"AMA!" Says Fuzzy Bear

[Joseph Cao]

Favorite three books of the Bible?

[Fuzzy Bear]

How you like to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?

At home, opening presents.

In 2 years or less I'll be in Ohio with grandkids and great-grandkids, so that will change.

[IndianAmericanRepublican]

How would you react if Trump wins the popular vote in 2024 along with a large electoral college victory (all 2016 states + Nevada) and the GOP is set to have over 240 House seats and 55 Senate seats?

[Fuzzy Bear]

What's your least favorite thing about Florida?

The sudden and seemingly uncontrolled price of housing, which is tied to out-of-control homeowners insurance costs.  This problem has been building since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.  

I do think that our nation needs to consider how much we have encouraged building in harm's way, and how the cost eventually comes back home.  If I were to buy another home in Florida, it would be i the North Central part of Florida, away from the ocean.  Even there, rates are high.

[Fuzzy Bear]

What church are you a member of?

I am a menber of a Church that is a part of the Southern Baptist Convention. 

This is an odd situation, in that I am a Pentecostal, fire-baptized and toungue-speaking.  The Southern Baptist Convention is very much opposed to this.  Their official position is one of "cessationist" theology (the miracles, signs and wonders have ceased), although not all in the SBC believe that.  I'm where I'm at for several important reasons:

^^^^^I agree with their emphasis on Salvation; on preaching the Gospel and leading the unsaved to Christ.  I certainly believe that Christ's return is imminent, and saving as many souls as possible oughjt to be a priority for all Christians.

^^^^^I agree with their dedication to Christian Education, including Sunday School for adults.  There is much Biblical illiteracy, even in many churches that consider themselves "Evangelical" or "Full Gospel".  Sunday School is where believers learn the "how to" of Biblical Christian living, and it's also where believers are socialized into the local Body.  The Pentecostal churches I have belonged to have abandoned these institutions.  Sadly, they are not reaching and keeping younger families.  The church I was a member of from 2002 to 2018 (where my wife worked) lost all its young families and kids (partly a personal choice by a selfish pastor, sadly).  Now, this church is about 8 funerals away from not being viable at all.  It's almost entirely old folks.  They are the Church at Sardis; a dead church where some have kept the faith.  The church I am with now is a church that keeps people for the Gospel; it gives me hope that the Gospel will be brought forth when I am dead and gone.

^^^^^My pastor is very attuned to what is going on in the community and the world.  So many of the churches I had been a part of were lucky when they were 5 years behind the times; many were 20 years behind the times in some ways.  (My former pastor was preaching about the awfulness of Boy George in 2017; that's a bit behind, I think.)  He is able to put forth Biblical solutions for today's world without scaring people or being a lunatic, and without compromising the Gospel even a little bit.  That's a pretty bodacious trifecta.

[Fuzzy Bear]

How would you react if Trump wins the popular vote in 2024 along with a large electoral college victory (all 2016 states + Nevada) and the GOP is set to have over 240 House seats and 55 Senate seats?

On balance, I'd be quite happy.  I consider the Wokeness, the Weaponization of the DOJ, the participation of the government's alliance with social media to censor discussions, the unbridled racializing and sexualizing forces in our society, and the fact that we have (I believe) a cognitively dysfunctional President who's a figurehead, with the real decisions being made by parties that are not officially identified.  The harm all of this, as well as the punting away of our advantages as a producer of energy, needs to be stopped and reversed.  Biden has done real harm to this country, and the Democratic Party has lost its senses, with elements of it dedicated to the total tribalizing of our politics.

I believe that the charges against Trump are ridiculous; they are an attempt to make him a political prisoner, and that needs to be stopped and those who hatched this Third World maneuver need to be brought to official account.  I do concede, however, that Trump is not the ideal choice to bind up the Nation's Wounds.  James Buchanan was an old and bitter man who lashed out at enemies that had denied him the Presidency when he was younger and more vigorous; he was a capable man of good reputation, whose bitterness ruined his Presidency.  He allowed Jefferson Davis to arm the South while Davis was Secretary of War.  He was awful, and his bitterness ultimately lead to impotence and War.

Trump's 2nd term will not be as successful as his first.  I also believe that the Left will give him no peace; there will be public demonstrations all across America every day.  The people who will do this hate America and don't care of America fails.  Some would welcome it, and that extends to a number of posters on this Forum.  America, however, needs Trump's POLICIES implemented by a man who does not have the axes to grind that Trump does.  Most of the axes to grind Trump came about legitimately, but the public axe-grinding wont be a good thing.  I'm a DeSantis supporter right now.  I do believe, however, that the Democrats need to be beaten badly next election; without a drubbing, they will not come to their senses about what kind of party they have become.

[Fuzzy Bear]

You can have dinner with any three muftis, living or dead. Which muftis do you pick and why?

I have no idea, but we would be certain to disagree on any number of things.

[Fuzzy Bear]

1. While you despised Nixon in your youth , have you changed your mind on Nixon . If so , can you please share your current thoughts about his presidency

2. Where do you rank LeBron all time

3. Any tv shows you currently like to watch

3.  I binge-watch "The First 48".

2.  Lebron is a top 10 player, possibly on my top 5 team.

1.  Nixon lost his mind at the end of Watergate, but my opinion of him has increased significantly.  His problem was that he ended up with "yes men" in his inner circle, and they ended up covering their own butts moreso than their own. 

I'm real tired right now.  I'll go on and on a bit about this later.

[IndianAmericanRepublican]

Thank you very much for your detailed answer

at the risk of being repetitive, I'd like to ask about what reactions you would have to the following 3 scenarios: DeSantis.. Haley.. Ramaswamy..   ---being elected President in 2024 and sworn in on Jan 20, 2025

[Respect and Compassion]

Given how much younger Americans differ from the Silent Generation and Boomers on the topic of foreign policy, are you concerned with the direction that the country will take when the older generations in the State Department get replaced by their younger counterparts?

[Associate Justice PiT]

     If you could go back and tell 18-yo Fuzzy one thing, what would it be?

[Fuzzy Bear]

Given how much younger Americans differ from the Silent Generation and Boomers on the topic of foreign policy, are you concerned with the direction that the country will take when the older generations in the State Department get replaced by their younger counterparts?

I could write a big discertation on this, but my primary concern is that young people today has lost the idea that America is a GOOD nation.  This sea change is at the heart of all sorts of mischief, including the idea that we, somehow, owe the World endless apologies.  America is not a perfect nation, but I see no other nation being required to "apologize" as America has. 

"Speak softly and carry a big stick!" was wisdom in TR's time, and it's wisdom now.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

What is your opinion of Christian hardcore?

[Fuzzy Bear]

What is your opinion of Christian hardcore?

I don't have one.  I'm a Southern Gospel type.

My general opinion of Contemporary Christian Music of any kind is dependent on the lyrics.  I'm fine with Christian music in any genre; the issue is whether or not the lyrics truly reflect the Gospel and are Biblically sound.

[Fuzzy Bear]

     If you could go back and tell 18-yo Fuzzy one thing, what would it be?

I would bring him to remembrance of his experience at the Billy Graham Pavillion at the NY World's Fair, when he gave his heart to Jesus Christ in earnest, believing him to be Savior and Lord, and the only name by which man could be saved.  I would remind him of the realness of the experience, how he was the best behaved little boy for 3 weeks after that.  I would remind him that this was no accident; that it represented a change of heart that could only occur by the Holy Spirit coming to reside in the believing young Fuzzy. 

I would let young Fuzzy know that even though his life had become one of regularly getting drunk, chasing women, and being an overall jerk, that he was still a Child of God.  I would read him John 1:12 letting him know that he was part of God's family.  I would discuss with him John 10:28, letting him know that no one could pluck him out of the hand of Jesus, and that Jesus's Redemptive Work on the Cross was not going to be undone by Young Fuzzy's foolishness.  I would remind him that John 1:12 says that not everyone is a Child of God, but everyone CAN be, and nothing was more important than that. 

I would lead young Fuzzy to a Biblically sound church that effectively ministered to young people.  I would teach him 2 Corinthians 6:14:  Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers."  I would discuss his frustration with his girlfriends at the time and let him know that God cares very much about that aspect of his life; it was He, Himself who assessed his Creation and said in Genesis that it was not good for the man to be alone. 

I would let him know that it was a lie of the Devil that enticed young Fuzzy toward a bar-hopping lifestyle.  I would also have the discussion about sex, and how God intended this to be only for a man and a woman within marriage.  I would let him know that there were still young men who did not look at life as a contest as to how many women they could pick up, and that there were women whose not "putting out" was a sign that they would love him more, and not less.  I would let him know that God cared deeply about who he married, and that He wanted a wife for young Fuzzy who would not only be loyal and faithful, but who would be attractive to him, and be someone for whom he would never want to stray from or get tired of.  Indeed, I would have a long discussion of other lies of the Devil, of how the Devil operates in this World.  But I would let young Fuzzy know that while Satan is Ruler of this World (Ephesians 2:2 and John 12:31) and that God freed him from the rule of Satan (Colossians 1:13) and that he was empowered to live like a Child of God in all ways.  I would remind him that he has not blown it because of his stupid actions, showing him 1 John 2:1:  "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."

I would let young Fuzzy know that he was not too young to serve God and to preach his Gospel.  I would let him know that God used young men from Old Testament times, that the Apostle Paul told young Timothy "Let no man despise thy youth." (1 Timothy 4:12).  I would let him know that Church and Adult Sunday School was training for God's mission, regardless of what occupation one was called to do.  I would take him to Sunday School and church at a Biblically based church to show him how the Family of God operates.  (I did not view the Lutheran Church of my childhood as a Church Family, and quit going once I was confirmed at age 15.)

Would Young Fuzzy have listened?  Surprisingly, yes.  I was amazingly receptive to members of what I know now to be a cult with an apostate doctrine, but I didn't know any better.  Young Fuzzy listened and believed at age 8.  The Devil then sought to undermine this in every way possible.  But I would have ended my conversation by reminding Young Fuzzy that the battle between God and Satan is not an equal fight; that God is ominipotent, ominiscient, and omnipresent, but Satan is not any of those things.  I would also show him Revelation, remind him of Jesus's return (a theme little discussed in Lutheran Church) and let him know that in the fight between Good and Evil, God was going to win; He already has decided that He was going to win, and the only question left for individuals was to decide whose side they would be on.  I would remember that the 8 year old Fuzzy had enough wisdom to choose being on God's side, and to take heart.  I would let him know that his troubles were normal.  I would not minimize them, but I would show him what Jesus said to His Disciples:  "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)  It's a verse I live by now that I am old.

[Fuzzy Bear]

How you like to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?

I spent it with family locally (very limited).  I would like to spend it with all my grandchildren in Ohio, and that's probably the plan next year.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Given how much younger Americans differ from the Silent Generation and Boomers on the topic of foreign policy, are you concerned with the direction that the country will take when the older generations in the State Department get replaced by their younger counterparts?

I am concerned that this concept of "intersectionality" will take deeper roots in the State Department than it already has.  Dividing the World into the "oppressed" and the "oppressors" is dangerous because a lot of bad actors (e. g. Iran, Hamas) claim to be "oppressed" and those that buy into it ignore the violence these bad actors ferment.  The concept of intersectionality needs to be weeded out completely from the diplomatic garden. 

[Fuzzy Bear]

1. Favorite Democratic politician of the 1980s?
 
2. Favorite Republican politician of the 1980s?

3. Favorite American historical figures in general?

Favorite Democratic Politician of the 1980s was probably Sen. Howard Metzenbaum (D-Ohio) who, I believe, was the best friend in government the American consumer had at the time.

Favorite Republican Politician of the 1980s was probably Sen. Paula Hawkins (R-FL) who seemed flaky, but was a surprisingly strong advocate for Florida's consumers and not a shill for corporations.

Favorite American historical figures in general:

1. Dwight Eisenhower (R).  A surprise, given that my mother absolutely ADORED Adlai Stevenson (whom I generally think positively of).  He kept America out of war, and he managed budget surpluses.  And while he went slower on integration than people hoped for, he DID appoint two (2) SCOTUS Justices that were the backbone of the Civil Rights coalition on the Supreme Court (Brennan and Warren).

2. Sen. Henry Jackson (D-WA).  He would have ended the Vietnam War without the sort of defense cuts that McGovern proposed.  He was a believer in peace through strength, which was once a consensus policy until 1968 or so.  He would have been a great President had he been elected i 1976.

3. Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-MN).  He was socially far more liberal than I am, but he was, again, a tireless advocate for the American consumer and taxpayer.  He was unbought and unbossed, and a rarity in our Congress in either party.

4. Gov. Hugh Carey (D-NY) who saw NY though some of its toughest financial times successfully.  He cleaned up financial messes made mostly by irresponsible NYC Mayors and City Councils.  He was also a principled opponent of the Death Penalty, even at the risk of being re-elected in 1978.

5. Theodore Roosevelt (R), a reform President who saved capitalism by ushering in anti-trust legislation.

6. Abraham Lincoln (R), who bore the hardest burden of any President.

7. Ulysses S. Grant (R) who deserves credit as the first Civil Rights President.

8. Sen. Jacob Javits (R-NY) - moderate progressive Republican

9. Sen. Clifford Case (R-NJ) - moderate progressive Republican

10.  Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) - dean of pro-life legislators

11.  Rep. Tony Hall (D-OH) - one of the last pro-life Democrats who is a committed Christian.

[omar04]

What's your opinion of the SBC removing a few churches with women pastors, most notably Saddleback?

[Fuzzy Bear]

What's your opinion of the SBC removing a few churches with women pastors, most notably Saddleback?

At least they're consistent with their doctrine.

https://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2074-77052017000100037#:~:text=Paul%20thought%20that%20women%20should,overseers%2C%20or%20even%20public%20preachers.

This issue is complicated.  The doctrine on women not being pastors stems from 1 Corinthians, where Paul was writing a corrective epistle to the Corinthian Church, which certainly had its shenanigans going on.  I do believe that Scripture mandates a male to serve as Pastor, but I do not believe that this excludes females in service as teachers, deaconesses, as the Pastor provides the male head. 

I do not believe that this doctrine excludes females serving as prophetesses, evangelists, teachers, or assistant pastors.  I do, however, balance this out with what I consider the church to be doing right.  My particular church is pastored by an incredibly wonderful Pastor, and a man well equipped to confront the culture effectively in these times where we seem to be breaking new ground on moral issues almost daily.  Our church IS growing, it DOES have young families, and it is generational.  This is important, and it is, to me, evidence that God is pleased with our church.  There are many churches in our community that are no more from 10 funerals away from not being able to function as a church.  The church I was a member of from 2002 to 2018 has practically NO young people and NO young families.  Church has seemed to become an "Old Folks" activity.  That my present church is not is significant.

[All Along The Watchtower]

What do you want to be remembered for?

[Fuzzy Bear]

What do you want to be remembered for?

My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.  Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world. As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him :   “Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.”

I was alive for this eulogy.  I watched it on TV.  This was a eulogy by a brother of great men for a great man, whose name was known worldwide, and a household name in America.  I doubt very much that at 67 I will achieve the kind of Fame (or notoriety, for that matter, which RFK enjoyed in some circles) that would put my eulogy on TV.  Nonetheless, this paragraph embodies the sorts of things that people SHOULD want to be remembered for.

I would like to be remembered as a good and decent man.  I am far from perfect, but God has infused me with a good deal of self-control since I rededicated my life to Him.  I do care what people think of me, and I do consider the effects of my actions on others when I take them.  I have dealt honestly with people, and I am faithful to my wife, children, family, and employer.  That's not always easy to do, and I'm sure I have made mistakes and I am sure that I have sometimes done the right thing only with the help of others pointing out what I know to be the right thing, but I do think that a decent person listens to wise and moral counsel, whereas one that is lacking in that area counsels either with fools, or with his own ego exclusively.

I'm neither a mediator nor a diplomat, but in my personal life I have saw wrong and tried to right it.  I have had to mediate disputes in my family and on my various jobs, and I have tried as hard as I could to be as objective and fair as possible.  Indeed, I guard my reputation for fairness zealously; it has been my most important asset when I have been under fire.  I have also tried to be a peacemaker in my family, which has not been easy.  My sons have certainly behaved differently in life, and not all have made good decisions, but I have never joined in on disputes, and have tried to mediate them as best as I can.  I have also not actively joined in some of my second oldest son's marital issues.  While my former daughter-in-law has an obvious lack of virtue in many areas and has the "What I want is unquestionably the right thing that I am entitled to!" attitude of, say, Ferguson97, I am cognizant that my granddaughters by her love her, and (even more importantly) are commanded to Honor Thy Mother, a commandment with a promise of long life for keeping. 

As for the last part of that eulogy, I have always seen what could be and say, "Why not?".  Despite my oldest son's struggles, I have prayed for him to allow God to give him a life that makes sense.  I pray that my youngest son (our step-grandson who my wife and I adopted) will be able to overcome ADHD and be successful and productive as an adult when my wife and I are no longer alive.  He has been educated to functionality at home, has a driver license and is a good driver, and he held a job for over a year before taking time off to finish his H. S. diploma, virtues I wondered at times if he would develop.  I may never get to see my adult granddaughters living for Christ, but they are wonderful young women, and I pray for all of them.  A number of them have crooked paths that need to be made straight, but I have seen before the things not possible with man being possible with God.

My family are the ones on Earth I am most responsible to and for, so much of how I wish to be seen involves them.  I will be retiring to Ohio in a year or two, and I certainly hope to live out some of these things in the near future in a more personal way.  I hope to meet the touchstones of remembrance set forth by Edward Kennedy in his moving eulogy, as applied to a far more common man in far more common circumstances.

[Sol]

What are thoughts on Florida, especially your area?

[Fuzzy Bear]

What are thoughts on Florida, especially your area?

Mixed.

It has low taxes, but it also has ever-rising costs of homeowners insurance, which is the single biggest driver of housing costs. 

It has public schools that have improved, and which don't have the sort of wokeness in curricula that I loath, but they are still problematic, and somewhat underfunded.

It has a willingness to enforce laws and safeguard the rights of victims, but its criminal penalties are Draconian, and it's record on restoration of voting rights to former offenders is inexcusable.  (It's one of a few areas I disagree with DeSantis on.)

Florida is becoming too expensive for me to retire to.  It's probably a better place for young families, but for people retiring, it is not that good, unless they are retiring to a "retirement community" which only allows people 55 and over there.  That's not for us.

It was a good move for me to come to Florida in 1982.  I don't know if it would be a good move to retire here, so I'm looking to Southeast Ohio, where my grandkids are.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Favorite three books of the Bible?

John, which gives the most comprehensive view of the Gospel, itself.

Revelation, which lets Believers know that in the end, God's going to win!  He's already decided it.  The only question for man is which side they will be on.

Romans, which explains the "how" and "why" we are saved by grace, and not by works.