I'm sharing this post with any who happen to venture to my random meanderings for many reasons. First, as with any post, I am writing about it simply because it is a subject of interest to me. Also, I believe many are simply not aware of the battle lines that have been drawn, and the conflict that continues to grow more intense in regards to the issue of homosexualityand people's beliefs about the nature of homosexuality. As people's beliefs about homosexuality continue to change on a large scale in our society are these changing notions based on truth or on conditioning?? I'll include the link to this letter sent out by the American College of Pediatricians which will allow you to access lots of other interesting links related to this topic. Please note the sources referred to in this letter for statements, information, and statistics noted at the bottom such as the CDC, the medical journal Pediatrics, Francis Collins, and many other reputable sources.
Letter to School Officials
March 31, 2010
Dear School Superintendent,
The American College of Pediatricians shares with you, your staff, parents, and other professional organizations the common goal of providing a healthful environment for your students. We are increasingly concerned, however, that in many cases efforts to help students who exhibit same-sex attractions and/or gender confusion are based on incomplete or inaccurate information. To correct this and assist you in establishing the optimal school environment, a Web resource, www.FactsAboutYouth.com (Facts), has been created to provide important factual information about healthful approaches to students experiencing sexual orientation and gender identity confusion.
Among the important questions addressed on the Facts site are:
What are the science-based facts about the development of non-heterosexual attractions and gender confusion in youth?
What is a school’s proper role in dealing with students who are experiencing sexual orientation and gender confusion issues?
How can schools better assist a student and his or her family in dealing with these issues?
Adolescence is a time of upheaval and impermanence. Adolescents experience confusion about many things, including sexual orientation and gender identity, and they are particularly vulnerable to environmental influences.
Rigorous studies demonstrate that most adolescents who initially experience same-sex attraction, or are sexually confused, no longer experience such attractions by age 25. In one study, as many as 26% of 12-year-olds reported being uncertain of their sexual orientation1, yet only 2-3% of adults actually identify themselves as homosexual.2,3 Therefore, the majority of sexually-questioning youth ultimately adopt a heterosexual identity.
Even children with Gender Identity Disorder (when a child desires to be the opposite sex) will typically lose this desire by puberty, if the behavior is not reinforced.4 Researchers, Zucker and Bradley, also maintain that when parents or others allow or encourage a child to behave and be treated as the opposite sex, the confusion is reinforced and the child is conditioned for a life of unnecessary pain and suffering. Even when motivated by noble intentions, schools can ironically play a detrimental role if they reinforce this disorder.
In dealing with adolescents experiencing same-sex attraction, it is essential to understand there is no scientific evidence that an individual is born “gay” or “transgender.” Instead, the best available research points to multiple factors – primarily social and familial – that predispose children and adolescents to homosexual attraction and/or gender confusion.
It is also critical to understand that these conditions can respond well to therapy.5 Dr. Francis Collins, former Director of the Genome Project, has stated that while homosexuality may be genetically influenced, it is “… not hardwired by DNA, and that whatever genes are involved represent predispositions, not predeterminations.” He also states [that] “…the prominent role[s] of individual free will choices [has] a profound effect on us.” 6
The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) recently released a landmark survey and analysis of 125 years of scientific studies and clinical experience dealing with homosexuality. This report, What Research Shows, draws three major conclusions: (1) individuals with unwanted same sex attraction often can be successfully treated; (2) there is no undue risk to patients from embarking on such therapy and (3), as a group, homosexuals experience significantly higher levels of mental and physical health problems compared to heterosexuals.
Among adolescents who claim a “gay” identity, the health risks include higher rates of sexually transmitted infections, alcoholism, substance abuse, anxiety, depression and suicide. Encouragingly, the longer students delay self-labeling as “gay,” the less likely they are to experience these health risks. In fact, for each year an adolescent delays, the risk of suicide alone decreases by 20%.7
In light of these facts, it is clear that when well-intentioned but misinformed school personnel encourage students to “come out as gay” and be “affirmed,” 8 there is a serious risk of erroneously labeling students (who may merely be experiencing transient sexual confusion and/or engaging in sexual experimentation). Premature labeling may then lead some adolescents into harmful homosexual behaviors that they otherwise would not pursue.
Optimal health and respect for all students will only be achieved by first respecting the rights of students and parents to accurate information and to self-determination. It is the school’s legitimate role to provide a safe environment for respectful self-expression for all students. It is not the school’s role to diagnose and attempt to treat any student’s medical condition, and certainly not a school’s role to “affirm” a student’s perceived personal sexual orientation.
It is critical to the health of your students that you and your staff rely on accurate information regarding sexual orientation and gender confusion issues. We urge you to review the enclosed information card, What You Should Know, and distribute it and this letter to your staff and to all interested parents and students. For more information, please visit http://www.factsaboutyouth.org/ or we invite you to inquire by email at info@FactsAboutYouth.com.
Sincerely,
Tom Benton, MD, FCP
President
American College of Pediatricians
What You Should Know fact card
CDC Statistics
For further information, please refer to a statement by the American College of Pediatricians “On the Promotion of Homosexuality in the Schools.“
References for letter
[1]Remafedi G, Resnick M, Blum R, Harris L. Demography of sexual orientation in adolescents. Pediatrics. 1992.89:714-721.
[2]Billy J, Tanfer K, Grady W, Klepinger D. “The sexual behavior of men in the United States.” Family Planning Perspectives. 25(1993),52-61.
[3]Centers for Disease Control. CDC Analysis Provides New Look at Disproportionate Impact of HIV and Syphilis among U.S. Gay and Bisexual Men. Press Release. Wednesday, March 10, 2010.
[4]Zucker K, Bradley S.Gender Identity Disorder and Psychosexual Problems in Children and Adolescents, The Guilford Press, New York, NY 10012, 1995 (p. 283).
[5]National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality. Report: What Research Shows: NARTH’s Response to the APA Claims on Homosexuality. For the summary see http://narth.com/docs/journalsummary.html (accessed 3/3/10).
[6] Collins, F. The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief. New York. Free Press. 2007.p.260 and p.263.
[7]Remafedi G, Farrow JA, Deisher RW, (1991) Risk factors for attempted suicide in gay and bisexual youth. Pediatrics 87:869-875.
[8]Just the Facts Coalition.Just the Facts about Sexual Orientation and Youth. American Psychological Association. 2008. Retrieved from http://apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/just-the-facts.aspx (accessed 3/3/10).
The following is the link I promised. http://factsaboutyouth.com/posts/letter-to-school-officials/
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Deuteronomy
This is one of my favorite books of the Bible. I think it's because you really get to hear Moses speak in this book. It is almost exclusively speeches from him to the people of Israel reminding them, warning them, teaching them, encouraging them, and passing along the last of some specific instructions from God.
He revisits the past tragic history of the previous generation's choices which has led them to this place and time. He also revisits the law by pointing them back to the Sinai experience that they shared and revisits the law itself.
Moses stresses the fact that they themselves saw the fire and heard the voice. They were fed the manna and witnessed his judgment on both the Egyptians and on rebellious Israelites.
I am struck by the structure of the governance of the people. They did have a hierarchy of the priests, levites, and judges that were the community leaders, but as best as I can tell they were to be a "self-policing" people. By that I mean, there seem to be many exhortations to act when laws are observed being broken. The person whose testimony was most central to the verdict was to be the first to throw the stone to kill the guilty. However, if a person was found to be bearing false witness against their neighbor, they bore the punishment that they sought to inflict on the person they were bearing false witness against. The people were to take a proactive role in knowing the law, integrating the law into everyday life AND conversation, and policing things like worship of other gods, murder, blatant disregard for the Sabbath, adultery, etc. They were to "sound the alarm" so to speak.....I think the idea is that sin like all cancer is dealt with most effectively and with the least pain when caught and destroyed early. Otherwise, what may appear to be an act of mercy from our perspective now, may have actually been opening wide a door for widespread corruption of the entire nation and thus a much more damaging problem.
Again and again, Moses spells out blessings AND cursings that would await the people of Israel depending on their choices to either cling to and wholeheartedly embrace God and His statutes or turn their back on Him.
I feel I know the personality of Moses much more because I've read Deuteronomy. Perhaps not the most deep spiritual benefit, but I like Moses....what can I say. Hope you enjoy reading it and will share any of your thoughts with me. 5 down and 61 to go.....Joshua here we come. :)
He revisits the past tragic history of the previous generation's choices which has led them to this place and time. He also revisits the law by pointing them back to the Sinai experience that they shared and revisits the law itself.
Moses stresses the fact that they themselves saw the fire and heard the voice. They were fed the manna and witnessed his judgment on both the Egyptians and on rebellious Israelites.
I am struck by the structure of the governance of the people. They did have a hierarchy of the priests, levites, and judges that were the community leaders, but as best as I can tell they were to be a "self-policing" people. By that I mean, there seem to be many exhortations to act when laws are observed being broken. The person whose testimony was most central to the verdict was to be the first to throw the stone to kill the guilty. However, if a person was found to be bearing false witness against their neighbor, they bore the punishment that they sought to inflict on the person they were bearing false witness against. The people were to take a proactive role in knowing the law, integrating the law into everyday life AND conversation, and policing things like worship of other gods, murder, blatant disregard for the Sabbath, adultery, etc. They were to "sound the alarm" so to speak.....I think the idea is that sin like all cancer is dealt with most effectively and with the least pain when caught and destroyed early. Otherwise, what may appear to be an act of mercy from our perspective now, may have actually been opening wide a door for widespread corruption of the entire nation and thus a much more damaging problem.
Again and again, Moses spells out blessings AND cursings that would await the people of Israel depending on their choices to either cling to and wholeheartedly embrace God and His statutes or turn their back on Him.
I feel I know the personality of Moses much more because I've read Deuteronomy. Perhaps not the most deep spiritual benefit, but I like Moses....what can I say. Hope you enjoy reading it and will share any of your thoughts with me. 5 down and 61 to go.....Joshua here we come. :)
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
My Boy
I was puttering through my four years of blog posts recently, and it occurred to me that I have never written a post focused on my son. I suppose I dream of a time when my kids will actually read at least some of these posts. I suppose, therefore, I'll start with why I think it has taken me so long to write a post dedicated to my boy. In a word, speed. Thangs got a tad crazy since parenthood, and we had the luxury of leisurely cataloging Ella in a way that we did not have the luxury of with Elijah. Just know that throughout life, there will be meaningful differences in specifics about you and your sister and the life that confronts you. However, never doubt the intense love your madre and I both have for both of you. I can promise you it is sometimes painfully intense. Nuff said....for now. :)
Okie doke, just a couple of quick thoughts. You have been a different ride altogether than your sister's arrival. From the day we suddenly discovered we were going to have a boy a few weeks early to this very day, you have added to the already wonderful insanity. You were nicknamed "Smiley" for the longest time during your first year, and you successfully balanced out the testosterone levels with the estrogen levels. It was nice to have someone to grunt with for a change. You and your sister have already begun to develop a primarily sweet and fun-to-watch relationship. You began loving the Veggie Tales early, and you literally jump and scream for joy at the earliest awareness that we are about to watch Incredibles (this is apparently during the previews according to a hilarious story told to me by mommy). I miss you, Ella, and mommy with a painful intensity sometimes because of work. Your favority word right now is probably, "no or NO!" But I'm not worried about that. You have a wild, fun side and a very gentle side, and you are so very, very bright just like your sister. I'm glad mommy is yo mommy.
That is some of the unique stuff for you, and now to finish with some stuff I have also told your sis at times in the past. I look forward to discovering you as you discover yourself. You are such a miracle, and God is the ultimate provider of twists and turns so don't ever think you know the next development He has for any of us. Your mother and I were given stewardship of you, but never forget your are ultimately His, and this is the best news I could ever inform you of. He is a better parent than we can ever be. Please avail yourself of his power and love in your life.
Til our next conversation. :) Yo, Daddy.
Okie doke, just a couple of quick thoughts. You have been a different ride altogether than your sister's arrival. From the day we suddenly discovered we were going to have a boy a few weeks early to this very day, you have added to the already wonderful insanity. You were nicknamed "Smiley" for the longest time during your first year, and you successfully balanced out the testosterone levels with the estrogen levels. It was nice to have someone to grunt with for a change. You and your sister have already begun to develop a primarily sweet and fun-to-watch relationship. You began loving the Veggie Tales early, and you literally jump and scream for joy at the earliest awareness that we are about to watch Incredibles (this is apparently during the previews according to a hilarious story told to me by mommy). I miss you, Ella, and mommy with a painful intensity sometimes because of work. Your favority word right now is probably, "no or NO!" But I'm not worried about that. You have a wild, fun side and a very gentle side, and you are so very, very bright just like your sister. I'm glad mommy is yo mommy.
That is some of the unique stuff for you, and now to finish with some stuff I have also told your sis at times in the past. I look forward to discovering you as you discover yourself. You are such a miracle, and God is the ultimate provider of twists and turns so don't ever think you know the next development He has for any of us. Your mother and I were given stewardship of you, but never forget your are ultimately His, and this is the best news I could ever inform you of. He is a better parent than we can ever be. Please avail yourself of his power and love in your life.
Til our next conversation. :) Yo, Daddy.
Monday, March 08, 2010
Preexisting conditions
I'm sorry if this is a boring topic for some who may read this blog, but I feel the need to put this point down on the record. Last fall when President Obama gave his speech to a joint meeting of the Senate and House, I witnessed one of the more disturbing scenes of the current attempts at "reforming" our healthcare system. It was the sights and sounds of politicians applauding the "no health insurance company should be allowed to deny coverage on the basis of preexisting conditions" portion of the President's speech. This moment was particularly disturbing because members from both sides of the political aisle were applauding. Let us consider this statement for a few moments. Just a few, I promise.....:)
Imagine using this logic in regards to any other insurance category such as homeowners or automobile insurance, or my personal favorite is life insurance. Why do health insurance companies reserve the right to deny coverage for preexisting conditions? Isn't it because the concept of insurance is for the insured to pay a small amount in the EVENTUALITY that something big and bad plays out? It is statistically calculated to be worth the risk of the insurance company to pay out in the few cases that the "big bad" happens and accepts the cash of everyone whom it does not happen to as its actual profit. If you force an entire industry to base its business model on the idea that they MUST allow people to be insured regardless of preexisting conditions the auto insurance premiums would go sky high because everyone would supplement the risk of the reckless drivers, homeowners premiums would rocket upwards as we all absorbed the risk of fraud and those who build and/or live in high risk areas, and I suppose we'd all be unable to even get any life insurance because death is the ultimate potential preexisting condition. I know, I know that is silly. However, this is exactly the rationale behind the belief that pushing for a law mandating health insurance for those with preexisting conditions will somehow create a better healthcare system. It will simply either cause existing health insurance companies to raise their premiums to offset the risk that has been forced upon them, or it will simply cause them to go out of this kind of business altogether.
A great example of this is the heavy handed regulations that currently force insurance companies in various states to include specific coverages in ALL of their policies. This was intended to be a consumer protection, but it has actually caused the most basic insurance policies to be more expensive. Guess who gets hurt by this. Yep, the poor downtrodden souls that the governmental do-gooders had supposedly intended to help. They can't afford the new, improved policies at even their most basic rates because they're now too expensive.
The one preexisiting condition noone seems to want to address is the growing involvement of heavy handed regulation in the formation and escalation of our nation's current many faceted economic woes. Did someone say free market?? Look again.
Imagine using this logic in regards to any other insurance category such as homeowners or automobile insurance, or my personal favorite is life insurance. Why do health insurance companies reserve the right to deny coverage for preexisting conditions? Isn't it because the concept of insurance is for the insured to pay a small amount in the EVENTUALITY that something big and bad plays out? It is statistically calculated to be worth the risk of the insurance company to pay out in the few cases that the "big bad" happens and accepts the cash of everyone whom it does not happen to as its actual profit. If you force an entire industry to base its business model on the idea that they MUST allow people to be insured regardless of preexisting conditions the auto insurance premiums would go sky high because everyone would supplement the risk of the reckless drivers, homeowners premiums would rocket upwards as we all absorbed the risk of fraud and those who build and/or live in high risk areas, and I suppose we'd all be unable to even get any life insurance because death is the ultimate potential preexisting condition. I know, I know that is silly. However, this is exactly the rationale behind the belief that pushing for a law mandating health insurance for those with preexisting conditions will somehow create a better healthcare system. It will simply either cause existing health insurance companies to raise their premiums to offset the risk that has been forced upon them, or it will simply cause them to go out of this kind of business altogether.
A great example of this is the heavy handed regulations that currently force insurance companies in various states to include specific coverages in ALL of their policies. This was intended to be a consumer protection, but it has actually caused the most basic insurance policies to be more expensive. Guess who gets hurt by this. Yep, the poor downtrodden souls that the governmental do-gooders had supposedly intended to help. They can't afford the new, improved policies at even their most basic rates because they're now too expensive.
The one preexisiting condition noone seems to want to address is the growing involvement of heavy handed regulation in the formation and escalation of our nation's current many faceted economic woes. Did someone say free market?? Look again.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Louder with Crowder
I've been introduced to a great new link with a powerfully gifted comic genius who is also politically conservative. I highly encourage anyone who can and will to check out this link to Stephen Crowder. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll cry cuz you're laughing so hard.... enjoy. :)
http://www.pjtv.com/page/Louder_With_Crowder/176/
P.S. this link will find a permanent home under my political links section for future reference.
http://www.pjtv.com/page/Louder_With_Crowder/176/
P.S. this link will find a permanent home under my political links section for future reference.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Being Strong
The notion of being strong is deeply ingrained in all of us. However, what it means to most people and what it means to a Christian are two very different things, and I, as many folks, haven't given that a lot of thought. We are told as Christians not to be worldly, but what does that mean. Unfortunately, most Christians think it refers primarily to not "drink, smoke, or chew and not to hang with those who do" or something along those lines. It seems to me that at least part of what "being worldly" refers to is thinking as if we are still primarily led and influenced by philosophies held by those who are unbelievers.
Being strong in the typical sense refers to diggin' down real deep and being a person who doesn't buckle under pressure. Also, we are to be stoic and unmoved in the face of adversity. We are to rise to the moment. Be all we can be. And so on and so forth.
I don't mean to belittle these notions. I think most who genuinely strive to live up to them (including myself sometimes) do so with the best of intentions. But whether the reason for our thinking in this way is simply driven by ego or some deeper sense of duty to those we care about deeply, there remains a problem. WE are NOT strong. Period.
I have faced a lot of stress and challenges in the last several years as I've taken on the responsibilities of husband and father, and I have many close friends that have faced much more intense challenges and tragedy than I have. I don't mean to make it sound as if I've learned to walk in this truth of being strong, but I see it more clearly now than ever in the past. I hope that will be a first step to walking in it.
The truth is this. "Being" strong, just as "being" anything for a Christian is found in the person of Christ and enabled by the Holy Spirit. The outer signs of being strong for a Christian may look similar to some of the things I described above, but the key to whatever, if any, strength that we possess is in direct proportion that we have recognized and acknowledged our own complete poverty of strength and whether we have chosen to seek to avail ourselves of His limitless strength(and righteousness and patience and mercifulness and self-control and humility and gratefulness and...well...you get the idea). May we all simply make the one choice that is ours to make. Placing our trust in the one and only Strong one among us.
Being strong in the typical sense refers to diggin' down real deep and being a person who doesn't buckle under pressure. Also, we are to be stoic and unmoved in the face of adversity. We are to rise to the moment. Be all we can be. And so on and so forth.
I don't mean to belittle these notions. I think most who genuinely strive to live up to them (including myself sometimes) do so with the best of intentions. But whether the reason for our thinking in this way is simply driven by ego or some deeper sense of duty to those we care about deeply, there remains a problem. WE are NOT strong. Period.
I have faced a lot of stress and challenges in the last several years as I've taken on the responsibilities of husband and father, and I have many close friends that have faced much more intense challenges and tragedy than I have. I don't mean to make it sound as if I've learned to walk in this truth of being strong, but I see it more clearly now than ever in the past. I hope that will be a first step to walking in it.
The truth is this. "Being" strong, just as "being" anything for a Christian is found in the person of Christ and enabled by the Holy Spirit. The outer signs of being strong for a Christian may look similar to some of the things I described above, but the key to whatever, if any, strength that we possess is in direct proportion that we have recognized and acknowledged our own complete poverty of strength and whether we have chosen to seek to avail ourselves of His limitless strength(and righteousness and patience and mercifulness and self-control and humility and gratefulness and...well...you get the idea). May we all simply make the one choice that is ours to make. Placing our trust in the one and only Strong one among us.
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Good Way to Start the New Year
Many who know me know that I've had a whole lot of stuff go down since the last post. Starting about a week after that post to the present day, a lot has been topsy turvy and an unexpected roller coaster ride that I most certainly wasn't expecting. God is STILL good all the time, and I am always amazed at his desire to simultaneously shake me out of trusting in appearances (whether "good" circumstances or "bad" circumstances) and his ability to swoop in while shaking things up so intensely to use the exact same chronological stretch of time to show me how he is protecting and providing for my family. I want to live a life of complete trust regardless of circumstance, but I'm a whiny scaredy cat a good bit of the time, and I can only hope his patience continues. I just want to publicly say thank you to Him for both the painful, scary events as well as the amazing providential provision He has provided. I genuinely believe I need both in equal measure. Now that the lengthy half-baked explanation of my absence from blogoworld has ended, I will get on with this short, sweet, and to the point, main point.
This is simply one of the verses used by my pastor in his sermon tonight, and I felt that the this simple and powerful statement in Jeremiah was a great way to begin our new year. Hope it is a blessing to you. Be back soon...... hopefully. :)
"This is what the Lord says; 'Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.' " Jeremiah 6:16
This is simply one of the verses used by my pastor in his sermon tonight, and I felt that the this simple and powerful statement in Jeremiah was a great way to begin our new year. Hope it is a blessing to you. Be back soon...... hopefully. :)
"This is what the Lord says; 'Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.' " Jeremiah 6:16
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Numbers
Lots of specific instances recorded in the book of Numbers.
People counted. Fighting men numbered(men 20 years or older that can fight = approximately 600,000). Levite tribe numbered by clans and assigned tasks associated with moving tabernacle. The following is my way of trying to remember which clan moved which part of the tabernacle. Kohath-all holy of holies articles(ark of covenant) and articles within the tabernacle(table with showbread, lampstand, stand with burning incense) I call this the heart, Gershon responsible for all fabric on all walls around all sides of tabernacle, I call this the skin, Merrari responsible for all posts and the bases they rest in to support the cloth walls and overhead cloth, I call these the bones. Kohath-heart, Gershon-skin, Merrari-bones.
Second passover takes place a year after the Exodus.
Passover regulations are readdressed.
Cloud of fire(manifestation of God's presence) leads the people.
People complain and fire of God consumes some.
People whine about no meat "only" manna. God sends quail and then judges the people.
70 elders get Moses' spirit(including two who remain in the camp).
People are judged with a plague.
Miriam and Aaron bad mouth Moses. Miriam gets leprosy as judgment. Moses begs for mercy for her.
12 spies sent.
10 spies lead the people into unbelief and rebellion.
God decides noone over 20 at Exodus will enter the promised land.
Next day people decide to go up without God and are slaughtered.
Regulations about no difference between Jew and alien sacrifices.
Regulations about difference between accidental and willful sin.
Story about man working on Sabbath and being sentenced to death.
Questioning of authority....
Korah's rebellion questions authority. God judges Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their families(ground swallows them up).
THE NEXT DAY!!! -- people rebel
God judges with a plague and 14,700 die.
One staff from each tribe is taken including one from Aaron. Aaron's staff buds and blossoms overnight to further establish God's authority rested on Aaron and his line.
Aaron, priests, and Levites given regulations about their care for temple and offerings.
Sacrifice of Red Heifer regulations.
Also in Numbers are the jealousy test for husbands who suspect their wives of unfaithfulness.
The account of Moses disobeying and being told he would not enter promised land.
Fighting and defeating people east of Jordan.
Tribes of Reuben, Gad, and 1/2 tribe of Manasseh claim land east of Jordan as their inheritance, but they take solemn oath to fight with their brothers on west side until they have conquered the promised land.
That's alot but I've missed a lot. As I said at the beginning, Numbers has a lot of specific events to learn about and consider. I always thought of Numbers as similar to Leviticus (thick with info, but not so much with historical info)but that is not true, Numbers is extremely thick with historical narrative.
People counted. Fighting men numbered(men 20 years or older that can fight = approximately 600,000). Levite tribe numbered by clans and assigned tasks associated with moving tabernacle. The following is my way of trying to remember which clan moved which part of the tabernacle. Kohath-all holy of holies articles(ark of covenant) and articles within the tabernacle(table with showbread, lampstand, stand with burning incense) I call this the heart, Gershon responsible for all fabric on all walls around all sides of tabernacle, I call this the skin, Merrari responsible for all posts and the bases they rest in to support the cloth walls and overhead cloth, I call these the bones. Kohath-heart, Gershon-skin, Merrari-bones.
Second passover takes place a year after the Exodus.
Passover regulations are readdressed.
Cloud of fire(manifestation of God's presence) leads the people.
People complain and fire of God consumes some.
People whine about no meat "only" manna. God sends quail and then judges the people.
70 elders get Moses' spirit(including two who remain in the camp).
People are judged with a plague.
Miriam and Aaron bad mouth Moses. Miriam gets leprosy as judgment. Moses begs for mercy for her.
12 spies sent.
10 spies lead the people into unbelief and rebellion.
God decides noone over 20 at Exodus will enter the promised land.
Next day people decide to go up without God and are slaughtered.
Regulations about no difference between Jew and alien sacrifices.
Regulations about difference between accidental and willful sin.
Story about man working on Sabbath and being sentenced to death.
Questioning of authority....
Korah's rebellion questions authority. God judges Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their families(ground swallows them up).
THE NEXT DAY!!! -- people rebel
God judges with a plague and 14,700 die.
One staff from each tribe is taken including one from Aaron. Aaron's staff buds and blossoms overnight to further establish God's authority rested on Aaron and his line.
Aaron, priests, and Levites given regulations about their care for temple and offerings.
Sacrifice of Red Heifer regulations.
Also in Numbers are the jealousy test for husbands who suspect their wives of unfaithfulness.
The account of Moses disobeying and being told he would not enter promised land.
Fighting and defeating people east of Jordan.
Tribes of Reuben, Gad, and 1/2 tribe of Manasseh claim land east of Jordan as their inheritance, but they take solemn oath to fight with their brothers on west side until they have conquered the promised land.
That's alot but I've missed a lot. As I said at the beginning, Numbers has a lot of specific events to learn about and consider. I always thought of Numbers as similar to Leviticus (thick with info, but not so much with historical info)but that is not true, Numbers is extremely thick with historical narrative.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
One year wake up call
We are swiftly approaching the one year anniversary of that day in 2008 when we in America decided that the dynamic duo of Obama and Stuart Smalley could save the day. What exactly may lie ahead in the course of the coming year is quite honestly chilling. But first let's recap shall we... during the last year, we have passed well over 1.5 trillion(1,500,000,000,000) dollars in bailout funds (half of which was accomplished by our beloved Bush and his peeps). This is three times the amount that it took to fund Iraq and Afghanistan for the entire time we had been there up to this point(6 years or so). This has put our country perilously close to the international equivalent of bankruptcy because even the U.S. Gov has to pay someone. We must either print more money(devaluing our own dollar), borrow more money from the Chinese, or tax the people of the U.S.A. a bit more and more and more. The Obama administration has chosen doors one, two, and three.
Now, what lies ahead, you ask?? Well kids, the fun has just begun! In spite of the fact that roughly half(depending on whose stats you believe) of current healthcare costs are already being paid through government (or by taxpayer funds), we have been told that Obama and the dems sense a desperate need to saddle the taxpayers with a much, much bigger tax burden to "fix" our horribly broken healthcare system. Also, to see a preview of what "fixing" our horribly broken healthcare system looks like, please note the wonderful job the government has done "fixing" what was our horribly broken housing market. Roughly half the mortgages in the U.S. are currently underwritten by the U.S. government, 70-90% of all new mortgages during the last couple of years are underwritten by the U.S. government, and foreclosures are at all time high. Ra ra sis boom bah, goooooo Uncle Sam. Without going into detail, let's just consider some of the other purchases Obama has been making for us(the taxpayer). He has gotten us a couple of primo American auto companies(Chrysler and GM), multiple banks, and an awesome American Investment Group to help us manage all our new acquisitions. That's just the beginning. He has his eyes of the prize of American energy next, and if you think Obama's just another one of these greedy capitalist just all about the bling for him and us. Think again. In December, at the World Climate Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, he is poised to begin a process of amazingly generous charitable donations to all the tyran....um....poor of the world on our behalf so that we don't have to feel guilty any more about all this wealth that we have.
Ok, the rant portion of this post is now over. Hopefully, it was somewhat enjoyable to some of you, and Lord knows it was therapeutic for me. :) Now for something a bit more constructive. I have some very specific ideas about actual things that we can do as individuals during the next 3-6 months that will actually be helpful and meaningful. The only preview I can give you is that it regards electing actual conservatives(financially, foreign policy, socially, and above all small government conservatives) during 2010 in the U.S. House of Representatives. This is the one area other than prayer, voting and pestering the mess out of our current reps that we can do, and the key is finding and supporting conservatives early enough in the process to hopefully make them the Republican that wins the Republican primary. Whether Dem or Republican, getting a conservative candidate MUST, MUST happen during the primary season of the election process. This means we've got to get cranking on finding and supporting ACTUAL conservatives during the next few months. I have ideas about this, and I promise to have some kind of explicit representation of those ideas with actual opportunity for people to respond with action within the next month.....for the record, even if you don't read this blog, I'll probably be on a recruiting mission with this one.
Smooches and sunshine to all(yes even to President Obama and the Dems, I don't hate 'em. I'm just mad at 'em.)
Now, what lies ahead, you ask?? Well kids, the fun has just begun! In spite of the fact that roughly half(depending on whose stats you believe) of current healthcare costs are already being paid through government (or by taxpayer funds), we have been told that Obama and the dems sense a desperate need to saddle the taxpayers with a much, much bigger tax burden to "fix" our horribly broken healthcare system. Also, to see a preview of what "fixing" our horribly broken healthcare system looks like, please note the wonderful job the government has done "fixing" what was our horribly broken housing market. Roughly half the mortgages in the U.S. are currently underwritten by the U.S. government, 70-90% of all new mortgages during the last couple of years are underwritten by the U.S. government, and foreclosures are at all time high. Ra ra sis boom bah, goooooo Uncle Sam. Without going into detail, let's just consider some of the other purchases Obama has been making for us(the taxpayer). He has gotten us a couple of primo American auto companies(Chrysler and GM), multiple banks, and an awesome American Investment Group to help us manage all our new acquisitions. That's just the beginning. He has his eyes of the prize of American energy next, and if you think Obama's just another one of these greedy capitalist just all about the bling for him and us. Think again. In December, at the World Climate Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, he is poised to begin a process of amazingly generous charitable donations to all the tyran....um....poor of the world on our behalf so that we don't have to feel guilty any more about all this wealth that we have.
Ok, the rant portion of this post is now over. Hopefully, it was somewhat enjoyable to some of you, and Lord knows it was therapeutic for me. :) Now for something a bit more constructive. I have some very specific ideas about actual things that we can do as individuals during the next 3-6 months that will actually be helpful and meaningful. The only preview I can give you is that it regards electing actual conservatives(financially, foreign policy, socially, and above all small government conservatives) during 2010 in the U.S. House of Representatives. This is the one area other than prayer, voting and pestering the mess out of our current reps that we can do, and the key is finding and supporting conservatives early enough in the process to hopefully make them the Republican that wins the Republican primary. Whether Dem or Republican, getting a conservative candidate MUST, MUST happen during the primary season of the election process. This means we've got to get cranking on finding and supporting ACTUAL conservatives during the next few months. I have ideas about this, and I promise to have some kind of explicit representation of those ideas with actual opportunity for people to respond with action within the next month.....for the record, even if you don't read this blog, I'll probably be on a recruiting mission with this one.
Smooches and sunshine to all(yes even to President Obama and the Dems, I don't hate 'em. I'm just mad at 'em.)
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Leviticus
Specifics about sacrifices.
Much of it revolves around priest/Levite rules.
Meditate on symbolism of tribe without an inheritance of land but whose inheritance is the Lord.
Sacrifices--burnt, sin, wave, freewill, fellowship
Nadab and Abihu smote after offering unauthorized fire.
Regulations about public health issues.
Priestly duties regarding Atonement.
Sexual relations law specifics.
Lots of different mixture of laws and specific regulations near the end.
BE HOLY--(set apart).
Much of it revolves around priest/Levite rules.
Meditate on symbolism of tribe without an inheritance of land but whose inheritance is the Lord.
Sacrifices--burnt, sin, wave, freewill, fellowship
Nadab and Abihu smote after offering unauthorized fire.
Regulations about public health issues.
Priestly duties regarding Atonement.
Sexual relations law specifics.
Lots of different mixture of laws and specific regulations near the end.
BE HOLY--(set apart).
Monday, October 12, 2009
Monday, September 07, 2009
Exodus
For new comers to my Bible study type stuff, I am not claiming to be tossing out any profoundly insightful nuggets, but I am hoping for feedbacks in the way of questions, answers, thoughts, observations, and, yes, even the occasional disagreement about something. I am primarily seeking to build more dialogue as a way of life about the scriptures with as many folks who will engage me about it.
Act I Genesis closes on Jacob/Israel being welcomed in Egypt and prospering under the current Pharoah
Act II Exodus opens a few hundred years later with a Pharoah who fears and oppresses Israel.
Oral tradition still the primary method of passing on God's story up to this point, but written record perhaps begins here.
Moses and Aaron are of the tribe of Levi.
MOSES
1st 40 years--Egyptian royalty after God's intervention
2nd 40 years--Exile into wilderness, meets wife and Jethro(father-in-law) and has two sons
3rd 40 years--Exodus and wilderness
Significance about 40 years number??
Why were Pharoah's magicians able to replicate any of Moses's stuff?
What was the whole burning bush thing about??
Why did the "almost killing Moses at the last minute because of not circumcising his son" thing happen??
Three primary "Scenes" of Exodus
Act II Scene I---Moses/Exodus
Act II Scene II---Wilderness/Sinai/Golden Calf/Law Part I
Act II Scene III---Details about tabernacle
How does that whole "Moses talking God out of wiping out Israel" thing work??
As you can see, I'm pretty free flow with these entries. But that's sort of the idea. This represents things that are straight from my notes while listening to Exodus on CD.
By the way, does anyone know of a particularly high quality audio Bible on Mp3 that is available for download. I'd like to get a copy sometime during the next year.
Act I Genesis closes on Jacob/Israel being welcomed in Egypt and prospering under the current Pharoah
Act II Exodus opens a few hundred years later with a Pharoah who fears and oppresses Israel.
Oral tradition still the primary method of passing on God's story up to this point, but written record perhaps begins here.
Moses and Aaron are of the tribe of Levi.
MOSES
1st 40 years--Egyptian royalty after God's intervention
2nd 40 years--Exile into wilderness, meets wife and Jethro(father-in-law) and has two sons
3rd 40 years--Exodus and wilderness
Significance about 40 years number??
Why were Pharoah's magicians able to replicate any of Moses's stuff?
What was the whole burning bush thing about??
Why did the "almost killing Moses at the last minute because of not circumcising his son" thing happen??
Three primary "Scenes" of Exodus
Act II Scene I---Moses/Exodus
Act II Scene II---Wilderness/Sinai/Golden Calf/Law Part I
Act II Scene III---Details about tabernacle
How does that whole "Moses talking God out of wiping out Israel" thing work??
As you can see, I'm pretty free flow with these entries. But that's sort of the idea. This represents things that are straight from my notes while listening to Exodus on CD.
By the way, does anyone know of a particularly high quality audio Bible on Mp3 that is available for download. I'd like to get a copy sometime during the next year.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Eat, Pray, Love
I have a close friend who read this book earlier this year, and I snagged the audio book on CD to listen to it in my truck so we could discuss amongst ourselves. The following are the main thoughts I took away from the book.
First, it was an interesting read. Elizabeth Gilbert(the author) takes us on a ride from four months in Italy to four months in India to four months in Indonesia. I personally was the most interested during the parts that showed "the view" from inside an ashram(not sure about the spelling on that) in India. This is sort of like a retreat/temporary monastery type dealio for those seekin a lil enlightenment Hindu style. I also was fascinated with the social structure of Indonesia (specifically Bali--the only Hindu island of the otherwise Muslim Indonesia). The Italy part just primarily made me hungry for pasta and a good cup of coffee. This interesting journey is set within the context of Ms. Gilbert's personal spiritual journey at a very painful point in her life.
I'm not a book critic though, and the thing that drew me to this book was the underlying conclusions that I knew would inevitably be there to be found.
CHAPTERS 3, 57, and whatever the next to last chapter was.....
First, I'll address what I identified as the core message of the book. In chapter 3, Liz shares the catalyst that sort of gets the ball rolling on her spiritual journey. She prays. She is a snotty, crying, sobbing mess on her bathroom floor in the middle of the night while her then husband was sleeping. She knew that she was miserable for many different reasons, and she cried out for help. She holds a conviction that she hears a calm, strong, loving voice(a version of her own voice but much more at peace and authoritative) that responds with very simple instructions to return to bed to sleep. Simple instructions but the experience was a VERY powerful one for her.
This is crucial for two primary reasons. 1.It launches this very committedly non-spiritual person into a new direction and thus the story ensues. 2. It also serves as THE point of reference at the end of the year long journey for the author to make her point(in the next to last chapter). She refers to an old Hindu proverb that claims there are two forces at work that turn an acorn into an oak tree. One is all the physical realities that come from the fact that everything that makes the oak is in the acorn seed and will come out if it gets into good soil, AND the "future" oak that doesn't yet exist that wants to reach its full potential and thus pulls the acorn and its innards along the process. She wonders if the voice she heard in the bathroom was perhaps this new balanced and more fully at peace and stronger version of herself pulling herself forward into the fullness of her potential. That feeling you have right now is called a Hindu headache, grasshopper. :)
Agree, disagree, think amongst yourselfs(in case you haven't figured this one out I disagree). However, the most thought provoking part of the book for me came smack in the middle in chapter 57. It comes just after a very important moment for our leading lady in her guru's ashram in India.
SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES
Elizabeth has a very powerful spiritual experience(a couple of spiritual experiences actually), and this is the watershed moment for her. Everything flows forward out of these hours and days. During this chapter, Ms. Gilbert makes some fairly dogmatic statements about the nature of faith as she sees it. "faith is not rational.....if faith were rational it wouldn't be by definition, faith. Faith is belief in what you cannot see or prove or touch...."
This reminds me of a conversation I had with a Mormon a few years ago on a plane to Dallas(it will be a meaningful tangent, just hang with me a minute). He was explaining to me his religious convictions, and I was listening because I was genuinely interested in the inner workings of the whole Mormon thing, but finally, I began to challenge him about specifics within his faith in what I hope was a very measured and respectful way. The conversation remained very friendly and cordial all the way through with only a few more tense moments, but he eventually always retreated back to what the Mormons call the "burning in the bosom." This connotes a meaningful spiritual experience that seems to signify a real spiritual happening, and for him, this trumps anything I can toss at him in the way of reason or objective problems that exist with his religious beliefs and his religion as a whole. The only thing I knew to tell him was this. I was raised in Pentecostal churches, and I know a thing or two about spiritual experiences. The short version of what I mean by that is that I realized that some of the spiritual experiences I was witnessing or even some I had myself were almost certainly not God at work. This realization caused me to have to seriously reevaluate some things, but I believe the realization was a profound gift from God.
Being a follower of Christ is a belief system that is filled with external checks. The Bible constantly sets itself up to be tested historically, ethically, experientially, scientifically, etc. It is a faith that is firmly rooted in our story and in our existence. It is not some abstract thing that cannot be appreciated outside some spiritual state of mind. Religions that seek to coerce its followers into chunking reason for faith are trying to convince that faith is not faith unless you do that.....unless you bet your eternal destiny on a spiritual experience or a series of spiritual experiences, but God begs to be empirically verified constantly. I can back this up if anyone is interested, but my point is that faith means just what it means when you claim to have faith in your spouse or your father or the pilot of the airplane you are flying in. Faith in God means the same or at least similar things as these examples. Badee.....badee......dats all folks.
First, it was an interesting read. Elizabeth Gilbert(the author) takes us on a ride from four months in Italy to four months in India to four months in Indonesia. I personally was the most interested during the parts that showed "the view" from inside an ashram(not sure about the spelling on that) in India. This is sort of like a retreat/temporary monastery type dealio for those seekin a lil enlightenment Hindu style. I also was fascinated with the social structure of Indonesia (specifically Bali--the only Hindu island of the otherwise Muslim Indonesia). The Italy part just primarily made me hungry for pasta and a good cup of coffee. This interesting journey is set within the context of Ms. Gilbert's personal spiritual journey at a very painful point in her life.
I'm not a book critic though, and the thing that drew me to this book was the underlying conclusions that I knew would inevitably be there to be found.
CHAPTERS 3, 57, and whatever the next to last chapter was.....
First, I'll address what I identified as the core message of the book. In chapter 3, Liz shares the catalyst that sort of gets the ball rolling on her spiritual journey. She prays. She is a snotty, crying, sobbing mess on her bathroom floor in the middle of the night while her then husband was sleeping. She knew that she was miserable for many different reasons, and she cried out for help. She holds a conviction that she hears a calm, strong, loving voice(a version of her own voice but much more at peace and authoritative) that responds with very simple instructions to return to bed to sleep. Simple instructions but the experience was a VERY powerful one for her.
This is crucial for two primary reasons. 1.It launches this very committedly non-spiritual person into a new direction and thus the story ensues. 2. It also serves as THE point of reference at the end of the year long journey for the author to make her point(in the next to last chapter). She refers to an old Hindu proverb that claims there are two forces at work that turn an acorn into an oak tree. One is all the physical realities that come from the fact that everything that makes the oak is in the acorn seed and will come out if it gets into good soil, AND the "future" oak that doesn't yet exist that wants to reach its full potential and thus pulls the acorn and its innards along the process. She wonders if the voice she heard in the bathroom was perhaps this new balanced and more fully at peace and stronger version of herself pulling herself forward into the fullness of her potential. That feeling you have right now is called a Hindu headache, grasshopper. :)
Agree, disagree, think amongst yourselfs(in case you haven't figured this one out I disagree). However, the most thought provoking part of the book for me came smack in the middle in chapter 57. It comes just after a very important moment for our leading lady in her guru's ashram in India.
SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES
Elizabeth has a very powerful spiritual experience(a couple of spiritual experiences actually), and this is the watershed moment for her. Everything flows forward out of these hours and days. During this chapter, Ms. Gilbert makes some fairly dogmatic statements about the nature of faith as she sees it. "faith is not rational.....if faith were rational it wouldn't be by definition, faith. Faith is belief in what you cannot see or prove or touch...."
This reminds me of a conversation I had with a Mormon a few years ago on a plane to Dallas(it will be a meaningful tangent, just hang with me a minute). He was explaining to me his religious convictions, and I was listening because I was genuinely interested in the inner workings of the whole Mormon thing, but finally, I began to challenge him about specifics within his faith in what I hope was a very measured and respectful way. The conversation remained very friendly and cordial all the way through with only a few more tense moments, but he eventually always retreated back to what the Mormons call the "burning in the bosom." This connotes a meaningful spiritual experience that seems to signify a real spiritual happening, and for him, this trumps anything I can toss at him in the way of reason or objective problems that exist with his religious beliefs and his religion as a whole. The only thing I knew to tell him was this. I was raised in Pentecostal churches, and I know a thing or two about spiritual experiences. The short version of what I mean by that is that I realized that some of the spiritual experiences I was witnessing or even some I had myself were almost certainly not God at work. This realization caused me to have to seriously reevaluate some things, but I believe the realization was a profound gift from God.
Being a follower of Christ is a belief system that is filled with external checks. The Bible constantly sets itself up to be tested historically, ethically, experientially, scientifically, etc. It is a faith that is firmly rooted in our story and in our existence. It is not some abstract thing that cannot be appreciated outside some spiritual state of mind. Religions that seek to coerce its followers into chunking reason for faith are trying to convince that faith is not faith unless you do that.....unless you bet your eternal destiny on a spiritual experience or a series of spiritual experiences, but God begs to be empirically verified constantly. I can back this up if anyone is interested, but my point is that faith means just what it means when you claim to have faith in your spouse or your father or the pilot of the airplane you are flying in. Faith in God means the same or at least similar things as these examples. Badee.....badee......dats all folks.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Why there is no car insurance crisis
I heard a talk show host recently express that there was really not a healthcare crisis, but there was actually a healthcare insurance problem. He then went to illustrate the way to solve many of the problems by comparing our healthcare insurance with car insurance. This is a paraphrase of that.
Consider the most recent car insurance commercial you've seen(the gecko of Geiko, the Progressive commercials, etc.). Consider what they talk about in those commercials. Good coverage AND good rate quotes or bargains are what they claim. Now consider any health insurance commercials you've seen. First, there aren't as many, and when they show up on the TV, they only talk about one side of the equation, good coverage/care. That is because the majority of folks don't shop around for health insurance and compare prices and specifics of the policy like they do with car, home owners, and life insurance. This is because most of us think only of getting our healthcare insurance through our employer, and much like the taxes withheld by our employer, we don't even think of the cost of this to us. We only care about our co-pays and the percentage of our coverage.
There are two primary things that I believe if changed about how we structure healthcare would have a huge impact in the right direction of making healthcare insurance affordable AND would keep and improve the current quality of the healthcare we receive.
1. Begin creating incentives for people to get their medical insurance independant from their employment. This will shift the awareness of "bang for their buck" to the consumer and will not cause people to slip into having no insurance when switching jobs.
2. Allow any persons from any states to purchase medical insurance from health insurance companies from any other state. This will free people from the heavy handed regulatory environment of many states and keep them from having to subsidize the costs of coverage that they themselves don't need. This is a more involved angle to healthcare costs that I don't have time to get into in this post. But for more info, click on the galen.org link on the post a couple of posts down.
Consider the most recent car insurance commercial you've seen(the gecko of Geiko, the Progressive commercials, etc.). Consider what they talk about in those commercials. Good coverage AND good rate quotes or bargains are what they claim. Now consider any health insurance commercials you've seen. First, there aren't as many, and when they show up on the TV, they only talk about one side of the equation, good coverage/care. That is because the majority of folks don't shop around for health insurance and compare prices and specifics of the policy like they do with car, home owners, and life insurance. This is because most of us think only of getting our healthcare insurance through our employer, and much like the taxes withheld by our employer, we don't even think of the cost of this to us. We only care about our co-pays and the percentage of our coverage.
There are two primary things that I believe if changed about how we structure healthcare would have a huge impact in the right direction of making healthcare insurance affordable AND would keep and improve the current quality of the healthcare we receive.
1. Begin creating incentives for people to get their medical insurance independant from their employment. This will shift the awareness of "bang for their buck" to the consumer and will not cause people to slip into having no insurance when switching jobs.
2. Allow any persons from any states to purchase medical insurance from health insurance companies from any other state. This will free people from the heavy handed regulatory environment of many states and keep them from having to subsidize the costs of coverage that they themselves don't need. This is a more involved angle to healthcare costs that I don't have time to get into in this post. But for more info, click on the galen.org link on the post a couple of posts down.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Market Disciplines
I usually leave the economic posts to my friend Kirk at his random acts of economics blog, but I heard this explained recently and felt it was expressed so clearly and made such a great point that I should share it with whomever might dare to be interested in economics.
Market discipline, as I understand it, is an economic principle that states that individual businesses in the private sector(non-government) must constantly adjust their business by what money remains after all expenses have been paid out. When this shrinks, they either must invest less in their business or cut the number of employees or raise prices for their product or service that they provide. When the profits increase, the business can grow by perhaps buying more needed large equipment for the business or hiring more people or many other possibilities. The point is that there is a natural force in place to create a check and balance to how quickly the business does or does not grow. The good news for businesses is that many of the general circumstances that usually influence their growth or shrinkage are also being experienced by the other businesses they are competing against.
Now, let's change this to bring government into the mix. Let's say that the U.S. government decides to get into the home mortgage business just for example(not that they would ever do that) :). The government is not subject to the same market forces that the normal business is subject to. They get their money from taxpayers. This in turn keeps them from being subjected to market disciplines AND it forces the other players in the home mortgage business to compete with them while they ARE still handicapped by market disciplines. Not only is the government not subject to market disciplines. It seems to encourage the management of their resources to move in the opposite direction, recklessness and a complete lack of discipline. In the backs of everyone's mind who works within the government funded businesses is the awareness that government will always be able to bail them out if they fail with more tax money. Perhaps one of the ultimate ironies is that the taxes that pay for these government funded journeys into the market are funded by taxes from the very businesses they are unfairly competing against.
We've all seen the absolute mess that resulted at least partially from this practice of government involvement in the housing market. What else is the government going to become involved in??
Can you say healthcare?
There are so many reasons I'm for limited government involvement and regulation in our economy. These are just a few. In regards to ideas about healthcare, visit the link below to see current ideas about free market solutions to healthcare instead of government dictated solutions.
http://galen.org
Market discipline, as I understand it, is an economic principle that states that individual businesses in the private sector(non-government) must constantly adjust their business by what money remains after all expenses have been paid out. When this shrinks, they either must invest less in their business or cut the number of employees or raise prices for their product or service that they provide. When the profits increase, the business can grow by perhaps buying more needed large equipment for the business or hiring more people or many other possibilities. The point is that there is a natural force in place to create a check and balance to how quickly the business does or does not grow. The good news for businesses is that many of the general circumstances that usually influence their growth or shrinkage are also being experienced by the other businesses they are competing against.
Now, let's change this to bring government into the mix. Let's say that the U.S. government decides to get into the home mortgage business just for example(not that they would ever do that) :). The government is not subject to the same market forces that the normal business is subject to. They get their money from taxpayers. This in turn keeps them from being subjected to market disciplines AND it forces the other players in the home mortgage business to compete with them while they ARE still handicapped by market disciplines. Not only is the government not subject to market disciplines. It seems to encourage the management of their resources to move in the opposite direction, recklessness and a complete lack of discipline. In the backs of everyone's mind who works within the government funded businesses is the awareness that government will always be able to bail them out if they fail with more tax money. Perhaps one of the ultimate ironies is that the taxes that pay for these government funded journeys into the market are funded by taxes from the very businesses they are unfairly competing against.
We've all seen the absolute mess that resulted at least partially from this practice of government involvement in the housing market. What else is the government going to become involved in??
Can you say healthcare?
There are so many reasons I'm for limited government involvement and regulation in our economy. These are just a few. In regards to ideas about healthcare, visit the link below to see current ideas about free market solutions to healthcare instead of government dictated solutions.
http://galen.org
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Secular Saturation
What is secular? The most common use of this word is non-religious. In other words, most people when they use the word secular are referring to their life in the "secular" world like their job or sports. Recently, I was listening to an interview of a contributor to a book called Faith, Film, and Philosophy. This book allows leading Christian thinkers to pick a movie or two and write about the bigger message and issues raised and give some Christian response to it. The guest was asked if he had to pick one bigger agenda being pushed either consciously or unconscioiusly by Hollywood, what would that be. He didn't speak about permiscuous sex or overt slams on Christianity or attitudes about violence or many social issues. Instead, he spoke of an all consuming secular way of looking at life all the time. He clarifies the way in which he means secular. Secularism is basically an attitude that states, "even if God exists, He is irrelevant to how we live our lives on a daily basis." Certainly, most of the films that receive high praise from Hollywood elites show this man-centered view as being THE relevant way to consider the human condition(think Oscar nominations). However, most people I know don't think such films are in touch with the way they view the world anyway. The shows and films I'm concerned with are the biggest popular hits for TV and film. The characters never seem to consult God for their ethical choices, turn to him in their hour of need, profess any devotion to God, or discuss any matters about their faith in God and how that influences their lives.
In the words of the guest being interviewed, "if you truly take the existence of God seriously in regard to His influence and meaningfulness in daily life, it is inevitable that God Himself becomes a character in the show or film if even only indirectly."
The key issue about this to me is NOT that most people who are in power in Hollywood don't consider God to truly be relevant, but that those people saturate our most popular films with this conclusion in a thousand subtle ways. This, in turn, creates a perception in people's minds about how people in general view the world and the way things truly are. Perhaps worst of all, it creates thousands of specific ways on "how-to" live your life without God. The key to appreciating the seriousness of this trend is in grasping the subtlety AND the complete saturation of it. Whether it is Jack Ryan, Jack Bauer, or Jack Shepherd, not a single one has ever uttered a single prayer in all the times I've watched them.
One last point,
1. How often do you consult God about your ethical choices?
2.Do you turn to Him in your hour of need?
3.Do you profess your devotion to Him?
4.Do you discuss the impact of your faith in Him with others?
We are not called to be Jack-like. We're called to be Christlike.
In the words of the guest being interviewed, "if you truly take the existence of God seriously in regard to His influence and meaningfulness in daily life, it is inevitable that God Himself becomes a character in the show or film if even only indirectly."
The key issue about this to me is NOT that most people who are in power in Hollywood don't consider God to truly be relevant, but that those people saturate our most popular films with this conclusion in a thousand subtle ways. This, in turn, creates a perception in people's minds about how people in general view the world and the way things truly are. Perhaps worst of all, it creates thousands of specific ways on "how-to" live your life without God. The key to appreciating the seriousness of this trend is in grasping the subtlety AND the complete saturation of it. Whether it is Jack Ryan, Jack Bauer, or Jack Shepherd, not a single one has ever uttered a single prayer in all the times I've watched them.
One last point,
1. How often do you consult God about your ethical choices?
2.Do you turn to Him in your hour of need?
3.Do you profess your devotion to Him?
4.Do you discuss the impact of your faith in Him with others?
We are not called to be Jack-like. We're called to be Christlike.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Thoughts and questions from Genesis
I'm trying to be more interactive as I listen to the Bible on CD. One of the ways that I'm doing that is keeping a pen and pad with me as I listen to write and journal thoughts or questions that occur to me as I listen. The following are examples of some of those thoughts and questions. Please, please feel free to share your thoughts and responses. That's kind of the whole reason I'm posting these.
1.Paying attention to the order of creation and what happened on what day causes me to question even more the idea that each day was a literal 24 hour day. It doesn't seem likely.
2. Eve-mother of all who live according to Adam
3. Sons of God married the daughters of men??
4. Apparently they did not eat meat before the flood(read Gen. 9), why did God institute the consumption of meat at that time?
5. Why does it tell us about Enoch?
6. Why did God chastise Pharoah and Abimilech instead of Abraham about lying about Sarah being his sister?
7. Why is Lot called righteous in the New Testament?
1.Paying attention to the order of creation and what happened on what day causes me to question even more the idea that each day was a literal 24 hour day. It doesn't seem likely.
2. Eve-mother of all who live according to Adam
3. Sons of God married the daughters of men??
4. Apparently they did not eat meat before the flood(read Gen. 9), why did God institute the consumption of meat at that time?
5. Why does it tell us about Enoch?
6. Why did God chastise Pharoah and Abimilech instead of Abraham about lying about Sarah being his sister?
7. Why is Lot called righteous in the New Testament?
Thoughts from talk radio...
I've discovered a host in Nashville that I'm a big fan of named Michael Delgiorno(not sure on the spelling). Anyhoo, the following is a segment from his show that expresses something we've all sort of sensed but it does so pretty clearly and concisely....
How to create bias when you are a journalist....
1.How you choose the stories that you do cover and how you choose the stories you don't cover.
2.Which angles you choose to explore on the stories that you do cover.
3.Which people you choose to talk to and which people you choose NOT to talk to.
4.Which quotes you choose to use from interviews and which quotes you choose NOT to use.
With these simple four considerations, you too can be an activist or, ummm...... I mean journalist and use the news to manipulate the masses in whichever direction you see fit.
How to create bias when you are a journalist....
1.How you choose the stories that you do cover and how you choose the stories you don't cover.
2.Which angles you choose to explore on the stories that you do cover.
3.Which people you choose to talk to and which people you choose NOT to talk to.
4.Which quotes you choose to use from interviews and which quotes you choose NOT to use.
With these simple four considerations, you too can be an activist or, ummm...... I mean journalist and use the news to manipulate the masses in whichever direction you see fit.
Great new political watchdog website link
The Sunlight Foundation
This site is a collection of a whole list of different ways to learn more about our government from many different angles. Govtrack, my old political watchdog link, is just one of the links you'll find on this much more comprehensive site. Click on the investigative resources tab to see an amazing number of useful links. I will be replacing my govtrack link with a link to sunlight foundation on my links section for future reference. Hope it is as useful for us all. I still need to explore the site a bit more to discover what other features it has to offer.
This site is a collection of a whole list of different ways to learn more about our government from many different angles. Govtrack, my old political watchdog link, is just one of the links you'll find on this much more comprehensive site. Click on the investigative resources tab to see an amazing number of useful links. I will be replacing my govtrack link with a link to sunlight foundation on my links section for future reference. Hope it is as useful for us all. I still need to explore the site a bit more to discover what other features it has to offer.
Pics from the road
Be sure to click on the bottom pic to get the full impact of the joke that is the sign in the parking lot in a frozen over parking lot in Illinois.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Taking things to heart
This expression has become a cliche, but for whatever reason it sticks in my head like that milli vanilli song "Girl you know it's true......oooo......oooooo......oooo....I love you." But I digress. What is interesting about the expression "taking it to heart" is that most often when used by most, it is misused. When someone generally says this, they usually mean they allowed themselves to be emotionally impacted by "it". Here's the dealio. Being impacted emotionally is not the equivalent of taking something to heart. Allowing your actions to be changed and yielding yourself to the truth of or the impact of "it" by changing your beliefs and therefore actions/behaviors is taking it to heart.
Taking it to heart is kind of like ingesting something and having it flow through your blood stream to become a part of who you are. This has obvious application to our walk with Christ cuz if any of you are like me perhaps you've been impacted emotionally many, many times by Christ, his life, the gospel, etc., but given this definition of taking "it" to heart, how much of Him have I really taken to heart. I am humbled many times at the answer, and I pray that he continues to patiently make His grace available to me to grow in the percentage of times that I can answer yes to this question instead of hanging my head in shame and frustration.
Taking it to heart is kind of like ingesting something and having it flow through your blood stream to become a part of who you are. This has obvious application to our walk with Christ cuz if any of you are like me perhaps you've been impacted emotionally many, many times by Christ, his life, the gospel, etc., but given this definition of taking "it" to heart, how much of Him have I really taken to heart. I am humbled many times at the answer, and I pray that he continues to patiently make His grace available to me to grow in the percentage of times that I can answer yes to this question instead of hanging my head in shame and frustration.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Friday, March 06, 2009
New Prayer Requests
I have recently been given some new prayer requests for my new prayer requests section of the blog to the right side of the blog. This has caused me to give some thought as to how I should proceed in regards to how many prayer requests should be on the requests section and how long they should stay on there. As a rule, I have decided that MOST of the time, I will limit my prayer list to a total of ten requests that will rotate in and out depending on the specific nature of the requests and how long they have been on the requests section. There WILL be some exceptions to this, but this is to help keep this number of requests at a manageable level for those who will commit to consistently praying for the requests mentioned. I would really appreciate as many as possible taking the time and energy to lifting these requests up regularly.
Also, any time I post new requests, I will essentially notify any who have me on their blog rolls by posting NEW PRAYER REQUESTS as a new blog post title. Thanks.
Also, any time I post new requests, I will essentially notify any who have me on their blog rolls by posting NEW PRAYER REQUESTS as a new blog post title. Thanks.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
The Most Important One
28One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'
Mark 12:28-30
Most of us are probably somewhat familiar with this passage. I was looking at it, and one of the things that dawned on me was the context of it. He is right smack in the midst of various interactions with the teachers of his day who were supposed to be those in the know when it came to God stuff. You can see that some had allowed their very motivations to become corrupt and others had simply bought into a fundamentally wrong understanding of God, and this was influencing the way in which they lived in a negative way to say the least.
In the midst of all this lack of true spiritual leadership, Jesus provides the little guys and gals of both his day and every generation after with a wonderful tool to use in our walk. He shines the light on our true north that our compasses must point toward. In the midst of trying to discern the right and true path to growth in Christ, we can remember to stop every now and then and look up at the unmistakeable landmark that "loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength," provides.
29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'
Mark 12:28-30
Most of us are probably somewhat familiar with this passage. I was looking at it, and one of the things that dawned on me was the context of it. He is right smack in the midst of various interactions with the teachers of his day who were supposed to be those in the know when it came to God stuff. You can see that some had allowed their very motivations to become corrupt and others had simply bought into a fundamentally wrong understanding of God, and this was influencing the way in which they lived in a negative way to say the least.
In the midst of all this lack of true spiritual leadership, Jesus provides the little guys and gals of both his day and every generation after with a wonderful tool to use in our walk. He shines the light on our true north that our compasses must point toward. In the midst of trying to discern the right and true path to growth in Christ, we can remember to stop every now and then and look up at the unmistakeable landmark that "loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength," provides.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Freedom of Choice Act also known as FOCA
Want to thank my friend Tammy for alerting me to the following link. The Dems have not wasted any time trying to pass their unbelievably bold social agenda. I am very concerned about the passage of this bill that will apparently reverse many great strides in the pro-life movement over the last 10-15 years. I'll let the web site do its job of explaining the piece of legislation. I hope you will sign the petition against FOCA. This is one more of those small bricks in the wall of influencing our country toward the direction we believe it should go.
www.FightFOCA.com
Thanks,
www.FightFOCA.com
Thanks,
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Free full length Case for Creator video
I've been a posting maniac this month, but I suppose that's what happens when you're stuck in a truckstop with a pooter and time. Anyhoo, I've discovered another gem that I think if you get the chance to check out will be well worth your time. Lee Strobel published three groundbreaking books over the past decade or so. He has recently released DVD's with materials and interviews that have much of the same material as his books but in a much more 2009 friendly format known as a movie instead of a book. It is really well done, and I shall not rest until I can also bring you the final of the three, Case for Faith(I posted the link to the Case for Christ video about a month ago). Until I can post the link for Case for Faith please enjoy the link to the free Case for Creator.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikxb09pyZwM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikxb09pyZwM
Lee Strobel video site
I plugged this one a while back, and a friend of mine recently let me know that my link to it was screwed up. I have fixed it now. This is a great resource for all kinds of amazing video clips. Please, please click on the Strobel link on the right side of the page and play around for a bit on his site by clicking on various people's names and topics. I think you will be amazed at the collection of video content on this site. Thanks.
http://www.leestrobel.com/
http://www.leestrobel.com/
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Clarity
So, you walk into the eye doctor's office and sit on the little stool. He pulls down the big white robotic looking arm of vision with the binocular looking peep holes and puts it up against your face. "Tell me which is clearer 1 or 2," he says. You choose two. Then he flips a lever and flips between two other pieces of glass within the magical binoculars of the doc, "3 or 4?" You pick three. This goes on and on until the doctor gets you as close to clarity this side of lasik surgery.
Why did I walk you through that painfully boring reminder of what it's like at the eye doc's? Because it is an analogy of the point I'm going to make about life and our perceptions about life stuff.
Sometimes our perceptions are screwed up, and we need to have the magical arm of context flashed before our eyes to help us realize how much we either have not seen or have not seen clearly. I have a few quick examples of tools that I believe can help us see things more clearly.
1.Expose yourself to different cultures.
No, I don't want you to embrace your inner native and go running around the house in a loin cloth with a spear or force yourself to eat things that belong on a science fiction movie. I am also not claiming that other cultures have some deep insight that you just don't get until you've delved into their culture. I am, however, talking about compare/contrast and the value of it. An example of what I would suggest is an exercise a friend of mine used to do. Whenever going on a long road trip through a large metropolitan area, surf the radio. Force yourself to leave it in at least 5 or 6 places on the radio dial for ten minutes each that you would normally never listen to.
Again, I am not suggesting that you will be enlightened by the content of what you hear, but that you will be able to compare and contrast what you hear with what you already experience on a daily basis.
2.Get historical
I am not suggesting that you have to love history or become obsessed with it, but G. K. Chesterton used a phrase "democracy of the dead". The idea is that when we in the current generation don't delve at all into what those who went before us thought, wrote, argued about, believed, etc., we are guilty of a great arrogance and snobbery. The ideas that are celebrated and widely accepted without question in our generation were many times pointedly criticized by previous generations. How do you know you are not simply being swept up by the current of the trend of our generation. We can often look back and see the wrong headed excesses and sins of previous generations, but hearing what they did and said can make us more likely to see our own before we are unable to do anything about repenting from them.
3.Read and Listen
Too often, in our age of mass media we get our information from people who don't actually know anything about the subject they are talking about(ahem....journalists....ahem) from people who haven't thought deeply about the subject they are speaking about(ahem....actors.....ahem). However, if we make it a point to occasionally tune into actual experts and thoughtful people within the various fields of interest, we will be more likely to be building our house on the intellectual rock, so to speak. I know it is easier for me to tune out with a bag of mental mush on the boob tube (and lord knows I still do my share of that from time to time), but we've got to develop habits about what we put into our mental mouths no less than what we put into our physical ones. Technology, although certainly a chief villain in making it easier for us to suck up the bad stuff, is also at the forefront of making the good stuff easier to access, but we still have to be pro active about it.
Why did I walk you through that painfully boring reminder of what it's like at the eye doc's? Because it is an analogy of the point I'm going to make about life and our perceptions about life stuff.
Sometimes our perceptions are screwed up, and we need to have the magical arm of context flashed before our eyes to help us realize how much we either have not seen or have not seen clearly. I have a few quick examples of tools that I believe can help us see things more clearly.
1.Expose yourself to different cultures.
No, I don't want you to embrace your inner native and go running around the house in a loin cloth with a spear or force yourself to eat things that belong on a science fiction movie. I am also not claiming that other cultures have some deep insight that you just don't get until you've delved into their culture. I am, however, talking about compare/contrast and the value of it. An example of what I would suggest is an exercise a friend of mine used to do. Whenever going on a long road trip through a large metropolitan area, surf the radio. Force yourself to leave it in at least 5 or 6 places on the radio dial for ten minutes each that you would normally never listen to.
Again, I am not suggesting that you will be enlightened by the content of what you hear, but that you will be able to compare and contrast what you hear with what you already experience on a daily basis.
2.Get historical
I am not suggesting that you have to love history or become obsessed with it, but G. K. Chesterton used a phrase "democracy of the dead". The idea is that when we in the current generation don't delve at all into what those who went before us thought, wrote, argued about, believed, etc., we are guilty of a great arrogance and snobbery. The ideas that are celebrated and widely accepted without question in our generation were many times pointedly criticized by previous generations. How do you know you are not simply being swept up by the current of the trend of our generation. We can often look back and see the wrong headed excesses and sins of previous generations, but hearing what they did and said can make us more likely to see our own before we are unable to do anything about repenting from them.
3.Read and Listen
Too often, in our age of mass media we get our information from people who don't actually know anything about the subject they are talking about(ahem....journalists....ahem) from people who haven't thought deeply about the subject they are speaking about(ahem....actors.....ahem). However, if we make it a point to occasionally tune into actual experts and thoughtful people within the various fields of interest, we will be more likely to be building our house on the intellectual rock, so to speak. I know it is easier for me to tune out with a bag of mental mush on the boob tube (and lord knows I still do my share of that from time to time), but we've got to develop habits about what we put into our mental mouths no less than what we put into our physical ones. Technology, although certainly a chief villain in making it easier for us to suck up the bad stuff, is also at the forefront of making the good stuff easier to access, but we still have to be pro active about it.
Hope this wasn't too preachy. Just trying to share some thoughts that I thought have practical merit.
Smooches and sunshine to all. :)
Friday, January 16, 2009
Just a few kooks....
"We are skeptical of the claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged."
I'm going to start occasionally posting a handful of names that have signed an assertion titled A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism that affirms the statement I have quoted above.
This can serve as a rebuttal to those who argue that those who openly question evolution should be relegated to the kooks(usually religious kooks) section of our minds and dismissed.
I am also adding the dissentfromdarwin link to my other links on the right side of this page. Hope it is helpful.
First few kooks....
Philip Skell---Emeritus, Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry at Pennsylvania State University, Member of the National Academy of Sciences
Kenneth Dormer---Ph. D. Biology and Physiology University of California, Los Angeles
John W. Ballet---Ph. D. Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Post-doctoral Fellowship, Harvard Medical School
Lyle H. Jensen---Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Biological Structure and Dept. of Biochemistry, University of Washington
To view more kooks, just click on http://dissentfromdarwin.org/
I'm going to start occasionally posting a handful of names that have signed an assertion titled A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism that affirms the statement I have quoted above.
This can serve as a rebuttal to those who argue that those who openly question evolution should be relegated to the kooks(usually religious kooks) section of our minds and dismissed.
I am also adding the dissentfromdarwin link to my other links on the right side of this page. Hope it is helpful.
First few kooks....
Philip Skell---Emeritus, Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry at Pennsylvania State University, Member of the National Academy of Sciences
Kenneth Dormer---Ph. D. Biology and Physiology University of California, Los Angeles
John W. Ballet---Ph. D. Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Post-doctoral Fellowship, Harvard Medical School
Lyle H. Jensen---Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Biological Structure and Dept. of Biochemistry, University of Washington
To view more kooks, just click on http://dissentfromdarwin.org/
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Join in on the brainstorm
Back in November, I mentioned that we need to get involved in the political process much earlier if we are going to make meaningful contributions to the makeup of our nation's, state's, county's, and local governments. I want to delve into thinking about the many, many different ways that this can be done.
It seems to me that our first priority should be to be as informed as possible about the issues that we are going to try to influence. We need to think about this stuff for ourselves and dialogue with each other about specifics. I think we should try to limit our involvement in areas that we honestly don't have a basic understanding of ourselves until we have educated ourselves on what we are trying to influence. I, for instance, must confess a big gaping hole where the info about local politics should be.
However, I know there ARE lots of areas and issues that we probably all have a greater degree of understanding. I know that without the unfolding drama of an election that is right around the corner, this stuff (to me at least) seems a little frustrating to devote time and energy toward, but this is the kind of thinking that leaves us two years and certainly four years from now regretting that we didn't do more earlier. I'm certainly not suggesting that we become obsessed with politics because that causes its own set of problems. However, disciplining ourselves to occasionally think about it and act on our thoughts is a long way from becoming obsessed. I'll give you an example of something that occurred to me the other day.
Who are the ones that will sway future elections? It is not those who are firmly entrenched either on our side or "theirs". It is those who we probably have connections with, but for some reason chose to swing their vote the other way because of various specific reasons. Another interesting thing about these people is that in many cases they can serve as the first domino in a great many to follow. What I mean is that if you can sway the person who is vocal about their views and claims to be among this "middle" category of voters, I believe this has a much greater potential to sway many others in their sphere of influence. Therefore, one of the things I am going to try to do is to search out those who fall into this category who will engage me, and I will be bring my best persuasive stuff to the table aggressively seeking to sway them. This will simply involve multiple conversations over the next few years, but it is a small brick in the wall of trying to influence our country. I've also wondered if there are ways that we can have a greater influence on swing states that seem to always determine presidential elections. I also want to point out the coming battle before the war. The battle for conservatism being the ideological core of the Republican party instead of the Democrat lite version of ideology that has increasingly characterized many, many big names in the Republican party. If this takes hold, we have got a whole different ballgame, and quite honestly, I think this issue may very well be THE deciding factor in all the rest to come nationally.
I'm just throwing this stuff out there to provide a launching point for discussion AND action from each of us. What are your thoughts? Any ideas about moving forward? Please throw something into the mix and join in on the brainstorming. The more that contribute with their energy, time, and creativity, the more likely that we little guys and gals can actually make some kind of difference in the direction that our country takes in the years to come.
It seems to me that our first priority should be to be as informed as possible about the issues that we are going to try to influence. We need to think about this stuff for ourselves and dialogue with each other about specifics. I think we should try to limit our involvement in areas that we honestly don't have a basic understanding of ourselves until we have educated ourselves on what we are trying to influence. I, for instance, must confess a big gaping hole where the info about local politics should be.
However, I know there ARE lots of areas and issues that we probably all have a greater degree of understanding. I know that without the unfolding drama of an election that is right around the corner, this stuff (to me at least) seems a little frustrating to devote time and energy toward, but this is the kind of thinking that leaves us two years and certainly four years from now regretting that we didn't do more earlier. I'm certainly not suggesting that we become obsessed with politics because that causes its own set of problems. However, disciplining ourselves to occasionally think about it and act on our thoughts is a long way from becoming obsessed. I'll give you an example of something that occurred to me the other day.
Who are the ones that will sway future elections? It is not those who are firmly entrenched either on our side or "theirs". It is those who we probably have connections with, but for some reason chose to swing their vote the other way because of various specific reasons. Another interesting thing about these people is that in many cases they can serve as the first domino in a great many to follow. What I mean is that if you can sway the person who is vocal about their views and claims to be among this "middle" category of voters, I believe this has a much greater potential to sway many others in their sphere of influence. Therefore, one of the things I am going to try to do is to search out those who fall into this category who will engage me, and I will be bring my best persuasive stuff to the table aggressively seeking to sway them. This will simply involve multiple conversations over the next few years, but it is a small brick in the wall of trying to influence our country. I've also wondered if there are ways that we can have a greater influence on swing states that seem to always determine presidential elections. I also want to point out the coming battle before the war. The battle for conservatism being the ideological core of the Republican party instead of the Democrat lite version of ideology that has increasingly characterized many, many big names in the Republican party. If this takes hold, we have got a whole different ballgame, and quite honestly, I think this issue may very well be THE deciding factor in all the rest to come nationally.
I'm just throwing this stuff out there to provide a launching point for discussion AND action from each of us. What are your thoughts? Any ideas about moving forward? Please throw something into the mix and join in on the brainstorming. The more that contribute with their energy, time, and creativity, the more likely that we little guys and gals can actually make some kind of difference in the direction that our country takes in the years to come.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Prayer Request
I would like to extend a request to any and all who read this blog to be in prayer for my friend, Russell. He was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. He has a wife and four daughters. The primary reason I am seeking prayer for a miraculous recovery here is because WE need Russell. WE is those of us who are believers. Russell has been for quite some time an example I look up to and someone whose level of surrender to Christ and service to his body is a truly rare thing. Like Paul, I think Russell would certainly much rather be absent from the body and present with Christ, but I'm hoping for his family's sake and for ours(the body of Christ's sake) that Russell will be allowed to stay because we need him. Just one of many, many examples I can give of Russell's amazing dedication to serving Christ is that even in the midst of dealing with the cancer, he is still a full time counselor for others. I know it is dangerous to put anyone onto a pedestal, but Paul encourages the believers in his letters to honor those who are great examples of service.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Full length Case for Christ video
https://vimeo.com/17960119
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikxb09pyZwM
click on the links above to see this amazing collection of powerful arguments by top scholars
great, great stuff to use if you are having questions or doubts or are dealing with folks who are.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikxb09pyZwM
click on the links above to see this amazing collection of powerful arguments by top scholars
great, great stuff to use if you are having questions or doubts or are dealing with folks who are.
Monday, November 03, 2008
Tracking our Government
I know everyone is totally consumed with how the election is going to turn out, but I'm already kind of thinking about the midterms of 2010. I think if I'm going to actually begin to take politics a little more seriously, it will start by getting involved way, way earlier in the process and supporting strong conservative candidates for office and getting as informed as I can reasonably get. I am starting this process by adding a new link to the blog. It is govtrack.us/ and I highly recommend that you check it out. It puts any and all info about your representatives, any bills that have been submitted, and who voted for what among lots of other great bits of info. This is the most important piece of the puzzle because they can say all they want to say, but it's the way they vote that actually deserves our scrutiny. Check it out..... I hope it's a useful tool for us all.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Overdue Pics Fix
The top picks are in our new house as it is being painted and the bottom pics are from when we were still in the Clanton house.....loving the new house. Thanks for all your prayers about getting into it!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Miracle Story 3
My pastor Steve McCarty was in Nicaragua with a group of his youth from a church in Nashville, Tennessee. While they were there, they began praying for a nine year old boy who could not walk. They prayed for about five minutes and nothing seemed to be happening, and just as they were about to end their time of prayer, one of the youth asked if they could just keep on praying for a little while longer. After praying for a few more minutes, the boy was healed and stood and walked. He had fallen from a tree three weeks before the youth group had arrived in this community, and the entire community was intimately familiar with the tragedy that had occurred because he was so young and told that he would not be able to use his legs again. This obviously had a powerful impact on the people of this community who now saw him walking and recognized it as a testimony of the very real power of God.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Vets For Freedom
A while back I tried to start up a blog that was going to be dedicated to giving veterans a voice without being filtered through the media, but alas, it was not meant to be. I was not able to dedicate the time needed to get the word out to various vet organizations and/or PR personnel on various military bases. However, in the meantime, I discovered an organization and web site that has the largest collection of Afghanistan and Iraq vets and is dedicated to giving them a voice. This is more than my blog could have accomplished in a lifetime; therefore, I've decided to simply supply a link to this so you all can become aware of them and hear the opinions about U.S. policy directly from the vets mouths. Hope it is a useful link for everyone. The link is located on the right side of this page near the bottom of the list of available links. Just click on vets for freedom.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Help My Unbelief....
This is a declaration believe it or not, but it ain't gonna begin that way....so just bear with me. Without going into details, let's just say that the uncertainty in some big stuff continues to seem to hang over our heads like a spooky looking rain cloud on the horizon. I am taking this moment in time to speak to it because of the uniqueness of this "moment in time." In this moment in time, I do not know how this will all play out. I know how we want it to play out and quite frankly, we think we know how it ought to play out. I wish I could say I've been a rock of quiet confidence, but it just is not the case. The stress has caused me to get ticked, frustrated, worried, etc. In the midst of this, what I pray is this.....Lord I do believe, help my unbelief. This belief is not necessarily that things will work out as I think it ought. My belief and my hope is in the goodness of God regardless of how things turn out. This is what I need help with. If I trust that he can make this work out as I hope, then I could be disillusioned if it does not, and if it does work out as I hope, I could potentially be trusting in the deceitfulness of riches(see Cares of this world post). I pray that He would help my unbelief in his goodness and my unbelief in his ability to work out his purposes in my life through whatever circumstances he introduces especially his ultimate purpose to remake us all in his image.
Here's the declaration: God is good all the time.
Here's the declaration: God is good all the time.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Secret Church
Through a series of events that could perhaps deserve a blog post for themselves, I have discovered a wonderful resource for myself and all others who desire to study the Bible thoroughly and intensely. It is http://www.secretchurch.org/
This is a pretty fascinating phenomenon that is national and even global but has its roots here in the fair Birmingham Metro area. The pastor of Church at Brook Hills, David Platt, leads an intense six hour long marathon study once every 6 months or so. He has been doing this for about the past three years I believe. The topics covered include: The Old Testament, The New Testament, How to Study the Bible, Who is God, and they will be doing the fifth one this November. People travel from out of state to attend this thing called secret church from 6 PM to midnight. They have breaks every hour for coffee and food and bathroom/stretch your legs type stuff; therefore, the audio available online is actually about 4 hours in length because it only covers the actual teaching sessions. Both the audio and pdf files, that contain the same worksheets that they use in the service, are available online at the above web address for free for all. The reason it is called secret church is because the primary beneficiaries of the teaching are not those who physically attend, but it is specifically designed to be sent out to the church in third world countries who are first generation Christians and desperately need sound teaching about the most basic stuff. I highly recommend anyone with a desire to know your Bible to visit the site and allow yourself to be challenged by the solid approach to Bible study offered within the teachings.
It's GOOD stuff......
bushels of blessings to ya
This is a pretty fascinating phenomenon that is national and even global but has its roots here in the fair Birmingham Metro area. The pastor of Church at Brook Hills, David Platt, leads an intense six hour long marathon study once every 6 months or so. He has been doing this for about the past three years I believe. The topics covered include: The Old Testament, The New Testament, How to Study the Bible, Who is God, and they will be doing the fifth one this November. People travel from out of state to attend this thing called secret church from 6 PM to midnight. They have breaks every hour for coffee and food and bathroom/stretch your legs type stuff; therefore, the audio available online is actually about 4 hours in length because it only covers the actual teaching sessions. Both the audio and pdf files, that contain the same worksheets that they use in the service, are available online at the above web address for free for all. The reason it is called secret church is because the primary beneficiaries of the teaching are not those who physically attend, but it is specifically designed to be sent out to the church in third world countries who are first generation Christians and desperately need sound teaching about the most basic stuff. I highly recommend anyone with a desire to know your Bible to visit the site and allow yourself to be challenged by the solid approach to Bible study offered within the teachings.
It's GOOD stuff......
bushels of blessings to ya
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Cares of this world
I was recently thinking about that parable where Jesus talks about the seed, the sower, and the four different types of soil. I had some thoughts about one very specific part of this parable that I think might be worth writing about.
Myndall and I are in the midst of lots of stressful, big stuff right now, and I know of at least 8 or 9 close friends of ours who are facing some very serious, scary times in their lives that make our concerns look relatively small. It is in this context that these thoughts have emerged.
First, this parable appears in three of the four gospel accounts(Matthew, Mark, and Luke). This leads me to believe that this parable has a special significance, and Jesus even says, "Do you not understand this parable? How then shall you understand all parables?" This is a pretty powerful red flag that this is a pretty biggie to understand.
I'm just going to focus on one very specific point in the third kind of soil. The one that had thorns that choked out the life of the plant and made it unfruitful. In Mark 4:19 it states, "but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." I think I've often interpreted this part in the past to be referring to people who just couldn't give up their pursuit of "worldly" things like the never ending quest for the bigger and better house, car, computer, tv, etc. or a hunger for power or something along those lines. I now am beginning to understand that this parable has a much more important point to make than simply chastising these problems.
When he says the worries or cares of this world, this applies to what all people deal with especially upon entering adulthood. However, it is clear to me that this does not mean to say that the cares or worries themselves cause the "soil" to be unfruitful. If this were the case we would think, "yep, it's too bad about old so and so. They would have been a great man/woman of God if they had not been sidetracked by all those terrible circumstances that played out in their lives. That stuff really derailed them from serving God."
I think that most of us inherently know this line of thinking is flawed because outside influences can't be what determines our "fruitfulness" according to our most basic understandings of the gospel. Therefore, what this passage is getting at is actually who we trust when the cares come and who we pursue when the cares leave us alone for a while. "...but the worries of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." The great thing about our God is that he is teaching us(be it ever so slowly because I for one am a slow learner) that we work in the complete reverse of the world and its people in so many ways. Perhaps one of the most fascinating ways is that when we are in a place in our lives where a sudden storm seems to come in and overwhelm us, this is actually the place where we can find the greatest times of rest in Him because we are supposed to (slow learner) know that we are ultimately trusting in HIS ability not ours. Or another way of putting as my two year old daughter is fond of singing, "With Jesus in the boat, you can smile at the storm, smile at the storm, smile at the storm." :) I pray for my friends and believe they do the same for me. I pray that I would learn this lesson of dependence so I could be a better example of it to everyone. I pray that we would all pursue Christ with our whole hearts during and especially after the storm passes so that the "desires for other things" would exit out instead of entering in.
A possibly encouraging thought is that this third type of soil did receive the word and had roots and did not wither and die early on because of tribulation. It seems to me that each type of soil is progressively closer to the desired type of soil which is "good" soil that is deep and rich and free of thorns that strangle the life out of it. I hope that by the grace of God and the work of His Holy Spirit in our lives we are just around the corner from entering into a place of fruitfulness for those we encounter's benefit and for His glory.
Myndall and I are in the midst of lots of stressful, big stuff right now, and I know of at least 8 or 9 close friends of ours who are facing some very serious, scary times in their lives that make our concerns look relatively small. It is in this context that these thoughts have emerged.
First, this parable appears in three of the four gospel accounts(Matthew, Mark, and Luke). This leads me to believe that this parable has a special significance, and Jesus even says, "Do you not understand this parable? How then shall you understand all parables?" This is a pretty powerful red flag that this is a pretty biggie to understand.
I'm just going to focus on one very specific point in the third kind of soil. The one that had thorns that choked out the life of the plant and made it unfruitful. In Mark 4:19 it states, "but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." I think I've often interpreted this part in the past to be referring to people who just couldn't give up their pursuit of "worldly" things like the never ending quest for the bigger and better house, car, computer, tv, etc. or a hunger for power or something along those lines. I now am beginning to understand that this parable has a much more important point to make than simply chastising these problems.
When he says the worries or cares of this world, this applies to what all people deal with especially upon entering adulthood. However, it is clear to me that this does not mean to say that the cares or worries themselves cause the "soil" to be unfruitful. If this were the case we would think, "yep, it's too bad about old so and so. They would have been a great man/woman of God if they had not been sidetracked by all those terrible circumstances that played out in their lives. That stuff really derailed them from serving God."
I think that most of us inherently know this line of thinking is flawed because outside influences can't be what determines our "fruitfulness" according to our most basic understandings of the gospel. Therefore, what this passage is getting at is actually who we trust when the cares come and who we pursue when the cares leave us alone for a while. "...but the worries of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." The great thing about our God is that he is teaching us(be it ever so slowly because I for one am a slow learner) that we work in the complete reverse of the world and its people in so many ways. Perhaps one of the most fascinating ways is that when we are in a place in our lives where a sudden storm seems to come in and overwhelm us, this is actually the place where we can find the greatest times of rest in Him because we are supposed to (slow learner) know that we are ultimately trusting in HIS ability not ours. Or another way of putting as my two year old daughter is fond of singing, "With Jesus in the boat, you can smile at the storm, smile at the storm, smile at the storm." :) I pray for my friends and believe they do the same for me. I pray that I would learn this lesson of dependence so I could be a better example of it to everyone. I pray that we would all pursue Christ with our whole hearts during and especially after the storm passes so that the "desires for other things" would exit out instead of entering in.
A possibly encouraging thought is that this third type of soil did receive the word and had roots and did not wither and die early on because of tribulation. It seems to me that each type of soil is progressively closer to the desired type of soil which is "good" soil that is deep and rich and free of thorns that strangle the life out of it. I hope that by the grace of God and the work of His Holy Spirit in our lives we are just around the corner from entering into a place of fruitfulness for those we encounter's benefit and for His glory.
Monday, September 01, 2008
THE ONLY THING
The only thing I see are the clouds
The only thing I hear are the doubts
The only thing I feel is the pain
The only thing I taste is bitterness
The only thing I see is a ray of light
The only thing I hear is a small, tender voice
The only thing I feel is comfort
The only thing I taste is forgiveness
The only thing I know is the Word
The only thing to accept is the Truth
The only thing we deserve is judgment
The only thing we need is Him
The only thing He died for was you
The only thing keeping you from Him, the same
The only thing I hear are the doubts
The only thing I feel is the pain
The only thing I taste is bitterness
The only thing I see is a ray of light
The only thing I hear is a small, tender voice
The only thing I feel is comfort
The only thing I taste is forgiveness
The only thing I know is the Word
The only thing to accept is the Truth
The only thing we deserve is judgment
The only thing we need is Him
The only thing He died for was you
The only thing keeping you from Him, the same
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