This Is Truly Mind-Numbing

If I hadn't seen it on Fox News...I wouldn't have believed it. There is a school district that instituted a "No Touch Policy." All high-fives, hugs, and handshakes were to be banned. (In fact, the student would be expelled or suspended.) Now, the whole story is not given, but even if they were trying to do something legitimate (like stopping sexual harassment), who would come up with this?!?

"Okay...we don't want you to give each other high-fives or even touch each other because that could be seen as threatening."

"But what about football? Don't we have to touch each other to play football?"

"Not any more. We are now playing flag football. And there's an automatic ejection from the game if you touch someone."

This fits in a category all by itself. Having said that...I'll hush.

(Or maybe I won't!)

By the way, President Obama said that the government has no interest in running GM, but they just "fired" the CEO? And they have no interest in running Chrysler, but they told them to join with Fiat? Man, I sure hope they do not have any interest in running my life...wait...

Friday's Post Early!


This video seems to fit my years as a youth minister pretty well. Thought you might relate to some of this.


I've Seen It All

Only Two Swords

And He said to them, "But now, let him who has a purse take it along, likewise also a bag, and let him who has no sword sell his robe and buy one. For I tell you, that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, 'AND HE WAS NUMBERED WITH TRANSGRESSORS'; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment." And they said, "Lord, look, here are two swords." And He said to them, "It is enough." (Luke 22:36-38)

Why was Jesus interested in the swords? Basically, I have found two main interpretations of the phrase "And He was numbered with transgressors." One is that He was numbered with transgressors on the cross. The other is that He was numbered with transgressors meaning that the two swords would be enough to make them look like "outlaws." What is your take on this?

Whoa, Nelly!!!

Monday, I enjoyed a 45 minute conversation with a fellow pastor (who shall remain nameless...just in case he'd rather not be associated with me!!!) and received a lot of encouragement from just "talking." We talked about church issues, pastoral issues, and some political issues. Basically, we jumped from one subject to another and just "chewed the fat." It was really a great way to start the day and week. However, I have to be honest about one thing. While visiting with (fill in the blank), I found myself worrying about wasting time. I kept thinking of all the "things" I had to get accomplished and probably did not enjoy our conversation as much as I could have (though I did enjoy it). Yet, part of me kept saying, you need this. You need to slow down and take some time with people. You need to get rid of some "things" and enjoy the world God has blessed you with. You need relationships, encouragement, and some relaxation. (Now, don't get me wrong, I know the Bible teaches us to work. But it does teach us to rest too!) And so, I don't feel guilty about taking 45 minutes to visit with a fellow pastor who maybe needed some encouragement too. In fact, I think I have "stumbled" upon a major fault of mine - "busyness". I like to make sure everything is just so-so, but many of those things would be just fine without me. I think maybe I should start slowing down and taking time for people more deliberately. And thanks (fill in the blank) for visiting with me Monday. I really, really needed it!

Environment vs. Humans

Yes, yes...I know. "Mother Earth" has given us life, thus we should protect and take care of her...blah, blah, blah. Why are people so blinded by this environmental wacko stuff? People are more worried about a tree than a baby. "Don't cut (kill) down the tree!" is their mantra while they turn and tell us "It's okay to abort (murder) a baby!" I'm at a loss...really, I am. I mean, yes, it is important that we take care of the environment (i.e., conservation). I'm all for using the land and using it properly. After all, I hunt and have raised all sorts of livestock. Do you think I want to destroy the earth...well, no! But I do not worship the land either. Good grief. Now comes this report out of England. I hope you don't enjoy reading it.

British Environmental Advisor Backs Population Control, Two Kids Per Family
(by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com EditorFebruary 2, 2009)

London, England (LifeNews.com) -- A chief environmental advisor in England is urging population control and says he believes there should be a limit in Britain of no more than two children per family. John Porritt, who chairs the UK government's Sustainable Development Commission, says any more than two children is "irresponsible."
Porritt told a British newspaper that the current climate in England can't accommodate any more children.
He says the national government should aggressively spend taxpayer funds on promoting abortions and birth control, contraception, and implementing programs urging parents to limit their number of children.
"I am unapologetic about asking people to connect their own responsibility for their total environmental footprint and how they decide to procreate and how many children they think are appropriate," he said.
"I think we will work our way towards a position that says having more than two children is irresponsible," he told the London Times.
"It is the ghost at the table. We have all these big issues that everybody is looking at and then you don't really hear anyone say the 'p' word," he said of population control.
The government is expected to get a report next month from Porritt, who is an aide to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, on the status of the population figures in England.
Porritt's comments have upset pro-life groups who compared his views to those of communist China, which forbids parents from having any more than one child and employs harsh punishments such as forced abortions and sterilizations for violators.
The population control regime in China has also resulted in sex-selection abortions and infanticides of girl babies and has drastically altered the male-female ratio of the nation. That has led to several social problems such as a bachelor nation, sex trafficking and prostitution, and the sale of teen girls.
Josephine Quintaville, founder of the pro-life group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, which is pro-life, responded to the population control advocacy.
"This seems to be the same old thing: save the world but kill a human," she said.
"As far as I understand it, it is the most affluent nations that are doing the most damage to the world, not the countries that have got the most children," she said.
Porritt also says he wants to convince more environmental groups of the connection between lowering the population levels and protecting the environment. However, many environmental groups have long been criticized for backing eugenic population control.

It's Frustrating

Well, the U.S. government is a behemoth which seems unstoppable. It's mind-boggling the non-sensical, useless, inane, and perfectly silly ideas, laws, and programs that come out of Washington. Is government useless? No! God instituted it! Is our government useless? No! We need government! Has our government gone too far? Well, yeah!

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. -Thomas Jefferson

Please Pray For The Southern Baptists!

And I mean that seriously. I received an email (given below) asking for prayer for the Southern Baptists. Basically it is asking for you to pray for women "pastors" and for women who are being called into ministry. In other words, it wants you to pray for something unscriptural! So, please pray for Southern Baptists - not that they will endorse women pastors - but that they will hold to the truth concerning this matter. (And there is quite a push to endorse women pastors in the Convention.)

Original Email:

Read The Next Step at www.bWebaptist.com. The Next Step asks Baptists everywhere to do three things:
1. Pray for women pastors and for women who are being called into ministry.
2. Pray for a softening of the heart of the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention toward women in the United States.
3. Start an email cell group which would commit to pray and to enlist others.

You may have read about this website in the Associated Baptist Press, in the Baptist Standard, or in Baptists Today, or on many of the blogs that picked up the story, such as Baptist Planet, the religion blog of The Dallas Morning News, Mainstream Baptists Bruce Prescott’s blog.

This is your opportunity to be the voice for your daughters.

Shirley Taylor
bWe Baptist Women for Equality

ONE of my responses (addressing an article written by Mrs. Taylor):

Also, I have read your article and you seem to have forgotten that while Christ the Son is in ALL ways equal to the Father, He SUBMITTED Himself to the Father's will. Yet in no way did this make Him inferior...instead, He was lifted up and glorified by the Father. You can have complementarianism and egalitarianism together. They are not contradictory...in fact, you have committed a logical fallacy in assuming such.

Matt

Her response to my response:

Matthew,

In the 1960s when I was teaching a Sunday school class of women in my Baptist church, the teacher's guide made the statement "The Jews loved nothing better than to go to the marketplace and argue over whether or not women had souls." I had no idea that Southern Baptists would be arguing over essentially the same thing 40 years later. Of course we dress it up and call it fancy names like complementarianism and egalitarianism. But it is the same argument. An argument designed to keep women in their place.

Jesus said that the soul is housed in a body and that when it is freed from the body in heaven that you won't be able to tell the difference between a man's soul and a woman's soul (actually he said that in heaven there would be no male or female, marrying or giving in marriage).

If that is not equality, then I don't know what is.

That same soul that I have now will be the one I take into eternity. And it is going to look just like yours: washed in the blood of the Lamb.

Thanks for writing. I appreciate you taking the time to do so.

Shirley Taylor
bWe Baptist Women for Equality

Now my response to that is...WHAT?!? What she said has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the discussion at hand. A "straw man" was set up to divert the argument...but we're not going to fall for that are we?!? The Bible teaches that men are to be Pastors...not women. No offense, but we must stay with Scripture. Also, this does not mean women are inferior. Quite the contrary. God made ALL of us in the image of Him, but He also put us in certain roles for certain reasons. Why must we Baptist feel they have to be politically correct and culturally relevant but not biblically sound?!?!?

Well...at least he was creative...

BURLINGTON, Vt. – A man who bolted antlers to the head of a dead doe and posed for a photograph with the deer was fined $400 and jailed for game violations. Marcel Fournier, 19, shot the deer the evening of Nov. 22 and used lag bolts and epoxy to attach a 10-point rack, officials said. He then checked in the kill as lawful game at Barnie's Market. It's illegal to kill an antlerless deer, and it's also illegal to hunt at night. The Concord resident admitted to the killing and led a game warden to the deer's remains after an anonymous caller alerted authorities. Fournier said he had "quite a time" drilling and fastening the antlers, authorities said. Game warden David Gregory said the antlers didn't look or feel right. "When you grabbed them, you'd feel movement," he said. Col. David LeCours, chief warden of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the size of the antlers relative to the size of the deer seemed off. "Something wasn't natural about them, in addition to the fact that they weren't natural," he said. Fournier was sentenced to 10 days in jail Feb. 18 for taking a deer in a closed season. He won't qualify for a state hunting, fishing or trapping license for at least three years. LeCours said add-on antlers are the stuff of legend, but that it's the first documented case of it in Vermont.

Yahoo! News

Must've Been A Cat...

Who Do These Children Belong To?!?

2 John:
1 The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;
2 For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.
3 Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
4 I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.
5 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
12 Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.
13 The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen.

I've heard that the woman refers to a church and the children refer to either the members or churches established from this church. I have also heard that this woman and children refer to real people. What is your opinion on this and why? Please give an explanation of your opinion. I hope to see some new ideas and clarification on exactly what this means. (I'll give you my understanding later.)

A Great Time

I truly enjoyed my time at the 55th annual Pastors Missionaries Conference in Texarkana. I enjoyed meeting with the Bogard Press staff on Monday concerning the "Chosen" DVD Bible Study on which we are working. It was a very productive meeting! I also enjoyed all the great fellowship before, after, and even during the meetings! Of course, we hit IHOP Monday night (Bro. Wayne Stringer's favorite hang-out???). I truly appreciate the opportunity to speak Tuesday morning at the Conference. The following is a very brief outline of the message I brought.

The Secret To Success - Joshua 1:1-9:
I. Realize Your Calling From The Lord - vss. 1-4
II. Raise Your Confidence In The Lord - vss. 6-8
III. Recognize Your Closeness To The Lord - vs. 5

(Jason, you should enjoy the alliteration there...) I hope it was an encouragement to everyone.

I also recorded my 20 minute session of the DVD Bible Study. My part is "Chosen To Serve." Let me say, it is somewhat different when you have several cameras recording you teaching a small home group. (Thank you to everyone who was so patient with me!!!) Well, it was a wonderful experience, and I cannot wait until next years conference!

Obama's Financial Stimulus

It seems that Obama is going to use embryos to stimulate the economy. Scientists are excited about the $10 billion that will immediately be pumped into the medical field. Big whoop! Who cares about money when it's compared to life. Besides there are ways (adult stem cell research) to find cures for diseases, etc. And don't even bring up Obama and the teachers' unions!

That's another fine mess the recession's gotten us into, say Laurel and Hardy fans

Published Date: 09 March 2009
By SHÂN ROSS

It has brought some of the worlds largest financial institutions to its knees and now it appears that Scotland's Laurel and Hardy fan club is the latest victim of the credit crunch. Organisers of the group, which calls itself "Sons of the Desert" after the 1933 film, claim the downturn has meant a sharp rise in membership fees. The group, which was founded in 1965, meets in pubs and clubs around the country to watch films by the comedy duo. Members wear fezzes, don flowing robes and call their meeting venues "tents". Now organisers are saying pubs and clubs where they meet have put up the rent for the rooms used and they have no choice but to charge members more. And they fear if fans are unable to find the extra cash, they will leave the club and use the internet to contact fellow members instead. But Charlie Lewis, 47, "Grand Sheik" of one of the biggest tents in Scotland, says he will fight to prevent that. Mr Lewis, from the Block-Heads tent – named after the 1938 film – said he had been forced to raise annual membership fees by almost a £1 a month to £25. He said: "We are determined to fight the credit crunch and would even meet in people's homes if it came to the push." Being a member of a virtual tent and watching films on the web doesn't appeal to me, to be honest. Part of the appeal of the tents is meeting people with the same interests and having a lot of fun. "We meet up once a month to watch Laurel and Hardy films and there is a fantastic atmosphere. Our members come from all walks of life and people bring their children along." Mr Lewis, a civil servant, told members in his "The Sheik Speaks" column in the Block-Heads' Bulletin that they would have three months to pay the increased fee of 90p a month, which he said was due to the "the current financial gloom". Members of the 20-strong tent, one of the biggest in Scotland, were also told: "If we could have possibly avoided this scenario, we would have, but we no longer have the funds to maintain such low rates." Mr Lewis added that his tent, like many others, was also facing extra costs converting to digital technology. The Sons of the Desert was founded in 1965 in New York by John McCabe, biographer of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. It has grown into a worldwide organisation, with 38 tents in the UK having approximately 5,000 members. A police force in the US has formed its own tent, while fans in Stranraer started up the Their Purple Moment tent partly in honour of the 1928 film but also, bizarrely, in memory of Operation Purple, a Nato exercise in Galloway in 1985. Willie McIntyre, a retired nuclear physicist from Largs, who is the Grand Sheik of Scotland, and runs the Call of the Cuckoos tent, said: "There is an extra quality to be derived by watching the films in larger groups than those which can be fitted into your living room, so the Sons of the Desert love to congregate. The Sons of the Desert have been known to plead for meeting rooms without a fee and this will no doubt be necessary again." Mark Cousins, a film critic, backed the Sons of the Desert campaign. He said: "It would be a real shame if something like the credit crunch threatened them."

Click here for original article (from new.scotsman.com)

New Posting Format (for funny videos scroll on down)

Mind-Numbing Monday - Thought for the week...some mind-numbing, some mind-altering.

Topical Tuesday - Topics such as politics, economy, etc. will be addressed.

Wonderful Wednesday - Free for all. You can help decide the topics on this day!

Theological Thursday - Well, if I'm at seminary teaching, I might as well take advantage of it.

Fun Friday - You can only imagine. This should provide some of the funniest Christian (or at least clean) humor you can find in one spot.

Funny Church Announcements



Sunday School Scandal