More Signs America Is Collapsing Spiritually, Morally and Economically? Economic Doomsday Looming?

Wednesday, January 21, 2009– There are increasing signs that Amerika and the Western democracies have reached the tipping point economically and politically and are going to collapse. I know the optimists say that things are not as bad as they were in the late 1970’s, we don’t have double digit interest rates or inflation, the jobless figures are not as bad now as they were then, etc. Yes, some signs are not as bad but other signs are worse!

Here are a few news stories from the past few days that point to how truly bad things are, even if on the surface they don’t look as bad yet:

1) Just like the Market dropped when BO won the Election in November, the day he gets inaugurated the market has its WORST EVER INAUGURATION DECLINE! American business and investors DO NOT have confidence in Demoncrats when it comes to the economy and that is a long standing fact. (Not that we have any confidence in the Republicrats of recent years either). Here is the story from bloomberg:

www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aOYw.awwsNSg&refer=worldwide

2) Amerika now has fewer manufacturing and construction jobs than government jobs. (Keep in mind that tax dollars fund a lot of construction projects too). This is very clearly a case of the tail wagging the dog. We are no longer a productive society, we are a tax and spend service society. “What do you want to do when you grow up Johnny-or Jose-or Muhammed?” I want to be a govenment worker! like daddy!”

fabiusmaximus.wordpress.com/2009/01/20/milestone/

3) Our strongest ally, our mother country, England, is facing bankruptcy, owing more than they are worth.

www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/iainmartin/4295219/Gordon-Brown-brings-Britain-to-the-edge-of-bankruptcy.html

4) Right now the Amerikan banking system is insolvent, we owe more than we are worth. Perhaps we should put a for sale sign up on the Statue of Liberty?

www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aS0yBnMR3USk&refer=home

5) And the only plan our new President and the leaders of the House and Senate have for helping our economy is to tax more, spend way more, borrow more and print more money…the same policies that have brought us to this dismal point. Tax and spend policies are all short term fixes, and we may have passed the point where short term fixes can help. Basically the Bush and Obama administrations have followed the yellow brick road to socialism and we are all about to become serfs of the state as banks, auto companies, health care and everything else gets absorbed by Behemoth.

5) In the inauguration prayers, there were 3 ministers and each one revealed some form goofiness, heresy, or serious compromise. Rick Warren, a Southern Baptist, had the primary inauguration prayer, the invocation, and included part of the regular, daily Muslim prayer in his, calling God the “compassionate and merciful one”. This in no way could have been accidental:

www.jihadwatch.org/archives/024478.php

And the GAy Bishop of the Episcopal Religious Club, Gene Robinson, gave a deliberately non-christian prayer the night before at a pre-inauguration concert/rally:

stevenjcamp.blogspot.com/2009/01/to-god-of-our-many-understandings-gay.html

A muslim linked to a terrorist organization (isn’t that redundant?) is scheduled to speak at some kind of a prayer service today:

www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/01/17/america/Inauguration-Prayer.php

And finally, is the prayer from Joseph Lowerey, a civil rights activist minister who had a lot to say about race, but in a goofy way:

blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2009/01/rev_lowery_inauguration_benedi.html

With the retirement of Billy Graham, the spiritual decline of the country is evident (and I even have some theological problems with Graham). At least Joel “smiley face” Osteen wasn’t in the inauguration.

Monday, January 12, 2009–UPDATE– Here is a good piece from the WSJ applying Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shruggedto the modern day economic mess. I read Rand in college, Atlas Shrugged in about 3 days without much sleep. It is a mind changer. It ought to be required reading for every college student, Congressman and MSM Journalist/reporter/editor.

online.wsj.com/article/SB123146363567166677.html?mod=googlenews_ws

Sunday, December 28th, 2008– Rarely do I agree with a NYTimes article, but this one seems to make a lot of sense about th economy:

www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/weekinreview/28goodman.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=weekinreview

The country has been run for way too long by Republicrats and Demopublicans who ignored fundamental truths about economics and have created a welfare state, a nanny state, and now a bankrupt state. We basically owe more than we are worth as a nation and the bill is coming due in the next few months or a couple of years at least.

I absolutely believe that we are going to face a currency collapse and a 2nd Gret Depression in the next 2 years or so. This may lead to a move to link our currency to some tangible asset, and will likely lead to a Constitutional Convention. That may in turn lead to a break up of the US into 4-5 separate regions, mini-nations.

Yeah this all sounds like doom and gloom, may be far fetched, but this current crisis is the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression and the political winds as well as the world situation (mid-east war, potential war with Pakistan-India, the rise of Iran, etc.) all are pointing to crisis point in the near future.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008–A Russian analyst has predicted the collapse, fall and splintering of America for the past ten years. Recently he has said that this may occur by this spring even, given the sad state of our economy. Here is the link to the story at the DrudgeReport:

www.drudgereport.com/flashrur.htm

Some of the things he says here I have seen elsewhere for a long time. I do think we have longer to go before this happens, probably years, but I DO think it is  possible. I think that Texas, Oklahoma and maybe a couple of other states might band together. The Russian guy got part of it wrong, he said the west coast would break off due to the heavy influence of the Chinese immigrants. Granted there is a larger oriental population there, but I tend to think that Californication will join with Arizona and maybe New Mexico and form Aztlan, a new Mexican state.

We are living in perilous times and are on the cusp. This last election may have pushed us to the brink along with the financial collapse. One more thing, just one more thing may break the country.

Ingrid Schlueter of crosstalk radio talk show and sliceoflaodicea seems to agree that America is heading for a crash:

www.sliceoflaodicea.com/uncategorized/izvestia-russian-expert-says-america-will-decline-and-break-up/

I Atlas Shrugging? Read this excellent piece from a small town Doctor:

www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=29699

Fannie Mae Loses $29 Billion-Collectivism Proves Bankrupt Again

Wednesday, November 12, 2009– The government backed/government owned mortgage company Fannie Mae lost $29 billion in the third quarter, the fifth consecutive quarterly loss for the Democratic controlled company. Franklin Raines, the former CEO who got $90 million from the failed company, is now Pres. BO’s chief economic advisor.

atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/11/obama-crooks-lo.html

America’s Crisis with Capitalism vs. Socialism

Friday, October 3, 2008– America is in a downhill, out of control slide into socialism and statism that she can no longer avoid. This latest economic crisis is the straw that is going to break the back of capitalism in America. With Congress causing the problem to begin with through forcing banks to loan money for housing to low income people who could never afford it, then blaming the businessmen of America when it all goes south, thus requiring more Federal government control over the financial world…it is the end of capitalism. While both political parties are at fault here, the overwhelming evidence is that the Demoncrats led the charge starting in the Carter years, reinforced it under Clinton, and as recently as a couple of years ago stated publicly, time and again, that Freddie Mac and FAnnie Mae were sound. The evidence lies in the fact that Demoncrats ran Freddie and FAnnie (Rains, Gorelick and others) who got rich off of mismanaging them, and now are serving Obambi as his financial advisors! The republicans are guilty for not raising enough of an alarm, and for taking money from Freddie and FAnnie just like the Demons did.

Adding about $750 billion in debt to already out of control debt (thank you Pres. George Bush) and looking at the Baby Boomers beginning to retire and the Social Security Admin that will go bankrupt in about 10-15 years, and the Medicare/Medicaid that will go bust by then too, and combined with the decline in working age population in America, (thank you Planned Parenthood and well off white families who stopped having babies) and you get a financial crisis of mega proportions very soon.

Thank you to the Educrats and Teacher Unions for keeping three generations of Americans ignorant about our history and about Economics. College campuses are about 95% liberal so even in higher education there is a statist approach that eliminates freedom and supports statism.

When you study the American responses to crises you will see an increase in power going to the federal government each time. People almost always surrender liberty for a little bit more security.

I HEREBY PREDICT THAT OBAMA WINS THE ELECTION IN NOV. OF THIS YEAR AND THAT THE GROWTH OF SOCIALISM WILL ACCELERATE DRAMATICALLY AND GENUINE FREEDOM WILL DECLINE PROPORTIONATELY.There is nothing McCain can do to turn this around. We can hope for a miracle, like maybe the bad junk that is in Obama’s background gets leaked by the MSM, but I just don’t see that happening. America is so fed up with George Bush that they will try anything. The MSM is soooo in the tank for Obambi and the American public is sooo gullible and ignorant of the truth, that they will swallow the hope for change phrase hook, line and sinker.

Where is the Church? Because of about 4-5 generations of a watered down Arminian, man-centered, emotion led gospel, the church has been ineffective in evangelising our world. Even in the areas of Evangelicalism that stayed conservative, because we were man-centered we failed to present a solid biblical worldview to the last three generations. The Church failed to realize that we were the frog in the kettle and the water temp was rising.

IN THE COMING DARK AGES, IF THE LORD TARRIES, THE CHURCH MUST REGAIN THE LEADERSHIP IN THINKING, SERVING, AND LIVING OUT THE GOSPEL. THE CHURCH MUST BECOME THE CITADEL OF FREEDOM, LIBERTY, HISTORY, LITERATURE, ECONOMICS AND SERIOUS THOUGHT. OUR MISSIONS EMPHASIS WILL NEED TO CHANGE TO THAT WE CAN RE-EVANGELIZE A PAGAN AMERICA THAT WILL BE LOST IN A HUXLEYAN AND ORWELLIAN AND BRADBURY DYSTOPIA. WE MUST DO THIS WHILE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE STATISTS MAY VERY WELL TAKE OUR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION WITH THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE APPLIED NOT ONLY TO TV AND RADIO BUT TO THE INTERNET.

Make no mistake, this world hates Christ, the Bible and all true Christians. Persecution will be coming. Are we ready for it?

Why the Left Hates Palin and McCain

Monday, September 22, 2008–Here is a link to an article by Bill Whittle of NRO. This is a masterpiece about the differences between the McCain/Palin ticket and the Obama/Biden/Hillary ticket. “The Undefended City”.

article.nationalreview.com/?q=OGVlY2RhOGM0MWE5MjNmMGM2ZjY0NzcxMjMzMTc5NWI=

www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aSKSoiNbnQY0

For the last 40 years Conservatives have been winning some of the political victories (demoncrats have won the Presidency for a total of 12 years since 1968, Republicans for 28 years) yet losing the war over the long haul. We are less free, more statist, with a bigger, more intrusive government than we were 40 years ago. Granted, there have been some major wins for the side of truth and justice. We are a more racially mixed population with less bigotry and prejudice than before. Women have gained equal rights without the ERA.

But by and large the population today has less of an understanding of capitalism, liberty and responsibility than ever before. While the Conservatives have been manning the walls and fighting the battles of freedom, the liberals of both political parties, in the education system of grade school through university, and the entertainment industry, have been chipping away at our wall from the inside and undermining our foundations from the inside. Add to this the fact that the Church has strayed so far into man centered theology, the health and wealth gospel, black liberation theology and good ol’ fashioned liberal theology, that the church has not stopped the decline of the intellect, spirit and morals of the nation.

But still, the conservatives stand on the wall, ready to defend even those who rail against us. Every election I can remember since 1976 has been crucial. But we are fighting on one front while the enemy is fighting on multiple. We Must Begin To Recapture the Education System and a Portion of the Entertainment Industry. Thank God for the rise of Christian and Private Schools. Thank the Lord for the hundreds of thousands of Homeschoolers. But we must start to recapture portions of the Colleges of Education and then State School Boards, and then the public schools. Thank God for Fox News and Talk Radio. Thank God for Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Neal Boortz, Mark Levine, Laura Inghahm and Mark Davis. Thank God for the wonderful network of Christian Radio like KCBI. But we need to recapture one of the big three: ABC, CBS, NBC.

The financial system, the tax system, the big government is all teetering on the edge of the precipice because we do not have conservatives, capitalists or men with integrity running congress, and the business world. As Christianity has receded into the background of our culture, the people who run our society have become more and more corrupt.

Ultimately, America needs a genuine Holy Spirit led, Word Based, Reformation. The Church has failed miserably and needs a doctrinal and moral reformation. Then the Church can positively affect society with the Gospel and the Gospel will change lives in every segment of society and some of the nonsense will be turned around.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008– During the past couple of weeks, since Sen. McCain picked Gov. Palin of Alaska to be his vice-presidential running mate, it has been very amusing to watch the drive by media and demoncrats (one and the same) react so typically. The Amerikan Left has a visceral hatred for conservatives and Christians that makes them so bigoted that they will not seek to understand us. We no longer care. The major media in this country are now irrelevant, obsolete, and humorous to watch.Their over reaction to Sarah Palin is so over the top that it is hard to be angry, they are in fact making our case for us and the backlash against the media will help our cause.

However, one must ask why the media and the demoncrats are so vitriolic against Gov. Palin. I can understand, somewhat, their blind hatred of Pres. Bush whom they think “stole” two elections from them. (Otherwise, Bush has governed like a demoncrat more than a republican in my book, so why should the left hate him so much?)

The obvious reasons why the left hates Palin so much are these: 1) she did not abort her 5th child, Trig, who has Downs Syndrome, and that is a crime in the Left’s eyes. 2) She has 5 beautiful children. 3) She is still married to her real man, her sweetheart from High School. 4) She is a comitted, Bible believing, outspoken Christian who does not hide her faith. 4) She is a lifetime member of the NRA and actually hunts, kills, skins and cooks Moose. 5) She is physically attractive AND competent.

Obambi, the demoncrats and the msm have no real answer for Sarah Palin. Various half baked schemes have already been tried and backfired on them. Now Obambi is calling her a pig! He is such the male chauvinist– just ask Hillary!

Here is a good column by Pat Buchanon and a couple of other articles on the subject.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/one_of_them_and_one_of_us.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/09/09/2008-09-09_barack_obama_takes_heat_for_lipstick_on_.html

And here is an outstanding article by Camille Paglia. This article blew me away with it s rare honesty and sound reasoning from an atheistic democrat/libertarian. If only more demoncrats thought this clearly…

http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2008/09/10/palin/index.html

McCain/Palin Take On Obama/Biden Ladin

Friday, August 29, 2008– You have to hand it to Sen. McCain, he can keep a secret and he can think outside the box. In choosing Gov. Sarah Palin, 44, of Alaska, he skipped over the more obvious choices and went with youth and someone with some rock solid core conservative values and convictions. Gov. Palin is known for being Pro-life, a lifetime NRA member, a fiscal conservative, mother of 5, whose oldest son is in the Army, a maverick in the GOP, member of a Bible Church. Working class family background, journalism degree (welll, nobody is perfect).

The OBVIOUS knock is that she has little experience. She was a mayor and served on a government commission and has been Governor for only a little over a year. But that is still more EXECUTIVE experience than Obambi has, and the Dems cannot very well complain about her experience level considering Obambi is weak there too. THEN, you get the woman factor….can you say, All Hillary voters come this way?!

She took on the GOP establishment in Alaska as well as Dems to get where she is, and left a trail of bodies in her wake (a figure of speech). In other words, she is tough and not afraid to take on the big boys. How will she do against Joe Biden? old Joe is a pretty tough cookie; he is an old school political wrestler, no doubt about it. So we shall see if she can out debate Biden.

All in all, I am NOW actually excited about the McCain ticket. I have never been much of McCain fan, but this pick does the trick!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/29/AR2008082901112.html?hpid=topnews

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080829/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_mccain_veepstakes

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2940588620080829?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/08/29/mccain-to-name-running-mate-on-friday/

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,413190,00.html

http://www.christiancoalition.com/pressrelease/christian_coalition_america_applauds_john_mccain039s_choice_prolife_governor_sarah_pali

Crooks in Senate Investigate Crooks in the Ministry

Monday, July 28, 2008–Wow, this is about like the pot calling the kettle black! The Senate is investigating some notoriously bad ministries for financial mismanagement. As tax exempt entities these ministries fall under some kind of watchdog authority of the Senate, and the senators are investigating. But the only people I trust less than televangelists are congressmen and senators! I understand why the Senate thinks it must investigate since these organizations claim a tax exemption even though they are run like business and the CEOs, the ministers, are obviously getting very wealthy off of their scam. But I really, really am uncomfortable with the Government investigating anything like the Church.

Now I cannot claim to know the state of the souls of these TV ministers, but I can tell you that their doctrines are unbiblical, heretical, and self evidently crooked. I think their success is due to the ignorance of the average religious person who sends in their money. Give people a false, feel-good gospel of health and wealth and they will buy it every time. But these heretics, these Elmer Gantry types, are bringing the wrath of the government upon themselves (no problem there) but I am afraid that the nose of the camel is poking into the tent of religion too much already and this could lead to more erosion of our first amendment rights to free exercise of religion.

Just as the press made monkeys out of the Roman Catholic Church’s scandals of sex crimes and sins, now they will have a heyday with the Charismatics (though the press will likely misname them evangelicals). Our Charismatic brothers who are true believers really, really, need to step up and LOUDLY start correcting the Benny Hinns, Oral Roberts, and Kenneth Copelands of the world. The Church needs to police its own. It won’t do any good for the Baptists or Reformed groups to criticize them, we already do over their bad doctrine anyway. The critique and correction must come from those nearest them.

Here is the link that got me going:

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=28542

Evangelicals Becoming Universalists!

Friday, June 27, 2008– Baptist Press reports today that there is a Pew Research Center poll that does not bode well for the evangelical church in America. In short, there are increasing signs of universalism within the church as demonstrated by the answers to the following question:

Pew asked people to choose among two statements: “My religion is the one, true faith leading to eternal life” or “many religions can lead to eternal life.”

The poll shows that 70% of Americans believe that many religions lead to eternal life and 57% of evangelicals believe that as well. The controversy over this disappointing response is focusing on the wording of the question. Many people believe that the evangelicals were answering the question while thinking “denomination” instead of world religion. In other words, most people answering the question were thinking of “many religions” as meaning Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. while the evangelicals were thinking, “Methodists, Catholics, Presbyterians, etc.”

Let me tell you what this all means: contemporary evangelicalism has lost the Gospel, is neck deep in a variety of heresies including Universalism, and we are so ignorant that we can apparently confuse religion with denomination. For the people who read these polls and claim, “Well, the evangelicals didn’t understand the question” that is just lame. Lamer than lame.

I have been a Baptist for 49 years, am a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and pastored for 15 years. I have led Bible Studies in dorms, homes and the workplace and have talked with a lot of people about the Gospel, the Bible and the Church. It has been my experience that the average faithful church going Christian is becoming more and more ignorant of sound doctrine, ignorant of basic Bible knowledge and compromised with world. Here are some anecdotal stories from my time as a pastor: several years ago one of my deacons and Sunday School teachers died. His widow, one of the founding members of the church, who had also taught Sunday School to children for years, said: “I know my husband is in heaven because he was 1) a good mason, 2) a good man, and 3) a good church member.” This was a core member who had been raised in the church. Another core member, teacher of children in Sunday School, had a major disagreement with me for several years at our church because she and her husband believe that Mormons are Christians just like us, that the LDS church is just another denomination like Baptist. They had “worshipped” with the LDS because their daughter (again raised in the Baptist church) married a Mormon. In my final months as pastor, after 15 years of expository/doctrinal preaching, I was eating in the fellowship hall with some of the church ladies and the family who had just had a funeral, and two of the faithful, core members were talking about their favorite TV preacher. Who was it? None other than Joel Osteen! (Don’t get me wrong, I do not doubt Osteen’s faith, integrity or his abilities as a communicator- but his “preaching” is not at all what I would call biblical preaching; not expository/doctrinal preaching at all.)

Time and again I have met people who claim Christ, who claim to go to church, but are universalists and believe that as long as you are a good person and try hard, you will go to heaven when you die. Hell, if it exists at all, is only for the really, really bad people. But as long as your “good” outweighs the “bad” you will be OK.

Folks, the Church is sick, sick, sick and in serious need of Reformation and Revival. When the most popular preacher in America today is Joel Osteen, you know that the Church is in bad shape. The Church today needs preachers who will preach expository sermons verse by verse through books of the Bible emphasizing the great doctrines of the Faith. We need Sunday School literature that teaches doctrine and apologetics and that confronts the worldly philosophies that have infected our churches.

Here is the link to the Baptist Press story:

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=28368

And here is another story from Baptist Press today that goes along with the first story and shows what part of the solution is!

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=28375

At my church, Redeemer Church in Fort Worth, there are a couple of reading groups, 1 for men and 1 for women, that are using Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology and his smaller work. Plus we have Care Groups twice a month that meet in homes that do some study as well. The Care Group we are a part of, led by one of our Elders, Dale, has been studying “The Joy of Fearing God” by Jerry Bridges.

New Baptist Covenant Celebration

Tuesday, February 5, 2008– What amounts to the beginnings of a new Baptist Convention, a break away from the Southern Baptist Convention, The New Baptist Covenant Celebration met in Atlanta from Jan. 30-Feb1. With key speeches by two famous Baptist former Presidents of the USA, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, the convention seems to have been an overwhelming success. One of the things that really fascinates me about politics and religion (I am convinced the two are almost inseparable) is that those of a more conservative religious persuasion also tend toward being conservative politically, and the same is true

Check out the Baptist Press articles here:

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=27326

And check out this article for excerpts from Pres. Clinton’s speech at the convention; some of what he says is really pretty good, and all of it is interesting. Of course I also would disagree with some of it too.

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=27324

Now in this article there is so much that is wrong I wouldn’t know where to start! Some of this is just wrongheaded liberalism but some of it descends into heresy. But these are some of the breakout class subjects, read, but be ready to choke:

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=27325

OK, where am I on this whole splitting from the SBC thing? I am absolutely 100% in favor of the New Baptist Covenant starting a new convention. I like the SBC, but I am not a flag waving Southern Baptist. I attend Redeemer Church and we are a member of the SBC, but I would not change churches if Redeemer stopped being a part of the SBC. I like the missions program of the SBC, it is very efficient. I definitely prospered from the way the SBC does seminary education.

The thing that worries me about the SBC is the idea of the “big tent”. I did and still do, sort of support the conservative resurgence of the late 1970’s to the present day. I think it was needed, but not necessarily well done in some ways. But fights are always nasty, even when essential, and this was an essential fight back in the ’70’s. There are times when to not fight would be a sin. But, even in our “fights” we must try to be like Jesus, to fight with a godly attitude.

Differences are important and sometimes defining. I would say that if the New Baptist Covenant group wants to leave the SBC, then it is probably a good thing and may the Lord bless both groups. They can be used to reach some folk who we could not ever reach. There may come a time when I cannot remain a Southern Baptist because of my strong Calvinistic beliefs. I am fine staying here now, but if the SBC ever decides they want Calvinists, then we should gracefully exit. Associate with like-minded believers.

So godspeed to the New Baptist Covenant guys and gals, may the Lord bless them.

Martin Luther King Day, 2008

Tuesday, January 22, 2008– Yesterday was Martin Luther King Day, a wonderful holiday in America that is rightfully celebrated. I grew up in schools that were mostly white from the 4th grade on in a small town in Oklahoma; we didn’t even have any Mexicans and only 1-2 Indians, maybe one oriental person. But my parents mostly raised me to respect other people no matter what color their skin was. But being in an all white High School there was some pretty blatant racism at times when we played other sports teams that were racially mixed.

When I went away to college at OU I got introduced to people of all races and from all over the world and especially in the Army ROTC program and at the OU Baptist Student Union I developed some friendship with people of other backgrounds. As I went on to serve in the Army for 4 years my platoon had people from Panama, Costa Rica, Cuba, Philippines, Guam, Samoa, Korea, etc. We were all kinds of colors and backgrounds. The US Army was a wonderful experience for lots of reasons but one major reason is that it is a meritocracy where color doesn’t matter.

The Church I went to in Norman, OK during college was FBC Norman, and it was racially mixed in a small way, but my church in Columbus, GA, outside of Ft. Benning, where I met my wife, was very racially mixed, and still is to this day. That church was a very positive experience as was my church in Tacoma, Wa. Since both churches were military churches, they reflected the racially mixed population of the Army.

When we moved to Ft. Worth in 1985 to attend seminary we found the school and the churches we attended to be almost totally lily white, and that kind of surprised me. Today however, at Redeemer Church, we see a little bit better mix of races. This past Sunday in church, Mike, one of our new elders, gave a wonderful and challenging prayer during the time of confession (this is always one of my favorite times in worship as the elders who usually lead us in prayer really pray!) that included some very thoughtful words about racism and prejudices. Then pastor Tim’s sermon from Eph.6 also had some challenging things to say about racism in our country and in our churches. Again, we were confronted with God’s Word faithfully.

All this to say that this short-fat-middle-aged-white-guy, has made some progress through the years with the issue of race and that I want to recognize Dr. Martin Luther King as a for real hero in American history. In a recent Democratic campaign speech, Sen. Clinton caused a little uproar when she praised LBJ over Martin Luther King for the Civil Rights Acts. While Pres. Johnson and those senators who voted with him deserve some praise, a lot of politicians act out of self interest instead of out of a sense of what is really right and wrong. Granted it might have taken a lot of political courage to vote for the Civil Rights Act, but it took way more courage to march in Birmingham and then to sit in that jail.

I really think that all Americans can profit by studying the life and work of Martin Luther King. Here are some links to his speech and the letter from the Birmingham jail:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/01/i_have_a_dream_1.html

http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html

And here is an encouraging article from Baptist Press on Wednesday January 23rd:

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=27237

Tribal Violence in Kenya Due To IslamFriday, January 4, 2007– The violence that has shaken the nation of Kenya since their elections last week is due to tribal animosities mixed with Islam and a twist of Communism. As the formerly prosperous Kenya descends towards chaos, it is easy to see a pattern of behavior that has wrought havoc all across Africa and the middle-east. Ancient tribal animosities flare up as feeble efforts at democracy struggle on. With a disputed election a muslim minority was able to take advantage of the political chaos and burn a church full of people and kill some Christians. Here are a couple of links that are interesting:

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=27126

Caution with the next website, Atlasshrugs, it is interesting but there are some objectionable things included in the site.

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/01/obama-islam-and.html

This next article deals with some background to the violence in Kenya and the precarious muslim/christian relations

http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/11049.ht http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23000292-601,00.html

http://eakenya.org/newsevents/article.htm?id=8

Jesus vs. Islam on Women

Sunday, December 23, 2007– In this column I have presented numerous accounts of how Islam mistreats women. Below is a link to Jeff Jacoby’s column from the Boston Globe (thru RealClearPolitics.com) that mentions numerous hideous examples of the muslim hatred of women. This morning I want to mention some of the incidents from the Gospels of how Jesus dealt with women to show the contrast between Christianity and Islam. Of course I know that in Christianity’s past, there were many abuses of women, blacks, Jews, etc. But I also know that in history it was the Christian West that disbanded slavery, that elevated and honors women with equal rights and respect and that has protected the Jewish people.

We can begin comparing the Christian view of women with that of Islam in the opening chapter of Matthew where he includes by name Tamar, a daughter-in-law of Judah who committed an act of prostitution with her father-in-law and entered into the lineage of Christ. Then there was Rahab, a Canaanite harlot, also in the lineage of Jesus. Certainly the Bible never praises harlotry, but it shows redemption available for the harlots Tamar and Rahab. Ruth, a Moabitess is mentioned next, and the Moabites were a people brought forth from drunken incest between Lot, the nephew of Abraham, and his oldest daughter. Yet the book of Ruth speaks of the savior as our “kinsman redeemer” and Ruth becomes the ancestor of King David.

Then of course we find Mary as a key figure in salvation history as she faces the scorn of her family and friends when she becomes pregnant out of wedlock. Joseph is considering divorcing her quietly when an angel from God tells him that the child she is carrying is from the Holy Spirit and that he will save his people from their sins. At the very core of our Christian celebration of Christmas, the incarnation of our Lord, is a story of an unwed, pregnant teenager, and how her betrothed husband gave her not just mercy, but unconditional love. Good thing Joseph wasn’t a muslim or he would have had her strangled, beheaded or stoned (and the Jewish people did do some of that as we will see in a bit). In Mark’s Gospel, one of the first miracles is when Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law and in John 2 there is the wedding at Cana where Jesus is approached by his mother about the lack of wine at the feast. In John 4 Jesus sits down in a public place with a woman known for adultery and carries on a deep theological discussion with her in a very respectful way. The Samaritan woman at the well is changed, and she spreads the word through the town- revival breaks out.

In John 8 we have the story of the woman caught in the very act of adultery. Notice the man sinner is not detained. The men bring the immoral woman to Jesus just to see what he will do. Jesus, without diminishing her guilt, shames all the bloodthirsty men into leaving by asking the one who is without sin to throw the first stone. Now in relative privacy, he pardons the woman and commands her to go and sin no more. Herein lies the difference between Islam and Christianity- Grace. Jesus shows respect for the woman even while acknowledging her sinful condition. Then he forgives and sends her on a mission of holiness.

In Luke 10 Jesus is in the house of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Martha is busy with preparing and serving the meal, but Mary “sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching”. Jesus not only allows women to be taught in mixed company, but he praises Mary for being teachable and somewhat chastises Martha for being distracted with too many things. This is a hugely radical change for society! Jesus elevates womanhood above the status of being men’s servants, and praises them for being teachable right along with the men.

Finally, when we come to the Resurrection accounts in the Gospels, who do we find being the first eyewitnesses and the first “apostles” to the Apostles? The Women who followed Jesus! Mary Magdalene, whom tradition says was either a demon possessed woman or an adulteress/harlot, was commissioned by Christ to go tell his brothers. A woman was to tel the men that Jesus was risen.

When all of this is taken into account, and the history of the West in its way of treating women is also examined, then compared with how historic Islam as well as contemporary Islam treats women, I believe the case is overwhelmingly in favor of Christianity.

Here is the link to the Jacoby article:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/12/23/the_islamist_war_on_muslim_women/

Tuesday, December 18, 2007–This page seems to be dedicated to issues regarding islam, whether it be terrorism, the religion itself or the social issues it spawns. For years I have been wondering why the mainstream media, the liberal democrats, and the NOW crowd don’t join us conservatives in calling for islam to treat their women in a civilized manner. One of THE key civil rights/human rights issues of the day is the plight of women in islam. I keep getting surprised by articles in SLATE magazine. I love reading the atheist, Christopher Hitchens, and today I read the following article by Anne Applebaum. Here is the link and I have reproduced the article in its entirety:

http://www.slate.com/id/2180169/

The Wahhabi Woman Problem

Why no campaigns against Saudi Arabia’s institutionalized sexism?

By Anne Applebaum
Posted Monday, Dec. 17, 2007, at 7:59 PM ET

---

“A court in Country X sentenced a black man who had been severely beaten by white men to six months in jail and 200 lashes.”How would you react if you read that in a newspaper? With shock, horror, and anger at the regime in Country X, no doubt. And once you learned that punishing blacks for associating with whites is routine in Country X, you might get even angrier. You might call for sanctions, you might insist that Country X not participate in the Olympics. You might insist that Country X be treated like apartheid-era South Africa.In fact, the sentence is real—almost. When originally published on the CBS News Web site last month, it concerned a woman, not a black man, and Country X was Saudi Arabia. Here is the real quote:

A Saudi court sentenced a woman who had been gang raped to six months in jail and 200 lashes.

True, this extraordinary case, in which a rape victim was condemned for associating with a man who was not a relative, did create a small international echo. Hillary Clinton led a chorus of Democrats condemning the ruling, and a few editorials criticized it. It wasn’t much, but it mattered: Thanks to international pressure, the Saudi king has now “pardoned” the woman. And now? In Saudi Arabia, women still can’t vote, can’t drive, can’t leave the house without a male relative. No campaign of the kind once directed at South Africa has ever been mounted in their defense.

This comparison of Saudi and South African apartheid, and the different Western attitudes to both, has been made before. Recently, journalist Mona Eltahawy argued that while oil is a factor, the real reason Saudi teams aren’t kicked out of the Olympics is that “Saudis have succeeded in pulling a fast one on the world by claiming their religion is the reason they treat women so badly.” Islam, she points out, does take other forms—in Turkey, Morocco, Indonesia, and elsewhere. But Saudi propaganda, plus our own timidity about foreign customs, has blinded us to the fact that the systematic, wholesale Saudi oppression of women isn’t dictated by religion at all, but rather by the culture of the Saudi ruling class.

I think there is another explanation, too. As a nation, we are partial to issues that seem familiar, and the story of apartheid South Africa had echoes in American history, in our own civil-rights movement. It wasn’t that big a leap for Jesse Jackson to support the anti-apartheid movement when it was at its peak in the 1980s, and it wasn’t that hard for college students at that time, either: We had been taught about institutionalized racism in school.

By contrast, the women of contemporary Saudi Arabia need a much more fundamental revolution than the one that took place among American women in the 1960s, and it’s one we have trouble understanding. Unlike American blacks, it has been a long time since American women grappled with issues as basic as the right to study or vote. Instead, we have (fortunately) fought for less fundamental rights in recent decades, and our women’s groups have of late (unfortunately) had the luxury of focusing on the marginal. The National Council of Women’s Organizations’ most famous recent campaign was against the Augusta National Golf Club. The Web site of the National Organization for Women (I hate to keep picking on them, but it’s so easy) has space for issues of “non-sexist car insurance” and “network neutrality” but not for the Saudi rape victim or the girl murdered last week in Canada for refusing to wear the hijab.

The reigning feminist ideology doesn’t help: Philosopher Christina Hoff Sommers has written, among other things, that some American feminists, self-focused and reluctant to criticize non-Western cultures, have convinced themselves that “sexual terror” in America (a phrase from a real women’s studies textbook) is more dangerous than actual terrorism. But the deeper problem is the gradual marginalization of “women’s issues” in domestic politics, which has made them subordinate to security issues or racial issues in foreign policy. American delegates to international and U.N. women’s organizations are mostly identified with arguments about reproductive rights (whether for or against, depending on the administration), not arguments about the fundamental rights of women in Saudi Arabia or the Muslim world.

Until this changes, it will be hard to mount a campaign, in the manner of the anti-apartheid movement, to enforce sanctions or codes of conduct for people doing business there. What we need as a model, in other words, is not the 1960s feminism we all remember, but a globalized version of 19^th-century feminism we’ve nearly forgotten. Candidates for the role of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, anyone?

Anne Applebaum is a Washington Post and Slate columnist. Her most recent book is Gulag: A History.Monday, December 17, 2007— King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has pardoned the 19 yr old gang rape victim, sentenced to 6 months in prison and 200 lashes for traveling alone in a car with a man not her relative or husband. I have posted a few articles about this case in the past month so this is some good news for the girl, for justice, and for the war against barbarism. Certainly there are many injustices that occur in the American justice system, there are no perfect justice systems in this life. But I contend that Islamic justice is unusually unjust and exceptionally cruel and backward. That is why I publish these stories instead of the numerous stories about injustices in the American system. We do not punish gang rape victims, we do go after the rapists. Here is the link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22293189/

Wednesday, December 12, 2007—A Muslim man in Canada kills his daughter for not wearing muslim clothes while he himself probably dresses western. He has been arrested for murder and his son, the girl’s brother, is also charged with obstructing the police investigation. This Toronto crime is becoming increasingly common, I have several stories like this in my files from the past few years. My question is this: If there are any moderate muslims, why don’t they run to the press to protest this brutal practice? Like the story I ran a week or so ago from Saudi Arabia about a young lady who had been gang raped and then sentenced by a Saudi court to
receive 200 lashes, this is not rare with islamic peoples and their sexist, woman hating courts and religion. Where are the feminists from the West on this crime in Canada and the whole islamic problem with women? It shows that feminists in the West are really a bunch of liberals first who want to be politically correct, rather than dealing with THE SINGLE LARGEST WOMEN’S ISSUE OF OUR TIME. Certainly there has been systemic abuse of women in the history of the West and the Church did have some repressive beliefs about women and sexuality at times. But in today’s evangelical protestant interpretation of the Scriptures, there is tremendous freedom, respect and dignity for women who are seen as full equals with men before Christ. But it is also the Christian West that brought freedom for women along with an end to slavery and efforts at reconciling the races. Here is the story below

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=071211175557.p3d3kaah&show_article=1

Sunday, December 9, 2007— We have been hearing that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons for many years now, and all of a sudden, the intel spooks reverse themselves and say Iran is not pursuing nukes. This is the same intel community that told Pres. Clinton and Pres. Bush that Sadaam Hussein was pursuing WMD’s. This is the same intel community that totally missed the Syrian nuclear facility that Israel had to take out a couple of months ago. This is the same intel community that has leaked like a collander all kinds of things to intentionally sabotage the Bush administration (not that Bush needs much help in looking bad). So can anyone give me any reason to trust this report on the Iranian nuclear program? And as you read the articles below you will see that the Iranians do have a nuclear program that can be turned to military purposes at the drop of a hat, so the title of their report is intentionally deceptive.

Here is the bottom line: the same crazies that took over the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and that have fomented so much trouble with the Palestinians, and who actively support al queda and are fighting Americans in Iraq, are going to have a nuclear weapon in a couple of years. Is this a wise thing when the president of Iran has open called for the destruction of Israel?

Admittedly, the US is not able to wage a war on Iraq at this time, due to Pres. Bush ignorantly keeping the US military at Bill Clinton levels of manning and funding and because of bungling the war in Iraq. And the complexities of waging a limited airwar on Iran are multiplied by our fumbling diplomacy with Russia and China in recent years. Read the top story below from the WSJ about another possible option.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110010968

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/12/the_abandonment_of_the_jews.html

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5362200.html

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1196847282808&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Tuesday, December 4, 2007—The Qatif Girl, a victim of gang rape in Saudi Arabia, is still set to receive 200 lashes. I have been following this story for a few weeks now and it is not getting any better…yet. In the following story you get the hint that international pressure is building and the Saudi government is becoming a little bit testy over the issue. The article does make the case that WOMEN are the main victims of islam and WOMEN are finally starting to speak out. The Western National Organization of Women still is silent about the problem of islam and women.

http://www.miamiherald.com/851/story/329660.html

And here is the muslim Teddy Bear update for the day, in what is likely the best opinion piece I have read on this ridiculous crisis.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/03/AR2007120301621.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Sudan Releases Teddybear Offender

Monday, December 3, 2007 —Well the President or “tin horn dictator” of Sudan pardoned the English school teacher for her crimes of naming a teddy bear after muhammed. See the story below. I still much prefer the scenario of sending in the SAS and Paras! I reckon there was some severe international heat put on Sudan to resolve this crisis. But notice the teacher says that she has great respect for islam and is sad to leave the Sudan.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1295346,00.html

I cannot respect a religion that throws a 54 yr old woman teacher in jail, with the crowds calling for her execution, because of a misnamed teddybear.

Friday, Nov. 30, 2007 update on the muslim teddy bear crisis in the Sudan. Today the muslims of Khartoum are rioting, calling on the government to execute Ms. Gibbons, guilty of the Teddy Bear incident. See the story here:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8T83I300&show_article=1

I still believe that the Brits ought to rescue the teacher by sending in the SAS along with a battalion of Paras.

The sharia court in Sudan has convicted Gillian Gibbons, the English school teacher charged with inciting religious hatred by allowing her muslim students to name the class teddy bear muhammed. She has been sentenced to 15 days in jail and deportation. See the story linked below:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8T7G8JG0&show_article=1

I firmly believe that the Brits ought to send in the SAS to rescue her from the prison immediately, before she spends another night in jail. Then, the Brits ought to arrest the Sudanese Ambassador in London and throw him in jail for 15 days.

Pope Benedict to Meet with Muslim Leaders. The meeting is simply to increase dialog between the two religions. As you read the story linked below, notice that the popes spokesman says:

“Without ignoring or downplaying our differences as Christians and Muslims, we can and therefore should look to what unites us, namely, belief in the one God, the provident Creator and universal Judge who at the end of time will deal with each person according to his or her actions. We are all called to commit ourselves totally to him and to obey his sacred will.”

The letter said the pope “was particularly impressed by the attention given in the letter to the twofold commandment to love God and one’s neighbour.”

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=071129155415.7ls68uxr&show_article=1My problem with this is that the god of islam is not the God of the Bible. To glibly say that we both believe in the one God is to fail to define your terms. A similar mistake is made when we agree with mormons that there is one God…their god is not anything like the God of the Bible.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am all for dialog with other religious groups. Dialog is a good thing…usually. But I believe history will show that when religious groups dialog, usually one group ends up compromising its beliefs or confusing their definitions. If I was to dialog with the muslims I would only push for ONE thing: we allow religious freedom in the west, you can build mosques and worship as you please without fear of legal persecution or even of rock throwing crowds who oppose you. We insist that you open your countries to Christian missionaries and churches with a guarantee of no persecution and that if muslims want to convert to Christianity there will be no objections or problems. If you fail to provide religious freedom in your countries then we will immediately start closing down mosques. All we are asking for is to be treated like we treat you, love your neighbor as yourself.

Something tells me that would be the end of the dialog.

Wednesday, 11-28-2007 Teddy Bear Case in Sudan Turns Into International Diplomatic Nightmare

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,70131-1294838,00.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=496792&in_page_id=1811

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=496844&in_page_id=1811

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,313426,00.html The British school teacher arrested in Sudan for allowing the muslim students to name the class teddy bear muhammed is facing 40 lashes, 60 days in jail or a fine. The British government in London has summoned the Sudanese Ambassador for discussions. If the situation cannot be handled diplomatically, complete with an apology from the Sudanese government, I would hope the British would send in the SAS for a rescue operation! In the second story we are told that the school where the teacher taught has officially apologized for the incident to the Sudan government. My question: why should the school apologize? The foxnews story above includes an interesting bit about the response by the National Organizaion of Women to the teddy bear crisis in the Sudan. NOW is not about to make any kind of a public statement about this situation because it would not be politically correct; this shows that NOW is more concerned with Liberal ideology than it is with real women’s issues.

Riots Continue in France, News Media Hides Identity of Rioters:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/27/europe/riots.php

Throughout this article the rioters are referred to as “youths”. Only once in the article, about in the middle, did it refer to them as the descendants of Arab and African immigrants, notice- nowhere does it refer to them as muslim youth. The article does link the riots to the riots of 2005 that raged around Paris and several other cities in France. During those riots the papers did refer to them as muslim youth. In the current series of riots the muslim youths are using shotguns, i.e. deadly weapons, along with molotov cocktails and rocks, thus injuring over 80 French police, some seriously.

Dutch Lawmaker Planning Film Critical of the Koran: Here is the prelude to what will be another interesting saga in the annals of problems between Europeans and muslims.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/28/europe/EU-GEN-Netherlands-Anti-Quran-Film.phpTuesday 11-27-2007 Saudi Judge Orders Rape Victim to Receive 200 Lashes; Feminists Remain Silent:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=3899920&page=1

Under Islamic law a Saudi woman is to receive a flogging of 200 lashes, even though she was the victim of a gang rape, because she committed the crime of riding in a car with a male not her relative. I have seen numerous stories like this from all over the world of Islam, it is not unique to Saudi Arabia, it is very common everywhere muslims have power. It is an important part of islam to consider women to be inferior to men, to be men’s playthings, and to be the source and cause of men’s lust. Therefore, when a man rapes a woman in islam, it is the woman’s fault. Why don’t the western feminists speak out against this outrage?!

Monday 11-26-2007 Muslims in Sudan Upset Over Teddy Bear!

Read the story here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21973378/?GT1=10547

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL2756248720071127?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&rpc=22&sp=trueI have been keeping track of stories about Islam since 9-11 and have taken the time to read a couple of books on Islam as well as listening to some lectures, etc. It strikes me in this story that the muslims involved in arresting the school teacher for allowing the muslim students to name the bear muhammed are not merely zealous but are pathologically oversensitive.