Hog Blog Archives

October 31

Halloween

My son David was Han Solo for Halloween. He had a great time carving a pumpkin with me. We set it out as it began to get dark and took some pictures. Then David and Kim (my wife) went to the neighbors' houses as I distributed candy to the treak-or-treaters.

The sad observation I have is the huge change from how it was when I was a kid. My parents would get grocery bags full of candy in preparation for Halloween. They would line up a few bags next to the door and distribute it to the lines and lines of kids that came to the house non-stop from the time the sun went down until about 9:00. During that time, my sister and I went door to door and typically filled two grocery bags with candy. We would return home in the middle of the evening to empty our bags on our beds so we could head back out and refill them.

We had only 4 groups of trick-or-treaters and the largest of those groups was only 3 kids. The majority of the time, I stood at the door and looked around the neighborhood hoping to see someone coming our way. I think many parents are so afraid of the dangers now that the kids have lost out on the whole deal. Also, many of the houses in our neighborhood were dark, which in Halloween parlance means, "Don't knock on my door—we don't give out candy."

Very sad.

October 29, 2004:
I'm a hedonist

I'm teaching adult Sunday school. Wow! This is a new experience for me and it scares me to death. I can sing a solo in front of thousands of people, but teaching a handful of adults makes my legs wobble and my stomach do flips.

The course of study is John Piper's Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. What a fantastic book! My parents and sister always told me that you learn most when you teach. They were so right! I have loved every minute of this—even the studying and preparing.

The basis of Piper's concept is the fact that, as Blaise Pascal said, all of us seek pleasure—whether we want to admit it or not. Pascal actually said that even the person who commits suicide is seeking pleasure in some way, perhaps the pleasure of not having to deal with his current situation.

Piper builds on this premise by looking at the things that we might look to for pleasure and joy. He shows that seeking pleasure in worldly things is basically idolatry. The object of our desire should be God, who alone is able to fulfill our desires and passions, and who wants to bring us joy in Him.

This is a radical but biblical concept and is potentially life-changing. If you would like to live a fulfilled life with great joy, get this book and apply its principles. You won't regret it.

Some comments on the book:

"...a modern manual of true spirituality" —R. C. Sproul

"...[a] soul-stirring celebration of the pleasures of knowing God...a must-read for every Christian, and a feast for the spiritually hungry." ——John MacArthur

"The healthy biblical realism of this study in Christian motivation comes as a breath of fresh air. Jonathan Edwards, whose ghost walks through most of Piper's pages, would be delighted with his disciple." —JI Packer

"The first edition of this book profoundly influenced my life. I am delighted to commend the tenth anniversary edition." —Jerry Bridges

October 28, 2004:
Watchdog For the Truth

The Old Media has thrown in its support with the Kerry campaign. NBC, CBS, and ABC have been joined by MSNBC and CNN in their obvious support of the democratic candidate. The recent New York Times report charging the Bush administration with incompetance because of weapons that may or may not have been in Iraq when our soldiers got there but are definitely not there now has strained the bounds of reason.

My frustration with this situation is that intelligent liberals have apparently stopped thinking. They are defending the indefensible. Alan Colmes (Hannity and Colmes) actually defended the NYT report by saying, "You can't prove that the weapons were gone before the troops were there." So now, apparently, the Republicans must shoulder the burden of proof even when it is against baseless allegations.

The Old Media has been complicit in this and has promoted such liberal tirades as Michael Moore's documentary of lies Farenheit 911 while smothering any information about truthful documentaries such as Stolen Honor. Since they are not giving any information about this excellent documentary, it is encumbent on the new media (web sites, e-news, blogs, etc.) to provide this to the public. So here it is: Stolen Honor. Enjoy.

October 27, 2004: Gastric Bypass

Okay ... Time to fess up.

On June 21, 2004, I underwent weight loss surgery. For those familiar with this surgery, I had an open Roux-En-Y. I will post pictures soon, so everyone can be amazed at how huge I am even after losing all this weight. Check back from time to time so see how I'm progressing.

Election 2004

Is anyone else as tired as I am about the non-stop lies and distortions coming from the Kerry/Edwards campaign? This election is one of the most important elections in years and probably the most important election in my lifetime. But not for the reasons that the neo-cons are proclaiming (or not just because of those reasons).

What scares me about John Kerry:

• John Kerry is as pro-abortion as they come. A nation that kills its children will not escape the judgment of Almighty God. In the Old Testament, the abomination of Molech is mentioned repeatedly. This abomination was the murder of innocent children. God hates this.
• John Kerry supports homosexual marriage. No nation in history has survived the governmental acceptance of homosexual activity. And homosexual marriage has never been endorsed by a government in written history. As Steve Taylor said,

  If the Lord don't care whom He choses to ingore-uh,
  Tell it to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

• John Kerry reveals a complete lack of understanding of God and the basic principles of orthodox Christianity. He claims to be a Roman Catholic, but he doesn't follow the teachings of the Church in his political actions. Kerry's voting record has demonstrated a strong opposition to Judeo-Christian values.
• John Kerry's policies regarding the War on Terror could put us in serious danger. I believe these are the last days of God's redemptive history. I don't find the United States in the Revelation. I don't know what that means, but it scares me to think that we may succumb to the Islamic terrorists if John Kerry is given a chance to lower our guard.
• John Kerry has made outrageous attacks on President Bush, who is an avowed Christian. I think there is some degree of hatred for the president (both from the general public and from John Kerry) because of his Christianity. This is satanic influence.

What I like about President Bush:

• President Bush has stood firm in the face of radical Islam and its terror.
• President Bush shows evidence of love for the American people. The young girl, Ashley, who lost her mother in the attack on the World Trade Centers is a perfect example of this.
• President Bush is pro-life and wants to define marriage as being between one man and one woman. (As opposed to Cheney, who said that adults should be able to have relationships with anyone they choose to have relationships with. I guess that means that Cheney is supportive of adult relationships with young children and with animals. Scary.)
• President Bush prays about important decisions he makes in the White House. He has said this in interviews quite a few times, although the media normally does not report these comments.

April 23, 2004

Welcome to my web page.

This is the day that the Lord hath made
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Welcome to my site. Take a look around. I hope you enjoy your stay here.

Why should I browse this site?

All about Rich Gelina

Rich is:

• not particularly good at any one thing
• not great looking
• not exceptionally wise
• not likely to become wise, good-looking, or skillful.

So why should you read my web site? Because this web site contains the most important message in the history of mankind. It's a message from God. God gave me this message and he has given it to you too - through this web site.

Info about the web site

All film photography on this site was taken with my Canon EOS 3 and scanned into digital format. Digital photography was shot using the Nikon Coolpix 4300, a wonderful and inexpensive little 4 megapixal digicam. [Disclaimer] All graphics are handmade in Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro, the best paint program available for less than hundreds of dollars. (In fact, it's only $99.) All HTML has been hand-coded using the famous Microsoft Notepad. Frontpage is great, but the sense of accomplishment when you have created a web page from scratch by hand is amazing.