Sunday Sermonette II

The Law for Today
May 31, 2009

"And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?" (Deuteronomy 4:8)

God has never dealt with any nation as closely and fully as He has with Israel, but He nevertheless is directly concerned with every nation as a national entity. He has actually established each nation Himself (Deuteronomy 32:8), even determining the geographical boundaries of each and the time when each would rise and fall (Acts 17:26).

Every nation has a purpose in history, but Israel had the highest calling of all. God personally gave them (through Moses) the finest governmental and legal system any nation ever had (Deuteronomy 4:5-8), and modern governments would therefore do well to emulate these, in so far as possible. In fact, it is amazing that this Mosaic legal code has since served effectively as the basic legal code for all the greatest nations in modern history. This, in itself, is clear testimony to its divine origin, and is therefore justification for retaining and implementing it wherever possible, even today.

Sadly, however, modern political and judicial practices are departing further and further from this divine standard. The philosophies of evolution and relativism dominate our schools of law today, and the concept of absolute principles of righteousness and justice, rooted in the nature of God as Creator and in His revelation, are largely being replaced by legislation based on evolving social policies and preferences. Even the Ten Commandments are banned from our schools, despite the fact that they are engraved in the Supreme Court building itself.

It is sobering to consider that God did not even spare His beloved nation Israel when His people departed from His law. Nor will He spare America, if our growing rebellion against His Word goes on much longer.

h/t: Henry M. Morris-Institute For Creation Research

Sunday Sermonette

In Everything Give Thanks
May 29, 2009

"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herds in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation." (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

It is easy to be happy and cheerful in times of prosperity, when one has all the comforts of an affluent lifestyle, and everything seems to be going well. The testing times come, however, when these material comforts are somehow taken away, and one feels defeated and all alone.

Except for God! Whatever else may fail, God "will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). Since we still have the Lord (assuming we have trusted Him for forgiveness and salvation, through Christ), we can always "rejoice in the Lord, . . . in the God of my salvation."

Job, for example, lost all his possessions, then his children, finally his health, and even his wife turned against him. Yet he could say: "the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21).

God has commanded the Christian: "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Not for everything, but in everything!

This has always been one of the greatest testimonies a Christian can give to an unbeliever--the testimony of a life rejoicing in God's salvation even in the midst of trouble. This was the example of Christ Himself, "who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2). "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17).

h/t Henry M. Morris, Institute For Creation research

Poverty or Privilige?

I’ve been hoping that someone might be bold enough to rain on the Sotomayor “compelling life story” parade.
The woman grew up in the capital of the world, went to two Ivy League schools, and was blessed by Providence with the precisely correct right race-gender two-fer for the moment.
This is a story of privilege, dammit, not adversity.
Show me a Montana girl of un-useful ethnicity who put herself through law school waiting tables, after being left with two young children when her Army husband was killed overseas, and I’ll start oohing and aahing over her compelling story.
Of course, such a person would never ever end up on any President’s short-list, no matter if she graduated first in her class at her non-Ivy institution, no matter how extreme the intelligence and dedication and hard work she displayed over the subsequent course of her career. That’s simply how the world — and especially the legal world — is constructed today.
It’s so much easier to take a properly-credentialed member of the East Coast elite and hold her up as a shining example of American meritocracy instead, because she is conveniently hued and delayed her entry to the world of the well-heeled until the age of 18 or so. Easy, and misleading. Feugh!
h/t: unknown

_______________________________________________________
Like my reader, and I’m sure a lot of other Americans, I get mighty annoyed by the unspoken implication in a lot of commentary that anyone not a member of a Protected Minority must have grown up in a twelve-bedroom lakeside mansion and been chauffered off to prep school with a silver spoon in his mouth. Judge Sotomayor was raised in public housing? So was I. Her mother was a nurse working late shifts? So was mine. When did white working poor people disappear off the face of the earth? Where are the eager listeners to their “compelling stories”?
Was it really not possible to correct past injustices without creating an entire — and apparently permanent — class convinced that accidents of geography or biology have gifted them with special insight, wisdom, and “empathy”?

h/t: John Derbyshire on The Corner From a a post at www.threedonia.com

Einsatzgruppen?

"The evidence is becoming overwhelming. The Kenyan intends to eliminate, or silence, his political opposition. The recent Department of Homeland Insecurity report labeling all conservatives as potential terrorists is reminiscent of Adolph Hitler. His Directive 11 ordered SS Einsatzgruppen to seek out and destroy all opposition to the Reich in conquered countries. Oppposition included possession of American books,or radio's tuned to British or Allied broadcasts( If an Einsatzgruppen Officer heard a British voice when he turned on your radio during a mandatory search of your home, you were shot immediately) or literature deemed unsupportive of the Reich's position. Other quick tickets to a grave or a concentration camp included, American cars, cigarettes, food, electronic devices, clothes, or any other item that wasn't produced and taxed in the Reich. History offers us a template for tyranny, if we have the courage to recognize it."
h/t Mike
http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/columns/mark_tapscott/Is-Obama-closing-GOP-car-dealers-46326192.html

Why?

Well, how would it sound to the rest of the country if I, the president, being of German ancestry, insisted that all the justices, cabinet and all other positions of authority were filled with only those of German ancestry; with absolutely no regard to any “old” lingering doubts about connections to the Nazi party? Or how about all those “innocent” bund meetings I attended in 1940 and 1941? Should that set off any warning alarms? How about the fact that my “real” last name in German means “hangman” or “executioner?”
I hope my intent here is clear. We have a marxist (at least leaning) leader, with friends he learned from, who were bombers, radicals, was himself a lawyer training other radicals, giving high government positions to others of his ilk, and then attempting on his first justice appointment putting forth a nominee known to belong to a La Raza group. And sitting on a district bench and being recorded while making light regarding legislating from the bench. All the while saying that she is uniquely qualified to be sensitive to others of her particular “bent” and upbringing. Then he has the gall to say he doesn’t understand why white Americans are complaining about his choice.
If you would like this little rant in a language other than English, call information and push 2.

Government Coercion?

There's a strong rumble floating around on the net about the possibility that the Gov't. may be dictating to Chrysler the dealerships earmarked to go away as those dealership owners who donate regularly to the Republican party. Nazi Germany, anyone?!

I've done some research and this seems like it may be the case. Auto dealers, as a whole, give 2 to 5 times more to Republican campaigns, as those who give to the Democrat's campaigns. One of the dealers in Las Vegas that is closing is owned by a U.S. Army veteran who gives campaign money exclusively to Republican causes.

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=T2300

Memorial Day Tribute

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdJR_SJzTlE