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Here is the opinion piece from Associated Baptist Press, written by Miguel De La Torre entitled, “Was Jesus A Racist?”
Seriously?
Come on ABP, why even put this out? If you’re interested, you can check out Dr. Thomas White’s thoughts on whether this is even the right question (hint: it’s not).
De La Torre’s article is indicative of the thinking of our age. Sometimes we can get really wrapped up in politics and project our political baggage upon the Bible text. That doesn’t make it right though. This piece is garbage.
Yesterday was Presidents Day (Washington’s Birthday). Today is just another day, but I did hear a great quote today from President John Adams, our 2nd President. Here’s what he said:
“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
— John Adams, October 11, 1798
How often have we been told lately that science has settled issues like global warming climate change and evolution? It seems that regular dumb people like you and me just haven’t figured out that we shouldn’t question these things.
Well today is Darwin’s Birthday, and a Fox News story reports a recent Gallup Poll revealing that only 39% of Americans believe in evolution.
The study found a link between education and belief in evolution. The more one was told that evolution is true (i.e., in a classroom), the more likely one is to believe it. Author Peter Kreeft has said, “Some ideas are so ridiculous that only a PhD would believe them.” I wonder if that applies here?
U.S. Taxpayers Risk $9.7 Trillion on Bailouts as Senate Votes –That’s the headline from Bloomberg.com. Drudge puts it this way:
Here’s how the article begins:
Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) — The stimulus package the U.S. Congress is completing would raise the government’s commitment to solving the financial crisis to $9.7 trillion, enough to pay off more than 90 percent of the nation’s home mortgages.
The Federal Reserve, Treasury Department and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have lent or spent almost $3 trillion over the past two years and pledged to provide up to $5.7 trillion more if needed. The total already tapped has decreased about 1 percent since November, mostly because foreign central banks are using fewer dollars in currency-exchange agreements called swaps. The Senate is to vote early this week on a stimulus package totaling at least $780 billion that President Barack Obama says is needed to avert a deeper recession. That measure would need to be reconciled with an $819 billion plan the House approved last month.
Only the stimulus package to be approved this week, the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program passed four months ago and $168 billion in tax cuts and rebates approved in 2008 have been voted on by lawmakers. The remaining $8 trillion in commitments are lending programs and guarantees, almost all under the authority of the Fed and the FDIC. The recipients’ names have not been disclosed.
“We’ve seen money go out the back door of this government unlike any time in the history of our country,” Senator Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, said on the Senate floor Feb. 3. “Nobody knows what went out of the Federal Reserve Board, to whom and for what purpose. How much from the FDIC? How much from TARP? When? Why?”
I think I agree with Rick Moore over at HolyCoast.com. They should’ve just paid off everybody’s mortgage. It might’ve saved us some money.
I had a great run earlier today. It wasn’t great because I ran really fast or really far (in fact, I was just surprised that I could be outside in shorts and a t-shirt in February). It was a great run because I went out and did it.
Earlier, I posted some thoughts about goals for the new year. I hope that you set some goals for the new year, and I hope you’re sticking to them. Since I set those goals, I’ve been thinking about some things I heard Dave Ramsey say on the Fox Business Network. He talked about goals. He said that they must be specific and measurable, and that you should write them down. He also said that most New Years Resolutions peter out by Valentine’s Day (2/24 – a Saturday this year, FYI).
One of my goals has been to be able to score above 80 on the Air Force fitness test by this summer. That involves running 1.5 miles, doing push-ups, and doing crunches. In order to meet that goal, I’m working out more, because I have a specific goal. (Also, because I got my promotion last week to First Lieutenant in the AF reserve–which has lately motivated me).
I want to encourage you to continue on with those resolutions, set some solid goals, and achieve them. I’ve been encouraged today. Here’s where I’ll spotlight one of my blog links. I read Pastor Steven Furtick’s blog, and am often encouraged and challenged by what he is doing and talking about. This is a guy who is only a couple of years older than me, and doing some big things–he makes me aspire to more (it’s humbling and challenging to see that God can use young ministers to do big works). Today Steven Furtick had a post entitled, Just Do One. It’s motivating. He talks about some advice he’s received (specifically in the context of working out): if you have a goal to do pushups, or situps, or whatever — just do one. The point is, that once you get the first one out of the way, you’ll be able to continue on to more, but the first one is often the hardest.
So get back on track with those goals, have the discipline to just do the first one (push-up, sit-up, steps walked, Bible verses read daily, etc). You can meet those goals, and this year doesn’t have to be like all the other ones.
There’s an Evangelism Conference here in my own neighborhood, and I want to go!
Check out the Schedule.
Special Guests include:
Charles Billingsley
Ergun and Emir Caner
Jerry Vines
Jonathan Falwell
Fred Luter
Will Graham
Ed Stetzer
Lee Strobel
John Bisagno
Oh yeah, AND IT’S FREE!
You’d better believe I’m gonna try to get over there.
