Right On!

I admire my Catholic friends who seem to leave the theological thinking to the priestly class.  The get-in and get-out on Sunday routine appears that they generally don't seem to question church doctrines.  Indeed one cannot be Catholic and be an abortion encouraging homosexual priest who believes Mary gave birth to other children.  In order to be Catholic you accept Catholic teachings.  I admire them for their absoluteness so parishoners can worship and get back to the routine of life.

On the other hand I am of the Reformed tradition, where there is much discussion. I've had ongoing conversations with myself for years, one of which follows:

Arminianism and non-participatory worship is overwhelming Christian worship, at least in the Midwest.   Additionally, the Stone-Campbell movement has crept in with its own brand of belief.

There are those who suggest that baptism is only valid when a decision is made by an adult, or teenager.  In essence they say that Baptism without volition is not genuine.  Such a strict and narrow view of baptism is short-sighted.  Its emphasis on the choice of the individual negates the choice of God. 

Correctly, one could logically imagine a ceremony of an adult choosing baptism and then turn around and announce that they also now re-affirm their choice of earthly parents.  However, we don't do it that way.  Why would someone say that when it comes to the most powerful we have complete free will, but when it comes to temporary parents we do not have any free will?  Does the child who doesn't choose their parents make the parent-child relationship null and void?   Hardly!

The point is we don't have free will in either case.  We don't choose God, He chooses us, just as we don't choose our parents.  

Those who practice adult baptism without denying infant baptism maintain the correct belief.  (Then there's the silly notion that only those who have been immersed have been baptized, which i save for later).

When asked to what degree does man have free will, those who haven't given it much thought will proclaim proudly:  "Complete and total."

In that vanity, some preach that we choose Christ.  If Christ is the way of Salvation, and the choice to believe in Him is ours, then that means we choose our own salvation.  This commonly held belief is insulting to God. 

We do not get to choose our parents.

We were not able to choose the nation of our birth, the century in which we were born, or our gender. We were not part of any pre-negotiated agreement on what we would look like.

Made of dust and clay we might have just as easily been crafted into a turtle, but God decided that we would not be. We are made in his image, and not in our own.

Convinced now that we had no part in our beginning, what is the evidence that makes us think we have a part in our ending?

Our salvation is in God's hands, without regard to what we do.

We finally have a black President.  This is good for America.  It seems to me that race was the major issue of his supporters.  In other words had one of those men on our currency campaigned on the same platform, he would have lost hands down. 

I don't dislike Obama, and rather admire him, just wish he would run for Governor first as I don't believe his experience amounts to credibility.

That being true I warned his supporters that Barak was a Chicago Machine Democrat and that they were falling for fluff and stuff.

With the appointment of Chicago politician Rahm Emannuel, an efficient manager, comes the evidence. 

It was odd to me back in 2002/2003 during the "Lets go to war against Iraq"-discussion-days that interestingly, those most for it were the ones who did not have sons of qualifying military age.  In other words, "Invading a nation that has not attacked us is a good idea for your son to go do"

I'm not sure if turnabout is fair play, but if it is then let me chant the following mantra:  "No Rescue Plan, No Bailout, Let the financial Pearl Harbor (described by Warren Buffet) begin".  We survived Pearl Harbor, and came out the stronger.

"But Tom, you have a government job, that's easy for you to say."  Yes it is.  Very easy.  In fact it's as easy for me to be for the coming reckoning than it was for those yahoos who rushed to a war that we now know has been nothing but wasteful and at best Pyrrhic.

Thank God G.W. doesn't have Congress in the Palm of his hands.

I doubted G.W.'s bull about WMD and I don't find his plea now any more credible.  He hasn't made the case, hasn't described the fallout.  I think we see a man who got our military and economy into a war we didn't need to fight , panicking now that the last 4 months of  "his economy" is crumbling.  All of this adds up to force James Buchanan out of the category of  "Worst President Ever."

The title is yours; you've earned it George.

This is an e-mail I sent to Senator Bunning, (R-KY) today.

Honorable Senator Bunning,

On my lunch hour I saw some of your questioning of Sec. Paulson and Chief Bernanke (9/23/08)

Thank you for digging about the student loans, the credit cards, and for pointing out that if this is passed, in 4 months those who conceived this intervention will be gone.

Who is going to own the houses that have collateralized these non-performing loans.  A guy like me is finding deals (not wealthy enough to buy more than one) and would hate to see those promising opportunities, now available to Americans, evaporate.

Thanks for your diligence and asking the tough questions directly!

Sincerely

All of America should applaud that we had one full week without a single American casualty in Iraq last month!  That's not today's subject, but it requires mention.

Last year my son and our girlfriends toured the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Saint Louis.  They proudly told us they are the only large American brewery left.  Miller and Coors are all foreign owned.  A Belgian brewer has offered to buy the last American brewery (Symbol BUD).

The dollar has collapsed against the Euro, hitting an all time worthlessness value of 62 Euro cents.  When the Euro first was issued one dollar bought 110 Euro cents.

America is cheap to those nations that operate on Euro dominated currencies.  The dollar has fallen against all major currencies worldwide.

Sky Telecom (South Korea Telecom) is looking at buying Sprint.  Foreigners have bought over $400 billion of U.S. assets in the last year and a half. 

Is it possible that these foreign owned entities could then shutdown many of their American operations, leaving us with an unemployment bag?  Of course it is. 

Hardcore "free trade at all costs" capitalists, mistakenly thinking themselves patriots, miss the boat and create potentially Republic-threatening environments.

Capitalism must have Nationalism wrapped around it.  Capitalism should be allowed to thrive, but not when it benefits the corporation at the expense of the nation.  

Perhaps Mad Money's Jim Cramer is correct when he tells us that we have become a "government of, by, and for the corporation." 

Hopefully McCain and Obama will address this issue.