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From Glenn Sacks

Here's a test.

Listen to the facts of this case.  Randy and Melissa Pratt of Pennsylvania had about $1,700 in their bank account.  One day they woke up and there was $170,000 in the same account - bank error in their favor.  So they did what any reasonable couple would do - took the money and went to Florida.  (If you said that they're incredibly stupid, you get extra credit.)  Randy said he considered the money a gift from God.

So pretty soon the law catches up with them and arrests them.  One of them remains in jail subject to $100,000 bail; the other was released from jail with no bail.

Here's your test question:  which one got the $100,000 bail and which got out of jail free?

Here's the story (MSNBC, 1/22/09).

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I am sometimes a bit shaky when I talk to people with cancer.  I can relate to the trials their families are dealing with, but when they ask how my experience with cancer turned out...

I'm a widow, it didn't end well.

I know a lot about working doctors' offices, I know about the medi-port, I know about the pumps that administer chemo as if it were an insulin pump.  I know about the huge radiation machines.  I know about talking to your kids.

I can't assure that all will be well on this earth - I can't.  For Christians, I can say that what we deal with on this earth is as bad as it's going to get.  After this life...the bad is all over.

I can say that - no matter what the outcome - my God is in control.  My God sees into eternity and my God sees what we cannot and my God does what is right...every...single...time.

"Trust God" seem as if it is only something that you should say.  But it is the reality for those who believe.  Sometimes it isn't easy to trust...sometimes you just keep on keeping on.

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“Make no mistake, tax cheaters cheat us all, and the IRS should enforce our laws to the letter. ” Sen. Tom Daschle, Congressional Record, May 7, 1998, p. S4507.

Fast forward:

UPDATE: February 2, 9:15AM: WASHINGTON (AP) -- Tom Daschle says he's "deeply embarrassed and disappointed" about his failure to pay more than $120,000 in taxes.

And

Also, the financial disclosure form Daschle filed about a week ago shows that he made more than $200,000 in the past two years speaking to members of the industry that President Barack Obama wants him to reform.

Obama has said that no one in his administration who has lobbied on a set of issues within the past two years can deal with the same subject matter.

Jenny Backus, a spokeswoman for Daschle, said the money he earned in speaking fees from health care interests do not pose a conflict for the health care reform Obama wants him to lead.

Daschle said in a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services ethics office that if he's confirmed by the Senate, he will resign as a senior policy adviser at the Washington law firm of Alston and Bird LLP. He reported earnings of more than $2 million from that firm during the past two years.

Daschle also earned more than $2 million in consulting fees from InterMedia Advisors LLC of New York, an investment firm specializing in buyouts and industry consolidation. He said he also intends to resign from that firm upon his confirmation.

Glenn Reynolds notes:

from Glenn Reynolds

OUCH: “Tom Daschle never met a tax hike he didn’t like for us. But why the hell can’t he pay his own taxes?”

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There is a reason that so many people are reading "The Shack" as if it were a non-fiction book.

The reason?  It's written as if it's a non-fiction book.

Some quotes and comments from and about the Forward.

The forward of a book is usually by someone other than the author and I believe is meant to tell the reader the purpose of the book.

I have known Mack for a bit more than twenty years, since the day we both showed up at a neighbor's house to help him bale a field of hay...

Mack was born in the Midwest, a farm-boy...

In a world of talkder, Mack is a thinker and a doer...

Although he communicates well enough verbally, Mack is not comfortable with his writing skills - something he knows I am passionate about.  So he asked if I would ghost-write this story -- his story...

What you are about to read is something that Mack and I have struggled with for many months to put into words...

Whether some parts of it are actually true or not, I won't be the judge...

Memory can be a tricky companion at times...

I would not be too suprised, in spite of our concerted effort toward accuracy, if some factual errors and faulty remembrances are reflected in these pages.  They are not intentional.

I can promise you that the conversations and events are recorded as truthfully as Mack can remember them, so please try and cut him a little slack...

The forward is signed "Willie"

In short...the reason that so many people are treating this book as if it is non-fiction is that the author presents it in the forward as NON-FICTION.

In the forward (which tells the purpose of the book) we are introduced to the person who lived this story, Mack.  We are told his family history, we are told that the author was asked by Mack to ghost-write the book.  We are further told that the book is recorded as accurate.

Is this the forward of a book that the author wants to be read as "fiction"?

series of my posts on "The Shack"

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I thought I had written on the terms "pro-life" and "anti-abortion" before, but there were a few posts that got "lost" when I changed web hosts.  I'll end up writing again, because I do not self-identify as "pro-life", but prefer the term "anti-abortion".

I read an article at "GetReligion.org" about a couple of news stories:

This one is from "Newsbusters":

Christianity Today Favors 'Anti-abortion' Over 'Pro-life' Label?

Evangelical magazine Christianity Today is using the term "anti-abortion," rather than "pro-life," to refer to a CatholicVote.com ad which NBC has refused to air during the Super Bowl. (h/t @pdavidy8)

The term "anti-abortion" isn't used by reporter Sarah Pulliam in the body of her article posted at CTliveblog, but it is used in her January 30 article's headline -- Anti-Abortion Super Bowl Ad Rejected by NBC -- on the magazine's Twitter page (see screencap at right).

By using "anti-abortion" in its headline, Christianity Today appears to be following the lead of the Associated Press. The AP calls for the term "anti-abortion instead of pro-life and abortion rights instead of pro-abortion or pro-choice" in its Stylebook. AP goes further and frowns on the term "abortionist," saying it "connotes a person who performs clandestine abortions," so a reporter should "use a term such as abortion doctor or abortion practitioner," it counsels.

The gist of the story seems to be saying that "Christianity Today" magazine prefers one label over the other.  The reality is that the ad being spoke of is not "pro-life" in general, but is specific to the abortion issue.  Thus, if CT generally uses "pro-life", but for this specific, anti-abortion ad, uses "anti-abortion", it doesn't mean that they prefer the label in general, only that it is more accurate for that particular ad.

Here is the CT story in question.

I think that this is a "not a story", but rather a commentary  on how groups "self-describe".

I self-describe as "anti-abortion".  I also make a distinction between those more general "pro-choice" folks and those who have never seen an abortion that they did not support (pro-abortion).

For example:  Roe v. Wade is "pro-choice".  FOCA is pro-abortion.

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prayer request:

Michele (Reformed Chicks Blabbing) has cancer.  Please pray not only that she recover (God willing), but that she use her cancer as best that she can - there will be many learning and teaching moments.  Also pray that she see the comments of her more vitriolic leftist readers as what they are...a remarkable demonstration of the "T".

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Say "hello" to the "welfare state".

But, thanks to the simple phrase slipped into the legislation, the new "stimulus" bill abolishes the limits on the amount of federal money for the so-called Emergency Fund, which ships welfare cash to states.

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From CBMW's "Gender Blog":

"Florida Conservatives Fighting Transgender Restroom Law"

The Associated Press calls it a “dark ad,” but Florida conservatives are trying to show the potential fallout of transgender anti-discrimination law the city commission passed in Gainesville last year. The law allows “transgendered” people to use either a male or female restroom, the restroom of their choosing. The television advertisement, sponsored by Florida conservatives, shows a blonde girl heading into the women’s restroom from the playground. A scruffy man, lurking outside, rushes into the restroom behind her. The words, “Your City Commission Made This Legal.” The city commission approved the measure, 4-3, last year.

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HT:  Ric's Blog:
I AM A REPUBLICAN.

from:  Rebuild the Party.

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- Why is a critical (as in critical thinking) reading of this book essential?

  • People are not reading this book as a work of fiction.  As I encounter more people who have read the book, I hear more gushing over how they understand god (lower case on purpose) better than they ever have!
  • Most heresies begin with the nature of who God is.  If "The Shack" teaches a different god than the God of Scripture, and if the god/goddess of the book is the god/goddess that people are believing in and trusting - they are trusting a false god.
  • As humans, we build for ourselves the god that we think we need - which is not necessarily the God that our Holy Father has chosen to reveal Himself as in His Inspired Word.
  • As we build the god that we think we need - the god that we want, we humanize that which cannot be brought down to our human level.

So here are the questions to keep in mind as I read "The Shack":

  • How does the god/goddess of the book differ from the God that reveals Himself in Scripture?
  • What are the positives that can be learned from the book and can they be easily separated from the false teachings?
  • How will I discuss what can be learned with people who are enthusiastic about "The Shack", with grace while teaching what is wrong with the book - how can I help others understand the difference?
  • How will this book enrich my walk with God - whether as a positive teaching of forgiveness, or as a negative awareness of the danger of false teaching?

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My (sometimes) weekly collection of interesting links, along with a few sprinkled thoughts...

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Lesbian students sue a Christian school for expelling them for breaking the rules.

We know that persecution is on the way...the more we cling to orthodoxy, to historical values and truths...the closer it gets.

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WTF?

Think that the use of WTF? is offensive?  So is the murder of unborn children.

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"Stimulas Proposal Facts"

Remember...change is good...

hope...change...hope...change...pork...pork...pork...

(From the Heritage Foundation:  If Government Spending solved recessions, we would never have recessions.)

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nuff said.

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President Obama's pick for Treasury Secretary?  Owes the IRS.

hope...change...hope...change...

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No...it's not what it looks like...

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How long did it take?

It's not as if it surprises me.

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A quote by an early women's movement leader:

“We have made a fetish of the Bible long enough. The time has come to read it as we do all other books, accepting the good and rejecting the evil it teaches.” --Elisabeth Cady Stanton

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more later (on lunes)

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On a lot of things, there is a more liberal and a more conservative viewpoint.

On most of these things, I tend to the more conservative side.

Here is what I have learned:

  • If a person on the more liberal side criticizes a person or group on the more conservative side...good!  We need to be aware of the faults of the "other" side.
  • If a person on the more liberal side criticizes a person or group on the liberal side...well, by and large it just doesn't happen.  "We need to stick together against the conservatives or we will lose the ground that we have gained"
  • If a person on the more conservative side criticizes a person or group on the more conservative side, that's just the way that it should be.  "After all, you should know the faults of your own side and now, you're "getting it."

The fourth leaning?

If a conservative criticizes a person or group on the more liberal side - even if it is just recognizing extremes...

OH MY FREAKING GOODNESS!!!  It is as if the world is beginning to implode!

The message?

Criticize conservatives.  Conservatives, look to your own faults.

Leave the liberals alone, or there will be consequences.

You will be accused of hatred, you will be accused of divisiveness, you will be called ignorant, you will be told to "get a life".  You will be called a dinosaur, a bigot or worse.

The moral...liberals are sensitive beings who do not wish to be examined and who do not wish to examine themselves.

liberals are also in the business of examining conservatives and insist that conservatives examine themselves.

Careful...your double standard is showing.

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One of my co-workers said that he voted for Barack Obama because he (the co-worker) believed that Obama would govern more centrist than what he campaigned.

"So...you're saying that you voted for the man because you believed that his campaign promises were lies?"

Within minutes of our new president taking the oath of office, the White House web page had been changed.  A few of the "changes" on his agenda could directly target Christians and Christian organizations.

  • It could become illegal for a Christian hospital to deny abortions for any reason.
  • It could become illegal for a Christian adoption agency to adopt only to heterosexual married couples.

"Changes" directly contradict the Constitution's mandate of "state's rights".

FOCA would effectively make ALL abortion issues federal issues and would effectively (and purposefully) overturn laws made at a state level.

FOCA would not only take away state's rights to make laws that do not concern things in the Constitution, they also take away the citizen's rights to vote on proposals concerning abortion at the state level.

President Obama's agenda is a two-prong offensive against

  • state's rights
  • Christians following their consciences in matters of the gay agenda and the abortion agenda.

I will pray for our president's safety and health.  I will pray that God guide his heart and change his attitude toward the most innocent and vulnerable of our citizens - the unborn.  I will pray that God sway his mind in a way that guides his toward the Living God.

I will not support him, which includes by necessity supporting his agenda.

I will "all work together" in much the same way that liberals "worked together" with President Bush.  They fought him every step of the way and were outspoken about where they disagreed.

So will I be.