The Oyster Man

I had to share this with you: The Oyster Man. This expresses my feelings about my attempt to share my religion better than I can, especially the last paragraph: “Our best may not always measure up to the standards of others. But God takes our inadequacies and humble efforts and uses them for His glory.” 

The scripture that goes along with this is 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”

Is your God like that?

My Church

I have to tell you why I go to church. I’ve been through several churches since my commitment to Jesus Christ in 1980, and most of them have disappointed me. They were self-centered and judgmental. I just about gave up until 2006.

In August, 2006, I met an old friend who told me about St. James. Now, I have been to a Methodist church before (in Delaware), but the pastor there didn’t believe in anything. The congregation was nice and very helpful, but the pastor did not believe one doctrine of the Bible. He was a pastor in name only. So, when I was told about another Methodist Church here in Tulsa, my first reaction was - no way!

But this church is different. The pastor is sincere. He loves God, Jesus, and people. The people in the church love God, Jesus, and people. They spend more time in outreach than anything else at the church. That’s what I like. It’s not - what about MY needs, but what are the needs in the community and around the world. Not that my needs aren’t important and they are met there. However, it’s just that my needs is not the only focus of a church. A church is to minister to the community around them. They not only do that by preaching the good news, but also by helping them with everyday needs - food, clothing, housing. And that is what St. James does.

That’s what I like about my church. It’s very refreshing!

What is Atheism?

I’ve been asked to define atheism by one of my commenters, so here is the definition according to the dictionary

a·the·ism      [ey-thee-iz-uhm] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1.    the doctrine or belief that there is no God.
2.    disbelief in the existence of a supreme being or beings.

I used to be an Atheist. My “religion,” although I would have denied having one, was based on me. In this religion, “I” am in control of my universe. “I” have the power to change things. “I’ am who I depend on for everything. In other words, “I” am my own god.  This kind of “religion” has been defined by the Supreme Court as “Humanism.” For more information on Humanism,  read the article “Secular Humanism is a Religion.”

Oklahoma House Bill 2211

Oklahoma is trying to pass the Religious Viewpoint Anti-discrimination Act, House Bill 2211. I’m not sure on this one.

On the one side, I’m tired of public schools censuring Christians in everything - what they wear, what they talk about to their friends, what they write in papers, what they say in speeches.

On the other hand, this opens the door for some really weird stuff being said, worn, and written about in schools. What will we think when a student gives a speech on the benefits of smoking pot or sacrificing animals in a religious service? How would we feel in a graduation ceremony if the valedictorian said we were going to burn in the eternal fires of damnation if we did not become a Muslim, Buddist, Wiccan, or even Christian? Is that appropriate at a graduation ceremony?

Of course, we already hear one religion in the classroom almost every day - the religion of the public schools’ - atheism. We hear it when they teach us that God was merely a literary character written about sometime AFTER Beowulf, and the world evolved from a explosion billions of years ago that turned into a particle of life, etc. We have no choice but to put up with it or not get an education. Is that fair?

Yes, I think my religion is the right one, but so do my classmates. How do we determine who gets to say what?

Yes, we are a country with freedom of speech in our constitution, but are we willing to give ALL religions equal voice? Maybe that is the only choice in which case I would vote for this amendment.

This is a tough one. I’m going to have to think about this for awhile. What do you think?

Abraham Lincoln and The Election in November

Everyone knows the story of Abraham Lincoln. He rose from poverty to the White House. He was self-educated and not very attractive, but he was full of ambition. After many attempts, he was elected president in the fall of 1860 and was inaugurated on March 4, 1861. Several states seceded the Union by the time he became president, and the Civil War officially began at Fort Sumter on April 10, 1861.

But did you know that Abraham Lincoln became a Christian during the Civil War? He said in a speech to his hometown crowd in Illinois, “When I left Springfield, I asked the people to pray for me; I was not a Christian. When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life; I was not a Christian. But when I saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ. I do love Jesus.”

God had a job for this man to do from the very beginning. He put the desire in his heart to run for office long before he became a Christian. And then, when the time was right, Abraham recognized his call and did what God required of him - he put into action the legislation that would free the slaves from bondage in America just as Moses did for the slaves in bondage in Egypt long ago (Exodus). He fulfilled his call.

In the book of Esther, Esther became Queen and subsequently saved her people from destruction. Before she took action, she was told, “And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)

God has a plan for each and every person on this earth . . .

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Including our president . . .

Romans 13:1 says, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.“

God is in control of this election. I’m not worried about who will be our next president. I will do my part, research the issues, pray about my decision, and vote in November. But ultimately, it is God who will put the man or woman in office for such a time as this.

Expelled Trailer

Coming Spring 2008: Expelled

How to HELP someone . . .

The next time you are given opportunity to help someone in need, don’t side-step or complicate this moment. Consider the following acronym – a simple and practical way to HELP.

H – hug
E – encouragement
L – listen
P – prayer

It really is that simple. Sometimes people just need a hug - a warm embrace that communicates love and special concern. A hug can work wonders for a wounded soul.

From: http://www.simonsolutions.com/blog/

Learn Hebrew - FREE Online Resource

Have you always wanted to learn Hebrew but never did it? Why not now! Here’s some free, online resources to help you learn Hebrew.

• Ancient Hebrew Research Center offers free lessons in Hebrew.
• Aleph-Bet on the Net offers tutorials in Hebrew.
• Shalom Scripture Studies offers free Hebrew Flash Cards.
• Jewish Education and Entertainment offers several, free Hebrew learning games.
• Practice writing Hebrew at The Hebrew Alef-Bet.
• Cursive Hebrew at Lev Software.
• You can also learn some Hebrew by singing Hebrew songs.
• You can “test” yourself with Keciro Homeschool’s games and worksheets for learning Hebrew.
• Finally, for those of you who are really serious, there are many resources listed on Foundation Stone.com for further study.

Apologetics Resource

I bought the “Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics” by Norman L. Geisler to help me while I am going to college.

The back cover says that, “challenges to Christianity come from a variety of people and belief-systems. I have found it true not only going to college but even from my own family. This book has helped me to learn the answers to some of those challenges. Perhaps it will be helpful to you.

Health Care Insurance

I consider myself to be a conservative (mostly), but I’m beginning to have questions about “conservative policy” on health care.

I have a friend whose husband walked out and left her with three kids. She gets $1600/month in child support. Only two of the children qualify for insurance and medical coverage, so she would have to pay for her own and her eldest daughter’s, who is right out of high school and now helping take care of the younger two.

She was a stay at home mom since the children were born and even though she has a bachelor’s degree, she was unable to get a high paying job. She is working in an office for $12/hour or about $25,000 per year, so her total income is about $44,000 to take care of four people, pay her taxes, mortgage, car payment, food, utilites, and hopefully send her kids to college?

I go to school with a lot of nontraditional students (in their late 20’s, early 30’s) who are accumulating huge amounts of debt to pay for college and working as wait staff or bartenders in order to live. Their incomes are about $15k- $25k per year.

These are not people who choose to live this way because they are lazy or undisciplined. They are your average, everyday people who are just trying to make a living, improve their education, and take care of themselves and their family.

There is a local free clinic in town; however, i’s only open Tuesday and Thursday evenings and it’s standing room only. You have to be really sick to get in, and you have to hope you are not going to school or working on Tuesday or Thursday night when you have to go.

I contacted a local health insurance dealer about insurance for a 31 year old female, nonsmoker, who gave me several quotes from different companies. For $3800-$4000, this female could get insurance that would cover 80% of lab and hospital, 70% of Rx, and pay $15 per doctor visit.

That means the college student above making $15K-$25K per year would pay 16% - 27% of her income just for the deductible and monthly payment, not figuring in the actual costs of the doctor visit, lab work, and Rxs. Consider the fact that she needs a car (car payment), a house (rent), food, and utilites, it doesn’t leave much to live, let alone pay for school.

For the mom above, multiple that by two times for two people and imagine how that leaves her?

I can tell you one thing about all these people - they don’t go to the doctor. They don’t get checkups. They suffer with their illnesses and hope they can get by enough to keep working or keep going to school.

It’s time for a change in the health care system. We conservative just want to stick our head in the sand and hope it goes away. No, I don’t particularly want to pay more taxes for this, but I’d rather pay taxes to help people like this than to support research on the sex life of the dolphin and other ridiculous things our government pays for.
The “liberals” want to have universal health coverage, but I don’t need health insurance. I like what I have. I don’t want the government telling me how much to spend, where I have to go, and when. I don’t want to be like the people of Canada who come here for medical care. So leave those of us who have insurance alone, but figure out some way that people like those above can have adequate health coverage.