Cold War II

Over shadowed by the POTUS 08 race is the real news. Russia invading a country most of us have never heard of (Unless your a fan of the video game Splinter Cell.) Russia is moving on a course that is very scary and looks to me a hard course to reverse. They I think have realized how bad a mistake they have made and thrown some wild accusations out there blaming Israel and even the U.S. for getting them into a war.

Vladimir Putin accuses Bush of provoking Georgia conflict to help John McCain - Times Online

In his most explosive allegation since the South Ossetia crisis erupted, the Russian Prime Minister said that the United States had provoked the conflict to aid the Republican candidate, who is an outspoken critic of the Kremlin.

What is truely concerning about the events is the allegiances Russia is seeking. Thank you China for supporting the West on the situation on Georgia.

Asian alliance rebuffs Russian plea for support - Yahoo! News

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan – China and several Central Asian nations rebuffed Russia's hopes of international support for its actions in Georgia, issuing a statement Thursday denouncing the use of force and calling for the respect of every country's territorial integrity.

Now let's hope that Russia dosn't proceed along the path some are advising in Russia. That they set up allegiances with Iran. Battleships facing off, U.S. missle defenses going up in Poland, and Russia calling on old freinds like Cuba. ...

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Education Over Life

Something Senator Obama said Thursday night stood out among his normal make the world feel happy but don't say anything while doing it speeches. He stated that it is our "moral obligation to provide our children with a world class education." I wish I had the opportunity to question him at that point in his speech.

Which children Senator Obama? Come on people! This is the guy who told Rick Warren that defining the beginning of life is "above your pay grade." (Please someone close to Obama slap him and explain to him that he is running for President of The United States!) The abortion debate aside, I think any sane person can agree once a baby is born alive that it should be protected under U.S. law.

CitizenLink: Obama Blocked Born Alive Infant Protection Act

My friend stood in Obama’s path and said, “Senator, we are going to pass Born Alive here in Illinois this year.”

Obama smiled smoothly and agreed, “I think you will,” adding, “I would have voted for the Born Alive Infant Protection Act in Illinois had it been worded the same as the federal bill. I think that’s the position the Democrats should take.”

There’s just one thing he forgot to mention: Obama had stopped his committee from adding the federal wording.

With Obama no longer in the state Senate, the Born Alive legislation passed in 2005.

Senator Obama which children is it our moral obligation to provide a world class education to? What about the children you allowed to die in a closet of a hospital, when do they get a world class education, where is the change they can believe in?

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Restoring America's Moral Authority??

So listening to a speech from the DNC this week I heard someone and I can't remember who say that Obama was the candidate to restore our Country's moral authority. That is really funny in light of his pick for Vice President. As I learned Monday from some good freinds Joe Biden has a strange moral compass.

Take into consideration his speech in 1987 Where he blatantly plagiarized a speech made by Neil Kinnock only a few months earlier. Not only did he steal another man's ideas and present them as his own, he also lied, and then told the New York Times that is was not malevolent.

Biden Admits Plagiarism in School But Says It Was Not 'Malevolent' - New York Times

In addition, Mr. Biden said that in his talks invoking that speech, by Neil Kinnock, the Labor Party leader, he had miscast some of his own forebears, painting them as having rather more humble origins than they in fact did. For example, borrowing Mr. Kinnock's sentiments, Mr. Biden had said he was ''the first in his family ever to go to university.'' In fact, Mr. Biden said today, ''there are Finnegans, my mother's family, that went to college.''

The same article from the Times also found that Biden in college ''used five pages from a published law review article without quotation or attribution'' in one of his college papers!Sounds to me like Obama made an outstanding choice towards restoring our Country's moral authority. (Sarcasm intended)

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Anger -- It's Okay Even on Sundays

Some have asked me lately what I meant in my introduction by "I am a Christian, and I have a passion to restore a more masculine
image to the Christian Church (sorry ladies, but church has become way
to feminine and it needs to reverse direction)". Therefore today I would like to expand a little on this subject. Truthfully its no one thing, and men we have nobody to blame but ourselves for the decline in masculinity in today's church.

I'm not sure how or why but somewhere along the road Christianity has been labeled as a place where anger is a taboo. Men get angry (Jesus got angry and I'm certain HE still does), a place or a group that doesn't allow anger is a strange and uncomfortable place for a man to be. This is an image churches need to change, that the pew is a place where its okay to cry and grab a tissue, but anger is a 4 letter word.

Some women may not understand this so I will offer two examples one is a quote and I cannot remember who said it so forgive me there, "Telling a man not to get angry is like telling a woman to stop crying". The second example comes from my own children (and I imagine yours are the same). My son is 3 and when he is missing dad or having a hard time with something he reacts in anger, my daughter who is 2 cries out.

Okay men PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THIS PART. Anger is okay but it needs to come from the right place; James 1:19-20

19 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

Be angry when you read about babies murdered in the womb, when you observe unjust and unfair treatment of others, when you see our youth trapped in the grips of drugs and sex. Getting angry when you get cut off on the highway "does not bring about the righteous life that God desires".

Men lets take back the church, lets step up and with a righteous anger show the world that we are not a bunch of soft spoken intellectuals but men the same as any other only carrying a hope that comes from God Himself.

Human Suffering

A recent reader of Fractured Perspicacity asked the question "what kind of God would let innocent children suffer"? The bigger question is if God allows suffering why would I follow Him? This is perhaps one of the most difficult things to answer, its not difficult because the answer is not available from God, but because its a hard thing to hear, especially when you are suffering.

First of all Christians know that God is omnipotent (has absolute power), and loves his creation (us). Therefore it seems incomprehensible to a non-christian that the world in the state that it is would have been made by an all powerful, loving God. If God is all powerful how can anything happen that opposes God's will.

To use an example from C.S. Lewis. Anyone who has been a parent can understand That something can be in accordance with your will, and not in another way. Meaning it can be your will that your children clean their room, and in fact learn to clean it on their own. However you may find a toy left out of the toy box which is against your will in that the room is no longer clean, but you gave them the freewill to learn to clean on their own.

Alright, so that makes a bit of sense but how does it apply to human suffering? Well that's a little tricky so follow close. God created us with free will meaning we have the choice to either go wrong or choose to be right. Free will is what caused us to lose the world to the enemy, and through our sin we are the cause of suffering in the world. We made the initial mistake and continue to mess up daily (whether you are a Christian or not you are still sinning).

So why did God make us with a free will if innocents would suffer because of it? Well, I'm guessing He found that it was worth the cost. Many people think that they cannot love a God who allows suffering and they are saying in a sense that they know better then God so I'll end with this;

Romans 9:20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it?

A helpful link to a book written by a man much wiser than I.

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Discipleship -- Hanging Onto The Edge

Recently me and Melissa enjoyed a dinner date without the children, and had some time to visit the book store. I picked up two books, and the one of most interest to me at this time is called Religious Literacy. In its most basic form it is a scientific look at the lack of knowledge Americans have regarding any faith. For Evangelical Christians it is a sobering example of how we have dropped the ball in regards to discipleship.

Those of you who have found salvation, and then been left to fend for yourselves with little or no help from mature Christians raise your hands (Okay now put them down because you look really silly). I was there, for a long time I was on fire for Christ without any direction, and then slowly I started to back slide. I thank God all the time for my Wife, and South Hill Calvary for pulling me back up the slippery slope I found myself on. Is it any wonder then if we are failing to care for new Christians to the faith that a survey showed that most Protestants were unable to name all 4 Gospels?

Here it is folks! Knowing the name of the 4 Gospels is not the end of the world, a church that does not pray, a body that doesn’t read God’s word however… I can only quote the wicked Witch of the West “Oh -- what a world, what a world.” Discipleship is a process; it does not rest in the hands of Sunday school teachers, preachers, ministers, it is a PROCESS THAT BELONGS TO ALL OF US.

Are you doing your part?