Public Schools and Free Speech - post 1

LOOK AT THE TEE SHIRT IN THIS LINK. It shows nothing but two pictures of a developing baby, followed by a blank panel. Underneath the pictures is "growing, growing, gone," with each word under each successive picture. It is an obvious pro-life message, with no graphic display of an aborted baby. Some California public school administrators, who apparently allow other messages on other tee shirts, forced a young student to remove hers. I guess some public school administrators think free speech is all right only if you have liberal political views. Otherwise, you are not entitled to free speech. At any rate, I'm glad this one is being fought in court and now has national coverage. Here is a partial quote:

Anna Amador has gone to court on behalf of her daughter, who she says was ordered by her principal to change her shirt on "National Pro-Life T-Shirt Day." The shirt the girl was wearing displays two graphic pictures of a fetus growing in the womb.

The incident occurred in April 2008 at McSwain Elementary School, a K-8 school in Merced, Calif. Amador alleges in her legal complaint that school Principal Terrie Rohrer, Assistant Principal C.W. Smith and office clerk Martha Hernandez mistreated her daughter and denied the girl her First Amendment rights when they ordered her to leave the cafeteria and change her shirt.

Governor Palin

Here's a blog entry on Sarah Palin

My thought is she's not going away, and she just freed herself to pursue a course of action where she will have much more of a voice for her views.

Jon and Kate - Divided by Eight?

Two of my daughters and I watched "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" tonight on The Learning Channel. I had never watched the show before, and was upset to learn the Gosselins are separating, although that was clearly the foregone conclusion going into tonight's episode.

Of course it took long enough for the show to come to the point, but Kate said Jon was very, very angry at her, but refuses to talk about his feelings. Jon said, to the interviewer, that he was too passive for too long.

Both of them said significant things, such as, "We bought this house for our kids." That they were going to be there for the children - that it was about the children. Everything was about their children, nothing was about their relationship as husband and wife.

Jon quit his job in order to be at home while Kate did more to promote the show. It appeared their lives revolved around being on camera for their family times, and that Jon resented not being more involved and the fact that Kate was so much in charge of matters.

I am going to pray for this family, and I encourage other Christians to do the same.

Tonight little peanut and middle daughter are staying up late, popping popcorn, and watching a dvd, just the two of them.

It's the longest day of the year. I stepped on the front porch around 10:30 PM and saw Leo, brave and bold, in the western part of the sky, with Arcturus overhead, almost. It was clear enough to see Corvus as it approached setting.

Late Day Father's Day Entry

Lessee, what have we been up to lately?

June 12 was our youngest daughter's 10th birthday. I planned a pool party, and prayed for good weather. Our middle daughter took youngest shopping at Build-a-Bear, then dropped her off at the pool after I had arrived. I took three of her friends from the neighborhood, a family in the neighborhood from our church who lives right around the corner from us brought her children, and Uncle Phil and Aunt Rosie came out, along with Aaron and Becky and their two boys. Also our oldest gal. Later on, our Chinese friend stopped by. My husband helped him check the oil in the new used car he bought, and added oil. I brought in cheese pizzas, raw veggies, cupcakes, and Rosie brought in bottled water. We had a nice pavilion all to ourselves, which was nice.

That was Friday. On Sunday night I helped substitute for my neighbor on the opening night of VBS at our church.

Monday, June 15, was our 24th anniversary. Our middle daughter mowed the yard for us and helped clean house, and later on she called from work, asking if she should ask to come home in case we wanted to go out. I thanked her, but told her our 10 year old could stay by herself for an hour, but that wouldn't be needed, because our neighbor took her to VBS, and we had a few hours to ourselves. So Jon and I went out to Applebees. As we don't go out very much at all, that was a huge treat. I appreciated my middle daughter's thoughtfulness very much.

Today, June 21, Father's Day, my husband got a Gerber knife as a present. Middle daughter bought it for him and left a nice note on the counter under it. I feel kind of funny every time I say "Gerber" before knife, because all I ever associated the name with was baby food. But they are real high quality knives, so I've heard.

And tonight - we are dealing with a private, ongoing situation in our family. Everybody has struggles, and we are not immune to them. Today's sermon was on Psalm 13. I'm glad of that, because David felt the way I often feel - abandoned by God. I'm glad the Psalm does not end that way. In spite of his feelings, David trusted in God bountiful dealings with him. Well, much later on in the evening, something someone said triggered a reaction from someone else in our family, and we will leave it at that for public consumption. But I insisted on going to talk to the person who had secluded "themselves," and pretty soon my husband, one of my children, and I were talking, and we had a very good talk about issues, and wound up praying. The two people who were at odds hugged each other, and one was able to share about some of "their" ongoing personal struggles. For this bit of communication, I am thankful. Thankful that we did not leave it at walking away from each other, and thankful that the struggle that one person is facing was talked about, with some tentative plans made to help overcome this problem.

"The Lamb that Was Slain"

THIS IS A GREAT POST, by Ron Henzel. It is pretty multi-faceted, discussing the Scriptural foundation of the teaching on the atonement, and the dawning of these truths in the mind of the author, and commentary on human beings in general.

One of my favorite lines was this one:

Here is a universal rule: when it comes to spiritual truth, people are naturally dense.

Susan Boyle - 2nd Place in BGT Finals

I will be in line to purchase your CDs, Susan. Great finish, and great job! Here's one woman in the United States of America who is so glad you didn't give up amid all the pressure that was on you!

Brian Abshire and Doug Phillips

VISION FORUM ARTICLE BY BRIAN ABSHIRE, JULY 15, 2005

American Christians saw the “height” of Christian activism as banning alcohol while at the same time affirming a woman’s right to vote. Both ideas were unmitigated disasters; God has not allowed the civil magistrate to outlaw wine and God does not allow women to vote (cf. 1 Tim 2:11ff).


DON VEINOT QUESTIONS VISION FORUM ON ABSHIRE'S STATEMENT, SEPTEMBER 20, 2007

In addition we raised the question of women voting. As we pointed out in our response to Dr. Abshire, in the paragraph immediately preceding the one we quoted we read, “God does not allow women to vote (cf. 1 Tim. 2:11 ff).” Aside from being unable to figure out how 1 Tim. 2:11 supports the claim, wouldn’t that mean that if a woman votes she is doing something that God presently (“does not” is a statement in the present tense) allow? If the assertion is true, then by voting she would be sinning. On the other hand, if she is not sinning than isn’t the assertion false?


[Sometime in 2008, Vision Forum removed the article from their website. What you read above is from an archive site. Then, Doug came out and said how he and Beall both voted in the November, 2008 elections. Very interesting, but we're not done yet.]


ABSHIRE'S ARTICLE REAPPEARS HERE AUGUST 28, 2008, WITH ONE SIGNIFICANT CHANGE

By the 20th century, American Christians saw the “height” of Christian activism as banning alcohol while at the same time affirming a woman’s right to vote. Both ideas were unmitigated disasters; God has not allowed the civil magistrate to outlaw wine and God never gives women the “right” to vote (cf. 1 Tim 2:11ff).

Interesting - and very intellectually dishonest - changing of wording there in that article. I have placed both articles side by side with each other, and so far, that is the only change I've noticed. Abshire and Vision Forum were called on that statement, and instead of answering, the original article has been altered, and the question has gone unanswered.

Susan Boyle in the Semi-Finals

Shaky start, but enjoyable overall performance. She made it to the finals. People are really pulling for her to win, I think, and for that I am glad. Her story has some parallels to Paul Potts' story, and the world just relates to this kind of thing and wants more of it. Paul Potts, btw, is scheduled to come out with a new CD soon. I plan on buying Susan's CD, and Paul's new one, too.

Psalm 131 - Good Words of Exhortation

Childlike Trust in the LORD:

A Song of Ascents, of David.

1 O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
2 Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
3 O Israel, hope in the LORD
From this time forth and forever.

Martin Luther: the Sacred Calling of Daily Life

In the previous blog thread, there was a brief discussion of the term "sacred calling." I decided to do a little seaching on the internet and found a wonderful article on Martin Luther's view on the work of everyday life -- in and out of the home. The following quotations are taken from THIS ARTICLE, but the whole thing is well worth the read. I have bolded what stood out to me at the time I read it:


Luther’s new understanding of “calling” came from his rediscovery of the Gospel. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ and not by doing good works for God. Good works have no role in gaining our salvation or in drawing us closer to God. Christ does it all. He graciously forgives our sins, gives us the faith to so believe. Through that faith God gives us life and salvation.

What then is the role of good works? If they count for nothing with respect to our salvation or drawing closer to God, why do them? Because our neighbor needs them. God doesn’t need our good works. All the monastic practices that Luther rejected – the religious exercises, buying indulgences, saying a thousand prayers, fasting – these don’t do anything for God. Worse yet, they keep people from doing useful things for the good of other people. Luther saw what the apostle Paul had been talking about. God saves us by faith in Christ and not by works, so that our works can be directed toward those who really need them – our neighbors.

And where do we serve our neighbors? We serve them in our “callings.” Luther removed “vocation” or “calling” from the religious realm where it applied only to the few and declared that ALL Christians already had “vocations” or “callings” right where they are:

“How is it possible that you are not called? You have always been in some state or station; you have always been a husband or a wife, or boy or girl, or servant… Are you a husband, and you think you have not enough to do in that sphere to govern your wife, children, domestics, and property so that all may be obedient to God and you do no one any harm? Yea, if you had five heads and ten hands, even then you would be too weak for your task, so that you would never dare to think of making a pilgrimage or doing any kind of saintly work.”

. . .

We are tempted to think of “vocation” or “calling” as pertaining only to occupations. Martin Luther called people’s occupations “vocations” or “callings” in opposition to monasticism’s downgrading of ordinary work. He made the point that ALL the Christian’s activities in the world can be places where we serve God, not just our occupations. We have sacred “callings” as we seek the common good in EVERY place we find ourselves. This includes being a spouse in marriage, a parent in a family, a student at school, a neighbor in a community, a citizen in the world. Listen to the value Luther gives to the “call” to be a father:

“Our natural reason takes a look at married life. It turns up its nose and says, ‘Alas, must I rock the baby, wash its diapers, make its bed, smell its stench, stay up all night with it, take care of it when it cries, heal its rashes and sores, and on top of that care for my wife, provide for her, labor at my trade, take care of this, take care of that, do this and do that, endure this and endure that, and whatever else of bitterness and drudgery married life involves.’

What then does the Christian faith say to this? It opens its eyes, looks upon these insignificant, distasteful, and despised duties in the Spirit, and is aware that they are adorned with divine approval as with the costliest gold and jewels. It says, ‘O God, because I am certain that thou has created me as a man and has from my body begotten this child, I also know for a certainty that it meets with thy perfect pleasure. I confess to thee that I am not worthy to rock the little babe or wash its diapers, or to be entrusted with the care of this child and its mother. How it is that I, without any merit, have come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy creature and thy most precious will?’

Now you tell me, when a father goes ahead and washes diapers or performs some other mean task for his child, and someone ridicules him as an effeminate fool – though the father is acting in the spirit just described and in Christian faith – my dear fellow you tell me, which of the two is most keenly ridiculing the other? God, with all his angels and creatures, is smiling – not because the father is washing diapers, but because he is doing so in Christian faith.”

Luther’s insight into “calling” and “vocation” erases then the distinction between “secular” and “sacred.”

Legalism Is a Real Killer

Someone wrote that subject line to me in an email once, and the words just stuck in my head. Mary's poem put me in mind of something I wrote several years back. The lure of rules is a snare. Not that rules don't have their place, but their place is NOT to help me to attain eternal life, or to make up for the sins I've committed.




My righteous deeds are but a trap.
They never can erase
My sin; these filthy rags just slap
The sacred scars of grace.


Completely filled with pride and self
I strive to make sin less,
But what I count as gain is pelf;
In bondage I regress.


On God alone I must depend;
All pride confess, forsake.
These hellish bonds my God must rend;
This legalism break.


Christ broke my bonds and set me free!
His work, not mine, I sing;
Whose pain and scars at Calvary
Accomplished everything.

Fixing Our Eyes On Jesus

I went to Rich Gelina's and Mary Fuller's blog today, and was blessed to read the last stanza of Cowper's hymn:

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter
And He will make it plain.

And I read this poem, written some years ago by Mary. Mary's testimony as to the occasion of this poem makes it much more poignant, so be sure to go to this link to read her story. If you want to leave a comment, do it over on the other blog, please.

Please take my focus, Lord, off me
And then direct it upon Thee.
Then as in thee I find relief,
So lift my eyes above my grief.
Change my view from fellow man,
To look upon Thy sovereign plan.
And as from "self" you set me free,
Lord, help me serve Thee faithfully.

Mary Fuller 1999

John Piper on . . . shhhh (s-e-x)

This link is a good read for thoughts on applying I Corinthians 7:3-5 in one's marriage.

Here is the passage in the NASB:

Let the husband fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

James McDonald's Ordination

Since some, including myself, have commented on this blog about the ordination of James McDonald, I thought it would be only fair to provide a link to their claims about things that have been said about them on the internet:

GO HERE TO READ THEIR TESTIMONY ON THIS MATTER.

John MacArthur on Brian McLaren

A friend of mine was reading Velvet Elvis, by Rob Bell, and we were discussing the Emergent Church. I was at her computer, and we wound up finding this, which I highly recommend.

John MacArthur, summing up Brian McLaren's statement:

"Isn't that a bizaare assumption? That Jesus came to tell us how to get to heaven?"

Exactly right, John MacArthur, and thank you for your remarks against the dangerous teachings of Brian McLaren.

He demolishes, biblically, McLaren's opening remark in less than two minutes. If that's all you have time for, great, but I encourage you to listen to all 10 minutes of this - it is well worth it. McArthur's remarks on McLaren's claim that Jesus' primary message is NOT on how to get to heaven, but to have a better life down here are well worth hearing.

Susan Boyle

I am so happy she got a chance to show the world what she could do. The audience was worse than the one for Paul Potts' debut to BGT, what with the nasty whistles and rolling eyes and cat calls. I'm glad Amanda Holden told the audience this was a wake-up call as to how we treat people.

WATCH THIS YOUTUBE OF THE LATEST BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT

And if you want to know where she got the courage to perform the way she did, watch the news clip in THIS LINK.

The second link also has some interesting articles, with some points well worth considering - about how we treat our fellow human beings.

More on Rick Warren and Prop 8

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE BLOG ENTRY AT NEW COVENANT LIVING

Someone claiming to be a spokesman for Warren made the following statement to Jack Brook's blog:

"When Dr. Warren told Larry King that he never campaigned for California's Proposition 8, he was referring to not participating in the official two-year organized advocacy effort specific to the ballot initiative in that state, based on his focus and leadership on other compassion issues. Because he's a pastor, not an activist, in response to inquiries from church members, he issued an email and video message to his congregation days before the election confirming where he and Saddleback Church stood on this issue."

[I replied to this with the following comment]


I'd like to respond to this, with what I see as the lesser problem first.

1) The chief difficulty with your explanation above is that what Warren did do still constitutes campaigning (the definition of the word as it relates to promoting candidates or ideas during elections):

Unless the following is a quotation Warren never made, it's more than informing only his own congregation where he and the leadership of Saddleback stood on the issue:

"So I urge you to support Proposition 8, and pass that word on. I’m going to be sending out a note to pastors on what I believe about this. But everybody knows what I believe about it. They heard me at the Civil Forum when I asked both Obama and McCain on their views."

So that's not campaigning? If Warren urged the membership at his church to support the measure, and to garner further support by "passing the word on," and if he communicated the same to other ministers, then that is campaigning.

You cannot take a particular accepted definition of the word "campaign," and then narrow it down to only mean a protracted two year effort where you are in some sort of leadership, or are some kind of mouthpiece, from the get go. If Warren urged people to support Proposition 8, and urged them to pass the word on, then that, in itself, is what campaigning is all about. That quotation above was more than a personal endorsement.

Here is a link for everyone's edification.


2) I find what is below much more troublesome, however. I think the discrepancy is pretty clear here, but if not, the crucial words are in all caps:

"During the whole Proposition 8 thing, I never once went to a meeting, NEVER ONCE ISSUED A STATEMENT, NEVER -- NEVER ONCE EVEN GAVE AN ENDORSEMENT IN THE TWO YEARS PROP 8 WAS GOING."

But this is what he said, to hundreds, if not thousands, within the time frame of the two years, which wasn't over until after election day:

"So I urge you to support Proposition 8, and pass that word on. I’m going to be sending out a note to pastors on what I believe about this. But everybody knows what I believe about it. They heard me at the Civil Forum when I asked both Obama and McCain on their views."

Perhaps Warren only meant he didn't buy radio air time or TV time, or write an editorial to the newspaper to make a statement or endorsement. But that explanation is far more bogus than your explanation of why he claimed he didn't campaign, on account of the categorical nature of his comment (ie - the multiple use of the word "never"). While I can be charitable and give him a pass for claiming he didn't campaign, I don't see how one can give him a pass for saying "never" above, three times, in respect to issuing statements and endorsements about this matter.

[PS - I'm rewriting this comment because the formatting in the first one got messed up, somehow, and want to add this thought - how could everybody know what he believed about Proposition 8 already, prior to his statement to his church, if he never once issued a statement or endorsement about it?]