Yearly Archives: 2012

Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute discusses Obama’s record on economy

Government Spending Doesn’t Create Jobs

Uploaded by on Sep 7, 2011

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In the debate of job creation and how best to pursue it as a policy goal, one point is forgotten: Government doesn’t create jobs. Government only diverts resources from one use to another, which doesn’t create new employment.

Video produced by Caleb Brown and Austin Bragg.

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I really think that Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute is one of the best of explaining conservative economic policies and how they would benefit us all. Here he takes a look at Obama’s economic policies.

In a recent post comparing Reaganomics and Obamanomics, I explained why I think Barack Obama’s policies have been hurting the economy.

In today’s New York Post, I do a full-scale indictment. Here are my bullet points.

* The unemployment rate is still above 8 percent, even though the White House promised it would drop to about 6 percent today if the stimulus was enacted.

* Several million fewer Americans have jobs today than five years ago.

* The poverty rate has jumped to more than 15 percent, with a record number of Americans living below the poverty level of income.

* According to the most recent data, median household income is lower than when the recession began.

* The burden of government spending remains high, and record levels of red ink are a symptom of that bloat in Washington.

* The threat of higher taxes is omnipresent, serving as a Sword of Damocles over the economy’s neck.

* Continued weakness in the housing and financial sectors reminds people that bailouts and intervention have left lots of problems unsolved.

I also explain that some of  the recent good news is in spite of the President’s statist policies.

* The recovery began just as Obama’s stimulus spending ended, thus confirming suspicions that lots of money was wasted as part of a process that hindered the economy’s growth.

* The job numbers only began to improve at the end of 2010, right as Republicans took control of the House and presumably ended Obama’s ability to further shift the nation’s course.

The final point is one deserving of elaboration. People in the private sector necessarily have to make educated guesses about the future economic environment. With this in mind, I think it’s quite reasonable – as I commented last month – to argue that the GOP takeover on Capitol Hill boosted the economy since entrepreneurs could feel more comfortable that the federal government wasn’t going to be imposing additional burdens.

This indictment of Obama’s dismal economic track record does not suggest, I should hasten to add, that Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum would be any better. Both of them seem closer to Bush than Reagan, so it’s not clear they would make any substantive changes in the burden of the federal government.

Related posts:

John Brummett and Rick Crawford don’t see that the real problem is how much government spends!!!!!

Washington Could Learn a Lot from a Drug Addict The problem with Washington is they are addicted to overspending our money and the problem is not that the government needs more money to waste. They survived on less than 4% of GDP the first 150 years that our nation existed (except in wartimes), but this […]

Tea Party solutions versus Occupy Wall Street

Dan Mitchell is right about the “Occupy Wall St crowd” The Arkansas Times Blog reported: Occupy Little Rock occupies Clinton Library parking lot Gabe Gentry Members of the Occupy Little Rock group have set up camp outside the Clinton Library, video contributor Gabe Gentry reports. Around 65 are gathered currently with chimineas and grills and pizzas. Thirty […]

Bigger government hurts economic growth

The Cato Institute videos are always good and these are no different. New Video Has Important Message: Freedom and Prosperity vs. Big Government and Stagnation Posted by Daniel J. Mitchell The folks from the Koch Institute put together a great video a couple of months ago looking at why some nations are rich and others […]

President Obama’s good advice does not apply to USA

Uploaded by WSJDigitalNetwork on Feb 23, 2012 Editorial board member Steve Moore breaks down Mitt Romney’s and President Obama’s tax plans. _____________________ Here is an excellent article by Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute concerning President Obama great advice for another country. When Obama Rejects Government Intervention and Says It Is Better to “Let the […]

Updated version:Rick Crawford falls for Democrats’ trick:raise taxes first and we will cut spending later

RAISE TAXES: Report says Rick Crawford will break from GOP and back millionaires’ tax. The Arkansas Times reported that Congressman Rick Crawford has a plan that includes raising taxes for 5 years if there is an agreement to pass the Balanced Budget Amendment. However, if after 5 years the Balanced Budget Amendment does not get […]

Ronald Wilson Reagan versus Barrack Obama

Government Spending Doesn’t Create Jobs Uploaded by catoinstitutevideo on Sep 7, 2011 Share this on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/qnjkn9 Tweet it: http://tiny.cc/o9v9t In the debate of job creation and how best to pursue it as a policy goal, one point is forgotten: Government doesn’t create jobs. Government only diverts resources from one use to another, which doesn’t […]

Cato Institute:Spending is our problem Part 6

But we also know that it is difficult to convince politicians to do what’s right for the nation. And if they don’t change the course of fiscal policy, and we leave the federal government on autopilot, then America is doomed to become another Greece. The combination of poorly designed entitlement programs (mostly Medicare and Medicaid) and an aging population […]

Cato Institute:Spending is our problem Part 5

Uploaded by NatlTaxpayersUnion on Feb 15, 2011 Dan Mitchell, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, speaks at Moving Forward on Entitlements: Practical Steps to Reform, NTUF’s entitlement reform event at CPAC, on Feb. 11, 2011. People think that we need to raise more revenue but I say we need to cut spending. Take a look […]

Cato Institute:Spending is our problem Part 3

Uploaded by NatlTaxpayersUnion on Feb 15, 2011 Dan Mitchell, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, speaks at Moving Forward on Entitlements: Practical Steps to Reform, NTUF’s entitlement reform event at CPAC, on Feb. 11, 2011. ____________________ People think that we need to raise more revenue but I say we need to cut spending. Take a […]

Videos by Cato Institute on failed stimulus plans

In this post I have gathered several videos from the Cato Institute concerning the subject of failed stimulus plans. _____ Government Spending Doesn’t Create Jobs Uploaded by catoinstitutevideo on Sep 7, 2011 Share this on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/qnjkn9 Tweet it: http://tiny.cc/o9v9t In the debate of job creation and how best to pursue it as a policy […]

Evangelicals worship (Part 5, NorthPointe Community Church, Fresno, CA)

Great pro-life message on the healing after an abortion that Christ offers:

Here is some info from the church’s website:

We are all on a spiritual journey. And on this journey, if we look into the Bible we can learn about what God has to say about what it means to have an ongoing relationship with Him. History and the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ lived on this earth and died on a cross. But it doesn’t end there. The Bible teaches us that Jesus was physically raised from the dead, thus proving the claims of who He said He was. Because of Jesus’ resurrection, His followers do not honor a dead founder. We can have a vital, personal relationship with Him. Jesus Christ lives today and faithfully enriches the lives of all those who trust and obey Him. Throughout the centuries, multitudes have acknowledged the worthiness of Jesus Christ, including many who have greatly influenced the world. French physicist and philosopher Blaise Pascal spoke of people’s need for Jesus when he said, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man, which only God can fill through his Son Jesus Christ.”

Can we personally know Jesus today?

Yes, we can! Because of God’s deep love for you, He has already made all the necessary arrangements. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, you can enjoy a personal relationship. Jesus made it possible to bridge the chasm which separates us from God. The following four principles will help you discover how to know Jesus personally and experience the abundant life He promised.

Principle 1 – God LOVES you and created you to know Him personally.

  • John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
  • John 17:3 “Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.”

What prevents us from knowing God personally?

Principle 2 – Man is SINFUL and SEPARATED from God, so we cannot know Him personally or experience His love.

  • Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
  • Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death (spiritual separation from God).”
  • Romans 8:6-8 “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”

A great gulf separates man from God. Man is continually trying to reach God and establish a personal relationship with Him through human efforts, such as living a good life, philosophy, attending church or religion. But he inevitably fails.

The third principle explains the only way to bridge this gulf…

Principle 3 – Jesus Christ is God’s ONLY provision for man’s sin. Through Him alone we can know God personally and experience God’s love

  • Romans 5:8 “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
  • 1 Corinthians 15:3-6 “Christ died for our sins… He was buried… He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures… He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred…”
  • John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

God has bridged the gulf that separates us from Him by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for our sins.

But it is not enough just to know these truths…

Principle 4 – We must individually RECEIVE Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; then we can know God personally and experience His love

  • John 1:12 “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.”
  • Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith. This does not depend on anything you have achieved, it is the free gift of God; and because it is not earned no one can boast about it.”

Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (a spirit of repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive us of our sins and make us what He wants us to be. Just to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience.

We receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of our will.

Jesus Christ is waiting for an invitation to come in to your life. In fact, he says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in” (Revelation 3:20).

Perhaps you can sense Christ knocking at the door of your heart. You can invite Him in by faith right now. God knows your heart so it doesn’t matter exactly what words you use. Here’s a suggested prayer:

Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to You and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.

If this prayer expresses the desire of your heart, pray it right now and Jesus Christ will come into your life just as he has promised. Once you invite Christ into your life, he promises to never leave you.

  • Hebrews 13:5 “God has said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

To know God personally is the greatest decision you will ever make. If you are local to Fresno, California – please visit with us and we will be more than happy to assist you in your spiritual journey. If you are from a different area, please find a local Bible teaching church which can then assist you in the next steps to take.

Pastor Steve

Related posts:

Adrian Rogers’ sermon on Clinton in 98 applies to Newt in 2012

It pays to remember history. Today I am going to go through some of it and give an outline and quotes from the great Southern Baptist leader Adrian Rogers (1931-2005). Max Brantley of the Arkansas Times started this morning off with some comedy: From pro golfer John Daly’s Twitter account following last night’s Republican debate, […]

“Payday Someday” by Robert G. Lee (Part 1 of transcript and video)

Dr Rogers was fond of this quote he got from Robert G. Lee:  ”Sin will take you farther than you want to go, Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay, Sin will cost you more than you want to pay.“  Pay Day – Someday by Dr. R. G. Lee Uploaded by BereanBeacon on […]

Mike Huckabee to Osama bin Laden: “Welcome to Hell” (Part 8)Woody Allen’s movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” is a perfect example of why hell the only “enforcement factor”

Crimes & Misdemeanors (pictured is Judah and his criminal brother, ultimately his brother hires a hitman to take out Judah’s girlfriend who threatens to turn Judah over to the cops) Crimes And Misdemeanors 1989 9/13 Adrian Rogers – Crossing God’s Deadline Part 4 crimes & misdemeanors Best scene of the movie!!!! _ John Brummett in […]

Tim Tebow’s Christian faith not abandoned in locker room

I am thrilled to get the chance to share the following article with you today. I got a call from Tim Keown who is a writer for ESPN Magazine a few days ago. He had read a post from my blog on Tim Tebow and wanted to ask me some questions. One of my answers […]

What is God doing with Tim Tebow? Fellowship Bible pastor of Little Rock ponders…

Everyone is wondering if this amazing fourth quarter comeback streak will end for the Denver Broncos and their quarterback Tim Tebow. At the December 11, 2011 early service at Fellowship Bible Church, pastor Mark Henry (who himself was an all conference Arkansas Razorback football player) noted: How many of you have been watching the drama […]

Carl Sagan versus RC Sproul

At the end of this post is a message by RC Sproul in which he discusses Sagan. Over the years I have confronted many atheists. Here is one story below: I really believe Hebrews 4:12 when it asserts: For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the […]

E P I S O D E 6 How Should We Then Live 6#1 I am sharing with you a film series that I saw in 1979. In this film Francis Schaeffer asserted that was a shift in Modern Science. A. Change in conviction from earlier modern scientists.B. From an open to a closed natural system: […]

“Satisfaction Guaranteed” sermon by Brandon Barnard of Fellowship Bible Church (3-11-12)

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For / U2 The Rolling Stones Satisfaction (rare) If you want to see the path that Kerry Livgren and Dave Hope of the rock group Kansas took to find true satisfaction then listen to their song “Dust in the Wind” and then read their testimony at this link […]

 

Barrett Jones of Alabama Crimson Tide has spent time the last two years ministering to earthquake victims in Haiti. (Barrett grew up and went to ECS where I graduated and to Bellevue Baptist where I was a member while growing up. Adrian Rogers was the pastor from 1972 to 2004.) Actually I wrote about Barrett’s […]

THREE TELLING ARGUMENTS AGAINST EVOLUTION by Adrian Rogers (Part 1 of series on Evolution)jh57

The Long War against God-Henry Morris, part 1 of 6 Uploaded by FLIPWORLDUPSIDEDOWN3 on Aug 30, 2010 http://www.icr.org/ http://store.icr.org/prodinfo.asp?number=BLOWA2 http://store.icr.org/prodinfo.asp?number=BLOWASG http://www.fliptheworldupsidedown.com/blog _____________________________________ Do you think the theory of evolution is true? Check out this short article by Adrian Rogers: “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and […]

Cartoon demonstrates that guns deter criminals

John Stossel report “Myth: Gun Control Reduces Crime

Sheriff Tommy Robinson tried what he called “Robinson roulette” from 1980 to 1984 in Central Arkansas where he would put some of his men in some stores in the back room with guns and the number of robberies in stores sank.

I got this from Dan Mitchell’s blog:

Remember the Fort Hood shootings, when the crazed Islamist killed a bunch of people? How many of us know that Major Hasan had the ability to kill so many people because of a Clinton-era policy limiting gun possession on military bases? In other words, the government created a safe zone for the killer.

This is why “gun-free” zones are stupid at best and more likely to create dangerous environments. If you’re a vile, evil, or crazy person, that’s where you’ll go because nobody can shoot back.

This great Chuck Asay cartoon makes this point, celebrating a recent Colorado Court decision (you can see more of his cartoons herehere, here, here, and here).

The cartoon is superb, but I also recommend this post reviewing a Cato study on the use of guns in self defense. And these posts about Chicago and New York City will probably get you upset.

And here’s some great analysis of gun control by Stephen Hunter, and my NRA-TV interview on the importance of gun ownership if America suffers a European-style societal breakdown.

Related posts: 

Gun Control does not work

Great story from the Cato Institute: On the Right Side of the Bullet by Clayton E. Cramer Clayton E. Cramer teaches history at the College of Western Idaho and is the author of Armed America: The Remarkable Story of How and Why Guns Became as American as Apple Pie (Nelson Current, 2007). Added to cato.org […]

Brummett in favor of gun control, but sees that restrictions should be removed in some cases. (Part 2)

Yesterday I got to hear Mike Anderson on 103.7 the buzz. Mike is really firing up the fans and I think he will be a great coach, but not in the first year. People all around me are jumping to conclusions. They tell me that we are going to the final four for sure next […]

Brummett in favor of gun control, but sees that restrictions should be removed in some cases. (Part 1)

HALT:HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com Gun control debate on Hannity and Combs with Allen Gottlieb Earlier both John Brummett and Max Brantley have made it clear that they support gun control. However, in today’s article Brummett states: Let us first take the matter of guns in church. Several years ago, owing to our gun-addicted culture and to our insistence on […]

Are thousands of children in USA dying in gun accidents?

HALT:HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com Ronald Reagan and others comment on “Gun Control” efforts Series on Gun Control: Part 6 Max Brantley commented on Jan 8th (Arkansas Times Blog) on the Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords getting shot and that led to his comments on the state of Arizona laws on guns: “As I said to a pro-carry lobbyist n the […]

Correlation between gun control and murder rates?

HALT:HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com Series on Gun Control: Part 5 Video on Crime Rates in Switzerland Both John Brummett and Max Brantley have made it clear that they support gun control. They really believe that we should follow the lead of many of the foreign countries that have more strict gun control laws. However, is there a correlation […]

Bill Clinton: Brady Bill’s waiting period saves lives

HALT:HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com Series on Gun Control: Part 4 John Stossel on Gun Control (2003 clip) Bill Clinton asserted, “The Brady Bill [is] a commonsense law that establishes a five-day waiting period and a background check that has already kept handguns out of the hands of some 60,000 felons, fugitives, and other criminals.” However, what do the […]

Could Gun Control stop school shootings?

HALT:HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com Series on Gun Control: Part 3 Glenn Beck on School Shootings video clip Just yesterday another school shooting occurred. This one in Omaha, Nebraska: An angry online posting from the 17-year-old boy who opened fire at a Nebraska high school, fatally wounding an assistant principal before later killing himself, offers some clues about why […]

Bill Clinton: Gun Show Loophole must be closed

HALT:HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com Series on Gun Control: Part 2 Glenn Beck’s guest mentions Mike Ross and 65 other Democrats upset at Gun Control bills sent up by White House “I would close the gun show loophole…” President Clinton on NBC’s Tom Brokaw discusses gun control with the president, April 12, 2000) This is the second in a […]

Gun Control working?

HALT:HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com John Stossel report “Myth: Gun Control Reduces Crime Both John Brummett and Max Brantley have made it clear that they support gun control. I am going to start a series today debunking popular myths about guns and gun control. During this series on gun control, I will be quoting from an article “Gun Control:Myths […]

Evangelicals worship (Part 4, Valley Baptist Church of Bakersfield, California)

Uploaded by on Jan 29, 2011

The Miracle of Life by Valley Baptist Church of Bakersfield, California

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Here is some info from their website:

What We Believe

Valley Baptist Church is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.  Valley Baptist, as a church, remains autonomous from the convention.  Each church directs its own affairs apart from outside intervention, deciding for itself how to deal with all matters.  The Convention recognizes that in the New Testament there was no centralized ecclesiastical authority over the churches that forced the churches into any form of compliance. There was encouragement, exhortation, and admonition, but there was never enforcement.
 
Membership at Valley Baptist Church is a matter of receiving Jesus as your Savior and Lord and experiencing believer’s baptism by immersion. You become a Southern Baptist by uniting with a Southern Baptist church, one in friendly cooperation with the general Southern Baptist enterprise of reaching the world for Christ.

Southern Baptists have prepared a statement of generally held convictions called The Baptist Faith and Message. It serves as a guide to understanding who we are. Copies are available at Valley Baptist Church. The topics here provide only a brief, partial summary. The full text on the issue discussed is also available on this website.

The Scriptures
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

God
There is one and only one living and true God. …The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

God the Father
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. …God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

God the Son
Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. …He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross, He made provision for the redemption of men from sin.

God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. …He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. …He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

Man
Man is the special creation of God, in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. …By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. … The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore every person of every race possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification.

God’s Purpose of Grace
Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. …All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.

The Church
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.

Baptism & the Lord’s Supper
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water. …It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.

The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members … memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

Evangelism & Missions
It is the duty and privelege of every follower of Christ and every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations… to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.

The Lord’s Day
The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. …It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion.

Last Things
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. …Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly…the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell. …The righteous… will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.

Education
The cause of education in the Kingdom of Christ is co-ordinate with the causes of missions and general benevolence … there should be a proper balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility. …The freedom of a teacher in a Christian school, college, or seminary is limited by the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, by the authoritative nature of the Scriptures, and by the distinct purpose for which the school exists.

Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions.

Cooperation
Christ’s people should … organize such associations and conventions as may best secure cooperation for the great objects of the Kingdom of God. Such organizations have no authority over one another or over the churches. …Cooperation is desirable between the various Christian denominations.

The Christian & the Social Order
All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society… in the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death…

Religious Liberty
Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. …A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal.

Family
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood or adoption.

Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. … The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation… Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage.

Our entire church welcomes you to our Website. 
https://i0.wp.com/64.239.71.58/uploads/Roger_Spradlin.jpghttps://i0.wp.com/64.239.71.58/uploads/Phil_Neighbors.jpg 
             Dr. Roger Spradlin                      Dr. Phil Neighbors 

If you are considering attending our church, this website will provide you with helpful information about all of the unique ministries at Valley. If you have further questions about our church it will be our pleasure for one of our pastoral staff to meet personally with you.If you desire to have a personal relationship with God, but are not sure how to do that, then we would be glad to share with you right from the Bible how you, too, may become a Christian.Our church is made up of people like you who have trusted Christ and desire to honor Him with their lives. If we can help you in any way, then please call on us.We want you to know that you are special to us and that you are among friendly people who care for you. If you have any questions about our ministries please e-mail us at staff@valleybaptist.org or phone us at: (661) 393-5683

Click here for more information from Pastor Roger.

Click here for more information from Pastor Phil. 

Related posts:

Adrian Rogers’ sermon on Clinton in 98 applies to Newt in 2012

It pays to remember history. Today I am going to go through some of it and give an outline and quotes from the great Southern Baptist leader Adrian Rogers (1931-2005). Max Brantley of the Arkansas Times started this morning off with some comedy: From pro golfer John Daly’s Twitter account following last night’s Republican debate, […]

“Payday Someday” by Robert G. Lee (Part 1 of transcript and video)

Dr Rogers was fond of this quote he got from Robert G. Lee:  ”Sin will take you farther than you want to go, Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay, Sin will cost you more than you want to pay.“  Pay Day – Someday by Dr. R. G. Lee Uploaded by BereanBeacon on […]

Mike Huckabee to Osama bin Laden: “Welcome to Hell” (Part 8)Woody Allen’s movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” is a perfect example of why hell the only “enforcement factor”

Crimes & Misdemeanors (pictured is Judah and his criminal brother, ultimately his brother hires a hitman to take out Judah’s girlfriend who threatens to turn Judah over to the cops) Crimes And Misdemeanors 1989 9/13 Adrian Rogers – Crossing God’s Deadline Part 4 crimes & misdemeanors Best scene of the movie!!!! _ John Brummett in […]

Tim Tebow’s Christian faith not abandoned in locker room

I am thrilled to get the chance to share the following article with you today. I got a call from Tim Keown who is a writer for ESPN Magazine a few days ago. He had read a post from my blog on Tim Tebow and wanted to ask me some questions. One of my answers […]

What is God doing with Tim Tebow? Fellowship Bible pastor of Little Rock ponders…

Everyone is wondering if this amazing fourth quarter comeback streak will end for the Denver Broncos and their quarterback Tim Tebow. At the December 11, 2011 early service at Fellowship Bible Church, pastor Mark Henry (who himself was an all conference Arkansas Razorback football player) noted: How many of you have been watching the drama […]

Carl Sagan versus RC Sproul

At the end of this post is a message by RC Sproul in which he discusses Sagan. Over the years I have confronted many atheists. Here is one story below: I really believe Hebrews 4:12 when it asserts: For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the […]

E P I S O D E 6 How Should We Then Live 6#1 I am sharing with you a film series that I saw in 1979. In this film Francis Schaeffer asserted that was a shift in Modern Science. A. Change in conviction from earlier modern scientists.B. From an open to a closed natural system: […]

“Satisfaction Guaranteed” sermon by Brandon Barnard of Fellowship Bible Church (3-11-12)

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For / U2 The Rolling Stones Satisfaction (rare) If you want to see the path that Kerry Livgren and Dave Hope of the rock group Kansas took to find true satisfaction then listen to their song “Dust in the Wind” and then read their testimony at this link […]

 

Barrett Jones of Alabama Crimson Tide has spent time the last two years ministering to earthquake victims in Haiti. (Barrett grew up and went to ECS where I graduated and to Bellevue Baptist where I was a member while growing up. Adrian Rogers was the pastor from 1972 to 2004.) Actually I wrote about Barrett’s […]

THREE TELLING ARGUMENTS AGAINST EVOLUTION by Adrian Rogers (Part 1 of series on Evolution)jh57

The Long War against God-Henry Morris, part 1 of 6 Uploaded by FLIPWORLDUPSIDEDOWN3 on Aug 30, 2010 http://www.icr.org/ http://store.icr.org/prodinfo.asp?number=BLOWA2 http://store.icr.org/prodinfo.asp?number=BLOWASG http://www.fliptheworldupsidedown.com/blog _____________________________________ Do you think the theory of evolution is true? Check out this short article by Adrian Rogers: “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and […]

Barack Obama on Mount Rushmore?

Keynesian Catastrophe: Big Money, Big Government & Big Lies

Uploaded by on Jan 19, 2012

The Cato Institute’s Dan Mitchell explains why Obama’s stimulus was a flop! With Glenn Reynolds.

See more at http://www.pjtv.com and http://www.cato.org

___________________

I wonder what the people would have said if Rutherford Hayes had spent 24.7% of GDP a year? Obama laughs at the thought of Rutherford on Mount Rushmore, but with the economic mess we have now I don’t there is much of a chance that President Obama will end up on there either. Here is an excellent article by Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute:

 A Simple Choice: Barack Obama or Rutherford Hayes?

March 19, 2012 by Dan Mitchell

Other than my ongoing adulation for Ronald Reagan, occasional praise for Calvin Coolidge, and one post about John F. Kennedy, I don’t have many nice things to say about previous Presidents.

But I feel the need to rise to the defense of Rutherford B. Hayes, who was mocked recently by the current President. This Mark Steyn column is a deliciously vicious commentary on Obama’s speech, so no need for me to delve into the details.

Instead, I want to jump on the bandwagon and produce some posters comparing the 19th President and the 44th President (if you’re not aware, posters of Pres. Hayes with self-created captions have been all over the Internet).

You won’t be surprised to learn that I’m focused on the policy differences between Hayes and Obama.

Most important, Hayes largely was true to the Founding Fathers’ vision of a limited central government. Government spending averaged only about 6 percent of economic output during his tenure (probably less, the data are not very robust, so I took the worst-case numbers) and America was blessedly free of the income tax.

Obama, on the other hand, is repeating all of Bush’s mistakes and making government an even bigger burden, and then compounding his error by pursuing class warfare tax policy.

So which President would you prefer, Hayes or Obama?

John Brummett and Rick Crawford don’t see that the real problem is how much government spends!!!!!

Washington Could Learn a Lot from a Drug Addict

The problem with Washington is they are addicted to overspending our money and the problem is not that the government needs more money to waste. They survived on less than 4% of GDP the first 150 years that our nation existed (except in wartimes), but this year they are spending 24.7% of GDP. Why does our federal government need more than 15% of GDP? I wish someone would tell me.

Below you will see that liberals like Brummett actually like the idea of raising taxes and have given Crawford some praise for bringing up the idea. However, Dan Mitchell is right about Crawford’s idea and it is stupid to expect a drunk to stop drinking if you buy him more liquor.

 John Brummet in his article “Rick Crawford’s playing chess with the budget,” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, March 21, 2012 asserted:

Rick Crawford last week became the first known Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 21st Century to acknowledge that budget deficits must be attacked both by decreasing outgo and increasing income…

The paper (NY Times) thought it significant that Crawford, a first term freshman Republican from the 1st District of eastern and north-central Arkansas, had broken with all his Republican colleagues. He also had broken with the famous no-tax pledge forced on modern-day Republicans by the smugly destructive Grover Norquist.

Crawford had dared to call for a 5 percent income surtax on millionaires…

It’s not a bad chess move, actually.

His scheme is to tie this 5 percent income tax surtax on millionaires to a balanced-budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That is to say he would impose his surtax only if Congress voted to refer a balanced-budget amendment to the states.

Democrats will never go for a balanced-budget amendment, and shouldn’t.

It’s a cosmetic Republican trick. It refers an amendment to the lengthy process of ratification by the states while Congress gets to continue its self-serving negligence and irresponsibility as usual, evading the tough choices of actual and meaningful cuts…

So Crawford could have a ready fallback position. He could offer the income surtax only in exchange for actual commensurate reductions in federal government spending. His income tax could expire in the event the cuts were not verifiably achieved in a specified period of time.

That would be real budgeting, real compromise, real substance, real logic and real bipartisanship. It also would be real money and real math.

Actually, it’s our only way out of this looming financial calamity. We desperately need a few statesmen in Washington to stand up and say so.

___________

Although Brummett praises Crawford, I think Crawford’s fate may be ruin if he does not abandon his current path. Michael Cook noted that President Bush was defeated in 1992 because he went back on his word concerning taxes and he predicts Crawford may lose because of this too.

Dan Mitchell has a great article on Crawford.

I’ve remarked before that Democrats are the evil party and Republicans are the stupid party. Well, if anyone needs additional proof about GOPers being clueless and tone deaf, exhibit A is Congressman Rick Crawford of Arkansas, who has decided to preemptively capitulate in favor of higher tax rates.

Here are the relevant details from a Politico story.

Freshman Republican Rep. Rick Crawford will propose a surtax on millionaires Thursday morning, a crack in the steadfast GOP opposition to extracting more money from the nation’s top earners. The Arkansas Republican will unveil the plan during a local television interview Thursday morning, and plans to introduce legislation when the House returns next week, according to sources familiar with his thinking. Crawford will propose the additional tax— expected to be north of 2.5 percent — on individual income over $1 million as part of a broader fiscal responsibility package.

I have no idea if Congressman Crawford is simply naive, unaware that tax-increase deals inevitably lead to higher spending and more red ink. Or perhaps he’s trying to become the kind of Republican who thinks he can advance his career by saying things that will earn him pats on the head from the establishment media.

But I do know that America’s fiscal problem is a government that is far too big. You don’t solve the problem with more taxes, just as you don’t cure alcoholics by giving them more to drink.

Congressman Crawford, though, wants to give away the keys to a liquor store without even asking for an insincere commitment for future sobriety in exchange. Indeed, the Congressman’s naiveté is so impressive that he is the first winner of the Charlie Brown Award for Vapidness and Gullibility.

There’s a rumor that he is sending former President George H.W. “read my lips” Bush to collect his award, but I’m unable to confirm at this point.

This new award is part of a series, with the “Bob Dole Award” having been announced earlier this year.

In the same vein, but recognizing concepts rather than people, we also have “Mitchell’s Law” and “Mitchell’s Golden Rule.”

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Evangelicals worship (Part 3,Lakepointe Church, Texas)

Great church in Texas and here is some info from their website:

Who is Jesus?

Jesus is the central figure of Christianity. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” Salvation for any person is found through Jesus and Jesus, alone.

Jesus is also the second person in the Trinity. John 1:1-2 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God…” He is both human and divine…God and man at the same time.

Jesus is the perfect Savior. He never made a mistake and performed many miracles throughout His life including healing, casting out demons, walking on water, calming a storm, raising people from the dead and rising from the dead, Himself.

For more information on Who Jesus is, read the following article by Matt Slick HERE.

by Matt Slick

Jesus is the central figure of Christianity.  He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me,” (John 14:6).  Also, Jesus claimed to be God in flesh.  If you compare what God said to Moses in Exodus 3:14 (“And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”) with what Jesus said in John 8:58 (Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am,”), then you quickly see that Jesus was claiming to be God.  In fact, others testified that He was divine as well:

  • John 20:28, “Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!'”
  • Col. 2:9, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”
  • Heb. 1:8, “But of the Son He says, “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever…”

Jesus is the second person of the Trinity.  He is the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  2 He was in the beginning with God…  And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth,” (John 1:1-2,14).  Because the word was with God and was God and became flesh, we then state that Jesus has two natures: divine and human.  Therefore, Christianity teaches that Jesus is both God and man at the same time.  The reason that he is God in flesh is because only God can atone for our sins; we can’t do it on our own because we are finite, sinful beings and we cannot please an infinitely holy God.  Jesus had to be a man to be able to die for humanity.  This means that Jesus took our place on the cross; that is, He took our place and suffered the wrath of God the Father.  If you trust in what Christ has done, then you will be saved from the righteous judgment of God.  More on that next.

God is infinitely holy, sinless, and just.  When we sin, when we do something contrary to God’s will, then we have offended God.  Since He is infinite, our offense against Him takes on an infinite quality — because of who we have offended:  an infinite God. Since no person can please an infinite God (because we are finite and sinners) then the only one left to remove our sins is God Himself.  Therefore, Jesus is God in flesh, the one who died on the cross, bore our sin in his body (1 Pet. 2:24), and physically rose from the dead.

Right now, in heaven, Jesus is still in the form of a man: “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Tim. 2:5).  Jesus rose from the dead in the same body he died in: “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ 20 The Jews therefore said, ‘It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?’  21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  22 When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had spoken,” (John 2:19-22).  Also, He retained the wounds of His crucifixion after He rose from the dead: “Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing,” (John 20:27).  Forty days after His resurrection He ascended into heaven bodily:  “And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight,” (Acts 1:9).  He will return again from the heavens, and will judge the world and all people:  “This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven,” (Acts 1:11).  Yet, at the same time, He is still divine, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,” (Col. 2:9).

Jesus never did anything wrong.  He performed many miracles such as healing, casting out demons, walking on water, calming a storm with the command, raising people from the dead, and rising from the dead himself.  Though there have been many great teachers throughout history, none of them have performed such miracles and claimed to be divine as Jesus claimed.  This is why we can believe Him when He says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me,” (John 14:6).

We trust what Jesus said.  Therefore…

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Adrian Rogers’ sermon on Clinton in 98 applies to Newt in 2012

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“Payday Someday” by Robert G. Lee (Part 1 of transcript and video)

Dr Rogers was fond of this quote he got from Robert G. Lee:  ”Sin will take you farther than you want to go, Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay, Sin will cost you more than you want to pay.“  Pay Day – Someday by Dr. R. G. Lee Uploaded by BereanBeacon on […]

Mike Huckabee to Osama bin Laden: “Welcome to Hell” (Part 8)Woody Allen’s movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” is a perfect example of why hell the only “enforcement factor”

Crimes & Misdemeanors (pictured is Judah and his criminal brother, ultimately his brother hires a hitman to take out Judah’s girlfriend who threatens to turn Judah over to the cops) Crimes And Misdemeanors 1989 9/13 Adrian Rogers – Crossing God’s Deadline Part 4 crimes & misdemeanors Best scene of the movie!!!! _ John Brummett in […]

Tim Tebow’s Christian faith not abandoned in locker room

I am thrilled to get the chance to share the following article with you today. I got a call from Tim Keown who is a writer for ESPN Magazine a few days ago. He had read a post from my blog on Tim Tebow and wanted to ask me some questions. One of my answers […]

What is God doing with Tim Tebow? Fellowship Bible pastor of Little Rock ponders…

Everyone is wondering if this amazing fourth quarter comeback streak will end for the Denver Broncos and their quarterback Tim Tebow. At the December 11, 2011 early service at Fellowship Bible Church, pastor Mark Henry (who himself was an all conference Arkansas Razorback football player) noted: How many of you have been watching the drama […]

Carl Sagan versus RC Sproul

At the end of this post is a message by RC Sproul in which he discusses Sagan. Over the years I have confronted many atheists. Here is one story below: I really believe Hebrews 4:12 when it asserts: For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the […]

E P I S O D E 6 How Should We Then Live 6#1 I am sharing with you a film series that I saw in 1979. In this film Francis Schaeffer asserted that was a shift in Modern Science. A. Change in conviction from earlier modern scientists.B. From an open to a closed natural system: […]

“Satisfaction Guaranteed” sermon by Brandon Barnard of Fellowship Bible Church (3-11-12)

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For / U2 The Rolling Stones Satisfaction (rare) If you want to see the path that Kerry Livgren and Dave Hope of the rock group Kansas took to find true satisfaction then listen to their song “Dust in the Wind” and then read their testimony at this link […]

 

Barrett Jones of Alabama Crimson Tide has spent time the last two years ministering to earthquake victims in Haiti. (Barrett grew up and went to ECS where I graduated and to Bellevue Baptist where I was a member while growing up. Adrian Rogers was the pastor from 1972 to 2004.) Actually I wrote about Barrett’s […]

THREE TELLING ARGUMENTS AGAINST EVOLUTION by Adrian Rogers (Part 1 of series on Evolution)jh57

The Long War against God-Henry Morris, part 1 of 6 Uploaded by FLIPWORLDUPSIDEDOWN3 on Aug 30, 2010 http://www.icr.org/ http://store.icr.org/prodinfo.asp?number=BLOWA2 http://store.icr.org/prodinfo.asp?number=BLOWASG http://www.fliptheworldupsidedown.com/blog _____________________________________ Do you think the theory of evolution is true? Check out this short article by Adrian Rogers: “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and […]

Milton Friedman: Jewish tradition is so akin to capitalism but many Jews are socialists, what a paradox (Part 7)

Milton Friedman on the American Economy (5 of 6)

Uploaded by on Aug 9, 2009

THE OPEN MIND
Host: Richard D. Heffner
Guest: Milton Friedman
Title: A Nobel Laureate on the American Economy VTR: 5/31/77

__________________

Below is a part of the series on an article by Milton Friedman called “Capitalism and the Jews” published in 1972. 

Capitalism and the Jews

October 1988 • Volume: 38 • Issue: 10 • Print This Post11 comments

Milton Friedman, recipient of the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science, is a Senior Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution. This article is reprinted with the permission of Encounter and The Fraser Institute.

“Capitalism and the Jews” was originally presented as a lecture before the Mont Pelerin Society in 1972. It subsequently was published in England and Canada and appears here without significant revision.

Israel as a Diasporal Reaction

I was first led to this explanation of the anti-capitalist mentality of the Jews by my experience in Israel. After several months there, I came to the conclusion that the quickest way to reach a generalization in any area about values in Israel was to ask what was true of the Jews in the Diaspora and reverse it.

Jews in the Diaspora were urban dwellers engaged in commercial pursuits and almost never in agriculture; in Israel, agriculture has much higher prestige than commerce.

Jews in the Diaspora shunned every aspect of military service; Israelis value the military highly and have demonstrated extraordinary competence.

These two reversals are readily explained as the children of necessity, but let me continue.

Yiddish or Ladino was the language of the Jews in the Diaspora; both are looked down on in Israel, where Hebrew is the language.

Jews in the Diaspora stressed intellectual pursuits and rather looked down on athletics. There is tremendous emphasis on athletics in Israel.

And for what may seem like an irrelevant clincher: Jews in the Diaspora were reputed to be excellent cooks; cooking in Israel is generally terrible, in homes, hotels, and restaurants.

Can this record not be interpreted as an attempt, no doubt wholly subconscious, to demonstrate to the world that the commonly accepted stereotype of the Jews is false?

I interpret in the same way the evidence assembled by James Wilson and Edward Banfield that Jews (and “Yankees”) tend to adopt a “community-serving conception” of the public interest, and to vote against their own immediate self-interest, in larger proportions than most other groups.[15]

I interpret also in this way the attempt by Fuchs to trace Jewish “liberalism” to Jewish values and the negative reaction of Jewish critics to Sombart’s book. If, like me, you regard competitive capitalism as the economic system that is most favorable to individual freedom, to creative accomplishments in technology and the arts, and to the widest possible opportunities for the ordinary man, then you will regard Sombart’s assignment to the Jews of a key role in the development of capitalism as high praise. You will, as I do, regard his book as philo-Semitic. On the other hand, if you are trying your level best to demonstrate that Jews are dedicated to selfless public service in a socialist state, that commerce and money-lending were activities forced on them by their unfortunate circumstances and were wholly foreign to their natural bent, then you will regard Sombart as an anti-Semite simply reinforcing the stereotype against which you are battling. In this vein, the Universal Jewish Encyclopaedia says in its article on Sombart: “He accused the Jews of having created capitalism” (my italics).

The complementary character of the final two explanations is, I trust, clear. Whence comes the value structure that puts service to the general public above concern for oneself and one’s close• family; government employment above private business; political activity above commercial activity; love of mankind in general above concern for men in particular; social responsibility above individual responsibility? Very largely from the collectivist trend of thought to which Jews contributed so much for the reasons advanced by Cohn.

Consider, for a moment, the reaction to the anti-Semitic stereotype by a nineteenth-century English Philosophical radical steeped in Benthamite utilitarianism—by a David Ricardo, James Mill, even Thomas Malthus. Could one of them ever have termed the allegation that Jews created capitalism an accusation? They would have termed it high praise. They would have regarded widespread emphasis on rational profit calculation as just what was needed to promote “the greatest good of the greatest number,” emphasis on the individual rather than the society as a corollary of belief in freedom, and so on.

I conclude then that the chief explanations for the anti-capitalist mentality of the Jews are the special circumstances of nineteenth-century Europe which linked pro-market parties with established religions and so drove Jews to the Left, and the subconscious attempts by Jews to demonstrate to themselves and the world the fallacy of the anti-Semitic stereotype. No doubt these two main forces were reinforced, and the view of the Jews altered in detail, by their historical and cultural heritage, which made them specially sensitive to injustice and specially committed to charity. They were reinforced also by whatever the forces are that predispose intellectuals towards the Left.

Whether or not this explanation is a satisfactory resolution of the paradox which was my starting point, it remains true that the ideology of the Jews has been and still is opposed to their self-interest. Except behind the iron Curtain, this conflict has been mostly potential rather than real. In the West, so long as a large measure of laissez-faire capitalism prevailed, the economic drive of the Jews to improve their lot, to move upward in the economic and social scale, was in no way hindered by the preaching of socialism as an ideal. They could enjoy the luxury of reacting against the anti-Semitic stereotype, yet benefit from the characteristics that that stereotype caricatured. On a much more subtle and sophisticated level, they were in the position of the rich parlor socialists—of all ethnic and religious backgrounds—who bask in self-righteous virtue by condemning capitalism while enjoying the luxuries paid for by their capitalist inheritance.

As the scope of government has grown, as the collectivist ideas have achieved acceptance and affected the structure of society, the conflict has become very real. I have already stressed the conflict in Israel that has led to giving a far greater role to market forces than the ideology of the early leaders envisioned. I have been struck in the United States with the emergence of the conflict in reaction to some of the proposals by Senator George McGovern. His early proposal, later rescinded, to set a top limit on inheritances produced an immediate reaction from some of those who might have been expected to be and were his strongest sup-porters. It came home to them that his measures—completely consistent with their professed ideology—would greatly hamper the upward social and economic mobility of which they had been the beneficiaries.

Perhaps the reality of the conflict will end or at least weaken the paradox that has been the subject of my talk. If so, it will be a minor silver lining in the dark cloud of encroaching collectivism. []


15.   James Q. Wilson and Edward C, Banfield, “Public-Regar-dingness as a Value Premise in Voting Behavior,” American Political Science Review, LVIII, 4 (Dec., 1964), pp. 876-887; “Political Ethos Revisited,” American Political Science Review, LXV, 4 (Dec., 1971), pp. 1048-1062. The similarity between the Jews and the Yankees in some of the characteristics examined by Wilson and Banfield is some evidence, if rather weak evidence, for the influence of religion and culture in view of the connection between Puritanism and Judaism.

Evangelicals worship (Part 2, Saddleback Church, Rick Warren pastor )

Saddleback Church Music from Night of Worship April 2009 – Rick Muchow – It Is Well

Here is some info from the Saddleback website:

When Rick and Kay Warren first arrived in the Saddleback Valley in December of 1979,

all they had was what they could fit in the back of a U-haul truck. Fresh out of seminary, the young pastor and his bride dreamed of planting a church that would be “a place where the hurting, the depressed, the confused can find love, acceptance, help, hope, forgiveness and encouragement.”

With many good Bible-teaching churches already in Southern California, Pastor Rick turned his attention to those who didn’t attend church regularly. Two weeks after Pastor Rick and Kay arrived in the Saddleback Valley, they began with a small Bible study, meeting with one other family in the Warrens’ small condo.

On Easter of 1980, Saddleback Valley Community Church held its very first public service and 205 people, most of who had never been to church, showed up. That began one of the most exciting journeys of growth that any church has experienced in American history. In more than two decades of ministry in South Orange County, God has continued to expand the church’s influence. Currently, Saddleback Church has more than 200 ministries serving the church and community. One in nine people in the area call Saddleback their church home.

God has also expanded the church’s ministry both nationally and internationally. Pastor Rick’s 1995 book The Purpose Driven Church put the principles that led to the church’s success in print, namely its focus on the five biblical purposes of the church: worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism. Now, more than 200,000 church leaders from around the world have been trained in Saddleback’s purpose-driven philosophy. Pastor Rick’s latest book, The Purpose Driven Life, focuses on the truth that life is “not about you,” and shows how God can enable each of us to live for His purposes.

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Adrian Rogers’ sermon on Clinton in 98 applies to Newt in 2012

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“Payday Someday” by Robert G. Lee (Part 1 of transcript and video)

Dr Rogers was fond of this quote he got from Robert G. Lee:  ”Sin will take you farther than you want to go, Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay, Sin will cost you more than you want to pay.“  Pay Day – Someday by Dr. R. G. Lee Uploaded by BereanBeacon on […]

Mike Huckabee to Osama bin Laden: “Welcome to Hell” (Part 8)Woody Allen’s movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” is a perfect example of why hell the only “enforcement factor”

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What is God doing with Tim Tebow? Fellowship Bible pastor of Little Rock ponders…

Everyone is wondering if this amazing fourth quarter comeback streak will end for the Denver Broncos and their quarterback Tim Tebow. At the December 11, 2011 early service at Fellowship Bible Church, pastor Mark Henry (who himself was an all conference Arkansas Razorback football player) noted: How many of you have been watching the drama […]

Carl Sagan versus RC Sproul

At the end of this post is a message by RC Sproul in which he discusses Sagan. Over the years I have confronted many atheists. Here is one story below: I really believe Hebrews 4:12 when it asserts: For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the […]

E P I S O D E 6 How Should We Then Live 6#1 I am sharing with you a film series that I saw in 1979. In this film Francis Schaeffer asserted that was a shift in Modern Science. A. Change in conviction from earlier modern scientists.B. From an open to a closed natural system: […]

“Satisfaction Guaranteed” sermon by Brandon Barnard of Fellowship Bible Church (3-11-12)

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Barrett Jones of Alabama Crimson Tide has spent time the last two years ministering to earthquake victims in Haiti. (Barrett grew up and went to ECS where I graduated and to Bellevue Baptist where I was a member while growing up. Adrian Rogers was the pastor from 1972 to 2004.) Actually I wrote about Barrett’s […]

THREE TELLING ARGUMENTS AGAINST EVOLUTION by Adrian Rogers (Part 1 of series on Evolution)jh57

The Long War against God-Henry Morris, part 1 of 6 Uploaded by FLIPWORLDUPSIDEDOWN3 on Aug 30, 2010 http://www.icr.org/ http://store.icr.org/prodinfo.asp?number=BLOWA2 http://store.icr.org/prodinfo.asp?number=BLOWASG http://www.fliptheworldupsidedown.com/blog _____________________________________ Do you think the theory of evolution is true? Check out this short article by Adrian Rogers: “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and […]

Woody Allen’s career in pictures “Woody Wednesday”

Manhattan (1979)Manhattan (1979)

The director and actress (pictured in front of the Queensboro Bridge in NYC) ended their years-long collaboration after this film, about an eccentric New Yorker who falls for the mistress of his best friend. Allen was nominated for a best writing Oscar. 

 
Annie Hall (1977) 
Annie Hall (1977)

Diane Keaton starred in the director’s New York-set film, which won both him and the actress Oscars. “Annie Hall was a wonderful experience for me,” Keaton said in her acceptance speech. “I would just like to say thanks to Woody and thank you.” 

 
 
Love and Death (1975)

After their 1973 flick Sleeper, Allen re-teamed with Keaton for this comedy, set during the Napoleonic Wars, which he directed and also starred in. 

Love and Death (1975)

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According to Woody Allen Life is meaningless (Woody Wednesday Part 2)

Woody Allen, the film writer, director, and actor, has consistently populated his scripts with characters who exchange dialogue concerning meaning and purpose. In Hannah and Her Sisters a character named Mickey says, “Do you realize what a thread were all hanging by? Can you understand how meaningless everything is? Everything. I gotta get some answers.”{7} […]

“Woody Wednesday” Part 1 starts today, Complete listing of all posts on the historical people mentioned in “Midnight in Paris”

I have gone to see Woody Allen’s latest movie “Midnight in Paris” three times and taken lots of notes during the films. I have attempted since June 12th when I first started posting to give a historical rundown on every person mentioned in the film. Below are the results of my study. I welcome any […]

What can we learn from Woody Allen Films?

Looking at the (sometimes skewed) morality of Woody Allen’s best films. In the late ’60s, Woody Allen left the world of stand-up comedy behind for the movies. Since then, he’s become one of American cinema’s most celebrated filmmakers. Sure, he’s had his stinkers and his private life hasn’t been without controversy. But he’s also crafted […]

Nihilism can be seen in Woody Allen’s latest film “Midnight in Paris”

In one of his philosophical and melancholy musings Woody Allen once drily observed: “More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.” Life tortures Woody Allen posted by Rod Dreher […]

Movie Review of “Midnight in Paris” lastest movie by Woody Allen

Midnight in Paris – a delightfully entertaining film of wit, wonder and love Have you ever thought that you were born in the wrong time? Since I was a child, I found my love for MGM musicals set me apart from my friends. Are we really out of place, or is a sense of nostalgia […]

“Midnight in Paris” movie review plus review of 5 Woody Allen classics (video clips from Annie Hall)

Five favorite Woody Allen classics Add a comment Sean Kernan , Davenport Classic Movies Examiner June 11, 2011 Woody Allen’s new film “Midnight in Paris” starring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams and Oscar winner Marion Cotillard opened Friday, June 10th at Rave Motion Pictures in Davenport, Iowa. “Midnight in Paris” stars Owen Wilson as a blocked […]