Odds And Ends

This Brooks & Dunn song, Believe is excellent. You can watch the video here on launch.com. Just click "see all 14 matches" and enjoy!

Cindy Sheehan was arrested in the House gallery minutes before the State of the Union address for unlawful conduct.

Bush gave a good defense of his administration in his address.

And finally, Al Mohler has some good posts including this about the changing theology of God in America, and this concerning his thoughts on reading books.

Home, Home On The Range

There is a clash of cultures going on in the American West, and this has nothing to do with Brokeback Mountain. Humans and wildlife are facing growing pains as Americans continue to expand into the forested, mountainous regions of the country. Of course when people move in, they take the natural living spaces of the wildlife, and these creature must go somewhere...but where? Well that's the $25,o00 question. Any suggestions?

The article mentions the affluent Americans who are building in the area, and have not come to peace with their furry neighbors. Apparently all is fine and dandy so long as the animals don't do...well...animals things. Then the rich yuppies get upset. This reminds me of a situation in my home county. City dwellers with money are going out and building in the country...I can't blame them...Kingfisher County is gorgeous. However, they aren't real happy with the dirt roads, because it gets their cars dirty. So they've complained to the county commissioners. Of course the commissioners won't do anything because paving those many miles of roads costs money, and lots of it. I guess those city folk are just going to have to put up with a little mud on their tires!

Darfur

Al Mohler has a great commentary on the genocide in Darfur. Worth a read.
Also, New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof--who's a very good international journalist--has written extensively on the subject. Here's one example: Genocide in Slow Motion.

Bye, Bye Roe?

The South Dakota legislature will push a bill criminalizing abortion. It has a pretty good chance to pass, but opposition will be strong. What happens if it does pass? I would guess that most likely it would go to the courts--eventually heading to the Supremes. If it made it there, I think there's a shot at Roe v. Wade being overturned. Wishful thinking? Perhaps. But we can always pray.

Here's another story from the Washington Post about the anti-abortion protests in Washington yesterday.

With Alito likely to be confirmed by the full Senate, look out!

Politically Speaking

Why I'm A Conservative (not exhaustive):
1. Limited government is a good thing--just as many of the Founders believed.
2. Taxation should be limited
3. I care for the impoverished
4. Private institutions like churches and foundations are better able to care for the needs of the less fortunate.
5. I believe a market-based economy is a robust, strong economy.
6. Criminals ought to be punished and held accountable for their crimes.
7. Life is to be valued, and as such policies that support the destruction of life, should not be tolerated. Consequently: Abortion is wrong--abortion is murder. Euthanasia is wrong.
8. Education is the perogative of the local governments and not the federal government.
9. The Constitution does not support freedom from religion nor the separation of church and state.
10. The right to own guns is a Constitutionally protected right.
11. Throwing money at problems does not fix them.
12. Providing for the common defense, transportation systems, international aid, and other national infrastructures are the main duties of the federal government.
13. Freedom and democracy should be advanced throughout the world.
14. Rugged individualism built America, and it ought to be celebrated and encouraged. Any type of socialism/communism/"it takes a village" philosphies do not produce a strong nation.
15. God is the foundation upon which our society is based--He gave us inalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This should be recognized and celebrated in America.

I Wonder...

Do you know him?

42

42 days till Coldplay!!

A Little Yeast...

I read this interesting piece from one of my favorite political scientists, J. Budziszewski. It's titled What I Wrote In The Book of Life, and speaks about what allowing a little bit of sin or disobedience can do to one's faith. Enjoy.

Hermaphoriditic Polar Bears

Apparently, toxic gases carried from Europe and America have traveled via the ozone layer to Antartica and are causing polar bears to be born hermaphrodites. My question: how ought a Bible-believing Christian respond to the very real changes occurring in our environment due to reckless practices by we humans?

Piper and Cancer

Tonight I read that John Piper has prostate cancer. For those who have been touched by his ministry (whether agreeing completely with him or not), it would be good to pray for him. I share the letter he wrote to the Bethlehem congregation (may it encourage you) (HT: Reformissionary):

Tuesday,
January 3, 2006

Dear Bethlehem Family,

I hope this letter will encourage your prayer, strengthen your hope, and minister peace. I am writing with the blessing of the other elders to help you receive the news about my prostate cancer.

At my annual urological exam on Wednesday, December 21, the doctor felt an abnormality in the prostate and suggested a biopsy. He called the next day with the following facts: 1) cancer cells were found in two of the ten samples and the estimate is that perhaps 5% of the gland is affected; 2) my PSA count was 1.6, which is good (below 4 is normal); 3) the Gleason score is 6 (signaling that the cancer is not aggressive). These three facts incline the doctor to think that it is unlikely that the cancer has spread beyond the prostate, and that it is possible with successful treatment to be cancer-free.

Before going with Noël to consult in person with the doctor on December 29 about treatment options, I shared this news with the Bethlehem staff on Tuesday morning, December 27, and with the elders that evening. Both groups prayed over me for healing and for wisdom in the treatment choices that lie before us. These were sweet times before the throne of grace with much-loved colleagues.

All things considered, Noël and I believe that I should pursue the treatment called radical prostatectomy, which means the surgical removal of the prostate. We would ask you to pray that the surgery be completely successful in the removal of all cancer and freedom from possible side effects.

With the approval of the executive staff and elder leadership, we are planning surgery in early February. The recovery time is about three weeks before returning to a slow work pace, and six weeks to be back to all normal activities.

This news has, of course, been good for me. The most dangerous thing in the world is the sin of self-reliance and the stupor of worldliness. The news of cancer has a wonderfully blasting effect on both. I thank God for that. The times with Christ in these days have been unusually sweet.
For example, is there anything greater to hear and believe in the bottom of your heart than this: “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10)?

God has designed this trial for my good and for your good. You can see this in 2 Corinthians 1:9, “Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” And in 2 Corinthians 1:4-6, “He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God . . . If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation.”

So I am praying: “Lord, for your great glory, 1) don’t let me miss any of the sanctifying blessings that you have for me in this experience; 2) don’t let the church miss any of the sanctifying blessings that you have for us in this; 3) grant that the surgery be successful in removing cancer and sparing important nerves; 4) grant that this light and momentary trial would work to spread a passion for your supremacy for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ; 5) may Noël and all close to me be given great peace—and all of this through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen.” I hope God will lead you to pray in a similar way.

With deep confidence that

“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting.
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ."
1 Corinthians 15:54-57

Pastor John

With Sam Crabtree, Lead Pastor for Life Training
Kenny Stokes, Lead Pastor for Spreading
Tim Johnson, Chairman of the Council of Elders
Ross Anderson, MD, Bethlehem Elder

Caring People

I've not seen the ad, but apparently Southern Baptists are running this spot on TV. It's good, and the web site provides further information on Southern Baptists in addition to pointing people to Christ.

We Need More Wildfires

Nothing can be more riveting than wildfire/forest policy (okay, so I'm joking...). But the recent spate of wildfires over drought stricken Oklahoma and Texas (today the fire threat is again "extreme"), I've thought once-again about fire policy. Each year, the western United States is faced with forest and wildfire problems. The reason: that's how God designed the process of resource renewal to work--dead undergrowth must be regularly burned away. Before urban sprawl turned America's forests into bustling neighborhoods, the undergrowth was removed with ease. Lightning would strike, a tree would burn, hundreds of acres would be cleansed, and new growth would thrive. Today, this natural process is not allowed to occur because homes and towns would be burned. If a fire is burning, the forest service works to put the fire out causing no dead growth to remain. Of course, this creates a problem. America's forests and grasslands are filled with the decades of dead trees and grass. Consequently, we see the devastating fires that have occurred regularly for decades.

America needs to develop an aggressive controlled burn and logging program to ensure that naturally occurring forest fires are not fueled by tons of undergrowth creating extreme forest fires. If we don't want naturally occurring fires to burn, then we must make certain that we exercise strategic controlled burns. I don't mean to imply that we don't have controlled burns. We do. The key is to ramp up the burns...making sure we are burning more and more acres. Logging will help thin the overgrown forests. Despite what environmentalists say, the our forests are overgrown due to government restriction on logging and the effort to stop forest fires. Are you beginning to see the problem? We are not allowing healthy fires to occur and we can't compensate for that by logging because the enviros won't let us. Therefore, our forests are overgrown and unhealthy. This aggressive policy will not wipe out fire season, and homes will still be burned. However, it will help lessen the extent of the devastation. You may ask, "if this will help lessen the devastation, why don't we do?" The answer is simple, money and special interests.

It's not as if America doesn't have the money. In fact, we do. The problem is that Congress has other priorites (some good, some not so good). While this is a costly program, it is one that can be funded. The other problem are the special interest groups, particularly the environmentalists. The greenies protest this agressive policy. They don't want species endangered and trees burned. This type of thinking is not healthy. Contrary to what the left will tell you, they (not the right) are responsible for damaging the environment. We must begin exercising more controlled burns and heavier logging to thin our forests and get rid of dead undergrowth. THAT is earth-friendly policy.