#52 - Earth Day 2010 - It All Depends On Your Worldview

[A Personal Note: Being A Good Steward of the Environment and Saving Money. Several months ago, I heard about saving energy costs by disconnecting outlets that you are not using for any length of time. And so, I've begun disconnecting everything in my house after use for the day - from the television, to the computer, to the washer/dryer, etc., everything but the refrigerator and the stove. I've thus far averaged saving about $60/month! Your savings may vary, but I suggest you try it for a month and see what you can save.]

[From GlobalWarmingHoax.com]

“I am a skeptic…Global warming has become a new religion.” - Nobel Prize Winner for Physics, Ivar Giaever.

“Since I am no longer affiliated with any organization nor receiving any funding, I can speak quite frankly….As a scientist I remain skeptical. “The main basis of the claim that man’s release of greenhouse gases is the cause of the warming is based almost entirely upon climate models. We all know the frailty of models concerning the air-surface system” - Atmospheric Scientist Dr. Joanne Simpson, the first woman in the world to receive a PhD in meteorology, and formerly of NASA, who has authored more than 190 studies and has been called “among the most preeminent scientists of the last 100 years.”

Creation and Man By: Chuck Colson, April 22, 2010, Breakpoint.com

Happy Earth Day 2010. No doubt you’ll be seeing plenty of news coverage about rallies, marches, and activities associated with this major environmental commemoration. Perhaps you or your children are marking the day by taking steps to promote a healthier environment. Growing a vegetable garden. Learning to compost and not over-fertilizing your lawn. Recycling your household waste. Buying energy-efficient appliances. These are just a few suggestions environmental groups and the Environmental Protection Agency are touting as good things to do. And I agree. Saving resources and money, ensuring our human habitat is clean and healthy, this is the stuff of good stewardship and common sense—things that especially we Christians should be known for. I say this knowing I’m going to get letters from concerned listeners—as I do every time I talk about protecting the environment. And there’s good reason for this.

After all, Christians are rightly concerned that extremists have turned Earth Day into “Worship-Earth Day.”
Just listen to a few of these suggestions for Earth Day 2010 that some of the more radical groups are proposing: taking down “global eco-criminals” like Exxon-Mobil; having school kids meditate about the Spirit of Life (that’s “Spirit of Life” with capital letters); seeking international cooperation on reducing the human population; or working for, and I quote, the “ultimate, inevitable, and necessary dismantling of industrial civilization.” We Christians certainly do not want to be yoked with new agers, neo-pagans, or folks who just downright hate humanity. But there’s no reason for us to surrender creation care to them, either.

Our faith, our Christians worldview, tells us that the earth is good precisely because God created it and declared it good. It is worthy of our care, and indeed, we were commanded to tend it. Wasteful and immoderate use of natural resources is not a Christian virtue. We must also realize that creation care begins with the care of the crown of creation: man, alone among living things, created in the image of God. In creating a clean sustainable environment, we do so primarily for humanity’s benefit. That’s why we reject out of hand environmental proposals that endanger human well-being—proposals that could doom millions, especially in developing countries, to poverty, disease, and hunger.

You see, how you approach environmentalism—or, as I would say, environmental stewardship—all depends on your worldview. If the universe really did come about by chance and purely natural causes, then man is worth no more and no less than any other living thing. In fact, the creation would be man’s creator. So care for creation would be much more important than care for man. But that is not the Christian worldview.

One of the best books I’ve ever read on the environment and this issue is produced by the Acton Institute and the Cornwall Alliance. It’s called Environmental Stewardship in the Judeo-Christian Tradition. We have a few copies available, and if you would like a free copy, please call us at 1-877-3-CALL-BP. So again, happy Earth Day. Celebrate that God has created such a beautiful planet, populated by humans created in His own image, and that He has called us to tend His creation as His stewards.

Further Reading and Information
Environmental Stewardship in the Judeo-Christian Tradition Acton Institute
Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, Cornwall Alliance
Blessed Earth: Serving God, Saving the Planet
Blessed Earth
Global Warming as Religion: You Had to See It Coming, Chuck Colson | BreakPoint Commentary | December 2, 2009
‘Not Evil Just Wrong’: What’s Really at Stake with Global Warming,Chuck Colson | BreakPoint Commentary | October 15, 2009

#51 - "An Evangelistic Slam Dunk/The Roots of Basketball

[Please try to watch, "The Coral Ridge Hour" (actually only a half hour broadcast), every Sunday. (In Orlando, it is broadcast on channel 40.1 at 5 pm.) The first half is a usually a great message by Dr. D.James Kennedy and the second half is usually about a cultural or public policy issue from a spiritual perspective. I hope that you will circle May 18th to be sure to tune in for a very special broadcast on the story of where our country is headed. DON'T MISS IT!]

[Christians in Football. - I can't remember when I've heard of so many nationally known football players who are outspoken in their Christian witness. Among these are Drew Brees, the quarterback for the Superbowl Winning New Orleans Saints; Sam Bradford, the Texas Univ. quarterback that won the Heisman Trophy (best player in college sports) in 2008 who was yesterday selected as the #1 draft pick in the National Football League annual draft yesterday; and Tim Tebow, the FLorida Univ. quarterback who won the Heisman in 2007 and who was a first round pick in yesterday's draft. Also, the coach and owner of the Indianapolis Colts (who played in this year's Superbowl) also talk openly about their faith in Christ.]

The following is by Chuck Colson, Breakpoint.com.,April 7, 2010

Here’s a good trivia question for you. Which major sport was invented as an evangelistic tool? Find out.

It was the basketball game for the ages. On Monday night, April 5th, the Duke University Blue Devils survived a desperate, last-second shot by the underdog Butler University Bulldogs to win the NCAA men’s basketball championship. It was a great game—a classic “David and Goliath” matchup, given that Duke has appeared in eight championship games under head coach Mike Krzyzewski, and that Butler had never even made it to the Final Four. You may hear folks talking about the game for some time. When you do, you can add to the conversation by revealing an interesting fact: Basketball was invented more than 100 years ago by a Christian theologian as an evangelical outreach tool.

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, one of our Centurions, John Murray, recalled the story of the game’s founding. The inventor of basketball, James Naismith, became convinced that he stood a better chance of exemplifying the Christian life through sports rather than through preaching. So he took a job as a physical education instructor at the YMCA’s International Training School for Christian Workers in Springfield, Massachusetts. Naismith’s vision was “to win men for the Master through the gym.” In 1891, Naismith set out to invent a new indoor game that students could play during winter. He spent weeks testing various games, including versions of soccer, football, and lacrosse, to no avail. “Finally,” Murray writes, “Naismith decided to draw from all of these sports: with a ball that could be easily handled, play that involved running and passing with no tackling, and a goal at each end of the floor.” In short, he came up with basketball. From the beginning, Naismith and his athletic director, Luther Gulick, held the players to a high standard. As Gulick wrote in 1897, “The game must be kept clean.” A Christian college cannot tolerate “not merely ungentlemanly treatment of guests, but slugging and that which violates the elementary principles of morals.” He recommended that a coach should “excuse for the rest of the year any player who is not clean in his play.”

Basketball served as an important evangelical tool during the next 50 years, Murray noted. In 1941, Naismith wrote that “whenever I witness games in a church league, I feel that my vision, almost half a century ago, of the time when the Christian people would recognize the true value of athletics, has become a reality.” In the last 100 years, we’ve seen no shortage of Christian athletes who use their skill, self-discipline, and sportsmanship as a witness to Christ—from Olympic runner Eric Liddel in the 1920s, to football player Tim Tebow in our own generation.

In fact, so many athletes give the glory to God after a game that sportswriters sometimes get irritated with them. To which I respond: Which would you prefer—players known for their faith and good sportsmanship, or players who are arrested for assault or drug use?If you have a young basketball fan in your family, tell him or her the story of how basketball was invented. And pray for Christian players who can use the public’s love of sports the way Naismith envisioned when he invented basketball—as a witnessing tool to “win men for the Master through the gym.”

Further Reading and Information
The Spiritual Pathway to March Madness John Murray | Wall Street Journal | March 1

#50 - Before You Buy Any Girl Scout Cookies ...

[The article below refers to Planned Parenthood. With books have been written exposing their true agenda, I was shocked that on a recent talk show, even a fanatic liberal admitted that she did not know that those that do abortions do so for a tremendous profit. I was so incredulous I almost screamed. Here are just a few things you might not have heard: 1) PP has been responsible for almost a third of the abortions in this country since it was legalized by the Supreme Court over 37 years and 50 million pre-born babies ago. 2) At the cost of hundreds and even thousands of dollars each, PP is definitely a FOR-PROFIT group. 3) And yet, PP has received as much as $400 million EACH YEAR from our taxes. And 4) PP has never denounced the eugenics beliefs of its founder, Margaret Sanger. This is a belief in preserving this as a white race dominated nation . (Sanger herself stopped promoting this in the 1930’s after the Nazi’s took up this refrain, which they based on Darwinism and which led to the killing of the old, infirmed, and of course, the Jews.) And 5) PP has consistently built its killing centers in the midst of lower income African- American neighborhoods and just recently built the second largest such business in the nation in Houston, Texas. Even the media was forced to report a campaign by African American churches in one city that put up billboards decrying the killing of AA pre-born children. (Did you know that over 60% of abortions are of AA babies?) And so to be accurate, PP should be referred to as “Planned Genocide.”]

Unhealthy and Unhappy/ Planned Parenthood's Advice to Girl Scouts
By Chuck Colson|, March 26, 2010. Breakpoint.org

Next time you buy a box of Girl Scout cookies to feed your sweet tooth, think about what the Girl Scouts leadership is feeding to young girls.

I almost fell out of my chair when I read the news. The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts hosted a panel in New York, part of the annual United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. According to the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, the Girl Scouts allowed Planned Parenthood “to distribute brochures containing sexually explicit material to the young girls.” The booklet is titled “Healthy, Happy, and Hot.” Much of the content is so pornographic, I wouldn’t dare talk about it over the air or post it online. But you need to know that the sex guide advocates every imaginable kind of sex. As the guide blithely puts it, “There is no right or wrong way to have sex. Just have fun, explore and be yourself!”

It also tells girls that “some people have sex when they have been drinking alcohol or using drugs. This is your choice.” Clearly, nothing is off limits—even for children below the age of consent.The Girls Scouts are claiming that they did not offer the booklet, despite the fact that it was seen on the table in their room by witnesses including Sharon Slater, president of Family Watch International. But why would Girl Scout leaders even bother denying it? They’ve had a long association with Planned Parenthood. As one of our Centurion graduates, Regis Nicoll, notes in an article on the BreakPoint website, Planned Parenthood is a welcome guest in 20 percent of the Girl Scout councils nationwide, conducting “educational” events.
During these events, Nicoll writes, attendees are given a book entitled “It’s Perfectly Normal.” The book enthusiastically promotes homosexual behavior and abortion, and includes graphic and, for me at least, vulgar descriptions of the human anatomy.

Planned Parenthood believes that sexual activity of any kind is a human right—at any age. To them, it’s never too early to start exposing children to their sexual philosophy. By contrast, of course, Christianity teaches that sex is a sacred act that ought to be reserved exclusively for a husband and wife. And we believe childhood should be a time of innocence—a time to be protected from adult subjects. Philosophy may only be part of the reason why Planned Parenthood is so eager to expose Girl Scouts to their trashy booklets. Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women of America, says it does so “with the intent of increasing their revenue.” Wright says that Planned Parenthood, the nation’s number one abortion provider, works with girls’ organizations “in order to profit from encouraging kids to be sexually active.” It’s obvious—the more sexually active, the more abortions.

What a way to destroy young women.Parents who question the Girl Scouts’ wisdom in allowing Planned Parenthood access to their daughters may want to consider a Christian alternative: American Heritage Girls. This group teaches leadership, character development, and spiritual growth. Or, if you are involved with Girl Scouts, for heaven’s sake, let your leaders know what you think about exposing young girls to sexually explicit materials and the destructive worldview they represent. Sadly these days, we need to be on the lookout for radical, destructive worldviews everywhere—even behind the boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

Further Reading and Information
The Girl Scout Sex Guide Aaron Ruse | Washington Times | March 18, 2010
Girl Scouts Distribute Planned Parenthood Sex Guide at UN Meeting
Terrence McKeegan | Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute | March 11, 2010
Learn More about the American Heritage Girls/American Heritage Girls
No Choice This Season: Life Is Worth Celebrating- Regis Nicoll | BreakPoint Online | December 21, 2006
Smart Sex (Audio)
Jennifer Roback Morse | BreakPoint Online | April 4, 2003
The Science of Teen Sex: An Interview with Dr. Freda McKissic Bush, Gina Dalfonzo | BreakPoint Online | April 14, 2009
Sex Positive: An Interview with Dr. Meg Meeker, Gina Dalfonzo | BreakPoint Online | July 29, 2008

#49- Obamacare Means More Dead Preborn Babies

[In case you did not guess, this is the FIRST blog I've posted THIS YEAR. My health has continued to be so off that I have found it difficult to collect myself enough to post things until now. Needless to say, the roller coaster emotions as the entire country followed the health care reform debate continue to unfold boiled over for many of us after those we thought were solidly "pro-life" in Congress sold out their votes at the last crucial minute. I struggled for days between anger and disgust but I feel that I must at least post this posting by Chuck Colson that ran days after what some have called another Day of Infamy. TODAY, the respected Gallup poll said that only 44% of Americans now approve of President Obama's leadership and that 2/3 of Americans believe they will be hurt in some way by what was signed into law last week. Either the President is not as eloquent as he is touted to be - having given dozens of speeches defending his proposals over the past 14 months - or the American people are really smarter than he is willing to give them credit for and they can tell when something smells bad because it really is bad.]

A Mess of Pottage
Breakpoint.com., by: Chuck Colsonshed: March 24, 2010

Life and the Executive Order
To pass his health care plan, the President made a deal with pro-life Democrats. The deal was a farce. I’ll tell you why.

Last Sunday night [March 20], pro-life Democrats sold the birthright of millions of unborn children for a mess of pottage. Up until that fateful day, it wasn’t clear whether Rep. Bart Stupak and other pro-life Democrats would support the health care bill. Then, Stupak made a stunning announcement. In exchange for Stupak’s support, the President would sign an executive order prohibiting the spending of federal funds for abortions. I know Bart Stupak and have had great respect for him. And I understand the enormous—even vicious—political pressure the administration and House leadership put on him and his colleagues. But in the end, he and other pro-life Democrats have sold out the pro-life cause, and with it, the lives of the unborn.

Now, some abortion-rights advocates excoriated the President. The National Organization of Women said that it was “incensed” by the executive order. But as Bill McGurn wrote in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, Planned Parenthood seems quite pleased. Why? Because as McGurn writes, “an Executive Order cannot change the law.” The Catholic Bishops know this. Which is why even before the executive order was announced, they made it clear that it would “not begin to address the problem” of protecting human life.

That’s because the courts have made it clear that an executive order will have no effect. There are four “decades of federal appellate rulings that apply the principles of Roe v. Wade to federal health legislation.” As the Bishops and their lawyers read the case law, funding for abortions is required in federal health care programs unless “Congress clearly forbids such funding.” Absent a clear prohibition, executive orders and regulations can—and will be—overridden by the courts. The precedents are clear.

And while Rep. Stupak lamely says that the President “does not plan on rescinding” the order, other people don’t share his confidence. And as Rep Paul Ryan said, the executive order “is not the rule of law...[but] the rule of man. One man can sign an executive order and one man can repeal that again.” Let me be plain. The executive order does nothing to protect the unborn. Even if the President intends to stand by his agreement, this does not bind his successors, the courts, or, for that, matter, the pro-abortion activists in his own party.

We stand on the precipice. Will an essentially pro-life American public stand for a health care bill that paves the way for federally funded abortions? I don’t know. I fear, however, that the passage of this bill has the potential for tearing America apart. Because Christians by the thousands, maybe millions, could be forced to choose between their faith, their consciences, and the law of the land. I’ve already had people call me to ask if they should pay their federal taxes, now that it is inevitable that their dollars will fund abortions. And heaven help the doctor or nurse or pharmacist, who refuses to take innocent life. He or she will lose their profession. Maybe this is why God led us, some months ago, to write the Manhattan Declaration, which nearly half a million Christians have signed. He foresaw that this would be a sellout. He foresaw the crisis we will face.

We must see this deal for what it was—a charade. And now we must take our stand on the side of life and conscience, no matter the consequences. Will you stand with us?

Further Reading and Information
Read and Sign the Manhattan Declaration Manhattan Declaration
House Passes Pro-Abortion Senate Health Care Bill After Executive Order Deal Life News | March 20, 2010
Pro-Life Democrats, RIP Wall Street Journal | March 23, 2010
Hope for Health Care Reform: What We Can Do Chuck Colson | BreakPoint Commentary | March 1, 2010