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.

Who is Jesus?

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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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 […]

March 21, 2012 – 9:52 am Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

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 Post • 11 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.

March 21, 2012 – 9:48 am Categories: Milton Friedman | Post a comment

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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March 21, 2012 – 9:43 am Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

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

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March 21, 2012 – 9:40 am Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

Evangelicals Worship (Part 1, The Village Church, Dallas, TX)

The Village Church in Dallas, Texas is a church that talks about current issues in our society including the issue that many young people would like to have an answer to.

Sep 29, 2011

Can I Smoke Marijuana?

Author: Geoff Ashley Category: Culture, Theology

Answering this question is simple in the context of The Village Church because all marijuana use is illegal in Texas. According to the Scriptures, God has ordained all authority, and we are called to submit to such authority (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-17). Except in cases where Christian responsibility is at stake (Acts 4:18-21; 5:27-29), we are called to obey the laws of the land in which God has placed us.

If you live in Texas or any other context in which it is illegal, no compelling case can be made for any use of marijuana. A person who uses marijuana (or any other substance) illegally does so sinfully. This is no gray area.

If, however, you live in a context where marijuana is legal, it is still wise and prudent to refrain (with the possible exception of a legitimate and prescribed medicinal use). The reason I encourage abstinence is two-fold.

First, marijuana impairs a user to such an extent that he or she is controlled by the drug. As Paul states in Ephesians 5:18, the problem with drunkenness is that the user is filled with and thus controlled by alcohol rather than the Spirit. As even moderate marijuana use produces a high, the same principle applies.

For those who argue that “excessive use” of marijuana is sinful, while moderate use is acceptable, consider that it is possible to drink without becoming drunk, but a person becomes under the controlling influence of marijuana as soon as he or she inhales.

Second, marijuana use cannot legitimately pass the barrage of questions that passages like 1 Corinthians 10 force us to answer before engaging in any questionable action (again, it is not questionable in illegal contexts). As mentioned in a previous blog on yoga, you must answer the following questions:

  1. Do I recognize that having the right to do something does not mean that it is the right thing to do (v. 23)?
  2. Is this both helpful and edifying (v. 23)?
  3. With whom and around whom would I be smoking marijuana? Will participation hurt the conscience of another (v. 24-28)?
  4. Can I smoke marijuana in a posture of gratitude and to the glory of God? How is God glorified in this activity (vv. 30-31)?
  5. Will my participating cause unnecessary offense to others? Will it hinder my opportunities to engage in mission for the kingdom (vv. 32-33)?

For the sake of submission to the authority appointed over you by God, for the sake of your own submission to the leading and controlling influence of the Spirit and for the sake of the conscience of others, Christians should not engage in the use of marijuana.

Matt Chandler is the pastor of The Village Church and I have done several posts about him in the past and see these posts by clicking on the links below:

Matt Chandler: “If God Doesn’t Heal Me….” (LIFE Today / James Robison)

Uploaded by on Apr 28, 2010

LIFE Today, hosted by James and Betty Robison, welcomes the young pastor and his wife and talk candidly about his life-threatening brain tumor. Watch the full episode at http://www.lifetoday.tv/swf/2010/05/100518.htm

____________________

Matt Chandler:Journey with Christ through hardship of Brain Cancer!!! (Part 5)

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Matt Chandler:Journey with Christ through hardship of brain cancer (Part 4)

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Matt Chandler:Journey with Christ through hardship of brain cancer (Part 3)

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Matt Chandler:Journey with Christ through hardship of brain cancer (Part 2)

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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 […]

March 21, 2012 – 8:40 am Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

Matt Chandler:Journey with Christ through hardship of Brain Cancer!!! (Part 5)

Uploaded by on Apr 30, 2010

Matt Chandler is the lead pastor at The Village Church. This is a small sample of a sermon entitled “The Afflictions of Christ” given on 04/18/10. To listen to the sermon in its entirety, or to check out other messages given at The Village go to their website. www.thevillagechurch.net/sermons

___________________

I was moved by the material and videos on the Southern Baptist pastor Matt Chandler, pastor of The Village Church near Dallas, Texas, and his struggle with brain cancer and how it has been possible to endure because he continues to turn to Christ for his strength and purpose.

Recently  Chandler stated, “I’m wondering how you’re doing at rejoicing. Are you doing it well?

“Are you rejoicing in what God has done for you in Christ or is your rejoicing hollow [or] shallow?”

Great article below:

Sunday, December 11, 2011

The Weight of Waiting

 
Advent is one of my favorite seasons though it involves one of my least favorite activities: waiting. Though I’m not especially fond of waiting in a long line at the grocery store or waiting for a traffic light to turn green, this is another kind of waiting. This is waiting on the Lord.

 
I have dreams, plans, desires that I long to see come to fruition. These are good dreams–plans, I pray, that would give glory to God and stir the affections of the saints toward Him. I’m not alone in this. At the moment, I know of two families in particular who are waiting for some very good things. One waits to see if the Lord would be gracious in continuing to grow a precious child in her womb. Another waits to see if He will grant healing and restoration in their daughter’s body. The one word in those sentences on which its content hangs is this: waits.
 
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, I know the Lord could speak one word in the smallest moment and all would be restored–the little life would grow, the broken body would be healed, and my plans would materialize. He is able. But, as of this morning, He hasn’t chosen to reveal His will in these matters yet. Both families (and myself) are waiting. This I do know: God has revealed His will for right now. His will for them and for me is to wait.
 
There is weight in waiting. It is a gravity that pulls us toward Him. Very few things offer relief or respite but the presence of God and the healing balm of His word.
 
This weight is a heaviness that presses us down, sometimes on our faces. Many times in my waiting the Lord has shown me that I desire the thing on which I wait more than I desire Him. The realization of my idolatry and the unrelenting kindness of God even in the midst of it leads me to confession and repentance.
 
This weight refuses to let us go about our day without it reminding us of its presence. In my experience with waiting, I find others’ fulfillment of what I’m longing for highlighted. Rarely do I glance through a Twitter timeline without seeing even a hint of this. “Everyone” seems to be not waiting.
 
For those who wait on the Lord, though, it is not a weight leading to despair but instead a weight that invites us to know hope.
 
Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
the wormwood and the gall!
My soul continually remembers it
and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
The Lord is good to those who wait for him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
Lamentations 3:19 – 26
 
By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit from the mouth of Simeon, a man well-acquainted with waiting, as he holds the infant Jesus…
 
Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light of revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.
Luke 2:29 – 32

This is the hope: the salvation of the Lord has come and will come again to make all things right. It has come in the form of Jesus. Because He has come, all things will be used for our good whether our waiting ends as we’ve hoped or not. In our waiting and in its end, we get Him.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Is God responsible for evil events like 9/11? (Part 2) jh49

Ravi Zacharias Uploaded by clint25n on Feb 21, 2010 Sorry I missed recording the first few minutes of this but it is still worth watching. John Lennox is a mathematician who debated Richard Dawkins in “The God Delusion Debate”. ________________________ Some people have suggested that God was responsible for evil in the world  and that meant that […]

How can a good God allow the evil events of 9/11 to happen? (Part 1)jh58

Many of the family members of 9/11 victims have asked: How can a good God allow evil and suffering? Here is an explanation from the Evangelism Explosion leader’s guide: Their thinking is that either God is not powerful enough to prevent evil or else God is not good. He is often blamed for tragedy. “Where […]

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

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Is God responsible for evil, many Arkansas Times bloggers say yes!!(Part 2)

In my earlier post I quoted several Arkansas Times bloggers that blamed God for the evil in the world today. I wanted to make the simple point today that there must be an absolute standard to judge evil by and most atheists do not have that. Of course, Christians have the Bible. Today we have  […]

Is God responsible for evil, many Arkansas Times bloggers say yes!!(Part 1)

Here are some of the thoughts of Arkansas Times bloggers on the subject of God and the source of evil: ___________________________ Where does it all come from, the killings, lies, starvation, pestilence? “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” Isaiah 45:7 Posted […]

Death toll to 125 in Joplin, How can a good God allow evil and suffering?

First Person video of Joplin MO tornado 5/22/11 The video i took while at Fastrip on east 20th street. We huddled in the back of the store until the glass got sucked out , then ran into the walk in storage fridge. Sorry for the lack of visuals but the audio is pretty telling of […]

 

March 21, 2012 – 8:25 am Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

An open letter to President Obama (Part 43 of my response to State of Union Speech 1-24-12)

An open letter to President Obama (Part 43 of my response to State of Union Speech 1-24-12)

Congressman Rick Crawford State of the Union Response 2012

Uploaded by  on Jan 24, 2012

Rep. Rick Crawford responds to the State of the Union address January 24, 2012

President Obama’s state of the union speech Jan 24, 2012

Barack Obama (Photo by Saul Loeb-Pool/Getty Images)

President Obama c/o The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is going on out here.

The Heritage Foundation website (www.heritage.org ) has lots of good articles and one that caught my attention was concerning your State of Union Speech on January 24, 2012 and here is a short portion of that article:

American Leadership AWOL Again – Ted Bromund

The President’s remarks in his State of the Union Address on foreign
policy were formulaic. This Address was about domestic policy and,
ultimately, about the 2012 election, which the President clearly
believes will be won or lost on the basis of his record at home.
Unfortunately, that does not absolve him of his responsibility to do
more than slot token references on events abroad into his remarks.

All Americans will agree that the death of Osama bin Laden at the
hands of American forces is an event to be welcomed and cheered. But
bin Laden was not the be all and end all of al Qaeda, and drone
strikes – no matter how tactically effective – are not the same thing
as a counter-insurgency strategy that works for the long haul. And
under Obama, the long haul has gone AWOL. Our departure from Iraq and
our impending bug-out from Afghanistan are not events to be
celebrated: they are signs of exactly the kind of short-termism that
he criticizes in the rest of his address.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Obama’s celebration of the war in
Libya, where the improvised U.S. intervention – against the disgusting
Qaddafi, a man who met the end he merited – stumbled through to an
outcome that its conduct of the war did not deserve. And contrary to
the President’s depiction of Libya as a triumph, the war in North
Africa is not over: we’re just not paying attention to it any more. As
with the President’s condemnation of Iran’s nuclear program, stirring
words are standing in for meaningful actions.

What is really striking about the Address is how much it left unsaid.
There was a quick mention of the free trade agreements with South
Korea, Panama, and Colombia, one of last year’s genuine
accomplishments, but no mention of the long opposition to them from
the President’s own party. The fraudulent elections in Russia and the
on-going collapse of the Euro were similarly missing, except for a
brief reference to the President’s determination to make sure that
Russia’s abusive behavior doesn’t affect his support for its admission
into the World Trade Organization. The President praised the steadfast
support of America’s allies in Berlin, Tokyo, and Rio, but his list
was telling: Germany didn’t support the NATO mission in Libya, Japan
has not so far supported the boycott of Iranian oil, and Brazil has
been a stick in the wheel impeding action on Iran.

And, finally, the United Nations and the treaties in which the
President invested so much hope in earlier years have disappeared
completely. For that we can be thankful, but it points out what the
Address as whole conclusively demonstrates: from its start to its end,
this Administration has always emphasized domestic policy, and has
taken only a sporadic and unserious interest in international affairs.

Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your committment as a father and a husband.

Sincerely,

Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com

March 21, 2012 – 5:47 am Categories: President Obama | Post a comment

Nicolas Loris of Heritage Foundation reacts to Obama’s proposed budget

Sen. Toomey responds to State of the Union address 2012

Leader Cantor On CNN Responding To President Obama’s State of the Union Address

Here is an excellent piece from the Heritage Foundation with a reaction to the president’s proposed budget:

Obama’s Energy Budget: The Antithesis of a Market-Driven Energy Economy – Nicolas Loris

If only entrepreneurs had President Obama’s vision of what technologies are going to be successful and profitable in the future. Sadly, the President’s vision seems to suggest that America’s innovators lack the ingenuity and expertise to meet our country’s needs, leaving the taxpayer to pick up the dropped ball. In a nutshell, that’s President Obama’s fiscal year 2013 Department of Energy (DOE) budget. It completely rejects the notion of a market-based energy industry and wastes taxpayer dollars at a time when we desperately need to curtail out-of-control spending. Whether it’s renewable energy, energy efficiency, nuclear, or fossil fuels, the President’s blueprint is all wrong. Not the Government’s Role to Make Energy Technologies Cost Competitive Each year, the President’s budget has moved further away from basic research and more into commercializing politically preferred technologies.

For instance, the 2013 budget proposes to spend $310 million on the SunShot Initiative, a program to make solar energy cost-competitive without subsidies by 2020. The oxymoronic part of this proposal is that the program itself is a $310 million subsidy. And it’s a perfect example of the President’s attempt to hand over America’s energy economy to the DOE. This is an attempt that’s been tried and failed. And it’s not just solar getting a handout—there’s money for wind, geothermal, biofuels, advanced vehicles, energy efficiency, nuclear energy, and even natural gas. Government has no business trying to make private-sector projects cost-competitive. It’s neither appropriate nor necessary. There’s a robust demand for energy domestically and globally that is met with a wide variety of energy sources. According to analysis by HSBC Holdings PLC, the global market for low-carbon energy and energy efficiency will reach $2.2 trillion in the next decade. That’s all the incentive solar needs. If a technology or a company cannot capture part of that market, it doesn’t deserve to be in business, and it certainly needs no help from the taxpayer. Consumers and Businesses Know How to Save Money Energy efficiency spending programs and legislation have largely enjoyed bipartisan support because the practices of being resourceful and saving money are inherently desired. But it’s because they’re inherently good things that we don’t need government mandates, rebate programs, or spending initiatives to make businesses and homeowners more energy efficient. The President’s overview highlights that “the Budget provides DOE with $290 million to expand R&D on innovative manufacturing processes and advanced industrial materials that will enable U.S. companies to cut the costs of manufacturing by using less energy, while improving product quality and accelerating product development.”

Businesses do not need taxpayer dollars to improve efficiency and cut costs; they make those investments all the time with their own money. Nestle’s newest water bottle uses 60 percent less plastic than the one they first introduced in mid-1990s. Businesses make these investments every day to be more competitive and pass the savings onto consumers to capture a larger market share. Energy efficiency programs take an overly simplistic view of how our economy works and fail to take into account the tradeoffs energy consumers and businesses consider when making decisions. Subsidize One Fossil Fuel, Punish Another? In his State of Union speech, President Obama claimed that our country’s natural gas boom came largely as a result of public funding. While nothing could be further from the truth, the President wants to unnecessarily dump money into an already-booming industry. The budget proposal includes $421 million in fossil energy research and development, including $12 million “aimed at advancing technology and methods to safely and responsibly develop America’s natural gas resources.” Much of the $421 million is subsidies for the fossil fuel industry for research and spending that can be done by the private sector. Most of this funding focuses on technologies that will reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The program includes a clean coal power initiative, research on fuels and power systems to reduce fossil power plant emissions, innovations for existing plants, integrated gasification combined cycle, advanced turbines, carbon sequestration, and natural gas technologies. All of these programs need to go. The Administration proposed a phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies, significantly cutting funding for the Office of Fossil Energy. But the Administration is doing so less because it is good economic policy (which it is) and more to promote an environmental policy of Administration-preferred clean energy sources. When the Administration does talk about eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, they’re not actually removing subsidies but imposing targeted tax hikes on the oil industry by removing broadly available tax deductions. The President’s anti-subsidy rhetoric is on track, but actually defining what’s a subsidy is a different story.

Unsurprisingly, President Obama’s budget proposal for energy is largely a carbon copy of last year’s, with an even stronger government push for renewable energy and energy efficiency programs. It hands DOE unprecedented control over America’s energy economy, which has successfully been driven by the private sector. The DOE budget proposal doesn’t need a scalpel taken to it; it needs a hatchet.

 __________________

I believe in the free market and basically if an industry is successful then it will grow and if it is not then it will disappear. It is no place for the federal government to try and re-arrange everything.

March 20, 2012 – 7:19 pm Categories: President Obama | Post a comment

Matt Chandler:Journey with Christ through hardship of brain cancer (Part 4)

  • matt chandler
    (Photo: The Gospel Coalition)
    Pastor Matt Chandler of The Village Church in Texas speaks at the The Gospel Coalition’s 2011 National Conference in Chicago, Wednesday, April 13, 2012.

I was moved by the material and videos on the Southern Baptist pastor Matt Chandler, pastor of The Village Church near Dallas, Texas, and his struggle with brain cancer and how it has been possible to endure because he continues to turn to Christ for his strength and purpose.

“Human beings have a rejoicing problem – not that they don’t rejoice, they rejoice on the surface,” he said.

The way to rejoice properly is to “remember your Creator,” he said as he preached from the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes.

God’s consistent reminder to the people in the Old Testament was to remember who He was. “Remember that I am God … I do what you can’t. I am beyond you.”

Below is from a July 1, 2011 interview with Table Talk Magazine:

Don’t Waste Your Cancer: An Interview with Matt Chandler

by

Tabletalk: By way of offering a brief introduction of yourself and your family, when was God’s call to serve His people confirmed for you?

Matt Chandler: I think my story is a bit strange in that my awareness of God’s call on my life to serve His people was a bit lost in me serving His people. I’ll try and explain that. I was very frustrated with my church experiences heading into college. I loved sharing the gospel and loved the God of the Bible, but it appeared to me (probably my immaturity) that my church and I were seeing different things in the Scriptures. I saw atonement and the fear of the Lord, and at church they were teaching us not to drink beer and not to have sex. To be truthful, I wasn’t drinking beer or having sex, and could see that drunkenness was sinful and that God had a plan for sex in marriage. Yet it appeared to me that those were secondary issues that should be addressed after the atoning work of Christ was communicated and understood. I started teaching at an ecumenical gathering while I was in college and assumed I would finish school, become a good lawyer, and teach Sunday school at the local Baptist church wherever I settled (I was hoping for the West Coast). The Bible study blew up numerically, and we were running around one thousand to fifteen hundred students every week. A young woman from that study asked me when I received the “call of ministry.” I was honestly confused by her question. I thought she was asking if the Baptists had literally called me on the phone and let me teach the Bible study. She clarified her question, and it sent all my dreams and plans into another direction altogether. It was at this time that I came to understand that I wouldn’t be spending my life doing law and teaching Sunday school but rather teaching and leading God’s people into maturity by the Spirit’s power and by the proclamation of the Word.

TT: What counsel would you give to a believer on the day he or she is diagnosed with cancer? How about six months after the diagnosis?

MC: One of God’s big mercies in all of this has been allowing me to pastor a young church. I have done multiple funerals every year I have been here, and only one has been for a person over the age of fifty. I learned very early that people need to have a good grasp of God’s goodness and God’s sovereignty. On the day that a person is diagnosed, I try to encourage them in God’s knowledge — that this hasn’t surprised Him or caught Him off guard. I want to remind them that this isn’t punitive, but rather that God is on the move and He can be trusted. Six months after the diagnosis is harder to answer because cancer can go one of two ways. If the man or woman is still in a real fight, I want to draw his or her attention to Hebrews 11 or the story of Abraham being promised a son or even David being anointed king and then running from Saul for all those years before sitting on the throne. I think it’s important to remind people after the initial shock of diagnosis wears off and the wear and tear of treatment settles in that victory for those who are children of God is guaranteed, although difficulty, pain, and waiting might all be very present.

TT: In what ways has your cancer sanctified you?

MC: It’s made me look long and hard at my motives and has drawn me deeply into God in prayer. I am an excellent studier and researcher, and before all this began, I would say a decent man of prayer; but I learned after they told me I only had two to three years left that I knew much more about God than I actually knew Him. The bulk of my sanctification through this ordeal has been the birth of a deep desire for intimacy with our great God and King.

TT: How do you counsel christians to face death and disease (both those who are personally facing such crises and those who are currently enjoying robust health)?

MC: I simply have tried to point out that we shouldn’t be surprised by death and disease because the Bible is filled with it. As I stated above, an understanding of God’s goodness and His sovereign power are necessary to cope with life in a fallen world. I want to teach people that life is extremely fragile and that there isn’t a person in our sanctuary or listening to a podcast who can’t have his or her whole world change with a phone call or, as in my case, getting up one morning and getting a cup of coffee. Those are heavy truths, and I know they don’t make for feel-good sermons, but it’s better to know these truths than to pretend it’s not reality.

TT: You’ve written that if you had not heard John Piper’s answer to the question “For whom did Christ die?” at the 1997 Passion conference, you would not have had ground to stand on years later when you heard the words “brain cancer.” How did your understanding of the atonement help you deal with such a devastating diagnosis?

MC: Actually, I think my wife, Lauren, said that in a blog she wrote after my prognosis was given to us. That sermon was significant for both of us because up until that point, I’m not sure we grasped the size and holiness of God. That sermon changed the trajectory of both our lives in that it shifted how we saw God and understood Him.

TT: You’ve also written that there were moments last year when you felt you were “punched in the soul” but that you were reminded nevertheless that the disease with which you’re dealing “isn’t punitive but somehow redemptive.” Could you unpack that a little?

MC: I have been very blessed by God in my life. My cancer has honestly been one of the more difficult things to deal with. Lauren and I have tried to trust the Lord in everything, and when we’ve stepped out in faith He has been beyond gracious to us. People come to hear; they give generously to the church, and almost every “idea” we’ve had God has blessed and grown. I can honestly say that ministry and life were pretty easy for us up until Thanksgiving 2009. After I had the seizure and they found the tumor, I thought it would be like everything else had been — easy and would end well. When I first met my neurosurgeon on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, I was ignorantly and maybe even arrogantly thinking that nothing would come of it and that we would just need to watch this thing and see.

I was caught completely off guard when Dr. Barnett told me that it didn’t look good and that we needed to do surgery immediately. That was one of the first times in my life, if not the first time, that things went “worst-case scenario” on me. The Holy Spirit was quick to remind me of great passages on God’s sovereignty and goodness in difficulty. I thought of Romans 8, Hebrews 11, and several others. I wasn’t being punished with brain cancer because I didn’t tell that guy at the gym about Jesus or because I hadn’t read Piper’s latest book, but rather God was at work. He was doing something, and I could be sure that He loved me and in the end I would have increased joy and He would be glorified. Here we are over a year later and that’s exactly what’s happened.

TT: How has dealing with your disease affected your view of God’s sovereignty (or, how has your view of God’s sovereignty affected how you view your disease)?

MC: I believe the Scriptures teach that God is aware of every act at every level of the universe. From a star exploding to the rate at which our planet spins to a cell dividing, He knows. I don’t believe in the end that God gave me cancer, but He certainly could have stopped it and didn’t. So I have to believe like Joseph, John the Baptist, and Paul had to believe when they were in prison — that God is working, and what the enemy means for evil, He will turn to good. There have been multiple occasions when God has used thi s t remendously. The Associated Press let me preach the gospel in an article that ran worldwide. The story has caught the imagination of the media here in Dallas, and we’ve been able to talk about the atoning work of Christ on TV as well as in newspaper articles. That has led to a ton of men and women surrendering their lives to Christ after wanting to talk with me through their own sufferings. If my life gets “cut short” but we get to see new births in the kingdom, then I don’t feel slighted or robbed in the least.

TT: In the late summer/early fall of 2010, you went to Sudan. How did that trip impact your life?

MC: I was deeply moved by my trip to Sudan. I’ve traveled quite a bit internationally but have never seen anything like it. It isn’t even a Third World country. That’s what they want to be. We are connected with some extremely godly men there, and the opportunities for the advancement of a Christ-centered, biblically-strong faith growing in southern Sudan are very real. On a side note, if I had not been diagnosed with cancer, I would not have been able to make the trip. The original diagnosis had us clear my external speaking schedule and opened that time frame for us to go.

Matt Chandler serves as lead pastor of the Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas. He has become a leader in the evangelical world through his ministry at the Village Church, his involvement in the Acts 29 Church Planting Network, his teaching at multiple conferences, and most recently through his faithful witness to Jesus Christ while battling a malignant brain tumor. Rev. Chandler is also the author of the teaching series Philippians: To Live Is Christ & to Die Is Gain.

Related posts:

Is God responsible for evil events like 9/11? (Part 2) jh49

Ravi Zacharias Uploaded by clint25n on Feb 21, 2010 Sorry I missed recording the first few minutes of this but it is still worth watching. John Lennox is a mathematician who debated Richard Dawkins in “The God Delusion Debate”. ________________________ Some people have suggested that God was responsible for evil in the world  and that meant that […]

How can a good God allow the evil events of 9/11 to happen? (Part 1)jh58

Many of the family members of 9/11 victims have asked: How can a good God allow evil and suffering? Here is an explanation from the Evangelism Explosion leader’s guide: Their thinking is that either God is not powerful enough to prevent evil or else God is not good. He is often blamed for tragedy. “Where […]

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Is God responsible for evil, many Arkansas Times bloggers say yes!!(Part 2)

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Is God responsible for evil, many Arkansas Times bloggers say yes!!(Part 1)

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First Person video of Joplin MO tornado 5/22/11 The video i took while at Fastrip on east 20th street. We huddled in the back of the store until the glass got sucked out , then ran into the walk in storage fridge. Sorry for the lack of visuals but the audio is pretty telling of […]

 
 
 

Picture of the Chandler family:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 20, 2012 – 6:14 pm Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

My favorite president!!!!!

My favorite president is Ronald Wilson Reagan.

https://i0.wp.com/www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/photographs/large/C33290-9.jpg

President Reagan with Nancy Reagan, William Wilson, Betty Wilson, Walter Annenberg, Leonore Annenberg, Earle Jorgensen, Marion Jorgensen, Harriet Deutsch and Armand Deutschat at a private birthday party in honor of President Reagan’s 75th Birthday in the White House Residence. 2/7/86.

Milton Friedman’s book “Free to Choose” did influence me a lot during the days leading up to the Reagan presidency. Take a look at his interview with Phil Donahue below. Did you know that Phil Donahue is married to the daughter of Danny Thomas. Marlo is in charge of raising funds for her father’s hospital in Memphis.

I am going to post portions of this article by Ronald Reagan the next few days.

June 10, 2004, 10:30 a.m.
Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation
Ronald Reagan’s pro-life tract.

EDITOR’S NOTE: While president, Ronald Reagan penned this article for The Human Life Review, unsolicited. It ran in the Review‘s Spring 1983, issue and is reprinted here with permission.

Abraham Lincoln recognized that we could not survive as a free land when some men could decide that others were not fit to be free

I have often said we need to join in prayer to bring protection to the unborn. Prayer and action are needed to uphold the sanctity of human life. I believe it will not be possible to accomplish our work, the work of saving lives, “without being a soul of prayer.” The famous British Member of Parliament, William Wilberforce, prayed with his small group of influential friends, the “Clapham Sect,” for decades to see an end to slavery in the British empire. Wilberforce led that struggle in Parliament, unflaggingly, because he believed in the sanctity of human life. He saw the fulfillment of his impossible dream when Parliament outlawed slavery just before his death.

Let his faith and perseverance be our guide. We will never recognize the true value of our own lives until we affirm the value in the life of others, a value of which Malcolm Muggeridge says:. . . however low it flickers or fiercely burns, it is still a Divine flame which no man dare presume to put out, be his motives ever so humane and enlightened.”

Abraham Lincoln recognized that we could not survive as a free land when some men could decide that others were not fit to be free and should therefore be slaves. Likewise, we cannot survive as a free nation when some men decide that others are not fit to live and should be abandoned to abortion or infanticide. My Administration is dedicated to the preservation of America as a free land, and there is no cause more important for preserving that freedom than affirming the transcendent right to life of all human beings, the right without which no other rights have any meaning.

1980 interview with Milton Friedman by Phil Donahue (part 4). Friedman greatly

March 20, 2012 – 6:11 pm Categories: Ronald Reagan | Post a comment