Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Technologically Savvy

When her family ridiculed her for being technologically ignorant,
Sister Velma surprised them all by getting her very own "Blue Tooth."

Sunday, December 28, 2008

I Joined The Resistance

I am not going to sit by silently as Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid re-make our nation in their liberal image. That's why I just joined a grassroots conservative effort to RESIST Obama's liberal agenda. Please go here to join with me: http://www.grassfire.org/111/petition.asp?PID=19286930&NID=1

Thanks!

Left Coast Hall of Shame

Pacific Justice Institute Announces its
2008 "Left Coast Hall of Shame."
December 16, 2008

As we prepare to look back on 2008, the Pacific Justice Institute recalls ten of the worst attacks on faith, family and freedom in the Golden State.

1. In May, the California Supreme Court strikes down Prop. 22, the voter-approved definition of marriage as only between a man and a woman. The court says that equal protection requires gay marriage.

2. Following the passage of Prop. 8, rioters deface churches, assault Prop. 8 supporters and engineer the termination of employees who supported Prop. 8 in their personal capacity.

3. In February, the California Court of Appeal ruled that homeschooling is illegal. After PJI and other groups got involved in the case, the court reversed its decision.

4. San Diego County shut down a church, claiming improper zoning, even though the church had been worshiping at the location for more than twenty years. The county said a bar was a better fit for the site.

5. Alameda College threatened two students with suspension or worse after one of them prayed for a teacher who was sick.

6. After the gay marriage ruling, the State of California changed its marriage license forms from "Bride" and "Groom" to "Party A" and "Party B." The State then rejected a form submitted by a heterosexual couple who sought to use the traditional designations.

7. A K-8 public school in Hayward sought to promote the homosexual lifestyle to children as young as kindergarten by recognizing "Coming Out Day," "Ally Week" and "TransAction Gender-Bender Read Aloud Day" (featuring such classics as "Jane and the Beanstalk").

8. A public charter school in San Francisco took second-graders on a "field trip" to the lesbian wedding of a teacher. The school called it a "teachable moment."

9. A public school in Vacaville chose not to tell parents that a second-grade music teacher had decided to assume a new gender for the new school year, prompting much confusion among young students. The school is now attempting to prevent parents from removing their children from that teacher's class.

10. The California Supreme Court ruled against two doctors whose religious beliefs did not allow them to artificially inseminate an unmarried lesbian. The doctors paid for the woman to be referred elsewhere, and she now has three children - but she was so offended by their beliefs that she sued them for discrimination. This ruling has sweeping implications for a wide range of businesses and professionals in California.
_______________________________________________

Brad W. Dacus is the president of Pacific Justice Institute, a defender of my ministry and my friend.
The Pacific Justice Institute is a non-profit 501(c) (3) legal defense organization specializing in the defense of religious freedom, parental rights, and other civil liberties.

Pacific Justice Institute works diligently, without charge, to provide their clients with all the legal support they need. P.O. Box 276600 Sacramento, CA 95827-6600 Phone: (916) 857-6900 Fax (916) 857-6902 Internet: www.pacificjustice.org


Saturday, December 27, 2008

One More Argument For Staying In The Light.

The comment stream on Stay In The Light took an unintended and unexpected course. Be that as it may, it "triggered" (no pun intended) my recollection of this funny video clip. Incidentally, the crime scene takes place in the dark.

GUN CONTROL
starring William Shatner

Friday, December 26, 2008

***Stay In The Light

What is the best way to protect yourself from violent crimes? Well, you might try staying in the light.

According to The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Statistics, older Americans are ten times less likely to become victims of violent crimes than younger people. During the years from 1992 through 1997 there were an average of 5.3 violent crimes for every 1000 U.S. residents age 65 compared to an annual average of 56 attacks for every 1000 residents between the ages of 12 and 65. That is astounding.

Although the Department notes that the elderly are less likely to fight back or argue with their assailants, the key reason cited for the low incident rate is that the elderly stay home at night.

That makes sense because most violent crimes occur out of view or under cover. People who perpetrate evil most often hide their actions under the cover of darkness.

The Light from heaven came into the world, but men love the darkness more than the light because their actions are evil. They hate the light because they want to sin in the darkness. They stay away from the light for fear their sins will be exposed and they will be punished. But those who do what is right come to the light gladly, so everyone can see that they are doing what God wants. John 3:19-21 (NLT)

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

God Loves You And Has A Wonderful Plan For Your Life

"Campus Crusade’s “Four Spiritual Laws” . . . . give a diluted presentation of the gospel designed [to] be non-offensive. Who could fail to be attracted to, “God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.”? It is not false, but it is not the gospel as preached by Peter or Paul. It is an accommodation to the way the natural man thinks about himself. It produces an easy-believism in which every man is saved but lives just as he did before. With this accommodation of the message to the natural man came an accommodation in the way of presenting the message. The historic method has always been what Scripture calls, “the foolishness of preaching.” The new method became the selling of the gospel by the use of sports heroes, beauty queens, and famous people."

- John Ashbrook

But, some will argue, these four spiritual laws are "biblically based" as though the standard for right practice is that the practice has a biblical basis. That's insane. All kinds of nonsense can be justified by that standard. The real question is this; Is our practice doctrinally sound?

By way of contrast, in this post Steve Camp at CAMPONTHIS offers a reconstruction of Four Spiritual Laws that are doctrinally sound and sure to irritate a lot of folks I know.

LAW ONE: God is holy and has a plan for your life whether for wrath or for mercy.

LAW TWO: His wrath burns against you and you are hopelessly lost. There is nothing you can do about it. You are sinful and utterly lost; totally depraved, conceived in sin, and are incapable of saving yourself by the merits of your own righteousness.

LAW THREE: The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world, born of a virgin, tempted as we are yet without sin, died in our place and as our merciful and faithful High Priest fulfilled God’s law, took upon Himself every sin that would ever be committed by every(one) who would ever believe, with its guilt and penalty, and all of the wrath of God that persists against our sin.

LAW FOUR: Repent of your sin and confess and receive Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior for eternal life and have peace with Him forever. His love, mercy and grace no one can ever take away once your life is hid in Christ. This is God’s wonderful plan of salvation.

Steve Camp

Friday, December 12, 2008

ANNUAL HEBREW LESSON

Posted by: Michael Medved on Townhall.com

In this holiday season, Americans hear lots of talk about “Hanukkah” but most Christians—and most Jews, for that matter—don’t know what that word actually means. No, Hanukkah doesn’t mean “Festival of Lights,” or “Festival of Tolerance.”

The Hebrew word means, simply, “dedication.” It refers to the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem in 165 B.C., after its desecration by Hellenists who worshipped Greek Gods in the shape of men. The holiday calls for our re-dedication to resisting secularism and assimilation, and recommitting to God’s commandments. The word “Hanukah” has the same root as “Hinukh” –education—emphasizing that there’s no meaningful education without dedication to divine truth. At the darkest time of each year, the glowing candles of Hanukkah signal dedication to bring light to a world that too often worships men, instead of God.

How To Draw A Rhinoceros

From HOW TO DRAW CARTOONS ONLINE.
Learn to draw this rhinoceros in six easy steps at How To Draw A Rhinoceros.

Bethlehem, Calvary, and the Empty Tomb

At this time of year when the world celebrates a secular form of Christmas, others celebrate the winter solstice, and Christians celebrate the birth of Christ, it is extremely important to remember the Savior as more than just a baby in a manger. Jesus Christ, God the Son, the Creator of the universe, entered time and space and came into this world on a mission. His mission was the redemption of lost sinners, and He accomplished that not through His birth or His righteous life, but through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. There are three key locations connected with the earthly life and mission of our Lord Jesus Christ, and those are Bethlehem, Calvary, and the empty tomb.

Bethlehem – The nativity scene is the symbol of Christmas for those who understand that Christmas is about Christ, not the worldly trappings of the holiday. This event happened at exactly the time and place God intended. …when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons (Galatians 4:4-5, NKJV).

The angel Gabriel announced to a young teenager by the name of Mary that she was to be the mother of the virgin-born Son of God. We can be certain than many things went through her mind, but her response was one of willingness and obedience, whatever the cost. Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word (Luke 1:38, NKJV). Mary and her husband-to-be, Joseph, traveled to Bethlehem to register for Roman taxation, and there Jesus was born in a lowly stable, visited by lowly shepherds. It is quite significant that the birth of the Lamb of God was first announced to shepherds. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:10-12, NKJV).

Calvary – As important as the birth of Christ is, the baby in the manger does not save anyone. After thirty years of relative obscurity, growing up and living in the home of a carpenter, Jesus began His earthly ministry. He taught many things and performed many miracles, all of which validated His identity as the Son of God. In the end, the religious authorities turned on Him because of their fear of losing their influence over the people and the crowd was incited to demand His crucifixion by the Romans. This was all part of God’s plan. In reality, it was not the crowd, it was not the Jewish people, and it was not the Romans who crucified Him. It was our sin that nailed Him to the cross, and He willingly laid down His life as a sacrifice for our sins. The Apostle Paul said, This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief (1 Timothy 1:15, NKJV). …God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8, NKJV).

The Empty Tomb – The fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the pivotal event in all of history. Without it, the Gospel becomes meaningless. With it, Christianity is true without any doubt. In recent years, in a Christian school not far from here, a student who practiced the religion of Islam had his Bible class the last period of the day. He did his work and studied well, and he was one of the best students in the class. He stayed after class almost every day to discuss biblical issues with the teacher. One day, he made a particularly revealing admission. He said, “If the resurrection really happened, Christianity is true.” How right he was! Although he accepted neither the resurrection nor Christianity, he had made a profound statement.

Written by Ron Livesay,
Pastor Ron Livesay is my long-time friend, co-worker, and occasional contributor to this blog. He recently retired from ministry after serving God for nearly 30 years in Christian School Administration.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Reagan On The Government's Economic Bail-Out Plans

Recent polling data indicates that 91% of the American people are against the bail out of the "big three" auto makers. So if that's the case, why do we continue calling this system a "representative government?" When was the last time our elected representatives really represented their constituents?
Our race toward nationalization of industry and banking and real estate seems, to me, to be unconstitutional.

Here are a couple quotes from my favorite president which are relevant in view of our unconstitutional race toward the nationalization of industry, banking, labor, and real estate as a means to fix our economic crises. Congress should pay attention:

"The most terrifying words in the English language are:
I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."

Ronald Reagan

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Another Club

A hunter walking through the jungle found a huge dead rhino with a pigmy standing beside it.
Amazed, he asked: "Did you kill that?"

"Yes," said the pigmy.

The hunter asked "How could a little bloke like you kill a huge beast like that?"
Said the pigmy: "I killed it with my club."

"That's incredible," said the hunter, "How big is your club?"

The pigmy replied: "There are about 60 of us."
Disclaimer: No animals were harmed in the posting of this joke. If you are offended by pictures of dead animals, please delete yourself. This post is not intended in any way, to demean, denigrate, or disrespect Pigmies, little blokes, or any other short people.