Poverty: Start with Open Eyes

When confronted with the “mistake” of not donating money to the poor, Jesus said “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” [passage]

This doesn’t mean that we ignore those in need but that in the end there will always be some people who are at the low end of the income spectrum. The first step towards progress is taking an honest look at the problems that are affecting our poor.

Life at the Bottom by Theodore Dalrymple is exactly that honest look. Step two is an environment where citizens have freedom to invent and experiment; opportunities to invest themselves to a trade. Government handouts don’t encourage change. Before Christ, a Chinese proverb held wisdom by “teaching a man to fish.”

Gnarly Waves for Worshipful Surf Dudes

Surfers understand that the world wasn’t created as an accident. Being in touch with the creation helps us better understand the creator. Or as Rabbi Nachum Shifren puts it, “Surfing is the most spiritual thing that you can do.” Hang loose good buddy. Yeah. [via Thunderstruck]

Dr. Bright Goes Home

Dr. Bill Bright passed on this past Saturday evening. He was perhaps the most influential person of faith who has lived in this past century. The 4 Spiritual Laws and the The Jesus Film have been translated into over 800 languages so that almost everyone on earth could see and hear the message of the gospel. His organization, Campus Crusade for Christ, spent this past week giving honor to him and his life.

Anyone who has ever met him, knew him to be the kind of “little Christ” that the true Christ wants all of his followers to be. There could be no greater accolade.

Gutenberg Bible Digitized for Internet

In a painstaking process, the University of Texas has digitized their copy of a Gutenberg Bible, the first book to be printed on a movable type press. One of only 5 in the country, the Universitys’ is the first to be completely digitized and made available online. Scanning only took a couple of days but adjusting the digital images then building the site took about a year. Amazing work on a true work of art. [via cookiecrook]

Coming Soon: The Passion

A movie that will make a bigger impact in peoples lives than Star Wars, the Matrix, Gone With the Wind.. you name it.

This is going to be huge. Kudos to Mel for going for guts over glory.

Athletes Thrive with Inner Strength

From John Wooden’s Seven Keys to Life to the Rituals of Nomar Garciaparra to the testimony of David Robinson, what do all these have in common? ToTheNextLevel.org sheds some light on what gives certain athletes a certain inner strength.

The Slippery Slope

The Supreme Court has struck down the Sodomy law in Texas, which is the homosexual lobby’s Phase 1 in redefining marriage here in America. Their argument is what is down in the privacy of a home should be protected by law. But there are two dangers that this decision has now let loose on society.

First, the CDC has reported that homosexual sodomy is the primay means of transmitting the HIV infection. In fact, homosexual men have a 1000 times higher chance of contracting AIDS than a heterosexual men. It get’s even scarier. Thirty percent of all 20-year-old homosexual men living today will be HIV-positive or dead by age 30. That’s just 10 years. This court decision authorizes behavior that’s clearly harmful to the very people asking for it. All of us will be effected by substantial increases in healthcare costs that are already bounding out-of-control.

The second danger is that what is done in the “privacy of a home” can now be stretched to include almost any harmful or devaint behavior. What about incest? What about polygamy? Bestiality? Torture? Where do you draw the line? This is most assuredly a slippery slope and is rightfully called social engineering by the high court. In Justice Scalia’s dissent he said the court “has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda.”

ADL Up in Arms

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), even though they’ve only read an early version of the screenplay, charges that Mel Gibson’s new movie, “The Passion”, about the death of Christ, promotes anti-semiticism. As for me, it’s fairly clear from the Bible and hundreds of other historical documents that it was, in fact, the Jews that did call for the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. Even though this particular event in history is basically irrefutable, I do understand where this group is coming from. Because no ethnic group in the history of the world has been more unjustly abused than the Jews. I wonder if it has anything to do with their being God’s chosen people?

Condone or Not: Big Difference

There’s been a lot of focus on Eric Rudolph, the abortion clinic bomber, lately. I was listening to Glenn Beck during my lunch break and he was working to make the case that Rudolph, a professed Christian, is no different than the Muslim terrorists. (By the way, Beck is hoot. You should give him a listen.)

But Glenn is missing a critical point. While Rudolph professes to be a follower of Christ, his actions do not match the teachings found in the Bible (Rom. 12:19, I Thess. 4:6, and many more). On the other hand, it’s readily seen that the Koran encourages, if not requires, holy jihad against the infidels for multiple reasons. (Koran 9:14, Koran 47:4, etc.)

Rudolph poorly followed his religious teachings while the 9/11 bombers did well in living (and dying) for their doctrine. Every Christian group that I’ve heard from has condemmed Rudolph for his actions. On the flip side, relatively few Muslim leaders will go on record saying what Bin Laden and his followers are doing is not true Islam.

Sorry Mr. Beck, your argument leaves out a critical component that must be included.

Freedom to Choose

Many Americans claim that we should all be tolerant and respect the beliefs of those different than ours. The misunderstanding is that we should respect the right of people to choose what they believe while not necessarily respecting the beliefs themselves. Not all beliefs are equally valid.

For example, I respect the right of the motorcyclists to choose whether or not to wear a helmet. If Joe Biker chooses not to wear one, I don’t respect that belief because statistics have shown helmets to improve safety. But since his choice affect him (and him alone) that is completely his right to make that choice.

Thoughts to Ponder is Yahoo! Group run by policeman Ralph Dettwiler, who does a good job explaining many topics related to faith.

Freedom of Religion Isn’t Everywhere

Islam doesn’t hold the patent on militant religiosity. In India, the Indian People’s Party solicited three surveys to better frame their Gujarat Anti-Conversion bill. Apparently, the purpose of this bill will be to make it illegal to convert from Hinduism to Islam or Christianity. Needless to say, proponents of freedom in the matters of religion are not happy with these actions.

Cruisin’ in the Popemobile

The Pope and his “new mobile throne” is back on the streets, dishing out blessings and prayers to all!

If You Can’t Fold It, Hold It… Not!

Man donates some change to his church. Sure, that’s not big news until you learn that it was about 75 grand! Ever heard of a savings account? I think he’d been planning for that photo op for years now.