Macon County Chronicle - Opinion / Blogs

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The devil’s ballgame isn’t over. This is just the first inning. The good guys haven’t been to bat yet. Don’t throw in the towel now. Just wait to the ninth inning. Then we’ll knock the devil out of the stadium. The good people of America aren’t going to cower down to the forces of destruction.

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Webster’s defines the word “cower” as: “to crouch quivering in abject fear of something menacing or domineering.” Voices today say, “Be quiet, they’ll haul you in and charge you for defying the atheists, liberals, and knuckle-headed politicians.” Excuse me, but I thought we were living in America, the land of the free. Did you enemies of God never hear of freedom of speech? I, for one, will not be quiet, and I’m not afraid of the liberal progressives who are attempting to silence God-loving and American-loving citizens by spouting their propaganda designed to shut us up.

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Gardens ebb and flow throughout the season. Each week is slightly different than the last one or the next one. Our CSA business requires providing a steady stream of produce, which can be a bit tricky. I have developed a few tricks to insure that 150 families are happy each week.

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Johnny Ramsey was one of my favorite preachers. He wrote the following article for The Gospel Minutes, on some men who mocked God:

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A young engineer who graduated with distinction was leaving the office at 3:45 p.m. when he found the acting CEO in front of a shredder with a piece of paper in his hand. “Listen”, said the CEO, “this is a very important document, and my secretary is not here. Can you make this thing work?” “Certainly”, said the young engineer. He turned the machine on, inserted the paper, and pressed the start button. “Excellent”, said the CEO as his paper disappeared inside the machine. “I just need one copy”.

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The front page of the Tennessean on July 10, 2011 tells of the printing of a new bible, called the New Common English Bible. The United Methodist Church owns the Nashville-based Abingdon Press, which, along with four other publishing houses, is funding the $3.5 million dollar project.

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Claude Pepper once wrote, “If more politicians were thinking about the next generation instead of the next election, it would be better off for the United States and for the world”.

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I hate to be a bearing of bad news, but I have a message for all the atheists agnostics, modernists, liberals, the progressives, yea even the Muslims: GOD ISN’T GOING AWAY. “From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Psalms 98:2). He’s here, and he isn’t going away, not ever, And because we live in America, with a Constitution guaranting each of us Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Speech, we aren’t about to buckle down to the likes of a growing anti-God element in this country, whose goal is to banish God from every aspect of our society.

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Allah, the god of Islam, enlists Muslim believers to elimate by force those who offend him and prevent him from ruling the world. Only those with their heads buried in the sand would fail to know that world domination is the goal of Islam. True Muslims therefore become the enforcers for their god, hoping to establish global rule.

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Gardening is at a standstill because of all the rain. It’s mud out there. We’re glad to have our potatoes and onions in, but quite anxious to plant the beets.

A few days ago it was almost dry enough. I worked up a little ground and planted a row of lettuce, and then decided to wait. A fistful of soil, dropped, did not break apart. So, the beet seeds are still in the house, and it’s rained ever since.

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Many people in our age are attempting to solve their problems with alcohol. I’m reminded of a story I heard some few weeks ago. It concerned the wise old Mother Superior who was seriously ill. In fact, she was dying, the nuns gathered around her bed and were doing the best they could to make her comfortable. They brought her something warm to drink, but she refused it in no uncertain terms.

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The light green of spring usually brightens me up, but I must admit to a sadness. Among other things, my friend “Crazy Owl” died. You may have met him, gray old fellow with a long beard. He was born in 1927, a long time ago.

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The story goes that one day Winston Churchill was stopped by a woman who said, Mr. Churchill, “Doesn’t it thrill you that every time you speak, the hall is packed to overflowing?”

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I’m sure that most of my readers have heard about the preacher who asked a listener in his Sunday morning Service to wake up the sleeping man sitting beside him? The man relied, “Preacher, you come down here and wake him up! You put him to sleep!” there is more truth than fiction in his answer. Sunday after Sunday congregations are given Sominex Sermons which results in members going to sleep. Here is what the problem is: Preachers asleep in the pulpit put people to sleep in the pew. I heard this proverb recently: “People are cold in the pew because there is an ice cube in the pulpit.”

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When the first warm days of March arrive, gardeners get excited. It’s like our seeds will burn a hole in our pocket and we rush out to plant. But only a few vegetables can survive the inevitable cold that follows.

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My neighbors are the greatest. I’ve been going through some hard times during the last few months and they have really helped. We’ve been getting together and laughing a few times each week. I didn’t realize how great they were until I was in need.

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The people of Macon County are now deciding whether or not to be a “chicken house county.” A few still think that a couple hundred chicken houses are a good idea, and it’s usually obviously why. Some want the county to do an impact study, but driving through clay county makes that unnecessary, it stinks.

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Saved by technology? Really? It may be more of a curse than a blessing. There was a time when both young and old Americans read for enjoyment, but the internet has put an end to much of that practice.  Many adults and youth have abandoned books and newspapers for the computer and the cell-phone. Though modern technology has become a blessing in numerous ways, it has also created more problems than solutions. Today’s youth are looking for a cell-phone with more features, not a book with a hardback cover. Reading requires thinking, and that is something the present generation prefers not to do. Even so called” progressive education” discourage critical thinking. In fact, seldom is it taught in today’s classroom.

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A few sunny days remind us that spring is on its way. It’s time to snap off the winter doldrums and gear up for the season. One of our early March chores is grafting fruit trees.

To propagate an apple or pear tree, we graft a twig on to a rootstock. The twig determines the variety of fruit, while the rootstock determines the size of the tree. most of the folks we give trees to  have plenty of space, so we use standard rootstocks that make a full sized tree. The apples are grafted on to malis domestica, and the pears on to pyrus calleryana.