Major Omission of the Constitutional Convention

If only they could have known then what we know now.

click on picture to enlarge

What, me worry?

Lucrative Presidential Amnesia

Following His last term in the Oval Office, Bill Clinton got $12 million for his memoirs.  Hillary got $8 million for hers.


How is it that two people can sell their memories for $20 million when, for eight years, they repeatedly testified, under oath, that they couldn't remember anything?

IS THIS A GREAT COUNTRY OR WHAT ?

Train Up Your Children In The Way Of Protestant Liberalism

And When They Are Old,
They Will Be Liberal Protestants

"If we are telling our children, the way in which you learn the Bible is to learn to look at (Veggie Tales) characters and to emulate them; to learn how to get along with one another, “Jesus had friends, you have friends,” “Noah took care of pets, you take care of pets,” “the apostles shared, you share,” you are creating and training up an army of Protestant liberals who will die and go to hell with signed True Love Waits cards.”

Russell Moore, Deeper Conference, 2008

Hear this quote in context in this video posted at Tried With Fire

HT:  Jared Moore

The BIBLE Is NOT About YOU!

I know this has been posted on other sites but it deserves to be freely shared.

TRUE AND BETTER

 Audio by Tim Keller

 

This is an amazing revelatory sermon about the main subject of the entire Bible in just over two minutes.

Amazing Acapella Rendition of the National Anthem

Dads Against Daughters Dating Democrats

I just got my copy of Doug Giles’ new book in the mail today.   I have already read all nine endorsements, the Table of Contents, the Foreward by Pat Caddell, the author’s Preface, and the introduction titled, "The Give a Flip Factor."  And I have just finished chapter 1.

The book title is “Raising Righteous & Rowdy Girls.”  There are fourteen chapters (140 pages) and I will probably read the whole thing tonight. 

But I didn’t buy it for me.  My two daughters are married with children.  I have eight grandchildren and three of them are beautiful little girls.  I bought this book to share with my sons-in-law.  They are gonna need it.

In his introduction, Doug Giles states that, in this book are:

“…scores of road-tested, historically proven, can’t miss principles for raising girls with a fighting spirit, discernment, a winning attitude, and a holy vision to overcome this feces filled culture.”

“You will learn in the following finger-burning pages how to teach your daughters to fight, shoot guns, sense BS, be classy, despise anti-intellectualism, be visionaries, party without going Britney, to value hunting and the outdoors, the importance of traditional convictions, and how to avoid the date from hell.”

Doug’s writing style in this book is crude, rude, and socially unacceptable.  It is also biblically based, to the point, from the hip, short and sweet and attitude laden.  It’s the same kind of writing that nearly got me kicked off the deacon board when I blogged this about some of my observations in contemporary churches (by the way, I don't go to that church anymore).  But heck, our daughters' (and granddaughters') lives are at stake.  Most of their mothers don’t get it and politeness and PC sensitivity isn’t going to get the attention of their fathers.

Doug Giles is the creator and host of ClashRadio.com (IRN/USA Radio Network). In addition, Doug is a popular columnist on Townhall.com, minister, artist, campus lecturer and author. His articles have also appeared on several other print and online news sources, including The Washington Times, New York Times, BigGovernment.com, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Examiner, NRA News, American Hunter and ABC News, and he has been a guest on both major television news programs and nationally syndicated radio shows across the nation. Doug and his wife have two daughters: Hannah Giles who devastated ACORN with her undercover videos and Regis Giles, a NRA columnist and 2nd Amendment activist.

The book is available at Patriot Depot for just $14.95.  Every Dad should own this best selling parenting book.  

As a kicker, if you order it from Patriot Depot, you will get this awesome, free Bumper Sticker.

So, my sons-in-law, as soon as I finish, you guys can fight over who gets it first.

BTW boys, the bumper sticker is MINE!

   

478

No Room For Hyphenated-Americans

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language.. And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

My Wife Is GONE!

Who woulda thought?

I woke this morning and kissed her goodbye just like every other morning.  Now here it is late in the afternoon.  I have been home for a few hours and she is gone.  I don't know what happened.  I can't find her.  She never said goodbye.  She didn't leave a note.   She doesn't answer her phone.  She just vanished.

What am I going to do without her?   Woe is me!

Uh Oh!  Today is May 21, 2011; I guess it was true.  Today was the end of the world.  I should have listened to old what's his name - Harold Camping.  I should have been ready.  She tried to warn me.   I have been left behind.  O, woe is me.

Oh never mind.  She just got home.  She was at garage sales and her phone was turned off.  Boy that was a close one!

Amazing Space

Pretty impressive but I could have done without the environmental blather at the end.

Things You Miss When You Don't Go To Church

Calvin And His Snow Men

Forgive me for the sneaky tactics but I was hoping this title might attract attention from some of my fellow Calvinists. 

Calvin and Hobbes is a syndicated daily comic strip that was written and illustrated by American cartoonist Bill Watterson, and syndicated from November 18, 1985, to December 31, 1995. It follows the humorous antics of Calvin, a precocious and adventurous six-year-old boy, and Hobbes, his sardonic stuffed tiger. The pair are named after John Calvin, a 16th-century French Reformation theologian, and Thomas Hobbes, a 17th-century English political philosopher.  (Wikipedia)

Even though the cartoon strip was a favorite of my former pastor, there are no latent theological or philosophical messages.  

I just posted these cartoons because of their weird and sometimes sinister style of humor.   

ENJOY!

When Reason Fails.

 

Remain calm.

Reason if possible.  

Use force if necessary.

Always be polite. 

The Battle Is Not To The Warriors

Last Sunday evening I taught through chapter 9 in Ecclesiastes.  

Take a look at verse 11;  

"I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all." 

Here Solomon list five ironies.  The swiftest might not win the race.  The strongest might not win the battle.  The wise may not be able to earn a living.  The smartest may not be wealthy.  Those who are best skilled might not be favored by men.

These constitute unexpected outcomes and they all contribute to life’s unpredictability and serve to constantly remind us that God is in control.  Men can plan, train, learn, equip, and prepare but it is God alone who provides all those things that people value; wisdom, victory, food, wealth, favor, influence, and success.  

  

Later in verses 13-15 Solomon uses a short illustration to make the point.  There was a small city with only a few people living and working together and enjoying their blessings under the Sun. Suddenly they were surrounded by the army of a powerful king. And in that small community was a poor wise man.   

This really doesn’t look very good for that city.  Apparently their only best resource was a poor wise man and they were facing a mighty king with a large army.  But the man had wisdom and wisdom saved the city.

And then today I found this amazing video clip.

"The battle is not to the warriors..."

God is sovereign and in control.

Hey, Mr. Muslim-In-Chief, Do You Think That Americans Are So Dull, Ignorant, Stupid, Slow-witted, And Scatterbrained That We Forgot About This?

And NO!  I still don't believe the

POTUS is a Christian.

Ronald Reagan Warns Against Obamacare

Persuasive Evangelism

From the archives of:   http://sacredsandwich.com/

Sacred Sandwich is a great place to find lighthearted parody of current Christian issues.

Obama's Vision Will Destroy America

SOCIALISM DOESN'T WORK! 

It has failed everywhere it has been tried. 

I don't know if the following story is true.  If it is, I do not know this professor's name so I cannot credit him for this story.  Nevertheless, it is too good to ignore.  Here is an easy to understand illustration of THE LUNACY OF SOCIALISTIC DOGMA.

A college professor of economics declared that he had never failed a single student in his career.  However, he once failed an entire class.


Collectively, the class of young minds full of mush had insisted that Obama's socialistic ideas would work.  No one would be poor and no one would be rich.  Socialism is a great equalizer.


The professor decided to allow them to test their theory with a class experiment.


For the duration of their course, all of their test grades would be averaged and everyone would then receive the same grade.  Under that system, no no one should fail and no one should receive an A.


After the first test, the scores were averaged and everyone received a B.


The few students who studied hard were rightfully upset; it didn't seem fair.  The students who studied very little were happy.


As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who had previously studied hard, decided to exert much less effort and enjoy the free ride.


The second test average was a D!  No one was happy with that.


After the third test scores were averged, everyone in the class received an F.

The scores never increased.  Bickering, blame, and name-calling all resulted in angry hard feelings among the previously congenial classmates.  No one would study for the benefit of anyone else.


The result of their experiment was, everyone failed.


And that is why socialism, ultimately, always fails.  When the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great.  But when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.


It cannot be explained any simpler than that.

Do You Still Have All Those Warm Fuzzy Feelings?

Would you have approved?  Would you have been tolerant?  Would you have been proud?  Would you have supported any one of our other presidents had he:

...doubled the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in just one year?

...then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years?

...criticized a state law that he, admittedly, never even read?

...joined the country of Mexico to sue to force the State of Arizona to continue to allow illegal immigration?

...bungled the pronunciation of the Marine "Corps" by calling it the Marine "Corpse?"

...put 87,000 citizens out of work by arbitrarily placing a moratorium on offshore oil drilling on companies that have better safety records than most other industries just because one foreign company had an accident?

...used a forged document as the basis of the moratorium that would render 87,000 American workers unemployed?

...been the first to require a teleprompter installed in order to get through a press conference?

...spent hundreds of thousands of Dollars to take his First Lady to a play in New York City?

...reduced your retirement plan holdings of GM stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM?

...joked about handicapped children in the Special Olympics?

...given Prime Minister Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift?

...given the Queen of England an IPod containing videos of his own speeches? 

...bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia?  

...filled his Cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current on their income taxes?

...stated that he has visited 57 of the states in the U.S.?

...flown all the way to Denmark to make a five minute speech about how much the Olympics would benefit him in his home town?

 
...shown his ignorance of the Spanish language by referring to the 5th of May as "Cinco de Cuatro" in front of the Mexican ambassador?

...burned up 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on Earth Day?

...caused widespread panic by directing Air Force One to fly low, unannounced, over millions of people in downtown Manhattan just to look at the site of the 9-11 attack?

...failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest, where more people were killed or made homeless than in New Orleans?

...created the positions of 32 Czars to circumvent the work of the House and Senate?

...ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so?

So, tell me, how's all that hopie-changie stuff working for you now?  And what is it about Obama that you think makes him so brilliant and impressive?

Can't think of anything? Then you'd better start worrying. He's done all this, and much more, to fundamentally change America in just 28 months -- and you still have him for another 19 months until you get to vote again.

If you voted for him in 2008 to prove you are not a racist, do us a favor -- vote for someone else in 2012 to prove you are not an IDIOT!

Disappointing News

Bummer about this!

Lessons From The Past

What have we learned in 2066 years?  Apparently, NOT MUCH!

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."

- Cicero - 55 BC

We Need Jack Webb Today

Are You A Shepherd? This is Your Duty.

I have objected to this Purpose Drivel stuff with church leaders who have defended it with some inane blather like, "Well, it's all biblically based."   BIBLICALLY BASED?  What is that supposed to mean?  Mormonism is biblically based, for cryin' out loud.  A biblical basis is NOT the question.  The right question is, "Is it biblically SOUND?"

This is a repost of A Purpose Plea to Pastors, by Todd Friel as it appeared in Symphony of Scripture, Sept. 11, 2007.

Would you let a surgeon operate on you or your family if he didn’t know the procedure perfectly? Of course not. How much more accurate should a pastor be with the Gospel that is the power unto salvation?

If you are responsible for introducing the Purpose Driven Life to your church or small group, please consider the following verses. “I (Paul) have laid the foundations like an expert builder. Now others (you) are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.” 1 Cor.3:10.

How careful have you been in endorsing the Purpose Driven Life? Did you study it with a critical eye? Did you know the theology and history of Rick Warren before you fed Purpose to your sheep? Were you “very careful?”

“There is going to come a time of testing at the judgment day to see what kind of work each builder has done. Everyone’s work will be put through the fire to see whether or not it keeps its value. If the work survives the fire, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builders themselves will be saved, but like someone escaping through a wall of flames.” (1 Cor.3:13-15)

Hold it, it gets worse. Paul tells us that “God will bring ruin upon anyone who ruins this temple.” (v.17) Uh oh.

For 57 pages, Pastor Warren does not describe sin, righteousness, judgment, God’s holiness, hell, repentance, shedding of blood, atonement or resurrection. Yet on page 58 of PDL, Pastor Warren invites the reader to become a Christian by “whispering the prayer that will change your eternity.” This prayer better be surgically accurate or we have a pastor who is guilty of malpractice (pardon the mixed metaphor). So what is the prayer that will save?“’Jesus, I believe in you and I receive you.’ Go ahead. If you sincerely meant that prayer, congratulations! Welcome to the family of God.”

If you believe that James 4:9,10 describes the conversion experience of godly sorrow that leads to repentance, then you recognize that Pastor Warren’s presentation of salvation is, and I state this very carefully, not Biblical.

We cannot say, “Well, he sort of presents the Gospel.” Jesus shed His blood for this Gospel, we must get it right. Eternity is at stake.

“Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’” (Mark 1:14,15) “Repent and trust” is the Biblical response to the Gospel, not whispering a prayer. God commands all men everywhere to repent.

Imagine your spouse committed adultery against you and returned to you and said, “Honey, I believe in you and I receive you.” Would that be acceptable to you? Why would we think that is acceptable to God? It isn’t. That is a false Gospel. That is a damning Gospel.

Luther, Calvin, Moody and Tozer all preached repentance and trust. Charles Spurgeon proclaimed, “While the gospel is a command, it is a two-fold command explaining itself. “Repent ye, and believe the gospel.’”

If you believe that is the only saving Gospel, then you stand at odds with PDL.

While we could discuss the Pastor Warren’s faulty forty day premise, man-centered theology, rampant mis-use of Scripture, using a dozen liberal translations and his questionable connections and endorsement by Robert Schuller, his salvation message alone should disqualify Purpose from being promoted in evangelical circles.

Please, you are the shepherd of your flock. Your sheep are being fed another Gospel. You will be judged for this. All I ask is that you consider what I am saying and check it with Scripture. This is your duty.

Friend, we can argue about many things in Christianity, but salvation is one message we must have complete accuracy and agreement on. Paul warned that any other Gospel is no Gospel at all. “Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including myself, who preaches any other message than the one we told you about. Even if an angel comes from heaven and preaches any other message, let him forever be accursed.” Gal.1:8

The Advocates of Compromise

"Any evangelism which by appeal to common interests and chatter about current events seeks to establish a common ground where the sinner can feel at home is as false as the altars of Baal ever were… One of the most popular current errors, and… being carried on in evangelical circles these days, is the notion that as times change the church must change with them. Christians must adapt their methods by the demands of the people… go along with them–give them what they want. ‘The message is the same, only the method changes,’ say the advocates of compromise.”

- A.W. Tozer

Don't Drink The Snake Oil

This cartoon produced over 50 years ago was intended to be a warning.  In retrospect is was a prophecy.

The Dangers of Easy Believism

"...when we present a shallow gospel, we don't prevent the elect from getting saved; we make people think they're saved who aren't." 

“…what we have then are a lot of people who think they’re Christians.  And we have a lot of churches that are run by congregational rule, which means that a lot of churches are being run by what?  Non-Christians!  That’s a frightening reality.  I’m quite sure there are Christian organizations being operated by non-Christians.” 
 
John MacArthur

Coolness Wins

Capoeira (Portuguese pronunciation: [kapuˈejɾɐ]) is a Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, sports, and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 17th century. It is known by quick and complex moves, using mainly power kicks and quick leg sweeps, with some ground and aerial acrobatics, knee strikes, take-downs, elbow strikes, punches and headbutts.   from Wikipedia

Check out this Capoeira Fighter

 "A hot-tempered person starts fights;  a cool-tempered person stops them."  Proverbs 15:18 NLT

I Have To Get One Of These

This looks like the BEST flashlight I have ever seen.  With one of these, you will never be afraid to go out in the dark. 

All My Teacher Saw Was The Mess

I have read several blog posts this week that contained some typographical errors.  That's not a big deal, but it reminded me of the time I read a very important piece by an intelligent and thoughtful writer on another blog site.  In it was a grammatical error that was surely unintentional.  So I did the civil thing.  In a comment, I complimented his article and then politely inform him of the error.  Surprisingly, another bitingly critical commenter referred to me as the "grammar police."

Okay, so what?  I don't care about the criticism from some ignorant twit who thinks I shouldn't be so high-minded; I have thick skin.  But I am somewhat reticent to offer my help anymore.

Many of you bloggers will agree; this blogging thing is not easy.  I spend lots of time trying to organize my thoughts and then compose the article.  Then I edit, and re-edit, and edit again.  Then, when my composition is finished, I check for spelling and typographical errors, I look for redundancies, I check definitions and word usage, I check grammar, and I examine it for clarity.  I read it, and read it, and reread it again.  After that comes the page composition.  Selecting and importing images; selecting font styles, type size, and text emphases are all integral parts of the total construction.

When it is finished, I click on that "PUBLISH POST" button and it is sent into cyberspace for all the world to see.  Then I open and view it on my blog site and, to my horror, I find more mistakes that need correcting.

No boasting is intended here, but there is a point to all this.  I write, as I'm sure you do also, because I have something I want to say and a few people might actually read it.  So I don't want errors to become unnecessary distractions from the message (in another post, "Nose-Picking Preachers," I addressed this issue as it pertains to public speakers).   When your reader is distracted by a technical error, your message gets muddied.  That's like the breakfast juice I spilled on my seventh-grade grade English composition; I thought the paper was good but all my teacher saw was the mess.

So for all you grammar Nazis, I just want to go on record here to say, THANK YOU!

I welcome any and all constructive critiques that come my way.  I know how it embarrasses me when I go back and reread my own stuff and discover errors that I have missed.  I try to fix them immediately before others have a chance to read it.  So why would I not appreciate someone else's courtesy in pointing those things out to me?  Of course, I would!  Wouldn't You?

Thanks again for your help,

Update - March 10, 2016.  This post was originally published in May of 2011.  Today I use a new editing tool called Grammarly.  It is much more than a spell-checker.  It's free and it saves lots of time.  As I am sitting here adding this update, I am watching Grammarly in action.  It is signaling, right now, that there are at least five errors in this post in which I was certain had been proofed several times and was fixed.  Not so.  I am correcting it now.
I recommend that every serious blogger downloads the free version of Grammarly.  You will not regret it.

And Thanks to you also, Grammarly. 

***Contemporary Clamour, Doctrinal Deviation, and Musical Madness

“Sunday Morning is the greatest hour of idolatry in the week of America because people are not worshiping the One True God.” —Paul Washer
posted by Michael Wright on "The Unknown God of Christianity" at Made Free



I heard a popular new Christian song “performed” in church recently (I use the word “performed” because sometimes I get the feeling that the presentations are more about the performer than about deflecting the congregation’s attention to Jesus Christ).

The song, popularized by Mandisa, an American Idol finalist, is titled, “God Speaking.” In it, the lyrics make reference to a series of personal experiences and then asks the rhetorical question, “What if it is God speaking?” The obvious error of the song is that it conveys the idea that God speaks today through nature and personal experiences to communicate His love for us. Frankly I get a very nervous about the potential danger in these kinds of lyrics which could lead people to believe that God's word can be subjectively determined.  Furthermore, it is unforgivable that those undershepherds whom God has ordained to lead, and feed, and protect the flock, will allow them to graze there and consume that.

The Word of God is clear and final; He “has, in these last days, spoken unto us by His Son…” (Heb. 1:2). Romans 5:8 tells us that “God demonstrated His love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." It is true that God loves us; the proof is Calvary. And it is true that He speaks to us but it you want to hear him, you must listen to His written Word.

It is not my intention to be unreasonably petty, but Truth must be guarded. Doctrinal deviation is insidious. It creeps slowly into our thinking and then into our practices and ultimately into our traditions. Then, if we ever wake up to it, we wonder how we ever got there in the first place. Modern hymn writer, Kieth Getty, has said, "What we sing affects how we think, how we feel and, ultimately, how we live, so it's important that we sing the whole scope of truth the Bible has given us."

In his book, “Nine Marks of a Healthy Church,” Pastor Mark Dever proffers this thoughtful and appropriate piece of hypothetical sarcasm.

“I had thought of writing a book for pastors called ‘How to Get Fired…And Fast!’ I could sum up the basic idea of this unwritten book in one sentence of Pauline proportions: A pastor could go into a church members’ meeting questioning the salvation of some of the members, refusing to baptize children, advocating a priority of congregational singing over performed music, asking to remove the Christian and national flags and to stop any kind of altar calls, replace committees with elders, ignore the secular rotation of  begin practicing church discipline, remove women from elder-like positions in the church, and state that he had theological opposition to multiple services on Sunday morning…Such a pastor might not get much farther than his next members’ meeting.”

Regardless of anyone’s personal or emotional disagreements with or attachments to any of Pastor Dever’s presumed doctrinal deviations, this does raise a legitimate question that every responsible Christian must be willing to ask; Is my theology a product of biblical Truth or is it a collection of warm and fuzzy traditions and sentiments?

Christian Movements

Rhino Dung

"Movements" in the Body of Christ are like movements in our physical bodies; they come along regularly, they are accompanied by a lot of noise, they feel good for a time, and they usually stink. 

Ralph M. Petersen
(I made that up myself)

God's Grace In Election

After giving a brief survey of (the) doctrines of sovereign grace, I asked for questions from the class. One lady, in particular, was quite troubled. She said, "This is the most awful thing I've ever heard! You make it sound as if God is intentionally turning away men and women who would be saved, receiving only the elect."

I answered her in this vein: "You misunderstand the situation. You're visualizing that God is standing at the door of heaven, and men are thronging to get in the door, and God is saying to various ones, 'Yes, you may come, but not you, and you, but not you, etc.'  

The situation is hardly this.  Rather, God stands at the door of heaven with His arms outstretched, inviting all to come.  Yet all men without exception are running in the opposite direction towards hell as hard as they can go. So God, in election, graciously reaches out and stops this one, and that one, and this one over here, and that one over there, and effectually draws them to Himself by changing their hearts, making them willing to come. 

"Election keeps no one out of heaven who would otherwise have been there, but it keeps a whole multitude of sinners out of hell who otherwise would have been there. Were it not for election, heaven would be an empty place, and hell would be bursting at the seams. That kind of response, grounded as I believe that it is in Scriptural truth, does put a different complexion on things, doesn't it?  If you perish in hell, blame yourself, as it is entirely your fault.  But if you should make it to heaven, credit God, for that is entirely His work!  To Him alone belong all praise and glory, for salvation is all of grace, from start to finish."  

Mark Webb