Congratulations

Congratulations to the Tarheels who won the NCAA division 1 national championship in basketball last night. It is a good thing that they didn't choke in the big game like they usually do. I had already planned to mock them thoroughly.

Curses! Foiled again!

Actually, I wouldn't have as much trouble pulling for the Tarheels in situations like this if their fans weren't so bloody obnoxious. I have been subjected to their overexuberance now since before the tournament began, and I am as sick of it as I am for the hype over our new president. But since Tarheel fans have no self control, then they will have to give up on counting on my EVER pulling for them under any circumstances whatsoever. And they can prepare themselves for my withering sarcasm when they inevitably lose a big game.

Sonnet XIII

On The American Election 2008 - A Sonnet To My King
By Jonathan D. Eller

My God, Your wisdom far exceeds my own,
And I draw comfort from this very thing.
For by Your great omnipotence You've shown
That You determine president and king.
Yes, You know all men's hearts - this fact is true -
And render unto them a payment just,
Rewarding men and nations what is due.
Lord, in Your goodness I have learned to trust.
Your discipline is sorrowful for sure -
Your wrath and blows seem ever so severe -
But chastisement is sent to make us pure,
And by its cleansing helps us to draw near.
My God, this nation's nothing without Thee.
Please cleanse our hearts and truly make us free.

November 5, 2008

God Is Patient

Each year I attempt to read through the Bible using the One Year Bible. I generally switch translation from year to year to get a different flavor and perhaps increase my understanding of the scripture by reading it from a different translator's perspective.

This year I have been using the New Living Translation, and while I have found it to be very readable, I have also noticed in a number of places that the translators took quite a bit of license with the text. This has soured me somewhat on the translation, but there are still moments where I find that the translation was quite well turned.

One example came up recently as I have been reading through Romans. I really like the way that they rendered verse 4 of chapter 2.

Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?
Romans 2:4 NLT

As I read this familiar verse in this translation, I began to see why it is that the wicked often seem to go unpunished in this life. God is being kind, tolerant, and patient with them to give them the chance to repent.

Back shortly after I got out of college, I had a debate with a friend over a statement from another friend that I had repeated. I had quoted my friend to say "God is patient with our sin."

My other friend took exception to this and a great debate raged for several weeks over the statement. I wish that I could remember the finer points of his argument now - that has been more years ago than I care to admit - but I come back to my original position after reading this verse.

(As I continue to ponder our debate, as so often is the case in these arguments, our position was basically the same but the argument was over semantics.)

So, I declare that God is patient with our sin. But what does this really mean? Am I saying that it is OK for us to sin because God is patient? As the King James version would say, "God forbid!" That is not what I am saying at all. Am I saying that we shouldn't be concerned about our sin because God is patient? Once again, God forbid!

God is patient with our sin to give us the time to turn from it. His heart's desire is that we repent - make a 180° turn from our sin towards Him. When we do that we receive His forgiveness and the sin is wiped away.

Why would God be patient with our sin? Why would He tolerate it? I believe that one answer to that question is that God knows how dreadful His wrath and judgment are. Anyone who hasn't gotten a grip on what God's judgment would be like would do well to read Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God." As Hebrews 10:31 says, "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Consider the physical punishment that Jesus endured for our salvation, and then make it eternal. From what I have read and heard even that doesn't come close to the torment that those in hell suffer. God doesn't want anyone to be thrown into hell. That is why Jesus came, and that is why He suffered as greatly as He did. However, the scriptures clearly teach that while His offer of salvation is available to all, all will not receive salvation. Many will stubbornly continue in their rebellion against God and will receive hell as their reward.

If you read the writings of the prophets in the Bible, you will see God's patience displayed over and over again. God sent Jeremiah to the people of Judah repeatedly - right up to their destruction by Babylon - urging them to repent, knowing that they never would. The message that He gave them was that if they would repent He would forgive - even though their sins were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore. Such mercy is astounding to me.

(Please notice, however, that there came a time when that patience was exceeded, and judgment came.)

Many go on blithely sinning, saying, "God doesn't care" or "God doesn't see." They think that because He hasn't acted in His wrath and because He hasn't judged them as the scriptures say that He will that they are OK and that God doesn't have a problem with what they are doing. They couldn't be more wrong. The very next verse in Romans says that they are "storing up wrath for themselves."

Some, whose conscience hasn't been completely seared attempt to justify their sin through partial obedience. I am reminded of the kingdom of Israel after they rebelled against David's dynasty. King Jeroboam built two idols and declared that the people would worship before them instead of returning to Jerusalem to worship at the temple.

In spite of their idolatry the people retained many elements of the law. They still tithed, they still had the festivals, they still did sacrifice. In their minds they were still following the Law, but God saw it quite differently. Their partial obedience did not bring them any favor with God, it merely set into motion the day in which He would execute vengeance on the country.

I believe for many the issue of homosexual marriage is an attempt to do the same thing. They think that if they obey the law on one hand it makes it OK to break it on the other. This is a grievous error - one, I fear, that will bring great judgment.

For those who are Christians, I believe God's patience takes a little different flavor. God knows us so well. He knows exactly why we sin the way we do. He understands the woundings of our soul that cause us to act the way we do, and He will stop at nothing to heal us. God works to heal our wounds and deliver us from our bondage to sin.

What is the correct response to our sin during this time? I think Romans 7:24-25 gives us a pretty good idea. We are to recognize our wretched state and cry out in faith to God for deliverance and mercy.

Are we to make peace with our sin? Never! We are to loathe that which is not holy in us and we should wrestle against it with every ounce of our being until the Lord delivers us from it. Easier said than done, I know. But God never said that it would be easy.

So, in the meantime, I am grateful for God's patience as I struggle with my fears, anger, and perversions, longing for the day when I will finally be healed and set free. And I am grateful for His grace that gives me victory over my flesh. I hope that you will allow God's kindness to lead you to repentance.

Hypocrisy

Many commentators are indicting Spitzer mostly for hypocrisy, but aren't we the real hypocrites? We watch and tolerate the most salacious television programs; we produce soft pornography to sell in grocery stores, displaying it on checkout line shelves, we post hardcore porn on the Internet; we feature on magazine covers women who have had babies with sperm donors they call boyfriends, but do not marry them; girls are sexualized at ever-younger ages; we equate shacking up with marriage as equal moral choices and then express shock when members of both political parties behave in ways that emulate what they see the rest of us tacitly approving….

Culture once produced gobs of shame for people who engaged in such activities, but no more. Now the question becomes whether such laws are outmoded and if it should be considered a private matter between Spitzer and his family. This is the legacy of the Bill Clinton years. "It was only sex," cried Clinton's defenders of his tryst with Monica Lewinsky. It was no one else's business, except his family. Each time such behavior is excused, we ensure we will get more of it.

- Cal Thomas (excerpts from "Sex And The Married Governor" in Jewish World Review, March 12, 2008)

I wish that my writing was as consistently cogent as Cal Thomas'. Read the entire article. He hit it on the head.


Aside:
Don't know if Washington is like NY, but if it is the Gideons may have not been welcome to place their Bibles in his hotel.

Give Me A Break!

The Archbishop of Canterbury has called on Great Britain to adopt Islamic sharia law. Yes you read that right. No, I'm not kidding; once again proving that common sense isn't.

The Archbishop of Canterbury caused consternation yesterday by calling for Islamic law to be recognised in Britain.

He declared that sharia and Parliamentary law should be given equal legal status so the people could choose which governs their lives.

This raised the prospect of Islamic courts in Britain with full legal powers to approve polygamous marriages, grant easy divorce for men and prevent finance firms from charging interest.

You know, sometimes when I'm around adolescents I can't help but wonder what has happened to their brains. The thing is at least they have an excuse. Their bodies are coursing with extremely elevated levels of hormones that they have never had to deal with before. From the picture I saw of the Archbishop of Canterbury, I believe that he is well beyond that excuse.

How could anyone who is supposed to be the head (or at least second in charge) of the Church of England suggest something so looney? This is the problem that comes with removing and/or ignoring the foundational truths that Western culture has been built upon. If you remove enough threads you end up with something that looks nothing like the original garment. But then I'm advocating another religious law, am I not?

I suppose that I would be curbed by that argument if all religious laws were equal, but they are not. Christian law is built upon the moral law of Judaism with mercy added. It is this law that has given birth to Western Culture; and it is the departure from that law that is threatening its survival, and, I am convinced, is the source of most of the maladies afflicting us including "global warming."

I, Too, Have A Dream

Today is the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. If you know anything of his story you have surely heard an excerpt from his wonderfully moving "I Have A Dream" speech.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood....

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today....

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

...And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

In no way do I want to detract from the injustices that are still seen between the races in America. Racism by anyone is a blight upon this country and a sin for which we must repent. There is, however, another greater evil that I want to address this evening that impacts all Americans and disproportionately effects black Americans - abortion.

Abortion is the greatest evil present in our society. It is worse than corruption. It is worse than greed. It is worse than racism. It is worse than perversion. It is worse than war.

Abortion is bankrupting our nation. It has spelled the doom of Social Security. Since its inception in 1973, abortion has wiped out more than the equivalent of the combined populations of Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Delaware, and the District Of Columbia. More than four in every ten pregnancies have been aborted since 1973. The percentage is even higher in minority populations.

Abortion - for whatever reason - is the legally sanctioned murder of the innocent. According to the Bible, this sin makes God VERY angry.

During Jehoiakim’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded the land of Judah. Jehoiakim surrendered and paid him tribute for three years but then rebelled. Then the Lord sent bands of Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Judah to destroy it, just as the Lord had promised through his prophets. These disasters happened to Judah because of the Lord’s command. He had decided to banish Judah from his presence because of the many sins of Manasseh, who had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood. The Lord would not forgive this.
2 Kings 24:1-4

There are six things the Lord hates — no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family. Proverbs 6:16-19

The following chart graphically helps to put into perspective the toll that abortion has taken on our country. Each mark represents 25,000 killed. I used this graphic in a post earlier this year. I have added the estimated number of additional marks for the aborted lives of 2007 in red at the appropriate place.

The Revolutionary War: (25,324) !

The Civil War: (498,332) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

World War I: (116,708) !!!!!

World War II: (407,316) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Korean War: (54,246) !!

Vietnam War: (58,655) !!

Global War On Terror: (7,500) .

War On The Unborn (In The United States): (47,500,000+) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Where is the outrage? Where are the protests? Why aren't there people storming the Capitol Building in Washington and the Supreme Court because of this blood bath? You who decry the 'injustice' of the Global War On Terror, those of you who think that the toll of this war has been too great, those of you who declare the President to be a liar when you distort the truth about abortion; HOW DARE YOU BE SILENT over the injustice of abortion! Hypocrites!

I HATE abortion. I have a dream that one day the womb will not be the most dangerous place to be in America. I have a dream that the American people will no longer tolerate the murder of its citizens before they have even had the opportunity to breathe in the sweet air of liberty. I have a dream that one day the hearts of the fathers will be turned towards their sons and daughters, and that lives and relationships will not be sacrificed on the bloody altar of convenience. I have a dream that those who promote this great evil will repent with profusion of tears and contrition of heart or will be crushed by the hand of the Lord.

There is a choice. God has done something that is utterly amazing - He has offered pardon for even this great sin. But this pardon will not allow you to continue murdering the unborn. You can repent - you can utterly reject your sin - and turn to God for forgiveness, and in His mercy He will forgive you. Sadly, there are those who will not repent. They will mock at this warning and will continue in their sin and one day hell will open its maw to greedily receive them for an eternity of torment - a torment that makes the worst that humans can dish out look like a Sunday picnic. After reading of these horrors, I wouldn't wish them on my greatest enemy, but they will be justly earned by those who refuse God's gracious offer of clemency. Please cry out for mercy before it is too late!

It is time for the marks to stop being added to this list. Consider very carefully each candidate's position on abortion as you are voting this year. Hold them to account for their complicity with abortion and reward those who are working to bring it to an end in our land. Pray that abortion will end soon. It can't end too soon.

Federal Grand Jury Indicts Barry Bonds

According to THIS article,

"Baseball superstar Barry Bonds was charged Thursday with perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying when he said he did not use performance-enhancing drugs.

The indictment, unsealed Thursday by federal prosecutors in San Francisco, is the culmination of a four-year federal probe into whether he lied under oath to a grand jury investigating steroid use by elite athletes."

I guess it would be an understatement to say that he has probably had better days.

The consensus for a long time has been that Barry Bonds has been juicing, whether that is true or not I have no idea. Frankly, I really don't care. Don't get me wrong. I think that it is a travesty that professional athletes are using enhancement-performing drugs. In my opinion it cheapens their achievements. I am glad that Major League Baseball has finally started to open their closed eyes to the use of these drugs. If what they say about the effects of these drugs on the body is true MLB ought to clean up - if for no other reason than the influence these athletes have on the kids that want to follow in their footsteps.

I am also not a big Barry Bonds fan. I have heard so many stories about the man, and most of them haven't been that complimentary. All that to say that I've never met him. I know someone who has met him and talked with him at length. His report was good. So who knows? I might like the guy if I met him.

In a way I feel sorry for Bonds. With the allegations swirling around him for the past several years, his tremendous achievement in setting the career home run record (after setting the single season home run record a few years earlier) has been tainted. I wonder how much of the "consensus" is sour grapes? I am reminded of how "consensus" can be deceived as it has been with the whole global warming lie.

Do you know the part that jumps out at me? It was this line, "The indictment, unsealed Thursday by federal prosecutors in San Francisco, is the culmination of a four-year federal probe into whether he lied under oath to a grand jury investigating steroid use by elite athletes."

Is is just me or does it seem unreasonable to anyone else that they have been pursuing him for 4 YEARS? Were there no national security issues that this group could have been working on? Does it seem unreasonable to anyone else that the government is "investigating steroid use by elite athletes?" It isn't mentioned in these quotes, but this all started with the Congressional hearings on steroid use in baseball.

There really must not be much to do in Washington. Maybe I ought to get me a job there. Congress takes a week off for every holiday, over half the time they are out campaigning, another quarter of the time they are taking bribes, I mean, being wined and dined while listening to compelling reasons to vote in particular ways. (Funny, that SOUNDS like taking bribes to me...) And one eighth of the time they are busy righting the wrongs in the world of professional sports like making sure that athletes aren't using steroids and making sure that NASCAR has enough minority representation. I am actually amazed that they are able to pass as many asininely partisan bills doomed for death by committee or veto as they are.

The article seemed to indicate that some fairly Draconian measures were implemented to get this indictment. It would seem that perhaps there isn't so much difference between us here in the West and the former Soviets as I would like to think that there is.

The greatest travesty of all would be if Barry Bonds were to actually be sentenced for his perjury should he be convicted. It is the height of hypocrisy to go after Barry Bonds when the former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, was impeached for the same thing without consequence.

Ironic, no?

In Land of the Monkey God, a Primate Menaces

More from The Land Of Really Strange Notions... I just find this hilarious: men have allowed themselves to be ruled by monkeys. God has a funny sense of humor. It is as if He said, "OK, you want to worship a monkey? Fine, then I'll give the monkey dominion over you."

It is incomprehensible to me that people still worship literal idols and even more inconceivable that people would consider a monkey a god. There are some seriously messed up folk in this world. What gets me is that we are losing IT jobs to these folks at an alarming rate.

I wonder whatever happened with the menacing wild turkeys in Massachusetts? Remember? I posted about it HERE.



What a great picture!

There Are Always Consequences

A new UK study says that induced abortion is the best predictor of breast cancer (emphasis mine), and calls the current widespread incidence of breast cancer epidemic. The study appears in the Fall edition of The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, and is authored by Patrick Carroll, M.A., who is the Director of Research for the Pension and Population Research Institute in London.

You really need to read the entire article. Click HERE.

It would seem that there actually are consequences to abortion that threaten the mother's life long after the immediate risk of the abortion. The risks during the abortion are many and are well documented - in spite of Planned Parenthood's claim that they are making abortion safe. (See THIS post from earlier.)

Once again there is evidence that the pro-infanticide group has sold the women of the world a bill of goods. Far from being the quick and easy solution to an unwanted pregnancy it turns out that abortion is THE BEST predictor of breast cancer. Guess what else makes the list of risky behaviors for women in terms of breast cancer: Hormonal contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy.

There are some non-risky behaviors for women who want to avoid breast cancer. Here they are:

1) Bearing children
2) Giving birth at a low age
3) Giving birth to a larger number of children
4) Breastfeeding.

Interesting. I guess God meant what he said when He said, "Be fruitful and multiply." Isn't it interesting that He seems to have set it up so that things are actually better for the health of a woman if she has children (i.e. if she does what He said to do)? Apparently God isn't worried about overpopulation. God set up a natural order for things, and told us what to do yet we in our "cleverness" and "wisdom" think that we know better. In the end we only make it worse.