It Isn't Good for Anyone.

FOXNews.com - Young Girls Going Wild, But at What Consequences? - Health News Current Health News Medical News: "Mental and Physical Health: Research links sexualization with three of the most common mental health problems diagnosed in girls and women—eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression or depressed mood."
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Joseph, the Child, the Holy Virgin. What a wonderful civilizing influence on Western Civilization for two thousand years. Joseph, the strong, take-charge, godly and competent man; Mary, the mother of our Lord: submissive, meek, mild, quiet with a depth of godly passion and love for God; the Baby, Savior of the world, meek and lowly.

What an example for boys and girls for the centuries. In spite of the godless deification and worship of the Virgin and saints, the institution of the Holy Family bore witness to the truth: life is more than baring or beating your breasts; whoring around, and "going wild."

Far better that example for young men and women than Paris Hilton, JLo, Brittney, and all the other scum of Hollywood and television.

If laws are supposed to protect the innocent and the weak, the legal establishment of the United States is an outright failure. If a boy or a girl escapes dismemberment by scalpel or vacuum, he will grow up in a moral sewer of fornication, sodomy, lesbianism, and perversions that his grandfather never heard of. Whatever are we thinking of?

If it were not for the divine favor of predestination unto life that preserves some to be conformed to the image of Christ we would be as Sodom and Gomorrah, ripe for judgment and utter destruction.

The unbeliever should be every day thankful for the seed of the Godly and the eternal predestination of some to eternal life, for without this eternal decree none would escape the immediate wrath of God.

But then, if they were thankful, they wouldn't be unbelievers, would they?

The Ararat Movie Homepage: "In 1939, when Hitler was boldly embarking on his genocide of six million Jews, he is reported to have remarked, 'Who, after all, remembers the extermination of the Armenians?' Indeed, hardly anyone does. Hence the importance of this film, the first major cinematic production to address this tragedy."
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This was a picture that I took in the summer of 2005. You can guess whether the sun is coming up or going down.

Ararat is worth seeing if for no other reason than to keep alive the memory of the long-lived hatred that the Islamic world has for Christianity. "Why do they hate us so?" is the whimper of modern liberals in the West. The true answer is a biblical one: "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." (Joh 15:19 AV) Even the faint remnants of Christianity in the West are objects of intense hatred of the sons of darkness, whose master was a liar and a murderer from the beginning.

Armenia was one of the earliest Christian nations and saved the West for Christ against the dualism of Persia at one of the most pivotal battles in the history of the world, the battle of Avarayr [Avarair] and the rolling back of Zoroastrianism.

The people of Armenia multiplied and settled in the empty lands of Anatolia and Palestine. They would periodically be exterminated during the long years of Islamic rule in those lands, but they always showed resiliance. A faithful history of the Crusades must also include the murder of multitudes of Christian people in lands conquered by the Sons of the Prophet. The stories of these atrocities made their way into Europe and inflamed those who heard them.

In 1915 Turkey adopted a "final solution" for the Armenian population of Anatolia. The movie Ararat has all the problems associated with the modern film industry, but the images of genocide are horrible. And the memories of the Armenians are long.

[Note: "Armenians" must not be confused with "Arminians." "Arminians" are the theological followers of the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius who rejected the biblical doctrine of predestination and the bondage of sin.

Sajani Is A Goddess Once Again: "Sajani Shakya, a 10-year-old Nepalese girl who jeopardized her status as a 'living goddess' by traveling to the D.C. area for the premiere of a documentary about her, has had her title reinstated by religious authorities in her homeland."
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Now just ain't this ducky? Today she's a goddess; yesterday she wasn't; day before that she was. What will she be tomorrow? Do people actually believe that stuff?

Idolatry is so foolish that the only people who believe it are those who have their mind darkened. They are carried away as if by violence to dumb idols [1Cor. 12].

Romans 1:21: "[They] became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened."

Romans 1:28: "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient [fitting, or becoming]...."

Blind, deaf, and speechless. Never underestimate the power of sin to make people foolish.

I thought it might cheer your day to see the hollyhocks that are growing by the fence in my front yard.

They will do you more good than a post about Ward Churchill or Jesse Jackson or Nancy Pelosi

"Ward Churchill is a far more profound, original, knowledgeable, productive and important scholar than any of his critics," University of Colorado sociology professor Tom Mayer insisted as recently as last month.

Mayer is correct to this extent: Yes, Churchill was original and productive. He was original to the point of inventing his material and productive to the point of lifting the work of others. The voluminous evidence is all available, for anyone to see, in the 124 pages of the "Report of the Investigative Committee of the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct" that was issued in May 2006.

Thus far the Rocky Mountain News today, commenting on the firing of pseudo-professor Ward Churchill.

It didn't have anything to do with free speech, of course. It had to do with whether the peopl e of Colorado could decide that a liar, thief, and all around vagabond should be paid by the tax-payers and provided a forum for his self-aggrandizement.

The regents decided that the people didn't want to pay anymore. Now the courts will get a chance, I suppose, to affirm the right of contracts. Given some court decisions, however, they may decide to invent new rights for the basest of us.

See my new post on the future at the basketoffigs website

NewsMax.com: Late Night Jokes: "Osama bin Laden has released another new video. That shows how dumb this guy is. He releases it the same week as Harry Potter."
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Jay Leno has a good point. I guess this guy [OBL] is a great deal dumber than we thought. But then, he is an Islamist--you have to be a bit goofy to believe that stuff.

Bush like Hitler, says first Muslim in Congress International News News Telegraph: "America's first Muslim congressman has provoked outrage by apparently comparing President George W Bush to Adolf Hitler and hinting that he might have been responsible for the September 11 attacks."
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So? The Ottoman Empire--what was left of it--supported the Central Powers in WWI; Turkey and other Ottoman remnants supported Hitler in WWII, and Mein Kampf has been a best seller in the Islamic world for decades, along with the infamous Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. So secretly they must admire Bush if he reminds them of Hitler. So much for logic and consistency. But how can you have consistency if your Allah is full of contradictions and has no reason and no personality--just an abstraction that excuses murders of women and children? "It is the will of Allah" is shorthand for "There's no sense in it."

Study: Troubled homes better than foster care - USATODAY.com: "Children whose families are investigated for abuse or neglect are likely to do better in life if they stay with their families than if they go into foster care, according to a pioneering study." Click here to read article
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Surely they do not mean that kids will do better with the parents God gave them than those appointed by government? Really?

I wonder if there are other things that parents can do better than government? Hmmmm?

Katrina devastation not unrivaled, analysis finds Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "Put simply, the devastation wrought by Katrina in 2005 was not unprecedented.

"That's significant in an era when some blame global warming for catastrophic hurricanes. The research concludes that economic damage from hurricanes, after being adjusted, has remained relatively constant during the last century."
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Hmmmmm. Algore should read the article.

Democrats to Hold Debate on Gay/Lesbian Issues

"(Los Angeles, California) For the first time the leading candidates for the presidency will hold a televised debate devoted solely to LGBT issues.

"The one-hour event will be held on August 9 and broadcast on gay network LOGO at 9:00 pm ET (6:00 pm ET) and through live streaming video at LOGOonline.com.

"Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards have confirmed they will participate. Several other Democratic candidates also may join the debate."
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This is great news. I think the dems have a deathwish.

Yes, the Bible Teaches that Jesus Is God

It is one thing to say "I don't believe that Jesus is God." It is a very different thing to say that the Bible does not teach that Jesus is God. It is impossible to know whether a person is lying if they say that they do not believe that Jesus is God--only the person himself [and God, of course]--knows whether or not he speaks the truth, so no debate is possible.

But to say that the Bible does not teach that Jesus is God is another thing. The question is settled by careful attention to the words of the Bible itself. The evidence is unmistakable, and a person is left with the choice of whether or not to believe the words of the Bible.

For instance, in John 5, the Apostle John records a controversy that Jesus had with the teachers in Israel. Jesus had healed a crippled man on the Sabbath Day, telling him to "take up his bed and walk." This offended the Jews for they thought that Jesus was breaking the law of Moses by healing people on the holy day. John says that they persecuted "Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day." (Joh 5:16 AV)

Against the charge of working on the Sabbath, John says that "Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." (Joh 5:17 AV)

The teachers of the law in Israel at this time were probably some of the most sophisticated and learned men of their times. They knew theological language, and they knew exactly what Jesus was saying. His claim could not be mistaken. They were infuriated at Jesus' reply: "Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God." (Joh 5:18 AV)

If they had mistaken the meaning of Jesus' words, this would have been a wonderful opportunity for Jesus to set the record straight. If he was NOT claiming to be equal to God, he would have said something like this:

"No, no, no. I'm sorry you misunderstood me. I do not claim to be God. Only a man who is mad would make such a claim. I was only speaking in a manner that all people can affirm God as creator, and we all are sons of God. I am sorry you misunderstood."

Jesus did not do this. In fact, from the point of view of their unbelief, the reply of Jesus was even harder for them to digest. Jesus, against the charge that he blasphemed by claiming to be equal with God, made five astounding claim, affirming that he is, indeed, equal with God. These claims were as follows:

First: The works of the Father and the works of Jesus are identical.
"Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." (Joh 5:19 AV)

The Son can do nothing "of himself"; that is, of an independent nature. The works of the Son are in the Father and the works of the Father are in the Son. The Son, therefore is equally the Creator as in the Father. The Son upholds all things by the word of His Power, just as the Father does.

Second: The Intelligence of Jesus is equal to the God's intelligence.
"For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel." (Joh 5:20 AV)

It does no good to try to teach a pig to talk--the pig has no verbal intelligence or ability. Neither can you teach calculus to the kindergarten. If the Lord Jesus claims to have a full and complete revelation of everything the Father does, then the Lord Jesus has the ability to understand and assimilate that revelation. The Father hasn't even revealed everything about Himself in the Bible, because the church would not be able to assimilate it. "The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." (De 29:29 AV)

But Jesus said that the Father in His love has revealed "all things" that the Father does to the Son. Hence, unless the Father is engaged in futility, the Son understands and is equal to the Father. We would call a man mad who would say, "God shows me everything He does," but this is exactly what Jesus claimed.

Third: Jesus Gives Life as He chooses just as the Father does.
"For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will." (Joh 5:21 AV) "Even so" means "in the same way" Israel understood and boasted that they served the only true and living God. False gods were dead gods, lumps of stone and wood. They alone worshipped the true and the living God, the only source of the life and pulsated in the earth, for He alone gives life to all things. If Jesus is not God, then this statement is arrant blasphemy, and the Jews would have so understood it.

Fourth: The Son will judge the world, just as the Father does.
"For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:" (Joh 5:22 AV) Another thing that the Jews were certain of is this: God was the judge of all the earth, and would judge the world at the last day. This truth is everywhere in the Old Testament. One instance is Psalm 50: 1-7. Verse seven says:
"Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God." If Jesus is not God, his words are the words of a man who is either very evil, or bereft of his senses.

Five: The Son is to honored with the same honor that is given the Father.
That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." (Joh 5:23 AV) Is God to be loved and obey? then the same love and obedience must be given to Jesus or honor to the Father is empty and deceived. Every honor that is to be given to God is to be given to Jesus Christ, His Son. Refusal to honor the Son with equal honor is a refusal to rightfully honor God Himself and to be guilty of blasphemy. This is the reason that Paul said,

"If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha." (1Co 16:22 AV)

These are the very words of Christ, recorded by the beloved apostle. Only the reader knows whether he believes the words or not, but no one must get by with pretending that John didn't say what he said.

I expect to have more on this subject shortly. The apostles DID believe that Jesus is God, and they said it over and over again in many different ways. If you study and read the Bible, you have to be blind as a mole not to see it.

The Christian Century

The Christian Reformed Church continues to substitute social and pseudo-scientific theories for the authority of Scripture [See above link]. If science trumps the Bible on the six-days of creation, then certainly human knowledge trumps the Bible on women in church office. The Episcopalian and Presbyterian USA churches are a step or two ahead of the CRC, but not too far. Next for the CRC is the ordination of sodomites and lesbians. Why not? Science says they can't help it. Of course, theology says they can't help it either, but from a different foundation. "Can't help it," is an excuse for humanism; for sound theology it represents one aspect of the curse on Adam's children.

US juries get verdict wrong in one of six cases: study

US juries get verdict wrong in one of six cases: study: "So much for US justice: juries get the verdict wrong in one out of six criminal cases and judges don't do much better, a new study has found.

And when they make those mistakes, both judges and juries are far more likely to send an innocent person to jail than to let a guilty person go free, according to an upcoming study out of Northwestern University. "
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And so...? What is the conclusion?

Maybe the juries would do better if the rules of evidence were not so silly, designed to enrich trial lawyers and keep the truth from being heard in court.

Posted For Your Information

This is the exact reason why government power must be limited and the extent of government limited. Without the constitutional protections provide by the Bill of Rights, individuals can use the government to promote their own wealth and spite.
The founders of the United States understood this clearly, for more clearly than the modern public-school education illiterates.

Kuwait Detains Teacher

International Schools Review received this letter on June 23, 2007
from an international educator being detained in Kuwait. If you can
help her, or know of someone who can, please act immediately.
________________________________

FROM: Al-Bayan Bilingual School Middle School
Deputy Principal, Kuwait

TO: Whom It May Concern

DATE: June 21, 2007

RE: Detained in Kuwait/In Fear for My Safety

I am a Middle School Vice-Principal at Al-Bayan Bilingual School in
Kuwait. I have been employed in Kuwait for 6 years at the same
school.

One of my primary responsibilities is student discipline. On March 8,
2006, three boys in grade 5 were suspended for fighting. I
interviewed the boys, met with my principal and followed normal procedure. There
is no stigma here regarding suspension. Students spend the day in the
office where they study, are visited by teachers, and are taken to
the canteen, etc. It’s a normal consequence for fighting; all students
are aware of this and the procedure is clearly defined in our Parent
Handbook.

In the afternoon of March 8th, I received a phone call from one of
the boys' fathers, (name deleted) who is a powerful man in Kuwait. He
called to inform me that this situation was "personal," that he is
"friends with the emir" and that he planned to "destroy" me. This
conversation, which last about 9 minutes, was littered with
profanities and threats.

On March 11, 2006, the parents met with me, my principal and our
director, (name deleted), to discuss the suspension. The father
requested that if there was an issue involving his child that I would
call him immediately.

On April 27, 2006, I was requested to write a synopsis of events and
to visit the Ministry of Education to answer questions regarding the
suspension, describe the room in which the boys spent the school day
and provide a copy of our handbook.

In June 2006, the father transferred his children to a different
private school in Kuwait. Also, we received notification from the
Ministry of Education that in-school suspensions were no longer to be
applied; instead, parents must be contacted to take their children
home.

In February 2007, I learned that a case had been filed against me at
the Jabriya Police Department in Kuwait; the charge was "illegal
detainment" of his son on March 8, 2006. I answered questions in my
director’s presence and the Consul from the US Embassy, (name deleted). My lawyer was also present. The police did not suggest that there was any reason for me to be concerned as all of the questions were answered to the apparent satisfaction.

On June 13, 2007, I was at the Kuwait International Airport intending
to fly to Bahrain. I was stopped at immigration where I was informed
that there was a case against me, pending further investigation and
that a travel ban had been placed on me. I had not been informed. My
lawyer had not been informed. This travel ban was placed upon me
15 months after the boy was suspended. The parent said that he would
make this personal and this seems to be what he is intent upon doing.

On Saturday, June 16, 2007, I visited the American Embassy where I
met with the Vice Consul, (name deleted), who informed me that he
sympathized but could do nothing to lift the travel ban. He suggested
that I get an older Kuwaiti man to appeal to Mr. M. I was told
on Wednesday that my file would be transferred to another agency for
review so the ban could be lifted. Five working days later, the
whereabouts of my file are uncertain. I have been told that my file
is in 2 different places; this seems to be a delay tactic. Why? Because
I angered an influential Kuwaiti national who is at the top of the
social register both locally and at the US Embassy?

On I visited the office of a police inspector named (name deleted,)
whose office is in Salmiya. He is a police official who was to
evaluate my file and determine if I could leave or not. He stated
that he didn’t have my file. I visited him on June 17th and 18th. On June
18th, not five minutes after I left his office with my director, the
Business Officer of my school and another school representative, I
called Mr. C, Vice-Consul at the US Embassy to gain his
insight into the situation and to see if any progress had been made
to help me leave. He was completely aware of my visit to Mr. (name deleted)
office and instructed that I not return as it "interfered."

Several Kuwaiti families are aware of my situation but they are not
in a position to help or they don’t want to get involved. They have ALL
said that I should go to my embassy because my embassy can help me.
The fact that the embassy can’t seems shocking to everyone. Many
people also question why this accusation from Mr. M is placed
solely on me - not the school, not the principal, not the director of
school. I feel that I am being used as an example because I am a
single, American woman and he wants to show others that he can do
what he said which is to "destroy" me.

Yesterday, June 20, 2007, I received a paper from Mr. (name deleted)
office in Salmiya which lifted the travel ban. This waiver had been
granted by the Kuwait Minister of the Interior. Not long after the
Minister released me, he reversed his decision at the request of the
(name deleted) family or his representatives. I went to the airport last
night, only to learn that I couldn’t leave.

I am in fear for my safety. If the Embassy can’t help me, then who
can? I contacted the FBI in Riyad, Saudi Arabia yesterday and talked
to (name deleted) who couldn’t give me his last name. He was non-committal
but did suggest that he thought the embassy should be able to get me out.

(name deleted) has informed me that they are "working on it." That
seems a little vague and I am not sure if the US Embassy completely
realizes the level of danger that I feel that I am in. Why does Mr.
M want me in Kuwait during the summer when no one from my
school will be in country to offer their support? To make me feel
vulnerable?

He is well-connect and his friends are supporting his mission to
damage me in any way that he can. What’s next?

I do not feel safe. I am not safe. I need someone from the US to
acknowledge the urgency of my situation and coordinate my release. I
committed no crime. I am simply the victim of "wasta" which roughly
translates into "influence/pressure" at a high level.

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Sex Education Has Been Very Successful, Don't You Know?

FOXNews.com - Democrats Aim To Kill Abstinence-Only Program Funding - Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Political Spectrum: " Democrats long skeptical that abstinence-only programs are more effective than 'comprehensive' sex-ed classes are trying to reverse Bush administration policy and kill a key entitlement program for abstinence-only funding set to expire Jun. 30."
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It was sometime in 1959, I think. One of the part-time things I did was to report on the news to a small Christian radio station in Southern Oregon. I attended one of the local school board meetings to report on a controversy over sex education materials that were being introduced to one of the school districts. The materials were very explicit for those days, but would appear exceedingly mild by today's [non]standards.

The pro-sexeducationist back then were saying the same thing they say today. "We need more neutral sex-education, in order to avoid unwanted pregnancies and free teens from the "oppression" of their [judgmental] parents." It was said almost as bluntly as that.

There was no Federal Department of Education in those days, very little federal funding of education, so the sex-education struggle was fought at the local and state levels.

Looking back at the last fifty years, I would say that the sex-education programs in the public schools have been highly successful. I think that those who supported the programs were liars then and are liars today. The goal never was to reduce teen pregnancies or diseases. It was to introduce a new morality of complete sexual freedom, homosexuality, and it has succeeded beyond the wildest imaginations of the proponents. They are emboldened to complete their project which has as its goal the elimination of the Christian family and to legalize bestiality and pedophilia, among other things.

I only knew of one girl who quit school because she was pregnant, and none who were pregnant in school. There may have been others, but I did not know of them. It was obvious that sommething needed to be done. I don't know how people like my grandparents managed to have 12-14 children, being so ignorant about sexual things. We highschoolers of the early 1950's were not nearly as sophisticated in sexual matters as modern teenagers; we did not have the benefit of sex education classes, pornography in every store and on the Internet, rampant in movies and television.

Yes, I would say that the sex education programs on all levels have succeeded. Unwanted pregnancies and abortion have been eradicated, sexual diseases eliminated, and young people get along famously with their [non] judgmental parents. Don't they?

What Do You Think? Or a better question: What Thinks?

My wife and I just celebrated our 45th anniversary by spending a few days in the glorious Colorado mountains near the city of Montrose. The beauties of the days and evenings led to some curious speculation on my part that have nothing--and everything--to do with such things as marriage, beauty, happiness, and heaven and hell.

The flowers in the Rocky Mountains are glorious, as are the magnificent mountain peaks surrounding Ouray and Silverton. Huge amounts of silver and gold were extracted years ago from the mines in the region, and that spurs the thought. Why did men seek after gold and silver?

The answer, of course, is easy. Gold and silver are valuable. Men and women make and wear beautiful things from the precious metals. They are fine conductors of electricity and find great value in electronic circuitry. They are durable and malleable. But a sunset is golden, too. Lead is durable and malleable, and copper conducts electricity.

What is this thing that is called "gold" in our language? When we say something is malleable, what is malleable. What makes the gold differ from the lead? What is the thing?

The thing we call gold is the same no matter its shape or size. If it be painted with blue paint, it does not change under the paint, though it looks different to our eye. What IS it. The question of what IT IS is important, and many a fool wasted his efforts in digging something out of the soil that looked very much like gold, but was indeed not gold, but iron pyrite.

The attributes cannot exist by themselves. The very science of physics depends upon the truth that substances exist. You cannot measure the length of an idea nor weigh a color. You cannnot compute the mass of an emotion.

This is the problem with modern materialism. Our science has permitted us to make very large strides in measuring things that can be measured; computing the reactions in heat, light, movement, weight, and extension.

But when a man thinks, what is it that is thinking? Just as we would think a man a fool who would seek the silver of the rain and ignore the silver in the stones under his feet, so the modern age might be called foolish for thinking that material things are all there is, without ever thinking what it is that thinks, or to borrow a bit from Descartes, what is it that KNOWS it thinks.

In the search for man's meaning, it is as foolish to deny the existence of the soul as it is for the chemist to deny the existence of what he weighs and mixes and measures. Isn't it a consumate folly for a man to think about the world and never even consider who or what it is that thinks, or who or what it is that knows it thinks?

So what does that have to do with an anniversary? A bunch. Solomon said that "he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor of the Lord." Getting married and finding a wife are not the same thing. What is a wife? A man who doesn't know or doesn't care will probably not have one long.

Two stories in the news today are interesting. The first comes from Maine:

Pending doom: Global warming crisis: "A small group of students at our school has been researching and studying the effects of global warming. The evidence and data we collected is so overwhelming that we have decided to write about this issue."

The second comes from the New York Times and Senator Trent Lott. Talk Radio

Senator Lott thinks that talk radio is running America, and that something needs to be done about. And what does that mean? Ought to scare you that a politician wants to do something about free speech. Senator Lott, do you know the First Amendment? I think that Justice Alito would disagree with you, thank God.

It seems that we ought to listen to the children in the fourth grade in Maine and turn our radios off. There may be good a sufficient reasons to turn the radios and the televisions off and to cancel our subscriptions to the foolishness that is in the public press, but turn our minds over to fourth graders?

Jesus said that we enter the kingdom of God as little children [not on the basis of our works, intelligence, or moral sense], but having entered the kingdom we are expected to grow up and exercise our senses in order to understand good and evil. It is true that a "little child shall lead them," but we better make pretty well certain whom that little child is being led by. We shouldn't follow some dumb little kid whose mind is being shaped by some fuzzy-headed liberal of the teachers union, any more than we should take our example from the suicide bombers of the Middle East.

For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. --Hebrews 5:12-14

FT.com / Comment & analysis / Comment - Freedom, not climate, is at risk: "The author Michael Crichton stated it clearly: 'the greatest challenge facing mankind is the challenge of distinguishing reality from fantasy, truth from propaganda'. I feel the same way, because global warming hysteria has become a prime example of the truth versus propaganda problem. It requires courage to oppose the 'established' truth, although a lot of people - including top-class scientists - see the issue of climate change entirely differently. They protest against the arrogance of those who advocate the global warming hypothesis and relate it to human activities. "

Exactly. It was the same in the days of the apostles: the task is to distinguish truth from cleverly designed fables. Aesop didn't write any more clever fables than Algore. 2Peter 1:16

Hurrah for the PCA!!!!

35th PCA GA Approves Recommendations of Federal Vision Study Report MEMPHIS, TENN

The 35TH General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, meeting in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, June 13, approved the recommendations of its Interim Committee on Federal Vision. After the committee made its report, a motion was made to postpone taking action on the recommendations at this GA, to add two new members to the committee, and to direct the committee to include more exegesis of relevant biblical passages in its report. This motion failed. After further debate the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to approve the recommendations. The recommendations included the following:

1. That the General Assembly commends to Ruling and Teaching Elders and their congregations this report of the Ad Interim Committee on NPP, AAT and FV for careful consideration and study.

2. That the General Assembly reminds the Church, its officers and congregations of the provisions of BCO 29-1 and 39-3 which assert that the Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms of the Westminster Assembly, while "subordinate to the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, the inerrant Word of God," have been adopted by the PCA "as standard expositions of the teachings of Scripture in relation to both faith and practice."

3. That the General Assembly recommends the declarations in this report as a faithful exposition of the Westminster Standards, and further reminds those ruling and teaching elders whose views are out of accord with our Standards of their obligation to make known to their courts any differences in their views.

4. That the General Assembly reminds the Sessions and Presbyteries of the PCA that it is their duty "to exercise care over those subject to their authority" and "to condemn erroneous opinions which injure the purity or peace of the Church" (BCO 31-2; 13-9f).

Recommendation 3 dealt with nine declarations proposed by the study committee. It asked the General Assembly to recommend that the declarations in the report be considered a faithful exposition of the Westminster Standards. The declarations are:

In light of the controversy surrounding the NPP and FV, and after many months of careful study, the committee unanimously makes the following declarations:

1. The view that rejects the bi-covenantal structure of Scripture as represented in the Westminster Standards (i.e., views which do not merely take issue with the terminology, but the essence of the first/second covenant framework) is contrary to those Standards.

2. The view that an individual is "elect" by virtue of his membership in the visible church; and that this "election" includes justification, adoption and sanctification; but that this individual could lose his "election" if he forsakes the visible church, is contrary to the Westminster Standards.

3. The view that Christ does not stand as a representative head whose perfect obedience and satisfaction is imputed to individuals who believe in him is contrary to the Westminster Standards.

4. The view that strikes the language of "merit" from our theological vocabulary so that the claim is made that Christ’s merits are not imputed to his people is contrary to the Westminster Standards.

5. The view that "union with Christ" renders imputation redundant because it subsumes all of Christ’s benefits (including justification) under this doctrinal heading is contrary to the Westminster Standards.

6. The view that water baptism effects a "covenantal union" with Christ through which each baptized person receives the saving benefits of Christ’s mediation, including regeneration, justification, and sanctification, thus creating a parallel soteriological system to the decretal system of the Westminster Standards, is contrary to the Westminster Standards.

7. The view that one can be "united to Christ" and not receive all the benefits of Christ’s mediation, including perseverance, in that effectual union is contrary to the Westminster Standards.

8. The view that some can receive saving benefits of Christ’s mediation, such as regeneration and justification, and yet not persevere in those benefits is contrary to the Westminster Standards.

9. The view that justification is in any way based on our works, or that the so-called "final verdict of justification" is based on anything other than the perfect obedience and satisfaction of Christ received through faith alone, is contrary to the Westminster Standards.

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