Monthly Archives: March 2009

False teachers

Michael Scott, President Obama & theological liberals

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I always laugh at the scene from The Office where the boss, Michael Scott, reveals his utter narcissism and desperate need for approval:

Do I need to be liked?  Absolutely not.  I like to be liked.  I enjoy being liked.  I have to be liked.  But it’s not this compulsive need to be liked, like my need to be praised.

That captures the personalities of President Obama in particular and the theological Left in general.  “How dare orthodox Christians claim that Jesus is the only way!  The Bible only makes that point explicitly and implicitly one hundred times or so.  They are such religious bigots!  We know that God speaks through all these religions.  Ahhhhhh . . . we showed them.  Now the world will like us and our made-up version of ‘Christianity.'”

Yes, the world likes you all.  Congratulations.

1 John 2:15-16 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.

Roundup

Roundup

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Clinton to Receive Planned Parenthood’s Highest Award, named after eugenicist Margaret Sanger.  What a vile award. It speaks volumes that Clinton would be a recipient.  PP tries to downplay Sanger’s eugenics work as if it was just some quirky trait, but it was foundational to her philosophy.  Among other things, she would bribe black ministers so they would encourage their congregations to be sterilized.

eugenics [(yooh-jen-iks)] – The idea that one can improve the human race by careful selection of those who mate and produce offspring.

Note: Eugenics was a popular theory in the early twentieth century but is no longer taken seriously, primarily because of the horrors of the eugenic efforts of the Nazi regime in Germany.

Enjoy your award, Hillary.  Sanger would be proud that you aggressively support abortion policies that eliminate blacks at three times the rate of whites.

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The Right to Bear Arms: Successes of the Week — Yea for well armed citizens and concealed weapons permits!  If only the media would trumpet these successes then perhaps more bad guys would consider another line of work — or at least a less violent form of theft, such as politics.  Criminals understand odds better than you think.

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Rights, Religion, and the Soul of the Nation — Timely piece on a foundational issue with socialism and communism.  Polls show that “70% of mainline clergy believe the government should play a more active role in solving social problems and 90% of UCC clergy support more active government intervention in social issues,” and some “Christian” pastors (the fake kind) think that is something to be proud of.  But the consequences of government attempting to provide everything are horrific.  They fail miserably and leave drastic unintended consequences in their wake.

The idea that everyone has a right to everything and that it will all be provided by an omniscient and presumably beneficent government is a seductive one. Justice is, after all, a Christian virtue. In reality, however, a world of rights and distributive justice is dry, heartless, and dehumanizing. It is a world driven entirely by duty and, as such, it is a world that makes generosity and gratitude—two basic religious impulses—impossible. To use Martin Luther’s terms, it is a world of law with no room for grace. Where demands and duty rule the day, charity is superfluous. Schall writes:

“In a socialist world, no charity can exist because there can be no need that is unfulfilled by the commonality’s duty. It is a world in which there can be no gratitude. I can thank someone for giving me what is really his. I cannot thank him for giving me what is by rights already mine. “

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 The Devil is in the Details: Nightline Faceoff on Satan — a thorough and excellent piece on the televised debate on Satan’s existence between  Mark Driscoll and Anne Lobert (pro) and Deepak Chopra and Charles Pearson (con).

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News that you missed — because actors are more popular than war heroes.

Miscellaneous

Dedicated to sarcastic people. You know who you are.

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According to Australian scientists, sarcasm can help diagnose dementia.  Apparently those under 65 suffering from a common form of dementia cannot detect when someone is being sarcastic.

So for those of you who heart sarcasm or insist that you have the spiritual gift of sarcasm, you now have an easy answer when people get irritated at you: Just tell them you were doing a dementia screen and that you’ll be performing one again real soon.  They should be relieved and grateful at the results of their free mental health check up.  Look at you, what an altruistic public servant! 

As Homer Simpson would say, “In case you couldn’t tell, I was being sarcastic.” 

Source: Birmingham’s City Paper (I’m hanging out in Alabama today as my daughter is auditioning for their ballet tomorrow).

Bible

Reasons not to teach the Bible in public schools

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bible5.gifThis is what you’ll probably get:

Dalmatian Theologians (your basic false teachers, who insist that the Bible is only inspired in spots and that they are inspired to spot the spots)

Kids, get out your scissors!  The Bible has all sorts of parts that don’t belong plus some things that are missing. 

The Book of John doesn’t belong there.  We’ll replace it with the gospel of Thomas. 

Then cut out the 100 passages that teach that Jesus is the only way to salvation.  And all the parts of the Old Testament saying not to worship other gods.  I’d look pretty stupid running around saying that all religions are valid paths to God if those were still in my holy book, wouldn’t I?

Now this won’t take long to read!

Pro-gay theologians

OK, kids, I want you to meet my husband.  We’re going to hug and kiss in front of you, then I’ll read you some illustrated gay fiction, then we’ll study the Bible.

Lesson 1: When Leviticus 18:22 says, “‘Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable,” it really means, “Go ahead and lie with a man as man lies with a woman, because it is not detestable.”

Slippery Christians (Dalmatian Theologians part II)

The Bible is the word of God.  Really, all of it is.  Except the parts that aren’t.  I’ll let you know which is which, because the Holy Spirit inspired me to know the difference — even though He couldn’t inspire the original writers properly.

Postmodern Christians

Teacher: There is no truth, including the Bible.

Kids: Is that statement true?  And isn’t truth just what is real? 

Teacher: No, kids.  It only seems that way.  When you get older and go to college and seminary then you get to say things that 1st graders know are stupid, and you get to release endorphins afterwards because of your smug satisfaction of thinking you are smarter than other people.

Pro-abortion Christians (must . . . resist . . . urge . . . to use scare quotes)

Teacher: Hey kids, life doesn’t begin at conception.  Just ignore those pesky embryology textbooks.  God thinks abortion is just another choice.  And He gave you free will, right?  Abortion is just an exercise of that free will. 

Feel free to add your own! 

Of course, you could get people on the other extreme as well with graceless Christianity. 

Seriously, I am all for Bible reading and I know that the schools that do teach it are supposed to use it as part of history and not to advance a religion.   I do trust that God’s word is powerful and can achieve its purpose even when people use it improperly. 

But I don’t trust that public schools would teach it properly.  There are many denominations and even many churches within my own denomination that I wouldn’t send my dogs to, let alone my kids.  I don’t want to see the Bible mocked.

What do you think?  Are you aware of programs where it has been consistently and properly taught about its content and place in history?  How do you ensure it isn’t abused?

Roundup

Roundup

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Should Michael Vick be reinstated?  Yes. He has paid dearly for his serious crimes – many millions of dollars, a big chunk of his career, prison time, reputation, etc.What he did was awful, yet think of how many pro-choice people dare to criticize Vick. They think crushing and dismembering innocent human beings is fine as long as they are in the womb, but cruelty to animals is unforgivable.

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The Hand of God?  Excellent analysis by the Raving Theist (formerly the Raving Atheist) about the plane crash and deaths of the children of a mega-abortionist. 

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Just when you think the media bias couldn’t get any more extreme or bizarre, a CNN journalist spends 700 words explaining why he asked Obama a “tough” question.  The Lefties were apparently aghast that someone would dare ask a real question, so Ed Henry felt that he must not just communicate the news but become the news and offer an apology / explanation.

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Former Homosexual Comments on George Weber Sex-Murder by Young ‘Sadomasochist’  Another sad story.  Sin has consequences. 

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Some unintended consequences of Episcopal abandonment of the authority of scripture — I’m sure these Islamists could come up with lots of reasons for their violence, but still . . .

In fact, one church’s human-rights issue is creating another church’s human-rights crisis. “”Islamists had slaughtered thousands of Christians in [Bishop Josiah] Idowu-Fearon’s diocese, and Christians in Nigeria are willing to die for their faith, he said. But to be undermined by Western abandonment of biblical authority is a crushing blow.

Sudanese Anglican Archbishop Daniel “Deng Bul said Christians in Sudan ‘are called infidels by the Islamic world when they hear our brothers and sisters from the Christian world talking about same-sex [relationships] to be blessed.’ When Muslims link the churches in Sudan with the churches that have left biblical teaching on homosexuality, this gives them a way to say that Christians are evil: ‘It will give them the upper hand to kill our people,’ the archbishop warned. “

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I talked with  . . . is an interesting blog site set up by Justin

If you are a Christian who regularly witnesses to people, you might be like me and want a way to follow up with those people.  That is why I have started a new website at iTalkedWith.com.  Say your name is Jeff and you want a webpage you can give to people you witness to so that they can read your testimony, hear the message of the gospel again, and email you questions.  You could sign up for a webpage with me and your web address could be ITalkedWith.com/jeff  Cool huh?

Roundup

Roundup

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Britain is waking up to the effects of their complacency as their freedoms erode more and more.  When they banned handguns, the government controlled the law-abiding people but not the criminals.  Go figure.  A crime victim in an isolated location is in jail for using a gun to protect himself while the criminal is already out of jail.  This is insane.  Will we continue to make the same mistakes?

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You might be an Obamunist if . . .  — sad but true.  Samples:

  • You believe the bloated wastefulness of companies like AIG should be punished by putting them under the control of the bloated wastefulness of the buffoons in Congress.
  • You dislike dealing with large, inefficient, uncaring government bureaucracies like the DMV or the IRS, but hope Obama will give you “free” healthcare provided by a large, inefficient, uncaring government bureaucracy.

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    “Christian” denomination says to pass out condoms at church — surprise!  It’s the UCC!

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    PCUSA Considers Editing Out Biblical Teaching on Gays — shocking.

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    Stan nails the problems with business-like marketing of the church:

    The first rule of business is “The customer is always right”; the first message of the Gospel is “all have sinned”. In business you tailor your product to meet the customers’ needs; the “product” of the church is God. Or put it this way: Business never asks customers to submit to their product.

    What seemed like a good idea may not have been. It just may be that, in our aim to “redeem the culture”, we sold out the Gospel.

    I do think many of the things that make one successful in business will help make churches successful: Clear communications, knowing how to manage people, organization skills, efficiency, etc.  There is no excuse to run a church in a sloppy manner.  We should be good stewards of everything God gives us.  But we can’t change the message to win people over.

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    Prominent Ugandan AIDS activist Martin Ssempa thanked Pope Benedict for saying that condoms can exacerbate the problem of HIV/AIDS — they are both right.

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    The Shameful Lynching of A.I.G. Executives — just do a little research.  Obama & Co. are at fault.  If not, they’d be blaming Bush like they do for most everything else.

    Christian worldview

    If it feels good, you shouldn’t necessarily do it

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    warning.gifMany people subscribe to the philosophy of “if it feels good, do it,” or its cousin, utilitarianism, which is defined as:

    the ethical doctrine that virtue is based on utility, and that conduct should be directed toward promoting the greatest happiness of the greatest number of persons (Dictionary.com)

    I see at least three significant problems with these philosophies. 

    First, measuring happiness in any meaningful way for large amounts of people is impossible, even at a point in time and definitely not over extended periods of time. 

    Second, the “greatest number of persons” part is open to all sorts of evil.  Communism was an allegedly swell idea at its core once once you got rid of the few million dissenters.  You can rationalize slavery, Embryonic Stem Cell Research, abortion, theft and more with “greater good” theories.

    Third, it ignores the law of unintended consequences.  For example, gays in a pre-AIDS world could have easily rationalized that no one was getting hurt.  After all, they were consenting adults.  Who cared if they were having sex with hundreds of different people per year, often anonymously?  Oh, wait, AIDS came along, and took countless lives, including those of people who weren’t just “doing what feels good.”  Two guys I used to work with and played on volleyball teams with died as a consequence of just having “fun” back in the 80’s.  It has cost untold billions of dollars as well. 

    So when people are rationalizing sin it is good to remember that they may not see — or may not want to see — the consequences of their actions.  People forget to take pills.  Condoms break.  Guys not really committed to you leave.  Kids grow up without fathers.  Many of those kids become criminals and wreak havoc on the lives of others.  And on and on. 

    Ideas have consequences, and utilitarianism is a lousy idea with horrible consequences.  It is a hollow and deceptive philosophy that will try to take you captive and enslave you.

    Galatians 6:7-10 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

    Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. 

    Family / fun

    Mmmmmmm . . . chicken fried bacon

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    houston-livestockWe went to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo today.  This is one big deal if you like that sort of thing.  Over 21,000 volunteers put on quite the extravaganza.  I only go every 8 years or so.  As my youngest said, it is a good place to go and embrace your inner redneck.

    Highlights:

    • Eating the food noted in the title.  How could I resist?  It is  something you’d expect Homer Simpson to eat and is beyond parody.  It was pretty good.  The bacon was thicker than I like, but the outside was nice and crispy.  Now where did I put my defibrillator?
    • Cotton candy, funnel cakes, coke and a beef-potato-cheese burrito.  Not my usual fare, but tasty.
    • Mutton busting: Picture bronco busting, except with sheep instead of wild horses and five year olds instead of adults.  Seriously.  They would put the kids on top of the sheep and tell them to hang on.  Most fell off within 10 feet but a couple girls held on the whole time.  I couldn’t decide whether it was closer to animal abuse or child abuse.
    • Not a PETA booth in site.  Seriously, they would have non-stop strokes if they attended.  Aside from the rides there was nothing but grilled farm animals, leather products and livestock and rodeo animals.
    • Lots of baby pigs (living ones).
    • Fun with friends.
    • Some kid stopped me and told me I looked like Steve Carrell from The Office.  As long as I don’t act like him (Carrell’s character, not the kid) I’ll be OK.

    Lowlight: I only know one song by Brooks and Dunn (Red Dirt Road) and it wasn’t one of the few songs they played before we left.  D’oh!  I like how they don’t get bogged down in details, such as when he describes a break up and reconciliation in one line: “I lost Mary, oh I got her back again.”  You don’t even have time to worry about their relationship.

    Pro-life

    Planned Parenthood gets caught covering up statutory rape … again

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    Planned Parenthood gets caught covering up statutory rape… again

    What will it take to get widespread media coverage of the evils of Planned Parenthood?  Why does this organization, which performs more than 250,000 abortions per year, get hundreds of millions of dollars in government funding?

    Worse yet, with Obama in power the pro-abortionists will be trying to restrict or shut down Crisis Pregnancy Centers.  We don’t accept government funding at the CareNet Center where I volunteer and am on the board of directors, and I’m glad for that.  But that doesn’t mean they won’t try to put unnecessary restrictions on us anyway.

    If pro-abortionists really wanted to help women they wouldn’t be enemies of Crisis Pregnancy Centers and say things like this on the Planned Parenthood website: 

    Crisis Pregnancy Centers

    Deciding what to do about an unplanned pregnancy can be very difficult. It may be made even more difficult by so-called “crisis pregnancy centers.” These are fake clinics run by people who are anti-abortion. They have a history of giving women wrong, biased information to scare them into not having abortions.

    But PP’s information isn’t biased, is it?  Go watch the videos on the first link.  They systematically hide statutory rape over and over and over.  Thirteen year old girls with twenty-something boyfriends don’t even phase the PP “counselors.”  They just concoct lies to hide the felonies.

    These centers

    • may not give you complete and correct information about all your options — abortion, adoption, and parenting

    We share all that information at CareNet, including the risks of abortion.

    • may try to frighten you with misleading films and pictures to keep you from choosing abortion

    We don’t show anything misleading or inaccurate.  We don’t show pictures of abortions, but perhaps we should.  What could be more relevant to the topic?  We do show images of the developing human beings at different stages.

    • may lie to you about the medical and emotional effects of abortion

    That is ironic.  I wonder how much Planned Parenthood shares about the facts of post-abortion trauma?  Or do they still peddle the lie that you’ll just feel relieved?

    • may tell you that you are not pregnant even if you are. This may fool you into continuing your pregnancy without knowing it. If your decision is delayed, it could make abortion more risky. It could also keep you from getting early prenatal care.

    That is also ironic.  Abortionists have been caught telling girls they are pregnant when they are not and then selling them abortions.  They get all the guilt without ever really killing their unborn children. 

    • may discourage you from using certain methods of birth control that are very safe and effective

    Some birth control methods are abortifacients, meaning they block the implantation of a conception.  If people want to use those they have that legal right but they should be informed of how their birth control methods work.  Why does PP hide this information?

    Crisis pregnancy centers often pretend to be real health care providers — but many are not. These fake clinics often trick women with false advertising. They may make women think they will be offered unbiased information and a full range of health services.

    Only in liberal land is crushing and dismembering an innocent human being part of a “full range of health services.”

    As always, remember that forgiveness and healing are possible for those who have participated in the abortion process.

    Roundup

    Roundup

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    9 Things the Media Messed Up About the Obama Stem Cell Story – Only nine?  Seriously, it is sad and scary how incompetent and/or complicit the media is in perpetuating so many lies about this important issue.

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    Check out this video and story about a pop song dealing with leaving the “gay” lifestyle (you know, another one of those people who don’t exist)

    Italy’s “Festival di San Remo,” the most important musical happening in my country which is seen on T.V. by millions of Italians, became the unlikely platform this year for a powerful ex-gay testimony. The singer, Giuseppe Povia, winner of the festival in 2006, presented a song entitled, “Luca Era Gay” (Luca was once gay)  The title of his song, implying that some gays can change to heterosexuality, was sufficient to destabilize the Italian gay movement. Gay activists threatened to block the festival, and Europarlimentary member Vittorio Agnoletto asked for a European resolution to stop Povia from peforming the song. Povia, himself, received death threats. The gay association “Everyone” denounced Povia to the Procura of the Republic for alleged “homophobia.” These efforts failing, gay activists then asked the Festival organizers to “counterbalance” Povia with a song by a gay singer, about “the perfection of homosexual love.” That effort too, failed.

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    Bill Clinton flunks basic biology – He stated multiple times that embryos aren’t fertilized.  The press would have skewered McCain, Palin or President Bush for saying something so wrong. 

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    Blogroll addition: Zoo Station.  Check it out.  It has been in my blog reader forever but I didn’t realize he wasn’t on my blogroll.

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    Minnesota offers mortages to Muslims that pretend to be without interest – No religious preferences there, eh?  I wonder if they don’t take the tax deduction for the interest?  If so, I suppose that helps the tax receipts for the Feds.  The ACLU is going crazy over this, of course.  Oh, wait, no they aren’t.

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    Use aborted foetus organs in transplants, urges scientist 

    Kidneys and livers from aborted foetuses could be given to the desperately ill and ease the organ donor shortage, a leading scientist has claimed.

    But the proposal has horrified pro-life and Christian groups, who say it is ‘morally abhorrent’, and raises the prospect of abortions being timed to suit transplant patients.

    Yeah, those crazy pro-lifers and Christians think we shouldn’t grow human beings just to kill them and take their organs.

    But Professor Stuart Campbell, who has argued for the abortion time limit to be lowered, had no ethical objections to the proposal.

    He said many babies were aborted quite late, ‘and if they are going to be terminated, it is a shame to waste their organs’.

    He added: ‘I am sure very few of those on the transplant list would rather die than accept an organ from an aborted foetus.’

    Well, that seals the deal.  They might not mind taking an organ from a prisoner or homeless person, either.

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