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The Spirit Observer

The Spirit Observer

A Publication of ChristiansNeedtoKnow.com

  • Welcome to Christians Need to Know
  • Contact Me
  • About Pastor Jim
  • Home
  • A Good Word
    • With Liberty, Justice and Care for All
  • Be Amused
    • $1.9 Trillion Relief in Miles
    • Aging Church
    • A Spoonful of Sugar …
    • Bargain Basements for Guns
    • Borderline Personalities
    • Channels in Hell
    • CT Scan
    • DOGE Cuts Ballooning Government
    • Empty Shelves
    • Exotic Masks
    • Fixed Stamp Here: Mail-In Voting
    • Free Dental
    • Golden Dome
    • “Grandpa, What’s an election?”
    • Journey into Joy
    • Heartbreak Hotel
    • High Standards
    • “Impervise!”
    • Lost Cat, Goes by “Joy”
    • Kennedy Center Reopens as DOGE Hall!
    • Love Boat
    • Make America Comfy Again
    • Mask Etiquette
    • National Treasure
    • One Flew Over the Voter’s Nest
    • Old and Cranky Gift
    • Oxygen
    • Pastor Works Out
    • Political Pigs in the Parlor
    • Presidential Lucky Charm
    • Rapper in Chief
    • Release The Files
    • Relief
    • Sermon Preparation
    • Slow Dancing
    • Slow, Old iPhone Users
    • Solitary BINGO
    • St. Patrick Meets Pied Piper
    • Tesla Brain Charger
    • The Bully
    • The Caregiver
    • The Cat Problem
    • “The Holy Catholic Court”
    • The Firefighter
    • The “Imagination Proclamation”
    • The Liver & Onions Test
    • The Malaise of PTO Days
    • The Royal Pain
    • Transitions
    • Unfriend … Refriend
    • Vaping Atrophy
    • Windfall
  • Messages
    • A Little Grace for a Hard Place
    • Discover the Place of Your Resurrection
    • From Darkness into Light
    • God’s Continuity Plan – Ephesians Session 2
    • Great Preaching (Part II): Max Your Understanding in Preaching!
    • Great Preaching: (Final Cut) Run!
    • Heaven’s Gifts
    • In Touch with Your Creator
    • Jesus & Speeding Tickets
    • Jim’s Maxim
    • Peace in a Pandemic
    • Prayer for Uncertain Times
    • Thanksgiving – The True Holy Grail!
  • Someone Said the Prophet Wept
    • AI Brings Its Pet Human to Class
    • A Tale of AI “Friendly Class & Happy Closings”
    • Baptist vs. Methodist: My Spiritual Journey & Reflections on Faith and Community
    • Nativity of the Rustway
    • The Judas Principle
  • Spiritual Lessons Learned
    • Anger: The Wind that Blows out the Lamp of the Mind
    • a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance
    • Behind Bars of Resentment
    • Breakthrough
    • “Come and See!” Your Fabulous New Year
    • Common Ground
    • Costco Lady in the Mask
    • Covid Smart
    • Diagnosis of Terminal Bias
    • “Double Indemnity:” How to Visit a Church Like an Insurance Adjuster
    • Life Navigation
    • Make Lasting Friends in Church
    • Prayer Beads: An Essential Utensil in the Kitchen of Prayer
    • “Prayer: Dare to be Honest with God!”
  • The Church Mechanic
    • “Amen!” or “Oh, Me!”?
    • Christian Education in the Post Pandemic Church
    • Church in Place: A response to the coronavirus
    • Church of One Stringed Worship
    • For Flock’s Sake, Shorten Sermons!
    • How to Read the Bible in Church
    • “Overstuffed Sunday”: Situational Awareness
    • “Stick the Landing”: Exiting a Ministry with Grace
    • The Agony of Preaching
    • The Preacher’s Crawl
    • Those Who Sat In Darkness … Enjoyed the View!
    • “You Visited Me” – Home Communion Ministry
  • The Prophet's Grotto
    • Abuelo’s Final Sacrifice
    • A Day to Vote
    • Amendment XXVIII: The Establishment of the Unity Alliance Branch
    • Apartheid America: A Time to Plant
    • A Path Forward for a Partisan Nation: Walk Together
    • Are We Better Off … Living In Our Cars?
    • Baptist Preachers and Wishful Thinking
    • Behold! The Tariff!
    • Bitter Honey of Bigotry
    • Bond Wars: Markets, Mayhem & Mutiny – “Win or Watch Your Economy Crumble”
    • Boston ICE Tea Party
    • Brother Love’s Traveling DOGE Waste Cleaner Show
    • Bulldozers for Christ
    • “Can You Tell Me How to Get to Empathy Street?”
    • Christ of the Somalis
    • Coins of Truth: The Need for Good Faith Truth-Telling
    • Danger: Libraries Cause Literacy
    • Danger: Town Halls Ahead!
    • DEI Compliant Panda
    • Deportation of the Innocence
    • DOGE Audit: Day One
    • DOGE Land “Pay to Pray, Baby!”
    • DOGE Miners Find Blood Diamonds
    • DOGE REBRANDS TOWER OF BABEL
    • DOGE: The Agent Orange of the Digital Generation
    • Dream On
    • Drink DOGE Café
    • EFFICIENCY WITHOUT HUMANITY
    • Empathy is a Sin!
    • Emperor Worship
    • False Gospel of the “Tin Man”
    • Fascism Rising
    • Federal Workers’ Hiding Place
    • Five Bullet Points … of a Last Week
    • For-Profit Prisons
    • From ICE’s Shadow to Mary’s Song: Aretha Franklin’s Cry for Freedom and Hope
    • From Lock Up to Look Up
    • Gold Standard Traded for Fool’s Gold
    • Gone to Meddlin’
    • Grandpa’s Final Investment
    • How to Get to Empathy Street: The Good Samaritan’s Timeless Guide to Compassion
    • If I Had a Hammer
    • I’m a Believer
    • In Stillness Between Sirens …
    • It’s Carnival Time
    • “I Want to Break Free … Of the Lies that Bind”
    • Just War Theory: When U.S. Interventions Become Piracy in the Caribbean and Beyond
    • Liberty & Justice for All: A Nation in the Rearview Mirror of War, Poverty & Political Strife
    • Lift Every Voice and Sing: “No Ape King!”
    • Lions Not Lambs: From Pray to Prey
    • MAGAburger: Real Whoppers Told Here!
    • MAGA Lab Monkeys “Put Girls in Kitchen Again”
    • MAGA’s False God & Servants of the Most High DOGE
    • MAGA’s Monarch Invades Los Angeles
    • Manifest Indigestion: The False Flag of Faith
    • Mexico: Unlikely Hero
    • Middle Class Now 3rd Class
    • Missing: Michigan Auto Plant – Goes by the Name of “GM.” Last Seen in Detroit
    • MISSOURI SEEKS TO ADD PREGNANT WOMEN FAIR GAME
    • “Move Fast … and Break Things:” The Game Played in the Devil’s Alley
    • Neobigotry: A Genteel Racism
    • No Eggageration
    • No Prisoner Beyond God’s Love
    • Not Who But What is Running U.S.?
    • One Tax Free Notion under God
    • Only You Can Prevent Fascist Liars!
    • People of the Mirage
    • Physician, Heal Thyself
    • Plan B?: Security Equity for Schools
    • Politics of Hate Awakens Democracy
    • Red Velvet Rope Economics
    • Religious Freedom … from Government
    • RESPECT: In a Land of Daddy Warbucks, Be a Rosa Parks
    • Rocket Stove Economics
    • RV Nation: Border Crisis Solution
    • Separate Church and Hate
    • Separation of Church and Hate
    • Separation of Church and State of Mind
    • Shhh! He Doesn’t Know He is Alone!
    • Student Loans
    • Sultan of America
    • Sunday School Party Animals
    • Tariffs: Nothing to Crow About
    • TARIFFying! Frankentax Rises from the Grave of Emptied Wallets
    • Teaching for Testing
    • The Age of Smart Gun Laws
    • The American Ownership Amendment
    • The Ballad of Sgt. Buck and Banjo!
    • The Big Beautiful Orange Bill
    • America’s Child: The Future of Hope
    • The Constitution Deported
    • The Crosswalk
    • The Day the Easter Bunny Came to Church
    • The Day the President Told the Truth
    • The Deal of Misfortune
    • The Fog of War … Between the Ears
    • The Freedom of My Religion
    • The Golden Cage
    • The Great Sacrifice: Rabbi, Minister, Politician, and the Insurrection Joke
    • THE GREAT WALL
    • The House of Ishmael: Jewel of Gaza
    • The New Driver
    • The Pastor and the Floozy
    • The Pentagon Gets “One Tin Soldier”
    • The Perfect Cause for the Rich
    • The Press Conference: “No Truth for You!”
    • The Pretti Good Immigration Decency Act
    • The Quantum Balance of Separation of Church and State
    • The Revenge of the DOGE
    • The Secret Gift of Immigration
    • The Sermon on The DOGE
    • The SHOT Line: A Subsurface Canal Bypassing Hormuz
    • The Silence of the Lambs: How America became Complicit in Deporting its Future
    • The Unity Alliance
    • The U.S. Takes a Haircut
    • TIME PERSON OF THE YEAR 2025: The Unknown Attorney
    • Today’s Freedom Riders Travel the Digital Highways to the Tri-Cities of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    • Ultramodern Church: Space for Worship
    • United States Through the Looking Glass
    • Voice of America Gagged
    • “Walk Together Economics”
    • “Wait Till Your Holy Father Gets Home!”
    • WWE’s Master of Education Disaster
    • Yo-Yo Tariffs
  • Views of America – Podcast
    • Baptist Preachers and Wishful Thinking
    • Gold Standard of Federal Workers Traded for Fools Gold in Mass Layoffs
    • “Onward Christian Soldiers:” How the Prosperity Gospel Leads to Christian Nationalism
    • Pastor Jim's "What's Next?" from ChristiansNeedtoKnow.com
    • The Secret Gift of Immigration
    • Year 2225: The Legacy
  • The Curator’s List & Bookstore
    • Premiere of Slinkk and Stinkk
The Spirit Observer
The Spirit Observer
A Publication of ChristiansNeedtoKnow.com
  • Messages

    The New Driver

    ByJames Butler April 30, 2019April 30, 2019

    A televangelist and a homeless person both died and stood before the angel Gabriel. Behind Gabriel was parked a golden Rolls Royce. The preacher jumped behind the wheel and declared, “I claim this as mine!” There was silence in heaven. Then Gabriel decreed, “Yes. It is so!” And commanded the beggar to the back seat….

    Read More The New DriverContinue

  • Messages

    The Preacher’s Crawl

    ByJames Butler April 28, 2019May 1, 2019

    When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. – St. Paul Preach: Crawl, Walk, Run! is not about how to preach, which is often a personal subject wrapped up in ego. Rather…

    Read More The Preacher’s CrawlContinue

  • Messages

    The Agony of Preaching

    ByJames Butler March 11, 2019June 14, 2019

    Some helps for preachers and those who hear them “28  We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.” – Colossians 1:28-29 (NASB)  …

    Read More The Agony of PreachingContinue

  • Messages

    “Walk Together Economics”

    ByJames Butler January 27, 2019July 31, 2021

    Step One: Design a replacement for the failed 401(k) Plan.  Professor Daniel Hemel, University of Chicago Law School, presents a viable option – Professor Hemel’s retirement plan, as published by ThinkAdvisor, borrows the same model used by members of congress and other Federal employees: “A public option in the form of the Thrift Savings Plan, currently…

    Read More “Walk Together Economics”Continue

  • Messages

    Prayer Beads: An Essential Utensil in the Kitchen of Prayer

    ByJames Butler January 13, 2019January 16, 2019

    The above prayer beads area available at Unspoken Elements. Their guide for using the prayer beads is found here – https://www.unspokenelements.com/pages/how-to-use-anglican-prayer-beads

    Read More Prayer Beads: An Essential Utensil in the Kitchen of PrayerContinue

  • Messages

    “Prayer: Dare to be Honest with God!”

    ByJames Butler January 7, 2019January 16, 2019

    A ninety-something year old Mr. Sachs turned to me after a memorial service and said, “There are three stages in life … Youth … Middle Age and ‘You are really looking good!” Turn to someone and say, “You are really looking good!” One Friday in seminary, we attended what we thought was one of the…

    Read More “Prayer: Dare to be Honest with God!”Continue

  • Messages

    “Come and See!” Your Fabulous New Year

    ByJames Butler December 30, 2018January 16, 2019

    A bed by the window! There were once two men seriously ill in the same small room of a great hospital.  Just large enough for the pair of them, with two beds, two bedside dressers, and a door opening on the hall, and one window looked out into the world! One of the men as part of treatment…

    Read More “Come and See!” Your Fabulous New YearContinue

  • Messages

    a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance

    ByJames Butler December 22, 2018June 10, 2019

    Ecclesiastes 3:4 This was me, looking very Baptist,  as the new pastor of Laveen Baptist Church, 1984. Back in my office, which was separated from Ruth Ann’s, the Church Secretary, by the mimeograph room. A mimeograph was a noisy device that demanded the user wear rubber gloves as it flung chemicals and ink all over…

    Read More a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to danceContinue

  • Messages

    From Darkness into Light

    ByJames Butler December 16, 2018January 16, 2019

    Postscript I wanted to blog about living through the “dark night of the soul” as it has been my own experience this year. Last January I underwent a successful da Vinci robotic surgery for a stage 2 cancer on my right kidney. Coming up on the one year surgical anniversary, I’m able to reflect on…

    Read More From Darkness into LightContinue

  • Messages

    Common Ground

    ByJames Butler December 9, 2018January 16, 2019

    The first Sunday of New Year I couldn’t waitFor my favorite pew … where I’m never late.Bulletin, Bible held tight in right hand,I marched down the aisle to my holy stand. When to my shock, he sat there in my place,That Mr. Oink, by himself, such a disgrace!Oh, that Oink is so clever, a man of two…

    Read More Common GroundContinue

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© 2026 The Spirit Observer - WordPress Theme by Kadence WP

  • Welcome to Christians Need to Know
  • Contact Me
  • About Pastor Jim
  • Home
  • A Good Word
    • With Liberty, Justice and Care for All
  • Be Amused
    • $1.9 Trillion Relief in Miles
    • Aging Church
    • A Spoonful of Sugar …
    • Bargain Basements for Guns
    • Borderline Personalities
    • Channels in Hell
    • CT Scan
    • DOGE Cuts Ballooning Government
    • Empty Shelves
    • Exotic Masks
    • Fixed Stamp Here: Mail-In Voting
    • Free Dental
    • Golden Dome
    • “Grandpa, What’s an election?”
    • Journey into Joy
    • Heartbreak Hotel
    • High Standards
    • “Impervise!”
    • Lost Cat, Goes by “Joy”
    • Kennedy Center Reopens as DOGE Hall!
    • Love Boat
    • Make America Comfy Again
    • Mask Etiquette
    • National Treasure
    • One Flew Over the Voter’s Nest
    • Old and Cranky Gift
    • Oxygen
    • Pastor Works Out
    • Political Pigs in the Parlor
    • Presidential Lucky Charm
    • Rapper in Chief
    • Release The Files
    • Relief
    • Sermon Preparation
    • Slow Dancing
    • Slow, Old iPhone Users
    • Solitary BINGO
    • St. Patrick Meets Pied Piper
    • Tesla Brain Charger
    • The Bully
    • The Caregiver
    • The Cat Problem
    • “The Holy Catholic Court”
    • The Firefighter
    • The “Imagination Proclamation”
    • The Liver & Onions Test
    • The Malaise of PTO Days
    • The Royal Pain
    • Transitions
    • Unfriend … Refriend
    • Vaping Atrophy
    • Windfall
  • Messages
    • A Little Grace for a Hard Place
    • Discover the Place of Your Resurrection
    • From Darkness into Light
    • God’s Continuity Plan – Ephesians Session 2
    • Great Preaching (Part II): Max Your Understanding in Preaching!
    • Great Preaching: (Final Cut) Run!
    • Heaven’s Gifts
    • In Touch with Your Creator
    • Jesus & Speeding Tickets
    • Jim’s Maxim
    • Peace in a Pandemic
    • Prayer for Uncertain Times
    • Thanksgiving – The True Holy Grail!
  • Someone Said the Prophet Wept
    • AI Brings Its Pet Human to Class
    • A Tale of AI “Friendly Class & Happy Closings”
    • Baptist vs. Methodist: My Spiritual Journey & Reflections on Faith and Community
    • Nativity of the Rustway
    • The Judas Principle
  • Spiritual Lessons Learned
    • Anger: The Wind that Blows out the Lamp of the Mind
    • a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance
    • Behind Bars of Resentment
    • Breakthrough
    • “Come and See!” Your Fabulous New Year
    • Common Ground
    • Costco Lady in the Mask
    • Covid Smart
    • Diagnosis of Terminal Bias
    • “Double Indemnity:” How to Visit a Church Like an Insurance Adjuster
    • Life Navigation
    • Make Lasting Friends in Church
    • Prayer Beads: An Essential Utensil in the Kitchen of Prayer
    • “Prayer: Dare to be Honest with God!”
  • The Church Mechanic
    • “Amen!” or “Oh, Me!”?
    • Christian Education in the Post Pandemic Church
    • Church in Place: A response to the coronavirus
    • Church of One Stringed Worship
    • For Flock’s Sake, Shorten Sermons!
    • How to Read the Bible in Church
    • “Overstuffed Sunday”: Situational Awareness
    • “Stick the Landing”: Exiting a Ministry with Grace
    • The Agony of Preaching
    • The Preacher’s Crawl
    • Those Who Sat In Darkness … Enjoyed the View!
    • “You Visited Me” – Home Communion Ministry
  • The Prophet's Grotto
    • Abuelo’s Final Sacrifice
    • A Day to Vote
    • Amendment XXVIII: The Establishment of the Unity Alliance Branch
    • Apartheid America: A Time to Plant
    • A Path Forward for a Partisan Nation: Walk Together
    • Are We Better Off … Living In Our Cars?
    • Baptist Preachers and Wishful Thinking
    • Behold! The Tariff!
    • Bitter Honey of Bigotry
    • Bond Wars: Markets, Mayhem & Mutiny – “Win or Watch Your Economy Crumble”
    • Boston ICE Tea Party
    • Brother Love’s Traveling DOGE Waste Cleaner Show
    • Bulldozers for Christ
    • “Can You Tell Me How to Get to Empathy Street?”
    • Christ of the Somalis
    • Coins of Truth: The Need for Good Faith Truth-Telling
    • Danger: Libraries Cause Literacy
    • Danger: Town Halls Ahead!
    • DEI Compliant Panda
    • Deportation of the Innocence
    • DOGE Audit: Day One
    • DOGE Land “Pay to Pray, Baby!”
    • DOGE Miners Find Blood Diamonds
    • DOGE REBRANDS TOWER OF BABEL
    • DOGE: The Agent Orange of the Digital Generation
    • Dream On
    • Drink DOGE Café
    • EFFICIENCY WITHOUT HUMANITY
    • Empathy is a Sin!
    • Emperor Worship
    • False Gospel of the “Tin Man”
    • Fascism Rising
    • Federal Workers’ Hiding Place
    • Five Bullet Points … of a Last Week
    • For-Profit Prisons
    • From ICE’s Shadow to Mary’s Song: Aretha Franklin’s Cry for Freedom and Hope
    • From Lock Up to Look Up
    • Gold Standard Traded for Fool’s Gold
    • Gone to Meddlin’
    • Grandpa’s Final Investment
    • How to Get to Empathy Street: The Good Samaritan’s Timeless Guide to Compassion
    • If I Had a Hammer
    • I’m a Believer
    • In Stillness Between Sirens …
    • It’s Carnival Time
    • “I Want to Break Free … Of the Lies that Bind”
    • Just War Theory: When U.S. Interventions Become Piracy in the Caribbean and Beyond
    • Liberty & Justice for All: A Nation in the Rearview Mirror of War, Poverty & Political Strife
    • Lift Every Voice and Sing: “No Ape King!”
    • Lions Not Lambs: From Pray to Prey
    • MAGAburger: Real Whoppers Told Here!
    • MAGA Lab Monkeys “Put Girls in Kitchen Again”
    • MAGA’s False God & Servants of the Most High DOGE
    • MAGA’s Monarch Invades Los Angeles
    • Manifest Indigestion: The False Flag of Faith
    • Mexico: Unlikely Hero
    • Middle Class Now 3rd Class
    • Missing: Michigan Auto Plant – Goes by the Name of “GM.” Last Seen in Detroit
    • MISSOURI SEEKS TO ADD PREGNANT WOMEN FAIR GAME
    • “Move Fast … and Break Things:” The Game Played in the Devil’s Alley
    • Neobigotry: A Genteel Racism
    • No Eggageration
    • No Prisoner Beyond God’s Love
    • Not Who But What is Running U.S.?
    • One Tax Free Notion under God
    • Only You Can Prevent Fascist Liars!
    • People of the Mirage
    • Physician, Heal Thyself
    • Plan B?: Security Equity for Schools
    • Politics of Hate Awakens Democracy
    • Red Velvet Rope Economics
    • Religious Freedom … from Government
    • RESPECT: In a Land of Daddy Warbucks, Be a Rosa Parks
    • Rocket Stove Economics
    • RV Nation: Border Crisis Solution
    • Separate Church and Hate
    • Separation of Church and Hate
    • Separation of Church and State of Mind
    • Shhh! He Doesn’t Know He is Alone!
    • Student Loans
    • Sultan of America
    • Sunday School Party Animals
    • Tariffs: Nothing to Crow About
    • TARIFFying! Frankentax Rises from the Grave of Emptied Wallets
    • Teaching for Testing
    • The Age of Smart Gun Laws
    • The American Ownership Amendment
    • The Ballad of Sgt. Buck and Banjo!
    • The Big Beautiful Orange Bill
    • America’s Child: The Future of Hope
    • The Constitution Deported
    • The Crosswalk
    • The Day the Easter Bunny Came to Church
    • The Day the President Told the Truth
    • The Deal of Misfortune
    • The Fog of War … Between the Ears
    • The Freedom of My Religion
    • The Golden Cage
    • The Great Sacrifice: Rabbi, Minister, Politician, and the Insurrection Joke
    • THE GREAT WALL
    • The House of Ishmael: Jewel of Gaza
    • The New Driver
    • The Pastor and the Floozy
    • The Pentagon Gets “One Tin Soldier”
    • The Perfect Cause for the Rich
    • The Press Conference: “No Truth for You!”
    • The Pretti Good Immigration Decency Act
    • The Quantum Balance of Separation of Church and State
    • The Revenge of the DOGE
    • The Secret Gift of Immigration
    • The Sermon on The DOGE
    • The SHOT Line: A Subsurface Canal Bypassing Hormuz
    • The Silence of the Lambs: How America became Complicit in Deporting its Future
    • The Unity Alliance
    • The U.S. Takes a Haircut
    • TIME PERSON OF THE YEAR 2025: The Unknown Attorney
    • Today’s Freedom Riders Travel the Digital Highways to the Tri-Cities of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    • Ultramodern Church: Space for Worship
    • United States Through the Looking Glass
    • Voice of America Gagged
    • “Walk Together Economics”
    • “Wait Till Your Holy Father Gets Home!”
    • WWE’s Master of Education Disaster
    • Yo-Yo Tariffs
  • Views of America – Podcast
    • Baptist Preachers and Wishful Thinking
    • Gold Standard of Federal Workers Traded for Fools Gold in Mass Layoffs
    • “Onward Christian Soldiers:” How the Prosperity Gospel Leads to Christian Nationalism
    • Pastor Jim's "What's Next?" from ChristiansNeedtoKnow.com
    • The Secret Gift of Immigration
    • Year 2225: The Legacy
  • The Curator’s List & Bookstore
    • Premiere of Slinkk and Stinkk