Tuesday, December 08, 2015
Monday, December 07, 2015
The Purpose & Scope Of Apologetics
Apologetics exists as a field of Christian study to aide the believer in understanding his beliefs, why critics refuse to ascent to these eternal truths, and how these beliefs apply to broader intellectual concerns. Upon hearing of these applications of the discipline, those unfamiliar with such studies might conclude the field to be a subject preoccupied with trivial, esoteric arguments divorced from more pressing issues arising in the course of everyday life.
However, Apologetics does not have to confine itself to the halls of higher education. Apologetics does, in fact, have a role to play in the more popular forms of communication and cultural expression often looked down upon by more traditional academics and clergy.
Many students enrolled in formal degree programs and academic courses of Apologetics no doubt embrace aspirations of serving the Lord in the capacity of a pastor, missionary, or some other form of traditional Christian service. While these students are to be commended for such lofty goals, it must be noted that formalized education in Apologetics can also be good preparation for vocations involving more direct confrontation with the social and cultural realities of the day.
Such an assessment is not a detached observation. Rather it is one derived from my own experience of nearly two decades as a writer of editorial and op-ed commentaries. These efforts began in local newspapers but eventually migrated onto the Internet as that particular technology became more widespread and assessable.
One would not, at first glance, suspect a connection between Apologetics and scathing news analysis. However, Apologetics can serve as as useful tool to get at the ideas and assumptions concealed beneath the theatrics and hoopla surrounding most public issues.
Likewise, the Evangelical might be surprised by the receptivity of many of these public forums to the presentation of the Christian worldview since most believers have grown accustomed to a hostility towards traditional religious perspectives in the mainstream media. The point is not so much for the Christian to expect to anchor the nightly news on one of the major networks but to capitalize on those opportunities made available by new technologies contributing to the democratization of the means of mass communication.
The ability of the Christian to stake a foothold and win at least a modest audience in the tumultuous arena of public debate is predicated on the nature of truth itself. Romans 2:14 says, “Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, since they show that requirements of the law are written on their hearts...”
This reality serves as a gateway to an apologetic utilized by some of the most influential Christian thinkers. Dr. John Warwick Montgomery writes in “The Law Above The Law”, “...the fundamental function of the legal profession is to seek justice by seeking truth. The lawyer endeavors to reduce societal conflicts by arbitrating conflicting truth claims (68).” Similar things could be said of the journalist or columnist as these modern scribes chronicle the events of the day and attempt to relate them to the overall human condition.
Yet the Christian taking the insights of Apologetics into the public debate should not expect things to always go along peachy keen. After all, this is an age whose prevalent outlook of relativism stands in opposition to the absolute claims of the Christian faith. It, therefore, falls to the apologist to show the contemporary unbeliever, acculturated to the temper of these times, the disjunction that exists between what the average non-Christian publicly professes and the stable moral order the heart actually longs for whether the individual fully realizes it or not.
C.S. Lewis in “Mere Christianity” noted that when there is a disagreement between two individuals, “It looks, in fact, very much as if both parties had in mind some Law or Rule of...morality...Quarelling means trying to show that the other man is wrong. And there would be no sense in trying to do that unless (there was) some sort of agreement as to what Right and Wrong are (31-32).” If radical tolerance really was the ultimate principle around which the universe operated, argumentation would be pointless and perhaps impossible. Alister McGrath writes in “Intellectuals Don't Need God & Other Modern Myths”, “Lewis's point ... is that there is a core of moral constraints underlying human civilization (40).”
The Christian makes the argument for the superiority of his answer by comparing how well Christianity and the competing belief system in question measure up to various tests such as that of systematic consistency and coherence. By this test, the philosophical investigator examines how well the statements within a given worldview logically fit together and how these propositions square with the external facts. In the arena of public debate, this test is carried out by extrapolating from policies and ideas to their ultimate conclusions and how they either help or hinder both the individual and the nation.
For example, Winfred Corduan of Taylor University writes in “No Doubt About It: The Case For Christianity”, “Relativism plays the role of Zorro in the world of knowledge. It stays in concealment for long periods of time only to suddenly appear at crucial moments, conquer the day, and go back into hiding (37).” In other words, relativism might be good for tearing down dogmas, but there is no way an individual can live or a society govern by this perspective consistently. Because with no standard by which to cry “foul”, such an ethic naturally degenerates into the strong imposing their arbitrary will upon the weak.
Francis Schaeffer noted in “A Christian Manifesto”, “We live in...sociopolitical law. By sociopolitical law we mean law that has no fixed base but law in which a group of people decides what is sociologically good for society ...and what they arbitrarily decide becomes law (41).” So if society needs to kill a few million Jews or experiment on a few million fetuses, who is the average relativist to argue against these kinds of things when these atrocities are couched in the language of the “common good”? There might have been a time when Christians could have ignored the outside world with little peril; but as apologists such as C.S. Lewis, John Warwick Montgomery, and Francis Schaeffer have made know, that day is long gone if it ever existed at all.
Of the gains made by Christians in the discipline of Philosophy over the past several decades, J.P. Moreland says in “Evangelical Apologetics: Selected Essays From The 1995 Evangelical Theological Society Convention”, “In spite of these gains, however, it would be misleading to speak as if all were well on the battlefront. There is much work to be done...philosophical apologetics should be focused on those areas of study in which activity is underrepresented...Political and social philosophy would get my vote here (19-29).” This analysis has echoed this sentiment in calling for a Christian voice to address the pertinent issues of the day. This examination also embraces the spirit of Dr. Moreland's comments calling upon apologists not to ignore other forms of popular communication for the most part traditionally overlooked by Christian polemicists, primarily imaginative literature.
Bombarded with an unending twenty-four hour news cycle and conflicting streams of argumentation on nearly every conceivable issue, some overloaded minds simply turn off any alacrity they once had for the absorption of raw facts and refined logic. The desire to be entertained here in the twenty-first century shows few signs of letting up.
John Warwick Montgomery writes in “Neglected Apologetic Styles: The Juridical and The Literary” appearing in the same volume as J.P. Moreland's essay writes, “The...juggernaut of scientific technology has alienated many in our society...Might literary creativity offer a way through this labyrinth? Can literature succeed where other paths have failed (126)?” Unlike rational argumentation, which as to get around tenaciously held objections or what C.S. Lewis referred to as “watchful dragons”, stories have a way of infiltrating the defenses of the mind before one realizes what is happening (McGrath, 198).
The success of this approach is not predicated, however, upon literature for literature's sake. For although packaged in the regalia of high adventure, sympathetic characters and compelling settings, to literary sophisticates John Warwick Montgomery observes in “Myth, Allegory & Gospel”, “Chesterton, Lewis, Tolkien display...an infuriating combination or ingenuousness and genius. On the other hand, no 20th century writers in the English-speaking world have had such an ... extensive impact on the intelligentsia in the sphere of ultimate commitment (14).” Of Tolkien, Montgomery admits that some say of this fantasist that he “...limits his imagery to the symbols of Celtic and medieval myth and the verities of the Christian tradition that in the judgment of a recent critic ...'his earnest vision seems syncretistic, his structure a collage, and his feeling antiquarian.'. (14).” Yet “The Lord Of The Rings” has been heralded as the greatest novel of the twentieth century and the cinematic adaptations set in this imaginary realm are the box office hit of any Christmas season.
What these tales do is tap into a fund of themes, ideas, and images etched upon the human mind and soul. Lewis himself reflected upon the theories of Jung and Tolkien to account for the appeal of these timeless narratives. Jung believed that myths and fantasies verbalize symbols universal to the human psyche. Tolkien Christianized this idea when he said as quoted in “Myth, Allegory & Gospel”, “The Gospels contain...a story of a larger kind which embraces all of the essences of fairy stories (117).” John Warwick Montgomery further expounds, “To Tolkien and Lewis, tales such as “The Chronicles Of Narnia” can...serve as pointers to...Christian Redemption. Moreover, they will establish in the heart of the sensitive reader an appreciation of and a longing for the Christian story (118).” This technique works because, as Romans 1:20 informs, “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities --- his eternal power and divine nature --- have been clearly seen so that men are without excuse (NIV).” Thus, each human being's inbuilt curiosity regarding God and eternal things pops up in regards to the stories of good and evil so prevalent in contemporary popular culture.
With such names as Lewis and Tolkien attached to it, the average Christian might feel unworthy of employing an apologetic having grown synonymous with classical literature for fear of not properly honoring it. However, even those unlikely of ever penning a timeless epoch for the ages can still use speculative narrative to stimulate the imagination in the direction of religious truth. In fact, one does not even have to adorn the tale in the traditional medieval fantasy motifs popularized by this format since the underlying concepts being presented are much more important than the external trappings and regalia.
Though it might seem a bit clichéd now in light of the popularity of Left Behind and the crop of other End Times novelizations that popped up at the turn of the millennium, in a creative writing class during college I wrote a short story incorporating certain elements of a literalist eschatology such as the Rapture, the Mark of the Beast and Christian Redemption and placed them in a literary setting incorporating elements of the techno-thriller and police-state genres. The story was surprisingly well-received by a state university audience. Some of the students were kind enough to rank it among the best in the class.
It has been said that those who can, do; those who cannot, teach. Likewise, in the literary world, those who can, write; those who cannot, criticize.
Among those Christians who enjoy imaginative adventures but lack the creativity to craft their own speculative worlds there is more than ample opportunity to relate the symbols found in these narratives to Biblical truths. Some might consider it bizarre to comb science fiction and fantasy for parallels in Christian thought. Silly as it seems, it is not without precedence among secular academics to examine this kind of material through the analytical lenses of their own respective disciplines.
Such efforts have given rise to a group of semi-popular works one might classify as “Star Trek Studies”. One such volume entitled “The Ethics Of Star Trek” by Judith Barad, head of the Department of Philosophy at Indiana State University, examines the moral dilemmas confronted by these beloved characters created by the late Gene Roddenberry. It would, therefore, be just as legitimate to probe and analyze programs such as “Babylon 5”, “Stargate”, “Battlestar Galatica”, and “Doctor Who” as a form of apologetic outreach to an overlooked segment of the population, namely science fiction enthusiasts. The Blackwell Philosophy & Pop Culture Series already does something similar from the standpoint of secular philosophy.
II Corinthians 10:3-4 says, “...we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses (NAS).” The Scripture acknowledges that the children of God are at war. In this conflict, it would not be strategically sound to have all the participants engaged in the same kind of combat. The army fights on the land, the navy on the sea. Still other agencies such as the CIA gather intelligence for the other branches and engage in other assorted activities not exactly fitting the mission profiles of the other services. Likewise, it is the mission of the apologist to gather information of the conditions outside of the Church and to relay that knowledge back to the body of Christ and to go into places where a pastor might not be accepted or appreciated.
By Frederick Meekins
Sunday, December 06, 2015
Pastors Needing To Get Somewhere Run All Over The Congregation
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In a blog post at ChristianPost, it said that the most common reason a pastor
leaves a church is because the pastor believes that they have taken a church as
far as they can.
From the assorted scandals that erupt nearly constantly, I would have assumed it was because the pastor couldn't keep his hands off other men's wives or even underage minors. But on a more serious note, why is it that a church has to necessarily “go anywhere”. Isn't it enough that people show up each week, politely listen to the sermon, drop a few dollars into the collection plate, and wash and repeat the next week? A pastor saying that they have to take a church as far as they can sounds like a pronouncement uttered from atop a dangerous precipice. Primarily, it sounds like a pastor is willing to stomp all over a congregation in order to make a name for himself. In such a situation as a member of the congregation or regular attender, if you don't go along with the pastor's outlandish schemes, you are made out to be some kind of dangerous subversive. Slow and steady wins the race. If you find yourself in a congregation where the church needs to “go somewhere”, you might very easily find yourself in the jungles of Latin America where the unsuspecting before they realize it are forced to line up to take the “spicy Kool Aid” whether they really want to or not. Frederick Meekins |
Friday, December 04, 2015
Thursday, December 03, 2015
Headline Potpourri #81
Contrary to an assertion in a sermon, I don't see how failing to dump
everything to go to the mission field when one has not received an
explicit direct command from God to do so makes equates one with those
in Romans 1 responsible for the expansion of homosexuality throughout
society.
If the government targets public service announcements encouraging Native America youth to exercise more, aren't bureaucrats propagating the assumption that Indians are a bunch of lazy (probably drunken) fat asses?
The Department of Energy has issued a public lamentation regarding how decaying pumpkins likely contribute to climate change. It can be disturbing at times to see pumpkins go to waste. However, is it the place of a government that isn't exactly heralded for its own prudent use of resources to get up on a high horse regarding this issue? After all, you'd don't see a similar form of taxpayer supported environmental slut-shaming about piss so saturated with birth control that when released into the nation's waterways that these compounds are mutilating the genitals of certain kinds of fish.
How come decomposing pumpkins contribute to global warming according to the Department of Energy but President Obama's numerous airline trips to play golf on hydro-intensive courses seemingly do not?
A pastor insisted that God used September 11th to judge America because of the removal of prayer and Bible reading from public schools. But wasn't that the fault of a limited number of jurists that weren't even killed that tragic day rather than the scores of people whose occupations and professions had nothing whatsoever to do with educational jurisprudence and policy? Ministers making these kinds of claims would then turn around and drill the congregation a new one if it became known Christians weren't doing things because they were right but rather in the hopes of avoiding God smiting them in unbelievably horrifying ways.
Reflecting upon the irritation of Republican presidential candidates at the less than fawning debate moderators, Obama mused how the aspirants to the nation's highest elected office cannot handle these journalists, how are they going to handle the likes of Russia or China. As if he has done a stellar job in the arena of foreign policy.
Apart from the premiere episode, the pending Star Trek series will not be available through conventional television but rather through CBS's video subscription service. That stinks worse than a Klingon's armpit. I hope it is a bigger flop than the Star Wars Christmas special.
In a podcast rant against Halloween, the theme to the Halloween movie was played as bumper music. Isn't that the equivalent of playing Shania Twain's “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?” during a discussion on promiscuity or Conway Twitty's “Tight Fittin Jeans” during a discussion on dressing modestly?
In an anti-Halloween sermon, a pastor mentioned that he was a swimmer in college. If out religion is supposed to be wound so tight that a child is to be denied the opportunity to collect candy while in costume, couldn't it be argued that the immodest apparel worn in aquatic athletics has sparked more lustful thoughts than any Jack-O-Lantern ever has. Or is this like so many other activities harangued from the typical pulpit? They were perfectly acceptable when the pastor was wrong; but, now that the pastor is approaching codgerhood, by golly everybody else in the congregation had better be against it now as well.
A Yahoo headline laments half of Black youth know a victim of police violence. And how many of these were engaged in activity that deserved a forceful response? It's doubtful most were returning from vespers.
Does this mean that since an ISIS scumbag blew his lower extremities to smithereens that he will lack the equipment necessary to defile his 72 virgins?
Neil Cavuto has criticized the hype surrounding the new Star Wars movie. Admittedly, Fox News tends to be the default setting on my television. However, isn't Fox News itself guilty of hype at times? After all, just because it is the top of the hour, that does not qualify the first story to be present in the form of a breaking news alert as if the lives of thousands depended upon the information.
Former President George H.W. Bush in an official biography has come out in condemnation of former Vice President Dick Cheney's robust foreign policy. But wasn't Cheney the senior Bush's own Secretary of Defense? And wasn't it the first President Bush's own New World Order speech that established the conceptual parameters of intervening in situations destabilizing international institutions and threatening human rights.
If the Pentagon wants to stage patriotic spectacles during NFL events, why shouldn't they have to pay for the time like any other corporate sponsor? If it is a matter of patriotism, shouldn't weapons manufacturers be required to provide their hardware for free as well?
On Gretta Van Sustern, it was pointed out that the school where a student was given detention for giving another student a hug has a policy that forbids hugging, hand holding, arm locking, and kissing at all school functions (including dances). What is the point of dancing without at least minimal contact? At that point, isn't it no longer dancing but merely swaying?
On Fox Business, pundit Katherine Timpf remarked that no one likes passive aggressive men. It must be the active aggressives that can backhand and berate a woman into compliance that are adored by one and all.
Despite verbalizing all of the necessary catchphrases and battle cries, propagandists are insisting that a knife attack on a campus of the University of California had nothing whatsoever to do with Islamic terrorism. Just utter the “n-word” or a “homophobic” slur during an assault and see if they don't attach additional time onto your prison sentence.
Wonder how long until the incident where law enforcement justifiably terminated an Islamist assailant wielding a knife during a rampage at a campus of the University of California will be protested as an act of police violence.
Deviants at the University of Cambridge are insisting that it is natural and normal for men to be aroused by children. And this campus probably has a code of conduct that would nearly criminalize the same men for gawking at a 22 year old coed with shorts two sizes too small with “juicy” plastered across the backside and a skintight halter top.
Ben Carson has been accused of being less than transparent about his considered attendance at West Point. And how is that worse than that surrounding Obama's birth certificate?
Regarding the Ben Carson/West Point hullabaloo. ABC News disturbingly intoned that details regarding the overrated neurosurgeon's life didn't add up. Did this journalistic outlet become as outraged over details of Obama's own biography not adding up either?
Records regarding Ben Carson''d West Point application are really no less tangible that Obama's entire academic record.
President Obama justified the decision to scuttle the Keystone Pipeline on the grounds that this particular petrochemical conveyance was not in the national interest. And how is the United States better off with decreased access to natural resources and this fuel likely diverted to Red China?
Regarding Ben Carson's claims of almost matriculating at West Point. If every politician was barred from office over exaggerating their accomplishments, the term limit issue would pretty much resolve itself.
Athletes in academic settings that refuse to play until their political demands are met should lose their scholarships.
A U.S. Border Patrol internal review has recommended that body cameras were an unnecessary enforcement tool. Is that to cover over abuse of the migrants? Or perhaps even more importantly, is this to downplay how management has probably instructed frontline officers to let the apprehended go without sanction?
In a podcast discussion on Christian hospitality, it was admitted that part of the reason for opening up one's home to nosy gawkers is to let other people see what elements that you have within its walls representing your faith. So my “spidey sense” was correct that this effort is in part an intelligence gathering operation to snoop around the properties of gullible church members.. As to the “element in my house that represents my faith”, I have hanging a painting of Jesus that my grandparents actually purchased through Oliver Greene's ministry that they donated to their church. Given that no act of kindness goes unpunished, they agreed to take it back when the anti-religious art fanatics in the congregation pitched a hissy fit about it.
And the point of admonishing people to examine themselves to see if they number among the elect if the interpretation of the elect that you teach is so ramrod hard that people have no say in the matter?
It was said in a podcast on Christian hospitality that hospital hospitality could consist of preparing meals for those with loved ones in the hospital so they would not “have to eat out of bag.” Such people no doubt mean well. However, I rather eat prepackaged things I've put in a bag myself than someone else's slop even if it is homemade.
There is conjecture that a proponent of sanctuary cities might be selected to head the Border Patrol. Isn't that the equivalent of a child pornography being appointed to administer the sex offender registry?
If for no other reason, the University of Missouri president should have remained in office to see if that brat would have made good on the promise to starve himself to death.
The New York Times insists that Ted Cruz's father's past as a freedom fighter against the Castro regime has been exaggerated. Sort of like that of Obama's mother being a loving one that took good care of her son?
No wonder the financial sector is near collapse. According to an official at the bank, I have not yet recived my October bank statement that should have been dated at the the close of last month because tomorrow is a Federal Holiday.
Governor Jerry Brown of California vetoed legislation that would have allowed patients to try experimental medicine. Yet he is probably an advocate of legalized pot and hacky the unborn to pieces all in the name of bodily autonomy.
Why is the poo swastika any worse than the portrait of the Virgin Mary smeared in elephant dung or the cross submerged in urine which government functionaries lavished with grant funds?
It's fascinating how administrations that mistreat veterans the whole year through on Veterans Day propagandize as if that negligence is the fault of the average American rather than those running these agencies.
Regarding these demonstrators in Missouri badmouthing the First Amendment. Let's see if they are singing the same tune once the National Guard is sent in to whack a few skulls.
In a series of tweets, astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson went on a rant against the Second Amendment. Given that the scientist is an avowed secular humanist whose Cosmos propaganda insists that nothing ultimately matters anyway and there is ultimately no such thing as right or wrong, why should he get worked up over gun deaths in America? Secondly, now that scientists are apparently handing down policy pronouncements outside of their narrowly defined areas of expertise, does that mean similar pronouncements made by NRA lawyers and allied Creationists ought to be similarly binding upon the astronomical establishment?
Obama did not use the word "Islamist" once in connection to the attack on Paris. It must be a joint Amish/Franciscan assault. Americans need to stop and take notice. It seems terrorist attacks are coordinated with Obama's statements insisting what little threat these violent extremists actually pose.
If liberals here are constantly encouraging America to emulate the policies of European social democracies, not that France has closed its border shouldn't they be calling upon the United States to close its border as well? The attack on Paris was merely a dry run for ones on America.
With his own daughter on the scene of one of the terrorist attacks, wonder if Geraldo supports the policy of closed borders in France. Geraldo should be asked how are those murdered by the illegal aliens he coddles less dead than those murdered by the terrorists he wants wiped out.
From the pulpit, a pastor categorized his mother as spiritually immature for having a plaque hanging on her wall asking, “Is my name written in the Lamb's Book Of Life?” His response was that one should already know. However, how is that blessed assurance to arrived at unless the question is contemplated? Therefore, why is it not proper to deliberately raise such introspective reflection from time to time? Secondly, how do we know that this decoration is displayed for the benefit of the domicile's primary occupant rather than as a way to encourage apologetic or evangelistic dialog with guests happening to gave upon such a placard?
In a Tweet, ardent Christ-despiser Stephen King remarked, “Hating all Muslims for what happened in Paris is like hating all Christians because of the gay-hating Westboro Baptist Church.” On the surface, one can't fault the beloved author for what he posted. But when was the last time a narrative linked to Stephen King's imaginative mind featured a prominent Islamic antagonist? On the other hand, a significant percentage of his stories feature a villain depicting the dark undersides and shortcomings of characters professing Christianity.
A Yahoo headline reported that Muslims are facing harassment and threats following the terrorist attack in Paris. That is indeed lamentable. However, these people are still being treated better than those blown to pieces, particularly those in wheel chairs that were singled out for execution.
In an interview, Jorge Ramos insisted that Donald Trump's “words are dangerous and his ideas extreme.” But aren't those of Ramos even more so if a sovereign nation ought to be denied the power to determine when the conditional privilege of enter may be extended and when deleterious foreign elements need to be expelled? In reflection of his expulsion from the press conference, this propagandist compared this treatment to that endured by dissidents in Marxist dictatorships such as Cuba or Venezuela. Did the tolerancemongers pounce all over these remarks in criticism the way that they do whenever a conservative analyst or commentator likens a particular government action or policy to something that transpired under the auspices of other historically infamous tyrannies?
An article in the 9/7/15 issue of Businessweek was titled “You're Invited To A Finnish Tea Party Unless You Are Gay, Muslim, Or Greek.” Do the organizations and rallies catering to non-straight, non-Christian, or Mediterranean Europeans embrace the Finns? And why ought likely more productive Scandinavians pick up the tab for deadbeat demographics that barely pull their weight or expect entire nations to bend to their religious psychosis. Will this publication feigning so much concern for inclusivism get as jacked out of shape over the arising breed of Afrosupremacist activists that militantly refuse to be in the company in the name of requiring a “healing space”?
“An honest conversation about race” is euphemism for verbally berating and abusing Whitey.
If Toys For Tots tykes were so needy, wouldn't they be glad to get a quality used toy as in decades past?
An Inc. article suggests that scuffed shoes create a bad impression. Scrutinizing an individual to that degree reminds of a joke my grandparents thought humorous. During an examination, the doctor looked down the patient's throat. Following the procedure, the patient asked if the doctor was going to look up the opposite end. The doctor asked what for. The patient replied to see if his hat was on straight.
Ben Carson's proposal of the government having a database of all immigrants is more acceptable than Donald Trump's that there be one composed of Muslims. For if there is one dedicated to identifying Muslims, what is to prevent one from being compiled listing Christians holding to the soteriological exclusivity of their professed faith or that believe valid marriage is only between a man and a woman? Regarding Carson's proposal, to be here legitimately, immigrants are supposed to possess the proper paperwork to begin with. So what is so out of line with the government keeping systematized tabs on such information? How is this appreciably worse than legitimate citizens being saddled with a Social Security number nearly as soon as they slide out of the birth canal?
Given the European alacrity for comprehensive regulation and control, what is to prevent the lockdown in Brussels from becoming permanent? It has been a decade and a half since 9/11 and some things here are still closed in the name of national security. Will one of the things eventually forbidden be asking why a particular thing is being forbidden?
In an epistle, Jim Bob Duggar insists that all sensual content must be removed from the home. Would that include his television program as well? For in one episode where the parents took one of the offspring on a chaperoned courtship encounter (only whores dates), there is footage of Jim Bob trying to hump Michelle through the back door, or as it's also called, doggie style.
A Facebook posting of Ligonier Ministries' Tabletalk Magazine admonishes “If we feel lowly as believers, we should not fight this sense. We are the people made glad by news of our weakness.” But the question must be asked for the sake of protection “To what extent?” For couldn't this state of awareness be indoctrinated so that no one will think they are worthy of questioning those running a congregation or ministry organization living like fat cats while fostering deprivation and even abuse among those from whom those in power derive benefit? There is also a point where what one perceives as a sense of humility can warp back on itself and can prevent the individual from enjoying the good things God provides in this world and using these things in the pursuit of accomplishment. Apparently the author of that Tabletalk remark thought himself not only good enough for his own reflections to be pondered by others but to also attach his byline to them.
Of an American aide worker killed in the terrorist attack on a hotel in Mali, it was said that her son was her highest priority. If that was true, wouldn't she have been at home with him rather than questing for adventure around the globe in the name of humanitarianism? At best, isn't that poor child merely a distant second?
Joyce Carol Oates is upset little positive is being said regarding ISIS. Isn't this hag the one that also condemned Stephen Spielberg for posing with what she assumed was a dinosaur killed by the director?
President Obama insists that the most powerful tool in combating ISIS is courage. Does he intend to set this example by abolishing the Secret Service and demolishing the perimeter around the White House?
Regarding DC Police Chief Cathy Lennier's suggestion that citizens now take out terrorists in active shooter situations, how does she propose we accomplish this act of heroism when this very same jurisdiction interferes in the legitimate utilization of Second Amendment rights?
It's revealing as to what side the global elites are really on when Facebook takes down the page for a White Student Union but probably leaves jihadist profiles and pages untouched until the pork chops come home.
Apparently the deranged liberal mind is more concerned about Donald Trump's precise tabulations as to how many Mulsims he actually witnessed celebrating the 9/11 tragedy rather than that someone somewhere perceived these attacks as laudatory. Any other time a single racially insensitive remark ought to be enough to ruin entire careers or pillaging entire communities to the ground.
So with which directive are we expected to comply? The same government elites berating and shaming the population over global warming into taking public transportation have now issued a worldwide terrorist alert suggesting that we avoid public transportation and large crowds.
If you don't want to be shot by police, shouldn't you drop a knife when so instructed by law enforcement?
So is Ron Paul as condemnatory of Russian interventionism (given that they are often his benefactors) as he is of America's? Putin is no doubt giddy that the fighter jet was shot down.
As a form of psychological warfare against the American people, Obama operatives are suggesting that administration policy priorities be raised as part of Thanksgiving dinner conversation. They must figure that if they cannot get you to pray directly in Obama's name they are at least going to verbally beat you over the head with this particular ideology's version of an evangelist. Obama will certainly be discussed at some point around the table. It's just that if my remarks regarding such were broadcast over television, a significant percentage of those off the cuff before editing would be bleeped.
It was suggested in the nation's capital that a citizenry armed with firearms would not be necessary to repulse terrorist assailants. Instead baseball bats would prove to be an acceptable deterrent. And when police see you walking regularly down the street with a baseball bat and its obvious you aren't going to recreation, you will probably get charged with harboring “burglary tools”.
Small Business Saturday urges consumers to shop where you love. And what if those are the large retailers?
That's an actual dog show following the Macy's parade, not Michelle Obama's Thanksgiving Oration. Just clarifying in case you found it difficult to tell the difference.
To be consistent, shouldn't the Today Show propagandists covering the parade be condemning today's weather as a symptom of global warming instead of celebrating the fact they aren't freezing their backsides off in New York?
The Today Show broadcast one segment suggesting how we shouldn't eat mashed potatoes and gravy for Thanksgiving and then two segments later broadcast a segment on how to improve the taste of mashed potatoes and gravy. But won't that get people to eat more mashed potatoes which we aren't supposed to do? How many mashed potatoes did Al Roker scarf down before having his gastrointestinal tract mutilated.
Regarding the musical The Wiz, shouldn't that be condemned as the cultural misappropriation of the original Wizard of Oz?
Matt Lauer described “The Wiz” as the Wizard of Oz in an African-American context. So does that mean that instead of Dorothy trying to reach the Wizard in the Emerald City to get home, it is about Dorquesha trying to get to the administrator in the social services office to file a complaint about her dead beat “baby's daddy's” failure to pay child support?
A McDonald's advertisement suggests that it's time to start breaking some rules. Does that mean they will no longer verbally ream you a new one if you present more than one coupon per transaction?
At the parade, one group is billed as being as “all female depicting life in India.” So does that include a dance symbolizing them be sold into forced prostitution or left on a trashpile to die?
Al Roker ought to start a Black Lives Matter style protest objecting to the fact that every year he's the one that has to march on foot to the broadcast booth and not Matt Lauer.
One group in the parade was named “The Sino-American Friendship Association.” That translates into normal English as Red Chinese front group.
Latin Grammy Nominee translates as still not quite good enough for a real Grammy.
If you don't procure your Elf on the Shelf from an officially sanctioned adoption center, is that the same as buying a child on the black market?
These health insurance companies pushing annual checkups and wellness visits aren't doing so for your benefit. You are being probed for reasons to either drop your coverage or levy a hefty fine against you for medical noncompliance.
Three tragically murdered in shootout in the vicinity of a Planned Parenthood. That's still fewer than the number slaughtered by the average Planned Parenthood butcher.
By Frederick Meekins
If the government targets public service announcements encouraging Native America youth to exercise more, aren't bureaucrats propagating the assumption that Indians are a bunch of lazy (probably drunken) fat asses?
The Department of Energy has issued a public lamentation regarding how decaying pumpkins likely contribute to climate change. It can be disturbing at times to see pumpkins go to waste. However, is it the place of a government that isn't exactly heralded for its own prudent use of resources to get up on a high horse regarding this issue? After all, you'd don't see a similar form of taxpayer supported environmental slut-shaming about piss so saturated with birth control that when released into the nation's waterways that these compounds are mutilating the genitals of certain kinds of fish.
How come decomposing pumpkins contribute to global warming according to the Department of Energy but President Obama's numerous airline trips to play golf on hydro-intensive courses seemingly do not?
A pastor insisted that God used September 11th to judge America because of the removal of prayer and Bible reading from public schools. But wasn't that the fault of a limited number of jurists that weren't even killed that tragic day rather than the scores of people whose occupations and professions had nothing whatsoever to do with educational jurisprudence and policy? Ministers making these kinds of claims would then turn around and drill the congregation a new one if it became known Christians weren't doing things because they were right but rather in the hopes of avoiding God smiting them in unbelievably horrifying ways.
Reflecting upon the irritation of Republican presidential candidates at the less than fawning debate moderators, Obama mused how the aspirants to the nation's highest elected office cannot handle these journalists, how are they going to handle the likes of Russia or China. As if he has done a stellar job in the arena of foreign policy.
Apart from the premiere episode, the pending Star Trek series will not be available through conventional television but rather through CBS's video subscription service. That stinks worse than a Klingon's armpit. I hope it is a bigger flop than the Star Wars Christmas special.
In a podcast rant against Halloween, the theme to the Halloween movie was played as bumper music. Isn't that the equivalent of playing Shania Twain's “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?” during a discussion on promiscuity or Conway Twitty's “Tight Fittin Jeans” during a discussion on dressing modestly?
In an anti-Halloween sermon, a pastor mentioned that he was a swimmer in college. If out religion is supposed to be wound so tight that a child is to be denied the opportunity to collect candy while in costume, couldn't it be argued that the immodest apparel worn in aquatic athletics has sparked more lustful thoughts than any Jack-O-Lantern ever has. Or is this like so many other activities harangued from the typical pulpit? They were perfectly acceptable when the pastor was wrong; but, now that the pastor is approaching codgerhood, by golly everybody else in the congregation had better be against it now as well.
A Yahoo headline laments half of Black youth know a victim of police violence. And how many of these were engaged in activity that deserved a forceful response? It's doubtful most were returning from vespers.
Does this mean that since an ISIS scumbag blew his lower extremities to smithereens that he will lack the equipment necessary to defile his 72 virgins?
Neil Cavuto has criticized the hype surrounding the new Star Wars movie. Admittedly, Fox News tends to be the default setting on my television. However, isn't Fox News itself guilty of hype at times? After all, just because it is the top of the hour, that does not qualify the first story to be present in the form of a breaking news alert as if the lives of thousands depended upon the information.
Former President George H.W. Bush in an official biography has come out in condemnation of former Vice President Dick Cheney's robust foreign policy. But wasn't Cheney the senior Bush's own Secretary of Defense? And wasn't it the first President Bush's own New World Order speech that established the conceptual parameters of intervening in situations destabilizing international institutions and threatening human rights.
If the Pentagon wants to stage patriotic spectacles during NFL events, why shouldn't they have to pay for the time like any other corporate sponsor? If it is a matter of patriotism, shouldn't weapons manufacturers be required to provide their hardware for free as well?
On Gretta Van Sustern, it was pointed out that the school where a student was given detention for giving another student a hug has a policy that forbids hugging, hand holding, arm locking, and kissing at all school functions (including dances). What is the point of dancing without at least minimal contact? At that point, isn't it no longer dancing but merely swaying?
On Fox Business, pundit Katherine Timpf remarked that no one likes passive aggressive men. It must be the active aggressives that can backhand and berate a woman into compliance that are adored by one and all.
Despite verbalizing all of the necessary catchphrases and battle cries, propagandists are insisting that a knife attack on a campus of the University of California had nothing whatsoever to do with Islamic terrorism. Just utter the “n-word” or a “homophobic” slur during an assault and see if they don't attach additional time onto your prison sentence.
Wonder how long until the incident where law enforcement justifiably terminated an Islamist assailant wielding a knife during a rampage at a campus of the University of California will be protested as an act of police violence.
Deviants at the University of Cambridge are insisting that it is natural and normal for men to be aroused by children. And this campus probably has a code of conduct that would nearly criminalize the same men for gawking at a 22 year old coed with shorts two sizes too small with “juicy” plastered across the backside and a skintight halter top.
Ben Carson has been accused of being less than transparent about his considered attendance at West Point. And how is that worse than that surrounding Obama's birth certificate?
Regarding the Ben Carson/West Point hullabaloo. ABC News disturbingly intoned that details regarding the overrated neurosurgeon's life didn't add up. Did this journalistic outlet become as outraged over details of Obama's own biography not adding up either?
Records regarding Ben Carson''d West Point application are really no less tangible that Obama's entire academic record.
President Obama justified the decision to scuttle the Keystone Pipeline on the grounds that this particular petrochemical conveyance was not in the national interest. And how is the United States better off with decreased access to natural resources and this fuel likely diverted to Red China?
Regarding Ben Carson's claims of almost matriculating at West Point. If every politician was barred from office over exaggerating their accomplishments, the term limit issue would pretty much resolve itself.
Athletes in academic settings that refuse to play until their political demands are met should lose their scholarships.
A U.S. Border Patrol internal review has recommended that body cameras were an unnecessary enforcement tool. Is that to cover over abuse of the migrants? Or perhaps even more importantly, is this to downplay how management has probably instructed frontline officers to let the apprehended go without sanction?
In a podcast discussion on Christian hospitality, it was admitted that part of the reason for opening up one's home to nosy gawkers is to let other people see what elements that you have within its walls representing your faith. So my “spidey sense” was correct that this effort is in part an intelligence gathering operation to snoop around the properties of gullible church members.. As to the “element in my house that represents my faith”, I have hanging a painting of Jesus that my grandparents actually purchased through Oliver Greene's ministry that they donated to their church. Given that no act of kindness goes unpunished, they agreed to take it back when the anti-religious art fanatics in the congregation pitched a hissy fit about it.
And the point of admonishing people to examine themselves to see if they number among the elect if the interpretation of the elect that you teach is so ramrod hard that people have no say in the matter?
It was said in a podcast on Christian hospitality that hospital hospitality could consist of preparing meals for those with loved ones in the hospital so they would not “have to eat out of bag.” Such people no doubt mean well. However, I rather eat prepackaged things I've put in a bag myself than someone else's slop even if it is homemade.
There is conjecture that a proponent of sanctuary cities might be selected to head the Border Patrol. Isn't that the equivalent of a child pornography being appointed to administer the sex offender registry?
If for no other reason, the University of Missouri president should have remained in office to see if that brat would have made good on the promise to starve himself to death.
The New York Times insists that Ted Cruz's father's past as a freedom fighter against the Castro regime has been exaggerated. Sort of like that of Obama's mother being a loving one that took good care of her son?
No wonder the financial sector is near collapse. According to an official at the bank, I have not yet recived my October bank statement that should have been dated at the the close of last month because tomorrow is a Federal Holiday.
Governor Jerry Brown of California vetoed legislation that would have allowed patients to try experimental medicine. Yet he is probably an advocate of legalized pot and hacky the unborn to pieces all in the name of bodily autonomy.
Why is the poo swastika any worse than the portrait of the Virgin Mary smeared in elephant dung or the cross submerged in urine which government functionaries lavished with grant funds?
It's fascinating how administrations that mistreat veterans the whole year through on Veterans Day propagandize as if that negligence is the fault of the average American rather than those running these agencies.
Regarding these demonstrators in Missouri badmouthing the First Amendment. Let's see if they are singing the same tune once the National Guard is sent in to whack a few skulls.
In a series of tweets, astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson went on a rant against the Second Amendment. Given that the scientist is an avowed secular humanist whose Cosmos propaganda insists that nothing ultimately matters anyway and there is ultimately no such thing as right or wrong, why should he get worked up over gun deaths in America? Secondly, now that scientists are apparently handing down policy pronouncements outside of their narrowly defined areas of expertise, does that mean similar pronouncements made by NRA lawyers and allied Creationists ought to be similarly binding upon the astronomical establishment?
Obama did not use the word "Islamist" once in connection to the attack on Paris. It must be a joint Amish/Franciscan assault. Americans need to stop and take notice. It seems terrorist attacks are coordinated with Obama's statements insisting what little threat these violent extremists actually pose.
If liberals here are constantly encouraging America to emulate the policies of European social democracies, not that France has closed its border shouldn't they be calling upon the United States to close its border as well? The attack on Paris was merely a dry run for ones on America.
With his own daughter on the scene of one of the terrorist attacks, wonder if Geraldo supports the policy of closed borders in France. Geraldo should be asked how are those murdered by the illegal aliens he coddles less dead than those murdered by the terrorists he wants wiped out.
From the pulpit, a pastor categorized his mother as spiritually immature for having a plaque hanging on her wall asking, “Is my name written in the Lamb's Book Of Life?” His response was that one should already know. However, how is that blessed assurance to arrived at unless the question is contemplated? Therefore, why is it not proper to deliberately raise such introspective reflection from time to time? Secondly, how do we know that this decoration is displayed for the benefit of the domicile's primary occupant rather than as a way to encourage apologetic or evangelistic dialog with guests happening to gave upon such a placard?
In a Tweet, ardent Christ-despiser Stephen King remarked, “Hating all Muslims for what happened in Paris is like hating all Christians because of the gay-hating Westboro Baptist Church.” On the surface, one can't fault the beloved author for what he posted. But when was the last time a narrative linked to Stephen King's imaginative mind featured a prominent Islamic antagonist? On the other hand, a significant percentage of his stories feature a villain depicting the dark undersides and shortcomings of characters professing Christianity.
A Yahoo headline reported that Muslims are facing harassment and threats following the terrorist attack in Paris. That is indeed lamentable. However, these people are still being treated better than those blown to pieces, particularly those in wheel chairs that were singled out for execution.
In an interview, Jorge Ramos insisted that Donald Trump's “words are dangerous and his ideas extreme.” But aren't those of Ramos even more so if a sovereign nation ought to be denied the power to determine when the conditional privilege of enter may be extended and when deleterious foreign elements need to be expelled? In reflection of his expulsion from the press conference, this propagandist compared this treatment to that endured by dissidents in Marxist dictatorships such as Cuba or Venezuela. Did the tolerancemongers pounce all over these remarks in criticism the way that they do whenever a conservative analyst or commentator likens a particular government action or policy to something that transpired under the auspices of other historically infamous tyrannies?
An article in the 9/7/15 issue of Businessweek was titled “You're Invited To A Finnish Tea Party Unless You Are Gay, Muslim, Or Greek.” Do the organizations and rallies catering to non-straight, non-Christian, or Mediterranean Europeans embrace the Finns? And why ought likely more productive Scandinavians pick up the tab for deadbeat demographics that barely pull their weight or expect entire nations to bend to their religious psychosis. Will this publication feigning so much concern for inclusivism get as jacked out of shape over the arising breed of Afrosupremacist activists that militantly refuse to be in the company in the name of requiring a “healing space”?
“An honest conversation about race” is euphemism for verbally berating and abusing Whitey.
If Toys For Tots tykes were so needy, wouldn't they be glad to get a quality used toy as in decades past?
An Inc. article suggests that scuffed shoes create a bad impression. Scrutinizing an individual to that degree reminds of a joke my grandparents thought humorous. During an examination, the doctor looked down the patient's throat. Following the procedure, the patient asked if the doctor was going to look up the opposite end. The doctor asked what for. The patient replied to see if his hat was on straight.
Ben Carson's proposal of the government having a database of all immigrants is more acceptable than Donald Trump's that there be one composed of Muslims. For if there is one dedicated to identifying Muslims, what is to prevent one from being compiled listing Christians holding to the soteriological exclusivity of their professed faith or that believe valid marriage is only between a man and a woman? Regarding Carson's proposal, to be here legitimately, immigrants are supposed to possess the proper paperwork to begin with. So what is so out of line with the government keeping systematized tabs on such information? How is this appreciably worse than legitimate citizens being saddled with a Social Security number nearly as soon as they slide out of the birth canal?
Given the European alacrity for comprehensive regulation and control, what is to prevent the lockdown in Brussels from becoming permanent? It has been a decade and a half since 9/11 and some things here are still closed in the name of national security. Will one of the things eventually forbidden be asking why a particular thing is being forbidden?
In an epistle, Jim Bob Duggar insists that all sensual content must be removed from the home. Would that include his television program as well? For in one episode where the parents took one of the offspring on a chaperoned courtship encounter (only whores dates), there is footage of Jim Bob trying to hump Michelle through the back door, or as it's also called, doggie style.
A Facebook posting of Ligonier Ministries' Tabletalk Magazine admonishes “If we feel lowly as believers, we should not fight this sense. We are the people made glad by news of our weakness.” But the question must be asked for the sake of protection “To what extent?” For couldn't this state of awareness be indoctrinated so that no one will think they are worthy of questioning those running a congregation or ministry organization living like fat cats while fostering deprivation and even abuse among those from whom those in power derive benefit? There is also a point where what one perceives as a sense of humility can warp back on itself and can prevent the individual from enjoying the good things God provides in this world and using these things in the pursuit of accomplishment. Apparently the author of that Tabletalk remark thought himself not only good enough for his own reflections to be pondered by others but to also attach his byline to them.
Of an American aide worker killed in the terrorist attack on a hotel in Mali, it was said that her son was her highest priority. If that was true, wouldn't she have been at home with him rather than questing for adventure around the globe in the name of humanitarianism? At best, isn't that poor child merely a distant second?
Joyce Carol Oates is upset little positive is being said regarding ISIS. Isn't this hag the one that also condemned Stephen Spielberg for posing with what she assumed was a dinosaur killed by the director?
President Obama insists that the most powerful tool in combating ISIS is courage. Does he intend to set this example by abolishing the Secret Service and demolishing the perimeter around the White House?
Regarding DC Police Chief Cathy Lennier's suggestion that citizens now take out terrorists in active shooter situations, how does she propose we accomplish this act of heroism when this very same jurisdiction interferes in the legitimate utilization of Second Amendment rights?
It's revealing as to what side the global elites are really on when Facebook takes down the page for a White Student Union but probably leaves jihadist profiles and pages untouched until the pork chops come home.
Apparently the deranged liberal mind is more concerned about Donald Trump's precise tabulations as to how many Mulsims he actually witnessed celebrating the 9/11 tragedy rather than that someone somewhere perceived these attacks as laudatory. Any other time a single racially insensitive remark ought to be enough to ruin entire careers or pillaging entire communities to the ground.
So with which directive are we expected to comply? The same government elites berating and shaming the population over global warming into taking public transportation have now issued a worldwide terrorist alert suggesting that we avoid public transportation and large crowds.
If you don't want to be shot by police, shouldn't you drop a knife when so instructed by law enforcement?
So is Ron Paul as condemnatory of Russian interventionism (given that they are often his benefactors) as he is of America's? Putin is no doubt giddy that the fighter jet was shot down.
As a form of psychological warfare against the American people, Obama operatives are suggesting that administration policy priorities be raised as part of Thanksgiving dinner conversation. They must figure that if they cannot get you to pray directly in Obama's name they are at least going to verbally beat you over the head with this particular ideology's version of an evangelist. Obama will certainly be discussed at some point around the table. It's just that if my remarks regarding such were broadcast over television, a significant percentage of those off the cuff before editing would be bleeped.
It was suggested in the nation's capital that a citizenry armed with firearms would not be necessary to repulse terrorist assailants. Instead baseball bats would prove to be an acceptable deterrent. And when police see you walking regularly down the street with a baseball bat and its obvious you aren't going to recreation, you will probably get charged with harboring “burglary tools”.
Small Business Saturday urges consumers to shop where you love. And what if those are the large retailers?
That's an actual dog show following the Macy's parade, not Michelle Obama's Thanksgiving Oration. Just clarifying in case you found it difficult to tell the difference.
To be consistent, shouldn't the Today Show propagandists covering the parade be condemning today's weather as a symptom of global warming instead of celebrating the fact they aren't freezing their backsides off in New York?
The Today Show broadcast one segment suggesting how we shouldn't eat mashed potatoes and gravy for Thanksgiving and then two segments later broadcast a segment on how to improve the taste of mashed potatoes and gravy. But won't that get people to eat more mashed potatoes which we aren't supposed to do? How many mashed potatoes did Al Roker scarf down before having his gastrointestinal tract mutilated.
Regarding the musical The Wiz, shouldn't that be condemned as the cultural misappropriation of the original Wizard of Oz?
Matt Lauer described “The Wiz” as the Wizard of Oz in an African-American context. So does that mean that instead of Dorothy trying to reach the Wizard in the Emerald City to get home, it is about Dorquesha trying to get to the administrator in the social services office to file a complaint about her dead beat “baby's daddy's” failure to pay child support?
A McDonald's advertisement suggests that it's time to start breaking some rules. Does that mean they will no longer verbally ream you a new one if you present more than one coupon per transaction?
At the parade, one group is billed as being as “all female depicting life in India.” So does that include a dance symbolizing them be sold into forced prostitution or left on a trashpile to die?
Al Roker ought to start a Black Lives Matter style protest objecting to the fact that every year he's the one that has to march on foot to the broadcast booth and not Matt Lauer.
One group in the parade was named “The Sino-American Friendship Association.” That translates into normal English as Red Chinese front group.
Latin Grammy Nominee translates as still not quite good enough for a real Grammy.
If you don't procure your Elf on the Shelf from an officially sanctioned adoption center, is that the same as buying a child on the black market?
These health insurance companies pushing annual checkups and wellness visits aren't doing so for your benefit. You are being probed for reasons to either drop your coverage or levy a hefty fine against you for medical noncompliance.
Three tragically murdered in shootout in the vicinity of a Planned Parenthood. That's still fewer than the number slaughtered by the average Planned Parenthood butcher.
By Frederick Meekins
Wednesday, December 02, 2015
Tuesday, December 01, 2015
St. Andrew The Apostle
The Feast of Saint Andrew the ApostleAlmighty God, who gave such grace to your apostle Andrew that he readily obeyed...
Posted by Anglo-Catholic Diocese of Saint Mary on Monday, November 30, 2015
Church Bulletin Provides Little Comfort For Those Enduring Prolonged Suffering
A testimony on the back of a church bulletin detailed the spiritual journey of retailer J.C. Penney.
At a low point in his life at the age of 58, he found himself in a Michigan sanitarium.
Here he cried out, “Lord, I can do nothing. Will you take care of me?”
Of that petition, the testimony reads, “God answered Penney's prayer for salvation and restored his health and wealth.”
Praise be to God.
However, the part about health and wealth raises a number of questions.
How is emphasizing that much different than the Osteenism that Independent Fundamental Baptists rightly preach against?
But what of those that God does not return to health and material prosperity?
Are not “no”, “later”, or “in a manner different from the way you asked” also answers to prayer?
If such souls do not receive restitution on this plane of existence, are we to conclude that the prayer requesting such was not sincere?
And what about when Penney croaked at 95?
Should that be taken that his prayer was not focused or directed, to use the faddish terminology we are hearing enunciated even in churches that go out of their way to assure how much they avoid prevailing theological innovations?
It can be uplifting to hear stories of those that find themselves in destitute or despondent circumstances that God elevates in this life to a level higher that from which the individual initially fell.
However, there also needs to be encouragement for those that sincerely seek God but who for whatever reason are for now denied the healing for which they ask.
By Frederick Meekins
At a low point in his life at the age of 58, he found himself in a Michigan sanitarium.
Here he cried out, “Lord, I can do nothing. Will you take care of me?”
Of that petition, the testimony reads, “God answered Penney's prayer for salvation and restored his health and wealth.”
Praise be to God.
However, the part about health and wealth raises a number of questions.
How is emphasizing that much different than the Osteenism that Independent Fundamental Baptists rightly preach against?
But what of those that God does not return to health and material prosperity?
Are not “no”, “later”, or “in a manner different from the way you asked” also answers to prayer?
If such souls do not receive restitution on this plane of existence, are we to conclude that the prayer requesting such was not sincere?
And what about when Penney croaked at 95?
Should that be taken that his prayer was not focused or directed, to use the faddish terminology we are hearing enunciated even in churches that go out of their way to assure how much they avoid prevailing theological innovations?
It can be uplifting to hear stories of those that find themselves in destitute or despondent circumstances that God elevates in this life to a level higher that from which the individual initially fell.
However, there also needs to be encouragement for those that sincerely seek God but who for whatever reason are for now denied the healing for which they ask.
By Frederick Meekins
Ben Carson Suggests Whitewashing Abortion Atrocities In The Name Of “Civility”
Click On The Headline
Monday, November 30, 2015
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Saturday, November 28, 2015
The Lord's Sheep
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.John 10:27-28
Posted by Anglo-Catholic Diocese of Saint Mary on Monday, September 14, 2015
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Will Christians Take A Ride On The Tyranny Buss?
In an analysis of Charlie Sheen's revelation that the actor is infected
with HIV, Christian social apologist Scott Alan Buss pretty much blamed
that development on all Christians.
In a column at his website FireBreathingChristian, Buss writes, “We see porn shops and strip clubs operating all across the fruited plain in direct violation of God's word.”
Those strip clubs are the fault of their owners and those that frequent them.
If you are Christian and you do not, you have nothing to answer for in regards to such smut peddling.
Even more disturbingly he writes, “We read about Muslims, witches, and even Satantists openly worshiping their false gods in the land in the name of all American/anti-Christian versions of 'freedom' and 'liberty'.”
Linked to that column is another titled “There Is No God Given Right To Worship False Gods.”
It would depend upon what is meant by that.
If that means that, after a life spent as an adherent of a false religion you go to Hell when you die, that is a correct statement.
But by that his pronouncement does Buss mean that the governing authorities should punish those advocating a perspective other than the religion officially sanctioned by those holding power?
In his condemnation of religious liberty, Buss insists that it is the epitome of statism to allow the adherents of non-Christian religions to worship publicly.
But what social institution would be charged with enforcing the law against those violating these statutes in his idealized Christian regime?
How is what he suggests little different than Iran that utilizes force, violence, and compulsion in the attempt to impose theological purity and uniformity?
The case can be made that there is less in the New Testament urging these as the preferred methods of evangelistic outrage than the long hair with which Buss is depicted in a number of photographs which Holy Writ counsels is a shame on a man.
By Frederick Meekins
In a column at his website FireBreathingChristian, Buss writes, “We see porn shops and strip clubs operating all across the fruited plain in direct violation of God's word.”
Those strip clubs are the fault of their owners and those that frequent them.
If you are Christian and you do not, you have nothing to answer for in regards to such smut peddling.
Even more disturbingly he writes, “We read about Muslims, witches, and even Satantists openly worshiping their false gods in the land in the name of all American/anti-Christian versions of 'freedom' and 'liberty'.”
Linked to that column is another titled “There Is No God Given Right To Worship False Gods.”
It would depend upon what is meant by that.
If that means that, after a life spent as an adherent of a false religion you go to Hell when you die, that is a correct statement.
But by that his pronouncement does Buss mean that the governing authorities should punish those advocating a perspective other than the religion officially sanctioned by those holding power?
In his condemnation of religious liberty, Buss insists that it is the epitome of statism to allow the adherents of non-Christian religions to worship publicly.
But what social institution would be charged with enforcing the law against those violating these statutes in his idealized Christian regime?
How is what he suggests little different than Iran that utilizes force, violence, and compulsion in the attempt to impose theological purity and uniformity?
The case can be made that there is less in the New Testament urging these as the preferred methods of evangelistic outrage than the long hair with which Buss is depicted in a number of photographs which Holy Writ counsels is a shame on a man.
By Frederick Meekins
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Will Refugee Crisis Exacerbate Obama's Messianic Psychosis?
In remarks overseas, President Obama categorized opposition or even
reluctance to admit swarms of Syrian refugees to the United States as
offensive and needing to stop.
And what if it doesn't?
The free speech of actual Americans is a higher constitutional priority than granting entrance to those who are not.
The President added, “We are not well served when in response to a terrorist attack we descend into fear and panic.”
Would he be as brave if he was not surrounded by multiple layers of security?
White House propagandists have developed a social media hashtag welcoming refugees.
Will these migrants --- either vetted or unvetted --- be allowed to congregate unrestricted in the vicinity of the First Family?
The President and his decreasing number of supporters in Congress insist that welcoming refugees is an American tradition.
At one point, so was marriage only being between a man and a woman.
Liberals certainly didn't mind altering that to suit their policy agenda.
In his support of flooding American cities with potentially Islamist refugees, President Obama asked are critics afraid of widows and orphans.
However, it must be remembered that Islamic societies do not necessarily gage the age of majority in the same manner as Western ones.
After all, it must be remembered that many of these savages think nothing of marrying nine year old brides and deriving carnal pleasure from them in the same manner mentally healthy men do with woman around their own age.
In an attempted compromise, a number of Republicans have suggested that perhaps a system could be implemented granting verified Christians resettlement priority.
The President insisted such a religious test was an outrage and unacceptable.
However, it is more of a humanitarian gesture than what Saudi Arabia is even extending to fellow Muslims, none of whom will be allowed into that desert kingdom but for whom mosques will be gladly built in Western lands as part of their religious obligation of planetary subjugation.
If religion is not to be taken into consideration in determining refugee status, why is the Obama administration denying it at a higher rate to Christian applicants than Islamic ones?
It is generally considered bad form at best and borderline treason at worst for Americans to criticize their nation or even its leaders while on foreign soil.
As such, shouldn't a similar standard apply to the President as well?
By Frederick Meekins
And what if it doesn't?
The free speech of actual Americans is a higher constitutional priority than granting entrance to those who are not.
The President added, “We are not well served when in response to a terrorist attack we descend into fear and panic.”
Would he be as brave if he was not surrounded by multiple layers of security?
White House propagandists have developed a social media hashtag welcoming refugees.
Will these migrants --- either vetted or unvetted --- be allowed to congregate unrestricted in the vicinity of the First Family?
The President and his decreasing number of supporters in Congress insist that welcoming refugees is an American tradition.
At one point, so was marriage only being between a man and a woman.
Liberals certainly didn't mind altering that to suit their policy agenda.
In his support of flooding American cities with potentially Islamist refugees, President Obama asked are critics afraid of widows and orphans.
However, it must be remembered that Islamic societies do not necessarily gage the age of majority in the same manner as Western ones.
After all, it must be remembered that many of these savages think nothing of marrying nine year old brides and deriving carnal pleasure from them in the same manner mentally healthy men do with woman around their own age.
In an attempted compromise, a number of Republicans have suggested that perhaps a system could be implemented granting verified Christians resettlement priority.
The President insisted such a religious test was an outrage and unacceptable.
However, it is more of a humanitarian gesture than what Saudi Arabia is even extending to fellow Muslims, none of whom will be allowed into that desert kingdom but for whom mosques will be gladly built in Western lands as part of their religious obligation of planetary subjugation.
If religion is not to be taken into consideration in determining refugee status, why is the Obama administration denying it at a higher rate to Christian applicants than Islamic ones?
It is generally considered bad form at best and borderline treason at worst for Americans to criticize their nation or even its leaders while on foreign soil.
As such, shouldn't a similar standard apply to the President as well?
By Frederick Meekins
Obama Demands To Control Your Dinner Conversation
He'll e talked about around the dinner table alright.
It's just that if the conversation were to be played on broadcast TV, significant portions of the remarks would get bleeped. Click On The Headline
Monday, November 23, 2015
Beatnik Merchants Feign Posture Of Despising Holiday Profits
REI (think Cabella's or Bass Pro Shop for beatnik hipsters but less fun)
is foregoing Black Friday by closing its doors and even postponing
digital orders that day altogether.
The retailer is instead encouraging customers to enjoy the outdoors that day.
As if there is nothing more enjoyable to do than freeze your backside off exposed to the elements in late November.
There is a valid point about keeping wanton materialism at bay in light of the Walmart employee trampled to death a few short years ago by a mob questing for discounted electronics as elusive as the Holy Grail.
However, there is no moral superiority or obligation to be found for retailers or shoppers to avoid commerce on what is not even a legally obligatory holiday.
If it is wrong now to shop the day after Thanksgiving as a tangible gesture of how much one despises capitalism, why are the doors being reopened the Saturday following Black Friday?
Won't those wanting overpriced outdoor gear simply show up then?
If REI really opposed the idea of people blowing their money on junk they really don't need, wouldn't the company close its doors forever and simply go out of business?
By Frederick Meekins
The retailer is instead encouraging customers to enjoy the outdoors that day.
As if there is nothing more enjoyable to do than freeze your backside off exposed to the elements in late November.
There is a valid point about keeping wanton materialism at bay in light of the Walmart employee trampled to death a few short years ago by a mob questing for discounted electronics as elusive as the Holy Grail.
However, there is no moral superiority or obligation to be found for retailers or shoppers to avoid commerce on what is not even a legally obligatory holiday.
If it is wrong now to shop the day after Thanksgiving as a tangible gesture of how much one despises capitalism, why are the doors being reopened the Saturday following Black Friday?
Won't those wanting overpriced outdoor gear simply show up then?
If REI really opposed the idea of people blowing their money on junk they really don't need, wouldn't the company close its doors forever and simply go out of business?
By Frederick Meekins
Whithered Crone No One Would Want To Touch Apparently Harbors Rape Fantasy
Isn’t this the same nutcase that condemned Stephen Spielberg for killing a dinosaur?
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Friday, November 20, 2015
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Obama Downplays Extent Of Christian Persecution In Syria In Favor Of Muslims
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Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Kenneth Copeland Insists Televangelist Theatrics Sufficient To Bind ISIS Spirits
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Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Southern Baptist Defending Hunting Undermines Other Christian Liberties
It would be a proverbial understatement to say that the death of Cecil
the Lion at the hands of hunters touched something in hearts and
imaginations around the world. The mark of a skilled theologian or
apologist is the ability to take nearly any subject and try to view the
topic through the lens of a Christian perspective.
The Baptist Press of the Southern Baptist Convention attempted to do this in regards to Cecil the Lion in an article titled “Lion's Death Occasions Defense Of Legal Hunting” by that news service's chief correspondent David Roach. Overall the examination of the topic was quite balanced.
On the one hand, the article recognized that the Bible allows for hunting in that man in this dispensation has permission to use the animals with which we share the world for our benefit and enjoyment. However, the article also pointed out that this activity must be undertaken only with a sense of solemnity and responsibility.
The really discerning theologian goes beyond what is plainly said to shine light on that which might not be noticed so easily.
Accompanying the text is a photo of former Southern Baptist Convention president and president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Paige Patterson. The caption reads, “Paige Patterson and his son Armour killed a roam antelope during a hunt in Zambia.”
Patterson was interviewed to provide a great deal of the article's theological context. Of his analysis, one really can't find much fault.
However, it really should be pointed out that the variety of antelope depicted in the accompanying photograph aren't known for a territory that overlaps geographically with the ecclesiastical stronghold of the Southern Baptist Convention in, well, the American South. That would mean that, in order to get within rifle range of such a creature, Paige Patterson would be required to travel a considerable distance.
There is nothing inherently wrong or morally alarming about travel. It is, in fact, one of the great blessings of the contemporary era that people can travel in a matter of hours distances that in decades or centuries past would have taken days, weeks, or even months.
However, the question must be asked. With what funds did the Pattersons travel to Zambia where they recreationally killed one of God's creatures? Did these funds come out of their own pockets or were these collected under the banner of some grandiose missionary outreach effort for the purposes of reaching the lost in the forsaken corners of the Third World?
Concern over this is sparked in part over the way in which conservative Evangelicals such as Southern and Independent Fundamentalist Baptists raise funds to conduct missionary outreach. No longer is the spiel formulate, “Look at those poor savages languishing in squalor. If you could spare a little, we might be able to increase their quality of life and also try to convince them that they need Jesus rather than their heathen witchdoctor to keep them out of Hell.”
Now, the missionary bordering on the fanatical blows into your church and drums up support for their overseas expedition by laying a guilt trip on the pewfillers as to how wretched the American culture and way of life is because the Land of the Free is not characterized by these Third World deprivations. By the time that the presentation is concluded, the donations are not collected so much to better the lives of the less fortunate but rather as some kind of penance for you having committed the sin of having been born in the United States. It is almost as if you are expected to thank these foreigners for accepting your money rather than the foreigners thanking you for your willingness to give.
Even if Paige Patterson is as clean as the wind-driven snow in terms of how the funds were obtained to finance this hunting safari, the issue is not settled. For to Patterson the professional religionist, your money that you earn is not yours to do with as you please within the parameters of morality even after you tithe or slip a little into the collection plate.
Rather, much of what you have is to be at the ready disposal of your ecclesiastical betters. Patterson has insinuated as such in a number of epistolary appeals.
One of these letters is titled “Ten Things That We Owe Dr. David Platt.” These are essentially ten disturbingly cultish pledges Dr. Patterson believes Southern Baptists are obligated to undertake in relation to the denomination's International Missions Board President David Platt.
Propositions seven and eight are particularly relevant in regard to this issue at hand.
Number seven reads, “Willingness to do whatever Platt asks that is not contrary to our deeply held convictions and within our power.” Principle number eight spells this out in more detail as it reads, “Willingness to make sacrifices in order to extend the kingdom of our Lord...and if the gospel is to go to the people of the world, without question Southern Baptists who believe in the world mission enterprise must be prepared for even more sacrifices.”
So whereas you are expected to flagellate yourself over and over in your mind as to whether or not you really need that day trip to the beach this year, Paige Patterson and his son expended the resources necessary to fly themselves to Africa. For despite such near messianic fervor lavished upon David Platt, it is doubtful that even his most enthusiastic supporters are able to walk on water.
Those conditioned to blithely accept nearly anything done by those anointed to these ecclesiastical offices will respond that Patterson might have been among the deprived heathen as part of some grand missionary undertaking. Surely such a servant of God has earned the right to relax in a manner of his own choosing.
In an open letter addressed to Southern Baptists regarding this topic to which Patterson is a signatory, it is written, “Revivalist and church historian Lewis Drummond once asked whether we would be willing to see our country brought to its knees financially if that is what it takes for revival to come to America. This may be that day.”
What such religious leaders are saying is that they hope to see you starving in the streets in the hopes that such suffering will break your will and bring you into compliance with the ecclesiastical elites. Don't worry though. Such prominent fat cats will not only always eat well but will continue to enjoy the privileges you are obligated to deny yourself such as opulent vacations such as oh, I don't really know, perhaps HUNTING SAFARIS TO AFRICA.
It is doubtful anyone in the upper echelons of the Southern Baptist Convention eats from discount grocery chains. In fact, at one time Russell Moore penned an article sneering down his nose at those frequenting such retailers as a way to stretch their nutrition dollar. One must ask is he as critical of those that do not so much hunt as way to provide subsistence for their families but rather as an excuse trot halfway around the globe for mere pleasure?
Paige Patterson is to be commended for his balanced yet eloquent consideration of the moral complexities surrounding the hunting issue. Let us hope that the leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention would be less pushy in those areas of life where the explicit oracles of God do not necessarily say as much as these theologians would lead those under their teaching to believe.
By Frederick Meekins
The Baptist Press of the Southern Baptist Convention attempted to do this in regards to Cecil the Lion in an article titled “Lion's Death Occasions Defense Of Legal Hunting” by that news service's chief correspondent David Roach. Overall the examination of the topic was quite balanced.
On the one hand, the article recognized that the Bible allows for hunting in that man in this dispensation has permission to use the animals with which we share the world for our benefit and enjoyment. However, the article also pointed out that this activity must be undertaken only with a sense of solemnity and responsibility.
The really discerning theologian goes beyond what is plainly said to shine light on that which might not be noticed so easily.
Accompanying the text is a photo of former Southern Baptist Convention president and president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Paige Patterson. The caption reads, “Paige Patterson and his son Armour killed a roam antelope during a hunt in Zambia.”
Patterson was interviewed to provide a great deal of the article's theological context. Of his analysis, one really can't find much fault.
However, it really should be pointed out that the variety of antelope depicted in the accompanying photograph aren't known for a territory that overlaps geographically with the ecclesiastical stronghold of the Southern Baptist Convention in, well, the American South. That would mean that, in order to get within rifle range of such a creature, Paige Patterson would be required to travel a considerable distance.
There is nothing inherently wrong or morally alarming about travel. It is, in fact, one of the great blessings of the contemporary era that people can travel in a matter of hours distances that in decades or centuries past would have taken days, weeks, or even months.
However, the question must be asked. With what funds did the Pattersons travel to Zambia where they recreationally killed one of God's creatures? Did these funds come out of their own pockets or were these collected under the banner of some grandiose missionary outreach effort for the purposes of reaching the lost in the forsaken corners of the Third World?
Concern over this is sparked in part over the way in which conservative Evangelicals such as Southern and Independent Fundamentalist Baptists raise funds to conduct missionary outreach. No longer is the spiel formulate, “Look at those poor savages languishing in squalor. If you could spare a little, we might be able to increase their quality of life and also try to convince them that they need Jesus rather than their heathen witchdoctor to keep them out of Hell.”
Now, the missionary bordering on the fanatical blows into your church and drums up support for their overseas expedition by laying a guilt trip on the pewfillers as to how wretched the American culture and way of life is because the Land of the Free is not characterized by these Third World deprivations. By the time that the presentation is concluded, the donations are not collected so much to better the lives of the less fortunate but rather as some kind of penance for you having committed the sin of having been born in the United States. It is almost as if you are expected to thank these foreigners for accepting your money rather than the foreigners thanking you for your willingness to give.
Even if Paige Patterson is as clean as the wind-driven snow in terms of how the funds were obtained to finance this hunting safari, the issue is not settled. For to Patterson the professional religionist, your money that you earn is not yours to do with as you please within the parameters of morality even after you tithe or slip a little into the collection plate.
Rather, much of what you have is to be at the ready disposal of your ecclesiastical betters. Patterson has insinuated as such in a number of epistolary appeals.
One of these letters is titled “Ten Things That We Owe Dr. David Platt.” These are essentially ten disturbingly cultish pledges Dr. Patterson believes Southern Baptists are obligated to undertake in relation to the denomination's International Missions Board President David Platt.
Propositions seven and eight are particularly relevant in regard to this issue at hand.
Number seven reads, “Willingness to do whatever Platt asks that is not contrary to our deeply held convictions and within our power.” Principle number eight spells this out in more detail as it reads, “Willingness to make sacrifices in order to extend the kingdom of our Lord...and if the gospel is to go to the people of the world, without question Southern Baptists who believe in the world mission enterprise must be prepared for even more sacrifices.”
So whereas you are expected to flagellate yourself over and over in your mind as to whether or not you really need that day trip to the beach this year, Paige Patterson and his son expended the resources necessary to fly themselves to Africa. For despite such near messianic fervor lavished upon David Platt, it is doubtful that even his most enthusiastic supporters are able to walk on water.
Those conditioned to blithely accept nearly anything done by those anointed to these ecclesiastical offices will respond that Patterson might have been among the deprived heathen as part of some grand missionary undertaking. Surely such a servant of God has earned the right to relax in a manner of his own choosing.
In an open letter addressed to Southern Baptists regarding this topic to which Patterson is a signatory, it is written, “Revivalist and church historian Lewis Drummond once asked whether we would be willing to see our country brought to its knees financially if that is what it takes for revival to come to America. This may be that day.”
What such religious leaders are saying is that they hope to see you starving in the streets in the hopes that such suffering will break your will and bring you into compliance with the ecclesiastical elites. Don't worry though. Such prominent fat cats will not only always eat well but will continue to enjoy the privileges you are obligated to deny yourself such as opulent vacations such as oh, I don't really know, perhaps HUNTING SAFARIS TO AFRICA.
It is doubtful anyone in the upper echelons of the Southern Baptist Convention eats from discount grocery chains. In fact, at one time Russell Moore penned an article sneering down his nose at those frequenting such retailers as a way to stretch their nutrition dollar. One must ask is he as critical of those that do not so much hunt as way to provide subsistence for their families but rather as an excuse trot halfway around the globe for mere pleasure?
Paige Patterson is to be commended for his balanced yet eloquent consideration of the moral complexities surrounding the hunting issue. Let us hope that the leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention would be less pushy in those areas of life where the explicit oracles of God do not necessarily say as much as these theologians would lead those under their teaching to believe.
By Frederick Meekins
Cauciosubordinates Comply With Afrosupremacist Demands To Vacate “Healing Space”
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Monday, November 16, 2015
Friday, November 13, 2015
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Planned Parenthood Sow Executes Baby Because She Couldn’t Keep Her Legs Together
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Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
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