Roundup

East Africa Journal: “Problems Facing Our Socialism” -By Barack Hussein Obama Sr. This explains a lot.  I read about this in Forbes today.  One of the President’s books is titled Dreams From My Father.  Barack is basically living out the socialist dreams of his alcoholic polygamist father that he barely knew.  The loyalty might be touching if he weren’t damaging the country fulfilling his father’s dream.

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Foundry’s Civil Disobedience: Will There Be a Price To Pay?

Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, DC voted this week to allow same-gender marriages in its church building and to support its clergy members should they choose to perform same-gender marriage ceremonies in the future, whether at Foundry or somewhere else.

. . .

Will this vote be largely symbolic, analogous  to a state or municipality voting to ignore federal law– or will Foundry be following through with the vote by performing actual same sex wedding ceremonies? I suspect the latter, and if that’s indeed the case, then all eyes will be on Bishop John R. Schol of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference to see whether he’ll hold Foundry accountable or look the other way.

The vote at the church was 367 to 8. Wow, what an amazingly thorough mockery of God’s word and natural law.

I hope we exercise some church discipline for once and kick them out. Let ‘em start a new denomination. These people can’t even get Genesis 2 right, let alone the rest of the Bible.

This isn’t complicated, folks. Even many pro-”same sex marriage” promoting “Christians” will concede the following (yes, some will say Christian just read the Bible incorrectly for 2,000 years, but many will concede that the Bible is clear but that it isn’t all the word of God and that Paul was a homophobe).

• 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.

Seriously, kick this church out. Treat gays like we would other sinners: Welcome them, share the Gospel with them but don’t teach the opposite of what the Bible says.

Once again I’m on the “Methodist ledge” and wondering why I bother with this denomination.

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Found a good blog via the previous link – another one of those almost-extinct evangelical Methodists. Loved his comment on this lame commercial:”What if a church actually proclaimed the Gospel for the forgiveness of sins? Would you come?”

The UMC needs to rethink church, alright.  They need to think about what the Bible says about it for a change.

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From my other blog — Surprise! Another UCC false teacher — False teacher Chuck “Jesus is not the only way” Currie found another false UCC teacher to praise — see CNN: UCC Pastor Carlton Pearson Speaks About Eddie Long.

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Geithner Cornered On Tax Hypocrisy – He vastly underpaid his taxes but wants to raise them for others.  Check.

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I love this song by Brandon Heath — “Give me your eyes.”

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It isn’t like I expect good theology from Pearls Before Swine, but it is ironic how the goat unwittingly does the same thing that so many Christians and non-Christians do: Hypocritically judges others for judging.  Of course, if they read Matthew 7:1-5 in context then they wouldn’t make this mistake.

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Saw this on my daughter’s Facebook page.

Technorati Tags: Religion,Christianity,politics,pro-life

Deadly equivocations

According to the good folks at Dictionary.com, and equivocation is a fallacy based on the use of the same term in different senses.  Sometimes these are used in comical ways, but other times people use them to twist the meaning of something important.

An abortionist who killed over 20,000 human beings used this sleight of tongue this way:

He calls himself an “abortionist” and says, “I am destroying life.”

But he also feels he’s giving life: He calls his patients “born again.”

“When you end what the woman considers a disastrous pregnancy, she has literally been given her life back,” he says….

Did you notice how the definition of “life” shifted?  When he concedes that he destroys life it was in a literal sense.  That’s what abortion does.  It is a scientific fact that it kills an innocent human being.

But in the next sentence he changes the definition.  He didn’t give these people life in the same sense.  They were already alive.  He just meant that he (seemingly) liberated them from a problem they had.  Having an unplanned child doesn’t kill you.

Now I realize that most readers realize the shift from literal to figurative.  My point is that it is deadly how people let him get away with it.

I know someone who claimed to be pro-life who used the same type of language to rationalize abortion.  He said, “It is better to destroy one life than three.”  The implication was that if the pregnancy was allowed to continue that the lives of the mother, father and child would all be “destroyed.”  But that is an extreme exaggeration.

Yes, there are consequences to actions, and babies are a rather significant consequence of sex.  But it doesn’t automatically cause irreparable harm to three lives if you don’t hurry up and have an abortion, and it certainly doesn’t crush and dismember all three.

But if you have an abortion it really does destroy the one life.

If you ever participated in an abortion, please know that forgiveness and healing are possible through Jesus.

Whether you participated in one or not, don’t use sloppy language to rationalize abortion.  It is the greatest moral issue of our time and it would be illegal if it weren’t for all the uninformed and/or lazy and / or wimpy Christians ignoring the topic.

Tea Party members uncover rampant voter fraud in Houston

See Citizens’ Group Helps Uncover Alleged Rampant Voter Fraud in Houston.  How (non-)surprising that the  perpetrator was a former employee of SEIU (Service Employees International Union), a big supporter and influencer of President Obama.

Most of the findings focused on a group called Houston Votes, a voter registration group headed by Sean Caddle, who also worked for the Service Employees International Union before coming to Houston. Among the findings were that only 1,793 of the 25,000 registrations the group submitted appeared to be valid.

The other registrations included one of a woman who registered six times in the same day; registrations of non-citizens; so many applications from one Houston Voters collector in one day that it was deemed to be beyond human capability; and 1,597 registrations that named the same person multiple times, often with different signatures.

Caddle told local newspapers that there “had been mistakes made,” and he said he had fired 30 workers for filing defective voter registration applications. He could not be reached for this article.

Remember, the Democrats don’t even want people to have to supply identification to vote.  Now why would that be?

Hat tip: Wintery Knight

Roundup

Top 20 Pro-Socialism Sound Bites of Obama, Advisors and Allies — Must viewing!

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Health insurers are dropping coverage of children – What?!  You mean that government regulations cause people and businesses to change behaviors?  That’s never happened before.

You know those mandates that force insurance companies to cover children of adults until they are 26 years old? And the ones that forbid rejecting children who have pre-existing conditions? Yeah that costs insurance companies money. Can you believe that? Health care costs money! It costs more money to cover people for mandated coverages! Who could have foreseen that? Not Obama and his merry band of tenured Ivy League hermits, who have never held private sector jobs in their entire lives . . . Yeah, insurance companies don’t like being forced to add coverages, (= risk of having to pay claims), while keeping premiums the same.

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Benny Hinn Denies Affair Despite Pics – I hope this ends his ministry and Paula White’s as well, but it probably won’t.  What frauds.  Hey, btw, he’s short a couple million dollars, so be sure to send some his way.

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“Hey BarackObama, our relationship isn’t working out. Its not me, its you” -America’s Youth

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Can you imagine if people had stood up to the Left like Andrew Breitbart all this time? – He does it right.  Watch the video and how he merely asks the Astroturf protestors to explain their signs.  They all scatter!  These “protestors” are being paid by unions.

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What kinds of experiences do women have after an abortion? – This is sad.  Post abortion trauma is real, and Planned Parenthood and the rest of the pro-aborts won’t tell you about it.  Apparently it is bad for their business to tell you about how their services will destroy your child and you.  But there is help: Go find a Crisis Pregnancy Center like Care Net!

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Obama Revises ‘Declaration of Independence’ Omits ‘Creator’ – but he’s totally a passionate Christian!

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Technorati Tags: Religion,Christianity,politics,pro-life

Care Net Pregnancy Center dinner – you are invited!

Care Net Pregnancy Center helps save lives now and for eternity.  Come get some free BBQ,hear a great speaker and learn more about this effective ministry.

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Care Net Pregnancy Center of Northwest Houston invites you to attend our annual TEXAS-SIZED FALL FUNDRAISER & SILENT AUCTION on Thursday, October 7 from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. at Tin Hall in Cypress, TX

The evening’s Keynote Speaker is Life International’s Kurt Dillinger.

Buffet Barbeque Dinner will be served from 6-7:30 p.m.

The Silent Auction closes at 7:15 p.m., Winning Bidders may pick up their items promptly at 9 p.m. at the end of the evening.

There is NO CHARGE to attend.

Please RSVP via e-mail (home@carenetnw.com) or call us at 281.444.8554

Roundup

Are you better off than you were 4 years ago when the Democrats took control of Congress? January 3rd, 2007 was the day that Barney Frank took over the House Financial Services Committee and Chris Dodd took over the Senate Banking Committee.  Before that the Democrats pushed for plans that would inevitably drive high foreclosure rates but they insulated the lenders from risk.  Horrible, horrible idea.  Bush tried to reform Fannie and Freddie and was blocked.  Who took the third highest pay-off from Fannie Mae AND Freddie Mac?  Barack Obama.

Remember, Nancy Pelosi said that the Democrats “are prepared to govern and ready to lead.”  When did she say that?  November 8, 2006.

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Home Depot founder rips Obama WH as “tenured” academics, apologizes for creating jobs

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Jr. High Students Take Field Trip to Mosque, Pressured into Praying to Allah — any major media coverage of this?  Any ACLU outrage?

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An interesting piece by Pastor Timothy about Christianity and the Godfather.  A snippet:

The movie is a great example of what happens when sin goes unrestrained. You have every manner of sin being delved into by those who believe they live in a protected world due to the fact that Godfather Don Corleone has all the judges in his back pocket. That is how Michael can gun down one of the mob bosses and a police captain and get away with it. When you own those who are charged with keeping the law, then you can keep them from using the law against you.

The movie’s popularity is due to the fact that it does appeal to our sin nature. We want to be in control of the world in which we live and The Godfather shows us a world where the Don controls a good portion of his own world. Of course, he has to use intimidation, fear, the threat of having your favorite pet’s head severed and dumped in your bed over night, death, etc., in order to control that world. But wouldn’t we love to control our world in such a way?

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Stunner: Congresswoman wheedles lobbyist for money – your tax dollars at work.  The audacity of her shakedown is bad enough, but I’m she was so bold / stupid as to leave it on a voicemail.  This is getting major coverage in the mainstream media, right?

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Former-leftist Robin of Berkeley explains the left’s corruption of children – read it.

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Communist atheist Mao Zedong killed 45 million people – It was really quite gruesome.  The numbers are staggering.  Ideas have consequences.  Wasn’t Mao a hero of one of Obama’s top advisors?

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Black Conservatives Blast Al Sharpton Protesters – sweet.  Great ideas, but they disagree with Obama & Co. so they must be racists.  Seriously, she was well armed with facts about the impact of Democratic policies on nuclear families and the high rate of abortion in black communities.  The other guy played the “but they’ll be poor” argument to justify his pro-abortion views, which ignores the facts that the abortion kills an innocent human being and we don’t “solve” poverty by killing people inside the womb or outside.

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Technorati Tags: Religion,Christianity,politics,pro-life

How radical is the “radical” right?

Given that the political season is in full swing, I’m noticing an increase in the number of “extremist” labels hurled at conservatives in general and Tea Partiers in particular.  Apparently that is easier then addressing the issues and arguments themselves, but it seems more like a concession speech to me.

Those who hyperventilate about the “radical right” (or “extremists,” “fundie nutjobs,” “wacky fundies,” or other eloquent terms of endearment) are either disingenuous or really bad at math, because the majority of Americans share our views on the most controversial topics.  Consider this by Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason:

A poll of readers of the L.A. Times once showed that, in the area of abortion, prayer, in school, homosexuality and traditional family values, the majority of Americans agree with so-called “extreme fundamentalists.” 70% of Americans believe that the traditional family structure is always best; 76% favor prayer in public schools; 55% are against legalized abortion; 61% think that homosexual relations are always wrong. These are the views of the “radical right,” but these are also the views of a majority of rank and file Americans.

Let that bolster your confidence, the next time you’re being marginalized for your conservative moral values. The “radical right” isn’t so radical. It’s actually mainstream.

If they think we’re so extreme, why don’t they just use their faux majority to elect legislators to legalize partial-birth abortion and such?  Then they wouldn’t need judges to ignore their duties and make up their own laws.

It appears to me like the “radical” label is just a cheap way to attack the person and not the arguments, just like they do with the passive-aggressive “intolerant” label (Because whoever yells intolerant first must be the kind, tolerant one – right?).

I submit that if the media, entertainment and education establishments weren’t so outrageously biased the numbers would shift even further to the right.  For example, consider that 90% or more of the media are die-hard pro-choicers and they do everything in their power to spin stories in their favor.  Yet the population is still split pretty evenly on the topic, and the more clearly survey questions are worded the more pro-life the results are.

The only way you can categorize majority views as the radical right is if you are perched comfortably on the radical left.

Airline humor

Got this from a friend from church – enjoy!  I think all signs should aim to have humor wherever possible.

Kulula is a low-cost South-African airline that doesn’t take itself too seriously.  Check out their new livery!

From the cockpit on KULULA.COM- South Africa’s Budget Airline
WHAT A PITY KULULA DOESN’T FLY INTERNATIONALLY – WE SHOULD SUPPORT THEM IF ONLY FOR THEIR HUMOUR – SO TYPICALLY SOUTH AFRICAN.
Kulula is an Airline with head office situated in Johannesburg .
Kulula airline attendants make an effort to make the in-flight “safety lecture” and announcements a bit more entertaining. Here are some real examples that have been heard or reported:
——————————————————————–
On a Kulula flight, (there is no assigned seating, you just sit where you want) passengers were apparently having a hard time choosing, when a flight attendant announced, “People, people we’re not picking out furniture here, find a seat and get in it!”
—o0o—
On another flight with a very “senior” flight attendant crew, the pilot said, “Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve reached cruising altitude and will be turning down the cabin lights. This is for your comfort and to enhance the appearance of your flight attendants.”
—-o0o—
On landing, the stewardess said, “Please be sure to take all of your belongings.. If you’re going to leave anything, please make sure it’s something we’d like to have.”
—-o0o—
“There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 4 ways out of this airplane.”
—o0o—
“Thank you for flying Kulula. We hope you enjoyed giving us the business as much as we enjoyed taking you for a ride.”
—o0o—
As the plane landed and was coming to a stop at Durban Airport , a lone voice came over the loudspeaker: “Whoa, big fella. WHOA!”
—o0o—
After a particularly rough landing during thunderstorms in the Karoo , a flight attendant on a flight announced, “Please take care when opening the overhead compartments because, after a landing like that, sure as xxxx everything has shifted.”
—o0o—
From a Kulula employee: ” Welcome aboard Kulula 271 to Port Elizabeth .  To operate your seat belt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. It works just like every other seat belt; and, if you don’t know how to operate one, you probably shouldn’t be out in public unsupervised.”
—o0o—
“In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, masks will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child travelling with you, secure your mask before assisting with theirs. If you are travelling with more than one small child, pick your favourite.”
—o0o—
Weather at our destination is 50 degrees with some broken clouds, but we’ll try to have them fixed before we arrive. Thank you, and remember, nobody loves you, or your money, more than Kulula Airlines.”
—-o0o—
“Your seats cushions can be used for flotation; and in the event of an emergency water landing, please paddle to shore and take them with our compliments.”
—o0o—
“As you exit the plane, make sure to gather all of your belongings.  Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses..”
—o0o—
And from the pilot during his welcome message: “Kulula Airlines is pleased to announce that we have some of the best flight attendants in the industry. Unfortunately, none of them are on this flight!”
—o0o—
Heard on Kulula 255 just after a very hard landing in Cape Town : The flight attendant came on the intercom and said, “That was quite a bump and I know what y’all are thinking. I’m here to tell you it wasn’t the airline’s fault, it wasn’t the pilot’s fault, it wasn’t the flight attendant’s fault, it was the asphalt.”
—o0o—
Overheard on a Kulula flight into Cape Town , on a particularly windy and bumpy day: During the final approach, the Captain really had to fight it. After an extremely hard landing, the Flight Attendant said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to The Mother City. Please remain in your seats with your seat belts fastened while the Captain taxis what’s left of our airplane to the gate!”
—o0o—
Another flight attendant’s comment on a less than perfect landing:  “We ask you to please remain seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces us to the terminal.”
—o0o—
An airline pilot wrote that on this particular flight he had hammered his ship into the runway really hard. The airline had a policy which required the first officer to stand at the door while the passengers exited, smile, and give them a “Thanks for flying our airline. He said that, in light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment.  Finally everyone had gotten off except for a little old lady walking with a cane. She said, “Sir, do you mind if I ask you a question?”
“Why, no Ma’am,” said the pilot. “What is it?” The little old lady said, “Did we land, or were we shot down?”
—o0o—
After a real crusher of a landing in Johannesburg , the attendant came on with, “Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats until Captain Crash and the Crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt against the gate. And, once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning bells are silenced, we will open the door and you can pick your way through the wreckage to the terminal..”
—o0o—
Part of a flight attendant’s arrival announcement: “We’d like to thank you folks for flying with us today.. And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you’ll think of Kulula Airways.”
—o0o—
Heard on a Kulula flight. “Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to smoke, the smoking section on this airplane is on the wing.. If you can light ‘em, you can smoke ‘em.”
—o0o—
A plane was taking off from Durban Airport . After it reached a
comfortable cruising altitude, the captain made an announcement over the intercom, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking.
Welcome to Flight Number 293, non-stop from Durban to Cape Town , The weather ahead is good and, therefore, we should have a smooth and uneventful flight.. Now sit back and relax.. OH, MY GOODNESS!” Silence followed, and after a few minutes, the captain came back on the intercom and said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I am so sorry if I scared you earlier.  While I was talking to you, the flight attendant accidentally spilled a cup of hot coffee in my lap. You should see the front of my pants!” A passenger then yelled, “That’s nothing. You should see the back of mine!”

Roundup

The next closing ceremony for the Kairos Prison Ministry weekend at the Carol Vance prison in Sugarland, Texas is Sunday, October 10th from 4:30 pm – 7:30 pm.  If you and/or your friends would like to attend, please let me know.  It is a truly unique experience.  If you want to know a little more about prison ministry it is a great way to learn.

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A Man from Heaven: How would he spend his money? – Classic thoughts from Spurgeon via Randy Alcorn.  If you are a Christian then your true citizenship is in Heaven.  Does your wallet reflect that?

Suppose any one of you had come from Heaven…Some would be curious to see what his bodily form would be like. They would expect to be dazzled by the radiance of his countenance.

However, we will let that pass. We want to see how he would live. Coming newly from Heaven, how would he act? Oh, sirs, if he came here to do the same as all men do on Earth, only after a heavenly sort, what a father he would be, what a husband, what a brother, what a friend! I would sit down and let him preach this morning, most assuredly; and when he had done preaching, I would go home with him, and have a chat.

I should be very careful to observe what he would do with his wealth. His first thought would be, if he had a shilling, to lay it out for God’s glory. “But,” says one, “I have necessities to buy with my shilling.” So be it, but when you go pray this: “Oh! Lord, help me to lay it out to your glory.” There should be as much piety in buying your necessaries as in going to a place of worship.

. . .

Now think, my brother, you will be in Heaven very soon. Since last year a great number have gone home: before next year many more will have ascended to glory. Sitting up in those celestial seats, how shall we wish that we had lived below?

It will not give any man in Heaven even a moment’s joy to think that he gratified himself while here. It will give him no reflections suitable to the place to remember how much he amassed, how much he left behind to be quarreled over after he was gone; he will say to himself, “I wish I had saved more of my capital by sending it on before me, for what I saved on Earth was lost, but what I spent for God was really laid up where thieves do not break through and steal.”

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For the record: Extensive Timeline: Al Qaeda in Pre-War Iraq

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Barack v The First Amendment, US 2010 – Don’t you dare criticize the government or health care reform or it will cost you dearly.  Hello?!  ACLU?!  Anybody home?!

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Is Planned Parenthood overbilling state and local governments? — People who destroy innocent human beings for a living are capable of theft?  Shocking!  It reminds me of what I tell people when we investigate thefts at work: People who don’t mind stealing also don’t mind lying about stealing.

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From my other blog: Terry Jones and theologically Liberal Christians: Birds of a feather? — Well, at least when they claim special revelation from God they are similar.

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Oh, please. Planned Parenthood staff get counseling for dead infant found on doorstep? — the moral schizophrenia of pro-abortionists never ceases to amaze me.

. . . why in the world would staff need counseling in the death of a born baby when they routinely abort babies into the 2nd trimester and not to worry, “can still help” mothers pregnant beyond 16 weeks with abortion referrals?

So had the mother of this dead born baby come to the Winston-Salem PP only one day prior for an abortion, the same staff would have helped her get one.

The “counseling was being made available” was a line of bull. I’m confident in actuality PP does not want employees to explore their feelings about dead babies.

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If you join the Dropbox file sharing utility (it is free) we both get 250 MB extra (I think that means a total of 2.25 GB for you).  It use this application a lot to share files between computers.  It is also an instant online backup.  Whatever files you save in your Dropbox folder are automatically saved to their server as well.

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Progressive church – Hat tip: Biblical Christianity

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Technorati Tags: Religion,Christianity,politics,pro-life

Illegal immigration = the ultimate outsourcing

Think about it.  The real objection to companies shifting jobs to other countries isn’t the location of the jobs, it is the move from U.S. citizens*  to non-U.S. citizens.  If the jobs went overseas to U.S. citizens I doubt people would object.

So what happens with illegal immigration?  Non-U.S. citizens take the jobs of U.S. citizens and consume far more resources than they contribute.  At least the Indian guy on the support desk isn’t demanding that you fund the medical and education costs for him and his family, and he isn’t committing crimes in this country.

The great irony is that open border Leftists like Jim “the Gospel is all about wealth redistribution” Wallis are the ones who claim to care about the poor.  But the illegal immigrants drive down the wages of the poor in this country and take many of their jobs.  What kind of “social justice” is that?

If anyone objects to outsourcing of U.S. jobs – and most people seem to — do a consistency check and ask them their views on illegal immigration.  Be sure to gently point out any inconsistencies.

*or guests in the U.S. — i.e., people who have the proper immigration approvals

Roundup

A servant’s enduring faith – An inspiring story of a pastor in Bulgaria who wouldn’t give in when the leaders tried to eradicate Christianity.  Here’s a snippet.  I encourage you to read it all.  (Note to fellow Christian bloggers – as Marie noted in the comments, Christianity Today had committed to publish her article and it fell through.  I encourage you to post her link to your blogs if you are so inclined!)

In prison, Kulichev distinguished himself among both guards and prisoners. A vegetarian for health reasons, the pastor refused meat on principle. Kulichev unfailingly knelt in his filthy cell to thank God for each meager bread ration. Assigned with two cellmates to work at the prison sink, he insisted that they wash utensils “as if they were going into our own mouths”. Being absolutely consistent, even in matters with no overt spiritual significance, was his way to maintain integrity. Trusting in God and his parishioners’ faithfulness, Kulichev constantly rehearsed Scripture and seized clandestine witnessing opportunities.

. . .

Slaves to Comfort?
Kulichev has traveled widely in the United States, preaching and speaking at conferences. (Several months after interviewing him, I learned from another American that he is proficient in English – a detail he neglected to mention during our time together). While he loves American believers, he is concerned about our tendency to become ‘slaves to our own comfort’. “The freedom in which Christians live is a much bigger temptation than trials,” he said. “A person who has lived in comfort and is used to living without ordeals doesn’t want to lose that way of life. He is prepared to make concessions in his loyalty to God. This mentality goes against what God wants from His flock – obedience and faithfulness, which are not measured in percentages. There is no 50%, 90% or 99% loyalty – a wife would not be pleased if her husband were 50% faithful.”

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Here’s a good article on the whole Qu’ran burning debate.  My advice is simple: don’t burn it, just explain why it is wrong and why Christianity is the one true religion.

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Even Fidel knows that Communism doesn’t work

Other than imploding Venezuela and frozen in amber North Korea, the USA — known as the Land of Liberty prior to Obama’s “fundamental transformation” — is the only country on earth moving toward the dysfunctional nightmare of communism rather than away from it.

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Did you know Ted Kennedy tried — twice — to plot with Soviets against TWO separate US Presidents?

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City Council Meetings to Begin with Muslim Prayers

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Technorati Tags: Religion,Christianity,politics,pro-life

Founders’ Fables – a terrific book to pass along key principles to children

A good friend of mine illustrated the book Founders’ Fables (his sister wrote it).  With easy to follow stories and catchy pictures, it teaches important principles held dear by the Founding Fathers and explains the concept and importance of limited government.

I bought a copy and was very impressed.

It is only $10 and would make a great gift for any child.  It would be great to have in public schools and I especially encourage home schoolers to get it.

From the web site:

What do Joe the Monkey, Benjamin Franklin, Holly the Hippo,
and Thomas Jefferson have in common?

They have all come together in this book to help explain our most treasured American values, based on the principles of our Founding Fathers and the concept of limited government. Through the use of funny and memorable characters, ten simple fables address these American values, often believed too complicated for kids to comprehend. Stories are introduced with a supporting quote from one of our nation’s founding fathers. Each fable is followed by age-appropriate questions and a short art activity to inspire your child to an even deeper understanding. Fun and colorful illustrations accompany each fable, written to appeal to children five years old and up. Through familiar quotations and a short biography, children will also become familiar with famous historical figures who played significant roles in the birth and early development of the United States.

Families concerned with maintaining our country’s conservative roots will want to commit these stories to heart, relating current events to the fables they will come to know and love.

Issues addressed in Founders’ Fables include:

• National Debt and Future Generations
• Private Enterprise and Government Intervention
• Pork/Earmarking
• Socialism
• Eminent Domain
• Outsourcing of American Businesses
• Self-Reliance and Welfare
• Government Intervention in Private Lives
• Fairness Doctrine and Free Speech
• Independence and Self-Reliance

Each fable is written in rhyme to encourage recall of the stories, and to appeal to a young child’s sense of rhythm and fun. Parents and teachers will agree that children have a fascination with rhyming stories and love to shout out the final rhyming word of each stanza. Many of us still remember every word of the rhyming books from our own childhood, and now share them with our own children…repeating them from memory and sharing in the love of those easily-recalled children’s stories. We hope Founders’ Fables will become a treasured part of your family’s library and tradition as well.

It’s never too early to instill a love and passion for the ideals of our Founding Fathers.

Prepare our future generation.

Encourage self-reliance.

Help preserve our heritage.

P90X: The “X” stands for, “Wow, this is really quite difficult.”

I’m almost halfway through the 13 week P90X fitness routine and wanted to share some thoughts on it.  I’ve exercised regularly for 30+ years, almost all just self-training — mostly lifting plus jogging/exercise bike type stuff.  When I see “As seen on TV” I take it as a reason not to buy the product in question.  But I heard of several people at work and on Facebook who used P90X and liked it so I decided to give it a try.

My philosophy on fitness is that God has numbered our days but that our choices make a big difference in how we live those days.  Narcissism and excessive exercise aren’t good, but letting ourselves go doesn’t optimize our work for the Kingdom either.  Illness can strike anyone, but I want to accomplish as much as I can with whatever days I have left and I want to minimize any burdens on my family.  I like to stay on the giving side of the giving/receiving equation as much as possible.  Exercise is also a great stress relief.  Therefore, I strive to stay fit.

Observations

Overall, I’ve been thrilled with it. It was sort of like having a personal trainer / class to participate in, but on my schedule and at a fraction of the cost.  I love the challenge.

Lots and lots of push-ups and pull-ups (many varieties of each), though you can use a chair to help on the pull-ups or use exercise bands.

Great variety of exercises: Lifting, stretching, plyometrics, yoga (just the stretches / moves with no religious stuff and actually a nice bit of humor — I wish they’d give it another name), core training and more.

The big theme is “muscle confusion,” where the routines change often and there is a lot of variety in the routines.

You need to be in shape to do this.  Seems counter-intuitive, eh?  But it is very demanding.  It isn’t just the exercises, it is the pace.  Those warnings in the beginning of the DVDs are no joke.  You do not want to dive straight into this.

Hardest routine for me: Legs and back.  One-legged squats followed by another thigh exercise followed by chin-ups will leave you breathless, especially when you do many cycles like that with little rest.  Honorable mention: Plyometrics.  Lots and lots of jumps.  Took me a while to be able to get through it without pausing.

Easiest – er, uh, I mean least difficult — Kenbo kick boxing.  Lots of variety and challenging, but at a fairly even pace.  Truly a fun workout.

You need to put your ego on the shelf and just do what you can in the beginning.  Follow the exercise, but do less repetitions or with less intensity.  Hit the pause button.  The people in the videos have been through the routines so of course they can do them better than you.  But you’ll make progress quickly.

Compete against yourself, not those in the video.  If you have to hit the pause button 10 times the first week and only 8 times the second, then you are winning.

The cost is reasonable — $140 for the program with 12 DVDs plus whatever you spend on bands / dumbbells, etc.  Not cheap, but way cheaper than a personal trainer.

I put the audio onto my iPhone so I can use it at the gym or if I travel.  Once you have watched the DVDs enough you know how the technique works.  I obviously can’t travel with dumbbells but the bands will suffice.  One of my employees did this while traveling, but apparently the person on the floor below didn’t appreciate him doing plyometrics (hence the call from the front desk)

The instructor (Tony Horton) He does a good job of explaining the technique and repeating it.

The warm-up and cool down periods are very thorough.

If you are just beginning I recommend skimming through the workout DVDs before you start.  It takes some of the mystery out of it and helps you get ready.

Their website and Facebook page have lots of good tips.  They try to sell supplements but I mainly go with my Veggie Boy smoothies.  I did try their protein bars — tasty, but on the expensive side.

I generally eat pretty well but I’ve taken it up a notch.  It wasn’t by design, more of just a thought that if I’m doing all this extra work I might as well do everything else I can.

It does take more time than I’d normally set aside for fitness.  The routines are 60-75 minutes and you do them 6 days a week.  But I definitely have more energy every day, so the investment pays off.

I really appreciate their philosophy: No gimmicks, no silly promises of quick weight loss with no effort, no fad diets, etc.  Just hard, consistent work and good eating.  And it works.

Be sure to check out their Facebook page!

Another waste of taxpayer funds by people who don’t understand business

Government employees who have little, if any, business experience are bound to come up with wasteful ideas.  Here’s another one:

Via Obama Announces $33 Billion Hiring Tax Credit for Jobs – ABC News.

Under the president’s proposed tax credit, businesses would receive a $5,000 tax credit for every net new employee that they employ in 2010. The total amount of credit will be capped at $500,000 per firm to ensure that the majority of the benefit goes to small businesses.

This is simple: While a few companies might hire employees they otherwise wouldn’t have due to these incentives, the vast majority of businesses fall into one of two categories:

1. Business that don’t have demand for their goods and services and don’t need to hire.  Even with a $5,000 incentive, hiring new employees means they’ll be paying more for wages than necessary.   They won’t use this program.
2. Businesses that were going to hire anyway.  They had demand for goods and services but didn’t need the additional incentives.  Sure, they’ll cash the checks, but what’s the point?

Leave the $$ with the taxpayers and let them spend it how they like.  That will stimulate demand and lead to real hiring.  Don’t give it to an inefficient government that will take its cut then waste the rest by giving it to companies that were going to hire people anyway.

Roundup

Honk if you’re paying my mortgage! – more bad news: Obama & Co. are set to “bail out” people who don’t even need to be bailed out.  They are current on their mortgages but owe more than the house is currently worth.  Sure, that’ll teach people to take accountability for their actions.  More of your tax dollars being wasted to drive negative behavior.

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So, The Wage Gap IS True. Only, It’s Men Who Earn Less

As this new research shows, it’s women’s (and men’s) attributes and career choices that determine earnings. Yet there’s something troubling about Time‘s tone, which suggests that we should all be celebrating the idea of women dominating the workplace. To the extent that this trend is driven by men losing jobs and remaining out of work, and young men failing to attain the skills needed to meaningfully contribute to the economy, this is not good news at all.

Of course, we all want women to have the opportunity to compete and succeed in whatever profession they choose. But we want the same to be true for men. Furthermore, given that some women still wish to stay home or reduce their workload in order to spend time raising children, women’s higher earnings may actually be a symptom of hardship: More women are having to work more since the men in their lives can’t provide for the family alone or because they are providing for themselves.

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This quote by Martin Luther speaks so well to the church today and those silent on controversial issues.  No one gets offended by people wanting to help the poor, but they sure do if you say that Jesus is the only way to salvation, that killing innocent human beings in the womb is wrong, that God’s design for marriage and parenting is one man and one woman, etc.

If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages there the loyalty of the soldier is proved. And to be steady on all the battlefields beside is merely flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.

Being bold about everything except the key topics of the day isn’t being bold at all.

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Should Al Gore be arrested for inciting eco-terrorist hate crimes? – only if people want to be consistent with their anti-free speech views.  I’m pretty sure they only oppose alleged “hate speech” that they disagree with, which is why we have the First Amendment to begin with.

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Why did the media suppress the Darwinian groundings of the Discovery Channel killer?

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Make up your own punch line: Jesse Jackson’s Caddy SUV was stripped while he was in town promoting green jobs

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Reasons for abortions in Nebraska in 2009 Hat tip: Beneath the Cross

Note: Rape and incest = less than 1/2 of 1 percent.  Maternal life endangered = 0.1%.  Socio-Economic = 60%.

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Islamization in France: Jaw Dropping Examples of Muslims Asserting their Red Carpet Supremacy – coming soon to a country near you (I’m thinking Deerborn, Michigan)

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Technorati Tags: Religion,Christianity,politics,pro-life

If two guys are both married to someone named Susan, does that mean they are married to the same person?

Of course not.  There are many women named Susan (and, if I trust my Johnny Cash songs, at least one man).  Pretty obvious, eh?  But that logic is ignored by Mormons claiming to be Christians and by the Christians nodding their heads at the Mormon claims.  They reflexively say that they follow Christ, so they must also be Christians.  And a bunch of Christians don’t think critically enough and they nod their heads with the Mormons.   But if the Christ they follow isn’t the same as the one we follow, then we are not worshiping the same being.

When you dig deeper you find that our definitions of Jesus are wildly and irreconcilably different.  Therefore, we aren’t the same religion and we can’t both be right.

Ironically, Mormonism was founded on a notion that the true church had left the building, so to speak, and that the Mormons were the only real church.  It is only in the last few decades that they made a clever marketing move to appear as just another denomination — albeit one that you really, really need to convert to.

I shared a brief dialogue with a Mormon who commented on my Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing blog  when I noted that Glenn Beck is not a Christian.  I didn’t say that in a mean way, just a factual one.  His reply:

Sorry, Christian means follower of Christ. Whatever you might think of the church that Glenn attends, he has gotten on bended knee, accepted Christ and reversed the damage that his sins have caused to others. Now he lives a life in Christ that he is willing to share on his radio and tv shows, evangelizing His sovereignty. I can think of nothing else that would be required to be a follower of Christ.

Back to the title and the opening sentence: Just because people claim to follow Christ doesn’t mean they are following the same Christ.

Side note: Even authentic Christians don’t “reverse the damage” our sins have caused to others.  We can ask forgiveness and try to make restoration where possible, but much damage can’t be undone.  We are just forgiven.

My response to the commenter:

I encourage you to read this piece where a Mormon — who admittedly doesn’t speak for the whole religion — conceded that we indeed worship different Christs and that he thinks mine is the wrong one. I submit that his views are more in line with historic Mormonism than yours.

Here is part of what that Mormon commenter conceded:

I can see that we do double speak, trying to stand on both sides of the line and often feint ignorance until called out. I found my self doing it with that last post. I almost took the polyandry references out because I wanted to protect other LDS readers who I know are following this conversation. I realize that I have this knowledge and my tendency is to hide it from less informed members of my faith. Ultimately I decided to leave it in and that is in large part due to reading your criticisms in other places and not wanting to be apart of this legitimate frustration.

I fully understand that as a Mormon, I am dishonest if I try to make our doctrines sound the same as yours so that we can get along better. They are different and I know that. When bloggers say, “Billy Mormon would never talk bad about your beliefs” it is just silly. By definition, our church proclaims that yours is wrong. We send out missionaries to say other churches are wrong, come be baptized here instead. I saw these types of comments and I recognize them for what they are.

It is ironic that the theological Liberals who obsess over Glenn Beck (such as false teachers Jim “the Gospel is all about wealth redistribution” Wallis and Chuck “Jesus is not the only way” Currie) ignore the fact that he is Mormon, or they assume that Mormons are Christians.  Just one more reason to avoid wolves in sheep’s clothing like that.

Are Mormons nice neighbors and co-workers?  Absolutely!  They can out-nice the best Christians almost any day of the week.

But do they worship the same God as Christians?  No.  That is a simple fact, not an insult, but too many people are either ill-informed or too politically correct to state the obvious.

People who claim that Mormons are Christians don’t know enough about Mormonism or Christianity — or they are deliberately misleading you.

Also see

Three great posts on the Mormon religion

Are Mormons really Christians? Are Christians really Christians?

A whole bunch of articles on Mormonism