Wednesday, April 29, 2009

100 Days

I don’t know about you, but these past 100 days have widened my eyes to new concerns for those of faith. Herein are my views and concerns. Rhetoric by President Obama as to his believing marriage should be between a man and a woman (during the Rick Warren interview) is questioned in light of his verbal support for the Iowa decision for gay marriage and no statements of any kind for States (Washington, NY, and MD) that have continued their support for traditional marriage. He has vowed to overturn DOMA. Was this a clue to the ‘change’ we can expect?
Obama has authorized an increase in our National Debt, to be paid by many future generations, by spending 3.6 trillion dollars, $12,000 for every man, woman and child in America, exceeding total debt incurred by every President ever elected – all 43. We are facing a Barack Hussein Obama (he used his Hussein name when in Turkey) activist social agenda that may cost far more than dollars already being spent in the ‘emergency’ forums led by Obama. This will not help our economy. Charities may be crippled from his desire to reduce or eliminate the charitable deduction for giving. More government social programs would result – a larger government a consequence.
Untold numbers of unborn babies will never see the light of day because of our new President’s positive posture towards abortion, despite verbal statements for minimizing abortions as an objective. Obama agreed to spend tax-payer dollars to help pay for ‘forced’ abortions in China. Women appointed to positions in Washington, making future decisions for Americans, all have a pro-abortion bias. In a recent White House Health Care Conference not one pro-life advocate was invited. Obama does not support moral or ethical grounds as a reason by medical personnel if they refuse abortions, fertilization or adoptions. They must do even what they do not believe is right. Obama says. Stem cell research using embryonic stem cells which has never found one treatment option (after 25 years) will now be funded by tax-payers, Obama supported; even knowing adult stem cell research has resulted in over 70 treatments. Obama stated on the campaign trail “if” adult stem cells work as well or better (they work!), why stir the pot of moral issues. A child pornography defending lawyer, a lawyer for Playboy, Penthouse and the ACLU is Obama’s choice for Deputy Attorney General of the U.S. The first appointed Federal judge says the name Allah is okay in his state’s legislature’s prayers, the name Jesus is not. Our defense spending will be at pre-WWII levels. Is this an area of savings we can afford; will our security be more at risk under the leadership of a man most able in politics, but now questionably capable at leadership.
Nationalization has not been suggested, but now we the people own a majority of GM, and our President has already fired the CEO. Obama never ran a Company before, only ran a Presidential campaign, let alone demonstrated the ability to judge the quality of an Industry leader.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano has reported concerns of the threat of 'right wing extremism' and warns of 'potential emergence of terrorist groups' 'antagonistic toward the new (African-American) presidential administration and its perceived stance on issues, including immigration and citizenship, the expansion of social programs to minorities, and restrictions of firearms ownership and use.' The report expresses concerns about Christian Identity groups. She called violent right-wing groups the 'most dangerous domestic threat.' The tea party participants were not mentioned. Obama recently suggested they were of no consequence. Terrorists as we have known them since 911 were not mentioned.
I can only believe this is all part of God’s plan and the Almighty has reasons for what we are seeing in our new Federal Administration. I am not trying to judge Obama, only expressing concerns for the ‘change’ and ‘change’ again we have experienced in 100 days and the repeated prompter speeches and what seems staged press conferences that sound good but are by all appearances designed for each respective listening audience. Consistency on positions on important issues seems lacking. President Obama - you can stop campaigning now and start leading. You won the election. I will continue to pray for your success.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Share Your Story

If you have a story where God entered your life and changed you or someone close to you, please, share it here. Bring God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit to life for others. If you prefer, email me - most have my email address. If you have been part of a Bible Study or new to one, and it has changed you, or enabled you to see others change, please let me know.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Response to Newsweek Article - End of Christian America

Re: The End of Christian America by Jon Meacham, Newsweek, April 13, 2009)

Post-Christianity returns Christians to the basics. It may be true, Christianity as an ethical and moral dogma to be incorporated into America’s political system has diminished. Thus your Post Christian label. You may be going a bit too far, however, if America under the banner of Christianity has changed as the moral standards of society at their highest levels still reflect on the tenets outlined in the Bible. It is the most profound and complete guide on how to live a proper life for self and neighbor. When our founding fathers put together the constitution there were less than 20% self-identified Christians – now its 76% down from 86%, but the moral and ethical principles expressed biblically held sway.

Christians need to evangelize, build and grow a community for their belief and solicit volunteers for a faith, its roots and the standards set forth biblically. For Christian Americans they need fight to preserve the liberty our deist fore-fathers established constitutionally. Freedom needs to be the mantra for all religions, to include what today may be secularist, humanist, and atheist religions. Indeed as Americans “we value individual freedom and free enterprise” and “liberty, not religion, is what holds us together.” How our leaders deal with the pressures from any religion (including the secularist and atheists, as well as Christian, Jew, Muslim and any community group, even the homosexualist) reflects not on the dogma influencing our society nationally, but on the religions and beliefs of the elected and the support groups to which they acquiesce.

One of the worst things that ever happened in America was the Supreme Court agreeing with Madalyn Murray O’Hair in 1962 about compulsory prayer and reading the Bible in schools, not so much from a Christian perspective but from a freedom perspective, the freedom of choice. Saying "no" to the "compulsory" reading of the Bible and prayer is one thing, but total removal of the historical, foundational, moral, ethical offerings of the Bible from teaching, from academia, went too far and took away from all Americas a valuable point of view to be considered. This has led to a lack of tolerance. Tolerance is a critical debate issue as this term suggests “fairness” and yet seldom do we see the tolerant atheist, pro-life, pro-choice advocate, liberal or conservative. Lack of tolerance is a form of coercion and we see it everywhere, from homosexual groups abusive campaigning for same sex marriage and the use of whatever bathroom they please, atheists attacking Mother Teresa, secularists and humanists attacking ‘Christmas’, calling any believer ‘stupid’ and so on. Christians need to be concerned less with their role in government and more the government’s role in their Christian programs. Why should Christians be coerced by a loss of their church’s tax freedom when speaking out for those they support politically? This is the change in America, an overt action by the populists to remove the bible in all forms from daily life; post-Christianity is nothing more than the eradication of Christianity from the focal point of those that prefer self actualization, in government or out. Defense of freedom, especially the freedom of speech, un-coerced in any form, should be the Post-Christian mantel. A theocracy is not a goal of Christians

Consider creation, Intelligent Design, a first cause and evolution – what is in, what is out, what religion leads the way – today it seems to be evolution (in academia anyway). Has the freedom of the creationist been denied, or everyone’s freedom for not being able to hear the other side! Believing in Christ, the inerrancy of the bible and an eternal life is Christian, and no American or any one in the world is required to believe such. And not all who believe are believers; many are doubters and can be influenced one way or another. That should occur without coercion, with access to as much information as possible so that with knowledge a person can voluntarily decide their belief system. Minds of America are being coerced by academia in other directions and that may continue in your Post-Christian era, but then again after a while the pendulum may well swing back. Sure Christians want to see their faith more fully expressed in public life, but even more they want to be able to freely express their faith in all public places. Let the individual then decide his faith, not the government. Let the individual decide without the threat of committing a “hate” crime, or being denied use of a Bible, Koran or Talmud in school, but with access to all beliefs, theories and respective apologetics. Your most critical statement was “coerced belief is no belief at all; it is tyranny.” This may be the era of “Coerced Post Christian.”

As for moral issues we seem to be trending towards utilitarianism - the “greatest-happiness principle.” (philosopher - Jeremy Bentham) It holds that one must always act so as to produce the greatest pleasure for the greatest number of people. Even so it will not prevent Christians from believing in the Risen Lord, reminded by Easter of the sacrifice made for all mankind, and the life lessons to be learned from the Bible. The future for Christians is strong. The effort is needed to reestablish the Bible as an essential book for the study of moral and ethical standards. More scientists and philosophers are seeing the need to include in their research the impact of a divine element. With the Big Bang showing the way for many scientists, and the discovery of DNA code, for many palientologists, evolutionists and philosophers, evidence is now pointing more convincingly towards a First Cause. This should in turn increase everyones awareness of God and the need to considered more than ever before their relationsip with God. Christians are returning to the basics with more evidence than ever before of the reality of the events that occurred Easter 2000 years ago.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Newsweek Article -The End of Christian America

Check out this weeks Newsweek article by Jon Meacham - The End of Christian America. It is a good one and well worth a read. I should have a response shortly and will post it here as well as send it to Newsweek via Letters to the Editor. Your thoughts on the article are welcomed.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Wake Up Wake Up - Book Trailer - Progress



We are progressing on the Book. Thanks to MB for a first draft of a Trailer. Publisher liked it too. We are in Final Draft mode with a return date to the publisher of 4/15 - tax day. Maybe before Chrismas, or next Easter, the Book will find its way to the bookstores. We'll tell you how to get your copy once the Book is available.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Big Bang and God

How did the universe begin? Today, most scientists believe it was with the "Big Bang". Cosmologists react, deflated, their "Static State" theory has been cast aside for one that now holds true as evidenced by major scientific study. In his book, Big Bang - The Origin of the Universe, Simon Singh explains the current understanding of the Big Bang. “First…all matter and energy were condensed to a point and then there was an almighty Big Bang. The term ‘Big Bang’ implies some sort of explosion, which is not a wholly inappropriate analogy, except that the Big Bang was not an explosion in space, but an explosion of space. Similarly the Big Bang was not an explosion in time, it was an explosion of time. Both space and time were created at the moment of the big Bang.” Whether intended or not I made a specific note of Singh’s use of the adjective “almighty” when noting that after everything was condensed to a point, there was an “almighty” explosion. Ironic! To his credit I did not feel Singh expressed a Creator per se as the First Cause, but what he did mention was “What came before the Big Bang?” as a question many, including the cosmologists and atheists may now be exploring; but his answer was quite clear, that question “is impossible to answer - Beyond the reach of science.” Steven Weinberg, a Nobel prize winner for Physics, has supported this revelation as noted by Singh and made mention that it is more that just idle speculation. We now know, have knowledge, are knowers of the cause of our universe and for Saint Thomas Aquinas it means, and with the Big Bang being “beyond…science”, there was a cause, a First Cause, and that is God.

This whole knowledge of the definitive nature of the start of the universe under the Fred Hoyle term “Big Bang” (a theory he rejected) takes us to consider anew the anthropic principle, which states, “any cosmological theory must take into account the fact that the universe has evolved to contain us.” Us is us! Only the Darwin Evolution theories need be reduced to fact now, as the cosmological theories have, bringing us all closer to our Maker, our Starter, our Cause, our Creator, our God.

Even with that our government still supported the launch of a space exploration exercise to determine if we are part of a multi-verse. God or multi-verse?

Christopher Hitchens wrote, “Religion…is…fully aware of the ever-mounting evidence, concerning the origins of the cosmos and the origin of species, which consign it to marginality if not irrelevance.” To this I say – not so fast – have you studied that “silly phrase”, as you call the Big Bang theory and the discovery of DNA, which certainly seems to make the “cosmos is all there is” theory and man emanating from the “ooze” irrelevant thus suggesting strongly God as the First Cause of everything – time, space, matter, energy, earth, motion, animals, plants and man.

The circle that so many scientists and philosophers attempt to contain, studying only that which is within, and not allowing for the eternal law to provide an answer where there may be doubt, needs to be viewed from afar and seen in the light which shines upon the circle. In so doing this will allow for a complete picture to be taken when the flash bulbs illuminate the whole of an idea, theory, or study. Conclusions drawn will be done so without an empty feeling that something critical has been left out or not considered. Doubt can be erased and answers found in the First Cause, if only that is enabled in the knowing. The Big Bang is compelling to the point that looking outside the circle is more justifiable than ever. Next we need to find the “Big Bang” of evolution, and for me that is the Watson & Crick discovery of DNA. Bang, bang, cosmologist, evolutionist, God is back.