Aren't you glad...

...that we can trust our leaders for our security?

As anyone who knows the rudiments of firearms safety can tell you, Mayor Nagin is practicing very poor muzzle control. Maybe it is a really good idea that they got 600 bullet-proof vests, so that they can double or triple them up, seeing as a 5.56 slug at that range is going to punch through multiple layers of Kevlar.

Of course, this is the same man who found it necessary to disarm law-abiding gun owners following Hurricane Katrina, telling them that only the authorities were professional enough to be armed.

Fleecing the Sheep

Yet another "Pastor" who needs a lesson in the fear of the Lord.

"This case goes far beyond simple theft," Rokita said in a statement. "The Reeveses allegedly targeted their victims through their faith, and then exploited their religious convictions in order to hide their elaborate Ponzi scheme from potential investors."

Sin makes you stupid.

Lord, allow me to finish well in your service, and keep me from dishonoring you and the trust that you have placed in me as your servant.


(Update: Here is another minister gone astray. It seems that not a single day goes by without something like this. Could it be that our modern "feel good/I'm OK, you're OK" faith leads ministers to disregard their depravity and fail to mortify the flesh daily?)

Belief and Suffering

Skeptics often frame their disagreement with Christianity by saying something to the effect of: "How can God be loving and yet allow suffering" (or some variation thereof).

For more than 30 years I have been using the Our Daily Bread devotional booklets from Radio Bible Class. They have been uniformly good, and I have had little to quibble with their content during this long period of time. They are the first thing that I read in the morning, followed by my daily readings in the ESV Daily Reading Bible.

Following the daily reading for today there was a small section entitled Ten Reasons To Believe in a God Who Allows Suffering. This excellent material is also available online, and provides a Biblically balanced view as to why God allows us to experience pain and suffering.

This is the one that resonated most with me:

Suffering Takes Us To The Edge Of Eternity

If death is the end of everything, then a life filled with suffering isn't fair. But if the end of this life brings us to the threshold of eternity, then the most fortunate people in the universe are those who discover, through suffering, that this life is not all we have to live for. Those who find themselves and their eternal God through suffering have not wasted their pain. They have let their poverty, grief, and hunger drive them to the Lord of eternity. They are the ones who will discover to their own unending joy why Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:1-12; Romans 8:18-19).

June is almost over...

...and yet many of us are still clinging to "old attitudes".

I think that I will keep my "old attitudes" along with the "old, old story".

Latayne Scott Blog Tour - Mormon Mirage

Latayne Scott is answering questions today about her book The Mormon Mirage.

Here is one question from me:

Latayne, in conversations with Mormons they trumpet their "family friendly" lifestyle. I get the impression that this is the glue that holds many Mormons to their erroneous beliefs. How can we convince them that the "forever family" of orthodox Christianity is superior to what they believe? I often get the impression that Mormons fear family abandonment if they leave their faith.

(Update: Latayne's answer is contained in the comments below.)

Cap & Trade Insanity

Are we really planning on destroying what is left of America's economy when even some within the EPA think that the planet is cooling?

You mean that our politicians aren't looking out for our best interests? Say it ain't so.

It is truly scary...

...what a tyrannical government is capable of doing, as seen in this item about how the Iranian security apparatus has been able to shut down the Internet and social networking sites.

"The high-end apparatus, installed in late 2008 by the German Siemens AG and Finnish Nokia Corp. cell phone giant, gave Iranian intelligence the most advanced tools anywhere for controlling, inspecting, censoring and altering Internet and cell phone messaging. Those tools were being used weeks before the poll to identify penetrations by alien spy services, their local agents and dissident activists."

Of course, none of this would have been possible for the Iranian government without technology acquired from Siemens and Nokia. I wonder how their executives can sleep at night?

It is important to note how the enemies of freedom operate, and not take for granted that our government couldn't do the same, or worse.

Two Things That I Learned This Past Week

1) Since 1929, pedestrians have had the right-of-way in Connecticut. (Courtesy of an editorial in the Danbury News-Record.)

2) You cannot buy postcards in Connecticut. (Courtesy of personal experience.)

*****

We spent the past week in Connecticut, visiting the graves of my ancestors (nine generations in three cemeteries), took a side trip to the Boston area to visit my wife's mother's cousin, and also visited with my Dad's cousin. Whenever we visit somewhere on vacation my wife makes it a point to buy a fistful of postcards and then mail them out to family and friends. Most of our travels are in the south or the west, and you can always find postcards at drug stores, grocery stores, tourist traps, etc. However, it appears that this is not the case in Connecticut. Asking clerks in stores resulted in puzzled looks, and one young lady in the Rite-Aide drug store in Danbury told us: "I don't think that I have ever seen a Connecticut post card. We don't get many tourists here."

We also discovered a bit of my wife's family history:

Breaking news?

God's Priorites For Us

We quickly learn that God is more interested in our holiness than in our comfort. He more greatly delights in the integrity and purity of his church than in the material well-being of its members. He shows himself more clearly to men and women who enjoy him and obey him than to men and women whose horizons revolve around good jobs, nice houses, and reasonable health. He is far more committed to building a corporate "temple" in which his Spirit dwells than he is in preserving our reputations. He is more vitally disposed to display his grace than to flatter our intelligence. He is more concerned for justice than for our ease. He is more deeply committed to stretching our faith than our popularity. He prefers that his people live in disciplined gratitude and holy joy rather than in pushy self-reliance and glitzy happiness. He wants us to pursue daily death, not self-fulfillment, for the latter leads to death, while the former leads to life.

These essential values of the gospel must shape our praying...

D.A Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers, page 200

Yes, ma'am, that's my baby...

...no ma'am, I don't mean maybe:

Senator Boxer pitches a hissy fit when politely addressed by a Brigadier General.

Grow up, ma'am.

(Update: More Boxer petulance.)

(Another Update: Senator Boxer & Dr. Evil)

The Times, They Are A Changing...

...and not for the better.

Today we find out about a new attack on the First Amendment.

As a "Right Wing Domestic Terrorist" , I will once again engage in "low-level terrorism" on July 4th.

Anti-Semitism Raises It's Ugly Head Again

Two items in the news this week:

First, the tragic shooting at the National Holocaust Museum by racist and holocaust denier, James W. von Brunn.

Second, these comments from Jeremiah Wright:

"Them Jews aren't going to let him talk to me. I told my baby daughter, that he'll talk to me in five years when he's a lame duck, or in eight years when he's out of office."

Both are evil, both should be denounced.

Win BibleWorks 8

Cal.vini.st has a first anniversary contest going on to win one of two copies of BibleWorks 8.

By letting you know about htis contest I earn another chance at winning myself, and there aren't enough of you (my faithful readers) to decrease my chances appreciably.

Update: It appears that there are problems with the domain name of the Cal.vini.st blog. My link is correct, but you cannot access the site right now. Maybe things will be fixed soon.

Additional update: The Cal.vini.st blog is once again available.

Gangster Government

Unfortunately, the video clip speaks for itself:

My Best Thought

The following is a video of my favorite hymn, including the oft neglected third verse:



May Christ always be our "best thought".

Social Networking Explained

In one easy to understand graphic:

Where?

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.

Is there anyone who can tell me where in the US Constitution a President would find the "authority" to declare such an abomination? I have carefully read Article II, and can find no such "authority" there. I guess that if the President doesn't have to prove that he is a "natural born citizen" then anything goes.

Righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin is a reproach to any people.
- Proverbs 14:34(ESV)