Violent Men ~ Rebels For God!

Matthew 11:12 says; “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.”

I don’t think we grasp the enormity of this verse today! Let me explain by quoting John Eldridge…

“How many of you know that God meant something when he meant man! John said that God made the masculine heart, set it within every man, and thereby gave him an invitation; Come, and live out what I meant you to be! He said that in the heart of every man, God gave him a battle to fight, and adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue.”

How many of you know that the world is totally against this! In the past 40 years or more, men have succumbed to the lie that feminism and Oprah have preached. Masculinity has been stripped down to nothing but a weakness to be mocked, ridiculed, and laughed at. From sitcoms in Hollywierd, to our very own communities, churches, and families we can see that men just aren’t what God meant when He meant man!

If this isn’t bad enough, these very lies have crept into our churches, into Christianity! How many times have we been told that we are created in the image of God and that we are to be Christ in the world we live in and in the same breath be told to be nice and non-confrontational and polite and well basically weak. Maybe not out right told be ‘weak’, but it’s surely implied! Christianity has taken on a new meaning and that meaning has nothing to do with Jesus or God or violence or passion or anything that is powerful and confrontational! If that is what being a Christian is, Jesus certainly was not Christian! The fact is that our churches have successfully taken the ‘wildness’ and the ‘passion’ out of real Christianity and replaced it with impotent religion! One doesn’t have to go far to hear about people in our churches ‘whining and complaining’ about things like; ‘the music is too loud, too contemporary, too long, too short, too ‘musical’, or the pastor didn’t come see me when I was sick (uh – if you are sick, no one wants to see you – that’s how other’s get sick!), or ‘it’s too cold or too hot in the sanctuary, or the preaching went too long, or blah blah blah, waaaaaa… And I am talking about grown men doing this, not grannies, even though grannies can do a lot of griping too! Grown men who have succumbed to the lie and wouldn’t know passion or wildness or anything about the real Jesus if it bit ‘em on their backside! They hide helplessly behind an institution called ‘the church’ never embracing anything that might cause them to live a life of adventure and excitement. They’ve been weighed down by religion and strangled by the traditions of man. Men created in the image of Holy and Wild God yet never, ever seeing that image for what it truly is!

Created in the image of God. How many of you know that God was a Warrior? When you look around at men in the church what do you see? Do you see any warriors? Any who even look like they would pick up a sword and wage war for God? (There are many who would wage war and fight about by-laws and whether or not to have services on Sunday night or other stupid man-made tradition!)

I love what C.S. Lewis said of Jesus; “Safe? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course He isn’t safe, but He’s good.”

The image of a warrior God! Why do boys want to attack something? Why do they whack and hit things? From a baseball to a 10 point buck, God has placed within boys and men a warrior’s heart, His heart! Why does a Veteran well up inside when he sees the flag or hears the national anthem? Why is it we get so excited when Wallace addresses his fellow Scots prior to battle in Braveheart? Why is it that we feel the rage in the heart of Benjamin Martin in The Patriot when he fights and kills the enemy? It’s because God has given us a warrior’s heart! That’s why!

But then again, the toll has been taken and so many men don’t even know that they have been given a warrior’s heart! The sad thing is that Christianity doesn’t even miss it! Men, we have been lied to for so long that we have accepted the lie that Christian men are to be nice and polite and well, “Christian”. Guys, I am here to tell you that is so far from the truth! Life needs us to be fierce, our families need us to be fierce, our wives and children need us to be fierce – and fiercely devoted! The ‘nice guy’ mentality is promoted in churches all over today. We are told to be nice like Jesus was, stay in line, and mind our manners. How many young boys grow up and never become the warrior God has called them to become all because they were taught that Jesus was a nice guy who never rocked the boat or caused any problems. Have we ever read the Bible??? Jesus didn't 'stay in line'! Jesus rocked the boat, called people names, turned tables upside down, raised His voice at people, and at times got angry. Jesus was not crucified for being nice, He was killed for being a rebel with a warrior’s heart who did what was right instead of being nice and trying to please everyone.

This flies in the face of modern Christianity and especially churches that are ‘run’ by egotistical, self righteous goobs who hide behind the traditions of men, you know … traditions such as by-laws, ‘we’ve never done it that way’, and majority rule. Jesus never hid behind anything and always stood for what was right even when it was not popular.

The fact is God created men to be warriors who were filled with passion and wildness and life! Don’t you think it’s time we embrace that once again? Man I do!

A Word on Marriage

Marriage is not a wedding! It's not a contract! It's a covenant between two people, hopefully included in that covenant, is God. A marriage covenant is a promise of a man and a woman committing themselves to one another for a lifetime. It's truly a special thing. Marriage was designed to be broken only by death of one in the marriage. No this is not a license to kill your spouse! I also know that divorce occurs and at times it is honestly justified in the eyes of God. Even so, marriages were meant to last for a lifetime.

Many people possess a Wal-mart mentality about marriages. If you don't like your spouse, you can simply return him or her and get another. In the words of John Stossel, 'give me a break'! This is ridiculous. Marriages may be made in heaven, but they will experience some hell on earth. Even so, commitment to one another in love can conquer all!

One must ask the question then; "Why all the divorces?" Right or wrong, there are many reasons that people get divorced. From the big stuff like adultery to the little stuff like arguing over finances. OK, finances are not little, but compared to adultery they are.

If guys and gals would only understand that they are not perfect, nor is their mate. Marriage is a wonderful gift, but it is also one of the hardest things we shall undertake in this world. Think about it; two different people who have faults, opinions, differing personalities, desires, likes, dislikes, and on and on it goes come together and marry each other. When the cutesy and the newness wear off, those things come to the surface. What used to go unnoticed or overlooked is now front and center. From these come disagreements, arguments, hurt feelings, and fights! If not dealt with properly these will escalate and harmful words and/or actions will ensue. When marriages takes this turn they are in deep trouble. What happens at this point varies. Sometimes divorce occurs immediately, while many will stay together, but instead of living in harmony, they live emotionally separated. Two people living with each other but not really living as married people. Infidelity occurs in many of these situations. While some take part in sexual infidelity, or adultery, others will commit emotional or social infidelity. This occurs when a husband, a wife, or both pull away from the other spouse and invest that time with another person or group of people. It happens all the time. A wife who withholds affection or who may not be getting affection from her husband will pour her life into her children, church, or job. A husband who is not investing in his wife or is missing her attention will pour his time and energy into time with friends or work. This should not be!

One of the greatest books on marriage was written by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs'. Love and Respect deals with biblical principles of a healthy and happy marriage. It brings out the fact that a wife has one driving need - to feel loved. When that need is met, she is happy. A husband has one driving need - to feel respected. When that need is met, he is happy. When either of these needs is not met, things will get crazy and problems will ensue opening the door for infidelity in one form or another.

Husbands, your greatest responsibility is your wife! Do you cherish her? Do you honor her? Do you selfLESSly love her? If not, you are only hurting yourself! Wives are God's gift to us in spite of ourselves! She must be #1 in your life AND she must know that she is!

Wives, your greatest responsibility is your husband! Do you cherish him? Do you honor him? Do you selfLESSly respect him? If not, you are only hurting yourself! Husbands are gifts to you as well! He must #1 in your life AND he must know that he is!

Marriage is a gift to be enjoyed and shared with your spouse! Now let's get busy with some lovin' and respectin'!

The Outside Part 2

2 Corinthians 6:17 - "Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you."
This is not necessarily a quote from Isaiah 52:11 but it is similar. In Isaiah 52 God was calling for His people to separate themselves from idolatrous people as well as from idolatry.


Verse 14 also says; " Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?"


Paul is calling on Christians to do basically the same thing as Isaiah was urging the Israelites to do. Paul is imploring these Corinthian believers to make sure they are not yoked ('connected to; bound together with; linked to') certain people. Now it has often been understood that in verse 14 Paul is strictly forbidding the believers not to associate with the lost. Of course this is ridiculous for Jesus Himself said that believers are called to go to the lost, to spend time with them, to get to know them, and develop relationships with them, with the hopes of introducing Christ to them. If we are not to associate with them, then how can we reach them? The Apostle Paul wrote earlier in 1 Corinthians 5:9-11; “I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters; for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler – not even to eat with such a one.” It becomes obvious in this passage that Paul did want believers to associate with lost people. He wanted the believers to reach the lost for Christ!


Another implication is that believers should not be married to non-believers. This just so happens to be true, yet one cannot stop with just this observation. What about business deals, joint ventures, and the like? Surely this encompasses these doesn't it? Sure it does, but the main point of all of this is the warning of 'yoking up with an unbeliever'!


An unbeliever is someone who simply does not believe. It could also be translated as one who does not have or produce faith. The Greek word in this verse is 'apistos' which comes from the Greek word 'pistos' for 'faith' and the prefix 'a' prior to that indicating opposite of, without, or void of what follows. In other words, 'apistos' could be translated 'without faith' 'faithless' or even 'unfaithful'. So this verse could also be translated as "do not be bound together with the unfaithful". This verse now opens up so much more than just seeing these unbelievers as representing just lost people. Remember the Israelites under Moses? These all who came out of Egypt were 'saved'. They were God's chosen people! Throughout their wilderness journey, they were 'unfaithful' to God. They just would not believe Him. God's people who had been delivered out of Egypt had a very hard time believing God and obeying Him after their deliverance. They were unfaithful children of God! Notice Exodus 17:2-7; "Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water that we may drink " And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?" But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, "Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me." Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. "Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. He named the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among us, or not?"


Also notice Psalm 95:7-11. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, "When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. "For forty years I loathed that generation, and said they are a people who err in their heart, and they do not know My ways. "Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest."


The text that is under consideration, 2 Corinthians 6:17, must then be understood that God is telling His followers, to 'come out from among those who are unfaithful', no matter if those who are unfaithful are lost or if they are Christian! Think about it. Would God want a committed follower to be yoked up with a carnal believer? Absolutely not! It would seem that this is most likely what Paul was thinking about when he wrote this epistle. Remember his harsh rebuke 1 Corinthians 5 of the person who was sleeping with his father's wife? Later in that same chapter in verse 13, Paul said; "REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES!” Clearly Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, wanted faithful believers to be separated from unfaithful believers!


Paul goes on to contrast the actions of faithful with the unfaithful - 'what fellowship does righteousness have with unrighteousness; what communion does light have with darkness; what bond does Christ have with Belial (wicked, worthless); and again what does a believer have with an unbeliever, or what does the 'faithful have with the unfaithful'? Paul is very concerned with the fact that even believers can cause others believers to fall into and walk in sin and passionately warns against 'cohabitating' with sinning believers.


It is unmistakable in real life that Christians can be characterized by each of these descriptions. Whether it is those rare moments when we let our guard down or when we actually embrace them in habitual ways these certainly can be manifested in our lives. Certainly Christians can be unrighteous in actions, walk in darkness, and be unfaithful in life. To believe otherwise would be foolish. With this in mind, it is obvious that Paul is not suggesting that we separate from believers who sin and mess up at times for all do that, but rather unbelieving Christians who embrace sinful actions and attitudes and walk in them. Paul says, DO NOT BE A PART OF THEM! SEPARATE YOUSELVES FROM THEM! COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM!


He then says, "DO NOT TOUCH THAT WHICH IS UNCLEAN"! Unrighteousness, darkness, wickedness, and unfaithfulness are all unclean and Paul says NOT to touch, have nothing to do with them at all! Paul went further than saying not to do these things, he said 'don't even touch them! In other words, Paul commands the Corinthians to have nothing at all to do with those things! Pretty obvious!


Paul is very clear - Separate from those who are unfaithful and make sure not to do not do any of the things they do! Period!


With that in mind, then it becomes clear that disciples of Jesus Christ, followers of the Lord are to...


Come Out from among...


Unfaithful people


Unfaithful fellowships


Unfaithful churches


Unfaithful denominations


Unfaithful organizations


Unfaithful Anything that embraces sin and rebellion against God or His Word


It should also be noted that in Revelation 3 interestingly Jesus Himself was found outside the Laodicean church knocking on the door. Jesus found Himself outside of that which He created - His church. For many, it appears that Jesus is walking up to a local fellowship and knocking on the door of the building where some believers are meeting. This simply cannot be what is being portrayed here at all. The term 'church' refers to the body of Christ and not the building in which it may be meeting. Jesus is knocking, seeking to get the attention of the body of Christ from outside of it. More specifically He was attempting to wake up individuals within the body. "If any 'man' hear my voice..." Do you see it? Jesus was on the outside! Jesus was outside the church! The reason He was outside was for the same reason we have just seen above - the church had embraced unrighteousness, darkness, wickedness, and unfaithfulness. Jesus would not have anything to do with any of that stuff so He 'came out' and separated Himself from it.


JESUS WAS THE FIRST 'OUTSIDER'!!!


We must remember that the Word of God is not saying that we separate ourselves from out of the world, but rather separate ourselves within the world. We are to be a separate people in the world who do not participate in the deeds of darkness, but rather expose them and live separate from them.

An Outsider

Needtobreathe's song, 'The Outsiders' caused me to really think a little deeper than normal. I love to think and even though I am no C.S. Lewis or J. R. R. Tokien I had a rush of emotions as an epiphany hit me. Or maybe it was the rush of acid reflux. Either way I begin to meditate upon this song. A few lines say; "We are the outsiders, oh we are the outsiders ... On the outside, you're free to roam, On the outside we found it home, On the outside there's more to see, On the outside we choose to be.."

I begin to think about that and how that many would take it that this song is talking about being saved and being on the outside of the lost world. Being on outside of 'lostness' or on the outside of the world that rejects Jesus, Christianity, etc.
But then I began to be reminded of what 2 Corinthians 6:17 says. It says; "Come out from their midst and be separate from them and do not touch what is unclean". As I have read this verse in the past, I quickly would say that the Apostle Paul is talking about being separated from the world, from that which is lost and not of God. That's cool and all, but then that 'epiphany' hit me and I thought that God also wants us to separate from all that is unclean, including religion, religious institutions, and yes religious people. Hmmm... O yea, remembering that Jesus is not a religion nor is He a building or denomination but rather He is a Person who happens to be God!

I then begin seeing that just as the song speaks of being on the outside, that as followers of Jesus Christ, we are justified by God's very Word to separate ourselves from even those who call themselves Christian, the church, and God's people. O NO! It can't be! Sure it can! One only needs to see the latter part of the verse mentioned earlier; "DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN". What is unclean? That which is sinful, wrong, and rebellion against God and His Word. So, if a fellow believer is willingly and openly rebelling against God and refusing to be obedient, then the follower has every authority to separate himself from the rebellious believer.
The same would go with a local fellowship (church) or even a denomination. If a fellowship or a denomination openly rebels against God, the faithful follower must separate himself from it or be guilty by association or by enabling the rebellion. If we remain in that which is wrong, then we actually condone the very thing which is wrong.

So with that in mind, we must exclude ourselves. We must depart! We must leave the 'inside' and head outside! In this case following the Lord must be done as an 'outsider' of the church. It has to be! There is no way to follow Jesus if we are tolerating sinfulness or rebellion. This in no way calls for perfection at all, but rather for a desire to be right and obedient to the Lord. We are all sinners and we all mess up every day, but living in open rebellion is unacceptable. Friends have parted ways, marriages have dissolved, and believers have departed fellowships/churches. On the surface one could argue that friends, marriages, and churches should work their problems out and stay together. Well that's admirable, but when open rebellion and an unwillingness to forsake the rebellion, the follower who desires to be right with God cannot stay in that situation.

Jesus Himself is actually the first 'outsider'. In Revelation 3:20, Jesus is standing at the door of the church knocking. Jesus was 'outside' the church. The Laodocean church was a church filled with people who were lukewarm, just existing. Jesus showed His disapproval by being 'outside' knocking on the door. He offered to come to anyone in the church who desired to open up to Him.

Unfortunately many churches today keep believers from growing and experiencing the wonderful life God has offered. Churches have been guilty of throwing cold water on the people of God and have kept them from enjoying the greatest gift in the world. Jesus came to give us abundant life and all the joys that go with it yet it seems that so few are living that life. What's up? What's wrong? What's going on?

Remember the line in the song? "On the outside we're free to roam, On the outside we found it home, On the outside there's more to see, On the outside we choose to be ..." That excites me and not only does it excite me, I have experienced it! In the past 5 months, I have been on the outside and it has been totally awesome and extremely life changing! The chains have been broken and I have been set free to roam, and see, and choose, and take hold of the mighty Hand of God in fresh and new ways! I have the freedom to follow, the freedom to enjoy, and the freedom to see so much more than I ever have. I am an outsider and I must say that the outside is so much better than being on the inside of those walls of tradition and institutionalism. Freedom is so cool! I love being an outsider! I have found that I am more like Jesus as an outsider. We've been having a good time being out here.

The Magic of Christmas

Christmas truly is a magical time. Not in the since that it is 'of' magic, but that it is one of mystery and excitement and all sorts of wonderful things, known and unknown. I think of the mystery of Christmastime when I was a child. Truly something seemed to be in the air, something seemed to be happening as I found myself wrapped up in the wonder of something special. Not sure what that specialness was, but there was something special happening. Sure, as a kid, I loved the thought that I was in line to get some wonderful gifts, but still there was something more, something that I never could put my finger on. What was it? What was that lingering mystery that haunted my thoughts and my anticipation. It was something more than just receiving presents and eating wonderful Christmas food. It was more than getting together and spending time with family and friends. That feeling of mystery simply would not leave, nor did I want it to leave. What was it? What was the joy and excitement that haunted dreams and my waking hours?

Even after the loss of Christmas innocence, which was a blow, that 'something' was still in the air at Christmastime. That mystery ... still there haunting me. That haunting was still as exciting as I remembered as a child and now even more intriguing. Now as an adult with children of my own, I find that Christmastime is even more intriguing, even more exciting, and now even more mysterious! I find myself wanting to get lost in old Christmas movies or a dozen Christmas songs. I have my internet radio tuned to Holiday Classics even as I write this. The magic, the mystery, the excitement floods through my very core even now! What is it? What is this mystery? What is this wonderfully unique and extremely thrilling obscurity that is as real as the sun and the moon?

In the Bible in 1 Corinthians 2:7 Paul writes about the 'wisdom of God being a mystery'. This has to have something to do with this magical mystery so many sense during Christmastime. It has to be! We celebrate the birth of the Savior of the World, the Lord Jesus Christ and in doing so, we acknowledge God! We acknowledge the invisible God and 'behold' Him from within. I truly feel that the mystery that is sensed, the wonder that is felt at Christmastime is the very love and grace of God. God in His amazing love and grace simply radiates to us Himself and whether it's a child who is so willing to believe in the unseen or it's an adult who has lost his innocence and is very skeptical of that which is unseen feel that magic. The mystery that is sensed and felt is the very presence of a God Who is pouring out His heart and love to us at such a special time of year, a time of receptivity, a time of peace and love. God is reaching out showering child and adult alike with His wonderful love! The mystery is simply invisible God wooing us closer to Himself, seeking to bring us into His heart of love and mercy and give to us life and an abundance of life. It's God inviting us inside the greatest and most majestic of all places; His life.

Whether it's a child who is searching for Santa and his sleigh loaded down with presents or if it's an adult who is trying to recapture that innocence one more time, the magical mystery is the eternal rays of glory reaching out and caressing us, wooing us, calling us into His secret place all because He loves us and longs to be with us and longs for us to long to be with Him. The mystery in the air is the powerful love of God falling like fresh snow onto a world that He loves so much!

Slow Down and Sing

It's Christmastime! Woo-hoo!!! Since I was a child, I have loved this time of the year. All the colors, all the smells, all the reindeer, all the Christmas specials on TV and all the Christmas cheer out there just makes it an awesome time of the year. As an adult I love to play back the memories in my mind and in my heart of those wonderful Christmases when I was a child. I do remember that Christmas was hard sometimes and that the gifts were few, but as I remember, I remember the wonderful spirit of Christmas. The excitement of just being with family as we would gather to eat Christmas dinner. All the siblings, cousins, uncles and aunts, grandparents, and plenty of friends. We could hardly wait for Christmas eve to come for we knew that we would be together for Christmas eve to celebrate Christmas as a family. There was no fighting that night, no tempers flaring, nobody sad. Even siblings were at peace. All were joyous and happy and full of life! Even grandparents were giddy with Christmas spirit. It was a totally wonderful time for all. It was as if everyone was sprinkled with youthfulness again. Smiles, laughter, and fun characterized these times. Christmas songs filled the air! Whether by way of radio, records, or someone singing a capella Christmas music was being sung! Whether it was Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls, or Silent Night, a song was being sung!

What a wonderful thing now many years later. Those same songs being played or sung today can bring back a memory, a warm feeling, a smile, and at times, even a tear or two. It is amazing that at 44 years of age, I catch myself singing "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" out loud ... when I am all alone or in a crowd. I can be walking down the grocery isle and break out singing, 'I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know'. Bystanders turn and look at me and smile or raise a curious eyebrow while some have joined in the singing. I love it!

Even so, I see so many running here, flying there, trying to get this or do that with the worst look on their face. Hurrying here and hurrying there. Rush, Rush, Rush! I can't stand it. It's not the Christmas that I knew or want to know. I want to tell them to slow down or Christmas will be here and gone before they know it. Slow down and enjoy this wonderful time of year. Make some memories and remember some as well. Turn on some Christmas music and sing along and relax in the moment. Christmases come and go and if we are not careful we might miss this wonderful time of year. Time doesn't slow down for anyone and keeps marching on! So what to do? What should we do at Christmastime? Slow down and sing with childlike passion a Christmas song and then another and then another and then ... !

Surrounded By Idiots!

It amazes me that God tolerates me and puts up with me in my spiritually lazy times, my angry times, and my insane times. I am so grateful that He doesn't just get rid of me. We all have our times and it's just a part of life I know. Many times we fall into temptation, fall in to sin, totally blow it at other times, and sometimes we simply act silly. Well, I know I do.

Then there are those who just don't get it. They seem to be oblivious to truth, whether it's God's truth or it's just truth about life or themselves or whatever. They are just idiots. An idiot is defined as someone who is stupid. As sad as it is, we are surrounded by them! Idiots who think they are geniuses all the while exemplifying their stupidity. Right is right and wrong is wrong, right? Right! Idiots can't see this truth. They justify wrong attitudes, wrong motives, and wrong agendas. They justify sin, hate, and ungodliness all the while claiming to be right, even right with God. Let me give an example. How many people will justify hating someone, or at the least disregarding someone who thinks differently or has an opposing view about something. Look at the different denominations there are all in the name of Jesus Christ. Someone has to be wrong and it's always the others who are. Truth has been replaced with falsehood (lies!) and right has been overruled by justified wrong! Hate has been given precedence over love. Who would do this? Stupids! Idiots! Yep, those who are all around us. Culture and society accept this, but God sure doesn't! I think we need to call a spade a spade and a stupid a stupid. Or we can call them idiots! Same thing, right? Right! There are those who are just 'stuck on stupid' and they will always be there, no matter how much we try to convince them otherwise. We shall always have those who are 'idiots'. Lord help us!