Archive for January, 2016

The Effects of Abortion

Thursday, January 28th, 2016

Over 40 million unborn babies have been killed since abortion was legalized in America in 1973. Our population is 323 million but it should be 363 million. From an economic standpoint alone, that would have been 40 million taxpayers to stimulate the economy, ranging from newborns through 42 years of age. From a legal perspective, we’ve legalized murder. From a moral and biblical perspective we all have blood on our hands. Every classroom that has 32 children should have 36. Maybe we should add four empty chairs to each classroom in order to honor their deaths.

Doomsday Clock is at 3 Minutes to Midnight

Thursday, January 28th, 2016

The big news today is that “The Doomsday Clock stands unchanged at three minutes to midnight. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which oversees the clock–a metaphor of how close humanity is to destroying the planet–left the hands in place from last year, which is the closest it has been to midnight since the Cold War days of 1984.”

The implication is that if the age of the earth were a 24-hour day, we’re 3 minutes away from its destruction.  This sounds quite ominous, right?  Well, if scientists are right and the earth is 4.5 billion years old, we only have 9,375,000 years left. (Biblical scholars believe it will be much sooner.) Let’s find something else to worry about.

The Nickel Plan to Balance the Budget and Pay Off our Debt

Tuesday, January 26th, 2016

Stop Kicking the Can Down the Road For Our Kids and Grandkids

The Mess

I have a solution for all of those politicians and pundits who claim to be concerned about the economic crisis of our nation, kicking the can down the road, and the mess we’re leaving for our children and grandchildren. Regardless of how we got in this mess, the facts are that the federal government spends 17% more ($500 billion) more than it receives, and because of this, we owe a $19 trillion national debt. I’m a fiscal conservative, and I think we need to curb our spending, but we can’t fix this without also increasing revenue. Because we’re the ones responsible for this mess, I’m willing to also temporarily increase taxes in order to fix it for the next generation.

Still, the key to the plan is spending cuts. It cuts ALL spending, so however gets money from the federal government will get less, whether you’re a defense contractor or a retiree. If you don’t receive any money from the federal government, there’s nothing to cut. However everyone who pays taxes will temporarily pay more.

The Nickel Plan

I propose the Nickel Plan to not only balance the budget, but to also pay off our national debt. Here are the components of the Nickel Plan:

Permanently decrease ALL spending (no exceptions) by 5% per year for three years.

– At the end of three years, enact a Balance Budget Amendment, freezing spending forever at the current level at that time.

Temporarily increase all taxes by 5% per year for 11 years. (Yes, it hurts. We did it–We fix it.)

– At the end of 11 years, freeze the elevated tax rate for three more years (at about 67% of the 2015 level).

– At the end of 14 years, cut taxes by 50%, to a level of approximately 88% of the current tax levels, forever.

Results:

– Balance the budget in 2 years.

– Pay off the national debt in 14 years.

– In 2029, hand our children a balanced budget, no debt, $560 billion in the bank, and a lower tax rate at only 88% of the 2015 level.

Details

I Think We Need Another Word for “Boycott”

Sunday, January 24th, 2016

Some black activists announced this week that they would not attend the Oscars because there weren’t enough blacks nominated.  They try to compare their plight to that of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others who participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. However, there’s never been a bigger contrast.

In 1955, blacks were denied seats on buses. How much less would they have been welcomed at the Oscars?  In 1955, blacks were beaten and lynched at the hands of racists who knew they would never be brought to justice.  Today, the “victims” are millionaires, disgruntled that the black millionaires aren’t getting as much publicity as the white millionaires.  I think we need another word for “boycott”–and “victims.”

My Civil Rights Hero

Sunday, January 24th, 2016

We just celebrated the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  He was a great civil rights leader, achieving unbelievable victories using nonviolent means.  However, my civil rights hero is someone else.

In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its historic decision on Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.  It declared all laws establishing segregated schools to be unconstitutional, and it called for desegregation of all schools in the U.S. In 1957, there were nine black teenagers enrolled at the previously all-white Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.  They became known as the “Little Rock Nine.”

Plans were made for these nine students to enter the school on September 4th, 1957.  The plan was to have the nine teenagers arrive together, but when the meeting place was changed the night before, 15-year-old Elizabeth Eckford didn’t get the message because her family didn’t have a telephone.  Her family was also uniformed that the school board wanted her parents to accompany her.  As a result, the other eight kids arrived together at the rear entrance of the school.  However, Elizabeth rode a public bus by herself to the segregated school and walked up to the front entrance completely alone.

As she walked toward the school, she was surrounded by a crowd of white armed guards and a mob of 400 angry white people–white students, white parents, and other white men and women who opposed integration.  She did not see any black faces.  The white teenagers chanted “Two, four, six, eight, we ain’t gonna integrate.”  Elizabeth attempted to go into the school through the mob, but was denied entrance by Governor Faubus and the Arkansas National Guard.

Eckford described her experience:  “I stood looking at the school—it looked so big!  Just then the guards let some white students through. The crowd was quiet. I guess they were waiting to see what was going to happen.  When I was able to steady my knees, I walked up to the guard who had let the white students in.  He didn’t move.  When I tried to squeeze past him, he raised his bayonet and then the other guards moved in and they raised their bayonets.  They glared at me with a mean look and I was very frightened and didn’t know what to do. I turned around and the crowd came toward me.  They moved closer and closer.  Somebody started yelling, ‘Drag her over this tree! Let’s take care of that nigger!'”

Eckford ran to a bus bench at the end of the block. Once Eckford got to the bus stop, she couldn’t stop crying.  A reporter, Benjamin Fine, having in mind his own 15-year-old daughter, sat down next to Eckford.  He tried to comfort her and told her, “Don’t let them see you cry.”  Soon, she was also protected by a white woman (or an angel) named Grace Lorch who escorted her onto a city bus.

On September 23rd, the Little Rock Nine tried to enter the school again but this time there was a mob of about 1,000 whites.  The next day, President Eisenhower took control of the Arkansas National Guard, and authorized the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army to escort them into the school.  Soldiers were deployed at the school for the entirety of the school year, although they were unable to prevent incidents of violence against the group inside, such as Eckford being thrown down a flight of stairs.

So, Elizabeth had been outnumbered about 400-to-1.  Her opposition included an armed military, as well as activists that threatened to lynch her and who threw her down a flight of stairs.  Every day she endured racial slurs, threats, and physical violence.  We all know how mean teenagers can be when they decide to bully helpless victims, but few of us have ever endured bullying like Elizabeth did. Yet she would not be denied her right to an education.   What courage!

Is the Pope a Christian?

Friday, January 22nd, 2016

That’s a ridiculous question, right? We tend to think that the leader of 1.2 billion people in Christendom must surely be a true believer.

How does one become a believer? Ephesians 2:8-9 says, 8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Dozens of other passages confirm that a believer is one who has faith in Christ as savior. Does the pope have faith in Christ? Although no one knows anyone else’s heart, he probably does. So, this would satisfy verse 8 above.

However, verse 9 says that we are not saved by works. We’re not saved by the good things we do, including church service, the sacraments, infant baptism, the Rosary, praying to Mary, or anything having to do with saints or relics. It doesn’t even matter how good of a person we are. We’re saved by grace through faith. Period. Many other verses confirm this:

Romans 4:4-5 says, “Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.”

Romans 11:6 says, “And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” Grace and works are mutually exclusive.

So is the Pope a Christian. I don’t know his heart, but if he’s depending on his faith in Christ PLUS anything else, then he’s not.

Be Encouraged, Even in Failure

Monday, January 18th, 2016

Even Peter failed. He was a devout follower of Jesus Christ. Yet, there was a time, even as a believer, when he denied even knowing Christ.

In John 13:37, Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times! As we know, Peter did indeed denied Christ three times.”

Peter was saved by grace through faith, even though his faith was not strong enough to put his faith into action by actually doing what he said he would do–lay down his life for Christ. He believed that he should, and he was convicted to do so, but he didn’t.

Yet Peter became a great evangelist, spreading the gospel all of his life. If you fail in some aspect of being an ambassador of Christ, just confess your sin, continue in the work of Christ, and try to do better. There’s no telling what Christ may have in store for you.

Protecting Our Children

Sunday, January 17th, 2016

In President Obama’s latest State of the Union address, he noted how we need to protect the weak and the vulnerable and the innocent. I think we all agree that this first and foremost includes our children. It always seems worse when bad things happen to children because they are in fact weak, vulnerable, and innocent. They can’t defend themselves, so we need to defend them.

It’s particularly horrendous to us when a terrorist attack injures children. When the victim of a sexual assault or a kidnapping is a child, it just seems worse because the child is defenseless. Television commercials of people starving pull at our heart strings, but especially the images of hungry children.

The ultimate tragedy is when a child is killed. Yet we kill 4,000 defenseless unborn children every day through legal abortions. Then we see one of those tear-jerking commercials from the SPCA about mistreated dogs and cats. We care more about animals than we do the sanctity of life–life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Don’t Confuse Worship with Fellowship

Sunday, January 17th, 2016

Sometimes we tend to think relate worship with a worship service that includes fellowship with other believers. However, we need to be careful because the terms “worship” and “fellowship” are not the same thing.

What is Worship?

Romans 12:1-2 actually defines worship as: “…to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–His good, pleasing and perfect will.”

So, the true definition of worship is:

– Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God
– Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world
– Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
– Be able to test and approve what God’s will is

Worship is a way of life and a life of service, where we daily surrender our bodies (prostrate ourselves) to God for his service; we ignore the pattern of this world; and, we renew our minds through His Word. Once we are in this state of temporal fellowship with God (with all sins confessed–1 John 1:9), then we will even be able to successfully determine what God’s will is for every move we make.

Worship means service for God; rendered for hire; respect or reverence offered to God; to perform sacred service; or ministry. It can also mean to render religious homage to God; prostrate in homage to God; bow down; fall down; stoop; humbly beseech; or, to do reverence. Of the 250 occurrences of the word “worship” in the Bible, over 50 of them have to do with the idea of bowing down, or falling down in worship.

The important thing to note here, is that worship is performed privately–between you and God.

What is fellowship?

Fellowship (1 John 1:7) means sharing, participation, or contribution. We fellowship in Sunday school, or in church service. Fellowship is singing together, sharing testimonies, or perhaps enjoying a dramatic skit together.

Conclusion: Worship means fellowship with God. Fellowship is participation with others. So, you can worship without going to church.

Examples: Continual prayer is worship (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Singing praises (privately) to God is worship. Going to church or singing hymns together is fellowship, although in the right circumstances they can also be worship.

The Only Thing We Can Trust Politicians to Do is to Lie

Tuesday, January 12th, 2016

On October 26th, 1972, Henry Kissinger said, “Peace in Vietnam is at hand.”  This statement served its purpose by getting Nixon re-elected, but peace wasn’t at hand.  After three more years of war, the U. S. would surrender South Vietnam back to the communists.

In 1986, Ronald Reagan, regarding the Iran-Contra affair and secretly trading weapons for hostages, said “Those charges are utterly false. We did not, repeat, did not, trade weapons for hostages, nor will we.” We did. If they keep repeating it, it’s probably a lie.  In 1987, regarding his previous statement, he said, “Though my heart tells me this was true, the facts say that it wasn’t.”

In 1988, Bush 41 said, “I’m the one who will not raise taxes… Read my lips:  No new taxes.” He raised taxes within two years.

In 1998, Bill Clinton said, “I want to say one thing to the American people.  I’m going to say this again. I want you to listen to this: I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky.” He did. Later that year, on his apology tour, he said, “Indeed I did have a relationship with Ms. Lewinsky.”  The more emphatic they are, the more you know they’re lying.

In 2003, Bush 43 said, “Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.” They didn’t. Later he said, “Iraq did not have the weapons that our intelligence believed they did.”

In 2009, concerning the “Affordable” Care Act, Barack Obama said, “We will keep this promise to the American people: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period. No one will take that away–No matter what!” They took it away. Again, too emphatic to be believed.