Do you want to go to prison?

Just for a visit, of course.  Leave a comment if you want an application to attend the October 14 Kairos Prison Ministry weekend closing ceremony described below.  The application is due October 2, so you need to act quickly.

Attending a Kairos Closing is truly a rewarding experience.  You will be privileged to witness persons whose lives have been changed by the Holy Spirit as shared through the Kairos weekend team.

Closing dates and their Closing Application dates are as follows:

Closing Date                                     Application due Date

October 14, 2012                            October 2, 2012

March 10, 2013                                February 27, 2013

June 9, 2013                                      May 25, 2013

October 13, 2013                             September 29, 2013

Closings are held on Sunday afternoon of the Kairos Weekend from 4:30pm to 7:30pm.  To attend a closing:

  • You must be 18 years of age or older
  • You cannot be on an inmate’s visitation list for the carol Vance unit
  • You cannot be a friend or relative to an inmate at the Carol Vance unit

To apply to attend a Kairos closing, fill out and submit an Application Form by the due date listed above. After the application is received, a confirmation will be sent to you that it has been received via email. You will be notified if you were approved. The week before the Closing, an email will be sent to you with a map and other instructions concerning your visit.

Roundup

Mia Love runs rings around our current President and most politicians on both sides with her accurate and common sense views. I love how she is so clear and unapologetic. I hope she has a long and successful career.

—–

From the “I am not making this up, but I wish I was” category: Joel Osteen greeting cards.

;

;

;

;

—–

I’m relieved that the iPhone 5 announcement (Official response: “Yawn”) didn’t have more to it, or I might have been tempted to upgrade. But iOS6 looks good. They finally added a “rewind 10 seconds button” to go with the “forward 30 seconds” feature. And they added a double-speed option to go with the old 1.5 speed. There is a triple-speed option but that’s too fast!

—–

Anyone who thinks the Romney tax return issues are still a big deal is too gullible to vote. If only they cared a fraction as much about all the things Obama has sealed, or if they would take the time to learn about what he wrote in his own books! (Er, uh, at least what someone wrote in the books credited to him.)

The real story should be about how Senator Harry Reid and others told wild lies and won’t be held accountable.

If journalism hadn’t died in 2008 they’d be writing about how incredibly generous Romney has been for decades and about how stingy Obama and Biden are (not to mention Democratic politicians in general).

—-

This is highly scientific and true. Early in my career I almost said something about a client’s apparent pregnancy who turned out not to be pregnant. Ever since I remember not to say a thing, regardless of how pregnant someone looks.

—–

Benny Hinn is such a transparently false teacher that I put most of his followers in the “you got what you deserve category.” Here are just a few of his pronouncements, via The Watchman’s Bagpipes: Did They Really Say That?!?

“I’m sick and tired of hearing about streets of gold. I don’t need gold in heaven, I’ve got to have it now!”

“Poverty is a demon. God had to show me a vision of a demon literally to prove this to me.”

“I feel revelation knowledge already coming on me. … Holy Spirit take over in the name of Jesus. … You say, ‘I never heard of that.’ Well do you think you’re in this church to hear things you’ve heard for the last fifty years?”

“The Spirit of God tells me an earthquake will hit the east coast of America and destroy much in the nineties.” [never happened]

“Not one place will be safe from earthquakes in the nineties. Those who have not known earthquakes will know it.” [never happened]

“The Spirit tells me Fidel Castro will die in the nineties.” [still alive in 2012]

“And angels to this day can decide to rebel against God.”

“Now the Lord just told me – and I don’t know whether this is true or not…”

All you need to know about Benny Hinn

Benny Hinn is such a transparently false teacher that I put most of his followers in the “you got what you deserve category.”  Here are just a few of his pronouncements, via The Watchman’s Bagpipes: Did They Really Say That?!?

“I’m sick and tired of hearing about streets of gold.  I don’t need gold in heaven, I’ve got to have it now!”

“Poverty is a demon.  God had to show me a vision of a demon literally to prove this to me.”

“I feel revelation knowledge already coming on me. … Holy Spirit take over in the name of Jesus. … You say, ‘I never heard of that.’  Well do you think you’re in this church to hear things you’ve heard for the last fifty years?”

“The Spirit of God tells me an earthquake will hit the east coast of America and destroy much in the nineties.”  [never happened]

“Not one place will be safe from earthquakes in the nineties.  Those who have not known earthquakes will know it.”  [never happened]

“The Spirit tells me Fidel Castro will die in the nineties.” [still alive in 2012]

“And angels to this day can decide to rebel against God.”

“Now the Lord just told me – and I don’t know whether this is true or not…”

 

Facebook memes follow-up

I thought I’d post this comment and my response that resulted from the Facebook memes post.  Looks like I have another fan.

Your “logic” is irrevocobly flawed. I’m just curious, when was it that you “proved” your civil right to marry a woman? When was it that African Americans “proved” their civil right to freedom? When did they “prove” their civil right to equal treatment? And what did they do to prove it? As was the case with slavery, just because something is done a certain way for a long time, doesn’t make it the “correct” or “only” way. If YOUR religion prohibits YOU from accepting gay marriage, I completely respect that. I obviously do not agree with you, but I aknowledge your desire to adhere to your religious beliefs. With that said, YOUR religion has absolutely NOTHING to do with the running of our government; nor does it have any part in determining what is, and what isn’t a person’s civil rights. Our forefathers made a point to both protect our citizens rights to worship their chosen religion, AND protect our government from undue religious influence. Nowhere in our Constitution, is there found a definition for marriage. I am well aware what the “traditional” meaning is, as I am aware that gay couples can’t produce children, so please don’t feel the need to “inform” me on those two facts. “Traditional” doesn’t equate “the only way”, it simply means the most popular way. And obviously, many unions between a man and a woman do not produce children. So what truth outside the Bible do you believe you stand on? If the Bible doesn’t influence our judicial system, what do you propose as an argument in the Supreme Court, against it? Will you argue that gay people haven’t sucessfully proven their civil right to marry? Establishing a burden of proof does not apply to civil rights.

I would love to read your rebuttle, because I am honestly trying to understand your thought process. Sadly, I’m sure you will not allow this comment to be posted, because it rationally and coherently refutes your reasoning. I have found that Conservative bloggers tend to deny the comments that are based on facts, when the facts aren’t in their favor. I truly hope you aren’t as cowardly as the rest.

Regarding conservative blogs moderating you, please hold off on martyr status until you do some self-reflection. Your comment here was an extended straw-man argument about religious views. Ironically, your anti-religion bigotry and prejudices fit much better with the pictured meme than our view about real marriage. It is self-serving on your part to go to conservative blogs with your fallacious rants and then pre-emptively call them cowards for not wanting to discuss things with you. If I try to avoid an irrational crank at work I’m being wise, not cowardly.

If you want to gain some credibility here, please provide links to where you have made comments like this to theological liberals (read: fake Christians) who advocate for oxymoronic “same-sex marriage.” You may also want to consider how I didn’t make religious arguments, I made secular ones.

If YOUR religion prohibits YOU from accepting opposing gay marriage, I completely respect that. I obviously do not agree with you, but I aknowledge your desire to adhere to your religious beliefs. With that said, YOUR religion has absolutely NOTHING to do with the running of our government; nor does it have any part in determining what is, and what isn’t a person’s civil rights. Our forefathers made a point to both protect our citizens rights to worship their chosen religion, AND protect our government from undue religious influence. Nowhere in our Constitution, is there found a definition for marriage. . . .

You’ll note that I only had to change one word to turn your diatribe into one against the anti-biblical “Christians” who push for “same-sex marriage.” So unless you are a hypocrite, you’ll have plenty of examples to show me where you fight their un-Constitutional intrusion into the marriage debate. Or do you just play the religious-suppression card on those you disagree with?

You might also want to consider how the 1st Amendment protects religious speech and does not prohibit it. As with the Obama administration, you have it backwards. My religion teaches me that it is wrong to beat up atheists and steal their property. Using your logic I’d have to be silent on that in the public square or even vote the opposite, lest I “force” my religious views on atheists.

Now to a couple of your arguments:

I am well aware what the “traditional” meaning is, as I am aware that gay couples can’t produce children, so please don’t feel the need to “inform” me on those two facts. “Traditional” doesn’t equate “the only way”, it simply means the most popular way. And obviously, many unions between a man and a woman do not produce children. So what truth outside the Bible do you believe you stand on?

That’s a clever rhetorical trick you play there, and sadly enough, it works on many people. You concede my key point that by nature and design gay couples can’t produce children, but you simultaneously pretend that I haven’t made any secular arguments. Not so fast. Since we both agree on that fact, you should ask why government is involved in any personal relationships. The government does not regulate my love for my wife, nor does it need to. It is only involved because the obvious ideal, supported by countless studies and common sense, is that a child be raised by his mother and father, as well as the scientific fact that children are produced by unions of one man and one woman. Even Darwinists should see the merits of that.

And I didn’t use the term “traditional,” you inserted that. Words mean things, and throughout history the term marriage has meant the union of a man and a woman. Only recently have some dictionaries bowed to pressure and modified it. And your overly broad argument also justifies polygamy and incest and is already being used by pedophiles. After all, if you are changing the definition of marriage why do you get to pull up the drawbridge after you’ve made your preferred change? Why won’t you let others change the laws to suit their desires?

And obviously, many unions between a man and a woman do not produce children.

Agreed, but this doesn’t change the premise that by nature and design children are produced by a union of a male and a female and that only those unions can provide a mother and a father to a child.

Since you brought up the religion topic I thought I’d share a summary of what the one true God says about marriage and parenting:

  • 100% of the verses addressing homosexual behavior denounce it as sin in the clearest and strongest possible terms.
  • 100% of the verses referring to God’s ideal for marriage involve one man and one woman.
  • 100% of the verses referencing parenting involve moms and dads with unique roles (or at least a set of male and female parents guiding the children).
  • 0% of 31,173 Bible verses refer to homosexual behavior in a positive or even benign way or even hint at the acceptability of homosexual unions.

Also see this secular case against “same-sex marriage” as well as these:

Problems with pro-gay theology  

Responding to Pro-Gay Theology     

Responding to same-sex marriage arguments

Facebook memes

A friend linked to a “Liberal and proud of it” Facebook page and I read some of their, uh, arguments.  I should note that many Conservative memes are pointless.  I think it is always worth asking if the joke would work on the other side if you just changed the names.  If so, I don’t click “like” or share it.  Just saying, “Obama is stupid,” or attacking his wife’s appearance is about as productive as the Left’s obsession with Sarah Palin.  We have endless facts about his record and beliefs to point to. Why dilute the message with pettiness?

But when the Liberal pages try to make a logical point it is typically loaded with fallacies.  A few samples I saw plus the comments I left:

It is only charity when you donate your money and time. Forcing others to “give” at the point of a gun doesn’t qualify. Jesus didn’t tell anyone to ask Caesar to take from neighbor A to give to neighbor B. Coveting is still a sin.   Even if his definition of giving matched the dictionary he would still be wrong on two counts. First, he pretends that we aren’t already “giving” vast amounts to the poor. Worse yet, he assumes that more of this “giving” will actually help the country.

This assumes that oxymoronic “same-sex marriage” is a civil right, but you haven’t proved that. You have about as much right to that as you do a square circle.

It also assumes that gays and lesbians can’t be “married” today in fake churches and live together as they like. They can do that all-day, every day and we won’t complain. There is simply no need for the government to get involved in their relationships, because by nature and design they do produce the next generation.

Like nearly all pro-abortion arguments, that ignores the body of the innocent human being destroyed in the abortion.The scientific fact (http://tinyurl.com/yfje8lq) is that a new human being is created at fertilization.

Anyone who supports taxpayer-funded abortions is pro-abortion.  They think that pro-lifers don’t have a choice as to whether they should have to fund abortions, and they think that one of our society’s problems is that we aren’t killing enough unwanted human beings.  The Democratic platform is officially pro-abortion.

If it isn’t a political issue, why do the Democrats want to force pro-lifers to pay for abortions?

Yep, we oppose gender-selection abortions — nearly all of which destroy unwanted females — and the Left fights for them. Tell me again who hates women?

Oh, and abortions kill blacks at a rate three times that of whites. And who are the racists who want to increase that rate with taxpayer-funded abortions?

Other commenter: Please quote your source for taxpayer-funded abortion. Fox News? Bzzzz. They definitely don’t happen at Planned Parenthood. Please come back when you can argue without using strawman arguments or false equivilencies.

Hi — would the 2012 Democratic Platform be an acceptable source for you? “Protecting A Woman’s Right to Choose. The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy, including a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay.”  http://assets.dstatic.org/dnc-platform/2012-National-Platform.pdf

Thanks for making the day of this conservative. I hope you reconsider your views once you realize you were just shouting from Stereotype-Land (I don’t watch Fox News — not that there is anything wrong with that).

The Democratic platform called for taxpayer-funded abortions. That would increase the rate of black abortions beyond the current rate, which is three times that of whites.

Democratic policies keep blacks dead or dependent. Coincidence?

Roundup

We still aren’t a Democracy, we’re a Republic — at least we’re supposed to be a Republic.  We would probably be better off if high schools and colleges just showed this 10 min. video instead of a semester of a government class.

Hat tip: Economics for Morons

—–

New peer-reviewed paper in Nature falsifies Darwinian junk DNA prediction — more embarrassment for Darwinists that will get little if any media coverage and definitely won’t be in those expensive textbooks.  But hey, we Christians are totally anti-science so don’t listen to us.

—–

Obama’s anti-God squad — Make no mistake: He is not a Christian.  The Democratic convention booed God and cheered abortion — including partial-birth abortion, aka infanticide.  They’ve been doing that for a very long time and are just getting more aggressive with it.

—–

When even declared Socialist Jon Stewart mocks the “tolerant and inclusive” Democrats for their hypocrisy, you know things are bad.

—–

I couldn’t care less about the pizza restaurant owner who bear-hugged Obama.  But when the Left set out to destroy Chik-Fil-A because the owner said he didn’t believe in square circles (or something like that) then no one should be surprised that people may not want to do business with someone so aggressively partisan.

—–

Abortion and the black woman — a moving account of what abortion really does, why it typically happens and why there is hope for those who have had them.

—–

The top 10 foreign policy failures of the Obama administration — They  are all really bad, but I think #3 is the worst.  Sadly, I doubt that many voters are informed of any of them — or worse yet, that they don’t care.

Failure #3: “Unconscionable” Leaks Of Classified Counterterror Information From The White House That Have Been “Devastating”

The Obama White House has released a torrent of leaks of classified counterterror information that has compromised our national security by revealing covert sources and methods. The pace of the leaks quickened as the November election drew nearer, raising the question of whether they were politically motivated. But whether the leaks were politically motivated and intentional or the result of bad management and sloppiness in neither here nor there.  Either case is unacceptable and injurious to the intelligence operatives and uniformed men and women in the field.

—–

An anti-ID biology professor who doesn’t even know the facts of life, let alone evolution — sadly, this is pretty common.

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. You wouldn’t expect a biology professor, of all people, to get the facts of life wrong. You wouldn’t expect a man whose specialty is genetics to overlook the most basic facts about how evolution works. And you certainly wouldn’t expect a scientist who declares that “it is necessary for schools to teach biological evolution” to be ignorant of the key events in human evolution. “Surely,” you might say, “that could never happen.” And yet it did.

—–

Seen on Facebook, addressing the Sandra Fluke “I’m a law student at an expensive college but can’t pay $9/month for birth control pills, so you should buy them for me” issue:

You insist that I buy your birth control pills but do not allow the men who date you to pay for your dinner. Explain.

Seems like her boyfriend could spring for the birth control expenses.  Or, more apparently her boyfriends.  Hey, they could split the costs.

—–

Yikes!  This “praise band” played Kiss’ “Rock and Roll All Night” to open their service.  And Perry Noble is considered a good preacher by many.

To get an idea of just what Perry Noble, “pastor” of NewSpring, decided to bring into God’s Temple watch the video below. It contains footage of both NewSpring’s

praise band and concert footage of Kiss, the band who wrote the song.

—–

Arguments do not have testicles (Hat tip: Duane from Facebook) — six excellent responses to the sound bite that men can’t comment on abortion rights because they can’t have babies.

Oddly, those using the argument never realize that it would mean that all those young, single pro-choice men wouldn’t have a say, either.  Those trying to silence the speech of others rarely consider how that becomes a two way street.  It is like those who try to silence Bible-believing Christians for “forcing their religious views” on others, while they are hypocritically affirming of pro-choice religious speech.

—–

And yet people thought he was the highlight of the convention.  Yes, he is a very compelling speaker.  But if you have a shred of discernment you should program yourself to assume he is lying.

bill-clinton-lying

Where Peter blasts false teachers . . .

I was going through 2 Peter this week and wanted to share this passage.  Note especially verses 4-6 and how unapologetic Peter is about what God has planned for false teachers.  Remember, the God of 1 John 4:8 (“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love”) is the same God described below.  Ironically but not surprisingly, it is the false teachers who will insist that the words below aren’t really from God.  Convenient, eh?

2 Peter 2 — False Prophets and Teachers

1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. 4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. 17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

Proclaimer audio Bibles in Kenya

I was glad to get this update from our friends in Kenya.  This is the first time people who speak the Kimeru language have heard them.  And it is great that the Aids Orphan program is doing so much to help the orphans learn life skills and to hear and share the word of God!

Greetings to you all in Jesus name! Iam happy to inform you that the distribution of the audio proclaimer bibles is going on well, during the aids orphans revival conference two aids orphans were given the kimeru Bibles. These two are preachers and love God and were very happy to get the audio bible to spread the word of God.

I am pleased to share one of the pictures.

I am not making this up: A producer from ABC saw this blog and contacted me about being on the “Wife Swap” TV show

Spoiler: It isn’t going to happen.  Apparently one of the requirements is that you must have kids living in the house and we are now empty-nesters.  Oh, and I’m pretty sure that Mrs. Eternity Matters would have frowned on the idea.  And Mr. Eternity Matters wasn’t too excited about it, either.

The Wife Swap title was provocative but it was really about contrasting parenting styles (or that’s the impression I got — you may be surprised to know that I am not a devoted fan).  Apparently it ran for six seasons, then took a year off, and is now back because there were so many unanswered questions.

This was part of the comment the producer left:

We’re looking for all types of families including ones with conservative Christian values!

All kidding aside, I do hope they find some solid, Bible-believing families to highlight how God’s way is the best way.  Despite our mistakes, God’s model produced two amazing daughters who I could not be happier with.

Note: If you have kids in the house and want her contact information I’ll pass it along.  You’d get $10,000 for a few days of effort and they’ll give me $1,000, which I will gladly donate to a family-oriented Christian charity.