Go House. Come On Senate.

House Passes Abortion Restrictions for Minors

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives passed legislation on Wednesday that would make it a crime to take a minor across state lines for an abortion and create a national requirement for parental notification for underage women seeking to terminate a pregnancy.

Finally, common sense wins out. A minor girl cannot take an aspirin in school without parental consent, but she can have an abortion?

May the Senate and the President follow through with getting this passed into law.

Go to jail for Home Schooling

GERMAN AUTHORITIES SEND HOME SCHOOLING MOM TO JAIL

GUETERSLOH (ANS) -- Pressure is mounting on Christian home schooling parents in Germany. A mother living near Guetersloh has been sent to jail for six days because she and her husband refuse to send their children to a state registered school. They also refuse to pay fines of US-Dollars 115.


Lest we forget, one of the main reasons our ancestors came to this country was to escape religious persecution. Apparently there continues to be persecution in the old country. The question is, how long before the same thing happens in the good old US of A?

In my opinion, the number one cause of the destruction of the family is compulsory education in government schools. Home schooling is the only sure defense, that is why it is under attack.

A new Papa

The left wing extremist main stream media continues to show there true colors. In reporting the election of the new pope, they used such terms as; controversial, conservative, rigid, hardliner, enforcer and fundamentalist. They even went back into his youth and brought up the fact that he was a member of the Hitler Youth Program.

Imagine, the Roman Catholic Church choosing a leader who actually believes what the Church teaches. How dare they.

Put up yer dukes

The Washington Times reports - "Gay Bishop Backs Planned Parenthood"

I am shocked that a man of "peace", a man of the cloth, a man with a pointy hat would use such fightin' words as these:

"Our defense against religious people has to be a religious defense. ... We must use people of faith to counter the faith-based arguments against us," he said.

"We have allowed the Bible to be taken hostage, and it is being wielded by folks who would use it to hit us over the head. We have to take back those Scriptures,"

But this quote takes the cake: "What an unimaginative God it would be if God only put one meaning in any verse of Scripture," Excuse me, how many meanings are there in this verse, "Thou shalt not murder" ?

And if that wasn't bad enough, he said this, "I know, in the end, that I'm going to heaven, and so are you," he said. "You and I can do this work no matter how hard it gets, because we know we're going home." I shouldn't be, but I am still amazed at the audacity of some people. If they all do make it to heaven, I wonder what they will say to the millions of children unable to live a life in this world because of there actions.

Lord have mercy.

Lectionary readings for 4/14/05

Luke 5:1-11

Verse 8 - Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell to his knees before Jesus. "Master, leave. I'm a sinner and can't handle this holiness. Leave me to myself." (The Message)

This was Peter's reaction to having his boat filled with fish at the command of Jesus, after having been fishing all night without a catch. Peter was aware of the holiness of Jesus and responded accordingly by falling to his knees.

There is quite a difference between the response of Peter and the actions of many in todays church let alone the whole world. Peter immediately fell to his knees. We try to rationalize our behavior. Peter's focus was on Jesus, but our focus is often on ourselves. Instead of "Master I'm a sinner", we say "I'm OK the way I am".

I think it is time to again recognize the holiness of Jesus. He is not "the man upstairs". He is the Word made flesh, the eternal Son of God. And in response say, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner."

Holy God
Holy and Mighty
Holy Immortal One
Have mercy on us.

Keep your dirty money

The "Living Church" reports, Bishop Laments Break with Ugandan Companion Diocese

Bishop Creighton of the Diocese of Central PA issued this, Statement Regarding the Diocese of South Rwenzori, Uganda.

In the interest of full disclosure, I live in the Diocese of Central PA (DCPA) and Bishop Creighton is my bishop. Bishop Mike is a very nice gentleman, however he doesn't have a clue. He suffers from the disease of liberalism ("Liberalism is a Mental Disorder", Savage).

This is the second diocese that has dissed DCPA since the General Convention of 2003. First was the Diocese of Recife in Brazil and now the one in Uganda. You would think the Bishop would take the hint. However he is blinded by his disease.

He states, "...our Gospel understanding that when people were labeled as “sinners and wrong doers” Jesus invited himself into relationship not out of relationship." Doesn't that sound like a liberal, equating money with relationship. As I recall, Jesus said, "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand" and he dealt with the money changers with a whip.

The Collect for Easter 3 seems very appropriate: O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

O God, open the eyes of those that are so blinded, including me.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.

Gene comes out some more

I don't usually visit the Planned Parenthood website, but having been informed of Bishop Robinson's interview I checked it out. See "Bishop V. Gene Robinson Talks To Planned Parenthood.

I realize he is following the ECUSA line on abortion, which is bad enough, but the way he does it shows his contempt for those who do not agree with him. Amazing how tolerance is the word of the day, until a conservative expresses their opinion, then tolerance is thrown out the window.

A few excerpts from the interview:

The reason I love the Episcopal Church is that it actually trusts us to be adults. In a world where everyone tries to paint things as black or white, Episcopalians feel pretty comfortable in the gray areas. What is gray about, Thou shalt not murder?

I'm sure there must be individual congregations, and certainly individuals, who are off the deep end about this issue... So much for tolerance of diverse opinions. If standing up for the life of the unborn, infirmed, aged, handicapped, etc is going off the deep end, let me put on my swim trunks.

And then we absolutely stand behind a woman's right to choose. I think that's a responsible place to be. I don't think it is responsible to stand behind the right of a women to KILL HER BABY.

It's time that we re-familiarize ourselves with our sacred text, so that we can interpret it for the world, and not let the only voice that Americans hear from a Christian standpoint be those wildly conservative voices. Oh my, those wild conservatives who speak the words of the faith handed down to us by the apostles. Very wild, very wild.

That's enough, I can't take any more. Suffice it to say, I am not in agreement with the Bishop on this subject. I wonder if we are still in communion even though he thinks I am wild and have gone off the deep end?

Lectionary readings for 4/8/05

1 John 3:1-10 (NRSV)

1 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
4 Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God's seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God. 10 The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters.

Is everyone a child of God? It appears from this reading that the answer is 'no'. There are children of God and children of the devil.

The Amplified Bible translates verse 10 as follows: By this it is made clear who take their nature from God and are His children and who take their nature from the devil and are his children: no one who does not practice righteousness [who does not conform to God's will in purpose, thought, and action] is of God; neither is anyone who does not love his brother (his fellow believer in Christ).

In the flesh, we carry the nature of our parents. In the spirit, we do the same. The children of God have His nature (self giving love) and the children of the devil have his nature (love of self).

For further thoughts, see my posting from 3/4/05.

Lectionary reading for 4/7/05

Luke 3:1-14

8 Bear fruits worthy of repentance.

There is that 'R' word, repentance. John the Baptist tells the crowd that repentance must actually mean something. There must be a change of heart that will produce a change in behavior. Just getting a bath does not make the heart clean.

Eugene Peterson translates the passage this way. 7When crowds of people came out for baptism because it was the popular thing to do, John exploded: "Brood of snakes! What do you think you're doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to deflect God's judgment? 8It's your life that must change, not your skin. And don't think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as "father.' Being a child of Abraham is neither here nor there--children of Abraham are a dime a dozen. God can make children from stones if he wants. 9What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it's deadwood, it goes on the fire." (The Message)

Restoring chaos out of order

Dennis Prager has an interesting article titled "The Left's Battle to Restore Chaos".

Genesis 1 (English Standard Version)

1In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was withoutform and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Antichrist no more ?

I must confess that I am a bit surprised by the attention that the death of Pope John Paul II is receiving. The MSM is giving it almost 24/7 coverage. They all have representatives in Rome to cover the story. On the other side of the coin are the glowing statements made by many evangelical leaders, who in the not so distant past would have referred to the Pope as the Antichrist.

See Christianity Today for further discussion on this issue.

Lectionary readings for 4/1/05

Acts 4:1-12

11 This Jesus is 'the stone that was rejected by you, the builders;
it has become the cornerstone.'
12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved."

Oh my. This sounds very exclusive. Peter, who is preaching, seems to be very closed minded. How dare he say that there is salvation in no one else.

I'll tell you how he dare say this. Verse 8, Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them,... Peter filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was the source of this declaration. So, if you have any argument with the idea of Jesus being the only way of salvation, take it up with the Holy Spirit.

In the gospel reading for today, John 16:1-15, Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. Verse 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. So, if you don't like what the Holy Spirit says, take it up with Jesus.


Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, unto ages of ages. Amen.