Three Prayer Requests for the Modern Church

Jim Bates is a family man, pastor, evangelist, missionary, pro-life colleague and friend who, among all of his other services for the Lord Jesus, blogs over at Prophet 21. I was particularly moved by the wisdom of three prayer requests he recently described on his blog and I believe you might be as well.

The Church on earth is only an imperfect manifestation of the one, true and invisible Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, yet we are promised by Jesus that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. In some lands there are hundreds of thousands of congregations and in others maybe only one or two. The wheat and the tares are mixed, the divisions and weaknesses are all too plain and obvious, yet the Holy Spirit is working in and through the Church in all its diversity of doctrines, denominations, languages and personalities. It is through the Church that God wants redemption to be proclaimed to mankind.

And so I present you with these three prayer request for the Church.

1) Maintaining a clear witness to the uniqueness of Christ in the midst of a growing religious pluralism, non-Christian religious revival, urbanization, modernity and relativism. Christians will be increasingly criticized for being "intolerant".

2) Sustaining the centrality of the Scriptures in today's world at a time when many Evangelicals in the West are becoming less firm in their convictions. Too often believers' thoughts, prejudices and fears are moulded more by the prevailing culture, philosophies, superstitions and religions of the society around them than by the Bible. Humanism in the West, Hinduism in India, etc., are examples. All such can rob Christians of their assurance, power and joy in the face of a hostile world, and side-track believers into focusing on secondary or irrelevant issues.

3) The effective functioning of local congregations. Each should be an organism, a body. Each member has gifts to contribute to the up-building of the whole, yet rarely do congregations function in this way. This emphasis on "body life" has come into prominence in the past three decades. New, innovative models of 'church' and its ministry are emerging. May every congregation be an effective body through which the Holy Spirit can work.

Today's Posts

Sometimes It Just Feels Like a Monday

Heaven Improved?

Let's Hear It For the Boys! Teenagers Save Newborn Baby's Life

Abortion Politics: International Treaties & "Gendercide"

One Baby Effectively Designed -- But How Many Were Sacrificed in the Process?

The ACLU's Latest Lawsuit: Not Enough Condoms & Abortion for Sex Trafficking Victims

"Angel Bags" for the Needy

Sometimes It Just Feels Like a Monday

Heaven Improved?

No, not heaven exactly.

I'm talking about an improvement to Randy Alcorn's remarkably exciting book, Heaven; namely, the addition (at no extra charge) of a special group study DVD with each copy. Here's Randy with the cool news.

Abortion Politics: International Treaties & "Gendercide"

The information one finds at the web site of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) is always relevant and valuable. However, two particularly important articles in recent days were 1) Samantha Singson's report on the Center for Reproductive Rights bragging about how their group (and other abortion advocates) have effectively created a “liberalizing trend” in abortion laws over the last decade through a carefully manipulated use of international treaty committees.

2) The other C-FAM article (also written by Singson) describes how at least one abortion organization is admitting that the radical drive to promote "abortion rights" around the globe must not be unduly bothered -- even by the increasing practice in sexist societies of "gendercide" (using abortion to get rid of little girls)!

One Baby Effectively Designed -- But How Many Were Sacrificed in the Process?

Chelsea Zimmerman briefly comments here on the claims of British scientists to have created a "designer baby" -- a person completely free from contracting certain cancers. Chelsea provides appropriate links to pursue the story but adds a few important insights of her own.

...This was not the result of any cure, mind you, but of Darwin’s lesser known discovery, the process of “un”natural selection. That is, the parents had multiple embryos created in a laboratory via IVF and only implanted those who did not test positive for the BRCA-1 gene which is linked to breast and ovarian cancer. There is no word in the article as to what ultimately became of the other embryos who tested positive for maybe, one day, possibly being diagnosed with the cancers, but there are only two options. Either they remain frozen in a fertility clinic or they have been destroyed and tossed in the garbage - unfortunate casualties to this new process of evolution.

Again, it is certainly understandable, even desirable, to try to eradicate disease and prevent human suffering if we can, but this crosses the line of ethics and human dignity. Thomas Peters says it all: "Prune disease out all you want, but for heaven’s sake, we’re talking about pruning people out here!"

The ACLU's Latest Lawsuit: Not Enough Condoms & Abortion for Sex Trafficking Victims

The ACLU seems happiest nowadays in promoting the most vile of vices. No longer satisfied with trying to eradicate Christian influence (grossly distorting the Constitution and seriously harming the culture in the process), the ACLU wants to eradicate a whole lot more; namely, people themselves. Thus, the ACLU's latest lawsuit against the HHS. The reason? There's not enough abortion being "provided" in the government's assistance to victims of sex trafficking.

Dante, call your office. There may be a whole new circle just for these guys.

"Angel Bags" for the Needy

After sidewalk counseling yesterday morning, Ruth was explaining to Claire, Mark and I about the idea of "Angel Bags" she had recently heard about as a way to more effectively serve the homeless. Instead of giving money (which, as you know, too often gets spent in spurious ways) a few churches and individuals have started sharing "Angel Bags" with the desperately needy. Ruth has even put together a couple of bags which she keeps in her car ready for giving away.

What would be included in a great "Angel Bag"? Well, listed below are a few suggestions she passes along. You can select from among these items respective to the season and to your purpose. For instance, sometimes a smaller, more immediate "Angel Kit" might be in order whereas in others a more substantial "Angel Bag" is needed. And, when possible, I would add the suggestion that your ministry to the desperately needy be undertaken with others, preferably a church or an established ministry organization.

Here's the possible items to include: a coat; a blanket or two; a stocking cap and/or earmuffs; socks; packages of instant soups or rice; a shirt; gloves; tins of canned meat; cracker and cheese packets; nutrition bars; coupons to a fast food restaurant; a toothbrush; soap bars and shampoo (Ruth used complimentary samples from her stays in hotels); and a gospel tract or two...maybe even a brief testimony of your own conversion to Christianity.

(Tip: Ruth uses "Step Up to Life," a very efficient explanation of the gospel designed many years ago by Elmer Murdoch. The tract now is offered in dozens of languages and a variety of very nifty specialized versions (i.e., for bikers, triathletes, hunters, travelers, and more.) You can check out "Step Up to Life" at their website here.)

Today's Posts

Tim Tebow: A Too-Good-To-Be-True Role Model?

"The Unholy Alliance Formed by Muslim Fanatics and Socialist Radicals is the Face of the Terrorist Future in the West."

What's That? Classical Education Isn't Dead Yet?

Steyn on Abortion

In Vitro Fertilization: The Serious Moral Issues That Are Not Being Addressed

"The Appeasing of Islamism" Leads to Violent Anti-Semitism in Britain

Tim Tebow: A Too-Good-To-Be-True Role Model?

Dan Wetzel, writing for Yahoo! Sports, admits that Tim Tebow is undoubtedly one of the best college football players of all time.

But he's inexplicably bothered by Tebow's public witness as an exemplary Christian.

Wetzel writes, "Tebow’s heart gets a lot of hype – too much for some. The television announcers are often over the top in their praise and the stories of Tebow’s off-field heroics as a devout Christian can be fatiguing. It’s a strange phenomenon of the modern media. Fans can find themselves rooting against a good guy just because they keep being reminded of how good he is. A little fallibility can go a long way... He’s a hero to Christians and an often too-good-to-be-true role model."

Hmm. Do you get the feeling that Wetzel prefers the athletes who snort coke, shoot guns in strip clubs, and punch out women? No, that's probably going too far. But one is forced to wonder just what "fatigues" him so much about Tebow.

My guess is that Wetzel (like so many others) doesn't feel comfortable with guys who actually strive to live up to their ideals. Those kind we would rather ignore (perhaps even disparage or mock) rather than face the contrast between their character, integrity, religious faith and leadership abilities and our lack of the same.

Maybe we've tried and failed too many times. Maybe we're just too lazy or cynical or faithless to make the attempt in the first place. In any case, we dismiss for ourselves the inspiration that heroes create for others.

I'm pleased that Dan Wetzel acknowledges the athletic greatness of Tim Tebow. But then that's awfully hard to ignore. What would please me even more is for him to get the cynical chip off his shoulder and consider how a role model like Tim Tebow might not be "too-good-to-be-true" after all. Tebow doesn't claim perfection. But neither does he see fallibility as a good thing, something to aim at, something to deliberately engage in so that the Dan Wetzels of the world feel comfortable around them.

No, Tim Tebow knows the grace of God that forgives "fallibilty." And he knows the power of God that can make a humble, obedient servant into a genuine hero and a healthy role model.

Even to skeptical sportswriters like Mr. Wetzel -- if they'd just take a serious look.

Steyn on Abortion

At Mark Steyn's excellent web site, he features a column called "Request of the Week." Last week he received this note from a fan living in Stanchel on Prince Edward Island:

Dear Mark,

I would love to re-read a piece on abortion that appeared in The National Post sometime in 2001 or 2002. I can't recall the title, but it mentioned a 17 year-old pregnant waitress and how society's response should be to leave a good tip - not bemoan the "punishment" of a baby. In this age of abortion gift-certificates and Morgentaler's Order of Canada, thankfully you do not consider discussion of this issue "above your pay grade".

Love your writing and dedication to free speech!

Steyn responded, "Okay, here it comes. This was one of the first columns in which I began, tentatively, to address the demographic issue - the self-extinction of the civilization that built the modern world. Whatever one feels about "a woman's right to choose", the state's interest (and especially the big-spending state's) is in natalism."

And he then printed the requested column, a truly exceptional one from The National Post of January 27th, 2003. It's called "Abortion and the State" and it's right here.

In Vitro Fertilization: The Serious Moral Issues That Are Not Being Addressed

Kate Bluett dares to ask some hard questions about the various moral dilemmas involved with in vitro fertilization in this detailed, well-written and insightful article for Salvo! magazine.

"The Appeasing of Islamism" Leads to Violent Anti-Semitism in Britain

Francesca Segal writes a sad and poignant plaint in yesterday's Observer (U.K.) -- one that describes the death of civility, rationality and concern for justice in Great Britain. And one that is now (sigh) all too relevant across the globe.

...In August 2001, I turned 21 and my parents gave me a Star of David necklace. Then a month later, the world changed and my mother, with remarkable foresight, began her campaign to rescind the gift, begging me to take it off because she was frightened it would make me a target in the wake of mounting evidence that fanatical Islamism was tightening its grip on the country. My argument was always the same - when I am no longer safe being identifiably Jewish on the tube, I don't want to live in England.

Now it's happening and I am devastated...

But as the British establishment sides with the appeasing of Islamism at home and abroad and as the word Zionism is increasingly bastardised, hijacked by a new definition comprising traditional antisemitic libels and demonising conspiracy theories, and as the liberal media and campaigning groups single out Israel disproportionately among all other countries for criticism, perpetuating the myth that Israel is responsible for mushrooming anti-western sentiment, I feel increasingly that I cannot stay.

My little sister arrived back at her university last week to discover buildings had been daubed with antisemitic graffiti. Across north London, the same scrawled vitriol has been appearing - "Jihad to Israel", frequently accompanied by the message: "Kill Jews."

Hamas' leader Mahmoud Zahar has now declared Jewish children worldwide as "legitimate targets" and although Fleet Street's recent Hamas revisionism made his statement easy to miss, it seems that plenty of others have taken note. The Community Security Trust has dealt with more than 50 antisemitic incidents in the UK in the last two weeks, including an arson attack on a synagogue, a massive spike in violence since the current operation began in Gaza...

Today's Posts

A "Back to School" Reminder

Co-Creator of "The Pill" Didn't Think It Would Be Used for Contraception; Regrets Complete Division of Sex and Reproduction

Things Are Bad for Religious Believers in Kazakhstan -- And They're Likely to Get Even Worse Soon

Bundle Up, Al. It's Awful Cold Out There.

Democrats Change the Rules; Make Tax Increases, Wasteful Spending Easier Than Ever

Irrational "Gimme Disease" Spreads to Rural Politicians

A "Back to School" Reminder

Co-Creator of "The Pill" Didn't Think It Would Be Used for Contraception; Regrets Complete Division of Sex and Reproduction

Kathleen Gilbert writes the following astounding report for LifeSiteNews.com.

An Austrian chemist who helped spearhead the creation of the earliest contraceptive pill has expressed dismay at the severance of sexuality and reproduction made possible by widespread use of the pill, and has warned against the impending demographic disaster from plummeting birth rates.

Carl Djerassi wrote of his concern in a commentary appearing in the December issue of Austria's Der Standard, where he described couples who regularly contracept as "wanting to enjoy their schnitzels while leaving the rest of the world to get on with it."

Djerassi, who is a chemist, novelist, and playwright, is best known for helping create the synthetic hormone progestin norethindrone in 1951, together with Mexican Luis E. Miramontes and Hungarian George Rosenkranz. The far more potent synthetic hormone was soon used for contraceptive purposes as it remains effective when taken orally, unlike natural female hormones.

At the time, Djerassi had said that "not in our wildest dreams" had he expected the chemical to be used for contraception. Now, he writes, "My contribution is to help these people wake up," referring to Austrian couples who freely contracept.

Lamenting that there is now "no connection at all between sexuality and reproduction," Djerassi said, "This divide in Catholic Austria, a country which has on average 1.4 children per family, is now complete. Most Austrians enjoy sexual intercourse without thereby wanting or begetting a child."

Djerassi explained that Austria, which is now home to more seniors over 65 than children under 15, would soon enter "an impossible situation" as the lopsided population would result in a working class too small to support the needs of elderly pensioners.

Therefore, he urged, Austrians would have to quickly adopt an immigration policy designed to counteract the effects of widespread contraception lest the population commit "national suicide."

Bundle Up, Al. It's Awful Cold Out There.

R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. comments on how the harsh winter weather may be, ironically enough, unthawing a few minds previously frozen by Al Gore fantasies.

...Al Gore may believe in global warming, but I suggest that he have a word with his fellow environmental catastrophists at the UK's Hadley Centre for Climate Predictions. Since the end of 1998 global warming has ceased. In fact, it is getting colder out there. Two thousand eight was possibly the coldest year of this young century. Over the last two years temperatures have dropped by more than 0.5 degrees Celsius -- brrrr.

The reason I mention Al's co-religionists at the Hadley Centre is that they have come to realize that computer projections of global warming have been wrong. Carbon dioxide levels have indeed increased but not temperatures. So bundle up, Al. Last year, in many parts of the world, snowfalls reached levels not seen in decades. The Associated Press recently shrieked that global warming "is a ticking time bomb that President-elect Barack Obama can't avoid," but the facts are otherwise...

Democrats Change the Rules; Make Tax Increases, Wasteful Spending Easier Than Ever

John Fund reports in the Wall Street Journal today about the sneaky tactics employed by Nancy Pelosi and company to "grease the wheels" for greater government spending. Contrary to Pelosi's past calls for reform, now that she has the power, she's using it to the max to beat down her fiscally conservative opposition. And she's also taking actions to keep Democrat shenanigans hidden from public view.

In the new rules, term limits for committee chairmen are gone. So too are cost containment measures on Medicare. So too is the ability of a Congressman to make a motion to edit out any spending increase without making up for the "lost revenue." So too is the century old "motion to recommit" which responsible Republicans had to use 50 times in the last Congress as they tried to check runaway spending.

Furthermore, the new Democrat bullys have changed the rules making tax cuts much harder to win. Says Fund, "The new rules will mean that the only way to push for a tax cut will be to propose a tax increase elsewhere."

"All those nice pro-life, gun-owning young Democrats recruited to run by Rahm Emanuel will never have any real influence now," says Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform. "They were useful in getting Democrats a majority but now they'll be in the back of the bus."

Fund concludes, "Barack Obama ran for president pledging to end needless partisanship and to create "a new politics." He is at least making a stab at that by appointing a couple of cabinet members with Republican ties and consulting with GOP Congressional leaders. It's unsettling that his fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill seem intent on marching in a completely opposite direction."

Irrational "Gimme Disease" Spreads to Rural Politicians

At first glance, the town of Edwardsville, Ala., with a population of 194 people, might raise a few eyebrows with its bid to receive $375 million from the economic stimulus package being assembled by Barack Obama and lawmakers in Congress.

The tiny town, located near the Georgia border and 26 miles from the nearest "big city" of Anniston (population: 24,276), added 33 proposals—about two thirds of them related to "green" energy—to the list of "ready- to- go" projects assembled by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Total sum: $375,076,200.

That comes out to nearly $2 million per Edwardsville resident...

"Do you know how hard it is to fund some of these projects when your tax base is so low?" Phillips says. "So we just breathed this sigh of relief when we found out about the stimulus package . . . especially when it had a focus on renewable energy."

Today's Posts

A Fashion Statement

More from Big Hollywood

"Always Winter but Never Christmas"

Your Action Needed for Broadcaster Freedom Act

What the G.O.P. Elephant Forgot

The Abortion President Stacks His Team

It's Not Politics First -- Conservatives Must Win Back Popular Culture

A Fashion Statement

More from Big Hollywood

In a post typed in earlier this morning (scroll down a bit to find it), I announced the launching of Andrew Breitbart's new website, Big Hollywood, an important new source for conservatives who realize that the culture wars are, first and foremost, about the culture rather than merely being about electoral politics.

Be sure and check that post out. And be sure you take the suggestion there to install Big Hollywood in your Favorites. I have done that already -- it's now right there on my daily visits list alongside Lucianne.com, National Review, The Pearcey Report, Jill Stanek, Randy Alcorn's Blog, Breakpoint, Radio Free Europe, Drudge Report, the Family Research Council, Town Hall...and yes, Yahoo Sports.

Anyway, back to Big Hollywood. May I suggest a few particularly interesting posts that are part of their maiden voyage? Good. They are: John Ziegler's "A Revealing Morning With Sarah Palin"; Ben Shapiro's "Can Movies Lose Wars?"; Gary Graham's "One Pissed-Off Dude"; and finally, John Nolte's "What’s Wrong With Corny?"

Nolte is the Editor in Chief of Big Hollywood and his brief comments about a Bobby Van dance scene from Small Town Girl are spot-on. Nolte says, "When you consider all the elements that had to come perfectly together in order to pull off Van’s joyous hop through an idealized small town, all done in long takes, it’s a reminder that putting a smile on the face of your audience is no easy thing. Corny can be hard, harder than than even irony or nihilism."

This is quality stuff, guys. And it makes me think that Big Hollywood is going to be a Big Deal indeed for the conservative movement.

Your Action Needed for Broadcaster Freedom Act

Republican Congressman Greg Walden from Oregon knows what he's talking about when he joined Congressman Mike Pence from Indiana in re-introducing the Broadcaster Freedom Act. The bill would champion free speech by prohibiting government censorship of political, religious, and other speech on the radio and public airwaves.

I know, I know -- you thought the U.S. Constitution already protected us from such nefarious noodling but recent experience has shown that free speech is under terrific fire -- and most of all from the left!

Congressman Walden owned and operated radio stations for over 20 years. In fact, he's part of a small town broadcast family that dates back to the 1930s. “The founders would spin in their graves at the thought of the government censoring speech on many of today’s radio and television stations,” said Walden. “Yet that’s just what some Democratic leaders seem to be after. Whether as a throwback to the old Fairness Doctrine or under a less controversial guise, any effort to exert government control over speech on the airwaves is an insult to the principles behind the First Amendment.”

There's no doubt that the Broadcaster Freedom Act is needed. Democrat leaders like Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, Senator John Kerry, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Jeff Bingaman and several others are already touting a return to the terribly misnamed Fairness Doctrine as a way to curb the impact of Rush Limbaugh and other conservative voices.

But Congressional action to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine (something that would certainly cause a public uproar) may not be needed. No, Barack Obama could slip it in the back door by simply letting the censors of the FCC change the rules. Voilà! No mess; no fuss. Free speech dies a quiet death by bureaucracy.

Such a scenario is not just possible. It truly is probable unless there's a strong move by Americans to defend our Constitutional freedoms. Please write or call your Congressmen and Senators soon and ask them to co-sponsor, work for and vote for the Broadcaster Freedom Act.

The Abortion President Stacks His Team

Barack Obama continues to set the stage for being the "Abortion President" as he names one hardline abortion activist after another to his Cabinet and leadership team. The latest looks like it will be practicing neurosurgeon and CNN medical reporter Sanjay Gupta to become the next Surgeon General.

Here's the story from LifeNews.com.

It's Not Politics First -- Conservatives Must Win Back Popular Culture

Andrew Breitbart gets it.

"If conservatives don't figure out popular culture soon, the movement will die a deserving death."

And Mark Steyn agrees.

"I think that's right. If the non-political sphere is permanently left-of-center — the movies, the pop songs, the plays, the sitcoms, the newspapers plus the churches, schools and much else — it's simply unreasonable to expect people to walk into a polling booth every other November and vote conservative. The culture is where the issues get framed and the boundaries set."

Read Breibart's comments on the matter here in this Washington Times article (complete with plans for his new website, Big Hollywood, which is now up and rolling -- and which richly deserves making it to your Bookmark list).

And Steyn's comments can be found in this brief post on NRO's The Corner.

Today's Posts

Epiphany Party 2009

Oh, Those Nutty Professors!

Lesbian Complaints Accepted by New Jersey Bureaucrats -- Methodist Campground Threatened With Closure

Once Again, Hamas Uses the "CNN Strategy" As Cover

Why Israel Struck

Israel Cannot Trust "World Opinion" -- She Must Insure Her Own Survival

Epiphany Party 2009

Last night's annual Epiphany party was one of the most delightful and inspiring from all the years we've been hosting them -- and that's saying quite a bit.

The party formally ended our Christmas celebrations (now the decorations come down, the movies and music get stored away, the nativity scene comes off the front lawn, etc.) but, as it usually does, last night's gathering provided large and very welcome doses of goodwill, spiritual encouragement and stimulation to love and good deeds that will be of immense help in the year to come.

Present at this year's party were Quint & Carol, Chet, Allen & Cindy, Karla, newlyweds Ben & Jennifer and Claire and I. We tried a bold experiment last night with the supper (you can risk that kind of thing when it involves trusted friends) but it worked like a charm. We offered our guests a "Soup Bar" featuring their choice of two seasoned stocks to begin with (chicken or beef) and then we added whatever ingredients they checked off on their menus: ground beef, basil chicken chunks, crumbled crisp bacon, beef kielbasa, northern beans, black beans, tricolor fiori pasta, corn, fried onions, spinach, and bella mushrooms. Claire and I then prepared each portion and served them up in lidded stew bowls I brought back from Belarus.

At the table were carrots, olives, celery, different kinds of bread and cheeses, crackers and chips, and pomegranate punch.

It went swell.

Following dinner we crammed into our living room and darkened the electric lights, leaving the warm glow of the fire to provide the atmosphere for the next stage of the evening. We talked, drank coffee, and then listened together to Randy Travis' exquisite Christmas song "Labor of Love" and Dylan Thomas' own reading of "A Child's Christmas in Wales."

Then there was more conversation, more coffee and a special dessert. Keeping with the theme, we offered custom-made ice cream sundaes, complete with a variety of toppings, whipped cream and maraschino cherries.

And finally, we concluded the Epiphany party with our traditional practice of putting away the figures in our oldest nativity set. Each person present chooses one of the figures and offers a brief meditation, prayer or story related to that character of the Bethlehem account. Claire then wraps the figures up for next year.

The evening was something we will long treasure. Thank you to all who made it such a special night.

And, as long as we're thanking people, may Claire and I thank everyone who graced our Christmas season this year by coming to our parties. And, let's see, counting our nine at-home parties plus a family breakfast down at a Lincoln restaurant, that makes (we think) about 70 who helped make this holiday season one of our best of all time.

Once Again, Hamas Uses the "CNN Strategy" As Cover

Alan Dershowitz describes how the West is effectively duped by the Hamas deployment of a "CNN strategy," thus creating a shield for its ongoing campaign to wipe Israel off the map.

Here's a few choice paragraphs from the National Post (Canada) story. (Limor Edrey's photo at left shows an Israeli house destroyed by a Hamas rocket. It accompanied an IPS story from May 22nd.)

"On the first day of Israel’s ground attack, approximately 30 Palestinians, almost all Hamas combatants, were killed. On the same day an Islamic suicide bomber blew herself up in a mosque in Iraq, killing 40 innocent Muslims. No protests. Little media coverage."

As Israel persists in its military efforts — by ground, air and sea — to protect its citizens from deadly Hamas rockets, and as protests against Israel increase around the world, the success of the abominable Hamas double war crime strategy becomes evident. The strategy is as simple as it is cynical: Provoke Israel by playing Russian roulette with its children, firing rockets at kindergartens, playgrounds and hospitals; hide behind its own civilians when firing at Israeli civilians; refuse to build bunkers for its own civilians; have TV cameras ready to transmit every image of dead Palestinians, especially children; exaggerate the number of civilians killed by including as “children” Hamas fighters who are 16 or 17 years old and as “women,” female terrorists.

Hamas itself has a name for this. They call it “the CNN strategy” (this is not to criticize CNN or any other objective news source for doing its job; it is to criticize Hamas for exploiting the freedom of press which it forbids in Gaza). The CNN strategy is working because decent people all over the world are naturally sickened by images of dead and injured children. When they see such images repeatedly flashed across TV screens, they tend to react emotionally. Rather than asking why these children are dying and who is to blame for putting them in harm’s way, average viewers, regardless of their political or ideological perspective, want to see the killing stopped. They blame those whose weapons directly caused the deaths, rather than those who provoked the violence by deliberately targeting civilians...

The CNN strategy seems to work better, at least in some parts of the world, against Israel that it would against other nations. There is much more protest — and fury — directed against Israel when it inadvertently kills approximately 100 civilians in a just war of self-defence, than against Arab and Muslim nations and groups that deliberately kill far more civilians for no legitimate reason.

It isn’t the nature of the victims, since more Arabs and Muslim civilians are killed every day in Africa and the Middle East by Arab and Muslim governments and groups with little or no protests. (For example, on the first day of Israel’s ground attack, approximately 30 Palestinians, almost all Hamas combatants, were killed. On the same day an Islamic suicide bomber blew herself up in a mosque in Iraq, killing 40 innocent Muslims. No protests. Little media coverage.) It isn’t the nature of the killings, since Israel goes to extraordinary lengths to avoid killing civilians — if for no other reason than that it hurts its cause — while Hamas does everything in its power to force Israel to kill Palestinian civilians by firing its missiles from densely populated civilian areas and refusing to build shelters for its civilians.

It isn’t the nature of the conflict, either, because Israel is fighting a limited war of self-defence designed to protect its own civilians from rocket attacks, while most of those killed by Arabs and Muslims are killed in genocidal and tribal warfare with no legitimate aim.

The world simply doesn’t seem to care when Arabs and Muslims kill large numbers of other Arabs and Muslims, but a qualitatively different standard applies when the Jewish state kills even a relatively small number of Muslims and Arabs in a war of self-defence.

The international community doesn’t even seem to care when Palestinian children are killed by rocket fire — unless it is from Israeli rockets. The day before the recent outbreak, Hamas fired an anti-personnel rocket at Israeli civilians, but the rocket fell short of its target and killed two Palestinian girls. Yet there was virtually no coverage and absolutely no protests against these “collateral” civilian deaths. Hamas refused to allow TV cameras to show these dead Palestinian children.

Nor have there been protests against the cold-blooded murders by Hamas and its supporters of dozens of Palestinian civilians who allegedly “collaborated” with Israel. Indeed, Hamas and Fatah have killed far more Palestinian civilians over the past several years than have the Israelis, but you wouldn’t know that from the media, the United Nations or protesters who focus selectively on only those deaths caused by Israeli military actions.

The protesters who filled the streets of London, Paris and San Francisco were nowhere to be seen when hundreds of Jewish children were murdered by Palestinian terrorists over the years...

By any objective count, the number of genuinely innocent civilians killed by the Israeli Air Force in Gaza is lower than the collateral deaths caused by any nation in a comparable situation. Hamas does everything in its power to provoke Israel into killing as many Palestinian civilians as possible, in order to generate condemnation against the Jewish state. It has gone so far as firing rockets from Palestinian schoolyards and hiding its terrorists in Palestinian maternity wards.

Lest there be any doubt about the willingness of Hamas officials to expose their families to martyrdom, remember that the Hamas terrorist leader recently killed in an Israeli air attack sent his own son to be a suicide bomber. He also refused to allow his family to leave the house, even after learning that he and his house has been placed on the a of Israeli military targets...

Israel Cannot Trust "World Opinion" -- She Must Insure Her Own Survival

...The origin of the state of Israel is not religion or nationalism, it is the experience of oppression and murder, the fear of total annihilation and the bitter conclusion that world opinion could not be relied upon to protect the Jews...

So when Israel is urged to respect world opinion and put its faith in the international community the point is rather being missed. The very idea of Israel is a rejection of this option. Israel only exists because Jews do not feel safe as the wards of world opinion. Zionism, that word that is so abused, so reviled, is founded on a determination that, at the end of the day, somehow the Jews will defend themselves and their fellow Jews from destruction. If world opinion was enough, there would be no Israel.

The poverty and the death and the despair among the Palestinians in Gaza moves me to tears. How can it not? Who can see pictures of children in a war zone or a slum street and not be angry and bewildered and driven to protest? And what is so appalling is that it is so unnecessary. For there can be peace and prosperity at the smallest of prices. The Palestinians need only say that they will allow Israel to exist in peace. They need only say this tiny thing, and mean it, and there is pretty much nothing they cannot have.

Yet they will not say it. And they will not mean it. For they do not want the Jews. Again and again - again and again - the Palestinians have been offered a nation state in a divided Palestine. And again and again they have turned the offer down, for it has always been more important to drive out the Jews than to have a Palestinian state. It is difficult sometimes to avoid the feeling that Hamas and Hezbollah don't want to kill Jews because they hate Israel. They hate Israel because they want to kill Jews.

There cannot be peace until this changes. For Israel will not rely on airy guarantees and international gestures to defend it. At its very core, it will not. It will lay down its arms when the Jews are safe, but it will not do it until they are...

Read all of Daniel Finkelstein's moving piece in today's Times (U.K.) right here.

Today's Posts

In Mere Seconds, Hearts Are Changed and Precious Lives Are Saved

Embryonic Stem Cells: They Just Can't Figure Out How To Make 'Em Safe for Patients

The Obama Stimulus Package: A Classic Bait and Switch Game

Court Sides with Anglican Hierarchy; Rules Against Churches Who Oppose Homosexual Priests

"The Dirty Joke from Minnesota"

Will Illinois Cars Soon Be Sporting This?

The Kennedys and Abortion: A Tragic Sell Out

In Mere Seconds, Hearts Are Changed and Precious Lives Are Saved

Have you seen this quick television spot? It's just one of the dozens of powerful pro-life messages that are changing hearts, inspiring hope and saving lives all across the country.

Watch it. Look around at the other examples available for viewing.

And then, like Vital Signs Ministries, please join in a generous support of Virtue Media.

Embryonic Stem Cells: They Just Can't Figure Out How To Make 'Em Safe for Patients

Among the insoluble problems scientists face in trying to use embryonic stem cells in practical medicine is the regularity of rejection, the tendency of ESCs to develop into tumors, and the very scary issue in which some ESCs appear to be pre-cancerous.

Wesley J. Smith comments here on a recent study publicized by Nature Reports Stem Cells that suggests that the "healthiest appearing ES cells" may, in fact, be the most dangerous of all.

The Obama Stimulus Package: A Classic Bait and Switch Game

And it's a game that will produce devastating economic and social results.

Here's a few stern, salient warnings from people who can be trusted.

"Don’t Take the Bait for Obama’s Trillion Dollar Spending Trap" -- Conn Carroll, The Heritage Foundation's Foundry;

"The Economic 'Stimulus'" -- Thomas Sowell; and

"Are They All Democrats Now?" -- David Limbaugh

Court Sides with Anglican Hierarchy; Rules Against Churches Who Oppose Homosexual Priests

The California Supreme Court (yes, the same one that defiantly dismissed the will of the people in Proposition 8 and forced same sex marriages on the state's citizens) ruled unanimously yesterday that, although each church held a deed to their land in their own names, three parishes that left the Episcopal Church over its policy of ordaining homosexual ministers must forfeit their property to the Episcopal Church.

Guys, you couldn't get a clearer case of ideology-driven tyranny than this one.

"The Dirty Joke from Minnesota"

Wesley Pruden's op/ed piece in the Washington Times is a punchy exposé of the stolen election to the U.S. Senate of Al Franken, "the dirty joke from Minnesota" who is dirty in more ways than one.

A lot of the venal sins of Congress could be judged pornographic, both politically and otherwise, but we've never had an Official Senate Pornographer before. Sen. Chuck Schumer says Al Franken will fit right in.

"With the Minnesota recount complete," he says, gleefully, "it is now clear that Al Franken won the election." Actually, it isn't clear at all, as Mr. Schumer well knows, even though the Democrats managing the recount declared Mr. Franken the winner yesterday. The Democrats in the Senate are eager to get Al seated quickly because once he's seated among equals a bum is difficult to throw out. There's honor among senators, similar to the honor among thieves. (The difference is that thieves often hold to higher standards.)...

The post-election campaign in Minnesota to deprive Norman Coleman of his seat is remarkable for the way it was done in broad daylight, with everyone watching in a way not possible before the 24/7 glare of modern media.

The Minnesota secretary of state, Mark Ritchie, presided over the recount and it became clear quickly that the Democrats would do whatever was necessary to count Mr. Coleman out, stopping just short of borrowing votes from neighboring Wisconsin and Iowa. He was behind by 215 votes when the official counting stopped, and finished ahead by 225 votes when the recount was concluded. Nearly every dispute over procedure, evidence and judgment was resolved in Al's favor...

One member of the canvassing board, state Supreme Court Justice Barry Anderson, concedes that some ballots were likely counted twice, but he says there's not much anybody can do about it. In more than 25 precincts officials counted more ballots than voters; presumably we can put this down to the enthusiasm of high-minded Minnesotans to vote as often as they can. Everyone has a duty to vote, so who can scold a man or woman for going above and beyond the call of duty? Isn't that why Congress awards the Medal of Honor?

If Emerson was right, that consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, the minds of the Democratic canvassers are big and wide, indeed. Officials in one precinct in Hennepin County lost 133 actual ballots during the recount; never mind, they decided, we'll just go with the election-night count. This gave Al 46 extra votes.

But in a Ramsey County precinct, canvassers found more ballots in the recount than precinct judges counted on election night. Oh, good, the canvassers concluded; we'll ignore election night and count the extra ballots. Al got an extra 37 votes. When it was time to count absentee ballots - nearly always the devil's favorite item in the details - and Al was still in the hole, the secretary of state insisted on counting enough ballots that had been set aside for reexamination to put Al up 176 votes...

"Minnesotans like to think that their state isn't like New Jersey or Louisiana," observes the Wall Street Journal, "and typically it isn't."

Well, maybe. But any Minnesotan who thinks that owes Tony Soprano and Carlos Marcello an apology. The Mafia hasn't stolen an election this brazenly since Sam Giancana bought Illinois for John F. Kennedy a half-century ago.

JustJoe comments on Pruden's article from Lucianne.com, "We haven't seen the low point yet. It's the 'direction' of things that is most troubling: a senate seat awarded to a Princess because of her name, a senate seat up for sale to the highest bidder, a senate seat stolen blatantly, in-your-face. These are downward steps on a long staircase that will be descended deeper by more thugs and clowns following this batch.

The Republicans are dead in the water. We can complain about the corruption of the Democrats, but they flex their muscles because of the weakness of the spineless Repubs. The only hope is a new Republican party taken over by Sarah and including some others like Jindal, or, if she is elbowed out -- what I hope for -- a brand new conservative party."

Will Illinois Cars Soon Be Sporting This?

The Kennedys and Abortion: A Tragic Sell Out

I missed last week's Anne Hendershott article in the Wall Street Journal, "How Support for Abortion Became Kennedy Dogma." But thanks to a friend who passed it along to me, I found this must-read piece and now do the same for you. Very important information here.

...Ms. Kennedy was so concerned to assure pro-abortion leaders in New York, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Dec. 18, that on the same day Ms. Kennedy telephoned New York Gov. David Patterson to declare interest in the Senate seat, "one of her first calls was to an abortion rights group, indicating she will be strongly pro-choice."

Within the first week of her candidacy, Ms. Kennedy promised to work for several causes, including same-sex marriage and abortion rights. In responding to a series of 15 questions posed by the New York Times on Dec. 21, Ms. Kennedy said that, while she believes "young women facing unwanted pregnancies should have the advice of caring adults," she would oppose legislation that would require minors to notify a parent before obtaining an abortion. On the crucial question of whether she supports any state or federal restrictions on late-term abortions, Ms. Kennedy chose to say only that she "supports Roe v. Wade, which prohibits third trimester abortions except when the life or health of the mother is at risk." Presumably Ms. Kennedy knows that this effectively means an unlimited right to abortion -- including late-stage abortion -- because the "health of the mother" can be so broadly defined that it includes the psychological distress that can accompany an unintended pregnancy.

Ms. Kennedy's commitment to abortion rights is shared by other prominent family members, including Kerry Kennedy Cuomo and Maryland's former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. Some may recall the 2000 Democratic Convention when Caroline and her uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy, addressed the convention to reassure all those gathered that the Democratic Party would continue to provide women with the right to choose abortion -- even into the ninth month. At that convention, the party's nominee, Al Gore, formerly a pro-life advocate, pledged his opposition to parental notification and embraced partial-birth abortion. Several of those in attendance, including former President Bill Clinton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, had been pro-life at one time. But by 2000 nearly every delegate in the convention hall was on the pro-choice side -- and those who weren't simply kept quiet about it.

Caroline Kennedy knows that any Kennedy desiring higher office in the Democratic Party must now carry the torch of abortion rights throughout any race. But this was not always the case. Despite Ms. Kennedy's description of Barack Obama, in a New York Times op-ed, as a "man like my father," there is no evidence that JFK was pro-choice like Mr. Obama. Abortion-rights issues were in the fledgling stage at the state level in New York and California in the early 1960s. They were not a national concern.

Even Ted Kennedy, who gets a 100% pro-choice rating from the abortion-rights group Naral, was at one time pro-life. In fact, in 1971, a full year after New York had legalized abortion, the Massachusetts senator was still championing the rights of the unborn. In a letter to a constituent dated Aug. 3, 1971, he wrote: "When history looks back to this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception."

But that all changed in the early '70s, when Democratic politicians first figured out that the powerful abortion lobby could fill their campaign coffers (and attract new liberal voters). Politicians also began to realize that, despite the Catholic Church's teachings to the contrary, its bishops and priests had ended their public role of responding negatively to those who promoted a pro-choice agenda.

In some cases, church leaders actually started providing "cover" for Catholic pro-choice politicians who wanted to vote in favor of abortion rights. At a meeting at the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport, Mass., on a hot summer day in 1964, the Kennedy family and its advisers and allies were coached by leading theologians and Catholic college professors on how to accept and promote abortion with a "clear conscience."...

Today's Posts

American Beverage Institute Spokesperson -- Over the Top In Protecting Drunk Driving

Next In the Handout Line? The 50 States.

Hmm...Maybe Habitat for Humanity Shouldn't Have Built Those Homes on a Garbage Dump

Surrendering to "Car Prowl" Criminals

Carrying Castro's Water

Welcome to the Post-Christian Era: Profane, Potty-Mouth Comedian "Elected" to U.S. Senate

Hmm...Maybe Habitat for Humanity Shouldn't Have Built Those Homes on a Garbage Dump

One man pulled up his floorboards to find rubbish 5ft deep under his kitchen. Other complaints include cracking walls and rotting door frames that let in rats and ants. Many residents have complained of mildew and mysterious skin rashes.

One resident said her children were suffering from skin complaints. “The intentions are good, but when the politicians and big-shot stars have left we’re stuck with the consequences. This house looks pretty but inside it either stinks or sweats,” she said.

Uh oh. Habitat for Humanity has a bit of a public relations problem on its hands.

Residents of a model housing estate bankrolled by Hollywood celebrities and hand-built by Jimmy Carter, the former US president, are complaining that it is falling apart. Fairway Oaks was built on northern Florida wasteland by 10,000 volunteers, including Carter, in a record 17-day “blitz” organised by the charity Habitat for Humanity. Eight years later it is better known for cockroaches, mildew and mysterious skin rashes.

A forthcoming legal battle over Fairway Oaks threatens the reputation of a charity envied for the calibre of its celebrity supporters, who range from Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt to Colin Firth, Christian Bale and Helena Bonham Carter. The case could challenge the bedrock philosophy behind Habitat for Humanity, claiming that using volunteers, rather than professional builders, is causing as many problems as it solves.

April Charney, a lawyer representing many of the 85 homeowners in Fairway Oaks, said she had no problems taking on Habitat for Humanity, despite its status as a “darling of liberal social activists”. She said the charity should have told people that part of the estate had been built on a rubbish dump...

Carrying Castro's Water

In this compelling American Thinker article, Humberto Fontova describes how the mainstream media continue to play apologists (even enablers) to the Communist barbarians running Cuba.

It's an important read and one you would do well for the cause of freedom to pass along to others. You can do so easily by using the "E-Mail This" feature button at the bottom of this post.

From the AP to Reuters and from the New York Times to the Washington Post the MSM stories on the Cuban Revolution” 50th anniversary all mention a “dictator”-- but his name is Batista. The Castro brothers invariably appear as “Presidents.” Fidel Castro has ruled (unelected) longer than Hitler and Stalin combined and mandates what his subjects, read, say, earn, eat (both substance and amount), where they live, travel or work. No matter. He's a “president”

You will search these stories in utter vain for any mention of mass-murder and jailings or torture—on the part of the Castros that is. Yet mass-repression started on day one of the Castroite triumph and kicked into highest gear in the mid 60's, precisely at the apex of the Castro/Che popularity with western politicians, celebrities and “intellectuals.” ...

Here's the rest of this important piece.

Welcome to the Post-Christian Era: Profane, Potty-Mouth Comedian "Elected" to U.S. Senate

Strange things keep happening in Minnesota, where the disputed recount in the Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken may be nearing a dubious outcome. Thanks to the machinations of Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and a meek state Canvassing Board, Mr. Franken may emerge as an illegitimate victor.

Mr. Franken started the recount 215 votes behind Senator Coleman, but he now claims a 225-vote lead and suddenly the man who was insisting on "counting every vote" wants to shut the process down. He's getting help from Mr. Ritchie and his four fellow Canvassing Board members, who have delivered inconsistent rulings and are ignoring glaring problems with the tallies...

Read more on this Wall Street Journal story here. It's just one more in what's become an audacious series of political corruption by Democrats. And with the confidence that they can get away with it (60 Minutes and company are, as a matter of course, AWOL when it comes to Democrat shenanigans), these guys are going to get nothing but worse.

Today's Posts

Northern Ireland Environment Minister, Sammy Wilson: "I Still Think Man-Made Climate Change is a Con."

Whose Next In Line for YOUR Money?

Whose Next In Line for YOUR Money? (Addendum)

Clueless, Classless CNN

Are New Year's Resolutions for Christians?

Northern Ireland Environment Minister, Sammy Wilson: "I Still Think Man-Made Climate Change is a Con."

...“I think in 20 years’ time we will look back at this whole climate change debate and ask ourselves how on earth were we ever conned into spending the billions of pounds which are going into this without any kind of rigorous examination of the background, the science, the implications of it all. Because there is now a degree of hysteria about it, fairly unformed hysteria I’ve got to say as well.

“I mean I get it in the Assembly all the time and most of the people who shout about climate change have not read one article about climate change, not read one book about climate change, if you asked them to explain how they believe there’s a connection between CO2 emission and the effects which they claim there’s going to be, if you ask them to explain the thought process or the modelling that is required and the assumptions behind that and how tenuous all the connections are, they wouldn’t have a clue.

“They simply get letters about it from all these lobby groups, it’s popular and therefore they go along with the flow — and that would be ok if there were no implications for it, but the implications are immense.”...

(Source, Belfast Telegraph, December 31)

Whose Next In Line for YOUR Money?

Rebecca Christie reports for Bloomberg that the government's bailout of the automakers themselves is just the beginning.

The Treasury Department has already conceded that there's other "commercial interests" connected with the auto industry that will be getting money too: axle manufacturers, insurers, loan companies.

And what about those pretty showroom models? Whose gonna' pay for those sequined dresses?

Here's the first paragraphs of Christie's story:

The U.S. Treasury threw the door open to taxpayer financing for a widening array of companies and industries by drafting broad guidelines on aid to the auto industry.

The Treasury’s guidelines, published yesterday, would let officials provide funds to any company they deem important to making or financing cars. That leaves room for the government to provide money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program beyond loans already committed to General Motors Corp., GMAC LLC and Chrysler LLC.

“There are going to be other industries that are going to have just as good a case,” as the auto companies, former St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President William Poole said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “We don’t know what those other industries are going to be. Where does this process stop?”...

Clueless, Classless CNN

CNN thinks it's cute to have the notoriously irreligious and raunchy comedienne Kathy Griffin serve as co-host for their live New Year's Eve broadcast, complete with her trademark profanity, vulgarity and hateful slurs.

It is not only another reason for turning off CNN in your own home, it's another point in the presentation you make to those who insist on playing CNN in the airports, your doctor's office, the coffee shops, and even at the gas pumps.

Here's the New York Post story on the disgusting affair.

And here's the kind of e-mail I hope you'll join me in sending to CNN.

Dear CNN,

Your choice of the notoriously vulgar comedienne Kathy Griffin to again serve as co-host of your live New Year's Eve broadcast certainly marks a low point in your history. Her performance on that broadcast, complete with profanity and hateful personal slurs, was disgusting and deeply offensive.

I realize, of course, that Griffin's reputation as a nasty, mean-spirited performer is probably the very reason you chose her for the job, thinking that CNN might prove itself to younger viewers as iconoclastic and oh-so-hip. But it only emphasizes that CNN would rather compete with Saturday Night Live than serve as an objective, careful, hard-news news network.

The New Year's Eve broadcast made Anderson Cooper look like a cowardly fool. But it made the motives of the CNN front office look even worse.

This is how you prove yourselves superior to Fox? C'mon, guys; bad move. Please get out of the sandbox and get back to being what you're supposed to be.

Denny Hartford
Director, Vital Signs Ministries
Omaha, Nebraska

Are New Year's Resolutions for Christians?

There are some Christians who dismiss New Year's resolutions as exercises in pride and self-determination. However, making resolutions (and doing everything one can to then keep them) should be a basic and ongoing part of a Christian's life. Why else would Scripture so frequently use such "resolutional" verbs as reckon, count, consider, put on, put aside, dedicate, fix, consecrate, think, prepare, grow, gird, look, be transformed, and so on?

In the sermon, Christmas Resolutions, Denny looks at the legitimacy of making resolutions, presents a few relevant Scriptures he's meditating on regarding his own 2009 resolutions, and gives some helpful advice to make your resolutions more successful than they've been in the past.