Most blacks oppose gay marriage: Two-thirds of all blacks, and about the same amount of black likely voters, oppose allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally.
Link
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Tuesday, October 31, 2006
AP-AOL Poll of Black Voters
This is the interesting part of that poll:
Most blacks oppose gay marriage: Two-thirds of all blacks, and about the same amount of black likely voters, oppose allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally.
Link
Most blacks oppose gay marriage: Two-thirds of all blacks, and about the same amount of black likely voters, oppose allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally.
Link
Monday, October 30, 2006
14 Year Old Assyrian Boy Decapitated By Muslim Group
This will continue:
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According to the Assyrian website ankawa.com, a 14 year old Christian Assyrian boy, Ayad Tariq, from Baqouba, Iraq was decapitated at his work place on October 21.
Ayad Tariq was working his 12 hour shift, maintaining an electric generator, when a group of disguised Muslim insurgents walked in at the beginning of his shift shortly after 6 a.m. and asked him for his ID.
According to another employee who witnessed the events, and who hid when he saw the insurgents approach, the insurgents questioned Ayad after seeing that his ID stated "Christian", asking if he was truly a "Christian sinner." Ayad replied "yes, I am Christian but I am not a sinner." The insurgents quickly said this is a "dirty Christian sinner!" Then they proceeded to each hold one limb, shouting "Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar!" while beheading the boy.
HT: LGF
Andrew Sullivan, Hugh Hewitt, and Retrofitted Christianity
Mark Daniel's excellent article on the Hugh and Andrew interview:
Part 1 of the series: Andrew Sullivan, Hugh Hewitt, and Retrofitted Christianity
Part 1 of the series: Andrew Sullivan, Hugh Hewitt, and Retrofitted Christianity
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Sunday, October 29, 2006
Pagan inmates are given a day off from work for Halloween
This is sick:
Hundreds of Pagans serving prison sentences are to be given the day off work for Halloween out of respect for their religious beliefs.
Prison Service bosses have instructed staff to grant the convicts, who include Devil worshippers and Satanists, special privileges on Tuesday.
At least some have understood how crazy this is.
Critics attacked the policy, saying it was pandering to a 'mad' politically correct agenda.
Brian Caton, general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association, said last night: "People are sent to jail by the courts as a punishment. Taking this punitive element away by pandering to what some might see as political correctness gone mad is all wrong." Read More.
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Friday, October 27, 2006
Christianity Lawsuit Against the U.S. Air Force Academy Dismissed
Good:
A federal judge on Friday threw out a lawsuit against the Air Force Academy that claimed evangelical Christian values were being illegally pushed on cadets.
The academy's critics said the decision by senior U.S. District Judge James A. Parker in Albuquerque, N.M., would likely be appealed.
The high-profile case was brought by a group of Air Force Academy graduates who charged that a military chaplain violated their religious freedom rights by urging cadets to attend Christian services or face being burned "in the fires of hell." That incident reflected a broader policy, the group charged, of efforts to evangelize U.S. Air Force staff.
But Parker, in a 16-page decision, said the graduates could not claim their First Amendment rights were violated since they no longer attended the Academy. Moreover, the group failed to give specific examples of which cadets were harmed, or when. Read More.
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Thursday, October 26, 2006
Airport taxi flap about alcohol has deeper significance
Many don't understand that it is imperative for an active Muslim to push for Sharia law. There is no concept of the separation of church and state. Muslims will keep pushing to have sharia legalized, so in effect we would have a two tier judicial system.
The airport taxi controversy may go deeper than the quandary over whether to accommodate Somali Muslim cabdrivers who refuse to carry passengers carrying alcohol. Behind the scenes, a struggle for power and religious authority is apparently playing out. Read More.
The airport taxi controversy may go deeper than the quandary over whether to accommodate Somali Muslim cabdrivers who refuse to carry passengers carrying alcohol. Behind the scenes, a struggle for power and religious authority is apparently playing out. Read More.
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A Muddle On Same-Sex Marriage
Talk about a ruling that doesn't make alot of sense. This is another case of judicial activism, the ruling was 4-3. What most are not saying is that the dissenters were wanting a more radical recognition of gay marriage.
The Captain has some interesting comments:
The big news yesterday came from the New Jersey Supreme Court, which gave an odd split decision on the subject of gender-neutral marriage. On one hand, the court ruled that gay couples have no expectation of the right to marry -- and on the other hand, they ordered the state legislature to provide them with a way to gain all of the incidentals to marriage. It almost guarantees another round of condemnations for judicial activism, and does little to clarify the issue in any significant way: Read More.
The Captain has some interesting comments:
The big news yesterday came from the New Jersey Supreme Court, which gave an odd split decision on the subject of gender-neutral marriage. On one hand, the court ruled that gay couples have no expectation of the right to marry -- and on the other hand, they ordered the state legislature to provide them with a way to gain all of the incidentals to marriage. It almost guarantees another round of condemnations for judicial activism, and does little to clarify the issue in any significant way: Read More.
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Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Departing church gives up land
This is going to be happening more all the time:
An Episcopal congregation in Woodbridge whose members were unhappy with liberal trends in the Episcopal Church suddenly dissolved itself last week, leaving the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia with a $420,000 bill from the property's mortgage.
The members of Christ Our Lord Episcopal Church, a mission congregation founded in 1992, has since reconstituted under the Anglican Diocese of North Kigezi in Uganda as Christ Our Lord Anglican Church. It is the third mission to leave the diocese because of the 2003 consecration of New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson as the world's first openly homosexual bishop, but the first to abandon its property. Read More.
An Episcopal congregation in Woodbridge whose members were unhappy with liberal trends in the Episcopal Church suddenly dissolved itself last week, leaving the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia with a $420,000 bill from the property's mortgage.
The members of Christ Our Lord Episcopal Church, a mission congregation founded in 1992, has since reconstituted under the Anglican Diocese of North Kigezi in Uganda as Christ Our Lord Anglican Church. It is the third mission to leave the diocese because of the 2003 consecration of New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson as the world's first openly homosexual bishop, but the first to abandon its property. Read More.
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So, so sorry
HT: Ken
What's the big deal about how Mr. Clinton says "I'm sorry" for the Monica Lewinsky affair? Some people say apologies aren't needed, others that they make no difference, still others that if only the president would truly apologize, the nation could forgive, forget, and move on.
These views can't all be true. It's worth pondering what apologies by public officials can and cannot do. The question will be with us long after Mr. Clinton is gone, because in a fallen world there will always be misdeeds.
Can do: Apology limits the moral harm of scandal. The original meaning of "scandal" isn't "titillating media circus," but "stumbling block"-something that causes us to fall. Perjury and adultery by politicians are scandalous not because they give politicians a bad name, but because they give perjury and adultery a good one. You can be sure that liars and philanderers across the nation are now using the president as their excuse. How can our present moral bleeding be stanched? The best way is if the one who is causing it stops in his tracks and repents of his bad example. Public repentance acknowledges the moral facts that the deed itself denied.
Cannot do: Apology cannot fully neutralize the harm already done. Some things in life are irreversible. You can't restore lost virginity, put lost blood back into a wound, or unsay lost words as though they were never spoken. God does bring good from repented evil, but it is not the same as the old good that was broken; even heaven will not be Eden, but something new. When we apologize, we put an end to our bad example, but we cannot mend all the harm it did while it was going on. Some cynicism persists, some ideals stay broken, some people who followed us off the path will never get onto it again. Read More.
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Monday, October 23, 2006
The Average American: 1967 And Today
We are better off financially now than in the 60's but less happy. Money isn't everything:
As the U.S. population crossed the 300 million mark sometime around 7:46 a.m. Tuesday (according to the U.S. Census Bureau), the typical family is doing a whole lot better than their grandparents were in 1967, the year the population first surpassed 200 million.
Mr. and Mrs. Median's $46,326 in annual income is 32% more than their mid-'60s counterparts, even when adjusted for inflation, and 13% more than those at the median in the economic boom year of 1985. And thanks to ballooning real estate values, average household net worth has increased even faster. The typical American household has a net worth of $465,970, up 83% from 1965, 60% from 1985 and 35% from 1995. Read More.
OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT?
This could change the political landscape, and I am sure Hillary is not pleased. A major problem for the democrats has been a lack of fresh blood and new ideas. Most of the candidates who have expressed interest are beyond their sell by date: Kerry, Edwards, Gore, Clinton, everyone knows what they stand for (or don’t stand for). Obama brings in fresh ideas and excitement. His main problem is lack of experience. This is getting interesting:
Sen. Barack Obama acknowledged Sunday he was considering a run for president in 2008, backing off previous statements that he would not do so.
The Illinois Democrat said he could no longer stand by the statements he made after his 2004 election and earlier this year that he would serve a full six-year term in Congress. He said he would not make a decision until after the Nov. 7 elections. Read More.
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Sunday, October 22, 2006
Bridges TV: Islamic Supremacism on US Television
From LGF:
While the Washington Post sanctions the propaganda of radical Islamists, our friends the Saudis are continuing their infiltration of American society, openly telling anyone who cares to listen that their goal is domination of the US, via the Islamic television channel Bridges TV: An Islamic TV Channel Expands Its US Audience.
Bridges TV, an American-Islamic TV channel “seeking to improve the image of Muslims in the United States” and to “offer a unique perspective on the Middle East and the war on terrorism,” has extended its availability into six states, creating a potential audience of nearly 2 million.
What is the “unique perspective” that Bridges TV hopes will “improve the image of Muslims in the US?” Read More.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
16% Approve of congress
An NBC/WSJ poll shows that only 16% of the population approves of congress. And some thought Bush's numbers were bad.
Link
Link
Liberals Gone Wild!
It's called BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome).
Why do Republicans drive leftists so crazy these days? Liberal democrats are beginning to sound like rowdy students on spring break, shrieking and exhibiting themselves on camera.
Consider some of the recent rabid outbursts by once sober, old-guard politicians. West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller insists that the world would be better off if Saddam were still running Iraq. Crotchety Congressman John Murtha, of Pennsylvania, rushed to announce that our Marines were guilty of killing Iraqis in "cold blood" before they were tried. Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin has compared our interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to Nazis, while Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry said our soldiers have "terrorized" Iraqi women and children.
Then there is the constant anger from Democratic ex-presidents. It used to be that out-of-office chief executives kept relatively hush. Presidents Ford and Bush Sr. - both voted out of office - did not bray when President Clinton had his trials, personal and otherwise. Read More.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Afghanistan: Kidnappers of Italian journalist demand return of Muslim convert to Christianity
Poor Rahman thought his ordeal was over. The problem is Muslims don't forget, even over several generations.
Abdul Rahman, you may recall, converted from Islam to Christianity and was spirited to Italy when Afghanistan's brave new democratic government determined to obey Muhammad's command to kill those who leave Islam (cf. Bukhari 4.52.260). Now jihadists in Afghanistan are demanding his return in exchange for a kidnapped Italian journalist. Read More.
Abdul Rahman, you may recall, converted from Islam to Christianity and was spirited to Italy when Afghanistan's brave new democratic government determined to obey Muhammad's command to kill those who leave Islam (cf. Bukhari 4.52.260). Now jihadists in Afghanistan are demanding his return in exchange for a kidnapped Italian journalist. Read More.
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Bush Gets It When So Many Others Don't
John Gibson makes some valid points. I didn't realise that 70% of Americans believe that we will probably be in a all out war with Islam:
According to a new poll, a majority of Americans now believe that George Bush isn't telling all about 9/11.
This is slightly different from the one-third of Americans who believe that the 9/11 attack was a plot of the American government.
Nonetheless, it is an indicator how much people have come to mistrust and not believe George W. Bush.
If Usama bin Laden takes credit for 9/11 but a third of the country still blames Bush, that says a ton about the irrationality of the dislike for Bush and the public relations victory of the Bush haters.
A recent FOX News poll shows that 70 percent of Americans think this country will be in an all-out war against radical Islam within 20 years. Read More.
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Massachusetts School Bans Tag Amid Fears of Injuries, Lawsuits
In Massachusetts they don't want kids to be kids in school. Sad:
Officials at an elementary school south of Boston have banned kids from playing tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chase game during recess for fear they'll get hurt and hold the school liable. Read More.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
In a Free Society, Campaigns Matter: The GOP Must Give Voters a Clear Choice
Interesting article by Newt Gingrich:
The elite media are giddy with anti-Republican euphoria. Their coverage has not been this biased against Republicans in three decades.
The Democrats are excited and convinced they will win a big victory.
Republicans are worried, demoralized and confused. I have been in eight states recently and the mood is similar everywhere.
Yet, an election is a choice between two futures. By simply comparing the positions of each party based upon historic facts, the choice of the desired future will become clear to the majority of the American people. And that choice is neither one in which Democrats celebrate nor Republicans concede. Read More.
The elite media are giddy with anti-Republican euphoria. Their coverage has not been this biased against Republicans in three decades.
The Democrats are excited and convinced they will win a big victory.
Republicans are worried, demoralized and confused. I have been in eight states recently and the mood is similar everywhere.
Yet, an election is a choice between two futures. By simply comparing the positions of each party based upon historic facts, the choice of the desired future will become clear to the majority of the American people. And that choice is neither one in which Democrats celebrate nor Republicans concede. Read More.
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Monday, October 16, 2006
REID TO REIMBURSE CAMPAIGN
This may or may not impact the elections. What it does show is that both parties have problems. I am ready for this political season to end:
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid has been using campaign donations instead of his personal money to pay Christmas bonuses for the support staff at the Ritz-Carlton where he lives in an upscale condominium. Federal election law bars candidates from converting political donations for personal use. Read More.
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Surprising Stats in New Church Research
Very Interesting, HT: Jerry.
Nationwide Church Attendance In The United States Less Than Half Of Previous Estimates
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
ST LOUIS, MO (ANS) -- Attendance at American churches is less than half of what we have believed in the past, according to Dave Olson, director of church planting for the Evangelical Covenant Church, and director of the American Church Research Project.
According to a news release from Mission America Coalition, Olson addressed the Mission America Coalition annual conference on its closing day with groundbreaking new research about the state of the American church. Instead of relying on limited survey data which is then extrapolated to the entire population, Olson has worked for years to build a database of actual recorded attendance in over 300,000 churches across
His vision was to present a much more accurate picture of what is really happening to the American church at both the national and local levels, and with information refined down to individual zip codes.
“I'm not relying on what people say, I'm measuring their actual behavior,” he told nearly 170 national church, ministry, and lay leaders gathered.
The released continued, “According to Olson's research, overall church attendance is virtually unchanged from 15 years ago, even though the
Jim Overholt, executive director of the Coalition said, “Having information about actual attendance at churches in individual communities is a significant leap forward by itself, but even more important is that we can now overlay the church data with census and other demographic information to tell us more about the dynamics of change within income, education, and other key sociological indicators that are also available by zip code.”
Olson's research revealed a number of surprising and often counter-intuitive statistics. For example: the evangelical church is growing fastest among the higher income, college-educated, suburban population, and declining fastest among the least educated, and in areas with the highest poverty rates.
“The evangelical church is becoming suburban, affluent, and educated,” Olson said.
“We live in a world today that is post-Christian, post-modern and multi-ethnic, whether we realize it or not,” he added. To reach this “new world” with the gospel, the church needs to change, he told the leaders gathered, echoing one of the key elements in the Coalition’s new initiative, Calling God’s People Together to Love Our Communities to Christ.
“The church needs to have an attitude of brokenness, humility, and repentance,” he said, admonishing that as evangelical Christians we tend to have an attitude of triumph--that we are right and the world should live like us. That attitude will keep us from reaching the lost for Christ, he said. He emphasized that the world simply acts the way it is supposed to -- as unbelievers. “This is the way it's always been, this is the way it's described in the Bible. The problem is that the church has not been acting like the church.”
“The Christian community needs a restoration of its understanding of the message and mission of Jesus. It needs to be less self-righteous, individualistic, and materialistic. It needs to be more biblical, Christo-centric, and holistic.” He said that when the Church talks about Jesus, it often does so in a second-hand way. “In a Christian world we can get away with that,” he says. But not in the emerging 21st century culture.
Olson's data and presentation to the Mission American Coalition annual meeting will be available to access online as of Oct. 17 at: www.theamericanchurch.org.
The Mission America Coalition is a network of national church leaders, representing denominations, ministries, and other key Christian leaders with a shared vision to collaborate in prayer, evangelism, and revival. Since its inception, leaders from 81 denominations, over 400 ministries and dozens of ministry networks have been involved in the Coalition. Mrs. Vonette Bright (Campus Crusade for Christ), Dr. Billy Graham (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association), and Dr. John Perkins (Christian Community Development Association) serve as honorary co-chairs.
For more information about Mission America Coalition or the “Loving Our Communities to Christ” initiative, www.missionamerica.org.
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Saturday, October 14, 2006
Wife of School Gunman Thanks Amish for Forgiveness
An amazing story. The Amish have shown true christian mercy.
The wife of a gunman who killed five girls and injured five others at an Amish school released a statement thanking the Amish and others in the Lancaster County community for their "forgiveness, grace and mercy." Read More.
The wife of a gunman who killed five girls and injured five others at an Amish school released a statement thanking the Amish and others in the Lancaster County community for their "forgiveness, grace and mercy." Read More.
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Thursday, October 12, 2006
Calorie-busting drink launched in US
This is one to look forward to:
Here's a sales pitch any street hustler or miracle-cure vendor would have to love: drink Coca-Cola, and lose weight at the same time!That may sound, at first blush, about as likely as beach-front property in Wolverhampton. But the company responsible for the world's most popular variant on carbonated sugar-water is serious. Next month, the Coca-Cola Company is launching a tea-based drink called Enviga which, it says, will actually burn more calories than it adds to the body of the average, healthy consumer. Read More.
Here's a sales pitch any street hustler or miracle-cure vendor would have to love: drink Coca-Cola, and lose weight at the same time!That may sound, at first blush, about as likely as beach-front property in Wolverhampton.
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Outreach or Inreach?
Thought provoking:
Common wisdom says that inwardly focused churches need to focus on outreach in order to change. Dallas Willard challenges this wisdom in Renovation of the Heart:
It is, I gently suggest, a serious error to make "outreach" a primary goal of the local congregation, and especially so when those who are already "with us" have not become clear-headed and devoted apprentices of Jesus, and are not, for the most part, solidly progressing along the path. Outreach is one essential task of Christ's people, and among them there will always be those especially gifted for evangelism. But the most successful work of outreach would be the work of inreach that turns people, wherever they are, into lights in the darkened world. Read More.
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Book says Bush just using Christians
Really interesting timing:
More than five years after President Bush created the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, the former second-in-command of that office is going public with an insider’s tell-all account that portrays an office used almost exclusively to win political points with both evangelical Christians and traditionally Democratic minorities...some of the nation’s most prominent evangelical leaders were known in the office of presidential political strategist Karl Rove as “the nuts.”Read More.
Some more of the October surprise.
More than five years after President Bush created the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, the former second-in-command of that office is going public with an insider’s tell-all account that portrays an office used almost exclusively to win political points with both evangelical Christians and traditionally Democratic minorities...some of the nation’s most prominent evangelical leaders were known in the office of presidential political strategist Karl Rove as “the nuts.”Read More.
Some more of the October surprise.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Muslim-Themed Products Mimic Icons in American Popular Culture
This article is a great example of contextualization:
For Muslims wanting their fast food, soda and dolls infused with a little Islamic flair, Beurger King Muslim, Mecca-Cola and Fulla might be just the ticket. Read More.
For Muslims wanting their fast food, soda and dolls infused with a little Islamic flair, Beurger King Muslim, Mecca-Cola and Fulla might be just the ticket. Read More.
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Moderate Europeans losing faith in Islam
Many are just now beginning to realise that Islam and the west are very different. They need to realise that it is really, really different.
Europe appears to be crossing an invisible line regarding its Muslim minorities: More people in the political mainstream are arguing that Islam cannot be reconciled with European values. "You saw what happened with the pope," said Patrick Goeman, 43, the owner of Raga, a funky wine bar in central Antwerp, half an hour outside Brussels. "He said Islam is an aggressive religion. And the next day they kill a nun somewhere and make his point. "Rationality is gone." Read More.
Europe appears to be crossing an invisible line regarding its Muslim minorities: More people in the political mainstream are arguing that Islam cannot be reconciled with European values. "You saw what happened with the pope," said Patrick Goeman, 43, the owner of Raga, a funky wine bar in central Antwerp, half an hour outside Brussels. "He said Islam is an aggressive religion. And the next day they kill a nun somewhere and make his point. "Rationality is gone." Read More.
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Announcement of Glorious Nuclear Achievement to Gangster Stooges of Blogosphere
This is a hilarious spoof on the North Korean news bulletin when they supposedly went nuclear.
In the back yard of scientific researchings behind the Great Storage Shed of the People, Iowahawk scientists successfully conducted above-ground nuclear missile test explosions under secure and many malt liquor conditions on early hours of October 10, 2006, at a stirring time when alarm clocks of the neighborhood have yet to clangle. To the impotent yappings of the neighboring gangster devils, Iowahawk responds: howl away, bourgeois traitors of Lakewood Mobile Home Court! Your pitious lamentations and cowardly 911-callings will never stop Iowahawk from the great leap forward into great and powerful prosperity, using his mighty quiver of nuclear-tipped cherry bombs and fully-fissionable bottle rockets for peaceful unity purposes! Read More.
In the back yard of scientific researchings behind the Great Storage Shed of the People, Iowahawk scientists successfully conducted above-ground nuclear missile test explosions under secure and many malt liquor conditions on early hours of October 10, 2006, at a stirring time when alarm clocks of the neighborhood have yet to clangle. To the impotent yappings of the neighboring gangster devils, Iowahawk responds: howl away, bourgeois traitors of Lakewood Mobile Home Court! Your pitious lamentations and cowardly 911-callings will never stop Iowahawk from the great leap forward into great and powerful prosperity, using his mighty quiver of nuclear-tipped cherry bombs and fully-fissionable bottle rockets for peaceful unity purposes! Read More.
Instructor who doubts 9/11 compares Bush to Hitler
Whether you like Bush or not this is beyond the pale. The level of rhetoric coming from both sides of the political spectrum is increasingly strident. This is not strident, it is absurd.
A University of Wisconsin-Madison instructor who has come under scrutiny for saying that the U.S. government orchestrated the Sept. 11 attacks compares President Bush to Adolf Hitler in an essay that his students are being required to buy. Read More.
A University of Wisconsin-Madison instructor who has come under scrutiny for saying that the U.S. government orchestrated the Sept. 11 attacks compares President Bush to Adolf Hitler in an essay that his students are being required to buy. Read More.
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Tuesday, October 10, 2006
The Outcome is in OUR Hands
Totally partisan, and very interesting!
Here we are enduring the ongoing saga of Foleygate, immersed in a steady stream of scandalous revelations about who and when, what and where. After news broke of former GOP Rep. Mark Foley's disgraceful acts, it was only a matter of time before the headlines would begin tolling the death knell for the GOP’s chances in November. "GOP in meltdown" was the headline recently at MSN online. "Bush approval sinks to new low" was another. Phrases like "tipping point" and "nail in the coffin" are being banged out of keyboard after keyboard across the country faster than my 8-year-old can tell you his life story. Read More.
Here we are enduring the ongoing saga of Foleygate, immersed in a steady stream of scandalous revelations about who and when, what and where. After news broke of former GOP Rep. Mark Foley's disgraceful acts, it was only a matter of time before the headlines would begin tolling the death knell for the GOP’s chances in November. "GOP in meltdown" was the headline recently at MSN online. "Bush approval sinks to new low" was another. Phrases like "tipping point" and "nail in the coffin" are being banged out of keyboard after keyboard across the country faster than my 8-year-old can tell you his life story. Read More.
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Monday, October 09, 2006
The Quiet Sermon
A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going.. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him.
It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his pastors visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited.
The pastor made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead.
Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The Pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.
As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday."
We live in a world today, which tries to say too much with too little. Consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left unspoken.
If you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything!
HT: JoAnne
It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his pastors visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited.
The pastor made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead.
Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The Pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.
As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday."
We live in a world today, which tries to say too much with too little. Consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left unspoken.
If you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything!
HT: JoAnne
Sunday, October 08, 2006
As the storm of war approaches
For the life of me I can't figure out what is Russia's problem. They have Islamic terrorists in Chechnya, yet they back up radical Islam in the middle east. Is it just a reflexive cold war attitude? I don't know, but it is disconcerting. Russia has meddled in the middle east for decades and now seem to be stiring thepot again. Has anyone been reading the book of Revelation lately?
The clouds of the coming war are converging upon Israel. But our political and military leaders refuse to look up at the darkening sky.
The Russian bear has awakened after 15 years of hibernation. Under the leadership of former KGB commander President Vladimir Putin, Russia is reasserting its traditional hostility towards Israel. Read More.
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Saturday, October 07, 2006
Evangelicals Fear the Loss of Their Teenagers
I'm afraid this might be true. I wish there were better stats, but my gut feeling and experience tells me we are losing our youth:
Despite their packed megachurches, their political clout and their increasing visibility on the national stage, evangelical Christian leaders are warning one another that their teenagers are abandoning the faith in droves.
At an unusual series of leadership meetings in 44 cities this fall, more than 6,000 pastors are hearing dire forecasts from some of the biggest names in the conservative evangelical movement. Read More.
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Random Thoughts on the Sign Gifts
Considering issues I have no problem with. This is for Christians's who are unsure of this "spiritual gifting" stuff. HT: Smart Christian
...mulling over the issues with regards to the 'sign' or 'miraculous' gifts. Here are some random thoughts I've been chewing on...
1. 1 Corinthians 13.8-13. This is not profound, but merely an acknowledgement of what the majority of evangelicalism has already said: these verses are not referring to the closing of the canon. Without this text, the intratextual evidence for any strong cessationist position is incredibly weak. To my knowledge this is the only text cessationists use to argue their position that Paul knew of the gifts coming to an end. Further, even if we could allow that this text is speaking of these gifts (tongues, prophecies, and knowledge), then why do we include things like the gift of healing in the list of gifts which have ceased? Read More.
...mulling over the issues with regards to the 'sign' or 'miraculous' gifts. Here are some random thoughts I've been chewing on...
1. 1 Corinthians 13.8-13. This is not profound, but merely an acknowledgement of what the majority of evangelicalism has already said: these verses are not referring to the closing of the canon. Without this text, the intratextual evidence for any strong cessationist position is incredibly weak. To my knowledge this is the only text cessationists use to argue their position that Paul knew of the gifts coming to an end. Further, even if we could allow that this text is speaking of these gifts (tongues, prophecies, and knowledge), then why do we include things like the gift of healing in the list of gifts which have ceased? Read More.
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The Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals
Totally subjective (though thought out) list of the top 50 books that have shaped the Evangelical movement. This list also shows how out of touch I am, I didn't recognise many of them!
People and movements can be defined by the books they read and remember.
The time it takes to read and digest a book requires us to engage someone else's ideas with more seriousness than almost any other activity. So it is with some trepidation that we present this list. Read More.
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Thank You, Mike Gallagher
DJ Drummond on the Westboro Baptist Church:
Like vultures and jackals around a corpse, the mad pack calling themselves Westboro Baptist declared that they would be protesting at the funerals of several Amish schoolgirls murdered in Pennsylvania. How anyone could be so craven and evil as to play such an event for publicity is beyond even my normally active imagination, but the bottom line is that Mike Gallagher stepped in and made a deal – if the group would promise – in writing – not to picket the funerals of these innocent girls, he would turn over an hour of his nationally-broadcast radio show to the group. The group accepted, and so far appear to have honored their word, such as it is. Read More.
Like vultures and jackals around a corpse, the mad pack calling themselves Westboro Baptist declared that they would be protesting at the funerals of several Amish schoolgirls murdered in Pennsylvania. How anyone could be so craven and evil as to play such an event for publicity is beyond even my normally active imagination, but the bottom line is that Mike Gallagher stepped in and made a deal – if the group would promise – in writing – not to picket the funerals of these innocent girls, he would turn over an hour of his nationally-broadcast radio show to the group. The group accepted, and so far appear to have honored their word, such as it is. Read More.
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Friday, October 06, 2006
Poll Says Many Pentecostals Don't Speak in Tongues
Just from anectodal evidence I would say this poll is fairly accurate. It is also of concern:
Speaking in tongues, long a hallmark of Pentecostalism, is not practiced by a significant number of charismatic and Pentecostal Christians, a new 10-country survey shows.
The survey, released Thursday by the Washington-based Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, found that experiences of divine healing of physical ailments were far more prominent for those who affiliate with the vibrant and growing segment of Christianity.
Researchers found that many Pentecostals and charismatics attend worship services where speaking in tongues and other signs of the Holy Spirit are evident. But in six of the 10 countries surveyed, at least 40 percent of Pentecostals said they never pray or speak in tongues. Read More.
HT: Jerry
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Race clashes hit Windsor
This hits close to home, I used to live in Slough, which is right next to Windsor.
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Extra police are being drafted into the Windsor area today after three nights of violent clashes between white and Asian youths.
Gangs have fought battles in the streets using baseball bats and pitchforks. A Muslim-run dairy which wants to build a mosque was petrol bombed.
Dozens of officers have been deployed to stop and search youths and mounted police are being brought in. Read More.
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Bible-Reading Student Gets Lesson in Litigation
Is this crazy or what?
Amber Mangum was a frequent reader during lunch breaks at her Prince George's County middle school, silently soaking up the adventures of Harry Potter and other tales in the spare minutes before afternoon classes. The habit was never viewed as a problem -- not, a lawsuit alleges, until the book she was reading was the Bible.
A vice principal at Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School in Laurel last month ordered Amber, then 12, to stop reading the Bible or face punishment, according to a lawsuit filed Friday by Amber's mother. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, alleges that the vice principal's actions violated the girl's civil rights. Read More
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Thursday, October 05, 2006
Quantum data teleported from light to atoms
This is pretty cool and the ramifications for computers is staggering:
Beaming people in "Star Trek" fashion is still in the realms of science fiction, but physicists in Denmark have used weird quantum teleportation to transfer information from photons to atoms, bringing the dream of lightning-fast quantum computers closer to reality. Read More.
Beaming people in "Star Trek" fashion is still in the realms of science fiction, but physicists in Denmark have used weird quantum teleportation to transfer information from photons to atoms, bringing the dream of lightning-fast quantum computers closer to reality. Read More.
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Show Them Who Is the Boss in France
Another article on the spreading intifada that is beginning to engulf Europe. HT: Powerline.
Here are today’s headlines in Belgium’s (only) Sunday newspaper De Zondag. Page One: “No Sign of Revolt in Belgium Yet.” Page Five: “Violence Moves Towards Belgium.” It almost sounds like a weather forecast, anticipating the onslaught of a hurricane that is inevitably coming.
What is happening in France has been brewing in Old Europe for years. The BBC speaks of “youths” venting their “anger.” The BBC is wrong. It is not anger that is driving the insurgents to take it out on the secularised welfare states of Old Europe. It is hatred. Hatred caused not by injustice suffered, but stemming from a sense of superiority. The “youths” do not blame the French, they despise them. Read More.
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Hizballah's use of Western Media
Muslims are waging civil war against us, claims police union
Sounds like France is having some serious problems. It is difficult to say what will actually happen, but they must get a handle on it:
Radical Muslims in France's housing estates are waging an undeclared "intifada" against the police, with violent clashes injuring an average of 14 officers each day. Read More.
Radical Muslims in France's housing estates are waging an undeclared "intifada" against the police, with violent clashes injuring an average of 14 officers each day. Read More.
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'Too late' to stop N Korea's bomb
This is actually quite frightening:
China, the US, Japan, South Korea and the UN launched frantic diplomacy in response to Tuesday night's announcement that North Korea would stage its first nuclear explosion because of an "extreme threat of nuclear war and sanctions" from the Americans.
China confirmed yesterday that President Hu Jintao would meet Japan's tough-talking new Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, on Sunday in a summit that now has a sharp edge of urgency.
Mr Abe yesterday repeated the demand that North Korea halt nuclear test preparations and promised: "Japan will work with the US, China South Korean and other countries concerned to respond to this situation." Read More.
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Wednesday, October 04, 2006
John Kerry
Jay Leno: "A reporter said today, in news, he overheard John Kerry saying that he's pretty much feeling what you need to feel to run for president. You know, John, if you just lie down for a while, I think that feeling will pass."
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RUDY GETS MAJORITY
Giuliani is the only politician to get majority support in the latest Marist poll:
The front-runners for the 2008 nominations are Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, and only Giuliani gets majority support in a general election, according to the latest Marist poll.
Republicans who want to hold the White House need to look at these numbers; they’re amazing. Giuliani gets majority support for his political views across almost all political demographics, and a plurality of Democrats. Thirty-two percent of Democrats want him to run in 2008. His candidacy has gained support from last year, something that only Newt Gingrich can say, and then only from fourth place. John McCain has suffered a significant drop in his support from February; perhaps his new emphasis on conservative values has caused some revisionism among his former fans on the Left. Read More.
McCain seems to be losing support. Interesting.
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Anti-Gay Kansas Church Denies Protests at Funerals for Slain Amish Girls
These people are sick, they have no concept of what christianity is all about. Notice in the article how big the congregation is, 70. What they aren't saying is it's almost all family members.
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The controversial anti-homosexual Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., plans to stage a protest at the funerals of the five Amish girls executed in their Pennsylvania school, according to a flyer posted on the church's Web site.
The church is protesting the funerals because of the attendance of Pennsylvania Gov. George Rendell, who has spoken out against the church publicly, the flyer says. Read More.
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Monday, October 02, 2006
The Islamic doctrine of abrogation
This article explains why the Koranic verses on violent jihad takes precedence over the earlier verses on peace. Spencers article in in response to Dean Esmay and is a must read for a better understanding of the Muslim justification of violent jihad. Link.
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Resign, Mr. Speaker
After reading more about this Foley fiasco, it is time for the speaker to resign. Once it was found out that some in the leadership knew of the antics Foley has done in the past their credibility has been shot. How will this impact the elections? In a sense I don't care. What is right is right and this filth must be cleaned up. Hastert should resign as speaker. The Washington Times (not just the Post) is echoing these same sentiments:
The facts of the disgrace of Mark Foley, who was a Republican member of the House from a Florida district until he resigned last week, constitute a disgrace for every Republican member of Congress. Red flags emerged in late 2005, perhaps even earlier, in suggestive and wholly inappropriate e-mail messages to underage congressional pages. His aberrant, predatory -- and possibly criminal -- behavior was an open secret among the pages who were his prey. The evidence was strong enough long enough ago that the speaker should have relieved Mr. Foley of his committee responsibilities contingent on a full investigation to learn what had taken place, whether any laws had been violated and what action, up to and including prosecution, were warranted by the facts. This never happened. Read More.
Update:
Captain Ed agrees, one of the things about leadership is that it is proactive. When the leadership became aware they should have immedietely started a thorough investigation, when it became apparent that a pattern was emerging action should have been taken.
Captain Ed says:
The facts of the disgrace of Mark Foley, who was a Republican member of the House from a Florida district until he resigned last week, constitute a disgrace for every Republican member of Congress. Red flags emerged in late 2005, perhaps even earlier, in suggestive and wholly inappropriate e-mail messages to underage congressional pages. His aberrant, predatory -- and possibly criminal -- behavior was an open secret among the pages who were his prey. The evidence was strong enough long enough ago that the speaker should have relieved Mr. Foley of his committee responsibilities contingent on a full investigation to learn what had taken place, whether any laws had been violated and what action, up to and including prosecution, were warranted by the facts. This never happened. Read More.
Update:
Captain Ed agrees, one of the things about leadership is that it is proactive. When the leadership became aware they should have immedietely started a thorough investigation, when it became apparent that a pattern was emerging action should have been taken.
Captain Ed says:
But let's put that aside for the moment, and concentrate on what Hastert and the leadership say they did in response to Foley. Once they found out about the e-mails through the complaint of an underage page, all they did was ask Foley about it, and accepted his denials at face value. Incredibly, no one apparently ever asked any of Foley's former or current pages if they had noticed any inappropriate behavior from the Congressman. What kind of an investigation doesn't address the reality of patterns in allegedly predatory behavior? Foley's uncommon interest in young teenage boys had become parlor talk among the pages, but either Hastert didn't want to find that out or deliberately avoided it. Hastert apparently made the decision not to follow procedures and refer the matter to the Page Board, the bipartisan committee that oversees pages, and that looks very clearly like a cover-up.
And someone has to explain why Foley retained his position on the Caucus for Missing and Exploited Children. No one saw a problem with this?
Even ascribing the best of intentions to Hastert and the other members of leadership, personal friendship with Foley doesn't excuse that level of incompetence. Furthermore, when the scandal broke, Hastert should have immediately explained his involvement in the earlier complaint, rather than wait for it to dribble out. That's what leadership means: controlling a situation and providing an example rather than allowing events to control you and your party. All Hastert needed to do was to come out on Friday and said, "We had a complaint about suggestive e-mails this winter, and we relied on Mark Foley's word that nothing more untoward had occurred. In hindsight, that was a mistake, but we wanted to honor the wishes of the parents and not make a public spectacle of the situation." It wouldn't have explained the earlier incompetence, but at least it would have dampened the firestorm that erupted around the changing stories of House leadership. Link.
Hugh Hewitt disagrees; be sure to read his whole post. OTB agrees, as does La Shawn Barber.
Dean Barnett agrees: Link
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Immigrant rights group calls for boycott
Obey the law, expect a boycott:
A local group fighting for immigrant rights is calling for a boycott of two nationally known companies. Dunkin Donuts and Applebee's are accused of discriminating against immigrant workers whose names don't match their social security numbers. Read More.
Truly amazing!
A local group fighting for immigrant rights is calling for a boycott of two nationally known companies. Dunkin Donuts and Applebee's are accused of discriminating against immigrant workers whose names don't match their social security numbers. Read More.
Truly amazing!
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Abortion and Business at Top of Supreme Court's Docket
This is going to be extremely interesting:
The Supreme Court opens Monday with a bevy of cases relating to abortion, environmental rules and affirmative action. The size of jury awards and patent law are also on the docket for the 2006-2007 year. Read More.
The Supreme Court opens Monday with a bevy of cases relating to abortion, environmental rules and affirmative action. The size of jury awards and patent law are also on the docket for the 2006-2007 year. Read More.
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Sunday, October 01, 2006
For Supreme Court's new term: rise of a new centrist
Justice Kennedy is seen as the pivotal swing vote in the Supreme court. Many hot button issues including partial birth abortion are going to be coming up. This is going to be a judicial season to watch closely.
Key abortion and racial cases could signal whether Justice Kennedy shifts court to the right or maintains precedents. Read More.
Key abortion and racial cases could signal whether Justice Kennedy shifts court to the right or maintains precedents. Read More.
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