Change Your Vote and Save Terri

I have sent the following email to some of the Florida senators that voted "No" for the bill that was to save Terri Schiavo's life.

 

These senators' names can be found at http://www.blogsforterri.com/archives/2005/03/florida_senator.php#more.

 

If more could write, but especially call them by phone, they might just change their votes.

 

The subject of the emails to these senators is the same as today's blog.

 

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Dear Senator <name>,

 

My email probably does not mean anything to you, since I am a South African living in South Africa.

 

However, I would like to bring to your attention that decisions made in the USA still make people sit up in other countries, even South Africa.

 

In my opinion, a decision against life and for death, especially in the Terri Schiavo case can have terrible repercussions across the globe and not just in the USA. Make such a decision and not long from now the downward slide will start in other countries. If the greatest nation in the world does not respect living human beings, why should lesser nations? This is exactly what happened with Roe vs Wade and the abortion apocalypse.

 

I do not believe that Terri deserves death, especially not in this excruciating way of starvation. Terri is not in a comatose vegetative state. She still has cognative abilities which have already been proven. Is it right that murderous criminals have more legal representation than does Terri Schiavo? Is it right that an unelected judge who in reality does not represent the people make a death-decision of such great proportions?

 

You represent the people, and I am sure--if I understand the greatness of the American people--that the people themselves would vote for life in this case. Please, represent the people who voted for you and make the right decision. Vote for Terri's life, not her death!

 

Please uphold the true constitution of the USA and not that one so reinterpreted by unelected judges!

 

Thank you for your time and may God bless you!

 

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William Dicks

"Moral crusaders with zeal but no ethical understanding are likely to give us solutions that are worse than the problems."
	-- Charles Colson How Now Shall We Live?

Just thinking... (My blog)

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Just thinking...

Tutu reveals who he really is...

Former archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu this week revealed who he really was when he stood up in support of the "gay" lifestyle.

 

At the opening of the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in Rosebank, Johannesburg, Tutu told gays and lesbians "[y]ou should love who you are." In his speech Tutu, according to News24.com, said that "sexuality was about creativity and self expression, and alternative sexualities should be celebrated."

 

How is it that Tutu never tells adulterers that they should "love who they are?" Hasn't some quack of a psychologist or scientist shown that adulterers are genetically disposed to adultery? For every sin listed in the Bible, some "scientist" has shown that that particular sin was genetically wired into some people. Do you sin? Don't worry! Its in your DNA. Are you gay? Shame, you can't help it. Its in your DNA! Even Tutu has fallen for that garbage!

 

Homosexuality or lesbianism are not alternative sexualities! There are no sexualities apart from being male and female! Tutu is right in that sexuality is about creativity. However, explain to me how homosexuality and lesbianism can be about creativity! Nothing can be created out of this type of sex! Sex can only be creative between a man and a woman. This sex was preserved by God for a man and a woman within the marriage covenant.

 

Since when does a man who claims to be a Christian tell sinners to love who they are? It seems to only happen to those who have denied the very God they claim to serve. Those who deny the very Word that God has given us for our own benefit will do this kind of stuff. We as Christians, especially those who preach from the pulpit, should rather preach the full gospel and make a call to holiness!

 

Maybe former archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu should not just stand up against unrighteous governments, but also against unrighteous sinners who have defiled their bodies with despicable acts! Sure, show them love, but also show them undeniable truth.

 

Just thinking...

The Law and Terri Schiavo

Michael Schiavo, the former husband of death-sentenced Terri Schiavo seems to think that the US legal system is the be-all-and-end-all! How can a person be so dense as to find it "uncomprehensible (sic) to think that a private family matter that has gone through the judiciary system for the past seven years - I mean, we're talking all the way up to the United States Supreme Court - and for a governor to come into this without any education on the subject and push his personal views into this and have his Republican legislation pass laws so that this doesn't happen." How much eduaction does one need to know that starving someone to death is murder the same as someone being shot to death! I am sure even a first grader can understand this point! And, since when is the starvation of a former wife a private family matter? Effectively causing the death of another person is certainly not a private matter! Further, since when has the Supreme Court the power to decide life or death for anyone but a dangerous criminal? Simply because the Supreme Court agrees with Michael Schiavo does not mean they are right. Even if the majority of Americans decided Terri should die does not make it right! Morality and ethics are not decided upon through democratic elections. Way much less through unelected US Supreme Court judges who presume to play God!

 

Michael Schiavo claims that Jeb Bush is "basically jumping right over the state court's decision. We might as well not have any state courts." Funny he should say that. Since when do state courts and Supreme Courts make laws for the land? They are supposed to enact the law in the courts, not reinterpret and demolish the original meaning and intent of the constitution and laws. Many of the judges in the US these days run roughshod over the US constitution and its laws with their depraved little minds imagining themselves the original interpreters of American life and its values. When will the US government stand up against these runaway judges and tighten the reins around what they are allowed to do and what not? The three branches of the US government are supposed to keep a check on each other, but so far in the last 40 or so years, no one has kept a check on the judicial.

 

All of Michael Schiavo's protestations against anybody standing in the way of the murder (starvation) of his ex-wife make me think he has something to hide. Is he scared the real truth about her condition will come out if she regains her speech? We simply do not know. It makes one think, however!

 

It is time for Michael Schiavo to realize that there really is a higher law in the land. The law of God. Whether he acknowledges that law or not is besides the point. One day each of us must stand before our Maker. How will you fare Michael Schiavo?

 

Let Terri Schiavo live!

 

Just thinking...

 

What does it really matter?

My wife and I completed the Cape Argus Cycle Tour on 13 March 2005. It is the largest individually timed race in the world with a limit of 35,000 entrants. It is a hilly 109Km (67.73mi) race with some of the most spectacular scenery to be seen. It was also a day with strong winds that caused many speed wobbles on a route that was covered with cyclists from beginning to end.

My wife and I ride a tandem bicycle and we started with the social tandem category at 08:40 in the morning. The winner of the race finished 12 minutes after we started. I still believe there should be a category for people like my wife and I and some other tandem riders: the VERY social tandem category. Our VERY social status can be seen in the time it took for us to finish the race: 6 hours 4 minutes. During the race our tandem's back wheel had 3 punctures and the back chain also came off. To top it off, my left quad, that had been giving me lots of troubles for the last 3 months, started hurting real bad with about 64Km (39.77mi) left in the race. At the top of the highest point in the race with about 14Km (8.7mi) left in the race I decided to stop for some physio. Needless to say, we finished the race and I am glad we did it.

My wife has been asking if we could have done better in the race. I suppose we could have if we did more than the odd Saturday ride in the last 6 weeks before the race.

This made me think of the 1000s of riders who did not make their goal times on race day. Some missed it by a few minutes while others missed it by much more. Some are very upset that they missed their goal times by those few minutes. My question is this: What does it really matter? If we are not challengers for top honours and we end up missing our own goals by those few minutes, what do we gain by being upset by it? Some get so upset by this that it makes me think that it is such a great matter of importance to them that it literally defines their lives.

Now, some of these people are Christians and it makes me wonder how these people think if this is something that defines their lives. In these cases the sin of pride rears its ugly head. It ends up that all these people can talk about is cycling and the few minutes they did not make. Please, do not read between the lines here since I am not writing ANYTHING between the lines. I believe it is wonderful when people can push themselves to do better in every field of life, but when Christians' lives are defined by anything but the Lord Jesus then they have propped up an idol in their lives.

Way back in 1993 I ran my first Comrades Marathon. I went on to run 3 of them with my last one in 1995, the same year my first child was born (a beautiful little girl who turned 10 this year). I soon realized that my goals of running and training for the Comrades Marathon (90Kms) took too much time away from my daughter. That is when I decided that running was not as important as my daughter. The same goes for cycling. If it starts interfering with my family relationships (wife, daughter and son), it will have to go. I think it is this attitude, which my wife shares with me, that ensures that we will never be one of the fast tandems. Since our training day is a Saturday, and our kids have sporting events on many Saturdays, we end up not riding as much as we could. My rule is this, if my kids have events on Saturdays, we simply do not go ride.

My greatest fear for so many Christians that get involved in sport, is that it becomes their defining activity in life. Instead of always having Christ before them and encouraging one another in the faith, one only hears about the sport that they do. I do not want this to happen to me or my family. I still endeavour to live out the motto that "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Christ." If we find our satisfaction in anything but Christ, how can God be glorified in us? How can we glorify God if our lives are defined by a sport, or a job, a car, a house, a neighboirhood or the money we make?

Eric Liddell from Chariots of Fire fame said: "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure." The difference between Eric Liddell and many of today's Christians in sport is that Eric Liddell never forgot God's purpose for him and he ended up dying in China proclaiming the gospel to a lost nation.

How many of us as Christians can truly say that God has a higher purpose for us than riding pieces of metal or carbon fibre and finding personal worth in that?

Just thinking...

Born that way?

In the Sunday Times of March 6, 2005, Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane from the Anglican Church in South Africa gave a few insights into the latest meetings they had as a church community. Obviously, the homosexual issue was in the forefront of the discussions.

 

He writes that "[i]t was felt that both Americans and Canadians had seriously offended against the spirit of our common life." Is that all they offended? How about offending a holy God who clearly spelled out His position on sexual depravity, including homosexuality and lesbianism!? He also writes "[w]e must give the Americans and Canadians the space to take counsel at every level, right down to the parishes, and support them with our prayers." Why is it that they must take counsel at every level, but they are not instructed to take counsel from the Bible. It is because they have taken counsel at every level from fallen humans and not from God Himself as He defined His thoughts for us in the Bible that they are in this mess right now! When will people stand up for what is right before God and His Word and not for what is right in the eyes of depraved men and women?

 

The Archbishop continues: "The Anglican Church in Southern Africa will consecrate a homosexual or lesbian person as long as they are celibate, and there are many homosexual and celibate clergy in the church. The Anglican Church requires all unmarried clergy to be celibate and understands marriage as being between a man and a woman. We have on numerous occasions repeated our unreserved commitment to the pastoral support and care of homosexual people." As long as a gay is celibate? What does that mean? It would be the same to say that the church will consecrate celibate adulterers! It doesn't mean anything. How about consecrating murderers that haven't killed anyone yet? What nonsense!

 

He still continues: "There also needs to be more listening by the church generally to the experiences of gay and lesbian Christians, as the 1998 Lambeth Conference resolution required." Perhaps we should listen more to those murdering "Christians" too? How about listening to the pedophiliac "Christians?" Wouldn't that be nice? The church should listen to anyone, but ALWAYS respond with the truth and nothing BUT the truth so help us God!

 

The Archbishop also makes the statement: "I admit that I am dismayed whenever I hear language that seeks to make distinctions among people or discriminates on the basis of things over which we have no control — such as race, colour, gender or sexual orientation. These are aspects of the way we are born — and, as Christians, we believe each one of us is created reflecting the image of God. I personally experienced prejudice, exclusion and injustice for more than two-thirds of my life, simply because I was born black." The Bible is clear, God made us male and female. Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve! To cast homosexuals into the same group as blacks and so claim that that discrimination amounts to the same is an affront to blacks in this world. Blacks are born black, males are born male and females are born female. To discriminate on any of these issues is simply wrong. However, males are not born female or vice versa! There is not a shred of evidence that any homosexual was born that way. There is no homosexual DNA! There is black DNA. Male DNA or female DNA. But no homosexual DNA! Our dear Archbishop is cowering up to a tiny minority of depraved individuals to sound like he is tolerant. He is not tolerant! He simply is denying the Bible and the God of the Bible!

 

Denying consecration to homosexuals is discriminatory. So is denying consecration to a two year old. Are we making a fuss about that? If God demands holy lives from the pastors of the church, then so should we!

 

Just thinking...

Life should be precious..

In a world that claims to be running on values, how is it that we find so little? Especially values connected to the value of life? The Green Peace crowd will go so far as blow up labs that experiment on rats, because these rats have the right to life and dignity. Yet, isn't it amazing that unborn human beings do not have that same right of life and dignity! Isn't it horrific to know that one day your life may be cut short by a judge who thinks he is 'god.' There is such a judge. Judge Greer in Florida, USA. He has sentenced Terri Schiavo to death by starvation starting at 1PM on 18 March 2005.

 

One would think that the days of starving unwanteds to death like in Roman days were over. But think again! The human condition hasn't changed. It is still as corrupt as ever. Mankind will continue to find ways to please itself. How do we get rid of those that burden our sorry souls? Simply get a liberal judge to sentence them to death! No crime is needed for such a death sentence. Simply be in the way of people in this narcissistic age. We have gone so far down the self-love and self-esteem highway of hell that we have forgotten that the golden rule is to love others as we love ourselves. Yet, we would rather murder someone like Terri Schiavo than care for her! It is always the easy way out, isn't it? What is it with modern man? From instant coffee to instant death! Modern man is no more civilised than old Rome was. We have gone full circle. From the Romans who would leave unwanted, helpless babies to legally starve to death under the sun, moon and stars; to legally starve to death unwanted spouses, parents or children.

 

I call this murder, because that is what it is! Simply because a judge orders Terri Schiavo's starvation to death doesn't make it right!

 

If the Bush family is so pro-life, how is it that they could allow rogue agents of the state such as these liberal judges to commit murder in the name of the state? It is high-time that presidents and governors put a stop to judges that make laws. These judges are there to explain the law to the people, not make them! Jeb Bush claims that he would do everything within the law to stop this starvation order. If this is the case, then he should have this "judge" arrested for attempted murder together with Terri Schiavo's ex-husband!

 

Come people: STAND UP FOR LIFE!

 

Just thinking...

Governments afraid of justice

Most governments state in their constitutions or laws that they themselves are there to protect and bring justice to its people. As a result, when things go really bad in one criminal area (say murder, or fraud) of the country, then the government will perhaps create a new crime fighting unit for that specific issue. In South Africa, such a unit was created specifically to fight financial crime (fraud...). This unit is called the Scorpions. The Scorpions as a unit is not connected to the police, but rather the justice department.

 

The Scorpions have been immensely successful, since they do not take nonsense from anyone. However, then they started taking on the vice-president of South Africa in a bribe case. He was apparently bribed by a French arms company to give an arms deal worth R42m ($7m) to them. The Scorpions wanted to charge him with a crime and there was a so-called "hearing" on these charges. What seemed typical at the time, there were counter charges at the head of the Scorpions of that time (Bulelani Ngcuka) of being an informant of the "apartheid" government of the pre-free democratic elections of 1994. Naturally, the goverment gets out of any complaint against it by blaming the apartheid-years government. This time it was no different. Naturally, with great haste, the government set up a committee to investigate these accusations against Ngcuka. These charges were found to be of no substance.

 

The committee set up to either validate or invalidate the charges against the vice just seemed to fizzle out after a while hoping that no-one would notice. People seemed to still be interested in the case; so the government, as usual, made an executive decision that the vice would not be prosecuted. Once again the ANC government protected one of its own against the run of the law. However, they decided to prosecute a small player in the arms deal to make it seem that they were serious about the corruption in the deal.

 

Recently, the government has decided to perhaps move the Scorpions out of the normal justice department and into the police. There have been so many corruption charges against members of the police that I think that this is a strategic move on behalf of the government. If they can get the Scorpions to become a part of the police, then perhaps the Scorpions will have no credibility anymore and will not be this thorn in the government's flesh anymore.

 

Is the government really serious about fighting crime? Then it is time they start fighting crime among their own. Root out those in government who are squandering the money of the people while creating promising careers for criminals. Is the ANC government going to do anything serious against its own members of parliament in the current Travelgate scam? We wait with baited breath!

 

Read more about the Scorpions issue.

 

I just wish for once, that the people would get a government they deserve! Oh, yes...! They did!

 

If only we could have a government, found on honour, justice and the true welfare of its people!

 

But, the Bible tells us that in the end people will call evil good and good evil, and it seems that the goverments of this world are standing at the head of this perilous slope into destruction!

 

Just thinking...

 

Unrighteousness in the church

It has been happening through the ages, since Christ instituted His church on this planet. Churches once filled with the righteousness of Christ Himself start moving in the direction of unrighteousness. The scary thing is that these churches do not even know that they are moving away from the righteousness in action that Christ expects of them. They will vehemently deny that this skid is happening, to their own detriment. The thing about cancer is that it needs to be detected early for a good success rate in fighting it. Deny its existence and cancer will take your life. It is like putting a frog in cold water and slowly turning up the heat. Without knowing it the frog will be boiled to death. So it is with any church that denies that skid on the icy surface towards unrighteousness.

 

Some churches that started off well, mixed their doctrine with false doctrine. This mixture of good and false doctrine creates a poison that works very quickly through a group of people if no one recognises it and stands up against it. It creates a mutant more dangerous and destructive than even Godzilla. In the end, this church is no longer a Christian church, but merely an institution that mixed its own unbiblical anti-Christian ideas with that of the Bible, but still wanting to be called "Christian." This is clearly a synergistic type of belief which is very prevalent in Africa, where Christian beliefs have been mixed with their ancestor worship. In essence, this can no longer be called "Christian." This includes the largest "christian" church in the world today!

 

Other churches, while keeping a check on their doctrine, go into practices that are dubious. Things like the shepherding crisis of the late 70s and 80s. In those days, many so-called men of God started a shepherding model where the church flock had to get "permission" from their pastors to go ahead with moving house or changing jobs, etc. People no longer learnt wisdom from God through ardent study of God's Word, they became dependent on their "shepherds" for guidance in this world. In many cases this took on awesome proportions which led to many cult-like activities. Other churches would go overboard on issues like tithing to the church. They would make their people feel like second-hand citizens of heaven if they did not pay their tithes to the church.

 

I have recently heard of a local mega church close by where the pastors are not always treated like the shepherds of the flock. All the pastors are required to pay tithes to the church. However, the way that it was done before was to subtract the tithes from the salary before taxing was applied (pre-tax tithing). Then they heard that another church was being audited and for some "reason" decided to change the salary structures to include the tithe in the salary, let the pastor be taxed normally, and then the pastor could pay the tithes to the church himself. However, now that the tithes have been added back to the pastors' salaries, some of them have moved into the next tax bracket on the tax scale, and now actually get out less than they did before. Some as much as R250 (South African Rand)! The church should cover that loss for the pastors. This with support staff that outnumber the pastoral staff by far. In a church where there are 6000+ members, there are only 11 shepherding pastors. That is an average of 545 members per pastor! In a church where shepherding is hailed as the reason for the church's existence, I am surprised that the pastor/member ratio is so bad! There is no way that such a pastor can actually get to shepherd his flock and even get to know them! These same pastors also have to attend meetings upon meetings, leaving them with precious little time for member visitation. When a church loses its focus from shepherding its flock to running like a business, the people will suffer. Somewhere there is something wrong! Why suddenly change salary structures to avoid being caught by auditors? Is something unrighteous going on?

 

If the church cannot be the best example of righteous behaviour and how to treat its pastors ("managers") with respect and dignity, why should we expect it from secular businesses? Should we not then expect businesses to fail morally? How can we expect the world around us to walk on the moral high ground with regards to itself and how it treats others when the church cannot do the same?

 

When the church walks away from the simple truths of the Bible and incorporates psychology, leadership seminars and the like into its daily make-up, then we can expect to find a church that is morally corrupt, since it no longer has an objective base on which to stand. Rather, it is holding onto the deadly shifting sands of the pop psychology of today and leadership teachers that find it difficult to teach the Bible, but rather need to have "cute" quips to say about how good people need to be like "eagles."

 

I know this is a rather cryptic blog; however, it could be put at the door of much of the modern church today!

 

Just thinking...

 

Christmas is here again!

It happens every year at this time that people simply go nuts. What is it with the Christmas season?

 

Suddenly, people force themselves--or are they dragged along with the season?--to spend so much money that they do not have! For eleven months of the year most of these people use their money almost wisely. Then comes Christmas...! For the next twelve months people must pay off the debts they incurred over Christmas. All in the name of creating happy memories?! What is it with us as human beings? Especially here in the west? After so many years and even decades it has been proven that money and things cannot--and indeed will not--bring us happiness. It is the nature of money that it promises joy and happiness, but it will not deliver! You see, once it delivers the goods, then there is some saturation point at which one can say "I have reached happiness!" When this happens then we can indeed say that we no longer need more money than we already have! As you can get from this yourself, money will not stand for this! As long as it can promise more, the more it will create in us a desire of more of it. How is it that in so many cultures where--according to our standards--the people are poor, that they are happy, and in fact, content?

 

This is also the season when many anti-Christians become completely insecure. Groups like the ACLU in the USA must spoil it for everybody else. They need everybody else to be just as miserable as themselves. They cannot enjoy Christmas, so nobody can. As a result they run to their mommies and daddies (the liberal judges in the US) to get everybody else to stop having so much fun. This they do under the guise of "separation of church and state" as if that is what the American constitution promises them. As if the state can tell Christians where they may or may not celebrate Christmas or live out their Christianity! The state never tells atheists where they may celebrate their heathenistic, self-centred religion. Why should it be expected from the state to do so for Christians? You see, from the early Christian years, the state has been trying to get rid of Christianity. Since the state has not been able to do it through force, now the atheists and others are trying to do so by circumventing democracy via liberal godless judges in the courts! Every Christmas time these people cry "foul" when nativity scenes go up everywhere. Isn't it amazing how a scene with a completely innocent child can make people squirm like that? They want "happy holidays" when it should be "Merry Christmas!" These holiday will be just as empty as other holidays if Christ is removed from it.

 

Christmas is also the time when many Christians forget what Christmas is about. Sure, they say they do not forget, but their actions betray them. It is almost magic. One day their houses look quite normal; yet, suddenly the next day these once modest houses are transformed into Christmas fairy lands with lights, tinsel, angels and Santa Clauses everywhere. Again, under the guise of creating joyful memories. When you ask them where Jesus is in all this, they point to a tiny nativity scene that is complete overwhelmed with everything Santa around it. Of course, many of these Santas have a little button that children love switching on so that Santa could sing them a Christmas carol! Where is Jesus in all this?! Don't tell me that you believe that Jesus is the reason for the season when all I can see in your house is Christmas without the reason for the season, and tens of Santas and hindreds of other modern Christmas trinkets!

 

D. A. Carson writes in his book A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priotities from Paul and his prayers, (Baker Books, 1992, p109):

If God had perceived that our greatest need was economic, he would have sent an economist. If he had perceived that our greatest need was entertainment, he would have sent us a comedian or an artist. If God had perceived that our greatest need was political stability, he would have sent us a politician. If he had perceived that our greatest need was health, he would have sent us a doctor. But he perceived that our greatest need involved our sin, our alienation from him, our profound rebellion, our death; and he sent us a Savior."

Adding to this, if God had perceived that our greatest need was to get gifts, coloured lights, candles, tinsel and Christmas trees, He would have sent us Santa Claus. Yet, He did not! Santa does NOT exist, yet year after year we would willingly decorate our houses to entertain our children with this fictitious character. A character that cannot fulfill our greatest need. On the other hand, almost never do we decorate our houses with anything that would betray our allegiance to the King of kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ. Santa gets a whole month every year of our external show of allegiance to him, but Christ has to settle for an internal allegiance that, God forbid, anyone should discover we are serious about!

 

If you are serious about Christ, then show it this Christmas season!!

 

Just thinking...

Xenophobia

 

The world's own downfall

 

Xenophobia is the extreme hatred or fear of strangers, people from other countries, or of anything that is strange or foreign. Based on this definition, racism and homophobia can also be called xenophobia.

 

It amazes me that in the world of today there are so many people that are xenophobic! All over the world people are still fighting each other purely because of this innate fear of other people. Of course this fear is not without its increasing evidences. Especially in Africa and the Middle East we can find groups that want to destroy other groups in order to claim their land. This is a real problem in the world. What happens in many countries in the west is that many people from Africa and the Middle East are literally invading the west illegally, bringing with them not just cultures that are strange, but in most cases unwanted criminal activities. Activities that include things like drugs, money laundering, robberies and many more. This is enough to strike fear into the most mild hearted person.

 

However, the greatest feelings of xenophobia in this world are not simply among different cultures; they are aimed straight at Christianity! How irrational are these fears of Christianity? In America the big thing now is the separation of church and state. Secularists are continuing their push to rid society of all Christian influences. The first victory for them was when prayer was disallowed in schools. It has now become so bad that groups like the UCLA--probably the most insecure group of secularists in the USA--are even trying to prevent children from wearing certain clothes to school, just because their T-shirts have Christian messages on them. They are also trying to rid Christ from Christmas. It has now become politically wrong to wish someone a merry Christmas. It has now changed to "Happy Holidays!" Why are they so scared of Christianity? Are they so insecure that they have to rid society from the presence of everything Christian before they can feel secure in what they believe or not believe? In the so-called most free country on planet earth, we see groups that shout "Freedom!" from the housetops trying their utmost to prevent freedom for those who claim to be Christians! These people, more than most others, suffer the most from xenophobia!

 

Christians do not wish that all of society must be ruled with an iron fist of religion. If that is what some Christians believe, then it certainly is not the Christianity that Christ brought to this planet! Christians want freedom in all spheres of life, not just for themselves but for all people. Even for those that hate Christianity and call themselves atheists or whatever other isms there are.

 

Why are people so afraid of Christianity and hate it so much? Is it because in Christianity they see (from deep within themselves) that God has reached out to a planet bent on its own destruction. They feel that God has no right to infringe on their "privacy" and that they have a "right" to live their lives like they want. Is it not also because people just love their own sin and destructive behaviour so much that they will rather not part with that sin to the point of death. They realize that if they have to acknowledge Christ, that they also have to acknowledge His complete "otherliness" and that He is not like them at all. This is what they fear! So, when people fear someone they cannot and will not understand, they soon start hating that person and all he stands for, even to the point of hating those who have stood up with and for that person. This is what we find when it comes to Christ and Christianity.

 

The fact is that Christianity has brought some of the greatest things to this planet. Things like hospitals, universities, freedom from slavery and freedom for women in many societies just to name a few.

 

What is it that they fear so much, if it isn't their own selves and their own shortcomings in the sight of a holy God!

 

Just thinking...

 

Are you going to stand up for the innocent?

Abortion Bill Allowing Abortion by Nurses Passes South African Legislature

PRETORIA, November 11, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Today, the South African National Assembly passed, without debate, the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill. The controversial bill will allow nurses to commit abortions. It will also deregulate control of abortion and allow provincial health ministers to make regulations for the implementation of abortion laws in their own provinces.

South African President Thabo Mbeki's signature is the final requirement for the bill's enactment. Earlier this month, the National Council of Provinces also approved the Bill.

Pro-Life groups and organizations representing health care workers fiercely opposed the legislation. In addition, public opinion surveys have demonstrated massive public opposition to the measure. A recent poll by Research Surveys found 86% of the public opposed to the notion of nurses performing abortions.

DENOSA, the Nurses Union which represents nurses on both sides of the abortion debate, has expressed concerns that the law will place an unreasonable burden on nurses and drive more of them out of the public sector. There are fears that the proposed law may increase pressure on nurses to participate in abortions and violate their constitutional right to conscientious objection.

The South African national group Pro-Life has vowed to continue to fight the legislation and has called on President Thabo Mbeki not to sign this law which will harm women, nurses and babies.

 

---

 

The ANC has proven once again that they will not tolerate any dissent from other parties. This issue has not been allowed a debate in government yet. With the ANC with such a large majority, and ANC members are not allowed to under any circumstances vote against the party line, it was as easy as pie to pass this Bill without a debate. Unfortunately, this is the African way... Do not disagree! We will not listen anyway!

 

What are we, as South Africans going to do about it? While we are all enjoying nice meals at home, sleeping safely at night, buying bigger houses and cars, making ourselves safer against crime, picking up shells on the beach, playing golf, watching the latest game on TV and just downright simply becoming apathetic, around 50,000 babies are murdered every year in this country!

 

It is no use saying that we can't stop the tide! That is simply a defeatist attitude! What are YOU going to do in this WAR of worldviews? Are You going to idly stand by while thousands of innocent citizens are being murdered while the law guarantees the safe passage of these murderers? It is time we stand up for the weak and make our voices heard.

 

Take up a pen, sit down at your computer keyboard, and start writing to your regional representatives and newspapers making known your dissent to this Bill and any other Bill that allows abortion.

 

It is a sick world e live in where the mother's choice has precedence over the life of a child.

 

Come, STAND UP for the innocent!!

 

Just thinking...

 

Just thinking about movies

SAVED!

A movie with an axe to grind

 

SAVED! is a movie with a certain portrayal of Christianity in general, and although its portrayal is very one-sided, it nonetheless carries a small grain of truth of a small segment of misguided Christians.

 

Is SAVED! without any truth at all? Certainly not! It has been shown many times over that there are many that call themselves Christians that turn out to be just as nasty and manipulative as those who do not claim to be Christians. It simply shows human nature!

 

But this is where SAVED! parts with what real Christianity is.

 

SAVED! in no way portrays the truth about real Christianity and in no uncertain terms takes what is sacred and beautiful to Christians making it out to be stupid, laughable and psychologically needy. It portrays Christianity from a very skewed point of view and shows how jaded the creator of this movie really is. This movie has an axe to grind and unfortunately the axe is at the neck of Christianity.

 

Once again Hollywood is true to form in making Christians out to be the bad guys. Sure some people who claim to be Christians turn out to be really bad, but that doesn't make all Christians really bad! If I claimed that all black people were really bad because some black people are really bad, I would be called a racist or racial bigot. Yet, when a movie like this is made, portraying Christians to be bad because some turn out to be bad, no one bothers to shout "religious bigots!" to the creators of this movie.The double standards are so obvious!

 

SAVED! portrays Christians as unforgiving, hateful, bigoted, intolerant, idiots, brainless, unthinking and revengeful. It portrays those who shout their commitment to Christ the loudest as the ones who are the worst.

 

SAVED! definitely is a movie with clashing world views. It shows an anti-Christian world view in which homosexuality and sex before marriage is acceptable. Christians know that these are unacceptable. In SAVED! Christians are thus portrayed as unforgiving and intolerant when these issues arise. In fact, this movie shows that it has no capability of differentiating between intolerance and having principles. It shows Christians who are principled and moral as bigoted to anyone who breaks the Christians "rules."

 

SAVED! portrays a misguided "Christian" girl (Mary) who wants to straighten out her gay boyfriend by having sex with him, because she thought Jesus told her to. She ends up being pregnant and finds help and understanding from the rebels in the school. She is a member of the Christian school's all-girl band, but as soon as the leader of the band (Hillary-Faye) finds out that she disagrees with their ideas about God, Hillary-Faye summarily kicks Mary out of the band and out of her life. It also shows Hillary-Faye, the most successful "Christian" in the school to paint graffiti all over the school and then trying to frame it on the rebels to get them expelled from the school.

 

What should we think of this film? It definitely is a hateful portrayal of Christians in a bigoted intolerant movie. In a movie where tolerance is expected, none is shown to Christians. In a film where bigotry is decried, nothing else can be found from the creators of the movie. The creators of this movie are guilty of exactly the same social tendencies that they want to warn us against.

 

If SAVED! was supposed to be satire, it definitely falls short of its mark. Charles Colson writes that "for a start, satire has to be grounded in reality, so that the intended audience recognizes what's being satirized and is able to laugh a little bit at itself -- and perhaps even learn something about itself in the process. Also, it's more effective if the satire takes a subtle approach to its subject rather than going overboard." SAVED! certainly goes overboard in that it tries to pin almost all kinds of evil behaviour on Christians.

 

I do not in any way deny that Christians can be like those depicted in the movie. Anyone who denies that simply does not understand the human condition. Yet, defacing school buildings to get fellow school pupils expelled are not common among Christians. Neither is kidnapping fellow pupils to perform exorcisms on them!

 

Even if, as writer Jeffrey Overstreet writes, it were the Pharisees who were given the short end of the stick, how will non-Christians be able to differentiate between the Pharisee and the genuine Christian if the only reference point is SAVED!?

 

Is the movie blasphemous? I suppose it all depends on your definition of the word. I don't think that anywhere God is blasphemed in His person. Sure, Mary, in her overwrought state after falling pregnant, she tells a prayer group that there is no one listening at the other end. This in itself is merely a cry for help. In her own zeal she messed up her own life. The problem with the teenagers in this movie is that they have a lot of Zeal, but no Biblical understanding. This can only bring disaster. Then, the one who is supposed to teach and help them right, pastor Skip, is becoming unfaithful to his wife starting to mess around with Mary's mother!

 

Unfortunately, this movie will be the only reference point for non-Christians, and will simply confirm to them what they thought they always knew about Christians. So, in that sense this movie is totally biased and borders on being a full-frontal attack on Christians.

 

On the other hand, watching it from a Christian point of view, we could take to heart the many lessons of this movie. From my point of view, every market driven church should watch this movie. When the preaching of the gospel becomes a marketing ploy, then the church has lost the plot.

 

Resources

http://promontoryartists.org/lookingcloser/movie%20reviews/Q-Z/saved.htm

http://www.pfmonline.net/transcripts.taf?_function=detail&ID=3039&Site=BPT&_UserReference=6A4B17D2F499BAEB418F2C60

http://www.criticalessays.org/subversivesaved.html

 

Just thinking...

Changing directions through elections

Probably more than ever before the American people are standing at a crossroads that can either take them off the map as a world influencer and world power or reinforce their status as world leaders in almost every area of life.

 

Their elections in November are crucial for them as a nation, but I believe even more so it is crucial for the world. The American people have led the world in almost every area of life, from technology, entertainment, sport, political policies, world aid and morality. However, since the arrival of George W. Bush as American president and the war in Iraq, many people have been shouting for the removal of this man from the presidency.

 

It is perfectly fine for all these people to shout for his removal, but who should replace him? There are only two candidates for the presidency in the USA and they are George W. Bush and John Kerry.

 

If the Americans vote to bring Kerry in as president, what will they get?

 

First of all, America will become a nation weak in military strategy and resolve. Kerry will be cowed into capitulation by Islam. From where I sit, it seems that he is already scared of upsetting the Muslim world and is ready to withdraw the American troops from Iraq.

 

Secondly, the people aiming at having their first amendment speech rights strengthened will get him to fall before the giants of pornography and smut. With a man that is reckoned to the left of Ted Kennedy politically, he and his Democratic party will be strongly lobbied to open the flood gates into the lives of American families. "Free speech" is very high on their agenda as it is for the Democrats, unless of course you are a Christian!

 

Next, he will allow almost all kinds of marriages to exist. Already, the Democratic judges in America, led by their vile liberal worldviews have started rewriting law books in America. Some of these rogue judges have started proclaiming from the bench that same-sex marriage (yuk!) should be allowed under the American constitution. Instead of simply interpreting the constitution and other laws based on their original intent, they have felt worthy of telling the American people how they should live and what they should find acceptable. It pains me to think what the original drafters of the American constitution would say if they could be with us today. I am sure they would have written the constitution and laws very carefully with very well chosen words to ensure that America would not simply turn into a den of harlots and vile human beings bent on destroying the very fiber of the American public!

 

Fourthly, he will allow abortion to go on unabated. He has already voted against striking down partial-birth abortion (PBA). PBA is one of the most gruesome, violent crimes against humanity under the ruse of reproductive rights. Funny enough, no human rights council will stand up against this most hideous violation of human rights..., the blatant murder of human beings! Further in this line, Kerry supports embryonic stem-cell research. This is the artificial creation of ebryos for the express purpose to be killed and to be experimented upon. On this front Kerry would make sure that he has the courts on his side, since he would only appoint pro-abortion judges. The man claims that life begins at conception; however, he is willing to have such life destroyed anyway!

 

Lastly, Kerry will allow laws to be passed to shut Christians up. He will make moral claims by Christians about American society to be written into the laws of America as hate speech. Kerry, and his party--the Democratic Party--have been dominated by the thoughts and worldviews of the UCLA, an ultra liberal lobbying group, whose prime reason for existence is making sure that God is removed from American society.

 

On the other hand, if Bush is voted back as president, all these things that Kerry stands for will be fought and resisted from coming to fruition or remaining as part of the American people.

 

Bush is strong on fighting those who have no regard for the American people. Currently, America, with Bush at the helm, is the only country that can and is willing to ensure that tyrants like Saddam Hussein do not continue destroying the very people they are supposed to serve. So what if no stockpiles of WMDs were found. Hussein and his cronies still had to be removed from power. The fact that several mass graves with people shot in the head or murdered in other ways have been found, have escapeed the world news because people are not concerned about justice, simply that they were right. They were right that Hussein had no stockpiles of WMDs. Yet, they turn a blind eye to the fact that this man has been killing anybody that would not toe the line according to Saddam Hussein! This man and his military simply had to be removed! If America is removed from the landscape of this world as a force to be reckoned with, this world will be ruled by thugs. It will be the proverbial mouse coming out to play.

 

Bush also stands for traditional families and traditional marriage. He supported an amendment to the constitution to define marriage as one man and one woman only.

 

Bush has been consistenly pro-life. This can be seen in his stance on abortion and stem-cell research. He believes that time and energy should be spent in researching adult stem cells for medical solutions. He is also anti-abortion.

 

Finally, Bush is strong on finding faith-based solutions for societal ills. These are ministries like Teen Challenge and Prison Fellowship Ministries. This shows that he has a true respect for what has been accomplished by Christians and so will not let Christians be side-lined in American society!

 

If one looks at the two scenarios above, it really becomes important who the American people vote for as their president.

 

Since the US has been a leader in this world, and in many ways a trend setter, it is not just important for America who is the next president, but also for the world.

 

If Kerry becomes the next president, the fallout of his policies regarding homosexuality, abortion, war against terrorism, hate speech legislation, etc will become unbearable for this world. The world simply cannot maintain its downward moral spiral. With Kerry helping that spiral to speed up, I can only foresee great problems.

 

So, what should the American people do? Should Bush remain, or should Kerry be the next president?

 

Voting should be done on the real issues, not the skewed, hyped issues created by men like Dan Rather and CBS  and the media frenzy.

 

America, help the rest of us sleep easier come November 2004!

 

Just thinking...

Greatness...

What determines who is great?

Just recently the South African Broadcating Corporation's channel 3 (SABC3) started showing a list of men and women that South Africans voted for as their 100 greatest South Africans. While I was perusing this list, I was wondering what the South Africans who voted were thinking (or perhaps drinking) when they voted for some of these people.

The list of SA's 100 greatest, reads like a very badly written Tom Clancy novel where the plot is non-existent and the characters are hardly inspiring. That the 100 greatest list is made up of sportsmen and women, convicted criminals, murderers and people who stand for the legal murder of babies is not all that surprising!  This, chosen by a nation of people whom have become totally devoid of any morality. This list of SA's 100 greatest can be viewed at SABC3's website http://greatsouthafricans.sabc3.co.za/home.asp?pid=362. The people who voted obviously had no clue that they were voting for the greatest and not the most popular people of South Africa. Many of those voted for, did absolutely nothing themselves and certainly do not deserve to be on the list. Certainly not a list of SA's 100 greatest...

What, for instance, did the infamous Mrs Ples (who turns out to be Mr Ples) do to deserve to be on this list? For those who do not know, 'scientists' claim that (s)he is 2 to 2.5 million years old. How could we ever know if (s)he did or did not do anything to deserve greatness? How could Hector Peterson be voted onto this list of SAs 100 greatest? What did he do to deserve to be on this list? Sure, he was shot to death by policemen in the 1976 riots here in South Africa. But, what did he do? If he can be on this list, then so should the 360,000 babies be who have been mercilessly murdered 'legally' through the act of abortion here in SA.

It sometimes becomes necessary for us to think with our heads and not with our emotions. Many of those who have made it to the top 100 list certainly cannot be reckoned as great. They were voted onto the list as great, through emotion and not proper thinking. That is why this list is purely a vote for the most popular and not for the greatest.

What makes a person great? I am sure that there are many who will come up with a variety of answers to that question!  Many on this list had a lot to do with the breakdown of apartheid in SA. Yet, on the other hand they did kill and blow up many innocent people in the process. Of course, many of those who were instrumental in enforcing apartheid in SA also made it to the list: H.F. Verwoerd, D.F. Malan, P.W. Botha, J.B.M. Hertzog. What made these men great? That they successfully oppressed millions of non-white South Africans for over 40 years? If that makes one great then Hitler must be absolutely phenomenal? We all know that is plainly ridiculous. Simply because someone is involved in a struggle for freedom or oppression does not make one great! The fact is that oppression leads to more oppression. If we look at the history of mankind, we will find that almost all those who have been oppressed and later won their freedom eventually became the oppressors. We find this with Israel. They were oppressed for most of their existence. Today they are the oppressors of the Palestinian people. The same goes for those who felt that they were oppressed under the rule of the Tzars of Russia. They eventually became the most oppressive force on this planet in the form of Communism! The Afrikaners were oppressed by the British. This led to the Afrikaners becoming the oppressors of non-whites after their emancipation from British rule. Now that the black man has freedom and rule in South Africa, they are starting to oppress white men especially through so-called affirmative action laws. Simply a smokescreen for more apartheid and oppression. Black people in Africa have been oppressed by the whites for so many years. All we now see in Africa is one black tribe trying to rule over another. Oppression leads to more oppression!

So, how will we define greatness? Is it tied up with something someone did? To whom and how many? How can this thing be quantified? Should it be quantified,; or should it rather be based on quality?

Sure, we must look at what a person accomplished in his life, but we must also look at who that person is! I do not mean that we must find out the person's name and information about him, but rather we must look at the person's character, the attributes of his personality. We also need to look at his worldview. Doing good things in themselves may mean nothing if those good things are merely a means to an end! This is where a person's character and worldview comes in. Is such a person even handed? Does he make sure that he can do good to all that he comes in contact with? Or, is he partial to a certain group of people?

Let's look at Nelson Mandela. Madiba is revered by people across the world. He is hailed as the messiah of the black people who struggled for their freedom. He certainly has done a lot of things for South Africa and indeed for many other peoples too. He established the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund that helps with poor and orphaned children. He helped establish some kind of peace in this country. Surely, at his command the black populace could have stood up and taken South Africa by force, but he chose to do it the 'democratic' way through an election. Surely, this makes for a great man! However, it was while he was at the helm of this nation that pornography was legalized. It was under his presidency that abortion was also legalized. In the first 6 years since it became legal, 360,000 babies have been murdered by sanction of the 'law.' Thousands of violent criminals have been released under his command, because it was his birthday, some of whom committed violent crimes within days of release. It was under his rule that murders rose from somewhere in the 7000s per year to over 20,000 per year with a high of 25,000 per year around 1996. Does this, now, look like greatness? You will have to decide!

To me, the great ones are those who day after day work hard for their money just to return home to ensure that their children are well fed, safe, educated and love God. Those that are concerned of their children's eternal future are the great ones. We will all die one day, but what then? Those that are great are those that do good things for their fellow man and do not expect anything in return for those good deeds.

There are many others whom we should acknowledge as great; yet, perhaps when we meet them face to face we may realize that they are not that great. I think that we too many times look for greatness in others when we should be out there doing great things for others.

How will we become great? This can only happen when we take up the challenge by Jesus Christ: "Love your neighbour as yourself!" However, His greatest challenge for us is: "Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength." With this comes greatness!

Just thinking...

 

Tax and God's demand

I had this whole thing typed out, submitted it to BlogSpot and at that very moment I experienced a network problem that prevented its submission. Unfortunately I was submitting it via the web nd lost it all. So, I have to start again. Oh... the wonders of technology. Can't live with it, can't live WITH it!

 

The other day, while driving on my way to work, I noticed a newspaper poster with the headline that higher taxes could be expected in 2005. With taxes as high as they are already, and with a government that is exposed almost daily with corruption and waste of money, it does not amaze me that they want more money.

 

When God, in the Old testament, set the amount that the Israelites had to pay, He set it to 10%. This certainly makes God the one who is more efficient with His resources. This 10% that God demanded was to be given by all income groups. There definitely was no staggered "tithe" system in God's economy. On the other hand, the government has a staggered tax system where the more you earn the more you pay to the government. This means that if you pay the higher bracket of tax then you end up working half the year earning income for the government and the other half for yourself. Certainly, this cannot be good for the working man's view of being a citizen when being a citizen means nothing to the ruling party or government. In this country, where the taxes are sky high, you would imagine that when the people give their opinion the government would listen and take heed. However, this is not the case! Way back in 1996 the government had to make a decision to either open up pornography to the masses or keeping it illegal. They did the decent thing and asked for briefs to be presented to them by the public and interest groups. The amazing thing is that after these briefs and the study period of these briefs by the government they went ahead and legalized pornography; and that after 97% of all briefs presented to them gave reasons why pornography should remain illegal! They went squarely against the wishes of the people they claim they are representing! This certainly is not a democracy in the true sense of the word! Democracy should provide a government that is FOR the people BY the people.

 

When God set up His 10% tithe for the Israelites He knew that they would understand that the harder they work the more they will have for themselves after that 10%! This creates the understanding that we do work for ourselves and that hard work pays off! When the government keeps on expanding the tax brackets and making tax payments higher percentage wise as you earn more, why should the people feel that they need to work harder to get more money to give away to a government that does not govern for the people at all, but rather to heap more and more gravy on themselves from the governmental gravy train?

 

Who is the greater one, God or the government? If your answer is not "God" then I will pray for you. Who does the government think they are to demand more of people than God demands?

 

When Jesus said: "Give to Ceasar what is Ceasar's," did He mean give to Ceasar what Ceasar demands or give to him what is his?

 

Just thinking...