politics? If you look closely at the corporations that own these media outlets and look at their political contributions, you’ll see that not only do they report for the benefit of the party they contribute to, but they completely ignore anything that isn’t on their political agenda or along party lines. Let’s take a look at General Electric to start out. What networks do you think they own and who politically do you think they support? You can find out here to see what political contributions were given by G.E. between 1999-Present.

http://www.campaignmoney.com/general_electric.asp

Do you notice any political affiliation there? Now let’s see all that G.E. owns when it comes to television.

Television networks: NBC Networks, Telemundo, Ion Media (partial stake).

Cable: NBC Entertainment, NBC News, NBC Sports, NBC Television, NBC Universal, CNBC, CNBC World (Arabia, India, Asia, Europe), MSNBC, Bravo, Sci Fi Channel, Telemundo, USA, Oxygen, Weather Plus, Mun2, Sleuth, Chiller, Universal HD, A&E Networks (25%; includes A&E, the History Channel, History en español, the Biography Channel, Military History Channel, Crime & Investigation Network, A&E HD, the History Channel HD, History International), the Weather Channel (partial), Sci-Fi Channel HD.

Production and distribution companies: NBC Universal Television Distribution, Universal Media Studios

26 television stations, owned under the “NBC Universal” division. These include NBC affiliates, 46 stations, Telemundo affiliates, and a small number of independents.

International Channels: 13eme Rue (France), 13th Street (Germany), Studio Universal (Germany), Sci-fi Channel (Germany), Calle 13 (Spain), Sci Fi Channel UK, Movies 24 (UK), DivaTV (UK), Studio Universal (Italy), Universal Channel (Latin America), CNBC Asia, CNBC Europe, 18 Hallmark Channels (worldwide), KidsCo (worldwide, partial).

Programming: NBC Network News, NBC Universal Global Networks, NBC Universal International Channels, The Today Show, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Dateline NBC, Meet the Press, Early Today, CNBC, Squawk Box, Mad Money, CNBC World, CNBC Arabia, CNBC-India TV-18, Hardball with Chris Matthews, the Rita Cosby Specials Unit, Morning Joe, Mun2, Sleuth, A&E [partial], the History Channel [partial], the Biography Channel (partial), ShopNBC (27%).

General Electric has a large amount of Media might to get whatever political contribution to pay off as you can see. This is one of the “BIG 6”. There is not one Network that doesn’t have political ties. Each network is working for some sort of political gain. Why? Because their money is in the political view they hold. In basic terms this is how it is broken down.

Non-Bias News Network (NBNN) is owned by a Corporation.
The Corporation gives political contributions to political party or candidate.
Political party or candidate works for what Corporation wants in return the Corporation whether right or wrong makes the political party or politician look really good. Sort of a I’ll scratch your back you scratch mine kind of deal. In the process we’ll both make a ton of money! So you see our favorite News organization has political ties and they report what will benefit them most. Our freedom of press has basically been sold to the highest bidder.

This is just one Corporation that owns many major media outlets. I am not bashing one network and while holding another in esteem. In my opinion they all are in the business of politics rather than in the business of journalism.

Who is the CEO of General Electric and what is his back ground?

Jeffrey R. Immelt is the current chairman of the board and chief executive officer of GE. He was selected by GE's Board of Directors in 2000 to replace John Francis Welch Jr. (Jack Welch) following his retirement. Previously, Immelt had headed GE's Medical Systems division (now GE Healthcare) as its President and CEO. He has been with GE since 1982 and is on the board of two non-profit organizations.

His tenure as the Chairman and CEO started at a time of crisis — he took over the role on September 7, 2001[13] four days before the terrorist attacks on the United States, which killed two employees and cost GE's insurance business $600 million — as well as having a direct effect on the company's Aircraft Engines sector. Immelt has also been selected as one of President Obama's financial advisors concerning the economic rescue plan.

We wonder why NBC tends to side with liberal politics when it comes to reporting a story. It is this way with every network whether it is CNN or Fox News. They are all politically affiliated whether we want to admit it or not. This is all available to see for yourselves, and once you read up on it. You can see that all media has a political agenda disguised as Journalism. True Journalism reports the pros and cons of both sides of the political coin. However as our media outlets are owned by corporations that have invested in political ideals and rubbed elbows with politicians. They can’t possible report on both sides of the coin without hurting themselves and their political standing. That is why we have the bias media we have today.

Local channels are all owned by the same media outlets and so all of our news is filtered through the politically correctness of the Corporation that owns it leaving freedom of press under the watchful eye of a consolidated media system within our country. Consolidated meaning that all news facets are narrowed down to a select few of powerful corporations who dictate what the news is.

Photoshop Addiction

I haven't messed around in Photoshop for a while so I figured I would a bit the other day. It started out just doing things I was used to doing. I realized that I haven't really stepped out of my comfort zone in Photoshop. Meaning I've never challenged myself to do something new. So I decided to watch a tutorial on creating 3 dimensional letters and also one on reflection. Luckily my wife had messed around with reflections so I didn't need to watch that tutorial(Thanks honey). So after learning these new techniques I decided to experiment and to see what I could come up with. The above picture is my 4th try on reflections and 3d letters it is one of my favorite verses out of the Bible.

Romans 12:1-2; 1 And so, dear brothers and sisters,[a] I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.[b] 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

So that verse is my inspiration for the photo you see. I don't think I could ever tire of creating things on Photoshop. It is almost as addicting as coffee! Anyway I am pretty stoked that I learned a couple new tricks in Photoshop. Now it is on to details and textures. I think I'm going to look for more pointers so I can learn some new tricks.

Problems

Life is good even when times are hard. It is easy to get discouraged when things tend to work against you. Your car breaks down or you struggle to make ends meet. Health issues arise and you have no clue on how you are going to pay for the medical bills that will accompany the Doctor visit. Often we let the stress of every day life bog us down and let it eat at us a piece at a time.

We let our circumstances blind us from what could be. What I mean is that we let our stress cloud our thoughts. We start drowning in self pity and let our troubles dictate our life. If you take a moment while you are in the midst of these troubles and really take a look. You'll see that some strange way there is a blessing in each struggle we face. When you think about it, we really have no control of anything. We like to think we do but we do not. For instance when you are sick you can't control how sick you are or what the Doctor is going to charge you for treatment.

You may ask what kind of blessing comes out of being sick? I'll tell you what I learned from watching my Mom go through a life of diabetes, 2 kidney transplants, and Cancer twice. Even though she was on the verge of dying multiple times and feeling horrible for months on end. She often spoke of all the blessings she received due to her illnesses. She used to speak of all the amazing people she met while at the hospital. All the bonds she made with people as she sat hooked up to a dialysis machine for hours at a time.

She gained an appreciation for life and the relationships we share in it. Through her trials she gained riches greater then gold and she wanted us(her children)to know about them. She would often quote Matthew 17:20 - for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. She moved many mountains in her life and I saw that verse lived out by her every day that she lived. Sure she has weaknesses like all of us. Yet she never let her troubles get the best of her. She often talked to me about how God provides no matter what circumstances we face.

The challenge for everyone is looking for those blessings in our troubles. It is hard to see straight when it seems the world is falling in all around you. You just got to take a moment and hit pause, pray and seek the Lord in the midst of the chaos. When you do this those blessings seem to pop up everywhere. Sure you still are burdened by whatever trial you are in. However there is less burden when you finally see the blessings that are mingled in within that trial. So I encourage you all who face trials to pause,pray, and seek the Lord so that each trial you face becomes not a burden but a blessing.

The future is wide open!

There is a lot happening here in the next week. I am excited what the LORD is to bring. We are kicking off some cool stuff with the Active ministry and starting a Church group at our home. I am really excited to see how the LORD is going to use our group within the community. I've always said that the best way to serve the LORD is to open up your front door and hit the street. There are so many needs with in everyone's community that you'd have to be blind not to see them. So this new adventure is something I can't wait to start. Meeting with new and old friends and sharing that fellowship is something that is so valuable. I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas to get rolling! Also that same week my in-laws are going to be visiting. I can't wait to see them because it has been too long. I am hoping the nice weather holds out for them. It is starting to get cold and I feel fall in the air.

You Are What You Eat

This Sunday I was given the opportunity to teach the Junior High student youth group, and I was very excited to do so. There is nothing better than being able to teach the word of God to students who are at that age where adolescence begins. I know for me personally it was one of the worst parts of growing up. Peer pressure, hormones, dating, popularity, looks, clothes, and all the opportunity to take drugs to cover all the pain that is associated with all those things.

The message was on 1 Peter 4:1-6

1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 3 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. 4 In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. 5 They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

“The proof is in the pudding” What does that mean exactly. Originally that phrase was “The proof of the pudding is in the eating”. But through the years it was shortened to what we all know now. The proof is in the pudding. You see food can be tragically horrible, or unbelievably amazing. It all depends on how that food was prepared. All the dishes we love to eat consist of ingredients. It takes the cook skill to get the recipe right. You see you need the right ingredients. If one ingredient is missed or used in excess it could completely destroy the lovely dish it could have been! So truly the proof of the pudding is in the eating! If it tastes horrible then the cook didn’t do too good of a job following the recipe. In fact you could say they failed miserably. If it is the best dish ever! The cook followed the recipe to the “T” and did a great Job! So the good ingredients or the bad ingredients determine the overall taste of the pudding right? It also depends on what recipes you use! There are bad recepies and good ones. Ultimately we all want good recipes so we disregard the bad ones.

So let’s apply this saying to our walk with God. If we are took look at our lives and break down the ingredients that make us who we are. What would those ingredients consist of? Would all the ingredients be pleasing to God or would they make him want to spew us out of his mouth? Look at it this way. If you were serving God a plate of food wouldn’t you want it to be the best food ever? Would you want the ingredients of that dish the best you could find? We have one place to find the recipes that are pleasing to God when it comes to our walk as Christians, and also those that make him sick. If we follow what is written in the pages of the bible and apply them to our lives. I guarantee you that God is going to love what you are serving him, and when all is said and done. He will say to you. Well done good and faithful servant!
So what ingredients make up your life? Are those ingredients ones that are pleasing to God? Do you have some ingredients that you could do without? I want to share with you some must haves when it comes to your relationship with God, that you may have a spiritual recipe that will be pleasing to God.

1.Sacrifice
We must be willing to sacrifice certain things in order to have a healthy walk with the LORD. In order to start we must look at Christ as our example.

1 Peter 4:1 - Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind,

He willingly went to a horrible death to grant all of us salvation. He knew what he was going to experience but he did it why? Because it was the only way our sin could be paid for. So we must first put on the mind of Christ. Meaning if we are truly going to walk a Christian walk we must mentally and prayerfully prepare for Sacrifice.

Sacrifice

Sacrifice is not easy and it is not painless. It hurts and sometimes may cost our life. There are many all over the world dying for their faith in Jesus Christ, or thrown in jail and tortured. Why? Because they will not deny him as their savior, we must be ready for that if we are truly going to be committed to Christ. How committed are you?

Romans 12:1 - And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?

Christ was committed to us unto death. So Paul asks if it is too much to ask to sacrifice parts of our lives even up unto death after Christ paid the ultimate price. How committed are you?

Repentance

We must be willing to actively seek repentance. What is repentance?

Repentance: A heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ.

How do you actively seek repentance?

“Three R’s to Live By”

Remember God
Remember God always is there, he is omnipotent. In the midst of temptation we can remember he is there holding his hand down offering us strength and a way out of that temptation. All we need to do is accept his hand and take that exit.

Return To God
So by taking hold of his hand we are returning to God and taking that exit. As he pulls us to him with one hand he is pushing that temptation away with his other. This is how we actively repent.

Repent
Now that we have remembered God and returned to him we have now denied temptation that lead to active sinning. However if we fall into sin like we all do, we must ask for forgiveness right away and ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit. This way we are not in danger of letting that sin take root.

By repenting we suffer the desires that go unmet.

1 Peter 4: 1.5 – 3 for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 3 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.

2. Facing Peer Pressure

By repenting and weeding out those ingredients that ruin our Christian walk. We will find that those we used to practice those sinful things with begin to pass judgment on us and talk behind our backs.

1 Peter 4:4 - 4 In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you.

Often by denying certain sins in our lives people we used to practice those sins with will notice you aren’t the same person who used to smoke pot, or have a cold beer. They will see that you aren’t spending as much time with them doing those things. Most of the time they feel as if you are passing judgment on them for example: Drinking, partying, ect…. Even when you try to explain it to them they feel convicted by it. Thinking since you feel getting stoned is wrong you must think I am a horrible person. This is very common especially when first stepping out in public faith.

Dissipation – “wasting of time”

Ultimately it boils down to what you spend your time doing. Is drinking and parting something that glorifies God in your Life? Do you want ingredients in your life that bring sorrow and destruction, or promise and life? What you spend your time doing will end up being what you are.

Spiritually speaking you are what you eat!

When Jesus was being tempted in the wilderness by Satan, he had been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. Satan tempted Jesus to turn rocks into bread. Jesus replied to Satan.

Matthew 4:4 - But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

You are what you eat! If we are to take in bread for physical sustenance it will do our soul no good! The only real life saving food is the word of God! That is why daily we must be reading the bible, and why we must be constantly in prayer.

3.The Pie

Let’s look at it this way. God gave you your life and let’s look at your life as a huge pie filled with all sorts of ingredients, some good some bad. All around that pie are multiple ingredients you can use to fill your pie with. Some of you might choose a little beer here, a little pot there. Or maybe you want a lot of money to fill that pie. Video games you like to fill your pie with video games! Now let me ask you a question. Do you give God only a slice of that pie?

You see each slice of the pie is filled with something. Maybe one slice is reserved for Church and another work, family, friends, or T.V. What percentage of your life (The Pie) is given to God? Shouldn’t every piece of the pie be filled with the most important ingredient of all? God is the most important ingredient that so much of us leave out. God should be the filling of the whole pie.

Each portion whether it be reserved for work, school, or entertainment should all have one constant ingredient in with them. That ingredient is God! Every aspect of our life should glorify God. Maybe there are some ingredients in your life you could do without. Maybe you have a few pieces of pie that need to be thrown to the dogs so you can replace them with pie that is good and glorifying to God. Our whole lives not just parts should be pleasing to God.

1 Peter 4:5-6 5 They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

Those who pass judgment against you for following God will face judgment by Jesus Christ. However the gospel is preached for all to hear, so even the ones who persecute may have salvation also. You see we all have a choice! We can choose life or death. If we live by the flesh then we are dead physically and spiritually. One day our bodies will die. One thing is certain, one day we will all die. When that day comes we will stand in judgment before our creator. He will grant those who gave their lives to him Life, and those who denied him death.

John 11:25 - “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. 26. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.”

So my question to you is what do you choose?

If the answer to that question is Life and Jesus then all you have to do is say the following prayer to begin or re-commit your relationship with him now.

Heavenly Father,
I come to you in prayer asking for the forgiveness of
my Sins. I confess with my mouth and believe with my
heart that Jesus is your Son, And that he died on the
Cross at Calvary that I might be forgiven and have
Eternal Life in the Kingdom of Heaven. Father, I believe
that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you right now
to come in to my life and be my personal Lord and
Savior. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit.
I repent of my Sins and will Worship you all the
day's of my Life! Because your word is truth, I confess
with my mouth that I am cleansed by the Blood of Jesus.
In Jesus Name, Amen

1st and Kitten

I was looking for a funny picture for my blog that had to do with kittens when I came across the above picture. This is a Cyclopes kitten. This is a real picture and here is the story about the creepiest kitten I have laid eye's on....or should I say laid "eye" upon! Muahahahahahaha!

Story Link

Now to get to what caused me to search for a picture of a kitten. Yesterday the family and I celebrated my birthday. We decided to eat at Five Guys and then afterward head over to Game stop to check out video games. While searching through the Xbox titles one in particular caught my "eye" and that title was Madden 2010! I have been "eying" that game since it came out and "eye" really want it! While standing there drooling over the awesome prospect of finally owning such a wonderful game. My wife decided to throw a curve ball in my direction. While standing by a few guys who were also shopping for video games. She asked me this....

"Would you rather have Madden 2010 or a kitty?"

I thought about it for one second (I love cats especially kitties)and replied without one bit of hesitation! "I want a kitty!" As those words left my lips I realized what I had just said around complete male strangers. This is not something a guy who buys manly video games such as Madden would ever say! It is something he would never admit to saying! I could feel humility setting in and my face must have turned at least 10 shades of red. So I choose a kitty over Madden 2010 and now I am blogging about it! I have no shame! My manliness has now hit an all time low in the history on manliness! Well I have revealed enough for now. I must go look for a cute fury friend.

A Note From My Daughter.

Today Ashley wrote me a note during creative writing and it tickled me so much I have to share it.

Dear Dad,

I love you so much. How was work today? Thank you for teaching Trevor and I science yesterday. Do you know when we are going to do art class again? Because I want to do it next Monday. But home schooling is really fun. I can't wait to go to heaven! Can you wait to go to heaven? I Heart U again!

I heart U,

Ashley