As is our custom, we had our annual family pictures taken recently. This is a bit late in the year for us, but we wanted to wait a few months and make sure that our youngest child could be a little more responsive. We use to take the pictures at Sears, but we switched to Portrait Innovations last year. I absolutely LOVE the idea of getting a CD of every single picture that was taken during our session. The following is a small sampling of the 82 pictures that we taken.
I just got home about an hour ago from meeting with a 76 year old man who has been a Mormon since 1974. We spent close to three and a half hours talking about Mormonism. He has been doing some serious contemplation about the LDS Church and is really bothered by the polygamy issue. He found our contact information and called to, “find out what he doesn’t know.”
He spoke mostly while I patiently listened. When I did speak, I answered his question’s about the image of God and the gospel. He now has a number of new ideas to think about. One of the things that Mr. E was most proud of about the Mormon Church was the Articles of Faith. These articles are 13 basic points to which the LDS Church believes. Mr. E went through them one by one and when he got to article number 11, he read, “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.”
When I told him that most Mormons I’ve met do not really believe this particular article, he was shocked. He passionately explained how all Mormons worship God according to their own conscience and believe that everyone should have the same privilege. I then explained how I have attended public Mormon events to pass out gospel tracts and witness to Mormons. Mr. E exclaimed, “How Dare you!” as he reached across the table to slap my hand. I laughed as I withdrew my hand and said, “See what I mean?”
That stunned him. I explained that I am worshipping God according to the dictates of my conscience when I am in the act of evangelism at public events. Mr. E sheepishly smiled as he understood my point.
That gave me an idea. The next time a Mormon asks me what I am doing at a Mormon temple opening, the Mormon Miracle Pageant or any other public event hosted by the Mormons, I am just going to answer that I am exercising article 11. At that point, the Mormon has only two choices. They can choose to obey article 11 and allow me to continue in worship or they can deny their Scripture and argue with me about how I do not have the right to be there. It is always interesting to see how much of Mormonism some Mormons really believe.
This past Sunday I went to the gun show to look for another Springfield XD 9mm. I managed to find what I was looking for and was pleased to see that it came with night sites. Since most attacks happen at night, having night sites is an important thing to consider for home defense purposes. The good thing for me was that I spent less money than I did three years ago on this second XD with night sites than I did on my first gun without them.
I didn’t get a chance to go out to the range to shoot it until yesterday. I decided to take both guns so that I could do some comparison. The slide show below will help tell my story. As you see the pictures slide by, put your mouse over the picture and they will pause as a caption appears. All shots were taken at 21 feet.
#1 This picture is a bit blurry, but that is because I was in a completely dark closet. The sights don’t look much different from any other sights in the artificially created light of the flash on my camera.
#2 With the flash off, all you can see are the three dots of the sights. Make sure to pause this picture as the front sight will brighten up a bit.
#3 My fist shot with my new XD. I hit the bulls-eye, but not exactly where I was aiming.
#4 The first five shots still found their mark, but they are a bit too high and right from where I was aiming.
#5 After 50 shots, I am beginning to wonder if my sights are off just a tad. The gun is consistent all right with an nice two inch group, but I adjusted my last 20 or so shots by aiming a little low and to the left.
#6 Here is where it starts to get interesting. Since I was unsure of my sights on my new XD, I decided to take five shots at the top number seven with my old XD. As you can see, my old XD is dead on at seven yards.
#7 Here is a close up of those last five shots. The number seven is small enough to be completely covered by a dime.
That is some pretty good shooting, even if I say so myself! The bad news is, I am not as accurate with my new XD. I decided to do some further tests just to make sure that I wasn’t extremely lucky with my old XD.
#8 I placed a “Shoot-n-see” on the left of the target and took five shots with my New XD. I hit it twice, but missed three times.
#9 I decided to take five more shots, but this time I used my old XD. I wasn’t as accurate with these five shots as I was while shooting at the number seven, but you can still see that the shots with my old XD are a bit closer.
#10 Five more shots at another “Shoot-n-see” with my new XD. All misses.
#11 Five More shots with my old XD. Three hits and two misses.
OK, it is now obvious that I am more accurate with my old XD than I am with my new one. When I got home, I took a closer look at my new XD and noticed the following.
#12-13 Here is a comparison of the front sight on my old and then my new XD. As you can see, the front sight does not sit flush on the top of the slide.
#14-17 The same is true with the rear sights. They do not sit completely flush on the top of the slide.
That would explain my shots being a bit high, but it would not explain why my shots tend to drift to the right. I am a left handed shooter so my shots tend to go right anyway, but how do I explain my dead on accuracy with my old XD and the wider grouping on my news XD? Are the sights really off on the new gun or am I just more comfortable shooting my old XD? I’m open to hearing if anyone has any ideas.
If your browser does not show the slide show, then just click View All Images.
I received a message from the American Family Association today informing me that their boycott against Micky D’s has been lifted. *Join me as I heave a sigh of relief.* Although I personally took some heat for our boycott stance, it was well worth it. I am thankful that McDonald’s has realized that supporting the homosexual agenda is not a wise business decision. I am also thankful to God for this opportunity to show our kids that God does indeed answer prayer.
When we first informed our kids that we would not longer be eating at McDonald’s, they were bummed, but understood. Since they are so young, we didn’t want to get into all of the details about homosexuality, but we did tell them that they had made some decisions which were against families. That is all they needed to hear. From that time on, whenever we passed a McDonald’s in the car, the kids would yell, “EEEWWWWWW!” Becky nor I instigated this reaction. They came up with it all by themselves. Now I am looking forward to seeing their reaction when I give them this good news.
Here is the letter from the AFA in its entirety.
Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire e-mail list of family and friends.
AFA ends boycott: McDonald’s agrees to changes
October 9, 2008
Dear Keith,
Great news! Because of AFA supporters like you, McDonald’s has told AFA they will remain neutral in the culture war regarding homosexual marriage. AFA is ending the boycott of McDonald’s. As you know, AFA called for the boycott in May after McDonald’s joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC).McDonald’s said McDonald’s Vice President Richard Ellis has resigned his position on the board of NGLCC and that his seat on the board will not be replaced. McDonald’s also said that the company has no plans to renew their membership in NGLCC when it expires in December.
In an e-mail to McDonald’s franchised owners the company said, “It is our policy to not be involved in political and social issues. McDonald’s remains neutral on same sex marriage or any ‘homosexual agenda’ as defined by the American Family Association.”
We appreciate the decision by McDonald’s to no longer support political activity by homosexual activist organizations. You might want to thank your local McDonald’s manager.
Thank you for caring enough to get involved. If you feel our efforts are worthy of support, would you consider making a small tax-deductible contribution to help us continue?
Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon,
Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
Our new-born son is beginning to smile. Here is one of his first.
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