Category Archives: community

by | October 22, 2025 · 9:57 pm

The UAW Says I Should Get What I Deserve.

Ask me about VW (Chattanooga plant) and the UAW potential strike, if you want my opinion. However, without you asking I will respond to 3 words of concern: “what we deserve.”

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it…well, you know, a lot. And every time I hear it I cringe. That’s all the Union messaging pushes—you deserve more. Deserve, they say.

But what do we actually “deserve”? Well, how about we ask Jesus? And no, I’m not talking about hell. Jesus told a parable in Matthew 20 of workers being hired by a vineyard owner. He hired several groups at different times, each time making a wage offer they voluntarily accepted.

However, when it came time to receive their wages at the end of the day, the ones hired first complained. They were upset that the last ones hired late in the day were paid the same amount as those who worked all day. But how did the vineyard owner reply? “Did you not agree to the wage I offered when I hired you?”

Now, some might say, “But Jesus also said in Luke 10:7 that ‘the laborer is WORTHY of his hire.’” True, but in the same verse Jesus tells his disciples to take whatever they are given.

All I’m saying is that I felt privileged and blessed to be hired by Volkswagen. I had no experience with that industry. I had never even worked in a factory. So, even though the work was difficult at the beginning, I was very happy to receive the wage and benefits provided me (especially the lease car)! They didn’t hire me by force, nor did they deceive me regarding my pay scale. They offered me a job at a particular wage (just like in the parable Jesus told) and I accepted it.

So did every other employee I work with.

The only thing ANYONE deserved was for the other party to do what they agreed to. Jesus would probably ask, “Why does what other companies pay their workers make you deserve more than what you agreed to here?”

Therefore, no, I do not believe I “deserve” anything more than what I agreed to when I was hired. That is why I believe that the UAW’s primary argument (what we deserve) is unethical, unbiblical, and immoral when attached to threats (like to strike).

Feel free to Google it if you’re interested. I’m sick of this Marxist nonsense.

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by | September 12, 2024 · 1:18 pm

Reflections On the Trump and Harris Debate

A lot has been said about the debate on the 10th of August. Nearly all the Democrats believe their candidate for president won. It was a mixed bag in the Republican camp, on the other hand. That being said, I would like to offer my take, what I think happened.

At the end, I would like to make some predictions, should Kamala Harris become POTUS.

And the Winner Is…

Having won debates in school, I know a little about how to do it. That being said, from a stylistic standpoint, I believe Vice President Kamala Harris won her first debate with President Trump. She caught him like the Japanese did the US Navy at Pearl Harbor. She shocked those who underestimated her with a display of uncharacteristic verbal skill and acuity.

There were no “word salads,” only cutting, coherent sentences fired from the mouth of a seemingly seasoned trial lawyer.

Trump was a battleship and Harris was a nimble Mitsubishi Zero. He was only able to hit her a few times and found himself most often on the defense. This time the battle went to the Democrats.

She wants another debate, I hear, just like the Japanese wanted to wrap up their victory with a final battle at Midway. But let’s not forget how that turned out. It did not go well for Hirohito’s navy.

A Strategy Revealed

Another thing I witnessed was Harris continuing with a strategy previously used by her boss. Just like Biden did all the time, she brazenly applied Joseph Goebbles’ doctrine to her method of attack: if you tell a big enough lie, and you tell it often enough, it becomes truth.

She did this with her “no late-term abortion” lie; the Charlottesville “fine people” lie; the “inherited chaos” lie; the “anti-military” lie; the “Trump is a racist” lie; the “bloodbath” lie; the “first day dictator” lie; the “personal gain” lie; and the “he’s always lying” lie. And sadly, which is par for the course, the media never called her on it, for they have been doing the same thing.

My Prediction

If the American people continue to put 2 and 2 together, they will look past the polished rhetoric delivered during the debate and see the steaming pile of feces for what it is.

The economy IS in shambles; babies ARE aborted late term; she WAS the beneficiary of a soft coup; she DID lie about the health of the current sleeping president; she WILL push for mandatory gun buy backs; she WILL destroy private insurance; she WILL continue to use the legal and justice system to squash opponents; she WILL NOT fix the border she never visited; she WILL attack parental rights; she WILL NOT bring peace to any conflict; she WILL raise taxes on the middle class; she WILL push more industry out of the country; and she WILL bring us closer to global war through her continued nasally weakness. And don’t think for one moment that being the first “black woman” president will ease racial tensions – they WILL get worse.

Other than that, if I understand it correctly, should Harris win the next election, we will finally be unburdened from the past and there will be joy.

Has anyone got an extra vomit bag?

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by | July 22, 2024 · 7:21 am

Two Thoughts on Rumors and Conspiracy Theories

Hey, everyone. I just want to say two things about all the “did you hear?” stories that keep coming up.

The FIRST thing is: even trusted “sources” can relay bad information.

What you hear might actually be factual, but information can be true and false at the same time when context and interpretation are skewed. Remember, even your “sources” have world views and agendas. If you cannot go to the ORIGINAL source of the information and see for yourself what is being reported, be careful what you repeat.

But here’s the SECOND thing, and it’s really, really, important. Don’t be blind to the obvious while in search of the hidden.

We are so likely to jump on the bandwagons of juicy, new conspiracy theories that we will ride them off the cliff of insanity, ignoring the obvious street signs and billboards as we zip past.

I say all this because despite all the hidden agendas, secret societies, and billionaire evil donors out there, it DOES make a difference for whom you and I vote or support. OBJECTIVE MORALITY based on an Immutable Standard does exist, and it is our job as citizens to be the first to vocally and politically advocate for it.

Political parties and their candidates are always quick to tell us what we want to hear, but their track records are not secret. As long as we don’t erase history, all we have to do is look back to determine what kind of future will unfold. Therefore, more important than bringing to light dark agendas and conspiracies, we should not be silent when fundamental, foundational Truths are destroyed right before our eyes.

Ultimately, we are not responsible for the plots hatched around boiling cauldrons, but we will be held responsible for how we steward the obvious.

Truth and Freedom Under Attack

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by | November 25, 2022 · 10:39 am

You Can Still be Thankful for Stuff Even AFTER Thanksgiving

It’s Black Friday, and I know that most of you are probably tired of one season and ready to move onto the next.

However, before you start spending all that money on sale items, why not take a moment to remember how blessed you really are, like at this very moment.

I got a very late start on putting out a Thanksgiving video for my YouTube channel, but I published it, anyway. The reason is because regardless of what time or season of the year, we still have things for which we can be thankful.

Whether or not you are a watch fan, I believe you will enjoy this video. If you don’t have time to watch it all, at least skip forward to the 10th reason we can all be thankful.

Blessings to you all!

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by | November 3, 2022 · 10:24 pm

Goodbye, Middle Georgia

The Last Night

It’s really hard to believe it, but tonight is the last night I will be sleeping as a resident of Georgia. Tomorrow is the day we load up the U-Haul and head back to Tennessee.

Gone will be the quiet, star-canopied nights when I would sit on the steps of the back porch with my little dog and listen to nothing, except the sound of crickets, coyotes, or a cow somewhere across the way.

Tonight will be the last time I look at that old church lit up in the distance, the church I had no desire to leave.

Lots of Water

If you think of our time here like the old metaphor, a lot of water has gone under the bridge since we moved here in 2019. I mean, what better way to start a pastorate than be faced with an unprecedented pandemic? What fun!

But over the last three years we have had the wonderful opportunity to meet many sweet people, not just through the church I pastored, but out in the community. To begin with, there was the old black man that worked the morning shift at McDonald’s. He was the most enthusiastic person I think I’ve ever met!

Back in 2020 I started painting. That led to meeting many friends down at the farmer’s market in Sandersville. Honestly, I’m really going to miss seeing those folk on Saturday mornings. For over 2 years I sat through hot and cold, even when I didn’t expect to sell much, just to hang out with and encourage them. And, on top of that, one never knew who you’d meet that was just passing through.

Covid took its toll, of course, and we lost a few friends, some very close.

My mother came down with pancreatic cancer while here, yet she rarely missed a church service, unlike most of the rest of the congregation. I held her hand and sang “Amazing Grace” as I watched her life slip away. She just stared at me the whole time. I’ll always wonder what, if anything, she was thinking.

Goodbye to the Culture

Funny thing, growing up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, I thought I lived in the South. Well, I was evidently mistaken. I wasn’t Southern enough to put up with gnats, enjoy pineapple sandwiches, or own a truck (even though I really wanted one).

Don’t get me wrong, there was a lot down here that was wonderful and refreshing, but on the other hand, some of the things that annoyed me back in Tennessee were only made worse down here.

For example, where I was from a church was rarely more than one hundred years old. Down here their age regularly exceeds two centuries. Unfortunately, so do the family influences. Nothing is done quickly, and nothing is done without the approval of a select few (and that does not include the pastor). There is no hope of ever becoming a local if you just learned about kaolin and never picked cotton.

Back to Pavement

So, after tomorrow, it’s back to the fast-paced, bumper-to-bumper life of the blacktopped world. No more dirt roads. No more small-town limited government. No more knowing your sheriff or praying in public, even before a football game.

Next week it will be the 4 or 6-lane highways, the world’s fastest internet, 4 or 5 local television stations, a major newspaper, tons of restaurants, gang shootings, murder, drugs, and routines that sap away one’s life.

But that’s the way it’s got to be, Georgia. We had our good times, but we weren’t meant to last.

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by | April 15, 2021 · 3:19 pm

A Different Perspective

The following is a response to a news story I saw on Facebook. I wanted to share it here, too.

Web capture from my computer. Source: Daunte Wright: Doting dad, basketball player, shot & killed by officer (news4jax.com)

First, it is tragic that a young man with a son was killed. It was also tragic that someone who put her life on the line in a very difficult position accidentally shot a young man and killed him. He is dead, but her life is forever changed, if not in danger.

What frustrates me, and why I am taking the time to write this, is that there are not only two sides to the story, two people whose lives are forever altered, and a child who is now an orphan, but the side where the media consistently perpetuates a narrative that the shooting victim was loved and model citizen, while the officer who pulled the trigger was a racist, trigger-happy, cold-blooded, murderer worth of the death penalty.

For example, the photo shows Daunte smiling, holding his cute little boy. The article is full of glowing recollections. Yet what happened? As he was standing there beside the car, he decided to take the route of a fool and violently resist arrest! He didn’t think wisely. He didn’t consider all the consequences. He didn’t fall back on the wisdom offered by one of his mentors. No, he wrestled himself away from officers and attempted attempted to flee the scene!

Had he accomplished his intentions and fled in his car, would that have ended any better? Other innocents could have been hurt or killed in the chase, not to mention other lives changed forever by his recklessness, and he would have even more likely been subject to deadly force.

On a side note, have you ever been inside a large jail or federal prison? I have! Many, many times. I have been in multiple jails, from Florida to Kentucky, and State and Federal prisons in Tennessee and Kentucky. And do you have any idea what I saw – besides a lot of self-described wrongfully-accused? I saw a great, great number of African-Americans. I saw every color of human skin, but I also saw a disproportionate number of black men (and women). Why is that important? How is that relevant?

They were not dead – they had not been killed by police, only arrested. Think very slowly about that. Think. Let’s use our logic, folks. If the narrative of the news media and BLM and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez was true – i.e., police are out to kill black men – then why are our jails and prisons full of living, breathing black men? Doesn’t fit the narrative, does it?

If you watch enough television and movies, you will see police shoot more people in one episode than most departments shoot in a year, or ten. Believe it or not, I have never met a “Dirty Harry” type cop. Of all the ones I’ve met and worked with, including my late father and the entire Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee, even though one could have existed, I’ve never, NEVER met a man or woman who wanted to kill anybody.

As hard as it is for many to believe, many police officers and deputies go their entire careers without ever discharging their service weapon!

I know I run the risk of being criticized for writing this, but too few people are standing up against the lie that all police are evil, over-funded, racist hitmen/hitwomen. I feel it’s my obligation to bring the discussion back to the center. Yes, there are always two sides to every story, and then there’s the truth.

Simply put, Daunte Wright, regardless his past crimes or outstanding warrants against him, would be alive today if he had not wrestled away from the officer detaining him and attempted to flee in his vehicle. He could have had his day in court, but now all he gets is a funeral for his poor decisions.

My prayer is for the media, Hollywood, and the race-baiting ambulance chasers in politics to shut up, go away, or simply just REPORT the news, not create it!

Let the communities of real, caring people from all races come and work together, as they so often try, yet are divided by false narratives and manipulated information. And if we would stop making everything a race issue that’s not, black and white followers of Jesus Christ could come together as the family of God and show the world how loving one’s neighbor can heal our country.

You are welcome to share this, and I welcome any respectful comment or dialogue. God bless you all, God be with the Wright family in their time of loss, and may the officer involved be shown grace.

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by | March 2, 2021 · 11:29 am

Some Places Never Leave You, Even After You Leave Them

This a view from Edwards Point, the mountain bluff above where I grew up and the pinnacle of every hiking trip I made as a kid.

This is the Tennessee River Gorge. Just across the river is Elder Mountain, where my grandfather hid from revenuers.

To the right is Prentice Cooper Game Reserve. The Cumberland Trail weaves its way through there, down from the top of the mountain, down across the creek, then up to where this scene depicts.

I grew up in the community of Suck Creek. Just out of view, just below the rock bluff, the creek would feed the river. Up until a hundred or so years ago, during hard rain the creek and the river would create a powerful whirlpool capable of pulling small boats under and stopping paddle wheelers.

It was only after a system of dams were built along the Tennessee River (operated by TVA), that the river was tamed enough for safe navigation.

This is also where my Cherokee ancestors on my paternal grandmother’s side resided. They were the ones who actually attacked the early settlers of Nashville when their boats were stuck in the “suck.”

The mountains and the river will always be in my blood. The peaceful drift of the water. The fresh air of old-growth forests. The legends and unforgettable scary bedtime stories from the old-timers.

Unfortunately, much has changed over the last decade. Much of where I spent my childhood and teen years are unrecognizable. Time has exacted a heavy toll from both progress and neglect. And where there was family land that outsiders feared to visit, now there’s million-dollar homes where outsiders moved to “preserve” the beauty.

Yet, I still remember. I still dream. I still imagine. That will never change. Time will only make the memories sweeter and the stories even better.

I may have left, but it’s never left me.

View from Edward’s Point, Signal Mountain, TN

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by | December 8, 2020 · 5:55 pm

He’ll Listen to the Science

Lately, it’s been both a jab and a stinging response, the punchline of President Trump’s that’s become sort of a campaign slogan for Joe Biden: “He’ll listen to the science.”

Trump’s point is that Biden will make decisions based on bad science from bad scientists; Biden’s point is that Trump doesn’t care about scientific facts.

In my opinion, neither their arguments are going to make much of a difference right now. However, there’s a much more disturbing truth to the statement that, if Biden really does “listen to the science,” could potentially lead us down a very dark and sinister path.

Which Science?

To be fair to President Trump, it’s not that he doesn’t listen to science, it’s that he listens to the science he believes.

Stop for a moment and think about what is really meant when we use the word science. Science is NOT truth. Science is NOT immutable. Science is NOT determined by consensus (or vote). Scientific data CAN be interpreted differently.

When a person says he will listen to science, what exactly does that mean? Let us not forget the facts of “science” have often changed. Consider this tiny list of examples:

  • The coming ice age
  • The earth is flat
  • Piltdown Man
  • The benefits of smoking
  • Bloodletting

So, it’s certainly forgivable and understandable for the President to question certain scientists and listen to others. What proof does Biden have that his scientific advisors are infallible?

The More Serious Question

But what really scares me is that Joe Biden says that yes, he WILL listen to science. And based on what I’ve already heard and read, if current science (or should I say, “scientists”) believe it or promote it, then that’s all ol’ Joe needs. Listening means acquiescing.

Therefore, even if the “science” proves valid, what of the ethics? What of the morality? That’s the serious question.

Already it’s been announced that – because of science – Biden will make all sports and restrooms accessible to transgender and gender-fluid students. Because of science, abortion will be allowed far beyond any previous limitations. And based on the scientific advisors around him, Biden will more than likely impose a national mask mandate and mandatory shutdowns.

Disturbing? Yes! Because if all it takes to enact public policy is the consensus of politically motivated scientists, then what is out of the question? What moral or ethical line is out of bounds?

What freedoms are on the chopping block?

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by | September 23, 2020 · 7:42 pm

Did Death Come Calling? Start Deleting

This is probably going to be the most morbid thing I’ve written in a while, but people expect the unexpected from my writing.

When was the last time you scrolled through the contacts on your cell phone in search of a name, then all of a sudden stumbled across a person’s name who died years ago? To be honest, every time I look for someone in my contact list it happens.

But why are those names and phone numbers still in our phones? Why is it, if you’re anything like me, we find it hard to delete them?

Honestly, what do you need a phone number for if the person is dead? Have you given any thought to what might happen should someone get that number and accidently call you while your either driving or alone in a dark room at night? All of a sudden the face of a dead friend pops up on your screen as that special ring tone blares out, “Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah staying alive, staying alive!”

So, here’s a challenge that I’m going to make for all of us: If death came calling, and they answered, delete their number.

But when you do, how about let me know in the comments how many names you wound up deleting!

Creepy, isn’t it?

Update: I found 16 names. I can only bring myself to delete a few. I think, for me, it’s that I don’t want to forget.

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by | July 16, 2020 · 8:53 am

Five Years Later: Are We STILL Strong? (Remembering terror in Chattanooga)

Five years ago, today, a man drove around in his convertible Mustang and shot up my hometown. His goal was to kill as many servicemen as possible, so first he drove by the recruiting office on Lee Highway and unleashed a hail of bullets into the glass-fronted building. The “No Weapons” sticker applied to both serviceman and citizen alike, so no one was able to stop him before he drove off.

Photo credit: The Telegraph, UK

I stood here and wept as I took this picture. Note the green marks where spent shell casings lay.

The next place he went to was the Marine Corp/Navy Reserve training facility on Amnicola Highway, right between the community college so many of us have attended (where my youngest daughter will attend this year) and the riverfront bike trails and pavilions so many of us have enjoyed.

There the Muslim terrorist – for that is what he was, and that is what he intended on being – once again began firing on unarmed Marines and sailors with his high-powered semi-automatic rifle. At least one Marine had unofficially brought his personal sidearm with him that day and tried to stop the terrorist, but to no avail. Before long four Marines lay dead.

(Left to Right) Sgt. Carson Holmquist, Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan, and Lance Cpl. Squire K. Wells

A Navy sailor would later succumb to his wounds.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith

The local police in Chattanooga sped to the location where the terrorist was committing murder and engaged him with their own weapons.

Bullets from the conflict left holes in buildings as far away as the Coca-Cola offices across the highway and not even in view of the firefight. But before long, the self-proclaimed jihadist lay dead, too.

But Chattanooga survived.

Within the hour my city was the focus of world-wide attention. Terrorism had come to the South, and it was worth noting.

But what was also worth noting was the righteous indignation of our citizens, and the flickering flames that dared the enemy of freedom to fan us into a raging fire! We were shocked by what happened, but we were far from terrorized; we Tennesseans aren’t the type to retreat from a fight!

It wasn’t long before the first American flags started appearing at the two places where gunfire was exchanged.

In no time there were hundreds, and then there were thousands. Flags and mementos too numerable to count turned into defiant monuments to those who died protecting our freedom.

Tents were erected to shelter the thousands upon thousands of flags, letters, and memorabilia from the weather.

It wasn’t long before black, white, and every other color and faith united arm-in-arm as family, as Chattanoogans… as Americans.

In short, terror didn’t have it’s desired effect; it had the opposite!

……………………..

Skip forward 5 years. What happened to the unity?

Unfortunately, we are now divided more than ever. What the terrorist couldn’t do with his guns, politicians and the media, with weapons of jealousy, anger, lies, and hate, are succeeding.

Racism and accusations of racism, the erasing of our history by those with no understanding of history, and constant fear and suspicion over the spread of a virus are shattering our Union. Unconquerable from without, we are being destroyed from within.

Chattanooga, are you still strong?

Then let us come together once again as Americans, or else the “fallen five” will have fallen in vain.

#Noogastrong, #Chattanoogastrong

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