First Fruit

I planted a fig tree at my house last spring before the terrible drought. Not surprisingly, it didn't bear any fruit last year. I'm just happy that it survived! However, this year has been much more productive. I have gotten the first figs on my little tree. They did come on a little late, but that is OK. Better late than never!

Utopia?

Darn! I knew I should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque!

Yeah, that looks about like all of the descriptions I have heard of Utopia. This is Mars' Utopian Plain. Don't you want to go there?

I think I'll let you take my seat on the shuttle!

Interesting Quote

I read this today in an editorial by Brian Fitzpatrick:

Evangelical theology teaches that a person is saved based not on how he votes, or any other action, but on whether he places his trust in Jesus’s sacrifice to pay the price for his sins. Trust Christ today and you’re “saved” today. Therefore, salvation is not so much a future event as a present possession. Once people are “saved,” however, they undergo a spiritual transformation that affects the way they think, behave, and vote.

Exactly. This is why I am astounded when people who claim to have experienced such a spiritual transformation can enthusiastically support any candidate who is in favor of abortion, infanticide, or the redefinition of marriage. I am similarly shocked that anyone with this claim can support any of these policies.

The Bible has much to say about God's standard of right and wrong. It talks about the things that God hates. It talks about the way that He created things to be. It talks about God's nature and what He is like.

It is interesting that God through the Bible does not explicitly deal with these issues. However, He does give us some very strong principles that logically bring us to certain conclusions.

God shows us many examples of marriage - including the very first one. He is very explicit about the sexual relationships that He endorses and condemns. And none of these boundaries are ever revoked in the Bible.

Similarly, it is very clear from the scriptures that God is intimately involved in life even from the womb. It is also clear from the Bible that God hates those who harm children, the helpless, and the innocent.

So I have a real disconnect when someone who claims to be saved can support either of these issues. I have read through the Bible many times, and I can only think of one very weak argument that would support abortion and none that support the redefinition of marriage.

The only way that I can conceive that a person could logically come to the conclusion that these things are alright would be for them to be operating from a different base of moral authority than the Bible. If the Bible is the ultimate authority for morality, I don't see any way to justify these things. Anyone is welcome to try to convince me otherwise. (But I can assure you that if you aren't using a holistic view of scripture you will fail.)

Cal Slams the Hypocrites

I really enjoy reading Cal Thomas, as many of you already know. Here is a quote from one of his most recent articles:

Abstinence is a standard that works 100 percent of the time for those who practice it. There are consequences for those who do not and Bristol Palin has joined a growing list of young women who have come to realize that too late. As to whether any of this should reflect poorly on Sarah Palin or her husband, I suspect most Americans will empathize with all concerned and say no.

This doesn't reflect so much what the article is about. Most of the meat of the article was slamming the media for its hypocrisy in its dealing with Bristol Palin's out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Still, I love that Thomas doesn't deny the truth even as he defends Bristol. The truth is the truth. Sin is sin. You can still be compassionate and even defensive of the person, but it doesn't change the fact that sin is sin and sin begets consequences. This will never change.

Good Point

Then they (the liberal establishment) attacked her (Sarah Palin's) daughter, who actually is pregnant now, for being unmarried. When liberals start acting like they're opposed to pre-marital sex and mothers having careers, you know McCain's vice presidential choice has knocked them back on their heels.

- Ann Coulter

Funny Quote

"She's like a moose going after a cabbage."
- Lu Sackett (70-year-old resident of Wasilla, Alaska, in response to Sarah Palin's speech before the Republican National Convention last night.)

Check Out C-Span's Coverage

Last night I skipped the Republican National Convention because I frankly could not stomach the self-important pontification that goes on on the main news outlets - and that includes Fox News. I don't know about you, but I am sick and tired of the news treating me like some 3-year-old who needs to have everything explained. It is so bloody annoying. And Fox is one of the worst for interrupting what is going on so that its pundits can hear themselves talk.

Well, tonight I really wanted to hear Sarah Palin's talk, and decided that I would try to stomach it again, and when I was flipping through the channels I saw C-Span and remembered that they broadcast with no fluff. That got my vote.

I watched tonight without anyone blathering on and on about what the Obama campaign has had to say today or about the latest dust bunny that the Democrats have dug up. I didn't have to listen to someone try to spin what I had just heard straight from the horse's mouth.

IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!

Now if I could only get the news the same way.

Seriously. If you want a totally different way to watch the convention, blow off the main networks and watch on C-Span. It was channel 350 on Direct TV in my market.

There was so much that I'd love to comment on from the convention tonight, but there is no time nor energy. You will have to wait. Perhaps by that time some of the best parts will be available on YouTube. I will say that I heard some great speeches tonight - mostly by the folks who ran for the Republican nomination. I loved Giuliani's speech. But they definitely saved the best for last. Sarah Palin knocked it out of the park. But more on that tomorrow.

PS C-Span is also a great outlet for Presidential speeches like the State of the Union.