Iowa judge orders ‘gay marriage’ legalized

This (Baptist Press – Iowa judge orders ‘gay marriage’ legalized – News with a Christian Perspective) is a shocking story. That an activist judge has tried to impose his will on the whole of the people of the state is bad enough but what is truly shocking is the comments he makes in the ruling.

The judge said “marriage has evolved over time” and that “homosexuality is a normal expression of human sexuality.” He also said of the traditional view of marriage that it reflects “old and overbroad stereotypes.” He also wrote that it is “well-established that children do not need a parent of each gender to be well adjusted” and that “children do not need male and female role models in the home to develop normally.”

The story points out that “Hanson’s decision overturned a defense of marriage act passed by the legislature and signed into law in the late 1990s. He ruled that the law violated both the due process and equal protection clauses of the Iowa constitution.”

What right does this judge have to order changes in any law. The last time I checked judges were supposed to interpret the laws that are on the books not implement laws that they want on the books. Where in our national Constitution or any state constitution are judges given the power to make and implement laws?

CHRISTIAN CALL TO ACTION: Christians – we are supposed to be proclaiming the truth of God’s Word. We are failing to do so and things like this are happening. It is time that Christians speak out and get involved. Our country is deteriorating fast because of we are not willing to take a stand. Be BOLD!! It is His battle….STAND FIRM…..SPEAK OUT……PROCLAIM THE TRUTH……and above all PRAY CONTINUOUSLY.

Football Time In Tennessee

Tomorrow is the day Tennessee fans have been waiting for. Tomorrow we will get to hear “Wherever you are….Its Football time in Tennessee”. Those of us who have been fans for more than the last 10 years know the origin of that comment. I can truly say that even though the current announcers are good they are NOT John Ward and Bill Anderson. I really miss listening to John and Bill calling the game.

I remember my wife thinking I was crazy and wondering what kind of guy she had married the first time she was with me while I watched the Vols play. The standard procedure for listening to a game, when John and Bill were still the announcers, was to turn the sound off on the TV and listen to John and Bill on the radio while watching the game. My wife, who has lived in TN her entire life, could not believe I was doing this. What’s more, she would not listen when I tried to explain it to her. It was not until she went to work the following week and was telling her co-workers about what her crazy new husband did and her co-workers confirming to her that all true TN fans watched the game that way that she actually believed me. She still thought it was crazy though….and still does today.

So, as you prepare to watch the game tomorrow night….turn the sound down on the TV, turn on the radio and enjoy.  For old times sake click here to hear John Ward say “Its Football Time In Tennessee”

Go Vols!!!!

Embracing Calvinism….Then Rejecting It

This (Classical Arminianism: Fallen From Calvinism) was posted over at Classical Arminianism. In the post he describes his “conversion” to Calvinism and what led him eventually to reject it and revert back to Arminianism. It is interesting to read how someone goes through this. He does make the point that he went beyond Calvinism into Hyper-Calvinism.

I read this post with much interest because I am at a place where I am considering accepting Calvinism myself. I have not yet embraced Calvinism. The one thing holding me back is Limited Atonement. I am still having trouble accepting that Jesus only intended to die for the elect and not everyone. I understand the logic behind it in the Calvinistic system of theology but it is still hard to accept.

Fred to Announce September 6

Fred has finally set the date.  I received an email and now see that the announcement is up on his web site.  Fred Thompson will officially announce his intention to run for President via webcast on September 6, 2007.  Click the link below to read the entire press release. 

Fred File – The Friends of Fred Thompson Blog » Blog Archive » Fred to Announce September 6

Another blog addressing whether homosexuality is a sin or not

This is a good post detailing what the Bible has to say on the subject.  The Bible is the ultimate authority on all things so it is appropriate to consult it for answers to this question.  The topic of homosexuality is directly addressed in the Bible. As such we need to heed what it says.

Click here to read the post over at the Fisher of Men blog.

Finally an honest homosexual advocate

Dr. Mohler posted an entry to his blog today entitled Homosexuality and the Bible — The Rejectionist Approach. He is reviewing an article published in Commonweal magazine written by Luke Timothy Johnson. Johnson serves as Robert R. Woodruff Professor of New Testament at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.

In the article Mohler sums up Johnson’s argument this way. “He (Johnson) argues that those who believe that the Bible’s clear condemnations of homosexual behaviors are still authoritative for Christians do so only out of fear or a lack of understanding of homosexuality itself. As he explains later in his essay, he has grown by experience to overcome this fear and ignorance. He now believes that the Bible is simply wrong.”

Johnson also says “I think it important to state clearly that we do, in fact, reject the straightforward commands of Scripture, and appeal instead to another authority when we declare that same-sex unions can be holy and good. And what exactly is that authority? We appeal explicitly to the weight of our own experience and the experience thousands of others have witnessed to, which tells us that to claim our own sexual orientation is in fact to accept the way in which God has created us. By so doing, we explicitly reject as well the premises of the scriptural statements condemning homosexuality–namely, that it is a vice freely chosen, a symptom of human corruption, and disobedience to God’s created order.”

Now that is an honest statement. Johnson admits that there is a higher authority than God in his opinion. That higher authority is personal experience. One quick question…if the Bible is to be interpreted through our personal experience then how can it make any absolute assertions? By this I mean that if my experience leads me to believe the Bible teaches on thing and someone else’s experience leads them to believe the Bible teaches the opposite who is right? This simply leads to chaos.

The Creator is very clear in His inerrant, infallible, perfect Word that homosexuality is a sin. The only way around that is to reject the Bible. Johnson has done that and at least he is honest enough to say so. I can respect his honesty but not his position on this.

What are the consequenses of Sin?

Okay, I have defined sin (click here to read the post) now it is time to discuss the consequences of sin. To do this we must start back in Genesis and the Garden of Eden.

Before the fall there was no sin in the world. Adam and Eve existed in a sinless state and enjoyed a personal relationship with God. To read about the fall see Genesis 3. Lets recap where they were for a moment. Adam and Eve lived in the Garden. They were able to spend time with God on a daily basis. Everything they needed was provided for them. They were in perfect harmony with God and with their environment. In short it was paradise on Earth.

That all changed at the point where Adam and Eve chose to disobey God. That is the essence of sin – disobedience to God. God had only given them one “law”. They were not to eat the fruit of one specific tree in the Garden – everything else was available to them. Romans 5:12 says “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”. Because of Adam’s choice to disobey sin and death entered God’s creation.

Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death” The consequences of the choice by Adam and Eve was two fold – spiritual death and physical death. Sin carries a death sentence with no hope of a last minute commutation. The consequences did not end with Adam and Eve. Because Adam was the first and head of the human race and because he sinned before any descendants were born, all humans share in his guilt. Romans 5:19 says “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners“.

John 8:34 says “…everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” Sin results in the bondage of the one who commits sin. The bondage / slavery is so complete that the person does not even realize that they are bound, or in servitude, to sin. Click here to read a more thorough discussion of this concept. Being in this state of slavery to sin makes it impossible to have a relationship with God. The Bible teaches us in Matthew 6:24 that we cannot serve two masters….that means that if our master is sin then we cannot serve God.

Now to recap…..All people share in the consequences of the choices made by Adam and Eve. We are all sinners by nature and are not capable of a relationship with God. We are spiritually dead and are waiting for our physical death. While we await our physical death we live our lives in bondage to sin – unaware that we are actually bound. This is a sad way to live….but until God regenerates us we do not know any better or want to be any different.  The consequences of sin are dire!  Do we really want to be separated from God for all eternity?  What hope would we have then?

God in His infinite wisdom prepared for us a way to be reconciled to Him…..more about that in a later post.

Dr. D. James Kennedy Retires

Click the link below to read the article. 

NEWS RELEASE: Dr. D. James Kennedy Retires

ACLU vs God….The ACLU’s (desperate) fight to keep the Bible out of schools

This story was on the Patriot Post website. It seems that the ACLU is at it again. The National Council on Bible Curriculum In Public Schools has created a course that teaches the Bible as history and literature as an elective in United States high schools. “The NCBCPS course provides students with an entry-level understanding of the Bible’s influence in history, literature and our legal and educational systems, as well as art, archaeology and other aspects of civilization. Appropriately, students use the most widely circulated text in history, the Bible, as their textbook.”

I am sure we can all see the danger here….right. I mean the Bible in the hands of kids (who volunteer to take the course) in public schools. Can you imagine what this might do to the public school system. SHOCKING…….FRIGHTENING!!!! How much of the brainwashing / indoctrination….I mean, education / enlightenment would this erase or at least cause the students to question?

The article says that over 400 school districts in 37 states have implemented the course and over 200,000 kids have taken the course to date. It also says that the course has been deemed “legal” under the constitution and can be used by any school district that wishes to implement it. But then we have the ACLU. Those wacky guys who insist on imposing their views on the rest of us. An interesting point made in the article is how the ACLU choose when and where to file their cases…they only bring their cases in districts where the judiciary is sympathetic with their way of thinking. That tells you something about the confidence they have in the strength of their cases and also about the judges they choose to use to help them implement their ridiculous agenda.

It is time we stand up and put an end to the influence the ACLU has. I heard once that the entire membership of the ACLU was under 10,000 people. If that is true then why do they have the influence they have….they are totally irrelevant. Lets let them know that by making our voices, as Christians, known as often and as loudly as we can!

AiG Weekly News: Did God use the big bang to bring the universe into existence?

The answer is no, of course.  This article points out that the order of creation in Genesis differs from the order of creation in the big bang theory.  They both cannot be true so Christians must choose which to believe.  I have often joked that God uses the big bang — “God says bang and things were created”.  I probably should not say this, even as an obvious joke.

Click the link here to read the article yourself:  AiG Weekly News