Signs of the times

I just witnessed something I've never seen before in my small-town-turned-city. Maybe it happens somewhat frequently in our mall--I'm only there 2 or 3 times a year--but two men were holding hands as they were strolling. That, as well as the "GAY SATANIST OBAMA SUPPORTER" bumper sticker I just encountered, kinda shocked me. (I happen to know the sad young man who put that sticker on his car. It's no joke--He's quite serious about that.) No doubt there has been homosexuality here since the early years, but now it's seen as something to be proud of, here, which is what shocked me. This isn't San Francisco, after all. While anyone being proud of a dirty, extremely unhealthy addiction seems counter-intuitive to me, it's even more so here. But it's not just this city that's changing. Homosexuals in the military, homosexual marriage, and homosexual adoption are all becoming more acceptable to the entire gullible American public. Their steady diet of Hollywood filth is probably the biggest factor, but our government is doing it's part to corrupt us, too. Which is ironic, given the "nanny" role government likes to take in other areas. Cigarettes are almost as much of a dirty and unhealthy addiction as homosexuality, so they keep raising taxes on them and adding restrictions to where you can smoke them in an effort to discourage use. Some cities are doing similar things with sugary and/or fatty foods. But homosexuality is sometimes championed as a wonderful alternative by Big Brother (the Orwellian version, not the stupid TV show)(Then again, I would be surprised if the stupid TV show doesn't encourage homosexuality).

Better to be mooned than to be an skeptic! (Sorry for the lunar-tic title!)

The skeptic would say that it's just a coincidence that during some eclipses, the moon perfectly and exactly covers the sun. The Christian knows that God put the sun 400 times farther from us than the moon, and made it 400 times larger than the moon, so that they would be the same size from our perspective. Because God made the sun and the moon for mankind.

How does one explain the perfect match of the sun's and the moon's size from our perspective?
It's obvious to me that God made them that way
--to light the earth just right
--to help us study the sun during eclipses, and
--to illustrate the truth that as God gives perfect light, his Church ought to reflect his light to those who don't see him.

God said, "I command lights to appear in the sky and to separate day from night and to show the time for seasons, special days, and years. I command them to shine on the earth." And that's what happened. God made two powerful lights, the brighter one to rule the day and the other to rule the night. He also made the stars. Then God put these lights in the sky to shine on the earth, to rule day and night, and to separate light from darkness. God looked at what he had done, and it was good.
From Genesis chapter 1, by Moses

Good Movies

Adam Sandler has never made a good movie.
Neither have Cameron Diaz, Chris Rock, Jennifer Aniston, George Clooney, or Brad Pitt.

You and I might disagree here, but let me explain. I define "good movie" as clean as well as entertaining. In fact, if it's not clean, it won't entertain me. When I hear my wonderful Lord's name treated like a swear word, or see an ungodly sexual situation, or some other uncleanness, I feel deeply grieved, or angry, or dirty.

What I wrote in my first paragraph doesn't mean there's no hope for there actors. I would've said the same thing, for example, about Eddie Murphy some years ago. But in the latter part of his career he's made Meet Dave, Daddy Day Care, and Imagine That--all excellent, funny flicks.

"How can I find out whether a movie is 'good' before I spend the money at the theater or DVD store?" I'm glad you asked. Go here before you go there:
http://www.pluggedin.com/movies.aspx

Why transform the best military in the world into a social experiment?

If the ban on openly homosexual people in the US military is overturned, it will have a catastrophic effect on military morale, unit cohesion, recruitment, retention and readiness. When I was in the Air Force, I would have been disgusted to have to shower with or sleep with men who were sexually attracted to me. In fact, the possibility would have kept me from signing up in the first place, and I don't doubt that hundreds of thousands of potential recruits would turn away from participating in such a military.

President Obama is determined to overturn the ban on open homosexual service before a survey of rank and file members of the military is completed on December 1. Here is what the heads of the four military services think about that:

* "I...believe that repealing the law before the completion of the review will be seen by the men and women of the Army as a reversal of our commitment to hear their views before moving forward." ~ George V. Casey Jr., General, United States Army

* "[T]he value of surveying the thoughts of Marines and their families is that it signals to my Marines that their opinions matter." ~ Gen. James T. Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps

* "My concern is that legislative changes at this point, regardless of the precise language used, may cause confusion on the status of the law in the Fleet and disrupt the review process itself by leading Sailors to question whether their input matters." ~ G. Roughead, Admiral, U.S. Navy

* "I believe it is important...that the Secretary of Defense commissioned review be completed before there is any legislation to repeal the DA/DT law. Such action allows me to provide the best military advice to the President, and sends an important signal to our Airmen and their families that their opinion matters." ~ Norton A. Schwartz, General, United States Air Force

Bear in mind that these officers are putting their careers in jeopardy, opposing their Commander-in-Chief, yet their convictions are strong enough to compel them to speak out.

Spiritual Warfare Is Real--Here's Proof!

I have a Facebook friend who I was pretty close to several years ago. He was a disciple, zealous for the Lord. But I never see him in person any more, and I don't see any hint of that great faith in his posts or his page. Out of love and concern for him, I wrote this to him to remind him of how God used him in a powerful way in my life:

There have been 2 times in my life when God has miraculously, instantaneously, no-natural-way-to-explain-

it healed me. One was 20 yrs ago when I had TMJ (it was painful to try to close my jaw, and I was living on soft food for days). I went to the dentist, and he told me I needed surgery. He said to go out to the foyer and make an appointment. I went out and stood in line. But then God spoke to me and told me to leave--he would heal me! I got happy and started to go home, but I felt I ought to go to the church building. I did, and you were the only one there. I told you what happened. You prayed for me, and one side of my mouth closed for the 1st time in many days! You prayed again, and the other side closed, and I have been healed with no problems ever since! Thank you!

I wrote this four days ago. In the past four days, the symptoms that had been gone for 20 years have slowly returned! My jaw is as bad now as when I went to the dentist. Because this is certainly a spiritual issue, I'm not going to the dentist...especially since I ain't got dental insurance! I'm trusting God to heal me again. To those who pray, would you pray for me? And please pray for my friend, too.


UPDATE, 6/22: There's good news: Thanks in part to your prayers, I'm totally healed! It is definitely a miracle.

Your choice: Be safe, or get a thrill!

I like the time of year when we can leave open our front and rear doors and let the cool early-morning breeze flow through the screen doors. It's Pasko the cat's very favorite season. He enjoys spotting a sparrow on the patio, slinking towards it with the greatest of stealth, and...stopping at the screen door. Eventually the bird will leave, and eventually Pasko will hear another flutter of wings, this time on the front porch. Once again, stealth, and stop, and stare through the screen. He never goes outside; he doesn't even try to. I suppose that's because he's neutered. He's contented to just watch the outside, through the screen. They say indoor cats live longer, but I think it's a boring existence compared to the felines that are free to frolic wherever they want. Those cats actually hunt, and occasionally even get to taste fresh meat. All Pasko ever eats is dry cat food. Besides chasing birds, mice, and lizards, outdoor cats socialize, fight, tease dogs, mate, and raise kittens. They do what they were designed to do!

There are also screens that people peer through. In fact, most people have much in common with Pasko. Rather than living an abundant life of adventure and taking risks for God, they satisfy their craving for excitement by sitting and staring through TV screens for hours on end, watching others having fun, taking risks, and doing good. Rather than cultivating real-life red-hot romances with their spouses, some folks stare through their computer screens at images of fantasy "lovers" who don't love them one bit. And they wonder why they're practically neutered when it comes to their own spouses.

How does one actually get a life, rather than live vicariously through actors on the other side of a screen? William Carey--the founder of the modern missionary movement--said, "Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God." William Shedd--missionary to Iraq 100 years ago--adds, "A ship in the harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are built for." I think it's more exciting to go on a mission trip, or give more than you can afford, or preach the Gospel in public, or devote your retirement to full-time service, than to partake of the fake Hollywood stuff, or roller coasters, or bungee jumping. The Lord designed each of us with an appetite for adrenaline rushes, with some obviously craving it more often than others. But God wants each of us to get a regular "fix" by stepping out by faith in whatever adventure or risk He leads us into. That way, we'll be building our faith and accomplishing some good while getting a buzz. That's what you were built for!

Am I advising you to give up your TV? Not necessarily, but I've lived a rich, full life without one for almost all of the last 28 years.

Kings Contrasted

King Xerxes, a.k.a. Ahasuerus, was ruler of the Medio-Persian Empire during the early fifth century before Christ. It is noted in the Scriptures that part of the protocol of Xerxes' court was that no one could approach him, unless first being summoned, without risking a death sentence. Even his wife, Esther, was bound by this jeopardy. One can understand that a busy monarch can't be interrupted by trifles when attending to business, but a possible execution? For family members?
As a king, Xerxes was certainly powerful: his dominion extended from Greece to India. As a man, however, his character seemed to be somewhat average. The Biblical narrative attributes both strengths and weaknesses to him. So what right did he have to act as if he exuded unapproachable glory?

King Jesus dwells in such glory. His dominion is from one end of the universe to the other. His character is "holy, holy, holy." Yet he bids all of us, whether rulers or ruffians, satraps or squatters, princes or paupers, "Come." However, just as Queen Esther thoroughly prepared herself with fasting and beauty treatments when she approached her husband Xerxes on an urgent matter, so must we prepare ourselves for an audience with the King of Kings. First, humble yourself and acknowledge that you are a sinner unworthy of the Lord's favor. Then believe in Christ's life, death, and resurrection, trusting that the blood he shed can wash away the unworthiness from you. Then, as the Bible says, "boldly approach the throne of grace." The Lord is not too busy for you.

Public Sector Unions Bleeding America Dry

This article by DIRECTORBLUE was originally posted here at HotAir.com.

Throughout American history — and as recently as the 1950s — there were no unions for government workers. Public-sector employees were expected to earn a bit less than their private-sector equivalents. The reasons they did so included an interest in public service, job security and reasonable benefits.

But that changed in the late fifties with New York City Mayor Robert Wagner’s cynical appeal to the votes of city workers. He signed an executive order authorizing them to unionize, and soon other local and state Democrat legislators around the country followed his lead.

These efforts culminated in 1962, when President John F. Kennedy granted federal employees the right to collectively bargain. Since then, public sector union membership has skyrocketed while, in the private sector, unions have fallen out of favor.

In 2009, private sector union members were outnumbered for the first time by their public sector counterparts.

The historical basis of unions revolved around workers receiving a reasonable share of a company’s profits. But that tenet is nonsensical when applied to public service. Governments don’t make profits; they simply assess taxes.

The aims of public sector unions conflict directly with the interests of taxpayers.

And because it has been exceedingly hard to fight public sector unions, the salaries and benefits of public employees have skyrocketed in recent years. Since the election of Barack Obama, the number of federal employees making over $150,000 a year has more than doubled to over 10,000.

In 2009 government salaries jumped 2.4%, approximately twice the increase earned by private sector employees. In fact, the average salary of a federal worker is now $71,000, about $22,000 more than the average private sector employee.

Worst of all, public sector unions have negotiated pension plans that are proving financially untenable. Many allow workers to retire at age 55 at around their full salary in their final years of employment. These pensions often include inflation adjustments as well as lifetime free health care.

These plans are so outrageous that state retirement systems, for example, are currently underfunded by about a trillion dollars.

So how have public sector unions achieved these amazing results? The answer is hundreds of millions of dollars, the approximate amount that unions have contributed to federal campaigns since 1990. Almost every dollar went to Democrats or Democrat causes. In the 2008 election alone, some estimates put public sector union contributions to Democrats at $60 million.

These unions are also astroturfing for Democrats, providing slush funds to help liberal causes. An example is ThePartyIsOver.org, a faux populist website designed to discredit TEA Party activists.

The Democrats’ health care bill, the ‘Employee Free Choice Act’ and the $800+ billion stimulus bill all contained payoffs to public sector unions. In fact, while the private sector has shed 7,000,000 jobs since the recession began, the number of public sector jobs has risen every month.

Public sector unions are killing our economic system and the American taxpayer. The debt unleashed by their outrageous benefits plans simply cannot be paid. The union bosses have lied to their members about lifetime benefits and they have betrayed the American people. Public sector unions must be disbanded and outlawed before our country resembles Greece, Spain and other European countries that are teetering on the brink of destruction, thanks to unions just like ours.

The Religious Right vs. The Religious and The Right

I'm encountering increasing opposition to faith-informed political involvement from my brethren in the Church as well as from libertarians on the Right side of the political spectrum.

To my brethren, I would point out that God's people being involved in secular politics has a long and distinguished history. Is there any doubt that God himself made Joseph the Prime Minister of Egypt? Were not Nehemiah and Daniel political figures? Was George Whitfield neglecting his preaching when he led the labor reform movement in Great Britain? Should William Wilberforce have become a preacher rather than remain in Britain's Parliament after his conversion to Christianity? If he had, the British slave trade would have thrived for decades longer. Should the 19th century missionaries to India have concerned themselves with evangelism only? If they had not become politically active, many hundreds more widows would have been burned along with their deceased husbands. Today, prison reforms, anti-slavery movements, and other human rights causes have been led by Christians around the world, not to mention the efforts to curtail the slaughter of unborn children. Are the saints wasting their time in these efforts?

To my irreligious friends on the Right, can you really win elections by continuing to alienate social conservatives? Will accepting abortion-on-demand and embracing (or ignoring) the homosexual agenda serve to rally the millions of conservative churchgoers to the polls? Do not the founding documents of this Republic, documents which you claim to adhere to, honor our Creator as the source of the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of justice?

"The Green Death" by Doctor Zero

Cross-posted at www.doczero.org

Who is the worst killer in the long, ugly history of war and extermination? Hitler? Stalin? Pol Pot? Not even close. A single book called Silent Spring killed far more people than all those fiends put together.

Published in 1962, Silent Spring used manipulated data and wildly exaggerated claims (sound familiar?) to push for a worldwide ban on the pesticide known as DDT – which is, to this day, the most effective weapon against malarial mosquitoes. The Environmental Protection Agency held extensive hearings after the uproar produced by this book… and these hearings concluded that DDT should not be banned. A few months after the hearings ended, EPA administrator William Ruckleshaus over-ruled his own agency and banned DDT anyway, in what he later admitted was a “political” decision. Threats to withhold American foreign aid swiftly spread the ban across the world.

The resulting explosion of mosquito-borne malaria in Africa has claimed over sixty million lives. This was not a gradual process – a surge of infection and death happened almost immediately. The use of DDT reduces the spread of mosquito-borne malaria by fifty to eighty percent, so its discontinuation quickly produced an explosion of crippling and fatal illness. The same environmental movement which has been falsifying data, suppressing dissent, and reading tea leaves to support the global-warming fraud has studiously ignored this blood-drenched “hockey stick” for decades.

The motivation behind Silent Spring, the suppression of nuclear power, the global-warming scam, and other outbreaks of environmentalist lunacy is the worship of centralized power and authority. The author, Rachel Carson, didn’t set out to kill sixty million people – she was a fanatical believer in the newly formed religion of radical environmentalism, whose body count comes from callousness, rather than blood thirst. The core belief of the environmental religion is the fundamental uncleanliness of human beings. All forms of human activity are bad for the environment… most especially including the activity of large private corporations. Deaths in faraway Africa barely registered on the radar screen of the growing Green movement, especially when measured against the exhilarating triumph of getting a sinful pesticide banned, at substantial cost to an evil corporation.

Those who were initiated into the higher mysteries of environmentalism saw the reduction of the human population as a benefit, although they’re generally more circumspect about saying so in public these days. As quoted by Walter Williams, the founder of the Malthusian Club of Rome, Alexander King, wrote in 1990: “My own doubts came when DDT was introduced. In Guayana, within two years, it had almost eliminated malaria. So my chief quarrel with DDT, in hindsight, is that it has greatly added to the population problem.” Another charming quote comes from Dr. Charles Wurster, a leading opponent of DDT, who said of malaria deaths: “People are the cause of all the problems. We have too many of them. We need to get rid of some of them, and this is as good a way as any.”

Like the high priests of global warming, Rachel Carson knew what she was doing. She claimed DDT would actually destroy all life on Earth if its use continued – the “silent spring” of the title is a literal description of the epocalypse she forecast. She misused a quote from Albert Schweitzer about atomic warfare, implying the late doctor agreed with her crusade against pesticide by dedicating her book to him… when, in fact, Schweitzer viewed DDT as a “ray of hope” against disease-carrying insects. Some of the scientists attempting to debunk her hysteria went so far as to eat chunks of DDT to prove it was harmless, but she and her allies simply ignored them, making these skeptics the forerunners of today’s “global warming deniers” – absolutely correct and utterly vilified. William Ruckleshaus disregarded nine thousand pages of testimony when he imposed the DDT ban. Then as now, the science was settled… beneath a mass of politics and ideology.

Another way Silent Spring forecast the global-warming fraud was its insistence that readers ignore the simple evidence of reality around them. One of the founding myths of modern environmentalism was Carson’s assertion that bird eggs developed abnormally thin shells due to DDT exposure, leading the chicks to be crushed before they could hatch. As detailed in this American Spectator piece from 2005, no honest experimental attempt to produce this phenomenon has ever succeeded – even when using concentrations of DDT a hundred times greater than anything that could be encountered in nature. Carson claimed thin egg shells were bringing the robin and bald eagle to the edge of extinction… even as the bald eagle population doubled, and robins filled the trees. Today, those eagles and robins shiver in a blanket of snow caused by global warming.

The DDT ban isn’t the only example of environmental extremism coming with a stack of body bags. Mandatory gas mileage standards cause about 2,000 deaths per year, by compelling automakers to produce lighter, more fragile cars. The biofuel mania has led resources to be shifted away from growing food crops, resulting in higher food prices and starvation. Worst of all, the economic damage inflicted by the environmentalist religion directly correlates to life-threatening reductions in the human standard of living. The recent earthquake in Haiti is only the latest reminder that poverty kills, and collectivist politics are the most formidable engine of poverty on Earth.

Environmental extremism is a breathless handmaiden for collectivism. It pours a layer of smooth, creamy science over a relentless hunger for power. Since the boogeymen of the Green movement threaten the very Earth itself with imminent destruction, the environmentalist feels morally justified in suspending democracy and seizing the liberty of others. Of course we can’t put these matters to a vote! The dimwitted hicks in flyover country can’t understand advanced biochemistry or climate science. They might vote the wrong way, and we can’t risk the consequences! The phantom menaces of the Green movement can only be battled by a mighty central State. Talk of representation, property rights, and even free speech is madness when such a threat towers above the fragile ecosphere, wheezing pollutants and coughing out a stream of dead birds and drowned polar bears. You can see why the advocates of Big Government would eagerly race across a field of sustainable, organic grass to sweep environmentalists into their arms, and spin them around in the ozone-screened sunlight.

Green philosophy provides vital nourishment for the intellectual vanity of leftists, who get to pat themselves on the back for saving the world through the control-freak statism they longed to impose anyway. One of the reasons for the slow demise of the climate-change nonsense is that it takes a long time to let so much air out of so many egos. Calling “deniers” stupid and unpatriotic was very fulfilling. Likewise, you’ll find modern college campuses teeming with students – and teachers – who will fiercely insist that DDT thins egg shells and causes cancer. Environmentalism is a primitive religion which thrives by telling its faithful they’re too sophisticated for mere common sense.

The legacy of Silent Spring provides an object lesson in the importance of bringing the global-warming con artists to trial. No one was ever forced to answer for the misery inflicted by that book, or the damage it dealt to serious science. Today Rachel Carson is still celebrated as a hero, the secular saint who transformed superstition and hysteria into a Gospel for the modern god-state. The tactics she deployed against DDT resurfaced a decade later, in the Alar scare. It’s a strategy that offers great reward, and very little risk. We need to increase the risk factor, and frighten the next generation of junk scientists into being more careful with their research. If we don’t, the Church of Global Warming will just reappear in a few years, wearing new vestments and singing new hymms… but still offering the same communion of poverty, tyranny, and death.

Tame the Lame Blame Game

I've long been weary of President Obama's blame-the-GOP mantra, which is often echoed by his defenders. Yes, BHO did inherit some huge problems (most of which he made worse). The economic recession had causes from both the recent as well as distant past. President Bush spent way too much money (not nearly as much as Obama is on track to spend), but what hurt the economy more were the Clinton-era liberal programs forcing mortgage lenders to lend to many thousands of seriously under-qualified folks, which led to the housing bubble growing and popping.

The knee-jerk response of any criticism of Obama is usually, "Well, under Bush..." Who says we have to go back to Bush? There's no logical reason to bring him up. The one we need to go back to is President Reagan. Let's cut spending*, cut taxes, protect human life from conception to natural death, and project American strength around the world. At least Bush did three out of the four. Right now we're doing none of them.

If the liberal defenders of Obama think anyone wants to go back to Bush, they ought to remember how unpopular he was. Liberals opposed him because he was a Republican, moderates because of the war in Iraq, and conservatives because of the spending.

Since there's blame enough for both parties, let's focus on the solutions that Reagan espoused. The same principles that the founders of our country espoused.

*I understand that Reagan didn't cut spending. He wanted to cut domestic spending, but had to compromise with the Democrat Congressional majorities during his administration. He allowed them their spending if they gave him his tax cuts, which revived us from the Carter recession and led to great national prosperity. And Reagan had to spend a lot on the military, to rebuild what Carter had dismantled.

Good times!

What a great week for the USA!
1) A non-liberal was elected as Massachusetts' junior Senator.
2) The Supreme Court freed the First Amendment from the shackles of so-called Campaign Finance Reform.
3) ObamasCare died.
4) Air (anti-)America went out of business.
God give us more weeks like this!