Well, it's official. . .

The good swing voters of Virginia have sent a horse's posterior to the U.S. Senate. (But then the voters ofMassachussetts have been doing that in stereo for decades.)

Disillusioned and Frightened

I just read on Drudge that Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock are getting divorced. Sweet smoking Judas, this has really shaken my confidence in the institution. I mean, if those talented kids can't make a go of it, what hope is there for the rest of us?

This blow comes right on the heels of the Brittany-KFed shocker. (Never saw that one coming.) What's next? A revelation that Courtney Love is a bad mother?

Come on Hollywood-Entertainment-Industrial Complex. . .we of humble flyover country are counting on you. We need you tell is how to think and vote and stuff. Get it together!

For Your Thanksgiving. . .

I offer you the greatest Thanksgiving moment in the history of television. . .

"Religious Conservatives Outgive Liberals"

So says a new book based on extensive research. Key quote:

"Religious conservatives donate far more money than secular liberals to all sorts of charitable activities, irrespective of income."

Read the article.

Re: Possibly the Coolest Thing I Have Ever Seen on the Internets

I found that animation I linked to below in the middle of a very long, very important, very entertaining blog post at "Eject! Eject! Eject!"

Do me a personal favor and read it. Read all of it. Then foward it to a friend. As with the animation itself—no need to thank me.

"For Your sake we are killed all day long. . ."

Among the manifold calamaties Islam is presently visiting upon the world, one of the least appreciated is the perversion of the word "martyr."

Five hundred years before Mohammed was a twinkle in his bedouin father's eye, Christian men, women and children were being murdered for their faith. The New Testament used the term "martyr" to describe them, which simply means "witness."

Through their quiet willingness to suffer death rather than renounce their Savior, Jesus Christ, they bore witness to His resurrection and grace. These true martyrs didn't didn't walk into pizza parlors and crowded buses wearing explosives. They didn't fly planes into buildings filled with secretaries, stockbrokers and sous-chefs.

They simply wanted to live in peace but were prepared to be killed. Paul described their plight when he wrote: "For Your sake we are killed all day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." (Romans 8:36)

Those lambs are still being slaughtered. "Beheaded Girls Were Ramadan Trophies" was the headline in an Australian newspaper on Friday.

"THREE Christian high school girls were beheaded as a Ramadan "trophy" by Indonesian militants who conceived the idea after a visit to Philippines jihadists, a court heard yesterday.

The girls' severed heads were dumped in plastic bags in their village in Indonesia's strife-torn Central Sulawesi province, along with a handwritten note threatening more such attacks."

Did you find that story in your local paper? Katie Couric's newscast? Me neither.

According to the Bible, we owe a special measure of concern for the welfare of our fellow believers--even those on the other side of the world. Galatians 6:10 says, "So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

Whereever Islam ascends, Christians suffer. Find out more—and even better—a way to help at the Voice of the Martyrs web site at www.persecution.com

Possibly the Coolest Thing I Have Ever Seen on the Internets

An animation artist has taken FAA flight data and compiled an extraordinary presentation of air traffic over the U.S.. I can't describe it. You just have to see it. As it plays, watch how air traffic blooms in the Eastern time zone first, then progressively moves westward with the sun.

Oh, you're welcome.

Ted Haggard; Part II

(Heavy sigh.) The story is a wearily familiar one: A pastor falls. A moral failure (or sometimes a pattern of moral failure) comes to light. Confessions are made. Tears are shed. Resignations are tendered and accepted. And invariably, Christians are shocked, shaken, disillusioned, disappointed, bewildered, and so on.

I don’t mean to trivialize it. It is bewildering. But why? Why is it so shocking that pastors and religious leaders prove to be just as frail and statistically prone to addictions, secret sins or general boneheaded-ness as, say, Christian CPAs?

This Haggard thing has me pondering. You see, I’m an introspective guy and have made it a lifelong practice to question my assumptions. To examine my presuppositions. To test the validity of my “givens.” (To beat simple concepts senseless by expressing them in many different ways!)

Lying quietly underneath our gobsmack-ed-ness at the latest preacher scandal is a presupposition. That presupposition is: Preachers are more spiritual and closer to God than we are. They are, in pretty much every way, better Christians.

But neighbor, that ain’t necessarily so. No disrespect intended mind you, but 25+ years of working in ministry—and actually having been an Associate Pastor at a megachurch myself—has shown me how unfounded (and dangerous) this assumption really is.

Don’t get me wrong. The vast majority of the men and women I have known who felt and answered a call to full-time Christian service were each wonderful examples of of a Jesus-follower. But the same is true of the vast majority of lay-Christians I have known. Both groups were filled with flawed, but redeemed works-in-progress. It’s just that the first group got called to be professional Christians and the second group got called to be cowboys and doctors and lawyers and such.

Of course, the book of James does have that sobering warning to those who would fancy themselves “teachers” of the rest of us. Something about incurring a “stricter judgment?” But in moments like this it’s important to remember who will ultimately be doing that judging. Not me. Not you.

You see, that warning to would-be teachers is found in James 3:1. The very next verse? Well, it says, “For we all stumble in many ways. . .”

Yes. Yes, we do.

About Ted Haggard; Part I

My post below was about how America, in general, is growing more skeptical about spiritual matters. The unspeakably sad news about what Ted Haggard has done to his family, his remarkable career and his influence will likely amplify another trend that has been in place for several decades now—growing cynicism.

I only have two observations about the whole icky thing. The first is rather pedantic and trivial, but since when has that ever deterred me. . .

I couldn't help but notice that when the news first broke a few days ago, practically all of the headlines and news reports in the MSM referred to Ted Haggard as an "Evangelist."

"Evangelist Steps Down Amid Allegations of blah blah. . ." etc. Of course, there were several other descriptors that were much more accuarate. Why not "Pastor," or Megachurch Pastor," or "Church Leader?"

My first thought was that liberal headlines writers, reports and editors had originally wanted to use the term "televangelist" because it has been turned into a codeword for "evil hypocrite." But of course, Ted Haggard doesn't have a national television program so they had to drop the "tele" part. But then I remembered "Hanlon's Razor," an axiom which states "Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence."

That's when it dawned on me. . . The news reports were about Haggard stepping down as head of the NAE—the National Association of Evangelicals. These reporters (like a few Christians I've heard) didn't know the difference between the meanings of the terms evangelical and evangelistic!

Thus they reasoned, "If this guy is the head of a bunch of 'evangelicals,' then he's an evangelist!"

Don't ever assume that reporters assigned to report on religion know anything about the subject or are inclined to learn.

The Skepticisation of America

Three years ago a Harris poll asked a sampling of Americans if they were absolutely certain God exists. At that time, 34% were NOT sure there was a God. Last week the poll was repeated and the number of doubters had risen to 42%.

This seems to indicate continued societal creep toward the European model of Post-Christian, "rationalistic" decay.

Other interesting data bits. . .
Among denominational/religious groups, those professing certainty that God DOES exist broke out like this:

"Born Agains" 93%
Protestants 76%
Catholics 64%
Jews 30%

Full news story here.