If I Lived in Georgia, I Would Support Ray McBerry for Governor

In 2010, Georgia voters will have a grand opportunity to elect a true, limited government conservative in Ray McBerry. Ray McBerry is a long-time activist who has worked to oppose the huge increases in the size of government, has worked to keep authority with the states, and has supported the right-to-life, lower taxes, and posting the Ten Commandments in public courthouses. Now, this concerned citizen is working to move into the Executive Office in the Georgia State House with a vengeance for cutting the size of government and loosening the federal controls on that state.
Check out this interview from Fox television in Atlanta and pass the word to your Georgia friends about Ray McBerry and his campaign of Georgia First.

Crimson Tide Shines on A-Day

Today, a record number of Crimson Tide fans crowded into Bryant-Denney Stadium to watch the annual Crimson-White squad game. Fans appear to be expressing obvious optimism that the 2009 version of the Crimson Tide may be the team that brings home Alabama's thirteenth national championship. This article is not the place for a recap of the game, but please consider with me several observations.
1) The record attendance tells us that the fans are still 100% behind Coach Nick Saban. Coach Saban has the Tide program on course. Let's hope the administration is as supportive of Coach Saban.
2) Greg McElroy is certainly our quarterback for this season.
3) Marquis Maze is a-maze-ing! This young man could be our next star. Maze reminds me of David Palmer.
4) Our defense will be stellar.
One cannot forget that the Florida Gators has all starters returning on defense and Tim Tebow back for another year. But the Crimson Tide is led by the finest Coach in college football today.
Here's hoping to see the Tide in contention for national honors at the end of the year.

Will the Real Rick Warren Stand Up?

In previous articles, Musings from Maytown has defended Rick Warren against unfounded allegations on various issues. While Dr. Warren's style may not be our style, we sought to follow the admonition of the Apostle Paul to rejoice whenever Christ is preached.
In last year's California election, Rick Warren urged a YES vote on Proposition Eight, the measure which had the effect of negating a California Supreme Court ruling which legalized same-sex marriage. This measure garnered a majority of the vote in California, sparking great protests among pro-homosexual groups. Warren mailed out a video to all 22,500 members of Saddleback Church.
However, on Monday, April 6, Rick Warren declared on Larry King Live that he was not a proponent of Proposition Eight and that he had apologized to gay leaders for any impression that he had supported Proposition Eight. Furthermore, he stated that he had not supported the Proposition and did not wish to be known as opposing same-sex marriage. More information is found Warren Waver on Prop 8 stuns leaders this Washington Times article. Lest we be accused of misrepresenting a Christian brother, please check out the transcript of Larry King's interview with Warren.Let's cut Dr. Warren some slack. Rick Warren is primarily an evangelist and an encourager of Christian growth. Had Warren chosen not to take on this fight, we would certainly understand. Each of us must choose our battles, as led by the Holy Spirit.
But Rick Warren was on record supporting Proposition Eight and now, when homosexual leaders attacked Warren, this Baptist leader now crawfishes on his support for an amendment to negate recognition of same-sex marriage. We will not question his motives and we wish to be careful in evaluating his heart-felt decisions.
But at best, Warren seems to be making an effort to appear non-offensive with a scriptural position. Herein lies the problem that many wise individuals have expressed with Warren's ministry. We must never refuse to stand biblically, even if the issue creates opposition and loses good-will.
Frankly, this writer has taken criticism in defending some of Rick Warren's past positions. We find, however, no defense of this tremendous compromise of truth.

Cherryholmes Invades Alabama

Readers of Musings from Maytown have long read about the most amazing group on the musical scene today-- Cherryholmes. This family band is led by the father Jere Cherryholmes, rough-hewn, Christian brother with a dry wit and powerful sense of humor. Jere plays the upright bass. The mother of the group is the young looking Sandy Cherryholmes, mandolin player, powerful vocalist, and explosive buck dancer.
The children include Cia Leigh Cherryholmes, normally the lead vocalist and banjo player. Cia Leigh has multiple awards for her vocals; Skip, guitarist,vocalist, and all-around nice guy; B.J., fiddler, mandolin player, and intense vocalist; and Molly Kate, the baby of the group who plays the left-handed fiddle and sings with passion.
In previous articles, I tagged Cherryholmes as bluegrass, since this is their base. But Cherryholmes plays a mix of jazz, country, 1940s swing, and high-energy bluegrass. Check out a Sumatra, from their most recent CD. You will see that pigeonholing Cherryholmes into a particular genre is difficult. But you will also see the intensity of their performance and the high level of talent.

This past Thursday evening, several friends of mine and I enjoyed Cherryholmes in concert at the Hoover Library Theater, in a South Jefferson County suburb of Birmingham. Cherryholmes played two nights in a row to sell-out crowds. The excitement of the crowd was sky-high, as Cherryholmes played with intensity and ability. Keep your eyes open for a concert near Maytown, Lord willing.

Tea Party Phenomenon

This past Wednesday, millions of Americans attended Tea Party rallies across these United States. The seed of these protest rallies was the Ron Paul movement from 2008, the most vocal effort against big government in years. While Ron Paul did not sell to the masses of conservatives, the message that government is bloated and out-of-control is resonating with average citizens in all fifty states.
The message is being powerfully heard here in Alabama. Across the state, fifteen rallies were held. Shana J. Kluck reports that security estimated the Birmingham rally attendance at 7,000 with another 1,000 across town at Trussville.
This writer had the privilege of speaking to the Montgomery Tea Party Rally, held on the steps of the statehouse. Capitol security estimated the crowd at 2,500, while the media reported considerably less. The enthusiasm was electric as the crowds gathered with anger, yet hope that somehow the leviathan of big government can be tackled and reduced to a size prescribed by the US Constitution.
Personally, this writer has been downcast in recent months--hence, you have not seen articles on this website. But Wednesday's Tea Party had the effect of a camp meeting revival. I looked at the audience, felt the spirit of the crowd, and heard the response of the cheering masses. Most enjoyably, I saw the nervousness of the politicians who clamored to stand on the stage.
These politicians are so out-of-touch, that they came to stand as supporters and heroes, but actually stood as targets of the anger of the crowd. The public may be figuring out that government is not your friend, but a servant. We may really be beginning to understand that big government is an enslaver, not an enabler.
Well, my first response to the Tea Party rally is to post on this website. Maybe my doldrums are over and my fighting spirit about to return.

Alabama Tea Party Speech Statehouse Montgomery, AL Aprill 15, 2009

Each year, patriotic Americans celebrate July 4, 1776 as the time when Americans declared our liberty from Great Britain. Mind you, our freedom was not secured until 1783, when the British nation finally acknowledged what we ourselves had declared seven years earlier.
Mind you, the spirit that won our liberty and independence was a spirit that did not wait for government to declare that we were free, but we were free when we recognized that our destiny was in our own hands. These men were influenced by the preachers of Colonial America and the philosophies of the enlightenment enough to recognize the danger of a government too big and too centralized.
Hence, on July 4, 1776, our founders staked their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor on a challenge to that overbearing government. These men could have been part of that system, but their convictions would not allow them to support a government which stretched beyond the bounds of right.
Hear what these men said as they declared independence: A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. In describing the tyranny of King George, these brave patriots challenged that the King has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
Our founders properly understood that a government that stretches beyond
the bounds of justice is an illegitimate government. And where did they get that idea? They read what Scripture said in Romans 13, on the purpose of that government which was ordained by God. When serving as agents of justice and defenders of liberty, our government is a minster of God. But that is the limit of government. No wonder, Patriots in the Revolution cried no King but King Jesus!
Thomas Jefferson warned that the federal government is our servant not our master. The Father of our Country, George Washington explained that Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Our founders wisely established a system whereby free individuals could prosper, not by the hand of government, but without undue interference from government. Jefferson wisely explained A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government
This nation was never intended to be a nation where people are cared for from cradle to grave, but we were to be a nation of free citizens, of individuals where initiative is rewarded and indolence is left to languish. In recent months, the halls of Congress has been filled with much legislation that will greatly enlarge the role of government in our personal lives and, in particular, our financial lives. We hear of bailouts for the housing industry, bailouts for the auto industry, bailouts for the states, bailouts for everyone but the honest, working taxpayer.
The fact is, we are bailing out blood-sucking bureaucrats, similar to those mentioned in the Declaration of Independence who are harassing our people and eating our substance. We are enlarging government to a size far beyond our ability to afford. And while the world should observe that socialism has failed across the globe, our silly leaders seem to be driving headlong toward a system that will cripple production and destroy the greatest economy in the history of humanity.
Is it time for a tea party? Yea, it’s past time for a tea party! These are the days that we have been warned about for a generation by the wise leaders who spoke of dangerous times. For years, Reagan and Goldwater spoke of creeping socialism, but in the past six months, we are observing leaping socialism.
How can we have our own tea party? First of all, we must be loyal to principle over party. Former US Senator from Wyoming Alan Simpson declared that we have two political parties in America– the stupid party and the evil party. When they join together in bi-partisanship, you can count on it being both stupid and evil. In the latter part of 2008, we saw a housing bailout that will cost each taxpaying family well over five years salary. This monstrosity was supported by leadership in both parties– now a greater portion of production is under the control of big government. Stupid, but also evil and certainly far beyond the authority given in the US Constitution.
How can you help protest an unruly, oversized government? Next, get your own hands out of the trough. When a legislator comes home asking for your vote because he brought home the bacon, you send that pig to the slaughterhouse. No government gives you anything. They are trying to make you into a political prostitute when they can take the money of taxpayers, and parcel out pennies on dollars and win your vote. No longer do we need their money, us local folks can spend it better ourselves, thank you.
The year was 1780 and British General Cornwallis thought he had the Southern states wrapped up and then would take the Colonies back under the rule of the Crown. But a group of backwoods boys from the hills of what is now Tennessee, came from over the mountain to a place called King’s Mountain and in sixty-five minutes won, perhaps, the greatest victory in the War for Independence, breaking the back of the Redcoats and winning our freedom. But when the loyalist militia retreated, a select number of these loyalist troops were hanged. Who were they? These hanged were the men who had originally sided with the patriots, but who changed sides when a British victory appeared imminent. It’s time we single out traitors who have taxed away your security, borrowed away your children’s future, and spent away your livelihood. We may not hang them with the rope, but in next year’s election, we can hang them with the vote.
The principles of our founders will work today. Let’s bind down big government with the shackles of the Constitution. May God save and bless our wonderful United States.

Speech at Alabama Tea Party

On April 15, 2009 millions of citizens across this land gathered in cities to announce opposition to big government and high taxes in events called Tea Party Rallies. This writer was privileged to appear as the keynote speaker for the Alabama Tea Party at the Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama.
Listed below will be the speech given to begin the Alabama Tea Party by John Killian. The first video begins with a rendition of America the Beautiful and then commences with the Killian speech. The speech concludes one minute into the second video. The speech is eight minutes long--seven minutes in the Tea Party #2 and the first minute in Tea Party #3.