The Kingdom Come

Well my wife & daughter got me to go to a movie that they had seen a few days ago.  It is called Fireproof.  This is a Christian movie that is not focusing on "endtimes" nor is it trying to proffer some conspiracy within history, nor is it an overly metaphorical depiction of the Christian message.

Fireproof is a good movie for couples or young teens/adults in the dating mode. 

Some of my previous website members may find it too "fundamental" but it has a good, solid practical Christian message & a positive impact on those viewing it.  Take your spouse & teen children to see it.  Website: http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/

So Barack Obama and his minions of "yes we can" drones pulled it off.  They were able to sweep enough people up into the frenzy that we now have the most inexperienced & socialistic president in history.  Oh well, John McCain isn't a real conservative any how.  But what does this mean for a person such as me who believes God predestines all things?  Do we just follow along unopposed?

The Bible does clearly show that God decrees/predestines ahead of time things for His own glory (Isaiah 46:10) YET at the same time God wants us to call evil evil & good good. (Isaiah 5:20) We should still oppose evil even if God uses those things to bring about His own glory.

After several years of confronting THEOLOGICAL SOCIALISTS & their accomplices within my own sphere of Christianity, it is easy to spot socialism in general.  Socialism, be it political or theological has this twisted concept of "fairness"...  In the theological realm, socialists who often times may claim they are really "libertarians" will try to paint Jesus as a first-century "community organizer".  This depiction is categorically false.  Jesus' mission wasn't to help oppressed people throw off the yoke of "the man" -- rather Jesus was concerned that the individual was his own worse oppressor.  Humankind, starting with every individual must come to grips with our sinful nature & need for repentance.  As for the poor, Jesus says "you will have the poor with you always" (Matthew 26:12, Mk 14:7, John 12:8).

This brings us to the topic of Barack Obama's Christianity.  Obama's Christianity is akin to many of the "progressive" so-called Christian "leaders" of today.  Brian McClaren, Rob Bell, Jim Wallis & others.  It is a Socialistic Christianity that turns Jesus into a William Ayers of the first-century & revisions the Bible more as "Prairie Fire" manifesto.  But Jesus was NOT some radical looking to overthrow the government, after all Jesus took no opportunity to incite people to revolt against the Romans. 

So, I got the call...yes the call from Obama's campaign workers asking me if I would vote for him.  The call came on my cell phone, which is weird since I really don't give that number to anyone but family & close friends.

When the volunteer asked me if I would vote for Obama, I asked him for what reasons should I?  The volunteer seemed stunned as if most people just answer, "yes".  He stammered for a moment & asked me if I had already decided.  So, I repeated my question.  The volunteer then said something like, "Well, Obama is for changing the policies of the last 8 years".

I then replied, "Yes, Obama is for change, but not just for the last 8 years but for the last 250+ years.  Obama wants to change America into something it has never been.  Obama is a socialist & I will not be voting for him."  With that the volunteer said "ok" & hung up.

So, I went to my first Apologetix concert.  Apologetix is a Christian Parody Band (see their website here: apologetix.com).  What they do is take popular secular songs & re-write the lyrics so that it has a Christian theme.  The lead singer is J. Jackson & at least in this concert, he carried most of the load of the singing.  The band members were very good at their instruments but I'd like to have heard more harmony & backup singing...perhaps even add a female singer to the band.

I didn't know what to expect as I've only really heard Apologetix's studio stuff.  I know that sometimes live music pales in comparison & as the concert started out, I thought this was going to be the case but before long Jackson & the band were belting out powerful tunes with powerful messages.

American presidential election cycle since the establishment of the two party system reveals an interesting pattern.  The pattern shows Americans re-electing conservative administrations more often than liberal ones. (source)  This is the epitome of the Thermidorian Reaction.  The Thermidorian Reaction was so named after the events of the post-French Revolution. (source)  What happened was that French people admired the Americans & their successful revolution. But just as is often the case today, people misunderstand what Americans mean by freedom & liberty & what revolutionaries from other countries mean by it. 

America finds itself in a present financial crisis, with talks of bailouts & collapse of the markets.  Some people are blaming what they call greedy business people, some people are actually claiming it is capitalism & the freemarket at fault.  If only we had seen the signs...no not the signs of this present gloom but the signs that for the last decade have been posted in front of many of the new home editions around the country.  You know, you've seen the signs such as:

• $1 Moves You In
  
• No Credit, No Problem
  
• Bad Credit, No Problem
  

No folks, those signs aren't reflective of capitalism nor are they reflective of American principles.  We see these signs & statements not only in the housing market but also other industries.   It is offensive to think someone can gain what it takes honest people years of hard work to obtain. 

Microsoft launched its new Office Suite & didn't seem to tell any of us poor hacks using the older versions that the older versions wouldn't be able to open the newer version files.  For example, by default the Excel 2007 file format is .xlsm instead of .xls -- I know, I know I'm geeky.

So anyway, I just wanted to share that there is a work-around.  It is a converter that you can download from the Microsoft website (no scary 3rd party) that will automatically covert the files into the older version.

You can download it from here:

As the American Presidential election heats up, we get to see a peek at the topic we're told never to talk about in public -- faith/religion.  Politicians have long sought to use religion to frame their messages, yet without using too much of it so as to be labeled a "fanatic".  The 2008 elections are no different.  First, we saw Barak Obama initially downplay the racist & anti-American ideas of his church of 20 years & then he finally had to distance himself from the church all together or risk sinking his campaign.  Next, Obama was depicted as a "messiah" because of his lofty promises of "change" & of "healing" things as massive as the entire planet.  Now, when Sarah Palin, the Republican Vice President candidate is energizing the core Christian base of the Republican Party & Obama sees his lead slipping away, Obama & supporters are using a new religious themed line:

"Barack Obama was a community organizer like Jesus. Pontius Pilate was a governor." (source1 & source2)

The comparison is meant to be a jab at the fact that though many question Obama's lack of executive experience, Palin's experience as a governor is equated with the supposed killer of Jesus Himself.

Every American child was taught the nursery story about the three little pigs that each built houses of different materials. These modern day parables have biblical parallels such as a man who builds his house on the sand (Mt 7:26). One thing that has crept into Christian thinking is the notion of opinion-based theology. Opinion-based theology disdains people having or showing any expression of certainty or surety, in spite of the fact that Heb 11:1 tells us that faith is exactly the point of being SURE & CERTAIN.