Facebook and Prayer

Apparently Will Rogers popularized the phrase. “You can’t beat something with nothing.” This is one of the underlying philosophies of the Prophecy Podcast blog.  

So in order to fight the advertising industry I suggest a DVR so one can fast forward through the commercials. That way if you decide to remain connected to Hollywood the Great, at least you can eliminate the most negative aspects of it. 

So you take a negative and make it as positive as you can. 

Facebook has many negative attributes. How can you moderate them? 

First never click on an ad, just use the free Facebook service. Be selective about which companies you “like.” Finally, use Facebook to help focus your prayer life. 

What? How does that work? 

I want to be the kind of person Paul talked about in 1 Thessalonians 5:1—

Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.

Facebook does not help in being cheerful no matter what, just the opposite. That is its main negative trait. However, I do use Facebook as a template for prayer.

When Pam Dewey posts another of her humorous animals posts (please Pam stop!), I am reminded to pray for her eyesight. When she mentions her family, I am reminded to pray for them. 

I have several Facebook friends with an absolutist way of looking at things. This can prevent them from fully being cheerful. You know who you are! When I see this attitude in a post I can pray about that. Since I too have this fault, I can pray for myself as well. 

When Eric posts on economics, I can pray for his health. When Marilyn posts, I can pray for her Lupus. When a family member posts, you can pray for them. 

You know your friends and family, you know their needs. Pray. 

I am not saying I am some sort of prayer warrior. I am just an average guy trying to become the kind of person God wants me to be.

I bet you want that too! If so consider the advice of Paul in 1 Thess. 5.

^{While this is a little frou-frou for me, I still liked the photo.16-18}Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.

 ^19-22Don’t suppress the Spirit, and don’t stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don’t be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what’s good. Throw out anything tainted with evil.

 ^23-24May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!

 ^25-27Friends, keep up your prayers for us. Greet all the followers of Jesus there with a holy embrace. And make sure this letter gets read to all the brothers and sisters. Don’t leave anyone out.

 ²⁸The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you!

Using Facebook as a prayer technique? Who’da thunk it?  

Update on Wednesday, August 15, 2012 at 10:06AM by [Positive Dennis]

As many of you know Pam Dewey edits most of the blog posts on the Prophecy Podcast. In an earlier post I had confused the origin of the phrase, “Who’d have thunk it?” I thought it was from the Disney Movie Pollyanna. 

Here is the note Pam attached to the above post after editing (radio ventriloquist?). 

In the early days of radio and TV, Edgar Bergen (yes, Candace’s dad) had a ventriloquist act which featured a dummy named Mortimer Snerd. Mortimer was pretty dumb, and most of the time when something was explained to him, he’d shake his head and say “Who’d have thunk it?” 

You might also be familiar with another of Mortimer’s inventions - the word “DUH!”

Mortimer Snerd with Fozzie Bear 

Mortimer Snerd and Harold Camping: Twins separated at birth?

The Canary in the Mine

Before we had modern air detection devices for mines, the miners would carry a canary into the mine. If the air was bad and the canary died, the miners could leave and save their lives. 

While this is an overused cliché, sometimes the old clichés are the best clichés. 

Looking around the economy I see plenty of dead canaries. Here is one from the Wall Street Journal:

The U.S. Postal Service on Thursday reported a $5.2 billion quarterly loss and said it was nearly out of cash and likely to exhaust its government credit line in coming months.  

The agency said the loss was its widest since it began releasing quarterly financials in 2007. But Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said the Postal Service would do whatever it takes to maintain its operations, even if that means defaulting on a second multibillion-dollar retiree obligation in as many months. 

How can a monopoly lose this much money? 

One reason is that the Post Office is required by law to fund the retirement of postal workers—really in a sense pre-fund the workers' retirement. But only about 50% of the loss seems to be from this source. 

While the Post office should fund its retirement benefits every year, pre-funding 75 years of retirement over 10 years does seem excessive. It should fund the annual increase in obligations every year, like other government agencies. Oh, wait a minute, that is not true. 

This brings us to my main dead canary for the day. While the budget deficit is reported as 1.3 trillion, in fact it is much larger. The unfunded liabilities of the government keep growing. How large a deficit are we really running? No one knows. I have heard estimates that it is ten trillion a year. I doubt it is that large, but who knows? The only way to know is if you have a crystal ball and can predict future unemployment rates, future interest rates, and so on. In any event, it is clear that the true deficit is two or three times as large as is admitted under modern bogus accounting rules.  

A good example of what I am talking about is Part D Medicare. Bush rammed it though the congress. The main argument I heard in favor of it was that the Democrats had a worse version of it. Right. Bush, with one signature, added ten trillion to the unfunded liabilities of Medicare. I will not be pushing “like” on Bush's Facebook page anytime soon. This may be the single worst act of any president ever. 

About once a month at my house I have to sweep a dead bird off my back porch. I have very large windows and the birds think that the window is open. Get your broom ready folks, for soon the canaries will be dropping like flies. 

What will be the effect of the total unfunded liability of Medicare? We will find out in 3 to 7 years when the government defaults. 

Man of God

While I am sure this song was written about Bush, it seems to apply to Romney and Obama as well. 

House Prices Rising?

The following Wall Street Journal video implies that since Warren Buffet, billionaire investor, is buying housing products, you should too. Maybe. But what the video does not mention is that Buffet owns insurance companies. Insurance companies must invest in order to get an acceptable rate of return. That is how they make their money. Housing may be the cleanest dirty shirt right now. 

Note that the video does not mention what I think is the key issue for housing, interest rates. Interest rates are being kept artificially low to prop up the economy. What is going to happen when they rise? Oops. 

Donna Summer

What do we watch if we turn off the cable? Here is one thing that is watchable.

You do not need Babylon the Great. You can get along without it.