I am very happy to write today.  I saw something today that was a very special icing on the proverbial cake of my life. Tomorrow evening, Jews all around the world will begin the celebration of Pesach, or Passover as it is known in America.  I found out I was Jewish a little over three years ago, after years of being a Christian and a licensed minister.  This discovery in most homes would lead to a total existential meltdown in most households, but not here.  There's so much in the media and in society that highlights every and and difference between Judaism and Christianity. No doubt that there is a sorted and undeniable history that anyone who knows anything about the world must deal with, but much of those things were done in a previous or several previous generations ago.  Let me say again that anyone who used G_d as an excuse to kill is a murder of the worst sort, no matter what religious affiliation they mask it under, and those Christians who murdered Jews, said things against Jews, from Martin Luther to Jeremiah Wright--they sinned, plain and simple, and have brought a curse upon their congregations and those who follow them. 
Today was the opposite of those actions.  I watched the Pope attend Shabbos services at Park East Synagogue.   It was not only historic, but heartwarming and awesome, and I hope it fosters more and more cooperation between the two true faiths in the world--really, the one true faith

See, there is one God, as the Shema states, Shema Yisrael, Adonai Elohenyu, Adoni Ehad." Hear O Israel, the Lord G_d is one G_d, and he is our G_d.  This is the foundation of our faith, Jew, Christian, Muslim.  We all desire to serve the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob.   There is one way to serve him: follow his commands, or mitzvot as it is said in Hebrew.  Those are as simple as Yeshua(Jesus) said: Love the Lord G_d with all your Heart, Mind, Soul and Strength, and Love your Neighbor as yourself. 

This is the answer to all the questions.  How do we fight terrorism? How do we solve the global economic crisis? How do we help others?   See the text above.

In a day when radical Islam is the great threat to our world, global worship of G_d is the cure.  The secular world and those who want things to fall into chaos have a vested interest in separating the great religion.  Did you forget the S you say? No, not at all.

Jews and Christians worshipped in the same place for 300 years after Jesus' death--the Roman government separated us, not G_d or the dedicated believers. There is a synagogue in Jericho that was paid for by the apostle Peter's grandson.  My pastor has been there, I will see it myself this year in person.  Jesus never wanted to create a religion named after is Greek title, no, he wanted to be the Torah completed in the flesh, and his followers to do so.

Look at Acts Chapter 15 if you don't believe me:  James, the brother in law of Jesus and leader of the Jerusalem believers said of the new Gentiles coming in:  "The rest they will learn, for Moses is preached in the Synagogue every week."   This is what Jesus wanted, and his apostles practiced.   It was the pagan Constantine who separated us by the Edict of Milan in 323 AD, outlawing and changing the Sabbath day to Sunday--the day he worshipped his pagan god Apollo.  This was the deathblow for the original followers of Jesus---and the Catholic Church was born.

The rest, as they say, is history.

What is now however is the growing movement for Christians to get back to their Jewish Roots, for Jews to embrace their younger brothers and stand with them politically and spiritually against the perversion of Islam and the radical element's desire to wipe Israel off the map.

Like I said before, I found out I was a Jew three years ago.  I found that out because my church, and my pastor, preach the importance of the Jewish Roots of the faith.  This sparked my interest in my family's history anew.  I had knew that my Spanish family was offically 'Catholic', but that they never practiced Catholicism.  I began to see pictures and learn things from my grandmother.  Her grandfather wore the tallis, ate kosher, never worked on Saturday--she remembers candles being lit on Friday night.  

Long story short, my surname, Martinez, was a designation for the Conversios--Jews that were forced to convert to Catholicism in Spain during the Inquisition.  So it was offical...but it didn't change a thing.

I had already began eating Kosher, celebrating Shabbos, praying with the Tallit, giving Tsdekah.  Now it was a heritage, not just a faith.

Many Spanish families share my story...and many Christians are understanding our story.

Passover celebrates the formation of a people, the death of slavery, and the freedom given by a loving G_d who began a heritage, a people, a nation.   That nation, despite the devil's attempts to kill it, has survived.  Those who have touched the apple of his eye no longer exist.  

As I watched the coverage, I thought of the revolution beginning before our eyes--the uniting of the one true faith, the one of love, the one of goodness, the one of prosperity, and the one of power.

This is the greatest story, and it needs to be told to a world that is consumed by darkness so often.

He is one G_d, and He is our G_d.

Jimmy Carter is a former president, Peter Griffin is an obnoxious but funny character on the Fox Cartoon satire Family Guy, and the FLDS is a cult group that just got busted in San Angelo, Texas.

What could these three people/groups of people have in common?  Glad you asked!

As it has been well reported in the last few days, former president Carter is sitting down presumably having brunch right now with the leading terrorist in Hamas.  This disgusting scum of a man said last week that, "The Zionist and their supporters(namely the U.S.) will soon see the victory of the Islamic heroes(them, I guess).  Apparently, this is a comment worthy of the legitimacy of the highest political office(whether he's a former president or not makes no difference), in the world coming for a photo op!  Well, at least that's the idea that they have, which they've made very public and clear.  I guess the hair-filled ears of Jimmy boy never got that memo since he's going to find out something that none of us know: What Hamas wants.  Really? Does anyone not know this?  Apparently, the US State Department does, and so do most of the senate of either party, and so do the governments of France, Italy, the U.K., and Denmark(yes, Denmark, the most liberal post-modern state in the EU!).  Heck, even the UN, who doesn't seem to know anything at all, understands what Hamas wants! 

But no, not frmr. President Carter.  You see, despite the fact that it has been the foreign policy of this country that the current President of the United States decides on who we talk to and who we need not bother with, Jimmy Carter wants to live in an America where someone who's very life the American people now pay for can completely disregard this policy and talk to the leader of an organization who will not be reasoned with in their intense desire to kill everyone who does not believe it's okay to murder in the name of G_d.  He wants to willingly talk to our official enemies--he wants his own country within our country.  A former US commander did the same thing with our enemies during the Revolutionary War--his name was Capitian Benidict Arnold, and he was convicted of treason, which is exactly what would happen to Jimmy Carter if we really enforced our laws. 

This leads me to Peter Griffin.  I probably have seen more reruns of Family Guy than any man alive.  I saw another one last night early in the morning.  It happened to be the one where Peter finds out that his house was not officially part of the tax rolls of Quahog.  Peter's response? To succeed from America and found his own country, Petoria.  It's a pretty funny episode.  Stewie ends up in a diaper made of newspaper, Lois ends up teaching homeschool, and the whole deal ends when the army commences operation Bomb the Crap out of your House(sorry, the guy who makes up the names was on vacation), and Peter finally decides to become part of his own country again--and for his trouble, he ends up with nothing he didn't have before--the great fortune of being part of the USA and being able to raise a family how he sees fit.  Again, an individual who wants a country of their own within this country.

What's not so funny is the FLDS cult that has been busted in San Angelo, Texas.  This documented mess has been playing out before our eyes in the last week or so. over 400 children(all girls by the way, no boys--hmmm....)  all married or promised to be married to about 6 55 year old men with Rip Van Winkle beards and beer bellies.  Fox News gave the 'mothers' of this group the opportunity to tell their own story, which they took advantage of and used to make everyone listening feel guilty about the 'abuse of these people taking away our children.'   You feel for these poor women, knowing they're completely slaves to the will of their twisted husbands, but their request to get the children back and to have any chance of seeing them again is utterly ridiculous.  Why?
Simple, it is illegal in this country to marry more than one person in this country in any state.  Bigamy laws have been around since the early 1900s, and when I hear people, like one lawyer on the Fox program Studio B with Shepard Smith say, "Why are we forcing our values on these people, they shouldn't have us push our ideas on them, " I want to scream.  No matter what your religious, political, or moral views are, you cannot violate the laws of this country and live here without penalty.  I have experienced this on something as minor as speeding: I didn't pay my tickets, and I ended up spending three days in jail.  It was horrible, humiliating, a bit excessive I thought, but absolutely right. I live in the US, and in this country, if you don't pay your legal duty with your pocketbook(even though I could not afford it) you pay with your butt--in prison.  I recognize that, I live in the US, and love that I do. These people want to live in a country inside this country where you can marry and have sex with a girl who does not have the physical or emotional or legal maturity to do so.  The problem is that country does not exist, regardless of how 'sweet' or 'helpless' one may be.

Jimmy Carter and the FLDS could learn something from Peter Griffin: you might get away with it for awhile, but you cannot live in your own make-believe USA and the real USA at the same time.

Peter and Jimmy have one more thing in common:  The only support they have is from the Quadaffis, Jong-Ils, Castros, and Bin Ladens of the world.  Maybe Peter should have had Jimmy over to his pool party with all the despots.  I'll have to write Seth McFarlane and see if he'll draw him in there somewhere. 

I don't know what happened to TownHall.com this last week, but I could not get on to blog, and at a time I could have wrote a book on the events of the weekend!  I think everyone who might read this knows about the comments of everyone's favorite candidate, Barack Obama, and how everyone is 'bitter' because they lost their job and 'cling' to guns, religion, etc, etc...so basically you know you're a redneck in a red state(or small town according to Mr. Hope) when you go to church, have a gun rack, and don't like illegal immigrants taking jobs from legal(and hence better qualified) workers.  I guess that's the conspiracy in those small Penn. towns right? All the rednecks are getting together and declaring in their town hall/kkk venues, "We're bitter about everything....so we aren't gonna vote for that Obama feller--he wants us to actually have hope--but he's black, so we sure aren't voting for him...Heil Hitler!" 

It's amazing to me how these 'conspiracy theories' are certainly 100 percent accurate when a black senator says them....or when some jackanape like Alicia Keys comes out and says that Gansta Rap is a conspiracy to make black people kill each other made up by white people(including her mom I guess) and the government.  Especially in minority communities, where some of the most ignorant people are.(They choose to be ignorant by the way, I grew up there and chose to be educated) Rev. Wright said AIDS was devised(which if it was devised in a lab, why doesn't another lab devise a cure so they can make a worldwide profit that would make the oil companies look like my small business in comparison) by government scientists to kill blacks and hispanics.  Again, it's the white people's fault(again, including his mother--which is overlooked by everyone, all these conspiracy blacks are half white, just like most of us--I'm a bit of everything, so yes, I can say that), and that's real right? 

Yet, when Geraldine Ferraro comes out and says that Sen. Obama's campaign is successful is because he's black, she's a card-carrying member of the KKK if you believe the people who support Obama.  I am so sick of the fact that when a black person bumps his gums and says something ridiculous, it's fact, but when a white person says something, it's obviously because they are a closet racist and they want to let the world know---really?

Bob Johnson of BET came out yesterday and said the same thing that Ms. Ferraro said, and it's amazing how I have not heard a peep from Jesse(Jackson) or Al(Sharpton)--or really anyone.  It's hard to argue with a self-made billionaire...black, white, or indifferent.

There was a time when we ignored people who brought up ridiculous ideas like those above, but in the you tube era, it seems everyone's theory is true.

So what are the facts? Depends who you ask right?That's just the problem--we're so afraid to be wrong in this day in age, so quick to blame someone else for our problems, that we as a society have replaced fact and truth with conspiracy, of course, only if you're Black, or a Woman, or some other 'oppressed' minority.

The facts are this: Bob Johnson decided not to believe the conspiracy, along with so many others who aren't in the ghetto anymore, who rose above, who  decided to be better, not bitter.

The bitter ones are those who choose to be so.  Whether they cling to guns, or communism, or the idea that it's all 'the man's' fault.

Here's what I cling to, with no bitterness: G_d, the idea of real hope and change that I can make, and the truth of the fact that I live in a free country where I can change my life and others in the scope of one day. 

I know what's it's like to be down, to struggle, I'm doing it right now: but what I have learned from years of playing football is that the struggle is the practice for glory to come when success is made--the problem is, many of the liberal people in this country believe that the game is rigged.

They can keep believing that--I will go after my victory, and eventually, I will win. 

I know others will win with me, and they will cling to their victory, not bitterness.

Hello....
Anyone listening...?
Really listening...?
I hope someone is, it seems in this day and age everyone has a blog, from the nation's best and brightest to, well, those who are not.
I know former students who have blogs with a million hits, so I figure it can't be that hard, but then again, I'm not a popular senior in high school that is going to post racy photos.
So who am I and what am I doing here? (No, I'm not copying Ross Perot's vice presidential candidate, I'm sane, unlike he was)
Glad you asked, let me give you those answers.
I am a man, a real man, honest to goodness, red-blooded, non-metrosexual, red-meat loving, football playing, big, strong, hairy man.
If you are already offended, get ready to be really ticked in a bit!
I am an educated man, thank G_d,(Yes, I believe in him wholeheartedly, and no, I am not a brainwashed religious flake-far from, and if you thought that to begin with--I'm your worst nightmare.) but unlike so many in my generation, I don't define 'education' as blindly accepting the rantings of ivory tower professors who have never been anything but...well, Ivory tower professors.  My late father(may his name be of blessed memory) told me at a young age, "never let anyone tell you what something says, read it for yourself," and I was crazy enough to believe it.  That doesn't mean I'm anti-intellectual, or that I don't listen to the learned, I just don't think they are always people with certain prefixes attached to their name.  In fact, I've learned more about life from people who's first name (to me) are Coach, Pastor, and Rabbi(yes, both Pastor and Rabbi are in that sentence--more on that to come).
Maybe it's better to say I am informed.  I read, alot, and about many things....but I pay particular attention to what I'd call 'culture shapers'--you know what I mean--politics, sports, entertainment, art, and religion.  As one who is informed, I have an opinion. I know you don't have to be informed to have one of those, you only have to have a...well...you know, but that's what a bit different about me, my opinions are informed, strongly, and powerfully.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  
So, what am I informed about, and what has this information caused me to conclude?
1) I am a proud Christian and Jew(like I said, more about that at a later date), a licensed minister for that matter, as well as a very patriotic American(no, really, not some nut job who thinks it's okay to bash our country and claim to be a patriot), Southerner, Hispanic, White, African-American(Yes, I am mixed in the most dangerous way, the way that actually sees life without color first--just wait, you'll see) athlete and intellectual.
2) I am proudly conservative politically (yes, go ahead and label me--labels are supposed to let everyone else know what the product is--but if you label, you better be right) and I'm young! I know, all young people are card-carrying, Barack Obama obsessed, tree-hugging, Toyota Prius driving, Al Gore reading, The Hills watching far-left Liberal loons!  Wait...except ME and so many others who the media does not pay attention to.  What's better is I was a liberal, an atheist and I know all the arguments, all the spin, and LOVE to take on anyone who wants to see if I know my stuff!  Not because of some ego-driven wish to show off, but because so much of what my generation believes is PATENTLY FALSE and stupid, and it's because their parents were afraid to tell them how they got to where there are, my wife's background proves this. (Yes, I'll share sometime, have your kleenex ready).
3) I am TIRED of people who share my views who let those on the other side say and do anything at their expense and get away with it.  I'm a fighter( and at 6'0 and 320 pounds, I can do some damage) and I'm tired of screaming at my TV when I watch Fox News and hear some of these fools talk!  Give me an opportunity to punch back and I'll land the knockout blow! You'll see as we go on.
4) Believe it or not, I hate religion, brainwashing, and much of what the "Western" church teaches and practices.  Not because I don't believe, but because I know that the truth is not what we are pushing, and not what G_d would want...there is a better way that one group of people has kept since ancient days, and that is relevant for now(More later...yes...I know...said it before)
5) What else...oh yea, capitalist, Yankees fan, Cowboys fan, Mavericks fan, Stars Fan... aspiring arena football player(yes for real), big Star Wars fan, Lord of the Rings fan, The Matrix Fan. The movies have a lot to say to us if we'd look at them.
6) I love the study of history, and we are repeating it as we speak, dangerously so.  We don't know it because most of us(especially my generation) have never really looked at it.
7) I am a revolutionary, and I am writing this with every intention of drawing more recruits to my side...whatever it takes. 

Such is the Mad Bear.  Why Mad Bear?  Because people have described me as such since high school.   I 'm big, ugly, hairy, loud, strong, love to eat, and will slash my enemies to death if I need to(figuratively speaking of course.)

Expect strong opinions on this blog, and if you like them, great! If not, then let me know too, but if you want the bull(or in this case the bear) you'll get the horns(paws--you get the picture)

I will say things you've never heard before, and I hope you'll look into them for yourselves.

I will always be relevant.

I really am a loving person, and I will share my life with all who ask...what you'll see is that my journey has been rough, still is, but I know where I'm going, where G_d has me, and what I want to do.

I am concerned about the direction of this country.  If we really think that becoming Europe is the answer to our problems, or think that radical Islam is not a problem because most Muslims are not radical, or that electing a man who has less experience in running anything then I do knitting or dancing ballet, or that the solution to life is dependent on the government...well...we will be in bad shape in the next ten years.

Look at our history....it is 1939 all over again,  but most of the people I know don't understand what that means.

It's not as bad as the media would make you believe....in Real Estate, in our economy, in our cities, or towns. 

I won't let hate-mongers and psychos have a free pass here...I will call them what they are, and slap them in the face if I can so their message will go where it belongs...in the garbage.  My wife is working with me on not reacting 'emotionally' against somethings...but like I said...I am a man, so it will happen, because no one else will.

Bears are cute, you have to admit--so am I at times, or so I'm told.  I don't mean to be offensive sometimes, but sometimes I'll hopefully make you smile.

We will talk about race here...why? Because I am one of the few people in the US who is confident enough to do so...helps that I'm mixed race--really mixed---Puerto Rican, White, Cherokee Indian, Jewish, and African-American.  Guess what? You likely are too, you just don't know it.   I grew up in the Ghetto, went to college in the Country, and live in the City....no one will accuse me of racism here and be able to substantiate it? Why? Because I don't care if my son or daughter marries a black, white, red or brown person...and most of you do...which makes you more racist than me.  Not to accuse, but you will get it when we talk.

I hope I can bring light to the darkness in this world, for this is what G_d has made me for....I will just do it Mad Bear style...

Ya'll come back now, ya here? More to come!!!