AHA! Evangelical Protestants HIGHEST on Newsweek's US Citizenship Test Beating Liberal Democrats!

78% of evangelical protestants know their American history and citizenship test answers --more than any other single group!
62% of Liberal Democrats passed the test. : D

70% of conservative republicans passed compared to 62% of the liberal democrats, 61 percent of GOP moderates, 55 percent of GOP liberals --which shows they don't know why Republicanism and liberalism are incompatible.) 62% of liberal and moderate democrats passed , but just 36% of conservative democrats (which proves my point that it is not smart to be both a democrat and a conservative --shows you don't know what democrats are about--like the pro-life lady democrat calling voters to support Obama when she didn't even know how extremely pro-abortion his record is.)

62% of the general public passed. 75% of people making over $100,000 a year passed. 41% of those making less than $20,000 a year passed. Which just proves there is a general correlation between education/knowledge and the ability to make money.

And yet, the libs are always saying how stupid the religious and conservatives are! Well, I guess we have them beat when it comes to knowledge of the USA and its gov't and history --just plain citizenship!

The test was conducted by Newsweek on 1000 citizens in February, 2011. They did it like the citizenship test --whereby 10 questions are asked from 100 possible questions. They posted 25 questions in the article. A person has to answer 6 out of 10 correctly to pass the real citizenship test. Granted, some questions would be easier to answer than others, but they would surely do a random questioning --not asking for the politics of the polled
until after the questions were asked.

Some of the questions:

1.When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
2. What happened at the Constitutional Convention?
3. Who was president during WWI?
4. Who did the US fight in WWII?
5. How many voting members in the House of Reps?
6. When must all men register for Selective Service?
7. During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the US?
8. What did Susan B Anthony do?
9.What did Martin Luther King Jr. do?
10. Who is in charge of the executive branch?
11. We elect a US senator for how many years?
12. If both pres. and vice pres. can not serve, who becomes president?
13. Some constitutional powers belong to the federal gov't. Wjhat is one power of the fed govt'.
14. How many justices on supreme Court?
15. What do we call the first 10 amendments to the contsitution?
16. What is the supreme law of the land?
17. Name one U.S. territory.
18. The idea of self-gov't is in the first 3 words of the Constitution. What are these words?
19. What territory did the US buy from France in 1803?
20. How many amendments in the constitution? (Only 6% got this right.)
21. What is the name of the vice pres. now?
22. What is the name of the speaker of the House of Reps now?
What is the economic system in the US?
24. What ocean is on the West Coast of the US? (9% incorrect)
25. The federalist Papers supported the passage of the US Constitution. Name one of the writers. (12% correct)

See latest Newsweek, p. 59, for answers. I don't have time right now to include them.

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

ELMWWOOD H.S. PRESENTS PIRATES OF PENZANCE!

OPENS TONIGHT –MARCH 25, 26, 7:30 pm –and Sunday at 2:30 PM

$8 for Adults; $6 for students and Senior Citizens

The director, Christine Rohrs, is well-pleased with her cast and says it is “hilarious” in its old-fashioned way. The English bobbies (police) are played by EHS grads of various ages and they are very funny.

Where is Elmwood? Allow an hour of driving time though it isn’t quite that far. It is SE of B. G. on the Jerry City Road.

Drive carefully south on 475 to State route 6 –Go left (east) on 6 a short distance, to Huffman Rd and turn right on Huffman –which is long and follows a Black Swamp drainage ditch and jogs a bit and has rare stop signs –so don’t go too fast! –and it dead-ends on Jerry City Road.

Then left on Jerry City Road –to the 2nd school building –

(the former school-bldg.- turned-community-center , where all the cars will probably be.)

Elmwood H.S. presents the Gilbert & Sullivan Operetta

The Pirates of Penzance

or
The Slave of Duty

Libretto (lyrics) by W.S. Gilbert and Music by Arthur Sullivan

The Pirates of Penzance was written in 1879 for the Fifth Avenue Theater in New York. Gilbert and Sullivan were in New York that year because their previous comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore had been performed there in various unauthorized versions. The only legal protection against this kind of musical piracy for the librettist (music writer) and the composer was to go to the States and present an "authentic production" of "Pinafore". While there, they composed "Pirates". (Was it just a coincidence that piracy was the subject of their new project?)

Sullivan conducted the premiere on December 31, 1879.

---

The story can be hard to follow if you don’t know it ahead of time –so here it is for those who want the most enjoyment from this silly, old-fashioned, but very entertaining and

wholesome forerunner to the Broadway musical comedy.

The lead vocals are demanding in range and the lyrics sometimes tongue-twisters.

Act One

The story begins on a rocky seashore where the pirates are celebrating young Frederic's coming of age. He has completed his apprenticeship and is now about to become a full-fledged member of the crew. Frederic however shocks the pirate king and his men by announcing that he is leaving their band.

We find out that Frederic was mistakenly indentured to become a pirate when he was a child. Although he never approved of the pirates' plundering profession, he stayed with them because he was bound by his sense of duty. This same sense of duty, he tells them, now compels him to forsake them.

Frederic is about to marry his elder nanny Ruth, who has constantly accompanied him since he joined the ship, but he wants her to remain with the pirates. He has not seen another woman since he was eight years old, and he wants to compare Ruth with other women. He comes upon a group of beautiful maidens, all of them daughters of Major-General Stanley, and falls in love with the youngest, Mabel.

The pirates try to abduct the Major-General's daughters and marry them. But the Major-General begs for their release, claiming that he is an orphan, and that he would be all alone without them. The pirates, who are all orphans themselves, are sympathetic to him, and they give up their plans for marriage.

Act Two

We find out that the Major-General lied to the pirates: He is not an orphan, and he now fears the consequences of his story. Frederic meanwhile has arranged for a Sergeant and his police force to help defeat his former buccaneering comrades.

Ruth and the Pirate King inform Frederic that through an unusual circumstance, he is still bound to remain a pirate. He reluctantly surrenders to his sense of duty and agrees to join them again. Mabel begs him to stay with her, but he sadly tells her that he cannot.

Meanwhile the pirates have planned their revenge on the Major-General and are now coming to rob his estate. The Sergeant and his police force await them. They meet. All is resolved after the ensuing battle.

(All the above info was "pirated" from various google sources.)

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

My Defense of Vouchers for Education

a blogger: Vouchers also remove more money from the public schools; and if giving schools money doesn’t help. how does taking it away?

Those public schools will be smaller and that is apt to make them better, more personal, and less costly. Besides, where is the logic in continuing to subsidize failure more than we subsidize success? Highly motivated families and students will take their vouchers to better schools –those schools will grow and serve more students –including the poor.

Some think that private school students are rich and shouldn’t have vouchers. Yet, we all pay taxes and the rich more than anyone –but even the middle and poorer classes sacrifice to send kids to religious schools; they deserve vouchers so they can more easily afford the better schools.

Our country will be better off, overall, when we get gov’t out and help the successful schools serve more people –and give parental choice with vouchers.

It’s very important that gov’t keeps its nose out and doesn’t force the successful schools to change in order to accept vouchers. If religious teachings are part of their success, leave them alone. However, no school should teach kids that overthrow of Am. gov’t and violating our laws is OK (unless the law starts to undermine Christianity –telling parochial schools that they cannot receive vouchers and teach their students whose parents have chosen those schools, beliefs and all--beliefs such as Christ is the only way to Heaven–or that homosexuality, abortion and pre-marital sex are sins. Then we would have trouble with Big Brother's nose in the Christian school tent.)

My children went to a successful public school; the grandkids are home-schooled for now. It’s interesting to me how many public school grads are home-schooling –not just religiously motivated people –but others –because they don’t trust the liberal philosophy, the moral neutrality toward sexuality and transgendering, the witless teachers who would show-R-rated movies to jr. high, the questionable and downright immoral activities (like sex acts at school dances, with helpless administrators nearby, as reported to my husband by patients about a local suburban school and also featured on an Oprah program within the last year) , and the peer influence of the public school.

Inner city schools are classified as failing AND MONEY IS NOT HELPING!!! Maybe they pay better in some suburban schools as claimed here; this has not been so for our area. The failing schools in my state are not failing for lack of funding –but for lack of parenting of the students –fatherless, abusive, neglectful, addicted, religion-free, structure-less, discipline-free home life of the students being raised by TV. Too many kids who attend public school (inner city) now and then, don’t do homework, are disruptive and disrespectful, are vandals and thieves, drug users, sexually active, foul-mouthed, filled with “attitude,” and don’t get to bed at night and fail to get up in the AM because of their games, porn, and television. So when they do come, they already have quarterly F’s for truancy and tardiness –and get suspended more for disruptive behavior. Their disruption is probably to hide the fact that they are behind and ignorant. Better to act like a bored rebel than let peers see how ignorant you are.

People are fleeing such public schools –except for those families who have no choice –which includes those growing numbers of people who are multiplying on the gov’t dime –on SSI, ADC, and foodcards. And many of those needy homes ARE, nevertheless, responsible in their goals and child-rearing, and their kids deserve and would benefit from vouchers.

Of course, I think ALL kids deserve a chance at a better education–but I know some NEED boarding schools as a last resort to save them because their behaviors and attitudes destroy the learning environment for the others. Those kids could be given a chance at private schools, but as soon as they change the studious atmosphere and the moral climate of the school, they should go back to public which would be the bottom tier of options in some districts –as now –where they can’t expel but must try and educate in spite of the obstacles. But the rest of the students should not be held back from success by the miscreants in their midst.

We like the egalitarian ideal and the melding pot function of the public school –but as more and more students embrace television morals and delinquent attitudes and behaviors as the norm, responsible parents want something better for their kids –and we should subsidize the better schools so they can serve more of the poor who need to escape less motivated peers.
_________________________
In this blog discussion at another blog, I did acknowledge the problem with other schools that could demand vouchers via our Constitution's view of religious neutrality --radical Wahabi Islamic schools, schools for gay youth (as NYC attempted or has,) polygamists, the school for witchcraft and wizardry, and the KuKluxKlan --and any schools existing only for racism. Gov't's nose would rightly be in our academic tents to prevent teaching favoring the violation of our laws, including civil rights law --but Christian schools will then be given trouble for their Biblical views on sexual morals --denying our vouchers if we don't conform to PC thought that Christian view of sexuality is a hate crime.




"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Andrew Solomon's Modern Family

An example of extreme moral relativism is written about in Newsweek, Feb.7 –by Andrew Solomon. He says he partied and had adventurous sex (and bisex) for years –and then married a man who had been a sperm donor to two lesbians and thus was a father of 2 –and then he himself fathered a child with a beloved lady friend (he is bisexual) –through IVF –in order to be faithful to his husband I guess–and the lady friend has a male partner. So, he and his partner were the fathers to 3 children being raised by 3 women –and then he decided he and his partner should raise a child –so one of the lesbian moms for his partner’s 2 children was a surrogate mother for him with a donated egg. So now he has 4 children from 4 mothers counting the bio mother who donated the egg –the surrogate is mom to two of the four. See the family tree.
He admits, “I would not obscure the frictions sparked by conflicting priorities and boundaries, disparate resources, myriad parenting styles....”
The Bible tells us not to mess with the family order established by the Creator from the beginning –when God created Eve for Adam in the image of God –and when Jesus tells man to leave parents and cleave to a wife –and to not divorce. This Newsweek family didn’t consider that this TRUTH, an absolute for family life, applied to any of them and they have created a mess. Lovers of self, and pursuers of happiness outside the rules, may all be educated and well-off enough to afford it –as most people are not –and thus most people following their example would have to have Uncle Sam’s subsidies when they violate the absolute standard of one wife for one husband (until death do us part.)
The article makes a case that love is all that matters –and that he loves the children. But these kids are going to see that not all things are equal –with one daddy being close to his 2 kids and the other daddy being comparatively indifferent to the 2 he made with the lesbians. (I read that between the lines.)
I want the people involved in this mess to make the best of it –but it will be interesting to see what stability in home life these 4 children will find when they grow up. They had better be rich enough to afford what most of the world cannot –a choice to live any way the mind can dream up –and to praise their own dysfunction, thus recommending it to their offspring and their friends.


"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Moral Absolutism vs. Moral Relativism

C.S. Lewis, atheist-turned-Christian, came to faith pondering what he called “a universal sense of oughtness.” (Mere Christianity) The idea that in every situation, people tended to think, “There oughtta be a law!” They had an idea about “fairness” and appealed to some standard out there somewhere –though they didn’t necessarily agree about that standard. He noted that some cultures allowed more than one wife, but no culture said men could have any women they wanted —e.g. if they belonged to somebody else. He noted that when there is one seat left on a bus, people would disagree as to who should have it of those getting on –the first person on, the one who had been standing, the pregnant lady, the elderly lady, the crippled man –and so on. But they would all appeal to some notion of fairness about it. He came to believe this moral sense of “oughtness” was evidence of a God programming this sense into our minds. (No, programming wasn't a term when he was writing --I'm neither quoting or paraphrasing here--just repeating the gist of his point.)

Moral relativism is the idea that there is no objective standard for our views as to what is right or wrong, fair or unfair. That everything “just depends...” on the situation (situational ethics.)

The absolutist, of course, says SOME things are beyond debate –that it would always be wrong to murder an innocent. He might say it is ALWAYS wrong to hate, to not forgive, to abort, lie, steal, cheat, rape, have any sex outside of marriage, have sex with your own sex, with children, close relatives, animals –and always wrong to be arrogant and selfish at other’s expense.

Christ resolves the sin issue: “All we like sheep have gone astray; there is none righteous, no not one.”

From the beginning, we are all punished by death for our sin tendencies, preferences, and actions. “the wages of sin is death –but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

We have GRACE (unmerited favor and mercy) from God in the sin-atonement by Christ’s death.

We have direction over both our absolutist views and our relativism –in the command to love –which Christ said is the fulfillment of all the Law. But we are also told to “Go and sin no more,” and be filled with acts of charity. We still are to avoid the sins of commission and omission by following King Jesus.

I confess to being both absolutist and relativistic. Meaning? Take abortion. I think it’s ok for a rape victim to go straight to the hospital and flush out the foreign invasion –before conception is known for sure to have occurred –it could have happened –it could happen a few hours or days after the rape or not at all –at that point, we don’t know. But in no way is the rape God’s will. (I’m not a Calvinist and thus less absolutist than they.) ON the other hand, if there is a conception, and the baby is born, it could be a wonderful person and a blessing to its mother. I do believe God operates in concert with our free will –guiding us, helping us to decide rightly, and ready to forgive when we err and are contrite about it. I don’t believe all things in the future are set in stone –there are Old Testament verses which confirm this dynamic relationship between God and man –where man is not a pawn of fate, but in relationship with free will with God.

Other examples of relativism are lies to protect someone from evil –to hide Jews in your attic as Corrie ten Boom did –and lie about it if asked. Not that she lied ( I don't think she was asked); I would have lied in such a circumstance if it would have prevented the death of my attic-dwellers. I think God would have forgiven that lie without me being terribly remorseful.

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Iranian Girl Speaks Truth to Power!!!

FROM SAT 7 TV --

Niki (not her real name) is an important partner in SAT-7 PARS’ ministry to the
people of Iran. Years before this strategic channel went on the air, Niki was
severely persecuted. The oppression came to a head when she telephoned her
non-Christian sister: “I’m exhausted. I’m tired of running. I want to come
home.” “Niki, you can’t come home. The secret police were just here and
delivered a letter. They said you had to turn yourself in. If you don’t, they
will find you and kill you.” At the time, pressures on churches to disband and
recant their faith were pervasive and unrelenting. Niki was part of a minority
of young followers of Jesus and was helping to lead a small growing church,
which was eventually closed down.

Several of its leaders were arrested and imprisoned. The church then moved underground and became a house church—a secret fellowship of young, new believers. “All of us had been rejected by our families. We had nowhere to go, and no one to turn to except one another. We had no pastors or teachers to instruct us how to read the Bible, or how to be a
follower of Jesus. There were not enough Bibles for everyone. There was no SAT-7
PARS then. Several of us came to faith when Jesus appeared to us in a dream.”
With few options left, Niki went to the officials who were seeking her. When she
entered the office, she knew the risks…their reputation. “Passing through those
doors, I knew I might never get out alive.” Then, as if from the pages of a spy
novel, they bound and blindfolded her and began to threaten her: “You know who
we are? Do you know what we can do to you? Whatever we like! If you disappear,
no one will know.” Inexplicably, Niki began to laugh loudly. Befuddled, her
interrogators demanded to know why. She said, “Then you don’t know who I am. I
have nothing to lose. The only thing I have—Jesus—you cannot take from me. Your
threats won’t work on me!” For eight hours they continued. Finally, her captors
demanded, “Do you also believe Jesus is the Son of God?” Niki boldly answered,
“You can also be a child of God.” They shouted back, “What do you mean?” Then,
without any formal training, she testified to the three interrogators about
Jesus’ divinity. Eventually, they fell silent. Niki was leading the
conversation! All the while, she remembers having the sense that the Holy Spirit
was in her every word. Her memory was so sharp in remembering and sharing
everything she had read and come to understand about Jesus. There was no fear in
her heart—she was actually enjoying the conversation. “…they will lay their
hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and
prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. It will
lead to an opportunity for your testimony…” (Luke 21:12b-13 NASB). At last, the
interrogation was over. The Judge told Niki, “It seems you have found a faith
right for yourself. Your testimony, all you have said, has touched my heart. You
are on solid ground. We were going to keep you for three months, but I’m going
to release you tonight because of what you’ve said. Stay in your faith, for no
one here can answer your questions and you have already said that you have
nothing to lose. Keep what you have found.” Obviously, God had big plans for
Niki. Today, she is a significant influence behind the SAT-7 PARS ministry in
Iran. Many house-church leaders in Iran have no training, no theological books
and no Bible. For most, the only source of truth and power is the authority of
the Word of God, broadcast over SAT-7 PARS. Niki’s leadership and sensitivity to
the needs of those isolated believers and her passion to proclaim the Gospel in
a winsome manner are among the many reasons why SAT-7 PARS is one of the most watched satellite channels in Iran. Niki’s story is a powerful testimony to the
ministry of SAT-7 PARS and to its influence on the thousands in Iran who have
become followers of Jesus. You can help increase the reach of that influence
today by www.sat7usa.org.

Date: 1/4/2011

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

American Humanists Attack Scriptures in Media Ads --Role of Women in Scripture Challenged

According to a letter from Answers in Genesis to their supporters:

The American Humanist Association sent our a press release stating:

HUMANISTS LAUNCH LARGEST NATIONAL ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN CRITICAL OF RELIGIOUS SCRIPTURES:

A national multimedia ad campaign --the largest, most extensive ever by a
godless [their words] organization--launches today and will include a spot on
NBC Dateline...as well as other tv ads, that directly challenge biblical
morality and fundamentalist Christianity. The campaign, sponsored by the
AHA, also features ads in major ....newspapers and magazines demonstrating that
secular humanist values are consistent with mainstream America and that
fundamentalist religion has no right to claim the moral high ground.

....ads ask the audience to "consider Humanism." One example is the following pairing:

The Bible: "A woman should learn in quietness and full
submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a
man; she must be silent." I Timothy 2 (NIV)

Humanism: "The rights of men and women should be equal and
sacred--marriage should be a perfect partnership." Robert G. Ingersoll, in
a letter dated April 13, 1878.

AIG notes that context is important in scriptural interp and application. They go on to say that this admonition concerned the separate roles for men and women --that they are equal but have different roles in the church.

I would say that you also have to consider all the other teachings on women in the Bible, examples in scripture --and note that in this letter to Timothy, Paul says, "I" do not allow women to teach in the church and he gives his rationale. He doesn't exactly state that he is speaking for God here, does he?

There is much Biblical rationale to allow women full responsibility in the church today. In fact, fundamentalist Christianity has evolved the role of women more than any other group in all the world --as they were the first to have women preachers --because of the scripture by Paul that says that the Holy Spirit will be poured out on both men and women --and that women will prophesy or tell forth the Word, (same as men, evidently.) Of course, Deborah is an Old Testament example of a woman in a man's role as a judge and military advisor/leader. There is no biblical condemnation of her in these roles.

Jesus allowed Mary to learn at his feet along side the men --which was culturally atypical, we believe --at least when Mary's sister thought she should be in the kitchen instead. Jesus spoke to a woman at the well --an immoral woman --and went to her home to teach her family and friends. He refused to condone stoning the adulteress --after all, where was the adulterer? If the men who wanted to stone her were not without sin, they had no right to stone her, He said.

My pastor once pointed out that the subjugation of woman was part of the curse after the Fall --and notes that Christianity is about resisting and lifting ALL the curses: death, disease, pestilence, pain in childbirth--and subjugation of women.

Paul says slave, free, Jew, Gentile, male, female --all are equal in Christ. The implications are clear, even for the Church --though some churches and Christian men do get adamant about keeping women in their state of subjugation.

I'm glad my denomination is not about the subjugation of women. We had a split over the issue in my local body. The people are sincere in thinking that Timothy's letter from Paul mandates that the church today must subjugate women in roles in church in order to be a Biblical church. I suspect AIG thinks this, too.

We who disagree note that there ARE other issues in scripture where Christian churches have latitude. E.G.: the wearing of jewelry and hats.

A real liberal wants us to let homosexual conduct go, too, along with the subjugation of women. But that's a different matter entirely --and cannot be justifed Biblically, since we were created to be male or female in the image of God for His purposes. Anal and oral sex with our own sex just don't qualify as good and natural, healthy, normal --or Christian or Biblical --by any stretch of interp.



"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Random Notes on the Current Scene

Jay Leno has lost my admiration for razzing the Answers in Genesis folks about their Noah's Ark project and their lack of belief in macro-evolution. He speaks ignorantly on the topic --not as one who really has any clue as to what those in opposition to evolution dogma say.

As always, it's seen as very hip and cool for comedians to blast Bible-believers --and our tv-loving youth eat it up and buy into liberal skepticism for the Word --and liberal respect for homosexuality and evolution theory.

Today's young adults shack up and when asked why they haven't married, they say, "We're waiting until we can do it right." Which means --a big wedding with a feast that will cost the price of a nice down-payment on a home. "Doing it right" is doing it wrong in so many ways and I don't think it's producing more life-long marriages. They used to say the stats indicate that people who live together first are more apt to divorce after they do marry.




"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Prison Fellowship's Chuck Colson Tells a Story

Chuck Colson wrote the following for a fund-raising letter --for Prison
Fellowship:

"I met a man at a Midwest church who had been locked up in one of the
meanest prisons in America. he'd been lost--that is, until he received an
Angel Tree application. Skeptical, he filled it out. But he
wondered, "Is this for real?" So imagine this joy when his children
received gifts! [As though from their father.] His eyes filled with tears, and he was changed forever."

Then Chuck goes on to say this same man is now mentoring 50 other ex-offenders.

"When people see hardened convicts turning gentle as lambs and taking good
back into the stinking holes from which they've come, the reality of the
Gospel cannot be denied. The invisible kingdom is being made
visible in our midst."

They need year-end donations --address at their website.

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Applause for Church Music? " Agnus Dei "--Mixed Response

At our first performance there was no applause --not even at the end --until the Pastor gave permission. So at the second performance, we had applause after every song --even when it would have been best not to.

So what's an audience to do??

Here's my rule of thumb: If kids perform a number with their little hands raised, it's cute, you're charmed and amused so clap. You feel like it, so do it!!! If angels dance and end their routine with upraised arms and a big finale of voice and orchestra, CLAP! If it's a triumphant finale, CLAP!

But when it's very quiet and worshipful --and awe-inspiring in a quiet way, and clearly transitioning on to another song, don't.

There were places in Michael W. Smith's Agnus Dei that clearly called for applause --and places where it did not. The audience wasn't sure what to do, so did nothing the first night and felt instructed to clap for everything on the second.

Well, it's no biggy in the world's dilemmas --to clap or not to clap.

Just don't clap in church because you think the performers need it --they don't. Clap when it's a big build-up, high-note, loud, triumphant grand finale-type ending! It CALLS for applause as a response. If it's quiet and reverent --and the theme is worship --and you feel moved inwardly, quietly --maybe applause isn't the response. Whatever, DON'T applaud just because you think performers want it or need it --but if it seems awkward to not applaud --like at the end of a program with a big high-note fortissimo ending --CLAP --even in church!

Videoworks did a professional taping for our church cantata on Sunday night--it is absolutely a beautiful video --and we singers will enjoy seeing how everything looked to the audience--much better than from the platform. And how things sounded for just an ordinary church choir in a small church. It was beautiful --the overhead pics very effective.

We fulfilled Rick Warren's 5 purposes in doing this musical: We showed our love for God and His Son and what He did for us in conquoring the grave. We worshipped. 2. We shared a holiday treat/inspirational event with other Christians --loving the Body of Christ. 3. We were called upon to imitate Christ in sacrificing (just time) and forgiving each other (the irritations of getting along in every group, even the church) --and the 5th purpose: Evangelism: the Mission of passing forward the Gospel of Christ's coming --The Story of the Savior's birth --and the angels, shepherds and wisemen --and the angel's visit to Joseph. We filled the 4th purpose of our lives if any poor and unsaved came to the concert --such that we could be seen as "serving the world." We took an offering for our church boarding school in Kentucky, which often serves needy students.

What fine acting by those who played Peter, Luke, Isaiah, and Matthew. The children were adorable. The soloists were excellent, the Nativity represented the ancient story again --teaching the children --making our Christmas holiday significant and meaningful --celebrating the real meaning of Christmas. Sue Conklin once again decorated church and people beautifully, professionally. Stephanie Hulbert and Christine Rohrs were sticklers in the directing, getting us to sing "properly" and with fine dynamic contrast --something we haven't always been good at in years past. Brent Simmons did a great job controlling sound balance.










"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Christmas Events at the Holland, Ohio, Free Methodist Church

Michael W. Smith’s

AGNUS DEI

Lamb of God ~Born to Us

December 17 and 19, 7PM

Presented by

The Holland Free Methodist Church

6605 Angola Road, Holland, Ohio

East of McCord ~North of Spring Meadows Mall

All Ages will enjoy this worshipful, multi-media concert of beautiful Christmas music, including songs by Michael W. Smith and traditional carols. Adult and children's choirs, soloists and dramatists portraying Biblical characters narrating the Christmas story, angel dancers with shepherds, the children's choir in a middle-eastern caravan with the Wise Men --elegant costuming, video art …all will tell the age-old story of Mary's little lamb who became

the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Approximately 1 hour ~ Admission Free ~ Refreshments ~ Nursery

Candlelight Christmas Eve Service

Friday, 6pm

Watoto Children’s Choir from

Africa Jan. 2, Sunday, 7pm

Sunday Worship 10:40 AM, S.S.

All Ages 9:30 AM

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Media Ignores the Bloopers from the Other Side

This is from the Indiana AFA (am. Family Ass'n):

“Please Play the Blooper Reel, Mr. Producer!

”Here are two “oops” moments that
you may not hear much about in the mainstream media, unless, of course, Former
Governor Sarah Palin had said the same things. Then it would be all over the
news shows and fodder for all the late night hosts.

Blooper #1 – Forty-two
members of Congress have signed on to a letter to President Obama expressing
their concern over a statement he made in Indonesia last month. While speaking
to students, the President said that the United States and Indonesia share a
similar history (don’t ask what that means, just keep reading). "It is a story
written into our national mottos. In the United States, our motto is 'E Pluribus
Unum' -- out of many, one," the President claimed. At the time, some TV
stations aired this clip without any comment.The President must have forgotten
that the E Pluribus phrase is not our national motto. Our national motto, as
over a million Hoosier motorists with motto license plates know, is “In God We
Trust.” It has been the unofficial motto since appearing on our money before the
Civil War, and the official national motto adopted by Congress in 1956, five
years before the President was born . . . wherever that might have been.

Blooper # 2 – On Sunday, ABC’s This Week aired a clip of Indiana Senator Evan Bayh speaking about the repeal of what has been called the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”
policy on homosexuality in the military. The clip showed Senator Bayh implying
that homosexuality has never been a big deal within the US military saying in a
Senate hearing, “In all likelihood, there were gay Americans serving at Valley
Forge.”

Actually, in all likelihood there were not, Senator. As I have repeatedly mentioned, homosexuality has been expressly forbidden in the US military since our nation’s founding. General George Washington personally presided over the public humiliation and removal of a soldier who attempted to sodomize another soldier in the Continental Army. Washington made a big deal of the incident, which he called “abhorrent” in his March 14th, 1778, general orders. He issued those orders requiring all available troops to gather to witness the dismissal and drumming out of service of the homosexual soldier as an example and a clear statement that debunks Senator Bayh’s statement.

Accuracy in Media noted that ABC’s This Week reporter John Donavan actually confirmed
this incident later in the Sunday show making it the first time they have found
any report in the mainstream media informing the public that homosexuality has
always been against military policy . . . even among the founders who secured
our freedoms and liberties.

From Micah Clark of AFA Indiana

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Election Spending Good for Economy

When people rail against campaign spending, they should, instead, consider who benefits --all the people in these industries: transportation, media (reporters on the road), signs, paper, printing, restaurants, hotels, food in general, post office, fashion (for the candidates --like Sarah's expensive wardrobe), luggage, phone services.

Campaigns turn money back into the economy.

We rail against their high cost like we do against lavish Christmas and other holiday spending --but it's all money back into the peoples' pockets, isn't it?

We rail against the spending of the rich, in general, their self-serving extravagances --but even those enrich others as they buy their luxuries and hire services. Giving away our money is good --best --but so is spending! But not to the point of debt. That is foolishness.






"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

God is So Good --Nevertheless!

Something I wrote at another blog which will be moderated out --where the liberal muck-raker was saying Christians --the real believing Christians whom he calls "fundamentalists"--don't know the stories of the OT with all the violence, immorality, etc. or they couldn't believe in such a God:

You just don’t know the Religious Right, Mudrake, when you say they don’t know the OT. Yes, they do. MANY of them read it through annually. They have S.S. classes covering the OT and its difficult stories as well as the more positive ones.

The thing to remember is that our God allowed death. He allows hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, volcanos, earthquakes, cancer, birth defects, and man’s inhumanity to man. He allowed His son to die on a cross. His word says there is a Hell –either a place of eternal death and/or torment. I’m hoping it’s just a metaphor to deter us from choosing the path to eternal death when God has offered us a glorious future if we simply repent of sin and believe in a risen Christ as our personal Lord and Savior.

Shake your puny fist at Heaven and Bible-believers for what YOU are sure is right –which is that we Bible-believers are all wrong. You need to consider that maybe we’re not. My hope is that God’s Word is Truth, that Jesus saves, that there is an eternal happy life for believers. It bugs you that we are ‘sure” of what we believe –but that’s what FAITH is –and “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.”

Dr. Paul Walberg spoke at our church this A.M. as our minister is on a mission trip in Costa Rica with Rob and 8 others from our church –and a contractor from Fla. Paul’s text was the temptation of Adam and Eve –and how Satan starts out persuading Eve to question and doubt what God had said –and how doubting led to disobedience through sensuality –the lust of the forbidden fruit. In your case, your doubt has led you to be consumed with hatred –like your father was.

It’s going to be hatred by people like you that brings our nation down–not what you see in the believers. Yes, many on the Right backed Bush in his pursuit of the terrorists and attempt to forcibly civilize the middle-east with our intrusion there. I don't believe we would have been better off to do otherwise. Some Christians did NOT support the war in the Middle East. Some are conscientious objectors to all wars. Because that would seem consistent with “Turn the other cheek.” So these are things that believers grapple with –and about which they form separate churches sometimes.

There is the pacifistic theme in the NT –but also the justice theme to consider. We don’t let a bully terrorize his neighborhood –we believe we need to restrain evil in the world by force. And that’s why we went to Iraq. And because they wanted us there earlier to rid them of Saddam.

I do wonder what all those soldiers would be doing to make a living if they were not in the military. I’m not saying that justifies war –just that you can have different problems if you reduce military–including a greater threat of terrorism.

For many in the middle-east, realistic knowledge of the West was lacking–few tv’s, e.g. One thing our military does is make friends and take western values and Christianity wherever they go. I believe Japan and W. Germany are both better off for the years we spent there —also So. Korea. And we remain as the country to which so many others want to come. Our majority Christian faith has more to do with the positive aspects of our national personality and character than you will ever admit.

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

GLOOM -- yet God Inhabits the Praise of His People

I've been going pretty much cold turkey to quit the Lyrica, the Morphine, and the codeine (percocets and tyl. #3's) I was chuffing down before surgery. I don't need the pain meds now --though it's just been a week since the back surgery. I've been very emotionally vulnerable --can't explain depression--it just can come after events like this --and when you're getting off drugs, I'm sure. I feel the pain and misery of the whole grey world --and can't get motivated to do all I was going to do with Rob gone to Costa Rica on a mission trip and my mother at my brother's home this week. Jon gave me 1/2 Celexa tab, anti-depressant -- but I hope to do without it and not get addicted, but I'll take again if I really feel bad.

About food, I don't feel hunger --but I feel like I'm going to be ill if I don't eat --like I'm queasy. I feel like I have a bit of a bug --a gastrointestinal bug. And a young friend in the church to whom I've been giving rides and taking out to eat occasionally, has been so afflicted with similar symptoms. She's pregnant. I've wondered if my problems aren't hormonal as hers may be.

I've had longer periods of uninterrupted sleep --and slept til 10 this am which may sound lazy to you, but was good for me. I was feeling emotionally vulnerable when I got up, while pushing myself to put one foot ahead of the other, brushing teeth, sponge-bathing, etc --can't shower unless I have my husband home to change my band-aid on my back. It's interesting how clean and dry the incision has been for days --since they took the drain bag out at the hospital, I've had almost no residue on the band-aid, so I seem to be healing well.

While feeling gloomy, the phone rang.

IT was Focus on the Family --thanking us for a modest donation we made. The gentleman prayed with me. It seemed like the Lord's own call!

I came downstairs and blogged briefly --and then decided to look at the pool and the plants. Yes, the pool water level was precariously low, nearly below the skimmer, which would make the pump run dry which wouldn't be good --and some plants were near death.

So I rallied to the tasks --and while in there decided to sing the doxology and other praise songs while in there where the acoustics are great. What a lift to the soul --with the sun shining on the golden leaves seen through the windows.

I tend to feel distant from the Lord in times of depression and stress --and then I was reminded that "God inhabits the praises of His people." It's a Bible verse from somewhere. He DWELLS in our praises! So if we praise Him, He is nigh~ And I was in good voice, despite the ordeal of intubation that initially affected my vocal cords.

I felt such a lift. Got my jobs done. Decided to write about it.

One thing about pain, suffering, depression --I feel empathy for the miserable of the whole world --and I feel like a spoiled American to have any complaint. And to read of the difficulties of Christians around the world --and to know how someone in another country would just have to endure a cyst on their sciatic nerve. No question about it, when I feel this weight of the world's misery, on top of my own blessed life, I would rather just slip from life peacefully in my sleep, than to go through the depressing miseries that so many live with daily. I would rather go to Heaven than endure depression, but I know I must be patient. It's not that I long to die --hardly--but I hate this feeling!

I was upbeat during the surgery time --oddly felt times of elation and joy in recent weeks despite my problem --perhaps from Lyrica, etc. I want that sense of well-being from the Holy Spirit, and I notice that He is indeed helping me.

It does take a leap of faith --especially if you aren't raised to have faith as I was --to believe that one is online with the Creator of the Universe --that He is personal --that He cares for us --just as the Bible promises. But Jesus came to assure us --and sent His Holy Spirit to comfort us in His physical absence. As Thomas, who had to see to believe, said, "Lord, help thou my unbelief!" And Jesus said how blessed the people would be who believe in Him without seeing.

So I walk by faith --and not by sight.



"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

NEW BED DISASTER!

We bought a new bed and should've given the money to missions instead. We had our old bed for 38 years --bought when I was expecting our first child, Stephanie. A good Stearns & Foster --but it was badly dipped and springs poked through that we had covered successfully with layers of memory foam which my husband loved. So you would think we'd love a Tempur-Pedic mattress and got one with the foot and head lifting mechanisms --actually 2 twins --anticipating problems when I came home from hospital and need for help sitting up in bed --or lifting legs for circulation --old person problems that might come our separate ways at separate times --so separate beds together as a king with separate controls.

Right away Jon thought it gave him a back ache --so he put on the old foam layers from the old bed --and it's ok with him now, but it looks bad with his side 6 inches higher than mine. And I'm beginning to think this springless slab of dense NASA designed memory foam is unforgiving --it's the Tempera Cloud --their newest and softest with the air chambers built in for cooler effect, they claimed --and I do feel this thing is going to feel hotter than Hades in the summer. There is no "spring" to it --like they advertise you can turn over and not bother your mate. It's like dead weight --or you feel like dead weight on it. It's initially comfortable --but now I'm having just a little lower back ache --and one might say, "duh --you had surgery there and are going off the meds!" Yeah, I hope that's what it is.

After they installed it, they gave us a book about the lift mechanisms --and there is a weight limit --and we are precariously close to it --and my husband is over it slightly. Well, he's not using the mechanism either and I am typically preferring the flat position now --as you sort of feel like your rear is slipping down with all your weight on it when your head is up.

This was the Tempura-Pedic mattress with the Ergo mechanism. The price was shocking, but -oh, I forgot --one reason for it was that my pain doc said he recommended for back problems either a very firm bed (which my husband didn't want) or the Tempur Pedic --but not the air beds (Sleep Number.) So we were following doc's suggestion.

On TV there is a 90 day trial period "before you decide to buy" --but we didn't notice that before we bought --and Banner Mattress said we could possibly return the bed system for $500 or so for the shipping.




"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

I'm Baaaaack! Said the little lamb....

I just got out of the hospital today after surgery on a synovial cyst on the sciatic nerve. I felt better immediately --missing that electric current down the leg --and the unrelieving fist of pain in the hip --especially after tortured hours of sleep at night --when the nerve was compressed by the cyst for long periods --and would get especially excruciating when I would awake and try to move. I'd use a walker to slide, weeping, yelling, moaning all the way to the "do-nut seat" --the toilet --which allowed decompression of the nerve enough after 15 minutes or more --so that I could walk back to bed fairly silently and start the compression of the nerve all over again--because no way that I lay down could avoid the compression on the nerve. Sitting upright was tolerable during the day but to decompress, sitting on the do'nut was the most relief --along with pain pills which put me in the camp with Rush Limbaugh --abusing the pills --I'd take one every 2 1/2 to 4 hours to survive (sometimes less during the day) --morphine alternating with codeine --which I had in an earlier RX. Understand, I did not use all the pills I had --and am aware of no addiction tendency. I got pain relief --and now I am still getting some post-surgery incision site pain relief --but that pain can't compare with the sciatic nerve pain of this past summer --and especially the last 6 weeks or so. I've been complaining of a hip pain for a longer amount of time --and it remains to be seen how much better at walking and standing I'm going to be without that cyst.

One draws closer to the Lord in times of pain --begging Him as I touched the hem of His garment with all confidence in His reality and His power to heal --I was disappointed when, at the height of my pain, He didn't relieve me as quickly as I would have preferred --though the pain did subside if I could get to the do-nut!

I knew of a man once, who lost His faith, because God did not heal Him of back pain at a healing service --one where the Pentecostal speaker suggested that sufficient faith WOULD result in healing. I was disappointed that my child-like faith did not effect healing of my father from colon cancer when he was 58 and I was in my early 30's --and He died.

Nevertheless, God sent to my hospital room this lovely Nurse's Assistant whose husband had just died at 40. She said, "I'd heard of you as I used to go to Dr. So and So and my parents went to your husband," and they said you were " a wonderful Christian woman --so I am glad to meet you." And then she told me her husband died of pancreatic cancer at 40 just recently --and she told of how strong her faith was through it all --and her confidence that God sees us through these sufferings --even when He doesn't heal us --that He is good all the time --that He has purposes and plans in what He does. That His mercy and Grace are sufficient through our sufferings (which the Bible also says, along side the promises of healing), that His funeral service was a time of praise to God with all her children performing or speaking --a testament to their father's Godly witness in their lives. She spoke of a church and ministers who upheld them at every step.

My minister, too, came to us before surgery --and read a comfortable passage that I will share later when I remember what it was.

I know that we all will die of something. I know that suffering is part of our mortal journey through life. I am confident that immortality where there is no more suffering, pain, or death is our destiny --because the risen Jesus said so. I have experienced the comfort of the Lord through His presence in the midst of pain--the feeling that He IS there --that I AM His child --I am a sheep who belongs to the Good Shepherd --a lamb of the Lamb. I have known the beauty and blessing of the Body of Christ who ministers to us in our times of need, pain and sorrow.

Now, I praise and thank God for American health care --for the kindness and patience of nearly every employee with whom I had contact. For my skillful surgeon, Dr. Spetka --and his neighbor at the Toledo Clinic, Dr. Travedi in pain management. It's wonderful how these people can be so patient and caring, day in and day out --and also so skilled.



"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

The Truth about Anita Hill's Accusation of Justice C. Thomas

I watched the Senate hearings on Thomas's confirmation to the Supreme Court.

A Professor Chillicothe from Oral Roberts' U. was a witness after midnight. A white-haired gentleman, he said that Thomas had helped Hill get a job teaching at ORU --was a reference for her. So she invited Thomas to speak to the student body and he came. The professor later had them both as guests at his dinner table.

He said something like this, and this is certainly a paraphrase, but I'll never forget the word "conviviality" that he used: "Such conviviality (joyful fellowship--joy of life) was evident between them. They laughed and laughed --loudly, heartily-- and enjoyed each other's company immensely and seemed to have a great friendship. When it came time for Thomas to go to the airport, Anita insisted that she drive him herself."

Now, this was AFTER the alleged harrassment as her employer.

Years later, what exactly was the nature of his harrassment according to her? Well, it was a couple of things that she knew his Christian, socially conservative, supporting base would find offensive --making him seem to be less than a perfected saint at best -- an insincere hypocrite at worst --but NOT a sexual harrasser. Supposedly there was a hair on a coke can --and he said it looked like a pubic hair --and supposedly she had visited his apartment once and found he owned inappropriate things for a Christian to own --porn video or Playboy or something of that nature.

"Sexual harrassment" in those days included making a "hostile work environment" by sexual vulgarity that would make a woman (or anyone) "uncomfortable." So his remark and possibly others like it made her feel "uncomfortable," in that way, she claimed.

Nevertheless, he helped to get her a job at ORU with a reference letter and his own high profile in gov't as support, and she used her relationship with him to get him as a speaker to the students, and afterward, enjoyed him immensely at dinner and insisted she be alone with him in a car to take him to the airport.

So Prof. Chillicothe was "shocked" to hear her accuse Clarence of something so vile as "sexual harrassment."

Another testified at the hearings that Anita wanted to marry and had marital designs on Clarence --and that he disappointed her greatly when he up and married his, incidentally white, wife. I can appreciate that she would have been keenly disappointed, after Prof. Chillicothe's description of them together socially.

She was "used" by the liberal left feminists, elevated as a public heroine, a whistle-blower on behalf of all working women who endure the rudeness of men in high places. She has nothing to gain and a lot to lose if she would admit to his wife Ginny Thomas that he never really harrassed her in any way --but was always a friend to her, in fact.

Ginny is asking her to search her Christian heart and come clean and admit to the public that she over-stated her accusation of "abuse" by sexual harrassment in the work place. But that would be an admission of guilt on her part. No wonder Anita reacted badly--she can't admit that she maligned him unfairly --every job she has gotten since has been because of her high profile history as a noble woman who came forward --achieving black woman against achieving black man.

Reports at the time from ORU students were that she was not a good teacher. I wonder what her students say today. Maybe she has improved in that regard.





"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Anita Hill's response to Clarence Thomas' Wife

From Rob


Virginia Thomas left a message on Anita Hill's answering machine stating her desire to put the issue of Hill's accusation of Thomas' husband behind them discuss the issue and consider an apology for the accusation.

Here's the message:

"I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband. So give it some thought and certainly pray about this and come to understand why you did what you did. OK, have a good day,"

How does she react? She call's Brandeis University's security department who turned it over to the FBI!

Really Miss Hill? What's the high profile judge's wife going to do to you?

Later, Anita Hill says to reporters as she is moving to class, "I need to get off this street and I don't want anybody to get hurt," she said. "I don't have any comment right now. Please, let me go teach my class."

Is this the response of a victim or of someone who's been hiding the truth?

Catholic Church Problems --Response to the ol' Mudrake

Thought I'd check on Mudrake after long absence --he has a topic about his wife's class reunion --about the 68 year old women who are still letting the Catholic Church affect their lives negatively --run their lives. My reply (because he will not publish it at his blog.)

Doesn’t sound to me like these women let the church run their lives at all! The one did not annul but got a divorce–even though annulment would have squared her with the church. Because of her mother’s beliefs concerning the status of the grandchildren. Not because she feared the church. She went ahead and divorced and re-married. The other lady, the heavy-drinking Catholic had no respect for the church clearly–and the church has no practices or beliefs to help the laity stay sober.

The Foundation for Life, e.g. is having a reception to raise money for the pro-life cause –and charging $60 a head for snacks and the open bar –no dinner. There will be a speech by a former Planned Parenthood director and I intend to attend in order to support the pro-life work of the foundation. But it’s sad that most of the $60 ticket will support the open bar which was considered a selling point in promoting the event. I said to the really sweet young lady at the FFL office, “O you Catholics!”

Catholics “lapse” in faith because the church has been headed by such extreme hypocrites –Evil –way too many pedophiles and uncelibate homosexuals and alcoholics in the priesthood. what kind of teaching can come from such a church? what disillusionment for the young with parents and priests addicted to nicotine, alcohol and perverse sex, affecting their temperament, behaviors, reputations.

Sepp, my experience of church has been wonderful. I go to a really “functional” church (Holland FMC on Angola Rd.) –with a history of “clean living” without nicotine and alcohol. All the pastors I’ve had were really godly and not hypocrites. Genuinely loving and sweet people. Right now, we only have a VERY few “body lice” in my congregation to test the saints with irritable personalities or control tendencies common in church lay leaders —(“Saint” meaning “believer.” ) Our pastor preaches the Bible to us –HE doesn’t tell us how to live; the Bible does. And so we know we are to be patient and forebearing with one another, “Kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven us.” And to be filled with the Holy Spirit and not excessive wine. To be sober all the time.

The music is uplifting and varied with traditional and contemporary music –most always aesthetically pleasing. And the minister is intelligent, insightful, educated, practical and inspiring.

Now, a final word about the Catholic Church:

They are leaders in the pro-life movement and some priests are surely godly men. The sincere and devout have FAITH in Jesus as the Savior of the world --on that we agree. And the sincere and devout also live lives such that their children receive the baton of faith from their parents. A Catholic layman brings our church baked goods for us to distribute after our Sunday service --from area merchants. I guess his church doesn't want to distribute these on Sundays? I'm not sure why we are the beneficiaries of this good work. And the devout Catholics also practice good deeds to neighbors --as the Bible teaches --as my mother's neighbors did for her, an elderly widow.

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible