Illusionist with ADHD

Okay, this is just really amazing.

HT: Dad

Moral accountability

A new web site, Moral Accountability, is tracking the new administration's handling of important issues such as abortion and marriage/family values. It looks like the web site authors' intentions are primarily to inform the Christian public and to keep the United States as close as possible to biblical standards of morality.

From their mission statement:

The Moral Accountability Project trusts that those self-identified pro-life and pro-marriage Catholics and Evangelicals who helped to put Barack Obama into a position to accomplish his goals were sincere in their admiration for him. We are willing to believe that they genuinely hope that he will go back on his pledges to attack pro-life laws and repeal pro-marriage policies. Still, actions have consequences, and the actions of these intellectuals and activists will have consequences that are all too easy to predict. With each assault of the Obama administration on laws and policies upholding the sanctity of human life and the dignity of marriage, we will ask all Catholics and Evangelicals, including those who supported Obama, to join us in resisting these assaults. That is what we will do at www.moralaccountability.com.

Our project is offered in a constructive spirit, not one of vilification. Our goal is to help ensure that never again will good intentions conspire with shoddy reasoning and wishful thinking to compromise the rights of the weakest and most vulnerable members of our community and to undermine the institution of marriage. And so in a sincere spirit of friendship, we invite those Catholics and Evangelicals who joined Planned Parenthood, the National Abortion Rights Action League, and similar organizations in helping Obama join us now in repelling the attacks that will be launched against life and marriage in this administration.

And so it begins...

Apparently Barack Obama thought the press would continue to give him a pass even after he took his (second) oath of office. And he was not pleased when a journalist had the nerve to ask him a question.

Hmmm. This could be interesting.

By the way... did anyone notice that in the second "swearing-in" ceremony, Obama did not place his hand on a bible?

Although the inauguration was inspiring and there were many positive things said, we have now left the obvious in-the-spotlight situation and the reality of the new administration will begin to show itself.

So far we've had executive orders to close down the facility housing our most vile enemies (executive orders that, according to Obama's press conference, he had not written or even read), a promise to rescind all restrictions to abortion and to abortion funding, dodging of press questioning, an oath of office sans bible, and laughter at the pornographic dance stylings presented at the Inaugural Hip Hop Ball.

I am not encouraged.

HT: Politico

Blog Header - January 23, 2009

I don't really recall where this photo came from, but it includes my favorite instrument, so it needed to become a blog header. I love the versatility of the six-string guitar. It is one of the oldest instruments and has not changed much at all in the last few thousand years. Some music historians believe that David's harp was a six string guitar tuned to the same tuning that we use today.

He Took on the Form of a Servant

As I was contemplating Rich's note about Warren's prayer, I thought about how we as Christians often "bite and devour one another" rather than extending grace. It is very important to call sin out. But if we make our preferences law for others, we are in the wrong. The apostle told us that "Love covers a multitude of sins". I began a response to the note by saying that we all need a good dose of Philippians 2, but decided to scratch it and make it a post.

Here's a look at Philippians 2: 3-8. I did this exercise with one of my sons who is smack dab in the middle of a pubescent attitude about life. There are days when I wish to strangle him! But then, this passage applies to me, too, so I have to step back and take on the role of a discipler. Consider our attitudes about believers who may irritate us, like Rick Warren, Billy Graham, etc. Remember that although they may not have attained conviction in areas important to you, you are struggling with things that may seem simple to them. As you read this post, put your favorite "target" in here and see if your own attitude doesn't need a bit of adjustment. We need to exhibit the attitude that Jesus had when He saw us in our sin.

Do nothing from selfishness
(I, me, my -- don't make myself the most important thing in the world) We get upset when we don't get what we think we deserve, when we think someone else has something better than we have and it doesn't seem fair, and when people don't get the punishment we think they deserve.

James 4:1-3 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn't it the whole army of evil desires at war within you? You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous for what others have, and you can't possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it. And even when you do ask, you don't get it because your whole motive is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

or empty conceit.
(don't worry about what others think about you. Don't let the praise and admiration of others be your motive for doing things.)

Colossians 3:23, 24 Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and the Master you are serving is Christ.

but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
(put their needs ahead of yours)

do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
(my thoughts should be of how I can help others, how I can serve God, not of my own needs or rights or desires.)

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
("Don't you people get it, I'm God, give me some respect here...")

but emptied Himself,
(He had no beauty that we should desire Him. He didn't live in the best house—he had no house. For our sakes He was poor)

taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve. He left all of heaven to serve us)

Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
(We did not deserve it one bit, but still He left heaven and came to earth to DIE for US)

If we could but see ourselves as the servant of the people we find irritating and see their needs as more important than our own, I think we would find far less to complain about, and plenty more to praise God about.

What if it gets this bad?

I have often wondered how different things would be if the generation before ours had stepped up to the plate when abortion was made legal and had cried out with a loud voice: "This is not right! We will not allow this to happen." How much different would the world be today? How many diseases may have been cured had millions of potential doctors not been slaughtered? How many wars might have been stopped had the millions of potential diplomats not been killed? How much different might the world be if our nation was not murdering her children at the rate of 1.5 million per year?

It's easy to point the finger at those who went before us and did not make as much of an outcry against this terrible sin. But what are we doing to stop it now? Because it's not going to get better on its own.

What if your children have to view ads like this because you did not get involved in the fight for every life of every innocent unborn child?

Here's hoping for true change

This momentous week marked three events that show how Americans suffer from a major disconnect regarding the value of human life.

On Monday millions celebrated the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who championed the cause of human equality. On Tuesday, the nation celebrated the inauguration of President Barack Obama with prayers that Americans will treat each other with the respect we deserve.

But today, Americans mark the 36th memorial of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that decriminalized abortion in America. Some who celebrated the legacy of Dr. King and the presidency of Mr. Obama will even celebrate this moment.

Therein lays the disconnection with reality and the hypocrisy. While advocating for social justice on one hand, many—including much of the media—ignore the greatest injustice of our time.

Abortion devalued the lives of an entire class of human beings, and as a result nearly 50 million innocent boys and girls have been brutally killed by the most horrific means imaginable. Humans in the earliest and most vulnerable stages of life do not enjoy the equality that Dr. King advocated nor are they afforded the respect that Pastor Rick Warren referred to during the Inaugural Invocation.

Abortion has also degraded women, encouraging men use them as objects then leave them to deal with the consequences, because without protections for all, we are all left vulnerable.

Equality and respect for all is still a dream.

HT: Operation Rescue

Let us be silent no more

From the By His Grace – For His Glory archives, this is an article I wrote for a pro-life magazine shortly after my son was born.

Throughout history, when conquering forces have subjugated the native people, the conqueror has attempted to silence the Church. They did this because churches historically have been centers for truth dispersal. If a church were allowed to spread the truth to the people, the conqueror’s propaganda would have been compromised.

"Despotism may govern without
faith, but liberty cannot"

Tyranny usually needs to silence the church because God tells us how to live as free men. Christ purchased the chains of our slavery and set us free. Just as Tyranny demands silence from the Christians, freedom demands holy living as taught in the Scriptures. When the church’s voice is silenced our freedom is lost.

In 1835 the French philosopher, Alexis de Tocqueville, wrote Democracy in America. Based on what he had learned from visiting the United States and studying her government and social constructs, de Tocqueville wrote, "Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot.... How is it possible that society should escape destruction if the moral tie is not strengthened in proportion as the political tie is relaxed? And what can be done with a people who are their own masters if they are not submissive to the Deity?"

Whenever the forces of evil have held the church under their thumb, heroes have arisen. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, these heroes have refused to bow to the authority of a ruler who opposed and despised God. These men and women of character and principle have spoken the truth when tyrannical rulers attempted to suppress that truth.

The churches of our nation have chosen to remain silent

In America we have grown so accustomed to our freedoms that recent generations have forgotten that these freedoms were won by supreme sacrifice and commitment. That which the forces of tyranny have failed to accomplish in the past has been accomplished in the United States by generation after generation living under the freedoms provided by our forefathers. Each successive generation has grown more complacent and has increasingly taken for granted the freedoms our ancestors enjoyed because they worshipped and served God. The voice of the church has been silenced.

We are no longer a Christian nation. But in the midst of increasing sinfulness the churches of our nation have chosen to remain silent. Within the walls of the Church we repeat the old doctrines and creeds but we do not live holy lives—we do not stand when the enemy says "bow." We do not lay our lives on the line to save the life of another. The legal community uses a phrase that would be good for us to understand and inculcate in our daily lives—"He who is silent is understood to consent."

The Christian songwriter Keith Green wrote, "The world is sleeping in the dark that the church just can’t fight because it’s asleep in the light." We know the truth but we have ceased to proclaim it.

"How then shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed?"

This is a call to our religious leaders and to each of us who knows the truth of Jesus Christ. We must proclaim the truth with a loud voice. We cannot let our society continue down the path of destruction known as abortion, euthanasia and infanticide. While God’s little ones are being slaughtered in the streets we cannot sit inside our pristine cathedrals and congratulate one another with prayers such as "God, I thank you, that I am not as other men are" as the Pharisee did in Luke 18. We must shout from the pulpits and then from the streets, "God be merciful to us—we are sinners." We must proclaim the truth that human life is sacred. We must become the "salt of the earth" so that God can use us in His war against evil.

Although this post is aimed at our church leaders, we all need to do our part in this battle. God has called us to be heroes. As the apostle Paul said in Romans 10:14–15 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?

Let’s determine right now to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the pulpits of this land, and in so doing send the people of our churches to preach this truth in the streets. Our voices must not be silenced any longer.

Our future depends on it.

36 years of killing our babies

January 22, 2009, marks the 36th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision in the case of Roe v. Wade, that de-criminalized abortion and created a new "consitutional right." I take this issue very personally.

In this post I would like to introduce you to my son, the one who was saved from abortion.

Fourteen years ago a young woman went to a party and came home pregnant. She had already given birth to a girl and aborted another child. This pregnancy put her in a bad position with her parents who had told her that if she were to have another child she would have to move out of their house. This young lady was counseled by many people to have an abortion. The list of people encouraging her to kill her child included her parents (the child's grandparents), some of her teachers, and even her pastor.

Our prolife son at about 15 months old

Fortunately (providentially), she chose to carry the pregnancy to term and to give birth to ... my son.

About 13 and a half years ago, this young lady came to our house and discussed her options. We did not express an interest in adopting her child; we simply gave her the information she was looking for: who could she turn to to give her an option other than having another abortion. We put her in touch with the adoption agency we were in contact with regarding our desire to adopt a child.

My wife and I have been involved in the prolife cause for all of our married lives. We have attended rallies, participated in events, and even worked for non-profit prolife activism agencies. We offered our home to young women who may be experiencing an unplanned pregnancy that had caused her to be thrown out of her house. We didn't know how to put our convictions into action. But God knew....

Thirteen and a half years ago, my wife stood in the delivery room with our son's birth mother. At the doctor's direction, my wife cut the umbilical cord—a particularly moving and symbolic action. A few minutes later I was brought into the delivery room to meet my son for the first time.

Our son - Fall 2007

If not for the commitment to life that this birth mother showed, my wife and I would not have our wonderful son. We would not have experienced the many blessings that have come into our lives as a result of this boy who is growing to manhood in front of our eyes. And, as we have said many times to our son, we would still be a couple, had he not made us a family.

Praise God for those mothers who protect their children from the easy abortion that is made available to all in our society. Praise God for my son's birth mother. Praise God for my son, who made us a family.

The silver lining in the cloud of dirty dishes

Thank God for Dirty Dishes,
They have a tale to tell.
While others are going hungry,
We're eating very well.

With home and health and happiness,
I shouldn't want to fuss.
For by this stack of evidence,
God's very good to us.”
    —author unknown

HT: Willing Hands for His Glory