In OU News...

Two stories caught my attention from the OU Daily

First: The Women's Outreach Center (oh what a GREAT use of tax-payer dollars) is apparently sponosoring oral HIV screenings. According to the article, all are excited that the numbers of those receiving the testing is up. Call me crazy, but I'm just a little bit concerned and in no way excited about this fact. I get excited if very few people come in to get screened for a deadly, easily transmitted virus that is spread through unprotected sex. Ya gotta love the Women's (or is it womyns?) Outreach Center...political liberalism at its finest! One can't help but wonder what would happen if a Men's Outreach Center was established.

A second story is much more positive. This story talks about alternatives to partying on Thursday nights, and the grand ole BSU is mentioned. Good to see that. The other altnernative discussed was Lifestream. Interestingly, a girl who goes to Lifestream (well, I assume she goes there) stated that she can't always go to worship on Sunday because “I might sleep in or be busy with school” so Thursday is her worship service. *Cringe* Not that I'm coming down on this girl...I'm not...but at least come up with a better excuse for missing church than sleeping! Anyway, good to see the positive pub for the LBSU.

Say It Ain't So!

When I first saw this headline, I thought it was satire...surely it was from the Onion. Unfortunately it is true. FEMA plans to reimburse faith groups for aid given during Hurricane Katrina. I hope these faith groups do not accept. Thankfully, Southern Baptists have already rejected the offer. I love how the president of the SBC NAMB puts it, "volunteer labor is just that: volunteer, we would never ask the government to pay for it." That's how it should be. Can you imagine Jesus feeding the five thousand and then looking to Rome to foot the bill? Churches give because that's what Christ would have us do, not because they expect something in return. I believe that accepting a reimbursement is contrary to the Christian teachings on giving. God loves a cheerful giver not one who gives begrudgingly or under compulsion (2 Cor 9:7). Churches ought not be dependent on the government, and accepting this reimbursement is just one step closer to that becoming a reality. No one ever said serving was easy.

Logistical Nightmare

What happens when 1.8 million people flee a city? Chaos. And that's exactly what happened in Houston last Thursday. Hearing the stories of 100 mile long traffic jams and what are normally 8 hour trips turning into 28 hours trips is astounding. Now these people must come back. Ouch! I'm sure the traffic jams will be just as bad. One thing was learned out of this evacuation, America has a long way to go in terms of having a perfect emergency response system. But, pretty good is not too bad. And I would say the emergency procedures were pretty good. After all, had Rita hit Houston, nearly all of the residents would have been safe. Good job!

Forgive Us Our Debts

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached an agreement this weekend to forgive billions of dollars of debt for poor countries. Now it is up to the World Bank to approve this. Suppposedly, this debt forgiveness will allow those poor countries to concentrate on infrastructure improvements and other spending to improve their economies rather than paying back their debt. While I'm no economics expert, this does seem like a good thing. However, I wonder, will these poor countries actually follow through on their obligation? Many of these countries are governed by corrupt dictatorships. Are these dictators going to build their countries or pad their palaces? My hope and prayer is they will help their citizens so that the poverty that is so rampant will be seriously wounded. Only time will tell.

Big Bad Rita

Praying that my friends in Houston and my family in Texas City are kept safe from this beast.

Evening By Evening

When I get home from work, more often than not, the last thing on my mind is communing with the Creator. Spurgeon sets me straight:

"When the noise and turmoil of the day are over, it is sweet to commune with God. The cool and calm of evening agree most delightfully with prayer and praise. Each evening it would be well to traverse the boundaries of the day and take note of all that it has brought and all that it has seen.

"It is dangerous to fall asleep before the head is leaned on Jesus' bosom. When divine love puts its finger on weary eyelids, it is brave sleeping; but so that the Lord's beloeved may have such sleep given to him, it is necessary that he should make a near approach to the throne and unburden his soul before the great Preserver of men.

"He surely never prays at all who does not end the day as all men wish to end their lives--in prayer."

Morning and Evening, Charles Spurgeon

Male Leadership?

This is not so much a post defending male leadership, as one that wonders where it's at. I'm wondering where the male leadership is in the FCA at my little brother's high school. I was home for a few brief moments this weekend, and while there, I noticed that all five of the office holding positions in FCA were held by girls. Now, I'm not saying these girls aren't capable leaders. In fact, I know that at least two of them are. However, this makes the second year (perhaps third) of all female leadership. I'm wondering why the guys are not rejecting passivity, accepting responsibility, leading courageously, and expecting God's greater reward. Heck, I'd settle for them just rejecting passivity. I'm wondering what this says about these young men with regards to their future spiritual leadership. The class officers in my brother's class are predominately male (the same goes for the other classes). I wonder if this is a sign indicating that the guys view spiritual leadership as more of a girl thing. Whatever the case, I do hope there is a change with more of these young men stepping up to the leadership plate. And just for background, this is a very small community and school, average class size is 15.

Had To Pass On

Must pass on these Fresh Words from John Piper: Was Katrina Intelligent Design? (A quality read)

Also, I listened to "Surrendering Your Rights" by J. Oswald Sanders a few weeks ago. It was absolutely convicting, challenging, and insightful. Worth a listen.

I Still Believe

Even with the disappointing loss to UCLA this afternoon, my confidence in the Sooners is up. It appears like the team is beginning to click. Bomar had a really good game (compared to last week), the defense was hitting hard, and the secondary showed some improvement. If you take away the foolish turnovers, we would have beat the Bruins. Now with a week off, we'll have time to continue to work on those critical areas, hopefully showing improvement. Thus, I am optimistic going into Big 12 play. I think Bomar will only continue to gain confidence, and if we could beef up our line and get our snapper to give the QB some decent snaps, look out. Bottom line: even with the loss, I don't look at the rest of the season with as much hopelessness as I did last week. Besides, nothing can be worse than 1997, right?

Bravo Tom!

My Senator, Tom Coburn, is doing a fine job representing Oklahoma. He is definitely a deficit-hawk--fighting against deficit spending. Coburn states, "I don't believe that everything that should happen in Louisiana should be paid for by the rest of the country. I believe there are certain responsibilities that are due the people of Louisiana." I think he makes a great point. The Gulf Coast does need federal help, and the federal government will need to dig deep to provide that help. But those states affected must also take responsibility for the price tag. Originally designed as a republic with a weak-federal government, America must remain true to its roots. The framers believed that the best form of government was not the strong centralized federal governments of Europe, but rather one of limited federal government with stronger states.

As for the federal spending, I do hope that Congress will not increase the deficit to pay for this disaster. Unfortunately it looks like they will. What ought to happen is Congress ought to cut the billions in unncessary spending. The pork and other wasteful spending must be eliminated. Taxes probably don't have to be increased, if the Congress would act responsibly and cut wasteful spending. Maybe with the leadership of Sen. Coburn, this will happen. Maybe...

Happy Start of National Hispanic Month

I don't know whether it is just a SSA-wide celebration or really a "national" celebration, but today is the start of National Hispanic Month. We celebrated at the office with an awesome Mexican potluck. Your Social Security Administration, committed to diversity!

Meanwhile...

As a result of poverty, 30,000 children under five died today.

Thoughts On The Morning

After a bit of an absence, I'm back to blogging.

It's so important to spend time with the Lord each day. Here are some select quotes from Spurgeon on the importance of morning devotions:

"[M]orning devotions have always been dear to enlightened, heaven-loving souls, and it has been their practice never to see the face of dawn until they have first seen the face of God.

"Morning devotions anchor the soul, so that it will not very readily drift far away from God during the day. They perfume the heart so that it smells fragrant with piety until nightfall; they hold up the soul's garments so that it is less apt to stumble; they feed all their power so that the soul is not permitted to faint.

"The morning is the gate of the day and should be well-guarded with prayer. He who rushes from his bed to his business and does not wait to worship is as foolish as if he had not put on his clothes or washed his face. He is as unwise as one who dashes into battle without being armed. Let us bathe in the softly flowing river of communion with God before the heat of the wilderness and the burden of the way begin to oppress us."
Morning and Evening, Charles Spurgeon

September 11, 2001

Good Church

Christianity Today has a great "parable" about one Houston church's response to Hurricane Katrina. Though the government bureaucracy may be creeky, the church can rise up with compassion and help those in need! It's also great to hear of good brothers and sisters from another church in Houston using their weekends to help evacuees, even if it means waking at 2am. Thanks guys!

Keen Wisdom From Kanye

So Kanye West thinks President Bush doesn't care about black people. Let me think about that. What about the billions of dollars sent to Africa? What about the troops sent to Liberia to quell the violence? President Bush has spoken to the NAACP every year of his presidency and has sought to court the black vote. His first Secretary of Education, Rod Paige, is black. His two Secretary's of State, Colin Powell and Condi Rice, are black. Bush travelled to New Orleans and there are video and pictures of Bush visiting black families and hugging and comforting them. Those are just a few specifics I can think of off the top of my head...I'm sure there are more. Kanye ought to stick to rappin' and not speak so ignorantly about matters he obviously knows nothing about.

Social Breakdown

Don't have much time, but I did want to comment on what experts say is a social breakdown into predatory violence in New Orleans. According to a source quoted by Drudge, experts are noting signs of complete social breakdown in the city due to the living conditions and general environment of New Orleans. There are also reports of people being beaten and raped inside the Superdome. It is absolutely heart breaking to read the stories coming out of New Orleans. It is great to see the generosity of Texans and the city of Houston for welcoming New Orleansrefugees into the Astrodome. It's time for some serious, heavy-handed government action to get this situation under control.