Congratulations to former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura

Bet this will be one spoiled little grand-baby

Jenna Bush Hager gave birth to a baby girl, Margaret Laura ‘Mila’ Hager, on Saturday, the Bush family announced in a Sunday statement.

The Dallas Morning News reports that the former first daughter, who is married to Henry Hager, gave birth to Mila Saturday evening in New York City. Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, said the baby was named after her grandmothers.

“Laura and I are thrilled to announce the birth of our grandchild,” read the Bush family’s statement. “We met our beautiful granddaughter today. Jenna and Mila are healthy. And our family is elated.”

Source

Why I Do Not Support or Oppose Gay Marriage

Recent post by David Flowers at  The Centrality and Supremacy of Jesus Christ 

A few weeks ago I posted Support Us or You’re a Bigot? here at the blog. I received a steady wave of feedback. It was mostly civil. I learned this much, if you want to boost your blog traffic just express your views on homosexuality or gay marriage. The primary point of Support Us or You’re a Bigot? was to voice my concerns over the name-calling and the vitriol that is so common when we allow extremists to set the stage of any debate. It’s wrong, unfair, and dishonest. A person can disagree with “gay marriage” and still love their gay neighbor, just as they do their Muslim, Wiccan, and white supremacist neighbor…

Let me be clear. I don’t support or oppose gay marriage. And for good reason. It is for me a conviction rooted in Christ and his ability to creatively navigate cultural situations and contexts for the sake of the Kingdom.

I wonder if you have recognized that we can’t hear a third way of dealing with this in the culture because the matter is truly unlike most issues involving civil rights. It’s not a race issue, it’s a moral issue. And some folks are legitimately concerned that if “gay marriage” is sanctioned (based on the feelings one person has for another), then what is to stop polygamy, or something even more detestable? Are you going to deny their “rights” too?

You can’t easily brush this question aside if you’re an honest, thinking person. Why should “rights” stop with gay couples? It shouldn’t according to the logic of the LGBT folks and supporters I’ve heard. But what sort of world would we be inviting? It’s a question for the church and the state.

There you have it, folks—one more reminder why politics, and the rules it must operate by, will never be able to bring the full measure of peace, freedom, and justice we long for in the world.

No pragmatic politics or ethics will do. Without moral boundaries given from above, i.e. built into creation and divinely revealed, we must make it up as we go. “Do what thou wilt” shall be the whole of the law.

In case you missed it, I’ve been upfront that I don’t believe homosexuality (or even faithful “monogamous” homosexual relationships) is God’s best for humanity. And I believe this should be lovingly addressed in the church, right after we address the problem of divorce and adultery among heterosexuals. So, I believe it’s at this point an “in-house” issue.

The real problem I see here is what happens to the issue when it enters the ambiguous, complex, and nasty realm of politics. As an Anabaptist thinker and practitioner, this is where I bow out with a purpose.

Continued Here

David Flowers has posted a thoughtful article and I hope after reading it you’ll leave a comment. I’m very interested to hear what you think about his beliefs concerning the Church’s approach to this issue. 

One commenter (Chris Gorton) made what I considered an excellent point,

The gay marriage issue is just one of many where the enemy of our souls uses false alternatives to encourage us to cross lines that should not be crossed. We win by laying down our lives, not by trying to preserve our lifestyles….We must not battle on his terms. We have been given far more powerful weapons than his, if we will but use them.

Amen. “We win by laying down our lives, not by trying to preserve our lifestyles”….

Religious Right Threatens: Waver On Traditional Marriage And We Form Third Party

Oh goody. Just as long as the founders of this third party do not claim: (1)- It is “the” Christian party, and (2)- it represents (a) “the” Church or (b) America’s Christians. 

quote,

Thirteen of America’s top religious right social conservatives this week sent Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Reince Priebus an official letter warning if the GOP moderates on same-sex marriage or refuse to actively defend “traditional marriage,” they will take all their followers and form a third party. The RNC is holding their quarterly meeting in Los Angeles this week.

Leaders from the American Family Association, Family Research Council, Eagle Forum, and the Traditional Values Coalition, among others, signed the warning.

NBC reports: The signatories to this week’s letter were:

Gary Bauer, President, American Values

Paul Caprio, Director, Family-Pac Federal

Marjorie Dannenfelser, President, Susan B. Anthony List

Dr. James Dobson, President and Founder, Family Talk Action

Andrea Lafferty, President, Traditional Values Coalition

Tom Minnery, Executive Director, CitizenLink

William J. Murray, Chairman, Religious Freedom Coalition

Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council

Sandy Rios, VP of Government Affairs, Family-Pac Federal

Austin Ruse, President, Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute

Phyllis Schlafly, President, Eagle Forum

Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, Founder, Traditional Values Coalition

Tim Wildmon, President, American Family Association

More Here

I think they should go for it. After all, reading through the list and visiting their websites, it’s evident all these people have been political spokespersons and activists for years. They may as well make it official and form their own personal party. Oops! I forgot…they kind of DID that already. It was called the Republican party of the last 30 years.  

 

Rick Warren’s Horrific Tragedy & the Sickening Response by Some Christians

If you browse the ‘Christian’ internet you’ve probably read some of the terrible responses posted by a number of Christians, in response to the suicide of Warren’s son. It didn’t surprise me for even at this tiny blog a few comments, of a similar vein, were left here. Needless to say those never saw the light of day, but were instead automatically deleted. Up until a few years ago I would have been shocked to the core by any type of a response to a tragedy from fellow Christians, other then deep sympathy and a call for prayer, but not today. Because as Jesus foretold, “because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold” – (Matthew 24:12).

From Frank Viola’s article, Rick Warren’s Horrific Tragedy & The Sickening Response of Some “Christians” 

quote,

Now is a good time to go back and re-read Warning: The World is Watching How We Christians Treat One Another.

Why do so many people not want to have anything to do with Jesus? It’s because of the cruel, harsh, self-righteous, and judgmental attitude that some professing “Christians” level against their fellow believers. “Why would I want to be part of that bunch!?” . . . is the common response by so many non-Christians today.

Yesterday, I got the sad news that Rick Warren’s youngest son committed suicide.

If you are a Christian and your heart doesn’t go out to this brother and his family, something is wrong with you spiritually. I don’t care what you think about Warren’s theology, his books, or how he combs his hair. The fact is, he lost a child. Few things can be more painful and nightmarish in this life.

To add insult to injury, take a look at some of the comments by fellow Christians (professing ones at least) to the news. These are comments that were left on various Christian news websites under the Warren article;

*Train up your children in the way, live a godly example with right priorities, care enough to home-school despite the great sacrifice involved, don’t let them date unchaperoned, have daily family devotions, turn off the 1-eyed idiot, TRULY HAVE A PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE, and your children WILL NOT COMMIT SUICIDE, nor will they be involved in homosexuality, nor fornication. —  

*He killed himself, it’s much worse than fornication or homosexuality or Onanism or eating pork. He denied himself a chance to get better. If your kids need a chaperone to date, why do you let them date? They shouldn’t be dating if they are not mature enough to control themselves. –  

*Suicide happens soon after your stupid enough to read “The Purpose Driven Life”. –  

*Poor Matthew denies God’s Love with suicide. –  

*He could not save his own because Mr. Warren does not truly understand how his own heart works, how it is broken and the mechanism by which Jesus laid out the example of how to fix it. Matthew killed himself because he did not understand either. He was a victim of his own ignorance and the ignorance of his family, friends, society and Christians around him — presently!

Sisters and Brothers, we have not so learned Jesus Christ!

There were more comments like these, unfortunately…

I fear for those who made these deplorable remarks. The Scriptures clearly teach that how we treat others is how the Lord will treat us. And if we have the knife out for one of His children, we will eventually end up falling on it ourselves. Paul said you will reap what you sow. That’s written in the heavens. So be very, very careful how you respond to someone else’s tragedy, mistakes, pain, or loss.

Treat others the way you want to be treated in every circumstance – (Luke 6:31). Ergo, how would YOU want to be treated if you lost a child? How we respond to bad things that happen to others (be they tragedies, failures, or pain) is a barometer that reveals how well we know our Lord. In fact, there may be no greater test.

“If Christians cannot extend grace through faithful presence within the body of believers, they will not be able to extend grace to those outside.” ~ James Davison Hunter

Like I said, responses like those above (and believe me, I actually read some much worse) didn’t surprise me in the least. That type of cold reaction is something I’ll never accept from fellow Christians, but regrettably it is something I’ve come to expect.    

Pat Robertson Says America’s Middle East Peace Push Is ‘Asking For The Wrath Of Almighty God’

One of a number of reasons why I believe dispensational theology is unbiblical and wacky.. 

Pat Robertson does not think the United States’ push for peace in the Middle East is the way to go. He recently said such a move is “asking for the wrath of Almighty God.”

The “700 Club” host discussed on April 9 Secretary of State John Kerry’s effort to encourage negotiating an end to the more than 60-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (The Associated Press notes previous peace talks crumbled in 2008, with Palestine refusing to resume talks and Israel continuing to build settlements.)

Robertson apparently doesn’t believe there should be peace in the Middle Eastbecause, according to Right Wing Watch, “any deal that includes territorial concessions to the Palestinians, including Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem, will lead to divine retribution and ‘catastrophic’ consequences.”

Said Robertson:

God says, “They divided my land … This is my land. I gave it to Abraham and his descendants, and I don’t want it taken away from them.” And Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel. And for the United States to get into a deal where they’re trying to split Jerusalem and take it away from the Israelis and split up their capital — huge mistake. You’re asking for the wrath of Almighty God to fall on this nation. And when it falls, it won’t be fun.

He called Kerry’s diplomacy a “course of folly” that will result in “terrible suffering” for the U.S.

The televangelist — who once advised a man to become a Muslim so he can beat his wife, and who also said “Ariel Sharon’s stroke was divine punishment for ‘dividing God’s land,’ and giving away Gaza to the Palestinians,” per The New York Times — has been vocal about his controversial stance on the Mideast peace process.

Back in 2004, Robertson offered Israel the support of Evangelical Christians. He boiled the Israel-Palestinian conflict down to a religious struggle and warned that “if God’s chosen people turn over to Allah control of their most sacred sites” then “Islam will have won.”

“We believe that God has a plan for this nation which He intends to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth,” Robertson said at the time. “Of course, we, like all right-thinking people, support Israel because Israel is an island of democracy, an island of individual freedom, an island of the rule of law, and an island of modernity in the midst of a sea of dictatorial regimes, the suppression of individual liberty, and a fanatical religion intent on returning to the feudalism of 8th Century Arabia.”

Although his beliefs are extreme, Robertson is not alone in his line of thinking.

A March CNN-ORC International poll revealed that two-thirds of Americans don’t think Israel and its Arab neighbors, including Palestine, will ever find peace. According to the same poll, 46 percent of respondents consider Israel an ally.

“There is a large partisan divide in the U.S. over Israel,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. “Sixty-three percent of Republicans call Israel an ally of the U.S., compared to only 33 percent of Democrats. A plurality of Democrats think that Israel is friendly to the U.S.; only one in five think it is unfriendly or an enemy.”

Source with video

…because if Robertson is correct then Jesus proclaiming “blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9) must have been a slip of the tongue. Guess he meant to say “cursed are the peacemakers” 

America’s Evangelical Christians Are Being Labeled As “Extremists” And “Hate Groups”? Why?

Interesting but as usual, a somewhat biased article.

Are evangelical Christians rapidly becoming one of the most hated minorities in America? Once upon a time such a notion would have been unthinkable, but these days things are changing dramatically. All over the United States, evangelical Christians are being called “extremists” and evangelical Christian organizations are being labeled as “hate groups”. In fact, as I will detail later on in this article, a U.S. Army Reserve training presentation recently specifically identified evangelical Christians as “religious extremists”. This should be extremely chilling for all evangelical Christians out there, because as history has shown us over and over again, when you want to persecute a particular group of people the first step is always to demonize them. And that is exactly what is being done to evangelical Christians today.

Continued Here

My reason for stating this is ‘somewhat biased’ is the author, through-out his article, appears to be believe the terms Evangelical and Christian are synonymous, when in fact they are not. At least they are not one and the same in today’s America.

Anyway, reading through the article and the comments left by readers, a couple scriptures come to mind.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me“ – Matthew 5: 11

“But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:  Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing“ – 1 Peter 3: 14-17

Just musing here but I think it’s a good idea when we start screaming, persecution! persecution!, that the persecution is coming for the right BIBLICAL reasons…don’t you? And, “if” America’s Evangelicals are being labeled as extremists or as a hate group, it also might be worth-while to take a moment to ask “why”.

Is it for Jesus Christ….is it because Evangelicals respond with meekness and humility when asked for the reason for the hope they possess,…is it because of their loving, “good” conversations concerning the Gospel and Christ?

Or are these labels being now attached to America’s Evangelicals for some other reason, entirely?

Our Wish for Our Children

Reposted from TeamPyro

“I hope many of us, so soon as our children saw the light, if not before, presented them to God with this anxious prayer, that they might sooner die than live to disgrace their father’s God.”

We only desired children that we might in them live over again another life of service to God; and when we looked into their young faces, we never asked wealth for them, nor fame, nor anything else, but that they might be dear unto God, and that their names might be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

We did then bring our children to Christ as far as we could do it, by presenting them before God, by earnest prayer on their behalf. And have we ceased to bring them to Christ? Nay, I hope we seldom bow the knee without praying for our children. Our daily cry is, “O, that they might live before thee!”

God knows that nothing would give us more joy than to see evidence of their conversion; our souls would almost leap out of our bodies with joy, if we should but know that they were the children of the living God. Nor has this privilege been denied to us, for there are some here who can rejoice in a converted household. Truly we can say with the apostle Paul, “I have no greater joy than this, that my children walk in the truth.”

We continue, therefore, to bring them to Christ by daily, constant, earnest prayer on their behalf. So soon as they become of years capable of understanding the things of God, we endeavour to bring them to Christ by teaching them the truth. Hence our Sabbath-schools, hence the use of the Bible and family prayer, and catechizing at home.

Any person who shall forbid us to pray for our children, will incur Christ’s high displeasure; and any who shall say, “Do not teach your children; they will be converted in God’s own time if it be his purpose, therefore leave them to run wild in the streets,” will certainly both “sin against the child” and the Lord Jesus.

~ Charles Spurgeon