Man Survives Fall From 47 stories, Luck and Physics Credited!

You've probably heard about the New York window washer who survived a 500ft fall when his scaffolding collapsed. Even though he should have been splatted like a bug on a car windshield, doctors say he may even walk again!

While many people are calling it a miracle, at least one genius quoted in the article I read still wants to credit anything but God:

"Evolution didn't give us a body that could survive a drop from that distance but with a combination of luck and physics you can in fact survive one of these falls," said Michio Kaku professor of physics at City University of New York.

I think this quote is an outrageous example of denying the obvious. I reckon giving credit to luck and physics for the man's survival isn't too hard to do when you have enough faith to be an Evolutionist!

Merry Christmas!

I want to wish you all a very merry Christmas! I pray that Christ dwells richly in your heart today!

Half Way Across The Bridge

I'm about half way through listening to all the messages from the Building Bridges Conference.

For the most part, I'm liking what I'm hearing. Naturally, I'm biased so I think the Calvinists are making the better case, but I also think the "non-Calvinists" [for some reason they eschew being called Arminians!] have put forth some good stuff too -with a couple of notable exceptions.

Those exceptions include Dr. Malcom Yarnell's somewhat venemous rant entitled "Calvinism: A Cause for Concern". The other low point for the non-Calvinists was Ken Keathley's presentation. In an attempt to give Southern Baptists an alternative to Arminianism and both the Infralapsarian and Supralapsarian versions of Calvinism, Keathley pitches the philosophical theories of a 16th Century Jesuit theologian named Luis de Molina. (a.k.a Molinism).

Yarnell almost caused me to have an aneurysm when he took a hard left turn down the road toward Absurdityville with the "Calvin burned Servetus" story. Folks, maybe I'm being too harsh, but when somebody decides to torch that straw man, it takes all the strength I can muster just to continue listening!

As far as Keathley goes, his presentation had a much better tone than Yarnell, but I don't believe I heard Keathley even read a single verse of Scripture to try and prop up his Jesuit doctrine. Perhaps that sort of thing works for the nobles within SBC academia, but for us Calvinistic serfs, we might have been a whole lot more impressed had there been just a wee bit of exegesis of Scripture!

Thus far, the highlight of the non-Calvinist side had to be Dr. Charles Lawless and his message debunking the stereotypes of SBC non-Calvinists. I really believe Dr. Lawless is a good man. I had the pleasure of meeting and hearing him preach at our church earlier this year. If all non-Calvinists in the SBC were like him, I believe the SBC would be heading in the right direction.

Overall I think this conference was a positive for the Southern Baptist Convention. The fact is, Calvinism is on the rise within many denominations. With that growth, I believe there will be a need for many more conferences just like Building Bridges. Again, if you're in the SBC or curious about the Calvinism vs. "non-Calvinism" debate, listening to these messages will be worth your time -and I reckon that includes Yarnell and Keathley's stuff too...


(Image: Sterling Bridge from wikipedia)

Building Bridges: Southern Baptists and Calvinism

Many of you are probably aware of the Nov. 26-28 Building Bridges conference held at the Lifeway Ridgecrest Conference Center in North Carolina. This was a historic meeting that discussed Calvinism and it's role in the Southern Baptist Convention. From the accounts I have read, this meeting was a huge success.

All the messages are freely available here and I really hope that folks on both sides of the theological divide will take time to listen to the sermons. I've saved the messages to my computer and I'm listening through them now. So far both sides have (for the most part) presented their case maturely and with a spirit of Christian charity.

Soli Deo Gloria!

GBC Blogging Resolution

I had thought about writing an article to address the Georgia Baptist Convention's recently passed resolution on blogging, however, my good friend Josh Hitchcock must have used some kind of wild clairvoyant mind meld skills to see what I had planned in my brain and then decided to beat me to it...

Since Josh has addressed the resolution so well, I will simply refer my readers to his article instead of writing my own rant.

I will say this:

You'd think that a denomination that cannot account for 10 million of it's members might have bigger fish to fry...

Seeker Sensitive Movement a Failure!

That's right... And Bill Hybels -who's a big guru in the movement- admits the Seeker Sensitive Movement has been wrong. Click here to hear him admit it.

Every fan of the Seeker Sensitive Movement needs to hear this!

Man Coming from Dust?

Astronomers admit man's origin is dust.

I still think they are barking up the wrong tree, but I will say they are getting closer to the truth of the matter:

"...then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature." (Genesis 2:7 ESV)

Happy Anniversary!!

Today I am celebrating the 11th anniversary of my marriage to Diana.

Next to Salvation, she has been the greatest gift that God has bestowed upon my life...

D. James Kennedy: 1930 - 2007

Update 9-6-2007:

Gary DeMar writes about Dr. Kennedy's influence in his life.

A Lesson in Gratitude

Sometimes you don't realize how much you are blessed.

I know I didn't.

Until this week, I looked at my job with Wal-Mart Logistics as a burden, something I had to do to make ends meet. I confess: I wasn't thankful for my job, nor did I have a particularly humble Christian attitude while I was on the job. In fact, I walked in the door every morning disdaining the fact I was about to spend another day working for Wal-Mart.

Like many of the other spoiled logistics associates -with more than 10 years with the company- I had grown tired of what I perceived to be a downward spiral of perpetual silliness and nick-picking regulations conjured up by managers whom (I thought) had nothing better to do than sit behind a desk and figure out new ways to make my job more aggravating with each passing hour. Other than that, I really liked being a Yard Driver.

Like I said, sometimes you don't realize how much you are blessed...

...that is, until you almost lose that blessing in which you've taken for granted for the better part of 12 years!

That's what happened to me on Tuesday morning.

I made a couple of mistakes which resulted in my pulling a trailer away from the dock that was in the process of being loaded. Nobody was hurt during the event, but in the history of Wal-Mart Logistics, people have died due to such incidents, so they are taken very seriously.

In Wal-Mart Logistics speak, what I did is known as an "unauthorized trailer pull out". To Wal-Mart Yard drivers, it's a nightmare scenario. For about an hour after the incident, I didn't know if they'd fire me or not. Thankfully, I later found out that through God's good Providence, the "automatic termination" provision was changed at the beginning of this year. Now Yard Drivers may continue to be employed, but be put on a 6 month probation called a "Step 3".

During the time I was thinking my career was coming to an early end, it caused me to do some hard thinking. Where would I go next? Who would pay me what I was making at Wal-Mart? How would I support my family and/or maintain our same standard of living?

In rural Georgia, these are very serious questions. Good paying jobs are very hard to find. (And having a vehicle payment, a mortgage, 3 kids, and a pregnant wife who teaches our children at home seemed only to compound the problem!)

Suddenly I realized the error of my ways. God had blessed me so much in allowing me to have a good job, making good money, yet I was wholly ungrateful for it. I had taken my job for granted for so many years that it took me almost losing it to see how blessed I have been.

Wednesday Wal-Mart gave me a "Decision Day." It's not one of the benefits I had ever hoped to use. It's a full day off -with pay- so you can think about your future with the company. It's given to all associates who manage to find their way up the to lofty disciplinary heights of a "Step 3".

I used my Decision Day to think about my future with the company and what I need to do to prevent any future incidents on the yard. I also used my day off to think about much God has blessed me...

And to repent for how I've acted all these years...

After lots of retraining and signing mountains of paperwork, I climbed back into the cab of my Yard Tractor around 10:00 AM on Thursday. Things were different somehow. I certainly paid more attention to my surroundings, yet in the midst of it all, I felt a keen sense of God's presence and peace.

I know that this was no "accident". God allowed it to teach me a lesson...

Sometimes you don't realize how much you've been blessed until God almost takes it away.

I'm not out of the woods yet. Being on a "Step 3" means that, if in the next 6 months, I violate even one safety procedure or have an accident (regardless of fault) that results in over $500 worth of damage to products or equipment, I'll be out the door... It's a real tight spot for a Yard Driver; and sure to keep the lesson I learned this week in the forefront of my thoughts and prayers. I covet your prayers as well.

Soli Deo Gloria!

The Kings of The East are Coming!

For most of my Christian walk, I have been taught that the "kings of the east" of Revelation 16:12 would be a 200 million man Chinese army that will fight in the battle of Armageddon. Anymore, I'm not so sure about that interpretation, but I will tell you this: the "Kings of the East" are coming!!

Right now a massive army is being assembled in China and there's good reason to believe that this mighty army will launch one of the greatest attacks the world has ever seen....

No, I'm not talking about an army of soldiers gearing up for Armageddon. I'm talking about a massive army of "Kings and Priests unto God" (Rev 1:6). It will be an army of Chinese evangelists and missionaries that will be wielding the Sword of the Spirit and will go into all the world bringing light to darkness and pulling down the remaining vestiges of Satan's kingdom!

Read all about it in this article from Asia Times!!

Let us pray for our brothers and sisters in China!!

Should we Call God Allah???

Roman Catholic Bishop Tiny Muskens thinks we should!

Express your opinion on the matter by here.

"Oil - What I would do if I were President"

by Gary DeMar
8/06/2007

On Saturday, August 4, 2007, the House of Representatives passed a $16 billion increase in taxes on oil companies. Actually, this is a lie. Oil companies, like every company in America, see taxes as the cost of doing business. Any tax increase will be passed onto consumers. If the voting public supports this increase, then they have only voted for a tax increase on themselves.

The profits oil companies make goes to pay millions of share holders. Additionally, the money brought in from the sale of gasoline and other petroleum products is used to locate, transport, refine, and distribute. The oil industry employs tens of thousands of people, creates related support businesses, takes all the risks in drilling and transportation, pays billions of dollars in taxes, and gets blamed for gouging the consumer for unfair “profits” for delivering a volatile product safely to outlets of distribution a few miles from our homes and next to highways that criss-cross America. Government agencies, on the other hand, simply cash the checks for the taxes the gas stations collect from their customers.

The combined state and federal taxes for California is over 50 cents per gallon. The United States average is somewhere around 45 cents per gallon. With the bridge collapse in Minneapolis, you’re going to hear about taxing the oil companies even more. Here’s a question: Where have all the taxes gone that we’ve been paying every time we put gasoline in our cars? Our politicians have been spending these billions of dollars on their own pet projects to keep them in office and grow the government.

Politicians don’t want to talk about high gasoline taxes. In fact, revelations of high taxes on gasoline might anger the American public and produce sympathy for “big oil.” It would expose the fraud of “price gouging” by the oil companies. I’m hopeful if prices remain high that more people will start talking about how state and federal governments are the real problem. Maybe even some in the mainstream media will start asking lawmakers why oil profits of about ten cents per gallon are “obscene” but nearly 50 cents per gallon of taxes is . . . patriotic?

As a national security issue, as president I would declare a state of emergency and state and immediately enact the following:

Oil is the lifeblood of this economy. As a nation, we are too dependent on foreign sources for oil. As you know, the oil we need—11 million barrels a day—is located in the most hostile region in the world. While we consider a nuclear attack to be a possibility, our enemies could do far more damage by destroying the majority of oil fields in Saudi Arabia. Any disruption in the flow of oil could bring our nation to a standstill, not just economically but militarily. We would find it almost impossible to defend ourselves against domestic and foreign aggressors if gasoline supplies were jeopardized. As a result, I am issuing an Executive Order that will open up all lands and sea rights in the possession of the United States to oil exploration. In addition, I am temporarily suspending stringent environmental laws that make it nearly impossible to build and bring online new refineries. I am proposing that ten new refineries be built and running within eight years. Five of these refineries will be designed in such as way to be impervious to a military attack. The goal is to have at least a three-year supply of crude oil stored in the United States to take care of domestic and military needs as if the real possibility exists of being completely cut off from our present foreign sources. We need a Manhattan project for oil independency.

If there is a presidential candidate you are supporting, I would suggest proposing that he adopt such a policy.

Gary DeMar is President of American Vision.
P.O. Box 220, Powder Springs, GA 30127, 800-628-9460, www.americanvision.org

New Endeavour

Last night I was hired as Youth Director at my Church! I was hired to fill the position recently vacated by my friend -and fellow Reformed Mafia cohort- Josh Hitchcock.

Though I have been actively involved in ministry for the past 8 years (more or less), this is my first time actually being on staff at a church. I am very excited about this opportunity and look forward to working with the youth group and our pastor.

Please pray that God would do a mighty work in the youth of our church and in the community in which we live and serve. I would love nothing more than to see God pour out a great revival starting with the young people of this community.

I think it's also interesting that this happened only 2 days shy of the one year anniversary of my resignation from the Church of God of Prophecy. One year ago, I would have never guessed I would be in this position now.


Soli Deo Gloria!

Hypocrisy in Florida!

In the state of Florida, if you are deprived of the opportunity to murder your unborn (handicapped) child, you can now win millions in court!!

Read all about it!

Just don't kill a dog in Florida:

FLORIDA STATUTES
TITLE XLVI. CRIMES CHAPTER 828.
ANIMALS: CRUELTY; SALES; ANIMAL ENTERPRISE PROTECTION

828.12. Cruelty to animals

(1) A person who unnecessarily overloads, overdrives, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance or shelter, or unnecessarily mutilates, or kills any animal, or causes the same to be done, or carries in or upon any vehicle, or otherwise, any animal in a cruel or inhumane manner, is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or by a fine of not more than $5,000, or both.

(2) A person who intentionally commits an act to any animal which results in the cruel death, or excessive or repeated infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering, or causes the same to be done, is guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or by a fine of not more than $10,000, or both.

Roswell, Flying Saucers, and Cold War Weapons Programs

Last night on Larry King, they were discussing the Roswell incident and UFOs.

First of all, I must confess that my wife and I have seen a "UFO" in the night sky on several occasions. It performed maneuvers in the air that looked to be impossible for a conventional aircraft, and then streaked out of sight. I'm not saying it was something from another world, but it was something flying in the sky that I could not identify...

Seeing as though Hunter Army Airfield is to my east and Robbins Air Force base is to my west, I believe that whatever it was, it was probably something that belongs to the United States Government and not to the Klingon High Command!

Folks, I hate to spoil the fun, but the probability of an extra-terrestrial life form finding something so interesting about our planet that it felt compelled to traverse the vast expanse of space to pay us a visit (even from the nearest star to our solar system) is laughable at best.

Here's the deal: the US government has duped the public into looking to the stars to explain weird lights in the sky when, in actuality, what has been seen is nothing more than super secret military aircraft being tested. I am of the opinion that the whole Roswell incident -right down to all the "insiders" who frequently come forward to tell about the conspiracy to cover up the existence of UFOs- is part of an elaborate (and highly successful) PSYOPS mission to cover up secret U.S. weapons projects.


Remember the F-117 nighthawk? The aircraft was designed in the 1970s, first flew in 1981, yet very few people knew a thing about it until Operation Desert Storm in 1991! How many times do you reckon it was mislabeled as a "UFO" by some alien crazed civilian? (What do you think people thought when they saw the B-2 Spirit?!!)

Do you want to see proof of REAL flying saucers??

Here it is!

Here's some more!

Here's a real life "Klingon Bird of Prey!"

The x-45 has probably been called a "UFO" a few times as well!

Yes, flying saucers and "UFOs" exist, but they belong to the U.S. Air Force. If you believe the government is covering up evidence of UFOs and extraterrestrials, you've been duped, and that's exactly what they've wanted all along...

(photos from wikipedia)

The Pope's Our Buddy, Right??

Nope...!

As Gojira has noted on his blog, the Pope doesn't even believe you're part of "the Church" unless have a Roman Catholic sign over your church door...

Fred -my pastor and former Catholic- has also written about this topic on the Metter First Baptist blog. Fred is excited about the dialog this will create. (So am I!)

If I were a betting man, I'd bet that a few of the signatories of the ECT are now crying out "Et tu, Brute?"

(In his defense, the Pope is only being consistent with centuries of Catholic dogma...)

---------------------
Speaking Ex Cathedra,

Rhett Kelley

States' Rights? I Don't Think So!

As an Southerner who's ancestors fought valiantly against Lincoln's "Grand Army of the Republic", I still believe in "States' Rights." Though it may sound like treason to say it, I believe that if any one of the 50 States in the Union decided that they no longer wanted to be a part of the United States, they ought have the right to seceed peacefully and go their seperate way. The South was brutally conquered and subjected to years of terrible military occupation (Reconstruction) because of their decision to do just that.

Though I support States' Rights, my support of these rights is not absolute. I do not believe in Statism. There are some things that no State has the right to stick it's nose in, and one of those things is how a parent wants their children educated about homosexuality!

In Maryland, the State Education Board has determined that a parent's right to control the upbringing of a child is, "...not absolute. It must bend to the State's duty to educate its citizens."

This determination was made so that Maryland could push ahead with a controversial sex-education program that teaches a favorable view of homosexuality and will not allow for views to be taught that oppose the sinful lifestyle.

Just another one of many reasons to consider educating children at home with curriculum that teaches a solid Biblical worldview!

To see the Washington Post article on this: click here.

For the American Family News Network article: click here.


Historical Trivia:

Before the Civil War, Maryland was a "slave state." Lincoln feared it would seceed and leave Washington D.C. in Confederate Territory. Therefore he declared martial law and had the mayor of Baltimore and Maryland State Legislators imprisioned! For more myth-busting info: click here!

Not a Satire...

I love good satire.

While the article I am about to link to might read like something from Tominthebox, it's not satire at all -it's for real!

Click to here to read the news article entitled, "I am both Muslim and Christian"

This is worse than Ergun Caner's "I'm not Arminian; I'm not Calvinist; I'm a Baptist" confession...

The Reprobate Celebrate

I'll be the first to admit that I had some serious theological disagreements with Jerry Falwell, especially when it came to the Doctrines of Grace. However, when I heard that he had passed away, I did not celebrate...

Yet, from what I gather, some groups are having "anti-memorials" to celebrate the death of Jerry Falwell and to continue to talk trash about him. This behavior further shows how reprobate these people truly are. I believe Dr. Falwell hated no one. He was simply taking a stand, a bold stand, for what the Bible says about homosexuality.

In Ezekiel 33:11, the Bible tells us that God has "no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live." So while God himself does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked, we now see the wicked taking pleasure in the death of a man of God!!

America: Take note about who the "haters" really are!

May God have mercy on their souls...