Reason from Above

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord" Isaiah 1:18.

Many times, I've been chastised in my life for my faith, that faith is without reason. I quite disagree. Faith is the highest form of reason...requiring the utmost in mental commitment from the person in which it abides. And since our relationship with God is based on faith...in Christ..."[i]t is important to realize, [when talking with God], that one is having a discussion. Religious thought is not an abdication of reason or discussion; it is simply reasoning and discussion by other means." (Nate Olman on God and taxes).

It is a plain man indeed that finds solace in mere logic and philosophy.

In Memory

In memory of my Aunt Prissy, who passed away yesterday of cancer at 49 years old.

More on tax treaties

In this post on the Tax Prof blog, the issue of tax treaties comes up again. (See this previous post).

As a general note, I think I find the U.S. entering into treaties that submit the people of this nation to foreign power a bit unconstitutional. (Please add a note of sarcasm to the word "bit").

And you think taxes are bad now...

Can you imagine having taxes on global e-commerce? Ack! Tax Prof blog has a post here, and I have copied the abstract below, regard global taxation.

This paper assesses national and international responses to tax challenges presented by cross-border electronic commerce. Almost ten years after these challenges were first identified, a survey of national government reactions shows that many countries have not passed any significant tax legislation or administrative guidance with respect to the taxation of global e-commerce. This lack of action at the national level can be explained in large part by the leadership role taken by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in developing the guiding principles and, subsequently, the tax rules to confront the e-commerce tax challenges. The OECD’s general success with e-commerce tax reform demonstrates the potential of the OECD to act as a kind of informal (lower case) world tax organization, which emphasizes deliberation, consensus-building and the use of non-binding mechanisms such as the OECD model tax treaty. Moreover, the OECD’s success suggests that calls for a more formal (upper-case) World Tax Organization, which could impose binding tax rules on participating nations, may be misplaced.

The Coolness of Tax

The government will always get its own...

Take for instance this article on the Tax Prof blog.

"Having someone else pay your taxes can get tricky, since the government counts the amount that person pays as taxable income. "

Gary Allan - The One

No rush though I need your touch
I won't rush your heart
Until you feel on solid ground
Until your strength is found, girl

I'll fill those canyons in your soul
Like a river lead you home
And I'll walk a step behind
In the shadows so you shine
Just ask it will be done
And I will prove my love
Until you're sure that I'm "the one"

Somebody else was here before
He treated you unkind
And broken wings need time to heal
Before a heart can fly, girl

I'll fill those canyons in your soul
Like a river lead you home
And I'll walk a step behind
In the shadows so you shine
Just ask it will be done
And I will prove my love
Until you're sure that I'm "the one"

Trust in me and you'll find a heart so true
All I want to do is give the best of me to you
And stand beside you

Just ask it will be done
And I will prove my love
Until you're sure that I'm "the one"

Good Thought

“I WOULD RATHER TEMPORARILY FAIL WITH A CAUSE THAT WILL ULTIMATELY SUCCEED, THAN TO TEMPORARILY SUCCEED WITH A CAUSE THAT WILL ULTIMATELY FAIL.” –WOODROW WILSON

A funny...

From BuffaloWings&Vodka, a funny thought.

Things your law professor is doing instead of grading your exam:

....Looking at the webcounter he's installed to see how many times you've checked your grades, and laughing....

All law student's know how true that seems!!

Spirit of the Law

Every law student knows about IRAC (or the newer CREAC). Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion. The crux of it, that which determines the top and bottom half of the class, comes from knowing the rule and applying it to the facts presented. That is what lawyers do...why they are paid so much sometimes. They have to use their minds to take a rule that can seem impersonal and distant on paper and apply it to a real scenario, involving real people.

It is application that makes those stale words in books come alive. More and more, I'm understanding that is what I need to do in my life as a Christian. In the song "Everything to me" by Avalon, the lyrics go like this:

I grew up in Sunday school
I memorized the Golden rule
And how Jesus came to set the sinner free
I know the story inside out
I can tell you all about
The path that led Him up to Calvary
But ask me why He loves me
And I don't know what to say
But I'll never be the same
Because he changed my life when He became...

Everything to me
He's more than a story
more than words on a page of history
He's the air that I breath
The water I thirst for
And the ground beneath my feet
He's everything, everything to me

Living in a modern world, it is sometimes hard to remember that Christ really did live those words written in the bible. He cast out demons, raised the dead, walked on water, and most important, took the sin of the world with him on the cross and conquered death for us. The significance of that is hard to grasp until you really dig into scripture and see how we are suppose to live. However, the first step is to realize that those stale words on the page won't mean anything to us individually until we apply them to our lives.

I Am, Part 2

In a previous post I talked about Nicole Nordeman's song, "I Am". I've been listening to the song so much lately because of hard times in my life, I'm publishing the song's lyrics in full below:

Pencil marks on a wall, I wasn't always this tall
You scattered some monsters from beneath my bed.
You watched my team win, and watched my team lose
Watched when my bicycle went down again

When I was weak, unable to speak, still I could call You by name
And I said Elbow Healer, Superhero, come if you can
You said, I Am

Only sixteen, life is so mean
What kind of curfew is at 10 pm?
You saw my mistakes and watched my heart break
Heard when I swore I'd never love again

When I was weak, unable to speak, still I could call You by name
And I said Heartache Healer, Secret Keeper, be my best friend
You said, I Am

You saw me wear white by pale candlelight
I said 'forever' to what lies ahead
Two kids and a dream, with kids that can scream
Too much it might seem when it is 2 am.

When I was weak, unable to speak, still I could call You by name
Oh, Shepherd Savior, Pasture Maker, hold on to my hand
You said, I Am

The winds of change and circumstance
Blow in and all around us
So we find a foothold that's familiar
And bless the moments that we feel you nearer

When life had begun I was woven and spun
You let the angels dance around the throne
Who can say when, but they'll dance again
When I am free and finally headed home

I will be weak, unable to speak, still I will call You by name
Creator, Maker, Life Sustainer
Comforter, Healer, My Redeemer
Lord and King, Beginning and the End
I Am, I Am