The end of evangelicalism?

Michael Spencer has a terrific blog (http://www.internetmonk.com/) that I read regularly.  He wrote a great, if sobering, piece for Tuesday's Christian Science Monitor called, "The Coming Evangelical Collapse." 

It's not a happy piece, but I think he's dead-on with his predictions.  I'll have some thoughts on it in the next few days, but I wanted you, my faithful readers, to wallow in the end of Christianity as we know it for a few days.

I think he's right, but I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing...

Happy Presidents' Day!

I'm not sure about the last one, but it's still worth a look...

Most tolerant people on earth...

Proposition 8 was on the ballot here in California last Tuesday. It was an amendment to the state constitution, saying that marriage was to be defined as only between a man and a woman. The intent was to make homosexual marriage illegal in California. It passed.

I have some mixed feelings about it, mostly because I think Christians are overly-focused on the evils of the homosexual lifestyle, while ignoring many of the other sins of society.

Since the election, relatively small groups of homosexual activists have been protesting, demanding tolerance and acceptance of gay marriage. Only, it seems that the tolerance only goes one way. Watch what happens when an elderly lady tries to express a differing opinion:

From KPSP news, Palm Springs, CA

NFTW #021--A "Kingdom of God" perspective on the election; Are you a Christian atheist?

The election is over! How do Christians put everything into the right perspective?


Also, are you a Christian atheist?


Listen here:



Or download this episode by right-clicking here.

Here’s a link to Wyman Richardson’s very thoughtful blog post.

Read 1 Peter 1:17-21.

Homeschool kids miss out on balanced teaching about the political process...

Kids in public schools get even-handed instruction about the pros and cons of each candidate...

The best perspective on the election I've seen...

From Walking Together. A lot of wisdom there...

The real election day decision...

Finally, a look at the real issues/candidates:

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

(Not every video at Funny or Die is family-friendly, so browse at your own risk!)

Family makes a difference through foster care and adoption...

This article and "Today" show video tell the story of Daniel and Lori O'Brien. They are 2 ordinary people who decided to open their homes and hearts to 11 foster children. They ended up adopting 7 of them, in addition to their 3 biological children.

They took in all kinds of kids: different races, kids who had been beaten and molested, kids who were deemed "unadoptable." They didn't have a lot of money, or a fancy home, but they did have what every kid needs--lots of love.

For me, there's something to be learned here. I don't know if these folks are Christians, but I do know that if every Christian family was willing to take in a child or two, there soon wouldn't be any kids left who needed homes.

Like I said in last week's podcast, we Christians really do have it in our power to live out the gospel by taking care of the neediest people on earth. Unfortunately, we instead spend countless millions on stuff we don't need, and political campaigns to pass laws that make sure unbelievers "act Christian."

NFTW #019--How Christians use their money; Your false beliefs may be dragging you down!

Christians have an opportunity to end a lot of suffering in the world. But we'll have to change the way we use our money. Will we do it?

Also, do you have false beliefs that get between you and God?

Listen to the podcast here:



Or right-click here to download!


Here is the ABP article I quote from...

I'm glad we have an impartial press...

Some people think that the US media has chosen sides in the current presidential campaign. That, of course is insane, because we all know that journalists are completely objective creatures who have no interest in swaying voters.

That's why I was shocked (shocked! I tell you!) to see this picture accompanying an AP story about Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama, complete with halo:


I understand that a lot of people consider Obama a bright, shining light for America. (Although probably not these people.) But I didn't realize that he actually glows...

Alabama voters are also VERY excited about the election...

In 6 Alabama counties, there are more registered voters than people living there.

Most revealing paragraph from the story:

Lucy Kynard, chairwoman of the Perry County Board of Registrars, said she wasn't sure why registration would exceed the Census Bureau's population estimate. She said the county's voter rolls are updated regularly to remove voters who have died or moved their registration elsewhere.

Me neither Lucy. There's no chance that it would be in any candidate's interests to have thousands of fraudulent votes cast for them.

Good thing I believe that our election is on the level. Otherwise, I might come to believe that there was an attempt going on to steal an election with illegitimate votes. But that could never happen in the U.S., right?

Right?

NFTW #016--God is finished with you!; Do Chistians and politics mix?

Can Christians depend on government to change what's wrong with the world?

Also, I've got news: God is finished with you!

Click on the post title to download this digital gem, or listen here:



Here's the Christian Post link...

The fine line between abortion and infanticide...

So far, I've stayed out of politics for the last few months. Mostly that's because I'm not thrilled with either major-party candidate. But there are a few issues I care deeply about. One of them is abortion. It seems like one area where there is a clear distinction between McCain and Obama.

I'm not sure how McCain would affect the abortion debate . But I'm convinced that Obama is pretty radical on this issue, even though he gives lip service to reducing the number of abortions.

Personally, I'd rather look at what someone does, rather than what they say. When Obama had a chance to vote on a bill that would ensure that babies who survive abortions got medical care, he voted against it. 4 times.

To me, that's not pro-abortion. That's pro-infanticide. Finally a group is bringing his votes to public attention. The group is called bornalivetruth.org, and the ad is pretty effective.

Here it is:



The reason the ad is effective is that it puts a human face on this issue. These aren't nameless, faceless blobs. They are real, actual human babies who are being killed. I hope that this group can run the ad all over the country...

China welcomes diversity for Olympic games...

The Olympics are just a few days away, and the Chinese government is sprucing things up for the occasion. How? By clearing out undesirable things, like pollution and traffic.

Oh, and blacks and Mongolians...

According to this story, Chinese bar owners in one district of Beijing have been forced to sign a pledge to ban certain activities, like dancing and serving blacks and Mongolians. Apparently, blacks are viewed as a criminal element by the Chinese government, and they don't want blacks hanging around, messing up their Olympics. (There seems to be no truth to the rumor that this policy was instituted to keep Kobe Bryant away from Chinese women.)

Seriously though, why would any black athletes participate in these Olympics? The only reason I could see would be if they planned to win their event, then protest at the medal ceremony. The Chinese government grows more despicable every day...

Great idea, but lousy answers...

I ran across this NY Times blog today. Apparently, England is looking for a new national motto. The blogger thought it would be fun to see what readers could come up with for a US motto. The caveat? It has to be 6 words.

It's a fun idea. The depressing part is that some of the mottoes readers have come up with. As I write this, there are 929 comments. A big chunk of commenters suggested mottoes that depict the US as evil, narcissistic bullies, where rich white men ruin the earth for everybody else.

How sad. No question, we've got our problems. But this country also does a lot of good in this world. And, I wonder how long we can continue as a nation when there's a big chunk of us that believe the country is evil. If we really are evil, then what's the answer? Maybe we need to be more like Kenya. Or Cuba.

My motto? Maybe this: "Earth's best hope, always must advance." Or, "Blessed by God to bless others."

Happy Birthday, Gipper!

It's ironic that today would have been the 97th birthday of Ronald Wilson Reagan. He was by far the best president of my lifetime. Almost every day of this miserable presidential campaign I wish he was still around. Here's his "A Time for Choosing" speech before the 1964 presidential election. It's a long clip, but one of the gems starts at about 2:30, and goes for just over a minute. Enjoy!



I hate to make you watch this next clip, but I was struck by the contrast between what Reagan believed about the role of government, and the beliefs of one of today's candidates. Don't watch all of this. It's too painful. But go forward to about 4:05.

We've come a long way. But not in the right direction...

Why this is NOT Black Wednesday...

Well, Super Tuesday is over, and for those of us who are conservative politically, it looks pretty bleak. It seems the party I belong to has left me to become a miniature version of the Democratic party. So my choice in November is to vote for a pretty liberal Republican, or a really liberal Democrat. Not much of a choice.

I am somewhat disappointed. But is this going to ruin my Wednesday? Hardly. I can think of a lot of reasons that I have to be happy. Here's a few:

1. I have a wife who is smart, funny, and hotter than 10 supermodels. And, she loves me a lot.
2. I have 3 kids who make me laugh (and cry) all the time. And, they love me, too.
3. God loves me, even when I vote for a loser presidential candidate.
4. We have enough, more than enough, to provide for our needs. And a lot of our wants, too.
   
5. God's going to take care of us, no matter how bad the president is.
6. We survived one Clinton presidency, we'll get through another one.
7. We even survived Jimmy Carter. Plus, afterward, we got Ronaldus Magnus.

That's 7, off the top of my head. Plus, when you read something like this, you realize just how blessed we are.

So, let's count our blessings instead of our defeats! I think our job in the political process is simple: we need to be engaged and involved, but never consumed. Ultimately, we trust that God uses even deeply flawed people to accomplish His purposes...

Garrison Keillor on angels and education...

I don't always agree with Garrison Keillor when it comes to politics. But a column he published a few days ago is on the money. Read it here.

He's absolutely right about the fact that public education is failing the children it is supposed to be educating. It's time that the Left in this country takes responsibility for the damage it has done to the country by wrecking our educational system.

But I don't expect that to happen anytime soon...

Why is Huckabee sticking around?

I understand the desire to run for president. I really do. You get power, fame, money, everything some people want in life. But when you see that it's hopeless, that you have no chance of winning, why would you stick around? Edwards and Giuliani had the sense to pull out when they saw it was hopeless.

Why is Ron Paul still in? I'm guessing it's because the voices in his head haven't told him to stop his campaign.

But the real question for me is Mike Huckabee. He's got no shot of winning. He's been circling the drain since he won Iowa. So why do it? Why keep spending the time and money to finance a campaign that's going nowhere?

Only one reason I can see: he's running now for vice-president. Think about it. He's getting enough conservative votes to keep Romney from winning. Huckabee is the reason McCain will be the Republican nominee. What better way for McCain to repay Huckabee than to put him on the ticket? Makes perfect sense, at least for McCain and Huckabee.

For the country? Sounds like the worst ticket imaginable. We may be moving--far, far away...

(When I started this post about ol' Huckabee, a new song came on the XM station I was listening to--"Down in Flames" by the Dead Boys. Coincidence? I don't think so...)

Quick thoughts on John McCain...

Does anyone else think it's odd that John McCain has become the media's darling candidate? It seems that he's the new favorite, now that Rev. Huckabee has fizzled (thank God!). Are media folk picking McCain because of their deep desire to see a conservative take the White House? I doubt it.

McCain is an American hero, no doubt. But he has been a lousy senator. Wrong on almost every important issue we face. More and more, it's clear that there is really only one choice on the Republican side, if we want to save any piece of Reagan conservatism...