Reading Rev. David Jeremiah's 2008, Best-Selling, Prophecy Book

I'm reading Dr. David Jeremiah's 2008 book on Biblical prophecy, What in the World is Going ON? --one thing it tells is how the inscription on the eastern top of the Washington Monument is "Laus Deo" --Praise be to God. I knew about that, but there is a display that allows the public to see a replica of this inscription --which the Nat'l. Park Service has recently turned toward the wall --saying that they did so to "correct a mistake."

We are fools to be revisionist historians, hiding and stripping this nation of evidence of its religious heritage --considering that from the beginning of America's founding --from Columbus's comments in his journal that he thought he was opening the world to the Gospel of salvation in Christ with his explorations, God's hand is evidenced through the faith of the founders. Yes, I know all the evil that attended our history in America --and the hypocrisy of various of them --but it wasn't just the European and western Christians who sinned in every generation since creation's fall.

American Protestant Christianity has still been the world's greatest force for good with their Biblical knowledge and application --even some hellfire and brimstone preaching converted some pretty tough old sinners into decent citizens --and the USA has been the most blessed of nations for our global generosity, Christian missions, and beacon of freedom --all influenced by people who had a biblical sense of right and wrong, and the value of every individual --and the values of both justice and mercy.

We are rightly measured and judged by our Savior Jesus Christ --and corrected in our sins. But it is never a sin to correct to say "Laus Deo." "Praise be to God!" Not even as a nation.

Or to say, as did the Jewish man Irving Berlin, "God, Bless America!" It is a prayer --and every president utters it in his speeches.

Atheists, relax. You get to disbelieve all you wish! But don't help to remake us in Europe's image--secularistic, humanistic, socialistic, childless, gay, weak in family life --and ultimately overrun with a Muslim majority and their ideas of law and freedom.




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

MERRY CHRISTMAS, BLOG FAMILY, ET AL!

Christ is Born! The Annointed One of the Creator has been sent --and has descended to be born of a Virgin Jewish girl --and because of His atonement on the cross --and His resurrection--and His power in miracles and raising the dead --and because His father loves us all enough to give us a chance at immortality AND power over sin and death --we all have the hope of resurrection to eternal life --instead of the hopelessness of mortality and the sorrow of death. We all know that we can live to please God instead of ourselves (which will be pleasure to ourselves as well) and find victory over temptations through repentance for sin --

⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9

A Merry Christmas indeed!!!

Peace on earth --good will to men-- from our heavenly Father.








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

Blade Writer Thinks Gay Issue is Minor for Lutheran Church

A Letter to the Blade:

In regard to the dispute at St. Paul’s Church over gay clergy: Though he had many major theological differences with the medieval church, Luther did not withdraw from it, but was forced out by the hierarchy.

It therefore seems strange that a Lutheran congregation would divorce itself from its parent body over one rather minor social issue.

Fred Shuman

Whitehouse

Fred and his wife both taught my children at AW Schools. Fred is a retired minister in the Evangelical Lutheran church--same as St. Paul's Lutheran in Maumee which recently voted to secede from the parent denomination.

Fred should remember that Luther was kicked out of the Catholic Church after disagreeing with it on a list of 99 issues. So what would happen if the St. Paul's congregation would refuse to receive a gay minister or perform gay marriages? The split is inevitable. And the issue is BIBLICAL, not socially minor. It is the church divider of our day.

Luther hoped to reform Catholicism instead of being excommunicated. St. Paul's Church probably knows that their denomination has been left-leaning on theological and social issues for decades. Better to secede than put up with their unbiblical stand on marriage --no small social issue.

Any church that wants to be truly Biblical cannot condone gay marriage or ordination for practicing homosexuals --same as for unrepentant, sexually active adulterers, rapists, pedophiles, incestors, fornicators, porn users.

The Bible blesses one proper arrangement for sexual intimacy--marriage between a man and wife --and warns against the rest as sins.

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

An Invitation to

Christmas ~
From Our Home to Yours!

A musical program ~
Compiled by Stephanie Rohrs Hulbert


December 18 & 20, 7:00 pm


At the Holland Free Methodist Church
6605 Angola Road ~Holland, Ohio



Sharing Traditions ~ Gretchen Bersinger, Gail Warton, Sue Conklin,
Diane Bethel, Jean Knapp, Inga Wood, Pastor Keith & Rachel Simpson

Cantata Choir, Jr. Church Singers, Andrew Winckles,
The Perez Family, the Youth Dancers, Courtney & Andrea, the Junior
Church Choir, The Rohrs Family, Bob Sutton,
Children’s Nativity, Costumes by Conklin
and Cookies by the Church Ladies ~ Nursery Provided

Share this invitation to our 35th annual
not-to-be missed holiday Christmas Praise Concert.

Also ~ Candlelight Christmas Eve Service ~ 6 pm

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

Hey, Matt? Do you really think nativity scenes are idolatrous??

You never know what you'll see at Mudrake's. (Well, actually, it is pretty predictable!) But my Christian brother Matt suggested in a comment over there --maybe with tongue in cheek --maybe not--that nativity scenes were idolatrous.

If he really thinks that, I hope he also doesn't take any photographs as they might qualify as graven images of things on the earth.

Granted, some Catholic laity around the world seem to relate to the statuary of Catholic churches as pagans do to idols --praying to them. Missing the point that God is Spirit --and He is everywhere --and we do not reach Him or praise Him through a statue. But I believe Catholic doctrine denies deifying and worshiping Mary. Maryology is a medieval development --and some say it improved the lot of women and mothers. Some say it is an adaptation of the Mother Earth/Mother/Goddess pagan worship. Whatever, Mary is a special lady who found favor with God --and did all that God asked of her.

I think the creche scenes such as we enact in our church Christmas programs are, like the Christmas carols, re-telling the "greatest story ever told." Drama was one way the medieval church told Bible stories before people had access to the Bibles --"morality plays," they called them. Re-enactments of this timeless, true tale help to make the story come alive again and again --

The Virgin Mary had a Baby Boy --
Immanuel, God with Us --
He shall save His people from their sins!
Glory to the new born king!
Joy to the world --the Lord has Come!

and finally

He rules the world --with Truth and Grace!

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

Friday a Full Moon at the Blade Letters Forum???

A lady from Archbold, Sarah Maxwell, a Democrat, complained in a Blade letter printed yesterday, that GOP Rep. Bob Latta was making a "slur" against the Democrats when he referred to "democrat party." She insists the word can only be a noun and never an adjective --and thus should be "democratic party."

But then, what of the Republicans? Should they be the Republicanic Party? Isn't the word used as both an adjective and a noun? Why shouldn't Democrat be used the same way???

In fact, the dictionary does refer to democrat as a noun and republican as both noun and adjective. Yet, the dictionary had an example using democrat as an adjective in the name of a wagon --a "democrat wagon." So the word was a modifier/adjective for wagon in that case.

I think it's the height of silliness to think that everybody knows that the Party is the Democratic Party and not the Democrat Party --considering that the GOP is the Republican Party, filled with Republicans. While Ms. Maxwell seems to have slight dictionary support for insisting that democrat is only a noun, I think she's really paranoid for her party to think Latta intends a slur when he refers to the "democrat party."

Now, my husband's Uncle George is another story! He referred to the Damocrats!

Then, silly letter no. 2: a fat person of 400 pounds declared his self-loathing and said we over-weight Americans should --in effect, "carry our own weight," and pay for our condition --that we all lack self-control (duh!) and should pay extra for ourselves. Well, I guess we DO pay extra for the food! And so far, my med chart and expense doesn't look like those of smokers --who start having CAD (coronary artery disease) in their 40's. While the gentleman, Jason Craig, made valid observations about obesity, I can't help but wonder WHY??? Does he really want us to pay more for health insurance or be taxed for our weight? Is he nuts? considering his own condition??? Would he think we should be denied health care unless we could pay more for it than most others?

Finally, Rebecca Swinney somehow knows exactly how much is owed the city in traffic fines for getting caught on camera running red lights at intersections -but she has apparently never figured out why the city isn't collecting. Fine enforcement is lax because of the much publicized concern that the cameras cause more accidents than they prevent --as people jerk to a stop when the light changes --causing rear-end collisions. WHO LIKES THOSE CAMERAS? Almost nobody but Ms. Swinney, apparently.

And finally, Bruce Whalen, native American, is offended that the IRS is treating people of native American heritage JUST THE SAME AS THEY TREAT ALL THE OTHER AMERICANS! When are the natives going to forgive the past and realize they are no more entitled to the continent by accident of birth than the rest of us who were born here? And we ALL resent the IRS! You can see what hanging on to the grudges of ancestors will do for a nation--just look all over the middle east. Americans should ALL let bygones be bygones and protect this almost "shining city on a hill," this place where the beacons of liberty and opportunity still shine for native Americans and immigrants alike --who are willing to forgive and forget and move forward.

Whooeeee! Kooky letter day at the Blade!

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

CLINTON-GORE EMBARRASSING MOMENT

Thanks again to Mike Johnson's wonderful article in the ADF magazine, Truth and Triumph

At the 1994 National Prayer Breakfast, Mother Teresa told a gathering of D.C. power-brokers:

“Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love one another but to use any violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.”

Those words brought hundreds to their feet, but not President Bill Clinton – or Mrs. Clinton, or Vice President and Mrs. Al Gore. Seats planted, faces set like stone, that quartet gazed, dazed, on the wizened old face of wisdom … and sat powerless, for a moment, in the face of the truth.

Scenes like that are why ACLU attorneys balk and rage at the prospect of public prayer. The truth is not always something most of us – including the ACLU crowd – are fond of hearing.

For the truth is, people have a right to speak, publicly, not only their vulgarities, but their beliefs. People have a right to distribute, publicly, not only atheist journals and non-religious books – but Bibles and gospel tracts, too. A community has a right to publicly celebrate its heritage – even when that history is Christian.

I thought I had heard that a similar event took place at a Catholic Youth Conference in Colo. when Gores and Clintons remained seated, embarrassed looking, when both the Pope and Mother Theresa made pro-life statements and the crowd wildly cheered. I know similar embarrassments occur when democrat politicians attend Catholic funerals where priests make pro-life statements.

This is truly an example of speaking truth to power, as ADF points out. May we never stop doing it! May we always keep our FREEDOMS to do it!!! and not go to jail or die for our convictions in the USA --as is happening elsewhere.

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

MY CHOICE FOR QUOTE OF THE YEAR-- ON ACLU: MIKE JOHNSON, ADF

Alliance Defense Fund's Senior Legal Counsel, Mike Johnson wrote:

There’s an incredible double-standard at play with the ACLU and its allies, who’ve always been more worried about praying children than preying pornographers; more concerned about committed Christians than committed terrorists. Their record and their relentless agenda defy logic and betray the best of our traditions. They are a threat because they are so subversive.

He goes on to say:

In recent years, the Leftists have made it their goal to eliminate prayer at public gatherings, concentrating much of their legal intimidation on hometown governments, hoping to bully them into surrendering a practice that dates back to our Founding Fathers. (The Alliance Defense Fund is meeting – and defeating – the secularists on each of these battlefields, by God’s grace.)

Yet, somehow – for all the ACLU’s aggressive legal efforts to eliminate invocations at city council meetings and graduation exercises and public events throughout the nation – prayer persists. People just keep talking to God. And some of them insist on doing it right out loud.

Leftists are especially fond of that old Quaker quote about “speaking truth to power.” It makes them feel brave – the idea of standing up to a gracious, polite society, calling for the abolition of the essential tenets of Western civilization – with no one to back them up but an omnipresent mass media, a posse of increasingly activist judges, and the glittery Hollywood Thought Police.

The irony, though, is that public prayer is the ultimate way of speaking truth to power.

Read his whole article HERE.

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

MICHAEL MEDVED ON THE LEFT VS. PUBLIC ED.

See this article HERE.

Medved has pointed out the upside down perspective in left-wing propaganda regarding First Amendment concerns today:

Part of the debate here is, which side is the aggressor? To understand what the other side is up to, it is important to recognize that THEY [emphases added by The Barb Wire] believe that WE are the aggressors, and that somehow we are trying to alter this wonderful, consitutional, God-free and religion-free paradise by introducing the serpent of religious messages into public education.

They don't realize that there is nothing that even the most conservative religious believers want for our public schoools or for the public square generally that would not have been normal in Eisenhower's America. Nobody wants to establish an official religion or impose faith on anybody. Unless you believe that we lived under a theocracy under FDR or Eisenhower, these charges about the theocratic leanings of religious believers are clearly bogus and deeply misleading. Truth & Triumph, Vol II, Issue 4, p. 14.

WHO IS RADICAL, ANYWAY???

Michael's view is similar to my observation that the Christians have not been the radical change-agents here, as the Left would have us believe. E.G., the LEFT implies the traditional definition of marriage, the practice of public prayers by public agencies, the posting of The Ten Commandments, the free expression of religion in courts, congress, and schools, are all NEW and a NEW THREAT to American freedom --and yes, unconstitutional.

In fact, it is RADICAL to deny Americans the traditional right to pray and express faith most anywhere and most any time they wish (granted, there are places and times when free expression might be inappropriate or impolite and we won't all agree about that.) It is radical to make Americans afraid for their religious expression and belief --and radical to scare everybody with threat of lawsuits for religious free expression --and radical to redefine marriage and family to mean any creatures sharing a bed and a house.

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

Eastern Michigan U Denies Degree for Values Viewpoint

Julea Ward is a very together and very attractive, accomplished A student (African-American, incidentally) with two master's degrees, a teacher who decided she'd like to be a school counselor. The problem? She was assigned in her practicum to counsel a gay student wanting counsel re: a gay relationship --and she does not believe in such relationships because of her Christian beliefs. Though she had a 3.91 GPA there, her professors stated they would weed from the program students who would not embrace the school position of affirming clients in homosexual relationships.

She asked her advisor if she should disclose her Christian faith on the "informed consent" paper given to the potential clients for counseling during the practicum. The advisor said not. But she explained her beliefs --and knew them to be a "values-based conflict," with gay clients. Such conflicts are allowed as a reason for assigning a client to a different counselor. She wasn't refusing to counsel homosexuals; but she knew she was not to establish rapport with a client with whom she was going to have a values clash, but instead, refer them to someone else.

But Julea's advisor said she would undergo an "informal review" for her refusal to approve homosexuality. Her professors concluded that Julea was "in violation of EMU's code of ethics." She was to either 1. change her belief system through a remediation program --or 2. withdraw voluntarily from the program --or 3. request a formal review hearing. In option 3, which she chose, in which she was allowed no outsiders or legal representation, the panel decided to dismiss her from the program.

THIS MONTH, The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) will defend Julea who has sued the school for reinstatement in the program. Read about her case HERE.

Obviously, EMU has a problem with religion-based values and the definition of marriage. As do most of our state universities. We shall see more and more that Bible-believing college and grad students are discriminated against for not affirming homosexual acts and relationships, unless we help our ADF and ACLJ attorneys do this very important work of defending students like Julea.

We recall a similar case of an African-American woman administrator in human resources at U.T. Does anyone recall her name or how her case resolved??

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

READ NEWSWEEK, Dec. 7, 2009, RE: OBAMA, ABORTION, ENTITLEMENTS, ECONOMIC COLLAPSE OF USA

Newsweek,12/7/2009, titled HOW GREAT POWERS FALL announces on the cover: Steep debt, slow growth, and high spending kill empires--and America could be next --by Niall Ferguson.

This issue also has a pro-choice writer telling that Democrats are mad at Obama for not insisting that gov't fund abortions. But, in fact, his Blue Dog democrats dare NOT vote for gov't-funded abortions; the abortion liberals do not have a majority in the nation's polls or in the Senate. They managed to put gov't-funding of abortion in the House version of the health reform bill--but it ain't gonna happen in the Senate! Hurrah for common sense and decency! and LIFE!

Reality of opposition has come to this president --as it did to Bush. You cannot get the majority to go your way--and still get re-elected --on some of these hard core controversies.

Here's another Newsweek tidbit: THE WAR ON TERROR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR FINANCIAL MESS --AMOUNTING TO 1.8 PERCENT OF GDP. THE DEFICIT IN 2009 IS ABOUT 11.2 PERCENT OF GDP ACCORDING TO THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE --GREATER THAN ANY IN THE PAST 60 YEARS. And the war is only a fraction of it. It is nowhere near the cost of a world war, according to Laurence A. Tischy, prof of history at Harvard and the author of The Ascent of Money.

Prof Tischy says, in effect, "It's the Entitlements, Stupid!"

Consider that 40 per cent of adult Americans do not pay any taxes (tv source --don't recall who) --and many of these get the earned income tax credit --a gift from the gov't for working, so that working will be more profitable to them than sitting on the public dole. So only 60 percent are paying INTO the gov't, and the rest are all taking FROM. The 40% of non-contributors grows because we aren't making babies!! and we are aging!

And the Dumb Donkey Democrats want to add national healthcare to this scenario and tax higher the job generators making 250,000 and above. Nevermind that there aren't enough people in this income bracket to pay for all those entitlements to people who are not paying much, if anything, into the system. Nevermind that high taxes on the "haves" eliminates jobs and hurts small businesses especially --who provide most of the jobs (with the exception of Gov't bureaucracy --whose only money comes from the tax-payers because gov't MAKES nothing.)

HIGHEST STUPIDITY! DEMS WANT GOV'T TO PAY FOR ABORTIONS AND REQUIRE ALL HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS WITH GOV'T-SUBSIDIZED PATIENTS TO PARTICIPATE. Besides being morally indefensible, WE NEED CHILDREN!!!! We need good parents, also, to raise responsible, educated, moral, working citizens. Otherwise, the kids we do make end up on the dole and there is no income to tax for the entitlement programs.

Everybody will have to tighten their belts --including the seniors --of which I am technically one, though not yet gov't-dependent --in order to get us out of this mess.

And we are at the state where NOBODY VOTES LESS FREEBIES AND LESS MONEY FOR THEMSELVES. EVERYBODY WANTS TO KEEP ALL THEIR SO-CALLED ENTITLEMENTS --AND OBAMA AND THE DEMS ANNUALLY PROMISE THEM MORE!!! THEY GET ELECTED ON WHAT THEY CANNOT DELIVER! BECAUSE THE GOV'T MONEY COMES FROM THE WORKERS AND JOB GENERATORS --WHICH WE ARE MAKING FEWER OF.

You can't get blood from a turnip --which the nation has become!

What a mess!!!

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

CHRISTIANS AND CULTURE WARRIORS SHOULD SUPPORT DISNEY'S "A CHRISTMAS CAROL"

Disney's A Christmas Carol is a delightful remake of the classic tale. Christians should support such efforts by secular film makers. What I liked: the use of Christmas carols throughout and one juxtaposed with a cross on a steeple ( I think it was on a steeple) --there were several in the graveyard scene, of course.

You see many holiday movies that use the melodies and occasional phrases from Christmas carols --but this Christmas Carol has LOTS of carols about Christ, the newborn KING.

I might like some of the other versions better--Scrooge, the Albert Finney musical, Kelsey Grammer's Hallmark version and of course, the George C. Scott film.

But seeing the story in 3 D is fun for all, great "special effects," and some wonderful scenes of Old England and many dizzying 3D flights over the countryside and cities in the bleak midwinter. Snowfall in 3D is lovely. This one may be the most fun for kids --who know the story and are old enough not to be frightened by the ghostly aspects and death theme. We took our grandsons, 9 and 8, who seemed to like it --at one point saying, "awesome!"

I think it was the Jim Carrey Scrooge whom I would have liked better had he seemed more like Jim Carrey! This Scrooge is a bit over- charicatured -- the characters are not as "real" --but close. Is that necessary in order to have 3 D, I wondered? This Scrooge's nose and chin nearly meet --even in his supposedly attractive YOUTH! It's hard to see the beautiful sweetheart's attraction to him!

Once again, Scrooge's joy at finding himself alive on Christmas morning, is a true "born again" experience! Having been convinced of the reality of Christmas future --if he does not change --Scrooge is transformed and as giddy as a school girl in spring on Christmas Day. He has a NEW nature! and ever after, "he keeps Christmas well!"

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

TODAY IS ADVENT SUNDAY! The fulfillment of hope was prophesied and the angel named Him!

THE MOST JOYOUS SEASON OF THE YEAR BEGINS TODAY! One might say Easter is most joyous, but it has its Good Friday sorrow. CHRISTMAS, on the other hand, is all joy--a super celebration of Christ's ADVENT --which we began celebrating today in church with beautiful music and the lighting of the advent candle.

Even the holiday decorations, the alleged "spirit of Christmas," the holly, the ivy, the candles, lights and candy canes, the red and the green, the gifts AND Santa and Christmas movies --all part of a glorious celebration that GOD HAS VISITED THE PLANET --AND CAME AS A BABY BOY! AND SO WE LIVE FOREVER! And the world rejoices --it PARTIES! It feels altruistic/generous--and the secularist doesn't even understand why it's so thoroughly enjoyable! even though he may feel it, too!

Or is it so enjoyable for everyone? Are there many for whom Christmas is a disappointment because of fractured families, alienated children and parents? domestic violence, drunkenness and poverty? Do some stand on the outside looking in wistfully, because the joy doesn't quite reach them? Or because they stopped believing?

Christmas for me was always magical --and we were not at all wealthy when I was a child. But I didn't know it. We had enough to eat, clothes enough, kept warm, and there would be at least 2 wonderful toys for each of us under the tree --and a sock full of little things: always a bottle of coke, an orange and/or apple, a Hershey bar, toothpaste, toothbrush, a pack of gum, and other little things. So it wasn't about wealth and materialism --it was about happiness--family happiness --doting Daddy, responsible Mom. Visiting Grandparents and other family members. Daddy and I would lie on the floor, with our heads under the REAL tree with its evergreen fragrance; we'd look at the lights and our faces reflected in the ornaments while the radio played Christmas music. And sing the carols.

There was always music! When my father's family gathered, Mom or I played the piano, Dad and/or I on trumpet, Mom and Uncle Bob on violins, Ron and cousin Jean singing or with Kazoo/instruments, or wax paper covered combs --(sing through them and it makes an instrumental sound with a buzz! ) and we had jingle bells and other relatives singing.

Christmas meant feasting on turkey and mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with pecans and marshmallows --and Mom's good pies. And always the lime sherbet punch (no better Christmas punch than lime sherbet with 7 up. We actually used Ginger ale, but it's not as pretty to look at with the green sherbet. With ginger ale, I call it "river bottom punch." )

One tradition we had on my father's side of the family, which my family has continued, was to sit in a circle, pass out all the gifts, and then go around the circle, taking turns opening the gifts one by one. Each person was "on stage, in the limelight" for a short time with his gift. Gifts of limburger cheese and exotic canned delicacies of dubious nature were occasions of much clowning around --these usually came from Uncle Bob (who had his PhD and supervised PhD candidates in history and philos. of ed. for secular uni's. ) This way of doing the gifts took HOURS and extended the holiday fun for all it was worth!

Later on, family caroling to anyone who would listen became a beloved activity especially for me. Fortunately, I married a man who loved to sing and could sing --with the voice of an angel! Oddly, I don't think my children love to sing just for the fun of singing --as my parents' and I did. It was entertainment for us on car rides, especially. But they are the really good singers. I hope to get them on my website one of these days!

Happy Advent Season to all of you and yours! The Holland Free Methodist Church on Angola Road in Holland, Ohio, is making beautiful music. Our cantata is Dec. 18 and 20, 7 pm and our Christmas Eve Service is 6 pm.

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

HOME ALONE --ON THANKSGIVING

Trick title. No, I wasn't home alone, but our big feast is tomorrow as the inlaws of our two married children did their gatherings today, so we had a nice ham dinner with 2 grandmas and Rob--5 of us. John and Charlotte came in tonight to stay all night so she can go shopping on this side of town tomorrow morning. (It's a shame, to me, that Southwyck Mall has been razed --flat to the ground. That area is so blighted and it used to be such a bustling beautiful place to shop! Fallen Timbers, the new mall, is out in the boondocks! in the middle of cornfields! And may it stay that way! Why does the city have to keep shifting outward!)

BACK to the topic. HOME ALONE, THE MOVIE!!

I LOVE THIS MOVIE! Except for some bad language out of the mouths of one or 2 of the kids near the beginning, this is a really good holiday film. I laugh and laugh uproariously everytime good triumphs over evil in this film where the kid gets the best of the very funny crooks. Granted, what that child does to them would not be funny in real life --but the crooks did get their just desserts! Every prank is hilarious --for comedy. And I don't think the crooks cuss either! as one would surely be tempted to do, given what happens to them!

I love that the boy hides in the manger scene at the church---and meets the lonely grandfather in the church who says church is a good place to be when you feel bad about yourself. I love that the little boy encourages the older neighbor of his to make up with his son. I love the Christmas music of the church children's choir. I love the little boy's competency --and his resolve when he announces, words to this effect: "This is my house and I'm going to defend it!"

And we laugh really hard at the polka band with John Candy telling what bad parents the other guys are --compared to the mom they are taking home from her Paris vacation --on which she forgot her child --and left him home alone --accidently, of course.

So many American values herein. Is there anyone who has not seen it?

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

Christianity Imposes More Misery than Immorality??? than any other group?? Really???

More thoughts on Gianni's claim that Christians impose the most danger and misery in the world:

From the CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/us.htm

"In 2007, the largest estimated proportion of HIV/AIDS diagnoses among adults and adolescents were men who have sex with men (MSM). This category accounted for 53% of the overall diagnoses and 71% among men diagnoses."

Obviously, The misery and danger imposed by Christianity would seem to be much smaller than the danger and misery brought into the USA by MSM --and all the results of immorality in general.

Think of the fatherless children and women in poverty --and broken hearts from immorality in general. I take a little girl and boy to CLC whose pregnant white mother was just abandoned by the black father of her 3rd baby to come soon --there is NO money resource for them --other than her Uncle Sam. Yes, the law is supposed to make men pay, but it's very difficult when men don't make much money themselves to support their 2nd rent and their other children by the other women they parented kids with.

Think of those who have become ill or died from HIV who were wives and infants and transfusion receivers via men who have sex with men or prostitutes or just other infected people. MSM is used instead of "homosexual males" because there are men who have sex with men who don't call themselves homosexual.

3 out of 4 HIV/AIDS cases were male in the U.S. in 2006. 42,655 new cases in 2007.

That's a lot of unnecessary, avoidable, preventable misery. And it's not the Christians' fault.

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

For Gianni Again --with Love

There is a discussion at www.chuckoconnor.blogspot.com/ where I usually get deleted for so-called "homophobic bigotry" --so I am responding to Gianni's comment here--Chuck is an agnostic married to a Christian dancer in Chicago --and Gianni is an atheist or agnostic from Michigan --also in the arts community. Like Mudrake, I believe Gianni is from Catholic school background.

Gianni wrote:

I could go on and on but I am far too angry to continue. Barb, small minded, bigoted people like you are dangerous and you and your ilk are responsible for far more hatred and misery on this planet than all the atheists and homosexuals in history combined.

I'm not angry nor hating you. But you are angry and hating people who believe the Bible about homosexuality springing from believing lies instead of truth --leading to illicit lusts --just like pedophilia, adultery, rape,incest, and porn --all are addictive and sinful and those involved feel that they cannot help themselves.

But many HAVE converted to Christ and found power to be set free from sexual addictions --including many homosexuals.

The path to happiness is not any sexual indulgence outside of a marital, straight commitment. It's to know God and know where we are going in Eternity because of His provision of Christ on the Cross.

God has purpose for your life and your body, your assignment as a male or female. We have free will and choices.

You and the biologists and psychologists have no evidence --only theories-- of congenital (from birth/inborn/genetic) cause for homosexuality--but in the background of every homosexual person you can see a lot of indicators that predict and contribute to gender identity confusion, abnormal orientation and unhealthy, illicit sex addictions.

Kids need help to be normal these days in our confusing and sinful culture. They need the guidance of the Bible and the Gospel of Christ --and parents who "get it" about how to help their kids be "normal" --in the good sense of the word.

It's ridiculous to blame Christianity for the misery in the world. The Christians are the happy people --with hope --and comfort in their sorrows. And the most deaths were caused by other ideologies and people living by no ideology except selfishness. Christianity was a big factor in those BEST qualities of America that make others want to live here --including our prosperity and freedom of religion, freedom in general.

The wars of modern times have been about power/competing for resources/greed/selfish interests and self-defense and defeating evil-doers like Hitler and other tyrants. Liberating the oppressed is a worthy goal for warriors --but killing people for religion and religious differences is not honorable. NOr is this wave of atheistic intolerance for people who think homosexuality is a sin like any other sexual sin --of which we have all been guilty to some degree or an other. As Jesus said, ALL have sinned --and all men have lusted and thus commited adultery in their hearts.

"There is none righteous, no not one," "But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Grace is His undeserved favor. It is free. We don't have to deserve it --but we do need to repent- as Christ said in His first public preaching.
It's our pride --and maybe our lifestyles?-- that keep us from repentance.

______________________________

All of these agnostic/atheists feel strongly that the Christian God is mostly condemning and that they were made to feel mostly the judgment and guilt, resulting in self-loathing. But the Gospel really IS GOOD NEWS for all us guilty sinners.



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

Rick Warren's Thoughts on Gratitude and Purpose

An email from my Zoroastrian pen pal, a lawyer in India:

Dearest All, Regardless of how religious you are, this is very true.

This is a great interview with Rick Warren. He wrote The Purpose Driven Life, A book I recommend for all to read.

[I, Barb, loved this book, too, more when I taught it than when I first read it. A close reading as though to relay the concepts to others shows the depth, brilliance and organization of Warren's teaching mind. He makes Christian, purpose-driven living seem within our grasp --which it is.]
_______________________________________________
You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, 'Purpose Driven Life ' author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California.

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:
People ask me, What is the purpose of life?

And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems:
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is "my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do,
II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit.. We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.

That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

In happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

A Hymn of Thanksgiving: For the Beauty of the Earth

THANK YOU, LORD!

For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.

For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon and stars of light,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above,
Pleasures pure and undefiled,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.

For each perfect gift of thine,
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of heaven,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.

For thy Church which evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.

For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind's delight;
For the mystic harmony,
Linking sense to sound and sight;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.

For the martyrs' crown of light,
For Thy prophets' eagle eye,
For Thy bold confessors' might,
For the lips of infancy.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.

For Thy Virgin's robes of snow,
For Thy maiden mother mild,
For Thyself, with hearts aglow,
Jesu, Victim undefiled.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.

For Thyself, best Gift Divine,
To the world so freely given,
For that great, great love of Thine,
Peace on earth and joy in heaven.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.

Amen.

author: Folliott S. Pierpoint, 1835–1917

Not much is known about Folliott Sandford Pierpoint, the author of this hymn. He was born in the town of Bath, England. The inspiration for this hymn text is said to have come to the young author as he was strolling about his native town one day in the late spring, entranced by the beautiful countryside with the winding Avon River in the distance.

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

Letter to Sherrod Brown on Health Care, ETC.

I wrote this today:

Senator Sherrod Brown
713 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Brown:

It is more difficult to get ahold of your office through phones than others, so we are writing. And we shall probably point out this fact in the Blade, if we can get published on the topic. Even at the top of your home page, it doesn’t say, “Contact us.” Address and phones are at the bottom. But we didn’t see an email address to make you easily accessible. We also had to get through a “gov. page” first even though we typed in Brown. We get the distinct impression that you do not want to hear from your constituents. On more than one occasion we have tried all your phones and got the same run-around. I suspect it is because you are really at odds with most of your constituents who know what’s going on and would phone.

We do not want to pay for abortions. If the Senate healthcare bill passes with abortion provisions, expect a turn-over in the senate. Surely Ohio will not re-elect you if you make people violate their consciences and provide for abortions. After all, women have choice before they get into bed. It’s one thing to allow abortion in case of rape, incest, life threat to mother, and we should push the debate there. Those of you who want to see women have abortions for any reasons can establish your own abortion “charities.” Don’t make us pay for it. James Dobson says he and his wife will go to jail or lose money before they will pay taxes for abortion. I hope many of us will have the courageous resolve to join him. But who should lose their retirement for following their consciences? We should not. What is America coming to, anyway?!! When people figure out that they will also erode their pensions with high taxes with Democrats, that should cause a sea change in the next election.

Be sure and read the Manhattan Declaration at www.manhattandeclaration.org. There was a short time when the Christians thought they should ignore politics, since they are subjects in a different kingdom, but that day is over. We are also called to be salt and light in our nation.

If you really want to reduce the cost of healthcare, have tort reform. Look for the medicare fraud and weed it out. Also, improve the economy first without saddling us with more spending programs. National defense and the military are the constitutional commitments of federal gov’t. Healthcare is something to gain through a good economy, our jobs and the insurance companies. Yes, pressure the prosperous companies to take care of people –but don’t’ kill the economy with your present agenda.

Before Rome fell, that great power was awash in idolatry, infanticide and homosexuality. We think our economic crisis is a harbinger of disaster to follow if we don’t recognize that there are higher laws than man’s and heed those laws regarding sexual mores, marriage, and respect for life. The path we are on is disastrous.

Sincerely,


Cc: Senator Voinovich; The Toledo Blade; Rev. Keith Simpson; www.thebarbwire.blogspot.com; President Obama; Marcy Kaptur

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

FROM MY EMAIL BAG --SIGN THE MANHATTAN DECLARATION

PianoPrincess sent this:

I just heard an awesome Focus on the Family radio broadcast encouraging Christians to stand for life, marriage, and freedom by signing The Manhattan Declaration.

This declaration was written by Chuck Colson (Prison Fellowship Ministries) [and former presidential advisor for Nixon who went to prison for his involvement --a wonderful Christian since --author of Born Again --about when he came to faith as an adult.]

The other authors are Robert George (Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton) and Timothy George, Professor, Beeson Divinity School, Samford 
University.

It is an amazingly well-written statement defending the sanctity of life, the dignity of marriage, and the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

This is more than another petition or "add your name at the bottom" mass email. It is a call to Christians to stand for truth on these matters which are dear to God's heart, and which are vital to our country's well-being. It is time for Christians to wake up before the freedoms we hold dear are compromised, or lost altogether.

The web site is www.manhattandeclaration.org.

Notice the signers include liberal Christians like Ron Sider and conservative ones like Jim Dobson --and a wide array of other Christian leaders, including Catholics, Calvinists, Weslyans, etc.

Also, if you want to hear the Focus radio broadcast (very challenging and culturally relevant), you can go to www.focusonthefamily.com and follow the links to broadcasts and podcasts. The title of the broadcast was "A Manifesto for Righteousness," airing on Monday, November 23.

Blessings to you all!

Piano Princess

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

EMAIL from MY CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN FRIEND ON EVOLUTION

Hi Barb,
Here is a little info on the fish with the "leg" fin you mentioned on Sunday.

I just got done watching a DVD by Dr. Kent Hovind and it was talking about that scenario! The Lobe Finned Fish is suppose to be an index fossil for Devonian that was from 325 million years ago. Funny thing is that the fish is still alive today and can be found in the Indian Ocean. The statement that the leg was evolving into a fin doesn't seem plausible since they still exist today. Not very likely that they have survived 325 million years. After the first fish like this was discovered, they should have gone back and challenged the geological column. I learned this and other neat scientific evidence that challenges Evolution on the DVDs by Kent Hovind. You can check them out at www.drdino.com All of the seminars are available to watch for free under multimedia, all media, all videos - this is from #4 Lies in the Textbooks. Very interesting DVDs. :)

Any lobe-finned bony fish of the order Crossopterygii. Members of an extinct suborder are considered to have been the ancestors of land vertebrates. Modern coelacanths (genus Latimeria) are deep-sea fishes with hollow fin spines. They are powerful, heavy-bodied predators, with highly mobile, limblike fins. They average 5 ft (1.5 m) in length and weigh about 100 lbs (45 kg). Coelacanths appeared about 350 million years ago and were thought to have become extinct 80 million years ago until one was caught in 1938 near the southern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. A second species was discovered living near Indonesia in 1998.

This gal does her research! out of her conservative Christian interest in theories of origins!

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

CALLING ALL CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIANS TO COMMENT HERE

Andthensome, the cordial agnostic/atheistic? blogger from Lancaster, CA, wrote the following:

I'll make a deal with you then, Barb, if you truly want me to stay.
If three professed conservative Christians who have never commented before indicate I should stick around, I will. Let's give it 3 days--an average of 1 a day. Does that sound reasonable?

Mudrake thinks I'll go to church to get these conservative Christian bloggers who could entice AndThenSome to stay here. Yes, I will try that.

Meanwhile, I'm going to those of you who stop in here once in awhile who have never commented --If you are CONSERVATIVE Christian, leave a comment and EXPLICITLY MENTION THAT Andthensome, the blogger, should keep commenting here. I need 3 in 3 days.

See how much we value your presence and your soul, Andthensome!

Come on, Team, CONSERVATIVE Christian commenters, COMMENT FOR THE FIRST TIME. Don't let me down!!! No one says you have to stay!

See how different this is from an atheistic blog --where they tell their philosophical opposites to GET LOST!!!

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

Patrick Henry College Core Curricula

For AndThenSome, I wondered about their majors at PHC and found this in their current catalogue on line

Classical Christian Liberal Arts Education at PHC

Despite the success of homeschoolers and classical Christian
schools, few Christian colleges have taken an active part in
this educational reform movement. Patrick Henry College
was founded specifically to serve the best and the brightest
of Christian homeschooled young people. Thus, the classical
liberal arts—with a strong Biblical foundation—is at the heart
of PHC’s educational philosophy.

PHC has a rigorous and extensive core curriculum of 63 credits
plus intermediate foreign language proficiency. The University
of Chicago, which is famed for its liberal arts core, only has
45. The National Endowment for the Humanities, in a project
designed to promote liberal education, proposed 50.

The PHC core embraces all seven of the classic liberal arts:
grammar (Research and writing; intermediate foreign language
proficiency1), courses in logic, rhetoric, mathematics, geometry,
music, and science (with biology and physics taking the place
of the ancient “astronomy”).
In addition, PHC requires two courses in the history of the
United States, and two courses in the history of the Western
World, two Western Literature courses, two courses in the
theology of the Bible, Principles of Biblical Reasoning,
philosophy, Constitutional Law, economics, and two courses in
Freedom’s Foundations.

The classical liberal arts, of course, is not just a sequence of
courses, but a conceptual framework and a methodology. The
seven liberal arts cultivate mastery of language (grammar),
analysis (logic), communication (rhetoric), aesthetics (music),
numbers (mathematics), spatial relations (geometry), and
empirics (astronomy) (Veith & Kern, 2001, pp. 11-16). Thus,
other courses in a variety of subjects can contribute to this
breadth of education.

The liberal arts stress content, the imitation of excellence, the
pursuit of knowledge that is valuable in itself, and the exercise
of the whole range of talents that God has given. The liberal
arts curriculum is broad in scope, but its parts are integrated
with each other, as students explore the connectedness of all the
disciplines.

The core curriculum embraces the whole range of the content
areas, as classified according to the “Natural Sciences” (biology,
physics, philosophy), the “Moral Sciences” (history, law, the
humanities), and the “Theological Sciences” (the Bible, theology,
and the undergirding of every course in Christian truth).

The foundational liberal arts are the Trivium of grammar,
logic, and rhetoric. These have to do with mastering language.
Grammar is about exploring the structure, rules, vocabulary,
and conventions by which language operates. Logic has to do
with using the mind to analyze and discover truth, as well as
to distinguish between truth and falsehood. Rhetoric is the art
of effective communication that persuades others, and is thus a
key to cultural influence.

1) Latin and Greek have, historically, been touchstones of classical learning and these are taught on
campus; in some programs, PHC accepts other foreign languages as meeting the core requirement.
Grammar has to do with basic knowledge; Logic with
understanding; Rhetoric with creative personal application.
The Trivium is a particularly powerful concept, in that every
subject can be said to have its grammar (the foundational facts,
rules, and information), its logic (the thinking required for
understanding), and its rhetoric (its original application). In
fact, the Trivium’s emphasis on knowledge, understanding,
and application is a direct parallel to Bloom’s Taxonomy, so
that an ancient concept of education is confirmed by modern
educational psychology. Each part of the Trivium has its
appropriate method of learning: grammar by lecture, reading,
and practice; logic by dialectic (that is, Socratic questions
and discussion); and rhetoric by student performance and
application (Joseph, 2002).

At Patrick Henry, classes tend to be heavily oriented to reading
(often of the “great books” in the field) (grammar), discussion
(logic), and student projects (rhetoric). PHC’s emphasis on
Apprenticeship (specifically, the internship program) exemplifies
the rhetorical dimension of classical education, and it also follows
the model of how classical universities prepared young people for
their professions, giving them a rigorous grounding in the liberal
arts and then sending them out to practice their craft under a
master/mentor.

The classical liberal arts core curriculum is a true core. That is,
every student in every program takes every class. There is no
electivity in the core, which means that professors in the upper
level programs can know what their students have already been
exposed to—what books they have read, what subjects they
have studied, what skills they have developed—so that learning
can build on a common foundation.

One objection to having a core curriculum consisting of 63
credits plus intermediate foreign language proficiency would
be that it would seem to necessitate fewer courses in the major
program. Actually, though, since Patrick Henry—in another
unusual feature—has a restricted number of majors and
specialties, this is not necessarily the case.

A number of the core classes tie into the Government major:
A two-semester “Freedoms Foundations” sequence, studying
issues of government by discussing classic texts on the subject;
two semesters of American history; two semesters of European
history; Economics; and Constitutional Law do advance the
government program in crucial ways. The same holds true for
the liberal arts majors, with core classes directly impacting the
programs in literature, history, and liberal arts.
The upper division courses also employ a liberal arts
methodology. For example, the various Government tracks use the specialized “great books” that have shaped each discipline.

Writing at PHC is “across the curriculum,” with requirements
and formats codified in A Handbook for Research and Writing, a
college compilation that is taught in the first Freshman writing
course and serves as a reference for all courses, including the
upper division classes.

Another element of the classical liberal arts, according to
Littlejohn and Evans (2006), is a particular “ethos,” which
they describe as “the essence or the ‘feel’ of the school as a
community of faith and learning” (p. 53).
Ethos is the inarticulate expression of what the community
values. It includes the quality of the relationships within
the school, the traditions, the professional comportment,
the approach to classroom management, the out-of-class
decorum, the aesthetic personality of the school reflected
in the student and faculty dress codes, the visual and
auditory imagery, and the physical plant itself. And ethos is
interfused with the academic culture including curriculum,
pedagogy, faculty preparation, and student learning. Ethos
is the way in which the school expresses (or doesn’t) truth,
goodness, and beauty through the experiences of every
person who enters our halls (pp. 53-54).

I found it difficult to locate a simple and basic list of majors offered, but gleaned the following: Classical Liberal Arts, CLA Music Track, History, Literature. Gov't.Dep't has these major "tracks,": Am. Politics and Policy, Int'l Politics and Policy, Political Theory, strategic Intelligence, Journalism;
They offer Russian, Latin, and Greek and numerous internships. It's really impressive and very extensive what is offered --the listing of all the courses. It looks to me like you don't major in science there, but have required science and lab courses same as any liberal arts college plus Bible and theology courses.

I'm impressed with a school that focuses on thinking, debating, rhetoric, logic, writing, general classical knowledge, for use in impacting the world, possibly at the level of the decision-makers and gov't leaders.

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

Christopher Hitchens Does Chop Job on Palin in Newsweek

Christopher Hitchens shows his bigotry against Christians, in particular, Sarah Palin, in the November 23 issue of Newsweek.

He's nitpicking from his atheistic worldview. Shame on Palin for once saying creationism should be taught in schools --and now saying both creationism and evolution should be taught in schools. Was this really contradictory on her part? Hardly, but to Hitchens it was. The two statements are absolutely compatible. I bet the Republican base would mostly agree with either statement--considering that most Americans still do not believe that evolution is proven. Science "facts" are supposed to be observeable today, and you can't see any creatures transitioning out of their family today. Besides, no one except the blind atheists can imagine something as complex and beautiful as life and this planet evolving from nothing without a living intelligence behind the process.

Patrick Henry College has the right idea: students should understand both views of origins in order to be "educated." Also, both views have their religious aspects --their presuppositions that cannot be proven by scientific method. Both require the element of faith to believe.

He accuses Sarah of "saying anything for a cheap burst of applause." I couldn't find any evidence of this in his article. He speaks of her "enraged core constituency." Of course, he means the Religious Right --as if we could lay claim to more anger than these atheists!

He said she "hears voices speaking to her of spiritual warfare."

I'll bet, ten to one, she didn't say she "hears voices." But as for spiritual warfare, it's right there in the Bible --and all the Bible believers in the US believe the following from Ephesians 6 is good advice, truth:

11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Spiritual warfare? Yes, in deed. Jesus experienced it too when Satan tried to tempt Him.

People who hate believers in God and Christ and what they believe are on the wrong side of the spiritual warfare.

Then Hitchens rants about her grandson's father and the fact that Sarah put him in the spotlight, "a fit husband for her daughter and an example to errant youth in general."

Well, what was she supposed to do? They were supposedly in love and having a baby --and the media was having a field day with her teen pregnancy. As parents do, Sarah and her husband hoped for the best, that this lemon could turn out to be lemonade. That the high school sweethearts could end up living happily ever after --as Sarah and Todd have, so far. But boyfriend's family was not as stable or ethical as Palins' --involved as his mother was in some drug problem. We don't know what happened, but Sonny Boy has been busy proving that love and respect won't work on a heel. I respect the Palins for trying --for embracing their daughter's choice, though the teen pregnancy was an embarrassment.

One wonders if Hitchens has children and if they never make mistakes --and what they would say about HIS family if his private life became public --as politicians' family life always does --at least some version of their family life! Whether it's a whitewashed snow job --or a smear --depends on who the politician is. If it's a republican, the liberal media will do what they can to discredit --as Hitchens does so lamely in this poorly reasoned report on the so-called GOP Palin Problem.

The example of the teen pregnancy was that it was OK to carry a teen pregnancy to term; a teen couple could marry and parent with family support; a young father COULD stand by his woman and be responsible --and most importantly, the babies deserve to live -whether they have Down's Syndrome or lousy fathers and mothers who made mistakes.

I don't think of Sarah as intellectual or eloquent enough to be president and her voice lacks the mellifluous quality of a politician or a con artist. But do I think she could do the job well enough? Yeah. I think she could draw good people around her and we'd be SAFER than we are with Obama --who lacks depth himself. Did I respect her for quitting the Alaska governorship? Not really. I haven't heard an explanation that really holds water for me.

But Hitchens shows his bigotry for all the people she represents in this little piece of his --people who believe in God, Christ, Bible, spiritual warfare, Satan, etc.

He cites the time Sarah's church had an African speaker who tells that his village improved once they got rid of some witches practicing witchcraft. There are practitioners of dark arts in foreign countries --and some very spooky beliefs and practices. I recommend the book "The Beautiful Side of Evil" to Mr. Hitchens.

Besides, just because your church has a certain speaker doesn't mean everyone who attends that church shares the view of everyone who steps into the pulpit - (Remember Obama's minister of 20 plus years with whom he claimed not to agree???) especially from foreign churches where the culture is different and the spiritual experiences more dramatic --even miraculous. Who are we to tell foreign people that their perspective of what God has done in their midst is erroneous? Who are we to tell a blind man that he really can't see after Jesus heals him?

Who is Christopher Hitchens to bad mouth a good Christian lady like Sarah Palin? Talk about "spiritual wickedness in high places"....

He admitted that his was a "not so humble opinion." Well, he got that right!

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

From My Email Bag --Retired Lt. col. Allen West on Ft. Hood and US Political Correctness:

Notice the emboldened paragraphs in particular:

Allen West on Fort Hood Massacre
November 7, 2009

The following is a statement released by Retired Lt. Col. Allen West:

This past Thursday 13 American Soldiers were killed and another 30 wounded at a horrific mass shooting at US Army installation, Ft Hood Texas . As I watched in horror and then anger I recalled my two years of final service in the Army as a Battalion Commander at Ft Hood, 2002-2004.

My wife and two daughters were stunned at the incident having lived on the post in family housing.

A military installation, whether it is Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, or Coast Guard, is supposed to be a safe sanctuary for our Warriors and their families. It is intended to provide a home whereby our "Band of Brothers and Sisters" can find solace and bond beyond just the foxhole but as family units.

A military installation is supposed to be a place where our Warriors train for war, to serve and protect our Nation.

On Thursday, 5 November 2009 Ft Hood became a part of the battlefield in the war against Islamic totalitarianism and state sponsored terrorism.

There may be those who feel threatened by my words and would even recommend they not be uttered. To those individuals I say step aside because now is not the time for cowardice. Our Country has become so paralyzed by political correctness that we have allowed a vile and determined enemy to breach what should be the safest place in America , an Army post.

We have become so politically correct that our media is more concerned about the stress of the shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan. The misplaced benevolence intending to portray him as a victim is despicable. The fact that there are some who have now created an entire new classification called; "pre-virtual vicarious Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)" is unconscionable.

This is not a "man caused disaster". It is what it is, an Islamic jihadist attack.

We have seen this before in 2003 when a SGT Hasan of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) threw hand grenades and opened fire into his Commanding Officer's tent in Kuwait . We have seen the foiled attempt of Albanian Muslims who sought to attack Ft Dix, NJ. Recently we saw a young convert to Islam named Carlos Bledsoe travel to Yemen, receive terrorist training, and return to gun down two US Soldiers at a Little Rock, Arkansas Army recruiting station. We thwarted another Islamic terrorist plot in North Carolina which had US Marine Corps Base, Quantico as a target.

What have we done with all these prevalent trends? Nothing.

What we see are recalcitrant leaders who are refusing to confront the issue, Islamic terrorist infiltration into America , and possibly further into our Armed Services. Instead we have a multiculturalism and diversity syndrome on steroids.

Major Hasan should have never been transferred to Ft Hood, matter of fact he should have been Chaptered from the Army. His previous statements, poor evaluation reports, and the fact that the FBI had him under investigation for jihadist website posting should have been proof positive.

However, what we have is a typical liberal approach to find a victim, not the 13 and 30 Soldiers and Civilian, but rather the poor shooter. A shooter who we are told was a great American, who loved the Army and serving his Nation and the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) stating that his actions had nothing to do with religious belief.

We know that Major Hasan deliberately planned this episode; he did give away his possessions. He stood atop a table in the confined space of the Soldier Readiness Center shouting "Allahu Akhbar", same chant as the 9-11 terrorists and those we fight against overseas in the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters of operation.

No one in leadership seems willing to sound the alarm for the American people; they are therefore complicit in any future attacks. Our Congress should suspend the insidious action to vote on a preposterous and unconstitutional healthcare bill and resolve the issue of "protecting the American people".

The recent incidents in Dearborn Michigan , Boston Massachusetts , Dallas Texas , and Chicago Illinois should bear witness to the fact that we have an Islamic terrorism issue in America . And don't have CAIR call me and try to issue a vanilla press statement; they are an illegitimate terrorist associated organization which should be disbanded.

We have Saudi Arabia funding close to 80% of the mosques in the United States , one right here in South Florida, Pompano Beach . Are we building churches and synagogues in Saudi Arabia ? Are "Kaffirs" and "Infidels" allowed travel to Mecca ?

So much for peaceful coexistence.

Saudi Arabia is sponsoring radical Imams who enter into our prisons and convert young men into a virulent Wahabbist ideology..one resulting in four individuals wanting to destroy synagogues in New York with plastic explosives. Thank God the explosives were dummy. They are sponsoring textbooks which present Islamic centric revisionist history in our schools.

We must recognize that there is an urgent need to separate the theo-political radical Islamic ideology out of our American society. We must begin to demand surveillance of suspected Imams and mosques that are spreading hate and preaching the overthrow of our Constitutional Republic..that speech is not protected under First Amendment, it is sedition and if done by an American treason. There should not be some 30 Islamic terrorist training camps in America that has nothing to do with First Amendment, Freedom of Religion. The Saudis are not our friends and any American political figure who believes such is delusional.

When tolerance becomes a one way street it certainly leads to cultural suicide. We are on that street. Liberals cannot be trusted to defend our Republic, because their sympathies obviously lie with their perceived victim, Major Nidal Malik Hasan.

I make no apologies for these words, and anyone angered by them, please, go to Ft Hood and look into the eyes of the real victims. The tragedy at Ft Hood Texas did not have to happen. Consider now the feelings of those there and on every military installation in the world. Consider the feelings of the Warriors deployed into combat zones who now are concerned that their loved ones at home are in a combat zone.

Ft Hood suffered an Islamic jihadist attack, stop the denial, and realize a simple point.

The reality of your enemy must become your own.

Steadfast and Loyal,
Lieutenant Colonel Allen B West (US Army, Ret)

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

To Gianni With Love --at Producing Joy

A very depressed agnostic or atheist wrote this about me at another blog:

"I don't agree with Barb that love is god's invention. In fact any god that wants to 'fix' or as the holy book of fairy tales actually prescribes KILL people that I love because they happen to be homosexual, well that god is the antithesis of love to me."

No one "happens to be" homosexual. And God doesn't prescribe killing them any more than the rest of us who are mortal. We all die and are under a death sentence for original sin. "The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." When Paul says homosexuals deserve death, he doesn't say there should be a death penalty other than the one that already exists for all of us. He's saying homosexuality is sin.

What we have from the God of Love is a 2nd chance to get it right and be sorry for our sins and start a new life in fellowship with Christ through the Holy Spirit of God. What we have is a chance at immortality because Christ gave His life for our salvation.

What's the alternative? the world as it is -- with all its people-imposed miseries-- and eternal non-existance at the end of life's road.

I'm taking what God has to offer! a relationship with Him. Eternal joy in His presence in Eternity. The place that Christ said He was going to prepare for those who follow Him. God's way protects people and their families from the wages of their own sinful choices in the here and now --and restores paradise in Eternity--so we need not fear death.

God's love is the best offer we'll ever get. And yes, he loves homosexuals as persons, but not what they do. I don't see how homosexuality differs from adultery or pedophilia --in being avoidable at the first thought --before action takes place and becomes addiction. But to avoid the first thoughts of sin, we must be TAUGHT what is right and what is wrong.

God gives us male or female bodies for his purposes --and for our good --and the perpetuation of life. There is no evidence to date that gender confusion starts in the womb --except for those with the extra x chromosome, hermaphadites, Klinefelter's Syndrome. And these do not typically manifest as homosexuals. They do typically identify as males and may be unaware of their abnormality.

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

For Mudrake with Love: An Answer to a Good Question

In a comment, Mudrake asked me to take some time to speak of the advantages and disadvantages of agnosticism, protestantism, and Catholicism.

Agnostics have no advantages –unless you call it advantageous to feel no accountability to a God of righteousness –so they can do whatever THEY think best. They don’t believe in Christ’s deity, nor are they sure that God exists or doesn’t exist. So they can’t have a saving faith –a big disadvantage when it comes to Judgment Day. If there is a Heaven or joyous eternal life to gain and a Hell or eternal destruction to shun –and Christ is the way of salvation from the latter, the agnostic is eternally disadvantaged. Agnostics may or may not live positive lives, but their only hope of eternal life is faith in Christ which they do not profess. The Bible says, “By faith are we saved and not of works, lest any man should boast” in his own righteousness.

Catholics and Protestants share faith in Christ as our Savior. I don’t look at their differences as advantages or disadvantages, particularly, but as issues of truth based on Scripture. I do believe the Catholic Church developed unbiblical traditions and beliefs through the centuries –like papal infallibility (nothing in the Bible supports that idea), transubstantiation of the elements of the Mass, (not an essential biblical faith doctrine), the Mass as crucifying Christ anew, again and again, for our sins. Paying for indulgences. I have friends who paid the priest to annul their first marriages so they could re-marry after divorce. Their official intolerance for divorce and re-marriage allows little grace for sinful people and accepting money for God's grace through indulgences is hard to understand. Their fight for the right to life, against abortion, however, is a good example to us all.

Re: Mass: we believe the observance of The Last Supper is to be done, as Jesus said, “in remembrance of me” –symbolizing the remission of sins. The remission was done on the Cross –and the Last Supper symbolized what Christ would endure for our sins. His blood and broken body would atone for mankind’s sins and even REDEEM His sin nature –so that man could be healed and “born again” and have the sin nature in him crucified with Christ, by FAITH –not by observing the Mass as a repeat crucifixion of Christ.

We both believe in Christian baptism –but protestants see it as an “outward sign of an inward work of grace.” We don’t believe the unbaptized will go to Hell even though they have faith in Christ—but we are baptized in obedience to scripture, as a sign to the church and the world that we are identifying with the Redeemed, the universal Christian church which includes all who believe in Him as Savior. It is also symbolic of cleansing from our sins.

My church denomination, the Free Methodist, gives parents a choice as to infant baptism (as the jailer was baptized WITH ALL HIS HOUSEHOLD at the jailer’s conversion) -- or infant dedication (as Jesus was dedicated in the Temple) --with baptism to occur at the age of accountability when the child or adult understands and chooses to follow Christ. We believe that children before the age of accountability are saved, baptized or not --and that anyone can be saved by faith alone --not by the ritual of baptism.

Protestants have criticized all the richness and pomp, ritual and fancy clothing of cardinals and pope, extravagant cathedrals in poverty-stricken nations, heavy drinking and immorality in the priesthood. We see these as extra-biblical practices in the Catholic Church. And some protestant ministers and churches are no better—also wolves in sheep’s clothing. Protestant evangelicals have been guilty of legalism (seeing it as essential to one's salvation to refrain from smoking, drinking, dancing, card playing, gambling, etc.) --but most of their legalisms had Biblical principles behind them even if they weren't essential to salvation.

I think Bible study, which the Catholics are more open to now, is an advantage in Protestantism –and the more the Catholics study also, the more we come together on what is Biblical.

Granted, Bible study results in different interpretations –but we can hardly do worse than the priesthood with their development of unbiblical doctrines and traditions which are inconsistent with ANY interpretation of scripture.

Wesley did say that tradition is important, also, to discerning the will and ways of God, but we must test it against scripture for validity. The Weslyan Quadrilateral for knowing God’s will, hearing His voice, includes scripture, tradition, reason AND experience. All used by the Holy Spirit to guide us. But Scripture is the standard to which the other 3 are subject.

Other advantages: The music of evangelical protestantism has always been inspired and varied. Catholic Church tends to revere too much the style and tradition of music in a minor key. Agnostics don't allow themselves the joy of Christian music, performing it or attending churches to hear it.

There is the advantage of Christian church community life. Church can be a family beyond your own blood relatives --which may care for us more than our relatives in some cases --especially for those who don't live near family.

The Church is a channel for charitable work in the local community that agnostics may not have as much outlet for.

Church may provide a smaller peer group for children and youth to combat the cold, impersonal, cruel world that public school is for so many.

Church helps us raise our children to be good people with consciences and happy people with hope for their eternal futures. It's sad when we use fear of the negative more than the hope of the positives in our parenting (or church teaching/preaching) style, thus turning children away from faith and church. The love of God must be primary and the love for each other --and His statutes and principles (those do's and don't's) must also be communicated as being for our good --which they are.

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

I LOVE THIS COLLEGE --PATRICK HENRY! The Place is a Testimony!

Patrick Henry is a 6 day Creationist school as described

here.

And then the Student Covenant is found here --and printed below.

I, a student of Patrick Henry College, commit to love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength; to love my neighbor as myself; and to bring glory to God in obedience to His Word through the following principles:

I will present my body as a living sacrifice to God, honoring Him in all my actions and seeking a balanced, godly life. (Romans 12:1, 6:13; Ecclesiastes 3:1)
I will guard my thoughts, striving to maintain a pure and blameless mind. (Proverbs 4:23; Philippians 4:8)
I will guard my heart, being careful not to defraud others in my relationships. (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8; Song of Solomon 8:4)
I will guard my tongue, speaking that which is wholesome and edifying. (Ephesians 4:29; Exodus 20:7)
I will regularly meet with other Christians for worship, prayer, encouragement, instruction, and spiritual accountability. (Hebrews 10:25; Acts 2:42)
I will honor and obey all divinely appointed authorities. (Ephesians 6:1-3; Romans 13:1)
I will not judge others who believe differently from me, realizing that they have freedom in Christ in matters of conscience. (Romans 14:13; Colossians 2:16-17)
I will resolve conflicts with others directly and humbly, speaking the truth in love. (Matthew 18:15-17; Ephesians 4:15-16)
I will not become enslaved by anything except the love of Christ, which is the power to set me free. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; John 8:32-36)
I will pursue knowledge and wisdom through Christ, for His glory alone. (Proverbs 2:2-5; 1 Corinthians 8:1)

Student Honor Code

We, the students of Patrick Henry College, fully aware of our daily dependence on the grace of God, commit to set ourselves apart in thought, word, and deed, to honor Jesus Christ, and to love our neighbor. We passionately aspire to live our best for the Lord by conducting ourselves in the spirit of Titus 2:11-12: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.”

Therefore, I pledge, by the grace of God, to submit to proper authorities, to be honest, to respect the property of others, and to speak edifying words. I will refrain from using any substances, such as alcohol, tobacco, and drugs, in any way prohibited by proper authority such as the government, church, family, or school. I will reserve sexual activity for marriage, shun sexually explicit material, and seek parental counsel when pursuing a romantic relationship. Finally, I will seek biblical resolution and reconciliation in my conflicts. I pledge to hold my fellow students accountable to these principles and ask that they do the same for me, in order that Jesus Christ might be honored and glorified.

The Student Honor Code was enacted by votes of the Student Senate on September 22 and November 18, 2008, and approved by votes of the entire student body on September 29 and November 23, 2008.

What's interesting, in light of this very conservative Christian and spiritual perspective, is that the campus does have on campus formal and informal dancing and tells in their page on area attractions about a dance hall where students swing dance on Saturday nights and may study other dance, such as ballroom, salsa, etc.

I wouldn't mind being educated at Patrick Henry myself! There are many very good Christian colleges with distinctive aspects. Greenville, e.g., in Illinois, is known for contemporary Christian music major (Jars of Clay attended there and Chaz Corzine, manager of Christian groups), their acapella choir --link here and on my blogroll and their physics, pre-med, education, adult ed, and environmental science programs. And Yours Truly! Then there is Wheaton [Il] called the Harvard of the Christian schools and just as hard to get into, which sends out excellent grads in many fields. A recent Speaker of the House was from W.C.--and Billy Graham. You can hear a wonderful family/teen counseling centered broadcast every noon on WPOS, 102.3FM from a school at Azusa Pacific U. Azusa, Seattle Pacific, Roberts Weslyan, Spring Arbor, Greenville and Central in McPherson, KS --are all good Christian colleges affiliated with the Free Methodist Church. Huntington University (IN) (United Brethren) has beautiful facilities (thanks in part to Merillat fortune) and excellence in theater/musical theater and philosophy and religion. IN fact, all the Christian schools are good places for philos/religion majors. Moody Bible Institute in downtown Chicago and Taylor University (IN) (in the middle of corn fields) are other good schools in the area. Last I heard, if you go to Moody, tuition is underwritten: you only pay for room and board. Cedarville (Baptist & Calvinist) and Mt. Vernon Nazarene (Arminian) colleges in Ohio deserve inclusion in the list of many wonderful smaller Christian schools. Also, Indiana Weslyan, Liberty Baptist and Regent U.

Ultra conservative/fundamentalist schools include Pensacola in Fla. and Bob Jones U.

Of course, the bastions of atheistic education are the ones we pay for with our tax money--schools which started out as Christian schools also --like Princeton. The Christian schools today are the ones where the students still write their own papers, don't get to evaluate their own profs to the extent that they hold the prof's evaluations over their heads (which must affect the ability to objectively evaluate the students) -- and don't get into binge drinking every weekend and can't fornicate in the dorms.

Which grads are better educated, I wonder?



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

PATRICK HENRY COLLEGE BEATS HARVARD!!!!

A little Christian school, choice of many home school grads, defeated Harvard this month in mock trial competition! See article.

A PHC mock trial team beat Harvard University and Boston College in an intense tournament held at Harvard University in Massachusetts the weekend of November 7-8. PHC won four ballots in their first two rounds then lost four ballots to Brown University and the University of Illinois.

The division also included teams from Elgin College, and the universities of Princeton, Massachusetts, Villanova, Wake Forest and Yale.

“When word got around that Harvard was ‘crushed’ by PHC, and the Harvard team learned this was only PHC’s second year doing mock trial, they were shocked,” Pettus said.

AND THAT'S NOT ALL!!! PATRICK HENRY WON ITS THIRD MOOT COURT NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP IN FIVE YEARS last January, 2009.

For the third time in five years, Patrick Henry College has won the American Collegiate Moot Court Association (ACMA) National Championship. Having sent a maximum-allowed roster of eight qualifying teams to Orange, CA, the College earned first, second, and third-place team trophies in a 64-team, 128-competitor field from across the country.

Heh heh. So Ivy League schools are best and their grads are the best? Maybe not!!!
So Christians are ignorant, stupid, irrational, uneducated, etc.? Maybe not!!!

For more info about Patrick Henry, go here.

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

GLOBAL WARMING PODCAST BY THE SKEPTICS TONIGHT--Nov. 17th, 7 pm CDT or 8 pm EDT

I have not studied the issue myself and I do not have any firm opinion about global warming but notice the statement below: that the hottest year and decade (on record) were the 1930's when we didn't have as many people or the same environmental aspects as today. Notice the concern for economy if we pursue vigorous green policies overnight.

It occurs to me that God could allow us to deceive ourselves over this issue as part of our national downfall because we are choosing to worship creature more than Creator (again). He could even give us an untypically warm year this year (as last year seemed untypically cold)so that we will continue in our own folly of self-deception. Yes, I know, that view of God as bringing judgments to nations in order to bring repentance is a popular theme with atheists. They don't like a God of Judgment and Justice, giving us what we deserve, so they just decide He doesn't exist at all, and reject the idea of the God of Love who sent the Christmas Gift of Redemption in Christ.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Join us to see this video about the next "religion" threatening Christianity:

Important free broadcast - Not Evil Just Wrong – Global Warming Science or Religion?

Who: Everyone, all skeptics are welcome.

Where: AFA Action Alert Video webcast and AFR radio stations nationwide.

When: Tuesday November 17, 2009 7pm CDT or 8PM EDT

Tim Wildmon and Crane Durham of AFA will be joined by Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer, the makers of the movie "Not Evil Just Wrong," along with other guests including members of Congress and business people as we discuss the Green Religion that is being scared upon us by the secular humanists. Get the facts and counter the myths. We have brought out the experts to arm you. The webcast will clearly lay out the distortions and the marketing strategy involved in this deception. See why our leaders have embraced this movement to grab total control of our lives and use population control to satisfy their reckless desire for power. There will be live blogging from the audience and phone calls as we expect the turnout to be large as this issue is critical to our families' future.

The documentary is available for purchase if you miss the webcast. We will also make the 2 hour broadcast available on DVD.

Movie Facts
Global warming alarmists want Americans to believe that humans are killing the planet. But Not Evil Just Wrong, a new documentary by Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney, proves that the only threats to America (and the rest of the world) are the flawed science and sky-is-falling rhetoric of Al Gore and his allies in environmental extremism. The film drives home the realities of that extremism. "Turn off your lights. Turn off your heat when you get cold. Turn off your air when you get hot," one man on the street says. "And then think about that."

Not Evil Just Wrong warns Americans that their jobs, modest lifestyles and dreams for their children are at stake. Industries that rely on fossil fuels will be crippled if the government imposes job-killing regulations on an economy already mired in recession. Small towns in the heartland, like Vevay, Ind., will become bastions of unemployment and poverty. Breadwinners like Tim McElhany in Vevay will lose their jobs -- and will have to start borrowing money again just to buy bread for their families.

The damage that would be wrought is unjustified by the science. Not Evil Just Wrong exposes the deceptions that experts, politicians, educators and the media have been force-feeding the public for years. Man-made pollution is not melting the polar icecaps. The ocean will not rise 20 feet in a flash. And the only polar bears dying because of man are the ones who try to eat men.

McAleer and McElhinney debunk what, for a time, was the environmental movement's most powerful weapon of disinformation, the infamous "hockey stick" graph that attributed a supposedly unique burst of warming in the 20th century to humans. They also shatter the myth that the hottest years in the United States were 1998 and 2006. The hottest year was 1934, and the hottest decade was the 1930s -- when there were half as many people and no SUVs or jumbo jets.

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