Mr. Clinton's admission of who's responsible

Will wonders never cease during this election season...

Having a security clearance

When I worked at Ford Aerospace and Communications Corp. (FACC) in Palo Alto, CA I routinely worked with people who had secret clearances. It takes an employer a long time and much effort to obtain a secret clearance to vet an employee. (I never needed a secret clearance because I worked on mostly commercial hardware, not the spook satellites that required a high level clearance).
Interesting how the Dinosaur media (NBC, CBS, ABC) sent teams of reporters to dig through Alaskan dumpsters to find dirt on Gov. Sarah Palin, but they were completely uninterested in finding and interviewing William Ayers --the American terrorist who at one time bombed the U.S. Pentagon as "protest" against the United States. The day following Sept. 11, 2001, Ayers "wished" he had "done more" in his heyday, --he stated so publicly. He is unrepentant.

Sen. Obama's political career (a fundraiser) was launched in the living room of William Ayers.

American terrorist Wm. Ayers, a strange Rev. Jeremiah Wright declaring race-hatred from his pulpit on Sunday morning --there is no American presidential candidate before Barack Obama with associations to these kinds of characters; none.

Associations provide insight into a man's character. Had any other candidate launched his political career in the home of, say, an abortion clinic terrorist, he couldn't run for city dogcatcher much less for president of the free world.

Obama is a man of first-rate intellect. But his character is shady and immature.

If Obama ever tried to get a security clearance at my company, his associations would raise red flags and would ultimately ground him. It's that simple, and there would be no appeal.

I don't even think Barack Obama could get an FBI clearance to work for the U.S. Secret Service --the civil service that protects the President of the United States.

I love free speech

“John McCain has chosen a running mate whose primary qualification seems to be that she hasn’t had an abortion.” —South Carolina DNC Chairwoman Carol Fowler

“Her greatest hypocrisy is in her pretense that she is a woman.” —Wendy Doniger, “academic” at the University of Chicago

Well I say let them talk.

When these kinds of people talk it enlightens the American voter to their world-view.

Terror-free for 7-1/2 years

President George W. Bush, the civilian commander who prevented any follow-up jihad terror attacks upon American soil, during his 8-year watch.

I appreciate that the responsibilities of the office of president have aged Pres. Bush, and may well have shortened his life. But that is his gift to his country. (It's sad by contrast that 8-years had also aged former Pres. Bill Clinton, and to a much greater extent, but for reasons other than keeping America's homeland secure).

As missionaries who deploy most often into the dangerous 10/40 drop zone, Mrs. O and I will listen closely in the debates to what Senator McCain and Senator Obama have to say about Islamic terror, about the enemy combatants jailed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and eavesdropping on Islamic terrorists who phone into the United States.Sadly, in these regards, from what I've observed in recent American history, (i.e. the last 8-years), to vote for Sen. Obama is to also vote for a Democrat Party that consumed most of their energies during the last 7-1/2 years fighting an American president harder than they fought the perpetrators of September 11.

That is inexcusable to this voting citizen.

'Gurl power' : aggrieved

You go gurl!

There are a lot of disaffected democrat voters in Denver. However, we at the Natural Exponent are cautious; we do not think that these people will necessarily vote for McCain.

For some Democrat women, many of them are very, very unhappy. On the other hand, if you add to this the aggrieved women who may simply stay home, Obama might have a problem in November.

But today, it's a long time until November. Indeed, maybe Hillary will pull a Samson and tear down Obama's paper-mache pillars. Bill will presumably already have provided the jawbone of the ass.

They saddled-up at Saddleback Church

A LOT HAS TO BE MADE of last Saturday's Q&A forum at Saddleback Church down in southern California—with McCain and Obama—I had a feeling that McCain would come away the winner. Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback, moderated the forum.

It really comes down to something fundamental: Can a candidate give straight-up answers to questions about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. America is tired of big speeches at big stadiums with teleprompters.

With that benchmark McCain scored, Obama did not.

McCain the former Naval aviator and prisoner-of-war was far more informed. When asked which leaders he would consult as president, he first mentioned General David Petraeus, the architect of the very successful American surge in Iraq. Contrast Obama who would seek out his grandmother and his wife Michelle for advice.With his answer McCain definitely signals he is ready to be commander-in-chief. McCain is thinking of America in time of war. We Christians must understand that the long-term terror war that America is engaged in must continually be in the thought life of our next president. If America fails in this, nothing else really matters.

Then regarding spiritual matters Pas. Warren asked, "At what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?" McCain answered: At the moment of conception. Obama put it this way:

Whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity is, you know, above my pay grade.

When Mrs. O and I are ghostwriting, we are very, very careful with metaphors. That was a spectacularly clumsy metaphor and it will haunt Obama.

There isn't a job on the planet above the pay grade of President of the United States. A president is not supposed to be a theologian or a scientist — but you cannot be unsure about the most defining moral issue in America today. Obama was very unsure of this and botched his answer, but it helps me better understand his moral world-view. If I had to guess I don't believe that Obama will make any new inroads with evangelicals. Anyone could see by all the answers given Saturday night that McCain beat Obama easily on substance, but Obama even lost on style, his "strong suit," probably because no teleprompters were allowed. Maybe Obama will increase his style quotient later during the debates, but he's certainly gotta get up to speed on the issues: At Saddleback he repeated the false claim that abortions haven't declined under President Bush; —wait,

G.W. Bush? the culture-of-life President Bush? abortions haven't declined? I wondered why Rick Warren didn't call him on this. Perhaps he doesn't know either. *Sigh*

Obama's outreach to evangelical voters was obviously sincere, but he doesn't actually agree with us on much.

Of course, the one way that McCain can blow his Saturday performance is if he picks a pro-abortion VP candidate.

I think the lowest point at Saddleback was Obama's insulting Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. There's really nothing bold about attacking Clarence Thomas, the Left has virtually made a hobby out of it for the last 20 years since his hard-won nomination. Obama said that when he was nominated, the black Supreme Court nominee for the United States Supreme Court didn't have enough experience, and wasn't smart enough to serve on the Court. The irony was incredible...

After all was said and done one of these two candidates must have left Saddleback Church, saddle-sore.

College students --Concealed Carry on Campus

THREE WEEKS AGO, after I returned home from Jubilee, I turned on C-Span (Mrs. O finds C-Span insufferably boring) and found the most amazing program on: the first convention of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus --aka, SCCC.

It was held in Washington, DC. I didn't know, but the SCCC was formed on April 17, 2007, the next day following the Virginia Tech shooting. Remember?--32 students were killed by classmate Cho Seung. Virginia and I attended our church's prayer vigil a week after the shooting.

The first speaker I heard on C-span was John Lott; this guy always has a reputation for doing his homework. He is author of The Bias Against Guns, and, More Guns, Less Crime. And, surprisingly, SCCC invited Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

John Lott reasoned for about an hour that creating a safe zone (like Virginia Tech’s so-called “gun-free zone”) ends up doing nothing more than creating safe zones for criminals. In fact, that was Virginia Tech's experience, they created a safe-zone for Cho Seung to kill law-abiding citizens.

Afterwards, Paul Helmke resorted to condescension.

Helmke argued that college students often engage in risky behavior that should preclude them from having guns: “When I look back on my college days, most of my fraternity brothers didn’t have criminal records—not yet. Most of them, even those who were in ROTC and hunters—the behaviors they exhibited weren’t the kind of behaviors that gave me confidence that packing guns in their lockers or in their rooms would make me safer.”

Naturally, not everyone should pack heat. Considering Helmke’s total lack of knowledge about firearms, Natural Exponent believes citizens like him should not be carrying guns until they are better educated.

Here's the delio: I'm thinking about my nephew Mikey Trejo who is a college freshman. Mikey is a straight arrow. I'm also thinking of my little niece Amber Tango, a student, and former Element Leader in Air Force J-ROTC, so...

Why would Helmke paint all students with such a broad brush? Only responsible students would take steps necessary to obtain a concealed carry license. Criminals don't have to bother.

And as for Helmke’s obvious insult to ROTC and hunters, well, that is the pathology of the Left. I must commend Students for Concealed Carry on Campus for being willing to listen to the other side of the debate.

I've seen the other side in action: History teaches that Leftist student organizations are not so open-minded.

God visits man

There are different ways God visits man. The most common way God visits man is through people!

Inside the smaller ecosystem of Jubilee Vietnam Church, our young people regard the example of their elders.

In addition, some of our young people are recipients of great dreams and even fantastic unexplained visions. Does God visit man in these? Yes.

Here in the JVC sanctuary Virginia gives time to inquiries from Caleb, Andrew and Tuan (behind Andrew). This too is where God is found, in illumination. Remember, one's spiritual ecosystem is a reliable place to encounter God.

There are various and sundry ways God visits man, the pity is that we do not recognize God in people but instead prefer God in fantastic and sparkling packages. In seeing God as He isn't, we err.

Academic farewell

Silicon Valley's Jubilee Vietnam Church, although small, is nevertheless teeming with life and gusto.

Recently, following the JVC church service the Jubilee Deaconess Virginia Obregon gives an academic farewell to three of our Vietnam youth: Kelly, Kristie & Lilie are headed to ORU to study in the universtiy's Nursing Program.

Virginia and I will sorely miss them, just as we missed Tim and Joshua Bui who were away at school last year in Redding, CA. As mentioned in a Jubilee blog post, the idea of maintaining your ecosystem's health is found in its happy content members...

Do you want to rejuvenate your ecosystem? Cultivate your Youth!

AT-16 >>away!

Jubilee Christian Center is a beehive of energetic activity: In early July, we shipped out 2 missionaries to the mission frontier.

(JCC is also an incubator of Great Commission Christians!)

I drove Jubilee Receptionist Lisa Rich and Jubilee Deaconess Virginia Obregon to SFO, where, at 1300 hours aboard Korean Air, they deployed for the Philippines on AT-16.

Virginia and Lisa were invited to preach at a Youth Crusade to be held at the end of this week in Baguio City, north of Manila.

(Coincidentally, Virginia and I had just completed a terrific time with many youth on K-Team in Vietnam--where we ministered to animated Vietnamese Youth Leaders in Ho Chi Minh City; see after-action report)

We are all members one of another, but it seems that the community of Christian youth is high on God's list of important people. Although youth do not possess wealth, rank or influence --legions of young people possess one important thing --God's heart.

Subjective well-being

We all have many perspectives on life. Well-being, i.e. how a Jubelite (JCC church member) evaluates life, is mostly in the head.

Things like life-satisfaction, marital-satisfaction, even missionary-satisfaction are related to pleasant experiences, or unpleasant experiences.

Mrs. Obregon and I have found that a cardinal characteristic of subjective well-being is related to the friends we fellowship with in our ecosystem.

It's true. Take the closely related class of humans above: all 3 are Great Commission Christians, and all 3 have followed Christ to the mission frontier.

My hypothesis is that our subjective well-being is generally very good because our ecosystem is teeming with life and with like-minded Christians; caramba!

JCC Ecosystem | What is it?

JCC Ecosystem .... JVC Ecosystem .... some have wondered, "What exactly does this mean?"

The meaning is simple really. All you have to do is carefully observe the goings-on at church. If you do, it is readily apparent that: Jubilee Christian Center (JCC) is a biodiverse ecosystem.

In fact, Jubilee Christian Center supports 3 unique human communities, each with its own ecosystem. Throughout our Silicon Valley campus 3 unique churches find life:

_ Jubilee Christian Center, served by Senior Pastor Dick Bernal
_ Jubilee Spanish Church, served by Pastor Osbaldo Perez
_ Jubilee Vietnam Church, served by Pastor N. David Bui

Is your spiritual life stagnant? Do you want personal direction in life? Do you want to hear God's voice? Muster to church!

You see, each ecclesia, whether JCC, JSC, or JVC, is a human community and this is where we all belong. Each ecclesia is an ecosystem and through its members they transmit life!

Although each ecosystem is imperfect they are nevertheless useful to God. God uses each for equipping, teaching, imparting, and for blessing--through participation. Indeed, Mrs. Obregon and I learn much about God not only from religious worship each Sunday morning, but also from supplemental instruction: human interaction.

You say you desire an encounter with God? Interact with members of your Ecosystem. You will encounter God there.

It's interesting, but at times God speaks to me and Virginia through people we may not want to listen to. But in this, God is entirely blameless. Our ecosystem is imperfect on account of its members. Nevertheless, will we choose to receive God's prophetic utterances? We must.

Let's muster to church! Each ecosystem is teeming with life, and it's there that you will find God.

Kelvin Deemer

Here, at the party following Jubilee Bible College graduation, India missionary Kelvin Deemer found me in the press of so many people. We discussed God's mission frontier, including the current status of the Burmese people following the deadly Nargis Cyclone.

Some from Jubilee Christian Center mistakenly believe that Kelvin is a member of the famed pop band The Beach Boys. But he's not.

God likes you

Jubilee Bible College: Virginia hands Hanh Nguyen a graduation present. Hanh's mother and Professor Bui look on. Virginia once saw something special in Hanh that she liked, and is why she invited Hanh to enlist on K-Team--even before she had graduated.

(I once said from the pulpit that if Virginia likes you, there's a good chance God likes you.)

J.B.C. Commencement speaker

When asked who they wanted as their Commencement Speaker, the 2008 Graduating Class of Jubilee Bible College asked to hear Pastor Dick Bernal for inspiration.

During his charge to the graduating students--I couldn't believe my ears!--Pastor intimated the exact idea that I wrote in Andrew Le's Hallmark graduation card: "...press-in; don't give up..."

Burma's cyclone | Some observations

The deadly cyclone, Nargis, swept through Burma last weekend and tens of thousands are missing; tens of thousands (probably many more) have died. A million people are homeless.

The worst hit area is the large Irrawaddy Delta (below, in dark blue). This is Burma's rice breadbasket. Burma's old capital, Rangoon, is also flooded.

I've noticed General Than Shwe, Burma's junta leader, and the rest of the military leadership have by and large stayed out of public view. (They're probably holed-up in the new capital, Naypyidaw, which may not have been affected by the cyclone.)

Mrs. Obregon and I have traveled extensively along the Burma/Thai frontier and served in the refugee camps that dot the frontier. *Sigh* I wish President Bush would dispatch us --we know our way around that area and have developed our own contacts with the KNLA and KNU (Karen National Liberation Army, and its political arm, Karen National Union.)This is the fundamental problem: Burma is a police state, their army and police are strictly designed for security functions. That's it. Disaster relief is left to the communities themselves, and, to brave NGO's (non-governmental organizations, like for instance, Regions Beyond-USA, World Aid, or Jubilee Christian Center, and the like).

The missionary inside us fears malaria, dengue fever, and hepatitis outbreaks that could be spread by mosquitoes, dirty water, and very, very poor sanitation conditions.

Burma's military junta needs to take off their military caps, humble themselves, accept Western expertise and begin to think like stewards of their country to make plans to help their masses of displaced people, and control outbreaks of disease.

Burma's cyclone path

Mrs. Obregon and I learned that Saturday's cyclone killed more than 22,000 Burmese. Indeed, the U.S.A., a Christian nation, is mobilizing to help a Buddhist nation. Our U.S. Navy, with its global omni-presence, is already in the Gulf of Thailand.

Geo & Virginia have many Christian friends in Burma's sprawling refugee camps along the Burma/Thai frontier.

Outside assistance is good but it will expose the full extent of the disaster and the inadequacy of the Burmese government's response.

Beautiful Moon; Beautiful Angel

Our two favourite daughters in Ho Chi Minh City, Beautiful Moon and Beautiful Angel (and we have a daughter in Nha Trang, too). Beautiful Moon just graduated with a degree in Landscape Design; Beautiful Angel is a micro business loan officer. Mrs. O and I are seated downstairs in a spare room of the A.G. church during a break in the Leadership Conference.Beautiful Moon was our assigned pointman for K-TEAM while in Ho Chi Minh City. Beautiful Angel, on the other hand, was assigned as pointman last year, on J-TEAM. When deployed overseas, God always assigns us the best help possible.

Feng Shui ("fung shway") | Jubilee Vietnam

For thousands of years the Chinese have studied the dynamic relationship between humans and the surrounding environment. It is called "Feng Shui" and it helps in making adjustments to our surroundings in order to create harmony........indeed this Jubilee hand-out photo shows, Caleb, Geo, and David Bui. We three have studied the dynamic relationship between humans and the surrounding environment: groups of humans fellowshipping downstairs in the Jubilee galley, --this is the art of perfect placement.

We are the ones we've been waiting for!