From the very beginning, many who saw and heard the Christ just walked away, unbelieving. The Creator lovingly preserved their liberty. His coming as a man did not overwhelm the minds and hearts of all those who encountered Him. Not then, not today. He shone His light before humans, and many of them turned away.
On one occasion when hundreds turned silently away from His words, He asked his disciples: “Will ye also go away?” Although He would have let them go, too, these few stood their ground. He did not desire the acquiescence of slaves, but the friendship of free women and free men standing erect.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Dumb Dirty Ape
Commenting on a speech Sen. Barack Obama made two years ago, Focus on the Family's Dr. James Dobson accused the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential candidate of misinterpreting Holy Scripture and said he had "gone viral."
Speaking on his Tuesday broadcast, Dobson, along with aide Tom Minnery, played recordings of the speech and said he was astonished to learn that Obama had attacked him in a speech to a group called Covenant for a New America on June 28, 2006.
"Excuse me!" said an astonished Minery. "Seventy-six percent of the people identify themselves as Christians. There are only six-tenths of 1 percent who are Muslims, seven-tenths of 1 percent who are Buddhists, four-tenths of 1 percent who are Hindus. So he's diminishing the idea that people of Christian faith have anything to say, and then he begins to diminish [Dr. Dobson]."
"I think he is dragging Biblical understanding through the gutter," Minnery said. "I don't know if he's doing it willfully or accidentally."
Barack Obama said Tuesday that evangelical leader James Dobson was "making stuff up" when he accused the presumed Democratic presidential nominee of distorting the Bible.
Obama added, "I think you'll see that he was just making stuff up, maybe for his own purposes."
Speaking to reporters on his campaign plane before landing in Los Angeles, Obama said the speech made the argument that people of faith, like himself, "try to translate some of our concerns in a universal language so that we can have an open and vigorous debate rather than having religion divide us."
"Folks haven't been reading their Bibles," Obama said in the speech.
Speaking on his Tuesday broadcast, Dobson, along with aide Tom Minnery, played recordings of the speech and said he was astonished to learn that Obama had attacked him in a speech to a group called Covenant for a New America on June 28, 2006.
"Excuse me!" said an astonished Minery. "Seventy-six percent of the people identify themselves as Christians. There are only six-tenths of 1 percent who are Muslims, seven-tenths of 1 percent who are Buddhists, four-tenths of 1 percent who are Hindus. So he's diminishing the idea that people of Christian faith have anything to say, and then he begins to diminish [Dr. Dobson]."
"I think he is dragging Biblical understanding through the gutter," Minnery said. "I don't know if he's doing it willfully or accidentally."
Barack Obama said Tuesday that evangelical leader James Dobson was "making stuff up" when he accused the presumed Democratic presidential nominee of distorting the Bible.
Obama added, "I think you'll see that he was just making stuff up, maybe for his own purposes."
Speaking to reporters on his campaign plane before landing in Los Angeles, Obama said the speech made the argument that people of faith, like himself, "try to translate some of our concerns in a universal language so that we can have an open and vigorous debate rather than having religion divide us."
"Folks haven't been reading their Bibles," Obama said in the speech.
Monday, June 23, 2008
You Dumb Monkey-Muslim
As Barack Obama broadens his outreach to evangelical voters, one of the movement's biggest names, James Dobson, accuses the likely Democratic presidential nominee of distorting the Bible and pushing a "fruitcake interpretation" of the Constitution.
The conservative Christian group provided The Associated Press with an advance copy of the pre-taped radio segment, which runs 18 minutes and highlights excerpts of a speech Obama gave in June 2006 to the liberal Christian group Call to Renewal. Obama mentions Dobson in the speech.
"Even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools?" Obama said. "Would we go with James Dobson's or Al Sharpton's?" referring to the civil rights leader.
"I think he's deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology," Dobson said.
"... He is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter."
James Dobson's Focus on the Family
The conservative Christian group provided The Associated Press with an advance copy of the pre-taped radio segment, which runs 18 minutes and highlights excerpts of a speech Obama gave in June 2006 to the liberal Christian group Call to Renewal. Obama mentions Dobson in the speech.
"Even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools?" Obama said. "Would we go with James Dobson's or Al Sharpton's?" referring to the civil rights leader.
"I think he's deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology," Dobson said.
"... He is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter."
James Dobson's Focus on the Family
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Our Ferocious Savior
Benedict XVI has deplored the widespread misrepresentation of Jesus as Someone Who “demands nothing, never scolds, Who accepts everyone and everything, Who no longer does anything but affirm us.”
It was not always thus. Why? Well, to begin with, if you read the Gospels, Jesus says He is meek and humble of heart, but He has a sharp tongue: He calls some fellow Jews a “brood of vipers”; in Luke, after teaching the Lord’s Prayer, He remarks almost casually to His own disciples, “If you then, who are wicked. . .”; and He warns often about the possibility of eternal damnation.
This excludes people, is judgmental, may not exactly build self-esteem. Benedict has noted tartly that Christian community “must not be conceived as if the avoidance of conflict were the highest pastoral value.”
Jesus warns us in several places, “Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother's eye” – very good advice, even in secular terms. We’re quick to criticize others and to give ourselves a pass. But like all virtues, this one becomes a vice beyond its proper scope.
We’ve seen a similar phenomenon with regard to Christian failures in this country. Whenever the latest Jimmy Swaggart, Ted Haggard, or priest predator arises, Christians are mocked as hypocrites. It always surprises me that Christians take the abuse instead of simply replying, “That changes nothing. We deplore these sins as much as you do, and we continue to deplore the sins these sinners deplored, unworthy messengers though they were.”
It was not always thus. Why? Well, to begin with, if you read the Gospels, Jesus says He is meek and humble of heart, but He has a sharp tongue: He calls some fellow Jews a “brood of vipers”; in Luke, after teaching the Lord’s Prayer, He remarks almost casually to His own disciples, “If you then, who are wicked. . .”; and He warns often about the possibility of eternal damnation.
This excludes people, is judgmental, may not exactly build self-esteem. Benedict has noted tartly that Christian community “must not be conceived as if the avoidance of conflict were the highest pastoral value.”
Jesus warns us in several places, “Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother's eye” – very good advice, even in secular terms. We’re quick to criticize others and to give ourselves a pass. But like all virtues, this one becomes a vice beyond its proper scope.
We’ve seen a similar phenomenon with regard to Christian failures in this country. Whenever the latest Jimmy Swaggart, Ted Haggard, or priest predator arises, Christians are mocked as hypocrites. It always surprises me that Christians take the abuse instead of simply replying, “That changes nothing. We deplore these sins as much as you do, and we continue to deplore the sins these sinners deplored, unworthy messengers though they were.”
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Evangelical Fined for Demonstration
The leader of a Christian evangelical group who expressed his religious views to tourists near the Liberty Bell was placed on one year's probation for refusing to move from a sidewalk where demonstrations are banned.
Repent America director Michael A. Marcavage, 28, of Lansdowne, Pa., was sentenced Friday after a two-day bench trial. He was fined $420 and ordered to notify the National Park Service and get a permit if he planned to return to the site.
"Welcome to the new America," Marcavage said outside the courtroom. "God help us. We're all headed for trouble if this is the direction the country is going in."
The sidewalk is open to the public but the park service restricted demonstrations there after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. U.S. Magistrate Judge Arnold Rapoport found Marcavage guilty of violating a verbal permit and interfering with park rangers.
Repent America director Michael A. Marcavage, 28, of Lansdowne, Pa., was sentenced Friday after a two-day bench trial. He was fined $420 and ordered to notify the National Park Service and get a permit if he planned to return to the site.
"Welcome to the new America," Marcavage said outside the courtroom. "God help us. We're all headed for trouble if this is the direction the country is going in."
The sidewalk is open to the public but the park service restricted demonstrations there after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. U.S. Magistrate Judge Arnold Rapoport found Marcavage guilty of violating a verbal permit and interfering with park rangers.
McCain attacks Guantánamo ruling
John McCain on Friday described the decision by the Supreme Court to allow Guantánamo Bay prisoners to challenge their detention in US courts as “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country”.
The Republican presidential candidate said he agreed with the four dissenting justices on the nine-member court that foreign fighters held at the detention camp were not entitled to the rights of US citizens.
He criticised Barack Obama, his Democratic opponent, for supporting the decision and said it highlighted the importance of nominating conservative judges to the Supreme Court. His remarks represented a hardening of his position from his more moderate initial response to the ruling on Thursday, signalling a strategic decision by the McCain campaign to make it an election issue.
McCain’s stance appeared designed to demonstrate his toughness on national security, while casting Mr Obama as soft on terrorists.
The Republican presidential candidate said he agreed with the four dissenting justices on the nine-member court that foreign fighters held at the detention camp were not entitled to the rights of US citizens.
He criticised Barack Obama, his Democratic opponent, for supporting the decision and said it highlighted the importance of nominating conservative judges to the Supreme Court. His remarks represented a hardening of his position from his more moderate initial response to the ruling on Thursday, signalling a strategic decision by the McCain campaign to make it an election issue.
McCain’s stance appeared designed to demonstrate his toughness on national security, while casting Mr Obama as soft on terrorists.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Goodbye Kern, Hello Kabul
For at least the next two years, Perry will give administrative support to an organization that offers flights and communication services to relief workers in the region. Sherry will teach at an international school.
Psalm 16
Confidence in the LORD
5 LORD, You are my portionand my cup [of blessing];You hold my future.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for mein pleasant places;indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
7 I will praise the LORD who counsels me even at night my conscience instructs me.
8 I keep the LORD in mind always.Because He is at my right hand,I will not be shaken.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Billy Graham Thrown Under the Bus
McCain Campaign Declines to Meet with Billy Graham
In another disturbing sign that Sen. John McCain has little interest in reaching out to his conservative base, including evangelical Christian voters, his campaign has declined an offer to meet with the Rev. Billy Graham.
The rejection of an offer to meet with Graham is yet another indication that the McCain campaign has made a deliberate, strategic decision to chart a new course for the GOP, a course without the sizeable evangelical Christian voting bloc serving as its base.
In another disturbing sign that Sen. John McCain has little interest in reaching out to his conservative base, including evangelical Christian voters, his campaign has declined an offer to meet with the Rev. Billy Graham.
The rejection of an offer to meet with Graham is yet another indication that the McCain campaign has made a deliberate, strategic decision to chart a new course for the GOP, a course without the sizeable evangelical Christian voting bloc serving as its base.
Christians Accused of Hate Crime
Abraham said, "He came with a very intimidating attitude, 'What are you doing here?' He said 'I have the power to arrest you because you are spreading a hate crime. Give me your name. Give me your address.'"
Cunningham says the officer said "'…that you're not allowed to preach the Gospel here. That this is Muslim area'. He said 'you guys are committing a hate crime with what you're doing. I'm going to have to call you in and take you in,' and then he took his radio and said something like 'there's a hate crime in progress here. I need assistance.'"
Same story from the UK but with video.
Cunningham says the officer said "'…that you're not allowed to preach the Gospel here. That this is Muslim area'. He said 'you guys are committing a hate crime with what you're doing. I'm going to have to call you in and take you in,' and then he took his radio and said something like 'there's a hate crime in progress here. I need assistance.'"
Same story from the UK but with video.
Failure of Will
Copied from Power Line:
80 years ago we were caught off-guard by an unprecedented evil that, in essence, declared war on civilization. The regimes in question were not secret about their intentions, but we refused to believe that, in the words of Michael Ledeen, "a great evil had become paramount in the countries that had produced Kant, Beethoven, Dante and Rossini."
Whatever excuses our parents and grandparents had 80 years ago would seem feeble today, now that we know so muchl about murderous regimes and the messianic political movements that produce them. Yet, says Ledeen, we are again "failing to see the mounting power of evil enemies," electing to "treat them as if they were normal political phenomena" as to which negotiations are the best course of action.
This time, Ledeen correctly concludes, "ignorance cannot be claimed as an excuse. Rather; "if we are defeated, it will be because of failure of will, not lack of understanding."
80 years ago we were caught off-guard by an unprecedented evil that, in essence, declared war on civilization. The regimes in question were not secret about their intentions, but we refused to believe that, in the words of Michael Ledeen, "a great evil had become paramount in the countries that had produced Kant, Beethoven, Dante and Rossini."
Whatever excuses our parents and grandparents had 80 years ago would seem feeble today, now that we know so muchl about murderous regimes and the messianic political movements that produce them. Yet, says Ledeen, we are again "failing to see the mounting power of evil enemies," electing to "treat them as if they were normal political phenomena" as to which negotiations are the best course of action.
This time, Ledeen correctly concludes, "ignorance cannot be claimed as an excuse. Rather; "if we are defeated, it will be because of failure of will, not lack of understanding."
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Kieffe & Sons Ford Under Internet Fire
Militant Atheist Liberals make use of internet fads like blogs and You Tube to associate the Ford dealer with poor business practices in attempt to create an incident and put them out of business. Typical liberal censorship, pretend they're offended and tear it all down just as long as they don't lose their image.
Atheism Blog
Digg
You Tube
When are they going to reterm this practice as a human rights volation so the internet libs can get back to their drug use?
Atheism Blog
Digg
You Tube
When are they going to reterm this practice as a human rights volation so the internet libs can get back to their drug use?
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Christian Preachers Face Arrest in UK
The preachers, both ministers in Birmingham, were handing out leaflets on Alum Rock Road in February when they started talking to four Asian youths.
A police community support officer (PCSO) interrupted the conversation and began questioning the ministers about their beliefs.
They said when the officer realised they were American, although both have lived in Britain for many years, he launched a tirade against President Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan…
“He said we were in a Muslim area and were not allowed to spread our Christian message. He said we were committing a hate crime by telling the youths to leave Islam and said that he was going to take us to the police station.”…
West Midlands Police, who refused to apologise, said the incident had been “fully investigated” and the officer would be given training in understanding hate crime and communication.
Must be the same Section 5 seen here.
A police community support officer (PCSO) interrupted the conversation and began questioning the ministers about their beliefs.
They said when the officer realised they were American, although both have lived in Britain for many years, he launched a tirade against President Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan…
“He said we were in a Muslim area and were not allowed to spread our Christian message. He said we were committing a hate crime by telling the youths to leave Islam and said that he was going to take us to the police station.”…
West Midlands Police, who refused to apologise, said the incident had been “fully investigated” and the officer would be given training in understanding hate crime and communication.
Must be the same Section 5 seen here.
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