Truth, by its very nature, divides. It also unites. therefore, Pick your side: unite around truth or unite around lies. | Informing, Equipping & Encouraging the Church towards Unity in Action. |
“In the essentials, unity.
In the non-essentials, liberty.
And in all things, charity.”
– Saint Augustine
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Amount of Taxpayers' Money Going To Abortion
FRC.org reports:
This morning, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) answered that question for the first time in a number of years with a staggering report on U.S. funding for abortion advocates . In just eight years, more than a billion of your hard-earned dollars have been funneled to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, International Planned Parenthood Federation, Population Council of the United States, Guttmacher Institute, Advocates for Youth and Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States . Each and every one of these organizations make it their mission to slaughter unborn babies by dismemberment, decapitation, and deadly chemicals. Planned Parenthood, the biggest beneficiary of your dollars, averaged over $90 million a year -- the largest portion of federal funds in the report.
Another example of the media bias in the mainstream media can be found in NPR’s 5/13/10 Fresh Air show.There they cite supply and demand as the main reason why so many American couples are opting at leaving their long lines here in the US and going overseas to adopt.It is true that it is due to supply and demand, that is, that demand outstrips supply here in the US.But they fail to offer an adequate explanation for why this is.The only explanation NPR gives is to suggest it is due to difficult adoption procedures. The fact is there’s something else going on for which NPR does not tell us.
The problem here in the US why the supply does not meet demand is because the vast majority of unwanted children that could be put up for adoption have been aborted.
The irony is tragic: The young female populations who can conceive children anddo, but don’t want their children, are often persuaded that abortion is the best option, whereas the older female populations who are now looking to settle down and have children are finding themselves unable to conceive.Then, when they desperately look to adopt someone else’s child here in the U.S., the supply of children is low because so many unwanted children are killed by their mothers.
The following are thoughts Mark Dever, senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, shared recently on his website (9marks.org). I recently shared this with my church family since it relates well – and helps put into biblical perspective – with what we have been going through after the death of our senior pastor:
As much as I love Christ's church, by God's grace, I love Christ even more. And I desire to be with him. I weary of sin in this world—especially my own.
Recently, I was brought to tears—tears of anticipatory joy—as I listened to this haunting old Sacred Harp hymn "All is Well," in which a believer describes the coming of death.
What's this that steals, that steals upon my frame? Is it death, is it death? That soon will quench, will quench this mortal flame, is it death, is it death? If this be death, I soon shall be from ev'ry pain and sorrow free, I shall the King of glory see, All is well, all is well!
Weep not, my friends, my friends weep not for me, All is well, all is well! My sins forgiv'n, forgiv'n and I am free, All is well, all is well! There's not a cloud that doth arise, to hide my Jesus from my eyes, I soon shall mount the upper skies, All is well, all is well!
Hark! Hark! My Lord, my Lord and Master's voice, calls away, calls away! I soon shall see—enjoy my happy choice, Why delay, why delay? Farewell, my friends, adieu, adieu, I can no longer stay with you, My glitt'ring crown appears in view, All is well, all is well!
If what we value most is our earthly status and position and success and reputation, we will never say "All is well" as death approaches. But if we really are about our Savior, and if everything we do is fundamentally out of love for him, then you and I can join with this hymn writer and exclaim, "All is well, all is well," because in having Christ, we have it all!
“Christ, be the center of our lives. Be the place we fix our eyes. Be the center of our lives. We are yours.” -- May this be the heart cry of your life and the lives of those in your church.
To sing this heart cry to our God right now, click here.
I thought I’d share a conversation I had recently with an old friend on facebook. I’ll call him “John”.
Me:
You said: "Republican, Democrat ... you can be a chimp for all I care .. just be able to LEAD a country!"
It sounds like you voted for McCain. Because we all know (at least those who voted for McCain) that Obama doesn't have the experience to lead. ...which we are now finding out the hard way. (hope this doesn't offend you. : )
John:
I did vote for McCain, and no you didn’t offend me. Exactly ... Obama doesn’t have a clue. and I meant what I said. I don’t care about political parties. I think we should do away with them all together. We need to ONE in order to move forward and make progress. This bickering back and forth has gotten us nowhere. Meanwhile, we are just treading water as more and more illegal immigrants and terrorists enter our country, and we continue to spend over 300 BILLION $ a year to support them! WTF is up with that?!!! We are a mess and I’m really not that political in nature, until just recently when I starting being effected directly. It’s sad to see how corrupt and what a mess our political system is.
Me:
I’m glad, John, that you can discern Obama’s inability to lead our country correctly. I would encourage you, though, to reevaluate your advocacy of doing away with political parties. Politics with no partisanship means we are left with two (if I’m not mistaken) options: either we have no politics at all – which is called anarchy; or we have a one party system – which is called communism. (And I doubt that you are an anarchist or a communist.) Despite what we hear in the mainstream media (MSM), partisanship is actually a good thing. For instance, it prevents a radical president from enacting radical laws by having the opposition party (and others who are not radical) in the legislature stop him by filibustering or other obstructionist means. The MSM is trying to help him anyway. That’s why you hear of the press complaining of “gridlock” right now. Their guy is in the White House, and they don’t want less liberal and more conservative legislators stopping his agenda. So they simply blame the Republicans for the problem. What’s new? You would never hear of “gridlock” when Congress is more liberal and the White House is more conservative. The interesting thing is, it’s not actually the Republicans that represent the main opposition to Obama – its Democrats! – non-leftists, non-radical “blue dog” Democrats, to be exact. We see this, for instance, with the Stupak amendment in the House on health care. The American people, both Democrats and Republicans, don’t want the American taxpayer funding abortions. The Republicans are too small of a minority to prevent an Obama health care system that includes taxpayer-funding of abortions. It’s actually Obama’s less liberal, more conservative *fellow-Democrats* that are the ones who are successfully slowing down the Obama Express. But you’re not going to hear about that much in the MSM (minus maybe FOX).
I agree our political system is not perfect, but history shows that our partisan politics form of government has been the most workable system in this current broken age east of Eden. While speaking on the subject of democracies (as opposed to say communism), Winston Churchill once said: “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
While our political system is not perfect, I believe the bigger problem is that our societal systems are systematically being subverted, and in many cases, *have been* subverted, by historically non-American and untenable worldviews: our economic system of capitalism is being replaced with socialism; our legal system of constitutional law is being replaced with activist adjudication; our country’s moral compass (philosophy/ethics) of moral objectivism, *has* been replaced with moral relativism; our political system of a representative republic/democracy may eventually be replaced by a ONE-party system of communism.
I’m glad, John, you’ve gotten more politically active and informed. I would just encourage you to continue on that trek armed with good information and analysis. (BTW, John, have you ever heard of townhall.com? It's a good place to go to get informed.) Indeed, as you said, politics does matter, because it always affects us – whether directly or indirectly, whether we are aware of it or not.
This year is critical for the American people to really learn what’s up, and then vote correctly. As Biden admitted recently, this year’s congregational elections will be the last chance the American people have to stop the Obama Express from becoming a full and irreversible reality.
"When the people fear government, that's tyranny; when the government fears the people, that's liberty." – Thomas Jefferson
Let’s draw the distinction between homosexuality and the black cause. Homosexuality is a behavior (like pedophilia), whereas being black, is *not* a behavior. While homosexuality is an ethical issue, being black is an ontological issue in which blacks are endowed by their Creator with more melanin in their skin than non-blacks. They are still human. (Just as a homosexual, by the way, is a full human being.) But it’s important that we affirm what it means to be human without mistakenly bringing behavior into the mix.
I mention pedophilia to show that behavior, even if shown be in-born, does not mean that that behavior should be tolerated or condoned by society. The question is what kind of behavior ought a society deem to be beneficial to that society, and what behaviors should be deemed not tolerable. That’s what a government needs to address – that is, a just government.
It gets more interesting when you bring in an evolutionary worldview into the mix, and then contrast it to a Christian worldview. True Christianity teaches that blacks are children of God just like whites. Adam and Eve had the genetic diversity that made whites and blacks and every other racial difference that natural selection brought out. Evolution, on the other hand, believes that blacks are not as advanced as whites in the evolutionary continuum. Racism is at the heart of the neo-Darwinian synthesis, whether that side wants to admit it or not.
Moreover, Christianity better explains homosexuality – even the “gay-gene.” It’s called the Fall. We are all broken and guilty for our messed up family business – whether we are homosexual perverts or heterosexual perverts. Gay activists who say they believe in evolution, in contrast, assert that homosexuality is an evolved trait that should have the right to exist and be celebrated along with those who hold to heterosexual traits. Notice that word “ought” implied in their claim. “Ought” connotes morality. What is the supreme morality at the foundation of an evolutionary worldview? – getting one’s genes into the next generation. Yet a basic understanding of science tells us that two human beings (or human-oids in the past) practicing in homosexuality would NOT pass their genes to the next generation. In essence, according to their own presuppositions, one who holds to macro-evolution, if they are going to be consistent to their own moral standards, would deem homosexuality as immoral (that is, unable to pass their genes to the next generation). Again, a Christian worldview has a better grounding in claiming homosexuality is wrong, than a homosexual activists has in claiming that homosexuality is right.
According to the Bible, qualifying for heaven is like taking an exam where we need to score a perfect 10 out of 10 (Matt. 5:48). The problem is we missed our first question (James 2:10). That’s the Bad News. Until reality sets in and we truly understand that, we can’t see how the Good News can be such good news.
As the battle for the minds of our children continues in our post-modern, “godless” culture, our schools have become a major battleground. Some in the Christian community, understandably, are even calling for a mass exodus from our “govern-
ment schools.”
Is there any hope for reform or restoration of the nation’s public schools? Is abandoning our public schools the only hope for our youth?
Yes, and no.
Whereas home schooling and private Christian schools are excellent alternatives to public school education for many, for many others these alternatives are not practical or possible. So no, abandoning public schools cannot be the only hope.
And yes, there is hope for reform and restoration within our public schools. “With God, all things are possible.”
That hope is not based on any state or national reform movement. It is not based on No Child Left Behind.
The hope of our public schools is in Jesus Christ, and in professional educators who follow Him, model Him, and live out their faith in the workplace of their classrooms.
Christian Educators Association International (CEAI) exists to help Christian educators understand and carry out their mission. Founded in 1953, CEAI is a membership professional association for Christian educators in both public and private schools, with most of its members serving in public schools. CEAI is the only national association specifically serving Christian educators in public schools. Its focus is to encourage, equip, and empower Christian educators to make a positive impact in the schools where they serve.
Many Christian educators rely on CEAI as their alternative to the National Education Association, the powerful educators’ union that is notorious for its anti-family values.
CEAI provides resources such as magazines, newsletters, daily devotionals, and many other printed and digital resources from a Christian worldview. The association also provides professional liability insurance and legal support — the two services for which many Christian educators feel that they must join the NEA, even though they are opposed to that organization’s philosophy and political agenda.
Precisely because there are so many negative influences bombarding public school students today, CEAI considers our public schools a mission field ripe for harvest. Through public schools we have access to many who will never enter our churches. According to Barna Research, only four to six percent of school-age children self-identify as Christian. Christian educators interacting with young people daily can have a life-changing effect on those not having a personal relationship with our Lord and at the same time can be a powerful role model for Christian students on campus.
CEAI’s vision is straightforward: To demonstrate God’s love and truth to the educational community.
Its Mission is clear: To serve the educational community by encouraging, equipping and empowering Christian educators in public and private education, by:
• Proclaiming God’s word as the source of wisdom and knowledge;
• Portraying teaching as a God given calling and ministry;
• Promoting educational excellence as an expression of Christian commitment;
• Preserving our Judeo-Christian heritage and values through education;
• Providing a forum on educational issues with a Christian worldview; and
• Partnering with churches, parachurch organizations, educational
institutions and parents.
For in-depth information about Christian Educators Association International, visit CEAI.org.
About the author: For the past five years, Finn Laursen has served as Executive Director of CEAI. He came to the position after a 32-year career in Ohio public school education, during which time he served as teacher, counselor, assistant principal, principal and superintendent.
This video is worth watching (7 minutes). It's a summary of a 6-part sermon that is also available on Youtube in which Preacher Paris Reidhead expounds the differences between humanism, which believes that the meaning and purpose of our existence centers around us, and Christianity, which teaches that our existence and purpose and fulfillment centers around God and His Glory. Job understood this. His friends did not. Take a look.
ALERT TO ALL OHIOANS: The Gambling industry is back this election season!
The Gambling industry is back this election season as they once again try to cash in on the citizens of Ohio. They’re hoping to sneak in the legalization of gambling by taking advantage of the low turn-out that’s expected for this off-year election.
Many states have already become the victims of their greed. Will Ohio be next?
Even atheists see something sadly far too many Christians choose not to see.In this five minute video, famous atheist Penn (from Penn and Teller) expresses his recognition to the fact that one of the greatest acts of love a Christian can do is try and help someone understand what the Bible says about sin, judgment, and hell.My prayer is that Christians will submit to the Holy Spirit, stop listening to the world, and care enough about those around them by taking up the imperative to do real evangelism!
