Jude 1: The Effectual Call and Effectual Love of God

Jud 1:1  Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ

Yesterday our brother in Christ Alex, brought us great exhortation from the book of Jude. This week I'll be spending time in this portion of Scripture, as I will in 2Tim. 3:16-17 which our brother Jim brought to us last evening.

Here are my observations of the precious Word of God in Jude...

The called are beloved in God. This is God's effectual call AND effectual love. Nothing potential, nothing Self-activated, nothing earned. God's call and love to those whom He chose to love and save are all-powerful because HE is all-powerful.

God's love, like His grace, is not without effect. 

1Co 15:10  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace which was toward me has not been without fruit, but I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

We are called and are beloved IN God the Father, kept FOR Christ Jesus.

Who keeps us?

Jud 1:24  Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 5  to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

1Pe 1:5  who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Eph 1:13  In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14  who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. 

Why does God keep us? Another way to say it is, why does God save us to the END of our salvation?

What is the PURPOSE OF SALVATION? What's the goal of it?

Simply this: God's sole glory.

Therefore His plan and purpose and choice in deciding whom He wants to save, He makes it happen. His plan bears His fruit, His power, and His glory.

Eph 1:5  He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6  to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 

Eph 1:11  also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12  to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 

Eph 1:13  In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14  who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. 

Eph 2:8  For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. 

Rom 8:29  For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30  and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. 

Joh 15:4  "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5  "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. ...16  "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. 

Col 3:4  When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 

Joh 3:30  "He must increase, but I must decrease. 

Php 2:13  for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. 

John MacArthur's notes on this verse are worth reading. As you can see, God's call and love are not powerless but rather absolutely effectual, bearing His fruit by His power, according to His plan and purpose, for His glory. He doesn't merely save us from His righteous wrath and Hell, but gives abundant love and goodness to us, all of which we are ill-deserving of:

called. As always in the epistles, this refers not to a general invitation to salvation, but to God’s irresistible, elective call to salvation (cf. Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:23,24; 1 Thess. 5:24; 2 Thess. 2:13,14). This call yields: 1) fellowship with Christ (1 Cor. 1:9); 2) peace (1 Cor. 7:15); 3) freedom (Gal. 5:13); 4) a worthy walk (Eph. 4:1); 5) hope (Eph. 4:4); 6) holiness (1 Pet. 1:15); 7) blessing (1 Pet. 3:9); and 8) eternal glory (1 Pet. 5:10). Cf. “grace of our God” (v. 4). 

sanctified. The better Gr. texts have “beloved” (see marginal note). Cf. John 13:1; 14:23; 16:27; 17:20,23; Rom. 5:8; 1 John 3:1, which expand on the idea of unconditional, thus unending, love from God to the believer in Christ. It is certainly because of that love that believers are “sanctified,” set apart from sin to God by the transformation of conversion. God the Father. The plan of salvation and its fulfillment come from God, who is not only Father in the sense of creation and origin of all that exists, but is also “God our Savior” (v. 25; cf. 1 Tim. 2:4; Titus 1:3; 2:10; 3:4). See note on 1 Tim. 4:10. 

preserved. See note on v. 24. God not only initiates salvation but He also completes it through Christ, thus preserving or keeping the believer secure for eternal life (cf. John 6:37–44; 10:28–30; 17:11,15; Rom. 8:31–39; 2 Tim. 4:18; Heb. 7:25; 9:24; 1 Pet. 1:3–5).

The Atheists Are Getting Nervous

Documentaries, especially those quoting renowned scientists talking about their specialties, often are dull. So how is this “Evolution vs. God” project by Christian evangelist Ray Comfort raising so much ruckus?

Perhaps it’s because the evolutionary experts themselves are unable to provide scientific evidence to support the theory to which they have devoted their lives....

“‘Evolution vs. God’ shows that there’s no evidence for Darwinian evolution – that it rests on nothing but blind faith,” he said. “So they are hoping to find some ‘silver bullet’ in what wasn’t used that will discredit the movie. They know that millions are going to end up seeing evolutionary scientists from USC and UCLA gasping like fish out of water, as they try to think of scientific evidence for Darwinian evolution.”

He responded: “American Atheists, Inc. Want to see all the interview footage? Let’s go on TV. Convince me with a good reason to, and I will release it.”

In the documentary, a prominent anthropology professor from UCLA offers a solution for those who doubt Darwinian evolution: Use your imagination.

The faceoff with the atheists happened just as Comfort’s organization was announcing plans to hand out the documentary to students arriving at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles.

The documentary has been viewed thousands of times online as a premium product and 100,000 times in just the first few days of its availability on YouTube.

Very simply, the film gives scientists the chance to talk about the evidence for evolution.

Read more at WND

Oh Glorious Day!

If you want to know where the amazing joy and peace of a true Christian has comes from, here it is: its the Person and work of the risen Lord Jesus Christ, Who is Faithful and True.



2Pe 3:3  Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts,
2Pe 3:4  and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation."
2Pe 3:5  For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,
2Pe 3:6  through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.
2Pe 3:7  But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
2Pe 3:8  But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.
2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
2Pe 3:11  Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
2Pe 3:12  looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
2Pe 3:13  But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

The Depravity of Our Culture: Limbaugh's Right and Wrong

Rush Limbaugh makes some interesting observations about the depravity of our culture. Here are some excerpts:

Quote:

 I watch Ray Donovan but I've not told anybody, because you know what?  I thought that if you knew that I watched Ray Donovan that you would think that my own morality had hit the sewer....

And I was shocked.  I really was.  I probably shouldn't admit this.  I was shocked to learn of the people that I think would be not just offended, but angry about such filth, loving it, which is all good.  I mean, the surprises learning that you're wrong, those are all good things to happen.  But some of the people that I can't believe not only watch it, but like it, are the same kind of people in the past that have told me that TV needs to be cleaned up, it's going to hell in a handbasket, all the sex and violence and crude language.  Now I guess everybody has given up.  We've defined decency down now that we look at the entertainment value of it, whether the acting is good, the writing is good, the story is good, no matter the depravity, we'll watch it....

[Editor's note: Rush then talks about Derek Medina who shot his wife in Florida and then bragged on Facebook about being in the news.]

Well, the reason... I don't know this guy and it's just one example, but look at what this social media... Look, I'm really running a risk talking about this, because I'm going to come across as an old fuddy-duddy and that's not the point.  (sigh) It's all about wanting a great country.  It's all about wanting this country to stay great with plenty of prosperity and opportunity.

And every time I see something like this, I think that there's no putting the genie back in the bottle.  I just think it's unfortunate there aren't any standards here. We have so many people so obsessed with becoming famous that they're engaging in activity that ruins their lives in this quest.  We have people who are destroying their own humanity.  Now some would say, "Rush, don't worry about it.  These same kind of people have always existed. They just destroyed themselves in different ways before this social media hit."

That may be. 

It may be. 

I just think that there's a rising level of ignorance, stupidity, surfaceness, shallowness, self-absorption, and all of these things that... People are pursuing happiness, but they're pursuing things that will never, ever make them happy, and they don't know that.  They've got a distorted view of what will make them happy, what happiness is, and it's based on what they see on television. That just makes me sad at the end of the day and it makes me wish there was something I could do about it, and, of course, there isn't....

 My brother, David, sent me a note.  He says, "You're right about one thing, wrong about the other.  We're experiencing no greater depravity today than ever.  It's the same, because human nature is human nature."

Then he said, "I think there is a striking difference now in America, in that our politically correctly liberal culture is condoning and glorifying all of this and calling it 'tolerance,'" and you know, that is right.  That sort of rings the bell for me.  That's what it is.  It's not that it's happening; it's always happened, this kind of depravity.  "There's nothing new since Genesis." You've heard the old thing.  What is bothering me is that it doesn't bother as many people. 

It's Moynihan, the "defining deviancy down" business, and we end up condoning this stuff -- and if we don't condone it, we glorify it, because the left wants to take every one of these acts of depravity and use it to advance their agenda or an element of their agenda, such as guns or what have you.  "We have to understand the rage," it's said. "We have to be tolerant of people who have come from unfortunate, low-class socioeconomic circumstances."

It's called tolerance and acceptance and understanding, rather than some of this stuff being condemned and dealt with, and that's what's disturbing.  Then you add to it that the secular left, the people that traffic and love immortality, love throwing standards out the window; they don't want any standards. That's exactly what it is.  It is the lack of being shocked, lack of revulsion, and even the laughing at and acceptance of this stuff.  

END TRANSCRIPT

End quote.

While Limbaugh's concerns about depravity are right, he's wrong, as is his brother to this extent: while total depravity is the result of the Fall when Adam and Eve sinned against God (Genesis 3), the days will grow darker indeed. What he's so shocked at, that those more "conservative" folks who were against the filth on tv, etc., is really the hypocrisy of such people. 

Romans 1-2 show this: people know right from wrong because God placed it in their conscience. Everyone knows that murder is wrong; that adultery is wrong; that homosexuality is wrong. But by refusing to acknowledge God and His Word, their hard hearts become hardened even still, as God removes His hand off their hearts and minds. 

Rom 1:28  And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 

Rom 1:29  being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 

Rom 1:30  slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 

Rom 1:31  without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 

Rom 1:32  and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. 

2Ti 3:1  But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2Ti 3:2  For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3  unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
2Ti 3:4  treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
2Ti 3:5  holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. 

Mat 24:5  "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. 

Mat 24:6  "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 

Mat 24:7  "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 

Mat 24:8  "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. 

Mat 24:9  "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 

Mat 24:10  "At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 

Mat 24:11  "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 

Mat 24:12  "Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold.

And then there is also Revelation.

For info about when God judges a nation by abandoning it, go here.

Racism In Enlightened Switzerland?

Rush puts out another way to consider the Oprah/Switzerland incident: considering the Liberals see Europe as the utopian example of what they want for the United States, especially a place like Switzerland where they are far more enlightened and have no class warfare or racism, the alleged racism Oprah faced in a store in Switzerland seems shocking to the press.

Isn't Europe supposed to be the Socialist utopia Liberals in America use as THE STANDARD for shaming us into socialism?

Except the BBC had a different account, from the store owner's perspective.

Obama Gaffes: Jacksonville, Charleston, and Savannah Are On the Gulf Coast

                                            

Someone tell Obama that Jacksonville,Georgia and Savannah are not on the Gulf Coast.

RUSH: Here's Obama on The Tonight Show Tuesday night and Leno said, "You mentioned infrastructure.  Why is infrastructure a partisan issue? I live in a town, the bridge is falling apart, it isn't safe.  How does that become Republican or Democrat? Why don't you just go fix the bridge?"

OBAMA:  I don't know. As you know, for the last three years, I've said, "Let's work together." Let's find a financing mechanism and let's go ahead and fix our bridges, fix our roads, sewer systems, our ports. You know, the Panama Canal is being widened so that these big supertankers can come in. Now, that’ll be finished in 2015. If we don't deepen our ports all along the Gulf, places like Charleston, South Carolina, or Savannah, Georgia, or Jacksonville, Florida, if we don't do that, those ships are going to go someplace else. And we'll lose jobs. Businesses won't locate here. So this is something that traditionally has been bipartisan. I mean, it used to be Republicans and Democrats, they love cutting those ribbons. [video clip here]

RUSH:  Now let me take a stab at this because I can answer this easily.  Of course the gaffe there is Obama saying, "Look, we have to deepen our ports all along the gulf, places like Charleston, South Carolina, which is on the Atlantic ocean.  Savannah, Georgia, on the Atlantic ocean, Jacksonville, Florida, on the Atlantic ocean.  None of these are on the Gulf. 

Now, you remember what grief Sarah Palin got when she said she could see Russia from her house.  You remember that?  And you remember how that statement, maybe at the top of the list, that statement from Sarah Palin was the primary means by which the media set out to destroy her, her intelligence, her credibility.  And here is Barack Obama, not knowing what he's talking about, sounding so sure of himself.  In fact, the AP has written about this and doesn't even mention the gaffe.  They are whitewashing it.  They have written a story that essentially praises Obama's brilliance for understanding that we need to deepen the ports. They don't even touch on the gaffe.  This kind of stuff genuinely ticks me off....

RUSH:  By the way, folks, just to remind you: Sarah Palin never, ever said that she could see Russia from her house.  Tina Fey said it on Saturday Night Live impersonating Palin, and it became popularly assumed by people that Palin actually said it.  She never said it.  Yet Tina Fey impersonating Palin saying that she could see Russia from her house became one of the primary reasons for Republicans to run around saying, "Well, this woman's not smart enough....

Republicans, Democrats, everybody bought that she said that. It's embarrassing. The closest Palin ever came to saying anything like this was that you can actually see Russia from land there in Alaska, which is true! You can see Russia from parts of Alaska.  She never said she could see it from her house. 

[Editor's Note:Check it out at Wikipedia. The small island is the US, the larger one is Russia.Images by Dave Cohoe.]

She never said it qualified her for foreign policy, which was part of the Tina Fey joke. Here we have a legitimate statement of gaffe proportions -- and, by the way, there were three or four of them on Leno and they're unremarked upon. The AP, in their effort to whitewash Obama's gaffe, actually added words to their report to cover for the guy.  The AP printed, quote, "If we don't deepen our ports along the Gulf (and in) places like..."

They added the words "and in," and they put them in parentheses, which means it's not a direct quote.  It's assumed.  But Obama didn't say "and in."  He said, "Our ports along the Gulf in places like..." They added the words "and in" and changed the whole thing. It's a whitewash, cover up.

~Rush Limbaugh

That's not the first time Obama said the SAME THING as even Obama apologizer Mediaite admits:

Quote:

July 25 Transcript via The White House:

“And then private companies came onboard here at Jaxport. They saw it as a good investment. And we’re building the same kind of partnerships across the country — especially, by the way, in some of these Gulf ports — Charleston, Savannah. And now, these ports are on track to be better prepared for those supertankers and their cargo loads ahead of schedule. “

That July speech also wasn’t the first time the President made such a reference. In remarks at an Atlanta, Georgia DNC event on May 19, the President said “Roads, bridges, ports all across the Gulf — I was down in Costa Rica meeting with the Central American Presidents, and I was reminded once again, Panama is revamping its canal; they’re going to be bringing in these mega-container cargo ships. And right now a bunch of those ships can’t dock in our ports all along the Gulf — Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana. And if we don’t revamp those, we’re going to lose business.”

End quote.

I think most people remember the constant criticizing of George W. Bush and his gaffes because the media used it to try to discredit Bush as a bumbling cowboy idiot from the backwaters of Texas (while he actually was a graduate of Yale University and got his MBA from Harvard, nor was he hopeless without a teleprompter). Also they hounded Dan Quayle (remember?), as Michelle Malkin noted according to News Busters:

Malkin's reax: "The parenthetical Obama Gulf gaffe rescue would be akin to putting an "(s)" after "potatoe" to cover for Dan Quayle." Exactly." 

More gaffes by Obama:

OBAMA:  Keeping our military strong means keepin' our families strong.  Michelle and vice ... president... uh... uh... eh... The, uh... Joe Biden's wife, Dr. Jill Biden, they've made this their mission.

RUSH:  Whew. Folks, that's not a gaffe.  He didn't remember her name, and that means probably that the teleprompter froze....

Obama on Leno, "The odds of dying in a terrorist attack are a lot lower than they are of dying in a car accident, unfortunately." Another gaffe. He did say that. I double checked this.  "The odds of dying in a terrorist attack are a lot lower than they are of dying in a car accident, unfortunately." Well obviously he's trying to say, "Eh, terrorism? It's no big deal. More people die in car crashes, unfortunately." 

He was trying to express solidarity with families who've lost people in car crashes, by acknowledging how terrible that is. (translated) "It's still terrible, very terrible. But terrorism is not nearly that bad." Infantile! In another gaffe, Obama said that Putin, Vladimir Putin,  used to head the KGB.  Putin did not head the KGB, never has.  Putin was a mid-level nobody there.  Putin was one of those guys in the KGB who was a climber. He was forever hoping, climbing that ladder, trying to get to the head spot.

But he never got there. 

He was a nobody.....

More Obama gaffes over the years:

OBAMA May 9, 2008: I've now been in 57 states?

OBAMA June 5, 2008:  You send a kid to the emergency room for a treatable illness like asthma. They end up taking up a hospital bed. You gave 'em treatment early, and they got some treatment, and a -- a breathalyzer or a in-hullator.

OBAMA April 4, 2009: I don't know the term is in Austrian.

OBAMA February 4, 2010: Navy corpse-man Christian Bouchard.

OBAMA February 4, 2010: Corpse-man Bouchard. 

OBAMA February 4, 2010: Corpse-man Bouchard. 

OBAMA May 26, 2008: On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in the audience here today.

RUSH:  Corpse-man?  That last one, that was Memorial Day 2008. "On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes," that means killed in action, "and I see many of them in the audience here today." He looked out and he saw the dead!  Which, of course, he didn't.  And, in each one of these, if the media was inclined to talk about, it would be, "You know he didn't mean that!  You know he didn't mean that. Come on.  You know he knows Biden's wife's name.  What are you talking about?

Well, one example I'm talking about is I have not drank the Kool-Aid.  I do not believe that Obama is smarter than anybody else.  I do not believe he has cut a new path and is a politician unlike any we've ever seen regarding his intellect.  I don't believe any of this hocus-pocus.  I didn't believe it when they said it about Hillary, Smartest Woman in the World. 

End quote. Source (includes links to the various newspapers who reported on these various things)

I don't know. Maybe the media is as ignorant (thanks to the HIGH standards of government schools) as Obama is.

Have You Forgotten?

"Finally. Four years after Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan walked into the Soldier Readiness Processing Center at Fort Hood, Texas, and perpetrated the bloodiest massacre ever on an American military base, the self-confessed jihadist's court martial proceedings began this week. Have you forgotten?"

Read more here on the three facts forgotten with this forgotten but very important trial.

By the way, Hasan isn't a radical Muslim, he's a consistent, true Muslim who behaves in line with the quran.

Just sayin'.

Fight and Defend American Soil Abroad? No! Close and Retreat! What Bravery We Show!

It’s tough to imagine a more humiliating week for the world’s sole superpower. Fears of “another Benghazi” are prompting not massive reinforcement to defend our citizens and our diplomatic soil but closure and retreat in 19 American embassies in the Middle East and Africa. In the meantime, our withdrawal from Afghanistan — according to publicly advertised timelines, with the equally publicly advertised possibility of total abandonment — proceeds right on schedule. Let’s not forget the scorecard in Iraq, where a once-supine al-Qaeda slowly but surely reconstitutes after our diplomatic failure to retain even a toehold in that country after the hard-won military success of the surge...

How could we possibly cap off this sad record of appeasement and retreat? By arming jihadists ......Lest we think that this military aid will only reach the “good guys,” let’s recall this April report from the New York Times.... (more).

~ACLJ

What real American men did in the old days when faced with Islamic terror...and you can bet they didn't wave the white flag in fear. No, our response was far different and very effective, as Christopher Hitches writes:

America's two main diplomats at the time were John Adams in London and Jefferson in Paris. Together they called upon Ambassador Abdrahaman, the envoy of Tripoli in London, in March 1786. This dignitary mentioned a tariff of three payments--for the ransom of slaves and hostages, for cheap terms of temporary peace and for more costly terms of "perpetual peace." He did not forget to add his own commission as a percentage. Adams and Jefferson asked to know by what right he was exacting these levies. The U.S. had never menaced or quarreled with any of the Muslim powers. As Jefferson later reported to the State Department and Congress, "The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners."  

Jefferson became President in early 1801, shortly after Yusuf Karamanli, the ruler of Tripoli, unwisely issued an ultimatum to the U.S.: If it did not pay him fresh tribute, he threatened, he would declare war on America. The new Commander in Chief coolly decided to let the ultimatum expire and take the declaration of war at face value. 

Over the next four years, in what Jefferson laconically described as a "cruise," the new American Navy bombarded the harbors of Algiers, Morocco and Tunisor threatened them with bombardment--until the states gradually agreed to cease cooperating with Karamanli. 

~Christopher Hitchens, Time Magazine

Where are the men today? 

You Were Saying, Carney....?

Interesting way to end a "news" article, but quite revealing. Maybe this shows a crack in the solidarity the media has with their man Obama....

Often the criticism of a president's vacation is partisan in nature, which is why White House spokesman Jay Carney dismissed a question about it when asked whether Obama's vacation was too extravagant.

"I would just check what they said six years ago," he said, referring to a period when a Republican president, George W. Bush, was in office.

Bush, who vacationed at his Texas ranch while in office, was not a fan of the Massachusetts island of the liberal affluent, saying it was out of step with everyday Americans.

"Most Americans don't sit in Martha's Vineyard, swilling white wine," he once said.

~Reuters

So you were saying Carney.....?

Let's recall mega millionare David Schulte at whose house the Obamas will be vacationing. Schulte is one of Chicago's wealthiest financiers who "earned his money in much the same way the demonized Mitt Romney did: through corporate restructuring and rescuing debt-burdened companies."

And how does Obama treat the residents of Martha's Vineyard? Well that's something ole Reuters left out. But WS didn't:

As one commenter said in response to the announcement of road closures  on the tiny island:

"One commenter responds, "He really needs to find another place to go. He treats people here terribly...." News of the road closure was met with sharp criticism by selectman and chairman of the board Warren Doty.    

~The Weekly Standard

"Seems Obama treats the people he is inconveniencing as poorly as he treats White House staff, his military escorts and the rest of the American people.  I can’t tell you how many reports I’ve read that say the same thing, that the Obama’s treat the staff and military around them like they’re trash.  The Clintons did the same thing.  However, White House staff and military escorts loved both Bushes as they treated everyone with respect and took time to talk to them and ask about their families. That’s the difference between conservatives and liberals.  Conservatives care about others whereas liberals care about themselves.  The Obama’s obviously do not care about the American people by the flaunting of their vacations and exorbitant spending in the face of people losing their benefits, jobs and homes due to his policies."

~Godfather Politics

As I was reading this, the first thing that popped into my head was how it sounded so much like the Clintons (they despised the military too, and showed it by their lack of respect towards them) and then reading on I see the Clintons are mentioned. I can attest to the fact that the Clintons treated those who served them horribly, because I personally know someone who worked and spoke to a couple of them. 

Matt Damon: Obama Broke Up With Me

Matt Damon is disappointed with Obama. The problem is that Obama is the man he pushed for, this is HIS man, and the drones, the NSA and DOJ intrusion of privacy, are the outworkings of liberalism: that is to say, they are what Obama's socialism is all about. This is what Obama has ever been about.

I find it interesting that Conservatives have been saying this administration is not one of democracy but of socialism, but Damon could only hear it and consider it when it came from the mouth of another liberal Democrat, white Southerner Jimmy Carter. Who, by the way, was no where to be seen regarding the last two election cycles here in America (he's famous for "overseeing" those in other countries though)---we know there was intimidation at voting booths because we saw footage and heard of reports of the new Black Panthers standing around with their bully clubs in a threatening manner; not to mention the continual fraud of actual votes. Perhaps Damon might consider hailing Carter to look into the matter.

But I'm not holding my breath.

Simple and True

"A pastor should be more concerned about the future of his sheep than  the feelings of a wolf."

~ Pastor Don Green (8/8/13)





As one pastor put it more precisely, a pastor is a sheepdog, who works for the Shepherd.




Either way, as an under-shepherd or as a sheepdog, pastors are meant to feed and guard His sheep.

Three Black Teens Beat Up White Boy On Bus, But Where's the Outcry?

A cell-phone video captures the 13-year-old boy’s screams for help as he’s pummeled with fists and kicked by three bigger, older youths who “ganged up” on him as he was about to get off at his bus stop.

The black teens beat the white sixth-grader for roughly a minute before opening the emergency-exit door and fleeing the bus.

~WND

While the bus driver phoned for help, he was too scared to take on the thugs.

Where's the hue and cry about THIS beating? Isn't all beatings of children wrong? And yet the silence of black-on-white crime is deafening, racist, and hypocritical.

More:



Not even the media bothers reporting the increase of black-on-white crime, so when they do THAT'S news:

"A startling new trend is sweeping newsrooms across the country: Reporters are telling the truth about black mob violence.

OK, it was just two reporters and two stories in one week.

But it happens so rarely that it seems like a torrent.

Let’s start in Baltimore: Second only to Chicago in the frequency and intensity of black mob violence in their downtown. Second only to Chicago in the unwillingness of the media and police administrators to confront it."

~WND

**Note** On the right side of the above article is a list of over a dozen black mob attacks in recent months.

Matt Damon: LAUSD Isn't Liberal Enough

The Hill reports:

In a weekend interview with The Guardian, Damon, who recently relocated his family from New York to Los Angeles, said the L.A. public school system didn’t offer the kind of “progressive education” he wanted for his kids..

I mean, I pay for a private education and I'm trying to get the one that most matches the public education that I had, but that kind of progressive education no longer exists in the public system. It's unfair."

"So we agitate about those things, and try to change them, and try to change the policy, but you know, it's a tough one,” he added.

End quote.

Unfair?

Like Michelle Obama demanding certain foods be sold and others banned from public schools while her kids go to a private school and while she and her husband eat those very same "banned" foods?

Like Obama pushing socialized medicine on the nation, while he and his cohorts in Congress are opted out?

Like rich people being able to afford private schools while the rest of us either go to government schools (LAUSD has only 66% graduation rate--if one believes its even that high) or home school?

If Damon thinks the LA government schools aren't progressive enough, one must wonder just how liberal his indoctrination was on the East Coast. Does he even understand that his leftist views are socialist at heart and socialism by its nature demands equality in everything?

Liberals, Progressives, and Socialists: the connection of their worldview.

Elysium: A Message-less, Non-Political Movie About The Haves and the Have-Nots

It doesn't even make sense, does it? There's a point, a message, but yet it has no message, no point. Eh?

The Hollywood Reporter calls it a “politically charged flight of speculative fiction.”

Newsmax refers to it “sci-fi socialism” and “political propaganda.”

Variety said its one of the “more openly socialist political agendas of any Hollywood movie in memory, beating the drum loudly not just for universal healthcare, but for open borders, unconditional amnesty and the abolition of class distinctions as well.”

~Fox News

Neither The Hollywood Reporter nor Variety are conservative by any stretch of the imagination, but even they see the politics of this movie.

While the director Neill Blomkamp and star Matt Damon deny it, no one is buying their denial. In fact, even Damon states the movie "presents the issue--the distinct difference between the haves and the have nots" all the while both men claim its a messageless movie.

Huh?

If its presenting an issue, if it has a story line, it is indeed promoting a message. The worldview of the writer and director thus comes through the movie. Of course there's a message, otherwise why have a topic, especially about the "haves and have nots"? That doesn't even make sense. 

Fox News also reported (and here is my point): 

"The South African born director did admit that his big budget offering at least reflects a personal interest in the class system. 

“Growing up in South Africa has a lot to do with (that). Those formative years growing up in a country where things are so separate, it’s institutionalized thought in this military complex,” he said. “Moving to Canada gave me an outside perspective… I can’t shake it; I am interested in those topics.” "

That would be like celebrities and Hollywood types as the "haves", distinct and separate from the rest of the real world, the "have nots"? Like Obama and his high elitist lifestyle while the rest of us pay for his extravagance? 


Like that?

Fox News also reports that the movie's website is loaded with political campaign links.

Besides, we all know how many  celebrities wear their politics on their sleeves and push it onto the rest of us. 

UC Board of Regents Student Rep Trained By CAIR--An Unindicted Co-Conspirator to Fund Hamas

A front for the movement that aims to turn the U.S. into an Islamic state is touting its role in the groundbreaking appointment of an “observant Muslim” to the University of California system’s board of regents... 

The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations noted Saifuddin, a senior majoring in social welfare at Cal Berkeley, participated in CAIR’s Muslim Youth Leadership Program in 2008. She also served as an adviser for this year’s participants.

CAIR, according to FBI wiretap evidence from a 1993 meeting of Muslim Brotherhood leaders and activists in Philadelphia, was formed to burnish the image of Muslims in the U.S. in support of the Brotherhood’s stated aim of “destroying Western civilization from within” and replacing it with Islamic rule.

As a student senator, Saifuddin co-sponsored a non-binding resolution that called on the University of California system to divest $14 million from companies that do business in Israel, reported the independent local news site Berkeleyside.

Saifuddin explained she did not want “one cent of my money to go toward fueling the occupation of my brothers and sisters.” The resolution passed by an 11-9 vote....

While CAIR touts itself as a Muslim civil rights group, federal prosecutors in 2007 named CAIR an unindicted co-conspirator in a plot to fund Hamas, and more than a dozen CAIR leaders have been charged or convicted of terrorism-related crimes.

Read more at WND

Don't think this won't affect the UC system's policies. Liberals cower in the face of Islam.

Ft. Hood Jihadist Hasan Acknowledges Islam At Odds Against Democracy

According to Fox News, Hasan told the court the evidence will show he was "on the wrong side, but then [he] switched sides." The alleged shooter added: "We the Mujahideen are imperfect Muslims trying to establish the perfect religion in the land of the supreme god."

On August 1, Fox News reported that Hasan's writings demonstrated his belief that it is not "permissible" to prefer American democracy over Sharia law, and that Muslims should not "compromise their beliefs" to appease non-Muslims.

~Breitbart

That's right and that's exactly what I've been saying for a long time. Islam cannot and will not coexist with Western worldviews, especially that of a Democratic Republic. And a Muslim is a Muslim no matter the country.

Hasan is a true Muslim who even commited jihad on our soil, against our military. That was indeed an act of war.

I guess Obama is fine with that.

More Journalists Than Activists Show Up for Immigration Rally

More journalists than activists turned out for the start of a rally for immigration reform on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall Tuesday morning staged by labor unions and pro-amnesty organizations. The event was aimed at warning Republicans in the House of Representatives to pass an immigration bill that includes a "path to citizenship" for illegal aliens or face the wrath of Hispanic and progressive voters in their districts.

(photo Joel Pollack)

~Breitbart

Astronomy Should Humble Man

"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place--what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You care for him? Psalm 8:3-4

A survey of the solar system has a tendency to moderate the pride of man, and to promote humility.

Pride is one of the distinguishing characteristics of puny man, and has been one of the chief causes of all the contentions, wars, devastations, systems of slavery, and sinful projects which have desolated and demoralized our sinful world. Yet there is no disposition more incongruous to the character and circumstances of man!

Perhaps there are no rational beings throughout the universe, among whom pride would appear more unfitting or incompatible, than in man, considering the situation in which he is placed. He is exposed to numerous degradations and calamities:

the rage of storms and tempests,
the devastations of earthquakes and volcanoes,
the fury of whirlwinds,
the tempestuous billows of the ocean,
the ravages of the sword, famine, pestilence, and numerous diseases;
and at length he must sink into the grave, and
his body must become the companion of worms!

The most dignified and haughty of men are liable to these and similar degradations--as well as the lowest of the human family. Yet, in such circumstances, man--that puny worm of the dust, whose knowledge is so limited, and whose follies are so numerous and glaring--has the effrontery to strut in all the haughtiness of pride, and to glory in his shame! 

"For dust you are--and to dust you will return!" Genesis 3:19

When other arguments and motives produce little effect on certain minds, no considerations seem likely to have a more powerful tendency to counteract this deplorable propensity to pride in human beings, than those which are borrowed from the objects connected with astronomy. They show us what an insignificant being--what a mere atom, indeed, man appears amidst the immensity of creation!

What is the whole of this globe on which we dwell--compared with the solar system, which contains a mass of matter millions times greater? What is this earth--in comparison of the millions of suns and worlds which have been scattered throughout the starry regions?

Could we take our station on the lofty pinnacles of Heaven, and look down on this scarcely distinguishable speck of earth--we would be ready to exclaim with Seneca, "Is it to this little spot, that the great designs and vast desires of men are confined?" 

(Thomas Dick, "The Solar System", 1774-1857)

God Is A Righteous Judge and His Anger Burns Against the Wicked Daily

"God is a righteous judge--and God is angry with the wicked every day!" Psalm 7:11.

God not only detests sin, but is angry with those who continue to indulge in it. We have no ignorant or indifferent God to deal with; He can be angry, nay, He is angry today and every day with you--you ungodly and impenitent sinners! The best day that ever dawns on a sinner, brings a curse with it. From the beginning of the year even to its ending, there is not an hour in which God's oven is not hot, and burning in readiness for the wicked, who shall be as stubble before Him!

"If he does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He bends His bow and makes it ready!" Psalm 7:12.

What blows are those which will be dealt by that long-uplifted omnipotent arm! God's sword has been sharpening upon the revolving stone of our daily wickedness, and if we will not repent, it will speedily cut us in pieces! Turn or burn is the sinner's only alternative.

"He also prepares for Himself instruments of death; He makes His arrows into fiery shafts!" Psalm 7:13.

Even now God's thirsty arrow longs to wet itself with the blood of the ungodly! His bow is bent, His aim is taken, His arrow is fitted to the string--and what, O sinner, if the arrow should be let fly at you even now! Remember, God's arrows never miss the mark, and are, every one of them, "instruments of death." Judgment may tarry, but it will not come too late. The Greek proverb says, "The mill of God grinds slowly--but grinds to powder!"

"The sharpening of God's sword is but to give a keener edge, that it may cut the deeper. When God's sword is sharpened--it is to cut; and when God's bow is bent--it is to kill! Woe be to that man who is God's target!" William Secker

"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!" Hebrews 10:31 

(Charles Spurgeon, "Treasury of David")

God Alone Defines What Is Good and Not Good

In Genesis 1, after each day of creation, God declared that "it was good". But when it came to Adam being alone, Scripture states,

Gen 2:18  Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."

God, Who is Creator and is all good, alone defines what is good and evil, right and wrong.  For man to be without a "suitable helper" wasn't good. It was, rather, good, for Adam to have a helpmate, just as all the animals had male and female counterparts, thus God created Eve, not separately, but from out of the rib of Adam himself.

Animals were not suitable mates for Adam. Being alone was not good.

Eve was God's good creation, perfectly suitable for Adam in every way.

Not another male (even with the animals in Genesis, we see male/female counterparts to populate the land), not animals, but a woman.

Gen 1:31  God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

After God created Eve, God declared all His creation, "very good." Not just good, but very good. God was generous in supplying Adam and Eve, along with the animals, abundant food and water in beautiful surroundings, for all their needs.

God here from the start, defines what is good and not good. In chapter 2 He defines the limitation on what is available to eat and not eat (there's only one singular prohibition).

God says its not good for man to be alone.
God says animals are not suitable helpmates for man.
God designed a woman, a female, to be the suitable helpmate for man. THIS is what is good and perfectly suitable for man in every way.

Their intimate union in Gen. 2 attests to this fact, showing that such intimacy can never happen between man and any other being. Eve was made out of Adam's side, a compliment to him in every way.


Gen 2:22  The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
Gen 2:23  The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."
Gen 2:24  For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
Gen 2:25  And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

The Health Benefits of Ginger

The health benefits of ginger. It includes anti-nausea, anti-oxidation as well as anti-inflammation properties.  Sprouts sells  candied ginger that uses only raw cane sugar and its very good!

The Pelagianism of Rick Warren

Rick Warren's Pelagianism.

"At root I think he is theological and doctrinal and sound." ~John Piper

"In a nutshell, Pelagianism denies original sin and teaches that man is morally neutral. Man therefore has the capacity to choose God through rational thought and free will apart from the grace of God. In fact, man is born with the same moral purity as Adam before the fall, and it is only the influences of his environment and making poor intellectual decisions that leads man to sin and bad behavior. In other words, man has the ability to fulfill or obey the commands of God by his will alone (for more on the heresy of Pelagianism , please see Pelagianism and Pelagianism: Religion of Natural Man).

So what does this have to do with Rick Warren? "

~Read the article from airo cross  here.

How To Recognize Ravenous Wolves Among You

How to recognize the false prophets Jesus warned against in Matt. 7:15-23 (yes, this would also be the very chapter about judging):

"Those who do not fall for the deceptions of these false prophets do so by using their godly discernment to look closely at these people rather than just listening to them. How do they really live? What happens to those who follow them? Does what they say and do match up with how Jesus’ disciples are supposed to speak and act? They look at their fruit. When they see the bad fruit they not only don’t follow them, but they also warn others. Also, never forget, these ravenous wolves will be seen by most people as “right on” Christian leaders who call Jesus Lord. They even appear to do “good works” that make them very popular. I submit that Christian leaders such as Rick Warren fit this description very well. He is now a political activist who is so popular with the media and most people that he seems to have taken on a messianic aura. However, we must obey our Lord and look at the fruit. What fruit do we look at?"  

"The test is very simple. We must compare what they do and say with what an obedient servant of the Lord is supposed to do and say. If they are found saying and doing what Jesus would say and do then they pass the test. However, if they say the right things, but they do things contrary to Jesus’ teachings then they fail. If they preach heresy they fail. If they are caught in gross sin they fail. If they are unrepentant about what they do and say when confronted with the truth, they fail. Those who fail have built their “house” on the sand. Those who take the costly route and in obedience to Christ have built their house on the rock and even if they are persecuted, ostracized, or ridiculed by the majority, it does not matter because God is being glorified in their suffering and the second death has no power over them. As for those who fail, Jesus will tell them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” "

~Mike Ratliff, "Ravenous Wolves in Sheep's Clothing" 

An example of false teaching.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss Endorses Pagan Chalk Circles

What should be an obvious unbiblical practice, apparently escapes famous teacher Nancy Leigh DeMoss. She promotes the pagan circle drawing practice.

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.
2Co 11:3  But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
2Co 11:4  For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.

Lordship Salvation

Even within this theological divide, there are those who profess such biblical truths that faith and repentance are gifts from God, yet this reality does not permeate their subsequent understanding of soteriology (doctrine of salvation).  For example, one might claim that faith is a gift from God, but they would deny that God chooses to give faith to those He elected from eternity past, but rather each individual must exercise their faith out of their human ability to do so in order to be saved.  These two ideas are diametrically opposed to one another, yet one might resign to say they don’t understand how it works out exactly, they just know God’s sovereignty and man’s free will somehow work together.  Sadly, this is theological laziness.

It is one thing to not understand a biblical doctrine and continue seeking God to reveal His divine mysteries to us, it is quite another to incessantly remain ignorant on a doctrine because one is bent on remaining stuck in traditions of men and therefore has no desire to search the Scriptures for themselves.  It is then out of this seemingly willful ignorance that one tosses around falsehoods and fallacies about the teaching of lordship salvation proponents. This is why it is imperative that we study to show ourselves approved in order that we might bring glory to God (2 Timothy 2:15) and refrain from falsely accusing the brethren.

With that said, many who supposedly reject what is known as “lordship salvation” simply do not understand what it actually means.  They rely on others to tell them what it means rather than study the issue and the biblical doctrines themselves.  This is damaging to the proclamation of the Gospel because the message going forth is one that is not complete, such as a gospel defunct of biblical repentance (turning away from a sinful lifestyle to God in faith)....

[Keep reading for a short list of what Lordship-salvation is and is not.]

~ airo