Good News?

(This is an excerpt from a post made on another message board.)

“If you had to sum up Jesus’ ‘Good News’ what would it be in a nutshell?”

This is something I’ve definitely been trying to figure out. One of the main motivations is that I didn’t feel like I had any particularly good news to share with someone who wasn’t a Christian. I felt that a conversation was more likely to go along the lines of, “Yeah, I agree. Too many christians are stupid, annoying, etc.” All I’d have to add is, “Well, I still believe in the Bible and everything it says, even if a bunch of people are getting it wrong. Oh but don’t look forward to the Christian life, because it’s really hard and tough and just kind of sucks a lot of times.” Not too much good Continue reading →

Government the Social Equalizer?

What will happen to the poor in a free society? They will finally be taken care of. Repealing the income and Social Security taxes will leave a trillion dollars a year in the economy that is currently being sucked out by those taxes. That will buy a job for everyone who can work, and charity for everyone who can’t work.

Social reformers and crime-busters try to explain away the destruction of our freedom and civil liberties by saying these losses are the price we pay to create a better world, a better nation, or a better community. After all, you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. But, somehow, it’s always someone else’s eggs that get broken — never theirs. And the omelet never materializes — only cracked shells and Continue reading →

Christians’ Media Intake

I recently ran across an article and some comments (I think there had been more, I’m not sure where they went) regarding movies in light of our Christian faith. While I certainly imagine it to be somewhat controversial, I think it’s something that’s good to discuss: http://churchofthemasses.blogspot.com/2005/02/blog-post.html

I now offer some of my thoughts. People seem to usually take one of two sides. Either, “I won’t see anything that has anything ‘bad’ in it.” or “I’ll see most anything for entertainment and/or in order to be culturally aware, but I’m discerning and won’t let it affect me.” (Note, good and bad are somewhat subjective, and can also mean different things in different contexts.) I’ve been thinking some about this Continue reading →

Rethinking Education

“The best thing we can do for education is to repeal the income tax. Then you’ll have the resources to put your child in any school you want — private or religious — or teach your child yourself. You can choose for yourself whether you want prayer in the school or no prayer, traditional or progressive education, sex education or no sex education. No more fighting with your neighbors, the school board, Congress, or the Supreme Court.” Harry Browne

Borrowing A Billion Dollars — Every Day

“Most Americans are vaguely aware that Congress has run up huge deficits in recent years, but the numbers involved are so large that it’s hard to grasp what our government’s indebtedness really means to us as individuals.

“The total federal debt is quickly approaching $8 trillion, courtesy of an administration that borrows roughly one billion dollars every day to
pay its bills.

“Interest payments alone already consume nearly 10% of the annual federal budget, and Congress shows no sign of abating its spending appetite anytime soon.”

— U.S. Rep. Ron Paul
(R-Texas)

(Source: “Deficits Make You Poorer”
http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2005/tst031405.htm )

Gun T-Shirt Deemed a Security Risk

Talk about zero-tolerance!

Rock star Kelly Jones, lead singer of the chart-topping band Stereophonics, was halted this week while trying to board a flight at London’s Heathrow Airport.

The reason: his T-shirt was deemed a security risk.

Yes, his T-shirt.

Jones was already having trouble with security, with metal in his clothing setting off repeated alarms.

But he was truly startled when a security inspector told him that his T-shirt — illustrated with a pistol with a flame coming out of the top — was inappropriate for flying.

“The guy takes me aside and says, ‘You know you’re not supposed to wear that,'” Jones said.

“I said, ‘Not supposed to wear what?’ I honestly didn’t have a clue.”

The security man pointed Continue reading →

Political Web Sites to be Censored by U.S. Government?

Online political censorship in the U.SA.? It may be on the way — and soon. Bradley Smith is a member of the Federal Election Commission (FEC). He’s also a strong believer in the importance of vigorous online political speech. And right now, he’s worried. In an interview with CNET News.com, Smith warns that the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance restrictions may soon be applied to the Internet, thanks to a recent ruling by a federal judge that any coordinated political activity over the Internet must be regulated.

This new decision essentially overturned the FEC’s vote in 2002 to exempt most Internet communications from the notoriously restrictive McCain-Feingold campaign finance law.

The results could be devastating for online Continue reading →

In honor of the passing of Pope John Paul II

In honor of the passing of Pope John Paul II (or how the Catholics are kicking our butts):

The amount of worldwide respect paid to the late pontiff I have found to be quite interesting. Though I might not totally agree with the Roman church’s view of the papacy in general, I none the less recognize him as a leader in the church. I find it intriguing that this person, who is leader of no country, and whose death was expected, has received more attention than perhaps anyone save for the untimely death of the queen of England or the current President of the United States would. I find this to be a wonderful sign of God’s kingdom in the world. The late John Paul II is being credited with being a major influence in the fall of communism Continue reading →

Multicultural Christianity

O.K. A new thought here. As I was considering the issues we’ve been discussing on race and culture, I realized I can’t think of a reason or precedent for being multicultural outside of the context of Christianity. I firmly believe that unity among people with all kind of differences is a sign of the kingdom. Therefore, I think it’s essential when possible to have fellowship across these boundaries.

Multicultural Worship

It’s good to hear someone else in support of what I’ve been recommending for a while now. That is, being flexible with worship styles, having a variety, not being afraid to do something drastically different from one week to the next. I haven’t been a big fan of the attitude that “contemporary” churches have taken, being basically let’s serve the majority. I admit here that I’m not into “contemporary” churches’ attitude of let’s just serve the majority. I admit here that I don’t like “contemporary praise” music. However the church usually says that I’m supposed to just like it because of the lyrics, and that I can worship God through it even if I don’t like it. I think that it’s sad that probably by many criticizing this music is Continue reading →