Jeff Ragan > Recent Status Updates

"The biggest factor that affects rainfall in the Hill Country is the cycle of El Nino and La Nina...this cooling [of the Pacific Ocean] signals the arrival of a La Nina episode. The temperature change causes the Pacific Jet Stream to sift to the north, and major Pacific storm systems move across North America well to the north of Texas" (21).

"The Lord appeared o Isaac and said, 'Do not go down to Egypt; settle in the land that I shall show you. Reside in this land as an alien, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to your father Abraham." - Genesis 26:2-3

"No matter the reason, when a leader acts impulsively, the result is almost always bad. While Peter's dilemma in Gethsemane was unique, the principle of practicing self-restraint in the face of troubling circumstances when God seems slow to act applies in many leadership situations" (94).

"The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, 'I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created'...but Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord." - Genesis 6:5-8

"While some have accused Texit supporters of running from the fight of 'saving America,' Texans view it as preserving what was great about American principles and spirit as it faces extinction in the land it once called home. Shunned by those who were once countrymen to preserve those principles, Texas will leave the Union" (248).

"The people who think I was 'Superman' make a mockery of the Incarnation. How was I going to teach people how to seek God, how to relate to Him when they couldn't see Him, and what to expect from him, if I had never had to seek Him? If all I had to do to find God was to open my eyes and see Him or snap my fingers and find Him there, I would know nothing about faith" (97).

"His [father's] respect for my mother, as he wrote, took cognizance of the fact that her faith was responsible to a large degree for what she was. He liked what Mary was, then and ever afterward. And he admired and respected her faith, both in her and her children" (30).

"The best part [of Texit] is that we can regain as much control over [monetary policy] as we want at a pace that makes sense for us. There is, however, one important consideration. Minimizing disruption during the transition out of the Union may initially dictate one course of action, while long-term financial stability for the new nation-state will likely require something different" (225).

"It's so tempting to talk big - to overstate issues to appear stronger, wiser, and more devoted than you really are. Doing this creates unrealistic expectations, but more dangerously, it also inflates false confidence. You will begin to read your own press clippings, thinking more highly of yourself than you should and underscoring a phony sense of well-being" (85).

"In the immediate aftermath of an affirmative Texas independence vote, things continue as they have until they don't. The mail gets delivered. The trash gets picked up. Goods flow. Money is earned and spent. Literally, nothing changes until it does...Independence is not a single act embodied in a referendum. Independence is a state of being. The referendum is the first step in the process..." (212).

"God says, 'I will take care of difficult situations,' but usually you must wait a while. During the interim, however, He's right there with you helping you wait. My Father is saying through virtually all of life's experiences, 'You must learn that you are a human being and I am God. If you wait, then you will know that I am God'" (90).

"As it stands, Texas has no limits on campaign contributions and campaign spending. Nor does it have any limitations on campaign contributions from outside of Texas other than a prohibition on 'foreign' contributions" (195).

"The Tokugawa shoguns made it a principle to leave the emperor no authority whatever, to seclude him from the people, to surround him with women, and to weaken him with effeminacy and idleness. The imperial family yielded ins powers gracefully, and contented itself with dictating the fashions of aristocratic dress" (846).

"In determining the process that Texas should use to facilitate an exit from the Union, it is common to look back to the Declaration of Independence,,,or the Texas Declaration...in 1836...they offer no real, actionable assistance...they represent a process where every existing legal remedy had been exhausted & the only remedy remaining...was revolution. That is not the situation for Texas. At least not yet" (188-9).

"Leaders must lead from the future, making decisions from that perspective rather than striving for perpetual preservation of their current status or past successes. Leaders must understand the times in which they live and work They may have nostalgia for perceived better days or dream of easier locations - but not if they want to effectively lead in the here and now" (74).

"...impediments to Texit create the donor issue & leave the movement cash-starved. The fragmented, politically apathetic don't want to donate because they have no hope that Texit will actually happen. The politically naive deny the reality of the role that money plays...This lack of cash...leaves its proponents fighting like guerillas rather than the will-oiled political machine that is required" (180).

"What Paul is insisting on is the accessibility, the nearness of revelation. That Christ came down from heaven and tabernacled among men is the most signal proof of this fact. We dare not say: who shall ascend to heaven to find the truth? For this question discounts the incarnation and is a denial of its meaning. In Christ the truth came to earth" (53).

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared...And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, 'Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them." - Rev 21:1-3

"Il savourait pour la première fois l'inexprimable délicatesse des élégances féminines. Jamais il n'avait rencontré cette grâce du langage, cette réserve de vetement, ces poses de colombe assoupie. Il admirait l'exaltation de son âme et la dentelles de sa jupe. D'ailleurs , n'était-ce pas une femme du monde, et une femme mariée ! une vraie maîtresse enfin ? (301)

"...another angel came from the Temple in heaven, & he also had a sharp sickle. Then another angel, who has power to destroy the world with fire, shouted... 'Use your sickle now to gather the clusters of grapes from the vines of the earth, for they are fully ripe for judgment.' So the angel swung his sickle on the earth & loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God's wrath." - Rev. 14:17-19

"And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone siting on it! The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones - jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow. Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads." - Revelation 4:2-4

"The Christian message, the gospel, the 'good news' is very brief: Jesus Christ, God's son, died for your sins which keep you from God. Let Christ change that for you. Trust in Him. Acknowledge your sin, and you will be one with God forever. He will start that relationship with you now" (76).

"And now, all glory to God, who is able to keep you from stumbling, and who will bring you into his glorious presence innocent of sin and with great joy. All glory to him, who alone is God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, glory, majesty, power, and authority belong to him in the beginning, now, and forevermore. Amen." - Jude 24-25

"...though at first he approached Christianity with the lenient eye and broad intelligence of Akbar, and refrained from enforcing against it the angry edicts of Hideyoshi, [Iyeyasu] was disturbed by its intolerance, its bitter denunciation of the native faith as idolatry, and the discord which its passionate dogmatism aroused not only between the converts and the nation, but among the neophytes themselves" (842).

"God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other." - 1 John 4:9-11

"Finally, all of you should be of one mind, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds. Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate when people say unkind things about you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God wants you to do, and he will bless you for it." - 1 Peter 4:8-9

"What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn't it the whole army of evil desires at war within you? You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous for what others have, and you can't possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it." - James 4:1-2

"...I saw the reason why so many successful men keep an almost boyish love of America and democracy. It isn't because she doesn't ask sacrifices...It isn't because she offers an easy route...I myself had looked up from the bottom of the heap with thirty-eight cents in my pocket...But even then I had the complete confidence that our way of life offered me the freedom to crawl back up" (22-23).

"The Cambrian is very important from a paleobiological perspective, because of the rapid proliferation of multicellular animals that took place near the beginning of this period, informally called the Cambrian Explosion" (10).