Jon the Canadian

Are you watching the Lion? (3 of 3)

2010-06-27T08:00:00.002-06:00

Or are you acting out of fear?

Then after an awful pause, the deep voice said, "Susan." Susan made no answer but the others thought she was crying. "You have listened to fears, child," said Aslan.

-- From Prince Caspian, Chapter 11

Are you watching the Lion? (2 of 3)

2010-06-26T12:52:00.000-06:00

Or do you just want to get out of the woods?

"I've been far worse than you know I really believed it was him --he, I mean--yesterday. When he warned us not to go down to the fir wood. And I really believe it was him tonight, when you woke us up. I mean, deep down inside. Or I could have, if I'd let myself. But I just wanted to get out of the woods and--and--oh, I don't know. And what ever am I to say to him?" [ Susan later said to Lucy ]

-- From Prince Caspian, Chapter 11

Are you watching the Lion? (1 of 3)

2010-06-25T14:35:00.002-06:00

Or are you focusing on the faults of others?

And so at last they got on the move. Lucy went first, biting her lip and trying not to say all the things she thought of saying to Susan. But she forgot them when she fixed her eyes on Aslan... The others had only Lucy's direction to guide them, for Aslan was not only invisible to them but silent as well.

-- From Prince Caspian, Chapter 11

Forgiveness

2010-06-14T08:50:00.002-06:00

Jim Chapman of Rocky Mountain Family Council spoke yesterday at Southern Gables Church. He preached about forgiveness in the church from Colossians and Philemon.

Forgiveness was never intended to be a private affair between you and God.

He asks the question:

Is our church characterized and known for forgiveness of each other within the church? Is this a forgiving place?

We need to be forgivers! Let's give each other a break.

Believers must forgive each other, even if the transgressor doesn't repent... There's no wiggle room... There's no cop-out room. Martin Luther said, "Forgive, for that is God's command." ...The context here never suggests conditional forgiveness on our part.

1 More Reason to Love Colorado

2010-06-12T15:52:00.000-06:00

365.

Only 365 kids awaiting adoption. 5 years ago it was 875! (That's the lowest per-capita rate in the country!)

The fact that the number is shrinking, not growing, is one more reason Colorado is a great place to live. It's not just statistics, it's characterizing Colorado - it's great fun seeing other families with adoptive parents when we take our boys to a playground.

How great would it be if Colorado was the first state to get the list down to zero (or under 10, as new kids enter even while others are adopted).

How great would it be if Colorado became known for being a state that loves adoption! What would happen then? Would Coloradans begin working with other states that have kids awaiting adoption? Would this trend begin to spread to other states?

One argument in favor of abortion I heard again recently was that you don't want to condemn your child to a life bouncing around foster homes. Not in Colorado! Here the kids get a forever family.

I'm so happy that Project 127 and so many churches have played such a crucial role in the tipping point that happened when the number stopped growing and started shrinking.

I believe one of the things that made the early church grow despite the pagan Roman Empire of the time was that Christians adopted the abandoned children in their own areas. I'm so proud of Coloradans that are following in the legacy of the first generations of Christians and grabbing hold of God's heart, woven throughout the Old and New Testaments, for children who need families.

Isn't it true that we should be honest about your rhetoric?

2010-06-11T11:00:00.000-06:00

"I've heard this type of rhetoric a lot lately..."

"Isn't it true that you..."

"Now you're just arguing semantics."

"Let's be honest..."

"Well, that is the mantra of the people of your view."

All of these are statements I've read or heard lately. All of them are repulsive to worthwhile discourse. All of them poison the well of clear communication. (Just click on the words in the quotes to see a Google search of how these phrases are being used in news articles to slant the conversation.)

You've known people who argue like this, right? I've know several. Perhaps they like the idea of a dialog, but actually operate only on an agenda. To talk but not listen, to persuade but never be persuaded. This is not the pursuit of real Truth, but the pursuit of arguing others into submission of what the speaker thinks to be true.

I suppose we're too prideful to consider where we might be wrong, and that's why nobody likes arguments, disagreements, or confrontation. We're all just trying to score points and convert others to our point of view instead of having a real dialog. If our arguments were real dialogs, we wouldn't hate them!

If we were all seeking to reform our own minds to align closer with what's objectively true, arguments wouldn't be so frustrating. Conversations could really be like iron sharpening iron, helping each other align more closely with what's true.

I don't want to be someone that poisons the well of clear communication and drives people away. Rather than just trying to force my ideas on others, I want to always be willing to hear and evaluate where other people are coming from. I can argue well for what I think - but I'm also willing to change my mind and reform my thoughts when I'm wrong.

A dialog is a two-way "spoken exchange of thoughts, opinions, and feelings."

If you are closed to the thoughts, opinions, or feelings of others, dialog is impossible for you, by definition.

Questions for consideration and comments:

Who have you seen poisoning the well of communication? Politicians? Pastors? Friends? Yourself?
Does using these type of slanted phrases or arguments reveal that the speaker's position is weak, so this type of dialog-stopper must be used?
What is your reaction when someone does this with you?
Do you have the same reaction when someone you agree with does this in argument?
Is it possible to have a worthwhile conversation when someone tries to shut down the dialog this way?

Are you the problem?

2010-05-17T08:58:00.000-06:00

Isaiah 58: Though people were fasting and praying for God's guidance and deliverance, their own actions were preventing this from happening. They were oppressing people, they were not helping people's practical needs, they were finger pointing and talking maliciously about other people.

Are you the problem or the solution?

³ 'Why have we fasted,' they say,
       'and you have not seen it?
       Why have we humbled ourselves,
       and you have not noticed?'
       "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
       and exploit all your workers.
⁴ Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
       and in striking each other with wicked fists.
       You cannot fast as you do today
       and expect your voice to be heard on high.
⁵ Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
       only a day for a man to humble himself?
       Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed
       and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
       Is that what you call a fast,
       a day acceptable to the LORD ?
⁶ "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
       to loose the chains of injustice
       and untie the cords of the yoke,
       to set the oppressed free
       and break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
       and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
       when you see the naked, to clothe him,
       and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
       and your healing will quickly appear;
       then your righteousness ^[a] will go before you,
       and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
       you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
       "If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
       with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
       and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
       then your light will rise in the darkness,
       and your night will become like the noonday.
¹¹ The LORD will guide you always;
       he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
       and will strengthen your frame.
       You will be like a well-watered garden,
       like a spring whose waters never fail.
¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
       and will raise up the age-old foundations;
       you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
       Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

Missing Comments and Posts: 1 Timothy

2010-03-15T23:00:00.000-06:00

I was reading 1 Timothy 1 today, where Paul starts off by urging Timothy to stay where he is, in Ephesus. He's supposed to stay there for one reason:

so that you may command certain persons not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God's work—which is by faith.

My overarching goal with this blog has been a personal exercise in writing and a way to connect with a few friends online who also blog. I've blogged about all sorts of topics, from New Year's Resolutions to politics, website technology, books I'm reading, theories about comic books, things I want to show my kids, and newspaper cartoons I thought were funny. Comments had never been moderated because so few people ever saw this blog, and even fewer left comments.

My goals have been to share things that were funny, news stories that caught my ear, thoughts as I read through the Bible, or just factual information.

My goal has never been to "promote controversial speculations." In February, anonymous comments were left on a blog post from a month earlier that turned the factual post into a place that promoted controversial speculation. The comments were removed quickly, and within hours I unpublished the post itself.

Paul continues in his letter to Timothy about the "command" Timothy should issue to those teaching false doctrines and getting caught up in myths (perhaps like our urban legends today?) and genealogies:

The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

When we depart from solid teaching, or get caught up in myths, or promote controversies instead of promoting God's work, we do not have love. The most loving thing to do is to talk to someone if they're caught up in one of these things, even to command them, as Paul said, to stop what they are doing. If you love someone, you don't want them to be stuck in error.

Having had this troubling experience with this blog, I have learned. I have learned that the openness and anonymity of web communication has strong down-sides. Thanks to the clarity of hind-sight, I've turned off real-time comments. Comments are now moderated, requiring approval before they are published.

Any comments that "promote controversial speculations" will be deleted.

If you believe there is anything on this blog that does the same thing, please contact me and I will make appropriate corrections.

I have learned the value of clear and direct communication, and I'm seeking to communicate with people directly when I believe they are in error, as I would like others to do with me.

The goal of this blog remains the same, and firmer than ever. To promote love, to speak the truth, to be real and genuine, and to live life with others.

Personal Correction

2010-03-14T20:48:00.000-06:00

I blogged on some thoughts about Jesus' teaching on correction. The gist of my take on it is this:

Biblical correction comes from love. You correct someone out of your love and concern for someone's soul.

If you gossip about someone, you do not have love.

If you harbor un-forgiveness against someone, you do not have love.

What would the church look like if we had enough love to obey Jesus, and meet with and talk with our brothers and sisters when we have a problem with them?

I wish that anyone who had a problem with something I did would love Jesus, and love me enough to obey Jesus and talk to me about it. Don't you?

When We Triumph Without Truth

2010-03-09T12:20:00.000-07:00

² Oh, that I had in the desert
       a lodging place for travelers,
       so that I might leave my people
       and go away from them;
       for they are all adulterers,
       a crowd of unfaithful people.
    ³ "They make ready their tongue
       like a bow, to shoot lies;

it is not by truth
that they triumph in the land.

       They go from one sin to another;
       they do not acknowledge me,"
       declares the LORD.
    ⁴ "Beware of your friends;
       do not trust any of your people.
       For every one of them is a deceiver,
       and every friend a slanderer.
    ⁵ Friend deceives friend,
       and no one speaks the truth.
       They have taught their tongues to lie;
       they weary themselves with sinning.
    ⁶ You live in the midst of deception;
       in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,"
       declares the LORD.
    ⁷ Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says:
       "See, I will refine and test them,
       for what else can I do
       because of the sin of my people?
    ⁸ Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
       it speaks deceitfully.

With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,
but in their hearts they set traps for them.

²⁰ Now, you women, hear the word of the LORD;
open your ears to the words of his mouth.

Teach your daughters how to wail;
teach one another a lament.

    ²³ This is what the LORD says:
       "Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
       or the strong boast of their strength
       or the rich boast of their riches,

²⁴ but let those who boast boast about this:
that they understand and know me,

       that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
       justice and righteousness on earth,
       for in these I delight,"
       declares the LORD.

The question isn't whether it's true, the question "is it working for you"

2010-03-06T10:28:00.000-07:00

The question isn't whether it's true
The question "is it working for you";
Marshmallow skies
And custardy pies
And nothing's too hard to do

They're five happy verses or so
They told me all I needed to know
Ignore all the rest
Trials and tests
And threats to my comfort zone

Well I've got no time to find out what's real
I stick with what I happen to feel
It feels grand
When you're livin' in a lala land

You can name a blessing yourself
Stake a claim on power and wealth
And strong healthy teeth
A spot at the beach
And romance that's really swell

All the saints and martyrs alike
Well they would have called a national strike
Demanded less pain
More personal gain
If only they'd known their rights

(Chorus:)
Well I take it very personally
Yeah, I got to know what's in it for me
Ain't it grand?
When you're livin' in a lala land

I've got my prayer cloth collection in a Jesus jar
I've got the Holy Ghost ridin' in the back of my car
Sometimes He gives a little tickle I go "hardee har har"
Ain't it grand, when you're livin' in a lala land

My Jesus decal does quite a trick
Right above my dashboard I stick it
A good luck charm
It keeps me from harm
And saves me from speeding tickets

From 1 Timothy 4

2010-02-24T00:00:00.001-07:00

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron....

If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly...

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching...

Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Sold a false gospel

2010-02-22T23:06:00.000-07:00

Listening to Christian radio on WAY-FM last week, we heard Wally talking about how he was sold a false gospel.

Wally said that God is sold like the latest and greatest product to resolve your problems, and many act like marketers, and start lying to make the sale.

People were calling into WAY-FM to talk about what they were told life would be like if they became a Christian:

God will make life easy.
You'll be healthy.
You'll live longer.
You'll be rich.
Life will always be fun, and you'll always be happy.
And more...

With my friends and those with whom I volunteer, I've seen a lot of these ideas lived out. When we are sold these false ideas, our faith becomes idolatry: we start to believe that God exists to serve us.

God's promises are far more significant than an easy life, health, long life, or wealth.

When we believe or tell deceptive views of the gospel, we're turning things upside down. It doesn't matter if you're rich - it matters if you have treasure in heaven. It doesn't matter if you live a long life - it matters that you're looking toward your eternal life.

Jesus didn't teach his disciples to pray for extravagance for themselves.
He taught them to pray for their daily bread.

Jesus didn't teach his followers they'd have fun lives.
He promised they'd be persecuted.

Is Jesus your genie in a bottle that you'll leave behind if he stops granting your wishes? Or is he your Lord to the extent that none of these worldly values affect your faith?

What are you communicating about the gospel by how you live? Most people stop trusting perpetual smilers because like the bikini-clad girls in beer commercials, it just seems fake. The life of faith isn't lollipops and sugar rolls.

Further, the point of sale is not the goal.

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 28)

Discipleship. Obedience. This is what we are called to. How did Jesus give an alter call?

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
...
any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
(Jesus, as recorded in Luke 14. for the "..." content, read Luke 14,the post was just getting really long.)

Jesus did not offer a discipleship of convenience. He didn't offer lives of ease. He said that we have to give up everything to serve him.

Were you sold a false gospel?
Are you tempted to think of the blessings in your life as guaranteed from God?
Do you consider this life and physical blessings greater than that of eternity?

Refuge for Truth: Truth is not decided by the majority

2010-02-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks for visiting. It seems that someone has engaged in a word-of-mouth campaign to bring more people to my blog. Who told you about this blog? Leave me a comment below and let me know.

I'd love your feedback about this proposal for a new direction for the blog: A Refuge for Truth.

Throughout history, we can see a clear need for those willing to stand for what's right and true. Here's the first lesson I learn about truth from history:

Truth is not decided by the majority Majority rules works in various venues, but it is not a valid reasoning to discover or argue for competing truth claims. You may be able to "rally your troops" to stand up for saying that the sun is made of spare ribs, but that doesn't change the facts.

In fact, the majority often chooses what is wrong and untrue. Throughout the Bible there are accounts of the "remnant," the relatively minuscule group of individuals who are willing to stand for what's right, even in the face of the majority. Even in the face of intimidation. Even in the face of defamation of character and slander. Even in the face of false prophets, wicked leaders, and those who twist the word of God.

Elisha was up against evil leaders that had been brought in, and cries out to God from his anguish that there were so few people in Israel willing to stand up for truth - everyone was falling in line with the King, regardless of what was right and true.
Jesus stood up for what was right, and when the pressure changed, the crowds dispersed. Those who had followed him in what was right, now followed others in what was wrong.
The early churches dealt with this:

Jude writes to a church where certain teaches who brought a different message had "secretly slipped in," and the teaching had been tolerated because the appointed leaders of the church were not standing up for what was true, but were ok with the grace of God being used as a license for immorality. Yet Jude still had some people to write to to encourage to stand for truth and save others from the false message.
The churches in Revelation were warned about tolerating individual teachers who taught different messages, but even then there was a remnant standing for what was true
Jesus' own life is a clear example of the remnant standing for truth. His followers were so fickle that they turned from following his teaching, and turned back to those who wanted to murder truth. Only a small remnant was still standing up for what was right and true.

The majority cannot be used as a measuring rod for what is true, or what is right. Do these questions have anything to do with majority opinion?

What is true?
What is the right thing to do?

I'd love your thoughts!

(This is the first in a series working toward exploring a possible new goal for the website of making it a refuge for truth.)

Blog: The next chapter

2010-02-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

Good Morning!

I am considering moving this blog in a new direction with a new clear purpose. As I work though this transition to the next chapter in this blog, stay tuned. I'll be posting updates about the purpose of this blog as I get all my ducks in a row.

If conservatives had any heart, they'd be... conservative!

2010-02-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

The saying goes: "If liberals had any brains they'd be conservatives, and if conservatives had any heart, they'd be liberals."

Conservatives are said to have no heart. They must not care about the poor, it is said, or they'd want more government programs to help the poor, etc.

"Conservatives are more likely to give than Liberals and give more, even in blood donations. They are also twice as likely to attend religious worship. But still... Religious people give more to secular causes than do secular people." (mint.com blog)

they know "...that it is [Conservatives] who are motivated by compassion, and that their cold-heartedness is only apparent. They are the ones who have taken up the cause of society, and who are prepared to pay the cost of upholding the principles on which we all -- liberals included -- depend.

To be known as a social conservative is to lose all hope of an academic career; it is to be denied any chance of those prestigious prizes, from the MacArthur to the Nobel Peace Prize, which liberals confer only on each other. For an intellectual it is to throw away the prospect of a favorable review -- or any review at all -- in the New York Times or the New York Review of Books.

Only someone with a conscience could possibly wish to expose himself to the inevitable vilification that attends such an "enemy of the people." And this proves that the conservative conscience is governed not by self-interest but by a concern for the public good. Why else would anyone express it?" (Totalitarian Sentimentality by Roger Scruton)

Biblical Confrontation, Part 5: Summary

2010-02-16T08:00:00.001-07:00

It should never have to happen
Ideally, confrontation would never have to happen. People would be convicted of their own sin, and would repent.

Private sin with a confession to God and seeking forgiveness & reconciliation from any people indirectly affected.
Public sin confessed and corrected in the same venue. If between two people, correction made there, if publicly, correction with to the same audience, whether from the pulpit in the classroom or on TV.

The purpose of confrontation
The purpose of confrontation is the care for the spiritual well-being of others. It is primarily unselfish, and done in the pursuit of unity. Correction is done to bring people back to the unity of the one Spirit and one faith. If someone is in sin, they are divided from the unity of the Spirit.

Doesn't public confrontation causes trouble
The right thing to do is the right thing to do. Do the right thing, regardless of the consequences.

As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The time is always right to do the right thing."

Isn't confrontation divisive and slanderous, especially if it's public?
Jesus, Paul, and John taught that this was the way to confront religious or church leaders that were leading people away from the true message. I'm not ready to call Jesus and his apostles slanderous.

Divisive is used to mean the opposite of unifying. Paul is clear in Ephesians 4 that unity is not a product of keeping sins hidden, but of growing together in preserving the unity provided by the one Spirit. If someone is in sin, especially if their sin is in what they are teaching that is leading others astray, that's what is divisive and disruptive to the unity in the faith.

I'll write more on what unity in a Christian church is, according to the Bible soon.

Biblical Confrontation, Part 4: Application

2010-02-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Biblical Confrontation Applied
The Bible teaches us one motivation and two methods for confrontation and correction:

Motivation: Care for the spiritual well-being of others who are fellow disciples of Jesus.

Methods:

Personal/private sins are dealt with as privately and quietly as possible and escalated if the person shows no repentance, the goal being to save the spiritual well-beingof the individual in sin.
Public teaching sins are dealt with publicly. The goal being to save the spiritual well-being of those under the influence of the one in sin.

Should I confront someone?
The biblical teachings and examples are all of people who profess to be followers of the God of the Bible. I don't think this necessitates application to those not in the church.

If someone is a believer and you know they are in sin, then it needs to be confronted. Your motivation needs to be care for their spiritual well-being.

Should I confront someone publicly?
This is not a light task. I'm not convinced Jesus made friends when he went into the temple with a whip he had made, and started overturning tables during a time of worship. In fact, this is when some people started plotting his death.

But don't do the wrong thing because the right thing is intimidating. The motivation is the care for believers' spiritual well-being. How much do I care about another's spiritual well-being if I choose to allow them to be misled because of my own desire for what is comfortable?

Here's some intermediate steps that I might suggest. (These are not commanded or modeled in the scriptures that deal with public teachers that lead people astray):

Seek counsel from those you know are wiser than you.
Seek clarity with the leader privately first.
Seek action by those to whom the teacher is responsible.

Here's what you may learn:

The person you want to confront has likely spent more time studying and preparing for what they're doing, you may have something to learn - you may well be wrong. Be humble and teachable but not a push-over.
You may learn that (s)he recognizes the error and is preparing to correct the error from the correct venue.
You may lean that there is an issue but it's very minor.

Public confrontation is for things that matter.
But, it's not limited to blasphemy - (what most people mean when they say heresy, which is any false teaching) . Paul confronted Peter about acceptance of non-Jewish believers. John confronted Diotrophes in a letter that was sent to church members about him keeping people out of the church who were believers.

In my life
I've taught in some venues before. Rather than someone standing up and shouting me down on why I'm wrong on something, I'd much rather them talk to me and/or the person over me in that venue. If there is an error, I'll get up and correct myself at the soonest opportunity before all those whom I taught. If there isn't an error, then the one who asked the question has earned my respect for engaging in the conversation.

If I don't see a real problem but my superior does, then (s)he ought to make the correction in the same venue.

Public confrontation seems more fit for a consistent problem that is misleading people. If that's the case, then there ought to be public confrontation of the person in charge (for condoning the false teaching), and me.

I have personally stood in front of a church and issued an apology and correction for something I've said, and I've been in a church where the Senior Pastor stood up and apologized and corrected what he had taught the previous week.

I have never seen a public confrontation of someone who has consistently misled a church through false teaching. All of this is just my working through what the Bible says on the issue.

Biblical Confrontation, Part 3: Public Offenses

2010-02-14T08:00:00.002-07:00

Public offense: A person is endangering others' souls.

If the only way to confront is to keep things hidden until church leadership allows you to bring it up publicly, what about the following:

Jesus called attention to religious leaders publicly for leading others astray. He called them hypocrites, because they boasted about their works and their righteousness.³
Jesus also made a whip (per John's record) and was violent in the place of worship, overthrowing tables (though not harming any of the animals) when the temple leadership was causing people to not worship.⁴
Paul confronted Peter in front of the church, not privately, when Peter's sin was leading others astray.⁵
John wrote to churches about an individual bad leader who was misleading people and trying to keep some believers out of fellowship. John wrote that he'd also call them to account when he came to visit.⁶

The difference is that in these situations, it's not a matter of the individual being at risk, but because these are all matters of public spiritual teaching, they are endangering other people's souls.

I've read accounts of teachers in the church saying any public confrontation would be sinful⁷. Of course as the leader of the church they simply never allowed the charge to come against them which is in violation of Matthew 18 anyway.

Public confrontation of spiritual leadership is modeled for us by Jesus. More specifically, after Jesus left, and the church began to exist, his apostles modeled how it should be done in a local church setting.

Footnotes:

³ This occurs several times in the Sermon on the Mount. See Matthew 5, 6 and 7

⁴ "On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" - Mark 11:15-17

⁵ When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong...The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? - Paul, Ephesians 2:11,13-14

⁶ I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church. - The Apostle John, 3 John 1:9-10

⁷ Google Matthew 18 or "biblical confrontation" and you'll find people's accounts of this.

Biblical Confrontation, Part 2: Personal Offenses

2010-02-13T08:00:00.002-07:00

Personal offense: A person's own soul is in danger.

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector." -- Jesus, Matthew 18:15-17

Similar to talking to your co-worker when you think they stole your stapler, only then going to your supervisor and then up the ladder. When an individual has sinned against you, it's that individual's responsibility to seek reconciliation with you (Matthew 5:23-24).

It is also your responsibility. Not to prove you're right and (s)he is wrong - it's not about that. It's about sin. We ought to be looking out for each other and wanting to win each other over from the entanglements of sin. I think the perspective is this: A person's soul is at stake!

When an individual is affected by their sin to the point that you are offended, correction is handled privately, then with a few witnesses, then before the entire church. If they still don't repent, then you've got someone who is in refusal to repent. This is not characteristic of a believer, so then you treat them as they're acting - like "a pagan or a tax collector."²

This is one of the ways confrontation is taught.

If the only way to confront is to keep things hidden until church leadership allows you to bring it up publicly, there's some serious problems with how Jesus and his apostles handled confrontation.

More on that tomorrow.

Footnotes:

² Nothing against IRS agents here. Tax collectors at the time were infamous. It was bad enough that they were teamed up with the empire that was oppressing the people, but they were also known for cheating people out of their money with the power of the Roman empire behind them.

Biblical Confrontation, Part 1:

2010-02-12T15:35:00.006-07:00

New job orientation often included how to handle conflict.

Employees are to talk to the person with whom they have a problem, then escalate it up the ladder: If Jimmy steals your stapler, you talk to him about it. If there's no resolution or you're not comfortable talking to Jimmy, you go to your supervisor. Repeat the steps with your supervisor and their boss, etc. until there's resolution.

Wouldn't it be nice if the Bible taught us how to handle conflict, problems, and sin¹? Not in the workplace, but in regular life, dealing with other people who are supposed to be Christians.

The Bible teaches two types of confrontation that I'll blog on over the next few days, followed by a discussion about unity.

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts, and if I write anything incorrectly, please let me know!

Footnotes

1 Sin of others that affects you. One's personal sin is clearly dealt with in the Bible, with emphases on honest admittance (confession), changing your mind and thus your behavior (repentance), and seeking reconciliation with others. See Jesus' teachings in Matthew 5:23-24

The End of Prosperity, Chapter 1

2010-01-04T23:59:00.003-07:00

I ordered The End of Prosperity after seeing the authors speak on CSPAN one day. It's a good read so far, written by economists who explain how history has shown how the economy works. If you don't want to invest in a book about the politics of economics, at least read my notes so you know what's what.

Here's a recap of the first chapter.

Regan's economic policies started 25 years (1980-2005) of good economy in America.
Political party doesn't matter - John Kennedy and Ronald Regan were good for the economy, Nixon and Carter were horrible for the economy.
There's 4 "killers of prosperity"
1. Trade protectionism
2. Tax increases and profligate government spending
3. New regulations and increased government intervention in the economy
4. Monetary policy mistakes
The opposites of these 4 are economy boosters.
The poorer benefit the most from tax cuts and free trade. Think about it. Lowering prices on T-shirts at Walmart doesn't help millionares buy what they need. It helps the poor who buy what they can, and global competition keeps prices low.

There's a chart in the book that compares the average of all households in 1970 vs the average of poor households in 2005. More poor households have more now than the average of all Americans did in 1970: washing machines (72 vs 71%), dryers (57 vs 44%), microwaves (73 vs 1%), cell phones (60 vs 1%), air conditioners (82 vs 34%), and more.
From 1994 to 2004, "Americans in the bottom 20 percent of income actually had the highest increase in incomes" - the poor are getting richer (and the richest are actually getting poorer).
The idea of class-warfare doesn't work in America. More than 50% of households are stock-holders. We are worker-owners. The idea of Wallstreet vs. Main Street is a false dichotomy.
The death tax is 0% in 2010. Next year in 2011, it will jump up to 55%!

"Economic policy matters. Incentives matter. Prosperity doesn't happen by accident, and growth is not the natural course of events; it has to be nurtured and rewarded." - p 11.

Resolutions

2010-01-02T06:00:00.001-07:00

I've made several resolutions to prepare for 2010. I'm not committing to year resolutions, I'm taking things a month at a time - even if I fail, it's only for a month.

Work out at least 6 times each week.
Read at least 1 chapter of non-fiction every day.
Read at least 1 chapter of fiction every day.
Stick to the Read-Thru-The-Bible calendar (I've started a Google calendar if you want to follow along).
Memorize something every day. (I usually do this while doing cardio workouts.)
Write a physical letter at least 6 times every week.

Well, now I'm off to the gym. I'll write soon!

Great Year

2010-01-01T12:18:00.002-07:00

This has been a great year. I haven't lost my temper, or broken any laws. I haven't gone over budget once, and haven't broken any resolutions. I haven't gotten in any arguments or fights, haven't gained any weight.

12 hours down, only 8,760 hours to go.

Happy January 1, 2010.

Thank you, lady at the post office

2009-12-12T14:59:00.003-07:00

Thank you, lady at the post office,

You stood behind me in line watching slow moving, uncaring government employees for an hour. As if that wasn't enough, you incessantly tapped your fingernails on the counter, sale displays and boxes for the duration of the wait.

Thank you for reminding me that the situation can always be made worse.

Christian animism.

2009-11-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

Around the world people are afraid of the spiritual world, and try to manipulate the spiritual beings to get what they want. A few examples?

Shamans (witch doctors) operate with the goal of manipulating spirits for healing powers.

There's a Hindu sacrifice of 250,000 animals happening now in Nepal. The explanation? "If we want anything, and we come here with an offering to the goddess, within five years all our dreams will be fulfilled." (source)

This is something you might run into in various cultures around the world. But surely we wouldn't have a similar view of God, that he would be so easily manipulated like a genie who has to grant it's master wishes. God has no master, we'd never think in the same way.

However, the same attitude toward spirituality is plentiful in the church. As soon as we believe God is formulaic, we're doing the same thing - believing that we can manipulate the spirits - or in our case, The Spirit.

Have you ever heard something like "if you do these 6 things God will give you these 7 benefits"?

We say Christianity is supposed to be about a relationship, but we often live out the idea that God is ours to be manipulated by formulas. Look for this idea next time you're hearing spiritual teaching - are you being taught that you can and should manipulate the spiritual world?

Open Letter to my Senator, Michael Bennet

2009-11-24T11:13:00.003-07:00

I just received an email from my Senator, Michael Bennet about how wonderful he is for voting for the health care overhaul bill. Here is my response I've sent to him.

Dear Michael Bennet (or the staff that will read this letter if he has decided to delegate his responsibility of hearing from his electorate.)

Everyone wants healthcare reform. I haven't heard anyone say that the health care system is ideal. Whether it's the best in the world or not, it can be better - lots better.

However, rushing a bill through as fast as possible that doesn't even take effect until after Obama runs for re-election is a mere political move. Why not take a year to explore the options, and still have it start in 2014? When they've already decided to wait 5 years to implement the plan, why do we only have weeks to pass the bill?

In addition to the rush, it is also concerning the size of the bill. Will you read the bill? 2,000+ pages are not required to regulate insurance policy's pre-existing conditions clauses, or to expand the existing government insurance monoliths (medicare, medicaid, etc.). You must agree that the bulk of the bill is unnecessary, and if they were just trying to resolve these problems it would be an easy bill to pass.

The health care in the United States is wonderful. Every day news stories break about people from other countries coming to doctors in the U.S. and receiving better treatment. Thus the goal isn't about trying to get better health care - the only change would be to make it worse. We have the best doctors with the best technology in the world. The only change here would be to make it worse.

The goals must then be to 1) cover more people and 2) drive down costs. Government solutions have never worked. We already have government-run insurance monoliths in medicare and medicaid. Yet millions of people who qualify for these programs don't sign up, go to the ER for problems, and are lumped in with the "millions of uninsured" statistics. Government insurance also underpays doctors, and denies more services than private insurers. Further, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has run the numbers and is saying that the government run program will have a higher cost to the patient than a comparable private insurance run plan.

While government health insurance programs have not helped in the areas we're seeking to reform, free-market solutions have been proven to do just this. See Safeway's plan that has kept the same premiums for the last several years while the average premium increased 40%. (It's a group plan, so they legally have to accept pre-existing conditions, so that's great too.) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124476804026308603.html

Just because we Coloradans want health care reform, that does not give you license to do whatever you want as long as you say it's "health care reform." The changes in this bill are harmful, not helpful, and I will, for the first time, really become active in the next election based on your vote.

I will rally whoever I can to support you if you take a stand against this abuse of power, or I will work to hold you accountable by working against your upcoming re-election less than 1 year from now if you vote for this and in so doing, abandon your responsibility as our representative and choose party politics over your duty as our elected official.

Fitness, Weeks 6 and 7 (BFL 3&4)

2009-09-09T09:56:00.004-06:00

5 workouts each week for weeks 6 and 7.

I've got my new scale that measures BMI - and my BMI is lower than is shown on the BMI height/weight charts. I weigh the same that I did two weeks ago from today, but my BMI has been declining.

My goal is to live the healthiest and longest I can as far as it is up to me, which apparently means being on the borderline between "normal" and "overweight" BMI.

With the Body For Life (BFL) workout, instead of just losing fat weight, it seems that I'm gaining the same amount of weight in muscle. BFL is a 12 week workout program, and my goal is to get to that borderline BMI. I've now completed 4 weeks, and if I keep up on the same pace, I'll surpass that goal and need to pick a new one!

49 days
40 trips to the gym
Avg cost per visit: $7.50 ($300 for 2 year membership divided by visits so far. My goal is to get it well below $1/visit)

Fitness, Week 5

2009-08-24T13:09:00.002-06:00

6 workouts again last week, lost 3.5 pounds mid-week, gained some back by the end of the week.

I found a deal on a new scale that does body mass index, which I hope will make it easier and more accurate to track progress.

Last week I doubled up on Body-For-Life workouts, this week I scaled back to just stick to the plan. It's much easier to find time to go the the gym when duration alternates between 20 and 50 minutes.

35 days
30 trips to the gym
Avg cost per visit: $10 ($300 for 2 year membership divided by visits so far)

The Sauron-Statist blindness, part 3

2009-08-19T12:26:00.003-06:00

I previously wrote that the Democrats are "unable to recognize that others would think differently" than they do, so they follow the advice: "Assume and accuse your opponent of doing what you do. "

I also wrote that "A Democrat strategist saying that individuals expressing concern and demanding answers and entire crowds in an uproar at Senators' townhall meetings regarding health care is a nationally organized effort."

The majority of Americans who disagree with the Obama/Pelosi plan aren't an orchestrated effort from Washington, we're Americans speaking out for liberty. But Obama, to prove my point is starting a nationally organized effort to try to get some "grassroots" efforts started that agree with him.

So when people disagree with Obama, they must be part of a nationally organized effort, which invalidates it. But when Obama has to start a nationally organized effort to get people to agree with him, that's "grass roots."

Amazing.

The people are speaking

2009-08-18T09:06:00.003-06:00

AARP loses members
AARP lost 60,000 members due to their support of the Obama/Pelosi healthcare plan.
Snitch email closed
The White House snitch line email address, flag@whitehouse.gov, was asking for people's personal information if they disagreed with Obama to maintain an "enemies list." (It's illegal for the White House to do this, and also illegal for them to delete a single email, so that's what they were doing). The email has been shut down.
Government-driven death counsel removed
The House Bill to lower health care costs included paying doctors (which of course would cost more) to talk to patients about different "end of life" options - which in order to be in this bill has to save money, so it would be promoting the cheapest way for someone to die. Protests, including Sarah Palin's resulted in the Democrats saying they'll remove that provision.
Public option may go
In a complete turn-around, Obama and his spokespeople are saying that government-run insurance program that was intended to bring about single-payer health care is negotiable. The problem, of course, with giving the payer (insurance) power over regulations, is that they'll make regulations for what saves them the most money as the payer.

We don't know what will happen. Perhaps as some have predicted, the Democrats will work harder to spread fear to get people onboard this fall with the swine flu scare or some other scare. Perhaps the replacement for the public option will be nearly identical just under another name.

But one thing is to be learned: Whether the Democrat leaders are going to be more responsive or more deceptive, they're now reacting to what the people are saying. We need to keep talking.

There's a lot more that's problematic in the Obama/Pelosi plan, including fining people who don't have presidential-appointee-approved insurance (and it leaves that completely open, so the presidential appointee could say no private insurance is approved, or your plan is only approved if it pays for abortion, or only if it doesn't pay for abortion), reducing payments to hospitals who re-admit a patient (if the cost of re-admitting you won't get paid, your chances of receiving health care go down).

If you haven't called and written to your Representatives and Senators, please do. If you have, do it again. I plan on calling again today.

Conservatives now outnumber liberals in all 50 states - you are not alone, and if we speak, they will hear our voices. We don't know how they'll react, but the power-grab their after is lessened when they realize their constituents are displeased as we approach future elections.

Fitness, Week 4

2009-08-18T08:59:00.002-06:00

6 days again last week, and I switched to the Body for Life workout plan, plus an additional BFL cardio workout every day.

It looks like this:

M: Upper Body Weights + 20 minute BFL exhaustive cardio
T: 20 minute BFL exhaustive cardio plus another 20 minute BFL exhaustive cardio
W: Lower Body Weights + 20 minute BFL exhaustive cardio
R: 20 minute BFL exhaustive cardio plus another 20 minute BFL exhaustive cardio
F: Upper Body Weights + Ab weights (usually lower body, but the upper body weights take more time, so I didn't want to stay at the gym long enough to do a full 20 minute cardio workout so I just added Abs instead)
S: 20 minute BFL exhaustive cardio plus another 20 minute BFL exhaustive cardio

I'm going to weigh myself once a week now, but in the last week of watching what I eat and doing the BFL+BLF Cardio workouts, haven't lost any weight.

28 days

24 days at the gym
Avg cost per visit: $12.50 ($300 for 2 year membership divided by visits so far)

GreenPeace

2009-08-13T09:08:00.002-06:00

I was stopped by a few Greenpeace volunteers downtown yesterday.

Greenpeace: "Hey man, are you interested in protecting and saving our environment?"

Me: "Well, I would sound like an awful person if I say 'no,' wouldn't I?"

Greenpeace: "Hey, we should talk"

Me: "I don't think so"

Brilliant Marketing by Microsoft

2009-08-11T12:23:00.002-06:00

Microsof teamed up with reverbnation.com to offer thousands of mp3s for free. The only catch is that the cover art that is built into the file has a microsoft ad.

Now these microsoft ads will be built into your music library forever, unless you want to go through one by one and replace them.

Microsoft ads showing up on your computer, iPod, mp3 player - forever, unless you change the album art.

I hope someone latches onto this idea and it becomes a new way to offer advertiser-paid free or cheaper mp3 downloads.

The Sauron-Statist blindness, part 2: Obama

2009-08-11T08:06:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I wrote about how Nancy Peliso and her statist allies (those who believe the government is more important than the liberty of the people, and that the state is the solution to every problem) share a quality with Sauron: the assumption that everyone thinks the way you do.

I wrote about how Pelosi accused people who disagree with her on health care of carrying swastikas and similar symbols - either calling liberty-loving Americans Nazis or saying it's a common tactic they use in protesting - but it's the San Fransisco protesters, the people who voted Pelosi into office - who use Nazi symbols, not conservatives.

Pelosi has also stated that people who disagree with her are afraid of the facts and drowning out the conversation.

Again, this is Pelosi assuming that others will do the same things she does, think the same way she, Obama, and the other Statists behind the bill think.

Obama says he wants his opponents to stop talking. He's the one who wants their conversation drowned out.
"But I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don't mind cleaning up after them, but don't do a lot of talking."
The White House has (illegally), requested that you report your friends if they are expressing disagreement with the Obama/Pelosi state run health care plan. Compiling an enemies list (it will be compiled, because it's illegal for the White House to delete email correspondence) is a scare tactic to shut down the opposing voices of the American public.
Obama spoke about why everyone should fall in line with his plan, giving a number of guarantees, then admitting he hadn't read the bill, and didn't know what it said.
Pelosi has been misrepresenting the bill and lying about the Americans who disagree with her.

The people who disagree with health care, are asking substantive questions about the facts of the bill. Obama, Pelosi, and the others driving the effort for State controlled health care are misrepresenting the facts and are doing whatever they can to silence the voices of the American voters.

Like Sauron, they are unable to see past their own desire for power, assuming that everyone else thinks like them.

We need to throw the ring into mount doom by standing up against what they're doing and voting in better representatives.

Fitness, Week 3

2009-08-10T11:28:00.002-06:00

I managed to go 6 days again this week, and stretched to longer and longer cardio workouts.

I'm now switching from just cardio to a modified Body For Life workout. I did Body For Life before which was good, but I stopped because life got busier and my gym membership wasn't 24/7 so I couldn't go late.

I'm more confident now that I can do a modified BFL 6 days/week because I've been going that often for 3 weeks in a row.

21 days
18 days at the gym
Avg cost per visit: $16.67 ($300 for 2 year membership divided by visits so far)

The Sauron-Statist blindness, part 1

2009-08-10T10:58:00.005-06:00

I'm most of the way through reading The Lord of the Rings to my 2 year old as a bed time story. The good guys are able to unite and trick Sauron because he is so evil, he cannot understand why the good guys would have a different motivation and strategy than he does. He assumes that they too are operating out of the desire for ultimate power. For one so old, brilliant, and powerful, he was blinded by himself, unable to recognize that others would think differently.

This is a pattern in leftist/statist politics. Assume and accuse your opponent of doing what you do. This was the case recently when Nancy Pelosi accused people who disagree with her position on health care of promoting swastikas, misrepresenting the health care bill, and stopping a civil dialogue.

To agree with Pelosi is to say that anyone who disagrees with her specific brand of state-controlled health care is a Nazi, uncivilized and un-American.

Dissenters are Nazis

What Pelosi says:	Reality:
"They're carrying swastikas and symbols like that to a town meeting on health care."	Pelosi's supporters use swastikas, so she assumes everyone must.

Here's some pictures from protesters in Pelosi's district - yup, the people who voted her into office. [source]

October 26, 2002 and February 16, 2003:

September 24, 2005

Fitness, Week 2

2009-08-05T11:55:00.003-06:00

I recently started a 2 year membership at 24 hour fitness that I purchased at Costco for $300.

I managed to go 6 days again this week, though several times I went after midnight, and got home as late as 2am (killer!).

I've been doing a different cardio exercise every day. Ellipticals are fairly efficient. The hour on the rowing machine and another on the stationary bike were killer.

14 days
12 days at the gym
Avg cost per visit: $25 ($300 for 2 year membership divided by visits so far)

Political hypnotism: Believe the agenda, ignore the facts.

2009-08-05T11:34:00.003-06:00

Thrice in 3 days I've seen news stories on CNN while at the gym that have a common theme: The Obama administration is acting like a cheap hypnotist, telling you not to believe your ears, eyes, or experience. Only believe what they tell you to believe.

1. An Obama economic expert saying the economy is improving, but the jobless rate will continue to go up, and consumers won't see the signs of recovery, so consumer spending will stay down. Even though everything consumers see says the economy is getting worse, it's really getting better.

2. A Democrat strategist saying that individuals expressing concern and demanding answers and entire crowds in an uproar at Senators' townhall meetings regarding health care is a nationally organized effort. Even though the health care bill is a national mandate coming out of Washington, it's the concerned citizens who are the national machine that's against the citizens.

[Video of town hall objection to government healthcare:]

[Another video of town hall objection to government healthcare:]

3. Obama's ABC correspondent-turned-White House Official saying that the videos circulating the Internet of Obama saying he wants single-payer health care are an effort to mislead the public. Even though this is video of Obama himself, that's not what he thinks - even though that's what Obama says, that's not what he says.

(Here's the video of Obama:)

Reminds me of Kenny the hypnotist from Little Britain [video].

Politics: Jesus vs you

2009-08-04T09:33:00.003-06:00

Series: American vs. Christian
Christians in every culture have to deal with over-contextualization - where we consider elements of non-Christian culture and/or traditions as part of our faith. In Haiti Christianity became Voodoo because so much of tribal traditions were mixed in. What elements of our culture do we see as part of Christianity that weaken or directly contradict our faith? Where is the conflict between being a "good American" and a "good Christian."

Paul tells us that "The authorities that exist have been established by God." (Romans 13:1).

Peter writes:

Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king. (1 Peter..)

Titus adds:

Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.

This is a conflict between American culture and Christianity. As Americans we vote and have total freedom of speech. From the beginning of our country as documented in the Federalist Papers and other sources, we Americans have been excessively critical and harsh to those who are in office.

Now an image of President Obama with his face cut open, desecrated and painted white like the "The Joker" from the latest Batman movie is circulating the net and I've begun to see it as Christians' Facebook profile images.

This is certainly a legal expression of free speech, but this sort of thing doesn't at all match up with "to slander no one," being "considerate," "true humility," showing "proper respect," "honor the king," and will certainly not "silence the ignorant talk of foolish men."

It's being a good American.

It's just not being a good Christian.

2 Honest Questions for those who support government health insurance or socialized medicine

2009-07-31T10:52:00.003-06:00

On what basis do you believe the government will improve the medical care American receive?
What specific parts of the bill do you like?

Law abiding citizen = villain

2009-07-31T09:49:00.003-06:00

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has declared of the health insurance companies: "They are the villains." They're bad, they're evil, they need to be punished.

This makes sense when you see the world through this way:

People should be punished not for breaking the law, but for disagreeing with me.

The new health care plan penalizes companies with an 8% payroll tax if they choose private insurance, and individuals with a 2.5% income tax if they don't have a government-approved plan.

But the idea isn't new. We have punitive taxes on things like cigarettes that are totally legal - if you want smoking to stop, outlaw it, and punish crimes.

Meanwhile, we don't punish people who break laws. Illegal immigration is just one example.

How does one justify this self-righteous idea of using the government to attack law-abiding citizens merely because they disagree with you?

There is no health care crisis

2009-07-28T11:08:00.003-06:00

It is the law that every hospital has to give the same treatment to anyone who comes in the ER, regardless of their ability to pay. It is the law that every doctor's office must treat someone if they come in needing treatment.

There's no problem with American health care. There are problems with payment for care, a totally separate issue.

Problems:

Government programs (like medicaid) are horrible - doctors offices hate accepting Medicaid patients. The government payments for services are so low, other patients must be charged more so medical facilities can stay open.
Some patients refuse to pay their bills.
Insurance premiums are increasing every year.

Another government program is not the solution to any of these problems.

Given the facts, a complete overhaul of the healthcare system to put Washington politicians in control of every aspect of your health care is just obscene. It's merely a unconstitutional (10th ammendment) power-grab and an attack on our liberty.

Government health plan = Taxes

2009-07-28T09:53:00.003-06:00

The new government run health insurance plan:

Taxes (on junk food)
Taxes (on employer paid health insurance)
Taxes (on insurance plans better than what the government offers)

Families who pay for private schools still pay the same taxes as everyone else for public schooling.

With the new Obama/Pelosi Government run health insurance, if you buy your own health insurance, you pay more taxes to support their plan that people who don't buy their own.

Fitness, week 1

2009-07-25T00:34:00.004-06:00

I bought a 2 year membership at 24 Hour Fitness at Costco for $300, which is about $12.50/month, much cheaper than even the local rec center. The membership starts whenever you turn in the purchased pass.

I stared on Monday and committed to myself to go every day for as long as I could, one day each weekend off for a day of rest.

I'm not going to weigh myself for a while - I'd rather base things off of how I look and feel and feel about how I look. We'll see how long I can go without stepping on the scale, working out every day.

This Week: 7 days, 6 workouts

This make me think of heaven, #1

2009-07-02T16:04:00.003-06:00

The words of the song, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," always make me think of heaven:

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far
Behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then, oh why can't I?

Here's one rendition of it mixed with "It's a Wonderful World":

(If you don't see the music player, view the original post.)

Google knows me so well

2009-07-01T14:57:00.002-06:00

Google Ad displayed next to my gmail just now. (No, there was no Hebrew in my email.)

Free Starbucks WiFi for T-Mobile Blackberry users

2009-07-01T14:51:00.004-06:00

If you pay for unlimited Internet with T-Mobile, chances are you get unlimited free WiFi at Starbucks on your phone or even your laptop!

Go to http://hotspot.t-mobile.com
Log in with your phone number that has the data plan and the last 4 of the primary account holder's social as the password.
Set up your new password and anything else you're prompted to

At starbucks, connect to the at&t wifi and open your browser.

At the login page, select "Connect to Internet"
Click third party
Choose T-Mobile
sign in with your phone number and password you chose above.

Done!

For those of us needing baby stuff.

2009-06-20T23:08:00.001-06:00

A number friends are have or are expecting babies this year - if that's you, you'll find this helpful - it will save you lots of money!

I was buying a peapod* because our pack-and-play broke when I came across diapers.com. It's a great place for diapers, but also for baby and kid supplies in general.

I just bought a box of pampers that works out to $0.13 per diaper! Thirteen cents!

The prices are the same as or less than Babies R Us, and shipping is free.
You can use manufacturer's coupons for diapers! (You mail them your diaper coupons, and they'll add them to your account)
There's lots of coupons here.
If you put in my referral code: JGRE1366 , you get $10 off your first order, and I get $1 off my next order :) Then you get a referral code you can give out to your friends.
If you go to this link to get there, through bing.com, you'll get 3-10% cashback, on top of the coupons and low prices!

Oh, and a peapod is basically a tent for a baby or little kid with a little inflating mattress inside. It folds up to be very small and light, not as bulky as a pack-n-play. I couldn't find it anywhere locally, so I've bought it online after reading a ton of reviews - all very positive. Here's what it is:

Re-writing history

2009-06-20T11:54:00.003-06:00

The following appeared in an article in the Washington Post today about an official apology for slavery from the US Government:

This recent willingness to deal with the nation's difficult racial history has come about in part because of President Obama's election... "The Republican Party needed to do it... It would have shed that racist scab on the party."

The Republican party was founded as the anti-slavery party, in opposition to the pro-slavery Democratic party.

The Republican party came to power with their first presidential candidate, Abraham Lincoln, who presided over the civil war, believing that slavery was not acceptable.

The Republicans don't need to apologize for slavery - they were the party that overturned it.

The claims that the Republican party has a racist past is merely deceptive political propaganda from the party that was the pro-slavery.

Understanding Obama, Part 1

2009-06-01T23:17:00.004-06:00

Whether Obama's skill or just that of a speech writer, his prepared words have the skillful effect of feeling right to everyone. Individuals with vastly different views on a topic will both walk away thinking that Obama has just agreed with them.

What is the content when the verbal skill is saying two things at once?

"The danger I think is when the United States or any country thinks that we can simply impose these values on another country with a different history and a different culture...

Democracy, rule of law, freedom of speech, freedom of religion -- those are not simply principles of the West to be hoisted on these countries, but rather what I believe to be universal principles that they can embrace and affirm as part of their national identity...

Because part of what we want to affirm to the world is that these are values that are important even when it's hard, even especially when it's hard, and not just when it's easy."

Questions I'd love to have your comments on:

1. I'm having a hard time finding a transcript of the whole speech, but from what we know... what did he actually say?

It's wrong for America to try to spread it's values
It's right for America to try to spread it's values
It's wrong for America to impose values except for the ones I think should be spread

2. Who disagrees with him? Bush the hated was only attempting to spread the values that Obama just said should be spread.

Here's the story

late-term abortionist shot & killed in church service

2009-05-31T22:18:00.004-06:00

An abortion doctor was shot and killed in a Lutheran church service today.

The doctor was one of the few doctors who would abort babies who were far enough along in pregnancy that many would have survived if born at the point of the doctor-enforced death - essentially infanticide.

I'm as shamed of our culture for this barbaric act that is paraded as some advance in culture (though it was a barbaric practice throughout the ages and is in contradiction to science), but God reserves the rights to bring vengeance.

Anyone who takes a human life has taken something so valuable, they've forfeited their own. There is judgment awaiting those who are responsible for the deaths of the innocent, whether through manipulation of legal systems or taking the lives of the innocent and helpless young.

This is a mark of cultural shame and disgrace.

But vengeance is God's.

Attempting to take God's role, whether deciding how long innocents' lives last, or deciding how long the guilty live - both are attempting to take God's role - it is He who decides who lives and dies*. Lucifer started the trend of wanting to take God's place, and both the abortionists and the man who shot this guy are guilty of the same sin.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090531/ap_on_re_us/us_tiller_shooting

*After the flood, God did enforce the death penalty, and while it's a much longer and different discussion, God doesn't seem to be in favor of anarchy and protecting the accused through trials requiring multiple witness' testimonies, etc.

Free Friday/Tech Tip - tag your photos in windows

2009-05-29T14:15:00.005-06:00

We're trying to organize all of our digital photos, going back several years. It's a real pain, trying to figure out how to organize - do we catalog by date, location, event, people in the picture?

Windows Live Photo Gallery, now available for XP and Vista for free, allows you to tag people just like you do on Facebook (but with more flexibility that Facebook, because you decide the size of the square around the person in the photo), and also allows for a caption and miscellaneous tags. Take the picture below, for example, (click to see full size).

With this photo I have:

tagged several people (names blurred for privacy),
added descriptive tags "180" and "Poland" because it's a trip that the group 180 took to Poland. You'll
added a caption
edited the author

The best part of this is that Windows saves this information right into the file. If keep a backup, the information is saved. If I email it to you, you get the tags I've added.

I can now

search in Windows Gallery for "Dan Alice Poland" to see all pictures where there's a Dan and an Alice in a photo tagged with "Poland"
upload to Facebook, including all people tags, which will be linked to their Facebook profile if they're my friend on Facebook
upload to Picasa, including all people tags
upload to Flickr and other places too.

Using Windows, you can find your photos by date, person, description tag, folder, or by searching.

Finally, a decent way of organizing our photos!

(If you're interested, it can even sync your photos between computers, via your hotmail/msn account, so if you edit a photo or add tags, it can make the changes to copies on other computers that you have.)

Don't shake your head at me.

2009-05-20T17:06:00.002-06:00

I pulled out of a parking spot today after I was waved on by a guy on a motorcycle. I was waiting for him to go until he waved me on.

Then, the entire time I was backing up he, shook his head and gave me a nasty look.

Don't shake your head at someone when they're only doing what you suggested - then you're just shaking your head at your own suggestion, and what does that say about yourself?

Lesson from the garden

2009-05-19T10:22:00.001-06:00

A quick tip from weeding the garden:

If a plant looks like it could thrive in Mordor - if it looks like it's evil, it's a weed.

Making do with less

2009-05-07T10:59:00.002-06:00

There was a recent article in the Denver Post, "Budget will cut a wide swath: Making Do With Less"

At first I was impressed with the idea that the government would me making do with less, but the article goes on to state that it means that Coloradans will have to make due with less, because taxes are going to go up to pay for a non-balanced budget.

Yay.

Liberty And Tyranny, Chapter 1

2009-04-01T22:25:00.008-06:00

“With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name – liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names – liberty and tyranny.” – Abraham Lincoln, 1864.

Levin's premise: conservatives agree with Lincoln's definition of liberty - valuing the individual as primary, necessitating the duty of every person to respect the liberty of others. Meanwhile, strict limitations should be put on the power of the federal government – for this definition of liberty the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the founding fathers, and conservatives agree.

He contrasts this with the “Statist^[1]” perspective that believes in the “supremacy of the state.” Individual value and rights are devalued because they impede the goals of the authoritarian state. Thus, the Statist is in fundamental disagreement with the Declaration, the Constitution, and the founders.

The Statist agenda finds resistance, so the pursuit toward a totalitarian state must be taken in small steps of increased government power and individual dependency on the federal government.

There were real limits on the federal government's role and the separation of powers, until FDR and the lopsidedly partisan congress began to reverse that. The courts became stacked with judges who would allow any new government program regardless of constitutionality, and the powers of the federal government grew, and continue to grow to the detriment of personal rights and liberty.

Questions for discussion:

Do you agree that the ideal of a central government is to protect and increase individual liberty?
Does personal liberty necessarily decrease as centralized government power increases?
Obama’s administration is dramatically increasing government power and reducing personal liberty. Is this happening to fast? Will this meet too much resistance, or has the resistance worn down too much to have any effect?
If our federal government scaled way back, and our federal laws were about protecting individual liberty, would you be willing to give up your sacred cows? If the following do not violate any individual’s liberty, are you/we willing to remove and deny federal legislation on:
- Executive salary?
- The definition of marriage?
- Education?

[1] – Levin uses “statist” rather than “liberal” because the classic meaning of “liberal” was an opposition to the authoritarian state, but non-conservatives are in fact pushing for an increasingly authoritarian state.

If you're reading this on Facebook or somewhere else, please comment on the original blog post instead. Thanks!

Liberty And Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto

2009-04-01T21:39:00.004-06:00

It was sold out at Amazon.com as well as the local Borders and Barnes and Noble. I just received my copy in the mail. Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto by Mark Levin.

Apparently this is the fastest selling book in Amazon.com's history so far.

I'll be typing up some thoughts as I read the book and would love to have some discussion about it.

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

The Garage Project

2009-03-22T00:20:00.002-06:00

Our Garage has been in a messy phase for a few years.

This week I decided to work on one quarter of the garage (the floor is 4 concrete slabs, so cleaning this way is easy. I've thrown out so much trash, organized a lot, and am getting ready to tear out some old poorly build shelves so I can insulate and drywall the back wall of the garage and reclaim lots of square footage.

It's amazing what can be done in small steps. Whether it's fixing-up my garage or socializing the nation.

How to socialize America

2009-03-21T16:06:00.003-06:00

Choose an industry you want the government to control. Let's start with banking:
Make people afraid.
Convince people to live in terror.
"Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse." - Obama, as he wrote in an editorial 2/5/09.
Force a private company to look like a villain for following the law. In this case, give taxpayer money to a company that is required by legal contracts to use it for bonuses.
Yes, when you sign a contract, you are breaking the law if you don't follow it's terms. AIG had a contract with the employees that they get bonuses.
Turn that fear into anger - at this company, even though you gave them the money to do what they did, with no restrictions.
"I don't want to quell anger. People are right to be angry. I'm angry. What I want us to do is channel our anger in a constructive way." - Obama at the White House.
Leverage that anger to insult, attack, and take control of those companies who haven't even broken a single law.
The Obama administration will call for increased oversight of executive pay at all banks, Wall Street firms and possibly other companies as part of a sweeping plan to overhaul financial regulation, government officials said.
Pick another industry, say, healthcare, and repeat.

Definitions of the day from dictionary.com:

ter⋅ror⋅ist –noun

1.	a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism.

2.	a person who terrorizes or frightens others.

ter⋅ror⋅ism–noun
the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization. a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.

ter⋅ror⋅ize–verb (used with object), -ized, -iz⋅ing.

1.	to fill or overcome with terror.

2.	to dominate or coerce by intimidation.

Free Friday: Pandora on your Blackberry

2009-03-20T15:26:00.002-06:00

Get it now - it's free and fast!

Rediculous coincidence

2009-03-20T08:00:00.000-06:00

In the news this week:

A one-way street

2009-03-19T08:00:00.001-06:00

Respect should be a two-way street. That's just a sign of being a grown-up. When respect is a one-way street, it's easy to see which person is the grown-up.

Bush explained his silence about Obama - he will not criticize him.

Or, there's Obama:

Two Face, Obama

2009-03-18T08:00:00.001-06:00

I just thought of the resemblance of this today.

Obama	Two-face

The point of the different styles and racial overtones in the Obama poster, of course, was the same as the point of Obama's speaking style. Everyone who walks away is supposed to think Obama identifies with them.

AIG's bonuses.

2009-03-17T15:52:00.004-06:00

The federal government gave billions upon billions of dollars in bail-out money to the bank AIG. The bank subsequently gave millions of dollars in bonuses to executives. The latest suspicion is that 73 AIG execs got over $1 million after the bail out.

Now Obama and the leaders of the Congress (democrats) are trying to figure out how to take the money back. The proposal is to create a new 60% federal tax on any bonus over $10,000. On top of the 35% federal income tax and state taxes, that will equal 100% of any bonus over $10,000, if the government has a stake in the company.

Obviously these companies did nothing illegal, or they'd be required by law to give the money back. This means it's the authors of the bailout's fault for just handing over money with no restrictions on it's use. These same democrats who fought Bush's push for regulation, but now say they want regulation, just gave away BILLIONS of our dollars in tax money with no restrictions at all.
They are using THEIR OWN ERROR as an excuse for higher taxes. They aren't just looking to tax at 100% (ie, take all of) million dollar bonuses, but any bonus over $10,000.00. Lots of employees of different companies rely on their bonus to get them through financially.

In summary, if the Obama government doesn't like what you do, when you're not even breaking the law, they will take away 100% of your money.

Thank you, Obama for this change. A 100% tax rate for people who broke zero laws to get their money.

P.S. The poster pictured here is from the Obama campaign. It certainly reminds me of 2-face from the Batman stories.

Freedom of the press?

2009-03-16T19:23:00.002-06:00

Nancy Pelosi wants to bail out the newspapers. It's no secret that the newspapers she is on a mission to save are not media that work to help conservatism, they work to help liberalism.

She writes "We must ensure that our policies enable our news organizations to survive and to engage in the news gathering and analysis that the American people expect." [source]

But of course, that doesn't apply to news gathering and analysis that more American people tune in for and expect on talk radio - she wants them out of business.

It is not the job of the federal government to bail out the media outlets that fail and attack the media outless that overwhelmingly succeed. It's their job to ensure freedom of speech, and freedom of the press.

Goodbye Wamu

2009-02-10T15:46:00.002-07:00

I recommended WaMu as a bank in the past, but the bank is under new ownership and everything has gone downhill.

1% on what used to be 4% interest on savings .
$12 fee that they refuse to refund for what used to be free overdraft transfers from savings to checking so I could keep my money in savings and have it automatically transfer over as needed.
They closed my accounts and re-opened them with different account numbers so several checks bounced and electronic payments were canceled.

Move to another bank that gives free checks for life and better service.

No Spend February: Week 1

2009-02-09T23:24:00.003-07:00

A superbowl party wasn't the best way to start No Spend February. We dropped some good cash at the grocery store on February 1. Also this week we had my high school small group over to watch Ironman (blu-ray), and we made food for them. That cost us some cash too, but the guys pitched in a few bucks each, which helped some.

Other than that, we've been very good. We've spent some cash on produce and milk, but nothing on household supplies, home improvement or clothes, and instead of our weekly dinner date we went to Starbucks. That saved us $10-15 right there (we always share a dish when we eat out, so it's not that expensive normally).

We've also been discovering what frozen, canned and boxed foods we have. What we have to eat largely depends on what we have in the pantry rather than what we're hungry for.

February is exactly 4 weeks long, so we're 25% done. I hope we can save up some money to give away at the end of the month. It's only 3 more weeks of not spending.

No Spend February

2009-02-09T23:16:00.004-07:00

Along with some friends, we're spending as little money as possible this February to sacrifice to give money away to the Denver Rescue Mission or some other non-profit. Inspired by our study of the Gospel of John, we're applying what we learn rather than leaving it in the realm of the theoretical.

We're eating lots of simple food, hitting Starbucks for our dinner date instead of a restaurant (and even then just buying a tall tea instead of a grande hot chocolate) and having friends pitch-in for lunch at our house on Sundays instead of going out to eat.

We're skimping on household supplies, home improvement is suspended for the month, our milk delivery and Netflix are on hold. No clothes purchases for the month, no miscelaneous/fun spending money.

This isn't an exercise in budgeting, it's about sacrificial giving.

It was surprising at how easy it was to say "I don't have anything to give" or "I don't have any expenses I can cut back on."

It ought not take long to see the sin in that. Has God not provided for our needs? Has God not commanded us to be generous? I was able to give money to church, even if it was only $1/week when I was in college and unemployed. How selfish is it to believe that God hasn't provided enough to me for me to be obedient to the command of generosity?

So, in addition to helping people by sacrificing this month, hopefully it will help us get away from believing the lie that we have nothing to give, and that we can't trust God so we have to hoard everything he gives us.

Things my 2 year old learned in Sunday School

2009-01-27T08:22:00.003-07:00

How to push
How to hit
How to pull hair
The song, "Row, row, row your boat..."
The word, "MINE!"
The cleanup song

Might as well make it fun...

2009-01-12T18:20:00.002-07:00

One secret to happiness is to make unlikable tasks fun. I had to shovel lots of snow today. So I made a snow monster on our front yard. :)

Free Friday: Turn your Blackberry into a laptop remote

2009-01-09T09:32:00.003-07:00

My HP laptop came with a cheap remote control. It's cool because we can watch a movie on it and play/pause, mute, etc., without having to get up and touch the computer. The range isn't very good, the battery drains quickly, and now our battery cover is missing, so we can't use it.

Enter BluCTRL.

Your Blackberry has a bluetooth, as does your laptop. BluCTRL connects the two, so you can do anything on your computer (from quite far away) using the bluetooth connection.

It's currently in beta (not the finished "for sale" product), and it's currently free.

Check it out here.

(No, no one paid me to share this. I wish I'd get paid for this! :) )

catan, carcassone, ticket to ride

2009-01-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

Settlers of Catan, Carcassone, and Ticket to ride are great games. We get games as gifts because its a great way to spend time with family and friends.

These are our current 3 favorites, and they are all winners from different years of the German Best Game annual award.

Yes, Ticket To Ride, the game that is a map of the United States upon which you claim train routes was the German Game of the year. A map of the U.S.

Fwd: Hello 2009, Goodbye time off

2009-01-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

I've had a lot of time with family over the last two weeks. Work picks up full time tomorrow. That makes me sad. Its been great to relax. Its been a while.

I'm a horrible shopper

2009-01-03T19:11:00.002-07:00

I just went out to buy a pair of jeans, but then spent a very long time looking at everything that was on sale. Here was my thought process for lots of items over the course of 1.5 hours:

1. This would be fun to have, we'd use it.
2. This is a really good deal.
3. I'd better inspect it to see if I really like it.
4. Yup, I like it. I'll get this instead.
5. But... I don't need it. Moving on...

I left with just the pair of jeans I went out for. I'm a lousy shopper.

Days blogged in a row: 3 (100%)

Free Friday: Mint.com - track and control your spending

2009-01-02T07:00:00.001-07:00

I signed up for mint.com a few months ago and love it with few reservations. I highly recommend it if you haven't found a good and simple way to track your expenses and investments.

Mint.com signs into your online bank, credit card, mortgage, and investment accounts, and downloads all of your transactions into one place - whether you wrote a check, paid with a credit card, or earned interest in your bank, you see it all at once, in one place.

The service currently monitors for me:

5 checking accounts
7 savings accounts
6 credit cards
3 investment accounts (1 IRA and 2 401Ks)
mortgage loans

Mint.com alerts me when my credit card interest rates or credit limits changes, and even 5 days before a credit card payment is due.

I've also set up a basic budget with mint.com, and it emails me and sends me an sms text message the moment it finds out about transactions that put me over budget in a given category.

Here's other things you can do:

Edit the names and categories of transactions
Split a transaction into multiple parts to categorize it differently.
Create new categories for transactions that aren't built-in
Compare the history of your investment accounts against the stock market
Compare your accounts to others to make better interest, or get better credit card rewards.

*No, I don't get paid to blog about this, or get referral bonuses, just writing about a service I like and I think you'll like.

Days I've Blogged in a Row: 2 (100%)

Why not resolve this year?

2009-01-01T13:15:00.003-07:00

I don't know anyone who admits to making New Year's Resolutions.

Are we afraid we won't follow through with resolutions, or do we just not care to change? Are we just too comfortable settling for who we are, and so we just avoid making decisions to make ourselves better?

Days I've Blogged in a Row: 1 (100%)

Half-priced flights to Denver

2008-12-08T21:59:00.003-07:00

Just a heads-up,

If you're flying to or from Denver this spring, check out Southwest - if you purchase your ticket for January or February (or the first week of March) before 12/12/08, the tickets are half off!

I caught the Buffalo, NY 50% off sale and got $38 tickets each way from and to Denver.

Linky link.

She blogged!

2008-12-07T17:15:00.001-07:00

Check it out here.

Not a good sign

2008-12-03T16:13:00.001-07:00

We just called to extend the warranty on our laptop. We have to call back later because HP's computers are down.

I wonder if they have warranties on their computers so they can get them fixed.

Only 700

2008-11-18T16:25:00.003-07:00

There are 700 foster children cleared for adoption in Colorado. There are 3,310 churches.

The Bible is crystal clear on God's heart for orphans, why are there any in Colorado? If every church in Colorado had 1 family that obey God's call to adoption of just 1 child, we would adopt all of Colorado's orphans, as well as all the free-for-adoption foster kids in New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and Nebraska. [src]

If we were to really be following God's heart - and his commands about taking care of orphans, wouldn't we be adopting these children?

Are we engaged in corporate disobedience as a church?

Things I want to show my kids, part 1

2008-11-13T10:59:00.004-07:00

In no particular order:

Aurora Borealis
Disney World
The Great Wall of China
Beaver Dams
The U.S. Constitution
The Himalayas

Election night news

2008-11-05T00:59:00.003-07:00

Israel and Palestine celebrated McCain's concession speech by breaking their peace-fire launching missiles at each other. [source]

San Fransisco has neither legalized prostitution nor re-named their state of the art water treatment facility the "George W Bush Sewage Plant."

At the time of this writing, 49% of California votes have been counted and it looks like they will get a narrow majority to amend the constitution to define marriage traditionally and require parental notification (though not permission) for abortion. A few other states are also amending their constitutions to retain the definition of marriage. [source, source]

The depressed and cloud covered Washington is approving doctor assisted suicide. [source]

Locally here in Colorado, we're still waiting on the rest of the votes to be counted about some of the very important ballot initiatives.

How Could a Christian vote Democrat?

2008-11-02T19:01:00.002-07:00

In response to an article posted by a friend on Facebook here.

Basically every argument comes down to abandoning our personal responsibility to follow God's commands, saying the government should do it so we don't have to. I think that's unbiblical. God is foremost concerned with how you live. Nationalizing or socializing every personal command from God and every principle of the Christian life just reveals what I think is a very ignorant understanding of the Bible.

"The environment is an important cause for me."

In this election the Republicans are more environmentally friendly, wanting to try every possible option on how to protect the environment. Of course the Democrats have been spending years trying to make you afraid and tell you only they can cure the guilt and fear they've built up on you.
"The care of the poor is important to me too. Not because of my politics but because of the Bible. Caring for the poor is not an option for anyone who takes a serious reading of the Bible—it is a demand and even a test of whether I am really a Christian."

Republican job creation helps the poor much more than the Democrat welfare-state.
"As for health care I believe deeply in some sort of a nationalized system that considers justice and compassion over the medical cartel’s profits. When a nation finds people beaten and bleeding by the road I think they can’t respond with, “Take responsibility for your own problems” or “Too bad—doesn’t your employer have insurance.” A real Good Samaritan pays the bill. So would a “Christian nation.” "

It's the law in the United States that any ER or doctors office has to accept a needy patient. I've had individual health coverage that was cheaper than my employer paid insurance. We also have Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the old.

"I find even many Democrats wrong on this issue too and hope we will bring a system something like that of Canada to this country.. I know all Americans say Canadians and Europeans hate their system but it simply isn’t true. I’ve met plenty who praise it..."

Sure, the healthy ones. As a Canadian immigrant, I'm convinced my grandparents would have lived longer if they had the free market health care system. "I've met some Canadians who have never had serious medical needs and they like their health care" is not a valid argument. When Canadians are in serious medical condition, they come to the United States for treatment if they can afford it. A few years back the Canadian government experimented with a way to lower their cost of medical treatment for the homeless who got injured while hung-over... could the government save money by just keeping the homeless drunk until they died? The socialized health care puts a price tag on everyone's head. If your productivity to the economy does not outweigh the cost of your chemotherapy, it's just worthwhile to let you die. That's no "Christian" healthcare.
"I’m with the Democrats on feminism too—though most Republicans now pretend they’ve been there all the time. I think women should not be denied their rights because they are women."

Name one Republican in elected office who thinks women should not have their civil rights? their voting rights? their legal rights? their rights to justice if they are being discriminated by their employer?

When Democrats talk about women's rights, they usualy only mean abortion. That's not a virtue.
I’m with the Democrats on minimum wage too...But its not [mostly middle class] college kids I care most about—it is the poor workers that serve my hamburgers. They have no hope of making a living without college.

There are plenty of wealthy Americans without a college education. Mechanics, plumbers, even computer programmers. Here's a fact: If 100% of working Americans had a college degree, someone will be serving hamburgers and will be poor. They'll just be poor with a college degree. We don't live in medieval Europe. Many of the wealthiest Americans are immigrants of the children of immigrants who came here poor and worked their way up through hard work.

You want to adjust minimum wage for inflation, but minimum wage increases are the cause of inflation.
I oppose handguns and think they should be illegal for citizens to tote around. I see no reason why a Christian would want to promote the use of handguns—what possible good is it to let handguns proliferate? ... If God’s “will was done on earth as it is in heaven” there’d be no handguns.

Remember there was a time when Jesus told his disciples it was ok for they to carry swords!

You can be a good Christian and be against gun rights. You just can't be a good American. "what possible good is it to let handguns proliferate?" You're kidding right? Have you ever read the constitution? America with all it's freedoms would have never existed if the corrupt government rule were not overthrown, and that came down to using guns. We are allowed guns by the constitution to protect our inalienable God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit.
I generally favor increased taxation of citizens who are better off I can’t see how one would have any other position and be true to the Bible... I wish people did it personally. It is a nice idea. But, have you seen this happening much?

Yes, but by-and-large only among Republicans your Democrats don't.

If we did away with all taxes would you give your taxes to the poor?

Yes. But again, really only among Republicans.

Really?

Yes. You must only hang out with Democrats who don't give money.

Since churches are not taxed do you see the church giving generously to the poor?

Yes.

Really?

Yes. What kind of church do you go to that doesn't help the poor? On top of the regular partnerships we have with inner city ministries we have special offerings for this, we give food to food banks, we tutor and volunteer in other ways at the inner-city outreaches. You really do none of this? Why? How do you get away with so abandoning the teachings of Christ?

Jesus never taught me about what the government should do, he taught me about what I should do. My responsibility is to live as a follower of Christ, not to force other people to live as if their followers of Christ, forcing them to give my government their money so I can do with it as I see fit.
I do not believe the government should write school prayers—students should say their own prayers.

Who argues that the government should write school prayers? The Democrats and their pals in the ACLU are trying to take away students rights to pray at all, even silently!
I think excessive nationalistic military spending is sinful for any nation...But war-making is sin—even if we have to do it...

"Excessive" is completely relative, so it's hard to see any meaning in what you wrote.

If war is necessary, how can it be sinful? You really believe that sometimes it's necessary to sin, to go against God's will? Was it sin to stop Hitler? Was it a sin for us to help the poor and oppressed who were being slaughtered?
I believe national self-interest is selfishness and thus sinful

The Republican Bush has increased financial humanitarian aid to Africa with little or no national self-interest, and Democrats argue against it because of this.

How can you say the Democrats are less self-interested? They never came close to the humanitarian aid that Bush has done, they don't care about the employment of the poor in other countries, they want to punish companies for giving jobs to the poor overseas. (Those would be the minimum wage jobs that you said don't help anyone in America.)
I believe that God wants capital punishment banished from the earth...I’d still be against it as a Biblical value even if we were killing all rich white men.

I'm not sure why you think killing all the rich, or all the whites, or all men seems to be preferable to killing criminals.

God himself instituted capital punishment in Genesis 9 as a law for all human descendants of the only survivors of the flood. If you're a human, this applies. (No, this wasn't a law just for the Israelites leaving Egypt. This was a law for all humans well before Abraham.)
Democrats often like centralized governments and weaker “states rights.” So do I. I can’t pin this one on my theology or the Bible

Then it's completely irrelevant as to how a Christian could vote Democrat. You wrote that a constitutional argument was no good for arguing for the right to bear arms because it wasn't a Biblical argument, then you go on to make a series of non-Biblical arguments starting here.
On the size of government I reject the argument, “that the government which governs best governs least” ... But I can’t say this is due to my theology or the Bible either.

Then it's completely irrelevant as to how a Christian could vote Democrat.
I believe the tobacco and alcohol industries should pay restitution for their evils... Since I can’t make them illegal in this country I’d like to regulate them out of existence.

You believe the role the government is to punish behavior that you see as "evil" even if you can't argue that it should be illegal? I don't think the role of the government is to be moral police. If something is truly evil, it should be illegal. I think it's an abuse of power to tell someone that something is legal, then when they do it to punish them "out of existence."
I believe corporations who have paid less and less of the tax burden over the last three decades should pay far more until they are paying their fair share. Yes, I know that merely “raises the price of the product” to the consumers. But buying their product is my choice so I don’t need to buy it if I don’t want to...

Logically, if you increase taxes on all corporations, the prices of all goods will go up. How can you have a choice to not buy if you "don't want to" - most of us aren't in a place where we can go without buying anything if that's our choice.
I think we ought to have more strict emissions standards because we should be stewards of the air God has given us.

I think the Republican candidate agrees with you on this.
I think we need strong OSHA rules because the rich are bound by God to care for their workers.

This is a really minor issue I'm not sure it's worth addressing. I haven't heard anyone arguing to get rid of OSHA, least of all among the candidates up for election right now. If your employer doesn't provide a safe environment, they'll lose employees and will have to fix the situation to stay in business.
"I think we need massive initiatives in education because the Bible calls us to bring up the next generation. I’d even be satisfied if we’d put 10% of the money we’ve been squandering in Iraq...into grants for college students. And, another 10% into public elementary and secondary education. Where’d we get the idea that a Christian should be for low taxes and against education?"

I've never heard anyone arguing against education. Ever. (With the exception of Pink Floyd.) The debate is about government monopolized education, where only the rich like Obama can afford private schooling. It's a matter of social justice to allow everyone right to choice in education, and the Democrats are opposed to equal rights for education.

We're squandering money in Iraq, but we're not squandering money on education? The United States spends more per student on public school education than any other country in the world, yet our test scores are not improving (per CNN here). This isn't a matter of funding. It's a matter of poorly run schools.

So... how could a Christian vote Democrat?

By not understanding the Bible, and not thinking critically.

Hava vs. Slingbox pt 3: Slingbox wins

2008-10-23T22:41:00.002-06:00

Slingbox Pro HD:

Pro:

Digital cable tuner: this means HD digital channels can be streamed to 1 remote viewer while I watch different channels on a tv at home.
Tech Support: Very responsive and helpful tech support over chat. They can also remotely connect to control your computer and see what the problem is. They didn't always get the problem right, and tried to say I had to do something and contact them again later. But I argued each time and they helped.
Quality: Because it's got the digital tuner, HD channels are streamed within my home network at what looks like DVD quality.

Cons:

There's frequently missed frames or entire seconds of a show, so watching the news I've missed some key words and phrases, so the news story doesn't always make sense.
Only 1 person can connect at a time, whether at home or across the great waters.
The Program Guide doesn't work with digital cable, and the channel numbers are screwed up. On the TV I have channels like 2,3,4,9,50, etc. In slingplayer I have channels like .247, 9.1, 50.1 and 50.2. No clue what each station is unless I change channels, no clue what is on each channel. They say they're working on it. I wouldn't bet on it.
The remote control is lousy. Because they don't utilize the information about my service, they give me a stupid remote that I can use to press channel up and down.
Changing channels takes about 5 seconds.
Slinglinks (ethernet power adapter) don't work well. I have to use an outlet on the other side of the room and lay out an extension cord to get it to work.

Hava Wireless HD:

Pros:

Multiple people can watch at one time.
You can record live tv.

Cons:

Tuner is only good for analog cable, not digital, so our HD channels can't be controlled by Hava, so no HD unless you want to let Hava control your cable box, which would mean you have to watch the same thing on tv as is being broadcast over Hava
Lousy lousy lousy tech support. No chat option, you have to call and talk to someone who speaks softly and with a very strong Indian accent. They'll say something like you need to hardwire your computer to the router instead of using wireless, and they won't help you until you do that. With a desktop on a different floor from the router this isn't going to happen. Nor was it even possibly related to the problem of Windows Media Center freezing.
Windows Media Center freezes or says I have no tv signal.

For me slingbox wins. There's no tv guide but I can watch and control the digital cable through the slingbox. If I didn't mind having to watch the same thing on the tv as on the slingbox this wouldn't be a problem, but it's a deal breaker.

For now I'm willing to live with having no channel guide. I can watch the channels in HD, and I'll just have to type up a list of what channel is what.

Hava vs. Slingbox pt 2

2008-10-22T15:02:00.003-06:00

In my previous post, Hava and Slingbox were tied with the following:

nice packaging
easy set-up instructions that don't work
mysteriously start and stop working
lousy customer service

I've got both up and running now, and I've been able to view both.

hava:

Hava is connected wirelessly to my router, and I can view the tv and control the channels on both computers (laptop and desktop both running Vista). Unfortunately, there's no channel list and no program guide.

Luckily, hava is built to work on Windows Media Center. I got this working one time, and it actually loaded a program guide so I could scroll and click and it would change the channel to whatever program I saw was on at that time.

But that was once. Since then, neither computer's Windows Media Center (WMC) can view it. WMC just freezes on the laptop, and says there's no tv tuner on the desktop. So for now, I can't tell what channel is what or what is on each station without changing to every channel.

Summary: works in hava player but not windows media center, so there's no program guide or channel identification (where's the discovery channel - do I really have to flip through 100 channels to find it?)

slingbox:

I had the slingbox working when I had an ethernet cable stretched down the stairs and around the corner to the router. Now I'm uisng the slinglinks with no luck. Slinklinks are ethernet power adapters - one plugs into the router, the other into the slingbox, and they send the internet signal over the power line.

The "power," "link," and "network" lights were all lit on both slinglinks, but there was no connection. I tried a different outlet, then a third. I know it's working because:
I can connect to the internet with my laptop through the slinglink
I can connect to the internet with hava through the slinglink
The slingbox connects when I open the slingplayer on windows.
After it connects, however, no channel list is loaded into the program guide, and the screen is blank except for the message: "Weak or no video signal detected"

Summary: Can work, I've seen it work, but not working now.

Hava vs. Slingbox pt 1

2008-10-22T08:56:00.003-06:00

Slingbox and Hava both connect to your television service and your internet so you can watch your tv service on a computer at home or around the world.

There was very little information online comparing the two - the last comparative review I read was from over 2 years ago.

So I ordered both so I could compare them.

They were both delivered yesterday and they have the following in common:

nice packaging
easy set-up instructions that don't work
mysteriously start and stop working
lousy customer service

I'm going to try to get them working again today, I'll let you know what I find out.

Hava Wireless HD, $250
(on sale for $180 direct from hava)

Slingbox Pro HD, $299
($245 through Amazon.com)

Jeffco 3A: Socialist Utopia

2008-10-16T10:34:00.002-06:00

From the official voter guide in favor of raising property taxes again for more and more money for the Jefferson County, Colorado schools:

This tax increase furthers the goals of our teacher unions. It is consistent with a presidential candidate's promise for change, and hope for progress toward the Socialist utopia through education.

Really?

Please don't vote for 3-A.

Who caused the financial mess?

2008-10-03T09:18:00.003-06:00

It's soooo much fun to blame the President for mortgage companies failing. Yippee!

But what really caused this mess?

People got scared because the Indymac bank failed, so lots of people stated taking their money from their banks. The bank failures go back to Indymac. What caused Indymac to fail?

Democrat Senator Charles (Chuck) Schumer.

Harry Reid aims at your retirement savings. He caused the bank failures by causing the run on Indymac and the subsequent dominoe effect that has everyone in a tizzy.
Destroying the economy to help fellow Democrat Senator Barak Obama in the presidential election.

In a public letter to the FDIC, for everyone to read, he said that Indymac was about to fail. It wasn't. But his public letter scared Indymac customers and investors. There was a run on the bank. Everywone withdrew their money so fast, the value of the bank plummeted.

That's what led to the banks failing. A Democrat senator.

Bad news for the economy is good news for 2 other Democrat senators, Obama and Biden. The worse the economy is, the better chance they have of winning the election. Uh-oh. Now there's a bail-out package. Things might get better. The stock market has stabilized.

So what happens?

Another Democrat Senator, this time Harry Reid, said that one of the country's premier insurance companies was about to go bankrupt [source].

He wouldn't say what company, so tocks of all insurance companies started to plummet.

Democrat Senators are intent on destroying the economy, ruining your investments, and taking away people's life savings to win the election. yay obama.

Harry Reid recently caused a run on insurance company investment to make the economy worse but the election better for fellow Democrat Senator Barak Obama.

To our customers

2008-09-29T15:48:00.003-06:00

Dear Programmer,

Thank you for using our service.

I was able to find the answer to your programming question in a matter of seconds via our new online Solution Center.

We have granted you access to this new Solution Center for your convenience so you don't need to email us several times every day with these questions.

You can find this Solution Center at http://www.google.com

Thank you.

Coining phrases and creating words

2008-09-25T09:48:00.004-06:00

Look! I can do it too. I think my wife is smart and pretty. She's Prart! Woohoo! I coined a new word! Look at me!

What people mean by their new terminology is something that everybody already knew and understood how to communicate. Why create new words when everyone already has words to say what you mean?

Possible answers:

because you don't know how to use the English language to express yourself
because you want others to think you're cool for being brave enough to combine two words into one

No offense to the guy who recently took great pride in telling others he created the world 'glocal' to mean both global and local, but I just think coining words like this is dumb - at least if you tell other people about them.

Then again, you're not just telling, but also sharing. More of a 'Tearing' if you will. And it's not just..

Don Miller's Culture Wars

2008-09-16T14:55:00.004-06:00

This is in response to Don Miller's blog post and the comments it has received today here, in which he asserts that the 'culture war' our parents scared us about doesn't really exist, it's just a fabrication of the media. 'Culture war', Miller says, goes back to the basic meaning of 'war' - to kill.

It's deceptively simplistic to try to boil this all down to a straight metaphor of 'war' - killing, peace negotiations, the analogy doesn't fit. 'War' is used in all kinds of ways that don't fit with Don's definition of killing (until complete annihilation or surrender) like the 'war on drugs' and the 'war on crime' and the 'war on poverty' - no one is suggesting (I hope) that we kill all the poor people until the problem is solved.

In this discussion of 'culture wars', we've left culture undefined. This all seems to be an attempt to say "there can't be a culture war because there is no mass killing going on."

"Culture" does not mean politics, nor political parties, nor sets of laws.

A culture is like an ogre - or an onion. It has layers. Three of the most important from inside out are 1) shared beliefs that lead to 2) shared values that lead to 3) common behavior. We (as a group) behave in certain ways because of what we (as a group) value, which flows out of what we (as a group) believe. We often get so caught up in behavior we never ask what values are behind the behavior, and what our values reveal about our even deeper beliefs. For example:

An example (click on my name for my full example):

1) Belief: That people have a Creator (see footnote).
2) Value: Human rights not endowed by a government, but by God, superior to any government
3) Behavior: We fight for human rights (often even outside our own borders)

1) Belief: God created perfect humanity in a man and a woman and blessed their union.
2) Value: Marriage (and the subsequent family) is important and foundational to society.
3) Behavior: We have a special term (marriage), a ceremony, official recognition, and even rewards and incentives for marriage.

Under attack? All of the above.

There are many in significant positions of power and influence (the leaders of political parties, university professors, politicians) who are trying to rid the American culture of all of the above shared beliefs, values, and behaviors. Once they aren't shared anymore, the culture has changed, and only fringe groups share these beliefs.

True, Jesus didn't get involved in politics. He wasn't here be to a community organizer or a senator or a governor. He was here to die.

Paul, on the other hand, went to Rome to appeal to Ceaser to make Christianity a politically acceptable alternative religion. Judaism was legal, but now that non-Jews were becoming Christians, they were breaking the law, and Paul set out to change that on a political level.

Early Christians by their lives changed culture by saving lives of babies born alive and left outside city gates to die, and adopting them. Christianity has always brought about changes in culture, where some shared beliefs and values and behaviors die and others take their place. That's why cultures influenced most heavily by Christianity have some shared cultural values, even if the religious beliefs aren't there - values on human rights, and helping the sick and poor and orphans. Because of Christianity's influence, despite saying that we believe that we're all just random lumps of chaotic chance - the belief that humans are unique and valuable is still (for now) deeper and stronger (see the same footnote).

I think those of us who deny the existence of a war over the culture, while sounding cool and progressive, don't understand what 'culture' means, or we choose to ignore what 'culture' means and talk about political bickering instead.

Other short thoughts:

- When we change from one thing to another, whether political perspectives, religious affiliations, etc., we tend to become extremely critical of where we came from and very uncritical of where we are now.

- No media has ever been without bias, nor should we expect them to. We should use our brains and the discernment that God gave us and think critically. It's foolish to think you get unbiased news. They can only keep doing what they're doing if they keep their viewership/readership, so they make everything extreme, from vilifying the current president to only covering Iraq when it's bloody, to highlighting the stupid things that current candidates say. This holds true for tv, radio, and yes - even blogs.

Oooh, that footnote:
At some point we'll change our values and behavior because we no longer hold to the belief that God created humans unique. At that point human rights will suffer, and it won't just be those on the fringe of our culture who believe that two chickens are more valuable than one human.

Failed Freebie - Jott

2008-09-05T14:18:00.002-06:00

Jott is a web service I've blogged on before. It provided free speech-to-text messaging and it would email you the message.

Instead of charging for new features as they come available, they've now declared that everyone using their services for the last few years have just been on a really long grace period, and now you have to pay or they'll severely limit what you can do.

Lots of companies do this - they try to get you hooked, telling you everything is 100% free, then their shareholders force the move that says "and now that you're using us, we'll disconnect you next week unless you pay us money."

Rather than doing this, why not just introduce amazing new features that are only available to paying customers? Don't take away what you said would be free, just offer new stuff that is valuable enough for me to want to pay.

Doing it this way just makes you look deceptive and stingy.

Friday Freebie - Spiral Frog

2008-09-05T11:49:00.003-06:00

The high school student ministries we work with has a cafe for a few hours before events start on Wednesdays. We needed more varied music. Thanks to a discounted Creative Zen shuffle-equivalent and Spiral Frog, we're set.

Creative Zen Stone (equivalent to an iPod shuffle) = $27
352 Songs from SpiralFrog = Free

To do this with an iPod it would have cost about $421 ( $69 for the iPod and $1 per song).

Spiralfrog is a subscription service, so it won't work on your iPod. Like other subscription services, your music expires in 30 days unless you renew. Luckily, the SpiralFrog website is ad-supported and the subscription is free. Not every artist I was looking for was there, but I've got 23 hours of music we'll be able to shuffle for quite some time.

Is gambling always wrong? Please comment.

2008-09-03T10:18:00.006-06:00

Winning the lottery is contributing to and profiting from this system that manipulates people's weaknesses to their severe detriment. The same holds for casinos. They work to get people addicted to gambling, then they use that to rob the people blind.

But is all gambling/betting wrong?

If I invest in Google because I want them to use my money to build a better company, and get me a return on my money - that's not gambling. But if I invest in Google to buy-low-sell-high, then I am gambling on the market. Then I don't care what they do with my money, I just want to gamble on the market and pull some money out.

That's what happens with my IRA and your 401k every day.

What brought this up is the future markets at intrade.com . You can buy (you want shares to go up) or sell (you want shares to go down) on possibilities for the future. Today I could sell you a share of "Obama wins the election" for $6, and if he wins the election, you get $10 - a profit of $4 per share from me, or if he loses, I keep the $6 you paid me to buy the share. You can sell your shares at any time to try to make money or cut your losses.

Is that gambling? Seems to be. Is that wrong?

If it is wrong, doesn't that means it's wrong to have a retirement account that works the same way by trading stocks to try to make a profit?

Let me know what you think (comment form).

Donald Miller & Barak Obama correspondence

2008-08-29T12:35:00.002-06:00

My previous post on Donald Miller was pretty negative. I wasn't trying to confront Miller, but the statement "Jesus is not a republican."

Donald Miller posted a very very funny series of emails between him and Barak Hussein Obama.

http://donmilleris.com/2008/08/27/donald-miller-barack-obama/

8/29/08 News Update - McCain's female VP

2008-08-29T09:22:00.003-06:00

John McCain tapped little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate on Friday in a startling selection on the eve of the Republican National Convention.

Two senior campaign officials disclosed McCain's decision a few hours before the Republican presidential nominee-to-be and his newly-minted running mate appeared at a rally in swing-state Ohio. [Associated Presss]

Some facts from today's news about Palin:

She and her husband have 5 children, the youngest of which is just 4 months old and has Down's Syndrome.
She's tough - She returned to the office three days after giving birth.
Her oldest son is 18, in the army, and is scheduled to go to Iraq this September.
She is known for exposing corruption among other Republicans.
She played basketball in high school so intensely she earned the nick name "Sarah Barracuda"
Scholarships from winning beauty pageants got her through college.
She used marijuana when it was legal in Alaska (but says she didn't like it)
She hunts, eats moose hamburger, ice fishes, rides snowmobiles, and owns a float plane.

Politics:

City Council from 1992 to 1996
Became Mayor in 1996 , where "Palin kept her campaign promises, reducing her own salary, as well as reducing property taxes by 60%."
Became Alaska's youngest and first female Governor in 2006, and in 2007 had an approval rating above 90%
She sold the previous Governor's jet on eBay (it was seen as a waste of tax dollars, as it was a private jet purchased with state funds).
She's 3 years younger than Obama but has more experience in the government, and as the Governer of Alaska, has served as an executive, which BHO never has.

8/28/08 Daily News Update - Obama's Temple/Toga Party

2008-08-28T18:39:00.005-06:00

I'm watching CSPAN online right now in Denver's Invesco Field where the Obama will speak tonight. His stage setup, built by the company that brought you Brittany Spears' latest set.

It's a greek temple.

I may watch Obama's speech tonight, but I feel under-dressed. I'm trying to make a toga now so I can join the toga party from home.

Oh brother. Al Gore is getting on stage right now as I write this. Well, let's see if he can scare and guilt America even more tonight.

It's a brilliant set up really. Here's some snapshots I just grabbed from CSPAN. Depending the the camera angle the speaker looks like he's either:

In front of a Greek temple
Outside a building in Washington DC
Preaching at the altar of a megachurch

Watch CSPAN live here.

Donald Miller, DNC. Jesus isn't a Democrat

2008-08-28T17:47:00.004-06:00

I have really enjoyed Donald Miller's writings. I've read 3 or his books (Blue Like Jazz is the most popular).

Don Miller spoke at the DNC. Well, ok, he wasn't a featured speaker, but he spoke the closing prayer on Monday night.

Now, if you're giving a chance to pray on live tv in front of millions of people, you'll probably take it. So this isn't a criticism of the guy praying at the DNC. His prayer (see the video below) was fine. Quite good a political correctness for the most part. And it got me thinking.

Miller was one of the many people who repeated this concept or maybe the very phrase that still seems catchy because it was too large to print onto one of those WWJD bracelets:

Jesus is not a Republican.

Jesus also is not a donor to Feed the Children. Jesus isn't an iPod user. The statement is such a anachronism.

Perhaps your point is that Jesus isn't "just like me" or "just like you" - but then why bring in politics?

Are you trying to say that just because a politician or policy is from the Republican party that doesn't mean he/she/it is good? Then you should say something worthwhile about the politician or policy.

If you're declaring who is and who isn't endorsed by the Messiah, you're presuming that you have been commissioned by Jesus to declare his political will to the world, which is just the attitude you're trying to confront!

I'm beginning to think the statement doesn't have any meaning at all.

Unless, of course, you're trying to say Jesus is a Democrat, or a Libertarian, or a Communist. But... Jesus isn't a Democrat, Libertarian or Communist. He's not even registered to vote.

If you want to be like Jesus you need to stop voting. And wear sandals. And stop using toilet paper.

8/26/08 Daily News Update - No Bounce for Obama

2008-08-26T11:19:00.003-06:00

"Obama is one of those rare political figures that seems to grow smaller the closer we get to him" - Some guy I heard on the radio the other day

I wrote some time ago that normally each candidate will receive two bounces in the polls that are almost guaranteed:

Choosing a vice presidential candidate
Having their party's convention, officially accepting the nomination.

Somehow, Obama chose a VP that got him no bounce at all. In fact, in the days since choosing his VP, he's dropped in the polls, and McCain has taken the lead on the Gallup Poll for the first time!

Here's a chart showing the history of the Gallop poll from 8/3/08 to today.

Theories:

In Joe Biden, Obama picked the Democrat who shares certain characteristics the most with John McCain, after spending his campaign criticizing these characteristics in McCain. He's not going to win any McCain supporters, and will lose some of his own voters.
The more we get to know Obama, the less likely we are to vote for him.
McCain's continual advertising is being successful. He's got a few types of ads that are making the news:

Obama isn't a leader, he only has rock-star popularity.
While Hillary got more votes, Obama and the DNC made sure she was locked out of the race.
Obama's influences are nearly all negative: Slum lords, unrepentant terrorists, hate-America preachers, etc.

What about issues? What about talking about positions on what is important? It's difficult to do with Obama insists on holding multiple opposing views at the same time.

Obama is against and for:

offshore drilling
faith-based funding
withdrawing all troops from Iraq
and the list goes on

Jon the Canadian

Are you watching the Lion? (3 of 3)

Are you watching the Lion? (2 of 3)

Are you watching the Lion? (1 of 3)

Forgiveness

1 More Reason to Love Colorado

Only 365 kids awaiting adoption. 5 years ago it was 875! (That's the lowest per-capita rate in the country!)

Isn't it true that we should be honest about your rhetoric?

Are you the problem?

Missing Comments and Posts: 1 Timothy

Personal Correction

When We Triumph Without Truth

The question isn't whether it's true, the question "is it working for you"

From 1 Timothy 4

Sold a false gospel

Refuge for Truth: Truth is not decided by the majority

Blog: The next chapter

If conservatives had any heart, they'd be... conservative!

Biblical Confrontation, Part 5: Summary

Biblical Confrontation, Part 4: Application

Biblical Confrontation, Part 3: Public Offenses

Biblical Confrontation, Part 2: Personal Offenses

Biblical Confrontation, Part 1:

The End of Prosperity, Chapter 1

Resolutions

Great Year

Thank you, lady at the post office

Christian animism.

Open Letter to my Senator, Michael Bennet

Fitness, Weeks 6 and 7 (BFL 3&4)

Fitness, Week 5

The Sauron-Statist blindness, part 3

The people are speaking

Fitness, Week 4

GreenPeace

Brilliant Marketing by Microsoft

The Sauron-Statist blindness, part 2: Obama

Fitness, Week 3

The Sauron-Statist blindness, part 1

Fitness, Week 2

Political hypnotism: Believe the agenda, ignore the facts.

Politics: Jesus vs you

2 Honest Questions for those who support government health insurance or socialized medicine

Law abiding citizen = villain

There is no health care crisis

Government health plan = Taxes

Fitness, week 1

This make me think of heaven, #1

Google knows me so well

Free Starbucks WiFi for T-Mobile Blackberry users

For those of us needing baby stuff.

Re-writing history

Understanding Obama, Part 1

late-term abortionist shot & killed in church service

Free Friday/Tech Tip - tag your photos in windows

Don't shake your head at me.

Lesson from the garden

Making do with less

Liberty And Tyranny, Chapter 1

Liberty And Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto

The Garage Project

How to socialize America

Free Friday: Pandora on your Blackberry

Rediculous coincidence

A one-way street

Two Face, Obama

Obama

Two-face

AIG's bonuses.

Freedom of the press?

Goodbye Wamu

No Spend February: Week 1

No Spend February

Things my 2 year old learned in Sunday School

Might as well make it fun...

Free Friday: Turn your Blackberry into a laptop remote

catan, carcassone, ticket to ride

Fwd: Hello 2009, Goodbye time off

I'm a horrible shopper

Free Friday: Mint.com - track and control your spending