Background and Context for the Tebow SuperBowl ad
Stuart Shepard talks with Gary Schneeberger about how the ad came about, how it was paid for, and what the theme is.
If you don’t like football you will be able to see the ad on the Focus on the Family website after the game.
Frontier School of the Bible (update)
From Carmen Carpenter on Facebook,
Many have wondered what has transpired with Frontier School of the Bible’s situation with the State of Wyoming. A current state statute, designed to deal with diploma mills, inadvertently affected legitimate religious schools like Frontier by removing their religious exemption. Some of the effects of that statute were negated when Frontier School of the Bible was granted a Leadership School exemption. However, in order to deal with all of the unintended negative aspects of losing our religious exemption, Representative Ed Buchanan has submitted House Bill 16 on behalf of all post-secondary religious schools in Wyoming. Approval of this bill would restore our religious exemption.
Please pray that House Bill 16 would make it through the Educational Committees, be placed on the Legislative Agenda, and be passed by the Legislature. Pray for wisdom for those from Frontier School of the Bible who will be meeting with the Department of Education and legislators. The legislative session begins February 8th.
Thank you for your prayers.
The following is a copy of the post on FSB’s facebook page:
Please pray for Frontier!
Hi everyone! Here’s an update on our situation with the State of Wyoming. All this is happening starting next Monday and through the month of February 2010. PLEASE PRAY WITH US! It’s been awesome to see the positive response we’ve had lately but we know it is GOD and GOD ALONE that will work through this situation! “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.”
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If you are a resident of Wyoming and would like more info on how to help, please call the school – 307-834-2215
****************
What is the situation?
Frontier School of the Bible is seeking to have our religious exemption restored by the Wyoming State Legislature. A current state statute, designed to deal with diploma mills, inadvertently affected legitimate religious schools. Some of the effects of that statute were negated by Frontier School of the Bible being granted a Leadership School exemption. However, in order to deal with all of the unintended negative aspects of losing our religious exemption, Representative Ed Buchanan has submitted House Bill 16 on behalf of Frontier School of the Bible and all other religious schools. Approval of this bill would restore our religious exemption and once again allow us to award degrees.
What can you do?
Please pray that House Bill 16 would make it through the Educational Committees, be placed on the Legislative Agenda, and be passed by the Legislature. Pray for wisdom for those from Frontier School of the Bible who will be meeting with the Department of Education and legislators
Thanks!
-FSB
Have We “Polluted” Christianity with Conservatism (3)
A few days ago I was involved in a conversation on Facebook which prompted the whole idea of this thread. A commenter said "we have polluted Christianity with Conservative Ideology".
Yesterday I asked the question: Is taking the position of low taxation an exclusively conservative position or is it a matter of faith?
Before I dive in allow me to say thank you for your comments. I am so thankful for all of you who keep me thinking correctly or thinking at all 
. Specifically Jordan; I can always count on you to make sure I am being clear and inclusive in my comments and Jim; thank you for interjecting the foundational truth of obedience to God and His delegated authority.
Now onto the point:
As Christians we have the answers for every problem on earth. God has given us the responsibility (Psalm 115:16) and the authority (Mathew 28:18-20) to steward the earth and has spoken to every aspect of life (2 Peter 1:3) through His specific revelation to His people. The Bible.
I chose taxation because there are opinions ranging all over the place and some Christians believe it is good to take from some for the benefit of others.
Same sex marriage would have been too easy. Having said that there is a very good reason for opposition to same sex marriage other than, "it’s a sin"; which is fine for Christians but the world won’t buy it.
Jim you brought up Mathew 22:21 render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. The Constitution, with guidance from the Bible, tells us what is lawful and Biblical related to taxation. Civil government needs, and has the right, to collect taxes for things like national defense, punishing evil, keeping the peace and very little else. Romans 13 is very clear on this point.
In "Americas Providential History" Mark A. Beliles & Stephen K. McDowell quote Gary DeMar:
"In the United Stated the Constitution is our "Caesar." We are bound to pay what it stipulates is our due. But neither citizens nor civil representatives must assume that Jesus gave rulers a blank check in the area of taxation…
Another word for tax is tribute. We are directed in scripture to give God a 10% tithe so any amount above that for civil government could be construed as idolatry.
Property taxes are expressly forbidden in 1 Sam 8:14, 1 Kings 21, and Ezk 46:18. With property taxes the property is in effect owned by the state and rented to citizens. If we fail to pay the rent (tax) we can be evicted. This is theft. God owns the land and gives it to us to steward. (Gen 1:28-30) The State has no part in this relationship.
Proverbs 13:22 says a good man leaves an inheritance to his children. Our estate tax system, though not expressly forbidden in scripture, makes it very difficult to leave an inheritance. Without burdensome estate and insurance planning up to 55% of our estate will be absorbed by the state at our death. this tax is sold as a tax on "the rich". It is more accurately a huge burden on family farms and small business. The rich don’t pay taxes.
There are so many more places I could go with this but it’s too long already.
Because conservatism, (not Republican party), most closely aligns itself with the Biblical clarity regarding the purpose and amount of taxation. I am a conservative. There is no Biblical, or constitutional, basis for "wealth redistribution".
Taxation for me is not a matter of politics but of faith. What part of this is "polluting" to Christianity?
Tags: Politics, Conservatism, Christianity, Private Property, Taxes, Estate Tax
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Have We “Polluted” Christianity with Conservatism? (2)
On Monday I asked the above question and received a couple of good comments between Facebook and the here.
Today I want to pose a question.
Is taking the position of low taxation an exclusively conservative position? or is it a matter of faith?
Obviously I believe it is a matter of faith which is one reason I am a conservative because I am a Christian.
I have much more to say on this topic but really would like your insight.
Chime in.
Tags: Taxation, Politics, Christianity, Government
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Have We “Polluted” Christianity With Conservatism?
Yesterday a friend on facebook made the point we should never compromise principle while being mindful of our tone. He stated the principles are not ours to moderate there is such a thing as absolute truth.
One of the comments got me thinking.
This morning I posted to my political blog “Some Things Should Be Defeated” which is a partial response but I wanted to ask the question of the readers of this blog.
Has Christianity been polluted by Conservative ideology?
The implication is conservative positions on things like the environment, healthcare, the size of government, and the role of the military may be right or wrong but do not represent a Christian worldview.
Those of you who’ve read this blog for awhile know what I’m going to say but I’m not going to say it…..yet.
I want to hear what you think first.
Evangelical Declaration on Global Warming
Today I finally get to catch up with my RSS reader as I sit at my desk, coffee cup steaming, and watching the sub zero wind push around a few inches of wispy snow.
A few days ago my amazing wife wrote an article at Citizenlink.org referring to a Cornwall Alliance article which states:
It then goes on to list four things they believe, four things they deny, and a call to action. I have always believed that catastrophic climate change and a Biblical world view cannot exist together. So I was very happy to see the very first point:
and:
They also point out the “fix” will harm the poorest among us more than anyone else.
Most of what liberalism purports to “fix” to help the poor etc. etc. are more harmful to those they say they want to help.
Read An Evangelical Declaration on Global Warming and view the study data.
Why I’m not a 501c3
Having been involved with ministries over the last several years I have seen government become more and more hostile toward church and para-church ministries who take a political stand.
Part of my calling and passion is to speak about political issues and when speaking to culture, faith, and social issues it’s nearly impossible to keep politics out of it. I believe the church should take a vocal stand for what is right from a traditional Biblical world view.
In the 50′s the church walked away from education, media, sports and politics with disastrous results. Also in 1954 a group called the Fellowship of Christian Athletes decided they would not let the enemy have athletics and have been challenging coaches and athletes to stand up for their faith. Now at the close of nearly every athletic event we see a group of athletes from both teams gathered at center court, center ice, or center field to pray together.
Recently we have seen the fruit of Christians involved in media who have the same attitude. Specifically an episode of Law and Order gave the pro life position a very honest and fair portrayal. We are also beginning to see movies and television shows that are family friendly and fair to cultural conservatives.
I believe it is critical that we not only pray (2Chronicles 7:14) but let our prayer inform our involvement. We must not embrace apathy clothed in holiness and piety.
So even though I may receive fewer financial gifts as a result I will not be voluntarily muzzled by the 501C3 rules. I hope this clarifies my choice. I would love to hear your comments.
Global Warming Consensus
A couple of interesting things came to my attention over the weekend.
The first is a petition that’s been signed by over 30,000 scientists, 9,000 of which are PHD’s.
The second is an article from the Calgary Herald entitled Scientists pull an about face on global warming.
The money quote:
Latif is one of the leading climate modellers in the world. He is the recipient of several international climate-study prizes and a lead author for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He has contributed significantly to the IPCC’s last two five-year reports that have stated unequivocally that man-made greenhouse emissions are causing the planet to warm dangerously.
Yet last week in Geneva, at the UN’s World Climate Conference–an annual gathering of the so-called “scientific consensus” on man-made climate change –Latif conceded the Earth has not warmed for nearly a decade and that we are likely entering “one or even two decades during which temperatures cool.”
We cannot afford to allow the Obama administration to pass Cap and Trade or allow environmental groups to cripple our economy based on a faulty premise.
A Little Perspective On Healthcare
We are constantly hearing about the healthcare “crisis” in America with huge numbers being thrown around without context. When you hear about 46 million people without health insurance it most definitely sounds like a crisis but let’s add a little perspective.
According to Google Public Data the US population in July 2007 was 301,290,332 and according to the US Census the total number of people without health insurance in 2007 was 45,657,000 which is just over 15% of the total population.
Stop right here and ask yourself the question is it a crises and do we really need to fundamentally change the best healthcare in the world for 15% of the population?
I already hear some of you saying “but The World Health Organization says we rank #37 in the world in healthcare.” That study was last done almost 10 years ago and only looks at certain aspects of healthcare. It does not rank quality of care only certain outcomes of the system. I’m not saying we have the best delivery system or the cheapest. What I am saying is nobody from the United States takes a plane ride to France when they have stage 3 malignant melanoma. People do however come to the United States from all over the world to have treatment for all kinds of health issues. Most notably those in nationalized healthcare systems where care is rationed. Also an ABC News/USA Today/Kaiser Family Foundation health care poll released in October 2006 found that 89% of Americans are satisfied with their own personal health insurance. To be fair only 44% in the same poll said they were satisfied with the overall system. So again I’m not saying we have the best system I’m saying we have the best quality of care.
Let’s go back to the numbers again we’ll come back to the system another day.
The 46 million number is accurate but misleading at best. Included in that number are illegal aliens. According to the 2007 US Census the number of illegal aliens in the US was about 13 million. From the little research I did I found estimates anywhere from 6 to 20 million. On September 9 2009 President Obama used the 30 million uninsured number presumably leaving out the number of illegal aliens. By his estimation there are about 16 million illegal aliens in the US. Lets use the Presidents numbers which again are 16 million illegal and 30 million uninsured.
The next number we have to look at is the number of people who can get it but choose not to. Carl Bialik of the Wall Street Journal says:
some people are eligible for health insurance but don’t know it and many can afford it but don’t want it. About 43% of uninsured nonelderly adults have incomes greater than 2.5 times the poverty level, according to a report released Tuesday by the business-backed Employment Policies Institute.
If your income is less than $22, 025 annually for a family of four you are in poverty by US standards which means those above have incomes exceeding $55,000 annually. After taking out the 43% of 30 million we are left with about 17 million without access.
Mr. Bialik also quotes Michael Davern to point out a flaw in the census numbers:
Meanwhile, Census’s state-by-state counts of the uninsured tend to be much higher than state surveys, which have their own flaws. For instance, some don’t reach people without landline phones.
The national agency assumes that people who don’t answer its health-care questions are much more likely to be uninsured. But that overstates the number of those without coverage, according to Michael Davern, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota’s public health school, who has been studying the discrepancy under a contract with the Census Bureau. To adjust for that overestimate, he recommends that Census adjust its national count of uninsured people downward by 2.5 million. The agency is still considering whether to implement that change.
So now were left with potentially 14.5 million without access.
And finally there are people in transition. Those between jobs who for a month or a few weeks don’t have insurance. They’re not uninsurable and can afford it they just don’t happen to have it on the day they filled out the form or answered the phone call. I have no idea what that number is but in July of 2007 the US unemployment rate was 4.7% or about 14 million people. I’m not going to hazard a guess as to how many didn’t take COBRA.
The bottom line is the actual number is somewhere between 12 and 30 million people. I’ll split the difference with you and say were talking about 16 million people without access to health insurance. The system does need help that is not my point. Even if there are only a million people not receiving adequate healthcare this is a real problem we must address however;
is it a “crisis” when only 5% of the total population needs help and the number could actually be less than 3%?
Tags: Healthcare, Politics
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This is how we should stand
It has been my experience over the last couple of years that most of the time when discussing politics we argue based on a faulty premise.We accept things based on assumptive language without debate or discussion about the foundational issue.
So today when I ran across this post from The American Thinker I had to post it for you. If your not reading The American Thinker on a regular basis your missing brilliant commentary.
Here is the money quote:
I haven’t read the health care bill, HR 3200. It’s not because I don’t care what’s in it; rather, I oppose the bill because I don’t accept the premise that it’s needed or even constitutional.
Click through and read the whole article and before you go off on your next conversation consider the premise. Is it even valid?
The American Thinker: I Don’t Accept the Premise
My Songs
