Author Archives: MzEllen, posted from my iPad

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Will there be a backlash from the more conservative parts of the African-American community, since President Obama came out in support of gay "marriage" - and since the DNC officially added gay "marriage" to its platform?

It's nice to think so, but I think, in the end, African-Americans will rally around the skin color.

The issue is heating up, and heating up quickly.

The "tolerant left" simply cannot tolerate that Christians have a moral code that differs from theirs and that Christians may dare to want to live by that code.

Chick-fil-a. Nuff said.

Now, there's Lakewood, CO

Threats of boycotts, death threats, petitions...etc.

Death threats. Really? because of a cake? Grow up.

From another paper:

All we wanted was a cake. We didn't want him to put on a rainbow shirt and march in the gay pride parade. This is me standing up for my community's rights

This is them, standing up for their "right" to force Christians to violate their conscience.

This wasn't a plain old wedding cake...oh, no.

the couple was "hoping to get a rainbow-layered cake with teal and red frosting"

rainbow - hmmm...stand for something? Like being gay? And then getting all pissy when the Christians don't roll over and play dead?

We'll be seeing mre.

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[rating=1]"Not So Easily Washed Away"

the book says that the story is true, but it reads like made-up erotica...but maybe not. The teller of the story swings from anger to desperation, from threats to pleas.

A lot of it sounds as if it cannot be. The parts before she comes to American...maybe. There are many reports that come out of Arab parts of the world that make this story ring true.

The part where she is here? I hope these things cannot happen, but I know that they do.

The book is not well written, the writing is shallow and the characters unreal. There is a second book, but I most likely will not read it.

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[rating=0]I don't like to review books that I haven't finished, but this one I just can't get through. (yes, it got zero stars)

It's based on the "twelve step program" of AA, which leans heavily on Scripture.

The program itself may be great and I know people who have gotten their lives together with the help of AA. But this book (I'm not going back) is also heavily laced with

1. Arminianism
2. Finneyism
3. "Sarah Calling" (another review of a book that I didn't get through)

I got more than 2/3 done, but then it started with "the most important part of prayer is the listening."

I put it back in the cloud...

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[rating=4]"Mercury Rises" is a fun sort of tale of angels and demons and humans who are (mostly) acting with a piece of information while chasing around the world trying to stop (or start) the apocalypse.

Fiction is "mind candy" for me most of the time - meant to be fun and tasty without a whole lot of substance. This fits that bill.

Well written, characters were well defined (with some books it's hard to keep track and this book was nice in that regard)

I'm planning on reading more in this series.

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I love religion. I know it's popular to parrot the "I hate religion" mantra these days, and I understand what those saying it are trying to say - they don't like it when people abuse religion for personal gain, whether that gain is financial, personal, or whether it just to make themselves feel better.

But to say "I hate religion" is an abuse of the word "religion," which is actually a pretty morally neutral word. To assign a neutral word a meaning that it was never intended to carry is an abuse of the word.

We don't want the political gay agenda to change the meaning of the word "marriage" - well, don't change the meaning of the word "religion." When somebody abuses it, reclaim it.

    - the service or worship of God (If you - generic, not specific "you" hate that, I'm not sure what to say)
    - the commitment or devotion to religious faith or devotion - again, I'm not sure why anyone would hate that.
    - a personal set or institutionalized system of religious beliefs, attitudes or practice. Our Christian beliefs that connect us with nearly 2,000 years of people of faith who have gone before us? Yeah...those

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I love these things that add up to: religion.

I am committed to, and devoted to, the service and worship of God - that is, my religious faith.

What spurred this post, is the book "Affirming the Apostles' Creed" by J.I.Packer. That institutionalized system of beliefs is best summed up in the "Apostles' Creed"

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. AMEN

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and can I hear another AMEN?

what part of this would any Christian hate?

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We had a very nice time at Joshua Tree, with a few new photos.

Tom's vision is stable, with an improvement in the results of the OCT (where they take a photo of the optic nerve.). Dr. Chicani said it's what they expected, and we don't go back for three months!

We borrowed a white cane for the airport - everybody we told said it's a good thing to help him navigate, and to help others identify Tom. The letter from the doctor also said that we can pre-board, so we won't have to fight for luggage space.

My pain is much worse, I'm blaming my eating today. The evidence is mounting that my pain is caused but diet, although I still want to nail down a diagnosis.