They will know we are Christians by our...?

In John 13:35 Jesus said, "By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another." Unfortunately today Christians are known more for what we are against than what we are for. The media and the political left like to portray us as wackos and extremists on par with the radical Islam factions we fight overseas; and often with good reason. From the Crusades to televangelists to fundamentalists who seem to want to make Jesus look bad, we haven't put the best face on Christianity. Certainly not the love Jesus would have us portray. I bring all this up because the Southern Baptist Convention is having their national convention in San Antonio this week. Yes the same group that made a laughing stock of themselves and Christians by telling people to boycott Disney. I pray that this week they seek God and make wise decisions that will affect Christianity in a positive way. Please guys, break out of your norm and do something loving this week rather than condemning the world and making the rest of us look foolish.

Blessings

Who needs them

Every morning I retrieve from the front of the house my Detroit Free Press, I only get it for the crossword puzzle, yesterday as usual I went out and got the paper. But a wonderful thing happened when I opened the paper to read it, inside was a section on scholars athletes in Michigan. I know how is that wonderful, let me explain. For any number of years we have had naturalistic philosophers tell us that the traditonal family is passe, out dated, no longer needed to raise children. After all didn't Ms. Hillary tells us that "it takes a village to raise children". Anyway back to the newspaper, without even knowing it the Detroit Free Press gave its tacit approval for the traditonal family, the family where there are both a father and a mother. There were approxiamtely 300 young men and women from around the state of Michigan who had been nominated by there schools to be the scholar athletes. Nothing big there, it is the practice of many states to honor the young people who displayed a quality of leadership both in the classroom and on the athletic field. Yet as I read the article that something surprising jumped off the page at me. Of the 300 or soo young people depicted only hndful came from an apparent non-traditional family. The majority came from what conservatives call a traditional family one where there is a father and mother. That speaks loudly, because even in the schools that would be considered inner city a majority of those special scholar atheletes had both parents listed.
What does all of this mean, maybe nothing but maybe it says that children thrive better, achieve more in a tradition family setting where there is a mom and dad than they do in so called progessive or non-traditional families where there may be a single parent or two parents of the same sex.

Iraq is Arab for Vietnam

‘Iraq is Arab for Vietnam’ is a bumper sticker I saw recently. I thought about it and realized the bumper sticker was right. The similarities between Iraq and Vietnam are striking.

Vietnam
It was part of the fight against the global spread of tyrannical Communism.
Iraq
It is part of the fight against the global spread of tyrannical Islamic fascists (sometimes referred to as terrorism).

Vietnam
US was effectively going it alone and winning the war
Iraq
US is effectively going it alone and winning the war

Vietnam
US Congress and the news media kept telling everyone we were losing and is was not worth the loss of life
Iraq
US Congress and the news media keeps telling everyone we are losing and is was not worth the loss of life

Vietnam
US Congress and the news media kept telling everyone it was a family feud (civil war) and we should just get out.
Iraq
US Congress and the news media keeps telling everyone it is a religious feud (civil war) and we should just get out.

Vietnam
US Congress and the news media focused on a few bad apples in the military and call them all rapist and murders.
Iraq
US Congress and the news media focus on a few bad apples in the military and call them all rapist and murders.

Vietnam
Congress thought they could run the war from Washington and ignored input from those on the ground.
Iraq
Congress thinks they can run the war from Washington and ignors input from those on the ground.

Vietnam
Spineless yellow belly Democrats in Congress thought they could score political points by being anti-war and pulling our troops out.
Iraq
Spineless yellow belly Democrats in Congress think they can score political points by being anti-war and pulling our troops out.

Vietnam
Just when it looked like America would finish off the tyrannical Communist, the spineless yellow belly Democrats in Congress forced pulling our troops out by cutting the war funding.
Iraq
Just when it looks like America can finish off the tyrannical Islamic fascists, the spineless yellow belly Democrats in Congress want to force pulling our troops out by cutting the war funding.

Vietnam
After the troops were pulled out Communism was emboldened and spread, the US was embarrassed and weakened and Democrats blamed the military and Republicans.
Iraq
If troops are pulled out tyrannical Islamic fascism will be emboldened and spread, the US will be embarrassed and weakened and Democrats will blame Bush.

So yes, ‘Iraq is Arab for Vietnam’.
(and you thought that was a liberal bumper sticker, didn’t you)

The Reverend Jerry Falwell

I just read the news about the death of the Reverend Jerry Falwell; I am deeply saddened at the loss of this man of God. Reverend Falwell was responsible for my desire to see the Christian worldview lived out in the political arena and it was because of Jerry Falwell that I took a great deal of interest. Back in the late seventies and early eighties Reverend Falwell created an organization that called for the return to the Judea Christian principles this country was founded upon. That organization The Moral Majority swept Ronald Reagan into office and propelled the conservative movement in America to the forefront. It also put Jerry Falwell in the crosshairs of those people who didn’t want to see the return of those values and principles upon which this nation was founded. The mainstream media did its best to discredit the conservative movement and Jerry Falwell in particular. The American people for the most part appreciated in some small way what Reverend Falwell accomplished.
Unfortunately today the culture in America is far worse off than it was before the advent of the Moral Majority. All the institutions that the Reverend Falwell fought so valiantly against, the abortion industry, the pornography industry each are thriving today; they thrive despite the efforts of Jerry Falwell. The conservative movement in America will miss the strong voice brought by Jerry Falwell and today let me offer my prayers and my thoughts to the Falwell family and to the congregation of the Thomas Road Baptist Church. Also let me offer my prayers for the administration and students of Liberty University. Today we mourn the passing of a great man of God and tomorrow we continue the fight to bring to bear a Christian worldview in this fallen world in which we live.

Everything Fox????

There was an interesting article in today’s World Net Daily (May 9, 2007) involving Rick Warren, the senior pastor at Saddleback Church in California and Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of News Corp (owner of Fox). According to the article Rupert Murdoch is a member of Saddleback church. I will say that this information caught me by surprise when you consider the totality of what is produced by the News Corp family, i.e. The Simpson, the Family Guy and a number of other products that push the boundaries of decency. I was however unaware that News Corp had purchased BSkyB and that it was in the process of building a lucrative pornography network under the BSkyB umbrella.
We to often hear that what a person does for a living has no bearing on church membership, or even in being a believer in Christ, that the secular is the secular and the church is the church and neither should interfere or cross into the other. This article, this situation if it is true is the perfect example of how this church/secular dichotomy is what is destroying the Judea/Christian western culture. I say that because if it is true, if Rupert Murdoch is a believer and follower of Christ as the article indicates then how can he reflect the work and person of Jesus Christ and still peddle and profit from the kind of anti-Christian, anti-life, anti-family, pro-degradation filth that not only pornography represents but also that some of the News Corp programming represents.
I am not questioning the faith of Rupert Murdoch, nor am I questioning, like the article indicates, the senior pastor’s Biblical responsibility to call sin as it exists in its various forms. What troubles me is how we, as a culture, can so easily dismiss sin in our own lives simply because it is what we do for a living. We have so easily compartmentalized our lives that we can rationalize a sinful lifestyle and yet call ourselves and truly be a follower of Christ simply because the secular world should never invade the religious world and visa versa.
I would ask Rupert Murdoch to examine his life and see if he is following not only the Great Commission of making disciples but also the Cultural Commission to redeem a world caught in the stain of the fall. This is why having a living out a Biblical/Christian worldview is so important. This is why the wall between the secular and the religious needs to be obliterated, this is why it so important that followers of Christ do all that they can to see the fulfillment of the Great Commission but also the Cultural Commission.

Let the rhetoric begin

The leafs on the trees haven't even blossomed yet; summer, fall and winter are still before us and in South Carolina this past week the great debate has begun. (Or at least it has in the mind of the media) Both parties held the first of what is sure to be a mind numbing number of televised (go c-span) debates between the various and sundry candidates running for the office of president of the United States. And already the national (yea right) media has annoited the front runners from each party with the oil of buffoonery. With over 500 days until the election the rhetoric of personal attack has been ratched up. Unfortunately for the Dems they still seem to be running against President Bush, and the Reps seem to be running from themselves. Persnally I can wait awhile before I decide which candidate I may support, but here are just a couple thoughts. The democrats are doing there best to make sure family values have a place in the party unfortunately I am not quite sure if the family values they are expressing are the same values that most Amricans hold to. And as far as the front runners of the Republicans is concerned I am not sure which one is trying harder to distance themselves from the base faster McCain or Rudy. I am sure that neither would be very electable then again I am not so sure that any candidate from either party is very electable, which just makes for more fun and games in the weeks and months to come. My best advise enjoy the summer, enjoy the fall, enjoy the winter, because by next spring the rhetoric may be so thick it will blot out the sun.

Orwellian Prophecy

As a school boy (that was a long time ago) I was required to read George Orwell’s book “1984”. I can honestly say I do not remember anything from that book other than I read it many years prior to 1984. I say this because I was challenged to take a fresh look at this Orwell classic recently. As you may or may not be aware this week the House Judiciary Committee passed a bill that would protect a particular segment of the population from so called “hate crimes”. The segment of the population that this bill will protect isn’t in danger because of race, ethnicity, or cultural make up. It isn’t even being protected because of its inability to protect itself like those laws that protect the weakest among us, no this bill will protect a group of people because of a behavior.
In the book “1984” Orwell warned that even our thoughts can get us into trouble and subject to criminal prosecution by Big Brother. We are about to witness this prophecy take place. In his commentary today at Breakpoint Chuck Colson even warned that attempts to modify this terrible bill, to modify it chilling effects went unheeded. Unless we raise our voices against this type of special interest legislation we could soon find ourselves subject to Orwellian like Thought Police.