14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

I’ve noticed my light hasn’t been too bright in recent weeks. Well, it might be into months now. I’ve been angry and frustrated, just like so many millions of others of my fellow Americans. I’ve let that anger invade, and have actually hated for the first time in my life. I don’t hate. Hatred takes way too much energy, and I’m about as lazy as they come…..no energy to spare. So, I’m going to work on getting rid of that hate, and replace it, with prayers and love. And pity.  It took my pastor’s sermon Wednesday night for me to even realize I was harboring such emotions.  I don’t like it.

We are instructed to love, even the sinner, and gracious sakes, we sure are being sinned against lately, aren’t we!  I know it’s going to be easy to rid myself of such a strong emotion.  It didn’t crop up over night, and it was be expelled overnight either.

So, I apologize for letting my bitter hatred overwhelm me, and will do all I can to resolve the problem.  And it is my problem.  The person hated doesn’t care, one way or the other.  The object of hatred never does, and it never hurts them.  It hurts me/us.

I choose to use my light, instead of burying it under the bushel of my own making.  Bear with me. 

Pastor Baity had been invited to lead prayer for the entire week of May 31, but was relieved of his duty when he refused to remove the name Jesus from his invocation. Bailey said the invocation included prayers for the military, state lawmakers and “a petition to God asking him to bless North Carolina.”

Baity said he was not given instructions before the invocation, but simply asked to compose his prayer in advance.

When a House clerk asked to see the prayer, and noted it closed “In Jesus name,” Baity was told to change it because others in attendance share different beliefs. Baity told her he stands by the prayer he wrote.

“When I handed it to the lady, I watched her eyes and they immediately went right to the bottom of the page and the word Jesus,” he told FOX News Radio. “She said ‘We would prefer that you not use the name Jesus. We have some people here that can be offended.’”

If they are offended by Jesus, then they need to be somewhere else!  Like Iran.

“When the state tells you how to pray, that you cannot use the name of Jesus – that’s mandating a state religion,” he said. “They talk about not offending other people but at the same time, if they are telling me how to pray – that’s the very thing our forefathers left England for.”

“You would expect this somewhere else – Cuba, Saudi Arabia,” he said. “You would never anticipate this happening in the United States of America.”

There is no such thing as ‘separation of church and state’. Telling a pastor of a certain faith how to pray, what he/she can or cannot say, is a total violation of the 1st Amendment. I am offended that any…ANY government body thinks they have the right to censor a prayer!

North Carolina State Constitution – ARTICLE I

DECLARATION OF RIGHTS

Sec. 13.  Religious liberty. All persons have a natural and inalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences, and no human authority shall, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience.

This week’s General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will consider redefining marriage to include same-sex couples and allowing ministers to perform same-sex weddings.

Carmen Fowler, president of the Presbyterian Lay Committee, believes those sorts of initiatives are to blame for the denomination’s declining membership.

Her group supports upholding the church’s traditional definition of marriage.

The PCUSA’s newly-elected moderator, Cynthia Bolbach, supports gay marriage but told the assembly on Saturday that the denomination has become paralyzed.

Fowler says that’s what happens when a church body becomes disconnected from its head — Jesus Christ.

This type of disconnect is one of the major reasons I left the Presbyterian church…..it’s no longer a church, but a push of the secular, as are way too many others these days. That’s not what Christian churches are suppose to be. A Christian church clings to the Word of God, not the word of man.

Genesis 2 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Matthew 19 4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

I’ve never seen anywhere in the Bible, Old or New Testament, that says diddly about George and Frank, or Jane and Louise.  And no where has anyone ever said the Bible was “politically correct”….it’s just RIGHT!

A Mid-South women’s softball coach and her team get banned from a church league, after members learned she was gay.

Jana Jacobson said officials at Bellevue Baptist Church told her the team couldn’t play in their league because she was a lesbian.

Jacobson said she had already registered and paid the entry fee, when she was told she couldn’t play.

She said her team was made up of gay and straight players. Bellevue Baptist didn’t comment on the incident.

Bellevue is a “mega church” around these parts.  While I understand their Biblical stand on homosexuality, I’m a little confused as to why gays can’t play softball with the other teams.   They are a private entity and free to allow whoever they want on their league.  That being said, wouldn’t it make more sense to accept the players, and minister to them?  I mean, isn’t that what churches are suppose to do?

2 Timothy 4 1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.

While the situation with the Boy Scouts is a LOT different (we’re talking children here), these are grown ups.  By the way, homosexuality is not contagious. 

The word compromise is never music to the ears of passionate advocates for a cause. This is especially true for advocates of overturning the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, a law that was supposed to be a suitable compromise itself in 1993.

But when idealism collides with political reality, risk avoidance and workable solutions become the goal. The deal that was reached on DADT this week between the White House, the Pentagon, gay rights groups (including my own), and pro-repeal champions on Capitol Hill is that workable solution and will get us where we need to go.

More than 14,000 proudly serving men and women have been abruptly fired from the military pursuant to the DADT law, and many more have voluntarily left the military because of the burden of serving under this unnecessary restriction. The DADT law prevents our armed forces from being able to recruit and retain troops from the largest possible pool of talent, and it is a stain on the integrity of our nation. We cannot afford to wait until next year to lock in full legislative repeal. Our country needs this now.

Read the rest here.

Even if I wanted to put aside my faith, I can’t do it.  But, I’m wondering if those who are pushing for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” give a flying flip for the safety and well being of the gays serving in the military?  I rather doubt it.  This isn’t about our military, and those who serve bravely, homosexual or heterosexual.  No, this is all about a political agenda, and the advancement of ‘moral relativism‘.   Right and wrong are absolutes.

While I applaud the writer of the piece his efforts, I must take issue with an item or two.  The first being, our laws were originally written based on Judeo-Christian foundations, which come from the Bible.  Our Founders were men of faith, and knew the damage that could be done if we did not continue on our appointed path.

I don’t condone the behavior that has brought all this hubbub about, but I also don’t condone treating another person in, a shall we say, less than respectful manner.

No, I’ve never served in the military myself, but I grew up in an area that was pretty much nothing but military.  Ever been to Hampton Roads?  Then you’ll know what I mean.  So, I know a little bit about the guys in the military, and how they react to certain situations.

A second issue I’d like to address would be the ‘compromise’.  Without this compromise, no homosexual was even allowed IN the military, because the question would be asked.

Keeping DADT in place, in my humble opinion, will keep these men and women a lot safer than if there is an openness in place. Do I think a soldier should be kicked out if the commanding officer becomes aware? Not if the soldier has served honorably. If it becomes common knowledge among the fellow troops? Probably a good idea for a separation, for the safety and well being of the person.

Can a homosexual serve well in the military? Absolutely! They have, and are still doing so. Will that continue to be the case with the repeal? I don’t see how, but I suppose it’s possible.

Attempting to change God’s law for the appeasement of a few activists has never been a good idea. Am I homophobic? No, actually, I’m not, but that doesn’t mean I have to accept something that is contrary to my faith.

Leviticus 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

I’ll never claim to be an expert on anything, because I’m not. I do, however, know what is right and what is wrong. I know from speaking with many in the military, past and present, that the need to trust the person next to you is paramount. If that trust is broken, for whatever reason, lives can be lost.

We are currently involved in a war on terror, contrary to what the current administration wants to call it these days. That war is against radical Islam, and thousands of our young men and women are stationed in predominantly Muslim countries. Has anyone bothered to check how Islam deals with homosexuality?

Qur’an

7:80-81 We also sent Lut : He said to his people : “Do ye commit lewdness such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you? For ye practice your lusts on men in preference to women: ye are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds.

26:165 What! Of all creatures do ye come unto the males, and leave the wives your Lord created for you? Nay, but ye are forward folk.

Bukhari Hadith

61.773 The Messenger of God, peace be upon him, cursed female-impersonators who are males, and the male-impersonators who are women.

al-Tirmidhi, Sunan

1:152 Whoever is found conducting himself in the manner of the people of Lot, kill the doer and the receiver.

Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi of the ISNA said: “Homosexuality is a moral disorder. It is a moral disease, a sin and corruption… No person is born homosexual, just like no one is born a thief, a liar or murderer. People acquire these evil habits due to a lack of proper guidance and education.” (source)

What is the punishment for homosexuality in Muslim countries?  It varies from out right execution, to beatings, to jail time.  My concern for the safety of the men and women in the military goes beyond how fellow soldiers will treat him or her.  My concern is with those raving lunatics who have decided Americans, in general, but the military specifically, are evil.  Adding fuel to the fire is never a good idea.

Franklin, the UFC fighter, says he doesn’t know if God cared if he knocked out Travis “The Serial Killer” Lutter in Montreal, Canada. But “it doesn’t hurt to ask.”

“Win or lose, I always thank God for what he’s given me,” says Franklin, an evangelical Christian.

Franklin says he thanks God after victories because he has felt God’s presence in the midst of mixed martial arts battle.

(…)

Athletes who publicly thank God for victory are often calling more attention to themselves than their faith, says William J. Baker, author of “Playing with God.”

They are selling their goodness, and their brand of faith, to a captive audience, says Baker, who describes himself as a Christian.

“I don’t think it’s the right place and it’s not the right gesture,” says Baker, a former high school quarterback. “It’s an athlete using a moment to sell a product, like soap.”

When did the media become so ignorant?  Any place, and EVERY place, is the RIGHT place to thank God, and sing his praises!

2 Samuel 22:50 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.

Psalm 50:14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:

Psalm 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.

2 Timothy 4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

Galatians 6:6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Romans 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

And that’s just a few examples.  We are instructed, by God, to share the Word, to praise him, to proclaim before all, and these people are questioning what players do on the field?  Well, I guess it just proves that some folks haven’t bothered to read the Book.  Kind of like they pass judgments on bills they haven’t read. 

Matthew 19:26
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Having placed 50 percent of America’s economy under government control, the Obama administration is now angling for a tighter grip on the financial sector.

The operative word is “fairness,” which is shorthand for Obama’s famous campaign promise to “spread the wealth around.”

When critics said that this remark to “Joe the Plumber” displayed Obama’s socialist leanings, Obama justified it by citing Scripture:

“My Bible tells me there is nothing wrong with helping other people,” said then-Sen. Obama. “That we want to treat others like we want to be treated. That I am my brother’s keeper, and I am my sister’s keeper. I believe that.”

But Obama, who once dismissed the Bible’s relevance to politics, saying, “People haven’t been reading their Bibles lately,” may need to go reread his Engels. Co-author with Karl Marx of The Communist Manifesto, Friedrich Engels knew better than Obama about collectivism’s clash with Christianity, stating, “…if some few passages of the Bible may be favourable to Communism, the general spirit of its doctrines is, nevertheless, totally opposed to it ….”

Read the rest here.

All those liberals>progressive>socialist>commies who insist that Jesus was a socialist, have never read the Bible.

Spend a few hours…yes, I said HOURS, days even…..reading Publius-Huldah’s Blog.  If you want to learn about original intent, how the government has forgotten where they get their powers, what is, and is not true, about our founding.  This is one of the best resources available, IF you want the truth about ‘health care’ to treaties.   Well, researched!  She doesn’t post often, but what she does have posted will, quite possibly, make your head explode in anger.  The “progressives” of the early 20th century have brought us to the sorry state we are in now.  Arm yourself with knowledge!  And for you “progressives”, try to insert a bit of common sense into your lives!

If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.
~ Ronald Reagan~

She wanted to know what the United States looked like.

Finally, he tore a sheet out of his new magazine on which was printed the map of the country. Tearing it into small pieces, he gave it to her and said, ‘Go into the other room and see if you can put this together. This will show you our whole country today…’

After a few minutes, she returned and handed him the map, correctly fitted and taped together.

The father was surprised and asked how she had finished so quickly.

‘Oh,’ she said, ‘on the other side of the paper is a picture of Jesus. When I got all of Jesus back where He belonged, then our country just came together.’

When we get Jesus back where He Belongs — Our country WILL come together!

Shared by Sharon.

The 7-foot-tall metal cross in a 75-year-old war memorial that withstood the heat of the Mojave Desert and a blazing battle in the Supreme Court over its legality was ripped down and stolen Sunday night, according to federal officials.

“This is an outrage, akin to desecrating people’s graves,” said Kelly Shackelford, president of the Liberty Institute, which represents the caretakers of the Mojave Desert War Memorial. “It’s a disgraceful attack on the selfless sacrifice of our veterans. We will not rest until this memorial is re-installed.”

The National Park Service says someone cut the metal bolts holding the metal-pipe cross to the top of the memorial’s Sunrise Rock and made off with it Sunday night or before dawn on Monday.

Authorities had no immediate motive for the theft but National Park Service officials are considering a range of ideas from scrap metal scavengers to people “with an interest in the case,” said Park Service spokeswoman Linda Slater.

If the ones who started all the trouble didn’t actually do the damage, personally, I will blame them.  If they hadn’t made such a huge deal out of a Cross, put in place, honoring dead heroes, then most people wouldn’t have even known it was there.  So, yes, I blame them!

Leviticus 25:17 Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God:for I am the LORD your God.

Distortions and blatant lies have been written by liberal “experts” who are ready to tar and feather the SBOE for “revising our American history”, leaving Thomas Jefferson out, and “bringing religion back into the schools”. It’s doubtful whether these self proclaimed experts have read the curriculum standards, which are available online to the public.

It’s also doubtful they have ever read any of our original founding documents, relying instead upon the works of revisionist historians who long ago altered our American history to fit their Progressive ideology.

I would say the author of this column is quite correct. When we have a Congress, the majority of whom violate their oath of office on a regular basis, it seems that many in positions of power, from the President of the United States, down to those who set the education agenda have ignored some of the most important documents ever written, after the Bible.

Reality is that “qualified” educrats have created mass damage to our public school system. They have dumbed down the curriculum and used student centered methodology to such an extent that 42% of those entering college require remedial work.   These intellectual elites have thrown our American values to the winds.  As an unelected review panel they have been responsible for ridiculous changes to our standards including the removal of:

• • Christmas
  • Albert Einstein
  • Neil Armstrong
  • Veterans Day
  • Independence Day
  • Religious heritage language
  • And much more……

Independence Day? Seriously? It it weren’t for the actions of those brave men on 4 July 1776, these SFB wouldn’t have a country to bash. They would be still be subject to the whims of a British Monarchy, or something even worse!

Since the SBOE pretty much sets the standard for textbooks used across the country, why was no one watching when “Asking About Life” was being shoved into Knoxville classrooms?

Zimmermann added: ‘What keeps being missed is, it’s not about me. Students brought this forward. What they’ve done is they’ve ruled against the students.’

Zimmermann noted that it was his son and several other students who first noticed the book’s definition of creationism and brought it to his attention.

He said he would likely bring another appeal, adding, ‘This probably isn’t over.’

Before the vote, Zimmermann told board members that to keep the book in the classroom would be a violation of at least three of their policies that prohibited belittling or demeaning religious views.

It’s become quite obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes, and a set of ears, that those types of rules don’t apply to the Jewish, or Christian faiths.  “Belittling or demeaning” is just fine with school boards across the country.  Just don’t insult Muslims!

I can understand this father’s concern.  Perusing the book in question, I came across this tidbit:

The law prohibiting the teaching of evolution – passed by the Tennessee legislature in a moment of boredom – was never intended to be enforced.  It nonetheless attracted the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) which believed the law violated the First Amendment right to free speech.  Eager to test the law in a federal court, the ACLU advertised in the Chattanooga News for a teacher willing to be arrested.  Dayton boosters jumped at the chance to liven up their sleepy town with some national attention.

John Scopes agreed to be arrested.  An affable high school physics teacher and athletic coach, Scopes had never actually taught evolution, but he’d once substituted for a biology teacher who was ill and assigned the textbook pages that covered evolution.  For this crime he was arrested.

Even then (1925), the socialist organization, ACLU, was working diligently to “change” the country.

Reason #5 from Stop the ACLU:

The ACLU is anti-Christian. The list is endless on this one. Under the guise of “separation of Church and State”, the ACLU have made a name for their self on being rabidly anti-Christian. This is one area where they are most hypocritical. They oppose tax exemptions for all churches, but fight for them for Wiccans. They are against Christianity in school, but oddly remain silent as our children are taught to be Muslims. Whether its baby Jesus, ten commandments, or tiny crosses on county seals, the ACLU will be there to secularize America, and rewrite our history.

Just in case you aren’t aware, the words “separation of church” and state appear NO WHERE in the U.S. Constitution.

It is on Page 299, not Page 319, as Mr Zimmerman originally asserted, where the words the students found to be offensive were located:

In the 1970s and 1980s, antievolutionsts in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Louisiana passed identical bills calling for “equal time” for teaching evolution and creationism, the biblical myth that the universe was created by the Judeo-Christian God in six days.

Our nation has turned it’s back on its creation, and its Creator.  Unless we are able to reassert our authority on our children, and grandchildren, nothing we do will matter.  We can march, protest, gather in groups to discuss how to “take back our country”, but unless we are able to decide the course of our children’s education, I fear our once great nation will end up as a footnote in some future textbook.

An excellent post by Alan Caruba:

The Naked Communism of Earth Day

Just a snippet.

It is no accident that April 22, Earth Day, is also the birth date of Vladimir Lenin, an acolyte of Karl Marx, the lunatic who invented communism as an alternative to capitalism.

Earth Day is naked communism.

To begin, it substitutes a worship of the Earth, Gaia, for the worship of God, creator of the universe and the instructor of moral behavior for mankind.

The Earth does not demand a moral code of personal behavior. Indeed, the lesson it teaches is “the survival of the fittest “and an indifference to suffering. The “natural events” mankind fears most all involve the potential for significant loss of life and for injury.

The Earth is a beautiful place, but it is utterly merciless. Man has learned to adapt to it and, by adapt, I mean to use its resources to build shelter and protection from it, to plant and harvest crops from it, and to domesticate some of its species while hunting and fishing for others for food.

Read the entire post here.

I don’t, and WON’T, worship a planet. I worship God, Who created the planet!

Exodus 20:1-5

1 And God spake all these words, saying,

2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Hastings College of the Law, part of the University of California, rightly prohibits student organizations from discriminating. A Christian group that bars non-Christian and gay students sued the school for denying it funding and access to its facilities. The Supreme Court hears arguments Monday in the case. It should rule in favor of Hastings.

Interesting. A Christian group should be barred from receiving funds because they are a……….Christian group? Well, basically, that’s what the suit is saying. Why would a non-Christian want to join a Christian group? Unless the intent is to disrupt. And honestly, demanding a Christian group accept gays, when if the groups is truly Christian, they couldn’t in good conscience because it would be against the Word of God.  Actually, if the Supreme Court wants to uphold the U.S. Constitution, it should rule AGAINST Hastings.

To qualify for official recognition, and receive money from a publicly financed university, groups at Hastings are required to adhere to the school’s nondiscrimination policy, which says that official student groups cannot refuse membership on the basis of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or other prohibited factors.

IMHO, the Christian Legal Society should actually sue the school for discrimination against Christians, which they did! But that’s just me.

Under California law, it is illegal for postsecondary educational institutions that receive state money to discriminate on the basis of religion or sexual orientation. The school correctly determined that the law requires it to ensure that its student organization program does not permit discrimination. The school also has the right to pursue its own educational policy of promoting diversity and opposing discrimination.

That word “diversity” has pretty much destroyed society, and actually created MORE discrimination! Receiving state money, means the money comes from the actual TAXPAYERS. The state doesn’t have any money. Well, considering this is Kaliphonyia, the state has less than zero bucks.

Students at Hastings who want to join together in more exclusive arrangements are free to do so. They can form unofficial student groups. But Hastings is right that groups that bear its imprimatur, use its name and logo, and receive public funds must not discriminate.

Do the taxpayers oppose a Christian group upholding their faith? Why would they? Would the taxpayers be opposed to a Chess Club insisting on it’s members to play chess? Simplistic? Yes, but it really is that simple.

The Christian Legal Society is not being denied any First Amendment rights. It is being told that if it wants an official association with a public university and public money, it cannot deny gays, non-Christians or members of any other protected minority equal rights.

What is a ‘protected minority’? Are some people, groups, more equal than others? Do certain groups of people deserve more protection than others? Of course not, yet that is exactly what has been going on, and it’s is more divisive than anything I’ve seen in all my xx years.  Obviously, I’m not a lawyer, but I do know right from wrong.  Does Hastings?  Does the author of this column?

I’m curious.  Wouldn’t the Black Law Students Association be discriminatory? How about La Raza Law Students Association?  The names of these student groups says exactly what they are, black and “the race” (one of the most racist groups in America, imho).   Would either of these groups accept a ‘white supremacist’? If they don’t, will they be sued, too?