Wednesday.....Culture.....No Thanks

Warren Beatty was quoted one time, I cannot remember it verbatim, in that he regretted making the hugely popular Bonnie and Clyde in 1967 because it glorified murderers and bank robbers. It's not unheard of for a film star or music artist to distance themselves from their works of the past. I've read a few articles on the new fall television schedule, and from these and what I know of that was already on, we have been partakers over many years, and as the frog slowly boiled in the kettle, we are slowly heading for oblivion. The issue with me is primarily the children. Our entertainments reach them also. I have never been one for boycotts for it works both ways and nothing substantial is accomplished, but I am for personal decisions that essentially are a boycott. I have mentioned quite a few times on this blog the issue of a la carte cable television. To summarize here, we are offered bundled packages from the cable companies. There has been legislation trying to give us the right to choose only the stations we want brought into our house. There is not much momentum for this, but it not dead yet, and I have written a number of legislators on the issue. This would not be a boycott but would have a much greater effect as millions of Americans would see their choices and simply say no thanks to some. The greater result would be, I firmly believe, that after a year or two the discernment of the public would show marked improvement simply because our choices for viewing would be fewer and of a much higher quality. Ultimately, what I am saying is that we have to start taking an interest in the effects of the entertainment industry on ourselves and our families. I have to emphasize here that these issues are labelled culture wars and even some exceptional Christian ministries discourage involvement in this. One reason, which I concur with, is that the culture war mentality tends to replace the more important issue of stabilizing our own Christian walk. I find this conundrum often, we see the possibility of a negative effect from something otherwise worthwhile and excessively caution against being a part of it. If we take this concern to its end, we will effectively become neutral in society. We have to go forward, knowing full well that there may be other problems that arise from it but go forward prepared to deal with them if they arise. A la carte cable primarily addresses our problems and failures and not others. None of these issues, passions and ethical stances will be easy. Discouragement sets in, fear of failure and malaise, but continue we have to.

Tuesday..... International.....Thoughts Of A Lesser Light

I'm going to diverge from the topic of International, to write about something that has been on my mind for a few days. It starts out with a little bit of theology. Christians should know that there are two primary systems of belief in which most of us share in one or the other. Like it or not, you are a theologian on issues like this! The two systems bear the names of the men that defended their beliefs at a critical period of church history. John Calvin and James Arminius are the two men and Calvinism and Arminianism are the descriptive terms we use. I am going to address just one aspect of these systems. Calvinism says that Scripture says that regeneration precedes faith. In other words, God regenerates the soul, and then faith comes. The Ariminian says that Scripture says that faith precedes regeneration, in other words a person believes and then is regenerated. The majority of the church believed that Scripture proclaimed the former for many centuries, from the Reformation but also exhibited strongly through Augustine in the 4th & 5th century. The majority today believes that Scripture proclaims, the latter, this building into a majority starting in the 18th century. That is all I have to say about it in this blog for you can research this and reach your own conclusion as to what Scripture says. The Arminian therefore can say, in defense of a certain evangelical method, if only one soul is saved, the method is legitimate. The Calvinist would say that perfect doctrine in everything in evangelizing was never required, and certainly did not demand perfect evangelists. How many people came to a knowledge of salvation through vastly imperfect Arminian evangelists? How many through dead Calvinist pulpits? There is truth in this matter. False methods may impede but will not prohibit God's work. Now to the point of this blog. Why do I write it? It is part catharsis, living in a nation that is collapsing and headed the way of Rome. It is part an absolute necessity to attempt, albeit in this minuscule way, to do my part to warn readers that the barbarians are not only at the gate but have found a key and are inside! But these reasons are not primary in what I feebly attempt to do here. The real reason is you. You are reading this. You either came across it while surfing the blogspot site, or you saw my bumper sticker that I have carried to the East Coast a couple of times along with other long and short trips, or maybe someone said to you you gotta see this. I am not an Arminian. I would never think that if only one person is directed through this blog, it would be worth it. Rather, if there are ten pieces of a puzzle that God will have you work through, and this blog is the least significant, then if is not me, it will be something or somebody else. I would simply be grateful to be a part of that puzzle, for that is but one of the joys that God has devised for us, that being, He drawing you, or me, and giving others a part to play in these acts of salvation. We do absolutely nothing for our own salvation, but have been granted the blessing of being messengers as God regenerates and then calls. To me, the most reassuring part of this being a semi-anonymous blog, although people at work, and a few others, probably know who writes this, is that I do not enter into this equation. You don't have to face someone while you consider these things which can be an abstraction, and I cannot fail you by condescending to you as if I were anything but the least worthy to give you this message. As for the politics of this blog, they are opinions, but this nation will make decisions through opinions, the strongest, not necessarily the truest, winning out. As for Christianity, don't take a single word that I say as true without verifying it. My advice when talking to young people is; Do not burn bridges behind you, don't fall for the first system that seems right, have the patience to work through these things and you will know when those bridges will never be crossed again. I hoped to break some myths in this blog. One being that the common man (me) can think for himself and need not be afraid to challenge the experts, that just as the common man is imperfect, the expert may know what they are talking about and they may not. The extraordinarily learned Puritan Divine John Owen desired to sit and listen to the tinker John Bunyan, preach Christ. The seminary trained of England watched as Charles Haddon Spurgeon's sermons were bought throughout the world. On the temporal side, it is ironic how Rush Limbaugh, with no college education, day after day stymies the Ivy League elites. God will use the brilliant mind of a Jonathon Edwards, Martin Luther and John Calvin. He will also use the lesser lights. We bring nothing but our desire and even that was a gift of God.

Monday.....Miscellaneous.....Colon, Left Parenthsis

I know that you have been waiting for a new merit badge. It feels good to have two badges on that sash, doesn't it? Well here is the third. It's the Correspondence badge. You may have recently read articles in the newspaper on cursive writing. It would be on the way out if some people had their way for the see it as archaic in this digital age. Combine this with keyboard correspondence we are addicted to and we are truly heading the wrong way. There was an article in our paper about a local school that is experimenting with a no textbook biology class. The book that I mentioned in yesterday's blog, Why Johnny Can't Preach by T. David Gordon, had an excellent chapter on the correlation between reading classic literature and the ability to express yourself. He even recommends to his students that if they want to go to seminary, the best preparation for it would be an English literature major. The Bible has been likened to an anvil that has worn out many hammers, and it also has been noted that if every Bible in the world were to be banned, it could be reconstructed from quotes in the books from any library. Right now I am rereading a biography on Jonathon Edwards. His letters and journal entries are the most important items in revealing himself to us. I mentioned before how John Kennedy's letters to his father give tremendous insight into his development, yet we are headed to an age where letters will be almost non-existent. From time to time, we hear that someone's emails are being requested, usually in a legal setting. This is what we have come to. The proposed budgets in Pennsylvania, now being fought over, will decimate libraries. They fail to see that libraries are jewels in our society. The trend militates against reading, writing and libraries. So, for the merit badge, you are required to write three letters, in cursive writing, to anyone.


Office setting:
Jenna: Sabrina, look what came in the mail. Do you know what it is?
Sabrina: I think that it's a letter.
Jenna: A letter? There's ink all over the page!
Sabrina: That's writing. My grandfather used to send me money with a letter on my birthdays.
Jenna: What does it say?
Sabrina: Let's see..."Here is my $30 payment for the month of September."
Jenna: Wow! Where did you learn how to do that?
Sabrina: I was home-schooled. I can even add without a calculator.
Jenna: What's this, an autograph?
Sabrina: No, they just signed their name. You sign your name on a credit purchase don't you?
Jenna: Yeah, but I always thought it was some kind of pass code.
Jenna's cell phone ringtone is heard.
Jenna: Sabrina, Brady just sent me a text and proposed! She types something in return.
Sabrina: What did you say?
Jenna: Colon, right parenthesis


If you want to put a red border around that Correspondence merit badge, write those letters to your legislators and request that they do not sacrifice our children's learning, enjoyment and enrichment through reading by cutting the library budgets!

Please see my July 16th blog for how I came across the idea for merit badge blogs.

Sunday.....Christianity.....Why Johnny Can't Preach

If I only had the opportunity to write one entry on this blog, it would be an appeal to pastors to preach Christ and His cross. There are many things in which we deserve rebuke, but none more so than the clergy's failure to preach Christ consistently from the pulpit on the Lord's Day and our failure to require such from the men in the pulpits. I recently came across a small, newly published, paperback book called Why Johnny Can't Preach by Grove City College professor T. David Gordon. (isbn 9781596381162 P&R Publishing) This book was highly recommended by a ministry that I know to be very good and the book was everything and more than I even hoped, for it is concise, clear and powerful. One must expend every effort to reject Professor Gordon's argument. I don't have it in front of me for I have passed on a few copies and intend to purchase more for this reason. So many times, we agonize for some way that we can make a difference in our country. Distributing this book is one way and it strikes at the very heart of our problem, malnourishment from the lack of preaching Christ and Him crucified! We can experience movements of various kinds within this present evangelicalism. We can be instrumental in putting a political party into office that shores up the dikes for a while. We can have an evangelical president, legislate against egregious assaults on our foundations and see the battle go our way, for a time, but our presence will ultimately be resistible and ineffective without a genuine transformation in accordance with God's express will, through the power of His Spirit and with the proclamation of Jesus Christ, in all His majesty, power and glory, before us every time that we gather on His day. Most everyone believes that Christ is preached in their church. This because they have nothing to compare it to. They do not know what is lacking, therefore there is no urgency. Here is one litmus test you might consider; if when the service is over, the sermon has been preached, the benediction given, you do not need a few moments to gather yourself, to take a deep breath and consider what you have just heard, the momentousness of how it has effected your life and eternal soul, and the souls of all those whom you love who believe, then you have not heard Christ preached.

Saturday.....War On Terror.....Don't Try the Dessert!

The Israeli/Iranian situation has been undergoing a transformation of sorts for the past five weeks. Initially a Russian freighter the Arctic Sea, supposedly carrying timber, was hijacked. The crew was rescued but the ship disappeared for weeks. It finally reappeared and Russia examined the cargo, eventually giving an OK to the contents. The hijackers are in custody but the ships crew has not been able to leave it or even contact their families since then. Russia previously contracted with Iran for the sale of an advanced air-defense missile system called the S-300. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu made a trip by private plane to Russia that was supposed to be a secret but since being discovered, both Russia and Israel have admitted to it. Russia's comments on Israel seemed to have softened since then. Low and behold, as the G-20 summit was nearing its conclusion, amidst all the economic decisions that should be the news, the United States announced with anger that Iran was building a secret nuclear facility and that the world would not stand for it, or even delays in getting answers, even though it has known about this new project for a few years. All of a sudden, Russia's stance on increased sanctions on Iran has softened somewhat. There is a lot of movement in this tense situation between Israel and Iran, but one thing fairly certain is that what we read in the newspapers was cooked up at the G-20 to wet the appetites of the readers. Stay tuned to see what the entree being served will be.

Tuesday.....International.....Israel, Iran Tensions

In order to deal with Israel, as either a friend or a foe, you have to understand why they at times act as they do. They feel that they are essentially alone in this world as to their national security. The power, economic and military, of the United States has indeed been used in defense of Israel since they became a state. Yet they still do not totally trust us. The Obama administration is in the process of cementing Israel's concerns. Former Carter administration National Security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski's comments about confronting Israel jets in the air over Iraq as they are on their way to Iran, only stirs up their survival instinct. Israel must know that they can depend on the majority of Americans rallying to their defense against the likes of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but that alone will not guarantee the supportive actions of an American government that that same public is increasingly, day after day, feeling distrustful of. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently made a secret trip to Russia that was brought to light. Russia is traditionally no friend of the Persian nation. They spar over oil in the Caspian Sea, and Russia's support of Iran is tentative and only for their own purposes. Could anyone blame Israel for looking to Russia to make a side-deal for their security? There is no evidence of this. I have heard no one speculate on it, but Israel has proven in the past that they will not put absolute trust in anyone else for their security and history seems to bear their concerns out. Netanyahu's trip may have been confrontational, that is what would be expected, rather than bargaining. Either way, it would behoove us to realize how they think and why they sometimes act as they do.

Sunday.....Christianity.....Violent Christians?

Somewhere in my past there was a story of a poor Christian woman who washed floors for a living. She had children, bills to pay, food to put on the table, worries for her children who would live in this world, and no husband to help. My mind seems to reference her often, particularly after an absurd, excessive and faithless complaint brings me low where I belong. This woman was humble and hard working...and meek. She was also extremely violent. She was a violent Christian woman. Puritan Thomas Watson labelled it a holy violence in his book Heaven Taken By Storm, Showing the Holy Violence a Christian is to Put Forth in the Pursuit After Glory. Soli Deo Gloria Publications isbn 1-877611-50-6. The book is a treatise on the scripture verse from Matthew chapter 11 verse 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. The methods of holy violence that Watson is talking about are things such as prayer, scripture reading, meditation, self-examination, observing the Lord's Day and conversation. These things are violence the Christian uses on this journey. This violence goes hand in hand with meekness, and is not passive. There are different interpretations of this passage as some believe that if the Christian is the one doing violence in this verse, then he is essentially trying to attain heaven through works which everyone, hopefully, categorically pronounces false and impossible. I bring this verse up, not because I am sure of the correct interpretation but, because I believe the concept of knowing that we are in a war and must wage holy warfare is needed today more than ever before. I know that I have raised the concept of the Christian as a soldier before, for indeed we are. Toby Keith had a song he called I Love This Bar with a lyric that went something like and (we got) veterans who show their battle scars. Now this Christian woman who cleaned floors certainly had scars, some of which were formed from tears running down her cheeks. It isn't our place to announce them but it would be helpful to examine ourselves from time to time just to see if we have been in a battle. My scars may have mostly been self-inflicted, or incurred through mistakes, but the words for the day, and every day are press on.

Saturday.....War On Terror.....Jerusalem Day

Yesterday was Jerusalem Day in Iran which has become an annual day for protesters to take to the streets in support of the Palestinians. There were large throngs doing just that but this, in itself, is not that impressive since the Iranian regime tends to order these type of protests as our elementary schools might ring the bell and summon the children outside in a fire drill. Along with this, in the face of threats of arrest, reformers took to the streets in large numbers to protest the recent fraudulent Iranian election, truly a lack of decorum in the midst of a planned government celebration. The United States cancelled a missile defense system scheduled for Eastern Europe because of intelligence reports that downgraded the Iranian threat to the region. Russia is very happy, bolstering claims that we are now improving our reputation in the world. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that we are in better shape to defend Eastern Europe now, than we were with the missile systems, this to go along with his comments on being better able to defend America from its enemies without the F-22.

Friday.....America.....Three Views

This is a personal reflection on three arenas where I tend to view life in America. Maybe it will resonate with you...maybe not. The first of these views is simply when I walk the neighborhoods or the Main Streets of small towns. Picture a lovely day, maybe 72 degrees with a slight breeze and the leaves gently rustling above. The smells are clean, as least as we have come to know clean. Maybe there is the scent of lilacs as I pass a garden or maybe just freshly cut grass. I pass another person walking and say hello, or see others puttering in their yard. A few cars pass and I detect a look of content or even a smile as they are talking on a cell phone. There is practically no noise save the purr of tires turning on pavement at only about 20 miles per hour. Possibly there is the sound of a lawnmower in the distance that disturbs the quiet and if I'm fortunate, there are the chirps and calls of various small birds. I admit, there is little stress to discern on a walk like this. Walking Main street is a little bit different for there is a measure of hustle and bustle as I see housewives doing their grocery shopping, older folks stopping at the pharmacy for their prescriptions, kids of various ages laughing as they munch on some snack that they to came to town for and men simply doing errands. At times like these, I almost agree with most folks who take the position that though there may be troubles in the world, all will go on, mostly smoothly, with only the occasional bumps. I like it very much and I only wish that it were the only reality, but it is not. The second way to view life today, or lens to look through if you will, is through the news in every imaginable medium available to us. There are no fragrances, no breezes, no birds and the only smiles are in pictures of politicians and other notables, but those smiles are not convincing, or soothing. In the news I see a major confrontation brewing in the Middle East, different from the continuous ones of the past for there is uncertainty in this one. I see the Russian bear stirring up strife as if they considered themselves immune from the consequences. I see a Red China growing in power and influence, both financial and military, through nefarious schemes from Africa to Europe and in the Americas north and south. I see a world financial community that proved in the last year that it is truly winging it, its confidence being a facade. I see nervous looks, on those who should know, of possible pandemics. Unfortunately, I see American government leaders that have lost that crucial edge that was always present in our crises, that being that they were, in the past, more on the side of that which is right...than our enemies. Their intentions may have been to benefit America as well as protect it, but they were not in pursuit of an ideology that does not acknowledge God. George W. Bush, whether his decisions in Iraq were wise or not, was on his knees often. Many hold absolutely no value in that. I hold much value in it...and it is gone. Our once great strength of having an American Creed that united us in distress has been purposely chipped apart with hammer and chisel for decades. I have said this before that the 13 days of October 1962 were a blissful stroll through the park compared to waging war against the suicidal insanity of our enemies today. The stark contrast between these two world...views is vivid and almost surreal. The third view is one that only a Christian can see. Every person that I meet is subject to my concern for their salvation. The grocer, crossing guard, the janitors at work, the older people walking so slowly, the kids speeding by on their bikes, the news anchor, the people who serve me my McDonald's breakfast every morning, celebrities who waste their lives and the lives of those infatuated with them, the Pittsburgh Penguin, the person who sings the songs I at times sing along with in the car, the mailman and the numerous people in news reports who have suffered some sort of tragedy that put them in the news. At work I'll sit and laugh with others over the amusing little things that we all share...all the while knowing that this is a human soul that will one day stand before a God of perfect love but also a God of perfect justice who has clearly told us that we must be born again...born from above and look to His Son ,who was lifted up on a Cross, for our salvation. To me, another remarkable thing that God has blessed us with is that we can retain our personalities in our new faith. Now I don't mean that if we are cantankerous we can remain so without rebuke but that if we are quiet and introspective we can remain so and if we are outgoing we can still be very outgoing. All of our different personalities are needed and ultimately form a more beautiful mosaic, a symphony. There were times in history past where that first view could be enjoyed without the ominous signs of the second...and there were times when the second view called for extreme vigilance in our daily lives. You would agree with this, would you not, as you consider world wars, plagues and famines? My position is that we are now in one of those times. As for the third view, the times really do not matter for every Christian that has ever lived has been on a pilgrimage through a world we truly live in but if we are of that world it will surely consume us. I am 59 years old but can remember my 4th birthday party. Forty years ago today, I joined the United States Army at the Federal Building in Pittsburgh! Time passes quickly and in itself is a great mystery except in that it will never stop in its present form until we experience the vista of eternity. I am thankful for these views that I have for they are reassuring. That's right...reassuring in that if it is clear enough to see the dangers then it is also clear enough to see the one that will see us through them. With great trepidation comes a knowledge of one who is greater! With the tears of a fallen world comes the joy in knowing Him who has overcome!

Thursday.....Politics.....Informed Citizenry

Knock on the door
John Smith: Hello! My name is John Smith and I am running for Senator.
Citizen: Nice too meet you.
John Smith: Are you tired of higher and higher taxes?
Citizen: Yes!
John Smith: Are you for a strong national defense?
Citizen: Yes.
John Smith: Do you think that families are our most important asset?
Citizen: Yes.
John Smith: Well so do I and I would appreciate your vote this November!
Citizen: Oh, I'm sorry. You must be looking for the village idiot. He lives four houses up, but if you would like to have an adult conversation some day...please stop back.



The outside of the envelope typically says something like Important! We must stop (you put in the issue.) Inside might be ten very challenging questions such as Do you want Hugo Chavez teaching your children? Next there will be a block to check if we want to join the fight, and finally you will have four choices of giving $25, $50, $75 or $100.



I read recently where someone asked Yogi Berra if he thought that Joe DiMaggio marrying Marilyn Monroe was a good thing. He answered I don't know if it's a good thing or not but it sure beats rooming with Phil Rizzuto. I get the point but as far as having a conversation, I'll take the Yankee shortstop



John Smith: Hello Ms. Monroe. My name is John Smith and I'm running for Senator.
Marilyn: Oh! Would you get to wear one of those cute black gowns?
John Smith: No, Supreme Court Justices wear those. Are you tired of higher and higher taxes?
Marilyn: I don't know. I've never been any higher in Texas than Houston?
John Smith: Er...Are you for a strong national defense?
Marilyn: Okay!
John Smith: Do you think that families are our most important asset"
Marilyn: Thank-you!
John Smith: What?
Marilyn: Huh?

Thomas Jefferson: An informed citizenry is the only true repository of the public will.

Wednesday.....Culture..... Mr. Smith (Wilson) Goes To Washington

Walter Cronkite was known for decades as the most trusted man in America. He admitted to bias at times and was probably just plain wrong many more times but I don't have a problem with that appellation applied to him by others when the CBS Evening News was his pulpit. Assuming that America recovers to a certain extent, and that is no sure thing, it may very well be that Congressman Joe Wilson from South Carolina of you lie fame may become the next most trusted man. Please let me explain. Are you aware that major movements in the past and present have actually contained instructions to lie, for it is excused because it are either doing God's will or merely enabling its glorious fate? Naming these movements isn't necessary for the issue here is that deception has been acceptable, even commanded at times. Considering the bailouts, health care, military budget cuts explained as strategic, Bill Ayers et al, the concealed birth certificate, school records, and Hillary's thesis on Saul Alinsky, Honduras, cabinet appointments, czars, endorsements from murderous dictators and oh...ACORN, is it any wonder that at least one legislator spoke out in in that august and venerable body? If in the future, we see our past 20 years in a clearer light, Joe Wilson may be seen as John Hancock was in sprawling his signature across the Declaration of Independence. As for the racist issue? There is another stratagem that has proven its worth in movements over the centuries and that is saying just the opposite of the truth, thus by its sheer absurdity, actually making points in a society not discerning enough to examine the claims. As for me...my time this past election was spent in pushing Condoleezza Rice as the vice-presidential nominee. If Republicans regain the Oval Office, I want to see Thomas Sowell directing the future of our economy. Are there racists in the Republican Party? Absolutely....probably about the same number that are in the Democratic Party but using them to cloud an issue is outrageous. I mentioned in a previous blog that if there is one thing good about Barack Obama's win, it is in the eyes of Black children and their parents. Am I imagining this? I don't know for sure, but in restaurants, on the sidewalks, in malls, on friends and strangers, I have seen a wonderful and marvelous look of pride and fulfillment on their faces. This has effected me so much that, at times, I was almost glad of the election result. The downside is that the candidate that brought this on has an ideology that is in direct conflict with 233 years of American history. The onus right now is on Democratic legislators and senators to see fully what has transpired and why, and themselves question the integrity of their party leaders.

Monday.....Miscellaneous.....Thoughts of a Ploughboy

I just finished reading an interesting book that I recommend, particularly to those with young children. The book is Mark Bauerlein's The Dumbest Generation, How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future. I want to give one blurb also, from Harold Bloom, An urgent and pragmatic book on the very dark topic of the virtual end of reading among the young. Summarizing the book at the beginning, Mr. Bauerlein writes Most young Americans possess little of the knowledge that makes for an informed citizen, and too few of them master the skills needed to negotiate an information-heavy, communication-based society and economy. Statistics abound throughout the book, both from those that warn that the screen time (TV, computers and other electronic screens) that American youth put in is producing a generation that will be unprepared to sustain America's intellectual future; and from the other side, those that hype these devices as beneficial to a multi-tasking society. One expert goes so far as to say The digital revolution is far more significant than the invention of writing or even of printing. So you get both opinions to consider, as vsionary rhetoric is supplied throughout as are reports from colleges and universities that more students are matriculating who are not prepared to take credit-bearing entry-level college course with a reasonable chance of succeeding in those courses. The series of topics range from science to the arts (high and low.) It should be no surprise where I stand on this for I have broached this topic before, particularly through Arthur W. Hunt's book The Vanishing Word and Neil Postman's Amusing Oursleves To Death. Some of the conclusions that the author comes to are; that we process information from computer screens differently than through books, information coming from the screen demands a fast moving-skimming of the material, and that the reading of necessary, quality literature and history that strengthens discernment of the mind , is disappearing. Time Magazine's Person of the Year for 2006 was...ready for this?...You. I spent my college career enjoying the amenities that universities spend so much time supplying us with, but my second trip to the land of academia, at 50 years old, was a much more serious endeavor, and although it didn't reward me monetarily, it did give me first hand knowledge of what education is all about. So I disagree with Mr. Bauerlein on this point, the unused mind is not necessarily disabled for life. I spent my youth laughing at comedians such a Woody Allen and you may remember a scene from Sleeper when Woody wakes up in the future and stumbles upon a dust covered VW bug in a cave...and it starts right up. Even if the author's contention is sound, my advice remains don't give up...never give in...press on! The book concludes with Mark Bauerlein's commentary, extended, interesting and thought provoking, on the importance of our traditions, history and intellectual inheritance. I could not agree more. Another point that I do not concur with, and I have read this concept before in other authors, is the inference that thinking itself is the goal. I tend to lean towards the necessity of the inclusion of truth and the words of William Tyndale, martyred for translating and printing the bible in Henry VIII's England, who when confronted by the vain knowledge of a cleric who opposed him said that If God spare my life, before very long I shall cause a ploughboy to know the scriptures better than you do.

Fri/Sat/Sun.....A Day To Remember

         The headline of today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is A Night To Remember. I saw the headline at work as I was passing a table and stopped in my tracks. To someone my age, the words a night to remember might very well bring to mind Walter Lord's classic book of the same title on the sinking of the Titanic and also the 1958 film made on the book (the best of the films on the White Star Line ship disaster, in my opinion anyway.) This was the Post's intention as the sub-headline read The bands play on and the Steelers sink Titans in overtime (a reference to the ship's band playing as it took its final dive.).
         No, it wasn't the Titanic making front page news 97 years later, this night to remember was the season opening victory of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Beneath the headline was a panoramic picture of Heinz Field with 65,000 plus people, just about all dressed in black and gold. Somewhere in one of my earlier blogs, I talked about that date, April 14th 1912, when the Titanic went down on its maiden voyage, the biggest ocean liner in the world and hyped by some as unsinkable. The world focused, even with limited media of the day, on this catastrophe that cost 1517 lives. Within 27 and one half years, Great Britain would experience world war, a great depression and the beginnings of a second world war where its cities would be bombed mercilessly. It had gone from proud jubilation on the Belfast docks to near oblivion in a few short decades.
         The 1986 Challenger explosion had always seemed to me, more than the terrible disaster, than even it was. Much of America looked at that craft, and all of America saw it on tape, lifting higher and higher, a diverse crew including a school teacher, epitomizing America's great hopes. Five years later we were forced into a war in the desert, we were experiencing increased terrorist attacks ultimately leading to what happened 8 years ago today in New York City, Washington D. C. and Western Pennsylvania! Much of our nation turned on its president who steadfastly defended it. His opposition party, hopefully inadvertently, motivated our enemies and later declared our effort a defeat, and now we have mortgaged our children's future, are pursuing socialism and blithely weakening our national defense and position in this world.
         I saw the double reference in today's paper but could not appreciate it. Pittsburgh Steeler football in this city can cloud even the most grave issues for much of the year. I have absolutely no room to cast stones for I rushed downtown after previous Super Bowl wins and spent twice as much time on Pitt football. No, I can't condemn, and if I did it should most certainly start with me, but I can lament. From my perspective, this actually gets worse. This particular blog goes from America to the War On Terror to Christianity. Nine out of ten readers, that is if I have ten readers, will disagree with me for it is an archaic belief even though it was once a foundation of Christianity. God rested on the seventh day. He wasn't tired, He was giving us a picture of His plan for us...we have six days to pursue everything that is good and necessary, joyous and strenuous but one day out of seven was given to us, to worship Him, in fact it was commanded of us, for our benefit. I did not always see it this way but was convinced by reason, the witness of the church past and a remnant today, and most importantly by God's breathed Word to us.
         In this world of today, it is near impossible to persuade even Christians that the Lord's Day is to be set apart (really set apart, for the most imaginatively fun ways to set apart a day can be constructed.) So... seeing that front page today, on September 11th, celebrating the people as they exalt a football team as our enemies continue to plan against us, was disconcerting. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gave half of its front page to the picture and the article. The only reference to 9/11, in the front section that I have with me, that changed the fortunes of America, was the date of the paper and an On this day in the Almanac reference. Yet it is truly a day to remember. We should never want our failures, our defeats, and most importantly our sin against God, too far from us, for they should keep us humble, keep us watchful, and keep us thankful for a God who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Thursday.....Politics.....I'd Rather Read The Book

The issue of the day is the Congressman from South Carolina who called the President of the United States a liar. The issue is not whether or not the statement made was a lie but rather the issue was in the calling, the ignoring decorum. Actually, I'll go a step further. The real issue was in not permitting the long accepted protocol of letting an opponent make his presentation, not using the regular tools of argument, but using the art of presentation itself complete with any stage technique, dramatization or psychological mechanism available. Robert Bork was one of the most capable Supreme Court nominees ever to appear before the Senate. Senator Edward Kennedy, in his presentation to the Senate made the charge that Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government and the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is--and is often the only--protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy. When meeting Judge Bork afterwards in a hallway, Senator Kennedy told him, Nothing personal, inferring that it was just a presentation. Whether it is Barack Obama or John McCain, George W. Bush or John Kerry, our national election campaigns and legislative productions give choreographed presentations to a public that has come to expect or demand no more than that. Last night the Congressman did the unthinkable, he interrupted the presentation. Right in the middle of the play, someone from the audience shouted out. The audacity of it all! The authors and director worked hard, this was a Carnegie Hall moment spoiled by riffraff who could not appreciate art. The health care debate, or any of the other prodigiously important issues that will be run by the American public, one after another, in the next few months will, if we do not take advantage of this situation, be settled by presentations and not legitimate debate. So how do we take advantage of the situation? We tackle this bull coming at us by the horns by saying You are giving us a society transforming piece of legislation and expect us to agree to it while the only evidence you offer is an outline, an introduction and a speech. You want to rush this through although you yourself would not purchase a cellphone contract without examining the small print. We want to see every page of the contract before we sign it. We want to be able to ask every question that comes to our mind before you collect your commission. You may have sold the idea to one spouse but not the other. Legislation of this importance needs vetted by every sector of America and in this "age of earmarks" we need to know every group or entity that will profit from it. Constitutional amendments were designed to be a slow process to protect the integrity of the Constitution and likewise, this issue deserves far more than the time allotted for normal legislation. This month of September is scheduled to be one presentation after another and if we are wise, we will say Enough of the screenplay, we've seen it before. We want the book, unabridged, complete with references and bibliography, and we'll write our review after we have finished it and no sooner.

Sunday.....Christianity.....Sunday School

I had mentioned a couple times last week how I thought it was important for men to teach their children about the Christian faith. I saw a little bit of a ministry program the other evening on our local Christian television station and the topic might have been called, The responsibility of men in teaching their families. The minister quoted Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 6, 7 in And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, but then he held up his bible and pointed to it saying but not from this. His point, I take it, was that the actions of the father would teach the children who watch him ever so closely. Most certainly, the actions of fathers are important but the doctrines of God are preeminent. The passage quoted is preceded by verse 4 which in which God says Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. The New Geneva Study Bible note on this verse says The Hebrew expresses totality. For this reason the New Testament sometimes renders it with "mind and strength." Sunday Schools were started in 18th century England, primarily to bring poor children from the city who received no Christian teaching in the home, into the church. Have we turned that into giving Christian men a pass in teaching their own children? Today, Mrs Smith teaches our very young children, Mrs. Jones teaches the middle school children and Mr. and Mrs. Baker teach our high school aged youth. We ourselves pick a Sunday School class that seems interesting. Sunday School teachers of our youth are generally the most loving and caring of people and we need their efforts today, but, we cannot provide the congregation with a perpetual orientation, for we should be producing teachers, not tenuring students. When I was a new believer, I needed instruction. The pulpit provided some and Sunday School a little bit more, I therefore relied on cassette tapes and books. Our son was about eight years old when I finally knew enough myself to teach him, and even then I neglected simple catechizing. I continued to utilize cassettes quite often because the teachers (R. C. Sproul and others.) were more than exemplary. So what is a parent who is a new Christian supposed to do? Ultimately it is learn first and then teach what you have learned, and encourage the elders to teach us, for Deuteronomy also says in chapter 32 verse 7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations. Ask you father and he will show you; your elders and they will tell you. I'm thankful for this faithful cadre of Sunday School teachers and also remember how Paul emphatically wrote Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, and will rejoice, but I would also like to see Sunday School classes called Teaching fathers how and what to teach their children.

Friday.....America.....Battle Of The Books

One would not have to read very far back into these blogs to see that I believe that America's only hope is in a humbling of itself before God and a general awakening should God bring it about. You would also see that I feel that we have a lot of work to do in the temporal realm. A fundamental change has taken place over the last few decades in Americans perception of their own country. It didn't start in the 1960s but students on our campuses were protesting the war in Vietnam, waving the flag of our enemy and chanting Ho Chi Minh. We did have the bicentennial in 1976 but the decade was not a patriotic one as we saw the ignominious end to the Vietnam War, and Nixon's resignation. Time Magazine didn't help with its cover proclaiming Is God Dead?. We rallied around Ronald Reagan in the 80s but Ayn Rand came in on his coattails. The American effort in the first Iraq War was almost flawless but when it came to electing a president, we held up our pocketbooks and chose the Gordon Gekko of politics in Bill Clinton. I knew that we were in trouble when Al Gore was named as his running mate. Tipper had written a best selling book Raising PG Kids In An X-Rated Society, which was very popular in Christian circles and we did not have the discernment to see through this. The 1994 congregational elections were another surge in the right direction but short lived. Terrorism was flexing its muscles but it was essentially too late when George Bush took office. Meanwhile, a global mentality in economics established itself and has since taken on powers that only governments previously had. The economies are so intertwined that you could not protect or isolate your own economy if you wanted to. I have dual citizenship, one in this world mediated through the United States of America, and the other in Christ's kingdom which dictates the limits of my American citizenship. I will not forget the sacrifices of 233 years. I will not discard a constitution that gave me 59 years of liberty and the freedom to search for truth, accept and proclaim it to others. I will not forget how totalitarianism kills the body and socialism destroys the mind. I won't worship the word patriotism, nor will I distort it and I will not let the megalomaniac manipulators of culture give me a new, convoluted definition of diversity. America wrote the book on it! It took well over a century but every ethnic group that came here took the flag of their birth country down and sewed a beautiful configuration of stars and stripes on their sleeve. O.K., a lot of pious words here, you want at least one tangible answer to our problems....here it is...READ!!! I'll give you an exercise that you may want to try. Search the Internet, it won't take long to find the three most recommended books supporting the politics of today's liberal establishment. Purchase or borrow them and read them carefully. You will enjoy them and even tend to agree with their arguments. Then...get the three books that I have recommended on a number of occasions, those being Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism, Mark Levin's Liberty and Tyranny and Senator Jim DeMint's Saving Freedom. I am confident that you will be floored in reading them. You will be angry at yourself for not being able to see these things before, and you may just become a fanatic because you will realize how the future of those whom you love is in jeopardy. How do I know that this will be your conclusion?It's because the written word gives information and in an honest search for truth, falsehoods become exposed and truth is discerned.