03.29.08
Posted in Faith, Politics, Today, Worldview at 7:04 pm by artistry
I am deeply offended by recent statements made by Senator Barack Obama. In the course of first defending and then trying to distance himself from Rev. Wright, Senator Obama has managed to stomp all over the tenets of the faith he professes. In an attempt to not offend others beliefs, he has marginalized all of them. While it is true that the Constitution prohibits any religious test for those seeking office, it does not prohibit a basic honesty and commitment, which has been woefully lacking in this situation.
You might tell me to stop reading about it and listening to it if I am so offended. Easier said than done. I cannot read a blog or news feed without finding reference to it. If Senator Obama would stop making statements, maybe it would go away. Maybe it would not and maybe it should not.
Some of the things that give me pause:
- Senator Obama says that if Rev. Wright had not retired, he (Obama) might have to consider changing churches. Why? If the answer is that Rev. Wright is in the wrong, going away and ignoring it changes nothing and is not the Scriptural way to handle the issue.
- Senator Obama’s example of his mother … how do we respond to that? Even a Scriptural response opens one up to charges of intolerance and racism (as with so many things the Senator says).
- Senator Obama’s comparison of religions, which shows that he has very little knowledge of the ones he highlights.
- I could go on, but won’t.
This all points to someone who is not ready for prime time; who wants to be in the club, but not acknowledge its bylaws; who wants to be all things to all people and is therefore in no way qualified to stand for the highest office in the land. In short, someone who stands for nothing.
I realize that some will take exception what I have said. There are some who feel that my faith has somehow taken away my ability to make sound judgments. It certainly has raised my standards. I would rather a politician honestly have no faith than one who bastardizes Scripture and relavitizes the faith of Christians, Jews and others.
Permalink
Posted in Faith, Politics, Today at 11:51 am by artistry
The more I hear the less I want to hear of Barack Obama and his lack of understanding of the Christian faith. The whole story is unbelievable and his explanations are getting more far fetched as days go on. ARGH! Based on what he is saying, his doctrine is decidedly not Biblical. He seems to indicate that people can earn admission to the presence of God through good works and good attitudes. I’d like to see a Scriptural reference for that, but the truth is that there isn’t one.
He’s just another politician pandering to believers for votes, yet not willing to sacrifice the votes of any belief group, so he makes universalist statements hoping to satisfy everyone. He’s willing to throw his pastor in front of the train to secure political capital. And we are supposed to believe that he attended this church regularly for 20 years and never happened to hear any of these statements? I just wish he would shut up. The more he says, the sicker it sounds.
LA Times
The Swamp
The Christian Post
Permalink
Posted in Today at 8:42 am by artistry
This week a bout of respiratory flu has tried hard to do me in. It started threatening in the days leading up to Good Friday, but I was able to stave it off for a few days. This week, I gave in and let it run its nasty course. Today I am pretty certain I will survive it. 
There’s stuff going on and I will share some thoughts, but now I have to get breakfast for grandkids. Priorities!!!
Permalink
03.22.08
Posted in Today at 5:23 pm by artistry
I started to write about our Good Friday observance, but found I was too tired to be coherent, so left the cryptic post below.
What we did was to recreate the events of the last hours of Jesus life through art, artifacts and music. There were 14 events represented, from the Garden of Gethsemane to the Tomb. We draped our sanctuary to create paths leading from one display to the next. Each display was lit with small spotlights and we had lots of candles. Some displays had just the artwork. Others had artifacts and items to enhance the display, like a bag of coins to go with Judas betrayal. It was a moving experience for all who toured the display and for all of us who helped put the presentation together. I’ll try to get some pictures up in the next few days.
Permalink
03.21.08
Posted in Faith, Today at 8:53 pm by artistry
So. Worth.It.
Permalink
03.18.08
Posted in Today at 4:31 pm by artistry
I’ve had a hectic week and it won’t get any better for the next few days … and I love it! My church is presenting a special event for Good Friday and then we have an Easter breakfast and a special service. We also have a family event planned, but I don’t know if I will have energy for that.
We are presenting The Way of the Cross which is an all day event featuring music and artwork. I’ve helped out by arranging some of the publicity. We have posters up all over our area and a big sandwich board on the boulevard in front of the church. In addition, we got press releases out and published in the local papers and today we got listed on the community calendar at a popular local radio station. WOO HOO! Fun stuff.
Our team is doing a great job … now we just have to get through the next few days of preparation and see how it goes.
Permalink
03.09.08
Posted in Today at 10:12 pm by artistry
I usually stay away from the many internet quiz things, but was intrigued by one called The Death Report, which tells you who died on your birthday … gruesome, eh?
Lots of folks died on October 16th, including Pierre Salinger in 2004, James Michener in 1997, Moshe Dayan in 1981 and George Marshall in 1959. There were also a bunch of war criminals (post Nuremberg) and Marie Antoinette, Queen of France who was guillotined in 1793. 
Want to check it out for yourself? The Death Report
Permalink
03.08.08
Posted in Today at 11:53 pm by artistry
In case you forgot, we are doing the Spring Forward Dance tonight.
If you wonder who ever thought of this, I can tell you that Ben Franklin is the likely culprit. I did some research on Daylight Savings Time for an article in the early days of Xisti. You can read the whole thing here.
Permalink
Posted in Today at 12:21 pm by artistry
I wrote and posted an article at Xisti a month before the election of 2006. I just took a look at it while checking links on the site at its new host. Wow … it is so on target for the current election!
Bad Choices
Permalink
Posted in Technobabel at 9:27 am by artistry
I know people who change their web host at the drop of a hat. I can’t imagine what compels them to do so cause it is more work than I want to do very often. I have been contemplating this move for some time. I have 4 sites with one host and one with another and my costs have been going up as the sites grow and require more disk space. I finally decided to move them and am in the process.
Dei will be the last one to move. Sometime next week, Dei will go silent for a day or so while the move is made and I do some tweaking of the site. I have not found a theme I like as well as this one, but may have to take a look at my CSS and see if I can make a few changes to make it more like I want it to look. I may even try to add widgets. I may be out of my mind.
In any case, you will get a warning before I turn off the lights, temporarily. You know I can’t keep silent for long. 
Permalink
03.05.08
Posted in Politics, Today at 12:13 am by artistry
Tonight I am disappointed to see the end of Governor Huckabee’s run for 2008. Yet I also hold out hope that he will continue to advocate many of the issues addressed in his campaign. More than anything else, I appreciated the humor, wit and decency that Mike Huckabee brought to the political arena. He is unmatched by any politician in my memory. I am sad that he did not get more attention in the debates, from the media and from the Republican establishment. And they all had such good reasons for their attitudes … NOT!
I hope that we learn well the lesson that the coming election will teach us. When we don’t put forward our brightest and best, we surely deserve what we get. In the case of the candidates still in the race, I fear we will be greatly disappointed.
As an independent, I am faced with a huge dilemma. I have said all along that I did not feel I could support any of the candidates who are current office holders. My reasons for this can be found here and here. Now I have to think long and hard about how I will vote. It’s a puzzlement.
Permalink
03.04.08
Posted in Politics, Today at 8:29 am by artistry
Primaries today in Texas and Ohio could make a huge difference in the political landscape. Rhode Island and Vermont also vote, but are not expected to have as much impact on delegate totals. It’s interesting that the frontrunners are only able to garner support from 50% or less of the expected voters, yet the media seems ready to crown them as kings. Many (dare I say most) current voters don’t remember a time when the nomination was not sewn up months in advance of the convention. But trust me, there was a time and not so long ago that conventions were gatherings to select a nominee from a field of candidates. I’m not sure that wouldn’t be a good thing to do again. I’m pretty thoroughly disgusted by the whole process right now.
Recent news reports have underscored the point I made in an earlier post about not supporting a current office holder this election cycle. Although news coverage is scant, a Clinton ad accuses Barack Obama of not convening the committee of which he is chair and which has oversight for forces in Afghanistan. Obama excuses his failure by saying he became chairman at the same time that he launched his presidential bid. I’m outraged that he dares offer this as justification. This really is inexcusable. The committee could not even meet? Not faithful in the small job is not qualified for the larger one, IMO.
I’m still sticking to my opinion that the current office holders should be doing the jobs they have. You could argue that they are no worse than the rest of the Congress, who are surely the biggest group of slack offs in history. There are so many things they could do, like provide funds for rebuilding New Orleans, creating secure borders, supporting local and state efforts to enforce immigration laws … the list goes on and on. Instead they hold hearings on major league baseball? Way to go for the important stuff! </dripping sarcasm>
Permalink
03.01.08
Posted in Today at 11:49 am by artistry
Birthday greetings for March go to: Barbara, Karen & Rachel.
My apologies to anyone I’ve missed! Oops, this means you, PM!
Permalink
Posted in Literature, Today, Worldview at 11:42 am by artistry
I got a new book that I have been wanting and am disappointed, to say the least. All of the reviews I read led me to think this would be enlightening. All of the reviews left out a few important details. I only got a few pages into the book before running into trouble. It turned out that the author is an amillennialist, which is a position that is counter to what I have been taught. It also turns out that he interprets some Bible passages in ways that are counter to my understanding. *sigh* I am only a third of the way through the book. I will finish, but this book goes into the category “disappointing, cannot recommend”.
Update: I have only about 50 pages to go. I still find much to disagree with and feel that this author’s position is not well supported, scripturally. But he also presents other points of view honestly and shows where he is in agreement. It has been a good book because it drove me back to Scripture to check my understanding and because it made me think about my position and why I believe what I believe.
Permalink